Bengals Booth Podcast: Dream On

thrilling overtime win over the Chiefs in Kansas City. Then, in this week's fun Fact segment, you'll hear from a guy who just joined the team last week and has made an impact in the first two road playoff wins in team history. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play Next Level Fantasy Football game, downloaded now from the App Store and Google Play, and by on Location, the official hospitality partner of the NFL.

Fell Visit on location exp dot com for exclusive access to the biggest events in the NFL all season long, including Super Bowl fifty six. And here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since burnt ends. Burnt ends are a barbecue specialty in Kansas City.

Here's a description that I found on the internet. The ends of a brisket are thinner than the middle part and therefore cook faster, and after long hours in the smoker, the ends get well burnt. These crunchy, heavily caramelized, intensely smokey endpieces are delicious and I had them at lunch and dinner the day before the AFC Championship game. It was the second best part of my trip to Kansas City,

a very distant second best. If you listen regularly to this podcast, you know that I usually do a very detailed recap of the game, mixing highlights with postgame interviews. With a six am flight to catch on Monday, I'm going to make it a little less time consuming this week. You'll get all of the radio replays first, followed by some of the postgame comments. After that, it's analysis from Dave Lapham, and then a really good edition of fun

Facts with Bengals newcomer Zach Kerr. First, the highlights of the Bengals' biggest win in thirty three years. Today, for the first time in thirty three years, the Cincinnati Bengals are one win from going to the Super Bowl. But to get there, they will have to beat one of the game's all time greatest coaches and a twenty six year old quarterback with supernatural talent, and they'll have to

do it in the world's loudest outdoor stadium. It's the AFC Championship Game and it's time for the pigskin to lie here at Arrowhead Stadium. Mahomes drops back to throw, looking over the middle, scans left, scans right, takes off running toward the sideline, chucks it into the end zone, caught near the back pylon by Tyree Hill. Touchdown Kansas City. A thirty two yard try from the right hash for Evan Almighty Evan McPherson. He has been perfect in the postseason.

Kevin Huber ready for the snap, catches, puts it down. Evan McPherson's kick launched high and true. It is good and the Bengals are on the scoreboard. With thirty six seconds left in the first quarter, third down in two from the five, Mahomes back to throw, does a little shoulder shake a hunder pressure running backward. He's at the nineteen, now charges forward, throws into the end zone. Touchdown. Travis Kelsey. That's just backyard ball. That's out of the schoollyard in

the plate ground. Mahomes under Summer Clyde Edwards Hilaires the running back. They fake to him. Mahomes throws it, is caught and it's a touchdown. McCall Hardman racing toward the forward right pylon, caught it at the one and ran it in for the three yard score. You know the thing about this Kansas City Chiefs offense talk about speed. Speed can stretch you vertically, it can also stretch you horizontally.

I mean they are so fast you burrow back to throw short pass caught by p Rhyan p Rhyne down to the thirty sideline. Twenty fifty and ten five touchdown Bengals some Maj p Rhyne taking a short pass forty one yards to the house from the one yard line with five seconds left and a half. Mahomes throws Hill, catches at the six and gets tackled thin bounds and the cock rights out. A very questionable decision by the

Kansas City Chiefs. They threw it sideways to Tyree Hill and the Cheetah could not get in or get out of bounds. Eli Apple with a tackle at the one and the Bengals dodge a bullet as Kansas City drives to the one, runs two plays and fails to score. This will be a thirty one yard attempt from the left. Hash mc pherson one for one in this game, nine for nine in the postseason. Clark Harris snaps it to Kevin Huber. The kick is on its way from mc pherson and it is good and the Bengals have pulled

within eight. Shotgun snap Mahomes passes defected and ticked off the Bengals half the ball half the twenty seven b J. Hill comes away with a football and the Bengals get a takeaway, down by eight. With two eighteen left in the third quarter, third down in goal, the ball just inside the Kansas City three. Shotgun snap to Burrow, throws it into the end zone for Chase. He leaps, He's got it, touchdown down Bengals with fourteen seconds left in the third quarter, and now the Bengals can go for

two to try to tie this game. Trent Taylor goes in motion from right to left. He's in the game. Shotgun snap, Burrow throws the Taylor might open. He's got it now the forward left pylon. It's a two point conversion and the Bengals have climbed back from a twenty one to three deficit to tie this game. I'll tell you what, just the simple out route and they lost him. They lost track or Trent Taylor. Third down and seven for the Bengals at their own twenty three. Burrow waiting

for a shotgun snap. Samaj A p Rhyme lines up to his left. Two receivers left, two out to the right. Burrow back to throw. Burrow grab gets away from a sack, scrambling left, being chased, gets away again, hunting up the sideline, sticks out the ball with his right hand and gets the first down. Just passed the line to gain. Chris Jones had him dead to rights. Jones gets to his feet and he can't believe he did not get Joe

