WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Remembering Sam 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.439 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:14.440 the Bengals Booth podcast. I will remember you. Addition, as 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:16.759 we reflect on the passing of one of the greatest 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.840 coaches in Bengals history and one of the most colorful 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:24.640 characters in NFL history, Sam White, we'll listen back to 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.560 part of a conversation I once had with Sam as 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.280 he shares some stories about the team he guided to 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:34.760 the super Bowl, the nineteen eighty eight AFC champions. A 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.240 prominent member of that team, Solomon Wilcox, reflects on a 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.080 key decision that Sam made that helped create team unity. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.919 And we'll also hear from Bengals President Mike Brown as 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:50.280 he remembers the head coach who pioneered the no huddle offense. 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.600 We'll also have the latest Bengals news on this pod, 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.440 as we'll discuss a key member of the coaching staff 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:00.120 who is staying in Cincinnati and a Bengals assist the 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.040 coach who has decided to move on. And as Bengals 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.440 fans begin focusing on the NFL Draft, we'll get an 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:10.800 insider's look at one of the leading candidates to be 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:16.640 the number one overall pick, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. All 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:19.160 of that is straight ahead. But first, here's a quick 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:21.840 reminder that you can have the latest edition of this 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:26.440 podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:32.280 subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:39.039 It's the greatest thing since generous corporate citizens. If you 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.600 didn't see the news this week, Mike's car Wash recently 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.720 presented a check for fifty four thousand, three hundred forty 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:51.720 dollars to the Anthony Munio's Foundation. Throughout this season, Mike's 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:56.200 Carwash pledged to donate one dollar for every Ultimate Wash 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.640 purchased the day after the Bengals recorded two or more 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:03.680 sack in a game that happened eight times and on 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.920 Who Day Wednesdays. That's more than fifty thousand dollars that 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.760 will impact the lives of Tristate kids. So thank you 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:15.240 to Mike's car Wash. Their Ultimate Wash is outstanding, by 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:19.160 the way, and to all of the generous corporate citizens 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:24.040 that help make Cincinnati a great place to live. Now, 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.200 let's get to this week's topics. I'm not a big 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:31.239 sports memorabilia collector, but one of my favorite possessions is 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.200 an auction item I was thrilled to purchase at Marvin 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:38.280 Lewis's charity golf tournament several years ago. It was created 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:42.160 by former Bengals coach Sam White, who passed away last 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:46.960 week after battling cancer. A few years ago, Sam created 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.480 one hundred and fifty unique works of art, at least 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:55.639 for avid football fans. They are diagrams of plays meticulously 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.120 drawn with a white marker on a black canvas. Each 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:03.120 drawing is a proximately sixteen by twenty inches, and they 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.160 are plays from the Super Bowls that Sam was a 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.359 part of. He was a backup quarterback with the Washington 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.359 Redskins when they lost to Miami in Super Bowl seven. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.680 Sam was the director of the passing game under Bill 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.760 Walsh when the forty nine Ers beat the Bengals in 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.800 Super Bowl sixteen, and of course, White was the Bengals 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.920 head coach in Super Bowl twenty three, losing in the 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.960 final minute to Walsh's forty nine Ers. A few years ago, 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.040 I asked Sam how often he thinks about that Super 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:39.600 Bowl loss. Only when people ask me that question, you know, 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.200 I don't think about it. Austen, I did think about it. 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.160 Austen obviously at the time and you know, part of 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.160 the region if you think back on it. In nineteen 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.760 eighty eight season went our way. We had a good team, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.480 we'd had a poor record the year before. It was 0:03:55.520 --> 0:04:00.400 a strike year the year before, and that substitute teams, 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.440 and so I think we only played fifteen games on 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.280 sixteen because we canceled one game. So it was a 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.960 disrupted season, and the team came back and we did 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.880 a few things in the off season to try to 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.240 make that year a little bit better. Number One, I 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.480 changed roommates during training camp. I made all the offensive 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.960 guys room with a defensive guy. All the black guys 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.440 were roomed with a white guy. So we had guys 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:28.040 that probably didn't do as much casual conversation away from 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.960 the field as they would have if I didn't put 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:32.920 them in a room in about forty five minutes a 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.560 day for bed check. They had a chance to kind 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.800 of talk about their important things in their life. With 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:40.880 the life's name one so many kids they had what 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:42.680 they wanted to do with football, so over you know 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.120 what was important to them, and I think it drew 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.400 the team together better. And we also asked the YMCA 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:51.520 if we could if we could come over there because 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:56.120 we had a very small weight room. It was a 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.200 pack full of good equipment, but it was small, and 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:03.039 we would go over to the Hya anytime they wanted to, 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:07.560 in a beautiful downtown facility, and it kind of set 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.000 the tone for us to come back strong the next year. 