Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Meanwhile, we are inching closer and closer to the Super Bowl.
We are inching closer and closer to the new NFL
league year, which means we are inching closer and closer
to getting some of the answers about the Bengals that
have dominated the offseason and much of the regular season
so far. Here to spend a few minutes with us
to talk about some of those questions is a guy
(00:21):
who once provided a masterclass on sideline reporting from a
Super Bowl in New Orleans. He is with us on
behalf of Macy Arthrow, our friend, Solomon Wilcotts. It's good
to have you, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
How are you, Oh mohem, I'm doing great and always
good to be on with you. And thank you for
that wonderful, lovely introduction.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Well, it's true, I was thinking about that today. The
last Super Bowl in New Orleans. The lights go out,
they go to you on the sideline, and you were
the first to tell us what was going on. It
was an awesome piece of broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, I appreciate it. You know, this news gathering in
times of when it's not even on expect it right.
You got to be able to keep your wits about you.
You got to be able to get people to talk
to you. Then when that camera is staring you in
the face, you got to be able to look at
it like it's a person and not an inadamate object,
and be able to deliver. You know, I had days
(01:15):
when I was I couldn't quite do that, So it
was good that I was ready when the time came.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Well, you and I have talked about it before, and
I thought about that today because you're back in New Orleans.
The super Bowl is back in New Orleans, and so
so that memory came up. I'm going to ask you
to switch jobs. I'm going to give you Duke Tobin's
job for a few minutes. Where do you start. This
is an off season in this franchise's history, unlike any other.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I think look because, and you're right, because there's
multiple places where there's a strong need. I think we
need a good edge rusher. I think you need good
interior defensive line. Even though we went heavy there last year,
I think you still need more. I think you need
a wide body zero technique. Not that you have to
do that all. You don't have to do it all
(02:01):
in the first round. But this is just the laundry
list right of what you really need you need, or
a linebacker that can play multiples in terms of heavy
against the run but still stay on the field on
passing downs of someone who's more athletic. Let's just keep
it real. I think we need another cover corner, and
(02:23):
I think we need another safety who's got range and
ball skills. Those are hard to find. You can't let
people throw the ball over your head. And we saw
that happen this year yet again for the second year
in a row. And you notice all of those things
were on defense. I haven't even talked about maybe another
interior guard like on the offensive line with wouldn't hurt either.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Let me stay on defense really quick, and then we'll
talk about some of the decisions they have regarding their
own players. How well if it all? Do you know
Al Golden?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I don't know him, but have watched from Afar just
so I happened. I you know, have a friend of mine,
his son played with a freshman at Notre Dame, so
I saw him a lot of those games this year.
Got to watch him. I love the way he deployed.
So it's some of lu Ana Romo there. You know,
multiple defensive backs. Uh they really make the defense go. Obviously,
(03:19):
you gotta have presence up front, on the on the line,
but they they're gonna play with five and six defensive
backs right and have to be very active. You're gonna
play with maybe two linebackers, but they have to be
very good in coverage and they gotta be thumpers in
the run game. Uh So I saw a lot of
that look look were to me when I named all
those missing pieces. If you the best player in the
(03:42):
first round at one of those positions, it's going to
be there. And one such guy I don't I'm not
saying you gotta go get a safety. I'm not saying that.
But if Xavier watch the All Americans from Notre Dame
is there, it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be hard.
Row goo to not to say he's a phenomenal player,
and I think he can be a difference maker, the
(04:04):
kind of playmaker in the secondary that the Bengals are
looking for.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
All Right, I'm asking you to stay in Duke Tobin's capacity.
You've You've got this t Higgins thing which is coming
to a head. This is something we have been talking
about now for two years. You've got your franchise face
stating publicly he's in need. I want him back. You're
dealing with the spreadsheet, the financial realities of the NFL,
and a roster that you have to repair. What are
(04:29):
you doing coming?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
First of all, I'm talking to the agents obviously, and
then I'm you know what the numbers are. The numbers
are going to be, you know, some thirty million for
Jamar because you waited. On first of all, I'm using
I'm using the franchise tag again on tea and now
(04:53):
not because I want him to play under the tag
that's going to keep him from hitting free agent market.
I'm like, I'm sorry, you good, I'm keeping you know.
I want you on my team. I want you on
my team, and I'm gonna do what I should have
did a year ago assign to the long term deal.
It's gonna be probably because I'm gonna say, look, let's
give him a little more guaranteed money. But you know
(05:15):
it's around twenty eight meal per year. You know, I
think that might get you there. You know, Jamar is
gonna be over thirty meal per year. He's gonna be
north of Justin Jefferson. Just know that the guys. You know,
in a proved year, he hit a Grand Slam, right,
(05:35):
come on, man, if you said, well, you gotta prove it.
He didn't get a hit, get a home run, he
got a Grand Slam, walk off game over Grand Slam.
And now the Bengals have themselves to blame for that.
But look they have the same agent, Chase and Higgins.
He's got the quarterback who want to keep him there.
(05:57):
This is where the Bengals I think I have to
really be creative enough to draw some models, multiple ways
of what those contract looks like and things that Joe
that you can Joe may not need all this money now, right,
neither of the receivers. They may not need all of
their money now. It's not upfront. And if the guaranteed
(06:18):
can to be paid out, you know over some years.
I know players who are still getting paid long after
they're done playing. It works like an annuity that you
can push money out. Okay, there are creative ways. You
cannot be an organization that paint by numbers. Oh, there's
only one way we know how to do it. Is
not we're gonna do it, do it this way, or
(06:38):
don't get done. You cannot be inflexible in that way.
That's why to me, it's gonna be between the agent,
it's gonna be between the players and Joe Burrow and
the front office all get together and just kind of
be creative. You cannot cannot be paint by numbers, bo
you just can't do that. You're going to have to
(07:00):
do some things maybe they haven't been done before, if
you want to have a prolific passing attack like no
one has ever had before.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And then there's the dynamic with Trey Hendrickson, who's a
defensive Player of the Year finalist. If you're al Golden,
you can't wait to get your hands on him and
build a defense around him. At the same time, one
year left on his contract, he's already asked for a
trade before. I'm sure he's going to be seeking an
extension this offseason. He just had a great year. At
the same time, he's going to be thirty one at
(07:28):
the end of this season. What do you do with Trey?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's I think that's the biggest problem. There's the age factor.
And then he did sign a new stitch and you
know how it is, and they give you new money
and then you come back and ask the new money
and think I said, we just gave you new money.
But look, I think the guy outplayed his deal. I
think it'll be okay to sign him, to extend it,
(07:52):
to put another one year on it. I don't think
you're going to extend it with two more years, right,
like the thirty three and thirty four. That's just not
going to happen. I think the agent knows that. I
think Trey knows that. To me, he's such a great
player and he's such a the work ethic is what
you're rewarding here, and the model for your franchise. It's
(08:14):
kind of like, you know, we had Wit. Was was
Wit at the top of this game?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
No?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Was Wit still good? He? Yes, he was still good.
Was he a wonderful locker room presence? Yes? Did he
provide a great model for the rest of your team? Yes?
He said, So what are we talking about here? It's like,
you know, you pay people for multiples. He's a productive player,
and he's a good leader, and he's a hard worker,
(08:39):
and he represents a great model. So all those things. Now,
I know it's easy for me to say, yeah, pay
the guy, but it's not my money. But I'm just saying,
if you're going to build a winning franchise, this is
what you do.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Solomon Wilcott's with us from New Orleans Super Bowl on Sunday.
He is with us on behalf of Macy Arthrow. There
are a lot of folks in our audience who have
had the cartilage injuries and have dealt with the pain
that it causes, the dysfunction that it causes, the various
medical procedures that it might trigger. What can the folks
that Macy do for those people?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Well, how about this. They can take their existing healthy
tissue and then they can take it into a lab
and they can grow the healthy tissue, and then they
can go back in orthoscopically and reinsert it. It adheres
to the healthy tissue and to the bone, and so
it's using their own it's and metolicous science. Wi's using
their own sales to do it. And it keeps you
(09:36):
from deteriorating to the point where your bone on bone
and then even later having to have a joint replacement surgery.
So it's a new innovative treatment. Macy's been around for
about eight years, but orthoscopically it was approved by the
FDA just last August. And so, as you well know,
an orthoscopic procedure is less invasive, so you don't have
(09:58):
to have this long cut on the knee. They're gonna
go in orthoscopically. You can go to the website to
find out more Macy dot com, maci dot com to
find a doctor in your area and learn more about the.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Procedure Macy dot com. That's m A c I dot com.
Sally enjoyed the week. I appreciate it, man, thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
You're the best. I'm all all the best. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Good to have you. Solomon Wilcotts, fourteen minutes after five o'clock.
Good stuff. It was worth the wait. It was worth
the way getting Sally on from New Orleans. Seriously, go back.
I've joked about this and Sally was nice enough to
join me when the Bengals were in Los Angeles for
the Super Bowl and I was lucky enough to broadcast
from there. Sally joined me for like twenty five minutes,
(10:44):
and I said, like, all right, I want to talk
about you being on the sideline for that Super Bowl
in New Orleans. And I'm sure this game, I'm sure
it's on YouTube, so it's san Francisco and Baltimore. They're
in New Orleans. The lights go out, it's right after halftime,
and you know, you're thinking, God, this could be anything,
this could be terrorist attack, this could be a massive
(11:07):
city wide power outage, like what's going on here? And
as it turned out, the lights were turned back gone
within ten minutes. But you know, for a few minutes,
there's a lot of uncertainty. I'm sure the teams are wondering,
like when are we going to restart the game? And
we're gonna have to wait a while? Is it gonna
be a warm up? And honestly, like nobody in the
broadcast booth had any answers, nobody at the CBS halftime
(11:27):
set had any answers. They had to go on the
field and talk to somebody who could get answers in
real time, and Sally was that guy. And you know,
for you know, Sally has often thought of as an analyst,
and as you just heard, a terrific one. But I
remember that day going like, that's that's why you have
a sideline reporter. You'll have a sideline reporter to ask
the you know, the softball questions of the coach coming
(11:48):
off the field. Like, that's largely pointless. You have a
sideline reporter in case there's stuff that happens. Again, think
of like Lis Assaulters for the Tomorrow Hamlet situation here,
Like for the ESPN broadcast, they had someone on the
sideline to give provide some clarity and answer some questions,
and Sally did that, and I remember saying the next
(12:09):
day on this show like that was awesome. Thank God
for Solomon Wilcott's And I think Steve Tasker was on
the San Francisco sideline and was equally as good. But
we don't care about Steve Tasker as much as leader
about Solomon Willcott. So I always think of that when
I think of New Orleans and Super Bowls and stuff
going wrong. How good he was that day. And he
is always kind enough to join our show even when
(12:32):
we get the time mixed up.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Hopefully they feed him.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
He said he hasn't eaten dinner yet. You talked to
him off air, yes. How many interviews has he done today?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
A lot? A lot.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I saw he's on the Jim Rome Show. I saw
he was on something on CBS. So he's like just
cranking out, making the rounds. He's at radio Row, he's
doing a thousand interviews. The good news is, Tarren, he's
in New Orleans, the greatest culinary city in the United States.
You know, he's They're not doing the Super Bowl from Detroit.
(13:07):
Not that there's not good restaurants in Detroit. Detroit people
are going to be mad, big mad. If you're hungry,
there is no better place in the United States of
America to be than New Orleans. So the good news is,
you know, it's not like, well, he'll he'll go dinner
Radio Row and then a little bit drive through. He
can go to any number of awesome restaurants, and I'm
(13:29):
sure he will, and chances are Macy is going to
be bag for it.