Speaker 1: The season with Peter Schreger as a production of the
Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's Up, Everybody, Welcome to
Speaker 1: another episode of the season with Peter Schreger. I love
Speaker 1: the music, Love the music, the love the podcast, love
Speaker 1: the feedback we're getting. Got incredible feedback from specifically a
Speaker 1: lot of Bears fans based on last week's Ryan Pole's interview.
Speaker 1: I think the Bears are a fascinating study in the
Speaker 1: NFL and that there's a team that right now, if
Speaker 1: the draft was happening today, I think they'd have the
Speaker 1: second overall pick it. I don't know if there's a
Speaker 1: fan base more enthused and more optimistic and more into
Speaker 1: their team right now. And that's the whole point of
Speaker 1: the season. With Peter Schreger, I'll call myself the third person.
Speaker 1: It's like, let's get to know some of the decision makers,
Speaker 1: let's get to know some of the coaches, and let's
Speaker 1: kind of get beneath the surface than just hot tay
Speaker 1: and what you see on TV every day. I'm joined
Speaker 1: by my wonderful producer, Aaron Wong Kaufman. Aaron, what's up, Bunny?
Speaker 1: Not too much? It's a pretty cold here in New
Speaker 1: York where we're not quite six feet of snow in Buffalo.
Speaker 1: But uh, it's getting winter. No, it's cold as dude.
Speaker 1: I have stepped outside the apartment today. We're both in Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: It is it is cold. It is real, like is
Speaker 1: it smacked us in the face. And it's one of
Speaker 1: those deals that like we had really good weather in
Speaker 1: October and really good weather in early November, and then
Speaker 1: it's Thanksgiving week. I ask you, it's knuck up on me.
Speaker 1: I'll possession it this way. I think anyone who watches
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football knows I've got some thoughts on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: One of my thoughts is that we should not be
Speaker 1: tied to turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy in the
Speaker 1: traditional fair. I don't like that food. I find it dry.
Speaker 1: I've never had a good piece of turkey. I don't understand.
Speaker 1: So in recent years, my wife, the lovely Erica, she
Speaker 1: has either you know, helped prepare or steak or we've
Speaker 1: done something we get to go to, like a local
Speaker 1: place that we like, and we bring it in. We
Speaker 1: have nice you know, take out whatever it is. But
Speaker 1: I caught I catch a lot of heat on Good
Speaker 1: Morning Football from my co hosts, who are like, that's absurd,
Speaker 1: You're just being You're just being that guy, that contrarian.
Speaker 1: Aaron I turned to you. You're of a different generation.
Speaker 1: You're younger than me. Yeah, Thanksgiving food, where are we
Speaker 1: at with it? I mean growing up, my dad is
Speaker 1: a very meat and potatoes kind of guy, and he
Speaker 1: wants gravy and you know, like that's that's part of
Speaker 1: the Thanksgiving meal. Um, what lately what my partner and
Speaker 1: I do. I'm I'm half Chinese and so we do
Speaker 1: like Chinese food. We really basically just make Chinese because
Speaker 1: it's like we just want to make the things we
Speaker 1: want to eat, and it's just a day to like
Speaker 1: we get to spend it cooking and we get to
Speaker 1: make a whole bunch of stuff and it's you know
Speaker 1: more about what are these meals that we want to do,
Speaker 1: just like to hang out together? I think, Yeah. But
Speaker 1: then there's also stuff like I'm gonna I want to
Speaker 1: love pecan pie, you know, I love yeah, making stuffing, like,
Speaker 1: so there will be things like that too. So you cook.
Speaker 1: I have never been I've never been near a stove.
Speaker 1: I mean I've literally my son is like that, I
Speaker 1: got mac and cheese and I'm reading the instructions off
Speaker 1: the back of the box. Had a microwave it. So
Speaker 1: you guys, you'll cook, She'll get it going. You'll get
Speaker 1: it going. You make your own separate dishes whatever. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And we have, um, a slightly larger kitchen than we
Speaker 1: used to, but in the past it was it was
Speaker 1: definitely been two people moving throughout a small Brooklyn kitchen
Speaker 1: trying to find, you know, the space to cook together. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, I know. It's a it's a fun thing.
Speaker 1: It's like it's like the ballet. You've got the alpha
Speaker 1: daily thing going on in there. You open up the
Speaker 1: grill and suddenly you bang into somebody. Um, I'm all
Speaker 1: for Thanksgiving. And they added this night game now, and
Speaker 1: it's like they've always had the two games when I
Speaker 1: was growing up. This night game it's a marathon. Um,
Speaker 1: are you prepared? I know. We had my buddy Deetrouan
Speaker 1: last week saying you got to prepare for this week.
Speaker 1: It's a it's an intense sports week, but I think
Speaker 1: it's an intense food and football viewing day Thanksgiving. Are
Speaker 1: you prepared? Yeah? So we have I mean this is
Speaker 1: a little two inside baseball, but I mean the Bills
Speaker 1: from my team are playing in the early game. We're
Speaker 1: watching that, and then we're going to a friends giving
Speaker 1: and so no, I don't know that term. It's like
Speaker 1: instead of if you you're not in a place with
Speaker 1: your family, you spend it with a group of friends. Um.
Speaker 1: I also know I am the only one in the
Speaker 1: group that watches football, so I will kind of be
Speaker 1: off this. They're just hanging out. Just yeah, I'm just
Speaker 1: hanging yeah yeah. So um yeah, so I figure every
Speaker 1: person under thirty is just is this scanning TikTok and
Speaker 1: playing wordle all day? Is that? Is that a bad characterization? Um?
Speaker 1: I hope you're not playing wordle all day because there's
Speaker 1: only one word of a day. So if you're playing,
Speaker 1: if you're playing it all day, it's taking you too long.
Speaker 1: All right, do you want to talk a little, Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk still. Let's go four downs, all right? First down,
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson, what do you mean? You know we had
Speaker 1: salo on? What do you make of this whole Zach
Speaker 1: Wilson's situation? Oh boy, so we're recording this on a Tuesday.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know if I've seen a coach
Speaker 1: have a more definitive non statement than Robert Sala did
Speaker 1: Monday when he said he's still evaluating who's going to
Speaker 1: be the quarterback. And I think it goes back to
Speaker 1: not only the performance Sunday. I really think Zach Wilson
Speaker 1: screwed the pooch with that press conference afterwards. And I
Speaker 1: think that goes from to the equipment guys, you know,
Speaker 1: looking at him saying really dude, to the players obviously,
Speaker 1: right up to like the ownership where they're saying, wait
Speaker 1: a second, we say, that's a team that we haven't
Speaker 1: beaten in years and has owned us, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: say you can't take any account for it. Let's listen
Speaker 1: to what Zach Wilson said when reporters asked him if
Speaker 1: he put the burden on himself as an offense though.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you guys are only able to score
Speaker 1: three once the defense only lets up three points, I mean,
Speaker 1: do you do you feel like you let the defense
Speaker 1: down at all? So now what, Well, I'm going to
Speaker 1: just go through the machinations of all this. You've got
Speaker 1: this young quarterback and here's what's happening. The Jets are
Speaker 1: a lot better than they expected to be. I could
Speaker 1: tell you this from conversations with not only Salo, but
Speaker 1: with the front office and the ownership. I don't think
Speaker 1: they ever expected to be six and four going into
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving week. Their expectations have exceeded even their wildest dreams.
Speaker 1: So that's from internally. But with that now suddenly everybody
Speaker 1: needs to pull their weight. This defense is incredible. This
Speaker 1: front four is marvelous Mosley, It's playing like an all
Speaker 1: pro linebacker. Sauce Gardner might be the best corner in
Speaker 1: football this year. I mean this is not me being
Speaker 1: exaggerating or hyperbole. That's how good the Jets defense is. Also,
Speaker 1: their offensive line is playing well. Their wide receivers are
Speaker 1: playing well. When you see both Elijah Moore and Garrett
Speaker 1: Wilson talking a little bit after the game or on
Speaker 1: social media, this is where my you know, my eyebrows
Speaker 1: get raised. And for Wilson to come across as tone deaf,
Speaker 1: For Wilson to be the weak link right now, even
Speaker 1: this week of Salah having to debate whether he's the
Speaker 1: guy or not doing that publicly, I would like to
Speaker 1: think that would either a light of fire or be
Speaker 1: bring something out of Zach Wilson that we have not
Speaker 1: seen at this point. I would say he's, if not
Speaker 1: the worst, he's the most disappointing quarterback that we have
Speaker 1: on the field this season. That includes Russell Wilson, Derek Carr,
Speaker 1: all the guys that we know. I thought, at the
Speaker 1: very least we would see some sort of jump. So
Speaker 1: what now. I think the Jets have a few days
Speaker 1: as we record this on Tuesday. I don't think they're
Speaker 1: going to announce anything on Tuesday or Wednesday that gives
Speaker 1: him no strategic advantage. I wouldn't be shocked if he
Speaker 1: was benched. I wouldn't be shocked if he was benched,
Speaker 1: even for just one week or whatever. That performance and
Speaker 1: it wasn't just the punt return, and I know, you know,
Speaker 1: Brent Boyer, the special teams coach, is gonna wear that,
Speaker 1: and of course Sala's gonna wear that. What are we doing?
Speaker 1: And you know New York fans remember Matt Dodge kicking
Speaker 1: it to the Shawn Jackson and I think twenty ten
Speaker 1: and he returns it and everyone you know, Matt Dodge,
Speaker 1: I don't think ever punted it again in the NFL
Speaker 1: after that. I don't blame the Jet Special teams. They've
Speaker 1: been good all season. The third and one pass that
Speaker 1: Wilson had and he had a wide open man over
Speaker 1: the middle, and that's fine. But to throw a check
Speaker 1: down behind the sticks on third and one in that
Speaker 1: situation in the fourth quarter in a three to three game,
Speaker 1: that to me shows a lack of awareness, a lack
Speaker 1: of courage, a lot of stuff just and then after
Speaker 1: the game, the Blase response, I think really rubbed people wrong.
Speaker 1: New York's a different media market. You might be able
Speaker 1: to get away with that stuff, and some of these
Speaker 1: other markets, not New York. It's been the story all day,
Speaker 1: all week, and my point about the team being better
Speaker 1: than they expected to be. At some point the defense says,
Speaker 1: what the hell like, we're playing our butts off. And
Speaker 1: I've seen it. The Giants used to have this when
Speaker 1: Strahan's defense would be so good, and you know, the
Speaker 1: Giants offense would be an emic, and you'd hear about
Speaker 1: these like rifts in the locker room. And then eventually
Speaker 1: the offense, you know, came alive and this team can flourish.
Speaker 1: Like That's just one example. There's so many others. But gosh,
Speaker 1: what conundrum for them for a team that I don't
Speaker 1: think expected to be going anywhere they're in Thanksgiving week.
Speaker 1: They're now in last place in the AFC East, when
Speaker 1: if they had won, they'd be in first place in
Speaker 1: AFC East and there the true crossroads, and they might
Speaker 1: be benching the number two overall pick. And if they
Speaker 1: do bench them, I don't think it's the worst thing
Speaker 1: to happen for either the Jets or Zach Wilson. I
Speaker 1: would also say I don't think it's the last of
Speaker 1: them if he does get replaced this week. All right?
