Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The I'm on the Bridge addition,
Speaker 1: as I discussed Joe Burrow in the Bengals outlook in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three and beyond with a Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: quarterback Kurt Warner. Long snapper cal Adamitas earned a contract
Speaker 1: extension this week and joins me to discuss being thrown
Speaker 1: into the fire as a rookie. And with the NFL
Speaker 1: Combine coming up next week, we'll hear from NFL Network
Speaker 1: draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah about a position group that Cincinnati
Speaker 1: is likely targeting. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to
Speaker 1: you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals The free to
Speaker 1: play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find
Speaker 1: both inside the Bengals app. Now here's a quick reminder
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by some
Speaker 1: scribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since Tim McCarver, the Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster, passed
Speaker 1: away last week at the age of eighty one. I
Speaker 1: was a Mets fan as a kid, and we got
Speaker 1: the games on wo RTV, so I listened to the
Speaker 1: trio of Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner almost
Speaker 1: every night. They were great to learn from because each
Speaker 1: was so distinctive. Their personalities could not have been more different.
Speaker 1: Then Tim McCarver became a Mets broadcaster in nineteen eighty three,
Speaker 1: and he made a big impact on me because he
Speaker 1: was so curious about everything. He constantly challenged traditional baseball wisdom,
Speaker 1: and I had never really heard a broadcaster do that before.
Speaker 1: In fact, he was a lot like Dave Lapham in
Speaker 1: the sense that he had an endless desire to learn
Speaker 1: about the game and could describe a complex sport in
Speaker 1: an entertaining and easy to understand way. So here's to
Speaker 1: Tim McCarver, who accomplished the goal of every sports broadcaster.
Speaker 1: He enhanced my enjoyment of the game. Now let's get
Speaker 1: to this week's guests. Up first, Hall of Fame quarterback
Speaker 1: Kurt Warner, a two time MVP, a Super Bowl champion,
Speaker 1: and a man who met Joe Burrow when the Bengals
Speaker 1: quarterback was only a few months old. Kurt for those
Speaker 1: who don't know. You and Jimmy Burrow, Joe's dad, have
Speaker 1: been friends for more than twenty five years, going back
Speaker 1: to when he was the assistant head coach for the
Speaker 1: Arena League's Iowa Barnstormers and you were the starting quarterback.
Speaker 1: You were together there for three years. Describe your relationship
Speaker 1: with Jimmy and the Borough family. Well, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: one of those things player coach, you know for a
Speaker 1: period of time, but Arena League was always a little
Speaker 1: bit different, you know, just the structure of it. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, as players, we got a chance to really
Speaker 1: connect with our coaches be a little bit differently than
Speaker 1: when you look at the structure of the NFL. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, so obviously you're you know, player coach, but
Speaker 1: you also become friends, get to know families, um, as
Speaker 1: we did there, and it's just been something over the
Speaker 1: years where, um, you know, we've stayed in touch at
Speaker 1: different times. Um, you know, his Nebraska connection. My son
Speaker 1: walked on at the University of Nebraska, and so there
Speaker 1: were always kind of ties that kept us connected over
Speaker 1: the years. And then it's been obviously a joy to
Speaker 1: watch as you get to know people as coaches or
Speaker 1: as friends and get to watch their family, get to
Speaker 1: watch Joe, um, you know, do what he's done and
Speaker 1: kind of follow it from afar and then we've been
Speaker 1: able to kind of reconnect as our you know, circles
Speaker 1: have uh you know, have crossed once again in the
Speaker 1: NFL and at different events that that we've done. So
Speaker 1: it's been fun. But you're always just cheering for for
Speaker 1: good people and good families and people that helped you
Speaker 1: to be able to accomplish the things that you you know,
Speaker 1: you accomplish in your career and was one of those guys.
Speaker 1: So Joe was born before your third and final year
Speaker 1: with the Barnstormers. Is it crazy to you that this
Speaker 1: little toddler that you probably met when he was about
Speaker 1: four months old is now one of the best quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I mean, I think it's always crazy
Speaker 1: because you never, you know, you never think about things
Speaker 1: like that. But obviously knowing the pedigree of the family
Speaker 1: and the football background, UM, I'm never surprised when you
Speaker 1: understand that part of it, and when you know football
Speaker 1: is kind of, um, you know, a natural fabric for
Speaker 1: a family. U that you know, the son of a coach,
Speaker 1: the son of a good football player becomes a good
Speaker 1: football player, and so um, yeah, it's you know, it's
Speaker 1: always weird thinking, oh man, he was his dad was
Speaker 1: coaching me. Um, you know, and remember when he was born.
