WEBVTT - The Season with Peter Schrager: Buccaneers GM Jason Licht 0:00:07.266 --> 0:00:09.706 The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the 0:00:09.786 --> 0:00:24.706 NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's Up, Everybody, Welcome to 0:00:24.706 --> 0:00:29.306 another episode of the Season with Peter Scheger. I am 0:00:29.306 --> 0:00:32.506 Peter Schrager. I am joined by my producer and friend 0:00:32.626 --> 0:00:38.226 Aaron wang Kaufman, and also Jason English from the iHeartMedia team. 0:00:38.266 --> 0:00:43.306 What forty eight hours for New York Football? I got 0:00:43.306 --> 0:00:45.586 to start in New York as we go to the 0:00:45.626 --> 0:00:48.666 Sunday Night experience to the Monday night experience and do 0:00:48.786 --> 0:00:52.506 a quick snippet on just the total polar opposites of 0:00:52.586 --> 0:00:57.666 how you can feel after a loss Jets Sunday Night, Aaron, 0:00:58.666 --> 0:01:02.226 They're down seventeen to nothing. They start with this ridiculous 0:01:02.266 --> 0:01:04.626 safety and then they get a field goal of seventeen 0:01:04.666 --> 0:01:06.386 to five, and then all of a sudden it starts 0:01:06.466 --> 0:01:10.666 clicking and Zach Wilson begins out playing Mahomes. I joked 0:01:10.706 --> 0:01:13.986 on on Monday mornings Good Morning Football that I thought, 0:01:14.066 --> 0:01:15.786 you know, did Mahomes. 0:01:15.306 --> 0:01:18.026 Go out the night before? Like, was Mahomes the one 0:01:18.066 --> 0:01:20.266 out with Taylor Swift till three in the morning at 0:01:20.346 --> 0:01:22.906 zero bond? Because all of a sudden, Mahomes is throwing 0:01:22.986 --> 0:01:25.306 ducks and he's getting intercepted, and if mostly picks that 0:01:25.346 --> 0:01:27.466 one off doesn't drop it, who knows what else can happen. 0:01:28.546 --> 0:01:32.866 And Zach Wilson starts looking like not only a competent quarterback, 0:01:32.986 --> 0:01:36.266 a good quarterback. The first drive in the third quarter 0:01:36.306 --> 0:01:39.546 of that Jets Chiefs game, Zack Wilson gets the ball 0:01:39.746 --> 0:01:43.266 and takes it right down the field. Therews a couple beautiful, 0:01:43.586 --> 0:01:46.666 beautiful passes, a beautiful touch up pass to Almazard, and 0:01:46.706 --> 0:01:48.866 then on the two point conversion, looks like Brett Favre 0:01:48.906 --> 0:01:50.346 running around with his head cut off and gets the 0:01:50.346 --> 0:01:52.466 two point coversion games everything he can to get in there. 0:01:53.306 --> 0:01:56.226 Yes there was the fumble, and yes they lost, but 0:01:56.306 --> 0:01:59.666 after the game, Mahomes pulls in Zach Wilson is like, 0:01:59.706 --> 0:02:01.826 you got it, Like it was like the coolest moment 0:02:01.906 --> 0:02:05.026 if you're Zach Wilson, and if you put yourself in 0:02:05.106 --> 0:02:08.506 Zach Wilson's use for just a second. For the last 0:02:08.546 --> 0:02:11.026 two years, all you read about, all you see is 0:02:11.026 --> 0:02:15.706 that you suck, You're awful, you're a bust, you don't 0:02:15.746 --> 0:02:19.546 have it. The season's over, You're a punching bag, and 0:02:19.866 --> 0:02:22.626 I'm as guilty of this as anyone in the media. 0:02:22.826 --> 0:02:25.586 Like you just you take something that's it's almost like 0:02:25.666 --> 0:02:28.186 this like rotting carcass and then like you feel the 0:02:28.266 --> 0:02:30.466 need to like kick it one more time, and that's 0:02:30.506 --> 0:02:32.626 what we do in the media, and that's what it is. 0:02:32.666 --> 0:02:35.066 But it was based on the fact that he couldn't 0:02:35.426 --> 0:02:37.546 play well and he couldn't do it well. Then suddenly 0:02:37.626 --> 0:02:41.066 you have this performance on Sunday night and it's a loss, 0:02:41.106 --> 0:02:42.786 and the Jets are one in three and the season 0:02:42.866 --> 0:02:45.946 is likely not going anywhere. But you wake up Monday 0:02:45.946 --> 0:02:48.506 morning as a jetspan and you feel good. You know, 0:02:48.546 --> 0:02:50.546 we've had Hanka's area on the time on the show 0:02:50.546 --> 0:02:53.826 countless times, and Hank tells you, like, you know, you 0:02:53.906 --> 0:02:56.826 feel like you just you don't deserve nice things. Well, yes, 0:02:56.866 --> 0:03:00.546 they lost, but you gotta feel nice things. When Zach 0:03:00.586 --> 0:03:03.586 Wilson has this moment of hope, this glimmer of positivity 0:03:03.586 --> 0:03:05.626 and if there isn't that controversial holding call and so 0:03:05.706 --> 0:03:08.026 it's Gardner who knows, maybe Zach Wilson has an opportunity 0:03:08.626 --> 0:03:11.826 to go seventy yards and they win that game and 0:03:11.866 --> 0:03:15.306 it's even better, but at the very least Zach Wilson 0:03:15.306 --> 0:03:17.186 doesn't have another good game in his career. At least 0:03:17.226 --> 0:03:19.706 we saw that this is what the Jets saw in 0:03:19.786 --> 0:03:22.386 him and what they saw in practice, and there's some 0:03:23.266 --> 0:03:28.786 chants of positivity from Zach Wilson. Meanwhile, less than twenty 0:03:28.826 --> 0:03:31.906 four hours later, the Giants game starts, and they've got 0:03:31.906 --> 0:03:36.066 a quarterback who makes forty million dollars a year, who 0:03:36.266 --> 0:03:39.426 goes out there and throws one of the most inexplicable 0:03:39.426 --> 0:03:41.666 pick sixes to Devin Weatherspoon to put the game away. 0:03:41.706 --> 0:03:45.666 Also was sacked eleven times behind an offensive line that yes, 0:03:45.786 --> 0:03:47.866 is down there left tackle, but has plenty of talent 0:03:47.946 --> 0:03:50.106 that they have brought in in the draft and free agency. 0:03:50.746 --> 0:03:53.146 I don't know where Darren Waller is in this offense. 0:03:53.186 --> 0:03:57.426 I don't know where Paris Campbell has been. You know, 0:03:57.466 --> 0:04:00.586 Wandale Robinson's wide open deep. Daniel Jones doesn't see him. 0:04:00.986 --> 0:04:03.106 Sterling Shepherd makes good money. I don't see him on 0:04:03.146 --> 0:04:06.066 the field. I don't know what Darius Slayton's been up to. 0:04:06.106 --> 0:04:10.986 The Giants, big ticket quarterback, first round pick they doubled 0:04:10.986 --> 0:04:14.626 down on, and now in hindsight, I'm looking at it 0:04:14.666 --> 0:04:17.186 and it's like the Giants didn't weren't dying to pay 0:04:17.266 --> 0:04:20.546 Daniel Jones. They did not pick up his fit year option. 0:04:21.106 --> 0:04:24.346 He then has this incredible season where they win all 0:04:24.386 --> 0:04:26.626 those games by one scorer less, the coaches Coach of 0:04:26.626 --> 0:04:28.946 the Year, and yet they weren't rushing to pay him. 0:04:28.986 --> 0:04:31.306 It went to the very bitter end. He fired his 0:04:31.426 --> 0:04:34.306 agents with a week left in the negotiating process. Daniel 0:04:34.346 --> 0:04:37.346 Jones was represented by CAA his entire career. He fires CAAA, 0:04:37.946 --> 0:04:41.346 hires athletes first. They take it to the absolute wire 0:04:41.506 --> 0:04:44.306 and like in the final minutes before free agency starts, 0:04:45.346 --> 0:04:51.346 Daniel Jones signs this crazy not crazy crazy is relatively speaking, 0:04:51.346 --> 0:04:54.506 but a big, big contract to be the Giants quarterback. 0:04:55.026 --> 0:04:56.946 And now if you look at it, all you know 0:04:57.066 --> 0:04:59.666 in the rear view, and it's eight months later, it's like, 0:05:01.386 --> 0:05:04.266 what was the alternatives? Like they did? Could they have 0:05:04.346 --> 0:05:05.746 rolled the days? Do they end up with Will Levis 0:05:05.746 --> 0:05:07.986 as their quarterback? Do they say let's just go with 0:05:08.066 --> 0:05:10.386 Tyrod this year? There weren't many alternatives, but they did 0:05:10.466 --> 0:05:11.906 pay him that big money. Now they're on the hook 0:05:11.946 --> 0:05:14.466 not only for this year, but definitely for next year. 0:05:15.066 --> 0:05:18.506 And those two teams are both one and three. The 0:05:18.586 --> 0:05:22.226 Giants loan victory over a Cardinals team that had a 0:05:22.266 --> 0:05:25.626 miracle comeback. The Jets loan victory was Week one and 0:05:25.666 --> 0:05:28.706 what was one of the most wild finishes in NFL 0:05:29.746 --> 0:05:32.666 season if you look at it now, they somehow beat 0:05:32.706 --> 0:05:35.346 the Bills that look like they're a locomotive and it's 0:05:35.466 --> 0:05:39.306 two one in three teams the biggest media market in Aaron. 