NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2020 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Episode Date: December 23, 2020

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal are joined by Colleen Wolfe to recap the MNF game where the Steelers collapsed to the Bengals. They enter into some serious christmas debates and debut their naughty and nice lists. Two special guests join the show.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast is more special than the Patriots. Hello and welcome. to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by the United States Marine Corps. It's the Christmas special. My name is Dan Hansis coming to you from a virtual room build with heroes in pretty sweaters.

Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, Colleen Wolfe, what is up, gang? I like Mark's situation, how he has lights that are flickering around him. That is something else. Well, you know, I just, when I think of the Marine, and, you know, what they're doing and what they're out there protecting. They're probably looking at this and saying the mission is clear. We feel good about what we're doing for the states and for these individuals on the screen right now. Absolutely.

They're paying that money. Hey, you know, for people listening on the podcast, we've all got these, like, ugly team sweaters on. You can get, you know, at the NFL. Mark's got pajamas. But, yeah, Colleen came with just like a nice looking sweater. That's the end. Why is the carpet wall wet? I don't know, Margo.

Greg, you did it again. We've talked about this. You tend to speak for the group when you say things like everyone's wearing ugly sweaters. I tend to think that my... They're literally branded ugly sweaters, so people know what I'm talking about. You go to the ugly sweater section on at NFL. That's where yours was purchased from. I don't believe it.

I think it's a beautiful, gorgeous sweater. Yes, it's the Christmas special, and we have a, a, great episode filled with fun to get to special guests and holiday themed segments. And did I mention special guests? Because we have special guests. It's going to be quite a show. But we do have some business to start with Connie Fox. It is the end of the week 15 slate.

So let's start today's show by digging in on Monday night football. Second and two. Finley will keep it right up the middle. Ryan Finley having himself a good old time. 23-yard rushing touchdown. All right, here's a road to victory presented by the United States Marine Corps. And yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers, again, fall short in really an ugly way. 2717, the final Bengals over Steelers, the third straight loss for,

Pittsburgh after an 11-0 start to the season. And Colleen, I don't know about you, but this feels like something more than a bump in the road for Pittsburgh. It feels like something closer to an existential crisis. And they don't have a lot of time to get this thing figured out. Well, because it's three straight weeks now that they've lost, but this latest one, you know, they kind of reminded me of myself on Mondays, like foggy, a little sluggish, low energy. like they probably looked in the mirror and didn't recognize themselves, much like I do.

I mean, I don't even know what we watched. And I would love to say that I didn't see that coming, but this is like so on brand for the Steelers, even at this level. I mean, they've really taken it up a notch for the holiday season. But for Ryan Finley and Giovanni Bernard to lead this team to a win over the Steelers who could have wrapped up the division, I mean, What a shock. It was shocking, and yet, like, the way the Steelers' offense is going,

no one would have saw how it happened on Monday night. But the flashback I had was to the 2019 Steelers, how we always kept saying, like, man, this defense, they must be tired. They must be so sick of carrying Mason Rudolph on their back. If they just had an average offense, they'd be great. And then here we are in a big-time game Monday night football. and the Steelers' offense had two yards in their first five possessions. They had 40 yards in eight possessions in the first half.

That's an entire game's worth. I mean, that was a cry for help. Two first downs, three turnovers. Like, the defense did everything that they needed to do. I don't need to hear anything about the Steelers defense after this game. But they have to be demoralized, looking at the other side of the ball and thinking, like, these guys aren't going to figure it out because there's no sign that they're going to figure it out right now. I can't think of too many Steelers teams, characteristically, that fade like this.

I went back and looked, and there were one or two seasons under Tomlin where they started hot and finished not great because they just weren't great teams. This team was 11 and O, and there were reports coming out that they feel mentally exhausted. It's just an unusual year for everyone, but the Steelers, like I would trust them just as a longtime watcher of the AFC North and the old AFC Central to bounce back from one or two of these losses. But last night's the game that I almost thought, you know, I'll just game pass this in the morning because it's going to be, you know, the 35 to 10 bounce back game for Big Ben in this offense and the run game and everything

else. And I'm watching Big Ben fall apart before my eyes. And like there's these reports he wants to come back and play next year. And that's all possible. I mean, I'm not worried about next year, but he does not look to me like a functional leader of this offense right now. I mean, they're hard to watch. And the deep pass has been eliminated.

I mean, the Bengals knew coming in, what to do with them defensively. That's got to be a huge concern with the stacked AFC lineup heading into the postseason. Everybody knows what to do with the Steelers now. And it's on that offense to adjust. But now there is this very real question to ask whether they have the guy behind center that can adjust, whether their game plan was specific to what age 38, Ben Rathlisberger, is or age 39 whatever he is and it just there was it was strange watching it because there seemed to be almost like a helplessness to the offense it reminded me actually of some of these cars and wens games

before he got benched by the Eagles where they would keep on coming back on the field and then they would go three and out and then they come off the field they get the ball back and you're like okay maybe things get figured out Colleen but they'd never happened so now they're in a wensian place but there's no jalen hurts the put in the line up nobody wants to be in that place it's a great place to be in. I mean, when those situations, you just like expect a three and out every time they go out on offense. And I'm wondering too, because I feel like all I've been hearing about today and last night was Juju Smith-Schuster doing his TikTok dances. I mean, are you guys triggered about this? Because I feel like that's the least of their problems right now, right?

Well, I would say I feel like I'm not allowed to be triggered. I was, I was told, Plenty of people are ante. I know, but there's definitely like this other subset of people on Twitter that, like, don't shame him for being who he is. And it's like, I don't really care that much about it. But TikTok as a format, like, can we come up with some different dances? It's like the same. It's like 800 schoolgirls doing the same dance. Do I need to do it, Ms. Schuster doing it?

I don't know. Can we calm down a little bit too with the idea of some great disrespect to be dancing on a logo? You like, you play the game all game. these logos stomping on them falling on them sweating on them bleeding on them and now it's like sacred uh ground because it's the pregame warmups come down it's like yeah and it's a lot of old players is like you know worry about like the like playing like more than the brand and like as if the time that they're spending going on tic-tok is is more than like the time all of these guys are using to like get women like no one is no one's criticizing that he's spending five minutes on

tic-tac tic-tick-tick give me a break how about you criticize ben rothusberger for Like, just being, ah, totally scrambled. It's crazy. You know what I was thinking watching last night is they miss Mike Munchak so much. They missed Todd Haley, too, by the way, their old coordinator. Because it's not just Rathesberger. I mean, it's partly him. But they have no answers schematically of where to find the easy plays.

And they thought maybe they would throw down the field last night. He was one for 14 throwing over 10 yards. So it's everything. The run blocking is so bad for that team. Yeah, and then they have the Colts and the Browns coming up. Yeah, I mean, look at the reason why Mark has electricity all around him right now is because the dude is plugged in. Sessler, I know it's a different year and we talk about, oh, what does it mean to actually win the division? Oh, you know Sessler wants it. He could taste it. The AFC North, after years of misery, you can go in and beat the Steelers to claim that division and put on the baseball caps and do all that fun stuff. I know you're excited about it, Mark. It's all in play now. Well, I'm excited if they deserve it, if they earn it. And there's a chance they could by beating Pittsburgh. I mean, there are also scenarios out there that are madcap enough where Cleveland could lose that game, finish 11 and 5, and not be a playoff team.

So, you know, in terms of like waltzing around my house, you know, and kissing babies and stuff, I'm not there yet. Let's see how this unfolds. I'm always expecting something dark and disastrous to occur to the Browns. but they're starting to make a believer out of me that they are not, you know, we're not spending all week wondering about Browns players doing TikTok dances. That seems like something the Browns would normally get pulled into. But let Pittsburgh deal with that business. And let's give Cincinnati a little credit here because nobody thought they were going to compete in this game. And just like the Jets did against the Rams on Sunday, those guys were fired up.

Those guys, they couldn't get enough of this idea that they were messing up the Steelers season. And it had been in such a dark place, obviously, this Cincinnati season ever since Joe Burrow blew out his knee. So to have this game at home with some fans in the stands, and a lot of those fans were Steelers fans and send them out of the building with a scowl on their face. That is a nice little gift under the Christmas tree. I wish Chris Wessling was with us right now because he knows exactly what it's all about. Cincinnati has been tortured by Pittsburgh for years, just like the Browns. And now you get a chance to really stick it to him where it hurts when they weren't expecting. it nice job by the bangles and ryan finley yeah lost 10 straight finley felt like low on the list

of reasons they won but he did get a couple big rushing plays and i think if bengals fans really want to be positive they do have some good young players like hubbard and loss and dominated that game against the steelers tackles i like those two pass rushers uh higgins and boyd who got hurt tyler boyd got hurt early in the game are kind of a reminder like receivers only matter so much because i feel like if tyler boyd and t higgins had like a great quarterback like they could be Pro Bowl type players this year. That's how good they've been. So they got some young players.

Nice. That's their Super Bowl. Didn't even mess up their draft pick. Like they're in a weird spot where they're just like stuck at three. It's perfect. There you go. I was waiting to see Zach Taylor register a few notable wins. They've beaten the Titans and they've now beaten the Steelers.

I think it's an argument to keep the staff and have them all come back when you have Burrow. I mean, beating the Steelers in your own division when they've whipped up on you for, you know, near decade. It matters. With a third string. I think that what's that with a third string quarterback too nonetheless it's amazing it might be too late smile on his face Ryan Finley's very nice Mike Brown's not paying

Zach Taylor's contract for a couple years when when he's not in the building the bengal's owner is the last person to fire a coach early there I don't think Zach Taylor is in any trouble at all yeah the your prediction mark that Zach Taylor's coach of the year that won't happen but I think this is this more or less locks up that he is returning And so good for him. Good for the Bengals. And that was Road to Victory presented by the United States Marine Corps. I didn't mean to throw you under the bus there, Mark, not give you a chance to respond.

But right, let's move on again. It is the Around the NFL podcast Christmas special. And what kind of Christmas special would it be if we didn't talk about Santa, the big man, who's on his way. And that list, he uses a list, you know, he checks it twice, blah, blah, blah. blah, blah, blah, blah. You know the whole backstory. We thought it would be nice at this time of year to share our naughty or nice list.

NFL style as we look ahead to the final two weeks of the regular season and the playoffs. So let's go through it. Let's start positive. Let's go through some, let's say something nice, Colleen. Get us going today. Okay. So definitely on the nice list. Xavier Howard, the Dolphins quarterback.

What a season he's been having. This Miami defense has been incredible all season long, but he is no doubt the star of it. Leads the league in interceptions. He had like a five game streak where he had at least one takeaway or one interception. Last week, he almost had the touchdown, but then it was called back. But this is a guy who's been in Miami on the Dolphins for five years.

And imagine all, Miami. That's exactly right. Imagine all of the stress and. agony and disappointment and just like the depressing nature of that team before Brian Flores came in and now the fact that not only have the dolphins turn things around but he is just having an insanely good career year I actually talked to him this morning and I was asking him just like yeah that's coming up on Saturday you guys should watch it on NFL network you know Raiders and dolphins it's going to be we get it you're successful

Colleen, keep going. Oh, you're hosting that coverage, right? I am hosting that coverage. This is like, this is. I'm just saying you should, if you're hosting it, I want to see you on the promos, that's all. You'll see her because the station is on in your house literally 24-7, so you will find a way to make that happen.

Greg has those glasses where there's actually a little TV screen inside the glasses, so you can just wear them all time and leave the house and he's plugged into NFL network programming at all times. A little starstruck of Colleenian. I appreciate you, Greg. Well, listen, I, so my question for Exavian Howard, though, is he's had so much success and he's having all these picks and games. Why, I know that Des already throws up the X, but his name is Exavian, which everybody just, like, figured out three weeks ago. Has he ever, like, considered an X situation?

And he wants to stay away from it because of Des. But I feel like he should just, he should wade into those waters. You're saying he should be throwing up the X after all these impact plays. Interesting. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Exactly.

I get that. That's where I stand. He's on the nice list, though, for sure. All right. Yes. And, yeah, like you said, he very nearly had a long fumble return for a touchdown on a Cam Newton fumble. So close.

But still, impact plays every week. Mark, how about you? I got something nice. I do have something nice. And I, you know, I've kind of zipped my. lips about the Browns this whole season and kind of just wait and see how this journey ends. But how about Paul D. Podesta? I will never forget the morning in our newsroom when the Browns hired Paul D. Podesta away from Major League Baseball. And what was the audible response in our

newsroom? Giggles, laughs. Oh, look at the Browns hiring a baseball man to come in and fix their team. Someone that was, you know, if you're Paul, if you're Paul D. Podesta, you're thinking, I introduced Sabre Metrics. I went to Harvard. I am the source of Moneyball and an incredible book. I'm in the film. I'm played by Jonah Hill. These two people don't look anything like. I understand that it was a composite of Depodesta, but that's got to be a chip on the shoulder. He comes to Cleveland. He's totally dismissed out of the gate. Is this all about just the physical thing? Great portray. No, no, no. I'm going to now talk about why he's on the nice list. All right? He's on the nice list because two years running, he pushed for the

organization to hire Kevin Stefansky. They went in their own way, which they've done too many times and hired Freddie Kitchens. He gets his way the second time and bang. The Browns have someone that if he were a coach of another team, I'd be jealous. He also hired Andrew Barry at GM, age 33, the youngest by far in the league. The two of them get together. They work well together. There isn't some sort of infighting ego-led battle that completely sinks the organization and creates a gigantic pit. underneath Cleveland's, you know, franchise organizational building. None of that's happening. I like the pair.