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, it's like boom, here
Speaker 1: he is, uh, you know, top pick, Heisman Trophy winner
Speaker 1: and everything that he's accomplished. It's it's fun, but the
Speaker 1: biggest thing is that it's good people. And you know,
Speaker 1: got a chance to meet Joe, you know, just a
Speaker 1: few years back before he get drafted into the NFL
Speaker 1: and kind of build a connection there. And what you
Speaker 1: realize is that what I knew about his dad and
Speaker 1: the kind of person that he was, that's exactly who
Speaker 1: Joe is as well. And so it's an easy family
Speaker 1: to cheer four. He's an easy individual to cheer four.
Speaker 1: And it's been fun to watch him as send at
Speaker 1: this level. We are visiting with Hall of Famer Kurt
Speaker 1: Warner of the great young quarterbacks in the NFL right now?
Speaker 1: Is he the one that reminds you the most of
Speaker 1: yourself without a doubt, without a doubt, the way he
Speaker 1: plays the game, the mental aspect that he brings his
Speaker 1: ability to anticipate. You know, a lot of people probably
Speaker 1: would have said about me in my career, you know,
Speaker 1: wasn't the most physically talented, it didn't have the biggest arm.
Speaker 1: I've never put much weight in that stuff, because if
Speaker 1: you know how to play, none of that stuff matters.
Speaker 1: You can make the game easier for guys around you
Speaker 1: by not throwing the all hard and not having to
Speaker 1: throw it sixty yards down the field. But he's got
Speaker 1: such a great feel for the game and his timing
Speaker 1: and anticipation, which were things that I felt really separated
Speaker 1: me my ability to process information, all of those things.
Speaker 1: You know, when I watch film, I watch film on
Speaker 1: all these guys, But when I watch film, I get
Speaker 1: joy out of watching guys that do what I did
Speaker 1: because I understand it. I see it very similarly. And
Speaker 1: Joe is one of those guys that I love to
Speaker 1: pop on the tape every week because I know, you know,
Speaker 1: what I'm going to be thinking when I watch play
Speaker 1: play out is the same thing that he's thinking. And
Speaker 1: you know, oftentimes you know it goes hand in hand
Speaker 1: that he's doing exactly what I would have done on
Speaker 1: that play with the same timing, the sense of accuracy
Speaker 1: that he has, all those different things remind me a
Speaker 1: lot of myself. This is the first offseason where the
Speaker 1: Bengals are allowed to try to extend his contract, and
Speaker 1: obviously that is something they are hoping to do. He
Speaker 1: was asked late in the course of the season about
Speaker 1: the notion of a quarterbacks window, the ideal situation for
Speaker 1: an NFL team being to have an elite quarterback in
Speaker 1: his rookie contract, and when Joe was asked about that,
Speaker 1: he said, the window is my entire career. Did you
Speaker 1: hear that comment? Do you agree? And what do you
Speaker 1: think of the notion of a quarterbacks window? Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I think there's a couple of sides to it.
Speaker 1: Is that I understand exactly what he's saying. I mean
Speaker 1: I heard the comments and it was like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean every time I stepped on the field, I expected
Speaker 1: to win too. I mean I expected to be in
Speaker 1: a championship game. Now we understand that it's the ultimate
Speaker 1: team game as well, So you know, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: how good I am the entirety of my career, I
Speaker 1: still need I need guys around me. I need good
Speaker 1: players around me. But yeah, you feel like you can
Speaker 1: elevate everybody, and if you're a good enough player, that
Speaker 1: expectation to win is always there. And it didn't matter,
Speaker 1: you know, where I was playing, I expected my team
Speaker 1: to be one of the best teams competing for championships
Speaker 1: every single year. I was under setting And so, yeah,
Speaker 1: I heard the comment, and I think it's a great comment,
Speaker 1: and it makes sense, especially in a day and age
Speaker 1: where A he's young, and b we're seeing players play
Speaker 1: at a high level much later than before. So you know,
Speaker 1: the window for a quarterback. You know, we talk about
Speaker 1: like windows for running backs. I was talking to a
Speaker 1: friend today and it's kind of like when once they
Speaker 1: hit thirty, that windows kind of closed with them being
Speaker 1: the top of their game as quarterbacks. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you look at where Joe's at right now, and you say,
Speaker 1: you know, thirteen fourteen more years, you can expect these
Speaker 1: guys to play at an extremely high level. So it
Speaker 1: isn't a short window anymore for really good quarterbacks. I
Speaker 1: expect Patrick Mahomes for the next fifteen years to believe
Speaker 1: he's going to go to the Super Bowl every year.
