Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and this is the
Speaker 1: Bengals Boot Podcast, the Slip Sliding Away Edition. If we
Speaker 1: look back at the bengals fourth straight loss, a twenty
Speaker 1: four to ten l at the hands of the Denver
Speaker 1: Broncos that dropped the Bengals to five and seven after
Speaker 1: a four and one start. Coming up, you'll hear radio replays,
Speaker 1: locker room interviews, and Dave Lapp them will join me
Speaker 1: for postgame analysis plus and this week's fun Fags interview.
Speaker 1: You'll get to know rookie linebacker Malik Jefferson. We'll discuss
Speaker 1: a wide variety of topics, including the time he met
Speaker 1: one of People Magazine's most beautiful women in the world
Speaker 1: on a recruiting trip. If that's not unfair recruiting, I
Speaker 1: don't know what is. All of that is straight ahead,
Speaker 1: But first, here's a quick reminder that you can have
Speaker 1: the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod Bean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest invention since clocks that automatically adjust when
Speaker 1: you move from time zone to time zone. I traveled
Speaker 1: to Las Vegas for a little more than twenty four
Speaker 1: hours over the weekend for a UC basketball game on Saturday,
Speaker 1: then turned around and came back to Cincinnati for the
Speaker 1: Bengals game on Sunday. And it's really helpful when your
Speaker 1: phone and watch automatically adjust to local time. If only
Speaker 1: my body adjusted as easily. Now, let's get to football.
Speaker 1: For just the fifth time in eight years, the Bengals
Speaker 1: had a starting quarterback other than Andy Dalton on Sunday.
Speaker 1: It was twenty five year old Jeff Driscoll, making his
Speaker 1: first start in one thou eighty days, going back to
Speaker 1: the two fifteen New Orleans Bowl, when he led Louisiana
Speaker 1: Tech to a forty seven twenty eight win over Arkansas State.
Speaker 1: With all due respect to the Red Wolves, they don't
Speaker 1: have pass rushers like the Denver Broncos. Second down in
Speaker 1: fifty and the Bengals at their own twenty six, Driscoll
Speaker 1: catches a shotgun, snappy is back to throw, and he
Speaker 1: will be sacked back at the sixteen yard line by
Speaker 1: Shelby Harris the nose tackle that was the first of
Speaker 1: four sacks for Denver. And to make matters worse, A J.
Speaker 1: Greene suffered a non contact injury to his right foot
Speaker 1: on the play after struggling to get to the sideline.
Speaker 1: AJ was taken off the field on a cart and
Speaker 1: appeared to be distraught as he covered his face with
Speaker 1: his hands. Aj had just returned to the Bengals lineup
Speaker 1: after missing three games with a toe injury. Here's fellow
Speaker 1: receiver Tyler Boyd. You know, he told us he was fine,
Speaker 1: he felt fine his Pakistan, and we thought he was
Speaker 1: ready to go. And what happened twin was just like
Speaker 1: and let us know, like the type of player he
Speaker 1: is and what his heart is. Okay, I could imagine
Speaker 1: what he's going through, you know, because I know he
Speaker 1: wants to win, and we just had the type before
Speaker 1: we played his game, like let's go. We gotta, we gotta,
Speaker 1: we gotta make this push, we gotta, we gotta get
Speaker 1: over his hump and win these next games. In him
Speaker 1: going down kind of um made a lots of for
Speaker 1: us to do. We say what we're gonna do. The
Speaker 1: Bengals defense played well in the first half as the
Speaker 1: Broncos failed to score on their first four drives, but
Speaker 1: penalties destroyed Cincinnati on offense. We're scoreless with six forty
Speaker 1: two remaining in the first half, shotgun snap, Jeff Driscoll
Speaker 1: with a three step drop, slaps at the ball and
Speaker 1: he will be sacked. Couldn't get it out of his
Speaker 1: hand and he's tackled at the twenty six yard line
Speaker 1: by Von Miller and Shelby Harris. That's what happens when
Speaker 1: you have a holding penalty and you're off schedule and
Speaker 1: you gotta you know, second and twenty. Now it's third
Speaker 1: and even more than that. In the first half, Driscoll
Speaker 1: and company faced third and sixteen, third and twenty four,
Speaker 1: third and twenty five, third and twenty nine, and third
Speaker 1: and thirty five. Here's the Bengals QB. We've been saying
Speaker 1: all week, we gotta we gotta be good on first
Speaker 1: and second down, and you know there were some times
Speaker 1: there where you know, we were behind the sticks a
Speaker 1: little bit during the game. But um yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: when you're getting some third and long type stuff like
Speaker 1: like we did today, it's tough. And I mean, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, we just didn't make enough
Speaker 1: plays as an offense to get it done. And that's
Speaker 1: what really what it comes down to. The Bengals finished
Speaker 1: with a dozen penalties for one hundred yards and that's unacceptable.
