Put down the fire extinguisher (you don't know how to use it anyway). Your computer monitor or smart phone has not burst into flames. That's just a close-up image of Andy Dalton's proud ginger mane on the latest cover of ESPN The Magazine.
Dalton is enjoying the season of his life -- the driving force on offense for an 8-0 Bengals team. Some have tied Dalton's stunning rise from quarterback everyman to Superman thanks to a new haircut that has raised Dalton's swag game considerably.
On Thursday, Dalton spent three minutes during his media availability talking about his magazine cover and the power of a competent stylist.
"That's the one thing that everybody seems to be focusing on this year is my hair, for whatever reason," he said. "I understand the color, I've gotten that one a lot. But now I've got the style down and everybody wants to talk about it. It is what it is. It's been a lot of fun.
"The funny thing is people will say, 'Oh this is a new hairstyle' and they'll post a picture of me from last year. I feel like I kind of had a similar hairstyle last year, but now all of a sudden it's became a big deal."
The style is pretty new. Here's a clip from the Bengals' return engagement on Hard Knocks in the summer of 2013. Dalton's hair just sits there like a pile of baby carrots.
Now? Dalton's grown out his locks and is clearly using some type of holding agent. He won't say what it is.
"It's a secret. It's what I do," he explained. "It's just a product that I've got and it just works."
Dalton's no dummy. There's big money to be made advertising his fiery follicles in the hair care industry. Go get paid, Glowing Ginger Man.
