Speaker 1: Hi, Get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast The few Editions. We look back at
Speaker 1: a game that was exhilarating for Bengals fans in the
Speaker 1: first half, agonizing in the second half. It ultimately can
Speaker 1: be summed up with a huge sigh of relief as
Speaker 1: the Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thirty seven thirty four.
Speaker 1: Coming up, you'll hear radio replays from the game, locker
Speaker 1: room interviews with several key players, and Dave Lapham will
Speaker 1: join me for postgame analysis. Plus in this week's Fun
Speaker 1: Facts interview. It's a great conversation with Cincinnati native Adolphus Washington,
Speaker 1: covering a wide variety of topics, including the joy of
Speaker 1: being the father of two young kids. All of that
Speaker 1: is straight ahead. But first, here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention since the thesaurus. Yes,
Speaker 1: the thesaurus defined as a reference tool that lists words
Speaker 1: together according to similarity of meaning. So, if for example,
Speaker 1: you're writing about a football game, that was agonizing in
Speaker 1: the final minutes, and don't want to use the word
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Speaker 1: and have similar words ready to go. So let's get
Speaker 1: to Sunday's game, which was harrowing, excruciating, and distressing down
Speaker 1: the stretch, but it started out great. Tampa Bay quarterback
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston entered the game with more interceptions than touchdown
Speaker 1: passes and added to his i NT total in the
Speaker 1: red zone. On the Bucks opening drive, Winston catches a
Speaker 1: shotgun snap three step drop guns it over the middle
Speaker 1: in a separate in the end zone by Sean Williams.
Speaker 1: He decides to run it out. He's coming toward the
Speaker 1: near sideline of the un the twenty and he'll be
Speaker 1: shoved out of bounds by Chris Godwin at the twenty
Speaker 1: five yard line. Neither team scored on their first two drives,
Speaker 1: but when the Bengals got the ball for the third time,
Speaker 1: a rookie tight end made a huge play the first
Speaker 1: time he stepped on the field. On first and ten
Speaker 1: from the thirty seven yard line, Andy Dalton fakes a
Speaker 1: hand off to Joe Mixon, fires down the sideline by
Speaker 1: Jordan Franks and his NFL debut, and he has shoved
Speaker 1: out a bounds at the Tampa Bay thirty one yard line,
Speaker 1: a thirty two yard catch for Franks, an undrafted player
Speaker 1: out of UCF who is just promoted from the practice
Speaker 1: squad this week. I can run a little bit, so honestly,
Speaker 1: I just put my head down and looked up. The
Speaker 1: balls came my waist. Seaball, get ball. Guess you say?
Speaker 1: His catch started a four play, sixty three yard touchdown drive.
Speaker 1: The nose of the football close to the goal line.
Speaker 1: The Bengals do not challenge. Instead, they hand it to Mixon.
Speaker 1: He charges up the gut and into the promised land
Speaker 1: touchdown Bengals as Joe Mixon begins to se delabratory dance
Speaker 1: after giving the Bengals a six nothing lead. When Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay got the ball back, Jamis did what Jamis does.
Speaker 1: Winston rolls right, being chased by Sam Hubbard. His pass
Speaker 1: deflected it and accepted by Preston Brown. Running back to
Speaker 1: the thirty, the thirty five, the forty, and he has
Speaker 1: shoved out of bounds. Sam Hubbard deflected it and it
Speaker 1: floated right into the hands of linebacker Preston Brown. Absolutely, Dan,
Speaker 1: the guy that did all the work is ninety four.
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard contained them, controlled them, deflected the football in
Speaker 1: a ricochet to Preston Brown, and he's gonna get all
Speaker 1: the glory. He's gonna get the interception. But a star
Speaker 1: on the forehead of Sam Hubbard. And this time the
Speaker 1: Bengals turned the pick into points. Shot gun snapped. Dalton
Speaker 1: guns it into the end zone, caught for a touchdown
Speaker 1: by Tyler Boyd. A great throw away from the defender
Speaker 1: by Andy Dalton. Boyd spun backward, caught his hands up,
Speaker 1: hauled in the football, and the Bengals have a two
Speaker 1: touchdown lead. After a Tampa Bay hunt, the Bengals made
Speaker 1: it a three touchdown lead. First in goal from the
Speaker 1: eight yard line for the Bengals, Dalton hands it off
Speaker 1: to Mixon with a head of steam. He woll waltz
Speaker 1: into the end zone, an easy touchdown for Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1: Twenty nothing Cincinnati. Randy Bullocks extra point made it twenty
Speaker 1: one nothing, and it looked like the route was on.
Speaker 1: But here's the point where we remind you that Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay was number one in the NFL in passing yards
Speaker 1: entering the game, and the Bengals defense hasn't exactly been
Speaker 1: dominant this year. First in ten from the forty, Winston
Speaker 1: with another deep drop, He's going to air it out
Speaker 1: wide open down the middle of the field is DeShawn Jackson.
Speaker 1: Touchdown for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A sixty yard touchdown
Speaker 1: strike to DeShawn Jackson. Career touchdown catch number fifty three,
Speaker 1: and of those fifty three touchdown grabs, twenty four have
Speaker 1: been sixty yards or longer. That's a new NFL record.
Speaker 1: Jackson now has one more than Jerry Right. Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: missed the extra point and the Bengals wasted no time
Speaker 1: in getting the six points back. Dalton under center, turns
Speaker 1: left hands into Mixon again, following two blockers around the
Speaker 1: left Edge's to the forty five fifty great timp cut
Speaker 1: to the forty down to the thirty escape to tackle
Speaker 1: at the twenty five and gets pulled down at the
Speaker 1: seventeen yard line by Isaiah Johnson forty three yards for
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon to go up and over one hundred yards
Speaker 1: in the first half, Joe finished with a career high
Speaker 1: one hundred twenty three yards and that Jaunt set up
Speaker 1: this first and ten. At the seventeen, Dalton floats a
Speaker 1: fade gray J. Green. He comes down with the football,
Speaker 1: touchdown Bengals. A J. Green going up and over rookie
Speaker 1: cornerback Carlton Davis to haul in the touchdown pass from
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton for Adrial Jeremiah Green. That is touchdown catch
Speaker 1: number six this year. Bullock missed the extra point, and
Speaker 1: although Tampa Bay kicked a field goal at the end
Speaker 1: of the half, the Bengals had a seemingly comfortable twenty
Speaker 1: seven to nine lead. Emphasis unseemingly the two teams traded
Speaker 1: touchdowns in the third quarter. A one yard run by
Speaker 1: Peyton Barber pulled the Bucks within eleven, but then Winston
Speaker 1: threw two more interceptions. Jordan Evans came up with the
Speaker 1: Bengals third of the game, and Jesse Bates came up
Speaker 1: with a four. Bengals fans are getting into it, trying
Speaker 1: to make it hard for the offensive line to hear
Speaker 1: shotgun snap. Winston back to throw his pass, get accepted,
Speaker 1: running it back, touchdown Bengals. A pick six for rookie
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates, the first of his NFL career, as Jamis
Speaker 1: Winston's fourth interception results in a Bengal score. Bates stumbled
Speaker 1: a bit after the pick, but maintained his balance for
Speaker 1: a twenty one yard touchdown. Return count threw it right
Speaker 1: to me, honestly, just had to catch it and you score.
Speaker 1: That's pretty much what it was. Are you thinking, please
Speaker 1: keep your feet because you had to have seen it
Speaker 1: was wide open in front of you. Yeah, I saw
Speaker 1: the whole crowd. I'm like, oh, please don't fall, please
Speaker 1: don't fall. But now I kept my feet and score.
Speaker 1: It was thirty four sixteen Bengals with two minutes left
Speaker 1: in the third quarter, and the Bucks decided to change quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: calling on thirty five year old Harvard grad and former
Speaker 1: Bengal Ryan Fitzpatrick. He was the toast of the NFL
Speaker 1: at the start of the season. Remember fitz Magic, when
Speaker 1: he passed for more than four hundred yards in each
Speaker 1: of the first three weeks, the first quarterback in NFL
Speaker 1: history to top four hundred passing yards in three straight games. Well,
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick through for one ninety four in a little more
Speaker 1: than a quarter against the Bengals. After a field goal
Speaker 1: cut the Bengals lead to fifteen, Fitzpatrick made it a
Speaker 1: one score game. Now, the thirty five year old quarterback
Speaker 1: takes the shotgun snap, drop straight back to throw. He's
Speaker 1: gonna float one deep down field for Evans's wide open
Speaker 1: catches at the thirty, and he will trot into the
Speaker 1: end zone man a seventy two yard touchdown for Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: How can you let the deepest receiver on the field
Speaker 1: just run right by you? The safeties were nowhere to
Speaker 1: be found. One of those safeties was Jesse Bates. You know,
Speaker 1: we play so well for the three quarters and then
Speaker 1: I think some people may have got lazy, or you know,
Speaker 1: our eyes may have got got comfortable pretty much. And
Speaker 1: you can't do that just because, I mean, this thing
Speaker 1: will homble you very fast, and it did tonight. While
Speaker 1: the Bengals defense was starting to leak oil, the offense
Speaker 1: went bone dry. On the Bengals first four drives of
Speaker 1: the second half, Cincinnati did not have a single first down,
Speaker 1: and with time winding down in the game, the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: caught up shotgun snap Fitzpatrick looking for an open target.
