Bengals Booth Podcast: Old Man Rivers

in depth analysis from Dave Lappo. And this week's fun Fact segment is with defensive tackle Christian Covington as he discusses growing up in Vancouver as the son of a Canadian Football League legend. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud Light. Seltzer refreshed 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, Google Play, Spotify, or Podbean.

It's the greatest thing since the Java Whip. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is sold at the Old Milford Parlor Coffee and ice cream shop on Main Street in Milford. It's called the Java Whip. It's an espresso milkshake made with locally roasted espresso and vanilla soft serve ice cream. I'm here to tell you that if God enjoys milkshakes, then this is the one that he or she orders. Needless to say, it's not low calorie, but it's well worth the occasional splurge. Get yourself a Java Whip at

the Old Milford Parlor. Now, let's get to Sunday's game, a battle between the kid Joe Burrow and a quarterback with nine kids, Philip Rivers. He's fifteen years older than Burrow and seventeen months older than Bengal's head coach Zach Taylor. But the day didn't start well for Rivers. His second pass of the game was fumbled without contact by veteran tight end Jack Doyle and Bengals newcomer Xavier Williams recovered at the colts forty three yard line. Seven plays later,

the Bengals found the end zone. It is third down in goal from the two yard line. Burrow and the shotgun. Giovanni Bernard is checked in at running back. Higgins motions toward the formation. Burrow catches the shotgun snap, gives it to Giovanni. Bernard Gio goes into the end zone standing up, and the Bengals have scored on their opening drive. Nice

push inside Trey Hopkins Michael Jordan take a foul. That was the first opening drive touchdown allowed by the Colts in their last eighteen games, ending the longest active streak in the NFL. But the Bengals were just getting started as they rolled the dice to score again on their second drive. Looks like the Bengals are going to go for it, so they're going to pass up the chip shot field goal and go for it on fourth and one from the Indianapolis two yard line. Samaj p Ryan

checks in and lines up like a fullback. Burrow, We'll run a quarterback sneak and he's got the first down and he might make it into the end zone. He's gonna be mad. Yes, they giving them touchdown signals. So the Bengals go for it on fourth and one from the two and Joe Burrow, quarterback sneaks into the end zone. Michael Jordan keep coming off the football, my man, Trey Hopkins,

Michael Jordan control that line of scrimmage. Nothing fancy, just snuggle up behind your center and your left guard and just hammered up in there. Two drives, two touchdowns. Why stop there? Nicolts send a blitz from the edge. Burrow throws deep down field. It is Higgins streaking down the sideline twenty ten five and tackled at the two yard line. On third and nine, Burrow throws a perfect spiral down

the sideline to fellow rookie t Higgins. The throw went twenty nine yards down the field, and Higgins ran for thirty eight yards after the catch for a sixty seven yard game on the final play of an impeccable first quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, the Bengals took a twenty one point lead first and goal from the seven. After the five yard penalty, Burrow catches the shotgun staff sticks it in the gut of Joe Mixon charging down toward the goal line, waiting for the signal,

and he is stopped just short. No, that's the touchdown sign The far side official did not give it to him. The near side official eventually did. It's a seven yard touchdown run by Joe Mixon. It obviously will be reviewed. This is dominant in every possible way. At that point, Burrow had one hundred and fifty three passing yards to only thirty three for Rivers, and the Bengals had nine

first downs to the Colts one. Here's t Higgins. You know, we came in with the mentality we gotta go out here and you know, dominant, and you know, you guys saw that at the first quarter. We just I don't know what happened in the second, you know, I guess we just let off the gas and we can't do that. We gotta stay full throttle the whole game and you know, finish it up. The Colts comeback started with an eighty

seven yard touchdown drive. Rivers hit Marcus Johnson for a fifty five yard gain down to the one yard line, and Indy scored two plays later. And they're going to line up in a wildcat type formation and it is a run into the end zone for the score by Trey Burton. You remember Trey Burton, the tight end who threw the Philly Special touchdown pass and the Super Bowl to Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. He'll never have to pay for a beer in Philadelphia for the rest of his life.

His one yard run made it twenty one to seven. The Bengals answered with their fourth scored as many drives as Randy Bullocks forty seven yard field goal made it twenty four to seven, but Rivers and Burton struck again. Shotgun Staff. Rivers looking throws it towards the left side of the end zone and that is caught by Trey Burton for the Colts touchdown. It was twenty four to fourteen.

