Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Get a Kick Out of
Speaker 1: You addition, as I discussed the NFL's new kickoff rule
Speaker 1: with Evan McPherson and the possibility that he's going to
Speaker 1: have to make tackles this year. Let's hope it's not many.
Speaker 1: Plus five questions with rookie tight end Eric All, a
Speaker 1: few questions for Jamar Chase, and finally a visit with
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon as he explains why Cincinnati will always be home.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
Speaker 1: aulta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengal Now here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since the Joe Burrow Foundation Golf outing Last week
Speaker 1: the Bengals quarterback held his second annual golf event and
Speaker 1: it reportedly raised more than a million dollars. The proceeds
Speaker 1: go toward feeding families in need and helping children deal
Speaker 1: with mental health challenges. The golf club at Stonewack Hills
Speaker 1: was a great setting and the after party, catered by
Speaker 1: Jeff Ruby's team was epic. The slogan of the Borough
Speaker 1: Foundation is everybody has a responsibility to do good. Joe's
Speaker 1: backing those words up with action and we can too.
Speaker 1: For more information, go to Joeburrow dot org. Now let's
Speaker 1: get to my first guest. As you probably know, the
Speaker 1: NFL has changed its kickoff rules this year with the
Speaker 1: goal of cutting down on touchbacks and bringing the excitement
Speaker 1: of the kick return back into the game. Last year,
Speaker 1: nearly eighty percent of NFL kickoffs were touchbacks, but now
Speaker 1: the expectation is that most kicks will be returned. So
Speaker 1: what's that mean for Evan McPherson. I talked to him
Speaker 1: about it this week. Having a good kickoff in the
Speaker 1: past had great hang time and carried into or beyond
Speaker 1: the end zone. What is a good kickoff now?
Speaker 2: Let's say a good kickoff now is you put it
Speaker 2: on the one yard line outside the numbers.
Speaker 1: Is that what Darren primarily has you working on.
Speaker 2: So it's gonna be a lot of placement ball, I
Speaker 2: think throughout the league. But I think we're kind of
Speaker 2: airing on the side of being too far rather than
Speaker 2: being too short, because if the return team catches it
Speaker 2: around like the fifteen or so, I mean, they're on
Speaker 2: top of the coverage team real fast. So we're flirting.
Speaker 3: With the goal line, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: But I think placement's just going to be a key priority.
Speaker 1: I saw your practice last week working on kickoffs, and
Speaker 1: some you just what you describe You kind of floated
Speaker 1: down inside the five, kind of between the numbers and
Speaker 1: the sideline, but then there was like a screening line drive.
Speaker 1: Then there was kind of a bouncing squib type kick.
Speaker 1: Are you going to have to have a wider repertoire
Speaker 1: of kickoffs?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you never know. You're always looking to
Speaker 2: find some way to kind of test the system and
Speaker 2: different kicks to kind of play with.
Speaker 3: So we'll see.
Speaker 2: I mean, you never know what everybody else is gonna do,
Speaker 2: so I'm sure we'll pick up some stuff from other teams,
Speaker 2: But I mean, there's a couple of things that we do.
Speaker 3: They're on the docket.
Speaker 1: Punters try to have certain punts that are hard to catch.
Speaker 1: Can you do that kicking off a team?
Speaker 2: I think you can manipulate the ball a little bit,
Speaker 2: but I feel like it's harder to control. So I
Speaker 2: don't know if you're really going to see it that
Speaker 2: often Guys trying to hit like knuckleballs that land past
Speaker 2: the twenty because you'd rather, like I said, you'd rather
Speaker 2: honestly hit a touchback than be short of the twenty
Speaker 2: yard line and give the ball. Give them the ball
Speaker 2: at the forty. So we'll see. I think people are
Speaker 2: gonna err on the side of touchback rather than mishitting
Speaker 2: and being.
Speaker 1: Short like the role or dislike the role.
Speaker 2: It's interesting I think right now. I mean, just going
Speaker 2: through like all of high school football, college football, and
Speaker 2: in my first three years with the like normal kickoff
Speaker 2: rule and going to this, it definitely feels strange, just
Speaker 2: because I've been doing the other one my whole life,
Speaker 2: and I just got so used to it. I enjoy
Speaker 2: kick I enjoyed kickoff because like in high school, I
Speaker 2: feel like that's how you really compare yourself to other kids.
