NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Who are first-ballot HOF locks?

Episode Date: August 1, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler and Chris Wesseling -- break down the latest news, including Marshawn Lynch's belated arrival at Seahawks camp. The guys also debate which active NFL players are first-ballot locks for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.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. Doesn't share first team snaps. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Chris Wessling, Mark Sessler, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys? Hey, Dan.

It's happening. Back again. Another show. What does that mean? Mark? I don't know. So there's a tone in your voice there. No, I just feel like we were just here.

Don't you want to be here? I couldn't be more excited to be in here. Mark, remember the days when you worked at that major firm doing paperwork where you hated the job so much that when you quit, you left and you had nothing in your desk to take away because you were that uninvested in the operation? And now look where you are. They gave me an exit interview and asked if I wanted to take the elevator down with, like, an official. and I just took the stairs by myself, 27 flights,

walked down through downtown L.A. and drove away. Didn't you once have a job, and maybe this was it, where you wrote a proposal, contract proposals for nefarious organizations and things like that? Yes, and I can say no more, and I got out of there as quick as I could. I'm just saying, you have had a lot of crazy jobs. Along with Wesleyan. And now you're, don't try to pass it off on Wes.

Now you write for the NFL, and you see. Speak into microphones for podcasts, and they put your beautiful mug in front of a camera to talk about all the news. You are living the high life. Beautiful. Beautiful boys and a beautiful wife. All right. I'm excited. Let's go with the show here.

This is your life, Mark Sess. All right. So, great show today. Happy Friday to everyone. All our listeners around the world, special show today. They're all special. This one's nice, too. We're going to talk about the Hall of Fame, which is they're inducting new.

members into the pro football hall of fame in canton ohio this weekend we're going to get into a little hall of fame chatter we're going to talk about the new class and also do a little talk on current players in the league who has a chance to be a first ballot hallfamer which is really the highest honor you could bestow on anybody is to be a first ballot hallfamer in any sport so we'll see what guys in the NFL can achieve that honor potentially at this stage before that we're going to do the news and just want to check in with Zach, Zach with a C-H. Yes, what's up, gentlemen?

How are you, buddy? I'm good. I'm fantastic. I just want to say, Zach, flawless production work on Wednesday's podcast. You never know what's going to happen. We've had so many producers, the spinal tap drummer syndrome we've had. I'll get myself a round of the points. That is, and you deserve it.

Great work. But all it really means is there's more pressure this time around. Yeah, I know. I was worried about that yesterday. I was like, I confirmed with you to make sure it was okay. And now I'm like, now I really have to step up my game. That's true. I'd be scared if I were TD, you know, twiddling my thumbs in Canton, Ohio,

looking for something to do to find out that yesterday's show was Sterling, produced beautifully. Well, he complimented me. He said I did a good job. So I don't think he's worried. I don't think he's worried, but. I wouldn't be, you know, don't be surprised. All right, let's do some news. Marshawn Lynch's contract holdout is over.

The Seattle Seahawks running back. reported to Camp on Thursday. He had been missing for over a week, looking for a new contract. The CL Cogs made it clear both through the media, and then I'm sure two Lynch's representatives that they were not going to be handing out a new contract, considering he was already nicely paid and they had just given him a new contract in 2012.

So now he's back in camp. He accrued about $500,000 in fines, but you assume or you think that they could wipe that all off the books and move together toward another. goal of a Super Bowl Marshawn Lynch back in the fold. Rendering our What's More Likely segment, Irrelevant. That's the big takeaway. That's right.

Who is right? Were we all right? Well, I did preface my answer by saying he will report to camp, and neither of these options is correct. And I know you wrote a piece, Wes. Too much hedging of bets in the last, what's more likely saying. We've got to go more hardcore straightforward next time. None of us are surprised Marshaun Lynch's back.

I think the question now becomes, is this Lynch's last season in Seattle, and you wrote about that way. I did. We floated this idea the other day, and I guess I wanted to follow up in a little more in-depth to explain why the face of the franchise could just be ditched on the side of the road next off season. NFL teams do not pay big money for aging running backs. Marshaun Lynch just got done with the peak of his career the last two years, 26 and 27.

I've done studies, and that is almost always the peak of an established running back's career. I've done studies. That's when you know you've got to take quite seriously. Well, ESPN stats and information has also done studies. Lame. Running backs fall off by 15% at 28, 25% at 29, and 40% at age 30. This is what Lynch has ahead of him. He has 1,000 carries in his last three years, including the playoffs.

His body's going to start to break down. The Seahawks have to pay Russell Wilson probably 20 million a year starting next offseason. Four starters, four key defensive starters, also in the last year of their contracts. It seems they're one of the rare teams, Seattle, that, you know, get some boom or bus franchises that rise up and they're quickly gone. Seattle is trying to build without a lot of emotion when it comes to the roster. Schneider mentioned this this week. He's like, we have our plan, we're going to stick to it.

They've got Kristen Michael. They'll continue to draft running backs that fit the mold. Lynch, it's not as the whole franchise hangs on Lynch's age or health. They can move on if they need to. But it's on Michael. If Michael, who we love as I'm making the leap, candidate. Except for the spelling of his first name. That's true. Kristen, Michael. Go ahead. Let's work on that.

Okay. But if he has a terrible season for some reason, it's hard to imagine them getting rid of Lynch. But if Michael's as good as we think he is, whether it's in a spot roll or if he's split and carries, then you can say so long. And I don't want us to get too far ahead of ourselves, but I'm just curious. Let's say it all plays out the way Wes and many people imagine that this is his last year. He would be age 29 running back by next off season. Would he get like a Chris Johnson-type contract at that stage? A lot depends on what happens this year. I mean, if his body holds up, I think he would definitely get Chris Johnson money.

They would do better than what Chris Johnson got for the Jets. Yeah, I think because. Physical running back, and a lot of people will probably think he's going to drop off the cliff once he hits 30, right? I'm just saying I'd put him at a tier above wherever Chris Johnson's been and Stephen Jackson, for instance, when he became available. Fred Jackson just got a new deal. This guy will keep playing, but it may not be with Seattle. I think that's the... I think with Lynch, look no further than what the Seahawks have already seen out of Sean Alexander.

The end comes quickly when you are saddled up for 300-something carries a year. Thank you, by the way, for getting that Fred Jackson contract extension into the show. Bullet point along the ocean. He deserves it. One of the best running backs of the last decade. What? Come on. He's on the top 15 list.

Okay. Top 10. If you're going to extend best to 15, then we can save it. Let's stick with some running back news. This is some bummer running back news. David Wilson was trying to make his way back from neck surgery. He got cleared by the team, and he sustained a neck burner earlier this week. And now there are reports, according to Connor Orr and Jordan, I'm going to get this last name wrong, Ronan, of NJ.com that multiple sources.

I think it's raining. Yeah, that's cool. Believe it's a long shot that the Giants running back returns to the field. One unnamed source with knowledge of Wilson's medical condition said Wilson, quote, needs a. miracle to return. Sad news for a guy that was so hyped heading into last season, obviously very talented and potentially dynamic back. Now his career is likely over.

And I'm just curious how you get medically cleared and then you suffer a neckburner almost immediately. It makes me scared. And I would think, not to get off topic, but Drew Michael Finley, the Packers must be like, whoa, that's a little scary, how quickly you could clear somebody and not know what would happen. Do we know for sure the burner is related to his? neck surgery?

No. Players get burners all the time. Right, no, we don't. But it's a nerve injury in the neck area, and you just have to listen to Tom Kaufflin today saying that we're all praying for the kid. And I think Dan's point is well-founded. And it's the human body. I mean, that's why it's like you can make as many proclamations as you want or

clearance and feel like you're being safe, but you don't know. How many times have we seen that, that a guy gets cleared something and something happens again. It's happened with concussions plenty of times. Yeah, I mean, they talk about, and I think for New York, too, it is, It's a crippling blow because this is a team that with David Wilson had an interesting backfield, but without him has a very plain backfield with guys you don't even know can go to the distance. They've got no legitimate starting tight end,

and you're just hoping that Eli Manning in this new offense can actually do anything. There really is nothing special about this offense. One thing I'll say, though, if the Giants were really counting on David Wilson this year, that really tells you they messed up because we never knew what we were going to get from them. And that running back depth chart is scary when Peyton Hillis looks like the primary backup right now. Well, they went and got Rashad Jennings and drafted Andre Williams. So they weren't counting on them. But the thought a week ago that he'd be back was big for New York.

Well, they've lost a lot of speed. Wilson, explosive player, Odell Beckham hasn't been on the field. They're not quite sure what they're going to get out of him. They were expecting those two guys. They don't have a tight end to speak of. Larry Donald is their inimitable. Larry Donald is their starting tight end. It's scary.

They could pick a Colt Laerla off the trash pile in a few weeks, if that helps. David Wilson is more talented than this guy, but it's reminiscent of Steve Slayton's career. Remember Steve Slate with a neck injury? Never was the same after that. Let's try to have a Colt Laerla reference in every show for the entire season. If by chance, Dan, he produces anything, it's going to be real bad for you. I am willing to take that chance in life. Here's another player whose career may be over.

Brady Quinn, we got a tweet from the people at Fox Sports. They said they're excited to announce that Brady Quinn is joining that outfit as a college football and NFL studio and game analyst. I guess the takeaway from this is if Brady Quinn is doing that, it appears the NFL is not looking to employ him. So, Mark, we're going to turn it over to you, Mr. Sessler, a Brady Quinn fan once upon a time. I will never forget living in L.A. in a single tiny apartment room with a small TV on the day that they drafted Quinn on the phone with my dad saying, you know what, Dad, listen, I have a feeling. Papa? This is the turning point.

They found their guy. And since then, they have drafted two quarterbacks at the same exact spot in the first round in number 22. And they're just hoping Mansell's the third's a charm. The second was Whedon, so you know where we're going. The father-son conversations that sometimes you think they're seminal conversations and I end up being a little funny retrospect. It reminds me of after the Jets' second AFC title game loss of Sanchez, where he played very well in the second half.

And I remember being on the phone with my dad outside some sad Jets bar in Burbank and being like, Dad, it was a really tough loss and we're bummed out, but we know we have a quarterback and that's something to be excited about. I wrote this piece on Brady Quinn, and after writing it, my main takeaway was Here's a guy with stats that are worse than Blaine Gabbard's and a 4 and 16 career record. And spent time on three different rosters last year, which you wonder what Tim Tebow did and Vince Young did to piss everyone off that Brady Quinn kept getting this many chances. In Cleveland, I will say that there was so much chaos during his short time there. He was, you know, all you'd ever hear was a great teammate and a great guy to have in the room.

Maybe that's what teams are looking for out of your second. Oh, yeah. I don't think it's a case like Matt Liner where you have the feeling that you squandered some talent and there's plenty of other first round picks, J.P. Lossman, whoever I'm trying to think of other. He was a talent squandered his talent. I don't know. Maybe he wasn't even talented in the first way. I think Quinn just maxed out in college, got overrated, overhyped, and drafted too early because of it.

And he kind of hit his ceiling under Charlie Weiss. J.P. Lossman was known as an athletic guy. How do you think he got in the first round? Who's next? Yeah, he's almost as good with the athlete as Tyler Thigpin. He's stuck in college and he got picked as hot in the first round. It was because of the Combine and all that. J.P. Lossman.

Yeah. I remember Jackson. Are you going to sing the praises of David Nelson next? I'm not singing the praises. I was anti-Lossman. I was anti-Lossman. All right. So the New Orleans Saints, the New Orleans Saints,

defense is going to be very interesting this year. NFL League Insiders tell Kevin Clark. of the Wall Street Journal, that defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is, quote, quietly crafting an unorthodox scheme with the potential to change the way the defense. That defense is playing the future. Now, that is, it's really. Well, this is Rob Ryan. But I like that.

All right, why don't we, Zach, we're going to have to put you in timeout for that. Wrong, Ryan. Well, a well-placed jab at the less creative Jets defense. Anyway, let's get this back on the rails. Bad job, Zach. Come on, buddy. Here's the quote. Per Clark said by Rob Ryan,

Rob Ryan, Zach. I'm always ready to get weird. Well, this is a callback to an article Mark Sessler wrote in April where he used the word funky to describe what the saints are going to do on defense this year. You dropped a funky on NFL.com? Good for you. Listen, it was like 548 in the morning. I was proud of you.

Three safeties is what we're looking at. At least three. At least three. Four, five. Five. Hundred. At the same time. Basically, what offenses and defenses are doing right now in the NFL are trying to

confuse each other with hybrid personnel packages, moving them in and out. And defenses think that offenses have figured out blocking schemes too easily. This is a way to change it up a little bit and a way to hang with all the tight ends and running backs and extra slot receivers that we see now. I like that you noted that it came out of, because they used some three safety last year. It's not, you know, the first time they do it, but it came out

of all the injuries that we were writing about in New Orleans, Nolans, at this time last summer, that they had to. He had to move people around. And then you have, they go and draft someone like Vicaro who can be used all over the place. You go get Byrd, and that's why they fought so hard for Raphael Bush. Well, and

their cornerbacks aren't very good. So that's a big factor. You just try to get your best players on the field. After Keenan Lewis, I don't really like their cornerbacks. They don't really like their cornerbacks. They like Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Okay. But I think that-

Their better players are at safety. That's a perfect player. My takeaway was this was more about their linebackers just aren't that good. That's fair. Or that's, and that's the way the NFL is going. You would rather have a safety with somewhat good run defense skills than a linebacker with somewhat good past, you know, coverage skills. And, Wes, back to the point about New Orleans against North.

Orleans. When I cited a 1997 better than Ezra single on Wednesday's show, you seem to think maybe citing that band was not a great source. I scoffed at the notion. Better than Ezra, Baton Rouge, Louisiana residents or founded there, that's a real source. Those are locals. Well, first of all, you didn't even know that when you said that. Bang. That's a bad job. What? You say you're a big, of course I knew that. You said you're a big better than Ezra fan. What? Who said that? And they're based in New Orleans. Forget Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge. They're in New Orleans

I knew they were from Louisiana, but a Twitter reader sent in the Batten Rouge part, which was news of them. What was there one big hit? It's good, living with you on. Right on key, Wes,

by the way. That was like the studio version. They had good in the blood was a great single. King of New Orleans was great. I mean, they had like five very good songs.

Or one. Fair to say that. Desperately wanting. Possibly Rob Ryan not getting his due during this news segment. Whatever, Rob. Win something. All right, moving forward. I saw better than Ezra at Jazz Festival.

Actually, they were great. They were fun. We're going to talk next week about the Saints offense, too, because I think Mark's onto something with this Super Bowl prediction. Oh. I thought you were riding the Packers three months ago. I'm riding the Packers and the Saints, which is why I wrote that article a couple weeks ago,

saying they have moved on par with the Seahawks and 49ers. And by the way, we are going to begin our team of ATL nominations, the process beginning in August, which is right around the corner. So maybe even soon as next week, we'll nominate the first team, maybe do one a week, something like that. And it sounds like the Saints. There's a good chance they might be one of those teams. But we don't know yet. In the mix.

Keep the cards close. Moving forward, Jamal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs is well known for his great cutting ability. Unfortunately, that great lateral quickness might have cost. him a potential starter. Coach Andy Reid told reporters on Thursday that safety Sanders Cummings has undergone surgery to repair a broken ankle. He suffered during Wednesday's practice. The play in question was when Jamal Charles did one of his magical cuts.

Cummings could not stay with the running back. And then his ankle went, he literally broke a guy's ankle. Holy cow! Greg? Me? Well, you were very hot on this story down in the district. Someone literally breaks an ankle. What's your love of the game?

No, I just, you looked like you wanted to speak on this, so I'm just saying, have a word. Well, that's, it's about as unfortunate a way as you can get injured. I guess there's other ways that would be less, or more embarrassing. It's like they were filming an and one commercial. Right, it's just terrible. It's terrible for Sanders Comey. It's terrible for Jamal Charles, too, to kind of know that you have that much power. It's like being a superhero and not realizing that you can hurt somebody?

Right. You're going against your teammates every day. Next time he's doing that cut, I'd be worried. You don't want to take out the whole... He really think this is a big factor for the Chiefs this year. You don't want to take out the whole secondary. And not to... It could happen.

She's good, man. And not to make light of Sanders' injury because that's a bummer. But one of my favorite things is when you watch videos of streetball or things of that nature where a guy does a crossover, somebody falls over, and then everyone in the gym or on the court runs away, screaming with their arms in the air? Do you think that happened on the Chiefs Practice Field after this? Not to make light of the injury.

Yeah, not to make light of the injury. The whole thing was brought up to make light of the injury. So do you think they did that? Do you think they ran away with their arms in the air? Yes. Do you think that happened? Well, it would have been short-lived if they saw their teammate crumpled on the ground. Well, nobody knows at the time that it's broken.

You can't blame them for that. No. Poor Mr. Cummings. So we've been talking about the Johnny, as everyone else, Johnny Mansell and Brian Hoyer, the great battle in Berea. Berea? Berea. I think the locals would call it Berea.

The great battle on the Indian burial ground in Ohio, between the two players. We've been hearing that maybe Hoyer is the guy that's going to win the job, but offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan acknowledged that neither quarterback, is ahead of the other saying, quote, I hope they make it easy for us. Here's the rest of the quote.

Johnny's continued to progress, and Shannon also noted, it's going to take time for the team to choose between a first year arm and a veteran with just four career starts. Chris Wessling glowing. He's saying to himself, it ain't over, and I knew it, and I'm predicting it,

and that's what's going to happen, a battle all through the summer. This is nothing new to me. It's not even August yet, and everybody was handing the job to Hoyer. Of course, it's not over. It's a quarterback competition. And Mike Patton said similar things that they have a long way to go.

I do take a little bit out of this that Kyle Shanahan made a point to say publicly, hey, slow down, and the Hoyer is definitely the starter. I wanted to put it out there. Johnny's got, you know, a good chance. Well, my thing all along, maybe we should wait for football to be played. That's the only point. Bingo. And you also have to.

You guys overrate the preseason, I think. No, we don't. No, we don't. Because he's going to be playing second stringers. and they'll be out there for two series. They're not going to make their decisions off of just that. They're absolutely going to make the decision. It's a big factor, but it's not enough factor.

Almost every quarterback competition we've ever seen has come down to preseason games. Mark, I thought I asked you downstairs yesterday who you thought would start, and you said Hoyer. Well, let's not confuse that with what I think they should do or whether or not it's a fair competition. I think that whether Mansell can take this thing over. I'm with Wesleyan on this. In a game situation, if Mansell does what he does. does. I think he's going to make it real hard for them. The sense that I think we're all starting to get is that they'd be very comfortable with the idea, especially on the road in

week one in Pittsburgh, rolling out Hoyer and using Mansell in some packages. That's what they've talked about for more than a week now, patented. I did have someone inside the NFL media community email me about an hour ago and say, Chris Wesleyan's softball pants are in trouble. Hmm. Was it in NFL media? Zach, they call it the Zach Redemption. Look, Brian Hoyer, his game is always going to be more suited to practices than games. Mansell's will always be more suited to games than practices. Wouldn't it be great to have someone that was good at both?

You know, that's what real good quarterbacks do have to say it. Maybe by the time he's not a rookie anymore, he'll be better suited to practice. You did hear those things early in Russell Wilson, for instance, training camp that, ooh, he's wowing him. Ooh, he's doing this. You're not hearing that about Mansel. That's true. That's true. He's thrown a lot of in the seconds.

Well, we all agree, though, that this is not settled yet. Manzell is behind Flynn at this point. But he was opening some eyes. Well, maybe we'll wait until after three practices are over before we worry about opening eyes. Fair. Yesterday, or excuse me, on Wednesday's podcast, we actually were talking about Johnny Manzell. There was a photo at a bar of Manzell. Appeared to be hanging out with a couple teammates, drinking a cold one.

Someone snapped a photo. It got posted on a sports. gossip site and then it got picked up by some Cleveland area papers including the Akron Beacon Journal. I tweeted out my displeasure with that thinking it was not fair to Mansell. We talked about it

on the podcast on Wednesday as well and then I got a phone call from the writer of that story, Nate Ulrich, who wanted to come on the Around the League podcast and tell his side of the story why he thinks that was newsworthy and why it should have been used. So why don't we get him on the phone

Mr. Zach? All right. All right, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. How you doing, buddy? Doing well. Thanks for having me. You got it. Welcome to the Around the League podcast. As I said before, Nate wrote the piece about Johnny Mansell, who was seen in the bar

near the Browns complex. I sent a tweet expressing that I didn't think that story should be up or didn't see it as fair. I spoke with Nate later that night. Nate, I think Nate's exact quote was a bit of a Twitter drive-by because he ended of getting a lot of venom on Twitter, as can happen on Twitter. And Ian Rappaport, our NFL Media Insider, also tweeted what I had tweeted and added his own opinion on it, which led to more of a firestorm.

So, Nate, I'm going to say, unhappy with the NFL media team right there. Is that correct, Nate? Well, you know, I just wish that it would have went down a little differently. Yeah. You know, I mean, I think in hindsight, you know, from what we talk about on the phone, last night, I think you to agree with that. You know, for you to agree with it, or for you to disagree with it, you know, that's fine. But I really do strive to be fair.

And, you know, I've covered the team. This will be my fifth season. I've covered them day in, day out. And that's one thing that I really try to do. I thought it was a fair story because, you know, when you look at this whole three-month saga, you know, ongoing story of Johnny Mansell and his, you know, his partying, his off-field behavior, you know, one of the main questions was, is it going to continue? Is he going to go out when training camp starts? And they didn't have practice Wednesday here in Berea.

You know, so Tuesday night gave the players a little bit of opportunity to have downtime and Johnny hit the bar, you know, during that downtime. So I thought that it was noteworthy to, you know, pass it along that, you know, Johnny Mansell did go out during training camp, that that answer, you know, surfaced the way it did. So, you know, my big takeaway and I guess my main point is, you know, I'm not pretending that this is on the same level some of the other antics we've seen. It's not him floating on the swan. It's not, you know, it's not him rolling money in a bathroom. It's him going out and having some drinks.

It's pretty low-key, okay, and it's not the end of the world. But I felt that it was noteworthy to point out that this happened. And, you know, here we are in training camp, and the question had been answered. Hey, Nate, this is Chris Wesley. Hey, how's it going? All right. You just answered my question. I'm going to say, so obviously this is not on the same level as the activities which brought his name into the news is the first place.

So I'm trying to figure out how that's news. Don't you? I mean, to me, this is just gotcha journalism. We caught you in a situation where you're out with teammates and we're going to make a much bigger deal of it than it is, especially, like you said, they have an off day the next day. again it's a huge part of the storyline here in northeast ohio people are constantly talking about sports talk radio people just you know talking to me asking me just you know anytime i run in anybody hey you know if they're talking about johnny mansell i do you think he's going to continue to go out is he going to go out when training game starts so he's not going to be able to go

out you know he's not going to have any time mike evans his teammate from Texas A&M, and this was in the post I wrote, and he predicted at the NFL Rookie Symposium that in training camp, Johnny's not going to go out at all. So, you know, I didn't view it as got-you journalism. I viewed it as, you know, we're chronicling Johnny Mansell's lifestyle off the field. This is something that, you know, has been going on for three months. He is a phenom.

I mean, he's unlike anyone else I've ever covered in, and probably, unlike anyone else, a lot of other people have covered, and that he is a celebrity, and Jerry Jones hit it on the head, I think, when he said he was like Elvis. I mean, you know, a lot of things that Johnny does are going to get people talking. And, you know, we all have bosses in this business. And, you know, I know my bosses want content on Johnny Mansell, and, you know, maybe that speaks to a larger.

issue. But there is definitely an emphasis on Johnny Mansell. What's he doing? What's he up to? And, you know, all that played into this. Isn't it on us, though, to make those decisions that maybe toned down the fever that's following Mansell and kind of like making those judgment calls between, okay, this is him going out, let's say, till three, four in the morning during a bunch of training camp days straight or a day before practice or whatever? And using judgments, like, okay, this time he's with teammates. It's, you know, doesn't seem like that big a deal. The rest of the team was probably out having a beer to.

Every team, you know, in NFL history, if you go read books, like we glorify all the guys for sneaking out and getting beers behind Chuck Null's back when you're in the 70s Steelers. And isn't it on us to sort of tamp down some of the hysteria that follows around this guy? It is on us to make those decisions. I made the decision I made because Johnny Mansell isn't just another guy. If Joe Thomas is out having a beer, it's not a story because Joe Thomas wasn't partying virtually every week since late May. Joe Thomas wasn't promising all kinds of people publicly and privately that he wasn't going to continue to party the way he did in college

and that he would be football 24-7. You know, all that goes into it as well as, hey, coach Mike Petten and general manager, Ray Farmer, met with Manzell about his off-field behavior. They met with him in address specifically the photo of him rolling up money expressed concerned. Jimmy has him just a couple days earlier. I'm talking about a couple days earlier from when Johnny went out during the the off the off night that would have been uh Saturday when camp open jimmy hasn't spoke to reporters and it was very stern and said we expect better um and and we think um you know johnny got the message

you know we want him to make his news um on the field not off the field and again i'm not saying that you know going out and you know having a few beers or whatever it may have been at a bar comparable to some of the other things that he did, but it did answer a question in my mind about whether you continue to go out. And, you know, he said, hey, I'm going to continue to have a social life. And I put this quote in the post in question, and it's all about, hey, you know, I'm going to have fun no matter what I'm doing, whether I'm playing football, whether I'm playing golf, or whether I'm having a nightlife.

I'm going to continue to have fun. So nobody should be surprised by it, but it did answer a question. He is going to continue to go out during camp. he won out and you guys keep saying with teammates i'm not aware if he was out with teammates are you guys aware of something i'm not apparently it was i had seen photos where it appeared it was tyler fig pin thick pen and another quarterback on the depth chart conershaw okay yeah i've not seen the photos that i've uh identified those guys well you know this it's good to have uh two sides of the story and we do uh Nate does great work for the akron beacon journal you could read about

his coverage of the Browns at Ohio.com slash Browns and you can follow Nate on Twitter at Nate Erlick, Erlick, excuse me, ABJ, follow all the Browns news. So Nate, thanks for coming on and telling your side of the story. And, you know, I think we're all in agreement

that if Johnny Manzo wins, a lot of this stuff becomes just fodder that might even become positive for his legacy. No doubt about it. And that's what I want. Guys, I want you to know. And I really mean this. I don't like writing about that. kind of stuff. I used to play football. I got into this business because I wanted to ultimately

cover football. It's a dream come true to do that. And I want to write about football. We all have bosses and I'm trying to do my job and thoroughly cover the team in all aspects of it, including a highest profile player. Cool, Nate. Well, thank you very much for calling in and we'll continue to read your stuff. Thanks, man. Thanks, Nate. Thanks, Dave. All right, Dan. You know, why do you have to do that? You know, put a guy on the defensive. Now we're all Woodward and Bernston, Dan Hans is taking shots. I wasn't taking shots, and I, like, I agreed with you. And you know what, the one thing I felt bad about, and I talked about on the phone the day before

he just came on, was that, you know, I didn't mean for him to get fried on Twitter, which is apparently what happened. But, you know, I stand by my feeling that I don't think necessarily that should have been a post, but he says that he thinks it's part of the story and needs to be documented. If Dan, or if Ian chose to retweet me instead of you, I'm the one he would have called. So thank you for falling on their grenade there. All right. We'll move forward.

We'll close today with some talk about the 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame and the upcoming class this weekend. Here's a rundown of this year's class. Derek Brooks, Ray Guy, Claude Humphrey, Walter Jones, Andre Reid, Michael Strahan, Annius Williams. Nice little group there. Why don't we just, we'll start there. Thoughts about that class?

Anybody jump out to you is that extra deserving of enshrinement? Well, each Hall of Fame class kind of has their leader almost where you're like, all right, all the guys are obviously legends, but that guy's the biggest legend. And to me, Walter Jones is that guy of this group. He's the guy when you watched him, not like we're experts on offensive line play, but he's the one in the middle of his career. Everyone knew he was a first ballot Hall of Famer. I mean, you just knew watching him that he's one of the greatest players to ever play at his position. I think he's going to be, he's going to end up being ranked right below Anthony. Kenny Munoz is the second best offensive tackle in NFL history.

I'm excited. I don't know how you can't be for punter Ray Guy. Okay, it's been too long, and this has been a campaign that's waged, you know, by many for years and years. Including the vaguely annoying Chris Cluey. Well, Cluey definitely was at the forefront of that, but he was not alone. Al Davis was fighting for years. You know, Ray Guy has gone on to teach hundreds of other punters the skill. He loves teaching, and I don't know.

This is the guy that I'm latching on to. Let's go Ray Guy. And you know who's inducting him. He's so funny. John Madden. Is he cool? Ray Guy is hanging out and has the endorsement of some Raiders heavies. I just always wonder why Ray Guy instead of like the other great punters of NFL history.

Better name? I think that might be it. And he was on the Raiders, won a lot of games. But they used the number one draft pick on him. And it is, it's important to have a punter in there because that, you know, it has to give hope to other punters in the future. Ray Guy got in, maybe I can. That is important.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much if you're a punter. Dreams have been crushed as they're just punting alone. Why are you not letting punters be people? No, I'm looking forward to every year there's a surprise speech that is like really fun and emotional and you've never really thought about that person before. Ray Guy, after being let out all this time, first punter, he's a good candidate to make that speech. Wesleyan is right, the first ever punter to be selected.

the first round. Yes, and the only. How has that worked out for kickers behind Jan Stennerud, by the way? Watching him get in the Hall of Fame. John Hall is still waiting for his name to come up. He's waiting for a helmet that fits his head. Maybe Seabas, another Raiders' first-round pick will be the next Hall of Fame kicker.

And by the way, even though Ray Guy is going into the hall and had a great career, you can't still convince me too much that using a first-round pick on him was the right move. Come on. First-round pick on a punter? Get out of here. And by the way, Michael Strayhan, the guy inducting him, is Jay Glazer. What? That's striking anyone else is bizarre.

They are legitimately, they've been like best friends for a decade from what I read. It seems a little bit of a stretch, though. At first blush, it does, but they are, they're tight, they're super tight, they're friends. I'm sure they're friends. I have a lot of close friends that maybe I wouldn't have them give a speech if I made the Hall of Fame. You usually have someone that was a teammate or a coach. Jay Gaser gets paid to speak. That's his job.

Do we want to say anything about Strayhan's football? ability you're going to go warrants that well i was to say stray hand uh for a guy who was a four three end pass rusher was one of also one of the better run stuff stuffers for a defensive end and he had a variety of moves he was hard for guys like john runyon eagle's tackle to deal with his speed and power combination and he he had an interesting career because he had such a slow start to it people forget that his first four or five years he was kind of an average starter that didn't get a lot of attention he came on very strongly i do find it interesting that Warren Sapp got the love of the first time Hall of Fame

Bad, and they made Strayhand weight a year, and that it sort of feels right. Even though if you're a Hall of Famer, you're a Hall of Famer, it feels right. I think Sapp redefined that three-technique defensive tackle position. You say, Greg, first-bout Hall-of-Famer and, you know, what that means, and whether, you know, being named first ballot is a special honor, and guess what? We're going to talk about it right now. I have a post that I plan to write for the Around the League side. at nfl.com slash around the league but i wanted to crowdsource it out to the the experts of the

NFL that i do this great podcast with see your your thoughts on the issue uh so i want to let me just throw out some names i think our first ballot guys that are in the NFL right now and the only guideline i want to throw out is if they announced tomorrow that their career was over would they get in so no you can't like say oh well this guy will be good another five years or another year. No, if it ended now, is he in the Hall of Fame? That's harsh. It's high guidelines.

It's a tight five, the list for me. And it is Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Drew Brees, and Bill Belichick. Thoughts. So it's only active players. Somebody like Ed Reed does not count? Does not count, no. Okay. Career ends today.

I would have, for me, the voting in the hall is strange, but I would vote all those guys, yes. I'm going yes on all of those guys. Drew Breeze is the only one that just raised my eyebrows, that maybe there'd be a chance if his career ended today, which you said, that he wouldn't be a first ballot Hall of Fame. Super Bowl win. Eight quarterbacks have thrown for eight times someone's thrown for 5,000 yards. He's done it four.

No one else has done it more than one. Only six quarterbacks have thrown 70% completion percentage of the season. He did it twice. Well, stats are always going to be. weighted towards quarterbacks and passing in this era. I think if you kind of say the Drew Brees of the 80s or in the 90s or the 70s,

are those guys first ballot hall of famers? Especially if his career, for some reason, ended right here at this age. Those guys really aren't. He's always been like the third or the fourth. Is Drew Breeze Warren Moon? No, well, he's like the best parts of Warren Moon and Dan Fouts, plus with a Super Bowl.

He won a Super Bowl. He'll be a first ballot. He was the only one that's the first ballot. suck out the other, I think, are all no-grangers. And you are like a New Orleans homer to the end. I love him. You're saying his career is just shut down all of a sudden at 35. It took him about four or five years to get going. All I'm saying is that name to the others. But he'll, of course, he'll be a first ballot once he has a few more years. All right, here's my list of very close, five more names. So when I say this, their production maybe just falls short a first bout

if their career ended. But then if you did take that cap off and try to say, all right, these guys are going to play a few more years. Can they do it? Here we go. Troy Palomalu, Ben Rothelberger, Larry Fitzgerald, Reggie Wayne, and Champ Bailey. I think Palomalo and Bailey are first Hall of Famers right now. I think it's odd that you have Reggie Wayne on there, but not Andre Johnson, who's been the better player. Hmm. Interesting. This is why you throw it out. Dan will be revising his article post-taste. But Larry Fitzgerald, I think, it's hard to say if he cut his career off now, but his on-paced stats always broke records for the youngest to do this, the youngest to do that.

And voters are always going to remember that postseason, which was the best in NFL history by a wide receiver. The greatest. If you matched him in Breeze up, for instance, again, Fitzgerald's much younger, though. But I agree. Fitzgerald is on pace to be that first ballot guy. To me, whatever Palomalo and Bailey do the rest of their career is almost incidental because they're at the stage where they're well past their peak.

Man, Tim Bailey, Troy Palomalu, especially, I just kind of see those guys going in right away. I wonder if I would vote for Rathlisberger out of the gate, but I would vote for a lot more people than some voters do, it seems. I wonder if he may have to wait a little bit, despite the fact that he won multiple Super Bowls and has been the guy forever. Why do you think that?

I don't know. Just a strange sense that may be right. His numbers, I mean, statistically, he's not. Well, after he wins this year's Super Bowl, then he'll be... That will, then that conversation, but the season just ended right now. Oh, okay. I think he's rated fairly in this, but he is a guy that you figure as long as he doesn't get hurt, he would be a first ballot type of guy, too. Total disclosure, I forgot about Andre Johnson.

That happens. That happens. This is a word guy. This is a crowd source. It's a safe workplace. See what happens when you come clean. He's in the very close category. Thanks, guys.

No attack there. I like that. We all make mistakes. We do. All right. This is now the next. category. That was a fatal one, but yeah. Well, it's not as bad as what Zach did before. Oh, poor Zach. I thought it was out of the room. All right. Now, on the right path, these are guys

that haven't been in the league long enough to be first ballot hallfamers, so obviously they're not going to make it if their career ended. But now you try to say, if these guys continue to do what they've done in the beginning of their career, they could be first ballot hallfamers. Here's a little longer list. Calvin Johnson, J.J. Watt, Aaron Rogers, Daryl Revis, Lashon McCoy, A.J. Green, Joe Thomas, Jimmy Graham, Richard Sherman, and Earl Thomas. What are you laughing at? Well, just at a certain point, it just felt like names were falling on me. Who doesn't deserve to be there?

Like an avalanche, and I just couldn't think anymore. There's too many. Who doesn't deserve to be there? No, none. It was just too many names to kind of think about all at once. Come on. You're professional. Well, JJ Watts so early.

You're right. Of course, he's on pace, but he's played three years. I think Kevin Johnson, Aaron Rogers, and Dorel Revis stand out from that crowd. and belong in the very close category. I agree. Okay. I mean, if you think about it. Are you okay?

You're too overwhelmed to go through that list, Greg? Well, can you speak on? To me, Rogers, for instance, in Breeze, don't have that big of different resumes, even right now. Or Rothesburger for that matter. I'd take Rathesburger over Breeze now that I think about it. Wow. In the first ballot? I put the bolt in very close.

LaShawn McCoy sticks out to me that, yeah, he's on the right path, and Charles are on the right path, but I feel like they have a way to go. And that's a position where the numbers aren't in their favor. It's almost harder for running backs. Yeah, it's way too early on running backs because their careers can end at any time. That's fair. I'm not sure why you had Chris Ivory on that list. Listen, I didn't want to say it, but I just felt it.

I didn't put him on list. Revis is an interest one. You've got to figure he should be in that one above, in the category above. I want to see him come back fully from the knee injury before I do that. But, man, he's done a lot already. Yeah, he had three years as one of the best cornerbacks. that's a thing like a guy like champ bailey he never had a peak right i mean andre read aeneas williams even michael strahan they never had a peak like darrell revis had a peak or

aaron rogers nobody that's getting elected in the hall of fame had a peak like darrell rewis nobody in this year's class that's true well walter jones is all right maybe walter jones and then first ballot guys but they can potentially make the hall of fame with a late push so this is a different group category but just for fun i'll throw out some names and there are you going to be names I miss on this. I did this pretty quickly before the show, but this is the names that popped out to me. Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Demarcus Ware, Eli

Manning. DeMarcus Ware way up to list. Yeah, they... Way up to me is up to very close. I would say very... He is almost there. Eli Manning, Jared? Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. What? What? Just my reaction to hearing Eli Manning. Yeah, they belong to Justin

Tuck and Michael Strahan. One of those Eli Manning conspiracy theorists, Wes. Well, he didn't play that well? I would say the first Super Bowl MVP goes to Jeff Fiegel's because he was punted in ridiculous that game. He must have played well in the second Super Bowl Fame. I know, I know.

He belongs on the list because there aren't how many two-time Super Bowl MVP's not in the Hall of Fame. If we're predicting what's actually going to happen, Eli Manning probably doesn't have to do that much more to get through that room, even though I personally disagree with that. And I feel the same way as you guys,

but I do, I concede if he makes it a late career push where he gets his career back on track and puts up some good numbers and, you know, God, if they want another Super Bowl, forget about it. If they said Eli Manning the Hall of Fame, I'll never step foot in that building. It's personal. Have you ever stepped foot in that building? No. And I'll continue this streak. They're not losing. I never said again. I just said, I'll never step foot in the middle. People in Canton are going to hear this and start scrambling. It's like, oh, my God, we've got to get Wes in this building. Next year, you're going

to the Hall of Fame game. We've got to get Wesleying to Canton. You'll love it. Before Eli's career is over. And the bottom two names on the list, I think. West's scoff covered up one of them, Jared Allen. And then there were two more, two Rosenthal favorites, just happened to be next to each other. Fred Jackson? No, not Fred Jackson or J.P. Lossman. Frank Gore and Roddy White.

No chance Roddy White. Really? Wait, why no chance Roddy White? But we talk about Andre Johnson. He hasn't even had as good a career as Chad Johnson. It's a tough position, too, to get in it. Yeah, Roddy White's. Also, no Dwight Freeney.

Well, that's an oversight. Roddy White's younger than you think, though. If he had another four or five good years, and that's kind of what Dan's saying. He's on the Chad Johnson career path. Frank Gore. Chad Johnson flamed out, though. He was.

That's why he was wearing that fake jacket. He was a guy heading towards that, and then he just completely fell off the clip. My goal is to be in that room by the time Frank Gore's name comes up. I'm telling you. I would love to. I would really love it. They don't allow NFL employees, though.

Career goal? Yeah. If Jay Glazer can give a speech, you can do it for the inconcentee. That's very true. The inconvenient truth. The inconvenient truth. We've never actually spoken. That might be a hurdle.

That's an issue. Wait, you need to read the story about Floyd Little and his presenter. Oh, that's right. That will give you some inspiration. That's right. He let the guy who basically tirelessly campaigned for Floyd Little for some reason. Without that guy, Floyd Little would have never gotten in. That's a great point.

The seeds are there. Oh, and oh, by the way, Frank Gore is at a better career than Floyd Little. True, but also. Put him in! This man was a little more maniacally possessed about the whole Hall of Fame process than you will ever be. Well, I'm young. All right, gentlemen, that's it for today's edition of the Around the League podcast. We will be back next week with three more shows as training camp rolls on.

And as I hinted earlier, I think we might have our first nomination for Team of ATL in 2014. So get excited for that. But even do a little talk about Win Greg's Toaster, whether that game's going to come back at some point this summer. It seems like a debate has to be had about that. The gold standard, of course, put a rule into. the books here at ATL before he left that Greg can only sit on the toaster for so long.

So we're going to hold on that conversation until next week, but something to get into. But for now we are leaving. Have a nice weekend, everyone. This is Dan Hansis. Signing off for the Sizzler, the mailman, the boss, and Zachariah. This is an I-Heart podcast.