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Bengals Booth Podcast: Hope and Dreams · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get to read Buddy on dan Hoard and thanks
0:05
Speaker 1: for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: The Meet Me in a Land of Hope and Dreams.
0:13
Speaker 1: Addition, as Sports Illustrated Senior NFL writer Connor Or explains
0:18
Speaker 1: why he thinks the Bengals are contenders again after their
0:22
Speaker 1: moves in free agency. Plus, Joe Flacco re signed with
0:26
Speaker 1: the Bengals this week for what will be his nineteenth
0:29
Speaker 1: NFL season and that makes him a perfect candidate for
0:33
Speaker 1: the game I call ten teammates in a hat. The
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Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
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Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
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Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider.
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Speaker 2: Of the Bengals.
0:57
Speaker 1: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
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Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
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Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
1:08
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since Photographer Number twenty four. The Master's
1:14
Speaker 1: Tournament is about two weeks away, and the tournament's official
1:17
Speaker 1: Twitter or X account recently promoted an upcoming documentary called
1:22
Speaker 1: Photographer Number twenty four, The Kid behind the Lens. It's
1:27
Speaker 1: the story of how Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffy
1:30
Speaker 1: Junior covered the Masters last year as a credentialed photographer.
1:35
Speaker 1: I got to know Junior when he played for the
1:37
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Reds, and he's one of my all time favorite
1:40
Speaker 1: athletes on and off the field. The trailer for the
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Speaker 1: documentary looks great and I will be setting my DVR
1:47
Speaker 1: to make sure I don't miss it. Photographer Number twenty
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Speaker 1: four premieres on NBC on Sunday, April fifth, that's Easter
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Speaker 1: Sunday at one o'clock. Now, let's get to my first guest.
2:00
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated Senior NFL writer and fellow Syracuse University alum
2:05
Speaker 1: Connor Orr has written quite a bit about the Bengals
2:08
Speaker 1: in recent years, including a big feature story about the
2:11
Speaker 1: bond between Jamar Chase and t Higgins that appeared in
2:15
Speaker 1: the magazine last August. But I had to talk to
2:18
Speaker 1: Connor this week after seeing a story he wrote for
2:22
Speaker 1: SI dot Com. Connor, I reached out after you wrote
2:26
Speaker 1: a recent story ranking NFL teams after free agency, with
2:31
Speaker 1: this I catching headline for Cincinnati fans host free agency
2:37
Speaker 1: power rankings, Bengals commanders are contenders. Again, that suggests that
2:43
Speaker 1: you like what Cincinnati did in free agency. What in
2:46
Speaker 1: particular stood out well.
2:48
Speaker 3: I think the way that they operate they upgraded the
2:51
Speaker 3: pass rush is is kind of where it's going. We
2:54
Speaker 3: watched Seattle last year win a Super Bowl, not with
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Speaker 3: one elite pass rusher or not with trying to make
3:01
Speaker 3: one pass rusher elite, and it was instead four or
3:04
Speaker 3: five guys that are gonna get seven or eight sacks piece.
3:07
Speaker 4: And I think that's where the game is going.
3:09
Speaker 3: So long as you can coach the players in that
3:12
Speaker 3: way and teach them to be a little bit unselfish
3:14
Speaker 3: and so bringing some of that vibe with you to Cincinnati,
3:18
Speaker 3: I think that that's what that defense is going to
3:19
Speaker 3: look like. They kind of for so long it was
3:22
Speaker 3: so dependent on Trey Hendrickson.
3:24
Speaker 4: But I like that.
3:25
Speaker 3: I like getting a run stopping safety they're going to
3:27
Speaker 3: be able to play. I think a little bit of
3:29
Speaker 3: a bigger nickel kind of defense like we're seeing is
3:32
Speaker 3: pretty prevalent in the NFL.
3:33
Speaker 4: So they set themselves up well. I like them in
3:36
Speaker 4: the division right now.
3:38
Speaker 1: Their offseason mission was to fix the defense. I think
3:41
Speaker 1: we all expect the offense to be good, particularly if
3:44
Speaker 1: Joe stays healthy this year. Do you think the defense
3:47
Speaker 1: looks like it is slightly improved or significantly improved based
3:52
Speaker 1: on what they've done.
3:53
Speaker 4: It's hard.
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Speaker 3: It's hard because you know, you can never measure the
3:57
Speaker 3: loss of someone like Trey Hendrickson because it goes beyond
4:00
Speaker 3: on what he does on the field. But I think
4:02
Speaker 3: that if you take the onus off of one pass
4:04
Speaker 3: rusher and you allow yourself to be a little bit
4:07
Speaker 3: more flexible, I think that automatically makes the defense better
4:10
Speaker 3: because one injury doesn't wipe you out like it used to.
4:13
Speaker 4: And I saw the.
4:14
Speaker 3: Defense coming around towards the end of last year, some
4:16
Speaker 3: of the tackles. You know, Murphy had some of his
4:19
Speaker 3: better games I think towards the end of last year,
4:21
Speaker 3: So you have to count on some of that too.
4:22
Speaker 3: I think some of these guys are just gonna eventually
4:25
Speaker 3: kind of find their way too, so I think they
4:27
Speaker 3: got better for sure.
4:29
Speaker 1: Was there anything you thought the Bengals should have done
4:33
Speaker 1: and didn't or at least haven't yet.
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Speaker 3: It's hard for me to say, because I thought that
4:39
Speaker 3: there were some fun dynamic backs in free agency that
4:45
Speaker 3: and even though that, I think Cincinnati's like relatively settled
4:48
Speaker 3: at the position that just could have added.
4:50
Speaker 4: That extra you know, just that extra mile for that offense.
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Speaker 3: Like Joe Burrow is so good in the pocket and
4:56
Speaker 3: he's so good at moving around, and I thought someone
4:59
Speaker 3: like Kenneth gain Will would have been so perfect. And
5:01
Speaker 3: they've seen him in the division a couple of times.
5:03
Speaker 3: I mean, he barrel Aaron Rodgers out of so many
5:05
Speaker 3: holes last year and basically the Bucks replaced him Rashad
5:09
Speaker 3: White with him, which shows how much they thought of him.
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Speaker 3: And so I always liked the idea of adding a
5:14
Speaker 3: dynamic back for someone like Burrow at quarterbacks like him,
5:18
Speaker 3: But you know, I think that's small potatoes, and if
5:20
Speaker 3: you are confident enough in your scouting staff, you feel
5:24
Speaker 3: like you can get one of those guys in the draft.
5:26
Speaker 1: Connor Or from Sports Illustrated is our guest, how many
5:29
Speaker 1: times have you picked Joe Burrow as your preseason MVP?
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Speaker 5: And will you do it again this year?
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Speaker 3: I can't so last year it was three years in
5:40
Speaker 3: a row, starting with the post Super Bowl he was
5:44
Speaker 3: our football preview issue cover and so we had a
5:47
Speaker 3: profile at Joe which was a lot of fun to
5:49
Speaker 3: work on.
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Speaker 4: Let me picked him to be the MVP, and.
5:51
Speaker 3: Then the year after that, and then last year I
5:54
Speaker 3: did it again, and like the one of the executive
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Speaker 3: editors of the magazine was like, you can can't. You
6:00
Speaker 3: can't do that. It's like Chris Berman and what we
6:02
Speaker 3: picked the Bills, those.
6:04
Speaker 1: Forty nine erscutive years.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and they're like, it's gonna start to take on
6:09
Speaker 3: that air to it. And I gave like a mister
6:13
Speaker 3: Smith goes to Washington, like in passion speech in a meeting,
6:16
Speaker 3: and I was like, this is why it has to
6:18
Speaker 3: be this and if he if he doesn't win it
6:20
Speaker 3: this year, we'll never pick him again. But I'm gonna
6:22
Speaker 3: go back and try to do it again this year too.
6:24
Speaker 3: I mean, he's gonna throw like forty touchns.
6:28
Speaker 5: You're bound to be right sooner or later.
6:30
Speaker 4: Exactly if I just stay with it, you know, that's
6:33
Speaker 4: that's the course.
6:36
Speaker 1: So, getting back to your power rankings from earlier this week,
6:39
Speaker 1: you have Cincinnati eleventh overall, Baltimore twelfth, Pittsburgh twentieth, and
6:44
Speaker 1: Cleveland thirtieth. I'm just gonna kind of toss Cleveland away
6:48
Speaker 1: because nobody expects them to contend in the AFC North.
6:51
Speaker 1: But based on that, do you kind of see a
6:54
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Baltimore top tier Pittsburgh a step back?
6:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it's just it's hard because we don't know
7:02
Speaker 3: for sure who the Steelers quarterback is going to be, right,
7:05
Speaker 3: and so doing one of those exercises is difficult because
7:08
Speaker 3: it's like I can imagine and we know what they're
7:10
Speaker 3: going to look like with Aaron Rodgers. I think they're
7:12
Speaker 3: going to take a step back with the McCarthy offense,
7:14
Speaker 3: which I think plays into Rogers's worst habits as a
7:18
Speaker 3: quarterback and doesn't give him that complimentary run game that
7:21
Speaker 3: Art Smith gave him. And so I see them taking
7:24
Speaker 3: a step back regardless. And I think it's impossible to
7:27
Speaker 3: follow Mike Tomlin no matter who you are, even if
7:29
Speaker 3: you're Mike McCarthy. So I do think it's that one
7:32
Speaker 3: two with the Ravens. But Baltimore lost a lot of
7:35
Speaker 3: talent this offseason, a lot of guys. They're changing to
7:39
Speaker 3: a brand new head coach who while he's in that
7:42
Speaker 3: Baltimore system, might just take a while to find your footing,
7:45
Speaker 3: you know, and get going. And so I think this
7:47
Speaker 3: is one of those times where you think there's a
7:49
Speaker 3: fair amount of chatter about how well Cincinnati could have
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Speaker 3: done on the market if they changed head coaches this
7:54
Speaker 3: past offseason, but maybe holding on to Zach Taylor and
7:57
Speaker 3: seeing what he could do makes the most sense at
7:59
Speaker 3: this point.
8:00
Speaker 1: You know, did Baltimore really back out of the Max
8:03
Speaker 1: Crosby deal because of a failed physical?
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Speaker 4: I'll put it this way.
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Speaker 3: I think that there is not enough onus being placed
8:13
Speaker 3: on the Raiders, because you know, it's like the great
8:19
Speaker 3: analogy that I heard was like, oh, I did TurboTax
8:22
Speaker 3: and I thought I was going to get a ten
8:23
Speaker 3: thousand dollars refund, so I went and bought a car,
8:26
Speaker 3: and then the governments that I actually didn't get the refund,
8:28
Speaker 3: and now I'm upset, and it's like, well, no, you
8:30
Speaker 3: have to wait until the thing's done. You have to
8:32
Speaker 3: wait until the money's in the bank, the checks in
8:34
Speaker 3: the mail, and you know, I think that there were
8:38
Speaker 3: way more questions about Crosby's long term health in the
8:42
Speaker 3: NFL medical community than is being let on right now,
8:45
Speaker 3: and I think that the public perception is on the
8:47
Speaker 3: side of the Raiders at this point. But I think
8:50
Speaker 3: long term we might see Baltimore come out of this
8:53
Speaker 3: looking a little rosier than they do right now, just
8:56
Speaker 3: because it's a strange I think it was a strange
9:00
Speaker 3: out to take Procedurally. It's just different than some other
9:02
Speaker 3: guys that have had that injury in the past, and
9:05
Speaker 3: I think it's harder for teams to project, and that
9:08
Speaker 3: there's a chance for reinjury, and so I think that
9:11
Speaker 3: there's a lot of issues there.
9:12
Speaker 4: You know, if you're not sure, don't spend two first
9:14
Speaker 4: round picks on it.
9:16
Speaker 1: You made the case this week that the Browns should
9:19
Speaker 1: trade Miles Garrett. Do you think there's any chance they'll
9:23
Speaker 1: consider it.
9:25
Speaker 3: The only reason why I say yes is because you
9:29
Speaker 3: try to do your powers of like deductive reasoning. Why
9:32
Speaker 3: did they restructure the contract like they did yesterday, because
9:36
Speaker 3: Miles Garrett has no trade clause. But what you did
9:39
Speaker 3: was you basically pushed all of the guaranteed money that
9:43
Speaker 3: you owe him. Instead of paying him right at the
9:45
Speaker 3: beginning of the league year, you're paying him like a
9:47
Speaker 3: week before the season starts. Why else would you need
9:51
Speaker 3: a two month runway between when you were going to
9:53
Speaker 3: pay him and when you are going to pay him,
9:56
Speaker 3: outside of the fact that maybe you need more cash
9:58
Speaker 3: relief at.
9:59
Speaker 4: That time of the year.
10:01
Speaker 3: A lot of teams are going to this model anyway,
10:03
Speaker 3: like the Eagles all their contracts look like this, and
10:06
Speaker 3: the Browns GM and the Eagles director of football strategy
10:09
Speaker 3: your brothers. So maybe there was something to that, right,
10:11
Speaker 3: But the only other thing I can think of is
10:14
Speaker 3: like this team is clearly rebuilding. They let a lot
10:16
Speaker 3: of guys go, they change coaching staffs, everything is pointing
10:19
Speaker 3: towards the twenty twenty seven draft, where there's going to
10:22
Speaker 3: be maybe eight first round draft pick quarterbacks available, And like,
10:27
Speaker 3: I just don't know what else you could get out
10:28
Speaker 3: of Miles Garrett at this point. If you're the Browns,
10:30
Speaker 3: you can still build a statue when he retires. It's
10:32
Speaker 3: not going to change anything. You already got the sack
10:35
Speaker 3: record season, like, it's all there, So why not try
10:37
Speaker 3: to get like, you know, two first round picks for him,
10:40
Speaker 3: which I think you could get for him right now.
10:42
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think there's any doubt about it.
10:44
Speaker 1: I mean, based on the price tag that some of
10:47
Speaker 1: the other pass rushers have earned, he's the best. He's
10:51
Speaker 1: not that old. I think they could get two ones
10:53
Speaker 1: and probably a player too.
10:55
Speaker 4: I agree. I think it would match the Parsons comp.
10:57
Speaker 3: The reason that Crosby didn't get it is because you know,
11:01
Speaker 3: I think he's a step I think it's probably Miles
11:04
Speaker 3: Garrett in a tier by himself. You know, if you
11:06
Speaker 3: talk to scouts and executives around the league, they'll say
11:09
Speaker 3: he's in that Bruce Smith, Reggie White tire right, that's
11:12
Speaker 3: the Mount Rushmore pass rusher. He's gonna be one of
11:14
Speaker 3: the greatest that ever did it, you know. And then
11:16
Speaker 3: you have Michael Parsons in a tier. And then there's
11:18
Speaker 3: the Max Crosby's of the world, who maybe they come
11:21
Speaker 3: around once every four years instead of once every twenty years.
11:23
Speaker 4: So I still think they could get two ones in
11:25
Speaker 4: a player for him. I don't have any doubt about it.
11:28
Speaker 5: Connor Or from Sports Illustrated is our guest.
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Speaker 1: You can follow him on x at connor or one
11:34
Speaker 1: n in Connor co n o R. You made bold
11:37
Speaker 1: predictions for every NFL team recently. When it came to
11:40
Speaker 1: the Bengals. You predicted that they will draft secondary help
11:44
Speaker 1: with the tenth overall pick, namely Ohio State safety Caleb
11:48
Speaker 1: Downs or LSU cornerback Monsieur de Layne. Do you have
11:52
Speaker 1: a preference between those two if either or both are there.
11:56
Speaker 3: Well, it shook me a little bit to hear John
11:58
Speaker 3: Harbaugh call Downs a few your Hall of Famer after
12:01
Speaker 3: the Ohio State Pro Day, And I mean, people forget
12:04
Speaker 3: that when he wasn't coaching special teams, he was coaching
12:07
Speaker 3: defensive backfields and knows that position really well. I'd be
12:11
Speaker 3: surprised if he's not on the board for the Giants
12:13
Speaker 3: there too. I think that the game is going more
12:16
Speaker 3: toward like your flex safety players and just being able
12:21
Speaker 3: to get by in your coverages, but have guys that
12:23
Speaker 3: are going to be able to really contribute to the
12:25
Speaker 3: run and to be able to cover tight ends and prevent.
12:28
Speaker 3: I mean, we saw what the Rams were doing last
12:30
Speaker 3: year torturing people with three tight end sets now right,
12:33
Speaker 3: And of course the NFL is going to follow suit
12:35
Speaker 3: and everybody copies Sean McVay, and so I might find
12:38
Speaker 3: more usefulness to that. And I think that's kind of
12:41
Speaker 3: where you're seeing I mean, the Bengals have already gotten
12:43
Speaker 3: that really good kind of run, stuffing safety and free agency.
12:46
Speaker 3: But I think that you can't ever have too much
12:48
Speaker 3: of that. I mean, Nicki Monmoury was a game changer
12:50
Speaker 3: for the Seahawks last year, and you see how valuable
12:52
Speaker 3: that position is.
12:54
Speaker 1: Bengals fans would like Caleb Downs to still be there
12:57
Speaker 1: at ten. But we'll see to give you credit for something,
13:01
Speaker 1: I think, more than any other NFL national reporter, you've
13:06
Speaker 1: consistently pointed out that the Bengals don't deserve the reputation
13:11
Speaker 1: for being cheap. Do you feel like kind of the
13:15
Speaker 1: lone voice crying out in the wilderness at times?
13:19
Speaker 3: Well, it's just it's weird to me, Like, you know,
13:21
Speaker 3: we see the NFLPA report cards and we see all
13:24
Speaker 3: that stuff come out, and I just think that there
13:28
Speaker 3: are bigger issues generally speaking with other teams, and you're like, well,
13:33
Speaker 3: you know, that's weird, and that's weird, and why don't
13:36
Speaker 3: we talk about that a little bit more. I Mean,
13:38
Speaker 3: I just don't know, like every time that there's a
13:40
Speaker 3: rub with the Bengals in particular, it seems like something
13:43
Speaker 3: has been done to disprove it right, Like, very early
13:47
Speaker 3: on in Zach Taylor's tenure, I think two of his
13:49
Speaker 3: first four years they were top three in free agencies
13:52
Speaker 3: spending the offseason. You have to double check me on that.
13:55
Speaker 3: They redid the offensive line essentially twice. They built a
13:58
Speaker 3: practice facility, they added scouts, they paid Jamar Chase and
14:01
Speaker 3: t Higgins one in one A at the.
14:03
Speaker 4: Top of the market.
14:04
Speaker 3: They're doing everything they can to pacify Joe and to
14:07
Speaker 3: keep them there and to keep them happy.
14:09
Speaker 4: Like, I don't know, like what else do you want?
14:12
Speaker 3: Right Like, they're so like and I wrote this with
14:15
Speaker 3: when they traded for Flacco last year. There are so
14:18
Speaker 3: many teams that are just playing for eight and nine
14:23
Speaker 3: and they'll be happy as long as they can suck out,
14:26
Speaker 3: you know, a net profit, Like if your owner is
14:30
Speaker 3: demonstrating an ability or want or desire to win in
14:33
Speaker 3: any way, shape or form, like you have to realize
14:35
Speaker 3: how special that is, Like it's still rare in the NFL,
14:39
Speaker 3: it is, And so I don't know, I'm I'm I'm happy.
14:42
Speaker 3: I'm happy carving out that little niche on on my island.
14:45
Speaker 4: I'll keep it there till the day I die.
14:48
Speaker 5: Would like to see it spread.
14:50
Speaker 3: Trust me, it's just an old right, it's it's an
14:53
Speaker 3: old trope, and and those things we see are hard to.
15:00
Speaker 4: To shake.
15:00
Speaker 3: I mean, there's still some less informed draft analysts out
15:04
Speaker 3: there saying like, oh, the Raiders will take a speedy
15:06
Speaker 3: wide receiver in the first round, and it's like Al
15:08
Speaker 3: Davis has been gone, God bless his soul for how long,
15:10
Speaker 3: you know, like things have changed, times have changed, but
15:13
Speaker 3: not according to some people.
15:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I assume that if in one of the Bengals
15:17
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl, they will no longer be perceived
15:20
Speaker 1: as cheap. But until then that reputation might not go
15:23
Speaker 1: away no matter how much they spend and what they
15:25
Speaker 1: spend it on.
15:26
Speaker 3: And you know, I'll just say this, and it's like
15:28
Speaker 3: kind of my closing argument for this, Like the small
15:31
Speaker 3: scouting staff is like an interesting example because during the
15:34
Speaker 3: Super Bowl run I had the Bengals for you know,
15:38
Speaker 3: you divide up the reporters. One guy has the Rams,
15:40
Speaker 3: one guy has the Bengals, and because that issue's got
15:43
Speaker 3: to go to print like the morning after the Super Bowl, right,
15:45
Speaker 3: so you have to have a Bengals wind store, and
15:48
Speaker 3: you have to have a Rams win story and talking
15:50
Speaker 3: to the people who have worked for the Bengals scouting staff,
15:53
Speaker 3: who've worked for the Bengals coaching staff. The reason why
15:57
Speaker 3: you had a small staff is because you had the
16:00
Speaker 3: coaches and the staff work together and it was possible
16:03
Speaker 3: to explain in a different way.
16:06
Speaker 4: Hey, this is the kind of guy I want.
16:07
Speaker 3: Like, you know, there was a great story about this
16:10
Speaker 3: scout that was like, look at how awful this defensive
16:12
Speaker 3: tackle is, and Marvin Lewis is like, no, man, that's
16:14
Speaker 3: he's doing this and I actually need him to do that.
16:17
Speaker 3: So can we pick this guy?
16:19
Speaker 2: You know?
16:19
Speaker 4: And so there's this always this loss.
16:22
Speaker 3: In translation I think between scouting and coaching, and that
16:25
Speaker 3: pipeline is so critical. It's why the Rams are so good, right,
16:29
Speaker 3: It's why the forty nine ers are so good. But
16:31
Speaker 3: that was almost by design, Like okay, yeah, maybe it
16:33
Speaker 3: saved money, but it also helped the team draft a
16:35
Speaker 3: lot of really good players over the years, you know,
16:38
Speaker 3: But that's a ramp for another time.
16:41
Speaker 1: You came to Cincinnati last year and wrote a great
16:43
Speaker 1: feature story on the friendship between Jamar Chase and t Higgins.
16:47
Speaker 1: What stood out to you and getting to know those guys.
16:50
Speaker 4: I mean just such.
16:52
Speaker 3: I mean there's an intentionality behind their way of being,
16:57
Speaker 3: behind their leadership and behind their friendship too. And I
17:02
Speaker 3: think it's it's like it's one of those things that's infectious,
17:05
Speaker 3: you know. I think that it it gets a lot
17:07
Speaker 3: of people on board. There's a real lack of ego there,
17:11
Speaker 3: I think. I mean, like there's going to be some
17:14
Speaker 3: degree of ego when you're making that much money, no
17:16
Speaker 3: matter what, you're that talented. But I think I was
17:18
Speaker 3: surprised that just their desire to want to do it here,
17:23
Speaker 3: that that tracked with, you know, talking to Joe's parents
17:26
Speaker 3: right after they drafted him too. I think that there's
17:29
Speaker 3: a feeling of that and and just like I mean,
17:32
Speaker 3: they're just such regular dudes. I mean they have, like,
17:34
Speaker 3: you know, a million dollar Lamborghini, but like we all
17:37
Speaker 3: have the same waffle house order, you know, and you know,
17:40
Speaker 3: I love that about them. So I think they're they're
17:42
Speaker 3: really unique dudes.
17:43
Speaker 1: I went back and reread the feature Tea's favorite Mexican
17:47
Speaker 1: restaurant has gone out of business. No, I don't even
17:50
Speaker 1: know if he knows yet.
17:52
Speaker 4: So the day that it was funny, I forget what
17:54
Speaker 4: it was called, but tequila. Yes, And and that day
18:01
Speaker 4: I went, I got.
18:02
Speaker 3: To the stadium with the photography crew, and a lot
18:06
Speaker 3: of times, if I'm going to do like interviews all day,
18:08
Speaker 3: I don't eat in the morning because I just don't
18:09
Speaker 3: want to be like, you know, feel bloated or anything
18:12
Speaker 3: like that. And so by the time he was describing
18:14
Speaker 3: this meal, I was so hungry, and I was like,
18:18
Speaker 3: I'm going straight there. But my one of my best
18:20
Speaker 3: friends in the world, my college roommate, lives in Cincinnati.
18:22
Speaker 3: So we had chicken and waffles right after near the
18:25
Speaker 3: Red Stadium and that was really good too.
18:26
Speaker 4: So hopefully that place is still in business.
18:29
Speaker 1: I'm guessing it probably is. But yeah, he's going to
18:31
Speaker 1: be heartbroken when he learns that he can.
18:33
Speaker 4: I'm not going to tell you. Somebody's going to break
18:35
Speaker 4: it to him.
18:38
Speaker 1: Uh, you picked the Bengals to win the Super Bowl
18:40
Speaker 1: a few years ago, Unfortunately it didn't happen that time.
18:43
Speaker 5: Do you think they're going to win one in the
18:44
Speaker 5: Joe Burrow era?
18:46
Speaker 3: Yes, I just And I think it's just it's one
18:50
Speaker 3: of those things that people need to understand, like it
18:55
Speaker 3: doesn't always happen on a particular timeline, and I think
18:58
Speaker 3: that a lot of what this is is like the
19:00
Speaker 3: rest of the NFL has to be amenable to what's
19:03
Speaker 3: going on with you too. And like we had this
19:05
Speaker 3: argument about Joe Flacco the other day actually, which I
19:08
Speaker 3: thought was kind of interesting.
19:09
Speaker 4: It's like there was.
19:10
Speaker 3: The Seattle Cover three era, there was the Vic Fangio
19:13
Speaker 3: Cover two era, and like there are just certain quarterbacks
19:16
Speaker 3: that succeed better against certain trends. And I do think
19:20
Speaker 3: that Joe is built for what defenses they're playing right now.
19:24
Speaker 3: It's just like everything's got to line up right health
19:27
Speaker 3: I mean really, I mean New England's run to the
19:29
Speaker 3: super Bowl last year, so much of that was happenstance
19:33
Speaker 3: and luck and schedule and all that stuff.
19:35
Speaker 4: And there's just so much stuff that has to happen there.
19:38
Speaker 3: And so I think for the people that are pounding
19:39
Speaker 3: the table and saying it's got to happen when he's
19:41
Speaker 3: you know, thirty one or thirty two or whatever, like
19:43
Speaker 3: he could win it at thirty eight. You know, I
19:46
Speaker 3: think he's the kind of guy that would still want
19:48
Speaker 3: to play when he's.
19:48
Speaker 4: That old, and it might just take a while to happen.
19:51
Speaker 1: You know, were you surprised to see him jump, cutting,
19:54
Speaker 1: and basically getting tackled in flag football.
19:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know why anybody. I mean, I've been
20:00
Speaker 3: writing this for a year and it was quite a
20:03
Speaker 3: satisfying victory lap if I might say so myself, that
20:06
Speaker 3: the US flag football team was always going to demolish
20:09
Speaker 3: a team of NFL players because it's a different sport.
20:13
Speaker 4: It's not the same sport, right.
20:14
Speaker 3: Djokovic isn't gonna be good at pickleball and Bryson d
20:18
Speaker 3: Pitt Chamba isn't gonna be good at putt putt.
20:20
Speaker 4: Right, it's different thing. And I was just surprised.
20:24
Speaker 3: Now, the money was probably really good, but I was
20:27
Speaker 3: surprised that you would sign yourself up to.
20:29
Speaker 4: Get waxed like that by guys who are you know
20:33
Speaker 4: what I mean.
20:33
Speaker 3: It's just like like if you're a if you're like
20:36
Speaker 3: a professional skier and then you know you want to
20:38
Speaker 3: do ski halfpipe or whatever, you know you're gonna get embarrassed.
20:41
Speaker 3: It's a different sport. And so yeah, I was surprised.
20:45
Speaker 3: I'm sure every Bengals fan was out there holding their
20:47
Speaker 3: breath like.
20:47
Speaker 4: Please don't do this anymore. You know, that's it's terrifying.
20:51
Speaker 1: I asked Zach Taylor the other day how he felt
20:54
Speaker 1: when that was on. He was he was watching the
20:56
Speaker 1: NCAA tournament at the time, but he said his phone
20:58
Speaker 1: was blowing up from you three other coach and scout
21:01
Speaker 1: saying what's Burrow doing? Hey, he's living his life. Thankfully
21:05
Speaker 1: he did not get hurt, you know.
21:07
Speaker 3: And the other thing, too, is like, and this is
21:09
Speaker 3: something that Bengals fans need to think about. It's something that, like,
21:11
Speaker 3: you know, you talk every fan base off the ledge
21:14
Speaker 3: about like it's one hundred percent injury rates sport and
21:17
Speaker 3: it's unfortunate, but like you can't live your drive to
21:20
Speaker 3: drive life being like, well, I have to cut my
21:22
Speaker 3: running back off at X carries because this is what's
21:24
Speaker 3: going to happen.
21:25
Speaker 4: And you know, I mean, it's just if.
21:26
Speaker 3: It's gonna happen, it's gonna happen, you know, And you
21:29
Speaker 3: know he could just as easily be hurt, like falling
21:31
Speaker 3: off a curb and over the rhine.
21:33
Speaker 4: Is that what they call it? Walking down?
21:35
Speaker 5: Yeah?
21:35
Speaker 2: Very good.
21:36
Speaker 5: You got your Cincinnati neighborhoods down.
21:38
Speaker 4: That's right.
21:38
Speaker 5: Yeah.
21:39
Speaker 1: Well, as Joe said when he came back from his
21:41
Speaker 1: turf toe injury. I'm not going to live my life
21:43
Speaker 1: in fear.
21:46
Speaker 2: We do.
21:47
Speaker 1: We have to trust that his luck is bound to
21:48
Speaker 1: change sooner or later, and that the Bengals are going
21:50
Speaker 1: to get seventeen regular season games out of him this
21:53
Speaker 1: year and hopefully a Super.
21:54
Speaker 4: Bowl run no doubt.
21:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, Connor, this has been fun. I always appreciate your time.
22:00
Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
22:00
Speaker 5: Keep up the great work and go Orange.
22:03
Speaker 4: All right, thanks Dan, Go Orange.
22:05
Speaker 1: Up next, we'll have some fun with Joe Flacco. But first,
22:08
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that the Bengals Booth Podcast is
22:11
Speaker 1: brought to you by Paycrep, proud to be the Bengals
22:14
Speaker 1: official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber
22:19
Speaker 1: Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to
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Speaker 1: a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
22:26
Speaker 1: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
22:29
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. Several years ago, when I used
22:33
Speaker 1: to host a weekly radio show, I came up with
22:35
Speaker 1: a segment called ten Teammates in a Hat. I started
22:40
Speaker 1: doing it with Major League Baseball players who had had
22:43
Speaker 1: long careers, and here's how it works. I write down
22:46
Speaker 1: the name of one teammate from every team they ever
22:50
Speaker 1: played for on a slip of paper, and then fold
22:53
Speaker 1: that paper up. Then I take all of those little
22:56
Speaker 1: slips of paper, toss them in a baseball hat, and
22:59
Speaker 1: have my guest blindly pull out ten telling a little
23:04
Speaker 1: story about each of those former teammates. It's harder to
23:07
Speaker 1: do in football than baseball because fewer players last for
23:10
Speaker 1: more than ten years, but Joe Flacco is approaching twenty,
23:15
Speaker 1: making him the perfect subject for the segment.
23:19
Speaker 2: Joe Flacco has.
23:20
Speaker 1: Re signed with the Bengals for a nineteenth NFL season,
23:23
Speaker 1: and I am asking him to play a game I
23:25
Speaker 1: call ten teammates. In a hat, I have written down
23:29
Speaker 1: the name of a teammate from each of your first
23:32
Speaker 1: eighteen NFL seasons. I'm going to ask you to pick
23:35
Speaker 1: out a little slip of paper, read what's on a
23:37
Speaker 1: slip of paper, and then share a story, or an
23:39
Speaker 1: anecdote or a memory about that former teammate. Are you ready,
23:43
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco.
23:44
Speaker 6: Yes, I'm ready. I know he said it's not a test,
23:46
Speaker 6: but it does feel like it can turn into some
23:48
Speaker 6: kind of test.
23:49
Speaker 2: I don't think there are any stumpers here, but here.
23:51
Speaker 6: Goes Kyle Ustchek. Just got a text from Kyle last
24:01
Speaker 6: night on the way here a group of us are in.
24:05
Speaker 6: But man, Kyle, I got a lot of stories about
24:08
Speaker 6: Kyle just playing with him, because we became really good friends,
24:12
Speaker 6: just hanging out in the lunch room and talking. And
24:16
Speaker 6: there's a particular story where he was kind of getting
24:19
Speaker 6: in a fight with one of the guys on our
24:21
Speaker 6: team during a walkthrough. Not a real fight, but they
24:24
Speaker 6: were kind of going back and forth at each other.
24:26
Speaker 6: I don't know if I want to say exactly what.
24:28
Speaker 2: Was said, but probably not.
24:29
Speaker 6: But Kyle's a great friend, and you know, I mean, listen,
24:36
Speaker 6: he's been doing it at a high level for a
24:37
Speaker 6: really long time now.
24:38
Speaker 2: So nice to have Harvard buddies too. Yeah, that's right,
24:42
Speaker 2: all right.
24:42
Speaker 1: Kyle Yuschek was former teammate number one. Here comes former
24:45
Speaker 1: teammate number two with Joe Flatco.
24:49
Speaker 6: Terrell Suggs. I mean, that's an unbelievable player. Brought a
24:56
Speaker 6: lot of fun energy to the locker room my rookie year.
24:59
Speaker 6: He would always and like these magazine clipped in my locker.
25:04
Speaker 6: I don't necessarily need to say what they were of,
25:06
Speaker 6: but he felt like they were like either good luck
25:09
Speaker 6: charms or something like that. But like I said, great
25:13
Speaker 6: in the locker room and unbelievable football player.
25:16
Speaker 1: All right, we move on to former teammate number three.
25:19
Speaker 1: Feel free to drop those on the floor.
25:21
Speaker 2: I'll clean. Marshall.
25:23
Speaker 6: Yanda Marshall, another one of my really close friends, is
25:29
Speaker 6: just an unbelievably tough old school football player. There's nobody
25:37
Speaker 6: I'd rather be out on a football field with than
25:39
Speaker 6: this guy.
25:40
Speaker 2: Wow.
25:40
Speaker 6: Just his mentality and the toughness that he brings, and
25:45
Speaker 6: you just feel like you got you just feel like
25:47
Speaker 6: you got a partner, like a true partner. And when
25:51
Speaker 6: you're out there with him, everything kind of feels, you know,
25:55
Speaker 6: that much more calm, and he just kind of has
25:59
Speaker 6: that press to him that allows you to settle into
26:02
Speaker 6: the game and go do what you want to do.
26:04
Speaker 2: That's quite a compliment.
26:05
Speaker 1: Nobody'd rather be out in the field with, all right
26:07
Speaker 1: us check Suggs Yonder Former teammate.
26:10
Speaker 6: Number four, Garrett Wilson A man. I mean this he
26:15
Speaker 6: brings up just like some cool memories with some of
26:18
Speaker 6: those young guys, you know. I want to say it
26:22
Speaker 6: was my last year in New York, his athleticism jumps
26:28
Speaker 6: out at you right away. I mean, I remember when
26:30
Speaker 6: we first got him in the building and he was
26:32
Speaker 6: breaking guys down in one on ones and we were
26:34
Speaker 6: just kind of looking at each other in the quarterback
26:36
Speaker 6: room like, Okay, I think we got something special. But
26:39
Speaker 6: I mean, the thing about him is just his personality
26:41
Speaker 6: and like the life that he brings into a room
26:44
Speaker 6: and you know, kind of always walking around with a
26:46
Speaker 6: smile on his face and brightening everybody's day up.
26:49
Speaker 1: So all right, your final year in New York, his
26:52
Speaker 1: first year in New York to move on to former
26:54
Speaker 1: teammate number.
26:55
Speaker 6: Five, Lamar Jackson.
26:58
Speaker 2: Wow.
27:00
Speaker 6: I think the the memories I have of Lamar are
27:03
Speaker 6: sitting sitting in the QB room together. It was me
27:05
Speaker 6: and him and RG three and just kind of like
27:09
Speaker 6: smiling about certain things, looking at each other smiling. And
27:14
Speaker 6: you know, obviously there was a lot going on with
27:16
Speaker 6: that relationship, or not really the relationship, but what was
27:19
Speaker 6: made maybe about it just because you know, I was
27:22
Speaker 6: I was still playing there and still wanted to play there,
27:24
Speaker 6: and and and they drafted him. But yeah, I mean,
27:27
Speaker 6: Lamar is a a quiet reserved at least in the
27:32
Speaker 6: locker room and just a football player. You know, you
27:34
Speaker 6: can tell what jumps out about him is when he
27:36
Speaker 6: gets on a football field. You can tell that he
27:38
Speaker 6: field at home and really loves to play the game.
27:40
Speaker 1: Three great running quarterbacks RG three, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Flash.
27:44
Speaker 2: That's right alright. Former teammate number six.
27:49
Speaker 6: Von Miller.
27:52
Speaker 2: Wow.
27:54
Speaker 6: Well, he's he's one of those guys that, like when
27:56
Speaker 6: y when you go to practice with him, he ruins
27:58
Speaker 6: your whole practice much kind of like Miles Garrett in Cleveland,
28:03
Speaker 6: Like it was very hard to practice when Miles was
28:05
Speaker 6: on the other side, just because he'd be on you
28:07
Speaker 6: in a couple in one second. Vaughn was very much
28:10
Speaker 6: like that. You know, he'd bend around that corner and
28:12
Speaker 6: the play would be over. Now you have to get
28:15
Speaker 6: used to just playing on but he made it very hard.
28:18
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett's in this hat. I don't know if you'll
28:20
Speaker 1: pull that name or not, but we still get a
28:22
Speaker 1: few to go.
28:25
Speaker 6: Steve Smith Senior man, He's he's right up there with
28:33
Speaker 6: probably some of the best wide receivers ever. A small
28:38
Speaker 6: guy with a lot of heart, a ton of ton
28:41
Speaker 6: of strength on the field, so easy to throw too.
28:47
Speaker 6: I mean, listen, he he lives every day of his
28:50
Speaker 6: life with passion, and you can tell that on a
28:52
Speaker 6: football field, because you know when you're out there with practice,
28:57
Speaker 6: when you're out there at practice with him every day,
28:59
Speaker 6: like he's as serious as anybody and just takes his
29:02
Speaker 6: craft so serious and works as hard as anybody I've seen.
29:05
Speaker 6: And another I mean, listen to these guys are all
29:10
Speaker 6: been pretty incredible, but getting the throw to him, I
29:16
Speaker 6: was definitely a privilege. He was an unbelievable, unbelievable player
29:20
Speaker 6: and just just I mean, I think we can all
29:22
Speaker 6: see it. Everybody could see it. Just the fire that
29:24
Speaker 6: he brought and the intensity that he brought.
29:26
Speaker 1: Feisty comes to mind with Steve all Right. Here comes
29:30
Speaker 1: former teammate number.
29:31
Speaker 6: Eight, Sam Darnold. Oh. Sam was great. It's it's It
29:39
Speaker 6: was a unique experience with him in New York. I
29:42
Speaker 6: kind of came in on the back end there, and
29:46
Speaker 6: I think the thing that stood out to me about
29:48
Speaker 6: Sam was just his maturity at such a young age
29:51
Speaker 6: to be able to kind of handle everything that was
29:53
Speaker 6: going on there and and not let it affect him
29:57
Speaker 6: like it would most people. And I think that you've
29:59
Speaker 6: been able to now see that resiliency a handful of
30:01
Speaker 6: years later. But once again, I mean a lot of
30:06
Speaker 6: the memories with these guys comes down to hanging out
30:09
Speaker 6: with them in a single corner of the locker room
30:11
Speaker 6: or going into the city for you know, a sushi
30:14
Speaker 6: dinner or something like that. But yeah, the thing about
30:17
Speaker 6: him that set out was just probably that underlying resiliency
30:21
Speaker 6: that he has.
30:21
Speaker 1: Was it cool for you to see him go through
30:23
Speaker 1: that fire in New York and then win a Super
30:25
Speaker 1: Bowl last year?
30:26
Speaker 6: It was because I mean it wasn't just New York.
30:28
Speaker 6: Like you know, He's obviously had had to stick it
30:31
Speaker 6: out for a few years now, and I just think
30:34
Speaker 6: when you've been in this sport, or just in a sport,
30:37
Speaker 6: or in any profession for a long time and maybe
30:40
Speaker 6: things aren't as exactly as you would had planned, it
30:43
Speaker 6: can be tough to stay confident and ready and all
30:48
Speaker 6: those things. And the fact that he was able to
30:49
Speaker 6: do that was pretty pretty incredible.
30:51
Speaker 2: All Right. We get to former teammate number nine with Joe.
30:54
Speaker 6: Flacco, Alec Pierce. Yeah, listen, I was just pulling out
31:01
Speaker 6: I have a handful. I don't have it like I
31:02
Speaker 6: never did. A bunch of jersey swaps or even like
31:07
Speaker 6: in the locker room after the year. But he's one
31:09
Speaker 6: that I have, and I was just pulling him out
31:13
Speaker 6: because I recently moved and his I can picture his
31:16
Speaker 6: jersey that I just moved it down into my basement
31:19
Speaker 6: where hopefully I'm going to be hanging it.
31:21
Speaker 2: But yeah, I was.
31:24
Speaker 6: I was so impressed with Alec and just the head
31:26
Speaker 6: he has on his shoulders. But like you know, I
31:29
Speaker 6: think he's such a fast, explosive wide receiver and a
31:33
Speaker 6: lot of times I think when people think of those,
31:35
Speaker 6: they don't necessarily think of like the skill that can
31:37
Speaker 6: also come with that. But he's he kind of like
31:40
Speaker 6: struck me as a very strong, complete wide receiver right away.
31:45
Speaker 6: And yeah, listen, I love I loved the few games
31:50
Speaker 6: I got to play with him, drop back and throw
31:52
Speaker 6: it up. And that's why I have his jersey framed
31:56
Speaker 6: in my house.
31:56
Speaker 1: A former UC bearcat who just got a gigantic contract.
32:00
Speaker 2: I know, good for him, right, Pear's all right.
32:02
Speaker 1: This is our tenth teammate and a hat. We've got
32:05
Speaker 1: a bunch of slips of paper left. Willie Anderson, Oh
32:07
Speaker 1: there we go from your rookie year.
32:08
Speaker 6: Yeah, It's funny we were I was out here in
32:11
Speaker 6: training camp the year I played in Indie and he
32:15
Speaker 6: was here. He happened to be here. The thing I
32:18
Speaker 6: remember about him is, man, he had some mits on
32:20
Speaker 6: him and like that's what he would do, you know,
32:23
Speaker 6: he would he would set back and just get those
32:26
Speaker 6: hands on guys. Another infectious personality, but man, he could.
32:32
Speaker 6: He had those hands that if he got on you,
32:34
Speaker 6: good luck. You weren't getting away.
32:37
Speaker 1: There are names in this hat left like ray Lewis,
32:40
Speaker 1: Ed Reid, Ted Carris. Does it reinforce how special this
32:44
Speaker 1: ride has been when you hear a.
32:45
Speaker 2: List like that.
32:47
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it is about the people at the
32:49
Speaker 6: end of the day too, That's what you start to realize.
32:52
Speaker 6: It's about all those relationships that you've made. I think
32:56
Speaker 6: there's probably certain people that you wish you got to
32:59
Speaker 6: play with when I was like I wish I had
33:02
Speaker 6: to play with one on Maybe I was at a
33:03
Speaker 6: little bit different stage in my life, Like you know,
33:05
Speaker 6: some of those guys I only got to play with
33:07
Speaker 6: when I was twenty three, twenty four years old, you know,
33:09
Speaker 6: And there's other things scrolling around in my head, so
33:11
Speaker 6: you don't get to you don't get to realize the
33:14
Speaker 6: weight of it now. Listen, Like I think when Ray
33:16
Speaker 6: Lewis walks into the locker room and Ed Reid and trellsgs,
33:19
Speaker 6: I think you do kind of realize the significance to
33:22
Speaker 6: a certain point. But yeah, there's still a little piesy
33:27
Speaker 6: that takes it for granted, and nowadays you don't really
33:30
Speaker 6: do that anymore. Just because you do, you start to
33:33
Speaker 6: realize how cool it is that you've been able to
33:35
Speaker 6: do that. So yeah, I definitely feel very fortunate.
33:38
Speaker 1: It's been a remarkable run and we are delighted in
33:40
Speaker 1: Cincinnati that it's going to continue in twenty twenty six.
33:43
Speaker 2: Welcome back, I appreciate it, Thanks for the time.
33:45
Speaker 6: Yeah, good to be here.
33:47
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
33:49
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34:20
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals
34:23
Speaker 1: Boot Podcast