Speaker 2: It was with kickoff, and I just hope it doesn't
Speaker 2: really work its way down to high school.
Speaker 3: Because I feel like.
Speaker 2: I don't as a young kicker, like kickoff was always
Speaker 2: that fun one to try to test.
Speaker 3: Yourself and see how high and far you can kick
Speaker 3: the ball.
Speaker 2: So not gonna say I dislike it, it's just different
Speaker 2: and learning how to have fun with it.
Speaker 1: So I saw one expert, I don't know exactly what
Speaker 1: his level of expertise is, but he estimated the kickers
Speaker 1: are going to be involved in tackles upwards of twenty
Speaker 1: percent of the time. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 3: We'll see.
Speaker 2: I mean, you probably know I'm not the biggest tackler.
Speaker 2: I'm not the biggest guy, but whenever I have to,
Speaker 2: I will. But now that that percentage is higher, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm curious to see how many teams do go to
Speaker 2: like with the chiefs.
Speaker 1: Like a Justin read.
Speaker 2: And instead of Harrison and have those extra cover guys
Speaker 2: kind of down the field. I mean, we'll see. I
Speaker 2: think a lot of guys are going to try to
Speaker 2: protect their kickers too. And you could say, like this
Speaker 2: rule could help prolong careers because kickoff was pretty aggressive.
Speaker 3: On the body. And I mean, you have a guys.
Speaker 2: That are like thirteen fourteen years in the league that
Speaker 2: are having a tough time kicking off but are still
Speaker 2: good field goal kickers. And now they just got to
Speaker 2: pooch like a six yard ball down the field and
Speaker 2: so it doesn't put too much stress on the body.
Speaker 1: You say that like it's really easy pooch at sixty
Speaker 1: yards down the field.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lot easier than the old kickoff rule,
Speaker 2: that's for sure.
Speaker 3: But I mean, I'm gonna take it for what it's worth.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna really try and enjoy this new
Speaker 2: kickoff rule. And I know, I think what the league
Speaker 2: wanted was more returns, not and just not to completely
Speaker 2: remove the kickoff rules so or the kickoff itself. But
Speaker 2: I mean, we'll see how it works and how people
Speaker 2: like it and where it goes.
Speaker 1: Is Logan Wilson the logical alternate kickoff guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Logan's actually a pretty good ball kicker and he
Speaker 2: can kick kilgos pretty solid and I feel as long
Speaker 2: as you can hit it like forty five yards, he
Speaker 2: should be good to go.
Speaker 3: But I'll be really interesting.
Speaker 2: We haven't practiced it yet, but I'll be interesting to
Speaker 2: see if it's something that we kind of try out.
Speaker 1: Change up subject. You're about three months into fatherhood. How
Speaker 1: you liking it? Oh?
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 2: This last month has been great. The first month was
Speaker 2: pretty i'd say fun, but miserable at the same time,
Speaker 2: not much sleep.
Speaker 3: But the last month, I mean, it's been so much fun.
Speaker 3: Like I said, she slept.
Speaker 2: Through the night a couple of times, so that's a blessing,
Speaker 2: and started smiling whenever you kind of step into the room.
Speaker 2: So just seeing the smile on her face and she
Speaker 2: actually plays around and just has fun.
Speaker 3: Now, it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: How incredible is it that you and Logan became dads
Speaker 1: on the same day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we kind of I mean, yeah, that idea, right, dude.
Speaker 2: It was the exact same so we had an idea
Speaker 2: that they would be born around the same time, but
Speaker 2: the same day. That's pretty crazy because Gracian and Morgan,
Speaker 2: his wife, they were going on walks every single day
Speaker 2: trying to pop the babies out. Somehow they did at
Speaker 2: the same time, so it was pretty wild. But it's
Speaker 2: fun to see his daughter grow and my daughter grow together.
Speaker 1: Let me state for the record, I hope you do
Speaker 1: not make a single tackle this year.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that me either.
Speaker 1: Evan has made one tackle so far in his NFL career,
Speaker 1: and it might have saved a touchdown as he knocked
Speaker 1: Isaiah Pacheco out of bounds near the fifty in a
Speaker 1: three point win over the Chiefs in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: Now time for my latest round of five questions with
Speaker 1: a member of this year's draft class. This week, it's
Speaker 1: this year's fourth round selection. Time for five questions with
Speaker 1: fourth round draft pick Eric All, a local kid. You're
Speaker 1: from the Cincinnati area. You went to Fairfield High School.
Speaker 1: Your high school coach, Jason Krause said the following, you
Speaker 1: are the hardest working kid he's had in twenty eight
Speaker 1: years of coach. Here's my question. Is that justin sports
Speaker 1: or do you have that kind of work ethic in
Speaker 1: everything you do? Oh man, that might be.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: Coach Crowds pushed me, so it was like he like
Speaker 5: kind of like built like this thing in me that
Speaker 5: like that made me just just go crazy at like
Speaker 5: practice and like pretty much with everything I had to
Speaker 5: do with anything. And then once I got to Well,
Speaker 5: that was when I was in high school, and that
Speaker 5: was like with all sports and really like with schoolwork,
Speaker 5: I was cool. I just did it was just I
Speaker 5: just did my homework and pass every test with like
Speaker 5: a C or a B or something. I never really
Speaker 5: was a student, but pretty much with just sports in
Speaker 5: high school. But then when I got to Michigan, Coach
Speaker 5: Herb and Coach Harball and you know, coach More all
Speaker 5: my coaches and at Michigan kind of like helped me
Speaker 5: out a lot with like keeping that same work work
Speaker 5: ethic and stuff off the field, like whether it was
Speaker 5: had to do with like cleaning your locker clocker or
Speaker 5: you know, putting your shoes down the right way, folding clothes,
Speaker 5: making your bed, stuff like that. It was just you
Speaker 5: know ridiculous. And with school work as well, like they
Speaker 5: were just so it kind of was a mixture between
Speaker 5: coach Coach Kraus with sports, and then when I got
Speaker 5: to Michigan, it was like with everything they kind of
Speaker 5: like put that cherry on top.
Speaker 1: I I asked the question, that's a great answer, right,
Speaker 1: question number two. I read during COVID that you lived
Speaker 1: with another family in order to be able to properly train.
Speaker 1: What was the backstory of that.
Speaker 5: Well, so, my Joey Velasquez at the time, we you know,
Speaker 5: we came in together. We were in the same class,
Speaker 5: and you know he was just a kid who always
Speaker 5: just worked hard, like at everything, and you know, he
Speaker 5: was always in the gym always, you know, eating the
Speaker 5: right things always, you know, had his routine and you
Speaker 5: know he was and he stuck to it and had
Speaker 5: a great outstanding and work ethic. And not only that,
Speaker 5: he was from Ohio Columbus. So when you know, we
Speaker 5: got to the team and we were working out and
Speaker 5: stuff together at the at the you know, on campus,
Speaker 5: and then when we had to you know, we had
Speaker 5: to leave campus for because of COVID and everything, he
Speaker 5: asked me if I wanted to come to his house.
Speaker 3: And you know.
Speaker 5: We had this crazy trainer, they call him Captain Davies,
Speaker 5: Coach Davies, and and he's just like this crazy coach
Speaker 5: who's just you know, he's legit. You know, he gets
Speaker 5: you right, and you know, no Bs is always you know,
Speaker 5: a tough workout every single day. And at the time
Speaker 5: I was stuck home and I just had like a
Speaker 5: little bench, like a little weight set in the backyard,
Speaker 5: all rested up, and it was in my backyard and
Speaker 5: it was just tough to like work out. So I
Speaker 5: told told my dad and I was like, hey, dad,
Speaker 5: kill on my team. Joey Velasquez. He said, I can
Speaker 5: come work out with him, and you know, he's he's
Speaker 5: working with this crazy trainer who's just a BS. He
Speaker 5: trained Arnold Schwarzenegger and yeah he's like legit and and
Speaker 5: yeah he's like he runs the Arnold Classic out there,
Speaker 5: so like he's like legit. But that was like no,
Speaker 5: And I told Joey.
Speaker 3: I was like, yes, I'm coming.
