Bengals Booth Booth Podcast: You Got What I Need

at the age of eighty five. And in our fun fact segment, I'll visit with a two hundred and fifteenth pick in the nineteen eighty seven NFL Draft who became a starter on the Bengal second Super Bowl team and later an outstanding NFL broadcaster. All of that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by some scribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play,

or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention since auto correction, that useful tool commonly found on computer keyboards and smartphones to fix spelling errors. It's almost always helpful, except when I reach out to my friends the Mortons and call them the morons. Now, let's get to football. Last week, we learned of the passing of one of the greatest

figures in Bengal's history, Forrest Greg. He was a Hall of Fame player, a nine time Pro Bowl offensive tackle with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, who was named to the NFL seventy fifth Anniversary Team. Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi once called Forrest the best player I ever coached. He came to Cincinnati in December of nineteen seventy nine at the age of forty six, after the team had gone four and twelve under Homer Rice. Two seasons later, the Bengals were twelve and four and on

their way to their first Super Bowl. Over the years, I've talked to Bengals President Mike Brown on several occasions about Forrest Greg. Here are a few of the questions and answers. Today we're going to look at some of the great coaches, head coaches, and assistant coaches in Bengals history. With Mike Brown. Let's start with Forrest Greg. When I say that name, what immediately comes to mind probably for me something altogether different than for the normal fans. Forrest

and I are good friends. But we were friends when he was here. He is still a good friend. He's retired. He lives out in Colorado Springs, Barbara, and he The thing about Forrest as a coach that sticks as in my mind is how he was perceived by the players. He had been a great player himself. He presented a

daunting presence. He was a big, powerful man, and even the players would have thought twice about challenging him in any way physically, including He was thought of as a disciplinarian by the players, as a hard taskmaster, and he was privately anything but that. He was a sweet, gentle person. I'm very fond of him. But he did a great

job for us. He got us to the Super Bowl, and really it's a shame that we didn't win that game, and my heart of hearts, we were the better team that day, but we managed to fumble the ball away and lose. I think of Forrest a lot, and I've tried to explain that it goes beyond just the coaching part. I read Forest Gregg's biography recently, and he described coming to Cincinnati to interview for the head coaching job. Took place at your father's house and three people were there, Forrest,

your dad, and you. What do you remember about that meeting? I hate to tell you nothing, but I remember Forrest so very well. He is a dear friend. When he coached here, we were social friends. Barbara, Forrest and Nancy and I and our friend friends Jack and Lynn Schiff would go out every Friday night and we had wonderful times together. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was just good fun for middle aged people, which is what we were then. I have a fondness for for Ust that

runs deep within me. He was a very successful coach here. He had a presence about him. The players respected him. They jumped when he said boo, and that was good. I'm glad you mentioned your friendship because he mentioned something in his book. I have a hard time believing he said, the two of you once went to see the movie Porkies. Do you remember that? I do. It was a lousy movie in my fad, Jack shiffliked, which I used reflected

on his standards. That was the kind of thing that we used to do together, Forrest, Jack and our wives and me. It was fun. The Bengals have had nine head coaches prior to Zach Taylor and Forrest Gregg has the highest career winning percentage. Time to turn our attention to the NFL Draft. It gets under way next Thursday, April twenty fifth, and the Bengals have eleven selections, including

number eleven overall. Here's hoping they do as well as the Houston Texans did in two thousand and eleven when they selected J. J. Watt with eleventh overall pick. So what are the Bengals biggest needs? I asked my broadcast partner Dave Lapham to count them down. Lap Today, we're really going to start building up to the draft by looking at the Bengals biggest needs. I have asked you to come up with your top five and we are going to build up from the fifth biggest need to

the biggest need. So let's get started with Dave Lapham's

number five biggest need leading up to the draft. Well, I think I was thinking outside cornerback, you know, for you can never have enough of those, But due to Mark Walton's problems in him being released from the team, I think maybe the fifth need might be a running back at some point, not early in the draft, but addressed that running back position with maybe one or more of their multiple six round picks that they've got, because you know, Joe Mixon led the AFC and rushing obviously,

and you knock on wood that he stays totally healthy. Giovanni Bernard's starting to get up there a little bit in terms of life expectancy of a running back, and

he's had, you know, some injury history. So I'd probably go with the running back position, maybe at number five now based on what took place with Mark Walton and and I really do think that Zach Taylor sent a message, you know, and I think a very positive one to his football team basically, you know, loose translation, you guys that are out there doing things right and working toward uh, you know, the common goal and it's all about us, as his slogan can't be about an individual, you know,

in his mind, Mark Walton didn't fit that and let him go. So I feel the same way about Vontez. You know, I think that more football. I think I think it ended up being more football. You know. I think it's interesting when when you're in a situation when a new coaching staff comes in, I think every player and I asked Aj Green this earlier in the locker room. You know, as great as you are, do you still feel like I'm back at square one? Because it's a

new evaluation by new eyes. And of course you knew AJ was going to answer like like that, Yes, I'm you know, but he's a true professional. But sometimes when coaches that have been around a long time with players look at a guy on tape, they're not looking at

how he's playing. As much as they like him. There's such a relationship there that a john just how he's playing, and a fresh set of ice come in and they put the tape on and what, you know, one set of coaches thought was a good play or adequate play. Another set of coaches might be like what And it's because they don't know anything about the guy, nothing about

his personality. And sometimes that's hard to separate. It's very hard to separate, particularly, you know, when you've been around a guy for a long time and at some point in time he has been productive for you. So that that that's an interesting one. But I do think I do think that the contribution to the amount of money paid Codd Vantes birth would probably a little bit talk about a disappointment. Mark Walton did not work out at

all obvious lead. The off field problems ultimately doomed him in Cincinnati, but did not produce as a runner or as a receiver. And while he contributed on special teams, he was not this special team star that we were led to believe that he might turn out to be. And I wonder if some of these problems are cropped up, might have been issues. You know, obviously he was running with the wrong crowd. You know, you go to University of Miami, there has to be a group of positive

influences that you can lean on. And all he was leaning on was obviously negative influences. Be packing the gun he's packing. I mean, come on, and and you're probably in the same boat. Dan, I'm you know, I'm approaching sixty seven years old. I've never been arrested. Dude was arrested three times for three months. Come on, you know, somebody in his life has to stay after the first mess up? Okay, come on, Mark, you know, let's let's

straight after number two. It's like, dude, you're not getting this. You're not figuring this out. Come on, there's going to be an intervention here and then a trifecta. I mean, something's wrong there, and I'm more worried about him as a person than a football player. Really at this point, you go three times in three months, that's a bad that's a bad show. Do speeding tickets count where I'm concerned? No,

not speeding tick. It has it has to be, you know, up against the car, spread him, up against the wall, spread them. Well. You know one thing we've learned about the Bengals in recent years. You can get running backs late in the draft or even as undrafted free agents. Rex Burkhead was a late pick turned out to be a great NFL player. Trey Carson I think would have worked out okay as a third running back had he

stayed with the Bengals long term. So, whether they use one of those sixth round picks or potentially earlier or obviously they're going to bring in undrafted free agents of that position, they're certainly going to add to that position group a sixth round pick that I can think of that scored a touchdown the Super Bowl. Rex Burkhead, Cincinnati Bengals, not bad. I agree with you. You're gonna be able to find somebody that that's going to be able to

make a contribution. From football for sure, no doubt. All right, so number five position of need running back? How about the number four position of need, probably defensive tackle. You know, I'm thinking with Ryan Glasgow with the injury, you just never know. He seems like he's coming back tremendously. I mean he's and I'm gonna say he is, He's gonna come back one hundred percent or maybe even better. That's just the kind of guy he is. I mean, he's

he's got a tremendous work ethic. He's blue collar, lunch pail, all those cliches. I mean he basically he turned himself down to like right around two hundred and eighty pounds to put less stress on his knee as he's rehabbing. And I mean he does everything right. He's a smart guy, he's a he's a tough football player. But you know, you know, Billings has been erratic, has been up and down,

his play has been spotty. He's a fourth round pick coming in, you know, Glasgow nut, you know, a first or second round pick, or first day or second day pick either. So I mean those guys have panned out. But to me, I guess I'd probably wouldn't wouldn't bother me if they drafted another interior defensive lineman, more of the run stuffer, you know, mentality to go along with

the geno Atkins of the world. Can you find a mammoth guy at that spot, because I guess they've Josh Tupo kind of fits that description, but they haven't had that immovable, immovable object type of guy in the middle right, And that's what you're thinking. And you know, Josh is one of those kind of guys. He's he's he's hard to knock off the ball, He's got really good balance.

