Bengals Booth Podcast: End of the Road

the Baltimore Ravens. Thirty eight to three coming up, you'll hear radio replays, postgame comments from players and coaches, and in depth analysis from Dave Lapham and in this week's fun Facts segment, It's honestly one of my all time favorite episodes of this segment as we go in depth with rookie wide receiver t Higgins. The Bengals Booth Podcast

is presented by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, go Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since The Beg's

documentary on HBO. I've never really been a fan of The Begs, although I might be the world's biggest fan of the Barry Gibb talk show skit on Saturday Night Live with Jimmy Fallon and justin Timberlake where they sing talking about chest here talking about crazy cool medallions. Look it up if you've never seen it. In any case, I recently stumbled into The Beg's documentary that's currently running on HBO, and now I can't get their songs out

of my head. So yes, Since episodes of this podcast are always named for song titles or lyrics, it's only a matter of time before you get a staying Live episode. Heard enough of me singing, I thought, so let's get to football. The Ravens started the game with a twelve play drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. It ended with a Justin Tucker field goal that made it three nothing Baltimore. The Bengals answered with what looked like a huge gain on their third play from scrimmage.

Three receivers stretch out to the left, one out to the right. It's third down and eight shotguns snap allan with a quick throat caught by Tehiggins right springing up the middle of the field. Penalty flags down. He's to the fifty. The Baltimore forty five then goes down at the Ravens forty and he appears to be hurt. See Higgins grabbing at his hamstring after catching a pass that breaks the team record for catches by a rookie, But there are penalty flags down. If it's against Cincinnati, it

won't count, and te Higgins appears to be hurt. Well, he missed some practice time this week with a hamstring problem. It could be a pick offensive pass offense by Janyard penalty third down. Yeah, they called the the OLDPI. That's what allowed Tehiggins to break free. And then he exacerbated that hamstring issue that he had. He was limited in practices earlier in the week with a hamstring problem, and now it's worse and he's still down on the field

getting attention from the medical staff. It wipes out the catch. And if the hamstring is in fact the injury and he does not continue today, he will not break Chris Collinsworth's franchise record. Instead, they share the record. His teeth finished a fantastic rookie year with sixty seven catches for nine hundred eight yards. Here's quarterback Brandon Allen on the loss of a forty one yard gain and more importantly, one of the team's best weapons on a snowball from there.

You know, anytime you get a big play like that, that one gets called back in two, you lose teeth for the rest of the game with the hamstring. I believe it was, so you know, like we said earlier, it definitely took some win out of ourselves. But you know, as a as a good offense, you have to be able to come back from that and execute. And it's it's always been next mentality. So you know, anytime it was a really good player like Tea for a game

is tough. But you know, guys, I thought really have been stepping up all year and continue to do that, and we just weren't able to get it done. No, they weren't. Meanwhile, Baltimore scored again on its second possession out of a pistol formation. Jackson fakes a handoff, does a piro wet now throws it deep down the middle of the field. Boykin catches it at the five and runs into the end zone with Lashawn Simms trailing him a forty three yard touchdown pass Lamar Jackson to Miles Boykin.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was ten nothing and total yards were one fifty two to four, But early in the second quarter, the Bengals defense provided a golden opportunity. Third down in five, the Ravens at their own forty one, Andrews goes in motion. Lamar Jackson back to throw, looking looking pump fakes, throws back again and this time it was intercepted a team. Davis Gather, with his first career picked Marcus at the forty eight yard line and the Bengals come up with a takeaway

and Margus Hunt got it again. Marcus Hunt, that's his second chip, isn't that series a keen. Davis Gaither's first career pick gave the Bengals the ball at the Baltimore forty seven. They gained three yards on three plays and had to punt. Baltimore took over at the seven and basically put the game away. This has been a sixteen play, seventy five yard drive that's taken eight and a half

minutes off the clock. Third down in eight, Lamar back to throw, chucks it toward the middle of the end zone, a sliding attempt and a touchdown catch for Hollywood Brown beat Jayalen Davis very easily. It was seventeen nothing before the Bengals even had a first down. They got three in a row on their final drive of the first half and got on the scoreboard thirty seven seconds left in the half. Harris will snap, Huber will hold. Huber looks back at the kicker, now turns his head, catches

