Speaker 1: And Rivers is back into the gun. Quizzonberry is his
Speaker 1: center and he is going to throw on this down.
Speaker 1: Fires are intercepted again, picked off, return to the forty
Speaker 1: down the side on It's funny eart on. Here comes
Speaker 1: Rik Harris going in all the way. Touchdown Riders first
Speaker 1: down of gold. Rivers good protection, packed again, intercepted by
Speaker 1: Eric Harris his third, but a flag is down on
Speaker 1: the far side of the field and it's an offside
Speaker 1: against Oakland, and that's gonna take the pick away. Rivers
Speaker 1: throws cast caught me and touch Standler gets the touch
Speaker 1: d They're down in a long one. Jacobs clack in
Speaker 1: the game, no rookie from the touchdown. Rivers airs it out.
Speaker 1: Allen Pecks his packs intercepted by Carl Joseph, and there
Speaker 1: you have it. Karl Joseph with the game deciding interception
Speaker 1: of Phil Rivers, one of three picks thrown by Rivers.
Speaker 1: He had another two that were taken off the board.
Speaker 1: It was like a Joe Namothan nineteen seventy four performance,
Speaker 1: uh for the great Charges quarterback who wasn't so great tonight,
Speaker 1: And it wasn't so great for the Chargers who fall
Speaker 1: to the Raiders to twenty four at the black Hole,
Speaker 1: araucous black hole. Here I am in the throw throwback
Speaker 1: podcast garage, as legally obligated for me to call it that.
Speaker 1: With the great Mark Sessler, Mark, this is a fun
Speaker 1: a f C West showdown, a little sloppy, but an
Speaker 1: enjoyable game and a great atmosphere. As I said, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it. This is what you think of when
Speaker 1: you when the Raiders are going to be a team
Speaker 1: that is a factor in the a f C. And
Speaker 1: they certainly are right now at that at this point.
Speaker 1: And it was Eric Harris with the two early picks
Speaker 1: that made up for a Raiders team that really didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of offense for the first part of
Speaker 1: this game. Early pick and then the second one to
Speaker 1: drive later. It was you know, Rivers had three two
Speaker 1: picks in his first five passes, and that second one
Speaker 1: Eric Harris for a pick six. This was a strange game.
Speaker 1: I you didn't you go in with three hours of
Speaker 1: pregame action listing all the offensive players that are going
Speaker 1: to be a big factor. Very few of them were,
Speaker 1: very few of them were. I mean, it just really
Speaker 1: was quite I thought the Raiders secondary down the stretch
Speaker 1: and that second in the fourth quarter played a good
Speaker 1: job game. I thought it was interesting. Everybody knows by
Speaker 1: now it's one of those stats that that get thrown
Speaker 1: out wildly and repeatedly. Um going into a new week.
Speaker 1: But a week after the Raiders had four touchdowns in
Speaker 1: a win, and each of the four touchdowns where by rookies.
Speaker 1: It happened again. Uh, not all scores, but the fact
Speaker 1: that the rookie class, the baby Raiders as I'm calling them,
Speaker 1: had a big impact in this game. Max Crosby, a
Speaker 1: fourth round pick. He was living in Philip Rivers face
Speaker 1: in this night, on this night, right down to that
Speaker 1: last a on the inner interception that Hurry decided it
Speaker 1: and Josh Jacobs, who was quiet for most of the evening,
Speaker 1: had the big touchdown run to put the Raiders ahead
Speaker 1: with two minutes to play, less than two minutes to play.
Speaker 1: So again, you gotta give it up, you gotta give
Speaker 1: it up. Sessler to the Mayok Mayock Routen brain trust,
Speaker 1: which just hit a home run in their first year together.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the big stories in the
Speaker 1: NFL season continues to be a Raiders team that was
Speaker 1: largely written off as a joke, even all the way
Speaker 1: through the hard knock season last year, during the four
Speaker 1: and twelve and no victory lap here Mark, But I
Speaker 1: feel like there was a lot of hate on the
Speaker 1: Raiders last year. I think they went four and twelve
Speaker 1: and everyone was just having so much fun saying that
Speaker 1: Ruden couldn't hacken in the modern NFL anymore. But what
Speaker 1: they should have been realizing was when you tear down
Speaker 1: an entire organization, you gotta kind of throw out that
Speaker 1: first year because what they need to do is tear
Speaker 1: it up, tear it down before they can build it up.
