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Speaker 2: All righty, let's talk about those 49ers with one of
Speaker 2: our favorites, Matt Barrows of The Athletic.
Speaker 3: Matt, things got... Pretty weird yesterday. Good morning. What's up, Matt?
Speaker 4: I'm good. You guys want to talk about the Deion
Speaker 4: Jones trade?
Speaker 5: Oh, I actually do, Matt.
Speaker 3: Marcus actually likes Deion Jones. I'm a Deion Jones fan, Matt.
Speaker 3: Former Pro Bowler.
Speaker 4: That's right.
Speaker 2: Well, what is going to happen to the 49ers based
Speaker 2: on this Jed York news story?
Speaker 3: Nothing, everything, something in between. What's the fallout, Matt?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, as far as punishment from the league,
Speaker 4: I would think that he pled no contest and was
Speaker 4: found guilty of two misdemeanors. So it's there. It's been adjudicated.
Speaker 4: It's not like the Robert Kraft situation where it was
Speaker 4: sort of in a legal limbo and the charges were
Speaker 4: ultimately dropped. This one has been resolved. So... I can't
Speaker 4: imagine that he avoids any sort of punishment, but I
Speaker 4: wonder what it's going to be. I mean, is it
Speaker 4: a fine and a suspension? I think that– I forget
Speaker 4: when it happened, but remember that Jim Irsay, the then
Speaker 4: Colts owner, was arrested for driving law under the influence
Speaker 4: of And I think he was fined $ 500, 000 and suspended
Speaker 4: for six games from all kind of games from the
Speaker 4: team facility, from owners meetings, stuff like that. I would
Speaker 4: imagine it's along those lines.
Speaker 5: Matt, the 49ers put out a statement yesterday essentially saying
Speaker 5: that they will not be providing any further comment at
Speaker 5: this time. So what do you think that timeline looks like?
Speaker 5: Is this something that John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, and maybe
Speaker 5: even the players will have to address later on this week?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I thought that they've got to practice
Speaker 4: later today, and I thought that this would be a
Speaker 4: natural spot for Kyle Shanahan to speak. He spoke last Tuesday.
Speaker 4: That was at a joint practice in Los Angeles with
Speaker 4: the Chargers, but he's been speaking sort of ahead of
Speaker 4: the preseason game the last couple of weeks. He's not
Speaker 4: scheduled to speak because of the concussion, and he's not
Speaker 4: on an official schedule yet. So I think it will
Speaker 4: be interesting whether the 49ers put him out there today
Speaker 4: or whether they put Chris Furster out, and Chris Furster
Speaker 4: will not have anything to say about Jed York. But, yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, there's sort of a question. It was just
Speaker 4: a very short statement yesterday. It came via text. That
Speaker 4: statement is not on their website. There's no letterhead, anything
Speaker 4: like that. So it sort of underscored that this was unprecedented,
Speaker 4: and the 49ers were sort of headless at that moment.
Speaker 4: So who sort of... takes the reins, who becomes the
Speaker 4: voice of the team, who speaks for the franchise when
Speaker 4: the owner is indisposed, shall we say. So I think
Speaker 4: it's all a good question. I'm eager to see how
Speaker 4: the team addresses it.
Speaker 2: When's the last time Matt Jed did some media with
Speaker 2: you guys, just a good old-fashioned bowl session where you
Speaker 2: guys could fill up the notebooks?
Speaker 4: That usually happens at the owner's meeting in the spring,
Speaker 4: I think early May, late April. So, yeah, he did
Speaker 4: it this year, and I can't remember what the topics were,
Speaker 4: but it was a good 20-minute session where he answers everything,
Speaker 4: and that's usually it, unless there's a specific thing, like
Speaker 4: something to do with the stadium or an event or
Speaker 4: something like that.
Speaker 2: So there's a couple of things of note here. Sad
Speaker 2: story about him getting divorced from Danielle, who we all knew. And,
Speaker 2: you know, it's sad that a family breaks up like that.