Speaker 5: It was like two much of it, and I had
Speaker 5: just turned like eighteen nineteen, so I was like, man,
Speaker 5: I'm gonna have to I was like, just come, and
Speaker 5: he came. I was I was hoping I was going
Speaker 5: to be able to, you know, convince my dad to
Speaker 5: let me go by the time he got there, but
Speaker 5: I couldn't.
Speaker 4: And he got there.
Speaker 5: I told my dad, Hey, Dad, Joey's here. He's like,
Speaker 5: Joey who I was like Withlaska's I'm going to train
Speaker 5: in Columbus.
Speaker 3: He's like, no, what do you mean.
Speaker 5: It's like I told you no, I was like, man,
Speaker 5: I can't this is the opportunity I can't pass up.
Speaker 3: I gotta go.
Speaker 5: And then you know, I went, and he was mad
Speaker 5: at me, and you know, eventually he got over and
Speaker 5: was cool with it. And it worked out tremendously because
Speaker 5: I came back bigger, stronger, and faster than I've ever been.
Speaker 5: So he was like, man, Son, you made a good decision,
Speaker 5: you know. So that was the story behind us.
Speaker 1: Just speak of your dad to admit that you know
Speaker 1: what you did the right thing, all right? Question number
Speaker 1: three for Eric all, you spent most of your college
Speaker 1: care with Michigan, you finished last year with Iowa. His
Speaker 1: fate would have at the Wolverines won the national championship?
Speaker 1: Was that bitter sweet for you?
Speaker 5: No, it was more like a It was like for me,
Speaker 5: like I didn't even really think about that, And I
Speaker 5: know it sounds like like I could be lying, but
Speaker 5: I'm so serious, Like I was so more like happy
Speaker 5: for those guys and and you know, I wish I was,
Speaker 5: you know, there to celebrate with them and everything, but
Speaker 5: like at the same time, like I went to Iowa
Speaker 5: and you know, it was a part of a great,
Speaker 5: fantastic team and and you know, I don't regret it
Speaker 5: at all. So like I was, I was in the
Speaker 5: best situation for me, and you know, they went off
Speaker 5: and won, and I was I was just extremely happy
Speaker 5: for him calling them up, you know, as if I
Speaker 5: was still you know, on the team, and you know,
Speaker 5: they they treated me like I was still on the team,
Speaker 5: and you know, it was great. Nothing was really like
Speaker 5: bitter about it at all.
Speaker 1: So just sweet, not better. Yeah, all right, Question number four,
Speaker 1: You're lucky to be here, And by that I don't
Speaker 1: mean with the Bengals, your hometown team. I mean literally,
Speaker 1: you were rescued from a burning building when you were
Speaker 1: an infant. You eventually got to meet the firefighter who
Speaker 1: pulled you out of the burning building. What was it
Speaker 1: like to meet that man?
Speaker 5: It was pretty At the time, it was like man
Speaker 5: like I didn't really know how to process it, because
Speaker 5: you like, you know, when anybody like saved your life
Speaker 5: like that, Like like I literally like wouldn't be alive
Speaker 5: if it weren't for him. I wouldn't be able to
Speaker 5: you know, have friends, play the game that I love,
Speaker 5: you know, spend time with my family, and be here.
Speaker 4: Playing for my owntown team.
Speaker 5: So if it wasn't for him, Like you know, I literally,
Speaker 5: you know, wouldn't be here. So it's like it was
Speaker 5: kind of hard to like, you know, give a reaction.
Speaker 5: It was just like, man, like just thank you so much,
Speaker 5: and you know, like thank God for you, you know,
Speaker 5: because if he could have, if he would have froze
Speaker 5: for a second, or or anybody or something would have
Speaker 5: been off excited off, I.
Speaker 1: Wan't be here.
Speaker 5: So like I'm just you know, thankful for God and
Speaker 5: thanks for him, and you know, and in his family
Speaker 5: and in the whole you know, Indiana fire crew.
Speaker 1: I know he's as thrilled as you are the things
Speaker 1: turned out the way they did. Fifth and final question
Speaker 1: for Eric, all share something about you that not that
Speaker 1: many people know.
Speaker 5: I love. I love playing golf, I love playing chess,
Speaker 5: not that many people know. I'd say the chess thing,
Speaker 5: for sure, because every time I like ask him if
Speaker 5: they played chess, they're like, what, you played chess?
Speaker 3: But I'd say that. And then the whole house fire thing.
Speaker 5: Before like the story came out, nobody knew about it,
Speaker 5: Like nobody like Tom Broyle, his wife Kelly Broyle, if
Speaker 5: she never you know, came out and made a post
Speaker 5: about it like the world wouldn't know.
Speaker 3: So that's pretty cool.
Speaker 5: So i'd say those three things.
Speaker 1: So the Bengals locker room is being renovated right now.
Speaker 1: You're in a little auxiliar locker room, so you may
Speaker 1: not even know this. Joe Burrow keeps a chest set
Speaker 1: in front of his locker.
Speaker 4: Really, yes, we're glad to get it.
Speaker 5: So I got my chest board at the at the
Speaker 5: My parents has got it for me for Christmas, one
Speaker 5: of those magnet sets. It's where like the pieces will
Speaker 5: move around so you could just just play on the flylight.
Speaker 5: So we're definitely gonna have to get it. And I'm
Speaker 5: bringing mine in here too.
Speaker 1: So all right, Joe, you've been warned. Eric All is
Speaker 1: ready to go at it with you and chess. This
Speaker 1: has been fun. It's great to have you in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Best of luck going forward. Ye I'll follow up once
Speaker 1: the season begins to see if a chess rivalry has started.
Speaker 1: And by the way, if you haven't seen it already,
Speaker 1: there's an amazing video on YouTube that tells the complete
Speaker 1: story of the men who saved Eric All from that
Speaker 1: house fire when he was a baby. Just search for
Speaker 1: Eric All the journey the Bengals Booth podcast is brought
Speaker 1: to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals
Speaker 1: official HR software provider, by all to future proof Fiber
Speaker 1: Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to
Speaker 1: a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
Speaker 1: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. Next week, the Bengals offseason program
Speaker 1: shifts from the voluntary phase to a three day mandatory camp.
Speaker 1: It's the last time the team will get together before
Speaker 1: training camp begins in late July. Jamar Chase has not
Speaker 1: been at the voluntary practices so far, but he's expected
Speaker 1: to be at camp next week. Chase talked to Bengals
Speaker 1: dot Com editor Jeff Hobson and me at a youth
Speaker 1: football camp last weekend.
Speaker 4: What's it like You.
Speaker 6: Show up here and it's like one hundred little kids
Speaker 6: doing the gritty.
Speaker 7: This is love, man. It's lots of love from Cincinnati,
Speaker 7: you know, and they show it every time that we
Speaker 7: have you a foundation or something supporting the city.
Speaker 1: And you know, the kids love the gritty.
Speaker 7: I think they don't know no other but the gritty.
Speaker 7: And you know, the way we put it on the map.
Speaker 7: Is just a fun dance to do.
Speaker 1: Phone. What you've been up to in the off season
Speaker 1: work wise?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I've been working out in Miami, in Dallas, getting
Speaker 7: on the field, staying and getting some atility, working, you
Speaker 7: know what I'm saying, Throwing the usual.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 7: Just keeping my head above water man and staying out
Speaker 7: of trouble.
Speaker 1: That's all I can do right now.
Speaker 4: Have you changed anything with your regimen.
Speaker 1: Like training wise? Yeah?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, yeah, you know what I'm saying. It's
Speaker 7: it's more catching footballs on my own right now. But
Speaker 7: it's not really much that I'm changing. It's just me
Speaker 7: doing more reps of it since I'm not with the
Speaker 7: team right now and I'm by myself.
Speaker 4: So that's all of this is more reps you mean
Speaker 4: catching the ball?
Speaker 7: Yeah, more catches, more releases, just working the stuff that
Speaker 7: I want to work on and when I get back
Speaker 7: so I can know what I want to do. You
Speaker 7: use the drug use as a drug machine. I'm using
Speaker 7: a quarterback right now. One of my friends is throwing
Speaker 7: it to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: How many balls is yet?
Speaker 1: You catch it?
Speaker 7: I can't really give you a still made a number
Speaker 7: you know, I try to run as many routes. I
Speaker 7: try to run at least five routes, and then you know,
Speaker 7: try to do like basically like catch, just lay catch,
Speaker 7: just get a feel for the ball, getting used to it,
Speaker 7: having hitting in my hands, getting comfortable, And that's all
Speaker 7: I could do.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've seen Joe throw in person.
Speaker 1: I imagine you've seen video.
Speaker 7: What's person. I threw with him in California one time,
Speaker 7: right before we he came down here. Actually, so me
Speaker 7: and him threw with each other already, so we had
Speaker 7: good reps in We feel comfortable about it. You know,
Speaker 7: it's just all on how we're gonna do that when
Speaker 7: we get time and put the whole offense together.
Speaker 1: Now, it's pretty encouraged by how he looks for his risk. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he looks good man.
Speaker 7: I already knew Joe. You know, he's a strong person,
Speaker 7: strong hard working person at that and you know he's
Speaker 7: gonna give us all what everything he does. And you know,
Speaker 7: I don't think I'm gonna tell him, is you know
Speaker 7: how to dial off? Like he told me.
Speaker 1: Camp's following Terry at this point, I think it's mandatory.
Speaker 1: The following week when are you likely to join the squad? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll should be back by camp time. I'm sorry, the
Speaker 1: mandatory camp, yeah, the mantory mini camp.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we just should die with arts. Know when to
Speaker 4: back it off when.
Speaker 7: I mean, you're a pro now, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 7: Like if you fill in tweaks in your hand, it's
Speaker 7: just you got to know how to relax yourself. Sometimes
Speaker 7: I was like me with my hip.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 7: Zach told me let him know when I'm feeling on
Speaker 7: my hip, So you know what I'm saying. He let
Speaker 7: me do what I had to do perform for the games.
Speaker 4: How good do you feel going.
Speaker 1: Into this season to compare to other seasons, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: felt good. Man.
Speaker 7: It's just all about my health right now. I'm making
Speaker 7: sure I give my body back right now. Is the
Speaker 7: biggest thing this off season. And you don't know, stand
Speaker 7: in shape is also the biggest thing because I do
Speaker 7: a lot of running. So those two things was the
Speaker 7: biggest task I had this whole season.
Speaker 1: The youth football camp where we caught up with Jamar
Speaker 1: last weekend was actually Joe Mixon's two day event put
Speaker 1: on by Pro Camps. The Cincinnati based organization that does
Speaker 1: an incredible job of staging youth camps with professional athletes
Speaker 1: all over the country. It was our first opportunity to
Speaker 1: catch up with Joe since he was traded to Houston
Speaker 1: in March. Joe, when you came out yesterday, he said,
Speaker 1: it's all love. I'm excited to be back home. Can
Speaker 1: you articulate your feelings about being back around these people.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's a hell of a feeling for me, especially
Speaker 8: you know about the love part. You know, it could
Speaker 8: have been easy for the parents to be like, you
Speaker 8: know what, he's not on the team no more.
Speaker 4: You know, let's not show up this year.
Speaker 8: But I mean to have a better turnout than what
Speaker 8: I did last year. And I thought last year was
Speaker 8: a hell of a turnout. I mean it was over
Speaker 8: five hundred kids. And to have more and especially a
Speaker 8: lot more fans, you know, parents in the crowd or
Speaker 8: parents in the stands and things like that.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's that's everything for me.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 4: Like I said, I have a lot of great.
Speaker 8: Relationships here in Cincinnati that I will continue to have.
Speaker 8: And you know, like I said, I'm just very fortunate
Speaker 8: enough to be in this here position of where I
Speaker 8: stand to be able to give back and this is
Speaker 8: why I do this, and that's really giving me confirmation
Speaker 8: on you know why I do it, and it's bigger
Speaker 8: than me.
Speaker 4: So I'm just definitely.
Speaker 8: Blessed to be here for all the love and support
Speaker 8: that the parents bring, and especially the kids. You know,
Speaker 8: they they they would motivated me to get.
Speaker 4: Up this morning, you know what I'm saying, and to
Speaker 4: come out.
Speaker 8: Here for round two and to have a great turnout
Speaker 8: like this and the rain rain sleeder snow, I see.
Speaker 4: I see all the kids is on go today. So
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 1: I've been to a lot of these camps. You genuinely
Speaker 1: seem to love the interaction with the kids.
Speaker 8: Yeah, no doubt. You know, I grew up around a
Speaker 8: lot of kids. My mom, she runs a daycare, and
Speaker 8: there's just always been a natural thing.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 8: I got a lot of nieces and nephews as well,
Speaker 8: So I think it comes quite easy for a lot
Speaker 8: of these themes like this, and uh, you know, just
Speaker 8: to see the looks on these kids' faces when you
Speaker 8: know you're shaking their hands, giving them hugs, picking them up,
Speaker 8: tossing them around and turning telling them like you know,
Speaker 8: how good they're doing today. I mean, it's a it's
Speaker 8: a hell of a thing, man, And you know, words
Speaker 8: could be very infectious and encouraging to these young kids.
Speaker 8: And you know, I always once in that position before,
Speaker 8: being that young.
Speaker 4: Kid running around and I'm.
Speaker 8: Glad I get to pay it forward today and hopefully,
Speaker 8: you know, these kids take that and hopefully they straightened
Speaker 8: to do the same thing.
Speaker 6: These guys are obviously are Joe Mixing fans, and they're
Speaker 6: gonna say twenty years from now, so yeah, Joe mix
Speaker 6: is my favorite players, my favorite players. What will you
Speaker 6: think about Cincinnati twenty years from now?
Speaker 8: I mean, yeah, I think it's a hell of a place.
Speaker 8: I truly feel like, you know, like I said, these
Speaker 8: kids are there, there's gonna be somebody from this here
Speaker 8: camp to be fortunate enough to you know, go to
Speaker 8: the next level and then hopefully the level after that. Cincinnati,
Speaker 8: they have a lot of products, you know, especially from
Speaker 8: football that comes out and go to the league and
Speaker 8: be fortunate enough to be able to make a difference.
Speaker 8: And I'm glad to you know, being that they're I'm
Speaker 8: glad to being out there, Like you know, Shane, a
Speaker 8: realm of the person that they look up to. Man,
Speaker 8: And you know, like I said, it really means a
Speaker 8: lot to me. And like like I told you all before,
Speaker 8: that's whatever a place that I could call home.
Speaker 4: So like I said, I hope they just take that,
Speaker 4: leave it for what it is.
Speaker 8: And uh, you know, however, you know they want to
Speaker 8: take it and move forward with it.
Speaker 4: That's just I was gonna go.
Speaker 1: Chad Johnson finished with the Patriots, but he's a forever Begal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Boomer Assias and played for other teams, but he's a
Speaker 1: forever Bengal. Do you think when you're playing careers over
Speaker 1: you will be quote unquote a forever Bengal.
Speaker 8: Oh yeah, no doubt. That's you know, that's just what
Speaker 8: it is. You know, they drogged me when I was twenty,
Speaker 8: and uh, you know, I was fortunate enough to get
Speaker 8: a good seven great seven years in and I definitely
Speaker 8: feel like I came across a lot of teammates that
Speaker 8: you know, goes unnoticed during my success individually and always
Speaker 8: been a person to no matter what, whether I do
Speaker 8: have a good game or a game, I always get
Speaker 8: the praise to my teammates. And you know, this is
Speaker 8: just another moment you know, trying to glorify the success
Speaker 8: that I had, you know, coming from them. I mean,
Speaker 8: it was all a team effort. Always been about team
Speaker 8: and winning. And I've been fortunate enough to have a
Speaker 8: lot of great teammates around me and seeing a lot
Speaker 8: of guys walk out and go and unfortunately I was
Speaker 8: one of the last ones.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 8: So uh, you know, like I said, I felt like
Speaker 8: it was a great run.
Speaker 4: It was a great run.
Speaker 8: And uh, you know, I look forward to, you know,
Speaker 8: like I said, paying it back to these young kids
Speaker 8: and hoping that they can, you know, somehow figure out
Speaker 8: a way to get in my shoes, if not better
Speaker 8: fingers moments true, I think besides you know, getting drafted, Uh,
Speaker 8: I would say, probably going to the super Bowl, whether
Speaker 8: it was a win, whose situation. Uh, that probably was
Speaker 8: my top Bengals moment. And uh in my career of
Speaker 8: being here.
Speaker 6: Where you come back and do other stuff here.
Speaker 4: I mean, I told y'all, that's forever home. Like that's
Speaker 4: that's what it is, you know what I mean. But
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously I have a lot of.
Speaker 8: Opportunities to come out and do a lot of things here,
Speaker 8: and I feel like, you know, if it persists itself,
Speaker 8: you know, in the right light.
Speaker 4: I feel like with opportunity and.
Speaker 1: Right time in I definitely will You're going to a
Speaker 1: great young team c Ja's drought, Stefan Diggs, et cetera.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like it's kind of where the Bengals
Speaker 1: were a few years ago?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 8: Yeah, man, I ain't here to really you know, compare
Speaker 8: and contrives to you know, the teams.
Speaker 4: But I definitely love where.
Speaker 8: We stand right now as a team and where we compare,
Speaker 8: you know to other teams like that, I feel like
Speaker 8: we're in a great situation. I mean, the guys over
Speaker 8: there is you know a lot of a lot of great, great,
Speaker 8: great players, and I'm great. I'm thankful to be surrounded,
Speaker 8: you know, around the team like that that you know,
Speaker 8: a lot of guys are hungry, young hungry coach, young
Speaker 8: hungry quarterback from the young, hungry, healthy team.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 8: So you know, I just look forward to all the
Speaker 8: memories and all the great things I feel like that
Speaker 8: we're gonna do and.
Speaker 4: Continue to do moving forward.
Speaker 8: And I just you know, obviously look forward to the
Speaker 8: twenty twenty fourth season and I can't wait.
Speaker 1: You sit after the trade, it took you like twenty
Speaker 1: four forty eight hours just to process your emotions. What
Speaker 1: were you experiencing?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean it was a it was a it
Speaker 8: was a lot of things.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 4: You know, like I said, when when you when.
Speaker 8: You grow up here your whole adulthood and this this
Speaker 8: is what you know and this is what you are.
Speaker 8: You know, things were you know, definitely tough. But I
Speaker 8: mean it, it is what it is.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying. They move forward, so it's
Speaker 4: time for me, so you know, do the same.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 4: It is like I said, it is what it is.
Speaker 8: And I look forward to, you know, working with my
Speaker 8: new teammates and building that same chemistry and camaraderie which
Speaker 8: we are doing. And it's a lot of great things
Speaker 8: to look forward.
Speaker 4: To in that building.
Speaker 8: And uh, their fans should definitely be excited for what
Speaker 8: we have in store.
Speaker 4: So I definitely look forward to it.
Speaker 6: Did you ever look up at the Ring of arnor
Speaker 6: did you ever look up at the numbers up there
Speaker 6: and wonder what we twenty eight.
Speaker 4: Looked like up there? Or the name mixing up that?
Speaker 4: Any question my own?
Speaker 8: I mean, you know, obviously you don't. You don't really
Speaker 8: pay attention to that stuff. You know as as a
Speaker 8: player until you know it's time to look back and reflect.
Speaker 4: But I do feel like, you know, with you know, given.
Speaker 8: Situation and everything that's been, you know in store for
Speaker 8: me as a as a Bengals player to Begles fans.
Speaker 8: I mean, I definitely hope to, you know, see myself
Speaker 8: in there one day.
Speaker 4: I mean I feel like.
Speaker 8: That's a I guess that's for them to decide that.
Speaker 8: But when it come down to it, I mean, I'm
Speaker 8: just was. I just was fortunate enough to be upon
Speaker 8: a lot of great players teams and uh, you know,
Speaker 8: be one of those guys to be able to move
Speaker 8: a needle force for Cincinnati. You know, came across a
Speaker 8: lot of a lot of great people, whether it was
Speaker 8: inside the building outside the building, and you know, it
Speaker 8: was a it was a great run, man, you know
Speaker 8: what I mean. So you know, as I look back,
Speaker 8: I mean, obviously I hope to someday be there, and uh,
Speaker 8: you know, obviously the cars fall the way it is
Speaker 8: supposed to.
Speaker 4: Our willity that's going to do it.
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