Speaker 1: And they've built it up pretty quickly to the point
Speaker 1: where they're gonna be playing all of in football in December. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think it was the Gruden personality and
Speaker 1: the persona and the Monday night aspect of Gruden that
Speaker 1: when he rolled in and rolled back into coaching for
Speaker 1: the first time in a decade after probably three or
Speaker 1: four years in a row where there were rumors of
Speaker 1: Gruden being corded or wanting to come back only if
Speaker 1: he could get the quarterback of his choice, and he
Speaker 1: rolled into Oakland and it was you know what, Gruden
Speaker 1: and car just don't seem like a match. Gruden and
Speaker 1: player X don't seem like a match. And Mayock rolling
Speaker 1: in from television, these two TV guys. And you know,
Speaker 1: we've looked around the league at a couple of teams
Speaker 1: trying to do things differently, and I think that the
Speaker 1: the Gruden Mayock pairing was probably something that people didn't
Speaker 1: really want to work. I was certainly critical of it
Speaker 1: a year ago, and they've absolutely turned it around. And
Speaker 1: you're getting stories now of Gruden as the coach being
Speaker 1: someone that has I think absolutely turned the switch up
Speaker 1: on this team. And you're right, it's the rookie class
Speaker 1: and you get these you get these teams where the
Speaker 1: rookie class flips and it works, and you get this
Speaker 1: kind of thing. And it's the Chargers that hours ago
Speaker 1: we were looking at it saying they they are the
Speaker 1: a f C team that we now trust. They're getting healthy.
Speaker 1: You know, Bosa is absolutely a Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year candidate, and this is the Chargers team that you
Speaker 1: have to be concerned about. Not that this was a
Speaker 1: bad performance by them necessarily, but here you are, You've
Speaker 1: lost your four and five and you are not necessarily
Speaker 1: a team that I can trust week to week at all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought it was a tough performance by Los Angeles
Speaker 1: because for the reasons you just said, and we speculated
Speaker 1: the possibility of them going on a run, and who knows,
Speaker 1: at four and six, maybe they still have it in them.
Speaker 1: But once you get to that six lost range and
Speaker 1: you're before and it's before Thanksgiving, you've really backed yourself
Speaker 1: into a corner. Uh, Philip Rivers, and you you know
Speaker 1: we mentioned Joey Bosa. He was completely erased in this
Speaker 1: game by Trent Brown. He had his first tackle with
Speaker 1: I think it was midway through the third quarter. You
Speaker 1: just never heard his name. But Philip Rivers, this is
Speaker 1: one of the worst games I've seen him play. And
Speaker 1: the fact that it happened in primetime in a big
Speaker 1: division showdown, that hurts. I just want to go through
Speaker 1: mark the seven play drive that the last charges drive
Speaker 1: of the game, because it was wretched. Because what happens
Speaker 1: is the Raiders get the touchdown from Jacobs to go up.
Speaker 1: Then Daniel Carslon, because this is what kickers do, they
Speaker 1: blow it. He pushes the extra points. So instead of
Speaker 1: it's it's two point game and you could just picture it.
Speaker 1: You can picture of the Chargers kicking the field goal
Speaker 1: are winning, although it's hard to picture of the Chargers
Speaker 1: doing that because they're usually one that missed. They missed
Speaker 1: the field goal. Uh up down two points, But that's
Speaker 1: beside the point. It never got to that because with
Speaker 1: a chance, all they had to do is get into
Speaker 1: field goal range. Seven plays. Here it comes Rivers incomplete,
Speaker 1: Shotgun Rivers incomplete, deep pass, Shotgun Rivers incomplete, short past
Speaker 1: Kyle Allen, then a penalty back to first and ten
Speaker 1: Rivers incomplete, shotgun Rivers incomplete, Shotgun Rivers incomplete, and then
Speaker 1: finally shotgun Rivers intercepted by Karl Joseph Keenan Allen the
Speaker 1: intended receiver. I think that's over seven with a pick
Speaker 1: that is wretched. Yeah, And in the Raiders secondary, like
Speaker 1: we mentioned, I thought showed up big time at the
Speaker 1: end and you saw Rivers trying to fling passes. Two
Speaker 1: guys like Andre Patten. They just didn't really have the
Speaker 1: weapons tonight. Mike Williams, you know who. I think he
Speaker 1: had a good game last week, two catches, Keenan Allen
Speaker 1: shows up as always, but they just didn't have This
Speaker 1: is a different offense too, when you have at this
Speaker 1: point Melvin Gordon with twenty two carries and a bunch
Speaker 1: of touches on the night and Austin Ekeler. This is
Speaker 1: not his offense anymore. And I guess I would have
Speaker 1: to ask if that's the way they want to go
Speaker 1: down the stretch. Well, okay, I see that, Melvin Gordon looks,
Speaker 1: he looks again and maybe think. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it will be by the Charger's probably not, but I
Speaker 1: think he might end up getting paid anyway. I don't
Speaker 1: know if he'll get the contract if he was hoping
Speaker 1: last summer, but if he continues to play the way
Speaker 1: he's playing the last two weeks, he's going to be
Speaker 1: a very good free agent. Uh. You know, target for
Speaker 1: anyone but the Chargers. You know they lose Russell o'koung
Speaker 1: as well. I mean it's I don't know, it was
Speaker 1: just so Chargers. I mean, this is their seventh um.
