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Speaker 1: Lifetime, the official athletic country Club of the Minnesota Vikings,

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Speaker 1: has something for every member of your family. Get your

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Speaker 1: family going today at Lifetime, dot Life Forward, slash Kits.

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Speaker 1: You know, one of the things about Eric was he

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Speaker 1: always felt like he carried himself the right away when

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Speaker 1: he was here with the team. And to see the

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Speaker 1: letter that he put out with the Player's Tribune and

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Speaker 1: it was just amazing, there's gonna be a piece of

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Speaker 1: Minnesota that's still with him and still a part of

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Speaker 1: his family. And so there was an instant rapport relatability

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Speaker 1: for the most part. I mean, I mean, you know

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Speaker 1: when best friends or everybody right up walking in a room,

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Speaker 1: but let's be honest, looking at me, they're like, oh wow,

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Speaker 1: here's somebody that looks like me. You're listening to the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings Podcast, a weekly, all encompassing show that we

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Speaker 1: like to do here in the Vikings Entertainment Network. I'm

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Speaker 1: Tatum Everett. Jay Nelson is here. Hello. How's it going.

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Speaker 1: You need a weekend? Yeah? It was a great weekend,

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Speaker 1: just kind of hung out with some friends, watching a

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Speaker 1: whole lot of sports between basketball and hockey, see and

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Speaker 1: everything else. There's a lot of stuff going on. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it is that time of year. I feel like everything

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Speaker 1: is starting coming to playoffs currently, you know, it's March Madness, right,

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Speaker 1: everything's kind of crazy. It's that shift from the winter

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Speaker 1: sports finishing to the spring sports beginning, and March Madness

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Speaker 1: is always such a huge deal. It's awesome, and this year,

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Speaker 1: I think with the crazy parody that's happened within the bracket,

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Speaker 1: it's just unbelievable. So who has a good bracket right now? Nobody? Nobody,

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Speaker 1: And that was a thing like even after that first weekend,

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Speaker 1: they basically said the odds of going through and having

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Speaker 1: a perfect bracket at that point was something that was

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Speaker 1: the equivalent to pick a grain of sand off of

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Speaker 1: a beach and then drop it and have somebody pick

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Speaker 1: up the exact same grain of sand. Like, the entire

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Speaker 1: bracket structure was completely blown out that first weekend, and

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Speaker 1: it's just been fun to watch all these not necessarily

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Speaker 1: blue blood teams that have gotten in there. And I

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Speaker 1: know blue blood franchises and teams love to have that,

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Speaker 1: and I'm sure it's gonna be really interesting to see

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Speaker 1: what the support is in Houston because they are some

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Speaker 1: of these smaller lesser programs typically about that. Yeah, what

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Speaker 1: it is exciting to see groups like Florida Atlantic in

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Speaker 1: Miami and San Diego State and some of these other schools,

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Speaker 1: including Yukon that don't necessarily get this kind of a

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Speaker 1: final four shot. And it's been fun to watch this

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Speaker 1: this whole tournament. I feel like they would have to travel, right,

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Speaker 1: like you're once in a lifetime thing like this may

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Speaker 1: never happen again, oh for sure, but it's the whole

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Speaker 1: thing of your Carolina as your dukes, all of these

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Speaker 1: huge programs. If Texas had made it through, yeah, the

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Speaker 1: idea of they have such a huge everywhere that they're

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Speaker 1: going to travel from all over the country to go

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Speaker 1: to it, especially in a place like Houston. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: Texas would have been massive. But I like the idea

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Speaker 1: of having these smaller schools getting in there and doing

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Speaker 1: this because, like you said, it could be a thing

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Speaker 1: where those franchise, you know, those alumni turned around and say,

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Speaker 1: we might never get here again. Yeah We're going to

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Speaker 1: Houston to go to this game. Already, I've already talked

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Speaker 1: about if my college gets in the Cultur World Series,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm driving to Omaha sure, I don't care. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: why wouldn't you? The coolest experience, Like to go to

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Speaker 1: those kind of sporting events is just so much fun.

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Speaker 1: It's a lot closer now than it used to be

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Speaker 1: for you being down in it is. Although I have

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Speaker 1: made that drive a couple of times to go to

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Speaker 1: the College World Series. I've been before like three times.

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Speaker 1: Did I am a die hard and I love bait? Well,

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Speaker 1: it was it was for work, but you know it

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Speaker 1: was also for fun. But yeah, I mean, we obviously

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Speaker 1: talk a lot about the vikings on here, but it

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Speaker 1: has been kind of crazy Minnesota sports. College sports. You've

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Speaker 1: got the Frozen four coming up, which is exciting for

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Speaker 1: all those Gopher fans out there. Gophers versus Boston, that's

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Speaker 1: going to be. That's the old grudge matches, the way

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Speaker 1: back to the legendary eighties Olympic teams and stuff, you know,

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Speaker 1: prior to that, the whole thing from the movie Miracle

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Speaker 1: where the Boston and Minnesota guys can get along until

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Speaker 1: her Brooks kicked out their butts and said you're gonna

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Speaker 1: be teammates. That kind of stuff is fun. So it'll

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Speaker 1: be great to see Minnesota versus Boston in that first

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Speaker 1: round of Frozen four for sure. Well over here in

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Speaker 1: Vikings world this week there have been a couple of transactions.

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Speaker 1: We saw that c J Hamm is returning. He was

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Speaker 1: entering the final year of his deal and now he's

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Speaker 1: a two year extension. And it really I feel like

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Speaker 1: that one popped out of nowhere, out like in a

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Speaker 1: bad way, just like we weren't really expecting any news

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Speaker 1: on that front, and then here we go the Hammer

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Speaker 1: back in Minnesota for another two seasons. He was a

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Speaker 1: guy at the end of the season people were saying,

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Speaker 1: you know, what's going to happen. They weren't quite sure.

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Speaker 1: I think it's great to have a guy like CJ.

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Speaker 1: He's a great locker room guy, really good guy in

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Speaker 1: special teams as a leader, and he's he and Adam

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Speaker 1: were the same deal where it was a guy on

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Speaker 1: the team and earned their spot. And I think CJ

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Speaker 1: has shown over the last few years, especially that his

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Speaker 1: game hasn't fallen off at all, and when he's in

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Speaker 1: the game, he is a difference maker. Even think about

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Speaker 1: like last year, you know, catching passes in the flat

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Speaker 1: and kind of hitting those those dirty first downs just

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Speaker 1: to get move the sticks and keep the game going.

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Speaker 1: CJ is a great guy and it was awesome to

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Speaker 1: see he and his family together celebrating signing that contract.

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Speaker 1: That was great. I love that photo. But I think

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Speaker 1: also too, I don't know if Minnesota could have handled

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Speaker 1: both of their like walk on turned major players just

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Speaker 1: like not beyond the roster anymore. I think it's great

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Speaker 1: to have him. I know it's I'm having Adam. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: for sure. We are the provincial people. You know, we

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Speaker 1: love our own and yeah, but it's something that having

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Speaker 1: a you know, being able to keep CJ if you

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Speaker 1: do lose Adam. I'm sure there's a lot of people

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Speaker 1: out there that are happy to see, you know, homegrown

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Speaker 1: guy from luth to be able to do something like that.

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Speaker 1: There are a couple of moves with former players now

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Speaker 1: on different teams. IRV Smith Junior signed with the Bengals.

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Speaker 1: Sound like it was between the Bengals and Miami for him.

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Speaker 1: He chose Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, some adopted and current

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Speaker 1: guys from his former city of New Orleans. Yeah, somebody's

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Speaker 1: from l somebodies from LSU. Even though someone asked me like, oh,

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Speaker 1: didn't he go to LSU and I was like false

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Speaker 1: Alabama Trader cheers kidding. And then Duke Shelley to the Raiders.

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Speaker 1: I tell you that one, that one was tough. I

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Speaker 1: even even my fans even was like, what where's Duke going? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: he was like the best player. It's fun that, you know,

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Speaker 1: think about with Duke, just how much he grew this

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Speaker 1: last season. I know, I think it's awesome that he's

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Speaker 1: getting his shot there in Las Vegas with the Raiders.

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Speaker 1: I think he's another guy that you feel like he's

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Speaker 1: just kind of watch the surface of what his career

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Speaker 1: can be. So yeah, it was tough to see him go,

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Speaker 1: But at the same point, you got to be happy

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Speaker 1: for him to sign that kind of a deal over

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Speaker 1: there in Las Vegas. And we already know we've already

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Speaker 1: talked about this on here. It was a tough goodbye

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Speaker 1: to Eric Kendricks. That one was really difficult. Obviously, though

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Speaker 1: the good thing to do you release him so that

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Speaker 1: you can so he's allowed to go out and search

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Speaker 1: for a new team to be on. He ends up

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Speaker 1: back home in California, in Los Angeles with the Chargers.

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Speaker 1: Really couldn't be a better fit personally for him, and

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Speaker 1: just this past week, he released a letter that he

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Speaker 1: wrote to the state of Minnesota on the Players Tribune

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Speaker 1: if you can go check that out online. Jay, did

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Speaker 1: you have a chance to read what Eric wrote? Absolutely,

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Speaker 1: and it was nothing but class the entire thing. You know,

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Speaker 1: one of the things about Eric was you always felt

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Speaker 1: like he carried himself the right way when he was

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Speaker 1: here with the team. And to see the letter that

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Speaker 1: he put out with the Player's Tribune was just amazing.

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Speaker 1: You know, it really did kind of hammer home kind

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Speaker 1: of his feelings at least, you know, eaving the state

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Speaker 1: and getting to go back home. You know, even addressed

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Speaker 1: it saying be able to you know, raise his son

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Speaker 1: in California. But at the same point, there's gonna be

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Speaker 1: a piece of Minnesota that's still with him and still

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Speaker 1: a part of his family. And and you know, you

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Speaker 1: just look at what he was talking about in there

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Speaker 1: from Greenway's mentorship. That was amazing. And that's something that

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Speaker 1: you know, really stuck out to me too, because you

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Speaker 1: talk about Chad being a statup guy when he was

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Speaker 1: in the locker room and why he was seeing as

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Speaker 1: a leader, and having Eric teld the story about, you know,

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Speaker 1: instead of Chad being one of the veterans that's kind

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Speaker 1: of like, I don't need to help you, that's not

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Speaker 1: my job. He flipped it and said, you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to train for you to be able to take

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Speaker 1: over my role on this team. And I just think

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Speaker 1: that this between that and then him talking about all

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Speaker 1: the connections he had in the local market, between All

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Speaker 1: Square and some of the other groups that he had

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Speaker 1: worked with, let alone the you know, everything that happened

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Speaker 1: with the George Floyd case, you know, just showed you

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Speaker 1: how much he really did value his time here in Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: And I think it was just a great letter. And

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Speaker 1: like you said, if you haven't seen it, please go

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Speaker 1: read that article. It's really really great, really good, well written,

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Speaker 1: really kind of pulls at your heartstrings. And I know

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Speaker 1: it's someone that will truly be missed for multiple reasons,

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Speaker 1: not just his play on the field, but his work

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Speaker 1: in the community, and he spoke a lot about that

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Speaker 1: at length in the letter as well. But really excited

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Speaker 1: to see their kid and to see how that happens.

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Speaker 1: I love how they're active on social media. I truly

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Speaker 1: enjoy watching that. Yeah, it really really makes me happy.

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Speaker 1: So it's funny too, because as a kid, you know,

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Speaker 1: being a Minnesota north Stars fan growing up here and

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Speaker 1: then playing hockey and stuff as a kid for fun.

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Speaker 1: I actually had his father in law's hockey sticks as

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Speaker 1: a kid. My uncle got ahold of one and he

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Speaker 1: gave my brothers and I have a couple of sticks

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Speaker 1: from some of the north Star players, and the one

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Speaker 1: that I had was Russ Cardinal and that was Alie's father.

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Speaker 1: So it was kind of a weird circle the circle

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Speaker 1: thing of all of a sudden, it's aid Cardinal. I'm like,

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Speaker 1: wait a minute, and I realized, Yeah, it was Eric's

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Speaker 1: father in law that I had his hockey stick as

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Speaker 1: a kid. One of the odds. One of the odds well,

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Speaker 1: switching from cold weather to a warm weather situation. Got

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Speaker 1: going on owners meetings, and I know a lot of

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Speaker 1: people I feel like may not have known too much

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Speaker 1: about owners meetings until now, I think there so I

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Speaker 1: think we talked about this last year actually on the podcast,

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Speaker 1: how people are starting to cover these things as like

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Speaker 1: media events and play by play of all the rule

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Speaker 1: changes and the propositions and things like that, and obviously

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Speaker 1: those wrapped up on Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona, several rule

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Speaker 1: change discussions. You know, there are definitely some highlights as

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Speaker 1: far as the rule changes go, But was there one

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Speaker 1: j for you that kind of stuck out as like

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Speaker 1: a either a head scratcher or you're really stoked about. Um,

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Speaker 1: there's the ones that I've already been covered with, you know,

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Speaker 1: being able to have zero as a number and stuff

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Speaker 1: like that, and there's all the requirements I go with

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Speaker 1: a about players having to bio jerseys if they really

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Speaker 1: decided to change it, etc. Etc. But there was one

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Speaker 1: that kind of jumped out to me, and it was

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Speaker 1: something that was a little bit interesting, which was the

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Speaker 1: when they go through at the end of preseason. Normally

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Speaker 1: there's the cuts from ninety to seventy five and then

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Speaker 1: down to fifty three eventually, and they've proposed at this

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Speaker 1: point to just do one mass cut and keep all

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Speaker 1: the players through all of preseason until the very end,

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Speaker 1: which means you're going to be basically seeing all of

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Speaker 1: the teams simultaneously cutting from essentially ninety players down to

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Speaker 1: fifty three. And that to me seems crazy wild market

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Speaker 1: because in the past, similar to free agency, the whole

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Speaker 1: idea like what happened to Eric Kendricks, and Adam thieland

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Speaker 1: you let those guys go early so they can try

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Speaker 1: to be picked up by another team and put on

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Speaker 1: another roster. But to me, looking at it this way,

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Speaker 1: some of those veterans, unless teams decide to do that

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Speaker 1: early just as a courtesy. All of a sudden, now

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Speaker 1: you're going to have the veterans mixed in with the rookies,

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Speaker 1: mixed in with the free agents, all of the team's

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Speaker 1: mass culling. You know, thirty seven players per roster times

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Speaker 1: thirty two. It's just going to be an insane cutoff

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Speaker 1: date there. When they do those drops, and then the

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Speaker 1: following week and a half before a week one of

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Speaker 1: the season, you're just gonna be seeing a ton of transaction.

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Speaker 1: So I am curious to see how that's gonna play. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, think about it. If you're like a veteran

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Speaker 1: who has been playing and you know, you're trying to

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Speaker 1: prove that you deserve like a you know, you're a

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Speaker 1: starting role or you're one year deal or whatever. If

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Speaker 1: you're trying to come back and you get cut, you

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Speaker 1: don't get to spend any of that time with your

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Speaker 1: new team, but you could potentially start for a new

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Speaker 1: team during the season. Yeah, like there's so many players

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Speaker 1: I think that you pick up mid camp that not

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Speaker 1: so many, but there's those off chances that you pick

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Speaker 1: them up mid camp and then they become a better

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Speaker 1: part of the offense. They learn faster. It's not like

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Speaker 1: a very like snap like quick turnaround from like oh, hey,

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Speaker 1: you're on the roster on Tuesday and we have a

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Speaker 1: game in a week and a half. Well, that and

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Speaker 1: also the idea then there have been some other role

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Speaker 1: changes that happened in the whole idea of contracts being

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Speaker 1: guaranteed if you're on the roster week one, teams have

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Speaker 1: held off on making some of those transactions to a

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Speaker 1: week two in order to better negotiate with some of

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Speaker 1: these guys that had larger contracts. So again, like how

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Speaker 1: all that plays out, it just shows you how much

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Speaker 1: the front office now has to pay attention to it.

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Speaker 1: Brazinski and all of the normal people that have to

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Speaker 1: do all the scouting and everything else they're going to

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Speaker 1: be doing. They're gonna have to be doing a lot

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Speaker 1: of advanced work instead of it being incremental. It's just

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Speaker 1: going to be kind of a giant deluge of player availability.

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Speaker 1: So it's going to be really crazy to see what

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Speaker 1: happens between the end of training camp and then basically

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Speaker 1: weeks two, three, and four through the season. Now, it

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Speaker 1: is of note, and it has been reported that the

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Speaker 1: Vikings are one of the teams who are proposing this,

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Speaker 1: and so it's something that they this coaching staff clearly

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Speaker 1: is in favor of. So it'd be interesting maybe in

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Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks, if we ever get to

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Speaker 1: sit down with them again, maybe we can ask and

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Speaker 1: we'll come back here and be able to tell you

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Speaker 1: a little bit more inside in depth of what where

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Speaker 1: their minds are at. One other thing I think that's

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Speaker 1: become quite the hot button issue lately is this idea

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Speaker 1: during Roger Goodell's press conference that they are now the

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Speaker 1: NFL is now open to adding two Thursday night games

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Speaker 1: on a team's schedule. Yeah, that would be that. That's

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Speaker 1: something that I think a lot of the public and

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Speaker 1: people I know, the players and some of the people

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Speaker 1: i've some have already spoken out saying that they were

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Speaker 1: not in favor of that idea. But you know, the

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Speaker 1: idea is actually, if you think about last season, there

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Speaker 1: were some people complaining that the matchups and stuff or

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Speaker 1: Thursday Night that Amazon had on Amazon Prime weren't the

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Speaker 1: best to watch or weren't as kind of being dud

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Speaker 1: even if you had good teams exactly, And that was

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Speaker 1: the thing. But but it's hard because you can sit

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Speaker 1: there and go through they can try and make up

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Speaker 1: all the matchups that they want and try to predict

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Speaker 1: the future, and you just don't know because year to year,

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Speaker 1: the turnovers that happen on teams of being going from

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Speaker 1: good to mediocre or good to not good, all of

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Speaker 1: that kind of stuff is something that's just kind of

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Speaker 1: a variable you can't fully control. So for them, but

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Speaker 1: they're talking about flexing, that's the thing. So that's that's

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Speaker 1: what's madness right there. And the thing about it is

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Speaker 1: that in the past, the idea has been they haven't

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Speaker 1: liked to move it from day to day a game

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Speaker 1: from a Saturday to a Sunday or a Sunday to

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Speaker 1: a Monday, because fans and everybody go through and they

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Speaker 1: buy plane tickets, to buy hotels and they do all that.

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Speaker 1: So that's the thing that's going to be really kind

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Speaker 1: of interesting to see is how do they handle that.

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Speaker 1: And I think there's going to be you know, I

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Speaker 1: guess for all of the good side of it of

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Speaker 1: trying to find matchups that the fans are going to

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Speaker 1: want to watch on a Thursday night, you know, some

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Speaker 1: of the headaches that are going to come with that.

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Speaker 1: That's all stuff that they've had to have talked about,

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Speaker 1: and I am curious to see how they're going to

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Speaker 1: be able to handle that league wide, you know, and

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Speaker 1: especially team to team. I'm curious what the time duration

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Speaker 1: is between finding out you're going to play Thursday and

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Speaker 1: when it actually happens. It doesn't matter though, I mean,

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Speaker 1: like think about if you have a plane flight you're

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Speaker 1: not I mean, I don't know how uptight people are

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Speaker 1: about that. I'm pretty uptight. I don't really want to

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Speaker 1: have to change my flight five days before, you know.

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Speaker 1: But I'm just saying, even from a team perspective, how

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Speaker 1: far out are they going to know that, Because if

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Speaker 1: they're potentially going to get flexed on a Thursday, it's

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Speaker 1: not I would assume it wouldn't be like a week out, Hey,

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Speaker 1: next Thursday, you're switching. You know. Think about how much

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Speaker 1: we we this off seat or this past season, how

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Speaker 1: much we built in kind of the idea of all right, Well,

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Speaker 1: we had the London game early, you know, and then

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Speaker 1: we basically had a Thursday game, and then we had

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Speaker 1: the bye week and all these things that they were

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Speaker 1: trying to plan out, to figure out like how can

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Speaker 1: we get guys extra rest and all of that. Now

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're gonna get a random Thursday

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Speaker 1: thrown in there, which is going to be tough on

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Speaker 1: the front end, but then in the back end you

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Speaker 1: get those extra again. So all the logistics for all

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Speaker 1: the teams in the league and everybody else, it's going

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Speaker 1: to be something that's gonna be really interesting to see

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Speaker 1: how it actually, you know, gets pulled off here this

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Speaker 1: year given that change. But that is going to be

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Speaker 1: a big deal. You know, a lot of the league's

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Speaker 1: money is in TV rights and TV deals, and I

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Speaker 1: think that's where it really stir stems from, right, Like

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Speaker 1: Amazon Prime is like, okay, come on, we these matchups

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Speaker 1: is not what we signed up for. And so if

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Speaker 1: that's what we're all going to, if that's where this

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Speaker 1: league is steering itself towards streaming services, then they want

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Speaker 1: to make sure the best matchups are on there. Well that,

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Speaker 1: but you can also make the same argument for Monday night.

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Speaker 1: You know, similar kind of a thing where it's just

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Speaker 1: like I know, at the back end of the season,

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Speaker 1: it's usually the flexing is a little bit easier to handle. Again,

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Speaker 1: I'm I am more curious to see what the details

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Speaker 1: are surrounding ability. I think the whole thing before was

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Speaker 1: every team will play one Thursday night game or you know,

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Speaker 1: something along those lines. It's given the flexibility now to

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Speaker 1: say teams can play up to two Thursday night games

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Speaker 1: as far as I was reading, Yeah, and I am

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Speaker 1: going to be curious again just to see logistically how

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Speaker 1: all of that happens because of all of the other

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Speaker 1: you know, basically domino effects that come from it. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it clearly did not win the vote, yet there were

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Speaker 1: several owners that voted for it. It's tabled until May,

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Speaker 1: and so it will be interesting to hear more discussions

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Speaker 1: about that and understand what people want. I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: going to be an interesting conversation. I think now that

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Speaker 1: it's more of a reality that the teams themselves will

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Speaker 1: have to have more of a legit serious discussion amongst

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Speaker 1: themselves and amongst the league, let alone just kind of

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Speaker 1: seeing what the public's reaction is to it. NFLPA always

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Speaker 1: has a say and a lot of these kind of things,

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Speaker 1: and I think this is something they will definitely voice

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Speaker 1: their opinion on. So again, it's going to be really

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Speaker 1: interesting to see just what the dominoes are in this

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Speaker 1: and how it all comes together. Well, if you've listened

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Speaker 1: to this and you want to know more about all

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Speaker 1: the rule changes, you can go to vikings dot com.

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Speaker 1: Craig Peters would a nice little rundown of some of

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Speaker 1: the more hot button issues, more rules in depth that

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Speaker 1: are probably a little bit too boring us in here

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Speaker 1: and talk to you about easier to read about, and

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Speaker 1: you can go check that at vikings dot com. Also

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Speaker 1: on vikings dot com, quasi A Dopamentza and Kevin O'Connell

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Speaker 1: spoke to the media, spoke to Gabe Mark Wolf. All

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Speaker 1: of those interviews are on there. I just suggest you

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Speaker 1: go check it out if you need to get to

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Speaker 1: know the front office and what they've been up to

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Speaker 1: at At that the meeting, I thought it was really good,

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Speaker 1: you know, just kind of getting everyone's take, you know.

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Speaker 1: He asked President Mark Wilf about their feeling of all

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Speaker 1: of the accolades and everything they've been getting about you know,

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Speaker 1: just the facility and how things are treated here, and

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Speaker 1: you can just see that the source of pride there

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Speaker 1: from Mark, and I think that's something that you know

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Speaker 1: a lot of people take a lot of pride in

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Speaker 1: this building regarding and so it's cool to see that happened.

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Speaker 1: So to get Mark's take on that was nice. And

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Speaker 1: then you know, Quacy and Kevin just listening through all

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Speaker 1: of the questions they had, you could definitely tell they're

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Speaker 1: at the you know, we've got our feet underneath us

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Speaker 1: after the first year. Now we're getting into season two,

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Speaker 1: and just to have them feel like we have this

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Speaker 1: game plan, we know what we're in for, and now

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Speaker 1: it's it's go time and execution time for finishing this

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Speaker 1: stuff up before the drafts here in less than a month.

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Speaker 1: I know. That's just crazy sauce. Yeah, just crazy. Before

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Speaker 1: we start getting into that part though, I loved that

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Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell was very aware of the fact that Kirk

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Speaker 1: cousins has not had the same play caller in since

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. I think, yeah, when he was with Sean mcfay,

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Speaker 1: so I think like just seeing his excitement for the

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Speaker 1: ability to have Kirk a play caller for two straight

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Speaker 1: seasons for the second time in his entire NFL career

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Speaker 1: is just again crazy sauce, and so yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: that had me pretty pretty pumped. You could see that

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Speaker 1: like that was all part of the plan with the

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Speaker 1: extension and with all all of the offseason lands like

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Speaker 1: that was obviously a high priority for him. Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: I think going into this next season for him, there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of motivation and so the idea with Kevin

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Speaker 1: to have that consistency to see what he did last

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Speaker 1: year under Kevin O'Connell's offense. It'll be great to see

431
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,080
Speaker 1: this upcoming season, you know, kind of what that next

432
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,320
Speaker 1: step is because for all of the accolades that Justin

433
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,199
Speaker 1: Jefferson got, you know, there was a guy throwing him

434
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,000
Speaker 1: the ball in order to get there too. And so

435
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,080
Speaker 1: for a guy like Kirk, he's definitely always has kind

436
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:27,680
Speaker 1: of that prove it mentality, And I think it'll be

437
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,960
Speaker 1: great to see him and Kevin O'Connell be able to

438
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,480
Speaker 1: work together in this next season for sure, and maybe

439
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,720
Speaker 1: getting a new weapon. I don't know. Question Mark. Question Mark.

440
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,520
Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks at the NFL Network just came out with

441
00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,200
Speaker 1: his latest mock draft three point zero and things are changing.

442
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,800
Speaker 1: The winds of change are around all the Vikings pick predictions.

443
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:51,280
Speaker 1: There have been several mock drafts, including BUCkies that have

444
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,880
Speaker 1: now are trended toward the wide receivers in this class.

445
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,280
Speaker 1: It's also it's I wouldn't say it's a super deep

446
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,239
Speaker 1: wide receiver draft. I do because of all of the

447
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,080
Speaker 1: needs of the teams ahead of the Vikings. They do

448
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 1: have enough talent towards the end of the draft, and

449
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,600
Speaker 1: right now Bucky has the Vikings selecting wide receiver Zay

450
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,800
Speaker 1: Flowers out of Boston College. Yeah, he was a really

451
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,080
Speaker 1: good senior out of Boston College, originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

452
00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,119
Speaker 1: Five ft ninety two. He's a guy that was a playmaker,

453
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,080
Speaker 1: really kind of speedy and shifty in certain areas. And

454
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,119
Speaker 1: then he was also a guy that had, you know,

455
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,199
Speaker 1: other things that have pushed him down the list here

456
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,320
Speaker 1: a little bit. When you look at the next gen

457
00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 1: stats breakdown for him on NFL dot Com, they had

458
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 1: him listed at least combine wise as the eighth ranked

459
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:37,960
Speaker 1: for his total score. But he is a guy that

460
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,439
Speaker 1: was a playmaker and a big time player at Boston College.

461
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,160
Speaker 1: So he is somebody that I am I'm really curious about.

462
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,240
Speaker 1: You're looking at a situation here where Adam Thieland formally

463
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,320
Speaker 1: signs now, So now people are definitely picking up on

464
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,760
Speaker 1: the wide receiver piece a little bit more. But I

465
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 1: think Zay is going to be a guy that when

466
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,080
Speaker 1: he does get to a roster. I guess the experts

467
00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:58,600
Speaker 1: are saying he might need a season or two to

468
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,560
Speaker 1: kind of get up to speed, but I think his

469
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,679
Speaker 1: natural skill set's gonna be something that's enticing. So the

470
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 1: fact that he is already on Bucky's list here being

471
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,680
Speaker 1: listed as a first round draft pick, I think it's

472
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 1: interesting to see kind of where he does fall if

473
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,720
Speaker 1: he's going to be a first or second round pick. Yeah,

474
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 1: you've got to think Keenan McCardell, Justin Jefferson, those kind

475
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,879
Speaker 1: of guys that are around someone who's new and younger,

476
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 1: teaching him the right way to do go about his business.

477
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 1: There's so much veteran presence on there in the tight

478
00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:29,160
Speaker 1: end room, quarterback, offensive line, Like that's a great situation

479
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,600
Speaker 1: for someone like Aza Flowers to walk into. And the

480
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,560
Speaker 1: guys I talked to last week on Pro Football focus.

481
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,280
Speaker 1: Trevor Sikima. He's a draft analyst for them, and he

482
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,360
Speaker 1: was talking about Jordan Addison as someone he thinks will

483
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:46,760
Speaker 1: fall to the Vikings at pick twenty three. That's the

484
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,960
Speaker 1: receiver out of USC, a great route runner, which is

485
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,080
Speaker 1: obviously would be a great very complimentary to Justin Jefferson,

486
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,960
Speaker 1: so that interviews on Vikings dot Com as well. But yeah,

487
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,360
Speaker 1: it's pretty interesting how things have changed so fast from

488
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,840
Speaker 1: you get a guy like Byron Murphy in there, you

489
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 1: have young talent at corner. It's a deep corner draft,

490
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:08,480
Speaker 1: like do you just go for it and go for

491
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,800
Speaker 1: the receiver at a pick twenty three? I think the

492
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,480
Speaker 1: thing that's interesting for me as well is the idea

493
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 1: that everyone's been saying, now that Adam's gone, what happens

494
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,400
Speaker 1: at the wide receiver two position. You've got a KG

495
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,359
Speaker 1: Osbourne who has definitely proven his worth. You're talking about

496
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,200
Speaker 1: resigning T. J. Hockinson if that happens. Those are two

497
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,240
Speaker 1: major weapons for this this receiver group, So you don't

498
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 1: necessarily have to take as high of a draft pick

499
00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:33,919
Speaker 1: at that position to replace an Adam Feeling. At the

500
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,400
Speaker 1: same point, they're still free aging guys out there, there's

501
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 1: there's a lot of options yet, so I am curious.

502
00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:41,080
Speaker 1: But if they look at a guy like Zay Flowers

503
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,120
Speaker 1: could step into that Adam Feeling style role where it's

504
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,280
Speaker 1: the shifty route running and kind of that quick twitch

505
00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:49,560
Speaker 1: wide receiver talent there, then a guy like Zay could

506
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,240
Speaker 1: possibly just slide right back into this offense and fit

507
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,840
Speaker 1: that way and maybe make a big jump early just

508
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,320
Speaker 1: given his talents. But the nice thing, at least on

509
00:22:57,359 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 1: our end, is we do have veterans in that room

510
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,399
Speaker 1: who could definitely help a rookie come along and jump in.

511
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 1: So I am curious to see. As we talked last week,

512
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,879
Speaker 1: every week it's going to change position to position, in

513
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,440
Speaker 1: person to person. So to have Zay Flowers or Addison,

514
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 1: you know out of USC those two guys are definitely

515
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,840
Speaker 1: some really fun talent at wide receiver. So it would

516
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,000
Speaker 1: be exciting to see guys like that get a shot.

517
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 1: Here we are only weeks away from the twenty twenty

518
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 1: three NFL Draft, and our counterpart who's usually in on

519
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 1: these podcasts, Gabe Henderson, I'm sure he would be stoked

520
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 1: to see a wide receiver get chosen. He was in

521
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,440
Speaker 1: Arizona this past few days doing all of the interviews

522
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,440
Speaker 1: representing us over at the Owners meetings, and he has

523
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: our guest of the podcast this week. It's NBC Sports

524
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 1: is Michael Smith, and we'll send it down to Gabe.

525
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,840
Speaker 1: All right, we now have the special privilege of being

526
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,600
Speaker 1: joined by Michael Smith, currently at NBC Sports, has his

527
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: own show called Brother from Another. I mean, if you're

528
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,880
Speaker 1: like myself, you grew up watching Michael Smith from ESPN.

529
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,879
Speaker 1: Just to see him get to where this, where he

530
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,359
Speaker 1: is now is an honor and an inspiration. But more importantly,

531
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,640
Speaker 1: I think this is an opportunity to not only talk

532
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,879
Speaker 1: you know, sports in life, but also an opportunity just

533
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:15,600
Speaker 1: to talk about, you know, how you got to this

534
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,399
Speaker 1: point we were we just broke read earlier here at

535
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: the Owners meetings here in the Phoenix, Arizona bacon broke.

536
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,879
Speaker 1: They waited for that bacon. It didn't run out. We

537
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,680
Speaker 1: both got the bacon and it was worth the wait.

538
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 1: If it wasn't for you getting the bacon first, I

539
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 1: probably wanted to be line. So the fact that we're here, man,

540
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,879
Speaker 1: it's been you know, Kevin O'Connell was just sitting to

541
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: see what you were just sitting in Yeah, from now,

542
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,359
Speaker 1: I mean twenty twenty three too, when you first started

543
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 1: two thousand and one. How have these owners meetings changed? Well,

544
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 1: I mean Kevin O'Connell's a great example. I remember when

545
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell was drafted. Wow. And and so just looking

546
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: around at who's occupying these tables has obviously been a

547
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:52,560
Speaker 1: lot of turnover. I mean, you have some of your

548
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 1: main stage you know, you have your Pete Carroll, you

549
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,120
Speaker 1: have me Andy Reid, But just thinking of how many

550
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 1: have come and gone and what the shelf life is

551
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,160
Speaker 1: even for the guys that are in this room. There's

552
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:05,200
Speaker 1: a lot of guys in this room who may seem

553
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 1: like they have stay in power now, but life's go

554
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:08,440
Speaker 1: come at them fast, the same way it comes to

555
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 1: everybody else, same way it comes for all of us. So,

556
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:12,840
Speaker 1: you know, it's good to see a lot of familiar faces,

557
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 1: both in terms on the league level, executive level, you know,

558
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,640
Speaker 1: media level even, but also realizing like wow, so many

559
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 1: people are no longer with us, either professionally or just

560
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,439
Speaker 1: you know, in general unfortunately. So it's my first one

561
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: of the reason about a decade though, Wow, Yeah, I

562
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,280
Speaker 1: think I think the last one I came to would

563
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,440
Speaker 1: have been eight because I think the old maybe O

564
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:36,040
Speaker 1: nine because I think the O nine draft was the

565
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,600
Speaker 1: last one I really worked, okay from a quote unquote

566
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 1: insider position. After that, I really transitioned full time and

567
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,240
Speaker 1: to being a studio host and commentator and whatnot. So

568
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: this has been my first season. This is really the culmination,

569
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: i'd say, of my first season back in this NFL world,

570
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 1: and it's been it's been nice to reconnect. I mean,

571
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 1: you you cover all sports and pretty much everything when

572
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 1: it comes to just players on and off the field.

573
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: I think I was just telling you this before, like

574
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 1: you were kind of the pioneer for this is who

575
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,439
Speaker 1: these guys are. This is what they're into outside of sports,

576
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,680
Speaker 1: and now that's what internal like for me, that worked

577
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:13,239
Speaker 1: for that, that works for the team. This is what

578
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: it's all about. It's like, who are these guys? What

579
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,400
Speaker 1: kind of access can we get? And just seeing how

580
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: all that has transpired over time, what was the motivation

581
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,640
Speaker 1: behind Like, Okay, let's let's see this full person, which

582
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: ultimately makes I guess in this case, who this Minnesota

583
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 1: Vikings player will be. Yeah, that's a good question. Um,

584
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,639
Speaker 1: you know I would say, you know, I always felt

585
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,919
Speaker 1: like to a certain degree, I had some building advantages

586
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,400
Speaker 1: and so how best to utilize them? So I mean

587
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: I was I started this business very young, young black

588
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,080
Speaker 1: dude walking in the locker room full of young black dudes.

589
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,119
Speaker 1: So there was an instant rapport or relatability for the

590
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: most part. I mean, I think, you know, I when

591
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,719
Speaker 1: best friends and everybody stop walked in the room, but

592
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,440
Speaker 1: there was a relatability. And you know, let's be honest,

593
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 1: I mean, they're looking at me, They're like, oh wow,

594
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,120
Speaker 1: here's somebody that looks like me, that has a shared

595
00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 1: level of experience. So I think there was that connection.

596
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 1: It was that understanding of, you know, what they were

597
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:04,600
Speaker 1: dealing with or what they had to deal with in

598
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: order to get to this point. So there's that part.

599
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: But also I've just been I guess a lot of

600
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 1: it comes from the fact that, like I cover sports,

601
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 1: and I love sports, but I love a lot of

602
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,359
Speaker 1: other things as well. Actual sports doesn't dominate my existence.

603
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a fan, but not a fanatic, and

604
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:23,960
Speaker 1: so I think realizing that these players, especially in conversation

605
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,119
Speaker 1: with them, you know, we're fathers, were husbands who are

606
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:31,120
Speaker 1: active in their communities, had other passions, creative passions even

607
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 1: outside of sports, have just been fascinating about, you know,

608
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 1: what makes that whole person go, what's their process with

609
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,199
Speaker 1: their philosophy, what's their passions, you know, what's their purpose

610
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 1: because that does contribute to their performance all of those things.

611
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:52,399
Speaker 1: So I think there's a genuine and general curiosity about

612
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:56,040
Speaker 1: who they were and what made them tick. But also

613
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,199
Speaker 1: being able to relate to them as much as one

614
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,359
Speaker 1: could relate to you know, super athletes, Being able to

615
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: write to them on a foundational level, I think helped

616
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: kind of shape how I approached the job, you know,

617
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 1: because I mean, I'm walking in and I'm one of

618
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:13,119
Speaker 1: the youngest people, if not the youngest person in the

619
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,159
Speaker 1: room in terms of media, and I'm behind the eight

620
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: ball when it comes to experience and connections. It's like, so, okay,

621
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:20,520
Speaker 1: what works for me. It works for me is like

622
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,400
Speaker 1: zigging when they agg you know, and telling different types

623
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,360
Speaker 1: of stories than other people are doing or approaching it differently.

624
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,639
Speaker 1: But the other thing too is just like I got better.

