1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,680
Speaker 1: Lifetime, the official Athletic country Club of the Minnesota Vikings,

2
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,560
Speaker 1: has something for every member of your family. Get your

3
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:17,120
Speaker 1: family going today at Lifetime, dot Life Forward Slash kits Well.

4
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,320
Speaker 1: What I love about Coach Flores is he's a very

5
00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,000
Speaker 1: no nonsense type of coach. He's very direct, he knows

6
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,479
Speaker 1: exactly what he wants and even beyond that, when you

7
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,479
Speaker 1: look out coming from a championship dynasty franchise like the

8
00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,880
Speaker 1: New England Patriots, like you can't knock that. I was

9
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,720
Speaker 1: thrilled for him and his success. I think there was

10
00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,040
Speaker 1: this narrative that he was sort of like this middle

11
00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,320
Speaker 1: of the road quarterback who was more of a game

12
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,600
Speaker 1: manager and in crunchtime, was he really going to be

13
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,120
Speaker 1: able to deliver those one score games? A lot of

14
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:49,600
Speaker 1: that's orchestrated by Kirk. This is the Minnesota Vikings Podcast

15
00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,120
Speaker 1: on location this week. We are in Los Angeles at

16
00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,320
Speaker 1: the NFL Network studios. That's right. We got Mike Yam

17
00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,080
Speaker 1: and Mja Costa Ruz from the Total Access show on

18
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,240
Speaker 1: NFL Network, the Dynamic duo themselves. This is fun. Have

19
00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,480
Speaker 1: you always ever done like a podcast? To get there?

20
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:11,280
Speaker 1: There's been only one motion one episode of ironically the

21
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,000
Speaker 1: TA podcast. That's what this podcast that we've done all together,

22
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,520
Speaker 1: and then that's it. So hey, hey, we're I'm ready

23
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:18,880
Speaker 1: to hang out. And the fact that like we get

24
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,040
Speaker 1: to answer questions and not ask them there, I'm ready.

25
00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,400
Speaker 1: I know it is our job and I know I'm

26
00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,679
Speaker 1: not sure we have our own Like I gotta be

27
00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,160
Speaker 1: honest with you, because we have. When I got to

28
00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,479
Speaker 1: NFL Network, I was always impressed by the stationary at

29
00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 1: on the network, like you got the car there, they're

30
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,800
Speaker 1: branded you guys, roll deep. You got a whole stack

31
00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,200
Speaker 1: of Vikings Entertainment Network cards, which I don't I touch

32
00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,760
Speaker 1: them because they love there's a good little feel to them. Yeah,

33
00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,680
Speaker 1: we'll be keeping say of those. By the way, you

34
00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:52,800
Speaker 1: can take one home for sure. Actually, Steve Weish almost

35
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:54,680
Speaker 1: walked off with one. I'm sorry that I wrote questions

36
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:56,240
Speaker 1: on and he was like, do you need this? I

37
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,160
Speaker 1: was like, no, it's a souvenir, man. It put my

38
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,240
Speaker 1: memory box. That's that's like the one. Yeah, that's the

39
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 1: one cool thing about I think the operations of the

40
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,200
Speaker 1: Vikings and going, guys, we do come out here. We

41
00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,800
Speaker 1: get to talk to you guys. We are kind of

42
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:11,720
Speaker 1: you know, we have a nice things studio at home,

43
00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,480
Speaker 1: taking some tips from y'all untotal access. I know, our

44
00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:21,160
Speaker 1: off season is pretty hectic. I mean it's not a season,

45
00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,160
Speaker 1: right like, it's just what is it? Yeah, what is

46
00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,040
Speaker 1: it like for you guys? Chaos. It's busier, I would say, Mike,

47
00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,320
Speaker 1: than it is in the regular season. The regular season,

48
00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,640
Speaker 1: there's a cadence, right like, we know the game days

49
00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 1: for the most part, we know sort of like the

50
00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,320
Speaker 1: rhythm of the week and how things go. The storylines

51
00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,120
Speaker 1: are always different. But off season it's sort of like

52
00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,280
Speaker 1: a little a little firestorm, that's just yeah, whenever things

53
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,520
Speaker 1: just pop up, free agency frenzy because there's so much

54
00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,600
Speaker 1: breaking news, and do you know, we roll right into it.

