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Bengals Booth Podcast: Most Wonderful Time · Bengals Booth Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The It's the most wonderful time
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of the year addition, and by that I don't only
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: mean Christmas, I mean the end of the NFL season,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: when your team is in playoff contention and the Bengals
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: have a one game lead in the AFC North with
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: two games to go after beating Baltimore forty one twenty one.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Coming up, you'll hear radio replays from the win, postgame
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: comments from players and coaches, and analysis from my broadcast
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: partner Dave Lapham. Then, in this week's fun Facts segment,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Safety Michael J. Thomas joins my unofficial Fun Facts Hall
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: of Fame with an all time classic conversation that is
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: guaranteed to make you laugh. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play Next Level
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Fantasy Football game downloaded now from the App Store and
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that you can
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since my mother's Christmas potatoes.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: I am from a mostly Swedish family and on Christmas Day,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: my mother always makes her famous Swedish Christmas potatoes. Years
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: ago she wrote down the recipe for me, so now
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: I make them. The key ingredients are potatoes, heavy cream,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: and lots of butter. There's a reason why we only
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: eat them once a year. Each forkful contains approximately nine thousand,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: three hundred seventy two calories. My moms are universally considered
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to be the greatest potatoes ever made, and at the
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: risk of bragging, mine rank second. Now let's get to football.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Sunday Cincinnati Baltimore showdown pitted the two teams tied for
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: first in the AFC North. But let's be honest, the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Ravens were the Ravens in name only. They've been devastated
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: by injuries all year and had a COVID outbreak this week.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: It was so bad that Baltimore had to call up
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: ten players from its practice squad, and the casualties included
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the Ravens top two quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson is dealing with
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: an ankle injury, and backup Tyler Huntley was one of
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the guys on the COVID list. SO Baltimore starter was
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: thirty five year old Josh Johnson, who has claimed off
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: the Jets practice squad last week. Josh was a Bengals
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: backup in twenty thirteen and is the ultimate NFL journeyman.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Between the active roster, practice squad and training camp. He
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: has been with the Bucks, forty nine Ers, Browns, Bengals, Jets, Colts, Bills, Ravens, Giants, Texans, Raiders, Lions,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and Washington Football Team, a whopping thirteen NFL teams in all.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Sunday marked the ninth start of his NFL career, and
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: after the Bengals kicked a field goal on their opening
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: drive to take a three nothing lead, Johnson drove the
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Ravens seventy five yards in twelve plays. Third down and
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: goal from the four. Murray in the backfield of the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: right of Josh Johnson, he will drop back to throw
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: pass over the middle. Wide open for the touchdown is
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Bateman as he cut inside of Mike Hilton and hauled
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: it in for the Ravens TD. So Baltimore led seven
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: to three. It was clear right away that the depleted
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Ravens weren't going to roll over and play dead. The
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Bengals had to answer and did, electing to go for
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: it on fourth and goal from the one. Mixon moves
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: to Burrow's left. They handed to Joe Mixing, chose in
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: touchdown Bengals as the decision to go for it on
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: fourth and goal pays off and the Bengals take the lead.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Here's Zach Taylor on the decision to go for it.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: It's a mindset thing at that moment. You know, it's
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: it's fourth and goal on the one yard line. You know,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: if we can't get in there, then we don't deserve
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: any points. But our guys entered the bill. It was
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: ten three Bengals after the first quarter. After the Ravens
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: punted early in the second, the Bengals attacked fur out
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: of the gun catches the Hopkins snap fires down field,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: run go two weights pretty down the middle of the
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: field of the twenty to ten Yeah five whoa begar
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: salt good into the end zone, touchdown Bengal sixty eight yards.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Burrow to boy. They had five defenders like a picket
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: fence about ten yards down the football field, and John
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Harbaugh is looking up the field like, what what happened?
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: How did he get so open, Unlike former Bengal Jerome
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Simpson on Christmas Eve ten years ago or Antonio Brown
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: when he was still with the Steelers. Boy did not
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: stick the landing on his leaping somersault. But he's still
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: got a good grade from Joe Mixon. I'll probably give
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: him maybe an a minus. And the reason why I'll
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: give him that is because I've seen a b a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: few years ago do a whole flip and land on
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: his feet and I was real life impressive. So, like
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: I said, I'll give it to a minus. But I mean,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: it was seventeen seven Cincinnati and after a three and
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: out by Baltimore, the Bengals scored again, chasing Boyd out
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: to the left, Higgins out to the right. Burrow throws
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: caught by a wide Joson what a cut back to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: the middle of the field down Bengal. Burrowed, I'm mixing
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: from nine yards out and the Bengals are pouring it on.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: It's twenty three to seven, pending the extra point. That's
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: what you want to do is take the hope away
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: from the Baltimore Ravens. That was mixing sixteenth touchdown of
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the year. He needs one more to tie Carl Pickens
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: franchise record. To the Ravens credit, they stared with a
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: thirteen play ninety yard drive, picking up first downs on
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: third and twelve, third and thirteen, and third and ten
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: before scoring on a two yard run by DeVante Freeman
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: to make it twenty four fourteen. But they also left
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: one thirty eight on the clock. Row back to throw.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: He's gonna fling it high and deep down field and
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: it is fiends. Higgins, with a defender on either side,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: goes up and over both of them and hauls it in.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: It'll be first in goal at the three. Brandon Stevens
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: and Kievan Seymour were powerless for the leaping ability and
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: reach of Higgins. Higgins finished with twelve catches for one
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: hundred and ninety four yards, both career highs, fifty two
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of the yards coming on that play. I think the
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: play was actually designed for Tyler and I was just
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: doing my job, running for the love of the game,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: and I look up the balls in the air, I'm like,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: holy all right, so and then I had to go
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: make a play, and you know, it was over two people.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: It's probably one of the greatest plays in my careers.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: And after two straight defensive holding penalties in the end zone,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: including one that negated an interception. Burrow went to Tea again.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Burrow drops back to throw pass caught te Higgins with
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: a touchdown catch as he started close to the left
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: tackle and then just cut toward the left pyline. Made
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: the catch, and the Bengals have scored on all five
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: out their first half possessions. They scored forty one points
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: in Baltimore, and they're about to put their thirty first
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: point on the board in the first half in Cincinnati.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: After missing two games early in the season with a
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: shoulder injury, Higgins has seventy one catches for one thousand,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: twenty nine yards. Here's Burrow in the last four or
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: five weeks, he's been unbelievable. And the way he's catching
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: the ball is I've not you ever seen anything like it.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: The way he's catching the ball with strong hands in traffic,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: it's been awesome. The Bengals led thirty one fourteen at
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: the half and kept their foot on the gas on
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: their only possession of the third quarter. They held the
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: ball for ten minutes and twenty nine seconds before settling
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: for an Evan McPherson field goal that made it thirty
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: four fourteen going to the final quarter, but any thought
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: of resting the starters was squelched when Josh Johnson threw
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: an eighteen yard touchdown passed to Mark Andrews that made
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: it thirty four twenty one early in the fourth. Here's
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. They've been down similar situations like this. You know,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Green Bay had him down I think it was eleven
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: last week and had a three and out, and they
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: came rowing back and had chance to win the game,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: and we were not going to allow that to happen.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: So on their next drive, rather than trying to kill
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the clock by running the ball, the Bengals passed on
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: eight straight plays and Burrow completed all eight second and
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: seven from the Baltimore ten, Burrow ready for the shotgun snap,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Joe has the ball, drops back three steps. He fired
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: headed his cot Bite Higgins touchdown Bengals as he ran
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: a post pattern cut position inside of Darryl Worley and
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: halves in burrows fourth touchdown pass of the game. It's
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: the first time in Joe Burrow's NFL career he's thrown
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: four or more. That made it forty one twenty one
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: and the Bengals kept throwing. Here's Burrow when asked if
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: the Bengals were trying to send a message, No, I
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: don't think so. I think their offense is moving the
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: ball a day. They were doing a good job, and
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: they're putting points on the board, and they were the
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: number one rush defense in the league going into the game.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: So and we were throwing the ball really well. So
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: we needed first owns to keep their offense off the field,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: I think, and we were just doing what was working.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: Burrow through his final pass on third and four with
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: two minutes to go. Ten defenders at the line of
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: scrimmage for Baltimore. They send three, they cover with eight.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Burrows scrambling, throws it deep down. The old mixing makes
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the catch at the ten, hand goes down half seven.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: He beat Anthony Levine Burrow with a deep ball completion,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: and that we'll take Joe Burrow up and over five
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: hundred passing yards, the first quarterback in more than fifty
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: years of Bengals football to ever do it. Burrow finished
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: with five hundred twenty five passing yards to break Boomerassison's
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: team record of four ninety set back in nineteen ninety
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: five twenty five is the fourth highest total in NFL history.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: The NFL record is five fifty four, set by Norm
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Van Brocklin in nineteen fifty one. Here's Burrow, I'm joining
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: the five hundred club. I think it means a lot
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: to the whole team. Now, that's not just a reflection
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: of means a reflection of the offensive line, the receiver's
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: coaching staff, and how we went out and executed today.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: So that's exciting. But despite his team first modesty, Burrow
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: couldn't help cracking a smile when reminded about a comment
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: made by Ball to more defensive coordinator Don Wink Martindale
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: earlier this week when asked if the Ravens would use
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the same strategy they used the week before against the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Green Bay duo of Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers in
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: hopes of shutting down Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow. To
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: sit here and have you think that we're going to
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: run the same plan against Jamar Chase as we did
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers, We're going down the wrong
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: street because you know, like I said last week, Davanta Adams,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: he's one of the top two receivers in the league,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: and he's not number two. So and Aaron Rodgers is
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame quarterback, and I don't think we're
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: ready to buy a gold jacket for Joe yet. In
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: fairness to Martindale, he said a bunch of complimentary things
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: about Burrow in that news conference, but the gold jacket
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: comment is the one that got the headlines and the
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: thing that Burrow heard. I didn't think it was a
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: necessary comment. I wouldn't say I was offended by it.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm in year two. Who knows what's going
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: to happen down the road. I didn't think it was
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: a necessary comment. Was it on your mind when you
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: were throwing at the end. Maybe In two games against
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Baltimore this year, Burrow through for nine hundred forty one
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: yards and seven touchdowns with a passer rating of one
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: thirty one point one. Moral of the story, according to
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson, don't say anything that can give Burrow an
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: added edge. It's just one of those things that you know,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't go around pissing that guy off. So um, hey, yeah,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: he did a great job. I know we're really proud
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: of him and as a defense. You know, he's important
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: to us. I read a couple of things, you know.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: So maybe admittedly Burrow's performance and the bengals forty one
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: to twenty one route came against an injury and COVID
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: ravaged Ravens roster, but Zach Taylor says it doesn't take
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: anything away from the win. No heck, no, no, no, no, no.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: They seventeen last year, we had hardly anybody left, you know,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: and I didn't feel anybody minimizing their win against us,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: and so we sure it has had no heart. It
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: is win in December. These guys have fought hard. We
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: asked them to answer the bell. They did, and that's
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: still the Baltimore Ravens out there playing a meaningful football
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: for them. And so our guys shouldn't apologize for one
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: second for the performance they went out there and do today.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: And dang proud of those guys for how they hung
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: in there at the full course of the game and
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: be handled. You know, the adversity we've had over the
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: course of time too, and you know it's just our
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: time to sit out there and make them mark for ourselves.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: The Bengals are nine and six with two games to go.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: They lead Baltimore by a game, Pittsburgh by a game
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: and a half, and Cleveland by two. Up next a
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: home game against the number one playoff seat and the
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: AFC the eleven and four Kansas City Chiefs, a team
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: with an eight game winning streak, concluding a thirty six
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: to ten win over the Steelers on Sunday. Get your
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: tickets while they're still available. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: presented by Ltimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: game Ultimate Bengals will be awarding a weekly winner during
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: the course of the season with tickets, autograph merchandise, and
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Now time
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: for postgame analysis with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham lap
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: it's Christmas time. We're celebrating our Lord and Savior, Joe Burrow.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I hope nobody's offended. It's just a joke, but five
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: and twenty five yards, four touchdowns, the first quarterback in
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Bengals history to throw for more than five hundred yards
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: in a game. We are so fortunate to have this
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: guy as the quarterback of this franchise for the hopefully
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: the next ten years at least. But man, is he good.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: He really is. I mean, he's he's so special with
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: not just the way he throws the football, you know,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: that's that's the obvious part. I think what's so unique
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: about him. And talked about a little bit after the
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: game with with Martindale and all that he can do
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: in the big inventory he has to draw from. You know,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Joe said, I just saw everything that I needed to
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: see kind of one. I needed to see it and
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: saw the football field and obviously he said, you know,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: it's it's not just me when you go for five
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty five yards. My line did a good job,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: my receivers, my running backs, everybody. So he obviously passed
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: a credit like all quarterbacks do. But his receivers were
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: just running great routes and just separation. They they didn't
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: they were overmatched, I mean, under manned and overmatched, there's
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: no two ways about it. And the Bengals took full
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: advantage of it. But that's life in the National Football League.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Can't feel sorry for anybody. That's that's just the way
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: it is. I mean, I would have loved to have
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: seen Tyler Boyd get one more ball for fifteen yards,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: and have those three the Triplets, the three headed Monster
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: all have over a hundred yards receiving the same game.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: That would have been unbelievable. If if he didn't run
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: out of if that sixty eight yard touchdown could have
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: been good from eighty three, he had to go eighty
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: three and get the fifteen yards. You just you know,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: ran out of real estate. Basically, I think anybody can
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: reasonably admit that the Bengals were not facing the Ravens,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: a teams between players that are injured, reserve and COVID.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Baltimore is missing a ton of great players. But as
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: we said in the pregame and during the game, that
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: is not the Bengals fault. You. You try to beat
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: the team that you are facing. And they capitalized on
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Baltimore's many good players that were sidelined. And what if
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: it had been a three point game and the Bengals
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: had edged him, They getting killed, They getting killed. So
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, you win by three scores and now you
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: know you're running it up and you're the bully, and
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: you know they're undermanned, and you know, why are you
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: doing this? And doing that. To me, it was third
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: and eighteen. They wanted to get a first down, and
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: they got the first down. Then they sat on the football.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: That was the bottom line. The Baltimore Ravens Josh Johnson
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: was playing. He was playing football quarterback rating of ninety
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: eight point three twenty eight or forty three hundred yards
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: three and four yards passing against a you know, a
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Bengals defense that has been playing playing pretty darn well.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: They couldn't run the ball. They didn't run the ball,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: and they couldn't when they tried to two point four
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: yards of carry. That's gonna do nothing but help their
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: their status stopping the run. But in both football teams
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: decided they have to throw the football in this game,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: and they both did. But I mean, how about the Bengals,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Like six hundred yards offense in this one, over five
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: hundred yards offense in the first one eighty two points
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: on eleven hundred plush yards offense. That is ridiculous, ridiculous.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: And in that first matchup, I mean Humphrey was matched
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: up on Chase when he had over two hundred yards.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's crazy. Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. It's
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: like a Rex Ryan kind of guy. He's brash, not
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: afraid to say things. He's a great defensive coordinator. Nobody
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: could argue that. But he made the comment during the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: week that Joe Burrow basically is not ready to be
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: fitted for a gold jacket yet. And he's right. But
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: in two games against the Ravens, sixty for eighty four.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: That's seventy one percent completion, nine hundred forty one yards,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: seven touchdowns, one interception, passer rating of one thirty one
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: point one. That's a nightmare that Wink Bartondale and the
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Ravens are going to have to worry about for the
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: next however many years. I'd say he's got the right
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: arm of the jacket measured out from those two games
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: in Baltimore. I mean that right arm is golden man.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: He is he is something, and as you say, he's
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: not going to regress. I mean, if anything, he's even
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: going to get sharper if that's if that's possible. But
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I've never seen it, really. I've seen a lot of
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: quarterbacks that have laser focus. This guy, though, is like
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: the same, no matter what. Big game like this, a
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: game where he throws one hundred, one hundred and fifty
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: yards as long as they win the football game. He
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: is truly good with it. And people, ah, yeah, that's
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: a bunch of talk. No, it's it's fact, it really is.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: This guy is all about w's and ells and man's
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: gonna he's gonna put together a remarkable career. And I'm
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: glad that this guy is a Cincinnati Bengal again. His
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: mind for the game of football, he's been blessed. I mean,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the football gods said Joe Burrow, you will be born
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: a football genius. And not only was he born a
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: football genius, his mentor was his dad, who coached for
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: a long played at a high level, coached at a
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: high level. I'm sure the conversations they had when Joe
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Barrow was growing up about defenses. Joe Barrow could get
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: up and give you a lecture about defense and install
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: defenses just like he can install offenses. He not only
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: understands his offense, he knows exactly what defenses are trying
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: to do to take away his offense. This guy is
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: unquestionably a football savant. I don't think I see any
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: young quarterback that gets the game of football better than
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Joe Barrow. This dude. Very rarely do you fool the guy.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: You know he's and he is always bitterly disappointed and
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: visibly upset when he's fooled. That's the only time I
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: see him show emotion. It's like I was fooled on that.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: You know. It's not that I didn't I didn't read
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: it the right way. It's not that my execution was
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: good enough. I can't be fooled. Nobody can fool me.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: That's just the way he approaches the game. And I'm
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: telling you, not just young quarterbacks. I think he's I
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: think he's as sharp as guys that have been in
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: the league ten years or longer. This dude gets the ball.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Put it into perspective from an offensive lineman's viewpoint, how
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: extraordinary it is for Trey Hendrickson, competing against the best
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: in the world, to have at least a half a
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: sack in eleven consecutive games. I mean, everybody strive for consistency.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: That's a big word, you know, and it's one of
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: the biggest compliments that you can get. Besides, you know,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: when guys say, oh, man, you're he's great. That guy's great.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: The next word that you want to hear. Man, that
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: player is so consistent. We can just rely on him,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: count on him. He's reliable. He's so consistent. That is
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: what you want to hear. And that's that's a bigger
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: population of potential population of players in the National Football League.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: And Hendrickson has unique talents which make him, you know,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: an upper cruss player, and he's so consistent with him.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, we were talking during the broadcast that you know,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: it's like sack here, sack and a half here, or
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: a half a sack there. It was never when Corey
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Bacon had his great season, he had a five stack game.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: He had a guy that couldn't handle him, and they
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: weren't at the point yet were sliding protections, chipping, you know,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: putting a tight end over there. I mean, it was
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: just like, you know, you gotta go block him, you
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: gotta get it done. And football's evolved, so you're not
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: gonna you're not gonna see necessarily a situation like they're
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: not gonna let a guy get a five stack game,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: and for him to get one or at least a
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: half a one for eleven straight football games is remarkable
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: on me. If you can get one next week against
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Kansas City and tie the freak. I mean, at least
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: a half a sack in twelve games. I think it's
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: now he's got a sack in thirteen of his last
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: fifteen games. That's that's half a sack. At least a
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: half a sack in thirteen of his last fifteen games.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: You cannot define consistency any better than that. So let's
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: set the stage now, two games to go, a one
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: game lead in the division over Baltimore. At least Pittsburgh
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: still to come as we record this conversation, but the
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Bengals essentially have put themselves in the position where if
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: they win one more game and it doesn't really matter
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: all that much whether it's Kansas City or Cleveland, they
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: are in the playoffs. And honestly, I'd like to see
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: them put a string together where you know they finished
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: the game on an uptick, on finished the season, I
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: should say, on an uptick on an up note, because
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: you know, first thing you want to do is make
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: the playoffs. But if you go into the playoffs playing
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: on a consistent level and on an upswing from a
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: momentum standpoint, you feel better about it. If you if
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: you back your way into the playoffs or something like that.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: You know, now you just feel lucky to be there.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: But if you go and you beat you know, the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: teams that they beat in Denver, Baltimore, Kansas City, Cleveland
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: when they're all most of the time when they were
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: playing them, was like another playoff game. And if they
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: can get on a mini four game quasi playoff run,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: that would stand them in really good stead. So I'd
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: love to see them just go toe to toe with
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs, who is They're a damn good
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: football team. Their defensive football team is really good. I mean,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: this is well put together football team. If they can
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: beat Kansas City, that would be a heck of an accomplishment.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: And you know that no matter what, the Cleveland Browns
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: are gonna want to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, particularly if
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: it could knock them out of the playoffs. They're gonna,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: They're gonna if they're eliminated, whatever the case may be.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: I've been in both situations as a Bengal playing the
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, and there's they're equally sweet. They are. I mean,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: it's like if you can particularly your last game of
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the season is beating your in state arch rival to
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: knock them out of the playoffs. You feel a lot
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: better about yourself than if you go into the offseason having,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: you know, getten rashed by that group as they go
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: into the playoffs. More on Sundays when join Lap and
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Lance mccalist. They're for Bengals Line Monday night from six
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: to night on seven hundred WLW. Now time this week's
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: fun Facts segment where you get to know the person
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: under the pads. Time for some fun facts of Bengal
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: safety Michael Thomas, a nine year NFL VET and a
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: former pro bowler from Houston, Texas. Growing up in Houston,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: were you obsessed with sports and did you have a
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: wide variety of interests? Oh Man, definitely was obsessed with
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: sports shoot through a watching football with my dad, But honestly,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: baseball was my first love. Basketball just like any other kid,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Jordan was my favorite athlete. But other interests though, since
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: you asked that point, I did part take in acting
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: a little bit? Well, I know you did some acting
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: when you went to Stanford. I read that you had
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: the lead role in Killer Joe. Tell me about that man.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: It was a crazy, crazy sequence of events Stanford. They
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: loved me and all my theater arts class there. Let's
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: just go out for this play. All right? I did it.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I did to try the audition. Next thing I knew
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: I had the leading role in the play. I'm all right,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: we'll see where this goes. It turned it was a
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: great turnout. When the show started, all my teammates came,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: everybody on campus came like that. We got great reviews
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: and stuff, and next thing I know, you know, I'm
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: in newspaper articles and stuff for us. I'm like, well,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: football don't work out, Maybe I have an acting career.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: How just memorizing your lines for a play compared to
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: memorizing a playbook, Oh man, it's it's it's crazy how
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: great the crossover was. I remember our first actual table read,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: I had already memorized everything is. I'm like, oh, you
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: got to prepare attention to detail and stuff. And I
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: guess nobody else was supposed to be off book for
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: like another two weeks. And when they saw me reading
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: my lines and getting the character as if, I was like,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: you know, if we were performing to play right then
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: everybody was like, oh, shoot, this guy's intensive. So it's
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: it's definitely some crossover to it, and I just took
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: it serious. But it's I think it's a little easier.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: We're talking to Michael Thomas. Let's talk about your high
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: school football career. You were an option quarterback. Correct, Yes,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: I see, you've done your homework right. Yeah, definitely played
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: quarterback my whole career until I got to Stanford. That
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: it was fun. I had the ball in my hands. Yea.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I was born on that side of the side of
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: the football. But at the end of the day, you know,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: I think there were some receivers that I grew up
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: with that were kind of mad at me. Definitely weren't
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: throwing the ball. A lot of nimits. So from the
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: research I've read that you went to Stanford at least
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: in part because you competed against another Houston area high
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: school quarterback who people listening to this have heard of,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Andrew Ltte. Is that true? Absolutely? Man, Like we were
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: in the same It was crazy. We were in the
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: same district growing up in high school. And man, every
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: what everybody knew of him in college or you know,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: like got to see in the NFL. He's been like
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: that since we were fourteen fifteen years old. So once
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: he started getting recruited by Stanford and he committed, and
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: once they started recruiting me, I was like, well, I
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: know that guy's gonna be good. So shoot, if I
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: get in, that's where I'm going. We're gonna have success.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: And it certainly played out that way. Does it sadden
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: you that his NFL career ended as soon as it
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: did a little bit, just because I know how hard
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: he worked and how you know, the aspirations of him
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: and what he wanted to do, you know, being great
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: and all that. But at the end of the day,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: you know, I just talked to him yesterday and you
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: know we stayed we stayed very close, like we're like
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: great friends, like almost like brothers. Like he's happy and
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the injuries and stuff. I know, he didn't want to
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: put that stup, you know, his his body and his
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: family through that again going to rehab and he just
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: had his first kid. Uh, so he's happy, man. So
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: so it's saddened me that we couldn't all witness the
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: greatness of Andrew Luck the quarterback. But at the end
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: of the day, the person, I think he's better. So
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: you must have been a great student to go to Stanford.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: You earned your degree in sociology. What was the hardest
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: course you took and what was your favorite course at Stanford? Oh? Definitely, Uh,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: it was. It was definitely a culture shock to me
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: once I went to Stanford. Uh. Struggled a little bit
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: as a as a as a freshman, but um, and
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: that came from playing and then I put some on
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: stress on myself by pleasure a fred and doing all
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: that them all as a young guy. Right. But I
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: say the hardest course was probably my freshman year, a
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: computer science course that all freshmen have to take, and
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: that let me know, Yeah, I will not be a
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: coder at Stanman or we're not going to coding. But
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, once you learn what any type
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: of college institution is looking for out of their students
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: and what they expect time management and all that stuff,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: you know, I did well. And I'll say my favorite
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: course ended up being stats statistics, just because I'm able
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: to take the problem of any you know, any word
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: problem and stuff and just be able to apply whatever
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: formula that was needed for that that equation and figure
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: out a solution. So I think that that type of
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: you know mind and thinking like that that's who I am.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: A college degree from any institution is something to be
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: proud of, but they're not all created equal. What does
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: it mean to you to have a degree from that institution?
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: I'll say this. You know it is a recruiting tool, right,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: They're a little quote, Oh you know, Stanford isn't a
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: four year decision. It's a forty year decision. Right. You
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: know what year you buy until you eat it up,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: you know it sells itself. Right. But I'll say this,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: any anybody who graduates from Stanford, you don't truly understand
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: what that means until you leave and you start to
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: see the weight of oh where'd you go to school?
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: And you say Stanford, and how everyone else treats you,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: and then you know that that that stamp of approval,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: that weight of that name. And then how many people
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: in your network, you know, from the Stanford alumni and
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: you know what they got going on, and they're like, oh,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: you went to Stafford, come on, we'll just teach you,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: We'll bring you along. It's it's it's it's definitely a
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: great experience. I thank god I made that decision to
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: go there. It will serve you well for the rest
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: of your life. You're talking to Bengal safety Michael Thomas.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Despite an excellent college career, you weren't drafted. Did that
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: put a chip on your shoulder? And if so, is
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: it's still there? Absolutely, that's not something that goes away,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: you know, like everybody else you grew up. Oh yeah,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna win the highsman, I'm gonna be the number
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: one overall pick. I'm gonna get drafted. Hear my name
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: called walk on the stage, right, and you know to
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: not go through that, you know it definitely, It definitely
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: changes your mindset instantly, right, I guess it forced with
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you to grow up fast. You you don't come in
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: just why I you know Google. You know with your
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: career you're like, no, I gotta take everything serious because
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: only I'm not guaranteed even to get an opportunity. And
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: if I do it, I can't make mistakes. I almost
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: have to be perfect. And that mindset never changes because
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: you're a status of undrafted never goes away as well.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: And that's both on you know, in your locker room,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: on your field, but also you know, in the business
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: side of it. Right, So I've used that to feel me.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: I see other undrafted guys. And I see guys on
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: the practice squad and when I when I see them
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: in the locker room, I try to make sure that
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: I encourage. I'm like, hey, you don't know how close
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: you are. Keep working that opportunities go coming. When it does,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: don't let it go. You spent your first NFL season
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: of the forty nine ers practice squad where one of
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: your teammates was Hall of Famer Randy Moss. His son,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Thaddius is your teammate this year with the Bengals. Did
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: you share that nugget with Thad when you join the Bengals. Oh? Absolutely.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: I Actually I think I embarrassed myself. I got into
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: like left Weights early and he was one of the
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: first people here as well. I was like, oh, yeah,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: what's up, Early? My name is Michael, Yeah, who are
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: you yo? What's your name with? What school you go to?
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: And he kind of like I was taking it back.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, I went to LSU, but here, really,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, like say his name or
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: nothing like that. And I realized very quickly, Oh, I
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: didn't realize what I was talking to. Bro. Do you
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: know I played with your dad? He started laughing. He
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: was like, yeah, he told me a little bit about you,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: and it was just a running joke. It was like, dude,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: you know how to hold you or you played with
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: my dad? You know, it's kind of weird that I'm
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: playing with yourself. Man, Like now we joke about it.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: But that was a blessing to be able for me
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: to be able to say I played with Randy Moss
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: and he was probably one of the coolest teammates you
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: could ever have, just spoke with everybody he wanted. He
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: was a joy to be around, told stories, held court
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: and stuff like that. It's like, dude, do you understand
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: like I grew up yours a c the Moss people,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: your name's a bird, yours help and I'm just sitting
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: here just you know, chopping it up with You're eating
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: with you and stuff like So that was a great
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: experience and to be able to be with that, and now,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: you know, I try to give him as much game
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: as I can from my perspective and what I went
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: through and knowing what he's going through now, man, So
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: it comes full circle. We're fun facts with Bengal safety
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Michael Thomas. Everybody remembers his NFL debut, but yours was
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: especially impressive. You earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: You're with the Dolphins at the time, Describe how you
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: earned it? Oh Man, from Monday to Monday and that
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: December fifteenth, oh Man, like that that was? That was crazy?
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Uh got you know, got the call. Woke up almost
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: miss my opportunity. First off, Dan woke up to a
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: bunch of miss miss texts and calls from my agent.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Woke up. She's like, hey, if you don't let me
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: know right now what you want to do, the team's
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: gonna move on to another player. They're trying to claim here.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: I'm like, who is it, Miami Dolphins. Let's go like
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: she score. I'm trying to play almost two years on
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: the press squad, Get there on like a Wednesday, the
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: GMTLD leg Look, we got a bunch of injuries at dB.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: You're only coming here to play on special teams. Punt
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: return was my only job for Sunday, right, Okay, cool bit,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: get there. I'm doing my job. I'm happy I get
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: to play in the NFL. Fourth quarter comes, we're winning
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the game, and then two starting dbs get hurt. So
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: next saying you know, I gotta go into defense. Actually,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: then our now Beingals defensive coordinate coordinator, lou Hana Rumo
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: was a dB coach there. He's like, thirty one, you
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: played a little nickel, right yeah, No, nobody knows my name.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: They ain't not worried about me. Thirty one, you played
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: a little nickel in college, right yeah. So just go
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: out there to Rashad Jones and safety. They're gonna tell
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: you what coverage it is. You know, just just play football.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: The only problem is we're going against Tom Brady in
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: the New England Patriots. So he sees me in the slot.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: He's just picking on me down the field. Regular storyline,
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Tom Brady game, win and drive for a touchdown, right,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: get to the fourth get to the red zone. He
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: tries me on first and goal for the game with
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Amadola in the end zone or you know, elmen one
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: other two. And I see the ball coming Dan, and
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: you know, my heart is just raising and I'm like,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: oh no. I was like, no, let me lose the game.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Right here, he has the ball in his hand. I
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: fight all the way to the ground. Next thing you know,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: the ball pops out and I'm just hype my teammates.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: You know, high five me. They still don't know my name.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Great job, thirty one, good job, incomplete, incomplete. So now
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: it's fourth and you know, fourth goal for the game.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Coach eight, call's time out there, Like, Mike, we're gonna
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: get you some help. You're in the safety. You're gonna
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: double team Edelman in the slot. And I'm like, thank you, Lord.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Like, even if we lose,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: just don't let it be on me, said hunt. Edelman
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: goes underneath. I free up just from you know, my
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: study of how to play the coverage everywhere else I've
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: been next thing, the thing I know. I look up
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: there in the balls coming. It's like a movie slow
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: motion catch it fall down in the end zone. I'm like, wait,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: did I just catch my first interception? Or wait, wait
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: that's for the game. Wait that's Tom Brady. I'm just crying.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: I'm like going crazy. My teammates jumping up and down
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: on me, camera on my face, the crowd's going nuts.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: It was just wild. It was just wild, man. And
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: I mean I couldn't have drawn it up better. Um,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: you know, And that's why I encourage every guy that's
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: on practice squad or undraft to just keep working, man,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: You never know when that opportunity is gonna come, and
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: when it does, just make the most of it. Man,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: A game clinching interception off the goat Tom Brady in
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: the final ten seconds of your NFL debut. That's pretty incredible.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: We're chatting in Michael Thomas. You're with the Dolphins for
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: five years, then you joined the New York Giants and
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: you earned a Pro Bowl spot as a special team
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: stand out. From undrafted to practice squad to the Pro Bowl.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: What did that honor mean? It was? I mean it
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: was more than gratifying, Dan, you know, I mean everybody
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: puts in so much work, in time and effort into playing,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: but to earn for me is to earn that respect
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: of everybody in the league. You know, all your peers,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: everybody you've played with, and you know how much day
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: put into it right now, so you know, I can
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: talk all day about that and the coaches for them
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: to you know, you come up to you after every
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: game like I love the way you play, I love
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: your passing. But to finally get that stamp up approval
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: that not and been banging on it, you know for
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: years when I was with the Dolphins. But Matthew Slater's
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: just he's my goya. I just couldn't crack it right whatever.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: So to finally get that, man, that that meant a
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: lot to me because you know, forever, I'll be able
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: to say I made the Pro Bowl in the NFL
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: at the highest level. So yeah, it's good stuff. You
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: spent last year playing for your hometown team, the Houston Texans.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: Was that a dream come true? I didn't even know it,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: but yes, you know, like when I signed with the Texas,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: I was never like, oh, yeah, I want to finish
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: out my career or you know, advisually played for hometown team.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: I've never really that never really crossed them one. Especially
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: if I went undrafted. I was like, shooting, we ever
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: want to give me a job, we ever want to
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: play for? That's where I'm going, right. But once I
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: actually signed, and you know, it came across on Twitter,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: social media, you know everywhere, and everybody at the way
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: everybody at home reacted, you know, people like almost in tears,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: are worring tears when they saw it, Like, man, I
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: get to root from my guy. You're playing for the
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: hometown team. You know how crazy. That's my light. I
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: was like, thing that means a lot, you know, like
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: it means a lot to everybody, to the city, to
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: the schools I went to, and grew up in how
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: much I was able to do for the Houston community
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: because I was there and I was really from there.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: I mean that meant the Larne and you were the
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Texans nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: recognizing what you've done off the field. I know you've
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: had a free youth football camp for several years, and
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: one of your focuses is teaching kids. It's about finances,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: right absolutely, Like financial literacy and education. To me, like
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: those are the keys, you know, yeah, to try to
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: you know, change those cycles of whatever that is really poverty,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: lack of resources. It's gonna take kids going to you know,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: going to school. Us being better than the generations before us.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: And not to say, you know, it's wrong how we
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: were growing up. They were giving us the best that
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: they had that they had available, the knowledge that they had,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: our resources that they had, right. But it has to
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: stop somewhere, you know, and those those you know, bad
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: cycles have to stop somewhere and it's the access to
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: that education, It's the access to those resources. And if
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: I'm able to, you know, after everything I've learned, all
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: my experiences, be able to come and bring that back
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: to my hometown city. And that's that's that's what I
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: feel like, you know, I'm called to do. All Right,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: a few wildcard categories with Michael Thomas to wrap this up.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: You answered this one actually early, but you can elaborate now.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Your all time favorite athlete in any sport and why.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Definitely growing up it was Michael Jordan hands down, you know,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: like like I mean like it was. It was just
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: like everybody else. It was almost like sickening, you know,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: like how I felt the bottom growing up. Just a
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: mistique about him, obviously, you just talking about sports. The
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: unblemish six you know what I'm saying, six six titles
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: and on six tries. But that work, acted that that drive,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: that will to win, you know, challenging teammates and stuff
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: like that. I don't think the last dance changed my
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: view that much because after being a professional athlete myself,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I know what it takes and sometimes you do got
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: to challenge of teammates and leadership styles are different, but yeah,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: So I'd say that just just that will to win
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: and just finding a way, just finding a way to
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: get it done. Aside from acting. Do you have any
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: other hidden talents? Nah? Man, I'd say acting probably is
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: that that that one hidden talent um. But you know now,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: it's just trying to be the best father I can be,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: still learning on the fly. I got three young kids
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: and trying to figure out how to be a good
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: husband and my wife Like, that's that's about it. What
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: are you terrible as Oh? I'd probably say I'm terrible
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: at cooking, but that's something I am going to work at,
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: you know, Like I think my wife would appreciate it
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: as well, just to help out a little bit. So
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: I'd probably say cooking. You are one of three Michael
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: Thomas's in the NFL, including a current teammate. Have you
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: ever been confused for the other two? What that's on
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: a daily basis? I promised. If I look up my
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: phone right now on Instagram on Twitter, I'm getting called
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: slant boy yo, Like why Yo, when are you gonna
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: be available for the for the Saints? I drafted you
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: in the first round. Man, Me and me and me
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: and my nickname is normally Mike T. But he his
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: nickname is Mike T too so and he was here first,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: so I can't even go by Mike T now right,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: So we call each other twin. You'll see us do
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: our little little acknowledgement and celebration every day. But you know,
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: I love his personality. It's funny. We crack jokes every
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: day in the locker room, but that's on a daily
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: basis at this point. And I'll probably I'll give you
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: one more. The worst part was a couple of years
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: when I was with the Dolphins. I think Nike was
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: doing like player cards or something like that and giving
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: every single player. You get your own player cards, you
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: can sign them, give them out to you know, like uh,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: at your at your youth camps and events and stuff. Right,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: I opened up my pack. Oh yeah, Dad, you already
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: know what this is going. I opened up my pack
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: and it was a box, of course, full of Mike
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: Thomas for the Saints. I said, I took the social media.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: I made a video on my teammates laughing at me
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: in the locker room. I said, no enough enough, you
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, like, no, no, no, this has
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: to stop. Somewhere, you know. But it's funny. It's a
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: great name, obviously, but no, it's cool to have a
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: teammate with the same name as Year and we just
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: feed off each other. It would be nice to get
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: a paycheck from the saint that you are on the
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: same That's what I said. I am waiting. That's what
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: I'm waiting for. It's like, give me that check. It
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: saints Nike, Jordan, whoever my name's on it, Dan, and
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: disease for me. So that's what I'm waiting for. I
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: hope it happened. Last thing, this is kind of deep.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: If you could meet anybody in history, athlete, actor, statesman,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: religious figure, whoever that might be, who would that person be,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: I'd probably say at this point Jackie Robinson. I played
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: him acting in a history fair and then performances. Ask
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: him I think was sixth grade and everything he stood for,
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: not just breaking a barrier, you know, color barrier in baseball,
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: but you know, just just the mindset he had to
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: have to go through that at that time, still go
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: out there and the pressure of going to perform and
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: you know, be a young African American male, you know,
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: with that much weight and you know, how did he
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: deal with it? Obviously I've had my things I've had
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: to deal with in my career, right, so I'd probably
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: want to, you know, have a conversation with him regards
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: with dinner, you know, drink whatever, you know, and just
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: just just talk about that and just talk about life.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Tremendous answer, and this has been a lot of fun.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time. Best of luck
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: the rest of the year. It's been fun for me too, man,
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you. I hope you agree that Michael J. Thomas
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: earned a spot in the Fun Facts Hall of Fame.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for This episode of The
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Ultimate Bengals, the
• 43:14
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• 43:19
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• 43:21
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• 43:24
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• 43:26
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• 43:30
  Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde. Merry Christmas and thanks for listening to
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast.