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Shannon Sharpe
What's up?
Cam Jordan
It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, the off the Edge with Cam Jordan Podcast. Tap in every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars from the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment about everything from teams and players making waves to pop culture. And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL. Looking forward to you joining me this season. The season of More on the off the Edge with Cam Jordan Podcast. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
Shannon Sharpe
This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don't miss any of the excitement this football season on Prize Picks where it's good to be right. It's officially that time of year. You might lose hope in your team, but don't worry, that's why we have Prize Picks to keep you going. Week six of football was something. Tampa Indy. They're legit. I wasn't wrong when I said I was feeling good about Baker Mayfield, Shake and Bake and that Tampa squad. I'm all in on Baker Touchdowns. More, More More. Prize Picks is simple to play. Just pick more or less on at least two player stats. If you get those picks right, you could cash in. Prize Picks is the only app that offers stacks, meaning you can pick the same player up to three times in the same lineup. Want to pick more on breaker touchdowns? Pick pass yards, rush? Now you can pick all of them in the same lineup only on Prize Picks. Download the Prize Pick app today. Use Code Shannon to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code Shannon to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup on prize Picks. It's good to be right. Foreign. Ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap. Y' all know who I am. I'm your favorite unc, Shannon Sharp. That is my partner and co host. He's Liberty City's own Bingo's Ring of Fame honoree, a former Pro Bowler All Pro, and he has a new title, Matting Ratings Adjuster. He's Chad Ochocinko Johnson. Please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Please make sure you hit the like button. Do us a favor. Tell family, friends and loved ones to do likewise and go subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast from, we'd like to thank each and every one of you personally for your support and your continued support. Because thanks to you, Nightcap has become what it's become. Make sure you check out Shea by La Portier. If you can't find it in a city or state near you, order it online. We'll ship it directly to your door. Best tasting premium BSOP cognac on the market. Try it, compare it. I promise you you will not be disappointed. Please drink responsibly and stay safe. Make sure you check out my media company, Shay Shay Media on all of his platforms and my clothing company, 84. With 84 being spelled out, that link is pinned in the chat. Nightcap won listeners choice today OO in both categories from Signal. We want to want to thank each and every one of our listeners and subscribers and everyone that voted for Nightcap. We could not have done it without you. We got special guests joining us a little later in the show. We got Rico Dowdle and Devin White joining us a little later in the show. But first, OO Tua apologized for criticizing teammates for being late to a players only meeting. Let's take a listen to what Tua had to say. Here's his full statement.
Tua Tagovailoa
Made a mistake and I'm owning up to that right now. You know, I've talked to guys on the team about it, talked to the leaders about it, and you know that they know my heart. They know that the intent was right. But no matter the intent, you know, the intent can be right. But when things get misconstrued or however the media wants to portray it, you know, that that leaves a void of silence and a lot of questions for the guys on our team. Now, being one in five, you know, we talk a lot about, all right, we got to get this going. We got to get this going. Come in, excited to go to work, forget about the noise. And I feel like I just added onto that for our guys, you know, for myself. I got to look at myself as the leader protecting the team. I don't feel like I did that to the best of my abilities. I felt like I let the emotions.
Shannon Sharpe
Of the game get to me after.
Tua Tagovailoa
The game and you know, that's something that I can learn from as a leader on this team. And what happens in house should be protected and none of that should have gotten out and so want to publicly apologize about that. Want to move forward and now I want to focus on flipping Browns.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, I love Tua. I love him. To death. You know, I love, I love what he stands for. I love what he represents. Being one in five, you also have to be self aware. It's all, it's all about being self aware. If you had meetings, if you had things that go inside, go on in. In house, they have to stay in house. You should know that whether you 5 and 1 away, D1 and 5, there's certain things that you don't talk about to the media. As a quarterback, as a leader of that team, as a person with that C on your chest. And it is your duty to protect those that are in that locker room. It's your duty. So to put it out there in the media and say what some of the other players are doing or haven't done that is. You know what? I'm not going to use the word. I'm not going to use that word tonight, but it's throwing people under the bus. You can't do that. You just can't.
Shannon Sharpe
You can't always be truthful. Sometimes it's okay not to tell the truth.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Come on.
Shannon Sharpe
Here's the problem that I have. That guy that you got.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You got me.
Shannon Sharpe
You got me. No, but, but, but in all honesty.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yes, sir.
Shannon Sharpe
The only problem I have with this now, the media misconstrued it.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yes.
Shannon Sharpe
How did the players. Okay, if you said what you said, the meters didn't say anything. Your teammates heard what you said.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
So if anybody misconstrued it, they misconstrued it because the media didn't put no spin on it. All they did was have a bunch of microphones and tape recorders there. You said what you said. Unprompted. Yes, unprompted. So, and to use Ocho's term, he dry snitch. Ain't nobody asked him. Did players come late for practice when you had a players only meeting the media didn't know nothing about? Didn't know anything about that meeting. You brought that up. And then you also brought up that there are players that were late or didn't or didn't arrive on time or maybe didn't even come to the meeting at all. You did that. How would you see, that's the problem that I have. Just own up to it and say, you know what, I was wrong. Don't add the media. The media didn't do anything. All they did was put the. Put the microphones in front of you and you volunteer that. So in other words, you dry snitch unprompted information that no one asked you for.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Now, with that being said, it was no choice. And I saw in the chat, someone said if that was Tom Brady or. Or. Or. Or Troy Aikman, everybody would have been there on time. I told y' all that the other day. They don't respect him as a leader, but y' all don't want to see when, when, when. Because I'm not in the locker room, you don't think I know what I'm talking about. But I've been a leader. And I guarantee you, every time I've called a meeting, which wasn't very many, or anytime I had something, guy showed up on time because there was a respect level there that was earned, not what I deserved based on what I had done.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Right.
Shannon Sharpe
I had earned the right to call a meeting. Meeting based on the way I conducted myself, the way I played, the way I practiced, the way I met and what I had accomplished. So I had earned their respect.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, you.
Cindy Crawford
You.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Right. And. And you know what? Matter of fact, if you do. If they did had a meeting that they didn't show up to, or they weren't on time, and this could be a tall tale and why they didn't.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, for sure.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Look what happens. Look, I mean, so there might be an underlying issue that we don't even know about that has been going on or to.
Rico Dowdle
In fact.
Shannon Sharpe
Underlying issue. Oh, well, listen, let's keep it as two guys that spent time in locker rooms.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yes.
Shannon Sharpe
That played the game at an extreme high level.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
He did. Yeah. It's unfortunate. And you know what? Even though he came out and apologized, it's too late now, because how do you think that taste, that bad taste that's in those players mouths that you talked about that know they were late or weren't on time to that meeting. How do you think other teammates feel? How do you think they looking at. Even though he's a quarterback, how do you think they're viewing you now? It's not the same, Monk. And it will never be the same. So this makes everything even worse. On top of being one in five.
Shannon Sharpe
Yes.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Forget the football aspect, because now you open up a whole new can of worms.
Shannon Sharpe
I give you a prime example, Ocho, you in the courtroom.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
One of the attorneys says something. The other attorney stands up and says, I object.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Right.
