Speaker 1: They around the NFL podcast can't wait? Were they off season?
Speaker 1: Halfway there? From the Chris Westling podcast studio, It's around
Speaker 1: the NFL. I am Dan Hansis I got heroes here,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. All right, let's set the table here.
Speaker 1: Super Bowl set great Chiefs Eagles. But we still have
Speaker 1: like two weeks until the game. But we will fill
Speaker 1: twelve times. We have a lot of shows too, a
Speaker 1: lot of work, work, work, work, work, work, three shows
Speaker 1: and before we get to the super Bowl, and then
Speaker 1: three shows before the actual Super Bowl in Arizona, and
Speaker 1: some hot guests coming up just a little. I have
Speaker 1: full confidence we can talk our way through every single show. Anything.
Speaker 1: We will find a way. Coming up later, the great
Speaker 1: Brian Baldinger will join us. Baldy, as he's known. Baldi
Speaker 1: was probably more unhappy than anyone else that the um
Speaker 1: extra week was added to the season, pushing the super
Speaker 1: back ball back a week, which in essence pushes his
Speaker 1: ability to go wild in the off season back a week.
Speaker 1: So we'll talk to him about that. Is I mean
Speaker 1: that said. The one time we had him on during
Speaker 1: Super Bowl Week, like an hour earlier, he was Scoopa
Speaker 1: diving in the waters off Miami. So he founds, he
Speaker 1: seems to find a way. He does find a way,
Speaker 1: and he's also there's nobody better when talking about the
Speaker 1: game in the trenches than Baldi, a former offensive lineman
Speaker 1: himself turn top right analyst. So we're gonna kind of
Speaker 1: dig in a little bit on that element of Super
Speaker 1: Bowl fifties seven. Um, But before that, shall we hit
Speaker 1: the news some news fly go fly all a road
Speaker 1: to the dory, fly go fly go. No, No, it
Speaker 1: was those he goes fly fly fly Oh no, that's
Speaker 1: from the podium the Risers after the NFC title game.
Speaker 1: It is good to see something that Jalen Hurts can't do.
Speaker 1: You know, he can't sing, so he's not perfect. No,
Speaker 1: he's got a couple of weeks to work on that.
Speaker 1: I mean, that is a what a huge argument. The
Speaker 1: end of that game celebration was UM and the one
Speaker 1: in Arrowhead to not take the title games. I know
Speaker 1: these some of these UM money UM hungry and individuals
Speaker 1: up high want to like shift it to this neutral site.
Speaker 1: What are we doing here? Never ever do that? I
Speaker 1: know they will, they probably will, but don't ever do it.
Speaker 1: Fans always say, being at home for a winning conference
Speaker 1: championship game is better than the super Bowl, even better
Speaker 1: than like, of course winning the super Bowl. That's the
Speaker 1: whole idea. But just in terms of having a fun day,
Speaker 1: you can't top that. But they needed to get my
Speaker 1: Latta on the mike. He's got some pipes. You know,
Speaker 1: you've heard the singing on the Mass singer, you've got
Speaker 1: the Christmas I did not see that. My Latta and
Speaker 1: the lineman. Um yeah, they needed to replace him. A. J.
Speaker 1: Brown was just standing up there, admitted afterwards he has
Speaker 1: no idea. He didn't even know what the words were.
Speaker 1: He never fair to know that you know every word
Speaker 1: and very strange although he was butchering it tone wise,
Speaker 1: Bradshaw taking the mic away for like the final line,
Speaker 1: just let him finish. At that point, he's already drowning
Speaker 1: out there. Um yeah, I don't know if that geez
Speaker 1: that who's asking for the title games to get moved
Speaker 1: from the you know, the number one. There are whispers
Speaker 1: that will become sort of the next but like football
Speaker 1: based on dot com, my former boss Mike Florio sources
Speaker 1: idea within the league, So um doesn't that kind of
Speaker 1: my former co workers over at three Park Avenue where
Speaker 1: I used to work. Are they still at that? Doesn't
Speaker 1: it kind of a line with where everything else is
Speaker 1: going with league events, where they like, I'm a company person,
Speaker 1: Can this just be Can we just keep this the same?
Speaker 1: Can we keep anything the same? I think, Uh, I
Speaker 1: think there will be extreme pushback if that is the case.
Speaker 1: But that is uh pour singing notwithstanding. Yes, because winning
Speaker 1: the conference title is, you know, obviously such a big,
Speaker 1: big event for every fan base, and and that celebration
Speaker 1: I'm sure was a lot of fun. And Philly Colleen
Speaker 1: Wolfe was there at Connie on the Power Rankings podcast
Speaker 1: uh today, my co host on that show, and she
Speaker 1: was at an apartment somewhere in Philadelphia, still breathing in
Speaker 1: the beauty of the life of a Philadelphia She might
Speaker 1: be breathing in something else, but I'm sure that happened earlier.
Speaker 1: And perhaps perhaps let's get into the news. Oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: we got massive NFL news here. This from rap sheet.
Speaker 1: Sean Payton is going to the Broncos. Hey. Now, New
Speaker 1: Orleans and UH Denver just finalized a trade, uh settling
Speaker 1: the compensation. Sources say New Orleans gets a first rounder
Speaker 1: that would be the twenty ninth overall pick in the
Speaker 1: upcoming draft, that is San Francisco's pick um and an
Speaker 1: early pick in addition to that first rounder, likely, according
Speaker 1: to Ian, a second round pick, so a twenty ninth
Speaker 1: overall pick and then a second rounder. They will also
Speaker 1: give a pick back um the Broncos will uh to
Speaker 1: the Saints. It's a complex deal, as Dan as Ian reports,
Speaker 1: but it is now done. Sean Payton is the new
Speaker 1: head coach of the Denver Broncos, ending a kind of
Speaker 1: a whirlwind affair for Peyton, who you know. This time
Speaker 1: last year it felt like he was gonna do a
Speaker 1: year of football mark in the as a commentator and
Speaker 1: then had the world at his feet. And then it
Speaker 1: didn't really seem like that was how it was gonna
Speaker 1: end up playing out. It seemed like he maybe overplayed
Speaker 1: his hand and didn't have the chance that he would
Speaker 1: uh now have, which is be a head coach back
Speaker 1: in the league, highly compensated obviously and running the show
Speaker 1: in Denver. Yeah, I mean I could have imagined him
Speaker 1: taking over the Charger's job. I think that would have
Speaker 1: been the ideal landing spot for him. Dallas always hung
Speaker 1: out there in the midst Denver, I did not think
Speaker 1: where I kind of always thought that he was using
Speaker 1: the Broncos his leverage, but there was very little leverage.
Speaker 1: And you walk into, I think, a very challenging situation.
Speaker 1: There's kind of at glass half full, half empty, because
Speaker 1: the half full is they were such a disaster last
Speaker 1: year and so poorly organized under Nathaniel Hackett, and the
Speaker 1: quarterback was such a failure that you almost can't do
Speaker 1: worse on the offensive side the ball. And maybe if
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson a year into this and under Sean Payton
Speaker 1: turns the corner and he's not the guy that he
Speaker 1: was last drive suspicions around that, that's for sure. Then
Speaker 1: suddenly Sean Payton like the genius everyone says he is.
Speaker 1: But it's a complex job because I'm fully convinced that
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson will never be the old Russell Wilson, and
Speaker 1: everything on that offense and everything they're built around, and
Speaker 1: his deal and all that other stuff centers around Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: And I mean, I know there's ways you can get
Speaker 1: me how did that contract? At some point? But can
Speaker 1: Sean Payton overcome all that Greg as a Broncos fan.
Speaker 1: You're not that you're a Bronis man, but you're thinking, though, man,
Speaker 1: things could not have gone worse in year one with
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson, and you could point to a lot of
Speaker 1: reasons why, but you can't avoid that Wilson played poorly
Speaker 1: going into year two, which is an emergency situation in
Speaker 1: terms of them figure out whether he's their guy. You've
Speaker 1: gotta be at least feeling good that you have Sean
Speaker 1: Payton now in the building, and now you're gonna know
Speaker 1: for sure there won't be any unsaid questions after this
Speaker 1: year about Wilson and his future in Denver. Right, Sean
Speaker 1: Payton is the man in Denver now, Russell Wilson is not.
Speaker 1: If I had to guess extremely early, I would put
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson's chances of being on this team in two
Speaker 1: years that like less in fifty fifty. But I am
Speaker 1: certain Sean Payton's gonna be there in a couple of years.
Speaker 1: The way his contract Russell Wilson's uh is structured, I
Speaker 1: don't think they'll try to get out of it right now,
Speaker 1: although I personally think that wouldn't be that crazy posible.
Speaker 1: They'll give it one year with Sean Payton, and you
Speaker 1: gotta love it if you're a Broncos fans, because I've
Speaker 1: had issues with how Sean Payton's manipulated the media and
Speaker 1: he's friends with everyone, and there's different sources talking to
Speaker 1: this guy, and it almost looked like, like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: he wasn't going to get a job in this cycle.