Speaker 1: This is how many losses now six losses. All the
Speaker 1: losses have been by a touchdown or less. And just
Speaker 1: when they start to get healthy, now Okong, he leaves
Speaker 1: with a growing injury in the first half. Uh, they have,
Speaker 1: you know, a ton of penalties. This game had twenty penalties,
Speaker 1: by the way, which continues to be a thing in
Speaker 1: our league. Our league, and it's a league you know
Speaker 1: that you and I know well we we've toiled in.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say on the field necessarily, but this is
Speaker 1: a very a f C West prime time matchup, and
Speaker 1: you know, there was caution. I thought when we got
Speaker 1: a little hot on the chart just coming out of
Speaker 1: the Packers game on both sides, was was that really
Speaker 1: the Packers team from last week? I don't think so.
Speaker 1: And was that really what we could expect from the
Speaker 1: Chargers going forward? Definitely not, because when have they really
Speaker 1: ever done that week after week? They are a hot
Speaker 1: and cold operation right now. They've got a lot of talent,
Speaker 1: but a night like tonight, they basically could not add
Speaker 1: up to the some of their parts. The Raiders, to me,
Speaker 1: I don't care what's going on. They're a fun team.
Speaker 1: Derek Carr, this was not the Derek Carr of the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, but he is certainly playing like
Speaker 1: a good quarterback and I believe I trust him down
Speaker 1: the stretch to guide this team. I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: be right on the edge of the a f C
Speaker 1: playoff picture going right into late December. It's a successful
Speaker 1: season no matter what happens, unless the wheels fall off.
Speaker 1: But I just don't see it happening. They have the
Speaker 1: Bengals at home next week, then they go to the
Speaker 1: meadow Lands to face a bad Jets team. They have
Speaker 1: a tough game and Arrowhead, but that could be measuring
Speaker 1: stick game. Then you get two more home games against
Speaker 1: the Titans and Jags. So they are set up here
Speaker 1: and I think they could be seven and four two
Speaker 1: weeks from now. It will be interesting to see I
Speaker 1: think two teams. If I had to guess, um, the
Speaker 1: Raiders and Bills are going to be fighting for that
Speaker 1: last wild card spot. I would not be surprised at all.
Speaker 1: Any final thoughts from your notes, Mark before we move on,
Speaker 1: because of course we have Kevin Harland coming up after
Speaker 1: this discussion. I think we're both just a little edgy
Speaker 1: and excited about that interview, which you know, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say that we don't know what's not going to happen,
Speaker 1: because it already happened and we can promise it that
Speaker 1: it's exciting. The you know, the this is the final
Speaker 1: Chargers Raiders game in Oakland and I and I know
Speaker 1: that I'm much more sensitive than some about teams moving
Speaker 1: from city to city. I think the Raiders organization is
Speaker 1: lucky that they have a national fan base that would
Speaker 1: follow them if they became the Moscow Raiders. I believe
Speaker 1: that you'd still have people dressed in silver and black
Speaker 1: in Eastern Europe, deep Eastern Europe. I just believe they're
Speaker 1: lucky that that's the case, because this is kind of
Speaker 1: crazy that we're not going to have a Raiders team
Speaker 1: in California for the first time ever at this point.
Speaker 1: And that's to me. I get it, that's the NFL
Speaker 1: moving forward with its business. But I'm goin to kind
Speaker 1: of miss this field with its dirt and it's grime
Speaker 1: and it's a bit of a messy stadium. I get that.
Speaker 1: But the fact that they're leaving northern California to me,
Speaker 1: is problematic and it's being a bit maskes masked over.
Speaker 1: It's a total dump that facility and the Raiders and
Speaker 1: the and the city of Oakland. They could never get
Speaker 1: on the same page, and the NFL, for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: wasn't able to step in the way they had to
Speaker 1: or needed to or should have or whatever to get
Speaker 1: it done and keep that team there. So it is
Speaker 1: what it is, and we're not even talking about the
Speaker 1: Chargers side of it. It's two teams with strange stories
Speaker 1: on that front. Um, Like Luke Wilson says, Mark, it
Speaker 1: is what it is and it's not what it's not.
