Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: Closer To The Prize
Transcript
- 0:03Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
- 0:06Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. Uh, nothing satisfies, but I'm getting
- 0:11Speaker 1: close closer to the prize at the end of the room. Addition,
- 0:16Speaker 1: as the Bengals advanced to an AFC Championship game rematch
- 0:20Speaker 1: in Kansas City by knocking off the Buffalo Bills on
- 0:24Speaker 1: their home field twenty seven to ten. Coming up, you'll
- 0:28Speaker 1: hear radio replays, one on one locker room interviews and
- 0:31Speaker 1: analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then, in this
- 0:35Speaker 1: week's fun fact segment, you'll get to know a guy
- 0:38Speaker 1: who's first start in a Bengals uniform came in last
- 0:41Speaker 1: week's playoff win over Baltimore offensive lineman Max Sharping. The
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- 1:06Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
- 1:10Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
- 1:14Speaker 1: since the weather Bug app for weather information. I used
- 1:19Speaker 1: to rely on the Dark Sky's app. Unfortunately it's shut
- 1:23Speaker 1: down on January first, so I needed an alternative, and
- 1:28Speaker 1: somebody suggested WeatherBug. Great call. It's free, it's easy to use,
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- 1:49Speaker 1: forecast says, download weather Bug. Now, let's get to football.
- 1:56Speaker 1: In the Bengals first fifty three seasons, they want a
- 1:59Speaker 1: total five playoff games. In the last two years, they've
- 2:04Speaker 1: doubled that total to ten. On Sunday in Buffalo, the
- 2:08Speaker 1: Bengals were missing three starting offensive linemen and were a
- 2:11Speaker 1: six point underdog to the Buffalo Bills, the overwhelming preseason
- 2:16Speaker 1: favorite this year in the NFL. According to Caesar's Sportsbook,
- 2:21Speaker 1: more than twice as much money was bet on Buffalo
- 2:24Speaker 1: to win the Super Bowl than any other team. Those
- 2:27Speaker 1: Buffalo betting slips can now be ripped up and tossed
- 2:30Speaker 1: in the trash. Here are the radio calls from a
- 2:34Speaker 1: dominant performance that ended the Bill season. This afternoon here
- 2:38Speaker 1: in wintry Orchard Park, New York. One of the NFL's
- 2:42Speaker 1: best teams will stay alive on the road to the
- 2:45Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Will it be Joe Burrow and the Bengals
- 2:50Speaker 1: or Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Te Higgins out
- 2:54Speaker 1: why to the left? Shotgun staff short dropped by Burrow.
- 2:56Speaker 1: The pressure comes from the left. He throws. They caught
- 2:59Speaker 1: at the game, Chase straight ahead into the end zone. Touchdown.
- 3:04Speaker 1: On the opening drive for Cincinnati, a twenty eight yard
- 3:08Speaker 1: throw lofted down the middle of the field by Joe Burrow,
- 3:11Speaker 1: just a touch throw. Chase reached up at the eight,
- 3:14Speaker 1: caught it and raced straight ahead into the end zone
- 3:16Speaker 1: for the score. Joe waits for the shotgun snap. He
- 3:19Speaker 1: catches pump fakes to the right. Well gut crows to
- 3:21Speaker 1: get m zone. It is caught by hayden Hurst. Touchdown Bengals.
- 3:27Speaker 1: Burrow sucked the Bills in with the pump fake and
- 3:31Speaker 1: hayden Hurst was wide open at the goal line. Blown
- 3:35Speaker 1: coverage period. Alan is under center Buffalo trying to get
- 3:39Speaker 1: on the scoreboard. Receiver goes in motion. That's Gabe Davis.
- 3:42Speaker 1: Alan runs left and the big quarterback takes it into
- 3:45Speaker 1: the end zone for Buffalo's first score. Empty backfield shotgun
- 3:49Speaker 1: snap burrow over the middle, a leaping cat chase. He
- 3:53Speaker 1: has the ball touchdown right on the back line of
- 3:57Speaker 1: the end zone. He went airborne, two defenders nearby, and
- 4:02Speaker 1: he made the catch for the ten yard Cincinnati touchdown.
- 4:05Speaker 1: And the footwork was extraordinary. Left right, tap tap, get
- 4:09Speaker 1: him both down. The official took his time to make
- 4:12Speaker 1: the call because he knew he made the catch. Did
- 4:14Speaker 1: he get both feet down and bounds? The receiver lost
- 4:17Speaker 1: control of the ball. They're saying, I was just about
- 4:22Speaker 1: to say, as Chase is a ten yard line he
- 4:25Speaker 1: said the game back for one has Chase went to
- 4:28Speaker 1: the ground out of bounds. After getting both feet down,
- 4:32Speaker 1: the ball bobbles just a bit. Matt Milano had a
- 4:36Speaker 1: hand in there, and as he's landing on his backside,
- 4:40Speaker 1: the ball moves just a little bit. So this will
- 4:43Speaker 1: be a twenty eight yard field goal attempt for Evan McPherson.
- 4:46Speaker 1: Chrisman puts it down, the kick is up, and it
- 4:49Speaker 1: is good. The Bengals thought they had seven, They wind
- 4:54Speaker 1: up with three. After a lengthy replay review goes in
- 4:59Speaker 1: Buffalo favor. Burrow be under center, first in goal, about
- 5:03Speaker 1: an inch maybe a half an inch away from the
- 5:06Speaker 1: goal line. Te Higgins motions lines up to the right,
- 5:10Speaker 1: right next to the right tackle's Burrow hands it off.
- 5:13Speaker 1: Mixon goes airborne, waiting for the signal. The officials walking
- 5:18Speaker 1: toward the pile come. No signal yet. Nope, be short.
- 5:23Speaker 1: They are not going to give it to Joe Mixon.
- 5:25Speaker 1: The Bengals replay challenge is successful. It's a one yard
- 5:29Speaker 1: touchdown run for Joe Mixon. Fourth and six at the
- 5:34Speaker 1: Cincinnati sixteen, the clock running with seven thirty seven to go.
- 5:37Speaker 1: The Bills go with an empty backfield again. Three receivers left,
- 5:41Speaker 1: two out to the right, including digs Hallen back to throw,
- 5:44Speaker 1: scrambling right, who's back toward the middle of the field,
- 5:47Speaker 1: jestering toward the end zone. Throws toward the end zone.
- 5:50Speaker 1: It is batted away, knocked away by Eli Apple a
- 5:56Speaker 1: pass intended for Gabe Davis, and the Bengals have the
- 5:59Speaker 1: ball with a seventeen point lead and seven twenty three
- 6:03Speaker 1: to go. Allen back to throw on second in five
- 6:06Speaker 1: pump fakes. Now he's gonna launch a deep downfield scepta
- 6:10Speaker 1: by Cam Taylor Brett and that his officially coffin now
- 6:15Speaker 1: bam bam courtesy Cam Britt. Get the takeaway, why don't
- 6:20Speaker 1: you snow angels in the end zone for Cam Taylor
- 6:24Speaker 1: Britt and his defensive teammates. With one h two to go,
- 6:29Speaker 1: the Bengals are heading to Kansas City. And I'll tell you, Dan,
- 6:33Speaker 1: this is surprising to me. Not that the Bengals won
- 6:37Speaker 1: the football game, but the fashion twenty seven to ten.
- 6:42Speaker 1: One more snap will do it. Burrow behind Carris takes
- 6:46Speaker 1: the snap takes any Trent Taylor does a fine backflip
- 6:50Speaker 1: behind the line, Joe Mixon begins celebrating, and the Cincinnati
- 6:55Speaker 1: Bengals are headed to Kansas City for the AFC champion
- 7:00Speaker 1: Chip Game. Neither snow nor cold, nor an injury ravaged
- 7:05Speaker 1: offensive line can keep the Cincinnati Bengals from going to
- 7:10Speaker 1: the AFC Championship Game. The final score was twenty seven
- 7:13Speaker 1: to ten, and the game didn't even feel that close.
