Speaker 1: This six point forty in the Queens City of Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: Chick laud wigon seven hundred WLW. This is sports Talk.
Speaker 1: Russ Jackson is tonight's producer. Like Eric Carmon and the
Speaker 1: Raspberries were going all the way to eight o'clock, that's
Speaker 1: when NFL takes over these airwaves. It's wild Card weekend.
Speaker 1: The Rams and Panthers are tied at seventeen right now,
Speaker 1: and tonight you'll be able to listen to the pack
Speaker 1: at the Bears. And in a game you just heard
Speaker 1: on seven hundred WLW, the Xavier Musketeers captured their first
Speaker 1: home Big East victory with a ninety seven to eighty
Speaker 1: four win over Providence at Sentas Center. And in a
Speaker 1: football game you watched last night on ESPN, the Indiana
Speaker 1: Hoosiers earned a berth in the College Football Playoff National
Speaker 1: Championship Game, which will take place on Monday night, by
Speaker 1: destroying the Oregon Ducks in the semifinal at the Chick
Speaker 1: fil A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. And here to talk
Speaker 1: to us about it, I'm all excited to bring in
Speaker 1: our first guest. He comes right over from the control
Speaker 1: room here at seven hundred WLW. It's an honor, pleasure
Speaker 1: and privilege to welcome in shoeless Joe Waddell of Saintax
Speaker 1: High School, Indiana University School of Journalism grad. Joe, we
Speaker 1: we're texting last night. It was about five o'clock. You said,
Speaker 1: can seven thirty get here fast enough?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: You gotta be pumped. Honor, pleasure and privileged.
Speaker 3: Check.
Speaker 1: Come on, you're being too kind to.
Speaker 3: Me, all right?
Speaker 1: Man? Yeah?
Speaker 4: I mean I told people that obviously knew that this
Speaker 4: game was a big deal, because I know we've talked
Speaker 4: about on these very airwaves before. I've seen some bad
Speaker 4: football in my life, some very very very bad football
Speaker 4: between going to the Indiana games obviously pre Signetti as
Speaker 4: a student and you know some of the Bengals years.
Speaker 4: I need something to roof for. And all of a sudden,
Speaker 4: you know, twenty twenty three November comes around, Tom Allen's out,
Speaker 4: kurtz Signetti's in. And have you ever seen any not
Speaker 4: just any college program, any sports team get turned around
Speaker 4: this quickly into this extent as the Indiana Hoosiers have.
Speaker 1: No This is uh, it really is unbelievable. He brought
Speaker 1: in a lot of players from James Madison yep. And
Speaker 1: he's about production and not you know, projecting guys. I
Speaker 1: mean he wants football players. He's got them. He's got ah.
Speaker 1: He's got an older roster. I think they average about
Speaker 1: twenty three years old or more. And he's just blended
Speaker 1: the veterans with newcomers. And man, there's a ton of
Speaker 1: guys in the in the portal that are headed to
Speaker 1: Indiana University. I guess it's just unreal. This is the uh.
Speaker 1: They're the most exciting team. And we talked about this Joe,
Speaker 1: the most complete team, and I'm calling them the sexiest
Speaker 1: team because everybody in America is in love with them.
Speaker 1: They are now.
Speaker 4: It took a while for him to wake up, but
Speaker 4: they're here now, and I love seeing all the attention
Speaker 4: they're getting. Obviously a lot of the national media markets.
Speaker 4: They didn't really start believing until we beat Ohio State
Speaker 4: this year in the Big Ten Championship.
Speaker 1: And speaking of that game, I was thinking and hit
Speaker 1: a family red because we're all Buckeye fans at the
Speaker 1: Ludwig Household. Understandable, Ohio State loses to Indiana and the
Speaker 1: Big Ten Championship thirteen to ten. So with Indiana blowing
Speaker 1: teams out. It's like, gosh, the buck guys did great
Speaker 1: holding them to thirteen points. But doesn't it just speak
Speaker 1: to Indiana's awesomeness that they can run you out of
Speaker 1: the gym with fifty fifty six points and then beat
Speaker 1: you in a tight, close, low scoring game. That's what
Speaker 1: they do.
Speaker 4: That's what they've done, you know, ever since other than
Speaker 4: the two losses they have the first year of Signetti
Speaker 4: when I think they just got out talented.
Speaker 1: That's what they do.
Speaker 4: They force you to play their game, and with their
Speaker 4: game is control the football, dominate you on both sides.
Speaker 4: And like their ceder Pat Cougan, the Notre Dame transfer said,
Speaker 4: hold you under the water to the bubble, stop coming up.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's what they do. They'll hold you under. They
Speaker 1: just suffocate you.
Speaker 4: And even if it's like you said, Ohio State thirteen
Speaker 4: to ten, they Ohio State made mistakes. Indiana didn't. That's
Speaker 4: why they won. They don't make mistakes. They will never
Speaker 4: beat themselves and that's why they're so successful.
Speaker 1: And they just take the will out of the other team.
Speaker 1: It seems like they did mentally, emotionally, and physically. They're
Speaker 1: they're they're dominating here and uh gosh, you probably can't
Speaker 1: wait till Monday night. Oh gosh, yeah, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: it's going to be the longest week waiting for uh yeah,
Speaker 1: the Miami Hurricanes and you're playing in my Miami Gardens,
Speaker 1: home of the Dolphins, and it's just going to be
Speaker 1: absolutely insane down there.
Speaker 4: That's I'm seeing a lot of conversation about is this
Speaker 4: going to be a home game for the Miami Hurricanes,
Speaker 4: And I guess in a sense it is, But.
Speaker 1: Indiana fans travel pretty well. Yeah, yeah, so we saw
Speaker 1: that in Atlanta, Man.
Speaker 4: Atlanta, I think that's going to be a different story
Speaker 4: obviously in Miami because they've got to, you know, turn around,
Speaker 4: take ten steps through their backyard and they're already at
Speaker 4: the stadium. But at the same time, largest living alumni
Speaker 4: base in the country. We got eight hundred, nine hundred
Speaker 4: thousand living alumni. And you don't think there's some of
Speaker 4: the sitting down there in Miami, Florida waiting for the
Speaker 4: opportunity to go see their Hoosiers in a playoff game.
Speaker 1: I think there might be. That's huge. And even though
Speaker 1: I'm an Ohio State guy, I'm a big ten guy.
Speaker 1: And if Indiana can win this game, Joe, think about this, Michigan,
Speaker 1: Ohio State, and Indiana, three Big Ten teams back to
Speaker 1: back to back winning national championships. How awesome is that?
Speaker 4: Not just three Big Ten teams, three different Big Ten teams.
Speaker 4: It's been three different teams three years in a row.
Speaker 4: If Indiana can pull this off, and I think that
Speaker 4: it not only speaks to the depth and the power
Speaker 4: that at least the top of the Big I think
Speaker 4: the bottom of the Big Ten is pretty weak with
Speaker 4: you know, your Purdues and Gluckers and things like that.
Speaker 4: But the top of the Big Ten, I think is
Speaker 4: as competitive as the top of any conference can get.
Speaker 4: You've got teams that obviously you know, Indiana didn't lose
Speaker 4: this year, but they lost or they won by five
Speaker 4: to against Iowa, took a last second score to beat
Speaker 4: Penn State, one by three against Ohio State, and then
Speaker 4: one by ten at Adson, And when we played Oregon
Speaker 4: earlier in the season, and then first round of the playoffs,
Speaker 4: you face the mighty Alabama and the vaunted SEC that
Speaker 4: we hear is this intense gauntlet. That's the only reason
Speaker 4: the teams are losing two three, games in a season
Speaker 4: they don't even score a touchdown?
Speaker 1: Could you wrap your head around the Rose Bowl? That
Speaker 1: setting arguably the greatest setting really in all of sports,
Speaker 1: and in Indiana, Hoosiers just dismantle the juggernaut known as
Speaker 1: the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Speaker 4: It was about as good of an outcome as I
Speaker 4: could have expected, because not only was the game great,
Speaker 4: but I have seen so much. I'm active on Twitter
Speaker 4: x whatever you want to call it now, so I
Speaker 4: see a lot of the stuff directed at the program
Speaker 4: and at the players, at the coaches, at the fans,
Speaker 4: things like that. And of all the comments that I've
Speaker 4: seen from other people, like other fan bases and stuff,
Speaker 4: I think the downright nastiest and just most arrogant have
Speaker 4: come from the Alabama Crimson Tide fan base. So to
Speaker 4: see their team not even put up a touchdown and
Speaker 4: mentally and physically quit in the middle of the game
Speaker 4: before it was even over, Ugh Chef's kiss, incredible, unbelievable.
Speaker 1: How about last night the first play from scrimmage the
Speaker 1: Oregon Ducks picked six for the Indiana Hoosiers. You couldn't
Speaker 1: have asked for a better start.
Speaker 4: No, the very first play of the game, and you
Speaker 4: already not only trusted your defense by deferring the ball
Speaker 4: by winning the toss, but you get seven out of it.
Speaker 4: And from that point on, I think it honestly set
Speaker 4: the tone that as talented as Oregon is, as good
Speaker 4: as a roster as they are, and I think they are,
Speaker 4: and I think they'll be back next year. They just
Speaker 4: ran into a better team. They ran into a freaking bus.
Speaker 4: Saws what happened, because that's how they're playing right now.
Speaker 1: We saw Indiana score on really several short fields mistakes
Speaker 1: by the Oregon Ducks, but at the same time long drives.
Speaker 1: And what can you say about Fernando Mendoza. I mean,
Speaker 1: not only is a player, but really as a person,
Speaker 1: and the interview that he gave after the Rose Bowl,
Speaker 1: I'm there, Gosh, he could wind up in a TV
Speaker 1: booth one day. He's just so well spoken. And I
Speaker 1: just haven't seen a more impressive person and player this year.
Speaker 4: That's the word a lot of media figures use after
Speaker 4: they get done talking to that kid, they say, he's
Speaker 4: so impressive. And it's not only obviously the play on
Speaker 4: the field you're seeing through two playoff games has got
Speaker 4: more touchdown passes than incompletions, which what like that's just absurd. Yeah,
Speaker 4: But the other side of it is of how well
Speaker 4: spoken he is. He knows exactly what he's going to
Speaker 4: say when he goes into an interview, and how genuine
Speaker 4: of a person he is. Like when he says, you know,
Speaker 4: I want to give all glory to God and my teammates,
Speaker 4: he believes it, and it just it endears you to
Speaker 4: the kids so quickly because he is so true and kind,
Speaker 4: you can just see it through the screen. And then
Speaker 4: he's also an awesome football player and gives you know,
Speaker 4: these viral, incredible postgame interviews. It's just it's been a
Speaker 4: while since we've seen a figure in college football and
Speaker 4: soon to be the NFL like that, and it's just
Speaker 4: it's something that the entire country can get behind.
Speaker 1: I think his accuracy is just uncanny, it's fantastic, and
Speaker 1: he uses his legs at the right time to create
Speaker 1: first downs and that is so critical.
Speaker 4: That's something that a lot of people, you know, when
Speaker 4: you talk about when you're analyzing quarterbacks and their skill sets,
Speaker 4: there's pocket passers and runners. You know, like a pocket
Speaker 4: passer would be your classic old school Peyton Manning, Tom
Speaker 4: Brady type, Dan Marino, the types that want to sit
Speaker 4: in the pocket and analyze the defense and get the
Speaker 4: ball out. Runners Lamar Jackson, who they force you to
Speaker 4: be true on both sides, where if you drop back
Speaker 4: and play deep zone, he's gonna run for twenty yards.
Speaker 4: You throw a blitz, he's going to throw the ball
Speaker 4: downfield to receiver. And then there's the middle ground of
Speaker 4: players like Fernando Mendoza who can certainly sit in the
Speaker 4: pocket and dice up your defense and find has the
Speaker 4: accuracy to find any little gap and drive the ball
Speaker 4: in there. But if he needs to, he can take
Speaker 4: off and pick up He's not going to run for
Speaker 4: a seventy yard touchdown, but he can pick up extra
Speaker 4: yards that other passers can't. And I think that's, honestly,
Speaker 4: that's one of the biggest reasons he's probably going to
Speaker 4: go first in the draft. Is that varied skill set
Speaker 4: along with the personality and the accuracy and things like
Speaker 4: that that you mentioned. Now, you got out of Indiana University,
Speaker 4: what year I was a twenty twenty four grad. Okay,
Speaker 4: so early on in your tenure there in Bloomington, you
Speaker 4: could have probably just walked into Memorial Stadium for five
Speaker 4: or ten bucks probably now now, oh it's on.
Speaker 1: Us, I'm going to do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, if I know some people actually that Back in
Speaker 4: the old days, the same to stadium security was so
Speaker 4: bad because so few people went. They would just walk
Speaker 4: in with a group of people through the security lines
Speaker 4: without a ticket, still get in the stadium. That's how
Speaker 4: sad the state of things was. You could just walk
Speaker 4: in sometimes and pick a seat in the student section,
Speaker 4: pick of the house because the student section would wouldn't
Speaker 4: fill up till five minutes before the game, and that's
Speaker 4: the only section that would be filled.
Speaker 1: And really, when you think of Indiana, I mean I
Speaker 1: think of basketball. Okay, well, no doubt, you know, the
Speaker 1: legacy of Bob Knight, the national championships, the undefeated season,
Speaker 1: what in nineteen seventy six, unbelievable, But times were changing.
Speaker 1: I think Signetti is just the cat is magic. And
Speaker 1: I loved what he said after the game when the
Speaker 1: interviewer asked him about, you know, looking ahead to Miami,
Speaker 1: what are you thinking all that? All he was thinking
Speaker 1: about was popping open a ice cold beer.
Speaker 4: That's one of the things I love about that guys.
Speaker 4: He takes everything one step at a time. You're never
Speaker 4: gonna catch him overlooking anybody or you know, thinking too
Speaker 4: far ahead into the future. He's always very focused on
Speaker 4: the present. I think that's what makes him such a
Speaker 4: special coach. And I don't use the word special lightly
Speaker 4: because I've seen a lot of really good ball coaches
Speaker 4: in my life. I don't think I've ever seen anyone
Speaker 4: like this guy who thinks the way he does, acts
Speaker 4: the way he does. He gets a lot of comparisons
Speaker 4: to his you know, former boss Nick Saban. It's a
Speaker 4: different beast than Nick Saban. Obviously, Nick Saban, I think
Speaker 4: is one of one. He's probably the best college coach ever.
Speaker 4: I think you could argue, and I personally would argue that,
Speaker 4: but it's the way he carries himself and the Nick
Speaker 4: Saban was a little more reserved.
Speaker 1: Kurtzignett.
Speaker 4: He's got an unabashed confidence about him, and at times,
Speaker 4: you could say even in arrogance and a swagger that
Speaker 4: he knows as soon as he steps on the field,
Speaker 4: he's got this mentality of we're gonna beat you by
Speaker 4: thirty and you're gonna be terrified to see us. You're
Speaker 4: gonna see us in your nightmares. The eyebrow, the eyebrow real. Yeah,
Speaker 4: he cocks that eyebrow up and that's.
Speaker 1: Right, all business and then he can like some lightheartedness too.
Speaker 1: After victory, Yes, f te tramples you. And uh yeah,
Speaker 1: now looking ahead to Monday night, Uh, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: crazy down at uh you know in Miami Gardens, at
Speaker 1: that stadium. Miami is very, very talented. I told everybody
Speaker 1: to take the points nine and a half against Ohio State,
Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? Uh, their defensive line is just
Speaker 1: it wrecks teams. So those defensive ends are phenomenal and
Speaker 1: uh Ruben Bain Junior is tough and uh a keem
Speaker 1: mesidor you know they're they're rightning quick and both both
Speaker 1: lines are you know, the trenches is just gonna be
Speaker 1: fun to watch.
Speaker 4: Miami's defensive line, I think is the not only the
Speaker 4: strength of their team, but I think it's the key
Speaker 4: to why their defense succeeds. Because not only are like
Speaker 4: you said, they're lightning quick, they're big dudes. They can
Speaker 4: move some bodies. Their edge rushers can bend like crazy,
Speaker 4: and they've got a young secondary that even though they
Speaker 4: are young, they're athletic, they can make some plays. I
Speaker 4: know they're a little beat up there. They have a
Speaker 4: guy I forget which one it is that I believe
Speaker 4: is going to miss the first half of the game.
Speaker 1: Do a targeting penalties.
Speaker 4: Yes, so they may be a little beat up there,
Speaker 4: but they have the talent to compete with anybody. I
Speaker 4: think the reason we're seeing their playoff success right now
Speaker 4: is a shift in philosophy on offense though, even though
Speaker 4: the defense is the strength of the team, they are
Speaker 4: sort of shifting to a similar model that Indiana does,
Speaker 4: which is why I think it could be a good
Speaker 4: game where they want to be as balanced as possible
Speaker 4: now and at times more so lean on the run
Speaker 4: game to just keep the ball away from their opponent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Carson Beck a season veteran at quarterback. He can
Speaker 1: also run and nothing rattles him. So, hey, we've reached
Speaker 1: we've reached the top of the hour break and shoeless.
Speaker 1: Joe Waddell's with us, and Joe, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for coming in and all the best to the Indiana Hoosiers.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I think we're going to see a great game,
Speaker 4: and obviously I'm gracious and thankful for the opportunity to
Speaker 4: come in here and talk to you about It's a great.
Speaker 1: Time, fantastic Joe. And when we return, this is the
Speaker 1: anniversary of the Freezer Bowl January tenth, nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 1: We're going to hook up with Reggie Williams, Bengals legendary
Speaker 1: linebacker when we return, and we're going to talk about
Speaker 1: fifty nine degrees below zero wind chill. This is the
Speaker 1: chickster chick Ludwig Sports Talk seven hundred WLW or a
Speaker 1: holiday and I forget, but yeah, it was tough getting
Speaker 1: to the park and to come out Reggie with the
Speaker 1: offensive linemen with their shirt sleeves cut off. Wow, what
Speaker 1: kind of intimidating effect did that have on the San
Speaker 1: Diego Chargers.
Speaker 2: Well, it definitely had a intimidating effect on the San
Speaker 2: Diego Chargers. But you know what have gotten lost over
Speaker 2: is it wasn't just the offensive line that went out
Speaker 2: with their armed Both Ross Browner and myself and the
Speaker 2: defense did, and so you know, there were on both.
Speaker 3: Sides of the ball.
Speaker 2: We had a committed mindset that we were going to
Speaker 2: deal with the harshest circumstances ever known, and we were
Speaker 2: going to play for Forrest greg who had played in
Speaker 2: the previous coldest game in NFL history, and so it
Speaker 2: was that kind of game. There was no pregame warm ups.
Speaker 2: I went out in a T shirt before the game
Speaker 2: to look in the stadium.
Speaker 3: It was totally empty, and you could see.
Speaker 2: The cold coming out off the field, just like on
Speaker 2: a hot day when you see the radiating rays emanating
Speaker 2: off of the surface. It was so cold and it
Speaker 2: was all It was so eerie, and I went back
Speaker 2: into the locker room and basically made the statement that
Speaker 2: I was going to play that game bear armed. And
Speaker 2: the offensive line, to a person, did that and intimidated
Speaker 2: the San Diego charges.
Speaker 3: But remember we on the.
Speaker 2: Defense on the kickoff team, we started the game with
Speaker 2: a turnover. Rick Rizzano came down the field, hit James Brooks,
Speaker 2: Gimbrooks and forced a fumble. And so defense on that
Speaker 2: day is, in my opinion, is the reason that the
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals went to the first Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: What's incredible, Reggie is you know we hear Dan Fouts
Speaker 1: over the years, you know, complain about the weather that
Speaker 1: day in Cincinnati, But guess what, back on November eighth
Speaker 1: of that year, the Cincinnati Bengals were in San Diego
Speaker 1: and they took down the San Diego Chargers forty to seventeen,
Speaker 1: spearheaded by the one hundred and one hundred and two
Speaker 1: or one hundred and three yard pick six by the
Speaker 1: great Lou Breeden in a forty to seventeen Bengals victory
Speaker 1: in the sunshine. So they had nothing to complain about
Speaker 1: those San Diego Chargers.
Speaker 3: That was such a big play.
Speaker 2: I mean, their whole home crowd just had the gold
Speaker 2: quiet and it was just so amazing that Lewis jumped
Speaker 2: in front of that ball and he was not going
Speaker 2: to be caught. And so I just read today that
Speaker 2: he's about to be inducted into his Alma Maters Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame, And that's such a credit to the great
Speaker 2: talent that Lewis Breeden brought to the Cincinnati Bengals for
Speaker 2: ten years.
Speaker 1: When he caught the ball in the end zone and
Speaker 1: started coming out this about the five yard line or whatever.
Speaker 1: Former Bengal Charlie Joyner, a Pro Football Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: wearing number eighteen for the Chargers, got his hand on
Speaker 1: the back of this jersey near his neck. But then
Speaker 1: Wilson Whitley came over and absolutely destroyed Charlie Joyner, blocking
Speaker 1: him out of the play and Lewis was off to
Speaker 1: the races.
Speaker 2: That was a great defensive play, you know, Rest in peace,
Speaker 2: Wilson Whitley. Yes, what a great nose tackle he was
Speaker 2: for us. He was a great player coming out of Houston.
Speaker 2: He Eddie Edwards and Ross Browner formed such a formidable
Speaker 2: three man front. We had so much success with that
Speaker 2: defense with Gary Burley when they went to a four
Speaker 2: man front. So there's no doubt that, you know, we
Speaker 2: have a lot to remember, but we also have to
Speaker 2: recognize that time has really passed. One of the great
Speaker 2: players in that game was Dan Ross.
Speaker 3: Yes, and he is no longer with it, but he.
Speaker 2: Was catching balls in the cold bear hand as Ken
Speaker 2: Anderson was throwing the ball bare hand. So there was
Speaker 2: definitely an enormous capacity for toughness that Cincinnati Bengal team
Speaker 2: that day.
Speaker 3: And the only reason that I have, you know, sort
Speaker 3: of mixed the emotions is that the.
Speaker 2: The Cincinnati Bengals did a documentary on the Freezer Ball
Speaker 2: to tell the story in their own words, and they
Speaker 2: asked me at the interview and I talked about the
Speaker 2: one play that I actually thought in my mind was
Speaker 2: the biggest play of the game and one of the
Speaker 2: biggest plays in my career, which is in the third
Speaker 2: quarter on San Diego's first drive.
Speaker 3: After being warm in the locker.
Speaker 2: Room, they drove on the field and I made a
Speaker 2: call with Ross Browner and we were able to I
Speaker 2: was able to hit Chuck Muncy right in the face,
Speaker 2: the hardest hit of my career in minus fifty nine
Speaker 2: degreen low zero and bear arm forced to fumble with
Speaker 2: Ross Browner recovered and it was over.
Speaker 3: To San Diego.
Speaker 2: So since it wasn't even talked about it much less
Speaker 2: shown in the documentary that the Bengals themselves made, I
Speaker 2: found it very hard to remember and celebrate today.
Speaker 1: Rich Reggie Williams, Bengals legend, played his entire career with
Speaker 1: the Bengals from nineteen seventy six to nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: Third round draft pick nineteen seventy six, eighty second overall
Speaker 1: out of Dodmouth. Yes, and Reggie that season incredible, a
Speaker 1: five and three start. How about the opener with Turk
Speaker 1: Schoener coming off the bench and Yeah, coming back to
Speaker 1: beat Seattle in Game one of that season.
Speaker 2: We were down twenty one points at halftime. Yes, no
Speaker 2: one expected us to win that game, but only us
Speaker 2: in the locker room. And that is one of the
Speaker 2: emstasis where the difference in victory was the head coach.
Speaker 2: It was him making a decision and telling his team
Speaker 2: why he was doing it at halftime to fire up
Speaker 2: the entire team and Turp sermon.
Speaker 3: You know, God bless him. He has also left this earth.
Speaker 2: A tremendous backup player with a great positive team attitude
Speaker 2: from Stanford. So time has gone on, and that's why
Speaker 2: it is great to remember, you know, one of the
Speaker 2: most impactful games in Cincinnati Bengal history.
Speaker 1: Reggie Williams sixteen interceptions, twenty three fumble recoveries still a
Speaker 1: French record, and a sixty two and a half sacks
Speaker 1: and gosh, former Cincinnati City councilman and Reggie love reading
Speaker 1: your stuff on your Facebook page. Oh my goodness, letters
Speaker 1: from Nancy Reagan, meeting presidents and you even said you
Speaker 1: gotta love your enemies. And that's the photo with Joe
Speaker 1: Montana and Reggie Williams.
Speaker 3: Yo.
Speaker 2: Joe Montana was a great adversary. The fact that he
Speaker 2: was a college roommate and best friends with Ross Brownham
Speaker 2: made Super Bowl sixteen all that more significant. Both players
Speaker 2: played phenomenal games, even though our offense, as we both
Speaker 2: must remember, did not score a point.
Speaker 3: In the first half.
Speaker 2: So that was a That was the game that still
Speaker 2: ended with us being within unside kick of trying to.
Speaker 3: Win that game.
Speaker 1: Reggie, how often do you think of the Freezer Bowl
Speaker 1: and the Super Bowl sixteen against the forty nine ers every.
Speaker 2: Time I start shivering, which is unusual here in Florida,
Speaker 2: but it doesn't happen.
Speaker 3: And that's why I stay in Florida, you know.
Speaker 2: But you know, I mean, it was mind over matter
Speaker 2: and it.
Speaker 3: Was something that.
Speaker 2: You know, drove teammates together forever, and so it's something
Speaker 2: that I appreciate, you know, remembering, you know, all those
Speaker 2: players that played that game and brought Cincinnati their very first.
Speaker 3: Super Bowl should all be remembered in some way, shape
Speaker 3: or form.
Speaker 1: Reggie Williams the NFL Man of the Year in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty six before it was named the Walter Payton Man
Speaker 1: of the Year. But that trophy means the world to you,
Speaker 1: doesn't it, Reggie?
Speaker 2: Yes, it does, so I have it in a prime
Speaker 2: location in my home, and you know, the very first day,
Speaker 2: and I just wrote this story on Facebook recently. On
Speaker 2: the very first day that I found out that Monday
Speaker 2: that I was going to make the Cincinnati Bengals team
Speaker 2: as a rookie, I went to the payphone, looked at
Speaker 2: the Yellow Pages and found the number for the Cincinnati
Speaker 2: Speech and Hearing Center and I volunteered on that very first.
Speaker 3: Day, before I even tried to find an apartment.
Speaker 2: And so I've been committed to trying to give back
Speaker 2: because as a kid, I went.
Speaker 3: To Michigan School for the Deaf and Dusk and.
Speaker 2: So committed to giving me everything that could, including a
Speaker 2: quality education to dart MC college be sure that I'd
Speaker 2: have the best opportunity. And so when I became a
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengal, I wanted to give back and it did
Speaker 2: result in a lot of recognition, and you know, I
Speaker 2: encourage every player to really commit themselves to the community
Speaker 2: that they play professional football at.
Speaker 1: Reggie was a six foot one, two hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: eight pound linebacker. He is seventy one years old, the
Speaker 1: same as Chick Ludwig nineteen seventy six grand from the
Speaker 1: Ohio State University were the same age, Reggie and followed
Speaker 1: your career closely. It's just an incredible, incredible career. And
Speaker 1: I am banging the drum for the Bengals to put
Speaker 1: you in the Ring of Honor. And we can't forget
Speaker 1: the legends who built this franchise.
Speaker 2: Well, I won't argue with that sentiment. You know, no
Speaker 2: one wants to be forgotten. You know said when you're
Speaker 2: playing the game fifty nine degrees below zero, you know, bear,
Speaker 2: are all of the nominees deserve induction in the Ring
Speaker 2: of Honor in the Cincinnati I mean, the Pittsburgh Fields
Speaker 2: have over fifty players in their Ring of Honor. There
Speaker 2: are so many deserving players that are dying now, you know,
Speaker 2: like Bob Trumpy unfortunately passed away, and Ken Rowley died
Speaker 2: before this program even started. So, you know, Jim Breaches,
Speaker 2: our leading scorer, Lewis Breenen, who had just talked about
Speaker 2: you know who's scored the you know, longest interception in
Speaker 2: Bengals history, isn't even nominated. The guy that I learned
Speaker 2: playing middle linebacker and playing linebacker in the NFL, Jim Leclair,
Speaker 2: isn't nominated.
Speaker 3: And so there's there's there.
Speaker 2: Max Montoya, who liked myself, and Chris Convert played in
Speaker 2: two Super Bowls for the Bengals, are not nominated.
Speaker 3: So no one wants to be bitter, you know at
Speaker 3: this you.
Speaker 2: Know, time in their life when they're elderly and they're
Speaker 2: nursing their their injuries and maybe you know, dealing with
Speaker 2: a few concussions, and you'd like to be remembered proudly
Speaker 2: because you played with pride so long. So this process,
Speaker 2: you know, when people die before they can be honored,
Speaker 2: obviously has a problem.
Speaker 1: Reggie, before I let you go, Uh, can the Bengals
Speaker 1: get their defense turned around and get back to the
Speaker 1: playoffs in one year next year?
Speaker 2: It depends on what happens in the draft, and it
Speaker 2: depends on how many players, if any, hold out during
Speaker 2: the off season. I thought Henderson's hold out, even though
Speaker 2: I'm sure he you know, hopefully you know what satisfied.
Speaker 3: The result, it uh, you know, affected the whole team. So, uh,
Speaker 3: there's a lot of factors to go on.
Speaker 2: You know, you still the Cincinnati Pingals. You know, it's
Speaker 2: still the only team I ever played for, the only
Speaker 2: team I'll root for, the only team that deserves, in
Speaker 2: my opinion, to be Super Bowl champion. So hopefully next
Speaker 2: year will be the year and Joe Burrow will play
Speaker 2: even better than he did when he took the team
Speaker 2: to their first Super Bowl under his.
Speaker 1: And Reggie, it's always awesome being with you and I
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us here on seven
Speaker 1: hundred WLW.
Speaker 2: All right, Chick, I always love being on the big
Speaker 2: one WLW. Thanks Chick for all of your support of
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengal football.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Reggie, all the best will be
Speaker 1: in touch. Thank you. And this is sports Talk. We're
Speaker 1: going all the way to eight o'clock. When we come
Speaker 1: back after the bottom of the hour. News. Got to
Speaker 1: get a few things off my chest. On seven hundred WLW,
Speaker 1: seven point thirty six in the Queen City of Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: Chick Ludwig, seven hundred WLW, this is sports Talk. We're
Speaker 1: going to the top of the hour and that's when
Speaker 1: NFL takes over these airwaves. It's wild Card weekend. You
Speaker 1: will hear the Packers at the Bears, and right now
Speaker 1: here's a good one going on in Carolina. The Panthers
Speaker 1: have a thirty one to twenty seven lead over the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Rams. At the two minute warning. The Rams
Speaker 1: are driving first and ten at their own forty six
Speaker 1: yard line, so can Matt Stafford needs a touchdown to
Speaker 1: beat the Panthers. But the Panthers are hanging tough here
Speaker 1: with a four point lead at the two minute warning.
Speaker 1: And then you'll hear the Packers and Bears from Soldier
Speaker 1: Field afterward. Let's go out to the phones. Greg's been
Speaker 1: waiting a while. I want to get to my buddy
Speaker 1: Greg up in Michigan. Greg. Can we put Greg on there?
Speaker 5: Hi?
Speaker 3: Greg?
Speaker 6: Hey, cappy, new year, mister positive boomshaka laca right back,
Speaker 6: Thank you, buddy. I love your energy. You know I
Speaker 6: love you. I gotta ask you. Do my Bills have.
Speaker 5: A chance against the Jags or are they a little
Speaker 5: bit too strong in so many ways? And can Josh?
Speaker 5: I don't think Josh can do it all by himself.
Speaker 5: What do you think?
Speaker 1: It's a It's a huge game, no doubt. And Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott's jobs the Bills head coach really could be on
Speaker 1: the line here. I'm rooting for the Bills if the
Speaker 1: if the Bengals can't win this Super Bowl, man, I'm
Speaker 1: rooting for the Buffalo Bills. I think it's their year
Speaker 1: to get back there against the to me, the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 1: So I think they can do it. I really do your.
Speaker 3: Lips to GUIDs Ears, I hope it's.
Speaker 1: Yourself all right, right back at your Greg, all right.
Speaker 1: I honestly believe that Zach Taylor remains the head coach
Speaker 1: of the Cincinnati Bengals for two reasons. The first reason
Speaker 1: is the Redeemer Mike Brown. He has a lot of
Speaker 1: patients with head coaches and it stems from his dad,
Speaker 1: the immortal Paul Brown, getting fired by the Art Modell
Speaker 1: as head coach of the Cleveland Browns after the nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty two season. It devastated Paul. He he went back
Speaker 1: to his bungalow in San Diego in La Jolla, California
Speaker 1: and started plotting a comeback that resulted in the birth
Speaker 1: of the Cincinnati Bengals. But Mike Brown has a, like
Speaker 1: I said, a tremendous amount of patience with his head coaches.
Speaker 1: Gives them a lot of rope, a lot of room.
Speaker 1: But it's been three years now, three consecutive years without
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Following the bengals third bid to the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: and I have to admit that if the Bengals get
Speaker 1: off to a slow start next year one, in three,
Speaker 1: two and five, that there will be a coaching change
Speaker 1: mid season. Now, a lot of people say Mike Brown
Speaker 1: doesn't like to make changes in season. It's happened three times.
Speaker 1: Tiger Bill Johnson fired for Homer Rice Dave Shula let
Speaker 1: go after a loss to the San Francisco forty nine
Speaker 1: Ers out on the Coast, replaced by Bruce Coslet, and
Speaker 1: then Bruce Coslet resigned three games into the two thousand
Speaker 1: season when Dick LeBeau took over as head coach. So
Speaker 1: it has happened in season. It could happen again, and
Speaker 1: I think it will happen again if the Bengals get
Speaker 1: off to a slow start. Can the Bengals defense get
Speaker 1: turned around in one year? So many people say no,
Speaker 1: they're a year, two, three away. It can get done
Speaker 1: in a year. Like Reggie Williams said, it all depends
Speaker 1: on the draft and free agency. In an ideal world,
Speaker 1: with Orlando Brown having one year remaining on his contract,
Speaker 1: is the left offensive tackle for the Bengals. I envision
Speaker 1: a second round tackle being drafted. Every other position needs
Speaker 1: to be defense in this year's draft. The defensive line
Speaker 1: absolutely has to be reworked, rebuilt, and improved. You need
Speaker 1: a stronger push up the middle and definitely more rush
Speaker 1: from the edge. That will help tremendously because we all
Speaker 1: know that a pass rush is paramount. To help the secondary,
Speaker 1: they don't have to cover as long. Of course, the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Rams score a touchdown with thirty eight seconds
Speaker 1: to go, and now they lead the Carolina Panthers thirty
Speaker 1: four to thirty one with thirty eight seconds to go.
Speaker 1: Could they pull off? Can the Panthers pull off this
Speaker 1: miracle and tie the game with a field goal? Is
Speaker 1: coming down to the last few seconds here, but the
Speaker 1: Rams have a thirty four to thirty one lead with
Speaker 1: thirty eight seconds to go. Also, put your thumb and
Speaker 1: forefinger together, and that's how close the Cincinnati Reds were
Speaker 1: to signing Kyle Schwarber. I think it's a monumental mistake
Speaker 1: on the Reds part that they didn't land Kyle Schwarber.
Speaker 1: In one of these days, I will forgive the Reds
Speaker 1: for not signing Schwarves, but it won't be anytime soon.
Speaker 1: The Middletown native's dream was to play for his hometown team.
Speaker 1: He gave the Reds first DIBs for his services as
Speaker 1: a free agent this year. And I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 1: from all the folks I've talked to in Middletown, you
Speaker 1: put your thumb and forefinger an inch apart, and that's
Speaker 1: how close they were. And then everything imploded as Cincinnati's
Speaker 1: offer fell short. I'm getting messages that Schwarber used the
Speaker 1: Reds as leverage. No possible way, no way. Schwarbs was
Speaker 1: almost a Baltimore oriole Their bags were packed for Baltimore.
Speaker 1: But then the Philadelphia Philly stepped forward with a five year,
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty million dollar deal, and Kyle Schwarber
Speaker 1: decided to stay in Philadelphia. To me, the Reds failed
Speaker 1: to see him as a worthy investment, the ideal cleanup
Speaker 1: hitter behind Elie de la Cruz, who would have packed
Speaker 1: Great American Ballpark. He would have his salary, he would
Speaker 1: have paid for itself. And then suddenly the Reds offer
Speaker 1: five years at one hundred and twenty five million. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, that money has disappeared, and a whole
Speaker 1: remains in the middle of the Reds batting order, and
Speaker 1: a whole remains in Red's fans' hearts, including mine. We're
Speaker 1: gonna take a break, and then we're gonna come back
Speaker 1: and take your calls Harold in Westchester, Jimmy and Richmond, Indiana.
Speaker 1: When we return. This is Chick Ludwig Sports Talk seven
Speaker 1: hundred WLW, Los Angeles. Rams are ready to go into
Speaker 1: the victory formation. With a thirty four to thirty one
Speaker 1: victory over the Carolina Panthers. A Carolina wide receiver dropped
Speaker 1: a first down pass game over. Let's go out to
Speaker 1: the phones and welcome in Harold in Westchester, Hi.
Speaker 7: Harold, Hey, hey Chick, Happy New Year. How you doing?
Speaker 1: Right back at you, Harold, Thanks, man doing well?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I like while the break was going on, I was
Speaker 7: watching the fourth down on the on the Panthers and
Speaker 7: Rams and Ryce Young just had the receiver and Strade
Speaker 7: just couldn't even secure the catch and just turned his
Speaker 7: head just right before he even looked ahead for the
Speaker 7: ball or for the.
Speaker 3: First or for the first time.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and and yeah, that's got to be Harvar great moon.
Speaker 7: Now to go to what I was gonna call about,
Speaker 7: It's really not surprising that you see another season like
Speaker 7: this go away, especially after Joe got hurt with the
Speaker 7: turf toe, and I was I was real optimistic about
Speaker 7: Jake Browning because he did let that let that ninety
Speaker 7: yard game winning drive against Jacksonville. And then all of
Speaker 7: a sudden things just start to fall apart. Almost every
Speaker 7: single game with Jake Brownie, you had turnovers after turnovers,
Speaker 7: and then finally after the line game, we just had enough.
Speaker 7: And then incomes Joe Flacco. He didn't have a good win,
Speaker 7: good game to start. Then eventually he got better, but
Speaker 7: then the defense just couldn't even finish. And yeah, and
Speaker 7: then and then you got the Jets. Yeah, the Bengals
Speaker 7: had a double digit lead in the fourth quarter and
Speaker 7: you can even run three run plays to run down
Speaker 7: the clock because they ran three three straight pass plays.
Speaker 7: And what's crazy about this is the Bengals are the
Speaker 7: only team to lose it to Jets and.
Speaker 3: Not have their head could fight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, to have Justin Fields take the Bengals apart,
Speaker 1: that was that crush. And this was coming off the
Speaker 1: victory on Thursday night over the Pittsburgh Steelers. You're looking
Speaker 1: anew to the Jets and the Chicago Bears, and you
Speaker 1: had both games virtually won and given away an unbelievable
Speaker 1: comeback against the Bears, and to have Caleb Williams, you know,
Speaker 1: work his magic that final minute and not be able
Speaker 1: to tackle Colston Loveland at midfield and he takes it
Speaker 1: to the house and absolute pleasure both those games. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7: I think Caleb Williams might paint his nails ice cold,
Speaker 7: because that's literally Oliet has been throughout this entire season
Speaker 7: and he's playing like a legitimate number one pick. And
Speaker 7: I was watching a little bit of the pregame of
Speaker 7: the Bears and Packers. Already there was a little tensions
Speaker 7: going on before the game, but the officials.
Speaker 1: Gotten the way of that.
Speaker 7: But the way I think what the Bengals should really
Speaker 7: do is that I think they really need to be
Speaker 7: a little bit more aggressive. They were in free agency
Speaker 7: like they were during the twenty twenty one offseason, getting
Speaker 7: Trey Henderson, Mike Hilton, Cheetah Bay Woozia and bring it
Speaker 7: and bringing Von Belt back and then you just got
Speaker 7: all this young talent, including the kicker Evan McPherson, who
Speaker 7: was so clutch and sensational even throughout the entire postseason.
Speaker 1: Because I think.
Speaker 7: What they really need to do is to go after
Speaker 7: a guy who is like Trey Henderson, like the type
Speaker 7: of player that he was, even though Henderson's gonna be
Speaker 7: gone and I wish in the best of luck, but
Speaker 7: I just really wish that they could be aggressive for
Speaker 7: free agency this offseason like they were in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 7: because the only person that angles got the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Yes, and they had everybody the year of the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: They had everybody in camp, uh pulling the same uh,
Speaker 1: pulling the same rope the same way.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 1: Get everybody in and but if there's contract disputes and
Speaker 1: guys holding out, you know, it just disrupts. Uh, it
Speaker 1: disrupts a team. So yeah, get everybody in for the
Speaker 1: OTAs and be pulling on the same the same side.
Speaker 1: And I think they can get it turned around in
Speaker 1: a year. I really do, because all the defense needs
Speaker 1: is to be half way decent because you've got an awesome,
Speaker 1: awesome offense.
Speaker 7: Yeah, And what what the defense also needs to do
Speaker 7: is they need to be able to learn to wrap
Speaker 7: tackles and not just do a light tap and then
Speaker 7: just let the Bears tight end just waltz in for
Speaker 7: an easy touchdown, which should have been an easy tackle
Speaker 7: because you tackle him in bounds clock runs and the
Speaker 7: game is almost sober from there.
Speaker 8: Yeah, that's what should have happened.
Speaker 1: Wrap up, don't don't put a shoulder into somebody. They
Speaker 1: bounce right off of it. So you're right, Yeah, you're right, Harold.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 7: And even if you replace Zach Taylor, who do you
Speaker 7: think you're going to get besides John Harbor Ryer, who's
Speaker 7: getting a number of calls yes after he was fired
Speaker 7: from Bolton.
Speaker 1: Hey, the one guy, the one guy that I love
Speaker 1: on the Bengals coaching staff is Darren Simmons, the special
Speaker 1: teams coach. If John Harball, who was a special teams
Speaker 1: coach in Philly, if he can get elevated to a
Speaker 1: head coaching job, Darren Simmons, he is. He's an incredible person.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and that would be the guy that I would
Speaker 7: hire as a angles head coach because of the way
Speaker 7: he elevates. I mean, look at how many special teams
Speaker 7: touchdowns we've had since he's been here.
Speaker 1: All right, Uh, hey, appreciate it to Harold. We got
Speaker 1: to run, all right?
Speaker 3: And uh.
Speaker 1: Can we do Jimmy here in Uh? Okay, Jimmy and Richmond, Indiana.
Speaker 3: Hi, Jimmy'll be quick here.
Speaker 8: Can you hear me?
Speaker 3: Can you hear me? Sure? Yeah, Jimmy, Uh, I love
Speaker 3: your show.
Speaker 1: I'd love to.
Speaker 8: See you sports talk.
Speaker 3: You need to take care for sports talk.
Speaker 1: Oh well, appreciate that.
Speaker 8: Yes, yes you will, Yes you can. Uh.
Speaker 1: I'm stay lane, Jimmy, I am staying in my lane.
Speaker 8: We'll get in another light. Didn't be sports soft ahead
Speaker 8: of sports salt in my opinion, Well.
Speaker 1: Thank you sir much.
Speaker 8: We'll forget about pet. But Schwarmer, Yeah, they're missing the
Speaker 8: boat here. He's gonna bring in a lot of people.
Speaker 8: I haven't been I'm a farmer. I'm up in Indiana.
Speaker 8: I've been the game two years. If he was there,
Speaker 8: I would I know, it come down five or six
Speaker 8: times anyway.
Speaker 1: He would have electrified. He would have electrified this fan
Speaker 1: based Jimmy and I was there. I was there in
Speaker 1: the Crosley Room at Riverfront Stadium the night Ken Griffy
Speaker 1: Junior signed in That place was packed, it was hot.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, man, it was just unbelievable. And it and
Speaker 1: this would approach that had he signed here.
Speaker 8: There's dollars, Yeah, there's dollars. I know we don't understand,
Speaker 8: but just on the outside looking in. Uh that yeah,
Speaker 8: that he would have paid for himself. One more question,
Speaker 8: I get off the hair.
Speaker 1: Sure.
Speaker 8: I didn't understand the last game, the Bengals game with Cleveland,
Speaker 8: why Cleveland was penalized for celebrating when they dove the
Speaker 8: dove into the end zone and they get fifteen yards
Speaker 8: right away? I didn't understand that. I'm all hang out.
Speaker 8: Can you explain that?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 1: Uh, they were you know, yeah, they got penalized both
Speaker 1: times for the defensive touchdowns for their excessive celebration. Okay,
Speaker 1: but they didn't get penalized when the entire team left
Speaker 1: the bench came out onto the field to celebrate the
Speaker 1: sack record.
Speaker 8: Yeah, can you explain that? Can explain the defensive touchdown penalty?
Speaker 8: I don't understand it. Why was that?
Speaker 1: Well, I just believe that the officials felt that it
Speaker 1: was excessive.
Speaker 3: So it's the no fun kind of celebrating Jimmy.
Speaker 8: There's all kind of celebrations going on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jimmy right away, So as.
Speaker 8: He dove in under the end zone, they're a flag.
Speaker 8: I don't understand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Hey, it's the it's the no fun league. That's
Speaker 1: that's all I can say, and it's up to the
Speaker 1: discretion of the officials.
Speaker 8: I don't think you know either.
Speaker 3: I don't think you know.
Speaker 1: I don't really don't.
Speaker 8: They just dove in there and I don't. Can somebody
Speaker 8: explain that here and I'll hang up here. Maybe one
Speaker 8: of your callers can explain it.
Speaker 1: Hey, and when you show up your opponent that that
Speaker 1: factors into So Jimmy, I'm gonna leave it at that. Yeah.
Speaker 5: It.
Speaker 1: I was just upset over the entire team of the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns coming out onto the field and even the
Speaker 1: official gave a high five to the Bengals to the
Speaker 1: Browns player, and uh, I just thought that was way
Speaker 1: over the top. Bengals coaches weren't warned that, hey, we're
Speaker 1: gonna you know, we're gonna call a time out here
Speaker 1: for this celebration. And then Miles Garrett gets carried off
Speaker 1: the field by his teammates.
Speaker 3: And I said it on.
Speaker 1: Postgame Sports Talk that day with David Fulcher. There was
Speaker 1: no clock stoppage when Corey Dillon ran for two hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy eight yards, setting an NFL single game record.
Speaker 1: So it's all it's the shield, It's the No Fun League. Well,
Speaker 1: I want to thank our guests tonight Joe Waddell talking
Speaker 1: to Indiana Hoosiers, and the great Reggie Williams, linebacker extraordinary
Speaker 1: for the Cincinnati Bengals for fourteen years. Hey, coming up
Speaker 1: NFL football, Packers and Bears. I'll be back tomorrow on
Speaker 1: seven hundred WLW with a little double shift from three
Speaker 1: to four thirty before UC basketball at UCF and then
Speaker 1: seven thirty to eight thirty after the game. I want
Speaker 1: to thank Russ Jackson, our producer, and until tomorrow. This
Speaker 1: is the Chickster chick Ludwig saying thanks for listening. This
Speaker 1: is seven hundred WLW, Cincinnati, the home of the best Bengals.
Speaker 3: Combridge