Paul D. Podesta is the reason this is happening. It would never have happened otherwise. That's how you build a team. And I think it's pretty cool that someone can do it in two sports. And he's basically gone unspoken about all season. So he's on my nice list. And I think he should be on a few other nice list, too. Very well said.

He's a rock star. Very well said. A little Deepaesta pop. He deserves it. You're right. All right. Greg, how about you? Very compliant, everyone.

You've said it all. What are we going to do? We're going to knock this bean counter and really get on your bad side? We know you're not. All right. You're not kissing babies, you said this morning. I'm wondering where are these babies in your house? What are you hiding?

Oh, you know, it's a pandemic. You shouldn't be kissing babies anyway. I'm going to put a guy on my nice list that wasn't always on my nice list. It goes by the name of Alex Guerrero. Used to think maybe this guy's a little bit of a charlatan, a snake oil salesman, Tom Brady's trainer. You know, they did take that government money during the pandemic for TB12. Not in love with that, really.

But when you look at the results that Tom Brady is doing right now, I mean, I'm watching Ben Rathesberger, he can't throw the ball. I'm watching Drew Brees. He can't throw the ball. Tom Brady's not only the greatest 43-year-old quarterback in NFL history by leaps and bounds. in terms of like arm strength and top end throws, he's literally better right now than when they were winning Super Bowls in 2004, 2005.

I don't even think it's a question. Patriots fans will agree with me. I'm not saying he's a better player. He's obviously not necessarily. But in just terms of top end arm strength and like wow throws, he has made more this season with the Bucks than he was making back in 01, 0203 with the Patriots. I don't know what it is.

Maybe it's maybe Brady deserves all the credit. Maybe it's TB12, but it's working. It's not about his body. That's not why he's struggling when he's having bad games. It's pretty amazing. Give Alex Guerrero some pop. That's interesting. Maybe there's something, too, the no night shades.

You know, like maybe we should all try not eating nightshades and see if that helps our performance. I've got that Tom Brady cookbook, if you'd like to borrow it, Greg. Not a lot of items there that I think would be your car. It's working, right? We've got to admit it's working. Did you ever get that expense, Mark, the cookbook? No, that's, that's, that's, that's, um, annoying to me. I think it was $200 that thing.

That goes towards like a college fund. Anyway, uh, yes, I could have found other things to do with $200. I can promise you that. Uh, I'm with you. You know, Brady's arm strength and physically looks exactly the same. I'm with you. You watch them week to week. He still misses a fair, a fair share of throws and open receivers.

Uh, there, I think there is some still age related decline going on there, uh, with, with him as a quarterback, but yeah, especially, we watch Ben Ralthusberger try to throw those wounded ducks through the Cincinnati night last night. And it is striking that he is, what, four or five years younger than Tom Brady, who still looks like a Greek god. So, all right. Should we get in cahoots with Al Scarero? I mean, none of us are getting younger either.

Maybe it's time. I don't know. Just something to think about. I think you're right. Yeah. Not you, Colleen. You're forever, you know, but the rest of us bros. All right.

My nice list is obvious. Carter Minchew, what a man? What a player? What an underdog. Who doesn't root for the underdog? Ever since he swaggered into Duval County with that mustache and the big dream to take over the league, the world fell in love with him. And, you know, I resisted it at first, you know, but now I get it. sometimes nice guys finish first and that's why

I'll be rooting for him the rest of this season the NFL could use more gardener mean shoes and so could the world what a turn from you well it's an 180 artificial turn but that's you know I get the position you're in you're in a tough tough position Dan you're in a real tough position

no I just I understand it's taking me a little time but he's just so fun to watch watch and, you know, the flopping hair and the headband and, you know, the way that the people of Duval have really embraced them. I think it's time for me to do the same. Great, great guy. Gardner Minchu. What a talent. I mean, nobody that has listened to this show for more than three episodes is buying a word of this. Only, you know, toddlers in the backseat of a car listening to this would buy this. This is next level, next level stuff from you, Dan. How could you root against that man.

All right, let's move. Wait, Dan, I do have one fly might be in your ointment. I noticed Doug Barone on Monday would not declare a starting quarterback for this week. Which got me thinking, are they going to go lootin? Are they going to like drag Quinn Gray or Cleo Lemon or David Garard off the street and start? They can't do that. That would be some nefarious stuff. That would be nefarious.

He was a little vague about it. It's just funny. Like I said, on some. Now the fans on board, they have to start him, though. They have to go with Minchu. I loved. I loved the Gardner Minchu's stat line. The 22-28 for 270, two touchdowns, 120 pass a rating in a 40-14 loss.

You can't put them on the bench with production like that. That's what Gardner of Minchie does. All right. Naughty. Connie, give us something naughty. All right. This, I feel like, is a no-brainer. But Doug Peterson is going straight on the naughty.

list. I just, after watching Jalen Hurts these last two weeks, what took so long? Like, I understand the situation with Carson Wentz is very dicey and you're in a tough spot, Doug Peterson, but this whole, maybe not, obviously not. This whole entire season has been a giant garbage can. And then finally, there's like some life. And even in that loss to the Cardinals, it was so much fun to watch the Eagles again. It was the most exciting loss.

Jalen Hertz gives the team exactly what they need. I mean, he had three passing touchdowns. He was running well, had the rushing touchdown as well. He was sacked six times, but listen, like, he was fine. He was able to bounce back, and this is behind an offensive line that has been so hurt all season long. There's been a zillion combinations, and it just feels like this team plays way harder for Jalen Hertz, and they just, like, are interesting to watch. Like, I'm not banging my head against the wall.

it's like taking out the garbage like it's not before every time i turned on the eagles it felt like such a chore and now it's actually like something that i want to do which is cool sometimes i feel like to your sometimes i feel like it's been a bit of a little laura veal magnifico around the eagles fans the last couple of years like you have one of the great super bowl runs of all time and then a couple years pass and it's almost like the way you people talk it's like that never happened and you get to act like you're this long tortured fan base that like how did we put up with Carson Wentz for that long and Doug Peterson what a mess. Oh, woe is us.

