7/15/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To win one thousand dollars. Enter this nationwide keyword on
our website shack. That's shack.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Enter it now, ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
It is really really hard to ruin the home run
Derby and yet ESPN managed to you last night. So congratulations.
I mean that is that is like screwing up a
beverage of duncan tonuts. What's up on ba Legger? This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening. We'll get to
that coming up in the four o'clock hour show previews
on Twitter thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union, your credit

(00:34):
union with hard since nineteen thirty nine. Go to Emery
FCU dot org. He's back after about a month little hiatus,
little sabbatical. Paul Danner juniors with us from The Athletic
and the Growler podcast. Bengals training camp starts next week.
So it's it's awesome to have you. It's not Tuesdays

(00:54):
are not the same without you. It's good to be here.
I missed it. I don't I don't like us not
having this time to gather. Agreed, And I feel better
not come entire equilibrium of the show.

Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:04):
Well, and I feel like my my routine is off.
I don't feel right, but I'm excited about this. The
good news is we've got cool, fun news that I'm
sure that you'll bring up that I'm really stoked about.
I had to have a conversation with myself. Yeah, okay, Yeah,
am I gonna just like not, I'm gonna vow over

(01:26):
Camp no matter what happens. I'm just not gonna talk
about the first round pick.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (01:31):
Like that's how this is. That's what I want it
to be. And I feel like it's a stance worth
taking right now, okay, because nothing, nothing that you hear
or see is gonna be worth your time, you know
what I mean. It's like it's just gonna it stirs
stuff up, none of it.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
It's all all. I have fifteen segments today. Four of them,
four of them planned right now, are about the Bengals
first round pick. Yeah, I did it. I'm sort of
gonna push back on this just a little bit. I
get it.

Speaker 5 (02:04):
I just don't want it to this to be what
it is. I just don't want this to be what
it is. You knew it was, I mean, we all
knew it was coming. Yeah, it's only gonna be worse.
I just I think I'm I'm willing to take some
time where I say I'm not going there, okay, but
I'm happy.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
To accept with you of course. Thanks, you're the extense
very much. You're thanks very much. Well camps here. It's
coming up, starts next week. You guys got mock turtle
soup coming up. That's gonna be big. Yes, lots of
moving parts lock going on. It's exciting, It is exciting.
I get I get very excited. Mock turtle soup is
a fun time. We'll talk to Mike.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
There's topics there, and you know, I'm excited to talk
about things happening on the field that I think has
been obviously under discust. So we did, uh we did
a show right before I went on vacation where we
did a draft. It was me and Charlie and Jeremy

(03:03):
ralfrom Fox Sinny team. We did a draft of the
most interesting Bengals for this upcoming season. It was so
refreshing to just to just have these conversations where we're
just let's talk about the team. Yeah, it's really like
this team is really interesting, as they usually are, and
I found it to be incredibly refreshing. I just I

(03:24):
think we'll talk about the fan survey. Yeah, everyone is
over it. I understand we're gonna have to talk about
all this stuff, and whenever there's gonna be all this stuff,
the field feels like a great place to turn our
attention to and I'm very happy for it to show
up next week.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah, it's interesting. While you were away. At one point,
I was on with Tony and Austin during the end
of their show and Tony brought up Pro football focuses
rankings of offensive lines, and I almost had to like
recalibrate myself, like, wait a minute, Shamar Stewart's not an
offensive lineman. Ray Hendrickson's not an offensive lineman. Huh okay, yeah, yes, yes,

(04:05):
let's talk about some of those guys, right. And it's
I even said to him, like that was a good
segment because it was just talking ball, right, you know
what I mean. It's just and and a huge part
of the team that I feel like can go in
any in any number of directions. And I think you
could say that about a lot of the components of
this team. It is I'm not sure how many roster

(04:26):
spots are going to be up for grabs. But even
if you remove the Hendrickson and Shamar Stuart things from
the equation, which you really can't do, but if you try,
you're left with, I think at a deeply fascinating team
and a deeply fascinating roster at a really interesting time
in the franchise's history.

Speaker 5 (04:44):
Yeah, I think you've got a team that's kind of
at a crossroads moment in terms of there's already been
some implications to the last two years and what's gone wrong,
and that's clear, whether it's lost jobs, whether it's a
fan base that's that's turtling or turning. I should say

(05:05):
they might be turtling too. Wow's turning. All of these
things that are happening, and you have a team that
has all the POTENTI that can win the Super Bowl. Like,
that's not a thing that anybody should be uncomfortable saying.
That's how they're positioned, that's how they're positioned offensively, and

(05:28):
they're trying things on defense. There's reason, there's a path
to believe, but you gotta like see it come together.
It's something that very much could come together, and there's
also a path for a disaster scenario. I just think
that the range of outcomes are very wide here, and
you have this window of Joe Burrow, T Higgins and

(05:50):
Jamar Chase and you only, you know, you never know
how many rips you have at it, and it just
seems to be a lot on the line right now,
where one more year of what has gone on the
last two years feels like it has massive implications up
and down, you know, the roster and the coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
I finally finished Quarterback. Yeah, watched the final two episodes
last night because the home run derby was terrible, and
I was reminded watching the last two episodes, like, yes,
they fell short of the postseason, and yes there was
immediate fallout from nine to eight and missing the postseason,

(06:31):
but during those last five weeks that was kind of fun. Yeah,
And during those last five weeks we were starting to
feel pretty good about where this may go. And then obviously,
you know, all that was played played up against the
backdrop of the T. Higgins conversation pivoting very very suddenly.
But I'm I'm watching the last two episodes last night,
and I'm like, you know, I really enjoyed watching that
team down the stretch, that offense last year was awesome,

(06:52):
and for an off season that has been defined, at
least in terms of how we've talked about them by
some reason unpleasant things like when they stopped playing football
last year. I felt like, all right, get one or
two things fixed, and I'm watching that team in late
January again this coming season. That can still happen.

Speaker 5 (07:10):
Yeah, I don't think that the process of the way
that they've done things has been terrible. There's been problems
along the way in terms of not supplementing more, whether
it be in free agency or you can you know,
obviously have issues with certain draft picks or whatever. But like,
I think they're in a good place. They have a
chance to have number one offense in football. They have

(07:33):
taken a reasonable path to fixing that defense. That one
that builds on those last five weeks, That builds on
what you saw was when they felt like they found
a way to connect with young players, which was through
this oversimplification and changing back to something just go play.
Granted asterisk on the quarterbacks they went against there, but

(07:54):
you know it was it was notably better and it
seemed to bring out a little bit more in a
lot of young players that they let play let the
young guys play, let them play free and get more
out of it. And you know, if Al Golden comes
in and does build on that, that's the construction of
a team that is ready to do it.

Speaker 4 (08:15):
Man.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
And I think that we spend so much time on
the other stuff with whatever's gonna happen there, and whatever's
gonna happen is gonna happen. But what remains is enough
I think to be right there in the mix with Baltimore,
to be right there in the mix with Kansas City
and Buffalo and the other teams that are mentioned in
the AFC and anybody in the league because of the

(08:38):
momentum and what they have building offensively, in the possibilities
of what they have on defense. I mean I was
outlining this before. They have nine top one hundred draft
picks that are going to be in a significant rotation,
and all of them have had struggles at one point
in time or the other or whatever. So if Al

(08:59):
Golden is able to get a majority of those guys,
five six of those guys to start to live more
up to their but what they have been at times
or the potential of those draft picks, I refuse to
believe they all are terrible. These were all bad picks, right,
I just don't see that.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
Right.

Speaker 5 (09:14):
If that comes out, that's I mean, that's it. That's
what we'll define this team being really interesting. As much
as we spend ninety percent of the conversation on Hendrickson
Stewart in the front office, what's gonna happen with those guys,
those nine guys is going to be what matters over
the course that we watch over camp, over the preseason,
and over the early portion of this season to see,

(09:36):
you know, if there is a ceiling on this team,
specifically because of the defense.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
You and your other thirty one counterparts were asked to
name a breakout candidate for this season, and I was
before I opened it. I was trying to guess who
it would be. And it's kind of doing that thinking
who I would say it was going to be. We
did not have the same guy I had Joseph Osaig. Oh,
you had Cam Taylor Brick.

Speaker 5 (09:58):
Yeah, yeah, I had Cam Taylor brid I just I
like where he's at, where he seemed to be at
mentally this offseason. I like what he has on tape
in the past when he's been right, and I like
betting on this setup to get him, right. I just
think that the things feel like they're going in the

(10:19):
right direction with him. You could have picked. I mean,
Chase Brown was certainly on my list, but I was
almost uncomfortable calling him a breakout because of what happened
the second half of last season. But then I think
after I filled that out, some list came out that
he wasn't even in like the top twenty running backs. Er,
yeah right, he did a top ten.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah, then they did honorable mention and then they did
like also receiving votes. Yeah, Chase Brown was nowhere to
be seen.

Speaker 6 (10:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (10:45):
I was tempted to come off my vacation to change
my answer that I had put in for that because
I was just like, I don't I just some surprise
people don't view him in that light. Yeah, when you
consider what he was doing last year. But I understand
people maybe not paying at ten because of the other stars.
But man, like he is set up to have it.
He so maybe maybe I would replace him knowing that now,

(11:07):
But defensively, I still think, you know, Cam Taylor Britt
has a chance to be you know, contract to your stuff,
can be, can be a real guy that finally lives
up to I think what a lot of the hype
has been.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Whole segment to start the hour. There we go.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
See, I'm whatever, we will do it whenever we gotta
do it. I I'm here for whatever you need. I
want you to be happy. We have a I have
a long season ahead of us. It's gonna be you know,
long winding roads at the end of the year. So
you know I'm here for you.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
I know you are.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
I have four segments blocked out to talk about the
Bengals first round draft choice. I'm gonna do those four
segments regardless, but I can wait till that for four o'clock.
If you if you, I'm I'm happy.

Speaker 4 (11:53):
You have to be.

Speaker 5 (11:54):
I think the word is malleable. When you have this
job you do, yeah, and I will, I will do.
Give me one of those. Give me one of those. Okay,
very good.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Paul Danner juniors here from the Athletic dot Com and
the Growler Podcast. Uh, you do the annual fan survey, right,
do this every year and the results are not great,
not great, surprising, I would say a little bit.

Speaker 5 (12:22):
I was even even with anticipation. Yeah, surprising. All right,
we're gonna do that next. It is sixteen minutes after
four o'clock. Paul Danner Junior is here sixteen minutes after
three o'clock. I can't read a clock. Paul Danner Juniors
here till four. I'm here till six. This is ESPN
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Speaker 2 (12:40):
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Speaker 3 (13:05):
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Speaker 3 (13:16):
This report is. This is ESPN fifteen to thirty. Paul
Tayer Juniors here from the Athletic dot Com and the
Growler Podcast. Bengals training camp begins next week. Paul does
an annual Bengals fan survey at the Athletic dot Com.
The results are in of all the different questions that

(13:40):
you pose to fans, which series of answers surprised you
the most.

Speaker 5 (13:44):
I think how hard they turned against ownership in the
front office kind of collectively. I think it was something
that we all, like I anticipated obviously, I mean, we
know what we I do still have an x account
with mentions, and so I'm well aware of the feelings.

