Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast, can't do any TikTok dancers.
Speaker 1: It's welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan ANSAs. I come to you from
Speaker 1: a virtual room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal, arms
Speaker 1: criss crossed, looks like he's ready for a confrontation, and
Speaker 1: the great Patrick claibn pitching for Mark Sessler under the
Speaker 1: Weather the ten Days Summer, I l I call it.
Speaker 1: How's everybody done? Yeah, we we send our our thoughts
Speaker 1: out to Mark is not He'll be back, you know,
Speaker 1: next next week. At some point we are back on
Speaker 1: the network next week. That's kind of like our hard deadline.
Speaker 1: This These are some in between weeks where we're we're
Speaker 1: intoing our way back into the flow, but not not
Speaker 1: quite a full schedule. Next week, I feel like is
Speaker 1: when we strap ourselves into the chair. For about seven months.
Speaker 1: Claib has been there though claybron is in a suit
Speaker 1: and tie right now, that's gonna be on NFL network.
Speaker 1: He hasn't really left the chair. Yeah, it's it's the
Speaker 1: same chair. I mean I occasionally go sit in a
Speaker 1: different chair, but but yeah, I hope Mark's doing all right.
Speaker 1: I know it's uh, you know, there's I just I
Speaker 1: do hope Mark's doing all right. Yeah, yeah, we'll we'll
Speaker 1: get marked back with us hopefully next time we all
Speaker 1: get together. And um, yes, you know we have taken
Speaker 1: a little bit more time off this summer, and uh,
Speaker 1: it's for a good reason and we feel good about it.
Speaker 1: And we appreciate you, the listeners, not giving us too
Speaker 1: much shite about it, uh, because I know sometimes that
Speaker 1: can happen, um, with listeners becoming wary of the podcasters
Speaker 1: not working as hard. We're still working as hard, but
Speaker 1: we're just getting a little bit of a blow and
Speaker 1: what's been a tumultuous last eighteen months. Um. And on
Speaker 1: that note, I've been looking for someone, uh and I
Speaker 1: really wish Mark was here for this, but I was
Speaker 1: looking for someone that could perfectly encapsulate um, how we're
Speaker 1: feeling this time of year as we look ahead to
Speaker 1: another season of the NFL football. And we found it
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Uh in my spirit animal Alec Baldwin take
Speaker 1: it away out. I try to take the summer off
Speaker 1: of my family, try not to work so we can
Speaker 1: go out and go to the beach and have a
Speaker 1: good time. Because work is sometimes long hours, crazy schedules
Speaker 1: and so forth, so we try to have the summer
Speaker 1: be or um available. Um. During that time, I don't
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time, um, you know, dogging every
Speaker 1: news story. I only do the deep dive on something
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting. I love I love me some
Speaker 1: Alec Baldwin. He's he is the most ridiculous person on
Speaker 1: earth right now in my opinion. UM, And I like
Speaker 1: to spend the summer with my family. That's those are
Speaker 1: my thoughts. Yeah, shout out to Alec Baldwin for having
Speaker 1: a family that he likes to he likes to spend
Speaker 1: time with. I do think right, It's it's applicable to
Speaker 1: you know, guys who worked really hard on a football
Speaker 1: podcast to take some time off away from a thing
Speaker 1: and caring about a game. Uh. I don't know how
Speaker 1: it applies to an actor like recognizing things that are
Speaker 1: happening on the planet. But yeah, you know the best
Speaker 1: part of that that dispatch was after he does that
Speaker 1: long run up explaining why he's staying off social media.
Speaker 1: While he's on social media, he then um says, but
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about this big story on
Speaker 1: Cobalt Cobalt that's out there right now. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: you might know about that, because in the world of
Speaker 1: Alec Baldwin, everyone that's watching Alec Baldwin has the same
Speaker 1: taste in New York Times think pieces and reporting as
Speaker 1: Alec Baldwin. It's a perfect cycle of Baldwin and I'm
Speaker 1: here for it. I just want to say, it has
Speaker 1: been a crazy um last eighteen months. But we're not
Speaker 1: you know, even if next year is a pretty smooth
Speaker 1: twelve months, We're not going back to the old schedule.
Speaker 1: We're not suddenly gonna keep cranking through this this this summer,
Speaker 1: a little bit of a break is something we're gonna
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep going. But this this this year especially,
Speaker 1: I mean, here's the good news. If you are getting
Speaker 1: a little restless at this point, we got a show
Speaker 1: for you today. Obviously, next week we're back to two
Speaker 1: shows a week and the network show returns. Uh. And
Speaker 1: then once we get to training camp, it's full go
Speaker 1: and there is no uh. There are no reverse gears
Speaker 1: in this tank. It's three shows a week leading up
Speaker 1: to the season, four shows a week once a week.
Speaker 1: One kicks off and we have the Thursday night uh
Speaker 1: Football Mini Pod, So we have you covered. Thank you
Speaker 1: for standing with us. Big show coming up today, the
Speaker 1: Superstar Club, Clay Von, you come in to pinch hit
Speaker 1: like show, Hey Otani and the biggest of all spots
Speaker 1: and you just walk into um It's Superstar Club episode
Speaker 1: of the Round the NFL Podcast Pinch yourself, buddy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna try to bring a fair amount of
Speaker 1: analysis and and perhaps criticism of the club and its
Speaker 1: entrance and the decision that goes in to both of
Speaker 1: those things, because it's it's an institution, dan um it is.
Speaker 1: It is something that that should be criticized, that should
Speaker 1: be held high as one of the pre eminent offseason pieces, uh,
Speaker 1: that that dot com has to offer checks in the
Speaker 1: mail head. Um, Yes, that's coming up, and uh, I
Speaker 1: think I've been doing it for like five years now,
Speaker 1: so uh it is something of a tradition on the site.
Speaker 1: And I look forward to asking you guys how you
Speaker 1: feel about my decisions this year. And yes, I do
Speaker 1: want that constructive criticism. It might even lead to a
Speaker 1: copy change, you know, I'm you haven't filed yet. I
Speaker 1: have filed the rough copy to Ali bun Pari and
Speaker 1: the original content gang. But it doesn't mean they can't
Speaker 1: be changes if I'm very wrong about something. Uh. But
Speaker 1: before we get to that, let's get caught up on
Speaker 1: the news. It's the teenager tokay Osaka, one of the
Speaker 1: youngest players ever to play the European Championship. He's gonna
Speaker 1: school here to keep England alive. He doesn't know Champions Europe.
Speaker 1: They do it in a shoot. They did it the
Speaker 1: hard way. He hired off to terminates it off to
Speaker 1: penalties in England foiled again. Oh trats. Italy defeated England
Speaker 1: an extra time to claim the euro Final, even though
Speaker 1: it's one uh. They lost on penalty kicks three to two,
Speaker 1: crushing loss for England. UM. I watched the match because
Speaker 1: I get in. I get into these like big time things,
Speaker 1: especially UM with England involved. UM and I went to
Speaker 1: a local bar and it was so packed to the
Speaker 1: gills boys that I was being denied entrance. And that's
Speaker 1: when a hero, an honorary hero, tapped me on the shoulder,
Speaker 1: who was a man named Corey from San Diego, a
Speaker 1: Chargers fan and a huge fan of our show. And
Speaker 1: he invited me to sit at his table filled with
Speaker 1: England native people from England on on his wife's side.
Speaker 1: So Corey and his lovely wife had me at their
Speaker 1: table and watched the match and it was just a
Speaker 1: bummer how it ended. But it was exciting and soccer
Speaker 1: is good. I must say soccer is good and hear
Speaker 1: the bar. Congratulations to UH football for clearing the hands.
Speaker 1: I mean some UK listeners might you know, take issue
Speaker 1: with you playing that moment. It would be like me,
Speaker 1: you know, playing the Grand Slam from Game seven of
Speaker 1: the two thousand four Alcs, you know, Red Sox Yankees,
Speaker 1: like right as you, right in the middle of like
Speaker 1: a totally different show. But what those you keep UK
Speaker 1: people don't understand is it's not all about you. We
Speaker 1: got Italian listeners too, and there was a great moment
Speaker 1: for those Italian listeners. So it's it's too bad. Um.
Speaker 1: That was a tough one. That was a one even
Speaker 1: if you had nothing at steak. That was a tough
Speaker 1: one for my entire family to watch. You had nothing
Speaker 1: at steak whatsoever. And it's just like whichever team was
Speaker 1: gonna lose that that's brutal. Yeah, it's the nature of
Speaker 1: of of of p k's right, Um, that it it
Speaker 1: makes it like that, And uh, it's something I always
Speaker 1: say with regards to a sometimes the ball just doesn't
Speaker 1: go in right, and we try to ascribe all these
Speaker 1: other things to like, oh what, Sometimes it just it
Speaker 1: doesn't go in. And that's one of the things about
Speaker 1: sports that's not rubbing it in. Greg. This is the
Speaker 1: news portion of the show. That was huge news. Um.
Speaker 1: And you know, I when they when they got pale
Speaker 1: salt like a knife in the chest to some people
Speaker 1: who are trying to get over it, I'm sure, I
Speaker 1: mean this, this is just this is the news, Greg,
Speaker 1: And then this is part of the news. It was
Speaker 1: a big sports story. And when England beat Denmark an
Speaker 1: extra time to advance to the finals, Um, I think
Speaker 1: I had a daddy had a couple of Tito's in
Speaker 1: him and I went on Twitter and and I posted
Speaker 1: the English flag emoji and that was a total storm.
Speaker 1: We had a lot of England fans saying that they
Speaker 1: loved me for it, and then a lot of people
Speaker 1: just filled with rage. And it really gave me a
Speaker 1: lot of perspective on what's going on and where England
Speaker 1: fits in in the world of international soccer. They seem
Speaker 1: like a team people love to watch suffer, kind of
Speaker 1: like the Cowboys in the NFL. Here, and it's been
Speaker 1: over fifty years since they've won a major tournament, like
Speaker 1: like the euro Cup tweet that said they were the
Speaker 1: Boston of Europe, which you know in terms of sports fans,
Speaker 1: and that was like, that's that's pretty good. That's gonna
Speaker 1: stick in my head there. Yeah, and and it's I
Speaker 1: just want to say to all those people that are
Speaker 1: angry with me, people saying they're on following me, not
Speaker 1: listening to a podcast anymore. First of all, calmdown, pull
Speaker 1: it together. Uh. Second of all, you need to understand
Speaker 1: this and a lot of people spent there are Irish
Speaker 1: fans getting on me because they know that I have
Speaker 1: Irish heritage my mother's side and Ireland and England. It's
Speaker 1: a tough sitch over there, but you haven't understand like
Speaker 1: we have a very good relationship with the English. Uh,
Speaker 1: They've always been Everyone in that country has been exceedingly
Speaker 1: nice to us in this show. So that's why I
Speaker 1: was rooting for for the team, and it's unfortunate they
Speaker 1: didn't get it done because I feel like Italy has
Speaker 1: had plenty of glory. Uh, England was due but it
Speaker 1: didn't work out. Sorry, everybody, Italian fans, let us know
Speaker 1: you're out there. You know, there's gotta be a few.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to it. We'll start with Um.
