WEBVTT - #266 Packers Unscripted: Last chance 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:20.520 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.360 I am Mike Spofford and he is my trusted colleague, 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.640 Wes Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our studios 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.440 at lambeau Field and West. Super Bowl weekend is almost 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.680 upon us, and with regards to Super Bowl weekend in Minneapolis, 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:39.960 the biggest news for Packers fans will occur on Saturday 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:44.199 evening because we will find out whether or not, at 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:49.159 long last, if Jerry Kramer will be inducted into the 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:51.320 Hall of Fame. Those decisions on the Hall of Fame 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.440 class are made the night before the Super Bowl. They'll 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:58.280 be announced on the NFL Honors Show on Saturday evening. 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.880 The inductions then would take place the following summer. Jerry Kramer, 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:05.880 for the eleventh time, is a finalist for the Hall 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:10.000 of Fame, the second time as a Senior Committee nominee. 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.360 And I know you and I share the same opinion 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.880 on this. It's got to happen now. Well, and here's 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.200 the It absolutely has to happen now. I mean, this 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:21.959 is it. Um. Jerry just turned eighty two years old 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.000 last week, I believe so, uh, this is his final crack, 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.720 probably um. And here's the thing about this, this argument, 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:30.880 because I've heard it for a number of years, as 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:32.920 long as I've been covering the Packers, it's really hit 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.160 fever pitch and I don't know what it was like 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.640 the last time he was up as a senior finalist 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.480 and the conversation, what the narrative it was like. But 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.120 here's my argument. I laid it out an Insider inbox 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:48.920 on Thursday. Jerry Kramer stopped playing football fifty years ago, 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:53.240 be retired. This is still a topic. This is still 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:55.720 something from when he was thirty two years old, when 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.000 he was eighty two years old, that remains in the 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.760 public domain. I don't want to get into the minds 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:03.440 of Hall of Fame voters or why we're at the 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:07.160 point that we are, But if popular opinion, if overwhelming 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.640 public sentiment has us to this point, why is this 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:16.079 still a debate? It's an honest question because it's it's like, 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:22.080 are we doing what is right for the game of football? 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:24.520 And I think there's a lot of Pro Football Hall 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.560 of Fame voters, and I know several of them that 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:28.679 feel like everything up to this point has done that. 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:31.240 But it just seems to me that if this is 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:35.120 still a topic in two thousand, eighteen, fifty years after 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:40.760 he retired. Something in the program didn't work. And I 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:44.800 think that's why, as I said this Saturday night, the 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:46.600 Pro Football Hall of Fame voters have a chance to 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.080 write one of the game's biggest wrongs. Yeah, and I 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.359 simplify this in a different way, because you're talking about 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.640 that fifty years have gone by a perfectly and I 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.079 like the way you phrase that, a perfectly valid way 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.200 to think about it. I go back to the very 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:04.520 beginning in the way I simplify this, and that you 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.000 can talk about all the all the noise, and all 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.400 the reasons and all the comparisons and this and that. 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.560 But back in the beginning, essentially nineteen sixty nine, Jerry 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.840 Kramer was one of fifteen players fifteen players in the 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.400 league voted by the Hall of Fame voters onto the 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:25.280 NFL's fiftieth anniversary team. One of fifteen players. Fourteen of 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:27.800 those fifteen are in the Hall of Fame. Jerry Kramer 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.320 is the only one who is not. And if you 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:33.240 want to compare the number of all pros, and there's 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:35.560 the talk about, oh, there's too many Lombardi Packers in 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:37.800 the Hall of Fame. I mean, I just I'm sorry. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.360 I toss all of it out, because if the guy 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:44.480 was voted to the NFL's fiftieth anniversary team, why is 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:46.360 he not in the Hall of Fame. It just to me, 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:48.960 it absolutely doesn't make sense if he was good enough 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.080 from that the same type of voters. And I realized 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.160 that people on the committee change over the years, but 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.800 if the same essentially the same voting body voted into 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:01.560 that fiftieth anniversary team, how can you know all these 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:04.120 these ten times as a finalist later he not get 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.400 the votes to get in. I don't understand it. And 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.280 I think you bring up a good point, Mike, because 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.000 it is the way that I view this thing. I honestly, 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:12.840 in two thousand and eighteen, I don't view this as 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:15.560 a referendum on Jerry Kramer, as strange as it sounds, 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.359 because he's the one that's up to be a candidate 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.440 and inducting in the ProFootball of Fame. I honestly, and 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:22.880 I'll say this to all my friends that are on 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.960 that voting panel, I honestly think this is a referendum 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:28.080 on the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Itself, because I 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.640 think for too long the conversation about has been about 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:34.159 why Jerry Kramer doesn't deserve to get in, rather than 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.400 why are we standing in the way of it? And 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.360 I think a part of it is that not enough 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:41.039 people have gone to bat for him over the years. 