NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: New coach awards, Pro Bowl Draft recap

Episode Date: January 23, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler -- dole out superlative awards for this year's class of off-season coaching hires, connect up with Kevin Patra in Hawaii, who recaps the first-ever Pro Bowl Draft and review the preseason meeting between Super Bowl XLVIII contestants, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.  Join the conversation on Twitter: @NFL_ATL or #NFLATL.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the League podcast starts now. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Henses and I am joined by a room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys. How are you? Impressive intro there. I know you were in at the office at 5 a.m.

You are doing a fantastic live blog of the inaugural Pro Bowl draft, but you've got a lot of energy anyways. Yes. Well, you know what? I don't want to get into exactly how I'm so hyped up, but I am very excited. I can't say the same thing for Sessler. We don't have Wes with us.

He'll be back. I worry that we might be losing Sessler, too, to illness potentially. Does not look good right now. I will survive the show. We're going to disinfect your microphone. That makes sense. That would make sense. If we care about our fellow employees.

The gold standard behind the glass. you have disinfectant that you could take care of this issue? I was raised by a Jewish mother, so we always have Lysol on law. This guy's prepared always. The gold standard. Only Jews use Lysol. Fun fact. Yes or no?

100%. 100%. Okay. So a lot of feedback, by the way. How are you, Greg? Have you said anything yet? I don't know if you did. Yeah, I was the first person to talk after you.

Oh, yeah. That's great. Well, I told it it was up very early today. A lot of feedback over the proposed debolishment of the, penny that came up out of our what was the original discussion it was about the extra point apparently canada abolished their penny yeah they're ahead of us can it's common sense healthcare tennis coin legislation Canada they well starting to be a factor they're a factor the attic is getting factor level however they do have Justin Bieber as well I feel like we have

him. We do. He's completely washed his hands of Canada, and we're stuck with him, correct? That's true. And then one other thing about the extra points, Thomas L. Sandberg or Sanjurg from Denmark, I'll never get any of these last names right. On Twitter, pointed out that if we abolished the extra point, a pick six would become a pick seven. And immediately, I'm out, personally, once we lose pick six. One of my favorite new terms of the century. There's no ring to that. I hadn't thought of that That's a great point It's a problem

The more we look back on the extra point issue The initial post that I wrote in like 20 minutes Was missing a lot of key Factors and Elements It was pretty bare of essentials I mean I stand by my stance That it's the equivalent of the penny It needs to be getting rid of

Pick 6 I guess it's just some collateral damage along the way Sometimes when you make important new legislation People get hurt damn Apparently that's heavy collateral damage at losing pick six great term much better than interception return for a touchdown it was such a big game whatever um all right so big show today this is our last show in culver city california before we head to new york for super bowl 48 the week leading up to super bowl 48 just a program reminder we will be doing three shows from new york slash new jersey on tuesday

Thursday, and then, Greg, Sunday night and or Monday morning? We'll get the podcast up for Monday morning as usual. It might be a little later. It will be a little later than normal, but we'll get it. We'll get it there. Looking forward to that. As far as today's show, we're going to talk about coaches. We're going to do kind of like a coaching overview now that the Brown's job seems

like it might be in hand. By the time you listen to it, it might already be settled. We'll talk, do some pro ball talk. We'll talk a little bit about that draft yesterday and we'll get Kevin Patrick on the phone. and I also want to check in with Patrick to see if he's found a friend yet on the roster. But before we do that, let's hit the headlines. All right, we'll start with the Browns

who are attempting to hire Buffalo Bills' defensive coordinator Mike Petten as their next head coach. Apparently the offer is going out. Petten is supposedly interested in the job and it looks like Mark, after 25 days, you found your man. Well, you know, and we talked about this on the last show a little bit. I'm happy with this decision, and I kind of feel like Cleveland stumbled into it.

I'm not sure they – there's a sense that there was, you know, 20 guys they wanted maybe more than Petten. But Petten, by all accounts, is loved around the league. His players like him a lot. He's more of a players coach than some of the guys they've had before, like Pat Schumer. And I don't know. You know, you look at the whole list of guys who were hired this offseason, and I take Petten over a big chunk of them, to be honest. We're going to get into that list, give out some awards in a little bit.

And we're rolling the dice of it here. When we're taping this podcast, it's not official that Petten is the choice. But it sure looks like by the time most people listen to the podcast, it will be official. There should be an agreement. So I just wanted to get that out of the way that that's out there. But let's assume it is, Petten, the one thing that I'm interested in, who's the coordinator? Who's the offensive coordinator?

And to get hired, he must have had a plan that they could buy because he has no background in offense. See, I disagree that he had a plan necessarily. I think he has a lot of contacts and he has ideas. But one issue, and this is why I think Cleveland is not an attractive landing spot to a lot of these other coaches that got hired, is that I'm not sure he has the say over who his coordinator is. What? That's been out there all week. coach well but he they are crafting part of the staff around him and that some of the people

they've brought into hire are for potential coordinator roles not petting's guys there are some good names out there to be a potential coordinator uh dirk cutter you're thinking might move laterally i who would these names you can make him an assistant coach an assistant head coach and yeah i'm not saying dirk cutter necessarily but that's that the that he's the coach is being foisted on him by banner and labardi that's that's sounds like a great setup exactly Exactly. And it's actually, it's a big issue. And, you know, one thing that Chud faced all last season was decisions pressed on him. He had very little autonomy.

That's fair. That's a problem. And that's one of the reasons they've been a butt of the jokes the last couple weeks. You are a factory of sadness. So many jokes. So many bad jokes. Terrible jokes. But in the end, I think Petten looks on paper just as good as all these other coaches.

And more importantly, he is a great defensive mind. inheriting a great defensive roster. Great. I think so. I think it's a top 10 roster just in terms of talent. So they could be a very good defensive unit. And then if you can get the right offensive coordinator, you're starting off if you watch the Pro Bowl draft.

A lot of Browns going off the board early. Joe Thomas, a franchise left tackle. Josh Gordon, the league leader in yards. Jordan Cameron, he's a Pro Bowl tight end. Joe Hayden. I mean, even on offense, which struggled so badly, it's not like they're the Jaguars

or a lot of other teams that don't have offensive town. Also, by the way, two number one picks, 10 overall picks and more cap space than, you know, four or five teams combined in some cases. Well, let's, we should, we should email Lombardi. We got his email address, maybe. I'm sure he'll reply. We can join this winning staff.

Two things. Let's say worst case scenario, the hire falls through. Moratorium on Twitter, people making the Twitter, making the tweet I have withdrawn from consideration as the next Browns coach 700 sports writers do it every 20 minutes you know you don't have to get involved It's a little stale at this point And then the other thing was yes we're talking about Petten

like he's going to be hired Had an ex-girlfriend that used to say to me She said this unironically If you're not living on the edge You're taking up too much space So that's why we're talking like it's a good deal Where is she today? She's you know she's out there

I don't really need to get into the specifics of my past relationships. I'd like to know. Seems like a fair criticism of you, though. Not really living on the edge. Well, then I guess I'm taking up too much space. Moving on, Brandon Jacobs, the longtime Giants running back. And for a short, brief period of time, the San Francisco 49ers running back in 2012,

was on WFAN in New York this morning. And he had this to say about Jim Harbaugh. He is a b***. And that's why he hasn't won any. anything. Mark Sessler, I ask you. Fair criticism? Well, look, hold on. Number one, Dan and I grew up listening to WFAN. All day, all night long. Love WFN with all my heart. Like Francesa, Joe Beningo, the schmoozer. Oh, yeah. The mad dog. The only mistake here was that anyone cares what Brandon Jacobs says about anything. You're talking about a coach that took

team to the conference title game three times in a row he's a bitch i don't think so we don't really have to defend jim harbaugh i think really the only reason i brought it up is because it was kind of funny sour grapes 49ers-wise than jacobes well he he signed there after the giants won the second super bowl and then harbaugh he got he hurt his knee i remember in the preseason and then harbaugh he came back and harbos like now we're cool he got five carries for seven yards and a suspension near the end of the year and then they released them in a way that he couldn't sign with any other before he came back to the Giants about a year later. I think Wes, if he were sitting here right now, would be irritated

because this is the season where we get athletes who have done nothing on the field chirping off for the next five months about stuff. And it's absurd. Go back to bed, Brandon Jacobs. Get some more cold medicine, Mark Sessler. He's fired up. I like it. It's an irritating storyline because, like, there is not a guy that works harder than Jim Harbaugh.

Ridiculous Good job Mark All right This next item is not even really news It's what do you hold in your hands up for I don't know I find it annoying that Brandon Jacobs Fives finds us way into the news cycle

Just go away Tesla's like the nicest guy you ever want to meet But if you bring up Jacobs' name I know He just turns into it Well we spent all last off season You know talking about him I don't know

Does this case close Does this go back to you losing that drag race on the Garden State Parkway to Jacobs last summer? Maybe. All right, nice. All right, moving on. Jacobs was very rude to a friend of mine at the Super Bowl in 2008. Very nice young woman who asked a perfectly legitimate question and he treated her very rudely.

So you might be on to something, Mark. We've got to get them in the studio, assessor. This next item isn't really a news item, but it is something that a lot of people are bringing up. I might as well throw it out there. Peyton Manning is the only Super Bowl participant in next Sunday's game that has a ring. That's really weird. Has that ever happened before? I don't even know.

How would anyone know such things? Super Bowl one. This is, that this is the Super Bowl with the fewest amount of players that have been in the Super Bowl since 1982. Four players have played in the Super Bowl. Super Bowl in this game. Peyton Manning, of course, has won one. He lost one as well. Dominique Rogers Cromardi lost one.

Wes Welker has lost two, and Jacob Tammy lost one. So they're all on the Broncos side. No Seahawks have been to the Super Bowl. They are the first team since the 1990 bills to have no one on their roster. So yes, Dan, this is very very rare. I think it says to me

what a great job that John Snyder and Carol have done because they came in and they took a pretty vanilla Seahawks team that hadn't been to the Super Bowl not that long ago, dismantled it, blew it up, got all the old guys out, and brought in a lot of not just young players, but kind of outliers, guys that other teams didn't value the same way they did, didn't see the same way they did.

Their team is one of the more unique of all the 32. And that's a major part of their battle cry. You'll hear Richard Sherman's already said it on multiple occasions, and he'll say it all week, as will, I'm sure, several, if not all the Seahawks when they meet with the media. how they believe to be overlooked their whole careers, and now they get a chance to. It's pretty good motivation as far as that goes,

if you believe in that kind of thing. It also points out when everyone's criticizing Peyton Manning for only having one Super Bowl ring. I mean, he's the only one out of 100 people in this game that even has it, and he's obviously the most important guy in the whole mix. It's hard work. This is one of those storylines that I like

because it just means the Super Bowl is fresh. These teams are fresh They're the two best teams in the league They're playing outdoors Everything's new That's a good thing And just another reason why no one should have been rooting For Patriots, Niners

Except for their fans That's fair Because that would have been a much more tame Super Bowl week And everyone been there Done that vibe This is totally different And get ready Mark

Because you're going to be there In New York 100% healthy I will be there Mark is going to be our embedded Seahawks correspondent Well, you talk about, I actually find the Seahawks just personally more interesting, so I was very happy when you gave me that task. I think there's a lot going on with that team.

You know, I agree with Dan to go back into the whole 49ers thing. We did that. Well, plus you hate Jacob Tammy. So you couldn't pick him out of a lineup. Anybody with Jacob anywhere in the name. Couldn't pick him out of a lineup, totally false accusations, as always, from these two. It would be really painful for Welker if he had another. rough moment or another rough loss, don't you think?

I know that'll be talked about probably during the week, but... Oh, maybe you should have caught the ball in the last Super Bowl. Yeah, no. So, I can't feel too bad. So it would be, that would be interesting. You're talking to game ending type drop or something, right? Yeah, just something like that. I mean, he's now been there.

He switched teams. That worked out well, and now he makes it back, and if it doesn't work out again, he's had a pretty blessed football life since the age of the past 26. He's earned it with grit. Mark Sanchez, this is news from yesterday, actually, would start if the Jets cut him, Ah, Coach says, and here's the quote from Ah, Coach. We'd take Sanchez, he'd be the starter as soon as he walked in the door for us. So I ask you, gentlemen, who is the wretched sorry team that would start Sanchez immediately upon signing him?

Who could it be? I have two quick ideas. My first thought immediately went to Oakland. Fair. What I think is that it might be a coach with a new team who hasn't been around with the old players there. Are we assuming this is a head coach? No, I think it's an assistant coach.

That's what I would guess. I think it might be the Vikings. They're starting over a court. Over Matt Castle and some rookie. That whole clown car of signal callers. I feel like maybe is someone from nearby. Kapella University, which is near Mobile, Alabama, according to Google, just in the last 30 seconds. Mark Sanchez could start for that team.

Some college coaches there just hanging out and they ask them. Oh, you surmise it's not even a pro coach. It's not a pro coach. It's just a guy who wandered over to the senior bowl to watch some great players in action. And he's like, oh, Sanchez could start for me. Because what pro coach is possibly saying that? I don't believe it. I don't believe it.

it is it is i think that's why the story probably did well on our site is that it is an alarming comment from anyone who's employed as a teacher in the NFL well we cited our friends up in canada earlier in the podcast what about because it's the only Canadian team i could think of right now rob ford's team the Toronto Argonauts sign mark sanchus he leads them all the way to the gray cup and once you take the gray cup it's all in play no looking back look at Doug flutty oh it's all you're the world is yours at that point. Warren Moon.

