NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Everything is Fine
Episode Date: July 20, 2020A bunker filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler bring you all of the latest news in the NFL including the start a different training camp and players speaking out on twitter... (10:58). Dan Snyder released a statement addressing the allegations against former Washington staff (25:27) and Cam Newton is following Marc's footsteps and going vegan (36:53). Dan gives the latest update with the Gatesville Messenger (41:55) before a the heroes spin through a new segment titled "Everything is fine". (48:56). Stick around for when we spin the wheel of teams and one hero is very excited. (1:09:35)Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Around the NFL podcast is floating on a dark lake.
Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast.
My name is Dan Hansis, and I am coming to you from a country filled with heroes in bunkers.
Mark Sessler and Greg Rosenthal in Los Angeles.
Ricky Hollywood also, it appears in Los Angeles.
What's up, boys and girls?
Hey, Dan.
It doesn't tell us name.
Well done.
We're back.
Welcome back.
Welcome back.
It's good to be back a week away.
As you can tell from my background here.
on the video stream.
I'm back in Texas, got the big shuffleboard table behind me,
and I essentially unplugged, went off the grid in a lot of ways last week,
as we turn our attention to a completely bizarre 2020 training camp scenario
that may or may not be happening.
And we're going to get into all of that on today's show.
But, yeah, I went fishing.
yesterday that was nice made a pizza on the grill yesterday so I know this is not an easy time for
a lot of people so I don't want to brag too much but it's you know that what is that saying
they say you can go to you can all go to hell I'll go to Texas sometimes that's what it feels
like down here at Lake LBJ and I do have a little bit of guilt about it to be honest how about
you Mark what did you do last week well you know I often take issue with you enjoying life more than
me, but this time around, I'm going to say I'm happy for you. No, I mean, I feel I come off that
way and I'm happy for you that you've found a good situation for the family down there. I saw
a picture of Jack who was in a hammock looked very comfortable. I think that is,
you've handled it very well and I'm happy for you. I would say my week was a, like you,
I disappeared. I didn't really have a chance to put pizzas onto grills and things, but I ate
some pizza here and there. And I watched a bunch of movies. And I'll tell you the other thing I did was,
I held out this little hope that the weak sojourn away from the podcast would somehow remove or
wipe away or sanitize all the ugliness that we've dealt with for essentially months. And it didn't
do a thing. You come back and it's all still there waiting for you. So we've got, we're not out of the
woods yet on the offseason front.
We're in the middle of the woods.
No, we're just starting.
So you look in all directions and all you see is woods.
Well, right.
It's a similar woods situation, except adding to that, adding to that is we're going to have a lot more work ultimately.
Not that we haven't been working, but we're going to have more coming up.
Are you trying to get Mark to run away?
No.
We're already down west right now.
We can't lose Sessler.
No, no, we can't.
Fishing, though.
I was going to say fishing underrated.
But I guess I guess people are kind of on top of that fishing.
great.
But as someone who has not experienced fishing much, the few times in my life that I went
fishing with my wife, I mean, it, it, it, it, it's underrated.
I wish I could do it more.
I kind of think fishing is properly rated.
I was, I was actually doing it legit where you're, you got the hook and you're putting
bait on it.
So when you try to put an earthworm, for instance, onto a hook, and then it shoots poop
on your finger now and you're like, what, earthworms poop?
What's that?
I don't like that.
is unnecessary.
It's like dirt that they're pooping, and it's just like, what is their quality of life?
And then yesterday, I'm putting live minnows on the hook, and I'm just, as I grew up in the
suburbs, but compared to everyone else down here, I'm a city boy, I'm just thinking about that
poor minnow, Mark, you know, you leave that, you leave that vegan lifestyle.
You know, when I stick a hook through a living minnow to try to use it to entice another
fish to eat him, what are we doing here with the fishing?
industry. Well, yeah, it seems a tad unnecessary, but I, this is coming from someone that spent
long Saturdays putting earthworms under, like, sun through a microscope and watch them
squirm. And I'm not saying recently, but as a child, and, you know, biology comes up to us in many
forms. That's what Mark was doing last week. It's just like killing earthworm.
Well, it was last week, all you're running out of things to do around here.
How are you, Erica? I'm good. Good.
Refresh.
I'm not like killing her.
When you hear that little like click sound, that's Erica has the mute button on her
mic, she's like, can I get through this open without having to pay attention?
And then the click's like, oh God, scramble time.
No, there was a, the dumpster was getting picked up by the garbage truck.
And I was trying to keep the beeping off of the show.
But a producer.
Sounds of the city.
Yeah, exactly.
No, I was good.
I went to the beach yesterday.
I went on like a five mile hike on Saturday.
Saturday, you know.
Outdoors.
It's a place to be.
It's got to be outside.
What's going on in California,
aren't they shutting that place down again?
I'm not going to back,
so it doesn't matter.
Pretty shut down.
The outdoors are free.
You know, the outdoors, it's been beautiful weather.
I mean, yeah, last week I feel like
was up and down, at least with my kids.
But the more outdoors we can do on the weekend,
the better.
At least that part of it, I feel like,
hey, I'm glad I'm in California.
you know that that's the part that's okay and i should be honest uh because i haven't been to this
point right behind me you guys could see well i got to go this way i guess um it says on the wall
behind me bob's and you might think that's bob bates dd s my father-in-law uh on the wall his
name but no it's actually i'm in a bill o'brien's attic here in in texas i've been a summer
house and uh you know based on what i'm hearing yes what you might expect to be true he's a little
tense a little bit yeah well i mean he's like one media supporter out there dan i want to
you know embrace you and give you this free lodging for the summer you've always stood by me
dan it's not the attic recreational area i would have imagined for um bill o'rion but mr what do you
think you're what is that doing you call this a room this is a pigsty i want you to straighten up
this area now.
You are a disgusting
slob.
Bill, come on.
I'm doing a podcast here.
Already in conflict.
Well, he doesn't like power.
He doesn't lose power of struggles.
I don't like this.
Your chances here.
He thinks he could just store him upstairs
in his own home and berate me
during a popular NFL podcast.
Well, he's got another thing coming.
All right.
Coming up on today's show.
We'll get you caught up to date
with all COVID-related matters
in the NFL and training camp, which actually technically opens today for the Texans and
chiefs who rookies report today and we'll get into what that means, what is that actually,
it's not your traditional type of reporting and whether or not the rest of the teams are going
to follow because things are getting more and more complicated by the day, by the hour.
We're also going to spin the wheel of teams, get you some other updates.
since Mark and I have been gone.
Let's hit the news, Ricky.
I want to say you're in our thoughts
and you have our full support
for the fight that you're about to go through.
You know, fingers crossed for you, man.
Good luck and everything.
Stay safe, stay well.
And we'll see you on this other side
and I hope to hear your voice
on the podcast again soon.
Life isn't fair, man, but I'll say this.
We're all rooting for you.
We're here.
Every one of us, it doesn't matter who you support.
what your background is.
We all want you to show you this.
Awesome video put together by at NFL with NIA.
Showed up this weekend and a bunch of overseas listeners
giving their best wishes to our friend Chris Wesleying,
who of course is fighting the Big Sea once again.
And he's in the middle of treatment right now.
And he's hoping to get back on the show soon.
But it's just a matter of making it work.
and his body cooperating with him.
So, but thank you to Nia and everyone that recorded messages for Wes because it definitely
makes a difference, and I know Wes was touched by it.
Yeah, it was amazing.
He even made a joke responding on Twitter, you know, let's keep it a secret.
I guess I'm blowing the secret, but, you know, he's got a special place in his heart for
the, for the UK and the overseas listeners, maybe even his favorites.