625
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,120
Speaker 1: Best advice I ever got, and this was really in

626
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,600
Speaker 1: regards to television, was just get better at being yourself

627
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 1: so I just got better at being me, and so

628
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: in any interaction or any story that I told, I

629
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,920
Speaker 1: brought myself into it. It's different from making it about yourself,

630
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 1: but I brought myself and my sensibilities into that conversation

631
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: into that you know, that feature, into that interview, and

632
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 1: that kind of drew some things out of them. And

633
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 1: I feel like that's what the media is somewhat now,

634
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 1: is trying to get those stories out about who the

635
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:03,000
Speaker 1: player is versus what he does, because you understand that

636
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: on Sundays he's got to suit up. He has the

637
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,920
Speaker 1: opportunity to, you know, provide for his family. Though, like,

638
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 1: this is why we're here, this is why we get paid.

639
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 1: So listening to Kevin O'Connell today and saying the conversations

640
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 1: that he was having regarding you know, his philosophy, what

641
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 1: were some some key takeaways that you took from you know,

642
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 1: just him talking about you know, being a young guy.

643
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 1: This is kind of what helped me get to this point.

644
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 1: And this is what I do now to kind of

645
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,760
Speaker 1: reassure myself. I've known Kevin for a long time, but

646
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,120
Speaker 1: I wouldn't go so far say like I know him,

647
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: like you know, so I don't want to overstate, but

648
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,640
Speaker 1: in terms of my impressions of him, he seems like

649
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: a guy who, despite his skills, despite his brilliance, despite

650
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 1: his own ability, is secure enough to know what he

651
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 1: doesn't know and curious enough to want to learn. And

652
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 1: I think that Brian Flores high as a prime example

653
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 1: of that. It's like, I'm talking about, Oh, what could

654
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 1: I learn from Flow in terms of schedule, in terms

655
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,360
Speaker 1: of practice, in terms of approach, Just like I mean,

656
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,720
Speaker 1: he could he could feel like, especially the year he had,

657
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,240
Speaker 1: he could feel like, yeah, I got it all figured out.

658
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 1: Yeah you know what I mean, Like you know, I'm

659
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,480
Speaker 1: the new hotness. Instead, he's trying to figure out ways

660
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 1: to be better and ways to learn and grow himself.

661
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,640
Speaker 1: And when you and when you approach coaching that way,

662
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,440
Speaker 1: you know who sees as players. So it's easy to

663
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: talk to a player about getting better and improving and

664
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,840
Speaker 1: strengthening weaknesses if you're doing the same thing as a coach.

665
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,320
Speaker 1: So that's just this culture that they seem to have

666
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 1: of curiosity. I would put Quasi in that same conversation. Again,

667
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 1: my impressions, I don't want to overstate my knowledge with them,

668
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:37,000
Speaker 1: but just two guys who are just impressive insofar as

669
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,080
Speaker 1: they're not impressed with themselves. That's that's what I That's

670
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 1: what I take from them. What's your perception of just

671
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:46,920
Speaker 1: Quasy and Kevin two younger guys that understand the locker

672
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: room but still had to get the trust from ownership

673
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,760
Speaker 1: to be able to put these you know, younger guys

674
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: versus you know, back when you first started, usually most

675
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: of the coaches were you know, older, more season have

676
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 1: different you know, other college or other NFL teams. How

677
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,800
Speaker 1: do you view the perception that owners have for these

678
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 1: young guys leading their teams. I think the term players

679
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:13,800
Speaker 1: coach used to be conveniently used, depending on the results,

680
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:18,080
Speaker 1: as either a compliment in certain contexts, or as an

681
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 1: insult or as a reason to change. Always a players coach,

682
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 1: which the connotation there was often that it was loose,

683
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 1: undisciplined in may try asylum however you want to however

684
00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,239
Speaker 1: you want to phrase it right. Whereas I think the

685
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,280
Speaker 1: modern player, the modern game, modern society I think has

686
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: taught us that, like players, coaches is very much redundant.

687
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,400
Speaker 1: Like if you can't relate to your players on a

688
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,160
Speaker 1: human level, as a coach, whether you're older than them

689
00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 1: or younger than them in some cases, or the same age,

690
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 1: if you can't have some kind of personal connection with them,

691
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a hard time getting in the trust

692
00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,040
Speaker 1: you and play for you. And players nowadays have so

693
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:58,160
Speaker 1: many options and have such agency over their careers until

694
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:02,640
Speaker 1: the days of the boss do as I say, you know,

695
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 1: or the days of living in fear of your coach

696
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: or performing in fear of your coach a day's dad.

697
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,800
Speaker 1: We don't roll like that no more, you know. Now,

698
00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 1: there's very much there needs to be some kind of partnership.

699
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 1: You know, there used to be a time when the

700
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 1: quarterback was the extension of the coach. I don't think

701
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: it's limited to the quarterback now. I think if you

702
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,960
Speaker 1: have a lot of different players on both sides of

703
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,600
Speaker 1: the ball, regardless of the coach's background, that you know,

704
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:32,200
Speaker 1: a successful coach needs to enlist to be forced multipliers

705
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 1: to be extensions of him to you know, I mean

706
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,720
Speaker 1: player counsels. And I'm not saying l's brand new, but

707
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like you know, these coaches seems to

708
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,960
Speaker 1: have to have evolved to become much more holistic in

709
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 1: their approach than I think traditionally they were when it

710
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: was just like, hey, it's football all the time. I'm

711
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 1: a hardcore football guy and you know you run through

712
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,360
Speaker 1: that wall for me, and I'm gonna give a speech

713
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 1: every nine and but you know, ultimately I'm the boss

714
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 1: and your future is in my hands. Like I mean,

715
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 1: these players nowadays, they're not going for that. You know,

716
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: what do you make the quarterback position and its entirety

717
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 1: for the Vikings, Kirk Cousins been in the league for

718
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: a while, just signed last year, signed a two year deal. Yeah.

719
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: Usually Kirk as far as if you look at his history,

720
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,480
Speaker 1: he's always either been on franchise that or he's got extended. Yeah,

721
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 1: the Vikings basically said, hey, you have to prove it

722
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,360
Speaker 1: this year. This is a prove it year for you.

723
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 1: We're not extending you. Yeah, we would convert your money

724
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:28,479
Speaker 1: to a signing bonus. But at the same time fans

725
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,280
Speaker 1: are like, okay, well that means we're going younger. So

726
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 1: for you, just a quarterback as a whole, how do

727
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 1: you view a veteran quarterback that's been tested, that's accurate,

728
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,400
Speaker 1: you know, can win you games, versus a young guy

729
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:41,920
Speaker 1: that you I'm not going to say blow it up,

730
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 1: but you have to figure out the pieces around him.

731
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 1: I think Vikings are in such a privileged position, and

732
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 1: I know the Viking's history at quarterback would say otherwise,

733
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,520
Speaker 1: but I think they have an opportunity to do it

734
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 1: like Green Bay has done it and is about to

735
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 1: do it. And by that I mean, well, for supportals,

736
00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: you got to know your personnel and in this case,

737
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 1: know your quarterback that he can handle that. And you're

738
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 1: talking about a guy who we know how he came

739
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 1: into the league in DC, we know how what happened

740
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,839
Speaker 1: when he assumed the job in DC, about he played

741
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,399
Speaker 1: on the franchise, He's like proving it year to year

742
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 1: is nothing new to Kirk Cousins, right, I mean, if anything,

743
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,439
Speaker 1: he might bring out the best in him, so which

744
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,120
Speaker 1: is a good thing for so you know he can

745
00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:19,640
Speaker 1: handle that, right, So that's you don't have to worry

746
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,200
Speaker 1: about is he going to respond poorly? But the other

747
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,759
Speaker 1: part of it is like you know, you don't want

748
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,799
Speaker 1: to have to. It's like when I shop, all right,

749
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,879
Speaker 1: I hate shopping and I know a lot of people

750
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 1: can relate to this when I need to buy something,

751
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:37,080
Speaker 1: So it's like, Yo, you got this party, you gotta

752
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,360
Speaker 1: go to Well, Dan, I gotta go to the mall

753
00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,520
Speaker 1: and I gotta find outfit for this party. It's like

754
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,440
Speaker 1: I can't find anything I like, let alone that fits

755
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,760
Speaker 1: because the pressure is on to to get something for Saturday.

756
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:52,799
Speaker 1: Whereas it's like, if I'm just I'm gonna just go

757
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 1: walk around the mall. I see everything I like and

758
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,680
Speaker 1: what I just buy it. I see a tie, like

759
00:34:57,920 --> 00:34:59,719
Speaker 1: I don't care if it matches anything. I don't care

760
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:03,200
Speaker 1: if I'm just by and just it'll figure it. Actually

761
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,160
Speaker 1: I don't need it. I'm really that way with sneakers,

762
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 1: Like I don't need him, but I'm just gonna buy

763
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,600
Speaker 1: it right to my wife should grin. Likewise, like with

764
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 1: a quarterback, it's like, Okay, you have a quarterback. He's

765
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,879
Speaker 1: not done, he's not at the end. You can still

766
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 1: play at a high level. It just doesn't have a

767
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 1: long term contract. That business part will take of itself,

768
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,239
Speaker 1: but he can still play. This is a perfect opportunity,

769
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 1: perfect opportunity to be bringing in a quarterback. I don't know,

770
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,879
Speaker 1: maybe a quarterback who's coming off on aca all tear

771
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 1: for example. You know, maybe a quarterback who you know,

772
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,319
Speaker 1: it was a little old. So therefore by bye rookie

773
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,839
Speaker 1: quarterback standard. So therefore may drop in the first round.

774
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: I don't know, get that kind of guy. Bring him in,

775
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 1: hang out a play right away. That's the way it

776
00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:46,160
Speaker 1: should be done. Because the odds of you getting a

777
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:47,520
Speaker 1: guy that's going to be to step in and play

778
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,640
Speaker 1: right away and play well and play well enough soon

779
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,080
Speaker 1: enough and long enough for everybody to keep their jobs

780
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 1: that slim. It doesn't happen that much. So, you know,

781
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,760
Speaker 1: do Joe Burrows is like think about where the Bengals

782
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,800
Speaker 1: were for Gerald to Burrow got there. They were just

783
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 1: close to like not being employed, you know, but at

784
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 1: a number one pig, they got Joe Burrow and the

785
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:10,200
Speaker 1: rest is now history and they're all you know, they

786
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,080
Speaker 1: the window is their career, right, you know what I'm saying.

787
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 1: So yeah, So it's like, you know, I think if

788
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:17,359
Speaker 1: you're the Vikings, I think you got to look at,

789
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,000
Speaker 1: you know, the presence of Kirk as a blessing and

790
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,520
Speaker 1: as an opportunity to start to develop a succession plan.

791
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,240
Speaker 1: Succession just came out. I haven't watched the first episode

792
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:29,480
Speaker 1: of the fourth season yet. I got to download it

793
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: on my phone. I watched him a plane ride home.

794
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,560
Speaker 1: But you need a succession plan because if if, if

795
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:35,719
Speaker 1: you got to get one when you don't have one, right,

796
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,000
Speaker 1: it's like now you're desperate, ye you know now. But

797
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:40,919
Speaker 1: on the flip side, you know, and you know answer

798
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 1: all this. I do like what Carolina is doing. And

799
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,399
Speaker 1: I think another part of having a successful quarterback. Too

800
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: much has been placed on the quarterback to be both

801
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 1: the thermostat and a thermometer, and you know, and to

802
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,640
Speaker 1: set the tone and you know, and to be the

803
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,640
Speaker 1: guy that changes the franchise. It's like, not every quarterback

804
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,360
Speaker 1: is capable of coming in and changing a franchise, but

805
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,200
Speaker 1: even if they are, it's like, look, man, the greatest

806
00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 1: quarterback of all time, let's not kill ourselves also benefited

807
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:08,920
Speaker 1: from the infrastructure that he was fortunate enough to be.

808
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,279
Speaker 1: Now he had a big part of that infrastructure. He

809
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 1: was a big part of it. But it's like, you know,

810
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,040
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers man, like he was Green Bay for all

811
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 1: the complaining that he did, they got a certain way

812
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 1: that's worked for a long time. Pittsburgh got a certain

813
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 1: way that's worked for a long time. So if you

814
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:28,200
Speaker 1: are in Minnesota, the circumstances, the infrastructure. From a management, coach, staff,

815
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 1: organizational facility, personnel standpoint, it's all there. Carolina Carolin has

816
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:35,560
Speaker 1: been searching for a quarterback for years. You know what

817
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 1: they said this year, We're not just gonna go find

818
00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:41,880
Speaker 1: a quarterback. We're going to develop a quarterback incubator. Right,

819
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:43,719
Speaker 1: We're gonna we're gonna go get the best stat We

820
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 1: spared no expense on the staff, spared new expense on players.

821
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,560
Speaker 1: Whatever quarterback we get is gonna be set up to

822
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 1: succeed in Minnesota. Had My point is that Minnesota has

823
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,800
Speaker 1: that for the next guy as well. That's kind of

824
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:59,640
Speaker 1: like the San Francisco model. Yes, and you see all

825
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,200
Speaker 1: those I mean quasi defe MENSA took a picture with

826
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,120
Speaker 1: like Mike McDaniels. Literally it was like eight guys that

827
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,960
Speaker 1: are either head coaches or gems from from other teams.

828
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,239
Speaker 1: To your point, they've kind of set the team up

829
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 1: around them, around you know, the strengths and weaknesses of

830
00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 1: the team, and then the quarterback they just put him

831
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: in and he was able to succeed. So that's a

832
00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 1: really good point. My last question for you, you talk

833
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,720
Speaker 1: about Aaron Rodgers, he's going to be in a different

834
00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:27,520
Speaker 1: color green this year. The Detroit lines, they're trending upward,

835
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,759
Speaker 1: getting free agents last year kind of you know, the

836
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,040
Speaker 1: darling of the NFL with HBO hard knocks. Then you

837
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 1: got the Bears the most cap space in the NFL,

838
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,839
Speaker 1: young quarterback, a guy that they're you know, building their

839
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 1: entire team around. They get some some good picks for

840
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: the Vikings. What are realistic expectations understanding that you pretty

841
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,560
Speaker 1: much got a similar team plus some younger guys that

842
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,839
Speaker 1: won thirteen games last year, and given a way, they

843
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,520
Speaker 1: won a lot of those thirteen games. And let's see,

844
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,719
Speaker 1: this is what I'm about to say. What would not

845
00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:01,920
Speaker 1: be a reflection in any way of ko or crazy

846
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 1: or you know, the direction of the organization. It just

847
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:09,239
Speaker 1: bees like that sometimes where hey, Justin Jefferson didn't make

848
00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:11,960
Speaker 1: an all time great catch on four down, Yeah this

849
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:14,000
Speaker 1: year the way you know what I mean? Or it

850
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,799
Speaker 1: was like because it would not surprise me if the

851
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:24,040
Speaker 1: Vikings finished third, Yeah, if they finished last, finishing last,

852
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:25,440
Speaker 1: I don't think they were about And the reason I

853
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 1: say that is because that would mean if the Bears

854
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:30,760
Speaker 1: took it hugely, the Packers sustained it and the Lions

855
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 1: took the next step, right. That's that's a lot, that's

856
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:36,440
Speaker 1: so yeah, that's a lot for all three of those

857
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,000
Speaker 1: teams that are better than Minnesota. But I wouldn't It

858
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,759
Speaker 1: wouldn't shock me if Jordan Love and I know, you know,

859
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:45,919
Speaker 1: Matt Lafloor was, you know, trying to manage expectations about

860
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: him stepping in and just being great right away. It

861
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 1: wouldn't surprise me if Jordan Love was was more than

862
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: functional and capable, and they played differently around Jordan Love

863
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,759
Speaker 1: and supplemented and complimented and augmented his skill set to

864
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 1: where Green Bay was right in the playoff mix. I

865
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,120
Speaker 1: do expect Detroit to take a step forward. But then again,

866
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,400
Speaker 1: I mean we you know, we know the lines are

867
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 1: going to lie well, but not just that. You know,

868
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 1: sometimes like the team that everybody you know put there's

869
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: a lot of hype around, they don't live up to

870
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:14,759
Speaker 1: it for one reason or another. Same thing I'm saying

871
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,280
Speaker 1: about Minnesota, And I think Chicago is on the right track,

872
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:19,919
Speaker 1: but for them to go from having earned the number

873
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 1: one overall pig to the playoffs would be quite the league.

874
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:25,960
Speaker 1: But I say all that to say, I could easily

875
00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 1: see this being as, if not the most competitive division

876
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,279
Speaker 1: in the NFC, if not the league, just given the

877
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:36,080
Speaker 1: trajectory of two of these teams, the fact that Minnesota

878
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 1: is in a good spot, and the fact that Green

879
00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:40,680
Speaker 1: Bay has a history of being able to pass the

880
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 1: baton to the next guy. And you know, Jordan Law

881
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,000
Speaker 1: has been waiting a long time to play, and I

882
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:47,960
Speaker 1: think he'll be the real deal when he gets his opportunity.

883
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,400
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean realistic expectations for the Vikings is,

884
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,360
Speaker 1: you know, playoff contention. Yeah, I think it's realistic to

885
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,480
Speaker 1: expect the division title, but I would just my caveat

886
00:40:57,480 --> 00:40:59,959
Speaker 1: would be if they've missed the playoffs. I think it'll

887
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,040
Speaker 1: just speak to the nature of this league, which is like,

888
00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:04,879
Speaker 1: it's not bill for you to make it every year. Yeah,

889
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:06,560
Speaker 1: if the NFL can have it their way, every team

890
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:08,600
Speaker 1: will be a nine or nine and eights exactly right,

891
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 1: And and Vikings are a few plays away from being

892
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 1: a last year right, you know, Mike, appreciate you, man,

893
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:15,200
Speaker 1: Thank you man. Appreciate looking forward to seeing you on

894
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,600
Speaker 1: Amazon every Thursday night this year, and continue to Kelly,

895
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:20,120
Speaker 1: looking forward to all right, man, thanks so much for

896
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:24,000
Speaker 1: having me here. Sorry, thanks Gabe, and thanks to NBC

897
00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:26,839
Speaker 1: Sports Is Michael Smith for spending some time with us

898
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 1: and being our guest on this week's Minnesota Vikings podcast.

899
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:33,120
Speaker 1: We'll have another exciting guest for you guys next week.

900
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,879
Speaker 1: There's a few of us from Vikings Entertainment Network who

901
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:39,000
Speaker 1: are in tow to Los Angeles to go to the

902
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,440
Speaker 1: NFL Network, and we have a sick lineup. It's like,

903
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:45,240
Speaker 1: there are so many people that we're talking to picking

904
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 1: all the brains of getting you some Vikings content from

905
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,160
Speaker 1: the NFL Network. And so I'm not sure who the

906
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,840
Speaker 1: guest is yet, so it would be a surprise, but

907
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:55,560
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a good one. That's the thing is

908
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:58,400
Speaker 1: going to NFL Network, There's just a whole host of

909
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:00,880
Speaker 1: people that you can choose from. So whoever you can snag,

910
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:02,399
Speaker 1: it's gonna be great. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

911
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:03,920
Speaker 1: And yes, I think it's gonna be great for you to,

912
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 1: you know, get back out there and kind of you know,

913
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:08,360
Speaker 1: talk with some of those different people and get ahold

914
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,040
Speaker 1: of just some of the producers and people today. Yeah,

915
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you am a TV nerd? At heart.

916
00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,760
Speaker 1: I love looking at sets and control rooms and watching

917
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:18,759
Speaker 1: people produce shows. It's an absolute joy. But I do

918
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,120
Speaker 1: love being warm. Really excited about that. I would never

919
00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:23,279
Speaker 1: turn down a trip to LA this time of year,

920
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:25,640
Speaker 1: so that was something that was very important as well.

921
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:26,960
Speaker 1: That was the thing I was going to make the

922
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:29,359
Speaker 1: comment of. And the weather is probably gonna be something. Yeah.

923
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,560
Speaker 1: I mean I have been back home and out to

924
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:35,440
Speaker 1: South Carolina in the last three weeks or something, so

925
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:38,319
Speaker 1: I've been pretty warm, but it's been nice. Yeah, this

926
00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:41,239
Speaker 1: sub sub warm weather that we're having at this point

927
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:44,359
Speaker 1: is just ridiculous, so ridiculous. Get the warm weather however

928
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:46,000
Speaker 1: you can. But you know what is a good thing.

929
00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:48,440
Speaker 1: The NFL Draft party that the Vikings are throwing this

930
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 1: year is indoors. It's gonna be hot, doesn't have to

931
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,080
Speaker 1: be anything, it's just going to be nice. They're bringing

932
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,920
Speaker 1: the Vikings watch party back to US Bank Stadium on Thursday,

933
00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:59,480
Speaker 1: April twenty seventh at six pm. All the info was

934
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,319
Speaker 1: just really east last week. It's kind of some really

935
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:06,520
Speaker 1: exciting things going on. They'll be k Family broadcasting live

936
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,799
Speaker 1: from there for the radio side of things. You watch

937
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,440
Speaker 1: the draft and the NFL network on the boards. The

938
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:13,760
Speaker 1: middis of Vikings garage sale will be there with limited

939
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 1: memorabilion items. There'll be a couple of players there, locker

940
00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:22,560
Speaker 1: room tours. Apparently there's gonna be blackjack, which appeals to

941
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:24,799
Speaker 1: a lot of people. Yeah, Mystic Lake is a great

942
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:26,359
Speaker 1: sponsor and it sounds like they're going to be having

943
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:27,880
Speaker 1: some fun with that, so I'm sure there's gonna be

944
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,319
Speaker 1: yeah prizes associated with that. So there's just a lot

945
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,319
Speaker 1: of options. DJ Cheerleader, skull Line. I mean, it is

946
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:36,080
Speaker 1: a party, after all, so it's always a ton of fun.

947
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:38,319
Speaker 1: I've always loved Draft party. I think it's just a

948
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,400
Speaker 1: really fun kickoff for the fans to be able to

949
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:42,120
Speaker 1: do that. I know it's going to be a little

950
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 1: bit different than previous years this year, so definitely check

951
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,680
Speaker 1: out the website and make sure you get the appropriate

952
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,200
Speaker 1: tickets for what you're gonna need for the areas you

953
00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:51,520
Speaker 1: want to get into. There you go Vikings dot com

954
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:54,480
Speaker 1: for your tickets to the Vikings Watch Party for the

955
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:59,239
Speaker 1: NFL Draft. I cannot believe is already that time of year. Absolutely,

956
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:03,080
Speaker 1: season just inked in. It's April almost right. It's so crazy,

957
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:06,920
Speaker 1: so crazy so for now in the Vikings podcast, I

958
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:09,279
Speaker 1: think we are all wrapped up, but be sure to

959
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,120
Speaker 1: check out all the things that we promote. Obviously, this

960
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:14,759
Speaker 1: is a really great platform for us to be able

961
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:16,840
Speaker 1: to tell you what we're up to, so that if

962
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:18,959
Speaker 1: you're driving, you can get home and you know, log

963
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,120
Speaker 1: on or look at your phone elsewhere. Don't do that

964
00:44:21,160 --> 00:44:26,000
Speaker 1: while you're driving, Absolutely no. All right, Jay, Well, have

965
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:28,480
Speaker 1: a nice weekend. We'll talk to you guys next week

966
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:30,839
Speaker 1: from La some of us from La