Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast. He's enriching themselves in bath sults.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan hans As. I come to you
Speaker 1: from a virtual room filled with some heras Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosal what's up? Voice A nah, Hey, Greg? And
Speaker 1: I still have not figured out, um the machinations of
Speaker 1: how to open the show off your intro minus West.
Speaker 1: I mean I just lean on Greg to say something
Speaker 1: at this point, I said, yeah, I mean I could
Speaker 1: talk about your beautiful Christmas present. You're wearing Mark a
Speaker 1: nice Star Trek Star Wars shirt. WHOA, I am getting
Speaker 1: in trouble there. It's okay. You were the one who
Speaker 1: it's a millennium Falcon shirt. Um got it from the family,
Speaker 1: and you were the one that famously claimed to not
Speaker 1: know what the millennium Falcon was when I had in
Speaker 1: previous Millennium Falcon shirt show. I don't, I mean, you
Speaker 1: got as close as I could expect right there, and
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't like to like come after you
Speaker 1: with this stuff, Mark, because it's not your fault that
Speaker 1: it's such a saturated cultural force, but like, is there
Speaker 1: a separate type of Twitter where you guys could talk
Speaker 1: about the Mandalarian, because I don't think I've tweeted about
Speaker 1: that once, so I don't know if that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It's like, it's like Parlor. You guys know about Parlor
Speaker 1: the new Uh social media would be like that, but
Speaker 1: for people to talk about the Mandalorian and really any
Speaker 1: Star Wars stuff, right, it's like, look, um, and I
Speaker 1: saw your baby, Now let's talk about it now. I
Speaker 1: saw your comment that you, um, you jumped out of
Speaker 1: Star Wars after seeing only the Phantom Menace. Can I
Speaker 1: just let you know that, like, if that was all
Speaker 1: that I saw, I would never watch another minute of it.
Speaker 1: That was not only the most disappointing film from that franchise,
Speaker 1: I think it is one of the most disappointing films
Speaker 1: ever made Top five. So you know, if I ever
Speaker 1: get the invite to your new house and I understand
Speaker 1: there's some pandemic issues going on right now, I have
Speaker 1: on more than one occasion, uh laid out the situation
Speaker 1: if it interests you. And I said this to Jason
Speaker 1: Zumalta as well, a Star Wars nerd in his own right,
Speaker 1: I would definitely sit down and watch, uh these other
Speaker 1: star wars that you guys are so fond of, because
Speaker 1: I haven't seen them. And I do have as someone
Speaker 1: that likes to consider myself somewhat plugged in on pop culture,
Speaker 1: although it's starting to fade as I get older. I
Speaker 1: want to have these contexts and these context touchstones, and
Speaker 1: I've been making an effort of it recently. If you
Speaker 1: follow me on social media, I somehow had missed die Hard.
Speaker 1: I checked I checked out Planes, Trains and Automobiles, one
Speaker 1: of the big comedy hits of the late eighties. I
Speaker 1: have some blind spots in the film world, strangely, I
Speaker 1: don't know why, just the way it was when I
Speaker 1: was a kid, and I'm trying to fill in those gaps.
Speaker 1: But sci fi in general has always been something that
Speaker 1: I've not been into, and that's, I think, more than
Speaker 1: any other reason why I haven't got into your realm. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't like this on ride there outside of those films,
Speaker 1: and I saw them when I was a child. I
Speaker 1: think if I saw if all this bum rush of
Speaker 1: content came at me now, I'd ignore it. So I
Speaker 1: get where you're where you're coming from. You're working very
Speaker 1: hard to work on these blind spots. We're talking about
Speaker 1: Star Wars again on this show, Um and other Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler news that came down Officially, Mason Rudolph will start
Speaker 1: at quarterback for Pittsburgh in Week seventeen against the Browns.
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin opts to sit many of his key starters.
Speaker 1: It looks like they're they're not locked into their spot
Speaker 1: in the on the postseason, but they can't get the bye,
Speaker 1: and after a long season without a without having a
Speaker 1: natural bye week, they're going to use this for their
Speaker 1: key guys. Can't blame Tomlin will get into really the
Speaker 1: flip side of that argument maybe a little bit later
Speaker 1: on the Thursday show when we preview all the week seventeen.
Speaker 1: But I just want to check it. Check the temperature
Speaker 1: of Sessler obviously, uh bitterly disappointing the loss of the
Speaker 1: Jets on Sunday. How are you nervous that Mason Rudolph
Speaker 1: is the picture here right now with the season on
Speaker 1: the line, potentially? Of course? I mean, where's your pea
Speaker 1: scale let? It's totally dry, ten soaked, gotta run home
Speaker 1: to mommy, soaked, running home to mommy. I mean I
Speaker 1: I I there's nothing about any of this that makes
Speaker 1: me confident, and I don't want to hear about numbers
Speaker 1: and stats and analytics. This is no different than UM
Speaker 1: coming into this year, a team like Buffalo figuring out
Speaker 1: how can they could possibly um slay the ghosts of
Speaker 1: New England. I mean, if you go over to the
Speaker 1: a f C North, there are a lot of parallels here,
Speaker 1: and I don't care. It's like Big Ben has been
Speaker 1: lighting the world on fire. And part of me would
Speaker 1: rather actually um, as a Browns fan, face their entire
Speaker 1: starting lineup and get into the playoffs because you earned it. Um.
Speaker 1: I think that this is a team that's still doubted
Speaker 1: by plenty of people, and like people have already forgot
Speaker 1: the circumstances around the Jets game. Now it's just the
Speaker 1: Brown's loss to the Jets, which is utter madness. UM.
Speaker 1: I'm not listening to a word of that. But pea
Speaker 1: scale raging, pea scale raging. Um, I there's no reason
Speaker 1: to be comfortable. I do think they'll be prepared, but
Speaker 1: I don't. I'm not comfortable. Mason Rudolph's peace scale should
Speaker 1: be raging. With Myles Garrett coming off a nice game
Speaker 1: coming around the corner. That's all nice, Mark, I I
Speaker 1: I would feel the same way that like, it feels
Speaker 1: weird to go against their backups, and it would be
Speaker 1: especially heartbreaking if they lose the Steelers backups, which is
Speaker 1: certainly possible. That said, I like your chance is much
Speaker 1: better with Mason Rudolph out there. So ultimately, if I
Speaker 1: were you, I think that's a good thing, right, And
Speaker 1: that's yeah, it's just the just the teaser will check
Speaker 1: in on the peace scale on Thursday. Maybe we'll be
Speaker 1: a little better off, but I kind of doubt it.
Speaker 1: We have a big show today. Uh, we will have
Speaker 1: the great Peter Schrager joining us with black Mondays. That's
Speaker 1: known in the NFL. Coming up. That is the day
Speaker 1: after the regular season when the axe falls on head coaches,
Speaker 1: and we could, you know, we could try to U
Speaker 1: sing Dixie and and pretend like something bad is not
Speaker 1: going to happen on Monday, but coaches will lose their jobs.
Speaker 1: Entire staffs will be scattered to the wind. It happens
Speaker 1: every year. We talked about it a few weeks back
Speaker 1: when I did the Hot Bunt Hot but tiers. Uh.
Speaker 1: There's usually about five to eight openings right now we
Speaker 1: have three officially, and there will be more to come.
Speaker 1: So Pete, who's plugged in as anybody, is going to
Speaker 1: talk to us about what he's hearing, both, who could
Speaker 1: be going, who could be coming, Hot names on the market,
Speaker 1: all that good stuff. UH looking at as a primer
Speaker 1: for Black Monday. UM. Also, I like this one. This
Speaker 1: one has been percolating for a few weeks. I kind
Speaker 1: of had to like draw it at a Rosenthal because
Speaker 1: I think I think he worries about you know what
Speaker 1: happened with the previous play by play guy for Monday
Speaker 1: Night Football and in a certain attack that went down
Speaker 1: at a coach's breakfast. Uh the play by play power
Speaker 1: rankings going through uh Greg's interpretation of the best to
Speaker 1: the worst or the worst to the best play by
Speaker 1: play guys. And you know, Cessler gonna throw Sessler. He's
Speaker 1: in the dog pound, throw him a bone too. Mark
Speaker 1: is gonna give us his own interpretation, UH color guys,
Speaker 1: top ten, whatever Mark came up with, and I will
Speaker 1: just be here to enjoy it all. But before any
Speaker 1: of that, we wrap up Week sixteen with a glorious
Speaker 1: edition of Monday Night Football. Alan he does, he throws
Speaker 1: able to complete its ticks and tell like it's time.
Speaker 1: Takes is looking back, touched down and he stumbles into
Speaker 1: the end zone. It's a fifty yard pass play from
Speaker 1: Josh Allen for the Buffalo Bills. Oh my goodness, Steffa,
Speaker 1: and nobody cares about your fantasy team. But I will
Speaker 1: tell a real quick story here. Forty point lead last
Speaker 1: night I had in my championship league. My opponent has
Speaker 1: Stefon Diggs. He gets thirty nine points before they sit
Speaker 1: in to the balance of the fourth quarter. As close
Speaker 1: as you can come to one of the great Monday
Speaker 1: night collapses in a fantasy championship. Thank you, Sean McDermott,
Speaker 1: you are a special man. Stefan Diggs three touchdowns, Josh
Speaker 1: Allen four touchdown throws again, the Bills raging out of
Speaker 1: control thirty eight to nine over the Patriots in Foxboro.
Speaker 1: In Foxboro, it is the changing of the guard. There's
Speaker 1: no question anymore, Greg Rose at all, not that there
Speaker 1: was entering this game, but it did feel like a coronation.
Speaker 1: The Patriots now a losing record for the first time
Speaker 1: in twenty years, first time they get swept by a
Speaker 1: division opponent in twenty years. It's all the new world
Speaker 1: now and one that Pats fans like you are not
Speaker 1: too familiar with. No, it's it's reminiscent of the early
Speaker 1: nineties or late late eighties, because that was when the
Speaker 1: Bills were great too. Uh, you know, once you got
Speaker 1: into the nineties. This offense and Josh Allen, you can't
Speaker 1: say enough that right now they're playing better than any
Speaker 1: team in the NFL. I don't. I don't think that's
Speaker 1: I mean, it's almost too obvious to say in terms
Speaker 1: of consistently doing it week to week that Josh Allen
Speaker 1: has had a better December I would say than Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. Now that's just December. Alan had
Speaker 1: I think too many off weeks in the middle of
Speaker 1: the season to be uh the m v P. But
Speaker 1: he would be my QB three for the year after
Speaker 1: those two, which is amazing. And some of the throws
Speaker 1: that he makes where he has to place the ball
Speaker 1: above the linebacker but in front of the safety or
Speaker 1: cornerback are just amazing. UM to see him with that
Speaker 1: sort of touch and accuracy while he also is using
Speaker 1: his arm strength on those throats. The reason Dig said
Speaker 1: such a big day. Partly was because he's not gonna
Speaker 1: get a man coverage many weeks, but this this time
Speaker 1: he did against j. C. Jackson, who's, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the best cornerbacks in league. But there's no one
Speaker 1: that can cover a perfect throw from Josh Allen and
Speaker 1: a perfect you know route from Diggs and then you
Speaker 1: I'm buying that with a defense in Buffalo that is
Speaker 1: six in d v o A since Week eight. So
Speaker 1: that is the biggest change, and it's why they should
Speaker 1: be viewed as, you know, the top Super Bowl contender
Speaker 1: behind the Chiefs. And if they were in the NFC,
Speaker 1: I might say they're the favorites in the NFC. That's
Speaker 1: how good they are. I'm with you, I think they
Speaker 1: could beat the Chiefs. Um, I really I don't think that.
Speaker 1: I think that feels like an obvious thing to say
Speaker 1: that that that there, it would be a great game.
Speaker 1: I mean, Alan his fourth appearance with three plus yards,
Speaker 1: four plus touchdown passes and a skyrocketing passer rating. Only
Speaker 1: Tom Brady has done that since nineteen fifty back in
Speaker 1: two thousand seven in a single season. So I mean,
Speaker 1: it's real, Um, this team is real, that there's something
Speaker 1: beyond the game itself, because the game was largely non competitive. Um,
Speaker 1: the Patriots ended the game was six punts. I mean
Speaker 1: they were they were a fizzled mess, and it to
Speaker 1: me was kind of like, and I'm not equating it historically,
Speaker 1: but from a football angle, like watching the Berlin Wall
Speaker 1: come down. Um, back when I was in middle school
Speaker 1: and not quite knowing what that was, and a younger fan,
Speaker 1: UM might say, well, what's the big deal? The Bills
Speaker 1: are great, but it's been so long and the Patriots
Speaker 1: have been in their way for so for the entire century.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is changing the face of the NFL
Speaker 1: right now. Um, they were terrible house guests. I thought you.
Speaker 1: I was great to hear Jerry Hughes say, I've never
Speaker 1: had this feeling at Foxboro. Sean McDermott is the only
Speaker 1: Bills coach since two thousand who has not only beaten
Speaker 1: the Patriots twice in one season, but twice at all
Speaker 1: in in his coaching running Buffalo. It's been that dominant.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just incredible what Bills fans have gone
Speaker 1: through against this team. And Dan, you know it well
Speaker 1: as a Jets fan. There's gonna come a day when
Speaker 1: they drop a bomb on this team too, and it's
Speaker 1: just we're watching the a f C change before our eyes.
Speaker 1: It's been happening all year, and last night was a
Speaker 1: beautiful exclamation point. Yeah, I thought. You know, as a
Speaker 1: Jets fan, I've said on this podcast, my favorite victory
Speaker 1: really and maybe any sport, but certainly NFL is when
Speaker 1: the Jets knocked off the Patriots in the two thousand
Speaker 1: ten playoffs in Foxboro. And it wasn't just because it
Speaker 1: got them to they AFC title game and and and
Speaker 1: all that. It was because it was in Foxborough, was
Speaker 1: against Brady, it was against Belichick, and it was just
Speaker 1: that's become a house of horrors for all a f
Speaker 1: C East teams and really the a f C in
Speaker 1: general for twenty years. So to see this new reality
Speaker 1: that we're living in, um, if you have been following
Speaker 1: the sport for decades, it is striking. Even though none
Speaker 1: of this is surprising, because we knew entering the season
Speaker 1: that the Patriots were no longer an elite team. They
Speaker 1: just didn't have the parts and maybe they will after
Speaker 1: whatever they do, whether it's a reload or rebuild, but
Speaker 1: in the here and now, they are not a very
Speaker 1: good team and the Bills. I mean it's talked about
Speaker 1: catching a team at the wrong time. It's the Patriots
Speaker 1: kind of limping to the finish line and the Bills
Speaker 1: just achieving this level right now where you know, if
Speaker 1: they would have left in Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs
Speaker 1: in addition to me losing my fantasy title, that's a
Speaker 1: fifty burger. So Sean McDermand actually showed a restraint, but
Speaker 1: not too much restraint, Greg because even when they were
Speaker 1: in full control of the game, I think thirty one nine,
Speaker 1: he's thrown an eighty yard bomb downfield that doesn't complete.
Speaker 1: There was a sense of not that Sean McDermott has
Speaker 1: bad blood for Belichick in the pages, but this idea
Speaker 1: like this is over, Like this era of New England
Speaker 1: Patriots domination is over. This is the new reality. That
Speaker 1: was a message game. I mean, it's it's been over
Speaker 1: this season. And uh, I think they were just doing
Speaker 1: what the Patriots would have done and have done. And
Speaker 1: I think Belichick totally respects it. He went out of
Speaker 1: his way to and I do I don't think it's performative, um,
Speaker 1: but I think he pulls he picks the spots to
Speaker 1: do it, to have that sort of long hug and
Speaker 1: talk with McDermott right at the end, kind of telling
Speaker 1: telling him how impressed he is in everything, and like
Speaker 1: he gets it. They're thrown deep when they're up fifty
Speaker 1: two to seven on the Titans and the snow like
Speaker 1: you know, back again, you know, years and years ago.
Speaker 1: Like that, that's what they do. I think they know
Speaker 1: they're bad that. The Patriots are a walking example of
Speaker 1: how little the running game matters in the NFL. I
Speaker 1: I always think about that watching their offense. It's like
Speaker 1: everyone who talks about how important the running game is, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: as a compliment, because you know who's great at running
Speaker 1: the ball this year? The Patriots. You know who has
Speaker 1: the third fewest touchdowns this year, The Patriots, Only the
Speaker 1: Jets and the Giants have fewer touchdowns this year than Like,
Speaker 1: the running game just doesn't do that much for you
Speaker 1: if it's this passing game. I mean the running game work,
Speaker 1: That's what I mean. Like it's actually possible they have
Speaker 1: a top five running game to have that good of
Speaker 1: a running game without a passing game, and it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: You're the worst offense in the league despite that, Whereas
Speaker 1: if you like flip it and you have a terrible
Speaker 1: running game like you can in the Patriots, you know
Speaker 1: you can still be great. And their defense is bad
Speaker 1: and and who knows, like they they're gonna be a
Speaker 1: very very different team next year. All these teams are
Speaker 1: and the Bills should get their eating while while it's good,
Speaker 1: but there's no reason to think this Bill's team in
Speaker 1: particular is UH is gonna be going anywhere. And by
Speaker 1: the way, they get to add John Smokey Brown, their
Speaker 1: best deep threat to this offense in the playoffs. It's
Speaker 1: pretty amazing. And if I'm a Browns fan and that's
Speaker 1: the slated matchup right now, that is not who I
Speaker 1: would want to see in the first round or a
Speaker 1: Ravens fan. UH Bills rate like the Bills are the
Speaker 1: team you do not want to be facing if you're
Speaker 1: a wild card in the A. Well, they're not pulling
Speaker 1: a Texans flop this time around. They're not losing whatever
Speaker 1: team they face. And to your point, the Patriots had
Speaker 1: a two passing yard differential last night UM two hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty eight yards differential, the worst in franchise history.
Speaker 1: They can't throw the ball. They're in nept And one
Speaker 1: last little thing. When we sat with Sean McDermott at
Speaker 1: the owner's meeting two years ago, and you know, we
Speaker 1: had a lot of We had a nice time with him,
Speaker 1: and he seemed like a guy we liked. We liked
Speaker 1: him as a good coach. But when we asked him
Speaker 1: about the Patriots and this obstacle in the way, he
Speaker 1: sounded like every other coach. You know, Listen, we get it,
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to. You are thinking, get get, get
Speaker 1: them out of the way, and I and part of
Speaker 1: me is like, cool, I don't. I simply don't believe
Speaker 1: it will happen anytime soon. And it's happened very quickly.
Speaker 1: And it has to do with Tom Brady being out
Speaker 1: of the mix. I get all that, But the Patriots
Speaker 1: have one of the biggest rebuilding jobs to do in
Speaker 1: the league this offseason. It's pretty crazy. I imagine Tom
Speaker 1: Brady is enjoying this as well, not just because, um,
Speaker 1: maybe there's bad blood, although I know Greg you don't
Speaker 1: think there is, but there is this whole chicken in
Speaker 1: the egg thing with Bell Chick and Brady. And this
Speaker 1: does not mean that Belichick is not the greatest coach ever,
Speaker 1: but it does not I'm sure it's a little annoying
Speaker 1: to Belichick. He'd never tell you that Brady is again
Speaker 1: playing great and surging back into the playoffs while the
Speaker 1: Patriots now going to this deep abyss and rebuild in
Speaker 1: the first year that Brady is out of town. I
Speaker 1: think that's been another kind of element of this season
Speaker 1: that's been interesting to watch, Brady continuing to stay at
Speaker 1: that you know, high end level. Well, the Patriots crumble,
Speaker 1: He well, he's not going to be viewing it as
Speaker 1: an abyss. I'm sure that he. They're gonna be planning
Speaker 1: to compete next year, whether they can figure out a
Speaker 1: way to do that, because this is a team that
Speaker 1: I think was lucky to get to six wins seven
Speaker 1: If they can beat the Jets, Jets might be favored
Speaker 1: in that game. At this point, Um, you know they're
Speaker 1: they're gonna be looking to compete right away. But but
Speaker 1: good luck with that. I mean, it's tough. I like
Speaker 1: the moment when Brady Belichick got bad advice from upstairs
Speaker 1: on the Challenge and then of course, uh, ESPN and
Speaker 1: ABC cameras capture him screaming at some poor bastards on
Speaker 1: the phone and slamming it down. And then uh, there
Speaker 1: was a reporter and you could hear in the voice
Speaker 1: a fear to ask the question, but as a reporter,
Speaker 1: you had to do it. Let's listen to Belichick being
Speaker 1: asked about that incident on the sideline. There was a
Speaker 1: shot of you throwing the phone on the sideline challenge Star.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming you didn't see the play before the challenge,
Speaker 1: but uh, what went on on that play? Yeah, but uh,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously he made the couch. It was a
Speaker 1: good coach. Maybe that yeah, you already actually you know
Speaker 1: he comported himself fairly well there Actually, well that's the
Speaker 1: right question at least. Yeah, yeah he did. He asked
Speaker 1: the question and a better loss seven hundred thousand on
Speaker 1: the Patriots last night, went all in on two wagers
Speaker 1: at the MGM. And I just have to ask Greg.
Speaker 1: I know they're your favorite team, but you can't be
Speaker 1: reckless with money like that. You have a family like
Speaker 1: that was just the bad as true. Um, I was
Speaker 1: more confident, I'll just say, and this bill's you know,
Speaker 1: winning this game by a lot than any any pick
Speaker 1: I made all week in game debut. So I will
Speaker 1: tell you I I felt like a bad fan kind
Speaker 1: of rooting um for that to be correct last night. Well,
Speaker 1: it's a better draft pick, and that's a short and
Speaker 1: I would think that there's really no reason for Kim
Speaker 1: New to start Week seventeen. You think it should be
Speaker 1: Jard Stidham against the Jets, But who knows what bellchick.
