Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The I'm Waiting all Day four
Speaker 1: Sunday night addition, as we gear up for a Sunday
Speaker 1: night playoff showdown in the Jungle between two AFC North rivals,
Speaker 1: the twelve and four Bengals and the ten and seven Ravens.
Speaker 1: Coming up, I'll catch up with NBC's Mike Arco he
Speaker 1: called last year's home playoff win over the Raiders, and
Speaker 1: we'll be on the call again this Sunday. Offensive line
Speaker 1: coach Frank Pollock joined me to discuss going into postseason
Speaker 1: play without two of his five starters. And then you'll
Speaker 1: hear from ESPN's Coolie Harvey, who has done exceptional work
Speaker 1: over the last week reporting on Damar Hamlin at his
Speaker 1: incredible recovery. The Bengals Booth Podcast has brought to you
Speaker 1: by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
Speaker 1: With more than one hundred twenty care facilities and fifth
Speaker 1: hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed to guiding you
Speaker 1: to your best health. Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more.
Speaker 1: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since Bad Sisters. At the end of
Speaker 1: every calendar year, I love reading critics lists, such as
Speaker 1: the top ten TV shows of twenty twenty two. When
Speaker 1: I read those this year, I kept seeing a show
Speaker 1: I had never heard of called Bad Sisters. So my
Speaker 1: wife and I started watching it. We've seen five of
Speaker 1: the ten episodes so far, and we are hooked. It's
Speaker 1: an Irish show and a black comedy that revolves around
Speaker 1: the death of the husband of one of five sisters.
Speaker 1: And let me just say, the husband character played by
Speaker 1: an actor I had never heard of named klace Bang,
Speaker 1: might be the biggest a hole in TV or movie history.
Speaker 1: So once again, the show is called Bad Sisters and
Speaker 1: it's on Apple TV. Perhaps you're like me and subscribe
Speaker 1: to Apple TV in order to watch ted Lasso and
Speaker 1: then completely forgot that you had it for the last
Speaker 1: fifteen months. I now feel a little less stupid for
Speaker 1: not canceling. Now let's look ahead to Sunday night. For
Speaker 1: the second straight year, the Bengals opened the playoffs at home.
Speaker 1: They ended a three decade drought without a playoff victory
Speaker 1: last year, and now they'll try to do something they
Speaker 1: have never done before, win playoff games in back to
Speaker 1: back seasons. If you're not fortunate enough to have a
Speaker 1: ticket on Sunday and plan to watch the game on NBC,
Speaker 1: you'll be listening to my first guest on this episode
Speaker 1: of the pod, my Drico and Chris collins Earth will
Speaker 1: be in the TV booth on Sunday night, and my
Speaker 1: old college buddy I shouldn't have said old. My college
Speaker 1: buddy from university joins older. Actually you're older. It's nice
Speaker 1: to be around young people. I always like you. How
Speaker 1: are you, pal, Mike? I'm great now. I know that
Speaker 1: you would have been thrilled to call any playoff game
Speaker 1: this weekend. But what was your reaction to NBC getting
Speaker 1: the Bengals and Ravens on Sunday night? Well, you look
Speaker 1: much like marriage. If your other half is happy, you're happy.
Speaker 1: So Collinsworth getting a home game makes him happy. Therefore,
Speaker 1: the entire aura feel around the game immediately changed. We
Speaker 1: didn't know until that Lions game ended. In fact, like
Speaker 1: that game ended, we're short and postgame watching Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: look around, Lambo and all that. And as we're going
Speaker 1: off the air, I'm handed what the schedule is, and
Speaker 1: so I looked at Chris and said, we're going to Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: and he's really happy, and so am. I too wanted
Speaker 1: to drive, So that's good. I don't have to go.
Speaker 1: I don't have to clear security to get to the city,
Speaker 1: which is always a bonus for me living in Michigan.
Speaker 1: But secondly, it'll be nice to be back. There was
Speaker 1: no way in the world when I did this drive
Speaker 1: fifty two weeks ago did I think the Bengals were
Speaker 1: about to embark on a run to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I got a chance called the Raiders game last year,
Speaker 1: and you know what, now, they're right there in the
Speaker 1: conversation with Buffalo and Kansas City. Nobody would be surprised
Speaker 1: if they repeat and go back. What stood out to
Speaker 1: you in calling that game, that victory over the Raiders
Speaker 1: last year in Cincinnati. I'll tell you what stood out Dan.
Speaker 1: It was that morning. I'm like you, a breakfast guy,
Speaker 1: an O dark thirty guy, especially on a game day.
Speaker 1: I was ready to go. It was a mid afternoon start,
Speaker 1: so I got up early and just took a walk
Speaker 1: into downtown round seven thirty eight whatever it was, and
Speaker 1: people were tailgating, and people were just out, and Bengals
Speaker 1: jerseys were out, and I remember we're still We're kind
Speaker 1: of in another COVID surge at that point, so it
Speaker 1: was just a little bit from being fully opened, right.
Speaker 1: People were so excited for the game, and I remember
Speaker 1: walking backing, this is gonna be a really good scene.
