Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast always goes for it on
Speaker 1: fourth and short, but we shouldn't. Sometimes we should hunt.
Speaker 1: Let's start, let's not start. Welcome to the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast. I'm Dan Hansas, Virtual Room Heroes, Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal. Here we are technically it's Tuesday, but we
Speaker 1: are here to break down black money. No, not Black Monday, Ricky,
Speaker 1: It's New Horizons Monday. Because when God closes the door
Speaker 1: pops open a window in a big spot. Knows the
Speaker 1: scripture absolutely. That's so true and I cannot think of
Speaker 1: really anything in life where it applies more accurately than
Speaker 1: to this episode. And what we're about to discuss. M
Speaker 1: is that what you were looking for. I just try
Speaker 1: to that was that was Greg's turn to come in
Speaker 1: with something snarky, little mirthy tone, but he's he's punting
Speaker 1: on the discussion. Now. I'd like to keep it fresh,
Speaker 1: not be too predictable, and just see see what happens.
Speaker 1: I knew Dan would be surprised there. I wanted to
Speaker 1: see where the conversation goes. I didn't. I thought Mark
Speaker 1: also said it so well. Sometimes you can't top it
Speaker 1: and you have nothing more to add. You know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like Mark really set the tone that said
Speaker 1: when you in a audio show when you surprise us
Speaker 1: by not talking and it leaves like a five or
Speaker 1: six shortly. Okay, but I'm annoyed with Greg. That's not
Speaker 1: how that's maybe not maximizing the experience. I feel like
Speaker 1: Mark Mark should be a coach, al right, a head coach.
Speaker 1: Mark should be David Culley, because I feel like Mark's
Speaker 1: dream job would be to get a job like David
Speaker 1: Culley that pays you potentially I'm going to just guess
Speaker 1: five times more maybe ten times more than he's ever
Speaker 1: made in a long, you know, good career per year
Speaker 1: and then lose that job, but have that contract guaranteed
Speaker 1: for four more years after that. This this is where
Speaker 1: you need to head. You can you can be a
Speaker 1: head coach of the Texas. Do you think that I'd
Speaker 1: get real busybody like and go find like another coaching
Speaker 1: job that you know, months later on someone else's staff,
Speaker 1: just for the love of the game. Absolutely. Now you
Speaker 1: would have had your age and actually right it into
Speaker 1: the contract. Um that it's not like one of those
Speaker 1: matching things that it would be working for free if
Speaker 1: you had to go elsewhere just to prevent yourself from
Speaker 1: even taking any heat from chilling for four years. We
Speaker 1: have a good friend who through work, ended up having
Speaker 1: a legitimate friendship with Jim tom Sula formally of the
Speaker 1: forty niners, he of the one and done. Uh, he's
Speaker 1: you know, we call it a culor um, although we
Speaker 1: don't know that for sure yet, but absolutely everything you
Speaker 1: guys are saying checks out. So Tom sewell, if you remember,
Speaker 1: I think he was maybe before chip Kelly, maybe he
Speaker 1: was after chip Kelly, was one of them during San
Speaker 1: Francisco's down period post Jim Harbaugh and same thing. Like,
Speaker 1: he was a regular dude, a real nice guy. Maybe
Speaker 1: not somebody would think was a real head coach material
Speaker 1: in the NFL, but he got in the big chair,
Speaker 1: got canned after a year, but got paid millions for
Speaker 1: the next four years, and just like raised his kids
Speaker 1: with his wife and probably bought a nice summer home
Speaker 1: on the vineyard next to Greg's place, and just in
Speaker 1: general and enjoyed life. Like I think if we could
Speaker 1: somehow get into that guaranteed money in the podcast game,
Speaker 1: then get our asses canned. I think it could work out.
Speaker 1: It's all about what's in the baked into the contract
Speaker 1: in terms of what can be negated for conduct reasons,
Speaker 1: the ideal blueprint at this stage in our lives too,
Speaker 1: where you know, you, I know, everyone's working very hard,
Speaker 1: but it's some point you start to think, like I
Speaker 1: like to do less. Maybe, yeah, what's the easy way out? Right?
Speaker 1: At the time, so I was back on the sideline
Speaker 1: pretty quick. I know he had a year off, but
Speaker 1: then he had a chance to work for the J.
Speaker 1: Gruden Washington football team, you know, different name back then.
Speaker 1: And when you have a chance to work with a
Speaker 1: great organization like that, you just gotta step back into
Speaker 1: It's different for everyone, Gilo. Um, all right, today we
Speaker 1: will get into all the updates. Of course, six coaches
Speaker 1: out of work, um after the two thousand twenty one
Speaker 1: season now has concluded. We'll kind of check in on
Speaker 1: each of those teams and where they're at. We mentioned
Speaker 1: the Texans, that's a that's a situation where the coach
Speaker 1: is still there but perhaps not uh that we have
Speaker 1: another situation like that with the New York Giants. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna kind of get into all of that and
Speaker 1: UM that will be uh today's program before we do,
Speaker 1: though I do wanna um, and I don't want to
Speaker 1: get us off track because I don't I don't want
Speaker 1: another two and a half hour podcast, but I do.
Speaker 1: You want to check in on something that's happening internally
Speaker 1: internally at the company, And to do that, I have
Speaker 1: to reach out to someone, um on the news desk
Speaker 1: that could shine a light on something that I've been
Speaker 1: tracking very closely. So I'm going to make a phone
Speaker 1: call right now, if you guys don't mind be our guest. Okay,
Speaker 1: this is why Dan wanted to get the show going.
Speaker 1: Can you guys hear that? Yeah, Hey, Dave, what's up?
Speaker 1: It's uh Dan from a t N. What's up? Oh?
Speaker 1: Hey are you doing? Man? Good? Good? Good? Um? How's
Speaker 1: everything It's going great? You know, just dealing with the
Speaker 1: end of the season, gearing up playoffs, you know the drill.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely, So. I know what is your position right
Speaker 1: now in the news room. I know you've kind of
Speaker 1: gone up the ranks, uh in in the years that
Speaker 1: we've worked together. There Where are you at? Of course
Speaker 1: I'm happy to share that info. I'm currently editor Digital News.
Speaker 1: All right, good good, good dude. Because I noticed I
Speaker 1: wanted to bring something up to you that I don't know. UM,
Speaker 1: I don't know if this is the forum for it,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna do it anyway, and then you tell me.
Speaker 1: I just want your honest feedback on it. We've been
Speaker 1: getting and I want to. I don't want to reveal
Speaker 1: who's sending these emails, but we've been getting multiple emails
Speaker 1: um in the NFL media inbox from a certain member
Speaker 1: of the news team on camera. UM about So I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna read the email a little bit. Here. It says,
Speaker 1: hello all, uh, subject line Nathaniel Hackett. Hello all, We
Speaker 1: once again just tweeted a Nathaniel Hackett headline with a
Speaker 1: photo of not Nathaniel Hackett. This is at least the
Speaker 1: third time that has happened recently. I understand these photos
Speaker 1: are surely mislabeled by AP or Getty or whoever provides them,
Speaker 1: but considering this guy maybe a head coach soon, can
Speaker 1: everyone just please look at some photos of the real
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett and familiarize yourselves with his face. He's pretty recognizable. UM. So,
Speaker 1: I just want to. I know you just you labeled
Speaker 1: yourself as high up within the operation and you r
Speaker 1: c Seed on this email. I'm curious your official stance
Speaker 1: on this and if this was taking care of because
Speaker 1: this was sent at four thirty eight am Pacific time.
Speaker 1: Have you finally taken care of this? Because according to
Speaker 1: this individual, this is at least the third time this
Speaker 1: has happened recently. Um, it's been, it's been ractified, and UM,
Speaker 1: I don't want to obviously, as a position of leadership,
Speaker 1: I don't I'm not going to really get into many
Speaker 1: details over what exactly have been ultimately my responsibility that
Speaker 1: this happens. And also, just speaking personally, as someone who's bald,
Speaker 1: I can understand the frustration of being confused for other
Speaker 1: bald people. So I I like to personally apologize to
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett and anyone associated with him for this mistake. Well,
Speaker 1: how about the person that sent out this email that
Speaker 1: apparently had to do it three times to get a
Speaker 1: fairly simple issue rectified. Again, I don't think it's really
Speaker 1: appropriate to like really like discussed the inner workings of
Speaker 1: what happens on the news desk. I just know that
Speaker 1: he knows that we do that we do a lot,
Speaker 1: and it's it's it's tough, you know, in this twenty
Speaker 1: fourth step a business, especially with all this coaching, is
Speaker 1: we're trying to keep the track of I think the
Speaker 1: person who expressed the concern about this understands that their
Speaker 1: voice was heard and that it's been Um, it's been
Speaker 1: something that's been discussed. But has has the packer's voice
Speaker 1: been heard here? Because you know in that email it
Speaker 1: says they were complaining they were noticing this. And when
Speaker 1: you think about the NFL as in general, Eale like,
Speaker 1: who is more who is more recognizable than Nathaniel Hackett?
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. That's a great question, Greg, Um,
Speaker 1: I know it's just again like I said, it's everyone
Speaker 1: knows who Nathaniel Hackett looks like, and he's one of
Speaker 1: the most recognizable faces in the NFL, like you said,
Speaker 1: and it's on us to do a better job for
Speaker 1: a future pretend the head coach out there, to make
Speaker 1: sure he gets the recognition that he lead he needs
Speaker 1: from our Twitter account. All right, Well, it looks like
Speaker 1: you handled it, maybe not in quite the efficient manner
Speaker 1: that somewhat hope, but you got the job done. What
Speaker 1: is going on in your personal life? All right? It
Speaker 1: is very difficult to be a single man in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles always, but certainly during COVID even worse. Uh, have
Speaker 1: you found the one yet? Dave? I know there are
Speaker 1: a lot of people that know you on the show
Speaker 1: going back years now that are wondering, has Dave found
Speaker 1: the one? Is he's settling down, He's in his thirties. Now,
Speaker 1: where are we at? Well? I just was that more
Speaker 1: of like a general assumption that I'm currently single? Or
Speaker 1: was that you just trying to fish and trying to
Speaker 1: tell address that first? That's a general assumption. Okay? Well,
Speaker 1: I I am so that you were correct. There had
Speaker 1: it ups and downs, obviously, I can't like, I mean,
Speaker 1: the pandemic. It's tough out there, it's you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's tough to meet people right now. So but um,
Speaker 1: we have a strong belief that will be Um, alright,
Speaker 1: good Dave. We gotta get going, Dave, Okay, let's yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Did you have anything else you wanted to add? I
Speaker 1: just want to say, like, um, I just finished I
Speaker 1: think our five of the BT just you guys are
Speaker 1: doing great work there. I think like you might have
Speaker 1: needed more time for your analysis, but really looking forward
Speaker 1: to what you can do next week. Alright, message sent,
Speaker 1: message sent. He's gonna be our boss one day, so
Speaker 1: we gotta respect the man. Dave Eale, thank you for
Speaker 1: the update, and thank you for taking care of the
Speaker 1: Hackett situation as we as we call it. All right,
Speaker 1: thanks alright? Thing please really talking about editing for content,
Speaker 1: how about let's trim up those what we learned uh
Speaker 1: Russian novelists they have, they've become more condensed, Greg, Just
Speaker 1: to let you know, UM, what a method actor, what
Speaker 1: an impressive what an impressive executive Eally has become. I
Speaker 1: remember them the first week that I met him. Um,
Speaker 1: he announced to me that bounty Gate would be essentially
Speaker 1: meaningless within a couple of weeks. So I see this
Speaker 1: is a person that's grown in many ways well as
Speaker 1: news instincts obviously have evolved. I matured it as he's
Speaker 1: done the same. So UM, I just hope he finds
Speaker 1: the one and he's not left holding that champagne bottle
Speaker 1: alone too much longer. What if? What if? All that
Speaker 1: we're going through Corona, UM, insane weather events, UM, general
Speaker 1: lack of peace in the world, does hinge on David
Speaker 1: Eally finding um a significant other way? I I and
Speaker 1: I you know, I just feel like it was such
Speaker 1: a safe assumption that he was single, But like, what
Speaker 1: if they could change the world by finding Dave. He
Speaker 1: needs to find a woman and they need to produce
Speaker 1: a spawn because that spawn will either cure coronavirus or
Speaker 1: have some type of antibody that can then be harvested
Speaker 1: to save the world. Basically this, Yeah, I could totally
Speaker 1: see it. I think Dave has something greatness in him,
Speaker 1: whether it's him or is you know, progeny. All right,
Speaker 1: what hour are we in on the show? Right now?
Speaker 1: Let's get to the news. A New Horizons Tuesday. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get into the news. The coaching carousel is spinning
Speaker 1: and it has thrown off Joe Judge. The latest news.
Speaker 1: The latest firing in the NFL. The seventh coach now
Speaker 1: UH to not make it through or into two is
Speaker 1: the New York Giants UH coach, who was dismissed Tuesday
Speaker 1: after two losing seasons with the team. The move comes
Speaker 1: a day after general manager Dave Gentleman retired after four
Speaker 1: years on the job. That's what they're calling it. Here
Speaker 1: is a statement. Here's the missive Ricky from Giants Corner,
Speaker 1: John Mara Steve. That's Steve. Tish and I both believe
Speaker 1: it is in the best interests of our franchise to
Speaker 1: move in another direction. We met with Joe yesterday afternoon
Speaker 1: to discuss the state of the team. I met again
Speaker 1: with Joe this afternoon, and it was during that conversation
Speaker 1: I informed Show of our decision. We appreciate Joe's efforts
Speaker 1: on behalf of the organization. I said before the season
Speaker 1: started that I wanted to feel good about the direction
Speaker 1: we were headed when we played our last game of
Speaker 1: the season. Unfortunately I cannot make that statement, which is
Speaker 1: why we have made this decision. We will hire a
Speaker 1: GM and that person will lead the effort to hire
Speaker 1: a new coach. Alright, so end quote Greg. This is
Speaker 1: sensible for the Giants who were putting themselves into a
Speaker 1: really tricky gray area if they were trying to keep
Speaker 1: Judge bringing a GM. Now they have cleaned the slate.
Speaker 1: And if any organization right now needs to clean the
Speaker 1: slate and clean the decks and clear the decks, it's
Speaker 1: the Giants. Yeah. I think it's in about face. That
Speaker 1: makes sense. Don't get stuck in a previous take you
Speaker 1: had when information has come up that allows you to
Speaker 1: realize it's a bad take. And the take for Mara
Speaker 1: was we keep cycling through these coaches. I regretted getting
Speaker 1: rid of maccadoo so quickly. He said that publicly, like
Speaker 1: during the season, especially right after he made the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and he wanted to keep Joe Judge. Obviously, as recently
Speaker 1: as the day after Christmas, ESPN reported Judge and Daniel
Speaker 1: Jones will be back, and it made it clear the
Speaker 1: sources were from ownership and that they probably will make
Speaker 1: a change at GM, but the plan is to find
Speaker 1: a GM that wants to work with Joe Judge. Since
Speaker 1: that happened. Uh, the Giants got blown out three against
Speaker 1: the Bears. Uh, Joe Judge did that impassioned thirteen minute plea,
Speaker 1: which I think reminded Mara of McAdoo and his terrible
Speaker 1: press conferences at the end where he was starting to
Speaker 1: like bring shame upon the Giants organization and a couple
Speaker 1: other dispiriting losses, Uh, including that third and nine you
Speaker 1: know sneak near the goal line, which unfortunately is like,
Speaker 1: that's all we'll remember in six years about the Joe
Speaker 1: Judge of time. I think will be him falling on
Speaker 1: the ground for the fumball. That was how it all started.
Speaker 1: You know, they were watering the ground. Dan, you you
Speaker 1: used to leave that was well, that was the peak,
Speaker 1: but that was also that was training his first ever
Speaker 1: training game. And this is how it ended and restart.
Speaker 1: If you're getting rid of Gettleman, get a new coach,
Speaker 1: don't saddle him with Judge. That's that's what I like
Speaker 1: about it for the Giants because you know whether or
Speaker 1: not John Mara is very frustrated with what's happened since
Speaker 1: they're on their fifth coach since Tom Coughlin departed. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's this is a team in in in free fall
Speaker 1: and turmoil. I think we grew up Dan like with
Speaker 1: the Giants, and we've always viewed them a certain way,
Speaker 1: and even up till a couple of years ago, there
Speaker 1: was an element of like, this is a classy organization.
Speaker 1: And it's not that they're not classy, but they have
Speaker 1: completely fumbled the head coach higher over and over and
Speaker 1: so I hated the idea of having the stuff Joe
Speaker 1: Judge in the building with another GM, a new GM
Speaker 1: who probably would be a less powerful GM to agree
Speaker 1: to that to begin with um and you know, we
Speaker 1: will even see about the future of Daniel Jones. I
Speaker 1: mean I would also look at Joe Judge and say,
Speaker 1: I don't even know if he gets another job after
Speaker 1: this anywhere. At this point, it's the it's the last
Speaker 1: a job on the staff. But I think he was
Speaker 1: rumored to be Belichick's choice to replace Josh McDaniels if
Speaker 1: McDaniels left a couple of years ago as the offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: so you could almost see that happening. This off, well,
Speaker 1: then you go back to New England. But his CUE
Speaker 1: rating is very low. But I mean there is another
Speaker 1: angle to the Joe Judge experience. I just think to
Speaker 1: be fair that like I can't think of too many
Speaker 1: new coaches that came into a scenario where you know,
Speaker 1: Dave Gettleman put a subpart team on the field, injuries
Speaker 1: plagued them from start to finish, and he's just probably
Speaker 1: not head coach material. But the next GM and head
Speaker 1: coach also Gettleman left them. If you look at over
Speaker 1: the cap and I know this can change. I know
Speaker 1: this isn't a big deal, but they are the fifth
Speaker 1: worst cap situation in the league, nineteen million in the
Speaker 1: red and they're tied up with a lot of current
Speaker 1: players that a new system, a new team, a new
Speaker 1: coach may not be into. And I think that starts
Speaker 1: with an honest evaluation of Daniel Jones, who's not often
Speaker 1: available due to injury, and the team in general just
Speaker 1: we've never really seen the real New York Giants. They
Speaker 1: never scored thirty points under Joe Judge's reign. That's kind
Speaker 1: of crazy, and a lot of that certainly goes back
Speaker 1: to injuries. A lot of that goes back to how
Speaker 1: bad Dave Gedtleman was at the job in the four years,
Speaker 1: and in a lot of ways, I remember talking about
Speaker 1: this last summer. This was kind of a bad situation
Speaker 1: that Judge was in because he was entering year two,
Speaker 1: the team wasn't very good, and you had a GM
Speaker 1: that was a lame duck, and it just felt like
Speaker 1: he was in a very difficult position. And then things
Speaker 1: kind of started to snowball against him, really starting with
Speaker 1: that Thursday night early in the season when the guy
Speaker 1: in UH who's a Camember, Tomlins and somebody jumped offsides
Speaker 1: UH to negate a Washington field goalness UH and allowed
Speaker 1: Washington to rekick and make the kick and everything went
Speaker 1: downhill for the Giants at that point. And I do
Speaker 1: think about that press conference. I wonder if that got
Speaker 1: him fired. This ain't some clown show organization with something else.
