January 8, 2025 • 14 mins
Ken Rodgers is Vice President and Executive Producer for NFL Films. He joined us to discuss about "Hard Knocks: In Season With the AFC North," how the project captured the end of the Bengals' season, whether they'll be featured in some of the upcoming episodes, Ja'Marr Chase being featured, and more.
Episodes of "Hard Knocks" air weekly every Tuesday on HBO at 9:00PM, and are available to stream on MAX the following day,
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Episodes of "Hard Knocks" air weekly every Tuesday on HBO at 9:00PM, and are available to stream on MAX the following day,
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And you're listening to the Home of the Bengals ESPN
fifteen thirty. There you go.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You know, if you were watching Hard Knocks last night,
you heard Dave Lapham give us a bam bam bam
because they featured the Bengals Steelers game.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm Maleger.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, five minutes after four o'clock.
So the Bengals don't make the postseason and we're still
dealing with the post wart have been talking about what's next.
But the run that they went on at the end,
it was fun and what added to it was getting
to watch it play out every Tuesday night or depending
(00:38):
on when you streamed it on Max on Hard Knocks
in season with the AFC North. If you have listened
to this show for any amount of time, you know
what a huge Hard Knocks fan I am, regardless of
whether or not the Bengals are featured, which obviously they
have in the past. And so the project this year
we have been excited about since it was announced, which
they went in season late in the year, down the
(00:58):
stretch and in the playoffs with all four AFC North teams,
and what was always interesting about this for me was
you are going to get teams that win and advance
in the postseason, and you're going to get teams that
lose and maybe by the time the project starts to
air has no chance of making the postseason, and you
have a team like the Bengals, which if you watch
the episode last night, it ended with Zach Taylor watching
(01:20):
those games on Sunday that the Bengals needed to go
their way. We are huge fans of NFL Films. We
are huge fans of Hard Knocks, and so it's really
cool to get a few minutes to chat with Ken Rodgers,
who is the vice president and executive producer at NFL Films,
Because I have questions about Hard Knocks, Ken is here
to answer them.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I appreciate you joining us, Ken, how are you.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I'm doing great and I love what you just said, Like,
there's teams that will win on the show, there's teams
that will lose on the show.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
But I don't know that any team.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
In the regular season has given us the drama that
the Bengals gave us the last couple of weeks. It's
been it's been really fun to watch as filmmakers and
as fans of the team.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, you know, we have emotion tied
to it. We knew how it ended, but I was
when the when the game ended on Saturday, I was
curious as to how you were going to cover what
was next whatever that was, which is, you know, the
Chiefs win and the Jets win, and the Bengals advance
or one of those results doesn't go their way. I
thought the way that was shown last night, it was
(02:25):
it was tough to watch as a Bengals fan, but
I think it was deeply satisfying for folks who watched
and maybe didn't have as much of an emotional stake
as we did.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, and you know, there was a there's an alternate
universe where you know, the the Broncos Chiefs game really
comes down to the wire and it's really dramatic. This
was more of just the general slow letdown, and I
think fans probably felt that as well as the players.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And to see see coach in his office studying film,
you know, planning for the playoffs while simultaneously the playoffs
are being taken away, really speaks to how how fickle
the league is and how close.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
You can be.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
And I think everybody feels around the NFL that boy,
we're glad we're not facing the Bengals because you know,
you don't want to face the hot hand going in
the playoffs. I certainly, as as a filmmaker, wish they
were in. I wish we had three teams in the
AFC North in we all did. It would have would
(03:33):
have been even that much more dramatic. But for what
for what they did it was. I think it was
a great thing to show the country the resolve that
exists on that roster and the and in the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah. And if you didn't see it last night, it's
available on Max and and the show ends with players
on the team and the head coach doing what we
were all doing on Sunday, which is unfortunately watching Denver
role over the Kansas City Chiefs. Hard Knocks has become
in recent years more and more ambitious. Right, you've done
it in the season. You've done an off season one,
which with the New York Giants I thought was really cool.