- 7:16Speaker 1: The Bengals had thirty first downs, They're most ever in
- 7:20Speaker 1: a playoff game. They ran for one hundred and seventy
- 7:23Speaker 1: two yards, averaging five point one per carry, and Joe
- 7:27Speaker 1: burrow through for two forty with a passer rating of
- 7:30Speaker 1: one oh one point nine. And they did it with
- 7:34Speaker 1: Hakimadenage making his third start at right tackle, Max Sharping
- 7:38Speaker 1: making his second start at right guard, and Jackson Carmen
- 7:41Speaker 1: making his first start at left tackle. Joe Mixon finished
- 7:46Speaker 1: with one hundred five yards on twenty carries, his first
- 7:49Speaker 1: one hundred yard rushing performance in a playoff game. And
- 7:53Speaker 1: Joe had this five letter description for his offensive line.
- 7:57Speaker 1: Some damn dogs, d A w DS dolls. Dave Lapham
- 8:04Speaker 1: talked to all five of those dogs after the game.
- 8:09Speaker 1: I just want to talk to the offensive line, because
- 8:11Speaker 1: the offensive line got it done today. We got Ted Carress.
- 8:15Speaker 1: How are you doing, by the way, man doing good day,
- 8:18Speaker 1: big Win. I hope, I hope they refund all the
- 8:21Speaker 1: tickets to Atlanta. I hear that? So all right? I
- 8:26Speaker 1: got I got Ted Carross, I got Cordell Wilson, I
- 8:30Speaker 1: get Max Sharping, Jackson Carmen over here who came at
- 8:34Speaker 1: damage right? These five guys right here, one in the
- 8:38Speaker 1: football game period. It was one in the trenches. Rushed
- 8:42Speaker 1: for over one hundred and fifty yards. Joe Mixon twenty carries,
- 8:45Speaker 1: one hundred and five yards, two penalties on the whole day,
- 8:49Speaker 1: six for ten on third down, there were only two
- 8:51Speaker 1: plays out of sixty nine that went for negative yards
- 8:56Speaker 1: sixteen plays of ten yards awards ass kicking up run.
- 9:00Speaker 1: What do you think? Well, I think I'm so proud
- 9:03Speaker 1: of these guys. I mean, we got three guys coming in.
- 9:06Speaker 1: You know, I've been the biggest game of our lives,
- 9:08Speaker 1: performing well with a dominating victory. So couldn't be happier.
- 9:13Speaker 1: So what about it? Everybody's saying, oh, man, the offensive line,
- 9:16Speaker 1: the offensive line, what's going to happen? I mean, oh Jesus,
- 9:18Speaker 1: what happened to you? M man? We just trusted in
- 9:21Speaker 1: our work. We've been working for this since we came in.
- 9:25Speaker 1: We know our goals. We got great guys, we're deep,
- 9:28Speaker 1: we we trust each other. We went out there and
- 9:30Speaker 1: we did what we had to do. Cordell Volson, you know,
- 9:34Speaker 1: you supposedly you're a rookie, but you've already played a
- 9:37Speaker 1: full season. You're not a rookie anymore, and now you've
- 9:39Speaker 1: got two wins in the playoffs. What's you feel like
- 9:42Speaker 1: to be on this kind of a football team your
- 9:44Speaker 1: rookie season. Yeah, It's great. You know, I couldn't couldn't
- 9:47Speaker 1: ask be in a better situation, on a better team. Um,
- 9:50Speaker 1: just the vets in this in this uh organization that
- 9:54Speaker 1: have that have helped me from day one and forever.
- 9:56Speaker 1: Thankful for those guys, and and uh, you know, we're
- 9:59Speaker 1: we're just getting started though. We got we got two
- 10:01Speaker 1: more games games ahead of us, and we're just gonna
- 10:04Speaker 1: keep getting better. Second AFC Championship game in a row,
- 10:10Speaker 1: and you're playing a team that's going to their fifth
- 10:12Speaker 1: in a row, their fifth home AFC Championship game, the
- 10:15Speaker 1: Keenness City Chiefs. Max sharping here all right, So you've
- 10:19Speaker 1: already played in three playoff games, you won two of
- 10:20Speaker 1: the assists old had, you know, I mean, you get
- 10:22Speaker 1: another playoff victory, though, what does it mean to you?
- 10:25Speaker 1: Anytime you can win a game in NFL? It's gonna
- 10:27Speaker 1: be hard one, you know. So proud of these guys
- 10:30Speaker 1: for how hard we worked all week, came out executed.
- 10:33Speaker 1: And I just want to say, also, happy birthday mister
- 10:36Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen. Yeah, what can you? Can you think of
- 10:39Speaker 1: a better birthday present? I cannot? So what was it
- 10:43Speaker 1: like out there today? I mean the crowd, noise handling,
- 10:46Speaker 1: the silent napcount all that stuff. What what was it like?
- 10:49Speaker 1: Jackson the Blast? It was fun. Cordell the off favorite
- 10:53Speaker 1: Viole ever played with in my life. And you know
- 10:54Speaker 1: what I'm saying, were out there together in the trenches,
- 10:57Speaker 1: and I could really conn have did it without him. Man,
- 10:59Speaker 1: everything is gonna have the quarter professional. You know what
- 11:02Speaker 1: I'm saying. I hear you, I hear you on the road.
- 11:05Speaker 1: I mean, you got the running game going. That was
- 11:07Speaker 1: so big. I mean, Joe one over one hundred yards
- 11:09Speaker 1: twenty carries one hundred and five yards. You had well
- 11:11Speaker 1: over one hundred and fifty. As a as a football team,
- 11:14Speaker 1: When you're running the ball like that, pass protection becomes
- 11:17Speaker 1: like it's like night and day, isn't it trying to
- 11:19Speaker 1: if you're if you don't, you don't running game going,
- 11:21Speaker 1: they can tee off. When you got the running game going,
- 11:23Speaker 1: you got them, don't you. You know it was it
- 11:25Speaker 1: was just great to get the running game going early,
- 11:28Speaker 1: you know, because then it then it kept you know,
- 11:31Speaker 1: us unpredictable. Um you know, it allowed us to run
- 11:35Speaker 1: the ball and some get back on track situations and
- 11:38Speaker 1: and Joe ran the ball extremely hard today and and uh,
- 11:41Speaker 1: you know, our coaches did a great job of getting
- 11:43Speaker 1: us into the right looks. So Joe Burrow starts the
- 11:46Speaker 1: game nine for nine, I mean, unbelievable in this weather,
- 11:50Speaker 1: on the road, crowd noise, all that stuff. You guys
- 11:52Speaker 1: were giving a great protection. Did you guys realize that
- 11:55Speaker 1: he was on that kind of a role to start
- 11:57Speaker 1: the game. We could just feel the energy on you
- 12:00Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. We from Cincinnati were practicing every
- 12:03Speaker 1: single weather. It gets cold as a cold and it
- 12:05Speaker 1: gets hot as a hot. You know what I'm saying.
- 12:07Speaker 1: We always tell ourselves you played best in the most
- 12:09Speaker 1: of explaining conditions. You went out there and do what
- 12:11Speaker 1: we do every day at practice. Execute. So when you
- 12:14Speaker 1: when you have a field like that, do you do anything?
- 12:17Speaker 1: Do you stay over your feet a little bit more?
- 12:19Speaker 1: Do you're not getting on your toes as much? I mean,
- 12:21Speaker 1: do you have to change the way your approached to
- 12:23Speaker 1: keep your footing? Was it really not that bad out there?
- 12:25Speaker 1: What was the like out there on the field? You
- 12:27Speaker 1: just got to do a great job of keeping your
- 12:28Speaker 1: feet under you, keeping a good bass and and running
- 12:31Speaker 1: your feet. Um, you know it. It affects both us
- 12:35Speaker 1: and the defense. So you know it's no excuse. You
- 12:37Speaker 1: just got to do a great job of keeping your
- 12:39Speaker 1: feet going and playing with a great bass. I was
- 12:41Speaker 1: gonna say, you just got a channel your inner song.
- 12:43Speaker 1: White just snowboard on the ice. There you go. You
- 12:47Speaker 1: know it looked it looked to me like Joe Mixon
- 12:50Speaker 1: was possessed. Man. The dude was playing at such a
- 12:53Speaker 1: high level energy. It was like the kid in the
- 12:55Speaker 1: neighborhood that loves to play in the snow. You know
- 12:57Speaker 1: what I mean, Joe is just getting after it. Did
- 13:00Speaker 1: you guys feel that? Man, When Joe is having a
- 13:02Speaker 1: great day, we're having a great day. Bo's been playing
- 13:05Speaker 1: at the highest level because he started playing football, so
- 13:08Speaker 1: it's back nothing different from Zult, That's who he is.