You know, he's a he's a big man obviously. Um, but somebody of that ilk for sure, I could see them, um, you know, as there's their fourth need maybe going in that area. All right, running back, defensive tackle, what's next? You know, I'm thinking you may have to think about a tight end. You know, Um, obviously you have the tight end you lose Tyler Croft, uh to the to the Buffalo Bills, Tyler or Effort. You know, it's like, man,

is this the year where it's finally gonna football? Gods are gonna leave alone and he can stay healthy because you know we talked earlier in the in the day with him about this um. This offense potentially that is being assembled is going to be very tight end friendly, and having a weapon like him, you make your offense tight end friendly because he's he's basically you know, I think tight ends of loose interpretation of what he gives you. He can he can play in the slide, he can

play in the widest receiver in the formation. He runs routes like a wide receiver. The dude is a big wide out, is what he is. He can run the route tree as well as a lot of wide receivers in the National Football League. Plus he could win healthy. He can still you know, block at the end of the line of scrimmage. So I mean, you know, I think you're always uh, you know, looking for an insurance policy there shrek. Obviously, you know he got hurt down

the stretch. C J. Zama got his got his deal done. But you know, it would not surprise me if they go for a tight end somewhere in the middle of the late rounds of the drafts as a need. At that point, I think they've got to the Other thing about Eifford is not only is it impossible to know how many games he's going to play because of his injury history. But it's only a one year deal, so

who knows what's going to happen. What if he stays healthy and has a thousand yards in fifteen touchdowns exactly? You know, it's it's a show me year. And he has shown me a year last year and obviously had the tragic injury. It's another show me year. And if it goes the other way and he shows the league, it don't be a hot commodity, no question about it. Now, they'll always with his injury history, they'll always be like,

oh jeeves, do we commit those kind of dollars? And you know, is the one year of health a blip? Isn't an operation? Is? You know, this is the history, this is the trend. Is this the anomaly? So teams have to make that kind of a decision. But yeah, I mean, man, if he puts it together, though it has a huge year, Bengals are in good shape. They're in high cotton because that that position group. I still feel like when the New England Patriots had there are

two tight ends. Working with with gronk uh in the murderer, God Rest his soul. I don't know where he's resting, and probably in Hell, but at any rate, Hernand is in Gronk. That that was incredible. I mean that that was a very very difficult package to deal with. And I think, you know, sometimes contrarian thinking and approach can

be the way to go. Everybody's spreading out now and doing all those But if you have two tight ends on the football field that are adequate enough blockers, but you can put anywhere in your formation and throw it. And her name was they had running the ball. I mean, the dude was running the ball and everything. I mean, it was ridiculous. And if you've got athletic tight ends like these guys could be, that could be very very

interesting for the Bengals. Running back, defensive tackle, and tight end. We are up to the bengals number two positional need going into the draft. Yeah, I mean, i'd have to say offensive line. I'd have to say offensive line and linebacker, or you know, kind of one and one A. So they're two and one. But you know, let's talk about the offensive line. I think at this at this point, um, you know, and I do think they're gonna have to address it in the draft. Do I think they addressed

it at number eleven. I really don't because when I look at the top guys, every guy has a hole in his play. There's not a Munios, there's not a Baselli, there's not a like you know, Orlando PACER's not like, oh my gosh, man, they wouldn't make it to eleven anyway.

But I think I think when they get to eleven, there'll be other options on the board besides those tackles that they'll have rated higher on their board, because I think you're gonna be able to get a quality tackle um early two, which you know they're in the early stages and even into the third round, so I think they're gonna I think they're gonna wait and not not

necessarily go there at that point. So tackle specifically, not just O line in general, but tackle specifically is the number two neat I'd say old line, you know, in general, highlighted by by the tackle. But I mean there are some good guards in this draft. You know, Chris Linstrom from Boston College. I think I think it's a pretty pretty darn good guard. Jonah Williams can play center or guard out of Alabama, and he's like a Clint bowling.

