Zac Taylor's Gesture to Mike Hilton

[CJD]

I didn't notice it during the game, but apparently Zac sent Mike Hilton out for the two victory formation kneel downs at the end of the game.

Per the Athletic article recapping the game:

Quote:8. Hilton admitted the game was “definitely personal for me.”

9. Boyd offered some more insight into why, noting how his new teammate didn’t keep his feelings to himself when he gave a couple of speeches in front of the team, first on Friday and then again at the team hotel in Pittsburgh.

10. “He was just saying basically how he didn’t feel valued by them guys,” Boyd said in summarizing Hilton’s speech. “He was their leading turnover guy a year ago. For them to not invest in a guy like him is kind of insulting to a person because you know how good you are. You feel like you mean a lot to a team and an organization and feel like they stab you in the back. I don’t know what the situation was, and he didn’t say that in his exact words, but we understood the magnitude. That was pretty much how it is. He felt that way. He just wanted to go back there and show them boys why they ain’t value him. I felt everything in him.”

11. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor sent Boyd and Hilton out for the coin toss due to their Pittsburgh connections. Taylor also sent Hilton out for the final two snaps of the game when the Bengals offense was kneeling out the clock. Hilton said Monday he’s not normally the deep back in victory formation.

12. “I think it was a nod to me,” he said. “Also with me going out for the coin toss, I wasn’t expecting that. They told me in the team meeting. That was an exciting feeling to end it on the field in victory formation. I definitely loved that moment.”

So you have a guy who, let's be honest, probably chose Cincinnati because he wanted to play against the Steelers, the team that he felt slighted by and, in the game where we beat his former team, our coach sends him out for both the coin toss AND the victory formation kneel downs.

Based on the quotes from Hilton, he seems like he really appreciated the gesture.

Say what you want about ZT, but he knows how to get his players on his side. Honestly, that may be the most dangerous part about him haha. How do you fire a coach that the players all love?