NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Return of Win Wess' Toaster; The Mailbag!

Episode Date: March 31, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Chris Wesseling -- gives “ATL Nation” the chance to walk away with Wess’ coveted toaster in the ultimate NFL trivia challenge.  Elsewhere, the gang answers some letters out of the mailbag and picks apart this week’s biggest offseason headlines.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. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the League podcast, openly fears Papa John. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hinsis, and I'm joined by a room filled with some heroes. Chris Wessling and Greg Rosethol.

What up, boys? Hey, Dan. How about that intro? You happy with that one? No one needs to know that it took me seven times today to get that intro correct. You're like an unholy amalgam of Rick and Keel, Steve Blass, and Mackie Sasser. He got real. Chuck Knoblock.

I think you're feeling the heat from my intro the other day. I think so. I think the pressure was on. Greg stepped in on Friday. I felt like not so much Chuck Knoblock. I felt like Keith Olberman's mom who got hit in the face with a Chuck Knoblock throw one day behind the first. behind first base. Yes, true story. Olderman's mom.

On purpose? No, she, you know, threw a ball over Tino Martinez's head by about seven feet, hit her right in the face. Keith Olderman's mom. Big day today. Big day. It is Win West's Toaster Day. And I don't know if it was a little bit of gamesmanship from the boss, Greg Rosenthal,

but West wasn't even aware the podcast was starting, was downstairs while we were up in the studio. West kind of got caught off guard. We had to call him and say, hey, Wes, we're about. about to start the show. Greg, was that on purpose? Let's start right there. I'm not confirming that, but I don't mind that it might have them a little unsettled and suddenly has to run and, you know, it works out.

It's been a bizarre morning for me. Why is that? Well, I'm on another writer's. Oh, right. Jeff Perlman, the writer of several books, including one of my favorites, the bad guys won about the 1986 Mets, has a new book out about the Lakers. Wes, you offered some constructive criticism that maybe Jeff Perlman thought came from a weird place or maybe a snide place

and then he went after you in a long blog post on his personal website. It was a peculiar exchange. I complimented his book to all of my followers on Twitter. Said I loved it. Advise people to get it. I told people I couldn't put the book down. But I just told Jeff, you know, I love Showtime, but I'll buy you. six, you know, six high-octane beers if you never again start a sentence with

Y comma, you know, that, that, that, which is an anachronistic kind of thing that your grandpa might have said in 1947, why Charlie, he's a nice guy, you know? Yeah, and Jeff Perlman took exceptions to that, and did you guys smooth it out because he seemed pretty upset on his blog? I, uh, I tweeted him back after I read his blog piece this morning, told him I thought it was fair that I had no problem with anything he wrote, but. I didn't hear back from him. I understand where he's coming from.

I was kind of joking around when I sent it to him. I didn't think he would take it as an insult, but he did, and I understand where he's coming from. Nobody wants to hear from another writer that they're not doing something right. But it annoys me that sports writers in general are the most thin-skinned group of individuals on the planet, and yet we make a living out of critiquing and talking about other people doing their jobs. Fair point. This is interesting, though, that this is what's in Wes's headspace right now.

He has this issue with a fellow writer in the medium. I think it would be more accurate to say he is the issue with me. Okay. Gold standard behind the glass. So we have that as a subplot with Win West's Toaster coming up later in today's show. Gold standard, very nervous, obviously. He was in charge of finding contestants, and now the moment of truth has arrived after his, let's be honest. Let's be honest about this.

Your failure, your first time, right? It's dire. Let's not talk about it. I doubled up on deodorant today, though, because I'm sweating bullets out here. All right. So that will be in the back end of the show. But we promise that the front end of the show, and even the middle section, Wes, will be well worth listening to today. We're going to dip into the mailbag, the ATL accounts mailbag. And we will also then play the toaster game.

But before that, why don't we do some news, Gold Standard? Let's do it. We start with Deshawn Jackson, who continues to be now the biggest story in free agency. He is by far the best player currently unemployed. Now that Pat Sims has signed, I think we can safely say that. Pat Sims off the market, obviously Cumbie, Jeff Cumberland came off the market long ago now. So the Sean Jackson is right at the top now. He is in Washington Monday meeting with the Redskins.

the Raiders are said to be interested. It's believed the Bills could be a player in this. Gentlemen, where are we right now with this situation? How do you see this playing out? I think the Redskins have to be considered the favorite because he's in their building right now, and they're the only team that's really taking a tangible step towards recruiting him. Well, we know the Raiders are very interested in him,

and it sounds like those are the two teams that are most likely to get him, and now there's these reports, mystery teams are out. out there. You know what the mystery teams are? They're an agent, you know, whispering, trying to get other teams in the mix. I don't put too much stock into the mystery teams. I think the real question is which of these teams is going to pay to Sean Jackson like a true number one receiver like the Eagles used to. And to me, they both would. Yeah, I think if he gets out of Redskins headquarters without a contract, that makes the Raiders the favorite. That's fair. Because the bills have said, well, there's a report from the

Buffalo News that the bills are interested, but they're unwilling to get into a bidding war. Why not? The bills are a franchise that really, to me, needs a shot of adrenaline. This would be, obviously, there would be some risk involved with Jackson. Depends on who you talk to, how much of a risk the guy actually would be. But to me, the Redskins make a lot of sense. You could take them from a division rival. You add another weapon for RG3.