And I don't know.
I know it was not an easy week.
and Wes has sent out some messages about that and not speaking for him on his Instagram.
So stuff like this really does touch him. It's awesome.
Yeah, I think that like the toughest thing is to be going through it a second time
because for a lot of people you think, oh, he's into the journey and he completed it
and it was this huge moment of victory.
But it's very good to see how many people are rallying around Chris with twice the strength this time.
all right let us get into it and yes uh west i know you're listening well maybe he's listening
i don't think so i mean i could be wrong but i don't know i feel like he's he's got a lot on
his plate i mean does this show ease the burden i don't know i'm not not so that's just like
there's not you know it's also not there's not a lot of football news going on right now right
i'm sure you're wrong i have no idea he can tell me if i'm wrong when during my week's day in
LA before I got the hell back to Texas, did get a chance to see Wes. Erica, you were there as
well, Link and Lakeisha, and that was awesome. And they were all in very positive spirits. Well,
I don't know if the baby was in positive spirits, but he seemed to be happy. He can't really talk
or anything. But Wes and Lakeka, as you would imagine, in a very good emotional place in terms of
their strength, as you'd imagine. So best wishes to them. And we're going to be along with on the ride
with them. All right. Let's get into the news in the NFL.
Let's start with something that happened over the weekend on Sunday.
NFL players jumped on Twitter in mass in a coordinated effort to kind of get the NFL to play ball with them and comply with some guidelines that experts have thrown out there on safely opening training camps amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of the players use the hashtag, we want to play with their tweets, which to me brought back.
memories of baseball's infernal labor struggle that happened a couple months back.
But I believe it was a similar sentiment we want to play.
And it's a situation where the players, and this is a group of star players that all sent
out tweet Sunday, Drew Breeze, Todd Gurley, Miles Garrett, you name it, big stars from across
the spectrum of the league, Michael Thomas, saying, if you guys can't get on board with
a plan that is focused and is out in front of us ahead of
reporting for training camp. Well, we don't know how we can play football. And now it's basically
firing Greg an arrow at the NFL. Let's talk. Let's figure this out because I feel like maybe
we've wasted some time here this summer. Yeah, I think the NFL and this country is in a place
they didn't expect two months ago, you know, whether you want to criticize, whether they should
have expected it better or not. I'm not that interested in it. I just think the players all
talking as one voice is fascinating because I think they learned how powerful social media can be
in that way, you know, this summer after George Floyd's killing. And I think it's a totally
different matter, but I think it is different than, let's say, another time when the players in the
NFL were going back and forth, let's say, like, during the lockout, you know, 10 years ago. And
they're using this voice to get their say out there.
I also think, though, as someone like us watching from afar, I'm just going to kind of,
I'm going to watch and see because everyone is in a crazy hurry.
How to, you know, but what is, to me, what is the huge hurry?
Like, okay, the players are showing up today, apparently in Kansas City and Houston just to get tested.
And the NFL and the union are talking today, and they've basically been talking every day.
and if things don't get settled,
we'll see if the veterans are actually showing up
and we'll see how this on-ramping is.
But I'm not, like, panicked about it
because I'm not that, like, fascinated by this play-by-play
of what's going to happen.
Like, let's see where we are in really a week from now.
A lot of the issues are getting worked out.
It is incredibly complex.
And I guess that's part of the thing
where I'm not freaking out.
Like, it is an incredibly complex problem.
that the testing has to be figured out, the money has to be figured out.
More than anything, the safety has to be figured out.
And the testing especially is something that, to me, is like there is no good solution.
There literally is no good solution to the testing.
And so I'm curious how they're going to pull it off.
But like anyone's saying that it's just like easy and that they should have it figured out,
I think are unrealistic.
Yeah.
You know, DeMora Smith wrote the OMQB this week.
He's the NFLPA executive director, and he used the term perfect problems with imperfect solutions.
And, I mean, if you want to spin positively, you could look at what the NHL just released,
that out of 800 players that they tested, that two were positive,
that there is a chance that football can happen.
And the players, you know, the whole point was we want to play,
but we want to mow down these topics that we're in a union battle over.
and I think that things like the opt-out language for certain players with pre-existing conditions
or family members with such, they want that clearly put in writing before the season begins
or training camp begins, that the frequency of testing has to do with if it's a 24-hour test,
that's the quickest you can get a response, well, you don't want to find out that you had a false
negative or a false positive and you've been in contact with 35 people,
and that's been a major sticking point for them.
I mean, to me, you've got to get the test.
That's part of the, I think people are understanding that these are happening in 32 different places.
And I don't have the details of how the NFL is settling all this.
But, you know, where you are, Dan, where we are, Florida, like they're in a very different place in terms of testing.
There's an ethical question, I think, to it too, that ultimately only essential workers who are symptomatic are getting test back that quickly.
So you're basically saying we're more important than people that are sick in your state.
It's a totally separate question, but the logistics of how that's all going to be set up,
whether it's daily or every other day is like hugely complex.
And unlike the NHL and the NBA, they're not going to be in a bubble.
They're just out there living in these communities.
Yeah, Michael Thomas of the Saints had a tweet,
why isn't the NFL doing what the NBA is doing, listening to their players?
Well, we've talked about this on the show.
It's much different what the NBA is trying to pull off with this bubble in Orlando
for the end of their season and this playoff they're doing.
and what the NFL's task with doing,
which is, you know, thousands of people
in terms of personnel players, coaches, and make it all work.
And I've seen it.
I saw it on a number of websites on social media, of course,
kind of fire and brimstone attacking the NFL for, like,
why are we only now here?
Why is this all coming to a head now?
Why hasn't the NFL planned for this ahead of time?
I can guarantee you without being a shill for the league on any level
that everyone behind the scenes on Park Avenue has
been trying to figure this out for months and months and months, but they're just like the rest
of us ultimately where I think it's it's hard to kind of work it out and find out what you can
and what cannot do and what we just saw with baseball when you look at the relationship between
the union and the league. And maybe this is the only place where you could give it to the NFL a little
bit in terms of criticism that maybe there should have been more runway for communication between
those two sides because that's just a part of professional sports.
as a business, that there's not always going to be seeing eye to eye in that realm.
Well, and, you know, I'm always tough on baseball, and sometimes Dana gets us into, to issues
on that front.
But you know what?
It's unfair that, like, simply baseball was pinged for this because the whole country
was thinking a little bit differently in May into June when we thought things were changing
and they weren't.
And by the way, you can point to, you know, the black plague or the bubonic plague as
learning points for what our society is going through. But come on. I mean, everyone's going through
it for the first time. And I don't think there was a 60-day period where NFL officials were just
like, hey, let's go sit by the pool and not focus on this. I mean, this situation, to Greg's point,
has changed almost weekly daily. And at this point, they're doing all they can. But it's not
surprising. And Judy Batista pointed out that she used the word befuddled, that a number of league
sources were like befuddled by the players Sunday Tweetstorm if that's what you want to call it.
But I think from the union side, it's just that there are these unanswerable human questions.
Do we want everyone to play? Yes. Is there a chance that that's possible? I mean, they went into
the chief facility and Andy Reid talked about how pristine the setup is, how he believes it can work.
I just think that even with that positive approach, you still have to realize there are human issues here and that every player has people at home.
things that just create these union sticking points.
Well, in Kansas City, Tom Pelliserro reported today was one of three teams that have been
approved out of the 32, only 32, out of the three, by an independent, you know, doctors saying
that their setup is safe to start going to work.
And their setup, to be clear, is they're just testing these rookies for a couple days.
Then they're just testing, you know, the coaches stat.
They're not really doing anything.
And then it's going to be a very slow on-ramping process.