- 13:09Speaker 1: He showed it to night. Congratulations, man, you played a
- 13:12Speaker 1: hell of a football game. All you guys up front.
- 13:15Speaker 1: I'll tell you as a as a former linement, when
- 13:17Speaker 1: I was watching Joe run, I'm like, man, I just
- 13:19Speaker 1: want I'll take one snap and not be able to
- 13:22Speaker 1: get out of bed for a week, but I just
- 13:23Speaker 1: want to take one. I mean, it was fun to
- 13:25Speaker 1: watch you guys do your thing out to today. I
- 13:27Speaker 1: appreciate you day, Thanks Dave. The Bengals Booth podcast is
- 13:31Speaker 1: brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider
- 13:34Speaker 1: of the Bengals. With more than one hundred twenty care
- 13:37Speaker 1: facilities and fifteen hundred care providers. Kettering Health is committed
- 13:42Speaker 1: to guiding you to your best health. Visit Kettering health
- 13:46Speaker 1: dot org to learn more. Joe Burrow is now five
- 13:50Speaker 1: and one in playoff games, including three and oz in
- 13:53Speaker 1: true road games. I'm not counting the Super Bowl even
- 13:56Speaker 1: though it was at the Rams Stadium because the crowd
- 13:59Speaker 1: was closer to a fifty fifty split under steady snow
- 14:02Speaker 1: showers that fell for the entire game. Burrow went nine
- 14:06Speaker 1: for nine with a pair of touchdowns on the bengals
- 14:09Speaker 1: first two drives to give Cincinnati a fourteen nothing lead,
- 14:13Speaker 1: and the Bills never got closer than seven points. Here's
- 14:17Speaker 1: Joe Mixon on his quarterback unbelievable. I mean, to come
- 14:22Speaker 1: through in the snow and delivered dots the way he
- 14:25Speaker 1: was doing it, I mean, that's that's crazy. I'm gonna
- 14:29Speaker 1: be out it. That's crazy. And I thought he did
- 14:31Speaker 1: a hell of a job just facilitating the way he'd do. Um,
- 14:34Speaker 1: I've never seen nothing like it, to be real. I mean,
- 14:37Speaker 1: y'all could call it bias whatever y'all want to, but
- 14:39Speaker 1: I've never seen nothing like it. I'm just so happy
- 14:42Speaker 1: for him, and I'm happy for my teammates to be
- 14:44Speaker 1: able to reaping the benefits the way with that we are.
- 14:47Speaker 1: I mean, we will come to work, work our asses off,
- 14:49Speaker 1: and everybody just stay ready for the big moment and
- 14:51Speaker 1: everybody come through. And you know, the lineman, I mean,
- 14:55Speaker 1: we had three linemen down and for them guys to
- 14:57Speaker 1: come through in a major way battle and compete and
- 15:01Speaker 1: to play all four quarters the way they did. You know,
- 15:04Speaker 1: nobody gave us a shot and we went out there
- 15:06Speaker 1: to go take it. And I'm just like I said,
- 15:09Speaker 1: I'm so happy for them guys and everybody deserving it.
- 15:12Speaker 1: Or eight different receivers caught passes for the Bengals, led
- 15:15Speaker 1: by Jamar Chase, who finished with five grabs for sixty
- 15:18Speaker 1: one yards and a touchdown. I caught up with him
- 15:22Speaker 1: after the game. Jamar, this is unbelievable. I don't think
- 15:26Speaker 1: anybody thought you not only would come here but dominate
- 15:29Speaker 1: this game. What can you say about how well, the
- 15:31Speaker 1: team played in every possible phase. You know, both sides
- 15:35Speaker 1: of the ball and special teams did a great job today.
- 15:37Speaker 1: We did an outstanding job running the ball and give
- 15:39Speaker 1: us opportunities it passed the ball or any down we
- 15:41Speaker 1: wanted to. Defense given us opportunities to get the ball
- 15:44Speaker 1: back and you know, make plays an offense. You know
- 15:46Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Defense been doing anything in this whole year.
- 15:48Speaker 1: How about that and opening drive? What kind of a
- 15:51Speaker 1: tone setter was that here? To go down the field
- 15:54Speaker 1: and score that touchdown? Yeah, I honestly think the defense
- 15:57Speaker 1: messed up. You know what I'm saying. I think they
- 15:59Speaker 1: little covering whatever they was trying to do. Nickel blessed
- 16:01Speaker 1: safety came down over and you know, nobody's in the
- 16:03Speaker 1: middle of field, and I sat I've seen that and
- 16:05Speaker 1: I just sat there in the zone. Joke bucking on me.
- 16:08Speaker 1: That was it. You had an offensive line missing three
- 16:10Speaker 1: starters and ran for more than one hundred and seventy
- 16:12Speaker 1: yards more than four hundred total yards of offense. What
- 16:15Speaker 1: can you say about the guys? A good job those
- 16:17Speaker 1: guys did. Yeah, the old line incredible. Man, they're doing
- 16:20Speaker 1: a good job. So doing a good job, pointing the
- 16:22Speaker 1: right direction for those guys and lead them, you know
- 16:24Speaker 1: what I'm saying, and then you go maybe like two
- 16:28Speaker 1: young guys on the line. You know what I'm saying.
- 16:30Speaker 1: They stepped up today, so a hell of a job
- 16:31Speaker 1: at him. You guys have said we're the big dogs
- 16:33Speaker 1: if the AFC. Is this another step where you proved it.
- 16:36Speaker 1: I mean, we know who we are, already had the
- 16:38Speaker 1: whole lead, knows where we're killed. Beloved, It's not a
- 16:39Speaker 1: surprise for nobody. I mean, they keep talking us down.
- 16:42Speaker 1: We're just gonna keep showing them. That's all Kansas City,
- 16:44Speaker 1: fourth time in less than thirteen months, here you go again. Yeah,
- 16:48Speaker 1: it should be a good game. It should be funny.
- 16:51Speaker 1: Welcome to that touchdown. Man, they kind of took it
- 16:54Speaker 1: when they took away from me. Yeah, shook hark from that.
- 16:57Speaker 1: I caught it clean. It's just that when you're falling,
- 17:01Speaker 1: gotta make sure you all the way contest, I mean
- 17:03Speaker 1: all the way grab But you know what I'm saying,
- 17:05Speaker 1: It's slipped on my hand a little bit. When I fail.
- 17:07Speaker 1: It's snowy all day happens, you know what I'm saying.
- 17:09Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of hype about this Atlantic game.
- 17:11Speaker 1: We'll just throw someone. We're gonna be an overlooked man.
- 17:14Speaker 1: I wouldn't say we overlooked, you know what I'm saying.
- 17:15Speaker 1: It's just the disrespect they gave us. You know what
- 17:17Speaker 1: I'm saying. We don't really care how he treating nothing,
- 17:19Speaker 1: how he gonna do us. We had the hardest schedule
- 17:21Speaker 1: all year, and ain't nothing's gonna be easy for us,
- 17:23Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. We know what. We kipple
- 17:24Speaker 1: a lout. That's why we came out here, not making
- 17:26Speaker 1: a fuss with nobody, just putting on the show for
- 17:28Speaker 1: a while to see what was it like for you
- 17:29Speaker 1: as the Louisiana kid to play on that snow Hey man,
- 17:32Speaker 1: that was fun as hell. That was funny to say,
- 17:34Speaker 1: I ain't gonna lie. I'll do it again. That's better
- 17:36Speaker 1: than the rain. I do it again. That's Jamar Chase.