Speaker 1: According to Tyler Boyd, sucks man, it's what tough penalties
Speaker 1: for one hundred yards? You nuver win Ever, sucks man.
Speaker 1: She's got to clean things up. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it was his cadence was done, everybody off or like
Speaker 1: I said, the pressure was too good. They was getting
Speaker 1: jumps on it. But I mean we was trying to
Speaker 1: change everything up to help done. And you know it's
Speaker 1: I don't really know. He's got to watch the film
Speaker 1: see what we can correct. The Broncos finally capitalized on
Speaker 1: the Bengal sloppiness with less than two minutes to go
Speaker 1: in the half case. Keenum under center, takes the snap,
Speaker 1: hands it off, Lindsay started right, cuts it back to
Speaker 1: the middle and goes into the end zone standing up
Speaker 1: touchdown Denver with one fifty six left and a half,
Speaker 1: and he does a mile high salute here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: After Philip Lindsay put the Broncos on the scoreboard, the
Speaker 1: Bengals answered with a scoring drive of their own. They
Speaker 1: had at first and goal at the Denverse seven with
Speaker 1: thirty one seconds left and the half when guess what
Speaker 1: a penalty costs them? Ten yards and forced the Bengals
Speaker 1: to settle for a field goal try. It'll be a
Speaker 1: thirty five yard field goal try for Randy Bullock on
Speaker 1: a very windy day. Harris snaps it, Huber puts it down.
Speaker 1: The kick is launched by Randy Bullock and it is
Speaker 1: good and the Bengals are on the scoreboard with twelve
Speaker 1: seconds left in the half, trailing Denverse seven to three.
Speaker 1: Considering the steady stream of penalty flags, the Bengals were
Speaker 1: in good shape. And when the defense forced to three
Speaker 1: and out on Denver's first possession of the third quarter,
Speaker 1: it looked like Cincinnati would get decent field position. Kasey
Speaker 1: Kreiter's long snap, shoulder high, right footed punt crushed Ericsson
Speaker 1: moving under it, catches it the thirty seven drops the
Speaker 1: football tries to recover his own fumble. Looks like Denver
Speaker 1: has it at the thirty three yard line of Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: and that is the case. And that's a rarity. I mean,
Speaker 1: if there's one guy that Darrensi has confidence in, it's
Speaker 1: Alex Rickson catching the ball. It was Ericson's first fumble
Speaker 1: of the season. It was cutting against the wind um.
Speaker 1: He didn't hit it clean. So it was it was
Speaker 1: going the opposite way and I was just running up
Speaker 1: and um just kind of slip right through my arms
Speaker 1: and wasn't able to fall back on it. And UM,
Speaker 1: you know someone's gonna eat at me for until until
Speaker 1: the next Sunday. Ask for sure. I mean you're a
Speaker 1: guy that never does that, So I guess that's got
Speaker 1: you mean you thry you know your deals reliability, Yeah, obviously,
Speaker 1: And UM, it just just anytime you let the team down,
Speaker 1: let you know, let your teammates down, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: hurt the team. You know, you obviously disappointed and um
Speaker 1: and as a as a man, a competitor, you know
Speaker 1: you want to make every play and um, but unfortunately
Speaker 1: I wasn't able to do that today. Two plays after
Speaker 1: the fumble, the Broncos made the Bengals pay second down
Speaker 1: and seven at the Cincinnati thirty. After the fumbled putt,
Speaker 1: Keenum fakes a handoff, looks to throw He's gonna air
Speaker 1: it out into the end zone. Sutton goes up and
Speaker 1: Hall say and over Darius Phillips for a thirty yard
Speaker 1: touchdown catch. Ericson's fumble is the Bengals first turnover of
Speaker 1: the game. Less than two minutes later, they made their
Speaker 1: second double tight ends in for Cincinnati. Driscoll turns right
Speaker 1: fakes to mix and being rushed, Lobs went deep down field,
Speaker 1: intercepted at the six yard line. Obviously, my poor decision
Speaker 1: when we were, you know, near the red zone to
Speaker 1: just lob one up out there. You know that that
Speaker 1: really hurt our football team. We hurt ourselves today and
Speaker 1: we didn't make enough plays of winter football game. Lebroncos
Speaker 1: down the other hand, did make enough plays, none bigger
Speaker 1: than this play by Philip Lindsay. Here's a toss sweep
Speaker 1: to the left, Lindsay with blockers in front to the
Speaker 1: forty the fifty lookout. He is pulling away and that
Speaker 1: is going to be a sixty five yard touchdown run. Wow.