Speaker 1: And I know you certainly right after that report too
Speaker 1: that we'll talk about a city where your press conference.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was there was a target on his back,
Speaker 1: the team was playing poorly, and then he I think
Speaker 1: he embarrassed the organization. He didn't try to, but his way,
Speaker 1: his impassioned explanation of his belief in the team and
Speaker 1: that we're not a clown car and all this stuff
Speaker 1: was just gasoline on the fire. So that's part of
Speaker 1: the big chair responsibility as well, especially in a big market,
Speaker 1: uh like New York. And this is the stat that
Speaker 1: really it's floated around last week, and I just want
Speaker 1: to share it again here because this really tells the
Speaker 1: bigger story of the Giants. And before you say, we
Speaker 1: got rid of Joe Judge, uh, and we got rid
Speaker 1: of Dave Gentleman and everything's fine. Now, the Giants at
Speaker 1: no point in the last five years have been over
Speaker 1: five hundred at any point. Uh. This is a proud
Speaker 1: organization that is down h So as as frustrating as
Speaker 1: it is to be a Giants fan, you least, this
Speaker 1: is an example of ownership who flipped around a lot
Speaker 1: of right levers over the years, being like, Okay, we're
Speaker 1: going to correct a mistake here and see if we
Speaker 1: can get this right. Now, do they make the right highers,
Speaker 1: We shall see, But this is a step in the
Speaker 1: right direction, right, I mean, these these firings are basically
Speaker 1: ownership admitting how wrong they got something. I was thinking
Speaker 1: about that with like the opening press conferences, that there's
Speaker 1: these opening press conferences, the wife's, they're the families there.
Speaker 1: Joe Judge specifically, Mara said, blew him away. It was
Speaker 1: like just they weren't expecting him to become the head coach.
Speaker 1: Blew them away. And you're sitting there at these press
Speaker 1: conferences and no one's thinking this. But the reality is
Speaker 1: most of those people, I'm gonna fire you and in
Speaker 1: three years or less, like in most of those situations,
Speaker 1: I got this wrong, You're getting fired in three years
Speaker 1: or less. Twelve teams haven't made the playoffs over the
Speaker 1: last two years. Eleven of them have changed coaches. The
Speaker 1: Panthers are the only one that haven't changed coach in
Speaker 1: that time, and they obviously had a new head coach
Speaker 1: only two years, so it is like a results business.
Speaker 1: The Giants are on a massive losing streak. I don't
Speaker 1: think Daniel Jones is their biggest problem, but at least
Speaker 1: the new regime can just start fresh and decide what
Speaker 1: they want to do with him and the rest of
Speaker 1: this rafter, which is which is a bottom five or
Speaker 1: six roster in the NFL, and it's it's it is
Speaker 1: ponderous for fans of these teams that keep doing this
Speaker 1: over and over because the process doesn't change. You look
Speaker 1: at every one of these vacancies, it's the same laundry
Speaker 1: list of eight to twelve guys, most of them who
Speaker 1: failed already as head coaches, who are getting these interviews.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a hot mess. And so if you
Speaker 1: if you go outside the box, like the Giants did
Speaker 1: in this case, for every Mike Tomlin, there's twenty Joe Judges.
Speaker 1: So it's so hard to pick the right guy. I mean,
Speaker 1: Mark is a Browns fan, you know, as well as anyone. Um,
Speaker 1: it's so hard to find a guy, and sometimes an
Speaker 1: organization looks into a couple in a row, uh and
Speaker 1: sometimes you start going through the wilderness and that feels
Speaker 1: that's where the Giants are right now. We will see
Speaker 1: what goes on over the next few weeks. They will
Speaker 1: be aggressive. Let's take a break and then we'll hit
Speaker 1: the rest of the firings that went down on Monday.
Speaker 1: The surprise move. There's always one surprise. We've been doing
Speaker 1: this long enough, there's always one, and it was Brian
Speaker 1: Flores losing his job. When you lose a job a
Speaker 1: season that ends with eight wins and nine weeks, including
Speaker 1: a seven game winning streak, that's a surprise. But Greg,
Speaker 1: as we hear more about the story and Chris career,
Speaker 1: the GM is still employed here. As you hear more
Speaker 1: about this story, this wasn't so much about results on
Speaker 1: the field. It came back to, let's face it, a
Speaker 1: familiar refrain around disciples of Bill Belichick. It seems not
Speaker 1: to put a blanket on everybody, but an inability to
Speaker 1: work well with others lead to the demise of his program. Well,
Speaker 1: the difference is Flori's has shown a great ability to
Speaker 1: game plan and I think overachieved on balance in terms
Speaker 1: of the three years he spent there. Remember when he
Speaker 1: took over they were supposed to be the very worst
Speaker 1: team in the NFL by far, uh and they ended
Speaker 1: up closing that season strong. He's actually like over five
Speaker 1: after that initial losing streak. I think the Dolphins are
Speaker 1: like a lot of workplaces where it's people protecting their
Speaker 1: jobs and being more worried about that and feeling comfortable
Speaker 1: with the people above or below them, um than really
Speaker 1: being as interested in what's the best product possible. Because
Speaker 1: Brian Flores has been the best coach they've had, you know,
Speaker 1: in a while in terms of results since Steven Ross
Speaker 1: became the owner. And so I think you look at
Speaker 1: Chris Greer, who has been there almost two decades, he's
Speaker 1: preserved that relationship with his boss, and he's gonna be
Speaker 1: there moving forward. UM. I have the feeling, just reading
Speaker 1: between the lines and some of the reporting, including from
Speaker 1: our Steve Wish, you know Flora's ruffled feathers, that maybe
Speaker 1: he didn't appreciate some of the ways that the people
Speaker 1: above him we're doing business, and you just can see
Speaker 1: with Flores he might not have hit it very well,
Speaker 1: or he might have been very open. I think that
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson drama was probably a flash point but even
Speaker 1: by that point, if Flores was fired after winning native
Speaker 1: nine games, my guess is ownership had already decided back then,
Speaker 1: this guy's gone, um, because we don't want him working
Speaker 1: for us, like we're we're offended that he's either challenging
Speaker 1: us or the way that he runs his team nothing
Speaker 1: to do with the results on the field. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's been talked about that the tension had been, you know,
Speaker 1: heading towards a boiling point for a while now. And
Speaker 1: I can remember a day back when the Dolphins were
Speaker 1: you know, one and four or something, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: because of the record, but Greg and I were in
Speaker 1: the newsroom and um, someone that we really respect basically
Speaker 1: told us, because at that point you thought Brian Flores
Speaker 1: is one of the brighter young coaches around. Of course
Speaker 1: he'd be safe because you look at who Stephen Ross,
Speaker 1: the owner had dealt with a head coach before, there
Speaker 1: wouldn't be an issue here. But we were told the
Speaker 1: opposite that there were major issues in Miami that centered
Speaker 1: around Brian Flores. And I think that his relationship with
Speaker 1: TWA took a hit. And Chris Greer has been there
Speaker 1: since the year two thousand and Steven Ross, who you know,
Speaker 1: like it or not he runs the show, talked about
Speaker 1: lack of collaboration over and over, and I mean that
Speaker 1: you could look at a few things like the dual
Speaker 1: offensive coordinators, right, things like that, where I mean just
Speaker 1: stuff was strange. But I mean, in the end, it
Speaker 1: tells you everything you need to know that other teams,
Speaker 1: namely the Bears, are interested in turning around and hiring
Speaker 1: Brian Flores and taking a chance on that lack of
Speaker 1: collaborative spirit that he brings. And that's when you hire
Speaker 1: these Patriots coaches, you have to actually if you want
Speaker 1: them to be many Belichicks do many Belichick things, and
Speaker 1: and ultimately it seems like that was distasteful to Stephen
Speaker 1: Ross in the end. We'll see. Now. I saw a
Speaker 1: report that it was Flora's that was driving the boat
Speaker 1: a little bit with uh Deshaun Watson and those rumors,
Speaker 1: and perhaps that led to the schism between him and too. Ah.
Speaker 1: That's just speculation on my part. But you know, we
Speaker 1: here to report also that the Dolphins or Flores will
Speaker 1: interview for the Bears head coaching vacancies. Mark said, that's
Speaker 1: that that's obviously is he a guy that jumps from
Speaker 1: getting fired straight into a job. It doesn't happen a lot,
Speaker 1: but it does happen. And maybe he's a situation when
Speaker 1: you can see it go down. Had him happened for
Speaker 1: Adam Gaze, which you know, wasn't a great idea obviously,
Speaker 1: And I don't think it's the worst idea for Brian
Speaker 1: Flores to take a step back, you know, unless he's
Speaker 1: in the right situation or become a coordinator for a year.
Speaker 1: I think he'll probably get another chance because that team
Speaker 1: was built around what he did well in terms of
Speaker 1: the defensive packages, the secondary of the blitzes, and like
Speaker 1: that's all out the window, and so you're starting all
Speaker 1: over and and I don't I don't doubt that he
Speaker 1: bears blame. Here is some blame for it all, But
Speaker 1: I look back at what's the longer track record, and
Speaker 1: that's Steven Ross changing all these you know, boats on
Speaker 1: the Titanic over and over in trying to find the
Speaker 1: right combination and not really finding it. And Chris Gery
Speaker 1: has been there alongside the whole time. So I think
Speaker 1: we can sort of surmise from the reports that Greer
Speaker 1: and Flores or or certainly Florist and Ross weren't getting long.