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.400 And I commend his daughter, Alicia, I commend his family 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.400 for continuing to push his cause because you know how 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.800 Kramer is. For as much as you know the Instant 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.040 replaybook and things like that, people at times criticized him 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:57.440 for his outspokenness on certain different avenues. He's really not 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.800 a big self promoter in regards the pro football fame. 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:02.800 You talk to him earlier this year, he doesn't want 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:04.880 to talk about absolutes and I need I deserve to 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.120 be in. It's always been about I'm gonna be happy 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.560 at the end of the day if it happens. It happens, 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.040 if it doesn't, it's not going to change the way 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.200 I live. And I'll be honest with you, Mike, I 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.440 just feel like after this amount of time that if 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.359 we're still talking about this western Hockwitz, who wasn't born 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:25.600 in n Let six is in this conversation, it should 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.480 have ended a long time ago. Yeah, And I commend 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.760 Jerry Kramer frankly for the way he's handled this over 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.080 the years because I've I've had multiple conversations with him 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:38.120 about it, um for interviews on packers dot Com and whatnot. 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:43.520 And his his answer up until this latest opportunity now 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.000 to be a finalist again, his answer has always been, 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:48.960 the NFL has been so good to me and given 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.239 me so much in my life, because it hasn't given 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.080 me this one thing. I'm not going to let that 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.640 ruin everything. I'm not going to let that, you know, 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.200 affect me on a daily basis as as as as 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:02.920 he goes about it. And as you said, now it's 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.840 been fifty years since he's been retired, it's been twenty 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.440 years since he was last a finalist in via the 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:14.600 Seniors Committee. Um, you know, I would I I personally 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.839 for him, would hate to see him go through this 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.640 again and not get it. I mean, it would almost 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.039 be better if he's not going to get it. It It 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:23.800 would almost be better if he had never come up 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.680 as a finalist again. In becomes the last chapter. So 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.799 I'm really hoping on a personal level for Jerry Kramer. 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.080 Referendum on the Pro Football Hall of Fame and all 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.479 that aside, which I agree with. For Jerry on a 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:37.400 personal level, he's got to get it. There's a human 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:39.160 being involved with this at the end of the day. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:40.800 And I want to point out two more things here 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:42.039 because I know we're gonna have to get to a 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.960 break Pro Football of Fame is about guys who changed 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.880 the game, right, Yeah, that's that's who is supposed to 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.919 be included in this illustrious group. You can talk about 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:52.560 the sweep, you can talk about the fact he was 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.080 a place kicker. I mean, there's so many different things 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:57.640 that you can mention in terms of what his credentials are. 0:06:57.680 --> 0:06:59.600 That the team that you mentioned, the Pro Bowls, the 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.120 All pre Os. The other thing I go back to 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.720 two is that he is one of the greatest ambassadors 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.440 of Green Bay Packers football. Whether it was in the 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.800 sixties or whether it's been in the two thousand's, he 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.520 is the face along with bart Starting a number of 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:14.040 other people, but he is one of the faces of 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.360 that generation of Packers and I just think that has 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.600 to come for something. Yeah, I think so too. With that, 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:19.960 we do have to go to a break back with 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:40.560 more and Packers unscripted. Right after this Welcome Back to 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.480 Packers unscripted, Mike Spofford alongside West, hod Kowitz and West, 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.520 continuing our discussion of the upcoming Hall of Fame announcement. 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.960 To put Jerry Kramer's case aside for a minute. You've 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:55.600 got fifteen finalists for a maximum of five spots in 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.000 what they call the Modern Era class for the Hall 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.440 of Fame. Kramer is a Senior Committee nominee. His case 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:06.080 is considered separately, just so people understand. When you look 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.880 at this group of fifteen finalists, maximum of five can 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:13.320 be chosen to be inducted. To me, this looks like 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.480 a tough class to crack. In the sense of what 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.760 I mean by that is, Brian er, Lacker, Ray Lewis, 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.960 and Randy Moss are all eligible for the first time 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.000 to get into the Hall of Fame. I think all 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:28.200 three of them are Hall of Famers and have a 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:30.160 very good chance of getting in. And then you add 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:34.080 Terrell Owens, who came like one or two votes away 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.120 last year from getting in. That right, there might be 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.520 four of the five in this class. Now, there are 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.640 some voters who don't necessarily always fully support guys the 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.440 first time they come up, they like to consider some 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.120 of the other guys who have been on the list 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.680 longer because they know that those guys who are newly 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.120 eligible basically have twenty five years potentially a twenty five 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.120 year window to get in. But that being said, those 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.800 those guys who are finalists and who are eligible for 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.199 the first time, those three plus Terrell Owens, that might 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.160 be of this Hall of Fame Modern era class, Yeah, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:08.719 it very well might be. I mean, I look at 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.719 in my mind, I don't know how you can have 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:13.560 a Pro Football Hall of Fame class this year that 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:15.760 definitely doesn't have Ray Lewis and Brian or Lacker, and 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.600 I just think those guys completely changed the game. Randy 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.960 Mossa had just a phenomenal career, and then obviously that 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.600 resurgence with the New England Patriots that I kind of 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.120 like in a little bit to what Charles Woodson had 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:29.760 with the Packers, where he probably had the credentials to 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:31.439 begin with, but that just puts it over the top. 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.040 The twenty three touchdowns that one season. I know it 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.000 it ended kind of quietly in two thousand and ten 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.600 and two thousand twelve, but I'm guessing if he didn't 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:40.959 actually end up coming back with the forty, he'd probably 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.160 be in the Hall of Fame already. Owens is such 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.200 a unique case just because of the ups and downs 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.160 of his career and certainly trying to figure out, you know, 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:51.600 the balance between his physical athleticism and some of the 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:55.080 controversy that followed him. Uh. I basically, I'm putting it 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.280 down to this, I'm very curious outside of those top 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.840 three new candidates, who I think are all first ballot 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:02.800 Hall famers, who potentially fills out the rest of that 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.080 class some really good offensive linemen that deserves consideration. I 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.160 think several of them will eventually get in. Um. I 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:10.920 mean just it's all over the board right now in 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:13.000 terms of what they're going to be looking for. I 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:14.960 know so many times when I talk to these guys, 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.440 they mentioned how they wish it we were voting for 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.840 ten guys. You know that that what you have to 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.920 limit it to is so exclusive that it really makes 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.040 those decisions heart wrenching. Yeah. I think one of the 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.480 one of the cases to follow that's very interesting. I 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.280 was reading a little bit about is a former Dallas 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:35.520 Cowboys cornerback Everson Wats. He's a finalist. And what makes 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.960 his case really interesting is he's at the end, I believe, 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.680 of the twenty five year win or the twenty five 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.920 years since he retired. This is his last chance to 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.960 get in through the modern era process without having to 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:52.280 to go the senior route later on. And there's you know, 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:55.200 him getting to the finalist stage. Now at this point, 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.760 there's been you know, an uptick in the interest in 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:00.440 revisiting his career and what he did for was Tom 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.440 Landry Cowboys teams and what he did with, you know, 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.480 on a defense that also had some some other Hall 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.080 of Fame players like Randy White and Too Tall Jones 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.120 and and guys like that. I just I think his 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.679 I think his case is interesting. I remember watching him 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.880 play for the Cowboys on television as a kid. I 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:18.640 don't know, you know, I mean back then. I'm not 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:20.960 looking at these games thinking about who's going to be 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.600 in the Hall of Fame, but he was definitely an 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.960 upper echelon cornerback and uh. And I'll just be very 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:29.839 curious to see what happens with his case because this 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.120 is sort of his his last chance by the regular route. Yeah, 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:34.840 And I think the one thing that's really interesting to 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.680 Mike the last few years, it seems like the narrative 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.680 and sort of the argument for defensive backs has changed 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:42.480 a little bit. Yeah, when you look at not only 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.720 I mean, safeties are a position where have really been 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.719 difficult to gain traction. But to some extent, if you're 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.080 not Dion Sanders, it's been really tough to get the 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.000 cornerbacks in there as well at times, just because you know, 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.600 being able to judge who really was the true, uh 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.240 you know, elite of of those generations. And I'll be 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.199 honest with you, I don't know a whole lot abouts, 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.400 but I do know those defenses he played on in 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.240 Dallas and then obviously the New York Giants. Um, there's 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:08.360 some talent, some really talented players around him. UM, so 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:10.760 it will be interesting. This is I think probably the 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.080 most difficult thing for a lot of these these voters 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.400 is that it really you can have that twenty five 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:17.120 year window, as you said, where it's like, okay, well 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.360 the first time, and he'll have another chance next year. 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:22.040 But when you get to the end of that, um, 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.720 you really have a decision to make again. He can 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.160 go into Kevin mill lies up, I mean, ty Law 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.480 is up. Edgar and James Joe Jacobe from the Washington 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:33.520 teams over the years. I think another guy to watch 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:35.880 too that I'll throw in is is Tony Boselli and 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:39.280 say that because his career was cut short by injuries, 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.040 he was considered the premier left tackle in the game 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.960 during his time. The fact that that Terrell Davis got 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:50.480 in with the shorten it opens another door. Now. I 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.920 still think Terrell Davis getting in a lot of that 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.360 had to do with his postseason domin on top of 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.320 what he did in a in a shortened career in 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:00.560 the regular season, but the fact that he got in 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.040 it changes the perception on a guy like Basselli who 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.840 was at the top of his game and at the 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:07.959 top of the league but then didn't play as long 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.080 as other guys like a Sterling Sharp people for that 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:11.920 matter as well. Yeah, I mean the fact that he 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.079 only had really six seasons. He wasn't expansion picked then 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.920 by the Texans, Don Papers Texans. The hope was he'd 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.040 be able to, you know, put everything behind him and 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.240 keep playing. He didn't. Um, So it'll be very interesting 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.480 to see this year and if it happens, you know, 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.040 proceeding on the next year's how people view his career. Yeah, well, 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.240 we gotta get to another breakback with more on Packers 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:52.160 Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.840 Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowits in that one, and West. 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.240 Since it is Super Bowl weekend upon us here, we 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.640 should probably talk about the Super Bowl has been a 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.439 lot of time. I'm talking about the Hall of Fame stuff, 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:05.760 which I think is interesting debate. But Eagles against the Patriots. 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:10.320 The overarching storyline here I think is really interesting in 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.080 the fact that you have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.959 going for their sixth Super Bowl together against a team 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.080 that is searching for its first Super Bowl championship in 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.920 the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that has not won an 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.800 NFL title since the pre Super Bowl era, that being 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.680 nineteen sixty. They beat Vince Lombardi's Packers at Franklin Field. 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.880 That turned out to be the only postseason loss of 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:37.440 Vince Lombardi's coaching career, by the way, but six the 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.480 last time the Eagles want a title. They're trying to 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.400 break that drought, and uh and the Patriots trying to 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.880 simply add to an impressive legacy for me, Mike, this 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.280 is one of the most intriguing Super Bowls I think 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.280 in recent memory. And the reason I say that is 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:54.160 because you have two imperfect teams vying for what I 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.760 think a lot of people refer to as perfection in 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.440 terms of winning the Super Bowl. And I say that 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.360 because you look at this this Patriots team and how 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:03.160 they've had to sort of pull it together on defense 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:04.960 a little bit. I think they finished the regular season 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:08.280 like twenty seven and total defense, but you know the 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.320 way that they've kind of made the pieces fit in 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.640 the playoffs, and you know, you bring in James Harrison, 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.440 he's playing significant snaps after not being on the roster 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.560 a month ago. Kyle van Noy, who was sort of 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:23.200 a discarded seen as a bus player coming out of Detroit, 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.320 he ends up being there starting outside backer. Uh. And 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.520 then you look at Philadelphia. They lose Carson Wentz, they 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.480 have to turn to a backup the running backs. They've 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:34.560 had a carousel there throughout the course of the year, 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.160 lost their starting left tack, lost their starting left tackle. Um, 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.880 all those things together, you still have to pull it. Oh, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.000 you have to be able to find a way. And 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.440 I think both of these teams have done it. To me. 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.600 I think you look at the Atlanta Falcons from a 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.120 year ago, you look at a lot of these teams. 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.680 It's not a guarantee you get back, so when you're there, 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:57.120 you have to make the most of it. I think 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.640 both of these teams. Whoever comes out on top ultimately 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:02.120 is the team from this particular season. Yeah. From a 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.280 chess match standpoint, what intrigues me about this game is 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.040 the fact that we saw in the NFC Championship game 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.880 the Eagles change the narrative. They changed the storyline with 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.040 what Nick Foles and that offense was able to do 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:17.960 against the Minnesota Vikings, the number one defense in the league, 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.360 that game plan with Doug Peterson, Frank Reich, that coaching staff, 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.000 what they put together, and the way it was executed 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:27.520 by those players to explode for that many points against 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.320 the top defense in the NFL. On the other side, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:36.840 the customary procedure, I guess you'd say for a Bill 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.520 Belichick defense, when he's got two weeks to prepare and 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.400 he's been in these super bowls before, is they come 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.080 out with defensive looks that have not been on film 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:48.800 that the other team cannot be prepared for they haven't 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.840 seen it before, and that offense has to be able 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.720 to adjust on the fly to what the Patriots are doing, 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.080 because they're going to dig deeper in their playbook and 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.760 find some things that haven't been used, and they're going 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:02.960 to try to surprise the opponent with it and see 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.760 how they react. From a chess match standpoint, that makes 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.760 this really interesting. It does. It's a very compelling matchup. 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.040 I still think, in my opinion, though, that the Patriots 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:13.879 are the team with the most amount of pressure on 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:16.360 them because, as the Eagles up said, I mean, they're 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.200 the underdogs. They're gonna ride that all the way through. 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.880 Even though they've been a number one seed in THEFC, 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.880 they've been an underdog every single week. The reason why 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.240 I see the pressures on the Patriots is because Nick 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:29.040 Foles in that Philadelphia offense that was not supposed to 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.879 do anything against that number one ranked defense in the NFL. 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:33.879 They surprised a lot of people. They opened up a 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:35.280 lot of eyes, and as you were seeing in our 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.480 pre production meeting, Doug Peterson, Frank right that the game 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:42.120 plan that they put together for that contest remarkable. Now, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.200 the question is can Doug Peterson, the lifelong backup, the 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.800 former high school football coach. Can they do it again 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.040 against one of the game's very best it, I think 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:51.800 to me, I'm going to be glued to the television 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:53.880 for all four hours however long that thing goes. Yeah, 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.680 And Doug Peterson, the former backup quarterback in Green Bay, 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:58.840 he's got Brett Farve coming to get us to the 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.240 Philadelphia Eagles in their final team meeting on Saturday night. 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.000 You know, maybe those little inspirational things, you never know 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.040 how those can go. Yeah, and hopefully that that pre 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.200 whatever meeting actually wraps up at the time kickoff starts 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.680 on Sunday. Who knows how long far we'll talk. Right 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.320 with that, Let's take care of a little sponsored business. 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:16.960 Today is a perfect day to fill up with some 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.399 new Campbell's Chunky Max Soup. Chunky Max is loaded with 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.240 more meat than you can handle, a lot more. We're 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.760 talking more than a comparable Chunky soup. So go on 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.640 fill up with new Campbell's Chunky Max Soup. Campbell's Chunky Soup, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.960 the official sup partner the Green Bay Packers back with 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:51.960 more on Packers Unscripted right after this welcome back to 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.240 Packers unscripted Mike Spofford. Here, West, Hodko, It's over there, 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:58.800 okay West? Quickly before we go Super Bowl fifty two 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.800 Patriots against the Eagles, I want to know who you 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.720 think an X factor in this game is going to be, 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:06.640 and then I want your prediction on what you think 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:08.280 is gonna happen. I think the X factor is gonna 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.359 be Rick Lovado, the former Packers long snapper that was 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.359 serving sandwiches two years ago and now the New Jersey 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.560 sub shop. Yeah, he's gonna be snapping in the super Bowl. 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.800 And no credit toil Rick. I really liked him during 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:20.960 his time. A good dude. I wish him well. But 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.320 to me, I think the biggest X factor honestly is 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.280 going to be Nick Foles. And if Foles can can 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.439 really I don't want to say chop up, but I 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:33.800 mean he just did everything so darn effectively against Minnesota. 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:35.920 There were no holes in his game. In that game 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:38.080 he put that he made the plays that were there 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.040 down field, and he was smart with the football. You 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.320 have to do that against the New England Patriots, I 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.359 think you saw the downfall. Even when Blake Bortles played 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.920 a perfect game for fifty five minutes. When it came 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:52.760 down to crunch time, the Patriots defense, they had the 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:55.280 right calls. Bortles wasn't able to make enough plays. That 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:59.359 was the difference. I think if if Foles is able 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:03.400 to protect the football, I think that the Philadelphia Eagles 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.480 are going to get their first Super Bowl victory because 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.720 I see even with as you mentioned, all the changes 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.480 that the Patriots are gonna make it, I'm fully with you, 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:13.880 they're gonna show a lot of unscarted luck. I still 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:16.240 think this is a They played the best defense in 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.240