Speaker 1: Lindsay finished with a career high one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: seven yards on nineteen carries. For the season, the undrafted
Speaker 1: rookie out of Colorado has rushed for nine hundred thirty
Speaker 1: seven yards and is averaging six point one a pop.
Speaker 1: Here's Bengals linebacker Hardy Nickerson. He's dynamic. You know, he's underside,
Speaker 1: but he hits the hole, you know, as he as
Speaker 1: if he was a big guy. Um, you know, he's
Speaker 1: able to show in the gap and bounce out. So
Speaker 1: it makes it hard on on the whole defense in
Speaker 1: terms of we really got to play true to our gaps.
Speaker 1: But hell of a player. Um, you know, he's it's
Speaker 1: one of those things. You're scratching her head. Why didn't
Speaker 1: he get drafted. Not a lot of guys run like
Speaker 1: that anymore either. It seems like everybody's kind of picking
Speaker 1: and trying to, you know, do the Levy on Bell
Speaker 1: type thing. And he just explodes one cut and he's
Speaker 1: he's fast. I think, um, last last week or a
Speaker 1: few weeks ago, they had him at twenty two miles
Speaker 1: an hour, so's he can run with the best of him.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, he's very decisive, and he really
Speaker 1: hits the hole. The Bengals kept battling and answered Lindsay's
Speaker 1: long run where they're only touched out of the day.
Speaker 1: Drift Goal fakes a handoff, throws caught by Cody Court
Speaker 1: the fifteen, He escapes attack, he breaks another, he takes
Speaker 1: it into the end zone, touchdown. Bengals on a thirty
Speaker 1: yard throw from Driscoll to Corps in Brandley Robbie miss
Speaker 1: to tackle Jeff Driscoll hit him, Bradley Robbie couldn't bring
Speaker 1: him down in Cody Corps makes some pain. That was
Speaker 1: the first career TD for third year receiver Cody Corps.
Speaker 1: It was twenty one to ten going to the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: In playing catchup against the Broncos is tough with the
Speaker 1: best one two pass rush duo in the NFL, Von
Speaker 1: Miller and Bradley Chubb. Shotgun snap, Driscoll gets hit from
Speaker 1: behind by Chubb, The ball squirts out Denver will recover
Speaker 1: at the twenty yard line, and that led to a
Speaker 1: Brandon McManis field goal that made the final score twenty
Speaker 1: four to ten Denver. The Broncos win their third straight
Speaker 1: even the record at six and six, while the Bengals
Speaker 1: lose for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Speaker 1: For what it's worth, teams with five and seven records
Speaker 1: only make the playoffs four percent of the time. Here's
Speaker 1: Alex Erickson at some point of you know, it's not
Speaker 1: even about that, It's just about you know, being professional,
Speaker 1: being a competitor, and um, you know he was doing
Speaker 1: your job and no matter what your record is, and um,
Speaker 1: it's just up to you to perform, and if you don't,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously there's gonna be consequences. So we just
Speaker 1: got to focus on our jobs and just you know,
Speaker 1: be professionals and prepare and get ready to just play
Speaker 1: the Chargers and get a win. In his first career start,
Speaker 1: Jeff Driscoll finished twenty five for thirty eight for two
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty six yards with a touchdown, pass, an interception,
Speaker 1: a loss fumble, and a passer rating of eighty point six.
Speaker 1: Here's offensive lineman Trey Hopkins, who started a guard for
Speaker 1: the first time this year. I was very impressive and
Speaker 1: I thought I did great. Um dri was the guy.