The Raiders, obviously, that makes a lot of sense. a team that is still starbed for star power even after they're spending. The bills to mirror the team that maybe I feel like they need to look in the mirror, Doug Whaley, Doug Marone, look in the mirror and say, we need to do something to put ourselves on the map and maybe start building towards something again. I would love to see the bills make a hard push. It would add to their track team like wide receiver group,

but I don't know if they really need another vertical guy. Not that they wouldn't benefit from having Deshawn Jackson on their team, but they're building up that offense slowly. I don't know if he's really that great a fit there. How come the Carolina Panthers aren't in the mix? I don't think they have enough money. Gettelman wants to get right against the salary cap this year. He compared it to a credit card situation

where the previous regime racked up all this credit card debt and he has to get back to solid ground before he can make any moves. Well, I like the Redskins getting Deshaun in the building first and they don't really have the cap room, but if they sign Jackson to the money he wants, they'll probably give him a signing bonus, and they'll start pushing all that money and the pain into the future. They've never done that before.

And it's back to the Redskins being the Redskins. They pretend like they learn anything, and let's get back into it. What could possibly go wrong? Greg did not come out of the chair there, but it was close. Did you know that the Raiders fans basically hijacked Twitter on Saturday with a D-Jex to Oakland hashtag? I love Raiders fans.

Really? Yeah. Bryce Gustafson, one of our social media gurus, down in the newsroom. He and I were working side by side, and he was just, he was aghast at how the Raiders were trending. D-Jax to Oakland was trending for over 24-hour street as the number one topic on Twitter.

Wow. I made some joke, like the Raiders fans, you can, you know, say positive things or negative things, but you can definitely say they travel in bunches. You say one crack, some stupid joke on Twitter, and suddenly you get every Raider handle in the world just killing you, for about a day or two straight.

I blocked at least 40 of them last week. I have scar on my side, the Raiders' number one fan, so I feel like that's put me in the good graces of the organization, so I'm not going to be critical of them right now. That's a good move on your run. Thank you. It's weird to me that there's so many different ways to spell Raider for life. I swear 50 different people have responded to me with different like Raiders for life.

You got to love it. One team I don't see in our rundown we have, what would you call it? this, Greg. This would be kind of our running tab of what's going on. A tracker. It's the Chris Wessling tracker of Deshaun Jackson. Yeah, well, metrics gold for Chris Wessling. I don't see the Cleveland Browns on here, which would be a first this offseason for a player not to be tied to the Browns on some level and be described as the Browns are

also checking in on the situation and are lurking. Not here. I think they already have one controversial wide receiver. They probably don't want another, especially with a first-year head coach. Yeah. Maybe they're one of the mystery teams. And it looks like my jets are not going to be in the mix. The glacier, John Idzik, it doesn't sound like, according to Rich the Media,

VSPN, that the glacier is interested in bringing in another potential problem child. Everybody had them right away on Friday as a team that was interested, and then Manish actually reported. Manish made of the New York Daily News reported. Friend of the podcast. That John Idzik was not among the general managers who contacted Deshaun Jackson's camp. Well, yeah, Idzik is very interested in Jackson, and he's going to get around to call in him in a couple of weeks

and see what the situation is. 2017, he's going to give him a call. He's going to say, hey, Deshawn, remember me? No one, by the way, took the Redskins. We played a game of Go Get My Sandwich. Yeah, I heard that, and I really enjoyed it on Friday. Yeah, and no one picked the Redskins. No one picked the Bills.

And so my pick of the Raiders right now is looking pretty solid that I could have some sandwiches coming my way. I think the 49ers might be one of those mystery teams. All right. You take them. I'll take the rate. We shall see. Speaking of the Jets, Chris Johnson, the Tennessee Titans running back,

who's still a member of that team, but that doesn't seem to be for too much longer. The Jets are said to have some interest in the running back, according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rappaport. Of course, the Jets have Chris Ivory, who was a nice player for them last year, but he's also been injury plagued during his career. Put Chris Johnson next to Chris Ivory.

I kind of like that, Chris Wessling, all Chris's. What do the Jets need on offense, number one? I would say speed, right? Playmaking ability. You could say Chris Johnson has that as much as any running back they can get on the market. So that seems like the best fit to me is the Jets. Even more than Tommy Bowhannon, Tommy Bow. The fullback?

