Mo Egger w/ Shemar Stewart -- 4/25/25

Shemar Stewart from Texas A&M was selected by the Bengals with the 17th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

He joined us on ESPN1530.

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

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Or Shamar Stewart, who is with us this afternoon. Shamar, congratulations,
welcome to Cincinnati. Good afternoon. How are you.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
I'm good and good? Thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
What have the last twenty four hours been like for
you and your family?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Man, it just been a roller course of emotion from
me and my family for the last time, crouds.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Uh walk me through the process. You're you're there last night?
Teams are taking players. I don't know how much the
Bengals were on your radar, but when the seventeenth pick
came on, did you think you know what? This could be?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
It?

Speaker 1 (00:39):
I'm coming to Cincinnati. Perhaps I thought about it.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I actually bet it did. Cost my mom I'm like, yeah,
I think this is the one. I'm like, yeah, this
has to be it. I'm looking down, close my eyes.
Next thing, you know, my phone side buzzing, look down.
How are you gonna call?

Speaker 1 (00:55):
All right? When you get that call? Who's the first
person to hear from Zach? Zach Taylor? And what does
he say? Congratulations? Were taking you want to be a Bengal?
How does that conversation I know it's brief, How does
that conversation work.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
He's like, hey, is this your arm light? He's like
this Bengals Like with the Bengals, I'm like, how you doing? Coach?
He's like, hey, man, I got to pickut your name
on it. I have been waiting, are you man?

Speaker 1 (01:25):
So? I mean, I can't imagine the flood of emotions right,
It's it's the culmination of a lifetime's worth of work
and and all the time and energy you've put into this,
and and everybody around you has put into this. What
is it like? What is that moment like when you
find out I am an NFL first round draft pick?

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, you know, I just reflect all what it took
to get here. Yeah. I just looking at as my
family that came with me, excited for me. You know.
It was just a very happy moment for me.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
And then you got to Cincinnati show a while ago.
You just met with the media. What I gotta imagine
it's been a whirlwind. What has it been like ever
since you touched down here in your new city.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
I got a little nothing, and then ever since then,
I've been on your go.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
All right? I heard you in the press conference you
talked about you met Joe Burrow. How many of your
new teammates. Have you had a chance to uh to
either talk to in person or that have reached out
via text or a phone call?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Only only one? Uh, just Joe and my my former
team from A and m LA Kelly Jackson.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Now I was gonna ask about that right Obviously McKinley
Jackson drafted by the Bengals last year, so you get
a chance to play with him. Is is that something
that you know, the two of you had talked about
being a possibility in the run up to last night.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Uh, just a little bit, just a little bit he
thought it was gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, that's that's pretty cool. So slee folks have watched
highlights and you know there are so many people doing
draft evaluations. But if somebody maybe didn't get a chance
to watch a ton of you at Texas A and
M give me a scouting report. What do you bringing
to the table?

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Someone let's saying fast, violent, with a high motor and
that changes multiple actually all the visions across the line
and give it time.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Is there somebody that as you have hone your skills,
you've tried to kind of pattern yourself after.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
I always seen Nick Botha and Julius Jeffers.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Nick both pretty good picks. Those pretty good, pretty good
guys to watch. What do you like about both of them?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Man? I just like how you search everything up off power.
You know, everything he does starts with power and he
just counters off that. And I feel like, if like
I could do the same thing, I'll just need to
do more attracted like you guy.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
So you obviously you went to the combine and and
what you didre what you did, they're off the charts,
some of the most impressive measurables we've seen from any
player at your position ever. And then you meet with teams,
and teams will say, you know, look, we love the trades,
we love the athleticism. Uh you're you're constantly getting past

(04:20):
your blocker. We want to know why maybe it didn't
quite up quite pile up as many sacks as possible.
What would you tell teams when they asked you that, you.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Know, we there's my you asked it was my first
official year starting, uh am i papa that we had
a very back bee line, Like I feel like we
had the best line in the in the country, and
you know, people who are coming in not trying to
pass the ball against. But of course I could definitely

(04:51):
work on my skills all the way to the quarterback
to make sure I get those things when I do
get there. And I feel like it's one thing that
I had to say, but it's another thing to say
I can't to get there all together because I let
my team in pressures for two years straight.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
So is it just a matter of Look if I
if I pressure the quarterback as often as I did,
if I'm in the backfield as often as I was
in college, the sacks are gonna come.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Uh what else? Look, you get to the next level,
you got to develop what areas of your game? Just
over the course of the next five months. Are you
hoping to improve.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
On my Pasha. I'm definitely gonna work with out Pashia
because you know, missing those sacks are could not I
definitely a big no nose, especially in this league. You
miss a stack of big tase coming off of it.
So definitely that.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
What do you know beyond maybe the surface level stuff?
I heard you during the press conference talk about, you
know the Bengals do contend for Super Bowls, and you
obviously know McKinley Jackson. What else do you know? About
your new team.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
Uh. I'm not even gonna lie to you, not much,
you know you?

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Uh? All right, Well, so do you know anything about
Do you know anything about Cincinnati?

Speaker 2 (06:17):
No, I've never been here. I actually been to Ohio
one time and I was going at Ohio Faith.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
All right, Well, I have to bring that up because
Buckeye fans are listening. Why why didn't you want to play?
Why didn't you want to play in Columbus? Uh?

Speaker 2 (06:31):
They took somebody over me.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Really, Yeah, so there was no room for you at
Ohio State. Well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Well, listen,
I know you have to do a bunch of these.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
Congratulations, It's an awesome moment regardless of where you go
to have your name called in the first round of
the draft. You bring a lot to the table. We
wish you nothing but the best this coming season, and uh,
enjoy the coming days and weeks because I'm sure it's
gonna be a handful. Hopefully you get a chance to
enjoy it as it get used to being a pro
football player. Thanks so much, Shamar, Thank you, you got it.

(07:08):
Shamar Stewart, Texas A and M in Cincinnati. Kind enough
to join us this afternoon, and we thank the Bengals
for helping make that happen. We know they are getting
a lot of requests