Speaker 1: Bad news for the Kansas City Chiefs. Los Angeles prosecutors
Speaker 1: on Friday charged chief's defensive end Frank Clark with one
Speaker 1: felony weapons violation, stemming from his arrest on March thirteenth
Speaker 1: by the California Highway Patrol. Uh. The twenty eight year
Speaker 1: old Clark um was with another man when officers said
Speaker 1: they found two loaded firearms in the vehicle after a
Speaker 1: traffic stop. Uh. This is a big time issue now. Uh.
Speaker 1: It's it's a heavy charge facing Clark, and it really
Speaker 1: does put um a lot of question marks around him.
Speaker 1: And he's a key figure greg for this team. He is.
Speaker 1: He's do eighteen um point five million dollars this season.
Speaker 1: He could be played paid, you know, placed on a
Speaker 1: paid leave list if the commissioner wanted to do that.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a guy who I think, if you
Speaker 1: just look at the production overall, hasn't quite been worth
Speaker 1: this huge you know deal that they got for him. Uh.
Speaker 1: In the first place. So it's hard to guess. We've
Speaker 1: been a wrong over the years guessing what the NFL
Speaker 1: is going to do in terms of punishment. But it
Speaker 1: would seem to be it would seemed to be obvious
Speaker 1: that some is coming. It's just a matter of how much.
Speaker 1: And it depends on There's so many variables, right, because
Speaker 1: you take individual state laws into consideration, right, Um, there
Speaker 1: are two people in the car um, you know, who's
Speaker 1: bearing responsibility for which individual weapons? What was the circumstance
Speaker 1: of the traffic stop? Um, It would it would seem
Speaker 1: to make sense to have one blanket NFL weapons rule,
Speaker 1: but then can you really do that? So what what
Speaker 1: position is the NFL in with regards to you know,
Speaker 1: fifty states, uh, you know, a world of municipalities with
Speaker 1: regards to how they handle weapons charges, um, And so
Speaker 1: there's you would like to have uniformity, but then you
Speaker 1: recognize that there can't be uniformity, and so like, what
Speaker 1: position does the NFL actually want to take? Like we
Speaker 1: saw a previous position with regards to to marijuana enforcement
Speaker 1: right where you know they change that and there's just
Speaker 1: you know, we're not necessarily testing for that anymore. Um,
Speaker 1: and so it's it's one of those things that's that's
Speaker 1: in the air. UM. But with regards to the way
Speaker 1: it impacts the team, I guess it's that classic situation.
Speaker 1: If they would like to pay him less or like
Speaker 1: to no longer have him on the team, then ultimately
Speaker 1: they're going to make that decision based on how he's playing. UM.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that that this reaches that that level
Speaker 1: of concern, right that his previous incidents, right involving violence
Speaker 1: against women uh or allegations of that uh in college.
Speaker 1: I don't think it reaches that that standard. Right, He's
Speaker 1: always had that in his background. He also, like you know,
Speaker 1: was a total jerk to put it lightly to like
Speaker 1: a female reporter on Twitter six years ago. I remember
Speaker 1: that very well. UM. So it does make you wonder
Speaker 1: about how the Chiefs view them. But then you look
Speaker 1: at their depth chart and you think the NFL is
Speaker 1: a cynical place where it's a sliding scale for um,
Speaker 1: how these legal things play out. You only have to
Speaker 1: look at tyreek Hill's contract to know that, and you
Speaker 1: look at their defensive end position without Frank Clark, and
Speaker 1: I would say it would be the worst in the
Speaker 1: entire NFL. So yeah, for Frank Clark like like is
Speaker 1: vital to this team, and that makes me think he'll
Speaker 1: beyond the team. That sliding scale applies to all realms
Speaker 1: of society, um, as unfortunate as that may be, including
Speaker 1: the criminal legal system in America right. Indeed, in other news,
Speaker 1: eight NFL teams have now exceeded the threshold for player vaccinations,
Speaker 1: the NFL Network reported on Tuesday. Monday was the NFL's
Speaker 1: deadline for players to get vaccinated to be cleared for
Speaker 1: full activity and avoid any restrictions when training camps open
Speaker 1: on July twenty seven. UM that same network report, um
Speaker 1: as of Monday, players league wide have had at least
Speaker 1: one vaccination shop, and that's up from six and at
Speaker 1: June report from ESPN. What do you take out of
Speaker 1: all this data, Claib, Yes, I am glad that it's
Speaker 1: at I wish it were higher, right. I think nationally
Speaker 1: we're hovering at about but the access to the vaccines
Speaker 1: isn't the same as it is uh in the NFL,
Speaker 1: so I think we should be higher than seventy. I
Speaker 1: would I would assume as as time goes on, we'll
Speaker 1: get closer to the threshold for everybody. But but I
Speaker 1: think it's a you know, if you would have asked
Speaker 1: me on on July, right, hey there's a vaccine and uh,
Speaker 1: seventy of the players have it, I would I would
Speaker 1: be in a much Uh that would have been some
Speaker 1: really good news a year ago. So I have to
Speaker 1: celebrate it. But it could be better even a month ago,
Speaker 1: because you know, Tom palisera who's you know, turned into
Speaker 1: the Woodward and Bernstein in terms of vaccination rate percentages,
Speaker 1: Like Clayban noticed like like the second it got like
Speaker 1: he's got like an alarm and alert every time it
Speaker 1: goes over like a new percentage. It got the sixty nine,
Speaker 1: that was a big that was a big deal. Now
Speaker 1: it's over number. Yeah, people do, and uh it was
Speaker 1: a month ago it was just climbing above fifty. So
Speaker 1: a lot of people got the message. A lot of
Speaker 1: players got the message when they've released all those rules
Speaker 1: of how tough life is going to be for unvaccinated players,
Speaker 1: and now suddenly eight teams are over and Dan you
Speaker 1: mentioned how in the MLB it's like three quarters of
Speaker 1: the team hit that number. So every team might not
Speaker 1: get there, but I would guess by the time camp starts,
Speaker 1: that number will be a lot higher even than eight teams.
Speaker 1: And when life is really difficult for the teams that
Speaker 1: don't clear the threshold, that's when you go to wonder
Speaker 1: what's going to be on on in those locker rooms
Speaker 1: amongst players who are vaccinated and who are not vaccinated.
Speaker 1: It's a thorny issue. It also crosses over out of
Speaker 1: sports into real life here in our country. UM, we'll
Speaker 1: keep an eye on it as we move forward. In
Speaker 1: other news, the Washington football team will continue to be
Speaker 1: known as the Washington football team through the season, but
Speaker 1: it's coming. The change is coming. If you're holding out
Speaker 1: thoughts and I don't get white people, I know Rosenthal's
Speaker 1: on this train and Mark is on about it. U oh'
Speaker 1: just keep it the Washington football team. Alright, that's that's fine.
Speaker 1: But let's be serious. They should have a nickname like
Speaker 1: everybody else. They don't get to be something special because
Speaker 1: they had a bad name before. Um, you don't get it.
Speaker 1: You don't get a W out of that. Um. If
Speaker 1: if you're saying it's a W, that's proven my point.
Speaker 1: If you think it's so cool, I mean, in your opinion,
Speaker 1: I don't even think it's cool. I'm saying some people
Speaker 1: think it's awesome just because I guess it's different. Just
Speaker 1: that's an opinion to it. But anyway, it's coming. The
Speaker 1: Washington Post says a new name and logo will be
Speaker 1: revealed an early next year. The team's colors will remain
Speaker 1: burgundy and gold, and it will not be the Warriors
Speaker 1: that apparently has been ruled out. And uh, that's fine,
Speaker 1: Washington Warriors. That sounds like a made up football team
Speaker 1: name in a bad nineties NFL team where the NFL
Speaker 1: movie where they couldn't get the rights to the logos
Speaker 1: and likenesses. We are we acent sure that they can't
Speaker 1: just keep the football team? Why do you? Why do
Speaker 1: you say that? Why can't Especially the report, I think
Speaker 1: I think it's coming. Greg. It's well, it said, yeah,
Speaker 1: they'll announce their permanent new team name. But I I
Speaker 1: I think the Washington football team could be the permanent
Speaker 1: new team name. Uh. And I think the results of
Speaker 1: this year it could be a factor to like if
Speaker 1: again I said this going into last year, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough to change. If they sort of have a
Speaker 1: like a magical surprise, like make the playoffs type of deal,
Speaker 1: and it was like, oh, look what happened. They didn't
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. Now if they go a step further,
Speaker 1: let's say they get to the NFC Championship or get
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl, I think I think that would
Speaker 1: help them keep it. And I think I think it
Speaker 1: could stay. Why why wouldn't that be an option? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's unanimous. Other than Dan, I think at this point
Speaker 1: then it's not unanimous. I've I've maintained it since like
Speaker 1: Week three last season. It grew and it's stuck. They
Speaker 1: had uh Ron Rivera went through his medical tribulations, Alex
Speaker 1: Smith had an incredible comeback, They made the playoffs. Uh
Speaker 1: they had some great moments. They'll do that again. I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be tough. I think it's to people
Speaker 1: are gonna get atch. Plus, it does the whole thing
Speaker 1: on like Pro Football Reference where for two years, like
Speaker 1: the team you know, it goes from one bad team name,
Speaker 1: then another and then another. It's like, that's that's confusing.
Speaker 1: What is this like the nineteen forties and the Boston
Speaker 1: Braves changing their name around. It's like, let's get over it.
Speaker 1: Let's just stick with this. Dan, What is it? What?
