Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast? Is Daddy ever leaving home? Welcome
Speaker 1: to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Dan and this coming to you from a
Speaker 1: city filled with heroes. In bunker is Mark Stessler, Greg
Speaker 1: Rosenthal joining us from his bunker. Steve WI what's up
Speaker 1: with us? What's happen? What is uh? Well? How is everybody?
Speaker 1: How is everybody? Wow? Hard? Too hard to measure right now.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say clothing exasperated. They're pretty exasperated. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's only so many moments in life
Speaker 1: where you feel like you're living through history and and
Speaker 1: you could imagine that will be something that's gonna be
Speaker 1: talked about for a long time, decades, even will be
Speaker 1: taught in schools. Hopefully in this case, it becomes a
Speaker 1: catalyst for change. UM and it what happened with the
Speaker 1: death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and now nationally, protests
Speaker 1: that have been going on, demonstrations, many of them peaceful,
Speaker 1: some destructive, and including in our city here in Los Angeles, UM,
Speaker 1: and just sitting at home or if you're out and
Speaker 1: about in the city, it's all it's all really surreal,
Speaker 1: and it's all set against the backdrop of a global pandemic,
Speaker 1: profoundly dysfunctional political landscape we're in right now, and it's
Speaker 1: just all that is just hard to process. And our
Speaker 1: job obviously is primarily, um greg is to talk pro football,
Speaker 1: but real life sometimes steps to the forefront. So that's
Speaker 1: where we are at the top of today's show. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's something that it feels, it feels it's it's right
Speaker 1: to talk about where we are in life right now,
Speaker 1: with this country and in the world right and we
Speaker 1: will get to uh, we will get to the football
Speaker 1: and get a Matt Rule interview. We're gonna uh, we're
Speaker 1: gonna play. We'll talk some other random news too. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's hard to avoid talking about it when it's our
Speaker 1: our reality. Um, like Santa Monica right now, we're taping
Speaker 1: this in the afternoon. We're already on curfew. Um, we're
Speaker 1: not allowed to uh be outside right now in Santa
Speaker 1: Monica checked out, you know, some of the damage that
Speaker 1: happened yesterday in the town, and it's obviously dispiriting, but
Speaker 1: it is different. I mean this it's hard not to
Speaker 1: think back to to Ferguson and all the other incidents
Speaker 1: of produce police brutality that this country has talked about
Speaker 1: and faced over the last decade. It's hard not to
Speaker 1: think about that, and hard not to think about from
Speaker 1: our point of view Colin Kaepernick. Um, which you look, Steve,
Speaker 1: Steve Weisch's with us. He he was the one who
Speaker 1: broke the story about Colin Kaepernick. Um, you know, first
Speaker 1: healing on the sideline, And it's hard not to think
Speaker 1: that this this time, if if, if nothing else, it's different. Um,
Speaker 1: it's like a hundred and fifty cities, this is happening
Speaker 1: in right now, and so that's different. I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know that that that more people are talking about
Speaker 1: police brutality. I don't think that as many people are
Speaker 1: getting as distracted by like red state blue state stuff,
Speaker 1: because it doesn't it's not about the state. You know,
Speaker 1: look at our state, Like, it's not about red state,
Speaker 1: blue state. It's about police brutality and that and that
Speaker 1: conversation is happening, and it's it's a painful one, but
Speaker 1: it's like a it's unavoidable. Yeah, I'm gonna try them
Speaker 1: to hear it's it's it's it's more about right and
Speaker 1: wrong and for whatever political landscape or whatever you believe.
Speaker 1: Blue lives matter, Black lives matter. There is no way
Speaker 1: any human being with the souls could have looked at
Speaker 1: a video of a person dying with somebody's knee to
Speaker 1: his neck, two other people on that man's body, and
Speaker 1: then somebody playing lookout and not be upset about it.
Speaker 1: And I think that's why, Greg, when you say this
Speaker 1: is different, there were always excuses before he should have complied. Um,
Speaker 1: he had a criminal background. There was always something to
Speaker 1: give somebody peace of mind, while murdering an unarmed black
Speaker 1: man was justified. There's no way you could look at
Speaker 1: that when you saw this man's lifeless body on the
Speaker 1: ground for three minutes and smug Derek Shauvian with his
Speaker 1: knee on his neck and his hand in his pocket. Uh,
Speaker 1: seemed to be just like thinking about planes taking off
Speaker 1: our sunsets in Jamaica while this man's air is being
Speaker 1: lost in his body. That you could sit by and
Speaker 1: and be okay with that. The aftermath with these provocats,
Speaker 1: wars and agitators vandalizing and breaking windows and looting, taking
Speaker 1: away from the positive protesters is sad, But people like
Speaker 1: me had enough. I had enough this comes on the
Speaker 1: heels of Ahmad are Y and Brianna Taylor, where so
Speaker 1: many people are in my opinion, participating in cover up
Speaker 1: there just saying well, you know, that's just another black
Speaker 1: body gone. And that's what people when they say black
Speaker 1: lives matter, that would it mean. That's what it means,
Speaker 1: not that they're superior to anybody else, but that they
Speaker 1: actually mean something um in the overall landscape. And again
Speaker 1: that's why this it's different. We'll see if anything comes
Speaker 1: out of it. You know, they they've already changed the
Speaker 1: out of the prosecutor in Minnesota because they had no
Speaker 1: faith in this person um to actually go after these
Speaker 1: police officers. It's already out of his hand. So a
Speaker 1: salute to that. But in all these other stage where
Speaker 1: this crap has been going on and is still going on,
Speaker 1: the cover up of the actual ugly act, that's what
Speaker 1: needs to start, is people need to start being held accountable. Yes, Steve,
Speaker 1: I I love the way you just expressed all that.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think we're all in one similar
Speaker 1: boat where you know, we're at a time where we're
Speaker 1: house bound um for many reasons. And you know the
Speaker 1: fact that coronavirus has been buried as a b storyline,
Speaker 1: because this is um much more striking and more critical
Speaker 1: to who we are as people. And I, you know,
Speaker 1: I am in a state where I'm just sort of
Speaker 1: observing and trying to make um, to listen and make
Speaker 1: sense of it all. But I feel like what I've
Speaker 1: watched over the past three or four days that um,
Speaker 1: like nothing in our country will ever be the same.
Speaker 1: And that's a good thing. I'm thankful and for one thing,
Speaker 1: that that video was captured, because without it, I think
Speaker 1: it would have just been another um, hideous incident that
Speaker 1: sailed down the river without much notice. Because it was captured,
Speaker 1: because we because anyone with with a beating heart inside
Speaker 1: of them, are horrified by what they saw. UM. It
Speaker 1: forces us to confront and frankly, you know those of
Speaker 1: us with children, UM, you typically maybe hide their eyes
Speaker 1: from some of this. I and my my feeling is
Speaker 1: the opposite that if things are going to change, it
Speaker 1: starts with the people inside our own home scene. Um,
Speaker 1: how how wrong things are and how as you said, corrupt, Um,
Speaker 1: the system is from the deepest levels outward and so uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I total change from here on out, and
Speaker 1: it should be served as an eye opener unless you
Speaker 1: are walking around is a total zombie. And that's you said, Mark,
Speaker 1: You know nothing will ever be the same. That that
Speaker 1: to me is when I look at like the big
Speaker 1: picture of all of this, To me, the jury is
Speaker 1: out on it. And I really hope this is the
Speaker 1: catalyst UM, and this will be different than the other times.
Speaker 1: And it does feel different. We're old enough, all old
Speaker 1: enough to remember the l A Riots and ninety two um.
Speaker 1: But this seems like UM. And there is a call
Speaker 1: for it not just to be black and people of
Speaker 1: color speaking out, but white America also getting behind this cause.
Speaker 1: And I feel like that's different too. You sense that
Speaker 1: as well. Will it be enough to to spark real change?
Speaker 1: And on the on the subject Steve of the NFL,
Speaker 1: the NFL obviously has a seat in a chair and
Speaker 1: the history of all this going uh in recent history
Speaker 1: about the idea of police brutality and social injustice and
Speaker 1: Colin Kaepernick, who who seems to becoming a bigger and
Speaker 1: bigger figure in American history by the day, and especially now,
Speaker 1: it almost feels like what he was doing when he
Speaker 1: was kneeling was pression and it was in a way
Speaker 1: that was clouded by all the political stuff and all
Speaker 1: the Trump stuff. Now it's so clear it should be
Speaker 1: at least what that was all about. It wasn't about
Speaker 1: not being good in American It was about hey, this
Speaker 1: this is going on this stuff and now, maybe Steve,
Speaker 1: what with the advances and camera phones and the fact
Speaker 1: that people are getting more more fed up, not just
Speaker 1: black people, that it's going to lead to a real change.
