Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fox on Friday - Brady’s Retirement, Brian Flores’ Lawsuit and Super Bowl LVI — 2/5/21

Episode Date: February 5, 2022

It has been quite the week for the National Football League. From Tom Brady’s retirement, to Brian Flores filing a lawsuit against the league, with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick playing a significant role. To discuss the week that was with host Mike D’Abate is Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless Podcast. Join in the fun with Fox on Friday.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.GetUpsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code TOUCHDOWN to get 25 cents per gallon or more cash back on your first tank.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. You are about to be locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast. It is Friday, February 4th. The weekend is upon us. And if it's Friday, that means it's time for a visit from one of our favorites. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast. And joining me on today's episode is the incomparable Tanya Rae Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless podcast. Tanya and I will talk Tom Brady, Brian Flores, Bill Belichick, Super Bowl 56, and a whole host of other topics.

And of course, today's episode of Locked on Patriots is brought to you by GetUpside. Just download the free GetUpside app and use the promo code TOUCHDOWN to get 25 cents per gallon or more cash back on your first tank. It is Fox on Friday, and you are listening to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Patriots fans, the weekend is almost upon us. It's Friday here on Locked On Patriots, and one of our favorite parts of Fridays is Fox on Friday. That's right, folks. One of our favorite guests here on the podcast has graciously agreed to join us today, and there is a lot to talk about in Patriots Nation. Her blue checkmark tells you that she is as informed as anyone else in Patriots Nation. That checkmark is very well deserved. I like to think I had a little something to do with that. No, I'm kidding, folks. Absolutely not. It's all on her.

She is one of our favorites on the pod, like I said, someone that is the best at providing spot-on insight with razor-sharp wit. You know her great work from platforms such as USA Today, NFL Network, NBC Sports Boston. I'm just naming a few. She currently is providing amazing work for FS1. And her podcast, The Almost Shameless Podcast,

which I've had the privilege of being a guest on a couple of times, is absolutely must-listen for all Patriots fans. Highly recommended by yours truly. The incomparable Tanya Rae Fox is back here on Locked on Patriots. Thank you for joining me today, my friend. Well, it's my pleasure as always, Mike. And as per usual, the NFL has somehow found its way to revolve around Patriots-related topics, whether we like it or not.

So it's like funny because when I was talking on my podcast earlier, I'm like, this podcast really is, you know, yours is very Patriot centric. Mine is a little bit more broader NFL. And I do have a concentration of Patriots just because it's my favorite team, team I've covered a bunch, all that. But somehow the news stories of the every week managed to find their way back to the Patriots realm. And this week was no different. So it's kind of perfect timing to be back. You're absolutely right. The Patriots always find their way into stories, whether it's local or

whether it's national. You can try to take the Patriots out of the national media spotlight and focus, but it is not going to happen. They just always seem to gravitate toward the biggest stories, and the two biggest stories in the NFL do happen to really prominently involve the New England Patriots. Tanya, we'll start with pleasantries, or at least pleasantries, to the extent to which I believe they should be, and that is the retirement of Tom Brady. 22 years in the league, a career that is defined by excellence in terms of what he did on the field. Seven Super Bowl championships, three MVPs, five Super Bowl MVPs, just a tremendous, tremendous amount of respect given by his coaches, his teammates,

everyone just basically fawning over, you know, Tom and his accomplishments on the field. On the opposite end of the spectrum, people in New England felt a little sting earlier this week. We talked about this on Locked On Patriots here, but there's still that element of the fan base that feels a little left out that Tom did not mention them in his initial retirement message that he shared on Instagram and on Twitter on Tuesday morning. I'm not going to get into whether people are justified in feeling that way. My whole point and my whole philosophy on fandom is if you are investing your time, in a lot of cases, your money to buy merchandise, tickets, whatever,

you kind of have the right to cheer or boo whoever you'd like to. You do have the right to feel however you'd like. You're investing your emotions in the team or in a specific player, and you kind of have the right to feel however you'd like to. So if you were offended, I don't necessarily argue with you. If you weren't, I can't argue with you there either. But it obviously is still a hot button issue with the Patriots. I do want to get your thoughts on that because you always have spot on insight and opinions that I think everyone in Patriots Nation should listen to. But before we get into that aspect of it, what just are some of your takeaways when you think of Tom Brady retiring, what it means for the NFL,

what it means for you personally as a fan, just some of your favorite thoughts and memories on Tom as we look back on his career. Yeah, I think Tom's retirement is really unique in the sense that we've seen a lot of greatest of all time retire over the course of modern sports. And we've seen some truly legendary great retire in the sport in the last even few years, you know, starting from Peyton Manning and then you've got your breeze and some people consider Ben Roethlisberger in that conversation. So like, you know, there's the, the thing that stands out to me so much about Brady is that we talk a lot about the longevity of his career.

Just in its own right is just insane. You know, to play for 22 seasons is remarkable in the NFL. It's really unseen. And to play at his level for that long, to go out in your physical prime at the age of 44, all of the obvious things that everyone's talked about. But the thing that I think separates him from everybody else is that he ushered in, you know, he was part of ushering in a new era in the NFL in the early 2000s, along with Peyton Manning, And then later on, you know,

Drew Brees and some of the other more prolific passers ushering in this new era of passing offense in the NFL and, you know, the reduction of the running back, star running back role and all that stuff. And then there was, you know, this second offensive revolution in the you know late 2000s early 2010s and then he has now somehow survived a third off you know revolution um you know post all the rule changes in the early 2000s this third offensive evolution with the Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson's and the mobile quarterback who was

extremely accurate. Through all of these eras, he was the greatest winner. And then in the second two eras, he was the greatest, you know, actual statistical quarterback of those eras. And, you know, now the rest of this latter era of the offensive revolution of the last, you know, actual statistical quarterback of those eras. And, you know, now the rest of this latter era of the offensive revolution of the last, you know, four to five years is going to play out without him. But he was, to watch him adjust to the game over and over again is something really unique to Tom Brady specifically. It's not something that we've seen with most greats in their sport because most sports don't evolve schematically so much over the course of like seven to eight year spans. The NFL with analytics and, you know, and the amount of technology we

have now, it changes and it grows and it evolves exponentially faster than it even did in the 70s, 80s, and 90s when it was still going through a lot of growth. And I think that if you look at a career like Michael Jordan, some of what he ushered in as a young player in the late 80s and then early 90s certainly helped to develop the league and change things um you know and some of what Bill Jackson did with the triangle offense all this stuff but you know from 1985 to 2004 2003 whenever it was that um Michael Jordan was

finally done you know the game didn't change drastically, like to the point where from when he started to when, I mean, if you watch, you know, we watch man in the arena and you watch 2001 football game. look so different from the way it does in 2022 to be this successful for this long through that many different iterations of the same sport to me is it that's what I will always always remember about his career is that he was the greatest mind behind center that I've ever seen absolutely and I think in a lot of ways, people will join you in that assessment. Most people will probably join you in that assessment. But the remarkable nature of the way he was able to do it, I think is something that will always set Tom apart from his competition and even from those that preceded him. Look, bottom line, when you look at a graphic that's right now floating around, and I know you've seen it, a lot of us have seen it, that Tom really can,

the argument can be made that he's had three Hall of Fame careers within one span of one essential career is really remarkable when you think about his accomplishments on the field. And I don't think he's necessarily always given the credit that he, maybe now he is, but previously leading up to that it was always there was always a caveat with Tom Brady there was always a right but he's a system quarterback but he checks down a lot but he does this and you know Brady has always taken that and really I think massaged it and worked it into a career that has really just been been brilliant if there's something that people said Tom Brady couldn't do he usually spent his time on the field working at

it until not only he did it but he was also one of the best if not the best to ever do it so when you have that type of a command over the game of football and that type of a command over what you're able to do and determining your legacy, you know, you really you've earned the right to ride off into the sunset and he will go down, at least in my opinion and in yours as well as the greatest football player we've ever seen. his former head coach up here, Bill Belichick, who issued a glowing statement for Tom earlier this week, calling him the best player in NFL history. Obviously, Robert Kraft issuing the statement moments after Tom, you know, announced his retirement on social media, calling him someone that he would always consider an immediate member of his family. Anyone that has seen these two guys interact, as you have several times, so have I up at

