Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast is more specting, little treats,
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome you. Another edition of the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast does that to bide the United States Marine Corps.
Speaker 1: It's the Christmas Special. My name is Dan Hands is
Speaker 1: coming to you from a virtual room build with heroes
Speaker 1: in pretty sweaters. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, Colleen will Blood
Speaker 1: is up the gang. I like mark situation how he
Speaker 1: has lights that are flickering around him. That is something else. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I just when I think of the Marines
Speaker 1: and you know what they're doing and what they're out
Speaker 1: there protecting, they're probably looking at this and saying, um,
Speaker 1: the mission is clear. We feel good about what we're
Speaker 1: doing for the States and for these individuals on the
Speaker 1: screen right now. Absolutely they're paying that money. You know,
Speaker 1: we're for people listening on the podcast. We've all got
Speaker 1: these like ugly team sweaters on. You can get Mark
Speaker 1: Scott pajamas, but yeah, Colleen came with just like a
Speaker 1: nice looking sweaters. Is the carpet walwt odd go, Greg,
Speaker 1: you did it again. We've talked about this. You you
Speaker 1: tend to speak for the group when you say things like, uh,
Speaker 1: everyone's wearing ugly sweaters. I tend to think that my
Speaker 1: they're literally branded ugly sweaters, so people know what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. When you go to the ugly sweater section
Speaker 1: on a NFL that's where yours was purchased from. I
Speaker 1: don't believe it. I think it's a beautiful, gorgeous sweater. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's the Christmas Special and we have a great episode
Speaker 1: filled with fund to get to a special guests and
Speaker 1: holiday themed segments. And did I mention special guests? Because
Speaker 1: we have special guests. It's gonna be quite a show.
Speaker 1: But we do have some business us to start with
Speaker 1: Connie Fox. It is uh the end of the week
Speaker 1: fifteen slate, So let's start today's show by digging in
Speaker 1: on Monday night football, checking into Pitty. You'll keep it
Speaker 1: right up the middle. Fiddlings having himself a good old
Speaker 1: time twenty three yard rushing touchdown. Alright, here's the road
Speaker 1: to victory presented by the United States Marine Corps. And yes,
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers again fall short and really an ugly way.
Speaker 1: Seventeen the final Bengals over Steelers, the third straight loss
Speaker 1: for Pittsburgh after an eleven on oh start to the season.
Speaker 1: And Colleen. I don't know about you, but this feels
Speaker 1: like something more than a bump in the road for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: It feels like something closer to in an existential crisis,
Speaker 1: and they don't have a lot of time to get
Speaker 1: this thing figured out well because it's three straight weeks
Speaker 1: now they've lost. But this latest one, you know, they
Speaker 1: kind of reminded me of myself on Monday's like foggy,
Speaker 1: a little sluggish, low energy, like they probably lived in
Speaker 1: the mirror and didn't recognize themselves much like I do.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't even know what we watched, and
Speaker 1: I would love to say that I didn't see that coming,
Speaker 1: but this is like so on brand for the Steelers,
Speaker 1: even even at this level. I mean, it's they've really
Speaker 1: taken it up a notch for the holiday season. But
Speaker 1: for Ryan Finley and Giovanni Bernard to lead this team
Speaker 1: to a win over the Steelers who could have wrapped
Speaker 1: up the division, I mean, what a shock. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: It was shocking, and yet, like the way this Steeler's
Speaker 1: offense is going, no one would have saw how it
Speaker 1: happened on Monday night, But the flashback I had was
Speaker 1: to the Steelers. How we always kept saying, like, man,
Speaker 1: this defense, they must be tired, they must be so
Speaker 1: sick of carrying Bason Rudolph on their back. If they
Speaker 1: just had an average offense, they'd be great. And then
Speaker 1: here we are in a big time game, Monday night football,
Speaker 1: and the Steelers offense had two yards in their first
Speaker 1: five possessions. They had forty yards in eight possessions in
Speaker 1: the entire in the first half. That's an entire games worth.
Speaker 1: I mean, that was a cry for help. Two first down,
Speaker 1: three turnovers. Like the defense that everything that they needed
Speaker 1: to do. I don't need to hear anything about the
Speaker 1: Steelers defense after this game, but they have to be
Speaker 1: uh demoralized looking at the other side of the ball
Speaker 1: and thinking like these guys aren't going to figure it
Speaker 1: out because there's no sign that they're gonna figure it
Speaker 1: out right now. I can't think of too many Steelers
Speaker 1: teams characteristically that fade like this. UM. I went back
Speaker 1: and looked, and there were one or two seasons under
Speaker 1: Tomlin where they started hot and finished UM not great,
Speaker 1: because they just weren't great teams. This team was eleven
Speaker 1: and oh and the reports coming out that they feel
Speaker 1: mentally exhausted. Um, it's just an It's been an unusual
Speaker 1: year for everyone but the Steeler. It's like I would
Speaker 1: trust them, just as a long time watcher of the
Speaker 1: a f C North in the old a f C Central,
Speaker 1: to bounce back from one or two of these losses.
Speaker 1: But last night's the game that I almost thought you
Speaker 1: all this game passed since in the morning because it's
Speaker 1: gonna be, you know, the thirty five to ten bounce
Speaker 1: back game for Big Ben in this offense and the
Speaker 1: run game and everything else. And um, I'm watching Big
Speaker 1: Ben fall apart before my eyes. And like there's these
Speaker 1: reports he wants to come back and play next year,
Speaker 1: and that's all possible. I mean, I'm not worried about
Speaker 1: next year, but he does not look to me like
Speaker 1: a functional um leader of this offense right now. I
Speaker 1: mean they're hard to watch in the deep pass has
Speaker 1: been eliminated. I mean, the Bengals knew coming in what
Speaker 1: to do with them defensively. That's got to be a
Speaker 1: huge concern with the stacked a f C lineup heading
Speaker 1: into the postseason. Everybody knows what to do with the
Speaker 1: Steelers now, and it's it's on that offense to adjust.
Speaker 1: But now there is this very real question to ask
Speaker 1: whether they have the guy behind center that Kenna Ja,
Speaker 1: whether their game plan was specific to what age thirty
Speaker 1: eight Ben Roethlisberger is, our age thirty nine, whatever he is,
Speaker 1: and it just there was. It was strange watching it
Speaker 1: because there seemed to be almost like a helplessness to
Speaker 1: the offense. It reminded me actually off some of these
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz games before he got benched by the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Then they would keep on coming back on the field
Speaker 1: and then they would go three and out, and then
Speaker 1: they come off the field, they get the ball back
Speaker 1: and you're like, Okay, maybe things get figured out, Colleen,
Speaker 1: but they never happened. So now they're in a Wincian place.
Speaker 1: But there's no Jalen Hurts that puts the line up.
Speaker 1: Nobody wants to be in that place. It's not a
Speaker 1: great place to be in. I mean, when those situations,
Speaker 1: you just like expect a three and out every time
Speaker 1: they go out on offense. And I'm wondering too, because
Speaker 1: I feel like all I've been hearing about today and
Speaker 1: last night was Juju Smith Shoester doing his TikTok dances.
Speaker 1: I mean, are you guys triggered about this? Because I
Speaker 1: feel like that's the least of their problems right now.
Speaker 1: Right well, I would say I feel like I'm not
Speaker 1: allowed to be triggered. I was, I was told, I know.
Speaker 1: But there's definitely like this other subset of people on
Speaker 1: Twitter that like, don't shame him for being who he is.
Speaker 1: And it's like I don't really care that much about it,
Speaker 1: but um TikTok as a as a format, like can
Speaker 1: we come up with some different dances? It's like the same,
Speaker 1: it's like schoolgirls Smith Schuster doing it. I don't know,
Speaker 1: can we com do a little bit? It's some great
Speaker 1: disrespect to be dancing on a logo. You like, you
Speaker 1: play the game all game on these logos, stopping on them,
Speaker 1: falling on them, sweating on them, bleeding on them. And
Speaker 1: now it's like sacred ground because it's the pregame warmups.
Speaker 1: Calm down, It's like yeah, and it's a lot of
Speaker 1: old players. It's like, you know, worry about like the
Speaker 1: like playing like more than the brand and like as
Speaker 1: if the time that they're spending going on TikTok is
Speaker 1: is more than like the time all of these guys
Speaker 1: are using to like get women like no one, no
Speaker 1: one's criticizing that he's spending five minutes on tick tack ticktok.
Speaker 1: Give me a break. How about you criticized Boed Roethlisberger
Speaker 1: for like just being totally scrambled. It's crazy. You know what.
Speaker 1: You know, what I was thinking watching last night is
Speaker 1: they missed Mike Munchak so much. They missed Todd Haley too,
Speaker 1: by the way, their old coordinator. Because it's not just Roethlisberger.
Speaker 1: I mean it's partly him, but they have they have
Speaker 1: no answers schematically of where to find the easy places.
Speaker 1: And they thought maybe they would throw down the field.
Speaker 1: Last night he was one for four teen, throwing over
Speaker 1: ten yards. So it's it's everything. The run blocking is
Speaker 1: so bad for that team. Yeah, and then they have
Speaker 1: the Colts and the Browns coming up. Yeah. I mean,
Speaker 1: look at the reason why Mark has electricity all around
Speaker 1: him right now is because the dude is plugged in. Sessler,
Speaker 1: I know, it's a different year, and we talked about,
Speaker 1: oh what does it mean to actually win the division? Oh,
Speaker 1: you know, Sessler wants it. He could taste it. The
Speaker 1: a f C North after years of misery, you can
Speaker 1: go in and beat the Steelers, uh to claim that
Speaker 1: division and put on the baseball caps and and do
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff. I know you're excited about it. Mark,
Speaker 1: it's all in play now. Well, I'm excited if they
Speaker 1: deserve it, if they earn it, and I and there's
Speaker 1: a chance they could by beating Pittsburgh. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: also scenarios out there, um that are mad cap enough
Speaker 1: for Cleveland could lose that game, finished eleven and five
Speaker 1: and not be a playoff team. So you know, in
Speaker 1: terms of like waltzing around my house, you know, and
Speaker 1: kissing babies and stuff, I'm not there yet. Let's see
Speaker 1: how this unfolds. I'm always expecting something um, dark and
Speaker 1: disastrous to occur to the Browns, but they're starting to
Speaker 1: make a believer out of me that, um, they are not.
Speaker 1: You know, we're not spending all week wondering about Browns
Speaker 1: players doing TikTok dances. That seems like something the Browns
Speaker 1: would normally get pulled into. But um, and let Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: deal with that business. Let's give Cincinnati a little credit here,
Speaker 1: because nobody thought they were going to compete in this game,
Speaker 1: and just like the Jets did against the Rams on Sunday,
Speaker 1: these those guys are fired up. Those guys, they couldn't
Speaker 1: get enough of this idea that they were messing up
Speaker 1: the Steelers season. And it had been in such a
Speaker 1: dark place obviously this in Sinnati season, ever since Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow blew out his knee. So to have this game
Speaker 1: at home with some fans in the stands and a
Speaker 1: lot of those fans were Steelers fans, uh, and send
Speaker 1: them out of the building with a scowl on their face.
Speaker 1: That is a nice little gift under the Christmas tree.
Speaker 1: I wish Chris Westling was with us right now because
Speaker 1: he knows exactly what it's all about. Cincinnati has been
Speaker 1: tortured by Pittsburgh for years, just like the Browns, and
Speaker 1: now you get a chance to really stick it to
Speaker 1: him where where it hurts when they weren't expecting it.
Speaker 1: Nice job by the Bengals and Ryan Finley, Yeah, lost
Speaker 1: ten straight. Finley felt like low on the list of
Speaker 1: reasons they won, but he did get a couple of
Speaker 1: big rushing plays. And I think if Bengals fans really
Speaker 1: want to be positive, they do have some good young
Speaker 1: players like Hubbard and Loss and dominated that game against
Speaker 1: the Steelers tackles. I like those two pass rushers Higgins
Speaker 1: and Boyd who got hurt Tyler Boyd got hurt early
Speaker 1: in the game, are kind of a reminder like receivers
Speaker 1: only matter so much because I feel like if Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd and Tee Higgins had like a great quarterback, like
Speaker 1: they could be Pro Bowl type players this year. That's
Speaker 1: how good they've been. Uh So they got some young
Speaker 1: players nice, that's their super Bowl. Didn't even mess up
Speaker 1: their draft pick. Like they're in a weird spot where
Speaker 1: they're just like stuck at three. It's perfect. I was
Speaker 1: waiting to see Zach Taylor register a few um notable wins.
Speaker 1: They've beaten the Titans and they've now beaten the Steelers.
Speaker 1: I think it's an argument to keep the staff and
Speaker 1: have them all come back. When you have Burrow, I mean,
Speaker 1: beating the Steelers in your own division, when they've whipped
Speaker 1: up on you for you know, like near decade, it matters.
Speaker 1: I think that what's that with a third string quarterback
Speaker 1: to and it might be too late smile on his face,
Speaker 1: Ryan Finley through Mike Brown's not paying Zach Taylor's contract
Speaker 1: for a couple of years when when he's not in
Speaker 1: the building, the Bengals owner is the last person to
Speaker 1: fire a coach earlier. I don't think Zach Taylor is
Speaker 1: in any trouble at all. Yeah, the your prediction market
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor's coach of the year. That won't happen. But
Speaker 1: I think this is this more or less locks up
Speaker 1: that he's returning, and so good for him, good for
Speaker 1: the Bengals. And that was Road to Victory presented by
Speaker 1: the United States Marine Corps. I didn't mean to throw
Speaker 1: under the bus there, Mark, not give you a chance
Speaker 1: to respond, But right, let's move on again. It is
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL Podcast Christmas Special, And what kind
Speaker 1: of Christmas special would it be if we didn't talk
Speaker 1: about Santa the big man who's on his way and
Speaker 1: that list he uses a list you know, he checks
Speaker 1: it twice. Blah blah blah bla blah blah blah, you
Speaker 1: know the whole backstory. We thought it would be nice
Speaker 1: at this time of the year to share our naughty
Speaker 1: or Nice list uh NFL style as we look ahead
Speaker 1: to the final two weeks of the regular season and
Speaker 1: the playoffs. So let's go through. Let's start, let's start positive.
Speaker 1: Let's go through some uh let's say something nice, Colleen,
Speaker 1: get us going today. Okay, so definitely on the nice list.
Speaker 1: Xavien Howard the Dolphins quarterback. What a season he's been having.
Speaker 1: This this Miami deep ens has been incredible all season long,
Speaker 1: but he is no doubt the star of it. Leads
Speaker 1: the league and interceptions. He had like a five game
Speaker 1: streak where he had at least one takeaway or one interception.
Speaker 1: Last week he almost had the touchdown but that it
Speaker 1: was called back. But this is a guy who's been
Speaker 1: in Miami on the Dolphins for five years. And imagine
Speaker 1: all all Miami. That's exactly right. Imagine all of the
Speaker 1: stress and agony and disappointment and just like the depressing
Speaker 1: nature of that team before Brian Flores came in. And
Speaker 1: now the fact that not only have the Dolphins turn
Speaker 1: things around, but he is just having an insanely good
Speaker 1: career year. Um. I actually talked to him this morning
Speaker 1: and I was asking him just like, yeah, that's coming
Speaker 1: up on Saturday. You guys should watch it on NFL Network.
Speaker 1: You know, Raiders h and Dolphins gonna be get it.
Speaker 1: Your successful going your host in that coverage, right. I
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, if you're hosting it, I want to
Speaker 1: see you on the promos, that's all you'll see her
Speaker 1: because the station is on in your house literally seven
Speaker 1: so you will. You will find a way to make
Speaker 1: that happen. Has those glasses where there's actually a little
Speaker 1: TV screen inside the glasses so you can just wear
Speaker 1: them all time and leave the house. And he's plugged
Speaker 1: into NFL network programming at all times. Little Star Struck
Speaker 1: with Colleen. So my question for Xavian Howard though, is
Speaker 1: he's had so much success and he's having all these
Speaker 1: picks and games. Why I know that Dez already throws
Speaker 1: up the X, but his name is Xavian, which everybody
Speaker 1: just like figured out three weeks ago. Has he ever
Speaker 1: like considered an X situation and he wants to stay
Speaker 1: away from it because of Dees, But I feel like
Speaker 1: he should just he should wade into those waters. And
Speaker 1: you're saying he should be thrown up the X after
Speaker 1: all these impact plays. Interesting, Yeah, exactly. That That's where
Speaker 1: I stand. He's on the nice list though, all right, Yes,
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, like you said, he very nearly had
Speaker 1: a long fumble return for a touchdown on a Cam
Speaker 1: Newton fumble. So close but still impact plays every week, Mark,
Speaker 1: how about you? I got something nice? I do have
Speaker 1: something nice, and I you know, I've kind of zipped
Speaker 1: my lips about the Browns this whole season and kind
Speaker 1: of just wait and see how this journey ends. But
Speaker 1: how about Paul D. Podesta. I will never forget the
Speaker 1: morning in our news room when the Browns hired Paul
Speaker 1: de Podesta away from Major League Baseball And what was
Speaker 1: the audio audible um response in our newsroom giggles laughs, Oh,
Speaker 1: look at the Browns hiring a baseball man to come
Speaker 1: in and fix their team. Someone that was You know,
Speaker 1: if you're Paul, if you're Paul de Podesto, you're thinking
Speaker 1: I I introduced saber metrics. I went to Harvard. Um,
Speaker 1: I I am the source of Moneyball. Um in an
Speaker 1: incredible book. Um, I'm in the film. I'm played by
Speaker 1: Jonah Hill. These two people don't look anything like I
Speaker 1: understand that it was a composite of D. Podesta, but um,
Speaker 1: that's gotta be a chip on the shoulder. He comes
Speaker 1: to Cleveland instead of the Gate just the physical thing.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna now talk about why he's on the nice list.