Speaker 1: And as the bowl of the stadium filled and the
Speaker 1: entire day was just this great energy and passion that
Speaker 1: a city dying for a winner would show, and they
Speaker 1: did in spades. It was a great It was so
Speaker 1: loud the fourth quarter. That was a fun day to
Speaker 1: be in what is now Paid Course Stadium. You also
Speaker 1: hosted the Super Bowl coverage from SOFI Stadium. Did you
Speaker 1: consider Cincinnati making it that far to be one of
Speaker 1: the great Super Bowl underdog stories of all time? Absolutely? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: because you've gone all the years, as we've well documented,
Speaker 1: without a playoff win and all of that, and to
Speaker 1: see this team just keep building and gaining confidence, well,
Speaker 1: that was nice, that nice little win. Congratulations, you're not
Speaker 1: going to go on the road. Oh wait, you won
Speaker 1: that game Tennessee, there's no way you're gonna be kids.
Speaker 1: Well wait, you went to arrow Hunt. So yes, it
Speaker 1: built all the way through. And the odd art is
Speaker 1: that Cincinnati didn't come in as the unbeatable team this year.
Speaker 1: So this year has almost been a microcosm of that.
Speaker 1: You know, haven't lost since wat Hollowey Night right in
Speaker 1: Cleveland and run eight in a row here through November
Speaker 1: and December, and it really has a feel like it's
Speaker 1: been sneaking up on people because Buffalo was the hot
Speaker 1: team to start, and then as they went through many
Speaker 1: many things, even before the Hamlin tragedy, Kansas City had
Speaker 1: kind of emerged as okay, well that can't beat them.
Speaker 1: But nobody nationally has buzzed enough about Cincinnati until the
Speaker 1: last two or three weeks ago. Wait a minute, they've
Speaker 1: won eight. I think maybe it was the second half
Speaker 1: against Tampa when everybody saw them do that and go, oh,
Speaker 1: they can do that on a defense that we think
Speaker 1: is pretty good. This team might be just as good again.
Speaker 1: So I think that buzz is now starting to happen.
Speaker 1: So you've got that Syracuse banner over your shoulder, so
Speaker 1: I'm going to test your new House School of Public
Speaker 1: Communication Education. Give give me one word to describe Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow and why you would choose it. I've got like seven,
Speaker 1: only one, all right, I got I got one going, dude,
Speaker 1: And now there are a bunch of adjectives you can
Speaker 1: put on the front front end of dude to kind
Speaker 1: of build that out a little bit. He's a cool dude.
Speaker 1: We know that, the Joe cool, the cigar, the whole deal.
Speaker 1: He's a talented dude. Like man, I wish I was
Speaker 1: talented as that dude. I said it on the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl pregame and it got picked up in a couple
Speaker 1: of spots. He has an embraceable cockiness that's a super
Speaker 1: hard lane to fill, you know what I mean. I
Speaker 1: mean most cocky guys are jerks, right, He's not a jerk.
Speaker 1: There's just like you know, he comes in dressed to
Speaker 1: the nines, the cigar post game. Most guys you make
Speaker 1: come on for some reason. With him, everything he does
Speaker 1: has a cool dude And there's that when he throws
Speaker 1: the ball, you know, he's just like a stunt. He's
Speaker 1: one of those great passers of the ball. And I
Speaker 1: think Dann when I watched at scramble. I guess it
Speaker 1: was the first drive last week out of trouble. It'll
Speaker 1: throw people in around and gaining seven yards down that
Speaker 1: right sideline, and he's like all the way back from
Speaker 1: that ACL injury. Right. He's a really tough, talented dude.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go, dude, and I hope that I
Speaker 1: hope that answers the question sufficiently for me to keep
Speaker 1: my three zero in your class. Your new house professors
Speaker 1: would be proud. We're visiting with Mike Rico at this point.
Speaker 1: We're having this conversation on Wednesday. There's no official word
Speaker 1: as to whether Lamar Jackson will play. He apparently did
Speaker 1: not practice on Wednesday. For the Ravens. Is Baltimore's formula
Speaker 1: for victory at this point essentially the same, whether he
Speaker 1: plays or doesn't, it is it's just not as dynamic, right,
Speaker 1: whether it's Tyler Hunley or Anthony Brown who played okay,
Speaker 1: I thought he played pasably well in the second half,
Speaker 1: especially given that was his first full game in the NFL.
Speaker 1: You know, Dan, there's no one who can do what
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson does, which is the conundrum that the Ravens
Speaker 1: are facing. This is about the playoffs, and it's one game,
Speaker 1: and that's really more important than a contract deal. But
Speaker 1: I am fascinated by this story playing out because you
Speaker 1: want to give him a lot of money because he's
Speaker 1: supremely talented. Look at this offense, like twelve and a
Speaker 1: half points since he's been out per game. They need
Speaker 1: him to be dynamic. How many times has he been
Speaker 1: trapped in trouble and he's scooted to the skates and
Speaker 1: he's got a first down, he's gained thirteen yards, he
Speaker 1: goes out of balance, right, But the last two years
Speaker 1: he has not been able to finish the race. Four
Speaker 1: games last year. Five. If it's a playoff miss this year,
Speaker 1: that's six. And I don't know if you say, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm comfortable guaranteeing him all this money considering that he
Speaker 1: can never get this all the way through or hasn't
Speaker 1: gotten it all the way through the end of the
Speaker 1: last two seasons. So there's a big conundrum there to
Speaker 1: the specifics of this game. You can't be as dynamic.