Speaker 1: I mean love him since he's been here, and I
Speaker 1: think he really stepped up and he really took charge
Speaker 1: of the huddle and he kept God's positive, kept Gods
Speaker 1: on the same page, and and really displayed a level
Speaker 1: of leadership that you you need and you expect from
Speaker 1: from a starting quarterback. He won't have to wait one
Speaker 1: thousand and eighty days to start a n drift Go
Speaker 1: will be under center next Sunday in Los Angeles against
Speaker 1: the Chargers. Now time to bring in my broadcast partner,
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham for postgame analysis, and we begin with a
Speaker 1: dirty dozen the Bengals twelve penalties and you just can't
Speaker 1: have it. I mean, you know, physical mistakes, holding, you know,
Speaker 1: hands placement problems on returns and special teams, hand placement problems,
Speaker 1: illegal blocking the back, holding, those kind of things. Defensively
Speaker 1: you know too, hands e those happen. But the mental mistakes,
Speaker 1: you know, jumping off sides, false starts, illegal formations, those
Speaker 1: kind of mental mistakes. It's just now you're talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, a lack of focus, a lack of commitment.
Speaker 1: You know you have at this stage of the season,
Speaker 1: you can't be committing those kind of mental errors, and
Speaker 1: and they're starting they're starting to really become an issue.
Speaker 1: In the first half, they had six consecutive third down
Speaker 1: conversion opportunities that average nineteen and a half yards per
Speaker 1: conversion attempt because of penalties. You can't do that. I
Speaker 1: mean against this team with those two pass rushers, you
Speaker 1: never want to be more than third and four and
Speaker 1: they're third one. They were third and sixteen, third and
Speaker 1: twenty five, third and thirty nine, third and seventeen. Come on, now,
Speaker 1: you know you have to stay ahead of the chains
Speaker 1: on these guys. You have to make it a makeable
Speaker 1: third down situation. It was just abominable, you know what
Speaker 1: they were doing. They were giving themselves no chance whatsoever.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Denver Broncos defense is good enough to
Speaker 1: beat you. You can't put yourself on your schedule two
Speaker 1: and say, Okay, we're gonna make it easier for you
Speaker 1: to beat this Denver. We're gonna play right into your
Speaker 1: hands and we're just gonna let you t off and
Speaker 1: thump us. Because that you know, that's exactly what you
Speaker 1: put yourself into. Ten of the thirteen third down opportunities
Speaker 1: at one stage of the game were for eight yards
Speaker 1: or more. Denver had two of twelve the or eight
Speaker 1: yards and more. Because Lindsay's boom, he's pounding it. If
Speaker 1: he's not busting it for you know, fifty yard touchdowns,
Speaker 1: he's getting six eight, you know, making it second and four,
Speaker 1: second and two and then third and short. That was
Speaker 1: a difference in the football game. You know, one team
Speaker 1: set themselves up for third down situations when they got
Speaker 1: there that they can and Burt and the Bengals got there.
Speaker 1: Are far too often in situations that they had no
Speaker 1: business being in and they couldn't convert them. Lap has
Speaker 1: The season spirals in a bad direction for the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Two guys stand out to me for really busting their
Speaker 1: tail even as things are going poorly, Tyler Boyd and
Speaker 1: Joe Mix and Boyd had ninety seven receiving yards in
Speaker 1: Sunday's loss, Mix in eighty two rushing yards thirteen receiving yards. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think both guys are are setting a good example,
Speaker 1: you know. I think their effort, their enthusiasm. You know,
Speaker 1: Joe the unbridled joy for the game. Tyler Boyd's the
Speaker 1: same way. You know, he relishes an opportunity to make plays.
Speaker 1: The dude is tough man. He'll go over the middle
Speaker 1: against anybody anytime, anywhere, take a hit, go to the ground.
Speaker 1: The ground will cause another hit on him. He's just
Speaker 1: I mean the catch he made caught the back half
Speaker 1: of the football had a very like shocking drop. I mean,
Speaker 1: it never happens. Tyler Boyd just doesn't drop the football,
Speaker 1: but it happens to everybody. Everybody's a human being. But man,
Speaker 1: both of those guys care care. There's no quit in
Speaker 1: either of them. And more more guys should should look
Speaker 1: at themselves in the mirror and say, am I given
Speaker 1: the effort that those two are given? If I'm not
Speaker 1: up the anti because those guys, Joe was almost inconsolable
Speaker 1: um after the game. You know, he would trying to
Speaker 1: excuse himself, going to get his mother at the airport
Speaker 1: and didn't want to talk much about the game. But
Speaker 1: when he did talk, he was he was crushed, crushed
Speaker 1: and you know, you know he'll he'll bounce back. And
Speaker 1: you guys, you know, on both sides of the football,
Speaker 1: guys have to step up and start establishing an energy level.
