WEBVTT - Dameon Pierce, Lovie Smith & more | Texans All Access 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.960 What's up? Everybody? Welcome into a Friday edition of Texans 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:07.000 All Access from the Honday Texans Radio Studio. I am 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.520 your host, John Harris Football and a sideline reporter. We 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:12.600 got plenty to do tonight. We're gonna hear from DP 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.840 thirty one. That's right, Damian Pierce in our next segment 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.400 doing a little Drew's Dozen playing the Jenga. Yeah, so 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.840 we got Damian Pierce on the show. We are also 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.960 gonna hear from Dpcity who goes behind him me sidelines. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.320 We're gonna hear a little bit about re gentle Houston 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.320 Methodist doctors. Then we got Damian Pierce to close the 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.120 show with your Doherty's final word, got my keys, got 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.920 my picks. But we kick off every Friday show with 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.960 the man himself, the head coach of your Houston Texans, 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.840 Lovey Smith, who sat down with Mark Vanimby earlier today. 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.800 Coach going to New York. Let's focus on the prep first. 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.199 How has preparation been with a little mini buy in 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:53.199 the full week of practice. I know you had the 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:55.840 extra day sort of to get ready. How did that go? 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:58.400 We just seem like we've been working on them for 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.040 a long period of time and rightfully so they're playing 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.240 great football right now, one of the surprise teams in 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.600 the league. And then how they want it. I mean 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.640 we were talking a lot about finishing, and that's what 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:12.480 they've done. I think they've been behind every game but 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:14.080 have found the way to win it at the end, 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:17.040 and we got to match that. Is it different to 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.280 defend Barkley as opposed to other backs because he's also 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.720 their leading receiver and he can attack you that way. 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.320 How does that change things defensively or affect them? Yeah? 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.080 I think all the guys seem like all the guys 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.160 we play can catch the ball, but bark that can 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.920 do both well. But first is about stopping him as 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.120 a runner. And they're all the same. They can make 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.800 you miss, they all have size, seem like, they all 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.319 have excellent speed, can make you miss in old field, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.720 and can run between the tackles. And we haven't played 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:46.800 our best ball versus a run. So that challenge of 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.720 trying to get as many guys as possible to the 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:55.160 ball care all these running backs have made everyone miss 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.720 throughout the year. So it's about gang tackling as much 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.320 as anything. What about Daniel Jones what does he bring 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.480 against opponents, because it seems like he's playing very efficient 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:07.560 right now, his best season ever. He's done a great 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.560 job of protecting the quarterback. I think he only has 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.920 two interceptions and so and he can make all of 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.600 the throws. Big, big guy in the pocket, and that's 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:19.120 what you assume. That's who Daniel Jones is. But the 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.680 part of you start really studying him is what he's 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.359 doing with his feet, his legs, moving the chains. He's 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.880 a live bad athlete he'd given credit for. So what 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:31.519 they do with the read option, just the boots and 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:36.320 him getting on the perimeter, that's what is causing defenses 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.000 as much problems as anything. It seemed like you moved 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.600 up a level in your balanced attack mode against the 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.000 Philadelphia Eagles a week and a half ago. Is that 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.520 something you can take with you moving forward and continue 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.120 to improve on. We have to, That's who we are. 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.320 I mean, it's always about balance, you know, but our 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:55.440 balance kind of. I think you can have balance kind 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.079 of starting with the past of the run. We start 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.920 with our balance of run setting everything up. Teams coming 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.400 in know that they have to stop the run, but 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:05.400 that can put you in a position where you can 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.280 do some things in the passing game. So that's the 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.600 balance part that we want to get as far as 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.240 special teams go. Coach, it might be a bit windy. 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.600 Does that affect preparation and also does it affect preparation 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.200 with the passing game? Yeah, just this time. You know, 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.080 we're in November, playing on the road and the elements 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:25.320 back east. You know, it's probably not going to be 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.000 in the nineties when we played it, but that's just 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.000 that time of the year, football time of the year 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:34.680 in November. So we feel like we're made to Helmley 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.680 Elements with what we do offensively, you've got to be 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.600 able to run the football, you know, kicking you know 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:41.440 the amount of effort and stuff we put into the 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.720 kicking game, and of course defense is the same way. 