Speaker 1: Your tunees about Drive on your twenty four to seven
Speaker 1: home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: See if we can remember how to do this. Good afternoon,
Speaker 2: Steeler Nation. It's the Drive on the Steelers Audio Network,
Speaker 2: West Hueler. Matt Williamson with you here on the eve
Speaker 2: of a report day of training camp twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: Matt Our vacations are in the books in about twenty
Speaker 2: four hours here, the offseason is in the books, and
Speaker 2: here we go once again.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like the off season is now officially over.
Speaker 3: It's a Monday. I had a weekend away.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: We both took vacations, which is great. I haven't seen
Speaker 3: you in a while. I haven't done anything on the
Speaker 3: air in any way, shape or form until today, So
Speaker 3: a little bit of rush needs knocked off. But I'm cool.
Speaker 3: We were joking before the air, it's like before we
Speaker 3: hit record, you know, like this might be the most
Speaker 3: out of the loop we are until this day next year. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, like this kind of was detached and we
Speaker 3: were kind of like, what's happened in the last two weeks?
Speaker 3: Fortunately not much it really is regard. Yeah, this time
Speaker 3: of year is slow.
Speaker 2: It is I was. I was saying that to my wife.
Speaker 2: I was like, it's been two weeks since Matt and
Speaker 2: I have done a show.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was like, I'll be very honest and hey, I
Speaker 2: think you're probably in the same boat. I haven't thought
Speaker 2: about football or the Steelers much over the last two weeks. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: but I think everybody needs that we have so we
Speaker 2: have fifty fifty two. It's a year where football dominated.
Speaker 2: It's good to unplug for a couple of weeks, and
Speaker 2: I think we're refreshed and ready to go now.
Speaker 3: I will say I spent quite a bit on my
Speaker 3: laptop reading football stuff. I mean, what else do I
Speaker 3: got to read? You know, war and Peace? You know,
Speaker 3: of course I was reading right exactly. But all in all,
Speaker 3: I haven't been creating content, haven't been doing much, and
Speaker 3: I needed it. So I'm ready to rock. It's like
Speaker 3: for the season. I think the season is basically here.
Speaker 2: Oh you and me. Yeah, it's been an odyssey of
Speaker 2: an off season. Steelers. I saw I've seen it twice.
Speaker 3: By really so good. It'd dude, it's outstanding. Wow, Okay,
Speaker 3: I saw it once.
Speaker 2: I was like, I got to see that again. Took
Speaker 2: my mom the second time because my mom wanted to
Speaker 2: go see it.
Speaker 3: I'll probably have to wait till after the season, though. Yeah,
Speaker 3: the chances are maybe some.
Speaker 2: Random there is a nice movie theater out there at
Speaker 2: the Casino right by campus. Maybe maybe one day. But
Speaker 2: there's been a lot that has gone on this off
Speaker 2: season for the Steelers, I think, certainly, Matt. If not today,
Speaker 2: probably Wednesday, when we're doing our first show from campus.
Speaker 2: We'll have to just kind of recap what was a
Speaker 2: crazy offseason for the Steelers in a lot of different ways.
Speaker 3: I'm sure we'll have new listeners just coming with the season,
Speaker 3: they aren't you round.
Speaker 2: That always that always happens, and uh man, Matt, we
Speaker 2: always see the uptick in listeners and viewers and engagement
Speaker 2: all that stuff as soon as training camp starts. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: but I think this time around could be even ratcheted
Speaker 2: up normal from from what we normally see, just because
Speaker 2: for the first time in nineteen years, the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 2: have a new head coach for the first time in
Speaker 2: nineteen years, Matt, we think we know what training camp
Speaker 2: is going to look like, and we've got a pretty
Speaker 2: good grasp on it. But I made this this joke
Speaker 2: to my wife. I was like, it's almost like, did
Speaker 2: you ever did you go to Libo all throughout your
Speaker 2: your life? Okay, Yeah, I went to Eden, which was
Speaker 2: a private school, Eden Christian Academy through sixth grade, and
Speaker 2: then I started going to Mars in.
Speaker 3: Seventh, seventh District a little different.
Speaker 2: I said to my wife, this to me kind of
Speaker 2: feels like the first day that I was heading to
Speaker 2: Mars Middle School after going to Eden. I know what
Speaker 2: school is. There's lockers, there's class and half class. I
Speaker 2: was like, but this is going to be different. It's
Speaker 2: a brand new school, it's brand new teachers, it's brand
Speaker 2: new you know, standard operating procedures. And that's kind of
Speaker 2: how I feel. I've been to Latrobe, but I've been
Speaker 2: to St. Vincent. This will be my ninth training camp,
Speaker 2: but this one also feels new at the same time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and new curriculum too, Like I mean, I'm just
Speaker 3: curious to see like how they deploy like one of
Speaker 3: my favorite things that I'm looking forward to. And I
Speaker 3: did a podcast on it today and talked a little
Speaker 3: bit about the Steelers corners in general. Was I think
Speaker 3: Ramsey's gonna be the slot and they're gonna play a
Speaker 3: lot of nickel, which makes him a starter. I think
Speaker 3: when there's only four defensive backs on the field, he'll
Speaker 3: be the free But no one's really told us that exactly.
Speaker 3: I don't know it. Probably a practice or two in
Speaker 3: I will know it, you know, like things of that nature,
Speaker 3: or certainly the defense in general, I think is gonna
Speaker 3: look a lot different of where everybody lines up and
Speaker 3: what they do. And you don't have to be an
Speaker 3: ex's no expert to look at and be like, oh,
Speaker 3: they're doing different things. And I think the offense will
Speaker 3: be similar but not as drastically different. But we were
Speaker 3: even joking like some of the organization just gave us
Speaker 3: the times of all the meals. Well, they're a little
Speaker 3: different this year, you know, practice times a little different
Speaker 3: this year. You know, when do I sneak in that
Speaker 3: NAT or when do I sneak in other podcasts?
Speaker 4: I do?
Speaker 3: You know, Like I'm still a little I need to
Speaker 3: like get my boots on the ground, Like I told you,
Speaker 3: I do this NFL six Pack show with Brian Peacock,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, I don't feel confident in telling you
Speaker 3: when exactly can we record everything right, right right, because
Speaker 3: I'm gonna sneak back and forth and it's kind of
Speaker 3: going to get the lay of the land. Can I leave,
Speaker 3: Can I get to practice a little late? I don't
Speaker 3: need to see stretch, you know, things like that, you know,
Speaker 3: right right, at some point I need to feed myself.
Speaker 3: Will they do backs on backers? Will they do seven shots?
Speaker 3: You know what kind of stuff carries over? I think
Speaker 3: it's really fascinating.
Speaker 2: Lunch used to be at eleven thirty in the morning.
Speaker 2: Now it's gonna be more like one or one thirty
Speaker 2: in the afternoon.
Speaker 3: There practicing earlier, right right right.
