Speaker 1: Hi and everybody. I'm Dan Board and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast, the Prayers for Damar edition, as
Speaker 1: we reflect on the life saving treatment that Damar Hamlin
Speaker 1: received on Monday night, and then look ahead to Sunday's
Speaker 1: game against Baltimore Coming up. Bengals long snapper cal Adamidas
Speaker 1: shares thoughts about his former high school and college teammate
Speaker 1: who is making progress at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Speaker 1: Special Teams captain Michael Thomas describes how he and his
Speaker 1: teammates are dealing with their emotions as they prepare to
Speaker 1: return to action. Peter King from NBC Sports gives us
Speaker 1: the national perspective on what took place in Cincinnati on
Speaker 1: Monday night, and finally, in this week's Know the Fast
Speaker 1: segment will spend a few minutes with former Ravens wide
Speaker 1: receiver Codrea Smile. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to
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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the NFL's
Speaker 1: Emergency Action Plan and the dedicated professionals at pay Course
Speaker 1: Stadium who saved the life of Damar Hamlin. The NFL's
Speaker 1: Emergency Action Plan or EAP, is utilized in instances of
Speaker 1: severe trauma. Every team in the league is required to
Speaker 1: rehearse it twice each year before the start of preseason games,
Speaker 1: then sixty minutes before every game, the medical professionals in
Speaker 1: attendance hold a meeting to go over everybody's assignment so
Speaker 1: that there is no confusion if an emergency takes place.
Speaker 1: After all, every second counts. On average, there are roughly
Speaker 1: thirty medical staffers at every NFL game, including doctors, trainers, paramedics,
Speaker 1: and an airway management physician that's the person responsible for
Speaker 1: the emergency measures required to save a player who has
Speaker 1: stopped breathing. There is an ambulance parked close to the
Speaker 1: field at every stadium that includes cardiac life support equipment.
Speaker 1: Everything I just described proved to be crucial when Damar
Speaker 1: Hamlin went into cardiac arrest. The EAP is comprehensive and
Speaker 1: everybody involved at pay Course Stadium followed it with speed
Speaker 1: and skill to restore Damar's heartbeat before he was transferred
Speaker 1: to the hospital. As I record this podcast on Thursday,
Speaker 1: there is encouraging news as Damar is awake and communicating
Speaker 1: with family members. His doctors say he has shown substantial
Speaker 1: improvement in the last twenty four hours. Damar Hamlin is
Speaker 1: in his second year with the Buffalo Bills after being
Speaker 1: a four year starter at pitt Prior to that, he
Speaker 1: was ranked as one of the top defensive back recruits
Speaker 1: in the country while playing for Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School.
Speaker 1: In high school and college, one of his teammates was
Speaker 1: Bengals long snapper cal Adamidas. I talked to Cal about
Speaker 1: his friend. You were his high school and college teammate.
Speaker 1: What would you like people to know about tomorrow? I
Speaker 1: think you know, a lot of what he's done through
Speaker 1: his career is kind of public knowledge now with you know,
Speaker 1: his his foundation and his toy drive and all that
Speaker 1: those different things. But you know, UM, just really with
Speaker 1: my experience, UM knowing Damar through high school and in
Speaker 1: college and he's just always, Um, although he's you know,
Speaker 1: in high school, he was our biggest recruit and you know,
Speaker 1: the star of our team. He was always a good dude.
Speaker 1: And you know, I was a guy who was always
Speaker 1: fighting for playing time and uh, this is when I
Speaker 1: was still a tight end. And he you know, always
Speaker 1: treated everyone on that team the same way. And whether
Speaker 1: you had thirty offers or you know, we're helping out
Speaker 1: on the scout team. So I think that's a you know,
Speaker 1: an important thing to remember about him. And while you
Speaker 1: keep him in your prayers, could you tell from an
Speaker 1: early age that he was likely to realize this dream
Speaker 1: of being an NFL player? Oh? Yeah, absolutely, I mean
Speaker 1: he uh, he definitely was just not only you know
Speaker 1: as extremely physically gifted, um, even at high school. Um,
Speaker 1: but you know had had a great work ethic always
Speaker 1: as well. And uh you know in high school he
Speaker 1: was always getting extra workouts and always working with two
Speaker 1: tents speed and agility, which is you know the guy
Speaker 1: that Aaron Donald trains with as well, and um, you
Speaker 1: know he's constantly constantly worked with him. Um, and then
Speaker 1: you know even in college as well, Um, just the
Speaker 1: way he prepared for every game and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: took care of his body and I'm sure continues to
Speaker 1: take care of his body throughout his professional career so far.
Speaker 1: You know, he just knew he was he was a
Speaker 1: pro before he was a pro. Basically, the outpouring of
Speaker 1: support has been amazing. The last time I looked, more
Speaker 1: than six million dollars has been raised for his children's
Speaker 1: toy drive. What is that showing you? What does that
Speaker 1: meant to you? You know, that's definitely the the uh,
Speaker 1: the silver lining of all this so far, as just
Speaker 1: seeing how many people you know, love dMar and care
Speaker 1: for him and just just that outpouring of support. It's
Speaker 1: been uh, you know, it's been a men's it's been
Speaker 1: borderline overwhelming. You know, it's uh, and I can only
Speaker 1: imagine how how his family's feeling with just the roller
Speaker 1: coaster of emotions and uh, you know, just just pray
Speaker 1: that people keep supporting because you know it's uh, that's
Speaker 1: still still gonna be a battle for for some time,
Speaker 1: um from what I've heard, but UM, you know, if
Speaker 1: there's anyone that's gonna I think, is capable to you know,
Speaker 1: pull through and you know, be able to live the
Speaker 1: rest of their life, the way they want to. I
Speaker 1: think that's gonna be DeMar So, you are a captain
Speaker 1: your last year at Pitt, he was a captain the
Speaker 1: year before. That's a player elected title at at Pitt.