The Bengals still appeared to be in good shape, but they failed to get a first down on their next drive, giving Rivers the ball back with two fifty eight left in the half, plenty of time for a seventy five yard drive. Rivers catches the shotgun Staff, steps up in the pocket, floats it into the end zone, caught by Pascal for an Indianapolis touchdown with fifteen seconds left in

the half. After a slow start, Philip Rivers passed for two hundred and thirty four yards in the second quarter to cut the Bengals twenty one point lead down to three. Here's Jesse Bates. Philip Rivers is the Hall of Fame quarterback. I mean, I know he's a little odor now, but he's a Hall of Fame quarterback and I feel like the whole game he knew exactly what we were in. Every ball that he threw was almost out of bounce

and only where the receivers can catch it. So props the Philip Rivers, I think, you know, for us as a defense, I mean, we got to take that as a challenge. Our offense takes lead. Twenty one points should be enough in this league. The only point scored in the third quarter were scored by the Bengals, thanks in large part to a seven time pro bowler who had

his best game in nearly two years. Third down play coming up third and seven burrow catches the shotgun staff short drop quick slamp caught by H Green for another first down, had a ten yard games J Green starting to look like J Green. AJ Green finished with eight catches for ninety six yards, and they were big catches, giving the Bengals first downs on second and nine, second and eleven, third and eight, third and six, third and ten,

and fourth and nine. But he was upset that he failed to haul in a potential forty four yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Still got some plays out there that I should have made the gobaf I should have just went up over the top of him. We try to get the past and the fantish shot U instead of trying to like lay hands it. Um. Um.

But I felt good. Um it's probably the best you know, my body felt, you know, just get my confidence back and playing like my whole solf T Higgins, who had six catches for one hundred and twenty five yards, was

excited to see his favorite receiver go to work. You know, Aja was Aja today, you know, I mean it looked I was glad to see him get you know, as many targ as he did and see him produce, you know, you know, getting his confidence back, you know from the past two season though he's on injury, and you know, just seeing him go out there and just work today

it felt good. A fifty five yard field goal by Randy Bullock gave Cincinnati a twenty seven twenty one lead going to the fourth quarter, the fourth time in six games that the Bengals have had a fourth quarter lead, but in this case, it only lasted for a few seconds. First play of the fourth quarter, the Colts habit in the red zone at the fourteen yard line, rivers back to throw a play if time is fast into the

end zone. Doyle reaches out, extends the arms, makes the catch and ties the game, with the Colts having the opportunity to take the lead for the first time. On the extra point, the pat made a twenty eight twenty seven Indie. Here's Jesse Bates on surrendering the big lead. It is frustrating, man. We play very well, I mean that first quarter and I don't think they got a first down, and then you know, we kind of fall apart, you know when the game matters. So it's the same

thing I've been saying all years. We got to be consistent. We got to be consistent and everything we do. The Bengals still had chances to win. After an interception by Bates, the Bengals drove to the Colts thirty, where Sama JP Ryan was stopped on third and one on his first carry of the season, in fact, his first carry in

twelve games in a Bengals uniform. Down by one with eight minutes to go, the Bengals chose not to go for it on fourth and one and call Randy Bullock a pressure kick for Randy Bullock a forty eight yard attempt to try to give Cincinnati the lead. Harris ready to snap it back. Huber catches puts it down. Bullocks kick is up and it is no good. It hit the right, upright and bounced to the right. So, with a chance to give Cincinnati a fourth quarter lead, Randy

Bullock misses for just the second time all year. His forty eight yard attempt is no good. Bullock is fifteen for seventeen this season. But man, have the two misses been costly. A forty yard field goal by Colts rookie Rodrigo Blankenship gave into a four point lead with four minutes to go, meaning the Bengals needed a touchdown on their final drive to win. Joe Burrow drove them into Colts territory with forty nine seconds to go. Third down

in five at the thirty five of Indie. Burrow ready for the shotgun snap, Joe has the ball, throws over the middle. It is intercepted, picked off at twenty yard line by Julian Blackman, and that'll wrap it up for Indianapolis. Yes it will. Here's Burrow on the pick and his performance. So can you take us through that last play? What