Gillette Stadium, know that there is a real bond between, as you have several times, so have I up at Gillette Stadium, know that there is a real bond between, you know, Robert Kraft and Tom Brady, and I think there always will be. I think that's one of the reasons why so many NFL fans were surprised, and so many New England Patriots fans felt a little slighted when Tom didn't mention them in his initial social media post to announce his retirement. Now, Tanya, I know that the argument from some is going to be that, well, Tom did it two years ago. You know, he did, and he did put out a very, you know, heartfelt, warm, and very complimentary message about Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft, and the New England Patriots fans at that time. But there were also a lot of people that say that just a one or two line message about his time with the Patriots would have smoothed over a lot of what happened there. Obviously, nothing that he did within the context of announcing his retirement or leaving someone out or no matter what Tom's motives would have been.

I don't know what they were, so I'm not going to speculate on what he might have been thinking. That didn't tarnish his legacy on the field. But in your opinion, did this do irreparable damage to Tom Brady's, for lack of a better term, I'm struggling for the word here, did it do anything to his, I don't want to say legacy because that's not really what I'm asking, but maybe his persona, maybe his public perception, I think is the best way to put it, especially up here in new England. Or is this something that, yeah, maybe it's stung a little bit at first, but eventually bygones will be bygones.

I don't think anything is ever irreparable with Tom. And I think that Brady is, you know, Patriots fans know more than anyone that he is a very sentimental person. And so I find it hard to believe that down the road, whenever it may be, that Patriots fans will not get the closure and the farewell that they deserve. However, they do deserve it. And I think that that is, you know, whether or not it was definitely jarring to see the retirement announcement directed specifically at the Bucs. However, I do understand it because that was a franchise that was a franchise that really deserved their own goodbye from this guy. It was two years. I understand, but that franchise was really changed in immeasurably by Brady being there.

And he was a big deal for those fans and they deserved their own goodbye. It's just the aftermath, like a lot of reposting of stuff the patriots are saying that just seems like really like that's that and like another one of his little videos little montages you know uh love you all you know it doesn't it wasn't two patriots fans like he has thus far resisted singling out patriots fans specifically. And I made this point on Almost Shameless, which is I don't care what he says publicly about Robert Kraft. I don't care what he says publicly about Bill Belichick.

I don't care if he never writes his own personal statement to either one of those men or anybody else in that building. But Patriot fans specifically have a very unique relationship to Tom Brady. No fan base understands a relationship or an athlete the way that Patriots fans have with Tom Brady. 20 years of an NFL quarterback, that many Super Bowls, nine Super Bowls with that quarterback. You know, the 18 playoff appearances nine Super Bowls with that quarterback, you know, the 18 playoff appearances or whatever it was with that quarterback, it's unheard of, it's unseen, and it is likely to be, remain unreplicated in that way, and across that time, Mike, you know,

the last couple years, people have conveniently forgotten that Patriots fans defended Brady every single step of the way. Every time when Spygate came out, when Deflategate came out, and the entire country was calling Tom Brady a cheater and asking what was in his cell phone and looking at videos of ball guys in the bathroom. And he was put through a congressional hearing or whatever, you know, a court hearing. And then he's suspended four games. And for years, people still, you know, insinuated he was a cheater or that what he did wasn't above board or that he couldn't do it on his own and that they're shady. Every step of the way, every time they called him a system quarterback, every time they said he was going to fall off a cliff, the Patriots fans were there like every single time, you know,

defending him and right alongside him and never giving up and always being ride or die because that's what fans do. And that's what fans who have that deep of a relationship with a player do. And his reputation was taking an absolute beating. And did he restore it on his own? Absolutely. I mean, the guy's a maniac. Suspended four games, comes back, has a record year statistically and wins the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all time, one of the great Super Bowl games we'll ever watch. I mean, he didn't need the Patriots fans to restore his own legacy within the game.