Speaker 1: The Kaepernick side of it, how do you think and
Speaker 1: the NFL side of it, Steve, Like they release a statement,
Speaker 1: Obviously it doesn't get received well by the greater public
Speaker 1: because a lot of the greater public beliefs that the
Speaker 1: NFL did not do right by Kaepernick on the issue
Speaker 1: and hasn't done enough UH to support UH causes of
Speaker 1: related to social injustice. How do you think the NFL,
Speaker 1: beyond a press release saying that we're going to continue
Speaker 1: to work with groups, can actually make positive change and
Speaker 1: not just positive words on a press release. Well, I mean, look,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's accountability, that's you know, like you I'm
Speaker 1: with you, Dan when you said we'll see if it
Speaker 1: makes change. Because we've heard this before. Remember four years ago,
Speaker 1: today election cycle Um, you know, that's when Colin Kaepernick
Speaker 1: took an ee because you had all of the all
Speaker 1: the unarmed black people over the previous couple of years.
Speaker 1: You know, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown and everybody getting killed.
Speaker 1: We're still here, man. So in terms of the NFL,
Speaker 1: to me, it starts in their own house. And and look,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna air a little dirty laundry, but it is
Speaker 1: what it is. Where the people of color calling any shots.
Speaker 1: And I'm not just talking about owners, I'm talking to
Speaker 1: league office. What are the people of color at our network?
Speaker 1: You guys have black or Latino or Asian supervisor? Have
Speaker 1: you ever? I've never worked for a black editor. I've
Speaker 1: never worked for a black boss, Latino, Native American, Polynesian.
Speaker 1: They've all been white men and white women. And so
Speaker 1: to me, by having legitimate action and diversity in your
Speaker 1: own house instead of a press release, instead of seventy
Speaker 1: black workforce that people see on one days, but having
Speaker 1: it in your own house other than Troy Vincent and
Speaker 1: other than our river on Um, that are legitimate, not
Speaker 1: hires to make you feel good, but are legitimate hires
Speaker 1: where people are in on decision making powers at our network.
Speaker 1: There are thirty plus VP senior executives, and I think
Speaker 1: there are two or three of color. And they allow
Speaker 1: us the freedoms to come on platforms like this and
Speaker 1: speak our minds and one. And that's great, but where's
Speaker 1: the Where is someone for me to aspire to? You know,
Speaker 1: who do I look up to to aspire to? Um?
Speaker 1: And so I think that's where it starts. And I
Speaker 1: also think guys like you and other people in the league,
Speaker 1: just in private conversations someone's dropping in bombs, are saying
Speaker 1: this and that. God, I can't believe these people are
Speaker 1: are breaking up buildings long here. Why they're breaking up
Speaker 1: buildings because this is the twelve million time we've seen
Speaker 1: this and nothing has happened. We've got your freaking attention, right.
Speaker 1: It may not be the positive attention, it may not
Speaker 1: be the thing that honors these deceased people in their
Speaker 1: families properly, but we've got your freaking attention. And and
Speaker 1: that's you know, and that's how a lot of us feel.
Speaker 1: M hmm. I think, UM, you speak to something that
Speaker 1: there's a lot of statements happening right now, But that's action,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's taking action. And look, black black
Speaker 1: people in our lives have been telling it. It's not
Speaker 1: a new thing, uh to know the problem with the
Speaker 1: police state that black people have in this country. The
Speaker 1: new thing is cell phones really and hopefully a new
Speaker 1: generation um kind of speaking up. But I do think
Speaker 1: the NFL is in in an interesting place because of Kaepernick,
Speaker 1: and we we talk to bet on the podcast then
Speaker 1: how you know him not coming back into the league, um,
Speaker 1: and just everything that they went through. You even knew
Speaker 1: then that, look, he's going to be one of the
Speaker 1: most important NFL figures we've ever covered. And you knew that.
Speaker 1: You knew that then and and and that's growing even
Speaker 1: more so now. But I do think it is interesting
Speaker 1: too to think about where at least the league was
Speaker 1: publicly then and and a lot of white people, frankly
Speaker 1: were publicly then, where it's like there was a lot
Speaker 1: of division even among the owners of what in coaches
Speaker 1: of how we're gonna handle this, and a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of teams did not want their players kneeling,
Speaker 1: and we remember that, and a lot of coaches didn't
Speaker 1: and then different ones wanted to do it in certain ways. Okay,
Speaker 1: you can do it once if it's with the owner
Speaker 1: and then that's that's it. Whereas I think today you're seeing,
Speaker 1: at least publicly, more of a rush too, with a
Speaker 1: lot of them to uh embrace you know, the right
Speaker 1: message of fighting police brutality publicly. And I do wonder
Speaker 1: if like and you see a little bit more with
Speaker 1: white players speaking of like white quarterbacks. UM and and
Speaker 1: and of course you know, you can say a lot
Speaker 1: of it's pr and this or that, but Kaepernick helped
Speaker 1: open that that space and that change and even even
Speaker 1: the social justice you know, initiatives that the NFL has
Speaker 1: done like that that is I think of reflection. So
Speaker 1: it does put the NFL and in this interesting spot
Speaker 1: even compared to other leagues I think of of what
Speaker 1: happens from here. But I would say this, it's it
Speaker 1: remains shameful what happened to the Colin Kaepernick message, what
Speaker 1: it was about, and what it got turned into by
Speaker 1: um people unwilling or unable to embrace it more unwilling
Speaker 1: and if anything, when I mentioned, I think there is
Speaker 1: a bit of a polar shift that we've now seen
Speaker 1: it with our own eyes and we cannot deny it.
Speaker 1: Um And it's not new It's been going on for
Speaker 1: a long time. Kaepernick is validated entirely by this, and
Speaker 1: I will not listen to anyone with a different take
Speaker 1: on that. I mean, and in the league should realize, um,
Speaker 1: that it could have been handled completely differently from the start. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So we'll continue, obviously, UM to talk about this and
Speaker 1: talk about it from an NFL angle and however we
Speaker 1: feel like it's important. And and Steve Um, you were
Speaker 1: at my last thing I was just thinking about with
Speaker 1: Kaepernick was I think it was last November the workouts
Speaker 1: for Colin Kaepernick when he had a public workout for
Speaker 1: NFL teams. It reminds me that he, at least what
Speaker 1: we hear is still wants to be an NFL quarterback.
Speaker 1: And how many years has it been since he played? Now?
Speaker 1: What what do we is? This gonna be the third
Speaker 1: full season full season? It was? You know, he he
Speaker 1: first sat down from the national anthem in ten so
Speaker 1: he finished out that season and hasn't and hasn't played since.
Speaker 1: Pretty unbelievable we have. I was gonna ask Steve, just
Speaker 1: you help. You did some roundtables today, I know for
Speaker 1: the network. Did anything come out of that? Oh? My goodness.
Speaker 1: Uh so powerful. Um, Jim Trotter did one with Kurt
Speaker 1: Warner and Dr Todd Boyd a let's say, a current
Speaker 1: affairs sociologist, pop culture sociologists. There's a lot of stuff
Speaker 1: with athletics in black history. And that's down from Kurt
Speaker 1: tweeting over this weekend what can I do to help?
Speaker 1: Because I think there are a lot of non black
Speaker 1: people asking that question because they're sickened and they want
Speaker 1: to know. And Kurt and I had a great discussion
Speaker 1: Sunday about it, and so that panel was honest and
Speaker 1: frank and a lot of historical context to future solutions.
Speaker 1: And then i'mvirated one with Josh Norman, Josh McCown and
Speaker 1: Mike Robinson and man, just it was raw. It was raw. Um.
Speaker 1: Josh Dorman talked about this is racist, this is bigotry.
Speaker 1: Black people are fed up. But he was also a
Speaker 1: solution driven and the solution driven is kind of what
Speaker 1: I've talked about on the small scale, talking to your kids,
Speaker 1: like you're talking about Mark, talking to your kids about
Speaker 1: when you see something wrong, like your friends avoiding another
Speaker 1: little black kid because he's a black kid, go play
Speaker 1: with um, you know, to just things that are far
Speaker 1: more macro. And then Josh McCown, another member of the
Speaker 1: player's coalition, and of course a white quarterback who has
Speaker 1: been very active for years talking about how black people
Speaker 1: walk around life with a weighted vest, right, whereas and
Speaker 1: he drew this great comparison. It's great analogy as to
Speaker 1: he said, he's had a different offensive coordinator every year
Speaker 1: of this what nineteen twenty year NFL career, so he
Speaker 1: was always learning new offenses. While the incumbent quarterback knew
Speaker 1: the offense, it was preparing for their defense. So that
Speaker 1: person had a leg up. So he says, White America
Speaker 1: has always been that incoming quarterback. You can you can
Speaker 1: attack the opposing defense. You have that leg up um,
Speaker 1: whereas black folks are the guy coming and just just
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how to navigate enough to survive.
Speaker 1: And you know, Michael Robinson very passionate. We had some
Speaker 1: great conversations about Brian Flores and his message and how
Speaker 1: not only was he inspiring, but how he called out
Speaker 1: people who were awfully noisy during Kaepernick his some of
Speaker 1: his colleagues, and how he's had two separate loose friendships
Speaker 1: because where are you now where some of his bosses.
Speaker 1: I think was a subtext that I read into it.