the snap, puts the ball all down. The kick is blasted by Cybert and it is good. It was seventeen three at a half, but quickly became a route when the Ravens scored on their first two drives of the third quarter to by two. Formation. Now one of the receivers to the left motions into the backfield. That's Dobbins. Lamar Jackson gives it to JK. Dobbins and he runs into the end zone, scoring a touchdown for the sixth consecutive game in his rookie year. Lamar Jackson rolls right,

looking to throw. Being chased, now throws toward the end zone. It is caught for the touchdown by Hollywood Brown. That made a thirty one to three, and Lamar Jackson was done for the day with roughly four minutes to go in the third quarter. He only completed ten passes, but three were for touchdowns and Lamar ran for ninety seven yards, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to have two one thousand yard rushing seasons. Michael Vick is the

only other quarterback to have one. The only drama left involved, AJ Green was likely playing in a Bengals uniform for the final time. He undered the game with sixty five career touchdown catches, one shy of Chad Johnson's team record. After a fifty five yard run by Trevion Williams late in the third quarter, aj drew back to back pass interference penalties, one at the four yard line and one in the end zone, putting the Bengals in perfect position to try to get him a share of the team record.

First and goal from the one. After the penalty, AJ Green goes out to the right. Brandon Allen is under center, the running back is Traveon Williams. Alan takes the snaff, fakes a handoff, looking to throw left for AJ Green, and it is intercepted by Marcus Peters. It was underthrown by Alan, touchback and the Ravens deny the Bengals on first in goal from the one. As Marcus Peters stepped in front of AJ Green and intercepted that under thrown ball.

I think the Ravens knew exactly what the Bengals were trying to do. And now get Aj that touchdown and again had thrown off his back foot as he's falling away from the line of scrimmage, Calais Campbell providing pressure. The ball is underthrown and he never gets it out outside the goal line. The whole ball has to cross the goal line. It's a touchback. He was open, just have to throw it out a back pyline. Yep, you

under threw it by a margin. Here's Brandon Allen. You got the right looks for him, and you know you got past interference on a couple of times, and then uh uh, did not get the ball out far enough for him on on the one so um definitely looking at AJ's way, trying to get him a touchdown, and I wasn't able to get it to him. Aj was targeted six times and did not have a catch, a disappointing ending to a remarkable ten year run. Here's teammate

Jesse Bates. I'm sure he's very disappointed because he deserves that. He's put so much into the city, into the organization over the amount of years um and he deserves to get that record, but he has a he has a great life ahead of just that record. So I'm sure he'll go play ball, you know, maybe not here next year, and I'm sure he'll have a lot of success because

I know what he stands for. So I'm very honored to be able to play with someone like him and also learn, you know, to help my help my career out as well. And two plays after the Marcus Peters interception, the Ravens rub the little salt in the Bengals wound second and two officially for the Ravens. Hutley turns left,

hands it off to Dobbins. He runs for the first down, gets away from Pratt, sprinting down field to the forty thirty, the twenty, the ten, and the former Buckeye goes seventy two yards for a touchdown as the Ravens continue to pour it on. That was part of a one hundred and sixty yard day for JK. Dobbins and part of a four hundred four yard rushing performance by Baltimore. That's the most rushing yards ever surrendered by the Bengals by

a wide margin. The previous high was three thirteen by Kansas City in nineteen sixty nine, the bengals second year of existence. Here's Zach Taylor. It was a challenge. I mean, we were missing a fair amount of guys over there. That's that's no fun, and I don't I don't question the effort. Obviously, I haven't seen the tape yet, but

there was nothing that stood out in that standpoint. We ran into a really good football team that can run in as well as any team in the league, and they had enough long runs there that that really broke our backs in some situations. We do expect to be better, but it was a tough matchup right now. The four hundred four rushing yards allowed was almost an NFL record for the Super Bowl era. Ironically, the Bengal set that record on offense in two thousand when they ran for

four hundred seven yards against Denver. That was the day that Corey Dillon went for two seventy eight. The final score Sunday was Baltimore thirty eight Cincinnati three, as the Bengals managed to score just one field goal in each of their two games against Baltimore this year. Here or Zach Taylor and Jesse Bates not a rough finale, not

how we wanted to end, There's no question about that. Um. Certainly we did some good things the last two weeks, and and uh, we just got to continue to build from everything good and bad that happened over the course of the season and focus on improving over the course to the spring. My mindset going into this game was just play really hard for all the guys that has put so much time into the season. Um, even though

we lost, got our butt kick tonight. UM, I just want to focus more on, you know the guys, um that continue to fight. You get to two wins back to back in week fifteen and sixteen, UM, and that's not that's not easy to do. So I don't want to focus on the negatives. UM. I'm just gonna uh go enjoy the you know the teammates tonight, UM, because this won't be the same with some Without some of those guys, that's won't be in the locker room next year.