Speaker 1: The receiving corps is not one of those elite receiving
Speaker 1: corps by a wide stretch. It's probably as weak as
Speaker 1: any receiving Corps in the NFL playoffs. That's not disrespecting
Speaker 1: those players. But Tyland Wallace hasn't done anything. James Prochet
Speaker 1: only caught eight balls this year. Sammy Watkins, we know
Speaker 1: he's bounced around because the top five pick. His best
Speaker 1: days are behind him. And they brought into Marcus Robinson
Speaker 1: to be a three. They could not be faulted for
Speaker 1: Rashad Bateman and Devin Duvernet getting injured with foot injuries
Speaker 1: going out, so you don't have that. It's Mark Andrews
Speaker 1: and a very unique, very dynamic run game, and I
Speaker 1: don't know you lived every snap in the game. I
Speaker 1: just wonder if they ran the ball less than they
Speaker 1: normally do last week, just so they could keep a
Speaker 1: couple of their run game looks and tricks off tape
Speaker 1: for the Bengals for this week that the Bengals can
Speaker 1: go find them on tape. But this is one of
Speaker 1: the more unique running games in the NFL, and I
Speaker 1: wonder if they just kind of kept a few, And
Speaker 1: if they did, that's great. Great coaching by Roman and
Speaker 1: by Harball and all those guys. So it is a
Speaker 1: somewhat unusual situation to have teams meet in the final
Speaker 1: game of the regular season and then in the first
Speaker 1: round of the playoffs. It has happened before, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't happen very often. The Bengals are pretty candid after
Speaker 1: the game last week, saying they didn't like some of
Speaker 1: the Ravens behavior. What kind of game do you expect
Speaker 1: on Sunday night? Right, So let's just start the game
Speaker 1: disliking each other. Let's right, division rivals in a playoff game,
Speaker 1: that's good. And if you just played last week, that's
Speaker 1: even better. If you've just played you kind of ticked
Speaker 1: each other off, it's great. Now for the teams, go
Speaker 1: take a stupid penalty, right, you know what's that line?
Speaker 1: That line's always hard to find. But don't give a
Speaker 1: free fifteen to a team that and either side, it's true,
Speaker 1: fifteen yards could mean given one of those really really
Speaker 1: good kickers a field goal opportunity, and no matter who,
Speaker 1: I feel like, if they threw us, well maybe not us,
Speaker 1: but but somebody of reasonable athletic ability under center or
Speaker 1: taking the pistol and shotguns snaps of the Ravens, I
Speaker 1: feel like they're gonna end up in some four point
Speaker 1: sixteen to twelve game in the fourth quarter. Their defense
Speaker 1: is good and I think it's gotten better, and they
Speaker 1: were not too awful last week. And Marcus Peters wasn't there.
Speaker 1: So if you add him back into the mix with
Speaker 1: the guys up front, and they they got a Jabo
Speaker 1: ninety their defensive end who was drafted and who was
Speaker 1: on the other side of Aidan Hutchinson in Michigan. They've
Speaker 1: got people who can put some pressure on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: We know that has not been a strength of the
Speaker 1: Bengals this year. Protecting Joe Burrow wasn't last year. It's better,
Speaker 1: but it's not great right now. So they're gonna They're
Speaker 1: gonna stay in the game. They always find a way
Speaker 1: to hang and stay in the game. So with all
Speaker 1: this little dislike amongst the teams, here, between the teams
Speaker 1: and amongst the players, don't don't give him a free
Speaker 1: fifteen because you know Tucker can hit a fifty five
Speaker 1: yard or you know from sleep pretty much the atmosphere
Speaker 1: is going to be tremendous. We can't wait, appreciate your time,
Speaker 1: look forward to seeing you on Sunday, and not wait
Speaker 1: to be there back in the jungle for a playoff game. Hey,
Speaker 1: if it's gonna start. If it's just start an annual tradition,
Speaker 1: this is a really good one. I get to see you,
Speaker 1: I get to be in Cincinnati, Collinsworth gets a home game,
Speaker 1: I get the drive. So life's good. Look forward to
Speaker 1: being there. Thanks for having me on you the best.
Speaker 1: I'll take it a step further. Mica schedule to call
Speaker 1: his first Super Bowl for NBC after the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five season. Here's hoping that's one of his future Bengals
Speaker 1: postseason broadcasts. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Paycorps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps
Speaker 1: to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn
Speaker 1: more at paycorps dot com. For the first fifteen games
Speaker 1: of the season, the Bengals had the same five starters
Speaker 1: on the offensive line. Then right tackle l Collins tore
Speaker 1: his ACL on Christmas Eve even New England and was
Speaker 1: replaced by Hakimadenage and now right guard Alex Kappa suffered
Speaker 1: an ankle injury and last week's regular season finale, meaning
Speaker 1: that twenty six year old Max Sharping will take over.
