Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Ja’Marr Chase is one of the best additions the franchise could’ve added through the draft, but it wasn’t the original place someone in his family wanted him to end up.
On Father’s Day weekend, Ja’Marr Chase’s dad, Jimmy, was on the Bengals Booth Podcast with Joe Burrow’s father, also named Jimmy.
During this interview, the elder Chase admitted that he initially wanted his son to get drafted by the Miami Dolphins.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know anything about Cincinnati and they’re not that good right now. So, why don’t we just go to South Beach, right?’ I could just go sit on the beach and watch Ja’Marr on the team, right?” he admitted.
Chase ended up being the first WR taken off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft with the No. 5 overall pick. The Miami Dolphins selected Jaylen Waddle with the very next pick.
“I said, ‘I like Joe and everything, but, Cincinnati, Ja’Marr? I don’t know about all that,” Chase’s father joked.
The 2021 NFL Draft’s fifth-overall pick exploded onto the scene with an NFL rookie-record 1,455 receiving yards along with 81 receptions and 13 touchdowns. He followed with 87 catches for 1,046 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022.
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Waddle is no slouch himself as he finished with 75 receptions for 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns while leading the league in yards per catch (18.1) during the 2022 season. That came after he broke the NFL’s rookie record for receptions (104) and franchise rookie record for yards (1,015) in 2021.
The Bengals have had way more success in the playoffs as they have been to back-to-back AFC Championship games and one Super Bowl appearance.
The Dolphins were in the playoffs this past year but lost to the Bills.
