By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

At last count, Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna came up six snaps short of a $1.625 million playing-time bonus for 2003.

Then - on their own volition - the Bengals did a recount and gave him the bonus, earned by playing in 80 percent of the team's offensive plays.

Kitna played in 842 of the team's 1,054 offensive plays, good for 79.886 percent - where he needed 80 percent to increase his base salary for 2003 from $1 million to $2.625 million.

On Dec. 30, the day after the season finale in which Kitna played in 55 plays and needed 61, Bengals president Mike Brown said, "If he gets it, he gets it. If he doesn't get it, he doesn't get it."

But on Jan. 17, after Kitna attended coach Marvin Lewis' first Paul Brown Stadium press conference, Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn asked to speak with Kitna and his wife, Jennifer.

Blackburn, Kitna said Friday, told him that the NFL office gave the Bengals discretion to credit Kitna for a pair of two-point conversions he participated in. But the Bengals weren't going to increase the number of offensive plays. That equation gave Kitna 844 of 1,054, good for 80.076 percent.

"All along, my wife and I said if God wanted me to get the bonus, I would get it," Kitna said. "I was a little bit surprised and very thankful. I felt blessed. It's another example of the power of God."

Kitna said Blackburn told him that she and Brown (her father) thought Kitna deserved the bonus, that he had a good season and the Bengals were looking forward to a much better 2003 season. Kitna had 16 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions. The team averaged 21.3 points in his 12 starts.

The Bengals on Friday declined to comment about the decision to pay Kitna the bonus.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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