Speaker 1: Second down? Last night on Monday Night football, forty nine
Speaker 1: Ers blew out the Cardinals in Mexico City. Is this
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers finally finding their groove? Is this
Speaker 1: just the Cardinals being a bad team? You know which
Speaker 1: trajectory are we're paying attention to here? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: the rest of the league took notice that, Oh no, no, no,
Speaker 1: this is not what we wanted to forty nine ers
Speaker 1: to get hot again around Thanksgiving and go on there run.
Speaker 1: This is what they do historically under Kyle Shanahan. They
Speaker 1: start slow out of the gate, then they start cobbling
Speaker 1: things together, and then they hit their stride in November December.
Speaker 1: I remember a couple of years back they started off hot.
Speaker 1: They were like, hey, you know, they lost to the
Speaker 1: Seahawks on a Monday night game in overtime. They had
Speaker 1: this like stretch where they had to go to Baltimore
Speaker 1: in the pouring rain and then go to New Orleans,
Speaker 1: and I think they lost the Baltimore game, but like
Speaker 1: played tough, and then they went to New Orleans and
Speaker 1: Jimmy g a national TV like lit up the Saints
Speaker 1: defense and he was throwing them all over the yard
Speaker 1: to everyone and most start was scoring touchdowns and Emmanuel
Speaker 1: Sanders was scoring touchdowns and it was like, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is the team. And that team obviously went on to
Speaker 1: play in a Super Bowl. Last year, the same kind
Speaker 1: of thing happened late in the season. They start rattling
Speaker 1: off wins, they get to the playoffs, and they established
Speaker 1: themselves as this tough, hard nosed team. This year's identity
Speaker 1: has taken a few weeks to figure itself out. But
Speaker 1: last night, I don't care if that's the seventy eight
Speaker 1: Steelers on the other side of the ball, You've got
Speaker 1: hit all as tough as nails. You've got a UK
Speaker 1: who's throwing blocks but also making plays. You've got Debo
Speaker 1: everywhere all over the field. You've got used check all
Speaker 1: over the field. And then you've got the two running
Speaker 1: backs and all of a sudden, a resurgent Elijah Mitchell.
Speaker 1: I think everyone dropped them from their fantasy team. We're like,
Speaker 1: all right, McCaffrey's the guy. And no, no, no. If
Speaker 1: you know Kyle Shanahan, you know you never dropped those
Speaker 1: running backs because he's gonna use all of them. And
Speaker 1: then of course McCaffrey. And then the biggest story to me,
Speaker 1: it was Jimmy G. Jimmy G was dialed in four touchdowns,
Speaker 1: looked good. No, the Cardinals defense is not gonna be
Speaker 1: mistaken for the two thousand Ravens anytime soon. But the
Speaker 1: Cardinals defense has won some games. They played well last week,
Speaker 1: They've played fine. I mean, they're not some total pushover.
Speaker 1: And to see runs on eight nine yards a clip.
Speaker 1: That offensive line is no joke. Trent Williams is no joke.
Speaker 1: And in a wide open NFC, and I'm talking like
Speaker 1: Packers lose again, Rams lose again. Vikings after a week
Speaker 1: of all of us saying the Vikings don't get enough
Speaker 1: respect to get the doors went off from at home.
Speaker 1: You go right down the list. Are the Eagles and
Speaker 1: anything you're scared of right now? Are there the Cowboys?
Speaker 1: The team that we saw this week or the one
Speaker 1: that gave him a fourteen point lead? And you go
Speaker 1: right down the list of everybody. Is there any team
Speaker 1: you'd rather face less than the forty nine ers right now?
Speaker 1: And here, Aaron is the interesting thing because I got
Speaker 1: tweeted this and I'd love the listeners and I want
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this too. Jimmy G is the quarterback
Speaker 1: and they're doing exactly what Jimmy G does. He's gonna,
Speaker 1: he's gonna make his plays, but he's you know, not gonna.
Speaker 1: You're not using his legs. And it's all right now.
Speaker 1: I got McCaffrey, if you had given trade lance ten
Speaker 1: weeks like they have right down to kind of get
Speaker 1: in the groove and get his thing going. If you've
Speaker 1: given trade lance, Christian McCaffrey, if you're given trade lance,
Speaker 1: is this offense even more dynamic or are they better
Speaker 1: off that? Hey, it all worked out right. Jimmy G's
Speaker 1: the quarterback. They're six and four going into Thanksgiving. What's
Speaker 1: your thoughts on that, because I personally am like, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I just think Trey Lance need to get
Speaker 1: through September and October and then it would be like,
Speaker 1: all right, he's got his confidence. We would know one
Speaker 1: way or the other, and then you could always bench
Speaker 1: him for Jimmy g But Trey Lance could run, and
Speaker 1: they were they were running him, and he was running
Speaker 1: the wheels off of him in the first couple drives
Speaker 1: there against the Bears, and like then the injury happens
Speaker 1: and you're like, ah, but I don't know what this
Speaker 1: offense would have looked like if Trey Lance was there.
Speaker 1: It might have been even scarier. Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: wish I don't remember the exact number, but there's whatever
Speaker 1: the stat of how many passes he's made in his
Speaker 1: career Trey Lance, because he didn't even play a ton
Speaker 1: in college, he's he's got like some of the least
Speaker 1: experience out of any of the starting quarterbacks. In quotes
Speaker 1: like depending on whether or not we think he's a starter,
Speaker 1: but after watching the Bears and seeing Justin Fields elevate
Speaker 1: the entire offense just purely off his running ability and
Speaker 1: like a couple excitement. Yeah yeah, and how like he
Speaker 1: were saying like that, you know that fan base is
Speaker 1: energized by justin fields even if they're losing, it'd be
Speaker 1: pretty amazing. And like, yeah, if if any passer has
Speaker 1: the safety valve of CMC and then also can go
Speaker 1: over the top to Kittle or a Uk or Debo.
Speaker 1: I mean the fact that, like when you were listening
Speaker 1: off their offensive weapons, you didn't even mention CMC by name.
Speaker 1: That's how stay Yeah, it's it's and here's the thing.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be in the same position this offseason. Now, Jimmy,
Speaker 1: she's not under contract. He's going to be a free agent.
Speaker 1: But it's like all those guys are coming back from
Speaker 1: what I don't have the contracts in front of me,
Speaker 1: but mcafre, I know is there for at least another year.
Speaker 1: I know Debo just signed his extension. I think Kittle's
Speaker 1: there under under contract. I know they signed a new
Speaker 1: one with him recently. Use check. I think is they're like,
Speaker 1: I don't know. To me, it's Jimmy Gee's going to
Speaker 1: take them wherever he takes him. They might win a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and then it's like a decision has to
Speaker 1: be made. But Trey Lance's conversation is not going away.
Speaker 1: And I just see them playing against the Cardinals last night,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it was like so at one
Speaker 1: point it's just you know, Elijah Mitchell nine yards debo
Speaker 1: on a pitch eight yards Kittle just it's all right,
Speaker 1: And now imagine a mobile quarterback who can do that
Speaker 1: stuff too. It's something to consider, all right, what's the
Speaker 1: third down before we leave second down? There's a I
Speaker 1: saw a tweet the other night from Jay Gray Jets
Speaker 1: that was Jimmy g had as many touchdown passes last
Speaker 1: night as Zach Wilson had on the season. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson's stuff is brutal, bro Like, there's no there's
Speaker 1: no stat that's gonna be the contrarian take on this.
Speaker 1: And as much as Jets fans, you know, are are
Speaker 1: beaten up Zach Wilson this week, like there's a tough,
Speaker 1: tough place to the other side of that aisle and
Speaker 1: be like, hey, just be patient. I don't see it yet,
Speaker 1: and I feel for the kid, but I don't even know,
Speaker 1: I mean, based on his I don't even know if
Speaker 1: he's stealing it, like that's the thing. I think that's
Speaker 1: what that's Jets fans the most. You know, we just
Speaker 1: want you to wear it. We want you to we
Speaker 1: want you to feel it like we do. We're fans.
Speaker 1: We've been watching this for for thirty years. And it's
Speaker 1: you know, him just being like, all right, I don't
Speaker 1: know if that that rough people wrong? All right, third down? Odell?
Speaker 1: He was watching the Cowboys game. The news now is
Speaker 1: Cowboys Giants. Maybe what are you hearing about? Odell? It's
Speaker 1: it's amazing that there are thirty two teams that play football.
Speaker 1: There are sixty something players on each one of those teams.
Speaker 1: There's a coaching staff of twenty guys and gals. There's
Speaker 1: a front office for every team, there's owners for every team.
Speaker 1: There's there's international games, and O'Dell is still one of
Speaker 1: the hottest topics. He hasn't played a single snap this season.
Speaker 1: It's really an interesting deal. I see Domackinsue joined the
Speaker 1: Eagles and like just be thrown right into the lineup
Speaker 1: and play, and it's like, Okay, I guess that might
Speaker 1: be a new thing here where Odell is not going
Speaker 1: to sign with the team, till after Thanksgiving. I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna make a pro rated contract that's pretty good
Speaker 1: no matter where he signs. I would think he's gonna
Speaker 1: make like four or five million dollars for probably six
Speaker 1: or seven regular season games and then the playoff run,
Speaker 1: which is incredible coming off his second straight major knee injury.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing how Boys, Giants, and Bills as still a possibility,
Speaker 1: as still a possibility that von Miller and him are
Speaker 1: so tight that they talk, you know, if not daily weekly,
Speaker 1: and that still might be in the mix. And Brandon
Speaker 1: Beans has shown already at the trade deadline and also
Speaker 1: in free agency that he's not scared to pull the trigger.
Speaker 1: The Giants thing, I don't get, and I know a
Speaker 1: lot of Giants fans want it, especially they lost another
Speaker 1: wide receiver to injury this week. I just are that
Speaker 1: it's a half deer rental and they decally need a
Speaker 1: wide receiver, and it would be a great story Odell
Speaker 1: coming home based on the way things ended. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's what the Giants need to
Speaker 1: get over the top. I don't know if I see
Speaker 1: the Giants as a place that he would necessarily want
Speaker 1: to go based on their offense and how that thing
Speaker 1: is bill and really their lack of experience in January,
Speaker 1: I think O'Dell wants to win a ring. He won
Speaker 1: one rast year. I think he wants to win another one.
Speaker 1: And to me, Buffalo and Dallas make a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: How ironic that the Cowboys are playing the Giants on
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving and the winner might be the one that O'Dell
Speaker 1: just says, you know what, I'm hitching my wagon to them.
Speaker 1: I would also say this, I think I mentioned it earlier.
Speaker 1: If you watch Michael Gallup this season, if you watch
Speaker 1: Chris Godwin this season, be patient thinking you're getting Odell Beckham,
Speaker 1: you know, twenty sixteen. If he gets on the field,
Speaker 1: he might take a while before he gets going. But
Speaker 1: that's okay as long as they have him. Buy that
Speaker 1: playoff run. My money's on Buffalo or the Cowboys. I'd
Speaker 1: be shocked if he if he's a Giant. And yet again,
Speaker 1: shocking has been the theme of the whole season. All right,
Speaker 1: fourth down, Who do you want to shout out this week? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I gotta shout out Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Kelsey's thirty three and He's got as good at numbers
Speaker 1: as any skill position player in the league. This season
Speaker 1: may be short of Justin Jefferson, but even then, if
Speaker 1: you consider what he does with the tight end spot,
Speaker 1: Kelsey is unbelievable and Mahomes has never lost like a
Speaker 1: road game in the division. There's crazy stuff, but the
Speaker 1: two of them. Is there a way to have co
Speaker 1: MVPs this season? Like it's funny because we break our
Speaker 1: backs to be like, well, maybe this is the year
Speaker 1: Michael Parsons is the MVP, or maybe this is a
Speaker 1: non quarterback year and Justin Jefferson's r MVP, or you
Speaker 1: try to make this two a case, which a lot
Speaker 1: have been making, and we'll see how that goes. But like,
Speaker 1: what are we doing? Mahomes is the best player every
Speaker 1: single time he walks on the field, and Travis Kelsey
Speaker 1: might be the second best player every time he walks
Speaker 1: on the field. Those two guys together, it's amazing what
Speaker 1: they did on Sunday night. I never doubted the Chiefs
Speaker 1: were winning that game, And I know that sounds arrogant
Speaker 1: or scubris, but like, as long as there was time
Speaker 1: left on the clock, Mahomes was finding Kelsey then no Juju.