Speaker 1: I mean, don't forget the Broncos ownership was in Michigan
Speaker 1: last weekend. By all accounts, beget and Jim Harbaugh trying
Speaker 1: to get him to take that job. Dan Quinn pulled
Speaker 1: out and was reported to be one of their top choices.
Speaker 1: Maybe it was two sides that didn't quite have a
Speaker 1: perfect landing spot and they, you know, went back to
Speaker 1: each other and Walmart's got long money and that's that's
Speaker 1: who owned the Broncos right now. And one thing we
Speaker 1: kept hearing from the Sean Payton sources was that he
Speaker 1: wanted a lot of money and he wanted a lot
Speaker 1: of power. So they have a GM there and George Peyton,
Speaker 1: but Sean Payton's the guy who's running every aspect of
Speaker 1: this organization and he was good at it in New Orleans,
Speaker 1: and I get on him for the media stuff. But man,
Speaker 1: he can manage an offense, and he can manage like
Speaker 1: every aspect of the organization, from the front office to
Speaker 1: the coaching staff to everything. He's gonna have to hire
Speaker 1: coaches a little last minute here, but I mean, Broncos
Speaker 1: fans have to be excited. It's Peyton and Payton. It
Speaker 1: might just be Payton at some point. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: know we're gonna get Miko Ryan's in a second here,
Speaker 1: But I want to mention that you know Ryan's the
Speaker 1: reporting is out there that he kind of let Denver
Speaker 1: know that wasn't where he wanted to be and they
Speaker 1: wanted him in Houston, and dan Quinn, a guy that
Speaker 1: really had put himself in a good position to get
Speaker 1: a head coach job, he didn't want to go to Denver.
Speaker 1: And it makes sense because you don't want to be
Speaker 1: a head coach that goes to the Broncos after what
Speaker 1: happened last year with the quarterback and end up getting
Speaker 1: fired after a year because Russ Wilson doesn't get better
Speaker 1: and you kind of get baby with the bathwatered right
Speaker 1: out of Denver and you don't feel you get a
Speaker 1: fair shot that is not gonna happen with the Sean
Speaker 1: Payton for the reasons, Greg, you just said Sean Payton
Speaker 1: was gonna go somewhere where he would be the the
Speaker 1: Grand Puba, and that's what he is in Denver. And
Speaker 1: no matter what happens with Russell Wilson, now Peyton will
Speaker 1: get a long run to try to turn this organization around.
Speaker 1: I think it's kind of a for everything that's gone
Speaker 1: wrong for Denver Um. I think it's a slam dunk
Speaker 1: higher for them, and it puts them back on the
Speaker 1: road to you know, getting back in the right direction here.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've been dealing with one of the worst
Speaker 1: sort of optics pr snaff foods of any team over
Speaker 1: the last you know, since September. It resets all that
Speaker 1: but it and now we're in that period where it's
Speaker 1: gonna be very flowery speak about what Russell, what this
Speaker 1: means for Russell Wilson. I don't buy it till I
Speaker 1: see it, But I do think that if you, if
Speaker 1: there's any coach out there that can find a way
Speaker 1: to work around Russell Wilson's weaknesses and also probably have
Speaker 1: another quarterback on the roster that he maybe likes better
Speaker 1: that you serve Russell Wilson if things getting nasty in
Speaker 1: this season. I don't think you have to go sixteen
Speaker 1: seventeen games without Wilson. You don't, and I throw a
Speaker 1: se does do that. Uh. I would like to see
Speaker 1: Taysom Hill just throw throw him in that trade. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna have Actually, players are not
Speaker 1: allowed by rule to be part of coach trade, so
Speaker 1: that could anybody's gonna find a way to work around.
Speaker 1: Let's let's let's bring in Taste and Hill another contract quickly.
Speaker 1: From the Saints perspective, just to focus on these picks,
Speaker 1: You're right, Denver is resetting it. It doesn't feel all better,
Speaker 1: but it is worth noting they don't have their first
Speaker 1: round pick, which would have been number five, because they
Speaker 1: traded it for Russell Wilson. On top of other picks
Speaker 1: that are coming in the future, Seattle has that pick.
Speaker 1: They did have a pick late in the first round
Speaker 1: you mentioned pick because they traded away Bradley Chubb. So
Speaker 1: they basically, you know, got Sean Payton as part of
Speaker 1: almost that Bradley Chubb move. But like you do want
Speaker 1: to have picks because Chubb didn't exactly like the world
Speaker 1: umpire in Miami and and now you're gonna end up
Speaker 1: getting I guess I. Yeah, you're right that they gave
Speaker 1: him the flexibility to do something like this, but it
Speaker 1: depends on the results. Because the Rams don't have first
Speaker 1: round picks. They haven't used them at all. They want
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl. The problem here's the quarterback went south.
Speaker 1: Did you got a premier version of Russell Wilson then
Speaker 1: added another first to get Sean Payton. No one's complaining
Speaker 1: about that. I will believe, and I don't know how
Speaker 1: it can be confirmed because people have different agendas that
Speaker 1: that that Peyton would have gone back to the Saints
Speaker 1: if they were willing to get rid of Dennis Allen.
Speaker 1: They chose not to do that. And I think the
Speaker 1: Saints will say, well, we just got a first round
Speaker 1: pick and it sounds like maybe at two next year
Speaker 1: for our coach. We did we did okay in this, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but Dennis Ellinger coach, that is not okay. I would
Speaker 1: have taken the Sean Payton route personally. More breaking news. Wow,
Speaker 1: this really worked out timing wise for the old the
Speaker 1: old Um. The Texans officially signed forty Niners defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: Damiko Ryan's to a six year contract to become their
Speaker 1: head coach. Now what does that mean? I don't know.
Speaker 1: The money is guaranteed though for Damiko Ryan. So after
Speaker 1: the Texans went one and done with each of their
Speaker 1: last two head coaches, Levey Smith and David Culley, Damiko
Speaker 1: Ryan's enters the picture. He had been kind of like
Speaker 1: the the Buzzy Mark sexiest pick here for any team,
Speaker 1: coming off a great season with San Francisco, and now
Speaker 1: the Texans get their man. Do you like the higher?
Speaker 1: I know for the it makes sense. The Texans feel
Speaker 1: like they hit a home run here. If you're a
Speaker 1: guy a fan of Damiko Ryan's, are you a little
Speaker 1: nervous about what he's walking into in Houston. I think
Speaker 1: it's a good situation. I think like Sean Payton, for
Speaker 1: whether we want to believe anything he says or not,
Speaker 1: described it as a good situation. I think it is
Speaker 1: because it's been an absolute disaster. The organization is in
Speaker 1: wreckage mode. From a pr angle, Damiko Ryan's comes in
Speaker 1: as someone that is from the Texans. They can kind
Speaker 1: of reset the board a little bit and say all
Speaker 1: this stuff that just happened, we can forget about it.
Speaker 1: Now you're months away from selecting the best possible quarterback
Speaker 1: at number two, which starts things over again and helps
Speaker 1: you forget about Deshaun Watson helps you forget about a
Speaker 1: lot of things, whether they should be given that luxury
Speaker 1: or not. I like to hire because I think number one.
Speaker 1: He seems to be an excellent coach who obviously got
Speaker 1: the most out of his players in San Francisco post
Speaker 1: Robert Salo, which was a challenge, certainly connects with them,
Speaker 1: and he's I think like they they there's a reason
Speaker 1: to believe that the connection with Houston, I think is
Speaker 1: good for them. That said, cal McNair is now paying
Speaker 1: like three different coaching staffs an absolute ton of money
Speaker 1: before I think he probably still playing Bill O'Brien even
Speaker 1: you're probably right that that starts. I mean, I'm not
Speaker 1: worried about him. He's a multi billionaire, but it's just
Speaker 1: like they can you trust them to hang with Ryan's
Speaker 1: that things get I think they I think they know
Speaker 1: they have to. Now. Nick Serio, their general manager, who's
Speaker 1: been at the front of these hires, is now on
Speaker 1: his third head coach. He would be the next fall guy.
Speaker 1: I guess if things don't go well. It's interesting Ryan's
Speaker 1: and Cassaro kind of from different branches of the NFL universe.
Speaker 1: Cassirio coming from the Belichick tree. Uh, Ryan's who was
Speaker 1: with the Texans as a player and then the Eagles
Speaker 1: and and now under Shanahan. So I would assume there's
Speaker 1: an agreement there that those two guys will work together.
Speaker 1: And Ryan's was the defensive rookie of the year there.
Speaker 1: We're getting old because I remember, you know, I was
Speaker 1: doing Rhodo World that season two thousand and six, and
Speaker 1: now he's was in the league ten years and now
Speaker 1: he's a head coach. He knows the McNair's like he
Speaker 1: knows them personally. He was as well respected as as
Speaker 1: anyone in that franchise for the time he was there.
Speaker 1: So I think that's what makes uh it a great
Speaker 1: move for him for the Texans and made it make
Speaker 1: sense more than if he didn't have a history there,
Speaker 1: but that that's a team that drafted him. I'm mean,
Speaker 1: that's the team he grew up playing, you know with
Speaker 1: with J. J. Watt, And we've heard that his wife
Speaker 1: and a lot of people love Houston, by the way,
Speaker 1: like players love Houston, coaches like it sounds like his
Speaker 1: family like going back to Houston. I'm just saying, if
Speaker 1: you took a poll of the players in the league,
Speaker 1: maybe the coaches to former players, what city in the
Speaker 1: United States that has an NFL team would I most
Speaker 1: want to live in. I think Houston finished his top five,
Speaker 1: so I'm saying that's a factor too. I think get
Speaker 1: in there. Bye bye Broncos. Okay. I don't know if
Speaker 1: this turned into a referendum of whether Houston is a
Speaker 1: great American city. It is, it's what. It's one of
Speaker 1: the jewels of Texas, Greggy, but the organization where where
Speaker 1: that's representing Houston has not been one that anyone would
Speaker 1: refer to as a great stable place for a head
Speaker 1: coach to go. Times are maybe different. They have draft picks.
Speaker 1: It's a new horizon here. Um. I would think I
Speaker 1: would guess the way the NFL typically works with head coaches,
Speaker 1: they're not gonna they wouldn't dare. I don't think go
Speaker 1: one and done unless something really crazy happened here. He'll
Speaker 1: probably be on the more typical model for something that
Speaker 1: inherits a mess, which is you get like three years
Speaker 1: you get, you get, and you gotta get a team
Speaker 1: to the playoffs by that third year or they probably
Speaker 1: are going to take a look, real long, hard look.
Speaker 1: So that's exactly where Houston needs to start. They need
Speaker 1: to start with some stability, start with a head coach
Speaker 1: and a d c uh previously that has a lot
Speaker 1: of respect. The players are going to be buying in um.
Speaker 1: This is just like with the Broncos. I think it's
Speaker 1: kind of a best case scenario in terms of getting
Speaker 1: things organized and kind of resetting what your organization is about.
Speaker 1: I thought they they hit on a couple of young
Speaker 1: players this year too, so Jalen Patrian. We'll see about
Speaker 1: Derek Stingley, who was taken ahead of Sauce Gardner, which
Speaker 1: that's something that Texans fans will be uh mindful of
Speaker 1: in the coming years. But he was injured. I think
Speaker 1: he played okay. So there's there's some young talent there,
Speaker 1: but not a lot on defense. So it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a culture shock for Ryan's who has had this loaded defense.
Speaker 1: They have Capram, they have a ton of picks. Man
Speaker 1: that is, whoever ends up as the d C of
Speaker 1: the Niners that is becoming now a factory um for
Speaker 1: producing head coaches Sala and now Ryan's and yes, so
Speaker 1: there's uncertainty at d C for San Francisco, also at
Speaker 1: QB after the news of Brock Party and one of
Speaker 1: the saddest things I really remember seeing on the field
Speaker 1: in terms of just from a competition and and from
Speaker 1: a storyline standpoint, Party went from waking up that morning
Speaker 1: is maybe being the biggest story in the sporting world
Speaker 1: if you could win another game, to getting hit on
Speaker 1: the elbow in the sixth play of the series. Turns
Speaker 1: out it's a complete tear of his ucl UH in
Speaker 1: his elbow and then going back into that game after
Speaker 1: Johnson goes down with the head injury and and just
Speaker 1: handing the ball off when you when you were supposed
Speaker 1: to be fighting for the Super Bowl. Such a bummer.
Speaker 1: But anyway, the reporting is that Party has a complete
Speaker 1: terror of the ulner collateral ligament um. He will, reportedly,
Speaker 1: according to Tom Pella Sero, seek a second opinion on
Speaker 1: the injury, but pell Sarah reports the hope is he
Speaker 1: will undergo a repair rather than a total reconstruction the
Speaker 1: famous or the infamous Tommy john surgery. They're hoping six
Speaker 1: months they're hoping. Pretty spoke Tuesday morning and said nothing
Speaker 1: was decided for sure yet, So I think that's the hope,
Speaker 1: but it's not certain. Nick Mullins is the quarterback that
Speaker 1: comes to mind that I've read about that that had
Speaker 1: this injury most recently in the NFL, the same fortins
Speaker 1: Um you know, back up at the time uack another
Speaker 1: injury and yeah, he I think he was out six months,
Speaker 1: and again that was the hope, but it sounds like
Speaker 1: Pretty is not totally sure that that hill avoid a reconstruction.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's he'd still be in theory available for
Speaker 1: camp no matter what goes on here, and it just
Speaker 1: clouds what is a maybe here. They always say that
Speaker 1: a time of year and like, we'll see, but I
Speaker 1: mean we heard that about camp. Training. Camp is this
Speaker 1: massive date that hangs out there, but then all sorts
Speaker 1: of players show up late to camp and they're totally
Speaker 1: like that. We just have to stop over valuing some
Speaker 1: of these timelines, because in general, if they really wanted
Speaker 1: him to be their Week one quarterback over treye Lance,
Speaker 1: like it's going to be a competition either way. This
Speaker 1: this adds some haze to it. But he knows the offense,
Speaker 1: he knows Shanahany, knows all the players on the team,
Speaker 1: and he'd be ready by week one, Like I I
Speaker 1: de emphasized, like the chaos surrounding Brock Party's timeline. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I'm just a little bit I'm looking for clarity
Speaker 1: because as a baseball fan, if a pitcher gets Tommy
Speaker 1: John surgery, which party is hoping to avoid that which
Speaker 1: is a ligament replacement surgery? A starters usually out eighteen months,
Speaker 1: reliever will maybe miss a year. Uh so maybe it's
Speaker 1: obviously football is a completely different sports. Good think he's
Speaker 1: not on the Yankees know, well, yeah, we dodged a
Speaker 1: bullet there with brock Purty, um, but was completely different
Speaker 1: than basketball. If if brock Purty miss of six months, okay,
Speaker 1: maybe he is good to go. But does this open
Speaker 1: the door for Tom Brady? Is an option for San
Speaker 1: Francisco Trey Lance? Who knows what the Trey Lance situation
Speaker 1: is at this point. Jimmy g I think is finally
Speaker 1: out the door. And now Party is a big question mark.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Party wasn't a tools he player
Speaker 1: to start with, and now elbow and injury, you wonder
Speaker 1: how that affects his ability to drive the ball down field,
Speaker 1: especially year one out of the surgery like this, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure I can stomach Tom the Tom Brady to
Speaker 1: the Niners scenario. I mean you like you love the
Speaker 1: Niners too much for that. No, I just think that
Speaker 1: I think you have to. Would you stomach for Tom Brady? Where?
Speaker 1: Where would I mind you going? I had stomach almost
Speaker 1: like the night the Niners thing to me is not
Speaker 1: ruin the purity of the nut your Niners love. I
Speaker 1: just think that you've got like you don't. Trey Lance
Speaker 1: has had one of the most like miss Like if
Speaker 1: you look at like what happened to Carson Wentz in Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: everyone's making it's so bad that Nick Foles took over.
Speaker 1: If your Carson Wentz like, you had your legacy stolen
Speaker 1: away during an m v P season, like Trey Lance
Speaker 1: has been through this season after season. So if the third,
Speaker 1: if his third year begins with we've taken Tom Brady like,
Speaker 1: then get Trey Lance out of there and let him
Speaker 1: play somewhere else. I think if Brady went, Trey Lance
Speaker 1: would be gone. I assumed going into the conference championship
Speaker 1: game it'd be pretty and Lance, and Lance would probably
Speaker 1: have a better chance to play than most people give
Speaker 1: him credit more and that would just see and that
Speaker 1: like not that's sort of a good problem. We have
Speaker 1: two young quarterbacks. We like them both for different reasons.
Speaker 1: We got him. Now that Purdy is hurt, I feel
Speaker 1: like the Brady chance is higher for sure. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: whenever party, you know, does resurface and at what level
Speaker 1: he's playing, there is this concern like what if that
Speaker 1: was the Brock party story. I hope it's not. I
Speaker 1: hope he has a lot more in front of him,
Speaker 1: but it's obviously disappointing for the kid. Yes, I just
Speaker 1: sort of acknowledge quickly that Mark jumped on the Niners
Speaker 1: bandwagon and immediately disaster struck like the curse of Honestly, Like,
Speaker 1: I'm I like, I largely just ignored Twitter entirely at
Speaker 1: this point, but when I do, all gone, I see
Speaker 1: these tweets. I have been pro Shanahan and pro Niners
Speaker 1: for years. Yeah, the cults or the that your team's
Speaker 1: situation like the Titans. Yeah, I apologize, but like, how
Speaker 1: is anyone in your Titans fandom head this much? It's
Speaker 1: like no one controls what happened. They created their own
Speaker 1: misfortune in total darkness. I did not your retort, I
Speaker 1: have nothing, all right, it's like your team didn't even glad.
Speaker 1: He apologized that at least that he acknowledges some amount
Speaker 1: of responsibility there. I don't acknowledge any responsibility at all.
Speaker 1: It's just like I want to just move on with it,
Speaker 1: just out of curiosity. Unrelated to this conversation, who are
Speaker 1: you picking for the super Bowl? Well, they asked me
Speaker 1: today to want to make my pick, and uh, I
Speaker 1: mean I don't think I at this point would not
Speaker 1: say today. I don't want to know what you want
Speaker 1: to save it for the previous show picked one of
Speaker 1: these teams to make the super Bowl, And um, if like,
Speaker 1: if you want to go back research that, that's where
Speaker 1: I'm leaning, not you, per se, but like someone else
Speaker 1: that they've seen if they have a lot of time,
Speaker 1: I'm leaning there. But I'm not sure, not entirely sure yet.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like a black Cat ladder, the black
Speaker 1: cats going underneath the ladder, A mirror falls off, the
Speaker 1: wall shatters whoever is connected. Maybe not the best news,
Speaker 1: but we move on. But first, let's take a quick
Speaker 1: break without further ado, here is the top five cities
Speaker 1: that players want to play in. This is correct, No gonna.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna decide if this is true. Okay, um, here
Speaker 1: we go. Number five Houston, So you did crack the
Speaker 1: top five, just barely. Number four Vegas. And by the way,
Speaker 1: a big part of this no income tax. Those are
Speaker 1: two states right off the bat. No income tax. Three
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. It's a it's a great place to live
Speaker 1: for a pro athlete. Maybe taxes too high. Keep an
Speaker 1: eye in that. Build your other brands. Number two Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Players want to be in Atlanta. And number one another
Speaker 1: income tax free haven and also a great place to live. Colleen, Colleen, Miami.
Speaker 1: Where it is Miami. I thought you were going to
Speaker 1: sneak in New York there at the Houston, Vegas, Atlanta, Miami.
Speaker 1: Nashville has got to be above Houston. This is where
Speaker 1: with the players factors. Number seven, I I think you
Speaker 1: did a good job there. I think I don't Houston.
Speaker 1: Houston needs to be top four, and then I wouldn't
Speaker 1: argue you could chake up those four anyway. L A Miami, Houston, Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I don't think Vegas. I think Vegas is a little
Speaker 1: bit of a niche pick there. I don't think again,
Speaker 1: this is one of your weirdest like stand on the
Speaker 1: hill and just take it no matter what, Houston. But
Speaker 1: other than I'm saying top four, I just what a
Speaker 1: topne you're like. I don't agree with one of your
Speaker 1: top five, but I won't replace its top four. I
Speaker 1: would say Houston to me might be number one or two. Uh,
Speaker 1: but I don't have a problem with any of the
Speaker 1: top five in Vegas. I just was saying Vegas can't
Speaker 1: be in the top four Vegas. Maybe New York get
Speaker 1: sneaks in over. I'm saying, why are we still discussing this?
Speaker 1: Maybe New York? I don't know. I think you did
Speaker 1: a great job. Thank you, Vic. F gggio guess what
Speaker 1: he is back in business. The Dolphins will hire the
Speaker 1: x Broncos coach as defensive coordinator, or will they? Fagio
Speaker 1: himself says, who wa woa, whoa whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.
Speaker 1: Stop the clocks. That's not necessarily what's gonna happen here,
Speaker 1: because there's another team that could be interested in Fongio.
Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport was on who had the NFL never had
Speaker 1: The original reporting on this was on Pat McVie today,
Speaker 1: I believe, and said, although the Niners are in the
Speaker 1: mix with the ties to Kyle Shanahan, ultimately this this
Speaker 1: He thinks this will end with Fongio go into Miami,
Speaker 1: but as of right now it remains open. There's the
Speaker 1: update on Fogio. I mean Tom Pellicero, the pell Raiser,
Speaker 1: previously announced that the deal with Miami would be on
Speaker 1: pill Raiser. On that episode the highest would make in
Speaker 1: the highest paid defensive coordinator, So I mean, I think
Speaker 1: money might ultimately just do this. Who would be the
Speaker 1: highest paid funds you to go to Miami. He loves
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan though the Niners, you know, their DC is
Speaker 1: out the door, So I think that's where this all shifted. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they don't have a natural replacement on the roster. They've
Speaker 1: done a great job, you know, developing coaches, but they've
Speaker 1: lost so many now in a in a short span.
Speaker 1: Like Fon it seems so older, it seems old. But
Speaker 1: he's like much younger than Bill Belichick. And and Carol,
Speaker 1: does you think of him as this cranky old guy?
Speaker 1: But cranky, yeah, I think of that. He's old school
Speaker 1: if you're if you're how many vics are out there
Speaker 1: actively now? I mean they were previously they were victors.
Speaker 1: How many victors are out there even fewer? Where is
Speaker 1: Vic Beasley? Is he still in the NFL? I don't know?
Speaker 1: Um and other news. Kellen Moore out you know this
Speaker 1: is this is not you know in fantasy sports when
Speaker 1: you drop a guy from your roster and you kind
Speaker 1: of wrestle with it, a bit of a crunch or
Speaker 1: I don't really want to do this, but I think
Speaker 1: I should do this in my mind it makes it's
Speaker 1: in the best interests of my team. And then right
Speaker 1: away somebody else picks up that player and you're like, A,
Speaker 1: probably shouldn't have done that. Kellen Moore fired by the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: He's the fall guy after Dallas falls short again. I
Speaker 1: guess you can't fire Dak Prescott, so you gotta fire somebody,
Speaker 1: so get rid of the OC. It's his fault. Uh.
Speaker 1: Their season once again ended short of the NFC title game,
Speaker 1: And almost immediately you blink and Kellen Moore is hired
Speaker 1: by the Los Angeles Chargers. And the one other kind
Speaker 1: of note to the story, mark not only is more
Speaker 1: out of Dallas and immediately in l A upgrading that
Speaker 1: situation for the Chargers. It is Zaddi himself, Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: who is taking oh r uh play calling duties for
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. Q the laughter and the snickering from the
Speaker 1: God listen. I don't think we need to laugh at
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy um calling plays, but I do think a
Speaker 1: layers removed from there, it is laughing. I mean, you
Speaker 1: you have fewer and fewer guys to blame. Dan Quinn's
Speaker 1: defense wasn't wasn't dan Quinns sticking around by the way,
Speaker 1: because I think dan Quinn's thinking, if things go south here,
Speaker 1: I've been nothing but Dan I'll be dan Quinn the
Speaker 1: head coach by November because the next fall guys Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 1: I think the fact that more was hired immediately to
Speaker 1: go pair with Justin Herbert, which I like, uh, tells
Speaker 1: me all I need to know this is this doesn't
Speaker 1: make a whole lot of sense to me. I know
Speaker 1: their offense was a little up and down this season,
Speaker 1: but they were top five over the past four years
Speaker 1: under More in e. P A. I mean, they've been
Speaker 1: a highly productive offense. Have we pointed to it. I
Speaker 1: think it's two seasons in a row where you were
Speaker 1: undone by the nine or and it's been a bad
Speaker 1: look at bad eggs at two times. Who was asking
Speaker 1: for Kellen Moore to be fired ten days ago after
Speaker 1: they thrashed the Buccaneers and Dak Prescott looked like the
Speaker 1: best quarterback around nobody. It's just totally reactive and I
Speaker 1: I just there were whispers. Albert Brierre told Dan Patrick
Speaker 1: that More and McCarthy were not necessarily getting along very
Speaker 1: well at the end, and so maybe it just the
Speaker 1: relationship broke down, right. They probably have different philosophies. More
Speaker 1: was there a long time. I mean More was Dak's
Speaker 1: former teammates, so you could almost understand a little bit
Speaker 1: of a power struggle there that like More is getting
Speaker 1: what his offense wants to be done. I as a
Speaker 1: justin Herbert, you know, fan, I didn't know how to
Speaker 1: feel about this because people are all over the place
Speaker 1: with More. I mean they did really struggle down the
Speaker 1: stretch last year, and they do a lot of stuff,
Speaker 1: But did they have an identity? But some people think
Speaker 1: that's McCarthy and More clashing that it wasn't one guy's system,
Speaker 1: so maybe better to have a divorce. McCarthy made this
Speaker 1: move quite a few times in Green Bay. It was
Speaker 1: like he would call plays and then he would back off,
Speaker 1: and he would call plays and he would back off
Speaker 1: to Penny on what was happening. So I think it's
Speaker 1: McCarthy thinking, if I'm going to go down, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do it my way. The Zaddi move. There you go,
Speaker 1: classic Zaddy move. And finally in the news, Ddy doesn't
Speaker 1: have a job. Wait, I do have and Mark was
Speaker 1: talking over market has become utterly Zaddy on any level.
Speaker 1: The news, the NFL salary cap will continue to climb.
Speaker 1: Rap sheet and the pell Raiser this week on pill
Speaker 1: that's his nickname, that's nickname. Don't even really talk to Tom.
Speaker 1: I gotta be honest with you. Yeah, he doesn't seem
Speaker 1: to know. We've heard nothing. Have you how many conversations
Speaker 1: you've had with Pell raisers? I believe one great, I
Speaker 1: mean a handful, not not many. I used to know
Speaker 1: Tom a little bit when he was at USA today
Speaker 1: that pft, you're very close with him now, but spoke
Speaker 1: with him. The pell Raiser reported with me in that
Speaker 1: the league informed teams Monday that the salary cap in
Speaker 1: three will be a record to point eight million per club.
Speaker 1: That's a sixteen point six million leap for each club
Speaker 1: from the two point two million cap. Pit of this
Speaker 1: connects to new media deals, the addition of seventeenth game,
Speaker 1: and other increased profits, and it's continued to go up
Speaker 1: that way and continue an upward climb. I'm wondering, um if, like,
Speaker 1: for instance, Greg real quick here, like, what is the
Speaker 1: percentage of teams that didn't meet the salary cap and
Speaker 1: spent under the salary cap? In like that's set well,
Speaker 1: sat well under it, Like he could have made moves
Speaker 1: but chose to maybe leave a little bit of a
Speaker 1: good percentage of the league. Yeah, I didn't get that
Speaker 1: close to it, more than ten teams. I would say.
Speaker 1: My question is, as the salary cap continues to escalate,
Speaker 1: are we going to start to see something akin to
Speaker 1: MLB where certain owners are going to start making business
Speaker 1: decisions uh that and they stay far away from the cap,
Speaker 1: which is high enough now where you could feel halfway
Speaker 1: competitive team and and pockets some money while you're at it.
Speaker 1: I worry about that as a one, and I know
Speaker 1: the union is going to fight to make sure that
Speaker 1: doesn't happen that but they ultimately the owners are the
Speaker 1: ones sign in the checks. I wonder at what point
Speaker 1: you start to see that becoming there is a floor
Speaker 1: you have to spend. I forget what the rule of it.
Speaker 1: It's like cash spending of it over a three year
Speaker 1: period in aggregate, So there have been teams that have
Speaker 1: had to like spend at the last second to make
Speaker 1: sure that you get over that floor. But it's something
Speaker 1: like the caps, so you can't. You wonder we're going
Speaker 1: to see more and more money because there's so much
Speaker 1: cap space now, it's gotten up so much. It's sixteen
Speaker 1: million this year raising it's like thirty over the last
Speaker 1: three that and there's no good players. It's harder to
Speaker 1: find good players in free agency to spend it on
Speaker 1: and in the draft than it is to spend that money,
Speaker 1: So it does open it up for that trade Tsunami.
Speaker 1: I think that is where it's getting a little more
Speaker 1: NBA like because there's so much cap space and makes
Speaker 1: good it's the only way you can get good new players.
Speaker 1: That's rate for like the off season. I mean that
Speaker 1: creates massive storylines and probabilities and possibilities. I do have
Speaker 1: an update though, for you on the top five cities
Speaker 1: that players want to live in. Well, it's not going
Speaker 1: to change. Is out as number five. I overlooked one
Speaker 1: town that we just talked about, which is officially entered
Speaker 1: the list at number five. Justin here we go, Stephen,
Speaker 1: this doesn't sound as good. It's Dallas. Dallas is the fifth.
Speaker 1: Dallas fifth day is better than where are you from?
Speaker 1: I'm from Dallas. I think I think the players prefer Houston.
Speaker 1: We're greg sorry, but like you, you suddenly are acting
Speaker 1: as this inside that's spoken to would need to be
Speaker 1: a majority of NFL players. Steven have an opinion on
Speaker 1: I just have a good feel the last time, the
Speaker 1: last time you spoke to an NFL player though, m D.
Speaker 1: I mean someone's not living in Los Angeles for a
Speaker 1: job here. I just have a good feel of the league,
Speaker 1: you know. Okay, let's take a break, utter far, welcome back.
Speaker 1: Our guest is a long time favorite of a t
Speaker 1: N but let's be honest, it's he's kind of everybody's favorite.
Speaker 1: And that's and that's a credit to the man, the myth,
Speaker 1: the legend. Uh. And also we're very lucky to have
Speaker 1: him because he's always in hot demand. He is Brian Baldinger,
Speaker 1: also known as Baldy. It's up body, Well, hello guys,
Speaker 1: how are you. How's everything going? We're good? Can you
Speaker 1: settle something here? Well, i'd like to look today, Baldi.
Speaker 1: You look straight out of like an eighties action movie. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I mean I did the NFL now and it was
Speaker 1: just time to put the stuff away now right Like um,
Speaker 1: Baldi is like an action figure who has like seven
Speaker 1: or eight kind of scenarios like that. I'm thinking like
Speaker 1: Predator with Schwarzenegger, you being like one of his dudes,
Speaker 1: with like Jesse the body of wentor I get the vibe.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, hyper hyper masculine. Um. We were just talking
Speaker 1: earlier in the show, Baldy, and you are a long
Speaker 1: time NFL player. I think you played how many years?
Speaker 1: A dozen years? Yeah, and sounds like you know the
Speaker 1: lifetime to go, so you know, I might I understand,
Speaker 1: but you're you're plugged in as hell, Baldy. And we're
Speaker 1: just curious, like, what are the top like five NFL
Speaker 1: c U cities that players want to play and live in?
Speaker 1: And I threw out a list that included Houston, and
Speaker 1: I factored in things like in state income tax and
Speaker 1: the culture of the city and all that. Houston, Vegas,
Speaker 1: l A, Atlanta, Miami as my top five and descending order.
Speaker 1: How does that list look to you? And what I miss?
Speaker 1: And what are you thinking? Where are you? I'm just
Speaker 1: looking out at Fort Lauderville Beach right now. I'm saying,
Speaker 1: how how could it get any better than this? I
Speaker 1: think that's number one. I mean, I literally could probably
Speaker 1: throw a baseball to Nick Bos's house from here, you know,
Speaker 1: you right down the road. You can go to Fort
Speaker 1: Lauderdale Port Um any day in the week in the
Speaker 1: off season. You're gonna see players. They're all coming here,
Speaker 1: and there is no state income tax. And um, the
Speaker 1: sunshine is about as bright as it gets right now.
Speaker 1: So if you want to training part. But I also
Speaker 1: have a philosophy. I don't know if I should share
Speaker 1: it with you guys or not. Please please do it.
Speaker 1: You've already decided, all right, Like Mike McDaniel doesn't want
Speaker 1: to hear this, But I don't think the Dolphins will
Speaker 1: ever win a championship ever, because life is just too
Speaker 1: good in South Florida. Remember, well, one night. I was
Speaker 1: at the hard Rock Casino. Right it's late, We're playing blackjack,
Speaker 1: and there's two prominent starters on the Miami Dolphins on
Speaker 1: a Monday night at four am with the drink in
Speaker 1: her hands. And I'm like, look, I don't blame I've
Speaker 1: been doing the same thing as player. But I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's what Andy Reid wants when he gets
Speaker 1: his team trying to get his team ready, you know,
Speaker 1: to play on Sunday, because well, let's face it, there's
Speaker 1: no place open at four to morning in Kansas City.
Speaker 1: So no. I mean, like, I just think the temptations
Speaker 1: in the lifestyle, it's too good to actually think about
Speaker 1: winning championships here. And you started your career with the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Greg same, I put Dallas in the top five. I
Speaker 1: like dance stuff five. I just replaced Vegas with Dallas
Speaker 1: and then it was good. But here was the argument,
Speaker 1: Like Greg made a huge case for Houston being not
Speaker 1: only top five but number one. I said, top three,
Speaker 1: top three, Miami I think would be one. I think
Speaker 1: Miami is Houston top three, Like, like I still have
Speaker 1: a form in Texas. You can't put Houston in the
Speaker 1: top five and I'm not down you like, you know,
Speaker 1: like whoever planned houston't like they had a g D
Speaker 1: the whole time. You know, there's three different it's changed thought. Wait, Greg,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm connecting more with the younger generation. And it's
Speaker 1: a it's a different city. A lot of night clubs
Speaker 1: James Harden types of clubs that he liked hasn't talked
Speaker 1: to an NFL player since. If he even did that, well,
Speaker 1: you know, h might have a different opinion about and
Speaker 1: somebody that doesn't come from that city, which is fine.
Speaker 1: I know this. It's still the number one recruited city
Speaker 1: in America for high school football. So if you want
Speaker 1: to find your talent for major colleges, just go to Houston.
Speaker 1: They're in every single corner in crevice, you know, from
Speaker 1: Katie all the way out to where you know Jalen
Speaker 1: played for his dad, so and everywhere in between. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know a lot of guys want to go
Speaker 1: back home when their uh college days are through. And anyway,
Speaker 1: that's why I made by top five. But we're not
Speaker 1: at Greg's level in terms of breaking these things. Um Baldi,
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit, like let's dive in the
Speaker 1: trenches here. I know this has to be a matchup
Speaker 1: you love. Um, I want to start with the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Let's start here just because you know, we think about
Speaker 1: what are the what are the best defenses of this century?
Speaker 1: And of course you start with the Ravens. In two
Speaker 1: thousand you talked about the Legion of Doom Boom. Excuse me,
Speaker 1: um that that obviously that big Seattle defense, that one
Speaker 1: a title nearly one another does Philadelphia? Is there a
Speaker 1: chance they cracked this conversation or at least can be
Speaker 1: seen in that group if they dominate Kansas City with
Speaker 1: what they've been able to do, especially up front. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean in one offensive football. Uh, you know, they
Speaker 1: got some legendary coaches on the other side and read
Speaker 1: Eric the enemy. Uh, you know, you can gain play
Speaker 1: with the best album. They got the best quarterback in
Speaker 1: the league. Um. You know, if they get to Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes and they just you know, chased him around the
Speaker 1: yard the way Tampon did a few years ago, and
Speaker 1: they end up with shape five more sacks, which might
Speaker 1: be possible. Um, you know, you're in the eight easy
Speaker 1: four sacks in the season, and then if you add
Speaker 1: the interceptions and you know what they're doing in the
Speaker 1: postseason right now that Daniel Jones and to what they
Speaker 1: did to San Francisco. I mean, I think you'd be
Speaker 1: foolish not to start talking about this is one of
Speaker 1: the all time great defenses. And look, I played in
Speaker 1: Philly with Reggie White and Clyde Simmons and Set Joint
Speaker 1: and I know what, you know, great defense looks like
Speaker 1: when Buddy Ryan was coaching those teams, And this looks
Speaker 1: a lot like what Philadelphia put on the field, um
Speaker 1: a lot of weekends back then. Where do you think
Speaker 1: the matchup is where they can get pressure? Because the
Speaker 1: Chiefs are so good in the interior, Maybe you tell me, like,
Speaker 1: is that the best center in guard combination in the
Speaker 1: league between Creed Humphrey and Tray Smith and Tuney They're good.
Speaker 1: They're good, Greg, I think you know the look. I'm
Speaker 1: a big fan of Zeus. Like I'll say this about
Speaker 1: a Landaground junior, Like he's so big that it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like trying to run around the sun
Speaker 1: to get to the quarterback, you know, I mean, you
Speaker 1: can't really run through them, but you can you can't
Speaker 1: get pressure off the edge from the land like he's
Speaker 1: he's not the best athlete out there playing in that position.
Speaker 1: I think you do it against Wiley. I think off
Speaker 1: the edges, you can definitely get pressure on pass mahomes down.
Speaker 1: You know. The great thing about great but the thing
Speaker 1: about great quarterbacks is they know how to escape edge pressure.
Speaker 1: They just do. They feel like they got a GPS
Speaker 1: system in their head, but they can't. They have a
Speaker 1: hard time if Javon hard Grave or Fletcher Cox or
Speaker 1: something like that is coming right up the middle at you.
Speaker 1: And that's where I think this defense defense gets really
Speaker 1: good because you know the guys I'm talking about inside
Speaker 1: and we'll we'll play Brandon Graham in there. They lined
Speaker 1: up Hassan Reddick in there a little bit last Sunday. Um.
Speaker 1: Their ability to get pressure up the middle is probably
Speaker 1: the best in the league right now. I mean, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna spend the next two weeks. Andy Reid obviously
Speaker 1: offensive wizard. Whatever Philly throws at him, we can know
Speaker 1: he's gonna come in with a bag of tricks. Uh.
Speaker 1: Andy Reid deserves to be coronated at this point that
Speaker 1: they win this game for what he is. But it's
Speaker 1: almost like Nick Sirianni's The biggest headline he ever generated
Speaker 1: was his opening press conference, which I think is a
Speaker 1: kind of a tell on everyone at this point where
Speaker 1: it's like, we're gonna destroy the guy before he does
Speaker 1: and everything. We don't know who he is. Um, but
Speaker 1: I still feel like we don't really know that much
Speaker 1: about Nick Sirianni. I know you're close to the team.
Speaker 1: What have you observed that makes him effective with the players,
Speaker 1: that makes them special, that makes him a factor in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl as a head coach. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you looked at the coach on the other side
Speaker 1: last Sunday, I'm seeing Kyle Shanahan smile all year, like
Speaker 1: you know, and so like there's you know, a nutshout,
Speaker 1: a knock on Kyle. Maybe he was stressing that job
Speaker 1: that you know, we don't see. I mean, he's a
Speaker 1: great job. But Nick Sirianni's that guy's having a ball.
Speaker 1: He's got his kids up in the phodium after the thing.
Speaker 1: Like his ability just to just watch him in practice,
Speaker 1: just mingle with the players, shoot to breathe with him,
Speaker 1: whether it's certing the stretch line in the in the
Speaker 1: weight room. Um, after practice, you name. The guy just
Speaker 1: knows how to like really build one on one relationships. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's special like that, and he's having a ball now.
Speaker 1: It helps that they won sixteen games, you know that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not like the Eagles two years ago
Speaker 1: there four eleven and one and it was just misery
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia. But you know, the guys having a good time.
Speaker 1: And I like that about there because I used to
Speaker 1: saying this all the time with coaches. They walk around
Speaker 1: with their butt like this type all week long, and
Speaker 1: then their pre game speeches, let's go and have some fun.
Speaker 1: Well I don't think it works that way. Like mirror
Speaker 1: what you want your players to do. And so he
Speaker 1: basically empowers his team to to pay this is your team,
Speaker 1: I'm empowering you. But look, these are the fundamentals the game.
Speaker 1: We're gonna harp on the fundamentals every single day so
Speaker 1: that they're sharpened tools when you get to Sunday. So
Speaker 1: we're not gonna let anything slide, but we're gonna have
Speaker 1: some fun along the way doing it. And I feel
Speaker 1: like that's kind of how this team is built, is
Speaker 1: like they're having a good time, working really hard. They
Speaker 1: got great team chemistry, he helps build that chemistry. They're
Speaker 1: getting all their work done. They're prepared, like the nuance
Speaker 1: of the game, you know that, um, all of the
Speaker 1: stuff that you gotta know in the moment, Like they're ready,
Speaker 1: fourth down in one, you name it. They gotta play ready.
Speaker 1: But you know it looks like they're having a good
Speaker 1: time along the way. Yeah, and you and I'm sure
Speaker 1: you played under you know, all types of coaches in
Speaker 1: terms of how they were um designated or how they
Speaker 1: were described. That is a kind of a needle to
Speaker 1: thread though, right when it comes to the guy that's
Speaker 1: the the good, good guy, smiling coach, it's having a
Speaker 1: fun time without getting walked over ultimately when things go sideways.
Speaker 1: So what he's been able to pull off here that
Speaker 1: that's not so easy, is it? Well it isn't. But
Speaker 1: that's why you need a good staff. I mean, nobody's
Speaker 1: walking over Jeff Stout. You know, like when it was
Speaker 1: when it was COVID and you know everybody was doing
Speaker 1: these meetings on zoom. I was just like in Lane
Speaker 1: Johnson's house listening to Stout, and I see the terror
Speaker 1: on these players faces like after games and like they
Speaker 1: would be like having a competition, like who's gonna get
Speaker 1: shoot out the most because it's coming, you know, for
Speaker 1: missing that assignment on third down or missing the protection
Speaker 1: or whatever. Like nobody walks over stout. And you know,
Speaker 1: even a guy like Lane Johnson has been in the
Speaker 1: league ten years, like the ultimate respect right there, you know,
Speaker 1: with Kelsey and Lane and how to do things and
Speaker 1: so Malada how to learn it? You know and say, Amala,
Speaker 1: how to learn it? And Dickerson is finding it out,
Speaker 1: you know, And so I think it's important. Like if
Speaker 1: you're talking about, okay, a coach that has to needle
Speaker 1: that threat, which is a really good analogy. Um, you
Speaker 1: have to you gotta have your your guys in place
Speaker 1: that are really good assistant coaches that can do a
Speaker 1: lot of you know, that have to do all the
Speaker 1: work for you. What's going on at Lane Johnson? He
Speaker 1: can't just sneak that in there. What's going on you
Speaker 1: guys playing? You know, he's got a barn in his backyard.
Speaker 1: You know, they's this like you know, this gym, this
Speaker 1: weight room, and we called the barn, and everybody wants
Speaker 1: to work out there. Like the Eagles have a good
Speaker 1: facility at Nogacare. But you're not having as much fun
Speaker 1: is your Lane, you know, and his girlfriend and his
Speaker 1: you know, his chef and his trainer. They're all there
Speaker 1: and they're welcoming. You know, you just gotta find a
Speaker 1: little spot in the driveway to park the car. But
Speaker 1: you know, I mean every day there's you know, you
Speaker 1: don't know who's gonna be there working out or training.
Speaker 1: Could be an m M fighter, it could be a
Speaker 1: college kid. It could be a guy from another t
Speaker 1: um you know, it's it's like, you know, it's the
Speaker 1: ultimate like uh fraternity over there. I think I might
Speaker 1: take all these top five cities. Ever, Greg's at this point.
Speaker 1: I love I love it when you're turning on the
Speaker 1: Eagles tape now, Like which lineman is it? Lane Johnson
Speaker 1: that that you like watching the most. I almost feel
Speaker 1: like him playing through this torn uh a ductor muscle
Speaker 1: which he read tour has been weirdly under the radar.
Speaker 1: You know, he's obviously one of their very best players.
Speaker 1: Uh Like what what too excited watching this team? Well?
Speaker 1: I mean that that that injury, like when he had
Speaker 1: the injury, Like the doctor that everybody in the world
Speaker 1: goes to his Dr William Myers in Philadelphia, And when
Speaker 1: I was at Duke, Bill Myers was at Duke. He
Speaker 1: was Bill that. Now he's what, he's a big shots,
Speaker 1: but you know he was our doctor and dude when
Speaker 1: I was there. I know, like he's done two of
Speaker 1: those core muscle surgeries for me. And so when Lane
Speaker 1: had his injury, like I talked to him about it
Speaker 1: and I said, there's no way he can play. Like,
Speaker 1: if they want you to play, you can rest rehabing
Speaker 1: all this, but like as soon as you make an
Speaker 1: explosive move plane like you're just gonna drop. And the
Speaker 1: guy's played almost every snap, like it's been unbelievable. Nice.
Speaker 1: He's in his house right now, hooked up with a
Speaker 1: bunch of wires doing the guy never stops doing treatment.
Speaker 1: But it's been amazing watching him. But I also I
Speaker 1: love Samalo because Doboy ever says a word about Isaac,
Speaker 1: he's probably the smartest guy on the whole team. He
Speaker 1: could play every position. He's played for dinner, positions in
Speaker 1: a game. Never says a word like he's so he's
Speaker 1: played every snap this year. So steady Um Dickerson. You
Speaker 1: can't have any more fun than Landon Dickerson's having your
Speaker 1: life period, like the guy. The guy's mind is just
Speaker 1: it's just out there. What he's thinking about. What he's
Speaker 1: texting players at two in the morning about having you know,
Speaker 1: like he's thinking about like how he could build a
Speaker 1: barn better than lanes, thinking importantly, like you know, like
Speaker 1: you can get into some conversation about him about anything.
Speaker 1: You know, Um, you know when you when you talk
Speaker 1: about Jordan Mallotta, like you guy didn't put a helmet
Speaker 1: on until five years ago, and now like he's throwing
Speaker 1: nick bos around on the field, like you're not supposed
Speaker 1: to be able to do that stuff. He's got six toes,
Speaker 1: Like who has six toes? You know, he's got wet feet,
Speaker 1: like he's he's not even human. He's like, you know,
Speaker 1: he's an amphibian, you know, like the league office something
Speaker 1: that should be you should photograph and like, you know,
Speaker 1: we make fun of his toes. It's a performance enhancer, Mike, Like,
Speaker 1: I don't know how you find a shoe to fit in.
Speaker 1: Think he doesn't make it, you know, like you gotta
Speaker 1: have like uh, you know, it's like you gotta have
Speaker 1: to fit like a giant fin out there, Like, that's
Speaker 1: why he warms up barefoot every week, you know, because
Speaker 1: he didn't really have shoes that fit. Man, they delivers
Speaker 1: big spot. These two teams, you've anything throughout these playoff
Speaker 1: runs that you've learned about them that kind of I know,
Speaker 1: you're a tape dog above almost all. So you were
Speaker 1: watching all these games throughout the regular season, did you
Speaker 1: learn anything new about the Chiefs of the Eagles throughout
Speaker 1: the upfront? You know, like, I don't know how many
Speaker 1: teams you could do what the Chiefs just did. They
Speaker 1: lost their best corner, Lagarius Sneed on the fourth place.
Speaker 1: All right, he's out there against you know, Jamaar Chase. Alright,
Speaker 1: we got a guy that can match up with Chase.
Speaker 1: All Right, they lose one of the fourth place. So
Speaker 1: there's Joshua Williams. You know, there's Jalen Watson. Uh, there's
Speaker 1: Brian Cook, you know, there's you know, Trent mcdealfie. You've
Speaker 1: got four rookies playing in the secondary four like, and
Speaker 1: they're not breaking down and you're, oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: you're going up against Joe Burrow and you're going up
Speaker 1: against maybe the best fleet of receivers in the league.
Speaker 1: And you know they take them all away twice, and
Speaker 1: it's the difference in the game. Like, I just blown
Speaker 1: away by it because, like I thought, pre game, just
Speaker 1: going in and you know a week ago at this time,
Speaker 1: going the Bengals are going after these guys, you know,
Speaker 1: Jalen Watson interception against you know, Trevor Lawrence. Okay, here's
Speaker 1: the test, Like they're gonna wear him out. They didn't.
Speaker 1: You know, SPACs had a good game plan, Doubltom won.
Speaker 1: It was appropriate. They didn't break down the back end
Speaker 1: because let's face it, if you break down on the
Speaker 1: back end of the defense, either by structure like blown
Speaker 1: a call or missing tackles, you're gonna give up explosive players.
Speaker 1: You're gonna get beat. And they didn't do that the
Speaker 1: whole game. Like I was amazed that Cincinnati couldn't take
Speaker 1: advantage of four rookies playing in the secretary like that.
Speaker 1: You know, before we get out of here, there is
Speaker 1: a play in history that involved you, Baldi, and I'd
Speaker 1: love to see something like this in the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: because we all love when an offensive lineman does something
Speaker 1: we're not expecting. You go back to you blocked for
Speaker 1: Eric Dickerson that year nearly seventeen hundred yards. But check
Speaker 1: out this pass to ball the attackle eligible what is
Speaker 1: going on here? Looking at the like I'll get blown
Speaker 1: up there, I'm caught by by the way. I just
Speaker 1: want to just clarify here. The guy tackling me is
Speaker 1: the fastest player in the Packers. I just want you
Speaker 1: to know that. It wasn't like some slow lineman to
Speaker 1: catch me. It was the fastest guy on the team.
Speaker 1: He kind of cut who was the quarterback we were
Speaker 1: When we had to lead in the fourth quarter, we
Speaker 1: went to the wish bump and I would go from
Speaker 1: right guard to the tight end spot to block the
Speaker 1: edge on these runs. We had Albert Bentley, Eric Dickerson.
Speaker 1: We had to loaded backfield, and we brought in this
Speaker 1: quarterback that every ran the wish bump. So I told
Speaker 1: the coach Ron Meyerson, Look, Ron, I'll do that. I'll
Speaker 1: make the switch for you, but you gotta pull. You
Speaker 1: gotta put a pass play in for me. We gotta
Speaker 1: keep monest like, I'm not gonna just flock like I
Speaker 1: need like I need a real path. So he goes
Speaker 1: all right. So we worked in his past, you know,
Speaker 1: a little play action thing block and you know, hesitate
Speaker 1: and they go out. So they called it. They called
Speaker 1: the end zone there you know at lambeau Field, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm proud to say that I led to
Speaker 1: the league in yards per catch that year with thirty
Speaker 1: seven yards. And I'm looking at your pro football references.
Speaker 1: The only catch of your career where you ever targeted again? Well,
Speaker 1: I was targeted again. And this is where Mike Single
Speaker 1: Arry comes in. I've beat single Charry in the end
Speaker 1: zone against chic Against Chicago that year. They were the best,
Speaker 1: every one of the best defensive football. But like single
Speaker 1: Cherry had to interfere with me in order to stop
Speaker 1: me from catching the ball. You should that that guy,
Speaker 1: you know, that single Cherry guy man, he ruined the
Speaker 1: chance for you attack. Uh baldi um. Always a pleasure, sir,
Speaker 1: Thank you. Um. You're gonna be in the Phoenix, I
Speaker 1: assume next week. Yeah, I'm gonna head there for a
Speaker 1: little bit fun. Maybe we'll be working assignments mostly go
Speaker 1: have some fun. Can we just be in like your
Speaker 1: entourage perhaps or night out just to see what's going on? Uh?
Speaker 1: You better you can't, yes, you can't notice how you hesitated.
Speaker 1: I mean even I'm amazed at what's coming with me
Speaker 1: to this one party. Like, I'm amazed again, you can't
Speaker 1: tease these things. He's coming. You know it's nobody from Hollywood.
Speaker 1: But I'm just saying, when these three girls show up
Speaker 1: into this party with me, like like, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: gonna stop. It's gonna stop the party he's gonna deliver to.
Speaker 1: That's Baldi and somehow added the three of us to
Speaker 1: the mix. I didn't feel quite as um Baldi couldn't
Speaker 1: show up as he is right now and uh workout
Speaker 1: long sleeve tea and a bandana or a tuxedo, either
Speaker 1: one equally possible, and he'll he'll just crush no matter what.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to. I hope we run into it. Baldi.
Speaker 1: We love you, buddy, alright. What a legend. It's so clear,
Speaker 1: uh that where wherever he's going in the evening does
Speaker 1: not in his mind include us. He is you know,
Speaker 1: and he is. Let's see, Baldi. Baldi was born in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty. He's sixty three years old. And I feel
Speaker 1: like you no, he's not. Yeah, I feel like as
Speaker 1: a man twenty some odd years as junior. Um, that's
Speaker 1: best case scenario, Like what could you be if you
Speaker 1: were born in nineteen sixty What is the best version
Speaker 1: of a man? Baldi? Yeah, is that am coming on
Speaker 1: to sin. He's created his own life and lifestyle, though,
Speaker 1: I think he's done it in a wake. Like downstairs
Speaker 1: in the locker room, they have our names on lockers
Speaker 1: and it's very it's all our our full names. It
Speaker 1: just says Baldi's bio like you just we don't. We
Speaker 1: all know he's operating a little differently. Um, all right,
Speaker 1: that was good too. That was interesting to hear Baldi's
Speaker 1: take on it, and I do it is he had
Speaker 1: like fifteen valuable nugs. They're always always and it is
Speaker 1: interesting when you look at like, oh the great defenses?
Speaker 1: Am I missing one in the in these past twenty
Speaker 1: plus years? Obviously? Ravens Seattle, do you want to say
Speaker 1: maybe the Denver defense the second Super Bowl den I
Speaker 1: think you have to say pass rush, yes, defense, you
Speaker 1: know it. Part of it is just the opponents they've played,
Speaker 1: Like their numbers defensively aren't quite as overwell. I mean
Speaker 1: because in theory you can run on them, and they
Speaker 1: haven't played a lot of high powered one. But now
Speaker 1: they get the ultimate test. This is it's great, It's
Speaker 1: it's gonna be I think I'll watch the game. That's
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say. One more I missed this note, Um,
Speaker 1: but we are very plugged in obviously on the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: And they made a big addition to the Pro Bowl roster.
Speaker 1: You guys aware of this, UM, Tyler Huntley, he threw
Speaker 1: two touchdowns this year. He has been added to the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl roster and he's a fourth alternate. He replaces
Speaker 1: Josh Allen. I just want to say, like again, nobody
Speaker 1: asks us anything. Um, we we can help, like we
Speaker 1: could help the direction we want the Pro Bowl to
Speaker 1: be successful in this new iteration. Um, we didn't have
Speaker 1: to fill that spot. We could have just kept it
Speaker 1: vacant and and pivoted off that because I don't think
Speaker 1: it helps Huntley or the Pro Bowl itself ultimately, No,
Speaker 1: it's like it becomes a talking point where where it
Speaker 1: stands out and we are used to Pro Bowl alternates
Speaker 1: all over the map, like Mahomes super Bowl bound, so
Speaker 1: he's not going Alan Herbert, Lamar Jackson and to all
Speaker 1: about out due to injury related and Barrow doesn't want
Speaker 1: to go, so the only like I was like then,
Speaker 1: I was like, wait a minute, there's still gonna be
Speaker 1: a bunch more than Huntley, but it's Derek Carr and
Speaker 1: the Raiders put out a bizarre tweet celebrating with an exclamation, right,
Speaker 1: the next guy is Trevor Lawrence. That makes sense. But
Speaker 1: then if you go beyond the list, I would argue
Speaker 1: that I would have said this like Ryan Tannehill, who
Speaker 1: absolutely if he wanted to go, like, would be my
Speaker 1: next guy, Kenny pick it. After that, I put jeollutely.
Speaker 1: This made news even when it first came up that
Speaker 1: he was the fourth alternate, because that was public information.
Speaker 1: People were like, wo, how could that be? And it's
Speaker 1: the player's vote, like you can you can mix up
Speaker 1: the different votes. So there was enough people maybe they
Speaker 1: were just Ravens players. They maybe they went to college
Speaker 1: with him or friends with him or whatever enough people
Speaker 1: put him on the initial list that he should be
Speaker 1: a starter, because it's not like people are voting for
Speaker 1: altered just for like, I think he was behind Lamar,
Speaker 1: but it was like Lamar was third alternate and Tyler
Speaker 1: Huntley was forth for some reason, I don't know, maybe
Speaker 1: the Ravens just voted a lot. But yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: little it's it's a little traveling. It's a player vote
Speaker 1: like tip this. It's not the fan vote. I mean,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, but it also is why. It's also
Speaker 1: not a football game, so it's a little less Octaney
Speaker 1: in terms of seen Huntley out there. I guess they
Speaker 1: need someone flag football game and the target practice stuff. Pivot, pivot, panic,
Speaker 1: pivot like the Empire State building. Um, but you can't
Speaker 1: put that on his Pro Football reference page, can you?
Speaker 1: But you will? I guess it was well, I was, Well,
Speaker 1: the first thing that cames in my mind is that,
Speaker 1: you know, the agent can use that as a you know,
Speaker 1: a bargaining tool. Is there any escalators in his contracts?
Speaker 1: I don't know, Probably not, but I'm sure we'll convince
Speaker 1: a team to double you. Yeah, you point that out
Speaker 1: and then I'm the team. I would be like, but
Speaker 1: he did go throw two touchdowns aware of that, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, I thought that was good. Baldi also sharing
Speaker 1: um underlying people should know that for Fort Lauderdell, especially
Speaker 1: people that aren't from this country, is about thirty miles
Speaker 1: away from Miami. So that's where Baldi is Miami a
Speaker 1: clear number one for spring break is too if it
Speaker 1: sounds like you're involved in that Miami and Greg, just
Speaker 1: I understand the Houston thing. It's not like certain legendary
Speaker 1: totally understand because you're not as in with the players
Speaker 1: as as myself, right, But I think you think that
Speaker 1: you're you're factoring in things that I haven't with my list.
Speaker 1: Legendary cuisine, it's a hip hop mecca culturally, it makes sense. Now,
Speaker 1: Let's what am I missing something else? Why Houston would
Speaker 1: be higher on the no taxes that? How is he like?
Speaker 1: How is he neatly? Gentlemen's clubs? There's lots of stuff. Well,
Speaker 1: they're everywhere. I file that under culture. We have Atlanta
Speaker 1: on the list. Atlanta, we have Miami on the list,
Speaker 1: Atlanta's number two, Vegas on the list. Nightlife anyway, good stuff.
Speaker 1: Anything else. I will tell you something that came up
Speaker 1: during that interview. I was born with two um webbed
Speaker 1: little toes, to be honest, and I had surgery to
Speaker 1: remove the breaking. But I've never heard I mean, I
Speaker 1: know it's not that uncommon, but like to have an
Speaker 1: NFL player with that same situation. I enjoy that, and
Speaker 1: you had a surgery to reverse early on, because I
Speaker 1: remember being I mean, I don't know why I'm saying
Speaker 1: this there, but like when I was young and i'd
Speaker 1: be on the swim team or at the pool, like
Speaker 1: it's like, well, I realized that my little toes look different.
Speaker 1: They were almost like double the size. It was like
Speaker 1: a bone situation, and so I had a surgery to
Speaker 1: remove it. Would you like an incredible swimmer at that time?
Speaker 1: It did not help myself. I was all right swim
Speaker 1: team member, but like if we're talking freestyle, then you
Speaker 1: get into butterfly and stuff, it's like get out of here.
Speaker 1: But um, I don't think it helps. I think it's
Speaker 1: something that a lot of people are born with. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's anything Gregg thinks that's something shameful. I
Speaker 1: don't think so at all. Thank you, Dan, if you've
Speaker 1: kept it the way you were, you would have been
Speaker 1: just as beautiful to me. Mark. I appreciate that, and
Speaker 1: I don't not believe you, but I'm glad you're probably
Speaker 1: a better swimmer before. Yeah, that's that's probably true. Maybe
Speaker 1: it maybe it helped my lot of his footwork somehow.
Speaker 1: That's why I said, maybe you gotta send it up
Speaker 1: the Flag Bowl with the league off. Well, he's had
Speaker 1: an like a pretty intriguing rise from nowhere, so right
Speaker 1: almost he's suspiciously great. Yeah, he's from the International Pathway Program.
Speaker 1: Henry Hodges the incredible size and athleticism that virtually unmatched
Speaker 1: in the NFL, but hes six toes. There's an ex fact.
Speaker 1: Would you take a six toe to be one of
Speaker 1: the great tackles of the sport? Give me it? Give
Speaker 1: me a digit, right, I mean I'd take a six
Speaker 1: toe for a lot less than that. How about it?
Speaker 1: Like a nice dinner, good steak. I don't think. I
Speaker 1: don't think you would. Thursday show, by the way, will
Speaker 1: be the iconic don't say super Bowl show where you
Speaker 1: will be penalized. We'll figure out some ground rules on this.
Speaker 1: If you even say the words super Bowl, you can
Speaker 1: say super and Bowl, um, but not you can't put
Speaker 1: them together. And if you do, you're penalized. We will
Speaker 1: not talk the Big Game on Thursday. Now, we gott
Speaker 1: figure out what we're gonna talk about. There's the challenge.
Speaker 1: You think this is an easy job, all right, it's
Speaker 1: pretty easy. We're very lucky. But we will give you
Speaker 1: a great show on Thursday, or we'll try to until then. Hey,
Speaker 1: the coll