Green Light with Chris Long - Howie Long! Raiders' Season Outlook, Chiefs' 3-Peat Potential, Belichick & Brady in Broadcast Roles, Stories from the 80's NFL!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The first conversation I had with John Elway was the night before I retired at the Super Bowl. We were at a closed restaurant and we were drinking until about 1.302 in the morning. That's late for you. Oh, totally. And totally out of character. I mean, I, and John and I spoke. In those days, it wasn't my job to be friends with the people I was playing against. Welcome to the Greenlight podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:30 You've been following along. Our trip, we told you that we're at the busing with the boys' beer Olympics. We just went to their studio to record an episode, Chris and Howie Talk Everything Football, how he jumps into a few of his great memories from his playing days. He talks about the first time that he ever talked to John Elway, which actually was at the end of his career. And we talk current NFL topics. Can the Chiefs three people what it means?

Starting point is 00:00:58 What will Tom Brady and Bill Belichick sound like from the booth? What the Cowboys are doing this season? And Joe Burrow, being a fashion icon. We hit all that a whole bunch more. It's a great conversation. Howie Long, one of the best ever. Please jump in for it. We'll be back on Friday.

Starting point is 00:01:12 Much love. Day four of the Greenlight Road trip. And as I mentioned, we did not have reliable internet. At some of the last stops, we were rolling through. And now we are in Nashville. And we are at the busing with the boys studio on the heels of the beer Olympics or beer games, whatever they want to call it. it was a good time pulled up the RV in Taylor's yard it's a beautiful place the house is an ark digest looking house with a pool and a pond that Nate tried to clear the catfish out of

Starting point is 00:02:20 until midnight when I told Taylor that somebody was fishing in the pond he was surprised and it was great great hospitality good group Wilcompton ended the night unable to unlock his phone Taylor couldn't wake him up I walk back to the RV about midnight, and here we are at the busing with the boy studio. So I'm right next to the big twisted T busing with the boy. I mean, it's hideous. It's nothing like the RV we have parked outside. The Four Winds is gorgeous.

Starting point is 00:02:53 We got another eight hours of driving, but before we get on the road, I figure we do a pod. And I figured I'd call my dad, phone a friend, who wants to be a millionaire style. I'm calling Dad, try to get a pot in. Sorry about the wait, but here it is. Howie Long joins us from Flathead Lake, Montana, in his green shirt for Green Light, and I have my cowboy hat on because it is a travel pod. Dad, how are we doing?

Starting point is 00:03:21 We're good. We're good. I'm glad we could get this thing together. We've had a couple of false starts. Yeah, we really have, man. And for the people at home, we were trying to get this out to you, so it'd come out Tuesday. and we had internet problems.

Starting point is 00:03:36 The tail end of the week last week, I had my anniversary Saturday so I couldn't work. And Sunday we hit Balcony Falls on the James River, in the James River Gorge. Dad, you saw some footage. Do you think you'd join us on a trip like this? Look, does the name Humpty Dumpty tell you anything? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:03:59 If I fall at the James River, falls or whatever the hell that is, all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put me back together again. Yeah, I would worry. I would feel, we left some of the Greenlight team at home because we were worried they wouldn't be able to make it through the trip. Specifically?

Starting point is 00:04:20 Yeah, yeah, I'm not going to name any names. But Cowboy Reed did great. He shredded balcony falls. Cowboy Reed is the most interesting man in the world. I swear, he's, he's shocking. me. I saw him jumping into the, right in the front of the falls off the, off the rock. What was that? About 15 foot drop? What off the, uh, no, he was, no, what, you saw a video of him jumping off the bridge, I feel like. I don't know where I saw him in front of the waterfall.

Starting point is 00:04:49 Yep, yep, yeah, that's about a 10 foot fall. It's a shock. I'm sure it shocked his folks. We went swimming in a, in a waterfall. I feel like the guy's dad sometimes, you know, like I feel like you or something trying to reel him in he's always off doing his own thing but we had a great trip we stayed uh in tennessee another night and stayed at those two waterfalls it was awesome and then uh ended up at the beer olympics yesterday dad i was paired up with uh quentin nelson so the backstory is i get an invite to his beer olympics it's in Vegas it's one of those things you commit to you don't think about for a while and then it's coming up and i'm like i don't want to go to the thing gets switched to Nashville so far so good and then i find out they pair me up with dean blandino

Starting point is 00:05:33 your co-worker and no offense to dean blandino but when you got dennis kelly graham glasgow delaney walker a bunch of big beer drinking guys quentin nelson as well i wanted a partner that suited me better so i i caused a stink and i ended up with quentin nelson and uh and it was a lot of fun And that dude is all bald dad. Yeah. He's a Jersey guy. He's from close to where mom's from. I know.

Starting point is 00:06:02 We FaceTime Mom, and they went to, like, damn near the same school. And I guess he has a brother that went to Villanoa, so six degrees of separation there. But me and Q, about two events in, the first event, we have to chug a beer, who has three beers out of a boot. So you three beers down right away. And then it goes into Flipcup. beer pong and by about the second event me and quentin looked at each other and said hey i don't care if we win this or not let's just have a good time yeah that was the best thing that i could hear

Starting point is 00:06:35 from quentin because i didn't want to let him down uh we ended up losing in beer pong a couple rounds in and then just kicked it by the pool the rest of the day but it was a good time um it's a great trip it was a great trip you used to take road trips i saw yeah dude so tell me what you guys did with the the home video thing because honestly it's the best thing ever well we we just went through some old tapes you know vhs tapes that we had and you know all kinds of stuff and we hadn't looked at in years and we didn't do a lot of filming because we were fighting for our lives with the three of you guys um and uh this was when we went to the colorado river i'd never driven an RV so we ran an RV and we're with a guy named Blaine Coon and, you know, just a great guy.

Starting point is 00:07:23 And we put a C-DU on the back trailer, pulling that down. And Kyle's like, he's under a year old and, you know, you're, you know, four or five years old and four years old. And, you know, they're selling us on this whole idea that it's going to be, it's paradise. It's on the river. You know, you drive in, you plug in. air conditioning. It's fabulous. It's beautiful. We get there really late because the roads are

Starting point is 00:07:56 narrow and it's treacherous and there's some rain. And, you know, it was just really a, and mom doesn't feel good for some reason. And we end up getting there. And as it turns out, the last plug had been taken. So it's 104 degrees or two degrees on the Colorado River. and mom is, unbeknownst to her pregnant with Howie and doesn't feel good. And Kyle's there, and he's under one. And it's you and me out in a tent outside the camper, the RV. And then we go out on the dock and they've got shirts down there or signs and say, show me your boobs and, you know, gals are pulling up their shirts.

Starting point is 00:08:45 and, you know, here you are, and I'm not sure. Impressionable age. I'm not sure if this is the right environment. Maybe, maybe it was a precursor to the Tennessee trip. Yeah, maybe so. I mean, listen, what was fun to me about that whole thing was, and I think it's instructive is the more videos you can hang on to, the better. Because looking at that thing 30 years later, it's incredible.

Starting point is 00:09:11 It's not only incredible to watch you in your adult form, like, you know, a little bit younger than me at that point. Yeah. And I'm kind of looking at like one of my peers, not my dad. Yep. You know, I'm looking at a guy my age doing what I'm doing. And it was fun. Rolling out of bed jacked, you know, not having to work.

Starting point is 00:09:29 Yeah, dude, you were, you were a silverback gorilla looking guy. And you would obviously never be in a city guy, never rode a jet ski because you were out on that thing just doing all types of unsafe shit. And now you're Mr. Safety. Yeah. watching you try to spray people on the dock and try to do tricks in your tiny shorts 1989 yeah it was hilarious man it was hilarious and what what it made me think about was all these videos i'm taking of my kids and me and my buddies looking back 20 30 years down the

Starting point is 00:10:02 line like that's gold treasure you know to the point where i was on the river with john phillips who you know john yeah played for the cowboys for people at home tight end one of my best friends and I'm taking videos the other day and I'm dating the videos. I'm like 19, you know, 2004, June 23rd, we're at the James River Gorge. Like, I'm starting to shoot these videos like I would

Starting point is 00:10:25 if I had a camcorder. You think about you guys are so, so far ahead from a technology standpoint. You know, there was nothing really then. I mean, cell phones were just being introduced and they were, I think they came in like a briefcase. And it was like, it was like the, the mobile phone that you see on TV that the president had in the 80s where he's, you know,

Starting point is 00:10:48 the abort code is, you know, that kind of thing. So we really didn't, we didn't have technology, wasn't cameras, were, were cumbersome and they were hard to kind of deal with. But we're in the project now of, you know, kind of getting all that stuff on, on the laptop. And, you know, we keep sending more stuff as we, as we go. You guys found a DVD of me and my buddies, 18 years old, going out of New River Gorge and Whitewater Raft. And my first summer out of high school, I don't know how y'all let me do this, but I appreciate it. We hopped in the car and drove a few hours and did the New River Gorge.