Hello. Was that the CFL? I think you nailed that. He won in multiple titles in the Canadian. Sanchez becomes the Sanchez again in Canada, back to America. I'm not even kidding that I don't believe.

I don't believe someone said this. You think it's made up. You believe it was a made-up. Give me the scenario that that could be possibly true. Well, that's one thing. I think it's a coach that isn't familiar with the team he's with. He's new.

It would have to be a coach that that's looking to draft a quarterback or a team that's looking to draft the quarterback. And whoever this, Jabroni is, said, I wouldn't start a rookie immediately, so I need a guy to come in and keep that guy's seat warm. So the Texans... Or what if it's a former offensive coach of the Jets

who feels burned by the whole way that went down? Or it's Sanchez's agent pretending to be a coach. See, that makes sense. Dan knows Sanchez's agent. I do. We have a good relationship. I want to say good. What else? Oh, that's it for the news, guys.

Wow. That's it for the news. Out of the woods. Capella University. It's in Mobile, according to Google. That's the coach. It exists. There you go.

Interesting idea. It's been cracked. The nut has been cracked. All right. So we talked a little bit about the Browns and Mike Petton, most likely being the new coach. So downstairs, we're kicking around ideas for the podcast. And we decided, you know, now that the Browns seems like it's settled and we have the six other openings are now filled. There were seven positions.

starting with the Texans making their firing and then all the way through Black Monday and the days afterward. So now let's go through all the hires and a good way to we thought to kind of frame this is give out some awards. So why don't we start out because I really only want to do this

to talk negative about some people but let's stay positive to get going. Dan really was throwing out five different categories of awards that were all negative. I was like, what are we just going to trash every single guy? He's like, worst coach.

Who's going to have the shortest tenure? Big as bozo. Whose home will be torched by week seven. That's good podcasting. That's exactly good podcasting. See, listening to WFAN, and that's how this stuff happens. Why do we start with the smartest hire slash best hire?

Open up the floor. A lot of pointing back and forth between Greg and Mark. All right. Once again, we're missing West. Smartest higher. Yes. Mike Zimmer. Tell me why, Mark.

I think that Mike Zimmer is... Mike Zimmer hired by the Minnesota Vikings. Yeah, I think he's ultra-prepared for it. He was hired quickly enough, you know, where he's able... He's built a really good staff. He has Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator. That's not his skill. So Turner, I think, would be a great addition there.

I think this is a guy that players want to play for. Other coaches definitely want to come, be a part of his staff. He is well-respected. The guy is fired up. He's got a chip on his shoulder because he's been overlooked for decades. Zimmer's my choice I like Zimmer I like Petten

I thought I felt I felt I feel a little baked in if I picked Petten so I went You get a guy that's hungry And ready to go and rising I'm going to pick two guys I like Petton and Lovie Unless Lovie qualifies in some other categories

I know Lovie doesn't get everyone excited But he has a track record of success And I always want a head coach To bring something to the table If you bring something to the table then you have an edge over most head coaches. And he brings a defensive system and a huge rolodex of contacts

and a good staff with him to the table. So I don't know if he can fix the offense, but I think he can make them better. Good job, guys. Let's move on to another one. The coach least likely, these are almost like senior superlatives

in high school in the yearbook. With no women. With no women involved. Lease likely to fire up the fan base. The higher least likely to fire up. It doesn't mean it's the worst hire, but Jim Caldwell. He's not going to get the Lions fans excited. I think that's a fair answer because he was a very down-tempo kind of milk-toast personality in Indy,

replacing a coach who was that way to some degree in terms of not a controversial guy in Dungy, but Dungy won. You know, Caldwell came in and did the Seaford thing, got to the Super Bowl, lost that, then the floor fell out. And I don't think he left with the grip. But I'll tell you what, this guy seems fired up to win. So maybe he's just going to- called well. I've never seen him fired up in the life. I think he seems, he don't think he felt

driven. I think he was sleeping on a like a pullout catch by the end of his Colts tenure. I think he wants to turn this image around and wants to show, I think he is prepared to do well. He was a little fired up at the introductory presser. He was quoting Chinese proverbs and the Bible and a lot of Vim and Vigure. Right, time out. He was, he was articulate and well spoken, but I wouldn't say he was on fire. I still don't think he blinked. He was fired up compared to the normal. Well, you know why it's a good answer, though, because when the. lion's job came open. Everyone just assumed, without even looking, this is the best job out there.