Speaker 2: It's like when you sometimes when you switch grades and
Speaker 2: things like that, you go from having an early lunch
Speaker 2: to late lunch and all that, yeah and stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So it's it's exciting that this time of year is
Speaker 2: always exciting. But I think when you have when you
Speaker 2: have a new boss calling the shots and pulling the
Speaker 2: strings for the first time in nineteen years, it's a
Speaker 2: lot to keep an eye on. Yeah, we're certainly looking
Speaker 2: forward to starting to peel that peel that curtain back
Speaker 2: on Wednesday.
Speaker 3: And the other thing too, is just purely roster. Every
Speaker 3: year they go out and get people, and there's and
Speaker 3: every team changes drastically, but there's a lot of draft picks,
Speaker 3: you know, I mean there's a whole bunch. Yeah. We
Speaker 3: would look around and be like, that's Zach Frazier. He
Speaker 3: looks saying, there's Aaron Rodgers. We saw him last year,
Speaker 3: Cam TJ. We know those dudes. But there's fifteen names
Speaker 3: that I'm pretty excited to really see for the first time.
Speaker 3: And I'm not counting mini camps and that type of thing.
Speaker 3: You know, Jamie Dean, you know, guys like that Briskerr,
Speaker 3: you know, like, what's he look like running around out there?
Speaker 3: Let alone the rookies Max in particular.
Speaker 2: It's it's gonna be a lot of fun, always is,
Speaker 2: but it feels feels even a little bit more. You know,
Speaker 2: one of those what are those presents that have been
Speaker 2: wrapped up under the tree? What are they going to
Speaker 2: look like this year?
Speaker 3: And you think you know what you're getting, and often
Speaker 3: you get what you asked, sayana for, but you don't.
Speaker 2: Know exactly right, and especially especially when it's a different
Speaker 2: person wrapping up those presents this time around. So again
Speaker 2: we will have are first on. We will not have
Speaker 2: a Tuesday show that's kind of moving and set up
Speaker 2: and all that day, but then.
Speaker 3: Kind of a bonus we want to get back at you,
Speaker 3: you know, right, yep.
Speaker 2: Kind of knock off some of the rust and get
Speaker 2: going here before things really get going on Wednesday. But
Speaker 2: we're gonna have a bunch of Saturday and weekend shows
Speaker 2: going forward two So we will still have five shows
Speaker 2: this week, and they're three hours each, okay, and this
Speaker 2: is our last two hour show, giving you a bonus
Speaker 2: hour every single day. Great point by Matt there.
Speaker 3: And I'm sure we'll replace some things that happened throughout
Speaker 3: the day and react to that too. And you know, like,
Speaker 3: I'm sure we have lots of good interviews and we
Speaker 3: haven't had any of that stuff for months.
Speaker 2: I don't get exactly right, exactly right. So it'll it'll
Speaker 2: be a lot of fun every day that the Steelers
Speaker 2: have practice, even on Saturdays, even on Sundays, doesn't matter
Speaker 2: day of the week. It does not matter. It's kind
Speaker 2: of like summer vacation when you're growing up in middle
Speaker 2: school in high school. Who cares what day of the
Speaker 2: week it is. I just don't have school.
Speaker 3: My kids have embraced that heavily prepare for college.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we if there is practice, we are doing a show.
Speaker 2: So we will be out there on campus Wednesday, Thursdday, Friday,
Speaker 2: and Saturday before heading home and taking Sunday off and
Speaker 2: then getting back at it on Monday. When the pads
Speaker 2: go on a week from today, that's when things will
Speaker 2: really get fun, Matt. Like I said, I think on Wednesday.
Speaker 3: The other thing too, there's a I mentioned the show
Speaker 3: I do with Peacock. There's a couple of things we
Speaker 3: were getting a kick out of today, like because there
Speaker 3: are teams in training camps and stuff like that too.
Speaker 3: There's a couple trigger words that I forget about until
Speaker 3: this time of year, like best shapier life, Oh get
Speaker 3: out of here, you know, the acclamation period. The acclamation
Speaker 3: periods a little anti climatic, folks, you know, like we're
Speaker 3: getting there and it's like that doesn't mean that they're doing
Speaker 3: Oklahoma drills and three A days.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: Like there's a couple of things along those lines where
Speaker 3: it's like, oh, yeah, I forgot about these things, or
Speaker 3: this guy got carted off the field. I love that too, because.
Speaker 2: Everybody gets carved pretty much.
Speaker 3: Everyone gets card.
Speaker 2: Wednesday when we're out there on campus.
Speaker 3: They don't make you walk up the hill.
Speaker 2: They're not gonna make these guys walk three hundred yards
Speaker 2: off the field right here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, carted off the field is one of my favorites.
Speaker 3: There's a couple of cliches that you just hear this
Speaker 3: time of year only or guys that start on the
Speaker 3: pup list that doesn't mean that they're a disaster. Or
Speaker 3: hold ends is another one. You know, there's a couple
Speaker 3: of things you hear this time of year. You got
Speaker 3: to remember, you.
Speaker 2: Know, always always good to have our bearings before we
Speaker 2: really before we really dive in. Speaking of hold ends, Matt,
Speaker 2: there will be, like I said, I want to do
Speaker 2: some some off season rewind stuff and scene setting stuff
Speaker 2: on Wednesday when we get back to campus and into
Speaker 2: a new Stealers season. Obviously, though, one of those things
Speaker 2: that will be monitoring, I guess unless something changes in
Speaker 2: the next forty eight hours or so, is the contractual
Speaker 2: status of Joey Porter Junior.
Speaker 3: I think this is about to become like the story.
Speaker 2: The story, Yeah you saw it was it. Every year
Speaker 2: there's Smith cam last summer High Smith, the summer before.
Speaker 3: That, TJ summer before that, right.
Speaker 2: And there's a lot that plays into this. Uh, and
Speaker 2: obviously that will be the storyline Joey Porter Junior and
Speaker 2: his contract.
Speaker 1: Matt.
Speaker 2: We were kind of laughing, and you mentioned at the
Speaker 2: start of the show here just a few minutes ago.
Speaker 2: Not a lot happened in the last two weeks. I
Speaker 2: was expecting that we'd come back here and say, all right,
Speaker 2: this person got this extension, and Christian Gonzalez got this.
Speaker 2: It's kind of everyone's kind of in a in a
Speaker 2: holding pattern.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, a little bit, but people truly went on vacation.
Speaker 2: Yes, and again everybody needs that. According to Robert Kraft,
Speaker 2: of course, the owner of the Patriots, he said this
Speaker 2: over the weekend that they've made Christian Gonzalez an offer
Speaker 2: to be the highest paid cornerback in the NFL of
Speaker 2: all time. Quote, we love Christian Gonzales, we love him
Speaker 2: as a player, as a person. That's why we made
Speaker 2: an offer to him to make him the highest paid
Speaker 2: player to ever play that position in the NFL and coincidentally,
Speaker 2: is the highest contract in Patriots franchise history. So we're
Speaker 2: glad we drafted him. He's developed here and we hope
Speaker 2: he'll be here with us for a long time and quote, yeah,
Speaker 2: so that sounds like that could be getting done very
Speaker 2: soon here.
Speaker 3: I don't know why he'd say no to that.
Speaker 2: I don't say no to the highest paid ever at
Speaker 2: his position. But I think if that gets across the
Speaker 2: finish line here in the next day or two, then
Speaker 2: all eyes will really be on Joey Porter Junior in the.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it could make things sticky for the Steelers
Speaker 3: and Porter, I mean obviously because they are coming from
Speaker 3: I think they're comparable players. I would take Gonzalez, but
Speaker 3: there's only like two or three corners i'd take ahead
Speaker 3: of Gonzalez, and Frankly, by week ten, I might be
Speaker 3: like Porter's even better than Gonzalez, Like they're in the
Speaker 3: same neighborhood.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: One thing that works to Gonzalez's favor the Porter doesn't
Speaker 3: have going for him slightly is there's a fifty year
Speaker 3: option situation. Because if you remember, that was the year
Speaker 3: the Steelers traded up for Broderick Jones, and I remember
Speaker 3: being on the air with Dyell going did they trade
Speaker 3: up for Broderick Jones or they traded for Gonzalez because
Speaker 3: they had a corner huge in need as well. They
Speaker 3: sit there at thirty two, which was a second round
Speaker 3: pick at the time, because Miami forfeited a first round
Speaker 3: pick and that was the Claypole pick, so that was
Speaker 3: from the Bears, and with their second pick, they took
Speaker 3: the corner as opposed to the other way around. Joey
Speaker 3: Porter Junior. But even though he was a thirty second pick,
Speaker 3: he did not have the fifty year option option you
Speaker 3: know for the teams, so he has not made as much.
Speaker 3: He didn't make first round money. He doesn't have that
Speaker 3: fifty year option looming. Where Joey's contract is up after
Speaker 3: the year. Gonzalez they could wait another year and he's
Speaker 3: still Patriots property at the moment. So I don't know
Speaker 3: if that changes where the agents come from or not.
Speaker 3: I'm no negotiations master, but they are a little different.
Speaker 3: I would still think Porter comes in below Gonzalez. And
Speaker 3: we've seen this so many times in the history of
Speaker 3: a NFL is I'm just going to wait for the
Speaker 3: other receiver to sign first, and then I want one
Speaker 3: dollar more. Yes, I don't think that'll be the case.
Speaker 2: Maybe I want one dollar less in this yeah.
Speaker 3: But it's still going to be high. I mean it's
Speaker 3: going to be really high. I mean, we went into
Speaker 3: this a while back. Maybe you could even pull it up,
Speaker 3: but I almost no off the top of my head
Speaker 3: that I think there's two Oja or Trent McDuffie's one
Speaker 3: of them that are making like thirty two million a year.
Speaker 3: It's twenty. I think it's twenty. I think it's thirty two.
Speaker 2: I think you're right.
Speaker 3: I think there's two or three making basically the same contract.
Speaker 2: Duffee Sauce and Stanley Junior all about thirty thirty one
Speaker 2: million right in in that range.
Speaker 3: Together, and then I think there's like a gap of
Speaker 3: like five millionaires to the next group, which includes Pat
Speaker 3: certain who's the best. But then we know how contracts work,
Speaker 3: you're always the best player gets the most money. I
Speaker 3: thought Porter might come in somewhere in between those two deals,
Speaker 3: but the problem with that is there's no comps. That's
Speaker 3: how agents and teams work, you know, like if but
Speaker 3: that that contract doesn't exist. You know, the twenty eight
Speaker 3: twenty nine million dollars a real sure, So that always
Speaker 3: makes things stickier. It's easier to say, give me the
Speaker 3: same deal, but I'm sure the Steelers aren't con be like,
Speaker 3: I'm just gonna give you the Gonzales steal, you know,
Speaker 3: so this could be sticky. I don't I'm not saying
Speaker 3: it doesn't get done or he's not worth it, or
Speaker 3: the team's being cheap or any of those things. But
Speaker 3: there's a lot of negotiations and this is a big one,
Speaker 3: and the Gonzalez deal probably isn't doing the Steelers they
Speaker 3: favor because I would think Porter's agent at least walks
Speaker 3: in there in the day after the Gonzalez thing and says,
Speaker 3: let's just match it, and they're like, that's nice, but no,
Speaker 3: you know who knows?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's Hey, that's what agents are supposed to.
Speaker 3: Do, right, exactly, get every dollar you can for the
Speaker 3: best deal for your client.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think everything you said there is spot on.
Speaker 2: The one.
Speaker 3: You're not gonna get them for twenty yeah, yeah, no chance.
Speaker 3: When the numbers come across, listeners would be like whoa, yeah.
Speaker 2: A lot of people did that with Herbiic Just wait right,
Speaker 2: right right.
Speaker 3: This one's gonna be bigger and probably is why it's lingers.
Speaker 3: It's a little bit harder to do.
Speaker 2: And I wonder too, Matt it's a little bit harder
Speaker 2: to do. There is some of that kind of looking
Speaker 2: around and all right, what are the answers that they're
Speaker 2: putting down over on their test over there?
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh yeah, as we use.
Speaker 2: More school analogies, you know, like all right, do I
Speaker 2: want to be the first one to turn this test in?
Speaker 2: Or do I want to wait till a couple more
Speaker 2: guys turn it in and I'm gonna go up there?
Speaker 2: Did I finish too quickly? Do I still need to
Speaker 2: wait this thing out? I also though the last piece
Speaker 2: of this is, as we've discussed, it felt like Herbig,
Speaker 2: Darnell Washington, and Joey Porter Junior were the three big
Speaker 2: contracts to get done, Like we.
Speaker 3: Talked about still and some.
Speaker 2: Other guess, but those felt like the three of the
Speaker 2: guys the deals that we really knew. You know, they're
Speaker 2: at positions where those guys have solidified themselves and they're.
Speaker 3: Drafted them, developed them.
Speaker 2: You and I. Also one of the things that we've
Speaker 2: been privy and we've seen it play out over the
Speaker 2: last for I think three or four training camps, is
Speaker 2: the Steelers do love to have that contract extension that
Speaker 2: comes down in the middle of training camp. In the
Speaker 2: dog days, everyone's starting to get a little sick of
Speaker 2: each other. Everyone's starting to get a little annoyed. It's
Speaker 2: hot out, you're tired, you're sleeping in the dorm room,
Speaker 2: you're eating in the cafeteria. Right, it's a morale booster.
Speaker 2: And you know, you and I've seen that. We saw
Speaker 2: a couple of summers ago with TJ. We saw it
Speaker 2: a couple of summers ago with Alex Highsmith. You go
Speaker 2: into the cafeteria those days and it's like, oh, here
Speaker 2: comes the hundred million dollars. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, everyone just has a little more perking their step.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: I wonder if there's some of that for the Steelers too,
Speaker 2: where like, hey, be a little sticky. Hey maybe it
Speaker 2: moves the number a little bit, But we want to
Speaker 2: get this thing done in camp morale booster, we don't
Speaker 2: need we don't need Joey out there full speed on
Speaker 2: July twenty ninth, anyway, Oh that's right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won new Defense, but we still
Speaker 3: know we got.
Speaker 2: I wonder if there's part of that with the timing too,
Speaker 2: where they've just kind of always had in their mind
Speaker 2: this is the next guy who gets the morale boosting,
Speaker 2: team bonding, training camp contract.