0:05:39.426 --> 0:05:41.946 I feel so much better about the Jets right now 0:05:42.026 --> 0:05:44.946 than I do the New York Giants, as a Buffalo 0:05:45.026 --> 0:05:48.146 Bills fan who also quote unquote claims is a New 0:05:48.226 --> 0:05:49.906 York team, you know, I'm talking about the city when 0:05:49.906 --> 0:05:52.706 I talk about New York team from afar. When you 0:05:52.706 --> 0:05:54.906 look at the Jets and the Giants, what's your feel? 0:05:55.466 --> 0:05:58.786 So, I mean, going back to Zach Wilson, it did 0:05:58.866 --> 0:06:01.946 kind of feel like in the past twelve months he's 0:06:02.066 --> 0:06:05.226 lost the job three times because he was the starter, 0:06:05.306 --> 0:06:07.146 and then he lost it, and then Rogers came in, 0:06:07.226 --> 0:06:10.266 he lost it again, and then he Rogers gets hurt, 0:06:10.306 --> 0:06:13.626 and then as soon as that game's over, everyone's just like, 0:06:13.786 --> 0:06:16.426 who can the Jets get Can they get Flacco? Can 0:06:16.426 --> 0:06:18.866 they It's like it's he just is losing it again 0:06:18.906 --> 0:06:21.546 and then to suddenly have this game. Yeah, you're right, 0:06:21.626 --> 0:06:23.906 like he's not going to be the news this week, 0:06:23.946 --> 0:06:27.706 which is great for him. And as opposed to Jones, 0:06:27.746 --> 0:06:31.786 who I don't know. I mean like he didn't, he 0:06:31.786 --> 0:06:34.226 didn't do himself any favors, but that line, I mean 0:06:34.266 --> 0:06:37.546 he was he would. Yeah, you can't blame that. 0:06:37.586 --> 0:06:39.666 But I pushed back on that, and I know this 0:06:39.786 --> 0:06:41.106 is not fair, and I sound like I got something 0:06:41.146 --> 0:06:43.866 personal against Daniel Jones. I don't. I was his biggest 0:06:43.906 --> 0:06:46.586 cheerleader last year when he was proving the same doubters 0:06:46.586 --> 0:06:48.226 that brave Zach you know he was. He did it, 0:06:48.346 --> 0:06:50.106 he won, they went to playoffs. They beat a Minnesota 0:06:50.106 --> 0:06:52.106 team on the road in the very hostile environment, and 0:06:52.106 --> 0:06:57.786 he played great. I am watching on Sunday on my 0:06:57.866 --> 0:07:01.706 little phone on the red Zone YouTube, which has been fantastic, 0:07:01.866 --> 0:07:06.746 if I can. The Steelers defense, which suffocated everybody the 0:07:06.786 --> 0:07:10.626 last few weeks and was absolutely dominant the previous week. 0:07:10.906 --> 0:07:15.346 In a Sunday night game against the Raiders, I'm watching CJ. 0:07:15.506 --> 0:07:18.666 Stroud behind an offensive line that doesn't have Howard, that 0:07:18.706 --> 0:07:22.626 doesn't have Tunzel, that is down four starters, and CJ 0:07:22.706 --> 0:07:24.826 Stroud looks like Dan Marino throwing the ball to Nico 0:07:24.906 --> 0:07:27.706 Collins in Tank Dell and I'm like, all right, I 0:07:27.746 --> 0:07:29.506 know he's a number two overall pick and you expect 0:07:29.506 --> 0:07:31.306 that someone to be like, don't tell me about the 0:07:31.306 --> 0:07:34.426 offensive line, Like figure this out. The Giants had eleven 0:07:34.546 --> 0:07:36.426 days to prepare for this game. They got blown out 0:07:36.426 --> 0:07:38.466 by the Niners on the road. Fine, you know whatever, 0:07:38.506 --> 0:07:41.746 that's okay, No Saquon no Andrew Tomas. Eleven days to 0:07:41.786 --> 0:07:44.946 prepare for the Seattle Seahawks, who, by the way, Andy 0:07:45.026 --> 0:07:47.906 Dalton sliced up last week. I mean Andy Dalton walked 0:07:47.946 --> 0:07:50.226 in there with Carolina winless team and put up a 0:07:50.226 --> 0:07:53.906 ton of yards and looked fine against Seattle. Suddenly the 0:07:53.946 --> 0:07:57.146 Seattle defenses of Steel Curtain or the Legion of Boom, 0:07:57.226 --> 0:08:00.106 and with you know, eleven days to prepare for that 0:08:00.146 --> 0:08:03.266 Seattle defense, the Giants could not do anything on offense. 0:08:04.706 --> 0:08:06.666 I'm sorry if this sounds very New York folk and 0:08:06.706 --> 0:08:08.866 your listener of the season and you're like, guys, there's 0:08:08.906 --> 0:08:11.546 more teams. It's just two one in three teams, two 0:08:11.626 --> 0:08:14.906 very different feels. Can I go through story time for 0:08:14.906 --> 0:08:17.666 a little bit on what my Sunday was like, yeah, 0:08:17.786 --> 0:08:20.866 let's go, all right if heelsen this podcast. You know, 0:08:20.906 --> 0:08:23.746 I travel quite a bit for the NFL during the 0:08:23.786 --> 0:08:26.466 season and the season with Peter Schreger, but it's sometimes 0:08:26.866 --> 0:08:29.266 the season of Peter Schreger. And that's because this is 0:08:29.306 --> 0:08:31.986 my podcast and we can do what we want. iHeart 0:08:32.386 --> 0:08:35.226 in the NFL said, tell the stories that we don't know. Well, 0:08:35.586 --> 0:08:38.066 I'll give you a story. I had a really cool 0:08:38.306 --> 0:08:40.106 Sunday and this is one of those pinch me moments 0:08:40.106 --> 0:08:41.826 where I'm like, I'm actually paid to do this. I 0:08:41.866 --> 0:08:47.346 am a very lucky guy. Sunday I usually travel from 0:08:47.946 --> 0:08:50.346 on a Saturday morning from New York to Los Angeles 0:08:50.386 --> 0:08:53.266 and do the Fox NFL kickoff show in studio. I 0:08:53.306 --> 0:08:56.666 got a special exemption this weekend because the Eagles, the 0:08:56.746 --> 0:09:03.186 defending NFC champions, were undefeated. They only have two home 0:09:03.906 --> 0:09:07.506 one o'clock games this entire season. Is that not nuts? 0:09:08.426 --> 0:09:11.066 Eagles fans only get to two to one o'clock games 0:09:11.106 --> 0:09:14.986 out of all their home games, six of them are 0:09:15.026 --> 0:09:20.906 either four o'clock Thursday night, Sunday night, or Monday night. 0:09:21.426 --> 0:09:24.106 So with that in mind, I reached out to the 0:09:24.146 --> 0:09:26.626 Fox NFL folks and said, hey, this could be a 0:09:26.666 --> 0:09:28.386 cool opportunity. I'm never going to get a chance to 0:09:28.386 --> 0:09:30.826 do Eagles this year from Philly. I can take a 0:09:30.866 --> 0:09:33.346 train that can drive down whatever. Let me get the 0:09:33.386 --> 0:09:35.826 one opportunity to interview the head coach before the game 0:09:36.106 --> 0:09:37.626 where we can do it on the pregame show. Now, 0:09:37.706 --> 0:09:40.146 of course the Eagles have to approve that. Nick Sirianni 0:09:40.186 --> 0:09:42.346 has to say, sure, I don't mind seconds before kickoff 0:09:42.346 --> 0:09:45.266 talking to you and doing three questions. Fortunately enough, the 0:09:45.266 --> 0:09:47.466 producers at Fox, the executives at Fox who are great, 0:09:47.466 --> 0:09:50.986 We're like, that's perfect because we're doing Commanders Eagles talk. 0:09:51.026 --> 0:09:53.386 Why don't we use that as our lift off point. 0:09:53.386 --> 0:09:54.906 You'll be there, you'll get a feel for it. You 0:09:54.946 --> 0:09:58.346 can do that game. So I go to Philly early 0:09:58.706 --> 0:10:00.826 Sunday and I'm there in the bowels and I got 0:10:00.826 --> 0:10:03.306 to experience game day in Philly, which was awesome. This 0:10:03.426 --> 0:10:07.826 was an amazing atmosphere, and Nick Sirianni was cool enough 0:10:07.826 --> 0:10:10.546 to do an interview. I talked about what they've got 0:10:10.586 --> 0:10:13.306 going on. I talked about Philly's fan base and how 0:10:13.306 --> 0:10:15.946 they've been rallying around this team. But I also talked 0:10:15.946 --> 0:10:18.586 about with him the fact that the Commanders beat the 0:10:18.626 --> 0:10:21.386 Eagles last year and it was Taylor Heinicke, but it 0:10:21.426 --> 0:10:24.866 was the only regular season game that Jalen Hurts lost. 0:10:24.906 --> 0:10:28.066 And Sirianni was awesome in the interview, and he was 0:10:28.386 --> 0:10:31.226 really honest. He's like, we do not overlook anybody, but 0:10:31.506 --> 0:10:35.026 Washington is a divisional opponent and they have given us 0:10:35.506 --> 0:10:37.586 some really good fights the last few years. We will 0:10:37.586 --> 0:10:40.386 not be overlooking this, sure enough. I do the interview. 0:10:40.386 --> 0:10:42.906 It's great. I get to roam the field, and here 0:10:42.906 --> 0:10:44.866 are some of the people I spoke to off camera 0:10:45.426 --> 0:10:48.186 for extended amounts of time. I got to talk to 0:10:48.306 --> 0:10:50.226 Howie Roseman, the GM of the Eagles, and we had 0:10:50.226 --> 0:10:54.266 a very candid conversation about the selections of not only 0:10:54.346 --> 0:10:57.466 Jalen Carter, but Nolan Smith and Kyrie Ringo, who were 0:10:57.466 --> 0:10:59.706 from Georgia, what that connection was like, and how he 0:10:59.746 --> 0:11:04.546 made about those picks. Very interesting talk from how I 0:11:04.586 --> 0:11:06.946 then had a good chat with their defense of line 0:11:06.946 --> 0:11:11.266 coach Jeremiah Washburn, who has been there and was in 0:11:11.306 --> 0:11:14.266 Detroit before this. Jeremiah, I don't know if he would 0:11:14.306 --> 0:11:15.706 be comfortable with me saying it. So here we are. 0:11:15.746 --> 0:11:18.186 I'm going to say it anyway. I said, Uh, what 0:11:18.866 --> 0:11:22.186 do you see in Jalen Carter? He's like, this dude 0:11:23.106 --> 0:11:26.106 is an absolute bohemo. This guy is the real deal. 0:11:26.146 --> 0:11:28.426 And he said Fletcher Cox said it best. And I 0:11:28.426 --> 0:11:30.066 don't know if he said it publicly or if he 0:11:30.106 --> 0:11:32.266 said it just to Jeremiah said anything he goes, Fletcher 0:11:32.346 --> 0:11:34.706 Cox said it best. I'm like, what if Fletch have 0:11:34.786 --> 0:11:37.866 to say? He says. Fletcher Cock says that Jalen Carter 0:11:37.986 --> 0:11:41.586 wakes up and he gets out of bed and he 0:11:41.626 --> 0:11:47.906 looks to what ass what? I was like, Ah, if 0:11:47.906 --> 0:11:50.586 you watch him in warmups like I remember, and now 0:11:50.786 --> 0:11:53.026 obviously he's in the headlines for the reasons. I remember 0:11:53.106 --> 0:11:55.586 Chandler Jones during warm ups when he was with the 0:11:55.626 --> 0:11:57.266 Patriots Ones and I had to take a video and 0:11:57.266 --> 0:11:59.746 I put it on Twitter. I'm like, this guy's just 0:11:59.746 --> 0:12:02.986 just just it's a different speed and like it's and 0:12:03.106 --> 0:12:06.026 Aaron Donald. I get to watch him pregame who And 0:12:06.066 --> 0:12:09.306 this is me as a sportswriter slash podcaster trying to 0:12:09.346 --> 0:12:12.586 imitate move. If you're watching on video, I'm doing that. 0:12:12.666 --> 0:12:14.506 And if you're listening to the audio, the who is 0:12:14.546 --> 0:12:18.626 me like doing Jalen Carter was destroying tackling dummies for 0:12:18.706 --> 0:12:20.146 the end. I'm like, oh, so, like, I get that 0:12:20.146 --> 0:12:21.826 experience and you're on the game. I get that on 0:12:22.066 --> 0:12:24.466 the field. Then I went to the Washington side and 0:12:24.506 --> 0:12:26.426 I talked to Jason right there president for a bit 0:12:26.426 --> 0:12:28.306 and just about the new blood there, and it was 0:12:28.346 --> 0:12:31.426 really cool. I love being at games. I love being 0:12:31.426 --> 0:12:34.066 at prega and then a game breaks out and it's 0:12:34.106 --> 0:12:37.786 absolutely awesome. The Washington Commanders were not scared of the 0:12:37.826 --> 0:12:41.346 Philadelphia Eagles. They had not a flicker of hesitation when 0:12:41.346 --> 0:12:43.146 they went in there. They scored on their opening drive, 0:12:43.226 --> 0:12:45.266 they scored on their second drive, like they came right 0:12:45.266 --> 0:12:49.106 down the field, and they tested Philly. Philly comes out 0:12:49.106 --> 0:12:51.106 with the win. They're four and oh. They don't apologize 0:12:51.106 --> 0:12:53.746 for anything. But to get a field for both teams 0:12:53.866 --> 0:12:57.266 was huge for me. But I wasn't done, Aaron, No, 0:12:57.386 --> 0:13:01.106 I wasn't done. I reached out to the Jets earlier 0:13:01.106 --> 0:13:02.946 in the week and I said, I'm not in Los 0:13:02.946 --> 0:13:05.786 Angeles doing the pregame show. I'm actually in Philadelphia. That 0:13:05.826 --> 0:13:09.546 game should around three thirty four o'clock. If I get 0:13:09.546 --> 0:13:13.026 on my horse, I can make it to Jets Chiefs, 0:13:13.026 --> 0:13:15.466 which felt like more than just a football game. It 0:13:15.466 --> 0:13:18.746 felt like a pop culture moment because of obvious reasons 0:13:18.786 --> 0:13:21.266 of who was in the building. I was there to 0:13:21.266 --> 0:13:24.346 get a feel for the defending champions, the Chiefs, but 0:13:24.466 --> 0:13:26.706 also to see what the Jets had left in the tank. 0:13:26.866 --> 0:13:30.266 And if I happened to end up with Taylor Swift 0:13:30.306 --> 0:13:33.826 and Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman and you name who, 0:13:33.866 --> 0:13:36.866 and if Blake Lively wants to celebrate with me, that's fine. 0:13:36.946 --> 0:13:38.826 I would have been Okay, I wouldn't. I don't want 0:13:38.826 --> 0:13:40.426 to be the story. But if I happened to be 0:13:40.466 --> 0:13:41.266 the story, then. 0:13:41.146 --> 0:13:41.546 So be it. 0:13:41.626 --> 0:13:43.546 Right. Well, I didn't see any of those people, but 0:13:44.426 --> 0:13:46.586 I got on my horse. I get to the game. Pregame, 0:13:47.026 --> 0:13:49.146 Jets are cool enough to credential me. I have a 0:13:49.146 --> 0:13:52.466 press box seat, Like, I'm excited, I'll be there pregame. 0:13:52.506 --> 0:13:55.746 I walk on the field and I'm just walking around 0:13:55.906 --> 0:13:57.706 and you know, one of our guests and our friends 0:13:57.706 --> 0:13:59.666 in my Brooklyn homie, Paul Rudd is there with his 0:13:59.826 --> 0:14:02.906 entire family, and Paul's like, come over here. I'm like, eh, 0:14:02.546 --> 0:14:04.906 I don't wanna. All right, he's over there on the 0:14:04.986 --> 0:14:07.906 Chiefs sideline there, go over there, say hi to him 0:14:08.026 --> 0:14:09.866 and Brett Veach, the GM and the Chiefs is there. 0:14:10.226 --> 0:14:13.866 We're talking for twenty minutes, Paul, his son, Jack, Me, 0:14:14.506 --> 0:14:17.786 Brett Veach, We're all talking about all the different players 0:14:17.786 --> 0:14:19.866 on the Chiefs, not Mahomes and Kelsey, but like what 0:14:19.906 --> 0:14:21.986 Trent McDuffie has done this year to make him one 0:14:22.026 --> 0:14:24.946 of an elite corners, What George carl Laftis has done, 0:14:24.986 --> 0:14:27.586 and what kind of student car Laftis is. Carlaftis is 0:14:27.586 --> 0:14:29.666 one of these guys that Veach was like, he's like 0:14:29.706 --> 0:14:31.906 the teacher's pet. He is in there every morning talking 0:14:31.946 --> 0:14:34.626 to our defensive line coach. He's got film, he's trying 0:14:34.666 --> 0:14:37.346 to do the work. The message in Kansas City is 0:14:37.386 --> 0:14:40.106 it can't just be Mahomes and Kelsey. These other guys 0:14:40.106 --> 0:14:41.946 have to step up. And if you watch that game, 0:14:42.066 --> 0:14:45.986 it was Pachaco, it was Noah Gray, it was Willie Gay, 0:14:46.066 --> 0:14:49.386 it was younger players stepping up because Mahomes did not 0:14:49.506 --> 0:14:51.786 seem to have the Mahomes game until the very end 0:14:51.826 --> 0:14:55.626 where he pulls it out. But as I'm walking, I 0:14:55.666 --> 0:14:58.666 get a text from someone on the Jets, not a player, 0:14:58.946 --> 0:15:02.146 not a coach, someone else, an executive type person, and 0:15:02.226 --> 0:15:03.666 they reach out. I don't want to give their name 0:15:03.706 --> 0:15:05.866 because if you give their name, you're revealing your sources 0:15:05.866 --> 0:15:08.306 in this one. Hey, I see you over on the 0:15:08.346 --> 0:15:11.146 chief sideline. Come say hello real quick. So I make 0:15:11.186 --> 0:15:13.946 my way over to the Jets area and I'm on 0:15:13.986 --> 0:15:15.906 the sidelines, but I'm not trying to come too close 0:15:15.946 --> 0:15:18.826 to the team because it's before the game, and you know, 0:15:18.906 --> 0:15:22.066 I don't have all access in this situation. And as 0:15:22.066 --> 0:15:25.786 I'm doing that, I get a little hey, see who's here? 0:15:26.226 --> 0:15:28.266 And I looked to my right and he's got a 0:15:28.266 --> 0:15:31.546 little smirk on his face. What's up, buddy? Aaron Rodgers 0:15:32.506 --> 0:15:36.546 Rogers on the crutches on sidelines. We talked briefly. Didn't 0:15:36.546 --> 0:15:38.626 get into the timetable, if you will, but I will 0:15:38.666 --> 0:15:44.386 say this, good spirits moving on those crutches. I was 0:15:44.426 --> 0:15:46.746 told this would be four weeks or five weeks before 0:15:46.746 --> 0:15:49.266 he can be off that scooter. He's on crutches, there's 0:15:49.306 --> 0:15:54.466 no boot, He's moving and I'm watching Rogers during pre game. Yeah, 0:15:54.506 --> 0:15:57.666 I know everyone's out there and Sauces giving up pep 0:15:57.786 --> 0:16:00.066 talk and you got Breize Hall doing the drills, and 0:16:00.106 --> 0:16:01.906 I'm not doing the same thing I was doing with 0:16:01.986 --> 0:16:04.306 Jalen Carter. While I'm watching the Jets, I'm just focused 0:16:04.346 --> 0:16:06.146 on their quarterback who will not see the field till 0:16:06.146 --> 0:16:09.946 the least January, if he even does, or December, whatever 0:16:10.026 --> 0:16:13.306 the timetable might be. And I'm watching Rogers and he's 0:16:13.346 --> 0:16:17.866 not in everybody's face, but he is very active participant 0:16:18.146 --> 0:16:21.066 in the conversations on the sidelines with some of these guys. 0:16:21.066 --> 0:16:23.786 And I think the Aaron Rodgers effect can be real 0:16:23.906 --> 0:16:27.066 because I saw it firsthand how these players. He's not 0:16:27.146 --> 0:16:29.146 in their face, he's not demanding spotlight. But like he 0:16:29.186 --> 0:16:31.746 spoke to the team on Saturday night, he was there 0:16:31.786 --> 0:16:35.786 on Sunday, he was in Woody Johnson's box. All good. 0:16:36.506 --> 0:16:39.626 I think that there's no coincidence that Zach Wilson played 0:16:39.626 --> 0:16:41.986 the game of his life and that Rogers at least 0:16:41.986 --> 0:16:43.386 has been a part of the game planning, and it's 0:16:43.426 --> 0:16:46.946 been a part of the team on Saturday. But here's 0:16:46.986 --> 0:16:50.746 where the night takes the Peter Schrager twist, and I 0:16:50.866 --> 0:16:54.626 just end up wherever. Okay, So amongst the people I 0:16:54.666 --> 0:16:57.466 spoke to pregame, it's not just Paul Roden Bretviach like 0:16:57.546 --> 0:17:01.306 I saw. I talked with Clark Hunt for a long time. 0:17:01.346 --> 0:17:03.786 And Clark Hunt is obviously a guest on the show 0:17:03.866 --> 0:17:06.866 during Super Bowl week, but he's the chairman and CEO 0:17:07.066 --> 0:17:11.706 president of the Kansas City Chiefs. Mark Donovan, who is 0:17:11.746 --> 0:17:15.986 their CEO in maybe different titles with Clark and Mark, 0:17:16.266 --> 0:17:18.186 talked to him for a while getting a feel for, 0:17:18.386 --> 0:17:21.826 you know, the Chiefs organization as a whole. As I'm 0:17:21.826 --> 0:17:23.986 getting that grasp there, I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna go 0:17:24.066 --> 0:17:26.106 up to the press box, but I do the Rogers thing. 0:17:26.146 --> 0:17:28.506 I talked to him for a bit. As I'm stepping out, 0:17:28.586 --> 0:17:31.026 I you know, get a tap on the shoulder from 0:17:31.026 --> 0:17:33.626 someone else in the Jets organization says, why don't you 0:17:33.706 --> 0:17:37.826 come by for a second and just say hello, you know, 0:17:37.906 --> 0:17:39.906 to some of the people at the highest level of 0:17:39.906 --> 0:17:41.826 the ownership group, if you can, if during the game, 0:17:41.866 --> 0:17:43.666 if you want just I come in, just say hi. Whatever. 0:17:44.186 --> 0:17:50.186 So Christopher Johnson is, you know, with Woody Johnson obviously 0:17:50.226 --> 0:17:52.906 owners of the Jets. I was in the press box. 0:17:52.946 --> 0:17:55.386 I'm a journalist. I've wearing that hat. But I'm like, 0:17:55.426 --> 0:17:57.106 if I got the invite, do you say hi? Do 0:17:57.106 --> 0:17:59.146 you not say hi? So I just pop in before 0:17:59.186 --> 0:18:01.786 the game and I walk in just to say hello, 0:18:01.906 --> 0:18:03.826 and I look around this room and they were on 0:18:03.866 --> 0:18:06.306 the big deviatrios. I don't think here was the crew 0:18:06.346 --> 0:18:09.626 that was in this suite. Everyone's talking about Ryan Reynolds 0:18:09.666 --> 0:18:14.506 and Blake Lively and Hugh Jackman. And you know, I 0:18:14.586 --> 0:18:17.826 respect the Jets as a business because as NBC went 0:18:17.866 --> 0:18:20.426 to that box seventeen times, I don't think the Jets 0:18:20.946 --> 0:18:24.306 showed Taylor Swift once on their in house jumbo tron. 0:18:24.346 --> 0:18:25.866 And they're like, you know what, they're here to root 0:18:25.906 --> 0:18:29.346 for the Chiefs. We're not showing them. The box that 0:18:29.386 --> 0:18:31.146 they should have shown was the crew that I saw 0:18:31.186 --> 0:18:33.386 watching the game together. And I'll give a quick story 0:18:33.386 --> 0:18:37.066 that was hilarious. But I walk in, I say high sheepishly, 0:18:37.106 --> 0:18:39.786 and I'm like whatever, I'm an invisible ghost in that room. 0:18:40.666 --> 0:18:44.066 In that box, you want to talk about a murderer's 0:18:44.146 --> 0:18:46.506 row of like of like guys that I would want 0:18:46.546 --> 0:18:51.106 to have beers with. First guy, Ray freaking Romano was 0:18:51.146 --> 0:18:56.386 in the room. Ray Romano's in the room. So Ray 0:18:56.466 --> 0:18:57.386 Romano's in the. 0:18:57.386 --> 0:18:59.266 Room, and I'm like, you know, do you say some 0:18:59.306 --> 0:19:01.146 of the others like, I don't think Ray No's but 0:19:01.186 --> 0:19:03.226 as we film, I don't think raynols No. I know 0:19:03.346 --> 0:19:05.906 Ray doesn't know this, but as we film this podcast 0:19:05.986 --> 0:19:09.066 right now and we record this, Aaron, you and I 0:19:09.106 --> 0:19:12.386 are in this cool, little like green room that Sny 0:19:12.666 --> 0:19:14.946 puts us in, which is where we film Good Morning 0:19:14.946 --> 0:19:18.906 Football downtown in Manhattan. This room, for four years I 0:19:18.986 --> 0:19:22.266 shared with Nate Burlison as a dressing room. Nate would 0:19:22.266 --> 0:19:23.986 get down to his skivvies in front of me, put 0:19:23.986 --> 0:19:26.386 on his really fancy clothes and look great. I would 0:19:26.426 --> 0:19:30.106 throw on my hooded sweatshirt and my new balanced sneakers 0:19:30.146 --> 0:19:31.706 and go and do the job. But Nate and I 0:19:31.746 --> 0:19:33.546 would be in here every morning from five. 0:19:33.586 --> 0:19:36.146 Thirty to six point fifty, I would say, And Nate 0:19:36.186 --> 0:19:38.546 became a best friend and her brother. Great. Everyone thinks 0:19:38.586 --> 0:19:41.066 we're breaking down all twenty two film like we're Brian 0:19:41.106 --> 0:19:43.626 Baldinger that we did not watch football in the morning. 0:19:43.706 --> 0:19:46.506 We get football all day. Nate and I would watch 0:19:46.546 --> 0:19:49.506 Everybody Loves Raymond reruns on TBS. There's a TD in here, 0:19:50.466 --> 0:19:53.546 volume up. We probably watched eight seasons, no every episode, 0:19:53.666 --> 0:19:55.706 and it was not even a conversation. We'd watch the 0:19:55.746 --> 0:19:59.706 commercials everything. Everybody loves Raymonds. So here's Ray Romano as 0:19:59.706 --> 0:20:02.346 I walk in and he's in there, and I'm like, 0:20:02.346 --> 0:20:06.066 do I say something doing not another wrinkle? Last week 0:20:06.066 --> 0:20:09.786