Speaker 1: You just never know of the decision he's gonna make.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna come from any outside influence. Um. All right,
Speaker 1: So the Bills, by the way, Bills number two in
Speaker 1: the power rankings. I actually gave it a little bit
Speaker 1: of thought, should I could I the Chiefs kind of
Speaker 1: sleepwalking their way to the playoffs. The Bills are just
Speaker 1: not just a good team. This is a great team.
Speaker 1: And when you look at the Bills, the Chiefs, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw the Ravens in there, personally, like those
Speaker 1: three teams all in the playoffs together. You can make
Speaker 1: a case for any of them right now. If you
Speaker 1: ask me, it's gonna be at Ravens. Got a lot
Speaker 1: of holes there. But you're right, the Bills are actually
Speaker 1: ahead of the Chiefs and waited d v O a.
Speaker 1: I think the Saints are too for that, um you know,
Speaker 1: but like waiting at the end of the season a
Speaker 1: little heavier than the very beginning. So I don't think
Speaker 1: it's crazy. I think they're the two best teams in
Speaker 1: the league, the Bills and the Chiefs. I put the
Speaker 1: Ravens right there. If they continue to play this man,
Speaker 1: you guys are buying into the I'm beaten. Some I
Speaker 1: love the Ravens, and many they have. They've had a
Speaker 1: lot of injuries that those guys aren't coming back, That's
Speaker 1: all I'm saying. And they haven't played, that's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1: We will track, and of course it must be said
Speaker 1: that they haven't had a very good performance is the
Speaker 1: last two januaries. We're gonna get to all that. We
Speaker 1: got so much uh coverage of the playoffs coming up,
Speaker 1: both on this podcast and on NFL Network. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be good, all right. That is Monday Night Football. Alright.
Speaker 1: Let's now get to our special guest, and we are
Speaker 1: a big fan of this man. He is the co
Speaker 1: host of Good Morning Football program that I am lucky
Speaker 1: enough to have a weekly guest spot on. He is
Speaker 1: the senior national writer for Fox Sports dot Com and
Speaker 1: g Q and of course the co author of the
Speaker 1: New York Times bestseller out of the Blue? Do you
Speaker 1: not have out of the Blue yet? Let's bring up
Speaker 1: on he is the great Peter Schrager. Well, what's up?
Speaker 1: What is up? Guys? Thanks for having me on. I
Speaker 1: was on over the summer, had a blast of the
Speaker 1: US and who we are to end the season Week seventeen?
Speaker 1: Nothing better? And uh not to take the show by
Speaker 1: storm here, but I gotta tell you Greg Mark Dan
Speaker 1: is great on our show. We have the best time
Speaker 1: with him on the power ranking segment. I think we
Speaker 1: need a Sessler and a Rosenthal segment. If you guys
Speaker 1: are willing to get up so early in the morning
Speaker 1: next season, listen. I mean the answer is yes, I'll
Speaker 1: get up at any time. I don't, I won't go
Speaker 1: to sleep. I want to just do like a dramatic
Speaker 1: reading of Out of the Blue by Victor, you know,
Speaker 1: by you and Victor Cruz. I actually I have it,
Speaker 1: and I have like a little football library, all my
Speaker 1: football books back there. It's back there, and just like
Speaker 1: each each week I read a couple more pages. Great TV.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, just because you have the book.
Speaker 1: It was in the newsroom and you grab it. That
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you get credit for it. You have
Speaker 1: to read it and you know, pay for it. I
Speaker 1: know Pete Traeger from back. It was directly to sent
Speaker 1: directly to my apartment in New York. I remember this,
Speaker 1: this quarantine. There have been some books that I like,
Speaker 1: I really want to read Loan, some Dove like it's
Speaker 1: this long, like I really at some point when I
Speaker 1: read Dune, like the original Dune. Now they're making the
Speaker 1: movie um out of the Blue, though should be number
Speaker 1: one on everyone's list. I think it's exacting. So we're
Speaker 1: having Peen on Comspetes is plugged in as anybody. And
Speaker 1: now as we enter week seventeen, here it's time to
Speaker 1: take close to look at what's happening with these job openings.
Speaker 1: And we have obviously open gigs in Detroit, Atlanta, and Houston,
Speaker 1: and then there are some jobs that should be opening up.
Speaker 1: But let's start. We know what we know with those
Speaker 1: three teams. What are the teams that you feel very
Speaker 1: confident about. We'll be searching for a new coach affected
Speaker 1: Black Monday. I don't I don't like doing this before
Speaker 1: Black Monday, and and black Monday is uh is not
Speaker 1: a great day for a lot of coaches because it's
Speaker 1: not only the coaches, but there's like assistant coaches, and
Speaker 1: these families basically are told you're out of work. Now
Speaker 1: you gotta go hustle scramble for another job. So it's
Speaker 1: I'd never like doing this. And and I think a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, um, I didn't say it on air,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people did. They fired Truck Pogano.
Speaker 1: They said he's gonna be done in Indianapolis, and then
Speaker 1: Pogano one week seventeen kept his job for one more year.
Speaker 1: And here so like, I don't like saying, here's the
Speaker 1: things that here are the three teams we know about.
Speaker 1: And then I would say, with a strong conviction, I
Speaker 1: think the Jets and Jacksonville most likely will be and
Speaker 1: then there's always a wild I don't know on the
Speaker 1: Chargers right now, I really don't know all the charges.
Speaker 1: I think Anthony Lynn has done a lot to help
Speaker 1: his case, and I think, um, they liked the locker room,
Speaker 1: the feeling right there, So I'd rather not go down
Speaker 1: that road. But Atlanta, Houston, Detroit probably, Jacksonville probably the Jets.
Speaker 1: That's what I would say at the moment, and there's
Speaker 1: usually one or two others that wedn't be coming. And again,
Speaker 1: you're right, this is not a celebration. What's gonna happen
Speaker 1: to some of these guys in their staffs. But are
Speaker 1: you saying there's a chance the Gates can hold on
Speaker 1: to his job? Let's say, all right, let's just say
Speaker 1: because the Jets are locked in now number now. You've
Speaker 1: got Dan Panics, got me, they're locked in at number
Speaker 1: two now even if they beat the Patriots. Um and
Speaker 1: normally I was thinking about this last night while the
Speaker 1: Patriots are getting destroyed. Since I'm not getting Trevor Lawrence,
Speaker 1: let's kill the Patriots in week seventeen and go out
Speaker 1: with three straight wins. But that is like, do I
Speaker 1: trust this ownership to not put too much stock into
Speaker 1: a three game winning streak after an oh and thirteen start?
Speaker 1: I don't trust them, Pete. Should I be worried that
Speaker 1: there could be a way that they could sway Adam
Speaker 1: Gaze can sway ownership with a third straight win? I
Speaker 1: would say this. I know the guys in that building
Speaker 1: fairly well. They at no point in this season. We're
Speaker 1: tanking that no point wanted to lose. They've been wanting
Speaker 1: to win every single game. Coaches, players, and I assume
Speaker 1: the owner and of course the general manager Joe Douglas.
Speaker 1: No one ever thought about the draft pick the way
Speaker 1: that you Dan, or some of the other Jets fans,
Speaker 1: or at least the local market that I'm in, we're
Speaker 1: thinking about it. I would say this, Adam Gates can
Speaker 1: finish the season with three wins. I would assume that
Speaker 1: there's going to be a long conversation about his future.
Speaker 1: And I would assume that there might be some decks
Speaker 1: and chairs being removed on the deck. As far as
Speaker 1: the coaching staff goes for the New York Jets, there
Speaker 1: we go. UM, I don't fire anybody. I don't do it.
Speaker 1: It's I hear you and I um, I have a
Speaker 1: few things I wanna ask you about. But you you
Speaker 1: mentioned Lynn, and I read something that made some sense
Speaker 1: to me that one reporticlest the team thought they're gonna
Speaker 1: look for any reason to keep him because they like
Speaker 1: them and because this year was weird, and it's like
Speaker 1: they have Justin Herbert playing so well that there's actually
Speaker 1: kind of a thought which I think makes some sense
Speaker 1: that you at least have to consider the fact do
Speaker 1: you want to change his offense after uh he plays
Speaker 1: so well? I also thought like Tom Talsco, who's you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of drafting Pro Bowlers, has done as well
Speaker 1: as any general manager in the league practically, But doesn't
Speaker 1: you know, have a lot of winds and sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: they don't let the GM you know, fire multiple coaches.
Speaker 1: And he's already fired Mike McCoy there too, so like
Speaker 1: so if they changed the Lynn, it could be I
Speaker 1: don't know, like would you keep to let's go and
Speaker 1: change another coach and let to let's go pick again?
Speaker 1: Do you think like the Chargers, especially with the stadium
Speaker 1: and knowing their ownership history, I think makes a difference
Speaker 1: to me too, Like knowing if they're an ownership they
Speaker 1: might just lay back or if they're gonna be super active,
Speaker 1: whether that would factor in, especially if they go ahead
Speaker 1: and win this game here at the end, and like
Speaker 1: feel like they have uh like a nice winning streak
Speaker 1: to close the season. They had a brutal loss a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago where they called the audible on
Speaker 1: fourth on fourth down and the running team was out there,
Speaker 1: but remember that play, and I think everyone thought Anthony
Speaker 1: lynnmight get fired then. And then you know, I got
Speaker 1: folks in Los Angeles I spoke with and they said,
Speaker 1: we're not making any changes this week, like and that
Speaker 1: was the key thing this week. And I was pushing
Speaker 1: back with my folks that I know there, and I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: this week, but does that mean next week? Does that
Speaker 1: mean the week I after? Does that mean that he's
Speaker 1: safe for the off season? And I couldn't get a
Speaker 1: straight answer. They love Anthony Lynn. They love him and
Speaker 1: like you said, Greg, great guy. The players love him.
Speaker 1: And the only issue they haven't won many games. They
Speaker 1: did win a playoff game in Baltimore a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago. But then you start trying to make justifications
Speaker 1: in your head, you say, okay, well, look, Derwin James
Speaker 1: was injured before the season started. It's COVID. It's a
Speaker 1: weird deal. They have played in front of an empty stadium.
Speaker 1: They even got a chance to open that new stadium
Speaker 1: that really haven't even got their footprints settled. And Herberts
Speaker 1: had such a such great leaps of the last two
Speaker 1: He's gonna be offensive rookie the Year you're really bringing
Speaker 1: a new offensive coach. I'd be really interested to see
Speaker 1: what they do, because there's a lot of reasons you
Speaker 1: can justify it. Now. I always get get into like
Speaker 1: the coaching stuff, and it's all right. If Anthony Lynn
Speaker 1: were to be fired, is there a line of teams
Speaker 1: looking to bring him in next year? I always think
Speaker 1: about the market place and the value of the coach.
Speaker 1: So if Matt Naggie was fired, I think there there
Speaker 1: might be a line of team to say, hey, bringing
Speaker 1: Matt Naggie for an interview. You know, like my McCarthy
Speaker 1: was fired, teams are all right, let's bring him in.
Speaker 1: Didn't get the job right away, but let's bring him in. Um.
Speaker 1: Of course, Adam Gaze was fired by the Dolphins. Jets
Speaker 1: were like, let's hire Adam Gaze. I don't sure, but
Speaker 1: at the time it wasn't loops. Everyone was like, all right,
Speaker 1: there's a there's an established coach. Um, Anthony, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: And that's what I think is going through a lot
Speaker 1: of people's heads right now. I wouldn't be shocked if
Speaker 1: Anthony Lynn kept his job. I'll just say that I
Speaker 1: would look at you know, if you go beyond the
Speaker 1: NFL and kind of like what David Tepper did last year,
Speaker 1: going out and you know, meeting Matt Rule and becoming
Speaker 1: enamored with him and signing into that kind of a contract,
Speaker 1: which you know for a college coaches, that's a little
Speaker 1: that's unusual in the NFL. There's the Matt Campbell's out there,
Speaker 1: Um Lincoln Riley, Jim Harbaugh's name has comed out, Urban Meyer,
Speaker 1: Urban Meyer, I think of, you know, David Sweeney and
Speaker 1: the Jaguars, who are gonna get Trevor Lawrence. Do you
Speaker 1: see um college coaches having a chance to crack in
Speaker 1: this year or is it more we're exploring these guys,
Speaker 1: but we're probably gonna go with the old, the old
Speaker 1: NFL club. We're gonna pull someone that we know and
Speaker 1: have more familiar information on. All Right, The word I
Speaker 1: got this year is that college coaches might be more
Speaker 1: willing now to make the leap than ever before because
Speaker 1: of just how screwy the n c A is, how
Speaker 1: uncertain things are, how there was such a lack of
Speaker 1: leadership across the board as far as conference colleague college
Speaker 1: football right now is the great abyss. No one knows
Speaker 1: what the future is if it's ever gonna get back
Speaker 1: on track. What's going on with amateurism in sports in general,
Speaker 1: and after the way the COVID situation handled was handled
Speaker 1: by a lot of these schools and conferences with no
Speaker 1: real direction, I think guys that forever have never listened
Speaker 1: might be willing to listen. And you know, I mentioned
Speaker 1: the name m David Shaw to a source because three
Speaker 1: years we've heard David Shaw will never leave Stanford. David
Speaker 1: the PAC twelve was was weird this year and Stanford
Speaker 1: has not been good to last two years. Is this
Speaker 1: the year David Shaw listens? The word I got back
Speaker 1: was not probably not, But for the first time it
Speaker 1: wasn't a slam dunk. No. Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern who
Speaker 1: you guys didn't mention who might be the number one
Speaker 1: college candidate right now? He's got kids at are both
Speaker 1: I think in high school at the moment. I think
Speaker 1: the word I got was that he's gonna wait until
Speaker 1: they're out of high school before he leaps. But like
Speaker 1: when the Bears had or the packers of the vacancy
Speaker 1: two years ago, in the hired of the floor, I
Speaker 1: was told straight up no, like he will not leave Northwestern.
Speaker 1: He's got a great situation there, so I think things
Speaker 1: are opening him up. Matt Campbell not short horriball. I
Speaker 1: don't know if there's a market for horriball right now.
Speaker 1: After the season Michigan's had and the third name was
Speaker 1: Dabos Swete, I don't think he's leaving or Lincoln Riley
Speaker 1: coworker Urban, Urban's fascinating. Urban's fascinating. He's been out of
Speaker 1: this for a while. Um, you know you've been hearing
Speaker 1: the Chargers for a couple of years now and there,
Speaker 1: and then recently Jacksonville has been coming up a bunch.
Speaker 1: He's got a very good situation at Fox. I know
Speaker 1: he's very happy there. They love him, and they they
Speaker 1: believe their show is up there, if not better than
Speaker 1: the one on ESPN. So like Urban is a huge
Speaker 1: key cog to that and he's got a long future
Speaker 1: with them. Question is the shot Khan or in this case,
Speaker 1: the Spano's family, or one of these teams or even
Speaker 1: the Jets hand him the keys and say you're the
Speaker 1: personnel guy, you're the coach, You hire whoever you want,
Speaker 1: You've got unlimited budget, go for it, and does it
Speaker 1: tickle Urban enough? To say, I gotta get one more
Speaker 1: shot at this. I think Trevor Lawrence might play a
Speaker 1: bigger role than any of these guys um as far
Speaker 1: as the owners and everything, like, maybe Urban is tempted
Speaker 1: by that and saying, all right, shot Khan, here's an
Speaker 1: unlimited check, here's the freedom to bring in my own staff,
Speaker 1: and I get the first overall pick. That might excite me,
Speaker 1: But I will tell you he is happy at Fox
Speaker 1: and they love him over there. I don't know if
Speaker 1: Fox could pay him with the Jacksonville Jaguars or the
Speaker 1: Jets of the Chargers can. But it's a much easier
Speaker 1: life for Urban Meyer doing those Saturday hits and getting
Speaker 1: pep talks into a computer screen worker. I think that's
Speaker 1: a huge plus. That's a great I mean, that's probably
Speaker 1: the biggest Perkal. Yeah, is there any coaches that are
Speaker 1: back to the kind of the recycled ranks um in
Speaker 1: the NFL Jim Caldwell, Bill Cowery than any of these guys,
Speaker 1: uh that might pop up and have a serious chance
Speaker 1: to get a job. The one name and you know,
Speaker 1: I thought maybe Bill O'Brien would get another look. I
Speaker 1: haven't heard much on him. Marvin Lewis apparently has a
Speaker 1: lot more love in the league than has he already
Speaker 1: interviewed with Houston was right. I believe he did. I
Speaker 1: believe Ian and Mike reported that this weekend. Um and
Speaker 1: it's not just hey, Marvin Lewis deserves an interview, has
Speaker 1: been a coach for like things are beginning to reveal
Speaker 1: themselves that gosh, Marvin Lewis took that team to the
Speaker 1: playoffs with that limited budget, scouting staff and some of
Speaker 1: the things that plague the Bengals historically to the playoffs
Speaker 1: five years in a row and built a winner. And yeah,
Speaker 1: they didn't win games, but like, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: lessons to be learned from this season. And I think
Speaker 1: having a leader of men, and that's such a roll
Speaker 1: my eyes, because I think all these guys are leaders
Speaker 1: of men, they wouldn't be getting where they are and
Speaker 1: that they weren't. But like an authoritative voice with someone
Speaker 1: with the skins on the wall, some of these teams,
Speaker 1: after what has been going on over the last eighteen months,
Speaker 1: might say, let's just hand over the keys to Marvin
Speaker 1: because he can only can only coach football. But that's
Speaker 1: an adult in the roof right, and he can hire
Speaker 1: a good staff a lot of it to be excited
Speaker 1: about that though lewis no, and I I don't feel
Speaker 1: like it's an upbell battle. But you look around the
Speaker 1: league and you see a lot of his assistants, you know,
Speaker 1: with coaching jobs and that that's that's part of it too,
Speaker 1: that he he like has this for long. Rollodex, you
Speaker 1: mentioned the thing about Foxes College show is maybe better
Speaker 1: than ESPN. You know, you worked for Fox and and
Speaker 1: it has gotten a lot of buzz this year that
Speaker 1: and Reggie Bush is part of that show, and it
Speaker 1: just occurred to me, how much do you think that
Speaker 1: show doing well, um is directly related to the lessons
Speaker 1: Reggie Bush learned while he did our digital show last year,
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL type digital. Yeah, I think those
Speaker 1: I think those moments were memorable. And I think you know,
Speaker 1: when he was lulling the opportunity to leave NFL Network
Speaker 1: and to go to do Foxes Thursday night NFL coverage
Speaker 1: and there Saturday UM football main show, I think it
Speaker 1: was it was probably a difficult decision for him, UM,
Speaker 1: but he certainly he certainly learned a lot from from
Speaker 1: you guys. I mean the intriguing aspect of that, as
Speaker 1: he said goodbye to none of us. But I just
Speaker 1: think I think there was a lot of one day
Speaker 1: that he was like one day he just wasn't there
Speaker 1: for the show, but that wasn't totally out of character,
Speaker 1: so it was like we didn't even know that he
Speaker 1: was out of the company. I guess it is a
Speaker 1: little weird for us to be expecting a Dear John
Speaker 1: letter from Reggie Bush to two more things from me
Speaker 1: before we say goodbye, and boys, feel free to try.
Speaker 1: I want to go through my list. I want to
Speaker 1: go through my names for you. You got more, let's
Speaker 1: hear more. Let me rattle them off for you, because
Speaker 1: here's what I've got. Honestly, this is my favorite thing
Speaker 1: to do. Is supposed in addition to the draft, is
Speaker 1: get the gossip on the coaching stuff, because I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm as plugged in as anybody with this stuff.
Speaker 1: And I talked to all the teams and a lot
Speaker 1: of the agents of the country and it's sounded chest
Speaker 1: I'm pound of my chest. But it's this is like
Speaker 1: the one niche like, I don't do injuries, well, I
Speaker 1: don't do free agent signings. That well, but like the
Speaker 1: coaching stuff. I love the machinations behind it. And I
Speaker 1: talked to all the presidents and g ms, and you
Speaker 1: know it's gonna be really interesting. So I want to
Speaker 1: go through some of the names and some of the
Speaker 1: processes that are at stake here because I think this
Speaker 1: is the most unique year that there is no slam
Speaker 1: dunk candidate, Like I don't see that Josh m Josh
Speaker 1: McDaniels in recent years when they're coming off another thing,
Speaker 1: you know, playoff things like oh, McDaniels is the hot name,
Speaker 1: or Kyle Shanahan took this team to the super Bowl,
Speaker 1: like the enemy is he the hot name? I feel
Speaker 1: like he was around last year and I was gonna
Speaker 1: get another opportunity, and I do believe he will get
Speaker 1: one of these jobs. But I don't see teams jumping
Speaker 1: up and down or fan bases jumping up and down
Speaker 1: saying gosh, even as good as they've been, I just
Speaker 1: don't feel the buzz around the Enemy this year as
Speaker 1: I did last year. I think Eric's gonna be a
Speaker 1: premier candidate. I think Robert Sala the defensive corona for
Speaker 1: the forty niners. Everyone is linking him to Detroit because
Speaker 1: he's got Detroit connections and he went to Michigan State
Speaker 1: or he got a graduates degree from Michigan State, and
Speaker 1: he grew up two miles from the Lions facility, and
Speaker 1: both his parents still live in that town, which is
Speaker 1: I believe, dear Field, Michigan. And so there's a lot
Speaker 1: of like local routs there. But I think Sale could
Speaker 1: get some offers from other teams, and then it's his
Speaker 1: decision what he wants to do. So Sala b Enemy
Speaker 1: are two big names they blew up in Buffalo is
Speaker 1: a big name. Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator for the Titans,
Speaker 1: is getting a lot of buzz right now. And those
Speaker 1: are like the main guys. And I don't know if
Speaker 1: any fan base is doing flip, Like if you're a
Speaker 1: Jets fan, are you like, oh my god, we have
Speaker 1: a chance to get Arthur Smith. Nothing against Arthur Smith,
Speaker 1: but like it doesn't feel like there's that home run
Speaker 1: And I don't even know if Urban Meyer does it
Speaker 1: for fansies like Meyer's many years removed from college football,
Speaker 1: let alone never done it in the pros. Like, I
Speaker 1: don't know if there's that home run pick that everyone
Speaker 1: is like, oh, we got the guy. Yeah, it doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like there's that the high sex appeal guy. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that it makes sense. Like if Dennis
Speaker 1: Allen is the head coach of say the Chargers next year,
Speaker 1: like our Chargers fans like, oh my god, let's go
Speaker 1: that Dennis Allen era, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 1: there's nothing against these guys. Allen could get hired, then
Speaker 1: Sala could get hired defensive coordinator, the same. They had
Speaker 1: a great year this year, look like Sean McDermott and
Speaker 1: the Bills last year. I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: thought that was a solid higher when it happened, and
Speaker 1: now you look at it four years later, it's like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, what a home run. So I think
Speaker 1: if you're if your team is looking for a head coach,
Speaker 1: don't give up hope because there isn't that slam dunk guy.
Speaker 1: And maybe I'm talking to myself as much as I'm
Speaker 1: talking to me. I'll give you a name. I'll give
Speaker 1: you a name because Dan, I know you're invested in
Speaker 1: one team, um specifically, and I think they're gonna be
Speaker 1: a really interesting situation. They probably don't have Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1: Let's just assume they don't. So there's not that giant
Speaker 1: carrot there. Um, they've had years of you know, just
Speaker 1: unsuccessful no playoffs in aptitude if you want whatever it is.
Speaker 1: Does a name like Wink Martindale, the defensive coordinator of
Speaker 1: the Ravens, who's in his sixties or late fifties, but
Speaker 1: it's like a super high energy beloved guy, Like does
Speaker 1: that get you? Like I don't know what the Jets
Speaker 1: fan even wants at this point. Yeah, that no, I
Speaker 1: like Wink Martindale, that would be a shrug your shoulders higher,
Speaker 1: Marvin Lewis would be a panic higher at least the
Speaker 1: fan base would look at it that way. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't see it. Jim Harbor like there
Speaker 1: are as you know, Pete, the the Johnson family has
Speaker 1: danced around Jim in the past, and I just wonder
Speaker 1: if they're gonna want to make a splash higher and
Speaker 1: go after Harbaugh and that I feel like has a
Speaker 1: boom bust reward at a high level. Yeah, the the
Speaker 1: wild card like dazzling, like oh, higher might be if
Speaker 1: someone was to actually bring in Joe Brady who's thirty
Speaker 1: years old. Um, but I don't think the Panthers did
Speaker 1: enough for me to be like, yes, that's the guy
Speaker 1: you all like. And then the other one is the
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator out in Los Angeles, Brandon Stanley, who's thirty eight.
Speaker 1: He's not thirty, but last year he was an outside
Speaker 1: linebackers coach, and now you're saying, okay, well he ran
Speaker 1: the best defense in the league with the Rams. It's
Speaker 1: such an interesting year. And we didn't even start talking
Speaker 1: about the gm S, which well, I want to yet
Speaker 1: tell me about Riddick if nothing else, like how I'm
Speaker 1: just fascinated that, And they didn't mention it once on
Speaker 1: the broad even when the team's come up. You gotta
Speaker 1: mention it. Interview today, we asked him, were like, Scott,
Speaker 1: you interviewed for the Lions job. What was it like?
Speaker 1: Like you have to ask what do you he He's
Speaker 1: interviewed for at least two jobs? Was it three? I
Speaker 1: don't know? Um, do you think he has a legit
Speaker 1: shot to get one of these? Yes? It was an
Speaker 1: interesting deal this year because they're doing it over zoom,
Speaker 1: so like you know, you come in and you're sitting
Speaker 1: on a zoom for several hours and you know, take
Speaker 1: the Detroit one for example. He's got the owner in
Speaker 1: one box, he's got Chris Spielman in another box, and
Speaker 1: he's like, you know, it's tough, like it's on zoom
Speaker 1: or you're really good at presenting over zoom and you
Speaker 1: can do it and you've had practice at it. It's
Speaker 1: really weird, and it's you know, it's a difference between being,
Speaker 1: in some guys cases, making six figures to making you know,
Speaker 1: mid seven figures in some of these GM positions. So
Speaker 1: it's a huge life opportunity and a huge, huge leap
Speaker 1: for some of these GM candidates. Back to Ridick, though,
Speaker 1: I've heard he interviewed really well at a couple of places. Um,
Speaker 1: I think he's got a good shot this year. There's
Speaker 1: gonna be six seven openings. I think he's got a
Speaker 1: good shot this year. Um. And it's as good as
Speaker 1: shot he's had this year than he's had in any
Speaker 1: of the years prior. How long till Daniel Jeremiah is
Speaker 1: a general manager? I mean his name has been thrown
Speaker 1: around here and there. I mean, is it it seems
Speaker 1: like star rising on that front? You laugh? I mean absolutely,
Speaker 1: If DJ wanted one of these jobs. He would be
Speaker 1: a top candidate because he exemplifies it every day and
Speaker 1: he lives and breeds it, and he's actually plugged into
Speaker 1: the NFL. He's more than just a guy who does
Speaker 1: the draft. The fact he does those Chargers games might
Speaker 1: seem like a nothing Sunday thing, but like he's he's
Speaker 1: the league. He's the league in person, like he gets it,
Speaker 1: and he's got a great track record. If Daniel wanted
Speaker 1: to leave the NFL network to do that, I think
Speaker 1: there would be a lot of teams willing to listen.
Speaker 1: So far, all the things that I've heard, and he
Speaker 1: actually came out last year, I think it was, like
Speaker 1: I'm staying, like there's been rumors, but I'm staying. I
Speaker 1: think it was to be an assistant to Joe Douglas
Speaker 1: in the Jets. That's when he came out and said that. Um,
Speaker 1: I think he's made it pretty clear he's happy with
Speaker 1: where he is at the moment. At the very least,
Speaker 1: he should leverage all this knowledge into starting a podcast
Speaker 1: or something. I think he right again, you ever tried that?
Speaker 1: Any other names you want to throw out there people
Speaker 1: before bringing in for a landing here? Yeah, GM is
Speaker 1: gonna be really interesting and the team I would circle, Um,
Speaker 1: that could be fascinating for for this group of specifically.
Speaker 1: You know, for years, the GM position is the best
Speaker 1: scout in the building, or the best player personnel guy,
Speaker 1: or the guy who just you know, grinds on the
Speaker 1: college tape. There was no real traveling for college football
Speaker 1: for any of these there the pastor yeah you gotta
Speaker 1: get him in there. Yeah, but um, he's not the
Speaker 1: GM by the way, I actually I actually want to
Speaker 1: do a great defense of Jack Easterby. I feel like
Speaker 1: someone brought his name up and just interrupted. You just
Speaker 1: got buried by everybody, and it was like poor Easterby.
Speaker 1: I don't know at all. I don't even know. I
Speaker 1: never met him personally, but it's like you found your
Speaker 1: whipping boy media and it's like, all right, let's go.
Speaker 1: Um right, it's says player that you know, have you
Speaker 1: been by someone in our company to stop discussing him?
Speaker 1: So I've been silence, so he you know there's someone
Speaker 1: somewhere sensitive about it. Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean
Speaker 1: that guy. Whatever, Um, I would look I don't know.
Speaker 1: I would look to the Carolina Panthers and just the
Speaker 1: way Tepper does business. You mentioned, I don't think you're
Speaker 1: gonna get a run in the mill Higher, And if
Speaker 1: you do, it's because that run of the mill Higher.
Speaker 1: And I don't mean to dismiss whoever they end up
Speaker 1: do hiring um if it is because he impressed Tepper
Speaker 1: and blew him away in the interview. I just think
Speaker 1: the way David Tepper does business, and I've got to
Speaker 1: know him fairly well. Not we haven't talked about like
Speaker 1: the general manager position or anything, but like he views
Speaker 1: this as as as a competitive environment where he is.
Speaker 1: I don't want to he's a killer. I mean he's
Speaker 1: a killer on Wall Street. This is a guy who
Speaker 1: looks at things and says, how's everyone else doing it?
Speaker 1: How can they disrupt there? How can I be asymmetric?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get it done with the rule Higher. Everyone
Speaker 1: thought he was going to the giants. He's like, he's
Speaker 1: not leaving the house that he lives in if I
Speaker 1: get there first, and he didn't. He paid him the
Speaker 1: most and convinced him to bring all his staff, and
Speaker 1: you have it. The GM higher is not gonna be
Speaker 1: all right. Here's the best player personnel guy, the GM
Speaker 1: higher for the Carolina Panthers is going to be very
Speaker 1: well vetted and is going to have to earn that position.
Speaker 1: And I wouldn't be shocked if they did something that
Speaker 1: is a little bit spin this league on its head
Speaker 1: because new CB a lower salary cap and the draft
Speaker 1: is a crap shoot anyway. And this guy, he he's
Speaker 1: not doing this because his family's family's family has passed
Speaker 1: this onto him, and he doesn't want to upset the
Speaker 1: fan base. He's already fired Ron Rivera and cut Cam Newton.
Speaker 1: I think the Panthers fans are like, whatever this guy does,
Speaker 1: I guess at the time being, we'll have to believe
Speaker 1: in it. And so far, I think that Matt rule
Speaker 1: Hire was the right call. So I'm fascinated. Is the
Speaker 1: first non you know, football coach higher for for David Tepper,
Speaker 1: and I'm really interested to see who he picks to
Speaker 1: run this organization as far as rosters go. Awesome insight
Speaker 1: as always from the great Peter Schraeger. And before you go, Pete,
Speaker 1: it was about eighteen months ago. I'm gonna say that
Speaker 1: you made I think it was your first appearance on
Speaker 1: the show, but the first one where we were all together.
Speaker 1: The pool side pod at the NFL Media Talent Summit.
Speaker 1: Has anything changed on this front? You can keep it
Speaker 1: to one word. When you look around the circle here
Speaker 1: at the four of us, which one do you respect
Speaker 1: the US? Greg? Which one do you respect them? Us?
Speaker 1: Which one do you respect the most? Greg? Greg? I
Speaker 1: love all you guys equally. I love Wes, I love
Speaker 1: love Ricky Hollywood. I love all you guys equally. You're
Speaker 1: all You're all equal to me. Only one of you, though,
Speaker 1: was on the weakest link that I happened to be fun.
Speaker 1: I didn't even know what was happening, was watching the television,
Speaker 1: showed up and then a day later it's like, here's
Speaker 1: Mina Kimes winning someone a million bucks. I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't Mina Kimes needs more love. Let's give Erica some love. Here.
Speaker 1: She was on actual show. It was great. Thanks Pete
Speaker 1: means a lot. You've got a supreme hoodie on. You're
Speaker 1: like you got swag. Yeah, I love you. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that, because it wasn't just that
Speaker 1: Mina who Who's great? Uh? It wasn't just that she
Speaker 1: um was honest another game show, it was responsible for
Speaker 1: the million dollar winner. And then for Ricky Hollywood, she's
Speaker 1: doing her best, she gets savaged by I thought unfair
Speaker 1: questions allowing the worst player in their history, the weakest link,
Speaker 1: to be victorious. It just it just it didn't feel
Speaker 1: fair ultimately for Ricky. And it's like Jane Lynch was
Speaker 1: not all that warm or nice. Like there was a
Speaker 1: lot of things that I had problems with, um Mina
Speaker 1: Kimes helping out millions of small restaurants and maybe keeping
Speaker 1: hundreds of small businesses alive. That might be for some people,
Speaker 1: that might be some people's thing. I was more into
Speaker 1: the weakest link. And uh, what we saw from our
Speaker 1: friend who works on this show awesome unders animal did it? Pete?
Speaker 1: Thank you for giving us your time. You're very busy man,
Speaker 1: and congratulations every Thursday night football telecast this year Hackman
Speaker 1: singing your praises you and the entire show that is
Speaker 1: a thrill as well. Can I make a request for
Speaker 1: tomorrow when you're on Good Morning Football? And this be like,
Speaker 1: can I get a Can I get an album cover
Speaker 1: from you? Can I? If I have it, you have
Speaker 1: to have it. I was gonna request the Cars, Rico
Speaker 1: Kersik and the Boys, anything from the cars. Okay, maybe
Speaker 1: not tomorrow, but I am absolutely gonna work on that.
Speaker 1: Let me know which album you're thinking of as well. Okay,
Speaker 1: I can go rushwork. Could you replace it with the
Speaker 1: Hanson brother Hans is great, Yes, the middle middle of nowhere.
Speaker 1: The middle of nowhere, I believe, Oh there he goes
Speaker 1: shrag bomb. Great guest. He's one of our best guests
Speaker 1: because Pete here, I think, you know, we'll get ten
Speaker 1: twelve minutes with Peter. He's the dig in. He wants
Speaker 1: to go deeper. I try to bring it in for
Speaker 1: a landing, and he said, oh no, no, no, I
Speaker 1: got a lot more to get to. And uh, I
Speaker 1: feel like we're all smarter and more prepared for Black
Speaker 1: Monday as a result. Yeah. I also thought that it
Speaker 1: was It's pretty clear that I'm not gonna say that
Speaker 1: Greg's lost esteem in in Peter's eyes, but the rest
Speaker 1: of us um have clearly been raised up to some degree.
Speaker 1: He I thought his answer that he respects us equally
Speaker 1: was honest and use when he gave it. It's when
Speaker 1: he gave an actually honest answer before he's gotten in
Speaker 1: trouble for it, he's gotten grief. You guys can it's
Speaker 1: eighteen months ago. The world was a totally different place.
Speaker 1: It would be easier to respect Greg eighteen months ago.
Speaker 1: Things have changed, you know. It is there are parallels
Speaker 1: to the chiefs and the bills. Greg's the chiefs with
Speaker 1: Sreegor and who he respects. But here we are just
Speaker 1: firing up the power rensings and now the gap has
Speaker 1: been narrowed, it seems, and perhaps Greg will get overtaken.
Speaker 1: Just keep an eye on it, all right, all right,
Speaker 1: things have changed since we were pool side at that villa.
Speaker 1: That's for sure. And that's for sure. Um, alright. I
Speaker 1: also after that day, had like thirty five days off. UM.
Speaker 1: I run by there fairly often. And do think of
Speaker 1: that moment where Straeger was wrapping a towel around the microphone.
Speaker 1: If we ever done an unsolved mystery, uh, you know
Speaker 1: with this show, I wanted to be about Traeger wrapping
Speaker 1: the microphone with the towel. I remember after it ended,
Speaker 1: I said, Erica, what why? What was happening with that?
Speaker 1: And uh, it was just a total mystery, total mystery.
Speaker 1: All right, here we go. I'm excited, No, I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I love power rankings. I love ranking things. I love
Speaker 1: when Greg gets passionate about the booth and who he
Speaker 1: likes and who he doesn't like. It's a major topic offline,
Speaker 1: on text and in conversation. And uh, you know Sessler,
Speaker 1: you know he's he's got his sardonic wit. And when
Speaker 1: you could weaponize that into a listical excited me. I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna I just made a tactical decision here not
Speaker 1: to have my own list. I don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about anybody coming up to me at a coach's breakfast.
Speaker 1: I prefer to sit back and just watch the inferno. Man,
Speaker 1: I just want to watch the world. But it's not
Speaker 1: an I see what you've done here. No, in all seriousness,
Speaker 1: this is all done with respect. We're not trying to
Speaker 1: destroy people here, of course. Right, Well, that's the thing.
Speaker 1: The other week we're arguing about, you know, the the
Speaker 1: booth and thinking about play by play, and it's part
Speaker 1: of that. It was more talking about, like, this is
Speaker 1: the hardest job in sports being play by play guy.
Speaker 1: I think on an NFL game, play by playing in general,
Speaker 1: But you know, NFL is our area. I'm totally with you.
Speaker 1: In fact, we are, I guess on some level quote
Speaker 1: unquote broadcasters. We're talking to a mic for a living,
Speaker 1: and I marvel at how these guys do with the
Speaker 1: play by play. Dudes to be just the reek call
Speaker 1: to know who just fell down in pursuit on the
Speaker 1: defensive line, who came out of nowhere to make the tackle?
Speaker 1: Which slot receiver or wait a second, was that the
Speaker 1: guy on the outside who came across the middle and
Speaker 1: made that catch. The guys that are really good. The
Speaker 1: way they can do it without missing a beat is
Speaker 1: something that is I mean, I would be in a
Speaker 1: nervous panic. I love football a whole bunch, but if
Speaker 1: it was like we've got a thorny like rough situation
Speaker 1: with eighteen seconds left to go and people all over,
Speaker 1: I would run out of the booth and I would
Speaker 1: run to my car and drive home. I'd love I'd
Speaker 1: love to see. So yeah, we're we're like understand, we're
Speaker 1: understanding that. But then again you think about it and
Speaker 1: you're like, well, you're stepping into the arena and these
Speaker 1: guys are are talking about who's a better quarterback, who's
Speaker 1: the better wide receiver, They're criticizing the head coach at times.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's not play by play guy as much. But
Speaker 1: it's like, if you're gonna step into the arena, you
Speaker 1: you gotta it's a high standard. And when we were
Speaker 1: arguing in particular, you know, about Monday night and I
Speaker 1: and I would and I've got my opinions, and I thought, well,
Speaker 1: it'll only be fair, you know, if you're gonna say this, like,
Speaker 1: all right, let's actually rank them. Let's let's make a
Speaker 1: list of the play by play guys. And we watch
Speaker 1: a lot of game pass or you do it on shortcuts,
Speaker 1: I know, Mark, And so it's like I'm hearing these
Speaker 1: guys every week, and so you you form opinions. And
Speaker 1: I decided, okay, I put it on paper about fifty.
Speaker 1: I just looked, who are the fifteen play by play
Speaker 1: guys the previous weekend? And I just you know, put
Speaker 1: them down one to fifteen for my for myself, I
Speaker 1: did not think this is gonna be a you know,
Speaker 1: a pod bit, but I just wanted to see how,
Speaker 1: I how it s took up. I think it makes
Speaker 1: for good conversation. If it makes for good conversation, then
Speaker 1: why not say it on the show. But I don't
Speaker 1: understand why you need to take a shot at Mark
Speaker 1: there and say he takes shortcuts that I mean this
Speaker 1: guy he puts in the work. You could hear when
Speaker 1: he analyzes football. It's called the direct TV shortcuts. Just
Speaker 1: that Mark prefers that over the game pass version. Well
Speaker 1: we could get into that another time. I will not
Speaker 1: beliebor it, but they do something that game pass editors
Speaker 1: have chosen not to do often. Let's put it okay,
Speaker 1: here we go to sight down. Let's start with the
Speaker 1: play by play guys. Then we're gonna move to the
Speaker 1: Sessler list, And how do you want to do? Greg,
Speaker 1: Maybe it would be better to start with the when
Speaker 1: So this you're essentially basing this off Week sixteen. Who
Speaker 1: we saw, who we heard? I want to start at
Speaker 1: the bottom list or make our way up. Um no,
Speaker 1: let's start at the top. I don't know because I
Speaker 1: don't want to. Like you heard Straeger being diplomatic on
Speaker 1: the last segment and you're like, wait a second, I
Speaker 1: need because the top is the top is more interesting
Speaker 1: to me. And frankly, more people are gonna know who
Speaker 1: we're talking about their or have opinions, and and after
Speaker 1: the top six or so, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: blending blending in. But I had I had to go
Speaker 1: Joe Buck number one, Mike Tarico number two, and Kevin
Speaker 1: Harland three, al Michael's for I mean, I'm just good.
Speaker 1: I want to break. This is the top teen. I
Speaker 1: in Eagle five and Nance six, and to me, those
Speaker 1: are the big six and I've got You know, they're
Speaker 1: all great, and you could argue any one of them
Speaker 1: should be higher or lower. Right, that is my six
Speaker 1: have one. Yeah, Tariko would be one if he had
Speaker 1: more starts. But availability, you know, it's not his fault, um,
Speaker 1: but availability is a trait here, and he's not giving me.
Speaker 1: He's not out there enough. I'm getting bucked twice a week.
Speaker 1: I'm getting Tariko, you know, a handful of times every year.
Speaker 1: So he would have been one because he's got the
Speaker 1: he does the things that bother me the most in
Speaker 1: the ones that are towards the bottom of the list, Tarrico.
Speaker 1: A command of the rules. A command of the rules
Speaker 1: is very important to me. And you don't think Rico
Speaker 1: has that as much. No, I think he does. I
Speaker 1: think he's number one. That's what I'm saying. Is like
Speaker 1: the command of the rules, a command of the players
Speaker 1: and the coaches, the personnel, like knowing everything and being
Speaker 1: able to paint that picture. And of course all these
Speaker 1: guys at the top have a sense of the moment,
Speaker 1: you know, they have a sense of what matters and
Speaker 1: painting the picture and all that stuff. But that's where
Speaker 1: Tariko is amazing. But yeah, Joe, Joe, Buck and Troy,
Speaker 1: I think they'd be my number one group right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so you got bucket number one, which is I think
Speaker 1: how to deny five years ago? Even I feel like
Speaker 1: there would be a lot of pushback on that because
Speaker 1: there's people didn't always like Buck and thought he maybe
Speaker 1: come off, came off as a little smug um. But
Speaker 1: I think there has been a general greater appreciation for him.
Speaker 1: I have no problem with that. Tariko too well. We
Speaker 1: love Trico on the show. Harlan I like a lot,
Speaker 1: not just because he's a pro and he's been on
Speaker 1: our show and he's a great dude, but to be
Speaker 1: able to do TV and radio and do it as
Speaker 1: well as he does, that's that's something. What do you think,
Speaker 1: mark Um? I mean, my list is very close to
Speaker 1: Greg's with one major oldio. I was asking because I
Speaker 1: want to hear more about No No, I'm talking about
Speaker 1: play by play. I'm talking about Greg's list, my my
Speaker 1: play My number one play guy is Kevin Harland. I
Speaker 1: put Harland like squarely number one for me because I
Speaker 1: think because number one you mentioned it doing radio, I
Speaker 1: was just counting. I'm counting TV. But that's fair. I
Speaker 1: mean you could you could tell Harland has maybe more
Speaker 1: fun than anyone else. I did rank Color guys, but
Speaker 1: I have an opinion on play by Are you asking
Speaker 1: for that? Are you? I asked, Okay, I do want
Speaker 1: to hear your opinion on everything, Mark, But are you
Speaker 1: saying that you made a list for play by play guys,
Speaker 1: because I did on my own, but I did the
Speaker 1: presentations of the color commentators. The list of record for
Speaker 1: today's podcast is Greg's play by play your Color. So
Speaker 1: I just I want those segments to be able to
Speaker 1: be clear and concise to the listener. If you also
Speaker 1: have a play by playlist, I just need to know
Speaker 1: that as host, and then I'll adapt that way. I
Speaker 1: am simply saying that I thought Greg's list was pristine,
Speaker 1: minus one change that I would pack. You'd put harlet
Speaker 1: Chard stuff. Well, we've we've we've we've blown past concise
Speaker 1: um and look Al's in all time great uh He's
Speaker 1: in an interesting spot with another all time great in
Speaker 1: the same building as Uh Tariko, so he you know,
Speaker 1: I still love listening to an eagle, very underrated and
Speaker 1: nance like, you know, it's not my like favorite flavor
Speaker 1: of tea. You know, you've got your different flavors, but
Speaker 1: then your vineyard but tops man, but top self. You know,
Speaker 1: a quality you feel like you're watching a big game.
Speaker 1: He spent a lot of time with him. It's all good.
Speaker 1: M That's why al Michael's for me is still um
Speaker 1: number one. Even though he is up there in age.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen a slippage that maybe you guys see.
Speaker 1: And when I hear Al Michael's on the mic and
Speaker 1: this goes back to being a man of a certain
Speaker 1: age now, it's like, Okay, this is good. That's why
Speaker 1: I love you know, even though we're at the game's
Speaker 1: not a humble brag, just the truth. So we're not
Speaker 1: hearing the super Bowl telecasts like most people like. If
Speaker 1: I know that Al, Chris and Michelle are on the game,
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, that's the number one super Bowl team
Speaker 1: I want. But opinions very obviously with Al at this
Speaker 1: state of his career and he and he loves it.
Speaker 1: He loves I think he loves all sports. But that
Speaker 1: is that's a big part of sort of separating out
Speaker 1: this top tier. Like Harlan, you can just Harlan, you
Speaker 1: can just tell love sports. That goes along along with me. Tariko.
Speaker 1: Beneath all the intelligence and like knowledge, you can out
Speaker 1: how much he loves it. He's just like a sports
Speaker 1: junkie totally. Alright, what let's sear the bottom half of
Speaker 1: I want to share with us Greg, and then I
Speaker 1: want to hear Mark's Color guys list. All right, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna I'm gonna go go through it this middle tiers.
Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to separate them all, but I'm
Speaker 1: going the next time going Kenny Albert, Kevin Coogler, I
Speaker 1: mean on Adam Amina on Fox all really good. Joe
Speaker 1: Davis is good, Andrew Catalan, We're getting to Steve Levy
Speaker 1: Monday Night, Spirit Adidas, Greg Gumbles, and Chris Myers rounds
Speaker 1: out the list right there. I want to see I
Speaker 1: got it out of you. That's good. He got Myers
Speaker 1: buried in last place. You got Steve Levy way too low.
Speaker 1: Steve should be higher. In my opinion, the rising star
Speaker 1: for me is Kevin Coogler. I thought he did great
Speaker 1: work uh this past week. I I texted you guys
Speaker 1: about it. He was as sharp as sharp as attack.
Speaker 1: In fact, that was when I was just saying why
Speaker 1: I admire good play by play so much? I was
Speaker 1: I was really impressed by how quick he was UH
Speaker 1: and being spot on every time there was um a
Speaker 1: play happening, or a skirmish or a guy missed the tackle.
Speaker 1: He knew every time in the moment who it was.
Speaker 1: Coogler a rising star for me. Your thoughts, UM, I
Speaker 1: I'm very I know Greg and I've talked about UM
Speaker 1: these things so much that I have some shared UM.
Speaker 1: I have shared feelings about who's near the bottom, and
Speaker 1: I think the lack of There are people that are
Speaker 1: into football and there's some that I think are just
Speaker 1: play by play people on a contract, and there is
Speaker 1: a difference between these types. I have no argument. I
Speaker 1: would put Steve Levy a little bit higher because I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, put into a challenging position, he's gotten better, UM,
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't put him a lot higher. I think
Speaker 1: that your your list is is cool with me. Well,
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Yeah, a lot of the other guys
Speaker 1: are played by play guys for everything. You know, That's
Speaker 1: what they've been doing their whole life. That's what they've
Speaker 1: been trained to do. And there are, I think are
Speaker 1: some technical parts of the job that it has to
Speaker 1: do with rules and and knowing the player and everything
Speaker 1: that part of your mind. Some guys like Joe Davis,
Speaker 1: who's getting a lot of popping at Fox, is the
Speaker 1: MLB number two guy behind Joe Duck. He's definite at
Speaker 1: Joe Buck. He's definitely a rising star at Fox, can
Speaker 1: just slide into football, which is maybe not even his
Speaker 1: main sport, and they just like they got a handle
Speaker 1: on it, you know, they gotta hand. Yeah. I like
Speaker 1: him a lot of think he's got a lot of ability.
Speaker 1: And Greg, maybe you will tell us at some point
Speaker 1: what happened with you and Steve Levy. Maybe he goes
Speaker 1: back to your p f T. Was there something you
Speaker 1: wrote a p f T that has created this issue.
Speaker 1: It feels personal, It feels like a little score settling. Man,
Speaker 1: I just want to watch. It's not it's respect for
Speaker 1: all these other guys doing it, and that he's in
Speaker 1: a big that's where I'm talking about the spotlight. It's
Speaker 1: you know, he's on that Monday night football game, and
Speaker 1: so you know the rules, the rules. I keep handing
Speaker 1: hammering that, like the situation that two minute like promptier
Speaker 1: guy to talk about the like this fourth down call
Speaker 1: that's coming up instead of like with three seconds before
Speaker 1: it happens to be like, oh and they're going for
Speaker 1: it on fourth. You know, those are the little things
Speaker 1: that I noticed. All right, that's fair. Let's now move
Speaker 1: to the color side of things. Mark, give us a
Speaker 1: let's start with your top three. Give us your top three,
Speaker 1: my top three. And I think that this job is
Speaker 1: a little bit different obviously than play by play, and
Speaker 1: I don't think there's many good ones. I'll start there,
Speaker 1: but um, top three, Troy Aikman, Uh. Second to Troy Aikman,
Speaker 1: Tony Romo, Chris collins Worth number three for me, okay,
Speaker 1: this is a good This is a good start because
Speaker 1: right off the bat, I knew you would have Troy first.
Speaker 1: I know you love Aikman. Um, I think Romo is
Speaker 1: the best personally, but Aikman is very close to one B.
Speaker 1: So I'm cool with your list. And Collinsworth geez. I
Speaker 1: love collins Worth too. Just going back to my original
Speaker 1: thoughts about it's a big game with Alan Chris or
Speaker 1: behind the mic. But I can't really quibble too much
Speaker 1: of your list. That's a nice start, I was. I'm
Speaker 1: with you too, And I think Aikman is uh Tony
Speaker 1: Romo is my like he's my Patrick Mahome is where
Speaker 1: he he is the best. But for this season, this
Speaker 1: is like Troy Aikman's you know, rich gannon m v
Speaker 1: P year or yeah, I should think of someone even
Speaker 1: better than that, you know, like Russell, like like I
Speaker 1: take I take Romo to build the franchise. But I
Speaker 1: think Aikman is the m v P this year. What
Speaker 1: a year alright? So that that feels like mark the
Speaker 1: clear like top three guys, who's in the who's in
Speaker 1: that middle tier? For me? I I go number four.
Speaker 1: I had Charles Davis. Um. There's something that I really
Speaker 1: like about Charles Davis. I think that he has um.
Speaker 1: He kind of knows where every player went to high
Speaker 1: school and college, has a lot of added extra um.
Speaker 1: I think information that other guys don't. I think he's
Speaker 1: technically good, like he's good observations and I you know,
Speaker 1: we know him personally, and I think he's he's someone
Speaker 1: that puts in a ton of work, so I and
Speaker 1: for me, that's for this thing gets messy for me
Speaker 1: because I don't have a like a huge fascination and
Speaker 1: some of these other guys, but this guys barely appeared.
Speaker 1: But I think Nate Burlison could be better than almost
Speaker 1: anyone on this list based on the few games I've
Speaker 1: seen him do. UM. I had him as like a
Speaker 1: potential number five. I go and Dan, this is I'm
Speaker 1: not doing this to serve you. Um at number six
Speaker 1: a dish that you will like. But I think Brian
Speaker 1: Greasy has improved over the course of the season tremendously
Speaker 1: and there's something else that that three man booth is not.
Speaker 1: I don't think three man booths really work. I think
Speaker 1: that they keep trying to recreate magic from the past,
Speaker 1: and I think it drowns out Lewis Riddick a little bit,
Speaker 1: who I think could be great if the table is
Speaker 1: set for him. Um. He may be not a booth
Speaker 1: guy as much, but Greasy has worked really hard to
Speaker 1: build chemistry in that booth, and I think he's shaken
Speaker 1: off a little bit of his inability to critique last night,
Speaker 1: I thought he critiqued. Um. You know, in the last
Speaker 1: couple of games, he's been a little a little bit
Speaker 1: of a heavier hammer on things which I needed from him.
Speaker 1: M Yeah, I think he has had a nice season.
Speaker 1: Oh we're all I thought, you know, I think he
Speaker 1: speaks with confidence and I was admiring his work yesterday
Speaker 1: as well. I think he's good. Um, I think Moose
Speaker 1: Johnson is still should be in that second here. I
Speaker 1: kind of like the Moose. What I think Burkhard and
Speaker 1: Moose with Pam Oliver is a really solid team. I
Speaker 1: think he should be in that. That's my list. This
Speaker 1: is reminding me of Dr Z Paul Zimmerman. I used
Speaker 1: to do a yearly rankings of all the broadcast teams,
Speaker 1: and like they all hated him because of it basically
Speaker 1: like you know, I mean the ones that he liked,
Speaker 1: Like he always was big on Ron Pitts, so like
Speaker 1: Ron Pitts loved him. Um, but like yeah, he would
Speaker 1: like he would give them like zero out of five
Speaker 1: stars and pretty I think he hated the early like
Speaker 1: Bucking Akevid like he would bury them with like one star.
Speaker 1: I mean that's what I want to get to and
Speaker 1: as I keep getting um, keep getting older. Is really
Speaker 1: not care when these people hate you because they because
Speaker 1: everyone cares. They don't. There isn't a lot of criticism
Speaker 1: of these guys because everyone's like not criticism, but there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of ranking of these guys because everyone
Speaker 1: works with them and you don't want to deal with
Speaker 1: But you know what, Greg, I think one way to
Speaker 1: look at is like we take criticism too, not on
Speaker 1: the scale of these guys, but on social media and
Speaker 1: things of that nature. I mean, what we do for
Speaker 1: a living. So but I will say that Trent Green,
Speaker 1: having Trent Green and rich Gannon in our lives feels duplicative.
Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna you know, Gannon is much higher
Speaker 1: for me. I think Gannon's fine. I kind of like
Speaker 1: rich Gannon, He's fine. Just what do you think, Mark,
Speaker 1: anybody else you want to talk about? Is there somebody
Speaker 1: that you really don't need to hear? You don't want
Speaker 1: on a Browns game just say that the next little
Speaker 1: quick tire was Darryl Johnston, rich Gannon. Um, And for me,
Speaker 1: it moves into you know, for me, it's it's like
Speaker 1: I need to feel the chemistry between the play by
Speaker 1: playing the color commentator and in a lot of the
Speaker 1: lower groupings, to me are just still early slate games
Speaker 1: that don't UM change my feeling one way or the other.
Speaker 1: Games Loft in Trent Green are probably rounding out my list.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they put in a ton of work. I
Speaker 1: think that part of describing football, what we've learned through
Speaker 1: some of these teams is just because you played. UM.
Speaker 1: The ability to communicate what is happening UM and and
Speaker 1: to teach fans who are savvier than ever UM is
Speaker 1: a skill. And I think some of the guys that
Speaker 1: are lower on the list they're developing these skills, but um,
Speaker 1: you can't. I don't know. I just feel like there's
Speaker 1: there's some of these people that feel a little folksy,
Speaker 1: a little basic, and um, I need to be delighted,
Speaker 1: I said. I think I think like and then from
Speaker 1: the bottom of my list, like I did, like you know,
Speaker 1: Mark Slayreth, James lofton Trent Green, they know more than
Speaker 1: I do about football, But um, I'm not learning from
Speaker 1: them the same way on Sundays and I don't need
Speaker 1: to know that on third and eleven. You need twelve yards.
Speaker 1: That part I get, well that you know that that's
Speaker 1: really um yeah, just saying thing is that like are are?
Speaker 1: But that's it's just their person you know. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: just the personality. It's one. It's one reason why I
Speaker 1: love the Vilma Jonathan Vilma and Kenny Albert Booth. Jonathan
Speaker 1: Vilma like he's not as technically polished. I think it
Speaker 1: was his first full year, but he loves it and
Speaker 1: he loves defensive football in such a way that most
Speaker 1: of the color guys I think are offensive and it's
Speaker 1: almost all he talks about his defense. And he's just
Speaker 1: so fired up and it's so excited when things happen
Speaker 1: that that carries me. I love that booth. I love
Speaker 1: the Charles Davis and I an Eagle booth, and that's
Speaker 1: kind of the that's maybe one of the problems, and
Speaker 1: it's unfair, but it's like Monday night football, you're out
Speaker 1: an island and stuff. If I'm thinking of that, other
Speaker 1: networks have better, Uh, their number two booth is better
Speaker 1: than than your prime time booth, like an Ian Eagle
Speaker 1: Charles Davis booth, which is pristine. And then then you know,
Speaker 1: I like that like four times a telecast, Jonathan Vilma
Speaker 1: says something that makes Kenny Albert deeply uncomfortable. Like I
Speaker 1: give bonus points for that. Like he's a little loose
Speaker 1: with his lips, Jonathan Vilma, and he'll he'll say certain
Speaker 1: things that you don't hear, and I think that's good
Speaker 1: to keep to leave. He he is a guy that
Speaker 1: got a lot of buzz both ways on social media.
Speaker 1: He's kind of a prospect to watch. And a little
Speaker 1: shout out to Kurt Warner, who does really good stuff
Speaker 1: of when Warner and Tariko are together. That's that's another one.
Speaker 1: I love Kurt Warner on games. He is one. And
Speaker 1: it's not because we work with him. I mean he
Speaker 1: is so he is. That's another one. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: put that one in print. I kind of I kind
Speaker 1: of forgot about that because he's he's strictly radio, but um,
Speaker 1: it's fit funny to me because I think he shines,
Speaker 1: absolutely shines on radio as a color commentator and then
Speaker 1: you put these guys on on sets to talk generally
Speaker 1: about games, and it was a little bit less of
Speaker 1: Kurt Warner for me, Like he's so much better analyzing
Speaker 1: the game as it's happening. It's a really special skill
Speaker 1: and you have to have the right personality and flair
Speaker 1: all right. Now, again, if anyone is listening to the
Speaker 1: show that is directly connected to today's analysis, Uh, it
Speaker 1: came from Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler and you can
Speaker 1: reach out to them on Twitter. And also they are
Speaker 1: once we get out of this pandemic. Uh, they are
Speaker 1: at most of the tent Pole League events at well
Speaker 1: as well. Feel free to address any concerns. And ultimately,
Speaker 1: small men compared to the average I mean, especially especially
Speaker 1: me physically physically. Yes, they may think it's the other
Speaker 1: way as well, based on some of the shooting behind
Speaker 1: bulletproof glass. But listen, it's it's just part of the gig. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't need to be, you know, at the top
Speaker 1: of their podcast sidecar rankings either. So can you tell
Speaker 1: the Greg? Can you tell the story? Have we ever
Speaker 1: talked about this stuff? Now? And now you've been weird.
Speaker 1: You are asking for a lot today, Dan, in terms
Speaker 1: of you know, Greg and Mark burning every bridge surrounding
Speaker 1: them off the island. We can't talk about the breakfast story.
Speaker 1: You already have done enough alright, listen, I just had
Speaker 1: to ask like as as a JOURNALI you know, when
Speaker 1: you want to get you do not leave until Chambers.
Speaker 1: And that's for that's for our behind the music that
Speaker 1: we're gonna do the podcast in five years. I understand that. Okay, Erica,
Speaker 1: how you doing doing? Great? Erica cannot be more bored
Speaker 1: of us by us, like breaking down the difference between
Speaker 1: that Joe Davis and Kevin Coogler here less version of
Speaker 1: the Mandalorian. You're saying it's so weird. Yeah, you do
Speaker 1: say why do you say it weird? Are you intentionally?
Speaker 1: I guarantee you. I don't know. I have no idea, Erica,
Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite play by play color team
Speaker 1: or is and I say this like not mocking or
Speaker 1: in anyway or do you just watch the game and
Speaker 1: not plug in on that way because that's the way
Speaker 1: most people are? UM, A little bit of both. I
Speaker 1: do like Tony Romo um and nance. But I do
Speaker 1: think Kevin Harlan's the best. He's awesome and he was
Speaker 1: a great guest on this exactly. He was not nice
Speaker 1: and remember remember he said he'd sit in his hotel
Speaker 1: room like in Green Bay in Blast NFL Films music
Speaker 1: to get ready for that that kind of stuff. Like,
Speaker 1: I also think he's creative. He's not just a technical dude.
Speaker 1: Like he'll go into these poem poems and poetics that
Speaker 1: no one else can do. So he's basket to right,
Speaker 1: he's like he's a big And then radio and yet
Speaker 1: you're yet CBS is sometimes sticking him on like the
Speaker 1: fourth game, come on, CBS. Well, he's out of position.
Speaker 1: He should be doing the best of the best, very good.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's an interesting who they paired him with.
Speaker 1: But I'll I'll stop speaking. Aman bugs me. Oh please,
Speaker 1: you don't like Aman. It's fine. He's uncut this year.
Speaker 1: I think I think it's partly because he's doing it
Speaker 1: twice a week and they and he said something about
Speaker 1: they told him make the Thursday nights a little like
Speaker 1: more punchy, a little moreever, and now you're traveling around
Speaker 1: during a pandemic. It's like, I'm out here sweating for you,
Speaker 1: flying all over the country during pandemic. What the fike
Speaker 1: care if the special teams coaching doesn't like me? And
Speaker 1: he's just flying off the buying off the hint. You know,
Speaker 1: there has been moments this season where like Jarra's yelling
Speaker 1: at the screen, well what do you do? And Troy
Speaker 1: I thought we had an understanding he was. He was
Speaker 1: burying Jared Goff the other day and to the point
Speaker 1: where Jared Goff's had some you know people media support
Speaker 1: is being like, why is choice? Why is choice of
Speaker 1: being so hard on him? It's like, comes him. It's funny.
Speaker 1: Those two guys, Goff and Wentz, who went at the
Speaker 1: top of their draft class together, are punching bags this year.
Speaker 1: Everybody getting there getting their chance to tee off on
Speaker 1: those two struggling qbs um all right, well they earned it,
Speaker 1: but it just feels like there's been some extra zest
Speaker 1: in the criticism towards those two guys this year my opinion.
Speaker 1: All right, that's the only opinion I shared today. I
Speaker 1: let everyone else handle the heavy lifting. I appreciate it. Boys. Um.
Speaker 1: Thank you again to Peter Schrager, who's a stud Watch
Speaker 1: him on Good Morning Football five days a week and
Speaker 1: uh on Fox where he does great work as well.
Speaker 1: And we will be back on Thursday when we will
Speaker 1: preview yes weeks seventeen, and that is the biggest preview
Speaker 1: episode of the year for us in terms of pure
Speaker 1: gamage because there will be seventeen excuse me, six sixteen
Speaker 1: teams times two. That's how many teams are. There will
Speaker 1: be sixteen games to preview on Sunday, so make sure
Speaker 1: you tune in for that. And as a little tease
Speaker 1: Dan for that. Obviously, we've got some news around golf.
Speaker 1: But another star from the RAMS placed on the COVID
Speaker 1: list that you're gonna wanna you know, hear about? Are
Speaker 1: you teasing that for Thursday? So don't check your phone.
Speaker 1: You probably know this if you're a big enough fan
Speaker 1: to listen to our show by now. Anyways, don't check
Speaker 1: your phone, don't check the news. There is a RAMS
Speaker 1: star associate, big star associated with Third Down that is
Speaker 1: has now gone onto the COVID list. So just wait
Speaker 1: until Thursday to find out. Okay, that's a that's an
Speaker 1: industry term known as a cliffhanger. You will find out
Speaker 1: which RAMS star went to the COVID list in two
Speaker 1: full days, all right, Mrs an has a signing off
Speaker 1: for five cents or the old boss Ricky Hollywood behind
Speaker 1: the virtual last untiled Thursday set