55
00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:50,840
Speaker 1: So we do Super Bowl and then boom, combine, boom,

56
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,400
Speaker 1: free agency, boom, We're getting ready for the draft. It

57
00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,960
Speaker 1: doesn't stop. There's a frenetic pace to it, I mean,

58
00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 1: which I guess feeds into the whole frenzy thing with

59
00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:00,840
Speaker 1: all these free agents. And you can take it a

60
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,680
Speaker 1: step further just you know, you spend the entire NFL

61
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,800
Speaker 1: season watching the games generally speaking on Sunday, and my

62
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:09,919
Speaker 1: background before I got here was a lot of college

63
00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,920
Speaker 1: football on Saturdays, so you know, I'm still watching, but

64
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:14,919
Speaker 1: I'm not watching the same way. And then Fred J

65
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:16,800
Speaker 1: and I at this point, like the NFL season's over,

66
00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,200
Speaker 1: We're trying to catch up on free agency guys and

67
00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,239
Speaker 1: player movement across the board, but at the same time

68
00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,519
Speaker 1: prep for the draft and you're talking, you know, three

69
00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,240
Speaker 1: hundred some odd players to focus in on. So it

70
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,360
Speaker 1: does look it's an awesome problem. And I'll use air quotes.

71
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,600
Speaker 1: It's tremendous. But it is definitely busier now than I

72
00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,800
Speaker 1: think during the season. What do your Sundays look like? Like,

73
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,080
Speaker 1: how do you watch the game in the season? Yeah,

74
00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,120
Speaker 1: you mean, yeah? God, And it's weird too here on

75
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,920
Speaker 1: the West Coast, right, and I'm like, start so early,

76
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,160
Speaker 1: And my dad came to visit from from Miami and

77
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,400
Speaker 1: he's like, this is going to be great. You have

78
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,960
Speaker 1: like all the games, you have access to everything, Like

79
00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 1: we're gonna have like pancakes. Then he realized very quickly,

80
00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,200
Speaker 1: following all the games yeah, simultaneously is very very difficult.

81
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,200
Speaker 1: And we have like slack channels and text threads with producers.

82
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,080
Speaker 1: We're going back and forth on things that happen. Of

83
00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:08,920
Speaker 1: course you have to tweet about it or else you're

84
00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,000
Speaker 1: obviously not a good sportscaster because that's the metric. So

85
00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,520
Speaker 1: it's like Sundays are a full work day. I would

86
00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,240
Speaker 1: say heavier than a show day. Yeah, although I'll take

87
00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,359
Speaker 1: I'll give him j credit because she's actually on the

88
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,080
Speaker 1: Slack channel. I just figured out a few weeks ago

89
00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:27,960
Speaker 1: how to log in the Slack channel in there, but

90
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,760
Speaker 1: I don't. I'm old school. Either pick up the phone

91
00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,040
Speaker 1: and text me or email me. But those threads are

92
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,080
Speaker 1: on going, and then you're looking for some of these

93
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,200
Speaker 1: critical moments. I usually have like red zone up and

94
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,039
Speaker 1: then a couple other monitors or I'm in here, and

95
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,480
Speaker 1: if I'm in here doing sort of our whip around show,

96
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,360
Speaker 1: I actually feel like I'd rather be here working as

97
00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,599
Speaker 1: opposed to watching from home because I get sidetracked. You know,

98
00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,960
Speaker 1: you're folding laundry sometimes and stuff, you know, after the

99
00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,960
Speaker 1: early games, finish up in that lull heading into Sunday

100
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,400
Speaker 1: night football, But generally speaking, it's you know, you're just

101
00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:04,320
Speaker 1: trying to figure out, Hey, what are those critical moments,

102
00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,440
Speaker 1: what are the game changing plays? What are we going

103
00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,159
Speaker 1: to be talking about on Monday. And on top of that,

104
00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,640
Speaker 1: what's you know heading into Monday Night football because that's

105
00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,120
Speaker 1: usually tas a longer show on that day anyway, Oh yeah,

106
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,080
Speaker 1: because you guys have to preview that one. That's crazy.

107
00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,920
Speaker 1: So you obviously have the pulse of the NFL. You

108
00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 1: guys know this league like the back of your hand.

109
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,120
Speaker 1: What was the perception do you think this past season

110
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,159
Speaker 1: about the Vikings. I think for me, especially just in

111
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 1: the conversations we had on the show, it's like, y'all

112
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:35,200
Speaker 1: have to stop overlooking the Vikings. Stop it already. Like

113
00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:37,320
Speaker 1: the team has a lot of grit, you know. I

114
00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,720
Speaker 1: think it's part of like the genetic makeup of it,

115
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,080
Speaker 1: just the Midwest, like we're gonna fight, and we're going

116
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:44,600
Speaker 1: to fight to the end. We saw how many one

117
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,800
Speaker 1: score games there were and it's never over, and I

118
00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,160
Speaker 1: think that's that's one of the things that make it

119
00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,480
Speaker 1: so fun to watch the Vikings. I think there was

120
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:58,160
Speaker 1: a lot of doubts we went weeks before. I think

121
00:05:58,160 --> 00:05:59,840
Speaker 1: we were able to get a bunch of our analysts

122
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,599
Speaker 1: sort of look at the team and say, Okay, like

123
00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,120
Speaker 1: it's actually now time to start believing. Because to MJ's point,

124
00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,359
Speaker 1: the one score games I think created some sort of

125
00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,640
Speaker 1: doubt on how do they execute in some of these

126
00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,680
Speaker 1: critical moments on top of the fact that you know, defensively,

127
00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:15,920
Speaker 1: there was a lot of issues for this football team,

128
00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,480
Speaker 1: and I think that was the reason that gave pause

129
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,440
Speaker 1: to a lot of our analysts on our set. But

130
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 1: then it started to turn. But then once the postseason

131
00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,760
Speaker 1: came around. I mean I specifically remember this, like I'm

132
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,839
Speaker 1: also a Giants fan, so there might have a little

133
00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:31,960
Speaker 1: bit of been Aaron bias there, but there was no

134
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 1: doubt in my mind that the Giants were going to

135
00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:35,359
Speaker 1: go on the road and win that game. And I

136
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,240
Speaker 1: think a lot of it had to do with a

137
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,520
Speaker 1: lack of trust in coming up with some of those stops,

138
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:42,080
Speaker 1: and I think that sort of played out that way.

139
00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:44,240
Speaker 1: So hopefully this team is able to address some of

140
00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,560
Speaker 1: those needs. Well they've did, or at least they are

141
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,320
Speaker 1: trying to with the hiring of Brian Flores and MJ.

142
00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,279
Speaker 1: I was really excited to have you on the podcast

143
00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:52,880
Speaker 1: to talk about that because I know that you are

144
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,760
Speaker 1: a Dolphins van and obviously Brian Flores led the team

145
00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,120
Speaker 1: for a couple three seasons down there. So what do

146
00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,080
Speaker 1: you think the Vikings are getting out of coach Flores? Well,

147
00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,200
Speaker 1: what I love about Coach Flores is he's a very

148
00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,920
Speaker 1: no nonsense type of coach. He's very direct, he knows

149
00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,600
Speaker 1: exactly what he wants. The defense of mine obviously him

150
00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,320
Speaker 1: now is a defensive coordinator. There is tremendous and even

151
00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,280
Speaker 1: beyond that when you look at where he came from

152
00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,760
Speaker 1: before the Dolphins, coming from a championship dynasty franchise like

153
00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,080
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots, Like, you can't knock that. So

154
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:28,320
Speaker 1: I think that level of winning mentality of championship or

155
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,520
Speaker 1: nothing mentality is a tremendous attribute for sure. Yeah, I'm

156
00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:34,480
Speaker 1: taking an even step further, you know, spending some time

157
00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,080
Speaker 1: with that Steeler staff, with Mike Tomlin. I think that's

158
00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:41,080
Speaker 1: another addition here. I think the one thing that I

159
00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,960
Speaker 1: would be concerned about from a Minnesota perspective is how

160
00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,280
Speaker 1: do you address some of the holes on this defense?

161
00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,080
Speaker 1: You know generally right now there's more to losses Like

162
00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,440
Speaker 1: I hated to see Eric Kendricks go. I mean, just

163
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,920
Speaker 1: a huge playmaker in that middle of that defense. And

164
00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,680
Speaker 1: it's not exactly like the draft is littered with middle

165
00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,080
Speaker 1: linebackers right now, So to me, that's a concern. And

166
00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,280
Speaker 1: then statistically, it just never felt like every time I

167
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,720
Speaker 1: watched the Minnesota game it was going to be entertaining

168
00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,560
Speaker 1: because I knew, hey, if Minnesota's got the ball up

169
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,160
Speaker 1: the end, like there's probably a good chance that they're

170
00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,920
Speaker 1: going to be able to score. But you know, it

171
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,240
Speaker 1: just felt like exposed to play after exposed to play

172
00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:15,520
Speaker 1: was given up watching that team's defense. So from a

173
00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,920
Speaker 1: Brian Flor's perspective, it does feel like a reset on

174
00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,400
Speaker 1: the defensive side. I just I don't know where some

175
00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,240
Speaker 1: of those answers are. I think they can help their secondary.

176
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,000
Speaker 1: This draft class is ridiculously deep in terms of corners,

177
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,080
Speaker 1: so I think that might be a place where they

178
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,040
Speaker 1: have to go. I just don't know how you make

179
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:33,800
Speaker 1: up for the loss of Kendricks. Do you think that's

180
00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,160
Speaker 1: where they'll go at twenty three? To me, it makes sense,

181
00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:38,640
Speaker 1: And I don't think like the kid out of Arkansas,

182
00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,480
Speaker 1: the Sanders kid, he's probably considered the best linebacker in

183
00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,640
Speaker 1: the group, but I don't know if he's necessarily worthy

184
00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:45,640
Speaker 1: of that. But I think, you know, I don't know

185
00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,520
Speaker 1: if Minnesota's got that ability to not go and grab

186
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,360
Speaker 1: that need. Like, this corner class is really deep, and

187
00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:54,520
Speaker 1: I think I still think they end up going in corner.

188
00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,200
Speaker 1: There's a couple of guys in that twenty range. The

189
00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,560
Speaker 1: kid out of Maryland Banks, he's starting to rise a

190
00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,120
Speaker 1: little bit. Emmanuel Forbes out of Mississippi State, really really long,

191
00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,440
Speaker 1: great playmakers. Well, I think he could fit in nicely

192
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,480
Speaker 1: to this defense. But whoever they get has to be

193
00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:14,559
Speaker 1: the sauce gardener, the Tariq Woolen type where the start right, Yeah,

194
00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:16,880
Speaker 1: you don't. I don't think this team has the luxury

195
00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,120
Speaker 1: of drafting a corner in the first round and not

196
00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,360
Speaker 1: expecting them to be a massive contributor week one. Yeah, no,

197
00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,640
Speaker 1: that's totally fair. You guys obviously have a ton of

198
00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:27,920
Speaker 1: analysts coming in right now because it's kind of a

199
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,400
Speaker 1: vacation time. It's not your usual cast of characters. You

200
00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,920
Speaker 1: get a lot of new faces. What are they saying

201
00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,080
Speaker 1: about where the vikings will go in the draft? Well,

202
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,679
Speaker 1: even if you just look at our draft experts, right

203
00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,640
Speaker 1: like Daniel Jeremiah twenty three has Miles Murphy at Clemson

204
00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:43,959
Speaker 1: going there the edge guy, which, of course, I think

205
00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,280
Speaker 1: if there's a good edge guy available in the twenties,

206
00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:48,800
Speaker 1: like you want to grab a guy like that. I

207
00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,960
Speaker 1: do agree with with yam Or though in terms of

208
00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,400
Speaker 1: the secondary situation, and I feel like also the division

209
00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,199
Speaker 1: is sort of an interesting tipping point where if you

210
00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,400
Speaker 1: can get really aggressive on the defense side of the

211
00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,840
Speaker 1: ball and start shutting people down and really capitalizing on

212
00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,320
Speaker 1: the weaknesses of your opposing offenses, I think you're going

213
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,360
Speaker 1: to set yourself up for great success. So I can

214
00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,480
Speaker 1: definitely see them either going edge or definitely somebody in

215
00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:13,959
Speaker 1: the second area. And I think MJ makes a really

216
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,920
Speaker 1: good point because there has been some speculation that maybe

217
00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,560
Speaker 1: Minnesota goes and thinks about the replacement down the road

218
00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,199
Speaker 1: for Kirk Cousins, I don't. MG just talked about this division,

219
00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,360
Speaker 1: like why not go and take the division once again?

220
00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,719
Speaker 1: And I always struggle when and I get it, it's

221
00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,720
Speaker 1: a hard balancing act. If you are on the precipice

222
00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:33,800
Speaker 1: of being not only a playoff team making a run.