Speaker 1: What about? What about the name doesn't meet the qualifications
Speaker 1: for you? It's not a name? What do you mean
Speaker 1: what about the name? You can't You're not the Washington
Speaker 1: football team. That's the name. That's the name. That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Why because it's just it's not a name, it's a
Speaker 1: soccer teams have names like that all the time. And
Speaker 1: I understand why everybody's I guess it's like cool to
Speaker 1: say like this is this is the way they should be,
Speaker 1: because that's that's a hot take, I guess. But now
Speaker 1: it's I feel like it's been an avalanche of people
Speaker 1: saying that, and I still don't understand. No one as
Speaker 1: yet explained to me why that's actually cool. They just
Speaker 1: say it's cool. Why is it something that it should be?
Speaker 1: Is there? What am I missing? That that's something special
Speaker 1: that they're the Washington football team. It's it's unique, it's different,
Speaker 1: it's there the Washington football team. They had a legacy
Speaker 1: and a heritage that was tied to a race hull
Speaker 1: slur that needed to be changed. Uh. And in that
Speaker 1: process they came upon the Washington football team and Alex
Speaker 1: Smith came back from a broken leg. They handle things.
Speaker 1: Can we calm down about like the Washington football season
Speaker 1: being like this season will remember forever. It's It's simply
Speaker 1: not the case. Yeah, this is an organization that has
Speaker 1: whatever whatever the opposite of like you know, a great
Speaker 1: tradition is you know, I know they won some games,
Speaker 1: but you know, going back even just a month ago,
Speaker 1: it's continued the first ownership, you know, George Preston Marshall
Speaker 1: to this current ownership who just you know, got punished
Speaker 1: by the league. Not a bad So I do think that,
Speaker 1: you know, the Washington football team like the name it
Speaker 1: helps Wash. You know, it's like a new beginning. When
Speaker 1: did you happen to catch the news item last week
Speaker 1: about the Washington football team And that's what I just said, Well,
Speaker 1: that's true, that did happen that that happened when they
Speaker 1: were a new cleansing. I at what point do we
Speaker 1: cleanse every time there's a bad story in the news, Like,
Speaker 1: so once the team name changes, then it does actually
Speaker 1: cleanse everything. I think that's I think that's what they're hoping,
Speaker 1: that it's a turning of the I don't know. It
Speaker 1: makes me sick the whole thing, all right, Speaking of
Speaker 1: pro Football Reference. Yeah, yeah, God bless you Pro Football Reference.
Speaker 1: I've always loved you, and I loved your friends over
Speaker 1: a Pro Baseball References reference. Pro Basketball Reference does it
Speaker 1: great work as well. I'm sure there's a Pro Hockey
Speaker 1: Reference and a Pro this Reference and a Pro that Reference,
Speaker 1: But for me, Pro Football Reference is a bible if
Speaker 1: you cover this sport or just don't love the sport,
Speaker 1: because it has a detailed history, an incredible uh statistical breakdowns,
Speaker 1: and all sorts of history connected to our league. And
Speaker 1: with that in mind, did you know that the NFL
Speaker 1: only sanctioned the sack is an official statistic in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty two. That always seems so strange to me Night two,
Speaker 1: Like I was gonna make a Sessler age joke, but
Speaker 1: he's not here. I was gonna say he was graduating
Speaker 1: college that year, but he's not here. To get upset
Speaker 1: about it, but I said it anyway anyway, nineteen eighty two, um,
Speaker 1: which is crazy because NFL has been played for over
Speaker 1: a hundred years. UM. And even crazier, the NFL has
Speaker 1: the ability, if they so desire, to go back much
Speaker 1: further and actually figure out the accurate statistics for sack
Speaker 1: which is one of the most um popular um stats
Speaker 1: there is, and maybe the most popular staff there is
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball. So what Profitball
Speaker 1: Reference did is they went back to nineteen sixty and
Speaker 1: came up now with their own unofficial totals for sacks.
Speaker 1: And guess what, Michael Strahan, you don't got the record
Speaker 1: no more, Mikey, that bastardized record, the one that you
Speaker 1: took from New York Jet star Mark Gastineau, when you
Speaker 1: conspired with Brett Farve who slid at your feet in
Speaker 1: a meaningless week seventeen game twenty years ago to steal
Speaker 1: the sack record. Well, guess what. For the people that
Speaker 1: are in the know, that doesn't matter anymore. The sack
Speaker 1: record now belongs to the immortal Al Baker was rookie
Speaker 1: season with the Detroit Lions, had twenty three sacks and
Speaker 1: now joining us on the in the NFL podcast. Nobody knew,
Speaker 1: nobody knew, what a surprise it's Al Baker in the
Speaker 1: biggest of all spots. Al first of all, welcome to
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL Podcast, and congratulations on being the
Speaker 1: official sack champion for all time in the NFL. At
Speaker 1: least according to the people that know what the hell
Speaker 1: they're talking about. Al Baker Baby, Hey, hey man, thank
Speaker 1: you guys, thank you for having me on. Man you
Speaker 1: must have been where were you when you found this
Speaker 1: news out? And like, what was your what was your reaction?
Speaker 1: Are you finding this news out now? I don't know,
Speaker 1: and being the unofficial sack King, Well, you know, I
Speaker 1: I meditate on my patio under the condo on the
Speaker 1: tenth floor, and I was sitting out there and I
Speaker 1: never checked my emails or my chext until ten. For
Speaker 1: some reason, today I saw three one oh number and
Speaker 1: I thought it was a guy. I'm doing a script.
Speaker 1: I'm writing a script floor um, a legal drama series
Speaker 1: that you know during COVID, one of those things we
Speaker 1: all during COVID. I was creating a script and so
Speaker 1: I thought this was the guy that I've been working
Speaker 1: with because he's in Los Angeles. I opened it up
Speaker 1: and I thought, okay, all right, and then, for some reason,
Speaker 1: and I'm not kidding you, without any prompting tears, you
Speaker 1: started running down my eyes and my wife was inside.
Speaker 1: I opened up a patio dos and my wife first
Speaker 1: thing she said was, what's wrong? When I said, nothing's wrong,
Speaker 1: and I said, come look at this, and you know,
Speaker 1: we hugged and then I lost about an hour and
Speaker 1: a half, two hours. It just you know, my daughter
Speaker 1: h called, UM. It was really emotional for my family.
Speaker 1: You know. I guess at six ft eight, you know pounds,
Speaker 1: that doesn't sound really tough. But we're all crying like
Speaker 1: a little girls. You know. Somebody tells you you're the
Speaker 1: sad leader, and and what do you do? You start
Speaker 1: crying and and and I guess it's because none of
Speaker 1: us are really sad around like some players, and we
Speaker 1: want this and we want that. We hadn't thought about
Speaker 1: it for at least, you know, for at least. I'm
Speaker 1: not kidding your twenty years. You know, I spent twenty
Speaker 1: If nobody says anything after team years, getting the elected
Speaker 1: a couple of times, um, you know, an honorable mentions
Speaker 1: for the Hall of Fame, you just you just assume,
Speaker 1: and you said to yourself, move on, you know, And
Speaker 1: that's what I did. I just went on with my life.
Speaker 1: I'm not the only conversation that I would have was
Speaker 1: when people would come up to me and they would
Speaker 1: say they talked about Michael Strahand's twenty second and a
Speaker 1: half sacked. That was a problem for me the way
Speaker 1: that went out. One that was because Michael had a
Speaker 1: great year, you know, and and just to see that
Speaker 1: it had nothing to do with my three It just
Speaker 1: had to do it. Well, why does he need to
Speaker 1: do that? You know? Now? Now it's tame it in
Speaker 1: my opinion, And and that bothered me. Did you you
Speaker 1: know you did it as a key NFL defensive rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year. How disappointing was it that the sacks
Speaker 1: were not even tabulated until four years into your career,
Speaker 1: because in addition to it, it uh costing you some
Speaker 1: level of notoriety and maybe even the Hall of Fame. Financially,
Speaker 1: I'm sure it had an impact as well, because guys
Speaker 1: that sack quarterbacks get paid in the league and it
Speaker 1: wasn't recognized the way it is now. So you kind
Speaker 1: of missed the boat there. So in a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to hear it. First of all, how
Speaker 1: happy you are about it, But also do you look
Speaker 1: back with some regret about the way this all played out?
Speaker 1: But the status, the timing of it all. You know what,
Speaker 1: I believe in being honest, and I think at that
Speaker 1: point at twenty think about it, twenty years old and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, all this is going on. I
Speaker 1: am so relieved that I didn't get the kind of
Speaker 1: money that these guys got them because I was an
Speaker 1: idiot like all other twenty year old. You know, every
Speaker 1: time you think about a young man at the age
Speaker 1: of twenty or twenty one in the NFL getting in trouble,
Speaker 1: that's a baby, her baby. And if you remember the
Speaker 1: song you guys are too young, there was a song
Speaker 1: by David Bowie called Fame. I am just blessed to
Speaker 1: be able to say to you guys, I survived being famous.
Speaker 1: That's that's the thing that I'm most proud of. I've
Speaker 1: been there, I've done that. I've seen what it does
Speaker 1: to some people. And it's just for an example, I
Speaker 1: saw a player maybe about five years ago. His roster
Speaker 1: bonus was more than I made in my entire thirteen
Speaker 1: years and deepens running. And I don't want to mention
Speaker 1: his name because at the time he was at the
Speaker 1: peak and he deserved the new country. But he's been
Speaker 1: heard everything. If that were me when I was twenty,
Speaker 1: I might have brought myself a rocket ship who knows.
Speaker 1: I was just that goofy. You know, your baby, you
Speaker 1: just got out of college. You don't know how to
Speaker 1: how do you figure out who your friends are? How
Speaker 1: do you figure out, you know, when your family is
Speaker 1: calling you and asking for money. I mean, these are
Speaker 1: the real things that happened, because people figure, um, then
Speaker 1: you're rich. And I gotta tell you, guys, my rookie
Speaker 1: contract was twenty five thousand and twenty five thousand dollar bonus.
Speaker 1: It was five thirty two and two dollars. And that
Speaker 1: was a problem because I signed it and the Lions
Speaker 1: were not going to extend it or change it. You know.