Speaker 1: His throw caught for a touchdown. O Jay Howard caught
Speaker 1: it at the five and sliced into the end zone,
Speaker 1: and now it will come down to a two point
Speaker 1: conversion dry With one oh five left, the ball is
Speaker 1: placed at the two yard line, a two point conversion,
Speaker 1: tap to erase a twenty one point deficit and try
Speaker 1: to force overtime. One oh five left. Fitzpatrick in the shotgun.
Speaker 1: Three receivers right, one left. He's back to throw, he's looking,
Speaker 1: he cocks, he escapes a hit, he throws, and it's
Speaker 1: caught for a two point conversion by Godwin. We are
Speaker 1: even with one oh five left in regulation. Here's head
Speaker 1: coach Marvin Lewis, we shouldn't put ourselves in that position.
Speaker 1: We got this game in hand. We can't got to
Speaker 1: understand the situation in a game, what could happen and
Speaker 1: do our jobs on defense better. The Bengals got the
Speaker 1: ball back at their own twenty four with fifty eight
Speaker 1: seconds on the clock and two time outs remaining, and
Speaker 1: kicker Randy Bullock knew the game might come down to
Speaker 1: his right foot. I actually started warming up. I figured out,
Speaker 1: you know, if I did have an opportunity, I wanted
Speaker 1: to be prepared, be loose, relaxed, and too much job.
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton went to work, hitting AJ Green for gains
Speaker 1: of twenty three and eleven yards. Prior to those catches,
Speaker 1: aj had been held to three grabs for forty two.
Speaker 1: Here's Dalton. Everybody's got a plan for him, and so
Speaker 1: um you know, for us, even with what they were
Speaker 1: doing at the end, we were able to get two
Speaker 1: plays for him. I mean, he's a big reason why
Speaker 1: we won this game, and so um you know, for him,
Speaker 1: he's just gotta keep going because there's gonna be opportunities
Speaker 1: whenever he's not getting doubled. And when that was the
Speaker 1: case today, he made the play. The Bengals drove to
Speaker 1: the twenty six yard line and called a time out,
Speaker 1: sending Bullock out to attempt a game winning field goal.
Speaker 1: Five seconds left on the clock. Thirty four all is
Speaker 1: the score. Clark Harris ready to snap it back a
Speaker 1: pro bowler a year ago. He's ready. He snaps it
Speaker 1: to Huber. Huber puts it down. The kick from Randy
Speaker 1: Bullock is on its way, and yeah, there are penalty
Speaker 1: flags down, penalty flags on the field. Let's see what's
Speaker 1: on Tampa Bay. Kevin Huber says, it's on the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: and Randy Bullock has just kicked the Bengals to a
Speaker 1: thirty seven thirty four win at the gun. And what
Speaker 1: happened is they probably overloaded in the middle and dumped
Speaker 1: the donut a little bit, put some pressure on Harrops
Speaker 1: the snapper. Defense that penalt is the guy. The field
Speaker 1: goal is good and the game was over. They tried
Speaker 1: to get pressure up the middle, putting extra people on
Speaker 1: Clark Harris and you can't cover them up. They covered
Speaker 1: him up. That's a penalty. It's a personal foul, unnecessary
Speaker 1: roughness on the snapper, and Tampa Bay could called for it.
Speaker 1: It was good anyway. It took all sixty minutes, but
Speaker 1: it's nice to say. Coffin nails, bam, bam bam. Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd had an excellent view of the game winning kick
Speaker 1: front Rosy right next to Marph, right right on my knee. Man,
Speaker 1: I was. I was so grateful when I was. It's
Speaker 1: fun times when you win. It's always funny when you win.
Speaker 1: It was an extremely windy day and both kickers missed
Speaker 1: extra points, but when it mattered most, Bullock delivered his
Speaker 1: first game winner in a Bengals uniform. Do you look
Speaker 1: forward to those opportunities? Absolutely? I mean more than anything,
Speaker 1: you look forward to doing your job, helping your team win.
Speaker 1: And you know, like I said, I had missed one earlier,
Speaker 1: so I felt like I owed it to the guys
Speaker 1: too to come through. And they did a great job
Speaker 1: with the ball down the field and putting us in
Speaker 1: with an opportunity to point points on the boarding. At
Speaker 1: the end, it seemed like a very calm, even keeled sword.
Speaker 1: But he is your heart beating a million miles a
Speaker 1: minute in those situations. No, I mean more than anything.
