NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Hard Knocks New York Jets: Episode 4 Recap
Episode Date: August 30, 2023On the NFL's Official Hard Knocks Podcast, Dan Hanzus and Colleen Wolfe recap the fourth episode of the "Hard Knocks Training Camp with the New York Jets". Dan and Colleen start the show by discussing... Dan's favorite moment of the series, Hard Knocks paying homage to 'The Sopranos' (01:52). Dan and Colleen then jump into some story lines they've been following including them seeing a new side of Aaron Rodgers (08:30) and the wide receivers room developing through camp (12:40). After the break, Dan and Colleen debut a new game (19:10) and cast their votes for Hard Knocks MVP (22:34). Note: Time codes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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This is an IHeart podcast.
For some men in this room, it's going to be the last time you ever strap it up.
And I say that not to apply pressure to make it bigger than it is.
I say that so tomorrow, soak it up.
And then when it comes for your time to play, let it rip.
Because if you do get cut, because you weren't quite good enough as the team saw it,
that will hurt.
but you can live with that
you get cut because you didn't go hard enough
that's regret
and that shit will eat you
alive
so it's very simple
empty the fucking tank
it's gonna be an unbelievable
environment I can't wait to
see it man I can't
wait to see it I'm not gonna sleep very good
tonight
from the Chris Wesleying podcast studio
it's the hard knocks
podcast
the official podcast of
hard knocks and that was well i'm dan hansis hey with my co-host colline wolf that was jeff
olbrick the defensive coordinator of the jets offering up his latest hype speech to the players
going into their last preseason game and that's one of those fun um things about this show
uh so for many of those guys their last game ever that's it and you don't think about that when
you're just following the sport and we and
I do it on the other podcast all the time,
kind of poo-poo the pre-season.
But these guys are playing for their football lives.
And it's real.
It's real human stuff.
Yeah.
And I also just like that he's using Empty the Tank.
It's all gas, no break.
Like there's a lot of car references, I guess, too,
even though it's a plain organization.
It's very macho, yeah.
I'm getting, like, caught up in the details.
But, you know.
All gas.
But I liked it.
And that hype speech from Ulbrick goes right into Colleen.
I think the highlight is.
the season from far. A shot for shot recreation of the iconic opening credit sequence
of the Sopranos. Naturally, with that song, woke up this morning as the musical theme.
And I'll tell you what, Connie, it's all clicking here. You have the synergy of two Titanic
HBO productions. You have the Jets, deep ties to Jersey and the most famous TV show ever
set in the Garden State.
You have Robert Sala,
the head of the New York Jets,
kind of playing the role
driving in the car is Tony Soprano.
The tight shot of his eyes
in the rear of you here.
I love it.
The head of the DeMeo crime family.
Driving from the Jersey side
of the Lincoln Tunnel,
shot for shot.
So Dan actually, like, check this out
and cross-referenced the two
and played them side by side.
He was freaking out when we were watching it.
I mean, I kind of once, too,
because, like, I just love the Northeast in general.
So, like, give me Sopranos, give me New York, New Jersey, all of it.
The nostalgia was hitting hard, driving from the Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel
to their respective homes for Tony.
It was his suburban estate in North Caldwell for Sala.
It's MetLife Stadium.
Or, as Aaron Rogers proudly announced in this episode.
Welcome to JetLife Stadium.
And I've said it so many times, Connie, in digital print.
for years on NFL.com and on this
podcast that we've been doing together
for almost two full season.
Yeah. An ultimate episode tonight.
Hard Knocks is the greatest sports
docu series that's ever existed.
And it's because of creative
flourishes like that Sopranos
homage. Because
it's a simple
but fiendishly clever
idea executed by obviously some of the most
talented people in the medium.
It's a chef
chef kiss Connie and my favorite moment
of the season. If anyone can pull it off
it's going to be the people at
NFL films and HBO it was done
perfectly and
to be honest I was in on this episode
from the very opening
scene when they were cutting bagels
and grilling maybe it was a grilled cheese
maybe it was a French toast I don't know but the key to my heart
is a bread product of some sort so I was
already there I mean what is the
for me and it varies but
the go-to North
East, you know, New York, North New Jersey, Southern New Jersey, Philadelphia area.
For me, it's an everything bagel, ham egg cheese, salt pepper ketchup, and give me a little
bit of that Frank's Red Hot on it.
That's to me, like, the hangover cure or just fat guy hungry cure.
Yeah.
It's, but yeah, seeing those shots, it does, we've been out here on the West Coast now for
over a decade, Connie, and this season is, it makes you kind of.
a homesick. I know. I was just about
to say that. Just like watching the Sopranos
does for me when I did a rewatch with my wife
this past year, who's from Texas.
Oh, you did? I'm watching it in a total
different headspace as someone now who's kind of longing
for, I kind of grew up in town
that looked like where Tony grew up. It's
this show, which is, even though
it's the New York Jets, it's very much a New Jersey
vibe. Yeah. Right down to their
Flor and Park headquarters, so it's very cool.
It's perfect. I'm surprised, though, you're not going
Taylor Pork Roll. And I do feel
like my dad always calls it
Taylor pork roll, which I, like, and I feel like that is maybe not the, the way that people just
say pork roll or, like, what do you, what do you people say? Yeah, I grew up literally on the
border of New York and New Jersey. In Rockland County, separated Bergen County. I would drive to
New Jersey to get gas. Yeah. And they pump it for you. Yeah. And you have to, by law.
Stupid, weird. But so I'm not a true New Jersey and the pork roll didn't really translate to
the northern New Jersey side of where I was in the same way that it's a staple in other places,
but I've certainly had it.
Yeah.
I've had the disco fries and I've done, I've been to a million New Jersey diners in my life.
I'm getting really hungry right now.
Do you do cream chip beef?
I've had it and I've enjoyed it.
It is one of my favorites in the entire world.
And my dad and I, it's like a tradition and it's a sodium bomb.
And my dad and I would go out and if I ever go home.
for Thanksgiving. We'd go out Thanksgiving Eve and then we would come home
1 a.m. My dad would whip up some cream chip beef.
Speaking of dads, I think we might have to get the number one Jets fan
in my life, Keith Hansis, my old man,
on the show before it's over. That's got to happen. One episode left.
So maybe that's something for next week. Okay. So yeah, so you have
that great soprano's moment on the show. You have
old brick the dc who's really had a um obviously a great season of hard knocks setting the tone for
where they are at and in training camp now um but Aaron Rogers has been the star of the season
he's the star of the Jets he's the key to everything I thought this was a really interesting
Rogers episode I think the most interesting Aaron Rogers episode since he's episode one the premiere
which was all about Rogers and before we whatever they said about air Rogers on
TV is a lie.
Yeah.
That's true.
But before we get into it,
Leav Schreiber is the voice.
Yes.
Hard knocks.
Can't get him.
It's sad.
It's disappointing, but that's okay.
We work around this.
I would like maybe,
maybe a little elbow over at our friend,
Ken Rogers over there at NFL films.
Maybe we can get a helicopter landing for Leav Schreiber.
Yeah, here at Sofi.
And get them on the finale.
last week? Is it possible? Is there any
money in the couch cushions
to make it happen? I'm just throwing it out there. We still don't know how much
that helicopter cost. We don't. Think about it
all the time. Anyway,
the Lee F. Shriver, quote of
the week with Jason Zubal
standing in for the great actor. This
Saturday, Aaron Rogers will take
the field as a jet for the first time.
No place for a
neck beard.
Hold the thought on the neck
beard because that ties into something we're going to talk about
later, but he did clean up
his act.
And you saw it with Rogers, Connie.
Forget, this is a great New Jersey episode so far.
Forget about Springsteen.
The boss in New Jersey right now is officially Aaron Rogers.
For sure.
And as this team is preparing for Rogers' first preseason action in over half a decade, years.
I mean, he hadn't, but he played two series against the Giants.
You see some of the tension on the practice field.
And, you know, remember what Randall Cobb said last week in episode three,
do not get on this man's bad side.
He will not throw you the ball.
This is the exact Cobb quote.
He going to get pissed off.
He will not throw you the ball.
Well, he got pissed off, and NFL Films was miced up in there to catalog it.
It's a fucking basic at 12 to 14 yards.
Puckin' mistakes in one damn drive.
It's unbelievable.
It's healthy up on.
It's so relatable.
this is.
Drop three
balls.
Five.
Three wrong routes and a
false start.
Seven.
I mean, seven and counting, to be honest.
Like, this was...
That's very New Jersey, too.
Exactly.
It was the first time
that we got to see this other side
of Aaron Rogers.
Everything so far,
up until this point,
has been very zen,
very, like, just
he's introspective.
Chill NorCal, dude.
Exactly.
Sometimes it feels like
it's a,
bit like he's laying it on
a little thick that he's that guy.
But here's the competitor
coming out. What lies beneath?
Right. What lies beneath is
a furious competitor that does
not stand for BS now that we're getting
to the nitty gritty with week one
Monday night football against the Buffalo
bills down the line. But for Rogers
and he admitted it to the media
after they played
their final preseason game and he got in,
he was nervous. Like Aaron Rogers,
18 year veteran,
who's won a Super Bowl,
who's been in countless playoff games,
was nervous to play two series.
And just seeing him take total control of the field,
it's a reminder that he's not just the quarterback
in the face of the franchise now.
He's the guy that everyone looks to.
And he can say to Garrett Wilson, for instance,
17, step into my office.
And it's Rogers on one knee on the sideline.
Come here.
I'm going to talk to you.
We're going to figure this out.
Yeah.
And sure enough, we see in that practice,
they do figure it out,
and they end on a good note.
just really interesting seeing him. And it's like Aaron Rogers is the god here. He is the one that is in charge. He can figure this out. But when you talk about him being nervous before a preseason game since he hasn't played in one since 2018 and obviously all of this attention that he's getting with hard knocks and being in the New York market, like it reminds me of a conversation I had with Jerry Rice a couple years ago.
Oh, what a name drop by wolf. I know. I know. Jerry Rice. I'll never forget this because I, I, I, I, I,
couldn't believe it. He said that he would get so nervous before every game throughout his entire
career that he would throw up. And it never went away. And those nerves were always there. And I think
no matter how long you've been in the league, how much success that you've experienced, if that's how
you operate, like that is. So I think it was an interesting window into Aaron Rogers and how he goes
about his business. But his frustration at camp in that practice, it felt like to me,
me, the angrier he got, the sharper he was. And there's a couple people we work with here
at NFL media who I've thought that about when they get angry, they instantly become laser
focused. And they can like, they're operating at their highest capacity when they are, when
they're annoyed or when they're angry. I've always been like going back to my school days, but then
in my newspaper days and even, you know, having deadlines here at NFL media, like, I'm a procrastinator by
nature. I need there to be something hanging over me.
This needs to be done in three hours. That's when I lock in.
These guys, it's get mad, get disrespected. They lock in. We saw Aaron Roger get mad in a
different way later on and we'll get to that. I think the other big plot line, Connie, in this
episode, they did a lot on the wide receivers. And everyone knows the top of the depth chart,
Garrett Wilson, who caught an Aaron Rogers touchdown pass in that preseason game. And it looks like
he's going to be a superstar this season.
Alan Lazard, he's, he's locked and loaded,
McCall Hardman, locked and loaded,
Randall Cobb. He's Rogers' buddy, so he's locked and loaded,
and he continues to get a lot of screen time as well.
But there are guys like Xavier Gibson,
undrafted free agent, Jason Brownlee,
and it's one of those hard knocks tropes.
They can make anybody, including undrafted free agents,
look like Jerry Rice.
Yeah.
And that's how Gibson and Brownlee came off, both in practices and then the preseason game.
And it was just adorable their bromance that they have, the two of them.
Like they are.
So wholesome.
They are competing for a final one spot, that fifth spot.
And they are just like hanging out playing ping pong.
Like I found it really funny, Xavier Gibson's disdain for up downs because that was like, if you lose, you got to do whatever,
up downs, pushups, whatever.
And it was just like, it seems so cute the two of them.
Like, it's a legit love for each other that they have.
And I think that that's cool because they're competing, obviously,
but they can put that aside.
And this is interesting from a football standpoint because today was cut down day in the real world.
And Gibson made the team.
Brownlee made the team.
Another first year wide out, Irvin Charles, who we haven't seen documented on the show.
We haven't met him yet.
made the team.
So those guys are all safe as of right now
on the initial roster of 53.
That could change when the churn of rosters,
which gets really cruel when you make the final 53
and then the Jets could pick up another wide receiver
that got cut today.
And one of these guys could get whacked.
But our boy, Jerome Cap.
Didn't make it.
Yeah.
I think it's interesting what we didn't see as well in this episode.
You see Jerome Cap not be able to make a dent,
in the box score
in his last preseason game
and then you see him walking down the hallway
would have liked to see the conversation
with Pat and Sala
there
but shout out that he got an
Eminem shout out on Twitter
I know and we didn't even talk about this last week
that Eminem now back to back
years he's been an important
plot line of Hard Knocks
he was in Detroit
hanging out with the Lions
and now he pops back up with Jerome Cap
so he's
a hard-knock superstar at this point.
Eminem on the lion's sidelines.
I remember being a little bit uncomfortable to watch.
It was weird. This was more organic.
Yeah. He's so famous
that you could tell the players were a little nervous
to be around him and Eminem was a little nervous to be around
the players. I'd like to
I like that nervous energy, though.
And then I thought the other thing that was interesting
in terms of an editorial choice was
a lot of this conversation
about who's going to fill out this wide receiver
depth chart.
And they even talk about it.
you hear Leav say it, that there's one spot available.
Well, there's two spots available because Corey Davis,
uh, stunningly announced his retirement.
That was wild.
At a nowhere.
I kind of was expecting all the buildup through this episode to end with,
uh, look at the Cory Davis decision and maybe that comes next week.
We'll see.
But that, that is the wide receiver, uh, down low for the jets.
And I, I, they gave a lot, a lot of run probably in there was also, you know,
our buddy, uh, Tanzel smart.
who's been an ongoing figure in terms of the underdogs for this series.
He got a lot of running this episode as well.
So there's a little more of that.
We even got the...
I want to eat a carcucci board.
That's right.
Yeah, what happens away from the facility?
And you saw Tanzel Smart and the other D-Linmen who are all kind of adorable, too.
Oh, my God.
They're like all brothers making a carcucci board and some type of seafood dish that looked tasty.
I think crawfish of some sort.
It was a family recipe.
Just to button the wide receiver conversation, though,
I absolutely love Randall Cobb's family.
They have been a constant throughout hard knocks,
but when he had the block, the penalty in the last game,
and seeing them watching it and seeing his wife be like,
oh, great, I think we're going to get a fine in the mail.
Last year, it was about $19,000 in fines.
It's like the equivalent.
If I buy like a dumb framed poster,
of um from once upon a time in hollywood okay okay is this an attack that feels like
no because i did it too i know i know you guys you and john your husband did it as well and it
cost like 185 dollars and my wife's like wait what like it's not going to bankrupt us but it's like
wait that was like this is dumb we maybe check with me before we dropped the the two honey
my dad always says you must differentiate between wants and needs there you go can't fix stupid
He's a wise man
All right
Let's take a break here
And when we get back
We'll share our MVP's
Of episode four
Victor voting system is starting to heat up
We're getting close to the end now
And then of course
Well not of course
But a little surprise coming up after you know
I don't like surprises
Well you're getting surprised
We'll be right back
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All right, welcome back to the hard knots podcast, the official podcast.
There's only one.
Yeah, because check out the episode we're talking about today.
The last shot you see, Aaron Rogers holding up his index finger,
like Joe Namath, so many years ago, and then check out the words at the bottom.
The Kairon.
Oh, God.
He's really into the Kiron business.
The Kiron reads.
Make sure you watch the credits.
Listen to around the NFL hard knocks recap wherever you get your podcast.
That, I mean, it doesn't get more official than that.
Connie, want to play a game?
Sure.
Let's do a game show.
Oh, no.
Here we go.
All right, everybody.
It's time to play your favorite game, Travis or Jeff.
My heart is pounding.
What is this?
You may or may not be aware, Colleen Wolf,
that Kansas City Chiefs, tight end,
Travis Kelsey,
Jets defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrick, have a very similar white boy flow.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
So what I'm going to do, it's very simple.
Okay.
And if you are victorious here, you win a 1987 Toyota Cameron.
Okay, that's great.
Lightly used.
It was found in the swamps of the metallands.
In a junkyard.
There's a body in the trunk, 50% chance.
It was in Queens.
It's fine.
All right.
Here we go.
Travis or Jeff, very simple.
Okay.
You have to get everything right.
To get the Camry?
To get the Camry.
God, I've always won in the 1987 Camry.
If you get everything right, I'll get the body out of the trunk.
Great, great.
All right, let's hit it.
Eric Roberts, the first voice.
We didn't really have anybody at practice.
It was kind of the dog days and just the fellas.
Travis.
That's Travis Kelsey?
We didn't really have anybody at practice.
It was kind of the dog days and just the fellas.
Wow.
Okay, you're hot already.
Here we go.
How does a pistol?
Let's go.
All right, here we go.
Strong, fast athletes.
Jeff.
Whoa.
Wait, you're good at this.
I'm really good at voices.
That one would have had me as well.
All right, next.
Two for two.
Colleen.
Yeah, he's got a superpower of speed.
Jeff.
And it shows up every time he's on the field.
What?
All right.
Let's do another one.
Got to get her once.
He's created a legacy for himself in this league.
Jeff?
No, that's Travis.
That's a great player.
Oh, 1980.
What, there's more?
Last one.
This one will decide whether the body comes out of the camera.
Yeah, well, first things first.
It's great game planning.
All right, everybody.
She did it.
Thank you.
We'll see you next time.
That's unbelievable.
So one of my favorite things to do as I drive out of here in my brand new, Camry.
It only has 294,000 miles on it, in addition to the corpse think.
The steering wheel just falls off.
It's in my hands.
One of my favorite things to do is listen to a press conference from Eagles.
Yeah.
And then name check who the questions are from, just like from memory.
I'm working from all like the beat writers stuff.
Uh-huh.
Elliot Chuck Parks.
Uh-huh.
John Gonzalez.
Exactly.
Colleen Wool.
Wow, I'm impressed.
Thank you.
The best person to transcribe in the NFL is Jerry Jones because he speaks in a halting cadence.
That is almost meant for 29-year-old part-time copy editors to transcribe.
That's a nightmare.
It was.
But look at us now.
Wow.
All right.
So there you go.
All right.
Let's get to the MVP talk now.
uh let's see let's see let's see it's a vector voting system and at the end of next week's uh finale
episode uh we will unveil the MVP of season i keep on meaning to look this side
i think it's 17 Eric help us out with that season 19 of hard knocks uh it is a hallowed honor
and now the votes the voting counts equally every week as we hit
on last week.
But now it's time
to really separate
the men from the boys.
As we're your third place
vote for MVP
worth two points, I believe.
All right.
So this may mess up
the vector voting system
in the end,
but I have to be true
to myself.
So third place
is the entire defensive line.
I love them so much.
They're so cute together.
They hang out together.
And I know that's true
of like so many position groups,
but
They have such great personalities and such different personalities.
And when they were all at Tansel Smart's house, having like this nice little meal together
and making the carcucci board and Tanzel Smart's wearing a shirt that says,
I want to eat a carcucci board.
And Solomon Thomas is making meat roses from the luncheon.
That was impressive.
I got to say.
Solomon Thomas is a Renaissance man.
He truly is because he's the first one that brought up going to Broadway and seeing a show.
now he's out here, like, putting together these gorgeous
charcutory boards.
For me, the one thing...
Just call it's carcucci.
Right.
On this show.
The one...
And like John Franklin Myers, who was supposed to be watching Smart's daughter,
she was just, like, crawling around in between the couch cushions while he was playing
Xbox.
And he's like, this is how I watch my kids.
What's the problem here?
So they're all so adorable.
And I love their friendship that they have.
But I really would love for Hard Knocks to pay off them going to Broadway.
because we heard at the very end of the show
that some of the guys talking about different shows
that they've seen or liked
and I want to go to a Broadway show with that.
Connie, I think you're a wise woman
and that feels so natural.
Having watched every episode of the show ever,
that feels like such an episode five payoff.
Hopefully we're not spoiling it,
but that feels like a fun thing to do.
Yeah, I had, what do you got there,
Robbins? Do you have an update?
IMDB has this as season 20 of hard knocks.
Uh-oh.
20?
It's 20-ish.
If it's not 20, it's 20-ish.
I had Tanzel Smart, so it's kind of the same place as you.
Do we want to maybe throw it to somebody?
Because you had the whole D-line?
I had the entire D-line, yeah.
Should we just give Smart since he kind of like represents him?
You know what? That's great.
And I think, again, today was cut down day in the NFL,
and it's not official as of right now.
when we're taping this, but the practice reports
from the beat reporters that Tanzel Smart
was not seen on the field today,
which usually is a sign the player
did not make the team, which is a shame.
And we saw him get hurt his shoulder
and they just rubbed some tiger bomb on it,
which I could not believe that was the fix for it.
He played through it, and the reason he played through it
is because he knew.
He knew he was like almost no other player
on the defense on the bubble,
and he played through what was obviously
had to be probably an extremely painful injury
and was just trying to get by
on adrenaline and a little bit of bomb.
Like they had to convince him to go to the x-ray room
once they kind of saw how much he was in pain.
Yeah, and I thought there was a moment
on the sideline at the end of that preseason game
where Smart kind of looks up
and he's a little undersized
compared to some of those other big dudes
we've talked about here.
And he says, you think I belong with you guys, right?
It was like a really kind of a sweet moment
and he was almost like a little brother,
even though he might be older.
I think he's 27 or so.
He wants that approval of them.
And I think it was maybe JLM was like,
John Franklin Myers was like,
yeah, man, you belong, you belong.
Nice moment and hopefully smart lands on his feet.
If it's not with the Jets.
Second place, Connie.
Wait, what, oh, okay, right.
Yeah, yeah, I'm with you.
Lockstep, lockstep.
Second place is Aaron Rogers.
Okay.
There were so many moments from him.
We talked about the frustration during the practice,
and then he kind of like focused everyone,
wrangled them up, made some sense of what wasn't working,
and then we saw it actually work.
But I loved his exchange with Jihad Ward
when they actually played the Giants in this game.
It was so perfect.
I think we have some of that.
Yeah, and just to set it up,
it was Rogers drops back to pass.
It's during his final drive of the game,
and Ward hits him a little bit late on a pass,
and Aaron Rogers did not like that at all.
What the f*** a bro?
What the f*** is that?
What's the speck, bro?
Come on, what the fuck is that?
Five gham six?
I don't know who you are, bro.
I don't know who you don't.
I never heard of you.
I don't know who you are.
I've never heard of you.
And then they come back at the end
and Rogers brings it back again.
I don't know.
I'm like, what's the fear of you?
That's after he threw the touchdown pass.
It's incredible.
Don't poke the bear.
How many times?
how many F-bombs were dropped there
because I didn't really even notice it
until they were bleached out.
But not even that.
It was also some of his
exchanges with Nathaniel Hackett
and it was very Gen Z
of him to be wearing the wired
headphones. It's super
trendy now. I don't think he does it because it's trendy.
I think he does it because he
doesn't... I think it is.
He said he doesn't want
radiation to ruin his brain.
Is there anything more on brand
than Aaron Rogers saying he doesn't trust
AirPods because of EMF emissions being harmful to his brain.
And maybe he'll be proven to be right and half the population will be dead in 30 years.
But also it's just the type of nonsense that I was able to divorce myself with Aaron Rogers once
became a quarterback of my favorite team.
It's like, oh my God, this guy.
And he also, I think he likes, oh, the young kids are wearing this?
Yeah.
TikTok, okay.
That's part of it too.
And that's okay.
Like I think Aaron Rogers, like, what I'm kind of taking out of the Aaron Rogers experience,
is that he cares very much like what you think of him
and I don't think that that makes you a bad person
because I think everyone's like that to varying degrees
but there's definitely an image that he's projecting
it's not one of those people as like
I don't care what you think about me this is who I am
I think it's more carefully cultivated than he would admit
but what this show has been good for him for his brand
is you see the authentic side of him
where he's not protecting who he is
and you see the competitor he is
and you see how that great interaction with the fans
those kids at Jets practice that
okay you could say that he knows the mics on him
and the cameras on but that felt like a genuine moment too
that so much has been made of Rogers
in the last few years and he's taken a PR beating
and I have been vocal in my criticism of them
like things he said during COVID that I thought was
misinformation from a very high public figure
in American sports
but the person he is a I think a good person
and does he put his foot in his mouth sometimes
does he sometimes try to be the cool guy sure
but I think he is a good person
in addition to being obviously a tremendous player
it's certainly a carefully curated brand
that he's putting out there but I feel like
Hard Knocks has been the best thing for his brand
because you get to see that authentic organic side of him
that maybe he doesn't always have out for
everyone but it's like when he's on the field like that's exactly who we thought he was and
i'll say yeah and i'll say because he's this is a little bit out of order but it'll all it'll all work
well white boy flow um i have aaron rogers my first place vote okay uh just because i thought that
and i think hard knox has been mindful of not going too far down the rogers rabbit hole every week
but this was uh with his first preseason game and seeing the way he prepares and seeing the fire on
the field. It's just fun to see this guy, this once-in-a-generation athlete,
Reeves start his career and having boots on the ground here. It's very cool. So I give
Rogers a first place vote. My second place vote, I believe, is your first place vote. Go ahead.
We flipped on that. Nathaniel Hackett. There you go. He is just so fun-loving, I need more
hack it. Like, everything, he's so funny. And it's like, I want to play for this guy. I wish I
worked with this guy. Like, he... I just want to fly around like a butterfly. Exactly.
I love him.
The floby was hilarious.
So he's having the conversation with Aaron Rogers, after Aaron Rogers, I guess, had gotten, like, you know, his neck beard fixed up or whatever.
Right.
And got a haircut and stuff.
And Rogers says, like, certain people, there's certain people that can touch my hair.
Actually, we have it.
I have certain people that can touch my hair.
I would like to say that I'm one of them.
I also have a floby.
A what?
Dial it up.
Floby right now.
Type it in. You need to see the floby.
They bring up YouTube on the projection screen.
Welcome to the exciting world of floby precision haircut.
Is this like from 1990?
It's like early 90s. I remember it.
It's an insane infomercial product.
I'm telling you, how it didn't make it, I don't know.
I asked my mom for it all the time.
She never got it for me.
She got me some buzzers, but yes, the old floby.
Is there really anything better than a floby?
Okay.
Now, he's someone, Nathan is not hack it, for better or worse, I don't think he cares what people think.
I think there are going to be probably people in a locker room that are going to give him sideways glances from time to time.
Like, this guy's a dork.
But I think he's very naturally himself.
And, yes, I think he's very funny.
He's so much fun.
Even in that same meeting, he talked about how he wants to be the touchdown firework guy who, like, as soon as anyone gets to the red zone, even though he calls it the gold zone, like, this guy is just waiting, waiting.
to like set off all the firework.
I think the line is there's a f***er up there in the box
waiting to hit the button.
That's it.
It's so good.
Yeah, it's just his.
And then he's using the time in the film room
to show the players how they're not celebrating together
after a touchdown.
Like it's not like who did what wrong here
or like how can we improve there.
It's like let's make sure that these celebrations
are in unison guys.
He's such a positive guy.
He's got obviously a sense of,
humor that he wears on his sleeve, if that makes any sense.
And he, it makes sense.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again, why Rogers likes him so much.
There's no ego here.
In fact, he knows the score.
There's no way, the fact that all you heard leading up to the, during the courtship of Rogers
and the Jets was how much Rogers loved Hackett.
You've seen it over these past four weeks that he doesn't challenge Rogers in ways that
would rub Rogers the wrong way.
He's kind of like his wingman in a way.
and I also watch this and I understand why maybe it didn't work out for him in Denver
because I don't know if this is big chair energy
but to be the wingman of one of the greatest corebacks who ever lived
and be on the same page and have the respect to the players
because they understand that you're in it and you're a fun guy.
It's been a great show for him.
But we also saw him fired up and we saw like an angrier side of him
when things weren't going right in that practice.
Hackett was pissed too and it's not all sunshine and butterflies all the time with him.
Isn't it weird, though, when there are people in your life that are, like, good time, happy people?
And then you see a mad, and it's just, like, a little bit more like, oh.
I don't like it.
Yeah.
It's not for me.
You know, Sean Kelly, we were with Sean Kelly?
Yeah.
Sean was being sassy today.
He's, like, the most positive guy in the world.
Uh-huh.
The happiest guy I've ever known, Philadelphia's own.
That's right.
But can you imagine Sean Kelly getting, like, angry?
No.
Like, wouldn't it be, like, disturbing?
Like, there are people like that.
You can't imagine them mad.
Just like, we all have our.
moments. I still can't really picture it, to be honest.
But we do have one more hacky clip that I think was my favorite clip. I've clipped it and I
want us to use it. I don't want us to brush over it because it's a funny, I don't know,
I love the association of it. Okay, go ahead and let a rip. We like to call this the golden day.
This is the golden day. Now, how many people here have seen a movie called Gold Member?
That makes me so fucking proud right now. That is so great. We all know we talk about this
is the Red Zone, right? That's what most of the world calls.
it. It's not the red zone because
what does red mean?
What the fuck we call it the red zone for?
Let's go get that fucking gold.
I don't know. I love
Austin Powers movies, so that was...
Yeah, I hear you. I think, you know?
It's a great point, though.
You know what else? He has popped up
repeatedly in his MVP conversation.
I have excited for next week's finale
because Hackett is a very
real player. I don't want to end
on a sobering note, but one of
the best moments of episode three,
last week was Randall Cobb clocking
and then letting everyone on the sideline know
that Thomas Morsted runs like a bastard off the field
to stay loose because he's a dad.
He was cut.
He was waiting today and he tweeted something like
don't panic everybody, maybe he's going to come back
and there's something being worked out.
I hope so because I was looking forward
to watching Morissette all year.
We need it.
We need him back.
Also, we need to pay off Al the jeweler,
Woody Johnson's chain.
We had a listener, Joe Halstead.
Shout out Joe.
Shout out Joey House.
Who sent me the Instagram of Al the Jewelor
so we could actually see what the wording was underneath Woody's name.
And it was Woody and the Jets.
Okay.
What did we think of it?
We thought it was Let's Go Jets.
Idiots.
Can't teach stupid.
No, you can't.
Thanks, Joe.
Two other things, the Jets defensive line coach is named Aaron White Cotton.
That's just wild to me.
Oh, okay.
And I think that's it.
I think that's everything.
Everyone was into the song Skiy by Sexy Red.
Can you tell me how it goes?
I don't know what's going on there.
I don't know what's going on.
Oh, I also liked the song, the New York, New York version, the cover.
Forget it. Give me Frank.
I mean, Frank is a staple.
It's a classic. We love it.
You give me old blue eyes.
That was a good one.
And then I also just thought it was kind of touching at the end of that game in the locker room that Sala was like, all right, this is it.
Like, make sure you take a look around, hug someone, go up to someone, like have those moments now because that's it.
That is it.
Good stuff.
We'll be back next week.
The season finale of Hard Knock.
with special guests, other special stuff.
It's a finale.
It's got to be big.
Are there going to be bread products?
Until next week.
Head the call.
You know it.
Salt pepper ketchup.
A little bit of franks.
Give me an everything bagel.
Extra toasted.
Frank Sinatra.
Frank's red hot.
Frank everything is what I need.
All Frank all day.
This is an I-heart podcast.