The Bengals finished four eleven and one. They're locked into the fifth pick next year's draft after the Jaguars, Jets, Dolphins, who got the Texans pick, and Falcons. Now time for postgame analysis with my broadcast partner Dave lapple Lap for all the feel good from the last couple of wins, A lot of that was squelched in the final game of the year against Baltimore just because of how lopsided

the game was. Do you think it changes anything in terms of what Mike Brown might be thinking or really the course of action that this team was likely to take. That's a that's a great question. I mean, you would you would think it might give you some pause because, I mean, this division opponent, your light years away from the Baltimore Ravens. It's sixty five to six in the two games this year. You convert four for twenty five

on third down. You know, you don't score touchdown, you score six points and eight quarters, and then you give up four hundred yards rushing to their offense. That's not going to change and that's not going to go away. They're gonna have the same players in the same scheme back. So um, yeah, it's it's it's pretty remarkable. Now. You know,

there are circumstances. Obviously, you're down three defensive your three best defensive tackles, your three best cornerbacks, your three bests everything, but you you you think that you'd be able to put up a little bit more resistance than what took

place today. I got out of hand early. It seemed like the devastating offensive pass interference followed by the injury to the hamstring at Te Higgins on that same play took the wind out of the sales of the football team, I think pretty dramatically, and it took them a long time to rebound and recover, and it was much too

late and they never did rebound and recover. So um, but yeah, I mean, you wonder you wonder about did this devastation, this lopsidedness that had offset the feel good part of the of the two game winning streak, because this, this was the litmus test they caught Pittsburgh when Pittsburgh was in a lull. They weren't playing their best football. Houston's just not playing very well at all this year. Other than Deshaun Watson, They're a one man team basically.

But this football team, they were playing their best football. I mean, they were peaking at the right time. And this was the litmus tests. Was the brahmin or how close will we come? How much better are we than the first time we played against him? Not very much. There have been numerous reports in recent days about upcoming

changes that are expected on the Bengals coaching staff. Former Channel five reporter at least Jesse was the first to say that offensive line coach Jim Turner, defensive line coach Nick Eason, and defensive assistant Gerald Chapman are expected to be out. Since then, it has been reported that Bob mcnell, the wide receivers coach, in Jamal Singleton, the runnings backs coach,

are not expected to be back. We do not have Bengals confirmation on any of that, but it certainly sounds like there is going to be a big shake up, even if Zach Taylor is back as head coach. Yeah, And I think it's interesting how much of it is organization driven how much of it is the coach deciding that they want to go elsewhere. I'm sure it's a combination of both. But there are going to be significant changes,

you know, in the coaching staff. And as a former player, that would have been weird for me to hear right before the football game about all these coaches moving on, these guys that you were you know, you're you're working with all week, you're prepping for the game, everybody's you know, rowing the boat the same way. And this guy might be going to Tennessee to coach an offensive line coach Turner,

that was That's a rumor I heard out there. Coach Singleton going to Kentucky, you know, other guys going wherever that that that could be. I'm not saying that. It certainly didn't help the cause. I think you shouldn't shouldn't use it as a crutch that you got smoked the way you got smoked. There are a lot of reasons, and most of it was lining up and putting on big boy pads and not being able to have those big boy pads on and not two chin straps on.

You just got pushed around. I mean, it was a physical football game for one team, and that team won handily. So you can't use it as crutch. You can't use it as an excuse. But it's not helpful, you know, to have that kind of thing all come out right

before you go out to play a football game. And what was almost certainly his last game in the Bengals uniform, AJ Green was targeted six times, did not have a catch on first and goal from the one They clearly wanted to get him the touchdown tying record to pull leave an all time with Chad Johnson, and it was there. He was running across the field from right to left. He was opened in the back left corner of the

end zone. Brandon Allen had somebody in his face, didn't get enough on the ball, and it turned into the easiest interception that Marcus Peters might ever have. Yeah, that's true. I mean it just it just floated out there. It floated their for him. I mean it just hung up

in the air and way short. You know, in a situation like that, you throw it to the back pylon from from a target standpoint, but you make sure if it's it's not going to be caught, it's out of bounds, it's not going to land in the hands of the opponent. AJ Green didn't even op an opportunity to reverse roles and play defensive back. It was underthrown to that extent.

You know, you couldn't couldn't prevent the interception. So you know that that play, that play certainly was a tough one, a tough pill to swallow, and to me, it was it was almost sad. Uh, you know, to see AJ's career wind down the way it did. I mean, when I closed my eyes and think of AJ Green, I see all kinds of unbelievable circus, acrobatic catches, making guys miss, splitting defenders and running, turning seven yard receptions into seven

yard touchdowns. All these things that AJ Green did. And uh, you know, the the last images that you have of AJ Green or not those type of images. And you got to realize that for a high, high percentage of his career he was the other guy. He was the guy that was just you know, struck the fear of AJ Green into defense of backs league wide. Twenty fifteen, after AJ went for two hundred twenty seven receiving yards against Baltimore, John Harbaugh famously said, one of these days

we'll figure out how to cover AJ Green. It would be nice if we did it one time before he retires. They did it. They did it, no, no, no question about it, and uh, I mean it was it was a team effort. It was what the Baltimore Ravens did defensively, and it was what the Bengals didn't do offensively or couldn't do offensively against that raven defense. For sure. Four hundred and four rushing yards allowed, a Bengals record. They

gave up three fifty in the first three quarters. That was a single game Bengals record for most rushing yards allowed.

The NFL record survived of four twenty six going back to nineteen thirty four against the team called the Pittsburgh Pirates by the Detroit Lions, and then the modern record, which Cincinnati set offensively four hundred and seven yards in the Corey Dillon two hundred and seventy eight yard game against the Denver Broncos survived by three yards, so they avoid the ignominy of giving up more rushing yards in the modern era than any other team in history by

three yards. It's it's obscene, you know, I mean it really is. The Ravens rushed for over three thousand yards. Now, they embarrassed a lot of people, but this was an annihilation. I mean, four hundred yards rushing in today's National Football League anybody, any era National Football League obviously is rare to be able to do that today is mind boggling.

I mean, it really is. There. There has to be so many factors, so many circumstances that have to align themselves the right way in the universe to be able to rush for over four hundred yards in an NFL game today, because this is the number one rushing team in the NFL by far, and you know, they've rushed for three hundred on teams, but they've never rushed for four hundred on anybody. And I mean, that's that is almost impossible to believe happened. But we saw it happen.

So it did well for everybody that's been upset the last couple of weeks because the Bengals have been dropping in the draft order. I guess they should be happy because they did not drop anymore in the draft order. It looks like they're going to have the fifth pick. I'm a glutton for this kind of stuff. I actually searched mock drafts on Sunday morning. They are out there. I looked at five mock drafts that I considered to

be from somewhat reputable sources. I mean, the melk Kuipers of the world are not putting theirs out yet, but these were at least, you know, they looked somewhat legit. Two of the five still have them getting Pinney Sewell with a fifth pick, and there's probably a good possibility that that takes place. Look what happens, Fields goes from dropping from the number two quarterback to beating the number one quarterback. I mean, it's a it's a it's an

instant gratification society. I mean, it's it's flavor of the week. I mean, what are we talking about here? So, uh yeah, I mean it's it's possible. There's there's no question that that Suol could be could be a Cincinnati Benglin. If he is, that's great. Um, if he's not, I have no I would have no issue if they traded back and accumulated, you know, significant picks and so doing fifty percent of first round picks fail fifty percent. I mean,

it's a crapshoot. Crapshoot. So the only way that you can increase your odds in that crapshoot is to get more numbers, you know. And I've always been one that if you have a weakness in a position, draft a couple of them. You know, if you if you don't put your back on the ball and one of them, you're you're gonna get a fifty fifty shot with with

two of them. So, um, it's happened in franchise history before that they've doubled down on a position group here recently with a way Hand Fisher and on over two. I mean, it happens, but sometimes you go two for two, a lot of times you go one for two, whatever the situation may be. I just have no problem with throwing numbers at problem areas in terms of number of picks, free agent signings, whatever the case may be. If you're

gonna overhaul it, overhaul it right. The scenario that I've seen where the Bengals could still get Pinay Suel if they are five and they don't trade back, would be three quarterbacks going in the top four, and then the other guy that gets picked, maybe Jamar Chase, the great wide receiver from LSU, Caleb Farley, the top cornerback in the draft. His name has come up a few times.

