Green Light with Chris Long - Johnny Manziel! On Life, Football & Shannon Sharpe. Chris On Carson Wentz Trade & Eagles Future. Mailbag.

Episode Date: February 19, 2021

(00:55) - Welcome, Carson Wentz to Colts and Eagles Future. (24:14) - Johnny Manziel on Life, Football and Pro Golf. (1:06:12) - Mailbag. Sign up for your DraftKings account at https://www.draftkings.com/sportsbook and use promo code : Greenlight Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. http://bit.ly/chalknetwork Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Because of a day in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I was destined to be a great football player. And at some point along the way, I didn't love that grind anymore. And if you don't have the love of the game that you see in really good players in the NFL, you're not going to make it no matter who you are. Happy Friday, everybody. Chris. It's your worst one yet. Well, I was mid-swallow. You feel dumb?

No, I don't feel dumb. I feel dumb. I feel dumb. Look at me. Oh, you look dumb. I look like you look every fucking day, okay? I shaved accidentally a little too much off my beard. I had an accident.

People asked if it was the volcano, which you just learned about. Drugs. Volcano is drugs? Yeah. Nice, smooth drugs. And it helped me organize my bathroom. It did not make me want to shave my beard.

I just organically fucked up my beard. I guess my question is, why are there so many accidents with you in shaving your head? I probably need a, better face razor. I look like a hairless cat and I feel incredibly embarrassed and when we get to mailbag later people were frying me from my face and I'm thinking to myself do you feel this stupid every day? Hmm so I'm taken uh yes I do but people are used to it so you think it's more that they're not used to seeing me right like this I feel like I look like with with a hat on I look like

every bald white guy in America that may or may not be an undercover cop can you You see my mustache right now out of curiosity? It's very light. It's very light. Yeah. It's like a little sandpapery. Yeah. I got in here today and let me tell you, I was jazzed.

I was jazzed because we got a great interview coming up with Johnny Mansell. He heard of him. John Football. Yeah, Johnny Football. He is the face of the fan-controlled football league. And that's what we got right now. I think the interview with Johnny will likely take. my breath away. I think I will be speechless. I think you'll probably be speechless and probably

not talk the entire interview. Is that where you're going? Yeah. Okay. We also have to talk about something that I saw happen in real time right here. I got the real time reaction for you. No, he didn't. Oh, to where? Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm so happy! you were the one who told me about the bombshell trade, yeah? Oh, and something of a game of telephone there because you're the one who broke the news to me. Flip, Flip, Flip, Philadelphia has agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2021 third round pick

and a conditional 22nd round pick that could turn into a first league sources tell Cowboy Reed. I'm excited. I'm excited for a buddy. I think it's a fresh start for him. You know, me, like I think a lot of people think that like me and Carson are really tight the way I defend him. But I just more have trouble with seeing like character assassinations that are extrapolated on a couple anonymous sources when you have people on the record saying this guy's not a ginormous douchebag. Like it's amazing to me that some people will go off of the the most flaky evidence to indict somebody as just this locker room cancer.

But when people tell you that if he has some things to work on, sure, that's a fair assessment. But locker room cancer, I can't believe some of things I'm reading. I'm excited for him to end up in a new situation. I made a lot of news this week because I called Philly a burning building. I mean, it's not the only burning building, guys. But currently it's kind of a burning building. I'm happy about he's getting out of there. So that was my initial reaction.

The question I would have would be, if you're Philly, you're rooting for the one, which is going to be, hopefully, for their sake, a early one. I don't think that's likely. I think he plays well there. And for sure, if you look at the conditional two and how it could turn into a one, in addition to that three, 70% of the snaps and the playoffs, it turns into a one. 75% of the snaps, no playoff caveat, and it is a one. So, like, Howie Rosen's going to be sitting there and probably,

pulling for Carson to stay healthy, play 75% of the snaps, and not make the playoffs, right? That's probably what he's doing in his office all next year. For sure. You don't want the X to run off and do better. And that's clearly what's going to happen.

It's clearly what's going to happen. Because like I said, the X is leaving a burning building. And I wonder if somebody asked Howie, like, pointedly, like, which it's a bad situation to be in as the GM answering this question. But are you rooting for Carson? in the future, how much are you rooting for Carson in the future?

Because this isn't just a trade, it's a trade that goes the best for Philly of Carson bombs and Indy. So it's an awkward situation on a lot of levels, but it's much less awkward than had Carson been sitting on the bench every Sunday in his uniform, holding the Microsoft tablet, in one of the biggest cities on the Eastern Seaboard, in one of the biggest markets. And inevitably, Jalen Hertz was going to have a bad game. So this thing was going to be even more of a shit show next year because the team's not going to be great. And so I'm happy for a buddy.

You know, and the whole thing about Carson to put a bow on Carson in Philly, you could think, yeah, toughen up, dude, they drafted it too right after they signed you to a big deal. Yes, some guys are made of it. Like, you know, some guys are really impervious to any outside issues. some guys are unaffected by a GM setting it up so you have a lot of competition but to spend a two on competition seem sideways to me and if you don't know your player well enough to know that drafting a guy high in the second round right after you break him off and he engages in late season heroics to quite frankly keep your team from cratering and make the playoffs that's just not where you take an insurance pick it's not so the message said it all it's like

This is competition. And I'm not really of the school of thought that Carson is mentally weak because it affected him at all. So if you know your players, know what your moves are going to do to them from a standpoint of mindset and how they're going to enter the season.

And if you don't know them well enough, don't break them off for a second deal. You know, like it just never made sense to me. And the flip side of that particular coin would be Aaron Rogers, Jordan Love, of- Aaron Razors. Packers go 13 and 3, whatever they did, buy in the first round.

And here's the thing. It's a really hard thing to compare. It's two quarterbacks who are understandably disgruntled that you're not investing in weaponry around them. And obviously Carson's half the player that Aaron is. Very few are north of half the player that Aaron is. But people will say like, Aaron has a right to be upset because they didn't give him weapons because he has the clout and he's Aaron

Rogers. Okay, so imagine how insecure you'd be if you're half the player Aaron Rogers is and you don't have Aaron Jones and you don't have Devante Adams. So the truth always lies somewhere in between and for me, like don't tell me, as we said last show, that they didn't undermine Carson at some point and don't tell me that Carson deserve to be untouchable because he played himself into this position, albeit in a situation, it was totally fucked up. So if you look at like winners and losers and you try to post-mortem this trade, I think it's like you can't do that stupid head-to-head thing because the Eagles lost this trade before they even made it. They had no choice at this juncture. You know, the main reason they had no choice is because that relationship

had just been driven into the ground and they've already made their choice with Jalen late last year. As I said on the pod, there was no going back. The only thing that surprised me is that both the quarterback and the head coach were gone. I thought it was going to be a choose. one thing possibly. They chose both. So now there's only one guy left. And that's Howie, who I have no, me and Howie have a good relationship, but I got to call it how I see it. Like now it's on Howie. He dug this hole. Now he's got to get himself out of it. And that's just being honest. So, yes, do I think the Colts won the trade? Yeah, absolutely. But they had no choice either. That's the big thing that people are missing out on here is like the Eagles had no choice,

but the Colts didn't have a choice either. They went with a bridge quarterback who played them into the bottom 10 from a draft pick standpoint and their windows wide open. You've got some good players there, right? Good team. Good team.

They're going to need to add a slot-type weapon. They're going to need to add a tight end. They have Pittman, who they like, kind of an ex-type guy. How does Nelson Aguilar and Zach Ertz via trade sound? That sounds like the shitty, Philadelphia Eagles transformed into the above average Indianapolis. I had a feeling you'd say that. So yeah, maybe

another side team there. But yeah, two teams with no choice. Eagles broken situation, as I mentioned, they had to pay no matter what. That dead cap hit was going to be rough and we've all talked about it. They actually save $850K and shipping them. So that illustrates that it was a wash. They just had to get them out of there for the hope that they would have a quiet media day after any one of their games next year, relatively quiet. And again, I talked about the position the Colts are in,

and the longer this goes, the window's shrinking. But it was inevitable because, and I say inevitable, like from a standpoint of him headed to the Colts, because the minute I heard the Bears qualify that they wanted to gauge Carson's interest, if I'm Carson Wentz, I know there's two players in this race. Where do I want to be? It was all very strange from Philly saying, hey, it could be any day now, about 10 days ago.

Leverage, you know, attempt to drum up some leverage, or maybe because in my eyes, if you're Philly, where do you want to deposit him with Matt Nagy or Frank Reich? Yeah, the first one. Yeah, because you want to look good. Because as I said before, Pace really wanted Carson Wentz in 2016, whatever that draft class was. and panicked when they didn't have a backup plan and when they found out the Eagles were trading up. So, you know, like, I believe they were hot on his trail, but I think when Carson knew that he had some choice here and how he wanted to shape this process,

and I don't blame him for doing this, maybe I'm not as excited about it as you guys are. Okay, well, now the Colts are just going to bend the Eagles over because you really don't have a choice in this matter, as I illustrated earlier. And they end up getting him for, in my opinion, not so much. And Ballard is a stingy GM.

He's fast approaching being one of the most respected GMs in the game. This is not make or break, but this is going to be a big part of his story and it's going to be a big part of Frank Reich's story for sure. And especially Frank Wright, because at the end of the day, he's the one when the lights are off that knows what he believes the likely,

is that he gets 2017 Carson Wentz back. 33 TD 7 picks before he gets injured. It's funny, you think about Wince and Reich with the Colts, and you think, oh, that's going to work out. Whereas Wins to the Bears, you think, eh, that's just Mitch 2.0. I don't think Mitch 2.0. I think it would be a situation where we would see somebody definitely north of 2020, but we'd never get back to 2017 with the Bears.

And I'm not saying 2017 is a foregone conclusion for him at any juncture. I think we'd be happy with somewhere in between 17 and 19. Like that's what you're hoping for with Wentz. Pretty good is an understatement for what he was in 2017. Let's keep a being here, dude. Like he was, he's been really fucking good. When you're an MVP candidate, I got news for you.

For the next five years, teams are going to try to get that out of you. And he's totally unprecedented if he fails here. Because think of a quarterback who had a more pronounced, dramatic one-year run among a bunch of other garbage or mediocrity or average QB play, however you want to put it, an average QB 15. Yeah, go ahead. RG3.

Not as spectacular to me as Carson went since 2017. It was just the novelty. Carson was novel for Carson, but it was a second year, right? Colts are picking 21st this year. Last year, that was the Eagles. Jalen Rager, one spot behind him, 22, Justin Jefferson. Could anything have changed this? I mean, granted, the health of the Philly team was not so good last year.

I think when that group broke up, you had a really good, good cop, bad cop group with Doug as the head coach. Frank being like the glue, right? And Flip, and this was an interesting, DePhilippo, who's in Chicago, was his quarterback coach who was kind of the bad cop. I wish Di Filippa was in Indy. That's the perfect situation for Carson, but at some point he's going to have to be a big boy and he doesn't, he can't have his entire stable of coaches his next destination. He had to make a decision between Frank and flip. And I know that wasn't the only factor in the decision making, but that room was so special. And then beyond that, yeah, I mean, certainly Justin Jefferson would have helped, but the

offensive line just crumbling from a unit that was insane in 2017. to what we saw recently. I mean, that's the biggest culprit in my eyes. And I'm not blaming the O line for being unhealthy. I also think that, I also think that Carson has a lot to own here, right? I mean, that's obvious. In 2020, he threw the ball to people.

I was like, why are you throwing the ball to these people? I can defend you in 2019. I could not defend his 2020 play. But the, but the, everything that came before 2020 matters going into 2020. When you, when you acquire muscle memory and habits in terrible situations, it's just, it's snowballs. And eventually you press and you, you read that there's heat on you and you want to make bigger plays.

I believe that he came into 2020 with the wrong mentality. And that stubbornness has to change. you got a much better chance of doing that with a coach that he believes in that he knows and trust because at this point it's been a carousel of fucking voices in his in his meeting room would you rather build a shrine in the green light studios for philly quarterback jalen hertz indie quarterback carson wince i'll tell you what i'm going to do we're going to build a shrine for carson in here okay you know because people read into that so much we're going to just cement the fact that as if we haven't rooted for Carson enough on this show that we're going to do a shrine.

And now they're going to ask why you didn't build it last year when he was in Philly. You're right. Beautiful. Well, I got an answer for that at some point. Okay. But I just think like it's very interesting. You've got, Field Yates tweeted something today. The fact of the message was don't draft a quarterback early in the first round, especially.

With Wentz traded, no single quarterback draft in the first round. from 2009, 2016, still with their original team. That's 0 for 22. Which begs the question as a league, what the hell are we doing? And then also, will the Eagles turn around

and do what I speculated they might do? There is a report coming out that the Eagles are talking about drafting a quarterback. They're at least talking about it, right? And this list that Field mentioned, Stafford, Sanchez, Freeman, Bradford, Tebow, Newton,

Locker, Gabbard, Ponder, Luck, RG3, Tannahill, Whedon. I forgot about Brandon Whedon. How could you? E.J. Manuel, ACC. Bortles, Mansell, coming on the show today, Bridgewater, Winston, Marriota, golf, Wens, Lynch.

So, like, not a lot of good players in there. And that's why, like, when people drag Carson, I'm like, look at all those names. Look at all those names. It is really hard to find the future of a, franchise in the first in the first round of quarterback it is a crap shoot um okay years since then i don't know if i'm playing devil's advocate or not but watson who might be on the move mahomes mayfield josh allen lamar jackson kiler murray the great dan dimes last year you get

burrow and herbert point being that's probably a hit rate of 50 60 it's 50 or 60 which is not as bad as that time period. But even in that time period and like going from 16 to 20, how many of those guys were the consensus guy? Right. To your point on that front, starts by quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, it's either number one overall pick or it's, or Brady six round. Which is very interesting. And like if you're talking about what the Eagles are going to do next, I think you got to consider that list for sure because you don't want to end up just consistently

just taking a stab at quarterbacks even as the league changes. You see the Kyler Murray, Josh Rosen's situations, but you know, you're talking about that list is probably enough to scare you off from drafting at 6 this year.

That and the fact that Jalen Hertz is cheap and your team is bad and your cap situation messed up. How do you cheat death in the NFL by having talented quarterbacks on their rookie deals? But is he transcendent enough to pull them out of this hole? And if you're thinking what are the Eagles going to do? Throw out how you feel about Jalen Hertz.

Throw out how I feel about Jalen Hertz. I think he showed us some really good things last year. But let's say the Eagles don't feel that way and they're not as sold. Just because they push Carson Wentz out doesn't mean that they're in love with Jalen hurts. Think like Howie Roseman. If you're Howie Roseman, what's going to save your standing in the city and you're standing in the building? Now, he seems like, you know, Jeff and him are pretty tight, so he's probably not going anywhere, but he doesn't want to be a laughing stock. He's got to hit a home run. He's not going to get there by hitting singles and doubles. That's going to take a while.

And my point is, if you sit this year's market out, when you're sitting at six, you don't know when you're going to be sitting at six again. The kid Jalen Hertz is good enough to get you to eight and eight, even on a bad team. I just don't know how good he is north of that marker. And so if you're sitting there in a year, because you passed up this opportunity at grabbing a top 10 guy, and I'm not talking about Zach Wilson, I don't have a favorite out of the three that might be there at six. I'm just saying if you're in love with Trey Lance and you're convinced, you're convinced, you're

of it. Why the fuck not, dude? You're Howie Roseman. Hitting a home run now can save you. And if you look at his history, he likes to make the splash. He coined the phrase quarterback factory. If he doesn't draft a quarterback this year, he's not sticking to his guns. You drafted a quarterback in the second after Carson Wentz, after you broke him off. Why would you not take that same approach now? He got nothing to lose and go right back to the well at North Dakota State go right back to the north what are the odds that you end up having to trade to bison bison good good on you yeah exactly well done well that's the whole deal you're you're trying to hit on a quarterback on a rookie deal that's the whole name of the game in the NFL double your chances bro double your chances

double your chances and trade the loser of the competition I hate to sound you know uh a little bit matter of fact about it. But literally, as much I've seen what I like about Jalen Hertz, I'm not the Eagles, and I also don't have a history of just doing wild shit on draft day. And I think it's a distinct possibility that they draft a guy that they might secretly love right now and let those guys figure it out, and you can get draft capital for either of them.

Well, and you just said it. We're looking at the Arizona Cardinals, perhaps being in the playoffs for many years to come. Steve Kime changed the game, dude. Cliff, Steve Kime. Rosen, Murray. You know, and I'm not likening Rosen to Hertz. Hertz is way north of Rosen.

Hertz can win your football games right now. You know where Hertz can win your football games right now? On a good football team with coaches that can develop him. Not a first year head coach. No offense to Nick Siriani, but like, don't blame me for being like, I'm not so sure you can develop a quarterback. I don't know that yet. You know, like Jalen Hertz in New Orleans is way different.

than Jalen Hertz in Philly. There's just so much scar tissue, both with... That I wish you saw. North Dakota State, quarterback, and also Whiteout, when you might be looking at Jamar Chase, Jalen Waddle, Devante Smith. Good luck. But last year with Rager, oh no, we fucked that up.

Yeah, so all these people that are like, they need all these things. I'm like, how good have they been at landing all these things? And if you look at it from a probability standpoint, you just put it at 50% in the last. four years or whatever. Take that seven year period out of the win, kick that out the door and deal with the last four years.

Take a 50-50 shot on transcendent quarterback. If I'm Howie Roseman, I'm sorry. But like if I really like one, there's nothing that's going to stop me from doing this again. And actually, if he's right in the 50% event that he is, he's a fucking, everybody's going to be back on his balls, dude. Everybody's going to be sweating his balls. It's going to be sweaty in Philly.

Philly Indy Super Bowl. Ooh. That's juicy. 2024. All right. So Johnny football, dude. Any big questions you're going to ask him? Oh, boy.

Yeah. Actually. Yeah? Stand by for those questions. Let's see. The first possession for Johnny Mansell and the Zappers here in the FCF, Manzell to throw. Stepping up. Now he'll take it himself for the 15.

Wow. The 20 Manzell to the 25. Still moving 15. Godfelling. 10-5 and taken down to shy in the end zone. Wow. Johnny football back in business. All right, so Johnny Mansell joins us.

And I thought I was done talking football for a couple months, but we got a new league, man. How does it feel, dude, to be out there in the field? It feels different than it did in the past, for sure. I don't have the same fire. I don't have the same passion as I used to. Somewhere along the way. in my football life, I feel like I lost it a little bit. And it wasn't what, uh, what really made me happy anymore. This is just kind of the, uh, be in the backyard with the boys throwing the football

around and you let one go out of your hand and you're kind of like, you see that? I still got it a little bit. Uncle Rico. Yeah, it's, it's, it's all, it really is Uncle Rico. I mean, I've played in so many leagues by now. I feel like I'm just going to have a little website where people sign up and make me their intramural quarterback if they want me to for a little while. Like crowdsourcing franchise quarterbacks. I love it. You guys need an intramural quarterback. I got you. But you got the same, you look the same. Like you look the same out on the field, like the motion, you know, the whole nine yards. And I wonder as you're playing, because you're still a hell of an athlete. Like, does the rush match? I mean, I know it's not the same. Like, you don't feel as committed or be holding to wake up and grind. And that's why you're doing what you're doing and not doing the last thing. But like, do you still get the rush in the moment? Yeah. You still get the next.

natural instinct, like, took a snap in the first game the other day and just the immediate reaction just to take off and run. It's like something I'll probably never lose some of the natural instincts that through the coaches and through the practice and all the years that you put into football, you rep so many things over and over again. It would be like if I put you down on the D-line and gave you a snap count, I feel like you would still be able to get off a little bit. Well, especially because you don't, you don't get any, there's no pass rush in this league, right? Yeah, no, not very much at all. It's kind of just a drop back and sling it around kind of league. And, you know, Bob Minnery was a guy who actually got me into this.

I lost a little bet to him to even consider playing in this. You know, I haven't had a much of a desire to go back and play football after a while. I've kind of let it fall by the wayside and just kind of let the pass be what it is. But, you know, Bob got me, kind of got me into this. And then, you know, after I've been here a couple weeks, I've kind of had a little bit of fun with it to still get a little bit of a splash from the past, I guess. So, wait, you lost a fucking bet. I didn't get this in my research. Our production team is like, uh,

so you lost a bet is the reason you're in this fucking league, dude? You know, uh, me and, me and Bob will play anything from high card to, uh, poker to anything.

And, uh, he was bringing this up to me for probably about a month. And I was just like, Bob, no, like I'm in Scottsdale. I got 45 T times between now and the day that this league comes up.

I'm going to be a little busy playing golf. And, uh, ended up losing, losing a bet to him and just considering it. And then I asked a lot of people that were around me. You know, is this something that I should go do? Should I just go try and have fun with it for a couple weeks and see what it is?

Now, I've taken this a way less serious approach and one to just have fun with and kind of be able to throw the ball around and have a little bit of a good time. Which part of your golf game is going to suffer the most when you get back? I don't think anything. I think my back could probably use a little bit of the break. I've been playing so much. So, you know, it'll be good to take a little time off and see what it feels like to get a club in my hand the second that I'm out of here.

So give me your elevator pitch for what the hell the rules are in this league. Besides fans pick the players? I mean, fans pick all the plays. So in between plays, we have about probably 20 to 30 second little break. Fans go on. They're able to level up essentially like you would through Madden. The more plays you call, the more time you spend on it, the more levels you get to. And your play means more, I guess, or your play that you pick will actually get through.

So, you know, I'm still kind of learning on the fly as we go. There are some different rules. You know, we had a fourth down onside kick, but there's no kicking in the league. So I'm still learning a little bit as we go. You know, I'm just kind of saying set hot dropping back. And if somebody's open, throw it, if not take off running and still see if you can't make something shake. Give me one play you want fans to call. Are you allowed to do that?

Like, give me a play. Yeah, I mean, just get itching to run. Just, yeah, four verticals every time. It works every time. It's the oldest play in the book. Run everybody deep. If you want to stop, stop. It makes sense.

I figured you might go there. Because I'm looking at the stats. I'm saying, can we say let Johnny Cook? Can we get a let Johnny Cook thing going? Because five is not enough attempts for me when I've been waiting a couple years to see you play football. Yeah, I know. I think I'm, I think I did exactly.

I think the five pass is kind of what I want to do more at the point of my life right now. I want to drop tag and throw it two or three times the game and then kind of like take my pads off midway through like the second second half and kind of sit back and you know the cool thing about this league is still seeing a lot of guys who want to they want to grind man there's there's a lot of guys out there who don't make it to the NFL that still go out and grind to uh to keep playing football so i've been more of a i'm kind of the jacky moon of this league player owner coach i like that so uh you know i'm playing a little bit i got a little bit of ownership in the team and also have uh you know also have a little coaching or uh that i'm doing on the

side a little bit. So I'm taking the Jackie Moon approach. So basically like Russell Wilson should come play in the league with you. Because if he wants to be an owner. Whoever, I know we had Marciaun Lynch sign. Put some pads on the other day and go run around. I think he's going to maybe make his debut this week. How about that? Like out of a dream, the time that you've been away from football and I've been away from football, like sometimes I'll say like if I woke up tomorrow and went back, would my mind be adjusted to that kind of chaos? Mar Sean Lynch just hung around. and then went and joined the Seahawks week 17 a year ago and was like hitting people.

Five days off the couch, bro. Three practices, go hit people. Well, some people thrive in the chaos, as we know. We see guys that don't miss a beat, and this is how they're really wired. Marchion is one of those guys that in his offseason would go back to spring college football when they're doing pad days

and let the college guys just light him up or attempt to. Some people are just wired a little different in the football stuff. So, you know, it takes me a little time to transition and get back in because I don't like to be that crazy all the time. But some people are wired through the chaos. They sure are. And he was, man. What an absolute dog. Love Marchand.

How about you called yourself washed earlier, which I feel like when you call yourself washed, you're in a good place. Like, I've called myself washed. And when I do, I feel the most self-aware. I feel the most at peace with whatever happened before this juncture in Tarry. time. Give me another washed old teammate of yours that you wish would join you in the league, somebody you played with. Man, that's a really good question. This league is fitted for some of my boys that I played with in the CFL. There's a couple guys who aren't really playing any football anymore. They kind of dabbled out of the CFL and just went on about their lives.

I've been hitting them like, hey, this thing is fast-paced. You get a little shake in your route. She'll get open. So I don't think I have anybody. You know, I know I, have become self-aware enough to know that I don't have it like I used to. And I'm definitely okay with being able to say that these days. I lost a little bit of the speed over the years, the quickness. Yeah, I mean, I've lost a lot of speed and quickness. You're what, 28? Motherfucker, wait until you, I'm staring down 36 in a month.

Like, this is half-time, bro. I feel 36 right now. I feel 36 right now. I feel like this is half-time for your boy here. And that's pretty, we got to have a good meeting in the locker. room and come out on the back nine and be better. But like, yeah, dude, 35, 36, I lost a lot of speed by the end of my career. But you don't look slow. How about the zappers, man? The zappers, that's the name of your team? Bob Menry, picked the name of this team. What does it mean to be

zapped first off, Johnny? That's a great question, man. It's kind of what I posted in my Instagram. I don't necessarily know. Me and Bob Minnery are running around Old Town, you know, this last this last year in Scottsdale. And all he says is we're getting zapped. So I don't know if getting zapped is going to the bar and taking a hundred fireball shots or if getting zapped is just a mental state of Zen in some way or what it is. But as we both know, Bob Mary's a little bit off as rocker. So, you know, the fact that they gave this guy somewhat a free reign to put quotes

and other things up that people voted on to actually be the team, what the hell is a zapper? You're asking me, I'm in the league and I don't know. Dude, I've been wondering that. Like, I felt like a kid who wasn't cool and like everybody was in on the inside joke. I'm like, yeah. Yeah, you were a little bit out on the, you're a little bit off the lingo. Yeah, dude. Yeah, I think it's a state of mind.

I think it's a mantra that he follows, which includes fireball shots, evidently. That's his shit. That's menorish thing. I guess. I mean, I think the guy will drink a little bit of anything. Yeah, I can see that. give me a Bob Menry play that was just tailor made for him to call in your career. Like if you could go back and have him post one play in Johnny Manning.

Probably one where I'm like getting slung around and like my head knocked off. You know, I got face masks one time in Pittsburgh and like my nose was sticking out of my earhole and my helmet was on sideways. Now that seems like a play Bob Minnery would put up and comment on or do something on his Instagram with. Yeah, he'd probably use, look at him, he's fucking zapped as what he'd, say with no, stick it out. He'd probably open with that. What's like for a dude like me who played in the NFL,

you know, my entire career, I never got to see what Canada was like. I never got to like do some of this semi-pro stuff. Memphis Express. You're now with the Zappers. What's the most eye-opening story that illustrates to you that, you know, it's not the same. Guys are living more check-to-check.

Like, dudes are, like, in the league, I don't think a lot of people understand that. A lot of guys were living at the Homewood Suites or the Holiday Inn because it's not all glamorous. But at those lower leagues, like dudes are really grinding. Yeah, it just gets less and less glamorous. But you see guys out here from all across the country, different countries, even in Canada, they're still trying to keep the dream alive, right? Football is such, especially when you get to the higher levels and you get to the NFL

and you get to where it's a business in your life, it's all about timing. It's all about one coach believing in you or one coach giving you an opportunity to go to camp and then balling. So some of these guys here aren't any different than guys I got, you know, my first rookie training camp with in Cleveland that were undrafted free agents that made the team. They just got a chance. They just got an opportunity for somebody to believe in them and went and made the most of it. So the thing that I've seen, you know, over the years is, you know, the amount of will and determination of guys who haven't got the same opportunities but are still grinding it the same way that you would as a first round, second round, third round pick

in the NFL. And to me, it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily make sense all the time. You know, I got lucky to be in a situation where I got to make good money playing football and then, you know, went around and continue to try and play and see if it was what I really wanted to do. You know, there are guys out here that are grinding and trying to make it just to put food on their table for their families. And it's a lot harder to do at a different level than a, you know, say, a $100,000 or $200,000 paycheck on a pay practice squad or even, you know, a rookie minimum type of salary that you get in the NFL. But, you know, as you go down the rungs, you know, it gets less and less glamorous,

but you see people work equally as hard as they do at the top stage. It's a crazy game of football that people get hooked on will do literally anything to continue keeping the dream playing. You're on to something because I think what we miss a lot when we walk away is just, it's like a drug. It's like a rush. You know, it's you cannot get this. Well, you could probably get it somewhere else, but most places you can't get this rush.

I mean, and I think that's what we all chase in some capacity. So like for you, out of football, now back in it, I saw you bet on the coin toss for the Super Bowl. I know you've been doing bets. I kind of replaced, I'm guilty to admit this. I kind of replaced a little bit of the rush of playing the competitive spirit and like the fear of losing with games. gambling a little bit. I'm safe. I'm good. Like I'm good. You know, studio's nice. The bills are paid. Kids are fed. But I fucking love to gamble. Do you feel the same way? It is a rush. It is a rush to watch a game and going back and forth and you're on the, you're on the dot of covering or not. Like watching some of

these college basketball games and watching these guys shoot free throws at the end of a game that's altering a point or two in the spread here and there drives me insane. Absolutely insane to the point where I'm in a hotel room screaming at the hotel TV for them to cover. And I think in my life, since I've stopped playing football and I've been at peace without playing football anymore, I've got to the point where I'm looking for thrills in my life. I find myself like going out to the lake in the summer and like jumping off a cliff and doing a gainer or backflip or like, or like, you know, I get on one of my boys' roofs the other day and just send it off the top rope into the pool and do a flip.

I actually have a fucking question written down here. Are you an X-Games, dude? I feel like you're an X-Games dude. I feel like there's an X-Games dude inside you. There's something about whenever I would play football, and Cliff Kingsbury used to do it almost every game when we were together at Texas A&M. He would call a run-play one of the first three plays of the game.

And I would just find some guy and just run at him as hard as possible and just want to fucking bang. I just had to do it to get my mental state in a place where I could calm down and let everything kind of the nerves and everything else just kind of ease away. Yeah. So for me, the thrill has always been a huge part of football, part of my life. And when that got taken away, I was looking and actively searching for something else

to try to get my juices flowing a little bit. How high can you do a gainer? You know, I don't know if there's necessarily like if I look down and it looks safe enough, I guess, that high? Yeah. Yeah, he's in X games, dude. I feel like not just the rush you got to be careful with, but also the fact that we think we know what the fuck's going on because we played.

And like you talk to dudes who used to gamble for a couple reasons. Number one, we're blinded by our confirmation biases, you know. And number two, you know this. Saturday, one of your teammates has an issue where he's under the weather. One of your teammates is dealing with, you know, a divorce or separate. from his spouse. One of your teammates is having a mental breakdown. There's 53 dudes in a locker room and there's so many different directions, the morale and the chemistry of the team could be going into Sunday. And we don't know that on the outside. Even former players, like,

I can't call a buddy and be like, hey, what's going on this week? I wouldn't try. But they're not going to tell you. It's impossible. And I mean, that's the big thing about what life is and what people don't see necessarily in the sports world. You know, for people always say, you know, you're compensated well. You shouldn't have certain problems. But life is life, man. Yeah. Every single guy still lives a life outside of the jersey that they put on on a weekend or

practice or, you know, what they do is their job. You know, the thing about sports is it's just out there to the public and in the media and people think they know you or this or that. And in all honesty, you don't. You don't know what people are going through in a locker room or in their regular life and try to make that all come together and, uh, and make it. it worked to be the best athlete you can. You know, the cool thing that I see this year is, look at what Kyrie's doing.

Kyrie's made a little bit of a splash this year and kind of sitting out some games and missing some time, but he's trying to get his health right, trying to get his mental health right. He's trying to get his life right that comes before any jersey that we put on or any ball that you dribble or any football that you throw or person that you tackle. There's so much more to life than just the game that a lot of people don't see. And, you know, you never really know what somebody's going through or what's going on and how that impacts, you know, everybody around you.

Burning Sage, I, I kind of look, it looks cool. I kind of want some sage, dude. That's my victory. He's in his own, he's in his own world. He's been doing this long enough where he's kind of like, I'm over this. I'm going to do what I want to keep myself right, because it is a grind. It is a mental grind. Have you ever trolled people that, like, people are so obsessed with my life,

that like you've behaved a certain way to throw them off or just piss them off to spite them? Yeah, I think for a long time I was a troll. You know, I think for, you know, as I was coming up through the, through my first couple years in the NFL, I felt like I was an actor too. I felt like I had to be a certain type of way to be a quarterback in the NFL and I wasn't really able to accept myself for who I was. And I remember having interviews or saying things and things would come out of my mouth

and I would think about it at a later date and be like, what are you doing? Are you just acting to kind of like do this or make this? seem like it's the right way. And the coolest thing about now is I just get a chance to be myself. And if I want to troll people, I troll people. If I want to do something, I just kind of do it. And I don't have anybody to kind of to answer to in that regard. You know, I can finally just be myself and be open with it.

And that's a free feeling for sure. Yeah, man. I mean, that's got to feel free. I mean, because I know, I know pressure. You know more pressure than me, okay, you know, being a quarterback and being a first round pick, but I remember the almost like my adrenaline is is tapped from just every hour of every day feeling the weight of what I'm being asked to do as a high pick in the NFL. And it can make you act funny. Like it can really make you act out of character.

A big thing for me too is I feel the most normal that I have in years. And it's such a great feeling. Whenever I was a kid before I ever had any notoriety or anything, I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to know who you were. I wanted to have a celebrity type status. I wanted to be famous. And now since 2012, I only want to feel normalcy. I only want to not walk through a grocery store and feel something over my shoulder like somebody's looking at me or just get a weird, awkward feeling. And for now, I feel the most normal I have in years and it's great.

You know, I still, my life and what it's been, I'm still going to have people come up to me or take a picture or sign an autograph or do just certain things. That's life. And I've kind of accepted that. It's always going to be that way. But for me and where my life is right now, I'm, you know, I'm just another one of the guys. I'm just a dude out here trying to live life as anybody else. Does it make you uncomfortable when people kind of come up and they're worshipy

about like, you know, your highlights in the past and? I think it's a compliment. I think it's a, you know, we all make a mark in the sports world. Some people think it's really big, but in the grand scheme of things, it's actually really, really small, you know, in the bigger picture of what life is and everything else. Even the great ones. Even the great one.

Even Hall of Famers. Like, even Hall of Famers, your splash on what your mark is in the world and history and what it is is very, very small to what people tell you. it is and to what you can even get yourself to believe. You know, there's even a point in time where I thought I was the coolest thing out, the best thing since sliced bread and was, you know, just too cool for school. And the thing that I've learned now is the mark that you make is actually so, so minuscule and so small and compared to the big things in life.