Yeah. A big fan of Tommy Bo. What up, Mike Goodson? What's he up to? He's still on the roster, despite lots of problems in New York. He's coming off an ACL tear? And legal issues, and Blal Powell's still on the roster. I think that's not a bad player either.

Let's be fair. I think he's okay. That's not a bad situation for Chris Johnson. That's the sort of situation that I see him fitting best into, where he's just one of the guys that's going to get 150 carries. Don't put it all on him, and maybe it'll work out. He can't get a job somewhere where he can get more of a commitment from a team? I think he might.

From who? Name it. didn't you do the landing spots I did and they're dropping like flies the falcons said they weren't interested after Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean who had covered Chris Johnson for the past six years listed the Falcons as his

favorite to sign him but that's not going to happen Cowboys he wouldn't be the feature back there I kind of like to see him in Denver but even then he's going to be splitting carries I don't think there's a team out there that's just going to hand it over to Chris Johnson which is going to be a humbling annoying moment

for him because I still think he's at the point where he believes he's going to get paid big money. The only running back in the NFL to rush for a thousand yards in each of the last six seasons and has it missed a game in five years? Sneaky durability, Chris Johnson. Yes. You give him that at least.

You have to. He is the most durable running back in the league by far in terms of consecutive starts. Yes. Some news out of Cincinnati. Andy Dalton was on serious XM NFL radio on Monday said that the Bengals and the courts

The Bengals and the quarterback have... You do still say Bengals. Well, you know what? I keep it real. It's all I can ever do. The two sides, the quarterback and the team are in contract talks. This is the quote from Andy Dalton. I want you to picture some like really heavy grinding Christian rock behind me as I say

this. There have been talks about it. There have been a couple of proposals sent over and different things. We're working. Hopefully we can get something done. I'm not done. I'm not too worried about it. I know in the right timing, everything is going to happen.

Obviously, everyone would like to get something done sooner rather than later. Andy Dalton believes he will be a Bengal for life. I think the most interesting thing about this situation is that Mike Brown clearly sees it as a dilemma. He used that word dilemma. He actually talked about whether he wanted to extend Dalton, lose his competitive advantage of only paying a million or two a year for a quarterback, and whether he might just draft a quarterback instead. He actually talked about that.

Then Marvell Lewis came out a day later and said, yeah, we got to get this guy taken care of. We need to get him extended. We need to build around him. We need to surround him with talent. Just a bit of a schism there. You're saying Rex and Idzik aren't the only two executives, not seen eye to eye. That sounds like the case to me. And from what I know about the Bengals organization, Mike Brown usually gets his way.

And it doesn't sound that bad of an idea, Mike Brown's idea. Sounds like a great idea. what's the hurry right if Andy Dalton needs to just run and take that proposal this is one of those proposals don't mess around negotiating take it now before you have a terrible 2014 season and no one's offering you anything I don't know a semi-related topic how what percentage of the league would you put the GM and the coach actively dislike each other we wouldn't know about it actively yeah like not passive aggressively but it just but they're at each other's that they are not on good terms.

Because you think it's kind of a volatile relationship, GM and coach. 20%. One out of five teams. I would say even lower than that. Five teams total. You did a math. 12%. Greg, if you would have come to the draft day premiere,

you would have seen the heat between Dennis Leary and Kevin Costner. It's real. Story like, that's got to be true. I just figure if it's really that bad, then someone's going to get fired sooner than later. Unless you're winning a ton like in San Francisco. Some good logic right there. What's the word?

Vermistletude. Vermilistitude? Vermilistude. Varis militude. Let's just pretend this never happened. Veris militude? Veris militude. Varis militude?

Yeah. Great part of draft day is when Dennis Leary rolls into Kossner's office and I believe lights a playbook or draft studies on fire and drops it on his desk. Jen Garner, the cap expert, rolls in, spoiler alert, fire extinguisher, extinguishes the blaze. I like how you just demonstrated that fire extinguisher move with your thumbs in four-fair. And well, vermisilitude. Right.

Why did you need that word that you don't know? Oh, because it's realistic. Nicely played. So. All right, gentlemen, before we get to the toaster, why don't we dip into the mailbag? the gold standard behind the glass I don't know if there's some type of sound effect you could come up with for someone

going to the post office or this is maybe something to work on for the future I have some experience in this department what would be a good what would be a good drop a sound drop for this segment the guy from Mr. Rogers speedy delivery remember him oh that's showing my age no no I watched that as a child as well but I don't remember

didn't he announced speedy delivery as he was coming speedy delivery yeah yeah that's not bad this is where the generation gap breaks down because I did watch Mr. Rogers, but it's sort of a Mr. Rogers versus Blues Clues things in terms of male motifs. I don't know anything about this blues clues. Don't worry about it. Neither do I, but

the kids. So that's a task for you Gold Center, although everything's on hold right now until we find out how it goes with your contestants for a win-less-stopping. You're sweating. I can see the glass right now. You're nervous. When I was in the post office, the sound effects was usually a shotgun going off in the news room.

