Speaker 1: What up, guys, Ricky Hollywood Here, We've got some big
Speaker 1: Super Bowl news on Thursday show, so make sure you
Speaker 1: tune in and if you're a real die hard fan,
Speaker 1: you can catch it live on our YouTube video stream.
Speaker 1: That way you'll be the first to know what's happening.
Speaker 1: And trust me, you don't want to miss it. All right,
Speaker 1: take it away, boys, be Around with the NFL podcast.
Speaker 1: Got benched for a dude named du Welcome to another
Speaker 1: edition of the Around the NFL Podcast, presented by the
Speaker 1: United States Marine Corps. My name is Dan Hans has
Speaker 1: come to you from room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Chris Westling, and Greg Rosenthal. What is up? Boys? Hey? Dan?
Speaker 1: Just talking about it? We just without getting into details,
Speaker 1: we had a nice newsroom conversation downstairs, the four of us,
Speaker 1: the great Handsome Hank, another prominent figure in the NFL
Speaker 1: media landscape, about a feud that this figure was involved
Speaker 1: with um based on some podcast comments and then some twitters,
Speaker 1: why are we, you know, going around and we were
Speaker 1: defending Scott Hanson's honors because Michael Lombardi took an unprovoked
Speaker 1: shot at him on Twitter, which I didn't know all about.
Speaker 1: What we're not. I found out about it. Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: We don't need to get into the conversation, but we
Speaker 1: were just you know, catching up on that these two
Speaker 1: uh individuals had a feud and media tiff. We're clearly
Speaker 1: on team Hanson. That's all I'm saying. Forget about it
Speaker 1: and then you know, just talking about it. Is my
Speaker 1: desire for us to enter into a proper feud with
Speaker 1: someone else in the media landscape. Lombardi is a nice choice,
Speaker 1: but Scott's already got that. Um So, like, who is
Speaker 1: someone that we can feud with? And I think that
Speaker 1: not only would that spike ratings, but it would just
Speaker 1: kind of spice things up a little bit. It's just
Speaker 1: some real bad blood. You guys are a big fan
Speaker 1: of this Will Brinson guy, but I'm sick of the
Speaker 1: way he operated. Um way to clarify that, wes, Hey,
Speaker 1: there there might be some listeners in like Ireland. I
Speaker 1: think we have beef with Brenton. I do not need
Speaker 1: more Twitter in my life. That's my one issue with this.
Speaker 1: And you get it. You get tangled with Bartol or someone,
Speaker 1: then it's like your mentions are on fire for the
Speaker 1: next I don't Yeah, I don't know. I have enough
Speaker 1: natural feuds that arise. I don't need to manufacture what.
Speaker 1: I just think that the four of you guys were
Speaker 1: like saying, like seekingly about Judy Batista before we started
Speaker 1: pretty gross. I mean I was going through my d M.
Speaker 1: I knew we had we had had. There was a
Speaker 1: mini feud with a beat writer up in Cleveland about
Speaker 1: five years ago, and we had the beat right around
Speaker 1: the show. But I can't remember so many that we
Speaker 1: don't even remember the details of that. I don't remember
Speaker 1: what that one was about. Um, there's been heat here
Speaker 1: and there. Remember there's Pat McAfee got fired up once
Speaker 1: that uh who was the punter for the Raiders. That
Speaker 1: was Marquette King outshining McAfee for in terms of like
Speaker 1: punter swag. And there was around the NFL post that
Speaker 1: I wrote naming Marquette King the coolest punter in the league.
Speaker 1: Mc if you got upset about that. But this is
Speaker 1: all small potatoes when I'm looking for something like, Okay,
Speaker 1: sometimes you know makes waves, something that puts us in
Speaker 1: the sports business journal, you know, awful announcing. If there
Speaker 1: was a dead spin like we mean, it's it's sports
Speaker 1: radio one oh one. But I feel like we've graduated
Speaker 1: behind beyond manufacturing. But Greg, you mentioned Mike francessa that
Speaker 1: would that would that would hurt like a young child
Speaker 1: and that grew up listening to him, But that would
Speaker 1: be a bigger And he's one of the guys that
Speaker 1: you know if you grew up listening to radio. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he people come at him and he'd say things like,
Speaker 1: don't bring a pe shoot into a gun and at
Speaker 1: this I want to be in that situation. At this point,
Speaker 1: he's embracing that he barely he follows sports and then
Speaker 1: makes opinions about it, like he makes that obvious to everyone.
Speaker 1: But it would be essentially one media figure first, the
Speaker 1: four of us and Eric would come in with some
Speaker 1: heat too. That's that's a lot of the past. You
Speaker 1: don't want None America or another podcast feud with the broadcast.
Speaker 1: How would that go for us? Terrible and away. So
Speaker 1: we'll work on this and Greg does make a good point. Gray.
Speaker 1: One of Greg's gifts is that he does seem to
Speaker 1: get someone mad at him every you know, five to
Speaker 1: seven weeks or so. There's some type of thing that
Speaker 1: pops up where someone gets annoyed with Greg, or you
Speaker 1: say something that rubbs some of the wrong way. What
Speaker 1: we might be able to do is just organically roll
Speaker 1: with that and whatever Greg does, side with Greg, and
Speaker 1: then pour some kerosene on whatever the dan. Dan's like, well,
Speaker 1: for once, we'll side with Greg and then we'll we'll
Speaker 1: get in the mix here I do. My one of
Speaker 1: my favorite feuds ever, of course, was we'll bleep the
Speaker 1: name up. Now, why are you doing this in the
Speaker 1: in the newsroom. Uh, Greg and this gentleman just went
Speaker 1: off on each other. That was very juice. That's Frank
Speaker 1: Brent Grimes his wife. Oh yeah, that's another great one.
Speaker 1: But that I that one. First of all, I would
Speaker 1: never get involved in that feud. Uh, staying out of
Speaker 1: it related feud, but the one with this individual in
Speaker 1: the newsroom led to this individual saying to Greg, set
Speaker 1: up a debate time about Kenny Stills, and I will
Speaker 1: debate you why Kenny Stills is a great wide receiver.
Speaker 1: And guy was like, no, why would anyone do that?
Speaker 1: It was a good answer. It was gonna be like
Speaker 1: the shootout at the Okay Corral of statistical football argument.
Speaker 1: Greg's answer was very it was accurate. He's like, why
Speaker 1: would anyone want to watch that? Very niche And then
Speaker 1: that guy stormed out of the room, and then a
Speaker 1: manager came, a shadowy league figure, said both of you
Speaker 1: and put them both in his office. So many details
Speaker 1: wrong here. I didn't go in any office. The other
Speaker 1: guy didn't storm out, he was escorted out. But that
Speaker 1: fight stayed in my I stayed in my seat. That
Speaker 1: was It was fun to see. So anyway, we're well
Speaker 1: equipped to start a feud and to maintain one, so
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it. Today's show, UH is a
Speaker 1: good one, Oh, Ricky, that's the appropriate. We want epic,
Speaker 1: an epic feel to this because I love end of decade,
Speaker 1: end of year retrospectives. And yes, the Christopher Peter Westling
Speaker 1: Peter Richard Westling, Robert Robert Westling's NFL All Decade team
Speaker 1: which is a mega banger that will be dropping later
Speaker 1: this week. But we will get a sneak preview and
Speaker 1: maybe get involved with the discussion, maybe even mark big
Speaker 1: stage for you in a big spot. Sway west On
Speaker 1: some of his I feel like the right person to
Speaker 1: uh to get into that with Chris Bobby Wesley, Chris
Speaker 1: Bob Um also so we'll go through that. Uh. Also
Speaker 1: we're gonna go into the news. We just found out
Speaker 1: that a coach that's on the hot seat is hopping
Speaker 1: off his butts feeling nice and uh and then some
Speaker 1: prominent waiver additions for contenders, a suspension and more Brown's drama.
Speaker 1: A lot to get to you. But before any of that,
Speaker 1: history made in the Superdome on Monday night, let's dig
Speaker 1: in twelfth play in the drive first and gold from
Speaker 1: the five breeze under center I formation flicks the hand off,
Speaker 1: looks col getting touchdown. Josh Down nineteen years, two hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy three games, over seventy six thousand yards and
Speaker 1: now five hundred and forty touchdowns. Drew Brees take about
Speaker 1: Zack Street the Saints Radio Network with the call yes,
Speaker 1: history made in the Superdome and Drew Brees at the
Speaker 1: center of it. The legendary quarterback through four touchdown passes,
Speaker 1: passing Peyton Manning for the all time record. Uh. Manning
Speaker 1: had been at five thirty nine and UH freeze through four,
Speaker 1: He's up to five forty two. And while he was there,
Speaker 1: why not? Drew Brees decides to go twenty nine of
Speaker 1: thirty against the hapless Cults, setting the all time single
Speaker 1: game mark for accuracy at nineties six point seven percent, yes,
Speaker 1: forty seven yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, uh, ten point
Speaker 1: two yards per attempt. Oh and by the way, Michael
Speaker 1: Thomas twelve catches for touch on twelve targets, near perfection
Speaker 1: for the Saints seven over the Colts. Oh, they almost
Speaker 1: pitched a shutout to Mark Back from Oakland. You got
Speaker 1: to dig in on some Week fifteen football before it
Speaker 1: was all said and done. Tell me your experience watching
Speaker 1: Drew Brees make history. What you know coming off of
Speaker 1: the hideous loss to the Niners, where you come out
Speaker 1: with so many questions about the Saints defense and what
Speaker 1: that means, and there's these lingering questions about Drew Brees
Speaker 1: and where he's at right now, arm strength and all
Speaker 1: this other stuff. It was just one of these sort
Speaker 1: of classic and even the Cults just felt like the
Speaker 1: Washington generals last night. They couldn't get anything done, and
Speaker 1: either Saints scripted the most perfect bounce back victory that
Speaker 1: you could imagine. And hanging around in a totally high
Speaker 1: octane NFC that I think we're gonna look at the
Speaker 1: what we are setting up for the greatest NFC playoffs
Speaker 1: of our time together. I would imagine it all if
Speaker 1: it all plays out that well, of course it's not
Speaker 1: gonna you know, there would be surprises, but the Saints
Speaker 1: are kind of sane. We are right there with the
Speaker 1: rest of them. We're right there. And Breeze I thought
Speaker 1: the way he played took away some concerns for me
Speaker 1: about their offense too well that this combined with a
Speaker 1: week ago, because it was just as impressive, if not more,
Speaker 1: to put that performance up against the forty niners. They
Speaker 1: had a very good one against the Panthers defense at
Speaker 1: home to about a month ago, then some down weeks.
Speaker 1: But the fact that they are peaking right now offensively
Speaker 1: makes me feel a lot more confident about their playoff
Speaker 1: chances because they're an offensive team. I know it's a
Speaker 1: good defense. All these defenses are good, but they're not
Speaker 1: gonna I don't think any of these defenses are gonna
Speaker 1: dominate on another. Their offense is best day, and we're
Speaker 1: seeing that the Saints have a little bit of that
Speaker 1: early two thousand eighteen, or certainly any time before that
Speaker 1: juice to them where they know where the receivers are
Speaker 1: gonna be. Breeze was obviously on time on rhythm, and
Speaker 1: Michael Thomas is playing as well as any wide receiver
Speaker 1: we've ever seen. Breeze has generally looked fantastic since his
Speaker 1: return from the thumb injury. He's moving well into pocket.
Speaker 1: A couple of great performances in a row, and you've got,
Speaker 1: like he said, Michael Thomas is an m v P candidate.
Speaker 1: Jared Cook is now entrenched as that third guy we
Speaker 1: begged him to become. Latavius Murray has been a good
Speaker 1: power back, the OLNA solid, Taysom Hills a gadget guy.
Speaker 1: You even have Deonte Harris to throw into the mix
Speaker 1: once in a while. Alvin Kamara is the like why
Speaker 1: are you running Freeman? He's the one guy he just
Speaker 1: doesn't He's not getting the ball in space the way
Speaker 1: he did last year. And when he's getting the ball,
Speaker 1: he's not doing the special things. You even see like
Speaker 1: the frustrated look on his face after a play when
Speaker 1: he didn't force a defender to miss him on a tackle,
Speaker 1: because he's used to being that guy and he just
Speaker 1: can't do it right. Well. I do think they have concerns,
Speaker 1: you know, first, of all, they lost two defensive line
Speaker 1: starters that didn't show up against the Colts. Second, they
Speaker 1: lost Larry war For their Pro Bowl guard to an
Speaker 1: injury which looked like it might have been serious. And
Speaker 1: they you know, they're missing their other Pro Bowl guard
Speaker 1: who who might be back to the mix soon, at
Speaker 1: least certainly for the playoffs. So that's a concern that
Speaker 1: they have some injuries. But otherwise they have to feel
Speaker 1: better I think right now than any time of the year.
Speaker 1: And you should give that completion record to to Michael Thomas.
Speaker 1: I mean, Drew Brees was amazing. It was he was perfect,
Speaker 1: but some of the catches that Thomas made, there's actually
Speaker 1: a sixty four was the catch expectancy of his twelve
Speaker 1: receptions and he caught every single one right there. There's
Speaker 1: a stat Yeah, next Seth Walder of saying you know
Speaker 1: how much over expected that you would you know, have
Speaker 1: your whether your completion and he had the highest mark
Speaker 1: in a single game in three years. I mean, if
Speaker 1: we assume that that you would have expected two to
Speaker 1: three four of those passes to be incomplete and he
Speaker 1: made plays on him, which has been happening all year.
Speaker 1: If we assume Lamar gets m VP. Barring him being
Speaker 1: you know, swept away by something something more earth, It's
Speaker 1: still probably give it to him because it would be
Speaker 1: a mass tragedy if he was taken. That's true, because
Speaker 1: he wouldn't take the trophy away from you, wouldn't have
Speaker 1: filed a bad family. He's gonna want the trophy. How
Speaker 1: about Michael Thomas for Offensive Player of the Year though,
Speaker 1: and I understand it's probably just gonna go to Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: but it'll probably just that would I don't like the
Speaker 1: Offensive Player of the Year, and I bet more times
Speaker 1: than not it just goes to the same guy getting
Speaker 1: both awards. Really, I feel like they always they usually
Speaker 1: if it's a close race and they want to give
Speaker 1: the runner up a consolation prize, they give him the
Speaker 1: O P O Y. Last year they did not write,
Speaker 1: I mean this is your hill. Grid. I'll example and
Speaker 1: Adrian Peterson had historic seasons two thousand twelve, they gave
Speaker 1: Adrian Peterson m VP and they said, Peyton, take your
Speaker 1: fifty five touchdowns and and well we've we said it
Speaker 1: a hundred times. It's best picture and best Director, and
Speaker 1: they find a way to reward to you know, William,
Speaker 1: Can we just take a step back and truly appreciate
Speaker 1: Drew Brees honestly? And I know it's happening in all corners,
Speaker 1: but maybe we don't always talk about Breeze the way
Speaker 1: we talk about these other greats, whether whether it's Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning and Tom Brady and Breeze has always been maybe
Speaker 1: a step behind in the shadows of those guys in
Speaker 1: this era. But now you take a step back. He's
Speaker 1: got the one ring. He can really use a second ring,
Speaker 1: but he's got the all time touchdown record, and maybe
Speaker 1: Brady catches him, who knows, But he's got the yardage record.
Speaker 1: He Brady, Brady needs it. What a couple on Saturday
Speaker 1: to pass him, I doubt do any ceremony, and then
Speaker 1: Breeze will pass him back on Sunday. These three behind
Speaker 1: I believe he needs. And I don't know if Brady's
Speaker 1: got three more touchdowns in him completion percentage record. He
Speaker 1: is this guy that's stacking up numbers that are godlike,
Speaker 1: and he's been doing it forever. He's forty years old.
Speaker 1: He went twenty on a thirty last night. At forty
Speaker 1: years old. Brady gets all the shine from in the
Speaker 1: old quarterback Breeze is doing the same thing a couple
Speaker 1: of years behind him. I liked it on the same
Speaker 1: night he did get the single game completion record because
Speaker 1: there's so much noise in the career records. The You've
Speaker 1: played through three passing revolutions in your career. There's never
Speaker 1: been a better time to pass, There's never been a
Speaker 1: better stadium to pass, and there's rarely been a better
Speaker 1: play caller to play quarterback under. You've rarely been injured,
Speaker 1: he's had He's checked all these boxes that would say, yes,
Speaker 1: of course you've got these career marks. But I think
Speaker 1: what stands out about him is the accuracy. That he's
Speaker 1: probably the most accurate quarterback of all time, and that
Speaker 1: in the time we've done this podcast, we've talked about
Speaker 1: another accurate quarterback like Philip Rivers. Why are you always
Speaker 1: going through these stretches where you're turning the ball over
Speaker 1: in your offense? Doesn't Tom Brady goes through slumps, Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers goes through slumps. We try to figure out what's
Speaker 1: wrong with their offenses. We're never trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what's wrong with Drew Brees offense. Season well, that was
Speaker 1: maybe an arm injury thing, maybe, but for the most part,
Speaker 1: Drew Brees has sailed along as a top five offense
Speaker 1: through his entire Saints cults were consistent, he's gonna break
Speaker 1: his own completion if he qualifies with enough throws, he'll
Speaker 1: have broken the completion record for a season for three
Speaker 1: straight years. I mean, he started leading the league in
Speaker 1: yards back in two thousand six, and he's done it
Speaker 1: for many of the years since often leads in attempts.
Speaker 1: It's wild. He did have a stretch like six seven
Speaker 1: years ago where he led the league in interceptions, and
Speaker 1: then a couple of years later he threw seventeen and
Speaker 1: I remember thinking at the time, Okay, Drew Brees is
Speaker 1: starting to decline. That was two thousand twelve and two
Speaker 1: thousand fourteen, and it's like, I think it was more
Speaker 1: of a factor if they had such a bad defense
Speaker 1: that he just had to take more chances. And you're right,
Speaker 1: you can't teach accuracy, and he might be the most
Speaker 1: accurate quarterback ever. And the Saints are adding pieces as
Speaker 1: they go. Uh there. They claimed Genorris Jenkins on waivers
Speaker 1: and Eli Apple, who has had a great season until
Speaker 1: the last three weeks. I think it's gonna get benched
Speaker 1: because he has not played well the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: And here I was just sliding another Giant's cornerback. I
Speaker 1: got that Giant secondary back, our secondary. I mean, Jack
Speaker 1: is part of what started the um unraveling of his
Speaker 1: Giant's career. And it happened very quickly after he who
Speaker 1: used like a you know, ugly term to describe a
Speaker 1: fan that came after. On Twitter, he's posting his own stats,
Speaker 1: pointing out that he's having a good year amidst this
Speaker 1: last place seasons with the Giants. But he's a knucklehead.
Speaker 1: I don't know, is he Is he a guy that
Speaker 1: you wanted your team? I don't know. I think it's
Speaker 1: a month. It's a month long rental and see where
Speaker 1: it makes you. You know, um is the breeze, the
Speaker 1: best passer ever quarterback. I don't know how you judge that, Like,
Speaker 1: do you judge him against his peers or do you
Speaker 1: judge him with like the evolution? To me, Dan Marino's
Speaker 1: the best pastor I've ever seen. I would see Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers is probably right there with him. Right. The problem is,
Speaker 1: and look Breeze can hit a lot of difficult touch
Speaker 1: throws over a zone, you know, into small windows, but
Speaker 1: he he doesn't have the wow factor of like the
Speaker 1: deep out twenty five yards down the side, Like he
Speaker 1: doesn't have the Okay, that's the best throw I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: It's more just like incredible accuracy, decision making, touch, everything
Speaker 1: like that. But they're the fact that they won seventeen
Speaker 1: possessions and they scored fourteen of them during this two
Speaker 1: game stretch against competent enough defenses. This is not you know,
Speaker 1: a very great forty Niners defense and a pretty good
Speaker 1: Colts defense. They have not been bad this They've been
Speaker 1: in every game. I know they were embarrassing last night
Speaker 1: in Jacobe Brisette, you know, couldn't shoot straight. He's been
Speaker 1: pretty bad since his injury. But it's been a good
Speaker 1: Colts team. For them to blow them outs impressive. I
Speaker 1: feel like in Week sixteen, this is the first week
Speaker 1: of the season where I've thought, if you throw all
Speaker 1: the NFC teams into a royal rumble, the Saints probably
Speaker 1: are the last one standing in the ring as we
Speaker 1: enter Week sixteen, I like, either the best team in
Speaker 1: the NFC at this moment, and I like their chances
Speaker 1: of getting to buy and very possibly getting the one seed.
Speaker 1: I think the way that the schedule works out with
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and the and the forty Niners playing, you
Speaker 1: know they're going to be rooting for the Seahawks to
Speaker 1: win that game because they have the type hikens they
Speaker 1: can jump back up. If I believe, because I was
Speaker 1: going through one of those playoff machines, which is not
Speaker 1: as accurate as dealing with Greg Rosenthal. No, I messed
Speaker 1: up if the other night with some basics stuff, don't
Speaker 1: really we don't even totally fallen off. Um. I believe
Speaker 1: that if the Saints went out and the NFC West
Speaker 1: champion eventual champion wins out and they both finished thirteen
Speaker 1: and three, the Saints don't get that by well, it depends.
Speaker 1: It depends if it's a three way tie, um, because
Speaker 1: that would have a factor. If it's them in the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: I don't need to go to any calculator. They played them,
Speaker 1: uh and they and they lost to them. I mean
Speaker 1: they beat them. So the Seahawks. If it's a three
Speaker 1: team one that I think where the Packers went out,
Speaker 1: then I think they're in Packers have a superior conference
Speaker 1: record to New Orleans. Right now, we brought up a
Speaker 1: papashango last week the Colts on Monday Night. They were
Speaker 1: Barry Harrowitz. They're the jobber whose job is to show up,
Speaker 1: take a beating, this happens paid and go home yourself
Speaker 1: on the back. This is now like an annual thing,
Speaker 1: like a path of the General. Washington General has come
Speaker 1: in on Monday night football for Drew Brees to break records.
Speaker 1: They were very efficient. By the way, when we talk
Speaker 1: about the best passer, and I know, why does the
Speaker 1: name Eric Hippel not to come up in that conversation?
