Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton is six games deep into his fourth season as a pro. He's sitting on a 98.4 rating and completing 68.2 percent of his passes, both career bests, and he has the Bengals sitting atop the AFC North with a 3-1-1 record (ties in the NFL are still so weird). He's even rolling out new commercials. And yet, people are still questioning his leadership abilities. He took some time to speak with us about his new contract, how the NFL is handling safety issues, and surprising fans in his new Pepsi advertisement.
Interview by Tony Markovich (@T_Marko)
First off, congrats on your son. How's that going for you?
It's been fun to be a dad. It's going well. He's sleeping really well, so it's really nice.
Cleveland has held most of the Ohio attention this year. How is Cincinnati feeling about that?
We're not too worried about that. Cleveland has gotten a lot of media attention, but that's not what we play for. We'll fly under the radar as much as we can. I think that's the way we like it.
You like just staying out of the conversation?
Our play will take care of itself. I think that's just the style that Marvin has instilled in everybody, and that's the way this team is made up.
What was it like signing such a big contract this offseason?
I definitely feel blessed to be in a situation like that. I think both sides were really happy that it got done at the right time and it's definitely a cool moment to sign that contract.
What was the first thing you bought with your new money?
We ended up buying a house here in Cincinnati, so that was the first purchase.
There was some debate about the size of your contract and what you've done so far in the league. What do you say to the doubters?
Everybody has an opinion. This team believes and this organization believes, so they can say whatever they want. I've had a lot of success so far being in the NFL. The only thing I haven't done yet is win a playoff game, and I'm confident we're going to get that done, so I'm not too worried about what other people think. I know that the team and the organization believe in me, and I believe a lot in myself.
There have been comparisons with your numbers against Peyton Manning's numbers up to this point in your careers. Did you have a chance to see that?
Yeah, I saw that, and that's something I've looked at throughout time. The numbers are really similar.
They're almost identical.
I think it goes to show that everybody has an opinion. You look at what some of these other guys did in their first seasons in the league, I've done very similar.
Was Peyton a person you looked up to, and do you think there are any parts of your game that are similar?
He's definitely a guy I've watched growing up, and he's been one of the best in the NFL for a really long time. I think just the way he has all the control at the line of scrimmage, being able to give the team the right play and get them into the right situation, I think that's something I try to do and have been able to do here in Cincinnati.
What's the most memorable or the hardest hit you've ever taken?
I took some good ones in my second year in Baltimore. There were a couple. I think Haloti Ngata hit me pretty good one time. In that game, there were a couple hits where they got me pretty good.
The NFL has taken a lot of heat regarding what hits should be penalized and how to handle concussions. How do you feel the NFL has handled safety and protecting the players?
It's a physical game. Unfortunately, stuff like that happens. They're trying to do everything they can to stop some of these helmet-to-helmet hits and different things that cause them, but it's not always the hits that cause it. It's your head hitting the ground, it could be different things, so as much as they're trying to minimize these concussions, it's still going to happen because it's a physical game.
Do you think there's a point where you have to just say, "this is what the game is, deal with it." There are also people worried it's getting too soft.
They can keep trying to do what they can, but it's still going to be the game of football. Like I said, it's physical, and regardless of the rules, there are going to be certain things that happen in the moment that cause concussions, unfortunately. When you're playing a game where there's hitting involved, stuff like that's going to happen.
You and Pepsi recently released a new commercial. How did that come about?
Pepsi has been doing some really cool things, and I've been working with Pepsi since I got into he NFL, so this year's spot I got to come in and surprise some Bengals fans at Buffalo Wild Wings. We were shooting a commercial and we made it look like I was doing a press conference, and then I came out of the back room. It was cool to really engage with the fans. We invited them to a preseason game and got them involved. It was cool. Last year I did a shoot with them about "are you fan enough?" Pepsi's done a really nice job of getting the fans involved.
So that was 100 percent live? They didn't know at all?
There was a mix. There were some people who knew what was going on and others who were just coming into Buffalo Wild Wings to eat and didn't know we were shooting a commercial.
Did you have any part in coming up with the idea or script?
It was set up. We were wanting to find a way to engage the fans, and it gave me a way to do that. I think it makes it fun that there were a lot of people there who had no idea what was going on.
Which game did they get to go to?
It was the first preseason game at home against the Jets.