So I don't think that Pinay Suil will be there at number five, And if he's not, I am one hundred percent in agreement with you try to get another high pick if you can, particularly if you don't have to move way back in the first round in order

to do it right. I mean, there's a formula that everybody you will be following, and the Bengals know what that formula is, and the people they're trading with know what that formula is, and who's going to give who's going to have the best components you know, within the structure of that formula. So, um, you know it's it's it's not really rocket science. It's just you know, getting getting a fear deal structured. And then uh, it's certainly

not The draft itself is not scientific. Although I will say Seul physically, the more you know see this guy and read about him and hear about him, he is a He is an anomaly. I mean, he is a generational type guy from a physical standpoint. Um, but you know, he's just there's there's no there's no guarantees, as they say, but he's as close as you can get. I think nobody stands out in a good way when you lose thirty eight to three and give up more than five

hundred yards, including more than four hundred rushing yards. But trey ViOn Williams four carries seventy four yards, including a fifty five yard run. I guess if you had to pin a star on anybody, he would be it. Yeah, And I thought he ran hard, you know it, not just on the on the one that he busted out of there, but even even the runs that he went for five or six yards. He finished everything hard. He hit it hard. He's got a low pad level. He ran with a you know, a good a good lean

he played, played with that low center of gravity. He's obviously, you know, somebody that's got some talent. Anybody that leads the sec and rushing ain't chopped liver, you know. And uh, he's got to make sure the thing that two things that he has to do in my mind, worked to continue to work on blitz, pick up his technique and finishing those and then ball security. You know, he is

sometimes a little loosey goosey with the football. You don't want to see you don't want to see air, you don't want to see space between the football and the body. High and tight, you know, tucket high and tight. And make sure that ball security thing is paramount. And because you know that's something you have to have. You can't be putting the ball in the ground. Austin Cybert made a thirty eight yard field goal. I guess that was

the other good thing for the Bengals. He he went six for eight on his field goals, eight for eight on his points after after being made the starter in place of Randy Bullock. The two messes where his too longest kicks forty nine in fifty five. He obviously did okay, but I don't think he was so good that the Bengals can confidently think, all right, we've definitely got our

kicker for next year. Yeah, I agree with you. I think there's going to be a lot of research done in that regard in terms of what's out there in free agency and uh, you know what's out there in general, there's a lot of kickers out there, and then potentially, you know, late in the draft or whatever the case may be, college free agent prospect. I mean, I think there's gonna be a kicking competition, and how many kickers will be involved in that kicking competition. Only one guy knows.

That's Darren Simmons, and he probably doesn't know yet. All Right, I think what you should do now, let's go home, have a nice dinner, relax tomorrow, and then at six pm tomorrow I'll fill in for Lance McAlister and we'll talk about this game in the season for three hours. How's that sound. Yeah, we'll beat it up for three more hours Dan, you know, and uh, and then just start talking about what's going to happen in the offseason.

Here comes, here comes the off season upon us quickly, and I hope the Bengals get it right in the draft this year and address offensive and defensive line and free agency if it's possible to do so, and see if we can build upon, build upon the way the season finished. Other than this final game, the last month of the season, I thought there were signs of life and hopefully that continues in the off season. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light

and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now time for this week's fun Facts segment, where you get to know the person under the pads. Time for some fun facts with Ta Maurice Higgins better known as T Higgins. T. Your grandfather on your mother's side was Maurice. Your mom added the tough to get your name. Do you know if she always planned to call you T when she

named you? No, I think, if I remember correctly, she told me that my grandma, her mother, could not say my full name, so they just thought thought of Tea, and that's what they've been calling me ever since you were a kid. On the first day of school, did the teachers sometimes read off to Maurice? And if so, how did you react? Every time we had first day of school, they would read off my first my full name, and they would always say at Rome, either Tamarius or

tomorrow Ice. I'm just like, uh, you can just call me Tea every time. So we're chatting with T Higgins. You're from oak Ridge, Tennessee, home of the famed oak Ridge Boys country music quartet. I would sing a little Elvira, but I don't want to ruin your day. What did young T Higgins like to do growing up in oak Ridge? For me, it was just you know, running around. My friends used to ride bikes everywhere. You know, I lived a good maybe three miles from the Boys and Girls Club.