But there is nothing like, you know, no Bucs fan can even come close to understanding that. And New England is, you know, is up and down a shrine to the man. You know, kids and dogs and cats and everything in between named after that man. Wedding vows, you know, obituaries that include Tom Brady in them. Like, he's a real part of the fabric of that place and I will go I will never stop saying that the Patriots fans themselves a 100% deserve their own moment with Tom Brady I don't know when that may be or how and it doesn't have to be right now but it's got to be more than

reposted Instagrams and it's got to be more than a one minute tribute video that encompasses, you know, his career with both the Patriots and the Bucs. It's something really special. It is, is unique in the history of sports. And I absolutely believe that they deserve that because without, without fans, we don't have our careers, Mike, and Tom Brady doesn't have his. And I don't care how good you are at what you do. It does not matter if no one cares. And no one cared more about Tom Brady than the people of New England. Well said. Very, very well said. And I completely agree with everything that you said. I don't necessarily think that there's irreparable damage. You're already seeing it. Tom issuing the one-minute retrospective video on his Instagram on Thursday morning, kind of going over everything that happened in his Patriots career and some of the highlights

and whatnot. It was a step in the right direction, and you're already starting to see a lot of those icy feelings that were put out on social media on Tuesday morning. You're starting to see a lot of those icy feelings that were put out on social media on Tuesday morning. You're starting to see them thaw a little bit. Everyone up here in New England, as I'm saying, icy and thaw. Yeah, I know you're cringing a little bit. I know the weather is terrible in New England right now. But as I look out, as the streets start to glaze over with ice here in the Northeast, kind of got me thinking of icy and glazing. But bottom line, I do agree with you when it comes to that. I think that that relationship will continue to be mended. And I do believe that there has to be something down the line that these two entities will

come together and allow the fans to say their goodbye to Tom Brady and give them his accolades, but also for him to show his appreciation to the fans that stuck by him during the darkest times. New England was still a bastion of his defense, you know, during deflate gate during, you know, the whole, I mean, just everything that, that, that the guy had, had gone through defending him against system quarterback arguments. And this one's better. And, oh, the goat is actually Rogers or it's Mahomes or it's Manning or anyone else that you wanted to plug into that spot. Patriots fans always came quickly to, you know, to cape up for Tom. And I don't think that's something that's lost on him. I don't know what the reason was for their non-inclusion on Tuesday, but I do believe

that something will come of it. But one thing that I think we have seen is the last of Tom Brady in an NFL uniform. I don't think he's going to pull a, you know, come back at age 46 or 45, you know, the following year. I think he is at peace at his decision. Of course, as I'm saying this, he probably will just, you know, because I said it, but bottom line, if, you know, whatever his future plans, he's definitely earned the right to do whatever he wants to do after 22 excellent years in the NFL and going down as the greatest of all time. But another greatest of all time, Tanya, is in the news for reasons that aren't so retrospectively good. Even though he's not being accused of anything, it's still

an unenviable position for him to be put in. And that is Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots. I want to say he's at the center of this firestorm, but he's pretty close to the fire here with regard to the obvious lawsuit that was filed earlier this week by Brian Flores against the NFL and its 32 franchises, specifically mentioning a couple shedding light on something that unfortunately we know has existed in this sport and really all across professional sports for years, and that is discrimination in hiring practices. In just a moment, Tanya Ray Fox and I will delve into that just a little bit and what it may mean for Bill Belichick moving forward. This and more when this Fox on Friday episode of the Locked on Patriots podcast continues. Hey,