Speaker 1: But it just makes me laugh when he says like, well,
Speaker 1: I want better communication, I want more cohesion. Stephen Ross
Speaker 1: was literally reported from our network to be trying to
Speaker 1: set up an interview with Shaun Watson uh in before
Speaker 1: the trade deadline, and basically Watson couldn't, you know, get
Speaker 1: it off in time. He wanted to meet with his
Speaker 1: lawyers and everything. We we reported that, and he's talking
Speaker 1: about that Florist isn't like maintaining his relationship with ta
Speaker 1: I mean to me that it's a little lot. It's
Speaker 1: a little laugh of all, even Ross's public comments. I
Speaker 1: thought it was I guess you want an owner to
Speaker 1: be transparent with with the fan base and all that.
Speaker 1: But uh, here's the quote. I've been looking at this
Speaker 1: over three years now, when watching the organization grow, and
Speaker 1: I think an organization can only function if it's collaborative
Speaker 1: and it works well together. And I don't think we
Speaker 1: were really working well as an organization that it would
Speaker 1: take to really win consistently at the NFL level. If
Speaker 1: I'm interviewing for the Dolphins job, I'm a little bit
Speaker 1: nervous when I hear a quote like that that I
Speaker 1: might be somebody that wants to be used as a
Speaker 1: puppet that doesn't isn't gonna have a lot of power
Speaker 1: in the organization and feels like I'm gonna be put
Speaker 1: into some type of uh vacuum um. And let's face it,
Speaker 1: Miami's results over the last really post Marino speak to it.
Speaker 1: It's like the Bears job as well. Same thing. When
Speaker 1: you take on a job like that, you're taking on
Speaker 1: decades of failure and what's behind that is it is
Speaker 1: it's something that's gonna swallow you up. I think it's
Speaker 1: dangerous because any candidate would need to look at the
Speaker 1: fact that they're going to be paired now with Chris career,
Speaker 1: and you know, barring that coach bringing miracles to Miami
Speaker 1: would lose any power struggle and already be de emphasized
Speaker 1: power wise. And secondly, whoever comes in needs to succeed
Speaker 1: right away, because Brian Flores, above all things else, had
Speaker 1: the program going in the right direction. I know they
Speaker 1: got off to a rough start, but Miami's defense over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years was the product of his coaching,
Speaker 1: and so I just think it's a tough landing spot
Speaker 1: for the next guy, right, you have to you have
Speaker 1: to beat nine and eight basically, you know for all
Speaker 1: the you know talk of that they where I guess
Speaker 1: a little down this year, like he he crushed there
Speaker 1: over under winter totals like the last two years, and
Speaker 1: he was pretty much at it uh this year. And
Speaker 1: the next coach is gonna have to decide what they
Speaker 1: want to do with two. I think that's all. That's
Speaker 1: all open. I mean, they might they might be changing quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: That the Laramie Tounsil trade, which which Florist and Greer
Speaker 1: were a big part of, crushed him because they've drafted
Speaker 1: like four offensive linemen in the first or second round
Speaker 1: and they have the worst offensive line in the league.
Speaker 1: So it's not like Florist was perfect there. He cycled
Speaker 1: through coaches and even free agent acquisitions and players extremely fast,
Speaker 1: and that that kind of speaks to it was a
Speaker 1: destabilizing type of situation, alright. So Brian lars is out,
Speaker 1: So too is Mike Zimmer, as well as general manager
Speaker 1: Rick Spielman. In Minnesota. That pair that brain trust with
Speaker 1: the Vikings, they are sent packing after eight seasons. The
Speaker 1: move comes a day after a disappointing Vikings season ended
Speaker 1: with an eight nine record, and this is the first
Speaker 1: time this organization is really cleaned house in its top
Speaker 1: two positions of leadership with Ziggy and Mark wilf uh
Speaker 1: in control of the organization that's been since two thousand five.
Speaker 1: So this is this one's interesting mark to me because
Speaker 1: I think there's so much focus on Kirk Cousins all
Speaker 1: the time around the team, in about the offense going
Speaker 1: on and off, and the just the meandering nature of
Speaker 1: a Kirk Cousins team being five hundred. But I think
Speaker 1: the reasons Zimmer ultimately gets fired here is because when
Speaker 1: they made the NFC title game in the in the
Speaker 1: case keenomy or four years ago, they had the number
Speaker 1: one ranked defense in the league. Fast forward to this
Speaker 1: year ranked in football that defense, and Zimmer's inability to
Speaker 1: get them to where they needed to be, and of
Speaker 1: course Spielman's inability to stock the cupboard in an effective way,
Speaker 1: I think it's the defense that led to this blow up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's I think it's that along with the
Speaker 1: fact that it just felt like classic relationship burned out.
Speaker 1: To me, it was interesting that Eric Hendricks, their linebacker
Speaker 1: said after the firing, I don't think a fear based
Speaker 1: organization is the way to go UM their tackle. Brian
Speaker 1: O'Neill was with Kendricks and also talked about humanity being
Speaker 1: lost in the building, and there were stories of you know,
Speaker 1: Zimmer has always been a cranky Bill Parcels offshoot, but
Speaker 1: I mean, I enjoy his crankiness, but I think it
Speaker 1: kind of started to weigh that building down. They talked
Speaker 1: about him just passing people in the hall and not
Speaker 1: speaking and spending tons that are doing not a good move.
Speaker 1: He's spending all this time on defense, but look at
Speaker 1: what's happened the past couple of years on offense, where
Speaker 1: he he wrote John D. Philippo in the press week
Speaker 1: after week, then flat out fired him. Um. The NFL
Speaker 1: made a rule about allowing coaches to interview for other
Speaker 1: opportunities after she blocked Kevin Stefanski from seeking a better
Speaker 1: role with the Giants. Stephan Diggs ultimately wanted out because
Speaker 1: of the lack of attention to the offense to some degree.
Speaker 1: I mean, Zimmer, though, is a high quality coach who
Speaker 1: brought a high floor, so it's gonna be you know,
Speaker 1: it's another situation where the guy that comes in is
Speaker 1: gonna have to hit the ground running, and you can't
Speaker 1: really necessarily look at it as a chance to rebuild
Speaker 1: from scratch at all, because there's a lot of parts there.
Speaker 1: I think he knew even it was time. He was
Speaker 1: taking pictures with one of his assistant coaches on the
Speaker 1: field afterwards. He was there eight years. That's a good run.
Speaker 1: Rick Spielman was there sixteen years. That is in almost
Speaker 1: unheard of run. Now, he wasn't in charge the whole time.
Speaker 1: He was second in charge from about oh six to
Speaker 1: eleven or twelve, and then he was in charge since
Speaker 1: so that's a long time. I think the Wolves have
Speaker 1: quietly been been good owners. I think they built that stadium.
Speaker 1: There's been stability there. Zimmer was sixteen games over five hundred.
Speaker 1: He had a pretty good run that The situation he
Speaker 1: inherited was a lot of drama, but there there's a
Speaker 1: good article in the Athletic. I do like looking back
Speaker 1: sometimes when these things happened. All the drama that happened
Speaker 1: under Zimmer is crazy to think about. You mentioned like
Speaker 1: the De Filippo fire, and remember Norv Turner like just
Speaker 1: mysteriously retired in the middle of the year basically because
Speaker 1: he didn't like him, which that was fun. There was like,
Speaker 1: there was the Adrian Peterson stuff. There was Teddy Bridgewater
Speaker 1: unfortunately blowing out his his knees, Tony Sperrano's death. There
Speaker 1: there was just like a lot there. And you can
Speaker 1: imagine after eight years, the way he approached football would
Speaker 1: wear on you. And and he's such a defensive guy.
Speaker 1: It doesn't totally make sense in one but he also
Speaker 1: was a good He was a good coach. I don't
Speaker 1: You don't get the sense he wants to be become
Speaker 1: a defensive coordinator again. But if he did, like everyone
Speaker 1: would be pumped. Guy, he's kind of old school guy.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's somebody that it, you know,
Speaker 1: necessarily would fit the profile of a team that's looking
Speaker 1: for a fresh start. But yeah, like you said, he
Speaker 1: has been a successful head coach, came within a game
Speaker 1: of the Super Bowl, so he seems like a guy
Speaker 1: that would get a second shot as well. Here's what
Speaker 1: Mark Will said. By the way to Mark's point that
Speaker 1: this could be a team that hires someone new, hires
Speaker 1: a new team builder, and then the belief is that
Speaker 1: they could be contending in the NFCO. I don't want
Speaker 1: to go into a full rebuild conversation. Will said. Our
Speaker 1: point is we have high expectations for this football team.
Speaker 1: We believe we can be super competitive right here in two.
Speaker 1: This is not in the mode of a full rebuild.
Speaker 1: So this is not a team tearing it down. This
Speaker 1: is not let's trade Kirk Cousins and start Kellen Mond.
Speaker 1: This is a team that thinks they just need to
Speaker 1: freshen things up. And I get it. I like Zimmer.
Speaker 1: I think I thought it was a good coach, but
Speaker 1: you understand at a certain point, if you don't get
Speaker 1: the results you're looking for, you gotta freshen it up
Speaker 1: a little bit. I think they're in a eight spot
Speaker 1: with Cousins. I think he's like the ideal guy to
Speaker 1: keep for one more year under his current salary while
Speaker 1: you draft a rookie like and he's also a little
Speaker 1: tradeable if you wanted to dip your toe into that,
Speaker 1: and you probably wouldn't even care that much about like
Speaker 1: offending him if you get mentioned in rumors like he
Speaker 1: feels a little tradeable, and if it doesn't work out,
Speaker 1: keep him for one year. You draft someone to develop,
Speaker 1: you know, a first round pick or a second round pick,
Speaker 1: and like, I don't think they're in a bad spot.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's uh take a break here and then
Speaker 1: get into the next dismissal on new horizons week here
Speaker 1: on around the NFL. Alright, so I mentioned the Bears.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Bears. They fired coach Matt Naggy
Speaker 1: and general manager Ryan Pace on Monday after the team
Speaker 1: finished with a six and eleven record this season. That
Speaker 1: ends a four year run for Naggy that began with
Speaker 1: the NFL Coach of the Year uh two thousand eighteen.
Speaker 1: That was the double doink uh season in the playoffs
Speaker 1: or one and done against the Eagles. Uh. But it
Speaker 1: has been downhill since then, back to back eight and
Speaker 1: eight seasons in nineteen and twenty. They did make the
Speaker 1: playoffs last year as the expanded team in the new
Speaker 1: wild card round, but one and done there and then
Speaker 1: they took a step back here. Um, and this is
Speaker 1: a fresh start, Greg. They are getting rid of the
Speaker 1: entire brain trust, and they're putting faith in ownership and
Speaker 1: the people that are responsible for these this decision to
Speaker 1: install something here that will be lasting and really put
Speaker 1: this franchise back on track, because it's been a while
Speaker 1: now since it really felt like a organization to take
Speaker 1: seriously in the NFC. Yeah, it's still a family run
Speaker 1: out operation. And you can hear that when you know,
Speaker 1: mccaskey's son is speaking about like, you know, how how
Speaker 1: disappointed mom was, you know, And that's that's who they
Speaker 1: are right now, and they want to do that. I'm
Speaker 1: a little concerned, if only because they're already setting up
Speaker 1: all these GM interviews, right And they're already setting up
Speaker 1: all these coaching interviews, and the list is a long bowls, Dable,
Speaker 1: Ebra Flos, Leslie Fraser, Nathaniel Hackett, your Boy Um Byron Leftwich,
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson, Dan Quinn. It's a lot of names. But
Speaker 1: you're also interviewing the g MS at the same time,
Speaker 1: and they say that the coach is going to be
Speaker 1: reporting to the GM, Like, like, already I'm wondering a
Speaker 1: little bit about about the setup. But you do have
Speaker 1: Justin Fields, and I think you've got to hire an
Speaker 1: offensive minded coach, right, I really think that's the way
Speaker 1: to go, and whoever has the best vision and plan
Speaker 1: for Justin Fields gets the job. In my opinion, what
Speaker 1: could be more important than that. I think that one
Speaker 1: problem here is that, yes, it's a fresh start because
Speaker 1: at least it's not a Duellian GM and coach, but
Speaker 1: George McCaskey and Ted Phillips have totally turned off Chicago.
Speaker 1: That was one of the worst press conferences that has
Speaker 1: ever happened in the NFL. It was just a disaster.
Speaker 1: And why did you think it was so bad? I
Speaker 1: admit I only saw one little clip and it was
Speaker 1: that clip was bad. But I didn't watched You watched
Speaker 1: about um the Q and a section of it after
Speaker 1: his long bizarre intro, and I think that there is
Speaker 1: just a high level of exhaustion with what McCaskey and
Speaker 1: Phillips have done, and they were getting pointed questions and
Speaker 1: McCaskey basically, you know, I like Chicago media was saying
Speaker 1: that it was a masterclass and now how not to
Speaker 1: run a press conference. He just looks like a fish
Speaker 1: out of water. And it's the same people he's going
Speaker 1: to make that decision. In the end. They're gonna bring
Speaker 1: Bill Polian in as a consultant who's turning eighties soon.
Speaker 1: It just I don't know if you that There's a
Speaker 1: lot to like about the Bears, the concept of it,
Speaker 1: but the ownership situation, it's creaky inability to change would
Speaker 1: concern me as a head coach candidate. Mhm alright, pet
Speaker 1: Matt Naggy, You know he did. He did go out
Speaker 1: with a winning record for pres There as much grief
Speaker 1: as he took um, he did have a quoting record
Speaker 1: for his career. And that's and the thing is, all
Speaker 1: the other coaches that are still hired right now, beware
Speaker 1: because Barras fans won't have Matt Naggy to kick around anymore.
Speaker 1: There's always someone else who's going to be the guy in.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was a classic thing where like they
Speaker 1: almost shouldn't have won the division with Drabinsky. It like
Speaker 1: ruined the next couple of years because they kept trying
Speaker 1: to do it. It was a miracle and he did
Speaker 1: do a nice job that that year with Drabinsky. The
Speaker 1: entire yeah, the entire um, the you know, the brain
Speaker 1: trust there. Naggi inherited Mitch Drabinsky. Uh. It was Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace who made one of the great draft gaffs of
Speaker 1: all time. Uh, not only passing on Deshaun Watson and
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes but trading up to get Mitch Drabinsky at
Speaker 1: two overall. Um, So, the fact that he lasted this
Speaker 1: long after a gaffe at that level does speak to
Speaker 1: some issues behind the scenes. Mark, I think it does.
Speaker 1: I think I got a sandwich off you. Uh though
Speaker 1: for Naggy getting dismissed. I think you thought because of
Speaker 1: the organization that they would be too loyal and moved
Speaker 1: too slowly. You did, and I I thought they might
Speaker 1: move too slowly. I looked at the go get my
Speaker 1: lunch um dot org um page the other day and
Speaker 1: I was like, what was I on LSD when I
Speaker 1: took that? Because we're gonna hit that. We're gonna hit
Speaker 1: that at the end of the show. Let's let's take
Speaker 1: a break, all right, welcome back. Let's now hit on
Speaker 1: another coach who's seemingly in danger but still employed, Matt Rule.
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers. We heard the Fox report last week. Jay
Speaker 1: Glazer put it out there that Rule needed to hire
Speaker 1: a quote rock star offensive coordinator to save his job.
Speaker 1: Than rap Sheet reported um today that the Panthers fired
Speaker 1: special teams coach Chase Blackburn, offensive line coach Pat Meyer,
Speaker 1: defensive line coach Frank oakum okay o coom uh. So
Speaker 1: this is the this is the move mark that the
Speaker 1: Panthers are taking right now. Matt Rules not the problem.
Speaker 1: Everything else around him, including the coaching staff that he
Speaker 1: put together, is the problem. Does this also feel a
Speaker 1: little backwards for the Panthers? Well, I mean to me,
Speaker 1: it just feels like an example of a curating nose
Speaker 1: diving for a coach that I thought last season had
Speaker 1: a lot of support around him. And you know when
Speaker 1: you start firing, like you know, when you fire the
Speaker 1: starry offensive coordinator that everyone thought might be the next
Speaker 1: big thing in the NFL. Now you're firing your special
Speaker 1: teams coordinator, You're firing line coaches left and right, your scapegoating,
Speaker 1: and there's at some point and it's gonna be real
Speaker 1: hot the minute the next season starts. Where the fingers
Speaker 1: are gonna be pointed nowhere else but at Matt Rule.
Speaker 1: I think that already started. At the end of the year.
Speaker 1: There's probably a bunch of them. But if judge Stock
Speaker 1: it stuck around would be like a nice sort of
Speaker 1: horse race between there's always one guy that ends up
Speaker 1: being the guy. Well, I don't know if Panthers if
Speaker 1: the Panthers fan base would be as vocal, perhaps as
Speaker 1: the Bears had been around Nagi. But Nagi became a
Speaker 1: national thing. And uh yeah, I think Rules a very
Speaker 1: strong candidate. He's getting there. He just seems so disheveled
Speaker 1: and discombobulated when they asked him about Sam Donald, like
Speaker 1: he just didn't have an answer for Sam Donald. He
Speaker 1: just started he started himing and high and being like, well,
Speaker 1: we we brought we brought him in. We we thought
Speaker 1: we thought he could he could be a quarterback. That's
Speaker 1: why we guarantee the money. But that's like the low
Speaker 1: end of starter money. And it was just like he
Speaker 1: looked like he hadn't slept, which maybe he hadn't. It's
Speaker 1: the last game of the season. They're doing all this stuff,
Speaker 1: but he just he he seems like the NFL has
Speaker 1: bowled him over a little bit. I don't hate them
Speaker 1: keeping him for a third year. Maybe I'm wrong. I
Speaker 1: you know, I wasn't as high on him as Mark.
Speaker 1: Mark you know, had this loves this Panther's team, love
Speaker 1: Matt Rule. I see how he's now putting it on
Speaker 1: other people. He was like, he was like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: people were very high on him. It's like no, no, no.
Speaker 1: I mean it's obvious that I was, but it was
Speaker 1: also because he came up and shook my hands. So
Speaker 1: I don't know. If there's a lot of like inte
Speaker 1: gritty and my fandom, I guess I'm like, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: still one that Okay. If it's a total that like
Speaker 1: built out your analysis for a year and a half,
Speaker 1: well I look at I also liked the idea that
Speaker 1: he had a history of taking programs, rehabbing them and
Speaker 1: making very them very strong. I thought he could be
Speaker 1: like a Jimmy Johnson type figure. Right now you think
Speaker 1: nothing like that of him. And the best thing to
Speaker 1: Greg's point is to have him not on Mike for
Speaker 1: weeks and weeks in a row. I mean, he's he
Speaker 1: needs a break and he needs to come back with
Speaker 1: a plan and a quarterback. Right they've they've been him
Speaker 1: and his GM Scott Fitter, who is you know, fairly
Speaker 1: new Like both were like, well, we just gotta get
Speaker 1: an offensive line. You know, if you protect Sam Donald,
Speaker 1: He's he's shown he's he can be a good quarterback.
Speaker 1: First of all, that's like the minimum baseline, like if
Speaker 1: you get perfect protection. Donald can be average, but that
Speaker 1: it's like, well, why did it take two years to
Speaker 1: think of like, let's have good uh and a good
Speaker 1: offensive line like that? That that's your that's your big solution.
Speaker 1: And yet I don't. I don't hate them keeping him
Speaker 1: I kind of thing coaches should get three years unless
Speaker 1: they're total disasters and haven't shown anything. And I and
Speaker 1: I actually think his his offense has made sense to me,
Speaker 1: especially a year ago that the line was so bad.
Speaker 1: This year they've built up that defensive I think he's
Speaker 1: just above that threshold of unmitigated disaster only gets to
Speaker 1: that giving him a third. I don't hate it, and
Speaker 1: it wouldn't It wouldn't shock me with some with some
Speaker 1: better personnel moves if they're if they're in the mix,
Speaker 1: and he gets along with the owner to that from
Speaker 1: all we hear that they get along well and they
Speaker 1: have some shared visions, so that probably helps. You know,
Speaker 1: he's an offensive guy who's just made so many bad
Speaker 1: quarterback decisions that it feels like their whole offseason is
Speaker 1: going to be based on if they get a big
Speaker 1: time quarterback, they better be best friends for this too.
Speaker 1: That to be a driving reason for him staying. I
Speaker 1: mean it's like results are results and there have not
Speaker 1: been any there. How about Uh, David Culley in the Texans,
Speaker 1: We've mentioned him a couple of times. He expects to
Speaker 1: return for a second season, despite a lot of speculation
Speaker 1: about his job status. Hear is what Cullis had to
Speaker 1: say after loss of the Titans the end of the season.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to being the head coach of the
Speaker 1: football team next year. Haven't thought about it one minute,
Speaker 1: he said, As far as he knows, he'll be back. Um,
Speaker 1: we talked about this a little bit on the Sunday Show.
Speaker 1: Team CEO and chairman kl McNair general manager Nikis Sario.
Speaker 1: You're not hearing anything from the team about Cully's future.
Speaker 1: Jake Glazer reports that it's something that that can happen.
Speaker 1: Usually when Glazer reports something like that, uh, that that
Speaker 1: Cully is out, he probably will be out. Um. It
Speaker 1: would not be a great look, but it is what
Speaker 1: it is. They stopped caring about how things look and
Speaker 1: Houston a while ago. Right, it's just like you you
Speaker 1: hired this guy. It just it just fulfills basically the
Speaker 1: worst thoughts of what everyone thought when they hired David
Speaker 1: Culley because I don't even think there's an argument of
Speaker 1: whether this team performed above expectations or not. They did
Speaker 1: the people were thinking this might be one of the
Speaker 1: worst NFL teams ever created. Like, yeah, I think they
Speaker 1: had like a two and two and a half over
Speaker 1: under something absolutely preposterous. Um. You know, they developed a quarterback,
Speaker 1: they were competitive, their defense actually was decent. Like and
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he should be a great long term
Speaker 1: head coach, but assuming if they do fire him and
Speaker 1: then hire some casario friend, like a former Patriots guy,
Speaker 1: whether it's McDaniels or Florist, then it's just they were
Speaker 1: that's what they were intending to do the whole time,
Speaker 1: and they used they used the guy as a patsy
Speaker 1: and and give him a lot of money to do
Speaker 1: so well. I think if anything, though, if you're David Culley,
Speaker 1: you escape with a money guaranteed money and be I
Speaker 1: think a pretty good league wide evaluation of the job
Speaker 1: you did. It's it's not a flaming train wreck where
Speaker 1: you vanished from society for two years because we don't
Speaker 1: think you're up to the job. I would not put
Speaker 1: it past the Texans just with their weirdness and the
Speaker 1: way they rate for us to suddenly find out that
Speaker 1: they hired like a Josh McDaniels and they had a
Speaker 1: secret interview or a un announced interview to get to
Speaker 1: make all that kosher. But it's like they're just so bizarre,
Speaker 1: and I think they've done them so dirty, and it's
Speaker 1: just like, how how can this organization that even a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago was on the up and up
Speaker 1: look this bad and operate this poorly. It's it's like
Speaker 1: they stand out among the other thirty two teams. Like
Speaker 1: Jeff Howe from The Athletic, who is a former Patriots reporter,
Speaker 1: said they might not decide to about Thursday or Friday,
Speaker 1: so like this is this is where because like they're
Speaker 1: supposedly evaluating until then, and it's pretty clear that the
Speaker 1: Easter Beecas areo combo is trying to see if they
Speaker 1: can get the guy that they want and if they can't,
Speaker 1: then I guess we'll string along college for another year.
Speaker 1: Like it's just it's just kind of a thing. Like
Speaker 1: I said, it's just by some of their actions, it
Speaker 1: feels like the Texans have no idea what they're doing. Yes,
Speaker 1: it could seem like that from the outside. Now maybe
Speaker 1: inside down mother, they know exactly what's going on. But
Speaker 1: from here where we are, na many ain't it inside
Speaker 1: the building increased up machine, no doubt that. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I want to cut that. I like that
Speaker 1: the whole um. Lastly, Dan Quinn, he's the defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: of the Cowboys. He has really uh see the he
Speaker 1: This is the perfect example of how you rehabilitate your
Speaker 1: image and brand in the NFL. Quinn went from hot
Speaker 1: shot d C. Was a d C in Seattle. Is
Speaker 1: that where he was before he got the Atlantic job,
Speaker 1: got the Atlanta job, built that program, went to a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. We all know how that turned out, then
Speaker 1: went into a long decline in Atlanta, got fired, looked
Speaker 1: like old news. But he still had the chops as
Speaker 1: a defensive play caller. Goes to the Cowboys, revitalizes that
Speaker 1: defense with some help Mica Parsons falling into his lap
Speaker 1: was a nice little upgrade that helped him. And now
Speaker 1: he's a hot candidate again. And there is a report,
Speaker 1: uh it's circulating out there, um Denver sevens Troy rank
Speaker 1: for instance, But I think it's popped up in a
Speaker 1: few places that the Broncos have requested permission to interview
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn for their head coaching vacancy. Of course, we
Speaker 1: learned Vic Fangio was fired on Sunday morning, so that's
Speaker 1: another opening in Denver. Why does this feel weird to me? Though, Greg,
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just because we've been doing this long enough.
Speaker 1: You know how it typically works. You fire the guy
Speaker 1: that's a defensive minded coach, that's a veteran guy, so
Speaker 1: then in hire an offensive minded guy that's kind of
Speaker 1: like a hot shot. Usually like to go opposite, but
Speaker 1: this feels like you're in the same lane. Yeah, I'm surprised.
Speaker 1: And there if you read between the lines, it sounds
Speaker 1: like he might be a favorite or the favorite in Denver,
Speaker 1: and then he might have more interviews to uh elsewhere
Speaker 1: in the league. At one point there was a report
Speaker 1: he declined to talk to the Agers, but he said
Speaker 1: it was more about timing. I think people around the
Speaker 1: league and I don't. I don't know the relationship he
Speaker 1: has with George Peyton. I could have should have looked
Speaker 1: it up. Who is the GM in Denver. It's a
Speaker 1: very strange situation. Peyton has only been there a year,
Speaker 1: the ownership could be changing, and nothing's gonna stop by
Speaker 1: Peyton from hiring a coach, but the ownership could be
Speaker 1: totally different in a month. I'd be stunned to hire
Speaker 1: Quinn as a defensive guy, but I guess they see
Speaker 1: him as a leader of men, and he has a
Speaker 1: great reputation just because then you gotta find the offensive guy.
Speaker 1: Something he was off and on about, you know, in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: He did well when Kyle Shannon was there, essentially, and
Speaker 1: not so well when he wasn't there. That's the problem
Speaker 1: with hiring a defensive head coaches. They take your offensive
Speaker 1: guy if if he's good, Like if you do a
Speaker 1: good job hiring your offensive guy, it gets taken from you.
Speaker 1: And so that's why I'd always lean offense. Not that
Speaker 1: there aren't good defensive minded head coaches. Sean McDermott's amazing,
Speaker 1: but it surprises me that it sounds like he might
Speaker 1: be the favorite there and I looking at the list
Speaker 1: of their candidates, two others stand out to me, just
Speaker 1: based on what we thought could happen with the Broncos
Speaker 1: this offseason. Dan's Guy, Nathaniel Hackett and Packers. Who's the
Speaker 1: Packers oh see, and Green Bay quarterbacks coach Luke getsy.
Speaker 1: I wonder if there is a side plot or a
Speaker 1: plan to bring those guys in. Aaron Rodgers was one
Speaker 1: of the first guys to trump for Nathaniel Hackett getting
Speaker 1: a head coaching job last offseason, So would that ever
Speaker 1: be the way to lure Aaron Rodgers to Denver with
Speaker 1: someone he really loves and also maybe bring over the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks coach as well. In an environment that tells Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: we got you. Oh God, Aaron Rodgers, isn't an environment
Speaker 1: where they got him. I get that. The other does
Speaker 1: any sense. It doesn't seem like he's moving at this point,
Speaker 1: but we are. We are less than a calendar year
Speaker 1: removed from him being totally annoying any other team offers.
Speaker 1: It's like, it's it's not better than what Green Bay
Speaker 1: offers to him right now in terms of how he
Speaker 1: secures his legacy in these fine years. But it's all good.
Speaker 1: Points you by the way, greg Us, George Peyton, Patton,
Speaker 1: General Patton. It's Peyton. We like to call him General Patton,
Speaker 1: but it's Peyton. They didn't Quinn and Patton didn't have
Speaker 1: a Payton didn't have a lot of overlap in their career.