(04:12):
This was a different type of project, four teams at
once in season. Now it's not over, obviously, you still
have episodes to come. But what has been something unique
about this project that maybe you didn't expect going in.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I think the highlight is something that we thought might
happen but actually played out much bigger than we expected,
which is the teams playing themselves playing each other.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
That to me is a side benefit.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
We originally picked a division to cover because we've had
some teams on in season that were out of it
early and what dramas really left. Of course, there's personal drama.
Everyone's trying to make, you know, continue to be on
the squad and make a living and provide for their family.
But when a team is out of it, it doesn't
(05:03):
really provide as much drama on the big picture. So
having a division, we know at least one person is
going to the playoff, one team's going. What we didn't
really expect to be as dramatic as possible as it was,
was the team's playing each other. I mean, just this
final week, if you're a Browns fan, you're looking to
(05:25):
upset the Ravens and take away the division. But the
other three are all playing for seeding or to get in,
and they're playing against each other. So I mean that
Steelers Bengals game like, to me, that is a benefit
that we could have never predicted, that both teams needed
the game so badly, and that's just going to be
(05:49):
even more dramatic this week, unfortunately for Cincinnati fans, when
the Ravens face the Steelers in the playoffs. It's okay, Well,
now one of those teams is going home that we've
been following for six weeks, and that's really going to
be you know, the states get higher and higher, and
someone's going to come out of that and we'll be
following them in the Division round and who knows, we
(06:11):
might be following an AFC North team all the way
to the super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
This is a question from me that is based on
me being a nerd. But you had teams that played
on Monday night. The Bengals played on a Monday night
in Dallas, and less than twenty four hours later, I'm
watching Hard Knocks and part of the story that night
revolves around that game the night before. Walk me through
the quick turnaround to get that ready from Monday night,
(06:35):
late Monday night to watching on HBO on Tuesday evening.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Well, it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Involve sleep, I'll tell you that much. The process is
one that is amazing really to me still this many
years later, that we can turn around this footage that quickly.
It's a testament to our editors and how how fast
we turn around, and also the technology of sending the
(07:00):
footage as the games are being shot from the stadiums
to our headquarters in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, and editing
in real time as it's happening.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
It's very difficult.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Turnaround, and it's you know, it's happening as the game
has happened. As the game is being played, footage is
being sent back and we're watching it here and deciding
what to do. So the decisions have to be made quickly.
You have to trust yourself and luckily this show has
been on so long that we sort of have become
fans ourselves. I think the producers who work on that
(07:33):
sort of quick turnaround don't have a chance to gauge
from other people should we put this clip in or
that clip in. They have to respond as if they
were fans because they are, and say, I'm more interested
in this, so that's.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
What I'm putting on.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
And I think the fact that we're all fans makes
that a little bit easier. We always say to each other,
put in this show what you think other people would
like based on what you like, and it turns out
good materials good material and you make the decision and
one day maybe all that cutting room floor material be seen.
(08:10):
But it's pretty hard to pick it in a quick turnaround,
and we do a great job.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I think Ken Rodgers is with US vice president and
executive producer in NFL Films. Hard Knocks in season with
the AFC North, streaming now on Max. Next episode next Tuesday.
By the way, the Bengals season is over. Are is
it now just Baltimore Pittsburgh or do you do any
of the fallout from the season with Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
We're still around, We're not totally embedded the way we were.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
During the season.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Obviously, practice isn't happening, a lot of meetings aren't happening,
all that, but we are sticking around and sort of
just keeping our eye on things. If big news stories happen,
we certainly want to be there in case it makes.
The show has to be I think pretty big in
that the two teams are in the playoffs, so that
is going to be certainly a focus on that, especially
(09:07):
playing each other. But I think certainly if we were
to continue for four more weeks that the other teams
would show back up, and it might be as soon
as this coming week, depending on what happens here in
the next couple of days.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You know what we see it looks like.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
And look, I'm sure some people are more cooperative than others,
and some people go through the exercise and it's something
they have to do, but maybe aren't that thrilled about it.
I'm kind of curious, like watching watching the Browns. When
the first episode aired, they weren't mathematically eliminated, but we
knew how their season was gonna transpire. We knew they
weren't going to make the playoffs. Is it weird tiptoeing around?
(09:46):
You know, It's one thing when you're doing during training camp,
right like the season is fresh and new and everybody
has hope. It's something else when you know you're with
a team that's trending towards the postseason, like Baltimore and
despite their recent struggles Pittsburgh. It's something else when you
did this when you had Arizona in season a couple
of years ago, right like, it's not going well, jobs
are on the line, there's a lot of uncertainty. How
(10:08):
weird is it being around a team like that and
showing them on TV every week.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, it's certainly not. I wouldn't say it's enjoyable television,
you know. I think the way we build the show,
you are I think caring for everyone. If you're a
fan of a team that isn't in the AFC, North,
certainly make the show so.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
That you, you.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Know, are cheering for the men and women involved in
the games. Now when it's not going well, there's still
personal stakes. So I hope that you still care about
the people. And we certainly did as filmmakers. As I said, fans,
we still wanted the Browns to do well. We still
wanted the individuals to do well, and you don't really
(10:53):
stop cheering for them. But you also don't want to
to spend too much time on it when what you
really want to feel is success. I'm I'm not I'm
not sure about this, but I would guess that Cleveland
fans were okay with the amount that they were in
the show because spending more time watching losses isn't something
(11:16):
they want to do. They want to they want to
see the inside story, of course, they want to know
what's going on. They want to see great scenes with
Miles Garrett and his birthday party. Like there's there's good stuff,
but I don't think we need to spend as much
time on things going wrong. So that's another benefit of
covering a whole division. You know, we expected that maybe
a team would be like that, but you know, it's
(11:38):
one of the best divisions for sure in football. Certainly
was last year, and we I think we guessed right
that we had some major drama coming down the line.
I think we just came up, you know, one game
short here to have three teams in the playoffs. But
the Bengals have such a great history with Hard Knocks
that they just continue to be really the standard when
(12:02):
it comes to showing off their franchise on this series.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
They've just been great.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
From the two thousand and nine series with Chad and
twenty thirteen, the whole draft class that was incredible and
Giovanni Bernard Barr and his girlfriend's mother's car. I mean,
there's just so many great memories when it comes to
Cincinnati and Hard Knocks for us that I hope this
isn't the last time that we feature the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Walk me through, because you know you talked about you
made me liked Miles Garrett, which I'm not.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Supposed to be as a Bengals fan.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And he spends thanks toy with Cameron Hayward, but you
also spend a lot of time with Jamar Chase. And
you know, obviously we know here he's a terrific player.
I'm glad. I'm glad the rest of the country got
a chance to see something beyond what he does on Sundays.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Oh totally.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
There's so many people out there to see him as
a fantasy football pick and know the name and you
know Nova stats, but don't know who he is as
a person. And uh, well, I think we found him
to be one of the most genuine, you know, really
passionate people that we've covered on the show. Not just
(13:15):
in the community, which was obvious in a couple of
scenes that we got, uh, but passionate about the team,
passionate about his performance. I mean, the guy is amazing
physically statistically, but his character matches that and that's that's
that's rare. I think he is a true superstar that
(13:40):
is still completely, in my mind, underrated nationally.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
I hope this helped.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
I hope this helped, uh spread the word about Jamarrow
even more than going into this season, and I think
it'll continue to go up because I don't I don't
foresee him uh and Joe, you know, dropping down anytime
soon in the performance category.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I have been an NFL Films fan since I was
a little kid, and you guys make it. I watch it,
and the fact that you had the Bengals as a
part of Hard Knocks this year made me even more excited.
I love this series. I love the work you guys do.
I could geek out over NFL Films anytime. I appreciate
you giving us some time today, Ken, much much thanks.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
We appreciate you watching, and we'll be waiting for the
next time the Bengals are on. We appreciate them.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Hope, so let's make it happen. I can't thank you.
That's Ken Rogers, I said, much thanks. Ken Rodgers, NFL
Films Executive producer. I love NFL Films. It stinks not
having the Bengals in the postseason having them on part
of Hard Knocks. Even watching last night, knowing how the
season was going to end the way it did, it was.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Still pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
It was more enjoyable to watch Hard Knocks than the
Bearcats last night. I think that's inarguable, even if you're
like man, hard Knocks Bengals didn't make the postseason. Better
to watch that, Better to watch that than Xavier as well. Oh,
better to watch that. The Kentucky hard Knocks was better
than area college basketball last night. It's twenty minutes after
(15:16):
four o'clock, guys, kind of moving into a pretty tough spot.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Next DESPN fifteen thirty
And you're listening to the Home of the Bengals ESPN
fifteen thirty. There you go.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You know, if you were watching Hard Knocks last night,
you heard Dave Lapham give us a bam bam bam
because they featured the Bengals Steelers game.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm Maleger.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, five minutes after four o'clock.
So the Bengals don't make the postseason and we're still
dealing with the post wart have been talking about what's next.
But the run that they went on at the end,
it was fun and what added to it was getting
to watch it play out every Tuesday night or depending
(00:38):
on when you streamed it on Max on Hard Knocks
in season with the AFC North. If you have listened
to this show for any amount of time, you know
what a huge Hard Knocks fan I am, regardless of
whether or not the Bengals are featured, which obviously they
have in the past. And so the project this year
we have been excited about since it was announced, which
they went in season late in the year, down the
(00:58):
stretch and in the playoffs with all four AFC North teams,
and what was always interesting about this for me was
you are going to get teams that win and advance
in the postseason, and you're going to get teams that
lose and maybe by the time the project starts to
air has no chance of making the postseason, and you
have a team like the Bengals, which if you watch
the episode last night, it ended with Zach Taylor watching
(01:20):
those games on Sunday that the Bengals needed to go
their way. We are huge fans of NFL Films. We
are huge fans of Hard Knocks, and so it's really
cool to get a few minutes to chat with Ken Rodgers,
who is the vice president and executive producer at NFL Films,
Because I have questions about Hard Knocks, Ken is here
to answer them.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I appreciate you joining us, Ken, how are you.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I'm doing great and I love what you just said, Like,
there's teams that will win on the show, there's teams
that will lose on the show.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
But I don't know that any team.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
In the regular season has given us the drama that
the Bengals gave us the last couple of weeks. It's
been it's been really fun to watch as filmmakers and
as fans of the team.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, you know, we have emotion tied
to it. We knew how it ended, but I was
when the when the game ended on Saturday, I was
curious as to how you were going to cover what
was next whatever that was, which is, you know, the
Chiefs win and the Jets win, and the Bengals advance
or one of those results doesn't go their way. I
thought the way that was shown last night, it was
(02:25):
it was tough to watch as a Bengals fan, but
I think it was deeply satisfying for folks who watched
and maybe didn't have as much of an emotional stake
as we did.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, and you know, there was a there's an alternate
universe where you know, the the Broncos Chiefs game really
comes down to the wire and it's really dramatic. This
was more of just the general slow letdown, and I
think fans probably felt that as well as the players.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And to see see coach in his office studying film,
you know, planning for the playoffs while simultaneously the playoffs
are being taken away, really speaks to how how fickle
the league is and how close.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
You can be.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
And I think everybody feels around the NFL that boy,
we're glad we're not facing the Bengals because you know,
you don't want to face the hot hand going in
the playoffs. I certainly, as as a filmmaker, wish they
were in. I wish we had three teams in the
AFC North in we all did. It would have would
(03:33):
have been even that much more dramatic. But for what
for what they did it was. I think it was
a great thing to show the country the resolve that
exists on that roster and the and in the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah. And if you didn't see it last night, it's
available on Max and and the show ends with players
on the team and the head coach doing what we
were all doing on Sunday, which is unfortunately watching Denver
role over the Kansas City Chiefs. Hard Knocks has become
in recent years more and more ambitious. Right, you've done
it in the season. You've done an off season one,
which with the New York Giants I thought was really cool.
(04:12):
This was a different type of project, four teams at
once in season. Now it's not over, obviously, you still
have episodes to come. But what has been something unique
about this project that maybe you didn't expect going in.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I think the highlight is something that we thought might
happen but actually played out much bigger than we expected,
which is the teams playing themselves playing each other.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
That to me is a side benefit.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
We originally picked a division to cover because we've had
some teams on in season that were out of it
early and what dramas really left. Of course, there's personal drama.
Everyone's trying to make, you know, continue to be on
the squad and make a living and provide for their family.
But when a team is out of it, it doesn't
(05:03):
really provide as much drama on the big picture. So
having a division, we know at least one person is
going to the playoff, one team's going. What we didn't
really expect to be as dramatic as possible as it was,
was the team's playing each other. I mean, just this
final week, if you're a Browns fan, you're looking to
(05:25):
upset the Ravens and take away the division. But the
other three are all playing for seeding or to get in,
and they're playing against each other. So I mean that
Steelers Bengals game like, to me, that is a benefit
that we could have never predicted, that both teams needed
the game so badly, and that's just going to be
(05:49):
even more dramatic this week, unfortunately for Cincinnati fans, when
the Ravens face the Steelers in the playoffs. It's okay, Well,
now one of those teams is going home that we've
been following for six weeks, and that's really going to
be you know, the states get higher and higher, and
someone's going to come out of that and we'll be
following them in the Division round and who knows, we
(06:11):
might be following an AFC North team all the way
to the super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
This is a question from me that is based on
me being a nerd. But you had teams that played
on Monday night. The Bengals played on a Monday night
in Dallas, and less than twenty four hours later, I'm
watching Hard Knocks and part of the story that night
revolves around that game the night before. Walk me through
the quick turnaround to get that ready from Monday night,
(06:35):
late Monday night to watching on HBO on Tuesday evening.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Well, it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Involve sleep, I'll tell you that much. The process is
one that is amazing really to me still this many
years later, that we can turn around this footage that quickly.
It's a testament to our editors and how how fast
we turn around, and also the technology of sending the
(07:00):
footage as the games are being shot from the stadiums
to our headquarters in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, and editing
in real time as it's happening.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
It's very difficult.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Turnaround, and it's you know, it's happening as the game
has happened. As the game is being played, footage is
being sent back and we're watching it here and deciding
what to do. So the decisions have to be made quickly.
You have to trust yourself and luckily this show has
been on so long that we sort of have become
fans ourselves. I think the producers who work on that
(07:33):
sort of quick turnaround don't have a chance to gauge
from other people should we put this clip in or
that clip in. They have to respond as if they
were fans because they are, and say, I'm more interested
in this, so that's.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
What I'm putting on.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
And I think the fact that we're all fans makes
that a little bit easier. We always say to each other,
put in this show what you think other people would
like based on what you like, and it turns out
good materials good material and you make the decision and
one day maybe all that cutting room floor material be seen.
(08:10):
But it's pretty hard to pick it in a quick turnaround,
and we do a great job.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I think Ken Rodgers is with US vice president and
executive producer in NFL Films. Hard Knocks in season with
the AFC North, streaming now on Max. Next episode next Tuesday.
By the way, the Bengals season is over. Are is
it now just Baltimore Pittsburgh or do you do any
of the fallout from the season with Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
We're still around, We're not totally embedded the way we were.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
During the season.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Obviously, practice isn't happening, a lot of meetings aren't happening,
all that, but we are sticking around and sort of
just keeping our eye on things. If big news stories happen,
we certainly want to be there in case it makes.
The show has to be I think pretty big in
that the two teams are in the playoffs, so that
is going to be certainly a focus on that, especially
(09:07):
playing each other. But I think certainly if we were
to continue for four more weeks that the other teams
would show back up, and it might be as soon
as this coming week, depending on what happens here in
the next couple of days.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You know what we see it looks like.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
And look, I'm sure some people are more cooperative than others,
and some people go through the exercise and it's something
they have to do, but maybe aren't that thrilled about it.
I'm kind of curious, like watching watching the Browns. When
the first episode aired, they weren't mathematically eliminated, but we
knew how their season was gonna transpire. We knew they
weren't going to make the playoffs. Is it weird tiptoeing around?
(09:46):
You know, It's one thing when you're doing during training camp,
right like the season is fresh and new and everybody
has hope. It's something else when you know you're with
a team that's trending towards the postseason, like Baltimore and
despite their recent struggles Pittsburgh. It's something else when you
did this when you had Arizona in season a couple
of years ago, right like, it's not going well, jobs
are on the line, there's a lot of uncertainty. How
(10:08):
weird is it being around a team like that and
showing them on TV every week.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, it's certainly not. I wouldn't say it's enjoyable television,
you know. I think the way we build the show,
you are I think caring for everyone. If you're a
fan of a team that isn't in the AFC, North,
certainly make the show so.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
That you, you.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Know, are cheering for the men and women involved in
the games. Now when it's not going well, there's still
personal stakes. So I hope that you still care about
the people. And we certainly did as filmmakers. As I said, fans,
we still wanted the Browns to do well. We still
wanted the individuals to do well, and you don't really
(10:53):
stop cheering for them. But you also don't want to
to spend too much time on it when what you
really want to feel is success. I'm I'm not I'm
not sure about this, but I would guess that Cleveland
fans were okay with the amount that they were in
the show because spending more time watching losses isn't something
(11:16):
they want to do. They want to they want to
see the inside story, of course, they want to know
what's going on. They want to see great scenes with
Miles Garrett and his birthday party. Like there's there's good stuff,
but I don't think we need to spend as much
time on things going wrong. So that's another benefit of
covering a whole division. You know, we expected that maybe
a team would be like that, but you know, it's
(11:38):
one of the best divisions for sure in football. Certainly
was last year, and we I think we guessed right
that we had some major drama coming down the line.
I think we just came up, you know, one game
short here to have three teams in the playoffs. But
the Bengals have such a great history with Hard Knocks
that they just continue to be really the standard when
(12:02):
it comes to showing off their franchise on this series.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
They've just been great.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
From the two thousand and nine series with Chad and
twenty thirteen, the whole draft class that was incredible and
Giovanni Bernard Barr and his girlfriend's mother's car. I mean,
there's just so many great memories when it comes to
Cincinnati and Hard Knocks for us that I hope this
isn't the last time that we feature the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Walk me through, because you know you talked about you
made me liked Miles Garrett, which I'm not.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Supposed to be as a Bengals fan.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And he spends thanks toy with Cameron Hayward, but you
also spend a lot of time with Jamar Chase. And
you know, obviously we know here he's a terrific player.
I'm glad. I'm glad the rest of the country got
a chance to see something beyond what he does on Sundays.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Oh totally.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
There's so many people out there to see him as
a fantasy football pick and know the name and you
know Nova stats, but don't know who he is as
a person. And uh, well, I think we found him
to be one of the most genuine, you know, really
passionate people that we've covered on the show. Not just
(13:15):
in the community, which was obvious in a couple of
scenes that we got, uh, but passionate about the team,
passionate about his performance. I mean, the guy is amazing
physically statistically, but his character matches that and that's that's
that's rare. I think he is a true superstar that
(13:40):
is still completely, in my mind, underrated nationally.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
I hope this helped.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
I hope this helped, uh spread the word about Jamarrow
even more than going into this season, and I think
it'll continue to go up because I don't I don't
foresee him uh and Joe, you know, dropping down anytime
soon in the performance category.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I have been an NFL Films fan since I was
a little kid, and you guys make it. I watch it,
and the fact that you had the Bengals as a
part of Hard Knocks this year made me even more excited.
I love this series. I love the work you guys do.
I could geek out over NFL Films anytime. I appreciate
you giving us some time today, Ken, much much thanks.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
We appreciate you watching, and we'll be waiting for the
next time the Bengals are on. We appreciate them.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Hope, so let's make it happen. I can't thank you.
That's Ken Rogers, I said, much thanks. Ken Rodgers, NFL
Films Executive producer. I love NFL Films. It stinks not
having the Bengals in the postseason having them on part
of Hard Knocks. Even watching last night, knowing how the
season was going to end the way it did, it was.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Still pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
It was more enjoyable to watch Hard Knocks than the
Bearcats last night. I think that's inarguable, even if you're
like man, hard Knocks Bengals didn't make the postseason. Better
to watch that, Better to watch that than Xavier as well. Oh,
better to watch that. The Kentucky hard Knocks was better
than area college basketball last night. It's twenty minutes after
(15:16):
four o'clock, guys, kind of moving into a pretty tough spot.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Next DESPN fifteen thirty
Mo Egger News
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