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:46.680 So we don't think that'll affect us that much. Coach, 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.160 Thanks a lot, good luck, Thank you very much. All right, Mark, 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.440 great stuff there with Lovey Smith and I want to 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:54.720 hit you with this how much to see if you 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.760 know the answer to the trivia question that I well 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.840 too well one me a question I presented on my 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.000 Buy the Numbers my daily brew. You can get to Houston, 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.640 Texas dot com at Vanners view of all the podcast 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:11.040 everything what's at haven't read it yet? Sorry, I couldn't 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.440 do my homemark for class Well. One of the buy 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.560 the numbers is the Texans have a one game winning 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:21.039 streak at Metlive Stadium, beating the Jets twenty eighteen. The 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:25.280 Texans have one position player from the roster still on 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.600 the roster. Do you know who that is? So this 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.600 is twenty eighteen, and it's not John Weeks because he's 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:34.799 not a position player. It's not Weeks or Kaymie one position? 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.960 Is it? Aikin's very good? Ok yes, there it is 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.120 Jordan Aikins. There the position player remaining. So here's your 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:43.320 other one. Okay, so this is kind of interesting sight. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.600 Jerry Hughes is at a really nice start to the year, right, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:51.320 seven sacks eight games, really really solid. So I did 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.120 a little bit of math just projecting it forward seven 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:59.039 and eight games, it comes up to fifteen sacks. That 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.120 would be I mean, that's comeback player of the year 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:03.840 sort of stuff, even though Jerry didn't go away. But 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.599 that's that's pretty solid. That would be second all time 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.440 in Texans history. Okay, that's where I was going. Actually, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.280 what would have one, two, three, and four? Whatever you did? 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.720 You did it, Okay, you did it. I was gonna 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.080 ask you how many players in Texans history have had 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.520 more than fifteen sacks? Well, and we haven't had double 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.560 digit sacks since twenty eighteen with what right? Correct? That 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:25.360 was the last time. That was the last time. So 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.640 here's the other question. If the season ended today, yeah, 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.279 completely over. Just for some reason, Don and Jerry finished 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:38.440 with seven sacks. There are only seven Texans that would 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:42.680 have registered a higher season total. Now, some of those 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.800 are easy. I'll give you what right, and j D 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:50.720 and Whitney and Whitney and Mario Mario, Okay, who else? 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.920 Jonathan Grenard, Chan Grenard very good? That's five. The other 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:57.599 the other two I think Arwin Barwin six. Can you 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.600 get to seventh? I did not. I didn't know this one. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:06.440 I would said more than seven, more than seven early. 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.960 It's Jeff Posey. Wow, yeah, very good year one, very 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.720 very fine. The deal with Buffalo after that, the free 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.719 agent deal. But he had eight, he had eight. Seven 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.000 would be the seven is the demarcation, like three or 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:21.720 four other guys with seven, But I just put Jerry 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.320 with seven right there, And you're right, those are those 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.120 are the seven. Jerry would end up being the eighth 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.200 player with seven or more in a particular set. And 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.240 you know it's weird because it's not like Jerry's in 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.960 the backfield every play right, right, but most pass rushers aren't. 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.920 And this is one of those things, Johnny. You could 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.800 have a sack of game and you're going to the 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.080 Hall of Fame, right, yes, and I'm not saying Jerry's 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.839 like this, but just say defensive lining or whoever gets 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.160 a sack of game and you have fifteen, sixteen, seventeen 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.120 a year. That's phenomenal stuff. Right. You could be making 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.200 a lot of mistakes other times and they might not 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.360 get noticed at least by the media, right and the 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.000 fan base. If you're an offensive lineman, you could grate 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.880 out it like ninety seven percent good. But you know what, 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.159 you allowed one sack and that was the sack that 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.240 led to a strip fumble, and oh my gosh, it 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.240 turned the game around. But you played the rest of 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.800 the game great. That's where being an old lineman is 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.320 so unforgiving. Yes, it's not like you have to pitch 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:20.400 up perfect game, but you sort of do. And you 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:22.440 got to hope that if you do give up a sack, 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:24.440 it's not at the worst possible time and the quarterback 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.160 hangs onto the ball. Yes, absolutely, here's to your point. 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:34.360 JJ was a rookie in twenty eleven, so full seasons 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:39.920 after that twelve thirteen, fourteen, fifteen sixteen, he gets hurt, 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:44.160 week three, seventeen gets hurt, eighteen nineteen. You got hurt 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:49.880 halfway through, So five full seasons. Of those five, which 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:53.120 was his lowest sack number total, I would think it 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:58.080 was eighteen. Nope, it was twenty thirteen. Oh, because that 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.520 was the bad year. He had ten and a half sacks, 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.560 and yet what happened he was named defensive Player of 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:10.640 the year. He was Defensive Player of the Year in twelve, thirteen, thirteen, 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.800 and fourteen, No. Fourteen and fifteen. Oh, check that, you're 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:18.360 right up fourteen fifteen, So three out of four years 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:20.560 he got Defensive Player of the Year. No. Thirteen. But 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.320 I remember he should have been up for it because 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.240 I still felt like even at ten and a half sacks, 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.200 he still was pretty pretty arm good. And I don't 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.240 remember who won it in twenty thirteen, but yeah, you're right, 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:31.600 that was the one year that he was not in 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.600 so JJ in fourteen, at twenty and a half twenty twelve, 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.079 yet twenty and a half twenty fifteen, at seventeen a 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.960 half twenty eighteen, he hit sixteen. I think I remember that. 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:43.040 I don't remember that as much. In eighteen, I just 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.560 remember he in Clowney wreaking havoc. But he had he 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:52.080 had sixteen sacks that particular year, and in twenty eighteen 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.000 Clowney had nine eighteen twenty five sacks Between those two guys, 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:57.839 eighteen was a pretty good defense, and they got a 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.840 lot of takeaways. Reid was a rookie. He got that 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.520 picks six close to coast at Washington, JJ had the 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.559 game winning pick six against Buffalo. Yeah, you had a 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.040 lot of good moments because winning a lot of low 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.319 scoring games during that nine game winning streak. Nineteen's defense 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.000 started to spring some leaks and what missed half the 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.760 year came back for the playoffs, but missed half the year, 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:19.960 had the huge played in the Buffalo game. But that 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.760 defense started to show some signs of wear and tear, 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.080 and you needed to find a way to improve it 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.000 in the off season. And when you look back, I 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.400 mean hindsight's always twenty twenty. Going into the twenty twenty season. 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.120 You didn't improve the defense enough, didn't do anything to it, Yeah, 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.920 virtually right, in fact, took away from it probably Well. 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.320 Kareem was already gone in nineteen because he came back 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:42.800 with Denver here. You already had you lost DJ Read 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.480 You're going into twenty twenty. Yeah, that's big. So what 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.760 was the plan that you drafted Blacklock? But come on, 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:52.320 he's a rookie and at best, and he was not 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:55.599 built like Reader, right, he was not BILLI Reader. I 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.480 mean a lot of people aren't. I mean, that's that 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:00.920 was the magic in DJ that I do. Was a pitcher. 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.840 I mean, he played baseball, was a very very good 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.679 baseball player. He was incredibly athletic. And so that's one 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.439 of the things that I've been been looking at. And 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.400 you know, you know how I am. I'm already working 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.480 and have worked on my Harris one hundred. Sure, I've 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:17.560 already got my first iteration done. That's been out for 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.120 a while, and now I'm starting to look at all, right, 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.760 who can I add to this? Listen, you started looking 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:27.120 at big, athletic defensive dudes, and that's That's what I 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.960 because DJ Reader to me was he was the key. 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.160 He was the key when he was there with Wilfork, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:34.640 you just weren't going to run on us. Yeah, you 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.000 just forget it. It was not happening. And you obviously 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.240 got Wilfork cut, you know, as a free agent because 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:43.120 of his connection to Bill Bryan, etc. But you draft 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.120 the Reader in the fifth round, and Reader ends up 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:49.160 being a super stud for you. And there's a pounding 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.520 that those guys take. So it's not like DJ's gonna 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.000 end up playing for ten twelve years and not missing time. 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.360 But he was such a key. So I'm looking at 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.800 guys like uh Mazzi Smith from Michigan six three three 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:04.560 thirty five. But yet he's athletic, he can move, uh 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:08.040 Siaki Ica from Baylor. He's like three to forty and 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.080 he can move. And then you look across the line 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.640 on Sunday and you're gonna see big number ninety seven 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.040 Dexter Lawrence. And I think this is where Lawrence has 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:19.000 done a disservice because when you see him on the program, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.240 like look at your depth chart right there, does that 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.360 say Dexter Lawrence and doesn't have nt next to his 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:26.600 name for nose tackle. Now, it might not for the 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:31.679 Giants because but every other depth chart that you see, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.040 you see NT for nose tackle actually does say NT, 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:39.680 doesn't him Williams DT jahad War defensive end right, and 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.960 Thibodeau's your rush end right. So I think that does 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:47.120 Lawrence a disservice because that guy could line up anywhere 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.440 from three technique to three technique. He could go all 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:50.920 the way out to a tackle if he wanted to, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.200 and play a five technique in a three four front. 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:57.040 He's that athletic, but he is three hundred and forty 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:00.680 five pounds and just goes to work on eyes up front. 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:03.080 And it makes me like, when you think back to 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.880 that twenty eighteen defense, that's that's the guy that I 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:11.559 think we absolutely miss having a guy with size inside that. 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.040 Watching DJ Reader go against Quintin Nelson, yeah, I mean 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.960 that was a good matchup. So that was so much fun. 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.880 You'd have to pay DJ Reader some of these guys 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.840 who leave Benny Jones, Brandon Brooks, DJ Reader or I 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.600 know other opposite sides of the line. But you're gonna 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:30.000 have to pay him to keep them right. And you 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.760 got to make those tough decisions, but looking back, which 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.240 is easy to do. Like I said, of course, at 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:38.480 least one out of those three or two out of 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:40.800 those three probably should have been kept. And I thought 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.160 the people involved in the decision making might feel the 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:45.640 same way now, you know, looking bad, we probably should 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.800 have gone for that because we were never able to 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.600 replace them through the draft properly. The old line, you're 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:53.920 still working on it, right, You're still working on the 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.360 old line here, and you know, especially in the interior, 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.720 and you have to go sign aj Candas past offseason 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.800 as a free agent. Yeah, working out pretty well then, Yeah, 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.320 I think a doing a nice job. Ben Jones is 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.000 the one. To me. I remember watching Ben here and 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.520 I don't know if you're watching the offensive line, you know, 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.880 Chris Myers before Ben had really been I mean, Chris 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:19.319 was solid and Chris was crafty, and so it never 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:23.800 felt like Chris was going to get dominated by particular 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.200 interior guys and Ben wasn't at all. But Ben was 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.480 just a different kind of player. But I remember when 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:31.720 when Ben was up for kind, I was like, I think, 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.800 I think we can we can find someone that can 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.520 do what Ben does and be younger and so we're 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.559 not having to pay as much, etc. I could I 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.560 could see this moving on from Ben Jones. That's the 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:45.720 one I absolutely, one thousand percent say that I was 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.679 completely dead wrong about that. Ben Jones should have been 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:50.320 the center here for as long. He should have been 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:52.360 our Jason Kelson, because it's he should have been a 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:56.280 beloved a beloved figure in Houston for however long. Ben 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.439 is the one that I look back on and think 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.560 because it's not just I not want DJ Reader to go. 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.480 I mean I was, I was clear now I wanted 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.559 DJ here, so how much he meant to the team. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.320 Brandon Brooks, I was like, you know, as love he says, 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:09.839 you know, sometimes divorce is a good thing, and I 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.000 don't really think it was a divorce. This thing Brandon needed. 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:16.240 Brandon needed something different, and so I could understand how 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.720 both sides could see that for one another. But Ben, 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:22.120 I was like, nah, I think we can find something 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:24.400 we have not. We have not found the Ben Jones 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.840 to replace. That wasn't it. Greg Mans played a whole 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.000 year when Martin was hurt his rookie year, and he 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.400 did a solid job for an undrafted free agent. Right, 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.280 you're righting the way It's not just the way Ben plays, 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.240 it's who he is. Yes, it's who he is on 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.000 a team, in a locker room, all that stuff. But 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:42.200 look water under the bridge. We all know that. Like 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.000 I said, people involved in the decision making might tell 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.640 you the same thing right now, might but that seldom happens. 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.560 Where you get those opportunities to ask move forward to Sunday. 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.800 I always like to ask you this, going to met Life, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:58.120 going to New York. Yeah, there's something to you romantic 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.480 about it? Or is it just another Sunday? Yeah? Because 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.400 I grew up about a half hour away from there. Yeah, 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.480 I mean this is my hometown. Yea, all right, so 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.960 New Jersey isn't. But my dad still lives twenty minutes 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.080 from the stadium, and I'm going to see him, and 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.440 he's about to turn ninety and he's a total stud. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:15.600 I posted a picture of this summer of him flying 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:19.240 a Tiger Moth by himself in Europe, seventy years after 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.320 taking a solo flight higer Moth. I was down at 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:27.040 that air museum in at Ellington, the Lone Star Flight Museum, 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.160 and I took a bunch of pictures for him and 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.440 all these old planes they have are an amazing job 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.560 maintaining these planes. The place is gorgeous. And he said, yeah, 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.480 I flew them all, all those planes, all of and 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.680 you see like World War two planes and all these 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:44.800 other things. Now, he didn't fly in World War Two. 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:46.480 He was like twelve years old, but as he was 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:48.520 coming up as a pilot, all those planes were still around. 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.240 He was flying gonna be trained NATO here in the 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.520 fifties in Laredo and San Antonio in jets. So he 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:56.440 was with a bunch of guys who would eventually enter 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.360 the space program. And he loves all that stuff. But anyway, 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:01.560 I'm going to see him. So this is great for 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.160 me to go back to New York. And I know 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.480 that New York is much more than Manhattan, just like 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:09.400 Houston is much more than what's inside the loop. New 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.320 York is much more than Manhattan. I grew up in 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.320 a suburb. But it's fun to go back. And it's 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:18.520 great because this is the capital of the country really 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.720 in terms of largest market. All the media sort of 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:23.960 rolls through there. And I know we're in a different 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.880 era of media now, digital media, but man, so many 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:30.160 of the announcers and so many news people you here are. 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.160 Those decisions on who gets those jobs are made in 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.920 New York for the most part by people who listen 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.280 to local people. So they often promote the local people 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.480 who are working in that market. And there's a lot 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.560 of that. But I really love going back. We don't 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.080 get to go back much. It's a long trip for us. 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.320 It's kind of a clunky trip, Johnny, you know. I mean, 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.880 you're flying to Newark usually and you're staying in New Jersey, 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:57.000 and the distances within suburban New Jersey are greater than 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.800 you think very often, and there's an edge to it, 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.440 feel the grittiness, griminess of it all. It's New York, 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.639 man and you can see Manhattan from the Jersey side 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:11.400 where the stadium is sixteen W. So it's it's fun 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:13.879 to go back. There's there's a buzz about it, for sure. 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.080 There's always the one thing I always like to do 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.520 when we go to a different stadium, and we've been 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:21.080 to all of them now except for the new Atlanta 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.199 Stadium now that we've been to Allegiance and we've been 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:28.240 to so far. But teams will put up poster posters 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:31.720 or you know, pictures all throughout their press box and 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.399 their sweet area and you know we've done it over 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.120 the years. The legends, Yeah, the legends. And so as 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.320 you go up to the press box at MetLife, you 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.160 have to get off the elevator and you walk down 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.919 and you see these pictures and you see it the 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.159 greatest game that's ever played in nineteen fifty eight, and 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.760 you see all these great Giants and me going way 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:55.520 back Sneaker game and all these different historical games and 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.760 photos from that, and that's the franchise you're playing that day. 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.680 And I've always I'm a huge football story in which 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.920 I'm sure shocks people, and so I love seeing that, 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.840 like we're playing that franchise to Yeah, that's cool. I 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.360 wrote about this this week about how the Giants moved 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:13.800 there in seventy six and they used to play at 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.119 Yankee Stadium and that's where that nineteen fifty eight game was, 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:19.439 and they played at the Polo Grounds before that. So 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.280 that set me down a wormhole of I always wondered, 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:26.680 what exactly is the Polo Grounds? Right? Yeah, And there's 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.480 a housing development there now, but it's on the top 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:35.080 of Manhattan, right and all these old polo fields and 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.280 over the years they converted them into various stadia because 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.359 they were different facilities on site. The Jets started playing there. 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:43.360 Then they moved right to Shay Stadium in sixty four, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:45.920 and the Giants used to play there and the baseball 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.760 teams played there. The New York Giants baseball team played 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:51.560 there the New York So there's so much history in 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.679 New York sports wise, because it's such an old city, 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:59.040 huge city. The Giants won five World Series in New 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.280 York before they went to San Francisco. Absolutely, that's incredible. 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.920 I started watching say hey about William May's documentary that's 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.040 on HBO Max. I just started watching it. Oh my gosh, 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:10.480 I have to watch that. Yeah, it's incredible. And it 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:14.119 made me think as I'm watching it, Man, because at 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.720 the very end of my Daily Brew, I mentioned New 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:18.920 York Football Giants because Chris Burman used to sail that 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:20.960 all the time. That's why I was like, That's why 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:22.800 I said it, because I used to have the baseball Giants. Well, 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.080 back in the fifties, you had the Giants, Dodgers, and 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.919 the Yankees all in that range. You had Willie Mays, 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.400 Mickey Mantle, you had all the Dodgers players you're Jackie Robinson. 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:36.440 All those players in the boroughs in one city. Then 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:40.680 you had the Giants and Sam Hoff and Frank Gifford, 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:45.360 and the Giants were tremendously romantic at that time. I mean, 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:49.640 that was it was incredible. To my point about announcers, 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:52.320 you had Pat summer All and Frank Gifford on the 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.760 same same team, and then two of the greatest play 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:56.840 by play guys ever. I know, Gifford moved over to 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:58.919 color when Alan Michaels joined the Monday Night crew, but 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:00.520 he was a pretty good play by play guy when 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:02.760