Speaker 3: Sure, his dad was a legend on the team. I'm
Speaker 3: not that that matters, but well, pretend like it doesn't.
Speaker 3: Local kid Pittsburgh for life, one helmet guy. You can
Speaker 3: start having those kinds of conversations at the press conference.
Speaker 3: The other thing I wanted to mention, though, is he
Speaker 3: is a free agent after the year. Currently as it stands,
Speaker 3: I think he's good enough though that unlike a Benton,
Speaker 3: you wouldn't hesitate the franchise him, you know, like, I
Speaker 3: can't imagine Porter hitting the open market after the season
Speaker 3: unless they can't get a deal done. Andy is a
Speaker 3: disaster season. Benton, you might be like, I want to
Speaker 3: see one more year he has a really good year,
Speaker 3: and then you're fighting thirty one other teams, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean, Like, just because you're not, I doubt
Speaker 3: he's franchisable. He'd have to have an unbelievable season, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Whereas Joey with where he's kind of at as a
Speaker 2: top five yeah, yeah, at his position, you wouldn't mind
Speaker 2: paying that ticket price.
Speaker 3: Right right right, And he might not love it, but
Speaker 3: it's still you know, it ensures you don't.
Speaker 2: He has just walk out the door, right, and it
Speaker 2: would be a nice payday for him as much.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it's guaranteed money for a year too.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: So that's where we're at here with a quiet couple
Speaker 2: of weeks but a big looming story on the horizon. Matt,
Speaker 2: what happens first? Because so if I'm and this is again,
Speaker 2: I gotta be careful because it's same but different with
Speaker 2: what we're heading into a training camp here. The first
Speaker 2: Saturday of training camp is always that welcome back to
Speaker 2: football Saturday. Yeah, if you remember that, Yeah, yeah, it
Speaker 2: would be like like Mike Tom Wild always ta the
Speaker 2: microphone and do a quick little you know, sixty second
Speaker 2: thanks to get out and all that stuff. That would
Speaker 2: also be the day.
Speaker 3: I assume they'll do that, but who knows back to
Speaker 3: our how we started this segment.
Speaker 2: And I would assume in the past that's been the
Speaker 2: day that they've announced unveiled the Steelers new Hall of
Speaker 2: Honor class. Correct, Okay, so if that again, hand up,
Speaker 2: I gotta we gotta, we gotta get boots on the ground,
Speaker 2: and yeah, exactly how everything's gonna play out this year.
Speaker 2: But if that's the way that it's been done in
Speaker 2: the past. What happens first, Joey Porter junior contract extension
Speaker 2: or new Hall of Honor class announced for the Steelers.
Speaker 3: I think new Hall of Honor class. I think the
Speaker 3: Porter thing could linger.
Speaker 2: I think so too.
Speaker 3: It might not get done until, like you know, the
Speaker 3: Steelers always like to put a deadline on it. They
Speaker 3: don't like negotiate during the season. It could be the
Speaker 3: day before, you know, the well after that. Yeah, we
Speaker 3: might be talking about this the entire time we're in Latrobe.
Speaker 2: Who knows, from a content perspective, wouldn't be the worst thing, No, right,
Speaker 2: right right, Just getting started here on this Monday New week,
Speaker 2: big week for the Steelers, as I mean, I was
Speaker 2: gonna say they'll be heading out to La Trobe tomorrow,
Speaker 2: but really just the players. Everybody else is already there,
Speaker 2: coaches reported yesterday Coaching staff TV our intrepet video producer
Speaker 2: Tyler v mister TV. He sent us a picture of
Speaker 2: the lovely grounds of campus, those three football fields looking
Speaker 2: immaculate out there at Chuck Nolefield.
Speaker 3: I'm heading Wednesday morning.
Speaker 2: Wednesday morning. Yeah, I'm going out. I'm going out tomorrow.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so it'll be it'll be all happening here
Speaker 2: real quick, and Matt and I will be excited to
Speaker 2: bring it all to you and paint the picture for
Speaker 2: those of you who will not be able to make
Speaker 2: it out to Latrobe for a for a trek to
Speaker 2: training camp this summer. Just getting started here on this Monday,
Speaker 2: plenty more to get to as we lay kind of
Speaker 2: the groundwork for the week ahead. Here you'll learn Williamson.
Speaker 2: It's the drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 8: I used to have cable Internet, but I'm a one
Speaker 8: hundred percent kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon FiOS.
Speaker 8: It's one hundred percent fiber Internet that's super reliable. So
Speaker 8: I streamed one hundred percent of the NFL Draft live
Speaker 8: with the ultra low lag and after what went down
Speaker 8: in the first round, still getting video calls from my
Speaker 8: best friend rubbing it in that he called all the picks.
Speaker 4: I told you they were building their own line. I
Speaker 4: went to bet good.
Speaker 6: One hundred percent fiber Internet with Verizon FiOS, because when
Speaker 6: it comes to your team, it's one hundred percent or nothing.
Speaker 6: Called one of three three for Riizon to switch today.
Speaker 4: Get that hot dog costume ready, Bruh.
Speaker 1: You were tuned about Drive on your twenty four to
Speaker 1: seven home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: Back on the Drive here on this Monday, as July
Speaker 2: is just about finished, and that means it is training
Speaker 2: camp time for your Pittsburgh Steelers and for all thirty
Speaker 2: two teams across the NFL. So we are in the
Speaker 2: last hours, the last final days of list season here,
Speaker 2: Matt Williams said, before things start to get real, and
Speaker 2: I wanted to take a look with you today. Our
Speaker 2: buddy John Ledgard his top twenty five tiers and rankings
Speaker 2: for tight ends heading out this twenty sixth season.
Speaker 3: So I read it today. I think John does great,
Speaker 3: great work. I think he's one of the leading just
Speaker 3: seems like i'm selling him short. Should be better well
Speaker 3: known than he is as a scouting you know, he
Speaker 3: has a real job, so he you know, he does
Speaker 3: some other things as well. I urge everyone to check
Speaker 3: out his substack, and I am a subscriber, and he
Speaker 3: sent this and I thought it was really interesting. But
Speaker 3: I also thought it was interesting more so than the list.
Speaker 3: Well it correlates. You can tell by his list how
Speaker 3: much he values blocking, and the league is really going
Speaker 3: towards these blocking tight ends. We saw it in the draft.
Speaker 3: You've been living under a rock if you haven't heard
Speaker 3: Sean McVay like thirteen personnelity, you know, and yeah, so
Speaker 3: if you're just receiver only, and I thought John's list
Speaker 3: was really good for this, you can handicap your team
Speaker 3: a little bit. Like I read his kincaid write up
Speaker 3: for the Bills. Who's probably lower on this list than
Speaker 3: you think, because really he's kind of a big receiver.
Speaker 3: I mean, like, he's really interesting. So I've been I
Speaker 3: did a lot of fantasy homework this week while I
Speaker 3: was away too, just reading profiles and getting an idea
Speaker 3: who I'm involved with and blah blah blah. So if
Speaker 3: you look at like Kincaid's metrics per route yards per
Speaker 3: route run, things of that nature, they're really really high.
Speaker 3: They're up there with like the hours and McBride's and
Speaker 3: things like that. When he's on the field how effective
Speaker 3: he is. But it's a little bit of a cheat
Speaker 3: because there's a lot of like fantasy analysts saying, well,
Speaker 3: if the Bills just finally dedicate themselves to Kincaid full time,
Speaker 3: you can extrapolate all his points and he's going to
Speaker 3: be bowers like production. Well they don't because he's only
Speaker 3: out there on third down because he can't block anybody.
Speaker 3: So I don't think there all of a sudden going
Speaker 3: to do that. They're going to put a wide receiver
Speaker 3: out there, because that's really what he is. Gadson with
Speaker 3: the Chargers, you got to be pretty special because it's
Speaker 3: hard to create mismatches. It's harder to be you know,
Speaker 3: Gadson's a great example, or Kincaid. It's like, Okay, they're
Speaker 3: really good mismatch guys for a tight end. That doesn't
Speaker 3: mean that they're easier to harder to cover than Michael Pittman.
Speaker 3: I might as well just put Pittman out there, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean, who's probably an equal blocker even
Speaker 3: though he's got a WR next to his name. So
Speaker 3: I thought it was cool that John really put value
Speaker 3: in two way every doown you know, type of type
Speaker 3: of guys you know, and even mentions there's no Rob
Speaker 3: Gronkowski walking the earth right now. He's the epitome, you know,
Speaker 3: where there's just no answer.
Speaker 2: There's there's no answer, right And that's what I'm Matt.
Speaker 2: Every every off season. There's overarching themes across the league
Speaker 2: that that you do a really good job of laying
Speaker 2: out and I think how people have have gone back
Speaker 2: to wanting heavier, big, bigger, more more blocking capable tight
Speaker 2: ends has been one of those things. Yeah, over the
Speaker 2: last couple of months, Matt. I know, we typically start
Speaker 2: at the back of lists, but when he tears them,
Speaker 2: I kind of like the top, if that's all right
Speaker 2: with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Tier one has four names. Number one brock Bowers, Number
Speaker 2: two Trey McBride.
Speaker 3: Let me stop you super quick, because those two are
Speaker 3: going there is gonna.
Speaker 2: Be some're gonna be one and two forever and in the.
Speaker 3: Fantasy world those guys because we don't care about blocking
Speaker 3: in fantasy. Blah blah blah. I'll bring up fantasy a
Speaker 3: little bit just because it's a fantasy relevant position. But
Speaker 3: those are the top two off the board and every
Speaker 3: fantasy draft right now. Not to mention Kittle's coming off
Speaker 3: an injury, and you know, Kelsey's getting old, you know.
Speaker 2: I think those two are are are a very very
Speaker 2: fitting number one in two, yes, and then Colson Loveland
Speaker 2: number three and George Kittle number four. That's his Tier one.
Speaker 3: And I read the Kittle right up and I agree
Speaker 3: with this too that he said Kittle, if healthy and
Speaker 3: he's judging them where they are right now, would have
Speaker 3: a case to be number one. And I've said that
Speaker 3: for years. With all respect to Kelsey, who's a tremendous player,
Speaker 3: I think Kittle's been overshadowed by Kelsey a little bit
Speaker 3: over his career and maybe might be the most underrated
Speaker 3: tight end in NFL history because he's the most gronk
Speaker 3: like of any of them in terms of he's a
Speaker 3: killer in the run game, he's great after the catch.
Speaker 3: I mean, he is such a difference maker and Loveland.
Speaker 3: I was a little shocked to see this high, but
Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more. I mean in terms of like
Speaker 3: buying stock on a young guy an ip O that
Speaker 3: by Loveland, why you still can because he has a
Speaker 3: extremely high ceiling. It was a better blocker than I
Speaker 3: thought too.
Speaker 2: That is your Tier one, those four and yeah, Loveland,
Speaker 2: I tell you what, after one year, he's he's clearly
Speaker 2: clearly on the rise. Tier two leads off with a
Speaker 2: show favorite here. Tucker Craft comes in at number five.
Speaker 2: John says he might have been number one on this
Speaker 2: list if he wouldn't have torn his ACL in week nine.
Speaker 3: I thought that was a bold statement, but I don't
Speaker 3: think it's nuts, and we saw it in the.
Speaker 2: First first eight weeks were unbelievable.
Speaker 3: Unbelievable because he's also really rugged in a blocker.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2: Tier two is just two guys, Tucker Craft at five
Speaker 2: and Sam Laporta of the Detroit Lions at six to
Speaker 2: NFC North.
Speaker 3: And Laporta gets lumped in a little too much of
Speaker 3: finesse guy. I mean, he's put up big numbers, but
Speaker 3: he'll more than hold his own as a blocker, which
Speaker 3: is super important. A lot of Iowa represent this, right,
Speaker 3: pretty nuts. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Tier three starts with the seventh ranked overall tight end,
Speaker 2: Tyler Warren, another young guy. Hm. Of course, so the
Speaker 2: Indianapolis Colts former Penn State Nitney Lyon. Number eight, Brenton Strange,
Speaker 2: another former Penn State stock to see.
Speaker 3: Him that high, but he's really important to them.
Speaker 2: He sure has got a nice contract extension this offseason
Speaker 2: for the for the Parkers.
Speaker 3: Even though their first pick, Okay, even though their first
Speaker 3: pick was a tight end.
Speaker 2: Right, He's one of those guys that I always come out, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: Anderson not recruiting, but we won't go down that run, right,
Speaker 2: We've traveled that path before. Number nine A. J. Barner
Speaker 2: of the Seahawks. Number ten, Kyle Pitts of the Falcons.
Speaker 2: Still at number eleven, Travis Kelcey of the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: I mean, he definitely has that old man game of
Speaker 3: finding the soft spots and zones and things of that nature.
Speaker 3: Red zone, you know, when you need a big catch
Speaker 3: on third and eight, I think he's gonna get still
Speaker 3: those targets. He's never a great blocker, he doesn't move
Speaker 3: like he once did. I mean, the big play threats
Speaker 3: not really there. Barner is a perfect example of what
Speaker 3: we said though to start the show. He won't be
Speaker 3: in any fantasy leagues. He might be by week five
Speaker 3: you pick him up, but he never leaves the field.
Speaker 3: He allows everybody else on offense to do so much more.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's kind because he's a hammer, is a blocker,
Speaker 3: and he really has no discernible weaknesses as a receiver.
Speaker 3: If you've this position as many as any is your
Speaker 3: your weaknesses are almost as important as your straints.
Speaker 2: You know, and your usage and the yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, you're just telling the defense too much. If
Speaker 3: John who's out there versus Darnel being out there? You
Speaker 3: know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Sure, it's like the you always mentioned when dree Archer
Speaker 2: came onto the field. Uh the yeah. What he says
Speaker 2: about AJ Barner is basically outside of the premier guys
Speaker 2: at this position. Barner is everything that you envision in
Speaker 2: a tight end. Can I run my entire offense without
Speaker 2: taking him off the field? Yes? Is he an asset
Speaker 2: in every situation scheme and personnel grouping yes? Can he
Speaker 2: move people at the point of attack yes? Can you
Speaker 2: get out in space and be effective yes? This will be.
Speaker 3: Those are great question to ask for this position. If
Speaker 3: you can check those boxes for true yes for all
Speaker 3: of them, that's a lot of value.
Speaker 2: He's one of the better all aroun round options in
Speaker 2: the NFL. According to John Ledgard, so Kelsey was at eleven.
Speaker 2: We're still in tier three here, another guy coming off
Speaker 2: his rookie year. A lot of young guys on this list.
Speaker 2: Harold Fannon of the Browns checks in at number twelve.
Speaker 3: He's a weird evaluation.
Speaker 2: He is because he had a really good rookie season,
Speaker 2: great numbers. They schemed up a ton around him, and
Speaker 2: they did didn't have much else going.
Speaker 3: That's the thing is, they didn't have anybody else to
Speaker 3: still like the worst offense in the league. They didn't
Speaker 3: have anyone else to really get the football. I think
Speaker 3: he's going to have a good career and better than
Speaker 3: I thought coming out of school. He kind of runs funny,
Speaker 3: and you know, he's not a normal prototypical tight end
Speaker 3: prospect coming out of school. But he's better than I thought.
Speaker 3: I also think if I was if I had that stock,
Speaker 3: I might sell it now. You know. While it's a
Speaker 3: little high.
Speaker 2: Thirteen. Colby Parkinson of the Rams.
Speaker 3: That's a name that might chalk people with Barner. That's
Speaker 3: hot for all like the same reason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, fourteen of this parish, Darnell Washington of the Pittsburgh at.
Speaker 3: A friar movie, which I said.
Speaker 2: In Tier three, god bless you, Matt Williamson. And then
Speaker 2: number fifteen and overall in closing down Tier three here
Speaker 2: Kate Aughten of the Bucks. So Darnell in the top
Speaker 2: fifteen in tier three.
Speaker 3: And John coincidentally or not does a lot of work
Speaker 3: with the Steelers and the Bucks in particular. He's covered
Speaker 3: both teams to some regard, and I don't think he
Speaker 3: misses a snap for either team. But he's doubt in
Speaker 3: for the entire league. But Auten's another perfect example. It's
Speaker 3: like he may not have a great strength, but I
Speaker 3: can leave him out there for all things, and he
Speaker 3: can do all things well. Darnell's a weird one, I mean,
Speaker 3: just because nobody looks like him on this yes, yeah, right,
Speaker 3: and no one wants to tangle with that guy.
Speaker 2: Darnell looks like some of those warriors in the Odyssey
Speaker 2: that they found on the one item that are like
Speaker 2: seven foot tall and tower over everybody. Here's the rite
Speaker 2: up for Darnell Washington from John Ledgard quote. Washington is
Speaker 2: operated in one of the worst passing attacks in the
Speaker 2: NFL during his career, which is hindered production. As his
Speaker 2: coaches start to understand his robust skill set. Impressive statistical
Speaker 2: outputs have followed at least on a per catch and
Speaker 2: per route basis. Yeah, last year, you know.
Speaker 3: He's not gonna catch ady balls, right, Yeah?
Speaker 2: Last year, Washington was ninth amongst tight ends in yards
Speaker 2: per route run. He broke twelve tackles, he averaged almost
Speaker 2: seven and a half yards after the catch, and is
Speaker 2: one of the best blocking tight ends in the league.
Speaker 3: Real quick. It's interesting that he's that high in what's
Speaker 3: it yards per route run that he says yes because
Speaker 3: his average depth of routes are not far downfield.
Speaker 2: Yards after catching, yards after contact.
Speaker 3: Throw a safety in the ground and keep running.
Speaker 2: You know, he would be a valuable asset for all
Speaker 2: thirty two teams and is the epitome of the type
Speaker 2: of player teams are targeting earlier than fans expected in
Speaker 2: this pass draft.
Speaker 3: Exactly, I mean that these teams that took a blocking
Speaker 3: tight end. So I even said this on draft day.
Speaker 3: If Darnell would have came out in this class. He
Speaker 3: goes at least around earlier. Yeah, top fifty for sure,
Speaker 3: and he came out in a really good tight end
Speaker 3: class too. But I mean, he's exactly what teams are
Speaker 3: looking for.
Speaker 2: Into Tier four here. Number sixteen overall is Juwan Johnson
Speaker 2: of the Saints. Number seventeen Pat Fryarmuth of the Steelers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I thought his write up was interesting too,
Speaker 3: And frankly, I mean you can read it, but he
Speaker 3: blames coaching more than he blames friar Mouth for the inconsistent.
Speaker 2: Kind of similar to Washington.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the best well designed, you know, passing game right
Speaker 2: throughout these last couple of years.
Speaker 3: And we've said all along, there's been many Mondays that
Speaker 3: we've gotten together during the season. The last two years
Speaker 3: were like, hey, you gotta get the ball right right
Speaker 3: unless they play the Bengals.
Speaker 2: He says, this is a big year for friar Mooth.
Speaker 2: At some point, you have to produce at an above
Speaker 2: average level. He hasn't done that in a volume since
Speaker 2: over the last three years. Given that he is an
Speaker 2: average rum blocker who's at his best playing next to
Speaker 2: a true inline tight end. Fire Mouth needs to prove
Speaker 2: he can be a true difference maker in the passing
Speaker 2: game to stay highly ranked.
Speaker 3: So I've often quoted the football Siders FTN metrics and things,
Speaker 3: and they put something out recently about receivers lining in
Speaker 3: the slot versus wide. Friar Mouth was really like the
Speaker 3: best tight end in the league when aligned in the slot,
Speaker 3: and I really think this staff is going to do
Speaker 3: a lot of that. I think Darnell's going to line
Speaker 3: up next to a tackle. I think friar moof is
Speaker 3: going to be detached, and I think you're gonna see
Speaker 3: Pittman and Metcalf on the outside, which is enormous first
Speaker 3: of all, but I also think it is another thing
Speaker 3: we'll have a much better clue on a week from now.
Speaker 3: McCarthy has been such a heavy eleven guy. But if
Speaker 3: it means taken in Washington or Friarmuth off the field
Speaker 3: for Bernard, I don't know that I'm into that, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean because he's also used like Finley and Ferguson
Speaker 3: with the Cowboys in a very friar Mooth like manner.
Speaker 2: That's one of I think the real X factors for
Speaker 2: this offseason. Yeah, number eighteen from across the Commonwealth. It's
Speaker 2: Dallas Goddard of the Eagles.
Speaker 3: He's declining a little bit, but right right.
Speaker 2: Speaking of across the Commonwealth, that was the big sports
Speaker 2: story that we missed all Lebron James in the state
Speaker 2: of part Oh. Wow, did you see the news today?
Speaker 2: He's going to commute from New York City. No, that's
Speaker 2: kind of that seems a little wild, doesn't it.
Speaker 3: I asson, Let's have a driver take him back and forth.
Speaker 3: I was not going to a train.
Speaker 2: I was thinking like helicopter, something like that. Number eighteen,
Speaker 2: Dallas Goddard of the Iggles, nineteen, Cole Comet of the Bears,
Speaker 2: and the name you just mentioned at number twenty, Jake
Speaker 2: Ferguson of the Cowboys.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And guys like Comet and Ferguson and Schultz who
Speaker 3: will get to aren't flashy. You know, you hope Friar
Speaker 3: moves above them in terms of after the catch separation speed.
Speaker 3: But they also don't have glaring holes either. The guys
Speaker 3: I just mentioned, like, they're all good enough at everything.
Speaker 3: You know, you'd like the upgrade, but you can still
Speaker 3: run your offense and answer a lot of those questions
Speaker 3: he put out before.
Speaker 2: So Comet at nineteen, Ferguson at twenty, Dalton Schultz at
Speaker 2: twenty one, hm Theo Johnson of the Giants at twenty two.
Speaker 3: He's one of my faves because he was really really
Speaker 3: raw coming out of Penn State. He's got some darnell
Speaker 3: to him in terms of just gigantic hans long arms.
Speaker 3: I think he was like two seventy at his combine.
Speaker 2: Eighty one inch wingspan.
Speaker 3: Wow, and you know, now Harbaugh's getting a hold of
Speaker 3: them and matching him up with like Ricard and some
Speaker 3: of the Ravens like stuff they do. He could be
Speaker 3: a breakout guy. Again, don't draft him a blessy. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's not gonna catch sixty balls, but he could be
Speaker 3: a breakout guy.
Speaker 2: Twenty three, Dalton Kincaid. So we get Dalton Schultz at
Speaker 2: twenty one, Dalton Kincaid at twenty three, Terrence Ferguson of
Speaker 2: the Rams at twenty four, and then remember this was
Speaker 2: a top twenty five list. So rounding out the list,
Speaker 2: Hunter Henry of the New England Patriots.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Ferguson after one year flashed a lot, but he's
Speaker 3: also not the he's like the Steelers or Rams have
Speaker 3: two guys on the list, and then he also has
Speaker 3: just missed or yes there's guys like Mark Andrews. It
Speaker 3: probably should be on the list, but he didn't know
Speaker 3: what to do with them at their age or whatever.
Speaker 2: You know, So honorable mention is Gadson of the Chargers
Speaker 2: who you talk about just missed the cut, Tyler Higbee,
Speaker 2: Isaiah Likely and go conk Will and then clouded by
Speaker 2: questions over injury and age. TJ. Hockettson, Mark Andrews and
Speaker 2: David and Joku.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that that last trio to me or I wouldn't
Speaker 3: know where to rank them, Like there's a good chance
Speaker 3: all three of them are better than Jake Ferguson, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean. They've had better careers. They're accomplished,
Speaker 3: but they have they'ret the crossroads of their career and
Speaker 3: at their ages. Usually it goes the wrong way. However,
Speaker 3: tight ends fade away slow. You know, we talked about
Speaker 3: this a lot. I mean, I think it's changed, but
Speaker 3: I've referenced in a million times sitting down with Vance
Speaker 3: McDonald and saying, you know, Vance, hey, you're twenty seven
Speaker 3: years old. By the way, friar Mith twenty seven years old.
Speaker 3: Does it make sense to you that that's when tight
Speaker 3: ends hit their peak, which is much later than running
Speaker 3: backs and wide receivers. He's like, absolutely, absolutely, Now, I
Speaker 3: bet that number is lower than that now. But the
Speaker 3: other thing is Kelsey Gonzalez, all these dudes, they fade
Speaker 3: away slow. He's Miller Witten, you know. I mean, his
Speaker 3: guys are smart and old, Manta why you.
Speaker 2: Know, even Gronk right with him coming out of retirement
Speaker 2: and still being one of the best tight ends in
Speaker 2: the National Football League down in Tampa. So there's your
Speaker 2: tight ends rankings and tears from John Ledgard. As we
Speaker 2: kind of get to uh, we'll still do some list
Speaker 2: stuff during training camp os.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're there.
Speaker 2: We got to take a look at some of those
Speaker 2: Jeremy Fowler lists, catch up on some of those two. Definitely,
Speaker 2: hopefully we'll have Jeremy on that. That was one thing
Speaker 2: that I was thinking about the difference to in the past.
Speaker 2: Matt and I were always on from two. We'll be
Speaker 2: on from three to six, by the way, this year.
Speaker 3: Mat, yeah, yeah, we always bring it. Bring it on home.
Speaker 2: It'll be nine to six live on SNR every single day,
Speaker 2: so nine hours of coverage every day. It'll start with
Speaker 2: Bob Labriola and Tom op from end of the mornings nice,
Speaker 2: and it'll end with you and I from three to
Speaker 2: six in the afternoon slash early evening. There we'll miss
Speaker 2: having practice going on while we're there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was fun and nice.
Speaker 2: Kind of low hanging fruit A lot of times think
Speaker 2: about this though. The good part is it was always
Speaker 2: near impossible for you and I to get guests.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I guess that's because practice.
Speaker 2: Was going on, and then all those journalists had to
Speaker 2: file their stories to do their Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And now with practice probably being over two hours before
Speaker 2: we go on air, I'm at least optimistic we'll be
Speaker 2: able to nab us guests this training.
Speaker 3: Case before you go to dinner.
Speaker 2: I'm hoping that'll be the case. Is we kind of
Speaker 2: wait and.
Speaker 3: Again, just like we started the show, it's going to
Speaker 3: be a little different.
Speaker 2: A little bit different, a little bit different, little differences.
Speaker 2: We will close down the first hour of this program
Speaker 2: when we return, Yuller and Williamson. It's the Drive Steelers
Speaker 2: Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 8: I used to have cable Internet, but I'm a one
Speaker 8: hundred percent kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon FiOS.
Speaker 8: It's one hundred percent fiber internet that's super reliable. So
Speaker 8: I streamed one hundred percent of the NFL Draft live
Speaker 8: with the ultra low lag and after what went down
Speaker 8: in the first round, still getting video calls from my
Speaker 8: best friend rubbing it in that he called all the picks.
Speaker 4: I told you they were building their own line. I
Speaker 4: went to bet good.
Speaker 6: One hundred percent fiber Internet with Verizon FiOS because when
Speaker 6: it comes to your team, it's one hundred percent or nothing.
Speaker 6: Called one of three three for Verizon to switch today can.
Speaker 4: Get that hot dog costume ready, Bruh your tunes.
Speaker 1: About drive on your twenty four to seven home of
Speaker 1: the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: A few minutes here for our final segment of this
Speaker 2: first hour and hour number two, we'll get to more
Speaker 2: of your tweets and some some more large at NFL
Speaker 2: at Large conversation as we get ready for a big
Speaker 2: week across the league. Matt uh still get in the tweets,
Speaker 2: not you know, not quite as crazy over the last
Speaker 2: two weeks.
Speaker 3: We didn't know when they get read right, but I.
Speaker 2: Love it and I did want to make sure people
Speaker 2: know once we get in season, once we get to September,
Speaker 2: we won't be doing Twitter segments every single day. They'll
Speaker 2: just be too much to get to.
Speaker 3: We'll still we'll still get to them, and.
Speaker 2: We still obviously want you guys to tweet us. And
Speaker 2: there'll be times where we're in the middle of a
Speaker 2: topic and we reference a tweet or something. You know,
Speaker 2: someone makes a good point or someone asks an interesting angle.
Speaker 2: But throughout training camp and especially with the bonus third
Speaker 2: hour of the shows that we're gonna have for the
Speaker 2: next few weeks, keep those tweets rolling in baby.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, get get back on top of that, because
Speaker 3: we'll get We'll be doing them like crazy from camp,
Speaker 3: especially with that extra hour. Yep. And you know how
Speaker 3: I always say, you know, pull the curtain back, you know,
Speaker 3: like we just had this quick conversation. We just had
Speaker 3: two pretty long segments. Well this one therefore has to
Speaker 3: be short, you know. So they're like, well, it's a
Speaker 3: good time to do five minutes. Ord of the tweets,
Speaker 3: we still might do those during the season, you know,
Speaker 3: like we got a segment here to kill. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 3: keep them coming, right.
Speaker 2: Steelers play on a Monday or a Thursday or yeah
Speaker 2: week and so the schedules a little different, but yeah,
Speaker 2: keep those tweets rolling in all the time, but especially here,
Speaker 2: still over over the next month plus till we get
Speaker 2: to the regular season and things really start flying. This
Speaker 2: one from Sudesh caught my eye. Matt. He says, as
Speaker 2: we approach training camp, can we get one story about
Speaker 2: Tounch and Wolf? So I was thinking about this. Here's
Speaker 2: a good one for you. Yeah, We've shared a lot
Speaker 2: of great stories, but I don't know if I've ever
Speaker 2: told this one. My very first twenty eighteen was my
Speaker 2: first training camp. I did a little bit of on
Speaker 2: air stuff, but I was mostly just behind the scenes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, see your feet wet right setting up.
Speaker 2: The stuff, you know. I'd start every morning, I think
Speaker 2: it was eight am or nine am with Tounch and
Speaker 2: and and Wolf that would roll into you and Dale
Speaker 2: and then I think Crowley did you know, like his
Speaker 2: own show.
Speaker 3: I am trying to, like I remember what the lineup
Speaker 3: was like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, from from like nine to five, I'd
Speaker 2: be engineering on campus and then we'd all go to
Speaker 2: Sharky's or Dino's or wherever we were doing the night
Speaker 2: shows and have a couple of night shows as well.
Speaker 2: I'll never forget one of those. It's one of my
Speaker 2: first days. So I'm nervous. I'm like, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: on edge with everything the job and Tounch and Wolf
Speaker 2: did a three hour show and during training camp only
Speaker 2: they did a three hour show kind of like us,
Speaker 2: and their last hour of the show would always be
Speaker 2: phone calls because those two, those two would get out
Speaker 2: would get a million phone calls.
Speaker 3: And phone calls are more they're up their alley than tweets.
Speaker 2: Yes, they probably don't even know what tweets were back
Speaker 2: in twenty eighteen, and I'll never forget. It was one
Speaker 2: of my first days. And they're in the middle of
Speaker 2: taking calls, and I'm kind of like I would kind
Speaker 2: of sit between the two, like they would sit on
Speaker 2: the ends of the table and look at each other,
Speaker 2: and I'd kind of be in between, and that way
Speaker 2: I could work the headsets and if they had guests
Speaker 2: sit down that whole thing. They're in the middle of
Speaker 2: taking calls, taking calls, taking calls, and I look over
Speaker 2: and Touch is passed out of sleep. I mean he's
Speaker 2: like leaned back in his chair. Early morning eight am
Speaker 2: show or whatever it was. Uh, coffee is probably wearing
Speaker 2: off at that time, right, yeah, no, d no video
Speaker 2: point nothing. We're also not in the press box at
Speaker 2: this point either.
Speaker 3: We're outside, so press box is air conditioned by the
Speaker 3: way hot.
Speaker 2: And Touch almost like he's like sitting on the beach
Speaker 2: or sitting by the pool. Like he's like leaned back
Speaker 2: in his chair. He's got his hands behind his head,
Speaker 2: his headset on, and his mouth is just gaping open,
Speaker 2: and he's asleep. And he's asleep, and I notice it,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I like, if I if I tap
Speaker 2: him on the shoulders. He gonna get pissed off.
Speaker 3: It was a year later.
Speaker 2: How are you doing?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: So I look at so my first thought is just
Speaker 2: like I just I don't I just want to make
Speaker 2: sure Wolf realizes this, you know, because maybe like Wolf
Speaker 2: can go to break or whatever, you know, like maybe
Speaker 2: he joke about at her handle the phone calls, and
Speaker 2: so Tounch is like leaned back, eyes slumped. He's just out,
Speaker 2: mouth open, and Wolf is like into whatever the person
Speaker 2: was asking on the phone, not paying attention. So I
Speaker 2: kind of like, you know, like I can't remember if
Speaker 2: I wave or like tap him on the shoulder, and
Speaker 2: I kind of like point to touch and Wolf just beam.
Speaker 2: I mean, he just gets this massive bread across his
Speaker 2: face and gives me the like one minute, just wait,
Speaker 2: one minute, one minute. Whoever the guy or girl asking
Speaker 2: the question on the phone finishes up, and Wolf goes,
Speaker 2: I don't know, that's a great question.
Speaker 3: What do you think?
Speaker 4: Touch? Touch?
Speaker 3: You know, like out of his chairs, like we didn't cover.
Speaker 2: At all, totally threw him under the bus. And I
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, touch, what do you think about that?
Speaker 3: We talked a great detail about You've been listening, what
Speaker 3: do you think.
Speaker 2: It's like Touch is like, I don't know, Wolf, you
Speaker 2: go first, Wolf's like, no, I really want to hear
Speaker 2: what you have to think about. Totally threw him under
Speaker 2: the bus. So that one, that one I don't think
Speaker 2: I've ever told that on That was just like my
Speaker 2: third or fourth day and exactly what you should watch this.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna put them.
Speaker 2: On the spot. And then we laughed about it for
Speaker 2: the rest of camp, like every time.
Speaker 3: It's funny. If you told me that story, I would
Speaker 3: have thought it was the other way around.
Speaker 2: Totally right, right, But like all throughout the rest of camp,
Speaker 2: anytime Jim Wexel would come sit down with them and
Speaker 2: do a segment, or Jerry Doulac would come sit down
Speaker 2: with them do a segment, Wolf would be like, now, Touch,
Speaker 2: make sure you don't fall asleep on our guests here.
Speaker 2: Like the next three weeks, it was so good.
Speaker 3: That's so good.
Speaker 2: Miss those guys, certainly, and it's gonna be listen, come
Speaker 2: up a lot these next I was just gonna say,
Speaker 2: not just because the new coaching staff for the first
Speaker 2: time in nineteen years, but no Touch, no Wolf, no Dale.
Speaker 2: I don't mean the first time without any of those
Speaker 2: three guys, their their names will will come up a lot,
Speaker 2: and we'll be doing stories and remembering them fondly. Hour
Speaker 2: in the books, Another hour to go. Wesh Uler, Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2: It's the Drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.