Speaker 1: You can't make a situation bigger than it is. I
Speaker 1: felt like I was ready find an opportunity I was
Speaker 1: gonna make. It didn't matter the distance, So that was
Speaker 1: decip mentality I was going into it with. And like
Speaker 1: I said, I felt like I had missed one earlier,
Speaker 1: and I owed it to the guys to put one through.
Speaker 1: The final score thirty seven thirty four Bengals. They hit
Speaker 1: the midway point of the season and a desperately needed
Speaker 1: by week with a record of five and three, a
Speaker 1: half game behind the first place Steelers in the AFC
Speaker 1: North and a game ahead of the Ravens, who lost
Speaker 1: did Carolina. Here are Andy Dalton and Jesse Bates I'm
Speaker 1: the win to be five and three right now, going
Speaker 1: into the buys big and hopefully we can get some
Speaker 1: guys healthy and get some guys back. I feel really good.
Speaker 1: I'm sure everyone else in this locker room feels really good.
Speaker 1: We knew the chances of going to the playoffs and
Speaker 1: this was a big win for us, and we emphasized
Speaker 1: that inside the meeting room. We just get get back
Speaker 1: to what we do do best in um. You know,
Speaker 1: we kind of did that and we kind of didn't.
Speaker 1: So we're just gonna go to work these two days
Speaker 1: before we go off and you know, enjoy our families
Speaker 1: throughout the bye week. Now tied to bring in my
Speaker 1: broadcast partner Dave Lapham for postgame analysis, and we start
Speaker 1: with Bullocks, Clatch, Keck incredible and when you look at
Speaker 1: that fuel goal, I mean it started to pick up
Speaker 1: a little wind, a little swirling wind. I mean that's
Speaker 1: not a gimme, that's not an automatic. So Randy Bullock,
Speaker 1: you know, executed well, as did uh Clark Harris, as
Speaker 1: did Kevin Huber and the protection unit. You can't take
Speaker 1: any of those for granted, but my goodness, that was
Speaker 1: you talk about a Charles Dickens tailor two halves. That was.
Speaker 1: That was Volume one, Page one. That was That was
Speaker 1: the highlight of it. I mean, the Bengal score twenty
Speaker 1: seven points on thirty six snaps in the first half,
Speaker 1: over three hundred yards offense. Then in the second half
Speaker 1: they didn't get it first down till their fifth possession.
Speaker 1: It was it was incredible. It was like North and
Speaker 1: South Pole. But when the game was on the line,
Speaker 1: when it counted and mattered most Andy Dalton AJ Green
Speaker 1: the two guys that have made the Pro Bowl for
Speaker 1: this football team, and they won a lot of football games.
Speaker 1: They made plays when they had to to set the
Speaker 1: team up for the game winning field goal. What a
Speaker 1: bizarre day for the Bengals defense. They surrendered more yards
Speaker 1: against Tampa Bay than they gave up against Kansas City
Speaker 1: last Sunday night, five hundred and seventy six yards of
Speaker 1: offense in the game against the Bucks, but they came
Speaker 1: up with four interceptions, including a pick six, and really
Speaker 1: that's what allowed the Bengals to hold out and win.
Speaker 1: In the first half, they ran one more play than
Speaker 1: the Bengals. In the second half, they ran nineteen more
Speaker 1: snaps than the Cincinnati Bengals did, and you know that's
Speaker 1: where they started to have some problems. And honestly, the
Speaker 1: worst thing that happened was to pick six because it
Speaker 1: bench Jamis Winston. I mean, Jesse Bates, you know, picked
Speaker 1: it and took it to the house. And that was
Speaker 1: the end for Jamis Winston. Four interceptions. I mean, he
Speaker 1: just could. He was overthrowing footballs. Never never saw Jesse
Speaker 1: Bay And Ryan Fitzpatrick comes in there, and this guy
Speaker 1: has got some wiggle in the pocket and he'll get
Speaker 1: out of pocket and he'll throw the ball vertically and
Speaker 1: he did. He did it again today. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not part of the Tampa Bay organization in any way,
Speaker 1: shape or form, but man, he's not the starter against Carolina.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure the other guys will travel to play
Speaker 1: the football game. I mean, he's got to be their quarterback.
Speaker 1: As I pointed out during the broadcast, he came into
Speaker 1: the game number four in the NFL and passer rating
Speaker 1: number one in chess hair. As we learned in a
Speaker 1: postgame interview earlier this season, Let's talk about a couple
Speaker 1: of Bengals offensive players who had career high performances. Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon rushed for one hundred and twenty three yards, a
Speaker 1: new high for him. Tyler Boyd a one hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty eight receiving yards, a new high for him. And
Speaker 1: we thought big key to the football game was going
Speaker 1: to be mixing because you know, bart Mark Dufferin was
Speaker 1: going to play it like he played it in Cleveland,
Speaker 1: not you know, a safety in the box. He wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna put the eighth guy in the box. Were going
Speaker 1: seven in the box and then umbrella coverage, you know,
Speaker 1: soft coverage on the back end, two safeties deep and
Speaker 1: figure out different ways to double aj Green And they did.
