NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Combine storylines to watch

Episode Date: February 23, 2016

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Colleen Wolfe, Chris Wesseling, and Gregg Rosenthal – discuss all the latest offseason news from around the NFL, including Steelers tight end Heath Miller announcing his retirement, and the Jets releasing cornerback Antonio Cromartie. Then, the heroes look ahead to Indianapolis by breaking down some of the most compelling Combine storylines to watch for this weekend. Plus, New Jersey correspondent Conor Orr joins the show to share what he’s most excited to see at the Combine.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. Hey, everybody. Before you get to your show, it's DJ and Bucky here with Move the Six to tell you what's coming up on our latest episode. DJ and I are going to break down the top 50 list that we both are producing prior to the Combine. Some interesting conversations on some of the top prospects.

Check it out. Move the Six podcast, NFL.com, slash podcast, iTunes or YouTube. The Around the NFL podcast. Knows what cosplay is. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Colleen Wolfe, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethal. What's up, boys?

Hey, Dan. Hi. Colleen, thank you for coming in on short notice. Look at this. You know, the picture of femininity in your pink zip-up hoodie. It's a hot pink sweatshirt. What's the big deal? Don't be weird, Dan.

I can't help it. This is the second time you've talked about it. I am who I am. Mark called in sick today. A big weekend for Mark and not feeling too well after some Chinese food. I didn't think that's what we're working off right now. Wow, I had no idea. I don't think it has to, I mean, I don't know if it has to do with Chinese food.

We got a couple emails late night that he was not feeling well. So hopefully Mark gets better. and we see him because you know what we need him to get better because this time tomorrow we will be either in transit or in Indianapolis for the 2015 NFL scouting combine Colleen you are going as well correct yeah I think we're all in the same flight oh fun yeah Detroit Detroit what it'll be my first time ever in Detroit me too does it count when it's a connecting flight doesn't count so this will be and as we said the first the first time

the entire around the NFL team the writing team that is the four of us that typically do the show and of course Kevin Patcher our Chicago correspondent and Connor Orr our New Jersey correspondent and speaking of Connor Orr later today

going to get him on the phone he's going to give us a little flavor of Indianapolis former beat writer so he's a lot of knowledge he's kind of a renaissance man as we know Connor Orr and he has a lot of

knowledge of Indianapolis, which I learned last year. So we're going to have a little indie preview and also a major announcement. Whoa. Conoror, major announcement. Whoa. You thought Bill Simmons announcing the ringer was big? Got to beat. Can you say that?

I don't think so. Also on today's show, so Connor will be here. We will talk a little combine preview. So we're getting a little Indianapolis preview, but an actual scouting combine preview, some storylines to watch. One of the fun things about this event is that we actually are part of the press conferences.

We all divvy up all the GMs and coaches. And, you know, we ask questions if we're feeling properly motivated and we're involved. So we're going to talk about those press conferences because a lot of news comes out of the pressers both at the podium and then a little, Greg, as you know, the side area is where a lot of the gold is. a little extra talk, extra GM talk.

You got to angle, you've got to use your elbows. This is a good spot to be small in, I feel like I can fit through small crevices. This would be big for you. Yeah, Greg, you and I covered them last year here. We just watched them. They were live streamed. And I found some old notes from there. Oh, let's get into that a little bit later.

Yeah. And that's why also, Greg, whenever he's in Indiana, they call him elbow grease. Oh, elbow grease. which reminds me actually of a prominent New York columnist that I bumped into at the Combine last year and he introduced me to a major ESPN insider as this is the funniest guy that you've never heard of in the industry. Wow.

Is that a compliment or was that a shot? It's definitely a back-ended, that's a definition of a back-gated compliment. I think it was. So we got, yes, we're going to talk Combine. Humblebreg. Also, yes, it covers all the bases. talk to Connor and of course as we do every show we will do the news and to do that

she is one of the best producers in the game right now certainly I mean when they we're talking downstairs today about the Mount Rushmore of Weird Al Yankovic singles when you talk about the Mount Rushmore of producers for around the NFL there is no doubt that Sydney is on Mount Rushmore thanks Dan Greg pausing is I know. I was not sure. No, I think that's damning with faint praise. She's number one.

Oh, wow. Sorry, everyone else out there. That's very nice of you to say. I mean, seriously. A lot of people have worked hard behind the scenes over the years that we've been doing this pod. But Sidney absolutely has a place in that conversation. Absolutely. Feeling a love.

Let's do some news. All right. I'm really happy for you. I'm going to let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. West, do you have any. Of course, was Kanye West from his infamous Taylor Swift, a VMA situation a few years back.

And maybe Greg, we'll talk a little bit about the new easy album. But I would like, West, to hear from you. I know you had some harsh words about Kanye. You've had some time to reflect. Have you changed your mind in the last few days after absorbing the new Pablo album? No, I went and listened to that Ultra Beam Light Show or Sabre thing, whatever, what was called?

What? I did not approve. It didn't do anything for me. Okay, Colleen, are you a Kanye film? I like his music. Okay. That's all you got to like. That's all you got to like.

That was what I said. He's kind of becoming a tragic figure, though. All right. You're becoming a tragic figure. Let's start with some news that broke late last week. The St. Louis Rams have a lot of work to do as they move to Los Angeles, of course, and try to become a team that wins nine or ten games. Christ sake.

But they made some big moves. They released Chris Long. Bass Rusher, James Laurenitis, linebacker, and tight end Jared Cook, all in the same day. These are all prominent guys on their team. This was a Rams team, Greg, that has a lot of cap room. Even if they kept these guys, they were going to have some okay cap room. So you can't just say it was purely for salary reasons. This seems like a team that is looking to kind of remake the core in the face of it.

That's how I read into that. Am I wrong? Well, you have to take each one of these players separately. And I heard some people say, well, how are they going to replace these guys? From last year's team, it's not going to be hard. James Lorenitis was one of the least effective inside linebackers in the league. That's just a guy who's getting paid like a good, a solid starter. He was not playing like it.

Jared Cook, I went on this podcast and said many times, what does this guy have to do to get benched? He was killing the Rams week after week making big money. I mean, he disappointed Jeff Fisher in two cities. So that's two cuts. I think that were pretty easy. At least Laurenitis, it surprised me, but I think that's one that it was smart to do.

Chris Long's a little different because when he's been healthy, he's a great player, but he was due $14 million. He hasn't been healthy for two years. He has four sacks over the last two years, and that's just not how the NFL works. You're going to get cut? Yeah, I feel like they're sort of shedding their skin at this. Like, you know, how I don't know, what is that animal or insects?

Snake? A snake? Yeah, you shed it. You leave it behind. A snake sheds its skin. Right, okay. Well, I think there's some others, though, too. Whatever, Dan.

That was just like turkey. You would have gone along with them. But humans do too, actually. It's really gross if he ever do any research. That's disgusting. Yeah. So now I'm completely thrown off. But hey, listen, maybe Chris Long will end up in Dallas.

Who knows? Is that where you, well, they do. They're going to need some pass rushers in Dallas. Yeah, with some news a little later about a suspension. And I don't think Mr. Hardy's going to be. Greg Hardy. Yeah, probably not. So I could see him maybe fitting in there.

I mean, all of the reason. Do you want to volunteer to do the Chris Long landing spot? Sure. I would absolutely do that one. Put the Cowboys number one. It's going to be a. Patrick's gold mind. Honey Fox is yet to do it around the NFL post.

Maybe that's my first one. Yeah. A weird way to start. I think Laura Nitis lost his place in that organization when they realized they could move a safety like Mike, Mark Barron to linebacker. And he would make way more plays than Lauren Nides. Yeah. I mean, to me, the Rams, they have a lot of room. They've got some talent.

They're pretty much in the exact same situation they are always around. That's why I'm tired of talking about. Except they're here. And they're going to be Chris Wesleyan's new favorite team. How about that? The rest of us were tired to talk about the Rams earlier this year. Well, I mistakenly decided to back them as a surprise playoff team, so I had to stick with that for a way.

How about that was? About the Rams becoming my team. I mean, we say it in a cutesy way, like, oh, Wes will pick the Rams. But how serious is that? How realistic a possibility is that after you retired from being a Bengals fan years later and now a football pundit for the NFL, you actually become a fan of the Rams? It's probably not going to happen. I like their history in L.A.

I'm very appreciative of that, but I don't think that you can, I don't know, I love the Bengals. That was my team. I don't think I can just jump into bed with another team. Will you ever be a fan again? Probably not of an NFL team. That's sad. There's something sad about this conversation. I think something, I think.

I think it could change. I think they're going to have to get rid of Jeff Fisher. They're going to have to change things, but the L.A. Rams, I think. The fact that Wes has even opened the door already a little bit right off the bat, even well before they move into their new stadium. I think that's sane. The big factor. He's open for love.

His heart is open right now. This is really on the NFL because the big factor is whether I ever make enough money to live in Los Angeles long term. Whoa. Always bringing it back to that. Wes, you're a man with one eye on the professional football world, the other eye on your bank account. My bank account ceased to exist about three weeks ago.

You also have, that is, Wes is now daily financial gripe. We've got to get this sponsored. Greg, you're going to have to talk to us. It's about me. Well, we did, clearly you didn't use Scott Trade enough. I'm sorry to hear about Scott, trade cannot do anything with someone who has $0 to his name. So, yeah, maybe what Wes is,

and we had a nice night out on Friday with Wes's new companion. Perhaps he's thinking about taking his. What do I have a midget in town? His chill. I don't think that's the right word. Short person. Taking your own children to a football game. And maybe that's what you're thinking.

even without it's not like it's kind of on a subconscious level she's tall hey pa can we go she's five six but she was wearing heels so she was the same size as me that night moving on heath miller played 11 seasons with the pittsburg steelers and was blessed to play all 11 years with ben rothelberger they were a great team heath Miller was a nice receiving tight end in fact i think he's like number two and almost all relevant receiving records in the franchise's history but also was a good blocker you know nice what do they call those guys lunch pale type player stupid that they say that but he was a lunch pale type guy he's done you're the one saying it i'm saying people call a player like heath miller a real lunch pale guy and he's

gritty why do you not like that it just kind of played out what do you think the new term should be he's got to put on his hard hat and go do an honest day's work that's like well he's not as talented as the other thing. But it doesn't make sense for Heath Miller because Heath Miller is wildly talented. Heath Miller is done. That's also what we need to know. He has announced his retirement. The Steelers made it official on Friday. Only this from Conner's write up. Only 12 tight ends in league history with more than 6,000 receiving yards. And Miller is one of them. Only missed eight games in his 11 years. And I was working a Saturday morning shift. Those are always fun in February. And you're digging for news trying to find

something found an interesting ben ralthosberger story in the pittsburg post gazette where he he told he said that heath miller guys was his favorite teammate of all time and all 11 years that he played with heath miller he voted him as the team MVP every year that's how much he thought of really wow it's sad they're not going to be together anymore it's another item that the steelers are going to have to shop for this off season a new tight end because that's like you said if he's if ben rafflesberger's voting him the MVP every you that's pretty high praise what you're not into jesse james james i kind of like him but i don't know if he's ready to step into heath miller are our Steelers fans going to still yell heath when any

white guy catches the ball now even like because heath miller was oh if the guy's name is heath miller was literally not active right am i right about this for the game against the broncos and they had fans in the crowd in Denver who had traveled chanting heath when jesse james got the pass i mean they were doing that all the time in pittsburg uh when jesse james would call the pass catch a pass which you know was already annoying enough but i believe heath miller was not even in the game and he was getting sometimes a player really connects with the fan base to the point where it's like sneaky annoying and that would be probably the case with heath mill i mean we don't need to be cheering heath when the other titan catches a ball when he's on the sideline like the

Packers fans cheering Kuhn when Aaron Ripkowski catches a pass? Yeah, that's pretty much it. Miller, though, was a great player. I mean, he was a top five tight end for a good chunk of his career. I think in terms of blocking, every down. He obviously was a leader, smart guy, everything that you would want about him, tough, and he was a good receiver. People don't think of him as a receiver.

He's getting 500 to 800, 900, 900 yards a year at a time. early in his career when not everyone was getting that he was he was a top five six seven overall yeah only three people now on that team have two super bowl rings he's going into the ring of honor he's got two rings been to three super bowl but he's not a hall of tamer no got a couple that is not meant to denigrate heath miller's contributions to professional football just checking it heat check heath miller he's all he's always talked up as a as a run as a good run blocker and blocking guy although he kind of came at you at the same time as Jason Witten and has basically been outshined in a similar role by Jason Witten.

As a lunch pale white. I was going more like the, you know, you know, blocking and receiving. When I first started working here and I would do segments with Heath Evans, I would constantly call him Heath Miller by accident and we would have to break and start over again. That's embarrassing. You know who also should be embarrassed, Randy Gregory, guys. Yeah. Because the Dallas Cowboys, they use the second round pick.

on Gregory last year. He had some issues with substance abuse in college, but they thought they could coach him up both on and off the field, but it blew up in their face a little bit last week. The NFL announced that Gregory has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL policy and program for substances of abuse. He can participate in all the offseason preseason practices and games,

but he's out for a quarter of the season. That's a long time in the NFL. NFL. It's not a long season, as we know, boys and girl, but a decent rookie year, right? But not something that blows you away. And now he's out the door and, you know, Greg Hardy, probably out the door. All of a sudden Dallas has an issue on their defensive line. Wait, he's out the door? Randy Greger? Oh, excuse me. For four games. Well, another failed test, though, and that'll be 10 games.

Right? And this is a guy who failed his test at the combine. At the combine. He's a bad son. He broke the story, I believe, admitting it to our Kimberly Jones last year. So that's a bad sign. When you fail a drug test at the Combine, when you know this place is coming, it's basically a stupidity test. I mean, that's what a lot of people talk about. It's a stupidity or addiction test, if you want to call it that, that you know this is coming for months and months

as the biggest job interview you're going to have and that they're going to drug test at the Common. And you're not smart enough to just figure out how to pass these tests, which are apparently very easy to pass. Rapshry reported that this suspension means Gregory has failed four tests now. Right, because Maroon. It's clearly an issue. It's a problem. It's definitely an addiction thing. And I mean, you do look at guys, though, like Von Miller, who they've had, he had a problem in his past.

And this is, he goes from, he's Super Bowl MVP. And I mean, if you look at what he was doing before the 2013 season, he was facing, I think, what, six games? Yeah. And it could have easily been more than that. Greg, has some empathy. I can hear about your tone. You don't care about Randy Gregory. He's got problems.

That's his problem. You know, come on. What are you talking about? Am I wrong? I'm saying the Cowboys took a risk when they signed him. He was the number 60 pick in the draft. They took a risk when they signed Greg Hardy. They take a lot of risks.

And I don't think they're happy with the Hardy one. Stephen Jones came out and said, you know, he's not happy with Gregory. Time will tell if he turned out to be a good pick, though. He wasn't bad as a rookie when he played. He was solid. I'm sorry, Greg. Are you hinting or suggesting that, the Cowboys might be open to changing their philosophy.

No, I don't think they ever do that. They like the flash and the sizzle. In other news, the New York Jets, my favorite football team, are moving on from Antonio Cromarty. After one year, this was, of course, Cromarty's return engagement in New York. He previously had some nice seasons under Rex Ryan. They brought him back.

Of course, as we know, they brought back Dorel Revis as well. It was supposed to be, you know, the tag. team back and locking down wide receivers, but it didn't quite work out that way. We know that Revis had some problems this past year, but still was very good on balance, but Antonio Carmardi was clearly a guy in decline, especially early on. He finished a little better, but he had some really rough moments in the first eight to 10 games, I'd say, and the decision was made with his 32nd birthday on the way to move on. It saves him $8 million in salary cap space, no dead money.

So Big McNude he was doing here. Essentially, it was a four-year-32. This is why contracts, we should keep in mind how silly they are in the NFL. I signed a four-year-32 million-dollar contract 12 months ago. It really was a one-year-seven-million-dollar deal from already gone. And they have so much depth there, too. So, I mean, they have Rivas. They have Buster Screen who ended up being a really good player.

I mean, I wouldn't say they have a ton of depth, but they're okay. They're not like the Eagles. Yeah. Marcus Williams was pretty good, wasn't it? He was very good, yeah. So between the three of them, that's a better top three cornerbacks than 20 teams out there. Did you say, D. Milner? D. Milner is going to make that contribution sooner or later, Greg.

Make it delete. Greg and I were debating whether Antonio Cromarty will even be on our top 101 free agents list. 32 years old, got burnt way too much last year, and has never been a good tackler. Well, and it's never been consistent. Dominique Grudge's Grimardi's been a little like this, too. Antonio Cromarty has had huge ups and downs in his career. He is either a huge liability or he's a really good player. It seems like there's very little in between.

And I got to give credit. And I was thinking about it because I tweeted about that too about Mike McCagnan. Mike McCagnan's so smart. Everyone's giving him credit for signing such a smart contract that there's no dead money on the deal this year. He's getting credit for a terrible signing. That's when you know he's a good GM. Everyone's because I set the tweet out too

I was like oh that was a good job by them They avoided any pain well it was a terrible signing Well this is what I said He hurt them maybe if they spent eight million dollars better They make the playoffs He wasn't I mean he was not good I don't want to call him an outright disaster Because he did still start 16 games

And he was I think he'll catch on somewhere But you're right about he's not a tackler And he was a guy he's a big lanky guy Whose game was built on speed And I was losing a little speed I could see him slipping off that one 101. But if Mike Vick's on there at 101, guys, we got to get it. Wow. That was last year. Oh. We need a new Vic.

Well, we thought we came up with one, I thought. All right, we've got some, there's some negotiations. We like to put one guy at the end that just stays, despite it not making any sense, stays at 101. And just because it's a nice name, and you just like them there as anchor. I think Percy Harvin is an option this year. Oh, wow. What a stunning fall. He was almost on Wes's top 20 wide receivers like three months ago. Well, times have changed. It was more than three months ago. Whenever you liked Percy Harvard, that would have been a year ago, right?

No, I included him on honorable mention. He started out, I mean, it's easy to forget, but he had a really good September and early October last year for the bills. We're off the tracks a little bit, but I do want to say I'm very excited about the scientists, Wes and Greg, going into the lab and coming out with the top 101 free agents. First one coming up later this week.

Greg is actually, looks like a guy losing sleep over it, because there's so many little permutations and outside. factors that make you worry that the initial list is going to be crappy, but don't get too caught up in that. We all get that. Well, you know, when you're trying to evaluate whether to rank Brandon Brooks or I don't know. J.R. Sweezy.

J.R. Sweezy is one of my favorites. Which one ranks higher at guard, Greg? Yeah, that's like, come on. And then there's going to be a lot of as we talked about last week. There's probably going to be about 20 guys that get cut that'll wind up being on this list that are still on. You need music for this exercise, by the way. Yeah, we do.

We should work on that. By the way, I also like, because you guys are signed this. It's coming out Wednesday, by the way. Wednesday. First edition. Because you guys are so thorough, your completest, you're going to have, like, a second-tier guard, like, at number 71. And that's when I get really excited. It's like, wow, these guys know a lot about football.

It's a compliment. Oh, excuse me. Man, fall it apart. It brought the room to a halt. He's trying to hand out a compliment. And, you know, a whole thing goes up in flames. Moving on. Malcolm Jenkins.

The Eagles have signed the safety to a new five-year deal that includes a four-year extension. Rap sheet reports. It is worth $35 million with $21 million and guarantees. The new deal is worth $40.5 million. Keeps him under contract through the 2020 season. He was poised to enter the final year of a three-year deal. He's been in Philly the last two years. started his career in New Orleans, a Pro Bowl selection, Chris Wesleyan, 2015.

Is this the type of guy that you build a defense around? Sure, Dan. Yes. He's a nucleus player, and Halle Roseman has been signing nucleus players since he took his job back from Chip Kelly. They signed Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Vinnie Curry, and I think Fletcher Cox will be the next one. But Malcolm Jenkins, I think, has emerged as one of the best safeties in the NFL,

and I thought last year you could make a lot of the best safeties. a strong argument that he and Walter Thurman were the best safety tandem in the NFL. Yeah, he was good in his first year in Philly, but I thought he really was great last year. He led the team in tackles each of the last two years. And, I mean, when you look at what Howie Roseman did with him, when you see the guys that were on the market and everybody was talking about when before they signed Malcolm Jenkins. And we mentioned it before Jarus Bird. That was the big. Wait, who is that?

Jairoos Bayer. Jairoos. By the guy. That worked out so well, though, for the Eagles. That usually never happened. Eagles fans were upset at the time. I believe Jimmy Kemsky sent it out. People were furious because Jairus Byrd was the guy everyone wanted.

John I was going. John Bruce Byard. And Jenkins was a guy who was okay, you know, he had some good years in New Orleans, some down years, and now he's kind of found his home. I thought he was one of the best. what three or four safeties in the NFL last year i would maybe that's fair um i want to say also because we've used that drop dozens of times in the past two years i'd say uh did a little research on youtube that comes from a username run for the cube and uh while you know doing that research

came across some others that were fun so let's just listen to a couple city what do we got joey qie bill joey cuee all right colin we found that one last week when joick bill got released I was going to quiz Colleen. Did you have known that? No. Oh, okay. Let's try another one. Let's quiz Colleen.

Okay. Lukey Kooeechlei. Lucky. Keechleai. Oh, my God, I have no idea. Really? One more time. One more time.

Try to sound it out. Lukie Kooeechleai. Lukeie Keechleai. No, I don't. Who is that? The answer is Luke Kikli. No. There's no way I would have gotten that.

Do we have one more city? Yeah, we got one more. Okay. Bean, Robert Lysbier gear. Bean, roll in light, beer gear. You know that. No. Wow, you're so bad at this.

One more time. Bean, Robert Lys beer gear. Beem, roidlis beer gear. Come on, you're a college graduate. I don't know. What the heck is he saying? Greg. Bean, robert, beer gear.

We got it. Bean, Robert Lice beer gear. Oh, Ben Rothesberger. Oh, Ben Rathisberger. Oh. Yay. All right. Sydney gave you an extra reprieve there.

It all worked out at the end. So Malcolm Jenkins, New Deal and Run for the Cube. He literally, I don't know who it is. He's a crazy person, obviously. He's a genius.

There's thousands of these, and it spans not just the NFL, but all across the pop culture spectrum. Right, and it goes, it's deep on the roster. That's what I liked, as we saw Isaac Redmond and Jeff Bacchus. I mean,

he does all 53 men for some reason. Finally, in the news, the most important. important sports franchise in the United States and the world, the New York Yankees, spring training is here, Greg. Why are you making the face? Well, that little preface that you said just was like oral vomit.

Aral? Okay, okay. The New York Yankees, spring trainings here, pitchers and catchers have reported. I wish Mark was here for this because he hates baseball so much. But the Yankees are playing a video for their players, basically a training video. a tutorial video trying to indoctrination video you know when you play in new york under that bright spotlight like philadelphia coline oh yeah tabloids they're always nipping at your heels trying to turn little things into huge things so the yankees are teaching their players that the nfl

quarterback you want to be is russell wilson not cam newton so they they've been playing clips of how cam newton reacted after of course super bowl 50 and then uh uh contrasted that with how Russell Wilson comported himself after his interception that clinched Super Bowl 49 for the Patriots. So Andrew Marchman at VSPN brought this to light. I believe this is brilliant. Oh, my God. Strategy by the Bronx Bombers, the type of thing that shows you why this organization has been the most successful in North America ever, Wes, your thoughts. This is an affront to fans anywhere.

This is an affront to anyone who likes interesting human beings. They're teaching, they're brainwashing their players. Why can't they just be themselves about that? Everybody, be like Russell Wilson, who's the most boring interview in sports. Be like somebody else. Great. Good job.

It is a very Yankees thing. I mean, I'm a Yankees fan, obviously. But that is the most Yankees thing ever to be like, be like Russell Wilson. Oh, my God. Yeah. Well, Dan, here's the question. Why are they preparing their players to lose?

Exactly. That's what I was thinking. They're saying, here's how you need to, like, act when you lose as if that's going to happen a lot. Hey, here's what you need to do at the biggest moment of your career, make the worst possible play you could make and have it in your mind for the rest of your life. That's what being like Russell Wilson is.

Can I read a quote from the greatest showman in baseball history, Bill Beck? Go ahead. 1966, this came out. Prefaces the whole robotic era with Peyton Manning never saying anything interesting in an interview and Russell Wilson doing it. What we have are good gray ballplayers playing a good gray game and reading the good gray Wall Street Journal.

They have been brainwashed, dry, cleaned, and dehydrated. They have been homogenized, orientated, and indoctrinated. Their mouths have been washed out. Their appetite stunted. Their personalities bleached. They say all the right things at all the right times, which means that they say nothing. Russell Wilson.

Yeah. That's Russell Wilson. That's fair. Very fair, Wes. And again, Sid, MVP. A reminder that the Dean's scream is back. in 2016 and a lot of pop on Twitter immediately after Thursday's podcast. People getting on board.

Somebody even sent me a graphic, a Google Trend Alert, and Dean Screamed shooting upward, like multiple percentage points in society. Dan has talked about this many times since the podcast, just talking about all the Twitter buzz on it, just like it's a revolution. I know, like, duh winning, maybe not take off the way I want. wanted it to, the slow rollout hurt me. Charlie being infected with the virus that causes AIDS, obviously did not help. Wow.

It was almost a year later. But I'll be the first to admit that on Twitter I didn't get a lot of pop when I made multiple, you know, pronouncements. This is different. The Dean's scream is all over the place. Have you done it in the newsroom yet? Not yet. But that's a good point. I will soon.

You know who is, you know, if he was more like one of those two quarterbacks, to me he's more Cam Newton. Dean screamed Howard Dean then Russell Wilson he's letting his freak black fly he's just himself by the way Vegas a little close off the baseball talk here Vegas has both the Yankees and Red Sox 86 and a half wins want to get a little wager going we had one last year well we can do that off the air sandwich we're not allowed to do that yeah you're right All right that's what's happening in the news real quick Greg I did I do have the life of Pablo now the new Kanye album oh yeah I am a big fan of it.

I like this song. Waves. I'm with you. I'm with you 100%. Big fan of the album, and this is one of my favorite songs. I almost want another verse from him on this. It's hard.

Have you now come around having heard that clip of Waves? I would actually check out this album if there was any way to get it. I can get it to you, buddy. Oh, okay. I got it. What does that mean?

I'm not going to get in trouble here. Yeah, we went through and you were ranking the previous Kanye albums. And this one on first weekend of listening, you know, it's right there. It's right there in the mix with all the great ones. Yeah, I've got to give it more time. But it's definitely promising. All right. Now, moving on, the Combine.

We're leaving for it tomorrow, of course. So we are going to be, you know, by Wednesday, we will be in the middle of it, you know, sitting in that room. It's not a very big room. So it's like you're kind of, especially where we're seated, if we're in the seat in the same spot, you turn around and all of a sudden there's, you know, less needs standing over you and you're in the middle of it also. It's kind of a cool scene. I like it a lot, having gone to it for the first time last year. Colleen, while we're here, can you share some of your notes? You found some notes from last year.

So I found some notes. Oh, my God, look at those things. Scribled like a mad woman. Yeah, so a couple of things here. Jim Tom Sula. He's really excited to work with the prolific running back that is Frank Gore. That was from last year. This is good because keep all of this in mind how much things can change from February to September.

For Tom Telesco, Chargers GM, I have written down, who is the real Dantrell-Inman? I want to ask who is Dantrell Illman, Inman. Jay Gruden, you guys remember this when he talked about RG3 being the starter. Oh, yeah. That's right. Dennis Hickey, Dolphins GM. He took Wallace out to a steak dinner. So they were trying to work things out, Mike Wallace as well.

Ended up in Minnesota, of course. And finally, Lovie Smith believes Mike Glennon can be the quarterback going forward. So basically just light these all on fire and scatter them to the wind? That's great that you found that because it's. We need to keep that in mind this week when we're at Indianapolis, at the Combine. And the weather, by the way, the coldest I've ever been in my life. And I grew up in New York, went to school in Boston. Nothing in my life, Greg, was like the New England, like when it's really cold and the wind whips in.

I always thought that was the coldest you could be. And then I went to Indianapolis late in February, and it was negative 15 with the wind chill for the entire week. I'll never forget how cold that was. I thought it was going to die. And it's supposed to be a little nicer this year. Yeah, it's going to be in the 30s and 40s, from what I understand. But, all right, so let's do it. Let's do a little exercise here, keeping in mind what Colleen said.

Okay. Why don't we go around the room and talk about maybe a storyline that we, or do we want to try to predict the storyline here or something, yeah, some type of a prediction of what will be a storyline like Colleen just pulled out, whether it comes to fruition or not. I don't want to give away, though, who I'm going to. to be drafting, you know, in the coach and general manager press conference. You want to describe that?

Well, I know, I think we did it more casually. Last year was really formalized. I was not there. I was coming off paternity leave. Oh, right, right, right. And basically, we're going to hold a draft when we get there Tuesday night. We'll all meet up. And we will draft who gets to cover which press conference.

So every coach and general manager that speaks is on the table. and you make your choice. A lot of strategy. And the goal with that is you want to, if you're going to be sitting there and writing something up, you want to have a story line, you want something juicy,

so that's why, and Greg's saying, he doesn't want to give way his picks. Is it more about the storylines or is it more about the personality of the country GM? Because I feel like Bruce Ariens has to be the consensus. I think all of that goes into play.

Arients has to be consensus number one favorite, right? Well, I think Gettled. First overall. Gettlement is a good pick because I think there's a lot of news there with Chip Kelly. The Panthers. Chip Kelly.

could be interesting. You also could go another route. I could see a Mark Sessler having a different type of strategy. Maybe go for Malarkey and John Robinson as two of your picks of the Titans and just try to stay away from doing any, you know, from writing. Any work? Yeah, because they're not going to say anything. Eh, that's nothing.

He's like, should we do it? Yeah, there's nothing post. I'll share one fear with you guys. I'll share one fear is that I like to, even though, of course, my number one, like as a fan is I want to talk to, you know both mike mcagnin and todd bulls but i'd like to maybe drop and try to steal it in the middle middle rounds can't trust with connor or in the mix so i might have to over draft the jets just to make sure i get them it's all it's all strategy and it's going to play out in uh oh yeah i would definitely take mcagin well sessler's going for you jackson first oh yeah yeah he's going to have

to blow his first pick on hugh jackson yeah definitely so let's um let's have some fun with this and greg why don't we start uh we'll you something you can kind of look into the crystal ball and see coming out of this week because that's what combines about it everybody talks about um you know your old boss calls it the underwear olympics brilliant uh but you know everybody talks about those events down in the field at lucas oil stadium but the real fun is at the podium that's right wednesday and thursday will really be the days that we're cranking the most i want to ask john elway if he's confident to marcus where it's going to be on the team next year because i love that one think that could get

had an interesting answer. I think there's a chance to Marcus Ware is going to have to take a pay cut to stay from what we're reading. Jeff Legwald of ESPN NFL Nation said that. And the last time the team said that to DeMarcus Ware, he said, see ya. That was in Dallas a couple years ago. And I think he's a proud guy who's coming off a good season. That could be very tricky.

There is a lot going on with the Broncos. And Elway is good with the media. He'll drop some bombs. he's not afraid to say what he thinks. Ryan Clayty is a situation that's up in the air. Peyton Manning, of course, and then they've got some big time free agents, too. That's a high draft pick right there, John L.Way,

because if you're looking, and you, West, you look personality-based. I look at it as that is a fun thing, but also just the news end of it, a lot of stuff with the Bronx. But that would be, I know football's a business, but it would be kind of dirty pool to me if he has one of the most, and Von Miller got a VP,

but DeMarcus is where it was dominant in the Super Bowl and had another nice season. why you go on the guy and say take less money to stay here? I hate that. I agree. That's why I sort of wish I had put him on my surprise potential cuts list because I did not. I did not think they would consider that. Yeah, because they already paid Derek Wolf.

You would think that, you know, they're looking for money. I mean, Brock Osweiler's out there. I mean, I'm looking to see how does Elway answer these Brock Osweiler questions? Do we start hearing reports during that week that they've started contract negotiated? Because this whole out of respect for Peyton Manning thing is nice and all. but they got to cut them by March 8th, and they're going to have a new deal worked out with Brock Osweiler by March 8th, or they're going to have to, I don't know what they're going to do.

They've got to risk him leaving. Chris Wesley, what are you looking at? I think this week in particular, we've been through a month and a half of word around the campfire and, you know, just basically scuttle butt. This is a chance to hear, like, Chip Kelly, is he going to tell us what his plans are for Colin Kaepernick? Is he going to tell us, is Colin Kaepernick in the plans?

Or is it Blaine Gabbard? I don't think we've gotten any answers out of him. It's just been people, kind of reports floating around, does he or does he not like Kaepernick? And depending on how vague he is answering those questions, I mean, one follow-up, you know, I would have, would be like, well, what if, you know, what if Colin Kaepernick doesn't want to play for the 49ers?

Because I think that's a question that's up in the air right now from what we're reading from your boy, Manish. And just if Colin Kaepernick's side, and I think money is a big part in this, Are they ready to pay him $14, $15 million a year? I don't know. Yeah, and Chip doesn't care clearly based on what happened in Philly. I mean, he'll let players go.

He'll trade him away. There's really no allegiance to anything or anyone with him. Wolf, you got something? Yeah. How about, well, first, I want to know if the Panthers are going to tag Josh Norman. And also, I'm sure we'll finally get to talk to the Bears about whether or not they'll tag all shunt jeffrey um but also i want to know what tennessee is going to do with that first pick if they're going to shop it around if they're going to uh i know obviously we're going to be talking

about that a lot but if they're going to do uh jeremy tonsill if they're going to go with somebody to help protect mariotta or if they're going to go with somebody like miles jack a linebacker i don't know but i think that's always interesting i mean once again tennessee is at the top of our list and combine draft isn't he uh laramie laramie laramie yes I the Titans are the number one pick yeah it's a little bit boring and if they take a tackle that makes a lot of sense but of course the Titans what is it exotic exotic smash mouth oh my God yeah what we're looking to run this year I guess you do need some stud lineman to be exotic while you smash mouth I don't I don't quite understand this

Laramie tensile buzz to the Titans didn't they they spent a second round pick on a tackle last year and a first round pick on a tackle the year before right I don't get that either, but this combo, Malarky Robinson, we're going to have to see if it gets people pining for the days of Ken Wisenhunt, Rustin-Webster back-to-back, because that was a half hour that always put, it was like, okay, cool, we can start working on our other stuff, those two back-to-back. There was the old Munchack, and who was the Titans GM back then?

I don't know. I just like that guy with the great white colonel mustache. Yeah. Oh. I love that guy. I know. You make a good point there, Greg. Like who would be, who's the number one guys, let's work up our copy team right now

where you can completely check out on the press conference because there's no chance of anything interesting happens. Well, the Titans now, I guess, aren't that team though. Yeah, you got to be a little plugged in on it. I'll throw it out there. How about this? San Diego Chargers. Oh, that's a sneaky one.

Yeah. Let's do some work, guys. Let's get back to our little. laptops and crank. No, there's going to be questions still about them moving and things like that, I think, too. You want to handle that? No.

First around the NFL post? Nope. Nope. You know, I'm looking forward to, as I really got a kick out of it last year, less need comes up. And let's be honest, he comes up, his hair is awesome, he's a handsome guy, he's better dressed than any of the other GMs, and his spin doctor goes to work. And then Jeff Fisher comes up.

And Fisher, everybody loves Jeff. and he's got a plan, he's got the goatee, and by the time they both step off the podium, everybody's running back to the laptops to start typing about how the Rams have something cooking. They got a plan in place, you know, those big cuts, you know, long lorinitis and cook, nice moves. Watch out for the Rams this year. They're going to start sucking people in, and it starts at the combine, baby.

We're seeing a window into Dan's soul. He feels, he knows he's powerless once he's in the room with less needs hair. and he's almost putting this out there ahead of time to be like save me guys save me it's not logical but I can't help the feelings I have that's a hair respects hair is a comet absolute comment but we also know these guys have been pulling this act for years upon years now and and it never gets old apparently but what they will do and you'll enjoy it when you're there they will speak confidently and they will appear to have a plan. But you don't think there is a plan.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain or the fact that they have no quarterback. Anything else? Anybody else have anything they want to throw out there before we move on? Their plan is 1980s football. Oh, yeah. Exotic smash mouth.

I got a little juiced up, Rich Samini, who's the ESPN Jets beat writer and a guy I respect a lot, connected Matt Forte to the Jets. And I know a lot of people are connecting the Patriots to Forte. But I think there's a lot of teams that are going to be interested in that guy. I want to see if there's a team that makes some type of Forte commentary. Can they yet?

Is he officially? They're not allowed to. They're not allowed to. So maybe that will affect it. A lot of people get into trouble at these things. But it's happened. You can dig though, Dan. There's been some legal tampering.

I mean, this is if you're a big fan of NFL. media insiders. This is a good week to keep. And who isn't? This is a big week, good week to keep score. Because there's usually some bombs being dropped about what's going to happen, who's going to sign with the dolphins or Jim Harbaugh. This is when the Jim Harbaugh almost got traded to the Brown story comes out.

You know, sometimes there's agents that get kicked out of the combine. There's always some crazy combine stuff. When you get the entire NFL together drinking, basically, in the same city. I think Larry Fitz's deal got done too during the combine last year. See, Draftnix think this is all about the college prospects, but the combine is there for all this backroom dealing and all the agents and all the clients and all the teams to get together. And the NFL quietly this year excised a week from the off-season calendar.

That week had really only been there about the last three or four years. It's going back to what it was. So there's one week less between the combine and free agency. free agency is right around the corner the deals are going to start that means the deals are going to start happening a little bit dan i feel like that's room for a tagline a possible tagline back to where it was something for the nfl i like to somehow work excise then yeah yeah so look at the big brain oh great well your your tagline was already it's such a home run that it's oh yeah i think it's gotten moved up it's gotten moved up the the ladder a little bit

people are starting to really plug in at the league office maybe this hands are this guy. Maybe we've got to get him here among the suits working on some advertising. Did you hear it, Colleen, by any chance? Yeah. You did? Yeah. Do you remember it?

No. I was trying to remember her. She just picked up on the buzz in the air. I'm trying to remember it myself. That is a little bit of an indictment. I think I remember it. Oh, yeah. You want to get it exactly right.

It's not the same unless it's coming from it. Somebody had sent like a beautiful graphic in my mentions. I don't know. I think it was something along the lines of, wait, I'm going to find it. Colleen, you might have to tighten this up officially. Right. So it was beautifully executed, I remember, when you did say it. Did you just call Sidney, Colleen?

Oh, did I do that again? Sydney, we might have to. So I just started talking. That's why. They're all the same. Wow. So I have the pink sweatshirt. Here we go.

The blonde hair and the five foot one. Found it. It gets you. Exactly. Okay. And yeah, we can tighten that up. All right. Or not.

It's your call. It's your show. All right. The NFL. Call the fight. It's a best sport, obviously. Oh, my God. How could I forget that?

Yeah. Although I was partial. It was the language was bad. But the NFL, I'm like a pigskin. I thought that was good. That's not bad. All right. Sidney, I'm sorry again.

She marks it down. I've got like three already. It's really the line, it's really the obviously that puts you apart. That was the line that got the league's office's attention. You know how Kanye always throws in that extra little line at the end? I mean, that extra little twist and you're like, oh, he did it again. He did it again. That Kanye, something you're not expecting.

That's what sets them apart. That's you and obviously. Wes is going to be so angry when I get like a $1 million bonus check from Rog. And Wes is just, you know, save it. for the Kanye podcast. Oh, wait, this is the Kanye podcast. Shots fired. All right.

Hey, Colleen, I did it again. Hey, Lindsay. Wow. What is happening to my brain? You have to leave all that in. I'm leaving. Sydney. Yes.

This is the best. Yes, Mark. What's going on? Very well done. Can we get Connor or on the phone? We sure can. Because it is announcement time. Yeah.

Connor's been patiently waiting. Oh, good. You there, Connor? Hey, what's going on? There he is. Connor, or welcome back to the Around the NFL podcast. What's going on, men and women? Hi.

This is going well. Catch phrases. So, by the way, Cindy, do you have the, what is it, Timpani? Timpani. Timpani. Okay. So just have that ready. I'll let you know one to signal it.

But a couple things with Connor. And first thing we want to get to, Connor, is last year we hung out as a group, of course, at Indianapolis for the combine, and it was a great time. And you really revealed yourself to be like an indie insider, which I was really impressed by. Can you just take us through? You're very excited about St. Elmo, the Steakhouse. But tell us a little bit about this underground cigar hut that has really become

what you're famous for when it comes to Indianapolis. Well, I've always said that Indianapolis is a lot like the game Pokemon, where if you don't know about the secret tunnel. uh and kind of the underworld then it's worthless and uh luckily i was blessed to have uh gotten all this knowledge and so yeah the uh the deep uh you know the deep cigar hut nicky blains on meridian i believe is like just the first place i got to go it screams indianapolis to me and it is like the underbelly of the combine fantastic place for a drink and a cigar and maybe some backdoor dealings get done there we you know there's a lot of

people at these places. Colleen, would you have any interest? I know, Wes, you have asthma. You're not going to smoke cigars. But Colleen, do you want to join us in this place? I do have asthma and I would smoke a cigar. Whoa, Wes. Shout out the common man. It's not healthy at all. He's the smarter one of the two of us. I've smoked cigars in the past and I've always regretted it. By the way, that was the first time. He slipped a Pokemon reference past us. Not like that but he expected us to get it yeah i didn't i knew what you were getting at i didn't quite

get the ref um kind of my niche audience out there i kind of have a separate community that only listens for me so that was kind of yeah that was a little nod to that crew and then of course we're also going to go yes of course we're all

excited you've said it before your favorite time of year is when you get the email for me about our reservation at st elmo but you also have another secret place that you speak highly of well there's you know i mean just where do you want to go i mean if we're talking about pizza uh you know there's naples which is like just incredible fire grilled everything vegetables uh pizza cheese everything's grilled and open flame right in front of you and uh it's just like the best

experience you sound like you're getting more excited about it as you talk about it as well which is making me excited about this this pizza place has pizza and cheese wow what a place we can leave you off the reservation oh it's like i don't know if he's going to be making millennial references i can make generation why references remember that movie pc u yes a young jeremy uh jeremy pibbin the only way to really survive at the school

is to be connected to the pit that's what that's what connor is he's the guy you got to know connor to no indianapolis i thought he was like red from shawshank you could go there to probably a better ref. I like that Pokemon is seen as a millennial

reference. I don't know. What would it be? I'm big in Japan. Like an eight-year-old kid reference. And now... Live from Botacon.

And now it's announcement time. So there you go. That sets the table for Indianapolis with Connor. He's going to be our leader in that

fine city. It's announcement time right now. All right. Now we know that Bill Simmons unveiled his new website,

The Ringer. But now, Conor has a big announcement to make about his offseason plans. Connor, let him know. It's, we're going to watch all 100 of the greatest movies of all time in an effort to culture myself. That's right. Connor is going to go of the AFI Top 100.

He's going to watch every movie, and the name of the segment will be. Horrible movies. so this is a segment on the podcast well we're going to have a you know periodically you know or you kidding me will still be in the mix but occasionally he will check in on the top 100 he'll watch a movie i don't know if Connor if you plan to watch him in order or if you want to if you want us to pick one for you to start with uh and then we will get your review your orable review well if you uh i have citizen cane uh actually being delivered to my house next week um I don't know what it's about, but it sounds maybe good.

And so then if you guys want to pick the second one, that would be great. This list is 10 years old, though. No, here's the updated list. You've got to be plugged on the updated list. There's a link at the top, I think. Oh, no, that's it. I've seen maybe like five of these movies. I think this is a great endeavor for Connor.

I mean, especially after the Pokemon. Maybe I will. Although, I wanted to add a movie theme. So this is Titanic. I don't know if that's on your list. Have you watched that one yet? I've seen one part of Titanic, and I think like anyone growing up

that's my age knows exactly the part I'm talking about. Oh, God. I know what you're saying, which is even grosser. But I will say that that will be on the list at some point. Greg, do you want to pick one out that he has to watch? Yeah, I think number 98, Yankee Doodle Dandy from 1920. Really looks, I want to hear your thoughts on that. that about you Wes

well my favorite movie of all time is Casablanca so I would suggest watching that number three on the list Pulp Fiction you got to watch that wait Connor hasn't now you've not watched Pulp Fiction Connor I've seen Pulp Fiction it is not in my top

five of all time but it is certainly a movie that I've watched and enjoy I will task you with watching the 1953 classic rank number 45 in this list Shane I don't know what it is But I want to make sure you watch it

Is it? Have you never read Shane? No, I have no knowledge of Shane What's Tootsie? Really? Oh, yeah. All right, I'm going to have to watch that. Dustin Hoffman dresses up like a woman.

Yeah. Really? That's all I know about it. All right, I'll check it out. All right, so I think, I mean, this is this is... There's literally no movies since 2000 except for Fellowship of the Ring from 2001. What kind of list is that?

Who is to watch monsters and copies? They haven't up. They haven't up. Do we want to put them on, should we shift them over the IMDB? No, I mean, this is a good start. It's history. It's culture. You don't need the last 50 years.

Why don't we come up with a list and give it to Connor of our top 100? Well, I think he wants to connect with the culture. Well, it depends what you want to get out of it, Connor. Well, you know, after re-listening to a lot of my, or you kidding me segments, I kind of realized how slovenly and detached I was from sort of the elegant portion of society. And so that's really what I'm aiming for here. That's what you got out of that. All right, Connor, well, this is a great, I mean, it's an ambitious plan,

and it's one that we will obviously be tracking, maybe start with one of those films that we just brought up, perhaps all of them, and we'll have you back on for the first edition of Audible Movies. It'll be so good you can smell the popcorn on me. That's a great way to close out. There he is. Connor or are you kidding me what a ambitious plan Greg you seem almost stunned by it I yeah I'm stunned would be the word I haven't seen a lot of these movies either I like the IMDB one yeah it's a little more fun yeah I might do the IMDB one

I mean the IMDB one gets a little messy because you know for instance dark night was a great movie but it's like ranked as the number four movie in the history oh stop no way so it gets a little wacky it's a little populace that list. So there you go. Connor is going to start watching movies, horrible movies. Give us our views. He will be our guide. And that's it for the show. Greg, are you at all nervous? You're almost like a sheepherder in a way when it comes to the around the NFL team. And now you got all six of us in the same place. You're responsible ultimately as our boss. Yes. I enjoyed that aspect of being in LA last year for it. Like I didn't, I didn't want to know.

want to know it was going on late at night in Indianapolis and now I'm going to be stuck knowing what possibly could you think that we were doing late in night in Indianapolis in all places I think they put it in Indianapolis so all these kids can't get in trouble because there's nothing to do eight people find trouble I've seen some people in trouble in Indianapolis really I've seen someone getting arrested is this the wasn't me people in trouble in Indianapolis podcast no one no one I would listen to that one here in trouble in indie podcast Catchy. Yeah.

Hosted by Greg Rosenthal. All right. That's it. Get another Rosenthal joint. We'll be back on Thursday. That's our next show from Lucas Oil Stadium. We will bring you all the hot takes that we have from those press conferences that we've been talking about. And, of course, anything that comes out of the combine itself.

Who knows, Greg, maybe somebody breaks the Chris Johnson 40-yard dash record. Haba, hubba, hubba. That's all I got. Want to come from the Combine. Uh, but yes, it will be a lot of fun to do a show again remotely this time from Indianapolis. So make sure you check it out. That's it. This is Dan Hansis signing off for Connie Faw.

You got my name right. Good. The mailman. The boss. And la Cede behind the glass. Del Thursday. This is an I-heart podcast.