So, you know, I take it as a sign of respect that my play and the times that I did play had an impact on kids growing up, kids watching, and, and maybe shifted the culture this much, maybe changed this much. But in the grand scheme of things, you know, I was just a guy who was blessed immensely with a gift to go out and play. And that shouldn't make me better or worse than anybody else that's out there. I'm just the guy. I think when you're in it, you've got to try to win the race every day, like obsessively. And then when you're out of it, you've got to throw the race away.

Yep. I agree. You're never going to win that race. You just keep running it forever. You're never going to win it. You can never go backwards, and you can never, you know, there's thousands of players that played our game at such a high level, and we mentioned it like Hall of Famers.

I asked a dude in the Philadelphia Eagles D-Line Room when I was there in 2018. I was arguing with young guys about you don't know shit about football. I asked him if they remember who Clyde Simmons was. 120-sat guy, borderline Hall of Famer, played with Reggie White. Jerome Brown, that whole group. Part of football royalty, like when you consider his achievements in light of yours or mine

or like anybody in that D-Line room, not a guy, well, two guys knew who he was out of 12. So that just goes to show you that in the very building that this guy made history in two decades, not all these guys are going to remember

what you did. So I think it's just an illustration of like, when it's time to move on, just move the fuck on and be happy because that's the most important thing. And I've heard you talk about happiness And also, if you're not happy and if you're not in a good spot, you can't help people that went through things that you went through.

Yeah, I agree. I look at life in a lot more simple mindset these days. Yeah. I'm trying to chase happiness. You know, I'm trying to find ways to do things in my life that make me happy. Because for a long time, I felt like I was doing something that didn't make me happy anymore. And when I had everything that I thought I wanted in life, first round pick i got money i got this i have fame i have an opportunity to to to uh play in the

NFL i'm not very happy you know for for whatever reason it was i found the least amount of happiness when i had the most and over the course of the last couple years i've simplified my life to a point where um you know i'm just trying to do things that put more smiles on my face a day than the days i had where you know i was reminiscing on the past or didn't want to get out of bed or felt depressed or whatever it was. That was just a time in my life where I was wasting time thinking about things I couldn't change that were out of my control. And how many times have we heard the saying, control what you can control and let the rest

fall away? That's the best thing. Now I am. Yeah, that's just like, that's a lot of cliches that people hang on gym walls and at like College Station or in Baton Rouge, you know, like the sayings, the five Fs and bullshit like that. I am so anti that stuff, but if you just put a sign up on the wall, it said control what you can control,

I'm hiring that strength coach. You know what I mean? I just think that's such a truism. And one thing I was curious about with you, because you have on the field, that word control, you've had control of a football, like very few people I've ever seen, you know, watching college ball.

And then you've also, in your personal life, probably been out of control before. So what's the most in-control, Johnny Mansell's ever felt and what's the most out of control you've ever felt? I think the most out of control I ever felt was my first was my two years in the NFL. I truly felt like it was something that I really, really, really wanted to do. And when I got there, I still haven't put my finger on exactly what it is yet. But for whatever reason, how many times do I have to get up in the morning and kind of grunt to get out of bed or like walk into a workout in the off season and just,

not have it, continuously just not have it to want to have a desire to go out and do this anymore until I finally look back and call it what it is, you know, that I don't love it anymore. You know, it's something along the way changed how I felt about the game and I don't love it anymore. So, you know, that part of time of where you've done something your whole life and you're really known is this, but you don't have it anymore is a loss kind of in nowhere type of feeling. And now I feel like I've got to a point where I'm the most in control. Yeah. You know, I have the freedom and the ability to do just about anything I want to do in life. I'm 28 years old. I have my whole life ahead of me. And I'm trying to let life come and vibe and

figure out what exactly that looks like for what I want to do moving forward. But the one thing I can say is I'm in control of how I feel. I'm in control of how I treat people. And I'm in control right now of where my life goes moving forward. What that looks like. I don't know. But I'm in control of how I treat people around me and how I go through about my day right now. And that's a, that's a good place to be in compared to what I was in the past. And so you being like really seemingly happy in control, um, you know, you turn on the TV, you see somebody like Shannon sharp, who I like Shannon. And he's certainly an amazing player. His, his word struck me as off base because what I read there, because there's been so many players

who you had high hopes for in the NFL that squandered an opportunity. Like, I've played with them, you know, for a whole host of reasons. Yours were, you had to get your life together too, and maybe you weren't in love with the game anymore. But to see somebody almost a decade later kind of seeming that upset by it, how does that make you feel? You know, I have a ton of respect for Shannon. You know, I think the guy was, you know,

an absolutely amazing, amazing football player. And people's opinions in the media and these guys who go on these shows and talk about athletes all day and do this stuff. You know, I've been a big change in my stuff. It's been, you know, I really care about the opinions of people I respect. You know, my family, my people who are close to me or in my circle, their opinion means the world to me. If you're outside of that circle, you know, what you say just kind of to me goes in one ear and out the other. and, you know, looking back on what he said, you know, when I saw it, you know, your initial reaction is a, is a person is to get upset and be defensive about it. When I really went back and looked at what he said, you know, I don't think he said anything that was, that was untrue.

I think there's a way you speak in a tone and a demeanor that makes things seem worse than they actually are. Right. Because in the way that he said it, he said it with some, with some malice. He said it with some intent of negativity. And the thing that I kind of say is exactly what he said. You know, I don't want my kids to be 30 years old looking at me like you made me do something that I didn't want to do. And because of a day in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I was destined to be a great football

player and have a long career. And this is what I was meant to do. And at some point along the way, I didn't love that grind anymore. Yes, I had an immense talent, immense skill set that was very special. Right. But if you don't have hard work that goes with the talent that you have to continue to try and get better, you're not getting any better and you're not going anywhere with that. And if you don't have the love of the game that you see in really good players in the NFL, you're not going to make it no matter who you are. It is a league that replaces you very quick and moves on.

And, you know, the question that I asked the people today is, am I still a decent football player in the past if I don't walk out of the NFL with the goal? old jacket. Right. Am I still worthy of having had a good college career if I didn't play 10 plus years in the NFL and do everything that you're supposed to do? What if I told you I'm happier now going around playing in this league than I ever was walking a day into the facility of the Cleveland Browns? Is that cool?

Is that cool for me to go what I want my life to be and do what I want to be rather than somebody else? So, you know, I've got to a point where I just ignore talking heads. You know, I'm, I'm distancing myself from a sports world a little bit. I'm still a really big fan. I still enjoy watching the game and the X's and O's that we know being in a building and doing football stuff at a high level for a long time. I still enjoy it when Aaron Rogers gets under center and looks at the safety, knowing he's about to burn him because he's in the wrong spot. I still enjoy the game that way.

I just don't enjoy the entire thing of what goes into it to continue to play it at a high level. And, you know, I'm okay with that. And I think everybody else should be as well. You know, this is my life. And I've never, I've never shied away from living that. You know, I've never lived my life a little bit differently than most. And everybody lives their life a little bit of a different way. And, you know, this is just me.

And when I finally got to a point where I accepted me for me, my life started changing a little bit. And there's a, I think anybody can take a lesson from that. I mean, it's just, I think we're all our own worst enemies at times. And, you know, when you join the crowd and it becomes unacceptable for you to be anything but that kid in Tuscaloosa, like, sure, somebody who's a stranger might be immensely disappointed if you're not that kid for the next 10, 15 years. But why do you have to think that way? And so, yeah, I think one of the biggest skills that I actually, when I was going to have you on, I said to the guys, I go, he hasn't said a word about Shannon Sharp. I would be just the way you described, you know, and maybe because I haven't had to deal with the criticism you've had to dealt with. You know, that I've had to learn a way to cope with an immense amount of criticism.

Because to me, that's a huge platform show. To me, it sounded like first day of the offseason bullshit. Like, we didn't have a story. Me and Skip are doing the actor thing. But that's the thing is like a Shannon. I don't think of him as some disingenuous actor, so I was surprised. And I also don't think of him as a hater. I'm like, this kid is literally just happy right now.

Let him be happy. You know, that was my point. It was like, and it was on print, it would be one thing. But when I saw it, he looked like, you know, the neck was out. Like, you're creeping to the front of your chair. It triggered something in Shannon that I was like, why is he so mad at Johnny? I love Shannon, but it just, it's out of character. So, I mean, you got a really classy way of answering that question.

Like I said, it's all about how he delivered it and how he said it. But for all the people who say, you know, you were a bust or you or this or that or have a negative, you know, view of what my career was, right? First of all, nobody ruined that opportunity other than me. No matter how bad you wanted it or whatever, I'm the only person that does, that no longer has that opportunity in front of them because of decisions that I made in the past. So let's start there. And secondly, you know, it's, it's, it's again, it's, it's my life to live and my life to make the decisions. And as a kid, you know, I had a, had a really, you know, things are just going like this up, up, up, up. And then one day it flattened out.

I ran into problems in life. And if you don't know that, you know, that life is going to come and slap the shit out of you one day and make it really, really hard for you to get up or get through what you're doing in a normal day. And you're used to pretty smooth sailing. and then a storm finally hits, you don't know any better. So, you know, when I finally got to the big stage, I got hit with a large amount of life as well and what it was. And I didn't handle it very well. And I ran and I hid and I tried to get out of the spotlight as best as possible at times

and then got to a point where I just didn't care anymore. You know, I was just over it. So nobody has sat here more over the last four, five, six years and beat the shit out of themselves more than me. Nobody has. And I finally got to a point where I forgive myself for the decisions I made and chalk it up to what it is because I can't get a time machine. I can't go back and change things.

And the thing I've started looking at now is what if it was meant to be? And what if I spent 25 years of my life playing football in the next 40 or 50 are meant to be doing something else that I may enjoy even more? So that begs the question then. Who is 50-year-old Johnny Manzo? Because you're so young, dude. you know like you're so young there's so many great things that can happen and you're on the right track like what's 50 year old do you look like 50 year old me is hopefully sitting with a you know

and a golf cart pulling out of my garage going to the to the to the uh to the golf course to play with my boys every day and maybe play some cards afterwards you know watch some football gamble a little bit on some stuff here and there but you know just be a guy's guy I guess yeah that's all that's all want to be. You sound happy too. Man, I have a happy 50 year. I swear to you, your 30s are better in your 20s too. I tell people this. I'm creeping up on it. I'm creeping up on it. I'm just telling you, bro, the 30s, it's the best decade yet. I mean, maybe being a kid was a little bit better, but, you know, like life at this pace is okay, you know.

Hey, time doesn't stop because you want it to. It just keeps, it keeps on rolling. It's a flat circle, Johnny. It's a flat circle. The days are going to go by, the years are going to go by. adapt with it, roll with it, and enjoy being a little washed up. I know, exactly. What about as you're sitting on the couch and I'm sitting on my couch and I'm watching old teammates, how did it make you feel to see Mike Evans get the success he deserved? People don't understand Mike's story a little bit. Mike is a very, very quiet dude.

He doesn't put himself out there very much. He's just good with his family and the life, amazing life that he's built for himself. But that guy's story and what he's been through and overcoming the past to go out there and see that on Super Bowl night, it doesn't get any better. You know, there's certain guys that you bond with and grind with over the years that just have a different special impact on you. And Mike's one of those guys. Comes out the second after the Super Bowl and he's like,

hey, I know you guys gave me $90 million, but take as much of it as you want back to keep this team together and try and keep this thing rolling. That's how you can tell a guy like that's having fun. He's in the right situation and he's happy. So for my friends, all I want for them is to be happy and be successful. And right now my boys are winning. And what's it like on the bittersweet end, like watching Cleveland, man,

because they're turning it around. You knew when you got there, you probably were like, man, this is an immense amount of pressure. But if I'm like the one in 100 quarterbacks who can turn this thing around, it's going to be pandemonium, watching the Browns. What does that make you feel like, honestly? You know, I know so many of the guys very well on the team, you know, played against Jarvis, Odell, got to know them at their time. at LSU and after that Baker, a Texas high school football guy, there's a couple guys on the

team that I really, really know well. But there's probably one aspect in my life that I'm still trying to deal with some of the demons on, I guess. Yeah. Probably Cleveland. You know, I'm happy for my boys, but as far as an organizational standpoint, I probably still have a little bitterness with the Cleveland Browns. And I'll probably have that for a little while. but man if you're a cleveland browns fan looking back at how this season has went how the last you know while has gone especially since my time there um it's all looking like fate it's all looking like it's meant to be you know they're getting a team together they can go out and compete and make it to the playoffs and keep building on so you know would you take some of those bad years

to be in the position that they're in now to move forward and hopefully succeed you know i would say it's all meant to be and things have worked out. And that's kind of where things are going. So, you know, good for Baker finally getting the monkey off his back, getting the playoffs and leave that team. You know, it'll be nice to see, you know, Odell being there this year, we know being football guys, that guy's a freak.

That guy is a weapon you want to have on the field. So still, even with them missing some of their pieces to make a run at the chiefs the way they did, you know, they should be, you know, feel very happy with where they're at. And I still chirp and troll a lot of the Browns and people in Cleveland and things like that. It's just in my nature a little bit, man. I don't think I'm necessarily a hater. You're a troll.

I'm just the troll. So you were in Cleveland, then you go to Canada and then you end up in the AAF, right? It's the AAF. But along the way, at some point, you said there was some sort of probing as to whether you wanted to come back from NFL executives, right? who were they um you know i talked with sean peyton quite a bit you know i uh i really felt like i had a good connection with with sean peyton um some of the saints i thought that was a place i was going to end up before i uh before i went to canada you know i i talked with new england quite a bit as well and then

another guy that reached out and showed interest over the time was john elway in denver and uh you know i I remember after I got, you know, cut in Cleveland, you know, that entire offseason, that entire year, whether teams were calling or no matter what it was, and even moving forward past that, no, I never got the desire again to really go back and like try and put myself in it and put myself in a position to be in it. And when I went back to Canada, after getting back in the mix of football and the practice and everything, I remember being there the first day and I'm like, I don't love this anymore. And I knew it right away. I'm, I'm, I, I didn't, don't ever feel like this until I get back into a football building doing the football stuff again.

I feel exactly the way that I did in my first year in Cleveland now again in Canada, now again in the AAF. And even now again, when I show up here to, you know, to do, to this league, to the FCF, I just something about the grind and what football is, I don't love to my core anymore. So when it happened again, and I felt the exact same way, and I never felt like that. I never feel like that in my normal life when I feel, absolutely normal. You know, I knew something was a little fishy. You know, with those guys reaching out to me, if I don't have any, you know, these are guys who I consider who are legends, legendary teams, legendary coaches, legendary personnel. And I just have no desire to go and do it.

Last question. And I'll let you go. Because the one place I haven't seen you yet is on one of those like the pros and the pros playing golf things, you know? Yeah. Could you beat Tom Brady at golf? I'm getting pretty good. You know, I'm a work, I'm a work in progress. I'm probably a zero or a one handicap. So we play a handicapped seat. My producer's saying that's really good. I'm going to shoot about,

I'm going to shoot about even par to a couple over every time. So, I'm getting better. Look at this motherfucker being all humbled, Johnny humble about golf. Well, here's the thing, too. I guess I'll go ahead and,

and I've been thinking about this the last couple weeks. I'm going to give myself, I'm 28, I'm going to get myself 12 years. So until I'm 40, from now on, I'm going to attempt. Golf is a sport where you have to, there's nobody else out there with you. You have a caddy giving you some suggestions, some recommendations, but for the most part, you a ball, some clubs, and going and playing a course.

I'm giving myself 12 years to try and play professional golf. I'm going to grind this out and see how good I can get and see if I can't, you know, enter in some tournaments and see if I can't go try and play professional golf. professional golf eventually. I think it is a very uphill battle, but that's what I'm setting for my goals. The next 12 years to try and to try and make a PGA tour event. That's amazing. I'm putting it on my calendar. You guys put that shit on my calendar. I'll set a calendar to 303. 33. Look at us. If not, I'll come back. I'll come back on the show and we'll talk about what went wrong. All right, good.

And we'll jump off a cliff sometime in the next year or two. Do some cliff jumping. Hey, man, you come out to Scottsdale anytime. We'll play some golf. We'll do some clip jumping. We'll get some water in Scottsdale. I'm not doing any cliff jumping. That sounds like a bad type of cliff jumping.

There's plenty. We got plenty of lakes, plenty of boats. We'll have a good time with it. I love plenty of boats. All right, Johnny. I appreciate you, man. It's so good to see. I'm glad you're doing well.

And check them out on fan control football, the zappers. Likewise, brother. If you want the guys to tune in on Twitch, cool, if not. And I appreciate you having me on. You've always been a legend. I've always been a big fan of you in your career and what you did. So, you know, anytime, bro, hit me up.

You got my number. I appreciate you. Cheers, bro. I want to take a minute to thank Draft Kings, our great partner for the 2020 football season. And we also want to shout out Stanford, Steve, for being a big part of that. We had some laughs, made some buckets,

and had a lot of fun along the way. But while the football season may have ended, the 2021 sports calendar has just gotten underway. Had a terrific Super Bowl, might I add. So if you haven't already, head over to Draft Kings, America's top-rated sportsbook app and enter the code green light and start firing away. You hit that interview out of the park.

Well, you got to know your role in this business. And my role in that interview was to lay out and let two behemoths of brainpower. Shine. What was your favorite exchange? The third one. The third one was good, too. Yeah, I agree.

I'm pulling for Johnny. I've always thought you seem like a kid that just, I don't know, I don't blame him, didn't like all that pressure, just didn't mix with him. And he was pretty open about talking about that. And the third part and the fourth part there, as you probably recall. Born in Tyler, Texas. Yes, he was.

That's pretty cool. Fan football league is pretty cool. cool too. Yeah it is. Honest assessment, make. I don't see how you last. I don't see how any of these guys last. It's, yeah, it's tough. It's like Bill Barnwell tweeted

a week or two ago that the best Twitter is like the first week of New Football League Twitter, which is so hopeful. It almost ignores the probability that maybe it doesn't last. I'm not at all hopeful. Shadow of the Shield is too long.

Let's say we try to get in this business one of these years. Podcast controlled football league. Ooh. How does that work? The Junction. How does that work? Well, I think we copy the NFL to a T. Yeah.

Except not so much to a T to like an uncrossed T. Here's where we cross it. You ready? Yeah. This has been talked about. This is not an original idea. Rock, paper, scissors for a coin toss. Terrific, yeah.

That's two out of three. Bring back kickoffs. I got to trust the technology to make the player safe. You think? But kickoffs. You think technology's going to do it? We're a delight. All right, if you don't want to get a hit on the kickoff,

then you're allowed to fair catch inside the 25 and go back and go to the 25. Good luck with that. But I want the kickoff to return. Where in the hell is my list of thing? Here we go. Okay. Owners of teams are not the first people handed trophies after championships. Yeah, that's a good one. Coach, okay.

How about that Dodgers owner? You don't remember that, do you? In the pandemic when they won, he talked for like 11 minutes. I don't remember that. But yeah, it's... Dudes were getting jock itch out there just waiting for him to finish his. And COVID. It's ridiculous. If you remember, they had a guy with a ginger beard that, stood out there without a mask.

Justin Turner. Yeah, I follow baseball. Grass fields, everybody has to have a grass field. Yeah, for sure. I'm with you on that. Where do I sign up? And two lids. Yeah.

NFL, no fun league. You can only wear one lid. Now, are they playing real tackle football? There's no gimmick to the game. I'm copying the rules of the game with a couple exceptions. No more instant replay in my league. Yeah?

None. your league kind of sounds like it's it's not marketable hey we got a new league coming out big difference though your team wins the title you're not going to hear from the owner for five minutes oh oh and two helmets did you hear the part about rock paper scissors yeah that was pretty cool and no more tanking bottom four teams will have attorney winner of though that final four gets number one pick oh yeah So in theory you could tank to get into the final four. Let me paint this picture for you. Let's say, I don't know, Carson Wentz is your quarterback of team fourth most likely to land the top pick.

He doesn't want to play them into the first pick. Let's say Trevor Lawrence is there. He goes a little shoeless Joe on us. Yeah, Black Sox, 1917s baseball thing. Right, right, right. That, yeah, yeah. Options are limitless. You just painted me a picture like, yeah, and Bob Ross over there.

That's beautiful. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. I really do. A little tree over here. I like your league. What's it called? It is called the National.

The McCain. It's called the National Football Association. NFA. NFA. We're going to shoot machine guns in the air before the start. of every game, add a flyover. At the actual planes? Not directly, Adam, but you get the idea.

Rubber bullets. Every uniform is an American flag-printed uniform. There is no name on the back of any of the jerseys. You don't know who's playing who. It's about the team. Everything about it is about the team, and it's about America. The football pants? Yeah.

Denham. Football pants are denim. And if there's ever an ice storm, you play your games in Cancun. And just fill the stadium with daughters. That's where our Super Bowl is, Cancun during the winter. Yeah, for sure. If it's too cold in our constituency, we just bounce to Cancun. Half the games are, this is a great idea, actually.

Every player has a goatee. No free agency. For life, players play for free. No free agency, players play for free. American flag uniforms. No names on the back of the jerseys. Semi-automatic weapons. Double flyovers.

Helicopters, F-16s, tanks. National anthem before every drive. National Anthem before every single drive, dude. Every single drive. James Woods is the commissioner. For six months, limited time only. No, bro.

That's got staying power. Okay. All right. I mean, listen, little Bertie invited me to play in one of these fan control football league games today. I just want to say, I'm going to come out and say that.

Bob Mennery hit my direct, line and said, hey, I'll pay you undisclosed, redacted amount of dollars to come down to greater Atlanta, Georgia, hop in one of these skating rinks converted into astroturf football fields and play with a bunch of young, hungry guys for one week. I don't know what it entails, but he told me he would pay me to do that. You're 35, yeah? Yeah, exactly. If you hollered at all your GM buddy said hey I'm I'm I'm 260 I'm 252 but I'm 265 I've been working out yeah yeah the drugs but do you think you get yourself a a job in the NFL honestly yeah I do think I'd get myself a job in the NFL they probably wouldn't pay me much you know they probably make me earn it because

Lord knows they made me earn it when I was productive late in my career but well you're a locker room guy yeah yeah guy we'd like would you just come to our building and talk to some of our players? We'd love to see that Walter Payton Man of the Year patch that you never got to wear. But could I play football? No, really, just mostly conversations. Mostly conversations. Yes, I think I could at the very least get one of those locker room guy jobs.

Yeah, you could share a locker in the locker with somebody. Exactly. Yeah. Good callback. Thank you. Very good callback. I'd pay you a league minimum to... Fuck, yeah, you would.

To talk to the fellow. to the guys. Yeah, but I was kind of thinking about going down there and I was thinking about the possibility that my Achilles just explodes. On not national TV, but Twitch, which is effectively almost worse nowadays than like cable television.

I survived my whole career without becoming a meme, dude. Did you though? Yeah, sure. Okay. When did I become a meme? I'm gonna, I'm gonna meme you. I'm gonna meme you. Because I got a great picture from your playing career.

I don't have a caption yet. But it's going to be real good. I'm going to put it on the internet. Now if it's a really embarrassing one, I got a video you drunk in my camper van. That's good. Hey, we know what was said. That's fine. Let's leave it there.

I won't mean you. And by the way, people, Bob Mennery talks like a normal guy on the telephone. I just want you to know that. That whole voice thing. Yeah, it's his voice. It's not his all the time voice. Imagine being born with that voice. Like the EA sports guy.

I got like the, who, short end of the stick does not begin to tell the story about my voice. What kind of ads would your voice do? Low T. Just the dude with low T. You absolutely would.

Thank you. I just don't feel like it. I don't feel. I'm the before and after low T commercial. Yeah, you are. guys just not feeling it today well here's a pill yeah that's a different guy yeah you can buy it at the gas station it's totally safe how about like anti-vaccine dudes strike me as the type of guys

that buy boner pills at gas stations mm-hmm yeah just doesn't make sense that's fair that's fair as fuck yeah it is hey fellas don't feel like doing much today don't have any passions I mean, there's literally a half an inch of ice on the ground. Yeah, of ice. Half an inch. Bro. All right. Cowboy Reed.

Do you know what Cowboy Reed did to get here a couple of mornings ago? What did he do? Yeah, well, you're about to be super fucking emasculated because that kind of makes sense because you're in low T commercials. He cross country skied here. You should have given me more time. I would have guessed that. That's classic Cowboy Reed.

Is it? Yeah. I believe that. Where does Cowboy Reed live? As the crow flies that way Yeah, as the crow flies, you've never asked him Oh, I don't know if that's true But you know he cross-country skis

I think I do know where he lives Okay, do you live in Redacted? Yeah, here we go Correct, I live in Redacted So anyways, what I'm saying is That Cowboy Reed's not phased by half an inch of ice, okay? Yeah, I'd like to see him cross-country ski on some ice

Could you do a Cowboy Read? I mean, I could do it It wouldn't look very pretty, but I could do it I, if I end up. He sounds like a different point, Frank, sometimes. On the side of I-64, because I came in to podcast. Yeah.

Pro bono. Yeah, sure, pro bono. Lord knows there's no compensation. Pro bono, we let you walk on Sundays, didn't change the check at all last fall, did we? Interesting that you bring that up. You haven't gotten the check yet. I was committed.

No, I got the check. Thanks, B. on on Mondays is what I was contractually obligated for. We might want to look back at the contract. I showed up to all those Mondays and then I was also prepared when you pulled the rug out from under me to do Sundays via the Zoom.

But you just couldn't get it. And you, you declined, my good friend. Well, yeah, because you kind of suck ass on Zoom. Do you want to get to mailbag?

Yeah. But first we got to make fun of my face a little more. I mean, like bring it on. it's really not that bad i mean you're not it's not a clean shave i don't even know if you know how to do that no i don't you got you got stubble you got a shadow i look like a fucking telitubby is what i look like to me when i look in the mirror i don't really know what those look like you don't remember them no you don't remember them at all weren't we too old google tel tubby just i i remind myself a one um

so people were just crushing me in the uh that is what i had in my pictures right I kind of look like a telotubby. No. There's your meme. You look different. You look fine. Yeah. It's not as jarring.

Hairless cat, for sure. Ugh. A little bit. Who looks horrible with facial hair? Leonardo DiCaprio. You know what? I just want to say this, man. You know, like we don't,

where to, what I say this? Say it, bro. I don't know that Leonardo decaprio is that hot, dude. Oh, no, that's fair. I don't understand all the chicks, man. Usually you can tell when Ryan Gosling walks in the room, you're like, oh, fuck, Ryan Gosling's here.

Look at that motherfucker. No, I'm with you. I like Leo a lot, though. I like him. Leo's the man. Leo's the man. And I think part of why he's the man is to a dude, you're like, what do they like about him? Yeah.

It's a little, you know. I think that take is right. Mike Endura masks, in light of Jalen Johnson of the Duke Blue Devils, opting out of the rest of the season with just about three weeks left. go, what are some things you would like to opt out of? I was going to say hard things, but not. Let's keep the hard things in. Because the adversity, Chris, if you use it right, it can buy you a ticket to a place you couldn't have gotten to any other way. All right, Coach Macon. Yeah, that's Coach Bennett via a TED talk following the 2019 national title.

If Tony Bennett listened to this pod at any point, you would be petrified. I wouldn't. Coach and I have a good working relationship. You might or might not know that coach and I take a walk after every game from our locker room down to the press room. Yeah. It's the span of roughly, I don't know, 70 yards. And sometimes we talk about our lives. Yeah? Sometimes we say nothing. Usually we say nothing.

Yeah, usually nothing. But hey. Not opting out of that walk. Oh, no. No. Well, this year, yes. In fact, I have opted out like Jalen Johnson. But unlike Jalen Johnson, I did so at the beginning of the season.

Oh, so this is a newborn father of a daughter. Maybe, maybe. Did you hear Tech Cruz did for his daughter? No. Ice storm in Texas shut down the whole state. People are suffering. he went to Cancun because his daughter wanted him to go to Cancun, bro.

And that's what he's using. That's what he's saying. Father of a daughter. He can abandon all of his constituents. Yes, dude. Wow. He ruined it for you guys. That's a tough one.

Basically, our boy Kai is getting a, he's one of our loyal listeners, Kai. We're dedicating this mailback to Kai, who is getting a, what's it called? Oh, I don't know the name of the procedure. He's getting a testicle removed. For, you know, not that anybody would get it. I don't know how to talk about this.

But Kai was willing to talk about it. And Kai asked whether he should keep just the one or add a prosthetic in there and have the two. And he wanted us to answer that on the show. And to wish him good luck. I think, you know, we're going to dedicate the mailbag to Kai and we're going to answer his fucking question. Yeah. the most real, most practical question we've, we've ever received on this show. And there's a lot of gravity.

And are you going to, Kai, are you going to do the thing that we suggest? Kai says yes. I say go one, dude. Wow. Oh, I say go two. So we're going to have to talk one another into. Pendulum. One or the other.

Oh, good point. Cool trick. Good point. Okay. How about symmetry and balance? two things I care a lot about. Don't think that's going to make a big enough difference to like

torque your gate or move your hip out of alignment. Well visually. Visually sure, but mostly just you and your lovely wife are seeing that unless you're streaking the Super Bowl. I say pendulum. Yeah, I say two.

I say prosthetic. I had one more question. Okay. His question was, kick two states out of the United States, add two countries. Dakotas are out for me? Just both Dakotas. And I'm bringing in New Zealand and Italy.

Really? Yeah. I don't have an answer. Switzerland and Iceland, we're on the cusp there. I don't have an answer. As was Florida on the chopping block. How about a pointless chore? Yeah, good.

I say all of them are legitimate, Chris. Therefore, I don't have one. Do you have a pointless chore? Laundry, necessary. Vacuum, got to have it. Yeah, folding clothes. Interesting. I would love to at some point get to a place in my life

where I get into the mode of socially ambiguous CEO figure who wears the same clothes every day you know what I mean like kind of an evasive character and does not fold his clothes I think it's a huge waste of time and I could be doing other things

not that I fold my clothes a lot at the very least the Don Draper you pull out a crisp dry cleaned white button down from the drawer. I mean, you're not going to be buttoning a shirt. I don't know the last time you buttoned a shirt.

But took the legwork out of it. You must admit, though, that there is a point to that chore. You can't be walking around with wrinkled ass. Why, though? Stuff. Why? You, you, you, you, practically why? Well.

I'm going to start wearing wrinkled ass clothes. You dress for success. No, and plenty of people were successful with wrinkled clothes, dude. Plenty of people. Like Mr. Jefferson? You think, no. And he was barely a success in my book. Why was he such a success, Thomas Jefferson?

I don't know. I've heard of the Library of Congress. Yeah. Donated that shit. Your charitable ass should. Appreciate that. Let me know when we start owning human beings at our 501C3. Jefferson, big success.

You know what? He might be a case for folding my fucking clothes. I'm sure actually his stuff was very crisp. Exactly. So more evidence of why I should not fold my clothes. The point is there's no real point to folding your clothes. It doesn't change your day. It doesn't change anything objectively for you as you go about your day.

You mentioned the camper van. I will tell on myself a bit. I've been known to not wear clothes in cars to preserve. The integrity of the button down shirt. Or the pant even. You'll wear like mesh shorts on the way somewhere and then get. Exactly. The seatbelt's a motherfucker.

Right? The seatbelt's tough. Yeah. And people don't get a behind your knees, the idiots. We can see all those creases when you stand up. I don't care enough to do what you're describing. I don't care enough to do what you're describing at all. Wow.

I just, yeah. That would be my chore. And you say all your chores are necessary? Yeah. Okay. Trash. although damn it time disposal they haven't come since last Friday's snowstorm

easy redacted they do my fucking garbage too did they pick it up last Friday yeah are you serious yeah you're serious dead serious you're being serious no bullshit you're being serious they picked up your trash on Friday picked it up put it in their trash truck wave to my kids I live a five iron from you and they did not pick up my trash because you're down the hill

Call them Tuesday. Hey, just, so got that track. No big deal. I was just, hey, just checking on it. Ice becomes a problem when you live down the hill. Should I wheel it back? It wasn't ice on Friday.

Should I wheel it back because we had a week of nothing? Oh, no, we're getting to it. We're catching up. Well, Thursday came along and we had another ice storm. Maybe you didn't have the stickers. Khan, don't need stickers. We pay for this service. I got, I got.

They never showed up in my house either. We've had the same problem. Okay. You believe me. Yes. Best sports sounds. Number one, Kevin Harlan and the CBS song. You know that. That's it. Bowling strike, maybe up there in the top five. It can be a little loud.

Yeah, but there's a lot of energy there. I just, I know I'm going to be beer, beer drunk with my friends if I hear bowling pins. Puck hitting posts for me. You don't know where it's gone, really. Nope. It's chaos. but I like the foghorn better. Okay, also it can be loud, but yeah, yeah. You go to a hockey game and you complain about the foghorn being loud,

that's like literally the whole reason you go to a hockey game is to see a goal. Oh, I go for the pucks on the post. Yeah? Yeah, ding, cling. Or is it a clang? It's a ting. Ting? I think it is a ting.

Yeah, it's a ting. I love the sound of a baseball hitting a foul pole. Hmm. Just, it's the most emasest, escalating thing when a guy hits a dinger on you and it hits the foul pole way up high and the outfiters got to stand there and look at it drop like a fucking idiot and it just lands next to him where are you on the doink the doink you know I love the doink you know I love double doinks even more than doings but there's another level it's like the dong clink it's like a dong and a clink at the same time

that's when you hit the dong and a clink so maybe like a doink no I don't think it's a doink It's like a don't It's like a dong Not a dog dude A dong is like a like a no doubt or home run Which is also a great sports sound The the upright makes a different sound When you hit the top of it

Okay It's like higher on the arm And it's more of a clink With the doink Okay that's fair It's a dink Yeah It's a dink

Okay Is it not A dink and a doink Yeah Give me the doink You like the doink I like the dink I would add probably

guy yelling get in the hole in my as long as you have the cup miced race cars Oh that's a great noise stops becoming cool when you've sat there for 55 laps

Right I could go with one Yeah Any other sports sounds That's good We were done 30 minutes ago Let's go an out I'll see you later

do we have to remind them of anything John I don't think so then okay cool I got a couple birthdays yeah do them fuck yeah do them Friday February the 19th

wasn't a Friday for these folks what they are February the 19th Copernicus let's give me a shot did you know him now 1473 the famous Polish mathematician and astronomer

obviously who theorized the planets revolve around the sun. Who else had a birthday? That's it. James Woods was born April 18th. That's coming up. James Woods.

All right, Makin, we'll see you next week. I'll see you Tuesday. Y'all take care. Y'all take care.