But whereas other Reds offspring such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Pete Rose Jr. became professional baseball players, Bobby Bench never made it through St. Xavier High School's baseball tryouts. Today, the St. X senior — in his first year of football — is content to be a backup tight end for a Bombers football team (9-0) rated No. 2 nationally by USA TODAY.

"It was high school where I truly realized how much pressure is on me, having a father like mine," Bobby said. "You're proud of your family name, but at the same time you have the consequences and the toll that takes on you."

Johnny Bench, who will turn 60 on Dec. 7, is sensitive to that. While Johnny is one of the most famous athletes in Cincinnati history and one of the most acclaimed baseball players, period, he doesn't mind that Bobby may not be another Johnny Bench — athletically speaking, that is.

"Bobby is just a fine young man," Johnny said recently. "I couldn't be prouder of him."

Bobby, 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, played some baseball — mostly first base — when he was younger. He was a decent athlete but when he was cut from baseball tryouts at his suburban Cincinnati high school two years straight, he realized it could be impossible to follow his father's path.

"No matter how well I did in baseball, it never would have made a difference because I never would have lived up to expectations as Johnny Bench's son," Bobby said.

Bobby remembers one of his baseball coaches making a snide remark about him being the son of Johnny, who is considered by some the best catcher in baseball history. Bobby would rather not go into detail about the painful comparisons, but his mother will.

"I've seen Bobby handle it beautifully, even when kids and parents would tease him or get on him," said Laura Homan, who is no longer married to Johnny Bench. "I always hated it when the names were on the back of their jerseys, because people would know who he was."

Bobby once wore Johnny's famed No. 5 as his jersey number. As he grew older he started to request No. 17, his birthdate, to avoid some of the razzing. In football, he's No. 91 for St. Xavier.

"People always expected more of him because of his name," Homan said.

Bobby is a solid 3.4 student, as apt to watch the Discovery Channel as ESPN. He likes to take photos, is considering taking up marine biology as a profession. He is looking at Pepperdine, Miami (Fla.) and Boston University for college. Bobby is more than just a sports guy, and Mom and Dad could not be more pleased.

Said Johnny, "It's kind of good we're a generation removed. I was 42 when Bobby was born, and I quit playing (baseball) six years before that. He didn't have to go to school and hear, 'Hey, your dad was 0-for-4 last night.' "

Bobby: "My dad didn't tell me everything I would experience by being his son, which I think is better. When you face it yourself, you learn from it."

Johnny tried to make things different from the start. That is one reason he and Laura named him Robert instead of Johnny Bench Jr. (Robert was for Bob Hope and Bobby Knight, two of Johnny's many notable pals; Bobby's middle name is Binger, for his father's Oklahoma hometown).

Johnny helped lead the Reds to World Series championships in 1975 and '76, was a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, and was named to the All-Century baseball team in 1999. Johnny also remains the standard by which catchers are measured defensively.

He has been a corporate spokesman for everything from banks to paints to razors to breakfast cereals, logs more than 100,000 miles a year as a motivational speaker and is a special consultant to Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky.

Johnny also attends St. Xavier football games when he can. Football is serious business at St. X, a nationally prominent program, which won a Division I state title in 2005 and is a contender this year.

"I told Bobby he had to prove to me he was committed to play," said coach Steve Specht. "I told him, if you miss anything and it's unexcused, you're done. He's done all we asked. He's worked hard, and I think he came out because he wanted to be part of something special."

Johnny Bench said he could not be happier for Bobby,

"Like every athlete, you'd like to have your son follow in your footsteps to a certain degree," Johnny said. "But that's not the most important thing."

One of his proudest moments came recently when he ran into Fr. Walter Deye, the St. Xavier school president, on the sidelines at a football game.