(14:06):
We all know what's going on. But I felt like
there would still be some residual connection to what in
the past has actually been a trend that gave them
some gave ownership some respect for what they were doing.
You know, trust levels were at all time highs. I
mean despite the fact that you know, they hadn't made

(14:27):
the playoffs or whatever was going on, they still were
rarely rating a one with least confidence or even two
with low confidence. The past three years they were down
in the you know, between one and ten percent when
you combine those two categories, and then in this one
it was eighty percent vote for those two categories. And

(14:49):
it's just when you see it in front of you,
hopefully and dramatically shifts to see that big of a
shift in one off season. I think what was bigger
than I would have anticipated. And it just shows the
exhaustion that exists from all of the haggling over contracts

(15:09):
that has been going on for twelve months. Really going
back to Jamar last dear and to see it that
dramatic shows a fan base that is over it, man like,
just over it. It's and it's affecting their belief. So
you look into then going how confident are you that
this team is headed in the right direction? I mean,

(15:30):
these were that was a really high percentage people saying
very confident in the last three years, even with the losing.
It was still even even with not making the playoffs
in twenty four was lingering over Burrows injury, it was
still a really high number. You still had fifty eight
percent saying four and another thirty percent saying five. This

(15:50):
year you only had twenty five percent with four or five,
and that number shifted dramatically. You have this huge number,
this vast majority of fans don't even think that it's
headed in the right direction anymore. Now, there were a
lot one thing I would do want to say, there
were a lot more people that responded to this survey
about twenty five percent more than we'd had in the

(16:12):
previous three or four years. Because what makes people want
to go fill out surveys, Right, I'm mad and I
want to hear it. I want to hear it, and
so I think that sort of reflective of the same
thing as well. Maybe a lot of people did just
show up there that don't vote in the past to
just go throw in once. But I think that is
the point as well, is that it's moving people to

(16:36):
do things that they maybe even weren't doing before because
they want to be heard. You know, you had a
fan base that thought in the will the Bengals win
a Super Bowl in the next three years question, I mean,
the answer was yes in twenty twenty two, eighty four percent.
Twenty twenty three, it was ninety three percent. Last year,
it was eighty one percent this year, all the way

(16:57):
down to a fifty to fifty split. Don't see the path.
People feel like they're losing on the margins. People feel
like all of the things that are happening off the
field are stealing this. You can feel them saying we're
losing Joe Burrow's window, which I think is something that's
rightfully reflect totally fair.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
It's rightfully reflecting.

Speaker 5 (17:18):
I just think the amount of which you saw it
turned specifically against sort of the ownership element of this
was more than I anticipated what I think it would.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
Have been interesting had you done this exercise in March.
But I was thinking about this as I was going
through the results that you know, the early March press
conference Jamar and T feels like a lifetime ago. I
don't believe. And I say this sitting here every day,
I see this looking at the results of a survey
like yours, and I hear this justin talking with just

(17:53):
friends of mine who are Bengals fans. They didn't enjoy
the post Jamar and T extension pr bump that I
thought they were going to enjoy. And I'm sure that
they thought they were going to enjoy. I think most
people looked at that press conference as yeah, it's fun.
But you know when you hear immediately afterward, while we
had to devote so much energy to these two guys

(18:14):
that it cost us here and it came at the
expense of having to devote a lot of time to this,
Like I think it's interesting, this thing that we had
been talking about for so long that most people wanted
they got, and yet there's still skepticism and exhaustion with
how they do things because the process matters, Like it's

(18:35):
not about the end results.

Speaker 5 (18:38):
It can't just be hey, we got these guys done, yeah,
but you alienated them in the process.

Speaker 8 (18:44):
It was this.

Speaker 5 (18:44):
It was this whole exhaustive thing to get there, and
when you do it that way, you end up where
you know it. You don't even get the pr bump
that you really want out of it because you know
how hard it was, because there's been so much mud
that's been slung back and forth before, between requests and
everything that happened with Jamari Camp and everything else, just
to get to that point, and to the point you

(19:05):
even have t saying the word finally in the press conference,
and it's just like, the process matters. Fans are so
much smarter than they've ever been. They understand this stuff.
For maybe in the past five, ten, fifteen years ago,
this stuff there wasn't as much of a feeling of
having a grasp on how you can win and lose

(19:27):
in the NFL. Because of this stuff, fans get it now.
Fans have a much better understanding of this side of
the game. And they see that it's more than just
throwing a couple of big wins out there. Hey, we
signed Jamar and t It's so much more than that.
If you're gonna compete and really try to win a
Super Bowl, you're gonna compete with, you know, the Eagles

(19:47):
and the Chiefs and the rest of these teams that
are out there doing it in different ways maybe, and
so the process matters.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
I think is sort of the message of.

Speaker 5 (19:57):
That that you get the pr bump when people know
you did the right thing and you did it the
right way. I think right now they're trying to do
a lot of the right things, but I think in
some cases they're just not doing it the right way,
and fans see through all that.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
Now that's survey the results, the Athletic dot Com or
by the way, one of Paul's colleagues calls the Bengals overrated.
We'll get to that coming up here in just a bit.
Get your thoughts on quarterback on Netflix and all right, man,
you said you'll do it, I'll do one. He said
you'll do it, I'll do one. Shamar Stewart has not
yet signed with the Bengals, but could he go back

(20:31):
and play college football in Texas A and we have
to do it next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
Sincy three sixty with Tony Pike.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
Do we want to move on?

Speaker 2 (20:42):
For doctor Keith Gorse and Boston Elmore.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
I think you should continue.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Let me keep going there, Sincy three sixty tomorrow which
twelve News on ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
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Speaker 3 (21:49):
Pregame coverage starts at seven o'clock Tomorrow night. We have
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All Star Skills Challenge. Congratulations to him. That match tomorrow
night is on ESPN fifteen thirty as well. Paul Danner
Juniors here from the Athletic dot Com. So Shamar Stewart

(22:09):
has yet unsigned. On the Cover three podcast, I am
not going to play the audio now, but I'm going
to play it in the next hour for folks who
haven't heard this, but the panelists debate whether or not
Shamar Stuart could actually attempt to go back to Texas
A and m U flor well smell dug.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
Yeah, well, I will say one the the Schamar is
back there practicing with the team. I mean what capacity, Okay,
players do that. Yes, there's a lot of players that
do their summer workouts there. You know the idea that this,

(22:56):
I mean, I think this clearly sounds like, hey, we'll
go back to school. This was gonna scare him. I
I've been around this team for a long time. It
has now gone so public to the point that there
is no like, it's it's gonna be old school digging

(23:16):
in from the Bengals that they're not move gonna move like,
that's not something that they're not gonna get influenced by this.
It would be the most stunning outcome be the Bengals
being like, you know, I don't want him to go
back to ski. He might go back to school, he
might leave the money on the table, he might take

(23:37):
his chances and come back. That's just that would be
the most emergency. You know, what's he's my station.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
What are we gonna do?

Speaker 5 (23:51):
Yeah, that's not gonna impact anything. And then you know,
I just kind of laugh about the idea of like,
but what if they get a rookie year where the
first round pick doesn't quite contribute, Well, that would be
very much the same as what has seemed to happen
most years around here. It has happened before. Red shirt

(24:11):
red shirt here we go, red shirt year there. I
guess are very convoluted, complicated ways in which something like
this could happen. If you think that it's for the
betterment of your career professionally to go back and whether
it sit out a year or be involved in a
bunch of lawsuits and then re enter a draft after

(24:32):
you didn't want to report and sign language that exists
with other players in the draft next year. I think,
you know that's highly all you ares, buddy, you know,
if that's it, I just I hope this gets resolved.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
For Shamar Stewart's sake. I go back to that every
single time.

Speaker 5 (24:52):
It just feels like the adults, supposed adults in the
room are failing at this player. Yeah, and it's just
it's he's the one that's gonna deal with this, the
impact of it, and it's gonna hurt the Bengals. Everybody
is hurt by the way this is going down. And
but the idea of him going back, I mean, I guess,

(25:18):
and plus the NFL impact here, the NFL is like, yeah,
this is not a precedent that we're gonna stand by
and politely let happen. They go, I don't know, No,
the NFL is gonna have zero interest in anything of
this capacity. So then what does the NFL do if PU,

(25:39):
if push were shove I mean, I'm sure there's there's
They have plenty of ways to get involved. I mean,
I'm sure that they could get involved however they wanted to.
I mean, outside Schamar going back and being like, I'm
not going to participate in sport until next year's draft
is probably his clearest path if that's something he really
wants to.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
Do, pointing out there's a difference between him not playing
at all and sitting out and then he played.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
If he played, the Bengals would retain his rights. So
if he's still have to come back and deal with
the bank. So if he just if he were to
somehow unless he unless he decide again, unless we're in
lawsuits and it's like it's twenty twenty nine and they're
still trying to work out this and they're in.

Speaker 3 (26:20):
Court, Like, but I want to make the distinction clear here.
So if he were to somehow figure out a way
to play college football next season, regardless of whether he
is good bad, whatever happens, the Bengals at the end
of that season would control his rights. Yes, if he
decides I'm not doing anything I'm gonna set out, then
he can re ender the draft. But he can't re

(26:41):
enter the draft and play college football this coming season.
Not under the current setup, right, I said on my show,
I said on this show yesterday, I'm just you know,
even in your fan survey you asked about people taking sides,
and actually, as it relates to both Trey Hendrickson and
Shamar Stewart, I was surprised that so many people really

(27:03):
aren't taking sides. My side is I just want one
side or the other to be hit by a bolt
of common sense. Uh where. If it's the Bengals, it's
come on, man, like, just let's kick the can down
the sidewalk. As it relates to the language and the
contract to next year, get the dude here, Cam starts
next week. Let's cross this off the list and then
worry about Trey Hendrickson and try to get him done

(27:26):
and go in the Super Bowl this year. Or I'm
hoping that a bolt of common sense hit Shamar and
you go, you know what, this is not how I
want to start my career. This is not how I
want to start my chosen profession. This is not how
I want to launch my relationship with the Cincinnati Bengals,
And it's not how I want to start my relationship
with pro football. I don't think that bolt is coming.

(27:48):
It feels like right now neither bolt is coming. No,
I agree, I agree with you.

Speaker 5 (27:52):
I will say, though we have we're still a week
away from the day where a Marius MEM's signed last year.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
Uh huh. So I'm and I'm not. I'm just say sure,
it's not like Maria Smims had done the waiver was
going to work out, but there was also issues sitting
in his locker, popping off on his nor no question.

Speaker 5 (28:11):
I'm just saying, though deals have gotten done at this
point in time, including just last year, which had different
language than the year before. So I mean, I'm it's
not like there isn't some bit of precedent there to
that there's ways for them to figure out a way
to fix it. I'm you know, but you're right. It
just it it feels like something that is gonna be ongoing.

(28:34):
What about Trey Hendrickson, something that's definitely going to be ongoing.
I mean, I don't that's doesn't it feel destined to
go like all these things do I have?

Speaker 3 (28:46):
I've joked about this, and maybe with you, but I've
joked about like, all right, so the season starts on
the seventh, right, Bengals are brown. So let's backtrack. Saturdays
the sixth, Fridays the fifth, Thursday's the fourth. Wednesday is
the third. So like that first, like Wednesday practice, I
am anticipating, like, oh, there's rumblings, there's rumblings. And then

(29:07):
like on like midday Thursday, full on tray watch, is
he gonna show up? Is he not gonna show up?
What's gonna happen? And then all day Friday, it's like,
could they get the deal done? You know, he could
still play if they don't, how many snaps can he play?
Pitch count? And then Saturday, you know, like aj Green
on the bus before they fly to Cleveland, signs the

(29:28):
deal and he plays like a dozen snaps against the
Browns as totally winded, doesn't do anything, and they lose.
But I mean a couple of years ago, right, Joe Burrow,
as they were kicking off in games.

Speaker 5 (29:42):
Yeah, Jamar Chase, I don't know, Maybe I will play,
Maybe I will the morning of the opener, the morning
of the opener, and now this will be a try
to hit the trifectit three years in a row, and
they'll be down to it and then you know whatever,
everyone will figure out whatever it is and be like
and then we'll all look at each other and say,
why did it have to be like this? You know,
for again in the same vein as Stuart. For Trey's

(30:05):
sake and the Bengal's sake and everything. I hope that
they can find something that works. It certainly feels like
this is gonna go the way so many of these
Bengals negotiations go. It's just a game of chicken all
the way down to the wire until somebody blinks and
betting on Hendrickson giving in to some capacity because there

(30:26):
is preces into that in the past. I mean, they've
had these things happen every single year, and eventually Trey
has played and played really well, and I'm sure that
there's some banking on that that they can win that
game of chicken again.

Speaker 3 (30:38):
Is Quarterback aired on Netflix. He wrote a piece about
Joe Burrow and his attempts to kind of thread the
needle between being a public figure and maintaining some privacy.
I'm sure you've watched every episode. I thought it was outstanding,
and I say this, remove the Bengals part of it.
I just think it was such a well done show.
I walked away from a bigger fan of Cousins and

(31:00):
Jared Goff and obviously, you know, still a huge fan
of Joe Burrow.

Speaker 5 (31:04):
What did you make of how he and the team
and the league were portrayed. I thought, I'm with you
if that was really well done. You know what I
thought was my favorite stuff from the entire show was
just everything Burrow and Jamar. Yes, Like I thought all
of the Joe Jamar, their families, Jimmy Chase, you know,

(31:26):
Jimmy and Robin Burrow, that that table was really fun.

Speaker 4 (31:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
The conversation that.

Speaker 5 (31:33):
Burrow and Jamar have on the practice field, Yes, about
the route that Justin Jefferson ran against Georgia, and point
like when we talk so much trying to like tangibly
quantify and talk about why their connection is so special
and what makes what separates them. That's the stuff like

(31:54):
that is a the anecdote of all anecdotes that they
caught right there of this is part of what makes
and has made these guys so and unstoppable. Yeah, because
they have a counter that they intuitively can pick up
on quickly every for everything that a defense throws at them,
and then it's everything that involved Joe and Jamar and
there was a bunch of it in the borough stuff

(32:16):
was my favorite part of the entire show. I just
thought giving a little bit deeper appreciation and feel for
that relationship was a really cool, unexpected part of it
that I enjoyed.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah, that's exactly the scene that we have referenced on
this show is the best part of the Quarterback. And
I only got to watch the last two episodes last night.
Could you imagine if in Cincinnati Joe Burrow walked into
a sport clips.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
And waited to get a haircut. I'm sorry clips great Clips, yeah,
SORRT clips.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Yeah. I could envision that, could you?

Speaker 4 (32:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (32:52):
I mean some sort of stampede of people running in there.
It wouldn't last long.

Speaker 3 (32:57):
Her Cousins, there was no stampede, No sitting there reading
a magazine waiting to get his haircut. No, I mean
good for him.

Speaker 5 (33:04):
Is it as on braind as it gets for Kirk
Cousins on that one, which I appreciated, But no, I
love I really liked the show and I thought the
you know, the end, Burrow on the couch eating the sandwich,
eating the sandwich.

Speaker 3 (33:19):
Yes, kind of laughing cheeps in that game you can
do yes, And I think he.

Speaker 5 (33:26):
Felt like everybody else, and I thought that was a cool, uh,
a cool thing to see.

Speaker 6 (33:31):
You know.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
It's funny because that afternoon, I was sitting on my couch. Uh,
I don't remember what I was eating, but I was
eating something and I turn it on and again we
were all the same way. After about five or six minutes,
it was abundantly clear how that game was gonna go,
and all you could do was just laugh. And you know,
Joe even said, like, you know, it's we put ourselves

(33:52):
in this position. I can't control this, and there was
there was that to me, but there was just this
like yeah, of course, of course, of course then against them.
So in that moment, Joe was doing what the rest
of us were doing with for the most part, the
same reaction.

Speaker 5 (34:06):
Yeah, all of the insight is sort of his real
emotions about everything that went on last season.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Like, I really liked how it's put.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
In front of you, something that we spent a lot
of time talking about last year, but you know, you
never have a total feel about And that's like Joe
really grappling with his reaction to losing. Yeah, to dealing
with failure like that for the first time really on
the field, and how under gaining this understanding about how

(34:39):
what he says, how he acts, how he reacts affects everybody.
His ability to know when to speak and try to
influence the room, whether it be across to the defensive
side of the ball, or to his own teammates, or
to ownership, like coming to terms. I think they did
a great job of showing him figuring that out on

(35:01):
the fly for the first time and kind of growing.
And it makes me kind of fascinated to see how
much different or how much better he will be at
that after going going through it. We spent so much
time talking about it, and we would you know, he
was lip reading every week. But to see that and
see him kind of get a better handle on it
and how he handled with it, handled it, I really

(35:22):
enjoyed that aspect of seeing it too.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
Your colleague Mike Jones has listed the NFL's overrated and
underrated teams. He writes that the Bengals are overrated.

Speaker 5 (35:32):
It's July fifteenth. Someone has to be rated in some way.
I mean, what else we do it? I guess that's
what we're doing.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
I cool?

Speaker 5 (35:44):
I mean, you know, why is it every time I
log on social media people are fighting about Joe Burrow?

Speaker 3 (35:51):
He explain this to him.

Speaker 5 (35:53):
Always, every single time I log on somewhere, every the
first thing I see is people are mad about something
debating Joe Burrow.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
And I don't know, how does that always happen? Like
three hundred and sixty five days a year.

Speaker 5 (36:07):
I feel like, I feel like how we talk about
quarterbacks is just so stupid. Guys are good, yes, like
they're all really good. Why are we doing this?

Speaker 3 (36:18):
I use a perhaps somewhat crude way of putting it.
We talked. ESPN ranked them as third best, you know,
using input from talent people and personnel folks, and not
that dissimilar for Mike Sando, though Mike's tier rankings are
much more nuanced and a lot more thorough. But my
take was, okay, fine, he's the third best quarterback. Yeah whatever.

(36:40):
Can you have a conversation about who the best guy
in the league is and not include Joe Burrow? No,
you can't. If you prefer Lamar Jackson to Joe Burrow,
that's fine. I'll take Joe and I'll be happy. And
my take was It's like, if we have a chance
to date supermodels and you want the first pick, fine,
I'll be happy with whoever second, yeah or whatever, I'll
be really really happy. How we talk about these guys

(37:03):
is I think at times toxic and it's exhausting.

Speaker 5 (37:06):
The indignation over your guy versus this How how could
you possibly? And then that just the back like I
don't understand, Like to me, it should be much more
of an appreciation of how how all of these guys
win differently and they're great in their own ways, and
they've been able to lead teams to heights like the

(37:27):
having to just scream and yell about parsing between it.
But if Burrow, I don't know if I just see
it more because it shows up more for me. But
the polarization around him, I just don't understand why there's
always that conversation out there every single day.

Speaker 7 (37:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
First of all, I don't know how you could pay
attention to his career and conclude that he's not an
upper crossed guy. I don't know how you could look
at the issues the Bengals have had last two seasons
and have your mind instantly good to a place where
it's Joe Burrow's fault. I don't understand that. I view

(38:05):
it this way, man, Like, I think the league is
at its best when we have a lot of awesome
quarterbacks to watch, to talk about, to compare with each other.
We get great games. Like I I know, I wish
the Bengals would have been playing in the postseason last year.
I couldn't wait to watch Lamar Jackson versus Josh Allen
in a playoff game. When I think of being a

(38:28):
kid and falling in love with this sport, I think
of the quarterbacks Marino, Montana, Moon, Lway, Kelly Boomer, Cunningham,
Phil Simp Like. Some of those guys are Hall of famers.
Some of them are just really good players. But like those,
there were a bunch of really good quarterbacks which made
the league fun. I've also lived through stretches where we
haven't had a lot of really good quarterbacks. Now we

(38:48):
got a bunch, man, that's a really good, healthy place
to be. And the team here has one of those guys. Yeah,
so if you think he's the fourth best quarterback, dude,
that's fine. I don't care. We have one of those guys,
and that's good enough for.

Speaker 5 (39:01):
Me and I just you know, I know there's always
a lot of Bengals fans wanting to go after these people,
and I'm like, I just it's only fueling, you know,
this this storm unnecessarily like whatever that you have, what
you have in Burrow, Like you know what you have.
The guy has been to the super Bowl, He's beaten Mahomes,

(39:22):
He's he's played at an MVP level, like you you know,
he can go in and beat absolutely anybody.

Speaker 3 (39:27):
The like I'm gonna go fight people over whatever, the regular.

Speaker 5 (39:32):
Or like can't really being affected and caring and drawing
to go say stuff because a national voice says a
thing about Joe Burrow, Like I just don't think you
need to do that.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
Well, there's there's nothing.

Speaker 5 (39:45):
I mean, Steve Spagnolo on quarterbacks, yes, yes, hey besides
our guy, you're the best.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (39:51):
And I would point to Sando's tears because that is
that is players and executives and people within the league
doing this and giving it the credence of the ones
that really know. And Burrow has been up in that
like you don't need to worry about that stuff, you know,
I get it, Like it's something to do.

Speaker 3 (40:10):
It's July fifteenth, and I get it all. I wish
there was so much less of that. But this is why, like,
sometimes I'm not sure if I can do this job
anymore because I don't care enough to fight somebody. Yeah
that they don't think the quarterback of my favorite team
is the best.

Speaker 5 (40:23):
Go say that a team can't win a super Bowl
with Joe Burrow a quarterback, like and I mean, what are.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
You talking about? Things like?

Speaker 5 (40:31):
It's ridiculous to even utter a sentence like that. Are
you you should ask this about your life? Are you
happy with what I have? If the answer is yes,
who cares? And if I'm a Bengals fan, which i am,
I'm happy that Joe Burr is the quarterback of this team.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
I'm good.

Speaker 10 (40:44):
Good.

Speaker 5 (40:45):
You need you need a top eight guy to win
the Super Bowl, No One. And if you have that,
it's all the rest of it. What happens around them decides,
you know, And that includes luck, and that includes roster management,
and that includes that guy staying healthy, and that includes
guard play, and that includes a lot of things. But
you know what, if you have that guy, you have

(41:07):
a chance uh to do it, and you have one
so late, don't get a sheep about it, all right,
I screwed up the clock.

Speaker 9 (41:13):
We have to go.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
Thank you as always my pleasure and it's good to
have you back. Good to be back. The Growler Podcast
Theathletic dot Com Paul has the end of the off
season and the start of training camp covered. You did
a podcast with Jay Morrison on the Fan Survey, Fan
Survey and more coming up later this week. That's that's right.

Speaker 5 (41:32):
We had Josh sned on if you Wire to Laugh
with Mark salif Yes with his new special. We had
a ton of fun on that one. Uh and a
lot more stuff coming this week. Mock turtle soup on Monday.
You're excited, Joe, I love it.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
It's big all right. Five away from four o'clock. We
have a two hours to go. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (41:54):
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Speaker 7 (41:58):
You see Health Brain Tumor Center's answers for some of
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Westbound Ronald Reagan Highway, there's an accident at Galbreath on
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(42:21):
get through there, so use extra caution. Is that is
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Speaker 9 (42:27):
This report is sponsor entered this nationwide keyword on our website.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Credit that is credit enter it now.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Yeah, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (42:36):
Yeah, four after five, No, five after four? What am
I doing? This is ESPN fifteen thirty. My name's Mulleger. Thanks.
We're spending part of your Tuesday afternoon with us. In
just about thirty minutes, Bradley Wright Phillips from Apple TV's
MLS three sixty is going to talk FC Cincinnati versus

(42:58):
Inter Miami, which takes place tomorrow. We'll play the Schamar
Stewart related audio that has made the rounds today here
in just a bit, I have some thoughts, perhaps you
do as well. Five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty.
I'm watching on MLB Network right now, the replay of
last night's home run Derby. The home run Derby for
me is mindless entertainment, and sometimes in life you need

(43:21):
mindless entertainment. I had no real rooting interest. There was
one wager I made it did not hit. That's okay,
no real rooting interest to me. It's typically a very
fun television event. It's a night where baseball lets its
hair down. Baseball historically speaking, does not have many events
where it lets its hair down. The home run derby

(43:44):
coverage last night, I thought made the event unwatchable. I'm
here to relax. If you make me work and I'm
here to relax, I'm done. I watched the first round
last night. I'm sitting there with my wife and eight
year old. I couldn't explain to my eight year old
what was going on because you couldn't follow what was

(44:05):
going on. We split the screen on one side, you
got a guy swinging a bat. On the other side,
awful camera work, the ball landing not coinciding with the
ball that was just swung at on the other side
of the screen. Like, I don't know how you screw
up that event. Somebody put on Twitter last night. This
should be simple. Just show the homers, like it would

(44:27):
make more sense to show a real baseball game with
a split screen. And by the way, that would make
no sense yet it would make more sense than the
show The Home Run Derby with a split screen. Like
sometimes I just want mindless entertainment. It's a Monday night,
I'm on my couch. Give me two and a half hours.
My daughter's into it. Let me explain to her what's
going on. Number One, neither of us had any idea.

(44:48):
You couldn't explain to an untrained eye what exactly was happening.
Way to get kids involved, Let's make it unwatchable. Let's
make it so that mom or dad can't explain what's
happening on TV. Great work, ESPN and Major League Baseball.
It's like I stopped following Star Wars movies when like
the Batch came out in the late nineties early two thousands,

(45:11):
because look, man, I want mindless entertainment. I want lightsaber fights.
I want gun battles. I want spaceships shooting each other.
I want dudes cutting off people's hands. I want a
guy blowing up planets. I don't want to have to
look up Han Solo's family tree. I don't need to
follow hundreds of years of family tree history and ancestry.

(45:32):
I stop paying attention, do not care, will not watch.
I want mindless entertainment. If when I'm trying to relax,
you make me work, I check out midway through the
home run Derby last night. I think like a lot
of folks I checked out. If you watched it, awesome,
congratulations to cal Raleigh. Baseball's in a great place when
it comes to its younger stars, and cal Raley is

(45:55):
one of them. Seems like a decent dude, fun nickname
lots are really cool, telligentic guys on TV last night. Unfortunately,
they weren't allowed to shine because ESPN decided to have
a drunk camera person operating the shot on the right
hand side of the screen, and that shot did not
match up with the shot on the left hand side
of the screen. Way to take the easiest thing to broadcast,

(46:16):
to make it totally unwatchable. If I'm trying to relax
and you make me work, I go away. So why
don't go camping? I've been camping once in my life. Now,
I'm not basically a sit out doors or sleep outdoors
type person. But if we're gonna go camping, like, let's
just set up the tent and then let me chill.
Only time in my life I've ever gone camping. I

(46:37):
went with a cousin of mine. It takes like ninety
minutes set up the tents, and now we got to
get a fire started, and we're gonna inflate this mattress.
And now we've got to do some meal prep.

Speaker 4 (46:48):
Uh uh.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
When I go to a beach, I've got to unfold
a chair and open a beer. Done.

Speaker 5 (46:53):
Now I can relax if you make me work, if
you make me try. Okay, I got to figure out
what's happening on this side to the screen. How close
is it to what's happening on this side of the screen,
how many home runs have been hit?

Speaker 3 (47:06):
How much time is left? What happens if there is
a tie? We're deciding tiebreakers by inches? There could be
a swing off like it didn't even sound like the
announcers knew the rules. And yes, I did spend a
few minutes trying to watch the stack cast broadcast last night.
That was way over my head. Look, it's not a
baseball game where I'm gonna dive into the strategy and

(47:27):
second guess the manager and where I really care about
who wins and who loses. That was supposed to be
somewhat mindless entertainment. I have it on in the studio
right now from last night. That split screen is one
of the most awful things I've ever seen. Hockey fans
in the mid nineties got mad at Fox for having
a glowing puck. The glowing puck is the equivalent of

(47:47):
the first down line in NFL broadcasts. Compared to the
way ESPN showed the home run Derby last night, you
took an event that I was excited about that a
lot of us really love. That is kind of these
central attraction to the All Star Game. I couldn't explain
to my eight year old what was going on so
great now I equate the home run Derby to camping.

(48:09):
I usually love the home run Derby. I have no
interest in camping. Great job, So instead I watched the
last two episodes of Quarterback. It's it's hard to screw
that event up. Man show the Homers. They've been for years.
It was you know, you maybe didn't like Chris Berman,
which that's fine, But for years it was a really

(48:31):
easy event to show, and I'm sure it's made a
little bit more difficult by the fact that it's now
a timed event, and so there's a lot of swings
happening in a short amount of time. If if you
take something that's supposed to be easy to watch and
make it hard, a lot of us go away. A
lot of us went away last night. Like legitimately, I

(48:51):
came to work today. It's like to watch the home
run derby and like, you have this event to yourself.
There's no real NBA games going on. Summer League is
happening right now. The NFL is still on hiatus. Like
this is a week where you're supposed to own this
chunk of real estate. If you're Major League Baseball, don't
complicate things. It complicated the home run derby last night.

(49:12):
Great work, great work. It's the Third Star Wars prequel.
Nice job. Made me go away. Tip at the captain
Major League Baseball in ESPN. I had to. I had
to get that off my chest, you know. And if
you love, if you love camping, that's your thing. Man,
I just and I go. I gotta do something to relax.

(49:33):
I don't want to do a lot of work. Don't
want to do a lot of work. Watching that thing
was work last night. Literally, my daughter's like, Daddy, what's
going on?

Speaker 4 (49:42):
Man?

Speaker 3 (49:42):
Kid? I have no idea I've been watching baseball my
whole life. I have I do not there's I mean it.
It's like baseball's version of the circus, where there's like
ten thousand things going on at the same time. How
do you screw that event up? It's batting practice. Put
a camera behind the plate. Let us watch the I hit,
see where the ball goes. Hopefully Fox does better with

(50:07):
the All Star Game itself tonight, coverage of which you
could also hear on ESPN fifteen thirty ESPN radios broadcast
starts at seven o'clock. By the way, so this doesn't
come off as one of those like gratuitous beat up
on ESPN things. I will tell you this because I
dvard it last night and I watched it this morning.

(50:28):
South Paul the E sixty on Jim Abbott, the one
handed pitcher who threw a note hitter for the New
York Yankees in nineteen ninety three. It's one of the
best things I've watched. Poignant, emotional, fun, nostalgia if you
love baseball from that era, just a great, great, great
ninety minutes of sports television. That was awesome. The exact

(50:49):
opposite could be said for the home run Derby. Jason
Williams of The Athletic No. Jason Williams of The Inquirer says,
the Reds are boring. We'll discuss that here a little
bit later on. All Right, we got to spend some
time on this Shamar Stewart thing. So the Cover three

(51:10):
podcast has devoted some time to Shamar Stewart and the
possibility that he decides to play college football at Texas
A and M next year instead of signing with the Bengals.
We'll play the audio. We'll discuss it next on ESPN
fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's esp after four o'clock. This is ESPN

(51:30):
fifteen thirty onm Oegar, Brenaman and Jones on baseball coming
up in just about thirty minutes. We are looking forward
to that. So this has generated a lot of traction
on social media. The Cover three College Football Podcast dipped
its toe into the Chamar Stewart versus Cincinnati Bengals impass

(51:53):
that has been one of the major topics of conversation
throughout the entire NFL and as an extension, college football
as well. And I'm only going to play a chunk
of this year. You can go listen to the rest
if you would like, which are about to hear though,
is a conversation between four people. You'll hear three voices.
The first one is Bud Elliott, and then you'll hear
Danny Canell Front of the show, and then you'll hear

(52:14):
Tom Fournellie, and they're discussing the Schamar Stewart situation and
a possible outcome Tarn Go ahead and play the audio.

Speaker 11 (52:22):
I was in the backyard with the boys on Friday
or no Saturday it was, and guy who you know,
had some good A and M stuff in the past,
he hit me. He's like, hey, uh, Shamar might end
up back here.

Speaker 3 (52:35):
I was like, okay.

Speaker 11 (52:38):
I was like, he's been in college station, he's been
fully involved in workouts, you know, blah blah blah. He's
to hold me out from the Bengals, you know, relationships
toxic blah blah blah blah blah. Like he could try
to come back and play again this season and then
go go in to the draft again next year. Remember
he came out early.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
And I was like, uh, how was that even legal work?

Speaker 11 (52:58):
He's like it may not be legal, yeah, But then again,
everything in the NCAA ecosphere is subject to litigation. So
I didn't know you could do this. I knew you
could do this in baseball, right, you got drafted, you
didn't like your pick, maybe you didn't like the team
that you got picked for. But I don't know why
you could do it in baseball and not football, and

(53:19):
you probably have to go go to court.

Speaker 4 (53:20):
But well, can I chime in?

Speaker 12 (53:23):
Yeah, because I never want to say never, but I
think there is about a point zero zero zero zero
zero one.

Speaker 3 (53:31):
Percent chance that he's allowed to do this.

Speaker 12 (53:33):
Because it's one thing when you hear everybody getting all there,
puffing their chest out about suing the NCAAA and suing
the CSC and fighting all these cases. It's another thing
to fight the NFL. And that's that's going to be
the biggest pickup is the NFL. This is part of
their agreement, right, So like that's where you throw a

(53:54):
wrench into everything we've ever known. I would love to
see it be a case and all of a sudden,
if he wins, what it would mean because like you've said,
but almost every draft, I've always proposed this idea, like
why can't they It'd be great for the players if
we're supposed to be player friendly. Let's let them truly
see where they get drafted. It gives them leverage, It
helps them make a better decision. If they don't get

(54:16):
drafted where they thought they were going to be, they
can go back to college, and selfishly, it's the best
for the college game.

Speaker 4 (54:21):
Right.

Speaker 12 (54:21):
You get guys caught like Shamar Stewart that would come back.
I just think this would be unprecedented if he's able
to win this case.

Speaker 13 (54:29):
I think if he tried, he would get back in
I think too, Yeah, I think just the way things
have gone with eligibility rules, he would probably win if
it went to court. Now, the question would be how
much time would it take? But you know, would he
play while they were waiting for it all to settle itself.
But I think the reason you've never seen players go
to the NFL and become first round draft picks and

(54:50):
then return to college is because the money was never
on the table to make it worthwhile for him before,
Whereas now if he came back, he could actually get
some money from Texas, A and M to play, so
to help offset what he's losing in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
So that's a segment from the most recent episode of
the Cover three podcast and the voices you heard there
were Bud Elliott, Danny Knell, and Tom Fournelli. And that
is a terrific podcast. Go listen to the rest if
you want so. I guess a couple of different reactions
to this. Number One, At this stage in the game,
with the way this is gone, why would we rule

(55:25):
out any possibility? It would seem unlikely that Shamar Stewart
would want to go through the legal process in an
effort to get a chance to go play at Texas
A and M next year. But given the weirdness of
this entire situation, given the way this is played out,
given how absurd this has been, why would you rule

(55:49):
out him trying to do anything. This is a different cat.
Different doesn't mean bad, but this is a different cat. Uh,
He's not going to sign the waiver to go through
workouts while his contract isn't signed. In an era where
pretty much everybody signs, and it's worth mentioning there's a
whole bunch of second round picks or are yet unsigned,
in an era where draft picks signed pretty easily, he

(56:12):
has not signed. The dude did come to Cincinnati, was
a part of mini camp for a couple of days,
and while he was here, he blasted the organization in
ways I've never seen a rookie blast the organization, none
of us have. So, given how weird this is, given
how absurd this is, I think it's best to be

(56:33):
at a point where you don't discount any possibility, including
this guy taking the extreme step of trying to go
back to play college football. I guess my other thought
is Shamar Stewart's agent is now just throwing anything he
can against the wall. I don't know the first voice
you heard there, Bud Elliott, I don't know who he

(56:54):
has talked to, but this feels an awful like an
awful lot, Like Okay, you gotta try something here. Let's
let's uh, let's throw this out there in a way
to sort of fretten the Bengals that hey, you know,
you know, especially in this era of college football where
the players are getting paid, we could always just try
to go back to Texas A and M I mean

(57:18):
doesn't and you could, I think, successfully say that if
this is the work of the agent, that amateur Night continues.
Maybe not, but it just it feels like, all right,
let's see nothing we've done is work so far, we
can't get the Bengals to budge from the contract language thing. Hmm,

(57:39):
Let's see if we can get somebody who's high profile
to float the possibility that we could sue and try
to go back to Texas.

Speaker 4 (57:47):
A and M.

Speaker 3 (57:49):
Now, knowing what you know about the Cincinnati Bengals, five
pine three seven four nine fifteen thirty, knowing what you
know about the Cincinnati Bengals, do you think that ploy
is going to work? Let me help you. I don't
think the answer is yes. You know, we've obviously discussed

(58:10):
this now for weeks on end, to the point that
it's exhausting and will be next week as we get
set for the start of training camp. It's exhausting, it's frustrating,
and like I'm beyond kind of taking sides here. I
just I just want the dude to play, and I
want the dude to help the team, and I want
him to miss as little time as possible so he

(58:32):
can be in the best possible position to help the
team early. I want the team to win. I want
there to be no distractions. I want Joe Burrow and
Zach Taylor to get the training camp they deserve. I
want this to go away. However it goes away, just
make it go away, ideally with the guy playing for
the team this year. I'm sorry, and I typically don't

(58:54):
I typically don't go out of my way to make
irresponsible or unreasonable public assumptions. But I don't know how
it doesn't at least cross your mind that this dude
just really doesn't want to play here. I don't know

(59:14):
that for a fact. But like, whenever someone's acting weird,
don't you wonder what there are ulterior motives are? Like
go home tonight, start acting kind of weird around your wife.
She's not gonna start wondering what's up your ball starts
acting weird at work, right, doing weird uncharacteristic things. You

(59:35):
don't think about that during the entire car ride home.
I don't know, man. Maybe the guy can't wait to
move to Cincinnati, play in Cincinnati, play as well as
he can for Cincinnati. Maybe he'll live the rest of
his life here in Cincinnati. And maybe he lives the
rest of his life here in Cincinnati. Regarded as one
of the best defensive players they've ever had, but the

(59:57):
reluctance to sign the waiver the way he dumped all
over the team, sitting in his locker during miniicamp, him
leaving miniicamp early, the way he did, the reluctance to
sign a contract, the unwillingness to sign a contract, even
though and I have heard this that the Bengals have
moved off of some of the language that they're trying
to get that they have tried to get Shamar Stewart

(01:00:18):
to agree to. Let's be honest, dude didn't exactly have
a joyous look on his face the day he was drafted.
Until he's here, until he has taken the step to
sign what's in front of him and agree to what
has been proposed. Even if you think it's silly the
Bengals are trying to establish a new president, isn't it

(01:00:42):
kind of fair to wonder, like, does the dude actually
want to play for the Cincinnati Bengals. Hell, you might
wonder does the guy actually really want to play pro football?

Speaker 6 (01:00:52):
Now?

Speaker 3 (01:00:52):
For what it's worth, and this has been pointed out,
it's pointed out in the podcast, if we would have
kept listening to it, But if he were to somehow
some way find his way back on a college campus
and played college football next year, the Bengals would still
retain his rights. If he doesn't play football anywhere, then
he can re enter the draft. I can't see a

(01:01:13):
scenario where either are good for his pro prospects. Now,
this doesn't absolve the Bengals of anything, because let's say
you're nodding along as I wonder, do we think Shamar
Stewart actually has a reluctance to play in Cincinnati? Do
we think this is his way of kind of making
it known. I don't want to be a Bengal. If
you're nodding along with that, that's fine, But then you

(01:01:36):
have to ask, how did you not better vet this guy?
Even if you think the Bengals are completely and totally
in the wrong and they're screwing over Shamar Stewart, how did.

Speaker 5 (01:01:50):
You not vet the guy to the point that you
you felt good about what the signing process was going
to be like. But I'm at a point and I
could be proven not necessarily wrong, but cold water could
be thrown over all of this if and when he

(01:02:12):
does sign, and then we'll judge him by how he
plays and perhaps with his enthusiasm for being a Cincinnati Bengal.
I'm not sure the guy really wants to be a
Cincinnati Bengal and I don't know how you don't wonder
that your thoughts on this are welcome at five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty. How does FC Cincinnati bounce back
from a really tough loss? On Saturday? Bradley Wright Phillips

(01:02:34):
from MLS three sixty on Apple TV. We'll tell us
next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (01:02:44):
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Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
This report is sponsored by This is a ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati sports station.

Speaker 3 (01:03:23):
This is pretty cool. This is a chance for us
to talk with one of the best players in MLS history.
FC Cincinnati home tomorrow for Inner Miami. The Orange and Blue,
coming off a tough, tough loss on Saturday, fall into
Columbus four to two after getting off to an early
two nothing lead the match tomorrow. Apple TV MLS Season Pass.

(01:03:45):
One of the analysts for MLS three sixty on Apple
TV is kind enough to join us, Bradley Wright Phillips.
It is awesome to have you on the on the show, sir,
How are you.

Speaker 8 (01:03:56):
I'm good, Thanks for having me up. How are you?

Speaker 3 (01:03:58):
I'm doing really well, doing better? Had we not seen
a familiar script play out on Saturday, third time in
the history of the FC Cincinnati Columbus rivalry, that the
Orange and Blue have gotten off to a hot start,
a two goal lead, and they lose it home, how
do they bounce back?

Speaker 14 (01:04:17):
It's about getting yourself up and dusting yourself off as
quick as possible. I know those kind of losses are
hard to take, being you know, being at your rival,
being it's happened before, they're really tough to take. But
if you you've got a tough game coming up, you
know tomorrow you cannot go into that game with any
doubts because this is another team that can hurt you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:35):
Yeah, no question about it. I think it's cool that
Lionel Messi gets a chance to play against the Vander.

Speaker 9 (01:04:41):
Oh.

Speaker 14 (01:04:41):
I think it's really good. You know we've been you know,
they're being on our lips against No but it's really
good for Avander honestly, because we've been comparing these two numbers.
You know who's going to be the MVP. If a
Vanda can manage to have a game which we know
he's capable of, and you know, I put this game
and team money back, then you never know, you really don't.

Speaker 3 (01:05:00):
Uh So lioneld comes here two years ago, was in
the USO Open Cup, another game where FC Cincinnati blows
at home to nothing lead. And we have talked extensively
about what his arrival in Major League Soccer could mean
for the league. He currently is on an unbelievably toward streak.
Uh with some time to think about this, what has

(01:05:20):
his play in MLS and his arrival in MLS meant
for this league?

Speaker 14 (01:05:27):
Oh man, it's hard to put this into words because
you know, sometimes you know, this league has been known
for bringing players they're a little bit old. They don't
care Messi. First of all, let's just take his ability
and his talent.

Speaker 4 (01:05:38):
And you know what he does, we can wake out
on the page.

Speaker 14 (01:05:39):
Let's take that away for a minute. Just his attitude.
Even if you look at the last few games they played,
you know, we're all expecting Leo Metsi to rest. He's
thirty eight years old. Now they just might have clubed
World Cup. He wants to play in every game. And
not only does he play in every game, he has
twenty every game. It's you know, we're blessed to have him.
While we respect him, I think you guys, when you
play against and tomorrow, be tough, make it different. You

(01:06:00):
don't want to just got another brace and you know,
add to that record. But just him as a as
a football player and what he's brought to the league.
The standard has been set. He's been so good to watch.

Speaker 3 (01:06:09):
Yeah, five consecutive games with the brace. So if you're
pat noonan and defensively, it certainly didn't feel that way
over the final let's say fifty five or so minutes
against Columbus. But I think they've made a lot of strides.
They've been healthier on the defensive end, which has certainly helped.
But is your game planning for Miami and Messi and
his teammates, where do you start?

Speaker 8 (01:06:31):
Well, first of all, one hundred percent you're right.

Speaker 14 (01:06:33):
And I was going to say it was a little
bit harsh, you know, when you're saying, since you have
blown another too your league. I know it's because it's
against the rivals. Is a frustrating, but this since Inside
is normally a team that when they go up, they're
very hard to beat. You know, the last few games
I've watched them, they've gone up maybe two, completed one
later on in the second half, but they've seen the
game out. Something about Columbus they can't do. What I
will say is they had their in box market set

(01:06:55):
pieces limiting time and space for bus gets messy, so
gets can't find passes into Messi listen.

Speaker 4 (01:07:02):
Is very hard to stop.

Speaker 14 (01:07:03):
I think when you're stopping them Leo Messi, you need,
you know, very hard work to be done by each player,
and then you also need him to be offer form
a little bit and not finishing at the highest ability.
But it's always going to be tough. But it's limiting
time and space. You know, like I said before, show
him respect, but he's just another man at the end
of the day for ninety minutes. You've got to get
in his face to make it really difficult for him.

Speaker 3 (01:07:23):
The impact of Evander on Cincinnati has been something to
behold At times this year. It has felt like not
that dissimilar from Lucho Acosta last year, Like it felt
the times last season they were asking him to do
a little bit too much. Do you fear that at
all with FC Cincinnati with a Vander, No, I don't.

Speaker 8 (01:07:42):
I just think that there's some players that are like that.

Speaker 14 (01:07:43):
There's some players that welcome those pressure moments. There's players
that their teams, you know, keep them in the game
in order for them to produce a little bit of magic. Well,
I love about evanderist he doesn't need a chance, He
just needs caught out or half a chance to make
something happen. The last few goals he squad it shouldn't
even really be you know, getting a show off, or
he shouldn't be, you know, scoring these goals. This is

(01:08:04):
one little inking of a chance and he puts it
in the back of the neck. For me, when you
have a player like that, you always have a chance
of winning a game. I don't think it's too much
for him. I just think naturally this is how he plays.
You give him at a little chance, he'll take full
advantage of it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
The Eastern Conference in that match on Saturday night was
painful because it was a rivalry, but it was also
painful because you know, that was a huge game atop
the table in the league. FC Cincinnati falls in the
second in the Eastern Conference. So between Philadelphia, which has
spent the summer just looking unbeatable at times, all the
way down to Miami in the fifth spot, there's just
five points separating five teams. How do you handicap this?

(01:08:41):
Handicap this race a top the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 14 (01:08:46):
It's tough at the business part of the season, and
it's just about it's about winning your games. But are
you asking me, like who the favorite or who's got
a better chance of winning?

Speaker 8 (01:08:54):
This? Is that we ask him?

Speaker 4 (01:08:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 14 (01:08:56):
Yeah, No, I'm not shooting enough. You know, my early
days have been an analystal stupid enough to call these
kind of things.

Speaker 4 (01:09:03):
Now I know better.

Speaker 14 (01:09:05):
Let's change it from game to game. All these teams
that you just mentioned, the top five of so much quality,
and then you've got to think about the transfer window
in I think that's sit in July July twenty fourth.
Every team can add, so I'll be stupid to call it,
but as a new too, I mean, I'm just really
enjoying this race.

Speaker 3 (01:09:22):
Yeah, it's it's going to be something. It's a lot
more wide open than it was last year. Bradley Right Phillips,
the Great Bradley Right Phillips MLS three sixty on Apple
TVs MLS Season Pass should be a lot of fun
tomorrow from our perspective, obviously hoping for three points on
the home team nonetheless, should be a great match. We
appreciate the time man, thanks so much.

Speaker 4 (01:09:44):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 3 (01:09:44):
Good luck or they're going to need it, thanks so much.
The two time winner of Major League Soccers Golden Boot
and the fastest ever to score one hundred goals. Bradley
Right Phillips Studio analysts for MLS three sixty on Apple TV.
The match at seven thirty tomorrow, and of course you
could listen to it on ESPN fifteen thirty. All right,

(01:10:05):
we're guest free the rest of the way five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty. We got a poll question on
Twitter at moegar thanks to United Heartland Insurance. Make sure
you know what you're paying in insurance premiums and you know,
ask yourself, could I be paying less? And if the
answer is yes, which it probably is, you gotta check

(01:10:26):
out United Heartland Insurance. Go to uhi ands dot com.
Does it seem to you like Shamar Stewart doesn't want
to play for the Bengals. Vote now at Moegar. Brendanman
and Jones on baseball is coming up in just about
ten minutes. We do have to address Jason Williams who
calls the Reds boring. I don't think the Reds baseball

(01:10:48):
team is boring. I think there is something that is.
We'll get to that coming up here in just a bit.
And quarterback discussions have never been more toxic. I'm gonna
make this very easy because we are in list season.
I'm gonna make it very easy for you. But we're
going to ask a key question as well. Coming up
in the five o'clock hour on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati

(01:11:08):
Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:11:09):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (01:11:13):
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shoulder at EAZELK with traffic.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
This report is sponsor Vivening. Looking at some pictures of
Ellie de la Cruz and Andrew Abbott on the Red carpet?
Did you wear Winglam soups? I'm not a suit guy,
so I'm sure it's really hot in Atlanta. I don't
know that I want to wear a suit when I
don't want to wear a suit ever ever? Can I

(01:12:08):
go business casual? Like if you're walking the red carpet?
Is there a bare minimum? Could you wear shorts and
a T shirt?

Speaker 6 (01:12:15):
Like?

Speaker 3 (01:12:15):
The older I get, the less interest I have in
dressing up at all. Did and Jesse Winker like the
other year wear a T shirt? His keys mate Nick
Cassians did, Yes, and Nick Cassians did. Andrew Abbott. I
just saw him on the Red carpet. Good for him,

(01:12:36):
you wouldn't be I go, Harold Reynolds, send them black suit,
Harold Reynolds. Like, we were watching MLB Network and they
were broadcasting from the Red Carpet, and Harold Reynolds and
Greg Amsinger and Lauren Shahati were broadcasting. They were doing
a show like the pre Red Carpet Show, and Greg

(01:12:58):
Amsinger and Harold ren Olds were wearing suits. Now no ties.
And let me tell you something, My version of hell
on Earth is having to wear a tie. It is
my goal in life to literally never wear a tie again.
But even though they weren't wearing ties, they looked miserable.
And then they started talking to Ken Griffey Junior, who
was wearing just a pair of pants and a polo,
and he was like sweating through the polo. So now

(01:13:20):
I'm not wearing a I'm not wearing a suit. I
I'm kind of like slightly past that stage of life
where like, you know, everybody's having weddings and stuff like that,
so I don't know that I'm gonna have to wear
many suits moving forward. Last funeral I went to, I
didn't wear a suit. I have bought one suit since

(01:13:43):
twenty twelve. I own three. The two that I bought
in twenty twelve probably don't fit anymore. I've bought one
suit since then, and that's all I plan on owning
for a while. Ten away from five o'clock. That incredible
segment should have been sponsored Brennemant and Jones on Baseball's next.

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You've jound Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:14:16):
Sure have what's up? Mikelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour
on ESPN fifteen thirty thanks to michelob Pultra and mikeelob
Ultra right now. Sounds amazing to join one while you're
watching the All Star Game tonight or listening to the
All Star Game, or maybe you're not gonna do either,
but regardless of what you're doing, have a nice cold

(01:14:36):
Nick Ultra Superior Taste Superior light beer. I was listening there.
In the top of the hour, sports Center update mentioned
the All Star game tonight, they're going to be using
the ABS system, the automated ball strike review. I hope
that tonight it's put in place, and I hope tonight,
if you haven't seen it in play in place, you

(01:14:58):
get a chance to see it in the All Star
Game tonight. It was used during spring training. It is
very reminiscent of the replay you might see if you
follow professional tennis, and I am, for the most part
kind of anti replay. Maybe not entirely, but I usually

(01:15:19):
balk at the idea that we should have expanded replay,
more replay, more plays that can be reviewed, because I
feel like it just gums up the game. Oftentimes, replay
in sports I believe is intrusive. The ABS system in
spring training was the exact opposite, and Terry Francona kind

(01:15:40):
of made up not a big deal about this, but
he made mention to point out early in spring training.
If you remember that, he was telling his players, don't
worry about the ABS system, don't worry about challenging balls
and strikes. It's not going to be used during the
regular season. We're not going to be using it this year.
We're using spring training to prepare for the season, So
don't worry about something that we're not going to use
this season. And that's fair. But I went to Arizona,

(01:16:05):
and I go every year, and I saw five games
and four parks, and in each one of them the
ABS system was used at some point in the game,
and it was as non intrusive and as easy and frankly,
as accurate as you ever could have wished for. So

(01:16:27):
I know there's people maybe who are often like me,
who kind of push back at even the suggestion that
we should have more replay. I hope the ABS system
is used tonight in the All Star Game, because I
think you'll have a chance, if you haven't already, you'll
have a chance to see like how good this can be,
how much of an asset this can be, and how
it can be used while not diminishing the role of

(01:16:48):
the umpire in the game. So sign me up for it.
Check it out tonight during the All Star Game. Hopefully
it gets used at least once, by the way, really quick.
Our friend Kelsey Conway of The Inquirer, so we've talked
about Schamar Stewart a lot, and the suggestion that well
he's he's at Texas A and M practicing with the team,

(01:17:11):
and that maybe being an indicator that he's going to
try to go back to college, maybe go through the
courts and play for the Aggies next year. Our Frank
Kelsey Conway clears this up. Shamar Stewart lives in Texas
when he's not in Cincinnati, and she confirms with a
source that he is training at A and M. But
he's training by himself using their facilities. He's not with

(01:17:35):
the Texas A and M team. And by the way,
that's pretty commonplace where players, whether they're under contract and
have been in the NFL for a long time or
new rookies to the league, they'll work out at the
facility of the school they went to, or in some
cases work out at a college facility close to where
they live. So she points out he's at the facility,
he's practicing, he's preparing, he's training. I guess practicing isn't

(01:17:58):
the right word. He's trained, training by himself. He's not
with the Texas A and M team. So there you go,
there's a clarification. Schamar Stewart, I hope signs with the
Bengals and goes on to have a marvelous Bengals career.
We're all rooting for that. We are rooting for the

(01:18:22):
Bengals to nail it with every single one of their picks,
primarily their first round picks. This team badly needs an
infusion of productivity from edge rusher. They need help getting
after the quarterback. They need help getting after the quarterback,
regardless of what happens with Trey Hendrickson this season. So

(01:18:44):
it doesn't do anybody any good for Shamar Stewart to
not play for the Bengals this year. It doesn't do
anybody any good for Schamar Stewart to continue to hold
out or not sign with the team and then have
his chances of helping the team early in the season
get compromised because he's not practicing, because he's not working
out with his teammates, that sort of thing. He may

(01:19:05):
end up being an awesome teammate. He may end up
being a terrific player. He may end up being the
defensive rookie of the year. He may have, deep down
inside a burning desire to move to Cincinnati as quickly
as possible and play for the Bengals as soon as
humanly possible. I just want you to put yourself in

(01:19:25):
his position, acknowledging that it is fair to not want
to be the guy the Bengals set a precedent with.
And that's been the position. That's been my position all along, Like, dude,
let somebody else be the person you set the precedent with.
Understanding though, the Cincinnati Bengals, right or wrong, are typically

(01:19:48):
a team that kind of digs in. You could argue, hey,
they're more interested in winning negotiations than football games. That
is a criticism that has been lobbed at them for decades.
Maybe you feel that way, but if you're Chamar Stewart
for a second, if you're Shamar Stewart's agent for a second.
But really, if you're a Shamar, you're up against a

(01:20:10):
team that historically doesn't budge. This thing has been dragged
out now to a point that the draft was nearly
three months ago, training camp was about to begin. You've
not gone through OTAs, you've not gone through mini camp.
And you could say, well, look, there's plenty of time
for him to get caught up, and I agree with that,
but he still hasn't gone through that stuff. If you

(01:20:33):
had deep down inside this huge burning desire to start
your NFL career as quickly as possible and get it
started on the best possible foot. At this point, maybe
not a month ago, maybe not two months ago, at
this point today, won't you just go ahead and sign

(01:20:54):
the contract if you had this burning.

Speaker 5 (01:20:59):
Desire, you know what's being written about you and set
about you, if you wanted to prove people, you know what,
I'm better than the four and a half sacks I
had in three years. I'm better than what Summer's saying
about my reluctance to sign the contract that's out there.

Speaker 3 (01:21:14):
I want to prove people wrong. I want to do
it immediately. I want to start my career. I want
to get my clock started. I want to help this team.
I want to show everybody how good I am. I
want to prove that the Bengals got it right at
this point, want you throw your hands up and go, fine,
you beat me, You got me. Now it's on me

(01:21:36):
to ensure that I don't do anything that voids the
guarantee money if it's me and it's not. But if
it's me, I want to get started because I would
have if I was in Shamar Stewart's position. A burning
desire to play for the team, that drafted me to

(01:21:58):
want to show that they did the right thing, that
they showed faith in me, and it needs to be rewarded.
I want to I'd be really excited to get started.
I have a chance to be on a team that
has Joe Burrow on it and Jamar Chase and t Higgins.
I have a chance, I guess on some level, to
play with Trey Hendrickson. I have a chance to be
a part of this newly remade Bengals defense. I have

(01:22:21):
a chance to start carving out a reputation for something
other than not getting to the quarterback and having a
reluctance to sign my contract. I would be like screaming
at my agent right now, dude, pick up the phone.

Speaker 10 (01:22:34):
Call.

Speaker 3 (01:22:35):
Rookies report on the nineteenth. Let's get this thing done.
I want to be in Cincinnati on Friday night, so
I'm there on Saturday. Let's get started. If you had
a burning desire to do that, wouldn't you have told
your agent by now? Look, we tried. We try to
not be the president. We hung in there for as
long as we could. You know what Bengals won, Shamar

(01:22:57):
Stewart nothing. Let's go ahead and get this done. So
because for me, the answer is yes. If I had
a burning desire to play for the Bengals right now,
I'd go ahead and get this done. I cannot help,
and I'm not going to conclude because I don't think
that's fair. I cannot help, but wonder how much does
the guy really want to play for the Cincinnati Bengals.

(01:23:17):
And it's fair to do that man, or we're not
being unfair. And by the way, this is no knock
on him personally. I don't know the guy personally. He's
not giving us a chance to get to know him.
All I can do is wonder things based on what
I have seen, what we have heard, and what's out there.

(01:23:38):
What we have seen is the dude's nowhere to be seen.
What we have heard is him firing off on the team.
We've heard his dad fire off on the team. We've
heard his agent fire off on the team. And now
we're hearing about how well you know we played the
audio before, well you know he could go back to college,
which I'm gonna guess is something that was kind of
planted by the agent. I don't think I'm being overly

(01:24:00):
conspiratorial here. At some point you just arrive at a
place where you go not sure the dude wants to
play here. And by the way, the longer this goes,
the more people will do that. And so if I
had a burning desire to play for the Cincinnati Bengals,
I'd want to dissuade that. I'd want to just dump

(01:24:21):
cold water over All of that can't help. But wonder man,
does the guy really want to play? Maybe it's does
the guy really want to play pro football? Maybe it's
something as simple as does the guy really want to
play for the Bengals? Put yourself in his shoe at
this point, like I have all along and I've gotten

(01:24:42):
screamed out on this show because I felt this way,
Like you know, mid May, you know what, screw it.
I'm not gonna be the president. Let's see if I can.
Let's see if I can get you to lose a
staring contest to me. Let's play a game of chicken.
You want me to sign I'm not gonna all right, fine,
I'm not gonna come to Mini caamp or come to
Mini but I'm not going to do anything or I'll
leave early. Okay, fine, you lost, you lost the staring contest.

(01:25:08):
Don't you admit, you know what, I lost the staring contest.
If you really, really, really, really really want to play
for the Cincinnati Bengals this year, how is the answer
not yes? Five point three seven four nine fifteen thirty. Uh,
quickly here because he's been waiting for a while and

(01:25:28):
I don't want to make him wait anymore. Greg, You're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Greg, How are you fine?

Speaker 8 (01:25:34):
And this is perfect said way, because I think you're
looking at it from the wrong perspective. Okay, first, if
I'm the Bengals, I do understand. You know, nobody's mentioned it.
I think this little contract change is kind of reaction
to h to stay around receiver from last year.

Speaker 3 (01:25:51):
What's his name, Jermaine Burton.

Speaker 8 (01:25:53):
Yeah, I think it's a little reaction to Jermaine Burton.
But the Bengals, you know, if you really trying to
win a Super Bowl this year, you know important this
season is this ain't the year to try to tweak
your contract structure with your sent a thief pick that
you're counting on to make a big contribution. Yeah, you know,

(01:26:14):
if you want to do that, win the Super Bowl,
get to the Super Bowl, and do it with the
thirty second pick, the thirty first pick. You know what
I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:26:21):
I could not agree more with you. I totally agree.
But the reality is we know how they operate. They're
not going to budge. They're just they're just not They're
just knocking to budge. And you can and I can,
we can criticize them for that. But if we want
the best possible outcome, which is the team's first round
pick helps the team win this year, that it feels

(01:26:41):
to me like the quickest and easiest way for that
to happen is for Shamar to throw his hands up
and go, fine, I'll sign under your terms.

Speaker 8 (01:26:50):
Well, for the average guy, I kind of agree with you,
But again, I think this is all on the Bengals.

Speaker 4 (01:26:56):
This is self imposed. It ain't nothing Shamar doing.

Speaker 8 (01:27:00):
That's nothing different than what MAM's got, and I'd agree
with it. Yeah, you know, this ain't the DRAFTI this
ain't the year to change your contact structure.

Speaker 4 (01:27:09):
That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:27:10):
Oh I don't I don't, Greg, Thanks very much, man,
I don't disagree like I I don't disagree. If I
was Shamar Stewart for months on end, I would have
said like, I want what a Marius MAM's got, and
I you know, this isn't the first time I've heard
someone suggest that they're doing this because of Jermaine Burton.
If I was Shamar Stewart, I would go, but don't

(01:27:31):
punish me because you screwed up with Jermaine Burton. I
think it's reasonable to criticize the Bengals for deciding to
do this, but sometimes you have to operate within the
framework of reality. And the reality is Bengals track record
is not one of budging. It's not one of caving,

(01:27:52):
certainly not one of caving to rookies. It's not one
of caving to public pressure. One of their most popular
and productive players is currently engaged in a standoff with them.
If they're gonna do a standoff with Trey Hendrickson, who
led the league in sacks last year, if they're gonna
do a standoff with him, do you think they're gonna
blink first when it comes to a guy who's never

(01:28:13):
played it down in the NFL. You have to work
within the framework of reality. The reality here is whether
it's right wrong, whether you blame them, whether you think
it's an example of having misplaced priorities. They're not budget man,
they haven't to this point. If you're Schamar Stewart, don't
you eventually go? Fine, you win, Screw it, I'll sign.

(01:28:36):
Let's go. If I was Shamar Stewart, Yes, if I
was Shamar Stuart. Now again, I'm the seventeenth overall pick.
I can't wait to get started. I can't wait to
show people I'm better than a sacond and a half
per year. I can't wait to show folks what I
can do in this league. I can't wait to start
collecting NFL paychecks because I've got a burning desire to

(01:28:59):
be here. So IK, fine, you won you win this one.
Let's play football, because that hasn't happened. I cannot help
but wonder about his desire to play in Cincinnati. Nineteen
minutes after five o'clock, your phone calls are ahead. We've
got folks waiting. This is ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 2 (01:29:20):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:29:25):
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and northbound seventy one after two seventy five accident on
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Speaker 3 (01:29:56):
This report is sponsored by Raey. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Mol Egar, thanks for listening. We've got the All Star
Game tonight coverage at seven on ESPN fifteen thirty. We
have folks waiting, and I appreciate it. So I'm not
going to talk anymore. We're gonna let other people have
a turn. U. Don, You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Don,
what's up?

Speaker 4 (01:30:18):
Hey, Moe, thanks for taking the call.

Speaker 3 (01:30:20):
Short.

Speaker 4 (01:30:23):
Why aren't more people.

Speaker 15 (01:30:24):
Talking about what is actually in the contract that he's
so concerned about. I mean, don't we really want quality
citizens in our community?

Speaker 3 (01:30:35):
Well, I mean you can. You could be a quality
citizen in the community and still do something that violates
you know, language and a contract. I mean, I don't
think the clause is about being a good citizen. It
could be about violating a team rule, it could be
about any number of things.

Speaker 4 (01:30:50):
Well, then why aren't the Bengals talking about it more?

Speaker 15 (01:30:53):
Is if it's if it's more about you know, don't
get a duy, don't beat your girlfriend, don't get arrested,
and everybody would want to be there. I mean, what
would happen if this guy said, you know what, Yeah,
I'm going to sign this contract.

Speaker 4 (01:31:08):
I have no concerns.

Speaker 15 (01:31:09):
This is the teammate that I want to be And
how many deals would he get and how many endorsements
would he get just on being you respectful.

Speaker 4 (01:31:20):
And I'm a good guy.

Speaker 15 (01:31:21):
I'm signing the contract with the same language that Sakwan
Berkley signed he had no concerns about it. Why can't
this rookie with potential but no proven stats walk into
a contract like that?

Speaker 3 (01:31:38):
Well, because nobody else in the in the history of
the franchise has had to sign a deal with that
kind of language in it. That's the answer. He may
disagree with it. I don't know that it would help
the Bengals to come out and say, here's what we
want to protect ourselves against. Let's say, and I cannot
imagine they would ever do this. But let's say they said, look,
in the event that Shamar's or it gets a DUI,

(01:32:01):
we want to be protected, because then the question is
going to be, wait a minute, you think Shamar Stewart's
going to get a DUI? That that's not helping any party.
And so I don't think it helps the Bengals to
outline specifically what they're trying to protect themselves against.

Speaker 15 (01:32:18):
But the opposite is is the same argument, what is
he concerned about that that he's going to fail to do.

Speaker 9 (01:32:29):
It?

Speaker 4 (01:32:29):
Obviously the contract can't be outrageous.

Speaker 3 (01:32:32):
Right, yeah, very fair, completely fair, And and if I
had a chance to talk to with Shamar Stewart, I
think that would be an interesting question to ask, like,
what are you what are you worried about that is
going to prevent you from getting the guaranteed money in
the contract? Like, I think that's a I think that's
a reasonable question. I but I can also understand the

(01:32:53):
basic premise of you took a guy one spot later
a year ago, you didn't make him signed one of
these deals, Why do I have to do it? Like
I I understand that. What I don't understand though, is
getting to this point where you know the Bengals aren't
gonna cave and just deciding, all right, I'm gonna I'm
gonna screw up my introduction to the NFL. I'm gonna
compromise my chances of having a productive rookie season. I'm

(01:33:17):
gonna destroy my reputation in NFL circles. Possibly the longer
I go. I don't understand taking it longer than it's
already gone. I got, and I still do get his
position for months on end.

Speaker 15 (01:33:30):
But Moe in the Bengals defense, look at the Cleveland
first Rod draft choice. What was he three picks later
and he's already in.

Speaker 4 (01:33:40):
Deep deep deep doo doo.

Speaker 3 (01:33:42):
Sure, But if you're Schamar Stewart, should you have to
do something you don't want to do because that guy's
a screw up?

Speaker 15 (01:33:50):
But if you're an upstanding citizen and you believe in yourself,
in your own character, why why wouldn't you be the
poster child for Well?

Speaker 3 (01:34:01):
The flip side of that, though, is, if you're an
upstanding citizen, why are you worried about me like you
drafted me. You drafted me because you liked me, You
drafted me because you did your homework you drafted me
because you liked the fact that I checked all these boxes,
and now you're like, what is it about me that
you're worried about?

Speaker 4 (01:34:18):
Well, there's the rub mo. What is it in his
background that they're worried about?

Speaker 3 (01:34:23):
And what do you don't know that?

Speaker 8 (01:34:25):
Well?

Speaker 10 (01:34:25):
Fair?

Speaker 3 (01:34:25):
Yeah, And did they vet this out enough? Did they
do the required homework when it comes to Shamar Stewart?
Because to me, even if you feel like, look, Schamar,
go ahead and sign, get this done, it is completely
completely in bounds to ask like did the Bengals do

(01:34:46):
the homework they needed to do or were they hit
with some sort of information after they already drafted this
guy that they did not have in late April?

Speaker 15 (01:34:55):
I understood, And I guess my final thought is I
would love to hear a little bit more about what
they're asking for and is it really that extreme? What
I'm hearing on other stations and other conversations is it's
the same contract or the same stipulations that we're in

(01:35:16):
other contracts. Again, like I recommend I suggested Chikuwan Bartley,
Bartley who had nothing in his background, but the language
is in his deal.

Speaker 4 (01:35:31):
Let's hear more about that.

Speaker 15 (01:35:33):
And less about the Bengals just being jerks and wanting
to get over on somebody.

Speaker 3 (01:35:37):
I don't think they're being jerks. I mean, I can
certainly understand any organization wanting to protect itself. I can understand.
You know, we've said for years we want the Bengals
to be like everybody else. What are kind of trying
to be like everybody else here? Like, it's not them
being jerks. I guess for me though, like when I
negotiate with my employer, when I negotiate with iHeartMedia, neither

(01:36:02):
one of us really care about what the other media
companies in town are doing. You know, I negotiate against
my track record and what this company is doing, not
the failures or successes of other companies. And so, from
Schamar's perspective, here are the players this employer has drafted.
Here are the contracts this employer has signed players to.

(01:36:23):
This employer is asking me to do something different, and
I don't want to do that, and I think that's fair.
I guess trying to apply some common sense here understanding
how the Bengals operate, for better or for worse, the
fact that he has been unwilling at this point. Now
in mid July to sign a contract and is maybe

(01:36:45):
floating the suggestion through his agent out there that I'm
gonna go back and play college football. I think I
don't know how you don't wonder if the guy actually
doesn't want to play here.

Speaker 15 (01:36:55):
You know, I heard something earlier and I think it
might have been on your show here somebody that you played.
Where are the adults in the room, And I've got
a question.

Speaker 4 (01:37:04):
Who's this guy?

Speaker 7 (01:37:05):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:37:06):
Oh man, don I wonder that. Thank you very much,
good stuff. I I the agent comes off as an amateur.
I mean from how sort of off the rails Schamar
got sitting at his locker during mini camp, to his
dad popping off publicly to this, like, you know, my

(01:37:30):
take has been all along, Like I just I want,
I want common sense to prevail with one side of
the other. That hasn't happened yet. I also, I'm not
completely convinced Shamar is getting the best advice from his representation,
and I hope that doesn't torpedo his career. It's five
thirty sports headlines and more of your phone calls.

Speaker 2 (01:37:50):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from the UCE Health.

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Also got a crash off on the right shoulder westbound

(01:38:19):
two seventy five that between Blue Rock Road and seventy four.
I'm at ezek with traffic.

Speaker 3 (01:38:25):
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Speaker 9 (01:38:41):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:38:41):
The Major League Baseball All Star Game is this evening
in Atlanta. Li de la Cruz representing the Reds Andrew
Abbott representing the Reds as well. Seven o'clock pregame coverage
begins on ESPN fifteen thirty. First pitch a little bit
after eight o'clock. Paul Skeins and Trek Scuoble are your
pitch starting pitchers. They will not be the only pictures.

(01:39:03):
Evander is going to participate in the MLS All Star
Skills Challenge. FC Cincinnati is home tomorrow for Miami. That
match tomorrow night is on ESPN fifteen thirty. And University
of Cincinnati product Sauce Gardner has reached a four year,
one hundred and twenty point four million dollar extension with
the New York Jets, which makes him the highest paid

(01:39:28):
corner in the NFL based on average salary eighty five
point six five three million dollars guaranteed. Congratulations to Sauce.
If we would like to throw some of that money
into the coffers of his Alma Maters football program, that
would be fine by me. Let's see try to get

(01:39:51):
to as many as we can between now and sex, Rob,
You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Rob, how are
you hello?

Speaker 10 (01:40:00):
A second time caller, longtime listener. Thanks for returning my call.
I appreciate that. But yeah, I was calling you about
Small Steward.

Speaker 4 (01:40:13):
I think I called you last week. I know I
called you last.

Speaker 10 (01:40:16):
Week, But anyway, I was the one more on the
big little side of this, which rarely I am. But
and I think he pretty much regurgitated everything we've talked
about already.

Speaker 6 (01:40:30):
But but a.

Speaker 10 (01:40:33):
But yeah, I mean, the simple thing with Smart Steward
is he's not a proven I mean, yeah, you got
drafted a number one, and he should be thankful he
got drafted in the first round, you know, not necessarily
number one, but in the first round. Now, he should
be thankful that that even happened to him, because I mean,
kind of a loud the guy four and a half
acts and four years in college. That's you know, that's

(01:40:56):
nobody's I don't think anybody had him going out high.
But anyway, if you're really truthful and you know you're
not going to be in trouble, and you know you're
not gonna cause any problems, then I don't see what
the problem is why he just doesn't, like you were
saying earlier today that he just just signed damn contract

(01:41:17):
and be over, you know, be over with this and
get his you know, because the money's the same no
matter what he does. It's just this out It doesn't
really make a whole lot of sense from that standpoint,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:41:31):
Yeah, sure, No, I mean, look, I don't even necessarily
think it's about taking sides. I think it's about it's
about just understanding what the Bengals are or aren't likely
to do. I do not think the Bengals are going
to change their position, and by the way, they may,
but they're not going to do it before the start
of training camp, probably not gonna do it until right
before the season begins. And so I just to me,

(01:41:53):
it comes back to the desire of the player. And look, man,
Schamar Stewart might be a wonderful kid. He might show
up and work hard and play hard and be a
great teammate and a good player. And we look back
on his selection seventeenth overall in the twenty twenty five
draft as a positive one. I just I can't help
but wonder if you, if you really you've dragged this

(01:42:16):
out till mid July camp is about to start. If
you have a real burning desire to go out there
and play for the Cincinnati Bengals and play as well
and as hard as you can in year one, aren't
you essentially make it make it about admitting defeat, Like,
all right, you tried to go toe to toe with
the Bengals, You stood toe to toe with them for months.

(01:42:40):
You're not gonna win. You're not going to win in
the short term, so don't you just tip your cap?
You know what, Fine, I'll sign the contract. I want
to get my career started. I want to be really
good this year. I want to come to Cincinnati and
I want to be known for something other than this
this holdout.

Speaker 10 (01:42:55):
Yeah exactly. I mean, you know, not necessarily just silent
because you want to be a banaled sign because you
won't be an NFL player right and that you know,
you know, it doesn't matter what the next three years do.
You could get somewhere else and get that major deal
that you want to get. But anyway, you got to
prove yourself just like anybody else has ever proved themselves

(01:43:15):
before in the past. So, I mean, I just don't
understand it from a I can understand Trey Henderson saying
more than I can uh Stewart thing, but still I don't.
I don't like Trey Henderson thing either, because you know,
but thanks man, I appreciate the phone call, Rob, Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:43:33):
I uh, I think it's okay sometimes to admit defeat.
I may end up being completely wrong about this. Maybe
the Bengals overnight changed their position. But if if you're
a Shamar Stewart man uh OTAs came and went. You
didn't do anything. You were in the building, started meeting,

(01:43:54):
camp came and went. It was you know, kind of
became known you hadn't signed your contract and sign the
waiver allowing you to practice without signing the contract. Your
dad does an interview, You sit at your locker one
day during Mini caamp, you pop off, You leave Miniicamp early.
Your agent has spoken publicly on your behalf. Nothing has

(01:44:14):
gotten the Bengals to budge. Sometimes in life you just admit, Okay,
you win. Sometimes you admit you win if admitting you
win has a positive outcome, and for Schamar, the positive
outcome could be I start my NFL career, I have
a chance to prove people wrong about me. I have

(01:44:35):
a chance to maybe prove the Bengals wrong about me.
Based on how you feel about the language of the
contract you'd be signing like this. This is not so
much about taking sides, you know, I have felt like
Schamar's basic point of view this entire time has not
been an unfair one. It's it's it's number one. I

(01:44:58):
think for all of us, we just want the team
to be better this year, and that has a better
chance of happening if the team's first round pick is
a part of the mix. It's also about understanding what
the Bengals, for better or for worse, are simply just
not likely to do. Man Like, all right, I tried

(01:45:20):
to get you to change your mind as it relates
to the contract. Let's go ahead and sign it so
I can get my career started. And maybe the guy
is just getting a ton of bad advice. Maybe the
guy hasn't been struck by the common sense bolt. Maybe
the guy is really really stubborn. Maybe the guy just
simply doesn't want to play here, by the way, like
you can wonder all of these things, and we will

(01:45:43):
until he gives us reason to do Otherwise, sometimes you
just have to admit you got me, You got me
backed into a corner. You got me. And I can
only tell you what I would do if I was him.
But what I would do if I was him is
I go, all right, Mike, Katie, you win this one.

(01:46:03):
I'm gonna show up. I'm gonna have a great rookie season,
I'm gonna have a great Cincinnati career, and I'm gonna
prove people wrong about me. I'm gonna be a difference
maker for this team, and then you know what, you
can go and earn free agency if you're a really
good player, and go play wherever you want in five years.

(01:46:24):
I just I cannot help but question whether the guy
really wants to play for the Cincinnati Bengals, and maybe
by extension, whether the guy really wants to play professional football,
because if I'm him, I want to get started. I
want to put this behind me. And it's not going
to be put behind me because the Bengals suddenly change
their mind, so now I have to suddenly change mine.

(01:46:46):
Quarter to six on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:46:51):
It is ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:46:55):
From the uc Health Traffic Center. You see Health Brain
Tumor Center finds answers or some of the most complex
brain tumors. Learn more at UCHealth dot com. Southbound seventy
one after Fields Irdle, the left lane blocked off from
an accident involving a semi truck rear ending a car.
Got police on scene there as well. Twenty five minute

(01:47:15):
delay back from Western Row Road on eastbound two seventy five.
Another accident at reed Hartman Highway, that one on the
left shoulder. I'm at Ezelk with traffic.

Speaker 3 (01:47:26):
Congratulations to Sauce. I was just thinking during the break
where I would rang Sauce Gardner on my list of
all time favorite UC football players. I'm gonna go with
like a solid four, maybe a five. See, we don't
have a ton of time. We'll try to get to
as many as we can before we get out of here.

(01:47:46):
Today's been good. It hasn't been good because I've been good.
We've had last two days. The quality of the phone
calls on this show has been through the roof. That
is not necessarily me pandering to the audience. It's a
reflection of how I feel. Uh, Phil, You're on ESPN
fifteen thirty. What's up, Phil?

Speaker 16 (01:48:06):
No, just a couple of things.

Speaker 8 (01:48:08):
Uh.

Speaker 16 (01:48:08):
Number One, has there ever been an organization that you're
familiar with that hasn't acted with such unearned arrogance as
the Cincinnati people?

Speaker 3 (01:48:17):
The Cincinnati reps.

Speaker 16 (01:48:18):
I mean, okay, yeah, yeah, well played their well played.
But I mean you understand my point right like it is.
I mean, unless but unless the goal isn't winning football games,
then like there, you can't say that they have anything
to hang their hat on to Shamar Stewart. My man,
you could be right, but timing is everything you've got.

(01:48:40):
You've got a leverage, You've got none like if your
only leverages, I'm gonna go back to college. Pray to
God you don't pop in acl during two days. You
will never make this money back, never, Like it's a
huge gamble. The chances of you losing money are far
greater than the chances of you making money.

Speaker 4 (01:48:59):
And for true, Welcome to Cincinnati, my man. You love
the city. We love the city.

Speaker 16 (01:49:05):
You love your teammates, We love your teammates.

Speaker 4 (01:49:08):
You'd rather deal with anybody but the Browns.

Speaker 16 (01:49:11):
We'd rather deal with anybody but the Browns. Take care,
get as much money as you can for one year.

Speaker 4 (01:49:17):
Play like a unicorn.

Speaker 16 (01:49:18):
There thirty other teams in illegal will be happy to
pay you unicorn money.

Speaker 4 (01:49:22):
It's just missed this, my man.

Speaker 3 (01:49:23):
Yeah, that felt. We're all like, I appreciate that. I
appreciate the phone call. Yeah, you know that the trade
thing is an entirely different uh, an entirely different story,
although I guess somewhat similar. Look, man, the Bengals win
this one, right, like the Bengals. The Bengals win this one. Shamar,
you lost and by the way like your agent might

(01:49:46):
not want to take an l Okay, well, then get
a new agent, Like, uh, this isn't me defending the
Bengals by any it's it's it's wanting what's best for
the team, which is for the first round pick to
be in camp when it starts. Like we've made this
about taking sides.

Speaker 10 (01:50:06):
I know I have.

Speaker 3 (01:50:09):
The side that I care most about is and want
the team to win and be as prepared as possible
to start the season not losing the first two games
of the year for the first time since twenty twenty one.
That's best accomplished by your first round pick being here.

Speaker 10 (01:50:25):
And so.

Speaker 3 (01:50:27):
I'm on the side of like, get the dude here
so he could play. But like, just the Bengals have
won to this point, the Bengals have won this one. Now,
if you think, okay, well the Bengals are going to cave,
maybe they do at what cost to you? If you're
Samar Stewart, Bengals cave right before the season starts and

(01:50:47):
you've missed on an entire first training camp in the NFL,
I think if you have a burning desire to get started,
that's not something you do. Ben. You can have the
last word. Get about a minute and a half. What's up?

Speaker 6 (01:51:02):
Oh Hi, thanks for taking my call.

Speaker 4 (01:51:05):
I listen every day.

Speaker 7 (01:51:06):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:51:07):
I'm from Loveland, you know, fifty one years old.

Speaker 10 (01:51:11):
I belive Orange of Black.

Speaker 4 (01:51:13):
I've been a Bengals family hall life.

Speaker 6 (01:51:15):
I have to say, though, I'm on completely the opposite
side of this. The Bengals have always had to be
forced to make a change when it comes to how
they structured their business.

Speaker 4 (01:51:27):
And and this is unfortunately.

Speaker 6 (01:51:30):
We're expecting this young man to hold to fight the
good fight, and I'll and I'll throw out the opposite
of this, and then I would like to have enough
time to give a reason or are supported. But let's
say it goes the other way. He goes back and
plays college football. He gets five million dollars this year,
he leads the NCUBA in sacks, and it goes to

(01:51:54):
court the NFL, and the Bengals lose.

Speaker 4 (01:51:56):
We lose our.

Speaker 6 (01:51:57):
First round draft pick altogether, and and every thing changes,
which is what needs to happen anyway. I mean, the
Bengals have to be forced to change. And here's the thing.
Prior to I believe the twenty eleven CBA, the Bengals
would try down a team onto the field that was
fifty to sixty million dollars under the salary cap, and

(01:52:18):
it wasn't two hundred and seventy million dollars back then,
it was like one hundred and sixty million. I will
also throw out that my dad was a disabled veteran.
He had season tickets for twenty five years. So I've
been to hundreds of Bengals games and they don't do
it good on the you know, the customer side either.
But just imagine this, okay right now, The way I

(01:52:39):
understand the current CBA is that a team has to
spend ninety five percent of the salary cap over a
three year period, and during that three year period they
could be as low as eighty nine percent of the
salary cap. The protected salary cap of this year is
two hundred and seventy four million dollars and the Bengals
are thirty something million dollar under the cat. That's about

(01:53:02):
eleven percent, right, And that's what's really going on. So
I hope Jamar Stewart changes things. And I hate to
put it on such a young man to have to
make to make it happen, but that's what I believe
it is, and I'm a I'm a lifelong ye.

Speaker 3 (01:53:19):
Well, Ben, I appreciate the calling, the thoughts I got
to run. Some of that made sense that I agree with.
I'm not sure all of it does.

Speaker 15 (01:53:27):
But the.

Speaker 3 (01:53:30):
Is, do you think Shamar Stewart is trying to get
the Cincinnati Bengals to change? He may accomplish that. Do
we think a guy who's never played a nap in
the NFL is going to compel the Cincinati Bengals to change?
I'm skeptical. That was good. Today's show was good, callers
were good. I was my typical average self. We're done
shows ever, got to go. Thanks to Taran Bland for producing.

(01:53:52):
He's off on vacation for the rest of the week
and part of next. Thank you for listening, Have an
awesome night. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station

Speaker 8 (01:54:07):
Jose

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