Speaker 1: And the Reds only found a different way to double him.
Speaker 1: They bracketed him differently every single time. That is testament
Speaker 1: to his greatness. But in so doing that, Tyler Boyd,
Speaker 1: you know, wins his one on ones whenever he's got
Speaker 1: him and he makes playoffter play. Yeah, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: really those two guys, Joe Mixon, you gotta win. There's
Speaker 1: only seven in the box. You gotta run them out
Speaker 1: of it. And Joe was doing everything he could. He
Speaker 1: busted one for forty three, He busted a couple of
Speaker 1: big runs. You know, you get over one hundred yards
Speaker 1: rusher and over one hundred yard receiver, and it's not
Speaker 1: AJ Green. That's mean that there's a supporting cast and
Speaker 1: an AJ like we talked about earlier when the game
Speaker 1: was on the line, he and Andy Dalton, they get
Speaker 1: a little mental telepathy going, you know. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: gonna hook up and they're gonna make plays back shoulder,
Speaker 1: and they've done it so many times. It's just automatic.
Speaker 1: Teams that go five and three in the first half
Speaker 1: of the season make the playoffs more than sixty percent
Speaker 1: of the time. So that's good news for the Bengals.
Speaker 1: And the other good news, obviously, is that they're going
Speaker 1: into their buy with a ton of injured players. Several
Speaker 1: of those guys seem certain to come back after the
Speaker 1: by Giovanni Bernard should be back, Billy Price I would
Speaker 1: think will be back. John Ross should be in good
Speaker 1: shape to come back. But unfortunately they've got they've got
Speaker 1: a lot of guys that are not going to be
Speaker 1: back this season as well. Right Adam Schefter tweeted out
Speaker 1: during the game. When Adam Schefter tweets, it is pretty
Speaker 1: much official by league standards that Carl Lawson has a
Speaker 1: twenty ACL so he's out for the year. So what
Speaker 1: happens there, I mean, Willis Hubbard, You're gonna have to
Speaker 1: give some rushes at defensive end, not defensive tackling that Nichol.
Speaker 1: That Nichol's going to look a little bit different. Um.
Speaker 1: One thing that found out during the first half of
Speaker 1: the season with all the injuries this team sustained and
Speaker 1: they were weeezing to the bye week. I mean they
Speaker 1: were just scrambling claw and trying to get there. They're
Speaker 1: one to fifty three. Their roster depths pretty good, and
Speaker 1: you know that's that's the positive. The negative is, man,
Speaker 1: when is it going to ease up? I mean c J.
Speaker 1: Zama with a right shoulder injury and he'd had it
Speaker 1: for a while, but it exacerbated it during the course
Speaker 1: of this game. I mean, they were down to nothing
Speaker 1: and one of my favorite players, Jordan Frank's on the
Speaker 1: wheel route. They put him in motion across the backfield
Speaker 1: wheel brought up the sideline for over twenty yard catch
Speaker 1: his first NFL snaps. So, I mean, they're getting contributions
Speaker 1: from a ton of people. And the thing then that
Speaker 1: also was impressive with all these roster problems. Special teams
Speaker 1: is decimated, and you have, you know what, guys like
Speaker 1: Mark Walton taking a lot more special team snaps, Sam
Speaker 1: Hubbard taking a lot more special team snaps. So guys
Speaker 1: are doing a lot. I mean, guys are having their
Speaker 1: roles expand right before their very eyes because of injury concerns.
Speaker 1: So again, like you said, hopefully after the bye week,
Speaker 1: you know, they see am Massus, they see doctors, they
Speaker 1: see you know, sports psychologists, they see everything they need
Speaker 1: to see to get their bodies in mind right and
Speaker 1: start getting some guys back because they have a chance.
Speaker 1: They have five wins, they're tracking for a ten and six.
Speaker 1: If they duplicate that, that'll put you in a position
Speaker 1: for some good things postseason. Thanks Lap. After the bye,
Speaker 1: the Bengals host the five and one New Orleans Saints,
Speaker 1: and their three home games after that are against the Browns, Broncos,
Speaker 1: and Raiders, three teams with a combined record of six
Speaker 1: sixteen and one. Now, time for this week's fun fact segment.
