Bengals co-founder Pete Brown passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74.

Pete Brown, along with his father Paul and brother Mike, co-founded the Bengals in the mid-1960s and still served as the SVP of player personnel for the club.

“Pete was the quiet one, but his talents spoke volumes,” said Bengals President Mike Brown. “Pete was more prone to action than talk, and his contributions to the Bengals were significant. He was a fine scout and judge of prospects, a wonderful business partner, and an even better brother and family member. Everyone who knew Pete cared about him and respected him. I feel his loss deeply.”

Brown family retains old-school code in new-school NFL

Pete was a successful football player at Denison University, after which he helped form the Bengals and then led the club’s player personnel department for many decades.

Pete fell in love with kinesiology and strength training while a young man, and he helped introduce the Nautilus exercise and training system in Cincinnati. Pete later went on to found Hammer Strength, a business he grew into one of the nation’s leading strength training machine companies.

Services will be private.