Starting point is 00:11:28 And the outfitters had a DVD of us getting dumped into the river and hitting some of those big wave trains. And just a DVD that's 20 years old is worth its weight in gold. So tons of great videos. We'll be stacking them up trying to do just what you're doing, man. It's so funny. We were talking about this when we tried the pod the first time. But with Father's Day, coming off Father's Day, I told you, you know, this is, I'm 39. I got three kids.

Starting point is 00:11:59 Watching that video, kind of putting myself in your shoes a lot of the time, it's pretty crazy full circle and so these father's days for me are like kind of special because i'm starting to realize what what it's about more you know like as you get older and you have more kids and and then i look at you and i say yeah man i really appreciate it um you know i was going to write you a note this father's day but i know you don't like nice things you know so i just figured i keep it short and sweet and tell you two weeks later on the podcast but um happy father's day and uh and i did tell him in person we spent the day but yeah i was listening to uh old man neil young and i know it's not about somebody's dad but you know we've always talked about when the song comes on it's it's pretty it's pretty poignant and uh

Starting point is 00:12:52 and so yeah full circle man happy father's day and uh i'm watching those videos and i'm like man i'm a lot like Yeah, you know, I, it's interesting because in my mind's eye, I'm watching you. And, you know, I think you're, listen, you want your sons to be better than you are. And I think, you know, so far the two boys who have kids are, you know, you're fully invested and you do so many great things with your kids. And us watching you and watching Kyle both, you know, you know, fully committed off the dock, you know, having fun with the kids. And, you know, you're building memories, you know. And us watching that is, that makes my father's day all the more special, really, because

Starting point is 00:13:46 you're such a great dad. And Kyle's a great dad and, you know, love those grandkids to death. I mean, I just, golly, they make my day. I get a phone call from them. or they pop over the house to hop in the pool. It's a treat. We're lucky. What age do you think I start button heads with my sons?

Starting point is 00:14:10 What was the hardest age? Probably, I'm going to say 15, 14, 15. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just kind of like the cycle of life. And, you know, that's kind of when it starts to happen. you're trying to be a man and, you know, a young man and, you know, maybe making some choices that are, you know, we've been down the highway, you're down the highway, you know where the potholes are, you know, and you've been behind the curtain and, you know, you realize that there's some pitfalls

Starting point is 00:14:49 out there, there's some bad people, and, you know, how do I best kind of educate and, you know, mentor my sons and daughters to make sure. And you having a daughter is a whole other. Whole other world. Whole other thing. You know, and I'm so, I'm looking at it from the granddaughter perspective now where I only had boys. And I remember when you first got married with Maggie, it was like, how do I deal with the daughter-in-laws? You want to treat her like a daughter and how do I deal with it? How do I talk to her? How do I handle it? And she has been just a rock star. We love her to death. Would you do anything over that would help me?

Starting point is 00:15:38 You know, the thing that I didn't realize was how difficult it was. And we had you and, you know, obviously, Kyle and then Howie, we didn't realize, and I particularly didn't realize how difficult it would be growing up as my son. And you, you know, you had to go through some things, and I'm sure that that gave you kind of, you know, mixed kind of emotions and thoughts, and I think you've kind of embraced it down the road, but there were times when you probably,

Starting point is 00:16:13 having me as a dad was somewhat of a pain in the ass, to no fault of my own, but, you know, people can be mean. Well, I never blamed you. I was having this conversation yesterday with actually Burke Chrysher because he's a comedian. You know who he is, I think. Yeah. But he was at the pool and we were talking about, you know, he's got daughters who are older and, you know, when they go out and being able to be out in public and not be bothered. You know, just the anecdotes that he was given reminded me of, you know, being the son of somebody who people think is their property. You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, when you're out and about. You're trying to spend time with your kids, but it can be distracting. And then the athletic part of it is just going to be more pressure. And so I just look at things that way with Wayland through that lens and Luke. I mean, you know, being my sons, they are going to be compared and trying to try not to put too much pressure on them to have to be me, which you guys did a really good job of. You know, you never said, hey, you've got to be me.

Starting point is 00:17:14 Yeah, we, you are, whoever you are and you do it to the best of your ability. We tried not to push, you know, it hard at all. As a matter of fact, you were, you know, you'd rather be in a book when you were a kid and, you know, doing projects and things like that. And, you know, it's kind of, you would I say it exploded at 13. That was kind of the age where you just kind of said, you know what? I'm done screwing around. I'm, you know, I dropped my you know what's and, you know, I'm ready to roll and you

Starting point is 00:17:46 were ready to roll. And from that point on, it was you had a singular focus of what you wanted to do. And, you know, your size and weight and, you know, you're not sure where that's going to go. Is it going to be, you know, you talk about offensive guard. I was thinking blocking tight end, actually, kind of like a JP, you know. If you were 250, you could you could play. But the game was so much different than, if you remember. Yeah, it's changed a lot. So, you know, past rushers like people, you know, and we didn't know where you were going to be, but you said, I want to play Virginia. I want to run out the tunnel. This is what I want to do. And you are, you were the easiest guy I've ever been around to coach, particularly off the field where

Starting point is 00:18:36 we'd be up here in Montana. And we had a sled. I don't know if you remember the sled we had in the garage and you could put all the 45 pound plates on it you wanted to and I would just just from a conditioning standpoint simulate a a 10 plate drive and then you'd have a two minute rest but the template drive was in succession you would reset and go again and go again and go again and go again and you never ever said you know I don't want to do this I'm I'm tired you always wanted to be in the best possible shape you could be. You wanted to be accountable. You wanted to be a good teammate.

Starting point is 00:19:18 And that showed up down the road. You made yourself. And I tell people that. I said, look, he was an auto drive. It was like one of those cars where you just get in, the electric cars and they just drive themselves. That was you. I never had to ask if you worked out.

Starting point is 00:19:35 I've never had to ask if you did your job. Well, that's the thing. I mean, I always did this when people talk about genetics and, you know, hey, you were very talented, Chris. You know, that's why you got there and that sort of thing your dad played. And I would say, hey, I wasn't the most talented guy

Starting point is 00:19:49 in most of the rooms I was in. Where is I? Close. And I think that's kind of the misnomer when it comes to the genetic thing because, number one, you had, now you could play today because you're athletic enough to do that

Starting point is 00:20:02 and you were good enough to do that and you do it at a high level. It's hard to compare errors. But I would say, like, you know, these are 80s genetics. You know, like, it's not like, I'm Julius Pepper's son.

Starting point is 00:20:13 You know what I mean? Right. You know, so there was always that, hey, even if you earned it, you were handed something, which I think we were all handed something walking in the NFL. You have to be a God-gifted athlete to come into the NFL and play. Yeah, everybody, everybody's there for a reason, physically. You know, I always say this, and I say this about Tom Brady. I say this about, you know, Peyton Manning, particularly a quarterback.

Starting point is 00:20:41 It's here. It's here. It's, you know, what do you have here? What do you have here? How mentally tough are you? How smart are you? And how willing are you to do the, you know, just those extra things that separate you from good to very good, very good to great and so on.

Starting point is 00:21:01 Yeah. That's it. We trained a lot in Montana. I actually can remember when I was a kid watching you in Montana hit a sled. a little bit in the front yard by the by the lake and of course I was never thinking in terms of like what's it going to be like when I do that or what time in the year is it because you never you never really got us caught up in your schedule you know what I mean like we we were on vacation but you were working what would you do this time a year when you had the downtime before camp

Starting point is 00:21:37 things were a lot different a couple CBAs ago camp was different but Talk me through the off season for a guy in the 90s and the 80s when you get that downtime. I wasn't much of a lifter. Never was. Running was important. Sled was important. A million club rips simulated in the first two steps on a sled, you know, three steps on a sled. You know, right lead, right club, left rip, left lead, left club, right rip. left, club right, left rip, or, you know, Passover. And I wasn't a big Passover guy. But just to run and, you know, here we are up in Montana where the lawn is, it's a country law.

Starting point is 00:22:25 So, you know, you've got to figure out where the potholes are because if I'm running gassers, gassers were a big thing for me. Hundreds were a big thing for me. And I remember I took you to the same fields to run that I ran at. we ran down in Poulson. Poulson High School. We ran up at Big Fork High School, which maybe had the most spectacular. The football field had the most spectacular view.

Starting point is 00:22:50 But once again, all those fields had, you know, little potholes. So I would meticulously walk out the 50 yards or 60 yards you were going to run or the 100 yards you were going to run and find the potholes and find the path of resistance. And running was, you know, and I always said it, you know, the one thing you control is, run, run, run, run, run. And you were more of a lifter, and that was easy to kind of adapt into. But we didn't lift much. We played a lot of basketball.

Starting point is 00:23:21 I played a ton of basketball. That's all I really did in the off-season. We didn't have OTAs. We didn't have mini-camps. You know, there was none of that. As a general rule, particularly in the early 80s, you know, everyone got in shape and training camp, and it was a six-week training camp.

Starting point is 00:23:38 It was two days every day, full gear. live inside run, live goal line, live pass rush, all that. So it was, we start the individual period with 42 updowns and, you know, every day in training camp and just go. That was that Greg Williams reinstated that deal with the updowns. And I can remember being in the garage in Montana every day and doing 40 up downs because he would warn us that he was going to start practices with 40 updounds. And, of course, the first day, probably unlike your setup, Greg would have us do about. 30 and if guys weren't falling out, then he'd say you're done and then we wouldn't do it anymore. But I remember getting ready for that deal and I know you going into camp was six weeks

Starting point is 00:24:23 ahead of you. I wonder if you had that dark cloud over you kind of the way I did in July because I never felt like I was on vacation even though I was. I never felt I was on vacation really and I and I never felt comfortable in my, well, you know, I mean, it was a different time. It was a different era. You know, you made a lot less money and none of it was guaranteed through 13 years. So, you know, here I am with, you know, at 1.3 kids. And, you know, I've got to, I've got to make sure I'm good. I've got to make sure I'm ready to go. I've got to earn my money and I've got to make the team. And, you know, I was a guy that always kind of felt like I had to prove it every day, every year, every month.

Starting point is 00:25:08 And I think that's the torture of, I said this to Max Crosby the other day. I said the first time I really kind of look back on my career with any kind of comfort of perspective were the last three or four steps I took to the podium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Up till then, it was like, you know, yesterday's over. The only thing I control is today,

Starting point is 00:25:35 and I've got to win today. I've got to be great on Wednesday. I've got to be great on Thursday. I've got to be great on Friday. I've got to be great on Saturday. And, you know, that lived with you in the offseason. So like I said, you know, I've apologized to you because when I was playing, it was, you know, because of the non-guarantees, because of, you know, the injuries and you played with things

Starting point is 00:26:01 a little bit more than than you do now. You know, it was a really difficult kind of, every day was, it presented its own new challenge. And I had to deliver for you guys. And that was the most important thing to me. One thing that's changed a lot is the coverage of our league. And, you know, nothing happens without us hearing about it. One of the things that, you know, slow news week last week, one of the things that slid across, the desk was Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud.

Starting point is 00:26:39 Vacationing in Morocco. Okay. So it's 1989. I want to read you a headline. John Elway and Joe Thaisman are in the south of France vacationing. What do you think? Is that ever happened back in the day? Did people hang out on different teams? You know, they, not that I, listen, not that I know of.

Starting point is 00:27:00 You know, playing the Raiders, we were an island onto ourselves. So, you know what I mean? it was us against everybody. And, you know, when you think about it, the internet, cell phones, all that stuff, TikTok, you know, X, all those. Pretty good, dad, pretty good. All that stuff that people communicate with. Now you guys text, guys in the off-season get together, guys talk to other guys from other teams.

Starting point is 00:27:30 The first conversation I had with John Elway was the night before I retired. hired at the Super Bowl. We were at a closed restaurant and we were drinking until about 1.302 in the morning. That's late for you. Oh, totally and totally out of character. I mean, I and John and I spoke in those days, it wasn't my job to be friends with the people I was playing against. Now, you went to the Pro Bowl and you know, that kind of went away a little bit. but you know you certainly were you know we're aware of it particularly with people that you played against in division in particular you were a little friendlier to people outside of division but in division you certainly didn't do that that's changed i mean guys would listen you had the beat

Starting point is 00:28:19 writer and that was it and maybe you had upi and ap the news form that would you know the all the stories from the West Coast would hit the East Coast on AP or whatever. A guy could disappear for two days in the middle of the week. Let's, you know, let's name one of your teammates on your defensive front. Robert Quinn could disappear for two days, you know, Tuesday and Wednesday, and nobody would know. Right. Except for the people in the building who are like, where's Robert? plan. Yeah, and there's no media in our kind of facility, just the required stuff, and the required

Starting point is 00:29:04 stuff was very little then. And the beat writer was kind of the guy that wrote on the plane, and he was more of the classic kind of movie beat writer that you'd imagine, and it might look the other way, and, you know, he was loyal to the team to a certain extent. You know, he had to be critical at times, but wasn't going to expose that. So we, had guys that, you know, without naming any names, but we had some guys disappeared for a couple of days. Yeah, well, I mean, it's funny because we get into the whole conversation about generations, and we've had this conversation, I think, on various occasions where there's this, there's this general idea that people in today's game are softer because they like to hang out

Starting point is 00:29:52 with each other because it's not as much of a business thing or a sports thing. It's like, hey, everybody's on a personal basis with each other. And I would contend that had the guys in the 80s had the connectivity that we have now, it would have been the same thing. I say that because, you know, I watched the last dance. I watched, heard stories about Danny Ains playing golf with Jordan in the middle of the playoffs and those guys. I know that in a special circumstance when me and Joe Green,

Starting point is 00:30:22 who went to college with Cedric Hartman, who's your roommate, comes into town for a game. You're like, of course we're going to have fucking me and Joe Green over for the game. Well, you see that part of it's, okay,

Starting point is 00:30:33 that's a little different. That's a good point, but that's a different kind of thing where if it's a defensive lineman, I'm not having an offensive guard. No, and I don't think that's ever happened. Like,

Starting point is 00:30:43 even when Kyle, when Kyle would play, we'd say what's up, but he wasn't going to come over the house. I lived with Cedric Harbin, and for people who don't know and Senator Harvin, over 100 sacks, San Francisco 49ers, came to the Raiders late, won a title in 80, 81 with the Raiders. Super Bowl, they were a wildcar team, first wildcar team to win

Starting point is 00:31:05 the Super Bowl down in New Orleans. And could you imagine what that week was like down there with a Raider team in New Orleans? With no, you know, no kind of media that they have now. Joe Green was his roommate, teammate at North Texas State. And he came over. And, you know, Joe Green was my, you know, when you're at Villanova, you get a lot of Pittsburgh news and you see a lot of Pittsburgh games. And, you know, to have dinner with him was really an amazing thing as a rookie coming out of Villanova where you're playing Delaware one week.

Starting point is 00:31:44 And now you're sitting down with Joe Green at dinner. at your little place in Alameda out in Oakland. Yeah. I mean, that was one of my favorite stories. And yeah, I do think it was just a little different. You know, like it's hard to compare the errors, just like it's hard from a football stance. Well, here's the thing that I believe.

Starting point is 00:32:04 I think this group today, you really the group today is indicative of the mass media, 24-hour news cycle. You make a mistake right now. It's in China. 30 seconds later. Everything, the world is so connected.

Starting point is 00:32:23 That's why in some ways I think guys are tougher now and in some ways they're not. I think they can compartmentalize business and personal. They can be social with players that they play against. And then when it comes time to buckle it up,

Starting point is 00:32:41 listen, this league is bigger, stronger, faster than are my generation and, you know, generations 10, 12 years ago. And anyone who tells you otherwise is, you know, it's that clean Eastwood Grand Torino thing, get off my lawn. You know, it's the old guy. Yeah, exactly. And it's the truth because you think about it and put this in a perspective.