Speaker 1: All right. He's on the nice list because two years
Speaker 1: running he pushed for the organization to hire Kevin Stefanski. Um,
Speaker 1: they went in their own way, which they've done too
Speaker 1: many times, and hired Freddie Kitchens. He gets his way
Speaker 1: the second time. In bang the Browns have someone that
Speaker 1: if he were a coach of another team, I'd be jealous.
Speaker 1: He also hired Andrew Barry at GM age thirty three,
Speaker 1: the youngest by far in the league. The two of
Speaker 1: them get together, Uh, they work well together. There isn't
Speaker 1: some sort of infighting ego lad battle that completely sinks
Speaker 1: the organization and creates a gigantic pit underneath Cleveland's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, franchise organizational building. None of that's happening. I
Speaker 1: like the pair. Paul de Podesta is the re and
Speaker 1: this is happening would never have happened otherwise. That's how
Speaker 1: you build a team, and I think it's pretty cool
Speaker 1: that someone can do it in two sports. And he's
Speaker 1: basically gone unspoken about all season. So he's on my
Speaker 1: nice list, and I think you should be on a
Speaker 1: few other nice lists too. Very well, very well, but
Speaker 1: that's the pop he deserves it. You're right, all right, Greg,
Speaker 1: how about you? Very compliant? Everyone, What are we gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're gonna knock this bean counter and really get on
Speaker 1: your bad side. We know you're not alright. You're not
Speaker 1: kissing babies, he said this morning. I'm wondering where where
Speaker 1: are these baby countered? What are you hiding? Anyway, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, put a guy on my nice list
Speaker 1: that wasn't always on my nice list. Um goes by
Speaker 1: the name of Alex Guerrero. Used to think, maybe this
Speaker 1: guy's a little bit of a charlatan, a snake oil salesman.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady's trainer. You know they did. They did take
Speaker 1: that for money during the pandemic for TV twelve. Not
Speaker 1: in love with that really, But when you look at
Speaker 1: the results Um that Tom Brady is doing right now,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm watching Ben Roethlisberger, he can't throw the ball.
Speaker 1: I'm watching Drew Brees, he can't throw the ball. Tom
Speaker 1: Brady is not only the greatest forty three year old
Speaker 1: quarterback in NFL history by leaps and bounds in terms
Speaker 1: of like arm strength in top end throws. He's literally
Speaker 1: better right now than when they were winning Super Bowls
Speaker 1: in two thousand four. I don't even think it's a
Speaker 1: question Patriots fans will agree with me. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: he's a better player. He's obviously not necessarily, but it
Speaker 1: just terms of top end arm strength and like wow, throws.
Speaker 1: He has made more this season with the Bucks than
Speaker 1: he was making back in oh one, oh two oh
Speaker 1: three with the Patriots. I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's maybe Brady deserves all the credit. Maybe it's
Speaker 1: TV twelve. But it's working. It's not about his body.
Speaker 1: That's not why he's struggling when he's having bad games.
Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing. Give Alex Guerrero some pop. That's interesting.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's something to the no night shades, you know,
Speaker 1: and maybe we should all try not eating nights shades
Speaker 1: and helps our performance. That Tom Brady cookbook, if you'd
Speaker 1: like to borrow it, Greg, A lot of it's working, right,
Speaker 1: you got to admit it's working. Did you ever get
Speaker 1: that expense mark the cookbook? No, that's a that's annoying.
Speaker 1: I think that's two hundred dollars. That thing that goes
Speaker 1: towards like a college fund. Anyway, I guess I could
Speaker 1: have found other things to do with two. I can
Speaker 1: promise you that I'm with you. You know, Brady's arm
Speaker 1: strength and physically looks exactly sam with you. You watch
Speaker 1: him week to week he still misses his fair fair
Speaker 1: share of throws and open receivers. Uh. There, I think
Speaker 1: there is some still age related decline going on there
Speaker 1: with with him as a quarterback. But yeah, especially we
Speaker 1: watched Ben Roethlisberger try to throw those wounded ducks through
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati night last night. Uh, and it is striking
Speaker 1: that he is, what were five years younger than Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: who still looks like a Greek god. So all right,
Speaker 1: should we get should we get in cahoots with Al Squerrero?
Speaker 1: I mean none of us are getting younger either. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's time, I don't know, just something to think about.
Speaker 1: Um yeah, not you, Colleen, You're forever the rest of us, bros.
Speaker 1: All right, my my nice, my nice list is obvious.
Speaker 1: Gardner minshew, what what a man? What a player? What
Speaker 1: an underdog? Who doesn't who doesn't root for the underdog?
Speaker 1: Ever since he swaggered into Duval County with that mustache
Speaker 1: and the big dream to take over the league. The
Speaker 1: world fell in love with him, and you know, I
Speaker 1: resisted it at first, you know, but now I get it.
Speaker 1: Sometimes nice guys finished first, and that's why I'll be
Speaker 1: rooting for him the rest of this season. Uh, the
Speaker 1: NFL could use more Gardner mean shoes, and so could
Speaker 1: the world. What a turn from you? Well it's artificial turn,
Speaker 1: but that's you know, I get. I get the position
Speaker 1: you're in. You're in a tough, tough position, Dan, You're
Speaker 1: in a real tough position. No, I just I understand.
Speaker 1: It's taking me a little time. But he's just so
Speaker 1: fun to watch, and you know, the flopping hair and
Speaker 1: the headband, and you know the way that the people
Speaker 1: Duvolve really embraced him. I think it's time for me
Speaker 1: to do the same. Great great guy Gardner, Minshew, what
Speaker 1: a talent. I mean, nobody that has listened to this
Speaker 1: show more than for more than three episodes is buying
Speaker 1: a word of this. Um. Only you know, toddlers in
Speaker 1: the backseat of a car listening to this would buy this.
Speaker 1: This is this is this is next level um, next
Speaker 1: level stuff from you, Dan? How could you root against that? Man,
Speaker 1: all right, let's let's move Dan. I do have one
Speaker 1: fly might be in anointment. I noticed Doug Barrone on
Speaker 1: Monday would not declare a starting quarterback for this week.
Speaker 1: It's got me thinking, are they gonna go looton? Are
Speaker 1: they gonna like drag Quinn Gray or Cleo Lemon or
Speaker 1: David Gerrard off the street and start They can't do that.
Speaker 1: That would be some nefarious stuff. That would be nefarious
Speaker 1: and also big about it. It's just funny. Like I
Speaker 1: said on Sunday, hands on board. They have to start him, though,
Speaker 1: they have to go with Minshew. I loved. I loved
Speaker 1: the garden Minshew's stat line two seventy two touchdowns, twenty
Speaker 1: passer rating in a loss. You can't put them on
Speaker 1: the bench with production like that. That's what gardener Minchi does.
Speaker 1: All right? Uh, naughty Connie, give us something naughty? All right? This,
Speaker 1: I feel like is a no brainer. But Doug Peterson
Speaker 1: is going straight on the naughty list. I just after
Speaker 1: watching Jalen Hurts these last two weeks, what took so long?
Speaker 1: Like I understand the situation with Carson Wentz is very dicey,
Speaker 1: and you're in a tough spot ug Peterson. But this
Speaker 1: whole maybe not obviously not, this whole entire season has
Speaker 1: been a giant garbage can and then finally there's like
Speaker 1: some life. And even in that loss to the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: it was so much fun to watch the Eagles again.
Speaker 1: It was the most exciting loss, and Jalen Hurts gives
Speaker 1: the team exactly what they need. I mean, he had
Speaker 1: three passing touchdowns, he was running well, had the rushing
Speaker 1: touchdown as well. He was sacked six times, but listen
Speaker 1: like he was fine. He was able to bounce back.
Speaker 1: And this is behind an offensive line that has been
Speaker 1: so hurt all season long. There's been a zillion combinations,
Speaker 1: and it just feels like this team plays way harder
Speaker 1: for Jalen Hurts and they just like are interesting to watch,
Speaker 1: Like I'm not banging my head against the wall. It's
Speaker 1: like taking out the garbage like it's not before every
Speaker 1: time I turned on the Eagles it felt like such
Speaker 1: a chore and now it's actually like something that I
Speaker 1: want to do, which is cool. Sometimes sometimes I feel
Speaker 1: like it's been a bit of a Allower reveal Magnie
Speaker 1: if Eco around the Eagles fans in the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, like you have one of the great super
Speaker 1: Bowl runs of all time, and then a couple of
Speaker 1: years passed, and it's almost like the way you people talk,
Speaker 1: it's like that never happened, and you get to act
Speaker 1: like you're this long tortured fan base that like, how
Speaker 1: did we put up with Carson Wentz for that long?
Speaker 1: And Doug Peterson? What a mess? Oh? Whoa is us?
Speaker 1: Let's get on the radio and talk about how hard
Speaker 1: it is to be spared. You just compared Ben Roethlisberger
Speaker 1: to Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense about talking about
Speaker 1: how terrible the Steelers were last night. So yes, that's
Speaker 1: been an entire season of that. I get it. I
Speaker 1: just like the better when you're an internal loser like
Speaker 1: my team. To your point, Colleen, like you, you definitely
Speaker 1: want a coaching staff that figures things out and comes
Speaker 1: to the same conclusion that fans came to six weeks prior.
