Bengals Banter: Get to Know Tyler Eifert & T.J. Johnson
By Jason Marcum
Jan 5, 2013; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Tyler Eifert (80) speaks to the media on media day for the 2013 BCS Championship game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
In a recent interview with Bengals Radio man Dan Hoard, Notre Dame rookie Tyler Eifert talked about his golf swing, his life at Notre Dame and what motivates him on the field:
"He (Brian Kelly) would just coach me and tell me what I needed to do. He wasn’t big on yelling at me or things like that – not that he wouldn’t. All you have to do is tell me what to do and I’ll try to do it."
He also talked a bit about life after football:
"I’m not sure, but I think it would be fun to coach high school or grade school. I’d also like to work on my golf game when this is all said and done."
October 20, 2012; Gainesville FL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks center T.J. Johnson (55) warms up prior to the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
When talking about his transition to the NFL in an interview with MyrtleBeachOnline.com, South Carolina rookie T.J. Johnson talked about facing the best athletes in the world everyday:
"OTAs are non-contact and everybody’s here so it’s kind of a full-speed walkthrough, but I guess the main difference so far has been the competition. Everybody’s good here; everybody’s fast. The complexity of the scheme is a lot more complex in the components of it.The center has a ton of calls to make, and I feel like that’s first and foremost the priority. As far as learning the techniques and how the coaches want things done, I think that’s what it would take [to move up the depth chart]."
Johnson’s high school coach, Jody Jenerette, has high-hopes for his former pupil to the point he’s even compared him to former Indianapolis Colt Jeff Saturday, who went on to have a Pro Bowl career after going undrafted:
"Jeff Saturday, that’s a great comparison, and I’ve heard that before, obviously Saturday was a late pick, and you can just tell when Jeff Saturday is snapping to Peyton Manning, or when he did, back in the day, that he’s a very sharp, intelligent guy. When Peyton Manning called audible after audible, Saturday knew exactly what he was supposed to do. T.J. [could be that] kind of guy that with Andy Dalton, who is also a pretty sharp guy from what I’ve gathered, so I think that’s a real similar comparison."
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