All Episodes

June 11, 2025 14 mins
Kelsey Conway of Cincinnati.com joined us after day two of Bengals minicap to discuss Shemar Stewart and more. 

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):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Last Thursday, I was watching
Good Morning Football on NFL Network, which I watched most mornings,
and they had an all female cast. I don't know
if it was all week. I know it was Thursday
and Friday. And on Thursday, Kelsey Conway was a part
of that cast, co hosting Good Morning Football with Jamie

(00:21):
Erdall and others, which was awesome to watch. And so
I didn't know if she was too big to be
on our show, but much to my surprise, she said
yes when I asked her to be on today to
talk about the Bengals Day two of mini camp wrapping
up today, and so here she is. How's it going,
It's going great.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
How you doing.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
I'm well, I did a good job in Good Morning Football.
I liked it. You're gonna be back on that show again.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I would hope.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
So.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I loved it. It was a great experience. I'm really
really grateful for the opportunity and would love to go
on again.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
All right, Well, it was it was fun watching you,
and I appreciate you doing that and then lowering yourself
to join me.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Oh please, this is never I would never consider that.
I look forward to these opportunities when I get to
come on here and.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Talk with you, well, thank you very much. So yesterday
at Mini Caamp was was sort of a circus? Was
there anything circus?

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Like?

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Today?

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Today was extremely tame compared to yesterday. Yesterday, I got
home at like five pm, and I was just like,
what happened today? It was surreal in just from the
minute I woke up, I got up and I got

(01:37):
right online to prepare a story for if Trey Hendrickson
was going to show up or not, so we could
be prepared for that. And then as that's going on,
news breaks that he's not coming. And then the next
thing I know, I'm writing a story about, well, they
didn't get Tamar Stewart signed, so he's not practicing. And
we get down there and practice was, you know, pretty

(02:01):
pretty tame and not a lot going on that first
first Mini Camp practice, and then after we were waiting
for Joe Burrow. And I don't think there's ever been
a time in my career here in Cincinnati where I've
left the Bengals facility saying, well, Joe Burrow talked, but
he wasn't my priority. When I thought about what I
was going to write but yeah, yesterday was Yesterday was crazy.

(02:24):
Today was pretty chill. Not a lot going on heard
from the coordinators after. But honestly, Minichimup has become just
essentially just another two days of OTAs for the Bengals.
It's an opportunity for the players and coaches. I think
to you know, wrap some things up and put a
bow on it. But I don't think it's the spectacle

(02:45):
that it once was in terms of you know, they're
doing different things.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Right, Yeah, But what it has done it has given
a platform to us Shamar Stewart and so you know
you were there talking with him yesterday. There's I've watched
my life a lot of Bengals players pop off and
express frustration and bewilderment and kind of lay out their
case for why the Bengals should treat them differently, or
in some cases, why the Bengals should treat them better

(03:11):
or pay them more or trade them. All of those
players have played it down for them. Not a guy
who hasn't yet signed his contract. So here's what I'm curious.
Because he he talked at great length, and you were
there and you were talking with him initially, and he
kind of made a reference to like, you know, the
stars of the team having his back and I'm paraphrasing
him here. Should I be skeptical of that claim?

Speaker 2 (03:35):
No, I don't think he would say something that isn't accurate.
So having only gotten to know him a little bit,
He's only been with the team for what six weeks? Right,
he Everything you heard about him pre draft and when
the Bengals selected him is that there's absolutely no character
issues there. He's not someone that they've had to worry about,

(03:57):
you know, does he love football? Checks all of those boxes.
So I think we should take him at his word
in that if he says something that he's telling the truth.
And I would not be shocked if there were certain
players who have dealt with the Bengals in recent years
from a contract standpoint that have said, yeah, you're doing

(04:20):
the right thing because you have to try and stand
up for yourself with this franchise sometimes when you're negotiating
with them, or they'll try and walk all over you.
So I would not be shocked knowing how ugly some
of those negotiations got. I mean, it was not smooth
sailing with Jamar Chase. We know it.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
Worked out and worked out.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
With see Higgins, but both of those negotiations got really
nasty at various points over the last three years. So
and I'm not saying that it was Jamar and Tea.
I'm saying I think that there are people in the
locker rooms that have had experience and sometimes some of
the tough conversations that happened with the Bengals negotiation, and players,
you know, they want to stick together. So I think

(05:04):
that we should take him at his word. And if
you said that they're star players that have told him
that what he's doing is right, then I think she's
telling the truth.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Uh do you think this gets resolved before training camp
starts on July twenty third?

Speaker 2 (05:20):
I I don't know, because why did it not get
resolved before this week? And it's easy to say, well,
it'll just get done before training camp. And my point
in bringing that up is, at what point are the
Bengals going to say, we wanted to try and introduce

(05:44):
this new clause. It didn't work out. It in turns
limited our first round pick from being able to do
what we need him to do. We should just bag
this and try again another year. I honestly thought that
at some point right before Mini camp. They would have said,
you know what, if you've made your stance clear that

(06:05):
you won't practice until you sign the contract, let's take
this clause out and let's go from there. Because they
have gone back and I put out a video today
on Twitter. I think this hasn't been reported a lot,
and I think it's important for people just so that
we're giving Shamar Stewart the benefit of the doubt here.
The Bengals didn't just try and change one thing in

(06:26):
this contract. They tried to change a couple of things,
and from what I have been told, because of his holdout,
the Bengals have then gone back on two of the
things and there's only one issue left. So that's where
leverage comes into play. So for people that don't understand
why he's not practicing, everybody gets to make a decision

(06:47):
for themselves that's in their best interest, and in this situation,
when they have held strong and used their leverage, it's
forced the Bengals to go back to the original language
that he's fighting for. So I would have thought I
would have gotten done by this week. It didn't. So
I it's easy for me to just come on here
and say, yeah, I think it'll be done by mock

(07:09):
turtle soup that Monday. We talked to Mike Brown, but
there's no reason to believe if they didn't cave now
that they will on training camp. And I think that
the Bengals front office, you know, has has a little
bit to show here, and that is they haven't come
out with their side of what's going on. They clearly
have reasons for why they want to do what they

(07:30):
have to do, and they haven't shared it, so we
only have his side. So I think that the Bengals
are going to have to, you know, take the clause
out or find a middle ground. And the only way
that seems to happen is if they want to play
ball and make sure that he gets on the field.
So I honestly don't know. I would love to say

(07:52):
yes to appease fans listening and wondering if this is
going to be another training camp disaster, but I don't know,
because I thought it was going to be done this week.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Do you think that these clauses would be a part
of the contract for the first round pick had it
been anybody but Shamar Stewart.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yes, I think this isn't specific to Shamar Stewart. I
think it's clear that the Bengals want to add this
clause into the rookie contracts moving forward, and I think
they're choosing this year to do it for whatever reason,
we do not know, and that will be something we
ask when we get a chance to talk to Mike

(08:32):
Brown and Duke Tobin at the beginning of the season.
I don't think it's I don't think it's because of
Schamar Stewart because again, like he has checked all the
green boxes for characters, so it's not, you know, like
he comes into the checkered past. I think they clearly
want to set a new precedent, and they chose this
year to implement it, and it's just turning out that
this isn't the year that they're going to be able

(08:54):
to get away with it without having to sacrifice their
rookie not being able to practice.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
I have and many have used the word avoidable. Right,
this feels avoidable. So how do you how do you
think it plays with the players who matter the most,
that something avoidable is looming over the preparation for a
season that is immensely important to this team.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Well, that's where I go back to avoidable. But I
also use the word self inflicted here because I understand
they want to change the way they do business in
their contract, and as Shamar told me, it's their contract.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
They can choose to do what they want to do.
But the part of this that is missing here, and
this seems to be a common thread with some of
the things that have gone wrong with negotiations with the
Bengals in years past. It is the start of the
negotiations that gets things twisted sometimes. And I've said this

(09:59):
on your show before. I've talked to multiple people who
have been involved in the negotiation process with the Bengals
at some point that have said they're tough. They're tough negotiators,
and sometimes their initial offers don't make the person on
the other side feel great. And that is one hundred
percent the situation here with Shamar Stewart. His side is

(10:20):
we are already getting off on the wrong foot here,
and that is the reason why he's not signing the waiver.
And he didn't at first because he didn't believe that
the franchise is operating in good faith and that if
he were to get injured, he didn't think that the
team that is already trying to find a clause to

(10:41):
potentially not have to pay him if something goes wrong
down the line. He doesn't believe that that same team
would take care of him. And so when you look
at this from a thirty foot view, I think that
this is the first time we're really seeing some of
the other contract situations that have gone sideways trickle into

(11:05):
a current situation, because I know for a fact, having
talked to people on Schamar's side, almost every time they
bring up well do you see what they're doing to
Trey Hendrickson, Like it's almost like this is a shift
in some of these things that we spent hours talking about.
With contract stuff with the Bengals, it's seeming like it's
all kind of coming to a head, and Shamar Stewart

(11:28):
is saying, well, I'm not going to be the one
that caves here. So I think it I think it
is an issue, and I'm glad that Jill Burrow came
out and said that contract stuff is a distraction and
it's not just such media people, you know, making that up.
It is a distraction, and that's why it would be
in the Bengals' best interest to at least get the

(11:48):
Shamar situation figured out so that they are not dealing
with not having Trey and Schamar out on the practice
field that first training camp practice on Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Did either of the coordinators say anything interesting today?

Speaker 2 (12:03):
I thought what Al Golden said about the defense. When
he looks at the biggest things that stand out to him,
he keeps using to turn attention to detail. And I
find that interesting because it really sounds like his new
voice and leadership has kind of sharpened the edge there

(12:25):
and really kind of made everybody, you know, like posture up,
and it just kind of seems like there's a more
business like approach in terms of be on your p's
and q's all the time. And that is absolutely no
disrespect to lou Anna Ruma and what he was doing,
but sometimes you just need a new voice to reshape
and refocus your attention to detail, and it seems like

(12:46):
he thinks that that's coming across. And I thought what
he said about Miles Murphy. You know, Paul Danner Junior
asked him about Miles Murphy specifically, and he didn't just
come up with a way to side step to question.
He said, it's go time. He knows it. It's go time.
So I think that those are two things that really
stand out to me about what Al Golden specifically said.

(13:08):
I didn't really think there was a huge newsy item
that came out of Dan Pitcher. But the offense, for
the most part, other than who's going to be playing
guard for them, is kind of we know what to
expect on that side of the ball. So that's why
I think, you know, he doesn't have to deal with
a lot of tough questions right now.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
I can't thank you enough for joining the show and
giving us your time. I thought I was going to
have to go through an agent to get you to
do this, but that wasn't the case, So thanks very much.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Thanks so much for having me on anytime.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Kelsey Conway covering the Bengals for the Cincinnati Inquirer and
Cincinnati dot Com Sports Headlines, and we'll talk about Hunter,
greens Groin and hip and back next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. From massach therapy
to stress relief and cancer surveillance. The UC Cancer Center
offers the region's largest supportive services program for cancer patients
and survivors called five one three five E five UCCC.
The earlier accident eastbound two seventy five on the combsail

(14:18):
Bridge has been cleared out, however, delays still up to
two hours back from Madison Pike and another accident on
McGregor Avenue east of Running Road. I met Exelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
This report is sponsored by Rapid Radios Rapid Rate

Mo Egger News

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest
Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.