Speaker 1: Was he a no brainer to be in that role? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think so. I think everyone pretty much saw it
Speaker 1: coming that that he'd be one of our captains just uh,
Speaker 1: you know, for kind of the the reasons that um,
Speaker 1: you know I just mentioned with him, you know, just
Speaker 1: being a weight room guy. Not only just a gifted
Speaker 1: player on the field with you know, great football IQ
Speaker 1: and and senses, but just um, just the way he
Speaker 1: prepares for every game. And that was always something that
Speaker 1: stuck out and you know, something that I learned from
Speaker 1: as well, being a year younger him, you know, through
Speaker 1: my time at Central Land at PIT. So it was
Speaker 1: definitely definitely a no brainer that that he was would
Speaker 1: be one of our captains at pit. How emotional and
Speaker 1: difficult has this been for you having known him for
Speaker 1: as long as you have and been his teammate. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's um, you know, to be quite frank, it's just uh,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's still things are still sinking in each day,
Speaker 1: and um, it is odd because you know, obviously, uh,
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time with him, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's weird. It's always uncomfortable, like get a ton
Speaker 1: of people reaching out to you, and uh, it's great,
Speaker 1: like you appreciate it, but also like just it can
Speaker 1: be uncomfortable at times, like you don't necessarily want to
Speaker 1: be the center of attention and a time like this,
Speaker 1: um and you just want to keep all the you know,
Speaker 1: the prayers and the love going towards him and his family,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's greatly appreciated all the support that
Speaker 1: you know, with people reaching out to me, my brother
Speaker 1: who also played with him in high school, and all
Speaker 1: our high school teammates just getting back in touch with
Speaker 1: each other and supporting each other. But it's just it's
Speaker 1: just kind of too many emotions of process. Really appreciate
Speaker 1: sharing some thoughts on Damar and we're obviously all praying
Speaker 1: for his continued recovery and hope to get great news.
Speaker 1: Suit Absolutely thank you. Kalla schedule to join us on
Speaker 1: Friday for the Bengals pep Rally show at the Wings
Speaker 1: and Rings location in Beckett Ridge. The show runs from
Speaker 1: three to six and Cal will be there in the
Speaker 1: final hour. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: With more than one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen
Speaker 1: hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed to guiding you
Speaker 1: to your best health. Visit Kettering health dot org to
Speaker 1: learn more. The Bengals are not only a legitimate Super
Speaker 1: Bowl contender, they're young. There are only two players on
Speaker 1: the active roster who are no longer in their twenties,
Speaker 1: backup quarterback Brandon Allen, who is thirty and special teams
Speaker 1: captain Michael Thomas, who is thirty two. Mike is in
Speaker 1: his eleventh NFL season, and I reached out to him
Speaker 1: this week to get his perspective on returning to the
Speaker 1: field on Sunday. Mike grabbing this conversation on Wednesday at
Speaker 1: about one thirty in the afternoon. How are you and
Speaker 1: your teammates doing? Still processing everything? I think, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody's trying to get back to what it's normal to
Speaker 1: us since we, you know, have work to do. But
Speaker 1: there's no mistake, like there is no normal heels in normal.
Speaker 1: What happened it's not normal, and I think guys are
Speaker 1: still processing it. But it's good to be back around
Speaker 1: each other and you know, joking in the locker room,
Speaker 1: you know, lifting weights and and and you know, it's
Speaker 1: probably more questions than answers at this point, but I
Speaker 1: think us doing being there together, I think that helps
Speaker 1: WIT moving forward. Could you sleep on Monday night? What
Speaker 1: you do on Tuesday? Yeah, there's absolutely no sleep. Man
Speaker 1: and wife talking. Thank god they were here, just so
Speaker 1: I can have somebody to go back to and be
Speaker 1: with after the game. Just talking just put things in
Speaker 1: perspective as the first time in my career where I
Speaker 1: actually I had any type of thoughts of like and
Speaker 1: as what I'm doing right? You know, it's just worth it.
Speaker 1: As my wife and kids came from Houston for this
Speaker 1: game and they were in the stands. Yeah, Tuesday though
Speaker 1: filled with a lot of calls, a lot of trying
Speaker 1: to figure out what's happening. A lot of guys had questions.
Speaker 1: I still had questions. I'm still processing everything, wrapped my hand,
Speaker 1: trying to wrap my head around of what we just experienced.
Speaker 1: In my loving year career, I've never seen, heard of
Speaker 1: or experience anything like that um and accepting the fact
Speaker 1: that like, yeah, I was a little shit and not
Speaker 1: trying to brush you know what I'm saying, like like
Speaker 1: brush over that and trying to you know, a bunch
Speaker 1: of teammates hitting me up asking questions, and you know,
Speaker 1: I was trying to get answers, visiting constant communication with
Speaker 1: leadership or whether that's the NFLPA, and you know, as
Speaker 1: an execuve committee member, I was still serving. I'm in
Speaker 1: even you know, I'm actively involved in experienced this, but
Speaker 1: still serving. I'm in serving the Bills players, you know.
