Speaker 1: Billy Cunningham, the Great American, Welcome this Lauries Friday afternoon
Speaker 1: of the tries, papers, chance of rain. Later on Reneath
Speaker 1: Badley Red Spaceball kicks off about six ten the night
Speaker 1: the Reds are in mets Land and let's face it,
Speaker 1: maybe there's life this res resuscitation going on. Possibly the
Speaker 1: paddles digitalis, whatever it might be. There's a slight heartbeat
Speaker 1: with the Reds. They are only about fourteen and a
Speaker 1: half games out of the wild Card, twenty eight games
Speaker 1: out of first We'll see what happens, keep hope alive.
Speaker 1: But of course what's happening on Sunday takes presidents over
Speaker 1: all things earthly, that is the Bengals. Bengals are going
Speaker 1: to tee it up on Sunday. It's going to be
Speaker 1: exciting and it's unbelievable. First kick about one oh five
Speaker 1: or so. Dave Lapham has all the information. And Dave Lapham,
Speaker 1: the great number sixty two, welcome again to the Bill
Speaker 1: Cunningham Show. And Dave, this is about your fiftieth year
Speaker 1: is involved with the Cincinnati Bengals. How high is the anticipation,
Speaker 1: how high is the perspiration? And the weather is going
Speaker 1: to be great. People are going nuts. Max Montoya has
Speaker 1: the connection with Dan Hurley and Moore. Give me a
Speaker 1: full report. I have very specific questions, though, give me
Speaker 1: a full report. Where is the excitement meter?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's up there, Willie. There's there's no question
Speaker 2: about it. The they think that it's going to be
Speaker 2: a really, really solid football team, and the weather is
Speaker 2: going to be almost like fall. It's going to be beautiful,
Speaker 2: be in the seventies, low seventies for the game. But uh,
Speaker 2: that morning when you wake up, man, it's going to
Speaker 2: feel like in October or November morning. There's there's no questions. So, yeah,
Speaker 2: guys are geared up. There's no no question about it.
Speaker 2: The the opening weekend the National Football League is always
Speaker 2: always a big deal, and man was it kicked off
Speaker 2: by a pull of football game last night. It was unbelievable.
Speaker 1: How about Kansas City's first two games at home against
Speaker 1: the Ravens then the Bengals. Uh many. I've read some
Speaker 1: Kansas City stuff from the Star Ledger, et cetera, and
Speaker 1: it looks to me as if they're they're higher than
Speaker 1: a kite and they be the Ravens. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think that the Ravens are, shall we say, it's
Speaker 1: just a NACHA two below the Chiefs. When you examined
Speaker 1: that game last night, ken Ken, the Bengals compete against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs with that team, but Patrick mahomes exciting, unbelievable
Speaker 1: defense was good and I never saw most of those
Speaker 1: wide receivers. They made Tyreek Hill look like it was slow.
Speaker 1: What did you see in that game?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw the rookie from Texas, Xavier Worthy, just
Speaker 2: his first touch of his NFL career was want of
Speaker 2: reverse for about a touch on you he was a blur.
Speaker 2: I mean here he's running through guys like they were
Speaker 2: standing still. He scores two touchdowns in his first NFL game,
Speaker 2: one on the ground and one on the air. And
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes won a Super Bowl with more pedestrian corps
Speaker 2: receivers than he's got. Now, I mean, this kid, he
Speaker 2: adds speed to that football team. And then when you
Speaker 2: have somebody who can stretch the field vertically and horizontally
Speaker 2: horizontally like he did on that reverse, I mean when
Speaker 2: he's in motion, he's a blur. You know, guys are
Speaker 2: trying to catch up to when he goes in motion,
Speaker 2: across the backfield went to the field. So I mean
Speaker 2: he makes he makes Kelsey's life easier, He makes all
Speaker 2: the other receiver's life easier because you know, he stretches
Speaker 2: the field both ways, vertically and horizontally. He's he's a weapon.
Speaker 1: Man speaking in vertically and horizontally. Did you see Taylor Swift.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, what
Speaker 1: the hell's going on?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: Anyway, let's get back to football. Who runs it. Let's
Speaker 1: say you line up on the fifty yard line and
Speaker 1: you got Xavier Worthy on one side and La Dela
Speaker 1: Cruz on the other. Who wins the race?
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what that's That's a good race because
Speaker 2: Dela Cruz he gets he gets from zero to to
Speaker 2: fifty quickly. I mean, he's not one of those guys
Speaker 2: it takes about three or four steps to get get
Speaker 2: in high gear. Man, he's in high gear right now,
Speaker 2: and he's got long strides. A fifty yard.
Speaker 1: Race, yeah, that wins.
Speaker 2: That'd be a good race because you know Worthy's He's
Speaker 2: run the fastest forty in the history of the National Football.
Speaker 1: League, like four to two or four to one or something.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like got like got four to one. That's exactly
Speaker 2: what it was. I mean, it was like nuts, Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's nuts.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about specifics here. I get into the facts.
Speaker 1: You're you're a great poet, but I tend to deal
Speaker 1: with facts. And uh, while you're laughing, and they and
Speaker 1: the five seasons that uh, Zach Taylor has been the
Speaker 1: head football coach with your Bengals. In the first two games.
Speaker 1: According to Jason Williams, the Bengals are one and nine
Speaker 1: in the first two games in the last five seasons.
Speaker 1: Why would this be different this year? One and nine?
Speaker 1: They're terrible? Why first of all, why have they been terrible?
Speaker 1: And secondly, why is this year different?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Sometimes it's been opponent driven. I mean, when you
Speaker 2: play the Kansas City Chiefs or the Baltimore Ravens or
Speaker 2: any bigger like that in your first couple of games
Speaker 2: at the start a season, it's you know, it's it
Speaker 2: makes a dicey uh. And they got bigger in Kansas City.
Speaker 2: They go to Kansas City week two, and that's going
Speaker 2: to be a hell of a hell of a challenge
Speaker 2: out there when you play them in Kansas City, that
Speaker 2: place is I mean, you can't even hear yourself think
Speaker 2: out there, it is. It's absolutely nuts out there. So
Speaker 2: that that's going to be very interesting. First and foremost,
Speaker 2: they're going to get off to a good start against
Speaker 2: the Patriots. They're favored by I think more than anybody
Speaker 2: else in the National Football League. I think eight and
Speaker 2: a half point favorite something like that, and I think
Speaker 2: that's the highest in Week one. So I can't look
Speaker 2: at that, and they just got to say, let's let's
Speaker 2: take care of business to get down to brass tax
Speaker 2: here and get after the New England Patriots, who, by
Speaker 2: the way, willie for out of the last five years
Speaker 2: to top ten defense in the National Football League. They
Speaker 2: were seventh last year. So this is this is a
Speaker 2: football team that prides itself on its defensive performance. They
Speaker 2: trut their disguise, they try to they try to create
Speaker 2: chaos and confusion and take cash. In my mind, take
Speaker 2: Caresh in my mind, is going to be hugely important
Speaker 2: because he's the guy that's got to sort it all out,
Speaker 2: recognize it, communicate it quickly, bring some calm to that
Speaker 2: chaotic storm that the Patriots are trying to bring. So
Speaker 2: it's going to be interesting. Man.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Number one,
Speaker 1: Dela Cruz, not Dela Cruz. Number two. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: the man. Let's talk about Jamar Chase. Jamar Chase, the
Speaker 1: Great Number one. The speculation was earlier in the week
Speaker 1: They're going announce it during the Thursday night game like
Speaker 1: they did with JB. That didn't happen. Here we sit
Speaker 1: Friday afternoon, all hell's breaking loose. I look at according
Speaker 1: to Austin and some others, Tony Benders looked at the next thing.
Speaker 1: I think he has spies everywhere and also cameras. It
Speaker 1: appears it appears that these secondary receivers are not running
Speaker 1: with the first team and that it is the Great
Speaker 1: Jamar Chases the guy out there. I mean, do you
Speaker 1: have a sense by Sunday? Number one? Is he going
Speaker 1: to play? Number two? Is he going to sign? I
Speaker 1: don't care if he signs or not. He's a multi
Speaker 1: billionaire anyway, at some point he's going to make all
Speaker 1: the doe in the world. But is he going to
Speaker 1: play on Sunday?
Speaker 2: I think he'll play, And honestly, think about it, what's
Speaker 2: the difference between Jamar Chase playing and Sam Hubbard playing.
Speaker 2: Sam Hubbard very early in training camp, had an injury
Speaker 2: to his knee that you know, he basically couldn't do anything.
Speaker 2: I mean, he couldn't even do what Jamar Chase is doing.
Speaker 2: He had to go back and square one and rehab
Speaker 2: and come along and basically learn how to walk right again.
Speaker 2: And now he's he's going to play and how many snaps?
Speaker 2: And I think they're going to have to, you know,
Speaker 2: monitor it with him as he comes out the football field.
Speaker 2: How you feeling the same thing with Jamar Chase. Jamar
Speaker 2: Chase missed all the time, but he and Sam Hubbard
Speaker 2: are doing the same thing. They're both coming to practice,
Speaker 2: they're both supporting their teammates, answering questions, trying to pass
Speaker 2: on some veteran knowledge and experience working out and and
Speaker 2: Sam workouts. You know, he had to ramp up. He
Speaker 2: had start from square one. Like I said, Jamar has
Speaker 2: been freakishly crazy in his workouts. Strength coaches tell me
Speaker 2: that man, he's he is like ridiculously strong. I mean,
Speaker 2: his lower body is crazy. And he's been running frints
Speaker 2: in the in the I E. L. Bubble over there,
Speaker 2: and he's got himself in good shape. Now was a
Speaker 2: football shape and That's what Sam's going to be working
Speaker 2: through too. You have to get back into functional football
Speaker 2: shape and that's gonna that's gonna take some refs out
Speaker 2: there on the field. But you know there's the reason
Speaker 2: that everybody, Oh, is jarp mare going to be able
Speaker 2: to play? He's not hurt. You know, he's he's in
Speaker 2: great shape and he's a freak. I mean, both he
Speaker 2: and Hubbard are keep themselves in premium condition. I mean
Speaker 2: like I finally tuned Mercedes man. I mean that's the
Speaker 2: way that they they look at it and they approach
Speaker 2: their uh, you know, their profession. So I don't have
Speaker 2: any hesitation about Jamar Chase being out there and being
Speaker 2: able to perform. And I know the New England Patriots
Speaker 2: are going to be concerned when he's out there. It'll
Speaker 2: be interesting to see how many times they killed coverage
Speaker 2: over there to Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1: Oh, your credibility is on the line. Number one. Will
Speaker 1: he play or not? Put it out there, Dave Lapham,
Speaker 1: Will the great Number one Jamar Chase play on Sunday?
Speaker 1: Yay or nay?
Speaker 2: I say yay. I'd be very very surprised if he does.
Speaker 2: I think he plays, and I think he plays well.
Speaker 2: I think he's a factor in the football game.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the trenches. Everything happens. You're a good friend.
Speaker 1: The great Paul Brown said, it's all beginning up front.
Speaker 1: Is the offensive line better or worse than last year?
Speaker 1: You know the position? Well, we have Max Montoya coming
Speaker 1: up in about forty five minutes to talk about he
Speaker 1: and Dan Hurley. Great story there about the hat and
Speaker 1: why Dan Hurley, the great Connecticut basketball coaches as a
Speaker 1: Bengals fan, have that in about forty five minutes or so.
Speaker 1: But talk about the offensive line better or worse than
Speaker 1: last year.
Speaker 2: I think it's one of the better offensive lines that
Speaker 2: they've had in franchise history, chance to be one of
Speaker 2: one of the best in the National Football League. I
Speaker 2: mean it's a massive unit. Will he you know the
Speaker 2: average size, I mean they get their offensive tackle position,
Speaker 2: they're all six to eight and they all ways turn
Speaker 2: the fifty pounds more. I mean, it's a massive humanity
Speaker 2: up there. It really is crazy. And you know, you
Speaker 2: go over with Trent Brown and I think he's going
Speaker 2: to be the starter or right tackle. Would not surprise
Speaker 2: me if Mims is deactivated this week, if he's up,
Speaker 2: he's going to be in an emergency situation. I think
Speaker 2: Trent Brown goes. So that means that four of the
Speaker 2: five offensive linemen have been to the Pro Bowl from
Speaker 2: an individual hon a standpoint, and all four of them
Speaker 2: have won a Super Bowl. So four different guys in
Speaker 2: the starting five of the offensive line have reached the
Speaker 2: pinnacle individually and team wise. And that that's good. I
Speaker 2: mean that tells you that you know how to get
Speaker 2: it done, you know what to do, you know how
Speaker 2: to do it. And I'm looking forward to seeing them play.
Speaker 2: I think they're they're they're big, they're mobile, they're cohesive.
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And when when Munoz was drafted, he was perceived
Speaker 1: as a large offensive lineman. Now at he's like a shrimp.
Speaker 1: Talk about the defensive line, the defensive line. Tony Bender
Speaker 1: is concerned about the defensive line and how poorous it
Speaker 1: might be because the Patriots are going to take the
Speaker 1: air out of the ball, They're gonna run, they're going
Speaker 1: to get the clock running. It's going to I think
Speaker 1: a low scoring game. That's against the predilections of many.
Speaker 1: But Tony Benner's concerned about the defensive line should he be.
Speaker 2: Well, I agree with what you're saying about the Patriots
Speaker 2: trying to run the football. They want to play keep away,
Speaker 2: they want to try to keep number nine on the sideline.
Speaker 2: They don't want to give him the football. So they're
Speaker 2: going to try to control that clock, play play that
Speaker 2: type of possession football. And they've got a couple of
Speaker 2: very very solid running backs to do that with. I
Speaker 2: mean Stevenson and Gibson. They're both you know, two hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty five tore and thirty pound type guys that
Speaker 2: you know, are very very physical, hard to bring to
Speaker 2: the ground. And when Brissette decides to run the football,
Speaker 2: he's he's six four to two thirty five. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's a full grown man. He's hard to get to
Speaker 2: the ground as well. I'm not saying there's going to
Speaker 2: be a quarterback run package. When he extends and creates right,
Speaker 2: he's going to try to run for you know, very
Speaker 2: significant yardage to move the change. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 2: going to be a big factor. And I think that
Speaker 2: that's going to be key. You know, get that second
Speaker 2: and third and long situations and let a guy named
Speaker 2: Tree Hendrickson, Willie he is freakish man.
Speaker 1: He's a man. He's a man. Harry asked, man, he's
Speaker 1: a man.
Speaker 2: The dude has unbelievable first step quicknesses. Get off is incredible.
Speaker 2: He's a he's got quick twitch. He's got the quick
Speaker 2: twitch from the running back or defensive back in that body.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's like, it's like, man, what how did
Speaker 2: he get there?
Speaker 1: He's he's got to He's a Tourett's kind of guy.
Speaker 1: Just twitch, just twitch and all of that. Unbelieved he
Speaker 1: gets from there to hear. I don't know so quickly.
Speaker 1: I know I didn't close my eyes. I know I didn't.
Speaker 2: I didn't.
Speaker 1: I got I have two big questions for you, Dave Lapping,
Speaker 1: Why are you prepared? Yes, who's a better wide receiver
Speaker 1: Isaac Curtis, o Cho Cinko or Jamar Chase. You have
Speaker 1: to pick one. You got Isaac Curtis, o Cho Cinco
Speaker 1: in their prime or Jamar Chase number one? Give me
Speaker 1: a quick answer.
Speaker 2: Totally different receivers. I mean, uh, you know, it's it's
Speaker 2: what he works. Flavor ice cream do you want? They're
Speaker 2: they're all tremendous, and it's what flavor ice cream you want?
Speaker 2: They've got different skill sets, different types of receivers. But
Speaker 2: I played with Isaac Curtis and and he was awe
Speaker 2: inspiring man. He he made such an impression on me
Speaker 2: with his athleticism and and his his ability to catch
Speaker 2: the football and then just all round hell of a guy.
Speaker 2: I love Isaac Curtis. Man hard hard to de throw
Speaker 2: on him.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Kenny Anderson, Boomer Sison, Joe Burrow. You
Speaker 1: have one quarterback who's behind the center with his hands
Speaker 1: between his legs. Which are those three?
Speaker 2: Boy? They Probably the greatest leader of all time is
Speaker 2: Boomer Sis And I think Joe Burrow and Kenny Anderson
Speaker 2: are more similar in terms of their their style of playing,
Speaker 2: their football, intelligence, and their accuracy. I remember my first
Speaker 2: my rookie with the team. I'm out there watching, uh,
Speaker 2: you know, Kenny Anderson throwing the football and uh, the
Speaker 2: balls never hitting the ground. I'm like, man, the NFL,
Speaker 2: this is this NFL is kind of crazy. Man. They'll
Speaker 2: be able to throw some incompletion. Must Borrow does the
Speaker 2: same thing.
Speaker 1: You're not giving me an answer, Burrow, number seven or
Speaker 1: number fourteen? Which are those three?
Speaker 2: The best? That would be number nine for borrow, oh,
Speaker 2: number nine, number seven or number fourteen? It I'll go
Speaker 2: with I'll go with fourteen.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, Pete Rose under center. Now, lastly,
Speaker 1: give me the final score. Let's cut the crap. We
Speaker 1: don't have to play the game. Dave Lapham says, final
Speaker 1: score is.
Speaker 2: Final scores Bengals by a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Willie about twenty one fourteen? You like that one.
Speaker 2: I'm thinking. I'm thinking twenty four to seventeen.
Speaker 1: I'm writing that down right now. All right, Thank you
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham, You're the best. This is almost year fifty
Speaker 1: one connected to the Bengals, one way or another. No
Speaker 1: one is a record like that, not even not even
Speaker 1: Dan Horde, Phil Sam, none of them have that. And
Speaker 1: thank you for sharing your thoughts. On the eve of
Speaker 1: a battle a great bat the Gladiators are about to
Speaker 1: enter the arena, muddy, bloodied everywhere, fighting like crazy, and
Speaker 1: see who comes out. Will be Maximus or it'll be Lithium.
Speaker 1: Maximus or Lithium is going to win the battle. Dave Lapham,
Speaker 1: give my best to Dan Horde and may God bless
Speaker 1: you and God bless the Bengals. Thank you.
Speaker 2: I'm going with Maximus because You've got Maximus Montoya coming
Speaker 2: up here, so I'm going with Maximus. Really as a pleasure,
Speaker 2: as always agreed the best. Appreciate the opportunity to catch
Speaker 2: up with the legend.
Speaker 1: Great number sixty five. All right, thank you very much,
Speaker 1: Dave Lappham. You're the man. If you can't do it,
Speaker 1: nobody can. Thank you, Dave, God bless America. Let's continue
Speaker 1: with more of your comments. Are next. I don't know
Speaker 1: why why these interviews go those route, but it's kind
Speaker 1: of fun. On news Radio seven hundred WLW