Burrow to the ground. Sneaky. This is a fifty two yard try for the twenty two year old kid from Fort Payne, Alabama. The snap, the put down, the kick, It has the distance. Baby it is good God. The Bengals have the lead for the first time with six minutes and four seconds to go. On third and goal from the nile. Mahomes catches the shotgun snap, retreats back to the eighteen, looking around in the end zone. Nobody opened yet no pressure at all. Now here comes the rush.

Mahomes way back at the twenty five. It loses the ball. The Chiefs fall on it at the twenty six, two seconds on the clock and regulation. Butcker is ready the snap, the put down. The kick is on its way. It is good and we are headed overtime. Tied at twenty four, the Bengals send three cover with eight Mahomes deep down field for the Cheetah. It's deflected and intercepted by von Bell. Bell running in the middle of the field of the forty forty five, taken down with a high tackle by

Kelsey at the forty five yard line. No penalty flag, but the Bengals come up with an overtime interception and now could win the game on a field goal. Four years ago, he was a senior in high school in tiny Fort Payne, Alabama. Now the Bengal Super Bowl chances rest on his right foot, the kick is up. Yeah, if good Coffin nails, bam bam. That is unblievable. The Cincinnati Bengals come from behind on the road, unbelievable. Dan, it is no fluke, It is a fact. The Cincinnati

Bengals are headed to Super Bowl fifty six. They just redefined the word resilient. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This year, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of the season, with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Now time to hear from several Bengals, beginning with Cincinnati native Sam Hubbard.

The Chiefs had the ball at the four yard line with one twenty six to go before Hubbard came up with back to back sacks that knocked Kansas City backward and forced the Chiefs to settle for a game tying field goal. I mean, we're going to the Super Bowl, and it sounds crazy to say that. I think when you say that, it's just hard to believe. And we're here, you know. I love this team, I love this city, and we got one more to get to get it all,

and I'm just on cloud nine right now. The Chiefs won the coin toss in overtime, but unlike last week against Buffalo, did not drive for a game ending touchdown. Instead, Patrick Mahomes was intercepted by Von Bell. They're gonna make plays. You know, they're here for a reason. You know, they've been in the Super Bowls, They've been in the big games. They know how to win. They're gonna find a guy. They're gonna make plays. But we're gonna make plays too.

And when you have the opportunity to go out there and make them and seize the moment. And like I said, it's calmed down, make the plays that come to you, and everything else go unfold. High posts unfold. And we just stuck to it. Man. We never batted eye, never had doubt, lean on one another, just going out there,

just having fun playing with each other. For the fifth time this year and the second week in a row, the game ended on a game winning walk off field goal by Mick Fearless Evan McPherson, who has made all four of his field goal attempts in three straight playoff wins. I didn't say anything this week, but you know, it's going through my head that there's probably a good chance that we're going to go into the super Bowl, And you know, it's just it's so surreal that, you know,

this game came down to a field goal. And obviously it wasn't just me. You know, our defense put us in a great position with the interception, and then our offense obviously I had a lot of commidants in them that they were going to drive it down, and you know, either I thought we were gonna score. You know, that's what I was telling a lot of people, you know, were this game You're gonna do on a on a touchdown,

not a field goal. Joe Burrow completed twenty three of thirty eight passes for two hundred and fifty yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. He was only sacked once and hit four times. But here's the stat that really matters. Burrow has already led the Bengals to three playoff wins that ties Boomer as Siason's team record, and like Boomer and Kenny Anderson, Burrow is taking the Bengals to the super Bowl. I wouldn't call it surreal. I would say

it's exciting. You know. I think if you would have told me before the season that we'd be going to the super Bowl, I probably would have called you crazy. But then you know, we played a whole season and you know, nothing surprises me. Now I know the kind of guys that we have and the team that we have, so you know, there's there's still one left. We're excited about this one, but you know, we'll celebrate to nine and then move on. The final word comes from head

coach Zach Taylor. First of all, I'm happy for this team and everyone in an organization. But you can't help but think about all the people back in Cincinnati celebrating right now, and all the people that were here. It felt like half the stadium, you know, at the end of the game, when the game was over and all of our fans got down there. Uh, it was. It was a special moment. So happy for the city of Cincinnati. They've waited for this moment, they've supported us waiting for

this Momentum couldn't be happier that that. Hopefully we can get them all out to LA We can figure that out, get the planes, the shuttles, the trains. Whatever we gotta do. We gotta get all this people out to LA because

we know we're gonna be playing a California team. And I know the fans were all probably hoping for the forty nine Ers, because what better way to go than than the most recent one that they had um But either way, it's it's gonna be fun and we're gonna have to have our best on that Sunday in the Super Bowl. So appreciate the fans. Couldn't wouldn't be here

without them. The Bengal Super Bowl opponent will be the Los Angeles Rams on the Rams home field, the second year in a row that the NFC champion his host did the Super Bowl. The Rams advanced with a twenty to seventeen win over the forty nine Ers. That means Zach Taylor will be coaching against his former boss Sean McVeigh. Now time for postgame analysis with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Lap I got the impression that at the end of

the game, you're feeling was the same as mine. I can't believe that this team is going to the Super Bowl. I really can't either, Dan. I mean, you look at it. Two years ago, the Drugs of the NFL two wins, I'm going eleven to begin with. Yeah, I mean, it's as dramatic a turnaround as in the NFL has ever seen. It really is. It's indescribable. Hat's off to all of them.

Hat's off to everybody. The thing, the thing that they've done so well is when they had when they got the opportunity, they enjoyed it, had fun, maximized it, played loose, were resilient. All the things you needed to do they did. It's it's just it's mind boggling. And when you think about how young they are at key positions, at key spots, the coaches too. I mean, it's really wild, it really is.

It's a It's a heck of a story. Hollywood and could Hollywood could not write a better script than what happened. It's it's amazing. So in the first half, the Chief's offense was a hot knife through butter. First drive eighty four yards touchdown, Second drive seventy five yards touchdown, Third drive seventy two yards touchdown. Fourth drive, long drive down to the one yard line, and they get nothing. How much did that play and that decision change the momentum

of this game. I think it was the determining factor. I think it was the turning point in the football game for them to uh, you know, three touchdown passes in the red zone from a home bone bone bone and then get in the red zone and trying to kind of outthink himself be a little bit too cute? Did Andy Reid and that play? The design of that play, it's all or nothing and they got nothing out of it.

And honestly, you can question a lot of things. You can question the decision to do it, the play selection, and it's amazing that Eli Apple made the play they made in space on a guy that's is incredibly athletic, is Tyreek Hill. I mean, I don't know, if you throw it out there a hundred times, you think Tyreek Hill would probably make the play a high high percentage of it of the time. But Eli Apple, when it counted, you step it up and made the play. And really

in the playoffs, he's been a big playmaker. I mean he has made he's he's flashed, I mean, he's he's jumped off the tape, There's no question about it. It was also his past interference penalty to put the ball at the one yard line. So you talk about making up for your mistake, Holy cow, no question, no question. And that's that's the epitome of resiliency. You know, it's like compartmentalizing, all right. You know, I've can't do anything about what I've done. All I can do is what