Speaker 1: But it was in contact with a couple of those
Speaker 1: guys serving uh De mar Reese Smith actually flew down
Speaker 1: and we took a visit to the hospital. We met
Speaker 1: with DeMar's family and they were appreciative of that. And
Speaker 1: I just think that I'm thankful that the Bengals organizations,
Speaker 1: the NFL, NFLPA were just providing so many resources to
Speaker 1: their family because they felt the love, they felt the support.
Speaker 1: So that's what about Tuesday looked like we're visiting that.
Speaker 1: Michael Thomas, what did this episode, this incident tell you
Speaker 1: about the NFL brotherhood. It's bigger than football, man, It's
Speaker 1: bigger than competing. It's bigger than trying to win a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl or a conference championship or the Vision Championship.
Speaker 1: Like at the end of the day, nobody ever wants
Speaker 1: to see somebody injured, let alone fighting for their life
Speaker 1: from playing on the field. I've never again, never experienced
Speaker 1: nothing like then. And to see how we all came
Speaker 1: together once we saw what happened and realize that, nah,
Speaker 1: that's not no regular injury. There's something bigger than that.
Speaker 1: Like I love the fact that we didn't have to
Speaker 1: talk about it, we didn't have to huddle. It's just
Speaker 1: instantly everybody like, nah, like this we're trying, we're trying
Speaker 1: to like come together, we're praying together. We we we've
Speaker 1: been together, we're fighting together because that's one of our
Speaker 1: brothers down there. And then to see instantly how the
Speaker 1: rest of our brothers across the league, in our membership
Speaker 1: past present, came together. And then you saw it because
Speaker 1: you saw that, you saw how the rest of the world,
Speaker 1: how the rest of the US, how the rest of
Speaker 1: you know, sports world, just regular sittings, how they poured
Speaker 1: their love and started prayer. Like that's just how you know,
Speaker 1: Like this is way bigger than a sport of competition
Speaker 1: like this, somebody fighting for their live. This is a
Speaker 1: human you know what I'm saying. And that's that's we were.
Speaker 1: We were, I guess, force to recognize that in that moment.
Speaker 1: And we you know, we don't normally live in that
Speaker 1: with football. That's normally I escape football being in this facility,
Speaker 1: and that's normally I escaped. And we were forced to
Speaker 1: like deal with something real at that point. But I
Speaker 1: just love the fact that we all there was no
Speaker 1: discussion needed, like we all just came together and did
Speaker 1: the right thing, the human thing, the brotherhood thing. Man,
Speaker 1: it just came together and was praying together. And because
Speaker 1: that was one of our brothers on the field fighting
Speaker 1: for his life, the world is praying for Damar. Many
Speaker 1: of us are also praying for t Higgins. It was
Speaker 1: an unfortunate accident. It was a freak accident. I don't
Speaker 1: think anybody could reasonably think that he did anything wrong.
Speaker 1: And yet simply from being involved, many of us are
Speaker 1: just worried about his mental space. How will you and
Speaker 1: your teammates try to help Tea continue to ask him
Speaker 1: if he's all right, which it will be like paying
Speaker 1: a little close attention. And I'm saying that with a
Speaker 1: smile and like a smirk because T's are naturally quiet,
Speaker 1: you know, individual he has a different personality and you
Speaker 1: know he's unique in that way. So to say, oh,
Speaker 1: well he's being quiet or he's being to himself like na,
Speaker 1: that's actually kind of normal, you know. So it's like nah,
Speaker 1: but spending a little bit extra time like saying what
Speaker 1: up going by checking on him and I think guys
Speaker 1: are naturally doing that. Don't want to make it, you know,
Speaker 1: too crazy, want to keep some type of normal seeing it,
Speaker 1: but like just letting him know we're here from him,
Speaker 1: and clearly there was nothing menacing or you know, like malicious.
Speaker 1: There was nothing malicious or ill you know intended like
Speaker 1: play with T the more number. That was a football play.
Speaker 1: That was just a and that to be honest, just
Speaker 1: for a second, that's kind of what shaking everybody too,
Speaker 1: because that was just a football play and that's what happened.
Speaker 1: And it's like so down we were gonna continue to like,
Speaker 1: you know, put our arms around tea and like brother, man,
Speaker 1: you know what I say, you are brother, We got you,
Speaker 1: like you know, you didn't do nothing wrong, the Bills
Speaker 1: all and so much love and support for everyone in
Speaker 1: that Bills organization, the players, man. Like, we've been in
Speaker 1: constant conversation, communication and having conversations with them, your regards
Speaker 1: if you had a relationship with guys, even the ones
Speaker 1: we didn't. Everybody's still just been texting, hitting up, hitting
Speaker 1: each other up on social media, CoA and just let
Speaker 1: everybody letting each other know. No one you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. That was nobody's fault and we're still trying
Speaker 1: to understand what happened, you know. So it's as being
Speaker 1: there for our brothers, being there for each other. Man.
Speaker 1: That's it. As a Bengals fan, I'm proud to have,
Speaker 1: proud to have Zach Taylor as our head coach. After
Speaker 1: seeing how he conducted himself, after seeing him go to
Speaker 1: the hospital to visit tomorrow that night. Does this incident
Speaker 1: st a light on your head, coach? Absolutely? I Mean
Speaker 1: there's so many things you can try to a ways
Speaker 1: you can try to describe it and say, oh, this
Speaker 1: is the reason why he's such a great head coach,
Speaker 1: and this is the reason why he took that approach.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a former player, he understand like that
Speaker 1: aspect of it in the need to have a more
Speaker 1: humane and personally, you know, personable reaction to what's happening
Speaker 1: out there. Or you know, he's just a great guy
Speaker 1: and he's just a great human being, or you know
Speaker 1: he's he's passing, he's a players Like that's just who
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor is. And he knew and understood the magnitude
Speaker 1: of everything where football did not matter in that moment.