Speaker 2: And then somebody said he might be moving to Ohio
Speaker 2: full time for tax purposes. That's just a rumor I'd heard.
Speaker 2: And then the Parag Marathe departure. So I'm just kind
Speaker 2: of adding this all up. You throw in the arrest.
Speaker 2: Is the 49ers hierarchy top of the food chain as
Speaker 2: unstable as it's been in a while?
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I mean, there are different faces. You know,
Speaker 4: the Prague Marate was his right hand man from the beginning.
Speaker 4: I mean, back when Murph was a 49ers beat reporter, right?
Speaker 4: That's when Prague Marate came in. I mean, we're talking ancient,
Speaker 4: ancient history here. And all of a sudden, he's not.
Speaker 4: And it's interesting because he's still dealing with 49ers Enterprises,
Speaker 4: which is the arm that deals with the soccer clubs
Speaker 4: in the UK and whatnot, but not with the 49ers.
Speaker 4: At the same time, Al Guido has risen up. He's
Speaker 4: been sort of the stadium guy since 2014. And that's
Speaker 4: been his... purview. And, you know, I wonder whether, you know,
Speaker 4: he will gain some power, some clout because of the
Speaker 4: vacuum created by Prog Marante.
Speaker 5: Matt, between this Jed York incident and the Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 5: car accident, do you see this offseason maybe having too
Speaker 5: many distractions to the point where it could have an
Speaker 5: effect on the season?
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, the bigger one as far as
Speaker 4: you know, the football team and practices and getting ready
Speaker 4: for the Rams as Kyle Shanahan. And that has returned
Speaker 4: to normal. I mean, as far as the players and
Speaker 4: the coaches are concerned, you know, it was a little
Speaker 4: bit disrupted at the beginning of training camp, but there's
Speaker 4: no change right now. So I don't think that it's
Speaker 4: going to affect the product on the field. I'm sure
Speaker 4: the players are wondering what the hell is going on
Speaker 4: with our owner. And I don't know how this incident
Speaker 4: plus the divorce proceedings will affect things. My, my podcast partner,
Speaker 4: Tim Calicami thinks that it could have a big impact
Speaker 4: down the line. I'm, I'm a little bit more dubious than,
Speaker 4: than he is, but I mean, it's, it's a bit
Speaker 4: of a double whammy. And then, you know, to Murph's point,
Speaker 4: You throw in Prague Marate leaving, and that was unrelated, obviously.
Speaker 4: But there are three sort of, you know, big, roiling
Speaker 4: things that are happening to the organization right now.
Speaker 2: I mean, the nightmare scenario is the McCourts, right? They
Speaker 2: own the Dodgers, and their divorce, like, turned the franchise
Speaker 2: upside down. It led to the sale of the franchise. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, that's like the nuclear scenario.
Speaker 4: Yes. You know, my thought, though, is I always thought,
Speaker 4: and maybe you've seen him at a 49ers event at
Speaker 4: a game. I don't know this for sure. I've never
Speaker 4: talked to Jed about it. But it seemed like the
Speaker 4: succession plan was to eventually turn the team over to
Speaker 4: his eldest son, Jackson, who, you know, he is a
Speaker 4: sports football mad little kid. throwing the ball with Tom Brady.
Speaker 4: You see him on the sideline, plays sports. He loves
Speaker 4: the NFL. It seemed natural. I just don't know what
Speaker 4: these divorce proceedings will bring. Sometimes divorces occur and then
Speaker 4: there's a reconciliation and this, that, and the other. I
Speaker 4: would think that that was the plan. I don't know
Speaker 4: if the divorce proceedings change any of.
Speaker 2: That yeah it's wild wild wild stuff and uh it
Speaker 2: uh we'll see i mean these are the power this
Speaker 2: is the cloak and dagger stuff here as we as
Speaker 2: we uh we'll see how it affects the 49ers going
Speaker 2: to la that leads with like such ordinary questions matt
Speaker 2: as has george.
Speaker 4: Kittle are you gonna ask about left guard.
