NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Monday Night Football, TUESDAY Night Football and League Conspiracy Theories

Episode Date: October 14, 2020

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, and Gregg Rosenthal bring you a full recap of the Bills Titans Tuesday Night game from the NFL schedule shuffle. Le'Veon Bell is cut by the Jets (10:29) and Conor Orr stops by recap the Saints Chargers game (15:29) and to give some NFL conspiracy theories. (38:05)Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Still on his feet. How about that? Got his hand to the ground to brace himself along the sidelines. And he's inside the 15-yard line before Alan takes him down. Malcolm Butler shows up. Ryan Tannahill shows up, especially in the red zone. The Tennessee Titans show up on Tuesday night in Nashville, a 42 to 16 win over the

previously undefeated Buffalo. bills. Dan Hans is here along with the great Mark Sessler. We have a full ATN Tuesday show coming up right after this with a very special guest as well as Greg Rosenthal. But we're going to start here with Tuesday night football and some other late breaking news that occurred during the game. Mark, did you see this coming? Did you see the Titans rolling up a 40 burger on the bills who look they look like the team that had a COVID-19 nightmare with layoffs and closed facilities and long stretches without play not the Titans no I didn't see it coming I mean I think that if you're someone that just observes football how much do we know whether or not

practice time is a key indicator of success I mean I'm not saying you never practice but I think the bills having to split attention and I'm talking like deep staff members players studying tape between the Titans and Chiefs might have been a bigger factor. But when the game started tonight, I mean, this game to me is about mistakes by Josh Allen that we haven't really seen up to this point. They came home to Roos tonight. The first interception was not on him. That was a deflected ball. The second one, though, was. And Ryan Tannahill, kind of another notch in the belt of saying for all of us, and I'm included in that, the question whether the offseason and into the time,

to this season would have been a path that showed us that Ryan Tannahill last year was an aberration from the rest of his career. He's not going to reach those statistical heights, but he really fits in this offense. He is a tough-minded quarterback, and we see it with his runs tonight. We see with him blasting for a first down that it didn't seal the game. It just further sealed the game laid on. His pinpoint passes. Their play action attack under Arthur Smith, who probably generated about 15 head coaching interviews during this game because it was on national TV because for some reason Arthur Smith is still a little under the radar. And I think it's about the Bill's defense. I think it's his name. Yeah, the Smith, yeah, the Arthur Smith. Is that the

future of offense? I don't know. No, it feels like, um, like a paint company. I get that. Like, it's not, it's not something that sticks out. But the Bill's defense, you know, I think we came into the year thinking the Titans defense might be the part of that team that kind of lacks identity. Well, tonight they really, they put forward a great performance and caused havoc for the bills. Were the bills defense up the middle, Jonu Smith, other guys, just being victimized. And I'd be real concerned about Buffalo's defense because teams are going to look at this and say, we're going to attack them this way. Yeah, Buffalo played without three starters, Tredavius White, Matt Milano, Levi Wallace. But, you know, that is not individual to the bills. You know,

Once you get this deep into a season, especially the 2020 season, everyone is missing key guys. And this has been kind of an issue for them for the entire season. That's been papered over by Josh Allen and a tremendous offense that the defense hadn't been close to their levels of last year and the year before that. You thought maybe they were making progress on that front last week against the Raiders when they had a really nice second half. But again, they struggled here. not so much when you look at the yardage because I think the Bills actually outgained the Titans in this game and the Titans, yeah, finished with 334 total yards, which is not a big number. But the Titans killed them in the red zone.

They got six opportunities inside the Bills 20. They scored six touchdowns. And that has been the most devastating aspect of this Titans offense since Ryan Tanahill got to town and got in the lineup, which is their ability not to settle for field goals or shoot themselves in the foot and have turnovers inside the 20. They score touchdowns and you win games that way and they did it again. So, yeah, maybe Tanahill doesn't lead the league and all these fancy metrics that people love this year.

But he certainly looks every bit the dude that's going to make Lauren Tannahill up there and the bleachers proud and continue to lead the Titans. This was their most balanced effort of the season. and it reminded you that they are a team to be reckoned with. I think they've kind of been under the radar because they didn't play in the dominant fashion earlier this season and the COVID stuff took over. This was a nice reminder for the bills. I guess for me, it's like, yeah, they had been so stellar this season that it was a little

jarring to see them look so vulnerable, but it was also super weird situation for them, too. So if people are going to start pulling out their hair saying the bills are in deep trouble now, I'm not going to go that far. They have some things to work on, but this was a weird, weird week. Yeah, I think we have to look at a lot of these teams as a week-to-week proposition. This put both teams in a weird prep scenario. I mean, they look like military operations. They want the regular season to look the same week after week, and you couldn't have thrown both out of their orbit more.

Another person thrown out of their orbit, and this, you know, this isn't something that we necessarily celebrate because we've had the pleasure of working with this individual in the past. But Josh Norman was victimized by one of the more rough and tumbled. stiff arms, courtesy of Derek Henry, that you will see in your lifetime as a football fan. But that kind of, you know, and they didn't really, I thought that's another thing about the Titans. Most people said, here's what you know, oh, you haven't been able to practice. You're just going to lean on the basics, just lean on Derek Henry and have him just plow for 300 yards in this game.

And they came out basically saying, no, we're actually going to be a play action pass team. And Derek Henry really didn't have a big role in this until there were a couple key moments, but it wasn't a typical Derek Henry game. I give the Titans credit for, you know, creativity on the fly in a tough situation. But I think the bills were in a tough situation too. And I kind of got on my nerves to listen to the broadcast hyping up Tennessee's heroic feats over the Corona thing. A little bit on my radar too there, J.P. Because from another angle, like, and I'm not saying that it wouldn't be human nature if we were in the same spot to want to go practice.

And you're young, you're thinking you're not going to put us in a situation where we can't practice. I get the urge, but here's what happened. It happened, and there's people that are going to say that shouldn't matter. But to be celebrated for it is the wrong message right now, because that put the league into a scenario that nearly melted the season, had this carried over for weeks and weeks. Right. And there's, I believe, an ongoing investigation by the union and the NFL,

trying to figure out if the Titans violated major protocol. But, you know, Jay Philly's the same guy that posed a prom in a prom picture are holding at like a 357 magnum next to his daughter's prom date. So that's amongst other pictures on the Internet. So, you know, take it all the grain of salt. All right. Any other thoughts on that game, Mark? No, I think it's, I'm with you, though, that I don't, we have to learn to not in this

weird season, but really any NFL season. I'm not suddenly down on the bills or freaking out about the bills. Let's see what happens a week from now. I think these are both really quality playoff teams with a lot to offer in a weird AFC. Yeah, the Bills get the Chiefs at home next week. That's an awesome game. Both teams coming off, humbling losses. So one of those teams suddenly is going to be on a two-game losing streak.

