Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast. I'm your host, ESPN and Arizona Cardinals, played
Speaker 1: by play announcer Dave Pash. Like our previous guest Charles
Speaker 1: Davis from CBS, we're gonna keep it national, talking about
Speaker 1: the upcoming NFL season with ESPN's Marcus Spears. You can
Speaker 1: see Marcus on so many different platforms, whether it's a
Speaker 1: podcast with Kendrick Perkins, going head to head with Steven A.
Speaker 1: Smith on First Take SportsCenter, NFL Live. Marcus is everywhere
Speaker 1: now on ESPN, and he's outstanding. He's fun, he's likable,
Speaker 1: he's engaging, and hopefully you'll enjoy our conversation with a
Speaker 1: guy nicknamed the Big Swagoo, who was an excellent college
Speaker 1: football player at LSU, first round draft pick of the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys, and now a very accomplished broadcaster for ESPN.
Speaker 1: That really comes across on the air, and I think
Speaker 1: it comes across during our conversation here about the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: about the NFL, and also how Marcus got into this
Speaker 1: business to begin with. I thought, getting too what the
Speaker 1: end of my career stor realizing, like man, I wanted
Speaker 1: to ready. I have opinion, that was my frain. I
Speaker 1: thought that. Then my wife was like, no, it's the
Speaker 1: prior to televison. You got a big personality. People like you.
Speaker 1: They gravitated you. You really don't hold back. We are
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Speaker 1: Next step, All right, let's talk about the upcoming Cardinals
Speaker 1: game with Kansas City as well as the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two NFL regular season. Get some playoff predictions as well.
Speaker 1: For me, ESPNS Marcus Spears. So, first of all, I
Speaker 1: don't even know if I call you Marcus Spears, big Swago.
Speaker 1: I get confused with all the names that everybody calls
Speaker 1: you by. Marcus. But your your weekly schedule right now
Speaker 1: is just as crazy. What's it like A day in
Speaker 1: the life a week in the life of Marcus Spears
Speaker 1: at ESPN now that football season's about to get going here, man,
Speaker 1: First of all, thanks for having me, brother. It's crazy, um.
Speaker 1: And and and call me whatever you comfortable with DP
Speaker 1: you you know you've been around your burnday, you got
Speaker 1: you got a lot of stink in the game, brother boy,
Speaker 1: than be so whatever you doing fit um. But it's
Speaker 1: just like I got my schedule, um, actually my actual
Speaker 1: schedule a couple of days ago, and it was a
Speaker 1: reminder of how much football is about to happen. Um.
Speaker 1: But Monday through Friday, I have no time at all anymore.
Speaker 1: It's football season, and it's exactly how I would like it,
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, m I still get a
Speaker 1: chance to see my kids play. The schedule works out
Speaker 1: that way without being you know, being too crazy. I'm
Speaker 1: able to be home two days a week during the week,
Speaker 1: um to catch what they do on the weekend as well.
Speaker 1: So but but now it's time, man. I mean I
Speaker 1: sit around in the off season and I do bolletball,
Speaker 1: I do travel basketball. Both my girls play volleyball, my
Speaker 1: son plays travel basketball. But when football season starts, everybody
Speaker 1: kind of starts position in themselves because they know I'm
Speaker 1: going to go into into that mode. My wife already
Speaker 1: is ready. She got everything severed, UM and and VP. Honestly, man,
Speaker 1: we've been doing that since I've been playing, since I
Speaker 1: was playing, Like every I didn't know that this time
Speaker 1: for the year, which I call a six month holiday
Speaker 1: for me, it's time for me to lock in and
Speaker 1: get it going. But you're still busy doing NFL Live.
Speaker 1: And then I see on First Take and Sports Center
Speaker 1: what the relationship with stephen A? Tell me, like how
Speaker 1: that has evolved into what it is because you can
Speaker 1: go toe to toe with him now. He may not
Speaker 1: want to admit that, especially when it comes to Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys talk. Yeah, man, Um, you know stephen A first
Speaker 1: of all, a ton of respect for him. It's a
Speaker 1: huge platform. We all know that First Take is a
Speaker 1: not only a very higher rated show, but a lot
Speaker 1: of people watch it from the standpoint of different demographic dynamics. UM.
Speaker 1: And just to have the opportunity a couple of years
Speaker 1: ago to be on that platform, UM was was phenomenal.
Speaker 1: But honestly, past like it's it reminds me a lot
Speaker 1: of what I did growing up. Man, I do TV
Speaker 1: just like I did when I was talking about Dad
Speaker 1: and my uncle's about football, basketball. And I think that's
Speaker 1: the one thing that First Take and also Get Up
Speaker 1: allowed me to do was to talk more than just football.
Speaker 1: I never wanted to be pigeonholed into not, you know,
Speaker 1: thinking that this is just a football guy and that's
Speaker 1: the only thing he does. Football is my passion, is
Speaker 1: what I love. It's something that I have my ten
Speaker 1: thousand hours in. I understand the game. I have a
Speaker 1: ton of respect for the game. I have a lot
Speaker 1: of relationships in the game. But the NBA as well,
Speaker 1: I played basketball growing up, was very holly recruited, so
Speaker 1: I've understand that game at some very high levels as well.
Speaker 1: But being on First Take with stephen A just reminds
Speaker 1: me of what I did with my dad and my
Speaker 1: uncles and my family members and my best friends. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a debate show, like we like to call it
Speaker 1: because we politically correct, but it's really just an argument show,
Speaker 1: um and and to get your opinion across and you
Speaker 1: argue like when I was arguing or debating. Actually like
Speaker 1: to call up with my uncles and with my dad.
Speaker 1: Obviously they didn't think I knew anything about what I
Speaker 1: was talking about, but it got me ready for that arena.
Speaker 1: But I think it I think it really starts to
Speaker 1: respect knowing that you're entering it into hit domain. But
Speaker 1: see when they knows, um, that I'm not afraid to
Speaker 1: go toe to toe. I'm not afraid to touch every topic.
Speaker 1: And when we agree, we agree. Um, when we disagree,
Speaker 1: we disagree. And when it comes to the Cowboys, you know,
Speaker 1: I tell them all the time, one team out of
Speaker 1: all thirty two is gonna win a Super Bowl. Now
Speaker 1: I have no defense for how long it's been since
Speaker 1: the Cowboys has at least been back to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: And I have eight years in there where I wasn't
Speaker 1: able to As a team, we weren't able to get there.
Speaker 1: So that's hard. That's a hard one for me. And
Speaker 1: then when they make the mistakes that he predicts, it
Speaker 1: puts me in a terrible situation. But more than anything,
Speaker 1: the hospitality that they show him when he gets here
Speaker 1: is what rubs me the wrong way more than anything,
Speaker 1: because of the disrespect that he gives the Cowboys every season.
Speaker 1: And then when he comes here, Jared rolls out the
Speaker 1: red carpet boy, he was only helicopter. He gets invited
Speaker 1: to lunch and all of this. I think that's the
Speaker 1: ultimate level of disrespect. And I'm actually man than the
Speaker 1: Cowboys for that. You know, stephen A has. This is
Speaker 1: why I think he's different from somebody like Skip Bayliss,
Speaker 1: where stephen A can say something, he can rip your team,
Speaker 1: but the way he does it, you take it seriously,
Speaker 1: but you don't take it personally. And maybe that's why,
Speaker 1: like it's different with him when it's coming from him.
Speaker 1: And also if you if you I see you he
Speaker 1: did is a lot to your expertise, whether you are
Speaker 1: a former NBA player or a former NFL player. And
Speaker 1: I think he never tried to go told as told
Speaker 1: in football acting and when he comes from actual experience,
Speaker 1: he goes at it from a reporter standpoint, from from
Speaker 1: you know, and I say a lot of times even
Speaker 1: from a fan standpoint, because even as you whether you
Speaker 1: hate him or you love him, he does give a
Speaker 1: perspective of a sportswriter and also a fan. Right Like
Speaker 1: we could grill him about how bad the Knicks have been.
Speaker 1: We can talk about the things that have happened in
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh with holding on to being too long and they
Speaker 1: haven't wanted to think because those are the teams that
Speaker 1: he roots for and loves. But ultimately he never like
Speaker 1: like if you watch when we're on and I'm on
Speaker 1: Ryan park is All or Damian Woody or Floxworth or
Speaker 1: Dan or a live speak like he defers to your
Speaker 1: football knowledge information as a former player. He never tries
Speaker 1: to enter into, you know, the nuances of the game
Speaker 1: that we wouldn't know that somebody that didn't play with
Speaker 1: another um and that's not a knot, but that's just
Speaker 1: you know, we respect him for that guy. I know
Speaker 1: a lot of guys have mentioned that comedy that actually
Speaker 1: that work in the businesses that you know, he doesn't
Speaker 1: try to put himself um kind of act like he
Speaker 1: knows more about the actual plane of the game, right,
Speaker 1: like you could speak to the game without ever playing
Speaker 1: the game. You can give opinions about plays or the
Speaker 1: game that if you if you've never stepped foot on
Speaker 1: the field, I'm I'm all for it and you can
Speaker 1: do that. That shouldn't be opening anybody with all and
Speaker 1: willing to study is enough to understand what's happening. But
Speaker 1: sometimes it's like you get told and told of a
Speaker 1: guy that's visited the trenches in the fourth quarter when
Speaker 1: your legs feeling like a thous of pounds, and you
Speaker 1: can have someone act like they know what that feels like.
Speaker 1: That's the difference with me of how he comes about it. Well,
Speaker 1: you certainly know what it feels like. Marcus. You were
Speaker 1: a great player at LSU, first round draft pick, and
Speaker 1: I know injuries you still had a good at NFL career.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the eight years with Dallas and then finished
Speaker 1: up with Baltimore. I know injuries hurt you. And we've
Speaker 1: seen so many guys that have such promising careers. And
Speaker 1: now I worked with Dusty Dvorchek in college football, and yeah,
Speaker 1: injuries killed his career, you know, killed his career. Did
Speaker 1: you think when you were playing for the Cowboys or
Speaker 1: maybe even at LSU, did you think that you would
Speaker 1: get into TV and be talking about sports when you
Speaker 1: were done? Plan man, You know, Dave, I wanted to
Speaker 1: do radio. TV came about because of my wife and
Speaker 1: my sister. Actually, I did a radio show on our
Speaker 1: old days on two days with a guy in Dallas
Speaker 1: name Brady Thinker, who helped me tremendously. Ed Werder was
Speaker 1: obviously the Cowboys reporter. I would ask ask him about
Speaker 1: how they worked, how they working for ESPN all the time. Um,
Speaker 1: and not to mention, you know, playing for the Cowboys
Speaker 1: you got access to every medium medium in the in
Speaker 1: the world, not just in America. So I had a
Speaker 1: lot of that around me. I had the brass shams
Speaker 1: and the babe offing birds, um, Clarence Hills, the writers
Speaker 1: and people that want the television side. And as I
Speaker 1: got started getting towards the end of my career, I
Speaker 1: started realizing, like man, I wanted to I wanted to
Speaker 1: be ready. Though I have opinions, I was one of
Speaker 1: the guys that you know, I wasn't quote unquote a superstar,
Speaker 1: but I would always get a lot of media in
Speaker 1: my locker because they knew it was gonna be some
Speaker 1: honest assessment of what we were doing while we lost,
Speaker 1: while we won. Um guys played, how we played, how
Speaker 1: I played, UM and just finding that fine lad. But
Speaker 1: it started to become a thing for me in radio
Speaker 1: because I thought Ready obviously in all form you get
Speaker 1: you get to talk about a lot. But ultimately it
Speaker 1: goes back to what I told you about first SAPE.
Speaker 1: I knew that I would hate on radio. I would
Speaker 1: be able to talk about all sports. I knew I
Speaker 1: would be able to talk about more than just football,
Speaker 1: even though that would have been my expertise. So that
Speaker 1: was my friend and thought. And then my wife was like, Nah,
Speaker 1: it should try to do television. She was like, you
Speaker 1: need to be on TV. You got a big personality.
Speaker 1: People like you. They gravitated you, and you really don't
Speaker 1: hold back. That was what my wife told me, and
Speaker 1: then my sister, and it was divine. Man. My sister
Speaker 1: called me and was like, hey, have you seen that
Speaker 1: they started up the new SEC network? And I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been following it because you know, when you play,
Speaker 1: you always arguing with guys from other conferences, who the
Speaker 1: best conference, who the best schools or whatever? And they
Speaker 1: need my Really, I was literally man, was like, okay,
Speaker 1: well let me let me just try it. So I
Speaker 1: b m Seconi Drooly on Twitter and I was like, um,
Speaker 1: I see you know she. I went through the the
Speaker 1: Google and whatever, and I saw that she was one
Speaker 1: of the executives that was responsible for getting it started
Speaker 1: up and running and I d M her and I
Speaker 1: was like, hey, I want I'm interested in doing TV
Speaker 1: UM with the NCC network, you know, coming from LSU,
Speaker 1: just finishing my career and bro, she sent me a
Speaker 1: DM back and it was like, um, good to good
Speaker 1: to see that she interested send me some reals. And
Speaker 1: I was like, man, I'm fishing hunting all the time.
Speaker 1: What she wants reals for? Like um? And and had
Speaker 1: no no clue, bro um, and then I take the back.
Speaker 1: I mean I d M the back. I was like real.
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know. She was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: send me some TV stuff that you've done, because if
Speaker 1: anybody knows Stephanie, you don't play around the last. She's like,
Speaker 1: just if you got them off you're doing TV, just
Speaker 1: send it to me. So I sent them stuff to
Speaker 1: you man and and um. I received a call um
Speaker 1: to come up in audition in the Austin, Texas at
Speaker 1: the Long One network because not for a long one
Speaker 1: that worked. But well actually I went up to Bristol
Speaker 1: first and when I got that VP, it was six
Speaker 1: degrees bro, and I was like, well, if I got
Speaker 1: to work up here, I'm probably not gonna go forward.
Speaker 1: With this UM. And then when I got in and
Speaker 1: I did my UM, I did my interview, my my
Speaker 1: audition UM with brock Hewer, and we went through some
Speaker 1: you know, highlight films and broke some stuff down and
Speaker 1: I felt myself kind of like uptight, and it was
Speaker 1: like trying to be UM. I guess quote unquote professional
Speaker 1: or professional sportscaster or whatever. UM. So it went dark.
Speaker 1: I didn't hear anything for two weeks and then I
Speaker 1: got another call and was like, hey, we want you
Speaker 1: to come the Long one Network in Austin and audition
Speaker 1: again for SEC Network and I went up man and
Speaker 1: then the audition was a little bit a lot more
Speaker 1: possible UM. And two weeks later I got a call
Speaker 1: and said he was gonna hire you at SEC Network.
Speaker 1: And I was thinking I was just going through the studio.
Speaker 1: And then eventually I get a call again about a
Speaker 1: week later. It was like, Hey, you're gonna put on
Speaker 1: SEC Nation. I'll traveling Rod Live Show and bro Literally
Speaker 1: I take Stephanie. I was like you sure about this?
Speaker 1: She was like, look, you be yourself. I know you
Speaker 1: don't know nothing about CB. Be yourself and talk about
Speaker 1: what you know and everything else will work out. That's
Speaker 1: how my career started at esp and the rest they
Speaker 1: say is history, man, because you're great at what you do.
Speaker 1: You're so engaging. Your big personality off the year comes
Speaker 1: through on the air. You're very likable. And you know,
Speaker 1: Stephanie now doesn't just run the SEC network, she runs ESPN.
Speaker 1: He's one of the top executives. Yeah. Um, what would
Speaker 1: be your advice her? Yeah? Absolutely? Uh, you know, so
Speaker 1: this podcasting mark this is new for me. I think
Speaker 1: this is episode thirty eight or thirty nine, and I've
Speaker 1: had you know, other broadcasters on play by play, announcers, analysts.
Speaker 1: It's cardinal centric. So you know, cliffs come on a
Speaker 1: couple of times, Steve Kim, had jj Watt and Zach
Speaker 1: Ertz and James Connor and Buddha Baker and those guys,
Speaker 1: those players like we'll talk twenty five thirty minutes. There
Speaker 1: are some players, some of the younger guys in particular,
Speaker 1: that are a little bit more shy and they're afraid
Speaker 1: to say things. So what would your advice be to
Speaker 1: a young player about giving the media enough information where
Speaker 1: it's interesting and entertaining but obviously not damaging the organization
Speaker 1: In the process. Does that make sense? Yeah, man, I
Speaker 1: think I think the advice I would get those guys
Speaker 1: every time you step in front of the camera, partake
Speaker 1: your teammates more than anything. And when I think particular teammates,
Speaker 1: you can feel the truth about what's happening within your
Speaker 1: organization without being malicious and without naming names. You know,
Speaker 1: one of those classes that you go through is always uplifts.
Speaker 1: He may talk about a mental positive light, and I
Speaker 1: think you should do that, But the reality is in
Speaker 1: the NFL, you're not always getting along with your teammates.
Speaker 1: You're not always feeling like you're playing well or your
Speaker 1: teammates are playing well. And never I my cardinal rule
Speaker 1: or never make it about me or them make it
Speaker 1: about us. So even if you say something that's considered
Speaker 1: quote unquote negative, but if it's true, most of the time,
Speaker 1: grown men, teammates organizations will be okay with that. You
Speaker 1: don't devote sensitive personal information. You don't talk about a
Speaker 1: guy and what he does preparation wise or in particular
Speaker 1: those other things that I was felled off players. And
Speaker 1: then the next thing, man is and something that I've
Speaker 1: been fortunate enough to be you know, with my mom
Speaker 1: and Dad and my family. That always just be authentic,
Speaker 1: like some people are gonna like you, some people not
Speaker 1: gonna like you. And once you're okay with that, you
Speaker 1: can move forward in your career. You could do Uh.
Speaker 1: It gives you a sense of freedom to be able
Speaker 1: to speak on things that you want to speak about.
Speaker 1: Some things you're just not interested in. I feel like
Speaker 1: you shouldn't speak about um. So that would be my advice, man.
Speaker 1: And then when it comes to the organization, are um
Speaker 1: trying not to say anything next? Look? Man, the reality
Speaker 1: is this thing is already on display. Like we know
Speaker 1: when the Cardinals are playing bad or the Cowboys or
Speaker 1: the Rams, or we know what teammates have issues. We
Speaker 1: thought Johns and nowl and at the run pain and
Speaker 1: fight on the sideline. Um, obviously that wasn't good, Like
Speaker 1: everything wasn't peachy and and and all. Well, but you also,
Speaker 1: as a teammate or those guys can you were fun
Speaker 1: of that situation? So what happened on the sideline? All right?
Speaker 1: If somebody interviewing me Morgans the run playing Johnson Ala
Speaker 1: had to fight, what happened on the sidelines? Look? Man,
Speaker 1: this game is, this game is it's very important to us.
Speaker 1: This game is critical. We're in the heat of the moment.
Speaker 1: Our guys are had a disagreement, and sometimes those disagreements
Speaker 1: go to that point. Now, obviously we wouldn't have liked
Speaker 1: it to get to that point, but we're gonna sit
Speaker 1: down on the week, teammates, we've been around each other,
Speaker 1: we grown men. We'll figure out how to get it.
Speaker 1: Get it picked. These guys will be okay. And that's
Speaker 1: pretty much all I have to say about that, because
Speaker 1: anything else that you guys are gonna ask you trying
Speaker 1: to be deeper into relationships and I'm not willing to
Speaker 1: devose that to you because this is personal to us.
Speaker 1: That's how I would have those guys answer that question.
Speaker 1: I've told you that, yeah, there's an issue, but the
Speaker 1: issue won't linger because leadership of make it happen. We'll talk.
Speaker 1: These guys don't hate each other, They had a moment,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna move all with as a football team.
Speaker 1: I think that's how you know you can handle things
Speaker 1: and say the truth without telling people of everything, because
Speaker 1: everything doesn't need to be known, either within the organization
Speaker 1: or within the team. But if there is an issue,
Speaker 1: you can touch on that issue and let them know
Speaker 1: that it is an issue, but you always can be
Speaker 1: working towards fixing it because ultimately working towards fixing it
Speaker 1: makes you a better team. And that would be the
Speaker 1: advice I would get those guys ahead. Well, as you're talking,
Speaker 1: I can't help but think of Kyler Murray, who has
Speaker 1: embraced exactly what you're saying. You listen to Kyler talk
Speaker 1: now and how he We had him on our preseason
Speaker 1: telecast the other night, and he very engaging. The answers
Speaker 1: were lengthy, they were detailed, as opposed to early on.
Speaker 1: I think, as any rookie is, you're you're unsure of
Speaker 1: where the media is coming from. You don't want to
Speaker 1: say something it's going to make yourself look bad or
Speaker 1: your teammates look bad. I just watching that and Kyler
Speaker 1: and how he's talking to people inside the organization and
Speaker 1: with the media, and maybe it's wishful thinking you're twenty
Speaker 1: one with this organization, but I feel like he is poised,
Speaker 1: along with his ability of course, poised to have a
Speaker 1: huge year, and that the team's poised to have a
Speaker 1: huge year. What are your thoughts on Kyler and the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: I believe so too. I think obviously we've had a
Speaker 1: ton of conversations about college maturity, and I've always been
Speaker 1: one to talk about a young but being young now
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two doesn't mean the same thing as
Speaker 1: a deal when we were young bad like people expect
Speaker 1: you to be a wrong man. They want you to
Speaker 1: know how to answer every question, they want you to
Speaker 1: do things the right way. And obviously the contract situation
Speaker 1: with the clause didn't help improve it to the general
Speaker 1: public that that maturity had already said in. But beyond that,
Speaker 1: I think sometimes adversity for guys like Kyler Murray is
Speaker 1: the best thing because if you think that, like I
Speaker 1: was in Exis when Kyler played at out in high school,
Speaker 1: I have never heard anyone say anything bad about Kyler Murray.
Speaker 1: And maybe as a young guy, you start to kind
Speaker 1: of get in the rule and you start to think that, hey,
Speaker 1: it's the way things are going. He was drafted to
Speaker 1: ten in the major leagues. He got drafted number one
Speaker 1: overall in the NFL, and maybe that situation was a
Speaker 1: humbling experience for them, and it did make him dive
Speaker 1: deeper into like, Okay, how am I managing all of
Speaker 1: this as opposed to what the media is saying or
Speaker 1: people around me telling me how good I am. I
Speaker 1: just got a new contract. Like handling success, it's harder
Speaker 1: than handling adversity when you young man, and I tell
Speaker 1: people that all the time, Like the success part almost
Speaker 1: put us into a mindset that hey, this is how
Speaker 1: it's gonna be, Like we know playing bad things are
Speaker 1: gonna come along with that. But ultimately, like overall and Lofes,
Speaker 1: you think about Kyler Murray, he really has been elite
Speaker 1: number one guy as for the last twelve thirteen years,
Speaker 1: And with this contract situation, I had to kind of
Speaker 1: just take a setback and think about like where would
Speaker 1: where would I be at his age? What would I think?
Speaker 1: It's something like this transpired in the organization and something
Speaker 1: like this got out in public perception, how do I
Speaker 1: deal with that? Intern and what you're saying, Like the
Speaker 1: maturity to speaking about it, being upfront is honest about it.
Speaker 1: I think it's the best foot knock thing I know
Speaker 1: for me or like I try to tell a lot
Speaker 1: of it. That's the best way to be man, be upfront,
Speaker 1: because what do you tell the truth? And you true
Speaker 1: to your convictions. People don't hate that and some people
Speaker 1: don't respect it, So you might as well not lie
Speaker 1: about where you are because people don't hate that, and
Speaker 1: some people gonna accept that as well. So I think
Speaker 1: you just you have an honest approach, and That's what
Speaker 1: I've been seeing from him moving forward, just kind of
Speaker 1: honest approach, like, yeah, maybe some of these things are true.
Speaker 1: Maybe I do need to become a better mean, but
Speaker 1: maybe I do need to speak more about like what
Speaker 1: I'm doing in my intentions as opposed to letting the
Speaker 1: narrative about me continue to circulate and other people kind
Speaker 1: of put these things on me when it's not entitled
Speaker 1: success our title, success of Kyler Murder. These are some
Speaker 1: of the lumps that you take as a young player.
Speaker 1: But man, when you the face of a franchise and
Speaker 1: you the quarterback in the league that people can't get
Speaker 1: enough of, and you just been rewarded for what you've done,
Speaker 1: the type of contract you have to you have to
Speaker 1: start gaining a different perspective, You have to start approaching
Speaker 1: things differently and not so none chaluant me. That was
Speaker 1: one of my things with Kyl. I thought a lot
Speaker 1: of it just was none chalut like not understanding the
Speaker 1: gravity of what we're talking about, what you're doing. So
Speaker 1: I think that just comes with time. Man. So to
Speaker 1: your point, I think he's pointed to have a really
Speaker 1: big year, and I think it has more to do
Speaker 1: what it's mental in its physical at least, because we've
Speaker 1: always known he's been a hell of a football player.
Speaker 1: So spears. Looking at the NFC West, Seattle still has,
Speaker 1: you know, some pieces on that team that have been
Speaker 1: part of major success there, but you're starting Gino Smith
Speaker 1: at quarterback. Gino is a big step back from Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: whether it was Gino or Drew Locke. San Francisco. Now
Speaker 1: with keeping Jimmy g makes you wonder do they really
Speaker 1: believe in Trey Lance? And then who knows about Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford's elbow with LA. So you've got some question marks
Speaker 1: at the most important position on the team. In those
Speaker 1: other three organizations, all the Cardinals have a rising star
Speaker 1: at quarterback. How do you see the Cardinals finishing in
Speaker 1: the NFC West? And is the NFC West still the
Speaker 1: best division in the conference, if not the league? I
Speaker 1: think it's best division in the offense, I do believe that,
Speaker 1: and I think Arizona right now they need They are
Speaker 1: at a point where they're deciding who they are. Are
Speaker 1: you going to number one rewards a quarterback with the
Speaker 1: type of money, but are you going to be able
Speaker 1: to supplant the San Francisco forty nine ers and what
Speaker 1: Kyle does over there? Um mass Stafford obviously with the elbow,
Speaker 1: we got to see what he's going to be, but
Speaker 1: you still got to descend against the descending champions and
Speaker 1: understanding what that road is like. And havening't been there
Speaker 1: twice as a coach who you know with Sean McVay.
Speaker 1: So I think the Cardinals, Kyler Murray and Cliff Kingsbury
Speaker 1: along with everybody else man because I love I love
Speaker 1: this young team to be honest, which I love Budda Baker.
Speaker 1: We were high. They gotta send it. They gotta figure
Speaker 1: out how to sustain it. And usually when you see
Speaker 1: teams fall off at the end of the year, it
Speaker 1: is youth. That's we talked about experience so much. That's
Speaker 1: why everybody is always enamored with hum Brady and how
Speaker 1: he's able to kind of get going during the play
Speaker 1: bro It's experienced. I know how to do this. I
Speaker 1: know how to prepare my body. I know how to study.
Speaker 1: I know the level in which the games are gonna
Speaker 1: be played when you're getting down to the crunch time
Speaker 1: and you're trying to get a number one seed or
Speaker 1: you're trying to make ways through the playoffs. So all
Speaker 1: of those things to me for the Cardinals or what
Speaker 1: they're going to have to figure out going forward, And
Speaker 1: it's gonna start with their head coaching quarterback. And it
Speaker 1: looks if you don't if you want to hide in
Speaker 1: the NFL, don't be the head coach and don't be
Speaker 1: the quarterback. So these two guys, especially Kyler being on
Speaker 1: the field with the opment out of the first six games,
Speaker 1: leadership is going to be on the test. How fast
Speaker 1: can we get it going? Our ability, our ability to
Speaker 1: play well together, some of that veteran leadership that they're
Speaker 1: gonna have. Defensively, like, all of those things have to
Speaker 1: come together because we know the type of football that
Speaker 1: Temperances plays. It's hard to defend. That's a hard team
Speaker 1: to be a lot of the times, especially towards the
Speaker 1: end of the year, because they have that experience too
Speaker 1: of going deep into the playoffs. For me, when it
Speaker 1: comes to Arizona college, maturity cliffs ability to prepare these
Speaker 1: guys and get them ready for weeks eleven through seventeen
Speaker 1: or eighteen, and then once you get into the playoffs
Speaker 1: to be prepared because past you know this as well
Speaker 1: as I against the Rams, they were not prepared. It's
Speaker 1: just but it was you. There's a there's a playing bad,
Speaker 1: and then there's an unprepared And to a man and woman,
Speaker 1: people that I know will know a lot about football,
Speaker 1: even former coaches that I spoke with about their game,
Speaker 1: former players, they look unprepared. So that's all maturity. And
Speaker 1: most of the time we're gonna look at the head coach.
Speaker 1: We're talking about it here, Dallas bro. You can't leave
Speaker 1: the league in penalties and then lead the preseason following
Speaker 1: that season in penalties. That's coaching. That's being unprepared, that's
Speaker 1: not making the necessary adjustments to be a better football team.
Speaker 1: So those are the things that are being on display
Speaker 1: for the Cardinals. And if with college maturity, we know
Speaker 1: he can play, we know he's dynamic, and he can
Speaker 1: do everything you need him to do as a quarterback
Speaker 1: to win games and win championships. It's the mental piece
Speaker 1: between him and his head coach down the stretch. Those
Speaker 1: are what the two teams. So right now I have
Speaker 1: them third pass just if you're asking for a ranking
Speaker 1: right now, third in the division behind the Rams in
Speaker 1: San Francisco. And they can absolutely supplant one of those teams,
Speaker 1: but it's all gonna board down the preparation and their
Speaker 1: ability to down the line. So you have them third,
Speaker 1: you have them in the playoffs as a wild carter out.
Speaker 1: I have them in the playoffs because when I look
Speaker 1: around the rest of the NFC, man like, I just
Speaker 1: don't it's it's a it's one of it's tough because
Speaker 1: their division. But I look around like the rest of
Speaker 1: the way, like I got the Saints and Tampa, right
Speaker 1: I got the ram San Francisco and Arizona. So that's
Speaker 1: five teams. I'm I'm almost I'm about to flip the
Speaker 1: Philly out of the NFC East. I'm with you, okay,
Speaker 1: And you know, I'm very interested to see what Dallas
Speaker 1: is going to be. Um, I just can't put my
Speaker 1: trust in Carson Wins, but I know that they have
Speaker 1: a lot of talent. With the Washington Commanders. I'm just
Speaker 1: you know, struggling with that quarterback situation and what he's
Speaker 1: actually going to be um, But right now, like I
Speaker 1: would have them in the playoffs man like, and and
Speaker 1: you know Green Bay obviously being that team that the
Speaker 1: top team, but they I think they're gonna be fighting
Speaker 1: to get in there. Because right now, when I look
Speaker 1: at the NFC, man honestly, like those teams that are
Speaker 1: indivisions that's tough, or those teams that may be like
Speaker 1: right there in that six or seven seed for me
Speaker 1: would be the Cardinals would be Minnesota. Outside of that,
Speaker 1: man like, I don't see many of these other teams
Speaker 1: in the NFC making crazy way right. The NFC is
Speaker 1: not as deep as it's been, while the AFC seems loaded,
Speaker 1: particularly the FC West. The Cardinal's first two games are
Speaker 1: against teams from the FC West versus Kansas City week
Speaker 1: one and then at the Raiders week two. Are you
Speaker 1: a believer in the Chiefs returning to Super Bowl form
Speaker 1: this year or without Tyreek Hill? Are they not as
Speaker 1: potent offensive even though Patrick Mahomes is their quarterback. I
Speaker 1: believe they can be potent without Tyreek Hill. I believe
Speaker 1: you go to more of a golden state, because you know,
Speaker 1: I love basketball where you do it by movement, you
Speaker 1: do it with a lot of guys. You do it
Speaker 1: with some guys that people don't know their names, that
Speaker 1: instant livering bills. But I don't think they're gonna I
Speaker 1: don't think they're gonna miss a beat. I've said that
Speaker 1: this tall season. The one concern that I have is
Speaker 1: when it's crunch time and they in critical leverage games.
Speaker 1: That was always Patrick Mahomes and Tyree Hill, or Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes and Travis Kelsey. I want to know if they
Speaker 1: are going to have a guy that he trusts enough
Speaker 1: to scramble around for ten seconds and hurl that thing
Speaker 1: because he know he's gonna be behind everybody on the
Speaker 1: defense and past. You know this man like you, You
Speaker 1: covered this game, you talk, you know this game inside
Speaker 1: and out. When we start talking about teams like the
Speaker 1: Knsas City Chiefs or the AFC West, we're talking about playoffs.
Speaker 1: We ain't talking about regular season games. We're talking about
Speaker 1: high leverage moments when those type of guys, those Tyreek Hill,
Speaker 1: those defunct a Adams, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray
Speaker 1: are in the those moments to go to the next
Speaker 1: week and be able to play in the playoffs or
Speaker 1: secure a top seed and get home filled. Can you
Speaker 1: depend on the new guys with these different situations and scenarios.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm waiting to see with Kansas City. They'll
Speaker 1: be in the playoffs, They'll be in contention for number
Speaker 1: one in the division, I believe. But ultimately it's about
Speaker 1: those high levers moments. And right now I got the
Speaker 1: Chargers win in that division because of what they did defensively.
Speaker 1: And if I got any big questions about Kansas City,
Speaker 1: it's that side of the bass. The homes in this
Speaker 1: offensive be fine. Last one, Marcus, is there a team
Speaker 1: NFC or a FC that you see as a major sleeper?
Speaker 1: Because this you mentioned the NBA, you pretty much know
Speaker 1: you could probably name most of the playoff teams before
Speaker 1: the season even starts. The NFL. That's a feudal attempt.
Speaker 1: You're going to be wrong on half the teams. So
Speaker 1: is there a sleeper somebody that no one's talking about.
Speaker 1: There was a bad team last year or had talent
Speaker 1: but just had a lot of injuries that you see
Speaker 1: getting to the postseason and being a factor Indianapolis coach. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Matt Ryan is going to change not only
Speaker 1: the mentality, He's gonna make those guys around him better.
Speaker 1: I don't think Jonathon Teller is gonna have to be
Speaker 1: the workhouse that he was, but still highly effective. Um.
Speaker 1: But when I look at that team from an offensive
Speaker 1: and defensive standpoint now with a veteran quarterback, I mean
Speaker 1: they almost beat Buffalo two years ago in the playoffs
Speaker 1: with Philip rivers Um to to advance. So that that's
Speaker 1: the one team that I got my eyes on. They
Speaker 1: got they got big names, they got a lot of talent,
Speaker 1: They got elite players with the forest up front, you
Speaker 1: know with with obviously Shaq Leonard now um not Darius
Speaker 1: Um and then and then you look offensively, man, and
Speaker 1: we know what we know what Jonathan Teller is, But
Speaker 1: I think Matt Ryan is gonna bring the best out
Speaker 1: of Michael Pittman. Paris Campbell stepped up for them last year.
Speaker 1: They got a really good offensive line, like this team
Speaker 1: can be sneaky. And also, man, don't count out of Baltimore.
Speaker 1: They were riddle by injury last year and still almost
Speaker 1: you know, made noise, but a healthy Baltimore Ravens with
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, who may be on a mission to get
Speaker 1: a contract after this year. That could be scary too.
Speaker 1: But those are the two teams I got my eyes on,
Speaker 1: and I know they both come from the AFC. In
Speaker 1: the NFC, Man, I think it's gonna be. I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be straight to the tape, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Like, I think the teams that we're gonna
Speaker 1: have in are gonna be in. I got Silly in,
Speaker 1: I got Dallas in, I got Green Bay in. I
Speaker 1: got New Orleans and Tampa in, and I got the
Speaker 1: Cardinals rams in San Francisco as it stands right now. Well, listen,
Speaker 1: you know I'm a big fan of years. It's been
Speaker 1: great to watch, whether it was on Thinking Out Loud
Speaker 1: on the SEC Network with Greg McElroy or SEC Nation
Speaker 1: or NFL Live or First Take. You do such a
Speaker 1: great job, Marcus. I always enjoy watching and I always
Speaker 1: feel smarter after I'm done talking with you. So thanks
Speaker 1: for your time, bro. They appreciate you. Man. Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me, man, and good luck to you. I know
Speaker 1: you're about to get going crazy too, man, So thank you. Yep,
Speaker 1: Life ends for both of us here in about four days.
Speaker 1: So thanks man, all right, appreciate you, Marcus, thanks again, man,
Speaker 1: all right, so good to catch up with Marcus. You
Speaker 1: see him everywhere. First take with Stephen A. Smith NFL
Speaker 1: Live with Me, to Kimes and Laura Rutledge and Ryan
Speaker 1: Clark and dan Orlovsky. He's got the podcast with Kendrick Perkins.
Speaker 1: Marcus is one of my favorites, So engaging, fun to
Speaker 1: listen to. Had some great stuff to say about the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: He's very bullish on Arizona in twenty twenty two. He's
Speaker 1: got him in the playoffs. He also says that we're
Speaker 1: going to see Kyler Murray's maturity off the field and
Speaker 1: his leadership skills, how they've evolved and grown and matured
Speaker 1: that translating into more wins and better play and consistency
Speaker 1: and more victories down the stretch for the Cardinals. Here
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two. We are presented by bet MGM,
Speaker 1: the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and
Speaker 1: by Hila River Hotels and Casinos. You can follow us
Speaker 1: on Twitter at pashpod. You can also go to your
Speaker 1: podcast platform and rate us. Tell us what you think.
Speaker 1: There's a guest that you really want to hear from,
Speaker 1: Tell us who you want. We'll be happy to take
Speaker 1: your suggestion and try to accommodate. Thanks again to ESPN's
Speaker 1: Marcus Spears, and thanks to you for listening to another
Speaker 1: edition of the Dave Pash Podcast