Bengals Booth Podcast: Good Feeling

and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. 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, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since sportscaster Scenes. My buddy Jason Bennetti, the TV announcer for the Chicago White Sox, has been doing something very clever to amuse himself and the rest of us while we've been forced to stay at home

because of the coronavirus. It's called sportscaster scenes. And here's how it works. Jason gets fellow sportscasters on a zoom call and they re enact famous scenes from TV and movie history. In one ESPN's Dan Dockets joins him in the role of Jack Nicholson to do the you can't handle the Truth scene from a Few Good Men. In another Cubs announcer Len Casper does an incredible ned Ryerson

imitation from Groundhog Day. This week, I was honored to be involved for a zoom reading of an entire cheer script co written by the incredibly talented duo of Ken Levine and David Isaacs. The Cheers Gang of Sam, Woody, Frazier, Carla, etc. Were played by sports broadcasters with one exception, Norm was actually laid by George went V. George went If you would like to see it, or any episode of Sportscaster scenes, just search for Sportscaster Scenes on YouTube. Now let's get

to football. My first conversation this week is with Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd, coming off a season that saw him set new career highs for catches with ninety and receiving yards with one thousand, forty six. Tyler lives in the Pittsburgh area in the off season, and when we spoke this week, I started by asking him what he's been doing on a daily basis while facing COVID nineteen restrictions. I'm still working out, you know, run on the field. You know, I just bought full I'm finally in my

new house and I got a big backyard. Hasn't been running out there each and every day, and I have a facility with a trainer that I work out at forres not so many people were still limited to work out now, So I've still being able to work out and train for ball. This time of year, you would have been back in Cincinnati for OTAs. Do you miss it? Definitely?

You know, because of this pandemic. You know, I hate to be in the House of twenty four seven on lockdown, not be able to go nowhere, and I just want to be around Mount Boys man and just meet the new rookies and just get this thing rolling. Tyler, there were plenty of rumors before the end of last season that the Bengals were going to draft Joe Burrow, and obviously that's the way it played out. Did you start

paying attention to him last year? Yes, um, I didn't know too much about him the year before that, but during our LSU run when they started to go about eight went streak seven, one, streak ten and so forth. I started to, you know, realize that he was a very special guy, you know, in just every big moment each game that he played, and he always delivered. He never he never took bad sacks, and he always delivered

the ball perfectly to the receiver almost every time. It was kind of shocking because I just seeing him being so poised, man, and it's and it's rare to see a guy in college play like that at the speed that he was planning to have. You had much contact with him, and what are your impressions of him so far? Oh? Yeah, I had talked to him. We had sent message a little bit back and forth before he had got drafted,

but it was just not not nothing too crazy. He was talking about him winning the hisman stuff like that, just joking around. But then when he got drafted, I reached out to him, told him congratulations, can't wait to see him and play with her man, And uh, just right now, I was just just talking to him, actually I was. I talked to him last week. He wanted to try to get guys together. You can see him where I was at. I told him I was back

in fixedbugs. I think he am higher right now, and I told him that I had Mike come up this weekend because I had to grab some stuff from up since you bring back here and if he was around that then we could get routes. But he had said the supposed to rain all weekend, so he said we could just wait. And I ain't really trying to rush it, you know what I'm saying. So whenever he's ready ready to go, we're visiting with Tyler Boyd. So Joe Burrow was taken in the first round, te Higgins in the second.

What does he add to the wide receiver room? Man, he's he's he's kind of like a I won't give him like a meeting and a tape factor. You know, he has tape body, the size and the catching ability in the catcher range him Tate and aj them doing guys got the got got the size and with me, you know, he checks the ball very well, he runs good routes and uh he uh get guards up to the catch. So I feel like he got a little

of our game in them. You know. That's why I feel like we're gonna be more dangerous because we all feel like gonna feed off each other and just dude, we gotta do it to contain to move them sticks. Tyler, I look at this group. Now, they've got yourself with two straight one thousand yards seasons. You've got a seven time pro bowler in aj Green, You've got John Ross, You've got Autent Tate, you got Alex Ericson, now you've got T Higgins. Do you think people around the league