I'm about to do and try to make restitution. All I can control is the future. The past is done, no more control of that anymore. And man, to think of all the guys that made how about Sam Hubbard back to back sacks at the most crucial time of the football game. That's just amazing. When they rushed through and drop eight, I mean, plastering the receivers, Holmes having

nowhere to go at the football. They really must have disguised things a lot differently in the second half, because it looked like it was a puzzle that he couldn't even come close to solving, whereas in the first half he was just decisive and ripping it. In the second half, he never felt good about anything that he was looking at down the football field. So hats off to lou Anna Rumo the defensive staff for tweaking things, making the adjustments that they made. And making life tough on Mahomes

and for the players for executing it all. But man twenty one to three close to the end of the half and to score, you know, to make it an eleven point game at halftime. You thought, well, you know, they get the ball to start the third quarter. If you can stop, make a stop there and cut it to a one score game, you have a shot. And that's exactly what happened. Crazy. So in the first meeting, twenty eight points in the first half, three in the second half, and this one twenty one points in the

first half, three in the second half. But the difference is in that first game, the Bengals offense held the ball for almost the entire second half. The Chiefs only had three possessions. This time, the Chiefs got the ball plenty of times. Punt, punt, interception, punt, punt, field goal interception, seven drives, three points, two turnovers with Mahomes, Kelsey Hill, etc.

It really is incredible. Uh, you know, you look at the turnovers and then the play at the at the end of the first half that we talked about with Andy Reid's decision where no points in the red zone. I mean that's three takeaways. You talk about three possessions that you that you steal without allowing any points to the Kansas City Chiefs. That's what you had to have happened that that was one of the pieces of the formula I think for success. And I was absolutely stunned though.

You know, Bengals come from behind fourteen nothing, twenty one seven, twenty eight, fourteen in Cincinnati, that's one thing. But to go on the road at Arrowhead and be down twenty one three in that place and to come back and uh and win the football game. It's it's just it's incomprehensible and describable. It's in everything. I mean, it's it is as wild a script as I've ever seen written,

that's for sure. What can you say about Joe Burrow, I mean, for what he's done for the city, for the franchise, for the future of the franchise, It's really hard to put into words it is. I mean, I don't think i've ever seen well I shouldn't say, because you know, I haven't been in Bengals history anyway, but I'm sure it was that way with Peyton Manning. But Peyton Manning's rookie year, he led the NFL in interceptions,

you know, and they won two games. But you know, you could see what you might have in Peyton Manning. Joe Burrow. I mean, in the ten games he played, he was he was making noise, as he would put it at that time. Right away, he just jumped right in and was he was getting it done. Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen one piece as impressive and

as important as what Joe Burrow has done. I mean, he believes, so they all believe, you know, as as the great Paul Brown said, winning makes believers of us all, and Joe Burrows a winner. Joe Burrow, you know he got to the state championship game, lost in the shootout, to put up crazy numbers. What he did at LSU, what he's doing here. This guy. The bigger the game, the more he steps up, the more he believes, and it's contagious and teammates believe at that point in time.

You've known Mike Brown for nearly fifty years. What do you think's going through his mind? Yeah? I think he's He's desperately wanted this to happen, I think for a long time, and I think he's just his mind's probably blown. I mean, it is mind boggling to think that this year that they took it as far as they did. I mean, I think he was expecting improvement, like all

of us. But I don't think that in his wildest dreams he could think could have thought that back in August and September that this team was going to the Super Bowl. I just you know, it's I don't know how you can go there, how you can get there. You can hope, but to actually, you know, have a true feeling, true belief that that was going to be the case. So, I mean, I would think at the stage of his life that he's at, there could not be a better gift from Mike Brown than what he's

experiencing right now. I mean, he probably feels like a kid again. And it was pretty cool to see him up on that stage hugging Zach Taylor, hugging Icky Wood, saying what a moment for Mike Brown and h and everybody in his family. And then there's Zach Taylor six twenty five and one in his first two years that ranks with among the worst records of any coach in history in their first two years, and now in year three, he's taken this team to the super Bowl, and these

guys love them. You know, It's it's amazing. Like Zach has said, if you were with almost any other organization in the NFL, he wouldn't have gotten a third body of the Apple, wouldn't have gotten a third year. But Mike Brown believed, and Mike Brown is patient and persistent in his belief. So you look at what kind of a feeling must there be between Zach Taylor and Mike Brown right now? I mean that's you talk about bonds that are made. That's that's a bond that is unique.

It'll it'll never be broken. They'll never forget any of it. Uh. It's it's life changing, to say the least. Just to imagine the resiliency and the determination that it took to get from where they were to where they've gotten to in such a short period of time. I mean, the perfect storm had to happen. It was the perfect year to go too and fourteen because you got Joe Barrow and then you know, make some improvements and you can get a guy like Jamar Chase and it's like wow.

