Bengals Booth Podcast: Joy To The World

Coming up, you'll hear radio replays, locker room comments from players and coaches, and Dave Lappom will join me for postgame analysis and in this week's Fun Facts Conversation, it's a rare interview at Bengals Executive vice president Katie Blackburn on a wide variety of topics, ranging from memories of her grandfather Paul Brown, to the Sports Illustrated headline that referred to her as the NFL's most powerful woman that

nobody talks about. All of that is straight ahead, but first, 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 on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since family recipes. I'm not much of a cook, but every Christmas I make two things that are tied to my Swedish heritage, Swedish pancakes, and something my mother calls Swedish Christmas potatoes.

If you've never had Swedish pancakes, they're very thin and typically served with lingen berry or strawberry jam. As for the Christmas potatoes, I'm not sure they're even really Swedish, but that's what they're called in my family, and they feature lots of butter, heavy cream, onions, and nutmeg. So here's to enjoying family recipes around the holidays, and I'll see you at the gym next week. Now let's get

to football. Three weeks ago, the Browns beat the Bengals twenty seven to nineteen, despite lousy passing numbers for quarterback Baker Mayfield. In that game, the NFL leader in commercials was eleven for twenty four with no touchdown, passes, two interceptions, and a passer rating of thirty eight point nine. But on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, Baker's first pass of the day was a thing of beauty. Mayfield back to throw, moves up in the pocket, flings a high deep ball

for Ratley in the end zone. He reaches out and he's got it for a Cleveland Brown's touchdown forty six yards on the bomb tossed by Baker Mayfield and the Browns strike first less than ninety seconds into the game. That three play, fifty six yard drive gave Cleveland a seven nothing lead, but it didn't last thanks to Joe Mixon. Dalton hands it off to Mixon trying to run wide to the left. Little shimmy to get away from a Cleveland defender hurdles another sprinting down the near sideline to

the twenty five. The twenty lowers his shoulder, knocks over Denzel Ward and goes down at the fifteen yard line, a forty one yard run for Joe Mixon. That run put Joe up and over one thousand rushing yards for the season, despite only having three hundred twenty at the midway point of the year. Over the bengals final eight games, mix and rushed for eight hundred seventeen yards. Here's center Trey Hopkins. I'm so hyping for that guy coming from I mean, the way the season's gone the first half

of the year. I know you have to be frustrated, but he never never let it gets on him. He always was a team guy. And then I mean, just to see that he's still reached the thousand yards at the second half of the season. I mean, it feels, it feels great. So I got some block. Le Guy Mixon's long run on the Bengals opening drive set up

their first touchdown first and ten from the fifteen. Here's a pass toward the end zone caught by c Chauzama, who Crooks spikes it after the touchdown grab and the Bengals are a p e t away from tying this game. Here's Tyler Boyd on the importance of answering the Browns quick strike with a touchdown of their own. That's how that's how you change the game. Man. You gotta you gotta answer at the end of the day, Man, we still early. They had three players. It was what they

had two minutes off the clock. This since a lot of football left Massle. We just gotta go out there and just just just find it, find ourselves and go out there. And Dominic. Speaking of Boyd, he reached a milestone of his own. I'm third down in fourteen. Daltons back to throw. The protection is great. He guns it on the middle. I'll leaping catch made for a first down at midfield with bad catch, Tyler Boyd goes up

and over one thousand receiving yards for the season. You're one of six receivers in Bengals history to have more than one one thousand yards season. What's that mean to you at this stage of your career, man, it means a lot, you know, because I know what it took for me to get here, you know, and just continue to continue to fight into the hard times. Man, that's

the only thing I really think about, Just just facing diversity. Man, coming this far and still being here and doing what I do best, you know, since I was a kid, and continue to strive in h justus make plays man. Baker Mayfield's first pass of the day was a long touchdown. His fourth of the day was picked off. Catches a shotgun snap back to throw his pass picked off by Darius Phillips. He's on his feet at the play fifteen the ten five. He dives and goes down at the

three yard line. Offensive lineman Wyatt Teller with the stop Darius Phillips. It's incredible. That's his third interception on fewer than ten passes thrown in his direction this year, and three plays later, the Bengals had the lead. Third down and goal from the three shotgun snap, daltni Het the mixing bowers the shoulder pads and busts his way into the end zone for a Bengals touchdown. Yeah. He spins

the football and launches into his Bay Area dance. As the Bengals had taken the lead, Randy Bullock missed the extra point, the only pat he missed all year, and the Bengals led thirteen to seven after the first quarter.

In the second, their lead grew to thirteen. Dalton drops back to throw from the twelfth looking around, scrambling out to the left, being chased Andy trying to sprint get into the five hives for the pylon, and it's a touchdown night that made it twenty to seven, the first time the Bengals have scored twenty or more in the first half all year. But the Browns answered a field goal by Austin Cyberd made it twenty to ten, and then Mayfield dialed long distance again. Play action fake Baker

Mayfield with a deep drop. He sings it deep down the middle of the field for Landry over the shoulder catch, breaks two tackles and runs into the end zone for a Cleveland Browns touchdown. The Browns missed the extra point, so at the half, Cincinnati led twenty to sixteen. With mix and carrying fifteen times for one hundred three yards. The only scoring in the third quarter was a forty seven yard field goal by Bullock that gave the Bengals

a seven point lead. Meanwhile, the Bengals were getting to Mayfield. They sacked him six times overall, and pressure leads to picks. I'm third down in sixteen, Mayfield back to throw, has time. He's gonna fire high and deep from Odell Beckham Junior Hey. Fifth interception, again by Darius Phillips, has it way back at the twenty, running back to the thirty, head of steam to the forty, runs to the fifty, and gets knocked down near the fifty yard line by Jarvis Landry.

Second interception of the game, fourth interception of the year for a guy who has barely played. I haven't seen the final snap counts yet, but I'm guessing the Darius Phillips, who missed eight games with a knee injury, will wind up with roughly one hundred defensive snaps for the year. That's less than ten percent of the Bengals defensive total, and yet Phillips finished with a team high four interceptions,

only two off the NFL lead. It looked like the Bengals were in good shape when they went up by two two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Dalton in the shotgun back at the seven with Joe Mixon lined up off his right hip. Dalton takes the snap, hands it off, Micks said, and he sprints into the end zone. Touchdown. Bengals to go up by two scores early in the

fourth quarter. But the way this season is gone for the Bengals, you knew it wouldn't be that easy, as the Browns managed to score a touchdown on fourth and goal from the twenty. From the twenty yard line, the Bengals send a blitz Baker Mayfield pouncing around in the pocket. Now he's going to fling it toward the end zone. It is caught but out of bounds by Odell Beckham Junior. He did not get two feet down in bounds, so

the officials are going to talk about it. After huddling with the officials on the field, the ruling is a touchdown. It was an amazing catch by Odell Beckham Junior to make it a seven point game. There was an appropriate way for the Bengals to put the game away by putting the ball in the hands of Joe Mixon. Two on the play clock. As they snap it, he hands it to Mixon and Joe first for a first Yo trucks a defender and sprints between the hashbarks all the

way down to the twenty five yard line. A huge run for Joe Mixon and more time will run off the clock. After that twenty eight yard game, they had ten people within five yards of the line of scrimmage and Joe Mixon split him. And then the only defensive flare that was deep. The safety came up to put a hint on Joe and Joe trucked them, lowered his shoulder pads and ran him over. That defender was safety Sheldrick RedWine. You might say a red wine stain was

left on the turf at Paul Brown Stadium. Mixon finished with twenty six carries for a career high one hundred sixty two yards. You know, the last time going out there, you know what I'm saying. So at the end of the day, I wanted to leave and you know, lead a season on a positive note. And I don't really want to talk too much about me. He bought on my line, did a great job, you know what I'm saying. Boys getting physical aft there and we set the tone

right off the back. Joe's final long run set up a forty six yard Randy Bullock field goal that gave the Bengals at ten point lead. An interception by b W Webb, Cincinnati's third of the game ended any hope of a miracle comeback by Cleveland, and Andy Dalton took two snaps in the victory formation to end the game. Dalton under center, he takes a knee, and that is

coffin nail. Bam, bam bam. The Bengals end the season on a positive note as they beat the Cleveland Browns thirty three two twenty three in what might have been his final game in a Bengals uniform. Dalton jogged off the field to a big ovation with fans chanting his name. I get that could have been the last couple of snaps that yeah, uh, you know, I've played in a Cincinnati Bengals uniform, and you know what better way to do it? If it is the case again, I don't, guys,

I don't. I have no idea, no idea what's going to happen. Um, But if it is, I mean, you always wanted any game with taking the knee, So glad that it was able to do that from from my last one too. If if that's the case, there's been a lot of support from the city for you know, not only what I've done on the field, but what we've done off of it. And um, I mean, the city's meant a lot to us, To my family, I mean, we've you know, spent my whole married life here, if

you know, our three kids have been raised here. So I mean it's the city's meant a lot to us, and so um, you know, it feels good to get the appreciation from from the fans chant my name. After getting bench for three games at mid season, Dalton came back to lead the Bengals to two wins in their final three home games, and Sunday's win means he still has the highest winning percentage of any Bengals quarterback to start at least twice five games. A loss would have

dipped him below Ken Anderson. Here's mixing. I'm the red rifle. Yeah, fighter, you know what I'm saying. He went through adversity and at the end of the day, man, you know that's that's Andy Dark. As soon as I came in, he embraced me since day one, you know what I'm saying. So I'm gonna always ride and die with Andy, you feel me, So at the end of the day, no matter what the situation may be, at the end of

the day, I'm sure he gonna fight. And you know, like I said, no, nothing in this league come easy. And uh, you know, I'm definitely proud of how he bounced back with his adversity. I mean, you put anybody else in that situation, they're not gonna bounce back like that. And Andy did that. So I mean, I'll take my hat off to him, and you know, I appreciate him for what he did. So that's how I feel about it. So the Bengals ended a rough season with a win

and a two and fourteen record. The Browns ended a rough decade with a loss to finish six and ten and fired head coach Freddy Kitchens after just one season. To put the browns miserable decade into perspective, we all remember how badly the Bengal struggled in the nineteen nineties, as they won a total of fifty two games. From two thousand and ten to twenty nineteen, the Cleveland Browns one forty two games. Here are Carlos Dunlap and Tyler

Eiffert on ending this season on a winning note. It's good today, you know, in the year off with a win. It's a great feeling. But obviously our season didn't go the way we want it. So that's the big picture. You know, we focus in weekend, week out, but now at the end of the season, you evaluate your season. So you know, today is good. We're gonna enjoy it, celebrate, get together, go eat um. You know, we don't know how this locker room is not gonna be the same

after this game. We know that, so we're gonna get together as a team, you know, do something together, and then we're gonna handle everything as it comes. We're gonna go hang out, have a little gathering after this. So tomorrow when we all have headaches, will probably think about it. I mean this, yeah, I just enjoy being together and everything that comes with being on a football team and the you know, the brotherhood, the camaraderie, you know, obviously