Shannon Sharpe
The judge says, sustain. How do I make the jury unhear what they heard? They heard it. Whether it's a plane. Doesn't matter.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Too late.
Shannon Sharpe
Or he'll allow it. I've already heard what that man wanted me to get out. He or she wanted to say so you can't make me unheal what I heard. I get the apology. The best apology is change behavior we're going to see moving forward. The greater the player, the greater the leeway is. That's with anything. Yeah. First of all, when you say Troy Aikman and Tom Brady, first of all, two is not on that level. Second of all, they've garnered so much respect. You see how the players went to bat for Troy. Tom Brady, that's a whole different animal. We don't ever put Tom Brady. Tom Brady, he's reserved. There might have been three or four other guys in the history of the game that garner the respect that Tom Brady tua isn't one of those three or four guys. With that being said, you have to be mindful, Ocho, because. And this is what I tell guys that. That I think at some point in time will be leaders. You don't know who's actually watching you, what you do, what you say, how you do it.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Right?
Shannon Sharpe
But all I can tell you is this. If they see you behave in a certain type of manner and you make money and you get things, they'll behave that same way because they believe that is acceptable behavior. Right. So even though you don't know who's watching, if they're watching or why they're watching, right. Just always try to put your best foot forward. That's all you can do. He will learn from this, hopefully. It's hard for me to believe that a guy that played at Alabama, played at such a high level at such a prestigious program, wouldn't know that you can't throw teammates under the bus, that sometimes Ocho sometimes looks. And we. We talked about this on show all the time as a coach. Sometimes you got to lie to your players even if you don't think they can win. Hey, we can beat these team. We can beat them. Hey, we do X, Y and Z. Sometimes you got to lie because sometimes it caused great hurt, harm or embarrassment.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yes.
Shannon Sharpe
And it might have caused all three. Now, like you said, how do we get that back?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I'm not so sure.
Shannon Sharpe
So. Because I'm thinking, bro, when you go home, you'll be pillow talking like a mofo.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, it is. Is. No, it's no way. There's no way to get that back. Huh? There's no way to get it back. There's only one thing that cures everything. There's one thing that cures everything.
Shannon Sharpe
And I don't know if they could do that.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
My point exactly. Winning is the only thing that can cure it. But I still think they won't view him the same in that same light, no matter what. You can apologize, you can say everything. You could, you could talk to him quite, you know, privately, but, but once you leave that locker room and you out of that space that's supposed to give you, don't worry about any of the bullshit you have to deal with on the outside world, right? Wait a minute. Now I got to deal with it when I come to work my own quarterback, right? Nah, man, they never going to look at it the same.
Shannon Sharpe
That's why I say that's what quarterbacks if you notice the most, the great quarterbacks, no matter how good they play or how bad they play, they always take responsibility. Yeah, when Peyton Manning, they lost the game. Peyton Manning said I got to play better. John Brady says I got to play better guys, John Elway guys would always say I need to play better. They never said even though they played great. A drop pass here, a missed assignment there. The defense gave up points late. They always put the onus on themselves. That's a part of being a leader. If you're the leader, even though somebody made a mistake, I'll take it. That's on me now. I'll call them and say, hey, we need to make sure this doesn't happen again, make sure we get it corrected. But this is on me. And that's what TUA needs to understand. You would like to thank a guy that's been the quarterback for an extended period of time at levels he's a high school quarterback. Normally the quarterback is the leader. Not always, but the majority of the time, I would say 80% of the time. Because a lot of times the best player is the quarterback coach, so he's normally the leader. In college, it probably kicks up N85% in the pros. I, I don't know if I've ever seen a starting quarterback that didn't have the seat since they've been allowed it. Have you?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
No, I haven't either.
Shannon Sharpe
So with that being said, he just has to be mindful. It's a mind field what's going on. And it's easy to get frustrated, especially with, like you said, when you're losing, you're 1 and 5. Because if they're, they're 5 and 1 and they're 6 and 0, ain't nobody 8.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
We're not having this conversation late.
Shannon Sharpe
Even if guys are late to practice, ain't nobody said a word.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
We're not having this conversation.
Shannon Sharpe
You should have nipped this in the bud a year ago or two years ago when you were winning and you were allowing guys to show up late, that's when you nip it in the bud. But you allow things on a win. Now it's a problem when you lose.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
You see, when you lose, Ocho, it's not how we played on the field. It's all the other things. Right. All the other things. Like I said, you don't win a football game on Sunday. You win a football game Monday through Friday.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yes.
Shannon Sharpe
That's when you win the games in your. How we meet, how do we practice, how do we study? How do we prepare? Did we get treatment like we supposed to? If we got a little nagging, did we. Did we take care of it before it became a big issue?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Right.
Shannon Sharpe
Hopefully two will learn this lesson. Yeah, hopefully he does. It is tough because if they don't start winning games, it. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And I. And I. And look, like I said, the greatest apology is change behavior. We're going to see. Go ahead, Ocho.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Well, you change behavior. Well, it's not change behavior off the. Off the field. It's the change behavior on the field. You know what the best sorry is for his teammates?
Shannon Sharpe
What?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Your performance.
Shannon Sharpe
Yes.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
How you play. Being the difference maker, being that you are the quarterback, being that you do make the most money on the field. That means your level of play has to be up here. It has to be eons above everybody else. Especially when you come out and you do something like this. Well, hold on. You can't be stinging up the joint.
Shannon Sharpe
No.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Then going in front of the camera and telling what we got going on behind closed doors and then looking like, you know what? I don't stir fry. No, you can't. You can't.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, it would have been wrong.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You got the whole locker room looking at you funny. I'm telling you. And I'm not even in there. I'm telling you. He could fix it, but he could fix it with his play. With his play. It'd be all smiles if.
Shannon Sharpe
Even if he. He would have been wrong. Even if he had thrown for 400 yards and four touchdowns. Yeah, he exacerbated the term aggravate, which means to make worse, he aggravated the situation. It was already bad, Ocho. But he aggravated the situation. Why, Ocho? Because he threw three pigs. So he made a situation that was bad. He made it worse with his plate. Yeah.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Well, listen, it was already a fire, right? It was already a fire.
Shannon Sharpe
Yep.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
So it Was already fire. He took the goddamn gasoline and threw it on the fire. All it did was make the fire goddamn bigger. It made it worse.
Shannon Sharpe
Made it worse.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Now you. Now you're gonna have hell putting it out for sure.
Shannon Sharpe
Is that my. Is that me or you, Ocho?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
What'd I do?
Shannon Sharpe
I'm right here.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I'm looking at you.
Shannon Sharpe
Oh, okay. Because for a second, I couldn't hear you.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Oh, yeah, I'm good. I'm good.
Shannon Sharpe
Okay.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Sure?
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah. You good? And what. What has happened, Ocho, is that for a fire to burn, it needs oxygen.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Oh, come on.
Shannon Sharpe
What he gave the fire was oxygen. A lot of a fire will not burn. Hey, you could have the biggest fire robbins of its. Of its oxygen. You see a candle, put a dish, put a jar over the candle, and it can't get any more oxygen. Yeah, it'll go out. You gave it oxygen. That's why when people say things, Ocho, we have to be careful how we respond because we giving it oxygen, and it'll keep burning. See? Things will burn as long as it has oxygen. Let it die out. He could have just let it die. Oh, yeah, I understand that he's seething. I understand that he's upset. You're losing ball games that you don't think you should have lost. Guys are coming in 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10. However many late. They're late to meet, they're late to practice. You know, it doesn't seem to be important. They're not as attentive as they need to be. Yes, it can get frustrating. Especially. Especially, like I said, I don't know what he's actually like. I've been around players that it was the end all be all. Everybody is not like that. The end all be all right. But it's probably. It was probably bothering him. He's like, well, this is probably why we're losing. Guys are not taking this as serious as they need to. Okay? But if they had. If they held you in such high regard, if they respected you as the leader. They're not coming late. No, they're just not. I mean, little things. Hey, man, check this out, man. We need a. Let's do so let's. Let's go to the movies after PR. After a workout on Monday. Guess what? 15, 20 of us go to the movies.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Hey, man, let's go bowling. 15, 20 of us go bowling. It's things like that. Yeah, but they got to respect you. Guys don't respect you.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
They.
Shannon Sharpe
They gonna blow you off. It's really that simple. Two of you're gonna have to play better. You're gonna have to be better, not just on the field, because leadership is just not a call and plays and then the huddle, you got to see on your jersey, you got. It's off the field, Ocho. It's the things. It's things like that. Yeah, you suppress things that Mike McDaniel or upstairs don't even know about. A fight that was about to happen, something's about to go down. Somebody owes somebody some money. Okay, what happened? Hey, Sean, check this out, man. We playing this. Blah, blah, blah. So how will you play it?
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Spencer Graves
I like the idea of like, hey, put me on a big deer. You know, hey, there's a big deer out here. He's doing this. Be looking for this deer. But I also love doing it on my own. I love going out there and saying, running my cameras. I love patterning the deer. I like showing up at the right time, checking the wind, knowing what stand I need to be in. And then whenever it all comes together and it happens, that's the most satisfying thing ever. So when you do it on your own, it's like, I then can hang my hat. But if I had somebody say, hey, pull up on these dots and catch them right here and you're going to win. And then when I go in, it's like, yeah, it's cool. I won the tournament. The ultimate goal is done. But it's like, dude, I fly. When you find them and you make them bite. That's the problem.
Rico Dowdle
I love it.
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Cam Jordan
What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, the off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. Tap in every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars from the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment about everything from teams and players making waves to pop culture. And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL. Looking forward to you joining me this season. The season of more on the off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
Shannon Sharpe
Right, Ocho. We gonna get. We gonna get back to this. We got a very special guest joining us. He had a monster game the week before. He told his former team, y', all, buckle up, buckle up, buckle up. And lo and behold, he came and gave him that work. 186 yards. I think he had over 230 yards. I think he had like 230 of total offense with receiving and running the football. Rico Dowdle joins us. Rico, how you doing, bro?
Rico Dowdle
Can't complain. How you doing?
Shannon Sharpe
I'm doing amazing. I'm doing amazing, bro.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, all. All is well. Rd before. Before UNC starts, my first question, my first question to you. Would you come into the game like that, obviously saying what you had to say, giving the team bulletin board material before the game even started. Did you have a chip on your shoulder? Did you have a chip on your shoulder going to that game?
Rico Dowdle
Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, that was one of those games I had circle early on in the season. But I think I always play.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah.
Rico Dowdle
With my shoulders since. Since coming into the league. So it's always a tip on my shoulder when I step out there.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Okay. No, go ahead.
Shannon Sharpe
I was surprised because you said this. They know it. Look, you were there, so they know what type of person you are. They know what type of running back you are. Do you think they underestimated you? They like, man, this Rico just doing talking, man. Rico ain't fitting to do none of that on us. What? I mean, because obviously you said it. I mean, you just came off A monster performance the week before and you called him out, you said, hey, buckle up.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, I probably. They probably underestimated me a little bit because they know, like you said, they know I talk to like and I'm gonna talk a little bit. He actually told me that before the game. Sam. I talked to Sam before the game. He was like, yeah, I told him.
Shannon Sharpe
Williams.
Rico Dowdle
He was like, I told him. That's just you. You gonna talk. Da D da I don't know what the chatter was in the locker room, but I don't think they relayed the message to the 14. I don't think they did for sure.
Joe Flacco
Yeah.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, you. I. I think obviously RD I've been, I've been high on the Carolina Panthers for a very long time, obviously before the season started. I continuously said it over and over and over. For those in the chat that are watching, I'm not sure if you heard it in general. I was very high on them and I said though they, they were one of the two teams to watch this year. I said it was surprise. Everybody, you guys are playing extremely well. And after last week's game, what is it that you guys need to continue to build on to make sure everything continues to go in the right direction? Headed. Headed towards.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, I say just really playing complimentary, complimenting football, all three phases, offense, defense, specialties. I think that's one of the main things is just like, long as we do that, I think we'll be fine not hurting ourselves how we did early in games, having to dig out of the hole early if it was penalties, turnovers and things like that. So I think if we do that and just continue to do that and be able to execute, keep executing at a high level, I think we'll be fine.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Okay.
Shannon Sharpe
How disappointing were you? You came in, you run for over a thousand yards and you're like, man, I had a good season. Oh, okay. I'm young, ain't got a whole lot of mileage on me. I know they going to come. I know they going to break your boy off. I'm going to be able to stay here. I got, I'm settled here. I like it here. They know what they got with me, I know what I have with them. And then come free agency and I don't know if they called you, I don't know if they low balled you. Walk us through your thought process. After the season ends, you have your exit meeting with your running back coach, maybe the head coach, the general manager. Walk us through the steps up until you made the Decision you're going to Carolina.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah. So they, they, they never made an offer at all. And free agency? Yeah, they never made an offer at all. So just going through, when we got out, my agent, we obviously thought we would get something here back from but they just the kind of team they like. Go test the market, let us know what you hear and then come back and let us know and we'll see if we can do something with it. So it was that kind of situation. They told me to go out, they're gonna let me test the market. And so I didn't take liking of that because I thought maybe what I've been through during my five years and what I was able to do once I was given the opportunity and to run the ball, what I was able to do, I thought maybe they would have an offer but you know, they didn't and it worked out for me in this way and I'm getting a show now. So happy where I'm at now with.
Shannon Sharpe
Them telling you to go test the market and they'll see that probably kind of left you feeling some type of way like, nah bro, if, if I, it's like, bro, hey, you tell your girl you go test the market. If you find somebody out there you like, if somebody like you out there, I might come back and take you up. But if not, you don't. Hey, you welcome to go. No, bro, you set me free. I'm good.
Rico Dowdle
Definitely don't work like that. But yeah, it definitely, definitely left. I wouldn't necessarily say I was just too disappointed because I know the nature of the business and how they operated. I mean I was a free agent the year before and they pretty much told me the same thing. But I ended up signing back there. So yeah, I just know the nature of the business. So I couldn't take harp on it too much. Just know I had to look for the next best opportunity for me and where I can go make an impact.
Shannon Sharpe
You look at the situation. Dave Canalis, your head coach, he was very non committal. Chuba Hubbard is coming back. You rush for 389 yards in the previous. In the past two ball games, 473 yards of total offense. And he was like, they asked him Sunday after the game, he was like, hey, Rico's playing extremely well. We're definitely going to have a package. But he didn't say who's going to start when that first offense run out there on the field. Is Rico running out there with no.
Rico Dowdle
We'll see Sunday when the game come Coach, he Ain't really put too much into it, but he just saying we'll see when the game come, we're going to go through this week and then when the game comes Sunday, we'll see.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, you know what? And honestly, honestly, that's not a bad thing when you think about it. Obviously I know you want to be the starter, you want to be the one to get the bulk of the carries, but when you have a two headed monster like you and Hubbard back there like that, it opens up everything else, man, because of what you did last week. You don't, you don't, you, you don't understand. I mean as a player I think you might get it, but as a, as a fan of the game and watching and understanding that and played it, but what you just did last week, it makes it that much easier for whoever's calling the plays. Whether it's Dave or whether it's officer coordinator. You made Bryce Young job easier. You made every receiver, TMac and legged and Hunter. You made all their jobs either cuz now when you play, oh well, goddamn already in the game. Safety, man, come on down in that box. Every time, every time, every, every time you end the game, the defense is checking. There's something different because you are the one threat offensive that you got to worry about.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, for sure. I definitely, I definitely following what you're saying there, that's one thing I think is going to help expand the whole offense play action. They got to respect the run. I think it's going to open up the pass for sure.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Oh yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
So what, what if you coach, what if coach Canales, the head coach, what is your running back coach told you? Okay, you know Hubbard is going down, this is your opportunity because you know you splitting carries and you know he get hot and you might not get the amount of carries because running back, I mean most skill position is all about rhythm and it's hard to get a rhythm. You get one carry, you get a carry the first drive and then you might not get another carry to the third drive and then you might have five carries in the first half and only get two. So now what? You could be in the big time running back, the full time running back. Now you're able to get into a rhythm. What has coach told you to say? Okay, just make, just make sure you stay, keep your head in the game. Make sure you stay ready. Is that some of the things that your coach or your position coach have relayed to you?
Rico Dowdle
Yeah. So yeah, going into it, I only talked to my running back Coach about it and he is like, okay, just kill your ops. You know, when the opportunity, the opportunity is presented itself to go out there and show what I can do, just make sure I make the most of it. I think I was able to do that.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Absolutely.
Shannon Sharpe
One year. Deal. So would you like to remain with Carolina long term or you like, look, I'm gonna take it one year at a time. I'm gonna go out here and play my absolute best this year, and then I'm gonna let the chips fall where they may. Ain't nothing. Promise. The only thing I can promise you, I'm gonna give you everything I got. Every down.
Rico Dowdle
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So exactly. That's all I'm saying that just go out there, take it this year and then see how it goes. Just got to be productive. I, I know it's a production based business, so as long as I'm productive, the rest will take care of itself.
Shannon Sharpe
Do you look back, do you are like, yeah, that's good. Y' all should have kept me. When you look up at your former team and you see them struggling and you like, yeah, that's what you get. Do you? I mean, because I understand that you have friends over there. I mean, you still use there for five years. So you do. You have built relationships. But it's not like I want y' all to have success.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, no, I don't really look at it like that. Like you said, a lot of those guys are my friends. I ain't really rooting for. Rooting for their downfall. And the dude that got over there, Javante, he's been having a pretty good season too.
Shannon Sharpe
So yeah, he, he pretty good season too.
Rico Dowdle
But yeah, I'm not really, I wouldn't really be rooting on that D. I want him to win and things like that. All my friends there, but I just wanted to beat him when we played him.
Shannon Sharpe
Help you out with this. You had an injury. Your career in South Carolina, you had a lot of injuries. How are you able to stay healthy? Cause normally if you limp into the NFL, you're gonna limp out of it. You had injuries in college, but for some reason you've been able to stay healthy in the league.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, I think that was one of my biggest things coming out of college. Injuries, just not being able to stay healthy. But thankfully I never had no injury where it was I think longer than like 10 weeks recovery. That was my longest injury. But yeah, in college just had a bunch of nicks and that's. I broke my fibula and tore my hamstring had four kn. Surgeries. Sports.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Damn. God damn.
Shannon Sharpe
You mean to tell me, talk about you ain't had nothing but to keep you out 10 weeks, I broke a fibula.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, the longest one was 10. I broke my fibula, like, week five my sophomore year of college. Played in the bowl game, but, yeah, that was like, my worst one, I think, in college, so. But I'm like, eight surgeries deep, though, but just staying Eight. Yeah. Eight surgeries deep.
Shannon Sharpe
Did you think, like, damn, I got blizzard. Look, I can't catch a break.
Rico Dowdle
So that's exactly what I was thinking. Like, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't know why I keep happening. But, yeah, since just getting in the NFL, I think those first couple years, just sitting out, taking advantage of my body and figuring my body out, really, that's what allowed for me to stay healthy. Not just figuring out what worked best for me dropped my weight. I played at, like, 225 in college. I played like, 210, 215 now. So just figuring out what worked best for me.
Shannon Sharpe
Hey, you know that college training table.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, does it ever be in the back of your mind when you're playing, like, trying to be cautious and a little hesitant based on, you know, what you want to do, or you just. You free will. Don't even care about the past injuries, and you just go out there and just.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, I go out there and play. I'm trying to bring the punishment. I don't really think about that at all. I don't think about it at all.
Shannon Sharpe
Look, you went to the game. Let me ask you a question. Who's your top five? Your top five running backs at usc. All time game calls top five all time.
Rico Dowdle
Now you're gonna have to put Marcus Lattimore up there for sure. Okay, Marcus, you got Deuce Staley.
Shannon Sharpe
Okay.
Rico Dowdle
Who else? I don't really know.
Shannon Sharpe
Well, George Rogers gotta be first.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
I don't know how I left.
Rico Dowdle
Yeah, George Rogers. And then you got 22. What was number 22? I don't remember. I don't remember our long name.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Don't.
Shannon Sharpe
Harold Green. Yeah. That was before your time.
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Spencer Graves
I like the idea of, like, hey, put me on a big deer. You know, hey, there's a big deer out here. He's doing this. Be looking for this deer. But I also love doing it on my own. I love going out there and saying, running my cameras. I love patterning the deer. I like showing up at the right time, checking the wind, knowing what stand I need to be in. And then whenever it all comes together and it happens, that's the most saddest buying thing ever. So when you do it on your own, it's like, I then can hang my hat. But if I had somebody say, hey, pull up on these dots and catch them right here and you're gonna win. And then when I go in, it's like, yeah, it's cool. I won the tournament. The ultimate goal is done. But it's like, dude, when you find them and you make them bite, that's the puzzle.
Rico Dowdle
I love it.
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Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
Shannon Sharpe
George graduated. George graduated in 80. Graduated left in 80, so.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Oh, yes.
Rico Dowdle
Way before me. I'm born in 98.
Shannon Sharpe
Hey, man. Rico, man. Continued success, man. Congratulations on a great. A great start to a new year. A new year, a new team. You've been playing unbelievable. Keep up the great work. Stay prayed up, stay positive.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Good things to happen down the road. And when you make the Pro bowl this year as one of those NFC running backs, come back and tell us how you did.
Rico Dowdle
I will appreciate it.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Do me a small favorite, y'. All. Got practice tomorrow. Right, man. Tell the receivers, man. All together at the same time telling boys I'm betting the house on him this weekend.
Rico Dowdle
I'll make sure I relate.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, let the boys know. Tell them boys I said keep pounding. All right, love.
Shannon Sharpe
Appreciate that, Rico. Appreciate. Appreciate you stopping by. All right, man. Oh, Joe. Joe Flacco was asked about the idea of Jamar Chase going off script and changing his routes. This is what Joe said.
Liberty Mutual Insurance Announcer
What is it like when Jamar comes.
Joe Flacco
To you and says, I understand the.
Shannon Sharpe
Play call was this, but.
Joe Flacco
Oh, yeah, I know you think it. Like, I don't think he's out there freestyling, at least not with me right now, you know? And listen, I mean, ultimately, if he came to me and said, hey, I know the play is this, but I'm going to do this, I'd say. I'd say, okay, I guess. Yep, that's what you're going to do. Okay, it sounds good to me. I would, I would lean on him to feel it out, but I don't, I don't, I don't necessarily see that happening. But I'm just saying, hypothetically, if he was to come to me and do that, I'd just say, yes, sir, that's what we'll do.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah. Hey, you know what? That's a beautiful thing, too, when you have a veteran quarterback like that, and the receiver can see things that the quarterback can't see, and the receiver can see things that the office according might not be able to see. Obviously, he's, he's up there maybe in the box. But it's different when you, when you feel side. And you got a, a bird's eye view. It, Not a bird's eye view, but a, A, A front view of everything. And, and, and what you, what you can and can do if, if, if Jamar Chase and Joe Flacco get some type of communication skills or maybe a number system. I know that's not the offense that they're running right now, but with Joe can hit him some like down by the hip unk. Like, if he see and they got the eye contact, you just throw him something simple. You, you know, how many yards, how many yards receive. I'm talking about good receivers. Good receivers and quarterbacks leave out there because they stay on script when, when it's, it's. It's right there. The game of football is not complicated. You can go off script and do something very safe. Oh, he playing off 7 yards. The safety in the middle of the field, give him a hit, give him A slant. And we seen. We seen Uno. We didn't seen him take a goddamn slant 80 goddamn yards. We didn't see him take a hitch, break a tackle and go down 30, 40 yards until. Until backside catching. I mean, it's just little stuff like that, man, and it's. It's good. I'm glad we have Joe. I'm glad they asked that question. Because now what's gonna happen. What's gonna happen now is when they play this goddamn game tomorrow night, there's gonna be. They're gonna come a time where there's a play that's called, and they're gonna be on their own page.
Shannon Sharpe
Well, I think that's something like he said, Jamar comes to him and tell him that, right? They don't have the type of relationship. They haven't worked together long enough that Joe will know that, okay, is this coverage. And he's supposed to do this. He's going to do that. They haven't played together long enough.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Take time. It takes time. That's. That's why I said some kind of. Some kind of. Some kind of something that they can do with their hands. It got to be something. It got to be something. Just because you leave so many plays out there, you leave so many yards out there trying to do everything by the book. Sometimes you just have to play football. Sometimes it's not just X and O, Sometimes it's not scheme. Sometimes you can go off script and still have success based on what you see.
Shannon Sharpe
But the thing is, oh, look, Joe, you. You mentioned Joe just been there. He been there 10 days. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard to build a connection. And where. Hey, I. Hey, oo I touch my chin, run a smoke. Yeah, see, you know, hey, I touch my hip, run a square out. It's hard to get that because, hell, I tell him that. I'm like, hey, my chin was just itching. No, I didn't mean do my chin was itching. You know what I'm saying? So you know what I'm saying? Don't joke. You and Carson had that. Cuz you and Carson had built up a. A rapport, a relationship. And that's something that you talked about, right? You know, John, I. I would know if guys playing this kind of leverage. This is what John expects me to do. If I'm getting man coverage, he expects me to bust it out of the break. If he's outside, he already knows I'm gonna take three steps and I'm pulling Up. Yeah. So that's. But that was over years and years and years. Or if I'm gonna uncover. But that's asking a lot. And I'm glad Chase comes to him and said, look, I know I'm supposed to do this, but on this. On this play right here, I'm gonna do that right? So now he's already put the seed. He's already planted the seed in Joe.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Hey, don't you throw that. Don't you throw that in cut because I'm running out. Because if you throw it in, you will hit it right in the chest. Because I'm telling you what I'm doing.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, listen. Long day on the same page. Long as they're on the same page. Because we are not built, obviously with Joe just getting there. You just said it. Joe only been that goddamn. You've been a goddamn 10 minutes. He only been there 10 minutes. So we can't overcome mistakes. We can't overcome turnovers. We got to be as efficient as possible on offense all four quarters. The same way we looked at. Looked when we came out of halftime at that Green bay game, that 17 play drive, that's what we got to look like all four quarters. Now that Joe has a little bit more time with the offense, with the play calling, getting a little familiar with the system, I think we have a good chance at competing and beating the Steelers that are on a roll right now. Aaron Rodgers is on fire. I'm not gonna sit here and lie, I'm not gonna sit here and try to talk trash, but they look good, but I think we can compete with them. Now. I don't know what we gonna do on the defensive side of the ball. That. That's the problem. That's been our Achilles heel for a while now. But offensively, Joe can keep our head above the water. So basically I'm saying if this was that the Titanic, the. The Bengals offense is Rose, we might be in the water, but she on the door.
Shannon Sharpe
So in other words, you, you gotta. Right now, you're not a fasting. You slow sinking. I mean, it's gonna take some time for you guys to get to the bottom, but you know, hey, right now you gotta hold. Listen, you got a little hole in your hole. I'm just saying you got a hole in your.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, listen, the boat done sunk. Conjo. I mean, Joe Burrow's hurt, right? But listen, if, if, if, if the offense is Rose and Rose is on the door in the water. Rose is on the. On the door in the water. So she Floating.
Shannon Sharpe
Yep, she floating.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
So we good right now? We good.
Shannon Sharpe
That water real cold, Locho.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Oh, it's cold. It's gonna be. You know, I'm going to the game tomorrow. I'm flying out there. It's cold. We gonna be all right, though.
Shannon Sharpe
Look. And the Steelers defense is playing unbelievable. I mean, Jalen Rams is giving them a boost because you can do so many things. He can play. He can play safety. He can play corner.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
He can.
Shannon Sharpe
He can play slot. He can blitz. He's an outstanding tackler. He does not. He's not afraid to get his uniform dirty.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
He going.
Shannon Sharpe
Come one of those guys that he want, you know. Oo. You remember back in the day, Oo. We wanted that jersey. We wanted our uniform to get dirty. And guys that didn't play, they rolling on the ground trying to please him. Like they got their uniform dirty in the game. Nah, bro, you just rolled on the ground. You ain't. You ain't getting no action. Jaylen Ramsey is a guy that'll get his uniform dirty.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, he gonna come up and hit you now?
Shannon Sharpe
Hell, yeah, he will.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, you know. You know who you remind me of? I mean, listen, I know you watched a lot of. A lot of football over the years. A lot of deep defensive back play. And you know how much I love DBs. And I've never. I've never seen two DBs. That always come to mind when I think of defensive backs. Forget covering. They can cover, but, boy, they will come up and smack you. I'm talking about smack you. That goddamn Antoine Winfield, as small as he was when he played.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah. Yeah.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
And that goddamn Nate Clemens when he was in Buffalo. Yeah, man. Lord have mercy.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, boy.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Y' all don't have no regard for your body. They, they. They. They ain't care. And you gotta remember, this is the running era.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
So I'm watching them pull up shared blocks and taking running backs that's way bigger than them. I'm not talking about going low and going. I'm talking about up high. Man, what is you doing?
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, you gotta. I mean, in. In that era, you know, Champ. Champ was a good tackler. Champ wouldn't mind. Didn't mind hitting. Yeah. You know, you run to a guy, you run to a side where you like, man. He's not a tackler. Okay. We're gonna try to. Well, hey, we gonna go try to. What we're gonna try to do, we're gonna try to put alignment on him. We're gonna try to put our safety. Because what you do you push the corner and then you have the corner track crack the safety. And so we gonna see if you want to make a tackle. We know the safety. Most safeties are good tackle, especially strong safety. We know they'll tackle. We want to see if you a tackle. Yeah, that's what we want to see. Or you gonna retreat and hope somebody. Cuz a lot of times don't show. They'll retreat hoping somebody else come. Y' all make the tackle. I'm, I'mma hold it up now. I'mma hold it up. I'm gonna keep giving ground now y' all come and make this tackle wait.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Waiting on pursuit to come help.
Shannon Sharpe
That's exactly what they're waiting on.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
But you know what's scary too, And I think about playing db, especially during our era, during our era where it's even worse now is when you, when you crack, replace and that goddamn guard is pulling.
Shannon Sharpe
It's more difficult now OO because the DB low on the offensive lineman. Can't you remember back in the day the DBs could go low. They could cut the line out and create a. But they cut that out, that's a penalty. Now that's a 15 yard penalty. If you cut the legs out of an offensive lineman. Oh yeah, you got to stand up in and take that punishment. And, and most corners ain't really trying to take on new guard. Not trying to take on no tackles or anything like that. So you think the Bengals got a shot tomorrow?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I, I, I, I think so. And, and, and I'm only saying this from an offensive perspective, you know, I'm only saying from the offensive perspective and the fact that it's a division game, both teams are familiar with each other. They, they know exactly what you would like to do. I know they have a different quarterback. I know they have a different quarterback. Hell, we got a different one too. But for some reason the game is always close. I don't think it will be a blowout. It will probably be a low scoring game. And in order for us to win up front off of the line, you got to have some type of pride, baby. You got to have some type of pride. I know TJ Whitey's going to make his plays. They get played too. I know they going to make their plays. But for the most part, if you keep Joe Flacco upright, he can wheel and deal. And we saw that early in the second half of that Green Bay game. We saw it. We saw it. So I'm hoping to get a little bit more of that. All Four quarters.
Shannon Sharpe
All right, Ocho. We're back with our newest segment, Player Fade, presented by prize picks. And we've got new animation. Take a look at our animation.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey.
Shannon Sharpe
That's what you came up with as. Download the app today. Use code Shannon to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. This is how it works. The late Nightcap staff has made lineups and here are their picks. We either play their lineup or we make some changes choosing more or less. Let me see what you got on here. Jamar chase over 74 and a half yards.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. And listen, they're going to have. They're going to make a conscious effort to get him the ball. They're going to make a conscious effort to get him the ball. So he definitely going to be over 74.
Shannon Sharpe
Damn.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
What's wrong?
Shannon Sharpe
You sure about that, Ocho?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, they. They playing, man. They playing, man. But this is the Steelers. This is Steelers. They ain't showing no. They ain't showing no love. They ain't showing no love. We not. They not giving you no special privileges. We finna line up. We got Darius Slate, we got Jalen Ramsey. We f to be in your face.
Shannon Sharpe
I'm g. Have to get back to that one. Joe Flacco over 36 and a half pass attempts. How many attempts did he have on Sunday against the packers?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
45.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, I'm going over. He g. He. He g have to. He definitely g have to throw it. Cuz you're not running on the Steelers.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
And why would I. Just get ready to say that. If we don't establish the goddamn. We ain't got no. We ain't gonna have no choice but to throw the ball.
Shannon Sharpe
T.J. watt over 3.5 tackles and assists. Yeah. He gonna have two sacks.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
So you mean to tell me that, man, they gonna get two more tackles?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
They did not say that. They said. They said assist in tackles. He might not get a sack.
Shannon Sharpe
Oh, he gonna get a sack.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You real confident over there.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah. TJ Water bag boy and Joe Flacco, Whole Foods grocery. So what you do? Sack him up?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You sound real confident.
Shannon Sharpe
I'm going over. I'm going over. I'm going over with T.J. watt. Three and a half tackles and assists. Jamar Chase, 74.5 receiving yards. God almighty. No.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I'mma let you get that one. You got it.
Shannon Sharpe
Packers, packers defense. Packers defense. A ain't like Steelers though.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Huh?
Shannon Sharpe
I mean the Steelers defense. Steelers defense. The packers defense isn't like the Steelers, right? That's what? Yeah have the Steelers have the Steelers given up 100 yard receiver? How many.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Who did.
Shannon Sharpe
Oh, from Cleveland who? Yeah Cleveland Fanning had 81. What did they have? What about Seattle? What didn't didn't they play? Did they play Seattle Vikings Jamar Chase went crazy Jefferson. You mean Je, I mean Jefferson.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Jefferson.
Shannon Sharpe
Oh yeah, yeah. Over, over, over.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I I, I said over from the beginning I'm not sure what you was.
Shannon Sharpe
Contemplating but I don't know if Joe Flacco can walk into him like wins or walking to a wince what? Oh walking to him cuz you remember when they, when the Steelers when the Steelers played the Vikings The Vikings had two receivers over 100 yards Jefferson and Addison Steelers won but I'm gonna go over I'm gonna go over I told.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You should I mean I'm taking a staff pick that was a no brainer.
Shannon Sharpe
Now this the last time ain't let y' all pick ish else if y' all get this one wrong download the app today use code Shannon to get 50 in lineups after you play your first five dollar lineup it's good to be right. Yeah y' all I ain't Ocho. George Pickens, who's set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, praised the Cowboys but noted he also wants to showcase my talents. Pickens was asked about staying in Dallas long term and said I wouldn't mind it. The guys in the locker room are super cool. The energy is great but like I've said, I've all I always want to showcase my talent, most definitely. Pickens, who turns 25 next March, figures to be one of the most sought after free receivers in free agency should he hit the market on Tuesday. Jerry Jones did not want to get into whether the team would like to open talks on a new contract with Pickens. Ocho, yeah, picking is going to want somewhere between 32 and 36 million dollars.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Is he staying in Dallas or Jordan? Is Jerry gonna hand him walking papers? Let him walk.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I don't know if, if I was him, I wouldn't even play. I wouldn't even want to be there. Honestly. I, I'm, I'm just saying that's just me personally. I want to maximize my potential. I want to maximize my earnings and go somewhere else where I can, I can contribute. He's about you want to show your talent. We know well he got it.
Shannon Sharpe
I mean he gonna need to be the number one. He want to go somewhere and be number one. He want to be number one then.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I mean that's what he is.
Shannon Sharpe
That's what he is. It's me.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, they're. They're in a great situation. Obviously, it was unfortunate that CD Lamb got hurt where Dak Prescott had two number one receivers, but he needs to go somewhere else to maximize as much as he can get. Be that number one. Continue to build his career in being a number one player and doing Cleveland. That. That he. That he knows he can do. Where you said Cleveland.
Shannon Sharpe
Cleveland. They need a number one receiver. I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think of the places. Oh, the Raiders. Oh, I like Raiders.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hey, wait a minute. Do you understand how. You understand how that marriage right there would be perfect? George Pickens, NFL young boy at the Raiders.
Shannon Sharpe
No, I'm.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
That. That is a great matchup. That's a great.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, for sure.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
It makes sense. It fits. It. It fits him. His Persona, his image, you know, being every day. Hey, that is perfect. Pete Carroll. Hey, Pete. I'm not tampering. I'm just telling you ahead of time. Geno Smith.
Shannon Sharpe
You know where he'd be good at, too, Ocho? The Giants. Oh.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Until. Until Jackson.
Shannon Sharpe
Dark. Hey. Oh, neighbors. They got neighbors. Neighbors coming back. Never mind.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Okay.
Shannon Sharpe
Not there.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
All right, hold up.
Shannon Sharpe
Let me see. Atlanta got Drake, London.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Drake, London, Drake, London.
Shannon Sharpe
Tampa got Mbuka. And they got Godwin.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
They got Mike.
Shannon Sharpe
New Orleans, they got Olave, Shaheed. Yeah, but I think. Me. Me personally, I think George Pickens is better than both of those guys.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Different. Different. Different type of player, different type of receiver.
Shannon Sharpe
I'm trying to. Whatever.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I like the ra. I like the Raiders.
Shannon Sharpe
Huh? I love the Raider. I love the Raiders.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I like that. I like the Raiders idea. Honestly.
Shannon Sharpe
All things being equal.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
The question is, do they like Zay Flowers, or do you like George Pickens? Who. Cause both of them gonna be up.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Huh?
Shannon Sharpe
Huh?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Pick going. A. Pick going to the Raiders. I'm telling you, I'm putting that in the universe right now.
Shannon Sharpe
Cause, I mean, that.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
That CD Lamb team over there in Dallas on his helmet.
Shannon Sharpe
The Colts need a receiver.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Damn. Okay, we got.
Shannon Sharpe
You like the Colts with. With Indiana Jones.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, I, I, I like it. I like it. But they. They kind of set.
Shannon Sharpe
Tennessee. They not set.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
What? What?
Shannon Sharpe
Oh, yeah, dude. I mean, they got Pittman. They played.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
They paid Pittman, Pittman downs. They good. They good. They got a nice little squad. Nice. And they. You know what? You know what I like about the. About the Colts receivers? Everybody has a different strength. Everybody has a different strength. Everybody does something that the other doesn't So I like what they have right now. I'm telling you, pick it to the Raiders.
Shannon Sharpe
You're right for me, right? You know what, Ocho? The Patriots.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
No, man. No, no, no, no, no. Hell nah.
Shannon Sharpe
No, you don't like it with Drake May.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
No, no, I, I like. I like. I like Drake May, but they. They. They got. They little. They core like Pickens and Patriots. That. No, don't put him in that environment. Absolutely not.
Shannon Sharpe
No, you don't like that structure. It's too structured.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, I know. Yeah. Don't. Don't put the. Man.
Shannon Sharpe
You think you slick, Ocho.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
What?
Shannon Sharpe
Don't put him in that environment. Ah, man, yeah.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hell nah. Hell no.
Shannon Sharpe
I mean, what. So what. What do you think as far as the market, open market, you think about. I mean, what type of numbers are we looking at? Somewhere? 32, 32, 33, 35, 36.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Based on what I'm seeing right now from him and what he's done in the past and what he's probably going to finish with this year, he probably gonna get somewhere between 34, 36 on the Open market. Oh, I'm telling you, it's gonna be P. Carroll. It's gonna be. I'm. I'm not his agent, but I'm gonna be responsible for him getting over there, over there with Gino. So Gino got somebody to get that thing to. You know what?
Shannon Sharpe
Gino keep turning the ball over, Gino ain't gonna be there throwing it to it. He better stop turning the ball up. He got 10 interceptions in six games.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. See, you know. You know what would probably relieve some of those interceptions?
Shannon Sharpe
Him not hitting other guys in the chest or.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Or having a target like George picking to throw, too. Brock Bauer still hurt. Brock Bauer still hurt, huh?
Shannon Sharpe
He is.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Damn.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah. Look, he's engaged.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
He knows the Cowboys are going to throw the football. He know he has a quarterback that can get him the football. And Dak, he's getting more opportunities because CD is. That is CD is down.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Now the question is, when CD comes back, you already know. Still get 10, 11 targets a game. Normally, the 10, 11, 12 targets go to CD.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
So let's just say for the sake of argument, ocho, we take five of those, four of those targets away. And so instead of getting 10, 11, 12, he gets 6, 7, 8. Can he still give us. I mean, there'll be games that he still can give you a hundred, but if he can give us, you know, 70, a quick 70, quick 80. A tub here or there. He gonna get paid. Oh, yo, the guy is going to be. He's gonna be 25.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
The start of the 20, 26 season. He ain't even. He ain't even. He not even close to his prime.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
No, not yet.
Shannon Sharpe
He ain't even got his prime. And me won't hit his prime for another two years.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah, he gonna. He gonna get it. Listen, I. And I. I told you. I told you. Didn't I tell you When I talked to Pick last year, didn't I tell you wouldn't be no more problems?
Shannon Sharpe
Yep.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You ain't had. And we ain't had a problem yet. I told you. And I'm. And I. I stand on that. And he gonna get rewarded. Not only for, for, for. I hate using the word good behavior, but, but being a professional. But you're going to get rewarded for your play on the field, not what you're doing off of it. You're going to get rewarded for your play on the field tremendously. And I know you're going to see this young bull stay locked in. Keep the main thing. The main thing. And you're going to get what you deserve.
Shannon Sharpe
I got a place where he can go. Well, Green Bay. Josh Jacobs said they need a number one.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I like. Hey, that's a good one. That's a good one.
Shannon Sharpe
Josh Jacobs said they need another.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Let me tell you something, though. Let me tell you something. I look at the Green Bay offense the same way I look at, look at the Indianapolis Colts, where they all are by committee. And each game, you never know whose day is going to be right. You never know who's there, whose day is going to be.
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, you could run it.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
It might be. It might be Wicks. It might be goddamn Read come back. It might be, dog. You never know that. So I like what they have over there. I like that little young system they got. I want him to be that man over there in, oh, in Las Vegas, because it's just gonna be him. You ain't got to worry about nothing else. You know, every game you get 10, 11 targets going crazy. Pete, Carol, what we talking about? I like it.
Shannon Sharpe
I like. Look, I, I, I, I like. I always thought he was talented. I thought he was immensely talented. The catches that he's make, he's tremendous run after the catch. It's just, you know, sometimes you need a change of scenery.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah. That's all.
Shannon Sharpe
Sometimes you need a change of scenery. He had, he had worn out his welcome in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was, you know. Oh, it was they were Pittsburgh. And George Pickens were sick. They were sick of him and he was sick of them.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
So when you get a situation like that, the best thing to do is to go ahead and part ways. They were able to get some. They were able to get something for him. He was able to get a place. They're going to throw him the football now. It worked out perfectly. I hate that CD got hurt in order for people to see just how good George Pickens is. Because I think the thing is that, you know, his behavior, his petulant behavior, you forget that he's an immensely talented receiver. CD going down, he got an opportunity to showcase that. I don't know if CDs back this week or when CDs coming back, but he's put enough on tape to make people understand, to let people know, oh, he, he for real now.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I'm him.
Shannon Sharpe
You the real deal.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I'm him. We'll be talking about. Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Jerry Jones said he's open to making a trade before the November 4th trade deadline. We have thoughts all along that if we see a way to improve this year with a trade at, with, at the, with a trade at the deadline, then we'll take advantage of it. If there's a trade that will help the defense, we're in position to make that trade. I want to remind everyone one of the great things about our trade we had with Green Bay is that our tackle makes about 22 million a year. He cost us 2, cost him $2 million though. We're getting a 20 something million dollars player for 2 to 3 million right now, and he's playing about as well as anybody on the defense. Why do I bring that up? That alone has increased our flexibility of being able to look at potential trade. Right. Whereas you might have had to had cramps before. So we're in position to look at that trade, and that means we're going to make one. That doesn't mean we're going to make one. But Jerry is saying, ocho, we have the assets, we have the cap space. If there's somebody out there that can help this defense, at the deadline, we go do it. I mean, that's wishful thinking.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
I told you.
Shannon Sharpe
Does that strike me as something Jerry would do? No, but the question is, Ocho, is there a Charles Haley out there?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
No, but listen, they have a problem stopping the run. And I told you who to go get. I told you to go get over there in Tennessee. He wet 98. He nice. A very good run stopper. Oh, listen, I'm not sure who the mic back is, but you should have a feast. You should have a hell of a time if Jerry makes that move and go get brother Simmons.
Shannon Sharpe
Jerry. Jerry just. He just keep throwing shade. And we got a D tackle that's making two to three billion dollars a year, you know. Okay, Jerry, you got off Micah. You didn't have to pay the $200 million. It's moving along. But guess what?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Those picks that you got, you're gonna have to give them up if you want somebody at the trade deadline that can help your team.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Cause I know you. I know you don't think somebody just gonna hand you over one of their best defensive players for what they say, oh, you got three first rounders. No, you want this player where you had three, now you got one, or you give up one of those. A first rounder and a second round or something. So. But the question is, is Simmons available? Because Simmons can stop the run and he can rush the passer, Right? So the question is, who's available and what are you willing up to get? What. What are you willing to give up to get him?
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Right?
Shannon Sharpe
That's what that's all about, Ojo. Yeah, you have the capital. You have the cap flexibility and you have the draft capital to go to satisfy.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
But. But think about this. Even if you do have the capital, who are you going to. Who are you going to go get that's going to make a difference? That can make a change, that can put a dent in some of the issues that you have right now? I mean, who it would have to be, it would still have the big, big name. It would still have to be a name that going to cost you, because anything else outside of that is just going to be another body. And I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. And just going to be another body. That's it. Taking up space. Not someone that can actually make a difference for you defensively and change the trajectory. Look, oh, I'm messing up my words. Trajectory of your defense.
Shannon Sharpe
Look, if I'm Cleveland, if I'm Cleveland, Jerry, give me three first rounders on the second round pick. I give you Miles Garrett.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Well, then you put yourself right back in the same situation you would have been in if you had kept Micah and paid Micah. So you, you, you right back in the same boat claim this is not what we need.
Shannon Sharpe
You said we got better.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You he. Jerry said we got better when we let Micah go.
Shannon Sharpe
If I put my finger. If I put my finger to Jerry's back and says, who's better, Mike or Miles Garrett? Who? You think Jerry's gonna say, Matt Miles Garrett. Okay.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Am I wrong? Am I right?
Shannon Sharpe
Yeah, you're right. I believe he'll say, miles Garrett. I get what you're saying, too. You say, well, okay, you gave up all that you. What you acquired, so you got a very similar player. But I believe Jerry believes that Miles Gary is an upgrade of some stance. I'm not saying head over heels. I'm not saying two, But I believe he believes he's an upgrade over Michael Parsons.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Well, then it would still be the same thing, because also he said, I let Michael Parson go because when we did have him, we didn't win a Super Bowl. So are you saying Michael Parson is going to be the one to come here and change Miles Gary going to be the one to come here and change that? Are you going to win a Super Bowl? Are you going to get close to winning?
Shannon Sharpe
I'm trying to find difference makers. Okay, that could help. That can help the Cowboys.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
You have.
Shannon Sharpe
Who are the difference maker? Okay. Trey Hendrickson. Do you believe. Do you believe Hendrickson's available? Is Jeffrey Simmons. I don't know. We'll find out. Hold on. Yeah, the 15th. So we're about. We're about. About 19 days. We're about three weeks away.
Chad Johnson (Ochocinco)
Yeah.
Shannon Sharpe
Finding out what's. What's going to be available.
Hosts: Shannon Sharpe & Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson
Main Theme: Unfiltered reactions and insights on the latest NFL headlines, instant post-game analysis, player leadership, and the ongoing business dynamics shaping the league.
Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, two NFL legends, dig into Week 6's most controversial and headline-grabbing moments. The conversation covers Tua Tagovailoa’s public apology for criticizing teammates, Rico Dowdle’s breakout game and candid thoughts on free agency, Joe Flacco and Jamar Chase’s chemistry, and speculation on George Pickens’ future as a top free-agent receiver.
The show blends sharp football insight, behind-the-scenes locker room analysis, and plenty of laughs in the duo’s signature, unfiltered style.
Segment Start: [03:36]
Segment Start: [22:15]
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Segment Start: [43:17]
Segment Start: [47:05]
Segment Start: [51:19]
This episode offers a masterclass in NFL locker room dynamics, player leadership under pressure, and the evolving business of football. Shannon and Ocho bring both genuine expertise and wild entertainment—calling out “snitching,” breaking down complex team chemistry, and speculating fearlessly on player futures with the same energy they brought on the field.
For anyone seeking real talk on today’s NFL, this is unmissable.