Speaker 1: As you get to know the person under the pads,
Speaker 1: in this case, one of four Cincinnati kids, I'm the
Speaker 1: current roster. Time for some fun facts with Cincinnati's own
Speaker 1: Adolphus Washington, and I almost feel like I know you
Speaker 1: because I've heard so much about you over the years
Speaker 1: from your time at Taft High School and Ohio State.
Speaker 1: But this is our first one on one conversation. When
Speaker 1: did it all start for you? When was it clear
Speaker 1: that you were going to be an elite athlete? Probably
Speaker 1: around seven to eighth grade, I have started playing basketball.
Speaker 1: I've always played football, but I started playing basketball probably
Speaker 1: like fifth grade and football. I mean, basketball was just
Speaker 1: one of those things that I really had to work
Speaker 1: to get good at and I kind of fell in
Speaker 1: love with it. So I actually was ready to quit
Speaker 1: football to play basketball. But probably like my ninth grade,
Speaker 1: tenth grade year, I wasn't getting no letters for basketball.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, oh, something's wrong, Like I was getting
Speaker 1: all letters for football. Something like maybe I just need
Speaker 1: to focus on football. So that's what I did. I
Speaker 1: focused on football, but I still played basketball, you know,
Speaker 1: because I have the other guys that I played with,
Speaker 1: you know, we grew up together, played basketball. Guy, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stick it out for them guys. But when
Speaker 1: I went out said and done, I'm gonna play football. Well,
Speaker 1: I certainly know about your basketball exploits, and we will
Speaker 1: get to that, but let's talk a little bit more
Speaker 1: about football because your dad, a Dolphins senior, was a
Speaker 1: college football player, spending year at UC Did he used
Speaker 1: to coach you, push you as a kid? Did he
Speaker 1: really help you develop your skills? Honestly, my dad never
Speaker 1: coached me. Well, he coached me one year, but he
Speaker 1: never really coached me. He was always at home coach,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like he would always tell
Speaker 1: me things that I need to work on. He was
Speaker 1: never the parent that was gonna come out there and
Speaker 1: yell at you and tell He never did that. He
Speaker 1: always waited till we get out in the car and
Speaker 1: on the ride home, that type of stuff. So, UM,
Speaker 1: I wish I would have listened to him a lot more,
Speaker 1: But you know, I think everybody goes through that phase
Speaker 1: where they kind of be like, you don't really know,
Speaker 1: but you know, he really knew. So I wish I
Speaker 1: would have listened to him a little bit more. But
Speaker 1: you know, to this day, he still does the same thing.
Speaker 1: He calls me, um, let me know, um, what I
Speaker 1: did good, what I mostly what I did bad? But
Speaker 1: you know, he um, it's always always talking to him.
Speaker 1: He wants me to be great. I want to be great.
Speaker 1: We just gonna keep it going. We're doing fun facts
Speaker 1: with the Dolphins. Washington. I read that your grandfather worked
Speaker 1: at you See and you used to go to U
Speaker 1: SEE basketball games as a kid. What memories to have
Speaker 1: of that? I just remember like the big name guys
Speaker 1: like Steve Logan. Um, he was one of the guys
Speaker 1: that were there when I when I used to go,
Speaker 1: and I wasn't even playing basketball at this time, so
Speaker 1: it kind of was like, Okay, this is basketball or whatever. Like,
Speaker 1: but um, I think going to those games actually what
Speaker 1: made me start liking basketball. And then, um my dad
Speaker 1: ended up getting a job at a center, so it
Speaker 1: was literally basketball all day. So I eventually just learned
Speaker 1: how to play. So my granddad, um, like like you said,
Speaker 1: worked there, He worked there you see for a very
Speaker 1: long time. So he used to always get tickets to
Speaker 1: the game. He always took me and my and my
Speaker 1: cousins to the game, and it was definitely a great experience.
Speaker 1: Definitely a great experience a Dolphins had taft. You were
Speaker 1: a parade all American in football and basketball in terms
Speaker 1: of pure enjoyment, which one did you like more gotta
Speaker 1: be basketball, because, like I said, I played with you know,
Speaker 1: a group of guys since we were like, uh four,
Speaker 1: fifth grade and we played au together, and I just
Speaker 1: I really loved playing with those guys, like, you know,
Speaker 1: traveling around the country, you know, playing basketball literally like
Speaker 1: they were they were like my best friends. Like we
Speaker 1: literally didn't leave each other, like we were with each
Speaker 1: other Monday through Sunday. Literally, like it's so crazy. But
Speaker 1: basketball probably I enjoyed the most. So you were the
Speaker 1: Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Ohio
Speaker 1: when your final year at Taft High School. But mister
Speaker 1: basketball was a guy named Justin Fritz. Were you disappointed?