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We talked about his legacy and what his relationship is like with Patriots fans, what that may look like going forward. Ultimately, I think the ending on that is going to be more happy than sour. That's a good opportunity for Tom Brady to be revered. And a lot of people to look back with fond memories on everything that happened, whether you still feel a little bitter about it or not,

you can look at those six championships and still feel good and know exactly where you were if you were here to see them when those happened. But the other big news this week is news that isn't so great. And it really is, there's no other way to sugarcoat it. It's still a travesty that here in 2022, that we still have to talk about discrimination and racism in hiring practices in any walk of life. I don't mean to single out the NFL. I don't mean to single out professional football, even single out professional sports. Unfortunately, this is a reality and it's something that people of color, you know, anyone that has ever been discriminated against for any reason, whether it be race, whether it be gender, regardless of what your reason for being discriminated against, anyone that's ever

had to go through it knows that it is a tremendous, tremendous injustice and a very, very difficult ordeal for anyone to go through. And Brian Flores brought a lot of that to light this week by filing a 58 page defamation and essentially, you know, civil lawsuit against the NFL, specifically mentioning three teams, although he did mention all of them as plain as defendants, but the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and New York Giants find themselves at the center of this firestorm. What was surprising to me when this document came out is that Bill Belichick actually is arguably the precipitous of all of this. It was an errant text message apparently that was sent to Brian Flores, Belichick thinking, or at least allegedly

thinking, that he was sending the message to Brian Dayball, essentiallyichick thinking, or at least allegedly thinking, that he was sending the message to Brian Dayball, essentially letting the cat out of the bag that Dayball had already been the Giants' choice, and that Flores was essentially showing up three days after this text exchange for what was going to equate to be a sham interview, simply to satisfy the NFL's requirement of the Rooney rule. Tanya, you have been an advocate of issues of this type for quite some time. Your opinion is one that I hold in the highest regard on issues of this type. And I don't want to put you on the spot, and I don't want to put you in a difficult position to talk about that type of injustice, because it is such a slippery slope and it is such a large topic that unfortunately we don't have time, I think, to adequately do justice today.

It's not something that should be shortened and it's something that needs to be talked about. But from a Patriots perspective, when it looks like Bill Belichick is eventually going to be what looks like called to be a be a uh a witness or something of that effect when you're named that prominently in a lawsuit it does indicate that you're go this is not the last that you're going to hear of this um first of all what were your thoughts on belichick's involvement what does this mean potentially uh for him this season in your estimation? Well, I think that, you know, I'm not sure it's going to affect his season. You know, he is very good at compartmentalizing for good or for bad.

And I think in this particular situation, it may have been for bad, but I think in the long term, he'll be fine. As far as like, legacy as a coach with the team in New England, I really don't think it's going to affect that end of things, whether it should or not. You know, I do think that it has opened the door for a larger conversation about complicity by powerful people in the NFL. And, you know, I think that's where Bill Belichick has the most to bear, you know, and the most to answer for. And I, and as you pointed out, he hasn't done anything specifically wrong here in terms of like violating, you know, Brian Flores or actively doing anything against him. But, you know, at the heart of the conversation, and at the heart of Brian Flores'

suit, is this idea that the systems and institutions in place are set up to such a degree that the powerful people don't even realize when they are complicit and when they are actively participating in the systems that disadvantage black coaches. And from my perspective and from what we know so far, it is become, you know, it's fair to assume that Bill Belichick has an inside track to some of these, to knowledge about some of these hiring processes and what's happening. And so if he is messaging Dable before he's even got the job saying, congrats, we're already on thin ice. Like, because that is Belichick participating in a essential, you know,