Speaker 1: But at least they have the team now, and we've
Speaker 1: talked about it on the show. It's such a credit
Speaker 1: to Raiders ends who are filling that building for every
Speaker 1: home game. And this could be uh the last primetime
Speaker 1: game ever at that stadium unless something gets flex. There's
Speaker 1: always the chance of a flex, and the fact that
Speaker 1: they are in the playoff race makes you think it
Speaker 1: could be. And that is a thought, by the way,
Speaker 1: to the people at NBC. You put a Sunday night
Speaker 1: football game with a lot on the line, I mean,
Speaker 1: that would be a great environment for al. Chris and
Speaker 1: Michelle totally agree. I mean, the crowd was a massive
Speaker 1: factor tonight. I thought, just it's you can't say that
Speaker 1: about every NFL stadium, It is certainly true of the
Speaker 1: black Hole this evening. Neither Joe buck Buck nor Troy
Speaker 1: Aikman have been to West Point. That was a a
Speaker 1: weird aside in the game, very weird, unnecessary, potentially uh Strangely,
Speaker 1: Troy Aikman said that Richie Incognito does things as a
Speaker 1: guard that he hasn't seen since Larry Allen, his Cowboys
Speaker 1: teammate that went to about forty seven Pro Bowls and
Speaker 1: was elected to the Hall of Fame. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: that felt strong a lot happening. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: whether or not you believe that Richie Incognito deserved another
Speaker 1: chance in the NFL, well he got one. So you
Speaker 1: got to give it up again to the Mayok Rooten
Speaker 1: team because that was not a move that was greeted
Speaker 1: with any level of enthusiasm. And I'll take Eigman's word
Speaker 1: from for it as a former quarterback in the Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer himself, that they have one of the best
Speaker 1: guards in the league and Incognito not bad. Big old
Speaker 1: d g a f by the Raiders. They don't care
Speaker 1: what anyone thinks or what anyone says. They're gonna go
Speaker 1: do it their way and so far, when it's working,
Speaker 1: it's working, and they look like champions tonight. In terms
Speaker 1: of their decision making. We'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 1: It is what it is and it's not what it's not.
Speaker 1: I will say one thing. Kevin Harlan actually texted me,
Speaker 1: we're gonna hear this interview really yeah, and the question
Speaker 1: there too that I asked me. He He said, thank you
Speaker 1: for the for cutting through the haze and the fog
Speaker 1: of war to ask the true question. He referred to
Speaker 1: our interview as the fog of what. Well, just he said,
Speaker 1: you know, it was a lot coming at him and
Speaker 1: these guys that were on too interview with our with
Speaker 1: our podcast, you suddenly have four males coming at you
Speaker 1: with their questions. He said, thank you for asking the
Speaker 1: question that mattered the most to me. I asked the
Speaker 1: question I asked too. So I don't know which one
Speaker 1: he was referring to, but it was one of the two. Well,
Speaker 1: that's exciting. So that is potentially if you were planning to,
Speaker 1: you know, click out of this podcast originally, now you
Speaker 1: got to stay in there because Mark changed just changed things.
Speaker 1: He changed the temperature of the entire industry with one question.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't normally bring that up, but I just thought
Speaker 1: it was it was relevant from an industry giant it
Speaker 1: was the right thing to do, all right. So that's it.
Speaker 1: That's the Raiders. They're playing relevant football the Chargers. Was
Speaker 1: this a dirt knap game? No, not at all, because
Speaker 1: the chart is as annoying as the Chargers can be
Speaker 1: with their miss kicks and all their business. They're gonna
Speaker 1: find a way to, Like two weeks from now, we're
Speaker 1: gonna be hyping them up again and talking about how
Speaker 1: edgy and talented they are too. So I'm not in talent.
Speaker 1: I'm not ready to bury them yet. Now it's of
Speaker 1: band laws. Thus they got the Chiefs next week, who
Speaker 1: have their quarterback back. All right, So there you go.
Speaker 1: Now let's throw it. Mark and I as well as
Speaker 1: West and Greg got a chance to speak with the
Speaker 1: great Kevin Harland, who is obviously one of our very
Speaker 1: favorite broadcasters in the league. So enjoy that and we
Speaker 1: will see you on Sunday night. Now a police matter.
Speaker 1: State troopers come on the field and the cat runs
Speaker 1: into the end zone. That is a touch town and
Speaker 1: the cat is elusive, kind of like Barkley and Elliott,
Speaker 1: but you didn't know where to go. Look at their
Speaker 1: trying to corner them, and they got him in the
Speaker 1: end zone. There are State troopers all around this cant
Speaker 1: which now climbs up into the stands and the fans
Speaker 1: are running for their lot. Now that goes back down
Speaker 1: the field again and it's running in the back of
Speaker 1: the end zone and it runs up the tunnel. Oh there.