I think people need to understand that too.
In the NFL's best-case scenario, where this goes absolutely smoothly,
training camp still isn't going to look anything like training camp.
Not for a while.
It's going to be an acclamation period where the players are working out in smaller groups.
Then it's going to build up to some non-contact stuff on the field and smaller groups.
And in a best-case scenario, the teams are showing up on the 28th.
And that's why the players are pushing back.
Because the NFL is saying show up on the 28th.
The day is still the same.
And we're not really at a place where they can do that.
Everything is not all figured out.
But they hope to be, I guess, by the 28th.
And in a best case scenario, like I was saying, in this plan,
we're three weeks away from what I think people would really understand
as a normal training camp.
So even in a case where things go well, it's not going to be like it was.
And the NFL is already giving up one.
of those preseason games. So we saw today in the NFL's latest proposal that they're down to
just hoping for one preseason game. So that's why I'm not like freaking out about what these
proposals are. It was it was four games two weeks ago. It was two games a week ago. And now it's
down to one game and we'll see if we have that game or not. I'm not going to like analyze where
we get that game or not. It's just like we'll find out then. And please, yeah, if we do end up
with one preseason game, which I don't think there's even going to be one. Right. Please do not put
too much into the results
of that week. I imagine
if players are still salty
about there even being a preseason game
and starters don't want to
play in that game, the coaches don't
want to mutiny on their hands. They'll say, you don't want to play,
you don't have to play. And they'll just play guys at the bottom
of the roster. And that could become something
of a farce, akin to maybe a week
for the preseason. That's all stuff
to be on the radar. And I just, oh, go ahead, Mark.
No, I was to say, wouldn't that be the only
real use of a preseason game?
Yeah, the only real complaint.
None of us like preseason games, but, you know, coaches have to make these tough decisions between your seventh and eighth best cornerback.
Like, use the game for that.
Maybe it would also be to practice whatever competition is going to be like from an, sort of an organizational.
And I'm sure the NFL is very concerned about that.
So it would be a little bit of a dry run of like, how can we actually run a game before there's 25 million people or whatever it is on Sunday afternoon in week one?
And like I said earlier, the first part of training camp did start today,
Chiefs and Texans rookies because they're playing the opening Thursday night game
so they get a little bit more of a run-up.
They reported to their facilities.
The plan is they will get tested at the facility on Monday and Tuesday.
Then they go, then they will return to their team headquarters for a physical on Thursday
if the tests come back clean.
And then once, if that all goes to plan, they can begin strength and conditioning in groups of no larger than 15s, according to a report from Bleacher reports.
So that's what, that's training camp this week in the NFL.
And it's different.
It's going to be different.
And you just hope it gets off the ground.
Sean McVeigh, apparently expressed doubt that this is going to happen on time on July 28th.
We're all going to be kind of like we're saying, just like the news about the virus.
seems to change hour by hour, the NFL plan will as well.
We're all like, you know, living through the movie Tenet, you know,
moving its release day back every two weeks.
Like that is the most country.
That is the country.
Because for as much as we want to kill the NFL or whatever,
and there's a lot of just anger and everything,
I did go back and read some stuff from early May.
And it's like there wasn't, there was no expectation.
And that's our own naivity and our own people had too much faith
and the government and everything,
that there was no expectation that cases would be double what they were back in May.
There was no expectation that the testing problem that really I think is crucial for these teams
would be in a worse situation in a lot of places,
and that this uneven balance of like, hey, a couple, you know,
some of these teams are actually in okay shape to go back.
It's interesting to me, Dan, I'm wondering your thoughts hearing today
that Jets and Giants are already announcing that there won't be fans,
the crowd. It's interesting that they were the first teams to announce that because New Jersey,
New York actually, you know, in terms of having the, you know, virus under control is in a better
shape than virtually any place right now. But they've been through it and they sort of know
that, you know, they can't risk anything. They want to keep it that way. And right. I have a ton of all
of my families in New York and New Jersey and things are a lot better there right now. And that's why
they don't want people coming into the area right now. They want to keep it that way. And the idea of,
you know, getting out of the hell that was in March, April, May in the tri-state area
and then saying, well, we're fine now.
So let's get 20,000 people into a stadium.
I'm glad there's leadership there that understands that's a needless risk.
So that's good.
Wait.
You hear that?
Uh-oh.
What kind of a man are you?
I'm trying to do a podcast.
You're a worthless and weak.
you do nothing you are nothing you're sitting here all day and play that sick
repulsive electric twangler i want an alert guitar well i don't get dan i don't understand
why am i here well right you i guess you can play a shuffleboard by yourself he doesn't
sound like he wants to play with you what are the i got such a nice impression of bill at home
with his family and his you know his children his wife when they when they had hard knocks
I really humanized him.
And this is a different side of him at home.
I'm surprised.
Yeah, I guess when 47 NFL films cameras aren't on him,
you see what really happens.
Again, another, also a shot across the bow of the podcast industry,
this thought that, oh, there's no signal that could be sent out of here to bring me down.
So I'll just be my natural self.
Well, Bill, joke's on you, bro.
Yeah, use it as revenge.
In other news.
All right, this broke last week.
Obviously, we know that the Redskins no longer.
They're now the Washington football team for the time being as they figure out what their new name will be.
Later in the week, the Washington Post dropped a bombshell report about misconduct within the organization over the last, what was it, two decades, accusations from 15 women of sexual harassment and verbal assault against former club officials.
and there is obviously going to be a lot of fallout from that as there should be.
And the Post reported that the NFL will consider disciplining the team
but is not expected to force Daniel Snyder to sell the team.
At least that's where we are right now.
That was an initial thought.
And we saw different circumstances with Jerry Richardson and the Panthers a couple of years back
when he was very quickly forced to sell the team because of some very ugly issues
going on behind the scenes there. Right now it doesn't seem like Snyder will be
forced out of the league at this point, but a fine could be coming and a hefty one at that,
you would think. It doesn't look like it's going to happen, you know, that any force out's going
to happen quickly. But there is more, there's more pressure about it than ever before. You know,
Peter King's certain, you know, writing in a column saying why Snyder has to go that he's not the only
one, you know, to be, to be saying these sort of things. And,
I do think it's interesting, you know, more than anyone, you know, Fred Smith, the owner of FedEx,
the minority owner of the Redskins is pushing for this in his own subtle way.
I mean, he's not saying it, but he's trying to get out.
And all the other minority owners of the team are trying to get out, according to the Washington Post.
And that's been the case before this report.
And I think we've seen this year, and we've seen it with the Washington name change,
which is, you know, another thing this organization is trying to deal with.
very quick manner. It's very complicated. You know, money is what changes. You know, money,
money is what forces change. At least it has a lot this summer. And I don't know, the minority
owners trying to get out, it does leave it to me kind of an unsettled situation that maybe it's
not happening quickly, but it's something I think everyone around the NFL is going to be watching
pretty closely over the next season, the next year. Well, and the problem with sports ownership is
that, you know, it hinges on the money that you spoke about.
And if you have it, you can just stay in the role.
And, you know, even if you want to just look at it from a football perspective,
we like to look at these coaches and say, well, what does a coach bring to the fold
other than simply being in the position?
What does Daniel Snyder do well?
They have one playoff win since he took over the team in 1999.
That was when our friend Chris Sims knocked out what they basically be.
be Chris Sims and John Grude and that old box team.
You're going friends with him now?
Your friends, your buddies?
Well, he's not an enemy.
He's the opposite.
I like him quite a bit.
But I'm just going to ask you, what does Daniel Snyder do well at all?
And I feel, if anything, from an on-field perspective, that we're losing one of the better
fan bases.