Let's get on the radio and talk about how hard it is the Eagles fan. You just compared Ben Rathesberger to Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense about talking about how terrible the Steelers were last night. So yes, that's been an entire season of that. I get it. I just like it better when you were an eternal loser like my team. To your point, Colleen, like you definitely want a coaching staff that. figures things out and comes to the same conclusion that fans came to six weeks prior.

The self-scouting doesn't seem to be the high point of Doug Peterson's and his staff. So I'm with you. I understand the frustration. Dan, I don't know about the Law Reveal Magnifico side of it. That feels aggressive. What does that say about Patriots fans who are grumbling about? I'm with you, Dan.

I feel like they've done enough for me. I'm not allowed to complain about the Patriots for the rest of my life. but they're complaining this year like the last 20 years didn't happen. By the way, all could be forgiven, Colleen, if they win these two games, the Eagles, and get into the playoffs. I don't think it's quite as far-fetched as people believe. Interesting. All right, Greg, get naughty because I know you like to.

I do. And where else to get naughty, you know, than a strip club? I feel like someone's got to talk about Dwayne Haskins here. Look, it's a beautiful, you know, in a normal world. It's the dancer in the room. After a loss, that's where you want to go with your girlfriend. I don't know if this was a birthday party. He was with his girlfriend and like a bunch of her friends at the strip club.

And, okay, you know, but we're not in a normal world. We're in a pandemic. And you're in charge of an organization, a franchise right now where you are the only healthy quarterback. Kyle Allen's out for the year. Alex Smith has a calf injury, everything he's battled through. And you're putting your whole team at risk by going out to the strip club on a Sunday night. after not playing too well either. So, man, that just put everyone in his organization in peril,

not only because he could catch Rona, but that isn't going to be available for this next game where they can possibly, you know, clinch the division. We're uncertain how the Washington team is going to handle this. They've at least fined him. But either way, I know he's a young man, but you got to have your, you know what, in order a little better than this. It's real bad.

Real bad for a lot of reasons. Listen, it's a tough one. I get the argument, too. Like, there's levels of ways to mess up. This is a franchise that has had many things this season that are way worse than what Dwayne Haskins do. Some that came out today, some lawsuits against the organization. I get it. There's different levels.

But it doesn't mean you're not letting down all of your teammates in your franchise by doing it. It's a knucklehead move. And it's a guy that you've heard whispers about, you know, and the reason why it seemed Ron Rivera was loath to even play a former first. round pick and then something like this happens and it's like oh this isn't so hard to connect the dots like is this dude really in it to win it and the type of guy you want and mark and and all guys in general have friends um that they just can't get enough of the club that that exotic dancing um and i don't yeah i wouldn't put us in that category yeah i don't mean i can't i i don't say that i'm like um some type of saint but it's never been my thing but i have friends just like

everyone has friends that cannot get enough of it. It's an addiction. And COVID-19, what it's I don't even know how this club is open wherever he went. Is it an underground strip club? Tell me more. I'm interested intellectually. I just, this would be my counterpoint to Greg. Greg, I mean, you know, we're in tough times and I'm sure that club probably operating in an underground fashion to some degree. Think of how those workers, you know, working very hard at the club or have probably you've been struggling financially, not getting their normal allotment of greenbacks. How nice of the city's, you know, first string quarterback to Waltson and help these workers out, Greg? That's a fair point.

I mean, you could definitely put it on the government in Virginia for allowing the strip clubs to be open because I don't think it was underground, but it's problematic all around. I mean, just imagine that conversation he had to have Haskins with Ron Rivera, who's battling cancer out here and putting and he's putting this whole team oh man so Ron Rivera does not seem like a strip club

which is like people do we see young people doing crazy immature things all the time right now he is hard he's hardly alone it's just like you're letting down your team that's the problem you're on a team Greg take me through this

in a modern day strip club right now are the dancers wearing masks I don't know I think so The only reason why I think it was it's not closed, first of all, like the South is pretty much open right now in Virginia's the South. And they like listed the place. It sounded like they were trying to get some pubs. So I don't think the place was open illegally. Do some more homework on this, please, Greg. Mark, get naughty.

Well, I want to circle back to, you know, when the pandemic started in our country, and we do, we do follow the rules. And so we were allowed to each of us pick what would have been like sort of our all-star quarantine group, and I had to go look at the list, but mine included Alec Baldwin, Michael Irvin, close friend of yours, Colleen, Gianni from Love is Blind, that feels like that show was relevant 44 years ago at this point. But don't forget, yeah, don't forget that Gail Godot was also in the room, and I had to, you know, I didn't like to do it, but I had to report that her behavior back at that time in late March, early April, was poor.

And she, you know, as a group, we had to, you know, teach her about discipline and things. And just maybe, you know, mind your man. Did you lock her in a closet or something? He tied her to the radiator, I believe. There's a chaining. We tied her to a part of the room that wouldn't move. And I just want to report back that, you know, you would think that she would have found her way back under the nice list, learning some lessons. It's not the case.

No, that's unfortunate. It's not the case. She's, her behavior is not improved one iota. So she remains firmly attached to the naughty. list no further comments why i mean uh i did you know she's not getting out of that basement a stinker it's supposed to be supposed to be bad bad see what she didn't want to wear christmas lights hmm no it's not that's not that frivolous it's her basic um inability to follow directions the best part of that um video beyond the terrible singing and the self-absorbedness of the

celebrities involved uh it showed up in a countdown uh list that i saw recently of worse Songs of the Year. It was number one, the Imagine Cover. And she opens it, Gail, before she throws it to the celebs with, okay, it's day six of quarantine. This is really tough. It's like, day six. Day six. Lacks perspective. We're like Day 700 now. That's more sad for us, but. All right. Finally, I got one more naughty. A fantasy football fans. let's let let let let's get our stuff together okay let's pull it together because you guys got a chill you got a chill and josh jacobs shot a warning flare out a couple weeks ago um when he did that thing on the gram where he he posted that he wasn't playing even though he was active and then he he put up