Speaker 1: That was a son, that was an older brother, that
Speaker 1: was a teammate that was laying down, They're fighting for
Speaker 1: his life, and at that point football did not matter
Speaker 1: no more. And he knew as a head coach, if
Speaker 1: I looked at as a leader of this organization, as
Speaker 1: this team to face whatever, it's my job if I
Speaker 1: got a team coming to my you know, my house,
Speaker 1: my stadium, that I stand up and say, like, nah,
Speaker 1: we care that every single person in here, you know,
Speaker 1: new came to compete. They're leaving out of here healthy
Speaker 1: and if they can't, I'm gonna make sure that I
Speaker 1: show y'all enough respect to come to y'all locker room
Speaker 1: and say what do y'all want to do? Oh, he
Speaker 1: has to spend the night over here and y'all going
Speaker 1: back home. I'm gonna go I'm gonna treat like you
Speaker 1: one of my players. I'm gonna go see you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like, that's who Zach Taylor is. So
Speaker 1: there's nothing but respect. I mean, he had that most
Speaker 1: respect for him before, but that's just you know, adds
Speaker 1: on to who he is as you just know that
Speaker 1: in the immediate aftermath, the game is insignificant, but player
Speaker 1: is going to continue on Sunday. It's an important game
Speaker 1: for the bank. You're taking on a division rival, you
Speaker 1: are still in Super Bowl contention. You know, how do
Speaker 1: you approach practicing and playing this way? I mean, again, Dan,
Speaker 1: with so many questions that we don't have answers too.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, we know that life
Speaker 1: continues to go like this, sport continues to go, and
Speaker 1: all we can do is keep pressing forward and we're
Speaker 1: gonna find We're gonna find out what that looks like together.
Speaker 1: We're gonna figure that out together. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I think there's something to it of us,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever that looks like, doing it together and
Speaker 1: getting back to our routine. It allows us to not
Speaker 1: take our minds off of it, but just grow and
Speaker 1: go through that process together to try to find healing
Speaker 1: in it. And if we have questions, I love the
Speaker 1: fact that this organization has provided so many resources, the NFLP,
Speaker 1: the NFL, They've provided so many resources for us to
Speaker 1: just even have open space to talk, like ask a question,
Speaker 1: even if we don't have to answer and ask a question,
Speaker 1: because I know y'all feeling that, and I think that
Speaker 1: allows us to move forward and get and prepare for
Speaker 1: these games. And again, yeah, we're experiencing on the field,
Speaker 1: but shoot, everybody else was watching. They're experiencing it too.
Speaker 1: They got the same questions too, And we know that
Speaker 1: just because of our union and the calls we've had
Speaker 1: just in these last twenty four forty eight hours, and guys,
Speaker 1: guys are feeling the same thing around the league. So
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, we got an important game, but nothing's
Speaker 1: more important than the more fighting for his life and
Speaker 1: us trying to figure out when what happened in two
Speaker 1: like is he gonna be okay, we didn't get that. Oh,
Speaker 1: the guy got injured, but he walked off on his own.
Speaker 1: The guy had to get on the court, but he
Speaker 1: gave us a thumbs up. We haven't gotten that, and
Speaker 1: normally that's what gives guys a strength to keep fighting,
Speaker 1: to keep putting that, putting it on the line out
Speaker 1: there on the field. We haven't gotten it. So the
Speaker 1: prayers are going to continue to go. We just want
Speaker 1: to see him continue fight and be trending into a
Speaker 1: positive direction when it comes to this healing. But our
Speaker 1: prayers they're going out for him, his family, and we're
Speaker 1: just gonna keep finding a way whatever that looks like. Together.
Speaker 1: I said at the beginning of the broadcast on Monday
Speaker 1: night that it didn't feel like just a playoff atmosphere.
Speaker 1: To me, it felt like a Super Bowl atmosphere. It
Speaker 1: felt like the Olympic opening ceremonies. And you guys came
Speaker 1: out and it looked like you were going to play
Speaker 1: your absolute best game. I think by my math, that
Speaker 1: was the one and twenty fifth NFL game that you've
Speaker 1: played in. Had you experienced anything like that in the
Speaker 1: regular season? Like though, you, like you said, there, we
Speaker 1: approach and that's what I love about this team. We
Speaker 1: approach everything like, nah, it's just another game. We got
Speaker 1: to go through our process and be who we are
Speaker 1: and just do what we do. Guys knew what that
Speaker 1: can be. And I love the fact that everybody was
Speaker 1: executing at a high level. Well, even if we gave
Speaker 1: up a play, there was something great either somebody you know,
Speaker 1: being physical coming off the ball, like making a play,
Speaker 1: making a block, like everybody kind of raised they level
Speaker 1: a little bit. And it definitely did have any electric feel.
Speaker 1: It definitely did have that Super Bowl type just level
Speaker 1: of concentration, level of focused, level of execution. So for
Speaker 1: what is worth whatever it ends up being called a
Speaker 1: dress rehearsal by no no contest whatever, Like I think,
Speaker 1: I think we got the answers we wanted. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate your willingness to talk about this and your thoughtfulness.
Speaker 1: We are all thinking about you, guys. Obviously our prayers
Speaker 1: are mostly centered around tomorrow Hamlin, but we're thinking about
Speaker 1: all of you and we wish you all the best
Speaker 1: going forward. Thank you, Dan, appreciate it Man that we're
Speaker 1: praying for his family too. Thank you for having me
Speaker 1: the Thos Booth Podcast. It's brought to you by pay.