90s Postal Service joke. I love it. How long were you in the Postal Service? Two years. I quit right before I was due to get my own route. That's tough. That's like, I don't know what that's like. Quitting right before you get promoted to offensive coordinator, and yet you just passed on all that luxury.

I had been doing the ass end off of everybody's route in the projects, and I couldn't take it anymore. And then I saw how miserable everybody there who was a lifer. Once you get kids, you're stuck because the benefits are so great. Right. The pay's pretty good. You got security. Your family relies on.

A lot of magazines. I feel like you just take people's magazines. Oh, man. There were a few days. I was stacked two or three feet high with magazines in one arm. It was miserable. I have respect for postal workers, but I will say that I have an uncle that I'm very close with that has, what? Nothing.

I've just qualified. Go on. Go ahead. That I'm very close with has worked at the post office since about 1982. And there's a running joke within my family of my father. asking my uncle John, how's everything going at the post office? And then my uncle John goes to my dad. Keith, I told you to never ask me that.

That sums up my two years. Yeah. Just imagine staying there 30 years. I just like the preface. I have all the respect of the world for people that work at the postal service because you know immediately coming after that is something that's going to be disrespectful. It's not an easy job. Or maybe it is, Wes.

But there's a lot of politics behind the scenes. I've had conversations with you about this. it was the most stressful job I've ever had which is odd because it's also of every job I've ever had the job where I use my brain the least interesting well we might have to have

once it really bogs down in terms of in news content we might have to have a whole US Postal Service podcast with you or really dig in on why there are some people that end up going crazy I'm sure Newman will be tuned into that one I love it more 90s jokes about The post office.

All right, let's dig into the mailbag. We'll start here. I've actually touched on this, but I'll throw it out there again now that's a couple weeks later. This is from Martin Wired. Are there any early contenders slash favorites for the official 2014 ATL team? Or will you stick with the Panthers? We are not sticking with the Panthers. Panthers are out.

They have raised our ire. Yes. Well, you never know. What if they just caught our fancy again back in August? I'm not ruling anything out. I want to enter August in early September with an open mind to anything. I think that's a good way to look at it. The odds on the Panthers repeating, it seems very small.

I don't think I've ever chosen my team for the year until after the draft. When did we choose the Panthers? I felt like that wasn't until September. Oh, yeah. I think it was September or early October maybe. Should we add to the level of difficulty? and try to pin a team down and get behind them starting week one? No, but, you know, by the end of August.

Now, I want to watch them a couple times. I thought we were going to watch them and you get a little feel. You see who might catch your fancy? I feel like it should be an organic process, not something pressured by our listeners. He's taking shots. You know, why are you Jeff Perlmaning our listeners? It's not even a shot. I'm just explaining that I think it works better when it's organic.

Well, I think it's fair to say that it's more likely to be a team. That isn't one of the five favorites to win the Super Bowl. That's probably fair. Yeah, we're not going to hop on a favorite. Right. So maybe it's a team, a young up-and-coming team, a team that doesn't get a lot of attention. I don't know. You know, like, could be Cardinals could be one.

Maybe they should have been the team last year. If it wasn't for Carson Palmer, I might already have them locked in. The Chargers were sort of my backup team of the year last year. Maybe that's over with. What if Carson Palmer pulls a Philip Rivers this year? Hmm. We know how much you loved Philip Rivers last year. Wait, you're saying, I don't think that's, I think Carson Palmer did that last year,

and now is the year where Carson Palmer turns back into Carson Palmer. He was second in the NFL and interceptions last year. He did all right. How about the, could it be allowed to choose one of our favorite teams as the team? Could the Browns or the Lions? You have to sell. I mean, though, could, as a group, we choose the Browns or the Lions, let's say. I could see the Lions.

I'm not going to root for the Browns. The Browns are poison, let's face it. You know, until they prove otherwise. Well, if they draft the Johnny Football, that would change my whole feeling on it. It depends where he goes because he, what if he goes to the Vikings? I mean, it is easy to eliminate some teams. It's like the NFC East, see you later. We're not jumping on any of those teams.

They're going. Packers have been too good. You know, it could be like a team like the Buccaneers. They've been in the back of my mind. Yeah. The Bucks? That could be one. Good bounceback team potentially.