Speaker 1: Maybe yeah, very very much so, very much so. And
Speaker 1: isn't an interesting how some of those bosses and the
Speaker 1: players who who are no longer they are being far
Speaker 1: more outspoken about subjects like this than they ever were.
Speaker 1: Kind of makes you think a little bit. And I know, Dan,
Speaker 1: we we are going to spend to two other NFL news.
Speaker 1: But it is interesting because people say, you know, when
Speaker 1: they say stick to sports, it's like this is sports
Speaker 1: because all the coaches and players they're dealing with this today.
Speaker 1: You know, Frank Reich, they put out, um, you know,
Speaker 1: he had a statement to the media, but he talked
Speaker 1: about what he talked about the players. It's like, there's
Speaker 1: no avoiding. This is what the coaches are talking about.
Speaker 1: This is what the you know, the owners, whether they're
Speaker 1: releasing a statement or not. It's like this is that
Speaker 1: they're having to handle it. It's not like there's a
Speaker 1: choice to go just like run and hide. When that's
Speaker 1: your when that's your workforce. Oh, if you avoid it,
Speaker 1: you're losing your guys. You avoid it by because you
Speaker 1: could buy and Steve, I know you're gonna continue to
Speaker 1: be part of the conversation on NFL Network this week,
Speaker 1: so make sure everybody you follow along for those important conversations. Uh, Steve,
Speaker 1: would you mind sticking around for the rest of the
Speaker 1: news which I wouldn't say it was at the same
Speaker 1: level of importance, but it's pretty close because George Kittle
Speaker 1: doesn't have a new contract yet, so maybe we should
Speaker 1: talk about that as well. I always love hanging out
Speaker 1: with you guys, all right, but this is what's going
Speaker 1: on in the kind of news of the NFL. H
Speaker 1: We'll start with Mike Silver, our own Mike Silver of
Speaker 1: NFL Network whup reports that the forty Niners and George
Speaker 1: Kittle to start tight end are quote far apart in
Speaker 1: extension talks. Will see um what happens with this. But Steve,
Speaker 1: I mean, Kittle is one of those dudes, one of
Speaker 1: those dudes that you absolutely build a team around. And
Speaker 1: Austin Hooper. I believe Mark Sessler's Austin Hooper is now
Speaker 1: the highest paid tight end in the league. And I
Speaker 1: believe the agent said, I don't care about the tight
Speaker 1: end market. I'm being paid to do a George Kittle deal.
Speaker 1: He will be expensive couldn't the Ford and Niners afford
Speaker 1: And I guess that becomes the biggest question. Yes, Um, look,
Speaker 1: they've clear a lot of cap space. Is one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why they traded the forced buck. Um. We're
Speaker 1: seeing the same thing going on with George Kittle that
Speaker 1: we with Jimmy Graham. I'm a tight end, but I
Speaker 1: got wide receiver numbers. You say, I don't block inline,
Speaker 1: so I'm a wide receivers. Give me that wide receiver money,
Speaker 1: give me that. You know that big Stefon Diggs. You
Speaker 1: know those the sixteen seventeen million dollar numbers, and you
Speaker 1: know the course that went to arbitration or whatever. And
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham was a tight end and George kid is
Speaker 1: gonna get tight end. But they're they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: pay him. And this is one They've already got their
Speaker 1: quarterback on a big contract. You know, they've got a
Speaker 1: couple other big deals. But you can finesse, you can
Speaker 1: work these numbers. This is you know what what wide
Speaker 1: receivers making big? What offensive skill player other than Jimmy
Speaker 1: Garoppolo is making money? None? Right, you can work this
Speaker 1: and you know you've got you know, d Ford and
Speaker 1: You've got some other defensive players making big bread. You
Speaker 1: know you just paid Eric Armstead, Kwan Alexander's making money.
Speaker 1: But uh, play that franchise tag game with George kill
Speaker 1: when it won't go well. I mean well, I would
Speaker 1: just say, I mean what the concept of back pay. Uh.
Speaker 1: This is a player who has given you a hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy plus catches over the past two seasons, yards,
Speaker 1: ten touchdowns and made right made seven dred nine thousand
Speaker 1: dollars last year. Uh. But Jimmy Graham comparison is is
Speaker 1: so apt. And you go and look, when you go
Speaker 1: into two pro Football Focus and you dig into the positions,
Speaker 1: nothing is weirder than the tight end position because the
Speaker 1: rankings are all out of whack because, uh, we've dealt
Speaker 1: with this before. You get one Jabroni who can block
Speaker 1: really well, but he had eight catches all season and
Speaker 1: her heart right ben Hartstock the number one tight end
Speaker 1: one year. There are distinctly two different positions. Jimmy Graham
Speaker 1: played the different version of tight end. George Kittle plays
Speaker 1: it times too. I mean, I he has a better
Speaker 1: argument to make um an incredible paycheck based on what
Speaker 1: they've given him for what he's produced. Well, no, he's
Speaker 1: he's a fascinating case if you're into contract, because he
Speaker 1: should be making more than Julio Jones. I mean that
Speaker 1: he should be making double what probably the highest paid
Speaker 1: end to me had Jimmy Graham's not a great comparison, really,
Speaker 1: I understand at the time it was like an argument,
Speaker 1: but tight ends are so underpaid if they're as good
Speaker 1: as George Kittle, who's who can change the whole offense
Speaker 1: in terms of the the off the defense doesn't know
Speaker 1: what you're gonna do on a play to play basis.
Speaker 1: He's such a good blocker, he's such a good receiver
Speaker 1: that of course, to me, he's worth as much as
Speaker 1: an a J Green or a Julio Jones. And that's
Speaker 1: almost like double what any tight end is making. I
Speaker 1: really think like tight end should just be pissed at
Speaker 1: Rob Wronkowski for the contract that he signed earlier in
Speaker 1: his career. I know he did it with two years
Speaker 1: left at his rookie deal, but tight ends have been
Speaker 1: underpaid ever since because he took a totally below market
Speaker 1: deal for his entire career. And he's the greatest tight
Speaker 1: end of all time and everyone else got stuck just
Speaker 1: being like, well, you're not as good as Gronk, so
Speaker 1: you're getting slotted under that like Kittle, and I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna try is gonna try to do it. Leby
Speaker 1: on Bell unsuccessfully did for running backs, which is just
Speaker 1: blow up the entire market for tight ends because they're
Speaker 1: all underpaid in these trying times. Everybody together, Now everything's
Speaker 1: Belichick's fault. Your love it this? This is your favorite
Speaker 1: subplot of the Hey, we mentioned Matt Rule is gonna
Speaker 1: be on the show today. It was actually an interview
Speaker 1: we did Friday for the Around the NFL broadcast on
Speaker 1: NFL Network, which Steve Weiss, you know it all ties
Speaker 1: together sat in last week for the Chris Westling pregnancy chair. Um,
Speaker 1: although we have waste of dinner, if nothing else, we
Speaker 1: have drive through a taco bell still open. But anyway,
Speaker 1: Rule will be on the show. Will play that interview
Speaker 1: back on the podcast and just a little bit. But
Speaker 1: he has someone in his cornerback and his cornerback group
Speaker 1: that he needs. It's Eli. Apple signs a one year,
Speaker 1: three million dollar deal. Uh it went uh nearly two
Speaker 1: months between when Apple's deal with the Raiders fell apart
Speaker 1: at the beginning of Free to See. Uh and uh
Speaker 1: actually seventy one days until he agreed to terms with
Speaker 1: the Raiders, so more than two months. Uh. And this
Speaker 1: was a with the Panthers. This is a spot mark Sessler.
Speaker 1: Uh that Carolina needed help at Apple is not a
Speaker 1: big star despite being a first round pick. But he
Speaker 1: should bring something to that group. Yeah, and that's Friday Show.
Speaker 1: We each had to pitch UM an NFC South team
Speaker 1: to win a division, and I was tasked with the Panthers,
Speaker 1: which is, you know, in that field of four teams,
Speaker 1: not the easiest UM pitch job. But you know what,
Speaker 1: it's markets heroic. But I know most of your time
Speaker 1: padding yourself on the back for taking well it's I
Speaker 1: think it's heroic in the scope of being a football blogger,
Speaker 1: not in a larger um, not in the larger context
Speaker 1: of things right now. But uh, you know of your foot, yes,
Speaker 1: I well I do that often. It's UM self defense mechanism.
Speaker 1: But they lost James Bradberry. Uh. You know, I was
Speaker 1: interesting when Greg did his UH Starters piece that you
Speaker 1: mentioned the human being named corn Elder as a potential starter.
Speaker 1: Had they not found anyone else so this keeps corner
Speaker 1: elder at Bay. Yeah, that their their cornerbacks are bad
Speaker 1: as bad as they were in the league. They feels
Speaker 1: like they still need another one or two. Looking at
Speaker 1: the division right m they're gonna score some points. In
Speaker 1: other news, Eagles wide receiver to Shawn Jackson says, quote,
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna definitely be a culture shock if NFL
Speaker 1: teams are playing in empty houses this season. Uh, in
Speaker 1: the event that there is an NFL season, we're still
Speaker 1: hoping that happens as well. Hey, listen, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff going on in the world right now. Uh.