Speaker 1: It is the call of the year so far. And
Speaker 1: if someone's making the call of the year, you know
Speaker 1: it's got to be Kevin Harland, one of our very
Speaker 1: favorite broadcasters in the game right now, maybe our favorite.
Speaker 1: And we're so lucky because for the first time he's
Speaker 1: joining us here on the Around the NFL podcast. Kevin,
Speaker 1: what's up? Well, thank you for your kind words. Great
Speaker 1: to be on with you, guys, Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's fun to join you. And in the
Speaker 1: aftermath of the Black Cat at the stadium in the
Speaker 1: in the middle ends, So is it is it like
Speaker 1: you hear when players when there's a big play and
Speaker 1: they have a huge game and they're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: it looked at my phone and it's just blowing up.
Speaker 1: I can't even like pick up my phone without the
Speaker 1: mentions piling up to the point where my battery is
Speaker 1: running out. Does that happen to you when you have
Speaker 1: a viral hit like you had today this week, Well, um,
Speaker 1: you know what happened in the first half in the
Speaker 1: game was a good game because the Giants were driving
Speaker 1: again and they had a lead over Dallas. And so
Speaker 1: you know, you're so focused, especially in radio, where you've
Speaker 1: just you've really got to keep your focus. You're gonna
Speaker 1: get messed up with all the sub packages and substitutions
Speaker 1: on on both sides of the ball. And and and
Speaker 1: here was an important drive and they had just completed
Speaker 1: an important play to Evan Ingram, their their their young
Speaker 1: emerging tight end, and the cat was standing at the
Speaker 1: fifty watching it. Then they stopped play. And that's when
Speaker 1: we diverted our attention to the cat and watched its
Speaker 1: movements down so as it was really and so it happened,
Speaker 1: and then and then I forget what the Giants did.
Speaker 1: But but but you know, the game's going on. It
Speaker 1: was in the first half, and I never looked at
Speaker 1: my phone unless I called my wife at halftime to
Speaker 1: say good night. And that's what I was doing. I
Speaker 1: was calling her and I go, what are at least
Speaker 1: texts on you? As I put my I put my phone.
Speaker 1: I put my phone in the in in my briefcase.
Speaker 1: So um I called her and and and and she said, hey,
Speaker 1: people are texting me about this. Can't call. They can't call.
Speaker 1: And then it just from that. And then I still
Speaker 1: put it away after the call with her because I thought,
Speaker 1: I mean, they're in trouble, okay, and so you never know.
Speaker 1: Don't be humble by the way, Kevin, you're being too humble.
Speaker 1: The greatness and we we talked about it on to
Speaker 1: our Tuesday episode. Was not just It wasn't like you
Speaker 1: were calling the game and then you went to the cat. No, Harlan,
Speaker 1: he won full flex on the entire industry because you
Speaker 1: called two events at the same time. You called the
Speaker 1: Ingram play as it was developing, and you called the
Speaker 1: cat when you throw the sponsor read in. You had
Speaker 1: to have we had to have like known in the
Speaker 1: back of air had this is magic? Oh well you
Speaker 1: know listen that Howard dinner off is our was was
Speaker 1: her producer, and he was giving me the card because
Speaker 1: the Giants at the other end, we're about ready to
Speaker 1: enter the cd W red Zone. C W people, you
Speaker 1: can count on that check. Uh So I had it
Speaker 1: right there. And then I'm looking at the cat and
Speaker 1: the card is in my hand, and I get a
Speaker 1: nudge and so I read the card as it turned out,
Speaker 1: So we didn't want to miss a sponsor a couple
Speaker 1: regardless of who was scoring the cat or the giants,
Speaker 1: it's been so good for the league. I think that that.