Speaker 1: The timing couldn't be much worse and I discussed it
Speaker 1: this week with offensive line coach Frank Pollock. Frank, injuries
Speaker 1: unfortunately are part of football, but can you describe the
Speaker 1: emotional toll on your group when you lose two of
Speaker 1: your starters in the final three weeks of the season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, the guys have built a bond up with
Speaker 1: each other over the course of the season, so when
Speaker 1: you when you lose two kind of mainstays that have
Speaker 1: been their steady through most of the year. Both those
Speaker 1: guys kind of got off to a rough start with
Speaker 1: some injuries in camp, but they've been there since week
Speaker 1: one and and grown and improved that throughout that course.
Speaker 1: So just losing those two guys, especially what they bring
Speaker 1: to the table from a tangel standpoint, leadership and the
Speaker 1: veteran roles that they really played for us, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's you miss those guys, and you know, guys, guys
Speaker 1: are going to rally around him, and you know it's
Speaker 1: just a cap, but obviously guys will worry on the sideline,
Speaker 1: you know, how bad is it? And so so we're
Speaker 1: hopefully he can come back at some point. Hopefully we're
Speaker 1: still we're still around. Dave Lapham has been saying for
Speaker 1: at least a month that Alex Kappa played at a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl level this year. What stood out to you
Speaker 1: in your first year. It's his coach, his awareness and
Speaker 1: smarts as a as a football player. He's very, very aware,
Speaker 1: very knowledgeable on schemes, not only from what we're trying
Speaker 1: to do offensively and then but what the defense is
Speaker 1: trying to do, and he sees things. It's really impressive
Speaker 1: that he can a lot of times players don't see
Speaker 1: everything on the field when they're up in the trenches,
Speaker 1: even to me as a coach on the sideline trying
Speaker 1: to see everything. He talked to guys in a booth
Speaker 1: to get a better vision, but you're looking at the
Speaker 1: pictures to get confirmation. He sees everything, and you can
Speaker 1: tell you right away, like he'll ask me, hey, did
Speaker 1: we get a pressure on that on the backside, He's
Speaker 1: I don't know how to check that out because yeah,
Speaker 1: because I feel you know, it's amazing because he knows
Speaker 1: the movement of the d line or the linebacker where
Speaker 1: he was playing or triggered wasn't normal, out of the ordinary,
Speaker 1: and he sees all that's got great recall. So it's
Speaker 1: fantastic because that allows us on the sideline to have better,
Speaker 1: more meaningful conversations, to get to adjustments quicker and get
Speaker 1: to the right adjustments. Before he suffered his knee, entry
Speaker 1: Al Collins had been managing a bad back. He'd managed
Speaker 1: to answer the bell every Sunday. What did he show
Speaker 1: you this year? He really showed me the maturity having
Speaker 1: him as a young player, saw him grow from a
Speaker 1: really a green rookie kind of wide eyed even coming
Speaker 1: from a big program as LSU, Just like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: because a lot of the guys that we had at
Speaker 1: that time in Dallas two are very very professional, very veteran,
Speaker 1: a a lot of young guys around, and him being
Speaker 1: kind of the young guy trying to come in and
Speaker 1: earn a spot, his eye opening for him and just
Speaker 1: seeing his growth and learning everything. And then now having
Speaker 1: him come out here playing that role of mentor as
Speaker 1: the veteran and teaching the younger guys. It was kind
Speaker 1: of fun and neat to see him because he was
Speaker 1: the guy getting mentored when I was really there with
Speaker 1: him his first three years, and then now he's kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, graduated, if you will, and then providing that
Speaker 1: veteran leadership and that mentorship for some of the younger players.
Speaker 1: That was awesome to see. We're visiting with Frank Pollock.
Speaker 1: One of those younger players is Hakim Adenigi, who's now
Speaker 1: playing right tackle, and it's basically taken virtually all of
Speaker 1: the snaps the last couple of games. Does he look
Speaker 1: more comfortable back at tackle, his college position than he
Speaker 1: looked last year playing guard? Yeah, I mean I think so.
Speaker 1: I think that's natural for everybody if you've played so
Speaker 1: long in one position, especially as a young guy, young
Speaker 1: player to try to learn something new. It's different in
Speaker 1: the NFL, especially to go from outside the inside. Some
Speaker 1: guys make the adjustment. Some guys have a little harder
Speaker 1: time with it. But yeah, he looks play more comfortable.
Speaker 1: He looks more comfortablecause he'd be getting a ton of
Speaker 1: reps too, So like you mentioned LC, you know, we
Speaker 1: gave him a veteran day's rest to keep him healthy
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the season, so keem guy all
Speaker 1: those reps. So that's that's really paying dividends for him.
Speaker 1: And you could see the comfort and the confidence that
Speaker 1: he's playing with and and doing a nice shot before
Speaker 1: is going to commend him. So he stepped in and
Speaker 1: done a really nice job. So the Bengals picked up
Speaker 1: Max Sharping off of waivers at the end of training camp.