Speaker 1: They had no Clyde Edwards. Hilaire hard Man is out,
Speaker 1: he's gone on. You know, two plays in, Kadarius Tony
Speaker 1: does the Kadarius Tony thing. He's out with an injury,
Speaker 1: and it's like, don't worry, We've got We've got Fortson
Speaker 1: and Watson and Gray and Skymore made a huge third
Speaker 1: down conversion and then in the end it's like, gimme Kelsey,
Speaker 1: gimme Kelsey, gimme Kelsey. I also thought the defense stepped up.
Speaker 1: Defense had a great day. Willie kay was over the field.
Speaker 1: My guy Boltland was all over the field. Chiefs are
Speaker 1: really fun to watch. They're really hard to root against.
Speaker 1: And you know, the Chargers were again noble and valiant
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways and what they were able
Speaker 1: to do and come back from being down. But like
Speaker 1: it's just never gonna be enough. If Mahomes is the
Speaker 1: ball was any time left. I'm gonna make this argument
Speaker 1: Mahomes is the MVP, and it reminds me of Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan in the nineties when I specifically recall, you know,
Speaker 1: Charles Barkley won the ninety three MVP award. I think
Speaker 1: Carmelo won the Night seven MVP Award. The league would
Speaker 1: try they would try to push these other guys and
Speaker 1: like that's the equivalent of, hey, yeah, but look what
Speaker 1: two is doing, or hey, maybe we can make a
Speaker 1: strange argument that a defensive player should be the thing.
Speaker 1: And this is the year that it's like Lawrence Taylor
Speaker 1: and eighty six. No no, no, no, right now cast
Speaker 1: the ballot, it's Mahomes And if it's not Mahomes on
Speaker 1: I put Kelsey Aaron. I want to give a shout
Speaker 1: out to t J. Watt. I talk about it. You know,
Speaker 1: last week we had the Justin Jefferson catch and you
Speaker 1: made the argument that that ketch was more in context
Speaker 1: more important than the OBJ sideline catch and the t J.
Speaker 1: Watt interception was not contextually important. The Steelers lost to
Speaker 1: the Bengals, but I like shrieked when I saw that,
Speaker 1: Like it's it's third quarter, Burrows trying to hit Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd and what like goes side like diagonally, his arms
Speaker 1: just go up and he knocked the ball down and
Speaker 1: he's and like you didn't think he had it at first.
Speaker 1: It was so amazing, And that's one of my favorite
Speaker 1: things watching football. And like really any pro sport is like,
Speaker 1: these are people doing physical things I will never be
Speaker 1: able to do. And just is also, I mean, like
Speaker 1: such an incredible player. You know, he was injured for
Speaker 1: so much of the season. I feel like he kind
Speaker 1: of lost a little shine. He's not as getting as
Speaker 1: much hight. Yeah, Parson, he's so good. And that interception, like,
Speaker 1: if if anyone didn't see it, just go watch it.
Speaker 1: It's like four seconds and it's It's my favorite thing
Speaker 1: that's happened this year. I'm glad you mentioned it because
Speaker 1: it happens in a in a loss, it happens in
Speaker 1: a game that most people were watching Vikings Cowboys. It
Speaker 1: happens in a game for a team that isn't going
Speaker 1: anywhere this season, and yet you get this incredible feet
Speaker 1: of athletic strength, and it's like that is the moment
Speaker 1: why we love football and why t J. Watt is
Speaker 1: is different than the other guys. Which would be interesting
Speaker 1: because after our next interview, we're gonna bring in our
Speaker 1: guy Taylor, who's going to come in and kind of
Speaker 1: make the case for another defensive player. But to me,
Speaker 1: I'm starting a team still Aaron Donald, It's still t
Speaker 1: j Watt. Those are my two guys on defense. Awesome,
Speaker 1: All right, should we head into our interview? Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 1: Our interview this week is a great friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I've known him for twenty years and he's about to
Speaker 1: have one of the biggest afternoons of his life. He's
Speaker 1: the lead play by play voice for Fox Sports, and
Speaker 1: he is calling the Thanksgiving matchup between the Giants and
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, a huge career accomplishment. Can't wait to welcome
Speaker 1: in my Jersey brother Kevin Burkhart, and now the voice
Speaker 1: you're gonna hear when the game begins between the Cowboys
Speaker 1: and the Giants on Fox. It's his first time ever
Speaker 1: calling a Thanksgiving football game, and I think that's maybe
Speaker 1: the ultimate honor in play by play calling, and maybe
Speaker 1: even beyond the Super Bowl. Considering the amount of people
Speaker 1: are gonna be gathered around watching Cowboys Giants. I couldn't
Speaker 1: be happier for him. Ladies and gentlemen, let's introduce Kevin Burkhart.
Speaker 1: Can't prove what's up, Drakes? Maybe I'm good man, I'm good.
Speaker 1: How are you doing? I'm good? I think I maybe
Speaker 1: it just went over my skis and said Thanksgiving as
Speaker 1: bigger than the super Bowl. You're doing both this season,
Speaker 1: But as someone who's been hacking away at this career
Speaker 1: for over twenty years, to be a forty eight hours
Speaker 1: away from calling Thanksgiving Day football on Fox, what's it
Speaker 1: mean to you? Man? No, it's it's real, And I
Speaker 1: get what you mean, Like, you know, I look, obviously,
Speaker 1: the whole thing's big, right, I mean, the whole the
Speaker 1: whole job is big, and we're doing big games every week.
Speaker 1: But you know, there were a couple on the calendar
Speaker 1: that I thought that it might like hit me and
Speaker 1: be like really really cool. One of them was Dallas
Speaker 1: Green Bay, which turned out to be epic a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, you know, just because Lambo Cowboys, Packers,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, McCarthy back. And then so that was that
Speaker 1: was awesome to be a part of. And then yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, yes, the playoffs and the super Bowl will
Speaker 1: be great. But Thanksgiving Day, man, I mean the thing
Speaker 1: like we you know, growing up in a football family,
Speaker 1: it was you know, it was kind of eating around
Speaker 1: both games, right, that's your early game halftime, go through
Speaker 1: to football in the stre eat, eat the meal between games,
Speaker 1: you know, and then the Cowboys games on you watch that,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe halftime you watch or maybe you go
Speaker 1: throw the football again and then you know, you watch
Speaker 1: the rest of the game. You have dessert after the game.
Speaker 1: That's it, Like that was the day. Um. So I
Speaker 1: feel like it's it's obvious it is an honor. And
Speaker 1: because it's like, you know, you're you're in people's homes
Speaker 1: every week, and a lot of people's homes, but I
Speaker 1: feel like people you're really in people's homes, you know,
Speaker 1: because you know Uncle Stevie's over and then at Buba
Speaker 1: is over, and you know they're all kind of watching
Speaker 1: and they're all have a glass of wine or a
Speaker 1: warm glass of milk, whatever it is. You're kind of
Speaker 1: like hugging everybody. So I think it's beyond awesome, man,
Speaker 1: I really do. I'm so trying. I was trying to
Speaker 1: go back in my head and I'm like, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a little younger than you, not much, but I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think, like when what's my first Thanksgiving football memory?
Speaker 1: I have a memory of the Leon Lett in the
Speaker 1: snow and pize s Dayanovich missing the kick and then
Speaker 1: you know that that was like early nineties I guess
Speaker 1: I remember the missed toss with Bettis and Phil Luckett
Speaker 1: and all that, but like, yeah, it's your earliest Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: football memory, Earthfoy earliest is a good question. I mean
Speaker 1: I remember I certainly remember the snow game with Leon
Speaker 1: Lett of Miami, right, I mean that was I mean,
Speaker 1: no one in Dallas. That was no sense. Why was
Speaker 1: it snowing in Dallas. I still don't have no idea,
Speaker 1: Like that was like totally beyond wild. I remember Randy
Speaker 1: Moss against Dallas. That was I remember that. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I mostly remember Man and Summer Roll, to be completely honest,
Speaker 1: and you know John giving out turkey legs and your
Speaker 1: ducking legs to Emmitt Smith. I mean that's that's the
Speaker 1: stuff that I remember, maybe more so than the games
Speaker 1: at some point. You know, it's all the fun stuff
Speaker 1: around it, which is why I think it's awesome. It's
Speaker 1: it's not just the game, it's it's everything around it.
Speaker 1: And like the holiday that you're doing it on. Let
Speaker 1: me give you the Bingo board because j m fb
Speaker 1: our show we did it one year and it was
Speaker 1: like we clicked it, like perfectly. All right, you get
Speaker 1: the Madden in summer all highlights, right, so we'll get
Speaker 1: the target thing. Okay, we'll also get the man tory
Speaker 1: um shot of the truck and everyone waving, right, we
Speaker 1: getting one of the use I have to. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're you're like you're asking me, like I've done this before.
Speaker 1: Butever that's a staple, Like it's like, we got to
Speaker 1: have the shot of the truck, you know, we gotta
Speaker 1: have the Zee and Russo over director, producer waving a
Speaker 1: low though there they are pretending they're working hard, they're
Speaker 1: pressing something, but you know, the whole thing, you know,
Speaker 1: get Jacobleman back there in the background, Jake, Joba Fette,
Speaker 1: waven you get all the job lying like we'll have
Speaker 1: We'll have Rich Gross will be there, you know, like
Speaker 1: the whole the whole crew will be there. So you know,
Speaker 1: it's which I think is awesome because it's like it's
Speaker 1: such a big audience. It's nice to stay look at
Speaker 1: all these people that work hard to make this whole
Speaker 1: broadcast go, because it's certainly a heck of a lot
Speaker 1: more people than us. Yeah, and I think that part
Speaker 1: is really you get one more mandatory thing, and I
Speaker 1: think CBS does it. I don't know what Fox does
Speaker 1: it the ending credits after the game and you've get
Speaker 1: you get the picture of everyone on the crew with
Speaker 1: their family, and I always like that. I'm like, that's
Speaker 1: a nice touch. I used to do that for CBS.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Fox does it, but would be
Speaker 1: like here's like Bill and Susie. You know, Bill operates
Speaker 1: the camera, There's Susie, there's their kid, Jonathan, and there
Speaker 1: at like Coney Island, and it's like, all right, there
Speaker 1: they are. They're on Thanksgiving. Great, good to see them.