what the NFL itself has deemed an unacceptable hiring practice. You're supposed to interview people before you decide on them. If Belichick knows they've all but decided on table, who else knows that? And how does that reflect on them? So while I, you know, I don't think there's anything specifically like he did anything specifically racist. He did. he is participating obviously in the system that has created racist prejudice um you know situations that are put that these coaches are put in and i you know if i'm brian flores and i'm seeing this what i'm also seeing is this guy's going to congratulate this former, you know, assistant who's gone on to this other team and made his own way. And, you know, that,

and he's got this inside track for the giant job somehow. And I'm, I'm the one who's, I'm supposed to be going in to interview this for this. And in this particular situation, Mike, in the future, and what I think Bill Belichick has to answer for is why were you okay with the idea that Brian Flores was going to go up there and be interviewed by the Giants when you knew that they had already decided on Dable? And what is, and I'm not saying he, he is in charge of the giants.

I am not saying he is all like, you know, that he has anything, like it's his personal responsibility to hold billionaire owners to higher standards, but he is one of the most powerful people in American sports. And these are the types of people that if there is going to be change, it's going to have to start with them. It's going to have to start with people like Bill Belichick and Andy Reid and some of the more prominent GMs saying, I got my hands on this information and this is not okay. And rather than accidentally messaging Brian Flores thinking it's Brian Dable, he should have been purposely talking to Brian Flores and saying, listen, I think you're getting screwed here.

That should have been in a conversation if there was going to be some weird behind the scenes conversation, you know, who's there to have Brian Flores is back. If not his mentor, the guy he came up like working for his entire career for, if not the guy who helped him design an absolutely insane defense in the Super Bowl against the Rams, the guy who he was like, I mean, this is that these are the coaching trees. These are the connections. These are the networks that are supposed to get these black coaches in these

rooms and having fair opportunities. And so if the Belichicks of the world aren't going out on a limb to break these systems, then it's not going to happen. And I think that is the little part where Belichick falls into some culpability. And that he is going to have to do some self reflection on on how he can be a better ally to these guys because it's you know if if you're looking at it objectively you know if you're looking at it objectively um he really had no problem with the idea that dable had been hired before he'd even before flores had even gotten his foot in the door. And he knows just as well as anyone else, that's not how this is supposed to go down. And in a lot of ways, I mean, this is just,

it's such an unfortunate situation for everyone. You feel for Brian Flores in this respect. And anyone who's been in this position, there have been several. I'm sure Brian is not the first to have doubts about whether the interview he's going on is a legitimate interview whether it's being taken seriously that's a terrible feeling you tanya you and i have both been on job interviews uh where you were really nervous going in i mean go you know just

basically uh you know really just unnerved uh in a lot of ways knowing that you were meeting with high level uh you meetings. And even beyond that, even after you've gotten the job, there are still times where you have to meet with upper level management and things of that nature where you're extremely, extremely nervous. That's such a stressful position to be put in no matter what walk of life you're in. But to have something like that, the specter of illegitimacy holding over the top of something like that, it is really it's just it's it is truly an injustice. And it's something that you're absolutely right, needs to be corrected at the top level. And the NFL has to take this extremely seriously.

I really and truly hope they do. I'll, you know, refrain from going into. So far they're not. I mean. Exactly. Yeah, you're right. Like they've made it very clear that they already have decided he's lying. John Elway has called him a liar.

The Giants have called him a liar and the NFL has called him a liar. So, you know, already we know they're not taking it seriously. So it is going to be on media and it is going to be on people within the league to start like not letting people get away with these instant denials. An instant denial of this magnitude is impossible. You cannot instantly deny something's happened when you've had zero opportunity to even investigate it. And I, and I, I will say it until I'm blue in the face. The white billionaire establishment of the NFL does not get the benefit of the doubt. The single black coach who is alleging racism

in a racist country with racist institutions who has everything to lose, they get the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. And that's how all of media should be operating. Because if they're not, they're not operating in good faith. This is a coach who is being, you know, considered for the same position right now on the Texans as, like, Josh McCown.

And we've been brainwashed as a media and as fans to think, like, well, you know, young coaches and blah, blah, blah, and you don't know what they bring to the table and whatever else. No, I have resumes. Brian Flores is a young coach who worked for the greatest head coach of all time, had a winning record at his last job, and is one of the best head coaching prospects to hit the open market in years. And the idea that he would be competing with Josh McCown in any way, shape, or form,

even being mentioned in the same breath as him as a head coaching candidate, to me, we've been brainwashed into thinking that's normal and it's not. No, you're right. You're absolutely right. And that is, that is unacceptable because the resume and the, the, the body of work and the capabilities of a human being to be able to lead others, whether you're in a position, a head coaching position or a coordinator's position or a general manager or anybody on the players on the field and regardless of what it is if you have you have the ability to do so and your resume tells me that you have the ability to do so that should be the sole deciding factor and it's unfortunate that that it's not and we both know that it's not, even though, you know, people will tell you otherwise, it's just not the case. And we haven't gotten there yet as a country, and we won't until things like this come to fruition and come to light. So again, unfortunate for all matters

and all, you know, way, shape, or form, but excellent insight on Belichick. And this was something that I know that you're passionate about. You can definitely hear it in your voice as you should be. I think everybody should be. To me, the question is, if you're not passionate about it, why is that? Why aren't you? And that really, I think, speaks volumes. So thank you for lending that. I thank you for your candor. I thank you for your honesty. And I thank you for your opinion, because it's one that not only do I agree with wholeheartedly, but it's also one that I believe, you know, needs to be out there just as much, if not a little bit more than it already is. Tanya, we'll end today on a, I guess, a sort of, you know, positive note

for Patriots fans. The Super Bowl is coming up in just about a week. The Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Los Angeles Rams. It's taking place in your neck of the woods out there in beautiful, sunny Southern California. Obviously, not great for the New England Patriots that they're not in it. But let's face it, it's been a couple of years since the Patriots have made the trip to the big game. But I guess you can count a positive saying that, well, the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, a couple of the Patriots' chief rivals, no pun intended, but I guess maybe there is a pun intended there.

Neither one of those teams heading to the big game. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals is certainly a feel-good story. The Los Angeles Rams, I know there's some contested relationship between Rams fans and Patriots fans, but Sonny Michelle is still running the ball out there in Los Angeles. So there is some, you know, rooting interest. Your thoughts on the game. We're about a week away from it. What do you expect out of Super Bowl 56 coming up at SoFi Stadium? Well, I, you know, this is the first Super Bowl in a long time where, like, I truly have no rooting interest.

And that feels great because I really like Matt Stafford. I've always been pros Matt. I was a defender of him for a long time, long before he was a twinkle in the Rams eye. And there's nothing not to like about Joe Burrow. So this is going to be a great matchup. You know, I, you know me, I'm a bit of a like football purist. And so in my heart of hearts, I think that it would be a shame to see a coach as mediocre as Zach Taylor win the Super Bowl.

He's not a great coach. And he's not, you know, he's not awful. I'm not, you know, I'm not crapping on him by any means, but you know, nothing, nothing special there. I think there's a lot, there's been a lack of adjustments over the course of the late season. And even in some of these games you know, defensive, the defensive play calling in the last game when they played the chief was really, really good. And I loved it.

And I liked what they did defensively. But in my heart of hearts, I want to see the better coach with the veteran players win because I think that that story is awesome. And I think watching the Bengals take a Super Bowl loss and see what they do with it and see how they progress would be the more interesting football story. That having, having said that the Bengals have a much more diehard fan base that's waited a long time for this. So I will not care, you know, extremely either way who wins. I think I will be very interested to see how the pass rush of the Rams, how Joe Burrow handles that, because we've seen how bad

that offensive line is, especially on the interior. The pocket collapses immediately. I've never seen anything like it, not this far deep into a playoff. I can't remember the last time I saw a guy with as little time in the pocket as Joe Burrow. He's really, really impressive. But that, that, that pressure, you know, generated on the inside by Aaron Donald. And then you have Von Miller playing at a level that we didn't necessarily know he could still play at. That's the matchup that I'm like most excited to see in that game, because, you know, that's where the Rams have a really huge edge. That's, you know, not even mentioning their explosiveness on the offense with Cooper Cupp and what they've been able to do with the run game,

which is kind of a new aspect to their offense. So, yeah, I think that that's kind of where I stand. I think at the end of the day, I'd like to see Sean McVay get his win and Matt Stafford get their win and then watch the Bengals continue to grow. But let's be honest, like Joe Burrow with a Super Bowl cigar, you know, on repeat is not going to suck either. I'm really excited. I think in a lot of ways, I think a lot of people are waiting to see what a Joe Burrow

led Super Bowl championship parade in the streets of Cincinnati would look like. That would be that would truly be mustsee TV, no question about it. But look, I agree with you. I really think that there isn't a whole lot of rooting interest here. You can feel probably good about the Rams and seeing guys like Aaron Donald, who are at the top of their game, be able to hoist the Lombardi trophy. Matt Stafford, obviously, all the years of languishing in Detroit, coming to Los Angeles his

first year and leading his team to the Super Bowl finally getting uh the accolades that he so richly deserves he's been one of the best quarterbacks in the league for quite some time now and kind of really I don't want to say wasting his talent in Detroit because I do have some fans in Detroit that listen to the show that are diehard Lions fans and boy God bless them they really have been through a lot uh but uh so had matt matt had been through a lot in detroit as well so it's good to see him uh be able to get that uh sony is someone that i still root for i know he had his detractors up here in new england but i always liked the way sony played the game i always admired his attitude and i always thought

that he came to work every single day so to see him succeed would be something great as well but the bengals do have a lot of long lot of long suffering fans and to see them be able to get to the Superbowl in a year where not many people thought they would is truly remarkable. And a colleague of yours at CLNS media, Mike Petraglia, someone, you know, as well as we do, Murph and I talk about tracks all the time here on the airwaves and you know, to see him get a chance to cover his hometown Bengals in the Super Bowl, it's got to be a dream come true.

So a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the Super Bowl folks. I know the Patriots aren't in it, but it doesn't mean the Super Bowl still can't be great. I look forward to a good game. And so does Tanya as well. My friend, what can I say? I want it on record that Detroit Lions fans, I hope you guys are going to take some sort of joy if Matt Stafford wins the Super Bowl because he is yours. Just like I said earlier in this podcast, you have a real long-term relationship with Matt.

And for those who stuck by him all those years, if Matthew Stafford wins the Super Bowl, take a little joy in that yourself. You've earned it. Absolutely. Very, very well said. And they do deserve that because they did do a great job of really rooting him on all those years when I know it was lean and it wasn't easy to do so. It's very difficult to be invested in a team that struggles. And Detroit Lions fans definitely have done that. True Detroit Lions fans have done that. My friend, what can I say? I thank you so much for joining me today here on the pod and taking time out to join me on Fox on Friday. Folks, the incomparable Tanya Ray Fox is excellent no matter what she does, whether it's putting pen to paper, voice to microphone. She is truly one of the best in the business.

She's not only a dear friend of mine, but someone whose opinion that I hold in the highest regard. Before I let you go today, my friend, please let everyone know where they can find you, all of your great work. At Tanya Ray Fox on Twitter and Instagram, at Shameless TRF on Twitter and Instagram, Shameless, Almost Shameless Podcast is on YouTube. It's everywhere you listen to podcasts, and I'm always on Twitter chatting. So come say hi. Thank you, my friend. Always an honor and a pleasure. And so Patriots fans, another week down, but we are just getting started with Super Bowl coverage, continued coverage on the various Patriots coaching activities,

and so much more. So, to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate.

I thank my good friend Tanya Rae Fox for her time, her insight, and her appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. And here on the Locked On Podcast Network, it's Super Week, brought to you

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be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great weekend, everyone.