He used to ride out bikes there all the time. He's the ride eye bikes to McDonald's. Um just you know, going to summer camp. You know, those those are the times that you know, moments that always cherish and uh, some of my boys we just something we still talk about it to still to this day and you know, we just think about those times and just laugh and kick about it. Are you aware that oak Ridge is known as the atomic city? Yep? And do you know why?

Uh wasn't It was like part of the you know, they helped make the atomic bomb, right, correct city, That's correct. The Manhattan Project, which was the secret project for the development of the first nuclear weapons, was basically based in oak Ridge, Tennessee. Yeah. I was like, uh, you know, oaker is being so small and in Tennessee. You know, you don't really see too many towns in the state of Tennessee being you know, naturally known, and you know,

just just seeing that. I was always thought when I was young, I was like, oh, we're on the map, Like everybody knows about oak Ridge. Now. It's just you know, things like that that we always you know, laughed about. We're doing fun acts with t Higgins. This legend has it you would not be playing football today if not for hot Wheels, the little toy cars. Can you explain how hot Wheels pave the way for you becoming an

NFL football player? Yeah, so pot one of days, um, you know, I think all was around maybe five six, and it was real hot on one game, and I was like, I am not doing this. I can't do it. I want to go home. So in the middle of the game, I went up in the stands and sat with my aunt in the middle of the game. And then next thing, you know, she she say, she says, I will, I will go to Walmart and buy you two hot wheel cars if you go back down and play and score touchdow And sure enough I went back

down and scored on like the second play. And after the game I totally take me straight to Walmart and got my hot You were bribed by your aunt who promised to give you hot wheels for touchdowns. What did you do with the hot wheels? Did you have little tracks and race them or did you just like admire them and trade them and stuff like that. I really just admoded them, just play with them on my own, you know, just going back and forth with the cars.

You know, me being at a young age just having fun with those those cars is you know, it was a lot of fun. And now me growing up, I'm in love with cars, and I you know, I see why has your hot wheels collection been preserved? Oh yeah, Mom's never gonna throw those out, right, She can't. That's great.

We're doing fun Facts with Tee Hagan's Tea. Back in April, you spoke about your relationship with your mom in The Player's Tribune and a story titled Mama's Boy, and it began with you describing the day she was shot when you were six years old and in kindergarten. What do you remember about it and the days that followed. You know, I remember just going to school of the day and you know, me being in class, sitting there doing my work, and they say, you know, they caught us, the teacher

and they say, I'm being checked out. And the teacher told me I was being checked out. No one knew. She didn't know. So I'm like, see, all guys, I'm checked out, and you know, just me being excited just because I'm getting checked out of school. Um. I get to the front office, you know, my sister's death. She's crying, and I'm just wondering, like what's going on. I'm still a little bit excited that I'm being checked out of school.

I don't have to be in school that day, be getting the car, and she, you know, she breaks the news to me and I just start busting out crying, like, what's going on, What's wrong? What's wrong? His MoMA gonna be okay? You you know, we get to the house, her house where she was shot at. She was already gone, flew in the helicopter and I'm just wanting to go see my mom. You know, I tried to cross the yellow tape that my sister just grab me. You know,

you can't go over there. I just wanted to see my mom at that point, and you know, it was it was a tough time for me. Then they told me that she got shot in the head, that you know, she might not make it. You never know. Um, it was just you know, me having a thought, you know, losing my mom. It was just you know, heartbreaking. Even though she was you know, in and out of the house, you you know, doing drugs at the time, it still was heartbreaking to lose. You know, my mom grew such

a strong connection. Guy works in mysterious ways. She's here now and ever since then, we've been growing our connection stronger and stronger, and cantybody break that behind that we have. It's an amazing story. Your mom overcame her addiction. She's been sober for more than thirteen years. She doesn't shy away from talking about the experience. How did her example

help mold you? Seeing a way how she went about things, you know, stepping up and you know, talking about her her past and you know, seeing that how strong she was. You know that that can't compare to anything that's happened