Speaker 1: I was very disappointed. I felt like I should have
Speaker 1: won both of the awards, but you know, they told
Speaker 1: me I couldn't win both. So definitely take the national
Speaker 1: award over the state awards. So it is what it is.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't really know what that guy's doing
Speaker 1: right now, but I mean, congratulations to him. I never
Speaker 1: got to tell him, but congratulations to him. Well, since
Speaker 1: you wondered, he went on to have a fine college career.
Speaker 1: I believe it was Wheeling Jesuit, so he did play
Speaker 1: college basketball. Apparently did quite well. We're visiting with a
Speaker 1: Dolphins Washington. There's a picture of you on the internet
Speaker 1: where you're two months old and decked out in Ohio
Speaker 1: State gear from head to toe. Who was the Buckeyes
Speaker 1: fan in the family. My dad, he was a Buckeye fan.
Speaker 1: He was a Notre Dame fan. So as I got older,
Speaker 1: you know, we kind of grew away from the Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: I don't know why, but we just did. And it
Speaker 1: was just all about Ohio State. So, you know, as
Speaker 1: I went as I got older, that's always where I
Speaker 1: wanted to go. And UM, to be honest, you know,
Speaker 1: the situation that I grew up in, and I honestly
Speaker 1: I never thought I would go to college. You know,
Speaker 1: I never even knew about the process to even try
Speaker 1: to get into college, you know, like um, and my
Speaker 1: sophomore year, coach Trussell actually UM, you know, started recruiting me,
Speaker 1: and I went up there and you know, got to
Speaker 1: meet with him. So when I got my first letter
Speaker 1: from I really thought like it was like a fake letter,
Speaker 1: Like I didn't really know about college recruiting and letters
Speaker 1: and all of that stuff. So I was kind of
Speaker 1: learning on the fly. But um, Ohio State has was
Speaker 1: definitely my dream school and I'm glad that I got
Speaker 1: to go there. Um Um got to show my family,
Speaker 1: you know, a different side of things, you know, to
Speaker 1: be able to leave Cincinnati and go to other games
Speaker 1: or you know, travel to you know, the state up
Speaker 1: north and they come up there and watch me play.
Speaker 1: They can come to watch this play against Michigan State
Speaker 1: or whoever, you know what I mean, Like just to
Speaker 1: show my family, you know that I'm really trying to
Speaker 1: do something different because I had a lot of athletes
Speaker 1: in my family, but none of them can get over
Speaker 1: the high school hump, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 1: they always the high school is always where, you know.
Speaker 1: So when I got to high school, I really you know,
Speaker 1: tried to focus in and make sure I did everything right,
Speaker 1: stayed on the right path, make sure my grades were
Speaker 1: right so I didn't have to, you know, worry about
Speaker 1: stuff and had all worked out. I mean, I'm here now,
Speaker 1: so I worked out. You won a national championship at
Speaker 1: Ohio State. You had a sack in the championship game
Speaker 1: against Marcus Mariota. What's that high like when you make
Speaker 1: a play like that on that stage. That was actually
Speaker 1: the only sack of the National Championship between either team.
Speaker 1: So you know, that kind that goes down in the
Speaker 1: history books, you know what I mean, like when you know,
Speaker 1: thirty years from now, when you look back on the
Speaker 1: first ever you know, playoff national championship, a Dolphins Washington
Speaker 1: had a sack. You know, I could tell my kids that,
Speaker 1: so a man's death, a great accomplishment. We worked hard
Speaker 1: to get there, you know, we came in as the
Speaker 1: underdog in both games, and we just went out there
Speaker 1: and fault. You know, we had a great group of guys.
Speaker 1: You've seen with the draft, you know all those all
Speaker 1: of us got drafted and all that. But yeah, we
Speaker 1: were just a really good team, really good team. We're
Speaker 1: doing fund facts for the Dolphins Washington. You were drafted
Speaker 1: by the Buffalo Bells. What was your draft night experience like? Well,
Speaker 1: Day one, you know, I was kind of expecting to go,
Speaker 1: not expecting to go, you know what I mean, So
Speaker 1: I was kind of disappointed. Then when day two came,
Speaker 1: that night was even worse. So, um, you know the
Speaker 1: rounds are going, third round come probably like the fifth
Speaker 1: pick of the third round. I'm like, what is good?
Speaker 1: What's going on? Like, so I just I walk out, Um,
Speaker 1: I go sit in my car. You know, my h
Speaker 1: like I said, my group of friends that I hang with,
Speaker 1: you know, they came out there. They talking to me,
Speaker 1: you know, telling me everything. My god, dad, my dad,
Speaker 1: they all were out there telling me everything gonna be okay.