Speaker 1: Did anyone watch him? I know West died back in
Speaker 1: the day Detroit Lions. I also talk about it was
Speaker 1: also the blow hards have. I'm sure comments make it
Speaker 1: he was the original blow there. I also I've seen
Speaker 1: I'm seeing a lot of blow to pick blow, that's
Speaker 1: what they say, a lot of Peyton Manning. Like Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning or Drew Brees convo for whatever reason, I think
Speaker 1: you got it. You're you're becoming a victim of the
Speaker 1: of the moment. And Breeze has a better longevity, so
Speaker 1: he's having this late career. That Brady's zero right, thank
Speaker 1: you I, I and but Peyton Manning in terms of long,
Speaker 1: you know, the streak and the peak, forget it. We
Speaker 1: are one sandwich away or one one touchdown away from
Speaker 1: Taysom Hill towards a sandwich, probing trade quarters. You got
Speaker 1: eight quarters. I kind of liked it. It's coming right
Speaker 1: down to the wire. I was thinking maybe he kind
Speaker 1: of like start at quarterback if they didn't have to play,
Speaker 1: But that's not gonna happen. Now they're gonna have a
Speaker 1: lot to play for. One word on the Cults, the
Speaker 1: Harrowitz is the Jacoby precent Colts remind me a little
Speaker 1: bit of the Alex Smith Chiefs, where they're kind of
Speaker 1: boring to watch. They have a strong roster, they're run
Speaker 1: by a good front office, they have a good coach.
Speaker 1: But even if they stay healthy, which if that happened
Speaker 1: this year, and if their field goal kicker made kicks,
Speaker 1: you might get a wild Carter win the a f
Speaker 1: C South. But your ceiling is one playoff and done.
Speaker 1: That's why Booger on the telecast is going on and
Speaker 1: on every you know, this is a true franchise quarterback
Speaker 1: and maybe maybe you want that guy at QB and
Speaker 1: I don't want to fall into that old trap West
Speaker 1: it's all about the quarterback. But is Jake Brisket team
Speaker 1: one that's you can actually pin super booms? Well, the
Speaker 1: numbers say p F has him thirty second, most other
Speaker 1: numbers have him between sixteen in the early twenties, and
Speaker 1: stats across the board. You have to factor in not
Speaker 1: having t Y Hilton for a while, losing Ebron, losing
Speaker 1: Chester Rogers, losing Paris Campbell. He hasn't been accurate since
Speaker 1: the m c l injury, and he's not overly act.
Speaker 1: I would say that's his number one problem is he
Speaker 1: doesn't attack down the field. And it's hard to separate
Speaker 1: how how his numbers from how good the play caller is.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be really good. I wouldn't be surprised if
Speaker 1: they fire Matt eber Flews, their defensive coordinator, who has
Speaker 1: done a find enough job. His stock was very high
Speaker 1: just months ago. I know, but they don't change. First
Speaker 1: of all, it was it was Josh McDaniels is higher,
Speaker 1: which they were. They decided to keep and man these
Speaker 1: defenses like the Cowboys and the Colts would just run
Speaker 1: out the same sort of plan each time and don't
Speaker 1: change it up. When you play a guy like Drew
Speaker 1: Brees and you just get lit up, you've gotta be
Speaker 1: able to change what you do week to week. Let's
Speaker 1: do some news. Part of the things I think that
Speaker 1: just makes me me is I going to work every
Speaker 1: single day trying to earn my job that day. And
Speaker 1: you know, I would go in and make sure that
Speaker 1: my keycard worked and I was in the building and
Speaker 1: I was okay on most of the reason why I
Speaker 1: don't leave the building because they're gonna have to throw
Speaker 1: me out, like I've said before. So alright, so you
Speaker 1: know the drill. Every Black Monday, six to eight NFL
Speaker 1: coaches get fired. Matt Patricia of the Lions seem like
Speaker 1: a guy that would be in the crosshairs coming off
Speaker 1: a second straight uh offseason for the Lines finishing below
Speaker 1: five hundred, but the Lions announced Tuesday it will keep
Speaker 1: both Patricia and g M. Bob quinn in. Lions owner
Speaker 1: Martha Firestone Ford, I mean, what is that how she
Speaker 1: walks around using the middle name as part of her
Speaker 1: announcement type and our nick shook right up on NFL
Speaker 1: Dot com yes is ther answer? Mark might be might
Speaker 1: be her husband's name. Spoke with her. What is more
Speaker 1: American than firestone Ford's part of two Dynasties? I mean,
Speaker 1: what's more Detroit than that? Unbelievable? Anyway, here were her comments,
Speaker 1: we expect to be a playoff contender. That means playing
Speaker 1: meaningful games in December. Well that's not the case with Lines,
Speaker 1: and it's rarely been the case for twenty years now.
Speaker 1: Uh more perhaps, um so Patricia. I think what happens
Speaker 1: here is they're looking at the season and saying, you
Speaker 1: know what you know. Six weeks in, everybody was getting
Speaker 1: was high on Patricia, saying people seem to be the
Speaker 1: players are buying into a system. Uh, we're in the
Speaker 1: mix and a very difficult division. Uh. And then they
Speaker 1: started to fall off a little bit. Matt Stafford gets hurt,
Speaker 1: the backup gets hurt, Injuries all over the roster. The
Speaker 1: first round pick Hackinson is banged up, Marvin Jones, Jones,
Speaker 1: harry On Johnson, like Daniels, they trade Quandre Diggs, and
Speaker 1: then there's the the Digs trade. And also if Patricia's
Speaker 1: the defensive guy, it doesn't seem like he has a
Speaker 1: lot of pieces to work with, so it's like, is
Speaker 1: this on the coach? Bad organizations love to hit the
Speaker 1: reset button. That's what I figured was gonna happen here.
Speaker 1: So I kind of credit the Lines for for sticking
Speaker 1: this after one more year. But I also understand the
Speaker 1: flip side of it. If you're a Lions fan, you're like,
Speaker 1: I don't like the vibe of this guy. I don't
Speaker 1: like that we're two years and non relevant after Jimmy
Speaker 1: Caldwell gave us back to back nine and seven, which
Speaker 1: is paradise in Detroit and eleven and five years, two years?
Speaker 1: What do you think, Mark, where do you come down
Speaker 1: the right decision? The Lions are not and it's it
Speaker 1: comes down to firestorm, fire Storm forward or whatever her
Speaker 1: name is. Her name is Martha firestone Ford, firestone Ford.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think that they are a They're
Speaker 1: not typically a knee jerk operation. They are one of
Speaker 1: the more patient front off the ownership club is where
Speaker 1: they don't with Jim Caldwell. There was frustration that they
Speaker 1: were allowing Jim called the right. So that's got five
Speaker 1: years and only one of them had a winning record.
Speaker 1: So I think that you know there were. It depends
Speaker 1: on what the relationship is. But Patricia came out pretty
Speaker 1: strongly and said, I get along with this owner. We
Speaker 1: talk all the time. You know there is a related
Speaker 1: and ship that's strong here. So I I don't have
Speaker 1: a problem with finding out what year three would be
Speaker 1: with Matt Patricia based on just as you said, this
Speaker 1: litany of injuries and maladies and all this other stuff
Speaker 1: that's happened to them, he has been hamstrung. That said,
Speaker 1: I don't look at the front office and say I
Speaker 1: see a clear direction what what what the Lions are
Speaker 1: and what they want to be at this point. I
Speaker 1: think last week, when I was apoplectic about this game
Speaker 1: being lockable between the bucks and lines, you guys made
Speaker 1: the good point that they've been in every game. The
Speaker 1: players are trying, even with all of these injuries, playing
Speaker 1: so many second and third stringers, they're in games till
Speaker 1: the end, and I think that's probably what saved Matt
Speaker 1: Patricia's job. I also think it's a reminder to start
Speaker 1: your coaching and GM on the same page to begin with,
Speaker 1: because you had that one year where Bob Quinn didn't
Speaker 1: really want Jim Caldwell and so now you're just two
Speaker 1: years into Patricia and you're thinking of making a change.
Speaker 1: But if you fired Patricia, you're probably firing Bob Quinn,
Speaker 1: and you're Martha Ford or whoever is making all of
Speaker 1: those decisions, the board starting totally over from scratch, and
Speaker 1: do you wanna give up on that? I I would
Speaker 1: rather if I was her see what happens with Quinn
Speaker 1: and Patricia, and basically, this is your last chance. Then
Speaker 1: try to start from scratch, because here's the reality. You
Speaker 1: have a long track record of not being able to
Speaker 1: start over from scratching doing it well, So try this
Speaker 1: an extensive track record. Alright, We'll see what happens with
Speaker 1: the lines in the offseason. A lot of work to
Speaker 1: do moving on, all right, So two two names we
Speaker 1: talked about. Gennar's Jenkins, cut by the Giants, claimed by
Speaker 1: the Saints for some depth in their secondary maybe maybe
Speaker 1: a starting role. Another big name, but he's starting. They're
Speaker 1: pretty they're a little banged up to They lost Chardon
Speaker 1: Chauncey Gardner Johnson last night, who has been really good
Speaker 1: for them. Another big name Terrell Suggs, who of course
Speaker 1: made his name with the Ravens. Former Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year. Now thirty seven years old, signed a contract
Speaker 1: one year deal with the Cardinals um earlier this year,
Speaker 1: and in thirteen games in Arizona, he had five and
Speaker 1: a half sacks, thirty seven tackles, four force fumbles, which
Speaker 1: is not you know, peak Sugs production, but pretty good
Speaker 1: for a late thirties uh pass rusher. So, uh, they
Speaker 1: cut ties with Sugs and he does not make it
Speaker 1: through waivers. There had been talked that he wanted to
Speaker 1: reunite with the Ravens, but the Saints, Niners, and Seahawks
Speaker 1: all attempted to claim sucks. He goes to the Chiefs, though,
Speaker 1: who also put in a claim. Uh. So he will
Speaker 1: report to the Chiefs and he becomes a depth piece,
Speaker 1: uh in their front seven West your thoughts on Sugs,
Speaker 1: what you saw from him chewing up that game tape
Speaker 1: like the tape dog that you are. He's angeless, he's
Speaker 1: still I mean, he's not to the point where he's
Speaker 1: consistent every week, but there's still games where he's blowing
Speaker 1: up running games and passing games as as a pass rusher.
Speaker 1: And I don't think he's just the depth piece for
Speaker 1: the chief They lost Alex Oka for to a torn
Speaker 1: pectoral muscle just a couple of days ago. So he
Speaker 1: may be right there with Frank Clark as their two
Speaker 1: most important defensive ends. Couldn't you see him making a
Speaker 1: huge play in January? And I think part of the
Speaker 1: strategy here was there is a need, but also don't
Speaker 1: allow him to fall further down the waiver chain too,
Speaker 1: to Baltimore, to New England. It's keeping him out of
Speaker 1: that other, that other. Does this mean the Ravens didn't
Speaker 1: put an acclaim for him, Well, I mean they were
Speaker 1: lower on the on the list. The logic I believe
Speaker 1: is this. They they were thirty second out of thirty
Speaker 1: two teams in the waiver claim. So if he got
Speaker 1: to them and it was clear that he wanted to
Speaker 1: play for them anyway, why even claim him Because if
Speaker 1: he makes it through waivers, you just signed him to
Speaker 1: a cheaper context or whatever. Yeah, sugs, he's played a lot.
Speaker 1: I would expect him to start. I would have expected
Speaker 1: him to rotate, maybe with Okafer, But now that he's gone,
Speaker 1: I mean that that is a very thin position. I
Speaker 1: think he steps right in and starts for what's been
Speaker 1: a very good past. He did he ask for his
Speaker 1: release from the Cardinals. It was a little confusing, and
Speaker 1: they said it was a mutual decision. So something happened beyond,
Speaker 1: you know, behind the scenes where it's funny. Why didn't
Speaker 1: you just sign with the Ravens anyway instead of deciding
Speaker 1: that you wanted to play the last leg of your
Speaker 1: career in your home. It could have also been like
Speaker 1: the Cardinals went to him and they said, look, we're
Speaker 1: gonna start playing some younger guys now, and he didn't
Speaker 1: want to be part of that. And then so it
Speaker 1: just makes me plus they plus they saved some money
Speaker 1: with Cardinals, are willing to give him seven million dollars?
Speaker 1: Maybe right. No, the Ravens were shocked by losing to
Speaker 1: all Suggs. It was the one guy they had. They
Speaker 1: were it was like a first day, so they were flammas.
Speaker 1: They were like, I can't believe Terrell Suggs did that.
Speaker 1: He apparently wanted to start his movie production company, which
Speaker 1: I think he has and all all sorts of Remember
Speaker 1: how concerned we were about the Ravens offseason when they
Speaker 1: were losing all these pieces. Yeah, I do remember that.
Speaker 1: Uh bad news uh connected to the Seahawks. Josh Gordon
Speaker 1: banned from the NFL once again. The Seahawks and ounced
Speaker 1: that the wide receiver who they claimed off waivers in November,
Speaker 1: was suspended indefinitely for violating the NFL policies on performance
Speaker 1: enhancing substances and substances of abuse. So that so he
Speaker 1: got pop for two separate things here. Yes, now is
Speaker 1: the first time he's ever been suspended for p d S.
Speaker 1: I believe God Josh Gordon. Anyway, this is the fifth
Speaker 1: suspension in eight years. Uh. He was suspended and definitely
Speaker 1: just last December while member of the Pats. He was
Speaker 1: conditionally reinstated in August, just in time for the start
Speaker 1: of this season. It didn't work out in New England,
Speaker 1: and did with Seattle. It seemed like one of those
Speaker 1: great Seattle moves or a guy kind of cleans up
Speaker 1: his act and becomes a playmaker. But Gordon, obviously, UH
Speaker 1: is dealing with these demons here and he just can't
Speaker 1: shake it. And you you can't. It's you know, if
Speaker 1: anybody has been connected to people that have had these struggles,
Speaker 1: you you look at you here, like what is wrong
Speaker 1: with this guy? But it's so clear because he knows
Speaker 1: that it's embarrassing to him that this is in the
Speaker 1: news cycle again. Uh, he can't, he can't help it.
Speaker 1: It's an addiction, and it's it's sad, and I wonder
Speaker 1: if this is it, if the NFL is finally decided
Speaker 1: going to decide, as talented as you are, you're still
Speaker 1: in your twenties, you just can't do it. You can't
Speaker 1: stay clean, and that's gonna be the end of him.
Speaker 1: I think the relationship he has with Roger Goodell will
Speaker 1: um help him get back into the league if he
Speaker 1: wants to take these steps to do so, just because
Speaker 1: I think we've seen that four or five times, right,
Speaker 1: I mean we've we've I guess, at what point to
Speaker 1: teams finally say we can't count I think that's probably
Speaker 1: the same Josh Gordon of three or four years ago,
Speaker 1: physically didn't it also written into the deal when when
Speaker 1: you sign him, we know, at this stage of your career,
Speaker 1: we can't count on you be on week to week.
Speaker 1: This is I mean, we've had all five of his
Speaker 1: suspensions on this podcast, and I think almost every time
Speaker 1: we've asked the question is to sit now because he's
Speaker 1: not providing production. At least he didn't this year. I
Speaker 1: feel like he he'll get one more chance if he
Speaker 1: does all the steps. But you're right, maybe he's gone
Speaker 1: all of next year. I mean, that's it's it's sad
Speaker 1: to see uh moving on, Ah Mark, let's dig into it.
Speaker 1: Brown's meltdown season is upon us s z n Z
Speaker 1: as in zebra z in the UK. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you guys noticed this if you deal with any
Speaker 1: of the people, because we've had our travels to London, UM,
Speaker 1: which we're very proud of for the Round the NFL podcast,
Speaker 1: if you are, because my name obviously has a Z
Speaker 1: in it. If you have to spell your name to
Speaker 1: a you know, front office, uh, front desk receptionist during
Speaker 1: a check in process, how do you spend that? Now?
Speaker 1: H A and z U S they just go zed
Speaker 1: straight up. I don't know anything about it. Sounds like
Speaker 1: an evil cult. This has happened in in many different places,
Speaker 1: or that it's popped up repeatedly when I dealt with
Speaker 1: United Kingdom, Yes, Brits and uh spelling my name when
Speaker 1: they're repeating it back Z. It's one of the many
Speaker 1: reasons you hate leaving this country. I love I love
Speaker 1: going to London. I'll tell you that we don't need
Speaker 1: to do all this flying all over the world though
Speaker 1: already I'm already on record on that. It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: let's do it around the NFL podcast World Tour. I'm in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: put me on the old screen. You know you would,
Speaker 1: you would refuse to go just I'll be right. No
Speaker 1: not for me, No no no no, no, not for me.
Speaker 1: You put me. You put me live via satellite like
Speaker 1: that gentleman on the trend. Some people think that accummulating
Speaker 1: knew experiences in different cultures is a valuable thing and
Speaker 1: you can help you grow. Some people do not. Everyone
Speaker 1: value the idea of consistency and spending time with family.
Speaker 1: I don't need to be globe trotting at this time
Speaker 1: of my life. I need to be a father and
Speaker 1: a provider. You could take them with you. Now we're
Speaker 1: just getting ridiculous. Where's the education structure? That's it that
Speaker 1: my kids are trying to learn how to read west?
Speaker 1: I mean they're trying to learn how to multiple like
Speaker 1: Jack's learning how to multiply by five right now. I
Speaker 1: don't want to how it happened to me, happened to him?
Speaker 1: I think bangers and mash and driving on the left
Speaker 1: with English language taxis is about as as crazy. How
Speaker 1: about way up the auntie teach them how to count
Speaker 1: to five in Mandarin. And while we're here, I mean,
Speaker 1: you guys, get on me. I don't see a bunch
Speaker 1: of world travelers in the room with me right now.
Speaker 1: Greg goes to Japan, but that's because his wife's families
Speaker 1: from there. Mark, you grew up in England. We know.
Speaker 1: I don't see you globe and went to Mexico last year.
Speaker 1: Finances have you know? Multiple children options dry up in
Speaker 1: terms of world traveling as you win. Well, I was
Speaker 1: just told that children should not be seen as an obstacle.
Speaker 1: You just I was joking, because the pleasures of the
Speaker 1: mind and body and spirit go get your own across
Speaker 1: the Amazon or whatever. Well that is Greg's that. Greg
Speaker 1: often is left back at home when his wife takes
Speaker 1: the kids to Japan, So I don't need to go
Speaker 1: to the Amazon. I just on a mountain of Amazon
Speaker 1: boxes coming to my house every day. My wife getting
Speaker 1: all the stuff said to the house. I collect them
Speaker 1: from the front door so the porch pirates don't get them.
Speaker 1: That's my life. Really, you're you're it's the norm, like
Speaker 1: no one really or most people don't have the means
Speaker 1: or don't actually get it done. They just think in
Speaker 1: their head, I would love to travel, that would be
Speaker 1: so great for my experience and just wouldn't that be nice?
Speaker 1: But you don't actually do it. You're just different because
Speaker 1: you wouldn't even want to. Regardless, I would like to
Speaker 1: go on a trip at some time. My wife and
Speaker 1: I have talked about going to Ireland for our ten
Speaker 1: year anniversary. Um, but this idea that, oh god, go
Speaker 1: see the world before I die. I see plenty of things.
Speaker 1: I think you're It boils down to you're a real
Speaker 1: American basically, um, yeah, you know what, you got it.
Speaker 1: We finally hit on what this really is. It's a
Speaker 1: great country, and it's not a perfect country. I don't
Speaker 1: want to know what I don't know. I like it
Speaker 1: not knowing. That was great, all right. We turned that
Speaker 1: whole thing into Dan being a better America. And without
Speaker 1: the three of us, the Browns are a mess. And uh,
Speaker 1: let's talk about it real quick. Here. We'll start with
Speaker 1: and this was news to me. I heard this morning
Speaker 1: more Browns players and this was from Mike Silver, who
Speaker 1: reported for two sources. At the week fifteen loss in Arizona, UH,
Speaker 1: multiple Browns players yelled towards the Arizona sideline to quote,
Speaker 1: come get me, including wide receiver Jarvis Landry. And one
Speaker 1: takeaway here they're yelling to the Cardinals sidelines. Is it
Speaker 1: that bad they're trying to get to Arizona? UH. And
Speaker 1: Jarvis Landry has been, as Mark you pointed out recently
Speaker 1: on this podcast, has been one of the bright spots
Speaker 1: of this team. But it does remind us of all
Speaker 1: these things entering the season. Yes, all this talent, but
Speaker 1: there's a lot of combustible things here. Baker loves to
Speaker 1: talk the coaches and experience. UH. Landry is a guy
Speaker 1: that runs his mouth back him has always been a
Speaker 1: guy that that talks and gets in the media. And
Speaker 1: you can put all these guys together, what happens if
Speaker 1: they don't win? Well, this is what happens. Let's hear
Speaker 1: from UH Freddie Kitchens, who was being asked about yes,
Speaker 1: these comments and also Landry having words with him on
Speaker 1: the sideline during the loss of the Cardinals. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: change Jarvis for anything. Jarvis is UH. Jarvis plays the
Speaker 1: game with passion, which I love he's tough, he's physical. Um,
Speaker 1: he wants to win. And when you want to win
Speaker 1: as badly as Jarvis does, sometimes your emotion gets the
Speaker 1: best of you. Um. But I don't have a problem
Speaker 1: with Jarvis. He's one of the you know, he's one
Speaker 1: of my favorites. The way he plays the game, him
Speaker 1: as a person, everything. And then when you need a
Speaker 1: you need a leader to stop up. Here's Kareem Hunt,
Speaker 1: who's been on the Browns for four or five weeks. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's telling the media some guys aren't playing hard against
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. There's some players that anybody then leave it
Speaker 1: saying out there through the whole play you know, through
Speaker 1: the whole whistle. I mean, we all got to do
Speaker 1: that if we want to be successful. Mark, is this
Speaker 1: this situation culture wise where they have to make a change. Well,
Speaker 1: I think there's no greater indictment of a coach and
Speaker 1: a coaching staff than when it's overtly visible to the
Speaker 1: eye and to teammates. And they're starting to talk about
Speaker 1: players not putting in the effort no matter what the
Speaker 1: record is or what the playoff situation is. And you know,
Speaker 1: I thought the Browns players were playing hard up to
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and Kitchens seemed to still
Speaker 1: be getting in response from these guys, but it's bubbling
Speaker 1: into UH, you know, very Browns and but new territories
Speaker 1: of ugliness because of the rather star studded nature of
Speaker 1: the roster and the combustible UH status. At this point,
Speaker 1: you're wondering who will be back at that you could
Speaker 1: point to almost anyone outside of Baker Mayfil. I have
Speaker 1: no idea, Myles Garrett, I have no idea if any
Speaker 1: of them will be back next season, just because it
Speaker 1: seems to me that the foundation once again is totally
Speaker 1: fallen out, and you know I and I feel like
Speaker 1: from the summer I was trying to ring this warning
Speaker 1: bell of I'm not convinced they're just gonna sort sore
Speaker 1: into the playoffs, just because you know, fans and lots
Speaker 1: of the media saw that, and there was reasons to
Speaker 1: be optimistic. But it reminds me of kind of like
Speaker 1: for Browns fans, it's just how can we hurt you
Speaker 1: in a different way this time? And as a kid,
Speaker 1: I would like in the middle of UH, you know,
Speaker 1: have these dreams of like Christmas morning and opening up
Speaker 1: all these presents and then suddenly, like your mom would
Speaker 1: shake you, and it would be like March eight and
Speaker 1: it'd be raining out and Christmas is months away, and
Speaker 1: it's not any time around the bend. That's how this season,
Speaker 1: you know, never really arrived. It reminds me of there's
Speaker 1: a I think he's a mogul or he's a filthy
Speaker 1: rich guy living out here in l A. And it
Speaker 1: was a big news story recently. I think it was
Speaker 1: in Malibu. He built this mega mansion that was worth
Speaker 1: like fifty million dollars whatever the number was, and he
Speaker 1: built it without getting the proper code ing, and they
Speaker 1: finished most of the project and then a court ruling
Speaker 1: came by and judge said, no, this is not safe,
Speaker 1: this isn't gonna work. You have people living below you, uh,
Speaker 1: tear it down. And he had to tear down a
Speaker 1: mansion that he had just built. It's kind of what
Speaker 1: the Browns are. They built like this mansion, but it
Speaker 1: was on bad footing and soggy ground, and now they
Speaker 1: might be staring at a tear down here, and who
Speaker 1: is who do you trust to handle? What's a very
Speaker 1: delicate situation right now? We all year I've been I've
Speaker 1: been hoping for the best for Freddy Kitchens. I think
Speaker 1: he's a likable guy. But that mansion you talked about,
Speaker 1: that soggy ground. You keep waiting for him to dry
Speaker 1: it out and build a solid foundation, and every week
Speaker 1: it gets soggear and salgear and parts of the house
Speaker 1: starts slipping away, and it's just slipping all away from
Speaker 1: him he has no control over. I think you save
Speaker 1: a lot by just firing Freddie Kitchens and making a
Speaker 1: good head coaching higher. I think that's the easy solution,
Speaker 1: which is usually the one that the Browns take because
Speaker 1: they don't want to give up on this nucleus. John Dorsey,
Speaker 1: these are all his players and and I know Freddie
Speaker 1: Kitchens was his coach too, and there was some talk
Speaker 1: that he liked the idea of that's a coach where
Speaker 1: you know he's he can not control, but he's certainly
Speaker 1: the alpha John Dorsey in terms of their relationship. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you can't find a better coach that can
Speaker 1: sell players who calmed down once you get to February, March,
Speaker 1: April and all this uh subsides. I think that's to me,
Speaker 1: that's like the easiest way of like, let's keep the team,
Speaker 1: change the coach, and see what happened. The only flip
Speaker 1: side if they're not gonna fire Dorsey. No, but from
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns angle, they have tried over and over
Speaker 1: to fire and then sell you on the next guy,
Speaker 1: and it's yea. The person that would be different would
Speaker 1: be someone like Ron Rivera who comes in with a
Speaker 1: decade plus of real experience. I'm not saying that's the
Speaker 1: person like that. It's like, it's like, but you need
Speaker 1: somebody with a track record that the commands respect. That
Speaker 1: these guys in this vaultile locker room will say, we're
Speaker 1: not gonna be running our mouths the media around this
Speaker 1: guy like you just need for all their you know,
Speaker 1: wins or losses. They were low drama under Rivera, and
Speaker 1: that's desperately needed for some of these bad teams. And
Speaker 1: as much as the Browns have tried everything as far
Speaker 1: as hey, we're gonna we're gonna fire this guy and
Speaker 1: turned to a new coach, they've also stuck with some
Speaker 1: guys longer and show patients like Hugh Jackson, when it
Speaker 1: maybe he should have been gone a year before then
Speaker 1: you could be we've seen how quickly you can flip.
Speaker 1: Like I mean in Arizona, their offense went from one
Speaker 1: of the worst in NFL history to a pretty compelling
Speaker 1: offense with with the number one draft pick, well with
Speaker 1: all the with you know, with the new coach. The
Speaker 1: name to watch maybe is McCarthy. He's a guy a
Speaker 1: super Bowl pedigree. He's the guy that was around for
Speaker 1: a long time that I think this year away has
Speaker 1: done well. He's his agents doing a nice job. He's
Speaker 1: giving him these little media interviews, too little, too obvious.
Speaker 1: It's obvious, but it's also who else would fit this
Speaker 1: Bill Rivera would McCarthy would I don't think this is
Speaker 1: a situation where you go with like an unknown coach
Speaker 1: and hope it works again. I think I find with
Speaker 1: with McCarthy is that he has ties obviously two people
Speaker 1: in Cleveland's front office, and they didn't pursue him last
Speaker 1: off They like John Dorsey's worked with him, but it
Speaker 1: was so different last year. It was it was but
Speaker 1: John Dorsey's worked with him directly and didn't even want
Speaker 1: to talk to him when it was very clear that
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy wanted to talk to the Browns, but it's
Speaker 1: fair to say that. I just wonder what his opinion
Speaker 1: of McCarthy. The Browns were a New Year's Day last
Speaker 1: year when Kitchens had the team humming on offense and
Speaker 1: Freddie and uh Baker loved him. Maybe they just weren't
Speaker 1: even in that mindset. And now they have to open
Speaker 1: their mind. A huge X factor if you if you
Speaker 1: get Mike McCarthy, you know who's coming with him, Frank Signetti.
Speaker 1: He's been working with McCarthy hand and during this whole Yes,
Speaker 1: he is clean up the streets and maybe the thing
Speaker 1: you need. He's in the bunker. He's doing security and
Speaker 1: the coaching. If you run a dragnettic candidates, he's your guy. Well,
Speaker 1: all right, that's what's happening in the news. Let's get epic, Ricky.
Speaker 1: You know the great thing about Christopher Bobby Westling is
Speaker 1: he's a tape jockey. It's a tape monkey. He's a
Speaker 1: tape dog. And when he puts together a list, this
Speaker 1: is not a slap affair. This is the real stuff.
Speaker 1: Chris Westling's all decade team. You know, I love it. Greg.
Speaker 1: You know the pitchfork vulture, a v club pump. That
Speaker 1: end of decade retrospective into my veins. I'm with you,
Speaker 1: and now we have our own with Chris Westling leading
Speaker 1: the way, picking the greatest players from this decade. As
Speaker 1: we say goodbye to the tens and hello to the
Speaker 1: Roaring twenties, they're gonna push that ankle, hark, there's only
Speaker 1: one Roaring Twins. You can't redo the Roaring Town Twins
Speaker 1: home over the new turn. Well, we don't need another
Speaker 1: depression either. Well, I would say, what's great about this
Speaker 1: exercise is you guys are gonna help me from from
Speaker 1: having a slap affair here. Okay, good. You're gonna make
Speaker 1: sure that everything is vetted, that this runs through you guys,
Speaker 1: that we kind of agree on who some of the
Speaker 1: better players are. And uh let's get a started. Let's
Speaker 1: do it. So you sent us the spreadsheet. This is
Speaker 1: a work in progress. It's going to go up on
Speaker 1: NFL dot com later this week. Ali Bumpori, I'm sure
Speaker 1: you guys have been going back and forth chopping it
Speaker 1: up the best way to attack this. Uh, so we
Speaker 1: will be part of that process. Um, why don't we
Speaker 1: start right at the top, because there's been obviously this
Speaker 1: has been a golden age right west of of quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: So when you were coming, do you how does it work?
Speaker 1: First of all, is it a first team second team
Speaker 1: type thing or just I'm only gonna do one team.
Speaker 1: It feels like a lot more writing to do the
Speaker 1: first team enough, so it's one quarterback, one quarterback, no backup.
Speaker 1: What if the in this hypothetical realm, that quarterback gets
Speaker 1: motto or something. Maybe we'll do like a box off
Speaker 1: to the side, or give us a second written second team,
Speaker 1: but I don't write anything about it, or maybe like
Speaker 1: Mark writes that, well that sounds like an extra signing,
Speaker 1: right yeah, wait, first team, right up? Second team? You
Speaker 1: just get the name, right yeah? So all right, let's go,
Speaker 1: who are your like kind of the nominees that the
Speaker 1: names that were in your mind, your mind when you
Speaker 1: were deciding who will be chosen as the starting quarterback
Speaker 1: of this team. Well, right off the bat, you go
Speaker 1: with Tom Brady for his playoff success, and then I
Speaker 1: think with Brady too. I mean winning so many straight
Speaker 1: a f C titles or being in that conference title
Speaker 1: game every year that that weighs a lot for me.
Speaker 1: Where is Aaron Aaron Rodgers I believe played at the
Speaker 1: highest level, reached the highest level of quarterbacking during the decade.
Speaker 1: So and then you have Drew Brees with probably the
Speaker 1: best stats of the decade. But I'm not a stats guy,
Speaker 1: so I'm and Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning way behind.
Speaker 1: So Brady Edges, Rogers, Rogers still your wrestling. I'm wrestling.
Speaker 1: To me, this would be maybe the simplest position, and
Speaker 1: clearly I have a bias, but the fact that Aaron
Speaker 1: that Tom Brady was out playing Aaron Rodgers for the
Speaker 1: second half of this decade two thousand, sixteen seventeen eighteen,
Speaker 1: I think maybe the best three year stretch of Tom
Speaker 1: Brady's career was ages thirty nine to forty one. I
Speaker 1: would say over that stretch he was the best quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league on balance, and I don't think it
Speaker 1: was that close. And I think that was some of
Speaker 1: the worst years of Aaron Rodgers career, where the first
Speaker 1: half of the decade, it absolutely does. But then you
Speaker 1: look at what the Patriots were doing in the first
Speaker 1: not just that they were in the championship game every
Speaker 1: single season, but they had the top offense in the
Speaker 1: league pretty much starting with Gronk in two thousand ten
Speaker 1: through two thousand nineteen, they have been a right It's
Speaker 1: at the top one to three offense every single season,
Speaker 1: and now you know the Saints can compete with them
Speaker 1: as maybe the best offense of the decade, the best
Speaker 1: passing attack of the decade. But when you combine kind
Speaker 1: of the individual and the team, I don't think any
Speaker 1: ability to be a factor at all. When you look
Speaker 1: at Aaron Rodgers, who has been lost to no not
Speaker 1: not as much as the the extended slumps and the
Speaker 1: what's wrong the multiple times we've had to ask what's
Speaker 1: wrong with the Packers offense? And like Brady made the
Speaker 1: Pro Bow every single season. For me, it's Brady, and
Speaker 1: I think Rogers two thousand eleven season is the best
Speaker 1: quarterback season of the decade. I think his peaks were higher.
Speaker 1: I think you could argue he played higher than anyone
Speaker 1: ever in that mid uh tier mid area of his career,
Speaker 1: and he wasn't really injury prone. He had a two
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen injury that cost him seven games, and
Speaker 1: then two thousand seventeen he missed half the season I
Speaker 1: think with the clavical but he's played basically every game.
Speaker 1: Uh throughout his career with the exception of those. Just
Speaker 1: try to point to a Patriots team that would go
Speaker 1: fifteen and one and then get knocked out of the
Speaker 1: playoffs and round one shockingly, and it's like, there are
Speaker 1: too many. It's not just on Aaron Rodgers. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of other things happening there. But there are too
Speaker 1: many stories like that with Aaron Rogers Packers. I don't
Speaker 1: see when you go down that road, it's like swap
Speaker 1: McCarthy for Belichick and see right there you go. Maybe maybe,
Speaker 1: but I to me point is Tom Brady over and
Speaker 1: over and over he had the individual though. Here's the thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, he won as many m v ps this
Speaker 1: decade as as Rogers did, right or no way, he
Speaker 1: just had the one. I think he won two. I
Speaker 1: think Brady didn't. He win two thousand, right, So he
Speaker 1: had the individual stuff. No quarterback Looking at this Hera
Speaker 1: had more than two First team All Pro So it
Speaker 1: was spread out. You know, Brady had to Peyton, Manning
Speaker 1: had to Rogers had to. Breeze had none. And that's
Speaker 1: to me another knock gun Breeze, unfortunately, is he's very
Speaker 1: often the second and third um. But doesn't have those seasons,
Speaker 1: either in the super Bowl or where he's number one.
Speaker 1: My vote is Brady, begrudgingly because Rogers the past three seasons,
Speaker 1: that's pretty much where I fault hasn't been where I
Speaker 1: think it needs to be. To close out that type
Speaker 1: of debate, I would have said, yeah, three years ago,
Speaker 1: it would have been Rogers. I think Brady's our guy.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to the running back position.
Speaker 1: M M, what do we got? So? Who who listening
Speaker 1: to this music? Are you jealous? Collins Worth and Belichick?
Speaker 1: Please burning with jealousy? Are they who? If you're not
Speaker 1: gonna find Dutch Clark on this team, Billy Brinson, I
Speaker 1: don't back? Is like a no brainer. And I haven't
Speaker 1: gotten to the stage where I've compared all the statistical
Speaker 1: breakdowns or anything like that. To me, I was just
Speaker 1: going by in my mind, it's Adrian Peterson, but he
Speaker 1: gets docked a little bit because a few of his
Speaker 1: best seasons where before two thousand ten started. But I
Speaker 1: have Adrian Peterson as a running back in Marshawn Lynch
Speaker 1: is the flex? Oh wait? What is flex in real world?
Speaker 1: So I'm doing this like the All Pro Team where
Speaker 1: flex is like your best either running back wide. I
Speaker 1: don't even know. Yes, there's a flex on the All
Speaker 1: Pro team. Now instead of having a third receiver or
Speaker 1: a second running back, you can have a flex. Is
Speaker 1: that also? I just want to make sure we're within regulations.
Speaker 1: When the NFL releases their All Decade teams, do they
Speaker 1: have a similar setup. I have no idea, but if
Speaker 1: they go with a fullback, I don't really care what
Speaker 1: they do to leach. But yeah, you play seventeen snaps
Speaker 1: a game for ten years a millionaire because of this. Well,
Speaker 1: it's interesting that the one guy when I see him
Speaker 1: on your list and you have him on I think
Speaker 1: the second team now, which is a tough one, but
Speaker 1: it's worth talking about the guy with the most Pro
Speaker 1: Bowls by far tied uh tied for the most First
Speaker 1: Team All Pros, and the most yards by more than
Speaker 1: twenty hundred yards. I know you're gonna say Shade is
Speaker 1: a man by the name of Lashawan McCoy. I just
Speaker 1: don't think. I think people don't think of him that
Speaker 1: way and I and I wouldn't put him because I
Speaker 1: don't think his peaks and his consistency is maybe quite there.
Speaker 1: But it is interesting if you just kind of look
Speaker 1: in his career. That's partly why you know, timed up perfectly.
Speaker 1: I mean, in the decade years are somewhat arbitrary, and
Speaker 1: that was his that was his career. But he's got
Speaker 1: the best numbers of the decade, which is kind of
Speaker 1: which is pretty interesting. He does. He's also, to my mind,
Speaker 1: an unlikable guy. So that factors. You factor personality. I do.
Speaker 1: I factor in whether I like. I factor everything I
Speaker 1: know about this person. But you don't really know him
Speaker 1: though he is. I know enough about him to know
Speaker 1: I don't like him. I know he's bad at organizing parties.
Speaker 1: I know he maybe there are instances and reported interest
Speaker 1: instance of treating people poorly. Yes, I don't. But it's
Speaker 1: like O J on your all time team in the seventies,
Speaker 1: and if he is, you gotta put Lashawn in the
Speaker 1: You can't. I mean, if you're voting in eight, you're
Speaker 1: voting for O. J. Simpson. You don't know about what's
Speaker 1: gonna happen in well answered, all right, Okay, okay, Well
Speaker 1: that's one I do A whole question. When you look
Speaker 1: at all these running backs and there you have you've
Speaker 1: have you've got ten or eleven here Frank or doesn't
Speaker 1: make the collection of them at all. Well, honestly, like
Speaker 1: I said, I haven't gotten that far into the research.
Speaker 1: I went and looked at all the All Pro guys
Speaker 1: and he never was an All Pro. So that's probably
Speaker 1: why he's not on. Isn't it a weird you have
Speaker 1: David Johnson here? Um? And you know, it just reminded
Speaker 1: me and I was working on the power rankings and
Speaker 1: it was and we saw how Kenny and Drake had
Speaker 1: four touchdowns and and it comes after David Johnson speaks
Speaker 1: out against his role. It's crazy that he is um
Speaker 1: an outsider on the Arizona Cardinals and he's like twenty
Speaker 1: eight years old. Um, I think David Johnson is not
Speaker 1: going to come close to right. I mean, if if
Speaker 1: you're putting David Johnson on your long list, then Gore
Speaker 1: is not. Obviously, I just saw him at it Goagle
Speaker 1: spreadsheet and he's live adding it points out that Frank
Speaker 1: Gore didn't make an All Pro team. He would be second,
Speaker 1: by the way in that yards from scrimmage. He you know,
Speaker 1: him and McCoy are one and two in terms of
Speaker 1: Frank started the most games in McCoy would be second
Speaker 1: the guy who's third on the list in yards. So
Speaker 1: I think it's worth mentioning which is Matt Forte, Which
Speaker 1: is I know he didn't you know, finish out the decade.
Speaker 1: That's strong. Uh, And i've he wasn't playing the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, But Adrian Peterson's production last couple of
Speaker 1: years isn't really worthy of It's not the reason why
Speaker 1: you're putting them on this list. And four Day was
Speaker 1: right there in terms of just I mean just flat
Speaker 1: out if you're just choosing one guy, he would He's
Speaker 1: just in the mix, That's what I'm He's That two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight draft class was phenomenal running back. He
Speaker 1: had Jamal Charles, Chris Johnson, Ray Rice, Matt Forte. I
Speaker 1: think that was Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, Marshawn Well. That said,
Speaker 1: if West publishes us on NFL dot com and one
Speaker 1: of the two running backs named as Matt Forte, people
Speaker 1: are going to freak out. So it's like, really, I
Speaker 1: don't think I don't think that's one of the two
Speaker 1: backs the entire deck. I think you could make a
Speaker 1: case that Forte would be right there. To me, it
Speaker 1: would be Peterson, but Forte would be there with met
Speaker 1: Forte on the All Decade team. I don't think I
Speaker 1: would read your writing anymore. And if you and if
Speaker 1: you told me to number two, then that's what I
Speaker 1: mean as who's your okay? Who I mean? Postseason success
Speaker 1: does count for a lot. If you would have told
Speaker 1: me two years ago, uh that levy On Bell would
Speaker 1: not be on this list and he would not make
Speaker 1: the cut and he didn't have any major knee injury
Speaker 1: or anything like that, I would have been like, how
Speaker 1: is that possible? Because his production and what he was
Speaker 1: doing for that Steelers team. But these have been rough
Speaker 1: two years. He sat out a year and then had
Speaker 1: has had an awful year with the Jets. Yeah, next
Speaker 1: time you think about trying to hold out for more money,
Speaker 1: think about your All Decades spot. Buddy, bang, you got
Speaker 1: banged right. Let's move to wide receivers. Well, this is
Speaker 1: another one where there's an unlikable guy, so I'll have
Speaker 1: to get over that. I see that. So the first
Speaker 1: two guys jumped in my mind. We're Holy Jones. Julio
Speaker 1: Jones number one. I think he's a given Antonio Brown
Speaker 1: number two, and then des Bryant was actually the third
Speaker 1: guy I thought of real des Bryant. I mean hears
Speaker 1: line up until the last couple. Lvin Johnson is probably
Speaker 1: a victim of that. His career kind of crossed over
Speaker 1: the two decades, right, Yes, and for a tiring early right,
Speaker 1: but he's he's still amazingly sick. I'm you know, according
Speaker 1: to Pro Football Reference, in the decade in yards despite
Speaker 1: not playing the second half of the decade, which I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have to get you to forward me this link
Speaker 1: of all decades. Well, I'm just searching. I'm showing. I'll
Speaker 1: show you how to search, you know, and just search
Speaker 1: by games started and Antonio Brown. To me, it would
Speaker 1: be an easy pick. I think he's one of the
Speaker 1: greatest wide receivers in NFL. Also quit on two different teams,
Speaker 1: which is a factor for me. Yes, but I can't
Speaker 1: argue with the two you picked I would have. I
Speaker 1: don't know how you can really push someone else in there.
Speaker 1: What about a Green I could? I could have no
Speaker 1: problem putting him over Antonio Fitzgerald. Here's the thing, though,
Speaker 1: I guess I would count all of Brown. I would
Speaker 1: count the first seven or eight years where you weren't
Speaker 1: having money problems with Antonio Brown and not knock him
Speaker 1: at all for those he's the best. What about DeAndre Hopkins,
Speaker 1: He's been in the league since two thousand thirteen. He's
Speaker 1: arguably the best wide receiver in the league right now.
Speaker 1: He's been doing it for years. I think he should
Speaker 1: be in the conversation. I don't know if you put
Speaker 1: him ahead of either of those guys. Uh uh, but
Speaker 1: the fact that Antonio Brown's at a football age thirty,
Speaker 1: would you have DeAndre Hopkins over say A. J. Green?
Speaker 1: I personally wouldn't. I would rather have him. That's a
Speaker 1: few more years. I think that's a good that's a
Speaker 1: good conversation. I think if you went with Hopkins over Green,
Speaker 1: I don't think people could kill you for that. I
Speaker 1: don't say Hopkins case where he's played with a tangled
Speaker 1: mess of quarterbacks before the current one and kJ for
Speaker 1: a tangled mess of an organization. Well, it's not just over.
Speaker 1: I think they're very close. I think they probably would
Speaker 1: be my third and uh, you could go either way.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about debts? I wouldn't have debts
Speaker 1: fell off so hard. That's the only thing with Dez
Speaker 1: and I love dees Uh that he was such a great, exciting,
Speaker 1: dynamic guy from twenty two to twenty eight or so,
Speaker 1: and then you know, the injuries kind of caught up
Speaker 1: with him, and then he was out of the league
Speaker 1: by what age thirty one, And I don't think he
Speaker 1: was quite as complete like if you were just starting.
Speaker 1: But touchdowns are really important, and who was better at
Speaker 1: touchdowns than des b He was a badass in the
Speaker 1: red zone. It was amazingly a top five receiver this
Speaker 1: decade in yards. Is Damrius Thomas, Well, he's not that,
Speaker 1: not that we would, you know, put him on this team,
Speaker 1: but just impressive tight end. Feels obviously the maybe the
Speaker 1: biggest no brainer on the list. I believe it is
Speaker 1: the the biggest no brainer on the list. Rob Gronkowski
Speaker 1: and Jimmy Graham is a ideal number two guy, I think,
Speaker 1: even though he's fallen on hard times in his early thirties,
Speaker 1: but when he was Jimmy Graham, like going back to
Speaker 1: Drew Brees for a second, he has better numbers than
Speaker 1: anyone in the history of the league. How many true
Speaker 1: star pass catchers did he play with in his career?
Speaker 1: Michael Thomas has one right now. And Jimmy Graham and
Speaker 1: his prime guy Colston was a great receiver. Um. That
Speaker 1: is one of the things that I attribute as an
Speaker 1: additional trade to Breeze that he wasn't lined with stock
Speaker 1: Town as much, but Graham certainly was. I think, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: and it helps he started in two thousand and ten.
Speaker 1: Travis Scalsey is pretty close for me to sniff in
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham, but as the second guy, yeah, we're they're
Speaker 1: all playing for second place. Where do you want to go, Greg?
Speaker 1: Where do you want to go to next? In this
Speaker 1: do we want to get into line play? Let's get
Speaker 1: into Yeah, we don't have all the time in the world.
Speaker 1: Let's go to pass rushers defensive. And I say one
Speaker 1: quick thing about the line. Looking at the people that
Speaker 1: you named, it is insane when you look at how
Speaker 1: bad the Browns have been that they have Joe Thomas,
Speaker 1: Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz, and Jeoel Batonio on this list
Speaker 1: and at one point three of them played together consistently,
Speaker 1: not all not all the first teams. No, but I
Speaker 1: mean we're looking there's there's fifteen sixteen linemen here tops
Speaker 1: and four of them from the same team at one point. Ye,
Speaker 1: utter absurdity, utter ritchie incognito on your spreadsheet. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, going off your clause of being a good person.
Speaker 1: That's a little messy. Yeah, I'm I'm happy for him
Speaker 1: where he's at in his life now, what he's come
Speaker 1: back from a lot of it. Most of it you
Speaker 1: would say, what he's done to himself, but yeah, he would.
Speaker 1: He has no possibility of making the final Dan's all
Speaker 1: about this good person. For completest, you have Joe Thomas,
Speaker 1: Zack Martin Marshall, onto Mark's pouncy and a right tackle
Speaker 1: to be named later pencil then maybe through tyrants I
Speaker 1: think that'll probably be. It'll probably be Tyrann Smith and
Speaker 1: Joe Toms, Jason Peters. It'd be tough to leave him off,
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't. Here here's the other no brainer that
Speaker 1: to me rivals gront because j. J. Watt is one
Speaker 1: of your edge rushers. Absolutely on the other side, yes,
Speaker 1: I And it's funny because you think edge pass rushing.
Speaker 1: There would be a lot of other choices, but to me,
Speaker 1: those are your von Miller. I don't know if he's underrated,
Speaker 1: but he did. To me, he's a no doubter on
Speaker 1: this team, as good as Justin Houston's underread it, as
Speaker 1: good as Justin Houston and Wake and Cameron Jordan's you have,
Speaker 1: you have, Pierre Paul and Julius Peppers. I mean to me,
Speaker 1: it's Miller and Watt pretty clear Clowney doing on this list.
Speaker 1: He's just hanging on to the periphery looking in the window.
Speaker 1: That's what he does. If if if our fans could
Speaker 1: see it, you know, it's like, uh listens like as yeah,
Speaker 1: like twelve Clowney, you sneak in there. He's limping in
Speaker 1: with a bad man. As I said, couple icebacks on him.
Speaker 1: This list came purely from looking at first and second
Speaker 1: team all pros and then writing their names down on
Speaker 1: the spece is on this shared document. Why do and
Speaker 1: I not have permission to type in this document while
Speaker 1: we're doing this, I will give you permission. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: already had the mission scientists, the lab stuff. It's it's
Speaker 1: a lab scenario, you all said Cameron Wake and Justin
Speaker 1: Houston in the mix. Uh, Terrell Suggs. On the subject
Speaker 1: of Suggs, you know, he was one of the great
Speaker 1: beasts early in this decade, and as we talked about,
Speaker 1: he's still serviceable even at age thirty seven. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: might be a little sugs, But then then you're back
Speaker 1: to the good guy bad guy. I don't think anyone
Speaker 1: on his team has ever had a problem with some people,
Speaker 1: are you allowed to? Yeah? I think some people in
Speaker 1: his private life have have had significant were all. Some
Speaker 1: people have gotten away with a lot. But we're also
Speaker 1: getting into, like my definition of bad persons, other people's definitions.
Speaker 1: We don't need to do. Well. I guess it's just subjective, right,
Speaker 1: I have a very strict code. Okay, thank you. Somehow
Speaker 1: sucks slips by that coat. Well, well, I didn't say that.
Speaker 1: I will call up an article and send it to you.
Speaker 1: You tell me if he should. Well, he's buried on
Speaker 1: the fourth or fifth team here, so you're just in
Speaker 1: your all right, that's my fault. I want to stay
Speaker 1: on topic here. Let's move to the interior and another
Speaker 1: one another no brander, Aaron Donald. Yeah. I know he
Speaker 1: didn't come into the league until what two thousand and
Speaker 1: fourteen or so, but he has dominated to such a
Speaker 1: level that I don't think you can have a list
Speaker 1: without him. He could retire after this season and he
Speaker 1: would make the Hall of Fame. I don't even think
Speaker 1: there's a question. Five years ago and Dominican Sue, you
Speaker 1: would think would be a slam dunk to be on
Speaker 1: the top of this list. But you know, he's ever
Speaker 1: since he went time Miami, it seems like he never
Speaker 1: really caught. He was never maybe if you look at
Speaker 1: the analytics of it all, he was still the same guy.
Speaker 1: But that seems to take a bite out of his
Speaker 1: I don't know, stock in someone, I'm like, yeah, your
Speaker 1: second interior uh line, and seems like it's totally wide
Speaker 1: open West. You know it's not, it's not. Geno Atkins
Speaker 1: has it pretty firmly his year's line up. He entered
Speaker 1: in two thousand ten, it is now two thousand nineteen.
Speaker 1: He has spent his entire career in the decade. And
Speaker 1: for me, there were years where Aaron Donnald wasn't in
Speaker 1: the league yet or wasn't dominant yet, and the best
Speaker 1: defensive tackle was Gino Atkins, not in Dominan suit. That's fair,
Speaker 1: but the all of Sue's career also lines up, and
Speaker 1: he's been either first or second team, whether it's some
Speaker 1: of the reputation, right, but almost you know, throughout the decade,
Speaker 1: you know, oh you know two thousands, ten, eleven, twelve
Speaker 1: through fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, not just Pro Bowls like Pro
Speaker 1: Football focus second teams like he I could listen to
Speaker 1: Gino and that maybe it would go for the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Everyone would consider him a no brainer for this um
Speaker 1: moving to linebacker. Uh, that would have one two punch
Speaker 1: here one to three punch. You got Luke Keikley, Bobby Wagner, Lavante,
Speaker 1: David u the a name it jumps out. You have
Speaker 1: second um um the middle linebacker Patrick Willis, who, yeah,
Speaker 1: who is one of the great you know what ifs
Speaker 1: in the NFL and absolute monsters. First five years, I
Speaker 1: think he had four All Pro picks, something insane of
Speaker 1: that level, and then suffers one of the grossest knee
Speaker 1: injuries ever. I'm thinking of Bowman's Willis in early retirement
Speaker 1: the foot injuries. Yes, and he also had three seasons
Speaker 1: where he was the best middle linebacker in football before
Speaker 1: the decades started, so that he gets a little banged
Speaker 1: by that. And Bowman is on the list as well here.
Speaker 1: But yeah, his career was cut short, but it was
Speaker 1: an amazing start to his career. Could you make a
Speaker 1: list that cuts goes from like two thousand and five
Speaker 1: to two thousand and fifteen, is like a second project
Speaker 1: that would be fun some of these so Keick, I
Speaker 1: mean Wagner. It is interesting to think of Wagner as
Speaker 1: an all decades player, but he absolutely is. It is VONDI.
Speaker 1: David might be among the most surprising names. I think
Speaker 1: to most people that would be at least for now
Speaker 1: in your first team. But you are you surprised? But no,
Speaker 1: because I'm looking at the other options and trying to
Speaker 1: think who you would put in place of him, and
Speaker 1: uh any Snake Lee fans out there. Look how many
Speaker 1: people dominate from the NFC West. Thomas Davis would certainly
Speaker 1: be an option. I'm sure you can make a case.
Speaker 1: You can make a case for Thomas Davis. You could
Speaker 1: make a case for Dante Hie Towers certainly, Um, But
Speaker 1: I think you might be right on day I think
Speaker 1: David I would agree with you. Cornerbacks you have Richard
Speaker 1: Sherman and Patrick Peterson. Now, I just want to say
Speaker 1: one thing, less Um that I am okay with you
Speaker 1: not putting Darrell Reevas on this as long as he's
Speaker 1: in your previous iteration of this list, the odds version
Speaker 1: of your all decade team, he get that number one spot.
Speaker 1: He's banged by being a cusp player because he comes
Speaker 1: into the league in two thousand seven and wasn't two
Speaker 1: thousand nine the great like all he was. His all
Speaker 1: time stretch was oh eight, oh nine, oh ten, and
Speaker 1: he was still ten. He was still elite and eleven,
Speaker 1: and then he got hurt in twelve. So yes, he
Speaker 1: straddles it. But I feel like this whole industry needs
Speaker 1: to be torn down if he doesn't get on one
Speaker 1: of these lists, because no one was better in that stretch.
Speaker 1: The choir and Charles Woodson should never have won that
Speaker 1: Defensive Player the Year. The bigger issue, I would imagine
Speaker 1: that bothers him more than not making this list. No West,
Speaker 1: it's for a good list. It just Revis may not
Speaker 1: be as concerned about that. You could still if you
Speaker 1: wanted to make the case that, Okay, he doesn't have
Speaker 1: as many seasons, but there he has three first team
Speaker 1: All pros in this decade, so that ties him actually
Speaker 1: with Peterson and Sherman. No other person has won. Let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about this. So you're not replacing Sherman or
Speaker 1: Peterson probably, but what if you put him at the
Speaker 1: defensive back spot instead of Chris Harris. Oh yeah, oh
Speaker 1: I would do that. Well, I would because I'm a
Speaker 1: That's why, like when I saw Levante David, I was like,
Speaker 1: isn't there someone with like a better peak because I'm
Speaker 1: I'm David's underrated. I'm all about someone like reeve Us
Speaker 1: And I think the fact that he won a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl and was the first team All Pro that year
Speaker 1: with the Patriots, people kind of think, oh that was
Speaker 1: late career, Reeves. He had a very good top you know,
Speaker 1: at least top five cornerback. He got the first team
Speaker 1: All probably won a title. Keep to leive's got a
Speaker 1: pretty strong case. I would. I would counter back West
Speaker 1: because I know that dB spot. It seems like a consolation.
Speaker 1: Let's bump Patrick Peterson down to dB and get revis
Speaker 1: that second secon first team All Pro his entire career.
Speaker 1: Just about I'm just saying, like, I feel like, whoever
Speaker 1: gets that dB slot, well, the guy who only played
Speaker 1: like a few years in the third place. It's very
Speaker 1: clearly third place. But right. That's where I think Revis
Speaker 1: belongs because of the years. He just he can't put
Speaker 1: Sherman there. He can't play on the inside. He's like
Speaker 1: you are the comment. You're king of the eye test,
Speaker 1: and I need people like number one on the eye test.
Speaker 1: But that's I need people like you, people that really
Speaker 1: know their stuff to let the people know. I know
Speaker 1: his peak wasn't as long as you wanted to. I
Speaker 1: know they got banged by carry over, but you cannot
Speaker 1: leave this guy off a list like this because he
Speaker 1: was that great. Okay, well, that factors in, and that
Speaker 1: will probably I will people need you in the article.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say he's on here because of Dan's passionate
Speaker 1: had vocation, which makes sense to me. You're coming to
Speaker 1: the right guy with the right argument. All right, good, uh, punter,
Speaker 1: love it Johnny Hecker. Bang Thomas Morristead, who's still there
Speaker 1: in New Orleans. Do it John Hecker last week in
Speaker 1: that debacle against the Cowboys, just a maestro performance for
Speaker 1: a punter about that task. He needed that because it
Speaker 1: hasn't been his best year. Now we've skipped a position
Speaker 1: here when less we're going to keep that as a
Speaker 1: surprise of all times, so he's getting it safety. Earl
Speaker 1: Thomas and Eric Berry you have penciled in with well,
Speaker 1: Arison Smith, Eric Whitel, Devin mccordy, all uh Loomy. I
Speaker 1: would say Earl is impermanent Marker Barry is penciled in.
Speaker 1: I can hear arguments for wet O m already, Harrison Smith,
Speaker 1: Malcolm Jenkins, Miko is not gonna like that you have
Speaker 1: Brent buried at the cornerback. I think I would put
Speaker 1: mccordy and Harrison Smith over Eric Berry because Eric berryes
Speaker 1: didn't have even the seasons he played a couple of
Speaker 1: them were marred by returning from injury, and he wasn't
Speaker 1: quite a dominant player, whereas he had like two really
Speaker 1: dominant great seasons. But it's the whole decade where McCarty
Speaker 1: is great throughout and Harrison Smith put stack together a
Speaker 1: lot of good years. I might lean Harrison Smith. You
Speaker 1: might You could argue one could argue that the greatest
Speaker 1: accomplishment in that group was Eric Barry returning from cancer
Speaker 1: to play in an all pro level. Strong argument. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean, what am I going to argue against the
Speaker 1: cancer argument. It's just like he carries a little more
Speaker 1: can be your article. Imagine, imagine like Weston, like the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame room, and he brings up that every
Speaker 1: like okay, days over. Just put Barry very right in no,
Speaker 1: I I think you have to factor everything in. That
Speaker 1: is one great accomplishment that he is in. His peaks
Speaker 1: are higher. He has three first team bros. Weddell had
Speaker 1: a couple, Harrison Smith surprisingly only had one, and then
Speaker 1: mccordy's kind of that compiler. That's just why I like
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith splits the difference a little bit where the
Speaker 1: peaks are good. But Harrison Smith, how many years has
Speaker 1: he played in the decade? Two thousand twelve was his
Speaker 1: rookie year. Okay, so he's been most of the decade.
Speaker 1: And finally the most important position to hit. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is easier than Cronk, This is easier than Aaron Donald.
Speaker 1: This is easier, uh than any position in my mind,
Speaker 1: justin Tucker not just the best kicker of this decade, arguably,
Speaker 1: maybe not so arguably maybe inarguably the greatest kicker in
Speaker 1: NFL history is your kicker in the decade. I still
Speaker 1: believe Gronk is the easiest choice, but justin Tucker has
Speaker 1: be the second easiest choice. I'm I'm thinking you wave
Speaker 1: even the five year Hall of Fame waiting period for sure.
Speaker 1: When he hangs it up in ten years or whatever.
Speaker 1: Who would be second? Then the ghost Stephen Gooski? Is
Speaker 1: that what they call sometimes? Yeah, he was second on
Speaker 1: my list, which did no research, just trader guessing. Does
Speaker 1: Tucker you know he's had a few missed extra points
Speaker 1: of late? Is it because he's so unconcerned about his
Speaker 1: status on this list that he can make a few
Speaker 1: mistakes at this point and still just glide right in?
Speaker 1: Tucker is kind of like a preseason picture. He's out
Speaker 1: here trying things because he's kind of bored. He's like,
Speaker 1: let me trying to spin to see if this works.
Speaker 1: He played traditional rock and now he's playing jazz. Yes,
Speaker 1: he I think that's well said. He's at a different level.
Speaker 1: He's trying things that these other kickers haven't hadn't even
Speaker 1: entered their mind. Belichick did call him the greatest kicker
Speaker 1: in NFL history. He also got Joe Mixon the best
Speaker 1: running back in the NFL last week, so he also
Speaker 1: said Hecker was like the greatest turn Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: all checking out. That makes sense because they are better,
Speaker 1: uh than ever before. And if we're looking for a
Speaker 1: feud we still have that Matt Prador situation as well. Mark.
Speaker 1: There are so many ways to go with the feud
Speaker 1: scenario here. Remember my Al Lighter feud, You're all Lighter
Speaker 1: feud also from the might have been the same media
Speaker 1: that day, Um Al Lighter budding in front of West
Speaker 1: to get some availability, budding in front of everyone because
Speaker 1: he's al lighter, Right, that was a left postseason game
Speaker 1: Western super Bowl Media Day. Not exactly the marriage. Not
Speaker 1: here's my feud, the entire media night industry. I mean
Speaker 1: when they went from media Day to Opening Night, that
Speaker 1: was one of the darkest days in the NFL. That
Speaker 1: was well. I feel like there are other events on
Speaker 1: the horizon that are gonna be going through some tinkering
Speaker 1: and changes according to various reports that could add new
Speaker 1: waves of annoyance to our life in on Opening Night,
Speaker 1: potentially in Indianapolis for the combine. So I don't think
Speaker 1: that affects us, but they're they're gonna blow that thing
Speaker 1: out too, all right, blowing out another podcast. Plugs Power
Speaker 1: rankings are up, check it out. I just want to
Speaker 1: see where your team is the debrief? What do we
Speaker 1: lead with on the debrief this week? The Gilmore T. J.
Speaker 1: Watt Defensive Player of the Year debate, at least I
Speaker 1: narrowed it down to those two at the top. The
Speaker 1: Coach of the Year debate, I think, is also wide open.
Speaker 1: You could probably make a case for four different guys. Hardbaugh, Um,
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin, Kyle Shanahan. Who am I forgetting Sean? It's
Speaker 1: pretty wide open. Yeah. Now I realized when you were
Speaker 1: pitching this as a topic it was the actual awards,
Speaker 1: not making up awards because it's like two weeks. Well,
Speaker 1: we could, we could, certainly. Alright, let's places to be.
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Year is pretty wide open. We
Speaker 1: can talk about it next week. Okay, all right, stick
Speaker 1: a pin in it and mark long form Part two, Well,
Speaker 1: not really a long form. This is your diary of
Speaker 1: your trip to Oakland. It was as long as the
Speaker 1: other one. It felt like, I mean, it's these don't
Speaker 1: you know, didn't that didn't write it in twelve minutes,
Speaker 1: but it's it was fun to write because it was
Speaker 1: just like I wrote it in a notebook the whole
Speaker 1: day and you know, come back, and it's fun. I've
Speaker 1: done the Diers before. It's one little it's not as
Speaker 1: hard to write because you're just kind of dumping out
Speaker 1: what you were, you know, it's more your mind. It's
Speaker 1: also it's like, no one can argue with what I
Speaker 1: say I saw when I was not being you know
Speaker 1: I was. I didn't have the Patriots taping crew monitoring
Speaker 1: me during this, so there's no footage of what I
Speaker 1: saw or didn't see. But it is true what I wrote,
Speaker 1: and I just a very strange It makes you suspect
Speaker 1: a lot. It's entirely true. I mean, I only wrote
Speaker 1: what I saw. It was like there, it couldn't have been, Like,
Speaker 1: no one would even know if I murdered. I'm just
Speaker 1: sayings like and it's like who who knows? There's not
Speaker 1: any proof, And this is like a analytical piece. What
Speaker 1: can anyone say? What can they say? There's no argument
Speaker 1: the kind of thing to write. Remember the outline in
Speaker 1: the last season of The Wire where the reporter made
Speaker 1: up a serial killer to somehow, you know, keep a
Speaker 1: paper afloat. I don't know what was the backstory. There's
Speaker 1: a possibility now in my mind that you have some
Speaker 1: fictitious elements to the story. Well that is not just
Speaker 1: in case anyone is listening of you know, authority level. No,
Speaker 1: it's there's in here that's not true, but what if
Speaker 1: there was. It did kind of remind me of though,
Speaker 1: like in a TV show and it's like an investigation
Speaker 1: and they bring in a really secondary figure that they
Speaker 1: just want some background, and then they just start talking
Speaker 1: and totally implicate themselves and they're like, wait a second,
Speaker 1: did this guy doing? And one final thought for me
Speaker 1: is that I want everyone to know just if we're
Speaker 1: gonna um talk about this that I did also, uh
Speaker 1: fly to Cancoon, Mexico for spring break. Oh one. So
Speaker 1: if you want to say I'm not worldly, I don't
Speaker 1: think Camcoon councils. You can't be contained inside the United States.
Speaker 1: The desire to experience other cultures. What a what a
Speaker 1: week it was? You went to the Panama city of Mexico,
Speaker 1: and that's worldly. Just put it out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you want to go to country for country, I
Speaker 1: bet I'm not trailing you guys by too much what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. I got Mexico. I've been in Germany, but
Speaker 1: got the US. I got England, I got Ireland, so
Speaker 1: I'm sure you guys aren't lapping me in this competition,
Speaker 1: and you're all older than me. So I did a
Speaker 1: whole like thing where you just kind of like sack
Speaker 1: packed around Europe. So that was a volume trip for me.
Speaker 1: That's gonna take. It's going to take. That's a nice
Speaker 1: job about you. It's gonna take you out. Um. But yes,
Speaker 1: the best way to experience um, international culture is television
Speaker 1: is with hundreds of drunk Americans in a cloistered scenario. Alright,
Speaker 1: resort and just put it out there. I got Mexico. Alright, Well,
Speaker 1: we've all been to Mexico. There's many parts of Mexico.
Speaker 1: It's not just like one. Well tell me about it
Speaker 1: as you've as you've traveled, you know with across the
Speaker 1: actually have a great history and knowledge of the nation.
Speaker 1: Based on your commentary there, I would love to travel
Speaker 1: to all parts of Mexico and really all parts. So
Speaker 1: what you guys are getting on me more is just
Speaker 1: that I'm not saying I'd love to do it. That's
Speaker 1: what I was pointing out was like all anyone else
Speaker 1: says is that they'd like to because no one really
Speaker 1: it would be easy for me just to say yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm the same way, but I also say it real,
Speaker 1: that's all getting on you. We've let the topic go
Speaker 1: multiple you continue to bring it up, so we're not
Speaker 1: But it's I've heard a lot from from Mexican people,
Speaker 1: just like the best way to experience their cultures can't
Speaker 1: cooon spring breaks whatever. They've got senior frogs. That's just like,
Speaker 1: if you really want to know the inside story, that's it.
Speaker 1: The best way to experience any Mexico areas, find the
Speaker 1: local senor frogs and have a good time, all right, Ricky,
Speaker 1: Ricky's worldly. Ricky's the right way. No. I started pressing
Speaker 1: it and then I wasn't sure if you were asking
Speaker 1: me about because in the past year I've done what Ireland, uh, Scotland, UK.
Speaker 1: You got the right idea of Portugal Spain. You also
Speaker 1: have that connection to the airline industry, which is really
Speaker 1: helping you in this right, not with the international That's true. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's true. Yeah, she knows the ins and outs and
Speaker 1: what happens. She's got that guap, she got that quap,
Speaker 1: she got that New England blue blood quap. Okay, here
Speaker 1: we go stripped in the Studio, both sides of the
Speaker 1: glass for a quiet storm. The Maleman, the old Boss,
Speaker 1: and Ricky Hollywood dripping behind the glasp