Speaker 1: Um the self scouting doesn't seem to be the high
Speaker 1: point um of Doug Peterson's and his staff. Uh So,
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I understand frustration. Uh Dan, I don't
Speaker 1: know about the law reveal magnificent side of it that feels, Um,
Speaker 1: what does that say about Patriots fans who are grumbling
Speaker 1: about I'm with you, Dan, I feel like they've done
Speaker 1: enough for me. I'm not allowed to complain about the
Speaker 1: Patriots for the rest of my life. And they're complaining
Speaker 1: this year like the last twenty years. Uh didn't happen.
Speaker 1: By the way, all could be forgiven, Colleen, if they
Speaker 1: win these two games the Eagles and get into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's quite as far fetched as people believe.
Speaker 1: Interesting Alright, Greg, Greg getting naughty because I know you
Speaker 1: like to I do, and where or else to get naughty? Um,
Speaker 1: you know, than a strip club. I feel like someone's
Speaker 1: got to talk about Dwayne Haskins here. Look, it's a
Speaker 1: beautiful you know, in a normal world after a loss,
Speaker 1: that's where you want to go with your girlfriend. I
Speaker 1: don't know if this was a birthday party. He was
Speaker 1: with his girlfriend and like a bunch of her friends
Speaker 1: at the strip club and uh, okay, you know, but
Speaker 1: we're not in a normal world. We're in a pandemic
Speaker 1: and you're you're in charge of an organization and a
Speaker 1: franchise right now where you are the only healthy quarterback
Speaker 1: Kyle Allen's out for the year. Alex Smith has a
Speaker 1: calf injury. Everything he's battled through, and you're putting your
Speaker 1: whole team at risk by going out to the Strip
Speaker 1: Club on a Sunday night after not playing too well either. So, man,
Speaker 1: that just put every everyone in his organization and in peril,
Speaker 1: not only because he could catch Rhona, but that he
Speaker 1: isn't gonna be available for this next game where they
Speaker 1: can possibly, you know, clinch the division. We're uncertain how
Speaker 1: the Washington team is gonna handle this. They've at least
Speaker 1: find him, um but either way, Yeah, I know he's
Speaker 1: a young man, but you gotta you gotta have your
Speaker 1: your you know what, in order a little better than this.
Speaker 1: It's real bad, Listen. It's a tough one. I get
Speaker 1: the argument too, like there's levels of ways to mess up.
Speaker 1: This is a franchise, um uh, that has had many
Speaker 1: things this season that are way worse than what Dwayne
Speaker 1: Haskins do. Some that came out today, some lawsuits enst
Speaker 1: the organization. I get it. There's different levels, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you're not letting down all of your teammates
Speaker 1: in the franchise. But it's a knucklehead move, and it's
Speaker 1: a guy that you've heard whispers about, you know, and
Speaker 1: the reason why it seems ron Overa was loath to
Speaker 1: even play a former first round pick and then something
Speaker 1: like this happens and it's like, oh, this isn't so
Speaker 1: hard to connect the dots, like is this dude really
Speaker 1: in it to win it? And the type of guy
Speaker 1: you want? And Mark I and and all guys in
Speaker 1: general have friends um that they just can't get enough
Speaker 1: of the club, that that exotic dancing um. And I don't.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. I wouldn't put us in that. I don't mean,
Speaker 1: I don't say that I'm like, um, some type of saint,
Speaker 1: but it's never been my thing. But I have friends,
Speaker 1: just like everyone has friends that cannot get enough of it.
Speaker 1: It's an addiction. And COVID nineteen what it's done. How
Speaker 1: I don't even know how this club is open. Wherever
Speaker 1: he went is in an underground strip club? Tell me more.
Speaker 1: I'm interested intellectually. I just this would be my counterpoint
Speaker 1: to Grant Greg. I mean, you know, we're in tough
Speaker 1: times and I'm sure that club probably operating on in
Speaker 1: an underground fashion to some degree. Think of how those
Speaker 1: workers you know, working very hard at the club or
Speaker 1: I have probably been struggling financially not getting their normal
Speaker 1: allotment of green backs. Um, how nice of the of
Speaker 1: the city's uh, you know, first string quarterback to Waltson
Speaker 1: and and help these workers out. Greg fair point. I mean,
Speaker 1: you could definitely put it on the government in Virginia
Speaker 1: for allowing the strip clubs to be open, because I
Speaker 1: don't think it was underground. Um, but it's it's problematic,
Speaker 1: problematic all around. I mean, just imagine that conversation he
Speaker 1: had to have haskins with Ron Rivera, who's battling cancer
Speaker 1: out here and putting and he's putting this whole team.
Speaker 1: Oh man, So Ron Rivera does not, which is like
Speaker 1: people do we see young people doing crazy, immature things
Speaker 1: all the time. Right now, he is hard, he's hardly alone. Uh.
Speaker 1: It's just like you're letting down your teammates. That's the problem.
Speaker 1: You're on a team. Take me through this. In a
Speaker 1: modern day strip club right now? Are the dancers wearing masks?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think so. The only reason why
Speaker 1: I think it was it's not closed. First of all,
Speaker 1: like the South is pretty much open right now in
Speaker 1: Virginia's the South, and they like listed the place. It
Speaker 1: looks it sounded like they were trying to get some
Speaker 1: some pubs, So I don't think the place was open illegally.
Speaker 1: There's some more homework on this, please, Greg Mark getting naughty. UM, Well,
Speaker 1: I want to circle back to you know, when this um,
Speaker 1: when the pandemics started in our country, and we do
Speaker 1: we do UM follow the rules, and so we were
Speaker 1: allowed to each of us pick what would have been
Speaker 1: like sort of our all star UM quarantine group. And
Speaker 1: I had to go look at the list, but mine
Speaker 1: included UM Alec Baldwin, UM, Michael Irvin, UH close friend
Speaker 1: of yours, Colleen um Gianni from Love Is Blind. That
Speaker 1: feels like that show was relevant forty four years ago
Speaker 1: at this point. But UM, don't forget, Yeah, don't forget
Speaker 1: that Gayegado was also in the room and I had
Speaker 1: to you know, didn't like to do it, but I
Speaker 1: had to report that her behavior back at that time,
Speaker 1: in in in late March early April, was was poor
Speaker 1: and she you know, as a group, we had to
Speaker 1: you know, teach her about discipline and things and just
Speaker 1: maybe you know, mind your man. He tied into the radiators.
Speaker 1: We tied her to um a part of the room
Speaker 1: that wouldn't move. And I just want to report back
Speaker 1: that you know, you would think that she would have
Speaker 1: found her way back onto the nice list, um learning
Speaker 1: some lessons. It's not the case. It's unfortunate, it's not
Speaker 1: the case. She's sure her behavior is not improved one
Speaker 1: iota UM, So she remains firmly attached to the naughty list.
Speaker 1: No further comments. Why I mean, I didn't you know
Speaker 1: that basement a stinker is supposed to be supposed to
Speaker 1: be bad. He didn't want to wear Christmas. No, it's
Speaker 1: not that. It's not that frivolous. It's her basic um
Speaker 1: inability to follow directions. The best part of that video,
Speaker 1: beyond the terrible singing in the self self absorbed nous
Speaker 1: of the celebrities involved. Uh it showed up in a
Speaker 1: countdown UH list I saw recently of worst songs of
Speaker 1: the year. It was number one the imagined cover and
Speaker 1: she opens it Gail before she throws it to the
Speaker 1: celebs with Okay, it's day six of quarantine. This is
Speaker 1: really tough. It's like stay six. That's what's that for us?
Speaker 1: But um, all right, finally I got one more naughty
Speaker 1: a fantasy football fans. Let's let's let's let's get our
Speaker 1: stuff together. Okay, let's pull it together, because you guys
Speaker 1: got a chill. You gotta chill. And Josh Jacobs shot
Speaker 1: a warning flare out a couple of weeks ago. Um
Speaker 1: when he did that thing on the Graham where he
Speaker 1: posted that he wasn't playing even though he was active,
Speaker 1: and then he he put up the middle finger emoji. Well,
Speaker 1: that's an undercurrent right now. I've been tracking this. It's
Speaker 1: part of a growing trend in the NFL. Players are
Speaker 1: fed up with you fantasy people on social media, you know,
Speaker 1: trolling on them when they're hurt or otherwise struggling and
Speaker 1: not helping your fake team. Raheemo starts the latest guy.
Speaker 1: He just went to I R by the way for
Speaker 1: the million time players don't care about your fantasy team.
Speaker 1: He tweeted, this is our real life and most of
Speaker 1: that's a good point. And I I did something a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago. You remember when Christian McCaffrey was
Speaker 1: coming back from the shoulder and it was just in
Speaker 1: time for the fantasy playoffs, and then he tweaked the
Speaker 1: quad and the report came out midweek and absolutely devastating
Speaker 1: to McCaffrey fantasy owners who thought, Okay, we survived this
Speaker 1: far without our number one pick, but we're gonna get
Speaker 1: back this all purpose stud and he's gonna win me
Speaker 1: the league. And it didn't work out that way. It
Speaker 1: looks like he's gonna miss uh, the entirety of the
Speaker 1: fantasy playoffs and maybe the rest of the real season.
Speaker 1: I just went and searched out Christian McCaffrey on Twitter
Speaker 1: and checked out the mentions, the vitriol, the absolute heinous
Speaker 1: garbage being sent his way, ill wishes. Uh, you know
Speaker 1: things about how I hope you never play again. I
Speaker 1: hope you never heal up. You're a bum, you don't
Speaker 1: try hard enough. Are you people kidding me? You idiots?
Speaker 1: Are you seriously thinking that these guys deserve that type
Speaker 1: of treatment when they are in a frustrating position as
Speaker 1: professionals of being injured or going through a struggle. Um, anyway,
Speaker 1: pull it together, Fantasy. I'm I've played fantasy football since
Speaker 1: I was fourteen years old. I've been frustrated with players,
Speaker 1: but never once did it ever occurred to me to
Speaker 1: get on Twitter and act the player and tell him
Speaker 1: something negative or wish him ill. Will clowns clean it
Speaker 1: up your naughty coal for you. It always seems so
Speaker 1: weird when when the attack turned personal to like about
Speaker 1: fantasy and then all of a sudden, people are attacking
Speaker 1: like they're family and their girlfriend and like it's just
Speaker 1: it gets personal for everyone involved, which is just so
Speaker 1: super weird to me. It is the downside I think
Speaker 1: of money being on things. It's something the NFL not
Speaker 1: to get too serious, but has to think about when
Speaker 1: you know, awkwardly embracing gambling, which you know is happening
Speaker 1: right now, the owner's own DFS teams. Everything is getting
Speaker 1: a little looser. But that's like a negative we've seen
Speaker 1: in a lot of other sports where in countries where
Speaker 1: gamblings legal is like the fans get out of control
Speaker 1: and you're gonna lose all these players on social media,
Speaker 1: like there's gonna not gonna be any inter it. I mean, Greg,
Speaker 1: do you feel at all, um, at all complicit um
Speaker 1: for being someone that I think carried fantasy football from
Speaker 1: an innocent game that children enjoy, an industry made an
Speaker 1: industry out of it, and it's all information and money
Speaker 1: and betting based and that's some creating. So much of
Speaker 1: this Fitriel and it really sources back to your early
Speaker 1: career in uh in football. Do you think it was
Speaker 1: pretty much me? It was pretty much and me and
Speaker 1: Matthew Berry that really got to go and fantasy Greg
Speaker 1: ball they used to call it. Uh, well, I don't
Speaker 1: play fantasy anymore. So maybe that tells you your answer, Well,
Speaker 1: that's you're washing your You can't just wash your hands
Speaker 1: of it. That simply Yeah, track what's happening and Iraq anymore.
Speaker 1: We'll see. I'm sure that doesn't work out either. That
Speaker 1: was the guilt. That's why Greg walked away from the game.
Speaker 1: All right, we're just getting started in our holiday celebration.
Speaker 1: The wait, I've got one more nice one for you,
Speaker 1: taking one in. It's one final nice. We're gonna give
Speaker 1: a nice uh little nice to uh to Rhoda. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's Keisha's mom who gave us the best Christmas miracle ever.
Speaker 1: She had a flight out of town on Monday and
Speaker 1: uh she changed it. She saw what was going on
Speaker 1: at the house. She realized would be a beautiful, a
Speaker 1: beautiful holidays, Christmas and New Year's if Rhoda stayed in
Speaker 1: and helped Lakeisha and West out. And since you know
Speaker 1: there are family, Rhoda is too, and we we appreciate
Speaker 1: her extending that trip last minute Christmas mirror call. For
Speaker 1: two more weeks she'll be in town. It's great news
Speaker 1: what a woman Rhoda is. And yes, whenever Mom's around,
Speaker 1: that makes the holidays that much better. Uh, yes, she's
Speaker 1: a queen. And before we say goodbye and get ready
Speaker 1: to celebrate the holidays, we welcome in the great Ricky
Speaker 1: Hollywood Erica temp post wearing with pride and I respect
Speaker 1: her for it her Patriots sweater. Missing the playoffs for
Speaker 1: the third time in twenty years, which basically covers most
Speaker 1: of your lifespan Erica. Thank you for joining us on
Speaker 1: today's show. Yeah, thanks, thanks for having me. It's said
Speaker 1: such an honor. Just real quickly, before we go, I
Speaker 1: wanted to tell you guys who's on my naughty list
Speaker 1: this year, and it's the four of you. Because this
Speaker 1: show is a family friendly football show and you're talking
Speaker 1: about strip clubs. Um Mark can't say gal Gadot's name
Speaker 1: correctly calling her Gail. I mean, there's just been a
Speaker 1: just you guys are just the rails. Yeah, there's been Iraq,
Speaker 1: George W. Bush mentions like this show is supposed to
Speaker 1: be family friendly and you guys definitely are getting coal
Speaker 1: in your stockings this year going well, it's virtual. Look
Speaker 1: at that a little inside dig there from Connie and
Speaker 1: you can tell it riled up Ricky Hollywood. And now
Speaker 1: point counterpoint, is die Hard a Christmas movie? The final answer, Yes,
Speaker 1: it may seem cliche this next segment, but you know what,
Speaker 1: it was time to finally get to the bottom of
Speaker 1: this question, the one that's been asked on social media
Speaker 1: for years. Die Hard the film released tagline, yes there
Speaker 1: were twelve terrorists, one cop. The odds are against John McClean.
Speaker 1: That's just the way he likes it. And it was
Speaker 1: a huge hit, launched Bruce Willis as a movie star.
Speaker 1: But it has always been a question. Now this action film,
Speaker 1: the one that serves as the template of every action
Speaker 1: movie that followed for decades, instead Christmas film. And now
Speaker 1: I welcome in uh Patrick Claiban and the Christmas Special
Speaker 1: here because first of all, it's great to see Patrick
Speaker 1: and his Christmas weather and a good friend of the show.
Speaker 1: Welcome Patrick, how you doing, buddy, Happy holidays, Happy holidays.
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me as a part of this
Speaker 1: pivotal discussion that some people feel like it has gone
Speaker 1: on too long. Look, we talked about the value of
Speaker 1: running backs every single day. Um like, it's always value
Speaker 1: of running backs back and forth. It girls, that never ends.
Speaker 1: We do this for like twelve days a year. It's fun.
Speaker 1: It's fun. We get to talk about a good movie,
Speaker 1: as he said, you know, and and as Matt Money
Speaker 1: As Matt Money Smith said, this is the final answer. Greg.
Speaker 1: I know you were a huge fan of this film,
Speaker 1: Mark you saw it as a boy. I don't know
Speaker 1: about you, Connie, but to finally get to the bottom
Speaker 1: of this, so does it need to be discussed incessantly
Speaker 1: every December going forward? That's not a bad thing either.
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful thing. I'm excited to get this finely
Speaker 1: off of my chest. So I was in model Congress,
Speaker 1: so I feel like I'm I can be a you know,
Speaker 1: a judge here. You know, as a kid, I was
Speaker 1: into debating. You know. It's good to hear because, as
Speaker 1: it so happens, Patrick and I are on opposite sides.
Speaker 1: Of the coin. So we're gonna do it Mark like
Speaker 1: old A T N debate club style with point counterpoint,
Speaker 1: and we'll start the We'll start the floor here, sixty
Speaker 1: seconds each. That's all. That's all we get. Claybonn and
Speaker 1: I Claibonn will take the position that die Hard is
Speaker 1: a Christmas movie, and then I will take the dissenting view. Patrick,
Speaker 1: get it going, Ricky, make sure the clock us all right?
Speaker 1: Tell me tell me when to go, Ricky, you are
Speaker 1: on the clock, all right? What is a perfectly canonical
Speaker 1: Christmas story? Is it Mary and Joseph and jam And
Speaker 1: in the Manger? Is it St? Nicholas? If you're counting reindeer,
Speaker 1: do you start with Rudolph? Like? How important is it
Speaker 1: to you to recognize things that are connected to this holiday?
Speaker 1: I asked that, because clearly, if you're a skeptic at
Speaker 1: this point, this film about a man reconnecting with his
Speaker 1: family on Christmas that opens with him carrying a gift
Speaker 1: while sleigh bells are ringing and being wished to marry
Speaker 1: Christmas on the way to see his estranged wife, whose
Speaker 1: name is literally Holly. If you've heard all of that
Speaker 1: and this still hasn't matter to you, then the conversation
Speaker 1: isn't gonna land because this is a conversation about what
Speaker 1: Christmas movie is. It can't be about what particular aspects
Speaker 1: of the movie connect to Christmas because a minute it's
Speaker 1: literally not enough time for me to go through all
Speaker 1: the ways Christmas is an integral to the story, The soundtrack,
Speaker 1: the style, how Al Powell, we meet him while he's
Speaker 1: getting gifts for his wife while well, let it snow
Speaker 1: plays in a in a convenient store. This is about
Speaker 1: adherence to dogmatic rules of what Christmas movies can be.
Speaker 1: And if you want those rules, then Rudolph Reindeer at
Speaker 1: least in July nineteen eighty eight, let's start right there.
Speaker 1: Summertime um and the fact that the mechanics of the
Speaker 1: film to get everything in place, it needed a time
Speaker 1: and place, It needed Christmas to get the people together
Speaker 1: to make the movie work. But you know, people tell
Speaker 1: their friends and strangers on social media the die Hard
Speaker 1: is a Christmas movie because they think it says something
Speaker 1: about themselves. It makes them edgy and dangerous and reverends
Speaker 1: even you know, a little bit subversive. Oh you like
Speaker 1: it's a wonderful life. Not me. Oh what an iconoclass.
Speaker 1: Deep down, everyone just wants to be a little bit
Speaker 1: different special. I'm not here to win any popularity contests.
Speaker 1: I wasn't the team and picked up smoking in high
Speaker 1: school to look cool. I didn't have a girl friend
Speaker 1: during that time in my life. That's just glory boy behavior.
Speaker 1: So yes, there's a psychological and sociological conversation to be
Speaker 1: had here, but most importantly, there's a practical one, and
Speaker 1: it boils down to a simple reality. If a guy
Speaker 1: gets his head blown off at any point, you are
Speaker 1: not watching a Christmas movie in excess of six heads
Speaker 1: or blown off. You may respond again, counterpoint, that's it.
Speaker 1: Oh you guys don't go back and forth. Well, okay,
Speaker 1: closing arguments, so you just and you get to bad
Speaker 1: clean up and then that's it. No, he had the point,
Speaker 1: I had the counterpoint. That's it. Okay, that's how it works.
Speaker 1: It's very fast. What are what are the thoughts from
Speaker 1: the rest of the group. You know, I was with
Speaker 1: you the president I accept. However, this plays out well.
Speaker 1: So first of all, um, it's bad for Patrick because
Speaker 1: I can't even remember watching the movie. So this is
Speaker 1: not this is not great for clay Bon. But Dan,
Speaker 1: I was with you until you said that it's not
Speaker 1: a Christmas movie if somebody gets their head blown off.
Speaker 1: But Scrooged is one of my favorite Christmas movies and
Speaker 1: part one of the most iconic scenes I would argue
Speaker 1: and Scrooged is when they're coming up with the new
Speaker 1: promo for the network and there are freeway killings and
Speaker 1: acid rain and uh, you're supposed to be terrified to
Speaker 1: miss Christmas. And to me that kind of uh that
Speaker 1: there's people that are getting their heads blown off in
Speaker 1: that promo. So I can't stand with you. Do you
Speaker 1: actually see it? I think you might, maybe not. You
Speaker 1: do see a plane crash, you see a fiery plane
Speaker 1: crash and burn. So it's a very compelling. Um, both
Speaker 1: of you made compelling points. I would I would say
Speaker 1: that I did a little bit of study here, and
Speaker 1: there are nineteen Christmas trees and die hard Christmas decorations
Speaker 1: show up fifteen times, UM, Carol's Christmas Carols sung by
Speaker 1: Bruce Willis and others twelve times, the word Christmass said
Speaker 1: fourteen times, and there are four other more vague Christmas references.
Speaker 1: Every one of those categories Um, except for one beat
Speaker 1: out home alone U and Dan, I think that you
Speaker 1: made a very strong point about maybe a certain type
Speaker 1: of scene pulling people out of the Christmas mood. Um,
Speaker 1: but that's that's an opinion. Um. I I kind of
Speaker 1: agree with you, but I but I it's just simply
Speaker 1: an opinion. Um. It is a Christmas movie in so
Speaker 1: many different ways, and it's so on the nose, and
Speaker 1: they make such an effort to tell you that it's
Speaker 1: a Christmas movie that. UM, I don't understand the strident
Speaker 1: opposition to what to what the filmmakers were attempting to
Speaker 1: do before our eyes. I mean I I've I saw
Speaker 1: this movie at least ten or fifteen times, but I
Speaker 1: have not seen it since I think I was fifteen
Speaker 1: or sixteen years old. So I want to go revisit it. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you've gotten me excited for that. I remember seeing die
Speaker 1: Hard with a Vengeance number three with my dad in
Speaker 1: the theater. I think I was in high school. It
Speaker 1: was pretty good. I like that Hard three. Uh. The
Speaker 1: The only just like sort of debate style note I
Speaker 1: would make is Dan went off talking about the actual movie,
Speaker 1: you know, and was kind of talking about the reaction
Speaker 1: to the reaction to the movie, which felt sort of
Speaker 1: like off the actual you know, you know, having the
Speaker 1: strong argument of just die Hard and Patrick stuck to
Speaker 1: that nicely. Okay, so I see where this is going.
Speaker 1: Is my dog is incensed at you? Dare um she
Speaker 1: feels like, uh, you know, I don't want to break
Speaker 1: the rules of of you know, point counterpoint. So I'm
Speaker 1: sorry to say something because we might You're okay, now
Speaker 1: now it's open it's open. Um. Yeah, It's it's weird
Speaker 1: to to go to this. Like, like Greg mentioned the
Speaker 1: meta discussion of the movie, and it was just kind
Speaker 1: of like my overall point, like why are we dictating
Speaker 1: to other people, like how they should feel about this
Speaker 1: movie and how they how it relates to a holiday
Speaker 1: that they make. You know, some people eat mac and
Speaker 1: cheese on the beach on Christmas, like some people don't
Speaker 1: talk to anybody on Christmas. Like, Christmas can be a
Speaker 1: personal holiday, it can be something it's a yeared experience
Speaker 1: that we all have. And one thing that a lot
Speaker 1: of people share is watching this movie that has so
Speaker 1: many Christmas themes, people insist on saying gift instead of
Speaker 1: Jeff because the creator says, that's how you're supposed to
Speaker 1: say it. The people who make Die harder like, yes,
Speaker 1: this is a Christmas movie. Look at all the things
Speaker 1: that we left in here. But for some reason there's
Speaker 1: this you know, strident opposition which I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't tell people how to feel about art. Director strong point,
Speaker 1: Well he just did. He said that it's a Christmas movie.
Speaker 1: To me telling me how to feel about the art. No,
Speaker 1: you don't have to. It doesn't have to be a
Speaker 1: Christmas Let's give the final word to John McTiernan, the director. Okay,
Speaker 1: because he has said that the film is somewhat inspired
Speaker 1: by It's a Wonderful Life, which is interesting to me.
Speaker 1: His quote, we hadn't intended Die Hard to be a
Speaker 1: Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is
Speaker 1: what turned it into a Christmas movie. And that's really
Speaker 1: the best I can tell you about it. I mean,
Speaker 1: you kind of blew up your own side of the
Speaker 1: argument there, but he's fast. Think so dan is dan
Speaker 1: is a fair man. You blew it up like one
Speaker 1: of those heads, you know, Yes, for adults, it's for
Speaker 1: the adults, maybe young young I can't see the head
Speaker 1: of the Japanese company. His head exploding. But that's just me.
Speaker 1: That's it. Now. I'm gonna side with just to go
Speaker 1: against an that's it. That's fine. I can deal with that.
Speaker 1: I can take that. The special guests in this Christmas
Speaker 1: special keep coming, and it's one of our very favorites.
Speaker 1: Let's welcome welcome him in right now. And uh, you
Speaker 1: know a former member of the NFL media team who
Speaker 1: has gone on to great things over at Sports Illustrated
Speaker 1: and Monday Morning Quarterback. Yes, it is none other than
Speaker 1: the great Connor or Welcome to the Around the NFL
Speaker 1: Christmas Special, buddy. Yea, yeah, we're in a six box
Speaker 1: right now. This is like amazing. It looks good. Connor.
Speaker 1: First of all, how the hell are you, buddy? You
Speaker 1: are a domesticated man, married with children. You have your
Speaker 1: own house, a mortgage, and I'm sure a Christmas tree
Speaker 1: that's real not fake. Uh tell take us through it all.
Speaker 1: Fake Christmas tree, man, I'm I'm going fake Christmas tree
Speaker 1: until I cannot worry about the kids swallowing the needles,
Speaker 1: which they want to do. You know. Um, but it's
Speaker 1: great we have you guys worry about your kids eating
Speaker 1: the needles of the Christmas tree. Mine did, and then
Speaker 1: I started I took it away. Yeah, animals also spiders.