It could be a team that has almost no personality. too at this point, like Texans or Titans where it's just all of a sudden you're starting to think they're frisky, you know what I mean? Getting a little squirly. Yeah. All right. So basically the answer to the question,

Martin, is it's wide open. And it's an ever-evolving question in here where we're thinking about it, but we won't have a decision for several months, most likely. Moving on, Mark Thompson at Marcus 2604. Marcus with a K, by the way, unusual spelling.

ATL mailbag Even though the gold standard Oh, this is for you, Zach The gold standard behind the glass What? Yeah Even though the gold standard This is allowed

Isn't a NFL fan What team does he support? I have no idea the answer to this That hurts Because I've revealed That I'm a Packers buff Yeah That's true

Dan doesn't listen to other people On the show No I had no idea That you were packing I was enchanted by Dorsey Levens I once gave I once gave him

grief about it. Packers Heat? On the show. Yeah. Well, he actually was trash talking me a little bit. I remember at one point. Was I at this show? Yeah.

So the team, so in the early 2000s or so, you plugged in. It was actually the Super Bowl year. It was a very, yeah. Nothing wrong with liking Dorsey Levin's. That's a good pick. Thank you. And you've started. Dors's the horse.

Yeah. Chimura, the whole gang. Bring them all back. And do you follow the team closely, would you say? Not that closely. I mean, I've followed the NFL. much more recently and I kind of just I think I'm becoming more of that that dreaded TD-like figure who are black tie for those who listen to podcasts who picks players instead of teams because like Johnny football coming to the league I'm so excited about that gotcha yeah speaking of listening sitting in as a producer three times a week let's talk about percentages again how a percentage raised risen in terms of knowing the NFL for you since doing this podcast I think high but there's probably like true like bedrock knowledge gaps that I have so like I know like

names like Greg Hardy you know what I mean and I can fake my way through that kind of a conversation but like someone one day is going to throw out a very obvious thing about football that I don't pick up on yeah really enjoyed it can you tell us what a three technique tackle is yeah um let me try really so like if you have a if you have a three four defense well let me start there I'm that could be wrong but let me get through that uh so you have three guys on the line it's the tackle who plays between like he's lining up against four guys it's the tackle between the two interior uh offensive is that wrong you're you're sniffing around there the three technique usually plays in a four three defense and it depends which gap you're penetrating on the offensive line okay now trying guys

i got to read more books that's what it comes down to you know west this is this is isn't your day to be asking questions, you know? Oh, sorry. They're coming to you. All right, finally, this is a question to Wes. Who runs the Faster 40, Chris Wessling, or Papa John? I'd smoke that, dude.

I think I could run a five, four. Have you? I don't know. Papa John, have you factored in his potential supernatural abilities? Well, yeah, I mean, if I was forced to stare into his eyes for a while,

I'd never make it off the finish line. You do not look Papa John on the eyes. Well known. Greg is uncomfortable, visibly. No. Greg doesn't think I can run a 5-4. Are you uncomfortable that Wes says he can run a 5-4 or that we're talking about Papa John?

I'm comfortable with everything. But I don't believe West could run a 5-4, which that's pretty quick. I think he could do it. I think Wes is a good athlete. I know he is, actually. And I know he's got a bad shoulder right now. He's got a bum wing.

I've seen the NFL media crew run some 40s in Indianapolis. And some of the younger, somewhat athletic ones, they ran them, and they weren't running 5'4s. They were running slower that. Even the fast ones were slower in that. We're a slow people. You're probably right.

Everybody overrates their own 40 times. Yes, everyone. It's true. Everybody thinks they're faster than they are. All right, gentlemen, we'll dig back into the mailbag when Cessler gets back into town because there were some Sessler questions that I didn't feel were right to have him without him. Mark's on vacation for the week.

He's in the desert. Yeah, we should have said that at the top. Mark is going to be out of the picture for the whole week. Is that correct, the boss? That's right. So he'll be back and we'll get back into the mailbag when he's here. Now is the time the gold standard. I'm ready.

All right. So Chris Wessling, I wish I would have done some research before we got in the studio today on your record. But I think we've played the game roughly five times win Wes's toaster. Sounds about right. You have, there was one controversial game where it appeared that you lost, but you had actually won. Other than that, it's been a clean sweep where there have been no questions about who the champion is. If Wes loses this challenge, this game of skill and valor, he has to give up his toaster to a fan, an ATL podcast fan caller, the gold center behind the glass

it's been up to him to find contestants over the past week and now he's done it and let's get into it. It's not just any toaster I think people have to know. Greg, explain to the people. If you want to get a piece of toast in the morning and you think, hey, I'd love to have an NFL logo on it, this is the toaster for you.

But then if you wake up the next day and you want a different NFL logo on it, you're feeling it's more of a Titans Day. You can have that logo. It imprints all 32 logos into your piece of toasts, which is pretty amazing. And by the way, this is literally, literally one of a kind. This is not a product. It's no longer for sale.