Speaker 1: More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help
Speaker 1: them recruit, pay engage, and retain employees. Learn more at
Speaker 1: paycorps dot com. The NFL has not announced if the
Speaker 1: Bengals game against Buffalo will be continued. The most likely
Speaker 1: scenario seems to be that the game will be declared
Speaker 1: no contest and that the Bengals and Bills will play
Speaker 1: one fewer game than everybody else. If that's the case,
Speaker 1: the Bengals would no longer have a shot at the
Speaker 1: number one seed in the AFC, but could still be
Speaker 1: the number two seed if they beat Baltimore and Buffalo
Speaker 1: loses to New England. That's a big deal because the
Speaker 1: number two seed gets a second home game if it
Speaker 1: wins its playoff opener. If the Bengals Bills game is
Speaker 1: declared no contest and Buffalo beats New England on Sunday,
Speaker 1: then Cincinnati would be the AFC North champion and the
Speaker 1: number three seed in the AFC, regardless us of their
Speaker 1: game against the Ravens, because they would have a better
Speaker 1: winning percentage than Baltimore. If they're the number two seed,
Speaker 1: the Bengals would potentially host the Dolphins, Patriots, or Steelers.
Speaker 1: If they're the number three seed, they would host the
Speaker 1: Ravens or the Chargers for the national perspective on last
Speaker 1: week's events, we turned to Peter King from NBC Sports.
Speaker 1: He's been covering the NFL for nearly forty years, beginning
Speaker 1: with a stint on the Bengals beat for the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Inquirer back in nineteen eighty four. Peter, what did you
Speaker 1: think of how the NFL and the two teams handled
Speaker 1: the terrifying situation on Monday night. I don't know how
Speaker 1: they could have handled it a lot better. The only
Speaker 1: thing they probably could have done is called the game
Speaker 1: a little bit sooner. But you know, I do think
Speaker 1: there was a there was consideration on behalf of the
Speaker 1: league that they wanted to talk to everybody involved. They
Speaker 1: wanted to talk to the union, they wanted to talk
Speaker 1: to the officials, they wanted to talk to the coaches.
Speaker 1: They wanted to talk internally about what not playing this
Speaker 1: game means. I don't know enough Dan to say whether
Speaker 1: indeed somebody inside the league told both teams, although I
Speaker 1: doubt that this happened. We're picking up this game in
Speaker 1: five minutes. Zach Taylor basically denied it, you know, in
Speaker 1: his remarks to the press on Wednesday, so I certainly
Speaker 1: take him at his word, and so I think, Dan,
Speaker 1: I'm reminded of something when people would be critical of
Speaker 1: the fact that it took sixty six minutes from the
Speaker 1: time of the injury to the time that the game
Speaker 1: was officially called. I think one thing I'm reminded of
Speaker 1: is in twenty twenty when there was a COVID crisis
Speaker 1: around the league and it was almost week to week
Speaker 1: when you wondered how many games we're going to get called,
Speaker 1: how many games would be played, wouldn't be played? All that.
Speaker 1: I'm just reminded of the fact that someone told me
Speaker 1: inside the league they're going to be multiple times this
Speaker 1: year where you're going to say, what are they doing?
Speaker 1: And just keep in mind Roger Goodell likes to wait
Speaker 1: until either the last minute or until he's not going
Speaker 1: to make a decision until he has to, okay, And
Speaker 1: so that is when I think about that. I think
Speaker 1: about this situation. You're going to hear from everybody, and
Speaker 1: you're just going to sit there and you're gonna say, Okay,
Speaker 1: what's the best decision. And obviously I think you and
Speaker 1: I and most observers thought about a half hour into this.
Speaker 1: As soon as I heard the three letters CPR. You know,
Speaker 1: you know, a guy's heart stopped, it's pretty hard to
Speaker 1: ask those players to continue to play after that. Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor showed great compassion in the way he interacted with
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott agreed. He went to the hospital that night
Speaker 1: to visit Tamar Hamlin. Joe Burrow led the Bengals captains
Speaker 1: to the other side of the stadium to visit with
Speaker 1: the Buffalo captains. What did you think of the leadership
Speaker 1: displayed by those two guys in particular? Fantastic. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, as crazy as it sounds, I almost get
Speaker 1: emotional when I think about both guys, And it was
Speaker 1: clear that they were the adults in the room. And
Speaker 1: you know what Sean McDermott said to Zach Taylor when
Speaker 1: Taylor walked across the field, and basically, Sean McDermott said,
Speaker 1: I belong with my player. I can't coach this game.
Speaker 1: That's basically all you needed to know about the kind
Speaker 1: of person Sean McDermott is. And and for Zach Taylor,
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor's whole attitude was, Hey, listen, whatever you want,
Speaker 1: We're going to support. And I mean, I'm very oversimplifying
Speaker 1: but I don't know how you'd want two better men
Speaker 1: leading your programs. Do you think the game should be completed? No,
Speaker 1: I don't think it will be completed, nor do I
Speaker 1: think it should be I think it is borderline cruel
Speaker 1: asking the Buffalo Bills to return to Cincinnati to play
Speaker 1: this game on the field where their teammate was felled
Speaker 1: and very nearly died. So I don't think it should
Speaker 1: be played, and I don't think it will be played.