So by nature, you're going to get the most exciting best coach. And so where you ended up is disappointing for a lot of those fans. And I know Dan doesn't want us giving a million answers to everyone, but I'm going to do it anyways. Anyone that watched Jay Gruden's interviews after he was hired cannot be excited. I mean, his interviews with our network, with ESPN, with just the press conference. I don't know He was not ready He was not ready for the interviews

Doesn't mean he's going to be a bad coach But he seemed like his eyes were bugging out He couldn't speak He couldn't look at the camera He didn't seem ready for that moment Hiring a friend is what that was too Greg are you done torpedoing our segment Oh let's do it

Let's get to the next one Okay The next category is the Shiano Which is an award that goes to The coaching tenure most likely To flame out In excess Put it that one.

I'm going to go and I'll keep it short because Greg just said a lot of things I feel Gruden because I think A that's a team that's willing to They have as many

head coaching hires since 99 as the Browns at 7 and if that doesn't work quickly with RG3 with that window that you have a quarterback he will be gone

Hmm and Greg so that's is that your pick you think for Fianna Based on the track record The average Redskins coach stays there about two and a half years

that would be a good pick based on the Brown's recent track record, Petten has to win right away. It's a wild card. The thing I'd worry about is that the whole, if Petten doesn't work out in a year or two, I don't think Banner and Lombardi get a third swing at the bat. Oh, they definitely do not.

It just gets flushed out. I'll throw one out there. Bill O'Brien, I know he was the first guy off the board, and he was a very popular pick. A lot of people thought it was a great move. One thing that scares me, and this isn't even really on him, It's on the ownership, Bob McNair, they seem to be under the impression that all they need to do is change this coach, draft a quarterback, and they'll be 12 and 4 next year. Totally agree.

I think this roster is not necessarily, although it has some great pieces, is not primed automatically for a bounceback season. I think expectations are through the roof, and I don't know if O'Brien is the elixir or some rookie quarterback to do that. And then you need the owner's been famously patient. Sure. but who knows how he's going to be reacting this time. He wants to win now, and he said that. We're going to win right now. That's not an easy way to start your first head coaching job.

All right. How about the biggest surprise hiring? Well, listen, I mean, with Petton, I think that guy came out a complete left field. So that's a surprise because when Cleveland started their search, it was we're going to go get, we're going to pull Sabin out of the college ranks because that's why we did this. I hope he gets hired, by the way. Well, so do I. But let's, you know, this entire podcast.

It's a little segment in time. We'll be torpedoed. This would be like the Super Bowl shirts for the losing team that are worth a lot of money after the fact. Or it doesn't go live. One of the two. Yeah, petting, I go petting. I was most surprised that Jim Caldwell got a job,

especially that good a job. I totally agree. But can you really put a former, well, you know, sometimes a former head coach is even more surprising. So, yeah. Coming off the season, the Ravens had. Yeah. You know?

Yeah, but you can't discount what he did for them last year, though. It still was a surprise. They would have been to the Super Bowl if it weren't for him. So it's a two sides of a coin, but you're right. It's a good one. I'm also surprised just taking the long view that Ken Wisenhunt was the bell of the ball of this coaching crop. I would not have guessed that in early November or last off season, that when we got around to this time, that Wizz and Hunt was going to be wanted by everyone.

This reminds me of last year's draft quarterback class where WIS is essentially Gino Smith, and we're just going down from there. There's no real sexy hire here. and Wisenhunt is a good example. Well, go and do a coordinator job for one year, and suddenly everyone forgets, everyone's like, oh, this guy knows how to teach quarterback, and he does, yes,

but then when you put him on a team with no quarterbacks, like the one he just inherited, we have not seen him do that. He completely crumbled in Arizona. Plus, he was once kicked off a Virgin Atlantic flight. Was he? No. I made that up.

That was Gino Smith. A virgin apologize to Gino today, by the way. As they should. So now I feel good again about my franchise's future. What was the apology about? They said they shouldn't have done that. I will read the apology real quick since we're here. Wow.

Why not? After a full review of the incident, we believe it was the result of a misunderstanding that regrettably escalated unnecessarily. We've apologized to Mr. Smith for his experience, which could have been better, and we'd welcome him back on board any time. There's an M-Dash in there, by the way. As an airline that prides itself on our guest service, we take incidents such as this one very seriously.

Gino released a statement through the Jets. I really appreciate that Virgin America took this seriously, looked into this matter, and followed up with me. I look forward to flying their airline again soon. What a nice story. That just shows how concerned Gino was with that story that he got all that to happen. You got the franchise back to it. They have good Wi-Fi.

I like the Virgin Atlanta. The Virgin is excellent. It is a nightclub of the skies. It's like a nightclub, exactly. clean. I could see strange things happening on those airplanes. This whole segment really was not planned. Dan just happened to have that in his email. It's true. I'm serious.

When you go on Virgin, you know you're going to have Wi-Fi. Yeah. You're going to have some nice lighting in there. The stewardess, well, they don't call them. The attendants, they don't mail it in like other airlines. You get assigned seats. Gold standard's nodding his head back there. Yeah, no, I thought they really don't mail it in.

I have to say that Southwest is an extraordinary job of sort of being Virgin light, I think. They don't assign seats. No, that is tedious. It's a free for all. Young. What a nightmare. Stampede. A young, attractive clientele, I would say.

Yeah. Clientardge. Meet some. On balance. Yum. Yeah. The Southwest Line thing makes me very irritated. Oh.

I feel like cattle. Yeah. All right. Moving on. Most likely to succeed. Not really that different than smartest hire, is it? It's a bit redundant. This is what you would call heat.

Yeah. I mean, we don't need to, let's see. I'm going to give it out. Chip Kelly might have been the smartest hire last year. He wasn't the most likely to succeed necessarily. Sessler. I'm going to disagree with Dan, and I'm going to give it to Bill O'Brien, because I like the organization.

I think you look at the top in the owner, and you look at a GM that's put some good pieces in places over the years, and that gives the coach the best chance long term. And some patience. He's been patient, so I like Bill O'Brien. This one is easy for me. I'm going to go Lovey Smith because, A, this guy's battle tested. knows how to run a program, and he inherited, frankly, Shiano is out of there because he didn't do, not unlike Cleveland's last coach, he didn't do enough with the talent in place. And there's a lot

going on with Tampa's defense, his forte, and then also on top of it, they brought in Tedford to run that offense. I don't think you've got, you maybe have a quarterback there. There's some issues. I agree with Sessler. I'm sneaky in on Mike Lennon, and I think Derell Revis is going to be Revis again next year, and he has a coach that knows how to use him. And I think that will make a huge different on that defense. So I'm going to republish that Buccaneers' playoff post. Give me the by line. You know, lamb-based by readers and podcast co-host.

Counterpoint coming. This is a move I used back in Model Congress. Oh, yeah. Lovie's in the NFC South. Three great quarterbacks in that division, great division. My guy O'Brien in the AFC South stinks. The Colts are uneven. The Jaguars and Titans, forget about them.

That's fair. That's fair. But it feels hollow. That's good. Ooh. Feels like a one year. Hey, you know what? Let's latch on to this guy for one year.

Then the Jaguars undergous proudly developed. And then suddenly O'Brien, he's not so. He doesn't know what he's doing. Things start to crumble. Chaos. The world collapses in on itself. Yeah. Greg's pick is wrong. And finally, this is an award that kind of only the people in this room maybe truly understand it.

But I think everyone can relate because they read the content. The Jim Harbaugh Award for the coach. that will be the biggest content provider for the Around the League blog. Ooh. And conversation piece for this podcast. It's a great award. This was Greg's idea. Greg, you deserve the credit for this.

That's why I said it. It's so great. Zimmer, I think he's going to be a lot of fun. Good, bad. It'll be fun. He's going to give quotes. He's going to get mad at quarterbacks. He's going to get mad at other coaches.

He's a live wire. I think Gruden, because I think Gruden, if things start to go ugly, as I predict, is a guy who could be completely unhinged. He's got that Gruden gene in him where he's just going to speak his mind. And it's the Redskins too, which just naturally is going to get covered. See a lot of issues there. I think Gruden, I think Zimmer, this is why, by the way, the Bengals' Hard Knock season, which I thought was about a B-plus,

maybe could have been even better with better players. It was a little flat with A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, in terms of people that you latch on to in narrative-wise for the show. but the coaching staff, forget about Marvin Lewis, but the coordinators was great TV. Yeah, which named them. And you named both of the coordinators to the Bengals last year, and I think Rudin will be interesting.

Even if they do well, I think he would be kind of animated off the wall, if they'd go off the rails even better. Ken Wisenhunt wins the award for the least number of awards that he won. It's so funny, too, because he went to the Titans, who might be the most nondescript,

franchise in the NFL right now. Well, and you hear that he went there because he liked the laid back south. He liked the fact that it wasn't a team like Detroit that he had felt pressure to win right away. That's not what I want to hear from my coach. Just throwing that out there. I want my guy, if my team's in Mongolia, I want to be in Mongolia because I want to build a champion. Right. This isn't a retirement, you know, a step towards retirement.

