Speaker 1: Let me go ahead and bringing a guy who gambled
Speaker 1: occasionally on the defensive side of the ball, trying to
Speaker 1: figure out what the offense was doing against him. Shawn Merriman.
Speaker 1: You can hear him at the Lights Out podcast fresh
Speaker 1: off a trip to Mexico. My man, I saw some
Speaker 1: of the videos. It looked like a good time. It
Speaker 1: was a great time, man. Uh. Unfortunately, I have, you know,
Speaker 1: a couple of friends that's placed all over the world.
Speaker 1: So it's definite for me to hop on a flight
Speaker 1: real quick or fly somewhere and go see a couple
Speaker 1: of people hang out. Especially we've got that downtown, and
Speaker 1: I encourage people to travel. I've been. I mean, I've
Speaker 1: been doing the same thing. I mean, there's so many
Speaker 1: people who are hurting in the travel and industry out there.
Speaker 1: And if you feel you are young and healthy otherwise,
Speaker 1: I mean, I went down to Florida, took my family
Speaker 1: to UH Universal Studios right before Christmas. I was talking
Speaker 1: to you off the air. As soon as the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl is over, I'm headed down to Mexico to the
Speaker 1: Mayan Riviera, which I think is one of the most
Speaker 1: beautiful areas anywhere in the world. Uh, to be down
Speaker 1: there for a little while and chill. And so if
Speaker 1: you are young and healthy and uh, and you're trying
Speaker 1: to keep the economy rolling, I think there are a
Speaker 1: lot of people out there who would be able to
Speaker 1: in the travel and tourism industry appreciate your your business.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's dive into a bunch of questions. How
Speaker 1: old are you? Sean now thirty six? So when you
Speaker 1: see forty three year old Tom Brady, obviously the positions
Speaker 1: are different, but when you see him running around on
Speaker 1: the field making the plays that he is. Let's start
Speaker 1: with Brady Bucks get to eleven and five. I know
Speaker 1: there's concerns about Mike Evans health, but Antonio Brown making plays,
Speaker 1: Chris Godwin, Gronk, that's a pretty explosive offense. They should
Speaker 1: be able to handle the first round against the NFC East.
Speaker 1: Can they make a run? Could Brady go on the
Speaker 1: road three straight weeks in your mind through Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: and make it back to Tampa Bay to play in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl? Yeah? Absolutely. Look I've said it before,
Speaker 1: and obviously I think that people out there and know
Speaker 1: them a natural platy hated myself, but man and watching him,
Speaker 1: uh and some of the things they would pull off.
Speaker 1: And one of the things I wan say is, uh,
Speaker 1: guys retire not because they can't play anymore, because they
Speaker 1: can't recover. So him playing this well late in the season,
Speaker 1: at the four sixteen weeks, not really having that much
Speaker 1: of an all season, you know, Thorn and Antonio Brown
Speaker 1: in there late in the middle of the season, all
Speaker 1: these things, Man, to me is watching them just work
Speaker 1: is incredible because you know how hard it is. I mean, God,
Speaker 1: after my eighth year or in my a year, I
Speaker 1: was so sore playing on a Thursday night football game.
Speaker 1: It was just your body goes through it. And for
Speaker 1: him to still be put at the members of these
Speaker 1: doing right now is incredible and absolutely they can make
Speaker 1: a run, especially as they're getting Antonio Brown back in
Speaker 1: the groove right now. Uh. When you look at not
Speaker 1: only the Bucks on fire, but man, the Bills put
Speaker 1: up fifty six on the Dolphins, I mean fifty six
Speaker 1: on that defense. And I know too it didn't play
Speaker 1: fantastically well and Fitzpatrick was out with COVID related issues.
Speaker 1: But when you sit back and see fifty six, Uh,
Speaker 1: the Bills and the Chiefs I think are clearly the
Speaker 1: class of the a FC. But how good are the Bills?
Speaker 1: I mean, Bills fans have been long suffering. They haven't
Speaker 1: had a playoff win. I think it is since is
Speaker 1: this their year to really make a run? Well, I'll
Speaker 1: say that so the cancer by Chiefs are the most
Speaker 1: explosive team in football right when when obviously when uh
Speaker 1: Patrick mahomes on the on the field. But the scariest
Speaker 1: team to play is the Bills. The Bills because it's
Speaker 1: the type of football that they played. Their excitement, they're
Speaker 1: energy in all three phases of the game. Um, you
Speaker 1: see guys on the offenside of the ball when they're
Speaker 1: not up and on the field there on the sideline.
Speaker 1: You should see them running onto the field when the
Speaker 1: defense make plays or a big special change played. This
Speaker 1: is this is a team right now there's playing um
Speaker 1: incredible football because there's their rugged. You know, they fight
Speaker 1: for every inch. These guys finished blocks, their attitude mess
Speaker 1: up the scariest part playing guys like this because going
Speaker 1: into the playoffs when they have the best momentum and
Speaker 1: they have the most most confidence and you can see them,
Speaker 1: you don't put up fifty six points. Uh Dolph is
Speaker 1: not a bad team and Tour played terrible, but he's
Speaker 1: not on the decent side of the ball. So they
Speaker 1: put up fIF six points against a pretty damn good
Speaker 1: minded team this year, and I think they're going to continue.
Speaker 1: That's on the playoffs right now. They're a scary's team
Speaker 1: in the FC for sure. When you how many times
Speaker 1: do you play in the playoffs? Uh see my first,
Speaker 1: my first two years, my first three year, three you
Speaker 1: were four years so you hear a lot about playoff
Speaker 1: intensity versus regular season intensity. As a guy who has
Speaker 1: been there, what does that feel like? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: you watched the preseason, right you see guys just kind
Speaker 1: of going for the motion and getting loose and getting acclimated.
Speaker 1: And in that last preseason game you start to see guys,
Speaker 1: you know, pick it up a little bit with My god,
Speaker 1: that first kickoff game one, the speed is so damn fast.
Speaker 1: You're like, hold on, I've just seen this team on
Speaker 1: Phil you know two weeks ago. This is not the
Speaker 1: same team because it speed is that much better. When
Speaker 1: you get into the playoffs, guys get so scrappy and
Speaker 1: they start fighting for every damn inch and the intensity
Speaker 1: the emotions to go with it. You can't really laying it. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you see why teams UH, like like the Patriots
Speaker 1: of all the Pittsburgh or TEAMSUS used to go into
Speaker 1: the playoffs, you see why they're so damn good because
Speaker 1: they realized how they need to pick up. I think
Speaker 1: that's what some of the teams I played all the charges.
Speaker 1: So that what the reason, the main reason why we
Speaker 1: did to get a championship is because we had some
Speaker 1: guys didn't understand the level of how hard it is
Speaker 1: to get to the playoffs because we automatically assume that
Speaker 1: we're gonna get there every single year. And teams like
Speaker 1: the Saints and Drew Brees and the Seahawks, and and
Speaker 1: and just one deep in the postseason, they know how
Speaker 1: to pick that intensity up. And that's what's happening. That's
Speaker 1: what's happening right now. You want that momentum going into
Speaker 1: the playoffs to be at the at this all time high.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Sean Merriman. Encourage you to listen to
Speaker 1: the Lights out podcasts. The Ravens are playing really really well,
Speaker 1: speaking of intensity at an all time high. They're now
Speaker 1: eleven and five. They're going on the road against the Titans.
Speaker 1: They are a small favorite in that game. Certainly, the
Speaker 1: Titans knocked them out in the divisional round last year.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson oh in two so far. Both of those
Speaker 1: games were played at home. How much pressure, if any,
Speaker 1: do you think he feels after losing in the first
Speaker 1: round two straight years? And what do you expect to
Speaker 1: see from the Ravens in that matchup against the Titans. Well,
Speaker 1: this is the thing, Lamar Jackson. We watched him over
Speaker 1: you know, his his short career so far. He likes
Speaker 1: the pressure. It's not there's no doubt about it. He
Speaker 1: likes the pressure. He likes the ball in his hands. Um,
Speaker 1: what I hope that don't happen. This has been some
Speaker 1: of the times that they had lost this year. Is
Speaker 1: that he feels that he needs to go out and
Speaker 1: make the most exciting play ever every time he touched
Speaker 1: the ball, he doesn't He needs to go out to
Speaker 1: be Lamar Jackson. That ball, he's got a long ball.
Speaker 1: He threw. His egg was right on the money. It
Speaker 1: proved a lot of people that he hasn't harm. He
Speaker 1: can't be accurate, he can't make those big plays. But
Speaker 1: he needs to understand he doesn't need to do that
Speaker 1: everything every single snap. He didn't need to go outen
Speaker 1: make the big player use his legs. It's okay to
Speaker 1: go to a guy a checkdown, right, Wow, It's okay
Speaker 1: to throw a five or six yards out. It's okay
Speaker 1: to do these things because that's what you need to
Speaker 1: doing playoff football. It's as soon as he understands that,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be great, man. I mean, he's gonna be
Speaker 1: a great quarterback because he's showing us already he can
Speaker 1: do it. When you look at the NFC, you've got
Speaker 1: the Packers as the number one seed. I believe the
Speaker 1: Saints as the to the Seahawks as the three. Should
Speaker 1: the Packers be a substantial favorite in your mind, given
Speaker 1: that theoretically the road through the playoffs runs through Lambeau. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers right now, what he's doing, um, you can't
Speaker 1: even really put it in the word because here's a
Speaker 1: guy that you know. They go out and they traft
Speaker 1: the younger quarterback and obviously whether they're getting ready to
Speaker 1: move off Aaron Rods or they brought him in because uh,
Speaker 1: maybe injury or whatever that reason is. So he's coming
Speaker 1: in and I'm and I'm telling you, as a former player,
Speaker 1: I don't care who you are. You understand the organization
Speaker 1: gott to move forward, but not when you're playing this
Speaker 1: damn great. So you know what he's doing this year,
Speaker 1: I think was was a big part of that. You know, hey,
Speaker 1: I can still go. I'm still the best quarterback. You
Speaker 1: know people you know talking about it. He's made several
Speaker 1: comments about pastor homes comes from these Nolan passes, and
Speaker 1: every time tax Bulbs make a big play, everyone's screaming
Speaker 1: and shouting like it's defense thing. He's you know, the
Speaker 1: people that ever saw. But whatever is doing this year
Speaker 1: is legendary. You know, this guy that they didn't draft
Speaker 1: to pick wide receive but they didn't bring any big
Speaker 1: main guys. Savante As is playing exceptional, but no one
Speaker 1: really expect him to do what he's doing now. And
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers Man, that organization has just been relying on
Speaker 1: him for so damn long, and he's standing up to it.
Speaker 1: The Jets have fired Adam Gaze, Uh, they are moving
Speaker 1: on redoing that franchise. What have you seen out of
Speaker 1: Sam Donald? Do you think that he is the guy
Speaker 1: that you go ahead and maybe consider trading that number
Speaker 1: two overall pick instead of taking a quarterback or as
Speaker 1: good as Justin Field's play, Do you try to pretend
Speaker 1: you're going to draft him, see what the value is?
Speaker 1: How would you, if you were GM of the Jets,
Speaker 1: assess the decision they have to make, particularly at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position, given they have Sam Donald, but they also
Speaker 1: have the number two overall pick. You know, always said this,
Speaker 1: I don't think Sam Donald's a bad quarterback. I actually
Speaker 1: think he's a damn good quarterback when he's put into it,
Speaker 1: put into a good situation. But the problem is that
Speaker 1: when you play for organizations that it's bad across the board.
Speaker 1: What do we do We throw the quarterback you know
Speaker 1: under the bus. Yeah, yeah, we we throw them first
Speaker 1: because it's his fault. We're not wanting because it's him
Speaker 1: and the whole none. I mean, you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's just unfair. We've seen times and she's tough as him.
Speaker 1: He plays hard, he's a good leader, and all these
Speaker 1: other qualities that he has. I don't I just don't
Speaker 1: think unless you have a number one pick, you've got
Speaker 1: your guaranteed Trevor Lawrence, you don't move, you know, and
Speaker 1: get a quarterback and it against Jessic Shields. Don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong, he played a maculum and he played great.
Speaker 1: But I just don't see, uh, you drafting him and
Speaker 1: hoping for the best when you have a quarterback that's
Speaker 1: more to Catin would have gone out there winning your
Speaker 1: football games. It is interesting, um, as you make decisions.
Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of people out there who
Speaker 1: are Chargers fans and uh and they're disappointed about the
Speaker 1: way the seas and went and who knows what exactly
Speaker 1: is going to happen in terms of the leadership there.
Speaker 1: But wouldn't you say, overall, if you had known that
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert was gonna look this good, that the season
Speaker 1: was kind of a success just because of how phenomenal
Speaker 1: he has played. Well. Yeah, for one, if you're a
Speaker 1: Chargers fan, you have to be excited about the future, right,
Speaker 1: I mean you have to. Justin Herbert Man, he's he's
Speaker 1: fun to watch. He's he played hard, uh as you
Speaker 1: see every time he he ran the quarterback sneak today
Speaker 1: in the offensive linement and people just surround him. Man,
Speaker 1: he has this energy. That's one thing. When I used
Speaker 1: to love a boy playing with Philip Man. You used
Speaker 1: to love to play with Philip. You knew he was
Speaker 1: gonna fight. You never felt like you were at the games.
Speaker 1: You know he's gonna lay it out all on the line.
Speaker 1: And Justin Herbert has it and I think that he'ven
Speaker 1: better because he has better mechanics, he's fast and more athletic,
Speaker 1: and still it was. So he's just gonna be fun
Speaker 1: to watch man for the next five seven plus years.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be uh something, someone that they can base
Speaker 1: the entire organization round. They can really start the feeling.
Speaker 1: So regardless of what happens with coaches or moving forward
Speaker 1: to the organization, and there could have be there could
Speaker 1: be a lot of other movements going on to not
Speaker 1: just what coaches. I mean, it'll be players and and
Speaker 1: front office. I think they could be a lot of
Speaker 1: movement during this off season. You have to be excited
Speaker 1: about the charges to Justin Curbers. You just mentioned Philip Rivers.
Speaker 1: The guy's entire postseason career just oftentimes seems star crossed.
Speaker 1: Crazy things seem to happen. Team gets to eleven and five,
Speaker 1: they are sitting around, I'm sure watching on television. When
Speaker 1: the Titans make a field goal off the upright to
Speaker 1: win against the Texans, so as a result, the Colts
Speaker 1: have to go on the road against the Bills. We
Speaker 1: were already talking about how hot the Bills have been.
Speaker 1: Any reason that you feel like the Colts can pull
Speaker 1: that upset off? What would you expect to see in
Speaker 1: a game like that. I just think right now the
Speaker 1: Bills of the scary team in football, I really do,
Speaker 1: and not just because of the fifty six points they
Speaker 1: put up today. I'm just talking about their style of play.
Speaker 1: Uh Now. The only difference I would say, and coming
Speaker 1: out to this, is that the Colts match up well
Speaker 1: against what the Bills do exchange with the Cults. Also,
Speaker 1: they have a very pretty uh stingey defense, and they
Speaker 1: like to get after their linebackers. They'd like to get
Speaker 1: get after you up front. They've got great pass rushers,
Speaker 1: so they could actually do uh some of the things.
Speaker 1: Forbid Josh Howard for playing excellent, But other than that, man,
Speaker 1: I just don't see anybody beating the Bills right now,
Speaker 1: especially this early on when they have this much momentum.
Speaker 1: Last question for you. Here we're talking to Sean Merriman
Speaker 1: lights Out podcast, part of the I Heart podcast network.
Speaker 1: The Browns get into the postseason after forever. They now
Speaker 1: are going to have a tough position, tough game no
Speaker 1: matter who you get in against. But it's also a
Speaker 1: very winnable game that's an immediate rematch against the Steelers.
Speaker 1: What do you think about the Browns chances to not
Speaker 1: only be in the postseason, but to pull off an
Speaker 1: upset over the Steelers. Well, what the Browns have to
Speaker 1: do is realize that this just start, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's been so long that they got there, and everyone's celebrating.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, Shure, it's health Cleveland this. You know,
Speaker 1: they're they're excited about there. So they have to understand, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is the start. This is the new norm for us.
Speaker 1: So as soon as they feel that way and everyone's
Speaker 1: not satisfied by the getting in the playoffs the first time,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be fine. But also they're they're they're scary team.
Speaker 1: They know play defense well and they run the ball,
Speaker 1: and when they're doing that, it just opens up so
Speaker 1: many things for these guys and it also makes them dangerous.
Speaker 1: But if they keep this chip on the shoulder, Baker
Speaker 1: may feel these guys, Hey, you know, everybody thought we
Speaker 1: shouldn't be here. We shouldn't we should never got into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. We don't deserve to be here. They they
Speaker 1: find a way to create that in the locker room.
Speaker 1: They can also be scary to play. Sean Merriman, good
Speaker 1: stuff has always helps to talk to you. Next week
Speaker 1: after wild Card weekend should be a lot of Really,
Speaker 1: this is gonna be so much fun. I mean, you got,
Speaker 1: for the first time ever, three games on Saturday, three
Speaker 1: games on Sunday coming up this weekend, and then on
Speaker 1: Monday Day night Ohio State going up against Alabama. That
Speaker 1: is seven world class football games. Uh, nice little start
Speaker 1: one for a lot of people out there. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it can be a lot of sit in front of
Speaker 1: the TV man, So I'm prepared for it, no doubt
Speaker 1: at all. That is Shawn Merriman. Appreciate the time with him.