the middle finger emoji well that's an undercurrent right now i've been tracking this it's part of a growing trend in the nfl players are fed up with you fantasy people on social media, you know, trolling on them when they're hurt or otherwise struggling and not helping your fake team. Rahim Oster, it's the latest guy. He just went to IR, by the way. For the million time, players don't care about your fantasy team, he tweeted. This is our real life. And that's a good point. And I did something a couple weeks ago. Remember when Christian McCaffrey was coming back from the shoulder and it was just in time for the fantasy playoffs and then he tweaked the quad and the report came out midweek and absolutely devastating

to McCaffrey fantasy owners who thought okay we survived this far without our number one pick but we're going to get back this all-purpose stud and he's going to win me the league and it didn't work out that way it looks like he's going to miss the entirety of the fantasy playoffs and maybe the rest of the real season I just went and searched out Christian McCaffrey on Twitter and checked out the mentions the vitriol the absolute heinous garbage being sent his way, ill wishes, you know, things about how, I hope you never play again. I hope you never heal up. You're a bum. You don't try hard enough. Are you people kidding me? You idiots. Are you seriously thinking that these guys deserve that type of treatment

when they are in a frustrating position as professionals of being injured or going through a struggle? Anyway, pull it together, fantasy football. I've played fantasy football since I was 14, years old. I've been frustrated with players, but never once did it ever occur to me to get on Twitter and at the player and tell him something negative or wish him ill will. Clowns, clean it up. You're naughty. Cole for you. It always seems so weird when when the attacks turn personal too, like about fantasy. And then all of a sudden people are attacking like their family and their girlfriend. And like it's just, it gets so personal for everyone involved. which is just so super weird to me.

It is a downside, I think, of money being on things. It's something in the NFL, not to get too serious, but it has to think about when, you know, awkwardly embracing gambling, which, you know, is happening right now. The owner's own DFS teams. Everything is getting a little looser. But that's like a negative we've seen in a lot of other sports where in countries where gambling's legal is like the fans get out of control

and you're going to lose all these players on social media. Like there's not going to be any interact. I mean, Greg, do you feel? at all complicit for being someone that I think carried fantasy football from an innocent game that children enjoyed to an industry you made an industry out of it and it's all information and money and betting based and that's creating so much of this fitterial and it really sources back to your early career in football do you think it was pretty much me it was pretty much me and me and Matthew Barry that really got it going fantasy Greg ball they used to call

it. Well, I don't play fantasy anymore, so maybe that tells you your answer. Well, that's, you're washing, you can't just wash your hands of it that simply. Yeah, he's already done the damage. Not track what's happening in Iraq anymore. We'll see. I'm sure that doesn't work out either. That was the guilt. That's why Greg walked away from the game. All right. We're just getting started in our holiday celebration. Wait, I've got one more nice one for you. I'm sneaking one in. It's one final nice. We're going to give a nice little nice to Rhoda.

That's right. It's Keisha's mom who gave us the best Christmas miracle ever. She had a flight out of town on Monday. And she changed it. She saw what was going on at the house. She realized it'd be a beautiful, a beautiful holidays, Christmas and New Year's if Rhoda stayed in and helped Lakeisha and Wes out. And since, you know, they're our family, Rhoda is too. And we appreciate her extending that trip last minute, Christmas miracle for two more weeks. She'll be in town. It's great news. Nice work. I love Rhoda. What a woman, Rhoda is. And yes, whenever moms around, that makes the holidays that much better. Yes, she's a queen. And before we say goodbye and get ready to celebrate the holidays, we welcome in the great Ricky Hollywood, Erica Temposi, wearing with pride.

And I respect her for it. Her Patriot sweater, missing the playoffs for the third time in 20 years, which basically covers most of your lifespan. Erica, thank you for joining us on today's show. Yeah, thanks for having me. It's such an honor. Just real quick, before we go, I wanted to tell you guys who's on my naughty list this year,

and it's the four of you. Because this show is a family-friendly football show, and you are talking about strip clubs. Mark can't say Gal Godot's name correctly, calling her Gale. I mean, there's just been a total, just, you guys are just off the rails. Yeah, there's been Iraq. George W. Bush mentions, like, this show is supposed to be family-friendly, and you guys definitely are getting cold.

hole in your stockings this year. Erica, how's improv going? It's going well. It's virtual. Look at that. A little inside dig there from Connie, and you can tell it riled up, Ricky Hollywood. And now, point, counterpoint,

is diehard a Christmas movie, the final answer. All right. Yes. It may seem cliche this next segment but you know what it was time to finally get to the bottom of this question the one that's been asked on social media for years die hard the film released in 1988 tagline yes there were 12 terrorists one cop the odds are against john mclean that's just the way he likes it and it was a

huge hit launched bruce willis as a movie star but it has always been a question now this action film the the one that served as the template of every action movie that followed for decades. Is it a Christmas film? And now I welcome in Patrick Claibon, and the Christmas special here, because first of all, it's great to see Patrick in his Christmas sweater and a good friend of the show.

Welcome. Patrick, how you doing, buddy? Happy holidays. Happy holidays. Thank you for having me as a part of this pivotal discussion that some people feel like it has gone on too long. Look, we talk about the value of running backs every single day. like it's always value of running backs back and forth it goes that never ends we do this for like 12 days a year it's fine it's fun we get to talk about a good movie as he said you know and hey it's cool and as matt money as matt money smith said this is the final answer Greg I know you were a huge fan of this film Mark you saw it as a boy I don't know about you Connie but to finally get to the bottom of this so it doesn't need to be discussed incessantly every December going forward that's not a bad thing either it's a beautiful thing I'm excited to get this finally off of my chest I was in model Congress

so I feel like I can be a you know a judge here you know as a kid I was into debating you know it's good to hear because as it's shocking as it so happens Patrick and I are on opposite sides of the coin so we're going to do it Mark like old ATN debate club style sure with point counterpoint and we'll see

start the, we'll start the floor here, 60 seconds each. That's all, that's all we get, Claibon and I. Claibon will take the position that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and then I will take the dissenting view. Patrick, get it going. Ricky, make sure it o'clock us. All right, tell me when to go, Ricky. You are on the clock.

All right, what is a perfectly canonical Christmas story? Is it Mary and Joseph and J-Man and the manger? Is it St. Nicholas? If you're counting reindeer, do you start with Rudolph? Like, how important is it to you to recognize things that are connected to this holiday? I ask that because clearly, if you're a skeptic at this point, this film about a man reconnecting with his family on Christmas that opens with him carrying a gift while sleigh bells are ringing and being wished to Merry Christmas on the way to see his estranged wife whose name is literally Holly. If you've heard all of that and this still hasn't mattered to you, then the conversation isn't going to land because this is a conversation about what a Christmas movie is. It can't be about what particular aspects of the movie connect to Christmas

because a minute is literally not enough time for me to go through all the ways Christmas is an integral to the story, the soundtrack, the style, how Al Powell we meet him while he's getting gifts for his wife, while let it snow plays in a convenience store. This is about adherence to dogmatic rules of what Christmas movies can be. And if you want those rules, then Rudolph might not be a reindeer. Counterpoint. Next.