You could get not just a game, you could get four games out of him if you'd kick him out to tackle. I think he'd be a heck of a center. I think he should be a really good guard, you know. I think he hears you a lot of position versatility. Um. I think Chris Linstrom from Boston College is another guard that's, you know, pretty good quality. I'd say he's a late

one early too. No, none of these guys are worth in eleven in my estimation, but there are a lot of guys that are you know, first round, late first, early second. You know, all through the second into the early third, there's there's a myriad of lineman that they can go to. I really think, like we talked about before, Dan, this draft fits a lot of a lot of teams needs because a lot of teams have needs like the Bengals, but the Bengals have front seven, defensive needs and offensive

line needs. In this draft is really deep at those I'm not saying they're omega stars at every one of the positions, but you know, well passed the first round, you're gonna get a damn good football player to address those areas where they do have needs and therefore, linebacker is the number one need. I think linebacker. You know, if there's a position on the team that I think they're going to double down on in the draft, I

think it's going to be linebacker. And like we talked about before, you know, the two devons and all of this for the eleventh pick of the draft could be trump by. In my mind, if there's an edge rusher, you take them. If there's an edge rusher that you have rated higher, and it might be one of these linebackers. You know, some of these they're quote you know, they're they're rush guys, but they're in the draft. They're like

linebackers instead of defensive ends. But I'm talking about an edge rush guy because Dan, in this era of throwing the football, you know, there are two ways to two ways to help prevent it. You're gonna have to hurry the quarterback up, make him hurry his reads and hope he makes a mistake. The way to do that is by a good pass rush. And then to compound that, if you have really good options up front, you have multiple weapons. They start doubling people. There's less guys that

they're going to send out in routes. So your coverage percentages jump up. So it starts, in my estimation, it always starts with a good edge rush or a good rush in general upfront, because if you have to keep, you know, if you can't get away with ever leaving five in, you have to go six, sometimes seven and max protect. I mean you've you've lightened the burden in

the back end immensely, and so's it starts there. I mean, if you can get a cover corner, great, but if you can get an edge rusher, that is a difference maker. I think, I think that trumps everything, even though it might not be a clearing need based on how Carl Lawson comes back and say, you know, if if if you don't find a guy that drops to number eleven, you do have Karl Lawson coming back from his torn acl exactly exactly. But here's four defensive linemen. I think

Nick Boss long gone. I think Montes sweat out of Mississippi State. I mean, the dude six six two forty plus and ran a four four. I'd be surprised if he's there. But Jared Allen, excuse me, Josh Allen, Jared anlands a quarterback. Josh Allen sixty four two sixty five four sixty five forty and he was a fifty fifty rush guy at Kentucky. I mean they had him, you know, playing true linebacker, seventeen sacks in the SEC. That's production, man.

I mean, if that guy's there, I'd really think about that. At eleven, I'd really be there. Won't be there, yeah, and then rush on Gary out of Michigan. That'd be my fourth guy. And he might be because watching early tape on him, it's like whoa. But last year somebody got in his ear and he was playing to survive, survive in advance to the draft, and I you know, to me, the fact that he didn't get hurt, he's fortunate because that's how you do get hurt. But he

was just getting through it. It looked like to me he didn't even look a lot of times like the same guy. But this dude man sixty four plus two eighty seven four sixty nine. I mean that's that's a freakazoid athletically. So if he's there at eleven, you got to think about that. If Devin White's there at eleven, boom,

I'm on him as well. Now, Devin Bush, the other Devin He's the one that as I'm looking at him and talk to people around the league about him, there's a fifty fifty split a lot of some some people are like, man, he's just so small, and he is small. I mean it's five eleven, two undred thirty pounds, and you know, Devin and White runs faster at six arty, but he's still plenty fast at four six five. And all I can say is, I played against Sam Mills

in the USFL. I don't care that that that played against him just left an everlasting imprint in my mind. And it ain't the size of the dog in the fight, the size of the fighting the dog. That dude, he knew what his limitations were. He knew that he didn't want to let you engulf him. And that's what people are gonna say, Devin Bush is going to get engulfed by these big guys in the NFL. You don't think that was his concern in the big ten. He knows

what his limitations are. He doesn't put himself in a position to be taken advantage of like that. You have to catch him to engulf him, you know. And I mean these guys know, they've always had the quote deficiency and they still competed at a high level. I have faith that he's going to compete it still at a high level. That's why I'm leaning toward even though he is undersized going there. But the way all these teams are, I mean, it's nickel now anyway, and you want a

smaller lineman, a linebacker that can cover. That might be a smaller linebacker. It's not going to be a big dude anyway. I mean now it's hybrid safety slash linebacker. You know, oh boy, that's a that's like a big safety, that's not a linebacker. But the league is evolved into that that's what this guy is. So you know, maybe he's not quote your typical man that's a big that's a that's a starting inside linebacker in the National Football

League in this era. He's a he's a really he can play outside backer when he's a good nickel backer. I mean, he's one of the two backers that you could throw out there and play nick You get a lot of snaps out of the guy. So I think that there's value, you know, still there at number eleven um because they end I've chased a lot of small linebackers trying to engulf him. Got to catch him first in when I watched Michigan games the last couple of years.

