Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast Never Fades The Big Dog.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Around the NFL Podcast. I'm Dan hansis
Speaker 1: joined in a virtual room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal. The big Dog is Derrick Henry. It's Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry's birthday. Titans fans are ready to celebrate running backs return.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Derrick Henry, boys, how are you, by the way,
Speaker 1: doing great? Doing great? Danny great, doing fair to well,
Speaker 1: Fair to well. Greg, I we were We had a
Speaker 1: little cameo there on the NFL Now program today and
Speaker 1: you moved away from the tie. And I'm not saying
Speaker 1: it had anything to do with me. In fact, me
Speaker 1: mentioning that you shouldn't wear a tie, He's only gonna
Speaker 1: make you want to wear a tie more. But I
Speaker 1: just I like seeing Greg in the Greg jacket and um,
Speaker 1: you know Henley or whatever over Greg in the suit
Speaker 1: and tie. It wasn't it wasn't ut and down. I
Speaker 1: don't mind ties. You you have this phrase and you
Speaker 1: said it on the show. When you when you're in
Speaker 1: the tie, that's when you know they get you. To me.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't think that way getting you is
Speaker 1: mental and uh I'm fine wearing a tie. I told you, like,
Speaker 1: I would be fine if we had to wear a uniform,
Speaker 1: because then you're like, you don't have to think about it.
Speaker 1: It's fine. I don't care about my fashion. Loves a
Speaker 1: school girl uniform. I you know, I remember working My
Speaker 1: mom worked at a big insurance company, and UM, I
Speaker 1: worked in the mail room for a couple of summers
Speaker 1: in college, and I do remember. And this is to
Speaker 1: not say anything denigrating about people that work cubical life,
Speaker 1: because it's a you know, a massive part of our
Speaker 1: country in terms of the workforce. Even though things are
Speaker 1: changing now it's not anymore. But I remember thinking, you know,
Speaker 1: seeing everyone that I just didn't I never wanted to
Speaker 1: be in the tie. I didn't want to be in
Speaker 1: a cubicle, which took me to like being on the
Speaker 1: side lines at high school football games, freezing my butt off,
Speaker 1: like after college, following a sports dream. But it kind
Speaker 1: of was born out of not wanting to wear a
Speaker 1: tie every day in a lot of ways. I mean,
Speaker 1: here's the thing, Like I think Greg knows, I've been
Speaker 1: on anti tie beat for UM a while now, and
Speaker 1: for many of the reasons that you mentioned. And I
Speaker 1: had jobs for years, like in downtown l A where
Speaker 1: you had to wear a tie, and there's definitely when
Speaker 1: you were on the East Coast that was, you know,
Speaker 1: requisite for plenty of jobs too. For some reason, that
Speaker 1: didn't quite bug me. But I when I think about
Speaker 1: what a tie is like it serves. I don't need
Speaker 1: it to be functional. Not all fashion needs to be functional,
Speaker 1: but the concept of a tie at this point, I
Speaker 1: think we are post ties as even being kind of stylish,
Speaker 1: Like they look um suppressive on so many joke they
Speaker 1: look suppressive and they look like they're keeping um people prisoner.
Speaker 1: To some degree, That's how I feel in one unless
Speaker 1: you do the thing where like you know, you're it's
Speaker 1: after the wedding or something, you've loosened the tie, the
Speaker 1: shirt is pulled open. I like that look. That look
Speaker 1: I think is a positive one. Well, yeah, you famously
Speaker 1: wear a button down shirt every day in your life,
Speaker 1: whether you're going to the beach, whether it's like Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 1: You are a man who's not about being like ultra
Speaker 1: casual in this climate. I'm not, but I but I,
Speaker 1: but I don't rail against button down shirts. I've consistently
Speaker 1: railed against ties as a concept, and I think um
Speaker 1: Dan is correct that Greg, because we pushed against it,
Speaker 1: you're pushing against us. And I kind of think that's
Speaker 1: noble if you're just like, I'm gonna lean into this
Speaker 1: tie thing. I mean, I don't wear it too much,
Speaker 1: but I like wearing them. Fine, I got no problems
Speaker 1: with it. You know, sometimes it looks better than the
Speaker 1: shirt without the tie. If you're I don't really like
Speaker 1: wearing any button up, button up shirts. But once you
Speaker 1: go there, like maybe you know as as them as
Speaker 1: they say complete the suit. Now, the pocket square completes
Speaker 1: the suit. No one ever said the tie does. But
Speaker 1: that tie, that tie is part of it. The tie
Speaker 1: is part of the completion. They're they're assuming you have
Speaker 1: the tie. All right. Let just be yourself, man, whatever
Speaker 1: whatever makes you feel like you that's the most important thing. Yes,
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, I mentioned it's his birthday. Had he stayed
Speaker 1: healthy this year, he'd be knocking on the door of
Speaker 1: an NFL record, I'm sure for rushing yards in a season.
Speaker 1: And um I did reach out to the l A
Speaker 1: researchers gang here at NFL Network. They do great work,
Speaker 1: and I said, you know this is unprecedented territory. It's
Speaker 1: Week eighteen. We've never had a Week eight team before.
Speaker 1: Then Greg said, oh what about ninete when there were
Speaker 1: two buys nailed at Greg? Good nug there. But this
Speaker 1: is a this is a different situation. What records and
Speaker 1: milestones are in danger now that we have an extra week.
Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna throw out a few. That's how
Speaker 1: we'll get into the show. It is a football podcast,
Speaker 1: after all. Cooper Cup is a hundred and thirty six
Speaker 1: receiving yards away from breaking Calvin Johnson's two thousand, twelve
Speaker 1: record of one thousand, nine hundred and sixty four in
Speaker 1: the season. He's also a hundred and seventy one yards
Speaker 1: away from creating the two thousand club. No one's done
Speaker 1: that be or The Cup also needs twelve catches uh
Speaker 1: to break Michael Thomas's record of one Do anybody feel
Speaker 1: good about that? Is he gonna catch any of these marks?
Speaker 1: You think? Who do they got? The Niners? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think he could get that, but he said he said
Speaker 1: Monday or Sunday that like it shouldn't count. Like he's
Speaker 1: like negging himself. He's like, Wow, it's a seventeen game season,
Speaker 1: it should have an asterik. It's like I didn't do
Speaker 1: it in the same amount of games. I don't think
Speaker 1: like that's first of all, it's not up to him
Speaker 1: whether or not it should count. Like I get where
Speaker 1: it's a nice humble approach, but there were decades where
Speaker 1: there were four teen games, and prior to that, there
Speaker 1: were decades where there were ten or twelve, And it's like,
Speaker 1: we're there're soon going to be eighteen games, So are
Speaker 1: we going to continually cling to the model that is,
Speaker 1: you know, fading in the background, like new records will
Speaker 1: be broken, and it's you just you just can't really,
Speaker 1: we can't stop. The ship crown is more impressive anyways.
Speaker 1: I think like the receptions, yards of touchdowns all on
Speaker 1: the same season, that's pretty impressive the fourteen game season,
Speaker 1: but hey ever says that, and so it was always
Speaker 1: fourteen and sixteen groups together. Like O. J. Simpson, who
Speaker 1: in many other ways is not someone who needs to
Speaker 1: be brought up on the show, but it should be
Speaker 1: mentioned that he he ran for two thousand yards in
Speaker 1: a fourteen game season. I believe Joe Namath had the
Speaker 1: passing record UH in a fourteen game season. Now he's
Speaker 1: like seven thousandth all time, probably in a season, but
Speaker 1: there was a time where you had the record. Anyway,
Speaker 1: let's get back on track. Um. Jonathan Taylor needs two
Speaker 1: sixty six to get two thousand. Um. He is playing
Speaker 1: the Jaguars. He had two d fifty three yards last
Speaker 1: year in week seventeen. If you guys recall, so you
Speaker 1: got that Brady. Tom Brady in year twenty one needs
Speaker 1: four eight passing yards to break Peyton Manning single season
Speaker 1: record for five thousand, four hundred and seventy seven yards.
Speaker 1: Another stretch, but doable. We know what's going on with
Speaker 1: t J. Watt right now. He had four sacks against
Speaker 1: the Browns. We're gonna get to Monday night football in
Speaker 1: just a couple of minutes. The four sacks moved him
Speaker 1: to twenty one and a half, which is one behind
Speaker 1: Michael a Hand's record of twenty two and a half. Uh.
Speaker 1: He is now the first player to reach twenty sacks
Speaker 1: in a season since Aaron Donald had twenty and a
Speaker 1: half and twenty eighteen. But remember, if you listening to
Speaker 1: this pod in the summertime, we had the great al
Speaker 1: Bubba Baker on at a local McDonald's, and he had
Speaker 1: twenty three sacks for the nineteen seventy eight Lions. Pro
Speaker 1: Football Reference recognizes that as the record, stax didn't become
Speaker 1: sacks didn't become a statistic till eighty two. Treyvon Diggs
Speaker 1: has eleven picks. The Super Bowl era record is thirteen
Speaker 1: by lester Um Jamaar Chase needs forty five yards to
Speaker 1: set the rookie receiving record. Bill Groman had fourteen seventy
Speaker 1: three and nineteen sixty. Kyle Pitts and Its needs fifty
Speaker 1: nine yards to set the rookie tight end receiving record
Speaker 1: currently one thousand, seventy six Spy Ditka and seventy one
Speaker 1: and finally, Mico Parsons needs two sacks to set the
Speaker 1: rookie sack record. The rookie record is four teen and
Speaker 1: a half in nineteen ninety nine by you guys got
Speaker 1: ah let's see nine rookie pass rusher blew up. The
Speaker 1: world went to a Super Bowl with the Titans. Curse
Speaker 1: von Curse Titans like struggling to get this name. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's all right, So there you go. That's just setting
Speaker 1: the table for numbers and data I like stats. Not
Speaker 1: good at math, but I've always loved statistics. Wattles trying
Speaker 1: to break a receptions record I believe too. He's three
Speaker 1: away from Bolden's record of one oh one set in
Speaker 1: two thousand three. The what one I think it is
Speaker 1: it is time for that to happen. By the way,
Speaker 1: he missed games, I think he played in fourteen, so
Speaker 1: there'd be like an asterix on tops of the top
Speaker 1: of the asterix there. But like we need to get
Speaker 1: the strayhand thing out of our worlds talking point. They
Speaker 1: almost weren't, you know, that was a big deal on
Speaker 1: the Monday night giving it get to that. But I
Speaker 1: hope they make a big deal about it. That's the
Speaker 1: one of all these that to me is the spiciest.
Speaker 1: And yes, I think the asterix actually cancel each other out.
Speaker 1: That's what I mean. It would be like, you can't
Speaker 1: you can't asterix this because we have an asterix to
Speaker 1: show you that that one doesn't matter. This is if
Speaker 1: he indeed plays and doesn't get covided or anything out
Speaker 1: of the situation. Week eighteen, it will be his sixteenth
Speaker 1: game of the season, which matches with straight hand um. Hypothetically,
Speaker 1: I believe played that year as well, so or Game
Speaker 1: right plus straight Hand as the ultimate Asterix. It's funny
Speaker 1: because people do remember this stuff. I mean, it's like
Speaker 1: him getting it in such a shameful manner. I think
Speaker 1: over the years has somehow made his accomplishment like lesser,
Speaker 1: because you know, he had an amazing season, even if
Speaker 1: he didn't get that sack that way, Like it was
Speaker 1: an incredible season, and yet he's kind of, uh, he's
Speaker 1: kind of pooped on and because of the way he
Speaker 1: got it. And even if I played even the slightest
Speaker 1: role in helping to denigrate that record, something you're leading,
Speaker 1: a slight role would be, you know, I think you
Speaker 1: had a co starring role or sort of a special
Speaker 1: guest appearance one of these two. All right, we're gonna,
Speaker 1: by the way, with the new year, the calendar flipping over,
Speaker 1: so much uncertainty in the world right now, we're gonna
Speaker 1: keep it positive and optimistic and talk about what we're
Speaker 1: looking forward to now that we're in the year two.
Speaker 1: But before that, let's close the door. On week seventeen,
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football, third and three, Naji gets the call,
Speaker 1: cuts it back through the hole. He's on his way
Speaker 1: he's on twenty what Prince purg Dinner cutdown, Harris Wow, Wow,
Speaker 1: Nagy Harris Bill Hill Grove with the call for w
Speaker 1: V Yes, that was the cherry on top of The
Speaker 1: Steelers had a very underwhelming, underwhelming game offensively, with Ben
Speaker 1: rathls Burger throwing forty six passes with very little success,
Speaker 1: but it didn't matter because the Pittsburgh defense went nuts
Speaker 1: on the fading Browns and Baker Mayfield picking up nine
Speaker 1: sacks in a fourteen win over their division rivals. That's
Speaker 1: a season suite for the Steelers after Cleveland knock Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs an embarrassing fashion last January. And
Speaker 1: Greg will start with you on this at the Steelers.
Speaker 1: Clearly Tomlin wanted to make this game special. Pittsburgh still
Speaker 1: in the playoff hunt, they need to win next week
Speaker 1: and they need a loss by the Colts to Jacksonville.
Speaker 1: But I think Tomlin Brunton Center was like, I want
Speaker 1: this special for Ben. We wanted him to have a
Speaker 1: big game that let him throw all day or all night,
Speaker 1: and it's just like it wasn't happening, which just underlines
Speaker 1: why they need to kind of move on and I
Speaker 1: think everyone's on the same page, including Ben Roethlisberger. Try
Speaker 1: to make it into this like feel good saying goodbye
Speaker 1: to a legend, and it is that for Pittsburgh, but
Speaker 1: it's not for the rest of the country. There is
Speaker 1: no you know, great quarterback I think over the last
Speaker 1: twenty years that's less beloved than Ben Roethlisberger. It's not
Speaker 1: just in the a f C. North. I think he's
Speaker 1: been an underrated player for much of his career. I
Speaker 1: don't think people understood that he was a legit top
Speaker 1: five guy for a long stretch when they weren't winning
Speaker 1: Super Bowls. I think was when he played his very
Speaker 1: best super Bowl. But by now he's he's an example
Speaker 1: of of hanging out a year too long and and
Speaker 1: not being very fun to watch. And they're trying to
Speaker 1: have a Kobe's Last Game type of field to this,
Speaker 1: Kobe puts up fifty shots in his last game, except
Speaker 1: Kobe was awesome. Uh. Ben Roethlisberger drops back to past
Speaker 1: forty eight times and they end up with a hundred
Speaker 1: nine passing yards. No one in the history of the
Speaker 1: NFL has ever had fewer yards passing throwing the ball
Speaker 1: forty five times than Ben Roethlisberger, and that yet he
Speaker 1: gets put the lipstick on the pig at the end
Speaker 1: and say, well, it hasn't been pretty for me for
Speaker 1: much of my career. Um, but we got the win,
Speaker 1: and that's what my career has been about. It's like,
Speaker 1: no Ben Roethlisberger, as as a passer and as an
Speaker 1: offense has been pretty. I know they want some like
Speaker 1: defensive games and everything, but this is a different Steelers team.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a bad offense. It was. It was
Speaker 1: a tough, tough watch for for everyone, I think, right.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know, I know Steelers fans like enjoyed
Speaker 1: that they want and it was cool. It's definitely like
Speaker 1: a great moment, but it was also like one of
Speaker 1: the worst games, if not the worst statistical game of
Speaker 1: his entire career. Yeah, but I but I think, like
Speaker 1: I think from the macro, like that the no one
Speaker 1: expected the Steelers to explode offensively suddenly in a vacuum
Speaker 1: last night. I mean, they did what they needed to do.
Speaker 1: They got just enough to win the game, and it's
Speaker 1: more a ceremonial moment. I'm with you that I think
Speaker 1: that it's hard to find a quarterback that is as
Speaker 1: celebrated in one's hometown and has had such a storied
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame career. Um, in arguably, who doesn't move
Speaker 1: the needle in terms of like any sort of emotional
Speaker 1: happiness in most other cities. UM, I think maybe even
Speaker 1: it's the Browns fan or the Bengals, a Ravens fan
Speaker 1: who feels a little bit more about the event because
Speaker 1: of what Big Ben has meant in Cleveland's life, for instance,
Speaker 1: like they should have drafted him and and they've paid
Speaker 1: the price for, you know, sixteen seventeen years since for
Speaker 1: not having done that. It's kind of like watching from
Speaker 1: a Browns fan angle watching John Elwig go out, or
Speaker 1: watching you know, someone that just terrorized you, and at
Speaker 1: the end you kind of I'm not saying respect, you
Speaker 1: kind of say, I kind of just gotta take my
Speaker 1: hat off to the way this team is run because
Speaker 1: it's so counter to what most other teams were doing,
Speaker 1: and especially my own. Yeah, I would say, like my
Speaker 1: general thought is like, well, if you weren't really taken
Speaker 1: aback by the drama around the end of the game,
Speaker 1: well that's who cares. It's not for you, that was
Speaker 1: for the Steelers and their fan base and Big Ben
Speaker 1: and all the people that have cared about that UH
Speaker 1: team for the past twenty years. And I think there
Speaker 1: should be a good amount of respect for you know,
Speaker 1: take out the off the field stuff. Just as a player,
Speaker 1: what he's been able to do. He's never gonna he's
Speaker 1: gonna go an entire season without a losing season. He
Speaker 1: you know, the fact that they have multiple Super Bowl rings.
Speaker 1: They are always in the mix. And at the same time,
Speaker 1: like you mentioned Kobe, because I agree, I think Tomlin
Speaker 1: is trying to give him his Kobe moment against the Jazz.
Speaker 1: And I remember watching that Kobe game and he scored
Speaker 1: sixty points on a butt ton of shots to get
Speaker 1: to sixty fifty shots to get sixty points. But he
Speaker 1: hit a lot of big shots in the game, and
Speaker 1: he was doing on muscle memory with his jump shot.
Speaker 1: UH Ben doesn't have that. There's no muscle memory anymore
Speaker 1: for Ben Roethlisberg. He's just shot, period. So turn into
Speaker 1: the game. I thought it was notable that on a
Speaker 1: day where Big Ben average two points seven yards per
Speaker 1: per attempt, which is unheard of, two point seven, it's
Speaker 1: like half of the Gabbard zone. It was naj Harris,
Speaker 1: who's really been grinding out a good rookie season on
Speaker 1: a not very good offense. And it was again t J.
Speaker 1: Watt with the four sacks uh and completely obliterating the
Speaker 1: Cleveland offensive line and Baker Mayfield for the nine sacks,
Speaker 1: and it's just a domination of Cleveland. Mark. I'm curious
Speaker 1: where where you come down on the Browns here, because, um,
Speaker 1: they certainly seem a little flat to me. I guess
Speaker 1: that's to be understood. They were eliminated from the playoffs
Speaker 1: the day before, but you kind of hope that they
Speaker 1: were gonna come with a little more fighting this game.
Speaker 1: And then there's the familiar question now of what is
Speaker 1: Kevin Stefanski doing with his best player in offense, Nick Chubb,
Speaker 1: who had had five carries in the first half twelve
Speaker 1: overall against the thirty ranked defense in the league in
Speaker 1: terms of d v o A against the run. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you know, they mentioned that Nick
Speaker 1: Chubb was not healthy after the half, but I mean
Speaker 1: that charts back to the Packers game, the way he
Speaker 1: was poorly handled. And you know, from a macro angle,
Speaker 1: you mentioned a year ago at this time where it
Speaker 1: looked like Cleveland might be the next big thing in
Speaker 1: the a f C. And it was like the coach
Speaker 1: is a genius. The front office have no issues to
Speaker 1: deal with, and when they do, they know how to
Speaker 1: handle them. You've got a quarterback that looks like he's
Speaker 1: in the right system and streaking down the you know,
Speaker 1: the tail end of the season, and suddenly let's go
Speaker 1: test ourselves against the Chiefs and see how you are
Speaker 1: against the highest possible power in the a f C.
Speaker 1: And it was like, to me, it was house money.
Speaker 1: You just had a chance to go find out how
Speaker 1: that went. And went into the off season with so
Speaker 1: much hope, but a lot of it had to do
Speaker 1: with vanquishing the Steelers and the optics around Big Ben
Speaker 1: sitting with the pouncy brother shedding tears and thinking we
Speaker 1: might have just broken this team after all these ill events.
Speaker 1: And then a year later you've got the Ravens still
Speaker 1: being the Ravens. The Steelers. I understand there's a lot
Speaker 1: of question marks going into this off season, but you
Speaker 1: just trust them and they basically just embarrassed the Brown's
Speaker 1: team and now it's still look in its own state
Speaker 1: at Cincinnati and say wait a minute. Next maybe the
Speaker 1: next Chiefs are not the Browns but the Bengals, and
Speaker 1: maybe they're going to be hanging around for the next
Speaker 1: sixteen years. So I thought the microcosm of like where
Speaker 1: you were a year ago to how disorganized they were
Speaker 1: last night, and you talk about not protecting the your
Speaker 1: right tackle. James Hudson was a rookie against t J. Watt.
Speaker 1: I feel like, how many times did you watch like
Speaker 1: James Hudson lifting Baker Mayfield off the grass by the
Speaker 1: back of his shoulder pads. It was horrible site. They
Speaker 1: don't adjust. Their offense has been a dead heat for
Speaker 1: two months, and I think everything that was positive a
Speaker 1: year ago you look at the Browns right now and
Speaker 1: say it is raging question marks. It starts at quarterback
Speaker 1: and extends outward. I think you can and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about the Browns a lot in terms of the off season.
Speaker 1: I think they'll feel pretty good about their offensive line,
Speaker 1: their defensive talent, and their coaching staff, and they'll they'll
Speaker 1: want to upgrade at quarterback. I think that's that's the
Speaker 1: direction they're going. But I think that game almost felt
Speaker 1: like an evaluation. I mean, I don't think stefan Ski
Speaker 1: is like, no, only like trying to put Baker in
Speaker 1: a bad spot. But he told Peyton Manning, if they're
Speaker 1: in base, and that's that's what the Patriots did. They
Speaker 1: kept all their heavy personnel on the field, what a
Speaker 1: lot of teams since that Patriots game has done. And
Speaker 1: they're gonna just man up. And this was the highest
Speaker 1: percentage of man coverage Pittsburgh Steelers have ever played against
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin. And these aren't great cornerbacks there in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: for the most part. Um, we are gonna try to
Speaker 1: We're gonna throw them out of it. And Peyton Manning
Speaker 1: was being like, I I know that sounds good, but
Speaker 1: it's it's not a good play on obviously, Like that's
Speaker 1: what you do if you have a competent passing attack,
Speaker 1: but you don't. And they tried to throw them out
Speaker 1: of it. And it was basically the Steelers saying, we
Speaker 1: don't respect Baker Mayfield and you're passing attacking your receivers.
Speaker 1: I think the receivers are part of it. Those aren't
Speaker 1: guys who are ultra dynamic beating people. Uh, we don't
Speaker 1: trust them, and uh try to beat us that way
Speaker 1: and they did, and and for many times this year,
Speaker 1: Baker in the passing game struggled and it's the same stuff,
Speaker 1: Like a lot of those sacks were on Baker. He holds,
Speaker 1: helds the ball forever. He does not make quick decision,
Speaker 1: he doesn't see the field, and these are problems that
Speaker 1: are going back like a while, and they didn't have
Speaker 1: a solution for that. And and the the way that
Speaker 1: he said that he's going to talk to his agent
Speaker 1: and family about whether he plays in week eighteen, I
Speaker 1: thought he's out. He's not very telling. I know he's
Speaker 1: out now the Browns have officially ruled that, but the
Speaker 1: way he said agent and family, it just felt like
Speaker 1: it's the end. He's got a tradeable contract and we
Speaker 1: probably won't see him in Cleveland again. That's see. I'm
Speaker 1: a little torn on that because here's the thing. I
Speaker 1: think I've said this on the podcast. I thought they
Speaker 1: should have put um case Keenum in the in the
Speaker 1: line of weeks ago and we kept on hearing over
Speaker 1: and over again that Baker was compromised physically and wasn't
Speaker 1: able to play at a high level. Well, then maybe
Speaker 1: fixing change things up and your season ends differently, And
Speaker 1: then I think about, if he's indeed is injured, as
Speaker 1: we've been told all year, do you really want to
Speaker 1: cut bait with him now, knowing what he was when
Speaker 1: he was healthy last year down the stretch, what he
Speaker 1: looked like against the Chiefs in the week one before
Speaker 1: the injury in week two. UM, I feel like that's
Speaker 1: a dangerous roll of the dice, Like what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do. You're gonna bring in Jimmy Garoppolo or something,
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna say, now we're better, You're gonna
Speaker 1: swing for the fences. You might it might be the
Speaker 1: Shaun Watson, which has its own questions, But if that's
Speaker 1: the right move, I don't think that's that's the right move.
Speaker 1: I just don't think it's as cut and dry as
Speaker 1: all right, now we get let's kick Baker out the door.
Speaker 1: It might turn out that way, but I think there's
Speaker 1: some risk there as well. They know him so well now,
Speaker 1: they know who he is so well, they know what
Speaker 1: this version is. The guy whose arm is in a
Speaker 1: sling and has beat up all over his body. They
Speaker 1: knew as limitations last year too, and I think they've
Speaker 1: had a long enough time that look if they believe
Speaker 1: in him. They'll believe in him, and maybe he doesn't
Speaker 1: get the contract this year and they will keep him.
Speaker 1: But if they like they've seen enough, whether when you
Speaker 1: was good and when he was bad, because a lot
Speaker 1: of the problems he had now, I don't think you
Speaker 1: can put on on the shoulder. Well all right, but
Speaker 1: I think the shoulder is creating issues that we also
Speaker 1: cannot discern. I mean it, I think it impacted his
Speaker 1: play to Dan to your point, Dan, it's like, fine,
Speaker 1: you want to move on for Baker maybel I think
Speaker 1: the way that happens is because I think he's tradeable
Speaker 1: in terms of a package for you send him to Houston, reverse,
Speaker 1: you send him to Seattle and reverse in a pie
Speaker 1: in the sky scenario that there's an asset there that
Speaker 1: another team could think they could work with. But it
Speaker 1: has to be it's like if there, If he's gone,
Speaker 1: it's because they brought in someone that's simply he cannot
Speaker 1: coexist with. If they can't find that person, and it's
Speaker 1: very possible that Cleveland is not going to get one
Speaker 1: of these two or three like mega star quarterbacks, then
Speaker 1: I don't have a problem with keeping him around for
Speaker 1: another year. On that fifth year option, because the idea
Speaker 1: of going back to nothing and hoping that you find
Speaker 1: some rookie in the second or third round or like
Speaker 1: God forbid, and this is not you know, if you
Speaker 1: try to fill in the void with a Teddy Bridgewater
Speaker 1: or a Jamis Winston or something like that, I think
Speaker 1: you're cycling and moving and reverse at that point, because
Speaker 1: that's just another year long patch. If anything, Let Baker
Speaker 1: be the one more year long patch and you come
Speaker 1: up with other plans on Teddy. Do you want to
Speaker 1: gamble on Winston? You want to get on a tour?
Speaker 1: Or do you want to gamble on Baker? Like I'll
Speaker 1: take the guy in my building who has given us
Speaker 1: special moments that I know is a high character guy,
Speaker 1: even if the play isn't there. That's just that's how
Speaker 1: I would handle it. But I don't know if there
Speaker 1: might be more going on here behind the scenes at
Speaker 1: this point. You never know. It's just yes, some of
Speaker 1: the things with some of the stories coming out the
Speaker 1: way he said that they but it's a football evaluation.
Speaker 1: If he had all the football traits that they want,
Speaker 1: then he'll be there. And and I think there's no
Speaker 1: chance they go down the Teddy type of route, because
Speaker 1: they'll only get rid of Baker if they have like
Speaker 1: a replacement. But one of the things I watched when
Speaker 1: you see him is just like he's not a quick
Speaker 1: decision maker and does he have And that's fine, like
Speaker 1: neither's Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson, But does he have
Speaker 1: special traits to make up for that? I don't think
Speaker 1: he's He's showing the accuracy might be it, But the
Speaker 1: stat that always gets me, and this is going back
Speaker 1: to his rookie years, he converts pressure into sacks more
Speaker 1: than any quarterback in football. No one takes more unnecessary
Speaker 1: sacks than Baker Mayfield. And that hasn't improved. And it's
Speaker 1: been with three different coaching staffs. Like they have the
Speaker 1: fourth or fifth like best pass block win rate this
Speaker 1: year and he's taken those sacks And to me, that's
Speaker 1: like a processing thing. And this staff has had him
Speaker 1: for two years, so I I just think they might
Speaker 1: be done with them and want a different try. Alright,
Speaker 1: So back to Pittsburgh. As I said, they have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to make the playoffs there eight seven and one.
Speaker 1: They have to take care of the fading Ravens and
Speaker 1: week eighteen and then get a win from the Jaguars
Speaker 1: over the Colts, who, by the way, and this is
Speaker 1: a weird stat and I could save this for the
Speaker 1: preview show, but since we're mentioning it right now, everyone
Speaker 1: looks past this coach Jaguars game, when rightfully so did
Speaker 1: Aggs are on another terrible losing streak. They're the worst
Speaker 1: team in football. But the Cults are a little weird.
Speaker 1: It is a little bit of a weird team with
Speaker 1: a quarterback that's not to be trusted. And the Jaguars
Speaker 1: home record since two thousand fifteen, uh six and oh
Speaker 1: against the Colts fifteen and thirty five against everyone else.
Speaker 1: Just you know, just a little food for thought. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying there's gonna be an upset of the century,
Speaker 1: but just thrown it in there. You dialed up some
Speaker 1: um precision prognostications a week ago. Maybe you you know
Speaker 1: this is the next version of it. You can't help
Speaker 1: what comes into your head. You just you cannot help
Speaker 1: it when you become a crystal ball man. You know
Speaker 1: they could lose thirty one to three. Earlier this season,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars to the Colts in a game that I've
Speaker 1: never seen a quarterback play worse than Carson Wentz did
Speaker 1: in the thirty one to three victories. I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's a positive for the Jaguars or a negative.
Speaker 1: I would say it's a negative that you had a
Speaker 1: good day against Carson Wentz and still lost, is correct.
Speaker 1: But plus they're going to in one. Mark has the
Speaker 1: Sandwiches on it. He had to be feeling mixed feelings
Speaker 1: last night because, um, you know, the Steelers, Okay, they
Speaker 1: got to their eight wins. Now, I could see them
Speaker 1: losing to the Ravens certainly next this week and and
Speaker 1: get into eight and one. Eight and one was up here.
Speaker 1: You know, anything to do with the Browns was down here.
Speaker 1: So I like my main goal remains intact here. It
Speaker 1: is funny that, like the whole thing was, you know,
Speaker 1: it was his last home game either way, but it
Speaker 1: really was like a goodbye and this and that. Like
Speaker 1: the playoffs, like everyone's it's so disrespectful of the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: Everyone's just assuming the Steelers like have no chance. Even
Speaker 1: the Steelers are assuming they like have no chance to
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. It seems by those respect Greg absolutely,
Speaker 1: I respect the last thing on I do want to
Speaker 1: circle back one last thing on Ben. There is something
Speaker 1: funny about Ben. We've talked a guess always so long.
Speaker 1: I don't know why. I guess had three final points,
Speaker 1: so like here it comes fourth. This Ben thing like
Speaker 1: the reason we would make fun of him through out
Speaker 1: the course of his career and is like he always
Speaker 1: makes it about Ben as much as possible. Right, it
Speaker 1: didn't you even feel like the end, like the end
Speaker 1: of that game, the way it happened, that he's all
Speaker 1: out there by himself, there's no team, there's no nothing
Speaker 1: that it just was like and it was. It was great,
Speaker 1: but it also was very Ben Roethlisberger. There was something
Speaker 1: about it that was like, this is the perfect ending
Speaker 1: for like where the Bed Roethlisberger career has come. Like
Speaker 1: he was out on that field for a solid twenty
Speaker 1: five minutes and no like no one else was there. Greg,
Speaker 1: you feel good about yourself in there? I mean, who
Speaker 1: are we defending here? Likedending anyone. It's just you had
Speaker 1: to come in with one last shot on the guy.
Speaker 1: I think he's not a shot on the guy. Like
Speaker 1: you've seen this happen before, though, and those endings did
Speaker 1: not happen in that same way with other players. It
Speaker 1: is very different. Tom called it the most like emotionally
Speaker 1: packed atmosphere he's ever been a part of in a
Speaker 1: regular season out. I'm just I'm not saying I was
Speaker 1: saying you can't find the comedy in the end. I mean,
Speaker 1: like in the ending sequence afterwards, it was it was
Speaker 1: a little bit of commy. He went back to the
Speaker 1: bench that he talked to Markus Pouncy took the pictures
Speaker 1: there for a while. I mean, I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: feel that, I don't feel that you're necessarily coming from
Speaker 1: the world of comedy with this um slashing a big bend.
Speaker 1: But I I'm not saying this a likable character. No
Speaker 1: one's saying, Wow, this is the guy that we all
Speaker 1: feel this about in our hearts. It's just like, I
Speaker 1: kind of get it for the city of Pittsburgh. All Right,
Speaker 1: They had their night, like if I can allow them
Speaker 1: that way off the field, like what was your what
Speaker 1: left you underwhelmed? Because he did celebrate with his teammates
Speaker 1: immediately after the game, and then he was surrounded by
Speaker 1: no joke thirty photographers and cameramen, so kind of created
Speaker 1: a natural bubble around. It wasn't so much underwhelmed as
Speaker 1: the twenty minutes that went on afterwards where he just
Speaker 1: was literally the only player on the field and ESPN
Speaker 1: after a while, I was like, shoot, we gotta go
Speaker 1: to commercial. At some point, like Peyton Manning was joking
Speaker 1: that like Eli was going to fall asleep if he
Speaker 1: took another lap around or whatever. It just to retreat
Speaker 1: to the locker room, the shower, do his press availability
Speaker 1: and then getting his suv and leave. But it wasn't
Speaker 1: for you, Greg, It was not for you. That's why
Speaker 1: you don't understand it and you're picking at it. It
Speaker 1: was for them, not you. I get it. I get
Speaker 1: that it was I think you can find it some
Speaker 1: humor in it over the years of like, this is
Speaker 1: a guy who, like you know, immediately after multiple actual
Speaker 1: assault allegations, started posting like things about being religious and
Speaker 1: went to the thing. You know, it's like a I think, Greg,
Speaker 1: his entire um, his entire existence is not for you
Speaker 1: because there's there's so many things about Big Ben that
Speaker 1: you either um, you know, we all rail against certain
Speaker 1: things that he did, and no one's saying, Wow, that's
Speaker 1: what we're celebrating at all. So like if listening to this,
Speaker 1: don't calm us come at us with that nonsense. But Greg,
Speaker 1: Greg nailed the take that Ben loathsome individual and Dan
Speaker 1: and Mark and he is also famously one of the
Speaker 1: least like teammates. Um that there's ever I know. But
Speaker 1: I'm surprised Greg that you suddenly care about teammates liking anyone,
Speaker 1: because it doesn't seem like that applies to critique of
Speaker 1: other players that are disliked by teammates. Is that really
Speaker 1: that's Is that something that you value highly? I've never
Speaker 1: really felt I just don't value like everyone has to
Speaker 1: line up and be like like t J. Watt was
Speaker 1: so inspired by playing for Ben that he got his
Speaker 1: four sacks and they were really trying to like like
Speaker 1: shoehorn this thing that it's all for that it was.
Speaker 1: Of course it's like a huge emotional night. But we
Speaker 1: can we can be real about it. Do you have
Speaker 1: anything else to add? Greg? Now I think that's good
Speaker 1: With that said, Are we taking a break, Ricky? Let's
Speaker 1: take a break? All right? It is two thousand twenty two.
Speaker 1: How about that? How about that we started this podcast
Speaker 1: in two thousand? How about that? Another another notable factoid
Speaker 1: you're that's I was. I was talking to a someone
Speaker 1: who helps me with a certain career um related um prognostications.
Speaker 1: None of that made sense, No, it was it was
Speaker 1: just like my agent person and she said, she said,
Speaker 1: you guys are coming up on your tenth season. Like,
Speaker 1: is the NFL blowing that out? I was like, no,
Speaker 1: I don't think they know that. We've been doing it
Speaker 1: for ten years. Oh okay, whence you're one thousandth episode.
Speaker 1: I think it was like a year and a half ago.
Speaker 1: It's like, what's going on over there? It? I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody knows. Does anybody know? Well, it's
Speaker 1: you mean, it's not it's not overly celebrated. Let's start there.
Speaker 1: You get that when it's when it's the final show
Speaker 1: and we're, you know, averaging two point seven yards per
Speaker 1: take or whatever, and you can run around the field
Speaker 1: and make it all about us that I hope we
Speaker 1: are around long enough for two point seven yards per take? Wait,
Speaker 1: do you guys want to do this show? Would you
Speaker 1: guys rather do the show for twenty more years? And
Speaker 1: the last year and a half to two years is
Speaker 1: two point seven yards per take or do it for
Speaker 1: another four years at six point eight yards per take.
Speaker 1: I would take the ladder. I'd rather be you know,
Speaker 1: as close to pristine as possible for a shorter amount
Speaker 1: of time than I'm gonna stretch this thing out six
Speaker 1: point eight like a lot. No, that's not even good.
Speaker 1: That that's below average, even to waiting in the Ricky.
Speaker 1: I think we're in decline. We're in a gradual decline.
Speaker 1: I'll take the stretching out because I mean, either way,
Speaker 1: this is all, you know, this is all I could
Speaker 1: do for the rest of my life. Uh is you know,
Speaker 1: some sort of football things. So I gotta gotta feed
Speaker 1: the family here. Yeah, we're in too deep now That
Speaker 1: twenty years feels um, that feels extensive. I transposed the numbers,
Speaker 1: by the way, I met eight points six yards per take. Okay,
Speaker 1: that would be good. Yeah, I was thinking that to
Speaker 1: watch them last night. It's depressing. But you men always
Speaker 1: getting your numbers wrong. It is depressing to think of
Speaker 1: the difference in in Steelers Brown's games and moments from
Speaker 1: a year ago, which you know, was a great moment.
Speaker 1: Having Chris for one of the last times he was
Speaker 1: on the show and we all enjoyed that playoff win
Speaker 1: together to this year is a steep is a steep fall? Yeah? No, Well,
Speaker 1: I I you know, Chris was as everyone knows, you know,
Speaker 1: the up and down, mostly down love affair he had
Speaker 1: the Bengals. I can't stop thinking about Cincinnati's the most
Speaker 1: fun team in the league this year. And how I
Speaker 1: would ask him, like legitimately once every like five shows,
Speaker 1: whether he's ever come back to the Bengals or is
Speaker 1: this the time or maybe if this happens, would you?
Speaker 1: And he was always steadfast and no, And yet I
Speaker 1: wonder if I asked him now and now West, Let's
Speaker 1: not forget it was a very stubborn man. And maybe
Speaker 1: even if he wanted to, he wouldn't, just because at
Speaker 1: that point he had said for so long that he
Speaker 1: never would. But I wonder if he would have truly
Speaker 1: warmed up the idea of supporting the Bangles again and
Speaker 1: more of a fan capacity given everything that's happened over
Speaker 1: the last couple of months. I wondered too, because I
Speaker 1: think a lot of it if you go back in detail,
Speaker 1: look at that thing finder of why he was out
Speaker 1: on the Bengals. I think one reason that he might
Speaker 1: not budge is. It had to do so much with
Speaker 1: ownership that he probably trusts ownership to screw all this
Speaker 1: up at some point. Yet he is he is someone
Speaker 1: that would be married, would have a child. Becoming a
Speaker 1: football fan Cincinnati checks so many different boxes about the
Speaker 1: way that football has played that West enjoyed. It does
Speaker 1: bringing you back to something special that maybe you know
Speaker 1: he always talked about evolving and changing. I mean, we
Speaker 1: just don't know what he would do. But this Bengals
Speaker 1: team is not like that Andy Dalton team winning twelve
Speaker 1: games and going to the playoffs, where I think that
Speaker 1: any real expectations, you'd see what that team really is.
Speaker 1: This feels entirely different to me. He already loved watching
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow play I think he'd love watching them play ball.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he had, you know, admitted that
Speaker 1: he's just full on fan, but he would like this team.
Speaker 1: There's just no way around. Well, and also to that point,
Speaker 1: young Link West in some ways kind of felt like
Speaker 1: he also aged out of being a fan. But when
Speaker 1: it's time to introduce Link to a team, absolutely get
Speaker 1: your son involved. Because Lakisha, of course a rams fan
Speaker 1: of die Hard. If West was here, maybe he'd be
Speaker 1: pushing the boy towards the Bengals. Keisha just posted on
Speaker 1: Instagram that after this past weekend, she bought link a
Speaker 1: Bengals teacher. Here we go. So she's a great mom,
Speaker 1: great mom. Alright, we missed Chris. I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1: This has been a really weird year. Obviously, so much crazy,
Speaker 1: so many crazy things have happened. But I cannot stop
Speaker 1: thinking of of the man this weekend. And you know,
Speaker 1: I sent it to the text chain of UM that
Speaker 1: we're all on uh New Year's that happened five years ago,
Speaker 1: now where we all we're in different places. And then
Speaker 1: we all said, all right, let's after midnight, let's all
Speaker 1: meet at the cozy. And I remember getting there and
Speaker 1: West was there in a bathrobe, Um at twelve thirty
Speaker 1: five in the morning on New Year's Day, Uh, feeling
Speaker 1: zero pain like everyone else us. But when West was
Speaker 1: feeling no pain on a night on the town. Uh, Mark,
Speaker 1: you're kind of similar in this way. But like West,
Speaker 1: I think about it now because he's no longer with us,
Speaker 1: but you saw it in his face, like he didn't
Speaker 1: have to say anything. You just saw him and says
Speaker 1: it was kind of like a half grin. His eyes
Speaker 1: were a little bit more closed and um, he was
Speaker 1: probably yelling more um, but just the look of him,
Speaker 1: it was just a man that was a piece of
Speaker 1: having a good time. So well. I think West and
Speaker 1: I saw that in each other's faces more than once, um,
Speaker 1: when we were in you know, Duelian piano players on
Speaker 1: out on the town. Yeah. I think this this time
Speaker 1: of year, going through the holiday, is going into the
Speaker 1: new year for the first time without him, and I
Speaker 1: think going to the I think the super Bowl week
Speaker 1: will be tough. We'll be coming up on on the
Speaker 1: year anniversary. I really felt that that game we went
Speaker 1: to the Chargers, I was in a crappy mood because
Speaker 1: walking over to that stadium that night, I was like,
Speaker 1: I really felt him not being there, like us going
Speaker 1: to a game like that, and well we'll feel that, uh,
Speaker 1: we'll feel that in the super Bowl week. I think,
Speaker 1: like for me, one little thing, like it's like all
Speaker 1: it football does remind me of West, but it's mostly
Speaker 1: like the lack of West in everything that we do,
Speaker 1: and every season is sort of similar. But it's all
Speaker 1: these other little moments that happened, like weirdly on like
Speaker 1: Saturday at even fifteen am, as I'm searching through my
Speaker 1: phone and seeing photos from old or just thinking about
Speaker 1: his voice or his laughs. I mean, it's just like
Speaker 1: there's no, um, real roadmap to feel that this won't
Speaker 1: be with you forever. Yep, I needed him backing me
Speaker 1: up on this ben thing. No one would have been
Speaker 1: you know, he would have been on my side of
Speaker 1: that one. No one but you. You're already creating this
Speaker 1: thing where Greg is in a moralistic correct room and
Speaker 1: Dan and Mark must be in the other room. And
Speaker 1: where do you think we're simply calling it a sports event,
Speaker 1: a moment of sports that I don't want to go
Speaker 1: back to that I'm saying West disagreed with me about
Speaker 1: most everything, but that's one where we parked their cars
Speaker 1: still would have been savaging you over your Antonio Brown
Speaker 1: UM fandom and a new protecting the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: That was. That was a tough two weeks, right, all right,
Speaker 1: let's get to it what we're looking forward to in
Speaker 1: um Yeah, let's keep it optimistic here, Um, Greg, do
Speaker 1: you want to get us going? I do. It's a
Speaker 1: perfect one for the conversation we were just having it.
Speaker 1: It's it's this Tom Brady playoff run that I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to. Um, I just think Tom Brady with limitations.
Speaker 1: He's he's a little bit of a b story right
Speaker 1: now in terms of the NFL. But is like the
Speaker 1: is the Tom Brady that I find fascinating that that
Speaker 1: touchdown drive to beat the Jets. It's one of the
Speaker 1: best game winning touchdown drives of his career. It was
Speaker 1: an amazing moment because it came against the Jets, and
Speaker 1: people weren't watching that game and people put it on
Speaker 1: the opponent or whatever, like like you want an MVP moment,
Speaker 1: that's an m v P moment. They had the ball,
Speaker 1: first of all, they had to go to ninety three yards.
Speaker 1: Second of all, they had a ball with no time
Speaker 1: outs on the thirties seventy yards to go. The ball,
Speaker 1: ever goes out of bounds three straight plays, and he's
Speaker 1: turning Cyril Grayson and Brashad Perriman into game winners during
Speaker 1: this stretch. Like that's Tom Brady in a nutshell. And
Speaker 1: I think there's this idea that the Bucks are in
Speaker 1: in such a tough spot without Godwin or Brown. But
Speaker 1: that's when Brady often does his best work. He's still
Speaker 1: got that offensive line, he's still got that coaching staff,
Speaker 1: he's still got that championship DNA, and he's doing it
Speaker 1: in a different way with like big time plays. He's
Speaker 1: making more big time throws now uh than he ever has.
Speaker 1: He's leading the NFL and big time throws first time ever.
Speaker 1: PFF's track that you know, his entire career. It basically
Speaker 1: just like their their addition and I kind of chart
Speaker 1: ones like that of just like an incredible like plus
Speaker 1: two type of play where it's like you've just made
Speaker 1: an incredible throw that like very few because they're a
Speaker 1: yardage component. No, No, it's basically like an incredible play
Speaker 1: that you're making on your own and like could you
Speaker 1: be could you be bowled over by like a five
Speaker 1: yard screen pass where he did it without looking now
Speaker 1: because on the year and that's like I like it
Speaker 1: a little better than touchdown at interception ratio. But like
Speaker 1: that moment and his like reaction to that moment was
Speaker 1: it just got me thinking about, like the season starts
Speaker 1: now for a defending champion type of team like the Bucks,
Speaker 1: and I'm really looking forward to seeing like what they
Speaker 1: can do in this repeat. I'm with you, Greg, and
Speaker 1: it's like I haven't understood. I don't understand it, Like
Speaker 1: I understand the Godwin injury. That's tough. Antonio Brown being
Speaker 1: out the door whatever. I think they won the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl last year with or without Antonio Brown. Um, and
Speaker 1: he's a head case, so getting him out of the
Speaker 1: building could end up being a net positive for them. UM.
Speaker 1: I moved him up a spot into the number three
Speaker 1: in the power Rings this week, and Matt money Smith
Speaker 1: pushed back on our show today saying, how can you
Speaker 1: do that? They should have been beat by the Jets. Well,
Speaker 1: they didn't get beat and it's because of Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: And it's like the the idea that anybody would doubt
Speaker 1: this team, um, considering their recent pedigree. They're the defending
Speaker 1: Super Bowl champions for Christ's sake, and the fact that
Speaker 1: Brady is playing, as Greg notes, as better as as
Speaker 1: well as he ever has. So uh. They have a
Speaker 1: good coaching staff, they have a really good defense. They
Speaker 1: have still have plenty of skill player players on offense.
Speaker 1: They're gonna get more healthy, hopefully. Do not sleep on
Speaker 1: this team. It doesn't make any sense why you would. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's sleeping on them. I think for me,
Speaker 1: if anything, the Bucks were And we kind of said
Speaker 1: it in different ways on our on our Friday television show.
Speaker 1: It's like, why are we like um struggling to kind
Speaker 1: of connect with the Bucks as sort of where they
Speaker 1: are in history and who they are because they were
Speaker 1: so everything was so perfect, they were drama free. They
Speaker 1: kind of went from last year into this year with
Speaker 1: so much consistency and just kept it going. But now
Speaker 1: I find them more intriguing because there are players out
Speaker 1: because suddenly you've got Brady at the Ages at I
Speaker 1: think being discounted a little bit as an m v
Speaker 1: P because you've got Aaron Rodgers sitting out there. Everyone's
Speaker 1: trying to look around Tom Brady. Maybe we give it
Speaker 1: to a wide receiver, we give the Jonathan Taylor. It's like,
Speaker 1: what Brady is doing is incredible, and if he goes
Speaker 1: and does it again with a shortened roster on offense,
Speaker 1: because I do think there's a reason they fell into
Speaker 1: a hole against the Jets there too, that it is
Speaker 1: that that much more impressive. And for all the people
Speaker 1: that don't like the Big Bend celebration, this is something
Speaker 1: that would be I think more universally a sports moment
Speaker 1: that would crescendo into something as memorable as we've seen
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I don't know about that. A lot
Speaker 1: of people don't wait for Tom Brady to win two
Speaker 1: straight Super Bowls with the Bucks. It is Rady. I'm
Speaker 1: excited as a Brady fan to see let's say they
Speaker 1: play that. That's like the Eagles first round, they get
Speaker 1: past that, like whatever, That second and possibly third NFC
Speaker 1: game for Brady to me in this like repeat mode
Speaker 1: with to me, that's just so fascinating, like versus the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: or him versus the Rams, or him versus the Packers.
Speaker 1: It's just like that A is fook. That is awesome.
Speaker 1: The truck the minute, we're suggesting that if he were
Speaker 1: to win a second Super Bowl with the Bucks, after
Speaker 1: everything he did at his age, that that's an underwhelming
Speaker 1: or just an average sports I guess. I mean it's
Speaker 1: a matter of opinion, Like I've already for me, the
Speaker 1: Tom Brady story has been written. He's the best quarterback ever,
Speaker 1: He's won seven titles or whatever the hell it is
Speaker 1: at this point. Um, if he wins another one, it
Speaker 1: doesn't really change I already what he's already done when
Speaker 1: he did last year to me was the cherry on top.
Speaker 1: So I kind of rather have fresh storylines and fresh
Speaker 1: champions and fresh blood at this stage. But also I
Speaker 1: didn't grow up a Patriots fan, and I don't I
Speaker 1: guess need more validations different. Would it be different than
Speaker 1: him throwing five interceptions in Green Bay and they go
Speaker 1: down forty five to three and the whole thing breaks
Speaker 1: apart in the off season, I think they would be
Speaker 1: tangibly different the two end results. Yeah, I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't see that happening. I I mean, I'm trying to
Speaker 1: talk to like it's like I'm trying to talk to you,
Speaker 1: talk to you into like a bizarre like UFO cult
Speaker 1: religion to get excited about Tom Brady too. So I
Speaker 1: see that a lot of people are excited about Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know they don't. You don't need me
Speaker 1: on the bandwagon. So good luck to Tom. I'm sure
Speaker 1: I'm sure he needs it. Um. I actually I fear
Speaker 1: going back down this road because it will us set
Speaker 1: gig off with his agenda and his religious um. But
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about the Steelers because last
Speaker 1: watching the game yesterday, um Man, I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: a fresh start for the Steelers, who are a primetime darling,
Speaker 1: so you know, they are a part of the national
Speaker 1: product that the NFL puts out every year. They're always
Speaker 1: in the mix because they're well run organizations, so they're
Speaker 1: always in the playoff mix, so they're not really getting
Speaker 1: flexed out of the games. Typically they get to the
Speaker 1: playoffs all the time. They might even get to the
Speaker 1: playoffs this year, although that probably won't happen. But all
Speaker 1: that primetime love has become a double edged sword for
Speaker 1: the rest of us non Steelers fans who don't see
Speaker 1: Big Ben as a local hero and are sick of
Speaker 1: watching boring football involving the Pittsburgh Steelers, and and given
Speaker 1: the core that's in place, they have so many talented
Speaker 1: players in their primes still Pittsburgh, it makes all the
Speaker 1: sense in the world for the Steelers to make a
Speaker 1: big splash move this offseas. And uh, they aren't going
Speaker 1: to start a rookie next year. They are not going
Speaker 1: to start Mason Rudolph next year. So the question becomes,
Speaker 1: who is there, Matt Stafford, who is the guy they're
Speaker 1: going to target to bring in and get them over
Speaker 1: the hump and get them back to the playoffs and
Speaker 1: back and back to the super Bowl. I look forward
Speaker 1: to it because it affects all of us because the
Speaker 1: Steelers are a national team. Yeah, they're not like rebuilding,
Speaker 1: that's not who are It's amazing that Tomlin is gonna
Speaker 1: keep that record of never having a losing season, Like
Speaker 1: he's clinched that much. Now. They aren't the type that
Speaker 1: it's traditionally made big splashes, but I think trades are different.
Speaker 1: The problem is, as Browns are going to realize too,
Speaker 1: is there's just a lot of these teams out there,
Speaker 1: like Carolina, Washington, New Orleans is going to be incredibly
Speaker 1: motivated UM and willing to give up picks so that
Speaker 1: there's more teams than there are are the guys. Let's
Speaker 1: figure this out. Who are guys that that are the
Speaker 1: the Stafford or the stafford S type player Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 1: who again is in his own category, but he obviously
Speaker 1: is a player. When you talk about the quarterbacks in two, Um, Baker,
Speaker 1: there's the worst case scenario mark not that it would
Speaker 1: ever happen, but somehow Baker goes to Pittsurburgh and becomes
Speaker 1: a star. We that that's not gonna happen, but imagine
Speaker 1: to see that Jimmy g I think to of makes
Speaker 1: sense as a guy that might have some value and
Speaker 1: could be moved if Miami goes in a different direction.
Speaker 1: Is there another What about maybe Matt Ryan? I just
Speaker 1: I don't love the idea of I've been quating Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan to Matt Russell, but I mean Russell Wilson's the
Speaker 1: one that I you know, you're not sure how that'll
Speaker 1: play out, but it sure feels like that would be
Speaker 1: the Stafford move to the Stafford move. And then I
Speaker 1: don't I have never bought that Rogers would be an
Speaker 1: ex packer, and now I really don't buy it. I
Speaker 1: think that's all set. Yeah, Um, anyway, so keep an
Speaker 1: eye on that because Pittsburgh's going to make a move
Speaker 1: and it won't be a it won't be a minor
Speaker 1: wave there. You they don't usually do stuff like that,
Speaker 1: But that's gonna happen this offseason, I believe Mark. How
Speaker 1: about you? All right? Well, I would I would mention
Speaker 1: the Aaron Rodgers thing real quick because I think it
Speaker 1: would show um a it would be a service to
Speaker 1: us all if Aaron Rodgers actually says what he's gonna do.
Speaker 1: What if he does what he says he's gonna do,
Speaker 1: which is to make this decision about whether or not
Speaker 1: you know, he's toying potentially with retirement, toying potentially with
Speaker 1: moving on from the packers, whatever it is that he
Speaker 1: shows the growth to not drag it out for months
Speaker 1: and months. He said he's gonna make a crisp, clean decision.
Speaker 1: I'll believe it, um when I see it. But I
Speaker 1: do think it would help his cue rating the overall
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers experience to a maybe number one, realize that
Speaker 1: with this wandering eye where you are right now, front office,
Speaker 1: coaching roster, the division you're in, how dominant you've been,
Speaker 1: maybe you don't go anywhere. Let's and maybe you tell
Speaker 1: them that and make that clear on like January, like
Speaker 1: or whatever, February seventh or eighth or ninth, whenever the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl ends, and just end that drama. Um, But
Speaker 1: if anything else is going to happen, can we do
Speaker 1: it in a way that doesn't completely hijack um three
Speaker 1: or four months of everyone's lives who tracked this because
Speaker 1: I guess what. It wasn't that entertaining the first time around,
Speaker 1: and it will be more tiresome the second. So here's
Speaker 1: a chance to just go do it right, whatever it
Speaker 1: is you're gonna do. I will say, I agree that
Speaker 1: the Rogers thing was overblown last summer, but it did
Speaker 1: give those of us in football media a nice meaty
Speaker 1: bone to chew on during July last year. Like that
Speaker 1: didn't that wasn't the worst that that that was good
Speaker 1: to lead some a blocks for the around the NFL
Speaker 1: broadcast on NFL Network. So um, but I overall, I
Speaker 1: I see your point and I agree, like, let's not
Speaker 1: drag this thing out. Um, I would take I think
Speaker 1: something crazy happening that we're that is unforeseen for this
Speaker 1: to lead to a divorce? Now, doesn't it feel that way?
Speaker 1: More so than him saying that already that he's gonna
Speaker 1: make it quick to me says he's made whatever decision
Speaker 1: it is. Putting that out there indicates, yeah, that he
Speaker 1: kind of knows where this is going. He's probably gonna
Speaker 1: ask for a lot of money. And but as long
Speaker 1: as they're willing um to do that. You know what,
Speaker 1: what a moment last night too when they asked him
Speaker 1: what it was on his bookshelf, and he says, like
Speaker 1: Ann Ran, I Ran, It's like it's like every dumb
Speaker 1: guy's idea of what a smart guy would say, or
Speaker 1: like every nineteen year old guys. And if you're if
Speaker 1: you're curious about the general synopsis of that book, the
Speaker 1: book depicts a dystopian United States in which private businesses
Speaker 1: suffer under increasingly burdened some laws and regulations. Uh, that's
Speaker 1: among the the general themes of it, and obviously connect
Speaker 1: he I think he was trying. I've read Atlas Shrugged
Speaker 1: and I've read The fountain Head, and I agree that
Speaker 1: it has been a nineteen year old maybe more of
Speaker 1: a nineteen year olds world. But like they are, I
Speaker 1: do find them to be good books and have nothing
Speaker 1: to do with Aaron Rodgers. I don't think it's something
Speaker 1: that you pick up now out of thin air and
Speaker 1: be inspired by. But when you're of a certain age,
Speaker 1: the fountain Head, especially forget Outlas Shrug, The fountain Head
Speaker 1: is a good read. Just throw that out there, but no,
Speaker 1: I mean, listen that that was a popular take that
Speaker 1: Atlas Shrug was. It was a very basic choice by Rogers.
Speaker 1: I was more offended by him casually dropping that he
Speaker 1: had a lot of French poetry as well, and it's like, dude,
Speaker 1: you don't speak French. What are we what are we
Speaker 1: doing here now? To give you the translation, We're all
Speaker 1: having a ton of fun. Is that how it works?
Speaker 1: French poetry books are just translated. Yeah, they typically would
Speaker 1: have like they'd have like, um, the French on one side,
Speaker 1: in the English translation on the other. Well, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm just telling you something that is that this is
Speaker 1: how the industry works. I know I'm not supporting his
Speaker 1: reading habits or really making any statement, but are we
Speaker 1: dismissing anything that's written not in English as a well?
Speaker 1: I do. I think it's I think it's a little bit.
Speaker 1: He's not as easy to peg as people want um
Speaker 1: in the sense that this reputation as like a smart
Speaker 1: guy and like that has been taken off the books.
Speaker 1: I don't agree with you, totally disagree with that. That
Speaker 1: was the point I was gonna make. I think Rodgers
Speaker 1: is a very intelligent guy. Now, you may not agree
Speaker 1: with his opinions, and they may even be dangerous considering
Speaker 1: his public platform and the way he's expressing them. But
Speaker 1: I think Rogers is very highly intelligent individual, which is
Speaker 1: part of what makes him so frustrating, at least to me,
Speaker 1: because in some ways I think he's likable, but then
Speaker 1: the more he talks, the more he kind of drives
Speaker 1: you crazy. I mean, do you think he's a dumb guy?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think he's I think he's like, yes,
Speaker 1: I guess I do. I mean when when it comes
Speaker 1: to football, not when it comes to I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a he's a genius when it comes to football. Um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I think so. I think he's pretty easily
Speaker 1: like misled and that well that's not a sign of
Speaker 1: like being smart guy necessarily in my mind either. But
Speaker 1: as he said, he kicked me. He was all about
Speaker 1: celebrity jeopardy. You know, if you have to play the
Speaker 1: real thing, he said, he'd get waxed, right, Greg, Do
Speaker 1: you like anyone? I mean, these aren't hot takes? That
Speaker 1: that a Rod and Ben Roethlisberger. I was having fun
Speaker 1: with the choice because she's the like to me, it's
Speaker 1: tough writing to get through, and it's sort of like
Speaker 1: almost a cliche of if like if you're a woman
Speaker 1: and you see that book on a bookshelf. It's like,
Speaker 1: don't date that guy, you know. That's sort of so
Speaker 1: it was almost funny that that was the one. It's
Speaker 1: like a big libertarian. It's a big thing. It's sort
Speaker 1: of like the rest of society doesn't matter all that.
Speaker 1: All that matters is yourself, which is, you know, consistent
Speaker 1: with preach elfishness as a positive concept if you look
Speaker 1: at it a certain way where most things tell you
Speaker 1: if you're good, you're not selfish. You don't think of yourself.
Speaker 1: And a lot of what she was teaching was that
Speaker 1: I'm not walking around reading it right now. I read
Speaker 1: it when I was twenty one, and by the way,
Speaker 1: a lot of girls didn't date me, And it may
Speaker 1: have been for that reason or a lot of others.
Speaker 1: I couldn't care less. It's like, I love that we
Speaker 1: just take things and trash them on whole, and but
Speaker 1: no one's no one's actually have the people killing this
Speaker 1: book have never even read two pages of it. That's
Speaker 1: how things work now, is that if he wants to
Speaker 1: throw it out there, you can have fun with it.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that that's a that's a lousy book. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he would he would allow that he's If anything,
Speaker 1: my umbrella argument at the beginning was please wrap it
Speaker 1: up quickly, Aaron Rodgers. I don't need to hear you
Speaker 1: all offseason. So I basically agree with everything that you're saying,
Speaker 1: from the fact that I need less not more of
Speaker 1: this guy in the summer months. You got another one, Greg.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to Michael Parsons in this playoff run
Speaker 1: doing things that I haven't seen a defensive player do ever.
Speaker 1: The fact he was in coverage like twenty times last week,
Speaker 1: like really defending well, and that when he rushed the
Speaker 1: pastor he had nine pressures, and like like he is
Speaker 1: breaking the mold almost more than any defensive player we've
Speaker 1: ever covered on this show. I feel like there's I
Speaker 1: don't think there's been another guy like him. And the
Speaker 1: fact that he's capping this rookie year on an awesome
Speaker 1: Cowboys defense. It's gonna be in the playoffs that has
Speaker 1: a chance to win a super Bowl. Like, sign me up.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm I'm signed up for next year too,
Speaker 1: because I feel like his ceiling is just outrageous. He
Speaker 1: feels very one of one in what he can do
Speaker 1: that he can almost play three different positions exceptionally well. Uh,
Speaker 1: and the fact that he's on the Cowboys like I
Speaker 1: like it. I'm with you, Dan Lett, you just like
Speaker 1: it when the Cowboys are this relevant and this good.
Speaker 1: It's funny that the amously Jerry Jones, and it was
Speaker 1: documented on part of some type of documentary. Um. The
Speaker 1: year they drafted Dac they wanted was it Drew Lock?
Speaker 1: Who was it was a? Oh Paxton Lynch? The year
Speaker 1: they ended up with Dak Prescott and in the draft
Speaker 1: they desperately wanted a cornerback, and when the draft didn't
Speaker 1: shake out the way they hoped it would, they drafted Parsons.
Speaker 1: So you know, if you give the Cowboys plenty of
Speaker 1: credit for nailing those two picks that have helped to
Speaker 1: find the franchise and where it is right now, but
Speaker 1: it just shows how much luck goes into uh any
Speaker 1: of these things really, because you could do a lot
Speaker 1: of self scouting, but sometimes you look into a beautiful
Speaker 1: pick or something terrible that's neither here nor there. Greg,
Speaker 1: tell us somebody else you hate? What what is it's
Speaker 1: wrong with you? Guys? I mean these are I'm having
Speaker 1: fun with. I mean, if you can enjoy that, uh,
Speaker 1: it just was having on. That's just having fun here.
Speaker 1: Um all right, let me throw one more out there.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to the Washington football team having a
Speaker 1: name again. I know you guys don't like this. This
Speaker 1: is an unpopular take. UM the Washington Football team on
Speaker 1: its website on Tuesday, and that's it will unveil its
Speaker 1: new name on February two. UM team president Jason Wright said,
Speaker 1: ah that the team we'll choose the new name or
Speaker 1: has chosen a new name that will align with our values,
Speaker 1: carry forth our rich history and represent the region. Now.
Speaker 1: We love RhoD O world around these parts. Greg builds
Speaker 1: it brick by brick. It's now NBC Sports The Edge.
Speaker 1: Adam Clayton. We don't talk about their new name. We
Speaker 1: don't mention it. UM love their blurbs. You guys want
Speaker 1: to hear a great wrote a world blurb about this.
Speaker 1: Please please please After that quote, here's the blurb citing
Speaker 1: the franchise value. Franchises values after years of sordid allegations
Speaker 1: against owner Daniel Snyder and his cohorts is questionable at best,
Speaker 1: but the team will try to use the unveiling to
Speaker 1: reinvent itself and remove the stigma attached to its former name,
Speaker 1: the collapsing of its embarrassingly dilapidated stadium, and its third
Speaker 1: year tradition of losing. There's no word of potato skins
Speaker 1: is in the running funds and burner blowtorch wreck. Anyway,
Speaker 1: you should be happy, Dan. They you know, they haven't
Speaker 1: ruled out keeping w f T as the name, but
Speaker 1: I think this season, I feel like they needed to
Speaker 1: have a great season for any chance of it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I remember that there. I didn't like that. I always
Speaker 1: thought what happened like, look at we were talking about
Speaker 1: was shook on Sunday Show with the Cleveland Indians and
Speaker 1: baseball becoming the Cleveland Guardians, and and that felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, it was handled in a smooth way where
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, we're the Indians. Okay, this is problematic
Speaker 1: in the eyes of people. So what we're going to
Speaker 1: do now is begin the process of changing the name.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, we're gonna take uh the Wahoo chief
Speaker 1: Wahoo guy off the uniform. We're gonna emphasize the letter
Speaker 1: c H. So we're just gonna change some of the branding,
Speaker 1: but keep the name until it's ready for the transfer
Speaker 1: and then we go Indians to to Guardians in two
Speaker 1: I've always thought what Washington did here with this two
Speaker 1: year gap was a bit of a their own way
Speaker 1: of silently protesting something they never wanted to do in
Speaker 1: the first place. Uh, So we're gonna it's kind of
Speaker 1: to like draw out what they think is an absurdity
Speaker 1: that they've had to change the name. So now we've
Speaker 1: done this for two years, and for two years we've
Speaker 1: all been writing things like the Eagles defeat the football
Speaker 1: team that I can't believe that's been happening for two years.
Speaker 1: So bring on whatever it is, the Red Wings or
Speaker 1: the Imperial Destroyers or whatever whatever the admirals I think
Speaker 1: has been thrown out there as possibility. Uh, let's bring
Speaker 1: it back uh to nickname Land so we can move
Speaker 1: on with our lives. Because this whole thing has been ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Let's not bring back the Washington Bullets, that failed concept
Speaker 1: in NBA circles, that doesn't fit anything we're trying to achieve.
Speaker 1: I do think it matters for me, just aesthetically, like
Speaker 1: if it's a name that is super clunky, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be with us for decades. So I am just fingers
Speaker 1: crossed that it kind of rolls off the tongue of
Speaker 1: something nice. But no matter what it is, will get
Speaker 1: used to it and then it just will be that. Oh,
Speaker 1: and I have no power over it. So you just
Speaker 1: just get in line and just do what they say.
Speaker 1: They need some new vibes. They have the fewest amount
Speaker 1: of playoff wins in the NFL since their current ownership
Speaker 1: took over the team. Yeah, and there was that report
Speaker 1: out there. I don't know if you saw that. You
Speaker 1: know that the the barrier fell down and almost crushed
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts at FedEx Field, And there was a report
Speaker 1: that owe from the Washington organization like came to the
Speaker 1: aid of the people. Now they refuted that. I want
Speaker 1: to make sure that's out there, that side of the story.
Speaker 1: But like, why all these stories are connected to this team?
Speaker 1: I you know, I complain it all the time about
Speaker 1: being a Jets fan and mark your up and arms
Speaker 1: about the Browns letting you down all the time. But like, man,
Speaker 1: we ate that. No, it's they've got problems, Um, unique
Speaker 1: to them, There's no doubt about it. Let's take a break,
Speaker 1: al right, wrap it up, Mark alright, UM, I have
Speaker 1: a quick I have a like a quick two parter um.
Speaker 1: The first one a little bit more of a wish casting.
Speaker 1: But I know everyone it's like we were told that
Speaker 1: it's so um, you know, reprehensible what Antonio Brown did.
Speaker 1: And I think it's because it's connected to who he is.
Speaker 1: And I'm I'm with you on all that front. Um,
Speaker 1: he's a he's not a likable character, but separate from
Speaker 1: the person, I found something quite delightful about like mid
Speaker 1: games suddenly UM player X ripping off garments and clothing
Speaker 1: and dancing around the visiting h end zone before being
Speaker 1: taken away and out of our lives. UM. And so
Speaker 1: I have I have thought up a concept where this
Speaker 1: would add high stakes to UM fantasy football, to teams
Speaker 1: in general, to real life. It would be an auto
Speaker 1: retire red phone, and this happens, and this is a
Speaker 1: late season thing. It would happen from week fifteen through eighteen, UM,
Speaker 1: where one team a week is picked out of a lottery,
Speaker 1: and let's say it's the Tennessee Titans. Then come that
Speaker 1: game in week fifteen, and this would happen each of
Speaker 1: the closing weeks, like around mid third quarter, the red
Speaker 1: phone would ring and any player over the age of
Speaker 1: thirty who is a non quarterback is eligible to be
Speaker 1: auto retired by the league at that point, and they
Speaker 1: have to. They will be taken care of them in
Speaker 1: abundance financially. Uh. They almost be like the way that
Speaker 1: the mystery relevant is handled, but in a different way
Speaker 1: where it's like they won't work again. They'll be celebrate it.
Speaker 1: It's not their choice to retire, but so because it's
Speaker 1: such a positive next step in their life, they must
Speaker 1: strip down, waiste up, dance around the field, and be
Speaker 1: taken away in a very celebratory manner. Will never see
Speaker 1: that age thirty player up ever again. It would happen
Speaker 1: to four players a year. So it's not like going
Speaker 1: to cause a major like World War two shortage of
Speaker 1: arms type scenario in sports. But it could be. It
Speaker 1: could be you never could be your starting cornerback. Who's
Speaker 1: who's you know, age thirty. It could be a very well,
Speaker 1: you know, the red phone. It would be picked by
Speaker 1: random a the team like we have our team wheel,
Speaker 1: and then inside of that you'd go jersey every eligible
Speaker 1: jersey number of a player who's over thirty. You spin
Speaker 1: the wheel and we don't find out till the Red
Speaker 1: Phone rings, and it's like, what if it's some lost
Speaker 1: game between two teams, one of them is the Red
Speaker 1: Phone team you were wondering and watching Who's going to
Speaker 1: be Shotgun to the moon? Basically, I like that. I
Speaker 1: think it's insane um, which is why I like it.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think about how do you do it? Remember?
Speaker 1: Remember um, Late Night at the Apollo used to come
Speaker 1: on after Saturday Night Live, and you know Venerable, Um
Speaker 1: Venerable show that's been going on forever in New York City.
Speaker 1: I think, if you're really bad and the crowd turns
Speaker 1: on you, I can't remember who it is, is it
Speaker 1: a clown or but then a guy comes out and
Speaker 1: dances and kind of kind of shooes the guy off
Speaker 1: stage or the woman off stage. What if we have
Speaker 1: something similar to that, a little nod to Late Night
Speaker 1: at the Apollo and have someone come out out of
Speaker 1: the tunnel and the crowd sees the guy come out,
Speaker 1: and they're going mad because they're like, who's it gonna be?
Speaker 1: Who's it gonna be? Maybe they're shrieks of maybe it
Speaker 1: could be Antonio Brown. Maybe absolutely. I mean, you're workshoping
Speaker 1: and he comes out, and he dances out, and he
Speaker 1: finds somebody and then kind of escorts them down the
Speaker 1: tunnel and out of football forever. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: there's some entertainment value. I think it's a horrible it's
Speaker 1: a horrify thought for someone who's put their entire life
Speaker 1: into the sport, and it's it's their way of providing
Speaker 1: for their family that their career would end in such
Speaker 1: a public, humiliating, sudden way. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: like market good idea is a good idea, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I also we would be we would be giving
Speaker 1: that player benefits and money to match whatever they were
Speaker 1: making at that point. Um. I do have a second one,
Speaker 1: real fast, and it's it's that's a squid game element
Speaker 1: to it, though, where just everyone showing up to work
Speaker 1: wondering if their career will be killed. But Greg, you
Speaker 1: seem like someone that would be the most on board
Speaker 1: with with something this draconian of anyone I know. So
Speaker 1: I you know, it's we need your ideas on this front.
Speaker 1: That says a lot about how you feel. Well No, no,
Speaker 1: I mean I think that you're you're a but you're
Speaker 1: a businessman. Well, I don't. I'm not saying that, but
Speaker 1: my number two, and I mean this sincerely, like like
Speaker 1: on our last show, like and this happens to me
Speaker 1: too often, or it happens periodically. We were If there
Speaker 1: was a director's cut of that show, it would have
Speaker 1: included me having like a JC caseum like meltdown at
Speaker 1: one point, aimed primarily at Dan. It was totally ridiculous.
Speaker 1: And my goal for two is to be is to
Speaker 1: try to, you know, get past a lot of the
Speaker 1: nonsense that has happened externally and internally and try to
Speaker 1: just be a little bit quieter of a storm and
Speaker 1: a little bit less of a nut bag at times,
Speaker 1: and to keep a lid on it. And so I
Speaker 1: apologized to Dan, but also to the rest of us
Speaker 1: because I think it threw us off our game for
Speaker 1: a bit. I also was like super foggy headed in
Speaker 1: a mess and I just should maybe get my act
Speaker 1: together a little bit better sometimes. So I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that for well, we you know, it's been a long season.
Speaker 1: We're all sick, not greg Um, but we're all just
Speaker 1: grinding through it. So happy that we're all together, you know,
Speaker 1: all right, Howard Gentler, quiet storm I don't know if
Speaker 1: I'd look forward to that. Maybe a little for your
Speaker 1: own sake. I would. For your own sake, I would
Speaker 1: at junctures. Did I say late night at the Apollo.
Speaker 1: By the way, it's showtime at the Apollo. His name
Speaker 1: was Howard Sandman, Sins a legend at the Apollo Theater,
Speaker 1: chasing the bad acts off the stage after crowds booed
Speaker 1: their performance. He did his Apollo routine for seventeen years.
Speaker 1: He got the nickname Sandman for tap dancing on sand
Speaker 1: in his performance performances. I don't know if he's still
Speaker 1: with us. I have to look into next Maybe we
Speaker 1: could get Sandman himself. Why not? I mean that show
Speaker 1: was had a super unhinged feel. It was the first
Speaker 1: experience I had as a child watching like a stage
Speaker 1: act that seemed to have no I mean, it could
Speaker 1: have gone in any one of forty two directions. After
Speaker 1: Friday Night Videos, we lost We lost sand Man in
Speaker 1: two thousand three. Rest in peace, sand Man. So we
Speaker 1: need we need somebody else. But I think this is
Speaker 1: something I don't know. Do we have to go to
Speaker 1: the league with this? I don't know what I would
Speaker 1: imagine we'd have to go to the league, will have
Speaker 1: to be involved off to trade them, something to get
Speaker 1: rid of a preseason game or something. I don't think
Speaker 1: they'll be too big of a fan of, you know,
Speaker 1: eliminating four of their careers every years. Maybe have to
Speaker 1: add a roster spot or something. I don't know, we'll
Speaker 1: figure it out. Um, all right, there you go. Um, Erica,
Speaker 1: did you have anything you wanted to add? Um, you
Speaker 1: kind of said it. I think looking into the two
Speaker 1: we were kind of texting the other night about some
Speaker 1: of our like fun wacky video shoots and fun stuff
Speaker 1: we used to do. And as much as I, you know,
Speaker 1: love the season, it is feeling pretty routine, I think
Speaker 1: for all of us, and so I'm really looking forward
Speaker 1: to the off season when we can all sort of
Speaker 1: be together, hopefully more often, and sort of flow those
Speaker 1: creative juices that we usual To that point, why don't
Speaker 1: you put up one of our old dio is that
Speaker 1: we did should like when we wanted to Dean Sanders
Speaker 1: personal green room and destroyed it, never allowed back right,
Speaker 1: and then the next day they had that door locked forever.
Speaker 1: That was good. That was a good one. You're like, um,
Speaker 1: one of the most successful college coaches right now. He's
Speaker 1: he's definitely got a lot of pub Is that team
Speaker 1: doing well? Ya? Were they like the best season and
Speaker 1: they won They won their their league and bowl game.
Speaker 1: Something about Dion never spoke to the man worked with
Speaker 1: him technically for ten years. I never saw him, saw
Speaker 1: him at one talent sum it, never saw him at
Speaker 1: the office. He shouted my name when I during that
Speaker 1: talent something. We were up at some doing some sort
Speaker 1: of group exercise and I had to write something with
Speaker 1: on a dryer race board and man, he got my
Speaker 1: name wrong. It was my last name. But it was
Speaker 1: like I knew what he was trying to do and
Speaker 1: it kind of felt I felt a connection. Wow. He said,
Speaker 1: what was like sarceler or something. Well, that sounds like
Speaker 1: we've got Mark cessler on. It's just like, I mean,
Speaker 1: like you know what it was. But I was like, this,
Speaker 1: he sees me, he recognizes me. Um, I think he
Speaker 1: sees something and he's obviously a good recruiter. That was
Speaker 1: also the same talent summit where you know, I saw
Speaker 1: my TV a couple of days earlier and he had
Speaker 1: a completely shaved dome and then he showed up at
Speaker 1: the talent summit and he had like Julius Irving's hair
Speaker 1: on the nets in nineteen seventy six, and I was like, wow, hair,
Speaker 1: it really came in pretty full there, very dents, right.
Speaker 1: And then money. He's a good thing, all right, he
Speaker 1: said it, you know, his money for all of us
Speaker 1: in how about that? Like that. My sister, my sister
Speaker 1: Shay actually owned Dion Sanders is um cassette single. Um.
Speaker 1: It was about money. I can't remember what the song was,
Speaker 1: but it was about money and how awesome it was
Speaker 1: and it so it got a lot of play in
Speaker 1: the house. As I recall, Must be the Money it
Speaker 1: was called. It was a banger. In fact, Ricky, let's
Speaker 1: play out the show. It must be the Money, all right,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of young people that don't know that.
Speaker 1: Dion and his heyday went for it as a recording
Speaker 1: artist and released the single must be the Money the
Speaker 1: friends with mc hammer. No doubt I believe he was
Speaker 1: actually all right, let's um, let's go, let's end the show. Um,
Speaker 1: good stuff, We'll be back on Thursday. Video is amazing.
Speaker 1: They can't cancel us if we just stay recording forever.
Speaker 1: D there was a time where Dion ruled the world. Um,
Speaker 1: we'll be back on Thursday with a preview of Week eighteen.
Speaker 1: We've never done a Week eight team preview. It happens
Speaker 1: in two days. To make sure you're there for that.
Speaker 1: UM and until then, eat the turn eating man. When
Speaker 1: I said I got it, lack the strange things, Shane
Speaker 1: put up that ince for the birst. It's so. I
Speaker 1: called my mom and she said, Baby, the game. It's
Speaker 1: got to be because I got to read people. I
Speaker 1: never start about the school game. Having real lax was
Speaker 1: get on my day. But I got the paper every
Speaker 1: day of the bay. Doing nothing now to bugle down
Speaker 1: and I don't know what's turning down. Mom, damn money,
Speaker 1: you know what can go wrong? I see feeling, can
Speaker 1: call him. Must see the line that a memo. It