I don't want to be closer to my cousins so I could drink on the weekends. It's like, what is this? Yes. All right, it's time to get Kevin Patra, the Chicago correspondent for around the league, who's actually right now in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. He was yesterday Johnny on the spot for the first ever Pro Bowl draft, which is a thing that happened in society. And now he is on the line.

Kevin Patrick coming at you. That's going on, fellas. How did it feel the witness history? It was crazy. To be part of history. Let's be honest. I'm not going to lie. It was mainly about me.

It was a little bit about the players. But it was great. Take us through the scene because, as Greg alluded to earlier, I did the live blog, but I did it in an office space. You were on the site. I know there was a big white tent where all the players were huddled, eating, and drinking while Chris Rose and then the captains and Sanders and Rice picked the players. What was the scene like under that tent? Were the guys into it? Were they jovial?

What was going on? It was one of those things where it just kind of escalated. Like at first, you know, a couple guys were in there were just, you know, kind of mellow. You know, the PR people were keeping, you know, media at bay. And then as more guys got in there, it was just, you know, a free-for-all. It was just guys wandering around, taking pictures. They were, you know, tweeting, doing all their crazy stuff, like having interviewing. I mean, any guy I went up to, too, was happy to talk.

They were having great time. I will not, I can't tell you how much was imbibed, but it was, I think they were having a pretty good time in this area. I won't say who the player was, but Patrick did tell me via I.M. yesterday that a well-known offensive lineman, I think Patrick's exact word was wobbled past him at one point. Yes, he wobbled towards the restroom. Have you made any friends? That was Dan's challenge to you. Yes.

To make one friend. I have not made any personal friends. I'm not going to pretend to be part of their crew. What about the long snappers? They seem like they are primed. Also, the kickers, kind of seem like laid-back bros? I don't know. I mean, the punters, the punters are pretty well in there with the guys. A hecker from the Rams was pretty much hanging out with every crew yesterday. Really?

If it makes you feel better. Don't underestimate the punters. If it makes you feel better, Kevin, I haven't made any friends for like a decade. I'm not joking. Who makes friends after you're 25 years old? It pretty much stops. Some people, do some people. Wait, Kevin, are you the guy who's a low?

at the oaken bar at like 1 a.m. like Don Draper sitting there nursing a drink with with zero anyone to hang out with you and to speak with you. And then getting like a couple from Vietnam. I wouldn't say I'm alone. You know, you can add your way into this. I'm not going to lie. I listened to one player and his friend argued over who could beat each other in a 40 the other day at the bar.

It was pretty, I'm glad that other people's friends have those kind of conversations, especially when one is a superior athlete, and the smaller guy who has no chance still thinks he has a chance, 10 beers in. Why didn't they reenact Rocky 3 and do the beach run with an awkward hug in the water afterward? It was pouring rain. Interesting. Kevin, rate the level of annoyance from the players who got left until the end of that

draft that got stuck around and no one wanted to pick them. I think, I mean, I think you could tell. on the stage at the end with Nick Bowles and Alex Smith that they were just pretty much over the process. I mean, that was a long time. I think for the guys in the green room especially, the guys earlier and were just wandering around eating food and all that. I think

they didn't, you know, I think they are still pretty, I mean, everybody booked right after. I think three hours is a little bit long, especially for the guys at the end. Yeah, it's one thing to be sitting back there that whole time, but then they, to get called up, these guys late in the process get called up, and then Chris

Rose sticks a mic in their face. Right. And it's like, how does it feel to be assigned to Team Sanders? It's like, what the hell are they supposed to say to that? I don't understand. Cam Wake seemed genuinely annoyed that he wasn't drafted or the whole process. I think Alex Smith is going to use this as a form of motivation. Like, really?

You're taking Nick Foles over me. I'm still disrespected after all this. Yeah, and then Alex Smith is Mr. Not So Irrelevant, as Chris Rose puts it. You can just look at Alex Smith's face, and he's like, like, why am I here? What is this format? I am never coming back to this event. I like Josh Gordon asking if there's a supplemental draft. That was, I like that, actually. Humorous guy. Well-spoken humorous man. You spoke to Drell Revis, Kevin Patrick, right?

For a while. For a while. You got some goodies. What did he have to say? Well, I mean, he talked about how, you know, I clearly asked him about a season. He said he was actually surprised he being in the Pro Bowl, which I found interesting considering. I think we would all agree that he was one of the, at the end of the season one, still one of the best cornerbacks. So he doesn't think that he played all that well this season, to be frank. And then, you know, I talked about, of course, the Richard Sherman stuff. And, you know, he, of course, like every cornerback, he made the point that, you know,

we all think we're the best cornerback in the league. So, you know, it was good conversation. He was pretty open about everything. The difference now, though, and I noticed it was the first thing I came to mind as a jet fan was when Sherman made a similar boast a year ago that he was the best. I remember Revis piped in on Twitter and, you know, basically check yourself. But a lot of people sided with Revis.

Now it's like everyone kind of seems to be saying Sherman is the man now in that back in that secondary. So you wonder, Revis, I was talking earlier about having a huge 2014. You wonder if that's just more motivation for that guy to be a monster this year or next year. Well, I think I would definitely hear that. I'm sorry, we're at an airport base and I got planes taken off around me. Yeah, I mean, I think I definitely got. But that sense, like, he said, you know, he wasn't, he never felt like he was 100% this year.

So I think, you know, he feels like once he gets a pull-off season, he seemed to be, you know, he said he hadn't talked to Lovie Smith yet, but he seems like he's going to have no problem with that defense. He said he'll do whatever they ask him to. So we'll see. All right, Kevin Patra, thank you very much for giving us these great correspondence. I, from the bottom of my heart, I want you to make this friend. And then when we talk during Super Bowl week next week, you will share a tale with us.

All right, fella. I'm working on it. All right. It's Kevin Patrick. He was coming at you. You really want him to find a companion. I do. I mean, I think when I say you, I mean all of us, it feels like he's on the outskirts of society.

Because you're in Hawaii, but you're not with anyone. And it's a big bonding experience for all the people that you're covering, but then you're alone. Someone else there must be alone, right? Justin Houston. I don't think anyone... I know there's a lot of chiefs there. There's seven chiefs, but he always... He's more of a quiet, contemplative guy.

I think him and Patrick would get along. Punch drunk love, again, by the way. There's so many parallels to this. Great movie, by the way. It is. I love punch drunk love. Okay, quickly before we go... We have an entire week next week

where we're just going to go crazy with Super Bowl talking. We're going to have Wes back with us. We all can't wait to have Wes back in the mix. But before we go today, I wanted to touch on a little bit about the two teams, the Broncos and Seahawks, and Greg Rosenthal, the boss, you actually went back and watched these two teams play in the preseason

in week three of the preseason, which of course is the week where the starters are on the field the longest. And it'd be interesting to get the takeaway from the boss on what he saw when he rewatch that game. People will discount this that it was the preseason, but this was the most intense preseason game I've ever seen. And I remember, and I went back to my notes, I wrote that down at the time back in August.

I mean, the Bobby Wagner was blitzing every third down. The crowd was going crazy. There were a lot of big hits. So I think there were some takeaways. The Broncos had no trouble moving the ball. They made some big mistakes. But one of the things I took away was Demarius Thomas and Richard Sherman in this one play where he had a jump ball

and Richard Sherman couldn't do anything with it. Thomas is just too big. Interesting. He jumps over him, makes the play. obviously the teams have changed quite a bit in the meantime but I thought there were interesting takeaways and even though the score was imbalanced by the end the Broncos did not have any problem moving the ball

I think in that game also if I'm not mistaken Trinan Holiday busted free a 73 yard return not for a touchdown maybe but he broke free they called it back actually always happens to this guy and there were there were a couple long returns by the Seahawks as well You know, back then, Russell Wilson was hitting his deep ball. That's a little different than the last few weeks when they weren't. I thought the, you know, the physical Seattle corners, they're going to give you a chance to make plays.

You know, one-on-one, whether it's Sherman. Back then it was Browner. Now it's, you know, Maxwell and Cam Chancellor. And Denver did a good job hitting some plays up the middle. I think if you're going to beat this Seattle defense, it's going to be against Jeremy Lane and Cam Chancellor. in the middle of the field. So that puts a lot of it on Julius Thomas and Welker. And if there's anything we know about Peyton Manning,

he's going to know exactly where the soft spots are. And this defense is so good. They know that. Manning knows that. It'll be interesting to see how they try to combat that. Just another reason why this is such an amazing matchup. I don't think he's going to study that hard for this game. Manning.

He's going to finally kind of be like, I think I banked enough. Foot off the pedal. I've got this. Enjoy the moment. Let's just go to T.J.I. Fridays with Eli and his wife all week. Some sabarros. Get some real New York pizza. All right. So, yes, we will get into the game in depth starting on Tuesday, which will be from New York. We will be at the media center, I believe, doing it live. We'll have Gold Standard. You will not be with us, unfortunately.

No, sadly not. But you will be in our thoughts. That is unjust. We'll catch you guys on TV. It's fine. We're on TV. All right. So until then, this is Dan Hansa signing off for The Sizzler, the boss, the gold standard behind the glass. West will be back next week and we will be in New York. So until Tuesday.