Speaker 2: How does the jed how does the mobile park affect
Speaker 2: uh uh what's his name uh uh who's the kid
Speaker 2: there who's out there now carver willis.
Speaker 3: Carver willis uh-huh Jeez, man. Maybe a little Connor Colby.
Speaker 3: Connor Colby.
Speaker 5: Yeah, who do you want?
Speaker 3: Who's your pick?
Speaker 5: Robert Jones. Yeah, yeah, throw Robert Jones in there, too.
Speaker 3: Brett Toth.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Matt, George Kittle has yet to have a padded
Speaker 2: team practice, correct?
Speaker 3: Is that the eyes this week?
Speaker 4: Yes, that's, you know, it seems to be trending towards that.
Speaker 4: He was doing all the individual drill stuff, and I
Speaker 4: think that the takeaway is that, you Guys can hustle
Speaker 4: back and be back in the lineup. They don't look
Speaker 4: like themselves. George Kittle looks like George Kittle, just from
Speaker 4: the very brief stuff that we've seen. But his teammates
Speaker 4: have seen more, and they're very impressed by his comeback,
Speaker 4: his rehab. So I think he'll be ramped up slowly.
Speaker 4: He'll probably do a little bit more today. than he
Speaker 4: did on Sunday. Uh, he'll probably have a workout on,
Speaker 4: on Thursday, but not playing the game. And then they'll
Speaker 4: have some practices, um, Saturday and Sunday coming up. And, um,
Speaker 4: you know, really soon right after that, this team will
Speaker 4: Sunday night that the team, we knows it's, uh, rostered
Speaker 4: a 53, uh, And then on Wednesday, they hop on
Speaker 4: a plane to Melbourne, Australia. So things are happening quick.
Speaker 4: It's all going to be occurring rapidly. So there's only
Speaker 4: a brief window for him to get ready for this game.
Speaker 4: That's why I think it will be a ramp up.
Speaker 4: But the ramp up should be fairly steep.
Speaker 5: Matt, just to follow up on Kittle, obviously it's a
Speaker 5: huge box to check off him being activated off the
Speaker 5: PUP list, but are there actual like known boxes that
Speaker 5: he still needs to check off as he's trying to
Speaker 5: ramp up ahead of week one?
Speaker 4: I think it's just about getting into football shape and
Speaker 4: everyone you ever talk to says, you know, you can
Speaker 4: run as many wind sprints and, you know, hit all
Speaker 4: your mile per hour parameters and, right on the nose.
Speaker 4: But until you actually practice and play football, you're just
Speaker 4: not going to be ready for a game. So that's
Speaker 4: sort of part and parcel to this idea of building
Speaker 4: up the callus that the 49ers try to do at
Speaker 4: the beginning of training camp, which results in a lot
Speaker 4: of guys getting hurt, a lot of guys straining groins
Speaker 4: and hamstrings and calves. But it's about, for Kyle Shanahan,
Speaker 4: getting in football shape. And that's what is missing for
Speaker 4: George Kittle right now. And that's why I say I
Speaker 4: think his kind of ramp-up period will be fairly intense.
Speaker 3: How many starters on Thursday?
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know the answer to that. I
Speaker 4: asked the two coordinators that question last week, thinking that, oh,
Speaker 4: because they have to get on the plane on Wednesday...
Speaker 4: a week from tomorrow, maybe they'll treat this third game
Speaker 4: differently and not have any starters out there. So I
Speaker 4: don't know what the answer is. I think there are
Speaker 4: some players, we joked about the left guard position, but
Speaker 4: I think that they'd love to see Carver Willis out
Speaker 4: there against the Raiders. I think if Romello Height is healthy,
Speaker 4: he would be out there against the Raiders. These are
Speaker 4: possible starters. Jaden Duggar, the rookie linebacker. They want to
Speaker 4: give the inexperienced potential starters all the work that they
Speaker 4: can get in the summer.
Speaker 5: Matt, real quick before we let you go, are you
Speaker 5: familiar with the romance novel Fourth Wing?
Speaker 4: I am not. This is going to be an interesting question, though,
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, last night it was fourth wing night last
Speaker 5: night at Oracle Park, and I was there, and I
Speaker 5: was just confused, and I had no idea about the book.
Speaker 5: I just thought maybe because of you being a best-selling author,
Speaker 5: maybe you had a breakdown or maybe a recommendation on
Speaker 5: the fourth wing.
Speaker 4: Well, I have done a lot of sort of book
Speaker 4: signing things at Barnes & Nobles and different bookstores, and
Speaker 4: it is amazing. You're surrounded by... books that do sell
Speaker 4: unlike my book the books that do sell all have
Speaker 4: titles like fourth wing they're all sort of like fantasy
Speaker 4: fiction military fantasy things like that that's what that's what
Speaker 4: sells these days that of course in in romance romance
Speaker 4: novels which is you know murph's uh He loves the
Speaker 4: romance novels, the bodice rippers, as we call them.
Speaker 3: The bodice rippers. I hadn't heard that one.
Speaker 2: That's what apparently this book, Fourth Wing, has been described
Speaker 2: as dragon smut.
Speaker 3: Dragon smut.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, who among us doesn't like to read
Speaker 4: a little dragon smut every now and then?
Speaker 2: Well, according to Marcus, a fair number of people do
Speaker 2: because they were all at the Giants game last night
Speaker 2: getting a special giveaway.
Speaker 3: Oh, huge lines at the ballpark.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I'm sure this is Game of Thrones echo,
Speaker 4: you know. Game of Thrones was so huge.
Speaker 3: Fifty Shades of Harry Potter.
Speaker 4: That's what it is. That's what sells these days. I mean,
Speaker 4: I tried to write a good old-fashioned murder mystery and
Speaker 4: It hasn't sold very well. I should have gone with
Speaker 4: dragon smut. And in fact, dragon smut is a terrific title.
Speaker 4: I mean, I just might take that.
Speaker 3: You know what you do? You deal with the darn
Speaker 3: book sales too.
Speaker 2: As I tell people, when the late great Neil Hayes
Speaker 2: and I wrote the last putt, people say, how did
Speaker 2: it sell?
Speaker 3: I say, it was well-reviewed. It was well-reviewed. Exactly.
Speaker 2: As was, I was going to say, Maddie, we got
Speaker 2: one sale in our house and waiting for the next.
Speaker 3: Candace is an avowed fan. I don't know. Maybe she
Speaker 3: wants a little more dragon and a little more smut.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I'll ask her.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, we can probably fit the smut into it. Dragon, gosh,
Speaker 4: that's just going to be tough. But I'll see what
Speaker 4: I can do.
Speaker 5: All right.
Speaker 3: You've got a long flight to tinker with that manuscript.
Speaker 4: Don't think that I'm not going to be working on
Speaker 4: that during that flight. All right.
Speaker 5: You're the best, Matt.
Speaker 3: We'll read you in The Athletic. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks, Matt.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 4: Anytime, guys. Talk to you soon.
Speaker 2: Matt Barrows of The Athletic vowed off Muddy the Water
Speaker 2: is the book. It's a detective. My wife, who reads
Speaker 2: these whodunits all the time, says it's one of the
Speaker 2: best she's read.
Speaker 4: Whodunit!
Speaker 2: So it's like, do you do Jacob Violante, the vigilante,
Speaker 2: in for Walt, who's tending to the baby today?
Speaker 3: Do you read? Are you a reader, my friend? Do
Speaker 3: you read books?
Speaker 4: I am a reader.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 2: That makes you severely in the minority here. So have
Speaker 2: you read Muddy the Water?
Speaker 3: I have not. Well, are you interested in like a whodunit?
Speaker 4: I am.
Speaker 3: Okay. Muddy the water. Spoiler alert. It was a substation.
Speaker 3: We have his Christmas present all picked out.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3: Cooler of content. Bro, did you see the Padres' new owners? Oh, my.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: They made a splash. Next on Esports Leader.