Speaker 1: So let's get to the Bengals going into Sunday's game
Speaker 1: against Baltimore. They've won seventh straight, they were off to
Speaker 1: a tremendous start on Monday night against the Bills. How
Speaker 1: do you think they stack up right now among the
Speaker 1: NFL's elite. I think, right now, at this moment, the
Speaker 1: two best teams in football or Cincinnati in San Francisco. Now,
Speaker 1: on a given day, Kansas City could beat him both
Speaker 1: by two touchdowns. You know, on a given day, Buffalo
Speaker 1: could beat him both. But I'm just saying that right now.
Speaker 1: To me, if I were one of those power rankings people,
Speaker 1: I would have San Francisco or Cincinnati as the number
Speaker 1: one team in football. And I kind of feel for
Speaker 1: the Ravens. I honestly do I feel for the Ravens
Speaker 1: because it's clear that five weeks and two days ago,
Speaker 1: or however many days it's been now, that they did
Speaker 1: not think that Lamar Jackson's injury was going to end
Speaker 1: his season. And again, I don't know if he's going
Speaker 1: to play on Sunday or not, but it sure looks
Speaker 1: doubtful that he will play and without without Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: on Sunday. It's not that I don't give him any chance.
Speaker 1: I think it would be have to be an absolutely
Speaker 1: heroic performance by the running game of the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 1: at also a defense that has at times really been
Speaker 1: able to be gouged this year for them to have
Speaker 1: a good chance to win. You might not be a
Speaker 1: power rankings person, but you are an MVP candidate rankings person,
Speaker 1: and you're a Football Morning in America column. You've had
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow a listed fourth, I believe for the last
Speaker 1: few weeks. Why fourth? And were you looking at Monday's
Speaker 1: game as a possible opportunity for him to jump to
Speaker 1: the top of the list without any question? If Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow had been able to play sixty minutes in this game,
Speaker 1: or the game had been able to be finished and
Speaker 1: Cincinnati won the game. There's a chance I can't. It's
Speaker 1: so hypothetical. I would need to see the game. But
Speaker 1: part of me would have been thinking, well, you know,
Speaker 1: he ended the season winning whatever would be, what nine
Speaker 1: in a row or don't I forget what it would
Speaker 1: be that they would have won at the end. Plus
Speaker 1: he would have ended the season with two of those
Speaker 1: wins being over two of the top four candidates for
Speaker 1: the MVP. And so I would have given significant consideration
Speaker 1: to voting for Burrow. And again, look, I still have
Speaker 1: some thought to give, but my gut feeling is right
Speaker 1: now that, barring a major change this weekend, I'm probably
Speaker 1: going to vote for Patrick Mahomes number one. Now keep
Speaker 1: in mind this is a different year voting for the
Speaker 1: Most Valuable Player. In the past, the fifty media members
Speaker 1: who have been handed a ballot I happen to be
Speaker 1: one of them, have voted for one person for the
Speaker 1: Most Valuable Player, the Associated S, which is the keeper
Speaker 1: of the Holy Grail. This year, change the rules for
Speaker 1: voting and they are going to have us vote for
Speaker 1: five people in order so the number one person on
Speaker 1: your list is going to get ten points. The number
Speaker 1: two person on your list is going to get five points.
Speaker 1: So there's a tremendous amount of importance given to the
Speaker 1: person who you have number one on your list. So
Speaker 1: it's going to be very hard for the person who
Speaker 1: gets the magic. If one person gets you know, basically
Speaker 1: gets twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight first place votes,
Speaker 1: it's going to be very hard to beat that person.
Speaker 1: So look, I think as of now, mahomes as my
Speaker 1: leader in the clubhouse, and let's see what happens in
Speaker 1: week eighteen. We're visiting with Peter King from NBC Sports.
Speaker 1: The Bengals have some of the great young stars in
Speaker 1: the NFL right now, and Burrow and Jamar Chase and
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon and others. Is there anybody on this team
Speaker 1: or anything about this team that you think has flown
Speaker 1: under the radar and deserves more attention? Louie and Rumo
Speaker 1: and I don't know what's going to happen in the postseason.
Speaker 1: NFL owners love to hire offensive coaches. Everybody wants to
Speaker 1: have the next Sean McVeagh, wants to hire the next
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh. But I do think there are some there
Speaker 1: would be some reason to really try to really do
Speaker 1: their best to in essence say that this year, maybe
Speaker 1: what we should do is we should consider the best
Speaker 1: coaches overall. Okay, and I think this year, I think
Speaker 1: it would be unjust if people like Demiko Ryan's of
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers, Leslie Frasier the Buffalo Bills, lou
Speaker 1: An Arumo of the Cincinnati Bengals, if those guys don't
Speaker 1: get serious and significant consideration when head coaching opportunities are
Speaker 1: available after the season. Peter, the Chiefs have been a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl contender since Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback.
Speaker 1: By and large throughout the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: they have been a Super Bowl contender just about every year.
Speaker 1: Do you see that in the future for the Bengals
Speaker 1: as long as Joe Burrows their quarterback. Yes, but I'll
Speaker 1: give you an asterisk. I think what has happened to
Speaker 1: this team right now? I remember thirteen months ago or so,
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit longer, I was in Cincinnati and
Speaker 1: had an extended conversation with Mike Brown about about Burrow
Speaker 1: and about about his team basically, but a lot of
Speaker 1: it was about Burrow. And you know, when I asked
Speaker 1: him about the reports that I considered quite frankly, pretty
Speaker 1: reliable that Miami would have traded five number one draft
Speaker 1: choices for the right to pick Joe Burrow or the
Speaker 1: equivalent of five number one draft choices, Mike Brown said, right,
Speaker 1: I mean literally, when that question came out of my mouth,
Speaker 1: the answer was, it would not have mattered what they offered.
Speaker 1: And look for everybody in Cincinnati, and I understand, I
Speaker 1: lived there for five years. I covered the Bengals my
Speaker 1: last year there. I understand the feelings about the Brown
Speaker 1: family and all that, But you know, I do also
Speaker 1: understand that Mike Brown absolutely, totally, one hundred percent understands
Speaker 1: that in many ways, the only thing that matters is
Speaker 1: whether you've answered the question about your quarterback. If you
Speaker 1: have a quarterback, you always have a chance. The big
Speaker 1: thing about Kansas City that is special is that they
Speaker 1: have a coach who's a metronome, you know, who just
Speaker 1: wakes up. This is his life, this is what he
Speaker 1: wants to do. He has trained a general manager in
Speaker 1: Brett Veach, to say, I want you to go out
Speaker 1: every year and use every opportunity to make us better.
Speaker 1: And why do I mention that this year because before
Speaker 1: the trading deadline, when nobody was even thinking about it,
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs went out and stole Cadarius Tony,
Speaker 1: a top fifteen talent in the twenty twenty one draft,
Speaker 1: a receiver from Florida who happens to be a little
Speaker 1: bit of a blockhead, okay, but he's an incredible talent.
Speaker 1: Kansas City went out and got him. And you saw,
Speaker 1: you've seen a couple of times down the stretch, you know,
Speaker 1: most notably last week, Cadarius Tony was their most important
Speaker 1: offensive weapon on the field. So, Kansas City, it isn't
Speaker 1: only Patrick Mahomes. It is the organization, the coach, the
Speaker 1: ethos that Andy Reid has built there in his one
Speaker 1: decade atop this team. And I just think that cannot
Speaker 1: be eliminated from consideration. And look, I forget what exactly
Speaker 1: the record is now, but Patrick Mahomes, now this is
Speaker 1: it's an amazing stat. Since the last game of the
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen season, which he started in Denver, you know,
Speaker 1: against the Broncos. Since the last game of the twenty
Speaker 1: seventeen season, Patrick Mahomes has never lost a Division road game,
Speaker 1: and you'd have to add that up to figure out
Speaker 1: how many it is, but it's a lot. And that's
Speaker 1: an absolutely amazing thing to say, especially because that division's
Speaker 1: gotten a little bit better. Last thing for Peter King
Speaker 1: Bengals versus Ravens Sunday at pay Corpse Stadium. At minimum,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are playing for the possibility of being the
Speaker 1: number two seed in the AFC and have the chance
Speaker 1: at hosting a couple of playoff games. Are you curious
Speaker 1: what it's going to look like on Sunday? I hadn't
Speaker 1: even thought of that until you said that, Dan, But
Speaker 1: I'm very I am curious. I'm quite curious. In fact,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest there's no question the fans will
Speaker 1: come out and support this team that they have absolutely
Speaker 1: grown to love over the last two years, which is
Speaker 1: such a great thing. I mean, I was not in
Speaker 1: Cincinnati at a great time when I covered him. Anyway,
Speaker 1: they had had the incredible year to play San Francisco
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl in Detroit, and whenever things got
Speaker 1: hot in Cincinnati and I was working at the Inquirer.
Speaker 1: Then it's an incredible place to be a sports fan.
Speaker 1: But obviously there's been a lot of lean years, and
Speaker 1: I think the love of the Bengals has come back
Speaker 1: with a vengeance. It's wonderful to see. I think you're
Speaker 1: going to see incredible support for the Bengals on Sunday.
Speaker 1: I think you'll see them go out and play a really,
Speaker 1: really good game. And Dan, you know, there's this kind
Speaker 1: of cliche. I'm not exactly sure why, but it's just
Speaker 1: the way it's fallen that teams that lose the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl tend to go down to slide the next year. Well,
Speaker 1: the Bengals have going in the opposite direction. They're better
Speaker 1: than when they lost the Super Bowl. And so I
Speaker 1: kind of look at this team right now and say,
Speaker 1: you know, as long as Joe Burrows healthy and they
Speaker 1: can be that attacking offensive team that they are and
Speaker 1: be a better defense than anybody gives them credit for.
Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody's going to beat them, but
Speaker 1: whoever does is going to be a damn good football team. Peter,
Speaker 1: I always appreciate your time and your wisdom. Thanks so
Speaker 1: much for joining us. You're welcome, Dan, Hey listen, have
Speaker 1: a great time and enjoy the game. On Sunday, the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks
Speaker 1: and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and
Speaker 1: signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Finally,
Speaker 1: it's not for this week's No the Faux segment. Kagrey
Speaker 1: a Smile won a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens
Speaker 1: and has spent several years on their broadcast team. He
Speaker 1: joined Dave Lapham and Wayne box Miller this week on
Speaker 1: the Bengals Game Plan Show. Are from an injury standpoint
Speaker 1: going into this football game against the Bengals. The injury
Speaker 1: reports or the estimated injury reports, because walkthroughs are pretty
Speaker 1: much what's going on now these days. As the season
Speaker 1: winds on, a lot of rest players, a lot of
Speaker 1: players who were categorized as rested a little illness. You
Speaker 1: get Nick Boyle with a little bit of illness. But
Speaker 1: the one that you know jumps out at you is
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson still is not practicing with the knee injury,
Speaker 1: and John Harbaugh has asked about it and didn't really
Speaker 1: want to address it very much. Is there any truth
Speaker 1: to the rumor that he's got a bone bruise on
Speaker 1: his patella. Wow. I mean that you're literally the first
Speaker 1: person that has mentioned something specific when it came to
Speaker 1: the PCL injury. We know that they were saying it's
Speaker 1: a PCL injury, and that you know, first reports it's
Speaker 1: one to three weeks, which falls under a grade one sprain,
Speaker 1: and then it went into three to six week category,
Speaker 1: which is a grade two and depending upon how it
Speaker 1: continues to go, which is both we're at the full
Speaker 1: week mark now, it could very well be what you know, Um,
Speaker 1: you're saying, oh, we don't know. Here in Baltimore specifically,
Speaker 1: everybody's been, you know, trying to speculate and figure out
Speaker 1: what exactly is the degree of the injury. But you
Speaker 1: know your your guess is as good as mine. We
Speaker 1: know this that he has not practiced and stepped on
Speaker 1: the practice field during any portion of the media viewing.
