NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Hard Knocks New York Jets: Episode 1 Recap

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

On the NFL's Official Hard Knocks Podcast, Dan Hanzus and Colleen Wolfe are joined by Rich Eisen to recap the first episode of the "Hard Knocks Training Camp with the New York Jets". Dan starts off the show by recounting his life as a Jets fan and how he feels watching the Aaron Rodgers era begin. Dan then welcomes in fellow Jet fan and NFL Network's Rich Eisen to talk about how surreal this feels as a Jets fan (06:22), why he thinks this is different from the Jets' time with Brett Favre (11:00) and why he thinks the franchise is in a good place moving forward (24:25). After the break, Dan and Colleen give you their favorite movements of the show (30:25) and tell you who got their vote for Hard Knocks MVP (44:01).  Note: Time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guys, we got a great deal of hype around us. We do. All kinds of expectations. And with great expectations, we know that there's going to be a whole lot of people, a whole lot of crows expecting us to fall on our face. What are you doing to find that little bit more to get us closer to being a great f***ing team?

You finish practice, now what? You finish meetings. Now what? Lifting. Now what? A rep. Now what? And if we come together and we challenge ourselves to do a little bit more every day, the crows, they'll fall by themselves. Embrace what we're capable of.

Embrace the fact that we aren't the same old jets. Embrace the fact that we do have a target on our back. Embrace the fact that when teams look at our schedule, they're not chalking us up for a W. They're coming at you. It's exactly where we want to be. and that's awesome I'll remember this episode I'll remember

this episode for the walk that walk which begins the latest season of hard knocks a walk that tells the story of this beautiful and unique place in time

for the New York Jets Aaron Roderz exits the doors of the Jets facility in Florham Park and begins that brief journey to the practice field for another day of work in the summer heat waiting for him. His team, yes. Robert Sala, who you heard, yes.

Thousands of adoring fans, many wearing number eight jerseys and all them calling out to the longtime Packers quarterback they hope will finally serve as the rightful successor to Joe Namath for the Jets. In January, it will be 54 years. since the team's lone Super Bowl triumph. It's time. It's been time. Rogers knows who he is and what he represents.

To his teammates, to the front office, to the success-starved fans, to his critics of which there are many, as we know. And you know what? He loves it. After he exits that front door, he says to the camera following him, I'll give you some good stuff today.

And he does. Everyone is chasing the top-tier quarterback, says Robert, Sala, positively beaming, by the way, across the entirety of this premiere. Because Sala said, they change games, they change entire locker rooms. I'll take Sala's deadly accurate statement a step further. The arrival of a truly great quarterback can change lives and the identity of an entire fan base, no matter what they've been through previous to the arrival of a true difference maker

at the game's most important position. The New York Jets will enter week one, riding a postseason driver. route that is stretched across a dozen seasons now. It's the backdrop of the show. It's tied for the longest of any team in North American sports. And last year began with hope as a dynamic rookie class and a rising defense put New York into position to snap that dry spell until, let's call it, G-Force free fall in the quarterback play sparked a catastrophic offensive implosion.

The waiting game continued for the playoffs and for a quarterback who could return the franchise to prominence. and now let's take a brief aside and let's offer a full disclosure for the unaware. I'm a Jets fan. My first game in person was October 2nd, 1988. It was a 17-17 tie with the Chiefs and was played in a downpour at the old Meadowlands.

The Jets had five fumbles that night and three of them lost, including the Freeman McNeil turnover with the Jets at the KC-15 in overtime. I was eight, and I left that building feeling like my dad just took me to an R-rated horror film. I had no business seeing at that age. Six years later, I watched from those same red seats at Giant Stadium as Dan Marino led the Dolphins on that furious second half comeback cap by the infamous fake Spike T.D. pass to Mark Ingram, Sr. The jets were thinking, he's going to take the ball and throw it into the ground. They didn't do it.

They all stopped. That prompted a season-ending tailspin that got some 42-year-old. rookie head coach named Pete Carroll fired. I wonder what happened to that guy. Eleven years after that, I was at some random Jaguars game after I graduated college in September

where Chad Pennington re-injured, and I love Chad Pennington, but he re-injured that troublesome right shoulder on a sack. He was replaced by a nice fellow named Jay Fiedler, who was also flattened and also forced from action with a shoulder injury. I could still see it today. Fiedler

looking up at us from our seats behind the end zone, giving the thumbs up and mouthing, I'm good as he jogged up the tunnel. He was not good. Two days later, the two QB shared the same plane to Alabama for a visit with Dr. James Andrews, their season's over.

There are many sad stories around the QB position for this team. These are just mine. Enter Aaron Rogers and enter the cameras of hard knocks, arriving at a crucial moment in time for this Star Cross franchise. The jets have gone from perennial afterthought to the most

compelling team in football. You heard it right there in the hard-knock sizzle reel before the premiere last week. Love him or hate him, and that all goes back to the grizzled and eternally laid-back QB from Northern California. Rodgers can change games. He can change locker rooms. And as we saw in Tuesday's season premiere, he can change the temperature of any space he enters.

Hoping optimism is abundant for the New York Jets. It's true. It's real. This all feels different. And yes, a touchover. overwhelming. Is it time? It's been time. I am Dan Hansis, and this is the Hard Knocks podcast. Back for a second year in your ears via around the NFL. My partner, Colleen Wolf, will join us just a little bit later from the road. But let us start with a very special guest, a man who needs no introduction, but I'll give it anyway. He is the face of NFL network since it's inception 20 years ago. He has his own show, the Rich Eisen Show, as well, and a man who bleeds, green rich eyes and welcome to the hard knocks podcast how are you brother very well really appreciate it rich like you know i talked at the top of the show my my first jets game was 88 it was a five

fumble affair and a 17 17 tie with the chiefs and a downpour and it where did when did you lose your innocence as a jet's fan growing up in uh oh i don't remember statin island is where Yeah, no problem. It's all the same island of New York City, except Staten Island, the fifth and forgotten borough. My brother, my brother was a Jet Met fan because that was back in the era of you rooted for the teams in the same building.

And so I realized early on that when, you know, Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter were winning the World Series in New York. York. I jumped off the Met and got on the Yankee, but stayed on the jet. And I have somewhere in my house here, my Wesley Walker jersey that, number 85, Wesley Walker jersey with my name and bunk number from Camp Loconda stitched into it. And I'm pleased to say that I survived the A.J. Dewey Interception Festival when Don Shula. Maybe that's it, Rich. Maybe that's your moment.

I had Don Chula watered down the orange bowl turf to slow Freeman McNeil down. Yeah. And then, you know, I've been, I've been a jet fan ever since. And watching Hard Knocks tonight was quite awesome. It was a lot of fun. And I have thoughts. If you want to fire away, go for it. Yeah.

Why don't we get to it this way? Because I talked about that initial walk that Rogers had onto the field that started things off. really kind of painted the picture of where this team is, both in, you know, obviously you could feel the fans just wanting this to work and wanting this to be finally the end of this long wait as a native New Yorker, Rich. I think about it as, you know, 54 years for the Jets. Remember, the Rangers finally got over the hump in 94. It was the 1940 chance that they were getting before that.

And that was 54 years. That's, we're dealing with something that is extended and kind of historic in terms of New York's pro sports. Um, How do you, how do you see Rogers and how he has transformed this team? Because it seemed like a lot of the players were kind of in awe and even the coaches. Well, and so, you know, I'll be honest, am I. You know, I, I just was watching it.

And I know this has been a reality since April, but I still can't believe he's a New York jet. And he's happy to be so. And I know, you know, it wasn't really. covered in this Hard Knocks episode, the concept of his contract that he forfeited money and that he forfeited money that he could earn. Obviously, you know, guaranteed money actually went up for him with the way that he can, you know, constructed his contract. But the amount of money that he could earn overall over the two-year period went down and he's happy to do it and he's

happy that he's there and he doesn't feel anything but excitement and just seeing that is just again part of the scars from your you know tie game and intercept you know turnover a thon from the Chiefs and what I just mentioned for, you know, my birth into the Jets fandom, it's just difficult to compute. I'm not going to lie. It's tough to compute that this is actually happening and, and seemingly working. Obviously, he even pointed out when Leev Schreiber said to him, you know, all of New York's excited, and he basically said, you know, we haven't played games yet.

he understands how this works and so far so good i just it really is it's too good to be true i'm like waiting for shoes to drop trap doors to open up and here we are on august 8th and and it hasn't happened yet and we are um coming up on friday one month from the opener against the bills and obviously that's when rubber is really going to meet the road but right now it's just great to see and you know, obviously one last thing to say here, and then I'll, you know, obviously hand it back to you here for this conversation is we're all looking at Rogers or at least Jet fans have through the last few months through the prism of Brett Farf, like here we go again, that we're reaching, we're out of ideas and options at the quarterback spot. So let's take the Packers

long time first ballot Hall of Fame or Goat at the end of his career. and hope for the best. And clearly this is a different scenario. Clearly, Rogers is in a much better headspace. Clearly, Rogers is in a much better body space as well. You know, Favre was at the end of a very long consecutive games played streak road and essentially used in the long run, the Jets as a transfer portal to Minnesota

as the vessel for his revenge on Green Bay. And I don't think Rogers wants vengeance on Green Bay. I think what he wants is to win with the Jets to do what Brady did at the end of his career, except this one is he's coming into the AFC East as opposed to leaving the AFC East to get that ring that he's looking for. And whereas the, you know,

young roster and the way things were constructed in Green Bay appeared to grate on him. He is loving being the OG in this situation. And I caught everything from the cameras and the microphones being picked up in hard knocks, that he appears to really relish the role that he is in. He's comfortable in it. He enjoys being there. And he's not thinking of anything but winning with the Jets. as opposed to what happened with FAR, where, you know, we all, it turned out to be a way station.

That doesn't appear to be the case here, and I'm thrilled about it. Yeah, it's despite the, obviously, it's odd that it's this legendary Packer going to the Jets. It's apples and oranges for the reasons you just said. And, you know, it does feel like he, just his presence and the fact, and you could see it. I mean, you can see it even in the practice. And, of course, the dispatches from the beat writers that he has a lot of high, level ball in him that I think it I feel despite and yes jets fans leaning aside I know you could look at the numbers last year and say he was down a little bit um but there were injuries and there

was a lot of drama around the packers this is a fresh start he needed and I think he's really going to lean into that and you know I want to talk about I want to set up a clip here Jeff albrick who's the defense coordinator of the jets we know the story of last season the defense was on the rise and the implosion of Zach Wilson and the quarterback position really submarine season that was looking very promising you know ahead of around

Thanksgiving or so here's Ulbrick talking to the Jets in a meeting. They're going over a clip showing Rogers making an insane throw in practice kind of across the field a throw that you just don't see and again you see that the team and the coaching staff like

wait this is different this is exciting this is new here's Oldbrick Just understand this. I don't give a what goes down this year. We will always be in games, no matter what. We break some shoelaces and get a few points on us. Guys, we're going to be in every game. Guys, this is across the field on the back shoulder.

Look at this. I don't know if there's any other human on earth that can make that throw. He's our quarterback. He's ours. He's ours. Fucking awesome, man. And it's like, you know, Obrick speaks for all of us, too, Rich. Like he's ours, he's our quarterback.

I know. And that dovetails a little bit in what we've already talked about. Two things from that, from that moment in the Hard Knocks debut, because that did stand out. That's an excellent choice of a soundbite. That stood out to me because I thought it was the best inside meeting room, truth telling, hard knocks at its finest right there, soundbite of the debut. quite frankly.

But two other things. First of all, don't watch hard knocks around your 12-year-old son when the defensive coordinator of the Jets is on camera. I mean, that's number one. So we'll give that heads up.

You're going to hear from Tony Dungee again. Remember it in 2010, Dungey saying Rex Ryan in the league show of a conversation? Well, I mean, really. But when I saw that, it was, again, just the first 15 minutes of the and the whole thing. And, you know,

and I know Aaron Rogers was saying how he had nothing but good experiences with NFL films. And that's the truth. When Leav Schreiber asked him point blank, you know, like, why don't teams want to do this? And I don't, like, Leav Schreiber was just basically giving voice. I'm sure he loves doing this show and being the voice of Hard Knocks. And I'm sure he's beginning to get concerned that they're running out of teams that want to do it. So he asked that of Aaron Rogers point blank. And I know Aaron's like, you know, hey, you know, some people think, it could be a distraction, but I really like, you know, NFL films. He did use the phrase of it being jammed down the team's throats when he was asked about it at the celebrity golf outing

in, in Utah. So that's why Leev brings it on. But the issue, I think some teams don't, you know, like being put out there is, is the dynamic here that, um, that, um, I guess my point is this, is that the thing I got out of it was Zach Wilson seeing this. And he must sense it. I mean, again, the fact that we're seeing it will maybe make it that much more intense for him. But he's, whether we're seeing it or not, it's happening behind the scenes. And this is Aaron Rogers' team. And the team is clearly relieved that he's there.

and that Zach can't but help sense that he was the guy that scuttled last year. Rogers' presence is obviously testimonial to that. But everybody in that building is just like, that's our quarterback. We're going to be in games. This guy is incredible. You know, Michael Hartman going up to him saying, I'm going to tell my grandkids and my kids that I played with you, you know. And so, again, how Zach handles it is going to be interesting.

and the only reason why that would, for the lack of a better phrase, matter right now is he may have to get in games. And, you know, if Rogers somehow doesn't answer a bell or gets a bell rung, he might have to shake that off that, oh God, I'm the guy coming in that nobody wants to see in the game. And that is definitely a mental aspect that I think Rogers is clearly addressing by coaching him up. which is one last thing as well, that if Rogers deep down did think this was being jammed down the Jets' throats. This is basically a 60-minute documentary as to how awesome and cool Aaron Rogers is and how his teammates feel.

It was a big, fat, wet kiss to number eight on the New York Jets. And credit to him, too, even said when he was miced up, walking out to the field for the first time and practiced like he looks at the cameras. I'll give you some good shit today. And he did. He was engaging. He talked off camera knowing clearly that he was miced up.

And it was a fun first episode. But that soundbite caused me to think, you know, how is Zach Wilson taking the clear relief and excitement that his teammates rightfully have that Aaron Rogers is their quarterback? Yeah, I mean, following this team, a number two overall pick. that as recently as this time last year, the idea was that he's the face of the organization. I thought it was telling

that Salas says in one of his comments. I feel like him showing up is successful because he's being asked what he's being asked to do is hard. Yeah. Like this is highly humbling for a guy that's

still very young and 24 years old. And then just to add a little bit more to this stew, like Rogers, it was documented before any of this ever happened, that Rogers was Wilson's hero, and now he's in the building, and everyone's relieved that he's here to save the day from Zach Wilson. It's because it's compelling. Dan, here's the truth.

The day needed to be saved. Right. Rogers is there for a reason. Okay. And obviously, Rogers has his own reasons for not wanting to be in Green Bay anymore and pulling the rip cord and giving up $35 million or so to go to the New York Jets because the Jets needed him. They were desperate to have him.

that this team was ready to start to succeed. That's the other part about hard knocks as well. Certainly when you're comparing this team to what Fav came in on, this is a far more talented team than the one Favv joined from the coach in Sala being in my mind a much more ready for prime time

and this moment coach than Eric Mangini. You know, from, you know, that's, Wilson, not Jericho Cotchery, you know, like this is sauce friggin' Gardner. That's Quinn and Williams. I mean, and that's just three to name off the top of my head. I mean, this roster is deep and this roster is hungry and this roster is young and ready to roll. All you need is just to add future Hall of Fame quarterback with Chip on shoulder. And Zen, in heart and mind, I mean, holy cow, this is real. It's the sense that I got right now, but what is real is they needed them. And Zach, you know, kudos to him for yes, just showing up. But the part about just showing up that's tough is that everyone in the building is charged

by Rogers' presence and also ready to roll and follow his lead on every front. And clearly this is something that Zach didn't engender or earn last year. But that is the ultimate part about Rogers' journey that starts from now is that how it does play out this year is crucial. And next year, we're assuming he will be there is crucial. But the end game scenario, I mean, Brady left and it's Baker Mayfield versus Kyle Trask on the same line as their death chart in Tampa right now. we all know what the plan is for the Jets is when Rogers does hand this thing back is hopefully

Zach Wilson will be what a fourth fifth sixth year pro that is imbued with all of this knowledge and confidence and talent and off you go and you just keep going on like say far to Rogers like that's the way that this plan is set up and the fact that there is one is exciting yes you know and I guess the the big picture plan of handing the reins back over a few years. Okay, you could sell me on that, hypothetically. The one where he's the number two quarterback and, you know, he's one hit away from being in the lineup in September,

that is the one that scares me and, and we'll leave, we'll end it this way, Rich. And again, thank you for your time and Rich. You got it. Of course, all over NFL Network and his own Rich Eisen Show, which you could catch on the Roku channel, Westwood One, Odyssey. Anything you want to see episode two? Anything you didn't see here that you're looking forward to them diving in on?

Here's what I want to see, and I don't think we're going to see it. I want to see Dalvin Cook, what happened when he was there? Clearly, the Jets didn't want any of that stuff. Yeah, that's a center. Good call. You know, and I want to see Brees Hall. Let's go. Like, what's he looking like?

Clearly, I don't think the Jets are going to show you that either. You know, and that's essentially it. And I just want to see this team continue to be a cohesive chill unit, you know? And again, I want to, you know, I've been talking about the differences between the last goat to come from Green Bay to land in New York and be the hope of Jets fandom that we will finally reach a promised land. And you and I will cover a Super Bowl for the NFL media group and see the word Jets in an end zone, you know, that the difference between this hard knocks Jets team and the previous one. And again, I'm very appreciative and thankful that that two AFC championship game appearances back to back occurred, right? And that Sanchez and Rex Ryan were born out of the FAR failure. I get it.

But to me, Sala seems to be so much more just sustainable, you know, and, and, and, And this team appears to not be on the credit card either. Now, obviously, Rogers is going to come at a cost once he's done. But the Jets team that we saw, the Mike Tannenbaum put it on the credit card, grounded pound and try and win with Rex Ryan, whereas Sala is absolutely the coach of the moment the Jets need in the same way Ryan was, where I don't need to kiss Bill Belichick's rings and, you know, the man genius who, you know, really didn't have much of a person given way to Rex and his braggadociousness,

which definitely worked for a New York audience and for a fan base that was, if I may say so, sick and tired of getting kicked in the balls by the football gods for 40 years at that point in time. You know, Sala just seems to be a much more sustainable coach for the Jets, that the cult of personality isn't going to run out. And yet, you know.

And yet this is year three for Sala, right, Rich? I know. If it doesn't happen this year, you can imagine ownership potentially making that change. Then that would be a mistake. That would be a mistake. I think it would be a mistake. And obviously, we need to see how things play out from here. But honestly, Joe Douglas, you know, winding up turning Elijah Moore into a second round selection that wound up turning into Rogers.

The drafting of the team, the way that they've been. drafting it. The smart, I mean, Lazzard, I mean, he barely showed up in this first episode of Hard Knocks. I mean, come on. Like, that is a heck of a wide receiver pickup. Mikhail Hardman also. Like, this is a really talented deep team that isn't really discussed as such because we are all attracted to and distracted by the Rogers acquisition because it is. so splashy and so big. The Quinn and Williams signing, again, the defensive line is deep. They are a deep, young, hungry team.

And I guess I'd like to see more of that over the next two, three, four weeks. But just let's keep it healthy and cohesive and hit the ground running on the first Monday night of the season because that is a big fat piece of Philemon yawn. And the Jets have, the league is served up to all of us on the first Monday night, then a trip to Dallas, then the Belichick visit, then the Mahomes visit, then the week five game against Denver that wasn't on anyone's marquee until Sean Payton's comments hit open air. And then Jalen Hertz visit. it. So I just need health and calm and chill and cohesiveness because the first six weeks is going to be the crucible that will forge this team or springboard it or even worse. Yep. And as to your point or your vision of one day us both being in a building at the Super Bowl, the Jets in the end zone is another famous Jets fan. Joe Beningo is known to say from your lips to God,

is my friend yeah here let me hold on let me flex hold on saying oh which is walking off mike he's in his office yeah hold on i'm sorry i should describe it to your podcast all right here we go this is at an NFL this is the NFL honors in Atlanta okay give us a full screen on this okay there you go that's yeah that's me oh yeah sorry let me uh hold on it there we go That's me with Joe Willie. There it is. And I saw him and we hugged it out. We like, we had an, and then my friend Julie, um, from gave this to me for my 50th birthday.

She got a sign because she worked for, uh, SportsNet, New York at the time. And she got Joe Willie to sign it. Um, we, well, we just need, you know, we need, we need, this is great and Joe Willie is the greatest. And I, you know, but we need new generations to have their, yeah, like we got a time, rich. that to, to coin the phrase, that Lombardi Trophy is lonely. And that's my way of flexing in a way to make a point. There you go. You know, like we got to, we got to have our own, you know, moment here.

I don't know if Rogers is going to hug me out like this, but. And a big radiant smile and laugh. I don't know about that. I don't know if we'll ever have that. But, you know, maybe I'll just surf off of Peter Schrager's newfound friendship. How about that? you know, with him. I like the Schrager's making of tweet where he explained how it all happened.

That's what you know, you know, you got a big scoop, you know. No, I saw that. And again, just to wrap it all up is that Rogers appears to be really, you know, at a really good state of mind here and has really taken to New York and New York to him. And we will just see how it all works out once games are played. and you know adversity strikes but so far so good and I thought the first episode of hard knocks was just um um surreal that's the only way to put it i can't believe it's happening i can't believe it's happening rich we are in the same vote we are in the same boat sir thank you so much

rich eyes and check them out on the rich eyes and shown of course an NFL network we're going to take a break and be back with connie fox All right, welcome back, and as promised, she is my co-host on this wonderful podcast of Hard Knocks. She is the great Connie Fox, also known as Colleen Wolfe. you, Colleen right now. You should be in the studio with me. This is the premiere of the Hard Knocks podcast. I'm upset. I know. I know.

Here right now. And that's all that really matters, even though I'm not physically there, Dan. I'm here with you. Very Aaron Rogers. Like, you know, listen, I am in a hotel right now in Seattle, looking out at the beautiful skyline and the water.

It's gorgeous here. I love the city. I'm not even sure I can leave. I don't know if I'll be back in studio, because I might not ever leave Seattle. But it's great. I have Seahawks camp tomorrow, so I'll be on Inside Training Camp Live. Get that plug in. I like it, Connie. And, you know, this is our second year doing this podcast. And, you know, we've always been big fans of Leav Schreiber, the actor and longtime narrator of Hard Knocks. And Connie, let's get into like the fun kind of nuggets from episode one. But let's start with the Shriver of it all because it's, it was pretty meta in general that the

narrator of the show gets put into the news cycle. Here's the backstory by Aaron Rogers. Again, everything goes back to Rogers, who tells reporters that one thing he was looking forward to in terms of having the cameras and the whole vibe is Leav Schreiber because he's a fan of his work and so on and so forth. So what? I mean, the budget, Connie.

What, the budget of NFL films and HBO do they split the check? They rent a helicopter to have the man flown in to the, middle of the practice. And then you ask Leav Schreiber to narrate his own arrival on hard knocks. And as people, fans of this show know, this podcast, we do not have contractually the ability to use Leab's voice on this program. Legally, it's a big time no-go. But we do have Jason Zumall to read transcription from an episode.

Hit it. Sometimes when a show is truly epic, it pulls out all the stops. Full disclosure, I wanted to drive, but the producers thought a helicopter might be more dramatic. Should have ironed my shirt. Zamalt, on point, as always, the voice of God for ATN and the voice of God of NFL films meeting once more. Connie, the Shriver coming down to practice, awkward chit-chat. all great stuff. And then it led to one of my favorite parts of the episode.

One of the things we talked about last week, Connie, about like, what is it about the Nathaniel Hackett and Aaron Rogers of it all, this relationship that has helped create this whole system or situation for the Jets right now? And here's Rogers, who was just giddy about meeting Shriver and thought that all these young 24-year-old quarterback and players around them should be like super amped up about this veteran character actor. Here is Rogers and Hackett kind of sniping at each other in a way that only good buddies can. Why you say hi?

Huh? He's nervous. He wants to, you know, meet people, feel comfortable. He's never been to a hard-knocked practice. You know how excited he is to meet Aaron Rogers? That's overwhelming. Just say hi. It's overwhelming for people. Just be nice.

Look at them. Hey, you got all dressed up for it. Looks great. He's lean, slim. Say hi to him, Nathaniel Hackett. Say hi. It's Leah F. Shriver. Okay.

All right. I have so many thoughts here. First of all, Zumwalt, I almost forgot how accurate he is with these impressions. It is just so spot on. It's so well done. I love his Shriver. The helicopter itself was so extra, but also so perfect. How much?

I loved it. I loved it. Are the Jets kicking in on it? Oh, my, of course. I have no idea, I guess. 20 grand? 30. Blade is like a thing in New York.

It's almost like a helicopter Uber. I have no idea. I don't have that type of money. I would have no idea where to start with that. It has to be, it might five, from $500 to $50,000 is what I'm going to state for my guess of how much it cost it to bring in Shriver on the heli.

I would say definitely. more than 500. I'm taking me over. But maybe they worked out a deal because they got the blade promotion in on the show. So who knows? Who knows what kind of strings HBO can pull? But the producers were absolutely correct. It was

super dramatic. That's an insane entrance. And of course, Leib Schreiber kind of, he seemed a little bashful about it, which I kind of loved. And he also just kind of came off as a little humble in general when he talked about the fact that he doesn't really do anything. It's just

his voice and he's just ripping off John Ficenta. Like that I was into. And I loved Aaron Rogers sort of fanboying over him and thinking that everyone else was going to feel the same way. That exchange. It was so cute. I thought it was endearing for all parties involved in Connie. One of the things that's great about you is your awkwardness, which I always enjoy in

various social settings. And Shriver just gets kind of put in a weird spot because it made sense to ask, hey, do you want to be, go down to camp. Rogers mentioned you. Then he gets there. And it's like, yeah, it's like not everyone is going to know who he is. So he's standing there, but Rogers was nice. And it just, I think it was something very real about Rogers sensing that Shriver should be getting more attention because he was brought in here on a helicopter.

So he's like, let me get my buddy Hackett to help me out here and try to make this a little less awkward in his mind. And Hackett was like, I don't know, man. And then even one of the quarterbacks on the Jets, one of the guys deep on the depth chart, Rogers, this is Aaron Rogers. He's like, come on, man, go say hi to him. goes ahead of him and finally the quarterback's like no i'm talking to the coach i can't i know rogers is like he's the voice of god don't you know who this is like and then i just thought it was really sweet that his whole thing with hackett the way that he was trying to persuade hackett to go over was like come on he's never been to a hard knocks practice like he just let's just make him feel

comfortable let's just be nice people with that once again i thought was really sweet on a human level so i was into the whole thing it was absurd yeah and i I thought they did a nice job not hammering the Sean Peyton storyline because at this point it's a couple of weeks old. But we did get to see a little bit of that pylon game. And they used the old psych out technique from the South Park guy's movie, Basketball. And at one point, when Hackett's about to throw the ball, Rogers goes, Sean Payton. And he's like, oh, yeah, that's a good one you psych me out with that one. But yeah, it's interesting.

You also get, like, you know, more of an idea of Hackett. and maybe I'll come up a little bit later. What else kind of did you like from this episode? Okay, so there were a few things. I love the music in this episode in general. They always nail it with the music on the show. Always. God.

I mean, like, they even had a little bit of the police in there, I thought, as well. I knew that you would flag that. They had greatness on there by Cuevo in the sauce and Garrett Wilson montage, which was timed perfectly. That song is great. And then they had a little cream, which is a Wu-Tang Method Man classic, the instrumental version of it.

And they played it after Meth broke the huddle. And I think we have some of that. Can we play it? All right, I want to do a quote from Bill Parcells. It's that all right with y'all? All right. You can fool the whole world down the highway of years and take pats on the back as you pass.

But your final reward will be heartache and tears. if you cheat the man in the glass. Jets saw three, one, two, three. Yes. I mean, having Method Man at practice, like the Jets are just sexy as hell. I love this team. I love everything about them.

But having Method Man there, I would be fan-girling all over the place if I was at that training camp. That day, I was in Pittsburgh. C-Swiss Sr. was at Jets practice and he was fan-boying over Method Man. Like, that was, Metha Man was my first ever concert. It was Red Man and Method Man.

And having meth do a Bill Parcell's quote, like, I just, I need someone to remix that. I need someone to put the cream beat under it, maybe. I don't know. But there was Ed Shearin. There was the pop and song that we heard from Sala. Uh-huh. Like, there was just so many good ones. So my expectations for like this season now are higher than ever.

I remember what are like being in high school and learning. Creme meant cash rules, everything around me and just thinking that was the coolest thing I'd ever heard in my life. I mean, it's not, not true. Yes, yes, yes. The music is always epic on the show. I thought, you know, speaking, and you're a solid fan, too, as we know. Big fan of his coaching. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

He, I thought it was so nice. I was very excited to get finally some context. you know when the Sean Payton thing went down and he does the you know if you ain't got haters you ain't popping but also then he's talking about he's talking about crows and suffocating and like I think everyone collectively was football fans like shrugging their shoulders like what the hell is this guy talking about and then it is it was very Dan Campbell as yes and then you cut though to the opening of the show and we heard the the tail end of his speech at the top of our recap here. or our podcast, but at the beginning of the first thing we hear from Sal is explaining the theory that the crows, they're the only bird crazy enough to go after hawks and the hawks have the ability to. Eagles. Eagles, excuse me. Eagles have the ability to fly high and then the crows get too high and they suffocate and fall to the ground and die. And I was just like, thank you. I needed a little bit more to, I was a little concerned that my team's head coach might be going crazy.

now I'm like okay it kind of connects to a private conversation he had with the team and now it all made sense thank you for context and clarity on the on the crow thing I'm happy about it I did I did also enjoy as he was giving that that whole speech that there were just guys like that were getting really into it in the background when he was talking about the crows just like falling to earth and dying and they were like let's go the crows are going to die and like I don't know it feels a little disturbing and like I'm picturing like Sean Payton going too high into the altitude and then just like free falling to his death and earth you know it's it's pretty hard like he went pretty hard with that um any other what are some other things that you liked in the episode okay so i felt like we got an early indication of our underdog for the season chas sarat the linebacker um it seemed like sala absolutely loves him but he's also like a third string guy um and i don't think i think he played one game last year for the jets so i i I'm interested to see if that ends up being a thread throughout the season. And what part of the episode was he?

I'm kind of not tracking that one. This was in the Hall of Fame game. Oh, right, right, right, right. And he had an interception, I think, in the Hall of Fame game. And Sala was like, he's so fast. That's my guy. Keep stacking. He's so good.

Very, very good. Astute, you're a Hard Knocks fan when they have the coach miced up doing something in a game. They are going to come back to that player and track him. And I thought, I thought, Rich Eisen made the good point earlier. it seemed like a mortal lock that Dalvin Cook would be in this episode after the hoopla around his visit to the camp and taking a physical and taking selfies

and all that. And then I was thinking in my head, I was like, hmm, is that a little bit of a hint that maybe the jets are looking at distance themselves from that situation? Or more likely Hard Knocks producers are waiting for that story line to see itself through and then they could kind of use

all this footage that they got earlier in camp and tied together with his arrival, maybe as soon as episode two, we shall see. I would think that it's the latter because I was kind of thinking the same thing. I also, just as like a final little note, I kind of loved that Jason Garrett randomly caught some strays in the episode.

That was so random. And the guys were like, we can't have the ops in here. And they were like, is that Jason Garrett? Is that the Cowboys ex-coach? Wasn't he with the Giants? Like that? I kind of loved deep down. I had a bit of a dad moment.

Eric Roberts, the producer behind the glass, had to help me out with that. Eric, what was the best, what was your description of what, Jason Garrett being compared to ops? What does that mean? It's usually like police, snitch, the rivals, opponent. You don't want to mess with the ops.

You don't want to do it. We don't need the ops in the building. We don't need them on the practice field. Thank you guys. Dan, next episode, we'll tell you what the block is hot means. I know what cream means. Let's do MVP. It's time.

Okay. All right. So listeners, new listeners, hi, how are you? I'm Dan, and that's Colleen. Speaking of awkward, we do an MVP, but it's a voting system. And you just heard from Eric Roberts. Eric, this all falls on you. Our great former producer, Justin Graver, handled these duties last summer.

We need someone to tabulate this and track it. Connie and I cannot do it. Connie actually privately told me last summer, I'm talent. I don't do math. And I was like, that was weird, but also true, and I agree with that. So here's the system. I don't know if this was the point system last year, but it is this year. It was complicated last year.

So maybe it's the same one. I listened back and I remember the term vector point scale or something like that? Vector point scale. That sounds cool. Whatever that is, we're going to do it again. So it's a vector scoring system. First place, we're going to do a first second and third place MVP vote every episode. And then we're going to tally it up at the end of the year and then name Hard Knocks MVP.

A first place vote is six points in the vector system. A second place vote is four points. And a third place vote is two points. Does that sound right? Sounds close enough. So you're just making this up, right? I don't know. What the hell?

Great. Sounds right to me. Who's your third place MVP vote for episode one of Hard Knocks training camp with the New York Jets? Okay. Third place goes to Solomon Thomas. I absolutely love, I love the personalities on this defensive line. And I thought that Solomon Thomas was involved in the best exchange of the entire show because there were so many little things to pick out of that one exchange.

Can we play the quote so everyone can hear it first? Yeah, let's play this, this exchange. Solomon Thomas, and I'll just tee it up thusly, so it reminded me this group of defensive linemen, like they were like squabbling Irish brothers on Christmas Eve. Solomon Thomas in the role of Know It All Older Brother, Tenzel Smart is the kid brother who tags along even when he's unwanted, but they all love each other. It's that type of setup. Let's

listen in. Paying attention. No, I do. I'm not always the one sticking up for you. I'm always the one sticking up for you. Remember you said you all want me to go to Broadway? Let's just get it up. I said that because I feel like you'll be talking during the play, and I want you to respect the performers, okay? I'll get you. I can't be sick.

I got bad need. Bro, it's, y'all be amazed. Me and start. Hardin'all, y'all hit this. I want to go to a Broadway show. I want to eat a carcucci board. Shock, shak, chak, coo. There we go.

There you go. It's, good. Oh, my God. That's the mountaintop. That's it right there. And so it started. Just end the show. Just end the show. Let's be honest.

It's so good. It started because Solomon Thomas was like, I promise I'll take the whole D line. Like, on the next off day, I'll take the whole D line to MJ the musical. And then. John Franklin Myers was like, well, we want a sweet. And Solomon Thomas was like, there's no sweet, bro, like, and then it kind of like went on from there. So I just kind of loved the idea of the defensive line going to a Broadway show together

and then bickering about the seats, wanting a suite. And then obviously the charcutory board of it all was perfect, a perfect ending too. Right, Tanzel Smart thinks like Broadway is like Ford's Theater and he would have one of those gold like little binoculars that he'd be watching up from the from the top i that that's a carcucci board that is outrageous and beautiful and i love it great third place vote um i will go with for my third place and it's tough but i will give it to see i want to give it to leif schreiber but i think that'll be a waste of my vote just because i don't imagine he's going to insert himself in the program i feel like you need to focus on the

now be present right now who do you want to don't even think about the next voting. Nathaniel Hackett. Okay. He's my third place vote. I thought that Hackett was kind of exactly what I was expecting, but maybe a little weirder and sillier than I realized. And you see why Rogers for all.

I think there's something there when you see all these young guys going up to Rogers, even someone like Sauce Gardner, who's an instant superstar. It's almost like a little kid talking to Rogers. and sauce is trying to talk to Rogers before the Hall of Fame game and it's just kind of going on and on and it's not exactly clear what he what he's saying and Rogers is very succinct and short

but purposeful in what he's saying almost like a dad talking to his son it had that it had that that vibe and so so many players and people around Rogers and his universe I think speak to him in almost a state of awe as this living legend and Hackett

is the guy just like messing with him like he's a buddy and i think that's part of the reason why rogers likes having him around just somebody that will treat him like a regular person and not this this otherworldly figure yeah and i also loved just like the little montage that they did of hackett where he's like i just want to fly around like a butterfly and you have rogers ooh let's hear it i want to hear it again i just want to fly around like a butterfly we might be using that often i also want to thank hackett and i don't know how this you know because I was just at Cowboys Camp Conner. You're not the only one going to camps.

Oh, look at you. And Mike McCarthy is still doing Mojo Moments over there, which is a callback to the second Austin Powers movie, which I thought was okay. The first one, total classics, Stolen Cold Classic comedy of its era. Second one, yeah, Spy who shag me. It's fine. Third one, I thought was kind of a mess and kind of a disaster gold member.

But Hackett loves it so much that he bases entire like schemes. and discussions about red zone, which he calls the gold, gold zone because of his obsession with gold member, the sequel. And I just, I'm not down with gold member, but I am down with anything that leads to Aaron Rogers saying gold genitalia on a premium cable. I'm down with that. I flagged this as well. I love Hackett's obsession with gold member. And then Aaron Rogers talking about it and saying like that Hackett wants to know about like how, well, how, how he got his gold genitalia, where he likes to party, how he roller skates, like that whole thing. But I also loved, by the way, Rogers' story about Hackett and the fact that Hackett when he was

in Green Bay noticed that Brian Belaga wasn't celebrating with the team after touchdowns. And that, you know, Hackett loved the Lambeau leap, but also wanted them to celebrate with teammates as well. And so then he ended up getting Belaga to celebrate. And it was like, Oh, that's so nice that he cultivated this, like, this team-friendly atmosphere and these, like, relationships between people. So I'm with you on that. That's a good one. All right. Your second place vote for MVP of the episode. Okay. My second place vote goes to Aaron Rogers. Now. Oh, wow. Upset. I know. That's terrible. I don't think, I don't agree with this. But go ahead.

Well, you have yours. I have mine. Rogers, I think, has the constant main character energy throughout the whole show. Yes. He was, like, chewing up. scenery in the beginning. And I love the fact that his teammates love his personality. They talk about how cool he is and they talk about whatever they say on TV about him is a lie. And there was a whole thing about his no look passes. But I especially love the fact that he was so complimentary to and about Zach Wilson. And he was talking about Zach Wilson's nola passes and working with him and answering his questions and celebrating with him after that bomb of a pass in the Hall of fame game that was fun also alluding to his offseason hobby of psychedelics perhaps you can connect those dots if you want how about his handshake with sauce well that i mean that will be part of another all right hold that thought then i know we talked about it with uh with rich eisen a little bit that um wilson is in such a awkward situation and you can see that's rogers in his way trying to make a awkward situation a little bit less awkward by making him seem like he's still

a guy that you know is you could get excited about by the way straight thought about Zach Wilson no he you don't have him come on coming up again here do you no um is he getting younger like it oh my gosh she's such a baby are we benjamin buttoning here yes yes he looks like he still looks like a rookie or now even like maybe like a high school senior at one point they cut to him at halftime of the Hall Fame game and he's eating, what was it? Like a smuckers? The Uncrustibles, yeah.

And then, you know, when he's in the huddle, he's like, come on, he like basically echoes something that Rogers said earlier in camp. I think the thing you kind of called out that you really liked in our preview episode where he was like, come on, guys, we don't know how long will I be able to do this so let's enjoy it.

And it's like, it just seemed like a boy. Like, he's like a kid, a kid brother. And the fact that Rogers is there, which is the epitome or the opposite end of things, this grizzled veteran approaching age 40. It's wild. It's not really a shot at Wilson. It's stunning, really, how cherubic he still appears to be. You know what he needs a beard?

How about that? If you can do it, Zach, it might be time for the beard. It might be time. All right. My second place, I think we flipped. I think we flipped. So I have Sala as my second place. And it's not a shot.

On Sala, I think he was exactly what I thought he was going to be. And it is put it up with Rich. Like it is, there's a lot of pressure on Sala here. As exciting and everything is, you know, sunshine and rainbows right now around the Jets. But there's also this reality that this is year three for Sala. And you go show me the list of NFL coaches in the past 25 years who have gotten a fourth year if they didn't make the playoffs by year three. Um, he, so it's it in a playoff or bust year potentially for Sala, he obviously feels like he's in a very good spot and he is. And one difference we talked about earlier about how, how different it is beyond just the obvious the, the, the Farve and Rogers of it all.

And Richard mentioned that Farv, uh, was joining a much less talented team than Rogers is. And that's true, but also a difference in these situations, 2008 to 2000, 23. is how much better the AFC is now compared to the field in 08. Remember, in 2008, when Brett Farr was there, Tom Brady blows his ACL in game one. Yeah, that's right. And is out for the year. That was a wide open conference this year. You look at the AFC now.

And then it is a gauntlet, the top of the season is a gauntlet for the Jets. And there are so many teams that are just starving like the Jets, the Bills, the Bengals, the name just two. And then, of course, the chiefs are there waiting. that it's going to be a very tough ride. It's going to be very difficult for this team to win 10, 11, 12 games, despite all this optimism. So just tempering it a little bit. But Sala, despite all that pressure behind the scenes or under the hood, feels like a guy that's very confident in himself and in this team. I, you know, I love me some Robert Sala.

Oh, you do. When I was at Niners camp yesterday, I asked Kyle Shanahan, like, how he's going to be. on hard knocks and like how he like will actually like secretly deal with it and shanahan was like oh my god he's going to pretend like he doesn't like it he's going to love it he's going to make sure that he lifts his weights before the cameras turn on that he has a fresh shave like he will be ready for it oh yeah however he's not he is not in my MVP voting um i need you know i need to pump the brakes a little bit's a long season of hard knocks so my number one is a little bit of a

surprise. Whoa. Yeah. You know, you could cost solid MVP by leaving them out of the... You ain't got no haters, you ain't popping. Yeah, come on. You leave him out of the vector scoring system for an entire week. That's trouble for his chances to win the whole damn thing. So it shows what a fan you actually are. I do want to hear now.

Now I'm fascinated. Who's number one? I know. So my number one MVP, and it really was because of this handshake, it's got for me it's sauce gardener gardener the handshake was so good you'd like that connie they they do they take a hit of something then they put it out on another teammate it's creative it's fun i haven't seen it before i also just love the dynamic of him and garret wilson they have such different personalities but they're so competitive and sauce is such a chirper like you could

tell he just loves to get under people's skin and then you have garret wilson who's kind of like this sweet boyish kind of guy next to him and sauce is just very fiery and sassy and then I just also love that he graduated and it you know I when he was putting on his graduation cap his family was like oh like you know he doesn't want to mess up his hair I felt that I really felt that in a way that I was there I hated putting on the graduation cap I hated getting my picture with it on it's kind of a silly look all together that's maybe something we could kind of transition out of as years go on. Why not?

Why are we still doing this? I like the fact that he said it felt like a game day, but he wasn't nervous and it was sweet that everyone was coming up to him and being like, have a great season. Yeah, that was nice. He said that he didn't have a chance to graduate high school because he was in camp already. So this was the first time that he actually got a chance to walk across the stage and I thought that was nice. I mean, I can almost, I could like picture it right now like a cranky column from

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post explaining why that handshake between Sauce and Rogers is everything that's wrong with the Jets and sports in America or whatever. Calm down, take a seat, relax. That was just two guys having fun and enjoying it. Roger is obviously

famous for his extracurricular activities which haven't slowed him down from winning four MVPs in a Super Bowl. Love it. And it was great. As advertised and as predicted on our preview episode, I think Sauce and and seeing Gardner, excuse me,

sauce and Wilson on the practice field together, he's just fun. And it's just like these two guys are the future of the jets and potentially a future kind of of the AFC and here they are going to add it every practice. Someone might say, and I won't because it's cheesy and cliche and overdone, that iron sharpens iron.

Oh my God. Do not. But I will not say it. I've heard it at every single camp. I honestly, like, it's iron versus iron season. his training camp and like that there's nothing we can do about it right right um and yes so my my first place vote does go to aaron rogers and um you know i think uh he he absolutely like sala

has leaned into this and despite all the talk about who we don't want to do it or um stuff you may have heard rogers is all about it rogers loves this moment he loves this time and um he i loved how the way the episode started kind of time back to how we started today's show that walked to the field and just the guy that's basking in this moment on this in this second act to his career he could say he went into the darkness for five days and was 90% retired i watch a guy you know hugging randall cobb after the demarcus wears national anthem and saying i love you it's you know that never gets old brother love you like and seeing the the passion he has for the sport and talking with the guys and and just chopping it up and um the skill obviously the skill he

still has and how easy makes it all look this guy was not going to retire it was all part of a bigger you know idea with rogers and a conversation that's fair about like is this guy for real or is he full of it like who is iron rogers um but you know some people might even say bad things about iron rogers but to that not me you you can reply whatever they said about A.R. Rogers on TV is a lie. Yes, that is true, or maybe it's not true? I don't know, but I've been vocal in criticism of Rogers in the past, but he is the right guy for this team right now,

and I thought this episode showed that he is kind of the sun in which all the planets of the New York Jets are rotating around. So Rogers gets it for me, and we'll see where things go from here. Connie, anything else you want to get in before we say goodbye? no i think that was a great first episode like i great start i agree i love this like they started like they came out swinging and so i expect this rest of the season to be just as good because i was like stopping myself from texting you the entire time and real time as i watched it we're going to have a ton to talk about ton to talk about connie going to be back in studio with me

next week i am i love it connie and dan together and uh hopefully you with us along for the ride as we go through each of the five episodes, and just like this one, it lands Tuesday night right after the airing of Hard Knocks, and it's there for you, for us to discuss this great show in this very interesting Jets team. Until next week, heed the call. This is an I-heart podcast.