And meanwhile, today's winning football team gets the Texans. So you get a nice little Houston matchup there with Chancellor. put some more distance in the AFC South from the reigning defending division champion, the Houston Texans. Okay. This is where we plan to throw it to ourselves for the rest of the show, but then at some point in the second half of the Tuesday night game, the news came out, the New York Jets.

Oh, the New York Jets, who signed Labion Bell to a big, free agent deal last march i remember sitting on my couch refreshing repeatedly my browser uh waiting for levion bell to uh make it official and he did with a horrible like rap song i believe um where he he was spitting verses about joining the jets or something uh that was the the peak of the levi on bell era he struggled mightily uh in season one with the Jets, setting an all-time franchise low for yards per carry with a minimum of 200 attempts, started sparring with Adam Gase early and often. And again, recently, with some of his social media behavior, the Jets put him on the block after more shenanigans this weekend. And

I guess the decision was made that weren't going to get anything back for him. The team releases Labion Bell on Tuesday night. Here is a statement from General Manager Joe Douglas. after having conversations with levi on and his agent and exploring potential trade options over the past couple of days we have made the decision to release levi on the jets organization appreciates lavian's efforts during his time here and we know he worked hard to make significant contributions to this team we believe this decision is in the best interest of both parties and wish him future success levion bell 2019 to 2020. Jets Legend. Yeah, I just, you know, I think if you want to look at Joe Douglas is the one figure that you will march on into the future with, the person that you believe in, I don't hate this move.

I think that this was not going to get any better. We weren't going to suddenly get this great production out of Levion Bel in a loss season for New York. There were some financials attached to this, some bonuses coming, some injury, an injury guarantee for next year where I think if you look at it from the book standpoint, it's it's the right move uh the thing that sticks out for me that joe douglas has to solve and figure out and probably not for much longer because adam gaze is gone but this drumbeat of not getting along with your players we're just not this isn't 1961 i mean the head coach is not

afforded that kind of leverage to disenfranchise his star players and and you know left and right and while not growing the quarterback so i think we know what the problem is we don't need to you harp on it. It's too easy and uncreative to kill the Jets at this point. I think Joe Douglas made the right move from just where I sit. I think this thing was getting worse and worse. And you've got to find a coach in 2021 that comes in and can work with young players, develop them, understand who 20-year-olds and 21-year-olds are in this age today. And it's not just Adam Gase will go, you know, lose endless games by double digits and still have the faith of the locker room. So it's clear what they have to do. And I think they made the right move, even though

it's highly disappointing for Jets fans. Yeah, Bell was a net minus as a player. But everything else, you know, and he was a net minus as a locker room guy with some of the social media postings and the bowling night last year. So he was kind of a knucklehead. But the Jets from the very beginning played this poorly as well. It was like a match made in hell. It was the Jets. basically um somehow that information leaking early on in the marriage that adam gase didn't want him there that this was a mike mcagnan move before joe douglas the gm arrived somehow that gets out the door it should never leaked out of the building the first place poisoning that relationship and then uh bell not playing well compounded everything so yeah it's a bad look for the jets

but it's been a bad look for bell really for several years now dating back to him sitting out this season in some type of proud measure to stand up for other running backs. I think Levin is in it for Lev Bell ultimately. Exactly. Exactly. Right. And let's just be real about that if you're Lev Bell. Don't give me this song and dance because he's, he has lowered the chances of the next star running back signing this kind of contract. I mean, unless it's a different type of human being, I just view this as like, you know, we all had in like six, seventh grade, maybe in high school or college like you come off that relationship with the person that just captured your heart your heartbroken you're a mess and you just immediately jump into the rebound relationship and

there are like there are some thrills in that because it's a different type of individual new challenges new thrills but then suddenly you realize about pretty quickly into that about a month that rebound relationships don't typically work and this felt like one for lev bell and the jets you know the problem was that lev bell was also you know i've had one of these the girlfriend that costs you way more money than you have and you have a credit card to pay off after that relationship ends. So just avoid these situations. Let's home grow these players and start to draft running backs that can be easy on the books and a thrill for fans to watch and players who want to be with the New York Jets. Right. And Michael P. Ryan, who's a draft pick and a guy that could

be potentially a playmaker for them and he has been, he didn't even get a touch this past week. So this is going to open up playing time for him. That's all this season is. is for the Jets, as too many have been in recent years, just trying to figure out what you have, who's part of the future, because there is no present for this organization right now. So Leveon Bell is a free agent. We'll be interested to see if he gets a nibble and ends up on a team this season. I guess it could go either way, but we'll track that. All right, so there you go.

Tuesday night football in the books. Leveon Bell is a jet in the books. And now we get to the rest of the Tuesday edition of the Around the NFL podcast with Yes, a very special guest. The Around the NFL podcast will make you feel bad for not reading. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hans. It's coming to you from a room filled with some heroes.

Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. You just heard the Tuesday night football recap between the Bill's and Titans. And now we have a whole slew of madness to dig into in the rest of the game. at the NFL sphere, including Monday Night Football, but it's not just the three of us today's show. We have a very special guest. A man's man got a mortgage. Drinks the brown stuff and rates up his foliage.

An ex-beat man tan mine not state valet. Got Super Bowl snub, so it's Connor Orlando today. He got Super Bowl snub, so it's Connor Corlander today. All right. Are you kidding me? Connor Orr, welcome back to be around the NFL podcast. It just made me think of how mad I was that I wasn't said to the Super Bowl that year. Like, I haven't, I haven't.

That's what you think. Yeah, I haven't, like, addressed that feeling in a long time. And now I'm just like, now I'm working through it again. Hello, though. It's good to be here. It's funny. I was, I saw Bill Burr. host SNL this weekend and I enjoyed it and I wasn't really familiar with a lot of his stand-up work

so I've been watching one of his specials the last couple nights I keep falling asleep but I have been enjoying them and he talked about this this one situation he was in where he was actually physically sexually harassed by a woman during it some type of charity gig he was doing and it was a pain that he kept with him for a long time and then he learned that through meditation and Bill Burr's kind of famous for being an angry guy. Through meditation, he was able to let those slights and the things that have haunted him disappear in a way. And I thought to myself, oh, that must be nice.

That could never happen for me. Did you ever try meditation? It's like, you know, I don't mean to put it down, but during the pandemic, I think we all kind of explored something along those lines. And you just sit there thinking like, I'm so mad that this isn't working. and, you know, and it just makes the whole situation even more frustrating. Mark? I have tried it.

I mean, the thing that doesn't work for me is sitting alone in a quiet room because I just get too distracted by, like, trying to figure out, like, what a bird A is saying to bird B outside the window. But if you use certain musical elements, like HD frequency, it can take you into very strange places. So I would recommend it to certain times. Types of people. I gave it a shot. I gave it a shot in college, like in a dark room, you know, trying lots of different things. I remember.

Geez. That doesn't count. That doesn't count if you wake up three days later. No, I was sober, I think. Connor, of course. What a career Connor's had. And it continues to thrive into his 30s now, into his mid, edging into his late 30s at this point. I would guess.

Am I right? I'm 32. Oh, okay, you're still baby face. I always forget how much younger Connor is than us because he's an old soul of sorts. But these days, he used to be with us here at NFL Media. He has since gone on to s.i.com and he's a staff writer for Sports Illustrated and the Monday morning quarterback and you have a great podcast of your own. Get a plug in right off the top, Connor, for the pod that you do over at S.I.

Oh, thanks, guys. Yeah, Jenny Vrentis, who's a wonderful senior writer at S.I. and I co-host the Weekside podcast, which we just got our own feed. We broke away from the MMQB feed. We got our own feed now so you can search, find us, and yeah, leave us a review. And I will say thank you to all the ATN fans who kind of like followed us there. We hear from a lot of them via email and stuff. So you guys are awesome.

So I really appreciate it. I like doing what you can to kind of separate yourself from Albert Breer as much as possible. Like seems like a good move. I mean, isn't he frequently on your show? Conner, Albert Breer. I feel like there's been a lot of cross-pollination with him. Albert's Albert. Albert is... Albert's Albert. His fans just don't like us, and then, like, our fans, like, it's amazing. Like, every time, like, we did a show together, like, all of Albert's fans were just like,

who are these two other people talking on the podcast? I came for Albert. So Albert's got chemistry. Got Albert's people, and then we're trying to find some Jenny and Connor people, you know? Albert Burt, another former NFL media dude and, you know, nice guy. I didn't realize there were like Burt files out there that would, you know, would rage against anyone that would stand in his shadow during a podcast episode, for instance. Oh, sure. Yeah. No, you got to, it's one of those unseen pitfalls in the business. But he packs him in. So it's good. He's like, I don't know. who's like someone that

like a musician that just keeps like Tom Jones you know he's got like a like a Tom Jones vibe you know he's still selling out so you're breaking news here I don't think that the three of us understood that Albert Breers fan base was this vibrant

apparently it is all right now and of course Bert took the reins of Monday morning quarterback that column when Peter King left it's one of those good football reads every week So check out everything over there, including, of course, Conner's stuff. Now, Connor, it's been a while.

It's been a minute, as the kids say. But we're happy to have you sitting in for the whole show in the Chris Wesleying chair. And we got a great show coming up. We are going to, since you're here, Connor, and you're a bit of a mystic on some level, a man who looks beyond the surface and tries to find. find truths hidden in the ether, I thought this might be a good episode to break out some conspiracy theories of the 2020 NFL season. Yeah, I like that.

That's a nice match. Sometimes it's good to have a sensibility match for your topic and your guest, and that's what we've done today, I think. I had one that a listener actually sent us, and it was so good that I almost called Mark when he sent it to me. Like, it was just one of those things where, like, Mark used to have, Mark and I used to read Libra by Don DeLillo a lot about the Kennedy assassination. And I have not felt a conspiracy theory click in my mind like that until I, since I read Libra. Good T.

It was that good. Yeah. Okay. We got to hear this later. Excellent. So conspiracy theories coming up later. But first, let's dig in on a Monday night football, Insta Classic. He's trademarked his nickname, the money back.

Well, let's see from 50 for a Los Angeles victory on the way, off the upright, and no good. And we're going to overtime. The charges are cursed. Nothing will ever go right for them, even if it feels like things are charged. Changing. It's still the same. Saints 30. Chargers 27.

Overtime. Chargers, really, just like on Sunday night had with the Vikings, had control of this game. Seemed like the better team for the majority of the contest, but they were unable to close things out. And you heard it, Connor. We'll start there.

I mean, the game goes into OT. The Saints get into field goal range. Lutz hits the kick, and then they get the stop. near midfield to seal the win, but I think Steve Levy of ESPN, the Monday Night Football team, when he announces moments before the kick that the kicker has trademarked Money Badger as, you know, he's looking to benefit off that

and make money off that. You knew the kick was not going to go through the uprights. I mean, come on. And I think Steve knew that too, and I think that's something that he needs to address with Anthony Lynn. But moving forward, I mean, not to spin this into, you know, a different segment already, but I believe that the Chargers and the Saints have played each other like every election year since, like, the 70s.

And when the Chargers win, the Republican candidate wins the popular vote and when the Saints win, the Democratic candidate wins the popular vote. So a lot was at stake last night that we weren't even thinking about. Yeah, you could say that. Badger, taking one for the team. He cut it a little close. I mean, that was the other thing. And this is, you know, this is why I believe the Chargers are the most pained franchise because the truly cursed teams, there's always that little extra twist on it.

It wasn't that he yanked it and missed it by 25 yards. It was that it looked like it was dead on. It looked like they had won the game there. And then because I guess he didn't catch it just right, it trails off and smacks the upright. And it doesn't fall through over the crossbar like it would for the Patriots in a playoff game. It falls into the end zone for a missed kick. So Michael Badgley, that sucks. Sorry, bro. But Greg, what did you take away from this game from a bigger picture? I know everyone's talking Justin Herbert, who had a record setting Monday night football performance. But what did

you see from the Saints in this game? Well, that, you know, as annoying, as they are to watch offensively, I'm sure if you're a fan of them, that like as slow as Breeze looks, like physically he's slower too. He used to be better like avoiding hits and his arms obviously not the same. And it's this high wire act on offense. It's sort of the triumph of like how much you can win mentally. Like I'm amazed they're as good as they are despite his limitations and their limitations and some of the mistakes they've made on defense. Like they're still in the top 10 in DVOA so far through five weeks. They're finding

ways to hit pockets of games where they score when they need to, which they did in the second half of this game. And I think there's a chance that they could improve. You know, as the season goes along that they're getting, like their buy week

would look so different if they were going into a two and three, but now they're three and two and they feel like they're going to get a little healthier. They get Michael Thomas back, who by the way, like, they didn't even mention until the fourth quarter how he had gotten in a fight, and that's why he's suspended. You would think that would be a little bit bigger of a story. We all knew about it, but it's just like they're burying that.