Speaker 1: Anything I could do was make them trade. And that happened. No, no,
Speaker 1: no matter how much of the of the defensive league,
Speaker 1: that was the way the game was that good. And
Speaker 1: your final season in Detroit was two the first year
Speaker 1: the league kept SAX as an official stat And I
Speaker 1: just want everyone to know that you were a part
Speaker 1: of obviously the silver rush defense in Detroit, and you
Speaker 1: were the best pass rusher in the in the league
Speaker 1: at that time. And you're three seasons. First three seasons
Speaker 1: you had twenty three, sixteen and seventeen and a half
Speaker 1: sacks you led the league in seventy eight and eighty,
Speaker 1: even if it was unofficial. Um, just an unbelievable rear
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to have you on the show
Speaker 1: and congratulate you on this and and and just hope
Speaker 1: that maybe the NFL recognizes this because pro football references
Speaker 1: widely respected UH entity in the league, and you get
Speaker 1: what you deserve and maybe even get a jacket out
Speaker 1: of it when it's all said and done. Oh man,
Speaker 1: I'm all be glad, and I'm glad to be here
Speaker 1: and be real with you guys. I'm real comfortable with
Speaker 1: where I am right now and like to get that
Speaker 1: song by David Bowie. Not everybody to handle thing absolutely
Speaker 1: and you're you're in a McDonald's right now. Thank you
Speaker 1: for going the extra mile you stopped on the way.
Speaker 1: I mean, I consider myself someone who like pays attention
Speaker 1: to football history and stuff. So I'm really excited about
Speaker 1: this because I didn't know about your career that much.
Speaker 1: In fifty six and a half sacks in your first
Speaker 1: three years is absolutely insane Like that I would I'd
Speaker 1: love to go back and look to see that compared
Speaker 1: to anyone else My guests would be you came in
Speaker 1: with a bigger sack force than anyone in the history
Speaker 1: of the NFL. Eventually J. J. Watt like came in
Speaker 1: pretty strong, but he didn't do fifty six sacks in
Speaker 1: his first three years strong. So I'm I'm glad that
Speaker 1: the people know and you kept it going. A hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty one career sacks. It's it's an amazing achievement.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to learn about you today. Yeah, I was
Speaker 1: just gonna congratulate Al because I know you talked about
Speaker 1: the discrepancy in pay between now and then. What the
Speaker 1: owners and players and us right are making is is
Speaker 1: because of the work that you guys put in, uh
Speaker 1: and making the league what it is today. Um. And
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm glad that people and like Greg said,
Speaker 1: I've had a chance to to learn more about your
Speaker 1: career through this decision, uh from from Pro Football Reference
Speaker 1: and and just appreciating right uh that you you you
Speaker 1: sacked the quarterback while they had the ball, right you
Speaker 1: You tackled and that was the thing that added value
Speaker 1: and there was nothing keeping us as a league from
Speaker 1: recognizing those stats that happened before. Uh. So I'm glad
Speaker 1: that we're doing it today and I'm just glad that
Speaker 1: you're here. Um, and thanks, thanks for all the work
Speaker 1: you put in. I'm so flattered bout you guys. Thank
Speaker 1: you for having me on. I'm sorry about the delay
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, in any complications, but hey, guys,
Speaker 1: that's a part of like and yeah, that's what you
Speaker 1: prose us prose, that's what we do. We've worked through
Speaker 1: it and that's the essence of my career. Every year.
Speaker 1: The thirteen years was a different year. Beautiful, all right, Bubba, Well,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for joining us, and uh and
Speaker 1: best of luck to you going forward with everything, whether
Speaker 1: it's your screenplay project or Bubba's Boneless ribs, uh your
Speaker 1: business over there which you can check out Bubba's Boneless
Speaker 1: Ribs dot com. Thank you, my man, and congratulations twenty
Speaker 1: three baby. Thanks Al, Thanks there, he goes Al Baker.
Speaker 1: How about that? How about effort? About that? How about effort?
Speaker 1: How about that for a little surprise on today's Around
Speaker 1: the NFL podcast. Thanks for that surprise. Damn. Yeah that
Speaker 1: was amazing. Now I want to say this too, like
Speaker 1: I've so I have fun about that in the stray
Speaker 1: hand record and all that stuff, but uh and having
Speaker 1: having Alan was just gonna be something kind of fun
Speaker 1: playing off that. But then when he started talking about
Speaker 1: how much it meant to him, how he got choked
Speaker 1: up by it, it a makes a lot of sense,
Speaker 1: and uh, b was just really cool to have him
Speaker 1: uh share that with us. And I hope, um, I
Speaker 1: hope other people learn a bit more about Bubba Baker
Speaker 1: because he had a really big career hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: one sacks. It's a lot more than some some pass
Speaker 1: rushers that are in Canton. But just yeah, those looking
Speaker 1: at those the first three years, imagine I don't know,
Speaker 1: just imagine the profile of a guy who, uh, if
Speaker 1: he came into the league right now, went broke the
Speaker 1: record his rookie year one Rookie of the Year and
Speaker 1: then follow that up with sixteen sacks and then lead
Speaker 1: the league with seventeen and a half the year after that,
Speaker 1: imagine that guy's profile heading into year four. He'd be
Speaker 1: the biggest not you know, superstar in the entire league
Speaker 1: that doesn't play quarterbacks. It's pretty amazing. And all of
Speaker 1: these games were recorded. We have video evidence of everything
Speaker 1: that took place. Uh, there's nothing keeping us from doing that,
Speaker 1: from recognizing the guys who were integral uh in making
Speaker 1: the league what it is today, and and him telling
Speaker 1: the story of crying with his family, it hit me too,
Speaker 1: dan Um, you know who else are we? Who else
Speaker 1: is going underappreciated for their contributions just because we we
Speaker 1: we haven't adjusted some numbers around And I want to
Speaker 1: let them know. I want to let them know I'm
Speaker 1: a profile all Reference. I'm sure hopefully they hear this
Speaker 1: reaction too, because they did Yeoman's work, doing all the
Speaker 1: work to to find these numbers. Absolutely, and I I
Speaker 1: hope that it doesn't stop here. I hope that what
Speaker 1: prop Football Reference getting the ball rolling on this the NFL,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe there's some teamwork here and they can
Speaker 1: really fill in the gaps on these they can make
Speaker 1: it official. All right, let's wrap up the news. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be hard to top that, but let's wrap up
Speaker 1: the news with Ben Roethlisberger, who is entering what almost
Speaker 1: certainly is his final season, but who knows. In the NFL,
Speaker 1: he's thirty nine years old. He really did not play
Speaker 1: very well down the stretch for the Steelers, and a
Speaker 1: disappointing season for Pittsburgh after that eleven and no start. Uh.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of questions about Roethlisberger. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of questions about his offensive line. Uh. Here is
Speaker 1: the latest on the quarterback and this from Ryan Burr
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Ben Camp says biggest concern is weight loss.
Speaker 1: He has been so driven since the season ended. Source
Speaker 1: says has died. Is stricter than Brady. How about that?
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger's camp also said he's quote yep, here it comes
Speaker 1: in the best shape of his life. And that Roethlisberger, this,
Speaker 1: I do believe. Here's everything everything this is. This is
Speaker 1: like the second time this happened this off season, by
Speaker 1: the way, where like a local Pittsburgh Steelers guy was
Speaker 1: like being like, hey, you know, this is just my
Speaker 1: source talk and Ben Ben would never put this out
Speaker 1: there himself, but he's noticing everything you're saying this summer
Speaker 1: and just this source says, and you know Ben Ben
Speaker 1: would never, you know, want to put this out here himself,
Speaker 1: but this source says that he's taking his diet more
Speaker 1: seriously than Brady, Like how has been measuring that? Like
Speaker 1: is he does? He have a TV twelve book and
Speaker 1: he's like going one step beyond what the Brady method, Like,
Speaker 1: how does he know he's going one step beyond Brady?
Speaker 1: I mean when when people like throw out something like
Speaker 1: that's that big of an exaggeration, then you just start
Speaker 1: you start wondering what's true, what's true, what's too big?
Speaker 1: It could be possible, right if you read the TV
Speaker 1: twelve Diet. There's a copy in our locker room. There's
Speaker 1: some contradictions in there that it's like, wait, you can't
Speaker 1: do both of these things at the same time. So
Speaker 1: you could, I guess conceivably if you're going by the book, Uh,
Speaker 1: take your diet more seriously than Tom Brady. Uh. The
Speaker 1: question is why why is there a need to say that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you haven't been taking your diet seriously and that's the
Speaker 1: reason to blame for this. Or did you have you know,
Speaker 1: reconstructive elbow surgery uh at at an advanced age. Um,
Speaker 1: I do wonder what's the purpose of these things? And
Speaker 1: he did. He looked big, even by big bend standards
Speaker 1: by the end of last season. And I know this,
Speaker 1: and there's millions and millions of Americans. I know this.
Speaker 1: The struggle is real with having your weight under control.
Speaker 1: For a lot of people. And I think this is
Speaker 1: something that's gonna be tough for him, especially as he
Speaker 1: gets closer to forty, unless he completely changes his lifestyle. Um,
Speaker 1: but to use assesslersm he is a stone age pony
Speaker 1: right now in the pocket and sitting Dept. Duck and
Speaker 1: and and we're gonna bring up Big Ben a little
Speaker 1: bit later in our next segment, but he has to
Speaker 1: move better in the pocket if he's gonna survive the season,
Speaker 1: especially with that line. I like it just because in
Speaker 1: doing a little research, and by research, I mean just
Speaker 1: like checking Ryan Burr. This guy's his other tweets. He
Speaker 1: knows Ben Roethlisberger, like going back to high school, like
Speaker 1: he covered him in high school. And and so I
Speaker 1: just do like the idea that Ben has his closer
Speaker 1: friends in the media and he is getting the word
Speaker 1: out that one is Ben with a vengeance tour and
Speaker 1: that's like, that's fun. That's like a whether it had,
Speaker 1: whether it happens or not. I like it as a
Speaker 1: plot line because he is setting up this plot line
Speaker 1: as uh as someone who's you know, occasionally been a
Speaker 1: bit of a heel in terms of an underdog. We
Speaker 1: can all get behind right. I mean no, but I
Speaker 1: think sports needs uh, sports needs villains. I do. I
Speaker 1: do like him as a player. I do want to,
Speaker 1: you know, before we move very quickly to give a
Speaker 1: rest in peace to Alex Gibbs, the former Broncos offensive
Speaker 1: line coach, just because he, you know, starting those zone
Speaker 1: running schemes with the Broncos back in the eighties truly
Speaker 1: influenced the future of the NFL in a schematic way.
Speaker 1: You know, more than a lot of like head coaches,
Speaker 1: like more than them that are in the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fames or something. You can see the impact of what
Speaker 1: Alex Gibs did, not that he was the first person
Speaker 1: ever to do zone blocking, but the way he did
Speaker 1: it in such such a way that turned the Broncos
Speaker 1: into a juggernaut. You see it, You still see it.
Speaker 1: You see it all around the league, and it's because
Speaker 1: of him. Yeah, any innovation, right that opens up opportunity
Speaker 1: for players who don't traditionally get it. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: the way that we evaluate lineman and look at that,
Speaker 1: you can definitely see a shift and a change, and
Speaker 1: it doesn't detract from the way that the other ways
Speaker 1: that people have had blocking schemes but it only adds
Speaker 1: and so anytime somebody contributes that to a game, especially
Speaker 1: this game, shout out to them. Rest in peace. Rest
Speaker 1: in peace. And by the way, finally give it a
Speaker 1: rest to the Hillsboro River down there in Tampa, I
Speaker 1: mean the Super Bowl Trophy, the Lombardi Trophy gets tossed
Speaker 1: um by Tom Brady and almost kills somebody. Now the
Speaker 1: Stanley Cup because the Lightning won the Stanley Cup finals.
Speaker 1: Good for them, They're back to back champs over there
Speaker 1: in the NHL. They take their their big trophy out
Speaker 1: on that river and they dent the damn thing by
Speaker 1: throwing her around and rough housing with the most coveted
Speaker 1: trophy in in the sport. I just want everybody just
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to be the fun police here,
Speaker 1: but let's just take it easy and with the rough housing.
Speaker 1: Let's calm down, boys. Do I remember when the Stanley
Speaker 1: Cup came to Wilbraham, Massachusetts, my hometown Billy Garret in
Speaker 1: the New York New Jersey Devils, And it was like
Speaker 1: the biggest thing that ever happened to the town of Wilbraham,
Speaker 1: that the Stanley Cup. It is the best trophy this
Speaker 1: is a Damascheck always said this, and I agree with them,
Speaker 1: even though I'm not a quarter or a tenth of
Speaker 1: the hockey fan that Damashi is one of the hockey
Speaker 1: fan of it is I think the best trophy right, well,
Speaker 1: I like the Lombardi trophy, um, but it does not
Speaker 1: hold a candle to Lord Stanley's Cup with you Patrick,
Speaker 1: the Patrick's got a take. No, I don't have a take.
Speaker 1: Take it down, take it down to take down the
Speaker 1: Stanley Cup, the water Crystal college football, miss the Crystal football?
Speaker 1: Why they get rid of that? That was kind of
Speaker 1: speaking of unique branding, right. They wanted to brand this,
Speaker 1: this new thing that they were doing and sell it
Speaker 1: more effectively, so they changed the trophy. Speaking of that,
Speaker 1: I and speaking of my Irish heritage, when I was
Speaker 1: sixteen back in ninety six, we went on a family
Speaker 1: pilgrimage to the Motherland and it involved a lot of
Speaker 1: driving around on a bus and visiting castles Um and
Speaker 1: driving through green, rolling hills under an overcast sky. That
Speaker 1: was my Ireland journey as a teenager. But we stopped
Speaker 1: at the factory where they made that trophy, and the
Speaker 1: woman who gave us the tour said this is the
Speaker 1: super Bowl Trophy. And I was like, it's not the
Speaker 1: super Bowl Trophy, your mistaken, lady, And she said, no,
Speaker 1: you're mistaken. It's the super Bowl Trophy. And I said,
Speaker 1: I'm sixteen, but I'm right and you're wrong. I didn't
Speaker 1: say that, but remember thinking myself, I didn't even know
Speaker 1: that that was the college Trophy at that point. And
Speaker 1: then maybe like a year or two later, I saw
Speaker 1: it at the end of the game. It's like, Oh,
Speaker 1: she just doesn't know anything. It was. It was an
Speaker 1: early introduction to like that facts can be debatable. You
Speaker 1: know that you can talk to someone who just won't
Speaker 1: recognize a fact even if even if it's true. I
Speaker 1: try to tell her, all right, that's what's happening in
Speaker 1: the news, all right, without further ado. Yes, the Superstar
Speaker 1: Club it's back. You could read all about it later
Speaker 1: this week on NFL dot com slash handsas um. It
Speaker 1: is my club that features only the best and brightest,
Speaker 1: and because it's just more fun, I focus on quarterbacks
Speaker 1: and skill players on offense. There are places on the
Speaker 1: internet where you can go and dive deep and find
Speaker 1: out who the Superstar Trench Monsters are, Who's in the
Speaker 1: secondary linebackers, and I respect all that, but I just
Speaker 1: to keep things focused and have some fun. I stayed
Speaker 1: on the offensive side of the ball with skill players
Speaker 1: and uh, I have twenty seven names this year. Boys
Speaker 1: that span QB, running back, wide receiver, tight end. And
Speaker 1: the most important element of this the Superstar Club. Is
Speaker 1: this a zero sum game? What does that mean? Patrick
Speaker 1: t You're either in or you're out? Not quite great?
Speaker 1: Does it mean I mean one goes in, one comes out?
Speaker 1: That number I guess is you know if someone if
Speaker 1: someone's coming in, someone's gotta get booted right. And then
Speaker 1: that's and that's really tough. And I struggle with it
Speaker 1: more than you would think. Like I was up at
Speaker 1: one thirty working on this piece yesterday in fact, and
Speaker 1: I was like struggling with a certain wide receiver. I
Speaker 1: reached out to Gregor earlier in the day to get
Speaker 1: his thoughts on it, and I was thinking to myself,
Speaker 1: why do I Why am I so invested in this? Well,
Speaker 1: because it's a Superstar Club and I'm the bouncer and
Speaker 1: I take it seriously. So with that said, and speaking
Speaker 1: of trophies flying through the Hillsboro River, I bet you
Speaker 1: didn't know it was the Hillsboro river Boys, did you No,
Speaker 1: I actually did. I thought they were in the Bay.
Speaker 1: So I appreciate that. And something's weird about Tampa being
Speaker 1: like the city of Champions, But that's where we are.
Speaker 1: That's where we're at. Um, I start with the miya kulpa,
Speaker 1: and I feel like I've been doing this for years.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, welcome back, the first guy to ever leave
Speaker 1: the Superstar Club and return and return. I kicked out
Speaker 1: Tom Brady in this exercise following his ten season, and
Speaker 1: at that time I reasoned that while he was still
Speaker 1: an impact player, uh, it just won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: A closer study, Yes, he had just won the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: but a closer study of his game, and Greg, you
Speaker 1: always hang your hat on that playoff run, which was fine,
Speaker 1: but they did win like three to two in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, so let's calm down about They did put
Speaker 1: up of forty burger on the Chargers and then he
Speaker 1: outgunned Mahomes in overtime. Like mid thirties, right, still a
Speaker 1: big time quarterback, but um, his entire um look at
Speaker 1: his season made me think, Okay, this might be time
Speaker 1: to get out. He was forty one as a superstar,
Speaker 1: not as a top quarterback or even a star. And
Speaker 1: then the next season came around around and I felt
Speaker 1: great about it because that was his last season in
Speaker 1: New England and his numbers, by his standards, flatlined a
Speaker 1: little bit. They were one and done in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and I was like, all right, I've gotten so many
Speaker 1: things wrong with Tom Brady. This I got right. Um, However,
Speaker 1: what has happened here is he goes to Tampa. Of course,
Speaker 1: wins the Super Bowl, plays an exceedingly high level, throws
Speaker 1: fifty touchdown over the course of the regular season and playoffs,
Speaker 1: and he is undeniably a pro football superstar at forty
Speaker 1: three years old. The mind boggles. Now, um, zero some game.
Speaker 1: So Tom's back in out, easy one to start. Drew
Speaker 1: Brees retired. I love those. Those are gimmes. And the
Speaker 1: truth of the the matter is I got it wrong last
Speaker 1: year because I should have taken Drew Brees out ahead
Speaker 1: of his last season. I didn't do it, and that
Speaker 1: was a mistake. Mm hmm. I like the analysis. I think, um,
Speaker 1: it's important to have a critical window into into what
Speaker 1: happened in the past. And perhaps Dan, you were projecting
Speaker 1: a slight regression, which if we go back to the
Speaker 1: discussion at the time, that's what happened, and perhaps you
Speaker 1: could make the argument that it did happen, and then
Speaker 1: there was a shift in the other direction. You made
Speaker 1: the same mistake that Sean Payton. Did you know, Sean
Speaker 1: Payton should have kicked Drew Brees to the curve last
Speaker 1: year and welcomed in Tom Brady. That's that's that's that's
Speaker 1: why Tom's throwing m F bombs. Uh. I think it
Speaker 1: was the Saints. I still think it was the Saints.
Speaker 1: Stuff real quick, a little housekeeping, um the my additions
Speaker 1: and substractions. Last year, I put Lamar Jackson in office
Speaker 1: MVP season. I took out Cam Newton. No regrets there
Speaker 1: on either front. I put in Dak Prescott. I took
Speaker 1: out Andrew luck who retired. Of course, running back. I
Speaker 1: put in Dalvid Cook, took out Leve Bell. That one.
Speaker 1: Put in Derrick Henry, took out Todd Gurley. That was
Speaker 1: easy wide receiver. I put in t Tryreek Hill. I
Speaker 1: took out Antonio Brown. Feel good about that. I put
Speaker 1: in Amari Cooper, took out Juju Smith Schuster, which was
Speaker 1: a bad job, and me putting him in the first place,
Speaker 1: But you gotta take else sometimes in this game. That
Speaker 1: was last year. Now next quarterback Josh Allen Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: in what else needs to be said? Um, but I
Speaker 1: love this stat from PFF. He was six in the
Speaker 1: NFL last season with a seventy nine point one percent
Speaker 1: adjusted completion rate, and that's a massive jump from him. Uh,
Speaker 1: he was in the bottom He was in the thirties
Speaker 1: amongst quarterbacks in nineteen. So in one offseason he essentially
Speaker 1: went from this hyper athletic hass with a scatter shot
Speaker 1: shot arm to a complete package. It's one of the
Speaker 1: great year to year leaps in recent years. So it's
Speaker 1: an easy move to put him in the superstar club,
Speaker 1: but one that I would not have predicted this time
Speaker 1: last year. No, and I think him him being able
Speaker 1: to back that up is one of the big stories
Speaker 1: of the year because there's every reason to believe that
Speaker 1: they can and should because almost more than any team
Speaker 1: other than the Bucks, they're all they're all back, they're
Speaker 1: all back in the coordinator's back, and Alan should feel
Speaker 1: good about keeping that level up. But you do think
Speaker 1: about regression and anyone that's improved that much in one year,
Speaker 1: whether they can hold it. I have no doubt though
Speaker 1: that he should be in the Superstar Club. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: in terms of holding it up, that's a question for everybody.
Speaker 1: That's why people leave the Superstar Club in the first place.
Speaker 1: But but to say, uh, I don't think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be repeatable. Maybe not ever in NFL history a guy
Speaker 1: is gonna go from completing or right or in the
Speaker 1: high fifties of passes to to the low seventies. Right.
Speaker 1: It's just it's not it's not gonna happen a lot.
Speaker 1: But we are going to see people perhaps take shots
Speaker 1: on quarterbacks, uh, you know that have the arm, that
Speaker 1: have the ability and the mobility UM, and maybe completion
Speaker 1: percentage as perhaps it should, uh should should kind of
Speaker 1: fall down on the rankings of how we evaluate guys.
Speaker 1: And to what you were saying, Greg, one thing to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on, um. There is a stat over
Speaker 1: on PFF turnover worthy plays not they not they don't
Speaker 1: necessarily turn into interceptions, UM, but plays that could have
Speaker 1: gone either way in the quarterback Uh, it went the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks way. Alan had a somewhat high number in that department.
Speaker 1: So if some of those plays go the other way.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's not quite as excellent as he was a
Speaker 1: year ago, but we'll see. We just talked about him
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger. Um, there's just there's just too much here
Speaker 1: telling me this could be UM a late period Dan
Speaker 1: Marino situation where he's just gonna not be able to move,
Speaker 1: He's not gonna be able to throw down field, and
Speaker 1: the whole thing is going to collapse. I think there's
Speaker 1: an alternate um storyline here where I think the Steelers
Speaker 1: are fine on offense, but I think the days of
Speaker 1: him being a superstar, uh if he ever was, and
Speaker 1: that opinions very there, but I I started, I I
Speaker 1: obviously think he was. I think those days of him
Speaker 1: being an elite, top performer are over. M hmm. I
Speaker 1: mean he definitely was. He was a top five quarterback
Speaker 1: for a good chunk of his his career, and to me,
Speaker 1: didn't doesn't need those like super bowls to be a
Speaker 1: no doubt or Hall of Famer, just for how he's
Speaker 1: been year to year. And I wouldn't be surprised at
Speaker 1: all with these weapons around him if they have a
Speaker 1: pretty good offensive season. It's like a nice receiving corps.
Speaker 1: Ben just getting rid of the ball quickly. He's definitely
Speaker 1: sharper than he used to be. If he's in a
Speaker 1: little better shape, Like I could totally see him having
Speaker 1: a very capable, like not top five, but solid season.
Speaker 1: It's it's tough to project it for me to see
Speaker 1: a comeback. Right when you look at you know, the
Speaker 1: surgery at the advanced stage, it's like we look at
Speaker 1: a Cam Newton, right. He he tried to do all
Speaker 1: of those things. He tried to change his diet, he
Speaker 1: became vegan. But but at a certain point, your body
Speaker 1: goes through trauma and um. As much as it funds
Speaker 1: my existence, football isn't isn't good for you, Like it's
Speaker 1: tough to get healthier playing football. Uh and and I
Speaker 1: just I can't see it. Yeah, I don't think I'll
Speaker 1: be writing next season Mia Colpa about Big Ben, but
Speaker 1: you never know. Um. Finally, I have three quarterbacks entering
Speaker 1: the Superstar Clube. Kyler Murray. Now this one a little
Speaker 1: bit of and I understand that, um, but I just
Speaker 1: want to say this. Last November fifteenth, Kyler Murray scrambled
Speaker 1: towards his own sideline near midfield, and he up a prayer.
Speaker 1: It was answered by DeAndre Hopkins. It was quickly dubbed
Speaker 1: the Hail Murray. It got the um obligatory Wikipedia entry.
Speaker 1: It was a truly special moment, and at that moment
Speaker 1: in time, the whole football world was buzzing about Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray taking this next step and being an m VP candidate,
Speaker 1: and the Cardinals, who are a flawed team, but we're
Speaker 1: five and three and um there soon should be excited about.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks later, he hre at his shoulder.
Speaker 1: He's not the same guy with his legs or his
Speaker 1: arm the rest of the way, So it's a little
Speaker 1: bit of a leap of faith. But I think this
Speaker 1: year he's gonna go nuts. And I really I don't
Speaker 1: know about the Cardinals because that's a tough division, and
Speaker 1: you can make the argument the fact that it's such
Speaker 1: a tough division will keep Murray from reaching an elevated
Speaker 1: level of play. But I think he's an absolute, stone
Speaker 1: cold MVP candidate and at the end of the season,
Speaker 1: we'll be seen as a top six or seven or
Speaker 1: even top five guy this position fighting it's projection. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's not there yet, I don't think, but you know
Speaker 1: when you say superstar, that's more than just numbers, and
Speaker 1: he has that factor. I mean he's the most you
Speaker 1: know him in Lamar the two best runners I've ever seen,
Speaker 1: and he improved significantly in year two. So if he
Speaker 1: did that again, like he improved significantly as a runner,
Speaker 1: he improved significantly avoiding sacks um he was bet you
Speaker 1: know better as a passer. But is he a top
Speaker 1: ten quarterback right now? To me, he's like on the
Speaker 1: edge of that, and so he will have to improve
Speaker 1: to live up to Daddy Zeus. Is that one of
Speaker 1: your nicknames? But that you're calling yourself daddy earlier, I'm like,
Speaker 1: you're not my daddy, you know. I was like, which
Speaker 1: daddy you're talking about? And that's not even factoring in
Speaker 1: the nickname. That's really started to build a little bit
Speaker 1: of heat. Down to Tybee Island tugboat. I mean that
Speaker 1: one's out there now too. I didn't I didn't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't know about that one. I wasn't I wasn't
Speaker 1: you like that one though, Huh. None of these ever
Speaker 1: had anything to do with me. It's it's what connects
Speaker 1: with the people that That's what it's always been. Would
Speaker 1: you have put forth tug boat here in the circumstance
Speaker 1: if you did not like tug boat right, yes, because
Speaker 1: I think I literally never heard of other humans say
Speaker 1: the New Old Blue Eyes other than you. So I
Speaker 1: do feel like you put that forward. Listen, the triple
Speaker 1: G or whatever you call yourself. I like, how you
Speaker 1: that's fine? You like to put that. Yeah, I've owned
Speaker 1: that all along. If the New Old Blue Eyes, if
Speaker 1: tug boat, if he throws out a name all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, it's like, oh my god, this guy is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Listen is pretty out there too, And I like, but
Speaker 1: I'm just saying I own it that I'm the one
Speaker 1: throwing it out there. I just want to say that.
Speaker 1: Yesterday at three fifteen pm, Dan said it was my
Speaker 1: forever destiny dash tug boat and all caps. So he said,
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's it's okay Dan for
Speaker 1: you to like talk boat, for you to push talk
Speaker 1: Boat forward. I'm not pushing it. The tugboat only pulled. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're pulling it. He leads, all right, let's let's keep
Speaker 1: going here. Uh this one, I'm taking another l here,
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz. I did put Carson Wentz in the Superstar Club.
Speaker 1: I thought this guy was awesome. I thought it was
Speaker 1: an awesome quarterback. And uh, he was not awesome last year.
Speaker 1: In fact, he was quite bad. And even though I
Speaker 1: believe him to be a real bounceback candidate Indianapolis this year,
Speaker 1: if he is in the Superstar Club coming off the
Speaker 1: season where he was one of the worst quarterbacks in football,
Speaker 1: that would that would be devastating for our establishment. No,
Speaker 1: there's no way to remain a good standing. So I
Speaker 1: put pushed my chips into the center of the table
Speaker 1: twents last year. Still believed in him. These things don't
Speaker 1: always work out, but I've right it or wrong obviously.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean the the amount of grief you're
Speaker 1: gonna take from Brady when he shows up being like,
Speaker 1: you know you had Wentz in here last year, man
Speaker 1: sitting here over over me last year, Like give me
Speaker 1: the entire corner of the club I own it or
Speaker 1: else I'm not coming in again for that sort of
Speaker 1: disrespect going wents over me. Perhaps it was this particular
Speaker 1: venue that that Brady was mentioning in his in his
Speaker 1: fame him every moment he was talking about Dan Hanson's
Speaker 1: Superstar Club, Umbled Waters. I like it the updated QB membership,
Speaker 1: Alan Brady, Lamar Mahomes, Kyler, Dak Rogers, Ryan, Deshaun Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: I have a little close calls category. Matt Ryan. I
Speaker 1: did think very hard about whether it's time to say
Speaker 1: goodbye one of the great pocket pastors of his generation,
Speaker 1: but also not been quite the same guy since Kyle
Speaker 1: Shanahan l But I just felt it was not the
Speaker 1: right time with Arthur Smith and this Kyle Pitt's character
Speaker 1: entering the fray too to bail on the guy. So
Speaker 1: he's getting one more year running back. Nick Chubb's in
Speaker 1: Mark Sesler, I'll give him credit. He said, next year
Speaker 1: you will have Nick Chubb the Superstar Club, and now
Speaker 1: he is in the Superstar Club. Great pff stat leads
Speaker 1: the NFL over the past two seasons with a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty four broken tackles on foight carries. He's a
Speaker 1: truck machine, but he's not just a lumbering bruiser. He
Speaker 1: has a bunch of home run place too. He's a
Speaker 1: badass um and out and this one is controversial voice.
Speaker 1: This one I really debated as well. Zekiel Elliott, he
Speaker 1: gone and I and I tried not to succumb to
Speaker 1: recency bias on this because as bad as his was,
Speaker 1: and it was bad, he didn't he wasn't explosive, he
Speaker 1: was putting the ball on the carpet. He was a mess.
Speaker 1: He's still just twenty five. He's still in a really
Speaker 1: good offense, even if the line isn't what it used
Speaker 1: to be. Uh. He clearly, if he shows up in
Speaker 1: great shape like we're hearing, UH is a candidate to
Speaker 1: have a big bounce back season. Um, but you can't
Speaker 1: ignore that he hasn't quite been the same guy the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. Uh. So I did throw it
Speaker 1: to I just said, let the people decide. I put
Speaker 1: it up there on Twitter late last night. Simple question,
Speaker 1: is Ezekiel Elliott a superstar? And guess what almost votes
Speaker 1: cast so far? And six of the people say no.
Speaker 1: So that's where I went. I went the people decided.
Speaker 1: Do you guys agree with the people? Well, I, you know,
Speaker 1: if it's Tim versus Chubb, then then you made the
Speaker 1: right choice. I guess I gotta look at the whole
Speaker 1: list because I do think this one statistically could come
Speaker 1: back to haunt you. You know, he's been in the
Speaker 1: league what five years. In three of those years he
Speaker 1: went over sevred and fifty yards from scrimmage, and I
Speaker 1: kind of would put him over that. This year again,
Speaker 1: I think, I think ruggle to this. I see it's
Speaker 1: gonna get one more, one more big year, and this
Speaker 1: smells like the year. The offensive line still looks great,
Speaker 1: the passing game is great. He's gonna be ready to go,
Speaker 1: and I think there's a decent chance he'll be more
Speaker 1: explosive and look a little better and and just rack
Speaker 1: up numbers because he's gonna get the all three fifty
Speaker 1: times and be a nice little fantasy You know, this
Speaker 1: is the time to buy in. I think on fantasy
Speaker 1: his value is at a low. You do have a
Speaker 1: bylow opportunity I think was Zeke. But if we're talking
Speaker 1: about the Superstar Club, one thing that I'm seeing it's
Speaker 1: a trend where Dan is concerned about projecting into the
Speaker 1: next year, and those are the areas where I think
Speaker 1: we end up regretting inclusion into the Superstar clueing well,
Speaker 1: then Kyler could be a problem. He could be another
Speaker 1: after year to mistake, like Juju or something. In terms
Speaker 1: of if we're just looking at at Chub versus Zeke,
Speaker 1: Like anybody can can grant superstardom based on the past.
Speaker 1: But but what this club seeks to do, in my
Speaker 1: opini as somebody who values it greatly, UM, is provide
Speaker 1: an accurate depiction of the value that this player adds
Speaker 1: to the sport. And and currently Nick Chubb doesn't get
Speaker 1: the love that he should, and we have rectified that
Speaker 1: in the Superstar Club. And Zeke did not perform well
Speaker 1: last year. So I think it's I think it's easy,
Speaker 1: perfectly said. I mean, this is why Claibron gets the
Speaker 1: prime Friday night DJ sets at the club. Um, it's
Speaker 1: a second job. It pays well, he can hang out
Speaker 1: with the players. That is a good question. He just
Speaker 1: respects the respects the club so much. If if Claibron
Speaker 1: and that I do like. I like the idea, but
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't quite see it. If claib we're
Speaker 1: working at a high end, elite let's say nightclub, whether
Speaker 1: it's West Hollywood, let's just stick it in West Hollywood. Um,
Speaker 1: what what would be his position at said club general manager?
Speaker 1: I think I think he would just run the place
Speaker 1: for you. You know, I don't know that's why you're
Speaker 1: the owner, though, Yeah, I don't. I'm you in a
Speaker 1: kind of a no fun job though, Claybone, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: It's okay. I don't mind being a man of the people.
Speaker 1: What's the club, Ricky? Where? Where's where's Claybon working? It's
Speaker 1: One Oak. If you're going to be at a club,
Speaker 1: you gotta be at One Oak. Is that the trendy,
Speaker 1: fashionable establishment club. That's like you'll see bab You'll see
Speaker 1: Chris Brown like One Oak. There's l A and I
Speaker 1: think Vegas one too. Can you get in that, Ricky?
Speaker 1: Where are you at? On the social letter? I have
Speaker 1: gotten in once, but it took took a lot of work.
Speaker 1: What did it take? Let me get it wasn't worth it? No,
Speaker 1: it wasn't um all right? So there you go. Uh.
Speaker 1: The updated running back membership is say Kwan Barkley, which
Speaker 1: I did give a little thought on. It's been a
Speaker 1: tough situation with him and that knee injury return tables murky,
Speaker 1: but I'm not going to do anything rash there Um Barkley, Chub,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, Derrick, Henry, Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey. I had
Speaker 1: a little bit of a dilemma over Aaron Jones, but
Speaker 1: ultimately I think it was similar probably the one faced
Speaker 1: by the Packers before they gave that man his bag.
Speaker 1: He's really good, but you know, is he great? He's
Speaker 1: not in the club right He's not in right now?
Speaker 1: I think that is. I have a feeling that is
Speaker 1: the most solid, inarguably group on the list. I think
Speaker 1: you did well bringing Chubbin. Thanks all, right, wide receiver?
Speaker 1: We have two wide receivers in and this was this
Speaker 1: was tough. So I put an A. J. Brown for starters.
Speaker 1: I mean a second round pick who was a star
Speaker 1: after year one and then took his game up a
Speaker 1: couple of notches in year two. So now he's entering
Speaker 1: year three. He's a yak monster. Um, he's fearless, uh
Speaker 1: over the middle, He's just a perfect guy you want
Speaker 1: on your team. And Ryan Tannehill's in love with him. Uh.
Speaker 1: And now you put Julio Jones up, line him up
Speaker 1: opposite of him, and I just think that Brown is
Speaker 1: setting himself up to produce a level that few of
Speaker 1: his peers can match in year three. I just love
Speaker 1: the guy. Um, so I put him in And are
Speaker 1: you guys okay with a J. Brown. Yeah, he gets
Speaker 1: knocked out, but yeah, that makes sense. I took out Odell.
Speaker 1: M hm. He I mean he continues backham to be
Speaker 1: a buzzy summertime pick here and as a guy that
Speaker 1: could deliver a big season reminiscent of the Giant States.
Speaker 1: But in truth, I just don't think his his game
Speaker 1: matches his name. And it's been a while since we
Speaker 1: saw that peak superstar type production. It's been a little
Speaker 1: bit messy here in Cleveland with Baker and then he
Speaker 1: blow blows out his knee. But even before he blew
Speaker 1: out the knee last year, Um, outside one game where
Speaker 1: he exploded and showed that potential he's always had. Um,
Speaker 1: he just hasn't been the same guy since. Uh. Do
Speaker 1: I think he could have a monster season here? Um? Yes,
Speaker 1: it's certainly within the range of outcomes. But is it
Speaker 1: also more likely in my opinion, that his best days
Speaker 1: are behind him almost twenty nine years old. I think
Speaker 1: that might be it? Mm hmm, I think can have
Speaker 1: we what's your your standard regarding can when lose membership
Speaker 1: in the Superstar Club due to injury specifically, Um, there's
Speaker 1: you don't get Yeah, you don't get any cookies for that.
Speaker 1: It's it's an unfortunate aspect of the game. And if
Speaker 1: you suffer devastating lower body injury, it needs to be
Speaker 1: taken into consideration. It's tough because like like Brady, he's
Speaker 1: just like unquestionably a superstar in in um, no matter
Speaker 1: how long how many injuries he gets. And uh, he's
Speaker 1: still so young that you think, like all that talent
Speaker 1: and hasn't gone anywhere. It's on a relative scale, it's
Speaker 1: pretty young. I'm just saying it's turning twenty nine this season.
Speaker 1: He should have good years left. So it's dangerous. This
Speaker 1: is a dangerous one. It's very dangerous at and especially
Speaker 1: knowing some of the other wide receivers that are still
Speaker 1: in the club. And there was so much promise there, right.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the breakout Week four against the Cowboys. I
Speaker 1: lose track of when that was, but it was an explosion,
Speaker 1: right And and even on the play where you know
Speaker 1: Baker underthrows and it gets picked off, he's he's being O'Dell,
Speaker 1: he's being extremely athletic, he's trying to make a tackle.
Speaker 1: He blows his cruise ship. Right, Um, it's there, right, O'Dell.
Speaker 1: Is was there at some point, But do we know, uh,
Speaker 1: the capacity to which this this guy is, this otherworldly
Speaker 1: athlete who is able to do those things. Can he
Speaker 1: still do that now? And is he in the right
Speaker 1: place to do that even if he has that ability
Speaker 1: still it's and and wide receivers deeper with like you know,
Speaker 1: there's so many different guys that was like, hey, that's
Speaker 1: a top ten receiver, but you look around the league
Speaker 1: and it is deeper than it's ever been in terms
Speaker 1: of great wide outs. So Odell will have to bring
Speaker 1: back some two thousand and sixteen seventeen O'Dell to get
Speaker 1: to that level. It's a better field than it was
Speaker 1: back then. That's fair. That's fair, all right, up next
Speaker 1: Stefon Diggs and what else needs to be said. Obviously
Speaker 1: he was a total monster and and in that offense
Speaker 1: that is unchanged with Brian Dave b all there, it's
Speaker 1: just going to continue. I think him along with Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: I don't have two wide receivers that are more you
Speaker 1: lock it in, but put money in the bank. If
Speaker 1: this guy with with good health is gonna have a
Speaker 1: monster here, I trust him over just about anybody in
Speaker 1: the league. And I had to take out somebody. This
Speaker 1: one was real tough. I moved Mike Evans out of
Speaker 1: the Superstar Club. What do you guys think about that?
Speaker 1: Because I'm a struggle with that one. Well, is that
Speaker 1: it for receivers? Get here's you got a Marie Cooper
Speaker 1: in there? Right? The updated membership is Davante, A. J. Brown, Cooper,
Speaker 1: Stefon Diggs, Tyree killed DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, Michael Thomas.
Speaker 1: And that's it, no more, no more changes. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would receivers where I have some bones to pick, I'd
Speaker 1: get Cooper out of there. I probably would have kept
Speaker 1: Odell in. I might put Alan Robinson in there too.
Speaker 1: I don't know who I would have to take it.
Speaker 1: Maybe then I take out Evans at that point, Um,
Speaker 1: Cooper is a great player, you know, but I think
Speaker 1: you can be a great player and not a superstar.
Speaker 1: Like I get that his route running this and that
Speaker 1: and the other. Like to me, he is not he isn't.
Speaker 1: We've I've seen enough that I feel like I know
Speaker 1: he is. He is not that level Stefan Diggs, Davante
Speaker 1: Adams or even maybe a peak Mike Evans. I I
Speaker 1: don't think Amari Cooper is quite quite there. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's that it's the question of what level do we
Speaker 1: take production into what makes a superstar? Right? Um? Because
Speaker 1: there's that. You know, he plays in Dallas, right Mars
Speaker 1: the number one receiver on a loaded roster. But you
Speaker 1: can say the same argument for the Super Bowl champion
Speaker 1: and and Mike Evans. Um. But it is zero sums.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's been in the league. It's it's horrible
Speaker 1: to be picking on such a great player, and there
Speaker 1: are reasons for all of this, but he's been in
Speaker 1: the league for seven years and he hasn't top twelve
Speaker 1: hundred yards. It's like, I don't know, last year, you
Speaker 1: might have making me think that the copy might have
Speaker 1: to shift on this one. I struggle that. Yeah, playing
Speaker 1: without Doak for most of the last season, he still
Speaker 1: went for two for eleven fourteen. He's great, He's great
Speaker 1: at football. But this is an exclusive club, Okay, And
Speaker 1: just and just so you know, I did struggle with
Speaker 1: this because we are enjoying an incredible boom at this position.
Speaker 1: You can make a case for you mentioned Allan Robinson,
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley. I thought about Justin Jefferson, uh coming off
Speaker 1: that rookie year DJ Metcalf. These are a lot of
Speaker 1: guys and and it makes me think, do I need
Speaker 1: to relax the zero some rule and and put more
Speaker 1: wide receivers in? I don't know. I can't decide. It's hard.
Speaker 1: There's there's there's a real case for DK I think
Speaker 1: as well, Um, yeah, I wouldn't have k Should I relax?
Speaker 1: Should I make an exemption because of the uh see
Speaker 1: change at wide receiver? No? You basically with you better
Speaker 1: pick the right number of guys at that position at
Speaker 1: the first year. Yeah, yeah, I would uh, all right,
Speaker 1: fair enough. Finally, tight End. I haven't even written about
Speaker 1: tight End in recent years because there's just not enough
Speaker 1: guys um, which is kind of weird. Because there's so
Speaker 1: many hyper athletic playmakers coming out of the college game
Speaker 1: every year, you would think there would be more guys
Speaker 1: that would be like a um Kyle Pitts coming into
Speaker 1: the league every year, and in some ways there is.
Speaker 1: There's always some tight End people are over the moon about,
Speaker 1: although pits of course a level of hype that we
Speaker 1: haven't seen, um really ever in my memory at tight end.
Speaker 1: But anyway, Darren Waller is a superstar for me. Now.
Speaker 1: He set career highs across the board. And I know
Speaker 1: he's not the all around player that Travis Kelsey or
Speaker 1: George Kittle is, but I think there's just something to
Speaker 1: be said for a guy that plays tight end and
Speaker 1: can line up on the outside and beat cornerbacks uh
Speaker 1: down the down on the field and and make plays
Speaker 1: over the middle and be the security blanket that he
Speaker 1: was for Derek Carr. He was, if you look at
Speaker 1: his last five games last season, uncoverable UM. And he's
Speaker 1: a really nice success story, a guy that overcame personal
Speaker 1: problems and addiction to become uh to me, a superstar
Speaker 1: at tight end. So it's a three man field. I
Speaker 1: took out Gronk, no disrespect to Gronk, but came out
Speaker 1: of retirement last season. He was very good, especially for
Speaker 1: somebody who hadn't played football in almost two years. But
Speaker 1: he's certainly not the game plan shredding force of nature
Speaker 1: he was in his younger years before all the injuries
Speaker 1: caught up to him. But there he goes a three
Speaker 1: man crew. Kelsey, Kittle, Waller. He had to make that move.
Speaker 1: And that's even as someone who I think thinks Gronks
Speaker 1: was a little underrated and he ended up playing more
Speaker 1: snaps than almost any tight end the league coming off
Speaker 1: that back and if you count the playoffs, I think
Speaker 1: he was number two and snaps like he was on
Speaker 1: the field. He helped him, but he's he's not Darren
Speaker 1: Waller at the I mean in terms of a difference
Speaker 1: maker right now, in no way. Yeah, it's those three
Speaker 1: and everybody else. It's it's clear and obvious, including grow.
Speaker 1: And it's funny, like, you know how easy it is
Speaker 1: to get sucked up by things this time of year
Speaker 1: is like should I just get get fun, get cute
Speaker 1: and put Kyle Pitts in and just ride the ride
Speaker 1: the wave and just hope everyone that knows more than
Speaker 1: me about the college game is right that this guy
Speaker 1: is a you know, put him in Canton, uh in
Speaker 1: twenty years type talent. But no, the Superstar Club everything
Speaker 1: is earned. Uh So go fill up the water cooler, kid.
Speaker 1: I mean you're because your clientele is not just the
Speaker 1: the I don't know it's the public ever allowed into
Speaker 1: the super circle, but I guess not your clientsell are
Speaker 1: the superstars. I think you would have some upset superstars,
Speaker 1: you know, justin Jefferson or some of these young players
Speaker 1: who aren't in and they're like, what, you just gave
Speaker 1: it to a rookie and we can't even get in,
Speaker 1: or the ones that have really had to earn their spots,
Speaker 1: or Nick Chubbs, like what, you just give this guy
Speaker 1: a free pass. You might have some upset superstars if yeah,
Speaker 1: I won't do that. It's a good call, it good point.
Speaker 1: I didn't really consider it that way, but you're absolutely true.
Speaker 1: So the only thing, and thank you boys for this um.
Speaker 1: The only thing that I'm really hung up on. I
Speaker 1: kind of think, and I'm leaning towards Jefferson, but Ridley,
Speaker 1: Robinson and Metcalf all makes sense to maybe putting one
Speaker 1: of those dudes in and taking out Cooper. Who would
Speaker 1: you if I gave you those four players Jefferson, Calvin Ridley,
Speaker 1: Allen Robinson and d J. Metcalf Who would get in
Speaker 1: over a MARII I can only give. I can't. I
Speaker 1: can't take anybody else out. It just wouldn't make any sense.
Speaker 1: It would defeat the entire exercise. I only have room
Speaker 1: for one that's tough. It's really hard. I would I
Speaker 1: would make the d K argument, Um, he meets the
Speaker 1: the external qualities of a superstar and he's he's got
Speaker 1: all the production, um, the plays, the splash of the ability.
Speaker 1: I think, I'm I think, I'm I think it's I
Speaker 1: think of those three, it's d K. I think Robinson
Speaker 1: has the best resume and deserves it. Um. But DK
Speaker 1: has got that genes se quad and he is a superstar.
Speaker 1: And Jefferson deserves it too. But at least K has
Speaker 1: been in the league an extra year there and made
Speaker 1: that leap. I think I think it would be my pay.
Speaker 1: The irony with Allen Robinson is the very reason what
Speaker 1: makes the case for him being a superstar. That he
Speaker 1: does it without good quarterback play ultimately is keeping him
Speaker 1: out because you imagine there's a better version of him
Speaker 1: potentially if he ever has a real quarterback, and maybe
Speaker 1: now he does with justin fields, but he kind of
Speaker 1: lives in this like football purgatory because of the Bears
Speaker 1: middling ways in recent years. So I really struggle. I
Speaker 1: want to kind of give him, uh some type of
Speaker 1: honor for putting up with all this madness and nonsense
Speaker 1: in Chicago, and maybe you throw him in the Superstar
Speaker 1: Club and maybe he sees it just like Al Baker
Speaker 1: saw that, and he sits on his porch at his
Speaker 1: condo and looks out at this sea and a tier
Speaker 1: goes down his cheek. Maybe I don't know. I can't
Speaker 1: say whether or not that would happen, but ultimately yes, Okay,
Speaker 1: if you guys both say mecha, if he's going in
Speaker 1: Cooper's coming out, I'm gonna just the copy. He's got
Speaker 1: the sizzle. I mean, the Superstar Club is not all
Speaker 1: about production either. Jefferson's got a lot of sizzle, great personality.
Speaker 1: DK's got the sizzle. I'm sorry, Alan Robinson fans. All Right,
Speaker 1: there you go. That's at the two thousand one Superstar Club.
Speaker 1: Also a superstar Al Bubba Baker. How about that joining
Speaker 1: us surprise appearance. You should have seen Greg's face? Oh
Speaker 1: my good, very very surprised. It was awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I don't know whether they're called Al or bubba Um.
Speaker 1: I gotta be completely honest, And this really does play
Speaker 1: into the whole conversation. I mean, if if the sack
Speaker 1: was a a stat that was kept back, then everyone
Speaker 1: knows he's a household name, and I would know whether
Speaker 1: he goes by Al or Bubba, but he predates me.
Speaker 1: His that season was a couple of years before I
Speaker 1: was born. Uh, you guys as well. So I'm glad
Speaker 1: that he's getting some pop out of this. And hopefully
Speaker 1: if the football coagna Senti, I will say this, Ricky
Speaker 1: jump in a second. If the football coagna Centi is
Speaker 1: paying attention to our podcast, there's some news in that
Speaker 1: little uh interview, And maybe Ricky, you could tell our
Speaker 1: own NFL desk about that, and and and Al can
Speaker 1: get some pop off this pod. That would be nice
Speaker 1: to him. Yeah, I think this is gonna be great
Speaker 1: for him. He was so sweet, hard guy not to
Speaker 1: root for. Super nice dude. Okay, good stuff, Patrick, you
Speaker 1: are well. You said it all start there. Second of all,
Speaker 1: you came in on short notice. You're wearing a tie,
Speaker 1: which means you have real work to do right after this.
Speaker 1: So we thank you so much from pinch hitting and
Speaker 1: uh you're the man. Thank you, Bud All. Thanks Thanks Patrick,
Speaker 1: get well soon, Mark Sessler. Our schedule, we're off the
Speaker 1: rest of the week. We'll be back nearly full tilt
Speaker 1: Tilt start next week. We'll have a show Monday. We'll
Speaker 1: have a show Thursday, and then the network shows back Friday.
Speaker 1: So hang tight. Thank you for riding with us all
Speaker 1: these years, and we're gonna keep riding going forward like
Speaker 1: Bubba Baker riding right through an offensive line and destroying
Speaker 1: everything in this past. Until Monday, PETA call, h