223
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,640
Speaker 1: How much can you really plan for your future when

224
00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:39,400
Speaker 1: you have some glaring holes on the defensive side right now.

225
00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,360
Speaker 1: So I just I don't see them going quarterback. And

226
00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,920
Speaker 1: even for the talk about like a Hooker for example. Maybe,

227
00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,040
Speaker 1: But but why do that when when you know that

228
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,640
Speaker 1: you have an opportunity to take this division once again

229
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,400
Speaker 1: and get back to the postseason. Me personally, I'd rather

230
00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:02,040
Speaker 1: go and get me the playmaker right now. Now situation okay, okay, well,

231
00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,800
Speaker 1: speaking of the division, I have to have this. I

232
00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,600
Speaker 1: have to post this question. How is it covering this

233
00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:14,760
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers storyline? Jay in day out, every single day

234
00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,400
Speaker 1: he makes appearances, he tells you nothing like, what is

235
00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,840
Speaker 1: that like? Because obviously he's not too popular where we're from.

236
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,280
Speaker 1: How is it from out here? Your vantage point? Be honest, MJ.

237
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:28,920
Speaker 1: Because we let a show and I told you I'll

238
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,880
Speaker 1: never let you live this down. Said you can empathize

239
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,559
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers, and I was like, damn, Like if

240
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,240
Speaker 1: you want to take the story every day here and

241
00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,800
Speaker 1: here's the thing. At that point, it was like day

242
00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,240
Speaker 1: twenty seven in a row of saying this man's name

243
00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,640
Speaker 1: more than my own. Um, and so there was just

244
00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,439
Speaker 1: I think the line was that his flight to New

245
00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,560
Speaker 1: York was delayed. I'm like, wow, there is a point

246
00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,200
Speaker 1: of connection for me and a Roge right now. He's

247
00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,240
Speaker 1: never fought fine the common threadviously it's a metaphorical flight, right,

248
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:05,920
Speaker 1: because we're still waiting for this contract situation to be finalized, resolved,

249
00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,280
Speaker 1: trade whatever at this point. But look, I literally walked

250
00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,040
Speaker 1: into the meeting one of those weeks and I was like,

251
00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:16,679
Speaker 1: I'm so sick of these men and by these men

252
00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 1: I'm talking about iron like I was over it over

253
00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:21,719
Speaker 1: and I think it's it's a burnout, right because it's

254
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,360
Speaker 1: like so much of the waiting, like, just put us

255
00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,120
Speaker 1: out of our misery already, what's going to happen. And

256
00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,400
Speaker 1: I'm sure the teams feel the same, love to have

257
00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:31,920
Speaker 1: this short up, buttoned up and sealed up with a bow.

258
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,640
Speaker 1: But here we are still still waiting. Still this Does

259
00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,640
Speaker 1: it get solved in during the draft? Do you think it? Yeah?

260
00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:40,680
Speaker 1: I think it has to get solved, don't you, Because

261
00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:43,080
Speaker 1: I mean we are talking about draft compensation and I

262
00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:47,200
Speaker 1: understand where both sides sit on this. You know, Green

263
00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,320
Speaker 1: Bay is giving up a guy that's one four MVPs.

264
00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:50,920
Speaker 1: Remember we were talking about the staff the other day,

265
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,520
Speaker 1: which floored me. Rogers has got like twelve career playoff wins.

266
00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,320
Speaker 1: The Jets franchise has eleven collectively. You think about it

267
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,880
Speaker 1: from that perspective, there's such a death inspiration. And I

268
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:02,600
Speaker 1: grew up, you know, I went to school in New

269
00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:03,920
Speaker 1: York or used to work in Midtown. I grew up

270
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,280
Speaker 1: in northern New Jersey. So a lot of my friends

271
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,280
Speaker 1: and family are Jets fans. So I understand the appetite

272
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,640
Speaker 1: and the need, this desperate feel for them to go

273
00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,680
Speaker 1: and try to get a franchise quarterback. But MJ and

274
00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:17,280
Speaker 1: I've talked about this a lot, and we've had this

275
00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,640
Speaker 1: conversation on TA and to me, I can't believe that

276
00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:24,040
Speaker 1: this organization put all the chips in the middle of

277
00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,600
Speaker 1: the table and said Aaron Rodgers is our guy. It

278
00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:28,960
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to me because he goes into a

279
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:34,959
Speaker 1: dark retreeet retreat tat sorry the other are anyway, you

280
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,000
Speaker 1: will get into social media stuff, which is clearly on

281
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,200
Speaker 1: my head. But he goes into a retreat thinking that

282
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,319
Speaker 1: he might retire, Like, I don't know how you give

283
00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,600
Speaker 1: up massive amounts of compensation for a franchise quarterback, knowing

284
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,400
Speaker 1: that this is what a one year a two year rental,

285
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:51,520
Speaker 1: And it goes to show you because I knew you

286
00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:55,719
Speaker 1: know you're asking about the draft. You can't make huge mistakes,

287
00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,439
Speaker 1: and the Jets made a huge mistake with the second

288
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,280
Speaker 1: overall pick, and they're paying the price in a big

289
00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,960
Speaker 1: way because Zack Wilson's just not that guy. Well, you

290
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,760
Speaker 1: can't forget that. A week before Rogers Gate started, the

291
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,560
Speaker 1: Jets were all in on Derek Carr, and Derek instead

292
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,040
Speaker 1: went to the Saints. So I say this with a smirk.

293
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,840
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers was the backup plan, hell of a backup plan,

294
00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,400
Speaker 1: and I think from his perspective from a business standpoint,

295
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,400
Speaker 1: from your career, He's like, oh, I got all the

296
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,960
Speaker 1: leverage here, y'all need me because at the end of

297
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,600
Speaker 1: the day, the men will be wearing a gold jacket

298
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:32,320
Speaker 1: for all the Shenanigans, the ayahuasca, allegedly for the Darkness retreats.

299
00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:37,000
Speaker 1: He is a prolific level quarterback and he will be

300
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,240
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame one day. But like, all

301
00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,800
Speaker 1: of this is just a lot. I'm trying to remember

302
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,800
Speaker 1: who he is on the field, right. He set all

303
00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:47,880
Speaker 1: of this aside because I don't want to be petty

304
00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,200
Speaker 1: about it. I don't. I mean, that's the hardest part

305
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,280
Speaker 1: with this whole thing is like I think it's almost

306
00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,000
Speaker 1: distracting you from distracting from who he is as a player,

307
00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,880
Speaker 1: which is the opposite of what he's been trying for

308
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,200
Speaker 1: because he wants to control the narrative. For so long,

309
00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:03,800
Speaker 1: he's been trying to be that media guy. There's been

310
00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,440
Speaker 1: some real issues there, and not to make this like

311
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,840
Speaker 1: a COVID political conversation, but I do think how he

312
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,160
Speaker 1: handled that. I mean, this guy is thinking about hosting Jeopardy.

313
00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,400
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's in his future based off

314
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,160
Speaker 1: of some of those polarizing comments. I think the people

315
00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,200
Speaker 1: just nationally looking at him, and I think, to MJ's point,

316
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,880
Speaker 1: almost forgetting what he is as a player. I don't know.

317
00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,920
Speaker 1: He's on the shortlist of the guys who've played the

318
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,200
Speaker 1: quarterback position in my lifetime. I don't know if there's

319
00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,120
Speaker 1: a guy that makes it look easier when he's out there.

320
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:37,280
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy is absolutely flawless. It's fun to

321
00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,440
Speaker 1: go and watch him. I just it's it's a little

322
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,800
Speaker 1: bit of a tough sell right now to consistently do

323
00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:45,920
Speaker 1: this story and just go yo, guys, like, let's just

324
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,920
Speaker 1: get this done. So conversely, let's talk about the Vikings

325
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,840
Speaker 1: quarterback Kirk Cousins signing an extension this year, kind of

326
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,960
Speaker 1: not signing a restructuring his contract. Ah, he's obviously the

327
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,880
Speaker 1: guy that the Vikings want to take to the Twitch

328
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,840
Speaker 1: Championship this season. You know, what do you what do

329
00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:04,920
Speaker 1: you think of Kirk and what do you make of

330
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,600
Speaker 1: his performance within the Vikings organization this past season. I

331
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,480
Speaker 1: was thrilled for him and his success. I think there

332
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,560
Speaker 1: was this narrative that he was sort of like this

333
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,400
Speaker 1: middle of the road, you know quarterback who was more

334
00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,560
Speaker 1: of a game manager and in crunch time, was he

335
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,120
Speaker 1: really going to be able to deliver and yet consistently?

336
00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,720
Speaker 1: And we talked about this earlier. Those one score games,

337
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,880
Speaker 1: a lot of that's orchestrated by by Kirk. Now you

338
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:28,960
Speaker 1: could say, hey, you got Justin Jefferson out there, and

339
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:30,960
Speaker 1: you throw it anywhere in his vicinity in the catch

340
00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,400
Speaker 1: radius is ridiculous. I get that, But he still was

341
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,440
Speaker 1: able to deliver and even at the end of the year,

342
00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:37,320
Speaker 1: like there was I don't think he wasn't going to

343
00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,000
Speaker 1: win it, but there was an argument to be made

344
00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,280
Speaker 1: that his name should have also been in that MVP

345
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:48,200
Speaker 1: conversation argument. Yeah, it's it's it's to me, like, look,

346
00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,360
Speaker 1: he's a little bit below that tier, but if you

347
00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,560
Speaker 1: want to extend the list of candidates outside of like

348
00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,920
Speaker 1: two or three, he absolutely deserved to be there. I

349
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,880
Speaker 1: think so too. I always like, um, he's someone I

350
00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:00,720
Speaker 1: think who is easy to root for, but I think

351
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,080
Speaker 1: from a player's perspective, and Emma will be the first

352
00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:05,960
Speaker 1: one to walk in here and say, with his whole chests,

353
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,600
Speaker 1: he does not mince any words. But there is sort

354
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,800
Speaker 1: of that doubt right that we were talking about earlier,

355
00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,720
Speaker 1: and Okay, is Kurt going to be the guy ultimately

356
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:17,320
Speaker 1: if the game is in your hands that you're going

357
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,840
Speaker 1: to trust to seal that up for you get the

358
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,280
Speaker 1: game winning touchdown to go? And I think he's There's

359
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:27,960
Speaker 1: been some inconsistencies that give people pause. Um, but regardless

360
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,960
Speaker 1: of that, the trust that the organization has. Obviously how

361
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,960
Speaker 1: the players interact with him, Um, you'd love to see

362
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,359
Speaker 1: somebody who's going to be successful, So good for you,

363
00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:45,040
Speaker 1: Kirk Kirko chains definitely boosted his stocks. I think the

364
00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,439
Speaker 1: biggest the biggest piece of feedback I would get a

365
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,480
Speaker 1: lot from the players is that this is the guy

366
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,160
Speaker 1: that we've seen for so many seasons. Y'all just haven't

367
00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:56,320
Speaker 1: seen him, Yeah, you haven't seen this personality. And I

368
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,680
Speaker 1: think I remember I interviewed T. J. Hockinson a couple

369
00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,879
Speaker 1: of weeks scepter. He got to the Vikings and his

370
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 1: first game was that Washington game where Kurk o Chains

371
00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:08,520
Speaker 1: was born. Not really, it was when he wore the

372
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,439
Speaker 1: glasses and the shirt went shirtless, right he said, he

373
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,639
Speaker 1: was like, it was ridiculous, and I loved every minute

374
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,080
Speaker 1: of it. I love being a part of that team.

375
00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,639
Speaker 1: So I think, in a way, I think Kirk is

376
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,080
Speaker 1: one of those guys who is unapologetically himself. He doesn't

377
00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,359
Speaker 1: care what you guys are saying there. His guys know

378
00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,880
Speaker 1: that he's good to go. That's the only thing that matters.

379
00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,840
Speaker 1: I think the other thing too, to sort of streamline

380
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,879
Speaker 1: this and simplify it. When you are one thing for

381
00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:39,000
Speaker 1: the beginning of your career, middle of your career, I

382
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,880
Speaker 1: think it's hard for people to see you as something different,

383
00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:43,840
Speaker 1: and it's not just a football thing. Like think about

384
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,000
Speaker 1: going to a job. If you're you know, a middle

385
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,320
Speaker 1: manager or upper management. You look down and you say, oh, okay,

386
00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,520
Speaker 1: I remember when this person was working their way up.

387
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,640
Speaker 1: Am I the type of person who can see them

388
00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:55,760
Speaker 1: for what they could be or what they have been,

389
00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:58,399
Speaker 1: and they're always stuck in that window. And I think

390
00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:02,160
Speaker 1: there's a lot of NFL players, slash analysts or people

391
00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,520
Speaker 1: away from the game that see Kirk one way for

392
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,440
Speaker 1: what he did earlier in his career, and it's hard

393
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,639
Speaker 1: for them to say, Hey, Kirk Cousins in the MVP conversation,

394
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,520
Speaker 1: how legit is that. It's like, well, damn, they keep

395
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,240
Speaker 1: one in these games. At some point you gotta stop

396
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,040
Speaker 1: hating and just give the man some credit. Yeah, don't

397
00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:17,359
Speaker 1: let them box you win, Kirk. There you go. He

398
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,639
Speaker 1: needs more Kyle Brands in this life, right exactly. The

399
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,280
Speaker 1: number one fan of the Kirk Cousins Fan Club, number

400
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:25,520
Speaker 1: one person. Well, thank you guys so much. It was

401
00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,240
Speaker 1: great to catch up with you guys. Turn the tables

402
00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:29,679
Speaker 1: on you a little bit if you're the one to

403
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,720
Speaker 1: ask the questions. But you can catch Mike and MJ

404
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,080
Speaker 1: hosting NFL Total Axis every night. I think it's six

405
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,280
Speaker 1: pm Central times. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's six pm

406
00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,080
Speaker 1: Central time on NFL Network. You guys, thank you so much.

407
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,960
Speaker 1: Thank you, It's gonna be fun time and draft holes

408
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:46,840
Speaker 1: here appreciate you. Guys having us So you're serious, right,

409
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,600
Speaker 1: I could take one of those cards. You can have

410
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,080
Speaker 1: whatever you want. What else do you need? You want

411
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:55,960
Speaker 1: the mic flag too, you can have that, right, Get

412
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,280
Speaker 1: a little nice souvenir. Thank you to Thank you guys

413
00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:02,399
Speaker 1: so much. Thanks again, Thank you again so much to

414
00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,159
Speaker 1: NFL Total Accesses, Mike Yam and mja Acosta rees for

415
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,760
Speaker 1: being this week's podcast guests. We're just going to come

416
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,240
Speaker 1: to you live from LA all week long. If you

417
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,480
Speaker 1: want more NFL Draft content, the Vikings Entertainment Network is

418
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,400
Speaker 1: where it's at. Be sure to look at the Vikings

419
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,600
Speaker 1: YouTube page or on our app or on our website

420
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,359
Speaker 1: Vikings dot com because we have interviews with NFL analysts

421
00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:31,800
Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks, Steve Wish, Andrews, Ciciliano, Cynthia Freelan, and there's

422
00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 1: even a special appearance by NBC Sports is Maria Taylor,

423
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,560
Speaker 1: who's out here in LA with the broadcast boot camp

424
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:43,120
Speaker 1: here at the NFL Network where they take a bunch

425
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,560
Speaker 1: of players and they go through all the motions of

426
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,800
Speaker 1: like being analysts and being on TV and radio, and

427
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,399
Speaker 1: she's helping with that. So she was generous enough to

428
00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:54,120
Speaker 1: give us some of her time. We actually even ran

429
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:58,040
Speaker 1: into some players. One was Patrick Peterson, which was awesome

430
00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,520
Speaker 1: to see obviously so excited for him to be able

431
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 1: to play another two years in the NFL, unfortunately now

432
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:05,280
Speaker 1: with the Vikings, but it was nice to see a

433
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,240
Speaker 1: friendly face around here. Also, we saw in Dominican Sue

434
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,160
Speaker 1: Kevin Byard Titans. We saw mark Ingram Saints and all

435
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,920
Speaker 1: over the place. So it's kind of like the birthing

436
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,879
Speaker 1: round of like your next gen analysts that will be

437
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,840
Speaker 1: working in the broadcasting world post career. So it really

438
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,280
Speaker 1: is cool that they allow us to come here to

439
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,480
Speaker 1: do content the NFL network, but they're also fostering future

440
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,800
Speaker 1: broadcasters who are former players, so it's just been really great.

441
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 1: We hope that you enjoy the content because, as you know,

442
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,720
Speaker 1: we're on a countdown. We're like three weeks away from

443
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:42,960
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft, and of course, if you need any

444
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: more Vikings content about the draft, anything you want to know,

445
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,520
Speaker 1: need to know, you can tweet at me because we

446
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,359
Speaker 1: do have a couple of Pick six episodes coming up

447
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,920
Speaker 1: as well. So thanks for listening to this week's Vikings podcast,

448
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:56,640
Speaker 1: and we will talk to you guys next week.