in my life. You know, So when when something's going bad, going downhill in my life, I just think about that moment, how how strong she was and how how passionate, how passionate she was to you know, talk about her past and and show people that it's possible to overcome things like that. Just me seeing her do that, I just think about like, I'm like, yeah, this is nothing Like I could talk about this and NB okay and move on to the next thing. And you know, so that's

is how I go about things. Now. You've got an older sister, Kiki, who was a basketball player. She played on an NCAA tournament team at Middle Tennessee State. Describe her game in high school. She did, She was a post and she told me that she she she did a lot of pension down in the post, you know, to you know, get girls to you know, move weird and throw them off the game basically, and you know, she was really dominant. And then when she got to MTSU,

she actually got there. You know, uh ended up having a kids, so she came back home for a few years, you know, to raise her child, and then she went back to school and went back to MTSU and you know, she had an outstanding career to um she uh, I think it's the three point she she had thirteen threes in the game and I'm that that day. I'm just like, thirteen three thirteen threes. Like I said, Susy, when did

you become a three point shooter? First of all? And it's still to this day she thinks she can give me one on one. Was there a point in your childhood where she did that? She used to beat you up playing hoops? Yeah, she was. You know, she was always bigger than me. So but now I think I get her. Yes, it's nothing. Now we're chatting with T. Higgins. You went to Clemson, You won a national championship as a sophomore, made it back to the National championship game

as a junior. For somebody that has never seen it, can you describe the football facility at Clemson? Man that facility there. Man's it's probably one of the best in the country, you know, now that everybody's updating their facilities now obviously the Chima outdo you know other I'll do Clemson now, but man, you got the locker room is is really crazy. Um you know, we got a bowl of allie in there. We got all types of other

games like ping pong. We got a golfing letter which I was in a lot so I'm not really good at hitting with a driver, so I practiced my love six iron practices. My swing with a six iron got good at that. You got the slide going down from the meeting rooms to the locker room. The weight room is huge. I mean they literally have everything that you would need in there. And my favorite part of the whole facility is the pau bistro, which is like our cafeteria.

So when you go in there, you just you can literally put your order in on the iPad, tell them what you want and it'll be ready for you and like but maybe five to ten minutes. And that was probably my favorite part because you had we had so many different options, you know. Um, So yeah, the facilities is one of a con Definitely, do people actually use the slide or is it just for shell I use it a few times, but really mostly the defense uses it.

I mean, I don't know now, but when I was there, mostly the defense uses because their their meeting rooms is like right there, and our meeting rooms is like on the other side. What a stessas you can just walk down the steps. But yeah, defense used it most of the time. So me coming back, you know, going into the locker room, you just see all those defensive guys are sliding and sometimes they so if you got on

your football pants, it's like real slick. So they'd be sliding real fast and they try to land and they just bust it. It would be the funniest thing ever. Tell you. One of the great traditions in college football is the Clemson team entrance for a home game of death. Valley describe what's been called the most exciting twenty five seconds in college football. Let me let me start here. My freshman year, I'm excited to run down the hill, this and that, and one of the players go ta

do not fall. Whatever you do, do not fall. It'll be the most embarrassing time here at Clemson. So I'm like, okay, okay, so I literally touched the rock, go down the hill really slow, like and then usually like this is like a little part where you can like jump. I didn't jump. I was not following it was it wasn't happening. But over the over the time, you know, me going down

getting used to it, I started jumping really high. I think it is the most the most twenty five seconds of college football because you know, it's it's just a feeling. That's that's surreal with all the fans, the student sections right there on the east side, and it's just it's just a great feeling. Clemson has been called wide receiver university. Who's the best wide receiver in Clemson history. That's tough.

It's a lot of grace to come through that. You know, you got you got nuke, Sammy Martavis, Bryan, Mike Williams, myself. You know, it's it's a lot of grace to come through that. I can't really just pinpoint one um, but we're definitely receiver you no question about it. So on draft night, we learned that Aj Green was your sports hero and the Bengals were your favorite team. What was it like to be drafted by your team? Just getting that call from since on the second day of draft night.