Speaker 1: He'll make his first start as a Bengal this Sunday night.
Speaker 1: He was a three year starter in Houston. What did
Speaker 1: you know about him before you got him and how
Speaker 1: valuable is that experience under these circumstances. Yeah, we obviously
Speaker 1: when he came out in the draft, really really liked him.
Speaker 1: In fact, we Frasier when I worked together with the Jets,
Speaker 1: we went out and worked him out. Frasier did out
Speaker 1: of Northern Illinois, so we were very aware of him.
Speaker 1: We liked him when he came out of the draft,
Speaker 1: like when he brought to the tables and tangibles his grids, toughness,
Speaker 1: is smarts and on top of his football skills. But
Speaker 1: and then him starting in the league is why we
Speaker 1: really were excited to get him here because he brought experience. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we were gonna roll with a young rookie and Cordell
Speaker 1: who's proven that he belongs, which has been found tastic.
Speaker 1: But just to have that, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: in insurance policy, guy has been there, done that, and
Speaker 1: played a lot of games that came available to us.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a no brainer. Really excited because I
Speaker 1: knew that we liked him, and he's played a lot,
Speaker 1: He's played a lot of good football. So we're fortunate
Speaker 1: enough to get him, and now we're fortunate enough that
Speaker 1: he's a guy's able to step in for Kappa. Ted
Speaker 1: Carris is one of those guys who makes me chuckle
Speaker 1: every time I see him. What has he added to
Speaker 1: your room? He's added leadership, He's he's added an attitude,
Speaker 1: He's added a mindset with how the room needs to prepare,
Speaker 1: how the room needs to view the game. As he's
Speaker 1: helping the younger guys, really learned to what it means
Speaker 1: by being a professional. This isn't This isn't college. You're
Speaker 1: not on scholarship. There's no twenty hour rule. There's no
Speaker 1: limit on how much film you could watch or should watch,
Speaker 1: no limit on how much work you need to put
Speaker 1: in outside of the mandatory meeting and the practice time.
Speaker 1: What it means to take care of your body. Just
Speaker 1: having that veteran guy that's been there, done that, and
Speaker 1: just kind of the road that he's taken to get there, right.
Speaker 1: I mean, he wasn't a high draft pick, so he's
Speaker 1: had to work and learn and grow to become that guy.
Speaker 1: And he's he's transferred or passed that along to a
Speaker 1: lot of these guys and it's been fantastic. He's what
Speaker 1: you want in the center. His leadership he exudes, and
Speaker 1: he's kind of in that same mold as cap as
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier. He's very smart, knowledgeable of football. It
Speaker 1: just adds to the conversation throughout the week in the room,
Speaker 1: but also on the sideline on game day to make
Speaker 1: meaningful adjustments. So the information that that he gives me,
Speaker 1: I know it's accurate and we're not speculator or guessing
Speaker 1: or just don't know. We're chatting. Frank Pollock. It took
Speaker 1: a little while for the offensive line to gel as anticipated.
Speaker 1: But were you concerned in weeks one and two or
Speaker 1: did you think it's only a matter of time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's a matter of time. Tim. I
Speaker 1: knew the type of guys that we had. I knew
Speaker 1: how we work and how we prepare here, just with
Speaker 1: my experience that men. Of course, you wanted it to
Speaker 1: be sooner than later. I think anybody with the right
Speaker 1: frame of mind in this business has a sense of urgency.
Speaker 1: I hate the varsity glide, I hate the too cool
Speaker 1: for school type of attitude. You cannot be that way
Speaker 1: in our room, the offensive line room, and they're not
Speaker 1: coached that way. So I just knew with that room,
Speaker 1: having that type of a mindset and sense of urgency
Speaker 1: and the veterans and the leadership that we had in
Speaker 1: the room, that it was just a matter of time
Speaker 1: guys getting in the groove. And it's this is hard game.
Speaker 1: It's a hard business. The league got what you wanted, parody.
Speaker 1: The players on the other side and the coach on
Speaker 1: other side are excellent and damn good, and the margin
Speaker 1: for errors razor thin. And if you're not working all
Speaker 1: three training camp to get yourself developed, to have that
Speaker 1: cohesive unit, especially on the offensive line, because it's not
Speaker 1: five individuals, it's five plane is one every play, you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a little chinks to get until you get that.
Speaker 1: And so it was just a matter of time that
Speaker 1: regards and those guys answered the bill that way. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about this week's opponent, Baltimore. When Wink Martindale was
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator. They were one of the blitz happy
Speaker 1: teams in the NFL this year under Mike McDonald. I
Speaker 1: think their twentieth in blitz percentage, but their third end
Speaker 1: points allowed, third and rushing yards allowed. They're tied for
Speaker 1: fifth in sacks. They're doing it differently, but they are
Speaker 1: as good as they always are. Correct. Absolutely, they're they're talented.
Speaker 1: They've got a lot of savvy veterans along their defense affront.