He jumps off the screen big time. The dude. The thing about Sam Mills, and this kid has it too. Even though you know you think, okay, I might engulf you. They have such explosive hip snap. I mean they get under your pads because the leverage. I mean, you don't have to come off the ball on your knees to get under their pads. They're under your pads and they're just ill said man, oh, I mean they're exploding on you. It's like, man, that was a little dynamite cap that

just went off. It's unbelievable. It's like you have a surge from a guy like that. They know what they're doing. I mean, he's he's obviously been one of the best football players on a great defense until they played Ohio State. Um, you know that that the NCAA has had. I mean, he's and he was one of the kingpins. So to me, I mean, you compete at that level and you still, you know, a high high level. I really I really liked the guy. It's it's gonna be very interesting, you know,

offensive lineman. As I'm looking at some of the offensive lineman, there's a bunch of guys there. There are a bunch of guys. Um, This Andre Dilly kid from Washington State's a little bit of intrigue. Titus Howard, this kid from Alabama State, six four over, three hundred pound Alabama State. Though, I mean he's he has not played an NFL schedule against NFL caliber talent. He's played that division schedule, which is what no more than twelve games against lesser, lesser talent.

But can you project his talent to be successful in the league. Heck yeah. Chris Lindstrom from Boston College as a guard, Greg Little in Mississippi, you know at the tackle position. H Dalton Risner out of Kansas State, you know at the tackle position. I think there are these are all you know, like late one, early two kind of guys, Um, Caleb McGarry out of Washington, Isaiah Prince, Ohio State. I mean, these are you know, early second round guys or second and third round guys. There are

There are a ton of offensive linemen. That's why I think, you know, when I look at it, unless unless the best in the draft has slid to eleven, and that number one offensive tackle is better than the second. I'mback, or the the third or fourth rush guy or whatever. However, have your board in. Every team in the league now is in process of in the process of you know, stacking their board m by position group and then the

top ten, top twenty, top fifty players. Nobody's done with that equation yet, so that's when you start, you know, mixing and matching a little bit. Your top five positional needs did not include quarterback. Yeah, I mean to me, and it's always that's why it didn't didn't include an edge rush guy. But i's that with one of those one of those guys is there at eleven. See yeah, I'm sprinting to the podium. If if Haskins slides to eleven,

interesting room. Interesting room at that point. If you know somebody that they the Bengals had as a first round grade slides to you know, their position in the second round. You have to discuss them all the time. But um, you know, I'm not I would not be stunned if they take a quarterback, you know, anywhere in the draft. If there's a slide, but I'm not sure that there will be, it'd be interesting to see. Thanks Lap. Next week an annual edition of this podcast that gets downloaded

as many times as the Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro and this is the Daily. How's that for an imitation? We'll get laps prediction for the Bengals number one pick next week. Now time for a fun facts interview and my guest was an eighth round draft pick in nineteen eighty seven. One year later, the nineteen eighty eight Super Bowl Bengals featured one of the finest secondaries in team history, a

quartet that earned a memorable nickname, the Swat Team. Tat for some fun facts with a guy who has picked fortieth on the list of the top fifty retired players in Bengals history, Former safety Solomon Wilcot's an eighth round draft pick out of Colorado back in nineteen eighty seven. Is it true you did not even have a phone on draft day? That's very true. You do your homework.