realize how strong this group has become. I don't feel like anybody feels straight, and at this moment, you know, we we have to go out there and improve ourselves. You know, on paper, we have an all star stock team, you know, and I felt that last year, but things didn't go accordingly. So I mean, I don't want to continue to say the same thing each and every year. So I'm gonna stop saying that we're gonna be the

best core in the best offense of the league. So instead, I just want to go out there and just and just prove people wrong, you know, because we still have daughters and everybody's still saying we're going to be the weakest team. So you know, with me, um, I just love proving people wrong. So that's what we got to go out there and do. I mentioned that you were coming off back to back one thousand yards seasons and yet ninety catches last year, the fifth player in team

history to have ninety or more in a season. What's the next step for you personally? Oh man, just just continue to to stay productive, you know, and stay injury free, you know, and continue to make plays when I got to for the team. You know, just just just stay reliable and consistent, man, and just continue to build as a leader, you know, trying to pick guys up, trying to get guys going, you know, when when they're down there and when I need somebody to make a place

with me on offense and defense. So I think this year I'll be I want to work on being a better leader. How strange is it going to be for you not to have Andy Dalton a locker over. Oh man, It's gonna be very very, very very weird, you know, because that was a guy that was my locker mate coming into my rookie year, that sah they placed me next to, and uh, he guided me all the way through, you know, each and every every one of my years,

even on and off the field. You know, we would talk about so much and relationship and he improved my game so much. He allowed me to play more freely and go off there and be me, you know, and just the chemistry you can came to build and building when you have that special relationship with a guy that's out there playing with you, alongside of you, delivering you the football is just like he feels feels like he grew up with me all my life, that he's my brother,

you know. So, I mean, I'm gonna miss him a lot. How eager are you to play with a j again? Man? It was tough. You know. He was the guy who kind of allowed me to accou and become the player I wanted to become, you know, because he um allowed me to play more one on one and leave stress off him, you know. So I think I helped him

as well. You know. Just having him back and playing alongside of me just makes things a lot easier for the both of us, you know, and just just just having him in our room, you know, just seeing how he works and seeing how he performed and compete. Man, It's just I ain't never seen a specimen like him. We're spending a few minutes with Tyler Boyd. The Bengal spent more than one hundred and thirty million bucks on

an unrestricted free agents this year. What was your reaction as you saw name after name after name committing to Cincinnati. I felt I felt pretty great, you know, because of the guys who we got, you know, from on the defensive standpoint. Um, I feel like those are great guys and great players, you know, regardless of what they did

at the team they was out previously. I just feel like those those individuals, those players are just competitive, you know, and they're just going to compete each and every down. And that's very much like what I want in the players. You know. I don't want players to feel like they're two good or players that's just out there just going with the flow, you know. I want guy who's gonna go out to compete, trash talking, just you know, uh, just battle all day, all night. The schedule came out

last week. You got a couple of primetime games, Cleveland on the road in Week two on a Thursday night, the Steelers at home late in the season on Monday Night football. Did anything about the schedule catch your eye? Well, I'm gonna say I'm gonna say the first game first and foremost, you just simply because it's the first game and it's home and I know it's gonna be nuts and uh the other definitely the Stiller game, And I'm always well any team in the division, I always look

forward to those games. And a new team that we haven't seen in a while with the Cowboys, I'm very I'm looking forward to playing them them Boys. I know you're not in Cincinnati right now, Tyler, but you are on social media. You see how Bengals fans are reacting this offseason. Do you sense a building excitement after the drafting of Joe, the addition of all of these free agents, a good draft class, the return of aj etc. Definitely, Man, it's been it's so much tensing, you know, all through

the internet, all through social media, just everywhere. You know. So I feel like, honestly, truthfully, I feel like the first game was gonna be sold off. You got Aja back. If we stay a solid core up until that first week, Yeah, anybody gonna do anything to get their hands, let'm tickets. We don't know exactly what's going to happen in terms of training camp, preseason games, regular season schedule. Obviously, the NFL is moving forward and hoping that they can start