Speaker 1: He was on Jackson on the Lane Johnson podcast Outside
Speaker 1: the Lane, Get It, and Uh he talked about what's something,
Speaker 1: what's something that the NFL could do to juice the
Speaker 1: telecast and the event that there is no crowd to
Speaker 1: add that adds that natural excitement. Here's what d Jacks
Speaker 1: had to say. I think they should mic up players.
Speaker 1: They should give fans the insight to see what really
Speaker 1: goes on between the lines. It gets crazy, bro. I
Speaker 1: know in the trenches it gets crazy, and I know
Speaker 1: on the outside it gets crazy. To the conversations we
Speaker 1: go back and forth on Steve. You know what it's
Speaker 1: all about in the trenches. You know it is, uh
Speaker 1: like covering these guys being in the locker rooms. Is
Speaker 1: this the best idea ever or the worst idea? Oh?
Speaker 1: It's awesome, so good. The thing is, I mean, you
Speaker 1: have to put a disclaimer coming out of every break
Speaker 1: that you know you may hear some language that you're
Speaker 1: really not comfortable with, because it's it's going to be slow.
Speaker 1: He started doing it with the thirty thirty for thirties
Speaker 1: on ESPN. They give you the option of the clean
Speaker 1: and dirty feed. Maybe that's where NFL telcasts are heading.
Speaker 1: I would love you get the clean feed. But I mean,
Speaker 1: I just would be awesome if you made Belichick players,
Speaker 1: if you made the Patriots get miked up while they're
Speaker 1: going eight and eight this year, you like, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm just sorry, I just better. But I mean, come on,
Speaker 1: it would just be absolutely just the wide receivers and
Speaker 1: dvs alone, well, and Mike's might not to be might
Speaker 1: not even need you don't mean you might not need
Speaker 1: that many Mikes. I mean, UFC has done this a
Speaker 1: little bit since they've come back, and you can start
Speaker 1: hearing everything in the state you know, you can start
Speaker 1: hearing everything because there's no crowd that you might just
Speaker 1: you know, like you have the mics on the center before,
Speaker 1: you might hear a lot just coming off of that. Like,
Speaker 1: I think there's something to it. I hate the idea
Speaker 1: of fake crowd noise. It seems so so stupid to
Speaker 1: like Falcons didn't seem to be opposed to it a
Speaker 1: few years back, but ahead to make an artificial situation
Speaker 1: if there's no crowd, that like, it's a totally unique
Speaker 1: thing and it's gonna be weird, but like that's what
Speaker 1: you're watching. Let's let's be real. Sports are real, and
Speaker 1: you might you might get some good john back and forth.
Speaker 1: And could you could you see coaches or just certain
Speaker 1: coaches totally bumping on the idea of this where you know,
Speaker 1: mid game, you know, it's one thing if it's released,
Speaker 1: you know, six days later as a special, but mid game,
Speaker 1: you know, hot Mike picks up various play calls, scheming scenarios,
Speaker 1: and Bill Belichick's head explodes. I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: what they're looking for. Well, and and also injuries right
Speaker 1: yeah over there, that that's where that that's good. Nope,
Speaker 1: that's a good point. It would really take one terrible
Speaker 1: injury for everyone to say that that's a bad idea,
Speaker 1: not good Yes, and point. The uneducated might not know
Speaker 1: that Steve Weiss playing big time Division one football at
Speaker 1: Missoo and his younger you didn't never play a game.
Speaker 1: You never get into a game. You never got on
Speaker 1: the field, never got on the field. I saw some
Speaker 1: really good players there were played against Wisconsin when they
Speaker 1: had out two and who might be the most incredible player.
Speaker 1: Never see him. It was like six four hund pounds
Speaker 1: and just absolutely destroyed US State when Jimmy Johnson was
Speaker 1: a coach. You know Therma, Thomas Hartley Dyke's uh that's
Speaker 1: Oklahoma at Bosworth. You know Tony Casillus, I mean incredible.
Speaker 1: Here's here's a great one. Hardly a disappointing first round
Speaker 1: pick for the Patriots back in the day. I think
Speaker 1: I had a shirt and he didn't really come through.
Speaker 1: But here's a great one. So we came up. We
Speaker 1: were all yellow uniform for the first time the seventy
Speaker 1: year anniversary since the last time Missouri warned them, which
Speaker 1: should have been a hint that they weren't going to
Speaker 1: look good. On TV. We're playing Notre Dame when Jerry
Speaker 1: Faust was coaching, and they were massive. They had Steve Burline,
Speaker 1: Mark Bavarro, Alan Pinkett, Tim Brown. I mean just first
Speaker 1: round draft picks galore. I think they finished six or
Speaker 1: five that year and we had them on the ropes
Speaker 1: or field goal kicker miss like a thirty five yard
Speaker 1: or you know, we love we lose the game. But
Speaker 1: I was like, that team should be eleven and ow
Speaker 1: I mean they they you talk about watch the team
Speaker 1: get off the bus and you're like, oh, they're different.
Speaker 1: They were so huge. Man, there was Mark Bavarro. Had
Speaker 1: I played, that's would have been going up against it
Speaker 1: would have he would have had a great seems like
Speaker 1: a tough fellow to me based on the anecdotes. That's
Speaker 1: like when we get off the off the NFL media
Speaker 1: bus at the Super Bowl and everyone's just like that.
Speaker 1: That's why we go on slow motion as we've put
Speaker 1: our sunglasses on. Um. Why you are I I find
Speaker 1: you to be one of the most well respected and
Speaker 1: just everyone likes Steve, which like why she is just
Speaker 1: like one of those dudes. If anybody was ever to
Speaker 1: get a Rudy scenario where he's like, I'm not playing.
Speaker 1: Steve's a senior, it's his last game. If he doesn't,
Speaker 1: we're not taking the field. If there's not a white
Speaker 1: at Rudy scenario, then that's that's on Miszoo and your
Speaker 1: entire organization, the team over there. Bro, nobody would have cared, man,
Speaker 1: nobody would have cared. We would have going up against Cansas,
Speaker 1: our arch rival, and lost again, and uh it just
Speaker 1: they would have blamed it on me. I'm trying to think.
Speaker 1: I don't think. I don't think Sean aston Um would
Speaker 1: be a good guy to play you in the movie.
Speaker 1: Who would Who would play Whitish if there was a
Speaker 1: Rudy scenario? Oh, man, Denzel maybe young Denzel? Oh his son,
Speaker 1: but his sounds too short. I think somebody you go
Speaker 1: a little c g I and you get Denzel, the
Speaker 1: young Denzel the same way they've given you, you know,
Speaker 1: young all these other stars in these various We might
Speaker 1: have to ask your wife about that. I'm sure there's
Speaker 1: a male celebrity that she says, oh, you look like
Speaker 1: you know what? Rock? There we go. I was thinking, yet,
Speaker 1: get the offer out to Dwayne the Rock Johnson. I
Speaker 1: guess we need a time machine to make it a
Speaker 1: situation as well. But anyway, Steve, you've come and you've
Speaker 1: as always delivered an incredible performance. Maybe didn't get on
Speaker 1: the field at Massoo, but you're an m v P
Speaker 1: on the Around the NFL podcast and a valued member
Speaker 1: of the NFL network, and that perspective that you gave
Speaker 1: us at the top of the show is frankly necessary.
Speaker 1: We love to get it from you, So thank you
Speaker 1: as always, Steve, and best of luck this week because
Speaker 1: this is a different one. We've been working together for
Speaker 1: a long time, but this is not like other weeks. No,
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys, Appreciate the conversation, Appreciate all you guys
Speaker 1: do because you guys, you guys are a window and
Speaker 1: not a mirror to society. Man. People can see the
Speaker 1: future through you guys instead of looking back and see themselves.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys. Thank you, Steve. Thanks Steve, You're
Speaker 1: the best buddy. All right, Steve, wife there he goes.
Speaker 1: He gets a well deserved glass of Shardonnay as he
Speaker 1: gets ready for what lies ahead. Uh, gentlemen, we mentioned
Speaker 1: Matt rule. That's what's happening. In the news. By the way,
Speaker 1: we mentioned Matt Rule in the interview that we did
Speaker 1: on the Around the NFL broadcast, which again you can
Speaker 1: check out every Friday on NFL Network six pm Eastern
Speaker 1: three pm Pacific. There are also re airings late at
Speaker 1: night and in the morning. I think our show is
Speaker 1: better drunk. And I'm not condoning alcohol uses, especially if
Speaker 1: you're underage, but if you are someone who likes to
Speaker 1: have a few drinks on the weekend to unwind, I
Speaker 1: think our show is even better. Greg actually his performance
Speaker 1: and his his copy score numbers go through the roof
Speaker 1: when you have a few whiskeys. That's what I score out.