And now, in general, Washington is embroiled in total madness.
What's been going on there?
You try to tell me that the owner didn't know about any of that.
I simply don't buy it.
I would be, do you need deep cutting chains?
changes.
Snyder issued a statement Friday through the team.
The behavior described in yesterday's Washington Post article as no place in our franchise or society.
The story has strengthened my commitment to setting a new culture and standard for our team,
a process that began with the hiring of coach Ron Rivera earlier this year.
Rivera is being hoisted up as kind of the symbol of change in Washington.
And I guess from that viewpoint, you could look at this job.
has now as a great opportunity for him personally because of the if i almost said it if washington
does go and turn it around and things clean up behind the scenes he's going to get a lot of credit
for that uh and he probably will deserve it because he's a guy that has been in the league for
while and knows what he's doing uh conversely it's a very tough job that he just took uh because
the team has been kind of messy for years now and uh it's been dysfunctional and he is
now the guy in charge of not only on some level cleaning up things on the field,
but also being an agent of change behind the scenes.
That's a lot of work for one guy to do.
Right.
And if you think about the coaches that have tried that and failed,
I mean, Joe Gibbs under Dan Snyder, a Hall of Famer in two sports.
You know, he knows how to build.
But even Gibbs.
Right.
Even Gibbs, like they were just saying Gibbs, give us a winner.
Rivera, even him being cited in the quote from,
Snyder. Snyder's basically saying to Rivera
fix our team and fix the culture
of our organization. Right, right.
They've tried, you know,
guys who are incredible
play callers with the Shanahan stuff
and that hasn't worked. And I do
think, you know, it is worth noting
kind of just the reaction from this story.
Obviously, it's a horrible
story. It's an embarrassment. But from
some of our colleagues like
Lindsay Rhodes saying
and so many women who say this wasn't
news to them. And it's not unique
just to the Washington franchise.
And Rionan Walker, who covered the team now works for the Athletic,
wrote a really good piece in the athletic about it.
And that it's just, it's more than just a Washington problem.
But also that I think people around the league,
no one was surprised that Washington was the one that in this case was called out for it.
Yeah, Colleen tweeted about it too last week that the story brought back,
you know, triggered the worst memories of, you know,
what she's had to deal with in the business.
And I spoke with her last week about it.
And, you know, she said it, she said it not in a way that she was, it brought back and
put her in a dark place, but that she was just, it was kind of a matter of fact thing,
that that's part of the business.
And we have been around, you know, women that we work with for years at these league events.
It is not, this is real.
I mean, I've seen it at the, at the league events and the way, you know, when people have
some drinks in them, the league, you know, I don't know, want to say who.
got involved with what but we've all seen it we've seen ugly behavior and and you
would you would hope one thing that comes good comes out of something negative just like
what happened with George Floyd in the protest that happened is that people see what's
happening to Washington and they they causes them to reflect on how they should behave
around women and and people should be treated as equals and not as an object to be lusted
for it's it's it's real deal stuff and I'm glad that the light is being shined on it all right
Yeah, key thing was it's every team.
It's not just one.
I mean, it's like if you want to investigate deeper into each organization,
you're going to find similar stories.
All right.
Moving on.
We'll hit a couple quick nuggets here before we continue on the show.
Two Patriots nugs, Greg.
Number one, ESPN Boston's Mike Reese reports that Mosanoon has hired a full-time coach
to live with him this off-season.
according to Rice
Sunu hopes that this
set up quote creates a
situation where his relentless
offseason work produces tangible
on field results in
2020. What the hell is going
on here, Greg? I love it.
I love it. This is a man that once
he served the slander.
He played, he had a high ankle spring
in the second he showed up to New England
and did not and played very poorly
after that. Bad trade by Bill. Come on.
Bad trade by Bill. Probably was, but I
I think at least it was a bad trade, but there is a chance at least, I think he's out there training with Cam Newton, which is fun to see.
There's a chance at least that he can salvage it as a useful part of their team, which he was absolutely not last year.
He hurt them by playing injured.
He should have just gone on IR or whatever he needed to do.
I would do this with every rookie quarterback who's expected to see the field.
Any sort of key central star player have a coach with them 24-7 younger guys.
I mean, I kind of like the idea.
like a CBS All Access show or something.
I don't know what.
It doesn't sound like major television.
But there's a lot of digital streaming places that that feels like a show.
The coach comes to.
I mean, Dan, you're living with a coach right now.
So I'm not sure what your counterpoint would be.
Keep your voice down.
He could come up at any moment.
Well, it does.
It makes me think about, listen, Sunu is privileged financially.
And he has options to do these sort of things.
And I think about myself, and I think everyone is the same way.
You think of ways that you could make yourself into a better version of you.
But then again, it's like, Mark, do you want someone living in your house 24-7 telling you to be better?
That feels like it would be terrible.
I wouldn't mind like a plugged-in life coach, kind of just a moment saying like, you know, let's think about that.
Let's make a better decision here.
You know, it wouldn't be the worst thing.
Who is that?
Who is the, um, the, um, the, um, the,
female nutritionist exercise lady that you were way into for a while?
Way into?
I mean, I was doing the class of Autumn from Beachbody.
I mean, she helped me lose like 18 pounds and 20 days.
Just did a boxing class this morning.
Autumn Calabrese.
Would you be okay if she was living with you in the house and just tracking you at all
times to make sure you were being the best version of yourself?
I think it would be helpful.
toward my fitness, I don't think that she would sign up for that on any level.
I think it's a bit of a different relationship between...
Money talks.
Mos Anu and his position coach than, you know, grabbing a beach body trainer sight unseen
and forcing them to live in this household, please.
I'll always remember I texted, you know, Mark a picture that Autumn Calabrese was speaking
at one of the Santa Monica public libraries that I was at with my children.
And that was like Mark's chance to really rub elbows and meet his hero.
Not everyone gets to meet their hero.
Well, I didn't do much with that advice.
I apologize, Greg.
And you say, why would she want to do it?
Well, money talks.
Right.
I don't have the money that would make, that would be speaking.
Let's put it that way.
That's the other big problem here.
Your money would be mumbling.
Yeah, it would be at best, you know, a tired roar.
Wait, you want to give me $37 to live with you for six months?
Right.
What is the upside?
Good news, Mark.
other Patriot News. Cam Newton is the latest pro athlete to get up. I won't even say get up on
his high horse because it's it's not right to get up on a horse like that to say the vegan
lifestyle is the way to go. And a plant-based diet has changed my life and it's made my body
respond in ways that I never thought it could. And I'm going to do a, I'm going to do a
campaign with PETA. Cam Newton says wearing a vegan strong shirt.
So congratulations, Mark.
You have another big time name in your corner in Cam Newton.
Well, I think when Cam Newton signed with the Patriots,
I decided either I'm going to be, you know, real antagonistic about this
because I just don't like it, or I'm going to get all on board.
And that was before I heard this.
I decided to get all on board.
I love the whole idea of it.
It makes whatever part of a season we get that much more interesting.
And there are, it is not unusual at this point, especially for players rehabbing
coming off certain types of injuries to look harder at diet.
And I just would say this, because I always get pegged as being this person with this diet thing.
Like, I just think there's huge chunks of people out there that shouldn't eat that way.
Some should, some shouldn't.
Like, I just think if it fits for you, it does.
And there's certain athletes and certain types of bodies that they respond to it.
His body's looking good at this off season, according to all those Instagram videos there, Dan.
He definitely looks like he's safe.
You're not loving this.
He looks great.
At the Patriots, they're back in the center.
They're back in the center of the NFL.
Brought him back.
Trope alert.
First of all, this is being added to the trope list.
The vegan diet thing, it's absolutely now a thing.
It is hardly happening long enough or distantly enough.
We don't need to hear the stories about it all the time.
You're right.
It's actually common enough.
I don't think that, like, is it that interesting as a story?
And to answer your question.
There's a lot of different diet.
Every other, like, tweet I see her.
right now is people like, I just cooked a steak for 48 hours in my oven.
It's like, so that, you want that, you don't want, you want that information,
but you don't want anything counter to that.
I hear you.
I'm just saying the people that cook the steak, they're just saying I'm looking
forward to eating this delicious piece of meat.
The vegan guy, like a Cam Newton's like, oh, my body's never going to be better.
You know, this is the way.
It's a little preachy, it feels sometimes.
The steak guy just wants to eat the steak.
I'm mostly vegan and my body has never looked worse.
So I am going to keep it real with you.
And I'm meat eater and my body's never looked worse.
Maybe it's just for getting old.
Right.
Cam Newton, by the way, was a meat eater in 2015 all those years ago when he was the MVP.
And I don't like your question.
Well, jump on the football if you're going to eat meat.
I don't like the, I do, in Mark's defense, I don't like the people who then are like,
well, did you see Aaron Foster's numbers after he went vegan?
Like, that's annoying too.
The people claiming that vegan makes them better players are just,
as annoying as the vegan, like not eating meat makes them worse players.
It's just like, let them figure out their own diet.
They'll be fine.
Here's the nuance to the trope.
And maybe Brady in so many ways is an outlier.
The guy that you usually read about saying, I'm now a vegan and my body's never been better,
it's usually an NFL star on the other side of the hill that is trying to recapture past glories
and is looking to change up his diet as part of that quest.
and more often than that, I would imagine
Aryan Foster is the example
than a guy changes up the diet
and all of a sudden is as good as he was five years earlier.
Well, it's also, it's not,
I don't think they're coming up with it on the fly in a vacuum.
It's trainers, it's nutritionists,
with more information than they had in 1983.
But you're right, it's people open to new solutions.
And so they are trying to save and lengthen their career.
It's not the 22-year-old necessarily,
who is probably all.
also out till 3 in the morning if he wants to be.
And before you get on me on Twitter or the subreddit or whatever,
I'm fine with it.
I'm fine with people being vegan.
I'm just having to fun.
Everybody just relax.
And Greg, I have no problem with Cam Newton beyond the Patriots.
I know you want me to be really upset about it, but I'm really not.
In fact, it's kind of fun.
The Patriots being super boring wasn't a great hook as a guy that covers football and
likes to dislike the Patriots.
Camp being in a picture makes them so much more interesting.
And as I said on this show and on the network show before he signed, I was, I was rooting for the guy.
I hope he does well.
I don't hope the Patriots do well.
I hope he's basically a lesser version of what he once was, but I don't want him to fall on his face outright.
It's a bit of a tricky wired across as a guy rooting for Cam.
But I will say this, Greg, you got Cam Newton there, okay?
You got Jared Sidham still waiting in the wings, Bill's still in the building.
You got Sanoo with the life coach living with him.
All that's great.
But I'll tell you something.
Despite all that, the Patriots aren't special anymore.
Well, that was, that's all I'm saying.
As you were saying, your narrative was they were in a relevant team.
That was your big thing.
You did not say irrelevant.
I think you said irrelevant.
I said they're not special anymore.
Maybe I said irrelevant once or twice.
I think you said irrelevant.
I think you said irrelevant.
They're fun.
all right good talk oh i have an update i'm long overdue on an update developing news here
yeah we didn't want to press but we've been waiting yeah it's time for the update
what's going on with the gatesville messenger people think that i'm ducking the story
and it's just it was a matter of timing and circumstance here in the middle of the summer
The Gatesville Messenger for people that aren't aware of it, since I got to Texas earlier this summer, I thought it would be fun and good for both sides.
The newspaper, the local paper of record in Gatesville, Texas, a small town in central Texas where my wife is from to maybe do a feature piece on the old Zooser and the around the NFL podcast coming to Texas and doing remote shows from a local insurance office in the center of.
downtown, Gatesville. And I was approached by a reporter for the Catesville Messenger who said,
I'm going to come by the office. I'm going to interview you. I'm going to take a photo. And like I said,
I was very excited and I wanted to be on the front page. And I saw that as almost a referendum on
where I was in my life, whether I get front page status or if I'm buried within the messenger.
and sure enough a couple weeks ago there is in the back of the paper in the back of the paper
about 80 words NFL network comes to Gatesville and I'm thinking oh this is not good the guy
never showed up he never showed up to the office the reporter and I don't want to get on
him too hard but he told me the subject of the interview hey I'll be there I'm going to take a photo
and we're going to talk he just never shows and then there's a blurb in the paper well I come
here to eat crow, but guess what?
Today I get a call from the editor-in-chief.
Okay?
Extra, extra, read all about it.
Me and that playboy in trouble again.
Extra, extra, extra, extra, read all about it.
Okay.
I get a phone call from the editor of the paper.
It says, I don't want to get into the exact specifics of what you said, but along
lines of there was a miscommunication within our building.
We would love to do a full feature.
story. We want a photo. She didn't say front page, but I think that's where this could be
heading. And she's assigning her top features story columnist to conduct a phone interview with
me this week. And things are looking up for the old Zeus are in the Gatesville Messenger. That's
all I'm going to say. It was looking very bad. Now it's looking very good. The saga continues.
Well, I mean, if anything you're... I can hear the disappointment. You're still belated right now,
Sessler. Not at all. If anything, it sounds like if
they're assigning, you know, the Gatesville Messenger's top features reported to this.
It sounds like front page material. And, you know, it's just nice to see your star rise in conjunction
with the power and the readership of newspapers, which has never been, you know, more glowing
than it is today. If you're doing anything, you're reading a newspaper right now.
I did wonder what was the glow around Hansis today. I thought it was probably just a week off.
A lot of great family time. He's back in Texas. But I don't know if that glow would be quite as bright
if it wasn't for this call from the editor-in-chief.
I don't think it would.
We will continue to keep you up to date with all the latest developments.
Well, one thing, are you going to have the reporter that basically, you know,
we all heard that call.
He was going to come down to the insurance office where you were doing the show and, you know,
be there to listen to and are you, has, will he be fired?
What is the repercussions for someone not covering?
I wonder if they've heard, they might have, they might have heard the show too and
and realize they were getting some bad press here.
She said, the woman said she was thankful that we've been talking about the paper.
And I don't want to say what's going to happen to that sports editor because I certainly
didn't put in any phone calls, but it didn't sound like his boss was very happy.
That's all I'm going to say.
That's not my, this is not my department.
I'm just happy to be in contact with the top of the food chain and things are going very well.
And we will keep you updated on everything surrounding the gates.
messenger and the old
Zusser
a potential front page headline
you know you guys think this is just like some
filler content to get us through the
summer this is probably going to be the biggest
story in September too on this two pot
who's you guys we think
it's like we just got it to dance
subconscious there he said no it might be
the only thing we have to talk about the quiet
part out loud
no it might be the only thing
we have to talk about is that's true
that's true
that's what we got
All right.
That's what's happening in the news.
All right.
So we're fully aware if you've listened to what's happened in the show so far today
of the hurdles that exist to get players on the field.
And even if and when that happens, is this going to work?
I was extremely lifted up.
We want to talk about a glow, Greg, watching the Yankees and Mets
and two exhibition games in the city over the weekend where it just felt like it was working.
It felt like real baseball.
With the exception of the crowd noise, which I really think the NFL needs to steer clear of,
the fake crowd noise.
I don't know why we feel like we should be doing this.
And I know it's not just happening in baseball.
It's happening at soccer and it's happening across the world.
I think it's funny.
It's sort of a around.
But isn't it kind of silly?
It is, but at least with, I think, I think baseball is a little different, but soccer, it's such a part of, like, the low hum and the, like, it, like, sort of lets you know, because if you're not, like, watching every second, I think it makes more sense in soccer, though, than baseball. And it's tricky. You've got to get it right. I think they've gotten it right, like, on the NBC broadcast.
I mean, soccer is hypnotic.
Like soccer, when you listen to soccer.
And you hear the rise so you know to like look up.
You know, it's like stuff like that.
Football has that too.
But I think that aren't we just like a little too savvy to not be distracted by football?
Right.
I'm with you.
I don't need that.
It made me think as someone of a certain age when you think about what are the major things that have happened in our lifetimes.
The two biggest things to me, 9-11 and now the coronavirus.
and I remember when 9-11 happened,
there were some things now when you look back
are a little cringy.
Everyone was just trying to, like, get through it
and trying to think of ways to make life a little bit better.
It's like when Fred Durst was doing charity songs
and rapping about 9-11.
And it's like, oh, it was for charity.
And the moment it was like, all right, that's fine.
And now you look back at it and things like that just seem cringy
for the time that it took place in.
That's why I feel like we're going to look back at the sports
with the canned crowds.
Like, everybody was doing it because we just want to
feel like life is a little bit normal, but then down the line, maybe it will be a little
cringy, that's all. I know, but it was good to watch sports this weekend. I'll tell you what.
That was nice. But anyway, this segment is ignoring all this negative noise all around us for
just a moment. We're not being soldiers of the league here and being like, everything's fine.
Keep walking along and the football's coming, July 28th, everything is good. Please pay me.
That's not what this is about.
We are fully aware of what's going on.
We just spent like 40 minutes on it, so they know, they know.
If they've made it this far, unfortunately.
Today's segment is everything is fine.
Everything's fine.
Let's talk about football.
That's it.
That's it.
We're talking about things that we, under normal circumstances, right, Greg?
Would just be excited to talk about with a season coming up.
Right.
In some show, you know, maybe we've leaned into it too far the other way because we're a news
show. That's sort of how we started. And so the news is dark right now. But it's crazy because
I do have to, you know, you have to live with the reality that there's, there is a chance
week one's going to start on time or close to on time. And it's like, we do need to be prepared
for that. And I do feel like it's tricky. Of course we're distracted. It's the most distracting
thing ever. But at some point, we sort of, we need to be ready. We need to be preparing our,
our listeners for this season too. If it's going to happen, we got to start getting excited about it.
it's almost like you feel a little guilty
just talking about football
and it makes you seem like
you're being willfully ignorant.
Well, if that's what it is, so be it.
Let's talk about something fun.
Let's talk about football.
What could come in six to eight weeks
you started off, Mark.
You know, for me, because I,
this is like, what would get me excited
and what's ahead that I'm genuinely intrigued by?
And so I'm not, I think you know me well enough.
I'm not going to fake it and just say,
this thing gets me going.
There are, there is something that has,
happens every year, though. And it's the fact that we're sitting here in July, and we have no
idea, me personally, what happens to me, because my team is always like a flaming train wreck that
crashes into a mountain by week four. So when things are going great for your team, it's great to be
charitable and love all these other teams and have this great time. When you're personally on fire,
I'm looking for like things different than just like major teams. And so what I always have
every year are like kind of new heroes and guys that come out of the woodwork that I
I wouldn't even know.
Like last year at this time,
no idea who Gardner Minchie was, didn't care.
No idea that David Blow would become a central part of my adulthood.
No idea that Bo Scarborough, these guys started beloved fan clubs,
the Scarborough heads, the Blowhards, the Menshuvians.
And so I'm wondering, like, three months from now,
let's just say everything starts on time.
Who has captured my heart?
No, everything is.
What?
It is.
It is.
And this exercise, it is.
Everything is fine.
It's great.
Everything's great.
And there's going to be seven or eight, you know, new people that I absolutely enamored with
who tell the story to the season the way that I like.
I can think someone like Jalen Hertz maybe comes in and does a lot of special stuff.
And then suddenly you've got a Jalen Hurts so good fan club.
That could be fun.
Like, who knows, there's so many possibilities out there.
And you got more, you got more pretend names?
No, because I'm not, you know what?
I let, that's the one thing that I just let come to me organically.
And I'm going to let it have to get in.
Right?
right guys that you wouldn't even think of
to be able to make up fake fan clubs about
so we need it we need the season
to start on time because I need these people
in my life
you've always been a fan of the underdog
in football mark you do latch on
to those people maybe it goes all the way
back to your love of Bernie Cozar a man
on the surface had no business being a star
NFL quarterback and then
turned into one of the great gunslingers of the
of your formative years
well that's one way to put his career
I could spin it very differently than that
I think he was a national title-winning college star who, you know.
No, that's a way better setup for Bernie Cozar.
Okay.
I guess I just, the 80s, the 80s perm that certain guys had, I always struggled to take them
seriously.
Well, you know who else had that perm?
Dan Marino and it was hard to take that seriously.
Yeah, it's bad.
It's bad.
Mark's into underdogs.
I am realizing, as you say, that I'm sort of into divisions.
Like I like love the I love the rivalries I sometimes pick divisions I've always been into the NFC South
but I'm really excited about the AFC West this year and just thinking about like the matchups in that
division the chiefs to me are like the most exciting defending champion like in terms of just like
I'm still at that point maybe I'll always be at that point with Patrick Mahomes I am looking
forward to watching them play every week I don't care if they're too good like I don't care
if they crush everyone to it's like the most to me he's the most exciting play
just about that we've ever covered.
But then those rivalries in that division are sneaky fun.
And I think that that division is sneaky fun,
that every matchup that you can kind of put out there is kind of fun this year.
The Raiders rolling out like this 1980s offense.
Nate Tice called it that on the Mina Kimes show last week.
And it's true.
Like it's three tight ends.
It's running.
It's basically doing what Bill Walsh would do if he was still alive.
It's all these completions.
It's like it's that style versus.
is the Chargers with Tyrod, which I just think it's going to be a little more fun
and a little more interesting than people think and a ton of like defensive stars.
And then it's the Broncos who I am liking that I went back and watched these quarterbacks
and Drew Locke I am more excited about than I was.
He's got big time players around him in terms of Sutton and Judy and the two running backs.
And the fans of these teams are great.
Like, Chargers, Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs fans, they get after each other.
It's because they've had these rivalries for the most part for so long and there hasn't been a lot of change.
And to me, like, this is a fascinating division where anything can happen and they have the most fun team of the Chiefs.
I'm with you.
It's going to be very competitive and maybe the Chiefs are the heavy favorite and they are.
Right.
But especially with an extra wild card team.
Right.
And they're fun when they're a lot.
If you think about the Chiefs struggled last year, it was some of those, some of the division games.
you know, not against the Raiders, but again, certainly against the Chargers.
And I think the Broncos are going to be really frisked.
Well, there's also the what could go wrong factor with Kansas City because it's easy and,
you know, nothing is happening right now to ticket them, ticket them for four or five more
Super Bowls.
But we talked about this on our network show, like, that just doesn't happen.
These teams have a season where you think they're set up to win for the next win, win,
win multiple titles, and then something disastrous occurs.
So there is the other shoe drop scenario with Kansas City.
I shouldn't bring it up in this conversation.
But one thing we can't will into existence with positivity and looking the other way is that there's not going to be most likely anybody watching these games in the crowd.
That's going to make these AFC West battles different.
Part of the fun of it is the stadium's going bonkers with, you know, passion and electricity.
But that is what it is.
I guess the only one I can't, the Chargers I just struggle to get pumped up about because Tyrod Taylor bores me to teach.
years as a quarterback. And Herbert's a guy, their first pick that you heard some mixed
things about coming out of college. The offensive line's not better. So he might be in a bad
situation. That's the only thing that maybe doesn't jump back out to me. I think it would be
frisky. Echler and Mike Williams and Keenan Allen and Hunter Henry and in Derwin James and
Joey Bosa and Desmond. It's just like they got a lot of, they got a lot of, they got a lot of
players that are pretty fun to watch on that roster if they can figure out.
to how it all works.
I want to talk about what's going on in Chicago.
I know it's on some level been driven into the ground already,
but I don't care because now it's really going to happen.
One of the more interesting quarterback competitions that I can remember
from a summertime perspective between Mitchell Chubisky and Nick Foles
because both guys have such great background here.
And things have only ramped up more around Mitch Trubisky with this Patrick Mahomes.
heat of winning Super Bowl MVP and now getting a half a billion dollar contract and all that
heat around Trubisky was drafted ahead of Mahomes and Watson. Of course, now he gets his one last
chance to make things right. And then Nick Foles, who was always going to be an intriguing figure in
the NFL for what happened in Philadelphia with the two playoff runs, especially the first one that
led to the Super Bowl title and an MVP. And after a completely lost year in Jacksonville, this is kind of
his last chance, I think, to put himself on the radar as a starter.
Both guys desperately need to get their careers back on track.
Only one guy gets to be the starter.
Yes, it's more likely that both guys will end up starting
and whoever wins the battle may end up starting only a few games.
And Trubisky feels like the favorite, at least to come out of camp.
But there's also other elements of it that are interesting.
The fact that there might not be a preseason.
So the camp is going to be complete.
The camp competition will be completely about what's happening on the practice.
practice field, and how does Matt Nagy make sense of that? I'm just really looking forward to
seeing how that all shakes out, because Trubisky is a borderline tragic figure at this point
in Bear's history, and Foles is just like a really likable guy that has had highs that
really not many people have ever reached in the league. I mean, I think that they, I feel like
they've been sheltering Ms. Trubisky about as much as a, you know, top two quarterback pick has
ever been sheltered. And if anything, if you want to flip the script on him, I would
view Foles as the heavy, heavy favorite, especially in a preseasonless, you know,
offseason where three coaches on the offensive side of the ball have worked with Nick
Foles and all signed off on paying him a lot of money. And if anything, if we assume,
and I'm with you that Nick Foles will probably play and then Sobel Trubisky, have Trubisky come in
and be the guy that, you know, that they're cheering for because Foles potentially fails or he succeeds.
I would be shocked if Trubisky won that job. I would really.
question what's happening there if that's the trajectory would also raise the question what is a camp
battle going to be like this year you know i don't i don't know uh there's going to be less reporters
there it's going to take a little while to ramp up um there'll be like a whole new i think
covid related series of tropes so that's exciting everything's fine you know what i mean
there's got to be like covid tropes of like how they're surviving this particular weird camp battle
And for what it's worth, back in May,
Nagy said that both Foles and Trubisky
will play with the starters during the preseason
while it's probably not going to be a preseason
or anything close to what was imagined back in the spring.
So yeah, it's going to be a challenge for the coaching staff
to discern who is the guy who should be starting with the team.
We'll see where that goes.
Anybody else have another one?
I have one quick one because the other thing I get into
are certain seasons.
I can think of like the 2012 campaign
when the read option and college stuff
hit the NFL play callers
and it just was this revolution.
I think most college fans were like,
we've been watching this for a decade,
but suddenly it's new to you.
But it was a fascinating season because of RG3
and you had the rise of Colin Kaepernick
and Russell Wilson and others
that I want to see coming out of this really, really weird preseason.
We're going to go into week one.
Everything is going to be great.
But what does it mean strategy-wise?
I'm with you.
It's going to be great.
But I wonder if there is a huge advantage for a team like the Baltimore Ravens who, you know,
it's going to take probably a month plus for these passing attacks to get in sync.
You're a run-heavy offense.
You ran the ball 98 more times than the second most run-heavy team in the league last year.
You can stick to that versus having to change it.
It fits your scheme so well.
They have like five running backs that could start all over the place.
And maybe it's a team like the Niners that, you know, now that we hear that Rahim Mastard is,
Talking with the team again, that trade is not going to happen, please,
that these two, the two most run-heavy teams in the league could get off to fast starts
based on the fact that, you know, life and football take time to plan.
And the planning process just won't be there the same way that it's been there in the past.
Who are the rookies that thrive right away, running backs?
Like, it's like it just seems like a good situation for an old-school run-heavy first month of football.
I agree.
And I also think it's a, it's so much of the season's going to be, I know where, you know, everything
is fine. And it is, but if you want to spin it positive in that way, it's great. It being so
different is an opportunity for a lot of coaches and players, but especially coaches to stand out,
to do things either a little different or have their team a little more together than other
teams. Like, in theory, the NFL usually doesn't work like this, but it's been going that way. Like,
it's an opportunity to be a little more creative and a little to think a little different,
like Mark saying, like some teams that are zigging like that. And it certainly worked.
last year for the Ravens and Niners might
come out like a house on fire
if they've got their stuff together.
What if one team, what if one
team said, forget everyone
and you know what? You have nice families, but you're
going to see them in six months. We're going
to bubble. We're the one
team that's going to do this. They're not going to let
them do that. I'm just saying like that could be the way
that you be the team. By the way, you're describing, no, you're
describing what it's like to be on the New England Patriots.
They're going to thrive in this
setting. They come to mind. They're absolutely going to thrive
in this scenario. I just
I'm a little worried about that because I don't think they're a talent-rich team anymore and they're not special.
But if I had to pick one team that will handle this better, it would probably be the Belichick team.
Remember when they got rid of a September?
Remember when they find Adelius Thomas because he couldn't drive through the snowstorm to get to practice or whatever?
It's got to be like that.
I'm going to throw out a couple quick ones.
Since you didn't, how about Odell Beckham?
How about the blonde Odell Beck?
He's blonde.
He's back.
He's sick of being humble, just like Cam Newton.
I don't know if you saw some of those.
Like, I want to see OBJ on, you know, on 10 or what, if that was, I mean, I don't know.
Some of this stuff is him just making up stuff after the fact.
How about O'Dell Belgo play a little better?
Everything got put on that injury.
Come down with a contested catch.
I don't know.
He was moving pretty well some of that time.
So even though he was injured, he did not play that well.
And this is one of the most transformative players that Chris Wesleyan, like the calm.
He's ever seen that I've ever seen.
He just didn't have a good season.
And I think for whatever reason, Baker was part of that.
There was a lot that was part of it, but he didn't play well.
Odo Beckham didn't play well.
I think that got lost like a little bit.
There were so many balls he did not come down with that he could that it wouldn't surprise
me if he comes out and you get the best O'Dell Beckham.
I believe that you should, that you should.
One thought on Beckham, and I think this has been glossed over, is that he's always been
injury prone since he came into the league.
Yeah.
And the one concern with him is that, especially as he's getting older, I think he's still
only 28 or something, but is this just a guy that his body isn't built to play 16 games on a
regular basis? So I think when he's healthy, like right now, I believe him when he says
I've never felt better and I'm his explosives of whatever and my blonde hair and now I feel
like I'm myself again, whatever that means. But what happens when the contact starts? Can he stay
healthy and stay explosive? Well, he played through it. I mean, there are other wide receivers
that might not have, they would have used it as a reason and a season going south to get out of there.
of another receiver in the state of Ohio that never played a game last year.
And I think he could have towards the end of the year.
Oh, AJ Green taking fire in a picture.
Well, I mean, Antonio Brown.
AJ couldn't play it at the end of the year, I think.
They advertised that from October on.
Now, I don't know what was going on with his body, but O'Dell Beckham played through.
I'm not getting on him for playing through injury, but I also think a lot of, at some point,
you have to judge what's out on the field.
And he also moved really well a lot of the time.
So that part of it was confusing to me that when I was seeing him dust people and the contested catch that, you know, it's just, I just, I think I'd like to think that we have not seen the best of O'Dell Beckham, or at least that we'll see the best of O'Dow Beckham again.
And, and this is, this is a prime year to do it.
That's all.
The reason he's not on the Giants anymore is because he drove him crazy.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Which is not done in Cleveland, but you need, you need to see him in an ordinary offense.
in terms of whether he can be ever be that guy again that he was earlier in his career he's certainly a guy to get behind i listen mark you you always think that i'm coming after the browns i think
he can certainly still be that guy and if baker can clean things up they're going to be a monster offense potentially right
there's a lot of reason to be excited jarvis landry is a really fun player to watch nick chub is a fun player to watch
if you actually got peak beckham and then you know you got enjoku and then you know you got enjoku and
Hunt who are good and fun too.
But that's like a handful of pretty special and unique players on the same team.
And I know we kind of talked about that last year and everything, but they're still there.
And I think it could be pretty fun.
My last one really quick, the Bengals could be a lot of fun to watch this year.
We've been hitting on this on the show.
But if Joe Burrow, who seems like an Andrew Luck type guy where every five or six years, someone
comes into the league and it just feels like it's a slam dunk.
Matthew Stafford was another one,
even though that took a couple of years to get rolling because of injuries.
If he hits the ground running with that offense,
the Bengals could be like a playoff team potentially.
And that would be,
I think people are going to be shocked if the Bengals are in the mix in December
because football will be playing in December because nothing is wrong.
Everything's fine.
I won't be because I think if you have the,
everything's about the quarterback.
Everybody knows that, like, if you get that guy in place,
things could change very quickly
and if you're Cincinnati fan
this is why West especially in this time
when he's down on the canvas
and he's working to get his way back again
I feel like this is when he should fall in love
with the Bengals again.
In fact, I'm going to text him after the show about this.
That may not be what he needs right now.
The Bengals, this is the time.
I've been saying this is the time
to embrace the Bengals again
in this time of where they can really take care of you.
Yeah, I don't know if he'd go full on
but he has kind of admitted, I think, on this show
and to us that, you know, this is the most excited he's been about them in a long time.
That said, does West strike you as someone when another man comes and says,
you will now be a fan of this team that he's just going to go do it?
I don't, that's not the West that I'm familiar with.
No, probably, you know, you're right about that.
And you mentioned Antonio Brown, Greg.
He sent a flurry of tweets today.
Let me just read them.
I almost take this with the same grain of salt and the importance in the news cycle as I treat Kanye
West talking about Harriet Tubman during campaign rallies for president, but here are the tweets.
Antonio Brown, is it time to walk away?
I done everything in this game.
That was a weird one.
That's a tough one to put together.
Next tweet, at this point, the risk is greater than the reward.
Thank you, everyone who's been part of this journey.
I sincerely thank you for everything.
Life goes on, 84.
And then another one, I came.
I saw I conquered mission.
Complete.
Call God.
Mission complete.
Call God.
So I guess he, Antonio Brown retired today?
I don't know.
I get, someone pointed out, I guess he's done this two other times.
So that, I didn't realize that.
Since September.
Right.
He's retired a few other times.
So I guess we'll, we'll save the Antonio Brown Hall of Fame discussion for another day.
Can we fire Antonio Brown?
By the way, the people having those is good.
You guys are crazy.
This is the best receiver I've ever seen.
I mean, I think people are getting a little too crazy of like Antonio Brown was such a mess and how it's ended.
that's like, you're crazy.
He was the best receipt.
Do they have something better to talk about right now?
Right.
Why is that happening right now?
We'll wait.
We'll wait.
I feel like we should fire the story into the sun
until a team works.
I agree.
I think you're right.
You're right.
Ricky, fire that thing up.
Peace.
All right.
Before we go, let's spin the wheel of teams.
Yeah, it's still happen.
You thought it was over.
It ain't.
Spinning the wheel of teams wherever it lands.
That is the team will do a deep dive on for Wednesday's show.
Ricky, the wheel has now eliminated, what, six or seven teams?
It is time now to spin it again.
All right.
Here we go.
Spinning.
Oh, look at that.
Oh, it's on the New York Jets.
Oh, it's gang green.
Your worst nightmare, confirmed.
Oh, look at Greg.
Greg's so crustal.
Well, I'm just thinking back to the conversations before the show
or Dan is, you know, pushing the let's do this one more time.
Yes.
And then I even see as that we, you know, our listeners can't see it,
but you could check it out.
I don't know if you put this on Instagram or not.
The wheel suddenly like stops and like jerks back a little unnaturally, right?
when it gets to the Jets.
And it just,
everything doesn't feel totally above board here.
That's all.
There were,
there were issues out of the gate when I,
you know,
casual character assassination from Greg.
Nothing new here.
No, I think it's,
I think Greg is on point.
I mean,
when we,
when we correctly predicted the team,
uh,
the first time people thought is this fixed.
What are these guys up to?
These clowns.
Um,
those questions went away and I think that they've returned.
Um,
especially because this is the last one.
It's like,
oh,
just happens to hit on.
Erica,
do you want to clear my name?
if you would.
I've done the exact same thing.
Dan or any of us had no clue what was okay.
Okay.
I believe.
All right.
That clears up all issues.
On Wednesday's show,
we will have someone that connected to the Jets beat that we love to respect.
A lot of good options.
So tune in for that.
Oh, I'm excited.
Oh, Mark, I'm sorry.
Listen, I know you wanted to be the Browns.
It didn't.
It went the old Zuzer's way.
What are you going to do?
Oh, it just sounds like a lot less heavy,
lifting for the rest of us because it's going to be sort of a Dan and whoever he picks
to come talk about the Jets, you know, one-on-one festival.
And a treat and a treat for the listeners to finally hear about this team in New York.
This scrappy little unmentioned entity.
All right.
Whoa.
What was that?
Uh-oh.
Who are you?
Where do you come from?
Bill.
Are you listening to me?
What do you want to do with your life?
All right.
I can't do too many more of these shows.
I got to get out of here.
O'Brien is out of control.
That's Texans, coach, and general manager Bill O'Brien.
Prove that it's not.
All right.
Good show, guys.
Good to be back.
Hit the music, Ricky.
Okay.
This Dan Hans signing off for Quiet Storm.
The old boss, Rick Hollywood, from her apartment.
Oh, yeah.
Everything's fine.
No Wednesday.
It took me until just as you were wrapping up to realize where that guy was from.
I was waiting for someone.
I couldn't place it.
And then right at the end, I did.
And then it was too late to make a little play on words from the We're Not Gonna Take It video, right?
Yeah, Twisted Sister.
I should have known.
We played We're not going to take it at a talent show once.
You know, you leave all this stuff on the floor.
I'd love to hear that.
Oh, it's all going in.
Good.
Got to go.
It was great.
Were you, B. Snyder?
Yeah, me and one other guy saying.
That was different than Delaware.
I think we called ourselves for that one performance,
the power to a posse.
What?
Craig.
Hey, everybody.
Daniel Jeremiah here.
And I'm Bucky Brooks.
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