Speaker 1: Spiders are in Christmas trees. Mine is also a huge
Speaker 1: fire hazard. Now I don't want to get into another
Speaker 1: debate here this is but I did. We spent a
Speaker 1: hefty amount of on a living tree. Uh, and it
Speaker 1: died almost immediately. And it is a death trap. It's
Speaker 1: a fire death trap in our living room right now. Um, Connor, buddy,
Speaker 1: I needed you on the show today, needed you on
Speaker 1: this wall because although the holiday season is filled with joy,
Speaker 1: there's also a lot of reasons to be stressed out
Speaker 1: about it, and there to be anxiety and even even
Speaker 1: the Christmas season, Uh, sometimes things grind the gears of
Speaker 1: Connor or and that's why we're bringing it back. Or
Speaker 1: are you kidding me? The holiday edition? What do you
Speaker 1: got for us? Connor? I'm gonna I'm gonna maybe ruin
Speaker 1: this a little bit, um. But I remember claib On
Speaker 1: a couple of minutes ago talking about meta discussions, and
Speaker 1: I think what grinds my gears is in preparation for
Speaker 1: going onto this show, I went back and I listened
Speaker 1: to some old or you kidding me, and everything that
Speaker 1: I said I hated, I would love to have right
Speaker 1: now during the pandemic, like every single thing, like I
Speaker 1: think I was like, hockey is stupid. I would love
Speaker 1: like live hockey to go see. I hate hockey. I
Speaker 1: think I said the food Fighters were stupid, Like you
Speaker 1: know how much I would pay to go to a
Speaker 1: Fighters concert right now? Of them Seinfeld, I said was
Speaker 1: stupid and even you know, I haven't watched it because
Speaker 1: it is the worst show ever made, But some people
Speaker 1: need that to get through the pandemic. And so I think, uh,
Speaker 1: or you kidding me is basically or you kidding myself?
Speaker 1: And you know how how hatty I've been over the
Speaker 1: over the years, Dan, so I, I guess what you're
Speaker 1: saying is COVID nineteen is you know, led to a
Speaker 1: lot of self introspection, um, for all of us, and
Speaker 1: for you it's maybe there's a cynical aspect of your
Speaker 1: personality that you're seeing melt away, especially during the special
Speaker 1: time of year. Dude, I've watched and this is not
Speaker 1: an exaggeration. I've seen every single Hallmark movie, um, all
Speaker 1: the new ones, like and basically everyone since and I
Speaker 1: feel like the person who used to come on and
Speaker 1: do or you kidding me has been like beaten with
Speaker 1: a shovel and buried somewhere and he's never coming back.
Speaker 1: Like my life right now is a made up town
Speaker 1: where happy people just walk around and like you can
Speaker 1: live off making cookies and you know, doing you know,
Speaker 1: doing really like wholesome things and so. But that's also
Speaker 1: like a little bit of delirium because you're doing like
Speaker 1: three am bottle feedings and that's the only thing that's on.
Speaker 1: But um, I will say, like, you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: really helped me kind of zone into a new person,
Speaker 1: which I'm pretty psyched about. You know, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what to think about this. It's still processing this. What
Speaker 1: could go wrong? Well, did you see Speaking of Hallmark movies,
Speaker 1: I don't know if this is a Hallmark one, but
Speaker 1: my wife and I Connor had decided to watch a
Speaker 1: really bad straight to video type Christmas movie last weekend
Speaker 1: and we watched the two thousand twelve Drew Lach film
Speaker 1: Guess Who's Coming to Christmas? Drew the former member of
Speaker 1: ninety degrees, but not the hot one that married just
Speaker 1: hot nick Um. He is a rock star living a
Speaker 1: out of control lifestyle until one day his agent sets
Speaker 1: him up to stay with a family for Christmas as
Speaker 1: a image rehab maneuver, and guess what he ends up
Speaker 1: falling in love with the girl next door. A little
Speaker 1: bit of a spoiler alert there, but leave check it out.
Speaker 1: Guess who's coming to Christmas? If you haven't seen a
Speaker 1: Droolis some of his best work, I think, I think work.
Speaker 1: The most unbelievable thing is like I would love to
Speaker 1: be in the writer's room for one of these because
Speaker 1: literally on the same night, we watched two of them
Speaker 1: in a six hour period, and one was a country
Speaker 1: music star, like like just a hot dude goes back
Speaker 1: to his hometown and falls in love with the girl
Speaker 1: and helps her save her family's pie Christmas and the
Speaker 1: Rockies or right and then and then right after that,
Speaker 1: a hot country singer dude goes back to a hometown
Speaker 1: to help a girl save her family's jam business, and
Speaker 1: like it was the same movie, they just switched the
Speaker 1: food that he's helping bail out at the factory. And
Speaker 1: I was like, I can't write the same story four
Speaker 1: times for sports listen, Like these people are just like yeah,
Speaker 1: just make it pie instead of jam It's totally fine.
Speaker 1: I love it. Yeah, wait can you bring Erica come
Speaker 1: back in? And Colleen too? I don't want. First of all,
Speaker 1: we preface this by saying I'm not being sexist, but
Speaker 1: usually that means as I asked, I asked my wife
Speaker 1: while we were watching the Jewel Picture, you know, what
Speaker 1: is it? Because there I believe a lot of them
Speaker 1: are catered towards women, these Hallmark specials. What is it
Speaker 1: about this plot, this plot device that Connor talks about
Speaker 1: that is always about this guy, I guess you could say,
Speaker 1: as an unattainable guy on some level coming back home
Speaker 1: and then helping out with something and becoming a tamer
Speaker 1: very vision of his former self and essentially settling down
Speaker 1: with a good girl, Like why don't Why are all
Speaker 1: these movies built out that way? Is there something inside
Speaker 1: women like that? Or is it something that men write
Speaker 1: the scripts and they think that's what women? Women want
Speaker 1: to take us through the process. There, you're saying, it's
Speaker 1: like a it's a savior that comes in and you know,
Speaker 1: helps out everyone, and then the people that the savior
Speaker 1: is helping out then they end up changing to their liking.
Speaker 1: Is that is that what it is. I can't imagine
Speaker 1: a woman wanting to to do that to a man
Speaker 1: that doesn't feel well. I guess I'm just a basic
Speaker 1: because I love the night in shining armor formula. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I like he. I want to be romanticized. I want
Speaker 1: I'm romantic. I want to be curled up on the fire.
Speaker 1: The country music star comes home and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: he is a good person. He's not a jerk. You know.
Speaker 1: He falls still change Erica. I know, I know, and
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm wishing maybe one day. Well well, most
Speaker 1: of the male versions of the story are just gender
Speaker 1: bent versions of the female version, where the she leaves
Speaker 1: a small town, she goes to the big city. She's
Speaker 1: focused on her career, and then some circumstance happens where
Speaker 1: she has to go home. She sees the guy from
Speaker 1: high school who used to be a jerk, and then
Speaker 1: they work together on something. They fall in love. The
Speaker 1: old guy from New York comes back, and then she's like, no,
Speaker 1: I love this life and then credits. It works. It
Speaker 1: works both ways. I also think there must be a
Speaker 1: Hallmark movie. There must be someone in the plot, and
Speaker 1: it's typically the woman. Um, you know or man, if
Speaker 1: it's a reverse person in the hometown, that has to
Speaker 1: relate to nine percent of viewers, which is I've done
Speaker 1: nothing remarkable with my life, so I like to think
Speaker 1: that some famous person will come and move in with
Speaker 1: me or next door and be wowed by simply my personality.
Speaker 1: It's a fantasy. It's every romance novel that you'd find
Speaker 1: at the grocery store. I wanna that that's an amazing
Speaker 1: I want to go back to what Colleen said that
Speaker 1: as I could be wrong, but was she was she
Speaker 1: sort of hinting at connecting these Hallmark movies, um, you know,
Speaker 1: with the original Christmas story our man j C. And
Speaker 1: like connecting it to basically organized religion in general. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you could connect those dots. The Savior comes in because
Speaker 1: everyone's better afterwards. It many of the nothing that happens
Speaker 1: at all in that story, right, there's some overt religious
Speaker 1: themes and a lot of these films as well, just
Speaker 1: like in the Jewels, say, picture guess who's coming home
Speaker 1: for Christmas? Uh he he definitely gets more involved with
Speaker 1: the church and and I think there's those elements of
Speaker 1: these stories as well. Connor Um anything else that you
Speaker 1: want to add, I like this, this is like a
Speaker 1: it's a wonderful life situation where you you started out
Speaker 1: one way and now you're you're a different person who
Speaker 1: kind of understands all the great things he has to
Speaker 1: your point, like the theme this year has been like
Speaker 1: there's been three movies where a Catholic person and a
Speaker 1: Jewish person get together and they teach each other their
Speaker 1: holiday traditions and the other person pretends like they've landed
Speaker 1: on a different planet and have never heard of like Hanukah,
Speaker 1: it's like a candle what and uh, it's just been
Speaker 1: like an incredible Like the guy from Ben Savage for
Speaker 1: Boy Meat's World was in one of them, Like uh,
Speaker 1: and I would say that it's just been great and
Speaker 1: if you can find joy in that or any of
Speaker 1: the other million weird hobbies that I've picked up during
Speaker 1: the pandemic, like uh, you know, colored pencils and like
Speaker 1: coloring a color a lot? Now? Really? Yeah, like that
Speaker 1: you've colored nearby? Like uh, like a guy buy coloring
Speaker 1: books like extremely an example, they're upstairs. Yeah, not a
Speaker 1: visual medium, but I will send you guys, yeah post,
Speaker 1: I can tweet them. I raised a family of sixty
Speaker 1: five butterflies. What happened? What's happening? Everything is totally fine.
Speaker 1: This was Yeah, I'm pretty My my idiot friend said,
Speaker 1: what does your daughter want for birthday? This was back
Speaker 1: in the spring, and I was like, oh, you know,
Speaker 1: just send er whatever, and uh, you know, he sent
Speaker 1: me a classroom, a kit for two classrooms for kids
Speaker 1: to grow their own butterflies. And so just at my
Speaker 1: door one day, shows up like a like a cooler
Speaker 1: full of like sixty live caterpillars shot glasses. Like I
Speaker 1: have to fill them all with like two million liters
Speaker 1: of food and then I have to like attach all
Speaker 1: these little things and make them comfortable and put them
Speaker 1: around the house where the babies don't smash them. And
Speaker 1: uh yeah, it was like it was like a six
Speaker 1: week process and like my wife and I were up
Speaker 1: at one o'clock in the morning putting these together before
Speaker 1: they died. And uh yeah, we we raised like sixty butterflies.
Speaker 1: Sixty freaking butterflies. Unbelievable. They were. They different colors like there,
Speaker 1: you're there, you're pretty much the run of the mill orange,
Speaker 1: like they're black and orange on the back. There you're
Speaker 1: pretty like your standard Walmart butterfly They're all beautiful to you.
Speaker 1: They're your children after all. Uh Connor, um you you've
Speaker 1: knocked it out of the park and really installed Christmas
Speaker 1: spirit at an all time level. Right now when we
Speaker 1: thank you for stopping by and again check out Connor
Speaker 1: on Twitter and of course over at s I and
Speaker 1: Monday Morning Quarterback. He's he's the man. We love him.
Speaker 1: Happy holidays everybody. Where are the butterflies now? I need
Speaker 1: to know? They're just they're they're in the they have
Speaker 1: like a two week lif span. It's over there, they're
Speaker 1: in the wall. Let them out the front door. You
Speaker 1: unleash them in like mid December. Isn't that like when
Speaker 1: they're typically not We let them go in in October. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we let them go October, but I didn't right into
Speaker 1: the heart of winter. Have a nice time. Sorry. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, we raised them to be strong individuals, and
Speaker 1: so I think that was important for us too. Unbelievable Connor,
Speaker 1: Our ladies and gentlemen, thank you Connor. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: what an appearance by Connor? Would you expect anything less? Um? All? Right,
Speaker 1: before we go, first of all, a little housekeeping on Sunday, Um,
Speaker 1: I you know a little bit of joy I must say.
Speaker 1: UM played some Scott Zolac greatest hits after the Patriots
Speaker 1: were eliminated from the playoffs. We expressed a level of
Speaker 1: we're a little mystified about some of the things. He
Speaker 1: said something about a jelly especially we didn't tell you right,
Speaker 1: And then of course the listeners came in and helped
Speaker 1: us out. That is a reference from the nineteen nine
Speaker 1: Chevy Chase Pick your Christmas Vacation and Colleen's wearing the sweater.
Speaker 1: What why is the carpet? What? Todd? I don't know, Margot,
Speaker 1: So here is just so everyone knows. This is what
Speaker 1: the red this is Zolak And then where the reference
Speaker 1: comes from. It's the gift that keeps on giving. He's
Speaker 1: a Jelly of the Month club one year membership, and
Speaker 1: the Jelly of the Month club partner's the gift that
Speaker 1: keeps on giving them a whole year. All right, there
Speaker 1: you go, and I have one. I have one more,
Speaker 1: a gift for everyone. But before we do that, UM,
Speaker 1: anybody have final thoughts before we sign off, and reminded,
Speaker 1: we have our preview episode where we go through Week
Speaker 1: sixteen that will go up a day early tomorrow, so
Speaker 1: you'll hear us again before Christmas. But any final thoughts
Speaker 1: before uh, you know, the holidays. Uh, And we signed
Speaker 1: off today. I'd like my boss Frank Shirley right here
Speaker 1: tonight from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody
Speaker 1: Lane with a big ribbon on his head. Well played,
Speaker 1: well played, Greg? How about you, buddy? Oh, I don't
Speaker 1: know alright Mark? Um, I would just say that it
Speaker 1: has been kind of a crazy year obviously, but um,
Speaker 1: we've probably logged four hours together on I'm just of
Speaker 1: me staring at you on this computer screen I'm looking
Speaker 1: at and it's it's Um, I won't think. I think
Speaker 1: I'll remember this year more than any other year of
Speaker 1: our show. It's been a very odd one, um, and
Speaker 1: good too, So thank you for sticking along with it.
Speaker 1: That sound a little too sincere, well said, and and
Speaker 1: doing it without West has been so tough, but when
Speaker 1: he has been able to chip in, uh, that has
Speaker 1: made it, uh those shows extra special. It's been a
Speaker 1: challenging year, but we've been able to do it together.
Speaker 1: How about you, Patrick Laban? Yeah, I was gonna double
Speaker 1: down on the sincerity because I mean, we go back,
Speaker 1: Uh if not for you guys, have not for Dave
Speaker 1: Damna check like I probably never would have been on
Speaker 1: a podcast. And I look at obviously it took entire
Speaker 1: and entire social revolution for me to get a whole
Speaker 1: lot of opportunity in that would have never been possible.
Speaker 1: Um without you guys, and like for so for like
Speaker 1: you Dad and you Mark and Wes and you Greg.
Speaker 1: Like the things that you do not just for us,
Speaker 1: but for everybody because has been held for so many people.
Speaker 1: And Uh, to be able to hear you guys talk
Speaker 1: about football, to facilitate this discussion about football in life.
Speaker 1: All the time, you guys are crushing it and you've
Speaker 1: always crushed it. And I appreciate you. Thank thank you
Speaker 1: man Greg. Last chance. It's partly because my kids are
Speaker 1: melting down right now and I need to be watching them.
Speaker 1: What um alright, So I signed off this way. I
Speaker 1: want to start a little tradition. Maybe it's a tradition,
Speaker 1: maybe it's not. But I don't know if you're aware
Speaker 1: of Well, you know Rodrico Blanketship, the cults kicker he's
Speaker 1: having this year. Hot Rod has been killing it. Uh,
Speaker 1: he deserves to go to the Pro Bowl. Hell maybe
Speaker 1: even all Pro twenty nine thirty two field goals, thirty
Speaker 1: eight of forty extra points, hit another bomb this past week.
Speaker 1: What you may or may not know is that Rodrigo
Speaker 1: Blanket ship UM has for years maintained a personal blog
Speaker 1: that he writes in UH in the third person, and
Speaker 1: if you comb your way through that blog, you will
Speaker 1: find his senior year of high school UH, where he
Speaker 1: has some comments about his time on the soccer team
Speaker 1: UH and how it didn't always go to plan. So
Speaker 1: I call this UM and again we'll sign off with
Speaker 1: this and happy holidays whatever you celebrate to everyone that listens.
Speaker 1: But I call this a hot rod Christmas Carol headline.
Speaker 1: Rodrigo senior season ends on familiar note, no playoffs, yet
Speaker 1: near perfect contributions from Legatron. Here we go. Rodrigo senior
Speaker 1: season for a Berry came to a normal conclusion for
Speaker 1: the struggling program, as the Yellow Jackets gained no playoff
Speaker 1: birth and had a final record of five eleven and one,
Speaker 1: including a pair of meaningless victories over fellow have nots
Speaker 1: River Ridge and North Atlanta. After being knocked out of
Speaker 1: playoff consideration by five in Osaka. However, the six one
Speaker 1: ninety pounder was a veritable automaton regardless of the positions
Speaker 1: he was assigned to play. Even though his teammates seemed
Speaker 1: to struggle, Rodrigo's standards of excellence were never compromised. He
Speaker 1: finished the season averaging well under one error per game.
Speaker 1: His touch efficiency remained near perfect at ninety eight percent,
Speaker 1: and his past completion percentage rose steadily and to get
Speaker 1: more than after completing more than eighty percent of his
Speaker 1: passes over the final three games. Removed from the central
Speaker 1: midfield spot he had occupied for the previous two varsity seasons,
Speaker 1: Rodriguez became an immovable objected right back while his teammates
Speaker 1: appeared to struggle in the midfield. For the season, Rodrigo
Speaker 1: was dispossessed only once for a grand total of two
Speaker 1: for the entire three seasons of varsity contribution competition for Legatron,
Speaker 1: a nickname coined for him by a Georgia Bulldog football
Speaker 1: fan excited about the upcoming false season and Athens, a
Speaker 1: long season of frustration ended ironically on the bench, he
Speaker 1: was headbutted by a North Atlanta player while clearing a
Speaker 1: ball out of the penalty area, sending him to the sidelines.
Speaker 1: For the last six minutes of his career. Diagnosed with
Speaker 1: a mild concussion. M Merry Christmas, everybody right un