We didn't know that when we first started the game. We thought we could replicate this, but we have looked on eBay and other sites. We cannot find another toaster that imprints all 32 teams. Sometimes the powers that B want the around the league group or myself to talk up or sell some other product or, you know, series or something. that's going on within the group. And, you know, you feel weird about it. Maybe I fully believe in this toaster. It's one of the best things the NFL's ever done.

Right. And since Mark isn't here, Mark Sessler, the Sizzler, has always been the timekeeper in Win West's toaster. It's a job that he didn't take for granted. It was a job that he felt was a responsibility. And I thought he's always handled it with grace. And now that job falls to Greg Rosenthal, who just recently has kind of fallen in love with the game when Wes is toasted. I wouldn't say that.

I'm definitely rooting against Wes. I think this is the day that the toaster and this game are all done. The Gold Standard is probably lined up some kind of football genius today. I'm not feeling as confident as I was the last few times. I like it. I'm going to have to wait to find out. All right. So why don't we get somebody on the phone, Gold Center?

Let's do it. I haven't studied my stadium since last time. Well, you better hope that I don't have it. That sounds like a... Stadia. Stadia. Nice. Stadia is correct.

Versimilitude Veris militude That's how you say Veris militude I don't even know if you used it correctly But I don't really know that word I think it means truth right If you would or not

It means realistic It's realism I love the word All right The Gold Standard Who do we have up first in today's game So today we have a gentleman Who in the underground circles

Of NFL trivia Goes by Big Mike Oh Big Mike We talked about Big Mike before the show Big Mike, as he goes by within the NFL circles, is a big Jets fan. Is that correct, Mike? Big Mike? That is correct, Dan.

And you have been to a game that I was at as well, I believe. Is that true? Yes, I think we were both at the same game. And that is what game? The fake spike game. Yes. Fake spike, November. 1994, Dan Marino's fake spike against the Jets,

basically set the Jets in a tailspin that took them three years to recover from. but that's good that gave you and I character and all other Jets fans that's one way to look at it are you are you familiar with the game win Wes is toaster big Mike yes I am very familiar with that game all right and I would I'm just curious one out of ten what is your level of confidence in taking down Wes the mailman a seven only a seven because I respect West all right we've interesting I like this we've struggled to get contestants that can challenge Wes so now we're going with a new tactic intimidation

Gigantic callers, Big Mike. Big Mike. So Big Mike knows the rules, but we will go over them real quickly if you're a first time listener to the game. I will ask Big Mike six NFL trivia questions while Wes is out of the room in a soundproof booth. And then he'll get 60 seconds to answer it. Greg is the official timer. And then Wes will then come and sit down and answer the same six questions. Whoever gets more correct is the winner and gets the toaster.

there is a tie, it comes down to the clock, and who got the answers quickest. So Big Mike, just know when you do get through just to say stop the clock, so Greg can know when to shut it down, and we can use that as your final score. Great. All right, let's do it. Wes, be gone. And there goes Chris Wessling, the mailman. He's walking out of the room, the mad scientist.

I feel like we don't get enough use out of the soundproof booth for the rest of the weeks. You know what I mean? That's true. We should start just putting each other in them. It's a big production expense. Like if someone, you know what we should have, like, Veres Militude, if someone mispronounces that, into the soundproof booth.

Anyway, all right, Big Mike. Greg, at the start of the music, we will begin. Gold Standard. Let's do this. Who was the Lions head coach in their 0-16 season in 2008? Bobby Ross. Who was the Saints leading receiver in their Super Bowl season of 2009.

Marcus Colston. Who is the Panthers kicker, who's out-of-bounds kickoff led to doom against the Patriots late in Super Bowl 38? John Casey. The Jets took this quarterback, three picks before the Dolphins selected Dan Marino in the 1983 NFL draft. Ken O'Brien. Who is the leading rusher in Oakland Raiders history?

Marcus Allen. Name two active NFL quarterbacks who are Heisman Trophy winners. Robert Griffin. Oh, my God. And, uh... Pete Manning. No, he's not a husband. All right.

Stop the clock. Stop the clock. Damn, it's what I said. All right. You got four correct. That's excellent. That's pretty good. You got a chance.

You, uh, I only had a couple seconds left. So if it came down to a tie, you'd be in trouble. So it's 4 in 57 seconds. All right, the gold center. Let's summon the mad scientist. A little pressure on Wes this time. Yeah, but we can't let them know. All right, Wes.

As Wes sits down in the chair, Big Mike, I cannot tell you. I know, Wes, you always want to know what your competitor got. I always try to trick you into telling me. And I will not tell you. But just know that you need to compete. But that would not change no matter whether Big Mike got six or zero or something in between. I remember when I walked into the room after Saskatoon went, and he told me I needed to compete then, too. Yeah, that's true.

Saskatoon famously. He only had one or he had zero? That was one for Saskatoon, the last game, yeah. All right, Big Mike, you sit tight and listen in, and at the start of the music, Wes will battle for his toaster. Who was the Lions head coach in their 0-16 season in 2008? Was it Marinelli or Morningwick? I'll go, Rob Marinelli. Who is the Saints' leading receiver?

in their Super Bowl season of 2009. Marcus Colston? Who was the Panthers kicker whose out-of-bounds kickoff led to June? John Casey. The Jets took this quarterback, three picks, before the Dolphins selected Dan Marino. Kenne O'Brien.

Who is the leading rusher in Oakland Raiders history? Marcus Allen. Name two active quarterbacks who are Heisman Trophy winners. RG3 and Carson Palmer? Stop the clock. That is six. Six out of six for Chris Wessling.

Got to get these questions even harder, I guess. Big Mike, four out of six. Great job by Big Mike. You really did put up a great fight, but Wes, again, it's a dynasty right now. Big Mike? Yes. I'm sorry that you fell short,

but it was quite an effort. All right, thank you very much. Rod Marinelli was the coach there, huh? He was. The answer was Rod Marinelli, yes. At least you gave a battle. This is, Dan somehow works it in such a way that Wes always keeps his toaster.

But now he's at least has some competition. He thinks that's good for ratings or whatever. This is the perfect way. I don't think those were cupcake question. What a naysayer, Rosenthal, is in this case. That was a great battle by Big Mike, and Wes came out on top. Wasn't that close. Big Mike, thank you for listening and thank you for trying to win, win West's toaster.

Gold standard is floating right now because. What? That was a good competitor. Yeah, I feel like Don King right now. It's like I keep the moneymaker with the crown, but we gave him a good fight. If you're satisfied with that performance, you need to have higher goals. I mean, he lost when my parents say to me literally every night, Greg. Which ones did he miss?

He lost by 21. First of all, if it was a tie, it took him forever. And he lost by two. I mean, that's a big gap. He got Marinelli wrong, and then he only got RG3 on the Heisman tributaries. For the record, these are the Heism. active NFL quarterbacks who have a Heisman, RG3, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, and Carson Palmer.

Peyton Manning never won the Hizman? No, that was his second one, but he realized he was wrong right after he said it. But Greg, you understand that that made for excellent, excellent podcast. When you... It's like a basketball team winning by 12. It's not that exciting. When you previewed these questions with Greg,

how many did he get right? Oh, I don't know. We don't do it that way. Yeah, we don't do it that way. I think I would have gotten those. The toughest one was the Heisman, just thinking it off the top of your head. All right. So you're not out of the woods, Wes.

You're not out of the woods yet, Wes. You have one more contestant. The gold standard behind the glass. Who do we have? Who's next? We have a gentleman who is a Giants fan. Actually, so we've got a Jetson Giants fan today. This man's name is Dan.

Big Dan. It's sort of bizarro world version of you. This is great. Can he pronounce Veres Militude? We'll have to ask. Okay. I won't because that's a hard thing to say. Similitude?

Versimilitude. Varis militude. Veris militude. That's it. Veracy. No, there's this. Veracy militude. All right.

We should hire the gyrus bird guy to say. Yes, we should. Dan, are you there? Gentlemen. All right. Oh, I like the attitude. Confidence. Yeah.

Dan, where you calling for? from? I am calling from Niles, Ohio. Niles, Ohio, a giant fan. How did you become a giant fan if you're from Ohio? I started watching football when I was five. Giants were good that year. If you were in Bengals or Brown's country, you'd root for another team too. Yeah. Well, actually my mom is a big bangles fan but um i don't know i just uh kind of latched on the giants they uh that was the year norwood missed the kick yeah 90 so yeah that that is the thing if you are if you are a fan of a new york team if you land the giants what a blessed life if you end up with the jets you're you're in a bad you're in a bad way that's me but you've had a nice life dan but now it can get even greater

because now you are playing for west's toaster i know this is something that's probably been something of a huge life goal for you, correct? Number one. All right, good. Do you know the rules of the game? I think so. All right, Wes. Dan knows the rules, so that means we're about to get this thing going. Wes is heading back. I've got that swagger back. I thought we had them on the ropes earlier.

Well, Big Mike, the intimidation didn't work. So now we're going with young blood. I think, I think, Dan, you're half Chris's age if you were five. That's not really true. And keep in mind also, Dan, that Wes played once already today and went six for six. So he's hot. He's like the NBA jam character that's on fire. So that's what you're up against.

But good luck. Best of luck to you. Let's get to it. What Pro Bowl wide receiver set a franchise record with touchdown catches in seven consecutive games in 2010? Half. Bill Belichick served as a defensive coordinator for. two teams before being hired as coach of the Patriots. Name those two teams.

The New York Giants and Cleveland Brown. Whose 65-yard punt return for a touchdown as time expired beat the Giants in a 2010 game dubbed The Miracle at the New Meadowlands? You had to do this to me. John Jackson. Name the Titans' tight end who threw the lateral pass in the Music City miracle against the bills in the 99 NFL playoffs. Frank Whitechak.

Who is the NFL? NFL's active leader in sacks? Jared Allen. This Pro Bowl wideout finished the 2008 postseason with 30 catches for 536 yards and seven touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald. Do you want to go back? Yes.

What Pro Bowl wide receiver set a franchise record? Time. Okay. I would have said Steve Smith. Okay. You wouldn't have gotten it anyways. That's fine. All right, buddy.

You got three out of six. Not bad. and you picked up some tough ones there so you get it was a little tougher here comes west heading back into the room now Wes in a unprecedented move I'm going to tell you how the contestant did I don't believe you yeah you're right to not believe me because I'll never tell you what the prior contestant did maybe let's do it we need something to end this streak

no he needs to change it up always assume that six out of six because it might have actually happened this time You know what I'm saying? Greg's shaking his head, no. It's not giving away much. Here we go. Greg, continually undermining what is, by all counts, one of America's great games.

All right, gold standard. What Pro Bowl wide receiver set a franchise record with touchdown catches in seven consecutive games in 2010? Calvin Johnson. Bill Belichick served as the defensive coordinator for two teams before being hired as coach of the Patriots. Name those two teams. Giants and Jet.

Who's 65-yard punt-returned touchdown as time expired beat the Giants at a 2010 game. To Sean Jackson. Name the Titans' tight end who threw the lateral pass in the Music City Miracle. Who is the NFL's active leader in Sacks? John Abram. This Pro Bowl wide-up finished the 2008 postseason with 30 catches for 536 yards and 17s. Larry Fitzgerald. Stop the clock.

Boom. Five out of six. Calvin Johnson was wrong, wasn't it? That was wrong. Wes keeps his toaster. Dan, a nice battle. Dan had three. Oh, nicely done.

There's only one question you guys both got wrong, and that would be what Pro Bowl wide receiver set the franchise record with seven straight games with touchdowns? That was Dwayne Boe. In 2010. I would not have got that. Dwayne Bo went crazy.

Nicely done. Yes, thank you. 15 TDs at you. Yes, and unfortunately, For Dan, the active sack leader, John Abraham, I believe, has 132 sacks. Jared Allen, who was Dan's guess, I believe it, has 128 and a half. So very close, but not. I only knew that because I saw that stat somewhere last week.

There you go. All right, Dan, thank you very much for, you know, a valiant try. But this, again, was Wes's day. All right, thanks for having me, guys. All right. Well, you know what? It hurts to send these people away downtrodden because you could hear the hurt in their voices. You talk about this, like, it's America's favorite game.

It's so uplifting, and yet we send away two people miserable every time. Listen. It's supposed to be about the listeners. I think it's a tremendously humbling experience because I get all these tweets flooding in about, oh, Wes, he can't do anything against me, and then this happens. It's a nice life lesson. It's funny that it's Dynasty Week. What's the lesson?

Don't mess with Wesleying? Conduct yourself humbly over social media. There's a great. We teach all our kids that, right? Yeah, this is the last week of Dynasty Week. week for NFL network they're ending it with who are they ending it with cowboys the cowboys next week it should be west for when west's toaster i think i might need a longer uh winning streak here i feel like you're in a pretty nice role anyway so that is it for win west's toaster this edition

west you're keeping your toaster what are you going to do with it it's going to stay where it always is the bottom drawer of my desk wow waiting for someone to come get it oh so that's just a challenge it's unopened it is unopened excellent all right convenient that wink gets to keep his precious game on in perpetuity. Listen, gold standard. Great job today, by the way. Thank you. Don't let Greg get to you because he's just upset

because he's pretending he doesn't love the game. He does love the game. Dan's saying great job at getting B-minus contestants. That's what we're looking for to keep it entertaining, but to keep the game alive. You just insulted Dan and Big Mike. Yeah, they were both great contestants. They were great.

They didn't win. All right. Well, maybe next time. And that's it for this podcast, today's edition of the ATL podcast. We will be back on Wednesday where we'll cover all the news and whatever else is going on in the league and maybe we'll get into

more about Wes's history as a government worker. Who knows? It's all in play. Civil servant. That's it. A civil servant. But until then this is Dan Hans is signing off for the mailman, the boss and the gold standard. Until Wednesday.

Welcome back to another edition of the Round the League podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by a room of... Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team-building philosophies,

coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision-makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.