H it was, you know, a dream come true obviously just to get drafted, but for it to become be from my favorite team. It's uh, it's it's you know, it's just it was crazy. I'm like, mom, Cincinnati's calling, so answer, it's coach Taylor. The phone's you ready to

be a biggle like hell, yeah, let's do this. Um. And then you know, just me, I didn't even think about the whole thing with Aj being here, but it hit me, like, you know, after I did all the interviews, I'm like, oh, man, AJ is on my team now, like this is crazy. I looked up to me this man, he's my role model and all that. Um. But you know, the transition, you know, it's been great. He's helped He's been helping me a lot um, you know, so it's been it's been good. A few more fun facts for

Key Haggans. You were two time Mister Football in Tennessee. You were a finalist for Mister Basketball in Tennessee. What sport are you lousy at? Let's talk about baseball real quick. It was baseball season in boys club days, and it was my first season where the coaches do not pitch in the player's pitch, and I'm literally up the bat

and I kid you not. I got hit with the ball on the pitch, and in the middle of the game, I said, Mom, I'm done, clicked through the bat down, took off my hummet and I said, mom, let's go, We'll leave it. I'm done, and we left. One hit by pitch was all it took. It was all it took. I'm done. There seems to be a history of this. I mean with football, when the weather was hot, you walked up into the stands. Baseball, you get hit by a pitch, you bald. Come on, I mean, hey, I

didn't know what I wanted to do. It all worked out in the end. What do you like to spend your money on? Oh that's a good question. You know. Growing up, I didn't have much to spend it on. Um. So but now I'm you know, I'm making some money. Um, you know, I buy I mean, I have a car. Obviously, I like to buy a lot of closing shoes. Right now, I'm real big, I'm starting getting real big in the shoe game. So I would I would say shoes. And you know, I've been you know, helping. I've been buying

a lot of toys and my dog as well. You occasionally wear cool looking glasses in interviews. Do they have any magnifying power or they strictly for shell Oh? No, those are my actual glasses. Um. Right now, I have my my contact so I try to wear my contacts more often. But you know, at the beginning of the season, Um, I didn't have my contacts yet, so it was just I had to wear my glasses and a lot of people thought there was the show, but they're they're actually

really all right. A few more fun facts. Are you an avid fan of another sport? And if so, what team do you fall up? Yeah? I want I'm a big fan of basketball. Um. You know, I was a basketball star and I followed the Brooklyn Nets now because you know, Kevin Durant is my favorite player, and you know, um, so hopefully now that you know, I can actually do something there in the off season. You know, I was in college, I couldn't do nothing because I was in school.

But now actually I can do something. Hopefully they allow fans up there in New York and I can go watch the game. You know, of course side seats or if they was to come, like, you know, to and play Charlotte or Memphis, I can go to one of those games and you know, just go to see him play in person. So all right, T last thing, describe reaching out to Chad Johnson for the permission to wear number eighty five. At first, you know, um, I wanted number fifteen. You know, I just wanted to keep five

in my number. You know, that's been my number since high school. And I wanted them to fifteen, but another guy had it. Or I wanted the number two. You know, you know that equals five like four plus one, so you'd be like fourteen or something like that. But they didn't have any of those numbers available and or any team numbers. They didn't have any of those of itable. So you know, they told me that they had eighty eighty five and another number. Um so I was like

eighty five. I was just asking some of my friends, like when numbers you think I should get and it was like and get eighty five, like man, you know, Chad Johnson had it. He was you know, otocinko, it's otocinco. He's he's a he's a Cincinnati great bro. He was like, man, just just just do it. So I was like, all right. So I was like, you know what, since you know, since he's a great I think I should just you know, ask mission out of respect. You know what he's done.

Who played the same position. So, you know, at the end of them on Twitter, I was like, man, how would you feel you know about me wearing you know, the Great eighty five. He was like, man, I'll be thrilled for you to wear it, man, and this and that, and he's like, I know you're gonna be great and know you're gonna do treat the city well, and you know, just do right by the number. And you know, I

was just able to go out there. He let me get it and you know, I mean, having a good season so far, you're definitely doing right by the number. Congratulations at a tremend rookie season. Thanks so much for the time, Happy holidays, and best to lect the rest of the year you too. Here's a quick reminder that while the season is over, the Bengals Booth podcast rolls on in the off season with weekly editions to keep

you up to date on the latest Bengals news. That's going to do it for this episode brought to you by bud Light Seltzer, refresh the game. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, Happy New Year, and thanks so much for listening to the Bengals Booth Podcast