Dave Lapham has the biggest voice who can speak of the 2024 Bengals Ring of Honor Class that gets inducted at halftime of Monday night's game (8:15-Cincinnati's Channel 9) against Washington at Paycor Stadium.
As the Bengals' most versatile offensive linemen of all time and Ring of Honor candidate, Lapham was a teammate of rookie nose tackle Tim Krumrie in his tenth and final NFL season. As the Bengals' radio analyst, now in his 39th season in the booth, he called running back Corey Dillon's two signature games.
As Lapham, 72, clears his throat for his 50th season as a Bengal next year, Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson barged into the booth for his weekly conversation as they talked Dillon, Krumrie, the job, why he never left and how long he wants to keep going.
No telling what someone would pay at a silent auction to hold a conversation with this Bengals icon. At Bengals.com, we get to do it every day with one of the nicest and best people in the business.
The Conversation
GH: The game's not over until we hear from Dave Lapham in the locker room doing post-game interviews. You had the first local reaction from Corey Dillon after his two big games. Breaking Jim Brown's rookie rushing record and Walter Payton's all-time rushing record.
DL: I think they put it up on the board and all that. So I think he knew. I think he knew that. When we were talking about it in the locker room after the game, he was talking with such reverence about Jim Brown. His hero.
GH: He was our hero, too since we both went to Syracuse. What was going through your mind covering this kid breaking a Jim Brown record?
DL: Here's a guy that just broke the rookie record of the greatest athlete that I've ever tried to learn about. I mean, geez, Jim Brown was, it's like …Epic's not the word. Icon's not the word. He's like above and beyond all that.
GH: That was against the Oilers in 1997 when Dillon broke Brown's rookie record with 246 yards as Boomer Esiason called the shots at the line of scrimmage.
DL: I think it's apropos as a rookie for Corey Dillon to break Jim Brown's rushing record. I think that's kind of foreshadowing. Because I think Corey Dillon held Jim Brown in high regard. I think Corey Dillon realized he was cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways as Jim Brown. Corey was a pretty good football historian in his own way. And he had a tremendous amount of respect for Jim Brown.
I remember he was literally very, very affected. Humble after that game. Corey, you just broke Jim Brown's rookie rushing record.
GH: How was Corey three years later in the locker room after he broke the all-time record with 278 yards? A totally different game with no Bengals passes completed after the first quarter.
DL: He was not very emotional. Very business-like about it. I could tell he was proud. And he was effusive in praise of his offensive linemen. 'My job was easy. I had to make one miss.' I said you made them miss but you ran over a bunch, too. It was as good of a performance of power running, make-you-miss in tight quarters, and at 225, pounds, not to be caught from behind, I mean that's a size-speed ratio that's formidable. I honestly can't remember Corey Dillon getting caught from behind.
GH: That was quite a day when he broke Walter's record against Denver.
DL: They were loading the box. I mean, it was like they were putting 12 in the box. Honestly. Literally, at least nine multiple times. It seemed like a few times they had 10 in the box. It was like they were running short-yardage, goal-line defense because the passing game wasn't top shelf, and they wanted to stop Corey Dillon. Almost half the time, they were successful. The other half, though, he made them pay with big run after big run.
He did everything. He ran through them and ran away. He made them miss and ran away. And honestly, he was running behind 71 (right tackle Willie Anderson) a lot. He'd find 71 and kind of work right there. He would run behind Willie because Willie was always getting push and controlling the line of scrimmage. That was a good starting point. To finish the runs he finished, he did damage on linebackers and safeties. It was like you could almost see those guys start to flinch. He made them flinch.
GH: Where does that game rate in your announcing career?
DL: It's in the top handful of games that were dominated by an individual player in franchise history. You can find great performances by quarterbacks, great performances by wide receivers, great performances at the running back position. There are phenomenal performances by offensive linemen, but there's no stats to back it up or whatever. But I mean, that was about as a dominant performance as there was because they were doing everything they could to stop him. Everything they could.
'We're going to make you go left-handed. We're going to try to make you beat us throwing the football because that was not the strength.' I give everybody credit. The coaches just to be persistent to stay with it because almost half the time there was not success. The Broncos did what they wanted to do from an outcome standpoint, but the other half of the time … 12 carries were phenomenal; 10 were more pedestrian. And they stayed with it.
GH: Did you know he was that close to the record while you were on the air?
DL: I figured he must have been getting close, but I didn't know what the exact record was. I didn't know it was 275. The great Walter Payton 275 and then a couple of guys have topped Corey's mark since. He's No. 4 right now. I thought this is going to last for a while. But a couple of years later (Jamal Lewis with 295 in 2003) it got broken.
I remember saying to the statistician, 'What's the record? What's the single-game rushing record? We've got to be closing in on him.' He started looking it up and it was, can he get enough carries to get it done? I thought, man, he's tabulating, he's updating the stats. And I'm thinking in my head and then, to top it off with something like that (a 41-yard touchdown on his last carry), it really is amazing.
GH: You played with Krumrie. He obviously had something to prove.
DL: He did. He came into the league as a 10th-round pick. The 276th pick of the draft. That's crazy. So you talk about value for a draft pick. He's one of the best values in Cincinnati Bengals history. He played 12 years, made over 1,000 tackles, 1,017 total. At nose guard? The thing about him, in my mind, the biggest exhibition of toughness … And that's the thing about both of these guys. Corey Dillon, one of the most physical offensive players in franchise history. Tim Krumrie, probably the most physical defensive player in franchise history.
He shatters that leg in '88, he has a (20)-inch rod put in both bones. Tibia and fibula. He starts the first game of the next season. Later on down the road, in 1992, he led the team in tackles for the fifth time. After he had the leg reconstructed, he leads the team in tackles again as a nose tackle. Unheard of. Ridiculous. And the thing is, when he retired, his 34.5 sacks were third in franchise history.
Defensive ends loved him because if you push the pocket, there's nowhere for the quarterback to step up. He was always a pass rush factor because he was pushing it into the quarterback's face. You talk to any quarterback, they don't like people in their face. They can't see. Don't want to risk injury, you know, following through and all that stuff. Tim was a beast at that. I've never seen a guy pursue every single play like he did. He ran after every single play and it paid off for him.
GH: Ever have a dust-up with him in training camp?
DL: With him, it was a game. Every practice was a game. I was in my 10th and last year in the league. It was his rookie year. I'm like, Tim, man, I've got some wear and tear on me. 10 years. I'm not sure I can go every day like it's a game. We were getting a drink. I was kidding because that's the way he went. (Defensive line coach) Dick Modzelewski said, 'Get ready. He's going to come every single play. I mean, he's coming. And I want him to.'
GH: What did the vets think of that?
DL: They respected him. I think they just realized that was his way. Did offensive linemen like going against him? No. Friday is half-speed. Saturday's walkthrough. Nah, man, you were going to be grinding it out. He said, 'If that's the way you're looking at it, it might be time to hang them up.' I started laughing. I said, Tim, you know, I'm only kidding.
I think he made you a better player. You go into games and it's like, man, I've already played five games this week. If that's the way that you're going to get ready to play football … And he was always a one-speed guy. He wasn't into half-speed, three-quarter speed. 'I don't like that fractional stuff. I'm a full-go guy.' I think he upped the intensity for a lot of people that way.
You talk to any linebacker who played with Tim Krumrie, they loved him because he was keeping people off of them. This guy led the team in tackles five times when he's getting doubled and triple-teamed a lot? It's just ridiculous, honestly. The effort and the emotion and the enthusiasm. The thing is, he was an Olympic-caliber wrestler. You couldn't get him off balance. He'd hunker down and balance up.
He worked on a dairy farm. His forearms and his hands? Unbelievable strength. Up at the crack of dawn and working past sunset and when he got his hands on you, he's a force.
GH: Does any Krumrie game you broadcast stick out?
DL: I don't know about an individual game, but I can think of multiple games at the nose tackle position where he was in a double-digit column for tackles in a game. You've got to be kidding me? Tim Krumrie the leading tackler again for the Cincinnati Bengals?
I remember talking to (defensive coordinator) Dick LeBeau about him. He would say, 'Lap-haaaaam, he's one of one, man. He's one of one. I've never seen anything like it.' I remember talking to Mo when Tim was a rookie. I said, 'Mo, geeez.' And Mo's like, 'I couldn't believe he was there in the tenth round. I was banging my shoe on the table to draft him a lot higher than that. But when he was there in the tenth round, I said, 'We've got to take him.' And man, what a value pick.
Tim came into the league out of Wisconsin with a chip on his shoulder as big as a two-by four. He would have anyway. He always had a fire burning. But that threw gasoline on it, man. That intensified it. I remember talking to Mo. Man, the first time you guys played the Packers, I feel sorry for your interior offensive line. I feel sorry for those guys. He brought it.
GH: Even in '92 at age 32 he broke quarterback Don Majkowski's ankle and gave the world Brett Favre.
DL: If you listed all the descriptions, adjectives, connotations for football player in Webster's dictionary, and accumulated it all, Krumrie's picture is right there. He was the epitome of everything you had to be a dominant football player, particularly at his position, in a thankless position. I know it wasn't thankless for the linebackers behind him, the safeties in the middle of the field. Anybody involved in that running game. His teammates thanked him every single snap that he played on defense.
GH: Next year is 50 years with the Bengals for you Lap. Great accomplishment.
DL: It is. I really haven't been thinking about it all that much yet. I know it'll hit me big time next year when it's actually there. But it is. It's a two-way street. The Bengals drafted me, I played here 10 years, played two years in the USFL. And then (Bengals president) Mike Brown said, 'I want you to come back and broadcast radio.' I was like, yes, sir. I'm all for that. I appreciate the opportunity. He was more than loyal to me, so I was going to make damn sure I was loyal to Mike Brown and the Cincinnati Bengals organization.
GH: Did you ever have a chance to leave and broadcast elsewhere?
DL: I did some college football and I did some NFL games, like a two-game package, a four-game package kind of thing. And then Mike and I agreed. Look, if you're getting up to four games, I don't know. If you're going to do our games, we want you here for all our games. If you try to do that, God bless you. Go for it. Had to be about 15-20 years ago. I said no.
We lived in Cincinnati for a reason. We stayed in Cincinnati when we were done playing. We wanted to raise our kids here. I wanted to be present. I didn't want to be traveling all over the place. Stay at home, be at home as much as possible. Raise my kids at the critical age where you want to be around your kids to help raise them. For a lot of reasons, I made that decision. I think it's not only for my good, because here I am still doing the games on the radio, but for the good of the family.
GH: What is your biggest thrill in the booth?
DL: Both AFC Championship games. If we won the Super Bowl, it would have been doing the Super Bowl. Losing a Super Bowl broadcast the epitome? Nah. I mean, it's great to be part of the Super Bowl broadcast. That part of it is phenomenal. To happen twice is like a dream come true. But to win those two AFC Championship Games and then to be a player in the Freezer Bowl … That's my biggest thrill as a player. Three AFC Championship Games cover the gamut.
GH: Got to love Burrow.
DL: I love Joe Burrow. All the major traits that you want to list. Characteristics for the dominant quarterback to be around a long time and have a tremendous amount of success. Every box is checked by number nine. There's no doubt.
GH: : How great is Dan Hoard, your play-by-play partner for 14 seasons?
DL: Dan Hoard is phenomenal. His preparation is second to none. He's got a tremendous voice. The quality of his voice is extraordinary, but with the combination of those two characteristics he's more than ready for anything during the course of the football game, and then he delivers it with that voice. So it's a one-two punch that's as good as I've ever been around. I mean, Dan Hoard is extraordinary.
GH: You guys clearly work well together. You have a great rapport. It's like a buddies' trip every Sunday.
DL: We are, yeah. I literally look forward to every single thing I do with Dan Hoard from a media perspective. It's like you said, it's like working with one of your best friends, man. He's an extraordinary, phenomenal guy. Phenomenal professionally at his occupation. Hoardie is a great dad, great husband, great friend. He's just one of the best human beings I've ever been around.
GH: How long do you want to keep doing it? I hope you do it forever.
DL: As long as I feel okay physically and I can talk. If the voice quality starts to waver and they're saying, 'Who is that old coot?' Or mentally I can't keep up with it. But if I feel like I can keep up with it and deliver it well enough, I'd like to do it. Because I still do enjoy the preparation.
I guess that would be the other thing. If it's like, 'Eeeh, I don't want to do this anymore.' But I like working like you do. I like prepping. To me, and I've said this before, I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world that my avocation and vocation are the same thing. When your hobby is your work, it's easy to work hard, man.