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.160 And the model of the year was we were going 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.640 to finish every game. We were going to finish what 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.760 we thought we had going in eighty seven. If you remember, 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:21.800 eighty six was a good year too. We had won 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.640 ten or eleven games, whatever it was. We were highly 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:29.560 ranked offensively and defensively. But getting to the game itself, 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.920 you have to preface everything with what happened the night before. 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.880 Stanley Wilson, who was a great running back from Oklahoma, 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:45.320 had almost lifetime in battle with cocaine, but he had 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.440 survived it up to that point, and then the night 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:51.760 before the game, he got into some cocaine and I 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:53.520 had to kick him off the team. I can heavily 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.839 criticized for that, by the way, then remember that, but 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.760 the media, not so much the beat writers in Cincinnati, 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.920 but the media around the country. The national media really 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.240 jumped my case. And while the world didn't wait the 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:11.880 next morning to analyze in Obviously, I couldn't have faced 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.640 the team if I'd had done that. But we went 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.720 in the game, and I think Stanley Wilson would have 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.480 been a difference maker because the field had not been 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.560 watered properly and it was coming up an eighteen inch chunks, 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.000 because they recited the whole field and our big been 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.000 you know, I've been backrunners like Brooks and Nicky Woods 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.479 and Stanford. They would have been back and that field 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:36.599 would come up in chunks and took away their quickness 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:41.320 and their speed and the decision making somewhat where Stanley 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:43.600 was more of a Barry Standers kind of runner, feet 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.039 real close to the ground, wide stance, you know, dance 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.480 fling a diamond. He could have made a miss, I 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.240 think that day. But when you got in the game, 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:56.280 it was close. I saw Jim Breach at the y. 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.799 I saw me both Margaret Lewis's tourman and Anthony Moono's tourman. 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:02.680 I reminded him that we had him kicking a field 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.080 goal on a field that was carried up like that, 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:09.000 and it was really a little bit right on the 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.640 edge of his distance with a wind in his face 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.160 and he made the field goal. We go ahead by three, 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.440 but we left still. Remember Chris Collinsworth coming over and 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.080 poking me with that Boni olibo he got from University 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:22.920 of Florida and say in Sam, I think we left 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.440 too much sign for number sixteen was the way he 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.800 ordered that. Number sixteen, of course was Joe Montana on 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:31.200 the other side, and Joe marched down the field and 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.560 did his thing, and with thirty four seconds they scored 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:39.440 to John Taylor. But if you remember we drop We 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.000 had several key situations that went to forty nine er 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.880 way that any one of which had gone our way. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.040 We stopped them the clocks from our side. They only 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.120 had one time out. We win the game, but we 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.640 dropped an interception a couple of plays before they throw 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:57.120 the touchdown, or else we would have sat down on 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.480 the ball and that would have been the ball. Wed 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.800 have been World Camps. But I lead up all of 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.960 that to this point that Paul Brown had been a 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:12.080 by pole, a national champion, number one ranked high school 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:16.240 coach at Ohio state national champion, and of course the 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.680 Great Lakes teams were world champions in those days. Didn't 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.600 have a Super Bowl and the one title he didn't have, 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.400 the one trophy was the Super Bowl trophy. So it 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.240 meant something to the players, I think. I mean, obviously 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:31.480 they wanted to win for themselves too, for the team, 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.400 but they meant something for him to win. For Paul 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:36.880 Brown to get that trophy certainly did to me. Having 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.280 played for him, got my chance to start. I mean, 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.679 I was a free agent. He gave me an opportunity. 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:47.040 He and Mike Pete Brown, you know, I guess, bring 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.280 him to camp, bring me to camp back in nineteen 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:54.400 sixty eight, and I really wanted to kind of let 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:58.959 this be one repayment for that favor that led to 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.400 a career for me. And we fell thirty four segres short. 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.599 So that's the sad news. The good news is we 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.440 were one of the top two teams in the league. 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.600 That we led the league in offense and defense that year. 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.200 So they had a great year. Sam's had a great time. 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.640 They actually had a lot bingle chiger evasion lobby the 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.199 hotel for about two days till the smell got to him. 