I've said it before, it doesn't we did. It didn't go how we wanted it too, but there's still a lot of it spent a lot of time together. So it's so hard because you know, you don't want the season to be over, but it is over. So you know, we're just gonna enjoy each other. And because a lot of time when the season's over, some of your good friends are in here, but everybody has their own lives in different parts of the country, and so you won't see a lot of guys, and so you know, we

just enjoy it and have some fun. After the game, Dave Lapham spent six minutes with head coach Zach Taylor. Coach huge win, division win at home and finish season. I mean it had to be big. It was fun, you know, and that's when you're doing things the right way in a lot of different areas. You got great momentum throughout the game outside of a stretch there at the end of the second quarter. That's what it should

feel like. And we all got to remember that because there's a lot of games where we didn't remember what that felt like, and so you really got to capture this moment right now and feed off of it and let us let it propel us into April, let it propel us into August. But this is what it should feel like every week for us. Do you feel like the conclusion the Miami Dolphin game carried over into the

early stages of this football game. We've always had confidence in ourselves, and so I wouldn't necessarily say that that was any sort of factor. Our guys had confident that we should have played better than the last time we played Cleveland, and we need to finish this thing off the right way. We get another shot out him three weeks later, and we need to play the way that

we know we're supposed to play. And I thought we did improved on third down, on defense, we proved the red zone on offense, all the things that we did poor early the last time. Our guys stepped up and made this place. Yeah, it was incredible. I mean, got sixteen out of thirty five points in the red zone up there, left nineteen in the field today, four touchdowns in a field goal in five red zone opportunities, and mixed extra point. Obviously, you know one one point that

you didn't didn't generate there, But penalties. I mean way down. Last game up there, it was like ninety nine yards and penalty yards. I think it was a season high. Today, no factor whatsoever. Like you said, third down was it was a big deal. You guys were three for twelve up there, and today I think something like nine for thirteen or something like that. Something crazy. What what is it?

Is it just a matter of focus, concentration? What is it just guys stepping up on their numbers called And you look at the end of the fourth quarter, and that's just a great image of how we want to finish this year. The offense got the ball up seven points, drove down the field because guys made plays. Randy stepped up, made a huge field goal in the rain, and then our defense stepped up, got a turnover, and that's how the game ended. And all three phases stepped up and

did that. And that's what we've been preaching all year. And so to finish off the last game of the season that way, I think just think speaks to the character of this locker room and speaks to the character of the coaching staff. Keep these guys going through all that adversity we face. Joe Nixon was rushed for over three hundred yards in two games against the Cleveland Browns,

had over one hundred and sixty today. He needed one hundred and ninety three to rush for more yards than he rushed for last year when he led the AFC in Russian And I thought, got a shot here, now, So what was it? I mean, the offensive line obviously taken pride, Joe taking pride. They were just rolling. They were getting after the Cleveland Browns and shut Chubb down. I mean Chubb didn't even have fifty and Joe Rushes rove one hundred and sixty. That's a big deal in

a football game like this. It is he ran hard, ran through people. No one want to tackle him today because of his physicality. Thought our alignment or receivers really did a nice job blocking down the field and giving those lanes. But it was just a physical rushing attack by our guys and they executed very well. You got up on him and they couldn't run the football, shut the running game down, so they had to throw. Baker's got talent. He's got Pro Bowl receivers to throw too,

so he made some chunk plays. But it was it was a situation where they were so one dimensional. You guys never really lost control of that football game. Yeah, they've got great weapons all over. That offense was really pleased, but it starts with the run game. Trying to shut that down, get some pressure on the quarterback, Odell and Jarvis. They're gonna make plays. It's gonna happen. But I thought for the most part, we came out the second half

and minimize those explosive plays. And they got the fourth and twenty, which is just you know, a premier player going up and make a play. That's a tough one to stop. But overall, plays with our guys finished in

the second half. I know when I played, it was usually we'd go back maybe four games as we're preparing for an opponent, and did you emphasize your games and it was only three weeks ago, your game more than anybody else's game, because this is where we were, This is what we could have done, This is how what we have to do to turn this around. It is because Baltimore sets a unique system that they run in Arizona. Now kind of what they've gotten to you know, they're

executing wealth. That quarterback that runs around a lot, so you see unique defensive plans when teams play those two teams. So the next one up was our game and there was a lot to learn from that that we can improve upon. And our guys really took that to heart. You know, the one thing and people are gonna people have said it to me, you know, and when they asked me, you know, the football team only one when I said, I'm going to tell you something. The thing

that's amazing to me. There's nobody throwing another guy under the bus. There's no finger point and there's no backstabb and there's none of that going on. It's the most unbelievable dynamic. You wouldn't and they look at me like I have three heads. You know, they don't really believe it, but it's true. I mean, this football team stay I know your emphasis was stay connected. My god, they stayed connected. Yeah,

I mean, that's the foundation of our culture. This guy's sticking together, taking accountability for what they can be accountable for. We expected more wins this year, but this has got to be the foundation for a future here, and the wins are gonna come if we keep doing the details the right way and raising our standards. And again, proud of the staff, how the way they've communicated with the players and the ways of the players have taken to it.

What if you had to point to one thing the biggest improvement that you saw in any phase was I think our guys just making plays in critical moments. You saw that last week, you saw it. This week you saw in the Jets game. You started to see more of it. Guys stepping up and saying, I'm maybe the guy that steps up and make the plays. I'm not just gonna gonna do the madeum here, I'm gonna make

a play and try to turn this game. And UM today was a great, great sign of all that I know UH coaches have told me in the past coaching a football seasons like dog years. You get through, you get through one season, it's like you've aged seven years like dog years. I know, I know this this season had its difficulties, but you never lost your energy, you never lost your enthusiasm, and you you were the beacon

light for your whole football team. Well, I think the staff has great energy and they keep you going, um because you can trust everybody they're all doing their job through seventeen weeks and and that that certainly is a huge help. So we hire the right people, we're heading the right direction. Um, we're just excited to be able to attack this offseason. Coach, I really appreciated, appreciate it all the time that you gave us. You're very h

you make yourself very accessible. I know the fans appreciate that and respect that. And I'll tell you it's a good way to a good way to end a season with a win against the division rival, the Cleveland Browns, who Paul Brown founded both of these football teams, So beating the Cleveland Rounds always has a little bit of something to it. It feels pretty good, you know, it's it's the first time doing this division and it's certainly

a great waiting the season. As Lap pointed out in that interview, it sounded like a cliche, but this year's team really did stick together through thick and thin. Here's Tyler Eiffort. I remember years past when you know we were going to the playoffs and after one side of the ball has a bad game, the other side of the ball is yelling at you know, and it's just

it's just crazy. But um, as bad as things were at times this year, you know, guys just never did that, and I think it's it's a lot of that just from coaches, leadership and just you know that that was a big point of emphasis that we're not We're just not going to do it, and um, so hopefully we can build on that going forward and and in the years in the future when we are in the playoff hunt and winning a division, you know that we stayed together when when things aren't going our way and can

make a run. Now, time for some postgame analysis with lap a ten point victory to close out the season over the Cleveland Browns thirty three to twenty three. A rough season ends on a very positive note, very definitely. I mean the Cleveland Browns. Paul Brown founded both franchises. There'll always be a connection, There'll always be a rivalry. Honestly, the Bengals could have and should have beaten the Cleveland

Browns up in Cleveland. Four and fifty one yards offense, penalties heard them, red zone, lack of red zone execution heard him. Third down hurt them. All those things today were positives limited, the penalties unbelievable in the red zone, four touchdowns, only one field goal was the reverse in Cleveland, and also on third down. I mean there were three for twelve in Cleveland. They converted like sixty seven percent or something like that here in Cincinnati. So the areas

that they needed to improve upon they really did. They reversed everything and just played a very physical football game. Joe Mixon Man was just crushing people. I mean just truck and lowering the shoulder of stiff armand juke and him. He showed everything that he's got. He had his whole arsenal working today big time. He needed twenty five yards going into the game to get to one thousand for the season. He got that by his third carry when

he had a forty one yard run. He finishes with one hundred and sixty two yards on twenty six carries, that six point two per attempt, and over the final nine games of the year, there wasn't a more productive running back in the NFL. He only needed thirty one more yards to do what he did last year eleven and sixty eight yards when he led the AFC in rushing. So that's that's amazing. And I asked him about it in the post game. I'm like, Joe, Man, I thought you might get up there. He goes, Hey, I was