Speaker 1: They've got really good linebackers that know how to run, read, diagnose,
Speaker 1: and pull the trigger. And then coupled with a good
Speaker 1: solid scheme and they and they pressure win an opportunistic
Speaker 1: times they would want to or need to if you will.
Speaker 1: So you pair that together with talent, then they're gonna
Speaker 1: be informable defense. And so you know, they're good. And
Speaker 1: we've played them a couple of times now and so
Speaker 1: we understand that they their quality opponent and we're taking
Speaker 1: them with that approach. That there, damn Bill, we got
Speaker 1: to bring ready game. Last question for Frank Pollock. He
Speaker 1: played in a Super Bowl in ninety four, won a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl ring with the forty nine ers that year,
Speaker 1: coached in a Super Bowl last year. Did last year's
Speaker 1: Super Bowl run wets your appetite to get back there
Speaker 1: as soon as possible. The Super Bowl run wedding my
Speaker 1: appetite the moment I was dreaming as a kid, I
Speaker 1: want to be part of the NFL. So playing and
Speaker 1: now coaching, it's just being able to come to work
Speaker 1: every day. That's what weps my appetite to go to
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl run. So that's that's why we're all here,
Speaker 1: It's why we all want to be in this profession.
Speaker 1: It's for those moments. So that's something I always try
Speaker 1: to exude and remind the players that at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I mean, there's a lot of ways
Speaker 1: you can go out and make money in the world,
Speaker 1: but you cannot experience this any other way except for
Speaker 1: playing and coaching and being able to earn that opportunity.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited and happy to be a part of
Speaker 1: this and in the role that I'm playing, and just
Speaker 1: fired fired up to be here again. Very well, put
Speaker 1: appreciate your time, best of luck on Sunday Night, Beyond Bet,
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought
Speaker 1: to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals they're free
Speaker 1: to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs.
Speaker 1: Find both inside the Bengals app. Before we get to
Speaker 1: our final guest on this episode, I want to mention
Speaker 1: something that's coming up on Sunday's Countdown to Kickoff on
Speaker 1: the Bengals Radio Network. My fun Facts guest will be
Speaker 1: Bengals President Mike Brown. I always get a lot of
Speaker 1: great feedback when Mike joins me, and here's a brief
Speaker 1: clip from this week's conversation. The players enjoyed victory cigars
Speaker 1: in the locker room after finishing twelve and four and
Speaker 1: winning the AFC North. Many of your fellow owners like
Speaker 1: to be in the middle of those postgame celebrations. You
Speaker 1: choose not to why. I think it's their thing and
Speaker 1: I have a role here, but it's in some sense
Speaker 1: is important in in other ways, once machine gets going,
Speaker 1: it runs on its own. They deserves the credit they're
Speaker 1: doing it. I'm not doing it. I'm just sitting there
Speaker 1: watching like all the other fans are, and they do it.
Speaker 1: And I don't smoke cigars. I light his fun Facts
Speaker 1: interview with Mike should run at approximately seven forty five
Speaker 1: on the radio pregame show on Sunday. I will also
Speaker 1: include it on the next episode of this podcast, brought
Speaker 1: to you in part by Alta Fiber future proof fiber
Speaker 1: Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take
Speaker 1: your home, business, and community to a new level. Elevate
Speaker 1: your connection with Alta Fiber. In the last week, the
Speaker 1: recovery of Buffalo Bill's safety to Mar Hamlin has been
Speaker 1: nothing short of miraculous. He is now out of the
Speaker 1: hospital and continuing his rehab at home. Since that incident
Speaker 1: last week, you've undoubtedly see Cooley Harvey covering the story
Speaker 1: for ESPN. Cooley used to cover the Bengals for that network,
Speaker 1: and he joined Dave Lapham and Wayne box Miller this
Speaker 1: week on the Bengals Game Plan show. They started with
Speaker 1: Wednesday's uplifting developments from Buffalo. Really great news is the
Speaker 1: fact that DeMar Hamlin is not only out of the
Speaker 1: University of Cincinnati Medical Center, but he's also out of
Speaker 1: Buffalo General Medical Center here in Buffalo, which is where
Speaker 1: I am currently, and he's back home at his apartment
Speaker 1: here in the Buffalo area. To the doctors signed off
Speaker 1: completely and they say that now it's on the bills
Speaker 1: and him to allow his rehab to take the place.
Speaker 1: So very positive news for him. He clearly passed all
Speaker 1: the tests that he had to go through yesterday and today.
Speaker 1: Um yeah, DeMar Hamlin has is here, you know, I
Speaker 1: being in the stadium of the night. It's it's amazing
Speaker 1: that we're at this point nine days Coolly, It's it's
Speaker 1: Steve Lapham. I just wanted to mention to you that
Speaker 1: my wife Lynna and I would wait until you came
Speaker 1: on ESPN to deliver an update because you're so factual,
Speaker 1: but you're so compassionate. I mean, the way you delivered
Speaker 1: the reports about this young man was just riveting, you know,
Speaker 1: and uh informative. I mean you you're a pros pro man.
Speaker 1: You handled you handled yourself in a tough situation as
Speaker 1: well as I've ever seen anybody handle themselves. Man, kudos
Speaker 1: to you, man. Dave. First of all, it's really good
Speaker 1: to hear from you and and to talk to you again.
Speaker 1: It's been a while, but um but yeah, man, it's
Speaker 1: I'm just glad that we're on this side of things
Speaker 1: because I feel like I can truly accept that right now.
Speaker 1: I had a hard time a few days ago, accepting
Speaker 1: people who were kind of saying the same things to
Speaker 1: me because we didn't know at that point what things
Speaker 1: look like with Tamar m So thank you. I just
Speaker 1: just doing my job in a week's time here now,
Speaker 1: or maybe a little over a week's cut time. This
Speaker 1: young man, I mean, I guess twenty four years old
Speaker 1: and peak physical conditions that got unbelievable care from teams
Speaker 1: that stepped up and from a medical standpoint, handled themselves
Speaker 1: as well as it could be handled. A lot of
Speaker 1: factors there, but you saw a lot of things. What
Speaker 1: was the most impactful thing you saw over the last
Speaker 1: week or so, or maybe not just one, if you
Speaker 1: can't pick one, but maybe a couple of three things.
Speaker 1: What impacted you the most, colle Something that really hit
Speaker 1: me Monday last Monday night was seeing how many fans
Speaker 1: just wanted to show up in the at that point
Speaker 1: beginning to drain. It was beginning to drizzle at the hospital,
Speaker 1: and obviously most of them being Bengals fans, because although
Speaker 1: there were Bills fans in the city, I don't think
Speaker 1: they necessarily knew how to get to the hospital, but
Speaker 1: so many Bengals fans there and offering their prayers, offering
Speaker 1: their support, holding a candlelight vigil, just kind of at
Speaker 1: the drop of the hat. That's something that'll stick with me.
Speaker 1: Probably the biggest thing though, is, and I tweeted about
Speaker 1: this the other teamwork. I felt like when I got
Speaker 1: on the ground at the hospital, you know. And what's
Speaker 1: kind of crazy, Dave, is the last time I heard
Speaker 1: your voice was when I was in an uber leaving
Speaker 1: the stadium. My uber driver had the radio onto the
Speaker 1: game and I heard Dan Hoord talking about the Bills
Speaker 1: stripping the sideline and hey, it's looking like this game
Speaker 1: might be over. We don't know. I remembered hearing that
Speaker 1: in the uber as I was headed to the hospital.
Speaker 1: But when I got there on the ground, you know,
Speaker 1: other reporters, it didn't matter what outlet you were, you were,
Speaker 1: you were trying to help each other with, you know,
Speaker 1: just some nugget of information or or trying to connect
Speaker 1: you with the media relations person from the hospital or
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be, or holding an umbrell up
Speaker 1: or somebody. You know, it felt like it was a
Speaker 1: really compassionate moment, uh that night. And that's always kind
Speaker 1: of gonna be my takeaway from this Um, you know
Speaker 1: one of my my sidewalk partner who I stood next
Speaker 1: to for those six seven days, Cameron Wolf. You and
Speaker 1: I used to work together ESCN belt work now and
Speaker 1: you know we shared that that time in that bond,
Speaker 1: So a teamwork is something that I think I'll take
Speaker 1: away from from that as well. You know, Cooley, if
Speaker 1: I could ask you, we obviously and for dag on
Speaker 1: good reason, praise the first responders and how they handled
Speaker 1: this situation and the trainers on both sides and the coaches.
Speaker 1: Can you walk us through the moment that you had
Speaker 1: to transition from covering the game to covering the story
Speaker 1: going from pay Course Stadium over to UC. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: would say it was probably within ten minutes of the
Speaker 1: medical emergency or so. I mean, you know, as we
Speaker 1: all when we all saw the ambulance come on the field.
Speaker 1: Of course, at that point, all the red flags are up.
Speaker 1: We know something serious is happening. Um, everyone in the
Speaker 1: press boxes making phone calls, the editors and producers, whoever
Speaker 1: the case may be. And you know, I actually I
Speaker 1: have to credit my colleague Ben baby H from ESPN.
Speaker 1: He was the one who jumped up right away and
Speaker 1: said we got to be at the hospital. I'm out
Speaker 1: of here. He's the first person who actually got to
Speaker 1: the hospital from the stadium, So Ben Baby's hustle for
Speaker 1: for getting out of there when he did. You know,
Speaker 1: the thing that I'll always remember watching the tragedy, you know,
Speaker 1: the trauma that took place on the field, was the
Speaker 1: reaction of the players vomiting, vomiting, crying, turning their backs
Speaker 1: away from it. They didn't want to witness it, you know,
Speaker 1: rubbing their heads when they did see things they didn't
Speaker 1: want to see, and crying. I was like, wow. And
Speaker 1: then see Joe Burrow go up to Josh Allen and
Speaker 1: say I'm so sorry, and I'm thinking, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: how bad is this? You know, I will I will
Speaker 1: never forget that. What comes to your mind about the
Speaker 1: actual event itself, the unknowing, you know, I didn't see
Speaker 1: the actual collision live, you know, is when you're in
Speaker 1: the press box, you're kind of looking at the computer,
Speaker 1: you're looking around, you're looking at TV. You know, I
Speaker 1: obviously saw a play happen, but I wasn't aware exactly
Speaker 1: what took place until you know, instantly the training staffs
Speaker 1: were both on the field and I even saw a
Speaker 1: couple of the the Bengals trainers very quickly, not too aggressively, calmly,
Speaker 1: but but basically telling their guys, think, get out of
Speaker 1: the way, get back to the sideline. So it was
Speaker 1: clear to me in that moment that even they realized
Speaker 1: something very serious happened. And I again, I think we
Speaker 1: cannot think all of the training staffs enough, all of
Speaker 1: the members of these staffs enough, because when you look
Speaker 1: back on it now, it is clear that within those
Speaker 1: first couple of seconds, first couple of minutes, they realized
Speaker 1: that they had to act swiftly in order to save
Speaker 1: this young man's life. And if it wasn't for that,
Speaker 1: we'd be telling a whole different story today. Can you
Speaker 1: imagine the courage that the assistant equipment manager who got
Speaker 1: the face mask and the shoulder pads off to the
Speaker 1: assistant trainer that provided the CPR. They they've been praised
Speaker 1: and rightfully, so the courage took for them to step
Speaker 1: up and do what they did as quickly as they did.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's unbelievable how everybody you know,
Speaker 1: an hour before the game, all these things are talked
Speaker 1: about and you hope you never have to do it,
Speaker 1: but for it to come off as flawlessly and as
Speaker 1: professionally as it did by everybody is stunning. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1: And I mean it speaks to the training. It speaks
Speaker 1: to the fact that UM and that that's these are professionals,
Speaker 1: and these are professionals to step up when the moment matters,
Speaker 1: you know, when when when the bullets are flying, so
Speaker 1: to speak, and you're a journalin is pumping, you just
Speaker 1: you just execute. And that's Steven with what I was
Speaker 1: doing this past week. I I kind of don't really
Speaker 1: remember a whole lot from Monday in terms of live
Speaker 1: shots of various things that I was doing. And it's
Speaker 1: kind of because I got into this tunnel where Okay,
Speaker 1: this is the job at execute. We've got to get
Speaker 1: this fact right to make this phone call UM, and
Speaker 1: I would imagine in a in a much different way
Speaker 1: that's sort of what happened to them, where they're just
Speaker 1: in that that tunnel mind of you know, we just
Speaker 1: have to make sure this young man is okay and
Speaker 1: give them the care that we know we can give.
Speaker 1: Right Coley, Before I let you go, I want to
Speaker 1: ask you quickly about the mood and Buffalo today yesterday
Speaker 1: has to be more of an air of relief and
Speaker 1: just it kind of you know, you just fill it
Speaker 1: into air when you get that good news, and even
Speaker 1: when you got the good news here that it allows
Speaker 1: people to move a little bit closer to normal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I shared this believe it was last Thursday,
Speaker 1: whenever we started to get our first inkling. You know
Speaker 1: that that was actually the day he ended up getting
Speaker 1: the breathing too taken out. But before we knew about that,
Speaker 1: we knew that he was awake, we knew that he
Speaker 1: was responsive, we knew that he was geologically int and
Speaker 1: so the fact that we could hear all of that
Speaker 1: Thursday just you know, not even a full three days
Speaker 1: after this event happened. Um, you know I remember saying
Speaker 1: lanaire that I'm smiling for the first time all weekend. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the sun came out. You know, it was cloudy all
Speaker 1: week and Cincinnati and all of a sudden, in that moment,
Speaker 1: the sun came out. And and that's that's how it
Speaker 1: feels here in Buffalo. The sun's not out right here
Speaker 1: right now in Buffalo. It's been it's been very overcast here.
Speaker 1: But um, but when you talk to people on the street. Uh,
Speaker 1: there's this this relief, this this side, this collective side,
Speaker 1: so to speak. It felt like they've needed a little
Speaker 1: bit and a lot of where they got that lift
Speaker 1: in the city of Cincinnati and the way that the
Speaker 1: people a sign one three really looked out for them
Speaker 1: and their places of the last two days. Thanks to
Speaker 1: Cooley Harvey from ESPN. And here's a quick reminder to
Speaker 1: join Lapping Box on Friday for the Bengals pep Rally
Speaker 1: show at the Wings and Rings location at King's Mill.
Speaker 1: The show runs from three to six and long snapper
Speaker 1: cal Adamitas will be there in the final hour and
Speaker 1: all food sales will be donated to Damar Hamlin's Foundation.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it For this episode of the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast presented by Kettering Health, the official healthcare
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals,
Speaker 1: They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up
Speaker 1: for grabs by Paycred, the official HR software provider of
Speaker 1: the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet
Speaker 1: elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. If you haven't done
Speaker 1: so already. Please subscribe to this podcast and if you
Speaker 1: have a minute, give it a rating or share a
Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan
Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast