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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Favorites, the podcast part of the Volume

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Speaker 1: Podcast Network.

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Speaker 2: I am Chad Milman of the Action Network.

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Speaker 1: Huge, huge show today, probably the biggest one of the

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Speaker 1: preseason so far, not just because of the division we're

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Speaker 1: going to be doing in our previews, but because we

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Speaker 1: have a very special guest. And I know, I know

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Speaker 1: for a fact my co host, my companion Mike and

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Speaker 1: Padre might be a professional better. Simon Hunter loves this guest,

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Speaker 1: and so I am in.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Chad, life's good.

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Speaker 4: Two weeks from today we'll be talking week one lines

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Speaker 4: and even better, we have arguably arguably the number one

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Speaker 4: journalist sports journalist in America on the show today.

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Speaker 2: Arguably.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, someone's gonna argue the other side. There's always that guy.

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Speaker 3: You're not gonna be.

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Speaker 2: Me, brother, He's not gonna be me. We are.

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Speaker 1: We are going to have our final two episodes of

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Speaker 1: our annual division by division NFL previews this week. We're

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Speaker 1: finishing our team by team breakdowns. We will talk about

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Speaker 1: the NFC North today, we will talk about the Chicago Bears.

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Speaker 2: We will talk about.

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Speaker 1: Caleb Williams, which is appropriate because our guest today made

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Speaker 1: some big, big news about Caleb Williams earlier this past

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Speaker 1: spring because he's got a massive new book coming out,

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Speaker 1: which is brilliant, because he's brilliant, and he's an intrepid reporter.

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Speaker 1: He's a friend of the pot, He's my close buddy.

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Speaker 2: He's the author of the.

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Speaker 1: New book American Kings, Biography of the Quarterback great title.

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Speaker 2: Seth Wickersham, my brother.

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Speaker 5: I mean, can I just leave?

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Speaker 3: It?

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Speaker 6: Can only go downhill from here? Where did everybody fire

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Speaker 6: the book?

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Speaker 5: I'll talk to you later, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I'll good run.

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Speaker 5: We had great come on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, listen, you made the news this past spring about Caleb.

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Speaker 1: It completely blew up that he did not want to

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Speaker 1: be on the Bears. I want to get much, much

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Speaker 1: deeper in the book, but give people a little bit

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Speaker 1: of insight into what that is like when you were

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Speaker 1: breaking that kind of story, and then how chaotic and

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Speaker 1: crazy the following weeks are, and a little bit about

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Speaker 1: sort of your building up of a relationship with Caleb

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Speaker 1: and his father, which is a huge, huge part of

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Speaker 1: the book.

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Speaker 6: You know, I started working on the book in artist

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Speaker 6: in twenty twenty three, and Caleb was someone that I

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Speaker 6: wanted to meet with just because he had won the

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Speaker 6: Heisman trophies first USC, and he was kind of the

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Speaker 6: first above board, multimillionaire college quarterback. He was the first

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Speaker 6: professional amateur quarterback, and so I kind of wanted to

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Speaker 6: learn about that. So I spent some time with him

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Speaker 6: here in New York actually, and then I met with

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Speaker 6: his dad months later in outside of DC. And you know,

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Speaker 6: at that point his last season at USC, it was

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Speaker 6: a little bit of a struggle, like it just things

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Speaker 6: didn't look right. But his dad and the people who

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Speaker 6: knew Caleb best, who were all there at the meeting,

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Speaker 6: were all really focused on the draft, and they showed

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Speaker 6: me these slides of how Caleb picked a college, the

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Speaker 6: spreadsheet that he used, how he ranked and waited various

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Speaker 6: schools and programs and aspects of it. And the more

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Speaker 6: I learned everything from basically the beginning, you know, of

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Speaker 6: his junior year of college was reverse engineered for this

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Speaker 6: moment to be the first pick in the draft, and

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Speaker 6: my god, they were pulling it off. And so that

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Speaker 6: to me was just mind blowing. And then you had

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Speaker 6: this uncertainty. His dad is like, you know, the Chicago

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Speaker 6: is where quarterbacks go to die, and he wanted to

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Speaker 6: think big like Jack Elway did like Archie Manning did,

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Speaker 6: and try to figure out a way to give his

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Speaker 6: kids some agency over his future employer. And so while

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Speaker 6: I was working on the book with other characters, I

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Speaker 6: followed them through that process.

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Speaker 5: I was in touch with them throughout. Then it happened.

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Speaker 5: I wasn't really sure.

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Speaker 6: You know, he ends up going to the Bears. I

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Speaker 6: still wasn't sure what I would do with it. And

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Speaker 6: then every premonition that his dad had about how things

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Speaker 6: could go at the Bears went that way. I mean,

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Speaker 6: they were horrible in every way, and it was very predictable,

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Speaker 6: and his dad predicted it, and so at that point

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Speaker 6: I just kept reporting. I met with Caleb and his

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Speaker 6: dad separately earlier this year to kind of fact check things.

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Speaker 6: And then you know, it's kind of a waiting game.

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Speaker 6: Like the weird thing about books is that, like you

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Speaker 6: do all this work and then there are these massive

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Speaker 6: gulfs of no action, of nothing happening while the book

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Speaker 6: is in production, whatever it might be. And so that's

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Speaker 6: kind of how it all came together. And then you know,

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Speaker 6: you're putting together a new story. Some editors did that,

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Speaker 6: and then it goes out into the world and you're

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Speaker 6: doing a lot of talking.

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Speaker 2: Listen.

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Speaker 1: I know Simon wants to jump in because I was

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Speaker 1: talking to Simon yesterday. And you know, for those Seth

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Speaker 1: is one of my closest friends. We talked practically every day,

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Speaker 1: so I don't think of him as a brilliant, intrepid reporter.

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Speaker 1: But Simon is a true fanboy, so I want him

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Speaker 1: to get his questions in. But to that extent, the

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Speaker 1: book actually is brilliant, and I.

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Speaker 2: Loved sort of the character development.

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Speaker 1: And anybody who has ever watched a snap of football

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Speaker 1: should buy this book because it's everything you want as

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Speaker 1: a football fan.

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Speaker 2: It's inside the game.

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Speaker 1: You give great detail about various plays that anyone will

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Speaker 1: remember from John Elway's life.

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Speaker 2: All the way through today.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned el Way, you mention Man, you were with

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Speaker 1: both of them, in addition to probably half a dozen

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Speaker 1: other guys. Explain a little bit as succincly and sort

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Speaker 1: of your pitch as you can what people are going

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Speaker 1: to get out of this book as football fans.

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Speaker 6: Well, I wrote it as you know, as a as

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Speaker 6: someone who came in it from a place of real curiosity,

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Speaker 6: having been a failed high school quarterback myself and having

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Speaker 6: had my entire identity, you know, at ages, you know, fourteen,

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Speaker 6: fifteen and sixteen wrapped up in being a quarterback and

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Speaker 6: what it's like walking through the hallway when you're the

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Speaker 6: quarterback of the school and you know that, you know,

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Speaker 6: as you know, I've worked at ESPN now for a

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Speaker 6: long time, twenty five years, and if you cover the NFL,

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Speaker 6: you cover quarterbacks. And even after all these years, I

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Speaker 6: still had questions and I wanted to write a book

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Speaker 6: for anybody who's ever played quarterback, who's ever wanted to

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Speaker 6: play quarterback.

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Speaker 5: Or anyone who's ever been kind of fascinated with it.

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Speaker 5: And it's a very unique job.

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Speaker 6: It's a very uniquely American job that I wanted to also,

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Speaker 6: not do a history of the forward past exactly, but

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Speaker 6: a history of quarterback, Like how did this job go

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Speaker 6: from its invention in nineteen oh six to very quickly

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Speaker 6: being something that our culture celebrated and put up there

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Speaker 6: with you know, other luminaries that you know, we honor

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Speaker 6: and mythologize.

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Speaker 1: Said, you're leaving out two of my favorite things, which

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Speaker 1: I'll tease for people. John Elway, who is just such

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Speaker 1: a legend and is an important part of this book.

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Speaker 1: Has such an amazing quote that gives an example of

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Speaker 1: how he thinks about his life and makes those comebacks

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Speaker 1: throughout his career so much more clear about how he

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Speaker 1: dreams about what will happen after he dies. I don't

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Speaker 1: want to give it away because people should buy the

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Speaker 1: book to read it. There's also one of the best

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Speaker 1: quotes I have seen in a sports book, because you

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Speaker 1: are deep inside the recruitment at the time of Arch

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Speaker 1: Manning and there is a quote from one of the

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Speaker 1: coaches who is recruiting him from a school that he

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Speaker 1: did not end up going to that is.

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Speaker 2: Just so money from that process.

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Speaker 1: Again, I don't know, I don't want you know what

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Speaker 1: said you give the quote because I do want to.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to like completely have people going blind.

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Speaker 1: But do you know what I'm talking about from Alabama?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, well, let's just say it got oh the Saban one.

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Speaker 6: Yeah well, I mean, let's just say that, Like, you know,

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Speaker 6: I wanted to tell the entire history of the Mannings,

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Speaker 6: and the story of the Mannings through Arch and really

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Speaker 6: specifically through Arch's recruitment, and I think I have some

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Speaker 6: great details about how ruthless it got even though these

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Speaker 6: guys are like all buddies, like all the college coaches.

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Speaker 6: It's like they're all friends. But they are so ruthless

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Speaker 6: and they went to nearly any extent to try to

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Speaker 6: get arch to go to their school, including you know,

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Speaker 6: saying some things that you know, let's just say, like,

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Speaker 6: you know, they're they're pretty, they're pretty personal, you know

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Speaker 6: when when they when they go with other at their

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Speaker 6: at their competitors.

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Speaker 2: It's great, It's really really good.

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Speaker 3: Thanks.

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Speaker 1: We just have to just buy the book. Just go

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Speaker 1: to Amazon, go to American Things, buy the book. Simon Sathy,

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Speaker 1: I'm fan Boing, but I'll let you.

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Speaker 4: You've obviously spent a lot of time with quarterbacks in

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Speaker 4: your career, and again I'm I'm fifteen years older the

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Speaker 4: Killer Williams. I can't relate to this kid in many ways,

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Speaker 4: obviously generational difference when you spend time with him and

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Speaker 4: all these other quarterbacks you spent time with the have

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Speaker 4: done great things in the NFL. Does he have the

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Speaker 4: mental makeup to be a leader of men? Can you

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Speaker 4: see him leading men for the next ten years in

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Speaker 4: a battle eighteen weeks out of the year.

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Speaker 3: Does he have that makeup to you? Or is he

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Speaker 3: still childish in some ways where.

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Speaker 4: You know, the big thing in media this past week

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Speaker 4: was him throwing a hissy fit when he threw the ball,

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Speaker 4: missed the yeah, and again that's that's normal.

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Speaker 3: We've all done that when we were thirteen. So that's when,

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Speaker 3: like all these pros.

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Speaker 4: I'm talking all these guys betting big money, their big

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Speaker 4: question is can he be a leader of men?

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Speaker 3: Caleb Williams, And what's your opinion on him?

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Speaker 4: Because obviously you spent so much time with so many

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Speaker 4: great quarterbacks. I would love to know your view on

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Speaker 4: his mental makeup.

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Speaker 6: Well, if I knew the exact answer to that, I

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Speaker 6: would have flown to New York on my private helicopter

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Speaker 6: and you know.

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Speaker 5: Go back to my mansion.

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Speaker 6: But I think that Caleb is in the ballpark of

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Speaker 6: having what it takes. I mean, we'll see. I think

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Speaker 6: that like the interesting thing to zoom out. I mean,

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Speaker 6: it's one point. I was sitting with Steve Young and

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Speaker 6: we started going through all of the hats that you

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Speaker 6: have to wear as a quarterback, everything from Mattine idol

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Speaker 6: to feel general to amateur psychologists to spokesperson for a

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Speaker 6: multi billion dollar organization to you know, read taking asshole,

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Speaker 6: the times, all these things, and I think we stopped

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Speaker 6: at seventeen and it was probably still incomplete. And I

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Speaker 6: think that what Caleb has in abundance and this is

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Speaker 6: a kind of a timeless quality. I think that's really

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Speaker 6: being clarified now is that the fame and the notoriety

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Speaker 6: that has come with this position and the place that

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Speaker 6: we hold it in our culture has created a monster

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Speaker 6: where I don't think having one of the ten best.

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Speaker 5: Arms of your generation is just enough anymore.

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Speaker 6: I think that you have to have that quality that

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Speaker 6: politicians have, that rock stars have, that lead actors have,

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Speaker 6: where there's a hole in your personality that needs constant adoration,

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Speaker 6: like writers that needs constant adoration, constant love that almost

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Speaker 6: leaves to lives, needs to live in a self constructed

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Speaker 6: ecosystem where everything revolves around you. And that in itself

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Speaker 6: is fascinating because it is something that these guys need

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Speaker 6: to do to hardwire themselves to make it through this

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Speaker 6: unbelievable winnowing from being one of like sixteen thousand starting

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Speaker 6: quarterbacks in high school in America to being one of

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Speaker 6: thirty two in the NFL, to being one of the

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Speaker 6: ten Good Ones, to being one of the three that

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Speaker 6: make it to.

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Speaker 5: The Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 6: And it's also not something you just turn off. And

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Speaker 6: I think that, like, it's not the healthiest way to live,

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Speaker 6: and I think that when you're in retirement, especially, like

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Speaker 6: there's something I wrote about it quite a bit in

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Speaker 6: the book. Because you don't just turn that off. You

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Speaker 6: don't play quarterback.

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Speaker 5: You are one and.

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Speaker 6: That doesn't end when you stop playing, and so how

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Speaker 6: you contend with that for the rest of your life

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Speaker 6: is something I was really fascinated with.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that to me was amazing sort of a lot

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Speaker 1: of these guys, Warren Moon, you spent a lot of

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Speaker 1: time with John Elway, Steve Young, you had in the

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Speaker 1: past written about why it's it all and maintained a

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Speaker 1: relationship with his family, so you understood sort of how

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Speaker 1: he managed the rest of his life. And everything is

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Speaker 1: not always as it appears with these guys.

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Speaker 2: Even when they look great, right.

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Speaker 1: John Elway has made tens of millions, if not one

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Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of dollars in his post NFL career.

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Speaker 1: Steve Young's same thing. Incredibly successful, But they're not They're

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Speaker 1: missing something right, Like you are a quarterback, what was

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Speaker 1: surprising to you, and the reporting went on and then

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Speaker 1: you were sort of examining it through the writing about

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Speaker 1: how these quarterbacks portrayed themselves.

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Speaker 6: One of the requirements I had for a character, I thought,

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Speaker 6: is that, like they either have to be kind of

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Speaker 6: an indispensable part of the quarterback story like Uniteds Nameth

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Speaker 6: the Mannings, or have enough perspective on their career that

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Speaker 6: they almost had like an opinion about it and they

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Speaker 6: could see it from the distance and you know, contextualize

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Speaker 6: it in a way. And I think that in the

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Speaker 6: process of doing that, I tried to understand what makes

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Speaker 6: some of the guys more content in retirement than others,

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Speaker 6: because I mean a lot of guys are completely lost.

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Speaker 6: I mean Tom Brady talked about it. Think about of

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Speaker 6: all quarterbacks in history, if not professional athletes in history,

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Speaker 6: in American history, at least, who had a better runway

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Speaker 6: into retirement than Tom Brady. I mean, he played until

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Speaker 6: he chose to walk away at a high level. He

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Speaker 6: had all these gigs lined up before he officially retired.

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Speaker 6: He got to retire for a month and then come back,

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Speaker 6: and so he even had a glimpse of what it

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Speaker 6: would be like. And yet still even in that year

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Speaker 6: off that he had between his retirement and when he

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Speaker 6: started at Fox, he felt lost. And I mean he

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Speaker 6: did some curious things, including that roast, And I think

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Speaker 6: that going back to what Simon was talking about and

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Speaker 6: what we were discussing, it's like, why did he do

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Speaker 6: that roast? And I think it's for the same reason

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Speaker 6: that Mickey Mannle used to lock himself in his car

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Speaker 6: during rainstorms just so he could hear the rain pounding

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Speaker 6: on the car, because that was the closest thing that

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Speaker 6: he felt to what his every day was once like

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Speaker 6: a Yankee stadium. I think that Brady needed to be

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Speaker 6: back on stage and in the spotlight again.

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Speaker 2: Samon, do you want to go next?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I have so many questions about Caleb just because, yeah,

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Speaker 4: he's so unique in the sense that you know, they

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Speaker 4: talked about him getting ready to be an NFL player

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Speaker 4: when he was like fourteen fifteen, and yeah, you know,

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Speaker 4: we have plenty of people in the past history that

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Speaker 4: you know, they had those expectations right they were on

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Speaker 4: their high school team, was on ESPN.

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Speaker 3: They all the lip and it's rare they actually live

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Speaker 3: up to it.

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Speaker 4: Like this kid has met the moment every step in

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Speaker 4: his career from high school when he got to college,

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Speaker 4: winning the Heisman, you know, transferring, which is crazy to think,

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Speaker 4: like how many guys transferred to a different school then

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Speaker 4: to win a Heisman with that head coach. Now he's

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Speaker 4: in the NFL, and you know, I look at this

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Speaker 4: trajectory of it where he's not lived in any sense

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Speaker 4: of normal life, and I always wonder how does that

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Speaker 4: affect players like him where we're in a new age, right,

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Speaker 4: Like you just talk about the man is Eli Manning.

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Speaker 4: I mean, people might be too young to realize he

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Speaker 4: was an absolute legend at Ole miss partying his freshman year.

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Speaker 4: Like I know people that went to school with him,

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Speaker 4: he was a dog. He was really a legend. And

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Speaker 4: he turned it around right. His dad got in his head,

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Speaker 4: his brother got in his head and were like, you

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Speaker 4: have the potential to be the number one pick. He

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Speaker 4: got it right, he figured it out. But again he

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Speaker 4: went through that adversity.

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Speaker 3: Caleb Williams.

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Speaker 4: Adversity is different, right, This is this adversity is facing

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Speaker 4: is the Chicago media, And I wonder, how do you

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Speaker 4: think he's gonna handle that where you know, sure he

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Speaker 4: went through a little bit of usc nothing like this,

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Speaker 4: like this adversity's facing where you know they start one

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Speaker 4: to three this year, He's going to feel it, right,

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Speaker 4: So I would love to know your viewing him, how

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Speaker 4: you think he can face adversity.

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Speaker 6: First of all, I actually am very bullish on Caleb,

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Speaker 6: and I think it's entirely possible that they start one

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Speaker 6: to three because despite what happens in the preseason, these

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Speaker 6: things take time, and you know, it takes time to

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Speaker 6: learn a new offense, and it takes time for the

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Speaker 6: new offense to learn the quarterback, and you know, context matters.

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Speaker 6: But I think that, like with Caleb, the interesting thing

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Speaker 6: with me is like Elway was the first player ever

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Speaker 6: to be number one out of high school, first peck

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Speaker 6: in the draft, first ballot, Hall of Fame, Peyton came

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Speaker 6: and followed that, and now Caleb he comes along at

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Speaker 6: a time where there is a way to do this right.

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Speaker 6: There's a path to being a quarterback. You have to

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Speaker 6: have media training, you have to have physical therapy training,

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Speaker 6: you have to have a throwing coach, you have to

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Speaker 6: have an armcare coach. You have to you know, shop

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Speaker 6: high schools and find the one that is doing an

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Speaker 6: offense that best suits your skill set. You have to

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Speaker 6: go to all of these passing camps that have no

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Speaker 6: predictive value, and these quarterback clinics that have no predictive value,

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Speaker 6: like a lead eleven that you know that, as one

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Speaker 6: person told me, breed little assholes and succeeded them. And

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Speaker 6: he did all that stuff right, And I think that,

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Speaker 6: like that to me is the most interesting. You know,

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Speaker 6: part of the Caleb story is that, like of this

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Speaker 6: new generation of guys who say, Okay, I want to

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Speaker 6: be a quarterback and there's a path to do this

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Speaker 6: and this is this is how you have to dedicate

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Speaker 6: your time and your resources and your energy, he managed

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Speaker 6: to do it. And I think that, like fast forward,

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Speaker 6: you know, what does that mean for the NFL?

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Speaker 5: I mean, so he he had an up and down

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Speaker 5: last year at USC.

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Speaker 6: He obviously had that moment where he's crying in the

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Speaker 6: stands after they lose to Washington, and then he doesn't

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Speaker 6: meet with the press after the game, and of course

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Speaker 6: that just doesn't fly in the NFL. Right, You cannot

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Speaker 6: you cannot do.

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Speaker 5: That in the NFL. The locker room will turn on you.

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Speaker 6: And he has a tough rookie year, and I thought

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Speaker 6: that the leadership and the toughness he displayed. I think

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Speaker 6: anyone's rookie year is about survival, Like you can't extract

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Speaker 6: too much from but I think that like, if you're

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Speaker 6: looking to extract things from Caleb going forward, he was

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Speaker 6: incredibly tough. Remember that shot he took to the knee

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Speaker 6: I think on Thanksgiving against Detroit when he was going

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Speaker 6: out of bounds.

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Speaker 5: Got right back up.

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Speaker 6: He obviously was working within an offense that wasn't cutting edge,

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Speaker 6: let's just put it that way.

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Speaker 5: He left some plays on the field, but like, this

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Speaker 5: was not.

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Speaker 6: A well organized offense and all wasn't a well organized

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Speaker 6: organization and yet an operation, and yet he had some

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Speaker 6: great moments at the end of the games where he

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Speaker 6: was in those known passing situations and.

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Speaker 5: It's on him to make it work, and he did.

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Speaker 5: And I think that Sean Payton developed.

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Speaker 6: This quarterback formula to try to measure processing speed that

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Speaker 6: I write about, and even though Caleb Williams was never

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Speaker 6: going to be someone that he was going to draft,

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Speaker 6: he ran Caleb through it. And one of the things

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Speaker 6: that he wondered about Caleb was like, how is he

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Speaker 6: going to react when he's broken because he really hasn't

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Speaker 6: been And if that rookie year counts as that, I'm

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Speaker 6: not sure it does, but let's just say it does.

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Speaker 6: I think that if I were a Bears fan, I'd

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Speaker 6: to feel pretty good.

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Speaker 2: So he just the magic words.

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Speaker 1: I know, You've got to get out of here because

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Speaker 1: you've got to go do much bigger podcast.

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Speaker 5: I got time.

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Speaker 6: How could I possibly leave when you guys are saying

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Speaker 6: such nice things about me?

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Speaker 2: Well, we gotta go. We got this.

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Speaker 1: But before you go, like on this show, one of

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Speaker 1: our favorite coaches of all time is the guy you

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Speaker 1: just mentioned, Sean Payton, and you've spent a lot of

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Speaker 1: time with Sean Payton. You wrote a great story about

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Speaker 1: him for ESPN and you profiled a lot of what

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Speaker 1: he was a lot of what you're talking about is

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Speaker 1: captured in the book as well. You just talked about

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Speaker 1: the processing speed. He gave you a lot of insight

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Speaker 1: pre draft about what he was doing that you know

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Speaker 1: you were sworn to secrecy, which you now have written

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Speaker 1: about on ESPN dot com as an excerpt for the book.

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Speaker 1: Tell people who haven't seen any of those things. The

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Speaker 1: relationship you had with Peyton in this book and what

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Speaker 1: he shared with you about how he got to b Nick's.

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Speaker 6: Well, Sean Payton has, aside from the fact that you know,

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Speaker 6: he's just one of the best offensive coaches have ever,

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Speaker 6: he has always been haunted in a certain way. You know,

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Speaker 6: all of us ex quarterbacks were all Uncle Rico's in

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Speaker 6: some way, but with him in particular. He made it

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Speaker 6: to the NFL as a replacement player and in nineteen

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Speaker 6: eighty seven, and he struggled with processing speed, he struggled

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Speaker 6: with multitasking, and so he obviously, you know, coached the

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Speaker 6: hell out.

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Speaker 5: Of Drew Brees.

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Speaker 6: But when Breeze was on his way out and towards

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Speaker 6: the end of his career, he wanted to find a replacement,

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Speaker 6: and he wanted to figure out a way to quantify

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Speaker 6: college processing speed and if it has a predictive value

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Speaker 6: in the NFL, which is like, you know, that's that's

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Speaker 6: a gold mine in the analytics world, in and the

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Speaker 6: scouting world. And so when he did it, it wasn't

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Speaker 6: unlike Billy Bean, who obviously came from a very autobiographical

437
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 6: place in Moneyball of having had been a five tool

438
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Speaker 6: guy who didn't live up to it. So he knew

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Speaker 6: that there's something else there, and Sean knew that there.

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Speaker 3: Was something else there, and.

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Speaker 5: So what he did was he took statistics.

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Speaker 6: That are available to everybody and he kind of waited

443
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:14,000
Speaker 6: them and he created what is essentially a failure index.

444
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,360
Speaker 6: And so he looked at all of the quarterbacks negative

445
00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:20,040
Speaker 6: plays and essentially tried to figure out how often they happened.

446
00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:25,919
Speaker 6: And he did that first in twenty seventeen, and the

447
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:27,400
Speaker 6: quarterback that it led.

448
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:28,640
Speaker 5: Him to was Patrick Mahomes.

449
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,720
Speaker 6: He was going to draft Patrick Mahomes and then the

450
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 6: Chiefs obviously traded up with Buffalo, took him, and the

451
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,119
Speaker 6: rest is history. And even though he coached Breeze for

452
00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 6: a couple more years, then he ended up sat out

453
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,600
Speaker 6: for a year, got with the Broncos. Russell Wilson wasn't

454
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 6: going to work out, so he kind of dusted off

455
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 6: that formula when he was going to draft a quarterback

456
00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,520
Speaker 6: in twenty twenty four and bo Nicks had by far

457
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 6: the best score of anybody, including Jaden Daniels, including Caleb Williams,

458
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 6: JJ McCarthy, anybody.

459
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 5: And so I think that he felt that he had.

460
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:07,480
Speaker 6: Found a diamond in the rough in bo Nicks using

461
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 6: this formula and subsequent meetings with Bo and all of

462
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,119
Speaker 6: that stuff. I just found fascinating that, like, look, no

463
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:15,879
Speaker 6: one's saying that this is a silver bullet when it

464
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 6: comes to quarterback evaluation. But here's a really smart guy

465
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,959
Speaker 6: who's done some things and he managed to find something

466
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,520
Speaker 6: that really looked like it worked, and I detail it

467
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:26,479
Speaker 6: quite a bit in the book.

468
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 2: It's fantastic. The whole book is fantastic.

469
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: If you are a sports fan, if you are a

470
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,880
Speaker 1: fan of pop culture and how legends and myths are

471
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,920
Speaker 1: made and born, if you are a football fan, inside

472
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 1: football fan, narrative, storytelling, football fan, just go buy the

473
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,959
Speaker 1: fucking book. Go buy American King's Biography of the Quarterback.

474
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,840
Speaker 1: Go to Amazon, go to Barnes and Noble, walk into

475
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:57,159
Speaker 1: your local bookstore. It's by Seth Wickersham. Go buy it.

476
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,880
Speaker 1: Seti Wickersham for joining us. Buddy good days.

477
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:01,680
Speaker 5: Great to see you guys.

478
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 1: As always, quick eggs up to anybody playing fantasy football

479
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 1: this season. It is fantasy football time. The ultimate twenty

480
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 1: twenty five draftkit is here courtesy of our Fantasy Labs team.

481
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 1: That means our award winning team a Sean Croner and

482
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 1: Chris raybund have their rankings, tiers and cheat sheets ready

483
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,880
Speaker 1: for you. To get them, you'll need a Fantasy Labs subscription,

484
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,360
Speaker 1: and right now new subscribers can use code flex twenty

485
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 1: for twenty dollars off at Fantasy labs dot com slash flex.

486
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 1: Let Sean and Chriss make your fantasy prep easier. Use

487
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,119
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488
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,160
Speaker 1: dot com slash flex.

489
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:42,880
Speaker 2: Simon, I hope you enjoyed it, Seth.

490
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: I know you're a big fan of his work and

491
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: what he does, and the book is amazing, so I

492
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:53,040
Speaker 1: hope everyone will check it out. We're going on to

493
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:57,159
Speaker 1: the NFC North. Just a reminder, NFC North plays the

494
00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 1: AFC North and the NFC East. This is the only

495
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,000
Speaker 1: division in football with all four teams over eight and

496
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,439
Speaker 1: a half wins and Super Bowl odds of thirty to

497
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 1: one or less. It is so loaded with coaching talent.

498
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,120
Speaker 1: The three veteran coaches Matt Lafleur, Kevin O'Connell, Dan Campbell

499
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,320
Speaker 1: in this division have covered on a regular basis. They

500
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,399
Speaker 1: have overchieved, They have won with backups. They have lifted

501
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 1: their teams up through personality and through strategy. They are

502
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,440
Speaker 1: the guys that we love. Now here comes Ben Johnson

503
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 1: adding them.

504
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,440
Speaker 2: To the list. They all have huge.

505
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 1: Personnel gaps that make a lot of this impossible to

506
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 1: handicap right now. But Simon, we're gonna try anyways.

507
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:47,479
Speaker 2: Are you ready?

508
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:47,960
Speaker 3: Yes?

509
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,439
Speaker 2: I am ready, Chad, Yes, start with the Lions.

510
00:25:53,440 --> 00:26:00,520
Speaker 5: Hello, de try.

511
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,639
Speaker 1: Vision plus one forty five Conference plus four hundred Super

512
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: Bowl ten to one win total ten and a half.

513
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: Can talk about losing Ben Johnson, can talk about losing

514
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn. I do think that the defense is better

515
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,200
Speaker 1: by virtue of just being healthy. I think that they

516
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: were on a path to be a really dominant defense

517
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,200
Speaker 1: last year and then they just lost everybody.

518
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 2: They obviously have great.

519
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,440
Speaker 1: Talent across the board, whether it's Jamison Williams, Amon Ross,

520
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 1: Saint Brown, the two running backs, the tight end Jared Goff,

521
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,960
Speaker 1: who I think is great. But here's the butt to me.

522
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: Frank Ragnow center, retired, Kevin Seitler guard signed with the Titans.

523
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 1: I have serious concerns about their offensive line, and what

524
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: I can't figure out is is it an overreaction to

525
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: downgrade then because of the loss of Ben Johnson, and

526
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn have the books already accounted for that in

527
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,560
Speaker 1: the adjustment, ten and a half wins lower than where

528
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:01,400
Speaker 1: they were last year.

529
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 2: I can't get rid on this one.

530
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: I feel like everyone is off the Lions, and that

531
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:08,600
Speaker 1: makes me think, are we missing something?

532
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I remember we talked about the you know

533
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,159
Speaker 4: season coming into this year, you know, our preview of

534
00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 4: playoff teams.

535
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:18,440
Speaker 3: I forced him in there because I was I just

536
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 3: gonn't get over the talent level.

537
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 4: And I think I've come full circle in the sense

538
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,680
Speaker 4: that I'm even higher than I was a month ago

539
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:28,880
Speaker 4: on this team, and it is because.

540
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 3: Of the talent level.

541
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 4: And you just go through their last couple of drafts,

542
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 4: some of their free agency moves, and it's just home

543
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 4: run after a home run. So this is a team

544
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 4: I was trying to be down on because we've seen

545
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 4: a time and time again these windows are so small,

546
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 4: and when you lose coaches, it's a big deal, especially

547
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,639
Speaker 4: in offensive genius like they had in a defensive genius

548
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 4: and Aaron Glenn like, I think that guy is highly

549
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 4: talted as well. But when you really dive into it,

550
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,479
Speaker 4: it's unreal the talent of this team. Maybe you know,

551
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 4: the best safety group in football.

552
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 3: I agree with you. The weakness is definitely given that

553
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 3: offensive line. Like I'm glad you brought that up, because

554
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 3: I don't think.

555
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,399
Speaker 4: Enough people are talking about that with this team. To me,

556
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,160
Speaker 4: that is an adjustment. But you know, we've already talked

557
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 4: about a couple of teams that have suspicious offensive lines.

558
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,680
Speaker 4: And I'm a big believer in scheme and quarterback can

559
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,120
Speaker 4: always overcome.

560
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:19,919
Speaker 3: Bad offensive line.

561
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,800
Speaker 4: Like, yes, there's gonna be players you'll lose out on

562
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:24,920
Speaker 4: because you have such a bad offensive line. They can't

563
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 4: you know, adjust the blitz coming, different things like that.

564
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,919
Speaker 4: But overall, long term, you know, if you have a

565
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,159
Speaker 4: really good quarterback and really good weapons and an offensive scheme,

566
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,720
Speaker 4: they will they will figure out how to move around

567
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,040
Speaker 4: that offensive line and make it work eventually. So for

568
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 4: this team, I was going, I was looking for other

569
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 4: teams this division.

570
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 3: Of de thrown this team.

571
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 4: It's not that it's been bad for all these other teams,

572
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,840
Speaker 4: but it all feels like they're all still a year or.

573
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 3: Two behind this Lion's team that's so established. That's just

574
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 3: they know the deal. Like in that locker room, there

575
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 3: is zero doubt with this team they put all the

576
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 3: blame of last season onto those injuries, like we talked about,

577
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 3: which is totally fair. I think we talked last week

578
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:08,000
Speaker 3: of a week before.

579
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 4: I had them as our number one team coming to

580
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,080
Speaker 4: the season last year, and my model has them at

581
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 4: number four despite losing all that offensive you know, minded

582
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 4: talent with Ben Johnson and offensive line pieces, They're still

583
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 4: my number two offense graded wise.

584
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,000
Speaker 3: So it's like, I don't know I wanted.

585
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 4: I wasn't trying to be over reactionary, and I feel

586
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 4: like I was making them my seventh seed we did

587
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 4: our playffrank is now when I really dive into it,

588
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,840
Speaker 4: I've been investing heavily into their divisional odds.

589
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 3: I've been investing into their win total, win the ten

590
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 3: and a half.

591
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,080
Speaker 4: If people are so confused about it, I think it

592
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 4: is because of the coaches they lost, But I just

593
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 4: think it's part of the schedule, right. They have a

594
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 4: tough schedule to what they had last year. And it's

595
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:49,720
Speaker 4: also because I think their division obviously is better in

596
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:54,920
Speaker 4: many ways. But you know the fact that you could

597
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 4: get them right now as a dog at Green Bay

598
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,120
Speaker 4: week one where in Jordan Love has surgery and is

599
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 4: non thrown him. He's not practicing. That's I mean, people

600
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 4: know secret I've been hammering that. You can tease it

601
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 4: up right now to seven and a half, like that's

602
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 4: that's exactly where.

603
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 3: I want to be with this this Detroit Lions team.

604
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 4: So yeah, people can probably tell I've I really done

605
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,200
Speaker 4: in one eighty. I'm fully all in on this Lions team.

606
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,760
Speaker 4: And it's just the talent level is just so insane

607
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,880
Speaker 4: that even if they do take a step back offensively,

608
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 4: I think getting guys back healthy on defense will be

609
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 4: such a bump that you know, at worst, you can

610
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,640
Speaker 4: see this team being eleven to five, ten and seven,

611
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,920
Speaker 4: you know, like eleven and six, ten and seven, like

612
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 4: that is a possibility. But I don't see them missing

613
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 4: the playoffs. I don't see them being outside this divisional race.

614
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 4: So yeah, I know it's boring people. I know we're

615
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 4: going with another another team that won their division last year,

616
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 4: but it's just all these other teams are having drama

617
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 4: right now, and everything I've read in camp about this

618
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 4: Lions team is They've not missed a beat. The offense

619
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 4: is super high flying, defense is just a bunch of

620
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 4: nuts playing hard for they're head coach, I just everything

621
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 4: I read about it, it's like, all right, this is

622
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 4: exactly what you want to be reading about a contending

623
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,080
Speaker 4: team heading into two weeks away from heading of the season.

624
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,840
Speaker 4: So yeah, gimme lines over ten and a half. Give

625
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 4: me lines plus one forty five divisional odds.

626
00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 2: I'm so glad to hear you say that. I really am.

627
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 1: Like I've been looking at this team and looking really

628
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:26,920
Speaker 1: mostly at the numbers, and all of it feels like, well,

629
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: like I said when I was launching into this, like

630
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,000
Speaker 1: too much of an overreaction, Like all of it feels

631
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,440
Speaker 1: the overreaction of the public feels priced in. And you know,

632
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 1: there are teams that when they've gotten to the level

633
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 1: the Lions have gotten to and have.

634
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:45,880
Speaker 2: Had back to back heartbreak years.

635
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,760
Speaker 1: Don't forget they were ahead in that NFC title game

636
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 1: against the Niners two years ago. Last year, they were

637
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 1: clearly the best team in the NFL, and they basically

638
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,880
Speaker 1: they lost about nineteen guys on their defense and not

639
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:01,920
Speaker 1: insignificant guys for an insigate amount of time. They're best

640
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:08,520
Speaker 1: guys for season long, and so teams can crater. You

641
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,960
Speaker 1: get none of that from the Lions, like they seem

642
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,480
Speaker 1: to be so focused, so mentally strong. We talked a

643
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,040
Speaker 1: lot with Seth about sort of mental toughness, right, and

644
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 1: can Caleb Williams.

645
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:20,560
Speaker 2: Be that guy.

646
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:22,480
Speaker 1: You don't get the sense that Jared Goff won't be

647
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 1: that guy, or that there's any less of confidence in

648
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: Jared Goff from that team At this point, if you're

649
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,800
Speaker 1: making a bed in the Lions, there's no on field

650
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,560
Speaker 1: metric that's going to tell you what to do. You

651
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,280
Speaker 1: were only betting on the Lions being a well coached

652
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 1: team with incredible talent and getting over the transition of

653
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson. That's it, Like you're just

654
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,480
Speaker 1: having an opinion. There's no number that can get you there.

655
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: It's just an opinion. I think I'm with you. The

656
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,640
Speaker 1: more I have thought about it coming in, it was

657
00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,360
Speaker 1: weighing on me. Hearing you talk about it. Getting plus

658
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: odds on them for the division feels good.

659
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it has to be this year though, because yes,

660
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:12,040
Speaker 4: I look at this division. It is so talented, but

661
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,480
Speaker 4: it's young. And that's the Chico that have. They have

662
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,360
Speaker 4: the veteran team and a very young division. But we

663
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 4: know the deal right, Like this is you know outside

664
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 4: that AFC West, this is probably the best head coaching

665
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,200
Speaker 4: group in all football in this division. So you know,

666
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,920
Speaker 4: Lions fans know, we know it windows closed very quick.

667
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 4: The window could shut this year, right, They could have

668
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,000
Speaker 4: easily have a year from hell. I know people think

669
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 4: they had one last year. They were the one seed.

670
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,920
Speaker 4: Like as bad as it was last year, that that

671
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 4: offense didn't lose any cogs in the machine. That was

672
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,239
Speaker 4: the defense that was hurt. So that's that's my view

673
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 4: on this Lions team is that you know, if you want.

674
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,400
Speaker 3: To take them ten to one super Bowl, I get it.

675
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:51,680
Speaker 4: I just don't do it because I have I have

676
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 4: mixed feelings about golf in the playoffs, but regular season wise,

677
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 4: this just feels like another juggernaut. And you know I

678
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 4: would not be show me and you were talking week

679
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:04,120
Speaker 4: seven and eight, and I have them moved up to

680
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:05,920
Speaker 4: my number one team in my power rank into my

681
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 4: model just because that's if they do overcome with Chad.

682
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,400
Speaker 4: Just talk about their head coaching problems and the assistance

683
00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,439
Speaker 4: and you know that's that's the question here. It's it's

684
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 4: all on Man Campbell, like he's no longer has the

685
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 4: OC the DC that you know people can rely on

686
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,799
Speaker 4: it's it really is on his plate, and with a

687
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,919
Speaker 4: couple of new guys. So that's like we just said,

688
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,160
Speaker 4: that's the only hesitation a question about this team.

689
00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 3: It's not the talent. It's just simply the coaching.

690
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:31,759
Speaker 1: A little bit of a Chiefs vibe, right when the

691
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,960
Speaker 1: Chiefs sort of get overrated, when the Chiefs get discounted

692
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 1: by the public, and all of a sudden, there's value

693
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,759
Speaker 1: on them because you know, they lost this, they lost that.

694
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:44,960
Speaker 2: People looking for holes and mahomes, whatever it is.

695
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: It has a similar feeling to me of the past

696
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,400
Speaker 1: couple of years, like let's let's.

697
00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:51,799
Speaker 2: Go all in on the Eagles, let's find a way

698
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,279
Speaker 2: to love the Packers, et cetera, et cetera.

699
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,640
Speaker 1: By the way, breaking news from the second floor of

700
00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:00,239
Speaker 1: my house here on West Herford from Owen Noman, who

701
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,960
Speaker 1: is texting me literally while being on the floor in

702
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,640
Speaker 1: the room directly below mine. Daniel Jones has been named

703
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 1: as the week one starter for the Indianapolis Cults.

704
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 2: The Anthony Richardson era will continue to have to wait.

705
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,799
Speaker 4: That's good for me, someone that wants the Colts to

706
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 4: be a team I can bet on. So yeah, that's

707
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,200
Speaker 4: that's a big deal, right, that's I don't want to

708
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:26,000
Speaker 4: say nail on the call for me Anthony Richardson, but

709
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,880
Speaker 4: his career might be done in Indianapolis.

710
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:33,600
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers plus two fifty in the Division Conference,

711
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,720
Speaker 1: ten to one, Super Bowl twenty to one win total

712
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:36,400
Speaker 1: nine and a half.

713
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:38,120
Speaker 2: So look, we've talked about this.

714
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,160
Speaker 1: I think we both bet the Packers at twenty to

715
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,360
Speaker 1: one to win the super Bowl early in the offseason.

716
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:44,840
Speaker 3: No way, did I really?

717
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:45,839
Speaker 2: I think you did?

718
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:48,959
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, the only thing I have in my book

719
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,440
Speaker 3: is your forty nine ers bet and rams.

720
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:54,480
Speaker 2: I could have sworn we bet the Packers too. I

721
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 2: have it in my mind.

722
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,080
Speaker 3: I can't believe. I don't know what was wrong with

723
00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:58,560
Speaker 3: me in February. That's crazy.

724
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 1: The offensive line got better. I think the receiving corps

725
00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 1: got better. I think their pass rush is middling at best.

726
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:14,600
Speaker 1: But I still think, like you're skeptical to me, I

727
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:19,280
Speaker 1: don't hate this because if Jordan Love is fully healthy

728
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 1: for Week one, it's a non throwing injury. I do

729
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 1: believe he'll be back and sort of at full capabilities

730
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,319
Speaker 1: and he can play all season. Mattvil Floor is one

731
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,600
Speaker 1: of those guys like we don't want to bet against him.

732
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,279
Speaker 1: He makes really good decisions. He gets the best out

733
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,719
Speaker 1: of his talent. I'm not afraid of putting money. I'm

734
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 1: not upset that I have Packers' Super Bowl tickets at

735
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:43,239
Speaker 1: twenty to one.

736
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:47,719
Speaker 4: I'm just I don't know what's happened, but I'm out

737
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,040
Speaker 4: on them. I know I picked them for playoffs. I'll

738
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,800
Speaker 4: cole once ago. I just when I look at this division,

739
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 4: there's other teams I like better. With that, I think

740
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,319
Speaker 4: I have better value and are better and are just

741
00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 4: built better.

742
00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 3: Where this team.

743
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,160
Speaker 4: I don't trust the wide receiving corps. Like they talked

744
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 4: about working on the drops. Everything I've seen in preseason

745
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:08,560
Speaker 4: and read from their beat riders is the drops have

746
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:11,839
Speaker 4: continued throughout practice with all different players. Now they might

747
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:14,000
Speaker 4: have nailed Golden, like this kid might be an absolute stuff.

748
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 4: That kud they took in their first round speedster with

749
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 4: good hands. That's a big deal. But my issue is

750
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,440
Speaker 4: the Jordan Love part two where you know Jordan Love

751
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,759
Speaker 4: had an incredible seven game run beat the Cowboys in

752
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,400
Speaker 4: the playoffs. You know well deserved took the forty nine

753
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,239
Speaker 4: ers to it right, like they were really in that

754
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 4: game and he got paid for it.

755
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,279
Speaker 3: And last year was.

756
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:39,080
Speaker 4: The season from hell, but their head coach held that

757
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,880
Speaker 4: team above water, right. He was able to make it

758
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:43,880
Speaker 4: work with a backup quarterback and got that team in

759
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,040
Speaker 4: to be, you know, a seventh seed in the playoffs.

760
00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:47,799
Speaker 4: Like tons of respected Green Bay, and I think that's

761
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,200
Speaker 4: why coming into the r had so much respect for

762
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,319
Speaker 4: them and just what they did last year. But I'm

763
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,600
Speaker 4: really diving into it. Their defense still has holes to it.

764
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 4: Even though they've drafted the defense and they've tried to

765
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 4: add to it and make a better through freegency, it's

766
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,400
Speaker 4: still to me ranks you know, below the Bears, like

767
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,680
Speaker 4: I have them fourth in this division defensive wise and offensively.

768
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,640
Speaker 4: I feel like I'm putting so much into Jordan Love

769
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 4: taking that next step where he's shown me zero signs

770
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,400
Speaker 4: of him taking that next step. And I threw out

771
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,960
Speaker 4: last year because he played through about three different injuries

772
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:25,400
Speaker 4: and now he's already banged up. His not throwing in

773
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,200
Speaker 4: which again not a big deal, but him not practicing

774
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:30,480
Speaker 4: and doing the things he needs to do these last

775
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:32,560
Speaker 4: couple of weeks. It's a big deal to me because

776
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:34,319
Speaker 4: this is the guy that needs reps. He is such

777
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,160
Speaker 4: an unfinished product that he needs these number one reps

778
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:38,880
Speaker 4: with these receivers.

779
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,280
Speaker 3: That have drop issues. So it's just because of this division.

780
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:44,760
Speaker 4: If this team was in the NFC South, I'd probably

781
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,040
Speaker 4: would be all over them to beat the Bucks and

782
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:49,799
Speaker 4: win the South. But when I really go through it,

783
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:53,440
Speaker 4: their division is so talented, I just don't think that

784
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,680
Speaker 4: it's worth investing in them anymore. Like to me, you know,

785
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,280
Speaker 4: I wanted to be on this team to win this division.

786
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 4: I was really high on them, but it's just all

787
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,560
Speaker 4: been so negative in camp. I'm just worried about them

788
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,720
Speaker 4: heading into the season where a lot of this rest

789
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:11,320
Speaker 4: on you know, Jordan Love and what he's going to

790
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:12,840
Speaker 4: be heading in the season, if he's healthy or not.

791
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,520
Speaker 4: So yeah, in three four weeks in the season, I

792
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:17,120
Speaker 4: could change my team of this team if they come

793
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,919
Speaker 4: out and they look right. But I think they're gonna

794
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,279
Speaker 4: come out and be sloppy and they can't afford to

795
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:28,360
Speaker 4: drop early games, right they come out of the gates Detroit, Washington, Cleveland, Dallas,

796
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,920
Speaker 4: and then their bye week. So I know it doesn't

797
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:34,759
Speaker 4: sound that hard on paper, that's that could be a

798
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,520
Speaker 4: one in three start. Head into their bye week, and

799
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 4: that's my fear, where if they start one and three

800
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 4: in this division, I don't know if they can crawl

801
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,480
Speaker 4: back because I am again so high on all these

802
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,560
Speaker 4: other teams. So yeah, there had to be one team

803
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,919
Speaker 4: I was gonna be negative on, and it's Green Bay.

804
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,120
Speaker 3: I just I've totally shifted my position on them. I

805
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:51,799
Speaker 3: just don't like.

806
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,040
Speaker 4: Everything coming out of camp, and they're a team that

807
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 4: I feel like is another you know, could they get

808
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,400
Speaker 4: to ten and a half eleven wins? Of course if

809
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,439
Speaker 4: things break right, Jordan Love, they could easily get there,

810
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 4: But I don't think the lines up for them compared

811
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 4: to these other teams in their division right now. I

812
00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:09,400
Speaker 4: just it's it seems like it's a bad camp heading

813
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:11,200
Speaker 4: into a season that could be a little rough for them,

814
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,440
Speaker 4: where you know, they've had two year straight years making

815
00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:13,920
Speaker 4: the playoffs.

816
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,839
Speaker 3: Chad's that's a nice run. It makes sense they would

817
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 3: have a down year.

818
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:21,920
Speaker 1: Well, look, their rushing game would have to be almost

819
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 1: historic and back to back seasons, right, what they did

820
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,920
Speaker 1: last year with Josh Jacobs and their ability to have

821
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:32,520
Speaker 1: him control the offense created so much momentum for them

822
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,440
Speaker 1: and masked a lot of issues. You talk about it

823
00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:37,840
Speaker 1: with the wide receivers. Obviously they had a lot of

824
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,200
Speaker 1: quarterback injury issues. That is how they dominated the game.

825
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,920
Speaker 1: But it's also because Matt Lafleur recognized this and recognized

826
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,520
Speaker 1: that was the way schematically for them to take advantage

827
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 1: of their best chances to win. Maybe I'm over evaluing

828
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,920
Speaker 1: how good a coach Matt Lafleur.

829
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 3: Not though, like that whole thing you didn't will as

830
00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:02,480
Speaker 3: I'm with you, Chad, that blew my mind last year.

831
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:03,640
Speaker 3: It was incredible genius.

832
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's to me, he's on par with

833
00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:13,239
Speaker 1: in terms of strategy Sean McVeigh Kyle Shanahan, Like, these

834
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,759
Speaker 1: are guys who know their personnel and know the oppositions

835
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:21,080
Speaker 1: personnel so well that they can steal two to three

836
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,359
Speaker 1: games a year no matter who is on the field

837
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: because other teams can't match up with them as well.

838
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:30,040
Speaker 1: And I do think I can't decide if it's saying

839
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,319
Speaker 1: a lot or not saying anything to say that the

840
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 1: Packers have the fourth best defense in this division, because

841
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:38,279
Speaker 1: I do think the three defenses we're talking about with

842
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:42,360
Speaker 1: the Vikings and the lines especially, but the Bears are

843
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:47,160
Speaker 1: are elevating into elite level. They were incredible in the

844
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:51,280
Speaker 1: second half of the year last year, and everything about

845
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,879
Speaker 1: their defense during training camp has been dominant, whether it's

846
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,440
Speaker 1: been joint practices. We obviously saw it in the preseason

847
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,360
Speaker 1: and I know they don't count, but they mean something

848
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 1: in the preseason. So interesting, I feel like we're if

849
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:07,120
Speaker 1: you got to be down on someone because you can't

850
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 1: love everything level four.

851
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,520
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I think I can't believe IVE flipped on

852
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,200
Speaker 4: them because I really liked them coming to the season.

853
00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:18,160
Speaker 4: But when it's all negative like this heading into a season,

854
00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:21,319
Speaker 4: rarely with a young team like this is that work

855
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,440
Speaker 4: out for But like you said, Lafleur's the chef code,

856
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,080
Speaker 4: like he could easily write the ship pretty easily, and

857
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,279
Speaker 4: this is gonna be another dominant season for Green Bay.

858
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 5: Right.

859
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 1: But the truth there's everyone in this division is a

860
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:31,640
Speaker 1: cheat code exactly.

861
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 3: That's all. That's why it's so hard.

862
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,719
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, here's what's interesting to me. The Vikings plus

863
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:40,920
Speaker 1: three fifty conference eleven to one, super Bowl twenty to one,

864
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:43,880
Speaker 1: same as the Packers win total eight and a half.

865
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:50,320
Speaker 1: So either at twenty to one, either the Packers are overvalued,

866
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:54,279
Speaker 1: which you may believe, and the Vikings then are undervalued

867
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:56,799
Speaker 1: at twenty to one. To me, that's how you have

868
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,879
Speaker 1: to sort of it's binary in this case. I don't

869
00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:05,439
Speaker 1: think like the Vikings and the Packers are necessarily even here,

870
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 1: and I don't think that they're I think the Packers

871
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,520
Speaker 1: are closer to being priced right at twenty to one

872
00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:15,200
Speaker 1: than the Vikings, who I think there's probably like there.

873
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 1: To me, they're overvalued, I mean to say, because I

874
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:21,399
Speaker 1: don't think they should be twenty to one. We don't

875
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:25,240
Speaker 1: know about JJ McCarthy. What we know is that last

876
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:29,000
Speaker 1: year we did not believe in this team because of

877
00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:34,040
Speaker 1: Sam Donald, which was a mistake. We under underestimated Kevin

878
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:39,160
Speaker 1: O'Connell because while he was coaching with the suspect quarterback

879
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:41,279
Speaker 1: and the hardest division of football, they were in it

880
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,480
Speaker 1: until the very last game of the year. So now

881
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:46,279
Speaker 1: he gets the guy that he liked and wanted to

882
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:49,920
Speaker 1: start last year, and he's proven he can coach basically

883
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,840
Speaker 1: any quarterback. So why shouldn't we believe in their ability

884
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:55,280
Speaker 1: to compete?

885
00:43:56,080 --> 00:43:58,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, this is the team I flipped on. It was

886
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,719
Speaker 4: another year where I was like, Okay, I'm happy to

887
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,080
Speaker 4: sit it out. And see if JJ can take that

888
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:06,720
Speaker 4: next step. And not that I've been bullied, but every

889
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:10,280
Speaker 4: pro I talked to who knows what they're talking about

890
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:14,240
Speaker 4: while valuing quarterbacks, they love everything about this kid.

891
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,680
Speaker 3: And you know they loved it in July.

892
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:21,360
Speaker 4: Here we are at mid August and the beat writers

893
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:24,440
Speaker 4: are coming around on this kid and they're really loving them.

894
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 3: And you're seeing it in practice.

895
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:28,600
Speaker 4: He's being more confident and consistent, which is exactly what

896
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:30,319
Speaker 4: if you're a better and you're taking position on him,

897
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,319
Speaker 4: that's what you're hoping for. But Chad's right, like them

898
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:35,960
Speaker 4: being the same with Green Bay to me is crazy.

899
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:39,680
Speaker 4: That means someone very smart with a lot of money

900
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,799
Speaker 4: has moved this number because this was not twenty to

901
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:42,560
Speaker 4: one that me and.

902
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:44,759
Speaker 3: Chad talked months ago about the Vikings.

903
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 4: So you know, I look at this team as you

904
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 4: know last year we did get burned by Sam Darnold,

905
00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:55,360
Speaker 4: anyone that was like flexing. They're like, yeah, see, my

906
00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:58,719
Speaker 4: model predicted that your model is trash. There is no

907
00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 4: way your model predicted Sam Donald being a fourth quarter

908
00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 4: hero like he was last year. That's just something that

909
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:07,040
Speaker 4: it's unpredictable. Now, if you said you based off their

910
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,400
Speaker 4: defense and what their defense can do. I agree that

911
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:12,640
Speaker 4: was something I definitely missed that. You know, the year

912
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:15,080
Speaker 4: before we talked about two years ago, they had this

913
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,040
Speaker 4: flukeish thing where they basically led the league in fumber recoveries,

914
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:19,759
Speaker 4: and that was part of the reason. We're like, Okay,

915
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:22,759
Speaker 4: the defense might be great under Brian Flores, but they'll

916
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,640
Speaker 4: take a step back with the turnovers. And it didn't

917
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:28,560
Speaker 4: happen right They had Sam Donald was able to protect

918
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:29,879
Speaker 4: the ball and they were able to force a ton

919
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:32,759
Speaker 4: of turnovers last year. This fighting's defense, So we can

920
00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:35,040
Speaker 4: agree this is part of their scheme with Brian Flores,

921
00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:38,799
Speaker 4: Like he whatever he's running, it values attacking the ball

922
00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:43,800
Speaker 4: and getting turnovers. So yeah, looking at this team, it's

923
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,200
Speaker 4: to me the probably the best value bet in this

924
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:49,640
Speaker 4: division because of the unknown of JJ McCarthy. And I

925
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:53,040
Speaker 4: know it sounds crazy to do. He was one twenty

926
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:55,919
Speaker 4: to one to win MVP. He's down to eighty to one.

927
00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:58,200
Speaker 4: I still don't hate it, and I know again it

928
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:00,880
Speaker 4: sounds crazy, but you have to look from the standpoint

929
00:46:00,920 --> 00:46:05,239
Speaker 4: of in the NFL, this happens all the time, where

930
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:08,640
Speaker 4: a guy misses a year or whatever, someone's ahead of him,

931
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:11,879
Speaker 4: like Mahomes with Alex Smith and that year two when

932
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,759
Speaker 4: they come in and start, there's no tape on them

933
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,160
Speaker 4: to prepare. These other teams can't adjust to it during

934
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:20,200
Speaker 4: the season and they can have an incredible season and

935
00:46:20,239 --> 00:46:24,600
Speaker 4: a line's up for them where they have Hockinson, Aaron Jones,

936
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 4: justin Jefferson, all these incredible weapons on offense with a

937
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 4: top five offensive line.

938
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,279
Speaker 3: That if JJ is legit, this kid, who all he

939
00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:33,520
Speaker 3: did in.

940
00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:35,040
Speaker 4: High school is win if you go back and look

941
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:38,320
Speaker 4: at his stats, just an incredible winner gets the Michigan

942
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,719
Speaker 4: same thing. And our biggest question was can this kid

943
00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:42,359
Speaker 4: throw the ball?

944
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:45,080
Speaker 3: Like hardball? Wouldn't let him pass the ball?

945
00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:47,920
Speaker 4: So right there, it's tons of red flags, and now

946
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:50,879
Speaker 4: we're seeing with koc who's opening it up for him.

947
00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:52,920
Speaker 3: The kids got hell of an arm. It's all about

948
00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:54,920
Speaker 3: the confidence and he can believe in his own talent.

949
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 4: So that's why again I'm still all in an alliance

950
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:01,680
Speaker 4: on this division because I still think this team feels

951
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:03,319
Speaker 4: like a year away, But.

952
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:06,520
Speaker 3: I see the light. I see why pros.

953
00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:07,839
Speaker 4: Have been hyping up this team and talking about them

954
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:10,600
Speaker 4: for the last six months now. Because if JJ is

955
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:12,960
Speaker 4: that guy and he can do what Sam Donald did

956
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:17,600
Speaker 4: last year, adding his athleticism and you know, be naive.

957
00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:20,440
Speaker 4: Like that's the key too, is he doesn't know any different, right,

958
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:22,759
Speaker 4: This kid is so naive coming to this league. He

959
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:24,960
Speaker 4: hasn't gone through all the bullshit that Sam Donald did.

960
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:25,080
Speaker 3: That.

961
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:27,319
Speaker 4: I mean, we can both admit that caught up to

962
00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:29,759
Speaker 4: whatever that mental thing is caught up to Sam in

963
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:30,839
Speaker 4: Detroit in the Ram.

964
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:35,600
Speaker 2: That mental thing is called ghosts and interior pressure. That's

965
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:36,160
Speaker 2: all it is.

966
00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:38,040
Speaker 4: We all have that inner monologue, like we all that

967
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:42,040
Speaker 4: self doubt. And that's the hope with JJ is he's

968
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,560
Speaker 4: the puppet, has never been hit. He's got the good life, right,

969
00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:46,320
Speaker 4: he's at the owner that loves him like he's only

970
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:49,600
Speaker 4: been smoke blowing up his ass. Tot out Grady is, Hey,

971
00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:52,439
Speaker 4: we got rid of Sam Donald because this is your team.

972
00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:55,439
Speaker 3: This is all you lead us to the promised land.

973
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:58,280
Speaker 4: So to me, it's lined up for this team and

974
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:00,880
Speaker 4: at eight and a half wins, I hate it. I

975
00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 4: wanted to fade this team so bad. I have to

976
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:06,160
Speaker 4: take the over cause it's like if this kid's legit

977
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:07,600
Speaker 4: with a stacked.

978
00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:09,360
Speaker 3: Defense and a stacked offense.

979
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:12,439
Speaker 4: This could be a really really tough team to get out,

980
00:48:12,560 --> 00:48:15,520
Speaker 4: so again, brutally hard division.

981
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:16,640
Speaker 3: That's why I'm not going all in.

982
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:18,279
Speaker 4: Like to me, the biggest bet I've made is the

983
00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:21,040
Speaker 4: Lion so far went total wise, but it's like eight

984
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,239
Speaker 4: and a half. They should just be the same as

985
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:24,880
Speaker 4: Green Bay. They should be nine and a half. Like

986
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:26,320
Speaker 4: they should not be eight and a half. There should

987
00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:28,319
Speaker 4: be a nine and a half win total because we've

988
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,520
Speaker 4: seen time and time again like a team like them that,

989
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:34,080
Speaker 4: you know what, they win fourteen games last year? Is

990
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:36,040
Speaker 4: that really that big of a drop off going from

991
00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,279
Speaker 4: JJ from Sam Donald to JJ. I don't think there is.

992
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:42,520
Speaker 4: I think it really is scheme debates. So last year

993
00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:46,839
Speaker 4: I believe it was fluky in some ways, but come on,

994
00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:49,360
Speaker 4: they were gonna get to ten or eleven wins, like

995
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:51,680
Speaker 4: even with Sam playing out of his mind all this

996
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:54,000
Speaker 4: fourth quarters. This was a complete team last year. And

997
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:57,520
Speaker 4: you just said it. They've added pieces this offseason to

998
00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:01,399
Speaker 4: this team because they're paying a rookie quarterback, so it's

999
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:03,160
Speaker 4: lined up for this team, right. They brought in Jordan

1000
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:04,960
Speaker 4: Mason to be their red zone running back as well,

1001
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:07,719
Speaker 4: So yeah, people can tell I'm I've been around a

1002
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:09,840
Speaker 4: lot of Viking truthers these last couple of months, and

1003
00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:12,760
Speaker 4: it's it's been picking away me. I've I've been holding strong.

1004
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:16,640
Speaker 4: But once I've watched tape on him from their their practices,

1005
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:18,480
Speaker 4: and once I've read the be writers, It's like, Okay,

1006
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,120
Speaker 4: this kid, I can't keep denying it. He might actually

1007
00:49:21,120 --> 00:49:24,280
Speaker 4: have the goods, because that's that's the fear is betting.

1008
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,160
Speaker 4: Like chat I talked about, this kid is totally unknown.

1009
00:49:26,840 --> 00:49:30,879
Speaker 4: I'm betting on preseason hype, which is never good. But again,

1010
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:32,600
Speaker 4: I'm not heavily invested. I still think the Lines are

1011
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:34,600
Speaker 4: the best team this division. I just out of the

1012
00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:38,880
Speaker 4: Green Bay Bears Vikings Trio. I do put the Vikings

1013
00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:39,480
Speaker 4: at number two.

1014
00:49:40,200 --> 00:49:44,680
Speaker 1: I watch a lot of Chase Daniel, the ex quarterback.

1015
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:46,400
Speaker 2: He's got a great YouTube.

1016
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:48,319
Speaker 1: Channel where he breaks down quarterbacks and he does it

1017
00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:52,319
Speaker 1: on TikTok too. The three quarterbacks he has spent the

1018
00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:54,719
Speaker 1: most time on pointing out.

1019
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:56,520
Speaker 2: Like, oh this guy's good.

1020
00:49:57,320 --> 00:49:57,880
Speaker 3: Are you ready?

1021
00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:03,440
Speaker 2: One cam Ward, which you've been on for months?

1022
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:10,440
Speaker 1: Two JJ McCarthy, three, Caleb Williams.

1023
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:11,880
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1024
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:16,760
Speaker 1: So let's talk about the Bears for a second, because

1025
00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:20,439
Speaker 1: their division is four fifty Conference sixteen to one, Super

1026
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:22,680
Speaker 1: Bowl thirty to one, win total eight and a half. Reminder,

1027
00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:26,600
Speaker 1: NFC North is the only division that has all four

1028
00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:28,239
Speaker 1: teams with win totals of eight and a half or

1029
00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:31,960
Speaker 1: higher and Super Bowl odds of thirty or shorter.

1030
00:50:33,440 --> 00:50:35,640
Speaker 2: That's how good people expect this division to be.

1031
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:37,960
Speaker 1: It's a little bit like if it was last year

1032
00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:41,080
Speaker 1: or two years ago that was the AFC North where

1033
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:44,239
Speaker 1: the Browns, the Bengals, the Steelers, and the Ravens were

1034
00:50:44,239 --> 00:50:46,040
Speaker 1: all over eight and a half.

1035
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:48,640
Speaker 2: So look the Bears.

1036
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:56,120
Speaker 1: Anyone would argue highest ceiling, lowest floor because their combination

1037
00:50:56,239 --> 00:51:01,080
Speaker 1: of new coach and relatively new quarterback is so unknown

1038
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:06,400
Speaker 1: and so loaded with potential and no QB. We just

1039
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:09,919
Speaker 1: talked to Seth about it has been examined more during

1040
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:13,120
Speaker 1: the preseason. You asked Seth two questions. They were both

1041
00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:17,160
Speaker 1: about Caleb Williams's mental state. No quarterback has been more

1042
00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:21,480
Speaker 1: examined during the preseason, for missing the net on accuracy

1043
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:24,759
Speaker 1: drills to looking like a Hall of Famer on an

1044
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:26,880
Speaker 1: opening drive of the preseason. I was in Vegas all

1045
00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,560
Speaker 1: last week. I got home later in the afternoon evening

1046
00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:34,399
Speaker 1: on Saturday night. Got home just in time to turn

1047
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:38,439
Speaker 1: on the Bears playing the Bills, and like I turned

1048
00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:43,719
Speaker 1: it on at ten after eight, that first drive, the

1049
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:49,640
Speaker 1: crowd was so insane. Caleb was so good, dropping back,

1050
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:58,960
Speaker 1: quick decisions, laser throws, no hesitation whatsoever, and then that

1051
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:03,360
Speaker 1: defense and that crowd. It felt like it was Bears

1052
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:08,160
Speaker 1: football in January. Right, That's how starved people in Chicago

1053
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:12,080
Speaker 1: are for a team that can perform at a halfway

1054
00:52:12,640 --> 00:52:16,040
Speaker 1: decent level. But just because Ben Johnson has been a

1055
00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:19,680
Speaker 1: coordinator doesn't mean he will be a genius head coach. Right,

1056
00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:21,960
Speaker 1: And as much as I think the defense has gotten

1057
00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:24,560
Speaker 1: so much better in personnel, in coaching, and the offensive

1058
00:52:24,600 --> 00:52:30,319
Speaker 1: line is so much better, Joe Toney, Drew Dahlman, I

1059
00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:33,960
Speaker 1: really worry about this team because this sket is such

1060
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:37,560
Speaker 1: a mix of high and low. They get the Saints,

1061
00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:41,440
Speaker 1: but they get the Eagles, they get the Giants, but

1062
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:44,120
Speaker 1: they get the Ravens. Then they get the Lions, Packers,

1063
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:47,719
Speaker 1: and Vikings twice, including opening the season with the Vikings

1064
00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:52,320
Speaker 1: and Lions. And by the way, the team that crushed

1065
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:56,400
Speaker 1: their soul and mine on a live podcast, the Washington

1066
00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:58,640
Speaker 1: Commanders in.

1067
00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:02,239
Speaker 2: Week three eight and a half, Like.

1068
00:53:03,680 --> 00:53:06,759
Speaker 1: Seems like a tall order for a team where if

1069
00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:10,319
Speaker 1: they got to seven or eight, I think it would

1070
00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:12,440
Speaker 1: be a massive, massive success.

1071
00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:15,480
Speaker 3: And that's what I happened. I had him at a wins.

1072
00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:17,600
Speaker 4: So I am towards the under here, but I didn't

1073
00:53:17,600 --> 00:53:20,719
Speaker 4: bet the under. I'm honestly leaning towards the over just

1074
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:25,480
Speaker 4: because of what you talked about, that that Ben Johnson upgrade.

1075
00:53:25,520 --> 00:53:27,840
Speaker 4: And we talked to the phone last night and I

1076
00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:30,960
Speaker 4: told you what got me really fired up wasn't the

1077
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:35,520
Speaker 4: touchdown pass, obviously, was the misdirection and having your second

1078
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:38,400
Speaker 4: tight end, Clement running thirty yards down the field in

1079
00:53:38,520 --> 00:53:41,640
Speaker 4: stride Caleb Hittingham, And like, that's that's what I want

1080
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:43,400
Speaker 4: to see out of a Ben Johnson offense, is the

1081
00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:46,760
Speaker 4: misdirection and a thirty yard bomb down the middle tier tight.

1082
00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:48,880
Speaker 3: End, because that's what makes him so special. It's like

1083
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:49,920
Speaker 3: you need.

1084
00:53:49,719 --> 00:53:51,799
Speaker 4: Someone to think differently when everyone else is thinking the same,

1085
00:53:51,840 --> 00:53:54,000
Speaker 4: and that's what makes Ben so unique and special. And

1086
00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,600
Speaker 4: I told you a month ago it was going to

1087
00:53:57,680 --> 00:54:00,759
Speaker 4: be ugly early on with Kayleb because Ben is such

1088
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:02,960
Speaker 4: a psycho and if you're not running it right, he's

1089
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:05,520
Speaker 4: gonna make you run it again. And again and again,

1090
00:54:05,719 --> 00:54:08,000
Speaker 4: and you're gonna hate them, you're gonna resent them, you're

1091
00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:10,760
Speaker 4: gonna get pissed off about it. But that's his style

1092
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:15,440
Speaker 4: because he wants perfection. And you know, Caleb, like we

1093
00:54:15,480 --> 00:54:17,480
Speaker 4: talked about, the reason I was asking Seth so much

1094
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:20,279
Speaker 4: about KiB is because I'm a believer in Caleb. Like

1095
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:22,879
Speaker 4: I've followed him obvious since he's in high school. I've

1096
00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:24,680
Speaker 4: heard about this kid in the DC area. I've been

1097
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:27,920
Speaker 4: following him this whole run, and every step of the

1098
00:54:27,960 --> 00:54:30,920
Speaker 4: way I've agreed with the other pundits of now, this

1099
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:33,839
Speaker 4: kid is the once in a generational talent. He's one

1100
00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:36,959
Speaker 4: of a kind, and he's coming to the league, and

1101
00:54:37,200 --> 00:54:40,640
Speaker 4: there was flashes of it. People already are bearing them,

1102
00:54:40,719 --> 00:54:43,360
Speaker 4: leaving them for dead, right, they already had. Jamie Daniels

1103
00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:46,560
Speaker 4: is by far the best quarterback in that class, and

1104
00:54:46,920 --> 00:54:49,160
Speaker 4: maybe Drake may is even better than Caleb Williams. And that,

1105
00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:52,680
Speaker 4: to me is just the overactionary of d NFL and

1106
00:54:52,719 --> 00:54:55,759
Speaker 4: the general public. And I always say, two to three years, right,

1107
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:57,440
Speaker 4: that's what you should give these rookie kubis is a

1108
00:54:57,480 --> 00:54:59,879
Speaker 4: two to three year window before you really start making

1109
00:54:59,920 --> 00:55:03,120
Speaker 4: the this type of proclamations. And you know, when I

1110
00:55:03,160 --> 00:55:06,520
Speaker 4: watched Caleb, I saw the flashes of why he is

1111
00:55:06,600 --> 00:55:09,680
Speaker 4: so great. But that's what I was asking Saith about

1112
00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:12,799
Speaker 4: his mental makeup, was there's so many things he did

1113
00:55:12,920 --> 00:55:15,200
Speaker 4: last year that, yes, the coaching staff failed him in

1114
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:18,600
Speaker 4: many ways, but Caleb was failing in many ways. And

1115
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:20,719
Speaker 4: we all can agree that we saw what happened after

1116
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:24,000
Speaker 4: that Washington game that they completely you know, caved in

1117
00:55:24,040 --> 00:55:26,120
Speaker 4: on themselves, and that all really started with him. He's

1118
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:27,839
Speaker 4: just that's why I wanted to know if he can

1119
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:30,279
Speaker 4: he be a leader of men, because this isn't you know,

1120
00:55:30,360 --> 00:55:32,839
Speaker 4: little kids shit anymore. Like these are grown as men

1121
00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:36,040
Speaker 4: looking for him for leadership in these dark moments, and

1122
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:38,040
Speaker 4: can he do that and be that personality type?

1123
00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:41,480
Speaker 3: So you know, when I dive into your guys roster,

1124
00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:43,520
Speaker 3: the talent is there.

1125
00:55:43,680 --> 00:55:45,880
Speaker 4: And I do think the defense right now is probably

1126
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:48,279
Speaker 4: ahead of the offense in some ways because you know,

1127
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:50,440
Speaker 4: they have attacked that unit in a lot of ways,

1128
00:55:50,480 --> 00:55:53,359
Speaker 4: and you know, we still have questions about even though

1129
00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:55,480
Speaker 4: they spend money and they've attacked the offensive line, there's

1130
00:55:55,480 --> 00:55:57,480
Speaker 4: still questions about the offensive line in some ways. So

1131
00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:00,000
Speaker 4: you know, not enough I can get at a training camp.

1132
00:56:00,120 --> 00:56:04,200
Speaker 4: But I I if I'm a Bears fan, this is

1133
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:07,160
Speaker 4: excited as I've been since that Mitch Trubisky year.

1134
00:56:07,200 --> 00:56:08,479
Speaker 3: That year too, where you know.

1135
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:11,920
Speaker 4: I think Chad even bet the fifty to one Trubisky

1136
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:15,640
Speaker 4: MVP odds because I get it though, Like that's the

1137
00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:17,680
Speaker 4: trajectory of these quarterbacks. So that's what I think this

1138
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:20,120
Speaker 4: year is for this Bears team, right, this is the

1139
00:56:20,200 --> 00:56:23,240
Speaker 4: year before it, right, this is going to be which

1140
00:56:23,239 --> 00:56:25,440
Speaker 4: I just said, seven eight wins for this team this year.

1141
00:56:25,480 --> 00:56:28,319
Speaker 4: I think that would be a great first year for

1142
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:31,480
Speaker 4: this QB coach Combo, and that should be the expectations.

1143
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:31,759
Speaker 3: Now.

1144
00:56:32,400 --> 00:56:33,960
Speaker 4: You know, fans are always gonna want more. If you

1145
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:36,000
Speaker 4: guys start hot, right, Let's look at the schedule. If

1146
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:40,480
Speaker 4: you guys beat Minnesota, Detroit, lose a Dallas, and then

1147
00:56:40,520 --> 00:56:43,000
Speaker 4: beat Vegas, you're three and one head into that bye week.

1148
00:56:43,360 --> 00:56:45,040
Speaker 4: How do you not drink the kool aid? So that's

1149
00:56:45,040 --> 00:56:47,279
Speaker 4: why I like it's gonna be tough with Bears fans

1150
00:56:47,280 --> 00:56:51,160
Speaker 4: here where you know, the excitement might be so hard

1151
00:56:51,160 --> 00:56:53,120
Speaker 4: to pass on because it's great that you have the

1152
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:56,080
Speaker 4: Vikings in Detroit early on, because there's gonna be no

1153
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:59,120
Speaker 4: tape on Caleb in this offense, Like, you could beat

1154
00:56:59,120 --> 00:57:01,640
Speaker 4: these teams early on because there's nothing to really defend against.

1155
00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:04,440
Speaker 4: They don't know how to scheme against it. But me

1156
00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:06,200
Speaker 4: and Chad know this could easily go the other way

1157
00:57:06,200 --> 00:57:08,919
Speaker 4: that Caleb could look totally fucking lost from the bullet

1158
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:12,680
Speaker 4: start flying, and after the first fifteen scripted plays, it

1159
00:57:12,719 --> 00:57:15,120
Speaker 4: could get ugly really quick because this is a whole

1160
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:17,840
Speaker 4: new scheme for this Bears team with a young team,

1161
00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:21,480
Speaker 4: So with all that unknown, that is why I like

1162
00:57:21,560 --> 00:57:25,320
Speaker 4: this Bear's team. But you know, I'm just I can't

1163
00:57:25,360 --> 00:57:28,160
Speaker 4: bet this over. I can't bet their divisionalids. I can't

1164
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:30,920
Speaker 4: really do anything with them here because it's like what

1165
00:57:31,040 --> 00:57:33,160
Speaker 4: am I investing in. I get why there's more confidence

1166
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:35,680
Speaker 4: in these pros betting the vikings there is in this

1167
00:57:35,800 --> 00:57:38,760
Speaker 4: Bears team because I think there's just a little fear

1168
00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:41,280
Speaker 4: of Caleb Williams and his mental makeup right now by

1169
00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:43,680
Speaker 4: most better. So it's I'm really excited to see what

1170
00:57:43,680 --> 00:57:46,200
Speaker 4: this teams like and how Caleb, you know, handles this

1171
00:57:46,280 --> 00:57:48,800
Speaker 4: year because to me, he didn't once go to the

1172
00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:51,520
Speaker 4: media and talk shit about anybody last year, and that

1173
00:57:51,720 --> 00:57:54,520
Speaker 4: was so impressive. To me, But Caleb, I know again,

1174
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:57,200
Speaker 4: Seth just said it because has been trained to how

1175
00:57:57,200 --> 00:57:59,360
Speaker 4: to talk to the media since he was fifteen years old.

1176
00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:02,360
Speaker 4: But that impressive, Like he had so many times he

1177
00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:04,720
Speaker 4: could have broke and shifted blame to the ownership that

1178
00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:07,560
Speaker 4: had coaches to all that bullshit last year, and he

1179
00:58:07,680 --> 00:58:09,720
Speaker 4: just kept eating it, owning it and moving on to

1180
00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:12,280
Speaker 4: the next year. So as we say here right now

1181
00:58:12,280 --> 00:58:14,800
Speaker 4: in mid August, if I was a bear saying, I'd

1182
00:58:14,800 --> 00:58:17,880
Speaker 4: be so excited about this upcoming season and the future

1183
00:58:17,920 --> 00:58:20,200
Speaker 4: because you have all the pieces. You just need to

1184
00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:21,720
Speaker 4: go out there and see him have the growing pains

1185
00:58:21,720 --> 00:58:25,320
Speaker 4: this upcoming season. This is not super Bowl divisional win season.

1186
00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:28,120
Speaker 4: This is growing pains. If you can get in as

1187
00:58:28,120 --> 00:58:31,040
Speaker 4: a seventh or sixth seed, that's a great season. Such

1188
00:58:31,040 --> 00:58:34,080
Speaker 4: a hard division. So yeah, really excited obviously about disbarassing,

1189
00:58:34,200 --> 00:58:36,080
Speaker 4: but I can't get there in over eight and a half.

1190
00:58:36,080 --> 00:58:37,400
Speaker 3: That's just too much in this division.

1191
00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:43,120
Speaker 1: This is how I'm living my life right now, in

1192
00:58:43,240 --> 00:58:52,040
Speaker 1: sort of existential dread on a variety of platforms, my

1193
00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:58,400
Speaker 1: younger son leaving for college. I'm breaking down every I

1194
00:58:58,440 --> 00:59:01,240
Speaker 1: walked the dog this morning and I was envisioning drop

1195
00:59:01,320 --> 00:59:03,320
Speaker 1: off and realizing, oh my god, he's not gonna be

1196
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:06,840
Speaker 1: home for the first Bears game, and like, my dog's

1197
00:59:06,840 --> 00:59:08,720
Speaker 1: taking a shit, I'm picking it up and I'm like

1198
00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:16,320
Speaker 1: just dropping tears on the grass. And on Saturday night,

1199
00:59:16,760 --> 00:59:20,800
Speaker 1: I watched that first Bears drive and I thought to myself,

1200
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:25,600
Speaker 1: what do we do after the first fifteen? It's exactly

1201
00:59:25,600 --> 00:59:27,960
Speaker 1: what I thought, all right, because he didn't He obviously

1202
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,840
Speaker 1: wasn't in for the second drive, and so immediately I

1203
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:33,360
Speaker 1: thought to myself, I think we'll be fine.

1204
00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:36,760
Speaker 2: And by the way, it's like, I'm so all in.

1205
00:59:36,840 --> 00:59:39,120
Speaker 1: I'm like, I think we'll be fine for the first fifteen,

1206
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:42,240
Speaker 1: but I don't know what we're gonna look like after that,

1207
00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:45,360
Speaker 1: when teams start to settle in and get a sense

1208
00:59:45,400 --> 00:59:46,920
Speaker 1: of who Caleb Williams.

1209
00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:50,960
Speaker 2: Is, I don't know yet. So I'm psyched, but I

1210
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:51,360
Speaker 2: don't know.

1211
00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:54,440
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I really that Monday night game, I

1212
00:59:54,480 --> 00:59:55,280
Speaker 4: really cannot wait.

1213
00:59:55,440 --> 00:59:58,680
Speaker 3: Just the JJ gonna be so good. Yeah, Caleb Williams,

1214
00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:00,480
Speaker 3: Like this might be the start of a ten to

1215
01:00:00,520 --> 01:00:03,360
Speaker 3: fifteen year matchup between these two quarterbacks. So I just

1216
01:00:03,720 --> 01:00:05,520
Speaker 3: these are the type of things is a football geek.

1217
01:00:05,600 --> 01:00:08,920
Speaker 4: I love to think about where it's just how exciting

1218
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:10,360
Speaker 4: this is that not that this is going to termin

1219
01:00:10,440 --> 01:00:14,120
Speaker 4: either of these team seasons, but holy shit that Tuesday

1220
01:00:14,240 --> 01:00:17,480
Speaker 4: morning in Chicago if they win or lose. That's that's

1221
01:00:17,480 --> 01:00:19,040
Speaker 4: what I live for, like that type of stuff with

1222
01:00:19,080 --> 01:00:19,640
Speaker 4: sports media.

1223
01:00:19,640 --> 01:00:20,480
Speaker 3: It's the best.

1224
01:00:20,560 --> 01:00:22,840
Speaker 2: Favorite bat from Simon, I think it's the Lions over

1225
01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:23,400
Speaker 2: ten and a half.

1226
01:00:23,560 --> 01:00:23,800
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1227
01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:25,120
Speaker 2: I was leaning.

1228
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:28,480
Speaker 1: Packers before I sort of started doing my notes, and

1229
01:00:28,520 --> 01:00:31,080
Speaker 1: then I started falling in love with the Lions at

1230
01:00:31,120 --> 01:00:33,840
Speaker 1: plus one and forty five, and then the conversation from

1231
01:00:33,920 --> 01:00:36,680
Speaker 1: you confirmed it. So I'm going with Lions plus one

1232
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:38,520
Speaker 1: forty five because I like getting plus money on this

1233
01:00:38,600 --> 01:00:42,440
Speaker 1: team to win the division. The Favorites will, oh, I.

1234
01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:44,600
Speaker 3: Just want to throw in there. JJ McCarthy eighty to

1235
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:47,120
Speaker 3: one day fun long shot.

1236
01:00:47,400 --> 01:00:50,160
Speaker 1: The Favorites will return with our next episode on Thursday

1237
01:00:50,240 --> 01:00:53,520
Speaker 1: on the Action Network YouTube page. When we talk AFC North,

1238
01:00:53,560 --> 01:00:57,680
Speaker 1: Download some Spotify Apple Pods wherever you get your pods, rate, review, subscribe,

1239
01:00:57,680 --> 01:00:58,320
Speaker 1: We was five stars.

1240
01:00:58,360 --> 01:00:59,800
Speaker 2: Say what do you want to see? Thank us aaf Until

1241
01:00:59,800 --> 01:01:11,840
Speaker 2: next time, Love you. Action Network reminds you please gamble

1242
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:14,960
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1243
01:01:15,000 --> 01:01:18,360
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