Speaker 1: I just so I don't you know, we haven't gone
Speaker 1: over a lot of stuff for the Brook Yes yet obviously,
Speaker 1: but like I like, we played a clip of Madden
Speaker 1: and Summer on Thanksgiving during our Giant game. It was
Speaker 1: the LT Interception return, Yeah, nineteen eighty. I hope we
Speaker 1: play a ton of Madden clips, Like I just I
Speaker 1: loved it, Like it's just I eat it up, you know, constantly,
Speaker 1: and so like I'm hoping, you know, obviously the whole
Speaker 1: days honoring John, like all the games are on CBS
Speaker 1: NBC two, But like, give me as many John and
Speaker 1: Pat clips, you know, as much as I as I
Speaker 1: love John, I love Pat just as much like it
Speaker 1: as a play with lay guy, Like I lived from Pat,
Speaker 1: you know, so like it's I don't know, it's special, man,
Speaker 1: It's so cool, and I'm so happy for you. I
Speaker 1: made it seem like you're hacking away, like you're you know,
Speaker 1: but your career has been been awesome and you've been
Speaker 1: rising and rising and you deserved and earned every moment
Speaker 1: of this. As we check in at week twelve, as
Speaker 1: the lead announcer on Fox Sports calling the NFC pack,
Speaker 1: it's like, how's it going, man, And like how what
Speaker 1: surprised you the most so far? Because you can always
Speaker 1: dream of this happening, but then you get in the
Speaker 1: thick of it and you're like, I didn't expect that
Speaker 1: to happen. Yeah, you know, it's been awesome, man, I
Speaker 1: mean it really has. Like you know, you when you
Speaker 1: go into a situation like this, I mean it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, Join Troy were there for two decades, Like
Speaker 1: that's a long time, right, So people have long standing relationships,
Speaker 1: and you know, we're even though I've been at Fox
Speaker 1: for nine years and you know, Greg's was there last year,
Speaker 1: like we're the new guys. Essentially, we're like we're the
Speaker 1: new guys in the office, right, so you walk in,
Speaker 1: you don't know how they're going to react to you,
Speaker 1: or you know what they're gonna think of you, and
Speaker 1: you know, think you're any good and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, from day one, it was like welcome to
Speaker 1: the family, embraced, like we love you, like the whole thing.
Speaker 1: And I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but dude,
Speaker 1: it's been awesome. Like it's been it felt like we've
Speaker 1: just fit right in. I think there's been some cool symmetry.
Speaker 1: The fact that Greg and I got to do it
Speaker 1: together because we have such a bond, as you know,
Speaker 1: we go back a long time and we did a
Speaker 1: whole year together. So the fact that we kind of
Speaker 1: kind of jump in together, I think has kind of
Speaker 1: been fun and helped helped us both because like he
Speaker 1: knows me really well and I know him really well,
Speaker 1: so then it was just getting everybody else to know
Speaker 1: us and vice versa. So you know, I don't think
Speaker 1: there's really anything that's been super surprising. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just getting used to different styles of of shows, you know,
Speaker 1: like the crew that I've been on my whole life
Speaker 1: with Pete Mitchesky and Artie Kempner like they do a
Speaker 1: little different show than Z and Russo doing. It's not good,
Speaker 1: bad or in different, it's just everybody has different viewpoints
Speaker 1: and creativity. So I think it was just getting a
Speaker 1: little used to each other in terms of that. But
Speaker 1: it's felt like it's felt like I worked with him
Speaker 1: for twenty five years. I mean it's it's felt seamless,
Speaker 1: it's felt fun and Tregs here's the reality, right, you
Speaker 1: know this we've talked about are both of our past
Speaker 1: and how we kind of journeyed up in this crazy industry.
Speaker 1: Like I ain't changing, ain't how bad is out of
Speaker 1: a word, I'm not even I mean as Jersey, I ain't.
Speaker 1: Ain't I But I'm not gonna I'm not gonna change
Speaker 1: like my style or who I am now. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying I'm not open to critiques and wanting to get
Speaker 1: better and to get coached, but by the basis of
Speaker 1: what I do and how I do it, I'm not
Speaker 1: going to change that now. Because I'm on like the
Speaker 1: eight crew, I'm gonna like they liked me enough to
Speaker 1: put me here, So I'm just gonna keep doing what
Speaker 1: I'm doing, you know, maybe tweaks here and there, but
Speaker 1: if I'd radically changed now, I'd be a moron. We uh,
Speaker 1: we had lunch at the super Bowl. You came all
Speaker 1: the way to I mean you graced me in downtown
Speaker 1: Los Angeles at something third rate, very great, very great
Speaker 1: Mexican place where I like, you know yet the pay
Speaker 1: extra for quawk and you sat down there and we
Speaker 1: were talking careers and like this was about to be
Speaker 1: announced and we were so excited for you. But you know,
Speaker 1: you go through all this stuff, like who'd you hear
Speaker 1: from that when it was announced that you're gonna be
Speaker 1: the number one guy, that maybe the listener would be like, hey,
Speaker 1: that's pretty cool that person reached out. I heard from
Speaker 1: a lot of people. Gosh, I mean I phone with
Speaker 1: it was the craziest phone dame. And then I actually
Speaker 1: like came out like that. I've ever had like just
Speaker 1: a lot of people that, um, you know, I haven't
Speaker 1: talked to a lot of people. I mean I heard
Speaker 1: first I heard from Joe Buck. That was did Buck
Speaker 1: reached out? Yeah? That was the That was the literally
Speaker 1: the first person on my list of texts. And I
Speaker 1: tried to get back to everyone that says a lot
Speaker 1: about him, but also says a lot about you that
Speaker 1: you guys had even because even when you're the number
Speaker 1: one and number two guy, I could imagine you're not
Speaker 1: you're not crossing paths, you're not necessarily, you know, ever
Speaker 1: in the same place at the same time. But that's
Speaker 1: pretty cool a Joe to do that. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: all like we talked to like when we talked when
Speaker 1: he left, and we talked, you know, solo, but he
Speaker 1: was he was the first, which I thought was amazing.
Speaker 1: For so many people, you know, Mike Tarico reached out,
Speaker 1: I thought, like, you know, like David Wright from the Mets,
Speaker 1: like you know, like yeah, like really nice, like just
Speaker 1: people being genuinely happy that I got the opportunity. I
Speaker 1: was just so touched by it. Um so and and
Speaker 1: and then it was just a lot of people that
Speaker 1: I couldn't um that I hadn't seen or talk to
Speaker 1: him a while, you know, just friends at maybe you know,
Speaker 1: life happens, and and he hadn't heard from a long time,
Speaker 1: people from way back even in high school. So it
Speaker 1: was cool. Yeah, and then obviously you said you have
Speaker 1: a connection with Greig Olsen for the listeners, take us
Speaker 1: back how far that actually goes? When a young Kevin
Speaker 1: Burkhart fresh pipes in the booth. Who was he covering
Speaker 1: back in the late nineties. So my first job out
Speaker 1: of college was going on high school football game shregs
Speaker 1: for this little AM one thousand WAT radio station in
Speaker 1: northern New Jersey. And Greg Olsen was the Gatorade Player
Speaker 1: of the Year in New Jersey. His dad was the
Speaker 1: coach for a very long time at Wayne Hills High School,
Speaker 1: so you know, we I got to know his dad well.
Speaker 1: I had like production meetings with his dad. We'd go
Speaker 1: watch tape with his dad breakdown like the team and
Speaker 1: the opponent. He would help us out and then you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't we did different teams, but I did some
Speaker 1: of Greg's games when he played in high school and
Speaker 1: interviewed him a ton after games, and it was like,
Speaker 1: you know, so he was really like the first guy
Speaker 1: that I that I talked to an interviewed like as
Speaker 1: a professional out of college. Like that was my first
Speaker 1: like real job. So it's just funny, Like it's funny
Speaker 1: now that the two you know Jersey dudes who are like,
Speaker 1: you know, back in the day a bunch of knuckleheads.
Speaker 1: He goes on as full of fame career and then
Speaker 1: he decides, let me go have another career, and he's
Speaker 1: paired up with me, of all people. So it's just
Speaker 1: funny how it's full circle type stuff, right, And he's
Speaker 1: a trip. I know. Aaron Andrews was on another podcast
Speaker 1: talking about just how funny he is. He's got a
Speaker 1: tough I don't know if he chose it in the
Speaker 1: booth like quite as much as I almost want him to.
Speaker 1: But this guy's hilarious. Greg Olsen, like, is he the
Speaker 1: best to hang with just socially? And I feel like
Speaker 1: he's a great hang Coming to one of our Saturday dinners,
Speaker 1: we have an old fashioned and kick it off and
Speaker 1: it's just like laughs, it's like non stuff, But that's
Speaker 1: what builds the chemistry, right, Like maybe it doesn't, you know,
Speaker 1: you know some of the stuff obviously it's not for TV,
Speaker 1: but it's I think that stuff builds the chemistry that
Speaker 1: you have on air with the whole group, not just me,
Speaker 1: not just he and I, but you know, with Aaron
Speaker 1: and with the behind the scenes people, and you get
Speaker 1: trust builds. So he's a dude. He is a blast.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you're flying to the West Coast
Speaker 1: and doing shows Sunday morning. You're all over the place,
Speaker 1: but I don't know playoffs. You got to come to
Speaker 1: one of our dinners. You'd have a love it. I
Speaker 1: would love it. You guys are great and I look
Speaker 1: at like, not only you in the football booth, but
Speaker 1: I think you wear a different hat really well too.
Speaker 1: I think you're I'm gonna say it, I think you're
Speaker 1: the best, if not one of the best studio hosts
Speaker 1: in all of sports television. And I've told you that before.
Speaker 1: I think the work you do on Fox during the
Speaker 1: World Series and during the postseason is marvelous. And the
Speaker 1: stuff that you guys have done with Big Poppy and
Speaker 1: a Rod and all guys like that's a really entertaining
Speaker 1: studio show. And as someone who's on a studio show
Speaker 1: both Monday to Friday then also on Sunday, I find
Speaker 1: it amazing that you just jump right in and you
Speaker 1: guys pick it up year after year and have this chemistry.
Speaker 1: You've become especially close to one Alex Rodriguez, who I
Speaker 1: mean when I say it's not like you know me
Speaker 1: and Charles Woodson, who hang at the hotel whatever. Like
Speaker 1: you and a Rod are like socially friends. You guys
Speaker 1: will go out and hang. Well, what's like being boys
Speaker 1: with a Rod? And what's the reception he gets when
Speaker 1: you guys go out in the town at night. He's
Speaker 1: he's just a great dude. Man, He's misunderstood. I didn't
Speaker 1: go a lot. You know, he's got a big heart,
Speaker 1: and and he's really when it comes down to it,
Speaker 1: he's he's actually a pretty normal guy. Like he you know,
Speaker 1: he loves his daughters. He's a great father. He you know,
Speaker 1: he loves baseball and loves sports. He's he's a really
Speaker 1: good dude. And ever since he came to Fox, like
Speaker 1: he's treated me great and like we just we just
Speaker 1: had a really really good rap. It's just funny, man.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a he is a megastar, like a
Speaker 1: monster mega star. There's nowhere that he goes that doesn't
Speaker 1: elicit some kind of emotion for people, whether it's good
Speaker 1: or bad. But he plays it all like he's really learned.
Speaker 1: He's really learned to be self deprecating and like how
Speaker 1: much fun you could have with that? And I think
Speaker 1: people have really kind of taken to him because of that.
Speaker 1: You know, he was such a villain when he played
Speaker 1: when he wasn't at home. And I think people really
Speaker 1: seeing what he's about. And he's smartest, Like you know,
Speaker 1: you can talk to him about baseball, you're talking about
Speaker 1: business like he knows. He knows his stuff. Man. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a big fan. I'm gonna tell a
Speaker 1: story that I heard from a Fox producer and tell
Speaker 1: me if this is possible. This sounds right. Early on,
Speaker 1: a Rod is working for Fox in the studio, and
Speaker 1: when you're a big, fancy X player, you and I
Speaker 1: don't get this treatment. But at Fox is how they
Speaker 1: treat the X players. We're piance, But the ex players
Speaker 1: get treated like gold. Okay, I mean gold. If you're
Speaker 1: an ex player looking for a job, do not consider
Speaker 1: any other place than Fox. I will tell you that
Speaker 1: right now. And what they would offer is obviously, you
Speaker 1: get a hotel room, you get a car service, you
Speaker 1: can by the way, I'm kidding. Fox treats Kevin and
Speaker 1: I very nicely. But you know, a guy like a
Speaker 1: Rod when he's coming through, or Frank Thomas or a
Speaker 1: big poppy, it's like you get first class treatment. So
Speaker 1: he's doing the studio show in Century City at the
Speaker 1: Fox lot, doing the show whatever, and the show ends
Speaker 1: and he gets undressed and he's and he's getting ready
Speaker 1: and he just heads outside and one of the predacers like,
Speaker 1: whoa where are you going? And he's like, I just
Speaker 1: called an uber X back to the hotel, and the
Speaker 1: producers like, you know, we have a driver ready for you.
Speaker 1: Or he's like, oh no, I'm good. And he just
Speaker 1: hopped in like an uper X for seven dollars and
Speaker 1: went back to his hotel and didn't think twice about it.
Speaker 1: Tell me if that sounds accurate or if that's just
Speaker 1: like tall tales, Like Alex Urger is a great guy.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you a story. No, I dude, who'll
Speaker 1: go like you know, like we're in the World series,
Speaker 1: Like we'll be like I'm like, hey, I'm gonna walk
Speaker 1: in the stadium and get some French fries or something
Speaker 1: like that. He's like, oh, I'll come. I'm like what
Speaker 1: you can't come? Who gets You'll get destroyed. So it's like,
Speaker 1: I don't think he realizes like half the time he's
Speaker 1: just like, hey, I'll come do that, Like no, no,
Speaker 1: you can't, like you can't bro like that You're gonna
Speaker 1: get spilled on you and that will inevitably get spilled
Speaker 1: on me. So he does act like that. He's just
Speaker 1: like why, why, what's wrong? You know? It's funny. Um.
Speaker 1: One of the cool things about being on the number
Speaker 1: one crew is you get the best game every week,
Speaker 1: and that means you get to see the top quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: You always were on the number two crews. It wasn't
Speaker 1: like you were a stranger to guys like Rogers and
Speaker 1: guys like Brady and whoever else. But interesting season with
Speaker 1: Rogers and Brady, and I think both those guys have
Speaker 1: really had to overcome some things. And in one case
Speaker 1: it looks like Brady's on his way, another one it
Speaker 1: looks like, you know that that ghost might be cooked
Speaker 1: out there in Green Bay. What has been your impression
Speaker 1: of Brady and Rogers just from having real, real relationships
Speaker 1: with them and during these production meetings where they're usually
Speaker 1: uncut and they're not talking in front of a podium. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's we haven't had we haven't had Tom in a while.
Speaker 1: We had them a bunch early and we haven't had
Speaker 1: them in a while. But obviously they've kind of saved
Speaker 1: their season a little bit here, and you know, look
Speaker 1: he obviously has been through a lot off the field,
Speaker 1: right And I don't care how much money you make
Speaker 1: or what you're doing, like you got that stuff going
Speaker 1: on that's going to affect you. That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing you realize is just how
Speaker 1: competitive these guys are. Like people always ask why are
Speaker 1: they still how long they're gonna go or why they
Speaker 1: still playing? Because their competitive nature like won't allow them
Speaker 1: to stop. That's really what it comes down to, like you,
Speaker 1: and and every time you talk to them, you you
Speaker 1: feel it, you see it, they tell you. You know,
Speaker 1: we've had air in a ton this year with Green
Speaker 1: Bay and he's the best. I mean, we'll talk with
Speaker 1: him for an hour and just shoot the would he
Speaker 1: be could at this stuff like studio in the booth?
Speaker 1: Like I know he might not want to do it,
Speaker 1: would you? Because I also feel like when I even
Speaker 1: on just McAfee, when he's just teeing off, it's like
Speaker 1: it's it's very captivating. He's very engaging with the listener
Speaker 1: and he is awesome. He's so smart, he's engaging, he's
Speaker 1: fun to talk to, you know, we bust chops. He's
Speaker 1: just and he's honest. You know, we always ask what people.
Speaker 1: We always want athletes to be honest. While I ain't
Speaker 1: gonna be more honest than him, I could tell you
Speaker 1: that ever right now. So he would he be great
Speaker 1: at this if he wants to do it. Yeah, one
Speaker 1: hundred percent. He's so freaking smart and he sees everything
Speaker 1: and he explains it in a way where like he
Speaker 1: even for the dummies like me, it's like, oh I
Speaker 1: I understand. You know. It's one thing. He could talk
Speaker 1: to Greg Olsen and they could go bumbable and back
Speaker 1: and forth. But if he could explain it, so why
Speaker 1: get it or anybody gets hit? So I think if
Speaker 1: he wants to do it, he'd be amazing. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's the way he wants to go,
Speaker 1: you know, but it's it's a real perkose, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think that's part of it is you try
Speaker 1: to bring these guys to life like right, because we
Speaker 1: get access and quite frankly, we get stuff that no
Speaker 1: one else gets and a lot of it we can't
Speaker 1: even use on TV. But it's good for perspective and
Speaker 1: like to see, like what the big picture and what's
Speaker 1: going on, and you know, we're kind of educated, so
Speaker 1: we don't, you know, so we don't say the wrong
Speaker 1: thing or you know, say things that aren't true, you know.
Speaker 1: So it's it's great the rules for the listener at home.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, what do you mean? You can't say it? Also,
Speaker 1: you have these production meetings, and it's pretty much understood
Speaker 1: if it informs the game during the broadcast, you can
Speaker 1: say whatever. But there's also an unspoken rule of if
Speaker 1: there's you know, some injury information or if there was
Speaker 1: a comment that might be taken out of context, like
Speaker 1: it's not meant for air. And a lot of times
Speaker 1: announcers will get caught because they'll say something from the
Speaker 1: production meeting that probably shouldn't have made air. And then
Speaker 1: there's this feeling of trust that's been broken. How do
Speaker 1: you navigate that? And I know you've in your career,
Speaker 1: from what I gather, you've never broken that trust. And
Speaker 1: I guess he's keep in your back pocket and then
Speaker 1: you can sprinkle lit it and when necessary, right, well, see,
Speaker 1: I you know, I'm I'm not an insider, right like
Speaker 1: you are. And I could give a about throwing stuff
Speaker 1: on Twitter. I don't care, so like you know anything
Speaker 1: that you know, if you know, just talk to Brian
Speaker 1: Dable if he tells me injury stuff on the on
Speaker 1: the Giants. I'm not going to go to Twitter and
Speaker 1: put I don't I could care less about that. Like
Speaker 1: I'm more context of how does that help us prepare
Speaker 1: for the game. And it's also like it's how do
Speaker 1: we you know, so we have opinions obviously, and Greg
Speaker 1: as opinion Greg's Greg's opinions are the most important because
Speaker 1: he's the analyst and it revolves around him. But it's
Speaker 1: also nice to know and these guys know that some context,
Speaker 1: if something happens, maybe this is why, maybe this is
Speaker 1: why this person isn't going to play, or maybe this
Speaker 1: is why we're going to do this, like just have
Speaker 1: an education. So it's not just why are they doing that?
Speaker 1: And you know, yes, part of it is obviously giving
Speaker 1: their side of the story, but part of it is
Speaker 1: helpful in terms of preparation and you know, maybe you know,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a hey, go back and watch this or
Speaker 1: go look at this as it kind of like it
Speaker 1: heads up right just so it's there. It's like it's
Speaker 1: almost in a way. It's almost like a partnership, like
Speaker 1: they're trusting us um and you know they're also helping
Speaker 1: us right in a way and hopefully it's it's kind
Speaker 1: of reciprocated. They're giving us some information that will help
Speaker 1: us in the broadcast and help the viewer. But the
Speaker 1: real nitty gritty stuff, it's just that's that's not for air.
Speaker 1: That's the bottom line. So it's it's just massaging those
Speaker 1: you know, massides those relationships. You're talking about stuff on
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football, You're talking about it educationally because you
Speaker 1: have a background out. You're not just throwing stuff against
Speaker 1: the wall and hoping it sticks. Like you have your opinion,
Speaker 1: but you're also basing some of those opinions on what
Speaker 1: you actually know is fact. That's what we're doing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's and you do such a good job at it.
Speaker 1: My last thing is for all the people who are
Speaker 1: listening who want to get into our field. A lot
Speaker 1: of times I have on GMS or coaches and the
Speaker 1: question is like if you had an elevator speech and
Speaker 1: you had thirty seconds, and a kid out of college
Speaker 1: was like, what would be your one piece of advice?
Speaker 1: And they've been all over the board like Ryan Bols.
Speaker 1: This whole thing was like surround yourself, like place yourself
Speaker 1: in a situation where you're learning from good people and
Speaker 1: then you know, Joe Shane's thing was like, you know,
Speaker 1: take every opportunity you can and just dive in and
Speaker 1: go and then it's like, you know, worry about that
Speaker 1: later for you. Someone who you know went grew up
Speaker 1: in Jersey, went to college in Jersey, was selling used cars,
Speaker 1: was doing three things at once. I was working for
Speaker 1: Wfan to now where you're at, a lot of people
Speaker 1: just look at the finished product. What would be your
Speaker 1: piece of advice for a young man or woman leaving
Speaker 1: let's just say college right now with a broadcast journalism
Speaker 1: degree and someday wants to be a professional play by
Speaker 1: play announcer. Well, I say it all the time, so
Speaker 1: it's easy for me. I just just shoot for your
Speaker 1: dreams and don't stop. And I'm not saying that every
Speaker 1: single person is going to be calling a World Series
Speaker 1: or a Super Bowl or hosting their own show and
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football, whatever, but it's so important to have
Speaker 1: your dreams and to be able to go and try
Speaker 1: and get them and work your tail off to go
Speaker 1: and try and get them. Don't listen to anybody if
Speaker 1: they say it's oh, it's impossible, you're not going to
Speaker 1: get no too hard, you're not gonna make you money,
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. If you want
Speaker 1: it and realistically, if you think you're good enough to
Speaker 1: do it, go for it. Like if you don't have
Speaker 1: that and the want and the dreaming ability to go
Speaker 1: and do it, how are you ever gonna? Like I
Speaker 1: would never be here if I didn't do that. I
Speaker 1: had so many people support me shrakes obviously, but it's
Speaker 1: so many people would be like, oh, you're crazy, Like
Speaker 1: that's a waste of time. Okay, I don't think they're
Speaker 1: telling me that anymore. So you have to have that
Speaker 1: shoot for you. I tell the college kids who I
Speaker 1: talked all the time, just shoot for your dreams, Like
Speaker 1: why not? Why would like why wouldn't you right? Like
Speaker 1: would you agree? I mean, I hear you, and it's
Speaker 1: like my other thing is always this, And I don't
Speaker 1: know if they're gonna bleep it out, like just don't
Speaker 1: be an a leather Like I feel like you've got
Speaker 1: one hundred percent Q reading I am Eagle as one
Speaker 1: hundred percent que reading. Anyone who meets Mike Rico's loves in.
Speaker 1: Jim Nance loves him, Joe Buck right, like, don't be great,
Speaker 1: be gracious, be hard working, but also treat people right. Listen,
Speaker 1: I agree with you. That's how I've always tried to be.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm sure there's times that people have caught
Speaker 1: me on bed days. Maybe I haven't been the greatest,
Speaker 1: but I certainly strive to treat everyone with kindness because
Speaker 1: that's how I was raised. I don't think it's that
Speaker 1: hard to say hello, or smile or be nice someone's name.
Speaker 1: I just don't think it's that hard. So not everyone's
Speaker 1: gonna love you, but I think if you treat everyone
Speaker 1: with respect, hopefully they have the same for you. I
Speaker 1: I just think that's easy. I'll go back real quick
Speaker 1: to probably divisional round or wild card round two thousand.
Speaker 1: In nineteen eighteen, Texans are playing the Bills. I had
Speaker 1: to be in fox in LA on a Sunday morning.
Speaker 1: I was invited so graciously by Kevin to hang out
Speaker 1: with his family and watch the game. We're watching the game.
Speaker 1: Do you want to tell the listeners what I was
Speaker 1: preoccupied with the entire time while we're watching Texans bills.
Speaker 1: Am I am? I allowed to say this with the phone. Yeah,
Speaker 1: We're sitting there on the couch watching Texas. Bill can't
Speaker 1: relax because having snacks. Hey, hold on, what second, gonna
Speaker 1: be quiet? Phone rings? Wink Martindale's on the hill life. Waitin,
Speaker 1: Martin now about to interview for the Giants job. Talking
Speaker 1: to me ironically, it's so great. This is more the
Speaker 1: head coaching job. And the next day they hired Joe Judge.
Speaker 1: But I couldn't watch the game because I had Wink
Speaker 1: on the phone and we were talking about the Giants job. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: I'm about to say it now two years later, Wink
Speaker 1: is a defensive coordinator of the Giants. He's where he
Speaker 1: belongs anyway, he's coaching there. He's there. But Kevin was
Speaker 1: dying because Kevin just watched the game. You're worried about
Speaker 1: Rink Martin. Now, I was like, you know, a like
Speaker 1: we got the game on, you know the sound, I'm
Speaker 1: turning the sound down and shrikes on the couch like
Speaker 1: phone like the talking to Wink about his Giants atter.
Speaker 1: I'm like this, see, like that's why I don't need
Speaker 1: to tweet or do anything, so I just want to
Speaker 1: watch the game. You're way too important than me. Yeah right.
Speaker 1: I probably told say say say this is gonna be
Speaker 1: lasted ten minutes, and they hired Joe jobs, So I
Speaker 1: don't think I helped that anything at all. Oh my gosh. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: my wife just loves you. She's like, yeah, went Straker
Speaker 1: coming over, like I gotta come back. I love her too.
Speaker 1: Rachel's amazing. All right, last last thing, I'm gonna ask
Speaker 1: you a favor. When you guys do the the mandatory
Speaker 1: shot to the truck where you've got Ian Martin and uh, Jake,
Speaker 1: jall Event and Cody waving to the to the to
Speaker 1: the camera, and you've got this thing in Jacob Allman's
Speaker 1: waving shout out. Can you shout out? You can shout out? Hey,
Speaker 1: this is for Peter Schreker. Here's this clip right here,
Speaker 1: here's all our guys in the truck working. Now. If
Speaker 1: kidding get to do that Happy Thanksgiving shreigs, it'll be great.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you one day I'm gonna do I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pee my pants a little bit when it
Speaker 1: comes out, because I'm gonna think of this conversation. You
Speaker 1: better believe it better. It's mandatory. I love it and
Speaker 1: I love all those guys and cows in the truck. Hey,
Speaker 1: good luck on Thursday. I have taken enough of your time.
Speaker 1: What a cool moment in your career. And I bet
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk to you super Bowl week. We might
Speaker 1: have to before you call. The first time a Fox
Speaker 1: super Bowl called by Kevin Burkhardt. I can't. I can't
Speaker 1: be happier for you. You're the best. You're the nicest
Speaker 1: dude I know, and you've been really important in my career.
Speaker 1: My friend, you were the best man. Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1: I we'll do it again. I can't wait to hear
Speaker 1: Kevin on the call with Greg Olsen, Aaron Andrews, and
Speaker 1: Tom Rinaldi on Thursday. I couldn't be happier for the guy.
Speaker 1: Kevin Burkhart's one of the true great men in this
Speaker 1: industry who's always been good to me, and it's been
Speaker 1: good to everyone he's ever worked with. Excited for him
Speaker 1: to have a legendary call in his first Thanksgiving game.
Speaker 1: You know earlier in the show, My guy, Aaron and
Speaker 1: I we have been talking and we were going gaga
Speaker 1: over t J Watt and earlier this season, I've been
Speaker 1: going gaga every single week on Micah Parsons. I'm going
Speaker 1: to bring in our friend Taylor Kyles from the NFL
Speaker 1: Network Research Group right now because Taylor has a thought
Speaker 1: and I wanted to give him the platform and I
Speaker 1: wanted to make I wanted to make me smarter. Taylor,
Speaker 1: what's up, my man? I'm doing all right? Brother? How
Speaker 1: you doing? Happy Thanksgiving week? We were talking earlier, before
Speaker 1: we get to your take, I am not a traditional
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving meal guy. In fact, I am anti dry turkey.
Speaker 1: I am anti candy dams. I am anti the gravy
Speaker 1: boat being passed around from Grandma Millie to Grandma Rhoda,
Speaker 1: to everyone and then finally getting to me, and I'm
Speaker 1: getting the remnants. Let me ask you. We spoke with
Speaker 1: Aaron Taylor. Are you in on traditional Thanksgiving meal or
Speaker 1: are you one of these new wave guys like me
Speaker 1: and Aaron. We're like, hey, let me just enjoy what
Speaker 1: I want to enjoy on Thanksgiving. I've been a new
Speaker 1: wave guy. Man. My mom always knew when I was
Speaker 1: growing up, we gotta make a hand for Taylor because
Speaker 1: I do not think turkey should exist in any capacity.
Speaker 1: That may be blasphemy, but I can't stand it. You
Speaker 1: gotta get me a little something different. I don't care
Speaker 1: what the meat is as long as it's not turkey. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's dry, it's boring, it's offensive in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: I look at that turkey and I just think, who
Speaker 1: wants to eat that on any day? And then think
Speaker 1: you people fake it and they act like, oh if
Speaker 1: you deep fry it, and no, no, I don't want it.
Speaker 1: If you got to do that much to it, then
Speaker 1: there's something wrong. You doesn't have to always be complicated.
Speaker 1: Just stick with the base. Six. How how did you
Speaker 1: eat your your ham as a kid? What's the how
Speaker 1: is that prepared? Because I'm willing to make the shift
Speaker 1: to him. I've had steak, I've had pizza on Thanksgiving blasphemous.
Speaker 1: I know I will have anything but turkey, but I
Speaker 1: have not done a proper ham. What is the preparation
Speaker 1: for the ham? Usually it was always honey glaze for me,
Speaker 1: and that kept little Tay happy. That was what I
Speaker 1: would usually go with. And then I think we actually
Speaker 1: went to the Christmas Story round at least one Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: did Chinese food, so I'm all about switching it up.
Speaker 1: I'm a guy who likes variety anyway, So it's again
Speaker 1: as long as it's just not the turkey, give me
Speaker 1: the mac and cheese, the coward Greens, you know those conventions. Well,
Speaker 1: the sides are what you come for, and then you
Speaker 1: just need a meat that can you know, it doesn't
Speaker 1: ruin the rest of the meal. And like I said,
Speaker 1: turkey is it's an infiltrator. We don't need it an infiltrator.
Speaker 1: I love this, all right. So we had John last week.
Speaker 1: You made us smarter talking justin Jefferson. But this week
Speaker 1: I think everyone was watching the end of that Jets
Speaker 1: Patriots game and the big storyline is, you know, the
Speaker 1: Jets inability to move the ball, and even in New England,
Speaker 1: a big storyline is what's wrong with mac? But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have you on right now and make us smarter.
Speaker 1: We talk so much about Parsons, we talk so much
Speaker 1: about t J. Watt. Who's the most underappreciated pass rusher
Speaker 1: in the NFL today? Ironically, I think it's actually the
Speaker 1: guy who leads the league in sacks, And I would
Speaker 1: say that as Matt Judon. Now, I am a Patriots fan,
Speaker 1: so I got to stand out on the soapbox for
Speaker 1: my guy. But when you look at next gen's stats,
Speaker 1: all right, so going back to twenty sixteen, Matt Judon
Speaker 1: is currently on pace to have the second highest sack
Speaker 1: rate behind t J. Watts Ruger tying season. So I
Speaker 1: think that's a pretty good company to be in, and
Speaker 1: it's pretty interesting to see how he does it because
Speaker 1: Judon also has, according to PFF, the most unblocked pressures
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So conventionally you might think, okay, maybe
Speaker 1: he's having an easier time than other guys. But the
Speaker 1: Patriots actually had a really cool adjustment to I don't
Speaker 1: know if you remember, but Judon kind of slid off
Speaker 1: at the tail end of last year. He had all
Speaker 1: those sacks, all those numbers, and it went down. Team
Speaker 1: started a chip him more. They started to give extra
Speaker 1: help to try to take him away. What the Patriots
Speaker 1: have done a lot this year, and where most of
Speaker 1: judon sacks had come from, is on line games and stunts.
Speaker 1: So a defensive tackle sometimes a linebacker in the middle
Speaker 1: of the defense will occupy the center and the guard
Speaker 1: to his side. Now while he's doing that, Judon, the
Speaker 1: guy who's big and explosive, he's two hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: pounds and he's shot out of a cannon, gets to
Speaker 1: loop inside avoid the extra help that team's put on
Speaker 1: the edges to try to take care of him. And
Speaker 1: then it's so hard for those bigger interior guys to
Speaker 1: deal with that big shot out of a cannon when
Speaker 1: he's coming at you and you're thinking you had to
Speaker 1: block somebody else, and then he's just really hard to
Speaker 1: get away from because he's got the long arms. He's
Speaker 1: a bigger linebacker, so a lot of his production he
Speaker 1: can win one on one. He's got a great speed move.
Speaker 1: He likes to rip around the edge and flatten, which
Speaker 1: again he's such a big guy, you don't see that
Speaker 1: very often. But a lot of his production has come
Speaker 1: thanks to the help of his teammates, but also some
Speaker 1: really good scheming from the Patriots. I love Judon. We've
Speaker 1: had him on Good Morning Football probably a dozen times
Speaker 1: over the year's raven and then now and it's like,
Speaker 1: here's what's cool about him. Small school guy, Division two
Speaker 1: school and a great program there, but a smaller school
Speaker 1: gets into the league, makes an impact, and then goes
Speaker 1: to the Patriots in one of their first big free
Speaker 1: agent signings, like they had Gilmore a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: but like Judan. When they signed Judan, I was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: They're spending a lot of money on a guy who's
Speaker 1: not from their team. That's rare. And then he actually
Speaker 1: has exceeded expectations. Then you add to the fact and
Speaker 1: this is the stuff that we like. You can talk
Speaker 1: about the numbers and the inside rush, single digit jersey,
Speaker 1: red sleeves, cool look, great energy on the sidelines, amazing
Speaker 1: press conferences. Always has a personality, a point of view,
Speaker 1: always looking to bust chops a little bit when necessary.
Speaker 1: As a Patriots fan, you have to love what he's
Speaker 1: brought to this team. Oh yeah, and you can't forget
Speaker 1: the celebration either, Like how many guys are getting a
Speaker 1: sack in the entire team. The entire fan base is
Speaker 1: doing the exact same thing in Unison, Like that's pretty
Speaker 1: awesome as well. And then I remember when we used
Speaker 1: to play the Ravens, I would always kind of sooner
Speaker 1: my breath's that ninety nine that matter? Judhon guy is
Speaker 1: pretty good He's like one of the biggest dudes on
Speaker 1: the field and he's running around and even this year
Speaker 1: a lot of his sacks have also he wrangled Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson and Justin Fields and chase those guys down. Like
Speaker 1: he's just such a fun player to watch. He's also good.
Speaker 1: You know, talk about the pass rush and that's what
Speaker 1: gets all the headlines. But there's a run defender. He's
Speaker 1: not bad either. He uses that size and he can.
Speaker 1: There's a big reason the Patriots have really solidified their
Speaker 1: run defense as long as they're not playing any mobile
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that I said to be seen six and four
Speaker 1: going into Thanksgiving. They've got a game Thanksgiving night in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Give me the posle, the Patriot fan. I do Bill
Speaker 1: Simmons's podcast every week. I get his feelings. I know
Speaker 1: where he's at. But give me your thoughts, Patriots, are
Speaker 1: we like tentative? Are we feeling good? Does that win
Speaker 1: feel like he escaped the win or do you feel
Speaker 1: like that was a triumphant win against the Jets? Like?
Speaker 1: Where are we at right now? As a Patriots fan?
Speaker 1: I think the excitement level for the defense and special
Speaker 1: teams are at an all time high because I mean
Speaker 1: they're the ones who kept you in the game and
Speaker 1: the reason you won the game. The defense has playing
Speaker 1: some outstanding football, especially considering how much their rookies have
Speaker 1: been involved. Jack Jones when a PFF's top graded corners
Speaker 1: came in and he's been really good as a tough,
Speaker 1: electric turnover machine. Marcus Jones, who returned the punt, has
Speaker 1: also had some time on defense, and he's really been
Speaker 1: able to bring a lot of value. So I don't
Speaker 1: think anybody's worried about the defense. I think you know,
Speaker 1: the pass rushes they are, the coverages they're They're in
Speaker 1: good shape offensively, It's hard not to be skeptical, especially
Speaker 1: David Andrews might be out for the season. Isaiah Wain's
Speaker 1: going to be missing time. So everything you know, as
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know it starts in the trenches. So
Speaker 1: that's the quarterback and make a play too though, dude,
Speaker 1: I mean that's I will say. I was critical of
Speaker 1: Mac Jones. I think that he was putting a ball
Speaker 1: up for the opponent way too often. The turnovers were inexcusable.
Speaker 1: He has gotten better. I thought last week really was
Speaker 1: his best game, and now I think he completed like
Speaker 1: twenty two or twenty say, it wasn't like his numbers
Speaker 1: were bad. Would your percentage was fine? Is you don't
Speaker 1: have any fear that he's going to do anything. I
Speaker 1: don't know, it's windy, but like, at no point in
Speaker 1: that game, if you're a Jets fan, are you worried
Speaker 1: about mac Jones beating a deep or doing anything special?
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. Honestly, I think that beating them deep isn't
Speaker 1: really even where you want to see the Patriots right now.
Speaker 1: They came out in the season and we're like, hey,
Speaker 1: we're gonna try to be like the exactly, and they're
Speaker 1: throwing the same like three or four concepts Yati and
Speaker 1: teams were defending it Max getting sacked. So I think
Speaker 1: what they really need to get back to was some
Speaker 1: more of that underneath passing game where you get the
Speaker 1: ball in Ormondre Stevenson's hands, the guy who turned a
Speaker 1: third and eighteen into a first down on sheer willpower.
Speaker 1: You know, they've got the workhorses to dink and dunk
Speaker 1: underneath and get back to that Patriots offense they've had
Speaker 1: success with. So I really think that if they can
Speaker 1: kind of tone down the aggressiveness, pick their spots better,
Speaker 1: and just get the ball out of max hands faster.
Speaker 1: I think we could start seeing him play more point
Speaker 1: guard and excel within his own skill set. Everybody, if
Speaker 1: you're watching, you've seen the Patriots play, but number nine
Speaker 1: with those red sleeves, keep an eye on him Thursday night,
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving evening Vikings versus Patriots. And if you are looking
Speaker 1: for smart, insightful stuff on Twitter, Taylor Kyles, tell us
Speaker 1: where we can find you once more, you can find
Speaker 1: me at t k y l e S thirty nine.
Speaker 1: You're kicking butt too. Thank you so much for joining,
Speaker 1: and thanks for making me smarter, Thanks for having me
Speaker 1: brother take care. Taylor's great, and I had to bring
Speaker 1: back my buddy Detro because last week the feedback was incredible.
Speaker 1: People wanted more. He went on a fifteen minute rant
Speaker 1: about the following ten days of sports, starting with the
Speaker 1: opening of the World Cup and then taking us right
Speaker 1: through college football NFL and then this wild week that
Speaker 1: we're in the midst of right now, where it feels
Speaker 1: like at any given moment, there's a World Cup goal
Speaker 1: going on or a football game occurring, and then there's
Speaker 1: like crazy college basketball going on in Maui. At the
Speaker 1: same time, it's almost overwhelming, and yet I'm bringing in Detro. Now, Detro,
Speaker 1: what's up, buddy. It's Tuesday morning. It's the stretch that
Speaker 1: you've called the ten day embraced the sports, the monsoon.
Speaker 1: How are you handling it, Peter? It's great to be
Speaker 1: back me. Personally, I'm handling it great. But that's because
Speaker 1: I put a lot of preparation into this. You don't
Speaker 1: just jump in Saturday morning and start watching like you've
Speaker 1: never watched before. You had to have a roadmap ready
Speaker 1: to go. So I'm feeling real good. I think we're
Speaker 1: in a great spot. I think if we look back
Speaker 1: on the past few days, I mean that that Saturday
Speaker 1: noon slight of college football. I mean I didn't need
Speaker 1: a TCU Bayler. I didn't need to have heart. You know,
Speaker 1: my heart's bumping because of TCU Bowler. I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't want to spend it all. I've got to have
Speaker 1: ten days ahead of me. If crazy sports, do I
Speaker 1: need to give all my energy to TCU Baylor and
Speaker 1: there I was. The answer to that is yes, because
Speaker 1: they're a top five team. There's college football playoff applications
Speaker 1: if you're going to get a game top five team
Speaker 1: that comes down to the very last snap of the
Speaker 1: game after a fire droll running on the field. That's
Speaker 1: what you're looking for at the noon slate. And then
Speaker 1: you flip right over to ABC with Michigan Illinois and
Speaker 1: that goes down to the last snap of the game.
Speaker 1: That's a heck of a way to start the weekend.
Speaker 1: And I tell you, I think I made two grave
Speaker 1: mistakes about And if you're listening, Eric, what are you
Speaker 1: guys talking about? Todd laid it out last week. He said, Hey,
Speaker 1: we've got ten straight days of crazy sports. Don't don't
Speaker 1: overdo it too early. Prepare yourself and kind of space
Speaker 1: out your time and be ready for it all and
Speaker 1: embrace it instead of being just exhausted by it. But
Speaker 1: I think I made a grave mistake. I stayed up
Speaker 1: till one in the morning on Saturday night watching UCLA
Speaker 1: USC two teams I don't have any connection to and
Speaker 1: I don't know if it really affects the college football playoff.
Speaker 1: And then on Monday night, I stayed up to the
Speaker 1: bitter end of a forty nine Ers at forty nine
Speaker 1: Ers versus Cardinals game of Mexico City that was decided
Speaker 1: by the second quarter. Todd, I think I messed up.
Speaker 1: I think the Monday night game is where you maybe
Speaker 1: took a misstep because that UCLA USC game. That game
Speaker 1: at twelve touchdowns in it. If you're looking to sit
Speaker 1: down and watch an entertaining game on a Saturday night,
Speaker 1: and it looked good. The colors, the uniform at the
Speaker 1: Rose Bowl, I could say the Rose Bowl grass looked
Speaker 1: pretty crappy. I don't know what happened to at that stadium,
Speaker 1: but the rest of it, the uniforms look great. And
Speaker 1: this Caleb Williams, Like, I'm a draft guy. I want
Speaker 1: to see Caleb Williams, the Oklahoma transfer. I want to
Speaker 1: see him on the ground. He looks amazing. So I
Speaker 1: feel like, hey, that was good. I need to see that.
Speaker 1: That's exactly where I'm going with that. You get a
Speaker 1: game where it's two rivals, two old fashioned teams, traditional
Speaker 1: teams out there you know them well, you get twelve
Speaker 1: touchdowns right in your face as you're going to sleep.
Speaker 1: That's the way to end that Saturday slate of college football. Okay,
Speaker 1: but I wake up this morning on a Tuesday, and
Speaker 1: I wake up at a normal hour, and I've got
Speaker 1: a string of texts from from my group thread, and
Speaker 1: you're in that group text and you're texting me about
Speaker 1: Tunisia Denmark. There's no way you were up watching Tunisia Denmark.
Speaker 1: How how do you have the bandwidth to watch Tunisia Denmark.
Speaker 1: That was the kind of game that you keep on
Speaker 1: in the background as you're taking as you're taking care
Speaker 1: of you Tuesday morning work responsibilities. Because it is still
Speaker 1: happening on Tuesday morning work, the out of office messages
Speaker 1: start coming back to you Tuesday afternoon. That's when the
Speaker 1: company Thanksgiving, all luncheons are going on. You're starting to
Speaker 1: get the emails from all companies out there. Hey we'll
Speaker 1: be closing tomorrow at one o'clock in the afternoon, So
Speaker 1: everybody's sort of putting it on cruise control at that point.
Speaker 1: That's how you handle that Tuesday morning. Because you don't
Speaker 1: eat soccer. Soccer soccer, Can I just say one quick
Speaker 1: thing about watching soccer, especially if the team USA. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let me explain something. I'm not a big soccer guy.
Speaker 1: You know you're not. I'm shocked I'm in. I'm in
Speaker 1: on the World Cup because it's compelling to me. But
Speaker 1: to watch a soccer game, there's nothing easier in the world.
Speaker 1: That game starts, you get forty five straight minutes of play.
Speaker 1: They give you a fifteen minute break to maybe grab
Speaker 1: a snack, whatever you have to do. It comes back on.
Speaker 1: You get forty five minutes of play, and then it's over.
Speaker 1: You're not, you're not. There's no TV timeouts, there's no breaks,
Speaker 1: there's no instant replays that, there's nothing. You're in it,
Speaker 1: you're out. The game's over two hours, easy peasy. It's
Speaker 1: nice and I like having it in the background. Also,
Speaker 1: it's almost like having golf in the background. It's just
Speaker 1: kind of like the hum of the crowd. It's a
Speaker 1: very soothing sound and then you hear the roar and
Speaker 1: you know there's a goal or you know, some wild
Speaker 1: red card or yellow card. Okay, so we're Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: We hyped this next ten days up. Lay it out
Speaker 1: for me. What do we got from here on out?
Speaker 1: And how am I supposed to budget my time, my stomach,
Speaker 1: and my heart and soul into sports the next few days?
Speaker 1: Because I feel like we're about to hit peak sports season.
Speaker 1: That's a fantastic question. The way that I would look
Speaker 1: at is this right now, it's Tuesday morning. Me personally,
Speaker 1: I would recommend take Tuesday night for yourself and your family.
Speaker 1: Do what you have to do. You want to go
Speaker 1: out for dinner, you want to you know, step out,
Speaker 1: go see a movie or whatever it might be. There's
Speaker 1: nothing crazy going on in that sports landscape tonight on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Wednesday is a little bit different because some of people
Speaker 1: travel on Wednesday. You're trying to put together your last
Speaker 1: minute Thanksgiving responsibilities. If you're hosting, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: things you have to do Wednesday day that Yeah, there'll
Speaker 1: be some World Cup games in and out and you
Speaker 1: can have it on in the background. But from a
Speaker 1: from a football straight football and NFL college standpoint, there's
Speaker 1: nothing today or tomorrow. That's absolutely you are nailed to
Speaker 1: the couch for three hours for However, then you get
Speaker 1: the Thursday and now this is where it's put your
Speaker 1: foot on the gas for the next four days. It's
Speaker 1: not a marathon, it's a spread. Yeah, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1: You've got to do the first half of these eight
Speaker 1: nine days that I'm talking about. Now it's Thanksgiving. Now
Speaker 1: at twelve thirty. You've got Bills Lions, and these Lions
Speaker 1: are frisky, they are fighting, They've won three in a row.
Speaker 1: That's the game you're gonna want to watch. Then you
Speaker 1: go right into all right, Cowboys Giants. I'm a giant
Speaker 1: fan the Giants of They've got It's amazing what happens
Speaker 1: in forty eight hours in the NFL. It's Tuesday morning,
Speaker 1: forty eight hours ago. We're talking about Brian Dave a
Speaker 1: winning Coach of the Year, and the Giants hosting and
Speaker 1: a playoff game. Now I'm sitting here looking at seven
Speaker 1: and ten wheels are coming most seasons over. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And you know you got all day Thursday. You know
Speaker 1: you're gonna be eating all day long. If you're the
Speaker 1: type that's gonna pour yourself a little cocktail or whatever
Speaker 1: between the eating and drinking all day long on Thursday,
Speaker 1: you go into Thursday night, you get Vikings Pats King
Speaker 1: Pats Off a big win, Vikings Off a absolutely horrific loss.
Speaker 1: That game has a little sizzle to it. Get through
Speaker 1: that wake up Friday morning, ease into the day. Friday morning.
Speaker 1: It's the morning after Thanksgiving. There's no reason to be
Speaker 1: out there running marathon's going crazy because trots. You don't
Speaker 1: do a turkey trot. I'm not doing a turkey trot
Speaker 1: Friday morning. Not in the middle, not not in the
Speaker 1: middle of everything we have going on. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: happen because I gotta know that on Friday at two o'clock,
Speaker 1: USA England. I'm in you. You gotta be into that.
Speaker 1: That is a must win for the USA right there.
Speaker 1: Apparently that's what my soccer friends are telling me. Must
Speaker 1: win for USA through USA England. And then we know Michigan,
Speaker 1: Ohio stayed on Saturday, USC noted Dame on Saturday, Full
Speaker 1: Slate Sunday. But here's what my question for you is.
Speaker 1: And I this is coming from someone who hosts a
Speaker 1: morning show about NFL football. You know, we have the show,
Speaker 1: and I checked the Twitter timeline and everyone's tweeting about
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia Argentina during my show. As a football fan,
Speaker 1: American football, and as someone who's kind of in a
Speaker 1: conflict here because I also worked for Fox Sports, and
Speaker 1: I know they paid seventeen billion dollars for the World
Speaker 1: Cup rights and this is a big moment for them.
Speaker 1: Is anyone watching Good Morning Football? Is everyone going to
Speaker 1: start becoming experts in you know, Belgium and their Golden
Speaker 1: generation and then whatever Uruguays got up their sleeve and
Speaker 1: then oh and Bope did this and Littlewandowski did that. Like,
Speaker 1: should I be nervous that no one's gonna be watching
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football the next few days? And if not,
Speaker 1: please tell me what soccer I need to be aware of.
Speaker 1: Don't don't forget the Denmark six foot six goalie. You
Speaker 1: know they a legend Schmichael, Yeah, exactly. My opinion on
Speaker 1: it is that, yes, the World Cup is a fun, compelling,
Speaker 1: interesting thing to watch. It can be exciting. Like I said,
Speaker 1: the games are fast, they're they're it. You're in and
Speaker 1: out in two hours. But from an American viewer standpoint
Speaker 1: right now, let's take Friday after Thanksgiving for instance, the
Speaker 1: USA England don't play it, don't play until two two
Speaker 1: o'clock in the afternoon. Yeah, you guys are on from
Speaker 1: seven to ten in the morning. You're fine. That's it.
Speaker 1: If someone's watching Good Morning Football today and they're watching
Speaker 1: it tomorrow, they're watching it Friday morning, They're not going
Speaker 1: to be pulled away to watch a random World Cup game.
Speaker 1: That's the average fan that you guys are getting to watch.
Speaker 1: So I think you're fine. I don't think you lose
Speaker 1: one set of eyeballs. All right, we're ending this with
Speaker 1: with your final word. I've spoken with Aaron, my producer.
Speaker 1: I woking with Taylor. Um. Thanksgiving Turkey in or out? Oh, absolutely,
Speaker 1: in has to be arcneat has to be smothered and gravy.
Speaker 1: I'm a thousand percent in. Are you disgusted in that?
Speaker 1: I went new wave and I will not even look
Speaker 1: at the damn thing. I am disgusted by turkey. I
Speaker 1: think it's dry. I think it's forced underneath a guise
Speaker 1: of American rhetoric, that we are forced to believe that
Speaker 1: this is an American thing to do, and it's patriotic
Speaker 1: to eat this terrible food that has no taste, and
Speaker 1: that the traditions of the family are somehow tied to
Speaker 1: some bird, some foul. I am not a fan of turkey,
Speaker 1: and I will not be told I must have it
Speaker 1: on Thanksgiving. Look, it's part of the scenery. It's the
Speaker 1: main part of the scenery for a Thanksgiving table. I
Speaker 1: get it, but it's not the main part of the
Speaker 1: dish that you're going to be having for dinner that
Speaker 1: you're going to enjoy the most. I think everybody openly
Speaker 1: agrees with that. Between the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the
Speaker 1: potential for macaroni and cheese, the list goes on and on.
Speaker 1: It's a carb day, it's not a protein day. You
Speaker 1: want to carve up all day on Thanksgiving. That's how
Speaker 1: it goes. The turkey's there for the picture for Instagram.
Speaker 1: While you're standing there and everything looks beautiful, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you're going more carved in protein.
Speaker 1: Love it all right, Good luck, We've got a crazy
Speaker 1: five days ahead of us. Good luck to your giants.
Speaker 1: Do you have the feeling I do that this might
Speaker 1: be like forty one nothing? Now, this is an absolute
Speaker 1: steamroll job by the cowboys at home the whole country
Speaker 1: on the couch watching the giants show up, like like
Speaker 1: everybody's injured. On the giants, we lose everybody. We have
Speaker 1: two days to prepare. This is one of those you know,
Speaker 1: forty two ten type of things, and the wheels just
Speaker 1: explode off. The Giant's true, though, like last week, we're
Speaker 1: talking Daniel Jones, who serves a long term extension. This week,
Speaker 1: it's like, all right, blow the whole thing up. But
Speaker 1: there one ros If. Forty eight hours ago, I was
Speaker 1: talking about hoosting the NFC title game, and now I'm
Speaker 1: wondering what our draft pick will be when we finished
Speaker 1: seven and ten. That is the classic eight those of
Speaker 1: a New York sports fan. And that's not even getting
Speaker 1: into the Zach Wilson side of things. That's just the
Speaker 1: Giants fan. The Jets fans are a lot further along
Speaker 1: than you, my friend. The Jets is a completely different
Speaker 1: story to talk about if you really wanted to dive
Speaker 1: into the Jet fan world. Because they think that not
Speaker 1: only should they be in first place, but that the
Speaker 1: starting quarterback shouldn't be playing anymore. It's a wild, wild
Speaker 1: ride to be a Jets fan. Did you say keep
Speaker 1: them though? Right? I mean, I went on a whole
Speaker 1: rant to start the thing. And as someone who I
Speaker 1: know watches all this stuff, and you've got the thoughts
Speaker 1: and you say you got a stick with Wilson, I said,
Speaker 1: benjam I don't think it's the worst thing in the world.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's some Supreme Court justice job. I
Speaker 1: think that you have to stay with him from the
Speaker 1: standpoint that he deserves enough of a leash to say,
Speaker 1: all right, is this guy the quarterback over future or not. However,
Speaker 1: as a fan, if you're telling me that going into
Speaker 1: last week, if they would have beaten the Patriots, that
Speaker 1: they have sole possession of first place, I got to
Speaker 1: do everything that I have to do to win that game.
Speaker 1: Because we haven't been very good the past five or
Speaker 1: six years. When I say we, I mean the Jets,
Speaker 1: and whatever you gotta do to win that team and
Speaker 1: gets told possession in first place, you gotta do. I
Speaker 1: can't worry about where the quarterback position is going to
Speaker 1: be in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four. I want
Speaker 1: to win right now. I do. What do you do
Speaker 1: this week? You bench him? Where you keep them? I'm
Speaker 1: standing him out there against the Bears. The Jets will
Speaker 1: go out they'll beat the Bears. Fields is a little
Speaker 1: dinged up. The Jets will go out there. They may
Speaker 1: not win, you know, the thirty one three, but they'll
Speaker 1: have one of those you know, seventeen nine kind of wins.
Speaker 1: They'll win. They'll right the ship, and everybody forget that
Speaker 1: you want it to bench Jack Wilson. Here's what I
Speaker 1: would do and watch it happen. And this is not
Speaker 1: from Salo or anything. I just I have a feeling
Speaker 1: this is how it's going to go down, and I'll
Speaker 1: end it on this. They don't say a word, They
Speaker 1: let everyone guess and speculate. It becomes a whole storyline
Speaker 1: over the next four days. They end up starting him
Speaker 1: on Sunday. He plays well, they win, this thing goes away,
Speaker 1: But the whole four days of suspense and the heat
Speaker 1: like it lets a little fire under him. I completely
Speaker 1: agree with that. And you know, look, you gotta tell him.
Speaker 1: Everyone wants to know who's starting. Once you know who's starting,
Speaker 1: that's it. Go out. Play well enough to win. You
Speaker 1: don't have to light up the scoreboard. Just win the game.
Speaker 1: Let's move on and get to next Sunday, and away
Speaker 1: we go, and away we go. Detro, thank you on
Speaker 1: behalf of my dear friend right here on behalf of
Speaker 1: Aaron Kyle's on, behalf of Kevin Burkhart, and on behalf
Speaker 1: of Aaron Won Kaufman, Jason English, the iHeartMedia team, the
Speaker 1: NFL Digital team, and of course our music maestro, mister
Speaker 1: Jack Rudd. I want to say to everybody, thank you
Speaker 1: for subscribing to this thing, thank you for listening to
Speaker 1: this thing. It has been a blast, and have an
Speaker 1: awesome Thanksgiving. Just don't touch that during Turkey. The Season
Speaker 1: with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL and
Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, is it
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.