CINCINNATI (WXIX) – When Dalton Risner got the call from the Cincinnati Bengals in the middle of August to come to town for a visit, he took his cleats, put them in a grocery bag, put that grocery bag in a duffle bag and boarded a flight to Cincinnati.
Those cleats have been through a lot of stuff this summer.
Risner was a free agent until the end of August. Without a team to practice with, he put on these cleats every morning, walked past about 100 mailboxes on the way to his local park in Tampa and then put himself through offensive line drills.
At the park, there’s a pickleball court and a basketball court on the right. There are mailboxes on the left.
“In between, there’s a 20-yard patch of grass where everyone lets their dogs poop,” Risner said.
The grass gets mowed about every two weeks.
“Sometimes, I’m in the jungle. Literally.”
He stepped in poop multiple times.
“You like to sift through it before you run and see if there’s anything ahead of me here,” Risner said. “But there are people who don’t pick it up. You land in it every now and then.”
Something else had him even more concerned.
“Mostly, I was scared of snakes,” Risner said. “It’s Florida.”
Fortunately, there were no snake encounters.
But there were some snide comments as neighborhood residents walked by him in the park.
Every day, Risner was practicing pass protection sets and run blocking techniques.
“I remember one guy walked by one day,” Risner said. “He says, ‘That’s a hell of a fantasy football team that you’re on.’”
The guy thought that Risner was just playing pretend.
“It hurt,” Risner said. “I wasn’t on a team. It was like, dang, I might be done. I say that in a serious way because there were so many mornings where no one could have given a (darn) about me. I had to wake up a put the work in knowing that my name might get called and I might have an opportunity.”
Risner could have quit at any time. He’s 30 years old and has played in 88 NFL games. He didn’t end up getting a big money deal from the Bengals.
No one was making sure that Risner woke up at 6 a.m. every morning to get his work in.
“As much of a joke as it sounds to be at the local park with 75-year-olds walking by with their dogs staring at me (saying) ‘What is this guy doing?’ those days really paid off for me,” Risner said. “I’m really grateful for that.”
On Sunday, in a 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns, Patrick stepped in for an injured Lucas Patrick and played 36 solid snaps. With Patrick now on the injured reserve list, Dan Pitcher said that he’s comfortable with Risner at right guard moving forward.
“He played well,” Pitcher said. “It’s a testament to his character and preparation. He has played a lot of real football. He got thrown into the fire pretty quickly. All things considered, he did an admirable job.”
The Bengals signed Risner on Aug. 28, which was after Cordell Volson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Before making his season debut, Risner only participated in two padded practices. He barely had time to get to know his teammates, let alone learn the Bengals’ system.
Risner was supposed to be a backup in Week 1 behind Patrick, but plans changed in the second quarter as Patrick got injured. Risner was ready when his name was called. On his first play as a Bengal, Risner made a great block and bought Joe Burrow time to complete a 14-yard ball to Mike Gesicki on third-and-8.
“That right guard spot has to be a smart player, especially on the road to handle all of those cadences and turn his head around and get a quick snapshot of the defense and know what to do quicker than anybody else because he’s not looking at the defense,” Burrow said. “Credit to him for being ready. He’s a veteran player. He knows what it takes, so I’m excited to keep playing with him.”
As he looked back on the win, Risner’s thoughts drifted back to all of the work that he did on his own during the summer.
He had a very set routine as he worked out in Tampa. He’d wake up early, and by 6 a.m. he’d be in the cold tub. Next up was a stretching progression. Next, he lifted for an hour in his home gym. Then, the sauna.
After that, he put on those cleats and walked past the mailboxes and pickleball court on the way to the park.
At the park, he put himself through his own private training camp.
“I’d start with 15 sprints,” Risner said. “Start on the line. Sprint 20 yards through. As soon as you get to the line, turn around and come back. No breaks.”
Risner gave himself five minutes to get water after those 15 sprints. Then, he did hours of reps on his own. “I’d go through my inside zone,” Risner said. “My outside zone. Mid-zone. Pull left. Pull right. Left guard. Right guard. Giant front. Left guard three-tech. Right guard three-tech.”
He’d be working at the park until 10 o’clock.
“A lot of days, you wake up and you’re like, ‘Why?’” Risner said. “You’re not getting a call. It doesn’t look like this is going to happen for me this year. It means a lot to me because it look a lot to say that I still have a dream and I still believe in myself. I still believe I can do this. Even though people don’t know my story, when I was able to play last weekend, it meant a lot more to me because of my situation.”
He said that he had other offers in free agency, but Risner was waiting for the right fit.
“I could have played on multiple different teams,” Risner said. “I wanted to be a Bengal. It wasn’t only for opportunity. It wasn’t just about the players in the locker room. It was everything. It’s the city. It’s the fan base. It’s ownership. It’s Duke Tobin and Steven (Radicevic) and Zac Taylor. It’s Justin Rascati. Scott Peters. Ted Karras. Orlando Brown. It’s all of that as to why you come to a place.”
At the end of August, about a week after his initial visit to Cincinnati, the Bengals offered him a contract. Risner packed those cleats, which he points to as he sits at his locker on Wednesday at Paycor Stadium.
There’s one more thing you should know about the cleats.
“I never washed them,” Risner said.
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