- 17:41Speaker 1: The Bengals defense was phenomenal, holding the Bills to a
- 17:45Speaker 1: season low ten points. During the regular year, Buffalo average
- 17:49Speaker 1: twenty eight point four, second best in the NFL. The
- 17:53Speaker 1: Bengals hit Josh Allen eight times, including a sack by
- 17:57Speaker 1: Von Bell, and deflected eight pass is The game's only
- 18:01Speaker 1: turnover was the coffin Nail's interception with about a minute
- 18:05Speaker 1: to go by a second round draft pick out of
- 18:07Speaker 1: Nebraska who has started every game of the ten game
- 18:11Speaker 1: winning streak. Following an injury to Chittabey a woogie. We're
- 18:16Speaker 1: in the locker room with Cam Taylor Brett Cigar resting
- 18:19Speaker 1: in his right hand. Not let up yet, but you
- 18:22Speaker 1: helped put it away with that interception late in the game.
- 18:25Speaker 1: Describe your emotions and advancing to the AFC Championship game
- 18:29Speaker 1: as a rookie. I feel a great man. You know
- 18:32Speaker 1: that I could have contribute in a major way to
- 18:33Speaker 1: the team. Uh help get to win. Uh. You know,
- 18:36Speaker 1: just that last play, man, I was trying to tell
- 18:39Speaker 1: the team I was gonna get one. Now he has
- 18:41Speaker 1: to throw one, and I like him to not throw one.
- 18:43Speaker 1: So you know, I was just trying to tell the
- 18:45Speaker 1: team next time, I'm trying to go ahead, end it.
- 18:47Speaker 1: He took the chance and throw it, and you know
- 18:49Speaker 1: I just with me and myself would go get the wall.
- 18:51Speaker 1: It's a pretty good time to get your first NFLI
- 18:54Speaker 1: how does the snow man with the guy h and
- 18:57Speaker 1: he was winning and for the team, the organization cam.
- 19:00Speaker 1: What was it like out there under those conditions today?
- 19:03Speaker 1: Obviously the team played well, what did you think of it?
- 19:06Speaker 1: I'm played in the Brownston. It was fine other than
- 19:09Speaker 1: you know, the ice getting stuck under the clicks. But
- 19:12Speaker 1: other than that, man, I feel like you know, every
- 19:14Speaker 1: team we played good man, we were prepared for whatever
- 19:17Speaker 1: it was to come, and you know we went to mall.
- 19:19Speaker 1: That's a great offense. You held him to ten points.
- 19:22Speaker 1: What was the biggest key to this great defensive performance?
- 19:25Speaker 1: I was locking up, man, I was on the back end.
- 19:28Speaker 1: You know, I'm locking up, working around with the D
- 19:31Speaker 1: line everything. You know, everybody working together on defense. Man.
- 19:34Speaker 1: You had some cover sacks and he has also you know,
- 19:36Speaker 1: uh he cut through the ball because the line was
- 19:38Speaker 1: getting back there so fast. So everybody, you know, we're
- 19:40Speaker 1: together on the defense. Man, you know, to stop those
- 19:43Speaker 1: guys in there and supposed to office. I know it's
- 19:45Speaker 1: the opposite side of the ball. But what did you
- 19:47Speaker 1: think of the job the offensive line yet missing three
- 19:49Speaker 1: starters today? Man, that was great. I don't think anybody
- 19:53Speaker 1: kind of expected it. Not on his team, but you know,
- 19:55Speaker 1: just everybody on the house. I don't think everybody expected
- 19:57Speaker 1: those We got to step up and play the way
- 19:58Speaker 1: that it did. Man, then no, it's always Nick man
- 20:01Speaker 1: up and anybody could do it. So you're seeing for yourself.
- 20:03Speaker 1: They did it out right. Be honest with me. I'm
- 20:06Speaker 1: sure everybody in here expected to win this game. Could
- 20:09Speaker 1: you expect to dominate the Buffalo Bills like that? Yeah?
- 20:12Speaker 1: We did. Yeah, I want to say we had a
- 20:15Speaker 1: ship man we dispected most definitely. So we just wear
- 20:18Speaker 1: our ball to the you know, to the fullest. Whoever's
- 20:21Speaker 1: every fund. I've got to get it off to Kansas City,
- 20:24Speaker 1: fourth meeting against the Chiefs in slightly more than a year,
- 20:28Speaker 1: trying to beat him for a fourth straight time. We
- 20:30Speaker 1: gotta do it. Like I said it last week, they
- 20:32Speaker 1: gotta play. Congratulations. That's Cam Taylor Brady. The Bengals Booth
- 20:39Speaker 1: podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More than
- 20:41Speaker 1: twenty nine thousand customers trust paycres to help them recruit, pay, engage,
- 20:47Speaker 1: and retain employees. Learn more at paycor dot com. In
- 20:52Speaker 1: Zach Taylor's first two seasons as an NFL head coach,
- 20:55Speaker 1: the Bengals were six twenty five and one. In the
- 20:59Speaker 1: last two seasons including playoffs. They're twenty seven and twelve.
- 21:04Speaker 1: Here's Zach with Dave Lapham. Our guys were feeling it,
- 21:09Speaker 1: you know, And I thought our coaches staff did a
- 21:12Speaker 1: great job formulating a plan in all three phases. Our
- 21:14Speaker 1: players believed in it. This was their moment, this is
- 21:16Speaker 1: their stage. You know. They got twenty four other teams
- 21:19Speaker 1: in the league that are at home watching TV, watching
- 21:21Speaker 1: these guys, and so you gotta put on a show
- 21:22Speaker 1: for him, And I thought our guys did that today. Man,
- 21:24Speaker 1: I tell you what was practice like, coach to come
- 21:27Speaker 1: up and have the performance that you guys had. What
- 21:30Speaker 1: was your Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? Like, did you come off
- 21:32Speaker 1: the fielding? Man? We got something cooking here. Felt the
- 21:35Speaker 1: same as felt the last ten weeks. We practiced, you know,
- 21:38Speaker 1: and there's there's no surprise why we've won ten games
- 21:41Speaker 1: in a row. These guys, they prepare like they're going
- 21:44Speaker 1: to play, and so there's no doubt when you walk
- 21:46Speaker 1: up the field on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that
- 21:48Speaker 1: we did everything we need to do there in that
- 21:50Speaker 1: practice to get ourselves ready for Sunday. And so now
- 21:52Speaker 1: it's on us to have our best seven days again
- 21:54Speaker 1: this week and be ready to go to Kansas City.
- 21:56Speaker 1: Joe Burrow completed his first nine passes on his first
- 22:00Speaker 1: fourteen completions here had already utilized eight different receivers. You
- 22:04Speaker 1: talk about spreading the football is spreading the wealth. Unbelievable.
- 22:07Speaker 1: He managed the game splittibly. You know. It's he knew
- 22:11Speaker 1: when to use his fee to extend plays and find
- 22:13Speaker 1: people in the scramble game. He just did a really
- 22:16Speaker 1: good job put him sing in the right situations. There
- 22:18Speaker 1: was a lot of cans, there's a lot of alerts
- 22:20Speaker 1: he had to take in this game, and he did
- 22:21Speaker 1: a good job managing all that. What about your defense
- 22:24Speaker 1: to hold that offensive football team to ten points, that's
- 22:28Speaker 1: one of the best offenses on football. But we know
- 22:30Speaker 1: we have the best defense in all football. And so
- 22:33Speaker 1: the way that those guys just played together and communicate
- 22:35Speaker 1: and in our d line really got it kick started,
- 22:37Speaker 1: you know, with all the pressure they put on him
- 22:39Speaker 1: and made him move around, and the coverage match it
- 22:41Speaker 1: on the back end. It was awesome to see playing
- 22:43Speaker 1: football at such a high level. The weather, you know,
- 22:45Speaker 1: a little bit dicey. No turnovers. You got a fourth
- 22:48Speaker 1: down stop though, that's a turnover in my book. So
- 22:50Speaker 1: you were plus one in that category. But to play
- 22:54Speaker 1: that clean of football game in that environment, that's difficult. Now,
- 22:57Speaker 1: it's hard. But again, our guys believe in what they
- 23:00Speaker 1: were doing, and they played off of each other, and
- 23:03Speaker 1: if we did have a play that wasn't so great,
- 23:05Speaker 1: they just bowed up and made it on the next stop.
- 23:07Speaker 1: And so even on their scoring drives, they made him
- 23:10Speaker 1: work for it, you know. And so I just thought
- 23:12Speaker 1: our whole team just just came out and played really good,
- 23:14Speaker 1: comprimary football in all three phases, and the sure did.
- 23:17Speaker 1: I talked to the offensive lineman as a crew, and
- 23:20Speaker 1: they're happy, obviously, and I'm happy for him. I mean,
- 23:23Speaker 1: the way the way Joe Mixon was running ball, I'm like, man,
- 23:27Speaker 1: it's like kid in the neighborhood that players better than
- 23:30Speaker 1: everybody else in snow and so it was just like
- 23:33Speaker 1: killing it out there one hundred and five yards on
- 23:36Speaker 1: twenty he rushed for over one hundred and fifty. How
- 23:38Speaker 1: big was that to settle down that old line? Oh,
- 23:41Speaker 1: it's you know, anytime we can lean on the run
- 23:43Speaker 1: game like that, it opens up the passes, it makes
- 23:45Speaker 1: the protections easier and just just makes our life comfortable.
- 23:50Speaker 1: And I thought that the backs ran hard. Started with Mixon.
- 23:54Speaker 1: You know, he had a tremendous performance, was hitting it hard,
- 23:56Speaker 1: hitting it downhill, got some big plays for us, some
- 23:59Speaker 1: maje finished people draped around him for extra yards. I
- 24:01Speaker 1: don't even know what his total was, but he got
- 24:03Speaker 1: some really hard earned run yards there. And that's credit
- 24:06Speaker 1: to those two guys and Justin Hill doing a great
- 24:08Speaker 1: job mainstream those guys this week. How about Joe Burrow
- 24:12Speaker 1: not only out passing Josh Allen, but out rushing them.
- 24:16Speaker 1: You know, everybody talks about Josh and rightfully saw him
- 24:19Speaker 1: and the guys are freak extend create design quarterback runs.
- 24:23Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, I mean he manipulated the defensive line with
- 24:28Speaker 1: his feet, the secondary with his eyes. He manipulated everybody
- 24:31Speaker 1: out there. He did. He did a great job today
- 24:34Speaker 1: and again from the first snap of the game, he
- 24:36Speaker 1: was on it and it really did a great job
- 24:38Speaker 1: finance checkdowns. You know that's they played off sometimes and
- 24:42Speaker 1: didn't want to give us some explosives. He did a
- 24:43Speaker 1: great job finding the underneth throws that extended plays. He
- 24:46Speaker 1: had a great checkdown to Hayden Hurst on the third down,
- 24:48Speaker 1: third and long, Hayden got for first down there. I
- 24:51Speaker 1: think it was at the end of the half, and
- 24:52Speaker 1: so just just trimming his job by Burrow, you know,
- 24:55Speaker 1: coach was I was watching you guys performed that party
- 24:58Speaker 1: or offense. It took me back to nineteen seventies and
- 25:00Speaker 1: I remember sitting in a classroom with Bill Walsh, and
- 25:03Speaker 1: Bill Walsh goes, you know what, man, we're gonna take
- 25:06Speaker 1: those four yard five yard checkdowns because two or three
- 25:08Speaker 1: of those that's first down, and we string those together
- 25:11Speaker 1: pretty soon we're scoring points. I'll take those. I don't
- 25:13Speaker 1: know about you. Gotta you okay with That's that was
- 25:15Speaker 1: his whole emo. Just take it, be patient, manipulated. It's big.
- 25:20Speaker 1: He's not greedy. You know, He'll take what you're giving him.
- 25:22Speaker 1: And even if that means we've got to go sixteen
- 25:24Speaker 1: plays all the way down the field. You know a
- 25:26Speaker 1: lot of teams try to try to give you that,
- 25:28Speaker 1: thinking that you'll get grady and you'll push it down
- 25:30Speaker 1: the field from incompletion or turnover. And Joe just doesn't
- 25:32Speaker 1: do that. Okay, coach, It's onto Kansas City. They've this
- 25:37Speaker 1: is the fifth straight AFC Championship game they're hosting. This
- 25:41Speaker 1: is your second straight AFC Championship game. Should be in Atlanta,
- 25:45Speaker 1: but yeah, you know it's going to be in Kansas City.
- 25:48Speaker 1: I guess might as well just go there and beat
- 25:49Speaker 1: him again. This is the way it's meant to be,
- 25:51Speaker 1: you know, and so our guys will be ready for
- 25:52Speaker 1: the opportunity. Appreciate you, thank you. So it's onto Kansas City,
- 25:57Speaker 1: where the Bengals will play in the late game. Next
- 26:00Speaker 1: Sunday will kick off at six thirty, and the Chiefs
- 26:03Speaker 1: open as a one and a half point favorite. In
- 26:06Speaker 1: the NFC, it's the Eagles hosting the forty nine Ers
- 26:10Speaker 1: at three. Philly is favored by two and a half.
- 26:14Speaker 1: Now time for the radio guys recap lap. On a
- 26:18Speaker 1: Friday radio show, we played an interview with Eric Wettele
- 26:22Speaker 1: on k Adams Up an Adams Show, where he said
- 26:25Speaker 1: the Bengals have zero chants and Eric Windle wasn't the
- 26:28Speaker 1: only person that felt their way with this injury ravaged
- 26:31Speaker 1: offensive line. You've played the position for twelve years professionally,
- 26:35Speaker 1: what can you say about that performance? I mean interviewed
- 26:39Speaker 1: him in the In the postgame locker room. I could
- 26:42Speaker 1: see it in their eyes and the you know, the
- 26:44Speaker 1: unspoken word. It was like, hell with you, everybody, you know.
- 26:48Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's not a chip, that's a two
- 26:51Speaker 1: by four. That's a challenge to your manhood. And these
- 26:54Speaker 1: guys are full grown men and they take great pride
- 26:56Speaker 1: in their profession. And these guys are all good football players.
- 27:01Speaker 1: They wouldn't be here if they weren't good football players.
- 27:04Speaker 1: But the key was the way they were on the ball,
- 27:06Speaker 1: I mean, and that's what they're all. Oh man, yeah,
- 27:08Speaker 1: we got out. We took control of the line of scrimmage.
- 27:11Speaker 1: I mean it was these games are one and loss
- 27:13Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage. And they took total control
- 27:15Speaker 1: of the line of scrimmage. And over one hundred and
- 27:17Speaker 1: seventy yards rush and Joe has one hundred and five
- 27:19Speaker 1: of them. And Joe Mixon was possessed man. I mean,
- 27:23Speaker 1: they fed off his energy. They were like, Joe is
- 27:25Speaker 1: just running so hard and that does I remember when
- 27:29Speaker 1: Pete Johnson would run guys over and be like, oh man,
- 27:32Speaker 1: here we go. We got to get that big beast
- 27:33Speaker 1: out in space again. Let him do it again. And uh,
- 27:37Speaker 1: it was fun. To watch. It really was fun to
- 27:38Speaker 1: watch those guys. I said to him, man, they've got
- 27:41Speaker 1: a couple of times I felt like, let me just
- 27:43Speaker 1: do one play with you guys. I won't get out
- 27:44Speaker 1: of bed for two weeks, let me just do it
- 27:46Speaker 1: one time. It was like so exciting to watch what
- 27:49Speaker 1: was going on down there. Deante Smith is the sixth
- 27:51Speaker 1: offensive lineman and Dave Lapham as the seventh pets that
- 27:54Speaker 1: you're right right, just one snap, one snap I'd probably
- 27:58Speaker 1: probably would have been a outcome, But just to say, man,
- 28:01Speaker 1: that was so much fun out there. So when I
- 28:04Speaker 1: was interviewed or did radio appearances this week, I said,
- 28:08Speaker 1: the question of the game is can the offensive line
- 28:11Speaker 1: be good enough? They're not going to be as good
- 28:13Speaker 1: as they were? Can they be good enough? They were
- 28:14Speaker 1: as good as they were. One sack, three quarterback hits,
- 28:18Speaker 1: as you pointed out, tremendous run blocking, one hundred and
- 28:21Speaker 1: seventy rushing yards in the game. I can't believe how
- 28:25Speaker 1: well they played against the NFL's number two ranked scoring defense.
- 28:30Speaker 1: Don't turnovers, one sack, two penalties for nine yards, a
- 28:35Speaker 1: couple of false start penalties. That's unbelievably clean in a
- 28:39Speaker 1: tough environment on the road with snow coming down the
- 28:42Speaker 1: whole game, and they're cleaning off the lines the whole day.
- 28:45Speaker 1: So you're footing. You have to you have to really
- 28:46Speaker 1: constant and stand over your feet. You can't get on
- 28:49Speaker 1: your toes, you know too much. You try to try
- 28:51Speaker 1: to be too cool with your footwork. I mean, what
- 28:53Speaker 1: they did and how they did it, how they answered
- 28:55Speaker 1: the bell, it's gonna be. You know, everybody talks about
- 29:00Speaker 1: Sam's you know, uh, the iconic dash, and it is.
- 29:04Speaker 1: But this game with these guys who were totally doubted
- 29:09Speaker 1: all week long. For them to perform the way they performed,
- 29:12Speaker 1: man in playoff history, it's got to be. Got to
- 29:17Speaker 1: rank up there for a position group stepping up to
- 29:21Speaker 1: an extremely high level, much higher than expectations. And talk
- 29:26Speaker 1: to coach Pollock in the locker room afterwards, and he
- 29:29Speaker 1: wanted to be a lot more colorful with his language
- 29:31Speaker 1: than he was, but his message was, you know, he's
- 29:34Speaker 1: just so proud of the guys and you know, had
- 29:37Speaker 1: a lot of doubters and don't don't be jumping on
- 29:40Speaker 1: board now. It's too late. All your daughters out there,
- 29:43Speaker 1: too late, no room for you. I mean, these guys
- 29:46Speaker 1: answered the bell to say the least. This team is
- 29:49Speaker 1: really playing the disrespect card right now. In that locker room,
- 29:52Speaker 1: whether it was Buffalo being favored today, whether it was
- 29:54Speaker 1: Buffalo being the preseason favorite when the Bengals were the
- 29:57Speaker 1: reigning the AFC champ I heard guys saying, you better
- 30:00Speaker 1: have reflendable tickets on those flights to Atlanta for Bengals
- 30:04Speaker 1: or for Bills and Chiefs fans that bought tickets to
- 30:06Speaker 1: a you know now canceled neutral site AFC championship game.
- 30:11Speaker 1: These guys are thriving on that Joe mix and keeps
- 30:13Speaker 1: saying we're the big dogs, don't forget about it. And
- 30:16Speaker 1: they've really found that edge from that disrespect card. And
- 30:20Speaker 1: you know, Joe verbalize that and then backed it up.
- 30:23Speaker 1: He backed it up. He was playing so hard, man,
- 30:27Speaker 1: he was finishing everything, and he knew, you know, you
- 30:30Speaker 1: put a little pressure on himself. He knew it, and
- 30:32Speaker 1: he answered it. Man. He just he backed it up
- 30:35Speaker 1: back to a big time. I think there should be
- 30:37Speaker 1: a game in Atlanta. It should be Kansas City and
- 30:39Speaker 1: Cincinnati should be in Atlanta. What the hell they say
- 30:43Speaker 1: the stadium is available let's gown and play. I mean,
- 30:46Speaker 1: why not? I mean, you know, what the heck, why
- 30:49Speaker 1: can't Cincinnati be in that mix? Come on, NFL? But
- 30:53Speaker 1: you know what, it's sweeter to go to Kansas City
- 30:55Speaker 1: and knock him off for the fourth time in a row.
- 30:57Speaker 1: How about them though, Bengals going to the SC championship
- 31:00Speaker 1: game for the second straight time. They're they're at home
- 31:03Speaker 1: for the fifth straight time. That is ridiculous. That's a
- 31:06Speaker 1: Andy Reid got nothing but kudos and respect for that dude.
- 31:09Speaker 1: So here they go again. This will be the fourth
- 31:11Speaker 1: meeting in one year, in twenty seven days, so less
- 31:14Speaker 1: than thirteen months. The Bengals have won the first three
- 31:17Speaker 1: and now the Chiefs are going to have a compromised
- 31:19Speaker 1: Patrick mahomes My guests a week in advances that he'll play,
- 31:23Speaker 1: but the doctors we've talked to have said he's likely
- 31:25Speaker 1: to be worse off in a week than he was
- 31:28Speaker 1: the day that he twisted his ankle or suffered a
- 31:30Speaker 1: high ankle sprain, whatever it ultimately is, you know, diagnosed
- 31:33Speaker 1: as the mobility he has the ability to run and
- 31:37Speaker 1: make plays, That stuff I think is gone. Yeah, I mean,
- 31:40Speaker 1: you watch him pogo stick off the field to the sideline,
- 31:43Speaker 1: and that's when adrenaline was pumping fast and furious, you know,
- 31:47Speaker 1: and he wanted no part of coming out of that game.
- 31:49Speaker 1: I mean he was throwing his helmet, throwing throwing his coat,
- 31:52Speaker 1: throwing everything. Ubra competitor. But you know you gotta wonder
- 31:56Speaker 1: watching the mechanics. He could not push off that right foot,
- 32:00Speaker 1: so he's doing everything off his front foot, off his
- 32:02Speaker 1: front foot. The thing is he's got such a powerful
- 32:05Speaker 1: thrown him, he doesn't need any feet. You know, he
- 32:07Speaker 1: can make ridiculous throws. He'll make a lot of throws
- 32:09Speaker 1: where he's airborne with no feet, no platform, rip it.
- 32:12Speaker 1: You know, it's like he's a different breed of cat.
- 32:15Speaker 1: But you know, the thing you have to wonder about
- 32:17Speaker 1: is will he be compromised in terms of trying to
- 32:21Speaker 1: manipulate and get away if he gets in trouble. He's
- 32:22Speaker 1: just sitting duck, you know, potentially a sitting duck. And
- 32:25Speaker 1: do you want to roll the dice on him getting
- 32:27Speaker 1: more seriously hurt? Potentially so, But I think they'll probably
- 32:33Speaker 1: split snaps. I would see Mahomes and Chad Henny. Probably
- 32:36Speaker 1: Henny's going to take more snaps than he normally would
- 32:39Speaker 1: going into an AFC Championship game during practice, for sure,
- 32:42Speaker 1: So I just certainly didn't expect to see this final
- 32:45Speaker 1: few minutes of the game. The Bills fans walking toward
- 32:48Speaker 1: us because we were at the top of the lower bowl.
- 32:51Speaker 1: They're on their way to the exits. The Bengals fans
- 32:53Speaker 1: are making their way down to the first few rows
- 32:57Speaker 1: to ring the stadium about ten rows deep and do
- 33:00Speaker 1: the Hohoday chant in Buffalo after a dominant win. Unbelievable
- 33:04Speaker 1: in your face, I mean, you know, just an in
- 33:07Speaker 1: your face thing. But I did hear people. As Dave
- 33:10Speaker 1: Armberster and I were working our way to the locker
- 33:12Speaker 1: room for postgame, I heard a lot of Buffalo Bills
- 33:15Speaker 1: fans saying, you know, those those Bengals fans, man, I
- 33:17Speaker 1: hope they win. They're pretty cool. They were pretty cool
- 33:20Speaker 1: about this whole thing. And I think that that goes
- 33:22Speaker 1: back to Damar Hamlin and everything that they kind of
- 33:25Speaker 1: went through together. So, I mean, I don't think the
- 33:28Speaker 1: Bengals fans were rubbing the Buffalo fans noses in it
- 33:31Speaker 1: or anything like that. I think they would being gracious
- 33:33Speaker 1: in the victory, which is smart because you're on the
- 33:35Speaker 1: road and you're out numbered. Your car has Ohio plates.
- 33:39Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, But you know it's the support is just unbelievable.
- 33:47Speaker 1: I mean watching players high fiving with Bengal fans in
- 33:50Speaker 1: the lower role row of stands in that one end zone.
- 33:54Speaker 1: I'm like, this is unreal. I mean, these people are everywhere.
- 33:57Speaker 1: There's there's orange and black all over the stadium. It's crazy.
- 34:00Speaker 1: How luck here we I mean, how good do we
- 34:03Speaker 1: have it? I mean it's it's unbelievable, like work, like
- 34:08Speaker 1: major dre crubs work. This is work, are you Kidney?
- 34:11Speaker 1: This is work? Right? This is fun. The Bengals Booth
- 34:16Speaker 1: Podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
- 34:19Speaker 1: They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up
- 34:22Speaker 1: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Finally, it's
- 34:27Speaker 1: time for this week's fun Facts interview, where you get
- 34:30Speaker 1: to know the person under the pads. Time for some
- 34:35Speaker 1: fun facts at Bengals Offensive Lineman Max Sharping, Your life
- 34:39Speaker 1: seems like a movie. You're from Green Bay. You grew
- 34:42Speaker 1: up a few miles away from lambeau Field. You went
- 34:44Speaker 1: to Vince Lombardi Middle School. When did the NFL dream
- 34:50Speaker 1: begin to take shape for you? I think it was
- 34:52Speaker 1: always a dream growing up. I went to Packers games
- 34:56Speaker 1: as young as I can remember. There's a photo of
- 35:00Speaker 1: me and my dad walking towards Lambeau from when I
- 35:04Speaker 1: was I don't know, probably three two, maybe even I
- 35:08Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know what a hold I was.
- 35:10Speaker 1: So it was always a dream. I don't think it
- 35:11Speaker 1: really started taking shape till I started playing in high
- 35:14Speaker 1: school and you know, got some accolades and got recruited
- 35:19Speaker 1: to go to college. And even then I didn't you know,
- 35:21Speaker 1: I went to Northern Illinois, so it was a smaller school.
- 35:24Speaker 1: So you hope you can prove yourself, but you never know,
- 35:28Speaker 1: and thankful I was able to do that. Green Bay
- 35:31Speaker 1: is obviously a small community. Do you see the Packers
- 35:34Speaker 1: players and coaches around town? Did you go to school
- 35:37Speaker 1: with their kids? What kind of contact do you have
- 35:40Speaker 1: with the Packers when you grow up there. One of
- 35:43Speaker 1: the coaches had a son in my in my class. Actually,
- 35:48Speaker 1: Joe Philbin had had a son, Tim Philbin, that I
- 35:51Speaker 1: went to high school with for a couple of years
- 35:53Speaker 1: before he went down to Miami Khalil Mackenzie, the son
- 35:58Speaker 1: of the GM for the Raiders for a while, Reggie Mackenzie.
- 36:02Speaker 1: He was a year younger than me. I still keep
- 36:04Speaker 1: in contact with him. He's on the Ravens practice squad.
- 36:06Speaker 1: So we were shooting each other messages just last week
- 36:09Speaker 1: and we're you know, pretty good buddy. So it's you
- 36:13Speaker 1: run into him time to time, but most of the
- 36:16Speaker 1: time it was not too noticeable. I would say, we're
- 36:21Speaker 1: visiting with Max Sharping. You're a big man. You're six
- 36:23Speaker 1: six three twenty five. Did you tower over the other
- 36:26Speaker 1: kids growing up? I would say yes for the most part.
- 36:31Speaker 1: I was definitely one of the taller kids in my
- 36:34Speaker 1: age range, but I didn't put on weight until later
- 36:38Speaker 1: on in high school. So it wasn't one of these
- 36:40Speaker 1: cases where the parents of the players on the other
- 36:44Speaker 1: team were demanding to see your birth certificate when you
- 36:46Speaker 1: played youth sports. That actually would That did happen quite often.
- 36:50Speaker 1: My parents always new, especially baseball tournaments. For some reason,
- 36:54Speaker 1: the baseball parents were always the ones that that threw
- 36:56Speaker 1: a fit. Did they bring up birth certificate to have
- 36:59Speaker 1: it hand just in case? I'm pretty sure they did
- 37:02Speaker 1: a couple of times we're doing fun facts with Mac Sharping.
- 37:05Speaker 1: So I grew up near Buffalo. In nineteen ninety five,
- 37:08Speaker 1: the Bills had an outside linebacker, Bryce pop who was
- 37:10Speaker 1: the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He had seventeen
- 37:13Speaker 1: and a half sacks that year. He was your high
- 37:15Speaker 1: school football coach. What kind of impact did that have
- 37:17Speaker 1: on you. Yeah, he was my coach for three years
- 37:20Speaker 1: in high school, which is you know, amazing opportunity for guys.
- 37:25Speaker 1: You know, if you have a coach that has that
- 37:27Speaker 1: type of experience and that type of legacy. And you know,
- 37:31Speaker 1: we played with a couple of his sons on the
- 37:33Speaker 1: team as well, so that was really cool. And you
- 37:36Speaker 1: know he always preached to us, you know, that hard
- 37:40Speaker 1: work would show up. You know, he was kind of
- 37:42Speaker 1: a small town guy growing up, went to Northern Iowa,
- 37:47Speaker 1: had to work his way up to become defensive player
- 37:49Speaker 1: of the year. So I mean he kind of instilled
- 37:50Speaker 1: that hard work into the program. So as you know,
- 37:54Speaker 1: did you went to Northern Illinois, You're from Wisconsin. You
- 37:57Speaker 1: had a great high school career. Based on what I've read,
- 38:00Speaker 1: the University of Wisconsin didn't offer. Was that a big
- 38:03Speaker 1: disappointment at the time, I was disappointed. Both my parents
- 38:08Speaker 1: went to school there and my sister ended up going
- 38:10Speaker 1: to school there as well for a little while. So
- 38:13Speaker 1: and I grew up going to Badger Games ever since
- 38:16Speaker 1: I can remember also, So it was a little bit
- 38:19Speaker 1: of a disappointment. But at the end of the day,
- 38:22Speaker 1: I got my opportunity, and I'm saying very thankful for
- 38:25Speaker 1: Northern Illinois. You had a great career at ANIU. You
- 38:28Speaker 1: started for four straight seasons in every game. What were
- 38:31Speaker 1: the highlights of your entire college experience. It's hard to
- 38:35Speaker 1: just pick one. Winning two MAC championships with my teams
- 38:39Speaker 1: was cool. Just being around the guys. Really, it's just
- 38:41Speaker 1: all I remember. You know, I met great teammates there.
- 38:46Speaker 1: You know, we got to play in some really cool places.
- 38:48Speaker 1: You know, my first away start in college was at
- 38:51Speaker 1: Ohio State. We got to play at Wyoming, at BYU
- 38:56Speaker 1: in the Mountain Ranges, got to play at Boston College.
- 39:01Speaker 1: You know, a couple We played some pretty cool places
- 39:03Speaker 1: in Iowa when they did the Iowa Wave my senior year,
- 39:06Speaker 1: at Florida State my senior year. So it was nice
- 39:09Speaker 1: job by Northern Illinois to schedule some great games. You
- 39:13Speaker 1: did very well in the classroom as well. You earned
- 39:15Speaker 1: a master's degree. You were one of twelve finalists for
- 39:17Speaker 1: the Campbell Trophy, which is known as the Academic Heisman.
- 39:21Speaker 1: How proud are you of your academic achievements in addition
- 39:24Speaker 1: to your athletic ones. I always took it, you know,
- 39:28Speaker 1: very personal. The grades. You know, you never know how
- 39:31Speaker 1: far this is gonna go extend throughout your life, and
- 39:35Speaker 1: you know, it was instilled in me by my parents
- 39:37Speaker 1: to you know, get good grades constantly. So I'm very
- 39:40Speaker 1: proud that I was honored with that. It was a
- 39:43Speaker 1: really cool experience that whole weekend as well. We're doing
- 39:46Speaker 1: fun facts with Mac sharping. So after your great college career,
- 39:49Speaker 1: you were second round draft picked by the Houston Texans,
- 39:51Speaker 1: number fifty five over all. Describe your draft experience. Yeah,
- 39:55Speaker 1: I kind of didn't know where I was going to
- 39:58Speaker 1: be drafted. You know, my age, it's kind of game
- 40:00Speaker 1: me a range, and it was pretty big range depending
- 40:02Speaker 1: on how guys who were you know, ahead of me,
- 40:05Speaker 1: how they would get picked. And there was kind of
- 40:08Speaker 1: a run of offensive linemen there early and it helped
- 40:12Speaker 1: me out and I ended up, you know, in Houston.
- 40:15Speaker 1: I was just at home in Green Bay in my
- 40:17Speaker 1: basement on that Friday with just a couple of my
- 40:21Speaker 1: closest friends from from NIU and U from around Green Bay.
- 40:27Speaker 1: They were probably about seven eight of us, and then
- 40:29Speaker 1: I had a couple of cousins who flew in and
- 40:32Speaker 1: it was a fun night, to say the least, after
- 40:35Speaker 1: I got the call. So your first preseason game in
- 40:38Speaker 1: the NFL was at Lambeau. That must have been unbelievable. Yeah,
- 40:43Speaker 1: talk about a perfect story. I would say that was incredible.
- 40:47Speaker 1: I probably had two hundred family and friends at that game,
- 40:52Speaker 1: you know, an incredible experience. We got to practice against
- 40:56Speaker 1: them when we were doing joint practices, and you know,
- 40:59Speaker 1: we started out o line dinners at my parents' house
- 41:01Speaker 1: on that Thursday before the game. So that was pretty cool.
- 41:06Speaker 1: So in your first two years with the Texans, one
- 41:08Speaker 1: of your teammates was a fellow Wisconsin native, J. J. Watt,
- 41:11Speaker 1: who recently retired. He's going to be a first ballot
- 41:14Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. What will you tell your kids and
- 41:16Speaker 1: grandkids someday about playing with JJ Watt? I'll say that
- 41:20Speaker 1: he was amazing what he did. He changed the game. Really,
- 41:25Speaker 1: I think being as big as he was as quick
- 41:27Speaker 1: as he was, and you know, just very grateful that
- 41:32Speaker 1: he was welcoming and always had time for guys and
- 41:37Speaker 1: just really even when he was on top of the
- 41:39Speaker 1: world in Houston, he was always the first one in
- 41:42Speaker 1: there when we were working out as rookies with us,
- 41:44Speaker 1: so that it was pretty cool to see, you know,
- 41:47Speaker 1: a leader, first bout, hall of famer type of guys
- 41:50Speaker 1: putting that work in. So after three salad seasons with
- 41:53Speaker 1: the Texans, they went to make a roster maneuver prior
- 41:56Speaker 1: to this season that involved putting you on waivers before
- 41:59Speaker 1: they could then try to bring you back. But before
- 42:01Speaker 1: they could do that, the Bengals swooped in. They claimed
- 42:04Speaker 1: you and brought you to Cincinnati. It's about a week
- 42:07Speaker 1: before the season. I'm sure you had established roots in Houston.
- 42:10Speaker 1: How challenging was that for you? That was very challenging.
- 42:14Speaker 1: I me and my wife had a son nine months ago,
- 42:18Speaker 1: so back when I was moving he was only I
- 42:22Speaker 1: was at four or five months old, So that was
- 42:26Speaker 1: very tough. I had to pack up and move in
- 42:27Speaker 1: four hours. And all the credit goes to my wife, Cass.
- 42:31Speaker 1: She is amazing, always has been very supportive. Her dad
- 42:37Speaker 1: is a football coach, so she grew up around it
- 42:39Speaker 1: growing up, and she knows the toughness of it. And
- 42:43Speaker 1: now thankfully her and my son Brooks are here, but
- 42:47Speaker 1: very thankful for her and everything that she was able
- 42:50Speaker 1: to do to help me make the move in transition
- 42:52Speaker 1: as some as possible. You've posted some pictures of Brooks
- 42:55Speaker 1: on your Instagram feed First Team all adorable. I must say,
- 43:00Speaker 1: what is your favorite part about being a dad? I
- 43:03Speaker 1: think the favorite part is just getting to spend time
- 43:05Speaker 1: around him anytime I can get you know, he's every
- 43:09Speaker 1: every time he achieves something new, you're you're so proud
- 43:12Speaker 1: and you're so sad. It's the same point because you
- 43:16Speaker 1: realize he's growing up. But I love it. I mean,
- 43:20Speaker 1: anytime he's he's I think he's gonna start walking here
- 43:23Speaker 1: pretty soon, which a little early, but i mean he's
- 43:26Speaker 1: like going from the couch to the futon and without
- 43:30Speaker 1: without trying to hold on to anything. I'm like, we're
- 43:32Speaker 1: watching him feel careful. But anytime he does anything like that,
- 43:36Speaker 1: you know, even if he's just babbling at you, anytime
- 43:38Speaker 1: you'll walk in the door and he lights up when
- 43:40Speaker 1: he sees me. It's just the greatest feeling. Half the
- 43:42Speaker 1: camera ready on your phone. Yeah, exactly, we're visiting the
- 43:46Speaker 1: Max Sharping. Your first start for the Bengals came the
- 43:49Speaker 1: wildcard playoff game against the Ravens. Can you describe what
- 43:52Speaker 1: it was like for you to charge out of that
- 43:54Speaker 1: tunnel at bake Or Stadium as a starter for the
- 43:57Speaker 1: first time in the game of that magnitude, I mean
- 44:00Speaker 1: chills anytime you get to run out into a crowd
- 44:03Speaker 1: like that. I mean, it was phenomenal. And you know,
- 44:06Speaker 1: night game, playoff game, divisional opponent, it's a lot of
- 44:10Speaker 1: stuff going on, and it was it was really cool,
- 44:14Speaker 1: you know, thankful for you know, the coaches and all
- 44:17Speaker 1: all my teammates that you know, we're sportive getting me
- 44:20Speaker 1: ready for that moment because you know, like can it
- 44:23Speaker 1: happen at any time? And thankfully we came up with
- 44:26Speaker 1: a w a few wildcard topics. Now for Max Sharping,
- 44:31Speaker 1: who is your all time favorite athlete in any sport?
- 44:34Speaker 1: And why? I would say Donald Driver Being a Green
- 44:38Speaker 1: Bay fan growing up. He was great for the community,
- 44:41Speaker 1: just a great guy overall. He always was around the
- 44:44Speaker 1: Community's one of those guys you'd see around the community.
- 44:47Speaker 1: And just a great overall guy and had a great career,
- 44:50Speaker 1: no question about it. I mentioned your Instagram feed and
- 44:53Speaker 1: some of the cute pictures of your son. You posted
- 44:55Speaker 1: a picture from Halloween this year. Your wife is Jesse
- 44:59Speaker 1: the cow Girl, your son is Woody little cowboy costume.
- 45:03Speaker 1: You are the world's largest buzz light year. How big
- 45:07Speaker 1: was the costume and how do you get one that big?
- 45:10Speaker 1: I don't know where my wife found it. I think
- 45:12Speaker 1: it was a three XL from somewhere and it was
- 45:15Speaker 1: still a little small, so it was a little tough
- 45:19Speaker 1: getting in and out of. But she she got it done.
- 45:22Speaker 1: We got the picture, and you know, Brooks was smiling,
- 45:25Speaker 1: which was always good. Brooks is gonna love to that
- 45:28Speaker 1: picture as he gets older. What do you like to
- 45:30Speaker 1: spend your money on? The most I spend my money
- 45:35Speaker 1: on is food, I would say. And then Cass and
- 45:38Speaker 1: I like to travel a little bit, you know, just
- 45:41Speaker 1: short vacations. We like to go on like a river
- 45:43Speaker 1: trip in the summer with her family. We always like
- 45:46Speaker 1: going down to the beach, even if it's just a
- 45:49Speaker 1: drive away in Houston, it's always fun. So we like
- 45:52Speaker 1: doing family occasions and that's most of the time where
- 45:55Speaker 1: we spend our money. All right, final fun fact, and
- 45:58Speaker 1: this one's kind of deep. If you could meet anybody
- 46:02Speaker 1: in history, athlete, entertainer, statesman, religious figure, whoever that person
- 46:08Speaker 1: might be, who would it be. I never got to
- 46:12Speaker 1: meet my paternal grandfather. Well technically I guess I did,
- 46:17Speaker 1: but I was a month or two old when he
- 46:19Speaker 1: passed away, and he had dementia unfortunately even before that.
- 46:23Speaker 1: So if I could go back and meet anyone, I
- 46:26Speaker 1: would I would love to meet my grandfather. Well, this
- 46:30Speaker 1: has been fun. I appreciate your time. Best of luck
- 46:33Speaker 1: this week. Thank you very much. That's going to do
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