Speaker 1: I believe Joe Burrow and Josh Allen and those guys
Speaker 1: are going to be saying those same things. And I
Speaker 1: fully understand it, because once you get to that level,
Speaker 1: you say to yourself, I have no expectation that this
Speaker 1: level is going to dwindle, especially when I just saw
Speaker 1: a guy play at that level till he was forty five.
Speaker 1: I mean, man, my windows open for two more decades.
Speaker 1: I mean, most guys don't even think about playing that long.
Speaker 1: And now we think, as quarterbacks, our window is open
Speaker 1: that long because you know, we've reached a certain level
Speaker 1: of play. Your challenging road to the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: as well documented. It was the subject of a great movie,
Speaker 1: American Underdog. Joe's path wasn't that difficult, but he did
Speaker 1: have to leave Ohio State to get his opportunity at LSU.
Speaker 1: Do you think that stuff has served him well? I
Speaker 1: really think. You know, our journeys always serve us well
Speaker 1: if we're willing to embrace what is the journey? You know,
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the things. You know, when
Speaker 1: I looked at the Super Bowl this year with Jalen
Speaker 1: hurts Is, I think one of the things that impressed
Speaker 1: me is that he embraced the journey. He and pray
Speaker 1: embraced the struggle and realized, you know that sometimes when
Speaker 1: we get into those situations where like he was benched
Speaker 1: at Alabama, it was like, okay, yeah, I can look
Speaker 1: and point to two it was just really good, or
Speaker 1: the coach didn't want me, and or you can say, Okay,
Speaker 1: why did I get benched? What do I need to learn?
Speaker 1: How do I need to get better? And I really
Speaker 1: feel like Joe's been that in those different situations as well,
Speaker 1: as he hasn't just looked at it like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not playing because a coach doesn't like
Speaker 1: me or whatever. It's like, I have to continue to
Speaker 1: get better. I have to continue to grow. And when
Speaker 1: we go through those struggles and we take that approach,
Speaker 1: I think that always bodes well for a player. And
Speaker 1: you know, I think we've both seen numerous people that
Speaker 1: go the other route and they point the finger at
Speaker 1: this or that, and they never pointed it themselves and
Speaker 1: go okay, why. You know, I was benched a number
Speaker 1: of times in my career, and every time I had
Speaker 1: to step back and go, okay, why. And sometimes I
Speaker 1: think it was because of things that I did or
Speaker 1: could have done better, or things that our team wasn't
Speaker 1: doing other times it was circumstantial, but I think it's
Speaker 1: important to be able to embrace each situation and go, Okay,
Speaker 1: if there is something I can do better, I need
Speaker 1: to make sure I look at that and I hone
Speaker 1: in on that and I get better at it so
Speaker 1: it doesn't happen again. And I really felt Joe had
Speaker 1: done that as well. It wasn't just while I'm transferring
Speaker 1: from here because they're not giving me the shot that
Speaker 1: I want. It was about, you know, developing as a
Speaker 1: player and figuring out who he was. And I think
Speaker 1: we even saw that at LSU, from you know, where
Speaker 1: he was his second to last year to where he
Speaker 1: was his last year and the growth made there and
Speaker 1: we all said that, okay, why well, because he embraced
Speaker 1: what he needed to get better at and he got
Speaker 1: better at it. And that to me is where great
Speaker 1: quarterbacks become great. And so I think, you know, we've
Speaker 1: seen both sides. We've seen guys that have had easier
Speaker 1: pass but I still think they all embrace those different
Speaker 1: things that you know that they noticed and say, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to look to you know, just try
Speaker 1: to squeeze by and you know, hope nobody notices this.
Speaker 1: I'm going to grab a hold of that and get
Speaker 1: better at that so it never becomes a liability for us.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think that's a story of my journey,
Speaker 1: even though it's a little different than Joe's and a
Speaker 1: little different than other guys. But yeah, I think he
Speaker 1: has definitely embraced those moments and looked to improve himself
Speaker 1: through those moments. And now you've got one of the
Speaker 1: best quarterbacks in the league. You are arguably the quarterback
Speaker 1: of the greatest offense in NFL history, the greatest show
Speaker 1: on turf, Isaac Bruce, Tory, Halt, Marshall Falk and others.
Speaker 1: Does the Bengals offensive weaponry, Chase Higgins, mixing Boyd, etc.