Speaker 1: The guys have to meet. Sam Hubbard, I think is
Speaker 1: trying to do it as young guys. Sam Hubart's trying
Speaker 1: to step up and be a leader and that's good
Speaker 1: to see. And you know, Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: young leaders. That's what this football team needs. The next
Speaker 1: class of guys, the next group to show themselves as leaders.
Speaker 1: And it's easy to lead when you're winning. True leaders.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, what are you doing? The camera's
Speaker 1: not on you, What do you do when nobody's watching.
Speaker 1: These guys were leading final numbers on Jeff Driscoll and
Speaker 1: his first NFL start twenty five for thirty eight two
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty six yards, one touchdown pass a thirty
Speaker 1: yard at to Cody Core, one interception, passer rating of
Speaker 1: eighty point six. How do you do? He was lamenting
Speaker 1: the interception, you know, he focused on that. When I
Speaker 1: talked to him, he said, you know, a bonehead play
Speaker 1: I made when I just threw it up there. You
Speaker 1: know I can't do that. I really heard our football
Speaker 1: team and he you know, it was a tough situation.
Speaker 1: Naked bootleg was not Chubble was not fooled by whatsoever.
Speaker 1: He's pressure on him and he off his back foot
Speaker 1: as he's fallen away. He just puts it up there
Speaker 1: and overthrows his intended target and it's an easy, easy interception.
Speaker 1: But honestly, I felt like in the first game as
Speaker 1: a starting quarterback in the NFL, there would be an
Speaker 1: interception or a play like, oh geez, that's a rookie
Speaker 1: mistake or you know, an an experienced mistake, and I
Speaker 1: was hoping it wouldn't be that many of them. And
Speaker 1: there weren't that many, but there weren't any big plays
Speaker 1: to overcome it. Just you know, you could think the
Speaker 1: Tyler boy catch a couple of plays by Tyler Boyd.
Speaker 1: He and Tyler Boyd have a chemistry. They've already they've
Speaker 1: already formed a pretty pretty incredible bond that's going to
Speaker 1: have to stay that way because AJ Green looks like,
Speaker 1: you know, it could be an IR candidate. I mean,
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton went on AJ Green the way he limped
Speaker 1: off the field and then cart it off the field
Speaker 1: once he going to be able to play again. By
Speaker 1: the time he's able to play, the season will be over.
Speaker 1: So um, you know, Tyler Boyd and Jeff Driscoll, that's
Speaker 1: going to be the combination. And then Joe Mixon still gave,
Speaker 1: you know, tremendous efforts, so they do have like a
Speaker 1: triplet's that they can you know, hang their hat on
Speaker 1: hopefully and uh and see how it finishes. But I thought, overall,
Speaker 1: considering a lot of the circumstances he was put in,
Speaker 1: he was also disappointed in the fact that they didn't
Speaker 1: take advantage of that turnover when Hardy Knickerson Junior stripped
Speaker 1: it out of there and Jill fell on top that
Speaker 1: they didn't do anything. But you know, and then obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, have the ball at that at midfield, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, you know you're third down,
Speaker 1: You're back inside your twenty yard line. You know, just
Speaker 1: ultimately throwing the throwing the drive and reverse. You know,
Speaker 1: those are the kind of things you just can't have.
Speaker 1: So some of it, very little of it was all
Speaker 1: his fault, he contributed. Man, he had way too much help.
Speaker 1: He had a lot of guys instead, instead of trying
Speaker 1: to do a little bit more for him, they were
Speaker 1: doing less and putting him in a tougher situation, putting
Speaker 1: too much burdened responsibility on his shoulders. Last thing, following
Speaker 1: up on AJ Green, he's the iceman, coolest guy in
Speaker 1: the room. Rarely sees wild displays of emotion, whether it's
Speaker 1: celebration or disappointment, But boy, what a sight to see
Speaker 1: him head buried in his hands, crying as he exited
Speaker 1: the field on a cart with a team on its
Speaker 1: way to a five and seven record. It shows how
Speaker 1: much AJ Green cares. AJ Green is all in. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't think you're going to find a superstar that
Speaker 1: cares about his teammates and cares about the welfare of
Speaker 1: his organization more than AJ Green. Most superstar are just
Speaker 1: all in it for them. He's all in it for everybody.