I had two roommates my senior year in college who refused to pay the phone bill, and so I said, well, I could go ahead and pay it, but then they're gonna use it and run it up every month, and I'm gonna be stuck with a bill. So what I did is I went ahead and allowed them to disconnect it because the other two wouldn't pay, and I would use the phone of my friend who lived across the hall from me. And so when we were going through the whole draft process, they says, we want your draft

day phone number. I knew I was going to be at my apartment in Boulder, Colorado, but I had to give cam Jones's phone number. This the last guy that you want to give out his number to control something that's so important in your life. But yeah, I gave him that number, and I just remember him yelling across the hall. He said, Moon, that's what he called me. Moon. Cincinnati Bengals are on the phone. And I had to had to run over to his apartment and there was

dick Lebou on the phone. It was one of the best phone calls I ever received, and it wasn't even on my phone. We're doing Friend Facts with Solomon Wilcox. You mentioned dick Lebou. You once said he unlocked the mysteries of football in what way? In ways that help you to understand what offenses are trying to do to you and what you needed to do to stop him, or it is something as simple as this. Offenses, they're the ones who are on a clock. That quarterback doesn't

get to hold onto the ball forever. He's got to get rid of it, and his receiver has to get to the designated point at the time when the quarterback expects him to get there, and if he's not there, it's an incomplete and if you get there first, you get to catch it. It's an interception that the timing of the offense, everything is predicated on timing. And as a defensive back, your job is just a disrupt timing. You don't have to cover the guy all over the

field like defensive backs believe they have to. All you have to do is disrupt timing. You got pass rush help you to do that. You got the quarterbacks insecurity of getting blitz to help with that, and you get to jam the receiver at the line of scrimmage to help to prevent timing. So just something as simple as that goes such a long way and unlocking a mystery of what NFL offenses are all about and what they're

trying to do to you. We're visiting with Solomon Wilcots David Fulcher checked in at number six on the list, the highest rated defensive back. And one of the reasons why he was so effective in freelancing on defense is that you helped cover for him in the secondary. Was that instinct on your part or was it very choreographed when Fulture does this, I've got to do that. It was about knowing that Dave would take chances that Dave

and he had great instincts. He had not only the ability to make it work, he had the instincts to be able to do it at a time when the offense never thought he would. And I kind of had to know. When he started creeping up to the line of scream, I say, oh, no, he's blitzing. And he's not supposed to blitz. He supposed to cover over here. So someone had to cover. And and I just remember a few mondays after we would have games and Dick Lebau,

I mean, he would give it to me. He would just and I'm like, oh, coach, I didn't make you didn't you didn't complain, you just took it. But I remember one one Monday, I went in, I asked coach Lebo said, hey, it's just something wrong. Here, am I mistaken? David made the mistake, but then you me. He was like, that's your job. Your job is to be wherever he's not. And he helped me to understand that what kind of player David was and how he used David in the defense.

Ryan Clark, who played for Dick lebo in Pittsburgh, had to do the same kind of things. He and I would have these conversations. He never knew what Troy Polamalo was gonna do. Troy Polamalu in Pittsburgh playing for Dick Lebou was the same exact player that David Volcher was

twenty years prior, playing in the same defense. And so that's how Dick Lebou used his strong safety and his free safety and finding that that right player, and David was that guy now who had instincts an incredible ability for a big man to go out and make big plays. We're doing fun Facts with Solomon Wilcots. In training camp before your second season, Sam White decided to mix things up. He took black players and roomed them with white players.

He took offensive players and roomed them with defensive players. What impact did that have? Bruce Rymer's offensive lineman was my roommate. I would go. I would visit Eric Thomas. I think he was with Joe Walter. Anybody know Joe was a grumpy dude. You know, Joe didn't play. But Eric is such a jolly guy that he could bring out the best in a Joe Walter. But Sam, it worked. Sam knew what he was doing. Other than that, I'm a defensive back. We don't hang out with offensive lineman.

And there's no way that a guy from California and Eric Thomas is going to hang out with a guy from Texas like Walter. So that kind of forward thinking it did help us become closer as a team. We were able to spend time off the field with one another and with guys that we normally would not have spent time with. And I just remember Week two we went out and played Philadelphia that year. That's the year that the Eagles had a great team. Buddy Ryan's the coach.

They got big Reggie White on the defensive line, Jerome Brown, Chris Carter, Might Quick, Randall cunning Hemmy had a great team and we went out there and they jumped out on us. But I just remember doing that period we stuck together, the offensive line started taking over defense, we started making plays. We got out of there with a win.

But I think it was on that day, Week two and eighty eight that we really knew that we had a chance to be a great team, and we were close and we had one another's back no matter what happened, and even when we went through some bumpy spots in the season, there was never any doubt that we were kind of a team of destiny. A couple more questions for Solomons. That team goes to Super Bowl twenty three. The night before the game, unfortunately, Stanley Wilson had his

cocaine relapse. You are one of the last people that spoke to him before the team found out. Correct, Yeah, that is true. I remember he and Eddie Brown, myself and Eric Thomas. We were on the same floor, so we got on the elevator together to get ready go down to a team meeting, and Stanley at the last minutes is as the door was closing, says, I forgot my playbook and he shot out and the door closed

behind him as he went back to his room. We're sitting in the meeting room that night, and they said, as everyone here Sam ask and I remember Eddie was like, hey, Stanley went to go get his playbook. You see old be here in the second. So we're waiting five minutes, ten minutes. Sam think we gotta get this meeting going. Let's start the meeting. But he sent Jim Anderson back

to go get Stanley. Next thing, you know, maybe fifteen minutes later, Sam would tear in his eyes and you know, sort of interrupted everyone to say, guys, Stanley couldn't make it. And we were like, what are you talking about it. He proceeded to tell us about the relapse that Stanley had, and you know, that's something that has stuck with me for about thirty years, you know, for all this time, and you know, I'll talk I talk with Marvin about this.

I talked with a lot of other NFL coaches about when you go to a super Bowl, this is where character really counts. This is where all having the right people on your team counts. And not that Stanley was a bad person, but it's just about understanding that the pressure of such a game and of such a moment, it's going to reveal all things. I remember Chris Berman

and I were talking at one super Bowl. We were providing coverage and something that happened with one player in Miami, and I coined the phrase by saying, you know, you can only win the game the day of kickoff, but you can lose it between now and kickoff. In other words, some players slip out into the night, does something silly, and next thing you know that it serves as a huge distraction for their team who was trying to get ready to play the game of their lives. So that's

what I remember about it. I do remember a few years later, going out to California, I was covering for ESPN as a correspondent a case where Stanley Wilson was he was gonna get three strikes in year out, so he was gonna get life for a robbery for a home invasion, and I watched the judge render the verdict. I remember writing a letter to the judge of saying Stanley never hurt anyone physically, He only hurt himself, and I tried to prevail on the judge to not give

him life. I don't agree with the mandatory prison sentencing, and so Stanley Wilson does not deserve to be in jail for life for what he did. We all forgiving. We love him, but I know what he was one heck of a football player. I wish he would had played that day. We needed somebody to block Ronnie Lott. Last thing for Solomon Wilcots. You're from California. You went to Colorado, but you settled in Cincinnati after playing for the Bengals. What is it about this team in this

city that got under your skin? Well, it was interesting because when I was drafted, I remember I didn't quite know where Cincinnati was. I had never been east of the Mississippi River, and so when I came here, I didn't know what to expect. But you know, I started working for an insurance firm over at Midland American Modern Home and I worked there every year during the offseason. I worked as an underwriter, worked as a claim adjuster,

I worked in our HR department. And then when I was done playing, I went over to Channel five and worked with some really good people there who were great to me. I learned so much from them, and I don't know that I would still be here had I not had the opportunity to work with such good people and have them in my life. None of us succeed on our own. We need a community of people, and I always wanted to be able to at least give back to that community in some way, shape or form.

And I think that's what makes Cincinnati special. I think it is a place that is about community. And I think the people here can tell if you're genuine or not. They could tell if you are a hard worker, They could tell if you're in it for you, or if you're in it for the big picture. If you're in it for the big picture, it works out. If you're in it for you don't go so well. And so that's what I love about Cincinnati. And I tell people, even when I go back to La, people like, you

still live in Cincinnati. How could you live there? I said, you know what, it's a great place. We don't have traffic. I don't have to wait in line at the post office. I go to the coffee shop. My girl already has my coffee made. He knows me. I just that's what I love. That's what I like, and that's what makes Cincinnati a special place. I love it. My thanks to Solomon Wilcotts, and thank you for downloading this episode of

the podcast Don't Forget. We'll take an in depth, look at the most likely targets at the top of the Bengals draft board next week, and get Dave Lapham's first round prediction. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe on iTunes, stitch, your google Play, or pod Bean, and if you have a minute, give it a rating or leave a comment. Your feedback has been great, and five

star ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast.