Speaker 1: Hello. And it certainly isn't how I envisioned this or
Speaker 1: planned this, but I thought I'm gonna retire. This is
Speaker 1: not an easy decision. Honestly, it's the hardest decision in
Speaker 1: my life. But it is the right decision for me. Uh.
Speaker 1: For the last four years or so, I've been in
Speaker 1: the cycle of injury pain rehab, angel injury pain rehab. UH,
Speaker 1: and it's been unceasing and relenting, unrelenting both in season,
Speaker 1: both in and offseason. UH. And I felt stuck in it.
Speaker 1: And the only way I see out is to to
Speaker 1: no longer play football. UH. It's it's taken my joy
Speaker 1: of this game away. UH. And this sorry, and one
Speaker 1: of the more shocking happenings in the NFL's recent history,
Speaker 1: Andrew Luck announces his retirement from the NFL, the Colt
Speaker 1: superstar quarterback, announcing that injuries have taken the love from
Speaker 1: the game for him. So, a man who's turning thirty
Speaker 1: years old on September twelve, met with Colts owner Jim
Speaker 1: Ursay earlier Saturday, UH to explain his decision and Dan
Speaker 1: hanzas the Around the NFL podcast, presented by Sirius XM,
Speaker 1: joined by Mark Sessler, Chris Westling, and Greg Rosenthal. Uh
Speaker 1: and boys. This is an absolute bombshell um that changes
Speaker 1: the complexion of the Colts obviously, but the a f
Speaker 1: C and west Luck, nobody knew this was coming. This
Speaker 1: is this. We were at Patrick Layburn's um uh shrimp boil,
Speaker 1: in fact, in the middle of a cornhole game, and
Speaker 1: everyone was just dumbfounded, founded. And you could say the
Speaker 1: same thing about everyone else connected to football. Andrew Luck
Speaker 1: done at age twenty nine in the NFL. When you're
Speaker 1: recording the show, what thirty six hours later, you're reacting
Speaker 1: to so much more than just the news. You're reacting
Speaker 1: to the reaction. You're reacting to what you should have
Speaker 1: seen for three years, considering the comments he's made and
Speaker 1: just looking doing the research on what he said over
Speaker 1: the last few years. This is every bit as much
Speaker 1: of a mental health issue as a as a pain
Speaker 1: issue as a physical issue. As Jim er Say said
Speaker 1: in two thousand seventeen, it's about the four inch field
Speaker 1: between Andrew lux Ears and URSTA took a lot of
Speaker 1: crap for that from people who didn't know what they
Speaker 1: were talking about, assumed they did from the outside looking in,
Speaker 1: But in lux own words, he has referred to the
Speaker 1: dark place, not a fun world to live in, scared
Speaker 1: to my core, a low point, miserable, s o B.
Speaker 1: I withdrew, my life was empty, I have shame. I
Speaker 1: don't know about my worth as a human. I'm weathered
Speaker 1: and less naive. And then at the press conference, he said,
Speaker 1: this is the only way I see out of it,
Speaker 1: and out of it is the severe depression and identity
Speaker 1: crisis that he's been going through for three years. And
Speaker 1: he said that already a weight had been lifted, and
Speaker 1: even though the press conference was obviously difficult, that the
Speaker 1: last week was difficult for him. He told Frank Reich
Speaker 1: and er Say and Chris Ballard early in the week,
Speaker 1: so they knew this was coming. And I think, if
Speaker 1: I'm a Colts fan, that makes me think that it's
Speaker 1: a little more final. You know, it wasn't something he
Speaker 1: woke up one day. It was really about a week
Speaker 1: and a half or almost two week process over when
Speaker 1: he really decided. And that's he knew when he went
Speaker 1: out and practiced before the last Colts game and looked
Speaker 1: pretty good by the way, moved pretty well and and
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. That that was probably gonna be his last time,
Speaker 1: and that's why he took the moment to enjoy it.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot to talk about, but first,
Speaker 1: it's just that the press conference alone alone was just impressive.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it was like a really unique sports
Speaker 1: moment that it was hard not to admire and your
Speaker 1: luck watching that. There was a very two thousand nineteen
Speaker 1: feel to the whole thing because the Colts um are
Speaker 1: playing a preseason game against the Bears in their building,
Speaker 1: Lux on the sideline, and his original plan is to
Speaker 1: tell his teammates after the game in the locker room
Speaker 1: that he'll be retiring. But during the game, uh Adam
Speaker 1: Schefter of ESPN breaks it on Twitter, which creates a
Speaker 1: whole weird situation both. Um, if you watch the telecast,
Speaker 1: the announcers for the Colts team, they don't know what
Speaker 1: to do with that information you show. They show luckdown
Speaker 1: at the field. Obviously he's smiling, seems to be good spirits.
Speaker 1: The players, I guess don't even know, and we'll get
Speaker 1: to the crowd reaction in a little bit. Um. But
Speaker 1: Luck then comes out and yes, I agree, he he
Speaker 1: really was. It was clear that this wasn't a rash decision,
Speaker 1: even though it was something that he said didn't even
Speaker 1: cross his mind until the last week or two. Uh,
Speaker 1: he seemed marked to be a guy that was at
Speaker 1: peace at where he is. I thought Peter King put
Speaker 1: it well that he noted and West you touched on
Speaker 1: this too, with all the comments that he had made
Speaker 1: over the months and years that for forty two of
Speaker 1: the past forty seven months, Andrew Luck had either played
Speaker 1: or not played or rehabbed in varying intensities of pain.
Speaker 1: And how many people you know commenting on this situation
Speaker 1: can speak to that in their own life. It's a
Speaker 1: totally different situation. And it starts as a physical thing,
Speaker 1: it becomes a mental thing. And if you look at
Speaker 1: the National Football League and you know some of the reaction,
Speaker 1: and of course you know he got booted at the stadium,
Speaker 1: everyone is catching up in real time to their own
Speaker 1: emotions is what they're seeing. And suddenly you're watching your
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback off the field and leaving for good, and
Speaker 1: it's just completely surreal. But Andrew Luck was talked about
Speaker 1: by King as someone that when he first comprehended a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, even the idea of retirement versus
Speaker 1: they mentioned I R boomerang or just let's wait and
Speaker 1: see that when that, even when that concept came to
Speaker 1: his mind, that he started to grow comfort with that
Speaker 1: that it became the way out. And no matter what
Speaker 1: privilege or or job you've been given or situation in
Speaker 1: life that everyone else might want, if you're losing and
Speaker 1: dying and falling apart in side of it, you need
Speaker 1: to find a way out. And I and I think
Speaker 1: the NFL is you know, it is the tip of
Speaker 1: a needle on the tip of a needle in the
Speaker 1: human and earth experience. I mean it has been around
Speaker 1: for a fraction of a second. If you look at
Speaker 1: our universe and everything. This is someone who has the
Speaker 1: choice to do what he wants with the rest of
Speaker 1: his life. He mentioned his wife over and over. I
Speaker 1: think that is probably one person that sat with him
Speaker 1: through all of this in the different segments of their
Speaker 1: relationship to where they are now and knew where he
Speaker 1: was and his only supported him. And anyone wanting to
Speaker 1: critique or this or that, it's kind of like this
Speaker 1: is a personal decision, has nothing to do with anyone
Speaker 1: else who has ever retired in the NFL before. It
Speaker 1: has nothing new with any else who will retire. It
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with football at some point. And
Speaker 1: it it's crazy, though, because everything you say is really
Speaker 1: well said, and yet Luck even mentioned in the press conference,
Speaker 1: and Frank Reich certainly did that. Lux said many times
Speaker 1: last November December, he's never had more fun playing the
Speaker 1: game of football. That it gave him a joy he
Speaker 1: never had before. That he thought, coming to work in
Speaker 1: Frank greik Shausen's he shouldn't even be allowed to have
Speaker 1: that much fun. Those were the five months out of
Speaker 1: when he wasn't in this. You know, he played the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl and they kept mentioning that, and I think
Speaker 1: that goes to West's point to start that that it's
Speaker 1: more than just the physical. It was the accumulation of
Speaker 1: every other years that came before that, and certainly the
Speaker 1: last six months now and the reality of what's the
Speaker 1: I know he is doing it for himself and he
Speaker 1: said that, but I do think there's part of Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck that is thinking a little bit about the team too.
Speaker 1: What is the best thing for the team in terms
Speaker 1: of how I feel right now that that I think
Speaker 1: the best thing for this team is for me to
Speaker 1: step away, to be decisive about it, not to have
Speaker 1: this whole thing, you know, hanging over them. Press conference
Speaker 1: was beautiful, but I just wanted to note the irony
Speaker 1: of a guy walking away, leaving his teammates two weeks
Speaker 1: before the season starts, and yet it was one of
Speaker 1: the most beautiful high water marks and team sports to
Speaker 1: see the love that he expressed and shares with his teammates.
Speaker 1: And that's what team sports is. And that's when you
Speaker 1: see the bozos on Twitter that we're looking for hot takes,
Speaker 1: uh calling Luk selfish or a millennial. I saw one
Speaker 1: horrible take like this guy obviously had a strong bond
Speaker 1: with the team. And it is the injuries, and you
Speaker 1: kind of forgot about it because the shoulder injury kind
Speaker 1: of was the big injury of his career and then
Speaker 1: the most recent injury which became a big news item.
Speaker 1: But there's been a lot. I mean, he's he's missed.
Speaker 1: He missed twenty six games, including the entire seventeen season,
Speaker 1: because of the shoulder injury, which he first hurt in
Speaker 1: Week three early in the season. So I tells you
Speaker 1: how much and how long he fought through with that shoulder.
Speaker 1: He's also had kidney injuries, a rib injury, and now
Speaker 1: this lower leg injury, which he also said in the
Speaker 1: press conference. Everybody thinks, oh, he's retired now, that's no.
Speaker 1: Like now as a human being, he has to figure
Speaker 1: out how to get his leg right because it has
Speaker 1: really cut into his quality of life, not just as
Speaker 1: a player, but it's just someone that you know, walks
Speaker 1: around day to day like like the rest of us.
Speaker 1: He I was reading Bruce arians book today and was
Speaker 1: reminded that his father, Oliver, walked away from football immediately
Speaker 1: after he got his five years in and a pension,
Speaker 1: and he emphasized to Andrew over and over again growing
Speaker 1: up that life has a lot more fruits to offer
Speaker 1: outside of football. This was something drilled into Andrew Luck
Speaker 1: while he was growing up. And you know, we I
Speaker 1: saw a video of Zach Ertz talking about the retirement
Speaker 1: played at Stanford with Andrew Luck, and he said they
Speaker 1: would be playing all the hype for the Heisman up
Speaker 1: on the TV. And Andrew Luck would get up, go
Speaker 1: turn the TV off and say, this is a team sport.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's just He's always had a different perspective
Speaker 1: on football than most players. I mean his his dad also,
Speaker 1: like in a speech that that was shown in the
Speaker 1: last couple of days, was always stresses to the student athletes,
Speaker 1: you know, get what you can out of your education
Speaker 1: and this sport. Don't worry about what you need to
Speaker 1: give to the college. And I and I do think
Speaker 1: that is reflective and what a thoughtful guy Andrew luck is.
Speaker 1: But it's also he It's such an interesting dichotomy because
Speaker 1: he is probably the best quarterback to enter the league
Speaker 1: since you know, or since this deck. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think he was kind of the guy we've been waiting
Speaker 1: for this quarterback, you know, hierarchy to turn over, and
Speaker 1: it never does. It's been you know, Brady and Breeze
Speaker 1: and you know we lost Peyton Manning. But Roethlisberger has
Speaker 1: been near the top up this one time. But I
Speaker 1: would say since we've been doing this podcast, and Mahomes
Speaker 1: is gonna pass pass him, certainly he want an m
Speaker 1: v P and and these new guys are going to
Speaker 1: get there. But you know, in the last six seven years,
Speaker 1: there's no one that's coming and had the combination of
Speaker 1: physical gifts and production and excitement as Andrew Luck. He
Speaker 1: he is this really unique mind and the way he
Speaker 1: looks at things. But he also was like, you know,
Speaker 1: right there among the guys for the next generation, and
Speaker 1: that's what makes it. But I think sometimes when you
Speaker 1: look at the football lifers and and it's often it's failed,
Speaker 1: failed players who become coaches who love the game so
Speaker 1: much that once they have a position, they'll never leave.
Speaker 1: There's people that cover the game that are football lifers
Speaker 1: that are gonna be there until they're eighty eight and
Speaker 1: they pass off the earth the night hundred eight. Hopefully
Speaker 1: it's the ladder. But I mean this reminds me a
Speaker 1: little bit more of someone like Jim Brown when he
Speaker 1: walked away. Now it's very different because Jim Brown retired
Speaker 1: from the Browns at age thirty, but he was in
Speaker 1: London on the set of The Dirty Dozen where he
Speaker 1: was being paid twice his annual salary to be in
Speaker 1: a film for a couple of months. Andrew Luck also
Speaker 1: is able to retire because financially, that's not a situation.
Speaker 1: I don't think any of that has to do with it.
Speaker 1: It's closer to what Jim Brown said was that he
Speaker 1: was no longer stimulated he had achieved everything he wanted
Speaker 1: to do. And has Andrew Luck achieved everything? I don't
Speaker 1: think so, Not from a team perspective, not from a
Speaker 1: cult's perspective, But I do think that Andrew Luck is
Speaker 1: not just because you're a quarterback who's talent, physically talented
Speaker 1: and the best since two thousand twelve, that does not
Speaker 1: mean that mentally football is going to do it all
Speaker 1: for you. And I think he is someone that is
Speaker 1: very different than the athlete robot that is plugged in
Speaker 1: from for as long as their body will take them
Speaker 1: and beyond. I just think he has other things in life.
Speaker 1: It's a ton deaf how Jim Marsay mentioned the amount
Speaker 1: of money Luck is passing on like he like was dumb.
Speaker 1: There was a couple of funny Jim Rcy moments, some
Speaker 1: instructive and some just I couldn't believe he was starting
Speaker 1: to make the push almost publicly for Luck to unretire
Speaker 1: already in that press conference, and one of them was like,
Speaker 1: you know, he was like dumbfound did that Luck could
Speaker 1: pass up in his words, half half a billion dollars
Speaker 1: And I was like doing the math, I was like
Speaker 1: half a billion gets his mind yeah, No, I get it,
Speaker 1: I guess, but that seems to me to be missing
Speaker 1: why Andrew Luck is doing that. And Rich you know,
Speaker 1: Frank Riik and Chris Ballards certainly seemed surprised by it,
Speaker 1: but you they said they had no idea that this
Speaker 1: would have happened. But they also seemed to understand Luck
Speaker 1: a little more as a person. Uh. Is he a
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer? No, so he did. He gives that
Speaker 1: up as well. Um, there was a list of first
Speaker 1: first overall quarterback picks and he is I think fourth
Speaker 1: on that list of the quickest to retire. I would
Speaker 1: say this story has yet to be written. The comeback
Speaker 1: has yet to be written. I think he reminds me,
Speaker 1: and they're the start of their careers are so totally
Speaker 1: polar opposite. He reminds me of Kurt Warner quite a bit.
Speaker 1: And Kurt Warner had that law in the middle of
Speaker 1: his career after he washed out with the Giants, before
Speaker 1: he landed with the Cardinal, he had to figure some
Speaker 1: things out for himself. And and Kurt one is a
Speaker 1: guy who also retired because of his body right when
Speaker 1: the Colts, you know, made it obvious they're not going
Speaker 1: to go after any any of his money. That's great
Speaker 1: of them to do. I'm not not surprised either, but
Speaker 1: I thought the same thing. Not that I'm we're trying
Speaker 1: to predict anything that happens, just that it's like life.
Speaker 1: It's life. Of course, his story is not over. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a chance that he could revisit it in a
Speaker 1: year or two when he is feeling of different mind
Speaker 1: or or not like who knows, but there's it's it's
Speaker 1: silly to kind of say anything with too much finale.
