Bussin' With The Boys - Best of the Bus: Ran Carthon Talks Firing Mike Vrabel, Cutting Taylor Lewan

Episode Date: October 18, 2025

Recorded: May 16th 2024 | On this episode of Best of the Bus, the guys were joined by former Tennessee Titans General Manager, Ran Carthon. The first thing they got into was Ran cutting Taylor and how that whole process went down, which led into a conversation about what it’s like having to cut players — and whether there have ever been any sketchy situations that came from it. The Boys also got into the process and firing of former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. The guys also dove into what the draft war room is really like and Ran’s thought process during this year’s draft. He pulled back the curtain to give an inside look at life as a GM — from making roster moves to hiring a new head coach. Enjoy, fellas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey guys, it's us The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen.

We don't care where you hear it. I'm Michelle McPhee. And I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

We are rolling now. Thank you, Mitch. We finally got. We got, ladies, we got it. We got a raincarth on. Ray Carth on. And I did say to JP's camera, it took a little hunting. It took a little texting.

Let's not do that. Let's not. Can I tell you, can I tell you from my, from my, from my, how it all went down? So when did you, you got the job, what in January? January of 23. January 23. January 17th, I remember being outside of Rable's office

sitting with Stretch. You came in and the way the last GM was, it was like you gotta be a little tighter around it. You came in, dat me up, hey, love the show. First thing you said to me, I'm thinking, we got them. Yeah. Oh, I'd love to come on sometime.

Oh, I would love to come on sometime. Next time I saw you, you're releasing me, which we all knew was going to happen. Can we go into that story at some point? We got to tell us that story. You guys released me And I think like 48 hours later

I hit you with the text Like hey, you want to come on busing with the boys Nothing Right Trying to walk me to an ambush Yeah But finally It's been a year

And it's awesome that you've come on now Instead of then Because what you have been able to Acquire and do in this past off season It's been awesome So it's exciting to see And it's better to have you on now And the only friction

The only like Part that was like okay Chill out He came up to us in the facility When y'all gonna have me on have been waiting on y'all we're just like you mother fucker dude we've been trying to get and as we're saying this i literally said it in a year later it's been like five months so yeah yeah i mess that up let's talk about let's start off

let's talk about the you cutting him yeah let's go so so the day that you know we were doing it um you know we meet in frabs's office and we come in and we're just chatting and just just talk literally having a conversation that kind of goes into oh i got to come closer pause No, daddy. No, he's good. Yeah, no daddy. And so I, you know, we're just sitting there having a conversation. And I can't even remember what the topic of the conversation was.

And then just him. Okay, so you're releasing me. Yeah. Transition. No segue, no nothing. Just, all right, so you're releasing me. And then I'm like, uh, yeah. I mean, I think you kind of knew it was coming.

You know, and that's how to the conversation with. got back after Mexico, right? Yeah, because I was in Cabo and Vrable, shout out Braves in this because a lot of guys don't get to choose when they get released. Right. Raib called me. Because we all knew, like the minute I had to get my knee done again, two out of three years, like you're, you're getting canned, brother. You're not going to be making that kind of money and not playing on the field. So he calls me and he's like, hey, we obviously have to release you. You let us know when the best ever you is.

I was like, all right, these dates work. And he's like, can you do it before the combine? I was like, yeah, absolutely. These days now work. So when I went in, I kind of came in. We all knew. And Brave and I are sitting there talking about Jen and their skiing. And it's kind of cool.

It's like a nice thing, a last meal before essentially a gun gets put to your head. Yeah. And you sit down. We haven't really talked at all. The last thing I said. And in my head, I was like, we just got to get this going. Because I know it's kind of awkward for everybody. You're new.

Like you and I hardly know each other. Rabeel and I've been together for five years. We all understand what's about to happen here. So it's like. I'll say this. the tough part for me, obviously, coming into this role, you know, this new role and being from afar and, you know, having respect for this team and having respect for certain guys, like, like, having to release you and like, dang, like, I remember this dude coming out of Michigan.

I had him rated high, liked him coming out and watching him become a pro bowl player. And even guys like Robert Woods, you know, I've missed him at every one of my stops. So I was at the Rams when we signed him and then leave a month later. So never got to see him on the field. I even have Robert Woods in my GM presentation about players that I've been a part of acquiring, you know, the different pro bowl caliber players. But I always have him in there as an example of a person that's going to come in and change the culture, you know, of the building.

And then I get here and have to release him, you know. And so I finally met Robert Woods. when we played at Houston last year and just kind of walked up to him like, hey, man, like a ton of respect for you. I meant everything I told you on the phone when we talked that day, like, have nothing but respect for you. It's just part of the way this thing works. Is it hard?

Like, yeah, I know it's hard, but you come in, it's like he's highly graded. You know who he is. He's had his career. And on that last year, it's like, it's the get back year. Like, finally it's like you got to put everything on. And then that first player, second player. play of Buffalo happens. Yeah.

And in your mind as a GM, are you basically, was it fairly simple at that point? Like, hey, this is going to be a guy we're going to have to release due to money and everything else. Yeah, the strategy of it is simple. But, you know, and I think you and I share this and being undrafted guys. And I don't know about you, but I've been cut a multitude of ways. Yeah. You know, some good, some inhumane.

You know what's the worst way you've been cut? Uh, I won't say the team. It's two. One, I knew I was getting cut. You had the big cut down coming. I think it would be pretty easy to figure it out. You was on one team. You had three years.

So we're playing a preseason game. We're playing in a place where my wife and my daughter are living. And so when I come back, when I come on the team flight, I bring all my stuff home. And so I go to the team after the game. I barely play. I hadn't done getting. any practice reps.

So I say, hey, I know what's coming tomorrow. Can I just stay? Like, we can do the cut right now. I'll sign whatever you need to sign. I'm healthy. There's nothing wrong with me. It's just more convenient for me to just leave with my wife and my daughter and go home. I live 15 minutes from here.

Oh, we don't know what we're doing. And I'm like, come on, man. I was like, because if I go back, I'm only bringing what I have on my body and my wallet. I'm not taking anything back. And players are in tune with like what you're saying. Oh, yeah, 100%. And so they, oh, man, we don't know. Flyback, first person they called next one is me.

And I'm like, so I go in the building. I already knew that there was like an 11.05 flight leaving. So I was like, hey, look, can you just book me on the 11.05? Like, no harm, no file. Like, I don't need to meet with anybody. Like, I'm good. I just want to go home. And, well, you know, you need to meet.

No, I don't. Do eat, meet each coach. Yeah, yeah. And I get the reason why you do that, but at that point, I was like. For sure. And then the other one, my wife and my daughter were actually getting ready to move back home to Miami. And we're doing a going-away deal at my daughter's school. I'm passing cupcakes out to the kids on a Tuesday and get the call in the middle of passing cupcakes out.

and I look at the phone and I look at her and she's like, no. No. No. Because we, I mean, we went through it. So I say all that to say, like, when it's time to cut people, like, you try to do it the most tactful and most professional and humane way just because I've been through it. And, you know, you try to be honest. You know, you try to be honest. You try to be up front.

And, you know, I've had it to where there have been guys that, you know, I didn't particularly see as NFL players. So you try to have that conversation. It doesn't always go well, you know, but you try to, because I see it a lot. These guys, you know, you don't know what to tell these guys. So sometimes it's, hey, man, you're going to play a long time in this league. You know, this is just something we got to do. And now this guys still training, looking for opportunity three, four years, five years, when if you were honest and said, hey, look, man, like this game is probably not for you at this level.

You know, you got a college degree. You might want to start exploring these things. or, you know, having that conversation, at least get that in their mind. Like, I knew personally, I said if I got to the point where my number of teams outweighed my years of service is time to do something different. Yeah.

And I got there quick five teams in three years. It's time to go. Five teams in three years. Who's that? Well, answer. Answer, put it on. What's up, Bubba? I got you on the bus.

What up, Bubba? What up, Bub. Jelly Row! What's up, Bob? How can I help you? We're getting after it, brother. We gotta bank these things, getting ready for June. We need you.

I'm prime? You really are having that contract year right now. It's going nuts. I'm so happy for you. I'll call you after this, all right? I love you too, see you. We'll just talk about him. Jelly's the man.

But when you're cutting guys, Guys, do you find it harder to cut rookies or cut vets? It's probably hard to cut vets. Sometimes they see it coming. Sometimes they don't. So that's the hard part. And vets, you generally have a longer conversation. You know what I mean?

Especially, you know, guys like yourself who's astute and you want to know the why. You know, why? Hey, look, I thought I was playing better than, you know, this guy and this guy. So you have to have those conversations. Most of the times with the rookies, the hard part with them is you see the emotion. You know what I mean? Because you got to think about it. Most of these dudes, this is the first time they've ever been told they weren't good enough.

Right. You know, and so you're the first person ever tell them that and you have to have that conversation. I mean, you live through the emotion with them. And so, you know, I'm not that brutal of a human. You see the emotion of another man. It kind of gets to you a little bit. But then it's, you know, it becomes one of those things. Like I say, if I ever get to the point where it doesn't affect me, you know,

to cut somebody's probably time for me to look for something else to do. Yeah. What's been your stickiest situation cutting a player? Or maybe you're fumbling over your words like, oh shit, this is not going like I thought of. No, I've had a situation where you try to have that real conversation with a player. Like, hey, man, like, you know, it's probably time to transition, you know, and look for something else to do. I don't know what you're interested in.

And by all means, like, let us help you, you know, connect you with the player engagement guy. We can help you figure this out. And what are you saying? I'm like, well, I don't think that you're an NFL player, you know what I mean? And you try to have that conversation. And then, you know, it gets a little hostile. You kind of feel that heat. And, I mean, I'm not losing at home.

You know, like, if you're in my office, one of us is coming out. It's going to always be me. I don't have the win to sit there and box with you. you. Yeah. So I'm not doing that. So I have stuff strategically placed if I need to grab and defend myself. That is why. Have you felt like attention there? No, I have like when I was much younger, I felt I felt the tension, you know, before. And it's like, oh man, this could be the day, you know. And it's never, it's never got to that point. Hey, it's us to Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news?

Huge news. We've created our own podcast. called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember. going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing

a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. But then I also have to think about it sometimes. It's like you're essentially firing somebody. And so if that person wants to be upset and express it, like it's probably best to just deal with it.

You know what I mean? Just let that person have the emotion. Because it is their right to be upset. You know what I'm saying? So I just, most of the times you have to sit back and just like, hey man, like I understand. I got you. It's so interesting you say it's like it's harder to cut vets. And I get that for like the relationship standpoint, but every vet I've been around, that's like above five years, they always kind of see the right.

You're in the game long enough to realize, hey, when it's about to happen. Yeah. Every single training camp, there is always at least one guy, one rookie. one rookie that you just, you can see their, the ignorance of, they've been in high school. And in high school, it's, hey, next year we'll get them. Next year we'll get them. There's never a cut. College.

Hey, I'm going to grow and develop and next year, I'll be a starter, that type of thing. And they just think, I'll get them next year if I'm not a starter this year. And then all of a sudden, they come in the locker room and they're just bawling their eyes out. I feel it's got it. For me, it just, from the outside watching, it seemed like the rookies always just took it the hardest over the vets. Yeah. And that's, though, that's the emotion that you have to deal with. And one of the things I've always encouraged, even when I was just a pro scout,

when I was a pro scout, my job was going to get them. You know, so I was the Reaper or whatever they call them, the Turk. Yeah, the Grim Reaper, you know, staying in there inside the building. I was in the locker just. But what I always tried to do was I always tried to do it in, because, again, I've been cut every which way. And so if I, especially a vet, I would never follow behind a vet. I would catch the vet one-on-one, hey, look, you need to come up and see coach. You go see coach and then I just tell them because now I have to walk you around through the exit process.

And I'm like, hey, look, to help you avoid the questions from your teammates, we're going to go from medical, you're going to go to medical, from medical to equipment. And then I'll be loosely by you without anybody suspecting me around. So I would just blend in. You got to go see medical. While you're meeting with the trainers, I'm over here joking with this guy, talking to this guy, make icons. attack with the trainer like, hey, are we good? And then when they leave, go to the equipment room, I kind of loosely follow behind.

So when I was doing it, you would never know that I'm following this dude. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so when I got a position to have other people do it, I would say, hey, like, give them the respect. Yeah. Don't try to walk behind them with the paper and like, no, you need to go, like, give them respect.

Because the last thing you want is for to walk through that locker room. And everybody's like, damn, you got cut? There's the Grim Reaper. Yeah. Everybody? That's the last thing. Head down. Yeah, that's the last thing you want.

So I always try to do it with respect. Is that like I think you've acquired over time? Or the first time you knew you're going to have to be the Grim Reaper. You were like, I have to be as respectful as possible. Well, the first time, I'll never forget the first person I cut. It was the day they're saying, I have to get this guy. He decides to do extra. Is he still playing?

No. He didn't play after that. And so he's doing extra. on the field. It's OTA. And I'm like waiting and I'm trying to catch him, you know, catch him one-on-one. So he huddles up with a group of vets and he's walking. I'm on a time limit, right? Because they were like, we need to have him up here by 12, 15.

It's like 1205. And I'm like, and I'm trying to make eye contact with him as he's walking with the vets. Yeah. And he's not making eye contact. You think he knows? Of course he knows. I don't know. But it's like in your mind as a player, like, what do you think is going to happen?

Like you're going to sneak away the wheeler away. Yeah, yeah. You'll just be on the week one roster. So then I had to like, hey, let me holl at you for a second. And he comes out. I was like, hey, man, like, we need to go up and see coach right now. So we go up. We do the whole thing.

I still give him the respect or whatever. That weekend, I decide, you know, hey man, I'm going to go hang out this weekend. can't make this up. I get to the bar. I go to the bar. I order a drink. I look up and he's at the corner of the bar. And I was like,

nah, I canceled that drink. I was like, I'm good. I need to keep him in view. I don't know if he thinks it's me. Yeah. You know what I mean?

No shit. And I ended up being there for like 20 minutes. So I was like, I got to go. Gotta get out of you. And I just remember me and him locking eyes. And I was like, yeah.

Yeah. Safety's a priority in the situation. I feel like a vet would be harder too because like rookies, you'll cut them or whatever. They'll probably be more emotional because it is their first time kind of being told no. And not only that, but everyone,

every rookie, like everybody wants to be the best and you have the weight of whatever pressure, expectation you have on yourself because you've identified as a stud player. It's like now you've got to tell your family and everybody at home with a thing. Man, I feel like a loser. Like there's a lot of that weight.

I feel like with vets, you'll have the longer conversations because sometimes it's probably not easy because there could be games going on. Right? Like, oh, okay, I hadn't been playing or, man, I've been getting more reps than him. Or the reason that this didn't work out is because did you ever talk to the coach or this film, that film? I feel like there's a lot of things that you got to kind of.

It's a lot more conversation that goes into it. You know, and like I said, it's just never easy with a vet, especially a guy that's just been with that organization. Right. You know what I mean? I think it's a little bit easier conversation for, you know, the quote unquote journeyman that's bounced around. but for a guy that's been with a club three, four, five, six years and then you've got to deliver this message.

It's like, whoa, like this is all I know. This is, and most times you have to explain to them how the process goes because they've never gone through it. You know what I mean? So like I said, it's a lot further conversation. That was such a hard, like, I thought I would have to sign something because I remember sitting there being like, all right, we'll have to sign you like, oh, no,

we just have to tell you we're releasing you. Yeah, tell you release you, walk you through the process. And, you know. Because that was my only time ever did that. Yeah. Yeah. I can't wait if you did that shit to me, man. That was crazy.

Hey, man, I needed to. Hey, Ray, couldn't wait. He was the first one. Who did you want to first? He goes 77 now. That's the guy. Circle it. Get his ass.

Oh, we need money. Here's how we're going to free him. Fairly quickly. How much we need? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to get that guy. No fault. That was wild because I thought there has to be like some sort of like signing.

Yeah, it's not, it's not too formal, you know, if you will, is, you know, for you, um, you know, for you know, you were still rehabbing. So it was one of those things. Like for a person that's fully healthy, hey, I'm signing out fully healthy. And then for a player that's rehabbing, it becomes an extended process

because now you've got to go get images and all these different things that becomes a much longer process. So that's really the difference in yours and whoever else we did around that time. Man, what got you into going from player to wanting to get into the other side of it, getting into the floor above the front office?

You think about a guy who gets cut. Five times in three years. I feel like that's something you want to stay away from more than five times and three years. I thought as you said, five or three. No, I played for five teams in three years. Okay. I got cut. Gotcha.

Out there. Explancially more, yeah. No, it was something that I always knew I wanted to do. I've always been like a big fan of the draft. And before I even knew that this was an industry, draft weekend would come. I would go buy the magazines. I get a legal pad and I would sit in front of TV in my room.

and try to, you know, based off of me reading these magazines and watching college football, try to predict who was going to take who. And then, you know, my dad played eight years in the lead coach for 19, and he always wanted to be on the personnel side. But when he was done playing, Parcells forced him into coaching. And so my dad, all the teams my dad was with when I was in college, when he came down for pro days, whether it was him or someone from the staff, he would say, hey, you're going to get up, you're going to meet them, watch film with him.

six in the morning, whatever it was. You're going to chart their numbers, you know. And so when I was in college, you know, I'm running the stopwatch, you know. When you're at Florida, you're also doing the stop on the day. Whenever whether it was my dad, I remember one time Tony Sparano got, rest of soul, you know, he came down. I remember one year with Terry Robisky, you know, when he came down. Love Terry.

And so I'm holding, I'm running clocks, you know, for these guys and being amongst the scouts as they're talking about the different times and everything and charting all this. And then, you know, they would ask me questions about my teammates. Like, hey, what do you think about this guy? Like, is he a good teammate? And, you know, how do you think, what do you think about them on the field? And so that started it. And then, like I said, when years of service outweigh, when teams outweigh years of service,

it was time to transition. I tried to coach high school ball down in Miami at North Miami, senior high in 07, knew probably the first two weeks that that wasn't a route for me. Didn't have a patience for it. Didn't have a patience for it. And I quickly knew I was like, okay, let me try. So then I started taking workouts with teams

because I was like, how else am I going to meet the GM? Like I don't have GM's phone numbers. So I knew I didn't want to play anymore, but teams were still called like, hey, want to try you out. You know, and so I would go in and do a tryout just to be able to meet the GM. No shit, just for the intention. Yeah, and so when they were...

That's a genius move. And so they would say, oh, you know, sorry, you know, not going to sign you. And I'm like, cool. Yeah, can I get your card? Because I want to do what you do one day. And that's how I met less need. I went and did a rookie mini-camp tryout with the Falcons. Didn't get a single rep, the whole mini-camp, which was perfect.

Yeah, I was just like, no, I'm good. And so I remember we were walking out of the front of the building. And Les was, you know, hey, hey, thank you for coming, you know. And I shook his hand. I was like, hey, man, like, let me get your card. You know, let me get your card. I was like, I want to do what you do one day. And he was like, I don't have any on me, but just reach out.

And so when I was trying to get back in, I remember that conversation. And my agent that I had at the time, Kevin Connor, he had two players on the Falcons team. So I was like, hey, man, like, called a kid. teams that you have relationships with and let them know. I'm sending cover letters, resumes, like all this stuff. And he called me. He was like, hey, man, I talked to Les. He said it doesn't have anything, but he wants to bring you in and interview you and talk with you and interview with Les and Thomas Dimitrov and Lionel Vitale and Dave Caldwell, all who I, with the exception of Thomas, I had different connections with them unknowingly.

Right. And so about two weeks later, man, Les call me and offer me a job. Damn. Yeah. Yo, that's fast. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news?

Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey, Jones? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast, network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world,

he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

That is crazy. Yeah, it's like, obviously somebody liked that growing up, magazines, everything else. Like, you've loved football for the longest time. And usually, like, the guys, once you start playing and you understand the business, like getting cut a few times, like, once you understand the teeth of it and how cutthroat can be, it kind of jade you a little bit as a player. Yeah. You maintain, throughout this whole thing, you're maintaining that love for still wanting to be in the business?

Yeah, I mean, for me, I've been blessed to have great mentors. And one of my primary mentors back home in Key West, Bill Spotswood, you know, his, you know, him and his family, they do real estate development amongst other things. And they owned a couple hotels. And I remember him telling me a story when he was younger. You know, he told his father like, hey, one day I want to own my own hotel. And his family owned a couple hotels. And so his father then put him in the business. And he worked every level of the hotel from a bailman to run an elevator to then be able to.

behind the counter and worked his way up until he became owner, you know, of one of the family hotels. And so that's kind of how I see my journey. You know, I've been on the field. I've been a scout. I've been a director and now I've been a GM. So I've worked my way through an organization. You know what I mean? So I've seen it from every level and it puts me in a position to be able to identify with everybody in the building. Yeah, man. That's when you're, when you finally get that call and say, hey, you want this job. You take it. Did you have any idea? The GM job? Not the GM job. just like the starting out. Okay.

Getting into, yeah, with less, not everybody. Did you have any idea of like how much of the bitch work and all that stuff

you would have to do? Oh, yeah. Was there ever a point you're like, is this really what I'm trying to do? Is this worth it? No, so the pay.

And listen, I knew I wasn't coming in making $40 million. Like I knew that, that's not what the job is. And you honestly don't get in the personnel to make money. You know,

you get in because you love it and your past. passionate about it. But I remember getting the job and I knew that I was going to have to do a lot of the grunt work and I wanted to because there was a stigma attached to former players that we don't want to do the menial task. And so I wanted to be able to be the guy that's like, oh, no, like you need me run to the airport. That's an hour away. Cool. I'll, you know, run to the airport. That's an hour away and sit in Atlanta traffic, you know, for two hours to get there just to more so knock down that stigma to be able to let other former players have a shot, you know, at getting. in. But it's like when they, when the pay is what it was, I tell you guys off air. And it's like you rubbing nickels together every two weeks like, ooh, you know. It's like, man, it's, I'm like, I could have been doing a bunch of other things making more money than this. But again, like I said, you don't, you don't get in to make money. You get in for the love of it. I mean, that's a testament to your drive about wanting to do something and being in the seat you're in.

Was, do you, is the relationship of less need the most important relationship you feel like you've made throughout your journey and climbing to where you are now? It's definitely my foundation 100%. Like I said, everywhere I've been able to foster relationships. Like my relationship with Les, when he got the GM job at the Rams, he hired me and gave me my first director job. You know, from there I was able to, you know, work with, you know, Jeff Fisher, our new de-coordinated, Dinard Wilson. We worked together at the Rams and the Frank Bushes and the Greg Williams

and guys like that. And then transition to Sean McVey and his staff coming in. and all those guys that we were around, you know, Sean was there, you know, Maddie LaFleur was there. Yeah. Guys like Aubrey Pleasant, you know, all these guys were around and then go to San Fran.

And then, I mean, shit, in, what, 2019, our draft room featured, I guess, now five GMs and four head coaches. No shit. And we were all in the same draft room in 2019. And then you developed relationships with guys like Parag Marate. who's run the business side for San Francisco for 20 plus years. He was originally hired by Bill Walsh. And then have a guy like that take you under his wing and start showing you the contract side.

And, you know, working with guys like Kasi, Adolfo-Miss is showing you how to incorporate analytics and football. Like, it's a bunch of different people who've poured into me from a football. That's just football. But then you meet people outside of football that pour into you from a business perspective. Because we have to remember, football is football, right? That's what we've done our whole lives. That's what we came up doing. But at the time, Jerry Richardson was the only owner that had played in the NFL.

And so a lot of the owners come from the business background. So being able to have, you know, certain mentors to teach you the business side allows you to speak that language, you know, and, you know, be on the same page with the owner from a business perspective. So it's been a ton of people that have poured into me to help me get here. that's cool man that is that is wild man it seems like you're very aware of all the people that have helped you and gotten to the point you're at now which is so awesome when it comes to the war room on the first draft talk to me about the intensity that goes down in there how like this this draft we know the titans want to take a tackle or pull up bangles and our quarterback got hurt we're still going to go get wide receiver type of situation when you guys are sitting there in uh callahan who was on he said you guys were happy to with J.C. Latham or Joe Alt? Like, as it starts ticking and Joe Alt goes out at five, like, what's the energy like in that room? So it's a, it's a ton of work that goes into it beforehand. And I will say, and we were talking about this at the office last week, I will say, of every draft room I've been in, this was probably the most accurate board that I've ever

been a part of from, because we rank them vertically, then we rank them horizontally, right, by position. This was probably the most accurate board I've ever been. Now, when you say vertically and horizontally, are you talking about best players vertically? Yeah, so we have the positions going horizontally, right? Just straight across, split offense, defense. And so if we got quarterbacks here, you know, we rank them vertically, you know, from

one to whatever. And you do that for every position. And then you go across horizontally, like, okay, is this quarterback better than this receiver. And then you start adjusting the cards as you go. So it's kind of like this as it goes across, you know, the board. And so we pretty much knew just based on our research, we knew exactly where the first four picks were going to be. And for us, the draft started at five at the charges. And then you get to a spot where you're like, okay, we have three guys, you know, over these next three picks that we're good with any one of these three. We don't have to make any sudden move.

to jump up, you know, that it's going to cost us in the future. And so it was a waiting game. We've done enough research to know that the charges were going to tackle. And so you sit there and you're like, okay, which one? And then you start playing the, well, you know, they got Rashon Slater at left tackle. So I could see J.C. going because he's played right tackle. You know what I mean? But then you're like, well, you know, the charges were at the pro day, at Joe Alt's

pro day. and you start hearing like they really like him. And so you're like, yeah, I could see that too. So you start trying to, you know, you do that part. But then you've got to take it a step further because the giants are right below you. And you're like, well, the Giants have, you know, drafted pretty well on the O line and they got some guys. And but it's like, all right, well, what if they go? What if one of the tackles say whoever they take, whether J.C. or Joe.

But what if the Giants decide, we're going to. take tackle. I'm like, okay, then that pushes one of the other guys to us, and we got to be comfortable with that. So we work all those scenarios. So when we got there, and we're just sitting there, and it's like you're at the behest of the charges. So now you start hitting your contacts, like, hey, what are you hearing? What do you know? You're hitting your contacts that are in the green room. Like, hey, what does it look like over at this table and this table? And then, you know, we, so we usually find out a little bit before, you know, the, it's announced. Right.

And so it's like, you know, Charter's pick is in, and then it shows on our screen, and it says Joe Alt. And so we're like, okay. And do you guys see that before? Yeah. You see as soon as they put the car in before Godell walks up. Yeah, yeah, we know. Okay, he's off the board.

Because the next team is immediately on the clock. Got you. And so we're like, okay. And now we wait. Right. You know, to see what the Giants do. And once we saw that Joe went to the charges, we were pretty certain that the Giants were going to take neighbors. And so it was like, all right, you know, say, hey, Salgy, you know, get me J.C.'s number.

And, you know, Salgy's been here. I think this was his 19th draft with the team. And he's like, hey, do we want to jinx it? And I was like, listen, if we got to rip it up, we rip it up, and then we call the next person. You know what I mean? I was like, but just have it ready. And so he got me the number and we waited. And when they took neighbors, it was like, all right, we got the big fellow.

When you know you're going to take JC and the teams behind you don't have a need to tackle, is there like, are you trying to act? So you figure out like, hey, would y'all want to come up? No, it was some teams that called. And they were like, hey, like we're interested in coming up. Was there anything close? No, because for me it was like we're not going to. going to pass on a dude that we think like super highly of yeah like just to gain like move back a

couple spots um and yeah it was it was uh we filled it calls probably the first five minutes we were on the clock just to see you know if anything was going to blow us away um and didn't didn't come close and so we picked up the phone and called a big fella and was damn happy to get them what's been the craziest draft room moment you've been a part of like everyone here watching right now. I was thinking about the movie Draft Day. Yeah. Trading's move. And maybe the player...

You still get your guy. Maybe we'll talk about one where the players not playing anymore to where you could talk about it. No, no, I'll tell you, last year, we get on the clock in the third round, and Braves and I are sitting there, and we're discussing, like, hey, man, I'm like, let's go running back, you know, right here, and you're looking on the board. And, you know, we were like, hey, let's go with the Twain kid, you know, Taji. So then a team calls, and they're like, hey, we're interested in coming to your pick,

they made an offer. And so we have, like, I have the screens in front of me that has, like, the trade calculator. And so, you know, I started looking at what I was like, no, that's not going to get it. Is your trade calculator like Madden? Like, it's just green, green. Yeah, so it's, it's, I don't know, because I don't, I don't play, I don't, I don't, sorry of you're trying to click it in. Yeah, I'm like, I don't play Madden like that.

But it's like similar. So there's like, there's a bunch of different ones that you can use trade charts. But mostly everybody used the Jimmy John. And I was going through it. I told him that offer didn't work. And then I was like, but hey, if you give us this, this and a next year's this, then, yeah, we could do it. And then the guy who I was speaking to, he was like, no, we, you know, we'd be out. I was like, all right, cool, we're going to make the pick.

So I tell Salga, I'm like, hey, can you give me Tadier's number? I think by this time, it's probably, let's just say three minutes. on the clock. And I'm literally dialing the number, hit the last number that team calls back. And they keep calling. They wanna do the deal. The one that you proposed.

They said no. And then they came back right as we're calling Taji to accept the deal. Yeah. You know, and I'm like, it's too late. So pick up the phone, Tage answers. He's like, hello. and all I say is Tage

and he goes crazy. Yeah. Like screaming, everybody in the family, everybody's cheering, and I'm like, yo, like I haven't said anything yet.

And he's like, let's go, let's go. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news?

Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down in my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman, catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world. He doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets,

meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant, this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. So I'm like, hey man, like, hold on. Like, you know, let's talk and he's going, he's going crazy. You're thinking about taking the deal. No, no, I'm not going to. Oh, you're just not.

Yeah, yeah. I thought you're about to be like, hey, hold on a second. I got a movie. We might be digging to do. We might not. But then click, phone hangs up. And so I'm like, call back. So I called back

My bad, my bad My bad Hey y'all got to shut up And so I get back I'm like Hey man And I'm You know

Call him like Hey we're gonna take you With this pig And everybody's still going Crazy By this time It's like I see it now

It's 148 On the clock Before we run out of time Click phone hangs up again And at this point I look at Vin Marino I'm like Just turn it in

Like We've tried Him and his family you'll see it come up on it, like just turn it in. So we called back again. He's like, man, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was like, well, hold on.

I said, I'm going to let you talk to Coach Vraibes. And, of course, you guys know Vraves. Raves gets on the phone. He's like, hey, listen, man, if this is the start of your NFL career, you're not getting off on a good foot. You know what I mean? Yeah. And they talk for a little bit.

And then, I mean, obviously, Tajay's great. You know, it's just super good dude, works his behind off. that was like a crazy it was crazy. Are you thinking like as you're dialed the number and then the team wants to accept whatever the trade is is a part of you's like I've already dialed the number I can't. No and that's always my thought process

is like once I make up my mind to pick like it's over you know like I'm moving on like I'm not entertaining that and I mean for us you know obviously you document everything you got a camera right in your face as you're doing this so you got to maintain

maximum compulsive. You know, and it's, but again, like once we make our mind up to pick, we're picking. When you talk about the camera man, I think about that AJ Brownshade. Yeah. We're able standing up, walking, kind of like doing one of these things right here. That was, it's one of those not-keeping composure moments. Yeah, I mean, and again, it's, it's, you know, because you have, you know, you have a responsibility to your fan base to try to give them as much as possible and show them everything that you're doing. But when it's that, now what I'm feeling on the inside versus what's being shown could be totally different.

Yeah. You know what I mean? And everybody has their little things that they do. You know, I have a baseball that I'm usually like have with me, whether I'm, you know, squeezing a hell out of the baseball, you know, underneath the table or whatever the case may be. I remember, you know, Les would have his little shards of paper that he's just kind of ripping up. I know Jeff Fisher had a lucky coin, you know, that he had. with him, you know, on draft night. So everybody has their little, their little deals to just, you know, help them keep composure.

You mentioned earlier, like, this is the most accurate board you've ever been a part of. What do you mean by that? From just from the way that we had them ranked to how they came off the board. Okay. So some teams, everybody does a difference. Some teams stack the board just for them in how they see it and who fits them, you know. So there may be some good players that are not on your board because it doesn't fit scheme. And then you have some teams that stack it based on, okay, this is how we think they're

going to, you know, come off the board. And for us, we stack it for us. You know, we don't care what everybody else think we stack the board for us. And as we're sitting there and we're watching, I mean, it was, I mean, I think everybody felt Caleb Williams was going number one. So you knew that how that was going to go. But then as we start going positionally, you're looking and they were just coming off, you know, the exact way we predicted it to, which, which, which, which is ultimately what led us, you know, in the second round at 38, you know, to take big sweat, you know, there. And what I like to do, you know, particularly with Ms. Amy and Kenneth is, you know, leading up to the draft like, hey, like, come on in. Let us show you the board.

And here, and we're going to talk through every position. And this is where we think this is how it's going to go. And we got to the second round. We met earlier that morning and it was like, hey, this is what I think, how the second round is going to. unfold once this team here is going to pick this and then once they pick this it's going to be a run at this position and then it's going to be a run here and then it'll be this and then once this person goes then it's going to be another run and it just went exactly i didn't know if you meant every whoever's a part of the entire draft process you guys all kind of accurately saw it the same versus

you're like all the times you've been in the with all the different teams and all the different I'll tell you what, there's been on different pages. There's, I'm pretty sure there's been other times in my career, but the one that comes to mind for me the first time I've ever seen, I say the first time I've ever seen all the scouts and all the coaches have the exact same grade and thought on a player was Rob Havinstein when he came out of Wisconsin and I was at the Rams and we took him in the second round. He had consistently the same grade by every single person in our organization

that that was the first time I've ever seen it. I can't remember seeing it recently. Again, and sometimes it's, I mean, most of our grades are color, you know, they're color based with a number and decimal system in between. And sometimes you have, like everybody thinks this guy is a red starter. This guy's going to be a good starter for a long time. Red is good. Okay.

Is that the best color? No, blue. Blue. Blue. Blue is, yeah. Blue is the, you know, and a lot of times we talk in colors. Right? Hey man, this guy's a red player. He's a blue player. And so we talk in colors. And so sometimes even within the red, the red grade, it's like a couple of decimals. So it's different levels of red. But then for every single body, every single person to have the same exact number grade and color grade on a guy. It was like a cool thing to see. You know how you can figure out exactly what the draft is going to happen. You just hire Oz the mentalist. Do you see that clip?

You know what? I didn't see the clip, but I see all his, I'm a big YouTube short guy because I don't have social media. And so I see all his stuff and I just think it'll be so dope to, I hope he's watching to have him come in during camp. Yes, that would be insane. Yeah. Who else?

He's done for, yeah, he's done for everybody. On the McAfee show, did you see he predated the first 13 picks? No. No, I didn't see that. Oh, he like did, I think it was the Raiders. And he was like, Raiders, Brock Bowers at 13. and then he had a small little sheet next to it and so unraveling it was like

trade here this pick this pick every single pick the first 13 picks he's going to have to be our consultant he comes in let us be a little wild let him in the war room next year that's what I'm saying they're going to pick this guy but he has to do it an elaborate

scheme every single time can you imagine how funny it would be just to show him in our draft room standing over uh calli and our shoulder like as the camera pants or our room This is our secret weapon to this. He just has an envelope that you guys haven't opened it 300 days. Yeah.

Finally, it's like, this is your pick. It's like he was right. Yeah. That was our pick. Dude, what was your thought on the Atlanta Falcons taking pinnicks? Um, being in the GM chair. You kind of see, too, the video of the owner talking to Terry, the GM.

And people are kind of like saying whatever, like, oh, wonder what this conversation is. That's a body explained to. I, I kid you not. Like, we had a, we had a inkling that that was going to happen, um, that they were going to to take them. You got to understand our assistant GM Anthony Robinson. He just came from Atlanta. So he spent his whole career in Atlanta. I started my career in Atlanta, you know, with him. So you kind of get a feel for how things are done organizationally, regardless of who's running it. But we, we probably about two weeks prior, we were sitting around, we were talking

about all the, we call it team needs, and we're kind of going through it. And we were like, quarterback. It was like, so you start playing with it. And then it kind of became clear. It was like, man, like, they really could go pinnics right here. And so when it happened, I wish you could see, like, our room, we kind of, like, a couple of us kind of looked at each other. Like, so it wasn't a real surprise to us.

Yeah. How do you, obviously, there are so many variables. But as a GM, like, how do you see that pick for, like, Atlanta? I mean, I understand. It's a wild question. Be like, oh, how do you feel that? Yeah, no. I mean, I understand.

I understand because you always have to have a plan for the future. And that's at every position, right? I mean, I can remember because you study other people's drafts, right? You study how people do it, you know, organizationally teams that like Seattle with John Schneider, they've done a good job of always staying, you know, ahead. Mickey Loomis in New Orleans is usually the first one that comes to mind for me. especially when they were rolling, they had Drew and Sean Payton was there. They always drafted a year ahead of a need.

So you had a young guy there. You think back when they had Jeremy Shockey, they draft Jimmy Graham and third. You know, all those times they had, you know, guys up front. I remember when they took Andres Pete, played him at guard early. Then he became the tackle. Like they always drafted a year ahead of need. They did it at corner. They did it at receiver.

They did it at running back. where you might look heavy at that position, but then the next year they move on from a guy or a guy's a free agent, they don't pay them, and then they got the next guy already. It's already been in the system for a year, and now you just step in and you roll. I was just going to say it feels like to be in that spot

of being able to draft the head, you have to do so well in the drafts leading up to it. Like you hit on guys, you have a good room because if not, you have a glaring hole that it's like, well, we can't really afford to draft the head. Yeah, no, they tell you all the time. Like when you're coming up in this business and you're learning, like the draft is where it happens,

is where you really build your team. And, you know, you cut your teeth and you make your way building through the draft, you know, because it gives you, you know, such leeway. Like we don't, we're not able to make the free agent moves we made if we have to pay our quarterback 50 million, you know, right? So we got a good, you know, promising young quarterback who's on a rookie deal, but gives us more room to kind of build around him.

Now prayerfully, you know, is going to flip soon. And, you know, he plays extremely well. And, you know, his contract, you know, shows that. Yeah. And so now it's back to us building through the draft because we're going to have to surround him with young, talented players because you can't go out and pay, you know, everybody, you know, especially with the cost of doing business now.

You know, you can't afford to pay everybody. Yeah. When you're going through the draft and stuff like that, I feel like a lot of owners want to be more a part of it or less a part of it and kind of give their opinion more oftentimes and not. How is Ms. Amy when it comes to the draft? How does she handle it? She's the best because Ms. Amy is Ms. Amy.

She trusts, when she hires you to do a job, she trusts you to do the job. And so she doesn't come in and say, hey, no, let's make this guy number one or I like this guy more. She just wants to know the why. And so that's why we do a good job, I think, of over-communicating with her. And we bring her in a couple days before the draft, and we show her the entire board. Here's why. You know, we like that.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm

originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little note

had Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the present. of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings

from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Like this guy, here's where we think this guy can fit. And it's just a group of us in the room. We close the door. We lock it.

And we're in there for a couple hours. And we explain the whole board to her. And again, and once she sees it and she sees how it's unfolding and it's unfolding the way you said it would, then now she has a little bit more trusting you, you know. And so she just, she trusts us to do our job, which is the best. Have you seen it the other way where owners come in and they're a little more, want their finger on the pulse or want to make the decision? Well, not, because I've been with, what, four clubs.

I've never seen it to where the owner's like, hey, we should take this guy. But I've seen, you know, I've seen it where the owner not only wants to know the why, but he's like, are we sure? or if a player goes like, hey, why didn't we take this guy? You know, I've seen that, you know, that question before, but I've never been in a place where the owner's like, you know, hey, I watched tape last night and I like this kid. Do a lot of the owners come in kind of well-versed in what's going on in that first round?

Yeah, and I think, I think I'm not going to make it seem like we're the only ones that communicate with our owner because I think all GMs communicate with their owner and what they like. but I think everybody informs their owners of, hey, here the pot of guys that we like at this pick and so they're aware. I won't give our secrets of what we do, but Ms. Amy's well informed, you know, every guy heading into the draft. How do you feel like your role as GM has developed from year one to year two? Because you obviously had a different, you had Vraib last year, you had Callahan this year,

talk about those relationships, talk about how your role is developed as a GM. I think my role has developed, it's just developed more because I'm more comfortable. I have another, you know, a year doing it. Last year, last year, I couldn't imagine doing it without Braves, you know, because he was, he's a vet, you know, one of the smartest, you know, football minds I've ever been around, and just having him there to bounce things off of, you know, because I don't give a damn what position you're in. you've never done it until you've done it. You know, you can read every book there is. You know, I can go and read every book there is on how to play basketball, but I've never played basketball until I've been out there on that court.

And so that's how it was for me in the GM spot, but I had a guy in Mike that I can go and say, hey, man, like, how does this part work? You know, I'm not sure, you know, about this. And so this year I'm more comfortable because there are more things that have come up like, okay, like I know how to handle that. and, you know, go through that phase of it. But that's the, that's really it. Like the more time on task, the more comfortable you're going to be.

With Mike and his departure from the Titans, it seemed a little bit abrupt. Because I think as a fan base, Jackie McPherson with the Titans hat in the back, he's been a long-time Titans fan. A lot of people were saying, like, oh, okay, we obviously have issues because we're not winning a whole lot of games, but Mike's not the problem. And then shortly after the season end, Mike is gone. How was that transition for y'all? how those discussions for what you can say i'd say it was it was uh it was tough um that day was uh really

tough i speak personally um it was one of those um you know and this is just being full transparent um you know when it happened um i called my wife and i was like hey like this this just happened and the first thing my wife says is you know you need to call ria which is my daughter and i'm like why she was like because she doesn't need to hear that coach got fired from one of the kids in school you know because my my kids don't have social media and so my daughter had a really close relationship with Mike and if you look on her screensaver on her phone right now it's a picture of her and Mike you know and that hasn't changed and so you know not only to have that happen to him but to now I got to communicate this to my daughter you know and then have my

he's now seven-year-old son who he thinks he's the GM and the owner and the head coach he legitimately when he got out of school my wife told him and he was like like what are you doing like my son said this to me yeah you know what I mean and so it was tough you know it was tough and then to you know you know you again I'm not on social media but you can feel heat you know what I mean you can you can feel heat And I knew what it was, but I also knew that it was, you know, unfortunate that it happened. And again, listen, Mike will be coaching in no time. You know, he'll be back on the sideline in no time.

And he's going to do well wherever he goes because that's just in his DNA and who he is. But, you know, I knew after that happened, it was no time to sit back and soak and, you know, lick your wounds. it was like, we have to deliver the next guy, you know, and how, and it was a, man, for that happened on a Tuesday. And literally, you work through Tuesday night putting a list together. And mind you, I've never interviewed a head coach before. You know what I mean? So then now.

And turred waters. Yeah. So now it's like you spend, you spend Tuesday identifying a list, right? And that's a lot of conversations with a lot of people. you do that until Wednesday and then you get the request out to the clubs because it's that time of year everybody's trying to interview

and then you spend all day Wednesday all night Wednesday all through Thursday putting the structure and the interview together also scheduling interviews and then boom Friday you have your first interview you know what I mean

yeah and so oddly enough Cali was our first interview and so you try to for me personally I was like you know we need to be ahead of the curve you know when it comes to it we need to be ahead of the whole hiring cycle because there were so many jobs open and we were like you don't want to get behind in this phase and so we were you know we were very detailed and you know we took a really good approach to it you know however it was like it was pretty clear you know once we sat with Callie that he was the guy.

I got a two-part question. As you were experiencing the interview process for the first time, what do you feel like ended up being the most important question in the interview? And then the second question is, what jumped out about Callie that was like, we can't really let him hypothetically leave the building? Yeah, so I think the biggest thing for me, and again, I've been around Vrabes, I've been around Kyle Shanahan, I've been around Jeff Fisher, I've been around Sean McVeigh. these guys are excellent at situational football, you know, just overall, just situations of the game.

And so it was talking about concepts like that, you know, in the interview. But then you follow it up with who's your coaching staff? Who's your coaching staff going to be? And again, anybody can come in and say, you know, I'm going to hire Vince Lamberti be my head coach. Bill Belichick's going to be the D-Corpsinator and Bill Walsh is going to be my officer coordinator. you know but who can you really deliver and the one thing that stood out with callie was he had a depth chart of coaches and i'm not saying when i say a depth chart i don't and he literally had a three deep but it wasn't just like i i want this guy and if i can't get this guy then this guy's the backup

and if i can't get him than this no he had these are three tier one here's three tier two here's three tier three and he had this that for every single position. And so you knew, looking at that, like, this guy's put a lot of thought process into this. You know, and he's well thought out. He's well researched. And I can't say, because I was looking at it the other day, like, we legitimately got number one on everyone in his positions. Damn.

He had his old man. He did not. He did not have his old man on a list. He was, and I taught in the interview, I was like, hey, man, elephant in the room. What's up with pops? Yeah. Are we trying to? And he was like, hey, man, honestly, we haven't had the conversation.

He said we talked about it briefly last year and just ultimately decided that it wasn't the best thing. And he was like, we haven't had the conversation. Man, that perfectly aligns with what he said because he said the same thing. Like when the opportunity might have come up last year, his dad was essentially like, no. And then after, when he gets this job, his dad calls him, I'll think about it without even any context. Yeah. He just says, yeah, I'll think about it. And I'll be honest with you.

I call Bill. I call him Bit Coach. I've asked Big Coach. You know, I was like, was it ever a thing? Because I know from my dad, my dad always wanted to coach me. And my dad ended up being my position coach in Dallas.

And that lasted two weeks. You know, and it was like, this is not going to work. Right. And it didn't work. But, you know, he was like, he said,

Bill told me, he said it wasn't until I watched this press conference that I really started thinking about it. Really? Yeah, he said it wasn't until he watched the press conference. His press conference was a little bit emotional. He went to start talking about his wife and everything. It was really cool to see.

Yeah. And like I said, this, and, you know, when you guys come around, like this coaching staff is, it's something, man. Like the defensive staff, they are, they're their own people and our offensive staff. And just, you know, just to be through the building and the energy and the juice, you know, that's in the building. And it's just, it's just been cool. I know some of these guys because I've worked with them and a lot of guys I don't know, but I mean, we're a couple months in and it feels like I've known these dudes forever. Yeah.

You feel like that's been one of the bigger differences, the juice and energy with the staff and in the building? Well, I say this. I know when Cali was putting his staff together and a cool, you know, thing that he afforded me was, he was like, hey, man, like, I don't want to just hire people, right, just hire my buddies. He was like, I want you to feel good about the coaches that I want. He was like, so let's interview him. And he was like, and I want you in the interview to ask as many questions, you know. And so everybody that we brought in, like I was a part of interviewing them and getting to know them.

And so you feel that. But the one thing that Cali talks about a lot is connectiveness. And he was like, and our staff, we have to be the example of that for our locker room. You know what I mean? And so it's those guys are always together. or not together. You know, like I said, it's just a cool group of dudes and it's competitive. It's competitive as hell.

We even have like a 4-30 workout group with our strength coach. And it's like anywhere from 10 to 12 of us at 4.30. And listen, when I'm out there, it looks pitiful. You know what I mean? Like running hundreds and, you know, all these things. But it's another way for us to connect, you know, and build together. And I think the players see it, you know, feel like hey man these dudes are really together and they're not just talking yeah it's sick to see

that you guys are going to line because it seems like that's always like a main thing of the downfall of a program whether it's college or NFL like the AD and the head coach don't get along that falls apart and inevitably both of them are gone yeah and with you and Callie it just seems like just hearing you guys both talk so like because we've shot these episodes within what two days hearing you guys both talk you seem so aligned in the vision and what you guys want to do but it took a lot to get there you look at the end of this past season and you're looking at a pretty destroyed roster the king leaves you know you're missing a lot of pieces and it's it's essentially like an Everest to build up and now we're sitting in the middle

of May and you guys are the Titans are in the best position in the world because you look at the power rankings of the NFL and everyone thinks you guys are shit but if I were to read you a list of your roster and you'd say is this team going to be good or bad just talent alone it's like these boys can cook a little bit they got something cooking over there so truly the best position you can possibly be in in May before the coming up football season. Like what, when you were looking at this big project going into 2024.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember

I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it One of the early names of our band Before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing

A bit for the podcast For people could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little Notepad Hey Jonas And offered it up as a potential title For the podcast But thanks for remembering that guys listen to hey Jonas on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast

just listen we don't care where you hear it last night a blown call changed a game this morning the internet lost its mind highlights are trending opinions are flying and nobody's telling you exactly what happened that's where sports slice comes in i'm timbo every episode we're cutting through the noise breaking down the plays the controversies and the stories behind the headlines we go straight to the source the athlete themselves their locker room stories their reaction the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met, Levant, this plant, a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Where was the starting point for y'all? I mean, honestly, the starting point, it didn't start when Cali got here. You know what I mean? Because the free agency work, the free agency part, it was the front end of the work was done in December, you know, with the staff that we have. And so when Cali came, obviously scheme changes. So some players are shifted and move like, okay, this guy fits better, you know, now.

And so that's the adjustment. The cool thing that him and his staff did when they came in, we all met all our scouts, and we're lucky because all of our college scouts live here in town. And so we had our whole staff and the whole coaching staff, and then they showed us, they put highlight tapes together, positional profiles, hey, look, I want my left tackle to look like this, this height, this weight, this arm length, this speed,

here are the traits that we're looking for with examples. Right? And so now, you know, we get to see it. We get to see the visual. Okay, now we know what they're looking for in each one of these positions on the team. And it makes it easier for us to go hunt and go find it. So that makes our job easier. But just even looking at it, it's like, you know, obviously to, you know, lose a player like Derek, like, that was the number one question I got the most when I was around town.

Like, hey, better not let Derek leave or what's going on with Derek. Like, I understand the magnitude of that because in my mind, you know, prior to coming here, when you thought about the Tennessee Titans, you thought about Mike Vrable, you thought about Derek Henry. Taylor-L-Law. You know, and Taylor-Law and, you know what I mean? And so, Cornerstone, you know what I mean? Cornerstone piece. Bussing with the boys. Right, yeah, busts with the boys.

Chargers. Yeah, charge of the schedule. And so, you know, that's, these guys are identifying factors for this football team and the way the football team. and the way the football team played. And so you want to keep some of that, but then it's like, all right, how are we going to build this in Cali's image? And what is it going to take for his scheme?

And so you have to make the tough decisions. You know what I mean? And you have to be aligned, you know, in those decisions. And so we start piecing it together. And then again, and you hear me talk about it a lot as relationships. You know, I mean, if you look at our free agency class, there are relationships all along the way. you get a Calvin Ridley because you have a relationship, you know,

or I'm not even going to say we had a relationship. We created one, you know, out of thin air. And being able to just be relatable is what got him here. You know, Cheeto Bay, he was with Cali for how many years in Cincinnati. So he kind of knows what the program is going to be. You know, Tony Pollard, he's from Memphis. You know, wanted the opportunity to raise his kids, you know, at home, you know, where he grew up, gives you a leg up, you know, all these things, you know,

coming to play. And like I said, this city and this state is, it's, like you said, it's slept on. You know, it's slept on. I've never been anywhere in the National Football League where all your scouts lived in the town. Like that is a, that's a 100% competitive advantage. And then think about just historically, you weren't drafted here, but where do you live now? national every player that comes here whether they were drafted here signed a long-term deal or a one-year deal they come here and they stay yeah that's a weird you see a lot of the tight ends too in the office he's like kid on them like people everybody comes here so it's a competitive advantage and we just put ourselves in position to take advantage of that you know what i mean and like you said

when we were walking up to the bus like it's like an unwritten thing with this city you know and we'll say higher profile people like those people feel comfortable here the people in the city show you love, but they respect your space. Yeah. And so everybody here, you feel a part of the community. I'm leaving my daughter's flag football game a couple weeks ago. And I looked at my wife and I was like, of all the places we've ever lived, like, I feel a part of the community here. When I'm at her games, my standing with the team, none of that matters.

I'm just one of the crazy dads in the stands giving the refs hell. You know what I mean? And like, I don't have to wear Titans' GM. hat. Yeah. I'm just Ria's dad, you know, at the game and I'm cheering like my daughter's team. They won the championship for the third year in a row for a

girl's flag and I'm standing on the top of the stand screaming three peep and got the crowd going and you know what I mean? Like my daughter heard her back in one of the tournament games. I'm down there stretching her out. You know what I mean? Like I'm just being a dad

and I think this city is what allows that to happen. Like I don't have to always feel on. Right. If you will, I could just be one of the people. And that is a true competitive advantage about being here. When you look at, you brought up Calvin Ridley. And I think when I think of Calvin Ridley, obviously he's an awesome talent and wrongly

accused for gambling as well. But that's a different story. He goes from the Jags to hear. And during his press conference, he's like, honestly, I want to stay with the Jaguars. As you see that as a pro or a con when hearing that statement. Because to me, it's like, now you know two times a year, he's got those, he's got those game circled. because you can in your delusional football mind that we've all had

use that as oh they didn't want me when maybe the number was just a little too big no i'll be i'll be perfectly honest with you um everything was comparable you know and he had the he had the option to go back whether the number was i'm good appreciate the offer though being hospitable southern hospitality um he had the option to go wherever he wanted to go. But I think it's more of a positive in that we made him comfortable, you know, coming here. And then the lesser known of the deal was, again, here, Nashville, Tennessee, his wife's family's from Huntsville.

I don't know that. Right down the road, you know, makes it an easy transition for her to still be, now you're closer to your family, you know. And so it, again, competitive advantage being here in Nashville. I have a tier talk for my tier talk for ran is you rank them your top three you can throw in honorable mentions you started three and then go up. I don't know where this is going. And then give a little synops. I think you'll have fun with it.

But your tier talk of your the best like scouted players you've seen in your years. In my years. I'm going to say that I was of the teams that I played for and I know I'm going to get hell for this because I have a lot of good relationships with all these dudes. Gotta start a three. You got to start three. If there's one that you're like, damn, he doesn't make it,

but shout him out, that's an honorable mention. All right. I'll say this and it's the, I give you the little synopsis behind it. I'll say, damn. All right, three, Todd Gurley. coming off of Torin ACL,

I thought he was still the best player in that draft class and just was what it was. And he had that short run in the league, but man, he was explosive and dynamic and a problem. Number two, Nick Bosa. Outside of my number one, I don't think I've ever seen anybody play with the type of hand use, you know, in leverage.

Nick has this unique thing and you know Taylor as a tackle to be able to catch the elbow and catch the wrist at like a super high rate. Like his hand eye is unreal. Number one, Aaron Donald. Oh, yeah, shit. I think that was easy.

Man child, goat, if you will. What I was going to add in before I thought about one was Fred Warner, honorable mention. Nasty. What makes Fred to me is Fred never played in the boxing college.

He was like a big nickel where he aligned over the slot. And, you know, shout out to Robert Sala and D'Amico Ryan's. They had a vision for being able to put him in, in the box, third round pick, rookie, starting at Mike making all the calls and all the checks. And, you know, obviously Fred is Fred. He is awesome. And when the schedule came out the other day, my son, my oldest, shout out to my boys, Roman and Reese. Roman says, so when we play the Niners in the preseason, can I wear my Fred Warner jersey?

And I'm like, fair question. I was like, I said, I said, you call Fred because he's, my son is boys with Fred. Like they talk all the time. I say, you call Fred and then Fred get you tickets. and you sit with Fred's family, then yes, you can wear your fridge. I love that. That's a good. That's a good proposal.

So by all means. But those would be my four. Shout out to Debo. I think he created a position in football. And I think he helped usher in a new way of what we call positionless football. You know, that I've been a part of, damn, I left Big Trent out. I was thinking, I was going to bring me. that up.

I left Big Trent out. Arguably the best player in the league a couple of years ago. Oh, yeah. As a tackle. He's. Yeah, he's. You see him do stuff and you're like, yeah. Like.

That clip against the Cardinals? I was thinking that. I didn't want to, you know. That poor man got. Yeah. And I'm glad you said. Isaiah Simmons. I know.

It wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't. No. I know who it was. And I don't want to say his name. My fault. Martinez.

My fault. We'll say. Play it off here. 45, right? Nope. Pull it up, Jack. Pull it up. We'll just watch.

We don't have to talk about it. We'll just pull up Trent Williams. Because that, not only is that extreme explosion and amazing content, contact, it's also one of those deals where to take the risk to run full speed at a linebacker and hope you hit him. Bro. It's a crazy. That's a crazy.

Look at them. Just, man. Was that? Like, you don't expect a human of that size to get on you that. No. We're in a 4-840. Not bad body baller, but he is truly mentor? You know this?

Do you know this cat personally? No, I don't know him personally. Yeah, you've been doing an amazing job of not saying names or teams. Like, you're a pro's pro in that way. Dude, what's the most fascinating thing or something that you experienced in the front office world that you think players would be intrigued to know? most intrigued and fascinating. Whether it has to do with contracts.

No, I just think learning the business. And the one thing we hear, and I'm sure you guys have said that, hey, man, it's the business. I hate that term. Because I think saying it's a business, for a lack of better way to say it, I feel it's a cop-out

because it doesn't allow you to deal with the emotion of what you're feeling. And I think you're allowed to feel a certain type of way. But when you say, oh, man, you know, it's a business, then that gives you that cop out of like, okay, like, it's supposed to happen.

But I think if more guys were in my position to have exposure to how the business works, and they would understand, like, oh, okay, I see it clear now. Like myself, like, and I'm sure you felt the same way us fellow Andre. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers,

and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band.

Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for great news. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive. The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost

its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. After guys, you first round guys, don't have none. It's a different world over here.

He's got the red, blue cards. What colors are the undrafted cards? Great? Yeah. Just white, like, here's a name. Let's try to call him. That was me. Yeah.

Will Compton, do you remember evaluating Will Compton? I was undrafted, probably not. I wrote you. I will find a report and I would text it to you. But I would tell you this. When I was doing my draft process, like, again, I'm realistic. I know what it was. I was like, I'm at least a third rounder.

Right. You know what I mean? I'm at least a third rounder. And then I remember, no, you can't make this up. I got a call in the fifth round from a team. He says, we're taking you with our next pick. And I'm in the room and I'm with my now wife. and my mom and my brother were in the living room.

And so I was like, okay, cool, like I'm excited. And my wife had just got accepted into grad school in that same city. And so I was like, this is perfect. And I got up to go tell my mom, and I was like, you know, I'm going to never see it on TV. Yeah. And I sit there and they announced the pick and it wasn't me. And I look at her. and then the team call right back last minute,

we decided to. Oh. And long story short, I don't think that player made it through the season with him because I ended up playing with him somewhere else. And so, like, and he and I end up becoming really good friends. But, oh, man, I had smoke for him.

I was just, oh. I'm bad, bro. Because that's fifth round too. Walking through, walking through. Well, well, well. But again, I thought I was going to be, you know, wanted to be a first round. Right.

I was like, at least go third. And you play too like, you know, hey, we could be one of those like Bill Belichick just randomly draft somebody in the higher rounds and just come out of nowhere. And listen, I had, I knew what the signing bonus was going to be. I'm like, okay, this is how we're going to allocate the money. Yeah. We're going to, you know, planning it out. And, nah. Dude, you played with your, you played for your dad for two weeks in Dallas?

Off. And he cut you? No. luckily enough I had got cut by Indy this was my rookie year signed with Dallas

on the practice squad my dad was my running back coach our running back room was Eddie George Julius Jones was their second round pick that year

we had Richie Anderson yeah that was awful that was like my worst football experience me and my dad got into a fight

now it wasn't like we had a we went back and forth on the field to the point where Parcells was like, all right, that's enough. And so I can tell this story. It's funny, but my dad, shout out to Frank Perano

because he loves this story. My dad was chirping across the field. We're chirping back and forth. And so Richie is like, hey, little bro. Like, come on, man. Like, you know dad loves you. So I say some choice words about that.

And then my dad yells across, hey, Richie, slap him. So I yell back. I'm like, no, you slap me. Yeah. So whatever. I go home and now I'm like, I'm gonna know this whole playbook. Like he's never gonna be able to say nothing to me.

I'm gonna know it better than him. Mind you, I'm living with him, right? I'm on the couch. I'm on the couch and I'm highlighting and taking notes and I'm tearing this playbook up. And so I doze off and I'm asleep and I hear the door open, but my cousin lived there too. So I was like, oh, it's just,

Chris. Then. Now, I'm like, oh, and I look up and my dad standing over me. And he's like, I slapped you. Now what? And so I started laughing. And I'm like, he's like, what's you laughing for?

You said slap you? I slapped you. I slapped you. You didn't do nothing. Now what? I was like, I won. He was like, how did you win? I was like, because it's been on your mind ever since I said it. Oh. And I'm like, I was like, and you know what? I was like, now you better take your ass back. to the office before Parcells finds out you not there.

I was like, and I will call him right now and tell him so you better get your ass back to the office. What do you do? He was- Cut him? You. And then literally like, that was like a Thursday that happened Wednesday or Thursday, and then the following week,

the coach called to bring me back on the roster. And so they sent my dad home to like talk me in the stand, and my dad was like, like son you got to go he was like because not only it's just going to give your opportunity to actually play right he was like but for the sake of our relationship you got to get the hell out of here yeah that's awesome hey if it wasn't j c or joal who would it be we'll talk off oh no yeah it's nice not taking the cheese Mitch before we let him go because he's got a roll

you have a twisted question for him um he's gm he's not the head man he's not the head man he's not That's a question specifically for the head coaches. They cut their piece off for a Super Bowl. Would you? I got five kids. So you would? I said I got five kids. So you cut your house off as well.

I just said I have five kids. All right. We just need you to say yes. I just said I just got five kids. We got that insurance. I got five kids. Five kids is a lot of kids, man. It's a lot.

Jack McPherson, any questions? Yeah, before we let him know. Before we let him go. We asked Callie this question yesterday, but you being with the Titans for every year now, you will understand this. Is there a way to bring back the OG pain train video that we play at the beginning of the fourth quarters?

Because we changed it two years ago. The fan base needs the OG one back. All right, so I'm not familiar with the OG one. Pull it up. Do you remember Terry Tate office linebacker? Yes. Okay. So it's Terry Tate Office Linebacker.

He goes, the pain train's comment, and then does the woo-hoo thing and then johnny cash fulsome prison blues right yeah starts playing you got to put the headphones all right let's do it this is awesome can we bring that back we're able to do something i know it's the sound of bad say baby these two videos were so good too can we might be able to do something and can can you can Bustin with the boys be the 12th Titan and swing the sort of honor Can Jack McPherson? Yeah that would be pretty sweet I'm not gonna lie there we go I think you guys we have the I think the crowd will go nuts to see that'd be so fun

Now here's the thing we have the with these two we gotta cut the mic It's got it's gotta be we'll say this it's got to be a delay so we can at least have the Yeah yeah yeah very fair to say I will say this every college we go to every like we're We were in Atlanta, every spot organization we go to. It's like they're always like, hey, we're down for you guys to do this. We've seen some of your stuff. You could just be on your best behavior. We're capable.

We're capable. It will be on our best behavior. Like I said, just, just, they might need to let me have the button. The mincee's, hey, the mincy button. Yeah, I might need to have that button. Yeah, seven second delay. Ray, we appreciate you coming on. Nah, man, I appreciate you, boys, man.

Nah, man, I appreciate you boys. I will tell you this bus. and all of us in here are so excited about what the times are doing. We're so stoked on what you've done in free agency and the draft. All the things about J.C. Latham coming out and the rest of your draft has been so positive. People should be excited in Nashville, Tennessee, about what's coming this forward. I appreciate it, man. I just think in the grand scheme of things, it's our job to provide this city and this state with something to cheer for.

You know what I mean? It's something that I can identify with. So let's just stay healthy and get to September. Do you think there's a chance that we can get Wilcompton a workout in October? December, let's say December. December? Yeah. I mean.

You don't want to do that. You want to do it before Thanksgiving because you know. All right. Workout October. Potential sign in December. Yeah, I mean, you can go over to Fitness 19. They got all the equipment you need to work out. Get you set up over there.

I'm actually, I'm at Boots with a couple of your guys in the front office. You see him around there. Matt Miller's in there. Yeah, Matt. I'll see Matt in there. I've known Matt since he was in high school. Yeah, Matt's my guy. Man, he does a hell of a job.

You go into his wedding? Yes. I will be. I would be that just RSVP two weeks ago. I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate you, boys. Hey, that was awesome, bro.

Thank you for me. We could talk all day long, too, because, man, you're an undrafted and gritty cat. Johnn back with Jordan. He's still playing, too. He's with the Vikings, right? Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed. First people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

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