everything on time. What's your level of concern, nervousness, etc. Um. Well, I think at the end of the day, every player has to continue to train themselves, you know. I know that's probably hard, and it's tough for you to just go out there and train, you know what I'm saying, especially when you don't got anybody to push you. You know,

some guys have trainings, some guys don't. So I think it's a kind of a weird position for certain players because they don't get certain luxury as the players who who've been there a while, you know, and can go and get trainers and so forth, or is working out in their house and stuff like that. But um, I just I just want you gotta find a way, you know, to stay in shape and stay the course. I just I just I just think I don't I don't want to come back and we rushed into it, you know

what I'm saying. I don't. I don't want us to have to come back at the end of June or whatever August and jump straight into camp. You know. I don't feel like that's going to be healthy for the player. And I don't feel like guys who will all the way be in shape and be ready full camp. So that's the nervousness for me going through this pandemic. Understood. Would you find it difficult to play in front of

empty stands if the NFL decided to try and do that. Yeah, absolutely, you know, um, because this is you go out there and do it for your family and the fans. You know, that's what drives you to compete at the highest level. You know. Not saying that I can't go out there and perform at that high level, you know, but when you put in all our good work each and every week and you do some ridiculous and outstanding you want people to see it first sight. You want people to

recognize the work that you put in. Playing without crowds that'd be real tough for some players. Tell you what, it's good to hear your voice. It's good to hear that you're doing well and your family is safe, and we look forward to seeing you in person when that's allowed again. Definitely, Boss, I appreciate you. Tyler is only twenty five years old, but he'll be heading into his fifth NFL season in twenty twenty, and he signed for the next three years after agreeing to an extension prior

to last season. Before we get to the next segment, here's a quick reminder that you can take your Bengals prior to the next level in twenty twenty with an official Bengals fan package from Prime Sport. My next guest is a former Bengal. He was a three time Pro Bowler and a key member of the nineteen eighty eight Super Bowl team who recently accomplished something that he is as proud of as anything he ever did on a

football field. We are joined by one of the greatest Bengals of all time, voted sixth best among retired players a few years ago when the Bengal celebrated their fiftieth season, the great David Fulture. And we will talk a little bit of football in a little bit, But David, my primary reason for asking you to be on this podcast

is to congratulate you on a fantastic achievement. This week, thirty four years after you left Arizona State after your junior year to turn pro, you earned your college degree. What motivated you to go back to school? Wow, A lot of things. The first I think it has something to do with watching my daughter Kayla, who graduated from Thomas Moore UH two years ago, she came up to me after she got her diploma and her degree and walked across the stage and said, Dad, I think you

need to finish. And I heard it, but I was like, yeah, that's I'm not too sure that I want to go back to school and do that. And she pushed me enough to say that it should be done, and I decided to do it. And thank God that I did it, and I got it now, David, one of the coolest things is seeing her Facebook posts because she is so proud of you for doing this. Yeah, it's really quite touching.

Yeah it is, man. I saw that, and I didn't expect her to do it, and I told him, I said, I'm not gonna put anything on there, and I saw her and my wife collaborating about something. But it was it was it was good. It was good to see it and the people who responded. And you know, I'm not a big social media guy. I think I got it because I just want to look and see what everybody else is doing. And she put it up there, man, and so many people responded, and she constantly keeps telling me.

Before I even came on here with you, she called me and said so what's next? Who else wants to talk to him? I said, well, I got something coming up at ten o'clock. So but yeah, she's very proud of what her dad did, and I wish she was around, was around to see me play the game right at the end of my career when I tried to come back and play with the Bengals. She was born in ninety five, so she never really saw her dad play. She just heard about it. But she saw her dad

through this one. We are visiting with a grade David Fulture. I try to help my son with his eighth grade homework and it's hard for me. So this could not have been easy to go back to school thirty four years after you were last in college. No, no, this was not easy at all. And I encourage who the people who haven't finished to go back and finished. But you need some help. You know, the technology is different. You know, we got cell phones, we've got Siri, we've

got echos, we've got all these things. And I had a family and I have And the good thing about me was I had a daughter who graduated two years ago, who was still fresh on what she was doing. But it didn't matter. She was not going to do the work for me. I know that first class I took was English one or two and basic English. And let me tell you, when I sat down in front of that computer and started looking at the work and I had to be done, it looked like it was English five.

I had no idea what I was doing. And I tried to get her to help me, and every little question I asked her was so simple for her to do. She would looked at me and go, Dad, you know that it's easy, and I'm like, no, I don't, and we would argue about it, and it got to a point where I got tired of asking her how to do it, and I just said, I'm gonna do this on my own, and whatever happened is going to happen.

And then it was just getting started again, getting back into the rhythm of, you know, doing homework, doing papers, you know, writing essays, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, but I signed up for But I did it, man, And it was, like I said, it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy at all. David. I heard in another interview that you did that. You actually heard radio ads for taking courses from Arizona State Online. Yeah, I was driving down downtown. I worked with the Hamilton County Justice Sign.

I work with the guys and girls who are incarcerated, just trying to make a change and change your lives. And I just happened to hear Arizona State Online, Arizona State Online and I and I've been hearing that, and I'm like, you know, it's stared. It's gotta be a reason why this keeps coming up. And I started thinking because my wife and I had talked about who had heard, you know, from through the NFL and through the Trust, players who are finishing school, and we were talking about

going back and finishing school. But I was thinking, you know, maybe taking some classes that you see. But then I started thinking, man if I take class that you see, and I finished, I'm gonna graduate from UC and that's

not the school I went to. So I kept hearing that online online, issue online and how to sign up and lo and behold, we we looked into it and figured it out, and once we knew what to do with the issue, then the Trust has a program that it helps current and former players who have not finished college an opportunity for a scholarship. So we we wrote the essay and applied for it, and four months later

I was approved and school started. So basically showed the effort in the NFL is there to help guys go back and get their degree. Oh, no doubt, man. I mean it didn't take much. And I've explained this to guys throughout Cincinnati and guys that I've been friends with their online and whatnot throughout the States, and I just told them, I said, you know, dude, if you don't call them, they're not gonna call you. And that's kind of it's almost like, if it's free, is for me.

So thinking we're talking to Bengals legend David Fulture, who recently earned his college degree from Arizona State. Right now, college seniors are missing out on their graduation ceremonies unfortunately because of COVID nineteen. But you plan to eventually walk across that stage, correct, Yes, I am. In December, they're going to have a ceremony for the twenty twenty graduates.

Graduates who want to walk across the states. Because I was supposed to walk on Tuesday of this week and because of the coronavirus, they canceled everything, and which obviously we knew that, so they're still giving us an opportunity because they normally graduate, and kids or students who graduate normally walk across in May of that year. So I need to do it December of this year to walk

across or next twenty twenty one May. And I don't want to wait and then, so we're gonna go down there, and I'm bringing my Daughter's gonna come with my wife and I and my son David and his wife Mackenzie, and they're two littles, my two granddaughters. I'm gonna fly them down. My mom and dad are already in Arizona, so it's going to be a good family affair down there in December. David, as you mentioned, you have worked for years counseling inmates about how to re enter life

basically and maintain a positive attitude. Will you use this as part of your message going forward? No, no doubt. I was using it while I was in there and telling them that I'm going back to school because it's really hard. I'm fifty five years old and this didn't come easy. So it's hard for me to get there and sit in front of that computer and write a twenty five hundred word and say, come on, man, I twenty five hundred words on what that's hard to do. So I had heard to my telling this. I mean,

you guys are twenty five years old. You still got your laugh ahead of you. You know, here's another choice that you can make to become a better person in society. So when you get out, you know, those that may look at you because of what you've done in the past, they may not see that no more if you've got a different outlooking a different attitude towards life. So yeah,

I do. I encourage them big time and I use every twol that I can to show them that no matter where you are, no matter what you have or don't have, the only way you can make things happen in life is that you have to get off your butt and do it. David, for those who don't know, explain what your manner program is old. Twenty two years ago, I was working with a charter high school in Cincinnati called Pace High School, and one of the young men

trump the school got in trouble and was arrested. Pace High School was a school that gave kids who were obviously at risks were in trouble an opportunity to finish their schooling, and police took him into Hampton County, and I just thought I should go down there and take his homework. I don't want the kids sitting there doing nothing, so I did it. And as I was sitting there, then Sheriff Simon Lee saw me and said what am

I doing in here? And I told him that I was trying to help the show him and finish his education. And he said to me that I needed to bring some kind of programming there to help everybody. And I was I was twenty two years ago, you know, And he and I brought in the program that I have now. But it wasn't called MANNA then, but MANNA stands for mentoring against negative actions. And the program is pretty simple.

I called it my twelve step program. My twelfth Step program just talks about, you know, new beginnings when they get out their image, forgiveness, the justice part of being in jail. Education. Education is not just one, two three, but education is educating your kids to make better decisions or making you you make better decisions, you know. And then they talk about working, you know, get in the job,

having a bank account, you know, drugs. I call it the drug my drug program is called Smoking Alcohol and Drugs, the SAD Team SAD. You know, a lot of those guys go to jail due to the fact that they're high, they're drinking drunk, or drugs just infected their lives, even their family lives. And then I talk about their community, the community, support the community that they live in. How could they be a better person in that community by making the best decision or helping someone. When I grew

up in Los Angeles, we didn't have to know. Obviously La doesn't snow, but we had people who had a lot of leaves and trash in their yard and we used to help them clean it up. Well, I know in Ohio because my kids used to do it when it's snow. They would go out there and shovel the sidewalk or the driveway for the neighbor, and neighbor give them five bucks. So there's a lot of things you

can do in your community to make it better. Instead of you going into your community and infecting it with drugs and crime, why don't you go into your community and stop some of the things that you see. You may not be able to stop. A kid who stands on the corner wants to sell drugs that you might be able to give him some influence by saying I used to be you, So why don't you get off the street change your life, Because I think it's all about communication, and it's to me, it's it's common sense.

Common sense says don't do these things. And we've lost common sense in this country. And I think if people would understand, like it was back in my day, when you got in trouble, everybody's dad was your dad and you've got your bubb whoop, you can't do that today. And I just think it's I think it's important, and I love what I do, man, I said, I go down there twice a week, and I'm now working in Butler County's jail with Sheriff Jones, So I'm four days

a week. I'm in the jail system, just teaching everyday life, everyday skills of making the right choice. David, As I mentioned, you were named the sixth greatest retired Bengals player of all time when the team celebrated it's fiftieth season a few years ago. You were a three time Pro bowler. You played in the Super Bowl, a key part of that nineteen eighty eight team. So your football accomplishments speak for themselves. Where does going back and earning your college

degree rank to you among these great accomplishments? Oh my god, I think this is number one. I do. I think it's number one because I never thought that I would do it. I never thought that I would did it, and I think that was probably one of the biggest reasons why I left as a great shirt junior. It's because it got harder. You know, at twenty years old, it was hard for me to to really sit down there and understand some of the things that they were asking me to do and the ability that I had

to play football. I didn't think that I could. I thought I would, I could have played in the NFL, But it was like, you know, I'm twenty years old and I'm been going to this National Football League and fight against guys who've been there eight nine years, ten years, twelve years, And I I said, you know what, this is my if I'm gonna really really get out of Los Angeles, you know, I my first part of getting out of LA was leaving high school and going to college.

But I didn't want to go back to LA after being in college and not have achieved something, so I said, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go out there and playing. When I got there, I never even thought about graduating. You know, I think that may happen to a lot of young kids who graduate from college and go to the pros and make a lot of money. Did you start thinking that, you know, you don't need your education.

You know, you're making a hundred million dollars. Who who could tell you what to do when you got that kind of money. So I wasn't making that kind of

money then and probably never will. But I thought it was important at once I finished and I heard about it that maybe I need to get this degree because I've been offered many jobs then that require what degree you have, And when I told him I didn't have one, and based off an assumption, everybody thinks that because you go to college and you played college football that you probably graduated. And no, and they turned me down because I didn't have that degree. So that was another incentive

to do that. So now when somebody asked my degree, I could tell them what I got. It's tremendous. There's no shot clock required on getting one's degree. So the fact that you went back thirty four years after last playing at Arizona State and going to college there. It's a remarkable achievement and I'm really happy for you. I can hear the pride in your voice again. Your daughter's Facebook post was extremely touching, So congratulations from the bottom of my heart. I do want to ask you a

few football questions before I let you go. First, your reaction to the Bengals spending more than one hundred and thirty million dollars in free agency this year. What did you think when you saw those names rolling in shop? Probably, like everybody else, probably didn't expect to see them spend that money, but maybe the table's attorney, and I mean, I think it makes it very exciting for this upcoming

season for the Cincinnati fans. The base here in Cincinnati has been thirsty for something good to happen, and by doing that, the good has started. And once again everybody looks good on paper. These guys that they brought in are players that have made some plays for those teams, but they still got to perform. David one of the big editions with safety Von Bell, known as one of the best run stopping safeties in the NFL, he was part of a national championship team at Ohio State went

to the playoffs every year with the Saints. Did you think a guy that fit that description was something needed on this defense? Oh yeah, you need a I would say making an outcast. Somebody that does doesn't look like the norm. He's coming from a wh an organization is coming from a a perspective of you know, he's a player, he's a game changer. He makes plays, and I think it's important that you know when he comes in here,

he's going to be affected, affecting everybody. His motors is on ten and some of our other guys motor can only get up to five. Maybe he's going to bring that level of defense up a little bit more that it's going to be very impacted. That he brings in a winning attitude and a winning tradition that the Bengals defense and not a bad defense, but I think that he add a little flavor to the defense that gives them what they need to do so they can get off to fill on third downs and keep people from

scoring touchdowns anytime they want to. These are obviously strange and difficult times for everybody. If you were still playing right now, what would you be doing to try to be ready for a football see when it resumes. Oh my gosh, damn, I couldn't even tell you. Um, you know, hopefully I have a gym or something in my in my house, um a yard and you know, a big backyard, and or I live over at King's Isnd right now, so I'd walk out my condo, run up and down

the grass here and trying to keep myself right. I couldn't even tell you. You know, when I hear all these sports talking about basketball maybe coming back, in baseball coming back, you know, those those guys have been sitting around doing nothing, and how much is it going to take for those guys to get themselves ready to play their sport? Um? This this is tough. Man. We are in a time where we could have guys come out

and they're not in shape. Um, the guys can get hurt because they haven't done as much as they really would like to. But you know, these guys are professionals, so they they they're finding a way to get themselves done. I just couldn't tell you the thought process that to go through of Hey man, here we are in May and football it's coming up in August. You know, in

the last two months we've been locked in. He won't let us get out, So I don't know, Man's it's almost like, you know, you need a five week program that gets you ready for eighteen twenty games. Be tough, David. Just to wrap things up, this is a great story on behalf of Bengals. Fans are really proud of you and congratulations on a remarkable accomplishment going back more than

three decades after playing at Arizona State and earning your degree. Brother, I thank you very much, fan, And like I said, I worked hard, and I think it's a you know, a real thrill to have my daughter and my son and my wife be a part of it. And you know one of those things that you know, it's a the degree asked David's name on it, but you know it's a family thing because they put in just as

much work as I put in. I know my wife did because, like I said, she she was at one that was sleep at eleven thirty twelve o'clock and I had a question. I woke her up and asked her to come help me in and I could see her in facelight. I cannot believe you asked me didn't you wait till tomorrow? Could you wait till I get up? But they were right there with me, man, And I'm glad it's done. Thank you, my friend. That's going to

do it. For This episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. 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, and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast