Andrei Iosivas, Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver

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Find it wherever you buy laundry products. We continue this exact Yelp show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We're all waiting for that big game this weekend. Sunday Night Football on NBC and Westwood won between the Cincinnati Bengals as they host the Buffalo Bills.

And let's go out to the guest line right now. I'm welcoming a man that attended Princeton, was just drafted this past year to the Cincinnati Bengals. Six pick, 206 overall. Six round pick, 206 overall. Now has two touchdowns to start off his career.

And that's Andre Osivash from the Cincinnati Bengals. Andre, I appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. And how you been? Of course. Yeah, thanks for having me.

I've been good, you know, just preparing for this game on Sunday. I know that as a player you sometimes say, oh, it's one game and it's just another game. But this one feels different.

This one feels bigger. It's in a primetime spot. What are kind of the emotions and the vibes around the facility this week? Yeah, I mean, obviously we're done with the NFC little run that we had and now we're back into the AFC. And it's against, you know, I would say probably one of our rivals now or becoming one of our rivals in the AFC.

And so it's just going to be a great matchup between two powerhouses. And we kind of know what's on the line from this point on going forward. You guys got off to that slow start. Borough wasn't a hundred percent. You started off one and three.

Now you're four and three. Big win last week against the San Francisco 49ers. People are still wondering who are the Cincinnati Bengals. I said it last week, I thought you guys were back. And I think you guys are heading back into that big time Super Bowl direction. But what type of team do you think you guys have this year since you're a part of it? Yeah, I mean, it's just a super resilient team.

And it's, for me, when I'm in the locker room, it feels like a bunch of, you know, just like it feels like college. You know, everyone is super, super nice to each other. Everyone is friends. Everyone is, you know, friendly to each other. And we're really close and no one really, you know, if you're doing the wrong thing, people will get on you.

But it's not like in a toxic way at all. Everyone is super supportive and we all know what the goal is. And so we always keep our head down and work, make sure everyone is doing the right thing. And hopefully that leads us to the path to the Super Bowl this year. When you look back at last week with Joe Burrow, up against that really talented 49ers defense, and you made that defense look vulnerable, which many teams can't do, what would stand out to you the most when you look back at that performance, what your quarterback was able to do on the field last Sunday?

Yeah, I mean, it's pretty indicative of where we're trending. You know, I think he had like, I forget his completion percentage, but I think he didn't miss too many passes. So you can see him going through his first and second reads and not being afraid to extend plays for as long as he did. I think that was one play where he scrambled for like nine seconds.

And you know, those are the type of things, that X factor, that help you win games on top of the game plan. And you talked about the scrambling. Late in that fourth quarter, he ran for a first down.

It wasn't a 20-yard run, but I think it was like a 10 or 11-yard scramble. And he got up and he showed a lot of energy. You kind of interpreted that as, that was Joe Burrow basically telling the rest of the NFL that he's back and the Bengals are back. Did you feel that way as well? Oh yeah, I mean, we all felt that way. When you see your starting quarterback like that, it has so much emotion. You see how much those little things mean to him.

And you know, it's good energy all around the facility. Andre Iosivas here with us. So this is your rookie season. You did play your college football for Bob Sarace at Princeton. How do you kind of look back at that experience at Princeton?

And how has it made you the player that we're seeing so far right now in the league? Yeah, I mean, I was blessed to go to Princeton. You know, I didn't have any FBS offers, so Princeton and Dartmouth were my only two. But you know, it taught me how to keep my head down and grind. And you know, just be resilient.

You know, the path to the NFL from Princeton obviously isn't as clear as maybe going to like SEC school or Pat 12 or something like that. But you know, it made me believe in myself, believe in the work that I did. And the experience for me was just great.

And it was a great family vibe with all of them. So I couldn't have asked for a better experience to be honest. How do you explain your success? You know, growing up in Hawaii, landed at Princeton, and now in year one in the NFL, not only making the roster, but finding the end zone now twice this year?

I mean, it's been, you know, I'm kind of a guy that lives in the moment. Like I said before with the Princeton stuff, you know, I've always worked really hard to get where I want to be. And so when things come my way, like touchdowns or, you know, getting drafted, it's kind of, you know, I'm obviously super happy, but it's always what I've worked for. So it's not necessarily a surprise and things like that happen to me.

Andrey Osivash, when you got drafted by the Bengals, 206 overall, six-round pick, clearly happy to get drafted. But how do you look back at those emotions? And what were some of the first thoughts that were creeping in your head? Yeah, I mean, I, you know, day three, I mean, day one and two were very long. I knew I was going to get drafted on the first day, but there's a possibility of the second, early third day.

But, you know, as the day went on, my anxiety kind of wrapped up a bit. And then not knowing if I was going to be drafted or to a team that, like, drafted to the Bengals, who I was my only 30 visit, official 30 visit. They had drafted Charlie Jones in the fourth round, so I didn't think I was going to go there. But, you know, once they called my name, huge sigh of relief, just knowing that I had the possibility of being on a 53-man roster. And my family was super happy and all my friends were happy. So it was just a weight lifted off my shoulders. If there's a kid that's getting overlooked right now and not getting highly recruited, what advice would you give to him?

Just wondering. I would just say keep grinding, keep believing in yourself because, you know, you're the only person that's going to believe in you. I remember back quarantine days, I was lifting all the, like, every day, running routes every day, just thinking that I want to go to the league. And I remember someone saying, like, bro, you want to go to the league?

Like, those guys up there are different. And then I remember in my head, I mean, I laughed it off, but I remember thinking in my head that I'm different too. So just keep believing in yourself. And, you know, if it doesn't work out, then at least you can have peace of mind saying that you tried your best.

Well, you say you're different, Andrei Osivash. You tell me how you envision your career going and what type of player you think you could be in the NFL. I mean, I think I could be a great player that's in the league for a very long time.

You know, I never really like to say what I want out loud to other people necessarily just because those are things, like, goals that I keep in my head. And I just hope that the work will speak for itself eventually, but just know I want to be a great receiver in the league for a very long time. You've quickly have come into the league and you've found the end zone twice. You're building trust with Joe Burrow, and you've been in the end zone the last two times you guys have been out on the field. How have you quickly been able to earn the trust of Joe Burrow where he goes to you when he's looking to find the end zone? I think it's just, you know, that the trust has been built from OTAs to camp, seeing me make plays in camp in the preseason, and just being open when my name is called, doing the right thing when my name is called. You know, and obviously if he's looking my way and I'm open, it's going to be hard not to throw the ball to me if we're looking at each other around the eyes in a scramble.

So I think all that combined has something to do with it. Well by the way, happy belated birthday to you, because the last time I was talking to you I didn't realize it was your birthday when you had your first career touchdown. But you're going up against the Seahawks, you get that touchdown, Burrow gets you the football. Seemed like that was the perfect birthday, right?

Oh yeah, I mean that was the birthday moment I'm going to remember forever. What did that mean to you when Burrow made sure he got you the football? Yeah, it just showed how much he cares about the game, how much he cares about the little things. You know, there's a flag in the backfield when I caught it, so I thought there's definitely a holding on the offense, so I kind of just threw the ball away.

But you could tell, like he was asking the ref for the ball, and you could tell how much he knew it would mean to me if I got the ball, and so I really appreciated that. You being a youngster, you trying to get a lot of information and build your career, especially in that locker room, you go to a perfect situation. We talked about the quarterback, and then you look at your wide receiving room with guys like Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. What are some of the things that you've really been able to learn from those three wide receivers who have done some pretty big things in this league? Yeah, just watching them every day in practice, especially in camp when we were competitive during practices. Their techniques, what they're thinking, when a DB does this, or when they see safety do something else. And pretty much just watching them, to be honest.

I ask them for little skill tips here and there about breaks and leverages and things like that, but just watching greatness makes you want to be good as well. When you look at this Bills team, especially their defense, what stands out to you when you get ready for the game coming up on Sunday? Yeah, I mean they play really hard. I think we can make some plays on them, to be honest, but we won't dive too deep into that, but they play really hard.

They have good DBs, they have an aggressive line, and so we tend to come out and make sure we protect well and take some shots. Before we let you run, one of the storylines entering this game clearly is going to be DeMar Hamlin. I know you weren't on the Bengals last year, but everyone knows the story and saw what happened last year when these two teams did meet on, I believe it was Monday Night Football in Cincinnati. And then you guys go on to play and have that playoff game, but when you look back at the whole DeMar Hamlin situation, just being a player that's in this league, and I'm sure it was talked about this week in the facility, just how do you recall what happened last year?

Yeah, I mean it's obviously a super touchy subject. We haven't really talked about it much in the facility, but I just wish all the best for DeMar when he steps on that field, and I just hope he has peace of mind with that, and that's all I can pretty much say about that. Andre Osivash, appreciate the time, good luck this week, and continued success in your NFL career. Yep, thank you.