Speaker 1: But you know, I don't really want to hear that.
Speaker 1: But um, I ended up getting a call from a
Speaker 1: New Jersey number. So I'm thinking it was the Jets
Speaker 1: or the Giants or something like that, and it was
Speaker 1: actually hum the Bills. It was a gym from the Bills,
Speaker 1: And like I kind of paused at first because you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's finally that moment, and I it was. It
Speaker 1: was just it was a great experience. I got to
Speaker 1: be around, you know, um, literally all my family, you
Speaker 1: know guys that I you know, went to high school with,
Speaker 1: Guys I played sports with in high school. They all came. Um.
Speaker 1: It definitely was a great turnout. You know, UM had
Speaker 1: a great time. I got to see like some really
Speaker 1: really old, like little elementary friends that I went to
Speaker 1: elementary they all came. Like it was definitely a great experience.
Speaker 1: I like I said, I loved it. I was glad
Speaker 1: to have everybody there with me, and it was it
Speaker 1: was great. I grew up in Western New York, so
Speaker 1: I know Bills fans are insane. It's the craziest thing
Speaker 1: that you fitness from a Buffalo Bills fan while you
Speaker 1: were there after a game. After a game, we had
Speaker 1: one I can't remember who we beat, but it made
Speaker 1: like the Bleacher Report or something like that. And a
Speaker 1: guy he like body slammed that got through the table
Speaker 1: because we want it was. It was hilarious. But that's
Speaker 1: by far the craziest thing I've ever seen. Like it
Speaker 1: was he like he jumped off a truck and then
Speaker 1: jumped onto the table, by far the craziest thing I've seen.
Speaker 1: Improving once again that alcohol is a powerful dragon. All Right,
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. What do you love about Cincinnati? Um, I'm home,
Speaker 1: I'm around my family, I'm around you know, people that
Speaker 1: know me, people that you know been supporting me for
Speaker 1: a very long time. And I finally just get to
Speaker 1: play with the team that I've always watched growing up,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Coach, When Coach Lewis first
Speaker 1: got here, you know, I was I felt like I
Speaker 1: was already on the team then. But you know, Um,
Speaker 1: I've always been a Bengas fan, even and I was,
Speaker 1: you know, with the Buffalo Bills, I still had the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Beings app on my phone, you know, getting the
Speaker 1: updates every every quarter, every game, you know, seeing who
Speaker 1: was her, who wasn't hurt, you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 1: So I've always been a biggest fan. So it's that
Speaker 1: I feel like I felt rejuvenated. I feel like a
Speaker 1: new person now that I with you know, the tender
Speaker 1: I've always grown up with, and I'm just glad that
Speaker 1: they were the ones that gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 1: come back out here and play again. Last thing, You're
Speaker 1: a proud dad. You're wearing a necklace right now with
Speaker 1: an image of your son and your daughter. Describe the
Speaker 1: joy of fatherhood for you. When I walk in the house,
Speaker 1: my kids they love to see me walk in the
Speaker 1: house when I if I don't come home all time,
Speaker 1: they because they had, like I said, they got a pads,
Speaker 1: so they calling me like where are you at? Like
Speaker 1: when are you coming home? Like, and it's, Um, that's
Speaker 1: just probably one of the greatest feelings, you know, being
Speaker 1: a dad. I don't I don't really understand, you know,
Speaker 1: how people don't be in their kids lives because this
Speaker 1: is probably like the greatest thing ever, you know what,
Speaker 1: I mean, to have one you only get one shot,
Speaker 1: and I have those you know, those little you looking
Speaker 1: up to you, you know, looking for that example, looking
Speaker 1: at the way to do things. So I try to,
Speaker 1: you know, take a lot of things that I learned
Speaker 1: from football, because believe it or not, football teaches you
Speaker 1: a lot more than just you know, going out there
Speaker 1: tackling somebody. So I try to instill those, you know,
Speaker 1: those same morals into my kids. You know, not necessarily
Speaker 1: the exact way, but you know, similar way. You know,
Speaker 1: to always respect people, do everything the best you can
Speaker 1: do everything one hundred miles and you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: like just little things that can't you know, translate to
Speaker 1: you know, everyday life. You're off the hot seat, appreciate
Speaker 1: the time. Welcome home. I appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: A Dolphins had his best game in the Bengals uniform
Speaker 1: against Tampa Bay, as he had an eight yard sack,
Speaker 1: another quarterback hit, and finished with three tackles. That's going
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the podcast. If
Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: or pod Bean and give it a rating or leave
Speaker 1: a comment. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and five star
Speaker 1: ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan
Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast