NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Are the Chargers Cursed?

Episode Date: May 24, 2018

A room filled with a couple of heroes- Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Colleen Wolfe & Gregg Rosenthal give you all of the latest news around the NFL including Chargers TE Hunter Henry suffering a torn ACL in practice (16:06), The New York Jets trading Christian Hackenberg to Oakland Raiders, (23:35) an amazing twitter fight, (33:35) and Richie Incognito being held on involuntary psychiatric hold. (40:19)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 freaking awesome. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. Dan Hansis and I am joined in a room that's filled with heroes. Connie Fox, Colleen Wolfe, to others. Chris Wessling and Greg Rosethal.

What's up, people? Hey, Dan. It's been a minute. It's been. I know. Great to see you guys again, see your faces. So great. You were back east in Philly doing, eating cheese steaks and ringing the Liberty

Bell, things like that. Obviously ringing the Liberty Bell. Like had to do that. Yeah. And Wes, you just got back from Tybee. And we've already, I feel like the, the Tybee event has been very well covered. We've been tracking it very closely. But now the man of the island is back.

So I was curious what your overall takeaways were from the weekend. It was a fantastic, magical weekend. And Greg did a good job of describing it as you almost feel like you're getting away with something. The people who live on that island have basically said to the rest of society, we're not following your conventions. We're flouting them. And it can be a little obnoxious. There can be a little hedonism,

but I think the redeeming value is that each of these characters has become so interesting and the way they live their lives that it's really a performance art. That the purpose of art is to create a pure moment and I can count, I would need two hands to count the pure moments

from the weekend. Great sell. We're like the tourism committee for Tybee Island. this point i love it well yeah what struck me is like the characters that west is friends with and they're all so different like they're they're all such unique characters and they could not it could not be a bigger it's such a cross section of people all bringing their own like flavor to the party by the way that huckapoo's hat is amazing oh yeah there was a little exchange i gave some

super bowl swag to a buddy in mine and he gave me the hookahs nice you know there is uh whether it's Austin, Texas, or Portland, Oregon, there is some communities that pride themselves on being different and unique, and it's like keep Austin weird, keep Portland weird. Maybe all us talking about Huckapoo's on some level puts it in danger. We don't want a bunch of basic people rolling into Tybee, right? We want to keep it weird.

We don't have to worry about that. The basic people go to Hilton Head. Right. Oh. And my sense is the people on Tybee, drive out the basic people. Yes. They don't make them,

they do not feel comfortable. Yeah. And I don't know if Greg told you about his gambling moment. No. We should definitely dive in. He typically hides these things for us. One of the best moments of the weekend was,

and this is hard to explain how this happens, but I am outside and it's dusk. It's dark. We're playing Cornhole for hours. And there is a section of the party inside in the drinking garage. Right. And my friend Denise has created this dice game, which she is called Terd Ferguson.

And I think she came up with the name on the spot. Sounds like it. I didn't even know all this was going on because I was playing cornhole. And I look over in every like five minutes, the whole garage just erupts. And if it was in cartoon form, it would be like the roof comes off for a mere second. And like there's this bright shining light and the whole building shakes because it just erupts in people like cheering and laughing. And it was Greg Winning. Wow.

I got a lot of like a lot of props. for my dice swag, just the attitude. I came in there and then just the domination. I felt like, like, it was crazy how Denise made it feel like I was Frank Sinatra in Vegas in like the 1950s. You were winning like sandwiches or food or like what were you winning? Like a tiny amount, like five bucks. It's a tiny amount of.

Greg winked as he said that by the way. It's a way Denise has as a performance artist. She was like Freddie Mercury working the crowd at Live Aid. She had the whole place in the palm of her hand for a minute. Uh, I look forward to like the, uh, Denise, uh, biopic to come out. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's coming. Um, all right.

So everyone's back together almost. Mark is in the wilderness. And by wilderness, I mean the middle of Los Angeles somewhere, wandering around, hopefully enjoying us. Is he? Is he? I don't know. We got a check.

I'll check. I have not been tracking. Uh, but we got a nice show coming up today. A lot of news to get to, including a very, uh, controversial new league rule that was agreed to by the owners and is leading to a lot of, uh, of talk, a lot of talk. Streets are talking. Both sides of the aisle.

Also, the dreaded ACL monster strikes again, hurting one of the front runners, I would say, for the team of ATL. And a lot of news to get to. Oh, my goodness. There's almost a Browns trade. Christian Hackenberg update. Richie Incognito update.

So much to get to. So we're going to do a lot of news today and really dig in on what's going on in the league during what phase are we in, of OTAs? Three. Phase three. How many?

I think four. Phase four. I like phase four the best. Really? Why? It just sounds really important. It would also mean phase four. That we're about to get our total dead period in a couple weeks.

We're almost there. Yeah, let's enjoy it having stuff to talk about now. And then to close the show, keep it kind of open-ended right now. But all you need to know is 44 seconds of freedom. Yep. That's it. I love it. But yeah, so much to get to.

So let's do it. Starting with the news. Loose Cannon back behind the glass for another day. Had it go with Shaq. It was pretty cool. He's a cool guy. He's a big guy. Yeah.

Well, we knew that. Yeah. You don't have to report that. No, he's really big. And he's very good thing they sent you there to find that out. Well, he comes off the elevator and he's like, what we're doing? What are we doing it? What are we doing right now?

And I'm like, um, hi. It's pretty good Shaq voice. Yeah, and I shook two of his fingers. And I was like, so we're just going to tell me what I got to say. For those, I don't remember if we talked about it on the show, but Erica shot something with Lakers and Heat and Mavericks and Celtics. Celtics. And, of course, magic, great.

Shaquille O'Neill. And it sounds like it went good. People should check it out, broadcast. Yeah. They got the broadcast. It's up. It was a good time. Let's do some news.

What's your name again? Ian Rappaport. Do you color that hair or is that a real haircut? It's real. Yes. What is that? It's so gold. That was Panthers owner David Teper in his introductory press conference.

So many things I loved about that. One, he didn't know who Ian was, which is great. And then, you know, he's putting a theory out there. That's not the first time I heard that theory. There was an certain ATN Media Insider, who's, I believe, posed that question. I've floated it toward Ian before, and he has always denied it. And, you know, it's funny, Greg. When you sent a instant message chat about that quote yesterday,

I thought that Ian asked Teper if he had colored his hair. And I was like, oh, that's a little out of Wrapsheets, you know. This wasn't a one-on-one either. This is in front of the entire, you know, room full of reporters on NFL Network. I'm not saying like NFL Network, although it's a very entertaining and informative channel. I'm not saying that like you have to be watching it if you're a football fan or executive, but do you want your owner to be aware of Ian Rappaport who's on NFL Network as the main. news insider? I mean, do you want your own? Does it matter at all that he has no idea what's going

on in NFL network? No. I don't think so. He's rich. He owns a team now. If anything, that's good. It's like he said he's going to, yeah, he'll let the football people take care of that. All right. It's been settled. Good job, guys. Keep your jobs for another day. The elves will build the shoes while he sleeps. Let's start, yes, with the news that came down on Wednesday. the NFL will enact a national anthem policy for 2018 that requires players and league personnel on the sideline to stand but gives them the option to remain in the locker room if they don't want to stand Roger Goodell announced on Wednesday under the change approved by team owners at the

Spring League meeting individual clubs will have the power to set their own policies to ensure the anthem is being respected during any on-field action if a player chooses to protest on the sideline the NFL will fight the team the player could also be fined by the team rap sheet and judy batista reported this was all unanimously approved by the owners it was kind of presented uh at least from the league side is a compromise but the union immediately piped up and said we weren't consulted on this we're not happy about this and of course this is a big story and now it's getting bigger again Greg? It is. And the most surprise, there's a lot to get into, but I'll start with the owners really

focusing on the phrase getting the focus back on football in 2018. And Roger Goodell, you know, the commissioner talked about that a lot. And actually, we do have a clip of Goodell talking. Let's listen to that. From our standpoint, this is a great opportunity to continue that partnership with our players and keep the focus on the progress and the programs that we think are so important in the communities. We're proud of that support and we think that that's how change is really going to be made. And I came away thinking, I just think this policy has such a strong chance to put the focus not on football. So if the expressive intent of the policy, literally that's what they said, is one of, if not the prime intent of the policy is to get the focus back on football and away from

politics. I think as we've seen today, but I also think it's going to continue in the next few months and into the season that it's going to go against what their intent is. Yeah, and it's obviously such a complicated situation. And no matter how you feel, I think a lot of times people start to dig their heels in even harder when this kind of thing comes up, especially when you're calling it an Anthem protest and originally like as we know it wasn't an anthem protest that was actually a sign of respect to kneel or to link arms and there needs to be a way for people to kind of voice their

opinion when they see injustices and you can't really silence people but the dialogue that players and the community and the teams have is the most important thing because that's the only thing that's going to lead to change and I don't know how much this new thing helps that. it falls on somebody to watch the money that's the owners they got to protect the brand and i get that that's why they acted the way they did they reacted to the president of the united states they reacted to all the controversy to protect their ban but protect protect their brand and the money that trickles down to everyone but i i agree with both of you guys i to me the focus is not going to be on football it's going to be reporters handpicking or or counting which players

were in the locker room, which players were not out there. So they're going to be identified, they're going to be castigated, they're going to be held up to scrutiny, and it's not going to be about football. By the end of last season, there was only a few people, a few players kneeling, and relatively it was not like a huge part of the conversation. And that's kind of what, you know, it's almost like a, it's not like it's just a, it's not just a PR problem, but if you're being real, that's part of the equation here that the NFL is trying to solve is publicly,

relations and I think it could go against public relations and have more focus on it when when this is happening you know what I don't know I think what jumped out to me and why I had questions about it was the idea that the the players association was not formerly a part of it and and Roger Goodell said that the league had spoken to tens if not hundreds of players getting their input. But to really, to me, in my opinion, to do it right, you needed to involve the NFLPA. And if you want to call it a compromise, it has to be a true compromise where the NFLPA puts out a statement too saying, we are behind what this is. And if they, if they can't come to an agreement, then you probably can't put in a new policy because all it's going to do is create a

situation like we have right now. So I agree with you guys that I think what this is going to happen, What's going to happen now is players that maybe were on the fence could end up going the other way as well. Or there could be a mass decision made by players to show that they didn't like being passed over and you could have more issues on the field. I mean, it is maybe a Pandora's box situation. Right, exactly.

That the way they had it now with no policy on some level, you know, makes more sense because there's so many things that this just opens up. Number one, like last year on the field, Shod Khan, Chris Johnson, many of the owners locked arms with players on the field during the anthem. Art Rooney, the owner of the Steelers, was asked a question whether he thought raising your fist or locking arms would be considered disrespectful. And he wasn't really sure about the answer, what the answer to that, but he thought so, yes. So I think under this policy, the actions of the owners last year when they did that would be fineworthy, I guess. There's just so many layers.

There's an absurdity to this situation that didn't at home for me until I saw the vice president's tweet with the picture of the players. And if you showed that picture to any group of people outside of this country on Earth, they would tell you that's about as respectful as human beings can act in any situations. If you showed that photo to Americans before 2000, before this century, they would say the same thing. That's about as respectful as a person can act. And the shame of it is that the NFL is doing a lot with the Players Coalition and they're taking all these grants and they're spending millions and millions of dollars in a sense to as a bridge to the players for this. And to me, all that's kind of going to get overshadowed by this policy. And I saw a quote that really struck with me. I think it was Robert Johnson, who's a very famous former district attorney general.

and he was like a lawyer in the Nuremberg trials. He's one of the most famous lawyers in U.S. history. And the quote was to believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds. And I thought that was kind of like a perfect quote that talks a lot about this. And the thing about this is we're going to be talking about it as soon as week one.

I mean, preseason, like you said, going to be watching the sidelines people are going to be talking about it this isn't going to end here and it felt like for a minute there was starting to come to an end at least right right that's um and on the field football news uh the chargers such a strong team on paper but they took a hit on tuesday third year tight end hunter henry suffered a torn ACL during practice anthony lynn um downplayed the injury initially, didn't believe it was too serious, then learned what the diagnosis was. And this is a Chargers team that had 25, I believe it was 25 players go to IR two seasons ago.

They had better injury luck last year, but they had all other issues last year, some of them brought on by themselves by moving the team, kicker issues. But now here's the injury bug again. And Wes will start with you on this one because Hunter Henry is a name that has come up a lot in this podcast as a guy who has a chance to become a star in this. offense, and now you've got to hit pause on that whole situation. Chargers were 0 and 3 last year before Hunter Henry entered the lineup. They went 9 and 4 the rest of the way with him in the lineup.

Emerging as one of the best all-around tight ends in the NFL. I believe Pro Football Focus had him behind only gronk. He blocks really well. He's a good red zone weapon. He moves the change. He moves the chains. And they won six or seven games down the stretch with Hunter Henry playing a big role. I think it's a crushing blow for the for the Chargers.

such a shame because this was his year, like this was his shot without Antonio Gates there for the first time in like 70 years. Hunter Henry could sort of get in there, I know, and be the focal point of the offense. And now they have a huge need at tight end. And so you have to

wonder, are they going to call back Antonio Gates and be like, hey, you know, everything that we said before. And it's not like we don't even know how much he has left in the tank because it didn't really look like he had a whole lot left anyway. So maybe they kind of get over it with all of their receivers. but it's an issue now for them for sure.

It's a shame. It's like they don't even let us Chargers supporters get to like August. Like I talked about it with Will Brinson on his podcast, Pick Six Pod. People should check that out. And like every there's like kind of this Chargers contingent. He's one of them. I'm one of them for sure. Wes is in the mix.

And it's like they don't even let us get to August with that like imaginary ideal charger. team in our head, and they always start chopping it down even before then. Who's they, the football gods? The football gods, yeah, because it's like, no matter what happens now with the Chargers, you'll always be, I'll be comparing it to this ideal Hunter Henry led Chargers team in my head that could have happened. Because I thought Hunter Henry, I was expecting him to be one of the top three or four Titans in the league.

That said, as crushing as this is, if they are actually a good team, they will overcome this. That's true. That's fair. So you can't now tamp down expectations. the Patriots, I know they're the Patriots. They lost Julian Edelman. They figured it out. Henry just happened to be kind of like the guy I was most excited about.

That rising star. I thought he was going to be kind of their most dominant receiver. As a Chargers booster, did you consider the notion, which I did not, when I wrote this article, it just popped into my head, that Mike Williams, the guy they drafted in the first round, could be like moved into a move tight end rule, a receiving tight end. It would make sense. He's got the size for it, for sure. And they've got three good receivers.

ahead of him on the death short. Another, by the way, ACL injury was Eagles linebacker Paul Warlow, who also suffered a torn ACL this week. And it is a reminder. It's a sobering reminder, and it sucks that these are some of the best, you know, athletes in the country, and they are in great shape, most of them by the time they get to this time of year. And sometimes it's just a ticking time bomb in there the knee. And especially that ACL, if you go through the years, every single spring and summer, there are major ACL tears.

I'll just go through a list real quick. So I wrote about this somewhat recently. Tana Hill and Edelman last year. Teddy Bridgewater, we don't know what happened to him. Jordy Nelson, Kelvin Benjamin, Dante Fowler Jr. in 2015. Sean Lee and Sam Bradford in 2014. There are always going to be guys that blow their ACL training for a new season. And Hunter Henry is the most prominent guy this year so far.

It makes you wonder about the value of reporting for voluntary OTAs. Yeah. Are you doing more damage to the team by showing up and risking it? It always seems to be on the first day. Or like Fuzzy Whitaker of the Panthers Tours A.C. That was on their first day of a certain day. I think Fowler was his first play of his first practice. Right. Henry was on the first play.

And they asked Anthony Lynn about it afterwards. And he said, oh, it's nothing. You know, we're just being careful with them because we can. And then it was a torn ACL. Speaking of the Eagles, so they lost Warlow. They also moved on from inside linebacker Michael Kendricks. They announced Tuesday, Mikhail. Michael.

Michael. That's what I thought. But I saw looks. We can call him Mikal. And I mispronounce his name. It is spelled with a Y. Glass-nosed. Anyway, interesting move, a surprising move, Connie Fox.

Yeah. Middle linebacker Jordan Hicks, coming back from an Achilles tendon issue, surgery and Warlow just got hurt. He just got to the team and yet they say goodbye to Kendricks, a guy that could probably help a lot of teams. Yeah, the linebacker position for me is the biggest question for them right now, especially after this. And Kendricks, I mean,

he filled in really well for Jordan Hicks last year when he went down and that's great for him because we know that he had asked the Eagles to be traded and we know that he kind of fell out of favor in Jim Schwartz's system. The Eagles kind of look at him as a two-down player and Kendricks

looks at himself as a three-down player. So now he has at least some good tape out there since he got the playing time, so he has a better shot at going to a team like potentially the Steelers who also have a need at linebacker trying to replace Ryan Shazier. But Kendrick's he's coming off one of his best seasons. And I think I at least realized that they were going to try and shop him around when Nigel Bradham re-signed with them. So that was kind of the telltale sign there.

But, you know, now he gets what he wanted. He wanted to be released. He's a good player. This isn't about his quality of play as much as the value of off-ball linebackers in the NFL. And the fact that the Eagles had the least amount of cap room of any team in the league. And people think, oh, well, they got past free agency. What do they need it for? I mean, they literally only had $300,000 of cap room.

And so if you want to make some long-term signings, which I know that they want to do or change some contracts, I mean, they had no flexibility. And he was due $7.5 million for a guy who's playing two downs. but he made a big impact, especially in those two NFC playoff games against the Vikings and the Falcons. I thought he was their best linebacker last year. He's a fat. I mean, he's a fast guy.

Even if he's only on the field, two out of three downs, it's 650 snaps. Like, that has a lot of value. Yeah, he wanted to get released. He wanted to get released back in February early March. He was going to get released in 2015. Right. They're boning them basically by letting me.

I don't know. I don't know why I use that word right now. Yeah, he is not going to max. The Eagles are boning. They're screwing him over. That's what I'm saying. Oh, I get it now. It's late.

It's late. They couldn't get a trade done. Apparently the Falcons maybe had some interest. Ian said, Ian Rappaport. Last year. He's not going to get the money, you wouldn't think, huge money. But a lot of teams will. Does anybody get huge money in late May?

No, that's what I mean. You're not going to get it. At least he got a ring. You never know. There's some teams that are intriguing. The Steelers is Ryan Shazier's replacement makes sense. How about the Colts? He can rejoin Frank Reich and give them a line.

He got bone, though. I agree. I think you should stand by. Boned in a big spot. He got boned in a big way. All right. And moving on. It is the end of the, it is the end of the Christian Hakenberg era.

Christian Hakenberg is real? Don't you have to have a snap? Don't you have to be active on game day once to have an era? Yes, one of the most infamous draft picks of this decade and one of the worst in Jets history. Christian Hakenberg, the 51st overall pick in the 2016 draft in the second round. And even though the Jets were a very bad team in each of the past two years, Hackenberg never got on the field. And there's only, I believe, one other instance in the last 30 years or so when that happened,

when it wasn't injury related. And it just wasn't happening. Hackenberg wasn't developing. The team obviously fell out of favor with the team quickly. And even though it's the same coaching staff, that's the other surprising thing about this. it'd be one thing if the first year he didn't progress well and then everybody got fired and then a new regime came in and like oh we don't like this guy but it was actually the same coach the same GM but even through last year through five and 11 including after Josh McCown getting hurt in early December where there was no hope and Bryce Petty was terrible Hackenberg still didn't see the field and he was a distant fourth on the depth chart to start OTAs this week he made some I guess negative ish comment. about the Jets not helping him enough. And sure enough, about an hour later,

he was moved in a trade to the Oakland Raiders for a conditional seventh round pick, which is, that's it. That's the lowest you can get without being given away to another team. So Christian- I want to find out what the conditions are too because I think that's going to put a pin on your point.

I have a feeling it's going to be free. It's going to be with the Super Bowl. Right, it's unless he's starting games over Derek Carr. It's whether he makes the roster, I believe. Okay. So there is an answer. And with John Gruden there? You think he's going to make that roster?

I don't know. I mean, probably not. And they have, of course, Derek Carr, they have E.J. Manuel. They have Connor Cook. Connor Cook there. So it's going to be very hard for Hakenberg to make the roster. Todd Bowles spoke about Hakenberg and what was an obvious misfire by the Jets. Let's hear what he had to say.

Anytime a pick doesn't work out, I guess you can look at it as a waste. And when a pick does work out, it's not a waste. You learn lessons from everything you're doing life. It's not just football and draft picks. So if anybody's got a four-leaf clover up their butt and that's going to work out every time, please let me know that person because, hey, it didn't work out here. Because you want to get the clover?

Why is he developing a personality in like year three? It takes some time. Better late than ever. Let me know that person because I got to get a piece of that clover. I want his butt clover. Can you think of a bigger indictment of an NFL quarterback than he never threw a pass on a team that started Bryce Petty in seven different games over two.

years. Yeah, it was a damning indictment. Yeah, I mean, I, I, I, the comment that he made was, was interesting about the Jets, just that he's kind of overhauling his throwing motion now. And basically he was like, yeah, I didn't really, you know, know what was going wrong with it over the last two years. No one told me, which I'm not going to like take Christian Hakenberg's side in this, but it is worth noting like, you know, McCagnan was like, there was all these stories.

He was like driving to Penn State through a snowstorm through. different times to watch Hackenberg personally at Penn State and he loved him and I'm not shocked if they didn't have like the greatest plan for the to how to develop young quarter you got to have a plan it's not really smart to be back in the bus up over your coaching staff when you're on the bubble of a roster though I think he saw the writing on the wall he was like he didn't even get any reps maybe it's not the throwing mation maybe he's just not a good player yeah and if I mean that's it got him it got him to Oakland actually it was kind of a good move like he was going to waste another a couple weeks with the Jets.

It got him there. Gruden might be literally Hackenberg's biggest fan. What he wrote about him before the 2016 draft when he was working for ESPN, basically saying this guy should be a surefire first round pick. If you see what he did his freshman year at Penn State, this guy could be the top overall pick. I mean, he thinks that coaching fixes. Poor Raiders. And as a Jets fan, there's no way to dress that up.

They had, they blew it. It was embarrassing. It was the latest kind of QB. It was the biggest QB. debacle for them since the butt fumble, you just hope that this is like the last laugh on them. And now I want I want him to have like light it. Glory. Light it up in the preseason under John Gruden.

And then Gruden makes these kind of vague comments where it's like, wait, could he possibly bench Derek Carr for Christian Hackenberg? And that's a whole story. And that would be that would actually work out for Big Mac because then it'd be like, yeah, see, there was something there. We never gave him a chance, but we have our guy anyway now. And now he's not bad. But that's probably not going to happen.

No. All right. In other news, speaking of quarterback, speaking of eagles, Connie Fox loves the Eagles. Right. Love loving those eagles. It all paid off in a big way. I saw her sobbing on the field. Yeah, that was embarrassing.

You know what? It was sweet, though. It was real. I don't really like to show that side of me, Dan. No. I was very vulnerable on the field. You are, I wouldn't call you a closed book, but you do, you know, there's a guarded book.

It's a bit of a wall. A little bit. Got to break through that. break through the wall. It's tough to break. But when I came upon you. Gonzo broke through that wall. Oh, yeah, you did.

Sorry. Anyway. I don't know the tone of Dan's voice. What? I was agreeing with you. Anyway, Colleen is an Eagles fan. That's nice. And you have any comments, Colleen?

No, I just kept going back to Boned in a big spot. I was like, how can I work that in? But I won't. I won't. All right. Anyway, Mike Silver is a columnist for NFL media, and he reported on Tuesday that Nick Foles, of course, the Super Bowl MVP, prior to the Browns acquiring Tyrod Taylor for a third round pick from the bills, the Browns wanted to trade for Foles, and they were willing to give up a very early second round pick, a really nice pick. 35th overall to get Nick Foles

and have the Super Bowl MVP on their team. But according to Silver, Nick Fawes said, nah, I'm good. Yeah, he's a god in Philly. Yeah, but he's not the starting quarterback. He wouldn't be the starting quarterback in Cleveland either. Well, this is before the draft.

You're probably right. They were going to take a quarterback at number one. You're probably right. And he probably knew that. And yeah, that is a good way to look at it. So he chose, I'll stay the backup in Philly and maybe start the season if Carson Wentz has issues over being a bridge guy or maybe not even that in Cleveland. I get that.

It's kind of a great scenario for him because he gets to be hailed as this hero in Philadelphia. He's the backup quarterback and this is a guy who was thinking about retiring. So I don't know if he really like has big time aspirations now that he won a Super Bowl. I feel like he can just kick his feet up and that's it. Wow, that's quite a statement. You're saying that he's lost the edge. Maybe he's just like, I'm going to ride this out. He did get to the top of the mouth.

Where is there to go? Or you're just smart. Like, which team would you rather be on? The Eagles or the Browns? I mean, if he's on the Eagles and he's rather be happy or sad. Right. Nothing even against the Browns in particular. This would almost be true of any mediocre team.

I'll go against the Browns here in a minute. Right. Mediocre team. He's in a great situation. And when he plays for the Eagles, he's got to be feeling like he's on top of the world. And that's even if Carson Wentz has heard or not, like if he plays, he's going to be playing in that Doug Peterson offense with those weapons around him. So the team that tried to pay more for Nick Fools than the 49ers paid for Jimmy Garoppel.

Also tried to pay more for A.J. McCarran than the 49ers paid for Jimmy Garoppel. I have no faith in this franchise whatsoever. And I think what people underestimate about having a franchise quarterback and getting to pay $30 million for a franchise quarterback, it's like a stupidity prevention or like a desperation governor. It keeps you from doing stupid... I'm the desperation governor. I like that. It's like the same way Andrew Luck uses as a governor for his injuries.

It prevents you from making stupid decisions, like overpaying tremendously for an average quarterback. And yet, and I think Nick Foles is, you know, ambivalence or, you know, displeasure about this idea can absolutely prevent the deal from happening. So I've seen some people saying, oh, the Eagles are stupid not to do this. It's like Nick Foles, A, probably had a real. saying it. If he says I don't want to go to that team, I'm definitely not like, you know, that's going to make the Browns not want to go after him. And on a second thought, I don't think the Eagles are stupid for not doing it. I'd rather have Nick Foles. I know that's like than that second round pick. I think it's the most valuable thing in the world is to have Carson Wentz

and then a Super Bowl MVP at the money that they have them at. It's so cheap. And you've seen how great Nick Foles can be at its very best in that system. That's an amazing luxury. This is a team that can win the Super Bowl right now. Like, I'd rather just keep Nick full than the second round. You don't realize how valuable a backup quarterback is until you need them. What was the joke that we had down in the newsroom about backup quarterbacks? Wasn't there that bit? You had the bit.

My, you know, memory only lasts like six months. You know that. It's all erased that. That's actually good. If we judged by the Patriots 2017 approach to backup quarterbacks, they are literally invaluable right up until the tree. trade deadline, then you just give them away. Like, they're off the table. Oh, year.

You can't even trade for them if you wanted to give three first round picks. But then at the trade deadline, they're eminently available. I forgot because it wasn't my joke. It was a Charlie Casserly joke. Yes, that's what I was going to say. And it was something to the effect of, see, you know, the most important person in your organization is your starting quarterback. And the second most important person in your organization is your backup quarterback.

And the third most important person in your organization is your third string quarterback. and the seventh most important person in the organization is the guy who gets the balls for the quarterback. Yeah, that's what I was making of. It's a great cancerly. See, I was trying to set you up for that. I'm glad it came to because it's one of your best things. You got there. You got there.

And speaking of this story, I love a good media slap fight. You ready for this? Yeah. Did you hear about this? Oh, yeah. Mike Silver, who I wrote. NFL networks. NFL media.

Oh, wait. I don't know about this. He, of course, penned the piece that we were just talking. talking about, about Nick Foles. He had the reporting. Mike Florio, Greg, you could choose the pipe in during this conversation or at a deference for the old boss. You could, you could sit it out. Your call. Mike Floreo of pro football talk. Florio comes out and says on his PFT handle, I'm sure that Hugh Jackson leaking that the Browns tried to trade for Nick Foles will go over well with his boss.

Ooh. And then what is? And then Silver replies. He don't like it. He don't like it. Silver replies, Hey, Mike. One, don't be a . Two, I had three sources. As cited in the story, Hugh was not one of them.

Three, attempted source. Yes, always triple source. Three, attempted source outing is stupid. Four, if you have something to say to me, text me. Wow. And then Mike, Florio replies, hey, Mike, Silver. This is amazing. One, you're basically Hughes agent.

Woof. Two, everyone. knows it and then silver comes back and silver comes off the top rope yeah he does i'm basically your daddy you can kiss the ring the next time you see me and i'll put you on my knee and teach you about journalism night sun kissy face what stop it right now we're stupid this is absolutely ridiculous he started it i mean it's true Someone did start that. Wow.

I don't even know if Florio replied to that, but that was, yeah. Oh, my God. That's amazing. I had no idea that happened. We were due for like a good Twitter fight. They've had some in the past. I don't think any got to this level, but I remember some when I worked at the empty. They've had some clashes.

They both aren't afraid, you know, to mix it up on Twitter. I will put you on my knee and teach you about journalism. DJ, move the stick. So I heard it starting a podcast. He actually tweeted at me and wrote, Guess we need to step up our beef. We're very much on the undercard at the moment. Which is very fair.

Moving on. Uh-oh. It's tropolert time. Tropolart. Troppanat. Troopanat. Norve Turner. Oh, we all love Norv Turner.

Norv Turner. What a guy. The offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers is invoking the name of two Of the most famous pocket quarterbacks that starred under his thumb, it was Troy Aikman and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. And the Panthers spent all of last season building up Cam Newton, getting him away from being a running of zone reed running guy, being more of a Ben Rothesberger type. And guess what Norv saying? Norsein, I see Cam as a guy that can get, that can be in the mid to high 60s in the completely. completion percentage to ESPN's David Newton and Chris Wessling, this fired Wes out.

Sometimes you get under Wes's skin. There's a big story behind this. It involves Carolina, Carolina Panthers lover, David Ely. Okay, let me throw it to you, Wes, and you take it from here. First of all, explain why Yili's involved and then tell us why this is such a trope. Ely found this story and asked me if I wanted to write about it. I read through it and I said I literally could not be less interested in this story or what Norv Turner has to say about his delusions of a guy who won an MVP award when he threw less than 60% of his passes,

suddenly becoming like a 68% passer. This guy's lower body and upper body do not act in concert when he throws the ball. So he's never going to be a 67-60s. Maybe Norr can help fix that. Or Nerv's delusional. Or this is just another one of those May stories that you just ignore throughout the window. And Ely was so good to me during my cancer battle. so he gets to tell me what to do now.

I ended up doing the story. Like, I feel bad, like... Wow, interesting. This sounds like my wife, Emeka, telling me that I wear the pants in the relationship. I'm not buying this. David Ely gets to tell Wes what to do. Well, for now.

I'm going to stay away. It probably will wear off by the end of the summer. I'm sure it has, like, some kind of natural time limit on it, where I just decided, hey, I did my penance. Ili's not telling me to write it, you know, my 18th Cam Newton story this month. It's like in the office when Dwight Lived. to Michael Scott when he tried to get his job

and then Michael Scott had Dwight do his laundry for two years. Like, I wouldn't have put you in the Dwight Shrewd category here, but you're kind of saying, I'm going to do something for you, but I'm going to, you're going to put it time on. I want to go read this article now and see the gritted teeth that Westwood. Yeah. I think Ely's

doing it from a place of respect. He really does find it interesting because he's such a big Cam Newton fan. He's such a big Panthers fan. I just don't find it interesting because I recognize a trope when I see. Well, you know, it's funny. I just recognize a coach run in his mouth when I hear it. Well, it's funny because I thought you were really zeroing in specifically on the 60% completion percentage or like high 60s completion percentage trope because that is one

actually. Every year, every year there's about three new quarterbacks that have a new coach and they're like, we're going to be in the high 60s. That's where we're going. And out of all those quarterbacks, what are you even talking about? And out of all those quarterbacks, Cam Newton is the least consistently accurate of anyone who was predicted to throw and not in the high 60 we believe that I think he could get him some easier throws though and that's what yeah that's the question is can gonna take him that's a short we'll find out but the question is but like norv all right this might still be this might be you know blowing smoke up our ass he might actually no he might believe it is what I'm saying it doesn't mean it's going to work out that way but that's just the coach's nature any coach

ask him in October he believes I mean maybe say anything it may mean get him to six in like a dream scenario. But not high 60. Yeah, a lot. I think Cam Newton is not inaccurate down the field. I think mid, like, if you take 15 yards and on, he's better than your average quarterback. The problem is that's kind of like his main thing.

And so that's what they build the whole offense around and you're not going to have that high a completion percentage. Didn't we hear last year they're going to do more play action and quick pass? That's the exact same. And then game three happens. They're like our offense is stuck. We need Cam to move the sticks by running the ball again on third down.

More Richie Incognito news, the former Bill's offensive lineman, who we talked about. On Monday's show, he was released by the Bills and intended to try to find another job. We'll see what happens with that because Incognito is being held for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation Wednesday after an altercation at a Florida gym. Boca Raton Police said via ESPN, Boca Raton police spokesman Jessica Desir said officers received a call from a patron at Life. lifetime gym about a disturbance involving incognito. He was not arrested, but it was taken into custody under Florida's Baker Act, which allows for involuntary psychiatric commitment for people seen as a danger to themselves or others. Police offered no further details on the incident, 34 years old.

Incognito, there was also a TMZ report that said that him and a buddy were drinking beers together. He decided an incognito that he needed to talk, someone, get some help, went to the center, and then changed his mind and was starting to cause a ruckus. And then at that point, they invoked, I believe, what's called the Baker Act and made him stay there. So scary situation involving Ritchie Incognito. I think he threw a dumbbell at someone. That was one of the things he was accused of doing, yes.

Can't do that. Like, that's, yeah, that's not good. Talking about the government. Well, it puts into context. Dan, you asked, I believe last show. It must have been you since we were the only people on the show. Just us. You know, why wouldn't maybe the bills just kind of let him come back to the,

or not allow him to be, not release him from the reserve retireless and kind of make him play for them. And this kind of puts them into context. Jeff Darlington, when he was working for NFL.com and NFL Network, wrote an article about incognito, a deep dive. And he's had psychiatric issues for a while. Life is hard. I can understand how your world tips over and you can't hang on.

so I hope he gets to help he needs. Yeah. In other news, Ben Ralthusberger caught some heat for comments that he made about not wanting to help out Mason Rudolph and being upset with the Steelers for using a third round pick on a quarterback. Ben, you thought that was kind of an issue, right? No evil. He just laughed.

I don't know what to make of that. Anyway, so he walked back those comments at the start of OTAs this week on Tuesday, which, as Greg told everyone, this is the phase three of OTAs. This is the phase three of this story. Like, you could have seen every single phase. You could have said exactly what was going to happen throughout this entire off season with this story. It's just getting, there is got to be a phase four. Yeah, I enjoy anything Ben Ralthusberger, controversy related.

There's going to be a phase four? I thought it lived, lived, it had a good life, enjoyed middle age, and this was his last dying gas. Let's see. Let's hear what Ben had to say about his comments and his thoughts about his teammate, Mason Rudolph. I think people took some things that I said into a context that I was going to be mean or rude or whatever, and that was not it at all. If you listen to the whole conversation, you said in gist and laughing and having fun, so I've never been the type to just be rude or mean to other quarterbacks.

You can ask Jones, and I've had a lot of quarterbacks through here that have been younger than me that I've tried to help any way that I can. So, you know, I'll continue to do that. Ben, were you being serious when you told them? Oh, okay. So it's all just a bunch of fun. Phase four is like really going out of your way on the media attended practices to do like helpful things that the media season. Then they're talking.

And maybe phase five might be, you know, they're going to get together and throw, you know, passes with the receivers, you know, before training camp, you know, off campus and stuff. And he's going to invite Mason Rudolph kind of as a goodwill. Don't forget about phase six. where during a media availability portion of practice, he'll be seen carrying the helmet and the shoulder pads of Mason in a gesture of solidarity, but also a little wink and an effute of the media. Right.

I like that. I mean, it's chivalrous too. We as the media have extracted every bit of news out of the story possible. The husk is dry. Face 7 is actually Mason Rudolph just knocked Ben out. Just knocks him out. Breaks his jaw in two places. And then becomes.

the greatest quarterback of all time. So stay tuned. So many phases. That's what's happening in the news. All right. So I think, I think especially with the lead news item today we had about the national anthem and the idea of what it is to be an American freedom of expression. What's freedom of expression done right?

What can no one deny? and you can say what you want in this country well you can't you can't scream fire in a crowded movie theater so you can't do that and you can't make you can't do bomb bits in an airport that's out now that's and you can't

threaten the life of a public servant whether it be the president or anyone else so there are there are some things you can't do but other than that you can pretty much say whatever you want and Greg that's what makes this country great isn't it it is all right good that's good I thought you were looking

for the Ben Rathesberger left. Ben, that's what's great about America, right? Okay. I just see, he's being passive-aggressive today. So what we're going to do is, and you could thank Greg for choosing how much time we had. Greg decided 44 seconds was just enough freedom for each of us today. Well, I came up, yeah, I came up with the idea,

and I thought 48 seconds. But then we have the 48 minutes of the AFC that's not. Don't want to box yourself in. You don't want to be predictable. 44. So this is your idea. That's right. Greg.

Making sure everybody knows. Humble explanation. No, so although 48 seconds would have been different than 48 minutes. That's true. It's true. But we're going to do 44 seconds, which is totally outside the box. And no other podcast is doing this. I want you to show me one other podcast that dedicates 44 seconds to each member of the show to express themselves freely.

In fact, when I heard about this, I thought I missed something and that the 44 had represented something in the news or something that happened. So then I spent about 10 minutes looking around because I didn't want to let you guys know that I didn't know what was going on. Big waste of time. It's the right amount of time. Was it maybe an Obama ref? He was the 44th president. He was a great man.

Eric Davis is a uniform number. Eric Davis. Hank Aaron's uniform number. I believe the National League hitting streak record is 44 games. Pete wrote. Not as good as 56. The AL streak and the AL better than the NL as we talked about on Twitter. The AO's little Johnny come lately to the party, of course.

The NL being there first and establishing themselves. Is this going to be your 44 seconds for you? You'd still be playing cricket without the NL. All right, here we go. Colleen, you're going to get us going. Whoa. And what we're going to do, Erica, loose cannon behind the glass. You're going to time this.

Yep. It's very important to hit this 44 seconds. Oh, shoot. Because that's what it's all about. All right. As soon as it, and you don't have to worry about timing. Okay. Or you could to know where you are.

But you cut the mics. Just cut up. Wow. There's no. Let me. get a couple extra seconds in. Okay. All right.

I'm ready. All right here. And you could start. And we can just say anything we want. Talk about anything. Other than other than the guidelines that you already put out. Fire in a theater. Right.

Not in a theater. Bomb stuff at the airport. Not an airport. Public servant like death threats. Not at the white. Violent threat. Got it. Okay.

Okay. When the music starts, you start. Okay. Go. Killing Eve right now is probably the best. No, not probably. It's the best show on TV. And if you're not watching.

it, you're missing out. Sandra O. and Jody Comer, they are the two leads, and they're awesome. It's about an MI5 agent trying to hunt down an assassin, and she's psychotic. It's wonderful. Also, I'll Be Gone in the Dark is my new favorite book. Another sort of thing about a psychopath, sociopath, so what does that say about me? I don't know. Shout out to Supercuts and Janine for fixing John's hair today. It looks really, really good. Also, everybody, follow the broadcast iRL on Instagram and Twitter and I've been grilling a lot lately

this is my odds and ends because I really did not I just put some bullet points I've been grilling a lot lately tweet me your recipes if you are really into anything because I'm trying to get outside the box oh

she's cut honey box outside the box and and good job by all three of us because I think it's very important yes you could react with a chuckle or any type of expression like that but no speaking by anyone else you give that person their freedom for those 44

seconds no Colleen was creative I didn't even didn't even cross my mind to talk about like a million different things yeah well you it's not too late you're gonna be the last in the boomer okay uh and any thoughts what was that I'll be gone in the dark I'll be gone in the dark by Michelle McNamara oh yes old state killer I just watched a 48 hours about that yesterday and the book apparently is incredible I can't watch I can't read it while John isn't home like it's that they it is She famously, she passed away last April, and then Pat and Oswald, her husband, widow, had these two other dudes finish the book. And I was curious. It's so well done.

It's awesome. She's an amazing writer, was an amazing writer. Interesting. Check it out. All right. All right. Wes, it is your time to shine. Before I start, I'd also echo Colleen's recommendation to follow the broadcast on all social media.

Thank you, Wes. Thanks, Wes. Nice. You're grilling, too, huh? Yeah. Yeah. I've been grilling. I'll use some stuff.

Yeah, okay, that's great. Awesome. Good for you. Okay, this is a passage from a book called Sapiens, a brief history of human kind. Wait, wait, I want to make sure, Wes, let him do that setup. Okay? All right.

I just want to make sure you get your 44. You don't need to set up. You deserve your own 44. All right. It's a book passage, everybody. The European Empires did so many different things on such a large scale that you can find plenty of examples to support whatever you want to say about them.

You think that these empires were evil monstrosity that spread death, oppression, and injustice around the world? You could easily fill an encyclopedia with their crimes. You went to argue that they, in fact, improved the conditions of their subjects with new medicines, better economic conditions, and greater security. You could fill another encyclopedia with their achievements. Due to their close cooperation with science, these empires wielded so much power and changed the world to such an extent that perhaps they cannot be simply labeled as good or evil. They created the world as we know it, including the ideologies we use in order to judge them.

Ooh. Wow. Sounds like a page turner. I just found it relevant today. The book again was... Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. Do you want to expound upon that at all? I just found it relevant for today.

Maybe you shouldn't. I see what you said. I think listeners can draw their own connections. I gotcha. You like that book? I was telling Colleen before the show that it's one of the most eye-opening books I've ever read and definitely the most important book I've read in the past decade or so. That's a lot because you're a big reader.

Maybe our Fourth of July week's show should be the return of the book club. Yes. I'm still working on the first one. That's what you can put in the can, Gregie. We could. So you're going to be in it, right? You famously didn't want to be involved in the book club one last time. Well, I wouldn't go that far.

I was away. I have a couple books to talk about actually I might not be here Let's do it We might have to pre-tape it All right Here we go I have a message for the person

Who continuously allows their dog To defecate on my front lawn And chooses not to clean up the droppings I want you to know that I am happy You are doing this Why? Because I know that I am going to catch you And when I do I am going to take my time with you

We are going to get to know each other Very well I won't say we'll become best friends but you will remember my face in the same way. I will be etched into your mind forever. You want to turn my lawn into your canines' personal toilet? You want to be the neighborhood, bad boy? Well, you should know that comes with a price.

The cost is everything you own and everything you love and everything you are plus interest. Till we meet. And oh yes. Wow. It was so strong. It was so strong, but for the listeners at home, there was one final kicker line.

And I can't say it. And you didn't get it out. Can we say it for you? If you want. He said, and we will meet. Is there going to be a ball gag involved? I can't say anything else. Freedom of expression, again,

even though this person is probably not a public servant. You can't just. Yeah, those people. As a dog owner, I have bags on me at all times. I am not that person. Is there anything? I get a lot of that. I mean, we're in a highly trafficked area.

And also, I can see out into the front from my window. So sometimes I see them. I make sure. Treat yourself with respect. Get a bag and clean up at your dog. Come on. All right, Greg. Close this out.

All right. Well, like Wes doing a little lit shout out. RIP to Philip Roth. Last night passed away. One of the legends. Like, I wish I kind of lived in a time where an author could have as much. impact and social currency and matter as much as Philip Roth did. I mean, he, even among American writers, I mean, he might be the guy from the last

50 years, which is a pretty long time. Goodbye, Columbus is amazing. The ghost writer, changed my life. Prague Orgy, really all the Zuckerman Bound books. And then he wrote a great, great book about his father called Patrimony. You know, they never gave him the Nobel Prize. Screw you, Nobel Prize, people. Because ultimately, Philip Roth is going to be remembered more.

As the guy who... Oh! What's he going to remember? Oh, no. What a cliffhanger. You have to wait next year until we do this again. To find out what Philip Roth's going to be remembered for.

I actually, I would like to help you the way Collian helped me, but it actually, I didn't hear it because the music was loud. It was ironic what I heard it. Oh, you want to help out, Greg? Yeah. Well, I think it was just one word that got cut off, right? Yeah. Snubbed.

There you go. Like I was by this game. Wow. You set the time. Yeah. Straints. If you kept it 48 seconds, you're golden. Yeah, some people just hit their marks.

Oh. Oh. Shots fired. All right. Good freedom, guys. Yeah. Great freedom. That's great.

You got a little freedom in the backyard this weekend. The old Zeus is going to have a little BBQ. Luce County, you want to come? Hell yeah. All right. It's going to be more than 44 seconds. Yeah. You know,

I don't like having people over, you know, that are outside my comfort zone. So I only, I'm only having people over that. I'm going to bring Blitzin and she is going to shit all over your yard. That's fine. You bring a bag, as we talked about just now, because you know what happens. You know the way I react when people disrespect my yard, my yard. I know. I got to get my Super Bowl clothing out of storage, get my earmuffs and hat.

It's always so cool. The band's backyard is the coolest place on earth. It does have a reputation that I can't control. It's like a polar vortex somehow. I don't know how. It's true. All right. So we'll be back on Friday.

It is our final, it is our final show of three weeks for a little bit until we'll have about, you know, about six, eight weeks where we do two shows a week. And then we'll be back full tilt come training camp. But we're not going anywhere. Right. All right. Good. A little sir. Just a little note for the audience.

Great show. Good show. Fun times. All right, let's go. Stan Hans is signing off for Connie Fox, the mailman, the old boss, the loose cannon, the whole gang. Till Friday. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Fulrio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft

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