T.J. Houshmandzadeh had a “loooooong conversation” with Jermaine Burton last weekend

The rookie wide receiver has had a tumultuous first season, but his mentor had a heart-to-heart with him last weekend.

It was a big day for reunions at Paycor this past Sunday. Former Pro Bowl tight end Tyler Eifert was the Ruler of the Jungle, and, as we mentioned earlier this week, another former Cincinnati Bengals star pass-catcher was in town to watch the beatdown of the Raiders, as well.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh was in The Queen City representing Tide and the #TideTackles campaign. We caught up with him this week to not only hear about his weekend experiences, but also to get his thoughts on the Bengals—past and present.

Of course, one of the hot topics in the Bengals sphere right now is that of Jermaine Burton. After impressing in the spring and looking like he’d spring right into the WR3 role, he struggled in the summer, and maturity rumors began surfacing.

Those rumors heightened the past two weeks and crescendoed last weekend when he was a healthy scratch after supposedly missing the Saturday walkthrough after being heavily implemented in the week’s game plan. Houshmandzadeh has a history with Burton, as a professional mentor and was even the guy to announce his being the team’s third-round pick this year.

When we caught up “Housh” recently, we politely asked him if he chatted with Burton this weekend about the situation. And, yes, he definitely did.

“I had a loooooong—L-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-G conversation with him,” Houshmandzadeh told us with a smile. “And, so, just hope the words resonate ‘cause I can’t do it for him. I can give him advice, I can talk to him, but ultimately, he has to decide that this is something he wants to do.”

There is no doubt that Burton is talented, but some rumblings about his character and his bouncing around to different schools caused him to fall to the third round. Many believed he had first-round talent.

“And, if this is something you decide you don’t want to do, you won’t be doing it, and you’ll be doing something else that you don’t want to do,” Houshmandzadeh continued. “So, it’s very simple: I don’t think people realize that playing in the NFL is the best time of your life, and it’s over just like that.”

He talked about how the grind of practices and meetings can get to a young player but urged a guy like Burton to push through. He reiterated the rapid nature of an NFL career.

“So, again, we had a nice conversation. I hope I helped. I would like to believe I did because of how transparent—no gray area with me, man…so, I hope I was able to help.”

It’s believed Burton will have a bigger role on Thursday night versus the Ravens, with Tee Higgins doubtful to play. We’ll see how much the staff trusts him after last week’s shenanigans, but let’s hope Houshmandzadeh’s words resonated.

As mentioned before, Houshmandzadeh joined in all of the pregame festivities of the afternoon and not only took in the game but also many pregame activities, like hanging with fans at Bengal Jim and Friends’ famous tailgate.

He played cornhole with fans, partook in some Skyline, and then watched the Bengals get their win over the Raiders. In our interview, he mentioned he got some Skyline on his bright white shirt, but his trusty Tide pen took care of things!

Our thanks to T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Tide, and the #TideTackles initiative for the opportunity! Tide tackles the toughest stains!

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