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.800 They had to move him out of it. The great 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.040 Sam White, who's intricate drawing of the Bengals best basic 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:31.040 running play in nineteen eighty eight Proudly hangs in our Home. 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.439 One of the things that Sam mentioned in that interview 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.040 was his decision prior to that season to try to 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.680 increase team unity by mixing up roommates in training camp. 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.280 I discussed that with one of the safeties on that team, 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:49.360 Solomon Wilcots, in training camp before your second season, Sam 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.920 White decided to mix things up. He took black players 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.600 and roomed them with white players. He took offensive players 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.800 and roomed them with defensive players. What impact did that have? 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:04.640 Bruce Rhymer's offensive lineman was my roommate. I would go. 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.199 I would visit Eric Thomas. I think he was with 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.520 Joe Walter. Anybody know Joe was a grumpy dude. You 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.720 know Joe didn't play, but Eric is such a jolly 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:17.079 guy that he could bring out the best in a 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:21.280 Joe Walter. But Sam it worked. Sam knew what he 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.360 was doing. Other than that, I'm a defensive back. We 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:28.200 don't hang out with offensive lineman. And there's no way 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.880 that a guy from California and Eric Thomas is gonna 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.280 hang out with a guy from Texas like Joe Walter. 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.400 So that kind of forward thinking. It did help us 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.640 become closer as a team. We were able to spend 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.920 time off the field with one another and with guys 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.920 that we normally would not have spent time with. And 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.760 I just remember Week two we went out and played 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.280 Philadelphia that year. That's the year that the Eagles had 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.839 a great team. Buddy Ryan's the coach. They got big 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:59.000 Reggie White on the defensive line, Jerome Brown, Chris Carter, 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.040 Mike Quick, Ran cunning Hemmy are a great team. And 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.200 we went out there and they jumped out on us. 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.160 But I just remember doing that period. We stuck together, 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.959 the offensive line started taking over defense, we started making plays. 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.079 We got out of there with a win. But I 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.840 think it was on that day, Week two and eighty eight, 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.959 that we really knew that we had a chance to 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.319 be a great team, and we were close and we 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.360 had one another's back no matter what happened, And even 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.560 when we went through some bumpy spots in the season, 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:29.920 there was never any doubt that we were kind of 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.599 a team of destiny. That Bengals team went twelve and 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.880 four in the regular season before beating Seattle and Buffalo 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.599 to advance to the Super Bowl. Some final thoughts on 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:45.480 Sam White come from Bengals president Mike Brown. Sam's a 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:52.960 very great guy in the quick minded, he was spontaneous, 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.800 and we all remember the fun moments at the time 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.680 when the rules were that if the crowd got too 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:06.520 noisy or unruly, the home head coach was given the 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:13.040 microphone on the field to attempt to dampen their behavior. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:19.480 This was an impossible request, and yet with Sam somehow 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:23.000 it all worked out right. One time when things were 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:28.079 getting unruly and Mike was put in his face and 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:33.720 his comment was along the lines of this isn't Cleveland. 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:41.000 You don't live in Cleveland, and everyone laughed and they 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:47.240 shut up. It was remarkable. So when Sam hit the 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:52.000 right chord and he did a lot, it worked. He 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:56.319 was very imaginative as a coach. We did new and 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:02.600 different things. The hurry up was something that he brought 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.920 to pro football. Others over the years took credit, but 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:11.120 he was really the one that innovated it. An inventive 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:15.000 coach and a kind and caring man, gone too soon 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:19.000 at the age of seventy four. Now let's move on 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.600 to the latest Bengals news. A few days ago, when 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.679 we learned that the New York Giants were hiring the 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.920 Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge to be their new 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.280 head coach. I sent a text to my friend Bob Socy, 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.240 who calls Patriots games on the radio. I told him 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.800 I was predicting that the Patriots would hire Bengal special 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:43.600 teams coach Darren Simmons to replace Judge. It made sense. 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.400 Simmons had turned down a contract extension from the Bengals 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:51.160 earlier this year, and Bill Belichick said so many nice 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.280 things about Darren before the two teams played in December 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.800 that it almost felt like he was recruiting him. Well. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.880 I was delighted to be wrong. Simmons reportedly agreed to 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.280 a contract extension with the Bengals this week, which is 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.559 great news for several reasons. Number one, there isn't a 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:14.160 better special teams coordinator in the NFL. The analytical website 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:18.720 Football outsiders dot com ranked the Bengals number one overall 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:23.240 in special teams play this year, and Simmons is universally 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:27.840 respected throughout the NFL. But just as importantly, I think 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:31.680 it's a strong statement about Zach Taylor. Darren Simmons joined 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.920 the Bengals coaching staff and Marvin Lewis's first season, and 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:37.840 has been the team's special teams coordinator for the last 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.880 seventeen years. He interviewed for the head coaching job after 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:46.040 the team parted ways with Marvin and was undoubtedly disappointed 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.720 when the Bengals chose to go with Zach Taylor instead. 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.240 The fact that he has decided to stay shows his 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:56.120 respect for Taylor and the relationship that they formed in 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:01.800 Zach's first season. While Darren is staying, linebackers coach Tim 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.840 Luca Boo is leaving the Bengals to become the defensive 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.760 coordinator at Boston College under new head coach Jeff Hafley. 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.440 The two coaches have worked together at three previous stops. 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.360 No word yet on what the Bengals planned to do 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.560 to replace Luca Boo. On Monday night, Bengals fans will 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:24.320 watch the college Football National Championship Game with keen interest 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.560 that goes beyond seeing if LSU or Clemson will win 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.840 the title. They will be focused on LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:34.960 who is widely projected to go number one overall to 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:39.800 the Bengals in this year's NFL Draft. Burrow almost came 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:44.880 to Cincinnati last year after deciding to transfer from Ohio State. 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:50.240 His final two schools were the University of Cincinnati or LSU. 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:52.920 As much as I would have loved to see him 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.280 in a Bearcatch uniform and call his games, he obviously 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.880 made a great choice. Burrows tide to UC was head 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.240 coach Luke Fickle, who was an assistant at Ohio State 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.800 during Burroughs first two college seasons. I asked the Bearcats 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.320 head coach what he admires about the Heisman Trophy went 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.640 in quarterback. His competitive spirit, which is a pride of 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.800 our program, of pride of where he came from. To me, 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.200 is what makes him what he is. You know, whatever 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.360 you measure him at, whatever his arm strength is, he 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:25.800 plays way above it. And it's just his love for 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.760 the game. His competitive spirit. There's just something about him, 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:31.400 you know. And I think that because he's had to 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.080 earn everything he's got. Not that he didn't you know, 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:35.960 wasn't the best player on his team in high school, 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:38.280 but you know where he was before, and being you know, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.239 third on the depth chart, being alive in some scrimmages 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.640 where you know you're you're getting pounded weekend and week 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.800 out has really helped continue to not make him who 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.000 he is because he was special coming in, I think, 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.960 but grow and what it is that he does, his competitiveness, 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.840 his ability to understand the football game and know that 0:16:57.960 --> 0:16:59.800 it hasn't been just handed. I think that that means 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.280 he got an opportunity to continue to grow into last 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.919 not a flash in the pan, not somebody that's going 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.040 to be rattled because things don't go his way right 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.560 right away, because that's kind of what it's been like 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:13.120 for him the last three or so years. As much 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:14.840 as you would have loved to have coached him here 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.000 where you thrilled for how things turned out for him, 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.320 there's no doubt. I mean I admired the kid from 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:22.399 the time he walked in the door before when we 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:26.119 had him. So when he made a decision to what 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.520 he did a year ago, you know, his first year 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.520 down at LSU, to obviously this year couldn't be happier 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.960 for him. Obviously you look back and you said he 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.760 made the right decision, not just in where he went, 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.040 but to do what it is he did, to challenge himself, 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.399 to put him in a situation where there couldn't have 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:43.960 been any comfort to it, and I think that's why 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.639 he's not only obviously he's the Heisman Trophy winner, but 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:49.520 to take those chances. If he was gonna bet, he 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.000 was gonna bet on himself. This might have been a 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.720 little bit of a safer bet, not because of a 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.040 conference or anything like that, but knowing who he was 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.720 going to and knowing what he could trust. But it 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.119 showed me that the trust and he had in himself 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.240 and what he could do and what he was willing 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.359 to give up to do it. Burrow goes into Monday's 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.120 championship game having completed seventy eight percent of his passes 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:16.040 this season for more than five thousand yards, with fifty 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:21.280 five touchdown passes and only six interceptions. Using the NFL formula, 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:27.240 his passer rating is one forty five point two. That's 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.320 going to do it for this episode of the podcast. 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.560 If you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.320 wherever you get your podcasts, and if you have a minute, 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.520 give it a rating or share a comment. Five star 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:43.320 ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:47.119 and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast.