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Bengals Booth Podcast: Start of Something · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, gain everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The that this could be the
0:10
Speaker 1: start of something big. Addition, as we look back at
0:15
Speaker 1: Friday Nights preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals coming up,
0:19
Speaker 1: you'll hear radio replays, postgame comments and analysis from a
0:23
Speaker 1: broadcast partner, Dave Lapham. Then, in our first fund Fag
0:27
Speaker 1: segment of the new season, you'll hear from a Bengals
0:30
Speaker 1: rookie who is delivering pizzas last year on Super Bowl Sunday.
0:35
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download
0:40
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's
0:43
Speaker 1: free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes.
0:48
Speaker 1: Get it now on the App Store and Google Play.
0:51
Speaker 1: And here's a quick reminder that you can have the
0:54
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
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Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing where ever you get your podcasts.
1:01
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since pay Corps Stadium. Other than
1:07
Speaker 1: the Roman Colisseum, which has had one name since eighty a.
1:11
Speaker 1: D Stadium name changes are not unusual. Consider the Miami
1:16
Speaker 1: Dolphins who play at hard Rock Stadium. It opened as
1:20
Speaker 1: Joe Robbie Stadium before becoming Pro Player Park, then Pro
1:25
Speaker 1: Player Stadium, then Dolphins Stadium, then Dolphin Stadium, then Land
1:32
Speaker 1: Shark Stadium, sun Life Stadium, and finally hard Rock Stadium.
1:38
Speaker 1: The Bengal sixteen year agreement with Cincinnati based pay Corps
1:42
Speaker 1: comes at a critical time for the franchise. Here's what
1:45
Speaker 1: Mike Brown told me before training camp when I asked
1:49
Speaker 1: him about possibly changing the name of Paul Brown Stadium. Well,
1:55
Speaker 1: I think my dad would have understood. I think he
1:57
Speaker 1: would even have approved it. In his mind. What mattered
2:02
Speaker 1: most was the team. This gives us a revenue stream
2:06
Speaker 1: if we go forward with it, and we need that
2:09
Speaker 1: for doing things such as the indoor facility we're building
2:15
Speaker 1: to help us when we get to signing some of
2:18
Speaker 1: our headline players. That's going to be a real challenge.
2:24
Speaker 1: We have things to spend that money on. Believe me,
2:31
Speaker 1: Paul Brown is not only the most innovative coach in
2:33
Speaker 1: football history, he was probably the most innovative coach in
2:37
Speaker 1: sports history. This partnership with pay Corps will help the
2:41
Speaker 1: team he founded compete for Super Bowl titles. In the
2:45
Speaker 1: modern NFL. Now, let's get to Friday's preseason opener against
2:50
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. It didn't start well for the Bengals, as
2:54
Speaker 1: a forty yard pass interference penalty on rookie Allen George
2:58
Speaker 1: helped the Cardinals score on their opening drive play action
3:01
Speaker 1: fake bootleg left throwing to the end zone, touchdown Arizona
3:06
Speaker 1: Andre but Shelley with the touchdown catch and the Cardinals
3:10
Speaker 1: score on their opening drive. The Bengals answered with a
3:13
Speaker 1: sixty yard run by Chris Evans on their first play
3:16
Speaker 1: from scrimmage. Unfortunately, it didn't count due to a holding
3:20
Speaker 1: penalty on Thaddeus Moss. Later in the first half, Evans
3:24
Speaker 1: had a five yard touchdown run that didn't count due
3:28
Speaker 1: to another penalty on Moss. I talked to Evans about
3:32
Speaker 1: his rotten luck after the game. The final stat sheet
3:36
Speaker 1: is not going to show all the things you did tonight. Unfortunately,
3:39
Speaker 1: had a sixty five yard run. He had a five
3:42
Speaker 1: yard touchdown run. Unfortunately they both got wiped out by penalties.
3:45
Speaker 1: He had a forty yard kick return that counted, But
3:48
Speaker 1: was kind of a strange night for you, which you
3:50
Speaker 1: made all these big plays and they didn't count. Yeah,
3:52
Speaker 1: I was just and being in a preseason this is
3:54
Speaker 1: all about getting it on take I'm saying, and I
3:57
Speaker 1: don't really care about the innisthesisis zona coaches that I
4:00
Speaker 1: could be trustworthy and make a play when time come.
4:03
Speaker 1: Let's discuss the sixty five yard run first offensive play
4:06
Speaker 1: of the game for the Bengals. Did you know pretty
4:08
Speaker 1: quickly it was coming back? Or didn't you find out
4:11
Speaker 1: until after the play? I didn't find out until after
4:13
Speaker 1: the play, and I was like heartbroken because I was
4:15
Speaker 1: like man like, I was running as fast as I
4:18
Speaker 1: could do, had an angle, and but I got it
4:22
Speaker 1: on tape. So I'm not really you know what I'm saying.
4:24
Speaker 1: The coaches know that I could do that and know
4:25
Speaker 1: what I could do, So I'm not really mad about
4:27
Speaker 1: the you know what I'm saying, the highlight or anything,
4:29
Speaker 1: as long as the unit saying. Coaches know I can
4:31
Speaker 1: do it, you know what I'm saying, Rather they we
4:33
Speaker 1: fixed the blocking off front or not. You know what
4:34
Speaker 1: I'm saying, I got that in my toolbucks. How about
4:37
Speaker 1: the five yard TD? Same thing, yes, sir, And anything
4:40
Speaker 1: they need me to do, any any opportunity at GAM's
4:42
Speaker 1: gonna make the most of it rather get called back
4:44
Speaker 1: or not. You know what I'm saying, I gotta you know,
4:46
Speaker 1: man's gotta do what I gotta do. We're chatting with
4:48
Speaker 1: Chris Evans. The first kickoff returning that you did came
4:52
Speaker 1: very late last season, so you're still kind of raw
4:56
Speaker 1: in that category. That forty yard kickoff return to feel good.
5:00
Speaker 1: Yeah it, hit it and get it, hit it and
5:02
Speaker 1: get it, hit it and get it. You know what
5:02
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Everybody up there the front line, and to me,
5:05
Speaker 1: is the hardest thing to do in football. It's to
5:07
Speaker 1: run backwards, set up and to block a grown man
5:09
Speaker 1: running full speed. So I gotta I gotta help them
5:12
Speaker 1: out by hitting the whole heart and just being decisive
5:14
Speaker 1: and just making sure that you know what I mean,
5:16
Speaker 1: I can I can get them on their blocks. If
5:18
Speaker 1: I can just so them, I can just set it,
5:20
Speaker 1: block ups and hit hit what I need to hit
5:22
Speaker 1: in it and make it everything work for everybody. Always
5:24
Speaker 1: looking to correct things that went wrong in the preseason game.
5:27
Speaker 1: I guess the big thing for the team tonight would
5:28
Speaker 1: be cleaning up those penalties. Yeah, I mean, yeah, we
5:31
Speaker 1: gotta clean up a lot of stuff. Just come with
5:33
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, locking in and attention to detail.
5:35
Speaker 1: And then you know what I'm saying, We're in training camp,
5:37
Speaker 1: so you know what I mean. We just got to
5:38
Speaker 1: lock into the to the small things and especially the guys.
5:41
Speaker 1: Guys who were in don't typically get rested during the week,
5:44
Speaker 1: so it's kind of hard to you know what I'm saying,
5:45
Speaker 1: to get that live rep and you haven't gotten them
5:47
Speaker 1: any practice shorts. For my best, that's just the name
5:49
Speaker 1: of the game. You gotta be able to do it. Yeah,
5:51
Speaker 1: it's some great place tonight. I wish they would have
5:53
Speaker 1: all counted for your sake and the team's sake, but
5:56
Speaker 1: like you said, you put it on. Take congratulations for
5:58
Speaker 1: that and best the luck next way. Yes, Officially, Chris
6:02
Speaker 1: had eight carries for minus three yards, one of the
6:06
Speaker 1: most deceptive stat lines of all time. Arizona led nine
6:11
Speaker 1: nothing at the end of the first quarter before Evan
6:14
Speaker 1: McPherson put on a show in the second. He made
6:17
Speaker 1: a twenty three yard field goal to put the Bengals
6:19
Speaker 1: on the scoreboard, then added a pair of bombs from
6:24
Speaker 1: fifty eight yards away. On the Bengals b logo, Chrisman
6:28
Speaker 1: is ready the snaff, the put down, the kick it
6:32
Speaker 1: has the disco yeah is yeah, of course it's good.
6:39
Speaker 1: Evan McPherson, coming off the greatest rookie season by a
6:43
Speaker 1: kicker in NFL history, drills one with the room despair
6:49
Speaker 1: from fifty eight yards away. I agreed, Danni's good from
6:53
Speaker 1: at least sixty And the thing is it could up
6:55
Speaker 1: so quickly he gets a media trajectory. He doesn't overswing.
6:59
Speaker 1: This guy is incredible. Duper is set right, knee on
7:03
Speaker 1: the ground, catches the snap, puts it down. Oh my,
7:06
Speaker 1: Fierson's kick is oh, yeah, good, unreal from fifty six
7:12
Speaker 1: yards away. Evan mick hab no Fearson, unbelievable. I don't
7:20
Speaker 1: know what to say. Fifty eight and fifty six in
7:22
Speaker 1: the pregate preseason opener. Just a phenomenal performance for the
7:27
Speaker 1: fans in attendance at this point. I mean, is this
7:30
Speaker 1: becoming routine for you? Um? I mean right, My job
7:35
Speaker 1: is just to go out there and make the field
7:37
Speaker 1: goal that they call me to make. So I would
7:40
Speaker 1: say that, Um, I'm getting a little more comfortable in
7:43
Speaker 1: the system with you know, the operation had a year
7:47
Speaker 1: to I've had a year to kind of work with
7:49
Speaker 1: them and just get comfortable with them, and they make
7:51
Speaker 1: my job a whole lot easier than it has to be.
7:54
Speaker 1: And so with with not having to worry about any
7:57
Speaker 1: of that and just having to worry about just kicking
7:59
Speaker 1: the ball and really overthinking it, I feel like it's
8:04
Speaker 1: kind of gotten a little bit easier. But I don't
8:05
Speaker 1: want to say that because I know there's gonna be
8:07
Speaker 1: times where I got to revert back to what I'm
8:09
Speaker 1: doing now and where I struggle and got to pick
8:12
Speaker 1: myself back up. So but right now, just feel like
8:15
Speaker 1: I'm kind of hitting the ball pretty well. I'll say,
8:18
Speaker 1: between the preseason practices and this preseason game, I think
8:21
Speaker 1: you've only missed two kicks out of probably forty five
8:24
Speaker 1: by now. How has that affected your confidence level going
8:28
Speaker 1: into your second NFL season? Well, you know, I wish
8:32
Speaker 1: I wouldn't miss tho two obviously. I think one of
8:37
Speaker 1: them came the last practice before this game, and it
8:41
Speaker 1: did hurt me, just because you know, Darren can hold
8:44
Speaker 1: that above my head that he aysd me and I missed.
8:48
Speaker 1: But no, it gives me a lot of confidence because
8:49
Speaker 1: I like to relate. You know, a lot of the
8:51
Speaker 1: practice kicks to the game kicks, and so I've just
8:55
Speaker 1: been really trying to get better in practice, and so
8:59
Speaker 1: I really don't have to we're about anything in the game.
9:01
Speaker 1: I just kind of go out there and do what
9:03
Speaker 1: I've been doing all week. It's remarkable show you amaze
9:06
Speaker 1: us on a regular basis. Congratulations on two long wins tonight. Well,
9:09
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, and hopefully we continue to amaze you.
9:14
Speaker 1: Mc pherson was definitely the bright spot of the first half.
9:17
Speaker 1: Starting quarterback Brandon Allen left after one series to be
9:21
Speaker 1: evaluated for a concussion, and Arizona led by two touchdowns
9:25
Speaker 1: at the half twenty three to nine. It got lopsided
9:29
Speaker 1: in the third quarter, second and goal from the six
9:33
Speaker 1: shotgun snap Guarantano rolling out to the left cocks the
9:36
Speaker 1: arm throws caught at the goal line, touchdown John Trey
9:41
Speaker 1: Kirkland with the catch, and the Cardinals have scored their
9:44
Speaker 1: fourth touchdown of the game. The Cardinals added a fifth
9:47
Speaker 1: before the quarter was over and led thirty six to
9:50
Speaker 1: nine going to the fourth, but the Bengals ended the
9:54
Speaker 1: game with a solid quarter, empty backfield for Jake Browning,
9:58
Speaker 1: who's passed for a hundred and fifty nine yards in
9:59
Speaker 1: the game tonight. Three receivers left, two right. Browning rolling
10:03
Speaker 1: out to the right, being chased from behind, throws downfield
10:05
Speaker 1: Patrick with a catch at the twenty five and he
10:08
Speaker 1: gets pulled down at the nineteen yard line. Third down
10:12
Speaker 1: and goal from the one, Browning hands it off to
10:15
Speaker 1: jack Quez. Patrick sticks the ball forward. Touchdowns Bengals as
10:20
Speaker 1: jack Quez Patrick scores Cincinnati's first TV of the preseason. Then,
10:26
Speaker 1: on the Bengals final drive of the night, quarterback Drew
10:29
Speaker 1: Plitt out of Loveland High School in Ball State, got
10:32
Speaker 1: into the game and led the team on a ninety
10:35
Speaker 1: four yard touchdown drive. He was helped by an incredible
10:39
Speaker 1: one handed catch by rookie Kendrick Pryor. Then went back
10:42
Speaker 1: to Pryor. On the eleventh play of the drive, third
10:46
Speaker 1: down in three at the Arizona twenty five yard line,
10:49
Speaker 1: Plitt waits for the shotgun snap, fakes a handoff to Patrick.
10:52
Speaker 1: He's gonna float it toward the end gun and Prior
10:55
Speaker 1: He's got it right at the goal line. Touchdown Bengals
10:59
Speaker 1: as Hendrick Pryor makes his fourth catch of the game.
11:03
Speaker 1: Have this one. It's for a touchdown. Prior finished with
11:06
Speaker 1: four catches for eighty nine yards, but didn't keep the
11:09
Speaker 1: ball after his touchdown catch that went to his quarterback.
11:15
Speaker 1: We're in the locker room with Drew Plint after an
11:17
Speaker 1: impressive debut six for six a touchdown pass, seven yard
11:21
Speaker 1: run for good measure, How thrilling was that tonight? It
11:24
Speaker 1: was nice? Um, I don't know about thrilling. I think
11:26
Speaker 1: it was just like, you know, kind of weight off
11:28
Speaker 1: my shoulders to be able to get in there and
11:30
Speaker 1: get those first couple of reps um, and you know,
11:32
Speaker 1: going for six, six or six is something you want
11:34
Speaker 1: to you want to start your first drive as um.
11:36
Speaker 1: But I had a lot of help from wide receivers, oh, line,
11:38
Speaker 1: everybody all around me. So you know, at the end
11:42
Speaker 1: it was a thriller, but starting it wasn't more of
11:44
Speaker 1: a weight off the shoulders. How would you review prior
11:47
Speaker 1: as one handed falling over backward, left handed catch? Unbelievable?
11:54
Speaker 1: That yeah, I don't think there's any other word for it.
11:58
Speaker 1: And that's you know, huge for me going six or six,
12:01
Speaker 1: but for him confidence booster going forward. Um, he's a
12:04
Speaker 1: great player and obviously had that touchdown the end too,
12:06
Speaker 1: so UM, looking to capitalize on that and keep keep
12:10
Speaker 1: moving forward as the third quarterback. While Joe's been out,
12:13
Speaker 1: you haven't been able to get that many reps in practice.
12:17
Speaker 1: What was your comfort level when you got the chance
12:19
Speaker 1: to play tonight? Yeah, I mean I haven't been comfortable
12:21
Speaker 1: with the plays. It's more just getting out there and
12:23
Speaker 1: actually seeing a defense against him and not just drawing
12:25
Speaker 1: them up on a board or on a piece of paper.
12:27
Speaker 1: Us the biggest difference. And you know that that's where
12:30
Speaker 1: a lot of the weight comes off my shoulders as
12:32
Speaker 1: I've been able to, you know, go out there and
12:33
Speaker 1: play and see those plays against a defense, and you
12:37
Speaker 1: know read it and you know execute the play that's
12:40
Speaker 1: supposed to get the way it's supposed to go. Do
12:42
Speaker 1: you have a big rooting section here tonight? I did.
12:44
Speaker 1: I have my my family and some friends here, so um,
12:46
Speaker 1: I know they were excited to see me out there
12:48
Speaker 1: on the field. In general, did you think you were
12:52
Speaker 1: going to get in it had Brandon not had concussion
12:56
Speaker 1: like symptoms? Did you think you were going to get
12:58
Speaker 1: a chance to play? Coach told me there was a
12:59
Speaker 1: chance he was gonna try to, But obviously, you know,
13:02
Speaker 1: circumstances the way they unfolded so able to get a
13:05
Speaker 1: drive in and luckily made the most of it. You know,
13:09
Speaker 1: but you never wish anything to happen to Brandon or
13:12
Speaker 1: anybody else when it comes to injury wise. It's just
13:14
Speaker 1: you gotta take advantage of the opportunity that you get
13:16
Speaker 1: in front of you. Is it a cliche to say
13:19
Speaker 1: this was a dream come true? And it's not. I
13:21
Speaker 1: would absolutely say that. You know, growing up here in
13:23
Speaker 1: the Greater Cincinnati area and coming to games all the time,
13:27
Speaker 1: being able to throw a touchdown in Paul Brown Stadium
13:30
Speaker 1: was unbelievable. And you have the ball. I have the ball. Yes,
13:34
Speaker 1: what happens to it? It's gonna go home and it's
13:36
Speaker 1: gonna stay in a case at home for sure. Congratulations.
13:40
Speaker 1: That was the fun to watch. Thank you very much.
13:42
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. The final score was Arizona thirty six,
13:46
Speaker 1: Cincinnati twenty three, and the killer stat was penalties. The
13:50
Speaker 1: Bengals had eleven for one hundred and four yards, the
13:53
Speaker 1: Cardinals had two for twenty and the Bengals also committed
13:57
Speaker 1: the game's only turnover. Dave app them spend three minutes
14:01
Speaker 1: with head coach Zach Taylor after the game. Take me
14:04
Speaker 1: through your assessment of the football game. What did you like?
14:08
Speaker 1: What did you not like? I thought we started a
14:09
Speaker 1: little slow, you know, and got ourselves in a hole
14:11
Speaker 1: it was hard to dig ourselves out of. I thought
14:13
Speaker 1: the guys responded really well in the fourth quarter, got
14:15
Speaker 1: some positiblementum, going, some good energy, and so we just
14:19
Speaker 1: got to continue to build off that end, you know,
14:21
Speaker 1: and play better, better football in all three phases, you know,
14:25
Speaker 1: in the first half of the next game. So eleven penalties,
14:28
Speaker 1: I know, you don't like that for over one hundred yards.
14:30
Speaker 1: I mean that that puts you in some some tough
14:33
Speaker 1: down and distance situations. There's no question about that. They
14:36
Speaker 1: only had two for twenty yards. And then that ultimately,
14:40
Speaker 1: you know, translated to they handled third down. You had
14:42
Speaker 1: a tougher time because the down and distance situations, and
14:45
Speaker 1: it just started a snowball a little bit. Yeah, that's
14:47
Speaker 1: not what we do. That's not how we play football.
14:48
Speaker 1: We got to be more disciplined than that. And so
14:50
Speaker 1: we'll take a look at it and see where the
14:52
Speaker 1: issues were at led the NFL FUS penalty yards last year.
14:56
Speaker 1: Either you were the most disciplined team in the National
14:58
Speaker 1: Football League. Take great that, don't you. Yeah, we gotta
15:01
Speaker 1: take a great pie in that and win another turnament battle,
15:03
Speaker 1: you know, And we didn't do that today either, So
15:04
Speaker 1: those are cheers we got to improve on. How About
15:07
Speaker 1: on the other side of things, Drew Plitt goes in
15:10
Speaker 1: the football game and doesn't have an incompletion, has a
15:12
Speaker 1: perfect quarterback rating, and prior made some plays. I mean,
15:15
Speaker 1: some guys made some plays for you. Yeah, it's really
15:17
Speaker 1: good to see him get an opportunity there with with
15:19
Speaker 1: his one drive and took us down and scored a touchdown.
15:21
Speaker 1: So that was really good to see for him, I'm saying.
15:24
Speaker 1: But a bunch of other guys stood out, you know,
15:26
Speaker 1: so they'll be fun to watch the tape and and
15:28
Speaker 1: really assess all the performances. It'll be it's a story
15:32
Speaker 1: that Plick can tell his kids, his grandkids. I mean,
15:34
Speaker 1: it's something you know, no matter what the situation, you
15:37
Speaker 1: get in a in a National Football League game and
15:39
Speaker 1: a team that you grew up rooting for and you
15:42
Speaker 1: get an opportunity to shine, and he's shown brightly that's big. Yeah.
15:45
Speaker 1: You work hard and you're ready for the moment and
15:47
Speaker 1: good things can happen for you any update on injuries, particularly, Um,
15:52
Speaker 1: what's going on with your with your quarterback is a
15:55
Speaker 1: is it a concussion You're still trying to figure out
15:57
Speaker 1: what it is or yeah, I think they diagnosed with
15:59
Speaker 1: the concussion. Sold just where it's Athletax comple yes, And
16:01
Speaker 1: how do you feel all your quarterbacks played tonight? I
16:05
Speaker 1: thought Jake was put in some really tough, tough positions,
16:08
Speaker 1: not always his fault, mostly not his fault, I would say,
16:11
Speaker 1: and did a good job managing the team and keeping
16:14
Speaker 1: calmness about him and try to get a body organized
16:16
Speaker 1: and leading us down there for touch on his last drive.
16:18
Speaker 1: That was good to see. So you know, we'll watch
16:20
Speaker 1: the tape and have a better assessment of it. But
16:22
Speaker 1: but I was impressed with the way he handled himself.
16:23
Speaker 1: Jake really throws the ball in the run very well.
16:27
Speaker 1: I mean a couple of throws he made just stepping
16:29
Speaker 1: out of bounds, we're right on There were dimes right
16:31
Speaker 1: on guy's shoulders as they were stepping out of bounds.
16:33
Speaker 1: Pretty impressive. Yeah, it did a good job throwing on
16:35
Speaker 1: the move and extended plays. And you just need your
16:37
Speaker 1: quarterback to move the team any which way they can
16:41
Speaker 1: coach Hopefully none of these knicks are serious. Hopefully everybody's
16:45
Speaker 1: gonna be all hands on deck and get ready for
16:48
Speaker 1: preseason game number two, traveling New York the Big Apple. Yep,
16:51
Speaker 1: that's what we're hoping for. Thanks her, Thanks Dave. Before
16:54
Speaker 1: getting the laps postgame analysis, I want to share one
16:57
Speaker 1: more postgame interview. It's with rookie d defensive end Jeff Gunter.
17:02
Speaker 1: And as you'll here, Friday's game was very meaningful to
17:05
Speaker 1: him and his mom. We're in the locker room with
17:09
Speaker 1: rookie defensive lineman Jeff Gunter. He had a sack, a
17:13
Speaker 1: couple quarterback hits, knocked down a pass. How'd you think
17:16
Speaker 1: your NFL presecs and debut went. Um, definitely a lot
17:19
Speaker 1: of room for improvement. Um. I was happy to, you know,
17:22
Speaker 1: get the sack. I didn't know they gave it to me,
17:23
Speaker 1: But you know, I definitely got a lot of stuff
17:25
Speaker 1: to fix, and you know, I'm just getting back into
17:26
Speaker 1: the lab. Well next time we had practice and going
17:28
Speaker 1: over those things. You know, you played a lot tonight. Yeah,
17:32
Speaker 1: you almost had a complete game tonight. How are you
17:35
Speaker 1: doing physically? I'm a little sure, but you know, it's
17:38
Speaker 1: a blessing. I can't I can't complain about reps, and
17:40
Speaker 1: hopefully I showed them what I can do my special teams.
17:43
Speaker 1: I'm on defense. Anything in particular stand out about this
17:46
Speaker 1: level of competition and playing in it and for the
17:48
Speaker 1: first time, just the details. You've got to be really
17:50
Speaker 1: precisely the details. And you know, I'm I'm a young
17:53
Speaker 1: guy just being my fresh experience. I think it's a
17:55
Speaker 1: skys a limit and you know, I just gotta get
17:57
Speaker 1: back in the lab. Like I said, the Cardinals off
18:00
Speaker 1: fence features the quarterback rolling out left and right a lot.
18:04
Speaker 1: Was that a challenge for you to be chasing that
18:06
Speaker 1: guy all over the place? D I. I was a
18:09
Speaker 1: little tiger. But you know what, man, I had fun
18:11
Speaker 1: out there. I appreciate the Cardinals, you know, for coming
18:13
Speaker 1: out and playing us, and you know, I'd love to
18:15
Speaker 1: play him in a regular season. Who was in attendance
18:18
Speaker 1: and what did this game mean to you? My mom
18:21
Speaker 1: came and I don't want to get too sappy, but
18:24
Speaker 1: she was diagnosed with cancer a while ago, and this
18:28
Speaker 1: is her first time, you know, coming out of the
18:30
Speaker 1: house since she's been going through radiation. So it's just um,
18:33
Speaker 1: it was good seeing her and no, she's okay, and
18:36
Speaker 1: we kept our tradition going. I went and talked to
18:38
Speaker 1: her before the game, and you know, while I was
18:40
Speaker 1: warming up, Man, it was great to see her and
18:42
Speaker 1: you know, just playing in front of herm at the
18:43
Speaker 1: world to me, getting a sack in front of herm
18:44
Speaker 1: at the world to me. And I hope she's proud
18:46
Speaker 1: of me. I'm sure she is. If anything could make
18:48
Speaker 1: her feel better under those circumstances, it had to be
18:51
Speaker 1: seeing her son in an NFL uniform for the first time. Yeah,
18:55
Speaker 1: you know, this is her dream just as much it
18:57
Speaker 1: is mine. She put in a lot of work to
18:58
Speaker 1: get me here too, so you know, hopefully, um, you know,
19:02
Speaker 1: she gets some shine off this as well, because you
19:04
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying with how her I wouldn't be here,
19:06
Speaker 1: and I just thank her if I aught to sacrifice
19:08
Speaker 1: a seam made and you know, hopefully I did enough
19:10
Speaker 1: to you know, make a smile. We'll be rooting for
19:13
Speaker 1: Jeff and his mom. If you believe in the power
19:16
Speaker 1: of prayer, Keep them in your thoughts. Now, time for
19:21
Speaker 1: the radio guys recap. All right, lap final score wasn't pretty?
19:26
Speaker 1: Got a little bit better? In the fourth quarters. The
19:28
Speaker 1: Bengal scored two touchdowns. But the big, glaring, obvious, biggest
19:32
Speaker 1: problem in week one of the preseason, eleven penalties for
19:36
Speaker 1: more than a hundred yards. Yeah, and like I said
19:38
Speaker 1: during the broadcast, at least penalized team yards wise in
19:41
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Took great pride in that, and
19:44
Speaker 1: that can't happen. You know, you just can't give up
19:46
Speaker 1: a football field. And you know, poor Evans big old
19:52
Speaker 1: run of sixty five yards and taken away a five
19:55
Speaker 1: yard touchdown run taken away. I mean, you know, his
19:58
Speaker 1: stats look horrible, and he didn't play that poorly. I
20:01
Speaker 1: mean he made some plays, but yeah, they put themselves
20:06
Speaker 1: behind the eight ball. They took, took points off the
20:08
Speaker 1: board by penalty, gave up massive field position opportunities by penalty,
20:16
Speaker 1: and then you throw in the turnover. I gave him
20:18
Speaker 1: a short field at the twenty one yard line. Eleven
20:20
Speaker 1: penalties for over one hundred yards and he basically give
20:23
Speaker 1: them points and they ended up getting a touchdown instead
20:25
Speaker 1: of the defense buckling down and holding it to a
20:27
Speaker 1: field goal opportunity. So the self destruction level was high.
20:32
Speaker 1: You know, there's no two ways about it. They lost
20:34
Speaker 1: the turnover battle, they lost the penalty situation, they lost
20:38
Speaker 1: third down, they lost red zone. It all just snowballed.
20:42
Speaker 1: And I think a big, big part of it was
20:45
Speaker 1: the fact that they were just you know, giving things
20:47
Speaker 1: back because of penalty. Most of the starters didn't play,
20:50
Speaker 1: including Jonah Williams, Alex Kapa, Ted Carasle Collins, four of
20:54
Speaker 1: the likely five starters on the offensive line, but the
20:57
Speaker 1: two leading candidates to play left guard did play and
20:59
Speaker 1: played half apiece Jackson Carmen and Cordell Volson. What do
21:04
Speaker 1: you think, Yeah, I don't. I don't think anybody up
21:07
Speaker 1: front necessarily did you know a job that you could
21:10
Speaker 1: be proud of, Although sometimes it's hard when when as
21:14
Speaker 1: as an offensive line, if it's disintegrating, a guy might
21:18
Speaker 1: be playing decently in terms of what his responsibility is,
21:21
Speaker 1: but it just looks so bad around him it's hard
21:23
Speaker 1: to tell. So I think, you know, you've got to
21:26
Speaker 1: take a further look, you know, at the tape. But yeah,
21:30
Speaker 1: there were there were too many breakdowns. Um, you know
21:34
Speaker 1: that hand placement was an issue. They were holding holding penalties, Um,
21:39
Speaker 1: they were I'm not sure if some of the free
21:42
Speaker 1: runners were schematic because they were so basic with what
21:45
Speaker 1: they were running, or if it was a simon error
21:49
Speaker 1: that were causing some free runners. But quarterbacks were either
21:52
Speaker 1: getting hit or forced out of the pocket and they
21:54
Speaker 1: were running around like wild men. So um yeah. Overall, uh,
21:59
Speaker 1: this is not a a performance that you're proud of
22:01
Speaker 1: as an offensive line as a group. There's no question
22:03
Speaker 1: about that. You know you have miles to go before
22:05
Speaker 1: you rust off after this one. Two undrafted wide receivers
22:11
Speaker 1: have had good camps, Kwamie Lasseter and Kendrick Pryor. Advantage
22:16
Speaker 1: game one of the preseason goes to Kendrick Pryor, who
22:19
Speaker 1: is outstanding? He really was, And you know Plt was
22:25
Speaker 1: perfect because Prior had that miraculous one handed catch to
22:28
Speaker 1: keep him perfect and knowing completions, perfect quarterback rating. I mean,
22:33
Speaker 1: it's a it's almost a you know, a fairytale dream
22:37
Speaker 1: for for Plitt. Prior though, I to get a chance
22:41
Speaker 1: to speak with him after the game, and he just
22:44
Speaker 1: very confident. I said, what are your strengths? And he
22:46
Speaker 1: rattled off about five things and you know, I just
22:50
Speaker 1: you know, he understands the situation, no matter what the
22:53
Speaker 1: score is, no matter what is transpiring, do your job,
22:58
Speaker 1: and the coaches want to see that, particularly when things
23:01
Speaker 1: aren't going well. Guys that can focus and concentrate and
23:05
Speaker 1: put adversity aside and do their job and try to,
23:09
Speaker 1: you know, rectify the problems and write the ship. Those
23:13
Speaker 1: are the guys you want to go to war with.
23:14
Speaker 1: And he understands that. So I think he's a pretty
23:17
Speaker 1: mature young man. I think he understands there's an opportunity
23:21
Speaker 1: here available to him, and he's he's not going to
23:25
Speaker 1: let it go easily. He's gonna grab on and hold
23:27
Speaker 1: on tight. What did you think of Jeff Gunter and
23:30
Speaker 1: Zach Carter? I thought that, you know, Gunter did flash.
23:34
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's definitely got get off boy. He's
23:36
Speaker 1: got first step quickness. He's one of those guys that's
23:40
Speaker 1: got a long, long body. But when he comes off
23:44
Speaker 1: the ball, he comes off like an arrow out of
23:46
Speaker 1: a bow. He doesn't stand up. He comes off with
23:49
Speaker 1: some surge. And you know, every good pass rusher that
23:54
Speaker 1: did I've played against or seen, they don't make moose
23:58
Speaker 1: in standing in place. They make moose answing to the quarterback.
24:01
Speaker 1: And I think he has the innatability to do that.
24:03
Speaker 1: You know, I think he's I think he's got some potential,
24:06
Speaker 1: and I think he get over zealous at times, you know,
24:09
Speaker 1: getting up the football field maybe too far and creating
24:12
Speaker 1: a natural lane between himself and the defensive tackle. The
24:15
Speaker 1: quarterbacks who had some good mobility took advantage of um,
24:19
Speaker 1: you know one time on a twist he didn't, you know,
24:22
Speaker 1: keep his contain Uh So, I mean there are things,
24:25
Speaker 1: there's always things to work on, things to improve on.
24:28
Speaker 1: But just in terms of traits raw ability he's got,
24:33
Speaker 1: he's got a lot to work with, I think. And
24:35
Speaker 1: then uh you know, inside our our boy from Florida.
24:40
Speaker 1: Now there's this guy. He's a three technique guy that
24:42
Speaker 1: can can cause you some problems. He can he can
24:45
Speaker 1: convert the line of scrimmage. He can be disruptive, very physical.
24:49
Speaker 1: He has an ability to make himself small you know
24:53
Speaker 1: when he when he needs to. He's he's got some
24:54
Speaker 1: talent as well. Between the two of them, I think
24:57
Speaker 1: they get too two young guys that are gonna, I'm
25:00
Speaker 1: going to help this football team. There's no question. Aside
25:04
Speaker 1: from the eleven penalties, what do you think bothered the
25:07
Speaker 1: coaching staff the most? Tonight? Anything really obvious in your opinion,
25:13
Speaker 1: I think, you know, the slow start in general, you know,
25:18
Speaker 1: I just don't think that. I think obviously the opponent
25:23
Speaker 1: came out a little bit more enthused, a little bit
25:26
Speaker 1: more ready to make a statement. Early in the football game.
25:30
Speaker 1: I thought the Cardinals, you know, just took control of
25:34
Speaker 1: the tempo from Jump Street. And I think that bothered
25:37
Speaker 1: the coaching staff a little bit, because I think they've
25:40
Speaker 1: been over backwards to try to keep them fresh for this.
25:45
Speaker 1: You know, we're not going to bust your butt, you know,
25:47
Speaker 1: during the week, but we expect that to pay off
25:49
Speaker 1: on on game day, even if it's pre season game day.
25:54
Speaker 1: And there was no payoff at pay Course Stadium tonight
25:57
Speaker 1: for the way that they you know, they worked them
26:00
Speaker 1: during the week and in the fourst greg days. We'd
26:05
Speaker 1: be going home after something like this and I wouldn't
26:09
Speaker 1: be sleeping. I'd be thinking, oh my gosh, that first
26:11
Speaker 1: practice is going to be so brutal. He is going
26:13
Speaker 1: to kill us. I don't think that's what Zach's all about,
26:17
Speaker 1: but I do think that I would. I would definitely
26:20
Speaker 1: make a very stern statement that, hey, if you want
26:23
Speaker 1: me to take care of you, you better take care
26:26
Speaker 1: of me. This better be a two way street. You know,
26:28
Speaker 1: I don't want to have to defend you guys for
26:30
Speaker 1: you know, lack of enthusiasm or effort or things of
26:33
Speaker 1: that nature. Dax Hill had a couple of past deflections,
26:37
Speaker 1: had a near interception in the end zone. Do you
26:40
Speaker 1: think he showed them exactly what they're hoping he would? Shall?
26:44
Speaker 1: I think so, you know, it'll be interesting to you know,
26:47
Speaker 1: we don't really know until you study the tape if
26:50
Speaker 1: there were things he could have also done that he didn't,
26:53
Speaker 1: whether it was just a little bit out of position
26:55
Speaker 1: or slow to react or whatever. But I'll tell you
26:58
Speaker 1: you know, he's a quick study. He understands football. Um.
27:03
Speaker 1: The installation process has not been a you know, a
27:06
Speaker 1: difficult scenario or a difficult process for him. So and
27:10
Speaker 1: his his his closing speed, his recoverability speed just shows
27:15
Speaker 1: up all the time. Even if he is a little
27:17
Speaker 1: bit out of position. It sometimes that may play to
27:20
Speaker 1: his advantage in the NFL, because you know, if you're
27:22
Speaker 1: a little bit out of a position, then you realize
27:24
Speaker 1: that quarterback when he sees a you know, a gaping
27:27
Speaker 1: scenario like that, he's and this guy can recover because
27:30
Speaker 1: of that speed that he has. So there were a
27:33
Speaker 1: couple of instances where speed that guys have did show
27:37
Speaker 1: up and h and that's what you're looking for. How
27:40
Speaker 1: would you describe Evan McPherson at this point? I mean,
27:44
Speaker 1: it's mind boggling how well he kicks the football. I
27:48
Speaker 1: don't think I've ever seen a guy with as much
27:52
Speaker 1: earned confidence as he has maybe Burrow. Other than that,
27:56
Speaker 1: I don't know who, you know, it's it's it really
27:58
Speaker 1: is really phenomenal. I mean I think he I asked him,
28:02
Speaker 1: I said, on a beautiful night like tonight, when you
28:04
Speaker 1: hit that fifty six fifty eight yard what could you
28:07
Speaker 1: hit from? Do you thank you because it was nice
28:08
Speaker 1: out there? I don't know, I'm thinking sixty three, sixty five.
28:12
Speaker 1: You know, it's it really is. It really is amazing.
28:16
Speaker 1: And you know, I asked him about never overdoing the
28:20
Speaker 1: swing like you know golf, you know, you hit your
28:22
Speaker 1: purists shots when you're in total rhythm, and that's he
28:26
Speaker 1: swings at the you know, fifty eight fifty six yards
28:30
Speaker 1: like he does the thirty two yarders. You know, he
28:32
Speaker 1: just he's never he's never had a whack in that
28:35
Speaker 1: regard Man, He's got an explosive leg He's he's uber talented.
28:40
Speaker 1: I mean, fourteen for fourteen in the playoffs and three
28:42
Speaker 1: of them from beyond fifty, so I think he only
28:46
Speaker 1: missed one from beyond fifty in the regular season. I mean,
28:48
Speaker 1: it's it's unbelievable. The longer the distance, the more confidence
28:52
Speaker 1: I have in the guy. It's crazy, it's nuts. Last thing,
28:56
Speaker 1: I don't know what Zach Taylor's plan is for playing
28:59
Speaker 1: the starters. I don't know if they'll go in the
29:01
Speaker 1: second preseason game or the third, or not at all.
29:04
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll only play in those practices against the Rams.
29:07
Speaker 1: Do you think tonight's result could have any impact on
29:11
Speaker 1: that leading to the second preseason game against the Giants.
29:14
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know. That's a that's a great question.
29:17
Speaker 1: Only Zac, I guess, could could answer that question. But
29:20
Speaker 1: I think I think that that he's he's basically making
29:26
Speaker 1: that decision based on the fact he doesn't want to
29:27
Speaker 1: lose anybody, and in tonight's preseason games, some guys were lost,
29:31
Speaker 1: So I think you get the validity validation of that
29:35
Speaker 1: decision making process, and you know that would not be
29:41
Speaker 1: shocked if the quote starters only get one series total
29:48
Speaker 1: in the preseason, maybe just one if it's a three
29:52
Speaker 1: and out. I don't know, maybe it won't be just one,
29:54
Speaker 1: but I think it's going to be minimal, if at all.
29:59
Speaker 1: I really believe that. But I do think that those
30:03
Speaker 1: those workouts against the Rams or when they're really going
30:06
Speaker 1: to evaluate where they are, because that's good. That's a
30:09
Speaker 1: good athletic football team on both sides of the football,
30:12
Speaker 1: and the ones will be going against the ones and
30:14
Speaker 1: it'll all be controlled and everything. But you can tell
30:17
Speaker 1: if a boy, you know it, made a mistake here,
30:19
Speaker 1: maybe we need to play some of these guys in
30:21
Speaker 1: that third preseason game a little bit longer. They didn't
30:24
Speaker 1: look very good against the Rams. At least you have
30:26
Speaker 1: that as a barometer before that last preseason game. So
30:29
Speaker 1: I think that's when they're going to make that decision
30:32
Speaker 1: based on how all that unfolds against the Rams. I
30:34
Speaker 1: think the Rams practices are going to be the tilting
30:38
Speaker 1: point in that kind of thing. The end results wasn't
30:42
Speaker 1: what Bengals fans were hoping for, but it was fun
30:44
Speaker 1: to be back in the booth. It was fun. The
30:48
Speaker 1: National Football League is it's one hell of a piece
30:52
Speaker 1: of entertainment. There's no question about it. I mean it's
30:56
Speaker 1: it's a tremendous show, and it's all unscripted, so you
30:59
Speaker 1: never know what you're going to see, and sometimes you
31:03
Speaker 1: know it's like, no matter how many games you witness,
31:07
Speaker 1: I never saw that before. Oh, I haven't seen that
31:09
Speaker 1: in a long time. Those are the great things about
31:12
Speaker 1: the game. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals,
31:16
Speaker 1: the free to play fantasy football game. This past season,
31:19
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of
31:22
Speaker 1: the year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy
31:26
Speaker 1: experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the
31:29
Speaker 1: app Store and Google Play. Now, time for our first
31:34
Speaker 1: Fun Facts interview of the season, where you get to
31:36
Speaker 1: know the person under the pads. Time for some fun
31:41
Speaker 1: facts with a Boo Durami Sire, a rookie cornerback who's
31:45
Speaker 1: joined the Bengals this training camp. I don't know that
31:47
Speaker 1: there's a better story in this camp or in the
31:50
Speaker 1: entire NFL than yours. A boot Tell folks what you
31:54
Speaker 1: were doing last year when the Bengals are facing the
31:56
Speaker 1: Rams in the Super Bowl. I was working at Donato's
32:00
Speaker 1: delivering pizzas with tears in my eyes, going from door
32:03
Speaker 1: to door giving people their pizza and seeing the game
32:05
Speaker 1: through their window basically and trying to listen to it
32:08
Speaker 1: on the radio as much as possible. So with that
32:11
Speaker 1: in mind, what does it mean to you to be
32:13
Speaker 1: playing in an NFL preseason game on Friday night? Honestly,
32:17
Speaker 1: it means everything to me. I've had this dream since
32:19
Speaker 1: I was a kid kid, and you know, it seemed
32:21
Speaker 1: like it was slipping away slowly and slowly with just
32:23
Speaker 1: a slim chance. You know, after that Super Bowl, I
32:25
Speaker 1: definitely thought my chances were absolutely done. And to think that,
32:28
Speaker 1: you know, the team that was playing in the Super
32:30
Speaker 1: Bowl is the same team that was going to bring
32:32
Speaker 1: me along, I never would have thought that's how it
32:34
Speaker 1: would have played out. But I'm super thankful. So this
32:36
Speaker 1: preseason game means absolutely everything to me. We're chatting with
32:40
Speaker 1: a Boo Durami Sire. You were born in Sierra Leone
32:44
Speaker 1: but went to high school near Columbus, Ohio. Explain what
32:48
Speaker 1: your mother did and moving you to the US and
32:50
Speaker 1: why my mother, you know, we were refugees. We had
32:54
Speaker 1: to find refuge here in the United States because there
32:56
Speaker 1: was a war in my country and basically we had
32:59
Speaker 1: to escape and comes to the United States, and from there,
33:02
Speaker 1: my mom had to work two three jobs at a
33:04
Speaker 1: time just to make a living for us. And you know,
33:06
Speaker 1: I didn't get a chance to see her that much,
33:07
Speaker 1: you know, growing up, and it was very difficult for us.
33:09
Speaker 1: But she made those sacrifices for me. So when I'm
33:12
Speaker 1: in situations like this and I have to bust my
33:14
Speaker 1: butt each and every day, I mean, it's easy compared
33:16
Speaker 1: to what she had to go through. So she's my
33:17
Speaker 1: motivation each and every day. And you have a brother
33:20
Speaker 1: that you didn't see for nine years, correct, you know,
33:23
Speaker 1: the way things didn't work out the way that she wanted.
33:25
Speaker 1: She could only get one of us here, and sadly
33:27
Speaker 1: she had to choose. But I was the youngest, so
33:29
Speaker 1: she had to bring me along, and you know, me
33:31
Speaker 1: and my brother didn't get those adolescent years together that
33:34
Speaker 1: we could have been building a relationship. And it's kind
33:37
Speaker 1: of upsetting. But you know, till this day, him and
33:39
Speaker 1: I are still working on it. You know, I'm thankful
33:40
Speaker 1: and grateful for my mom fighting so hard because I
33:43
Speaker 1: very much do love my brother and he's a very
33:44
Speaker 1: big influence on me. We're doing fun facts with Aboo
33:47
Speaker 1: Durrami soire. So. After a great high school football career
33:50
Speaker 1: near Columbus, you went to Colgate University in New York State.
33:53
Speaker 1: You had a great career there, three times first team
33:56
Speaker 1: All League. What was the best part of your college experience? Honestly,
34:00
Speaker 1: just you know, those championships that we won together. I mean,
34:03
Speaker 1: those individual awards, they were they were cool and all,
34:05
Speaker 1: but you know, getting a ring and being able to
34:07
Speaker 1: shake hands with my teammates and hear that clink sound
34:10
Speaker 1: from our rings touching one another. I think you know
34:12
Speaker 1: that that was the best part of the experience in
34:13
Speaker 1: just celebrating that together as one was better than any
34:16
Speaker 1: of the individual awards that I received. So when people
34:18
Speaker 1: look at number forty three on the roster, they will
34:20
Speaker 1: see you listed at five nine, one eighty five. You
34:23
Speaker 1: are almost the exact same size as Mike Kilton, who's
34:27
Speaker 1: obviously become a great NFL player. But Mike wasn't drafted
34:31
Speaker 1: and you weren't drafted. Not uncommon for a guy your size,
34:35
Speaker 1: but it was extra tough for you because the year
34:37
Speaker 1: you came out, was at the height of the pandemic
34:39
Speaker 1: and it was hard to get a gig as an
34:41
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent. Yeah, that that was you know, Honestly,
34:44
Speaker 1: I think that was the most humbling experience for me.
34:46
Speaker 1: I think if I would have come out at the
34:48
Speaker 1: time I did, things would have been completely different with me.
34:51
Speaker 1: And honestly, I think God, you know, did this for
34:53
Speaker 1: a reason. And those two these two years I spent
34:56
Speaker 1: was very humbling and just you know, getting closer to
34:58
Speaker 1: God and getting closer to myself and my family, just
35:00
Speaker 1: going around what I truly want in life. So I
35:01
Speaker 1: think this came at the perfect time. And seeing seeing
35:03
Speaker 1: people like Mike Hilton really motivate me. And he's a
35:05
Speaker 1: person that definitely you know, stands next to me and
35:07
Speaker 1: takes me under his wing and make sure that you
35:09
Speaker 1: know I'm doing the right things and always there to
35:10
Speaker 1: answer questions. So you know, I feel like I got
35:13
Speaker 1: here at the time that I was supposed to get here.
35:15
Speaker 1: So the Cardinals game will be your NFL debut, but
35:17
Speaker 1: not your pro football debut. You played in Germany last
35:21
Speaker 1: year for the pots Damn Royals. Described the German Professional
35:26
Speaker 1: Football League, it was all love you know, of course,
35:29
Speaker 1: the competition level isn't the NFL, but there's no competition
35:32
Speaker 1: like the NFL. But it was still competition. You know,
35:35
Speaker 1: I was going against all American wide receivers each and
35:39
Speaker 1: every game. I was going against you know, guys that
35:41
Speaker 1: were in the NFL. Guys I got an NFL tryout,
35:42
Speaker 1: so you know, it wasn't just any walk in the
35:44
Speaker 1: park for me. But the experience was absolutely amazing. The
35:48
Speaker 1: fans were so lovely, the team, my coaches, you know,
35:51
Speaker 1: they treated me like family. I almost didn't leave because
35:53
Speaker 1: of how much I loved it, and I was actually
35:56
Speaker 1: signed to go back there the day before I got
35:58
Speaker 1: the opportunity to come for a workout here. But Germany
36:01
Speaker 1: was definitely you know, I plan on visiting once the
36:03
Speaker 1: season's over. I plan on going back to seeing my
36:04
Speaker 1: coaches in the offseason and just spending time with them
36:07
Speaker 1: because I really built a family out there. I'm not
36:09
Speaker 1: sure i'd ever heard of the German Football League. Did
36:11
Speaker 1: you even know it existed before someone mentioned the opportunity
36:15
Speaker 1: to possibly play there. I never never knew that there
36:18
Speaker 1: was football outside of Canada and the United States. And
36:21
Speaker 1: then I got a phone call from David's soul, and
36:24
Speaker 1: I was hesitant on the experience just because I'm just like,
36:26
Speaker 1: you know, this is not my dream. You know, this
36:29
Speaker 1: is not what I've wanted for myself, and I had
36:32
Speaker 1: to move over four thousand whiles away from everything I
36:35
Speaker 1: know and love. So I was very hesitant, But there's
36:37
Speaker 1: a gut feeling that told me just take the leap
36:39
Speaker 1: of faith, Just take the leap of faith, and I
36:40
Speaker 1: just wanted my gut and honestly, it was the best
36:42
Speaker 1: decision I've made. So you've had some other jobs in
36:46
Speaker 1: addition to delivering donados during the Super Bowl last year.
36:49
Speaker 1: What are some of the other things you had to
36:51
Speaker 1: do while you were staying in shape and hoping to
36:53
Speaker 1: get a football opportunity. I was personal training for a
36:56
Speaker 1: former Ohio state strength conditioning coach one to Ohio. I
37:00
Speaker 1: worked at the Amazon warehouse. I worked at BJ's restaurant.
37:03
Speaker 1: I worked at best Buy. I did door dash, I
37:05
Speaker 1: worked at Donado's. You know, I was. I was doing
37:08
Speaker 1: a lot of things. I actually lost my last job
37:10
Speaker 1: at best Buy due to COVID in twenty twenty its
37:14
Speaker 1: going into twenty twenty one because my family caught it.
37:17
Speaker 1: So you know, I was actually laid off in my
37:18
Speaker 1: job for six months, so you know, things were very
37:20
Speaker 1: difficult for me. But at the end of the day,
37:22
Speaker 1: I just something just told me just keep going. I
37:25
Speaker 1: go to ram sire as our guest. Have you shared
37:27
Speaker 1: any of this with your NFL teammates a little bit,
37:30
Speaker 1: a little bit um, just some you know, I'm closer
37:33
Speaker 1: to some guys than others, but you know, I'm waiting
37:35
Speaker 1: for that moment when you know, they really want to
37:37
Speaker 1: hear what's going on, and I'll you know, I'll tell
37:39
Speaker 1: them everything. But I don't want to just throw everything
37:40
Speaker 1: on somebody right away. You know, I'm not a person
37:43
Speaker 1: that likes to give my luggage to others. It's a
37:46
Speaker 1: nice way of putting it. So in talking to some
37:48
Speaker 1: of the coaches about you, they say, you know, you're
37:51
Speaker 1: so appreciative, got a big smile on your face. You're
37:54
Speaker 1: grateful for everything that comes with being an NFL player.
37:58
Speaker 1: Can you touch on that this was an opportunity that
38:01
Speaker 1: I didn't see coming in the last four months. I
38:03
Speaker 1: never saw it coming. So the days that it's hard
38:05
Speaker 1: to get out of bed and it's hard to push
38:07
Speaker 1: through that extra rap or it's hard to push through that,
38:11
Speaker 1: you know, just trying to just finish that last rep
38:14
Speaker 1: of sprint. Like I think to myself, you know, I'd
38:17
Speaker 1: rather be struggling here than struggling putting gas in my
38:20
Speaker 1: car and going to deliver pizzas or having to you know,
38:24
Speaker 1: I'm appreciative everything that comes with this, no matter how
38:26
Speaker 1: hard it gets. I asked for this, I prayed for this.
38:28
Speaker 1: This is what I wanted, and this is what I got.
38:30
Speaker 1: I would rather have it this way than any other way.
38:35
Speaker 1: So where were you delivering those pizzas? Was that back
38:37
Speaker 1: in the Columbuss area. It was in the Columbuss area.
38:39
Speaker 1: It was about ten minutes away from my home. It's
38:42
Speaker 1: definitely an experience. You know. I made decent money, of course,
38:45
Speaker 1: not what I wanted to do. But at that time
38:47
Speaker 1: I was working probably two three jobs, and you know
38:50
Speaker 1: I would leave in the morning, come home for an hour, change,
38:52
Speaker 1: go to my next job, go work out. It was
38:54
Speaker 1: very difficult, but I knew those were the sacrifices I
38:56
Speaker 1: had to make of, you know, not spending money on
38:58
Speaker 1: things I wanted to, but things I needed to making
39:00
Speaker 1: sure that I, you know, didn't go out and all
39:03
Speaker 1: that type of stuff. You know, for about two to
39:04
Speaker 1: three months, I was kind of just to myself and
39:06
Speaker 1: just it felt like a dark place. But in my eyes,
39:09
Speaker 1: I knew I had to make those sacrifices in order
39:10
Speaker 1: to get to where I wanted to be. So if
39:12
Speaker 1: you're listening to the game on the radio while you
39:14
Speaker 1: were delivering, you might have been listening to me and
39:16
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham. You know the Bengals games do come in
39:19
Speaker 1: and Columbus, Hey, they do. They I probably was listening
39:21
Speaker 1: to you. I just didn't realize it had too many
39:23
Speaker 1: emotions running on through my mind. So is there a
39:26
Speaker 1: bit of an off factor in being here and trying
39:29
Speaker 1: to cover Jamar Chase and Tyler Boyd and in interacting
39:33
Speaker 1: with Joe Burrow, etc. Oh it's my first month here.
39:36
Speaker 1: Was such an off factor? I mean, until the State's
39:38
Speaker 1: still an off factor. I'm still I'm starting to get
39:39
Speaker 1: used to it each and every day because you know,
39:41
Speaker 1: they are they are They're just regular people at the
39:43
Speaker 1: end of the day. But you know, there is still
39:45
Speaker 1: an off factor. Definitely still an off factor. But they
39:48
Speaker 1: think about this thing that I love the most is
39:49
Speaker 1: they treat me as if I'm one of them. None
39:51
Speaker 1: of them, you know, even with the season that they
39:52
Speaker 1: had last year, Jam Marches being, you know, the rookie
39:55
Speaker 1: of the year and Joe Burring Burrow, you know, taking
39:57
Speaker 1: the Bengals in the Super Bowl like they don't it,
40:00
Speaker 1: They're and glowed about it. You know, Burrow treats me
40:02
Speaker 1: as if you know, I was the same as him.
40:04
Speaker 1: Shamar doesn't talk down on me. He talks to me
40:06
Speaker 1: as if I was a friend, as you know, I
40:08
Speaker 1: just won the MVP or something. So something about this
40:10
Speaker 1: team that you know, they don't dwell on the last season,
40:12
Speaker 1: you know, they treat it everyone like a brother. And
40:14
Speaker 1: I really really appreciate that, and honestly, that helps motivate
40:17
Speaker 1: me and push me forward. Last thing, who will be
40:19
Speaker 1: watching on Friday night at Paul Brown Stadium and will
40:22
Speaker 1: tears be flowing down your eyes during the national anthem?
40:26
Speaker 1: You just said that, and I just got chills on
40:27
Speaker 1: my body and I almost started tearing up. My mother
40:30
Speaker 1: will be there, my brother will be there, my cousins
40:32
Speaker 1: will be there. Like I'm starting to think about it
40:35
Speaker 1: and I'm starting to get emotional myself when I step
40:40
Speaker 1: out on the field the first time. If you guys
40:41
Speaker 1: have the cameras on me, you will see tears come
40:43
Speaker 1: out of my mom my eyes. If you find my
40:45
Speaker 1: mother in the stadium, you'll see her crying to Boo,
40:48
Speaker 1: You're an easy guy to root for. Best of luck
40:50
Speaker 1: throughout the rest of camp and hopefully our long NFL career.
40:54
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. That's that's going
40:59
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast,
41:02
Speaker 1: presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the
41:05
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season. It's free to play next level
41:09
Speaker 1: fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on
41:13
Speaker 1: the App Store and Google Play, And if you haven't
41:16
Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if
41:19
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
41:21
Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm
41:26
Speaker 1: Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth
41:29
Speaker 1: Podcast