Speaker 1: You know, we all have kids, and they absolutely loved
Speaker 1: watching this wildcat run around the field. Would you it
Speaker 1: was good for you as well? Would you be an
Speaker 1: advocate of saying the NFL introducing more wild animals into
Speaker 1: game situation, maybe an angry deer, two hundred mice or something. Well,
Speaker 1: if we can have the cats chase the mice, that
Speaker 1: might be good. You know, it's weird to have an
Speaker 1: animal on the This is actually my my second animal
Speaker 1: and then third um interruption of a game when I
Speaker 1: was at ESPN back in the early nineties, rabbit ran
Speaker 1: on the field. This was an Elvis gerback Michigan quarterback
Speaker 1: team against Halloween in West Lafayeenne, Indianna. And I was
Speaker 1: working with Craig James um And and the rabbit was
Speaker 1: at midfield. They stopped playing. The rabbit ran right down
Speaker 1: the middle of the field. Like a back and uh
Speaker 1: and then cut like at the five, then into the
Speaker 1: end zone and I called that. And then we had
Speaker 1: the drunk guy on the field in San Francisco a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. Another animal that was another animal. Wait, Kevin,
Speaker 1: can you pause right there. Let's let's listen to that's
Speaker 1: that's what really like. We've known you for years as
Speaker 1: football fans and sports fans, but that's when he became
Speaker 1: a legend on this podcast. Let's listen to a little
Speaker 1: bit of that call. Hey, somebody is running out on
Speaker 1: the field, So I'm goofball on a hat and a
Speaker 1: red shirt. Now he takes off the shirt. He's running
Speaker 1: down the middle by the fifty. He's at the thirty.
Speaker 1: He's bear chested him, banging his chest. Now he runs
Speaker 1: the opposite way. He runs with the fifty, he runs
Speaker 1: with the forty. The guy is drunk. But there he
Speaker 1: goes the twenty. They're chasing up. They're not gonna get him,
Speaker 1: waving his arms, bear chested. Somebody stopped that. He comes
Speaker 1: to the blue coat. They got him here? Comes from?
Speaker 1: Were they talking calling about the forty yard line? That
Speaker 1: that's performative, though, Kevin and I and and in the
Speaker 1: best way, your your sense in that moment, and just
Speaker 1: like what happened on Monday night, you're rising to that occasion, right,
Speaker 1: you said it that you have that's some that fun
Speaker 1: with their Well, that guy ran right through the rams
Speaker 1: slot receiver positions, so it was like here, he ran
Speaker 1: right through the offense, through the defense, and the players
Speaker 1: just stood there and looked and did not move, and
Speaker 1: no security guys came out to chase him until the
Speaker 1: very end of his romps. So he was out there
Speaker 1: for a good minute plus. And the cat, you know,
Speaker 1: had some staying power to the cat the other night,
Speaker 1: stayed on the field for a long time. And the
Speaker 1: fact that it went to the fifty as the play
Speaker 1: was going on, watching the play. Then play had stopped
Speaker 1: and they all looked at the cat, and then he
Speaker 1: retreated and went the other way, you know, made it
Speaker 1: for you know, when they're on there for a while,
Speaker 1: you've got something to kind of work with. And and
Speaker 1: you know, I listen, I don't want to be known
Speaker 1: as the guy that calls you know, animals and drunks
Speaker 1: on the field. But they've just kind of happened, and
Speaker 1: they both happened on radio I should mention, you know,
Speaker 1: because radio is all about, you know, being the eyes
Speaker 1: of the listener and gribing what you see. And if
Speaker 1: I'm in the stands or watching on TV, what I
Speaker 1: see is a drunk or what I see in this
Speaker 1: case was the black cat. They didn't show the drunk
Speaker 1: on TV, but they didn't show the cat. And if
Speaker 1: that's what we're all watching, then I felt, I guess,
Speaker 1: compelled to call it, and and did. And I think, listen,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of this was powered by a
Speaker 1: lot of animal lovers out there, to a lot of
Speaker 1: cat lovers, and and they enjoy their pet, and they
Speaker 1: enjoyed watching the cat. And hopefully there was nothing malicious
Speaker 1: that happened to the cat once it left. And we're
Speaker 1: still looking for and yeah, I'm sure they are. Do
Speaker 1: you ever have telemarketers call you on the phone to
Speaker 1: try to sell you product X, Y or Z and
Speaker 1: stop cold when they realize matching the name with the voice,
Speaker 1: Because even just listening to you, it's like I'm just
Speaker 1: suddenly in game mode listening to you announce. It must
Speaker 1: happen occasionally, Well, at airports, maybe sometimes it will happen.
Speaker 1: If I'm talking to a friend or at a restaurant
Speaker 1: with my family. Um, but that real use only. Yet,
Speaker 1: you know, they know my voice probably more than they
Speaker 1: know me because our stand ups on CBS are very short,
Speaker 1: and I t n T for the NBA very short,
Speaker 1: and then a lot of them know me for the
Speaker 1: two K NBA video game. And then again, of course
Speaker 1: that's a voice only too, so so a little bit
Speaker 1: from that. But you know, I don't know. I I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how there's a nice Uh. It's always nice
Speaker 1: to be you know, somebody, Hey, I know that voice
Speaker 1: or something like that, but it's uh, I do when
Speaker 1: I'm not on I just soon be a dad and husband,
Speaker 1: just to reach just a regular guy. When when we're
Speaker 1: talking to you now, you're in your hotel room, you're
Speaker 1: preparing for your T n T basketball game. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you you've noticed Kevin that Joe Buck every
Speaker 1: year now with Thursday night football and World Series, he
Speaker 1: gets a lot of pop from doing you know, huge
Speaker 1: series game after game and then he's got Thursday night
Speaker 1: and Sunday night and everyone's wow, well, this is the
Speaker 1: hardest working guy in the business. But I know your
Speaker 1: schedule and you you're doing NFL on Sundays, you're doing
Speaker 1: NFL Radio on Mondays. Then you're doing like Lakers Clippers
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, and another NBA game on Thursday. Do you
Speaker 1: sometimes think like Buck is a little soft compared like
Speaker 1: you deserve a little ahead? Only only because they worked
Speaker 1: with Joe and Fox for those four years and know him.
Speaker 1: I would say, Joe is a tough guy and like
Speaker 1: his dad, you know, his dad was a workhorse like
Speaker 1: this too. It's funny, you know in this you know
Speaker 1: what Tom Brennaman and Kenny Albert over at Fox and
Speaker 1: and Joe, all three of their dads were in the business.
Speaker 1: My dad was in pro football for thirty seven years
Speaker 1: with the Packers and and um and ran the team
Speaker 1: for twenty one of those years. And I you know,
Speaker 1: grew up in in in that environment and pro football
Speaker 1: and know what, you know what what kind of an
Speaker 1: endless clock it is, and and where there really is
Speaker 1: no beginning or end of the season. It's like just
Speaker 1: one continuous season. And maybe some of that has carried
Speaker 1: over to broadcasting. I don't know that any of the
Speaker 1: four of us would say that we purposefully try to
Speaker 1: work as many events. I guess it's more for me
Speaker 1: and I'll speak for them. It's that we all kind
Speaker 1: of love the business so much. We love the business
Speaker 1: now if it ever gets in the way of our families,
Speaker 1: then it becomes another story. Luckily, you know, we all
Speaker 1: four probably married the right gale who could you know,
Speaker 1: put up with the schedule, and and if we're lucky
Speaker 1: up being able to take you know, family and our
Speaker 1: wives with us when we go to these games, and
Speaker 1: for instance, at the super Bowl, when I do the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, I always we always bring it. We have
Speaker 1: four kids and we bring them all in with their
Speaker 1: spouses and now a grandchild and flying to the super
Speaker 1: Bowl and have a kind of a celebration and more
Speaker 1: of a thank you for putting up with a kind
Speaker 1: of a tough schedule for the fall. But they've aren't
Speaker 1: grown up in it. And and my kids, we have
Speaker 1: three girls and a boy. But my girls, who all
Speaker 1: were cheerleaders in high school. You know, I always made
Speaker 1: it a point to be there on Friday nights and
Speaker 1: never missed a game. Or we have our our sons,
Speaker 1: our baby, and and never missed any of his games.
Speaker 1: So I'd like to think that they never thought you
Speaker 1: had dad was busy, but Dad never missed any of
Speaker 1: the important events. And I think they'd all say that.
Speaker 1: So I do feel kind of good about that. And
Speaker 1: all right, Kevin, you have a better dad than us.
Speaker 1: Way to go. You nailed it, Hey, Kevin, that's not
Speaker 1: that's amazing. When uh, when I get a Tony Romo game,
Speaker 1: I like to get out of bottle of wine and
Speaker 1: just enjoy the show. And you know, we're big fans
Speaker 1: of John Madden. But with your dad being in football
Speaker 1: and your fandom probably going back a long time, is
Speaker 1: there a play by play guy who's a personal favorite
Speaker 1: of yours, either from the olden days or even now. Well,
Speaker 1: I I was attracted the voices first, and and really
Speaker 1: when I was a kid, um, when I was about
Speaker 1: eight nine years old, I remember distinctly because um, when
Speaker 1: I heard the voice, I automatically started paying attention to
Speaker 1: pro football. And the voice was John Facenda, and I just,
Speaker 1: I just I had heard his voice, yes, and heard
Speaker 1: his voice narrate UM Highlight show, and have always been
Speaker 1: kind of that in the back of my mind. I
Speaker 1: always hear Facenda his voice. In fact, before I leave
Speaker 1: my hotel room on Sunday mornings, for the stadium for
Speaker 1: my CBS game on Sunday afternoon. I always on my phone.
Speaker 1: I've got a clip of him saying that the the
Speaker 1: Raider's poem, that the autumn wind, and and it's not
Speaker 1: necessarily to get me thinking voice. It's me to be
Speaker 1: in the moment of how lucky I am to be
Speaker 1: doing the NFL, and I think his voice, and I
Speaker 1: think about where it all began for me, and here
Speaker 1: I am in my late fifties, and as an eight
Speaker 1: year old, I remember distinctly hearing his voice in NFL films,
Speaker 1: and it just kind of kind of it's me on
Speaker 1: points my compass in the right direction when I hear
Speaker 1: his voice. I've always done that, and I hope I
Speaker 1: do it to my last broadcast in the NFL, and
Speaker 1: this my thirty fifth year doing it. But uh and
Speaker 1: and but but voices Summer all Jim Simpson, Crookie, you
Speaker 1: know those are the voice obviously, Race Scott, you know,
Speaker 1: I guess those voices are the ones I remember the
Speaker 1: most in my mind when I think about what I
Speaker 1: want my voice to sound like. It doesn't sound like
Speaker 1: any of theirs. Unfortunately, You're kind of you're kind of
Speaker 1: given what you're given her and and so. But that,
Speaker 1: in my mind, that's the void. Those are the voices
Speaker 1: I hear and I that brings a smile to my face,
Speaker 1: especially Facinda, who I dealt with briefly when I was
Speaker 1: in college. I used to produce the Chiefs Radio Network
Speaker 1: pregame show. And I was like a sophomore, junior, and
Speaker 1: senior in college at the University of Kansas. And I
Speaker 1: called NFL Films one day and just on a whim,
Speaker 1: you know, this is like back in the late seventies,
Speaker 1: early eighty and I called NFL Films and I asked
Speaker 1: if I could talk to John Facenda and said just them,
Speaker 1: And I called and I talked to him, and Mr Facenda,
Speaker 1: would you mind if you if I sent you some
Speaker 1: copy and would you mind taping the open to this
Speaker 1: radio network show that we do three hours before the
Speaker 1: Chiefs game. And he said, and he said, send me
Speaker 1: something and I'll be happy to do it. So I
Speaker 1: sent him something, and about two weeks later, I get
Speaker 1: this reel to reel uh thing back and um um
Speaker 1: and and I stick it on the machine and I
Speaker 1: threaded in and I hit play, and here is John
Speaker 1: Facenda saying, you're listening to a chief someday on k
Speaker 1: CMO Radio and the Chiefs Radio Network and on there,
Speaker 1: But on there, there was a moment where he wanted
Speaker 1: to change a portion of the copy, and he changed
Speaker 1: it and read it the way he wanted to be
Speaker 1: and goes, ah, Now that's a horror that I can ride.
Speaker 1: And I just loved that. I just I think about him,
Speaker 1: and I think about the voice, and I think about
Speaker 1: how kind you was to me as a young aspiring broadcaster.
Speaker 1: So I play his I play his clip of that
Speaker 1: raider poem every time before I leave my my room
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Wow, that's awesome, Kevin. I mean, you've you've
Speaker 1: had an incredible career and you've got a lot more
Speaker 1: to go. In fact, you've called nine consecutive Super Bowls
Speaker 1: for Westwood One. You're only trailing Jack Buck actually, who's
Speaker 1: had seventeen. So we hope you actually break that record
Speaker 1: and we get to hear you for years to come
Speaker 1: across all the sports spectrum. So thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us, and uh we'll continue to enjoy your calls,
Speaker 1: not just the drunk animals and the other animals and
Speaker 1: also the smooth, prepared way in which you approach all
Speaker 1: the sports you've covered. Thank you, thank you. You know
Speaker 1: I would love a drunk animal to get out animal.
Speaker 1: I will have a call ready for a drunk animal
Speaker 1: will break all awesome. And why don't we, Why don't
Speaker 1: we play out today's episode with the Autumn Wind as
Speaker 1: we say goodbye to the great Kevin Arnold. Thank you guys,
Speaker 1: thank you n The Autumn Wind is a pirate blustering
Speaker 1: in from sea with a rollicking palm. He sweeps along,
Speaker 1: swaggering voicelessly. His face is weather beaten. He wears a
Speaker 1: hooded sash, with a silver hat about his hand and
Speaker 1: a bristling black mustache. He growls as he storms the country,
Speaker 1: a villain, big and bowls, and the trees all shake
Speaker 1: and quiver and quick as he robs him of their gold.
Speaker 1: The Autumn Wind is a raider, pillaging just for fun.
Speaker 1: He'll knock you round and upside down and laugh when
Speaker 1: he's conquered and won.