Speaker 1: So you know, we're right now looking at a game
Speaker 1: in which Lamar is going to be held out yet again.
Speaker 1: And obviously this team has made the playoffs, but you know,
Speaker 1: I guess his first time back is going to be
Speaker 1: playoff action, which I think it will be interesting to
Speaker 1: see how it all unfolds. So you think he's definitely
Speaker 1: going to be held back. I guess the follow up
Speaker 1: question would be if it's not you know, that type
Speaker 1: of a situation with a more serious injury than initially thought.
Speaker 1: It's it's not a contractual thing. And you don't think
Speaker 1: he's playing a power play of any sort, do you?
Speaker 1: So for him, it doesn't seem like that's how he's
Speaker 1: wired in his DNA of you know, this is I mean,
Speaker 1: this would be like the ultimate holding out flash holding
Speaker 1: in power planning. Um, I've never seen it. And you know,
Speaker 1: obviously you've had guys hold out for an entire year.
Speaker 1: You've had guys hold out for training camps. You've had
Speaker 1: you know, all sorts of things when it comes to
Speaker 1: you know, different strategies. But this is brand new, and
Speaker 1: I just, I just I don't see that being you know,
Speaker 1: you know, something that Lamar Jackson would do as far
Speaker 1: as you know who he is and his character, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know Cosreys. The game against Pittsburgh obviously didn't go
Speaker 1: the way the Ravens wanted. If you looked at one
Speaker 1: thing that they need to correct before they get to
Speaker 1: Cincinnati this Sunday, what would be the priority? The main
Speaker 1: priority would be defensively, like that final two four minutes
Speaker 1: of the game, that four minute offense of whatever team
Speaker 1: that they've faced has just gotten the advantage and edge
Speaker 1: over this Ravens defense. And I think, you know, a
Speaker 1: necessary stop, an interception of fumble or force fumble was
Speaker 1: something that just seals the deal for a Ravens defense
Speaker 1: that's been playing really, really well. I think on the
Speaker 1: other side of the ball, it looks like it's gonna
Speaker 1: be Tyler Huntley again, not exactly sure. You know, it's
Speaker 1: interesting when you get a new quarterback and you see
Speaker 1: it every single time. Um, I guess purty out in
Speaker 1: and you know, San fran is kind of the exception
Speaker 1: so far to the rule. But teams start to figure
Speaker 1: you out and adjust to your game and your play.
Speaker 1: And I think for Tyler, you know, there's an adjustment
Speaker 1: that's going on that you know, he's now going to
Speaker 1: have to readjust his game to how teams are playing them. Um,
Speaker 1: but I think he needs to play way better than
Speaker 1: what we saw against the Steelers. So yeah, there's there's
Speaker 1: a lot of priorities to go up against. I think
Speaker 1: a Bengals team that's hitting its stride and and look
Speaker 1: in the part of the AFC representative from last year.
Speaker 1: They're they're looking very poised to be the AFC representative
Speaker 1: again and at worst AFC News Champions. So cocky, No surprise,
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh, he's an outstanding football coach. Everybody knows that
Speaker 1: he feels like he has to go old school football
Speaker 1: with particularly with what's going on at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: All of his special teams worst case scenario, tied for
Speaker 1: seventh or better. I mean, every single one is in
Speaker 1: the top seven all four categories. They're running the ball,
Speaker 1: they're stopping the run, they're dictating field position. I mean,
Speaker 1: the flying the ointment obviously is quarterback play. But they're
Speaker 1: still They're two and two in the four games that
Speaker 1: Huntley has played. Even with the struggles that he has
Speaker 1: had this football team. I mean, John Harbaugh has built
Speaker 1: this team the way he wants to build it, hasn't he?
Speaker 1: He has, and you know, I think both he and
Speaker 1: general manager Erica Costa, you know, they they've hung their
Speaker 1: hat on Lamar Jackson and surrounding him with an offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator that likes to run the football and really feature
Speaker 1: Lamar's talents. But it's a tight end centric offense. That
Speaker 1: as of now, we we're seeing an offense that hasn't
Speaker 1: really gotten into its rhythm this year, and it's been
Speaker 1: very inconsistent. So yes, John has done a fine job
Speaker 1: of you know, putting together a staff and all that,
Speaker 1: but it's not as guests from the outside looking in,
Speaker 1: it looks like, oh okay, well another typical rapis year.
Speaker 1: They hey, they made the playoffs. I've horrible and all that.
Speaker 1: But I think the expectation here in Baltimore, especially with
Speaker 1: the generational talent the likes of Lamar Jackson, I think
Speaker 1: there was an expectation of more than what's actually being
Speaker 1: put out there on the field that's going to do it.
Speaker 1: For this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, presented by
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast