By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Wyoming High School's Ahmed Plummer will play Sunday for the first time as a pro in his hometown.

But the fourth-year San Francisco 49ers cornerback, who will be a free agent after the season, said Wednesday that he would consider making Cincinnati his NFL home.

"With what the Bengals are doing, it makes anybody interested in the Bengals right now," Plummer said. "They're on the up. In my opinion, they're right there in the mix. . . . It's definitely a consideration."

Plummer is a solid NFL corner. He returned one of his four interceptions this season 68 yards for a touchdown. He has 54 tackles and had a career-best seven interceptions in 2001. He'll make his 58th start Sunday in 60 NFL games, and his coach calls Plummer the team's best cornerback.

"There's no question about Ahmed," 49ers coach Dennis Erickson said. "Real talented guy that plays everything really well, really smart. He's up this year. Hopefully we can get him back here in San Francisco next year."

Plummer is one of several top cornerbacks heading onto the market - along with Washington's Champ Bailey, Oakland's Charles Woodson, Baltimore's Chris McAlister and Philadelphia's Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor.

Tory James has made an impact in the Bengals secondary in his first season, but questions about Jeff Burris' long-term health in the wake of two concussions this season makes corner a likely item on the team's offseason shopping list.

Plummer, who turns 28 in March, has a history with the Bengals. He was a big fan growing up in Wyoming and said the last game he attended at Riverfront Stadium, ironically, was a 49ers overtime victory in December 1990.

Sam Wyche, the Bengals' coach at the time, also lived in Wyoming and spent time around the high school.

"I can remember going up to him one day and telling him I was going to play for him," Plummer said. "He just looked at me as a kid with a dream."

Wyche's son, Zak, attended Wyoming High School and was a friend of Plummer's. Plummer said the visits by Bengals players to barbershops up and down the Mill Creek Valley were talked about for days. That was the peak of the Riverfront Jungle, a spirit that has returned with coach Marvin Lewis' team in Paul Brown Stadium.

"I really felt close to the Bengals growing up, and I know how the excitement is," Plummer said.

He has purchased 40 tickets for family and friends for Sunday.

"I wouldn't have minded being drafted by the Bengals," said Plummer, taken 24th overall in the 2000 draft from Ohio State. The Bengals took wide receiver Peter Warrick at No. 4.

"They had a choice to make," Plummer said, "but that's always been a dream."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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