Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. Uh, nothing satisfies, but I'm getting
Speaker 1: close closer to the prize at the end of the room. Addition,
Speaker 1: as the Bengals advanced to an AFC Championship game rematch
Speaker 1: in Kansas City by knocking off the Buffalo Bills on
Speaker 1: their home field twenty seven to ten. Coming up, you'll
Speaker 1: hear radio replays, one on one locker room interviews and
Speaker 1: analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then, in this
Speaker 1: week's fun fact segment, you'll get to know a guy
Speaker 1: who's first start in a Bengals uniform came in last
Speaker 1: week's playoff win over Baltimore offensive lineman Max Sharping. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Alta Fiber future proof
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Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
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Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since the weather Bug app for weather information. I used
Speaker 1: to rely on the Dark Sky's app. Unfortunately it's shut
Speaker 1: down on January first, so I needed an alternative, and
Speaker 1: somebody suggested WeatherBug. Great call. It's free, it's easy to use,
Speaker 1: and it's got all sorts of great features, from current
Speaker 1: weather conditions to the ten day forecast, to rate our maps.
Speaker 1: You name it, it's got it. So if you are
Speaker 1: looking for a good weather app for your phone, my
Speaker 1: forecast says, download weather Bug. Now, let's get to football.
Speaker 1: In the Bengals first fifty three seasons, they want a
Speaker 1: total five playoff games. In the last two years, they've
Speaker 1: doubled that total to ten. On Sunday in Buffalo, the
Speaker 1: Bengals were missing three starting offensive linemen and were a
Speaker 1: six point underdog to the Buffalo Bills, the overwhelming preseason
Speaker 1: favorite this year in the NFL. According to Caesar's Sportsbook,
Speaker 1: more than twice as much money was bet on Buffalo
Speaker 1: to win the Super Bowl than any other team. Those
Speaker 1: Buffalo betting slips can now be ripped up and tossed
Speaker 1: in the trash. Here are the radio calls from a
Speaker 1: dominant performance that ended the Bill season. This afternoon here
Speaker 1: in wintry Orchard Park, New York. One of the NFL's
Speaker 1: best teams will stay alive on the road to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Will it be Joe Burrow and the Bengals
Speaker 1: or Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Te Higgins out
Speaker 1: why to the left? Shotgun staff short dropped by Burrow.
Speaker 1: The pressure comes from the left. He throws. They caught
Speaker 1: at the game, Chase straight ahead into the end zone. Touchdown.
Speaker 1: On the opening drive for Cincinnati, a twenty eight yard
Speaker 1: throw lofted down the middle of the field by Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: just a touch throw. Chase reached up at the eight,
Speaker 1: caught it and raced straight ahead into the end zone
Speaker 1: for the score. Joe waits for the shotgun snap. He
Speaker 1: catches pump fakes to the right. Well gut crows to
Speaker 1: get m zone. It is caught by hayden Hurst. Touchdown Bengals.
Speaker 1: Burrow sucked the Bills in with the pump fake and
Speaker 1: hayden Hurst was wide open at the goal line. Blown
Speaker 1: coverage period. Alan is under center Buffalo trying to get
Speaker 1: on the scoreboard. Receiver goes in motion. That's Gabe Davis.
Speaker 1: Alan runs left and the big quarterback takes it into
Speaker 1: the end zone for Buffalo's first score. Empty backfield shotgun
Speaker 1: snap burrow over the middle, a leaping cat chase. He
Speaker 1: has the ball touchdown right on the back line of
Speaker 1: the end zone. He went airborne, two defenders nearby, and
Speaker 1: he made the catch for the ten yard Cincinnati touchdown.
Speaker 1: And the footwork was extraordinary. Left right, tap tap, get
Speaker 1: him both down. The official took his time to make
Speaker 1: the call because he knew he made the catch. Did
Speaker 1: he get both feet down and bounds? The receiver lost
Speaker 1: control of the ball. They're saying, I was just about
Speaker 1: to say, as Chase is a ten yard line he
Speaker 1: said the game back for one has Chase went to
Speaker 1: the ground out of bounds. After getting both feet down,
Speaker 1: the ball bobbles just a bit. Matt Milano had a
Speaker 1: hand in there, and as he's landing on his backside,
Speaker 1: the ball moves just a little bit. So this will
Speaker 1: be a twenty eight yard field goal attempt for Evan McPherson.
Speaker 1: Chrisman puts it down, the kick is up, and it
Speaker 1: is good. The Bengals thought they had seven, They wind
Speaker 1: up with three. After a lengthy replay review goes in
Speaker 1: Buffalo favor. Burrow be under center, first in goal, about
Speaker 1: an inch maybe a half an inch away from the
Speaker 1: goal line. Te Higgins motions lines up to the right,
Speaker 1: right next to the right tackle's Burrow hands it off.
Speaker 1: Mixon goes airborne, waiting for the signal. The officials walking
Speaker 1: toward the pile come. No signal yet. Nope, be short.
Speaker 1: They are not going to give it to Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1: The Bengals replay challenge is successful. It's a one yard
Speaker 1: touchdown run for Joe Mixon. Fourth and six at the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati sixteen, the clock running with seven thirty seven to go.
Speaker 1: The Bills go with an empty backfield again. Three receivers left,
Speaker 1: two out to the right, including digs Hallen back to throw,
Speaker 1: scrambling right, who's back toward the middle of the field,
Speaker 1: jestering toward the end zone. Throws toward the end zone.
Speaker 1: It is batted away, knocked away by Eli Apple a
Speaker 1: pass intended for Gabe Davis, and the Bengals have the
Speaker 1: ball with a seventeen point lead and seven twenty three
Speaker 1: to go. Allen back to throw on second in five
Speaker 1: pump fakes. Now he's gonna launch a deep downfield scepta
Speaker 1: by Cam Taylor Brett and that his officially coffin now
Speaker 1: bam bam courtesy Cam Britt. Get the takeaway, why don't
Speaker 1: you snow angels in the end zone for Cam Taylor
Speaker 1: Britt and his defensive teammates. With one h two to go,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are heading to Kansas City. And I'll tell you, Dan,
Speaker 1: this is surprising to me. Not that the Bengals won
Speaker 1: the football game, but the fashion twenty seven to ten.
Speaker 1: One more snap will do it. Burrow behind Carris takes
Speaker 1: the snap takes any Trent Taylor does a fine backflip
Speaker 1: behind the line, Joe Mixon begins celebrating, and the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Bengals are headed to Kansas City for the AFC champion
Speaker 1: Chip Game. Neither snow nor cold, nor an injury ravaged
Speaker 1: offensive line can keep the Cincinnati Bengals from going to
Speaker 1: the AFC Championship Game. The final score was twenty seven
Speaker 1: to ten, and the game didn't even feel that close.
Speaker 1: The Bengals had thirty first downs, They're most ever in
Speaker 1: a playoff game. They ran for one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: two yards, averaging five point one per carry, and Joe
Speaker 1: burrow through for two forty with a passer rating of
Speaker 1: one oh one point nine. And they did it with
Speaker 1: Hakimadenage making his third start at right tackle, Max Sharping
Speaker 1: making his second start at right guard, and Jackson Carmen
Speaker 1: making his first start at left tackle. Joe Mixon finished
Speaker 1: with one hundred five yards on twenty carries, his first
Speaker 1: one hundred yard rushing performance in a playoff game. And
Speaker 1: Joe had this five letter description for his offensive line.
Speaker 1: Some damn dogs, d A w DS dolls. Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: talked to all five of those dogs after the game.
Speaker 1: I just want to talk to the offensive line, because
Speaker 1: the offensive line got it done today. We got Ted Carress.
Speaker 1: How are you doing, by the way, man doing good day,
Speaker 1: big Win. I hope, I hope they refund all the
Speaker 1: tickets to Atlanta. I hear that? So all right? I
Speaker 1: got I got Ted Carross, I got Cordell Wilson, I
Speaker 1: get Max Sharping, Jackson Carmen over here who came at
Speaker 1: damage right? These five guys right here, one in the
Speaker 1: football game period. It was one in the trenches. Rushed
Speaker 1: for over one hundred and fifty yards. Joe Mixon twenty carries,
Speaker 1: one hundred and five yards, two penalties on the whole day,
Speaker 1: six for ten on third down, there were only two
Speaker 1: plays out of sixty nine that went for negative yards
Speaker 1: sixteen plays of ten yards awards ass kicking up run.
Speaker 1: What do you think? Well, I think I'm so proud
Speaker 1: of these guys. I mean, we got three guys coming in.
Speaker 1: You know, I've been the biggest game of our lives,
Speaker 1: performing well with a dominating victory. So couldn't be happier.
Speaker 1: So what about it? Everybody's saying, oh, man, the offensive line,
Speaker 1: the offensive line, what's going to happen? I mean, oh Jesus,
Speaker 1: what happened to you? M man? We just trusted in
Speaker 1: our work. We've been working for this since we came in.
Speaker 1: We know our goals. We got great guys, we're deep,
Speaker 1: we we trust each other. We went out there and
Speaker 1: we did what we had to do. Cordell Volson, you know,
Speaker 1: you supposedly you're a rookie, but you've already played a
Speaker 1: full season. You're not a rookie anymore, and now you've
Speaker 1: got two wins in the playoffs. What's you feel like
Speaker 1: to be on this kind of a football team your
Speaker 1: rookie season. Yeah, It's great. You know, I couldn't couldn't
Speaker 1: ask be in a better situation, on a better team. Um,
Speaker 1: just the vets in this in this uh organization that
Speaker 1: have that have helped me from day one and forever.
Speaker 1: Thankful for those guys, and and uh, you know, we're
Speaker 1: we're just getting started though. We got we got two
Speaker 1: more games games ahead of us, and we're just gonna
Speaker 1: keep getting better. Second AFC Championship game in a row,
Speaker 1: and you're playing a team that's going to their fifth
Speaker 1: in a row, their fifth home AFC Championship game, the
Speaker 1: Keenness City Chiefs. Max sharping here all right, So you've
Speaker 1: already played in three playoff games, you won two of
Speaker 1: the assists old had, you know, I mean, you get
Speaker 1: another playoff victory, though, what does it mean to you?
Speaker 1: Anytime you can win a game in NFL? It's gonna
Speaker 1: be hard one, you know. So proud of these guys
Speaker 1: for how hard we worked all week, came out executed.
Speaker 1: And I just want to say, also, happy birthday mister
Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen. Yeah, what can you? Can you think of
Speaker 1: a better birthday present? I cannot? So what was it
Speaker 1: like out there today? I mean the crowd, noise handling,
Speaker 1: the silent napcount all that stuff. What what was it like?
Speaker 1: Jackson the Blast? It was fun. Cordell the off favorite
Speaker 1: Viole ever played with in my life. And you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, were out there together in the trenches,
Speaker 1: and I could really conn have did it without him. Man,
Speaker 1: everything is gonna have the quarter professional. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. I hear you, I hear you on the road.
Speaker 1: I mean, you got the running game going. That was
Speaker 1: so big. I mean, Joe one over one hundred yards
Speaker 1: twenty carries one hundred and five yards. You had well
Speaker 1: over one hundred and fifty. As a as a football team,
Speaker 1: When you're running the ball like that, pass protection becomes
Speaker 1: like it's like night and day, isn't it trying to
Speaker 1: if you're if you don't, you don't running game going,
Speaker 1: they can tee off. When you got the running game going,
Speaker 1: you got them, don't you. You know it was it
Speaker 1: was just great to get the running game going early,
Speaker 1: you know, because then it then it kept you know,
Speaker 1: us unpredictable. Um you know, it allowed us to run
Speaker 1: the ball and some get back on track situations and
Speaker 1: and Joe ran the ball extremely hard today and and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, our coaches did a great job of getting
Speaker 1: us into the right looks. So Joe Burrow starts the
Speaker 1: game nine for nine, I mean, unbelievable in this weather,
Speaker 1: on the road, crowd noise, all that stuff. You guys
Speaker 1: were giving a great protection. Did you guys realize that
Speaker 1: he was on that kind of a role to start
Speaker 1: the game. We could just feel the energy on you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. We from Cincinnati were practicing every
Speaker 1: single weather. It gets cold as a cold and it
Speaker 1: gets hot as a hot. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: We always tell ourselves you played best in the most
Speaker 1: of explaining conditions. You went out there and do what
Speaker 1: we do every day at practice. Execute. So when you
Speaker 1: when you have a field like that, do you do anything?
Speaker 1: Do you stay over your feet a little bit more?
Speaker 1: Do you're not getting on your toes as much? I mean,
Speaker 1: do you have to change the way your approached to
Speaker 1: keep your footing? Was it really not that bad out there?
Speaker 1: What was the like out there on the field? You
Speaker 1: just got to do a great job of keeping your
Speaker 1: feet under you, keeping a good bass and and running
Speaker 1: your feet. Um, you know it. It affects both us
Speaker 1: and the defense. So you know it's no excuse. You
Speaker 1: just got to do a great job of keeping your
Speaker 1: feet going and playing with a great bass. I was
Speaker 1: gonna say, you just got a channel your inner song.
Speaker 1: White just snowboard on the ice. There you go. You
Speaker 1: know it looked it looked to me like Joe Mixon
Speaker 1: was possessed. Man. The dude was playing at such a
Speaker 1: high level energy. It was like the kid in the
Speaker 1: neighborhood that loves to play in the snow. You know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Joe is just getting after it. Did
Speaker 1: you guys feel that? Man, When Joe is having a
Speaker 1: great day, we're having a great day. Bo's been playing
Speaker 1: at the highest level because he started playing football, so
Speaker 1: it's back nothing different from Zult, That's who he is.
Speaker 1: He showed it to night. Congratulations, man, you played a
Speaker 1: hell of a football game. All you guys up front.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you as a as a former linement, when
Speaker 1: I was watching Joe run, I'm like, man, I just
Speaker 1: want I'll take one snap and not be able to
Speaker 1: get out of bed for a week, but I just
Speaker 1: want to take one. I mean, it was fun to
Speaker 1: watch you guys do your thing out to today. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you day, Thanks Dave. The Bengals Booth podcast is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider
Speaker 1: of the Bengals. With more than one hundred twenty care
Speaker 1: facilities and fifteen hundred care providers. Kettering Health is committed
Speaker 1: to guiding you to your best health. Visit Kettering health
Speaker 1: dot org to learn more. Joe Burrow is now five
Speaker 1: and one in playoff games, including three and oz in
Speaker 1: true road games. I'm not counting the Super Bowl even
Speaker 1: though it was at the Rams Stadium because the crowd
Speaker 1: was closer to a fifty fifty split under steady snow
Speaker 1: showers that fell for the entire game. Burrow went nine
Speaker 1: for nine with a pair of touchdowns on the bengals
Speaker 1: first two drives to give Cincinnati a fourteen nothing lead,
Speaker 1: and the Bills never got closer than seven points. Here's
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon on his quarterback unbelievable. I mean, to come
Speaker 1: through in the snow and delivered dots the way he
Speaker 1: was doing it, I mean, that's that's crazy. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be out it. That's crazy. And I thought he did
Speaker 1: a hell of a job just facilitating the way he'd do. Um,
Speaker 1: I've never seen nothing like it, to be real. I mean,
Speaker 1: y'all could call it bias whatever y'all want to, but
Speaker 1: I've never seen nothing like it. I'm just so happy
Speaker 1: for him, and I'm happy for my teammates to be
Speaker 1: able to reaping the benefits the way with that we are.
Speaker 1: I mean, we will come to work, work our asses off,
Speaker 1: and everybody just stay ready for the big moment and
Speaker 1: everybody come through. And you know, the lineman, I mean,
Speaker 1: we had three linemen down and for them guys to
Speaker 1: come through in a major way battle and compete and
Speaker 1: to play all four quarters the way they did. You know,
Speaker 1: nobody gave us a shot and we went out there
Speaker 1: to go take it. And I'm just like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for them guys and everybody deserving it.
Speaker 1: Or eight different receivers caught passes for the Bengals, led
Speaker 1: by Jamar Chase, who finished with five grabs for sixty
Speaker 1: one yards and a touchdown. I caught up with him
Speaker 1: after the game. Jamar, this is unbelievable. I don't think
Speaker 1: anybody thought you not only would come here but dominate
Speaker 1: this game. What can you say about how well, the
Speaker 1: team played in every possible phase. You know, both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball and special teams did a great job today.
Speaker 1: We did an outstanding job running the ball and give
Speaker 1: us opportunities it passed the ball or any down we
Speaker 1: wanted to. Defense given us opportunities to get the ball
Speaker 1: back and you know, make plays an offense. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Defense been doing anything in this whole year.
Speaker 1: How about that and opening drive? What kind of a
Speaker 1: tone setter was that here? To go down the field
Speaker 1: and score that touchdown? Yeah, I honestly think the defense
Speaker 1: messed up. You know what I'm saying. I think they
Speaker 1: little covering whatever they was trying to do. Nickel blessed
Speaker 1: safety came down over and you know, nobody's in the
Speaker 1: middle of field, and I sat I've seen that and
Speaker 1: I just sat there in the zone. Joke bucking on me.
Speaker 1: That was it. You had an offensive line missing three
Speaker 1: starters and ran for more than one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: yards more than four hundred total yards of offense. What
Speaker 1: can you say about the guys? A good job those
Speaker 1: guys did. Yeah, the old line incredible. Man, they're doing
Speaker 1: a good job. So doing a good job, pointing the
Speaker 1: right direction for those guys and lead them, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, and then you go maybe like two
Speaker 1: young guys on the line. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: They stepped up today, so a hell of a job
Speaker 1: at him. You guys have said we're the big dogs
Speaker 1: if the AFC. Is this another step where you proved it.
Speaker 1: I mean, we know who we are, already had the
Speaker 1: whole lead, knows where we're killed. Beloved, It's not a
Speaker 1: surprise for nobody. I mean, they keep talking us down.
Speaker 1: We're just gonna keep showing them. That's all Kansas City,
Speaker 1: fourth time in less than thirteen months, here you go again. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it should be a good game. It should be funny.
Speaker 1: Welcome to that touchdown. Man, they kind of took it
Speaker 1: when they took away from me. Yeah, shook hark from that.
Speaker 1: I caught it clean. It's just that when you're falling,
Speaker 1: gotta make sure you all the way contest, I mean
Speaker 1: all the way grab But you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: It's slipped on my hand a little bit. When I fail.
Speaker 1: It's snowy all day happens, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of hype about this Atlantic game.
Speaker 1: We'll just throw someone. We're gonna be an overlooked man.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say we overlooked, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It's just the disrespect they gave us. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. We don't really care how he treating nothing,
Speaker 1: how he gonna do us. We had the hardest schedule
Speaker 1: all year, and ain't nothing's gonna be easy for us,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. We know what. We kipple
Speaker 1: a lout. That's why we came out here, not making
Speaker 1: a fuss with nobody, just putting on the show for
Speaker 1: a while to see what was it like for you
Speaker 1: as the Louisiana kid to play on that snow Hey man,
Speaker 1: that was fun as hell. That was funny to say,
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna lie. I'll do it again. That's better
Speaker 1: than the rain. I do it again. That's Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1: The Bengals defense was phenomenal, holding the Bills to a
Speaker 1: season low ten points. During the regular year, Buffalo average
Speaker 1: twenty eight point four, second best in the NFL. The
Speaker 1: Bengals hit Josh Allen eight times, including a sack by
Speaker 1: Von Bell, and deflected eight pass is The game's only
Speaker 1: turnover was the coffin Nail's interception with about a minute
Speaker 1: to go by a second round draft pick out of
Speaker 1: Nebraska who has started every game of the ten game
Speaker 1: winning streak. Following an injury to Chittabey a woogie. We're
Speaker 1: in the locker room with Cam Taylor Brett Cigar resting
Speaker 1: in his right hand. Not let up yet, but you
Speaker 1: helped put it away with that interception late in the game.
Speaker 1: Describe your emotions and advancing to the AFC Championship game
Speaker 1: as a rookie. I feel a great man. You know
Speaker 1: that I could have contribute in a major way to
Speaker 1: the team. Uh help get to win. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: just that last play, man, I was trying to tell
Speaker 1: the team I was gonna get one. Now he has
Speaker 1: to throw one, and I like him to not throw one.
Speaker 1: So you know, I was just trying to tell the
Speaker 1: team next time, I'm trying to go ahead, end it.
Speaker 1: He took the chance and throw it, and you know
Speaker 1: I just with me and myself would go get the wall.
Speaker 1: It's a pretty good time to get your first NFLI
Speaker 1: how does the snow man with the guy h and
Speaker 1: he was winning and for the team, the organization cam.
Speaker 1: What was it like out there under those conditions today?
Speaker 1: Obviously the team played well, what did you think of it?
Speaker 1: I'm played in the Brownston. It was fine other than
Speaker 1: you know, the ice getting stuck under the clicks. But
Speaker 1: other than that, man, I feel like you know, every
Speaker 1: team we played good man, we were prepared for whatever
Speaker 1: it was to come, and you know we went to mall.
Speaker 1: That's a great offense. You held him to ten points.
Speaker 1: What was the biggest key to this great defensive performance?
Speaker 1: I was locking up, man, I was on the back end.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm locking up, working around with the D
Speaker 1: line everything. You know, everybody working together on defense. Man.
Speaker 1: You had some cover sacks and he has also you know,
Speaker 1: uh he cut through the ball because the line was
Speaker 1: getting back there so fast. So everybody, you know, we're
Speaker 1: together on the defense. Man, you know, to stop those
Speaker 1: guys in there and supposed to office. I know it's
Speaker 1: the opposite side of the ball. But what did you
Speaker 1: think of the job the offensive line yet missing three
Speaker 1: starters today? Man, that was great. I don't think anybody
Speaker 1: kind of expected it. Not on his team, but you know,
Speaker 1: just everybody on the house. I don't think everybody expected
Speaker 1: those We got to step up and play the way
Speaker 1: that it did. Man, then no, it's always Nick man
Speaker 1: up and anybody could do it. So you're seeing for yourself.
Speaker 1: They did it out right. Be honest with me. I'm
Speaker 1: sure everybody in here expected to win this game. Could
Speaker 1: you expect to dominate the Buffalo Bills like that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: We did. Yeah, I want to say we had a
Speaker 1: ship man we dispected most definitely. So we just wear
Speaker 1: our ball to the you know, to the fullest. Whoever's
Speaker 1: every fund. I've got to get it off to Kansas City,
Speaker 1: fourth meeting against the Chiefs in slightly more than a year,
Speaker 1: trying to beat him for a fourth straight time. We
Speaker 1: gotta do it. Like I said it last week, they
Speaker 1: gotta play. Congratulations. That's Cam Taylor Brady. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More than
Speaker 1: twenty nine thousand customers trust paycres to help them recruit, pay, engage,
Speaker 1: and retain employees. Learn more at paycor dot com. In
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor's first two seasons as an NFL head coach,
Speaker 1: the Bengals were six twenty five and one. In the
Speaker 1: last two seasons including playoffs. They're twenty seven and twelve.
Speaker 1: Here's Zach with Dave Lapham. Our guys were feeling it,
Speaker 1: you know, And I thought our coaches staff did a
Speaker 1: great job formulating a plan in all three phases. Our
Speaker 1: players believed in it. This was their moment, this is
Speaker 1: their stage. You know. They got twenty four other teams
Speaker 1: in the league that are at home watching TV, watching
Speaker 1: these guys, and so you gotta put on a show
Speaker 1: for him, And I thought our guys did that today. Man,
Speaker 1: I tell you what was practice like, coach to come
Speaker 1: up and have the performance that you guys had. What
Speaker 1: was your Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? Like, did you come off
Speaker 1: the fielding? Man? We got something cooking here. Felt the
Speaker 1: same as felt the last ten weeks. We practiced, you know,
Speaker 1: and there's there's no surprise why we've won ten games
Speaker 1: in a row. These guys, they prepare like they're going
Speaker 1: to play, and so there's no doubt when you walk
Speaker 1: up the field on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that
Speaker 1: we did everything we need to do there in that
Speaker 1: practice to get ourselves ready for Sunday. And so now
Speaker 1: it's on us to have our best seven days again
Speaker 1: this week and be ready to go to Kansas City.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow completed his first nine passes on his first
Speaker 1: fourteen completions here had already utilized eight different receivers. You
Speaker 1: talk about spreading the football is spreading the wealth. Unbelievable.
Speaker 1: He managed the game splittibly. You know. It's he knew
Speaker 1: when to use his fee to extend plays and find
Speaker 1: people in the scramble game. He just did a really
Speaker 1: good job put him sing in the right situations. There
Speaker 1: was a lot of cans, there's a lot of alerts
Speaker 1: he had to take in this game, and he did
Speaker 1: a good job managing all that. What about your defense
Speaker 1: to hold that offensive football team to ten points, that's
Speaker 1: one of the best offenses on football. But we know
Speaker 1: we have the best defense in all football. And so
Speaker 1: the way that those guys just played together and communicate
Speaker 1: and in our d line really got it kick started,
Speaker 1: you know, with all the pressure they put on him
Speaker 1: and made him move around, and the coverage match it
Speaker 1: on the back end. It was awesome to see playing
Speaker 1: football at such a high level. The weather, you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit dicey. No turnovers. You got a fourth
Speaker 1: down stop though, that's a turnover in my book. So
Speaker 1: you were plus one in that category. But to play
Speaker 1: that clean of football game in that environment, that's difficult. Now,
Speaker 1: it's hard. But again, our guys believe in what they
Speaker 1: were doing, and they played off of each other, and
Speaker 1: if we did have a play that wasn't so great,
Speaker 1: they just bowed up and made it on the next stop.
Speaker 1: And so even on their scoring drives, they made him
Speaker 1: work for it, you know. And so I just thought
Speaker 1: our whole team just just came out and played really good,
Speaker 1: comprimary football in all three phases, and the sure did.
Speaker 1: I talked to the offensive lineman as a crew, and
Speaker 1: they're happy, obviously, and I'm happy for him. I mean,
Speaker 1: the way the way Joe Mixon was running ball, I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: it's like kid in the neighborhood that players better than
Speaker 1: everybody else in snow and so it was just like
Speaker 1: killing it out there one hundred and five yards on
Speaker 1: twenty he rushed for over one hundred and fifty. How
Speaker 1: big was that to settle down that old line? Oh,
Speaker 1: it's you know, anytime we can lean on the run
Speaker 1: game like that, it opens up the passes, it makes
Speaker 1: the protections easier and just just makes our life comfortable.
Speaker 1: And I thought that the backs ran hard. Started with Mixon.
Speaker 1: You know, he had a tremendous performance, was hitting it hard,
Speaker 1: hitting it downhill, got some big plays for us, some
Speaker 1: maje finished people draped around him for extra yards. I
Speaker 1: don't even know what his total was, but he got
Speaker 1: some really hard earned run yards there. And that's credit
Speaker 1: to those two guys and Justin Hill doing a great
Speaker 1: job mainstream those guys this week. How about Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: not only out passing Josh Allen, but out rushing them.
Speaker 1: You know, everybody talks about Josh and rightfully saw him
Speaker 1: and the guys are freak extend create design quarterback runs.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, I mean he manipulated the defensive line with
Speaker 1: his feet, the secondary with his eyes. He manipulated everybody
Speaker 1: out there. He did. He did a great job today
Speaker 1: and again from the first snap of the game, he
Speaker 1: was on it and it really did a great job
Speaker 1: finance checkdowns. You know that's they played off sometimes and
Speaker 1: didn't want to give us some explosives. He did a
Speaker 1: great job finding the underneth throws that extended plays. He
Speaker 1: had a great checkdown to Hayden Hurst on the third down,
Speaker 1: third and long, Hayden got for first down there. I
Speaker 1: think it was at the end of the half, and
Speaker 1: so just just trimming his job by Burrow, you know,
Speaker 1: coach was I was watching you guys performed that party
Speaker 1: or offense. It took me back to nineteen seventies and
Speaker 1: I remember sitting in a classroom with Bill Walsh, and
Speaker 1: Bill Walsh goes, you know what, man, we're gonna take
Speaker 1: those four yard five yard checkdowns because two or three
Speaker 1: of those that's first down, and we string those together
Speaker 1: pretty soon we're scoring points. I'll take those. I don't
Speaker 1: know about you. Gotta you okay with That's that was
Speaker 1: his whole emo. Just take it, be patient, manipulated. It's big.
Speaker 1: He's not greedy. You know, He'll take what you're giving him.
Speaker 1: And even if that means we've got to go sixteen
Speaker 1: plays all the way down the field. You know a
Speaker 1: lot of teams try to try to give you that,
Speaker 1: thinking that you'll get grady and you'll push it down
Speaker 1: the field from incompletion or turnover. And Joe just doesn't
Speaker 1: do that. Okay, coach, It's onto Kansas City. They've this
Speaker 1: is the fifth straight AFC Championship game they're hosting. This
Speaker 1: is your second straight AFC Championship game. Should be in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: but yeah, you know it's going to be in Kansas City.
Speaker 1: I guess might as well just go there and beat
Speaker 1: him again. This is the way it's meant to be,
Speaker 1: you know, and so our guys will be ready for
Speaker 1: the opportunity. Appreciate you, thank you. So it's onto Kansas City,
Speaker 1: where the Bengals will play in the late game. Next
Speaker 1: Sunday will kick off at six thirty, and the Chiefs
Speaker 1: open as a one and a half point favorite. In
Speaker 1: the NFC, it's the Eagles hosting the forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: at three. Philly is favored by two and a half.
Speaker 1: Now time for the radio guys recap lap. On a
Speaker 1: Friday radio show, we played an interview with Eric Wettele
Speaker 1: on k Adams Up an Adams Show, where he said
Speaker 1: the Bengals have zero chants and Eric Windle wasn't the
Speaker 1: only person that felt their way with this injury ravaged
Speaker 1: offensive line. You've played the position for twelve years professionally,
Speaker 1: what can you say about that performance? I mean interviewed
Speaker 1: him in the In the postgame locker room. I could
Speaker 1: see it in their eyes and the you know, the
Speaker 1: unspoken word. It was like, hell with you, everybody, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's not a chip, that's a two
Speaker 1: by four. That's a challenge to your manhood. And these
Speaker 1: guys are full grown men and they take great pride
Speaker 1: in their profession. And these guys are all good football players.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't be here if they weren't good football players.
Speaker 1: But the key was the way they were on the ball,
Speaker 1: I mean, and that's what they're all. Oh man, yeah,
Speaker 1: we got out. We took control of the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: I mean it was these games are one and loss
Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage. And they took total control
Speaker 1: of the line of scrimmage. And over one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy yards rush and Joe has one hundred and five
Speaker 1: of them. And Joe Mixon was possessed man. I mean,
Speaker 1: they fed off his energy. They were like, Joe is
Speaker 1: just running so hard and that does I remember when
Speaker 1: Pete Johnson would run guys over and be like, oh man,
Speaker 1: here we go. We got to get that big beast
Speaker 1: out in space again. Let him do it again. And uh,
Speaker 1: it was fun. To watch. It really was fun to
Speaker 1: watch those guys. I said to him, man, they've got
Speaker 1: a couple of times I felt like, let me just
Speaker 1: do one play with you guys. I won't get out
Speaker 1: of bed for two weeks, let me just do it
Speaker 1: one time. It was like so exciting to watch what
Speaker 1: was going on down there. Deante Smith is the sixth
Speaker 1: offensive lineman and Dave Lapham as the seventh pets that
Speaker 1: you're right right, just one snap, one snap I'd probably
Speaker 1: probably would have been a outcome, But just to say, man,
Speaker 1: that was so much fun out there. So when I
Speaker 1: was interviewed or did radio appearances this week, I said,
Speaker 1: the question of the game is can the offensive line
Speaker 1: be good enough? They're not going to be as good
Speaker 1: as they were? Can they be good enough? They were
Speaker 1: as good as they were. One sack, three quarterback hits,
Speaker 1: as you pointed out, tremendous run blocking, one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy rushing yards in the game. I can't believe how
Speaker 1: well they played against the NFL's number two ranked scoring defense.
Speaker 1: Don't turnovers, one sack, two penalties for nine yards, a
Speaker 1: couple of false start penalties. That's unbelievably clean in a
Speaker 1: tough environment on the road with snow coming down the
Speaker 1: whole game, and they're cleaning off the lines the whole day.
Speaker 1: So you're footing. You have to you have to really
Speaker 1: constant and stand over your feet. You can't get on
Speaker 1: your toes, you know too much. You try to try
Speaker 1: to be too cool with your footwork. I mean, what
Speaker 1: they did and how they did it, how they answered
Speaker 1: the bell, it's gonna be. You know, everybody talks about
Speaker 1: Sam's you know, uh, the iconic dash, and it is.
Speaker 1: But this game with these guys who were totally doubted
Speaker 1: all week long. For them to perform the way they performed,
Speaker 1: man in playoff history, it's got to be. Got to
Speaker 1: rank up there for a position group stepping up to
Speaker 1: an extremely high level, much higher than expectations. And talk
Speaker 1: to coach Pollock in the locker room afterwards, and he
Speaker 1: wanted to be a lot more colorful with his language
Speaker 1: than he was, but his message was, you know, he's
Speaker 1: just so proud of the guys and you know, had
Speaker 1: a lot of doubters and don't don't be jumping on
Speaker 1: board now. It's too late. All your daughters out there,
Speaker 1: too late, no room for you. I mean, these guys
Speaker 1: answered the bell to say the least. This team is
Speaker 1: really playing the disrespect card right now. In that locker room,
Speaker 1: whether it was Buffalo being favored today, whether it was
Speaker 1: Buffalo being the preseason favorite when the Bengals were the
Speaker 1: reigning the AFC champ I heard guys saying, you better
Speaker 1: have reflendable tickets on those flights to Atlanta for Bengals
Speaker 1: or for Bills and Chiefs fans that bought tickets to
Speaker 1: a you know now canceled neutral site AFC championship game.
Speaker 1: These guys are thriving on that Joe mix and keeps
Speaker 1: saying we're the big dogs, don't forget about it. And
Speaker 1: they've really found that edge from that disrespect card. And
Speaker 1: you know, Joe verbalize that and then backed it up.
Speaker 1: He backed it up. He was playing so hard, man,
Speaker 1: he was finishing everything, and he knew, you know, you
Speaker 1: put a little pressure on himself. He knew it, and
Speaker 1: he answered it. Man. He just he backed it up
Speaker 1: back to a big time. I think there should be
Speaker 1: a game in Atlanta. It should be Kansas City and
Speaker 1: Cincinnati should be in Atlanta. What the hell they say
Speaker 1: the stadium is available let's gown and play. I mean,
Speaker 1: why not? I mean, you know, what the heck, why
Speaker 1: can't Cincinnati be in that mix? Come on, NFL? But
Speaker 1: you know what, it's sweeter to go to Kansas City
Speaker 1: and knock him off for the fourth time in a row.
Speaker 1: How about them though, Bengals going to the SC championship
Speaker 1: game for the second straight time. They're they're at home
Speaker 1: for the fifth straight time. That is ridiculous. That's a
Speaker 1: Andy Reid got nothing but kudos and respect for that dude.
Speaker 1: So here they go again. This will be the fourth
Speaker 1: meeting in one year, in twenty seven days, so less
Speaker 1: than thirteen months. The Bengals have won the first three
Speaker 1: and now the Chiefs are going to have a compromised
Speaker 1: Patrick mahomes My guests a week in advances that he'll play,
Speaker 1: but the doctors we've talked to have said he's likely
Speaker 1: to be worse off in a week than he was
Speaker 1: the day that he twisted his ankle or suffered a
Speaker 1: high ankle sprain, whatever it ultimately is, you know, diagnosed
Speaker 1: as the mobility he has the ability to run and
Speaker 1: make plays, That stuff I think is gone. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you watch him pogo stick off the field to the sideline,
Speaker 1: and that's when adrenaline was pumping fast and furious, you know,
Speaker 1: and he wanted no part of coming out of that game.
Speaker 1: I mean he was throwing his helmet, throwing throwing his coat,
Speaker 1: throwing everything. Ubra competitor. But you know you gotta wonder
Speaker 1: watching the mechanics. He could not push off that right foot,
Speaker 1: so he's doing everything off his front foot, off his
Speaker 1: front foot. The thing is he's got such a powerful
Speaker 1: thrown him, he doesn't need any feet. You know, he
Speaker 1: can make ridiculous throws. He'll make a lot of throws
Speaker 1: where he's airborne with no feet, no platform, rip it.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like he's a different breed of cat.
Speaker 1: But you know, the thing you have to wonder about
Speaker 1: is will he be compromised in terms of trying to
Speaker 1: manipulate and get away if he gets in trouble. He's
Speaker 1: just sitting duck, you know, potentially a sitting duck. And
Speaker 1: do you want to roll the dice on him getting
Speaker 1: more seriously hurt? Potentially so, But I think they'll probably
Speaker 1: split snaps. I would see Mahomes and Chad Henny. Probably
Speaker 1: Henny's going to take more snaps than he normally would
Speaker 1: going into an AFC Championship game during practice, for sure,
Speaker 1: So I just certainly didn't expect to see this final
Speaker 1: few minutes of the game. The Bills fans walking toward
Speaker 1: us because we were at the top of the lower bowl.
Speaker 1: They're on their way to the exits. The Bengals fans
Speaker 1: are making their way down to the first few rows
Speaker 1: to ring the stadium about ten rows deep and do
Speaker 1: the Hohoday chant in Buffalo after a dominant win. Unbelievable
Speaker 1: in your face, I mean, you know, just an in
Speaker 1: your face thing. But I did hear people. As Dave
Speaker 1: Armberster and I were working our way to the locker
Speaker 1: room for postgame, I heard a lot of Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: fans saying, you know, those those Bengals fans, man, I
Speaker 1: hope they win. They're pretty cool. They were pretty cool
Speaker 1: about this whole thing. And I think that that goes
Speaker 1: back to Damar Hamlin and everything that they kind of
Speaker 1: went through together. So, I mean, I don't think the
Speaker 1: Bengals fans were rubbing the Buffalo fans noses in it
Speaker 1: or anything like that. I think they would being gracious
Speaker 1: in the victory, which is smart because you're on the
Speaker 1: road and you're out numbered. Your car has Ohio plates.
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, But you know it's the support is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1: I mean watching players high fiving with Bengal fans in
Speaker 1: the lower role row of stands in that one end zone.
Speaker 1: I'm like, this is unreal. I mean, these people are everywhere.
Speaker 1: There's there's orange and black all over the stadium. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: How luck here we I mean, how good do we
Speaker 1: have it? I mean it's it's unbelievable, like work, like
Speaker 1: major dre crubs work. This is work, are you Kidney?
Speaker 1: This is work? Right? This is fun. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up
Speaker 1: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Finally, it's
Speaker 1: time for this week's fun Facts interview, where you get
Speaker 1: to know the person under the pads. Time for some
Speaker 1: fun facts at Bengals Offensive Lineman Max Sharping, Your life
Speaker 1: seems like a movie. You're from Green Bay. You grew
Speaker 1: up a few miles away from lambeau Field. You went
Speaker 1: to Vince Lombardi Middle School. When did the NFL dream
Speaker 1: begin to take shape for you? I think it was
Speaker 1: always a dream growing up. I went to Packers games
Speaker 1: as young as I can remember. There's a photo of
Speaker 1: me and my dad walking towards Lambeau from when I
Speaker 1: was I don't know, probably three two, maybe even I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know what a hold I was.
Speaker 1: So it was always a dream. I don't think it
Speaker 1: really started taking shape till I started playing in high
Speaker 1: school and you know, got some accolades and got recruited
Speaker 1: to go to college. And even then I didn't you know,
Speaker 1: I went to Northern Illinois, so it was a smaller school.
Speaker 1: So you hope you can prove yourself, but you never know,
Speaker 1: and thankful I was able to do that. Green Bay
Speaker 1: is obviously a small community. Do you see the Packers
Speaker 1: players and coaches around town? Did you go to school
Speaker 1: with their kids? What kind of contact do you have
Speaker 1: with the Packers when you grow up there. One of
Speaker 1: the coaches had a son in my in my class. Actually,
Speaker 1: Joe Philbin had had a son, Tim Philbin, that I
Speaker 1: went to high school with for a couple of years
Speaker 1: before he went down to Miami Khalil Mackenzie, the son
Speaker 1: of the GM for the Raiders for a while, Reggie Mackenzie.
Speaker 1: He was a year younger than me. I still keep
Speaker 1: in contact with him. He's on the Ravens practice squad.
Speaker 1: So we were shooting each other messages just last week
Speaker 1: and we're you know, pretty good buddy. So it's you
Speaker 1: run into him time to time, but most of the
Speaker 1: time it was not too noticeable. I would say, we're
Speaker 1: visiting with Max Sharping. You're a big man. You're six
Speaker 1: six three twenty five. Did you tower over the other
Speaker 1: kids growing up? I would say yes for the most part.
Speaker 1: I was definitely one of the taller kids in my
Speaker 1: age range, but I didn't put on weight until later
Speaker 1: on in high school. So it wasn't one of these
Speaker 1: cases where the parents of the players on the other
Speaker 1: team were demanding to see your birth certificate when you
Speaker 1: played youth sports. That actually would That did happen quite often.
Speaker 1: My parents always new, especially baseball tournaments. For some reason,
Speaker 1: the baseball parents were always the ones that that threw
Speaker 1: a fit. Did they bring up birth certificate to have
Speaker 1: it hand just in case? I'm pretty sure they did
Speaker 1: a couple of times we're doing fun facts with Mac Sharping.
Speaker 1: So I grew up near Buffalo. In nineteen ninety five,
Speaker 1: the Bills had an outside linebacker, Bryce pop who was
Speaker 1: the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He had seventeen
Speaker 1: and a half sacks that year. He was your high
Speaker 1: school football coach. What kind of impact did that have
Speaker 1: on you. Yeah, he was my coach for three years
Speaker 1: in high school, which is you know, amazing opportunity for guys.
Speaker 1: You know, if you have a coach that has that
Speaker 1: type of experience and that type of legacy. And you know,
Speaker 1: we played with a couple of his sons on the
Speaker 1: team as well, so that was really cool. And you
Speaker 1: know he always preached to us, you know, that hard
Speaker 1: work would show up. You know, he was kind of
Speaker 1: a small town guy growing up, went to Northern Iowa,
Speaker 1: had to work his way up to become defensive player
Speaker 1: of the year. So I mean he kind of instilled
Speaker 1: that hard work into the program. So as you know,
Speaker 1: did you went to Northern Illinois, You're from Wisconsin. You
Speaker 1: had a great high school career. Based on what I've read,
Speaker 1: the University of Wisconsin didn't offer. Was that a big
Speaker 1: disappointment at the time, I was disappointed. Both my parents
Speaker 1: went to school there and my sister ended up going
Speaker 1: to school there as well for a little while. So
Speaker 1: and I grew up going to Badger Games ever since
Speaker 1: I can remember also, So it was a little bit
Speaker 1: of a disappointment. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I got my opportunity, and I'm saying very thankful for
Speaker 1: Northern Illinois. You had a great career at ANIU. You
Speaker 1: started for four straight seasons in every game. What were
Speaker 1: the highlights of your entire college experience. It's hard to
Speaker 1: just pick one. Winning two MAC championships with my teams
Speaker 1: was cool. Just being around the guys. Really, it's just
Speaker 1: all I remember. You know, I met great teammates there.
Speaker 1: You know, we got to play in some really cool places.
Speaker 1: You know, my first away start in college was at
Speaker 1: Ohio State. We got to play at Wyoming, at BYU
Speaker 1: in the Mountain Ranges, got to play at Boston College.
Speaker 1: You know, a couple We played some pretty cool places
Speaker 1: in Iowa when they did the Iowa Wave my senior year,
Speaker 1: at Florida State my senior year. So it was nice
Speaker 1: job by Northern Illinois to schedule some great games. You
Speaker 1: did very well in the classroom as well. You earned
Speaker 1: a master's degree. You were one of twelve finalists for
Speaker 1: the Campbell Trophy, which is known as the Academic Heisman.
Speaker 1: How proud are you of your academic achievements in addition
Speaker 1: to your athletic ones. I always took it, you know,
Speaker 1: very personal. The grades. You know, you never know how
Speaker 1: far this is gonna go extend throughout your life, and
Speaker 1: you know, it was instilled in me by my parents
Speaker 1: to you know, get good grades constantly. So I'm very
Speaker 1: proud that I was honored with that. It was a
Speaker 1: really cool experience that whole weekend as well. We're doing
Speaker 1: fun facts with Mac sharping. So after your great college career,
Speaker 1: you were second round draft picked by the Houston Texans,
Speaker 1: number fifty five over all. Describe your draft experience. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I kind of didn't know where I was going to
Speaker 1: be drafted. You know, my age, it's kind of game
Speaker 1: me a range, and it was pretty big range depending
Speaker 1: on how guys who were you know, ahead of me,
Speaker 1: how they would get picked. And there was kind of
Speaker 1: a run of offensive linemen there early and it helped
Speaker 1: me out and I ended up, you know, in Houston.
Speaker 1: I was just at home in Green Bay in my
Speaker 1: basement on that Friday with just a couple of my
Speaker 1: closest friends from from NIU and U from around Green Bay.
Speaker 1: They were probably about seven eight of us, and then
Speaker 1: I had a couple of cousins who flew in and
Speaker 1: it was a fun night, to say the least, after
Speaker 1: I got the call. So your first preseason game in
Speaker 1: the NFL was at Lambeau. That must have been unbelievable. Yeah,
Speaker 1: talk about a perfect story. I would say that was incredible.
Speaker 1: I probably had two hundred family and friends at that game,
Speaker 1: you know, an incredible experience. We got to practice against
Speaker 1: them when we were doing joint practices, and you know,
Speaker 1: we started out o line dinners at my parents' house
Speaker 1: on that Thursday before the game. So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1: So in your first two years with the Texans, one
Speaker 1: of your teammates was a fellow Wisconsin native, J. J. Watt,
Speaker 1: who recently retired. He's going to be a first ballot
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. What will you tell your kids and
Speaker 1: grandkids someday about playing with JJ Watt? I'll say that
Speaker 1: he was amazing what he did. He changed the game. Really,
Speaker 1: I think being as big as he was as quick
Speaker 1: as he was, and you know, just very grateful that
Speaker 1: he was welcoming and always had time for guys and
Speaker 1: just really even when he was on top of the
Speaker 1: world in Houston, he was always the first one in
Speaker 1: there when we were working out as rookies with us,
Speaker 1: so that it was pretty cool to see, you know,
Speaker 1: a leader, first bout, hall of famer type of guys
Speaker 1: putting that work in. So after three salad seasons with
Speaker 1: the Texans, they went to make a roster maneuver prior
Speaker 1: to this season that involved putting you on waivers before
Speaker 1: they could then try to bring you back. But before
Speaker 1: they could do that, the Bengals swooped in. They claimed
Speaker 1: you and brought you to Cincinnati. It's about a week
Speaker 1: before the season. I'm sure you had established roots in Houston.
Speaker 1: How challenging was that for you? That was very challenging.
Speaker 1: I me and my wife had a son nine months ago,
Speaker 1: so back when I was moving he was only I
Speaker 1: was at four or five months old, So that was
Speaker 1: very tough. I had to pack up and move in
Speaker 1: four hours. And all the credit goes to my wife, Cass.
Speaker 1: She is amazing, always has been very supportive. Her dad
Speaker 1: is a football coach, so she grew up around it
Speaker 1: growing up, and she knows the toughness of it. And
Speaker 1: now thankfully her and my son Brooks are here, but
Speaker 1: very thankful for her and everything that she was able
Speaker 1: to do to help me make the move in transition
Speaker 1: as some as possible. You've posted some pictures of Brooks
Speaker 1: on your Instagram feed First Team all adorable. I must say,
Speaker 1: what is your favorite part about being a dad? I
Speaker 1: think the favorite part is just getting to spend time
Speaker 1: around him anytime I can get you know, he's every
Speaker 1: every time he achieves something new, you're you're so proud
Speaker 1: and you're so sad. It's the same point because you
Speaker 1: realize he's growing up. But I love it. I mean,
Speaker 1: anytime he's he's I think he's gonna start walking here
Speaker 1: pretty soon, which a little early, but i mean he's
Speaker 1: like going from the couch to the futon and without
Speaker 1: without trying to hold on to anything. I'm like, we're
Speaker 1: watching him feel careful. But anytime he does anything like that,
Speaker 1: you know, even if he's just babbling at you, anytime
Speaker 1: you'll walk in the door and he lights up when
Speaker 1: he sees me. It's just the greatest feeling. Half the
Speaker 1: camera ready on your phone. Yeah, exactly, we're visiting the
Speaker 1: Max Sharping. Your first start for the Bengals came the
Speaker 1: wildcard playoff game against the Ravens. Can you describe what
Speaker 1: it was like for you to charge out of that
Speaker 1: tunnel at bake Or Stadium as a starter for the
Speaker 1: first time in the game of that magnitude, I mean
Speaker 1: chills anytime you get to run out into a crowd
Speaker 1: like that. I mean, it was phenomenal. And you know,
Speaker 1: night game, playoff game, divisional opponent, it's a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff going on, and it was it was really cool,
Speaker 1: you know, thankful for you know, the coaches and all
Speaker 1: all my teammates that you know, we're sportive getting me
Speaker 1: ready for that moment because you know, like can it
Speaker 1: happen at any time? And thankfully we came up with
Speaker 1: a w a few wildcard topics. Now for Max Sharping,
Speaker 1: who is your all time favorite athlete in any sport?
Speaker 1: And why? I would say Donald Driver Being a Green
Speaker 1: Bay fan growing up. He was great for the community,
Speaker 1: just a great guy overall. He always was around the
Speaker 1: Community's one of those guys you'd see around the community.
Speaker 1: And just a great overall guy and had a great career,
Speaker 1: no question about it. I mentioned your Instagram feed and
Speaker 1: some of the cute pictures of your son. You posted
Speaker 1: a picture from Halloween this year. Your wife is Jesse
Speaker 1: the cow Girl, your son is Woody little cowboy costume.
Speaker 1: You are the world's largest buzz light year. How big
Speaker 1: was the costume and how do you get one that big?
Speaker 1: I don't know where my wife found it. I think
Speaker 1: it was a three XL from somewhere and it was
Speaker 1: still a little small, so it was a little tough
Speaker 1: getting in and out of. But she she got it done.
Speaker 1: We got the picture, and you know, Brooks was smiling,
Speaker 1: which was always good. Brooks is gonna love to that
Speaker 1: picture as he gets older. What do you like to
Speaker 1: spend your money on? The most I spend my money
Speaker 1: on is food, I would say. And then Cass and
Speaker 1: I like to travel a little bit, you know, just
Speaker 1: short vacations. We like to go on like a river
Speaker 1: trip in the summer with her family. We always like
Speaker 1: going down to the beach, even if it's just a
Speaker 1: drive away in Houston, it's always fun. So we like
Speaker 1: doing family occasions and that's most of the time where
Speaker 1: we spend our money. All right, final fun fact, and
Speaker 1: this one's kind of deep. If you could meet anybody
Speaker 1: in history, athlete, entertainer, statesman, religious figure, whoever that person
Speaker 1: might be, who would it be. I never got to
Speaker 1: meet my paternal grandfather. Well technically I guess I did,
Speaker 1: but I was a month or two old when he
Speaker 1: passed away, and he had dementia unfortunately even before that.
Speaker 1: So if I could go back and meet anyone, I
Speaker 1: would I would love to meet my grandfather. Well, this
Speaker 1: has been fun. I appreciate your time. Best of luck
Speaker 1: this week. Thank you very much. That's going to do
Speaker 1: it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast presented
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Speaker 1: Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to the Bengals Booth podcast