Speaker 1: And that's what makes aj Green so so unique and
Speaker 1: so special. I mean, you know, AJ Green is the
Speaker 1: kind of guy that every dad wish that he'd marry
Speaker 1: their daughter's that he's that kind of guy. And you know,
Speaker 1: we say it all the time, but in this case,
Speaker 1: it's this on exponentially as great a football player as
Speaker 1: he is, and he is walking into the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame in a first ballot. You know, he's might as
Speaker 1: well buy real estate in Florida and WHII is going
Speaker 1: to be in every Pro Bowl. He's even better guy,
Speaker 1: better human being. He was raised right. He's a great husband,
Speaker 1: great father, great teammate, great member of the community. AJ
Speaker 1: Green's one special dude. Thanks Lap. Now time for this
Speaker 1: week's fun facts segment, where you get to know the
Speaker 1: person under the pads. In this case, it's one of
Speaker 1: the Bengals two third round draft picks this year. Time
Speaker 1: for some fun facts with Bengals linebacker but Leak Jefferson
Speaker 1: from Mesquite, tax not too far from Dallas, the so
Speaker 1: called rodeo capital of Texas. Tell us a little bit
Speaker 1: about where you grew up and what you're into as
Speaker 1: a kid. Musque is a It's a great town. I
Speaker 1: love it. It's a very small community. We've made up
Speaker 1: of five different high schools, so we're all kind of
Speaker 1: relatives when it comes to anything we do outside of
Speaker 1: you know, when we leave Musqui. You know, growing up,
Speaker 1: we always used to be around each other at basketball, football, baseball.
Speaker 1: We always knew who the league guys were in the town,
Speaker 1: and so it was really cool growing up. We just
Speaker 1: all hung out with each other. Speaking of brothers, you
Speaker 1: have two older brothers. How much older and how tough
Speaker 1: were they on their kid brother? I had won that
Speaker 1: thirty and I had won that twenty five, so they
Speaker 1: were really tough on me. I barely got any breaks
Speaker 1: with them. Everything they did I had to do, especially
Speaker 1: workout wise, and that's what kind of made me, you know,
Speaker 1: who I am. And of course our dad was very
Speaker 1: tough on us, so I would get the same treatment
Speaker 1: they got, but it was very I could appreciate my
Speaker 1: brothers more than anything because they did give me a
Speaker 1: lot of tools for life, skills and of course my
Speaker 1: physical abilities. Tell me a little more about your dad,
Speaker 1: What did or does he do for a living? My
Speaker 1: dad's an architect. He's worked that many many years and
Speaker 1: planning a retiring soon. So congrats his long longevity with that,
Speaker 1: because without his sacrifice, I mean a lot of things
Speaker 1: that wouldn't happen in my life wouldn't have happened. So
Speaker 1: he's a great, great guy. He's my life mentor. He
Speaker 1: tells me everything, even though we argue about things. I
Speaker 1: have my own opinion, has his own opinions. I like
Speaker 1: how we can be, you know, have our opinions and
Speaker 1: of course solve them like men. And I appreciate the
Speaker 1: respect he gives me. We're doing fun facts in the league, Jefferson.
Speaker 1: There have been books, TV shows and movies done about
Speaker 1: high school football in Texas. Was it like that at
Speaker 1: poteat high school? Of course, we had all the crowds
Speaker 1: and every rivaly game, people would love to come see
Speaker 1: us because not only myself, but I had two other
Speaker 1: teammates that were highly highly recruited out of high school,
Speaker 1: and so people come to watch us play. And my
Speaker 1: time in my school, I was probably the first person.
Speaker 1: I am the first person to go pro athletically and
Speaker 1: make an active roster, so I put that step in stool.
Speaker 1: So Hopefully we have some guys in the future that
Speaker 1: you know, follow my path and or aybody comes to
Speaker 1: the to the highest level of football. You won the
Speaker 1: bud Kiss Award in high school top high school linebacker
Speaker 1: in the country. Dick bud Kiss showed up at your
Speaker 1: high school to give you the award. Was that a surprise. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I had a feeling though. People can't hold water, so
Speaker 1: I had a feeling he was going to be coming,
Speaker 1: and it was really really cool to have that guy there,
Speaker 1: and you know, people didn't know much about them, but
Speaker 1: super legendary. I was hoping to get it in college,
Speaker 1: but you know, things with their own ways, and you
Speaker 1: know you have to learn and grow from that stuff.
Speaker 1: You were a highly talented recruit. Did you enjoy the
Speaker 1: process or was it exhausting? Actually it was a mix.