Speaker 1: Kind of remind you of those days in Saint Louis? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think a little bit. I mean, I think we're
Speaker 1: seeing more and more teams, We're seeing more and more talent,
Speaker 1: you know, across the board with certain teams that always
Speaker 1: I think remind us of that. You know, the beautiful
Speaker 1: thing about our team is we were built a certain way,
Speaker 1: but we you know, we we were full of talent
Speaker 1: all over the place. And yeah, so anytime you get
Speaker 1: a team that has, you know, three really good wide
Speaker 1: receivers that can all be considered you know ones or
Speaker 1: high level two wide receivers to have, you know, running
Speaker 1: back in the backfield that can do a lot of
Speaker 1: different things, you know, but there's always that caveat with
Speaker 1: the greatest show on turf is that we always had
Speaker 1: two eight in the backfield. And Marshall fallk was was
Speaker 1: the different guy. You know, was a difference maker because
Speaker 1: of all the things that he can do. And so
Speaker 1: when a lot of teams, you know, you'll see that
Speaker 1: brought up the teams to score a lot of points
Speaker 1: or throw it for a lot of yards. And I
Speaker 1: can definitely see that from Cincinnati in terms of what
Speaker 1: they have on the outside. And no knock on on
Speaker 1: Joe because uh, you know, and Joe Mixon because he's
Speaker 1: a really good player. Marshall was different and that was
Speaker 1: the key piece that I believe made us, As you said,
Speaker 1: and I'll argue to this day, the best offense the
Speaker 1: league has ever seen is because of that guy, and
Speaker 1: that guy being different than even the great weapons that
Speaker 1: I had at the wide receiver position. The Bengals came
Speaker 1: within two minutes of winning the Super Bowl two years ago,
Speaker 1: they were WITHINSI. Returning to the Super Bowl this past year,
Speaker 1: what do you think of their immediate prospects going forward
Speaker 1: and is there anything specific that you think is still
Speaker 1: needed for Cincinnati to get over the hump? Obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the prospects are good. It starts with, you know,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow and the fact that you've got a young
Speaker 1: guy that plays that position and can compete with anybody
Speaker 1: in the league at that position. We know, that's where
Speaker 1: it all starts. You know, if they can keep the
Speaker 1: weapons around him to allow him to do what he
Speaker 1: does well, boom. That's part two. Especially in the NFL
Speaker 1: now that is more built around offense and throwing the
Speaker 1: football than ever before. Defense has been you know, solid,
Speaker 1: and again I don't think you have to necessarily be
Speaker 1: great on both sides of the ball, but you have
Speaker 1: to be you have to be good, especially in the
Speaker 1: AFC as you know, I mean, you're not going to
Speaker 1: just be able to go and outscore everybody if your
Speaker 1: defense can't stop anybody. So I like all those pieces,
Speaker 1: you know, I still think I want to see more
Speaker 1: growth in their offensive line. Um, you know, where they
Speaker 1: can truly utilize, you know, their weapons down the field.
Speaker 1: You know, because I think we've seen times obviously last year,
Speaker 1: we all know the issues that they had, and although
Speaker 1: better this year, you know that there were still I
Speaker 1: think issues at times of just protecting or even saying, hey,
Speaker 1: if we need to win a game running the football,
Speaker 1: because that, to me is what always really separates teams
Speaker 1: of it, you know, for the most part, and getting
Speaker 1: to Super Bowls is sometimes you got to find ways
Speaker 1: to win games away from your strength. And you know
Speaker 1: they're going to have a strength for a long time
Speaker 1: with Joe and Jamaar and company. But they'll be times
Speaker 1: where it's like, Okay, we're not going to be able
Speaker 1: to do it this way? Can you can we win
Speaker 1: other ways against the Patrick Mahomes and against the Josh
Speaker 1: Allens and and those guys, And that, to me will
Speaker 1: be the real question moving forward, because I don't know
Speaker 1: if I've I'm fully believing that, you know, there's numerous
Speaker 1: ways they can win. I feel like they almost always
Speaker 1: have to get a good performance from Joe and get
Speaker 1: the big plays on the outside. And again, I like
Speaker 1: their defense, but I want to see them develop a
Speaker 1: little bit more offensive line run game where they can
Speaker 1: count on that in key moments to help them win
Speaker 1: those tough games that they're going to face in the
Speaker 1: mc hurt. This has been a real treat for me.
Speaker 1: I can't thank you enough for your time and your insight,
Speaker 1: and I hope the rest of your off season is outstanding.
Speaker 1: Thank you, you got it. Good being on and let's
Speaker 1: catch up again before the season starts. By the way,
Speaker 1: if you've never seen the movie about Kurt's life, American Underdog,
Speaker 1: I highly recommend it. I expected it to be the
Speaker 1: story of how he went from stocking grocery store shelves
Speaker 1: to becoming one of the NFL's best quarterbacks, but it
Speaker 1: also details Kurt's relationship with his wife, Brenda, a former
Speaker 1: marine and a divorced mother of two, including a disabled son.
Speaker 1: Their story of supporting each other is the heart of
Speaker 1: the movie, and if you're not a Kurt Warner fan already,
Speaker 1: you will be after seeing American Underdog. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber future proof
Speaker 1: fiber internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to
Speaker 1: take your home, business, and community to a new level,
Speaker 1: elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. The Bengals' biggest offseason
Speaker 1: storyline is Joe Burrows contract, as the team looks to
Speaker 1: ensure that Joe will remain in Cincinnati for many, many
Speaker 1: years to come. That's obviously not the only deal that
Speaker 1: the Bengals are working on, and this week they re
Speaker 1: signed long snapper Cal Atomitas. He became the starter after
Speaker 1: fourteen year veteran Clark Harris tore his biceps in the
Speaker 1: season opener, and Atamitas did not have an unplayable snap
Speaker 1: in eighteen games after taking over. I spoke to Cal
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, moments after he signed his new contract. Cal,
Speaker 1: they're only thirty two of these jobs in the world.
Speaker 1: You have earned a contract extension with the Bengals. Describe
Speaker 1: what that means to you. You know, it's it's awesome,
Speaker 1: just another chance to you know, keep continuing to compete
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, keep getting better at my craft,
Speaker 1: which is snapping. And I'm just excited for another chance
Speaker 1: to come back and OTAs in camp and just get
Speaker 1: better and chase another chase down a Super Bowl. Is
Speaker 1: there anything in particular that you feel like you need
Speaker 1: to get a little better at Yeah, you know, I think, um,
Speaker 1: you had some good conversations with with coach Simmons after
Speaker 1: the season, and just trying to improve myself physically, you know,
Speaker 1: get a little bigger, faster, stronger. That's you know, that's
Speaker 1: always the goal. Um. And then just some some detail things,
Speaker 1: you know, things that um, you know, I'm no longer
Speaker 1: a rookie, so things that i'll you know, need to
Speaker 1: do at a very high level. And just all the details,
Speaker 1: all the small details that I can't just brush off
Speaker 1: anymore and be like, oh, you know, I'm a rookie mistake.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no more rookie mistakes for me. I
Speaker 1: guess before OTAs in mini camps, do you snap or
Speaker 1: do you just work out. I'll definitely get back into
Speaker 1: snapping in the coming weeks here, and I'll definitely snap
Speaker 1: leading up to OTAs you know, certain guys have different
Speaker 1: routines and more veteran guys tend to snap a little
Speaker 1: less in the offseason. But just knowing my position and
Speaker 1: knowing how I'll have to continue to compete to, you know,
Speaker 1: be the starting guy come next season again, definitely is
Speaker 1: in my best interest to keep snapping and keep improving
Speaker 1: up until that time. Who will be on the receiving
Speaker 1: end of those snaps. You know, luckily with having a
Speaker 1: good relationship with the staff at PITT and I'll be
Speaker 1: able to snap to the guys there and you know,
Speaker 1: train with them, and you know, my dad might even
Speaker 1: get out with me here and there. But it'll mostly
Speaker 1: be just some some former teammates and uh, you know
Speaker 1: some some of the specialists as well get together in
Speaker 1: different parts of the country and work out together and train.
Speaker 1: So it'll probably be a mix of guys, but mostly
Speaker 1: some of my old teammates from Pitt. We're visiting with
Speaker 1: cal Adamidas. Let me turn the clock back to week one.
Speaker 1: You earned a spot on the practice squad. I think
Speaker 1: many of us thought you would get a red shirt
Speaker 1: season basically behind Clark Harris, and then of course he
Speaker 1: got hurt against the Steelers. In that game. Where were
Speaker 1: you and what immediately went through your mind? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was on the sideline and my you know, my hoodie
Speaker 1: and tennis shoes, and you know, I just remember the
Speaker 1: feeling before that game. Definitely, even just in the locker room,
Speaker 1: I was like, wow, like, you know, going to be
Speaker 1: on the sideline for an NFL game, and I remember
Speaker 1: kind of stepping on the field and just feeling like, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, even though I'm not playing, like this just
Speaker 1: feels like football. And at that point in time, I
Speaker 1: really kind of try to promise myself that I would,
Speaker 1: you know, never never doubt my ability to perform no
Speaker 1: matter what the level. And uh, you know, my chance
Speaker 1: came a lot sooner than I initially expected following camp,
Speaker 1: but uh, I'm trying to stay true to that promise
Speaker 1: I made myself and just keep keep working hard. So
Speaker 1: you made your debut in week two at Dallas. Describe
Speaker 1: the process of getting ready for that game with Darren Simmons.
Speaker 1: You know, having a coach like Coach Simmons is is huge,
Speaker 1: especially for a rookie, UM, because he really is a
Speaker 1: detail oriented guy. And he really just made sure that,
Speaker 1: you know, my focus throughout the whole week and and
Speaker 1: you know, throughout camp and everything leading up to that
Speaker 1: was just the details and what I needed to do
Speaker 1: to be ready to play. Um. You know, it really
Speaker 1: never even I guess he never allowed to come into
Speaker 1: my mind to let you know, the moment seem too
Speaker 1: big because we were so focused on just you know,
Speaker 1: getting better each practice and learning to do the things
Speaker 1: I needed to learn to do, and by the time
Speaker 1: the game came around, you know, there's kind of a
Speaker 1: sense of relief in my opinion, because there's just so
Speaker 1: much build up leading up to it and everyone asking you, oh,
Speaker 1: you're ready, You're ready. You're just like, yeah, I'm ready,
Speaker 1: Like this is what I do. So I'm jumping around
Speaker 1: quite a bit here, but all of the specialists received
Speaker 1: game balls after the playoff win in Buffalo under those
Speaker 1: brutal snowy conditions. You're from Pittsburgh, you played at pitt
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've snapped in snow before. But how big
Speaker 1: of a challenge was that game for you? Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: it certainly a challenging game, but I think the three
Speaker 1: of us did a really solid job of just embracing
Speaker 1: the moment and you know, realizing this is the type
Speaker 1: of game that you dream of being and as a
Speaker 1: little kid, and you know, you watch these snowy playoff
Speaker 1: games on TV growing up and you're just like, Wow,
Speaker 1: that'd be so cool to be there. And you know,
Speaker 1: even though the snow certainly presents its own challenges, um,
Speaker 1: you know, each game has its own challenges, and um,
Speaker 1: just not letting the moment get too big and focus
Speaker 1: on our fundamentals and and uh, you know, just doing
Speaker 1: the little things right and that's what you know helped
Speaker 1: us perform. Had you played in conditions even worse than that,
Speaker 1: I've played in rainier conditions. Um, but that was probably
Speaker 1: the most accumulated snow that I ever played. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'd never been in a game before where in every
Speaker 1: you know, TV time out, they were snow blowing the
Speaker 1: lines that they could see. But it was it was
Speaker 1: a neat experience and a fond memory I have from
Speaker 1: that game was, um, you know, after we had had
Speaker 1: the last punt and we were pretty much you know
Speaker 1: just um, our defense was on the field running off
Speaker 1: the clock before we got the interception, and uh, Evan
Speaker 1: Drew and I were just sitting on the benches and
Speaker 1: Evan was like, if you look straight up into the sky,
Speaker 1: the snow looks really cool through the lights. Like the
Speaker 1: last thirty seconds we were looking up and it looked
Speaker 1: like a snow globe, and it was just a cool,
Speaker 1: cool way to finish off that game. You snapped for
Speaker 1: five years at pit, what was the biggest difference in
Speaker 1: snapping in the NFL. UM, you know, I just think
Speaker 1: the mental side of things, what's expected from you to
Speaker 1: prepare for each game. Um. You know, especially with coach Simmons,
Speaker 1: you know, he prides himself on his players all being
Speaker 1: you know, the most prepared special teams guys in the field,
Speaker 1: and UM, you know, he really wanted me to go
Speaker 1: out there and be in headspace where you know, UM,
Speaker 1: I was basically the second, you know, personal protector on
Speaker 1: punt team. You know, knew everything that was going on
Speaker 1: and even could you know, make a check to the
Speaker 1: protection if if I felt necessary, which we never you know,
Speaker 1: had to do. But I feel like me and everyone
Speaker 1: else on the punt team at any point in time,
Speaker 1: we're ready to do that. And that's probably the biggest
Speaker 1: difference from from college in my opinion. You mentioned Drew Chrisman.
Speaker 1: He took over as the punter in Week ten in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: You're a rookie at that point, but at least you've
Speaker 1: got a few games under your belt. Did you kind
Speaker 1: of take on a season veteran role to try to
Speaker 1: help him? You know, I can't say that I tried
Speaker 1: to really play the season veteran card but just more,
Speaker 1: more or less, both of us just had a mindset
Speaker 1: of we've we've played in big games before. You know,
Speaker 1: he played at Ohio State and I can't say there's
Speaker 1: a bigger collegiate venue to play in the Ohio State.
Speaker 1: And he's you know, he's played in his fair share
Speaker 1: also with big ten you know, cold and windy games,
Speaker 1: and so it wasn't as much you know, um, who's
Speaker 1: played in more NFL games at that point, but just
Speaker 1: the fact that we've played and we've played in bad conditions,
Speaker 1: we played in big, big games, and we're prepared to
Speaker 1: play this one. So your rookie year ended in the
Speaker 1: AFC Championship game. Was it a shock when it was over? It? Uh,
Speaker 1: it certainly was a little bit of a shock. You know,
Speaker 1: it ended so abruptly, and uh, you know, obviously with
Speaker 1: the guys we have on this team, UM, I feel
Speaker 1: like we went into every game just kind of knowing
Speaker 1: we would win, Like if we just do what we're
Speaker 1: capable of doing, well, we'll win the game. And that's
Speaker 1: how we felt, you know, all of us felt and
Speaker 1: that or at least that's how I felt. We all felt. Um,
Speaker 1: really up until that last field goal went through the
Speaker 1: uprights and you know the clock hit triple zero because
Speaker 1: we just we just expect to win. But you know,
Speaker 1: as long as we get as many guys back as possible,
Speaker 1: you know, there's no reason why we should not be
Speaker 1: back next year and and and you know, finish the
Speaker 1: job this time. I think most people listening to this
Speaker 1: know that you went to high school in college with
Speaker 1: Damar Hamlin, and on the Friday after his collapse on
Speaker 1: Monday night at pay Course Stadium, you were able to
Speaker 1: go to the hospital and see him With Tyler Boyd.
Speaker 1: You're undoubtedly one of the first people to do that.
Speaker 1: Describe that meeting selfishly. From my perspective, it kind of
Speaker 1: put me at ease just to be able to see him.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously his life has kind of become, you know,
Speaker 1: very very public life after that. You know, there's a
Speaker 1: everybody wants to talk to him and hear his story,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, it's just good to get in
Speaker 1: and see him in person before things got even crazier
Speaker 1: over the past couple of months, which is you know
Speaker 1: how inspirational his story is, and uh, you know, it's
Speaker 1: just just really nice getting to see him and see
Speaker 1: that he's doing well and and just talk to him,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, I'm just happy that he's doing good.
Speaker 1: You know. It just definitely just makes me smile just
Speaker 1: knowing that he's, um, you know, making an impact and
Speaker 1: for a positive thing and just doing good things. And
Speaker 1: that's really the what I Yeah, that's that's it for me.
Speaker 1: All right, final thing for cal Ademitas. You signed a
Speaker 1: contract extension today. I think every Bengals fan wants to know.
Speaker 1: Did you leave enough money for Joe Burrow? You know,
Speaker 1: I sure did. I was trying not to pench them
Speaker 1: for pennies. So because I definitely want to see Joe
Speaker 1: back to appreciate your time. Congratulations and I look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing you at OTAs and mini camps. Absolutely Hude.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health,
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than
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Speaker 1: pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay
Speaker 1: Core to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees
Speaker 1: learn more at pay Corps. The NFL Draft is about
Speaker 1: two months away, meaning we've reached the point where we
Speaker 1: all start paying attention to mock drafts. NFL Network analyst
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah came out with his second edition this week
Speaker 1: and had the Bengal selecting Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer.
Speaker 1: That would be a popular selection in Cincinnati since Mayor
Speaker 1: attended Covington Catholic High School. This is apparently a good
Speaker 1: year to be in the market for a tight end.
Speaker 1: Jeremiah says, it's the best draft class at that position
Speaker 1: in the last ten years. I have eleven tight ends
Speaker 1: that I have top three round grades on, which is
Speaker 1: a ridiculous number. It is just a really, really good group.
Speaker 1: And to me, I know he's coming off of an
Speaker 1: injury right now, and I know he's kind of more
Speaker 1: of a flex tight end, but Dalton Kincaid from Utah
Speaker 1: is I think he's a big time player. I think
Speaker 1: he's one of my favorite players to watch in this draft.
Speaker 1: I think he's one of the best players in the draft.
Speaker 1: He's just sudden and everything that he does, he separates.
Speaker 1: He's outstanding after the catch. You know, he can win
Speaker 1: on contact over the middle of the fields. He's really
Speaker 1: really good after the catch. You know, as a blocker,
Speaker 1: he's gonna more shield you and wall off. I don't like,
Speaker 1: you know, when you compare guys to all time great players,
Speaker 1: but just in his movement stuff he moves, he kind
Speaker 1: of looks like Kelsey, just the way he moves in
Speaker 1: and out of breaks. He's a really really good player.
Speaker 1: I think he's you know, I really like zach Ertz
Speaker 1: when he was coming out the year he was coming out.
Speaker 1: I think he's a better version of zach Ertz. So
Speaker 1: he's up there. You've got Mayor, who's just an all
Speaker 1: around tight end. Not going to be real dynamic at
Speaker 1: a Notre Dame, but he is kind of the king
Speaker 1: of the combat catches. He's got a good feel on
Speaker 1: option routes, just keeping guys on his back and kind
Speaker 1: of walling him off and making plays. But a good
Speaker 1: overall tight end, good blocker. Darnell Washington is massive from
Speaker 1: Georgia's He's like playing with a sixth offensive lineman in
Speaker 1: the run game, and he's still developing and learning in
Speaker 1: the past game, you know, I think there's more there. Obviously,
Speaker 1: they had the best tight end of the country there
Speaker 1: in Bowers, who's just an absolute freak show. So he
Speaker 1: doesn't get as many balls as he would in another offense,
Speaker 1: but he's he's really intriguing. Musgrave from Oregon States can
Speaker 1: probably run in a low four fives. At two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty five pounds, he could go in the first round.
Speaker 1: I mean, then you just you start going through the list,
Speaker 1: Laporta from Iowa, Tucker Craft from South Dakota State, you
Speaker 1: get Davis Allen from Clemson's intriguing, Payne Durham from Purdue,
Speaker 1: Schoonmaker from Michigan, Strange from Penn State, Wiley from Cincinnati. Like,
Speaker 1: there's those are the eleven guys. It is a really
Speaker 1: really good group. Wiley from Cincinnati is Josh Wiley, another
Speaker 1: local product. He's out of LaSalle High School and he
Speaker 1: caught more touchdown passes at you see than any other
Speaker 1: tight end in school history, including Travis Kelsey. Josh is
Speaker 1: six six, somewhere between two hundred and fifty and two
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty pounds and ran a four six five
Speaker 1: forty at UC with a thirty five and a half
Speaker 1: inch vertical leap. I followed up with Daniel Jeremiah about
Speaker 1: Wiley and some other Bearcats who are expected to be
Speaker 1: picked in this year's draft. Hey, DJ, you mentioned Josh
Speaker 1: Wiley earlier as being a possibility in the first three rounds.
Speaker 1: I'm interested in your take on three other University of
Speaker 1: Cincinnati guys, wide receivers Trade Tucker and Tyler Scott and
Speaker 1: linebacker Ivan Pace. Sure Tyler Scott is you know, we're
Speaker 1: just talking about speed. That's speed, like that's legit, big
Speaker 1: time speed on the outside. And what I love about
Speaker 1: him is when the ball goes up as fast as
Speaker 1: he is, he gets faster. He's fast after the catch.
Speaker 1: You can use him on jet sweeps. He's got you know,
Speaker 1: he's he's got reliable hands. The one thing it's normal
Speaker 1: with a lot of fast guys is just gearing down
Speaker 1: getting in and out of cuts. That's a little bit
Speaker 1: more effort there. But a pure vertical receiver. I think
Speaker 1: he's the grade that I gave him as a Day
Speaker 1: two grade. So second, third round I think is where
Speaker 1: he goes while he you know it can flex out.
Speaker 1: He's a clean route runner, he's smooth, he shows you
Speaker 1: at two hundred and sixty pounds, the polish to tempo routes,
Speaker 1: to change speeds. You know, he's an intriguing player. Pace
Speaker 1: is one of the best off ball blitzing linebackers that
Speaker 1: I've seen. Really. I mean, it's like his superpower. He's
Speaker 1: just got a really good feel. He can shoot gaps.
Speaker 1: He's got a wide variety of moves as a rusher there,
Speaker 1: you know, the the agility, the change of direction, the
Speaker 1: pure speed. You know, I'm curious about that once we
Speaker 1: get to the combine. But you know, if you if
Speaker 1: you're looking for guys that can do one thing really well,
Speaker 1: he's an unbelievable blitzer off the ball. So I have
Speaker 1: him more kind of in that fourth fifth round range.
Speaker 1: Trey Tucker is. You know, he's really good on special teams,
Speaker 1: play in the slot. He's got some suddenness as well.
Speaker 1: You can use him on jet sweeps. He's tough. He
Speaker 1: can win against press coverage with his quickness. You know,
Speaker 1: I thought he had the profile. He's a little bit
Speaker 1: smaller obviously, at five little hundred five nine hundred and
Speaker 1: ninety pounds, I thought he profiled this kind of a
Speaker 1: fourth receiver and a special teams player, which you know
Speaker 1: I've put him in that and right around the fifth
Speaker 1: round range would be about where my grade is. I'll
Speaker 1: be at the Combine next week and we will hear
Speaker 1: from several of the top draft gurus in upcoming editions
Speaker 1: of this podcast. That's going to do it for this
Speaker 1: episode brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
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Speaker 1: that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde,
Speaker 1: and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast