- 7 months ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Let's talk it out. All guests on 95.7 The Game up here on the River Islands guest line.
00:05Isn't it time for you to discover the islands, River Islands and Lathrop?
00:08And that is exactly where we get to talk to our guy, Fox Sports analyst, former player, receiver, Bengals, Seahawks,
00:14and our friend T.J. Hushmanzada. What's up, my man? Happy holidays. How are you?
00:20And I'm doing good. How y'all doing?
00:21We're doing fantastic, man. We got all kinds of stuff that we're getting into.
00:25But I think just because this thing's a little bit over an hour away, how do you see this game tonight?
00:3049er fans are watching with a lot of interest.
00:33It's going to be interesting. Devontae not playing.
00:37Left tackle, Charles Cross for the Seahawks not playing. It's going to be big with that pass rush.
00:42But playing with the Seahawks and against the Seahawks, man, it's so loud. It's so hard. It's so loud there.
00:49And so I'm assuming it's going to be windy. I'm assuming it's going to be raining.
00:53It's going to be cold. Horror-fought game. It can go either way.
00:59But if I had to pick a winner, I'm going to go with the Seahawks simply because the last time they played,
01:05Sam Darnold played as bad as a quarterback can play, and they still almost won the game.
01:10Yeah, 61-yard field goal, not quite enough.
01:14Hey, T.J., you played there. You can be honest with me.
01:17Do they pump the sound in there? Do they pump in the crowd noise?
01:20Nah, man. Them fans are just rowdy, man. They're rowdy. Nah, it's loud, bro.
01:27They're not the 12th man. It's loud.
01:29Like, to be outdoors and to play in that type of environment and be that loud,
01:34like playing in Seattle, playing in New Orleans, playing in Kansas City,
01:40and Baltimore, from my experience, nothing like it.
01:46As far as the noise, nothing like it.
01:49T.J., from your experience as a player, when you guys were good, this may sound like a stupid question,
01:56but to what level did the defense have to be really good for you to execute late in the season
02:03and be a good playoff team?
02:04Because the 49ers are somehow kind of surprisingly 10-4,
02:08and they're doing it with a little bit of smoke and mirrors on defense.
02:12What's your belief in them right now, and can they just outscore people and actually succeed?
02:17It's not smoke and mirrors.
02:19When you have great coaches that are teachers, that's what happens.
02:23Robert Salah is a hell of a coach. Simple.
02:26He's a great coach.
02:27You look at the Jets when he was there, look at him when he left, look at him now.
02:31He's a great coach, and so when you have a guy that's a coach, but I call those guys teachers,
02:37this is what happens.
02:38You can lose your best players.
02:40Will you be the same? No.
02:41But he is going to find a way to get it done because that's what great coaches do,
02:46and so when you have a great play caller in Shanahan
02:48and you've got a great play caller on defense
02:51and schematically knows what he's doing in Salah,
02:54you're always going to be competitive.
02:55You're going to have a chance in every game.
02:57And they've been right in most games.
03:00I mean, the Rams kind of ran him out of the building the second time they squared off,
03:03and they've done it in large part without a ton of production from the receiver position.
03:08Now Ricky Pearsall might be out again.
03:11What do you think about what Jawan Jennings has done this year,
03:14you know, finally getting his contract somewhat resolved in the offseason?
03:18What do you think of the year he's had?
03:20I mean, I would say it's kind of been up and down.
03:22I mean, Jawan Jennings has been in the news because everybody wanted to beat him up, you know.
03:26More so than anything else, but, you know, he wanted a contract extension in offseason.
03:34They didn't give it to him.
03:35And probably a little frustration the way the season started
03:38because he wasn't getting the opportunity to make plays.
03:42Kendrick Bourne was really showing out.
03:44So now that it is crucial moments of the season, and he's been playing a lot better.
03:50They've been going to him a lot more, and he's making the plays.
03:53And so when you show a coach that you can be trusted, you're going to get more opportunity,
03:58and that's what's going on.
03:59Okay.
04:00TJ Houshman's out of with us, and let's go ahead and dive a little deeper into the 49er receiver room.
04:05TJ, you know we're going to ask you about this.
04:07What on earth happened between the Niners and Brandon Iyuk?
04:16Man, to me it's crazy.
04:20I'm going to be honest.
04:21Number one, there's just no way in hell that I fight for every dollar that I want,
04:30and then now I'm going to give up millions.
04:32I don't understand it.
04:33You can't – they offered you 28, you didn't want 28, you wanted 30,
04:38and you were not signed until you received it.
04:41You get it, and now you let it go because you don't want to do –
04:46you don't want to show up to meetings, you don't want to go to your rehab.
04:50But I'll tell you one thing, he's going to get my age, he's going to regret that.
04:54I promise you that.
04:55He's going to get my age, he's going to regret it because you never make that money up.
04:58You're never going to make that back.
05:00And so, if you're a coach and you're an organization, I want him on my team
05:06because he's a good player.
05:07But ain't no way in hell I'm paying him millions and millions of dollars.
05:12I'm not giving him $20 million, and you just let 30 go.
05:18And so, I wish him the best and the decisions he's making.
05:22I don't believe it's a smart decision.
05:25But, hey, man, some people like the game and others love it.
05:27I want to let our listeners know that you've worked extensively with Brandon,
05:35especially when he was coming up as a young player.
05:39You worked with him as his wide receiver coach.
05:41So, those are big statements coming from you.
05:45Like, have you talked to him at all over the last six months about –
05:49and given him that advice?
05:51You know, I give advice to all the guys that I deal with and I work with
05:57because you spend so much time with them, you care about them.
06:00But at some point, you know, we all grow men.
06:03And so, you give advice, and if they take it and listen, then that's great.
06:07And if they don't, that's great also.
06:10Because at the end of the day, I'll never forget this, man.
06:13We used to have a rookie symposium when everybody got drafted.
06:16They don't have it any longer, but it must have worked because I still remember this
06:20all these years.
06:22Choices, decisions, and consequences.
06:25And you make them, and you got to live with them.
06:28And so, that was a big point of emphasis when we were at the rookie symposium
06:32because, you know, at that time, a lot of guys was getting in trouble,
06:35if you guys recall, you know, the personal conduct policy.
06:38But with B.A., it's just great talent.
06:41He can play football.
06:43Somebody's going to sign him.
06:44But you're going to look back on this and say, damn, what it could have been
06:48because you're in a great situation in San Francisco
06:50with one of the best play callers to ever call plays in the NFL,
06:55not just coaching, ever.
06:57And so, I don't know what is going on.
07:00I try to, if you don't tell me, I'm not going to ask.
07:04But it's just super unfortunate, man, that this wasn't able to work out.
07:08Yeah, choices, decisions, and consequences.
07:11Your buddy Lo Neal used to say that to me and talking about the NFL
07:14when we were doing a show together.
07:15He just gave me goosebumps flashing back to those very words.
07:19So, he made his choice, and then the Niners made their decision,
07:23and the consequences are he doesn't have that money.
07:25So, when you think this summer he goes out there as a free agent
07:29when they eventually cut him,
07:31do you think that he's going to be able to go out and get a front-line job
07:35as a wide receiver one or two somewhere?
07:38Oh, absolutely, because that's the type of talent he is now.
07:41Front-line money? Nah.
07:44Anybody give him front-line money, they liable to get fired.
07:48So, you can't.
07:50You just look at what he just did.
07:52I don't see anybody doing that.
07:53Now, front-line job, yeah, when you have front-line talent, it's easy.
07:57But, when you want to be compensated as a front-line talent,
08:02that's where it gets tricky because you had a great situation where you were at,
08:06and it didn't work out.
08:09And, you know, these teams talk.
08:11Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch will tell every team exactly what happened.
08:14They're going to know everything, every single detail.
08:17And when they hear the details, they're going to say,
08:20oh, nah, I'm good.
08:22Hmm.
08:22T.J. Houshman's out of with us.
08:24My mind is just racing right here, my man.
08:28Like, what on earth could have made him so upset to make the decisions that he made?
08:35Do you have any idea what could cause someone to do what he did?
08:42I mean, for me, no.
08:44When you are an adult, we may have disagreements and we may not get along,
08:51but we're going to sit in a room and we're going to talk it out as men.
08:55That's what we do.
08:55That's what you talk it out.
08:57You may say some things I don't like.
08:58I may say some things that you don't like.
09:00And it may get tense at times.
09:02But eventually, we're going to figure out how to make it work.
09:06That's what you do when you sit down in the room.
09:08And so you figure out how to make it work.
09:10They weren't able to do that.
09:11And now you're in this situation.
09:14And maybe I'm wrong.
09:15Maybe I'm wrong.
09:16But when you are out of the league and you're just sitting there chilling
09:21and you reflect, there's going to have to be some type of regret, man,
09:25in this situation.
09:26Man, $30 million?
09:27Yeah.
09:28How much guarantee did he have left on his contract?
09:32How much?
09:33Can y'all give me an exact number?
09:34It was more than that.
09:35I want to say that the guarantees that got canceled.
09:40Grandy can check me on this.
09:43I think it's damn near $50 million.
09:46I don't think it was quite yet.
09:47Damn near $50 million.
09:49Listen, $50 million?
09:50Come on, man.
09:51You know how I'm like $50 million?
09:54Man, I'm walking from here to San Francisco with no shoes on for $50 million.
09:58Like what?
09:59Right.
10:00Yeah.
10:00And so it's just, I don't know, man.
10:05B.A. is my dog, man.
10:06I like the dude, I care about him.
10:10But I will say this, that one thing about him, when he make his mind up,
10:14you ain't changing him.
10:15He's so headstrong.
10:16Once he makes his mind up, there's no change in him.
10:21It's just unfortunate, man.
10:23Seriously, I mean, the contract was four for $120 million.
10:27He got $45 million guaranteed at signing.
10:30So no matter what money, it was $45 million.
10:32And now those future guarantees, they go away.
10:35Part of it to me, TJ, is that it seems like the wide receiver position maybe has peaked.
10:41You look around the league and a lot more tight ends are getting catches
10:44and running backs are being used more.
10:46As a wide receiver, if you were in his spot, would you be a little bit worried
10:50at the fact that wide receivers, they're not quite a dime a dozen,
10:54but there's a lot more guys we don't know who are out there getting catches than ever?
10:59See, man, you guys have been watching too much TV.
11:02Y'all sound like the dudes on TV that's just talking.
11:07I'm going to just say this.
11:08When the quarterback doesn't have weapons and they don't perform well,
11:16what's the first thing everybody on TV says?
11:18Oh, he don't have weapons.
11:20This is the ultimate, ultimate, ultimate team game.
11:23If you don't have an O-line, it don't matter who you got on outside.
11:26You can have a great O-line.
11:28You have no receivers on outside, it don't matter.
11:30You have a great quarterback.
11:31You have no receivers on outside, it don't matter.
11:33Look at Buffalo.
11:33And so, to me, you have to have a guy, it's fourth and three, you down four,
11:43they playing press man.
11:45Oh, we not going to line up in tight splits and, like,
11:50when you line up on outside, can you win?
11:52The guys that line up, the teams that line up in tight splits all the time,
11:57they do that because they guys can't win.
12:00They can't win.
12:01The teams that line up in condensed splits,
12:03they do that because their guys can't win on outside.
12:07The teams that got guys that can win on outside, what do they do?
12:09They just line them up on outside, go win.
12:12And so, to me, you got to have a receiver that can win
12:15because that quarterback trusts it.
12:17You got to have somebody that you can go to.
12:19Are they a dime a dozen?
12:20Absolutely not because when you don't have one,
12:23everybody's searching and looking for one.
12:24You're trying to draft one.
12:25It seems like it's easy to find one, but, nah, it isn't.
12:31But Kyle Shanahan, I will give you this credit.
12:33It don't matter who played for Kyle Shanahan, they're going to get busy.
12:37But he has yet to win the Super Bowl, and I wonder why,
12:39because he don't have that top flight guy.
12:41B.A. ain't playing.
12:42Deebo ain't on the team any longer.
12:44When you don't have that top flight guy, this is what happens.
12:47You will, but you're not enough.
12:49And they run those tight splits too, TJ.
12:50You had me thinking about the Shanahan offense.
12:52Well, yeah, oh, go ahead, TJ.
12:55That's why I said it.
12:56Yeah.
12:57Yeah, do you think, can Pearsall be that guy,
13:00and to what level is it a player's responsibility to stay healthy?
13:05Oh, I mean, you say freak accident, this and that,
13:08but Pearsall, they drafted him to be that guy.
13:12And at the end of the day, you're a professional.
13:14And so if you continue to get hurt, you got to start investing in your body.
13:18We can't take for granted that, oh, I'm working out hard.
13:21I'm going to be healthy.
13:21Hey, you got to start doing different things.
13:23We can't keep doing the same thing, getting the same result.
13:26And, oh, okay, it's just bad luck.
13:28Now, you're not training the right way.
13:31And so I had that for myself, and this is why I talk this way.
13:34My first three years, I was hurt every year.
13:36Marvin Lewis come in and was like, hey, you get hurt again,
13:39you're probably not going to make the team.
13:41I'm like, what?
13:42I got two kids.
13:43I've never had a job in my life.
13:44I need this.
13:45And so I had to get my ass in order and get right.
13:52And get right, you did.
13:53You had a great, long career.
13:54And you were talking earlier about football and it being such a collective effort.
13:58If you were Justin Jefferson right now in Minnesota,
14:01how much angst would you be feeling about the fact that your quarterback's not very good?
14:06It's just frustration, man.
14:09Justin Jefferson, when you come into the league the way he did, straight gang busts.
14:13If he had a boxer, all first-round knockouts.
14:15And he was knocking everybody out and it was easy.
14:18And now it's a little adversity because his quarterback situation is the worst it's been
14:23since he's been in the league.
14:24And you're getting 10, 15 targets a game, 8 to 12 catches a game, 100-plus yards a game.
14:33Now you're getting 5 to 7 targets, 2 to 3 catches, 50 to 60 yards maybe.
14:42You can't get used to that because of what has happened and occurred throughout your young career.
14:47He's young.
14:48He's still young.
14:49And so it's just frustration, man.
14:51He's frustrated, but he's handling it the way you want to handle it.
14:55There's nothing I can do about it.
14:56Let me control what I control as long as I'm getting open.
14:59And hopefully next year J.J. McCarthy will be much better.
15:04T.J. Hushmanzada, obviously you've got a great history with the Bengals.
15:07What was your reaction to all that stuff over the last week and a half from Joe Burrow?
15:12Hey, man.
15:13Joe is basically like he ain't on the edge just yet, but he can look down and see it's a long drop.
15:23And to me, I said this last night on my podcast, man, speak easy, is Joe Burrow probably going to get a Bengals 2026, 2027.
15:36If things aren't changed, I think he's going to ask out.
15:40I mean, that would be eight years that he gave the Bengals, eight years, when the Bengals had a middle-of-the-pack defense, middle-of-the-pack, took them to the Super Bowl.
15:50So, the Bengals are last in the NFL in points allowed, last in the NFL in yards allowed.
15:56That can't be the case.
15:58You don't have to be top ten.
15:59You don't got to be Robert Salah-type defense.
16:02Just be middle-of-the-pack.
16:03Because he's showing you he can take you to the promised land if you middle-of-the-pack.
16:08That's all.
16:08Middle-of-the-pack.
16:11So, he needs a defense.
16:13He needs an offensive line.
16:15And I know the comments that you just made about receivers a short time ago.
16:20But, TJ, can they afford to go that deep financially into the receiver room when they need all those other things?
16:28Listen, listen.
16:29See, I'm glad people always ask.
16:30You just got to do your research.
16:32Wait.
16:32Hey, Mark, look.
16:33That's why I'm asking you, TJ.
16:35No, no.
16:35No, no, no.
16:36Look at the Philadelphia Eagles.
16:37Look at the Detroit Lions.
16:39Okay, let's look.
16:41Jalen Hurst, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, they all make big money.
16:44Correct?
16:45Correct.
16:45Yep.
16:46Yes.
16:47They both have two receivers.
16:49Both make big money.
16:50A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith, St. Brown, J-Mo, T. Higgins, Jamar, right?
16:59Dallas Goddard makes good money.
17:01LaPorta was a first-rounder.
17:02The Bengals didn't even have – they paid Gusecki, but not top-of-the-line money.
17:06The Eagles have Saquon that makes good money.
17:09The Bengals don't have one offensive lineman that makes big money.
17:12The Eagles have three.
17:13The Lions have two.
17:17Oh, and they just paid Hutchinson.
17:19Now, the Eagles on defense, they're all young.
17:20They have a cheap defense, and they just draft and develop very well.
17:23I say that to say the Bengals have three highly paid guys on offense, one in Trey Henderson on defense.
17:30I can name eight or nine that's on the Eagles and the Lions.
17:34So, you can do this.
17:35When these teams bring up the salary cap, they do that so the fans say, oh, yeah, we did, Pam.
17:40Oh, you did, Asher T. Higgins.
17:42Look at all these other teams.
17:43How are they doing it?
17:45It's fair.
17:46It's a fair question.
17:46But, by the way, Trey Hendrickson is highly paid and is probably not going to be a Bengal next year.
17:52So, you will have Joe, T., and Jamar.
17:54That's what you got.
17:55And plenty of cap space.
17:57The cap go up every single year.
17:59Technically, Joe Burrow is underpaid now.
18:01Technically, he is.
18:02That's true.
18:02So, plenty of cap space.
18:04Let's go.
18:04Let's get it together.
18:06You're the best, man.
18:07Happy holidays.
18:08Thank you for doing it.
18:10All right, man.
18:10Y'all take care.
18:10Happy holidays, y'all, as well, man.
18:12Thanks, TJ.
18:12TJ Houshmanzada right here on Willard and Debs.
18:15Just always phenomenal.
Comments