did you see on that interception? Oh, they're blitzen and you know they're playing palms, which is basically quarters, and we saw something I just gotta make make a better play, make a better decision. Tough one. Did you see Blackman Joe on the interception at the end, No, I did not. I knew he was over there somewhere. I didn't know he was that type. The first thing you said after last week's game in Baltimore was you weren't very good with your eyes today. Do you feel like you're a

lot better with your eyes today? Yeah? I mean I played really well for three quarters and fourteen minutes and then one bad play and I wasn't named to convert. Burrow finished with three hundred thirteen passing yards his four three hundred yard game, but Rivers finished with three hundred and seventy one yards and three touchdown passes and a thirty one, twenty seven come from behind win. Here are Zach Taylor and AJ Green on a twenty one point

lead that didn't last. It's a tough one to swall for sure, you know, and again we didn't earn it, and just you got to challenge the team. It's it's everybody could have done one more thing to help us get this win, and that's all of us. That's the coaches, the players, and everyone's got to be accountable to that. Um, we put ourselves in a tough position here, you know, with just one win, and it doesn't matter if you feel like you've done better than that, that that doesn't matter.

Your record is what you say, it is what it says that you are. And uh, we got to going these wins, man, And it's tough to beat good teams on the road. Felt like we certainly had some opportunities and we just didn't do enough to make it happen. They didn't mess the bottom line and get their hats off to them. What is the difference between teams that win a lot and teams that don't beyond the obvious? And I think the teams that want a lot to do the little things right. And you know, we still

got to clean up some stuff. You know, Like I said, I had to play that. You know, I should have made good teams try to make that play. So for me, I just gotta continue to get trying to make every play. Then go from there. The Bengals are one four and one, including two losses in a tie that could have been probably should have been wins. Up next a home game against the Browns, who got blown out in Pittsburgh thirty eight to seven. Baker Mayfield left that game in the

third quarter with sore ribs. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now, let's get some postgame analysis from my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham lap I am going to start with a bad memory. September of nineteen seventy nine, second quarter Bengals twenty four Houston Nothing Oilers came back to win thirty to twenty seven inot That's the only time in Bengals history that they've squandered a

bigger lead than twenty one points. Twenty One's happened a few times. That game was twenty four. Do you remember how sickening you felt after that game? That was like, yeah, that was like a gut punch, a kick below the gut, kick, a kick anywhere that you know it would hurt the most. It was. It was a disgusting feeling, you know, and you know it is like like you say, when it happens to you, that's the NFL. I mean, that's what

can happen in the National Football League. I thought the Colts came out thinking that they could just roll their helmets out in the football field. I think that they felt like this was going to be an easy day. And the Bengals came out energized, I mean, ready to play, and took advantage of an early turnover score right away, and then boom, all of a sudden, it's twenty one nothing, and the Colts are like they're they're getting pushed around.

I mean, their defensive front is getting man handled and they can't run the football at all and get down twenty one nothing. It's probably the worst thing to happen because then Reich looks at Philip River and says, hey, it's time. And I was stunned because my feeling watching him in prior games, I thought they him throw the ball outside. He threw dimes outside, He threw outside roust that were in such a like Jesse Bates was talking about in the postgame show. He threw it, it was

out of bounds. The only guy that could make a play on the ball, the Anglity threw it and the feathery touched me through. It was his receiver. Defensive backs had no opportunity. I mean he threw the ball with the anticipation and accuracy and aggressiveness. He was like Philip Rivers, you know, rewind a few a few years. He was unbelievable.

And that's him in a competitive situation. Man, that dude steps up and he single handedly picked up his football team, put him on his collective shoulders and said, let's wake up, let's start playing football. This isn't good enough for me. Let's go. I'm ready, let's go. And I mean Philip Rivers basically said we're not going to lose this football game. And they didn't. There have been six games in Bengals history where they led by twenty one or more and lost.

Five times the deficit was twenty one. That other game that I mentioned nineteen seventy nine, the deficit was twenty four. So of those six games, Philip Rivers is responsible for two of the comebacks. Two thousand and six, down by twenty one at halftime, leads the Chargers, the team he was playing for, then to forty two second half points and they come back and win. And if you don't get more pressure on that guy than the Bengals were able to get today, he is eventually going to carve

you up. He is. I mean, you have to get him off his spot. You can't let him get comfortable. And comfortable wasn't the word. I mean. He was seeing the field. He knew exactly what coverages the Bengals were in, he knew exactly what route was going to beat that coverage, and he had time to sit there and put it in a perfect spot and never got him off his spot.

And the thing that I've always admired about him for a lot of years, and he did out of it today when he climbs the pocket and he's running forward, he'll throw off the most awkward footwork and still feather it and put it in a perfect spot. Touch Wise, I will say, though, there were a myriad of times where receivers were so open. It's like, what, how can they be that open? How can they be five yards

open in any one direction? And it's remarkable when you're all eleven and one in games that were decided by eight points or less, something lets you down that you may not have anticipated. Bengals pass defense was rated in the top ten and a bunch of categories going into this football game, and it got diced up. I mean, the Colts just said we can't run the football, and we don't know. If we run the football, we're our own worst enemy because we're eating clock. We're down three

scores so quickly. We have to try to get back in this football game right away. Let's abandon the running game, see if we can throw it. And I thought, man, this is going to be good for the Bengals. They've shown themselves pretty well in the past against the past,

not today. So it's it's like, you know, the guy that's trying to put his finger in the holes in the dike, You know you got a couple of them plugged up a third one, man, you start running out of fingers and there's too many holes too far apart to plug. It's it's incredible how one phase will step up and one that's has stepped up before regresses back and vice versa. It's just unbelievable. They cannot play complimentary football, even within the same side of the ball. One game

they rush it well, they can't throw it. One game they throw it great. They can't rush it on the flip side. Stop the run can't stop the pass. Stop the pass can't stop the run. I mean, it's just it's just unbelievable. And the pieces keep moving, you know, on the chessboard, they don't stay in the same spot. It's like, if you're a coach, you don't know what to believe in. What what can we do well enough? What's what's something that we do well every week that

we can rely on to game plan around. I'm not sure what you can come up with. Joe Mixon finished with fifty four rushing yards. I don't have a breakdown in front of me for the quarter by quarter, but I'm guess saying forty came in the first quarter and very little after that, I would agree. I mean, the offensive line, my gosh, man, they're running quarterback sneaks from the one yard line, they're running a touchdown from the eight yard line, right up the gut. It was just

like a big human wedge. They just I mean, they were just knocking them backwards. I mean, it wasn't even a contest they were. There was so much adrenaline flow and they're on such a high and the Colts were as flat, flat as a pancake. And then it turned. And once it started to turn, you know, Buckinger was

getting slapped around. Then Buckner all of a sudden, here he was rushing the pastor looking like this big long freak azoid that he is, and you know he's getting his sack and doing his thing, and then they're making players in the back end defensively. It's you know, it was it was. It was crazy. It wasn't a tale of two halves as such. It was a tale of one quarter and three quarters. I mean it was. But

still the Bengals. The Bengals didn't, you know, give away the lead until the fourth quarter of the football game. The fourth quarter of the football game. But when you have a twenty one point lead and they keep creeping, creeping, creeping, and then eventually take a lead on you, it's like you feel like even worse than if you're you know, if you're down twenty points. I mean, that's a bad feeling too. It's like here they come, Oh man, here

they come, here they come. And when you're you know, now, oh eleven and one in close football games, and they take the lead on you, and then they take a field goal. To take four point lead, you have to score a touchdown. You know, the dynamic becomes so much different because of a missfield goal by a kicker that's had a pretty good year overall, but two critical misses. Man, this is game six. The Bengals have had fourth quarter

leads in four out of six. Led thirteen to six in the fourth quarter in Week one, lost to the Chargers, led seventeen sixteen going to the fourth quarter. In Week three, wound up an overtime tie with Philadelphia. Obviously they led and one against Jacksonville, so there's nothing negative about that. But today on top twenty twenty one going to the fourth couldn't hold on sad It really is. It's a it's a sad commentary, you know. And that's that's what

the NFL is all about. As we say, every single week the NFL, half the games are decided by a touchdown or less. A quarter of the games are decided by a field goal or less. So it comes down to the fourth quarter. And in the fourth quarter you have to make plays in critical times of the football game and have to avoid mistakes in critical times of the football game. And the Bengals just can't seem to get over the hump there. That's what it boils down to.

That's why they're oz ten and one. In games decided by eight points or less, the loss is discouraging, but I'm really happy that AJ Green had a good game. He needed it, team needed it. I don't think it's a huge exaggeration to say the city almost needed it for the way that people feel about AJ Green. To see him struggling the way he has this year and giving up on that interception against Baltimore, not trying to

tackle the guy. It was just ugly and he was maybe not the old AJ Green in this game, but he was pretty darn good. Eight catches, ninety six yards, upset with himself about a deep ball that he thought he could have played differently, a lot of third down, fourth down type catches when they absolutely had it, had to have it. He got open and made the play. And AJ Green here in the last week has done

things that have made me respect him even more now. Obviously, the play that he made against the Ravens that we're talking about on the interception, you know, that wasn't something that you know would would be Oh yeah, that's I'm going to respect you know, him more for that. But he called himself out. That's what I respect he has as you know, a presser on Wednesday and says, I loafed and I can't do that. That's not me. My football teammates don't expect that out of me. I can't

do that. That's not me. There's not a whole lot of guys that are a superstar like he is in his profession that would have almost a confessional like that, you know, on Wednesday, and he cleansed himself, you know, by doing that, I think a little bit. And then he played better. He played better today. But then in the presser, you know, the zoom call after the game, he chastised himself for not making a play on the

deep ball. Now, could the deep ball have been a little deeper where he wouldn't have had to maybe choke it down slightly. Yeah, But he didn't say anything about that. All he said was I have to go up and attack the ball instead of trying to you know, late, show my hands late, like you know, I saw him happen in the game. He tried to show him late and it didn't work out. If he went up and attacked it. He felt like he could have got a pass interference or a catch of the football or whatever

the case may be. So to have him in that mindset to be that self critical when he's achieved what he's achieved and he's been on the stages that he's been on, I think, you know, to me, gives me a lot more respect for the guy. And I think his teammates, particularly the young teammate's going to be like, Wow, he works harder than anybody and he's so hard on himself, and that's what you have to do to be successful

in this NFL. I think he said another great example for younger players in the league by what he's done this last week. So the seven time Pro bowler was back in this game. The eight time Pro bowler, on the other hand, Geno Atkins was not, as far as I can tell. Zach Taylor was asked if Gino played after the game, he said, yes, he was used in third down passing situations. Well, we never called his name during the game. No tackles, no assists, no quarterback hits,

nothing like that for Geno Atkins. I don't know how many snaps he got, but he does not show up in any way, shape or form on the stat sheet. Yeah, if it's third down, it might have been less than the nineteen snaps he had the week before, which were on third down because the on third down let's see defense, they allowed seven conversions on eleven opportunities. So if he was only in on third down snaps, he played less than nineteen snaps. So yeah, he didn't He didn't have

impact on the football game whatsoever. There's no question about it. And that's that's just, you know, disappointing as well. You have guys out there, like you know, Covington and Xavier Williams just you know, playing snap after snap, giving everything they've got, and how can you be mad at them? You know they are, they are who they are, they are what they are. You're paying a lot of money to Geno Atkins and can't get them on the football

field because of I guess to shoulder problem. And that's that's tough. That's a tough dynamic because he was needed today. That when a quarterback is immobile and he's setting up seven, five, seven or nine yards behind the line of scrimmage, the interior pressure is even more significant because they're not rolling them out, they're not naked bootlegs, they're not you know, anything and sprint outs anything like that. So when you

have a stationary object. If you can get a push by bullrush or whatever in the middle of the pocket, that's massive. Not today. In addition to the Steelers win over the Browns, the Ravens beat Phil thirty to twenty eight. So in the AFC, North Pittsburgh is five and oh Baltimore is five and one, the Browns are four and two, and the Bengals are one four and one. Now time for something a little merrier. It's this week's fun Facts segment, where you get to know the person under the pads.

Time for some fun facts with Bengals defensive lineman Christian Covington from one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Vancouver, British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, just north of Seattle. For somebody that's never been described Vancouver, Oh my goodness, beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. Honestly, I'm kind of biased. I think everybody is with regards of their hometowns. But

I think the proof is in the pudding. Really, once you actually are able to step foot in the city called Vancouver, you mean, whatever the case may be, whether you're you know, a family person trying to see whatever, whatever it be mountain, ocean, water, wine country. It's one of those places that truly has everything, so it's it's kind of amazing. I grew up near Buffalo, and when I was a kid, I was devastated when our NBA franchise, the Buffalo Braves, moved west and became the Clippers. Were

you heartbroken when the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis? Very I'm still I can't lie to you. I'm still a little bitter about it right now. Especially when the NBA brought back those retro jerseys this year. I was just like, oh, why are you Like, why are you doing that to me? Why are you doing this to me? Just reminded me of the heartbreak. But you know what they I think, you know, basketball is going to be able to make a return to the Pacific Northwest, whether it be you know, Vancouver,

whether it be Seattle. I think basketball has to make a return. We're doing fun facts with Christian Covington. Your dad, Grover is a Canadian Football League Hall of Famer. You were born after he retired from pro football, so he didn't get to see him in action. But what have you learned about his pro career that he was a bad man. Uh, he was, No, Honestly, my dad, he's He's instilled a lot uh in me with regards to

my approach to the game. You know, he m to be able to have a man of his caliber, you know, be by my side ever since I started playing this game at a young age. You know, he's been my coach ever since the eighth grade. So to have him by my side, to be able to you know and honestly just learned from other people what he was about, his approach to the game, his approach to you know,

how he handled himself as a professional athlete. Um, it's huge, you know, like you know, he was, you know, a great man on it off the field, but you know, once he was able to, you know, take one step on, he was able to find find that switch and just become a monster. So I love I love hearing about that because you know, everybody calls him a general giant. So that's what I tried to be. A couple of years ago, you gave him a Corvette as a birthday present.

What was the backstory behind that gift? Man? Corvettes are my dad. They were my dad's favorite cars growing up. You know, he grew up in North Carolina and he's wonder one ever since he was a kid. He was able to he was able to buy himself one when he got me, when he you know, established himself in the CFL and he met my mom and you know, they had myself and my and once my once my

middle sister came around it. You know, it was looking like, you know, we had to kind of go towards, you know, the minivan section of shopping, so he had to get away with it. He had to get rid of his you know, his toy car um. You know, that was just me, you know, making the gesture a couple of years ago, you know, with all the sacrifices that he's made, you know, for my for my two sisters and my mom, for our you know, for our family, you know, that was a little gesture that we wanted to do to

be able to surprise him on his birthday. And you know, the reaction we got out of him was just great. So, yeah, he was I've never seen my dad's speechless, and we actually caught him. He was basically speechless the entire day. We're chatting with Christian Covington. Any athlete that grows up in Canada gets the did you play hockey? Question? But I read that at your size, skates were the problem. Oh okay, you've done your research. Yes, um no, I

love skating. I loved hockey. I'm you know, I'm still a huge Vancouver Canucks fan. So hockeys. I mean it's it's it's true what they say. Hockey's in the blood of every Canadian. And unfortunately, yeah, never really got to truly lace up and actually play competitive hockey. Um, you know, skating was one thing, but it got to that point where, yeah, just my shoes, my shoe side slash skate size was just too big. In high school, I wear size seventeen, and I would I've been a size seven. I've had

a size seventeen shoes since high school. So it's been you know, it's been quite rough to find shoes, let alone skates. So I kind of had to give up all those dreams. And I traded in the skates for the for the cleats. So I think I made the right choice. It obviously worked out well. After an excellent high school career in Canada, you went to Rice University in Houston, which isn't a football powerhouse, but it is an academic powerhouse. What other offers did you have and

why did you choose Rice? Yeah, recruiting of Canada was you know, different, to say the least, So I had to kind of take take advantage of every opportunity that came my way. I know, I was recruited first and first by Eastern Washington University did one double a school up in up in Washington, and Rice was my first Division one offer, and then Arizona State kind of came in late. But for me, it was either, Um, it really just came down to being able to go where

I was wanted. I know when Rice found out, you know, when Rice found out about me and they were able to get my tape. It came out late just because you know, you know how you know, for some reason, we're in Canada. We're somewhat behind the ball when it comes to the recruiting. We have to get better at that because there's a lot of we have a lot of great talent there, a lot of great talent as far as football is concerned. So, um, that really just came down to being able to go to a place

that truly wanted me. And then from the academic standpoint, that was huge from my parents, my mom. My mom was one of my biggest advocates with regards education growing up. You know, I wasn't allowed to play ball in high school unless I made honorable. So that was the agreement that we all made as a family, especially with my sisters. You know, they were track and field. They played collegiately down in the U in the US as well, so that was a rule, no sports unless you made honorable.

So that was kind of a big decision. And again it really didn't work out because I mean, yeah, Rice, we're not a powerhouse. But the years that I was there, you know, we we we won games, won bull games. We want to conference championship. I mean, shoot, I think we have like a round ten guys in the league right now. So they find you, they can find talent. How does your RICE degree compare to any of your other accomplishments. It was just, you know, to calm myself,

to calm myself. A Rice alone, That's that's incredible, It really is. You know, it's a it's an amazing um. It's an amazing institution. You know, they called the Harvard of the South for good reason. You know, I've met a lot of bright, bright men and women down there, and to be able to, you know, have gone to a prestigius school like Rice. It's you know, it's definitely

something that I take pride of. I take pride in, and I want to be able to, you know, definitely instill that same feeling with regards to education with my future families and with regards of my future family, that's gonna be huge. So if I can get my family to go to Rice one day, that'll be a great accomplishment for me as well, hopefully on scholarship because I know it's expensive. Absolutely Christian. After four years at Rice, you are drafted by the Houston Texans that's about five

miles down the road from Rice. Was that a dream scenario? It really was. It really was to be able to literally, as you said, move down the street. I moved down Main Street. That was a great situation for me to be able to have somewhat a familiarity with the city, especially coming in as an NFL rookie. That's a lot of guy. That's something that a lot of NFL rookies

have to go through. Was that transition period to a completely new city, completely new environment, and for me to be able to have that familiarity to you know, have a group of people that I already know with regards to my former teammates, to have a uh established sense of community with people that I knew down there, that was huge with regards to my transition to the pro. So, oh yeah, it was a amazing, amazing opportunity. Grateful to be able to, you know, get my and Chris starter

with Houston. Your rookie year was twenty and fifteen when J. J. Watt was still at the peak of his powers. That was his third year as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Describe your former teammate, Oh, man, what you see is what you get. He is a pros pro.

He's he's able to take everybody. You know, if you if you come in to the organization and you're willing to work and you're willing to put in the time to be able to be a true pro, he's gonna put he's gonna take you under his wing and he's I mean, he's done that with a lot of He's done that with a lot of guys that have you know, been able to blossom and with that front with that franchise. So great guy, humble guy, hard worker, blessing to have

a guy like that, you know, represent the league. Your first NFL sack came that year, your rookie year. The victim was Andy dolfon Monday Night Football. The Bengals were eight and oh at the time at Paul Brown Stadium. The Texans knocked him off that night. What stands out about that night for you? I mean, what a stage to be able to, you know, get my first SECT. I mean Monday Night Football. As you said, it was kind of a dream come true. I wear this symbol

proud now. I wear the symbol proud to be a Bengal right now. But yeah, it was kind of a yeah, it was a great night, you know, something that I definitely will never forget. Obviously a huge, huge moment in my career. We're doing fun facts with Christian Covington. You were in Houston in twenty seventeen when Hurricane Harvey hit,

one of the worst natural disasters in US history. How are you affected, really, just emotionally to be able to have lived in the city of Houston for you know, during my time in college, during my up until that time as a pro. It's truly it truly became Houston, truly became my home away from home. And so for something like Hurricane Harvey to affect the amount of people it did, to affect the city the way it did,

and this around the communities, it truly was heartbreaking. Honestly, I had at the time when when I was with the Texans, we felt really kind of helpless because we were, you know, it was we were in the middle of preseason. We were kind of were we had just played a game in New Orleans and we were kind of stuck, and we were caught in limbo really because we were

just like, Okay, we can't travel back to Houston. We're supposed to have our fourth preseason game against the Cowboys that year, and so we had to kind of make an emergency trip to Dallas and they switched the game and then all of a sudden, we found out the game got canceled because they found a way home. And it was really just I just remember coming back making the drive from Dallas to Houston, and you just see this,

You just see the devastation. You see you know how lives have literally just been turned upside down from an event like this. It's just got wrenching. It's heartbreaking, and we a lot of us felt helpless because we had families. We had our families in Houston. My family was in Houston kind of caught in the middle of it. They were kind of stranded out in the outskirts of Houston. You know, our neighborhoods were flooding. You know, we had

a lot of damage of the to our homes. Um it was kind of just um yeah, as you as I said, is it truly as heartbreaking. So to be able to you know, give back during that time and to help out with what we did as a team and as an organization, that was huge because it's a great city, uh, filled with great people that you know, they deserve all the help that could they could get with regards to you know, the situation that they were given.

And you know we've been I mean, yeah, Houston's been rebuilding and h they've you know, we've come, these cities come along way from that time, and you know we have, but I mean, yeah, there's still work to be done. Honestly, I still try to do whatever I can because I know I still know some people who are you know, years later, they're still feeling the effects of the events. Christian.

Prior to this year, you signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncoes, and just as you're getting ready to spend your first year in Denver, about a week before the season, you got traded to Cincinnati. Was it a shock a little bit? Yes, Um, yeah, first time ever going through something like that. Um, kind of just had to compose myself and kind of just you know, collect my thoughts and collect myself to be able to understand, like, Okay, yeah, uh, in six hours time, I'm on a plane to sinc

Let's let's get the ball rolling. Sou Honestly, though, it's everything happens for a reason. I'm I'm thankful, I'm grateful. I'm thinking, I'm truly thankful to God. So, um, if this is where, if this is where my destination was supposed to take me, so be it. Honestly, I'm happy to be in this situation. I'm in happy to be in Cincinnati. I'm happy to be at Bengal. Honestly, it's

a great city, great fans, great people to have. You know, obviously a couple of guys on this team that I've I've had, you know, prior you know, playing relationships with you know, with regards. You know, you have guys like you know, DJ Reader who I played with many years in Houston, Zavisulphilo who I played with in Houston and in Dallas, uh and then and then Randy Bullock, you know, you know, to me, I was just like, you know,

this is great. You know I already have some established connections right here, and I was just time to go to work. So I'm you know, I'm blessed to be here. A couple more fun facts for Christian Covington. What Canadian delic see do you miss? Oh? Canadian dollar? All right, so you've never had maple syrup unless you've had Canadian maple syrup. But as I wouldn't say delicacy, but I will say the number one the number one thing I do miss about Canada and just about being home is

going into importance. That's like, that is just huge. Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts don't do it for you, No, they don't. They really don't. You have to. And if you know, if you know, you know, it's something about something about

going to a Timmy's. Man, It's just like it, whether it be the ice caps, whether it's just be It's just that you walk into it and just have that friendly It's like it's kind of like, you know, Chick fil A down here, It's like you know, people under people get like it's like a certain feeling that you know you're about to embrace walking into a Chick fil A.

It's the same thing with Tim Hortons in Canada. You know exactly the kind of Canadian hospitality that you're about to receive with some good home with some good you know, Canadian home style meals. That's it is what it is. Final fun fact for Christian Covington a couple of years ago, the Madden NFL video game did you no Favors? And I'm not talking about your rating, I'm talking about your likeness? What was up with that? And hasn't gotten any better? Oh? Man?

You guys dig okay? Oh yeah, that was funny. That was a funny, funny time in my life. My cousin, one of my my cousin texted me a picture of my avatar and he's just like, Christian, they just did you wrong. And I'm just like, what are you? What are you talking about it? And then he sent me to send me the photo. I'm just like, I look like a thumb. Okay, this is um It's humbling, to say the least. Very it was a very humbling time, and so I just you know, I mean, I was

I felt I thought it was just funny. So I just put up on Twitter. It's like, yeah, why why do you have to do me like this? Apparently, and then you know, it blew up. I didn't did not expect it to blow up the way it did, and yeah, they were able to change it, thankfully. And but honestly, I've kind of I'm at that point of my career too where I'm just like, every time Madden comes out, I'm just like, I'm just gonna play. I'm not checking. I don't I'm good. I don't want any more controversies.

I'm just gonna be humbly accept whatever my avatar looks like and just play the game. The good news is you do not look like a thumb. Thank you, thank you. This has been fun. I appreciate your time. You're off the hot seat. Best of luck for the rest of the year. Awesome, Thank you so much. Hi thanks to rookie Christian Covington. And here's a quick reminder to join Lap and Lance McAllister for Bengals Line Monday night from

six to nine on seven hundred WLW. That on Wednesday night, I'll join Lap for the Bengals Game Plan Show from six to eight on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by bud Light, Seltzer refreshed 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 and thank you for listening to the Bengals Boot Podcast