Speaker 1: You know, it's times where you just you know, want
Speaker 1: to put your phone down and talk to your family,
Speaker 1: be around your family. They want to talk to coaches
Speaker 1: because you knew half of it wasn't real. They just
Speaker 1: want to be honest with you. They you know, trying
Speaker 1: to feed you what you want to hear, not what
Speaker 1: you need to hear. So it was very tough. Especially
Speaker 1: financially going places with the rules and regulations. I wasn't
Speaker 1: able to bring both of my parents, so the places
Speaker 1: that were farther I really considered. I really didn't get
Speaker 1: the opportunity to get the full look at them and
Speaker 1: visit the university like I wanted to. But I think
Speaker 1: it was a very fun experience overall, and I really
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. One of those more distant schools was UCLA,
Speaker 1: and I read on your visit that you met actress
Speaker 1: Kerry Washington aka Olivia Pope on the TV show Scandal,
Speaker 1: one of People Magazine's most Beautiful Women in the World.
Speaker 1: Tell me about that. It was really my mom. We
Speaker 1: didn't get the thought to her much because she was
Speaker 1: with some kids that day. Respectfully, we were like, that's
Speaker 1: perfectly fine. You know, I'm not being into going up to,
Speaker 1: you know, famous people and you know, going out of
Speaker 1: my way to just especially when they're doing something to
Speaker 1: bother them, because I do that sometimes, you know, but
Speaker 1: I don't mind it. But the realm is different. They
Speaker 1: get it everywhere she goes. But my mom was able
Speaker 1: to speak to her, and I took a side picture
Speaker 1: of them just talking. But I never got to actually
Speaker 1: meet her, but it was really cool being around her. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so more exciting for your mom than you. Yeah, very
Speaker 1: excited for my mom. She was very polite to my mom.
Speaker 1: Was I am with the kids and once I take
Speaker 1: one picture, more people are gonna come. And I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I completely understand that. So it was really cool experience stuff.
Speaker 1: Still we're doing fun factions with Malik Jefferson. You went
Speaker 1: to Texas where one of your mentors was a former
Speaker 1: Longhorns linebacker who's from here, Jordan Hicks, who went to
Speaker 1: Lakota West High School. Tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: your relationship with Jordan. You know, Jordan, it was actually
Speaker 1: the first person I met going into UT. I remember
Speaker 1: it being my sophomore year. I showed up to a
Speaker 1: UT game unofficially and I went to the locker room
Speaker 1: and he gave me a pair of gloves and I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, man, appreciate it. Like he was hurt
Speaker 1: at the time. He had tour as Achilles and he
Speaker 1: was on the car, but he gave me his girls
Speaker 1: and forever since then, I looked up to him like
Speaker 1: a big brother and I appreciate his mentorship, his advice
Speaker 1: that he's given me, especially throughout all this process, because
Speaker 1: it's very tough. You gotta have people who know what
Speaker 1: you're going through to be able to get through it.
Speaker 1: So he's a very big mentor of my life and
Speaker 1: I still consistently talk to him. How did he react
Speaker 1: when you were drafted by his hometown team? He just thought,
Speaker 1: we congrats. It wasn't even big, you know, reaction or
Speaker 1: anything like that. But hopefully in the all seasons we
Speaker 1: can link up. You know, he has the family and
Speaker 1: the new baby now, so congrats to him. Malake left
Speaker 1: Texas with one year of eligibility remaining, and you put
Speaker 1: out a thank you video when you announced that decision
Speaker 1: that included some sign language. How much do you know?
Speaker 1: I'm pretty fluent in it. I can sign. I actually
Speaker 1: have dreams about doing sign language that hey, that's a
Speaker 1: sign that you know what you know what you're doing.
Speaker 1: Actually you kind of know the language. So I try
Speaker 1: as much as I can to practice, especially like sometimes
Speaker 1: when I'm in meetings, I'm in there spelling stuff. I
Speaker 1: always thinking what it is in sign language. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of the stuff is the stuff we already know
Speaker 1: as kids. It's just little things that you know, you
Speaker 1: gotta get used to doing day to day lives. There's
Speaker 1: different kinds of stuff. But it's a very fun language
Speaker 1: to learn, and the people I've met just doing that
Speaker 1: is incredible. When did you learn it and why did
Speaker 1: you choose to learn it? I learned it a year
Speaker 1: and a half ago. I really started my in the
Speaker 1: sophomore year and just kept practicing and then took the
Speaker 1: classes of course. And you know, I had took in
Speaker 1: Spanish classes before. I wasn't really grasping it. It's more
Speaker 1: of a process. I wanted something I can actually grasp
Speaker 1: and make an impact and influence with. So I did
Speaker 1: American Sign Language and met some great friends. Got friends
Speaker 1: everywhere now. So it's a really good experience. Have you
Speaker 1: do something. But it's a radio interview, so it wouldn't
Speaker 1: work out very well. You got invited to the NFL
Speaker 1: scott In Combine and we've all heard the horror stories
Speaker 1: about being poked in product, etc. But I read that
Speaker 1: you enjoyed it. I did not enjoy it. I read incorrectly.
Speaker 1: Apparently it feels like it's not a process for the
Speaker 1: player because you sit around for four days after you've
Speaker 1: done masters amounts of trainings the weeks before your training
Speaker 1: every day. You're not used to just sitting around interviewing,
Speaker 1: especially training your mind or just just torturing your mind
Speaker 1: with the things you're seeing and the exposure and the
Speaker 1: less sleep you get. You don't train for that. You
Speaker 1: train to get more sleep and be ready to work
Speaker 1: out the next day. So having four days off before
Speaker 1: you actually work out what was my biggest issue. A
Speaker 1: lot of people get hurt from that stuff. I think
Speaker 1: it should be you fly in first, you work out
Speaker 1: that next day, and the end you could do all
Speaker 1: the interview process and stuff like that, so God can
Speaker 1: be able to perform at a high level without being
Speaker 1: exhausted or at tired. So I think that is something
Speaker 1: they should definitely change because that will help the performance
Speaker 1: of athletes instead of you know, because the comma is
Speaker 1: really and make a break situation. Either do good, you
Speaker 1: do bad, or you don't do it. So I think
Speaker 1: it's definitely something to help out the players. If we're
Speaker 1: gonna continue to do that process, it should be something
Speaker 1: like that, all right. A couple more fun facts for
Speaker 1: Bengals linebacker Malik Jefferson. You were the fourteen deck of
Speaker 1: the third round this year the so called Pizza Hut
Speaker 1: pie pick three point one four. You were supposed to
Speaker 1: get free pizza for a year, but you went through
Speaker 1: your stash before the year was up. Is that what happened?
Speaker 1: I see? The thing is I had some friends and
Speaker 1: family members, you know, people ask for things, and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I get a free pizza whatever. They always
Speaker 1: call me, Can I get a pizza? Like okay, I
Speaker 1: like he's getting out of hand. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I was like, you know, I'm really not using the
Speaker 1: pieces all the time because I got to beat healthy,
Speaker 1: watching my diet things like that. So I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: here go, here go, and I give them to people
Speaker 1: and let them do it. But I ran out, But
Speaker 1: then Pizza had actually sent me some more. So anytime
Speaker 1: I run out a parent that I think I can
Speaker 1: get more pizza cards. But they, you know, they've done
Speaker 1: a pretty good job with that, all right. I was
Speaker 1: worried that there's some fine print that we weren't aware of.
Speaker 1: No fine print. They're really good with that. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate them, all right. Last thing from Malik Jefferson. Are
Speaker 1: you familiar with the term die as steam? No? You
Speaker 1: and Michael Strahan and David Letterman have that in common.
Speaker 1: If I'm saying it right, that is the gap between
Speaker 1: the front teeth. You've got a magnetic smile lights up
Speaker 1: the room. But did kids used to kid you about
Speaker 1: the gap between the front teeth? Yeah? Yeah, I was
Speaker 1: thinking about doing actually some invisit line in the future.
Speaker 1: But you know, mom kind of I get the smile
Speaker 1: from Mom. It's it's her gap. She has those clothes.
Speaker 1: I was like, that's not fair. You have your clothes
Speaker 1: and I'm still open, but you know, it's it's a
Speaker 1: it's a beautiful thing. Everybody tells me when I'm not smiling,
Speaker 1: it's something wrong, and so try it's best as I
Speaker 1: can to put a smile on my face and you know,
Speaker 1: show people happy. I am, Hey, you do have a
Speaker 1: smile that lights up the room. I genuinely mean that,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate your time very much. Best to luck
Speaker 1: the rest of the way. I appreciate it. And that's
Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of the podcast.
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod being and give it a
Speaker 1: rating or leave a comment. Your feedback has been awesome
Speaker 1: in five star ratings. Help more Bengals fans find this podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast.