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Bengals Booth Podcast: End Game · Bengals Booth Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The I Want to Be your
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: end game addition, as the Bengals end the season on
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a positive note and with a winning record by beating
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Cleveland thirty one to fourteen. Coming up radio replays, locker
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: room comments and postgame analysis from Dave Lapham. Then in
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: this week's fun Facts Conversation, you'll get to know the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: newest player on the Bengals roster, Travis Bell. The Bengals
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta
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  Speaker 1: Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed elevate your home, business,
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  Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: thing since Tony to Tiger the Ruler of the Jungle.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Before the Bengals final home game of the year, is
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Traditionally they're Fan of the Year, and this year that's
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Anthony Brooks, better known among Bengals fans as Tony the Tiger.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: You know who I'm talking about, the guy who uses
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: face paint and an orange wig to turn himself into
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: a ferocious tiger at Bengals games and events. Tony is
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: not just a loyal fan, he's a generous one, using
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: his platform to help charities and providing tickets for children
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: who have never attended an NFL game. It was sixty
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: eight kids this year. So thanks Tony for being a
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: great ambassador for the Bengals and enjoy that all expenses
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: paid trip to the Super Bowl for being the Bengals
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Three Fan of the Year.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Now time for the radio replays from Sunday's season finale
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: at fay Corse Stadium. It's the final day of the
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: regular season. While the Cincinnati Bengals will now go to
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: the playoffs in twenty twenty three, they do have two
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: very specific goals today. To finish the season with a
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: winning record and to beat a rival that has dominated
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: their head to head meetings in recent years, the Cleveland Browns.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: It is the one hundred.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: And first Battle of Ohio, and it's time for the
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: big skin to fly.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Here in the jungles.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Third down and four for the Browns from their own
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: twenty nine Driscoll to throw, floating it deep down the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: left side, thin and it is intercepted at the forty
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: five of Cleveland n short in battle.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: The rookie from Alabama.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Has his first NFL interception. The Bengals bring in a
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: sixth offensive lineman, Cody Ford. They will toss it right
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: to Joe Mixon. He woe waltz into the end zone
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: for a Bengals touchdown. He sought out contact at the
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: very end it looked like he could have gone in untouched,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and at the last instant he lowered the boom and
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: plowed into a Cleveland Brown. Browning hands it off. Mixing
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: to the forty makes a man miss. He's for the
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: fifty down the sideline, cuts back at the thirty, gets
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: grabbed by the jersey, but he's still on his feet
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and finally gets tackled at the Cleveland twenty two yard line.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: A forty four yard run by Joe Mixon twice as
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: long as his longest previous run this year, and with
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: that forty four yard run. Joe Mixon goes up and
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: over one thousand rushing yards for the season. Running back
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: at the twelve, ready for the snap, catches, looks left,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: goes to Mixon.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: Catches at the six, and he's into the end zone.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Touchdown Bengals. Joe Mixon with a touchdown run and a
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: touchdown catch and.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: The Bengals are up by two dds.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd goes in orbit Mo Browning fakes to Mixon
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: looking to throw passes into the end zone.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Caught.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Now it's dropped in the end zone. Is it a
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: touchdown first? Yes, they're holding up the touchdown signal. This
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: will be reviewed. Yo see Vosh haded briefly before Ronnie
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Hickman sharred it free and at least one official says
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: that Andre Yo Si Vosh had it long enough. Here's
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: a play action fake and a deep drop. Driscoll gets
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: hit as he throws, intercepted by Logan Wilson at the
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: forty yard line, runs to the forty five, makes a
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: man miss at the forty seven, still running down the
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: sideline and Logan Wilson makes it all the way down
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: to the thirty three. Joseph O Sai put the hit
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: on Driscoll that led to the fluttering wounded duck intercepted
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: by Logan Wilson. The Bengals have a first down at
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: their own twelve. Browning hands to Mixing. This time he's
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: got big running room, so the twenty five and Joe
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: gets tackled at the twenty the eight yard line. A
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: sixteen yard run that puts Joe up and over one
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: hundred rushing yards today. Crowning drops back to throw. Jake
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: now scans the field throws caught andre Yosi Bosh for
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: his second touchdown catch of the game, right in the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: middle of the end zone. He beat Halossie and hauled
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: it in. Shotgun snap to Driscoll drops back. It's a
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: deep drop. He's gonna fire for.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: The end zone. It is caught for the touchdown.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: David Bell in the back left corner of the end
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: zone hauls it in and the Browns fans and attendance
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: here at pay Corpse Stadium are raising their arms triumphantly
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: as their team has avoided his shutout today. Driscoll catches
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the shotgun snap, fires a pass deep downfield, a leap
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: and catch, and a touchdown for David Bell, Driscoll takes
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: a knee and the remaining twenty three seconds will run
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: off the clock. Zach Taylor and Kevin Stefanski hugging at
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the fifty yard line as the Bengals finished the season
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: with a winning record at nine to eight and avoid
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: going winless in the AFC North as they defeat the Cleveland.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Browns thirty one to fourteen.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: It was quite a day for Joe Mixon. He ran
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: for one hundred eleven yards on fourteen carries, his first
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: one hundred yard rushing performance in the regular season since
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: game nine of last year. Joe finished the season with
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: one thousand and thirty four rushing yards and three hundred
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: and seventy six receiving yards, a total of one thy
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: four hundred and ten overall. It was also a lucrative
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: day for the twenty seven year old running back, as
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Joe's two touchdowns gave him twelve this season, and that
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: was worth a three hundred and fifty thousand dollars bonus.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: I talked to Joe after the game.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Joe, the season ended on a great note for you,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: a one hundred yard rushing performance a way one thousand
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: yard season. How did you feel about the way the
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: season came to an end.
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: I felt like we went out in a great fashion.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: Obviously it's not the outcome that we wanted, but at
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: the end of the day, we ended the season with
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: a bang, and that's all we wanted to do coming
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: into this week.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Late in the game, they showed on the video board
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: that you topped one hundred yards rushing, and the fans
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: went bananas. I think your relationship with them has been
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: awesome for the last seven years and they showed you
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: that luck.
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: Man, that's one thing about them fans that's been in
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: there in that stadium, whether you know it was my
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: first year to this last year, they always been very
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: supportive of me. And you know, I can't I can't
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: thank them enough for all the love and support that
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: they showed me and give me. I mean, it's one
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: of the best feelings ever, you know what I'm saying.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: And I'll never take that for granted. And I just
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: you know, I appreciate, you know, the love and support
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: that they showed me, honestly, and you know, words really
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: can described, you know, the feeling how they make me
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: feel as a as a person and player.
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: Man.
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: So I'll try to just try to do whatever I
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: can to you know, connect with them in any way, shape,
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: form or fashion in general, man, like you know, playing
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: like throwing the ball with them before the game, or
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: you know, trying to make a little kid's day by
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: giving them a high five, or you know, throw them
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: the ball or give them some gloves or a hat
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: or whatever. And it's it's been a it's been a
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: great feeling and great thing.
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: Man.
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: So I'm gonna just you know, do whatever I can
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: to you know, keep embracing it and just keep you know,
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: giving them the love and support that they also give me.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: So this is a great thing. Joe.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: You are climbing a lot of the Bengals all time list.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: You're now number two in rushing touchdowns. You're about I
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: think thirty yards away from James Brooks in career rushing yards.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: You're closing in on Pete Johnson's record for combining touchdowns
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: rushing and receiving. You had two of those today. How
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: how much does that stuff matter to you? If at all?
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: I mean, obviously it's definitely a great achievement. I never
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: really looked at I never looked playing this game about
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: like stats. I always just wanted to be the best
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: player you know possible that I can be. And you know,
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: really reflecting over these seven years, man, and you know,
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: knowing where I stand in history books, it's definitely a blessing.
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: And that's something that you can never take for granted.
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: And you know, it's always been the best feeling, you know,
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: knowing that you know, one day you obviously have to
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: walk away from this game, but your name will forever
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: be left to hand. So I just hope, you know,
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: I could do whatever I can and keep climbing if possible,
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: and just keep taking the blessings, man, And that's all
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: I can do, and.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: Keep thinking the football guys for allowing.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Me to play this game nine and eight and a
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: winning record? Was that what you were striving for at
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the year, obviously, but it is an achievement.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, to get through an NFL season when your
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: quarterback misses seven games and finish up with a winning record,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: how do you feel about that?
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: Obviously, Like I said, it's not the season that we wanted.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, I mean, it's
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: definitely a blessing to be able to say that we
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: walked out with a winning record, and we finished the
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: season on the right note.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: So we're just gonna keep on doing whatever we gotta
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: do to stay connected as one and try to do
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: whatever we can, you know, and let our presence be
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: felt with each other through these next twenty four hours
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: and do whatever we can and enjoy my teammates.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Awesome finish for you. Congratulations on a great day and
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: another one thousand yard season.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, I appreciate it.
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: Man.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: There's Jake Browning, who tied his career high with three
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: touchdown passes before leaving the game late in the third quarter.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: For the season, Jake completed seventy percent of his throws
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: and had a passer rating of ninety eight point four,
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: that's seventh best in the NFL. He discussed the win
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: over Cleveland with Dave Lapham.
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: It's good to finish with the win.
• 11:04
  Speaker 8: Uh, you know, I think it's mixed feelings because, yeah,
• 11:07
  Speaker 8: we beat them, but I'd rather be in the playoffs
• 11:10
  Speaker 8: and so, uh, yeah, it's good to finish with the win,
• 11:13
  Speaker 8: but wish we're still playing. Kind of sucks.
• 11:16
  Speaker 9: What about your stretch, I mean, going into this football
• 11:19
  Speaker 9: game in the last six weeks, you have the best
• 11:22
  Speaker 9: completion percentage in the NFL, thrown for the most yards
• 11:25
  Speaker 9: in the NFL. I mean you haven't just played good,
• 11:28
  Speaker 9: you played great football, man.
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it's a good thing to build off
• 11:32
  Speaker 8: of for the offseason. Anytime you play as much as
• 11:36
  Speaker 8: I got to and got the opportunity, you know, I'll
• 11:38
  Speaker 8: be able to critique.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Myself and what did I do well?
• 11:42
  Speaker 8: What do I need to do better? And I'll be
• 11:43
  Speaker 8: a better quarterback next next year because of it. And
• 11:46
  Speaker 8: so yeah, it feels good to play well and get
• 11:48
  Speaker 8: an opportunity after a long time of not really playing
• 11:52
  Speaker 8: a ton of football. So, like I said, it's still
• 11:55
  Speaker 8: just I think at some point I'll be happy about that,
• 11:57
  Speaker 8: But right now I'm just pissing on in the playoffs four.
• 12:00
  Speaker 9: And three record in those seven games, it gives the
• 12:03
  Speaker 9: Bengals a nine and eight record, finished the season with
• 12:05
  Speaker 9: a winning record three years in a row. Now have
• 12:07
  Speaker 9: a winning record the entire AFC, NORD. There's a winning
• 12:11
  Speaker 9: record that hasn't happened in the NFL since nineteen thirty five.
• 12:15
  Speaker 9: I mean, you guys playing a hell of a tough division.
• 12:18
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean every division game is tough, but we
• 12:21
  Speaker 8: need to find a way to win more. And I
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: think I just keep going back to it's mixed feelings
• 12:27
  Speaker 8: where you finished strong and it's good to go into
• 12:31
  Speaker 8: a game that you know, we know where to be
• 12:32
  Speaker 8: done after and then everybody you know, worked really hard
• 12:35
  Speaker 8: and all that, but it's still just that feeling of
• 12:37
  Speaker 8: like we were so close to the playoffs and.
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: It just it sucks.
• 12:42
  Speaker 9: Boy, I'll tell you. Also, you had Joe Mixon to
• 12:44
  Speaker 9: rush fourteen times from one hundred and eleven yards in
• 12:46
  Speaker 9: a touchdown. How big was it getting that ground game
• 12:49
  Speaker 9: going huge?
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: Huge?
• 12:50
  Speaker 8: I think, you know, I think when you come into
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: a game like this, you want to be able to
• 12:55
  Speaker 8: establish the run and have everything off of that. And
• 12:59
  Speaker 8: you know we were able to establish the run. We're
• 13:01
  Speaker 8: a pretty efficient offense, and so I think that's just
• 13:05
  Speaker 8: in general for offenses is when you can be two dimensional.
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: It's a big part of the success.
• 13:11
  Speaker 9: I know your offensive lineman love you. As a former
• 13:13
  Speaker 9: offense with Liman, I get in the huddle with you
• 13:15
  Speaker 9: any dame, I'm in.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: As for the Bengals defense, they weren't facing Joe Flacco
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: or Amari Cooper or David Najoku, but when the Bengals
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: defensive starters were on the field, they thoroughly dominated. Cleveland
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: had one first down on its first six drives and
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: did not score until the fourth quarter. Trey Hendrickson had
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: half a sack to finish with seventeen and a half,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: tied for second best in the NFL behind TJ. Watt
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: and Cincinnati had a pair of interceptions, Logan Wilson with
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: his fourth of the year and rookie Jordan battle with
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: the first of his NFL career. I am crouching in
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: front of Jordan Battles locker where there was a football
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: on the ground, and that football is the one that
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: you intercepted in the first quarter for your first NFL
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: I n t described that play and how it felt. Uh.
• 14:10
  Speaker 7: It felt great just seeing in the ball, seeing the
• 14:13
  Speaker 7: ball in the air or seeing a single receiver by
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: uh spit out and seeing the quarterback eyes take his
• 14:20
  Speaker 7: see the quarterback take his eyes to the single receiver.
• 14:22
  Speaker 7: UH all the way through the progression of the the catch.
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: UH from the from.
• 14:27
  Speaker 7: The start of the play, I knew where he was
• 14:28
  Speaker 7: going to the ball, and then when I broke I
• 14:30
  Speaker 7: just knew I had to catch the catch the ball
• 14:32
  Speaker 7: and keep my feet and bound, and it was a
• 14:34
  Speaker 7: great fielding.
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: After I called the ball getting my first career.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Interception, I sat on the radio at the end of
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: that interception, you looked like a wide receiver right foot down,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: left foot, toad drag.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: That was impressive.
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I worked on that practice, so I had to
• 14:49
  Speaker 6: get it down in the game.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Jordan, that wasn't the only highlight. You also had a
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: sack today. A great way to finish your rookie season.
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah, a great way to finish the rookie season.
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: But you know light said, not the way, not the
• 15:01
  Speaker 7: way we wanted, not the way we wanted it to be.
• 15:04
  Speaker 7: But the outcome of the game was what we wanted,
• 15:06
  Speaker 7: you know, to end with a positive record, go nine
• 15:08
  Speaker 7: and eight on the year. Obviously we know that that
• 15:11
  Speaker 7: was in the standards. But just to come out here
• 15:13
  Speaker 7: and put in the hard way throughout the week, to
• 15:15
  Speaker 7: come out here on Sunday and dominate and have that
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: positive record by it at the end.
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: Of the season is a great feeling for us.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: How far do you feel you came during the course
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: of your rookie year.
• 15:25
  Speaker 7: Uh, yeah, I came I came a long way just
• 15:28
  Speaker 7: from you know, having my first start after the Ravens,
• 15:31
  Speaker 7: after the second Ravens game, from even before and then
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: before then just coming in, you know, when I came in,
• 15:37
  Speaker 7: and you know, just trying to make impact as soon
• 15:40
  Speaker 7: as possible, and you know, just from what I've got
• 15:43
  Speaker 7: from when I started getting on the field, just the guys,
• 15:45
  Speaker 7: you know, rallying me, rallying me in, welcome me in,
• 15:48
  Speaker 7: and uh, guys like GP, guys like Logan, guys like Mike,
• 15:52
  Speaker 7: guys like Cam, you know, and just bringing us rookies
• 15:55
  Speaker 7: in who played early, and.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: You know, just just building that chemistry.
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: Throughout the year.
• 16:00
  Speaker 7: Obviously there were some ups and downs, giving up exposive
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: plays and everything in a in a deepense, but we
• 16:07
  Speaker 7: know that's something we have to work on and we're
• 16:08
  Speaker 7: going to continue to get better at that.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Nobody is going to complain about a thirty one to
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: fourteen win, But you had to shut out going in
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: the fourth quarter where you're a little bit bombed when
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: you gave up a couple of late tds.
• 16:19
  Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, yeah, obviously you know, we don't we didn't
• 16:21
  Speaker 7: want to give up any touchdowns. We wanted to do
• 16:23
  Speaker 7: in the in the game with a with a on
• 16:25
  Speaker 7: the on the on the scoreboard. But the biggest thing
• 16:28
  Speaker 7: is we got a dub and we couldn't be any
• 16:31
  Speaker 7: any more excited than for going positive.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: In the season, you played on great teams at Alabama
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: SEC championship games, college football fourteen playoff games, et cetera.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: But this season, your rookie year in the NFL is
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: really long in comparison today probably anything you've ever done
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: in your life. Uh, how does it feel to to
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: make it through and now you know, get ready to
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: train in the offseason and then come back for year two.
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's just it feels great.
• 17:00
  Speaker 7: You know, from the end of the my last from
• 17:03
  Speaker 7: the last college football game, Uh, you know all of that,
• 17:06
  Speaker 7: and now I didn't really have a break. Uh you know,
• 17:08
  Speaker 7: you got pre draft teams. You gotta you gotta work
• 17:10
  Speaker 7: out after after the draft. So this really it's gonna
• 17:14
  Speaker 7: be my my first time really being off since since
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: like I don't even know, since last summer, and uh,
• 17:20
  Speaker 7: it's it's gonna be It's gonna be fun. You know, obviously,
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: don train, try to chain with some of the guys
• 17:25
  Speaker 7: in the off season, you know, be a professional and
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: come back ready to you know, get that footballs in
• 17:30
  Speaker 7: a year.
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: Two.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Congratulations to a great finish on a very good first year.
• 17:35
  Speaker 6: Thank you, sir, Thank you.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Now let's hear from head coach Zach Taylor. We spent
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: about four minutes with lap.
• 17:43
  Speaker 9: Coach that couple football game, I mean got stepped up.
• 17:46
  Speaker 10: Yeah, I'm proud of the way that they finished it,
• 17:47
  Speaker 10: you know, and closed out the right way, and and
• 17:50
  Speaker 10: the key today was getting on them early. And so
• 17:53
  Speaker 10: I felt like going into halftime twenty four nothing, our
• 17:55
  Speaker 10: guys did a great job controlling with the control of
• 17:57
  Speaker 10: the first half, coming out playing a real good third quarter,
• 17:59
  Speaker 10: you know, hold them score and having a ninety nine
• 18:01
  Speaker 10: yer touchdown drive and then gave it gave a lot
• 18:03
  Speaker 10: of guys an opportunity to get in there and be
• 18:05
  Speaker 10: rewarded for their efforts this season. Ninety nine yard touchdown drive.
• 18:08
  Speaker 10: I think in my whole career, I've only been on
• 18:10
  Speaker 10: one of those, and it was like fourteen to fifteen plays.
• 18:14
  Speaker 10: It took like, you know, eight or nine minutes, kind
• 18:16
  Speaker 10: of just like this one. And the feeling that you
• 18:18
  Speaker 10: have is just unbelievable. You feel like you're on top.
• 18:20
  Speaker 11: Of the world.
• 18:21
  Speaker 10: Yeah, I wish I could say it feels easy. It
• 18:24
  Speaker 10: didn't feel easy, I know, I jink said earlier this week,
• 18:26
  Speaker 10: I said the callahan. We haven't had hardly any backup
• 18:29
  Speaker 10: drives this year, and of course we get the ball
• 18:30
  Speaker 10: on the inchart line, but the guy's managed the situation
• 18:33
  Speaker 10: the right way, drew him off side several times around
• 18:35
  Speaker 10: the drive. Things that we worked really hard on that
• 18:37
  Speaker 10: only come up once a year. That happened to come
• 18:39
  Speaker 10: up in the last game of the year. Our guys
• 18:40
  Speaker 10: executed him well and we're able to get us a
• 18:43
  Speaker 10: bunch of first downs to get the ball in the
• 18:44
  Speaker 10: end zone.
• 18:44
  Speaker 9: What about Joe Mixon fourteen rushes one hundred and eleven yards.
• 18:48
  Speaker 9: He had five carries of ten yards and more. Brown
• 18:52
  Speaker 9: had two, Browning had one. I mean, that's you're talking
• 18:57
  Speaker 9: about eight carries of ten yards and more in the
• 19:00
  Speaker 9: running game. That's pretty explosive.
• 19:01
  Speaker 10: It was a good job by those guys up front,
• 19:03
  Speaker 10: those guys at the back position, good job on the perimeter.
• 19:07
  Speaker 10: You know, they blitz us to Some of the times,
• 19:08
  Speaker 10: you're gonna have tough runs that aren't great, and sometimes
• 19:11
  Speaker 10: they're gonna be able to hit them and so there
• 19:12
  Speaker 10: was kind of a balance of that today, but I
• 19:14
  Speaker 10: thought it was good to get some explosive runs going.
• 19:16
  Speaker 9: How about Yosi vash. Five catches on the day, two
• 19:18
  Speaker 9: of them are touchdowns. Take forty percent scoring efficiency on
• 19:22
  Speaker 9: five catches. That's a pretty good day.
• 19:23
  Speaker 10: Yeah, that's a good job staying alive in the progression.
• 19:25
  Speaker 10: You know, on some of those touchdowns, I think one
• 19:27
  Speaker 10: of them is kind of a half scramble and one
• 19:28
  Speaker 10: of them was late in the progression, and so just
• 19:30
  Speaker 10: a good job staying alive and making contested catches.
• 19:33
  Speaker 9: So the entire division finishes with a winning record. That
• 19:36
  Speaker 9: hasn't happened in the National Football League since nineteen thirty five.
• 19:40
  Speaker 9: I mean, you know, of course, having even numbers fourteen
• 19:43
  Speaker 9: and sixteen game seasons, there have been five hundred records,
• 19:47
  Speaker 9: but not over five hundred. Last year, it could have
• 19:50
  Speaker 9: happened in the NFL East NFC East, but Washington tied
• 19:54
  Speaker 9: an eight and one record. So since nineteen thirty five,
• 19:57
  Speaker 9: and that says a lot about the AC North. And
• 19:59
  Speaker 9: you always talk about how tough this division is.
• 20:02
  Speaker 10: We're proud to be a part of this division. You know,
• 20:03
  Speaker 10: there's some pride that comes from that. Unfortunately, we didn't
• 20:08
  Speaker 10: do enough to get ourselves in the playoff hunt. That'll
• 20:12
  Speaker 10: be our focus next year, obviously, to perform better and
• 20:15
  Speaker 10: do a great job in the division and check off
• 20:17
  Speaker 10: all of our goals. But you know, it is a
• 20:19
  Speaker 10: tough division, and I think it's pretty clear to everybody
• 20:21
  Speaker 10: that that's the case.
• 20:22
  Speaker 9: You mentioned that you're going to have your players. Everybody
• 20:25
  Speaker 9: wants to go, everybody wants to finish this strong. There
• 20:28
  Speaker 9: was no sign of anybody wanting to tap out. That
• 20:30
  Speaker 9: says a lot about how they feel about each other
• 20:33
  Speaker 9: and how they feel about you and the culture we've established.
• 20:35
  Speaker 10: I think the way that these guys went on the
• 20:37
  Speaker 10: road last week and competed at the bitter end and
• 20:39
  Speaker 10: gave their best effort today shows the character we have
• 20:41
  Speaker 10: in the locker room. And despite the adversity we face
• 20:44
  Speaker 10: this year, and not once to everyone point fingers at
• 20:46
  Speaker 10: anybody else. Everyone always took accountability. And I'm proud to
• 20:50
  Speaker 10: be a coach of a locker room right that, proud
• 20:52
  Speaker 10: to represent a coaching staff that's like that in an organization.
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: And we'll be back. We're going to put in the work.
• 20:57
  Speaker 10: This is a bitter taste in our mouth to end
• 20:58
  Speaker 10: it today and not be able to play in the playoffs,
• 21:01
  Speaker 10: and that'll not that we need any motivation, but we
• 21:04
  Speaker 10: certainly want to get back in contention to play for
• 21:06
  Speaker 10: more meaningful things.
• 21:07
  Speaker 9: Do you remember being in a game before where each
• 21:09
  Speaker 9: team had an interception on their first possession of the game.
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: Not not that stands out to men?
• 21:15
  Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean that's that's rare.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: That's kind.
• 21:17
  Speaker 9: But you guys compartmentalize put it away in three straight
• 21:20
  Speaker 9: touchdown drives. I mean, how important was that just to
• 21:22
  Speaker 9: move on?
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: It was good.
• 21:23
  Speaker 10: You need and in a game like this, you need
• 21:25
  Speaker 10: to get them momentum eily, you know, and because they're
• 21:28
  Speaker 10: they're playing with house money, you know they're gonna have
• 21:30
  Speaker 10: a lot of energy on the sideline. This guys getting
• 21:31
  Speaker 10: opportunity to play, and so it's important to get on
• 21:33
  Speaker 10: a team like that early and and try to squash
• 21:36
  Speaker 10: that hope, and our guys did a good job of
• 21:37
  Speaker 10: that and I think maximizing their opportunities today.
• 21:41
  Speaker 9: You came out of it really well physically too. I mean,
• 21:44
  Speaker 9: it doesn't look like there's anything significant that you have
• 21:46
  Speaker 9: to worry about going into the offseason physically, we tried to.
• 21:49
  Speaker 10: Do a good job in the second half when when
• 21:50
  Speaker 10: we got control of it, you know, to try to
• 21:52
  Speaker 10: get some guys out and get some other guys some opportunities.
• 21:55
  Speaker 9: Coach, Thanks for a great season, honestly, I mean, you know,
• 21:59
  Speaker 9: it didn't work out the way everybody had hoped. But
• 22:01
  Speaker 9: I mean this football team gave every ounce that they had,
• 22:06
  Speaker 9: every single snap of every single game, and to me,
• 22:08
  Speaker 9: that's all you can ask for. And it didn't work out.
• 22:11
  Speaker 9: The football gods weren't going to be as kind to
• 22:13
  Speaker 9: us as they were to others. But Appreciate the effort
• 22:16
  Speaker 9: you guys gave. Appreciate you making yourself available to us
• 22:19
  Speaker 9: after the game every game like this, and you're a
• 22:21
  Speaker 9: class actor.
• 22:22
  Speaker 10: I appreciate saying that you guys are easy to work with.
• 22:24
  Speaker 9: Appreciate you, Coach.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Thanks tav Sunday's results determine the draft order for the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: teams that missed the playoffs, and the Bengals will have
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the eighteenth pick in this year's draft. For the fun
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: of it, I went to the PFF mock Draft simulator
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: for the first time this year and selected offensive tackle
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: A Marius Mims from Georgia. He's six seven, three hundred
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: and forty pounds and can be a plug and play
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: starter at right tackle if Jonah Williams leaves in free agency.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
• 22:57
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  Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
• 23:08
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• 23:12
  Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: for the radio guys recap. We nobody was exactly jumping
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: for joy in the locker room after the game, but
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: there was a feeling of it beats the alternative to
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: finish on a winning note, to finish with a winning record,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: and to avoid losing every game in the AFC North
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: this year.
• 23:33
  Speaker 9: I think no doubt about it. I think a feeling
• 23:35
  Speaker 9: of satisfaction. You know, it wasn't like, uh, you know,
• 23:41
  Speaker 9: raised the raised the flag, we beat the we beat
• 23:43
  Speaker 9: the Cleveland Browns, but to go over in the division
• 23:48
  Speaker 9: is something you don't want to be part of. And uh,
• 23:51
  Speaker 9: the players understand that, and they get the they get
• 23:56
  Speaker 9: the victory that they needed. I mean, I think the
• 23:58
  Speaker 9: AFC North is you know, respected throughout the league, and
• 24:01
  Speaker 9: to have three AFC North teams in the playoffs is
• 24:04
  Speaker 9: a is a testament to that. To have to have
• 24:06
  Speaker 9: three teams with double digit wins and then the last
• 24:10
  Speaker 9: place team to have a winning record says a lot
• 24:13
  Speaker 9: about a lot about the division for sure, or so yeah,
• 24:17
  Speaker 9: it's everybody that I talked to is like, you know, ah,
• 24:21
  Speaker 9: this is good, but we didn't. We didn't make the playoffs.
• 24:23
  Speaker 9: I mean that that bottom line was the number one
• 24:26
  Speaker 9: goal you go into training camp is to win the
• 24:28
  Speaker 9: division and then next somehow make the playoffs, you know,
• 24:31
  Speaker 9: wild card, whatever the case may be. And their top
• 24:34
  Speaker 9: two goals they didn't get. Now, I'm sure a five
• 24:37
  Speaker 9: hundred record was down the line, so they achieved the
• 24:40
  Speaker 9: goal that was definitely down the line.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Jake Brown, he certainly finished on a positive note, three
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: touchdown passes, a passer rating of one thirteen point nine.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: The job he did in the seven games he started
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: in Joe Burrow's absence is certainly one of the biggest
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: positives of this year.
• 24:56
  Speaker 9: No question. I mean, the guy he completed, he did
• 25:01
  Speaker 9: in the seven games he started over seventy five percent
• 25:04
  Speaker 9: of his passes. That could very well be in that
• 25:06
  Speaker 9: seven game stretch number one in the league. I'd be
• 25:08
  Speaker 9: surprised if it's not. He didn't throw for tony yards
• 25:11
  Speaker 9: in this game, one hundred and fifty six yards, but
• 25:12
  Speaker 9: he had the most yards in the six weeks prior
• 25:15
  Speaker 9: of any quarter, well over seventeen hundred yards. So he's
• 25:18
  Speaker 9: looking at, you know, close to two thousand yards passing
• 25:21
  Speaker 9: in a seven game stretch. And I think the other
• 25:25
  Speaker 9: thing too, was you started start the game with a
• 25:29
  Speaker 9: turnover drive, put it away, and he did, I mean
• 25:33
  Speaker 9: next three drives or touchdowns. He ends up with three
• 25:36
  Speaker 9: three passing touchdowns. There's something to be said for that
• 25:38
  Speaker 9: as well. And you know, he'll be the first to
• 25:41
  Speaker 9: tell you that you get that running game going for
• 25:43
  Speaker 9: over one hundred and eighty yards. It might have slipped
• 25:45
  Speaker 9: below that toward the end when Cleveland was bringing everybody
• 25:48
  Speaker 9: there were run blitzing every snap at the end of
• 25:49
  Speaker 9: the football game. But Joe Mixing fourteen carries, one hundred
• 25:52
  Speaker 9: and eleven yards and a touchdown that you can build
• 25:56
  Speaker 9: off of that during the game.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: He also had a touchdown catch in the game finished
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: the season with more than one thousand rushing yards. It's strange,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: it never really seemed like Joe is having a great
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: year this year, But when you add up the numbers,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: it's going to be about fourteen hundred combined rushing and
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: receiving yards, double digit touchdowns. He may not be what
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: he once was, but he's still pretty solid, especially if
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: you can combine him with a guy like you know,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: Chase Brown and use that duo.
• 26:24
  Speaker 9: I think that's why I think the coaches appreciate him
• 26:27
  Speaker 9: so much, because you know, they know that he's going
• 26:30
  Speaker 9: to show up. They know he's going to show up
• 26:32
  Speaker 9: every game. He's going to give everything he's got every game.
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: I mean, you know, knock on wood, he doesn't fumble
• 26:38
  Speaker 9: the football, you know, I mean his ball security. I mean,
• 26:42
  Speaker 9: he's responsible for his higher percentage of the rushing game
• 26:46
  Speaker 9: than any running back for his team's rushing yards in
• 26:49
  Speaker 9: the National Football League. I mean, he's he's the guy,
• 26:53
  Speaker 9: and you know he doesn't give the football away. That's
• 26:56
  Speaker 9: a big deal. They only fumbled the ball seven or
• 26:59
  Speaker 9: nine times all year and lost two of them. That's
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: crazy to lose two fumbles in seventeen football games. I
• 27:07
  Speaker 9: think that ties the lowest the Bengals have ever had
• 27:09
  Speaker 9: in franchise history, and you have to go back a
• 27:11
  Speaker 9: long way to find the time that had happened earlier.
• 27:15
  Speaker 9: But to lose two fumbles in seventeen games, now that's
• 27:19
  Speaker 9: the most games in a season to not lose a
• 27:22
  Speaker 9: fumble obviously, So to me, that's the record.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: This was a good day for the Bengals rookie class.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Charlie Jones had a thirty five yard catch, andre Yosi
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Vash had a pair of touchdown catches. Brad Robbins had
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: a good day punting the ball. Jordan Battle had an
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: interception and a sack. Those guys showed up in a
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: big way in the season finale.
• 27:42
  Speaker 9: They really did. And you know, second year players have
• 27:45
  Speaker 9: started to you know, expand their roles and show what
• 27:49
  Speaker 9: they're about. And I consider Osiah's second year player because
• 27:52
  Speaker 9: his rookie year was gone to injury, so I mean
• 27:55
  Speaker 9: he's had two years to you know, show his whears,
• 27:58
  Speaker 9: and unfortunately this year he got hurt early on that
• 28:01
  Speaker 9: kind of curtailed his his contributions. He could make, you
• 28:04
  Speaker 9: know this season, but man, this guy has got some
• 28:08
  Speaker 9: special traits to him, and and uh, you know, I
• 28:11
  Speaker 9: think they're doing a good job of developing them, developing
• 28:14
  Speaker 9: those traits. He just needs to stay healthy. But that
• 28:16
  Speaker 9: guy is explosive. He can close, you know, tackle for loss, pressure,
• 28:22
  Speaker 9: deflected pass for an interception. I'll take an interception over
• 28:25
  Speaker 9: sack if you're responsible for it any day of the week.
• 28:27
  Speaker 9: And he's the one that hit the arm that caused
• 28:30
  Speaker 9: the you know, the erratic, inaccurate throw. So I thought
• 28:33
  Speaker 9: he had a difference making football game, you know, as
• 28:37
  Speaker 9: a defensive football player, and going into the offseason on
• 28:40
  Speaker 9: an uptick like that individually as well as collectively with
• 28:43
  Speaker 9: the team. I think is big for him and just man,
• 28:47
  Speaker 9: get bigger, stronger, faster, and he does have size speed
• 28:50
  Speaker 9: ratio ridiculousness, but you know, keep working on that. He
• 28:54
  Speaker 9: could have a big year next year. He could be,
• 28:56
  Speaker 9: you know, part of a significant rotation. And I gotta
• 28:59
  Speaker 9: I got a really give kudos to Sam Hubbard. I
• 29:02
  Speaker 9: asked him after after the game in the locker room,
• 29:05
  Speaker 9: I said, how many games where's your ankle? Messed up?
• 29:08
  Speaker 9: Got high ankle sprain? Seven? He played seven games with
• 29:12
  Speaker 9: an ankle that he's having surgery. On it said, is
• 29:14
  Speaker 9: it Tuesday, Wednesday said Wednesday's gonna have surgery. Wednesday, He's
• 29:17
  Speaker 9: gonna have the tightrope surgery. You know, tibium fibula pull apart,
• 29:21
  Speaker 9: soft tissue damage is gonna tighten that stuff back up.
• 29:24
  Speaker 9: But I mean for him to go out and perform
• 29:25
  Speaker 9: like he had a sack today and uh, you know,
• 29:28
  Speaker 9: gave him tough snaps. That guy I've got. I had
• 29:32
  Speaker 9: an unbelievable amount of respect for him, and I guess
• 29:35
  Speaker 9: it's gonna increase if it possibly can. But that that's
• 29:37
  Speaker 9: just I mean, as a former lineman, I can't tell
• 29:41
  Speaker 9: you how impressed I am with that.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: I'll say similar things about Jamar Chase. Played the last
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks with a sore shoulder, clearly wasn't himself,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: but he still got the four catches he needed to
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: gay to get to one hundred four of the season.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: And considering that, you know, Joe Burrow wasn't himself in
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: the first four games of the season, didn't play the
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: last seven games of the year, and you still had
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: one hundred receptions in the season. H Jamar Chase is special.
• 30:07
  Speaker 9: He is he is He's He's a unicorn. You know,
• 30:10
  Speaker 9: he's one of a kind. He is so different. I
• 30:13
  Speaker 9: don't think there's another receiver in the league that has
• 30:15
  Speaker 9: the mix of things physically and mentally that this guy has.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: He is.
• 30:19
  Speaker 9: He's a rare, rare breed. And let's face it, when
• 30:25
  Speaker 9: Joe Burrow has had healthy seasons, this team has gone
• 30:27
  Speaker 9: to the SC Championship in the Super Bowl when he
• 30:30
  Speaker 9: hasn't had healthy seasons. You know, it's obviously the difference.
• 30:34
  Speaker 9: Gotta get Joe Burrow healthy, keep him healthy, do everything
• 30:38
  Speaker 9: you possibly can to keep him healthy. Uh, whether it's
• 30:42
  Speaker 9: schematically as well as execution of everybody around him. But
• 30:48
  Speaker 9: that dude is special, and uh, you know, and we
• 30:51
  Speaker 9: already gave kudos to Jake. Jake played an unbelievably high level.
• 30:55
  Speaker 9: But Joe Burrow is highest paid, you know, one of
• 30:58
  Speaker 9: the highest paid players in the history the National Football
• 31:01
  Speaker 9: League for a reason. That dude, again, you talk about
• 31:03
  Speaker 9: a unicorn, that that guy is rare and unique and special.
• 31:06
  Speaker 9: And I mean Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase, that combination
• 31:12
  Speaker 9: is hard to beat in the league.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: How much respect do you have for the O line
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: answering the bell seventeen games they started every game. They
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: took almost every snap together for seventeen games, and nobody
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: talked about whatever bumps and bruises they had, but you
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: know they had plenty.
• 31:26
  Speaker 9: No doubt plenty is right. And I mean I know
• 31:29
  Speaker 9: Kappa Kappa was you know, limping and gimping for a
• 31:32
  Speaker 9: while there down the stretch. He had you know, he
• 31:34
  Speaker 9: had a foot issue, at an ankle issue. He had
• 31:36
  Speaker 9: different different things and everybody does though a lot of times,
• 31:39
  Speaker 9: offensive line injuries aren't the type that you up in
• 31:41
  Speaker 9: the injury report, but you're either in the whirlpool or
• 31:43
  Speaker 9: in the ice bath or you know, contrast treatments, just
• 31:46
  Speaker 9: trying to take care of your body. And that offensive line.
• 31:50
  Speaker 9: I've been around some offensive lines that you know, grew
• 31:52
  Speaker 9: really close and were like inseparable. That's what this group is.
• 31:57
  Speaker 9: This group is a very very close unit. I mean, uh,
• 32:01
  Speaker 9: you mess with one of them, you're messing with all
• 32:03
  Speaker 9: of them kind of thing. And and I thought that
• 32:05
  Speaker 9: they played that way, and you know, I was glad
• 32:09
  Speaker 9: to see them have a big running day and have
• 32:13
  Speaker 9: Joe go well over one hundred and rush for you know,
• 32:16
  Speaker 9: well over one hundred and fifty themselves as a unit.
• 32:19
  Speaker 9: I thought that, you know, that was I guess that
• 32:23
  Speaker 9: was football justice because they have they've they've taken a
• 32:27
  Speaker 9: lot of heat, and you always do as an offensive lineman.
• 32:29
  Speaker 9: I mean, I've always talked about the offensive line. It's
• 32:31
  Speaker 9: like mushrooms, you know, they they keep in the dark.
• 32:35
  Speaker 9: They don't you never see the you never see any sun,
• 32:38
  Speaker 9: you don't get water, you don't you know, it's like
• 32:40
  Speaker 9: you just you have to just exist. But obviously it's
• 32:44
  Speaker 9: an important part of the football team offensively for sure.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: It ends with a nine and eight record, no trip
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: But they'll be back at it in the spring for
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: OTAs and then many camps and then training camp at
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: the at the end of lie and I can't wait already.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: It's fun to finish today, it is.
• 33:03
  Speaker 9: And that you know, that's the thing, even though you
• 33:05
  Speaker 9: know it's bitterly disappointing not to not to you know,
• 33:09
  Speaker 9: be in the playoffs and reach the goals. You know
• 33:12
  Speaker 9: that this football team can be elite, and I really
• 33:15
  Speaker 9: believe that. I think it can be elite. And one
• 33:19
  Speaker 9: thing that I'm looking forward to already is the maturation
• 33:22
  Speaker 9: of the safeties where they're going to be able to
• 33:25
  Speaker 9: recognize and communicate and you know, not allow these explosives.
• 33:30
  Speaker 9: I mean, seventy nine plays of twenty yards or more
• 33:34
  Speaker 9: going into this football game, you know, almost five a game.
• 33:38
  Speaker 9: You just can't. You can't survive that way. And having
• 33:41
  Speaker 9: an offseason to reflect back on it, you know, work
• 33:44
  Speaker 9: on the things that you need to work on and
• 33:45
  Speaker 9: improve on, and come back, you know, a different football
• 33:49
  Speaker 9: player with much more experience and savvy under the belt.
• 33:54
  Speaker 9: I'm looking forward to what this secondary could be because
• 33:56
  Speaker 9: they call it run Dan. It's ridiculous how they can
• 33:58
  Speaker 9: all run. Looking at the big jump for the secondary
• 34:02
  Speaker 9: as a group next year.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Finally, it's time for this week's fun Facts conversation, where
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: you get to know the person under the pads. Time
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: for some fun facts with defensive tackle Travis Bell from Montgomery, Alabama,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the capital of that state. What do you love about
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: your hometown, Travis?
• 34:21
  Speaker 5: I just love the people.
• 34:22
  Speaker 11: There, man, the support I get from my hometown. Oh
• 34:26
  Speaker 11: and we got a baseball team, the Biscuits.
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: Man.
• 34:30
  Speaker 11: I used to love going to the baseball games when
• 34:32
  Speaker 11: I was a little boy.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: You and your sister were raised by your mom, describe
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: your relationship with her.
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: My mom is my world, man. She's everything to me. Man.
• 34:41
  Speaker 11: She took care of me when I was a little boy.
• 34:43
  Speaker 11: Me and my sister taught me everything I know, even
• 34:46
  Speaker 11: some of the stuff I do on the field.
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: Man, she taught me. So I appreciate her a lot.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Was football always your number one sport?
• 34:54
  Speaker 11: Sad to say, No, it was baseball. I I love baseball, man.
• 34:59
  Speaker 11: I was a left hand pitcher and I played a
• 35:01
  Speaker 11: little first base. But as I got to high school,
• 35:03
  Speaker 11: I kind of got away from baseball and tried to
• 35:05
  Speaker 11: focus more.
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: You know, on football.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: You're an NFL defensive tackle. But I read that in
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: middle school you were a punk passing kick champion. Is
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: that true?
• 35:15
  Speaker 5: Yes? I was. How you find it out? That's crazy?
• 35:20
  Speaker 11: Yeah, Man, I went to a camp, and you know,
• 35:24
  Speaker 11: I showed that I was an athlete.
• 35:26
  Speaker 5: Man, I could do it all. Yeah.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: Did you ever punt after that?
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: Uh? Yeah, I punted a little bit.
• 35:32
  Speaker 11: I punted a little bit in uh middle school, and
• 35:35
  Speaker 11: uh that was the end of the road for me.
• 35:38
  Speaker 11: After middle school and I got to high school, I
• 35:40
  Speaker 11: was focused strictly on defensive line.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Man, were visiting the Travis Bell you had an excellent
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: high school football career, but you weren't heavily recruited. Was
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: that confusing to you?
• 35:51
  Speaker 11: It kind of was. But my coaches, you know, they
• 35:55
  Speaker 11: explained how it works. Man, undersized guys kind of go
• 35:59
  Speaker 11: under the radar sometimes, and a lot of school asked
• 36:02
  Speaker 11: me how would I feel switching positions? And I told
• 36:05
  Speaker 11: them all the same thing. Man, I'm a d lineman
• 36:07
  Speaker 11: at heart. Whatever happens from there, you know, it is
• 36:10
  Speaker 11: what it is. But who knew in the future I
• 36:13
  Speaker 11: would be, you know, playing the position that they told
• 36:17
  Speaker 11: me I shouldn't play, you know, in the league.
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: So it's a blessing overall.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: Re Visiting with Travis Bell or you wound up in
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Kansas State in Georgia, but you almost left your freshman year.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Why did you consider leaving and why did you ultimately stay?
• 36:31
  Speaker 11: I consider leaving because, man, that was that was probably
• 36:35
  Speaker 11: one of the hardest things I ever had to do
• 36:38
  Speaker 11: in my life. Man, playing up there in Kinnessauwa coach
• 36:40
  Speaker 11: bow and I was just looking forward to you know,
• 36:44
  Speaker 11: I put in a lot of work during that, during
• 36:48
  Speaker 11: far camp and stuff like that, I put in a
• 36:50
  Speaker 11: lot of work. I expected to play my first year
• 36:53
  Speaker 11: and he read shirt in my whole class. So I
• 36:55
  Speaker 11: was kind of upset about that, and I was, you know,
• 36:58
  Speaker 11: getting home sick.
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: It was a lot that played a part into that decision.
• 37:01
  Speaker 11: But man, my mom told me like, hey, you can
• 37:04
  Speaker 11: drop out of school, but you can't come back here.
• 37:06
  Speaker 5: So I had no choice but to stay in school.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: We call that tough love.
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: Tough love.
• 37:12
  Speaker 11: Man, I ain't understand it, but I appreciate my MoMA
• 37:15
  Speaker 11: for telling me that that's the That's the best advice
• 37:18
  Speaker 11: or best thing she probably ever told me.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Man, playing college football is like a full time job.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: But in your case, you had a job while playing.
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: What did you do?
• 37:30
  Speaker 7: Uh?
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: I was?
• 37:31
  Speaker 11: I worked for like a logistics medical company, our Ventures Medical.
• 37:36
  Speaker 11: We'll go pick up medical equipment and store, you know,
• 37:39
  Speaker 11: like go to healthcare doctors, doctors, doctor's office, hospitals, We'll
• 37:44
  Speaker 11: go drop off medical equipment or pick it up store.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: So what was the schedule like between class football and
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: having a job.
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: Well, six in.
• 37:55
  Speaker 11: The morning, I'll wake up and I'll go work out,
• 37:58
  Speaker 11: and after my workout, I go to work. And I
• 38:01
  Speaker 11: had online classes at the time, so it was pretty
• 38:04
  Speaker 11: smooth for me. Even when I didn't have online classes.
• 38:08
  Speaker 11: My boss was pretty flexible with me, and he's a
• 38:10
  Speaker 11: real good friend.
• 38:11
  Speaker 5: We still talk.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Where'd the money go?
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: Where the money go? The money went to bills and
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: to family. My mom.
• 38:21
  Speaker 11: Yeah, So I had to, you know, spread the love
• 38:23
  Speaker 11: with that. I had to help keep afloat.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: So in your senior year at Kennansas State, you play
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: that Cincinnati facing a school that had been in the
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: college football playoff the year before. What stands out about
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: that experience?
• 38:36
  Speaker 11: That was probably one of the best experience I had,
• 38:39
  Speaker 11: because I always wondered like where I stood when it
• 38:42
  Speaker 11: came to, you know, the playing against the top tier guys.
• 38:46
  Speaker 11: So them coming off a playoff run and getting the
• 38:49
  Speaker 11: opportunity to play against those guys let me know that
• 38:52
  Speaker 11: I could do it.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: You know, we're trying to Travis Spell. You earned your
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: college degree at Kennansas State. How important was that to
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: you and your family?
• 39:00
  Speaker 5: Man?
• 39:00
  Speaker 11: That was real important, man, that was that was well
• 39:04
  Speaker 11: my mom wanted My mom really wanted me to get
• 39:06
  Speaker 11: that degree.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 39:07
  Speaker 11: So I stayed true to it, and she's still proud
• 39:10
  Speaker 11: of me. She still talk about it. Her friends still
• 39:13
  Speaker 11: call me and tell me they proud of me. About
• 39:15
  Speaker 11: getting my degree because it was a real struggle for
• 39:17
  Speaker 11: me back in my gummy man. A lot of people,
• 39:19
  Speaker 11: you know, counted me out and.
• 39:23
  Speaker 5: I made it happen, man. So yeah, that's that was
• 39:25
  Speaker 5: a real blessing.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: After your great college career. You were drafting the seventh
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: round this year by the Chicago Bears. You told reporters
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: that as soon as you got the call, you cried.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Described that draft experience.
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: I thought I was gonna be taken late in the
• 39:39
  Speaker 5: sixth round.
• 39:40
  Speaker 11: I heard a little chirping about that, and I seen
• 39:43
  Speaker 11: I didn't get getting get picked up. So I was
• 39:45
  Speaker 11: kind of hurt, and uh and I just cut the
• 39:48
  Speaker 11: TV off, man.
• 39:49
  Speaker 5: I was, I was.
• 39:50
  Speaker 11: I was done watching the draft. I just was waiting
• 39:52
  Speaker 11: on the call for after the draft or whatever. And
• 39:56
  Speaker 11: as soon as I cut the TV off, man, I'm
• 39:58
  Speaker 11: talking about literally soon I cut the TV off.
• 40:01
  Speaker 5: My girl she was with me at the time.
• 40:04
  Speaker 11: She walked out and went to the store, and I
• 40:07
  Speaker 11: got the call from Ryan Poles and I was like.
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: No way, no way, this is happening right now.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 40:14
  Speaker 11: Every I'm talking about everybody I talked to, most almost
• 40:17
  Speaker 11: every team I talked to told me that I was
• 40:19
  Speaker 11: gonna go undrafted. So, man, he made my dreams come true. Man,
• 40:24
  Speaker 11: he made me a kind of of a legend, you
• 40:27
  Speaker 11: know in Kinnisaure right now.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: So the first Kinnesas State player ever selected in the
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: NFL draft.
• 40:33
  Speaker 11: Yes, sir, yes, sir, blessing true, blessing. Man, I got
• 40:38
  Speaker 11: pictures on the wall. And we had a guy that
• 40:41
  Speaker 11: went to the league before me, a Zoya Alufa Ha.
• 40:44
  Speaker 11: It's like a big brother, and he always talking me like, man,
• 40:49
  Speaker 11: you can do it, you can do it. And I
• 40:51
  Speaker 11: stayed true to it, man, and lo and behold, I
• 40:54
  Speaker 11: did it. Man, I'm here for not for a good time,
• 40:57
  Speaker 11: but for a long time.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: Man with Travis Bell. So after being drafted by the
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: Bears and spending training camp with them, you got cleaned
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: off their practice squad by the Atlanta Falcons and major
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: NFL debut with Atlanta in December. What will you always
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: remember about your first NFL game?
• 41:16
  Speaker 11: The atmosphere, man, h Just how calm I was before
• 41:21
  Speaker 11: the storm.
• 41:21
  Speaker 5: Man.
• 41:21
  Speaker 11: I remember just sitting in my locker, man, just thinking about,
• 41:25
  Speaker 11: you know, all the hard times, everything I went through
• 41:28
  Speaker 11: to get to this moment, you know, and it was
• 41:30
  Speaker 11: real emotional for me in the locker room. But I
• 41:34
  Speaker 11: was able to, you know, get out there, get the
• 41:37
  Speaker 11: butterflies out after the first and up in the rest's history. Man,
• 41:41
  Speaker 11: it was just football at the end of the day.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Describe your first NFL tackle.
• 41:48
  Speaker 11: I honestly, I was so caught up in the moment.
• 41:50
  Speaker 11: I wasn't even worried about the tackle. I was just
• 41:52
  Speaker 11: trying to get them off the field because boy, I
• 41:55
  Speaker 11: really wanted to win. I wanted my first debut game
• 41:58
  Speaker 11: to be a win. But fortunately we fall short. But uh,
• 42:03
  Speaker 11: that first tackle was a blessing. We I went and
• 42:05
  Speaker 11: looked back at it out like, dang, he looked. It
• 42:08
  Speaker 11: looked pretty good. You know, it's shit, and so yeah, man,
• 42:13
  Speaker 11: I was pretty happy with that first tackle. I got
• 42:15
  Speaker 11: a lot of buzz about that.
• 42:16
  Speaker 5: Man.
• 42:17
  Speaker 11: A lot of people's calling me say they've seen it
• 42:18
  Speaker 11: and how proud of how proud of uh they was
• 42:22
  Speaker 11: to me.
• 42:22
  Speaker 5: So it was. It was a sweet moment, man.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: A few wild card topics now for Travis Bell, who
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: is your all time favorite athlete in any sport? And why.
• 42:34
  Speaker 11: I'm gonna have to say ray Lewis just because of
• 42:37
  Speaker 11: his mentality, what he brought to the game. What type
• 42:39
  Speaker 11: of leader he was. He just brought everybody along. You
• 42:42
  Speaker 11: had no choice but to jump on that bus, you
• 42:44
  Speaker 11: know what I'm saying. And Uh, once I figured myself out,
• 42:48
  Speaker 11: I feel like I end up being that type of
• 42:50
  Speaker 11: guy as well. But you know, you gotta earn trust,
• 42:52
  Speaker 11: you gotta earn respect. There's a lot that come with it.
• 42:56
  Speaker 11: I work hard, so I know it's gonna come.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Now that you mentioned that, I saw some footage of
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: your sack celebration at Kenansas State. It was a little
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: bit of the ray Lewis pregame dance. Man.
• 43:09
  Speaker 11: Yeah, man, I ain't still it from ray Lewis. No,
• 43:14
  Speaker 11: I ain't take that from ray Lewis. Man, but it's
• 43:17
  Speaker 11: kind of just like, you know, just kicking in the
• 43:19
  Speaker 11: door for me, man, and my first second in preseason,
• 43:23
  Speaker 11: that's what I everybody, all the guys I played in college,
• 43:26
  Speaker 11: they were like, hey, man, you gotta your first sec.
• 43:29
  Speaker 11: You gotta you gotta pull it out. And I was like, no,
• 43:31
  Speaker 11: not in the preseason. They're like, bro, I don't care, Bro,
• 43:34
  Speaker 11: you gotta do it. So I went on and did it, man,
• 43:37
  Speaker 11: And and it was a trend for a little bit
• 43:39
  Speaker 11: in Chicago.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: So so now I know when you have your first
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: sack as a Bengal, it is they kick the door
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: in celebration. Duly noted. Kansas State plays its games at
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Fifth Third Stadium. Do you know that fifth Third Bank
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: which started in Cincinnati and it's headquartered here.
• 43:57
  Speaker 11: No, I did not know that, but I did see
• 44:00
  Speaker 11: the building and I was like, damn, I might need
• 44:03
  Speaker 11: to do some research on that.
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying. But yeah, I did not
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: know that at all.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: I made your research easy for you. You don't have to
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: do it. Now, do you have any other talents other
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: than playing football?
• 44:16
  Speaker 5: You're gonna put me on the spot.
• 44:18
  Speaker 11: I feel like, if I tell you this, the next thing,
• 44:20
  Speaker 11: you know, I'm gonna have to do it, and maybe
• 44:21
  Speaker 11: in front of the team. But I can sing a
• 44:25
  Speaker 11: little bit, man, don't be so, I mean, don't be surprised. Man,
• 44:28
  Speaker 11: I can blow a little bit.
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: Man. I had to sing.
• 44:31
  Speaker 11: We had to do the talent show, you know, the
• 44:32
  Speaker 11: rookies had to do the talent show. And I went
• 44:35
  Speaker 11: up there and I did a little singing and I
• 44:37
  Speaker 11: got some good feedback.
• 44:39
  Speaker 5: You know, it's always good feedback if the quarterback.
• 44:42
  Speaker 11: Come up to you just to feel like, hey, man,
• 44:44
  Speaker 11: you can you can do a little bit.
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: I was like, I appreciate it. Appreciate it.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: You feel like giving us a little sample.
• 44:49
  Speaker 5: See, that's why you want to tell you. That's why
• 44:52
  Speaker 5: you want to tell you.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: Maybe another day, man, all right, I'll look for when
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: you show up at a karaoke contest and I'll bring
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: a taper quarter final question for Travis Bell, and I
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time. This one's kind of deep. If you
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: could meet anybody in history, living or deceased, who would
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: that person be?
• 45:14
  Speaker 11: I probably would have to say Kobe Bryan Kobe, because man,
• 45:18
  Speaker 11: it's like every time I watch him just for like
• 45:22
  Speaker 11: motivational purposes, it's just get me fired up and just
• 45:27
  Speaker 11: to I feel like just that being his presence would
• 45:29
  Speaker 11: make me a better person, you know, better player, better person,
• 45:34
  Speaker 11: better son, everything.
• 45:36
  Speaker 5: So Kobe, for sure.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: You have the mamba mentality.
• 45:39
  Speaker 11: Hey, I'm trying to have that mentality. I am trying
• 45:42
  Speaker 11: so hard to have that mentality. Uh that's that's that's
• 45:46
  Speaker 11: discipline on another level.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 45:48
  Speaker 5: So you can't teach that. Man, you just got it.
• 45:51
  Speaker 5: Just gotta be in you. You know what I'm saying.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: Even though you wouldn't sing for us. This has been great.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: I appreciate your time, Happy holidays and best of life.
• 46:00
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, thank you, thank you for having me.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Man, that's going to do it for This episode of
• 46:04
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