Speaker 1: They worked briefly together with the Dolphins like fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1: But this isn't anything where these guys have been tied
Speaker 1: to the hip at some point. So we'll see um.
Speaker 1: One other guy on that list who stands out, Doug
Speaker 1: Peterson was added. He's gonna talk to him little, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's talking to the Bears. He's making the rounds in general.
Speaker 1: One last just like Coaching Tracker News and it's on
Speaker 1: NFL dot com. You can see where all the interviews,
Speaker 1: like the Jaggers have interviewed everyone including Bill O'Brien left,
Speaker 1: which all that stuff. Mike McDaniel in Miami sounds like
Speaker 1: one that might have some legs. Very well regarded offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator for the forty Niners, Kyle Shannon a sort of
Speaker 1: famously not allowed him to leave for a lateral move,
Speaker 1: but he certainly would if it was a head coaching job.
Speaker 1: And and that that's one that seems to have a
Speaker 1: little a little bit of buzz and heady into Sunday night,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of buzz about Harbaugh and the
Speaker 1: up in Las Vegas. But I do wonder if if
Speaker 1: a that's b s or be like whether Besaccia can
Speaker 1: now keep this job. I'm curious what Psacia has to
Speaker 1: do to keep the job like this, this tenant seven
Speaker 1: in the playoffs not enough? Well what if they win?
Speaker 1: And I think they can by the way, we're gonna
Speaker 1: get into it on Thursday or preview of all the
Speaker 1: Super wild Card weekend games. But I kind of like
Speaker 1: the Raiders chances of hanging around in that game against
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Uh? Would that make rich Besaccia? Would that
Speaker 1: rip off the interim label? Well? You make that divisional
Speaker 1: round would be pretty It would be harder to imagine
Speaker 1: them making a change. One little, one little tiny note.
Speaker 1: The night that I shook hands with Matt Rule, I
Speaker 1: was speaking with a Niners assistant. You were there, Dan,
Speaker 1: We were at that bizarre party. Was probably had about
Speaker 1: four to seven titos in me at that point, but yes,
Speaker 1: I was there physically, you were there. Um. A Niners
Speaker 1: assistant told me that Mike McDaniel was the most impressive
Speaker 1: creative person on the entire staff. Do you hear this?
Speaker 1: Do you hear that? Greg? This is Mark his next
Speaker 1: target of affection infatuation and was a former Brown's here
Speaker 1: we go. Andrew Hawkins and Joe Thomas have spoken publicly
Speaker 1: about this that they think he's like, yeah, they didn't.
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan's maybe the great card. We're just exing them. All. Yeah.
Speaker 1: They love McDaniel. They think he is the real deal.
Speaker 1: All Right, there you go. That's what's happening in the news.
Speaker 1: All right, before we get out of here. New segment
Speaker 1: sponsor Quality Time, brought to you by a Verizon, the
Speaker 1: official five G network of the NFL. Quality Time. It's
Speaker 1: us all together, chopping it up, talking ball through the
Speaker 1: go Get My Lunch segment, produced by the great Nick Fourtier.
Speaker 1: It's very important that people understand that this is probably
Speaker 1: not gonna look good for any of us, um but
Speaker 1: it's very hard to make these predictions, even the ones
Speaker 1: that seem safe. Like I remember, as I was looking
Speaker 1: at mine, I was like, I don't remember the show
Speaker 1: where we made these props, Like Greg had this whole
Speaker 1: monologue about how I wasn't hanging any onions. These were
Speaker 1: like insane props that I was laying out there in
Speaker 1: my opinion, but that was all based on the speculation
Speaker 1: of what will happen in it never works out how
Speaker 1: we all expect. Anyway, let's go through it. Mark will
Speaker 1: start with you, buddy, it looks like you're it looks
Speaker 1: like you're twelve and nine or No. Twelve and seven. Nice.
Speaker 1: It did come out good for someone old third place Sessler.
Speaker 1: That's that's an exemplary And as I've said many times,
Speaker 1: h Mark is like the old Rob Deer, that old
Speaker 1: slugger for the Brewer is, or name the hit or
Speaker 1: miss slugger from your youth watching baseball, the guy that
Speaker 1: strikes out two times, but he'll hit thirty two homers,
Speaker 1: he'll run into one and every once in a while
Speaker 1: he hits a bomb. And we're gonna get to one here. First,
Speaker 1: you have Big Ben starts week one for the Texans.
Speaker 1: I remember when you said that, and I didn't. I
Speaker 1: thought it was a joke, but you kind of had
Speaker 1: a theory. They're connected to Deshaun Watson, and I guess
Speaker 1: the Texans looking to contend and the Steelers looking for
Speaker 1: a fresh start. Negative. We got two sandwiches there, one
Speaker 1: for Dan, one for Greg. Uh. You nailed the A
Speaker 1: coach will resign during the season. That is, by the way,
Speaker 1: this is all coming from the great Nick four tier
Speaker 1: of Go get my Lunch dot Org. Nick has urban Meyer.
Speaker 1: Here Meyer was fired, but John Gruden resigned before he
Speaker 1: get fired. Bang nailed it. Got two sandwiches there, way
Speaker 1: to profit off of racial controversy there, that's what he does.
Speaker 1: Why do you need to frame it that way? But
Speaker 1: it's not. But let's say, let's just be honest, Mark,
Speaker 1: it's not the first time you've done that. All right,
Speaker 1: next category, A top story involves an NFL cheerleader and
Speaker 1: this and this, you know, this just shows everyone gets
Speaker 1: upset about the Philly Special and all this. No then no, no,
Speaker 1: we're magnanimous here and it's it's Yeah. Was the NFL
Speaker 1: cheerleader angle of the Gruden situation really the biggest part
Speaker 1: of that story? No, but it was. It was a
Speaker 1: little those little seasoning in that story. And Mark said,
Speaker 1: a top story involves an NFL cheerleader. There was that
Speaker 1: whole calendar issue around John Gruden and Washington football team.
Speaker 1: Bang two more sangwiches. Mark, So good for you, buddy.
Speaker 1: Right there, there's your rob Deer hits one eight. When
Speaker 1: you are when you're projecting these things, and really this
Speaker 1: is the area for all the three are just true
Speaker 1: experts should be doing this to start with. I mean
Speaker 1: you you you see things and they feel strong, but
Speaker 1: when you when you put them into words, which I
Speaker 1: falter about sometimes. You know, I maybe over the size
Speaker 1: the size of the story involving the cheerleader, but there's
Speaker 1: no doubt that, um, you know, once again, totally dead on.
Speaker 1: And I feel like I've done my I've done my
Speaker 1: work and I'm ready to just walk out of the
Speaker 1: room here. So just recap. You've you've won sandwiches um
Speaker 1: from a racial controversy ending one of the most famous
Speaker 1: men in the NFL's career, and a sexual misconduct UM
Speaker 1: allegation and report that ended up, you know, causing Washington's
Speaker 1: ownership to be changed. That's where you're winning your sandwiches, right,
Speaker 1: But that's your That's not to be conflated with the
Speaker 1: idea that I'm prancing around celebrating those things. It's a
Speaker 1: a prediction of a seconds ago. Well, you're the results,
Speaker 1: not how I got there and not you know, not
Speaker 1: what I what it is that I saw. And again
Speaker 1: there's a Robb Deer component to this. So let's just
Speaker 1: hit the rest of them here. Baker Mayfield will throw
Speaker 1: more touch downs than Aaron Rodgers. That just tells you
Speaker 1: where Mark felt both about Baker and Rogers coming off
Speaker 1: a vpcas and Rogers finished with thirty seven, Baker just
Speaker 1: twenty behind him at seventeen. Okay, so not such a
Speaker 1: shiny result. Imagine if imagine if I told you back
Speaker 1: in August, Mark, not only will he not do it,
Speaker 1: you could double Baker's touchdown total and he still won't
Speaker 1: match Aaron Rodgers. See that would have been a great
Speaker 1: sandwich prop on your to countermine. And then of course
Speaker 1: a close but no cigar hand grenade theater. Here a
Speaker 1: team finishes eight eight and one, so close, but the
Speaker 1: Steelers uh pull it out in week eighteen, beating the
Speaker 1: Ravens to finish nine or what were they nine seven
Speaker 1: and one. You were a Marquis Brown drop away from
Speaker 1: the I would say the greatest go get my lunch
Speaker 1: performance in history. If you get that one and with
Speaker 1: those three and whatever your win loss record would be,
Speaker 1: that would be it. Wow. Alright now, I mean that
Speaker 1: that turned that's by the time the season, it turned
Speaker 1: totally dark on me. So I was not surprised to
Speaker 1: not get that one on the final Sunday, Greg, I
Speaker 1: see all read for you, which I didn't trouble and
Speaker 1: the go get my lunch dot org universe. You are
Speaker 1: six and seven, which means you've made six sandwiches on
Speaker 1: other people's incorrect predictions, but none on your own. The
Speaker 1: Broncos will make the playoffs. Mark got a sandwich on that. Stupidly,
Speaker 1: I got sucked into some of that Denver hype because
Speaker 1: I think when Greg, when really Gregg, gets on one
Speaker 1: in like August and September and he's just completely obsessed
Speaker 1: with the team like the Broncos, I think it rubbed
Speaker 1: off on me and I will learn from that going forward.
Speaker 1: Speaking of which, Greg, Terry McLaurin will finish with a
Speaker 1: higher ranking and receiving yards and the Rams seed in
Speaker 1: the NFC. I like the way you worded this one.
Speaker 1: I did draft Terry McLaurin as well. That didn't work
Speaker 1: out for me in my fantasy league. I picked up
Speaker 1: two sang which is here just so everyone knows. And
Speaker 1: I do applaud you Greg for the setup of it.
Speaker 1: I did enjoy looking at things from a different perspective.
Speaker 1: But Terry finished nineteenth in receiving yards. The Rams finished
Speaker 1: fourth in the NFC soft spots separated three teams from
Speaker 1: the a f C East will have more victories than
Speaker 1: the amount of consecutive photos that Mark posted to Instagram
Speaker 1: of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in early September. Yet
Speaker 1: Mark was in a bit of a place very early
Speaker 1: on in the season, and there was a lot of
Speaker 1: Leo Kate stuff going on. There were nine photos esecutively
Speaker 1: on social media and what was how was it worded?
Speaker 1: It had to be more than nine. Three teams have
Speaker 1: to have more than those photos, so it had to
Speaker 1: be Dolphins got to nine. Three double digit team, three
Speaker 1: teams with double digit wins. The Bills got eleven, the
Speaker 1: Pats got ten, the Dolphins gotten nine. If only they
Speaker 1: could have extended that winning streak uh in week seventeen,
Speaker 1: they would have hit ten as well. Uh give I
Speaker 1: give Greg credit for some very creative sandwich um word
Speaker 1: worded propositions. There losses. This one's fun. I like it.
Speaker 1: Jadeveon Clowney, there was the breathless summer of hype about Clowney.
Speaker 1: Has been the case his whole career, I said, under
Speaker 1: four and a half sacks but Clowney did have a presence.
Speaker 1: He was a guy that did some things for the
Speaker 1: Cleveland defensive line. He had nine sacks. I want to
Speaker 1: say something I I did not know he finished with
Speaker 1: nine sacks. That's amazing to me because that means he
Speaker 1: still doesn't have a double digit sacks season. Well that's
Speaker 1: one way. He had two in the final game and
Speaker 1: and got a two fifty dollar bonus because of that.
Speaker 1: Good for him. Is he under contract for next year? No,
Speaker 1: but none other than Myles Garrett In A couple of
Speaker 1: other defensive players are lobbying to bring him back. So
Speaker 1: you got to get out take take, get the good
Speaker 1: while the good is getting then make a move. I will.
Speaker 1: I will set up this prop again next year if
Speaker 1: he's still in the Browns. Week one, Jets beat the Panthers.
Speaker 1: Cynthia and I had a wager. I don't even think
Speaker 1: the should be part of the competition, but it is.
Speaker 1: I took an l there. Zack Wilson wins Offensive Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year. Not quite Zach. That was sometimes I
Speaker 1: like to wish cast in this particular game, um Wilson
Speaker 1: was middling at best for most of his rookie year
Speaker 1: and really was quite bad. In large trunks chunks are
Speaker 1: lost to their The a f C will post at
Speaker 1: least a five forty one winning percentage versus the NFC.
Speaker 1: The youth. By the way, I love that you didn't
Speaker 1: take me on this, Greg, Um what the theory here
Speaker 1: was that? Uh, in September and early September, we were
Speaker 1: all on this like kick that the a f C
Speaker 1: was much better than the NFC, and um, so I
Speaker 1: thought that that would lead to success. However, turned out
Speaker 1: that the a f c's winning percentage was seven. Why
Speaker 1: didn't I take you? That was? I don't know. And
Speaker 1: let's see, at least two of the following teams will
Speaker 1: lose ten plus games. This is one you got upset about, Greg,
Speaker 1: and you didn't take me on it either. At least
Speaker 1: two two of the following teams will lose ten plus
Speaker 1: games Steelers and what did Steelers lose? Eight Bears who
Speaker 1: lost eleven, Saints who lost eight, Cults who lost. Well,
Speaker 1: that's why I got mad at you. I was like, Um,
Speaker 1: I didn't think it was hanging it, so I didn't
Speaker 1: take you on that. So I didn't didn't take me
Speaker 1: and um so you won that one over Mark at
Speaker 1: least two. No, I lost right, only only one of
Speaker 1: them had the only one made it yea. And finally
Speaker 1: Matt Naggie has fired after the season, Mark, you took
Speaker 1: me on that. That was at some point in our
Speaker 1: podcast in a random episode, we may that wager, and um, Ricky,
Speaker 1: you had one by the way, you want to jump
Speaker 1: on a second crashed and burned real hard summer summer storylines,
Speaker 1: run a muck. You had Marquise Callaway, remember the hype
Speaker 1: around Callaway during the preseason out targets Michael Thomas. But
Speaker 1: this was an important distinction, semi colon upon his return.
Speaker 1: Michael Thomas never returned, so according this was now he
Speaker 1: didn't come to us on this, but I like that
Speaker 1: he's the he's the arbiter of this stuff. Nick Fourtier
Speaker 1: said void. He wrote, Michael Thomas never returned, so that
Speaker 1: the wager goes nowhere. It never happens. But didn't I
Speaker 1: say that he would replace Michael Thomas? I mean target?
Speaker 1: He finished? Yeah, he had eighty four targets for the season,
Speaker 1: and how many did Michael Thomas get. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that we don't decide this, Ricky. This isn't like when
Speaker 1: Greg was strong arming you in the PIS competition. This year,
Speaker 1: like the PIS competition, this has a is a nothing
Speaker 1: burger now, just like Ricky hasn't even made a pick
Speaker 1: in the last three or four weeks somebody, but you
Speaker 1: s it again that again, you kind of set the
Speaker 1: table that you took her spirit away a little bit there, Greg,
Speaker 1: what about last year then when she stopped picking games
Speaker 1: about a month. But that's not helping her spirit to
Speaker 1: go back into the past and you know, fling more
Speaker 1: arrows at Erica. I think a good New Year's resolution,
Speaker 1: Greg is to think about Ricky's spirit very very gentle.
Speaker 1: It needs protection. She has that that tough exterior. She
Speaker 1: wears that black leather jacket all the time, and she
Speaker 1: rides a motorcycle, but she's she's a flower. Really, Maybe, Greg,
Speaker 1: maybe at the end of like a Thursday show, you
Speaker 1: could be like, oh, we haven't heard from Erica this
Speaker 1: whole show. Maybe I should ask her who she locks
Speaker 1: this week? Like, maybe that would be good instead of
Speaker 1: trying to push myself into you know, conversation. Yeah, are
Speaker 1: you're right, I'm not thinking about that. Hey, Mark, we've
Speaker 1: reached a part of the show where Eric and Greg
Speaker 1: start working out their stuff like in a passive aggressive way.
Speaker 1: In the middle of the podcast, we're here, we are, well,
Speaker 1: we gotta give something to the people who waited this
Speaker 1: long and only got like a void Marquez callaway. Uh, finally,
Speaker 1: Check was on our show and the ramp up to
Speaker 1: the season, he predicted the Chargers would win the a
Speaker 1: f C West. They did not win the a f
Speaker 1: C West. It was the Chiefs. Gosh, they were so close.
Speaker 1: I was just thinking about that that they were like
Speaker 1: a minute away from being in first place over the
Speaker 1: Chiefs three weeks ago. Now they're not in the playoffs. Yep,
Speaker 1: that's how it works, all right. There you go check
Speaker 1: it out, go get my lunch dot org. Not only
Speaker 1: does it have the wagers for this season, it has
Speaker 1: every wager ever. And that's just fun because I went
Speaker 1: back and checked out the all time standings and you
Speaker 1: get like just random gems like Chris Westling predicting team
Speaker 1: that drafts Johnny Manzel, the Los Angeles Rams or was
Speaker 1: it the St. Louis Rams back then. I don't know.
Speaker 1: We've been doing this a long time because the l
Speaker 1: A Rams, that's amazing. Wow. Anyway, good stuff. And that
Speaker 1: was Quality Time brought to you by Verizon, the official
Speaker 1: five G network of the NFL. All Thursday. That's the
Speaker 1: next time you're gonna hear from us, and we will
Speaker 1: be previewing Super wild Card weekend, a whole bunch of
Speaker 1: games to break down. We're excited to do it for you. Um,
Speaker 1: So thank you to everybody. And and just heads up,
Speaker 1: set your DVRs is back. The NFL Network version of
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL podcast. We call it the Broadcast. Uh.
Speaker 1: It is not infringing on Erica's i P because broadcast
Speaker 1: is different than broadcast. It's just it's different. It's that
Speaker 1: little itty bitty ting. It's different. But I love the plug.
Speaker 1: Check out the broadcast. Checkouts it ends. And I was
Speaker 1: going to say, and Greg take a note here, Ricky
Speaker 1: got split ends this week. What's on the show. We
Speaker 1: got Mike Golic Jr. From ESPN after the National Championship Game, uh,
Speaker 1: last night for college talking a little bit of that,
Speaker 1: talking a little Bachelor because he's a known Bachelor watcher.
Speaker 1: So it was it was fun. Okay, I've been taking
Speaker 1: I'm taking notes, Dana. Is this how it works? Check
Speaker 1: Ricky out on the Jessel Nick and Rosenthal Vanity Project.
Speaker 1: You know, she speaks a lot more on that than
Speaker 1: than here. She's really integral part of the show. Erica.
Speaker 1: Do you worry at all about intense overexposure at some
Speaker 1: point you're on roughly seventeen different shows. Um? No, because Mark,
Speaker 1: remember you did like a meditation maybe five years ago
Speaker 1: when I just started, and it was about me coming
Speaker 1: from like the corner office of NFL network to shut
Speaker 1: down around the NFL um. I'm just getting more powerful
Speaker 1: as time goes on, So it would behoove you to
Speaker 1: stay on my good side. Let's end the show, all right.
Speaker 1: We'll be back Thursday. Thank you for listening. Until then,
Speaker 1: he's a call.