shooting for it. When I was told on the sideline toward the end of the game that I had a shot at it, you know, that was that was a goal. And he was very praiseworthy of his offensive line, and rightfully so. I mean they wanted to get They wanted to spring Joe, and Joe wanted to be sprung, There's no question about it. And the running game was the key. I mean it really was. And then play acts and stuff. But you know happened off of that injuries at the

wide receiver position. I mean, you only had four wide receivers and three tight ends going into the football game, and for a while Tyler if it looked like he might be a little limited. So they did a great job in the red zone with their tight end packages. Andy Dalton, you know, ran for a touchdown Joe. I mean it was everybody. Everybody contributed, and you know, I think once you get a lead like they got on Cleveland and they shut Chubb down. That was the other thing.

Jubb didn't get his fifteen hundred yards, so Joe out rushed him by like one hundred and twenty yards or something close to that, and they became one dimensional and they had to throw the football, and Baker Mayfield's got some weapons. I mean, he's got Pro Bowl receivers Landry and Beckham, and they chumped him. You know, they made some players. I mean he had half a dozen throws at least of twenty yards and more and all of

his touchdown passes were twenty yards and more. So he definitely chunked the Bengals, but they never really lost control of the football game. Nick Chubb, by the way, finished with forty one yards on thirteen carries, three point to per attempt. Defensively, Carlos Dunlap two and a half sacks, carl loss and two sacks, four quarterback hits after having five last week against Miami. Sam ubberd a sack and

a half. You get a pass rush like that and you're probably going to give your defensive backs an opportunity to make plays as well. And Darius Phillips, did you know he had two interceptions and Darius Phillips ends up with four leads the team. He's amongst the league leaders. League leaders coming into today's action only had six, so he was very He gave a lot of credit to

the guys up front. He felt like you know, Baker Mayfield was hurried and a lot of his reads weren't clean and clear to him as a result of that. And like we said, those players are gonna make plays. There's no question. They're great players, Pro Bowl players, so they're gonna they're gonna have theirs. But for Darius Phillips to have his and the other thing, not only the interception, but he flipped field position. He only had these big return yards where he took care of two or three

first downs. The Bengals offense didn't have to worry about. So he gave them better fuel position, you know, with his takeaways, and he's gifted that William space because of his return ability. And you know, he was talking to him a little bit and he was like, I thought I had it on that one. You know, you get hit inside the ten yard line. I think he talkled about the five or six yard line. He thought he was in for a score. He said, Landry came out of nowhere. But that kid, you got to work with

him because he is a natural playmaker. He finds the football, breaks on the football, makes plays. He's he's somebody you gotta work with. So the Bengals get a win, and still have the first pick, and next year's draft seems likely they'll use it on a quarterback, Joe Burrow maybe somebody else. If that's the case, this could have been it for Andy Dalton a Bengals uniform. He's still under

contract for one more year. If it turns out to be his last game in Cincinnati, he leaves with his seventieth seventieth win as Cincinnati starting quarterback and the best winning percentage of anybody in Bengals history to start twenty five or more games. Golf clap from Dave Lapple. Andy Dalton is um you know, eleven or twelve wins against the Cleveland Browns. He dominated the Cleveland Browns in the division in his in his time here with the Cincinnati Bengals.

You know, to be involved with five straight playoff appearances your first five years in the league. I mean at one time he was fifty twenty five and one was winning you know, two games for everyone that he lost. And then things started to change, you know, injury, departure of players or whatever the case may be. Things started to change. But Andy Dalton is a winner. You know, he wanted every level peewee football. You know, youth basketball,

youth baseball, whatever it is. He had never lost more than two in a row at any level until he came to the National Football League. So he's a winner and um, and I'm glad to see him get a victory. If this is his last game here in Cincinnati, he ends up with a lot of records, records with his feet, records with the throwing arm. Overall wins. Nothing but nothing but praise for any dal and not just as a

football player. But we say this about guys and sometimes it's overused, but as great a player as Andy Dalton is, he's even more incredible human being. I mean, you know, he's men of family and faith and you know, great husband, great dad, friend, everybody in the community, great teammate. Andy Daltons a special guy. Andy Dalton's two hundred four touchdown passes are a Bengals record, as are his twenty two touchdown runs. That's the most by any Bengals quarterback. Now

time for this week's fun Facts interview. Traditionally I'd like to end the season by going down memory Lane with Bengals President Mike Brown, but this year, for the first time, I had the opportunity to visit with another member of the Brown family, his daughter Katie. Time for some fun facts with Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn, I asked you dad about the Freezer Ball once. His most vivid memory was you that morning going around the stadium hanging

up homemade banners. Do you remember it as well as he does? How could you forget? It was definitely a very memorable day, and um, obviously the weather was cold, but um, friend of mine and I all season had made banners that we would go out every game and hang up, and at one point we pretty much had

a banner for every player. So that morning in the Freezer Bowl, we took all of our banners and I don't know if we got them all up, but we hung We went out there in the cold weather and somehow managed to You had to tie the string and in cold weather around a metal a metal railing. That was a little tough to do sometimes, but we got him up there and it was that was That was it. The whole day. It was memorable, obviously, the whole game and it was just a great day with a lot

of fun memories. But the banners were one part of it that UM, I will definitely remember too. So those banners had clever sayings like the turk lurks. How much time was sp trying to come up with clever sayings for all the Bengals players. Wow, we had zappam lap them. You know, that was part of the fun of it. I was coming up with something that worked for as many guys as we could come up with something that was fun. But that was definitely a fun part of it.

Zap them Lap them will definitely make it into this week's broadcast. We're doing fun Facts with Katie Blackburn. We think of Paul Brown as the most innovative coach in football history, if not sports history, but for you, he was your grandpa. Describe your relationship with your grandfather. Probably a pretty typical grandfather relationship. I don't know that I was as focused on the football part as much as

thinking of them as a grandfather. He'd like to play cards, you know, Jim Rummy was a favorite game to play with them, and then you know a lot of family meals and you know, whether it's Easter or Christmas, just spending that time together. He had the ability to intimidate professional football players. But I imagine when he was with

his granddaughter. He was just cuddly grandpa, a lot more softness, But you know, I think that was, you know, part of what he had a way of obviously reaching people, and he you know, I always had the feeling that he was the proud grandpa. That's how he made me feel. So he made me feel good. We're doing fun Facts with Katie Blackburn. Do you have an all time most memorable Bengals win? Definitely those wins that got us to

the super Bowl. I can still picture sitting in my seats and after the very the first one I remember being I remember jumping up and down in the island. I remember people pointing at me. So but you know, just that that thrill of knowing that we were actually getting the super Bowl. Most memorable, on the flip side

is their most painful loss. Definitely that San Francisco game where there were four seconds left and the game we thought was over, but then they threw that touchdown pass and I think I may have kicked the concrete at Riverfront, And that one's the most memorable to me. So the regular season game where Sam tried to run out the clock as opposed to just putting it down. The field and they threw the touchdown pass and Jerry Rice in

the last play. Whatever we did to not not use up those last four seconds, I still think about all the different things we could have done. But yeah, that game all right, Katie. You went to Dartmouth and earned a letter as a hockey goalie. How did you wind up playing hockey? Well, that's probably a question I still asked myself sometimes. But I went and my brother had played hockey here and so I was familiar with the game. And I had skated a little bit over at Northland

Ice Rink. They had Glendale Skate and you'd go to skate Saturday mornings. And then the person I befriended when I got to Dartmouth was from Minnesota, and she said she was going to go out for the hockey team. So I went to the meeting and I addle. When I went to Dartmouth, the sport I played most was tennis, but I always sort of wanted to have just because of being involved at the football side. I'm like, oh, I'd always love to be involved in some sport somehow,

And so I went to the hockey meeting. And back then it's not obviously like it is today. For whatever reason, they were willing to take a couple of people who weren't really necessarily great players. So I sort of got to participate with the team for the first year maybe and finally worked my way into playing. Started out as a wing, finally scored maybe a goal or two, and then the hockey or the goalie graduated and they didn't have a goalie. So I volunteered, thinking, hey, there's a

little more ice time. But I pretty much started and got benched. So well, you've got one more college letter than I did aged in math and economics. Did you choose that with football in mind? When I started at Dartmouth, I sort of thought maybe pre med, and so I started taking you know, I took organic chemistry, and then

I decided maybe something other than premed. And obviously I always love the football side, but you know, I always had heard of go do you know, make sure you're doing what you want to do, and so I did. I did not choose that with football in mind. I chose that because once I went away from premed, those were those were the courses that I most enjoyed, and then decided I would see what I could could do with those Once I went that direction for doing friend

Facts with Katie Blackburn. After Dartmouth, you earned your law degree at you see, and you did practice for a couple of years. Did you enjoy it very much? You know, I practiced at test Tenus in Hollister and UM just I think the thing about um being at a law firm is a lot of great people. You got great experience in some corporate settings and just you know how how things operate um legally, and so it was great experience and I like the people, and yeah, it was.

It was a great experience. One of your responsibilities with the Bengals over the years has been negotiating contracts. Does it get emotional less? So with time, I think you you learn as you grow that you but maybe early on when you first, you know, first start out, I think everybody's a little bit more emotional about some of the things they're doing. But you know, as I've gotten older, now old m I think I hopefully have grown out

of it being an emotional thing. In twenty sixteen, Sports Illustrated referred to you as the NFL's most powerful woman Nobody talks about. Sure that was a headline that that you found embarrassing. But do you think of yourself as a trailblazer for women in sports? Well, that's just not My personality is so much to focus on that kind of thing. So I do believe that anybody should have an opportunity and be able to do anything that they think they could be good at. But I don't know,

it's just not my personality that I said. That's a very embarrassing headline. In my opinion, I feel like I've never worked a day in my life. I love broadcasting a game. I love doing the homework. Do you feel the same way about working in the NFL? Definitely? Definitely. I love coming to work every day, you know. I find that there's just different things going on every day and still learn something new every day. I love the people we work with, love what it's about. I love

the football. I love football, and so being able to come and be involved with football every day, I can't imagine anything better. Your daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline have not followed in your footsteps, at least not yet. Do you hope they eventually will? I mean, honestly, yes, I would love for them to follow in my footsteps or to come and be a part of it. Um, I know they're I think they're interested, but I do I know.

I think it's also great for them to go out and get other real, real world experience and then make sure that this is something that they would want to do and make sure it's the right thing for them. Your husband, Troy once said that you curse like a sailor when watching games. Guilty is charged? Do I have to answer to the fifth? You're You're entitled to plead the fifth, but I think that would be admitting admitting your guilt. Um, I mean I I have on occasion,

and I've been working on that too. Like we said, we mature, we mature, But um, I've had my moments sometimes I'm not gonna lie. That puts you in the company of every Bengals fan listening. I am guessing. Like I said, it's it is. It's something that I've gotten much better at, and I appreciate the game for what it is. There are moments when things don't go right all the time, and being able to keep moving on is what it's all about. So I've improved. I appreciate

you doing this. So you don't love talking about yourself. So the fact that you did. This is much appreciated. Happy holidays and have a great offseason. Happy holidays. Thanks Dan. That's going to do it for this episode of the podcast. The Bengals Booth Podcast will continue in the offseason just about every week, and we'll obviously have extensive coverage before and after the draft, So if you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to

get the latest edition of this one right away. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening all season long to the Bengals Booth Podcast.