I'm amazed that they're like surviving despite this high wire act. They almost seem like kind of an old champion that's going to be too tough to knock out. Like they're going to be in the playoffs. They're going to matter, but they're not the same old saints. I mean, I think we can say that. You know, last week against Detroit, they had to work their way out of a 14-0 hole after being up in the middle of the night with corona testing. and the drama and tension around that.

They work themselves out of a 20 and three hole. I think they're lucky to face a Chargers team that since 2019, to your point of this team being cursed in, three and 13 and one score games over the last two seasons. That's outrageous. It's outrageous. It's insane. Right.

I know Anthony Lynn, you know, he addressed that after the game. He said, we've just got to finish these damn games, but this is an Anthony Lynn narrative and a problem to work his way out of. I would say, though, because, I mean, for the. Chargers fans freaking out about that part of things still existing. If you don't come out of this game for the Chargers fans that are still out there with your heart beating over Justin Herbert, then you've lost the whole perspective here. I mean, their future is literally completely different than it was a month ago. It is completely different. And I felt like I was

watching a grand historic Saints team in their final chapter, you know, across the field from a Chargers team that is just beginning a journey with a quarterback that made some throws last night. You know, people can call themselves quarterback gurus or whatever. I don't call myself that clearly, but you can just see when a dude has it, when the arm is so different. And I've had a career of celebrating the Gardner Minchus and all this other stuff. This is a completely different type of quarterback.

And, I mean, it was just one of the more unbelievable rookie performances. It wasn't perfect, but the throws he made and put on. hate, I would be, they want it every week now. Right. And they ask how to like galvanize L.A. football specifically from the Chargers angle. Here's your answer. I think it was, you know, an eye-opening performance for some people that watch maybe the league more casually. But he's been this guy since he took over as the starter.

And again, I think it's the biggest, most pleasant surprise of the 2020 season so far that Herbert was supposed to be this guy that was being kept in bubble wrap while Tarad Taylor went through the first month or so of the season. And then the absurd circumstances around Taylor being injured essentially by his own medical staff, opening the door for Herbert starting on like 20 minutes notice. And then since he's taken out, he's lost all these games. But he's also outplayed or played up to the level of a bunch of Hall of Fame level quarterbacks. Nobody saw this coming, and I thought, I don't know if it was Riddick or Greasy, who made the point after the go-ahead touchdown passed late in the

fourth quarter, that his skill set is that he just has that ability that not all quarterbacks do to sense something, a big play, a foot down field. And there's no hesitation. And when a defense bites on a double move or a safety is drifting where he shouldn't be this guy seems to have that ability to be a mad bomber. And it was such a difference, Connor, seeing his style play against Drew Breeze in this game, Breeze still threw for 325 yards and moved the offense up and down the field when he needed to. But he's such a different quarterback than Herbert.

Yeah, and it's weird. I mean, during the pre-draft process, everybody said that he was going to add this vertical element to the Chargers offense that they certainly didn't have with the declining rivers and didn't really have with Tyrod Taylor. But it just felt immediately like one of those things that people say when they have nothing else to say about a quarterback. You know, oh, he's tall, so vertical. But it really did kind of come to fruition right away.

And I was shocked at how good he looked. And you have to remember that he found out about his first start, like literally seconds before the game and getting no reps during practice that week. So the fact that this guy is already at this level, you just hope that any sort of meddling owner or, you know, search firm doesn't come in and just torpedo the progress that they're making now and realize that they have something special here.

Well, you hope the Chargers don't ruin them. And how banged up they are, too. Right. I mean, that's a thing. His past protection has been so terrible. That's what's impressed me the most. His pocket presence is great. Last night was an abomination.

And this is why sometimes you can separate the quarterback from their surroundings. Because if Herbert did nothing in this game, everyone would say, well, that's not his fault. But a great quarterback can overcome it. You know, even a great rookie quarterback. They had 12 quarterback hits. They had to have about 25 hurries. They could not have played any worse up front to the point where I didn't totally kill Anthony Lynn for his conservative play calling.

But at some point you have to notice, you've run 15 first down runs. You have 16 yards. And they're trying to protect Herbert. And I get that, but you're just much more productive when you're calling aggressive plays. And they waited until the Saints caught up to be more aggressive. And that's why you do worry that somehow the charge. Chargers voodoo or ownership or whatever's ruined the fact that they drafted a Hall of Fame quarterback and Drew Brees, blew that, drafted Philip Rivers, didn't really get as much as they want to out of that.

And you don't want them to do it to Herbert either. Because right now, I don't blame Lynn. He has them playing hard. They're not just missing players. They're missing six pro bowlers. And four other starters. That's ten starters. I mean, that is outrageous.

And it's their best players, too. many of their best players. So I do give them a little bit of a pass, but I also worry with Herbert and especially the rest of this season, like, what are you going to do to protect him? Because he's in a tough spot. I would ask this. I mean, I get that Tyrod, you know, Anthony Lynn is the type of coach that he had it in his mind to start Tyrod Taylor, barring anything from an incredibly historic gaff from a trainer that will be part of the Justin Herbert narrative forever. But did they, no preseason games, but did they get through all of their offseason and all of their training camp practices without an idea that Justin Herbert

was this much better than Tyrod Taylor could ever be? Maybe you don't know until game time. I really think that with a lot of these players. It's like Jordan. I know no reason. That's a factor. I just, I wonder if there was any pushback from anyone in the coaching staff saying, this kid can do it. I mean, maybe they found out when we found out in week one. It seems like such a unique sport in that. I don't think you can tell that. I mean, you can tell from practice. but how much can you really tell? You know, it, I don't know. It's just such a different animal.

It's like the Eagles are playing Jordan Milata, you know, Henry Hodgson's favorite guy who's, you know, this raw guy who literally never played football before. And they just refuse to ever play him because he looks so bad in practice. And they finally were forced to after three or four years. And then he's out there.

And you know what? He's played pretty well the last two weeks. Like you almost, you don't know until you see it. Final thoughts for me on this game, the force feeding of Taysam Hill was baffling to me. I know that's something that Sean Payton feel strongly about,

so I assume it's not going to change, and I know he scored on that option late in the game. But when Drew Brees started playing well, it just seemed strange to me that he kept on putting Hill in the mix, and for most of the game, it was not working. You wonder if that's just going to be,

they're going to keep doing it until he gets back to being what he was to the offense a year ago, or they're going to start de-emphasizing him. Alvin Kamara, the catchdown the sideline. Wow. He's the best all-round player in the league. I don't think, I think it's hard to deny that at this point at full health. And then my last thought was, you know, they scored 30 points of Saints.

They didn't look good for stretches on offense. Drew Brees does look like a lesser version of himself. But Michael Thomas is the best, most productive wide receiver in the league, and he's coming back after the buy. I think the Saints are going to continue to put up points. And maybe they are in the twilight and all this. But I also could see them running off a lot of weeks. between now and New Year's. I would, Dan, like, where are you,

if we're allowed to know this information at this point, like for your pain ranking, not your pain rankings, but your overall power rankings, where do the states, like, sit? They're a confusing team to put in a pecking order right now for me. Yeah, I have to sit down and do that. They entered week five, number 11. So I think they're probably going to hang around the top 10.

Yeah, they're kind of a hard team to figure out, still, but that was a huge win. Those Taysam Hill plays, though, tell me, and they've said it for a while, they don't trust their regular offense, especially not with Michael Thomas, on key third downs. I mean, they're giving the ball to their fullback on third and one and then punting on fourth and one. They've been doing this since week one. I think it's just a sign of, like, when Drew Brees in third and nine, third, and 11, third,

and eight, they're going short of the sticks. Like, they're not confident in picking up those plays. So I know you're living, are you living on Taysam Hill right now? you dying on Taysam Hill, Mark Sessler. Two fumbles this season already, but he did have that play. This is not the Taysam Hill experience that attracted me to him to begin with. I thought he was well used. And, you know, a gadget player is a gadget player.

And that's probably what he is at this point. I'm just not impressed with his usage. I am also not impressed also with the fact that, like, it becomes this sort of play thing on Twitter to destroy the human being. I mean, we get that he's not looking good, but calm down people. I mean, it's just like, if 150 other sports writers have the same quip that you do, you might want to go back to the well and create something a little bit more original. I mean, it's just offensive to me.

There's something else going on with this Taysom Hill stuff. I can't put my finger on it, but the vitriol toward him. Oh, you're right. There seems to be a little something else at play. But, Dan, like you've been against, you've been kind of anti-Tasem Hill hype. I don't know, anti, but like it's not. Anti the idea that he was the future as they're starting. So there's a kernel of it in you, I would imagine.

but you're not going on Twitter and, you know, taking shots at him. Why did that become a thing last night, Connor? I mean, are you, am I being too fiery about this? I think it's Sean Peyton's fault and just this sort of lunacy of the offseason where he was comping him to Steve Young and, you know, put the first round tender on. And, you know, he had all the supposed insiders writing these pieces about how, you know, a team's definitely going to trade a first round pick for him. even though like everyone else was probably sitting around in the NFL and being like, what?

Are you kidding? And so I think he kind of built this all up on his own. I mean, you're treating this guy. They've over promised. Yeah, you've over promised and underdelivered. And they paid him $21 million at quarterback in the same offseason that Dalton and Cam and James didn't get like anything. So I think that's all playing into it. All right.

And yes, the Saints hit their bye week now. Yeah. Michael Thomas punched his teammate, who was it, Gardner Johnson? Yeah, right. And led to his suspension. I thought that was a little bit murky just because high ankle sprain. He's so important to the offense. A bi-week was coming up.

It kind of made sense for him not to play this game anyway. I just, uh. There's a conspiracy theory. Thomas threw the punch at Sean Payton's direct order to send a message. So, you know, there's a conspiracy for Greg. He always plugged into the underground. Saints Twitter for what was so that he could send a message I love it all right good stuff Monday night football recap done Tuesday night football recap done now let's do some conspiracy theories

yes Connor you are a man I mean you once had a podcast with Mark Sessler the heat and light podcast that delved into conspiracies one of the conspiracies is how did that podcast last like three and a half episodes we may never know well it's interesting you brought that up Dan Mark and I have gotten a hold of some interesting proprietary information regarding some things happening beneath the surface in Antarctica, and we might need to find a medium to broadcast that information. So I would just kind of keep an eye out for something in that regard. Yeah, I would clarify that it's information that came to us. I wouldn't say from a listener, but someone who had knowledge of the show. And there's a reason the show was essentially

ended at one point that we can't get into, but it will be returning because the information that we've been given, it's not just, hey, this would be a fun episode and you can just take a little jog around town. This is information that must be shared with the public. All right. File this under, I'll believe it when I hear it. Election altering information. Okay, guys, make sure you get it up before November 3rd then. Just trying to light a little fire under you. It's been years. That would be the best part is like on the 8th, just like, oh, sorry, you guys probably

should have known about this. All right, here we go. Conspiracy theories of the 2020 NFL season. Listeners should understand that we are by no means putting this out there as truth, rather as things that we see, feel, sense could be bubbling beneath us. the surface of reality or whatever people think reality is, quote unquote. All right. Connor, as today's guest in the Chris Wesleyan chair, why don't you get us going?

All right. This is the one that I really just got so fired up about when I heard the first time. And that is, you know, I think I have a long history of inferring that the Manning family are sort of the shadowy power brokers of the NFL, you know, dating back to even before, you know, Archie and, you know, like this has been going on for hundreds of years, but I a listener sent this in and I thought it was absolutely brilliant and it just all sort of clicked for me and that was that Cam Newton was asked to take a dive for Peyton Manning and so he could win his second Super Bowl and tie his brother Eli and in exchange he got the

gig with the Patriots on the back end of his career to replace Tom Brady and win another five Super Bowl. This is a dynasty. He knew that that wasn't sustainable with Dave Gettleman in Carolina. So he took the, he took the dive. And I would guess that the fumble that he didn't go for sort of serves as the Zepruder film of this entire, is this entire thing. Yeah. We know that he took a dive because he would not dive. Yes. When the chips were down. That's right. But yeah, when I heard that, just like, I was like, this is all, this is all clicking. Yeah, it's all making sense now. Manning had was clearly compromised as a player by that final season the Denver defense carried him and yes you're right it would have been a stain on his legacy if he throws three picks and a Super Bowl 50 loss and then goes into the sunset the goal here I assume even though Brady's subsequent success probably still renders this a conversation of Brady one Manning two at the time it was seen as Peyton is the number one guy.

potentially now, because he got that second ring in addition to all the glorious stats. I mean, there was a lot riding on that game. My guess, too, is that Brady's adaptation of a natural food diet saved him from any sort of foul play that the Mannings were going to try to do then to sort of just eliminate him in any sort of way. A little more quickly. And it's sure that Peyton, yeah. So good for Tom.

You know, I used to kind of make fun of him for the whole natural food advice thing. but I think growing your own at this point is essential. So good for him. But, I mean, Connor, the other part of this, mentioning that the Manning dynasty, these power brokers, almost a Rothschild-type scenario, stretches hundreds of years back to well before Archie Manning,

that would be notable if that's accurate. Yeah, no, I think, you know, it's one of those things where I know we don't have time to get into it, but, you know, you look at all these different things that happened in different wars and access powers, and it all lines up, so it all makes sense. Well, it's funny you threw that out because one of mine was connected to that, and it was connected to the Manning family.

So maybe it's like we're hearing the same frequencies. Mine was more connected to the Giants of this year, that they intentionally set up an impossible situation for Joe Judge, Daniel Jones, and everyone else, just to burnish Eli Manning's legacy even more. They didn't do enough giving him that last start last year that pretty much the focus at some point of the entire organization became, let's just get Eli to the Hall of Fame,

let's try to convince the people out there that he was better than average. And what could make people do that, then going O' and 16 this year with a special team's coach who's never been a head coach at any level. Greg, you've got to meditate on this Eli Manning's. stuff. What else explains giving Gettleman, you know, another year? I mean, it's just, you know, stuff to explain.

They are a Tiffany franchise in the league, and I, if I'm a Giants fan, I'm scratching my head how I'm as bad as little brother, the Jets, right now. You know what's great about the Giants, though, is like, no matter how bad you are, you get to like retire with the idea that you're incredible and like they just don't fire anybody they just offer you the chance to become like a nebulous advisor like remember when they just like kind of fired tom coflin but they were like you can still hang out and use the gym and um you know and kevin gilbride they were just so desperate to replace him but they're like no he's retiring and you know he's going to become a super senior offensive coordinator and and yeah everything things going to be fine like it would be a great place to work if you know every time you know i did something horrible like that they were like oh no conner's just he's being promoted that's that's all it is connor's been inside the belly of the beast like the other people might call that classy but you you see something for what it really is when it comes to the the giant series they've been incredibly

classy as they rack up the worst record in the NFL in the last four years just all class in that find a little evil in your bones i uh i'll go next all right So we have two Browns fans on the show today, Connor. Some people don't know that. Connor is, you still a Browns fan? Now that you're with the, speaking of Tiffany Establishment Sports Illustrated, you know, which has always been the magazine of great esteem. Are you not allowed to have a fan?

We're not really allowed to have a reading interest, but I will say that we were walking around with my daughter the other day. And I went through every NFL team and I said, do you want to be a Jets fan, a Giants fan? and she was just saying, no, no, no. And then I said, well, what team do you want to like? And she said, I'm going to be a pumpkins fan. I want to root for the pumpkins. And so pumpkinhead.

And I was like, all right, well, then it just sort of got me fired up. And I said, we're back into this. So let's go. Let's get her a Baker Mayfield jersey and let's let this rip. I'm back in. That's how you got there. All right. So here's my conspiracy theory around the Cleveland Browns.

Baker Mayfield 2019 season comes to an end 6 and 10 Mayfield played poorly the Browns are a punchline once again and Mayfield

he looked around and he looked at what was being written about him he looked at his production he looked at the Brown's track record and he got on the phone with his agent and he said to his agent, say yes, to everything. Any opportunity we have to make bank, the answer is yes. I will not be doing regional banking ads in central Texas like Johnny Football,

which is true. When I was in Texas this summer, Johnny Mansell, that's how he's making a living now for a central Texas regional bank. So I think Baker said to his agent, these are my prime earning years. Right now, I no longer believe them to be for the next 10, 15 years as a quarterback. Yes to everything.

Yes to everything. Yes to everything. And now, with the Browns having a great start to their season at 4 and 1, and Mayfield has been solid, he finds himself in a bit of a pickle. He's being stretched a little thing. He has about 7,000 commercials lined up for the next 10 years, and all of a sudden now he might have a career that goes that long as well. My conspiracy theory was it was never his plan to juggle a advertising career at this level.

He thought it was his new career, and now he needs to figure out how to maintain. Multitask. Come on, with two people, it'll be twice as fast. Can I just say that I hate everything? and he's very funny. Like, he's, the progressive commercials are funny. I think the bit works for me most of the time. And the thing with covering the seats with the rain thing, like, that was, that was funny.

Like, I think he's good at it, you know? It's the repetition. It's the repetition. Forget, Amy, but can we talk about this honeymoon scene? I mean, this is a very Dan-esque line of topic, topic here, in discussion, but Oh, please. If it was another player, Mark,

you would be on fire about the repetition of this progressive advertising. I feel like I already had this conversation a year ago when I completely acknowledged that these were they were annoying to me, but it was the fact that they were on four channels at the same time

when we were covering football. Doesn't it feel like it's ramped up though? But I think these were made before he did his go silent act and all that stuff anyways and I think what do you mean they were made this they were made this off season what they did two years of tapings what well what else is he doing on the ad front I'm not tracking the other ads that he's doing he's got the Hulu but I think to Dan's point ESPN also maybe this is a credit to him

there's a growing thought that he you know you thought like wow he you know for an athlete a good quarterback he's a solid commercial actor but I think there's like a transitioning happening where it's like, wow, for such a good commercial actor, he's a pretty solid quarterback, you know? It's just like a little bit of a change. Don't get upset, Mark. I'm not taking a shot. They are good commercials.

The problem is the repetition of them. I completely, with any commercials in general. My kids don't even understand why commercials exist because they don't really watch normal television that much. They watch everything on demand. So the whole concept of commercials, they need to stay fresh. and these progressive commercials are the opposite.

But it's not my fault that Baker Mayfield has a personality, unlike some quarterbacks in the league that are getting no commercial work. I mean, he has a good sense of humor, and he's growing as a quarterback. I'll take it. I mean, you know, the other side of the coin was, why isn't Brandon Whedon on a commercial and also a terrible quarterback? This world is preferable. All right.

Sounds like everything is totally fine. You're up, Mark. Such a damn thing to do. I'm going to focus on the one and only Jack Easterby. Yes. Okay? I want to point to an article that PFT, then this slipped off my radar,

and I think it was because it was last week it was busy. October 5th, 2020, the headline, a question emerges about Jack Easterby's NFL biography. I'm just going to read their investigation. This is by Mike Florio. In March 2020, An executive with a team other than the Texans pointed out that Easterby's online bio contends that he served as assistant to the director of football operations in Jacksonville in 2004, his first NFL job.

Today, when they took a fresh look at Easterby's bio, something had changed. The claim that he served as an assistant to the director of football operations had been removed. In its place, the online bio said that Easterby simply gained his first NFL experience in the summer of 2000. with the Jacksonville Jaguars helping in football operations and public relations. They reached out to the Texans and said, why was this change made and when was it made? They said it was a meaningless oversight in a bio from an entry-level position in Jacksonville 16 years ago that had no bearing on our decision to hire him in his role that is bloomed.

They said that the change had been made in 2019. But PFT initially noticed this in March 2020. So something is going on here. And I want to use that as a root that Easterby in general to me, okay? When he was with the Patriots, they were, in quotes, livid when character coach Jack Easterby joined the Texans. They were fired up that he left. There is an article from a 2018 Patriots.com article that says, you don't know Jack, colon, the most influential patriot you've never heard of. And it goes on and on listing all these people that call Jack their favorite player, their favorite employee on the Patriots.

that he is someone that they've all gravitated to. He goes to the Texans, and I believe this man is someone who I would put at like a Don Draper Dick Whitman type level. This is somebody with a completely hidden different past who has no football experience at all and is suddenly the general manager of the Houston Texans. I think in his world he is someone that sees himself as a big circle person that must influence. he has been tagged as a master influencer who cozied up to Bill Belichick despite having completely different personalities. He is a pastor. He is a culture coach. He is a general manager. He creates these

roles in thin air. He now sees himself as something of an Al Davis. He's a general manager. A coaching role will come next. I am telling you that this is something the NFL needs to look into. This guy has a hidden past. I want to get to the bottom of it. And I appreciate PFT doing some of the legwork there. think it's like a like with don draper dick whitman what happened with draper and whitman like if people knew the secret it could ruin his career do you think that's there's something truly um career altering hidden away here i think there is a there is a hidden past and it's hidden for a reason um it's not world war two based or world war one or some sort of split identity i like

we already have we already have evidence that he has altered his resume on the Texans team bio. That's just a little seed. It's like where the investigation begins. Why? Why are we doing these things? Who was this person? Where did he grow up?

How is he suddenly an NFL general manager weeks ahead of the trade deadline? I would be concerned. I can't think of a general manager with a more nefarious hidden backstory who rose to power as quickly from a non-football role as Jack Easterby has. If it were happening to my team,

I would be very upset. He's going to run the coaching search. He's basically the headman in charge. There's a line that Draper says to Peggy when she's without giving way plot points laid up in a hospital bed after a health situation. And it's her own secret shame. And Draper knows the secret.

and he says to Peggy, just move forward. Move forward. Don't think about it. If you don't think about it and never look back, you won't believe how easy it is to make it feel like it never happened. I think that's probably where Easterby is, and now it's just on, is there, you know, a Peter Campbell type, someone lurking? Maybe it's Mark Sessler.

Maybe you are the man to uncover Easterby and expose him. do you guys ever get freaked out after these episodes like that someone's just going to kick in your door you know like holy smokes i'm feeling it right now well give us another one give us another one got it oh all right um this is a good one um we are in danger um you know living in the new jersey new york metropolitan area i think a lot of the phone calls to the fan uh this week and last week and the week before that have been you know why is adam gay still around um all these other coaches have been let go. This doesn't make any sense. And I think that the real reason that Adam Gaze is still embedded with the New York Jets is not because of his coaching acumen, but because of his deep knowledge of British politics.

And he is secretly feeding Woody Johnson, you know, intel information in his role as the ambassador to the United Kingdom. You know, maybe few people know this, but at Michigan State, Adam Gase was just deep into, like, just the minutia of localized British politics, you know, how all this stuff goes, Whigs, Tories, Parliament, forget about it. I mean, this guy was all over the place, and, you know, that was really something that he had to put down his passion for in order to pursue the more lucrative coaching field, but the Jets was sort of a marriage of those two things. And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if they bring him back should Woody Johnson's ambassadorship continue in the U.K. Interesting. Plus, you get the number one overall pick if you keep gays. I mean, you could add that to the conspiracy that they're not really trying to win.

I mean, there's really, that's like a nice little bonus here. You get the British intel, but oh, we might get a, you know, a franchise changing pick if they continue on this path. There really is no other. explanation for like how asleep at the wheel this team is i don't have to tell you that dan like and i it's it's frustrating because while i have an ability to watch other games like you want the one game on the main tv if you don't have you know direct tv sunday ticket and you know the jets are always on and it's just it's yawn inducing and i don't have any fantasy players on this team and it's

just like uh it's just like a wait on my sunday like it's it's just sad television you know if you want to get there's one like um secret fantasy star that no one knows about this year it's jameson crowder who goes seven for one 12 and a touchdown every week the jet scores seven to 10 points every week so it gets lost in the mix uh but there's your one fantasy stand out yeah there's got to be something gregg i buy into that um what's the point basically you don't want to have a good record um i i but also the idea of the uk um i i i but also the idea of the u k m ambassadorship playing role, I wouldn't say no. I mean, here's the other thing is, like,

are we 100% certain that he's not speaking of the Mannings and let's bring him back in here that they aren't already advising Trevor Lawrence on how to avoid this team like Peyton did a couple years ago. I mean, Peyton and Gays are like best friends, though, so that would be on the surface they are. I wonder if Peyton Manning's like, ooh, I feel like you can connect yours here somehow.

Peyton Manning's long-standing belief. Get out the red string. Aggressive belief in Adam Gase, telling owner after owner that they need to hire Gase. I mean, this is on the record, calling them up, calling up Stephen Ross, the Dolphins owner, calling up Woody Johnson. Does that, if, that should affect Peyton Manning's chances

of getting a football executive job, by the way. That should count as if he was running the team himself. It's bad. Here's the red string. Cam Newton takes the dive, Super Bowl 50, allowing Peyton to go out on top. As a reward, Cam gets to have a great end of career with the Patriots and get his career back on track. But the Patriots, they say, we need something else here. Peyton call up the Jets.

Belchick hates the Jets. Tell them to hire Gates. And then they get two for one. It's like, all right, if we're going to go through the mess of kicking Tom Brady out of town here to help you out with this Cam Newton situation so you can get your Super Bowl 50 love, you're going to have to sweeten the pot for us. Why don't you give the Jett's hell for another few years? Holy spokes. Get the red string out.

I mean, I would say that we're probably just a couple steps removed from connecting Easterby to the Mannings, who was with the Chiefs, went to New England as part of this whole rigamarral, and is now destroying the Texans. So, I mean, there's a string of mysterious individuals linked together here. Back Easterby is the fourth Manning brother. It was so obvious in how we didn't see that. I thought you were saying we were only a step away from losing our jobs at the NFL. At a time in the world where conspiracy theories are doing some damage in real world situations. It's funny that I have another one that's connected to Belichick and an ongoing pandemic health crisis

that I'm actually not going to share for that exact reason. Anybody else have one? I have a quick one that is Patriots-related, and it's very quick, and I just, I think this will be proven true in the next couple of weeks. That A.J. Green in Cincinnati has been told before the season, look, your job is to spend the first month plus of this NFL campaign looking like a gigantic mess. You got a big salary. The Bengals are looking to move on, and they're a completely new team. You look like you don't fit. That's your job.

We will direct deposit $40,000 a week into your account on top of your Bengals salary. And then at trade deadline, for a song, we the New England Patriots will acquire you. You will suddenly look like the all-pro healthy wide receiver that you are. And you will join Cam Newton in New England for what will be a celebratory AFC title win, followed by a Super Bowl victory. Interesting. I felt like I don't think I was the first person to point it out, but I sent it. out a video of A.J. Green, after Joe Burrow airmailed a pass late in the first quarter against the Ravens that was intercepted by Marcus Peter, it went over Green's head, and then he

just kind of scampered away in the opposite direction. And that has like over half a million views, the video I sent. I felt like I was snitching on A.J. Green a little bit. Well, so that video was like, that video was all over the place Sunday, and that's sort of where this, where my thought of this came up, because he looked like he simply was completely unplugged from the motherboard. Was that his last snap of the game, though? He did leave the game with an injury immediately afterwards. An injury.

I'm just saying, was that the play, you know, was that the play he got hurt out? Oh, please. Wait, are you saying, is that a conspiracy, Greg? No, I'm just saying if we checked the game log, if that was his last snap of the game, you know, I'd give him a little bit of a break there. He's jogging off the field. I mean, Greg is also part of this entire Manning family chain scenario. We understand.

that too. Let's be fair to. Your pro player leanings can only go so far. I mean, that man is not trying. I'm saying it's a fact that he left the game in the first half and didn't play another snap. It's not a fact that he actually is injured, though. Sure. I don't know, man. I think he's on everybody's radar since week one. It's been a strange, strange season, and now that feels like a smoking done with Green, but we'll see. Anybody else have a conspiracy theory? to share. See, I got it just a quick one for Mark, and I think that's something that maybe he believes as well, and that's just that Kevin Stefansky isn't a real person.

He's, and this isn't like playing off of the insidery reports that, you know, he's sort of the avatar for management. He's just a robot. I mean, I don't think anybody had heard of Kevin Stefanski before this season. I think he was built in a laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. And he's come to be just sort of, I think he's operated on the sidelines, maybe by Bill Callahan, and it just is programmed to make all the correct decisions, which is why we're just rolling, baby.

And so that would make the week one loss to Baltimore. You do that on purpose so that it's not obvious that it's happening, and then you just roll for the rest of the season. There's some legs to that because normally after what happened in week one, like coaches of old would have already been fighting with Cleveland, media, which is a, you know, it can be a rather cantankerous crew on its own. And Stefansky just super

even keeled during it. I think that they want to be an analytically driven, so probably when they created this robot, he was doused with analytical, football analytical knowledge. I think they made it maybe a little bit too good looking for a head coach. You got to tone down his sort of tidy, clean

hot 40-year-old guy thing, if you want this to be believable. Because, right, I think there's cracks in the surface. No doubt. I didn't. I didn't want to share this because it was striking to me. The last league event before the pandemic was the scouting combine. And I saw him plugged in. There was a plug coming out of his back when he was at the podium.

And was it strange to me? Were they ringing of alarm bells? Of course. But I didn't know if there was a medical situation or, you know, if he had some type of thing going on. So I didn't bring it up on the podcast. I didn't even say it to you guys because it felt almost like it was violating his privacy because I was behind him when I saw the wire.

But now you've got to connect out here, get the red string out. Yeah, I think you do. And Dan, I would say if you see another human being plugged in next time I would break that news, I would come forward with that. Yeah, I sat on it and maybe I shouldn't have. All right, productive show today. productive show Connor you've said it all you've done it all and you're going to do a lot more because you're only 32 how about that that's the biggest surprise of the 2020 season

allegedly or just 32 years old how's that feel uh it's not bad you know uh I rebounded um I had like a I had like a 48 year old bod for a little while like I was just kind of your bod's been looking tighter on the gram I've noticed that I've been running a little bit you know And so I think I've come to accept that, like, when I was 28, I felt like I was 45, but now I'm trying to feel more like I'm 32. So that's the goal. Good stuff, buddy. And glad to see that you are well and I hope the family is as well. A growing family you have.

Yeah, thanks. Yeah, we've got another one coming. And, you know, thanks for letting me sit in. Wes, if you're listening, love you, buddy. and we'll talk to you soon. Awesome. Did I know another one was coming? Look at you.

I don't know. How about that has news to me as well? I'm in his future room right now. He's, you know, so. Oh, that is exciting. Yeah. All right. Excellent news there.

The Around the NFL podcast family getting bigger. Connor, thank you for joining us. We'll be back on Thursday. Yes, so no Thursday night football mini pod, but we will have a full week six preview for you to enjoy with a special guest sitting in the West chair for an entire episode on Thursday as well. So a lot to look forward to here. Thank you once again, Connor. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman in absentia.

Ricky Hollywood behind the virtual glass. Or are you kidding me? Until Thursday. Thank you. This is an I-heart podcast.