Speaker 1: I don't see. I don't go back to the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame thing. I'm not certain he's not a Hall
Speaker 1: of famer. Wasn't he one of the for a period
Speaker 1: of seven or eight seasons, one of the very best
Speaker 1: quarterbacks in football? Sevens not consistent enough. I think he
Speaker 1: was a top five quarterback about three times. And and
Speaker 1: with the short season, if if he was like M
Speaker 1: v P or you know, top one or two quarterbacks
Speaker 1: for a bunch of I mean great moments, incredible playoff
Speaker 1: game against the Chiefs, which is the game that I
Speaker 1: always think of. Uh, that was kind of the day
Speaker 1: Luck went full superstar mode. Um I I just think, yeah,
Speaker 1: he to me, he's a bubble guy, and maybe he
Speaker 1: just didn't play long enough, and maybe the team didn't
Speaker 1: have enough success. We're gonna get into, by the way, um,
Speaker 1: what this means for the rest of the a f
Speaker 1: C a little bit later, but let's now take a
Speaker 1: quick moment to look at what does this mean for
Speaker 1: the two thousand nineteen Cults. And we'll start with the
Speaker 1: head coach, Frank Reich, who at a press conference Monday
Speaker 1: uh shared his thoughts about where the team goes now
Speaker 1: without Andrew Luck. But also let me assure colts fans
Speaker 1: of this this team has not done climbing. In fact,
Speaker 1: we're just getting ready. We're just getting started, and we
Speaker 1: can't wait. I just feel like Chris and his staff
Speaker 1: have done an unbelievable job of assembling a team of
Speaker 1: players at this locker room is special. There is a
Speaker 1: after quality and a passion for this game and for
Speaker 1: this city and what the Horseshoe represents. That is special.
Speaker 1: And we believe that our players will rise to that
Speaker 1: challenge and that occasion. We're ready for the journey ahead.
Speaker 1: We believe we have the formula of what it takes
Speaker 1: to have a successful journey. We got the right makeup,
Speaker 1: We got the right locker room. Chris talked a lot
Speaker 1: about that this morning with the team about what it
Speaker 1: takes to get in that locker room. We have the talent.
Speaker 1: This is a very talented football team on in all
Speaker 1: three phases. And now Jacoby Brissette, our own Jake Brisket,
Speaker 1: takes over as the starting quarterback of the Indianapolis Coat.
Speaker 1: And this is all that done just simply to appease
Speaker 1: our sound bite and bring it back into that. It's
Speaker 1: a good job wedge that sound drop out. Last week
Speaker 1: we found that thing in off balls, I thought it
Speaker 1: was over. I mean, yet, do you fear remorse because
Speaker 1: you did call for that drop being like, hey, we
Speaker 1: might be needing the culler might have strange energy. We
Speaker 1: might have to refresh it and bury it up a
Speaker 1: little bit because Brisket is gonna be on a lot
Speaker 1: of primetime games and he's gonna be part a lot
Speaker 1: of our life this year. If if they hang in contention,
Speaker 1: do we think the Colts are still a playoff teams?
Speaker 1: I think that that division is now completely wide open
Speaker 1: and almost every team is a chance to win the division,
Speaker 1: whereas before it was clear that the Colts had the
Speaker 1: best roster and the best quarterback in the division. Greg,
Speaker 1: I thought you wrote a like on Saturday night, a
Speaker 1: good piece about where Jacobe Pissette Prosette lands now compared
Speaker 1: to where he landed the first time around, and that
Speaker 1: this is such a different team and they've got such
Speaker 1: a strong coach and GM Link and I I, you know,
Speaker 1: we we made our picks, and the editor I picked
Speaker 1: the Cults. On Friday, the editor of our d M
Speaker 1: original content person came and said, do you want to
Speaker 1: change the Cults now that this all happened. I thought
Speaker 1: about him, like the a f C Central, the NFC
Speaker 1: South is so murky and it's so bizarre to me,
Speaker 1: and I don't believe. There's such so many things I
Speaker 1: don't believe about the other teams in that division. I said,
Speaker 1: keep the culture. I don't think. Yeah. And I write
Speaker 1: the power rankings now for NFL dot Com. And the
Speaker 1: idea that the Cult should now be dropped like way
Speaker 1: to the bottom the league. No, I think, really, when
Speaker 1: you think about them, I think it does obviously drop them.
Speaker 1: Andrew luck is a much better quarterback than the guy's
Speaker 1: replacing it. Even though we all like Jake Brescott in
Speaker 1: this room, but I think they have a fighting chance.
Speaker 1: You don't like Brest at all. I am allowing for
Speaker 1: the fact that players can improve, especially when you're surrounded
Speaker 1: by better coaching and better players, and Chris Ballard's comments
Speaker 1: on uh Jake Briskett to Terres Paler recently suggests that
Speaker 1: not only is he better mechanically and he cleaned all
Speaker 1: that up, he's a more accurate passer and a better
Speaker 1: decision maker, especially when it comes to taking that boatload
Speaker 1: of sacks he took the last time he quarters right
Speaker 1: and he he took so many and that team was rough,
Speaker 1: and he was a second year player joining a rob
Speaker 1: Chad Zinsky offense, where now he's with Frank Reich and
Speaker 1: he's in the second year, which I think is really important.
Speaker 1: And I do think this is where organizationally, the Colts
Speaker 1: have been really impressive since Ballad got there, and that's
Speaker 1: what's key. Like Reich just seems like the man who
Speaker 1: is ready for this challenge in terms of scheme and
Speaker 1: in terms of leadership. Chris Ballard in the team that
Speaker 1: he built, seems like he's kind of the man for
Speaker 1: this challenge and he talked about it Saturday, and he
Speaker 1: was kind of the first one to turn the page.
Speaker 1: You know. Uh Reich was understandably really emotional at that
Speaker 1: press conference, kind of staring off in space. First interviewed
Speaker 1: for the job. He didn't mention Andrew Luck once. And
Speaker 1: this was at a time where Lux's future was uncertain,
Speaker 1: nobody knew when or if he would ever play again.
Speaker 1: Reich never brought up his name in the job interview,
Speaker 1: and so and so Ballard's already had turned the page
Speaker 1: and say, look, we got a good line, we got
Speaker 1: a good offensive line, we got a good defensive line.
Speaker 1: We've got a really young, talented defense. We've got t
Speaker 1: Y Hilton, you know who, back and forth Andrew Luck
Speaker 1: and him talking about that they're best friends. And and
Speaker 1: to a man, everyone on that team, including Luck, who
Speaker 1: went out of his way to say how much he
Speaker 1: learned from Jacoby Brissette that he almost made it sound
Speaker 1: like he looks up to Jacoby Brissette a little bit.
Speaker 1: With the leadership that Jacoby Brissette has, he is I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's got the talent, but I think
Speaker 1: it's almost unquestionable. Everyone that's been around and believes that
Speaker 1: he's kind of meant to lead an NFL team. We
Speaker 1: we do have Chris Ballard talking about it on Saturday Night.
Speaker 1: I think you hear what Andrew said. Jacoby said, is
Speaker 1: a rare, rare leader. He is. He's a rare human
Speaker 1: being man that that locker room loves Jacoby Brissette, and
Speaker 1: he went on about it. Jacoby Brissette is in the
Speaker 1: league or was drafted as early as the third round
Speaker 1: because Bill Parcels convinced Bill Belichick that I don't know
Speaker 1: if this guy is gonna be great or not, but
Speaker 1: he's like one of the most impressive humans I've ever
Speaker 1: been around. That he compared him Curtis Martin and Willie
Speaker 1: mcguinnis as a term type of guy who's going to
Speaker 1: bring a locker him together and it's just like gonna
Speaker 1: be a good guy to have on your team. So
Speaker 1: he's now been able to develop under Frank Reich. And
Speaker 1: I think he's fun to watch play because his great
Speaker 1: throws are really great. They yeah, they ask, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. He's got a lot of upside and
Speaker 1: I think it'll be a fun team to watch even
Speaker 1: without luck. They asked Brissette today after all this, you
Speaker 1: know it leveled out. What what is it that you
Speaker 1: need to actually improve and be better? And he just
Speaker 1: said to Jacoby Brissette, I just need to be me.
Speaker 1: I kind of like this guy, and like I know
Speaker 1: that we want to get into all the analytics and
Speaker 1: stuff all the time as the season goes on and
Speaker 1: the cults have this or that. But the one thing
Speaker 1: about that, there's a narrative quality to football. Every year
Speaker 1: you see it, and certain events change the trajectory of teams.
Speaker 1: And this could have been the thing where you know,
Speaker 1: on some teams and some coaching staffs in the way
Speaker 1: that the front office front office might have panicked. You
Speaker 1: pull the plug on the drain and the water goes out.
Speaker 1: This is the opposite here. I think this team is
Speaker 1: rallying around this. And I don't really look at another
Speaker 1: team in the a f C South and say that
Speaker 1: team they're Their makeup strikes me is so much more
Speaker 1: complete than the It's the opposite. Uh. The one question
Speaker 1: no one has asked yet, and I'll do it because
Speaker 1: we someone has to ask it. Yes, how are you doing?
Speaker 1: Everyone has some people have asked this. It It hits
Speaker 1: home for me, like not the pe scale thing like
Speaker 1: Andrew Luck. He reached a point where he's willing to
Speaker 1: do anything to keep the monster at bay. That's what
Speaker 1: I think about Andrew Luck and what he's dealing with mentally, psychologically,
Speaker 1: he's just he You're talking about a person who was
Speaker 1: one of the toughest people to step foot on an
Speaker 1: NFL field, and now that toughness has been sort of
Speaker 1: usurped by. I don't want to have to do that again.
Speaker 1: I'll do anything not to have to go through that
Speaker 1: experience again. So it hit hunts it. It bothers me psychologically.
Speaker 1: You know who it doesn't bother. They asked Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: about all this today. You know what he said about
Speaker 1: Andrew Luck. He said he's a good player. I didn't
Speaker 1: see that. I don't really follow them. Uh. The Patriots
Speaker 1: actually sent out a clarification that was lost in translation
Speaker 1: a little bit because on paper that was about is
Speaker 1: unnecessary of a Bill Belichick esque comment as we needed
Speaker 1: this morning. No, I think he was referring, No, we're
Speaker 1: gonna let Bill slide on that one. You are, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it isn't It's gonna take a little bit for
Speaker 1: them to get out of Jacoby Risett seemed pretty broken
Speaker 1: up about a Reich seemed I mean this is someone
Speaker 1: he told Prosette on Friday too. By the way, Yeah
Speaker 1: they didn't find it. I didn't all find out that that,
Speaker 1: like on the sideline during that game. Aaron Rodgers was angry.
Speaker 1: He was on a radio show today. He didn't like
Speaker 1: the way some people reacted. He didn't like. Oh, that's
Speaker 1: one other thing I wanted to play? Can we play?
Speaker 1: Ricky Um Luck was asked about getting boot off the
Speaker 1: field at Lucas Oil Stadium after the news broke after
Speaker 1: the preseason game. Yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't
Speaker 1: say I heard the reaction. Yeah it hurt. I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: Rap it hurt. That sucked, and I think, um, you
Speaker 1: hear it in Luck's voice. It's such an emotional time
Speaker 1: for him. It took him by surprise. And a lot
Speaker 1: of people are piling on cults fans and I get
Speaker 1: it wasn't a good look. You should not have been
Speaker 1: booing your franchise player. He didn't double cross you or
Speaker 1: anything like that, but that is it was a shocking,
Speaker 1: shocking thing to happen. And as a fan of any
Speaker 1: fan too, all of a sudden, have this guy who's
Speaker 1: the center of your sports universe yanked out. I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot of sometimes you don't express yourself the
Speaker 1: right way. I don't think there was actual anger toward him,
Speaker 1: but more just anger towards what what just happened? Are
Speaker 1: super Bowl windows are? Are super Bowl dreams are out
Speaker 1: the window? Are my favorite players gone? And I think
Speaker 1: Luck caught heat from that more than actual. This guy's
Speaker 1: a bum. I don't want to look at him. And
Speaker 1: I mean I also think the experience of being home
Speaker 1: and on your couch and processing information over Twitter, gathering information,
Speaker 1: watching it slowly versus when you're in stadium it's the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. These guys have seven or eight beers in them.
Speaker 1: You just find out this guy walking out the field
Speaker 1: is it could be Before Luck spoke, there were a
Speaker 1: lot of people that weren't as generous towards Luck. And
Speaker 1: when he spoke, you got an understanding what was happening.
Speaker 1: It sounded like he was just saying I'm out. But
Speaker 1: then when you learn what his words, it's like, I
Speaker 1: have a completely different feeling towards Andrew Luck. I got
Speaker 1: some text from people that thought, what is this guy doing,
Speaker 1: not plugged in journalist types, but just regular fans, Like,
Speaker 1: it's ridiculous that anyone vood it's stupid. It's this kind
Speaker 1: of it's this sort of obvious that enough with the
Speaker 1: performative uh you know, tisk tisking to make yourself look good.
Speaker 1: That part, to me is just as annoying, like well, no,
Speaker 1: like everyone agrees that that is not what you would
Speaker 1: want to see, and that's sad. But like, you don't
Speaker 1: need four thousand people saying, hey, look at me. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say this is bad too. It's like that it's
Speaker 1: obvious all that we all know, we all agree, you
Speaker 1: don't need to do make a good point. In general,
Speaker 1: this Andrew Luck bombshell is one of the more performative
Speaker 1: moments in Twitter history. Everyone had takes and that they
Speaker 1: were all going it was all ratchet up to eleven.
Speaker 1: Its weird anyway. You don't do it alone. You need
Speaker 1: the courage of other people behind you in order to
Speaker 1: do it. So it's weird to me, But it's also
Speaker 1: we have this national obsession with football, and it's a
Speaker 1: natural outgrowth, just as lux decision was a natural outgrowth.
Speaker 1: When you are a fanatic when you have an obsession,
Speaker 1: you do things like boo that don't make any logical sense.
Speaker 1: All right, So we're gonna we're gonna get back to
Speaker 1: this topic about the Colts and what Andrew lux retirement
Speaker 1: means uh to the rest of the A F c Um.
Speaker 1: But before we do that, there was other things that
Speaker 1: happened in the NFL this weekend, believe it or not.
Speaker 1: So it is week three of the preseason. We hit
Speaker 1: several of the games on a Friday podcast. Why don't
Speaker 1: we just swing around the room, uh for a few
Speaker 1: minutes here and throw out some big takeaways. I'll start
Speaker 1: off with one just because it connects. It connects with um,
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans, who are now in a while. They
Speaker 1: already were in a dog fight to win that division,
Speaker 1: but it changed a lot with lux disappearance. Now the
Speaker 1: Texans lose their starting running back Lamar Miller to what
Speaker 1: is a torn a c l um. So he blows
Speaker 1: out his knee on his first carry of a preseason
Speaker 1: game and you see him carded off with the towel
Speaker 1: over his head, and uh, you know, a lot of calls, Greg,
Speaker 1: a lot of calls out there that the preseason needs
Speaker 1: to be changed, and and I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: necessarily the first thing that comes to a lot of
Speaker 1: people's minds, but I think one thing with Miller, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna get into the ramifications of it for the Texans,
Speaker 1: but the one thing for me is the game is
Speaker 1: so fast and the guys are so strong that I
Speaker 1: do think they need to just lessen the number of
Speaker 1: preseason games. This stuff is just gonna keep happening. The
Speaker 1: players have changed. The schedule I think has to reflect
Speaker 1: that at some point, hopefully after that CB A, yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, And yet I just think if players are
Speaker 1: playing football, they're going to get hurt. So many players
Speaker 1: are gonna get hurt Week one, maybe not more than
Speaker 1: if they had played in the preseason, by a ton
Speaker 1: of them, you know, Like so it's it's terrible when
Speaker 1: that happens too. And and they'll probably reduce it to
Speaker 1: onto two to three games. This is one of those
Speaker 1: injuries that you reduced. You take away a guy who
Speaker 1: has played a million snaps and a million touches. And
Speaker 1: yet I don't really feel any different about the Texans.
Speaker 1: I think Duke Johnson is up for a one a
Speaker 1: roll in a backfield and they probably need to go
Speaker 1: find who there one B is they You know, they
Speaker 1: have some rookies they like on draft on j I right,
Speaker 1: we thought we we thought they did. Al Michael's reported
Speaker 1: they did. Um Michaels did. He said on the Sunday
Speaker 1: night telecasts where I got mine they signed a j H.
Speaker 1: I didn't. I thought so too. It has not happened
Speaker 1: yet he signed. Maybe maybe it would or maybe they
Speaker 1: will sign someone. But if it's someone like that, I
Speaker 1: think that backfield will be fine. It's not where I'm
Speaker 1: worried about. What I mean, what did they give up
Speaker 1: to the Browns? Well so, I mean it was a
Speaker 1: fourth that could max out of the third and it
Speaker 1: sounds like but you know what, maybe they overpaid, but
Speaker 1: it's worth every every dime or however you want to
Speaker 1: say it, because where would they be if you didn't
Speaker 1: have Duke Johnson O'Brien the general manager slash coach genius.
Speaker 1: Name a worst offensive line backfield combination in the Houston
Speaker 1: Texas see. Yeah, but the backfield to me is is fine.
Speaker 1: I think it can be average because they have a
Speaker 1: third down back. I think Duke Johnson. I've always believed
Speaker 1: this has the ability to be a top That's what
Speaker 1: every Browns didn't think he had that ability, right, But
Speaker 1: the Dolphins didn't think Lamar Miller had that ability either,
Speaker 1: and no one thought he was a three down back
Speaker 1: before they got there. And I think he's a much better.
Speaker 1: I think he's a much that show Dan did what
Speaker 1: you believe I did. I did a Lamar Duke Johnson,
Speaker 1: someone's got a win even more that he can be
Speaker 1: a problem. Wow, that's right. Duke and Lamar both had
Speaker 1: to Lamar Miller making the leaps and a Duke Johnson,
Speaker 1: someone's gotta well, I'll stand by Lamar. He's flashed, but
Speaker 1: he never really put it all together. That's that is
Speaker 1: what it is. They're bigger problem is that another former
Speaker 1: brown Roderick Johnson, a fact round pick in two thousand seventeen,
Speaker 1: is their starting left tackle, that their center looked terrible
Speaker 1: when they came back to they had another injury on
Speaker 1: their offensive, Like, I mean, that's their problem. West give
Speaker 1: us a takeaway from Week three of the preseason. Well,
Speaker 1: it's I sort of looked at this like these teams
Speaker 1: are flashing at me right now, and I feel much
Speaker 1: better about them exiting August than I did entering August.
Speaker 1: The Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, and Dallas Cowboys, even without
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott. I don't know why nobody's talking about Michael Gallup,
Speaker 1: who looks like a transformed wide receiver. To me, he
Speaker 1: looks phenomenal. The Vikings, Dalvin Cook looks like he's about
Speaker 1: to have a Pro bowl, al pro type of season.
Speaker 1: That offense is perfect for him. And I love the
Speaker 1: earth Smith pick. They just seemed very confident in the Steelers.
Speaker 1: Everything they did this offseason seems to be working. Every
Speaker 1: single thing seems to be working. Everyone they signed from
Speaker 1: the CFL, the a A, f undrafted free agents, first rounders,
Speaker 1: sixth rounders, guys they picked off like late way free agency.
Speaker 1: Everybody's playing well for them, some of their old some
Speaker 1: of their old draft picks to like Cameron Party. I mean,
Speaker 1: the one thing on the Vikings, let me ask you
Speaker 1: this one, because I watched that game and I realized
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's the preseason. But in Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: look fresh, you look great. Their first four drives seven yards,
Speaker 1: two yards, negative two yards, fourteen yards. Kirk Cousins started
Speaker 1: like three for fourteen. I know, I'm I'm not allowed
Speaker 1: to ever be concerned until September, but whatever you want
Speaker 1: just looked a little off to me though. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's We've got what five years of Kirk Cousins, and
Speaker 1: we tend to agree in them, but five years of
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is an up and down journey to really
Speaker 1: for what it's birth of the preseason. He also looked
Speaker 1: very sharp. I would say the same thing about first
Speaker 1: two games, the same thing about Marcus Mariotta, Like why
Speaker 1: I would rather go back and study their regular season
Speaker 1: tape than look at you. I'm not I'm not saying
Speaker 1: based it off of one game, but like part of
Speaker 1: it is also your offense being in sync. And if
Speaker 1: we love the Cowboys and certain players and everything, one
Speaker 1: looking and sink it's like when a player looks bad,
Speaker 1: does that have any meaning or no meaning? I mean,
Speaker 1: I I put some Benell context in the quarterbacks, all
Speaker 1: about what you wanna stand for and say matters, Like Mark,
Speaker 1: how about you? I'll tell you something I do think matters.
Speaker 1: Because we just talked about a player who's exiting the league.
Speaker 1: And yes, the offensive line in Indianapolis was stellar last year.
Speaker 1: But half the reason Andrew Luck got into the situation
Speaker 1: he was in was because an offensive line left him
Speaker 1: brutalized over and over and was unfixed for way too
Speaker 1: long due to the previous general manager. And I am
Speaker 1: very concerned in this game feels like seventy years ago.
Speaker 1: But Friday night when I watched Baker Mayfield running for
Speaker 1: his life and trying to do everything to bounce off rushers.
Speaker 1: Because Cleveland's left tackle, right guard, and right tackle should
Speaker 1: not be starting for anyone right now, and they and
Speaker 1: if you want to talk about all they've done this offseason,
Speaker 1: I would say this, if you're if you're John Dorsey
Speaker 1: and you want to put the cherry on top versus
Speaker 1: trying to fix tires two weeks from now on the
Speaker 1: car that's broken down by the side of the road.
Speaker 1: You have got to find a way. And it's an
Speaker 1: impossible ask at this point to get one of these
Speaker 1: to get it Trent Williams, to get someone in there,
Speaker 1: because I would look at Greg Williams right now, who
Speaker 1: gave up a ton of issue. He he gave up pressures,
Speaker 1: he gave up sacks, and that game he had two penalties.
Speaker 1: Greg Robinson, Greg Robinson has always gotten these penalties. And
Speaker 1: they have Eric Cush starting at right guard, and they
Speaker 1: have got Chris Hubbard, old mother's son, we're starting at
Speaker 1: right tackle. I don't like any of it. It is
Speaker 1: it gives me a sense I know some Brown Spenser
Speaker 1: saying it's gonna be fine, And you know what just
Speaker 1: turned me on on in September. I shouldn't even be
Speaker 1: watching this stuff because apparently I'm too concerned about these things.
Speaker 1: But I have bad energy vibing off of that game.
Speaker 1: The the biggest thing that could go wrong for the Browns.
Speaker 1: It's you could say about thirty one other teams, is
Speaker 1: your star quarterback can't get hurt and if you can't
Speaker 1: protect him, and he plays swashbuckler, he's like a kid
Speaker 1: out there. Yeah, it's a playground to him, but no,
Speaker 1: but for real, like Mayfield is a guy, he's gonna
Speaker 1: be running around, He's he's gonna always keep his eyes
Speaker 1: up the field. He's always looking for the big play.
Speaker 1: And it is a dangerous kind of scenario the way
Speaker 1: he plays on the way that team blocks, so your
Speaker 1: fear they had a flood of people not on the field,
Speaker 1: all the receivers, Nick Chubb wasn't there in a joke.
Speaker 1: Who I get it, but that didn't change what I
Speaker 1: saw line versus line. Well, you know, you don't even
Speaker 1: need to watch the game to know that Dorsey is
Speaker 1: hugely disappointed with his worst draft pick that he's made
Speaker 1: since he's been there. Austin Corbett, first pick of the
Speaker 1: second round. You trade away Kevin Zeitler because you feel like,
Speaker 1: here's one of my highest draft picks I've taken since
Speaker 1: I got to Cleveland. Let's plug him in. People watching
Speaker 1: the team on a day to day basis said he
Speaker 1: wouldn't make the team if if they were just based
Speaker 1: on his like actual play, and he's now getting replaced
Speaker 1: by a journeyman. So that's one slot where they kind
Speaker 1: of assumed he's gonna take over for Zeitler. And that's
Speaker 1: one big trouble spot. Now, oh BN, I mean, do
Speaker 1: you want to talk to Daniel Jones or was that
Speaker 1: was that Friday or Thursday? We talked Daniel Jones on Thursday.
Speaker 1: Good again, he still looks good, he still looks great.
Speaker 1: I take nothing out of that case. Keenum is announced
Speaker 1: the starter other than as a Dwayne Haskins fan that
Speaker 1: I'm happy for it because they opened with the Eagles
Speaker 1: and they have the Bears week three on Monday Night football,
Speaker 1: and then they're thinking and I feel like, if you're
Speaker 1: gonna throw Haskins out there, just wait till after that
Speaker 1: Bears game. Totally with you on that. Will he be
Speaker 1: ready when he gets in whenever he does? Made some
Speaker 1: place to UM, I thought it was Jimmy Garoppolo. We've
Speaker 1: done a good job on this podcast. A lot of
Speaker 1: people are have been pulling the sky is falling routine
Speaker 1: around Garoppolo and the five interceptions in practice and then
Speaker 1: what he what he didn't do last week in the preseason,
Speaker 1: which was thrown for a yard last Monday Night against
Speaker 1: the Broncos. But don't put too much into it, but yes,
Speaker 1: good he got back on track in Kansas City against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, and I will I will say this shout
Speaker 1: out to the fans at Arrowhead Stadium. Uh, if you
Speaker 1: guys watched the first couple of drives, that place is
Speaker 1: going nuts. January. It was playoff happens. It was unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Any know what. It couldn't be a better test again
Speaker 1: for Jimmy g who had to sit with that. Uh
Speaker 1: for a week that horrible performance, and um, he ends
Speaker 1: up bouncing back, goes fo eight throws a touchdown, leads
Speaker 1: a team on three scoring drives totally thirteen points. Uh
Speaker 1: a gorgeous touch pass on the touchdown. Matt Brita. Who
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna do a lot for them this year.
Speaker 1: But you know, I just think in general, um expectations
Speaker 1: have changed so much from August August around this team.
Speaker 1: This is a nice performance to remind you know, he's
Speaker 1: not gonna fall off the earth. Is he gonna be
Speaker 1: Tom Brady Part two? Maybe not? But I think the
Speaker 1: Ninders are still in a pretty good spot at quarterback
Speaker 1: unless these these games don't matter at all. Being told, no,
Speaker 1: I mean I don't think that I took almost nothing
Speaker 1: away from any of these weekends. I think that's a
Speaker 1: good job. Upset about because no, I'm just I just
Speaker 1: it's like, why are we watching something regular season games
Speaker 1: without a quarterback that's different than Michael Gallup? But why
Speaker 1: aren't we getting I think certain individual performances and just
Speaker 1: how but look healthwise? You know, And I think I
Speaker 1: get that I'm just a local quarterback or offensive play
Speaker 1: is is tough. I think in the preseason and I'll
Speaker 1: just throw one more quick one out there. Drew Brees
Speaker 1: looked just like Drew Brees and his one series against
Speaker 1: the Jets. Him and Michael Thomas. I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: go ham again. I think every ball is Michael Thomas's.
Speaker 1: He's gonna go get it. Yeah, He's He's a badass.
Speaker 1: And I think the Saints, as much as there was
Speaker 1: reason for concern down the stretch, I'm now on the
Speaker 1: boat of you. Look up the stats, and Breeze will
Speaker 1: once again be breeze, and the and the bins are
Speaker 1: gonna be a briest thing I think has been weirdly
Speaker 1: talked about. And I get I think Bill Barnold wrote
Speaker 1: a great piece in terms of like his potential decline,
Speaker 1: but I do wonder if he had the You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes we just overright the end of the season, because
Speaker 1: the last time we saw I thought Drew Brees had
Speaker 1: the best season of his career through thirteen weeks, and
Speaker 1: this is like an upper tier Hall of Famer. Through
Speaker 1: twelve weeks, I thought he was right there. I had him.
Speaker 1: I had an m v P watch and the QB Index.
Speaker 1: I had him ahead of Patrick Mahomes through twelve weeks.
Speaker 1: So those twelve weeks count two. It was just last season,
Speaker 1: and so yeah, maybe it won't be that good, But
Speaker 1: don'tock like there wasn't legitimate concern he wasn't able to
Speaker 1: make throws he was making earlier in the year. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: But I just don't think that's like a final answer.
Speaker 1: It's a it's part of a larger texture that the
Speaker 1: twelve weeks counted. The first twelve weeks counted to. Everybody,
Speaker 1: also have something real quick before we move on. I
Speaker 1: one thing were that Jets game and this is on
Speaker 1: this is a Reugh issue. Is there was uh Damario
Speaker 1: Davis hop scotched over like a Jets lineman and like
Speaker 1: tapped Sam Donald to the ground and he did a
Speaker 1: little stage role and they called it roughing the passer. Well, alright, okay, fair,
Speaker 1: they're fair enough to an Then later in the game,
Speaker 1: a defensive tackle comes out of nowhere and nails Donald
Speaker 1: on the run from behind and and like buries him
Speaker 1: into the ground. No call, terrible call. It's just like
Speaker 1: I mean, the announcers pointing was like the New York
Speaker 1: announcers stand pointed this out. The Jets announcers pointed this
Speaker 1: out massively inconsistent real quick. On the Bengals, we have
Speaker 1: pointed to their problems drafting in the first round. The
Speaker 1: guy they drafted last year in the first round, Billy
Speaker 1: Price got beaten out for the starting center job by
Speaker 1: Trey Hopkins, a journeyman. Well not to mention their first
Speaker 1: round that that is amazing, and their first round pick
Speaker 1: from three years ago now John Ross got beat out
Speaker 1: by undrafted free agent rookie Damian Willis, who is so
Speaker 1: under the radar and is now starting in the AJ
Speaker 1: green spot and it's looked great, Um that he was
Speaker 1: on the team that was featured in Last Chance. You
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a big fan and like people trying
Speaker 1: to say, like, oh, this is a you know what,
Speaker 1: quite a success story. He was so under the radar.
Speaker 1: They never showed him in that season of Last Chance too.
Speaker 1: He was just like some guy in the background, and
Speaker 1: now he's starting in the NFL. About that, Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: by the way, I gotta take an l We had
Speaker 1: this a lot of people hitting on me up on Twitter.
Speaker 1: We me and west had Um had a friendly just
Speaker 1: disagreement about Maurice Harris's potential production on the Patriots. He
Speaker 1: was wave injured over the U weekend and I'm taking
Speaker 1: a big fat ill, but I mean, in your defense,
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon kind of get let off the hook real
Speaker 1: quick and real easy. Though. I think West was kind
Speaker 1: of hitting on the Hey, buddy, you might be getting
Speaker 1: a little over excited about the first three days of
Speaker 1: NOD and padded practices. Uh. I think he had a
Speaker 1: great he had a good point. I was a little
Speaker 1: over excited about the start of the season and more
Speaker 1: than I've watched him play. And you want your receivers
Speaker 1: to be able to make play. Um, all right, let's
Speaker 1: spin forward and uh yeah, everybody loves Succession. It's the
Speaker 1: show on HBO. By the way, the best theme song
Speaker 1: until one of the shows. You never fast forward the intrust.
Speaker 1: It's like great classical music meets hip hop. And now
Speaker 1: listen to the drum pard this best part anyway, love it.
Speaker 1: It's a show about power, who has it, who wants it?
Speaker 1: Power that's real power, that's imagined. And let's talk about Succession.
Speaker 1: The plan in the a f C. Now that Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck has exited stage left, okay, Um, so let's go
Speaker 1: around the Let's go around the room here. Let me start.
Speaker 1: I'll start in the a f C South Okay, boys,
Speaker 1: And you know, the old Zooster loves the Texans like
Speaker 1: that's that's one of those things about the old Zouser.
Speaker 1: Everybody talks about that guy loves the Eastern Texas and
Speaker 1: I kind of do. And but here's my point. So
Speaker 1: I thought the Texans are gonna win the division anyone
Speaker 1: when there's a lot of you're saying the old ducer,
Speaker 1: I thought it was really funny. I just imagine all
Speaker 1: the people just talking amongst themselves like I loves tex
Speaker 1: say hear what the old user said again, he loves
Speaker 1: dinner tables across the country discussing this anyway, I like
Speaker 1: the Texans chances to win the division again this year.
Speaker 1: And um, you know it, only my feelings are stronger.
Speaker 1: Now here's my one thought. Now, Um, Michae Lombardi. Where
Speaker 1: is Lombardi? Now? He's always bouncing around? What what? Who
Speaker 1: does he work for? I'm not aware at the moment.
Speaker 1: Anybody don't know. Is it the Ringer? No, No, it's not.
Speaker 1: He's definitely regular for Brent Musburger's Vegas. Oh really, yes,
Speaker 1: I see him doing Yeah, anyway, Uh, Lombardi put it
Speaker 1: out there that Clowney a trade is imminent. It could
Speaker 1: happen in forty eight hours. Well as of this taping,
Speaker 1: that hasn't happened, and I think we're pushing up against
Speaker 1: that hour barrier. My my point is, if you're the
Speaker 1: Texans and you were thinking about trading Clowney, halt, halt, Okay,
Speaker 1: keep the guy in the building unless you could spend
Speaker 1: Clowney for someone that helps your team right now, and
Speaker 1: that is perhaps offensive line help. But good luck finding
Speaker 1: that at this stage of the game. Put your best
Speaker 1: team out there Week one, because the window just got
Speaker 1: opened up a little bit more for you to make
Speaker 1: a run. In twenty nineteen, Andrew Luck's not playing anymore.
Speaker 1: Someone's talking because I think our insiders have all but
Speaker 1: said they're they've been hearing similar things that this thing
Speaker 1: could happen any minute. Interestingly, Lombardi believed that they were
Speaker 1: looking for a wide receiver, which is just about the
Speaker 1: last posits that blew my mind. Thought. Now I get it, like,
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be trading Clowney anything for a running back.
Speaker 1: It's like, no, you can figure out running back tackles
Speaker 1: A little different, Daniel Jeremie suggested Clowney for Tyreek Hill
Speaker 1: just threw it out. There is a floated it mm hmm.
Speaker 1: I mean their own wide receivers are talking about how
Speaker 1: this wide receiver corps is so much deeper than it
Speaker 1: was last year, and like the fringe wide receivers probably
Speaker 1: don't have a chance to make it this year where
Speaker 1: they whereas they would have made it last year. Are
Speaker 1: they concerns about Fuller's knee or maybe something personal I
Speaker 1: almost feel is popping up with Clowney and Texans. They
Speaker 1: don't have They've kept it under the radar, but there's
Speaker 1: been a couple of little articles where Clowney's work ethic
Speaker 1: was questioned and that set off some alarms for me.
Speaker 1: Isn't that magnified when you're when the coach becomes the
Speaker 1: front office person too? There's no back and forth on
Speaker 1: how to deal with that. Who else wants to throw something?
Speaker 1: You know? The balance of power shifting in the a
Speaker 1: f C by the moment, Greg well, how about the
Speaker 1: six uh up the quarterback hierarchy of Jacoby Brissett of
Speaker 1: making a steak? And I know that's not the balance
Speaker 1: of power. I think the Colts. I'm going to pick
Speaker 1: them to win the division too. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: they're an overwhelming favorite because are in your feelings we are.
Speaker 1: I am a little bit kind of I want to Honestly,
Speaker 1: I just watched Ballard. I wanted Ballard and right. I
Speaker 1: watched that and I was like, I like, I want
Speaker 1: to root for these guys, and I and I'm a
Speaker 1: big Jacoby Brissette fan, so why not? And I do
Speaker 1: think they have a lot of things on their in
Speaker 1: their organization and their depth. Start to like and I
Speaker 1: do like a guy in Jacoby Brissette is very close
Speaker 1: to luck having the chance to make whatever he's going
Speaker 1: to make out of his career. This is his chance.
Speaker 1: This is his chance to climb the ladder. And whether
Speaker 1: his future is with with with the Cults or not,
Speaker 1: who knows, maybe Inela comes back someday or whatever. He's
Speaker 1: going to be a free agent after this year. This
Speaker 1: is a chance for him to kind of make his mark.
Speaker 1: And I wrote after his first season, I remember in
Speaker 1: the last you know QB Index round up of the year.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll see what happens with Prosett's career. But
Speaker 1: he's a guy that just looks like he's gonna be
Speaker 1: in the league twelve to fourteen years. I just don't
Speaker 1: know if that's gonna be as like a meaningful starter
Speaker 1: or you know, as a as a backup fourth year.
Speaker 1: And I think he's just gonna be one of those guys.
Speaker 1: And now it's his chance to become like a you know,
Speaker 1: above average starter. I think you can do it. What
Speaker 1: worries me about the Texans, I would give slight advantage
Speaker 1: to the Titans and Colts in this division. What worries
Speaker 1: me about the Texans is I can look at three
Speaker 1: or four areas of their team and say, among the
Speaker 1: worst in the NFL. The offensive line, the backfield, the secondary.
Speaker 1: These are all bad, bad positions for this team. And
Speaker 1: they play last year the easiest schedule in the league.
Speaker 1: This year the hardest schedule in the league. Um but
Speaker 1: I I was starting to see the a f C
Speaker 1: as Chief Steelers Patriots Colts before the luck news, and
Speaker 1: now I see it as Chief Patriots Steelers, and then
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter who wins the South quickly dispensed, Yes,
Speaker 1: that's what I see. I think they have I always
Speaker 1: give any I mean, I give they have a chance
Speaker 1: to make the Super Bowl with Brissette. Why not? I mean,
Speaker 1: crazier things have happened super Bowl now, Nick Sure, Nick Fole,
Speaker 1: I mean Joe Flacco on a super Bowl, Nick Foles
Speaker 1: won a super Bowl. It's as they said, it's a
Speaker 1: team game. A lot of things are gonna have to
Speaker 1: come together as a team. I don't totally rule them out.
Speaker 1: And if you're talking narratives, I mean, how how sweet
Speaker 1: would it be for the Colts to go to like
Speaker 1: Fox Borrow in the playoffs or whatever? From their vantage point? Hey,
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels, thanks for turning us down, Thanks for sending
Speaker 1: us Jacoby Brissette, for Philip Dorsett, Thanks for beating our
Speaker 1: brains in for about a decade. We're gonna take your crown. Well,
Speaker 1: well let's see how that goes. I'm just saying that.
Speaker 1: Be uh from their visage pointing delightful. How have things
Speaker 1: change in the a f C? How have they changed?
Speaker 1: Tell tell me of your thoughts? Well, yeah, I kind
Speaker 1: of just did that. I don't see the a f
Speaker 1: C South winner as a real rat wants to play
Speaker 1: start um and I still see just like we entered
Speaker 1: last year, Chief Steelers Patriots. Those were the three teams
Speaker 1: entering two thousand eighteen that we thought were the class
Speaker 1: of that conference. And I still think that's the case.
Speaker 1: How about you, Cela, I think if you look at
Speaker 1: the show in succession, you've got a lot of even
Speaker 1: though they're all in a family, a lot of these
Speaker 1: people are very close allies. They're each islands psychological islands,
Speaker 1: trying to figure out where they stand as chess pieces,
Speaker 1: and they're all battling each other. So from the started
Speaker 1: with well, just because the way each of these teams
Speaker 1: like are so you know Belichick saying he doesn't see
Speaker 1: anything beyond the complex. And if you're if you're one
Speaker 1: of these fringe e wild card teams, if you're the Bills,
Speaker 1: the Jets, the Broncos, even you, and you want to
Speaker 1: convince yourself that power has changed and there's a slot
Speaker 1: opening up or at least becoming the door is opening
Speaker 1: for you. This was a positive development in the terms
Speaker 1: of your chances this season. The one you know, these
Speaker 1: shows also always thrive and they're entertaining because there must
Speaker 1: be the person in the midst who is the ultra stooge. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he thinks that he or she thinks that
Speaker 1: they're going to rise to power, but the viewer can
Speaker 1: tell that will not be the case. Yes, in this case,
Speaker 1: I think the Tom character in Succession is probably being
Speaker 1: sort of toyed with um and that to me would
Speaker 1: be the Bengals. And you know, I don't mean to always,
Speaker 1: but it is I feel like, well, you know what,
Speaker 1: I just feel like they are while all these other
Speaker 1: you were talking about. Succession is about high octane power
Speaker 1: media conglomerates, while the Bengals are to me still very
Speaker 1: content to run a little mop and mom and pop
Speaker 1: corner store selling you know, Chinese noodles and four dollar wine,
Speaker 1: and they are perfectly content. I'll tell you why. Because
Speaker 1: we are talking about power, and we're talking about people
Speaker 1: that are striving for power and doing everything they can
Speaker 1: and stain up to date. And I see these other teams.
Speaker 1: I see the Jets as a team that has advanced
Speaker 1: themselves massively from season to this. Secession has happening seasons
Speaker 1: the NFL happens in seasons the Jets are a totally
Speaker 1: different character. In season two. The Bengals have not changed
Speaker 1: at all. How many wins for the Bengals this year, Wait,
Speaker 1: six or seven. What's that's generous? I think that's a
Speaker 1: tough one six or seven in that but only because
Speaker 1: I don't think that's six has changed though since Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck retired. No, my point is that the stooge is
Speaker 1: always the stooge. But you see why I'm surprised that
Speaker 1: Bengals are catching fire here? What is the four dollar noodle?
Speaker 1: The four dollar and they they're they're they're just paying rent,
Speaker 1: doing it a year ago and they'll just pay rent again.
Speaker 1: What I'm saying there are these fringe E A SC
Speaker 1: teams that changed and are evolving. But I'm just panting
Speaker 1: the camera over to the stooge that did not change
Speaker 1: the season one. But I was with you, it's not
Speaker 1: my central point the first half year point. I was
Speaker 1: a cent and in in fact I was gonna mention it.
Speaker 1: Teams like the Jets, Bills, Broncos, Titans, Bengals, your Browns,
Speaker 1: perhaps whoever doesn't perhaps whoever doesn't win the division, uh
Speaker 1: and the see nor so it could be the Steelers
Speaker 1: of the Ravens. Right, I'm sorry the brown I have
Speaker 1: expressed my concerns, but uh, it's my feelings. There probably
Speaker 1: one playoff team coming out of the South now, whereas
Speaker 1: I thought personally there would be two. So someone's going
Speaker 1: to benefit from that's call. And the a f C
Speaker 1: West has a very easy schedule on paper, partly because
Speaker 1: they get to play each other. When we're putting in
Speaker 1: our picks with our bosses, I'm putting in three from
Speaker 1: the North. I was doing that before. Now I had
Speaker 1: the Steelers, Ravens and Brown's all getting in, which happened
Speaker 1: what three years ago except it was the Bengals, and uh,
Speaker 1: I think luck being out makes that more likely. I
Speaker 1: need to watch this Succession. You've got to get in, dude,
Speaker 1: you'd love Succession. I mean it's it's got Brian Cox
Speaker 1: in it, who is one of my favorite sort of
Speaker 1: like character actors. You will like this. I mean the
Speaker 1: scene he has an adaptation where he where he yells
Speaker 1: at the crowd when someone asks like, well what if
Speaker 1: what about a screenplay that reflects like real life a
Speaker 1: little more? And he and he just like goes off
Speaker 1: on the guy is one of my favorite scenes. I
Speaker 1: love when when people act out scenes from movies. It's
Speaker 1: always it never fails. All right, before we say goodbye,
Speaker 1: there's someone else here. I believe there. He is the
Speaker 1: long time head honcho over on NFL Fantasy Way. Michael
Speaker 1: Fabiano uh is joining us. Uh, Mike, how are you?
Speaker 1: By the way, I'm good man, I'm feeling good. Feeling
Speaker 1: good both, uh, because fantasy football season is in full
Speaker 1: swing and our beloved Yankees just two took two or
Speaker 1: three from the Doyers. Yeah, we sent a little message
Speaker 1: there and I was very I was there. I was
Speaker 1: in attendance of stress on little um NFL Must NFL
Speaker 1: Fantasy Live podcast. By the way, a live show at
Speaker 1: the yard House and Marina del Ray tonight at eight pm.
Speaker 1: So if you catch this and it happened to be
Speaker 1: in the area, go over there because that's your chance
Speaker 1: to get Michael Fabiano's autograph. I'm at Nobody wants that.
Speaker 1: How does it feel to be sitting in the Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler memorial chair where he was for the Fantasy Corner
Speaker 1: a week ago? Is that right? Yeah? You wouldn't know that.
Speaker 1: What did you do to deserve that? It's sort of
Speaker 1: more closely what I didn't do. I think that's how
Speaker 1: I got there to begin with, um fabs. What's going
Speaker 1: on on the Fantasy Way? Because you know, I gotta
Speaker 1: I gotta keep it real here, so my league of record.
Speaker 1: We've run it through NFL dot com uh for several years,
Speaker 1: and people are always burying on me because like, oh,
Speaker 1: come on, why isn't your fantasy client better? Why isn't
Speaker 1: the app better? Well, guess what things have changed, haven't that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: The app is all new. It's the best app we've had.
Speaker 1: Some people might say that's not saying much, but I
Speaker 1: can promise you right now the app is going to
Speaker 1: be one of, if not the best for fantasy football
Speaker 1: players in twenty nineteen and moving forward. There are some
Speaker 1: very cool features, some of which I can't even mention yet,
Speaker 1: but I can promise that people who are into, let's say,
Speaker 1: watching film will be very pleased it is. It is
Speaker 1: going to be kick ass. Sign up now downloaded, check
Speaker 1: it out. It's going to be very personalized. You may
Speaker 1: even see my ugly mug on there from time to time,
Speaker 1: so that that actually might be a reason for people
Speaker 1: not to download it. So forget I just said that,
Speaker 1: but check it out. It's it's a huge improvement, and
Speaker 1: we've had a lot of great people who have worked
Speaker 1: very hard. I think that's a response to the fans.
Speaker 1: People are like, what do you want out of your
Speaker 1: fantasy app? They're just like more head shots of fabs.
Speaker 1: That's that is untrue. That has true. That's been a
Speaker 1: prominent part of NFL dot com is fabs front and center.
Speaker 1: New headshot this year, same one. Have you been talking
Speaker 1: to Ben Liebenberg? Not? You know Benny Leaves, our director
Speaker 1: of photography. He's very big on head shot. Did you
Speaker 1: start with the NFL? I haven't. Oh man, this is
Speaker 1: actually my twentieth year in the industry, and this is you.
Speaker 1: This is my year with the NFL. Yeah, dude, it's
Speaker 1: it's been. It's been a long fun ride. You know
Speaker 1: that yardhouse used to be my old stomping grounds. I
Speaker 1: used to live right across the street in temporary housing. Well,
Speaker 1: why's the heat and spurs playoff? That means that. That
Speaker 1: means that I'll see you and your lovely wife there later.
Speaker 1: I can't speak for her, but I'm gonna I'll be there. Hey, listen,
Speaker 1: I will say one thing because I don't get a
Speaker 1: chance to be on this podcast very often, and that
Speaker 1: that's not I'm not I'm not having I'm so proud
Speaker 1: of you guys. For what you've done and what you've accomplished.
Speaker 1: I've rooted for all four you and I'm so just
Speaker 1: over the moon that you guys have become this big.
Speaker 1: You're kicking ass taking names. I love seeing you on TV.
Speaker 1: It makes me feel so good when people that I like,
Speaker 1: who are genuinely good, hard working people who know their stuff, succeed,
Speaker 1: And I couldn't be happier for you guys keeping up.
Speaker 1: You know, we thank you. We Mark and I both
Speaker 1: started here in two thousand ten. You're literally you and
Speaker 1: maybe Rank are the only guys that we've been here
Speaker 1: the whole time with nice of you to say you've
Speaker 1: You've obviously done really well. I've I've seen you guys
Speaker 1: grow and develop and you know, become more than just writers.
Speaker 1: You're You're truly talent. And uh, every time I see
Speaker 1: anything about you guys on Twitter, um, I try to
Speaker 1: I try to retreat. I just I'm very I'm very
Speaker 1: happy for you guys. I've gotten you a second appearance. Well,
Speaker 1: that was the whole point of that whole Diet tribe
Speaker 1: was to get on here again at some point before
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. All right, there you, Mike, thank you so
Speaker 1: much and yeah, Mikey, he's the big man at NFL Fantasy.
Speaker 1: He's got and also got that expert League one with
Speaker 1: Ricky Holliday Holiday. So so our our friend Erica here,
Speaker 1: you know you um drafted Andrew Luck, didn't you? I did,
Speaker 1: And I have t Y Hilton too, so I gotta yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not So I'm not in League one because I
Speaker 1: have two fifty other leagues and I'm like, I just
Speaker 1: can't do another one. But I drafted four Candice Patton,
Speaker 1: who plays the Flash and by the way, her team
Speaker 1: is the odds on favorite to win. I'll connecting a
Speaker 1: dang lose to a shadow fabs. That's an embarrassed one
Speaker 1: of that she picked. He picked for her, but she's
Speaker 1: gonna have to run the team or whatever. You can't.
Speaker 1: You can't let expert come in there and win. Anyways,
Speaker 1: you two in the league that in twelve dollars will
Speaker 1: get you a beer in l a West. One of
Speaker 1: the dudes picked Albert Wilson in the fourth round, and
Speaker 1: so at this point I'm thinking, I'm thinking, oh man,
Speaker 1: this is this is this is gonna be fun. This
Speaker 1: is gonna be fun to do this draft. That guy
Speaker 1: like fall off a bird and I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't even know who was the guy. Do you remember
Speaker 1: who it was? It was the comedian? Yeah, should we
Speaker 1: like out him? Like you're not to tune in and
Speaker 1: find out Ricky Holiday. You can put the blame on
Speaker 1: me for Andrew Luck. Yeah, I appreciate that that was.
Speaker 1: And you have cream Hunt on your team too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we can, we can, we can up maybe a good
Speaker 1: season for you. Yeah, all right? Rick Halliday taking a
Speaker 1: lot of Halliday get buried in a big spot. Michael Fabiano,
Speaker 1: He's senior fantasy analysts NFL Media. Follow him at Michael
Speaker 1: Underscore Fabriano on Twitter and yes, if you are in
Speaker 1: the area, he'll be at the yard House at Marina
Speaker 1: del Rey tonight eight pm Live podcast, Thanks con by Mike.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get out of here. Ricky Holiday, hold
Speaker 1: back Wednesday, Stan handsOn signing about for a Quiet Storm,
Speaker 1: the Mailman, the Old Boss, Ricky Holiday and Michael Fabriano
Speaker 1: behind the glass to whims there e