But then all the other stuff they did in free agency and the draft, they just made a lot of really good decisions in a short period of time here to turn this thing around. It's almost it's almost impossible to you know, predetermined or track of course that they took. And man, they hit everything out of the park. Everything they did, not everything, but a high, high percentage of most things they did turned out to be the right thing.

Just unbelievable. Here's a stat that speaks to the resiliency. That's only the second time in the last thirteen postseason overtime games that the team that lost the coin toss won the game. Second time in the last thirteen postseason overtime games. It's such a huge advantage to get the ball first, where you can score a touchdown and win, or maybe get two possessions of one whatever it might be.

For the Bengals to come up with the interception first Von Bell and then to calmly drive down the field into chip shot field goal range is remarkable. It is it is, I mean, to get a turnover after you lose the coin toss is you know, I don't know what the analytics guys would say, but it's got to be minuscule percentage wise for that to take place. And man, Von Bell, he got his, finally got his, you know, I mean, Jesse Bates had gotten his, Pratt had gotten his,

Wilson had gotten his. So in the middle of the football fields where a lot of that stuff takes place normally, and you know, I was hoping Von Bell might get his and in the red zone before the end of the football game. But it was the next possession, and it was a massive possession for him to take the football away like he did, and for the Bengals to finalize it. They were man once they started sensing that

they could finish the football game. I mean, I've been there and that you start to swell up a little bit, you know, you come off the scrooms a little bit harder, and Joe Mixon was running a little bit harder, and then it's like, you know, now we got it. We got these guys on our heels and on their heels, and we're gonna finish this thing. We're gonna finish in a big way. How about b J Hill too? More

return on that trade for Billy Price. Just before the start of the regular season, Tips have passed to himself intercepts it at the Kansas City twenty seven leads to the tying touchdown in two point conversion with fourteen seconds to go in the third quarter. I mean a lot of times, you know, it's always like who's going to make a play? What player is going to make a play.

And if you had said before the game, if you took a poll of I don't know the entire Bengals nation, how many people would have said, BJ Hill is going to tip a ball to himself and set the team up for a huge play. I mean, that's that's the beauty of a team sport like that. You know, you have twenty two moving parts and everybody's capable. And BJ Hill he had his moment and when his moment basically

made itself present to him, he capitalized, you know. I mean the thing is he not only tipped it to himself, he followed it, caught it, finished it. I seen many times we've gotten, you know, the particularly lineman and tip it to themselves and can't even really finish the play. But BJ Hill it was. That's that's something that Hill

remember the rest of his life. He will always be when they show highlights of the AFC Championship game in twenty two season, b J Hill will be a guy that they show that was amongst the big plays in that football game. It's huge. Here's something I would like to know. What made the coaches think to put Trent Taylor into the game for the two point conversion? The dude barely plays on offense. I don't think he had to catch other than the Cleveland game where the subs played.

They put him in in that crucial situation. Eddie's wide open to catch the two point conversion. What made them think of Trent Taylor in that situation? That's a good question. I wonder how long they had worked on it. I wonder how many reps that he had taken. Yeah, all those things are her good questions. But boy, he answered the bell. And here's a guy you talk about steady Eddie. Darren Simmons says all the time the number one thing I want him out of my return guys to handle

the ball to the official. And he has been flawless in his you know, his handling of the football as a punt returner, catching everything, making good decisions, making a good decision when to let one hit the ground, and you know or not, all those kind of things have been a big deal. Uh, he did a nice job at bluff On on the one, the one that ended up in the end zone. I mean, he had a lot of people believe and he was going to catch that and return that thing. He knows what he's doing.

I mean, he's a he's a clever guy, smart guy. Um understands, you know, all the little nuances and man. And there's another one. I mean there's another guy that as in history. As you look at at the at the scoring summary of the of the championship game, there is with a huge two point conversion and that was huge, massive, And there's Trent Taylor. So we got b J. Hill, we got Trent Taylor. Yeah, automatic that was going to happen.

You knew those two guys were gonna make huge plays and to determine part of the outcome of the game. And then there's Avin McPherson flying in with his pairs on the flight. Dad's a dead Ringer is the slightly older version. But I can't get over the fact that the dude looks like he's fifteen years old. He was in high school four years ago and now he's twelve or twelve in the postseason, hitting him from fifty plus, hitting him to win games. His level of composure and

the clutch gene is remarkable. It is. And you talk about Joe Burrow with the ner in confidence this guy, yeah, I mean he believes he can do anything and he probably can't in terms of kicking the football. It is just it's phenomenal. And sat right behind his dad talked to him on the flight quite a bit. He's got a son that just committed to Auburn and he just broke his brother's record. He was the holder when Evan hit the sixty yarder in high school and he just

hit one from sixty one. And Evan had made it from sixty eight in high school but not in a game, and seventy five at Florida but not any game. It's crazy. I don't know. I don't know what the mcphersons are feeding their sons, but man, they've got bionic legs. There's no no two ways about that. So yeah, it's and he just he's another one, Joe Burrow, Evan McPherson. When normally people's heart rates accelerate and it's a big moment, and you know, you just you start thinking about too

many things. These guys just slow down their breathing rate, slow down their heart rate, and just step up and make plays. It's incredible. For more on the win and an early look ahead to the Bengals Ram Super Bowl matchup, join Lap and Lance McAlister for Bengals Line Monday night from six to nine on seven WLW. This podcast is sponsored in part by on Location, the official hospitality partner

of the NFL. Visit on location exp dot com for exclusive access to the biggest events, including Super Bowl fifty six. Now time for this week's fun Facts segment, and my guest is a guy who joined the team just in time to head to the super Bowl for the first time in his eight year NFL career. Time for some fun facts with Bengals newcomer Zach Kerr, who joined the

team just before the playoff win over Tennessee. Zach, your teammates are jokingly calling you two checks Kerr, as in two paychecks, because you are in the Cardinals payroll the week before for their playoff game. Earlier this year, you're with another team that's still alive in the playoffs, San Francisco. Can you describe the whirlwind that this season has been for you? To be completely honest with you. I really can't describe it. It's been crazy, you know for me

and my family. You know. So it's the first time in my career where I've actually been you know, bounced around like this. You know, the first six years of my career, I was a stagnant uh you know, two teams, you know, that's it. And then these last few years

I just kind of been bouncing around. But this year was really special because you know, it was it's my eighth year and you know, you know, you know what they say about when you know, when you start to get up there in those years as an NFL player

and you kind of see it a little bit. But then you know, it was just so crazy to play for the forty nine ers who are playing for a chance to you know, finish, finish strong, and then being with the Cardinals who had a chance to finish strong, and now you know, with the Bengals to you know, we're still playing as well. So it was just crazy just to see how that transition happened. And um, you know, it could have been any three teams and it's thirty two of them. It could have been any three teams

in the NFL. But it just happened to be these three, and um, you know, I feel like my last stop has been the best one so far, so I'm excited about it. Man, So you played in a playoff win over the Titans. Did you even know most of your teammates at that point? From a few practices, I had no idea who I was out there playing with. Man, I knew I knew a few guy just being in the building for you know, two three days. Some guys I knew from other places and just being in the

NFL and being around them. But for the most part, I mean, you know, it was just like those guys that know who I was either you know what I'm saying. So there was a lot of communication, and then I couldn't have walked into a group of better guys. To be honest with you, I felt like I'd been here the whole season away last game went, and these practices have been going. So it's really cool to see what they what they built here in Cincinnati, and I'm just

happy to get a part of them. We're visiting with Zach Kerr. From reading a little bit about your background in your life story, your life could be a movie. There's been a heartache. There's been a hardship, but ultimately there's been triumph with eight years in the NFL and counting. When you share your story with kids, where do you

begin and what's your message? Where I begin is telling them that I actually, you know, they see this NFL player here right now, but I didn't atually start playing football, so I was at junior high school. So I kind of give him that part of it first, to tell them that, to show them that you don't gotta you

don't gotta do with your whole life like everybody. Um. And I also tell them that to give them the idea that sometimes it just happens, you know, like I can't I try to, you know, make up this crazy well. You know, I worked super hard, obviously I did, but it just happened, you know. I just happened to be good at football my first couple of times playing it. I happened to be the size I happen to be,

you know, athletic. It just you just win the you know, you win the lottery, g and and and that's and that's pretty much what it is. And then what I try to explain to him is that you can do whatever you want to do. It doesn't have to be an NFL football player, doesn't have to be you know, a professional athlete for any other, um, you know, any other sports. But I just tried to explain to him that whatever you really want to do, put your mind to it, you can do. And I think that's what

my story shows. It just happened that I played football. But I put my mind to it that I wanted to be an NFL football player, and it happened. So I just try to tell them that I really try to leave football out of it, because that's some anomally for some guys. You know, part of the hardship you had to overcome with a period of homelessness as a kid. What was the low point for you? I don't know. Um, I don't know if I had any low points. Man. My mom did a really good job of keeping us

together as a family. She she did a really good job of not really um allowing us to know what the situation was. You know, to me, I was in the I was I was around my families and my sisters and my mom. So that was a great thing. I always had food, I always had clothes, you know what I'm saying. So I don't think there was so much of a low point. The low point is now that we're all older, we don't get to be around

each other so much, you know what I'm saying. That's the low point for me that you know, I gotta you know, they always all the way across the country or something like that, and you know, we're adults. We got our own lives now, so it's a little different because I'm so used to being a close knit group and being in the same room and same living room with the same people and uh and now it's just, you know, we're all going out separates and doing good

things with our lives. So that's the low point is that I don't get to see as much as I used to chatting with Zach Kerr. So as you know that you didn't play football until the eleventh grade, I read that you're in the tenth grade, you're in the school band. You're not on the football team until a college coach shows up and gives you advice to change your life. Right, yep. Ralph Frigent was was the guy who I like to give credit to. It was a couple of other people in my high school that my

high school head coach. He had been telling me to play fool, but like, look, bro, you big, you athletic, you need to come get it a shot. But it was until Ralph walked in and he told me. He asked me, he just he just explained it to me a little. This It made sense to me the way he said it. He asked me if I wanted to go to that first thing. He says, said you want to go to college. I say, yeah, I'd like to go to college. Said you want to go for free? Yeah,

I'd like to go to college for free. That sounds like a big idea, you know, that sounds funny. And he told me, he said, well, you can go to college for free if you play football. He said, I'm telling you it could happen. You can change your life. You can change your family's life by just changing your decision making. And when he told me that, I kind of looked at him like, hey, nobody ever really broke

it down something like that. It was just play football, you big, play football, you big, you know, And it got to a point where I was like, you know what this is, this is what I need to do. I got my grant. I was ineligible because I was. I didn't care about anything. I was just going to school, being a high school student. I got eligible and the next shot I played football, and he told me. It

was two schools. They told me, they said, you get eligible to play football, you don't have a scholarship from us your first date being eligible, and it was a University of Maryland and Penn State. And those two schools stay true to me throughout the hometown process and all to me. I went to Maryland coming out of high school. So it was just crazy how everything I took place in my life. It's I guess it can be a movie, but to me, it's just normal. It was supposed to

happen away. That's how I look at it. Well, if it becomes a movie, I'm going because I appreciate that. Come to the movie. I'm contacting. You gonna get a percentage of Now I'll finance the movie or your kidding, let's steal it. But the movie aspect isn't finished yet. Because you went to Maryland. You had some success, but two years in they make a coaching change and the new coach says, you know, maybe you'd be better off going elsewhere. So now you've got to start over again.

How difficult was that? That was probably that when you asked about the low point, that was a low point for me. I remember leaving college, I mean leaving to go to college. I told my mom to give my room to my little sister. Said I'm never coming back home. I'll never live with you again, like I'm a man now, And two years out of me saying that, I was right back in the house, you know what I'm saying, and you know, sleeping on the floor, all types of stuff.

It was crazy now that I look back on it, But I mean it was tough for me because you know, you get to a point in your life where you think you figured it out right and life humbles you and now you got to fight your way about it. That it yet, so all it really showed me was that I could do it and I wouldn't give up on myself. You know. That's that's that's what that showed me. But that was a low point for me, and it was tough because I didn't know if I was gonna

get back into school. I didn't know, you know, I didn't even have anybody that was showing interest at that at that time, so I just went back to my high school, started helping out with practice with the d line and running sprints with them after practice and stuff to stay in shape. And one of my one of my high school and college teammates, who was already at Delaware gave gave one of the coaches who was at Maryland a call and told him, Hey, looks that's trying

to get back into school. So the coach called him, was like, Hey, what do you want to do. I'm like, if y'all want me, I'm mad. I don't got no other you know, I don't got any other, no other offer, so um everything. I had to go to online school and you know, pay for that myself and all types of things, and uh, you know, we ended up working out for the best two years at Delaware and you know, eight years later, we're still we're still doing the thing. It just shows me that I won't ever give up

on myself. So you signed with the Colts. You played a significant role right off the bat as a rookie. What did it mean to you the first time you're standing on the out on the sideline in the NFL uniform, after all you overcame. I cried like a baby man. To be completely honest with you, I cried like a baby because I knew what I had to overcome and I knew what my family had though, because that's all I was thinking about, was you know, my family was

up in the stairs. Everybody was dan. I was like, dang, we had to do so much for me, not for us, for me to get to this point. I still think about that every once in a while. Man, before a game, I think about that, and I still tear up because it's it's it's it's a dream. I tell my mom all the time. I think about my dad. I think about my mom, and I'm like, Dank, they sacrificed so much for me to get here, and I'm out here playing the game, just a game, and it brings everybody

so much joy. So it was I still get him. I'm getting emotion now, man, I don't ask me questions, all right, you'll like this then, because we're gonna finish this up with a few wild card questions and these ones are not emotional, Okay, Which You're all time favorite athlete in any sport and why Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson, any sport, every sport. It don't matter Mike Tyson. And the reason why I say that is because he went through so much. You know, he showed his whole career,

he showed resilience. And it wasn't just boxing, it's outside of it. It's boxing's life in general, just all the stuff he had to endure, his mental health, all that stuff. You know what I'm saying, It's not easy. It's not easy being a you know, almost being a billionaire and losing it all and then still get you know, find a way to climb out of that. That's not easy. You know, it's not easy to have your entire life put on display. And that's why I enjoy Mike Tyson

because all that happened to him. You're getting the ring with him, you're trying to take your head off, and he'll trying to do the same thing in life. And that's why I love him. He's gonna be that, He's gonna be the same person all the time, and you know what you're gonna get from him mine and and I could I can go to world with a guy like that all day. Next wild card question. You are

a large man. What is the biggest inconvenience in regular everyday life for somebody or size clothes, finding clothes that are fit, you know. To be completely honest, I'm a stylished guy. I like I like looking like. I'm not a big guy that like looking slop. I like to look nice because if you beg you can't be slopping, you know what I'm saying. So I like to look I like to look nice and sake care of myself

and um. The hardest thing for me, man, is just just going into a stone and knowing that they don't have anything there that face. That's probably what it is. Do you use Zach Kerr have a hidden talent? I can't impersonate people really well. I say a hidden talent. I gotta, I gotta. I got an impersonation gene. I guess I say that one. You're gonna get me one. I can't see. Look, I don't he's gonna ask you

to do that. It's on the spot, man, I don't know who I would impersonate, you know, for you to be like okay, I know who that is, you have to be somebody that you know. I was gonna say, do you have a Mike Tyson? I mean, if that your guy, can you do typon. Let me do you, let me do you a good Mike Tyson. Let me see which what's a good quote from him? See his quotes are crazy. Man, I don't know if I can say that was on the radio. I got some Mike Tyson for you, but I don't know if I can

get you on the radio right now. Dad, and I ain't a lot to you. We've got that beep button, but I'll wait until we're talking face to face and there's no microphone nearby, and then I'll have you do your mic. That final thing for Zach Kerb this is kind of deep. If you could meet anybody in history, athlete, actor, statesmen, famous politician, whoever that might be, who would that person be? Honestly, man,

it'll probably be my father. My dad passed away when I was young, so I never got a chance to meet him with no him. But everybody tells me and I'm with the same zat person. You know what I'm saying. So probably my Pops, Man Restipes and Weston Kerr. Zach. This has been great. Welcome to Cincinnati. Thank you so much for your time and best of luck. Thank you, Dan. I appreciate you having me on them. I have a

goo that's going to do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now from the App Store and Google Play and buy on Location, the official hospitality partner of the NFL. Visit on location exp dot com for exclusive access to the biggest events in the NFL all season law, including the

Super Bowl. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast