Speaker 1: Hi and everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth Podcast.
Speaker 1: The uh have a.
Speaker 2: Blue Christmas addition, as the Bengals playoff chances take a
Speaker 2: significant hit with a thirty four to eleven loss to
Speaker 2: the dreaded, hated, but grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming up
Speaker 2: radio replays, locker room comments and postgame analysis from Dave Lapham. Then,
Speaker 2: in this week's fun Facts Conversation, you'll get to know
Speaker 2: a member of this year's draft class. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 2: Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to
Speaker 2: be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber,
Speaker 2: future proof fiber Internet designed elevate your home, business and
Speaker 2: community to a new level, and by Kettering Health, the
Speaker 2: best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the
Speaker 2: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick
Speaker 2: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 2: podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 2: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 2: since so many Steves. I know I've mentioned my admiration
Speaker 2: for Steve Martin before on this podcast. In fact, when
Speaker 2: I conclude my fun Facts interviews by asking if you
Speaker 2: could meet anybody in history, who would it be. My
Speaker 2: answer to that question is Steve Martin.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: Recently, Steve recorded a series of long conversations with writer
Speaker 2: Adam Gopnik, and they've put out a six part podcast
Speaker 2: called So Many Steves, looking at how Martin has flourished
Speaker 2: in so many different endeavors, including magic, comedy, acting, playwriting,
Speaker 2: banjo playing, and more. It's a revealing look at an
Speaker 2: incredible performer. And after listening to all two and a
Speaker 2: half hour, I'd like to meet Steve even more. Now,
Speaker 2: let's get to the radio replays from the Nightmare Before Christmas.
Speaker 2: Second down and four from the fourteen, Rudolph to throw
Speaker 2: fires to the left.
Speaker 1: It is caught.
Speaker 2: Pickens streaking up the middle of the field. Look out,
Speaker 2: he's at the fifty. The Bengals forty down to the
Speaker 2: thirty hangling towards the sideline at the ten and running
Speaker 2: into the end zone on eighty six yard touchdown on
Speaker 2: the first pass thrown today by Mason Rudolph. Third down
Speaker 2: and eight from the Steelers fifteen, Browning looking to throw
Speaker 2: begins scrambling right, being chased by Cam Hayward. Browning throws
Speaker 2: off his back foot and intentionally Hi I find he
Speaker 2: was throwing it out of bounds. He threw it into
Speaker 2: the end zone and it's picked off. An atrocious decision.
Speaker 2: Patrick Peterson picks it off in the end zone. Jake
Speaker 2: Browning gifting an ist to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: Second and goal from the seven.
Speaker 2: Here's a jet sweep Austin toward the goal line.
Speaker 1: He's in.
Speaker 2: Calvin Austen on the jet sweep sprints toward the left pylon.
Speaker 2: Han reaches the end zone. Four Pittsburgh's second TD done.
Speaker 2: First and ten, Browning from the pocket throws intercepted at
Speaker 2: the forty yard line. Second interception for the Steelers, this
Speaker 2: one being run back by Eric Rowe. He's to the twenty,
Speaker 2: tight ropes the sideline and gets belted by Orlando Brown
Speaker 2: Junior inside the twenty yard line. First and goal from
Speaker 2: the three. Receiver goes in motion behind the quarterback. It's
Speaker 2: a handoff Naj Harris knifing toward the end zone. The
Speaker 2: officials come charging in. It's a touchdown for Naji Harris
Speaker 2: and the Steelers. Jake Browning is going to line up
Speaker 2: in the shotgun on fourth.
Speaker 1: Down and a half a yard.
Speaker 2: Joe Mixing a lineup to his right now mixing motions
Speaker 2: to the quarterbacks left, then goes back to his right,
Speaker 2: Browning ready for the shotgun snap. He has the ball,
Speaker 2: He's going to throw. Browning lofts it into the end zone.
Speaker 2: Higgins can't make the catch gets incomplete. The Bengals throw
Speaker 2: it on fourth and a half a yard and fail
Speaker 2: to convert Pittsburgh's ball. This will be a fifty yard
Speaker 2: try the final play of the second quarter. The snap,
Speaker 2: the placement, the right footed kick. It has the distance
Speaker 2: and it is good. He's what a half for the
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers. First and ten Bengals from their own twenty
Speaker 2: their first play of the third quarter offensively to throw
Speaker 2: over the middle.
Speaker 1: Touch on T.
Speaker 2: Higgins spreading to the fifty. He's to the forty. He's
Speaker 2: running away from the pack. He's gonna take it the distance.
Speaker 2: An eighty yard touchdown for T. Higgins, who finger rolls
Speaker 2: it over the crossbar after taking it to the house
Speaker 2: for an eighty yard TD Rudolph back to throw lofts
Speaker 2: one deep four pickins. It is taught on the run
Speaker 2: down the sideline to the fifteen ten five touchdown on
Speaker 2: fourth down and five running back to throw, looking firing
Speaker 2: deep for Higgins. He leaps and it is going to
Speaker 2: be incomplete. Drew Sample in the backfield. Browning back to
Speaker 2: throw Sample, picks up a blitzer throw over the middle,
Speaker 2: intercepted high Smith dropping back in a zone blitz concept
Speaker 2: and he picked it off at the forty two yard line.
Speaker 1: Interception number three for Jake Browning.
Speaker 2: It is a final coaches heading toward the fifty for
Speaker 2: the postgame hand shape. Final score. Pittsburgh thirty four, Cincinnati eleven.
Speaker 2: Jake Browning completed two thirds of his passes and threw
Speaker 2: for three hundred and thirty five yards. Unfortunately, his three
Speaker 2: interceptions were hard to overcome, especially the first one, where
Speaker 2: he lobbed the ball into a cluster of three Steelers
Speaker 2: defenders in the end zone with no Bengals receiver nearby.
Speaker 2: First pick.
Speaker 4: I'm trying to throw the ball out of bounds, and
Speaker 4: I was even surprised that someone picked it off and
Speaker 4: somehow ended up in the middle of the end zone.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I was trying to throw the ball away and ended
Speaker 4: up in the end zone. In the DB's hands. I mean,
Speaker 4: I think the first two we're just dumb decisions, and
Speaker 4: then the third one was obviously dumb decision too, But
Speaker 4: third one there's a little bit more of you're trying to,
Speaker 4: you know, get something going, and you kind of got
Speaker 4: to get more aggressive. But I think the first two,
Speaker 4: you know, like the first one, we have a great drive,
Speaker 4: we'll stall out in the red zone, just throw it
Speaker 4: out of bounds, take the three points and keep it pushing,
Speaker 4: and I'll just keep going back to I got to
Speaker 4: find a way to make those three throws in completions
Speaker 4: because I think that really, you know, who knows how
Speaker 4: that affects the outcome of the game. But it's definitely
Speaker 4: not as bad as today was. So there's a lot
Speaker 4: of quarterbacks that have had bad games. I obviously had
Speaker 4: a bad game, and so now it's a little bit
Speaker 4: of how do you respond? And so that that's kind
Speaker 4: of where I'm at, and that's where we're at as
Speaker 4: a team.
Speaker 2: The one big offensive highlight was t higgins eighty yard
Speaker 2: touchdown catch to begin the third quarter, the longest touchdown
Speaker 2: grab of T's career. T described the touchdown and discussed
Speaker 2: a rough day for the team in front of his locker.
Speaker 5: Yeah, run of the little slant route. I think the
Speaker 5: backer tried to pass off, well, pass off and pick
Speaker 5: me up. I think he did a little too late.
Speaker 5: And then you know, obviously he had the room, the
Speaker 5: open field right there, saw green grass and you know
Speaker 5: the rest of his history. You know, we lost to Day.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 5: It is what it is. Tough playing ride back home tomorrow,
Speaker 5: new day. Back at it this year.
Speaker 2: You know, some highs and some lows for the team.
Speaker 2: How tough's the year been overall?
Speaker 6: Very tough.
Speaker 5: Obviously a lot of losses that we didn't expect. But
Speaker 5: I mean it's a tough league, you know, playing against
Speaker 5: the best of the best, and it happens.
Speaker 2: So everybody knew the Steelers pride was wounded going into
Speaker 2: the game. Could you feel that when you took the
Speaker 2: field today.
Speaker 5: I mean I wasn't paying no attention to them, you
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying. I'm just trying to focus on
Speaker 5: my game and my team to make sure we ready
Speaker 5: at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: So how big a factor was momentum?
Speaker 6: It's a big factor.
Speaker 5: They got on this early and I saw they went
Speaker 5: up twenty one zero, twenty four zero, and it's hard
Speaker 5: to come back from twenty four deficits, you know, especially
Speaker 5: in the league, in this league.
Speaker 2: So yeah, did you briefly feel like you had a
Speaker 2: shot after your touchdown catch?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean because we've been down a lot before
Speaker 5: and came back and won. Definitely felt like we had
Speaker 5: a shot. But just like I said earlier, it just
Speaker 5: wasn't enough.
Speaker 2: You needed to win two out of your last three
Speaker 2: to have a chance going into this game. Now the
Speaker 2: margin era of era is going right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Yeah, definitely got to come out fine, He's next
Speaker 5: two weeks man, and try to get in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: On the defensive side of the ball, the Bengals struggled
Speaker 2: to stop the combo of Ason Rudolph to George Pickens.
Speaker 2: He caught four passes for one hundred and ninety five yards,
Speaker 2: including sixty six and eighty six yard touchdowns. Here's my
Speaker 2: conversation with Mike Helton. My football is often a game
Speaker 2: of momentum, and it seems like once the Steelers got
Speaker 2: rolling today, they were really feeling it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, they were.
Speaker 3: You know, they hit us on some exposive plays early
Speaker 3: and they were able to get turnovers early and definitely
Speaker 3: just took the momentum and we were never ever really
Speaker 3: gained it back, and you know, they were able to
Speaker 3: just keep it going through out the whole guy.
Speaker 2: How big of a blow was the first passing play
Speaker 2: for the eighty six yard touchdowns?
Speaker 3: Oh that's tough man, you gut shouts him. He made
Speaker 3: a great play, was able to break a tackle and
Speaker 3: take it. But as the defense, we got to find
Speaker 3: a way to get him down.
Speaker 2: And you know when.
Speaker 3: That play happening, the sideline just you just kind of
Speaker 3: already feel that sideline kind of just energy go down
Speaker 3: and we were never never able to rebound for that.
Speaker 2: You said it all week, you're going to be facing
Speaker 2: a wounded animal essentially in the Steelers, with the way
Speaker 2: that that they had struggled the last three weeks. Could
Speaker 2: you see that when you took the field today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. I know those guys over there. I
Speaker 3: noticed coaches over there. I know they were gonna have
Speaker 3: them prepared and you know, fighting for their lives. And
Speaker 3: you know they played well today. We didn't execute it.
Speaker 3: You know, we took a loss.
Speaker 2: You were one of the coin toss captains playing against
Speaker 2: your former team. Does it make it that much more
Speaker 2: difficult when the result goes that way.
Speaker 3: Yeah for sure. You know, we're all competitive guys, especially personally.
Speaker 3: You know me, been being here for four years, I
Speaker 3: definitely want to beat them as much as possible, but
Speaker 3: we weren't able to get it done, and you know,
Speaker 3: we gotta just move on to get ready for Kansas City.
Speaker 2: So going into the game, you guys needed to win
Speaker 2: at least two out of your last three to have
Speaker 2: a shot. You still got a shot, but the margin
Speaker 2: of era is gone.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah for sure. You know, we still have everything
Speaker 3: in front of us, So we gotta find a ways
Speaker 3: to win. Win next week, even though it's gonna be tough.
Speaker 3: But I trust these guys and I know our confidence
Speaker 3: is gonna be high by the time we come back
Speaker 3: Sunday and would be ready to play.
Speaker 2: Appreciate your time, Thank you, thank you. You're off to
Speaker 2: Kansas City next Sunday for a rematch of the last
Speaker 2: two AFC Championship games. The Bengals are an early seven
Speaker 2: point underdog. Now let's hear from head coach Zach Taylor,
Speaker 2: who spent a couple of minutes with Lap after the game.
Speaker 6: Coach, one of those one of those tough days in
Speaker 6: the National Football League. That's the league.
Speaker 2: I guess.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we didn't do enough at the early part of
Speaker 7: the game to give ourselves a chance, you know, and
Speaker 7: so they jumped off pretty quick and then you had
Speaker 7: to react from there. So again it's just a humbling
Speaker 7: day for us, and we're gonna have to make the
Speaker 7: corrections and be ready to move on quickly.
Speaker 6: Three turnovers, it's tough. It's tough for a quarterback on
Speaker 6: the road, Jake, I guess I know the first one
Speaker 6: who's trying to throw away, but it just stayed on
Speaker 6: the field to play on.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, just get a little further out there,
Speaker 7: and then we need to rise up and get a
Speaker 7: stop after that. And they went down score a touchdown
Speaker 7: to go at fourteen to nothing. So again, we didn't
Speaker 7: play good complimentary football. We didn't play good enough in
Speaker 7: any phase. We didn't coach well enough in any phase,
Speaker 7: and that's the result that happens.
Speaker 6: What do you think was I mean, I don't know
Speaker 6: if there was a turning point as such, but where
Speaker 6: do you think the game became something that you didn't anticipate.
Speaker 7: Well, you had two turnovers and some explosives early on,
Speaker 7: you know, they had we had moved the ball to fifty,
Speaker 7: punted down there to the six. We're really good control
Speaker 7: right there. And then an eighty four yeard touchdown. You know,
Speaker 7: those are the things that you got to do a
Speaker 7: better job, you know as a team defending against. And
Speaker 7: then which didn't didn't put either side of the ball
Speaker 7: in good position.
Speaker 6: On the explosives? Did they just catch you and man
Speaker 6: in most of those situations, Yeah.
Speaker 7: Some of those are just one on one, you know,
Speaker 7: and it is they've made a play and we didn't.
Speaker 7: And that's that's that's when you're in some one on
Speaker 7: one situations, that's what happens.
Speaker 6: You had won nine in a row in the month
Speaker 6: of December, which was the longest streak in the National
Speaker 6: Foota League, a club record, I mean, something to be
Speaker 6: proud of, eleven out of twelve in December games. Just
Speaker 6: pick yourself back up and head to Kansas City.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's we still got plenty to play for, you know.
Speaker 7: And and again we know what the outside always is
Speaker 7: going to be.
Speaker 1: This week.
Speaker 7: When you have a performance like this in a divisional
Speaker 7: game on the road, well on up to it will
Speaker 7: be accountable for it, and that won't prevent us from
Speaker 7: putting together good work and still trying to go achieve
Speaker 7: all the things that we've been trying to achieve all season.
Speaker 6: Appreciate it, coach, Yep.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core,
Speaker 2: Proud to be the Bengals Official HR software provider, by
Speaker 2: Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
Speaker 2: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
Speaker 2: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
Speaker 2: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time
Speaker 2: for the radio guys recap.
Speaker 1: Lap.
Speaker 2: I think everybody expected the Pittsburgh Steelers to come out determined.
Speaker 2: They have been mocked from coast to coast for what's
Speaker 2: happened over the last three weeks. It's a proud franchise
Speaker 2: and they showed up ready to go tonight.
Speaker 6: Yeah they did. I think basically they had enough, you know,
Speaker 6: enough of the talk. I think they wanted to go
Speaker 6: out and and do something about it physically, and they did.
Speaker 6: They were ready to play. I think Mike Tomlin probably
Speaker 6: gave him a heck of a heck of motivational talk
Speaker 6: more than once this week, and uh, but talks cheap.
Speaker 6: You know, they went out and made plays when they
Speaker 6: had to. They they played light years better than the
Speaker 6: Bengals did early on. That was the difference in the game.
Speaker 6: I was hoping the Bengals would come out and get
Speaker 6: off to a cook start and maybe have the Steelers
Speaker 6: questioning what they're all about. But it ends up being
Speaker 6: the reverse. They came out like gangbusters and built a
Speaker 6: big lead early and uh and just coasted in from there.
Speaker 2: You played pro football for twelve years, describe what it's
Speaker 2: like when the momentum is not going your way.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's it's it's hard. It's you feel like you have,
Speaker 6: you know, huge weight on your shoulders. Uh. Everything, everything
Speaker 6: seems to be monumentally tougher. Uh, for no apparent reason.
Speaker 6: And and it's interesting, I've been in games like this.
Speaker 6: You look at the stats and and it's like, they're
Speaker 6: not that terrible disparity wise in terms of yards and
Speaker 6: that sort of thing. But they you know, they they
Speaker 6: were plus three in the turnover apartment. They had more explosives,
Speaker 6: I mean, things that you need to have to put
Speaker 6: up the points that they did they got done. There's
Speaker 6: no doubt that they made more plays when they had to,
Speaker 6: and they deserve to win the football game.
Speaker 2: I hate to be too critical of Jake Browning. He's
Speaker 2: been awesome to keep the Bengals in the hunt, but
Speaker 2: that first interception was so costly. I'm sure he'll look
Speaker 2: back at that film and think, why didn't I just
Speaker 2: throw it away?
Speaker 6: I guess he was trying to, and I don't know
Speaker 6: if it slipped. I don't know what happened there. But
Speaker 6: Zach was asked that, and I asked him that, and
Speaker 6: he said he was trying to throw it away, but
Speaker 6: you know, kept it on the field of play, and
Speaker 6: obviously that was an issue.
Speaker 2: Sure was defensively, three big passing plays surrendered to George Pickens.
Speaker 2: It's been a problem off and on all year getting
Speaker 2: up big plays, and those threes, those three plays the
Speaker 2: Pickens really really hurt.
Speaker 6: Yeah, they were huge, and you know, you just get
Speaker 6: caught in a situation since where you're in man coverage
Speaker 6: in one on ones and he wins, and and uh,
Speaker 6: you got to give you got to give the quarterback
Speaker 6: his just due too. He put he put the ball
Speaker 6: in in good places. There's no question. I mean, Mason
Speaker 6: Rudolph played about it, probably as high level as he
Speaker 6: can play.
Speaker 2: You spoke to your counterpart, the Steelers color analysts prior
Speaker 2: to the game, and he said, going back to training camp,
Speaker 2: he would have liked to have seen Mason Rudolph be
Speaker 2: the starter from the very beginning. And he said that
Speaker 2: publicly here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 6: He did. He went on the record saying that, you know,
Speaker 6: Mason Golf was the guy that he would have gone with.
Speaker 6: He believes in him. I think he's been probably around
Speaker 6: him longer than anybody. And he made he made it
Speaker 6: look like, you know, he was a Southsayer of sorts.
Speaker 6: But it didn't didn't happen until the very end of
Speaker 6: the season. But again, you know, oneon one game does
Speaker 6: not a season make. We all know that the boy
Speaker 6: he looked good today.
Speaker 2: Again, I hate to be overly critical of Jake Browning,
Speaker 2: who's been great under difficult circumstances, but it did it
Speaker 2: feel a little bit like sooner or later he was
Speaker 2: bound to have a so so game.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, even the great ones, do you know?
Speaker 6: And you know is his situation obviously is not a
Speaker 6: huge sample size, But unfortunately today was not the day.
Speaker 2: So going into the game, the Bengals needed to win
Speaker 2: at least two out of their last three to have
Speaker 2: a shot. Well, they can still win two, but the
Speaker 2: margin for error is gone.
Speaker 6: It is. And you know, we've talked about the tiebreaker
Speaker 6: till at nauseum. Everybody else in the division has at
Speaker 6: least three wins. Two of the teams have three in
Speaker 6: Baltimore has four and Bengals rowing five. So obviously that
Speaker 6: tiebreaker it's not a tie breaker, it's tye broken. I mean,
Speaker 6: it's over in terms of that regard.
Speaker 2: The person playing the music here at Akrasure Stadium had
Speaker 2: Rudolph the Red Noise Reindeer ready to go for the
Speaker 2: end of the game. Rudolph leads the Steelers to victory
Speaker 2: before Christmas.
Speaker 6: And he was a beacon of light, not just a
Speaker 6: red nose, no doubt about that.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas to the Laphams. See if we can go
Speaker 2: to Kansas City and get a win.
Speaker 6: Here we go very east of Christmas to the Hordes
Speaker 6: as well and go get a dub on the road.
Speaker 2: Finally, it's time for this week's fun Facts Conversation. Sadly,
Speaker 2: this week's guest recently suffered a torn acl that ended
Speaker 2: his season with three weeks to go. Time for some
Speaker 2: fun facts with cornerback DJ Ivy from Florida City, Florida,
Speaker 2: just south of Miami. Let's start with your name. What
Speaker 2: is DJ short.
Speaker 8: For DJ so forward, Demetris So full name is Demetris
Speaker 8: Ivy Junior.
Speaker 2: Does anybody call you Demetrius.
Speaker 8: H Maybe my mom sometimes, but for the most part,
Speaker 8: just Demetris. That means this DJ.
Speaker 2: So you're one of three DJs on the team. DJ
Speaker 2: Reader got here first, you and D and her arrived together.
Speaker 2: How does everybody keep you guys apart?
Speaker 8: Keep us apart by nicknames, last names? Big DJ, which
Speaker 8: is you know DJ obviously me and me and DJ
Speaker 8: turners in the same room. So uh, he goes by Drago,
Speaker 8: I go by Ivy DJ whatever whatever the group wants to,
Speaker 8: you know, ident identify us by. But for the most
Speaker 8: part we know who they're talking about.
Speaker 2: We're doing fun facts with DJ Ivy. As I mentioned,
Speaker 2: you're from the Miami area. You said in an interview
Speaker 2: that there was a lot of violence in crime where
Speaker 2: you grew up. How bad was it and how did
Speaker 2: you stay out of trouble?
Speaker 8: It was very bad. I mean even like people at
Speaker 8: the school, it was you know, uh into violence and
Speaker 8: stuff like that. But I'll just say my mom, she
Speaker 8: she helped help with that a lot. Keeping me busy
Speaker 8: in sports growing up. I did basketball, tracking football, so
Speaker 8: I really didn't have an off season, and I feel
Speaker 8: like that helped a lot.
Speaker 2: Your mom seems like a pretty remarkable woman. She raised
Speaker 2: four kids while working in security. Describe your relationship with her.
Speaker 8: She's sees my world. She's, you know, the best mom
Speaker 8: you'd asked for. Our relationship was very tight. You know,
Speaker 8: she probably called every day, if not, you know, twice
Speaker 8: a day. So yeah, my mom is mom is the
Speaker 8: heartbeat for sure.
Speaker 2: After an excellent high school football career, you were recruited
Speaker 2: by a lot of the big time schools in the
Speaker 2: SEC and around the South. Did you enjoy the attention
Speaker 2: or was it stressful?
Speaker 8: I enjoyed it for the most part. I kind of
Speaker 8: knew where I was going. My mom she wasn't really
Speaker 8: letting me leave home, so I kind of knew I
Speaker 8: was going to Miami. But uh, I enjoyed it for
Speaker 8: the most part. You know, it's once in a lifetime opportunity,
Speaker 8: so don't let us press you up.
Speaker 2: Was it a lifelong dream to play at the U,
Speaker 2: the University of Miami?
Speaker 8: Oh yeah, of course. I mean obviously growing up in
Speaker 8: Miami and watching it on TV. This this is what
Speaker 8: you grew up on. So being able to play for
Speaker 8: them and having my mom to actually come to each
Speaker 8: and every home game, that made a big difference for
Speaker 8: me as well.
Speaker 2: You stayed there for five years, you played in fifty
Speaker 2: eight games, which I think is second on the all
Speaker 2: time list at that school. What were some of the
Speaker 2: highlights of your time with the Hurricanes.
Speaker 8: I had a lot of highlights. Two interceptions versus Pitt
Speaker 8: against Kenny Pickett my sophomore year, test d them game
Speaker 8: my last year Clemson recovered Scoop and score interception versus
Speaker 8: fs FSU receivers. Now, it's a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 8: It's a lot of memories that I could go through
Speaker 8: throughout my career. I'm just glad that I had to
Speaker 8: experience it at Miami and with those guys.
Speaker 2: So after your great career there, prior to the draft,
Speaker 2: the Bengals brought you in for a top thirty visit. Obviously,
Speaker 2: they're only allowed to do that with thirty players. It's
Speaker 2: kind of like a job interview. Describe that experience. It was.
Speaker 8: It was a great experience. I actually went to Minnesota
Speaker 8: first and then I came to the Viking, So I
Speaker 8: mean I went to Minnesota first and then I came
Speaker 8: over here to the Bengals. It was after the Minnesota visit.
Speaker 8: I kind of knew what to expect coming into the
Speaker 8: Bengals visit, but it was just a job interview. I mean,
Speaker 8: just just come and be yourself, show them who you
Speaker 8: are and what you could bring to the table. And
Speaker 8: I guess is what I did. You know, let's discuss
Speaker 8: the draft. You were selected in the seventh round by
Speaker 8: the Bengals. For many players, that is the highlight of
Speaker 8: your life, at least at this point of your life.
Speaker 8: It's the culmination of so much hard work. Describe your
Speaker 8: draft weekend. My draft weekend was crazy. So you know,
Speaker 8: the draft is three days long. I didn't get chosen
Speaker 8: to the third day, and a third day starts around
Speaker 8: twelve noon something like that. I didn't receive a call
Speaker 8: probably from Coach Taylor from probably about uh four or
Speaker 8: five pm. So just having a fam over, just sitting
Speaker 8: around the house, playing games, just trying to kill Tom
Speaker 8: all the drafts on and then to finally hear my name.
Speaker 8: It was it was a relief. It was a blessing
Speaker 8: all in one, you know, childhood moment to actually see
Speaker 8: your name show up on a bit screen, and you know,
Speaker 8: you get this opportunity to go play for a great
Speaker 8: organization like the Bengals.
Speaker 2: Do I remember correctly that Zach had a hard time
Speaker 2: reaching you after the Bengals decided they were going to
Speaker 2: pick you.
Speaker 8: He did so probably you know, I know the guys
Speaker 8: that go later on, they know like how it gets
Speaker 8: after the like fifth round and you still haven't been drafted.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 8: I had teams calling me left and right, like literally
Speaker 8: like left and right, probably over over fifteen teams calling
Speaker 8: me saying that they would like to have me as
Speaker 8: a undrafted free agency while they already had they still
Speaker 8: had picks on the board.
Speaker 2: They was telling me this.
Speaker 8: So who I was on the I was on the
Speaker 8: phone with the Cardinals, I believe, and I got Coach
Speaker 8: Taylor call. But I'm thinking Coach Taylor is calling to
Speaker 8: tell me the same thing that everybody else is telling me.
Speaker 8: So I was just gonna return his call, and then
Speaker 8: he actually texted me. So at this time I looked
Speaker 8: at my text messages and I'm outside with my my
Speaker 8: friend and he's like, bro, what you doing. You're hanging
Speaker 8: up on the Cardinals. I'm like, Bro, I think I'm
Speaker 8: about to get drafted. So I called coach Taylor and
Speaker 8: he told me like, hey, man, it's coach Taylor and
Speaker 8: I was trying to draft you and stuff like that.
Speaker 8: And by the time I hung out the phone in
Speaker 8: the house, my name is popping up on the string,
Speaker 8: and it was just it was just a relief.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 8: It's just just a relief and happiness for me and
Speaker 8: my family. So that's how I experienced went. But it
Speaker 8: was a it was a crazy, crazy, crazy day for sure.
Speaker 2: All write some wild card topics now for dj Ivy.
Speaker 2: Who is your all time favorite athlete in any sport?
Speaker 2: And why?
Speaker 8: I gotta go with Shaun Taylor man R and p
Speaker 8: Son Taylor. But growing up he was he's actually growing
Speaker 8: growing up where I'm from. He played little league football
Speaker 8: at flit Razorbacks, went to Gulliver, went to the U
Speaker 8: as well, and then played for the Redskins a bit.
Speaker 8: But man just growing up and seeing what he could
Speaker 8: do on the field just just gave me hope, like
Speaker 8: someone that's you know, where you're from and doing what
Speaker 8: he could do.
Speaker 2: It was crazy.
Speaker 8: But so I'll say he's definitely probably my top one
Speaker 8: for sure.
Speaker 2: And am I correct in thinking that you know Shawn's
Speaker 2: family just I do?
Speaker 8: I know Son's family. His dad coach coached me in basketball.
Speaker 8: His dad is also a trainer, played with his little
Speaker 8: brother a couple of times. But yeah, I'm familiar with.
Speaker 2: The family other than being a professional football player. Have
Speaker 2: you had any other full or part time jobs? No?
Speaker 8: Full, no part time. Well I don't know if this counts,
Speaker 8: but I did. I did work at this after it's
Speaker 8: not it.
Speaker 6: Was a summer camp.
Speaker 8: It was a summer camp, probably down the street walking
Speaker 8: distance from my I was when I was in high school.
Speaker 8: I worked there for the summer.
Speaker 2: That's about it though.
Speaker 8: And all we did was, you know, just play basketball,
Speaker 8: play sports with the kids. But other than that, no
Speaker 8: four time.
Speaker 2: Job, DJ. What do you like to spend your money on? Clothes?
Speaker 8: Shoes, just fashion for the most part. Food, That's about it.
Speaker 2: Close.
Speaker 8: Some fashion, some fashion stuff and some food.
Speaker 2: Gotta eat. Do you have a big shoe collection.
Speaker 8: Oh yeah, I'll be bund some with shoes. I'll be
Speaker 8: having to tell myself to slow down, Like I got
Speaker 8: a lot of shoes and it's like you can't wear
Speaker 8: them all. So but yeah, definitely a big shoe collection,
Speaker 8: big sugar.
Speaker 2: What do you miss when you're not in the Miami area?
Speaker 8: The weather, for sure, I'll say the weather, and sometimes
Speaker 8: the food. Sometimes the food. There's a variety of options
Speaker 8: of food that you could have in Miami, Like literally
Speaker 8: whatever you want you could get in Miami. So I
Speaker 8: would say those two for sure.
Speaker 2: Is there an obvious thing that you like to eat
Speaker 2: first when you go home? Do you have a I
Speaker 2: gotta get myself blank.
Speaker 8: I found a nice cube spot. Give me some Cuban food,
Speaker 8: probably some rice beans, some besticked a poo, and probably
Speaker 8: some stillness.
Speaker 2: Sounds good. Do you have any hidden talents? Video game?
Speaker 8: I like to play the video game, and nah, I haven't. No,
Speaker 8: I haven't discovered any other hidden talents.
Speaker 2: What games do you like to play? So?
Speaker 8: I have a PlayStation five, play Madden Fortnite. I try
Speaker 8: to play Call of Duty, but I just that's just
Speaker 8: not it for me. So Madden in Fortnite for the
Speaker 8: most part.
Speaker 2: Or is it a thrill for you to be on
Speaker 2: Madden for there to be a dj ivy on the game?
Speaker 8: Oh yeah, it's definitely a thrill. And it's like my so,
Speaker 8: my friend has has her god son and and he's
Speaker 8: been watching me since I was at Miami. So he
Speaker 8: facetimeed her the other day and I was on the
Speaker 8: phone with them.
Speaker 9: And he's like, bro, you're you're actually oh man, Like
Speaker 9: he showed me the screen, like, oh snap, you know, man, Bro,
Speaker 9: he actually started playing with the Bengals, So you know,
Speaker 9: to even you know, have that you know effect on
Speaker 9: other people and young kids, you know, Uh, it's a
Speaker 9: big deal for me for sure.
Speaker 2: All Right, final question, This one's kind of deep. If
Speaker 2: you could meet anybody in history, athlete, entertainer, statesman, who
Speaker 2: would that person be.
Speaker 8: I'll probably meet an entrepreneur or somebody who like really
Speaker 8: started low in business and you know, made a lot
Speaker 8: of money in business. That's probably someone I would probably
Speaker 8: want to meet. But as far as like a single person,
Speaker 8: I don't know, because it's like, I mean, nowadays, you
Speaker 8: got you know, you know, jay Z, you got no
Speaker 8: Jeff Bezos, you got you got a whole bunch of
Speaker 8: people that you could, you know, choose from. So I
Speaker 8: don't know. Maybe we could get them all the one
Speaker 8: room to go around the room and introduce myself to
Speaker 8: ease one.
Speaker 2: That would be a good room, all right, Thanks to
Speaker 2: Djivy and that's going to do it for this episode
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hord.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.