Released in July 1988. Let's start right there, summertime. and the fact that the mechanics of the film to get everything in place, it needed a time in place, it needed Christmas to get the people together to make the movie work. But, you know, people tell their friends and strangers on social media that diehard is a Christmas movie

because they think it says something about themselves. It makes them edgy and dangerous and irreverence, even, you know, a little bit subversive. Oh, you like It's a Wonderful Life? Not me. Oh, what an iconoclast. Deep down, everyone just wants to be a little, bit different, special. I'm not here to win any popularity contests. I wasn't the team who picked up

smoking in high school to look cool. I didn't have a girlfriend during that time of my life. That's just glory boy behavior. So yes, there's a psychological and sociological conversation to be had here, but most importantly, there's a practical one. And it boils down to a simple reality. If a guy gets his head blown off at any point, you are not watching a Christmas movie in excess of six heads are blown off and die hard. In a minute, Dr. Claibon, you may respond. Again. Counterpoint, that's it.

Oh, you guys don't go back and forth. Well, okay, closing argument? I thought you don't get 30 seconds each or something to respond. So you get to clean up and then that's it? No, he had the point. I had the counterpoint. That's it. Okay.

That's how it works. It's very fast. What are the thoughts from the rest of the group? You know, I was with you, Dan. I am not like the city president. I accept however this plays out. Well, so first of all, it's bad for Patrick because I can't even remember watching the movie. So this is not great for Claibon.

But Dan, I was with you until you said that it's not a Christmas movie if somebody gets their head blown off. But Scrooge is one of my favorite Christmas movies. And part, one of the most iconic scenes, I would argue, in Scrooge is when they're coming up with the new promo for the network and there are freeway killings and acid rain and you're supposed to be terrified to miss Christmas and to me that kind of uh that there's people that are getting their heads blown off in that promo so I can't stand with you on that do you actually see it I think you might maybe not you do see a plane crash you see a fiery plane crash and burn so

It's a very compelling. Both of you made compelling points. I would say that I did a little bit of study here. And there are 19 Christmas trees in Die Hard. Christmas decorations show up 15 times. Christmas carols sung by Bruce Willis and others 12 times. The word Christmas is said 14 times. And there are four other more vague Christmas references. Every one of those categories, except for one, beat out home alone. And Dan, I think that you made a very strong point about maybe a certain type of scene, pulling people out of the Christmas mood, but that's an opinion. I kind of agree with you, but it's just simply an opinion. It is a Christmas movie in so many different ways, and it's so on the nose, and they make such an effort to tell you that it's a Christmas movie that I don't understand the strident opposition to what the filmmakers were attempting to do before our eyes. I mean, I saw this movie at least 10 to 15 times But I have not seen it since I think I was 15 or 16 years old So I want to go revisit it Now's the time to do it Yeah, you've gotten me excited for that I remember seeing Die Hard with a vengeance number three

With My Dad in the theater Great film I think I was in high school It was pretty good I like Diehard three The only just like sort of debate style note I would make Is Dan went off Talking about the actual movie

you know and was kind of talking about the reaction to the reaction to the movie which felt sort of like off the actual you know you know having the strong argument of just die hard and Patrick stuck to that nicely okay so I see where this is going bunch of bulls is what it is my my dog is incensed at you damn she feels like you know I don't want to break the rules of you know point counterpoint so I'm afraid to say say something because we might violate the science. You're okay now. Now it's open. It's open. Yeah, it's weird to go to this like like Greg mentioned the meta discussion of the movie.

Which is kind of like my overall point. Like, why are we dictating to other people like how they should feel about this movie and how it relates to a holiday that they may, you know, some people eat mac and cheese on the beach on Christmas. Like some people don't talk to anybody on Christmas. Like Christmas

This can be a personal holiday. It can be something. It's a shared experience that we all have. And one thing that a lot of people share is watching this movie that has so many Christmas themes. People insist on saying GIF instead of GIF because the creator says that's how you're supposed to say it. The people who make Die Hard were like, yeah, this is a Christmas movie.

Look at all the things that we left in here. But for some reason, there's this strident opposition, which I don't know. I don't tell people how to feel about art. The director is... Oh, strong points. Well, he just did. He said that it's a Christmas movie. To me.

Telling me how to feel about the art. No, you don't have to, it doesn't have to be a Christmas movie. You don't have to agree with him. Let's give the final word to John McTiernan, the director, okay? Because he has said that the film is somewhat inspired by It's a Wonderful Life, which is interesting to me. His quote, we hadn't intended die hard to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie. And that's really the best I can tell you about it. I mean, you kind of blew up your own side of the argument there.

but um he's fair it's an interesting strategy i don't think so dan is dan is a fair man he said he said that that wasn't his attention you blew it up like one of those heads you know it's an adult you know it's for adults it's for the adults maybe young young i can't see the head of the the japanese company his head exploding but that's just me that's it and let's now i'm going to side with claibon just to go against dan that's it that's fine i i can deal with that i can take that the special guests in this christmas special keep coming and uh it's one of our very favorites let's welcome them welcome them in right now and uh you know a former member of the NFL media team who's gone on to great things uh over at sports illustrated and monday morning quarterback

yes it is none other than the great Connor or welcome to the around the NFL Christmas special buddy yeah yeah we're on a six box right now this is It looks good, too. Connor, first of all, how the hell are you, buddy? You are a domesticated man, married with children. You have your own house, a mortgage, and I'm sure a Christmas tree that's real, not fake. Take us through it all. Fake Christmas tree, man.

I'm going fake Christmas tree until I cannot worry about the kids swallowing the needles, which they want to do, you know. But it's great. You guys worry about your kids eating? the needles of the Christmas tree? Mine did and then I took it away. Yeah. I remember LSA-A-A for animals. Also, spiders. Spiders are in Christmas trees.

Oh, yeah. Now, let's see. Mine is also a huge fire hazard now. I don't want to get into another debate here. This is a bit of wild. But I did, we spent a hefty amount on a living tree and it died almost immediately and it is a death trap. It's a fire death trap in our living room right now. Connor, buddy.

I needed you on the show today, needed you on this wall, because although the holiday season is filled with joy, there's also a lot of reasons to be stressed out about it and there to be anxiety. And even the Christmas season, sometimes things grind the gears of Connor or. And that's why we're bringing it back. Or are you kidding me? The holiday edition. What do you got for us, Connor?

Yes. I'm going to maybe ruin this a little bit, but I remember Claibon a couple minutes ago talking about meta discussions, and I think what grinds my gears is, in preparation for going onto this show, I went back and I listened to some old or you kidding me's, and everything that I said I hated, I would love to have right now during the pandemic, like every single thing. Like, I think I was like, hockey is stupid. I would love, like, live hockey to go see. I hate hockey. I think I said the foo fighters were stupid. Like, do you know how much I would pay to go to a foo fighters concert right now? Seinfeld, I said, was stupid.

And even, you know, I haven't watched it because it is the worst show ever made. But some people need that to get through the pandemic. And so I think, or are you kidding me is basically, or are you kidding myself? And, you know, how haughty I've been over the years, Dan. So I guess what you're saying is COVID-19 has, you know, led to a lot of self-introspection for all of us. And for you, it's maybe there is a cynical aspect of your personality that you're seeing melt away, especially during the special time of year. Dude, I've watched, and this is not an exaggeration. I've seen every single Hallmark movie.

All the new ones, like basically everyone since 2016. and I feel like the person who used to come on and do, or are you kidding me, has been, like, beaten with a shovel and buried somewhere, and he's never coming back. Like,

my life right now is a made up town where happy people just walk around and, like, you can live off making cookies and, you know, doing, you know, doing really,

like, wholesome things. And so, uh, but that's also like a little bit of delirium because you're doing like 3 a.m. bottle feedings and that's the only thing that's on. But I will say, like, you know, it's really helped me kind of zone into a new person, which I'm pretty psyched about, you know?

Your life is a Christmas movie. I love it. What is it wrong? Not sure what to think about this. I'm still processing this. What could go wrong? Well, did you see, speaking of Hallmark movies, I don't know if this is a Hallmark one, but my wife and I, Connor, had decided to watch a really bad straight-to-video type Christmas. movie last weekend. And we watched the

2012 Drew Lachey film. Guess who's coming to Christmas? Drew, the former member of 98 degrees, but not the hot one that married Justin. Not Nick. He is a rock star living a out of control lifestyle until one day his agent sets him up to stay with a family for Christmas as a image rehab maneuver. And guess what? He ends up falling in love the girl next door. There you go. A little bit of a spoiler alert there, but please check it out.

Guess who's coming to Christmas if you haven't seen it, Drew Lachie, some of his best work, I think. I think it's the better of his only work. The most unbelievable thing is like I would love to be in the writer's room for one of these because literally on the same night we watch two of them in a six hour period and one was a country music star like a like just a hot dude goes back to his hometown and falls in love with the girl and helps her save her family's pie making business. Christmas and the Rockies. Right. And then and then right after that, a hot country singer dude goes back to a hometown to help a girl save her family's jam business. And like, it was the same movie. They just switched the food that he's helping bail out at the factory. And I was

Like, I can't write the same story four times for Sports Illustrated, but apparently, like, these people are just like, yeah, just make it pie instead of jam. It's totally fine, you know. It's golden, baby. I love it. Yeah. Wait, can you bring, Erica, come back in and Colleen, too. I don't want, first of all, we preface this by saying I'm not being sexist, but usually that means I want to say something. Right. I asked you guys, I asked my wife while we were watching the Drew Lechay picture, you know, what is it? Because there, I believe a lot. of them are catered towards women, these Hallmark specials. No. What is it about this plot, this plot device that Connor talks about that is always about this guy, I guess you could say as an unattainable guy on some level, coming back home and then helping out with something and becoming a tamer version of his former self and essentially settling down with a good girl. Like, why are all these movies built out that way? Is there something inside women like that? Or is it something that men write the scripts and they think that's what's women want? Take us through the process.

So you're saying it's a savior that comes in and, you know, helps out everyone. And then the people that the savior is helping out, then they end up changing to their liking. Is that what it is? I can't imagine a woman wanting to do that to a man that doesn't feel Well, I guess I'm just a basic bitch because I love the night in shining armor. You like the formula. Yeah, I like he. I want to be romantic. I want to be curled up on the fire.

The country music star comes home. And all of a sudden, he is a good person. He's not a jerk. You know, he falls in love. Guys don't change, Erica. I know. I know. And I'm just, I'm wishing maybe one day they will.

Well, most of the male versions of the story are just gender bent versions of the female version where she leaves a small town. She goes to the big city. She's focused on her career. And then some circumstance happens where she has to go home. She sees the guy from high school who used to be a jerk. And then they work together on something. They fall in love. The old guy from New York comes back. And then she's like, no, I love this life. And then credits. It works. It works both ways. I also think there must be a Hallmark movie. There must be someone in the plot. And it's typically the woman, you know, or man, if it's reversed. person in the hometown that has to relate to 98% of viewers, which is, I've done nothing remarkable

with my life. So I like to think that some famous person will come and move in with me or next door and be wowed by simply my personality. It's a fantasy. It's every romance novel that you'd find at the grocery store. I want to, that's an amazing point. I want to go back to what Colleen said, though, because I could be wrong, but was she, was she sort of hinting at connecting these hallmark movies you know with the original Christmas story our man J.C. and like connecting it to basically

organized religion in general was that reading to it? Oh, a savior. Yeah, you could connect those dots. The savior comes in. And everyone's better afterwards. And now everybody loves that guy. Many of the films... Yeah, nothing that happens at all in that story.

Right. Right. There's some overt religious themes in a lot of these films as well, just like in the Drew Lachet picture, guess who's coming home for Christmas, he definitely gets more involved with the church. And I think there are those elements of these stories as well. Connor, anything else that you want to add, I like this. This is like a, it's a wonderful life situation where you started out one way and now you're a different person who kind of understands all the great things he has.

To your point, like the theme this year has been, like there's been three movies where a Catholic person and a Jewish person get together and they teach each other their holiday traditions. And the other person pretends like they've landed on a different planet and have never heard of like Hanukkah. It's like, you light a candle? What? And it's just been like an incredible, like the guy from Ben Savage for Boy Meets World was in one of them. And I would say that it's just been great. And if you can find joy in. that or any of the other million weird hobbies that I've picked up during the pandemic, like, you know, colored pencils and, like, coloring.

I color a lot now. Really? Yeah. You have anything that you've colored nearby? Like, I buy coloring books, like extremely intense. Show us a page. Yeah, can we see an example? They're upstairs.

I know the one's not a visual medium, but I need it. I will send you guys on Twitter. Yeah, I can tweet them. People would like to see, I bet. I raised a family of 65 butterflies. I'm sorry, what happened? What's happening, Connor? Is everything okay?

Everything is totally fine. This was, yeah. Well, I'm putting a squirrel in my backyard, though. I can't believe. My idiot friend said, what does your daughter want for a birthday? This was back in the spring. And I was like, you know, send her whatever. And, you know, he sent me a classroom, a kit for,

two classrooms for kids to grow their own butterflies. And so just at my door one day shows up like a cooler full of like 60 live caterpillars, shot glasses. Like I have to fill them all with like two milliliters of food. And then I have to like attach all these little things and make them comfortable and put them around the house where the babies don't smash them. And yeah, it was like a, it was like a six week process. And like my wife and I were up at one o'clock in the morning putting these together before they died and uh yeah we we raised like 60 butterflies 60 freaking butterflies congratulations man that's transformative wow yeah unbelievable were they made were they different colors i've all like they're they're pretty much the run of the mill orange like they're black

and orange on the back they're pretty like your standard walmart butterfly they're all beautiful uh they're your children after all uh Connor um you you you've knocked it out of the and really installed Christmas spirit at an all-time level right now. Yes. And we thank you for stopping by. And again, check out Connor on Twitter. And, of course,

over at SI and Monday morning quarterback, he's the man. We love it. Happy holidays, everybody. Where are the butterflies now? I need to know. They're just in the way.

They have like a two-week lifespan. It's over. They're in the wild. Let them out of the front door. You unleash them in like mid-December. Isn't that like when they're typically not? No, where do you live again? We let them go in October.

Yeah, we let them go in October. Right into the heart of winter. Have a nice time. Sorry. Yeah. We raised them to be strong individuals. And so I think that was important for us too. Unbelievable.

Connor, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, Connor. I love him. I mean, what an appearance by Connor. Would you expect anything less? Never. All right, before we go. First of all, a little housekeeping on Sunday, I was, you know, a little bit of joy, I must say, played some Scott Zolak greatest hits after the Patriots were eliminated from the playoffs. We expressed a level of, we were a little mystified about some of the things he said something about a jelly, especially.

We didn't understand it. Right. And then, of course, the listeners came in and helped us out. That is a reference from the 1989. Have you chased, picture, a Christmas vacation, and Colleen's wearing the sweater. Why is the carpet? What? Todd.

I don't know, Margo. So here is, just so everyone knows, this is what the, this is Zolak and then where the reference comes from. It's the gift that keeps on giving. He's the jelly of the month club. It's a one-year membership in the jelly of the month club. Clark, it's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year. All right. There you go.

And I have one more a gift for everyone. But before we do that, anybody have final thoughts before we sign off? And a reminder, we have our preview episode where we go through Week 16 that will go up a day early tomorrow. So you'll hear us again before Christmas. But any final thoughts before, you know, the holidays. And we sign off today. I'd like my boss, Frank Shirley, right here tonight. Rob from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with a big ribbon.

on his head. That's what I've done. Well played, well played. Greg, how about you, buddy? Ooh, I don't know. All right. Cool. Mark? I would just say that it has been kind of a crazy year, obviously, but we've probably logged 400 hours together on, I'm just of me staring at you on this computer screen I'm looking at, and it's, it's, I think I'll remember this year more than any other year of our show. It's been a very odd one and good too so thank you for uh sticking along with it that sounded a little too sincere no that was well said well said and doing it without west has been so tough but when he's been able to chip in uh that has made it uh those shows extra special it's been a challenging year but we've

been able to do it together how about you patrick claibon yeah i was going to double down on the sincerity because i mean we go back uh if not for you guys if not for dave damasheck like i probably never would have been on a podcast and i look at obviously took it entire social revolution for me to get a whole lot of opportunity in 2020, but that would have never been possible without you guys. And so for like you, Dan and you Mark and Wes and you Greg, like the things that you do, not just for us, but for everybody, because 2020 has been hell for so many people. And to be able to hear you guys talk about football, to facilitate this discussion about football and life all the time, you guys are crushing it. And you've always

crushed it, and I appreciate you. Thanks, Clayville. Thank you. You're the man. Greg, last chance. It's partly because my kids are melting down right now, and I need to be watching them. Hey, what's more 2020 than that?

I understand. All right. So, I sign off this way. I want to start a little tradition. Maybe it's a tradition. Maybe it's not. But I don't know if you're aware of, well, you know Rodrigo Blankenship, the cults kicker.

He's having a tremendous year. Hot Rod has been. killing it. He deserves to go to the Pro Bowl, hell, maybe even all pro, 29 to 32, field goals 38 to 40 extra points, hit another bomb this past week. What you may or may not know is that Rodrigo Blankenship has, for years, maintained a personal blog that he writes in in the third person. And if you comb your way through that blog, you will find his senior year of high school where he has some comments about his time on the soccer team and how it didn't always go to plan. So I call this, and again, we'll sign off with this and happy holidays, whatever you

celebrate to everyone that listens, but I call this a hot rod Christmas Carol headline Rodrigo's senior season ends on familiar note, no playoffs, yet near perfect contributions from Legatron. Here we go. Rodrigo's senior season for Sprayberry came to a normal conclusion for the struggling program as the Yellow Jackets gained no playoff berth and had a final record of 5-11 and 1, including a pair of meaningless victories over fellow have-nots, River Ridge, and North Atlanta, after being knocked out of playoff consideration by 5-0 Sequoia.

However, the 6-1-190-pounder was a veritable automaton, regardless of the positions he was assigned to play. Even though his teammates seemed to struggle, Rodrigo's standards of excellence were never compromised. He finished the season averaging well under one error per game. His touch efficiency remained near perfect at 99.8% and his past completion percentage rose steadily and to get more than 93% after completing more than 98% of his passes over the final three games.

Remove from the central midfield spot he had occupied for the previous two varsity season, Rodriguez became an immovable object at right back, while his teammates appeared to struggle in the midfield. For the season, Rodrigo was dispossessed only once for a grand total of two for the entire three seasons of varsity contribution, competition. For Legatron, a nickname coined for him by a Georgia Bulldog football fan excited about the upcoming fall season in Athens, a long season of frustration ended, ironically, on the bench. He was head-butted by a North Atlanta player while clearing a ball out of the penalty

area, sending him to the sidelines for the last six minutes of his career, diagnosed with a mild concussion. What? Merry Christmas, everybody. Thank you. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies

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