Starting point is 00:33:07 Terry Bradshaw's offensive line, Steelers, you won four Super Bowls. 252. Yeah. That's what they weigh. on an average. Joe Green was 280, 275, 280. That position now weighs, what, 320? 320.

Starting point is 00:33:24 Look at your guys in Philadelphia. How big are they? So everything changes. And it's gone from a league where in the 80s you had maybe seven or eight guys that could run 4-3-4. and every team has seven or eight guys that can run four three four four yeah four range yeah yeah no it's true you know i mean it's different it's true now one thing uh that's different is the fashion sense uh you probably didn't see this but joe burrow went to the fashion week over in europe uh not that i know which country

Starting point is 00:34:02 that's in um and he had like a black suit with an open back and uh neither say it's something i wouldn't wear but Joe Burrow is a cool motherfucker. You know, he's Joe cool. And so he wants to wear that, that's cool with me. I wonder in your era who the coolest guy was. Who did you think was the coolest damn guy in the 80s? I got a couple ideas in my head. I think John Regins was so cool.

Starting point is 00:34:29 If I could have gone back and been John Riggins living by, you know, River in an RV and kind of being his own kind of character, it seemed, I think John Riggins was really cool. I'm on a Larry Zonka kick. I told you after I saw that. I'm all about the fullbacks, man. I saw Larry Zonka running about the 72 dolphins team. And I like that guy, man.

Starting point is 00:34:52 I think there were some cool guys in the 80s. I think players were cooler in the 80s. Who was the coolest guy that you played against her with? I think you probably being a little nostalgic. But, you know, I think Borough reminds me kind of a little bit of name of. He's got a little Joe Namath in him. You know, I mean, a little more kind of polished.

Starting point is 00:35:15 Joe played at Alabama and, you know, under Bear Bryant, I believe. And went to the Jets. And that's, you know, you go to the Jets and that's the biggest market at that time. And anything that he did. And of course, he makes the

Starting point is 00:35:31 proclamation that we're going to win and it's one of the biggest upsets in, I don't know if it's the biggest upset in NFL history because people felt like they had a real shot in the game, but ends up winning the Super Bowl, and he called the shot for the Jets, and it hasn't happened since. Cool guys, golly, I don't know. You know, I mean, there wasn't a lot of media. John Lowe was kind of cool. He was a guy who bucked, you know, the thing. The closest I've

Starting point is 00:36:01 come to superstar, you know, crazy, crazy kind of popular, both. Joe Jackson was like playing with Elvis. You know, we had to go in the back of the building. You know, you had to have special security for him. In today's game, he would be the equivalent of Taylor Swift and Travis. You know, we're that big. He would be that big and that popular. Imagine a guy that could do what he did in today's world.

Starting point is 00:36:38 world and you know roll out of bed looking the way he did and you know just an amazing character a great name bow jackson yeah i um you're talking about the the taylor swift thing i was wondering when you played did any your teammates or friends in the league have a girlfriend or significant other that was so popular that it became a thing. No, because the media didn't cover it. It just wasn't covered. So I don't know if any players dated, you know, Lyle kind of dabbled a little bit. And, you know, early-

Starting point is 00:37:25 Lyle of all people had celebrity girlfriends. Oh, yeah. You know, I mean, Lyle was married. And, you know, we were friends with his wife and, and his base. maybe and but you know after the fact you know I mean Lyle dabbled in Hollywood Lyle made some movies Lyle sparred with Muhammad Ali up in Denver I think which turned into a fight he did some wild stuff Lyle was well I was a guy who wanted to kind of he would have been great in today's environment you know he would be so pop you

Starting point is 00:38:05 You stick him into a, you know, WWE wrestling format. He's a showman. He's a showman. He really was. But also a damn animal, like a gorilla. And I know he, car carrying a bad man.

Starting point is 00:38:18 He beat up the fucking Barbarian brothers. You know, and they were, you know, and I'd worked out with him down at Gold's Gym. And Gold's Gym was amazing in then. Yeah, who was in Gold's Gym? Everybody. You know, all the bodybuilders, all the, some of the,

Starting point is 00:38:35 celebrities, people that you've seen in movies, you know. But these two guys were identical twins, and they were called the barbarians. And, you know, I got along with them flying. They were, they were quirky and a little bit different and, you know, lived in probably wore the same outfit working out five days a week, you know, that kind of a thing. And they were big and, you know, could lift a lot of weight. But for whatever reason they pissed Lyle off. And, you know, I guess, you know, as allegedly he had a 10-pound plate and was chasing them around the gym

Starting point is 00:39:10 trying to beat them with the 10-pound plate you know, wow why a 10-pound plate grab the 20, grab a 45 while well I think he was looking for speed and deliver delivering kind of impact and I think he felt like the 10 was sufficient he had to catch him

Starting point is 00:39:28 he was I called him three-mile Lyle because it was after three-mile island, which exploded at some point, you know, during when I was playing. And he was like that. He was like a new... Did you and Lyle ever get into it? No, you know, I think we came close once, and I think it was kind of like Russia and USA, where we, you've got, both got your fingers on the button, and he'd seen me, he knew,

Starting point is 00:39:57 he knew who I was. We roomed together in 1982. at the Oakland Airport Hilton when the team moved to L.A. but practiced in Oakland. So we, every game was a road game. And here I am living with Lyle. Marcus was right across the hallway. If you ever have Marcus on, he'll tell the whole story. And he'll tell some Lyle stories that'll be crazy. But Lyle will get a piece of chocolate cake every single night at like 930, 945 and a glass of milk. He'd eat the kids. cake, you drink the milk, you shut the TV off and shut the lights off.

Starting point is 00:40:35 Not, hey, are you watching that? I'm 21, 22 years old, you know, and I'm a young guy and Marcus is across the hall with a linebacker and I'd get a rollaway cot and go over there and sleep. Yeah. Yeah, Lyle was, you know, we had a moment where, you know, in my mind it was either going to happen or it wasn't going to happen. And, you know, for whatever reason, it didn't happen and cooler heads prevail. But I think Lyle had seen me enough at work to know, you know, this could potentially not, you know, not go. It could be ugly for both parties.

Starting point is 00:41:19 Yeah. We were talking about the Raiders. what like what's your excitement level right now i you know as an alum you always seem to i don't know if it's just the losing or you seem to keep yeah wears on you you know okay and i wonder other than the super bowl run with gruden when they lost the bucks and everything is this a time period where you're most excited about the raiders because of max because of api because of some of the you know the they seem like a throwback team under Antonio. And I wonder if you get excited getting ready to watch them this season.

Starting point is 00:41:59 I told Antonio when I came up there for the Super Bowl. I hugged him. I said, I'm so freaking excited. I'm jumping out of my skin. You know, I wish I was 28 and, you know, could go back and, you know, press the go back button and be a part of this because it's a renaissance of, in my And there's a couple of reasons why. One is, I think, they made a mistake a few years ago,

Starting point is 00:42:27 and they had the special team's coach takeover's head coach. And I think he captured the heart of the locker room and had created kind of a culture. And, you know, when that guy gets up in the room on Monday, people either believe it or not. You know that. I mean, any room you've been, that guy has to be authentic.

Starting point is 00:42:49 and Tony was a guy that grew up right around the Coliseum. And, you know, do the Raiders, was a fan of the Raiders growing up. He understood the history. And I said this to Max the other day when I spoke to Max. I said, history is great. And it's great to, you know, appreciate that and respect that and honor that. But it's time to make for this team and this group to make their own history. And I said to Max, I said, the thing that's so impressive about what he's done there,

Starting point is 00:43:19 is when I got in that building, you know, Al Davis, Ron Wolf, Tom Flores, all Hall of Fame, Jim Plunkett, Art Shell, Gene Upshaw, you know, Freddie Bolitnikov is around all the time, Jim Otto's around all the time, you know, Cliff Branch, Ted Hendricks, Lester Hayes, Mike Haynes. It goes on and on and on. They'd won a Super Bowl two years earlier than that. So the culture and identity of who the team was was already established. This team's been kind of, you know, a wandering ship, both from a location standpoint going from Oakland to L.A., then back to Oakland and then to Vegas. And I think now with the facility in Vegas and the stadium in Vegas that I think is awesome, both facilities are amazing.

Starting point is 00:44:13 it was difficult for Max to go in there in a place that had lost its identity and lost its culture and create that. And I think that's an impressive thing for both Antonia. And I'm excited about the defense. I'm not sure, you know, O'Connell is a guy that, you know, showed some flashes, and I think they're going to give him every opportunity to be the guy. but, you know, I think Minchu is a gamer. He's not a guy that I think impresses you on Wednesday and Thursday, but for whatever reason, whether it's Jacksonville or when he was to stop in Philly

Starting point is 00:44:54 and with the Colts, and I think his last two stops, both in Philly and the Colts, I think he gained a great deal from both of those stops. You know, personally, I think, you know, skiing, system, coaching, all that. And I think if he gets the opportunity, he might not relinquish it. How hard is it in that division? I mean, I know you got a better way to ask this question is, I guess with the chiefs trying to three, Pete, they're still the chiefs. But with all the distractions, because you can't control people when they go off to wherever they go off to in the off season. And some guys have had issues.

Starting point is 00:45:33 And I can't help but think, you know, part of it is the whirlwind that goes into replay. repeating, being champion, even once, you know, the way that offseason unfolds, do you think that the chiefs have anything to worry about with some of the stuff you see popping up, or did they just always find a way, in your opinion? I think it starts at the top. I think with Andy and, you know, their GM, Andy has a big heart. Andy thinks, you know, I think Andy thinks it can save a lot of people. And, you know, you take a chance on a guy or two and some workout and some guys. don't. And one thing about the Chiefs and Andy, I think, and the GM is they've shown the ability

Starting point is 00:46:18 to move on, you know, and they do move on. And they've shown that they have a philosophy, listen, when you start out with the quarterback, you know, and a guy like Kelsey who big game, you know, whatever the situation is, it's never too big. It's, I agree with you on one thing. I think it's challenging to repeat, getting everyone refocused on the same page, being hungry. They've had parades. They've had parties. They've had awards. Everyone's patting you on the back.

Starting point is 00:46:53 And everyone in your division particularly has prepared more for you. Because your number one goal as a GM and a team is winning the division. And you're building to win in the division. And Albaugh going, you know, to the Chargers and, you know, and now, you know, Denver and the changes they've made, you know, it's, and, and the Raiders are getting better. And, you know, they beat Kansas City last year. And they beat them convincingly, you know. Yeah, that was an ugly game. So they're, they're in their, I think they're in their head a bit.

Starting point is 00:47:30 And that defense has gotten better. But I will say this. what's unique about three is no one's ever done it. And I think when you add that to the equation for guys that are aware of, you know, this is historic stuff. And if anything can focus you in even more than just a repeat, it's let's do three. Now, you've got to be healthy. you've got to stay smart and, you know, get home at night and do the right thing and, you know, not get in trouble and work hard. And last year we saw them out of the gate and they looked, you know, lost.

Starting point is 00:48:18 Drop balls. The offense was erratic kind of all over the place. The defense was actually carrying them. And then they kind of figured it out. And I can't, I can't really emphasize. how great Andy Reid is as a coach. And, you know, your guy on defense, you know, Spags has proved to be one of the greatest big game defense coordinators in NFL history.

Starting point is 00:48:46 I worry about Ligerius Need going. I worry about Willie Gay going. I mean, and I'm a guy that put the Chiefs in the Super Bowl last year, even when people weren't putting them in the Super Bowl. So, you know, I'm all about the Chiefs and I'm impressed any time a team can do something like this or even be within within striking distance of repeating or repeating three times in a row, which would be historic. I do worry about some of the distractions. I think the division is going to be tougher. I think if you look at Harbaugh, the way he coached the Niners in a strike shortened

Starting point is 00:49:20 season or CBA lockout short in season, coming in their team that was kind of middling, you know, immediately has them double-digit wins. Turns Alex Smith. into somebody who's fun to watch, right, efficient, had one of his best years there, including his time in Kansas City. And then to be able to roll with Cap, we knocked Smith out of the game in San Francisco,

Starting point is 00:49:44 and Cap comes in and just goes nuts. I think the Chargers will be better than people think immediately. So I do think, you know, you've got two really proven coaches in division outside of Andy now and one guy who seems to have a secret sauce in Vegas to get those guys to play hard. And I think adding Jack Jones, the kid who got cast away from New England at Corner,

Starting point is 00:50:09 actually had a pick six, I believe, against Kansas City in that game we were talking about. And Antonio's ability to reach a player like that. Yes, exactly. And very uniquely because Jack Jones was at Arizona State when he was coaching at Arizona State under Herm Edwards. So, you know, I just feel like every team in the division is taking a step forward. Now, one team's trying to do the unthinkable.

Starting point is 00:50:37 And I wonder if they do the unthinkable and they do a three-peat, can you put Patrick Mahomes in the echelon of Tom Brady? I mean, I already put, if you get me prime Patrick Mahomes and prime Tom Brady, I don't think there's a wrong answer there. Now, if you do the resume thing and you say, hey, Brady's got X amount of rings and these. accolades and that sort of thing. Well, that's what Kansas City is trying to do right now. But the one thing the Patriots never did was three Pete. And I feel like it's even harder to do it now than it was when they had opportunities to do it. And I think what's interesting about the Patriots run, and I've said this before, is an impressive. They went a decade between, you know, Super Bowls, if it's not for that Malcolm Butler interception. If you look at and you go back,

Starting point is 00:51:29 and do this because you enjoy doing stuff like this go back and look at the number of offensive linemen the number of wide receivers the number of running backs that tom brady over the course of that run played with yep it's pretty staggering it's okay and and and the different types of they were they were a different team with moss and you know and that whole group and then they buckle it up and it's We're going to run it 40 times and we're going to do it this way. And then we're going to do it this way. And, you know, that will never, ever be duplicated again. You know, I got to push back because I feel like it could be duplicated.

Starting point is 00:52:14 If Andy coaches a long time and Patrick stays healthy, I think the transition from Tyreek to know Tyreek is huge. Even if you have Travis Kelsey, I think the people that they've been able to win with outside the last two years, Some of the pieces they've reshuffled, they reshuffled their offensive line. I mean, that was a dumpster fire at times last year and they found a way to win. So while I agree with you that it would be almost impossible, duplicate it. There is one team that could. Here's the key. I agree with you.

Starting point is 00:52:48 Here's the key. And here's the question. Tom Brady had such a singular focus for 20 plus years. Chris, as you know, I mean, there's distractions, there's family, there's life and all those things that pull at you. And justifiably so. But can Patrick sustain the focus? And, you know, I pray that Andy can coach forever. Yeah, me too.

Starting point is 00:53:20 I really do. I love Andy. You know, he's one of my favorite people. We covered him in Philadelphia. we've covered him a little bit less in Kansas City because he's in the AFC and we don't get them on the air a lot. But when he was in Philadelphia a lot, and big, big fan of Andy's.

Starting point is 00:53:40 And from when he was back in Green Bay and Ron Wolf was up there. But can Patrick, can that duo of Andy and Pat stay together, stay healthy, stay focused? And if they can, then the sky's the limit. Yeah, because I think if they win five and they three Pete, well, we're putting a lot of carts before the horses here, but let's say they three Pete. That to me puts them in, you know, not to me,

Starting point is 00:54:09 period puts them in rare air. There's no other football team that's been able to do it, and this is in the age of free agency and player movement and that sort of thing. And on top of it, if they were able to add a couple more over the next decade and get to five or so, to me it's not seven rings against five rings or six rings against five rings or you know it you take things individually and you compare them and i think this run would be just as impressive if they were able to to you know one for the thumb type thing at the end of a 10 year run um from here on out and you know a lot

Starting point is 00:54:46 has to go right for them just like with other teams if dreg greenlaw doesn't get hurt i don't know if they win that game, you know, but you can point to various outcomes throughout the, the Patriots dynasty where you're like, yeah, that was the flip of a coin or something went their way. And that's what it takes to win championship. What's the average number of points that, you know, the Patriots won that super close by? I think it was three or three. And Bill would tell you it's indicative of how, how tight the margins are in the NFL. Yeah. And that's the one thing about a full football team is it's not like basketball where you might look at the end of a Lakers run in the early 2000s and say there was a series like the the Philly series you know where it's five

Starting point is 00:55:35 games there's no games like that for the Patriots right you know whether it was beating Carolina whether it was beating Seattle whether it's being down 28 to 3 that's what makes that stuff so impressive I wouldn't say you could take any one of of those teams and say, hey, that's the best team ever. No team was more comfortable playing under duress at the end of the game than the Patriots because as you know, having been there, everything that's going to happen is rehearsed. And it's predictable the things that a game is going to hinge on, whether it's end of half, two-minute situational football, you know, certain metrics that a, you know, a bill might be after.

Starting point is 00:56:20 they just had a mastery of those margins, you know? And I think the mastery of those margins add up to championships. Who's comfortable in that situation? Patrick is comfortable. Yes, he is. They're going to find their guys that are going to be, you know, the young receiver came on at the end of the season and really started a show. And he had, he's had some, I think they've had some issues there too.

Starting point is 00:56:48 but somebody will step up, whether it's, they'll go more too tight end early on or whatever. They'll figure it out by the end of the year and be there at least to have a shot. And I think that's what great quarterbacks do. You talk about Buffalo and, hey, a lot of concerns about who's outside there. Love him. But I love Josh Allen. And I think with Curtis Samuel, having spent time with Joe Brady, investing in this kid from Florida State who could end up being pretty good. And having those two tight ends and saying, hey, like we have Brandon Bean on.

Starting point is 00:57:22 And I say, what do you say to people that are thinking you guys are going to take a step back because you had to let Svon Diggs go? Well, the tight ends are who the offense runs through. And so if we don't look at a Kincaid as a real weapon, sure, but that's not the way the game's played. You don't take tight ends out of the equation. And I also think there is the unspoken, you know, kind of glossed over increase in production. you're going to get out of guys by having a guy like Josh or Patrick in the backfield. And the unknown commodity, that is a draft pick or a Curtis Samuel,

Starting point is 00:57:55 who's a veteran guy who's played good football, but has never been in a situation like this. So, yeah, whether it's Kansas City or Buffalo, as long as you have a guy like that under center, you can be back in those games year after year. Here's the key with the young receivers in Buffalo, which make it different than just about every place you play, maybe with the exception of Baltimore. Scramble drill.

Starting point is 00:58:17 Well, it's a scramble drill, but it's also, you know, run blocking. Yep. You're running routes. You've got to run the route hard, even though it's a run, and you've got to transition to a run blocker because the quarterback is such a big part of that offense. Yeah, no question. And this young wide receiver who's used to just running routes and, you know, maybe doing the obligatory kind of run block and occasionally if he gets a

Starting point is 00:58:47 angry, you know, pin somebody, but he's got to change the way he looks at the offense. Yeah. We're talking about a team you might not see a lot because they're in the AFC. Having a team that you see a lot and you're forced to talk about a lot is Dallas Cowboys. I don't know about the Cowboys this year. And I'm not being vindictive. I'm not anti-Cowboys. I only played in Philly two years.

Starting point is 00:59:15 You know me. I don't hate the Cowboys. Yeah. It's more of just something that I have to consume year in and year out as a media member now. And I'm picking up on the patterns. And to me, they're going to talk about the Cowboys a lot. Dack doesn't have his contract. You know, I don't know who's playing running back for them.

Starting point is 00:59:33 The offensive line is thinner than it's been. Who's playing linebacker for them? We start with the offense. The receiving core is really thin if CD pulls up with a hamstring. I just, hey, year in and year out, the story with the Cowboys is they are good enough on paper to win it. The question is, can they put it together? And this year, I don't think they're good enough on paper. And I, you know, I think, you know, timing is everything for particularly a quarterback for contracts.

Starting point is 01:00:03 And, you know, they're in the middle of, you know, a kind of a stalemate there in Dallas right now. And DAC is going to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. So if that plays the way he did last year during the season, and for whatever reason they're out of the playoffs, you know, I think it's easy for people to say, well, that's Dallas and that's a different situation. We'll take Dak Prescott and we'll reset the market. I think Jerry is probably one of those because they've got to get, they've got to get a wide receiver sound, they've got to get an outside linebacker sign. They've got to get the quarterback sign.

Starting point is 01:00:43 And, you know, we've talked about this, and I don't, you know, I don't fully understand the quarterback separate, you know, cap situation. But I'm sure of one thing. The people that are, you know, in the back rooms whispering about this potential new, you know, quarterback cap thing are teams that are about to have to pay quarterbacks, not teams that have already paid quarterbacks. And right at the top of that list would be Jerry. So, you know, I think if it has a shot, when Jerry backs it, it has a shot. I don't understand the specifics of it. You know, we talked about it. You know, where is...

Starting point is 01:01:25 Here's what I would propose, because I don't know where they're going to go. But what I would propose, the cap's 255 right now or so, right? I would propose that cap stays the same. And that becomes a pool with one less big swimmer, right? That's the key. that's the key if that cap stays the same and let's say that quarterback cap is separate does not affect the player pool and can escalate year in a year out based on the market and yeah it could get gaudy and it could get astronomical but you can't you're struggle to field team right now you're struggling to field a team

Starting point is 01:02:00 and i think it's bad for the NFL that certain teams can't get in the dance right and and i think it's good for the NFL conversely if teams can stay in the because I think it's good for the NFL to keep groups together. I use the example of the LOB. You know, that's got to break up when you pay Russell Wilson. They had the cheat code in drafting a quarterback and having them on a rookie deal and having all those talented pieces around him. But then when it comes to pay time to pay the Piper, you can't pay everybody.

Starting point is 01:02:29 And I don't think teams should be punished for drafting well. I think, in fact, teams should be encouraged for drafting well. And I also think fans enjoy, and I don't want to speak for the fans who are listening to this, but I think they enjoy owning the same jersey for a decade. I think they enjoy rooting for the same players. I think it's good for football to have those teams that are together. And I think this would enable teams like that to do that. The one rinkly I threw in, if you added a separate quarterback cap,

Starting point is 01:02:59 is you have to do something to offset not having that advantage anymore. If you have drafted well and you have a rookie on a quarterback, rookie quarterback deal. You know, that still needs to be an advantage. So I don't know how you do that. I also think somebody like C.J. Stroud should be making a lot of money right now, you know? Yeah, but, you know, I think C.J. Stroud is an outlier.

Starting point is 01:03:24 Right. To a great extent. But I think start, it makes sense to me that you could start it after year four. Let's say C.J. Stroud or whoever the quarterback is is the first round pick. Right now, stands, you could be a first round pick. You've got a four-year contract with a fifth-year option. They could pick the option up, then they can franchise tag you not once but twice, but the number is punitive towards your overall salary cap. And that's what in the spirit of the kind of rule,

Starting point is 01:03:55 that's what they had in mind when they put that number on the second salary cap in particular. I'm talking about franchise tag. The franchise tag runs a number up to an astronaut. We should do away with that anyways. I agree. You know what? You got a four-year deal with a 50-year option. That's it. That should be it.

Starting point is 01:04:15 That should be it. And then that separate cap charge. I remember years ago, it was the first that started with the Larry Bird exemption in the NBA, and then it went to the max deal, and then it went to the Supermax deal. So they kind of work their way around it, but that's easier to do with a 15-man roster. What if they subsidize? What if they subsidized it like stadiums? You know how they're like, hey, here at Buffalo, you owe us 800 million.

Starting point is 01:04:41 Here at Buffalo, you owe us 200 million if you want to keep Josh. You know, if the cities had to pay for their quarterbacks, I know Buffalo is doing a new stadium, right? Yeah, I guess they are. And supposedly it's going to be grass and it is going to be outdoor, but they're going to have some covered spaces for the fans. Anyways, that's a whole other deal. All right.

Starting point is 01:05:04 So Fox, obviously, you like it when NFC teams are doing well. You probably like covering certain teams more than other. I don't know if I could ask you that, but like, who is a team that if you wave a magic wand that would be good for Fox and the NFL and make them better? Who would you wave that magic wand on? Well, I think the wand started to kind of wave over Chicago. You know, and that's a team that would be big for us. and, you know, I think Detroit was, I love Detroit's run.

Starting point is 01:05:38 I loved everything about Detroit. I loved the coach, love the GM, love the personnel. I like the quarterback story. And the arc of his, of his career, you know, starting with your group and, you know, when the offense was so bad. And then, you know, McVeigh coming in and he changes the offense, it's run-oriented. He goes up, I'd like to say. see that, you know, if they could follow the jet stream from Chicago and take it right to the

Starting point is 01:06:07 Giants and make the Giants relevant again, you know, because right now the Giants aren't relevant. And they've been sneaky irrelevant for a while now. And when I look at this roster, again, it's kind of like the Dallas thing in a different way. I don't know if they're really taking a stab at it. It doesn't feel like one of those teams is taking a stab at it. And I think part of it might be the Daniel Jones thing. But I agree with you. I think it would be good for football if the Giants were better. And it'd certainly be good for Fox.

Starting point is 01:06:38 Let me ask you something about Fox. If you could fill a chair, nobody left. But if you could fill an open chair with a current NFL coach, who would that be? Who do you think would be really good in the booth? I have a feeling I know who you're going to say. I think he was just on. Listening to your, listening to your interview. with McVeigh. Every time I've sat and talked to him or, you know, I've seen him interviewed. He's so

Starting point is 01:07:07 smart. He's so energetic. You see why people, people gravitate towards intelligence. They gravitate towards passion and leadership. And for a guy that walked into that building at the age that he did, you know, and you think about the, you know, the West Coast and from Bill Walsh to Holmgren to, you know, Gruden to, you know, the iterations of the West Coast offense have been, I mean, he's taking that offense and run it in a totally different direction. Shanahan's taking that offense and running in a totally different direction.

Starting point is 01:07:45 And I think the guy in Green Bay is doing the same thing. So they've adapted to their players, but he's a guy that I think could sit down and really wow you in a studio format. another guy that's taking the West Coast offense in a different direction as McDaniel down in Miami. I think that's another one that it's like, what is this futuristic shit? And part of it is the personnel. Three pocket rockets. Yeah, having the personnel there certainly helps.

Starting point is 01:08:15 But what do you think about Brady, man? Brady next chapter, he's going to be a coworker. Obviously, I'm just speaking for myself. I think Greg Olson does a great job. So whoever it was as the lead analyst there at Fox, it would have been killer, right? In a way, I feel for Greg Olson, but that's business. It's like a draft pick that's just generational and you slide him in and, you know, whether it's fair or not. But I think it's going to be great and I can't wait to see Brady in the booth.

Starting point is 01:08:45 What do you think about Tom? Internally, I think he's always kind of used that, you know, draft pick where he, where he, where he ended up going out of Michigan to his advantage. You know, I'm the guy that was overlooked. I'm, you know, and that drives him. You know, that's always kind of, I think, driven Tom. And, you know, you said to me when you first got to New England, Tom Brady is just the nicest guy.

Starting point is 01:09:13 And spent time with him down in the Bahamas and couldn't be any nicer guy. You know, just a good team. He understands, and I've heard him in a conference, about, you know, what it means to be a good teammate, you know, and how important it is to be a good teammate, along with someone who holds people accountable and all that. Tom is a smart guy, he's a passionate guy. He talks a lot about the thing, the one thing that drives success the most is your willingness to work. And not everyone is willing to work. And I think Tom is going to work

Starting point is 01:09:54 his rear end off at it. I would compare the Greg Olson. He's kind of ironic. I would compare the Greg Olson thing to the quarterback situation, the Wittenden, the Blitzel thing. Luckily, they can both call games, though. Greg Olson is a great talent. He did a great job. Loved him as a colleague. And I think people are going to tune in for Tom. Tom is generally, you say, well, but game is what draws people. And I think that's still true. You know, Dallas, Philadelphia, people are going to tune in to watch Dallas Philadelphia.

Starting point is 01:10:34 But as an added bonus, it's like John Madden. You know, you've got John Madden, and you're watching John Madden do a football game, and he brings a different element. Tom's insight into situational football, into, you know, kind of moments that he's had during his career challenges, things that you're facing on the field in real time. He can reference. And I'm mesmerized by it. There's actually two guys, one from Fox and one from CBS that I actually tune in and think, okay, I'm going to turn the volume on this game, you know, because I got the six TVs.

Starting point is 01:11:10 It's Greg Olson. And for a play-by-play, it's Kevin Harlan. Yeah. I love Kevin Harlan. you know Kevin Harlan was made to call a 36 33 game yeah you know if you get to one of these crazy chargers games and you got Kevin Harlan on the call there's just nothing better so I agree with you it is about the game but it is nice sometimes when you when you kind of get used to a certain play-by-play guy or a color commentator or the combination of the two and that's where it really gets special to me is when two guys get a chance to work long enough together you know I really like listening to Troy and Joe, you know, when they, when they've been able to. I'm a big fan of both of those guys.

Starting point is 01:11:54 Yeah, they're great guys and they work well together. And you can tell they've been working with each other for a while. And that's the stuff you like to see. I mean, there's just so much shuffling now that it becomes harder. Every once in a while, Troy laughs and it's kind of like, you know, Troy's not a big lapper. But what he does laugh, it's so authentic and, you know, funny. The next guy, man, Bill Belich.

Starting point is 01:12:16 We don't know where he's working this. fall, but he's going to work somewhere. What do you think about Bill getting in the media? What little I've seen, Bill is, you know, a natural. You mean, he's he's comfortable in front of the camera. That whole kind of post-game press conference thing where he cultivated this, you know, crumudgeon, you know, pay the toll to the troll at the gate. He was great at it. And And I've, in what little I've seen, he's, I think he's very comfortable. I think he's, obviously, he's a walking encyclopedia, the history of the game and knows the game inside and out.

Starting point is 01:13:01 And I think he can be, you know, if he's with someone, he could be a good team guy. And, you know, it's like when you've got a studio, trust is a big thing, you know, and I'm big on, you know, you don't need to lift yourself up. somebody else's expense you know we need to be good teammates we could disagree but let's do it in a respectful way yeah yeah i think he's going to be great and i also think it's the scarcity of his voice that that makes it so valuable at this point like there were there were 20 years there where just couldn't get anything out of him no and you know that was that was his job at the time but now you've got this encyclopedia that's been you know almost completely closed for my

Starting point is 01:13:47 a whole adult life and now you're going to get to hear this guy and I think this is going to be great. And I also think it'll be interesting to see him in an element where he doesn't have to run everything. You know, that's going to be a different deal. When you walk into a studio, you really depend on a lot of people, you know, whether it's the producers. And so would you as a head coach. But ultimately, you're a teammate. You're not ultimately responsible for the product on the field. And if he's got four guys in studio, I think he's going to do a great job.

Starting point is 01:14:14 And I think it would be fun for him to kind of be able to just be a part of the team. team and not the guy that's got to call the shots. There's a camaraderie there for sure. You know what I mean? I think you might see a different side of him. All right. Last thing I want to ask you about football, man, Hassan Reddick was holding out. I don't really care about the holdout over the jets. No offense right now. I more care about his cool Japanese outfit he was wearing. And it reminded me of the fact that you guys have played in in Japan at one point. Didn't y'all play in Tokyo against the Saints? I got this old poster in the house. We played both games in the precincts.

Starting point is 01:14:49 We played in London, played Japan. I did broadcasting in Afghanistan, Dublin, and Sydney. So what do you think? You think the game can go global, and what was it like back in the day? Because now it's like the NFL's got it down. And it's like a 10-pole event. You roll up. They got signage everywhere.

Starting point is 01:15:08 You got Tom Brady and Gino Smith on the water towers in Frankfurt. And you've got a game. They're talking about doing it in Dublin. I'm sure it'd be hooked up. I would love to go to a Dublin game. But what was it like playing in Japan in London back in the day? And do you think the NFL's on to some here? It was aside from the travel because, you know, you're one, you're traveling a long distance.

Starting point is 01:15:30 Yeah, like, what do you do on the plane? From the West Coast, it was, you know, I just pulled a Russell Wilson. I ran 40s, you know, I'm going to, you know, Russ, I just worked out the whole way. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. You know, it was odd because your clocks off were on the, West Coast, we're playing in London. You get off the plane, you go right to practice. There was a heat wave in London, no air conditioning, no ice. As a matter of fact, Bill Pakel and I, your godfather, we brought you to a pub over there in London, the running footman. Whoever goes to London,

Starting point is 01:16:07 go to the running footman because it was the only place that had ice, they would put in glasses. Oh, nice. Yeah, because I don't do ice over there. Yeah, so we sat there at the front outside, with you. I got a picture. Yeah. Yeah, you've seen that picture. So, Japan was, Japan was really wild for me.

Starting point is 01:16:30 You really, England felt like Boston because, you know, I grew up, I grew up in New England. So Boston is kind of like London without the accent. Japan was, you know, the sumo wrestlers came to practice.

Starting point is 01:16:47 You know, got to meet them and we, you know, messed around with them. London, they kind of, they didn't know when to clap. They didn't know when to, you know, get excited, but they were enthusiastic and we played at Old Wembley Stadium, the old Wembley Stadium before the new Wembley Stadium, and then we played at the Tokyo Dome, I think, in Japan. So they were interesting trips, but I couldn't imagine it during the season. It was, it has to be a challenge. And I'm sure they've got it down pat now in what to do. They travel better.

Starting point is 01:17:22 They, you know, they understand recovery better. They have physical therapists. They have whatever. We didn't have anything. I just don't know what y'all did on the planes, man. All right. Last thing, we're going to try this segment on for sides is explain things to my dad. Okay.

Starting point is 01:17:39 We have a couple current topics that Cowboy Reed has come up with. And I've got to explain to you what's going on with. these trends or these happenings. Olympic in France, these French citizens are shitting, excuse me, going to the bathroom defecating in the water where they're going to swim. Have you heard about this? No. Okay.

Starting point is 01:18:06 You're not very online. This is why this thing works. I read the paper. Do you know the Olympics are coming up? Yes. The only thing I know about the Olympics is that poor gal and the, The 800 meter race fell right before the end, and she was the gold medalist in the last Olympics. She's not going in.

Starting point is 01:18:24 And Nike had some issues with the athletes' uniforms. Well, there's some issues with the Parisians. It's in Paris, right? Okay. So the Olympics are in Paris. We're off to a good start. There's a lot of water events where people swim like triathlons and, you know, like not the Michael Phelps type thing because they got pools for that. But there's some waterways.

Starting point is 01:18:46 It would be like if the Olympics came to Montana. and people were swimming in Flathead Lake during the events. Yeah. Okay. So to protest these French people are taking massive dumps in the Seen River to protest sewage contamination ahead of 2024 Summer Olympics. So I don't think it's the issue being that the fact that like Olympians are swimming in their waterways, they think it's going to contaminate their waterways.

Starting point is 01:19:12 So they're shitting in the water. It's not a very French thing to do. I don't, you know, I don't know what I, the norms of France are not, right. I don't know if this is the norm. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Maybe, uh, how would you feel if the Olympics were coming to town? Are you taking a dump in the, you know, Chris, we live in a really, really different world. The Olympics came to L.A. though, when you played.

Starting point is 01:19:39 Yeah. Do you remember it? Yeah, I do remember it. Mom went, I didn't go. They read, matter of fact, they had something at the, Coliseum. I think they had some of the races at the Coliseum and maybe the shot put and the javelin or whatever. Would you have done shop put if you had to? Would that have been in your event? Probably javelin or the discus. I threw the discus and shop putt and javelin in high school.

Starting point is 01:20:05 All right, Reid. Next one. So Howie, we've got these dude retreats. All these guys are going to certain locations to become men. So the dude retreats that I'm sure you haven't seen this, but there are guys paying six figures to go to these boot camps where these guys that look like Navy SEALs, but might not be Navy SEALs. Some are military. Some of just guys with don't tread on me license plates. But they basically get these guys to yell at them and rough them up for a couple of days and belittle them. It's basically like a frat hazing thing.

Starting point is 01:20:36 But for these guys that don't feel like they're alpha males, so they got to spend money to go to these boot camps and get this shit kicked out of them. Not really a shit kicked out of them, Reed. You just learn how to be a man. What do you think about these man camps? You know, I'm not sure you've got to get that, that alpha male at a camp. Midway through your young adult life. That's one.

Starting point is 01:21:01 Two is I never, ever, ever understood the fraternity thing. Yeah. So I'm going to, wait, let me get this straight. I'm going to join your group, pay money, and you're going to abuse me for, six weeks and then you're going to be my friend i'm going to kick your ass at the end of the six weeks before i might kick your ass in the middle of everything else yeah exactly you might not wait that long so you're no on the dude retreat so am i no no if i need to send you somewhere to

Starting point is 01:21:34 toughen you up i mean hey listen i toughened you up on one thing i took you to ben d'alessandro who was a basketball coach who I knew could run you into the ground. And, you know, you said you wanted to do this. And I said, okay, let's figure it out. And I didn't want to be the one to do it. And I wanted to indoctrinate you into what it was going to be like at an extreme. And you survived. You didn't wilt.

Starting point is 01:22:05 Well, there are ways, suffice to say, to toughen your kids up so that when they get older, they don't have to pay six figures to be belittled by a bunch of strangers with Instagram followings. I look at Whalen and I go, golly, I mean, the change in him. He's getting tough. Oh, God, I, you know. The other day, there was blood and he was just sitting there. I walked over and he's like, there's blood.

Starting point is 01:22:32 And I'm like, all right. It's okay to cry and it's okay to be hurt for sure. But like, we all know there are times when like, you know, the crying is elective. and that's one of those times. And so when you see that, you're like, okay, we're on the right track. I love those boys. God, I love it.

Starting point is 01:22:49 Yeah, they're great. All right, Howie, last one. Males, short kings, as we call them, are looking into leg lengthening surgeries to gain height. So there are basically these leg lengthening surgeries that are gaining popularity among men seeking to be taller. Basically, they're putting rods in their legs to make them taller. And I'm curious, if you could pay for one,

Starting point is 01:23:11 of these surgeries for somebody who is on the Fox set, who would it be? Oh, Jay Glaser. Oh, Jay looks in the mirror at home, and it's a carnival mirror. You have carnal mirrors to make you look tall and thin. Jay, Jay is, he looks at that carnival mirror in the morning. He tights his tie up and he says, I'm going to go out and conquer the world. Jay looks in the mirror in his bathroom and he's looking at the faucet. He's six-free.

Starting point is 01:23:48 He can't see them. He's looking eye to eye with the faucet. Look, I'm not judging. I don't know about you, but I don't really notice that people are short. Me neither. I always tell guys this. I'm like, bro, like, you got to chill with this because I'm not really paying attention. The only thing I notice is if somebody's 6-5 or 6-6-6-7, they're at my level or higher,

Starting point is 01:24:09 I kind of take notice because I tend to. Now imagine if you were walking around and everybody was six, seven, you'd be like a little bit insecure. I think that's what short kings are coming from. That's where I'm getting to my point is this. I'm not going to judge them. I can't, I'm not walking in their shoes. You know, I'm not.

Starting point is 01:24:29 You couldn't fit in them. No. You know, they can shop at the best place is still. That's the thing. There's a lot of positives to be in the tight spaces. You know, you go to a restaurant. There's a tight table, short seat. It's like, you know, that's a chance. Yeah. Yeah. The only cool thing about being taller, we got shorter lifespans, which isn't great. But like, we can reach shit off the top shelf, which really means we get asked to do more stuff. You do. Honestly, being short, I kind of wish there was a leg shortening surgery. I might do that one. I'm a

Starting point is 01:25:09 Hey Jay We'll get that hooked up for you You and I'll cover it Yeah we'll cover it Yeah cover it He'd do it He posted on Instagram Oh he would

Starting point is 01:25:22 Yeah He would All right Well that that's That'll do it for today We covered a lot of ground It feels good to have a pod In the hopper here

Starting point is 01:25:33 And as of Wednesday afternoon I don't know whenever we get it out We will be on the road in the RV dad will be in the water in Montana taking a shit to I got in yesterday it's like 59 degrees I got in yesterday oh that's awesome I can't wait to get there she was on the staircase I got in the water and I said look I could have a heart attack just get me out of the water I'm not looking for you to revive me just get me out of the water that's gonna be a

Starting point is 01:25:57 challenge yeah but enjoy that water and we will be on the road very shortly but thanks for joining us dad love you Love you. Thanks for coming on and we'll get you back on soon. Okay, bud.

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