NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Cam Jordan Extension, Paintball Injuries, and Favorite NFL Games

Episode Date: June 12, 2019

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all the latest news around the NFL including Cam Jordan signing a 3 year extension (11:23) , Shurmur not ruling out Daniel Jones starting over Eli Manning (16:36) and a paintball injury between Coach Belichick and Van Noy. (25:20)To close, Marc Sessler takes us through his favorite five NFL games of all time. (47:32)Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast wants the giants to go all the way. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. Joined in a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

You guys might not be aware, but we had a close call yesterday. We almost lost one of our own. I was like, wait, did the softball team play, but that's tonight. We'll get to that, too. There's some softball drama that I want to touch on on the show as well. Wes, my consigliary, my Don Zimmer, we were conferring this morning about some drama with the softball team. We'll get to that. But I think the most pressing issue is that we almost lost our dear Erica Tamposi last night in a, what we,

was described to me by Erica. She shouldn't use these words exactly, but it was kind of put out there that it was close to a five-alarm fire in her apartment building that nearly scorched her alive. But she's here. She's alive.

Wow. Let's welcome her into the show. I made it. I made it out. What happened? Woke up at probably like 4, 4.15 in the morning. My window was open. There's the heat wave.

I had the AC going, whatever. And I was like, why is there like a dump truck outside my window at 4 in the morning? and then all of a sudden I smelled smoke and I was like oh my god that's not a dumb truck that's a fire truck so I so I hop so I hop out of bed like fly out of bed and I'm thinking maybe I left on the stove or oven like I got home late maybe I forgot to do something and nothing's on nothing's on fire in my actual apartment but outside of my I have this huge window in my kitchen that overlooks really open window and it was just gray with smoke like

smoke and it was coming through so I was like shutting the windows I'm running around and put like and then I go outside and there's put some dramatic music under this by the way did you have the presence of mine to hit the hot butt drop with the whimpering man in the background yeah seriously it was

so warm it was like it was I've never seen anything like it smoke was like bellowing through my window closed windows and I went outside and the firefighters are there and they were there two dumpsters were they were they hot. Yeah, there was like 10 hot guys just like spraying. Yeah, just like spraying. With suspenders

but no shirt underneath. Yeah, I had like my retainer in. It was four and morning. And then I woke up. Yeah. And they, I think like either two homeless guys apparently were awake and saw the fire and ran to the fire station and rang the bell because there is a fire station around. Heroes. Right? Not all heroes wear capes. I talked to them this morning and they did say that they ran to the fire station. station to grab the fire. You talk to the vagrants? Yeah, this morning. They're still hanging around here.

Wow. Yeah. They're people too, Dan. They're still there. But they said that the dumpsters were like set on fire. By who? Well, they don't know. Hmm.

Yeah. That's suspicious. Up my entire wall through my... Got any X's? Yeah. Yeah, a couple. All of the walls are scorched. My garage door is scorched.

My car has burn marks on it. Oh, dang. It's a total. disaster and now my entire apartment reeks of smoke. Well, you're moving so it's perfect timing. When are you moving? This weekend. Wow, it's almost suspicious. The last act

of a vandal. The timing is a little They're going to screw me. Yeah, a detective I mean, I don't know what you would gain out of this. It's not like you're getting insurance money for an apartment you're renting, but the timing is kind of beautiful for you. Yeah, but maybe they did it. See you later. Maybe they did it so I don't get my security deposit back. One question for you because I once

had cut it off your nose to spot you. In an apartment in Arizona, I started to cook rice and beans, fell asleep. And like an hour later, there was massive knocks on my door. I opened the door and it was like beefy firemen because my apartment was filled with smoke. The rice and beans had burnt. But my clothing for the next, like, month, smelled like a hideous smoker's nightmare. And you couldn't get rid of it, no matter how much you wash you. Is your clothing a disaster at this point?

My whole apartment smells like dead. trashed fire. Do you smell like it right now? I mean, I showered. Can you come in here a second? Yeah. Okay, I want to smell you. Come on in.

Wait, you're serious. Yeah, I'm serious. I want to see if you smell like fire or a dumpster. And even if it had nothing to do with the fire, you're covered. Smell like a woman. No, you're fine. You're okay. You're fine.

So that's good. So it didn't catch everything. Yeah, no, my place is fine. but if those homeless guys that potentially set it off didn't go get the firefighters, then my entire room and everything would, like my house, it was under my garage essentially

and my house would have just blown the hell up. And to tie this whole thing together, one of those homeless men was the guy that lived on Greg's front step for a maze. Yeah, maybe it's revenge. All right, good story. I'm glad you're okay, Erica. That is scary.

Fire, fire bad. A wise man wants it. Well, he wasn't wise. Well, it's also good. He's a monster. It's also like one of the greatest inventions in human history. What, the Frankenstein monster? Fire.

Oh, fire. He in trouble without fire. Invention? Somebody had to invent it. Just like somebody cracked open the first oyster and said, let me eat that. That's true. That is a brave person. I ever did that.

All right. So, Ricky's alive. She smells fine. I don't know about the rest of her wardrobe. Wednesday show. Mark, you wrote a banger. How about that? Some of your favorite.

games ever wow did that take work that takes some actual effort well a look behind the curtain it was meant to be 10 games and i got five in and it was like 2,000 words long so i just made it five games oh yeah no that's that's that's that's absolutely the strategy of my writing at this point it's like there's an off-season call it's like wait i'm already at 1,300 words it's like oh that eight takeaways is now five like no one knows a difference it's fine but i vouched for the five that I included. Good. We're going to talk about that.

And speaking of takeaways, they announced the Hard Knocks team, the Oakland Raiders. I wrote a piece for dot com. We'll get to that as well, talking about the Raiders on Hard Knocks. But before we do that, let's take a spin through the news.

Clip ball back in. Morgan. The holders are often running at France 2019. Towards goal and turned in from close range. Easy as you like. Morgan again. Is it going to be 13? It is.

Sympathy from the USA players, but an emphatic victory for the USA. Okay, so the United States women's soccer team, who are the defending World Cup champions, defeated Thailand yesterday 13 to nil. And first of all, there was some pearl clutching about running up the score, and I'm curious what you guys' thoughts on that. But more, I don't want to sound too like, what is it, jingoistic. But is this yet more evidence that, and I know the overseas listeners are going to come after me at this, after this, the women are so great, we are so tremendous that we are dropping 13 bombs on these teams. If we just canceled the NFL and the NBA in baseball and just funneled all of our might into our soccer program, we could be doing this damage on the men's side, right? We'd be winning World Cups, right?

Yeah, you're nay. I think nay. I think also nay. You know, it's more about like... Maybe 20 years from now. Yeah, I mean, I think it certainly would help. But it's also like an infrastructure and a tradition and a culture, which is hard to just kind of like snap your fingers and create.

It's one of the reasons why... I'm not saying in four years. Right. No, yeah, but in 20 years, if you have children today were all funneled into one sport and that was the only sport they were playing. It's one of the reasons why our women are so good is because we do have a culture of women's sports, which is superior to much of the world and even interest. I mean, people, I think outside the country have a hard time realizing, like, how popular

the women's national team is. It's got more Twitter followers than the men's team. We like winners. It's a function of timeline. At the beginning, towards the beginning decades of most sports, games are less competitive, and there are more blowouts. But as the sport evolves, and women's soccer came after men's soccer, it gets more and more competitive. So I think it's more that women's soccer is still relative in its infancy compared to

men soccer. I like your idea. Right. But at no point where we ever dominant in men's soccer, we've always been terrible. But other men's teams were, say, in the 1930s. Right. But your plan is, it's a long range plan. And it's really one of my plan. Well, I know, but I like it, but it's vengeance. We're not going to sit in this situation where the men's team, which didn't even make it last time, spend the next two or three decades and start to dominate. It seems counterproductive though, to hurt our basketball and football. I think let's just... Why don't you just root for the women for now, Dan?

I am. I am. Of course they are. Yeah, it cares about the men. But you know what? I do care about the men. It's an incredible sport, especially the World Cup. And it's fun and it's cute.

Like, maybe the men will make it through to the next round. No, at some point, I'd like to see the U.S. soccer men's team make a real run in the World Cup. I feel like that would set the country on fire. As things stand, though, I feel like we're kind of... Hmm. We're limited in our developmental capabilities because we have so much talent going to other. Last time was embarrassing for the men. Right.

But the women can set the thing on fire. Win it again. Just set Erica's dump for on fire instead. Which is fine. Don't try to turn this into Dan. You don't care about women. I'm happy about the women. I think there's a point to be made there that the country as a whole is not going to get behind a men's team more than the women's team.

It's unfortunate, but that's true. I don't even think that's what the Dan was saying. Right, no, but I mean, imagine if Serena Williams was a man, like, how big of an icon she would be relatively and how much, like, people would watch it more. I think about that all the time because I love women's tennis, like, that, like, if she was, if she was a man, like, people would be so much more into tennis. It's sexist. And it's also, it is not sexist, though, to say that the men's World Cup is a much bigger deal than the Women's World Cup. That's all. I'm not saying, we could say that without being sexist.

Right. Not in, not, the interest level in this country is, is pretty similar, I would say, but pretty much everywhere, most everywhere else. Well, if the men were good here, I don't think it would be the same. When the men were playing at the garage, the one we went to, you, they were breaking fire codes. I don't know if that's happening at the garage right now, just to be honest, the part of the street. I just, I guess, I mean, like, ratings and interest level, yeah. That's the battle they're fighting. All right, let's get into it. Let's get into some news.

Cameron, Jordan, and the Saints do business. A new three-year deal for Jordan the second time he's been extended by the Saints. He's now signed through 2023. He's 30 years old. And this is a guy who has been one of the key members of this defense for years now.

And Greg, we talked about this. There's been a couple different cases of this offseason of maybe a new trend in the NFL, of teams not necessarily needing to take care of their best guys. Jordan in this case had two years left on his previous extension, but the team going to the player and saying, let's make a deal, let's keep this happy marriage happy. And that's how I read this situation.

It's a great marriage, a productive marriage, so why not do everything in your power to keep it that way? Absolutely. A rare guy that has really gotten better. He was good to begin with, a very good NFL player to start, and he's gotten better basically every year of his career. I mean, the last two years have been his best two years, and he continually gets better. They're a team that's in a little bit of cap, has some cap issues.

I was talking to someone that there's, in 2020, there's a lot of cap rules because the end of the CBA is happening. And the way that you can push money into the future is not nearly as easy in 2020 as it would be basically every other year, because you don't want to be pushing it into this nebulous non-CBA area. I don't know if that's part of it, too, that they're saving some cap money in the short term by giving a guy who deserves it some money. They have a stacked defensive line. I mean, we've spent most of this podcast up until the last couple of years talking about the Saints being a lopsided offensive-based team. But when you sign one of your defensive core guys, now you're probably projecting him to play into a post-Drew Breeze era, not to go down that whole wormhole. But you may become more of a defensive team at some point, and you've got to keep these guys around.

But also, for me, I look at Cam Jordan. You lost Mark Ingram, who I think was the ultra leader in that locker room, one of the dudes, and Cam Jordan's right up there. The only thing that he's delaying is the minute he leaves the NFL, I think his media career completely takes off. And the minute, that is already beginning. And so it's just when he wants to shift right into that career. He might be here, I feel like.

Like a future. Seems like one of those hires. The last two years, if you remove Aaron Donald from the conversation, this guy's right there for defensive. player of the year he's in the mix i wonder by the way cameron jordan that he's entering i believe is either ninth or tenth season he signed through 2023 if he actually played through that contract it would be 13 years with the saints his dad steve jordan played 13 years with the vikings uh has that ever happened before has ever a father and son had careers of that length with just one team the matthews

oh with the same team well the matthews is certainly uh had longevity but clay matthews is run in green bay is now That was close, but I don't know. I did notice that they're using the Jordan family in some advertisements for the upcoming Shaft movie. Something to do with like Dad's, like Father's Day, Dads, and it's like the Jordans and Shaft and his dad. I don't know what it all means. That movie also looks like a minor disaster to me,

but a separate topic. Moving on, other money matters, so the Saints pay their stud on D. The Jaguars aren't. going to do that with theirs. Jalen Ramsey has been made aware that the Jaguars do not plan to give him an extension

this year. The Jaguars Corner said Tuesday during minicamp, he's been told he's not getting that extension. He believes that he's outperformed that rookie deal. He's probably right. But the Jags are waiting it out. Here's what Ramsey told the Florida Times Union. I'm not down about it or anything like that.

I'm blessed. And he's made a ton of money. He's going to make, they exercise their 50 option on the former number five pick he'll be he'll make almost 14 million next year uh he's getting paid relative peanuts for his ability this year at 3.6 it has the talent to be the best corner back in the NFL and i think if you're the jaguars you say our locker room was a disaster in 2018 let's see if this guy becomes the leader the leader that we need on defense before we lock him up i mean there's no reason there's no hurry here he tweeted a dion thander's quote yesterday

I'm going to ask for so much money. They have to put me on layaway. Those fifth year options, by the way, kind of bang the first round picks. Just a tiny bit. Like, if you could choose whether you... Did that the purpose of them? Yeah, basically.

Like, if you could choose whether to be, like, the 34th pick in the draft or the 31st, and you turn into a star, like Michael Thomas, for instance, you would rather be the 34th pick because you get the free agency quicker. I don't recall growing up a bunch of players where they would re-up, like, two or three years into their rookie deal.

That was not a phenomenon back then. Today it certainly is because you want to get them earlier than later. The Patriots famously did it with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gruncowski, like the first day possible that they could. Worked out well with one of those. It was the worst contract in Anniville history. It's time to talk about the Giants quarterback situation. There has been an assumption made by some that Eli Manning will be the starting

quarterback of the Giants. That's not an assumption. that's what the Giants told us. Week one, week one this year, week one next year, week one the year after that. However, there is the reality that the Giants use the sixth overall pick on Daniel Jones and the head coach, Pat Shermer told Tom Rock of Newsday that, you know, the team, you didn't tell him this. Leaving the door open for an actual camp battle this summer, here's what Shermer had to say. He's on track with the goal to be ready to play on day one, Shermer said of Jones. The QB stuff will be on the front burner for everybody. I get that. but he's on track. Shermer then added, we're going to play the very best player. I know we're dancing around the words here, but right now Eli is getting ready to have a great year,

and Daniel is getting ready to play. We'll just see what happens. We feel good where Eli is. He's our starting quarterback, and he's got a young player that we think is going to be an outstanding player, getting himself ready to play. It all sounds like to me that it's just a matter of time,

maybe not week one, but the hand-wringing unnecessary. Sorry. Well, the more... This is a different message from the Giants. This is a death... This happens all the time. It happens all the time.

It's not just the Giants. No, this is the Giants. This is what the Giants said. Eli's our quarterback. And now Shermer is allowed to talk instead of Gettleman. And Shermer, I mean, this is a great idea. I think for professional sports teams to put their best team on the game. Well, I also think Daniel Jones, you know, we don't put much into OTAs and mini-cams.

But if I'm a Giants fan, I'd prefer the drips and drabs coming out of Giants camp about how good Daniel Jones has looked versus the opposite, which often happens with rookie quarterbacks. And, you know, Pete Trager was on Good Morning Football talking about, you know, Jones's athleticism saying he's becoming a Paul Bunyan-esque figure. Like people talking about, you know, a guy that's in the NBA draft who was at Duke talking about how Daniel Jones was like an AAU legend, dunking over 610 guys that he's hitting home runs at softball games. And he's kind of impressing everyone at the Giants camp, just that he's a badass

athlete, which I'd also say this is Pat Shermer's last chance to be a head coach. If this doesn't go well, it's not going to happen again. And he would have a different message and desire to move on to the young guy and be tied to the young guy that everyone's not going to expect the world from in year one versus a sinking ship with Eli Manning that he's going to be blamed for all season long. I just think it's a good idea when the front office stays out of it and lets the coach play his best players. It's not a bad idea. It's always The writing was on the wall the day they made that pick. And you could parse words or look at what the GM is saying about the quarterback and the veteran

and what the coach is saying about the rookie. But it's all, it's just a countdown right now for a new Aaron Giants football. But there are situations where a GM says, hey, this is what we're doing. We're playing this guy. And then the coach is not even allowed to open the competition. That was my issue with it. You don't see the Cardinals saying, yeah, we're going to start someone else. They're going to start the guy they drafted.

It's also, there is the matter of, and I know he's not respected very much in this room, but Eli Manning is a legend of that franchise. They should have been cut two years ago, but that's... But, Z, you look at black and white with Eli, but that organization has some fuzzy feelings for him. So it just makes it a bit of a trickier transition. I think the Giants have had a terrible offseason. I'm on the same page with you guys, but I don't think this is such a black and white issue.

I get what you're saying, though, Wes. Ultimately, we're on the same page, ultimately. Put your best team on the field. It's a big wide page, and you're on the field. It's a big wide page and you're both on it, but you're not next to each other. It's one of those, remember the old printers? It's one of like, little dot matrix action. Yeah, we're on the same role somewhere.

Moving on, more extension news written, this piece written by Lakeisha Wessling. Oh, yeah. Wow. By the way, your wife looking banging in this headshot. Is that appropriate? Can I say that? Sure. I think you can.

I don't think anyone could, but you can. She looks great. And, you know, in our internal NFL media inbox, Lakeisha, who works on the editorial desk when she sends out various things during the day now, I keep on seeing like Wessling posting some new Damashek podcast. I'm like, oh, Wes is finally writing again. She should teach a class in like headshot photos

and we should be her students. Because she really did a lot with what she, that little, it's just a small little, area you got there. Just filling up that box. I wouldn't limit it to headshots. I think we could ship students in several areas. Ours could use some work, no doubt. Anyway, Lakeisha wrote this piece

for dot com. Vikings and Kyle Rudolph agreed to terms on a four-year deal. $36 million extension. Tom Pelliserro, our own Tom Pelliserro had this. Rudolph confirmed weeks ago that the team had offered him a five-year extension. Both sides are working to get it done.

It keeps them in Minnesota. They have a young kid, Irv Smith, great name, who was drafted in the second round in April. So that's the kid of the future. But Rudolph, who's had injury issues. But, Wes, this is a guy that has put up the numbers before. And you could see a healthy Kyle Rudolph, even a little bit older, getting on the same page with Kirk Cousins and making some magic, right?

Hasn't missed a game in the last four years. And I think he's one of the few tight ends in the NFL who is just as at depth at blocking as he is at catchy. So he's not going to blow any fantasy football guys out of the water with his production. But I think the Vikings value him because he can do both things well. The other guy, they have David Morgan and Tyler Conkin. Outside of your guy, Irv Smith, those guys were on the field for less than 80 passing snaps last year. Rudolph dominated that part of their offense.

So why would you, there was rumors they're going to move on from him in all this, not this year. Irv Smith sounds like a respected record label executive at Capitol Records. Oh, yeah. Like a guy that's making some deal. has worked with the Eagles, and he's still in the mix. Not the team, the rock band of the 70s. Or like a creative, like a high school creative writing teacher whose dreams were never totally realized.

And so he takes out those frustrations on some of his students, just like in passive-aggressive way. What? When they read their story, he just, you know. Yeah, like he's harder on the ones that are like more talents, just be like, it's not easy out there, you know. Like, you got to really, like, even if you, like, bleed for it, you're not going to make...

So what if you appeared in the Iowa Journal Review? Hey, hey, Mr. Smith. Hey, call me Irv. It's one of those guys. Yeah. That's the teacher, not the player? I think this makes Kyle Rudolph one of the wealthiest people ever to come out of Elder High School in Cincinnati.

Oh, wow. That's a nice thing to be. Yeah, you always want a distinction like that. Yeah. Let's move on to some camp injury news. Andrew Luck confirmed by Colts coach Frank Reich. He'll sit out mini camp. He has a calf strain.

It's been, it's lingered. And wisely, the Colts, they're not going to push that issue. We just came off, you know, a year and a half prior to last season of Andrew Luck injury updates and that team taking every precaution to make sure luck was ready for training camp and they're doing the same thing here under much, you know, lower, lesser stakes. But wise, we don't need luck out there right now. And Jimmy Garoppolo, in other quarterback news, he has the knee. He blew out his ACL last, what was that, November, October, September, it was September.

He has been limited to individual drills in minicamp. He is on track for training camp, but it is not, he's not fully cleared and all ready to go, but wouldn't be too concerned about that. He has running two-minute drills in their practice. It is a reminder, though. He's coming off at Torn ACL. You're kind of just like, oh, they got Jimmy G back, and that's fine. And it's a guy who's barely started in the NFL who's coming off a major reconcil.

instructive injury. Last week, I wrote that winding double-banger piece, guessing team MVP's. I went with Garapolo for the Niners, but it's, this is a big year for him because if another season, you know, God forbid for Jimmy G, got swallowed up by injuries and we're now approaching age 30 with not a lot of track record or if he struggles, I wonder, I don't want to say, I don't wonder about his job security, but this is an important year for it. It's kind of time for the Jimmy G show to be put together in full. His cap number is over $26 million until the year 2020.

He's made like a star quarterback. They need it. Meanwhile, on the throne of slees, Bill Belichick, last time we heard from Bill. He was canceling the last week of practice, which apparently you could do. You have eight rings or whatever. Worked last year. Yeah, worked last year. But this year, you know, maybe more concerned.

Maybe they should have taken the practices, and we'll find out come the regular season. I think that's him telling the NFL, your little non-contact rules that you've made have made these off-season OTAs are useless. Well, you know what else is, you know, maybe that's problematic that they took away the tackling. But, you know, it else is problematic shooting one of your players in the face. Yeah, that's not a positive typical. Is it? Is it? Bill Belichick.

shot Kyle I mean okay Kyle Van Noi in the face in the face with a paintball gun so not a real gun

but he hit Van Noi here's what Van Noi said I got hit I'm telling you this paint ball hit me in the mask and the mask hit my tooth and my blank still hurts so more evidence that Bill Belichick now and he's getting older

You've got to keep that in mind. Maybe some scrambled eggs up there. Cancelling practices, shooting his own players. It just may be time. Well, or it's making Bill kind of one of the guys on a human level because the only reason we know was Bill, Van Nuoy wasn't giving this up. He was embarrassed by it. But Dante Hightower came and kind of like interrupted the interview

and started telling him to tell everyone who got him. And it was Bill. It's Mr. February. you, Dante Hightow. I mean, Kyle Van Nuoy, you might as well call Mr. February after that Super Bowl performance. That was his finest hour. The new nice, Belichick, is spending an off-season on these tours giving speeches, and he claims that Hightower should be referred to as Mr. February now.

I like that. And Van Nuys, he's good at the shoot-em-up games. He is playing in a Fortnite pro-am this weekend. So if Bill can take him out on that, who knows? My goal in my house is to simply keep my two children away. from Fortnite. The minute they, that is, we're already in too many wormholes. I, you know, you do the thing with your phone where you're clearing out videos to make room. And I found yesterday the video for all you, Mr. Belichick, so nice. The seconds after they knocked out the

Rams in the Super Bowl, everyone's hugging each other. And a photographer just doing his job, trying to get a nice portrait of Bill and hugging one of his people. And right away, Bill just shoves the coach. He's hugging out of the way and slams the photographer with it, with an open fist or with an open palm right in the face and just now you could file a complaint i would assume that's not what you'd want to happen but nothing is heard how close are these photographers allowed to get well i i hear that side of it but it was like in the biggest moment of you know another crowning achievement i think you know where that guy is by the way the reason there was no criminal oh he's gone filed he is under the mass bike the ball boys yep he's there with he's with the two of them you got a paint ball on the face in the

face uh 10 feet under all right let's check in with some kickers Chris Blewett, who got, you know, a guy never had a chance. Let's face it, bad name. It's family name. I don't want to S on the Blewett family. But if you're going to be a place kicker in the NFL, it's one of those things you're just got to change it.

You got to Ellis Island that thing, you know, and it's got to happen soon because he's not getting younger. The Bears announced Wednesday they waived Chris Blewett, one of the three kickers in minicamp competing for the job. And it comes on what was another disastrous day in Chicago for their kickers. So Blewett, Eddie Pinheiro, and Elliot Frye, all missed kicks from 42 yards, back to back to back. Matt Nagy, who's got to be ready to lose it.

After practice, told reporters, whatever went through your mind went through my mind. And again, you know, so I'm sorry, Chris Blewett. Good luck to you. I hope you catch on somewhere else. But again, doesn't it feel like the bears are going out of their way to promote the dysfunction at this position that essentially cost them their season with a double doink? Yeah, they had all these, like, legends watching it or whatever.

All these alumni and alumni guests. It was, first of all the blocked kick. This is reminding me so much of when the Jets drafted Mike Nugent because they thought they were just a kicker away. And the only thing that stepped in their way in Herm Edwards' first season was that? From Advante in the playoffs was Doug Bryan missing kicks. Third season.

Kicks are not going to be make or break your season here. It's like you can't just get back to that game and start everything over. But I know what you're saying. I'm saying it's not for the Bears. Dan, you raise an interesting point. If you are a, let's say, high-end high school kicking prodigy, at what point in your career do you think about changing your name if it's blue it? Like at some point in college, after college.

You could just do the thing where you like go by your middle name. Tom Cruise's middle name is Cruz. You know, just happens all the time. He still got a last name. So just like officially go by it, you know, or you just tell the team to, you know, you probably don't even need to officially change it. Just be like, hey, list it this way. If he had changed his name, you know, half a year ago to Chris Chicago,

you know he's still on that roster because people are loving him and buying jerseys of him. There's no way to get you have to move things like someone with the last name blew it off the roster as soon as possible. I just wonder why the naggy and the entire bear staff is leaning into this storyline and making it so public last week. We actually didn't get to it last week, but they made it be known that their move last week. I don't know, maybe it's the show that they're smart and they're trying different things,

but it's not quite getting over, that they were employing what they called Augusta silence when the kickers. So everyone on the field and on the sideline, the coaches, everyone in the vicinity of the kickers, nobody was allowed to say a word. Hey, how about Mitchell Chubisky, don't throw the ball to the other team

and throw a little more accurately in your playoff game? I'd have to do. Because that was a huge reason why he brought the team down the field for the winning field goal, Greg. I mentioned that after that game and was harassed for suggesting this much. I'm saying he had a poor game. He had a good second half. He had a poor game. And he put his team in position to win.

This happens all the time. Or don't give up points at the end. You know, it's just like. That was a great. Everyone was like in their right place. Greg getting upset about something. Wes firing back at Greg hard. And then Mark looking for a reckoning about something he was wronged over.

Well, I was. All at the same time it was happening. I was just watching the world burn. And separating himself as ratings tumble. Anyway, so we'll see what happens. Now it's down to Pinheiro and Elliot Fry. And by the way, Elliot Fry, I don't know. He's gone.

Come up small. Elliot Small Fry. How about just some strong names? Well, do you know what every bear's fan wants? Eddie? Eddie is going to save the season? I don't think the door is closed. And you know what every Bears fan wants.

I know Robert Mays, who's a well-known bear's fan who does the ringer probably. podcast. He wants Robbie Gold. Robbie Gold's holding out in San Francisco. You bring the gold back home. It makes a lot of sense. We talked about this, too, Greg. Remember, Robbie Gold is building a home in Chicago. He sold his home in Chicago, building a new one.

And he's ready to go there, and he will sign there in free agency next year. Mark my words. But for the time being, you know what the Niners are saying, hey, we want one of the top five, ten kickers in the league on our team. He thinks he hates it here. He's going to put it through the uprights for his own well. well-being. What are he supposed to do if you're the 49ers?

Just give him to the Bears? Right. You're signing small fry five days from now. You got small fry. Yeah, he got blue it and fry on your team. You got Cousin' Eddie. You got small fry and he got blew it. You know, what happened to Gary Cooper, as Tony Soprano once said?

The Pride of the Yankees guy? Yeah, the men. What happened to the men? Oh, where have all the cowboys gone? Sometimes I ask that question in the city, by the way. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? It's a fair question in the city. All right, finally in the news, yes, the announcement finally came down, HBO, and NFL films have made it official.

The Oakland Raiders will be the team featured on the newest season of Hard Knocks. It is the 14th season, believe it or not. And the timing was interesting on the same day that the Raiders were announced as the Hard Knocks team. In Florham Park, New Jersey, Joe Douglas was. introduced as the new general manager of the New York Jets. And if you remember the first season of Hard Knocks, the Turk, which has always

been one of the most famous characters on every Hard Knock season. He's the guy that goes, gets the player, says, we're going to need your playbook or your iPad now and you've got to go see Coach or cut. Joe Douglas, a young, spelt Joe Douglas, was the Turk for the 2001

Ravens. So you want to talk about working your way up the ladder over a long period of time. But on the same day, that happens. Yes, the Raiders are the team. I wrote on the dot com six takeaways. Probably was aiming for 10 and then I got to six. And I was like, oh, this is about 850 words.

I feel you. A lot more than that. No. I think ultimately this is a good pick. We've talked about this on the show. There were five options that were eligible, meaning they didn't need to, they didn't need consent from the teams to be selected.

You had the Raiders, the Redskins, the Lions, the Niners, and the Giants. And the Raiders, they just have a lot of good subplots. I think chief among them is John Gruden, year two. He was born for this. The cameras of Hard Knocks and Gruden, I feel like, were made for each other. And you have this world with Gruden. Mike Mayok is in the building. And one thing I wrote about in the piece, we'll start here,

is that last year, the most exciting or scandalous part, of the very good Cleveland Brown season was the apparent power struggle within the coaching staff who was running the show and Hugh Jackson saying, I drive the bus and Todd Haley, obviously being dismissive of Jackson

who had gone one and 31 over the previous two years. It all plays out a couple months later they both get fired. That will not be the case here. This is John Gruden's show. Nobody thinks otherwise. So I'll be interested to see

how a Gruden camp looks, especially after what we saw in Cleveland last year. All right, I'm just annoyed by John Gruden acting like this is the worst thing in the world and how annoyed he is seemingly by it. It's just a little too much like protesting from a guy who loves attention. Let's calm down. Let's calm down on like, ooh, I don't want to disrupt. I don't want this attention on me.

Please. Who is telling everyone that you? you're in the morning at 3.30 a.m. in every article you have. It's like, yeah, I don't mind it. I love Gruden, and I love Mike Mayock. And I know Mike Mayock has kind of made it sound like he doesn't want to be on it either. It's like, I don't know.

These guys have gotten where they are partly by promoting themselves because they're good at what they do and they're interesting characters. They're charismatic. A lot of the coaches. Let's keep it going. Not all of them, but a lot of the coaches and GMs, to Greg's point, are charismatic guys that like the cast. that like to be heard, they like to be seen,

and what show is better than at promoting your personal brand than hard knocks? And then your old job, PFT, they wrote, they were belly aching. Like, they wrote a piece saying, oh, there shouldn't be any hard knocks anymore because it's outlived its usefulness in the age of social media. And I saw what the angle was that now we get to see things from inside these camps via Instagram and Twitter that you wouldn't have seen before. Bad take. But at the same time, just because the teams don't want to do it,

doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. It is actually a fan service because it gives you an incredible look behind the scenes year after year of these teams. And I learned a lot about the Browns last year. I totally disagree with that take because we never would have known some of the fissures and some of the issues inside of the Cleveland organization by Instagram photos on the field at training camp. We wouldn't have known any of that.

And for me, I think I would buy that Mike Mayock is not totally into this in the sense that. No, I get it. Here's the issue, though. But when you're delivering, you know, a three-minute spiel about a player that you watch tape on, start, say your thing, close. Now it's hundreds of hours of footage edited in a way that you have no say over. But they do have to say.

That was what I was going to say is they get a lot of say, and they can approve and take out anything they want. And I think Hugh Jackson and the Browns probably regret some of the things that they left in last year. I would imagine. That was kind of the worst-case scenario, I think, of what teams are afraid of when it comes to hard-knock. But Mike Mayak got his job, as Rich Eisen pointed out in a threat on Twitter last night in the NFL by going to his local Philly legend Steve Sable and asking him, how do I get into this business? And that's what this Hard Knock Show is all about.

It's NFL films. It's ultimately shows teams in a very popular light. Wes, are you prepared to see Vontes Perfect in a different light, which I think is going to happen? And Richie Incognito. I don't really want to yuck anybody's yum here. Hard Knock is not my favorite show. and the Browns were a mystery. After watching John Gruden and Mike Mayak on TV for a decade,

I don't really need to see any more of them. But you saw them as analysts that now they're being team builders. I know who Mike Mayok and John Gruden are. I mean, I just don't need to see. They don't contain any mystery for me whatsoever. I don't find this team to be compelling, but that's all I need to say. You guys should watch it. Everybody should have fun watching it.

Fair enough. But what about the fact that Gruden is, he really is back up against the wall coming. off last season. I don't find him compelling in any way to they perform. I would absolutely enjoy any one of the 32 teams.

I would find it interesting because to me just seen behind the scenes of any team is interesting and the way they make it is good TV. A couple other subplots that they'll be sure

to be drilling down on. I see your point, West, but one thing I do want to see with Gruden, even if you kind of know what his vibe is by this point, the Chucky, the intensity, the shit and grin

and all that. stuff. I want to see interactions between Derek Carr and Gruden who had, it was interesting watching that a relationship from afar last year. There were some heated sideline exchanges and then we went through a draft

process where there seemed to be some flirtation with the idea of replacing Carr and Derek Carl that we love him and he's probably going to be the MVP this year in the NFL complimenting Derek Carr. There we go. He's a sensitive guy. He's a guy that watches

things and tracks things. I wonder a chronic QB needler like Gruden, how that plays out with the cameras on. Got Antonio Brown in the building

incognito and the team's moving to Vegas. I hope, Greg, they're not going to give us too many of those. All right.

Front office, Mark Davis and company, road trip to Vegas. Let's check out the status of the building. But part of it is a PR and they're going

to want that. I mean too many. More than one would be too much. Yeah. Although I will hope that Mark Davis is in the show as much as possible.

If you just wanted to make it inside... Now, that's what would make me watch. If it was just like Hard Knocks, Mark Davis, they just follow him around for an hour every week and cut that show, I'd watch. I couldn't really write about that on the website, but what you're saying, everybody knows exactly what you're saying, and I backed that 100%.

Give us a lot of Mark Davis. That's what's happening in the news. Before we get to Mark's favorite games, West, we have some softball drama. Shield. We're in a good spot. We're six and two. Play ball. We are second place. The top three teams make the playoffs. We have, I believe, four games left. So we have a big game against Barney's Beinerie, another six and two team. And if we win this game tonight, we are in the driver's seat to go back to the playoffs. And we know what happens when the Shield goes to the playoffs. We win. We win. There is more drama, though. And you know what, it's just the truth.

the matter. Any drama we dealt with, Wes, over the three years, it's happened. It's a co-ed league. It happens with the ladies. It's always something popping up with the ladies. And this year, and Erica had, she's on the team. She had nothing to do with it. It wasn't her fault. But she was indirectly right in the middle of one of the great controversies in the history of the Shield. Yes, last week, Erica's starting. Were you aware of any of this, Ricky? No. Okay. Ricky, I put her in the lineup. She was starting in right center field. and batting 9th, and I had a backup player. I won't say the name, but she came up to me right before the game started,

and she said, oh, who am I up after? And I said, oh, actually, Erica's going to start. She's going to get a couple of bats and play out there, and then you're going to go in. We took the field to start the game, came back to the dugout after the top of the first, and she's gone. Is that what happened? That's why she left. She took her ball and went home.

Took a dog even up. And then I waited to hear back from her over a course of days. It's almost a shot at Ricky there. It's like if I'm bench for Ricky, I'm taking off, that's a shot. Well, you know, I think Ricky's a developing talent in the outfield. The reason she was starting is I wanted to get her innings. And I was hoping that that would be understood. But I never heard back from this individual.

I sent an email checking in to see if everything was okay, didn't get a response. so I had to put out a new starting lineup for tonight's game and that individual apparently so angry about Erica's starting is not in the lineup and presumably off the team now. Incommunicado? Yeah. Did you text? Wait, what?

Because some people just don't check emails or they get buried a little bit. I am guilty of that. I don't have this individual's number, but it was a private email sent on the NFL server and I expected to hear back from this person in some regard. So there's no, Mark, as you're a front office worker of some kind for us, pro bono. I don't need, I'm not looking for any official move or announcement. It's just kind of like a weird, it's one of those weird NFL things that pop up where it's just a lingering issue.

And we have this lingering drama, and I don't know quite as the skipper had a resolve it at this point. So I'm just going to let it just. I think one fix sit. one fix for next year from a front office angle. And I put this, you know, very, very minorly on myself, a team phone tree so that you can text versus just not having the number of a key player. But you know what, Bill Parcells back in the day, trying to get the Giants to the Super Bowl, had his star player, Lawrence Taylor, dealing with all sorts of off-the-field issues,

major drug issues. And that was a big hiccup in his coaching career. But he handled it. This is your issue to deal with. that I think this is equally as large of a scenario to overcome. The difference, though, is L.T. is not bad in ninth in split innings. You know, you might, different players have different rules. Tom Brady, he's a starting quarterback.

He has different OTA rules than I think if they had a 25-year-old starting quarterback. So, you know, you treat each player as an individual. This is more like the center that vanished to Mexico before the Super Bowl. I mean, the Barrett-Robbins scenario. There's a Barrett-Robbins vibe to this whole thing. It's a little bit of a mystery, everyone a little confused. That's an organizational. That's not just on you.

It's a mystery to all. Well, every coach has to deal with that tug and pull of what's best for each individual player versus what's best for the other members on the team. And in softball, it seems to be even more pronounced. And Dan is dealing with that right now in a big way. And a reminder why I hung up the cleats, by the way. And why I will once again after the season. Wow.

He's already retiring again. I think the guys on our team understand what your job is. And the girls on your team are more like, what's good? for me. Whoa. Erica, your thoughts of that. Well, I just also... What?

Yeah. That's just crazy. And I hit my best game last week. You played well. I cracked it every single time. Well, you responded like a champion. Yeah. Your fielding is not great, but you know what?

Your effort is 100%. And the reason why you're out there is because you don't get better in the field without the reps. Right. But as a hitter, you really, you're making strides. And that's why I want to keep you involved with the lineup. but there just has to be an understanding and everyone pulling in the same direction

if you really want to build a champion. Right, well, me and Brassy split reps a few games ago. You didn't see me leaving, crying. Team player. So there we are, Wes. Wow. Is this going to go out on the waves? I hope this. I hope she doesn't listen to the show,

but maybe this would be the only way to communicate. Well, this is the wake-up call. Smoke signal. You're handling it through the media. Yes, you have to take things different. I tried to go one-on-one. Now I'm going to go through the media Maybe the message gets through

I feel like I could get her number Is Barney's beenery the best team in the league Because that feels like That just sounds like a champion They're very good matchup They're an old rival of ours Rick's Old Town Tavern We're like the Bears in the Packers

Or Cheers versus What is it, Rick's Old Town Tavern More imposing than Dollar Taco Gary's Old Time Tavern Dollar Taco could wail Those guys could rate Oh really? Well I guess you know I guess maybe that

Why should I assume that if you're If you are employed by Dollar Taco You'd probably play some softball I don't know what the makeup is of the workforce there. I'll stop talking. We're still waiting for you to attend a game, by the way. I wait until it gets hot. I mean, I'm saving up for playoff tickets, so.

Okay. Sounds good. They're very expensive. All right. Mark wrote a banger, his favorite games. In the history of your life or the NFL? No, sort of my viewing history as a fan. So you made it clear.

I find it interesting that this made its way onto the website, but I don't argue that it did. I'm glad it did. I enjoy it. bit nebulous. I enjoyed the article and I enjoyed you pointing out many times just like trying to prevent the tweets at you. It's like, these are my five games. I know they're not the best five games in NFL history, you idiots, but these are the games that I enjoy. And then you're like, and then when you put the Patriots Browns in 2000s, and you went back to that well and was like, once again,

idiots, these are my games. I like them. You're so right. Because you know how they're going to be headline and sent out over social media. And it's something like, this guy thinks that a regular season Browns game by a 5 and 11 Cleveland squad is one of the best five games of his life. One of your games is what looks like about a week 11 matchup in 1988 between the Browns and Steelers. That was a 27-7 final. I mean, you should be able to read the context clues that that is not an all-time game in the history of the league.

That was the first time I saw them in person, which is it was a personal importance. What was that day like? Well, that was my, that was, it was in Cleveland and I had been a super obsessive. Browns fan, but only watched them on television from the East Coast. And the reason I included that game was because, as a surprise, and this is good dad work by my dad, I did not know this was going to happen. They basically took me... Ed Sessler.

Bingo, took me to the airport and flew me to Cleveland, and it was raining cats and dogs. And on the way, I realized, this is where we're going, and we're going to a Brown Steelers game, and they were in a tight fight to get back to the playoffs. Cozar was their quarterback. And so we stayed overnight in this hotel that overlooked the stadium. which to me was like the most incredible thing I'd ever seen out of any window ever, walked to the stadium in the rain the next day, watched them drop a giant bomb on the, I believe, Mark Malone-led Steelers at that time.

And that was the good old days. And it was like I had never been to the dog pound or anything. So it made my list because, you know, as a family, you go on, we went skiing a few times as you go somewhere tropical. And they were like, weren't those your favorite vacations? I was like, the best vacation ever was the 48-hour swing. to Cleveland, Ohio. That's funny that you, it was 1988, you said.

Yeah. My first jet game was October 2nd, 1988. It was a game against the Chiefs. And it was a fitting way to start my fandom as a Jets fan because it was a 17-17 final in a driving downpour in the Meadowlands. Freeman McNeil like fumbled the ball away when they were in chip shot territory to win it.

So there was some heartbreak in there. There was some misery with the rain. And you go home ultimately kissing your sister, essentially with a 17-17 tie. That is fair. Those things stick with you, the first experiences. Absolutely. You know what I noticed in your piece, which was really well done.

The football itself was just a small part of the experience in every one of these games. You had the raucous atmosphere on Wilshire Boulevard for your first one that made it cool for you. Then your father's son dynamic and also your first time seeing the Browns in person. The third thing, you know, you had, I think people of our age, we think of Parcells as magical. Oh, yeah. We think of Parcells as this guy who is just one of the smartest coaches ever, but the difference between him and Belichick is Parcell's humor comes out all the time.

Totally agree. Then you had the Elway Redemption Story plus you going to Camp Jewell. And then the last one, Mancini, Hillis, and Rob Ryan slam your boy Belichick who used to coach your team. These are all about other things going on other than football. A lot of revenge elements, blowouts. I kind of love blowouts. I love that you have the Rex Ryan's.

and Jets went over the Chargers in January 2010. Can we listen to that? Sean Green running over the Chargers defense, including an Antonio Cromarty, a scared Cromarty running away from contact. I forgot about that. Which was beautiful. You set a down.

47. Sean Green, fouling ahead. They're taking off. Green to the 20. He's not going to be caught. Touchdown New York Jets. Carmari wanted nothing to do with that. Why did that make your list?

That is a flash forward to from already doing the same thing against Tim Tebow a few years later when you and I watched that game when he was a jet. It made the list because, you know, sometimes when your own team is not in the playoffs, you hook on to someone else. And I really love the vibe of Rex Ryan, who came in that year and basically said, you know what, Belichick, F you, F your rings, we're coming after you. And instead of it being another story that doesn't really hold up, they did surge down the stretch. And they were a team that won in a very unusual way. They ran the ball at two, at one point in the regular season for two straight games of 300 plus yards.

And then they got super hot down the stretch in the playoffs. And they ran the ball 39 times on the road against the Chargers. And it was one of the, it wasn't big long runs. It was like they were just tiring San Diego out. And then when that, when Sean Green bust through for that run, it was like all game long, they were planning for that. And Sanchez had 100 yards passing. It was like, they came in.

They said, this is what we're going to do. I'm Rex Ryan, and they did it. That was ground and pounded. It's fine. My favorite green run, actually, and one of the most memorable plays of the Rex Ryan era, was fourth and one. They're up three points with like two minutes to play.

Philip Rivers. There were 14 and 2, the Chargers that year, waiting to get back on the field, and the Jets have a chance to go for the field goal or maybe pin with a punt, and Rex goes, no, I'm sending my running back and my offensive line out there to win the game,

and they did. That was Rex at peak swagger. What about your Brown's Patriots romp in November, 2010, because I don't think a lot of people even remember this game. Well, Tom Brady remembers it. Let's play that clip. McCoy. Don't throw it to Hillis.

He's a very good receiver. Let's some running room. Called McCoy. It stands. Touchdown. This game. That was a crowd going off. That was one of the biggest manhandlings I've seen in the Belichick era.

Absolutely. To the point where. 34-14. Everyone talks about we're on to Cincinnati, but they went out the Patriots and won the next 10 straight games to close out that season because I think this was a throttling that woke them up. And it woke me up because the Browns, they came out of their by week. The week before the buy, they had on the road knocked off the world champion Saints. And that was like, how did that happen? Because it was a very Mangini-esque team with not a lot of stars on offense.

Guys like Chansey Stucky and Josh Cribbs getting snaps at quarterback. but then Peyton Hillis started getting hot. The guy that they basically shipped Brady Quinn to the Broncos for in return for a running back of no name. A fullback. Exactly. A Madden cover boy. After this, though, this is what helped that happen.

And this game, to me, gave me one of those false flashes of intense hope where I thought the Browns were turning the corner in a major way in that Colt McCoy, despite being like 5'9 or 510 with a pop gun arm, had all the gifts that you wanted. I completely was convinced what my son, Luke, was born days before this, and I thought all the turning points are happening. I named my next son, Colton, after Colt McCoy, because of this game. Big mistake, although I love that he's named Colton. But this game was such a butt whipping,

and I don't, you have to search through years and years to look for a Patriots team that was so caught off guard. Because there was a clip at one point of Tom Brady roaming around the sideline in the third quarter, and I was sure that they had spiked something that he had eaten or drank that day because he looked drugged and they never became unhinged. They never had the ball in that game

because the Hillis was just running back and forth. It is pretty much the worst. So many of the worst losses, one-sided losses in the Patriot in the Belichick era are from former Patriots assistants, including Brable and the Titans one year ago. Yep.

Matt Patricia got him last year, right? Yep. Yeah, he did. Not a close game either. So check that piece out. Mark Sessler wrote about some of the games too there. My favorite NFL games of all time,

colon, Brown's triumphs among top five. I mean, I guess it's for SEO purposes, but do we really need NFL to be in that headline? I don't think we do, but someone else clearly believes that we absolutely do. We will be back Friday with another show. So make sure you check that out. We'll do some spin around the league like we did last week

checking in on camps, although, you know, a couple dozen teams almost wrapping up their final OTAs and mandatory mini-camps. So we'll check in on that, and that will be something to look forward to. I know you're excited, Greg. I am. It's the best time of year. Ricky, you won't be at the game tonight. No.

So we will keep you up to date. Family friend in town. I'm not, you know. Only if she had not been at the game last week. None of these problems would be occurring for you right now. Wow. Well, that is true. Although it's certainly not on her, but the, you know.

It probably would have been, it would have happened this week as opposed to last week. It probably was unavoidable. Delay and the inevitable. But we'll let you know how the shield does. I want to find, you know, you should, who's close to this person on the team and get some information? West, do you know? I can get some information if you want.

Just to be clear, the person is safe and sound. We don't even know that. Right. Don't know anything. A lot of people had a lot of jokes about Barrett Robbins. Ultimately, it was kind of a tragic sad story. It's almost an unsolved mysteries episode. A woman with a white dog shows up to a softball game.

We turn around and there's just fog and she's gone. And no one has seen or heard from her since. I mean, even more concerning, nobody pursues her to find out what has happened. It's been some emails. The game started. They were committed. All right. Let's go.

Stan Hans is signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman, the old boss. And Ricky Hollywood, behind the glass. Go Shield. Till Friday. This is an I-heart podcast.