Speaker 1: What does that? What does compy score number? I don't
Speaker 1: know what was the boxing uh measurement? Wasn't there something
Speaker 1: like that? I can't remember. Com Sky com score tells
Speaker 1: you like how well your websites doing, I think, But
Speaker 1: what you're right, We're on a ten pm Eastern and
Speaker 1: I think, you know, and eleven pm Pacific. You know,
Speaker 1: you know at different times, so you're right. You can
Speaker 1: get a late nighting. You can get like the next
Speaker 1: morning six am or ten am. You know, Uh, what
Speaker 1: is copy score? Let me see what this uh IT has.
Speaker 1: We are a full time family owned company that has
Speaker 1: been timing athletes for over thirty of years, so that
Speaker 1: was a very analogy there. Swim events, triathlons do all
Speaker 1: pons uh televised podcast, biking events, Derik clients are more
Speaker 1: so Gregg's compuse score rises as people in BIB alcohol.
Speaker 1: It makes total sense now that we know what the
Speaker 1: company has involved in anyway. We had Matt Rule, the
Speaker 1: former bar Baylor coach and a man that my father
Speaker 1: in law, Bob Bates, absolutely adored at his time down
Speaker 1: there in Waco. Now he's the head coach of the Panthers.
Speaker 1: And here was our conversation with Matt Rule, including a
Speaker 1: little speed round at the end. Enjoy joining us now
Speaker 1: we're so excited to have him, Matt Rule, the head
Speaker 1: coach of the Carolina Panthers. Matt, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1: And is there any way you can have that music
Speaker 1: underneath you at all time with throughout all your coaching
Speaker 1: duties in Charlotte. I would love nothing more than to
Speaker 1: walk around with my own theme music. Um, Matt, it's
Speaker 1: you know, even in the best of times, being a
Speaker 1: rookie NFL head coach is a challenge. But you it
Speaker 1: seems like you're entering the picture at a particularly fraught time.
Speaker 1: You're entering a division that has a perennial Super Bowl
Speaker 1: contend or favorite in the Saints. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady's in the mix and Gronk. You have no
Speaker 1: traditional offseason activities and oh yeah, the organization decided to
Speaker 1: move on from the most popular successful player in history
Speaker 1: and Cam Newton and franchise history. This is a challenge.
Speaker 1: I know you just rebuilt bell Or from the ground up,
Speaker 1: but this one, this one feels like a tough one.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts? Um, You know, I'm excited about it,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean it's not like I, Um, I
Speaker 1: didn't walk in eyes wide open in terms of haying
Speaker 1: that there's things we have to do. But I'll even
Speaker 1: you know, amplified even more. Like of the ninety guys
Speaker 1: on our roster, I've probably actually physically met maybe twenty,
Speaker 1: I think like a played for me of them. So like, um,
Speaker 1: I could be walking down the street tomorrow and and
Speaker 1: and and bump into somebody and they can be playing
Speaker 1: on the team and I haven't actually met them yet.
Speaker 1: So but you know what. There's two sech everybody you
Speaker 1: know now, no it's it's not. But if you don't
Speaker 1: what it's like anything like that, you know it. You
Speaker 1: know these these these this adversity, these obstacles, they forced
Speaker 1: you to try to be at your best. I know this.
Speaker 1: I know myself as a head coach, my assistant coaches,
Speaker 1: being in the virtual off season, I think we are
Speaker 1: better teachers now than we were a month ago. I
Speaker 1: think being home and being a like an ad teaching
Speaker 1: my kids has made me a better teacher than I
Speaker 1: was a month ago or two months ago. So um,
Speaker 1: just trying to take the positives out of it and
Speaker 1: not worry too much about the negatives. Wow, I need
Speaker 1: some homeschooling tips from you. Then. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I've gotten any better. Maybe a world podcaster, I can
Speaker 1: tell you that. Man. I wonder maybe Teddy Bridgewater is
Speaker 1: one of the guys you met. Maybe not, but I
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you about him because you know, these
Speaker 1: two clowns on the on the other side of the
Speaker 1: screen from me, they like to make their little jokes
Speaker 1: about Teddy. They talked about his air yards per attempt.
Speaker 1: I mean they like him as a person. But they said,
Speaker 1: I think he's not as exciting as a order back
Speaker 1: to explain to me why you guys wanted to bring
Speaker 1: him in and thought he was a fit for your system. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, Um, I had a chance to coach against
Speaker 1: Teddy my first year at Temple. I actually put up
Speaker 1: the statue the other day for our team. It was
Speaker 1: like five or thirty five or three forty eight. I mean,
Speaker 1: he just destroyed us UM. And then I went on
Speaker 1: to watch them in Minnesota without knowing really well and
Speaker 1: watched him, you know, take you know, um, take a
Speaker 1: team to the playoffs, I think in year two whatever
Speaker 1: it was, and then have that terrible injury, and I think,
Speaker 1: if anything you wanna know about Teddy, just just go
Speaker 1: back and watch the game he comes back and finally plays,
Speaker 1: and watch his teammates. Um. You know, I'm a big
Speaker 1: statistics guy. I'm a big analytics guy, and and they're
Speaker 1: they're really important, but they only tell about half the story.
Speaker 1: The best players in the world bring up the best
Speaker 1: in their teammates. And I can tell you since free
Speaker 1: agency started, the amount of guys that want to come
Speaker 1: that want to play with Teddy has nothing to do
Speaker 1: with me has nothing to do with the They they
Speaker 1: want to be a part of what he's doing because
Speaker 1: he brings out the best in people. Then to watch
Speaker 1: what you know, he you know, had his little brief
Speaker 1: stint whatever with the Jets. Watch what he did in
Speaker 1: New Orleans last year. And so we're getting ready to
Speaker 1: play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. We're practicing at the
Speaker 1: Saints facility and he's out there by himself with a
Speaker 1: couple of guys and he's still on red zone route.
Speaker 1: You know, Drew is gonna start and he's the backup late.
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, the game before the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and I'm watching him throw and I'm watching the way
Speaker 1: people respond to him, and I have no idea. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be in Carolina and we start a little you know,
Speaker 1: jog through in Taekwon Thorne is this great young receiver
Speaker 1: for us from Miami, and Teddy walks through our practice
Speaker 1: and he walks over and says hello to him. He's,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe eight years older than him, and he's
Speaker 1: talking to him, chopping up when he comes over and
Speaker 1: he's like, hey, coach, sorry to interrupt your walk through.
Speaker 1: I just I sat there and told him. I said, Teddy,
Speaker 1: I just want you to know how much respect I
Speaker 1: have for you, having coached against you, having seen what
Speaker 1: you've done, haven't seen the way people respond you. Man,
Speaker 1: I just I wish you the best. So you fast
Speaker 1: forward a couple of months and we have a chance
Speaker 1: to get him here. I believe so wholeheartedly and who
Speaker 1: he is as a quarterback. Um. I believe in his abilities.
Speaker 1: I believe in his arm strength. I've believe in his accuracy.
Speaker 1: I've believe in his decision making. But beyond that, he's
Speaker 1: gonna make everyone else that much better. That coach like that, Well,
Speaker 1: the question for you, we're sold. I. I here's my
Speaker 1: question for you, because I just wonder from a um
Speaker 1: you've come to the NFL. People talk about the lack
Speaker 1: of experience on the coaching staff, which I think you
Speaker 1: kind of have said, forget all that business. We're gonna
Speaker 1: we're gonna attack this the way we do everything else.
Speaker 1: But it is a is it a bit of a
Speaker 1: mental polar shift to have your mind occupied with like
Speaker 1: how do we shut down a sophomore three technique from
Speaker 1: Rice University? To now in the middle of the night,
Speaker 1: you're thinking we've got Drew Brees to deal with. We've
Speaker 1: got Matt Ryan to deal with. Oh and by the way,
Speaker 1: they you know, Tom Brady is gonna leave the golf
Speaker 1: course at some point and be shoved into a Bucks jersey.
Speaker 1: The NFC South is stacked. I mean, is it is
Speaker 1: it for you? Just starting a game plan for these
Speaker 1: guys that you've been watching for so long? Um at all? Uh?
Speaker 1: Striking mentally or a challenge? Well, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: take out the xs and os. I mean, Drew Brees
Speaker 1: and Tom Brady are not in. Matt Ryan aren't great
Speaker 1: because of just the XS and os. They're They're great
Speaker 1: because of who they are as players. And so I
Speaker 1: would say this, I would say, you know, go go
Speaker 1: be a Go be a defensive coordinator, Go be um
Speaker 1: go be a head coach in the Big twelve. You know,
Speaker 1: deal with you know um uh you know Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: running quarterback counter one way with a speed sweep the
Speaker 1: other side with an r PO in behind it. Go
Speaker 1: beal with quarterback onrue every down. Go deal with option football.
Speaker 1: You know, we're at Temple and we're playing one week
Speaker 1: we're playing the spread. The next week we're playing Navy.
Speaker 1: And playing the triple you know, the XS and os
Speaker 1: can you know, can sometimes be really challenging in college
Speaker 1: way beyond you know, the more traditional stuff you see
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. What the difference in the
Speaker 1: National Football League is the matchups, is the expertise. And
Speaker 1: you know, I brought a lot of guys that I
Speaker 1: brought with that were with me at Baylor because I
Speaker 1: believe they're the best of the best, and a lot
Speaker 1: of them I brought I got from the NFL and
Speaker 1: convinced them to come to Baylor. You know, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of money in college football. I could pay them
Speaker 1: pretty well. Um, But you know, we we brought Jason
Speaker 1: Simmons in as our defensive pass game coordinator from Green Bay.
Speaker 1: We brought Al Holcom, who has been a defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: in as our run game coordinator. We've brought Mike Fair
Speaker 1: in from the Annapolis Colts. So we tried to bring
Speaker 1: in a bunch of great, great guys with me from Baylor,
Speaker 1: and you know, supplant supplement them with a bunch of
Speaker 1: guys from the NFL. I really like our staff and
Speaker 1: I think I think we'll do a good job coaching
Speaker 1: over the next couple of years. Alright, Matt, so far
Speaker 1: we're all impressed. We think the Panthers are gonna go
Speaker 1: nineteen and oh but you know what, we haven't done anything.
Speaker 1: Ex we haven't done the speed Round. And this is
Speaker 1: where champions are made on the around the NFL broadcast.
Speaker 1: Are you ready, Matt? Yeah? Shot, I have no idea.
Speaker 1: Who's coming. Hit the music, hit the music, Here we go.
Speaker 1: Sopranos are Game of Thrones. Oh wow, that's like the
Speaker 1: Soprano Springs Theater. Bob Jovian, your uncle is married to
Speaker 1: your an. Some people say, ah, Cessla says Hunt, it's weird.
Speaker 1: Best Tarantino movie. Oh um? Who pick to say flat
Speaker 1: Earther's what's their deal? They don't get the whole story.
Speaker 1: The age that you live until? What is the age
Speaker 1: you live until? Uh? Yeah, I'm I'm going on early.
Speaker 1: I'm saying between seven. Oh my god, have you read
Speaker 1: Art of War by Sun Zoo? I legitimately have. Wow,
Speaker 1: if you haven't read Art of Ward, coaches talk about
Speaker 1: you behind your back? Maybe just felic? How is the
Speaker 1: pizza and Charlotte be honest? Um? I love New York
Speaker 1: to be deeper. Jersey Shore of the happens Cursy Shore
Speaker 1: I have about the eight and eight Thurty floor. Are
Speaker 1: my jets getting a star in Denzel Mims? Yes? Final question,
Speaker 1: you plan to keep doing it? Keep well? You you
Speaker 1: did it. You're a champion. Matt. You you killed the
Speaker 1: speed round and uh, we thank you so much for
Speaker 1: joining us. And like we said, not a traditional way
Speaker 1: to start your NFL head coaching career, but you sound
Speaker 1: like a guy that's gonna get it done. So the
Speaker 1: best of luck to you in and beyond. Matt Rule,
Speaker 1: Thank you, guys, appreciate you all. Stay safe. All right, Mark,
Speaker 1: I have to say your ability to keep it together
Speaker 1: during the Rule interview was I mean kudos, because in
Speaker 1: terms of man crushes, you have to go all the
Speaker 1: way back to maybe Kyle Shanahan during his o C
Speaker 1: days to find someone that you have adored as much
Speaker 1: as Rule. I put petting up there. I think I
Speaker 1: learned firsthand when I'm little Debbie visited the studio and
Speaker 1: I just went silent for about fifteen minutes while the
Speaker 1: three of you knocked that interview out of the park
Speaker 1: because I didn't know how to what did or who
Speaker 1: I was. Um, we're all the Beatles concert in a
Speaker 1: backstage of laughing because I totally forgot about that. That
Speaker 1: is a sneaky great so I think about it daily.
Speaker 1: It concerns me daily. But um, you know Rule was
Speaker 1: you know he was were used to this point seeing
Speaker 1: all sorts of people in the fourth square on our
Speaker 1: show or the fifth square. So, um, you know, I
Speaker 1: did my best to uh get one question out there.
Speaker 1: And I don't think I did a great job with
Speaker 1: that question. That if I critique that show, I had
Speaker 1: a kernel of a thought, um, and it went totally
Speaker 1: sideways with a question that went on for about four
Speaker 1: minutes longer than it needed to see. I didn't remember that. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you have two self critique when you're watching
Speaker 1: it late at night. You got that beer in the hand,
Speaker 1: thinking well, I had have done that better. If we um,
Speaker 1: if we had time my next question there, if we
Speaker 1: had time for one more question, I was going to
Speaker 1: ask Matt Rule seriously, um, if he was ready, uh
Speaker 1: to handle the pressure as Mark's new coaching crush, I
Speaker 1: would have maybe used a different word than that, but
Speaker 1: just that you know, he might not know this, but
Speaker 1: every year there's a coach that Mark kind of fixates,
Speaker 1: you know, an offensive mastermind and whether he thought he
Speaker 1: could handle that sort of thing, and it's often not
Speaker 1: going well for those people. So you know, Laser, we
Speaker 1: haven't seen Lazer was it was one of the originals
Speaker 1: back in the Yeah, tough sitch for Laser. Philippo was
Speaker 1: another one. Patton, Oh, he caught some fire. Patton, of course. Um,
Speaker 1: Patton's back on his feet for now. Patton near, very
Speaker 1: nearly got. I feel like he was maybe a little
Speaker 1: closer to getting shoved out the door than people realized
Speaker 1: by the end of last year. Better and might be
Speaker 1: the best Browns coach of the decade. Yeah, although I
Speaker 1: would say probably they let shann hanging out the door. Please,
Speaker 1: we didn't need to go out ahead you mentioned alright,
Speaker 1: So Kevin, Yeah, the Fansky answers his first year with
Speaker 1: the Browns, rules, first year with the Panthers. You got
Speaker 1: Joe Edge, who we talked about on Wednesday's show, entering
Speaker 1: his first year with the Dream And who's the other
Speaker 1: debut coach this year. It's Mike McCarthy being a new
Speaker 1: coach and not a first time coach, Mike mccarth in Dallas.
Speaker 1: And we could open this up to new o cs
Speaker 1: and dcs. But UM rule it feels like and we
Speaker 1: talked about it in our conversation as you just heard
Speaker 1: that it's a he's in a very challenging situation and
Speaker 1: we didn't really like dived in too deep on the
Speaker 1: Cam Newton stuff because who knows how much say he
Speaker 1: really had in that. But that's that's a major kind
Speaker 1: of cloud hanging over rule that he might not even
Speaker 1: have control over about how his quarterback ends up playing,
Speaker 1: how Newton's career continues. Uh. But it feels like rule
Speaker 1: with Christian McCaffrey. With some pieces, he seems to have
Speaker 1: his stuff together. It's gonna be a challenge in year one,
Speaker 1: but you feel like he could be set up for
Speaker 1: success down the road. Where does he compare to some
Speaker 1: of these other new coaches and coordinators out there is
Speaker 1: anyone else that jumps out to you that's in an
Speaker 1: especially good spot or can verstly a bad spot? I
Speaker 1: would say I think Stefanski is in a from a
Speaker 1: roster angle, UM, you'd like to think he'd succeed right away,
Speaker 1: if not very early. UM. But the overall Cleveland experience
Speaker 1: UM leaves you just sort of wanting to see it.
Speaker 1: I don't quite have the idea of institutional nightmare in Cleveland.
Speaker 1: I mean, like one part of it looks great, and
Speaker 1: then it's like the actual history of the organization the
Speaker 1: last twenty years, and it's like, how could you ever
Speaker 1: think positive? But that's what does that even really mean? Ultimately?
Speaker 1: You know? Right, and I would he has a fresh start,
Speaker 1: He has a fresh start, right, I'd offer this that
Speaker 1: UM Andrew Berry I think has like kind of on
Speaker 1: the under the radar for a GM who's been there
Speaker 1: for three or four months, done an incredible job. And
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm looking that through UM. I typically look
Speaker 1: at their front offices thinking there's probably a disaster looming
Speaker 1: behind the scenes. But Stefanski and Andrew Berry Um every
Speaker 1: time they were asked about it, seeing each other's praise
Speaker 1: and seemed to be on the same page. And the
Speaker 1: pattents and all these guys we mentioned from behore before,
Speaker 1: we're in owner opposite scenarios where they were battling their
Speaker 1: front offices and being undermined by them and text messages
Speaker 1: down to the sidelines and suspensions. So I think Stefanski
Speaker 1: set up to succeed Uh. This year. But I have
Speaker 1: a much better idea of who Matt Rule is, UM,
Speaker 1: And I really just believe and your and to your
Speaker 1: father in law his support of Matt Rule and what
Speaker 1: he witnessed with his own eyes as a dug in
Speaker 1: Baylor fan, He's done that everywhere he's gone. So to
Speaker 1: me and I, you know, I've said it over and over.
Speaker 1: It's just I get kind of like college to pro
Speaker 1: Jimmy Johnson vibes, and I just think that, Um, I
Speaker 1: really think Matt Rule is going to be the story
Speaker 1: of the NFL. H. Yeah, Baylor wasn't at the level
Speaker 1: obviously of Penn State. That was unprecedented, But Baylor went
Speaker 1: from this organization or this college program that was kind
Speaker 1: of an eternal also ran in that region, and then
Speaker 1: Art Briles came to town and r G three exploded
Speaker 1: on the scene and it turned them into a powerhouse.
Speaker 1: And then scandal brought that whole thing to the ground.
Speaker 1: And as with my family ties, I fall her pretty
Speaker 1: closely that or that that program, it appeared to be
Speaker 1: in a position where they had exploded, and then the
Speaker 1: way that things went up in flames that they might
Speaker 1: just go underground for decades and be a just an
Speaker 1: afterthought in the college football scene. Again, the fact that
Speaker 1: he was able to come in and rebuild that program.
Speaker 1: I think he went one and eleven the first year
Speaker 1: when they just had all sorts of issues and they
Speaker 1: were just trying to get on their feet. But after
Speaker 1: that point they became one of the top programs UH
Speaker 1: in their conference and in the nation. And if he
Speaker 1: can take that same ability to a team build and
Speaker 1: obviously you could say it's apples and oranges college and pros,
Speaker 1: but you just get the vibe. And I'm always a
Speaker 1: sucker with with Um not to like keep our focus
Speaker 1: on Rule, but I'm kind of a sucker as a
Speaker 1: New York, New Jersey guy for the straight shooting New
Speaker 1: York New Jersey guy, the guy that seems relatable and
Speaker 1: he seems like when you were a younger, the type
Speaker 1: of guy like your friend's dad that had his together
Speaker 1: type guy, and you you imagine that he would just
Speaker 1: be successful in life. That to me is Matt Rule
Speaker 1: and that a guy like that engenders a lot of faith.
Speaker 1: So I'm with you, Mark that I think that he
Speaker 1: could be a very good hire. And yes, do I
Speaker 1: think what I take the unknown with Matt Rule over
Speaker 1: the what I have in hand with Adam Gaze absolutely um,
Speaker 1: But I think the I think the Panthers have somebody
Speaker 1: there that that you can get excited about for sure. Well,
Speaker 1: he he combined a few things at in college, and
Speaker 1: I think he's shown that he might be able to
Speaker 1: do with the pros, which is it's it's the team
Speaker 1: building and the organization building, and it's the scheme. It's
Speaker 1: the combination. The great coaches can do both. And his
Speaker 1: you know, his coaching was extremely inventive, so he seems
Speaker 1: to get it whatever it is. But he also is
Speaker 1: you know, bringing Joe Brady from LSU and to get
Speaker 1: back to the whole thing with Cam Newton. I mean,
Speaker 1: I assume I've assumed Matt Rule percent made that decision,
Speaker 1: or that he was the biggest voice by far. I
Speaker 1: assume that everything in the Panther organization, he's the biggest
Speaker 1: voice by far. And I know, I know ownership UM
Speaker 1: is going to be part of it, but I think
Speaker 1: David Tepper is signing up for Matt Rule to be
Speaker 1: that guy. And I think when you heard him talk
Speaker 1: about Teddy Bridgewater, look, I think I think they there
Speaker 1: was no mistake that they they released that statement that
Speaker 1: Cam Newton can seek a trade the day before they
Speaker 1: signed Teddy Bridgewater, when you can assume they basically agreed
Speaker 1: to terms with Teddy Bridgewater the day before. So once
Speaker 1: they knew they had Teddy, the guy that they wanted
Speaker 1: to go after, and it's it's less money. He doesn't
Speaker 1: mean he's gonna be there guy forever, but it's the
Speaker 1: guy that they wanted to go after for this year
Speaker 1: who's played for Joe Brady, his his offensive coordinator. I mean,
Speaker 1: I assume they they looked at the Camp situation and thought,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, I don't want to deal with that,
Speaker 1: and I do want to deal with Teddy Bridgewater, who
Speaker 1: one of you know, our coordinator knows well. And uh,
Speaker 1: I think that rules set up for success to because
Speaker 1: they don't have to win, Like if they go five
Speaker 1: and eleven and they're an exciting offense, everyone's gonna love
Speaker 1: Matt Rule at least this year in terms of public perception.
Speaker 1: Just scored some points and people love Matt Rule. Whereas
Speaker 1: Stefanski and McCarthy, they're gonna have high expectations. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're they're gonna be expected to win. Again, Matt rule,
Speaker 1: Like what a six seven year contract I mean has
Speaker 1: to have if if they go seven and nine again,
Speaker 1: it's like, well, um, Freddy Kitchens got US seven and
Speaker 1: nine and everyone's talking about him like he's the worst
Speaker 1: coach in the history of the US. So that's it's
Speaker 1: actually kind of a high bar for first Kevin US
Speaker 1: history of the US. I've never heard people abow talk
Speaker 1: about Freddie Kitchens like like he is the worst coach
Speaker 1: ever basically, and like I get it, he did a
Speaker 1: bad job, but like he was not the only person
Speaker 1: in that Well you know who doesn't think so Joe Judge,
Speaker 1: who hired him to come coach tight ends, I believe.
Speaker 1: So you know, these guys keep powering each other no
Speaker 1: matter what happens. Well, the one thing we know about
Speaker 1: Freddy Kitchens because we've got a chance to meet and
Speaker 1: talk with them, like he seems like a totally cool
Speaker 1: guy that loves football and is passionate about it. So
Speaker 1: maybe sometimes the guy's just not right for the big chair.
Speaker 1: And the Browns learned the hard way that that appeared
Speaker 1: to be Kitchens and faith the one guy might as
Speaker 1: well just touch on quickly. I think McCarthy is the
Speaker 1: best set up for success in Dallas. But also, and
Speaker 1: I think you've alluded to this a few times to
Speaker 1: mark this offseason, he also is under the most pressure
Speaker 1: because people are gonna expect the Cowboys to win that division.
Speaker 1: You can't really say that with the Browns and the
Speaker 1: Giants and the Panthers. McCarthy is gonna need to get
Speaker 1: that team going in the right direction and win ten
Speaker 1: eleven games or he's gonna be seen as, uh, oh,
Speaker 1: we hired the guy that was burned out in Green
Speaker 1: Bay and is still getting the same type of results,
Speaker 1: so that there's some pressure there. But he certainly has,
Speaker 1: especially on the offensive side of the ball, an awesome
Speaker 1: set up. Don't discount the epiphany that he had during
Speaker 1: this year away from UM the Gridirons. So you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's probably the secret sauce right there. I
Speaker 1: think you hit on it that they like, you don't
Speaker 1: hire McCarthy to like rebuild and and like develop young players.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's like they hired him because they're
Speaker 1: ready to win now, which is okay, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: And they kept calling Moore, they kept calling more because
Speaker 1: they're ready to win now. I mean, they are one
Speaker 1: of the you know, invade in the desert, and I've
Speaker 1: already seen among some of our cogniscente they're one of
Speaker 1: the favorites. They're one of the like, top five or
Speaker 1: six favorites to go win the whole thing. And I
Speaker 1: don't think that's that crazy when you have that good
Speaker 1: an offense, I don't. I don't think it's crazy. I
Speaker 1: can also think of other years where they're the favorites
Speaker 1: because their Dallas and it's presumed that they'll roll into
Speaker 1: the NFC title game. I mean, they've found a way
Speaker 1: to not do that for twenty plus years in a row.
Speaker 1: But um, what could go wrong? Um? All right, man?
Speaker 1: You do not like Mike McCarthy. No, I like I.
Speaker 1: That's more of a Cowboys have viewed themselves as a
Speaker 1: super Bowl team since and all of a sudden, you know,
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy can't even know that. I really wanted to
Speaker 1: get deep into it. You could almost read this. You
Speaker 1: always mentioned the you know, the epiphany and the off
Speaker 1: season pr that he did. I mean, if I'm out
Speaker 1: there in Tom pell and I'm Tom Palaicero, and we
Speaker 1: know he doesn't listen to our podcast. But if he did,
Speaker 1: who kind of put together the biggest piece about McCarthy.
Speaker 1: I might take some offense that you're coming after my work.
Speaker 1: Well that is not true. But if you want to
Speaker 1: fire back, go look at anything I've written for the
Speaker 1: site over the last three months. I mean, what is
Speaker 1: talk about unnecessary fluff? Very hard on himself to no.
Speaker 1: I just I you know, I look at I question
Speaker 1: the nature of um, you know, sitting around on your
Speaker 1: phone reading like eight thousand hours of sports articles right now.
Speaker 1: But at people are in different situations. So I've also
Speaker 1: moved on epiphany wise, I am now all on the
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield. I'm not gonna talk trash anymore. Epiphany. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's the epiphany I'm all for. Now we move in silence.
Speaker 1: He's gonna like he's gonna like show up to games
Speaker 1: like like a ninja outfit on into just like little
Speaker 1: small letters, silence you know on his alright, move on
Speaker 1: to the next part of the show. Whatever you guys
Speaker 1: have cooked up. All right, let's spend the wheel. It
Speaker 1: is time to um the Wheel of Teams, which is
Speaker 1: our weekly deep dive into one team in our league.
Speaker 1: It started off with the Arizona Cardinals. Last week we
Speaker 1: had our buddy Bob Glauber uh talk the New York
Speaker 1: Giants and now Ricky Hall and hey, Ricky, how are you?
Speaker 1: By the way, how are you? Ricky? I'm okay. How
Speaker 1: are you guys? There's hartly Dike's the former Patriots first
Speaker 1: round receiver. Yeah, no, such a bust's that's it, Ricky.
Speaker 1: I heard there's there's demonstrations going right outside your window
Speaker 1: to helicopters going on. I just got a notification that
Speaker 1: Kurfew went from six to five pm in about five minutes.
Speaker 1: The helicopters are are unnerving, So there was helicopters the
Speaker 1: entire day, nonstopped yesterday from the morning until about ten
Speaker 1: thirty pm. It went away and then they were back
Speaker 1: around and I was like, well, we're in the morning today.
Speaker 1: I was like, we're doing this again, but for the
Speaker 1: most part they've left. Yeah, it's scary out there, so
Speaker 1: stay safe, Freaky Hollywood. We're gonna spin the wheel and
Speaker 1: find out which team we will be diving deep on
Speaker 1: on Wednesday's show, Erica. Are we ready? All right, Ricky?
Speaker 1: Spend the whale by bay? All right, let's go Dolphin
Speaker 1: big moment Broncos and Broncos the Tennessee Titans. Well, look
Speaker 1: at that mark one spot away from the Browns so far,
Speaker 1: I think it's better for the show that we we're
Speaker 1: gonna have a twenty minute conversation on the Browns anyway,
Speaker 1: So let's go Titans here. I feel like we've overcorrected.
Speaker 1: Though we used to joke that we never talked about
Speaker 1: the Titans. To now after this show, we've almost talked
Speaker 1: too much about the Titans. We talked a lot about
Speaker 1: guess what it's coming more tight and stuck they greg
Speaker 1: and we know that they knocked off your Patriots and
Speaker 1: ended Tom Brady's New England career with a pick six.
Speaker 1: You don't have to take it out on them that
Speaker 1: they were just doing what they were trained to do,
Speaker 1: which is win a football game. I enjoy I enjoyed
Speaker 1: their Their little run reminded me of some early Patriots teams. Um,
Speaker 1: so yes, we will talk about the Titans on Wednesday show,
Speaker 1: and we will talk. We'll get our heads together and
Speaker 1: pick someone from the Beat or someone connected to the
Speaker 1: Titans to speak to as well. So tune in for
Speaker 1: that all right before we go? Uh we I just
Speaker 1: wanted to talk about some of the guys and and uh,
Speaker 1: I know this particular person didn't necessarily want it to
Speaker 1: be something that was a big to do. But we
Speaker 1: have a well trod saying here at the A T
Speaker 1: N podcast that we deliver football news with a touch
Speaker 1: of mirth. And that comes all that comes both directly
Speaker 1: and indirectly from Dave Damashek, who if you're paying attention,
Speaker 1: and released this final episode of the d d FP yesterday,
Speaker 1: and the phrase is how Check would describe around the
Speaker 1: league news write ups on NFL dot com penn by
Speaker 1: Mark and I years ago, news with a touch of mirth.
Speaker 1: And uh, like I said when he was on our
Speaker 1: show last week, Check is the godfather of mirth at
Speaker 1: NFL media before he came and didn't exist at least
Speaker 1: not in any form that was funny. And Mark and
Speaker 1: I didn't follow a traditional linear path to get to
Speaker 1: where we are. We started out as part timers in
Speaker 1: two thousand ten, and I I think for for me
Speaker 1: and Mark, I think we're in the same boat on this.
Speaker 1: There was two people at this company that really um
Speaker 1: believed that us and gave us a chance. One was
Speaker 1: justin Hathaway, our old news editor who hired hired both
Speaker 1: of us within a month of each other in two
Speaker 1: thousand ten, and then about a year and a half later,
Speaker 1: I want to say, when they were relaunching the news
Speaker 1: division of dot com, UM had us be the editorial
Speaker 1: voice of it, and so Ston was a champion of us.
Speaker 1: And then Check. You know, I had no experience talking
Speaker 1: to him like zero. I never did it in college.
Speaker 1: I never did it after college. I was thirty years
Speaker 1: old and I was tired at the NFL. Mark, I
Speaker 1: know you didn't. You weren't someone that came from any
Speaker 1: deep broadcasting background. But Check started to have us on
Speaker 1: the podcast UH. In fact, they looked it up because
Speaker 1: I was feeling a little nostalgic UM today. And it
Speaker 1: was July nine, two thousand twelve, when Dave had Mark
Speaker 1: and I on the show for the first time, and
Speaker 1: we were on a few times, and that gave birth
Speaker 1: to the A t L Debate Club, which was a
Speaker 1: weekly mini pod featuring UH, just Mark and I tacked
Speaker 1: onto the back of Dave episodes, and then that spun
Speaker 1: out into UM. About a year later, Greg and West
Speaker 1: now in the Fold, and the UH This podcast which
Speaker 1: was the Around the League podcast and it's now the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL podcast, of course. And I was thinking
Speaker 1: about all this history this morning while listening to Dave's
Speaker 1: last show with and I know, like I said, he
Speaker 1: doesn't want us to make a big deal about him,
Speaker 1: and I know our relationship with him is going to continue,
Speaker 1: and we look forward to having him on the show
Speaker 1: again down the line, and maybe we'll cheat life one
Speaker 1: of those checks sayings and and attended Dodgers game one
Speaker 1: of his weekday Mattenee's once the World to gain some
Speaker 1: sense of normalcy. But as a podcast, I just wanted
Speaker 1: to say thank you today, both for the opportunities and
Speaker 1: for being such a fun person to work with all
Speaker 1: these years. And uh, I can't wait for what comes
Speaker 1: next from Dave because he's a truly talented and good dude. Yeah,
Speaker 1: i'd say real quick that. You know, I think justin
Speaker 1: Hathaway um encountered some resistance when he tried to put
Speaker 1: us in those roles of writers with opinion attached to
Speaker 1: the writing, and I'm sure Dave did too, and we
Speaker 1: never would have known about it. But the thing I
Speaker 1: could say about Dave is that that was um you know,
Speaker 1: almost ten years ago when he gave and if you listen,
Speaker 1: if you go back and listen to that first encounter
Speaker 1: with him on his show, I sound like a scared
Speaker 1: fifth grader. I mean, I I am off frame, no
Speaker 1: opinion of worth, and I don't even know how to
Speaker 1: speak into the mic at that point. But UM, the
Speaker 1: thing about Dave is that since that time, I think
Speaker 1: he's done that for about fifty other people who would
Speaker 1: have never naturally been given a role on any show. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know it's it's some people from out of
Speaker 1: left field. And UM, I just think that that's who
Speaker 1: Dave is. And he, you know, he he could have
Speaker 1: said forget that. And even as our show became what
Speaker 1: it was, Um, it's the one person I always thought
Speaker 1: of that we never would have had our show. Um
Speaker 1: without Dave, one of us at least would not have
Speaker 1: been on this podcast, if not both of us, I
Speaker 1: don't know how it would evolve unfolded. But um, it
Speaker 1: doesn't happen without damnishek not not in the way that
Speaker 1: it that it has. He's he's a mensch, you know,
Speaker 1: to use the word from Dave and Isa, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, he he's a wise man. I mean he
Speaker 1: should after Siren as many children as as him. He
Speaker 1: is wise. But I do think of like a lot
Speaker 1: of his sayings like cheating life, Like I'll catch myself
Speaker 1: cheating life and think of Dave in that moment, because
Speaker 1: he has a way of like putting things, um so
Speaker 1: perfectly and then repeating them over and over so you
Speaker 1: never forget them. And it's like he's he's like inside
Speaker 1: of all of our heads sometimes. So what better compliment
Speaker 1: to a broadcaster than that. And we know he's gonna
Speaker 1: do other m great things, So I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: what he's uh he's going to be announcing coming up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I might get it. I don't even know. I
Speaker 1: might get an annoyed text from Dave for us even
Speaker 1: talking about this, but I just thought it was important
Speaker 1: just because of all the things we just said. He
Speaker 1: was such an important figure to us. So best of luck,
Speaker 1: do you, Dave, and we will hear from you, uh
Speaker 1: down the road hopefully soon. All Right, that's it for
Speaker 1: today's show. Good show, good conversation, important conversation, and we'll
Speaker 1: be back on Wednesday, yes, talking about the See Titans
Speaker 1: and um whatever else comes across our plate, so thank
Speaker 1: you everybody for listening. Until then, this is Dan hands
Speaker 1: As signing off for the Quiet Storm the Old Boss
Speaker 1: rick Hollywood. Stay safe there, Ricky and everybody else Steve
Speaker 1: Wish of course, until Wednesday