Archdeacon: Gesicki Griddy? ‘It was beautiful’

He should also be singled out as their No. 1 clairvoyant.

“Somebody should go interview Trent and ask what the lottery numbers are,” Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki said as he stood at his locker after Cincinnati’s 41-24 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Paycor Stadium.

A couple of hours before the game Gesicki said Irwin came up to him with a question:

“He said, ‘Do you have a touchdown dance ready?’”

When Gesicki had no quick answer, he said Irwin couldn’t believe his lack of preparation:

“He was like, ‘Aaah…You’re going into the game with no plan to score? Bro, you gotta be ready. You’re going to score today!’”

Down at his dressing quarters some six lockers away, Irwin recounted the scenario:

“I was just talking to my boys, trying to get some good energy going around. I told him, ‘Dang, the last time I scored, I had a plan dance-wise! I had a plan celebration-wise!’

“I believe if you can see it, then it sort of can come to fruition.”

And that’s just what happened with Gesicki, the seven-year pro who just joined Cincinnati this season.

Sunday, he had his best game in Bengals stripes, catching five passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns in what was a must-win game for the now 4-5 home team.

For Gesicki, it was his first touchdown catch since last Christmas Eve when he was playing with New England and scored in a game at Denver. He had only two TD catches that entire season.

Sunday his first touchdown catch came midway through the third quarter on a second-and goal situation from the Las Vegas 11-yard line.

As Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow scrambled to avoid the Raiders sack-mad Maxx Crosby and find an open receiver, Gesicki worked himself open in the back of the end zone.

“That was just the scramble drill where you try to make something happen,” Gesicki said.

He managed to break free from Raiders’ free safety Tre’von Moehrig and caught a low pass that he punctuated with a barrel roll. Once back on his feet, he hesitated, then started to run out of the end zone toward the bench.

That’s when he caught the eye of Bengals’ top receiver Ja’Marr Chase, the TD dance master know for The Griddy, his signature celebration.

“I just pointed at him and figured he knew what I was talking about,” said Gesicki, who’s been laughed at on social media, including Chase, for his previous Griddy attempts. “At first, he was like, ‘What you gonna do?’ And then he just followed in.”

Gesicki did his version of “Hitting The Griddy,” the dance where you alternate tapping your heels — while moving or staying in place — and swinging your arms back and forth. If you’re good, you also “throw the Bs,” which is kind of like making the OK signs with your fingers around each eye.

Gesicki’s effort had Chase — who was like a dad letting loose of his son’s bike the first time the boy tries riding without training wheels — joining in.

By the end Chase was laughing, but he appreciated the effort and gave the tight end a high-five when it was over.

“It was probably a fail, but it was an attempt,” Gesicki grinned. “Ja’Marr should have been laughing. It wasn’t great.”

With just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Gesicki found himself open for an all-alone, 47-yard catch and TD run down the middle of the field.

“Honestly, a lot of the credit on that goes to Ja’Marr because of all the attention he gets,” he said. “It was a pump screen to him and then Joe put it out there for me.

“Right then, I just felt like I was living right. My wife probably could have scored on that play.”

After the game, Gesicki continually tried to lessen the spotlight on himself. That’s his nature.

“I hope this narrative isn’t about me, there were so many other people who had a big day,” he said noting everybody from Burrow and his five TD tosses and running back Chase Brown’s 120-yard rushing game, his first time ever topping the century mark, to defensive end Trey Hendrickson’s four sacks and a fumble recovery.

“This is not about me. I’m not going to make too much about this and make it seem like I had two touchdowns in the Super Bowl. It’s not that.

“But I’m grateful just to have the opportunity again.”

Professional approach

The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Gesicki set records in three sports at his New Jersey high school and then became the Penn State tight end with the most receptions in Nittany Lions’ history.

A second-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2018, he had three stellar seasons, beginning in 2019 and culminating with 73 catches for 780 yards in 2021. But then his offensive opportunities evaporated with the ever-changing offensive schemes he found himself in.

Mike McDaniel took over as the Dolphins coach in 2022 and changed the offensive emphasis away from Gesicki, whose season totals ended up less than half of what they’d been the year before.

He was sent to floundering New England in 2023 and his numbers plummeted again.

By the time he came to Cincinnati this year, he was with his seventh different offensive coordinator and his 12th different quarterback in his seven-year career.

“There have been times in my career, before coming here, where the opportunities have not been there,” he said.

He credited his wife Halle with buoying him in the tough stretches.

“I’ve played in the league for seven years and over 100 games,” he said. “And I’ve been through the highs and the lows.

“In this league you never know what’s going to happen. There are guys who have the ability, they’re really talented, but the opportunities don’t always present themselves.

“I felt the player (I was) was still there. I just tried to stay ready and be professional about it and go about it the right way. I’ve tried to be good to the game and hope the game is good to me.”

‘He makes big-time catches’

He’s a true-blue Jersey guy in the vein of Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Danny DeVito.

He grew up near the Jersey Shore. His wife grew up an hour away. And once they married, they built a place halfway between their New Jersey hometowns. Since their marriage though, they’ve become world travelers.

“Halle had never been out of the country before we married,” he said.

Their honeymoon was in the South Pacific — Bora Bora — and since then they’ve been to places like Monaco, Monte Carlo, Paris and Italy — from Rome and the Amalfi Coast to Capri.

And yet, there’s no place Gesicki would rather be this season than in Cincinnati.

“Well, there’s no beaches here,” he admitted. “But there is stuff I like.

“Jeff Ruby’s is here. I like the restaurant and the sushi there.”

And he said he likes being on the receiving end of Joe Burrow’s efforts:

“That man is one of one. And I mean that in the most positive way: His demeanor. The way he carries himself. His confidence. His swagger. He’s incredible.

“I mean, look at today – five touchdowns!

“He does a great job. I can’t say enough good things about him. I just want to continue to build trust and show him that when he keeps a play alive — with the way he can throw on the run; the weird arm angles, all that stuff — when he creates something, I can go and make the play for him.”

Burrow recognized that and after the game praised Gesicki, who now has 30 catches for 353 yards this season:

“Mike is going to continue to make plays, and he just continues to get open in zone. He wins versus man. He makes big-time catches. He makes contested catches and continues to show why \I have so much trust in him. His role is going to continue to increase.”

As the Bengals head to Baltimore for Thursday night’s game with the Ravens, that means there soon will chances for more touchdown catches ... and more endzone celebrations.

As for Sunday’s dance effort, Irwin — the pregame prophet whose vision did come to fruition — offered a postgame assessment:

“Now I’m not a Griddy connoisseur. That’s not my job. That’s more Ja’Marr’s job.

“But Mike looked good to me.

“It was beautiful.”