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Bengals Booth Podcast: Sweet Dreams · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Higat everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The
0:06
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The sweet dreams are made of this addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as the Bengals not only beat the dreaded, hated, but
0:16
Speaker 1: grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers. They hummeled Pittsburgh. They pulverized Pittsburgh.
0:24
Speaker 1: They pounded Pittsburgh. Enough alliteration you get the picture. Coming up,
0:30
Speaker 1: you'll hear radio replays from a thirty one point win,
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Speaker 1: postgame comments from players and coaches, and analysis from my
0:38
Speaker 1: broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then, in this week's fun fact segment,
0:42
Speaker 1: you'll hear Larry Ogan Joby describe his remarkable road to
0:47
Speaker 1: the NFL. It's well worth your time. The Bengals Booth
0:51
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. The Freed to Play
0:55
Speaker 1: Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now from the App
0:58
Speaker 1: Store and Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that
1:01
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
1:05
Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
1:08
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since air
1:13
Speaker 1: traffic control. I was on a lot of planes last
1:16
Speaker 1: week from Cincinnati to Las Vegas, Vegas to Kansas City, KC.
1:21
Speaker 1: Back home, then, after a one day break back on
1:24
Speaker 1: a plane to North Carolina before flying home again the
1:28
Speaker 1: next day. It occurred to me on all of those
1:30
Speaker 1: flights that air traffic control is a remarkable thing that
1:35
Speaker 1: we completely take for granted. With so many flights in
1:38
Speaker 1: the sky at any given time, the coordination required to
1:42
Speaker 1: keep all of us safe is truly amazing. So thank
1:47
Speaker 1: you to the highly skilled heroes and air traffic control.
1:51
Speaker 1: This frequent flyer is grateful. Now let's get to Sunday's
1:56
Speaker 1: stunner at Paul Brown Stadium. The highlights begin and with
2:00
Speaker 1: Cincinnati's second play on offense, Burrow moves under center after
2:04
Speaker 1: being in the shotgun on the opening play. It's a
2:07
Speaker 1: stretch run left Mixon having the first down and Marto
2:10
Speaker 1: to the fifty into Steelers territory. Yanked out a bounce
2:14
Speaker 1: on the Bengals sideline by Minka Fitzpatrick at the forty
2:18
Speaker 1: six of Pittsburgh. Nothing fancy, They're just a good inside
2:22
Speaker 1: run and good double team left guard left tackle. Get
2:26
Speaker 1: up to the next level. Joe Mixon working down the
2:28
Speaker 1: football field. How about the downfield blocked by Jamar Chase
2:32
Speaker 1: that let Joe Mixon even take advantage further of that
2:35
Speaker 1: rush opportunity, Jamar Chase at the third level getting it
2:38
Speaker 1: done twenty five yards for Joe Mixon on his first
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Speaker 1: carry of the day. On the Bengals opening drive, Mixon
2:44
Speaker 1: carried seven times for forty nine yards that set up
2:49
Speaker 1: a touchdown run by the other star of the Joe Show.
2:52
Speaker 1: Second down and seven from the Steelers eight, as the
2:55
Speaker 1: Bengals try to score on their opening possession for just
2:58
Speaker 1: the second time this year, drops back to throw spins
3:01
Speaker 1: away from a tackler running through ten the five, Burrow
3:07
Speaker 1: is in touchdown. Bengals show Burrow with his first rushing
3:13
Speaker 1: touchdown up the season, a great spin move at the
3:17
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage to get it started, and he swerved
3:20
Speaker 1: into the end zone to score. The spinning, swerving touchdown
3:24
Speaker 1: run came one year in six days after Joe's knee
3:27
Speaker 1: injury in Washington. You know, Highsmith got got some pressure
3:30
Speaker 1: on me. I was able to get outside and you know,
3:33
Speaker 1: had a little boogie right there. My name was feeling
3:35
Speaker 1: my name was feeling good on my NWS, feeling great
3:38
Speaker 1: old day. I was exciting. So the offense started the
3:41
Speaker 1: game with a seventy five yard touchdown drive, and the
3:44
Speaker 1: defense got off to a great start. Two second and seven,
3:47
Speaker 1: as the crowd gets into it, Roethlisberger in the shotgun
3:50
Speaker 1: for the first time today, stomps the left foot, catches
3:54
Speaker 1: the snap, drops back, now steps up in the pocket,
3:57
Speaker 1: flings it toward the near side, picked off by Eli
4:00
Speaker 1: Apple running up the near sideline to the Pittsburgh thirty
4:03
Speaker 1: twenty five, cuts back at the twenty ten. He gets
4:07
Speaker 1: tackled at the five. Eli Apple's second interception in his
4:11
Speaker 1: many weeks led to an Evan McPherson field goal and
4:13
Speaker 1: at tend nothing lead. The Steelers answered with a field
4:17
Speaker 1: goal on their next possession to make it ten three,
4:20
Speaker 1: but when the Bengals got the ball back, one Joe
4:23
Speaker 1: Mixon run was followed by five straight pass completions by
4:27
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow first and ten at the Pittsburgh thirty two,
4:30
Speaker 1: the Bengals leading by seven. Burrow catches a shotgun snap
4:33
Speaker 1: five step drop. It's gonna float it for the end
4:35
Speaker 1: zone in te Higgins. He goes up, He's got it.
4:39
Speaker 1: Te Higgins wins the back to the football as he
4:42
Speaker 1: took it away from James Pierre touchdown Cincinnati. Burrow completed
4:48
Speaker 1: twenty of twenty four passes, six went to Higgins for
4:53
Speaker 1: one hundred fourteen yards. Was it the Bengals best offensive performance? Yeah,
4:58
Speaker 1: you know, I would say so. No. I felt like
5:02
Speaker 1: we were rolling the whole day. And you know, we
5:04
Speaker 1: started to get up by a bunch. We started to
5:06
Speaker 1: play more conservative, but you know, at the beginning we
5:08
Speaker 1: were rolling. They certainly were after scoring on their last
5:11
Speaker 1: five drives of the Raiders game last week. The Bengals
5:14
Speaker 1: scored on their first four drives on Sunday, including a
5:18
Speaker 1: fourteen play eighty four yard march that made it twenty
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Speaker 1: four to three in the second quarter. Growing the shotgun,
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Speaker 1: Nixon to his right. Well they give it to Joe again.
5:28
Speaker 1: They do twist his shoulder, pads lunches forward. Here come
5:32
Speaker 1: the officials running in touchdown Bengals. It looked like the
5:37
Speaker 1: Bengals would score for the tenth straight possession when they
5:40
Speaker 1: drove to the Steelers twenty six with a minute left
5:43
Speaker 1: and a half, but a Minca Fitzpatrick interception gave Pittsburgh
5:48
Speaker 1: the ball back at their own twenty one. Big Ben
5:50
Speaker 1: catches the shotgun staff short drop throws h having it
5:55
Speaker 1: back to the house for the touchdown down. My Kilton
6:00
Speaker 1: against his former team, intercept Ben Roethlisberger's pass and runs
6:06
Speaker 1: it into the end zone. Cincinnati is embarrassing Pittsburgh so
6:11
Speaker 1: far today. Wow, how about that an unscripted, unconventional score.
6:16
Speaker 1: On top of being able to run the football, throw
6:18
Speaker 1: the football, you get a defensive score by former Pittsburgh
6:22
Speaker 1: Steeler Mike Hilton. So, Mike Hilton, how did that feel?
6:27
Speaker 1: You really want to know this villain the world? Man.
6:31
Speaker 1: That's my first career pick sixs and my whole football career.
6:33
Speaker 1: So to do it against those guys in a big
6:36
Speaker 1: division game couldn't be Ine sueda peewee high school college
6:41
Speaker 1: first four years of the league and this is my
6:43
Speaker 1: first one. How great is that? It was thirty one
6:46
Speaker 1: three Bengals at the half and Zach Taylor was thrilled
6:49
Speaker 1: from Mike Hilton. Mike Hilton's a winner. Mike Hilton brings
6:53
Speaker 1: constant energy. We talk about guys who are consistent every
6:56
Speaker 1: single day, and we don't expect from him every day
6:58
Speaker 1: they walk in the building. That's Mike Hilton to tea.
7:01
Speaker 1: You know, he's just awesome to be around. Brings a
7:05
Speaker 1: high standard to everybody, and guys just respect the heck
7:08
Speaker 1: out of him. Down by four touchdowns in the second half,
7:11
Speaker 1: the Steelers had to throw the ball and that allowed
7:14
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson to tee off Roethlisberger looking right, Pump fakes,
7:18
Speaker 1: looks back and the left gets hit from behind. The
7:21
Speaker 1: ball comes out, Hubbard recovers and Roethlisberger is hurt. The
7:26
Speaker 1: fumble first down for the Bengals. They called Trey Hendrickson
7:30
Speaker 1: with a strip sack, Sam Hubbard with the recovery, and
7:34
Speaker 1: with that strip sack, Trey Hendrickson has established a new
7:38
Speaker 1: Bengals record with his seventh consecutive game with a sack.
7:43
Speaker 1: Hendrickson has ten and a half sacks in eleven games
7:46
Speaker 1: with the Bengals. Sacks a sack they don't ask, you know,
7:51
Speaker 1: how it happens, They ask how many. So it's a
7:53
Speaker 1: it's just a fun thing when you're balling with your
7:56
Speaker 1: brothers and uh, we just we're just loving football. That
7:59
Speaker 1: strip sack led to a fifty one yard field goal
8:01
Speaker 1: by Evan McPherson that gave the Bengals at thirty four
8:04
Speaker 1: to three lead. The outcome was no longer in doubt.
8:08
Speaker 1: But Joe Mixon wasn't finished punishing Pittsburgh asa a p
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Speaker 1: incident right tackle. Here's a run to the left for Mixon.
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Speaker 1: Now looks to cut it back and here he goes.
8:18
Speaker 1: He runs to the forty forty five fifty near sideline,
8:21
Speaker 1: forty five forty thirty five shove down abounds. I'll tell
8:25
Speaker 1: you what, James Pierre, your athletics supporter, is back at
8:29
Speaker 1: about the thirty five yard line. I mean, James Pierre
8:33
Speaker 1: what he was there to make a tackle in space
8:35
Speaker 1: and Joe Mixon just come up inside of him and
8:37
Speaker 1: off to the races he went. Boys, Joe Mixon, decisive
8:41
Speaker 1: and explosive. That's one hundred and sixty four yards following
8:45
Speaker 1: a thirty eight yard dash there, and that is a
8:48
Speaker 1: new career high for Joe Mixon. His previous high one
8:51
Speaker 1: sixty two a few years ago. Against the Cleveland Browns,
8:55
Speaker 1: Mixon finished with twenty eight carries for one hundred sixty
8:59
Speaker 1: five yards. So great. At the same time, I mean,
9:04
Speaker 1: with I'm my on line, with I my tight ends,
9:06
Speaker 1: with on my receivers all being brought into the run game,
9:10
Speaker 1: it wouldn't happen. So as much as it is an
9:13
Speaker 1: award for me and a career thing for me, is
9:16
Speaker 1: the same thing for them. So I'm excited for everybody
9:19
Speaker 1: in the building. But at the same time, we just
9:21
Speaker 1: got to keep building on top of that. Fittingly, Mixon's
9:24
Speaker 1: final carrey of the day resulted in his thirteenth touchdown
9:27
Speaker 1: of this season. Joe has at least one in eight
9:31
Speaker 1: straight games and two touchdowns in each of his last four.
9:35
Speaker 1: Burrow under center Mixing lined up behind Stanley Morgan into
9:39
Speaker 1: the game as a block and receiver Burrow hands it
9:42
Speaker 1: on the Mixon He's into the end zone. Touchdown. Bengals.
9:47
Speaker 1: Joe was stumbling up after taking the snap from Trey Hill,
9:51
Speaker 1: but he got into Mixon for the score, and the
9:53
Speaker 1: Bengals have a great choreograph dance with Mixon and all
9:57
Speaker 1: of his offensive linemen in the end zone after that touchdown.
10:01
Speaker 1: A couple of days ago, somebody posted video from the
10:03
Speaker 1: Bengals locker room of Mixing showing three hundred thirty pound
10:07
Speaker 1: offensive lineman Quentin Spain how to do a touchdown dance.
10:11
Speaker 1: Spain was the choreographer in this case. They explain, was
10:15
Speaker 1: just like man let's do the two steps. Let's do
10:17
Speaker 1: the two steps. I'm like, okay, temptations. So he ended
10:20
Speaker 1: up coordinating that real quick, and you know, to really
10:24
Speaker 1: see all of the linemen and other positions joining in.
10:27
Speaker 1: I mean, I was lit for me. So I mean,
10:29
Speaker 1: only if y'all knew and really talked to certain people,
10:31
Speaker 1: you wouldn't expect Big Jonah to go out there doing
10:34
Speaker 1: the two steps. So, I mean it was funny. I
10:37
Speaker 1: thought it was a hell of a deal, and I'm
10:39
Speaker 1: just I'm excited for all of them, to be honest.
10:42
Speaker 1: The score was forty one to three. That thirty eight
10:45
Speaker 1: point margin would have been the Bengals' biggest ever in
10:47
Speaker 1: a win over Pittsburgh they won by thirty five back
10:50
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty eight. However, with two fifty nine left
10:54
Speaker 1: and the Bengals backups in on defense, Roethlisberger threw a
10:58
Speaker 1: touchdown pass to had friar Mouth that made the final
11:02
Speaker 1: score forty one to ten. That means the combined score
11:06
Speaker 1: and the Bengals two wins over Pittsburgh this year was
11:09
Speaker 1: sixty five to twenty. Here are t Higgins, Mike Hilton,
11:15
Speaker 1: and Joe Burrow on a decisive when beating Pittsburgh Arrival,
11:19
Speaker 1: you know, it feels good for sure. You know, um,
11:23
Speaker 1: it's a great team. Hats off to them, you know
11:25
Speaker 1: it's a great team. But being able to would you say,
11:27
Speaker 1: sixty five points in two games, you know that's unbelieveable.
11:31
Speaker 1: You know, we haven't beat them but twice since what
11:33
Speaker 1: two thousand and nine, And man, it's good. I'm just
11:37
Speaker 1: got I'm part of it. But I have a lot
11:39
Speaker 1: of respect and love for those guys. They gave me
11:40
Speaker 1: opportunity to be where I am now, and you know,
11:43
Speaker 1: I would be grateful to them. But when I when
11:44
Speaker 1: I came here, I came here on the mission. It
11:47
Speaker 1: was to help turn this team around, helped him build
11:49
Speaker 1: this team up. And we're taking the right strides and
11:51
Speaker 1: I like where we're hitting. Yeah, we're right where we
11:53
Speaker 1: want to be. You know, we have high aspirations this year.
11:56
Speaker 1: You know, we can't let up now though I think
11:59
Speaker 1: you know, we started strong and then we kind of
12:01
Speaker 1: skidded a little bit there in the middle of the season,
12:04
Speaker 1: and now coming down the stretch, I think we're really
12:05
Speaker 1: hitting our stripes. So we gotta keep having great, great,
12:07
Speaker 1: great weeks of practice and I think we have the
12:10
Speaker 1: guys that are excited about where we're at, but not satisfied.
12:13
Speaker 1: After the game, Dave Lapham spent four minutes in the
12:16
Speaker 1: locker room with head coach Zach Taylor. Right from the
12:20
Speaker 1: beginning of the staff, that is most promising to me
12:25
Speaker 1: and the most beautiful thing. One hundred and ninety eight
12:27
Speaker 1: yards rushing to their fifty one. You guys dominated the
12:31
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage from jump Street. Yeah, when you get
12:33
Speaker 1: in November December football, especially the divisional football, it starts
12:36
Speaker 1: up front and both sides of the ball. And I
12:37
Speaker 1: thought our guys came to play today and really proud
12:40
Speaker 1: of him from start to finish. They really controlled this game.
12:42
Speaker 1: They really did. And you had Joe Mixon go for
12:45
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty five yards on twenty eight carries.
12:48
Speaker 1: So let's see nineteen carries in the second half last week,
12:51
Speaker 1: that's forty seven for like almost two hundred and seventy
12:54
Speaker 1: yards on forty seven carries in basically five quarters of football.
12:58
Speaker 1: He played three quarters today and a half game last week.
13:01
Speaker 1: That's just I guess you know what you have in
13:03
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon. But when he performs like that, what is
13:05
Speaker 1: the dude to the football team. Yeah, feeds. Everybody feeds
13:07
Speaker 1: off that energy, you know, and there's nothing better than
13:09
Speaker 1: getting a good, strong run game going that the defense
13:12
Speaker 1: can feel that the clock gets sucked out, you know,
13:14
Speaker 1: and they're keeping their offense on the sidelines and we're
13:17
Speaker 1: keeping their defense on the field. And that's just a good,
13:20
Speaker 1: good way to play AFC North football. How big was
13:23
Speaker 1: Mike Hilton against this former team. I was just talking
13:26
Speaker 1: to him in the Lockerman said, it's the first pick
13:27
Speaker 1: six he's ever had high school, college, or NFL. And
13:30
Speaker 1: it happens against Ben and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That had
13:33
Speaker 1: to be some juice. That was a big moment, you know,
13:35
Speaker 1: because we were trying to end the half with no
13:38
Speaker 1: time on the clock and points on our board, and
13:39
Speaker 1: we had to turnover and then Mike comes right around
13:42
Speaker 1: and resteals the momentum for us going in a halftime.
13:45
Speaker 1: That was a big time moment. Teams can't double team everybody,
13:49
Speaker 1: and Tee Higgins got some single coverage and abused it. Yeah, absolutely,
13:53
Speaker 1: you know, over a hundred yards receiving. He had a
13:54
Speaker 1: huge touchdown, grab should have scored another touchdown. He got
13:58
Speaker 1: tackled on the inch yard line. That's that's the response
14:01
Speaker 1: we've been waiting for for teag He's always been able
14:03
Speaker 1: to do that. Now we just were able to get
14:04
Speaker 1: him the opportunity to be able to showcase that. Joe Burrow,
14:07
Speaker 1: efficient's not the word twenty out of twenty four, one
14:09
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety yards and a touchdown and the interception
14:13
Speaker 1: that you talked about. But Joe in terms of seeing
14:17
Speaker 1: what to do and knowing how to do it, he's
14:19
Speaker 1: as good as anybody isn't he. There's no question. I mean,
14:21
Speaker 1: the first and second down pass calls, it's just so
14:23
Speaker 1: easy for me just to call it, know that he's
14:24
Speaker 1: going to find the right guy and find an open
14:26
Speaker 1: guy and find his checkdowns plenty of times when he
14:28
Speaker 1: needed to and best the type of performance we need
14:31
Speaker 1: from him today. In the first half, when you guys
14:33
Speaker 1: were really getting it going. On first down, you were
14:36
Speaker 1: so amazing. You averaged like ten yards per completion on
14:39
Speaker 1: first down, like five and a half yards per rush
14:42
Speaker 1: on first down. You had ten run calls and ten
14:45
Speaker 1: pass calls on first down. Were you trying to be
14:47
Speaker 1: that balanced or to just work out that way? It's
14:49
Speaker 1: a mixture, you know, it was in a lot of
14:51
Speaker 1: ways that was the plan. We just we've had a
14:53
Speaker 1: lot of belief in what we're going to do on
14:55
Speaker 1: our drive back passes there early on, and you saw
14:57
Speaker 1: how efficient we were on the runs in the first quarter.
14:59
Speaker 1: We wanted to stick with that as well, So just
15:01
Speaker 1: trying never let them get ahead and get a beat
15:04
Speaker 1: on what we were doing. That's even we're running the ball.
15:07
Speaker 1: We wanted to make send some good passes in there,
15:08
Speaker 1: just just to keep them off balance. Yeah, because if
15:10
Speaker 1: you get in second and third and long situations against
15:13
Speaker 1: these guys, I mean t J. Watton Highsmith there, that's
15:16
Speaker 1: a good duo. There's no question about you guys were
15:18
Speaker 1: able to negate them with how successful you were on
15:20
Speaker 1: first the second down. Yeah, there's no quale. You can't
15:22
Speaker 1: let those guys get off, you know. And it's a
15:24
Speaker 1: really good group up front that we've had to deal
15:26
Speaker 1: with for a number of years now and we know
15:27
Speaker 1: what they can do to a game. And so I
15:29
Speaker 1: thought it was an outstanding drive by our offensive line
15:31
Speaker 1: keeping them in check. So the one to know today
15:34
Speaker 1: makes you seven and four and you're three and one
15:36
Speaker 1: in the division. That's a big deal to no one
15:39
Speaker 1: else has played four games in the division. You guys
15:40
Speaker 1: have won three of them. How big is it. It's
15:43
Speaker 1: a big deal. You know, every every game you win
15:45
Speaker 1: in this division set you one forward and sets another
15:46
Speaker 1: team back. And so again we got to play our
15:50
Speaker 1: best ball in the division, and our guys, for the
15:52
Speaker 1: most part, I've done that. Congratulations on up being winning
15:54
Speaker 1: today forty one to ten, three in a row against
15:57
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers, all by ten points. Some more not
16:01
Speaker 1: eking out wins, coach smoking them. We'll take it, absolutely,
16:05
Speaker 1: love it, love every minute of it. Up next a
16:10
Speaker 1: home game against the La Chargers, who lost in Denver
16:13
Speaker 1: on Sunday twenty eight thirteen. The Chargers are six and
16:17
Speaker 1: five and in a three way tie for second place
16:20
Speaker 1: in the AFC West with the Broncos and Raiders, one
16:24
Speaker 1: game behind the first place Chiefs, who are seven and four.
16:28
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the
16:32
Speaker 1: free to play fantasy football game. Ultimate Bengals will be
16:36
Speaker 1: awarding a weekly winner during the course of the season,
16:39
Speaker 1: with tickets, autographed merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all
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Speaker 1: up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the app stores.
16:47
Speaker 1: Now time for postgame analysis with my broadcast partner Dave
16:51
Speaker 1: Lapham Lap A thoroughly stunning result from Paul Brown Stadium
16:57
Speaker 1: is the Bengals pummel the Pittsburgh Steelers forty one to ten.
17:01
Speaker 1: You were in the locker room after the game. Share
17:04
Speaker 1: the vibe with people listening to this conversation, you know, it's, um,
17:08
Speaker 1: it was almost like more expected than celebratory. You know,
17:13
Speaker 1: they were like, we felt like we had this in
17:16
Speaker 1: us and they were happy about it, obviously, but it's
17:21
Speaker 1: almost like business like, you know, we felt like we
17:23
Speaker 1: could do this. This one's over with, We're moving on. Um.
17:27
Speaker 1: You know, the fact that they're three and one of
17:28
Speaker 1: the division. Nobody else has played four division games, nobody
17:31
Speaker 1: else has won three of them, so that puts them
17:33
Speaker 1: in pretty good shape obviously. That way, and with that
17:36
Speaker 1: seven and four record, they were onward and upward and
17:39
Speaker 1: that that was kind of like the message. But I
17:42
Speaker 1: think there was there was pride and how it was
17:44
Speaker 1: accomplished and how they dominated the line of scrimmage, how
17:48
Speaker 1: they took over the football game right away. I think
17:52
Speaker 1: I think there was some definitely some pride on both
17:54
Speaker 1: sides of the football that that way. But I will
17:57
Speaker 1: say Mike Hilton was like a little kid at Christmas man,
18:01
Speaker 1: big smile on his face. You know, he couldn't wipe
18:03
Speaker 1: the smile off his face. And that's the first pick
18:06
Speaker 1: six he's ever had in high school, college, or NFL.
18:09
Speaker 1: So he was he was thrilled at it came against
18:12
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger. For sure. Not only
18:15
Speaker 1: are the Bengals three and one in the division, they've
18:18
Speaker 1: all been double digit wins. Ten points at Pittsburgh, twenty
18:21
Speaker 1: four points at Baltimore, now thirty one points at home
18:24
Speaker 1: against the Steelers. Now you also throw in a blowout
18:27
Speaker 1: loss to the Cleveland Brown's oddly enough, but I think
18:30
Speaker 1: that's pretty telling. They're not eking these out. It's not
18:34
Speaker 1: a lucky break here or there. They've had three dominant victories,
18:38
Speaker 1: two over Pittsburgh, one over Baltimore, I agree with you, Dan,
18:41
Speaker 1: and then the three straight against Pittsburgh, all double digit
18:44
Speaker 1: ten points or more. So you know, you have two
18:46
Speaker 1: score wins three straight times, and each time the margin
18:50
Speaker 1: get bigger ten points, fourteen points than this thirty one
18:54
Speaker 1: point win. Is just it's remarkable. I don't think there
18:58
Speaker 1: are many people that thought that this was going to
19:01
Speaker 1: be how this football game would unfold, but it certainly did.
19:05
Speaker 1: And yeah, I think they feel like they're the best
19:07
Speaker 1: team in the division. I think they really feel that
19:09
Speaker 1: way right now. That Cleveland game was just one of
19:13
Speaker 1: those days that the office is just tough to tough
19:16
Speaker 1: to figure out. I mean, five of the last six
19:18
Speaker 1: games they've scored thirty one points on war and they
19:20
Speaker 1: get sixteen against the Cleveland Browns and it's just, you know,
19:24
Speaker 1: Cleveland scores over forty. So it's just it's one of
19:27
Speaker 1: those days where you just scratch your head. But this
19:30
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh defensive football team is leaky against a run. I
19:35
Speaker 1: mean a lot of people have run the football right
19:37
Speaker 1: down their throats and that is so non Pittsburgh like.
19:40
Speaker 1: For the Bengals to rush for one hundred and ninety
19:42
Speaker 1: eight yards in Pittsburgh rush for fifty one, that in
19:45
Speaker 1: my mind, says all you need to know about the
19:48
Speaker 1: outcome of this football game when you when you're talking
19:51
Speaker 1: Bengal Steelers and the Bengals rushing yardage didn't come after
19:56
Speaker 1: they had a huge lead. It came as they were
19:58
Speaker 1: building a huge lead. Sometimes final rushing stats, and a
20:01
Speaker 1: blowout can be really deceiving because the team that's way
20:04
Speaker 1: ahead winds up with twenty rushes late in the game
20:07
Speaker 1: and the other team stops throwing. That was not the
20:09
Speaker 1: case in this game. Joe Mixon, obviously, with a hundred
20:12
Speaker 1: yards in the first half, one and sixty five in
20:14
Speaker 1: the game. His running was the key to building this
20:18
Speaker 1: big lead. Yeah, and when you look at it, nineteen
20:21
Speaker 1: carries for over one hundred yards in the second half
20:24
Speaker 1: against the Raiders twenty eight here, that's forty seven carries
20:28
Speaker 1: for almost two hundred and seventy yards and five quarters
20:31
Speaker 1: of football. And then you know he's gashing him too.
20:35
Speaker 1: I mean the thirty two yard run he said. He said,
20:37
Speaker 1: multiple explosive runs in those five quarters of football. So
20:43
Speaker 1: he's really in a groove. I mean, he was excited.
20:47
Speaker 1: He wasn't really shocked, I don't think by what took place,
20:50
Speaker 1: but he was excited about it. And he couldn't say
20:53
Speaker 1: enough about not only his offensive line, but the tight
20:55
Speaker 1: ends and wide receivers continuing to block for him like
20:59
Speaker 1: they have. He know, he can't give all those teammates
21:02
Speaker 1: enough credit. And then when you run the ball like
21:05
Speaker 1: that Joe Burrow unbelievably efficient twenty for twenty four. That's
21:11
Speaker 1: that's darn darn good efficiency for one hundred ninty yards
21:14
Speaker 1: and a touchdown. He did have the interception, but quarterback
21:17
Speaker 1: rating in ninety six point two. So I said on
21:20
Speaker 1: the postgame show, the tide has officially turned. And I
21:25
Speaker 1: don't mean that the Bengals are going to do to
21:27
Speaker 1: the Steelers what Pittsburgh has unfortunately done to Cincinnati. I
21:31
Speaker 1: don't see Cincinnati winning eleven straight games in this rivalry,
21:35
Speaker 1: but I do think it is no longer the team
21:38
Speaker 1: that's in your head, the team that you crumble against
21:42
Speaker 1: because of the tension or whatever. The Bengals are ready
21:46
Speaker 1: to go toe to toe with Pittsburgh and right now
21:48
Speaker 1: are the better team they are. And I think, you know,
21:51
Speaker 1: as you look at next year, a lot of these
21:54
Speaker 1: young players with a year under their belt, they're only
21:56
Speaker 1: going to be better next year. And Pittsburgh, you know,
21:59
Speaker 1: the most horton player is definitely on the downhill. Ben Roethlisberger.
22:03
Speaker 1: I mean watching him try to move around, uh today
22:07
Speaker 1: was you know, it was painful. Sometimes. I mean, he's
22:09
Speaker 1: he's not He's nowhere near anywhere near. It's not even
22:12
Speaker 1: a shadow of the athleticism that he once had. And uh, yeah,
22:17
Speaker 1: it's I think that that the gap not only is
22:22
Speaker 1: the tide turn, but there's a little a little bit
22:24
Speaker 1: of a gap there that the Bengals could continue to widen.
22:27
Speaker 1: And we'll see. And I'm not saying they're going to
22:29
Speaker 1: go in a ten game winning streak either, but I'd
22:31
Speaker 1: be shocked if you know, they don't win six or
22:34
Speaker 1: seven out of ten, you know, in that in that
22:36
Speaker 1: ten game stretch, that wouldn't surprise me whatsoever. Depending on
22:39
Speaker 1: who Pittsburgh gets to be the next quarterback, that's a
22:42
Speaker 1: big factor. There's no doubt about that. Yep. And uh
22:44
Speaker 1: because I don't think I don't think their next quarterback
22:47
Speaker 1: is necessarily on their roster for sure. But we'll we'll see,
22:51
Speaker 1: We'll see what they can they can figure out. Mike
22:54
Speaker 1: Tomlin has a has a tremendous reputation, not only the
22:57
Speaker 1: draft but free agency. You never know, you never know
22:59
Speaker 1: what they're gonna come up with. Joe Burrow is about
23:03
Speaker 1: two weeks away from his twenty sixth birthday. If you're
23:07
Speaker 1: a Pittsburgh Steelers fan right now, and you seek at
23:10
Speaker 1: that kid, what he's doing with this franchise. Are you
23:13
Speaker 1: sick to your stomach thinking we got to deal with
23:15
Speaker 1: this guy for the next ten years. I mean, I
23:17
Speaker 1: think you know that's that's probably they may be starting
23:20
Speaker 1: to feel what we started to feel with Ben Roethlisberger,
23:23
Speaker 1: you know, when he started to accumulate w's I mean,
23:26
Speaker 1: fifteen and four, now fifteen and three going into the
23:29
Speaker 1: football game, second best mark ever. Brady went sixteen and
23:33
Speaker 1: two in eighteen starts against the Buffalo Bills, but fifteen
23:36
Speaker 1: and three by Ben Roethlisberger's number two to that against
23:40
Speaker 1: the Bengals, So, um, yeah. I mean, can Joe Burrow
23:44
Speaker 1: start to string together, you know, winning two out of
23:48
Speaker 1: every three kind of thing that would be acceptable to
23:51
Speaker 1: say the least. I mean, I'm not expecting Joe Burrow
23:54
Speaker 1: to to beat in twenty times against the Steelers to win,
23:59
Speaker 1: you know, se teen of them or sixteen of them.
24:01
Speaker 1: That that would be a little bit much to expect.
24:03
Speaker 1: But I do think that the Pittsburgh Steelers the fans
24:08
Speaker 1: have to respect what Joe Burrows about. I know the
24:10
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengal fans had they respected what Ben Roethlisberger did.
24:15
Speaker 1: They obviously they didn't like it. But the respect you
24:19
Speaker 1: have to I mean, it's you know, you're fooling yourself
24:22
Speaker 1: if you don't show respect for somebody that can do
24:25
Speaker 1: the things that Ben Roethlisberger did, and you know, maybe
24:28
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow can do some of that too. And just
24:30
Speaker 1: to clarify that, fifteen and four as Roethlisberger's road record
24:35
Speaker 1: against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium and the Tom
24:38
Speaker 1: Brady numbers where his road record as the Patriots quarterback
24:41
Speaker 1: against the Buffalo Bill. Speaking of Roethlisberger, why do you
24:45
Speaker 1: think he played until the end of the game. When
24:47
Speaker 1: the Bengals beat Baltimore, Lamar Jackson came out early. When
24:50
Speaker 1: the Browns beat up on the Bengals, Joe Burrow came
24:53
Speaker 1: out early. He played to the finish. Mike Tomlin called
24:55
Speaker 1: two timeouts in the final ninety seconds. How did you
24:58
Speaker 1: interpret that? I think it's two competitors that are going
25:03
Speaker 1: to compete no matter what. You know, They're used to
25:05
Speaker 1: having so much success. They want to make a statement
25:08
Speaker 1: to everybody in the organization, from top to bottom, that
25:11
Speaker 1: they're not going to quit on any game. I wanted
25:14
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd's comment about them quitting in the first game
25:17
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh had something to do with it. And obviously
25:21
Speaker 1: that didn't hurt the Bengals effort today. But the fact
25:24
Speaker 1: that Tyler Boyd, who doesn't usually say those kind of
25:27
Speaker 1: things one publicans saying, you know, I really thought that
25:29
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers quit a little bit. Maybe that was
25:32
Speaker 1: a statement to show that we don't quit in Pittsburgh
25:35
Speaker 1: and we're gonna play every snap until its conclusion. Good
25:39
Speaker 1: battering different that's you get paid to play, and we're
25:42
Speaker 1: gonna go out and we're gonna play every snap. I
25:44
Speaker 1: guess that's the message that they were trying to send
25:46
Speaker 1: collectively and individually. I hadn't even thought of that. That's
25:49
Speaker 1: really a good point. So I wonder now if the
25:52
Speaker 1: NFL is regretting not flexing Burrow versus Herbert to prime
25:58
Speaker 1: time after that bank those performance today. Yeah, and and
26:03
Speaker 1: and really Eckler mixing. I mean, there's there's there's a
26:07
Speaker 1: bunch of stars. Offensively, it could be one of those
26:12
Speaker 1: kind of games where you know, the fans love forty
26:16
Speaker 1: to thirty seven, thirty seven, thirty fourth, They love those
26:19
Speaker 1: kind of games, and this one could end up being
26:22
Speaker 1: that type of football game. There's there's no doubt about it.
26:25
Speaker 1: But I think the Bengals defense is getting back on track,
26:29
Speaker 1: you know, and it's going to be interesting to see
26:31
Speaker 1: if the Bengals can control the Chargers running game and
26:35
Speaker 1: make Herbert uncomfortable because he's been playing pretty comfortably and
26:40
Speaker 1: he's very talented. Man. He just when you hear Drew
26:43
Speaker 1: Brees say that the ball has a different velocity and
26:49
Speaker 1: trajectory and the ball seems to speed up, you know,
26:52
Speaker 1: at two thirds into his throw, he says, the ball actually,
26:55
Speaker 1: you know, starts to rotate tighter and speed up, because
26:57
Speaker 1: I've never seen that. When you have another quarterback saying
26:59
Speaker 1: those kind of things, that's a that's the ultimate testament,
27:02
Speaker 1: particularly a guy like Breeze. So um, it's gonna be interesting.
27:06
Speaker 1: I saw Herbert down there at the Senior Bowl when
27:08
Speaker 1: the Bengals had him and the Senior Bowl. I mean,
27:10
Speaker 1: he can throw it. It's it's a it's a thing
27:14
Speaker 1: of beauty to watch that kid throw the football. He's
27:16
Speaker 1: one of those guys when it comes out of his hand,
27:17
Speaker 1: it's almost like, man, that's a that's just artistic what
27:21
Speaker 1: this guy can do with the football. So he's gonna
27:25
Speaker 1: be a He's gonna be a problem, There's no doubt
27:27
Speaker 1: about it. And the h Boys better get ready to
27:29
Speaker 1: get him off his spot because he's If he gets
27:32
Speaker 1: comfortable in the pocket and uh feels like you can
27:36
Speaker 1: see what's going on down the football field, you get
27:39
Speaker 1: yourself issues. Let me circle back to one more thing.
27:43
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon runs for a career high one hundred and
27:45
Speaker 1: sixty five yards. T J. Watt never got to Joe Burrow.
27:49
Speaker 1: How well is the offensive line playing right now? Yeah,
27:52
Speaker 1: I mean I do think that. I do think that
27:55
Speaker 1: t J. Watt was not but seventy five percent of
28:00
Speaker 1: t J Watt can affect games, you know, And uh,
28:04
Speaker 1: I think I think the offensive line I was not amazed,
28:08
Speaker 1: but I was pleasantly, pleasantly optimistic by how I saw
28:14
Speaker 1: them re established the line of scrimmage down the football
28:16
Speaker 1: field collectively. It wasn't just a guy, It wasn't just
28:19
Speaker 1: a double team that got big movement and rubbed to
28:22
Speaker 1: the linebacker level. The push was big. I mean Joe
28:25
Speaker 1: Mixon's when he was running inside, wasn't making his first
28:28
Speaker 1: cut till he was well past the line. Of scrimmage.
28:31
Speaker 1: I mean he had a lot of you know, yards
28:34
Speaker 1: before contact on runs between the tackles, and when you
28:38
Speaker 1: get that going on, you have something special going on
28:41
Speaker 1: up front. And I think I think as a group,
28:44
Speaker 1: this may have been their best performance. Um you know,
28:47
Speaker 1: I know that Pittsburgh doesn't have their studs in there
28:50
Speaker 1: at defensive tackle. They're down some players, but you still
28:53
Speaker 1: have Cameron Heyward operating in there, and you still have T. J.
28:56
Speaker 1: Watton high Smith on the edge. It's not like these
28:58
Speaker 1: guys are Schmo's and they were. They were pushing them
29:01
Speaker 1: off the line of scrimmage on the interior and then
29:04
Speaker 1: on the exter area, the tight ends, the wide receivers.
29:06
Speaker 1: They complimented what was going on the inside running game
29:09
Speaker 1: with outside blocking to let your mixing get to the perimeter.
29:12
Speaker 1: It was It was just well done. And when you
29:16
Speaker 1: can increase the defense in multiple places like the Bengals did,
29:20
Speaker 1: didn't matter. It was outside, left, outside, right up the gut.
29:24
Speaker 1: They feasted. I mean they had a second Thanksgiving and
29:27
Speaker 1: it was on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. The
29:30
Speaker 1: offensive line feasted on the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive front seven.
29:35
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I enjoyed that immensely,
29:39
Speaker 1: big time, big time, every single minute of it. I
29:42
Speaker 1: mean every time I saw that that line, you know,
29:45
Speaker 1: knocking them backwards, I was like, oh lord, a mercy,
29:48
Speaker 1: this is awesome. Man. This is about as good as
29:52
Speaker 1: stuff as it's. It's better than watching, you know, a
29:55
Speaker 1: movie that won all kinds of Academy Awards. This is
29:58
Speaker 1: better than that. Big was that gallon drum? And what
30:02
Speaker 1: was it of fifty five gallon drum? A butt whip?
30:05
Speaker 1: And they got out one in the second half and
30:07
Speaker 1: sprayed it all over him again. Man, they sprayed the
30:09
Speaker 1: whole drum in the first half, had to refill and
30:11
Speaker 1: get a second one, and emptied a good bit of
30:13
Speaker 1: that in the third quarter. Man, it was butt kicking.
30:16
Speaker 1: Time for more on Sunday's win, join Lap and Lance
30:20
Speaker 1: McAlister for Bengals Line Monday night from six to nine
30:23
Speaker 1: on seven hundred WLW. Now time for this week's fun
30:27
Speaker 1: Facts segment where you get to know the person under
30:31
Speaker 1: the pads. TA for some fun facts with defensive lineman
30:35
Speaker 1: Larry Ogan Joby from Greensboro, North Carolina. In eleven years
30:39
Speaker 1: of broadcasting Bengals games. I'm not sure I've heard a
30:42
Speaker 1: more inspirational half to the NFL story than yours. I
30:47
Speaker 1: have threatened to take my fifteen year old son's Xbox away.
30:51
Speaker 1: I've never done it, but when you were in tenth grade,
30:53
Speaker 1: your parents did that and it changed your life. Explain how, oh,
30:58
Speaker 1: I think the biggest way it was I was away kid.
31:00
Speaker 1: I was about three hundred and fifty pounds, and my
31:03
Speaker 1: parents they saw me in her like you're killing himself.
31:05
Speaker 1: You're you're eating too much, or you're playing the game,
31:07
Speaker 1: You're you're just in the house too much. So they
31:10
Speaker 1: took with my xbox. My mom was like, nah, this
31:12
Speaker 1: is too much. He took it away, and I was
31:15
Speaker 1: very flustered and frustrated my dad. Luckily, I had went
31:19
Speaker 1: to the park with my sister and met a coach.
31:20
Speaker 1: His name was Robert Mitchell. The coach said he could
31:23
Speaker 1: help me, and my parents were like, we need help.
31:25
Speaker 1: So one day he came over. You know, we talked
31:28
Speaker 1: a little bit, and my parents like, he's gonna train you.
31:30
Speaker 1: So he started waking me up in the morning training me.
31:34
Speaker 1: I lost about probably fifteen twenty pounds, and then one
31:37
Speaker 1: day we were riding by the high school and he
31:40
Speaker 1: he I was like, what were you doing? He was like,
31:42
Speaker 1: You're gonna play football and I'm like, no, I'm not.
31:44
Speaker 1: He was like, yes you are. I'm like, no, I'm not.
31:45
Speaker 1: We got a little argument in the car, didn't matter.
31:48
Speaker 1: It took me to the front office, got the permission slip,
31:52
Speaker 1: took it to my mom. My mom signed it. I
31:54
Speaker 1: was on the football field that Saturday. I couldn't finish
31:56
Speaker 1: the workout, couldn't have finished the sprints. Coaches came up
32:00
Speaker 1: to me the next day or like, Larry, we just
32:02
Speaker 1: want to make sure you're still here, and I was like, yeah,
32:04
Speaker 1: I'm still here. But like in my head, I was
32:05
Speaker 1: likely because I had to be. But you know, I
32:08
Speaker 1: went through that first JV season and you know I
32:11
Speaker 1: did well. It got to the point where I wunto
32:13
Speaker 1: the award banquet and they were giving that most improved
32:18
Speaker 1: JV Player, and at the time I thought my best
32:20
Speaker 1: friend of the time, Trey Ground, was gonna get it,
32:22
Speaker 1: but they ended up calling my name. And that was
32:24
Speaker 1: the first time my life where I felt like I
32:25
Speaker 1: earned something, I really worked for it. So it made
32:27
Speaker 1: me realize that football was something I could do. You know,
32:30
Speaker 1: and I asked my coach what I needed to do.
32:32
Speaker 1: He said, you had to get faster, had to get strong,
32:33
Speaker 1: you had to perfect your technique. Because I didn't know
32:35
Speaker 1: anything about scholarships on first generation. My parents were both
32:38
Speaker 1: immigrants from Nigeria, so you know, I just I took
32:42
Speaker 1: his lead, and every day after practice, I'll go into
32:46
Speaker 1: the YMCA and the first I would start, you know,
32:49
Speaker 1: bik and half of a mile, running the whole mill,
32:51
Speaker 1: and you know, running the whole mill, biking five miles,
32:54
Speaker 1: and I finally got to point around, you know, like
32:56
Speaker 1: two whole miles with I'll stopping bike fifteen miles and
32:59
Speaker 1: my body composes and started changing. So went from three
33:01
Speaker 1: to fifty to some of my sophomore year to like
33:04
Speaker 1: two forty seven and some of my junior year. But
33:06
Speaker 1: then the coaches got pissed off because he was like,
33:09
Speaker 1: you're too late. So I broke back up to two
33:12
Speaker 1: sixty two from my junior year made All Conference to
33:14
Speaker 1: my senior year two sixty seven, made All Conference. East
33:18
Speaker 1: West All Star had five scholarship offers from Charlotte Firm
33:21
Speaker 1: and Howard Presbyteria at Kataga took one official visit Um.
33:25
Speaker 1: That was to Charlotte. UM fell in love with it.
33:28
Speaker 1: It was far away enough for me to fill my independence,
33:30
Speaker 1: but close enough for me, you know, if I ever
33:31
Speaker 1: needed my parents, you know, being in Greensboro, I could
33:33
Speaker 1: always get to him. UM. And it was a unique
33:36
Speaker 1: opportunity to be the first you know, first first class UM,
33:40
Speaker 1: first recruiting class UM. And I just thought it was
33:43
Speaker 1: a very unique opportunity. And you know, I'm a first
33:46
Speaker 1: generation you know, and uh, you know, I just it
33:49
Speaker 1: just felt right. So I prayed about it, and uh,
33:51
Speaker 1: it was the best accision I've ever made. Ended up,
33:54
Speaker 1: you know, going to Charlotte major in the computer science
33:56
Speaker 1: biology and becoming you know, the first player for drafted
33:59
Speaker 1: from my college. We're visiting with Larry Ogan Jobi. As
34:03
Speaker 1: the weight started melting off. What did that do for
34:06
Speaker 1: your confidence? UM? It definitely helped a lot. It was
34:09
Speaker 1: still different, you know, because you know, when you grew
34:10
Speaker 1: up being big for such a long time, I mean,
34:12
Speaker 1: it is different. You know. Building that confidence and getting
34:15
Speaker 1: that understanding was paramount. But it also taught me to always,
34:19
Speaker 1: you know, treat people with respect and understand that you
34:21
Speaker 1: just never know anybody's story. You just never know what
34:24
Speaker 1: if what somebody's been through, and you know, when you
34:26
Speaker 1: know what it's been like, it feels like to be
34:28
Speaker 1: at the bottom of respect the top a lot more
34:30
Speaker 1: so being there and you know, being down the low
34:33
Speaker 1: and then you know being the top. Um, I understood
34:36
Speaker 1: the difference. So you've shared this story and interviews before.
34:39
Speaker 1: Have you heard from people who are inspired to change
34:42
Speaker 1: their lives because of your example? My good dams every
34:45
Speaker 1: now and then then you know, people talk to me
34:48
Speaker 1: and they tell me that, you know, you've inspired me
34:50
Speaker 1: to lose weight, and um, you know I took my
34:52
Speaker 1: kid's Xbox and all that kind of stuff. But um,
34:56
Speaker 1: I just want my story to be one that's inspiring
34:58
Speaker 1: that lets everybody know that you can do it as
35:00
Speaker 1: long as you put your mind to it, that you
35:01
Speaker 1: work hard and you just dedicate yourself. You're never going
35:04
Speaker 1: to get an Xbox endorsement PlayStation. We're chatting at Larry Ogan. Joey.
35:12
Speaker 1: You've said that you are a strong believer in this
35:15
Speaker 1: expression outlook determines outcome. How m I feel like there's
35:21
Speaker 1: a lot of things in life that you can you know,
35:23
Speaker 1: nobody's life is perfect, and you know there's always things
35:26
Speaker 1: that are going on. Everybody has problems, everybody goes through
35:29
Speaker 1: up and downs. But I feel like you can find
35:31
Speaker 1: the good into everything if you just look hard enough.
35:33
Speaker 1: I mean, there's always an answer if you just you know,
35:35
Speaker 1: keep pushing to keep looking. So for me is that
35:38
Speaker 1: you know, things won't get better if I always have
35:40
Speaker 1: a negative mindset and if I always think negatively. So
35:43
Speaker 1: in order to you know, determine my outcome, I need
35:45
Speaker 1: to you know, change my outlook if I'm positive, if
35:47
Speaker 1: i'm you know, understanding that if I always look at
35:50
Speaker 1: things where instead if I got to, I get to
35:52
Speaker 1: instead of you know, what is why is this happening
35:55
Speaker 1: to me? What is this teaching me? You know, kind
35:56
Speaker 1: of reframing things, re changing things, It kind of puts
35:59
Speaker 1: you and say being a victim of the victor. And
36:02
Speaker 1: that's just how I kind of look at it. So
36:03
Speaker 1: every days, you know, every day's a challenge. But you know,
36:06
Speaker 1: you know who holds the pen and that's you. So
36:08
Speaker 1: your reference. Going to Charlotte, they did not have a
36:11
Speaker 1: college football program when you signed on to play there.
36:14
Speaker 1: That's a big leap of faith. Yeah, Um, football is
36:18
Speaker 1: just so fresh for me, you know, my only goal
36:21
Speaker 1: is to be the best of what I do. UM,
36:23
Speaker 1: it was very fresh. I didn't have anybody to gauge
36:25
Speaker 1: Inniking off of. UM. Like I said, I first generation,
36:28
Speaker 1: so like for me, it was just an amazing experience
36:30
Speaker 1: and I just wanted to just really be good at football.
36:33
Speaker 1: So my had great coaches. I had great you know teammate.
36:36
Speaker 1: He's like Brandon Banks, Austin Dude, Jamal Covent team, just
36:39
Speaker 1: guys that are lifelong friends that you know, we really
36:41
Speaker 1: did this thing together and I'm truly just appreciative him.
36:44
Speaker 1: And then of course Aaron Curry that was you know,
36:47
Speaker 1: he was a fourth for a Wall to Seattle No. Nine,
36:49
Speaker 1: and you know he was my coach, and you know,
36:51
Speaker 1: he just helped me a tremendous amount. So you were
36:54
Speaker 1: a third round draft picked by the Cleveland Browns in
36:56
Speaker 1: twenty and seventeen. Describe getting that phone call. Um, it
37:00
Speaker 1: was just amazing. You know, it's very surreal. Uh, just
37:07
Speaker 1: a lot of emotion, but just just a blessing. You know,
37:11
Speaker 1: I couldn't think God enough, you know, to be there
37:13
Speaker 1: in my living room, my friends, my family, everybody care about,
37:16
Speaker 1: you know, and just being able to just experience that
37:18
Speaker 1: moment with him was just just amazing. And you know,
37:20
Speaker 1: I can't think God enough for it, you know, is
37:22
Speaker 1: everything He's done in my life. So I've been extremely blessed,
37:25
Speaker 1: and you know, I just that's why I say, you know,
37:27
Speaker 1: I looked the termines outcome, so you know, you can
37:29
Speaker 1: always look at things, but I look in my life
37:32
Speaker 1: and I've just seen how far I come, and I
37:33
Speaker 1: just understand how blessed I am. So you spent your
37:36
Speaker 1: first four years in Cleveland, and you experienced highs and
37:39
Speaker 1: lows like no other team can experience. Basically, in your
37:43
Speaker 1: final year, you go to the playoffs and you win
37:45
Speaker 1: a playoff game. In your first year, they didn't win
37:47
Speaker 1: a game. You were part of a team that went
37:49
Speaker 1: oh and sixteen. What did being on both ends of
37:51
Speaker 1: the spectrum teach you about life in the NFL? Um
37:56
Speaker 1: just that you know, you just gotta keep pushing um.
37:58
Speaker 1: I think the best quote, uh I was actually a
38:01
Speaker 1: quote I got from college and then asked him I
38:03
Speaker 1: actually use it here was you just keep pounding the rock,
38:06
Speaker 1: you know, keep pounding them, pounding the pounding individually breaking
38:08
Speaker 1: it wasn't you know that last time you hit it.
38:11
Speaker 1: It was all the you know strikes before. So you know,
38:14
Speaker 1: when you stick to it, when you stay focused, when
38:16
Speaker 1: you when you believe in something and you just put
38:18
Speaker 1: the work in, I think everything take care of itself,
38:20
Speaker 1: all right. A few wildcard categories with Larry Ogan Jobi.
38:24
Speaker 1: According your bio, you taught yourself how to play the piano.
38:27
Speaker 1: What inspired you to teach yourself that? I much as
38:30
Speaker 1: always liked it. You know, there's always songs. You know,
38:32
Speaker 1: you're here and see people playing and you just want
38:34
Speaker 1: to kind of pick something up. So I just got
38:36
Speaker 1: on YouTube and started, you know, trying stuff out and
38:38
Speaker 1: it kind of worked out. Do you still play? Yeah?
38:41
Speaker 1: I have one at the house, so I play every
38:42
Speaker 1: now and then, like for easel and all that kind
38:44
Speaker 1: of stuff. So who is your all time favorite athlete
38:48
Speaker 1: in any sport? Um? Kobe Bryant Um just his demeanor,
38:53
Speaker 1: his attitude, how he attacked the game, just his legacy,
38:57
Speaker 1: you know, just an amazing guy, amazing player. I got
38:59
Speaker 1: to meet him one time, and you know, he's one
39:02
Speaker 1: of those guys were just larger in life. Do you
39:05
Speaker 1: have the Mamba mentality for sure? Where did you meet him? Men?
39:09
Speaker 1: Him in Denver? That he came and spoke to us
39:11
Speaker 1: before a game. You wear the number sixty five. You
39:14
Speaker 1: warred in Cleveland, you warded Charlotte. Is there a story
39:17
Speaker 1: behind the number sixty five? Miss my mom's birth year?
39:21
Speaker 1: You know, she's just my She's my rock. I love
39:23
Speaker 1: her to death. So you know, I got the number
39:26
Speaker 1: and then it just kind of just worked and I
39:28
Speaker 1: became the sixty fifth picked and it was just almost
39:31
Speaker 1: like destiny. So I'm glad I asked. That is an
39:33
Speaker 1: awesome story. If you could meet anybody in history, athlete, actor, statesman,
39:40
Speaker 1: historical figure, who would that person be? Probably Nicola Tesla.
39:46
Speaker 1: I just I just, you know, he just did too
39:47
Speaker 1: many cool things, and I just feel like he was
39:50
Speaker 1: a guy before his time. So I think I don't
39:52
Speaker 1: want to meet him. See that. That's a great answer.
39:56
Speaker 1: Not an actor, not somebody who's kind of frivolous, a
40:00
Speaker 1: brilliant inventor. Yes, for sure. All right, you are off
40:04
Speaker 1: the hot seat. I appreciate your time. Best to look
40:06
Speaker 1: the rest of the ear. Yes, sir, thank you very much.
40:09
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
40:11
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by Ultimate Bengals. The
40:14
Speaker 1: free to play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now
40:19
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40:22
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40:25
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Speaker 1: share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.
40:31
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals
40:35
Speaker 1: Booth podcast