NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Honors & Hall of Fame Recap | Conversations with Denzel Ward, Kyle Hamilton and Dalton Schultz!

Episode Date: February 7, 2026

"I can't wait for you to cheer me on next year when we're out there kicking ass." That was 2025 AP NFL MVP Matthew Stafford from the podium at NFL Honors, where the league's best were awarded hardware and five legends were welcomed into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Gregg Rosenthal, Jourdan Rodrigue and Nick Shook join forces to recap the night's action and conduct interviews with Cleveland Browns defensive back Denzel Ward, Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton and Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome to NFL Daily where we can see William H. Macy over there. Like, hey, he's right there. The guy from Fargo. I'm Greg Rosenthal here at Radio Row for our final show. And I'm with Jordan Rodriguez, Nick Shook, who I also went out to dinner for some delicious Neapolitan pizza here in San Francisco. It was an excellent selection of pizza.

Great ordering by Greg. Great planning by Greg. may have forced him to plan, but he came through. He came through in Frontview-Rate spot. It took almost two full seasons, but I finally showed some leadership. That was it, just picking a restaurant that worked. And if you're going to choose a moment to do it, that was the right moment. That was it.

I was really excited, and I can see, like I said, William H. Macy of Fargo fame. Pleasantville was kind of a sneaky fun one. Thank you for smoking is an unheralded gem. You don't normally see like a William H. Macy walking around here. And we're going to get to all the awards in about one minute. The Hall of Fame, some coaching stuff. And then some really good interviews that we're going to listen to today. Denzel Ward's coming up on the show.

Talk a little bit about Jim Schwartz. Not going to be back in that building. Kyle Hamilton, who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory, even though I didn't want to say that to his face. And then Dalton Schultz. I think Dalton Schultz took that loss to the Patriots harder than any player I've ever spoken to is taking a loss. The open sadness, but just like willingness to talk about it, I mean, for a second, I was like,

wow, we've been transported into just so really. I think Texans fans will love him even more. Yes. He is them right now. And so that's all coming up later on the show. But it kind of is overshadowed by the fact that Nick shook and his face lit up like a seven-year-old girl when he heard that Martha Stewart was walking by a little earlier. I didn't know you were such a steward guy. Well, I just missed her. She's a legend, you know, in a number of different ways.

She's a symbol of, you know, strength in women and charting their own path. And she's done it all, and I would just love to have met her. Okay. Oh, I got to see her and in all her glory. Yes. And, wow, you just never forget your first time seeing Martha Stewart in person. I can't relate. You just also never know. Like, I would not have guessed shook was a big stewhead. But he is. She's about that life. We all have different sorts of fandoms. Jordan, she's a Matthew Stafford woman.

And so she, I don't know if it broke her heart or anything that the Rams lost. Ultimately, she's a professional. She's going to cover the teams. It's all, you know, it's all great stories. But I think she would have been a little heartbroken if Matthew Stafford had not won MVP. And he did by the slimmest of margins. Just in terms of first place votes, he got 24, Drake May got 20. 23, Josh Allen got two, Justin Herbert got one.

So like less than half the voters even had Stafford first. It was the closest since Steve McNair and Peyton Manning tied. They were only five points apart because now you vote one through five. So if literally one person had flipped their vote, then Drake May wins by five. Even if you had switched like a second or a third, like that could have done it. It was that close. Every vote matters. Let's listen to probably the second biggest news with the MVP

is that Stafford also confirms his plans for 2026. I am so happy to have you at the games on the sideline with me and I can't wait for you to cheer me on next year when we're out there kicking ass. So I'll see you guys next year. Hopefully I'm not at this event and we're getting ready for another game and so-fi. So I appreciate you guys.

Thank you very much. What a way to announce your coming back and what a way to put a little pressure on that Rams front office. I said I'm coming back. You better get that money right for me in the meantime. Yes, because famously last year, they renewed what Les Need, the GM of the Rams likes to call their wedding vows, right?

This was a year-to-year situation. They made it incredibly clear that Matthew Stafford was going to have this conversation with them every year he still wants to play football because as long as he wants to play football, they'd like for him to be in L.A. Ram. Now, dramatically underpaid this season. relative to what he should be making, and he knows that.

And I love what you said about that being a very, very slick move to do. Of course, in the biggest, the highest honor, the most valuable player award and on the stage, basically saying, all right, your move. I don't want that to overshadow. I almost am giving myself notes in my head that I'm almost painting it as like a look forward financial thing. This is a great moment because as much as Les Needs said that going into the year,

this is the best season of Matthew Stafford's career by a decent amount. Obviously, he won a Super Bowl, but in terms of a regular season, his level of play was higher than it's ever been. And I know you were happy, Jordan, that he gets rewarded for it. And it's going to, like, help change his Hall of Fame candidacy, I think, eventually. It's really a season that's kind of changed the trajectory of his career. Yeah, it was really interesting this year. And I know you picked up on it, too, because we talked to each other about it a couple of times, Nick. But it was like, Sean McVeigh also started coming out and talking about using the words gold jacket,

a little bit more than, especially when they had had that conversation last year at the end of February to where Matthew Stafford decided that he was going to not only return, but to return as a Los Angeles Ram at that discounted contract. Sean McVeigh really started pushing harder than I think I've seen him ever do for a player about just publicly commenting about the gold jacket and publicly commenting about how he should be MVP. And it was something that constantly came up on the course of the season. When I think about watching Matthew Stafford play, I actually think more about watching him practice than I think about watching him actually play on game days because you just don't see people throw the ball the way that

he throws the ball. And that's the reason why I am a Matthew Stafford fan. It's why I've been pushing for him to win MVP since about mid-season. I wrote a column about it at the athletic. Because it's that much of an understood thing in my mind that somebody who is that, excellent every day and makes everyone around him more excellent by being around, by being at the peak of his powers the way he is. It's just something that you can't describe unless you can see it in person. Yeah, and let's think about, you know, the story as a whole starting last off season, you know, the dalliance with the Raiders, the idea that this could have been the end

of Matthew Stafford and the Rams. And then the back injury that convinced a lot of us, like, he might not be on the field for a long time. He goes out and has an MVP season, first you could say caliber. it is officially an MVP season. He comes this close to getting the Rams to the Super Bowl. And if you just look at it in just the one year capsule, it's a great story. But then you push it forward to the next year and you think how close they were this year,

how tough their division is. And the fact that he knew that the Super Bowl is back at SoFi Stadium next year. That tells you everything you need to know about him thinking ahead. Yeah, that's a good call. And obviously it's going to be difficult to repeat that because he's played a lot of seasons. He's never had a season like this. He's never been as consistent a player, I think, as, his biggest fans, even in Detroit, would want to say,

and they watched it happen. And it's why I don't think, I was talking before. I don't even think he's still a lock for the Hall of Fame, but it's going to happen now. I think it'll happen eventually. It's very difficult to make the Hall of Fame, because before this, if you went through his career, and you tried to figure out how many seasons was he a top five quarterback,

it'd be really hard to argue more than two or three. It really, it really would. Now here's another one. He's the only quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl and an MVP after the age of 34. So the end of his career, it reminds me in an even more spectacular way of Kurt Warner's Arizona run. Kurt Warner would not have made the Hall of Fame without the Arizona run. Like, it just wouldn't have happened, and no one expected that to happen when it did.

And I think now Stafford, because of this, it'll happen. But it's difficult. Like Eli Manning, we're going to get to it. He wasn't even close to him. I mean, he was a finalist, but he was as far away among the finalists to getting in. And guys have to wait. A guy like Kurt Warner had to wait, you know, however many years. So this is going to change how he thinks.

And it's such a strange thing that it's so binary. Because do you remember who came in second in the Matt Ryan year, for instance? Like, winning the MVP is like, it's all or nothing. It sort of doesn't matter that Drake May was a single vote away, right? You know what I mean? Like, he'll never be the MVP. Maybe he will be. Maybe he'll figure it out.

You know, believe in something, Greg. I mean, he could, I'm saying, but he'll never be the 2025 MVP. Yeah, exactly. And it really comes down to literally all 50 votes. So you can name any single person that put Stafford over May. If one of them flips, May wins the award. And they're now not letting us see like the fourth place votes, the fifth place votes. They're actually limiting some of the information that we used to get.

We're only seeing the top five vote getters instead of further down. So you can't parse it, but you can parse it that much, that just one person changing their mind. And yet, like, that, that, that. That's his thing. He is the MVP forever. Yeah, but I pushed back against that a little bit because Matt Ryan was like the runaway clear MVP in that season. Yeah. There have been closer races that you could probably go back and think, all right, I remember who finished second. I think when people look at the Matthew Stafford MVP season of 2025, they will think Drake May.

Yes. I don't think so in 10 years. Yes. Because Drake May ended up in the Super Bowl. So that's going to keep it in the consciousness. True. I mean, coming in second in MVP is also something that's a feather in your cap when you're talking about stuff like this. Yeah.

I want to take some heat off our guy, Sam Monson, of PFF. who was not a popular man after he voted Justin Herbert first. Josh Allen also got two first place votes personally. I think that was, I would have had Herbert ahead of Josh Allen. We did, in fact, on this show. I think we should have diverse, like, opinions and interpret these things differently. It's just a beauty contest.

The Patriots fans who were so mad that Stafford got this, like, give me a break. There was so little separating these two this season. It was just interpretation. And the votes showed that. Like, the votes kind of showed how close they were. And, like, I think it's fine to have voted Justin Herbert and people blaming him for it.

It's like, no. Literally every single person that had Stafford over May, you could flip their vote too. So it's not about him. I did do some reporting, though. And I found out his top five. He did have Stafford 2nd, May 3rd for what it's worth. But if those had flipped, that wouldn't have changed the amount.

So I did Vancouver Radio this morning. and they brought that up. And they didn't tell me that it was same at the time. And they said, one guy voted for Justin Herbert first. And I said, well, without knowing the identity, if there was one person who had a vote, and I know he doesn't have a vote, but if there was one person this planet

who I thought would vote Justin Herbert for MVP, would be Greg Rosenberg. Oh, thank you. Because you appreciate what Justin Herbert did this season, playing through the broken hand, playing behind a terrible offensive line, willing the chargers to victories, leading them in rushing in multiple instances.

That said, I would have had him. In fact, we did it on the show, but now I can't remember. I think I had him third, or maybe CMC, was in that mix as well. But Josh Allen comes in third. CMC came in fourth, I believe, for MVP.

Herbert actually was not in the top five, even though he got that one first place vote. But just to explain, too, for the listeners, some people were like, I can't believe this guy got voted last because he was a finalist. And like, Monson wrote him in. That's not how it works.

Every single vote is a right-in vote, but they just tell you who the top five vote-getters were. And so Trevor Lawrence, who came in fifth, didn't have any first place votes, but he did come in fifth. He was technically a finalist. Anyways, he's coming back. Great news, obviously, for Stafford. Let's fly through some of the other awards.

Miles Garrett, only the second unanimous defensive player of the year in history. Can you guess who the other one was? JJ Y. Yeah, 2014. That was when I realized defensive players will never win MVP. Yeah. Because I was like, if he can't win MVP that year, it'll never happen. Yeah.

He is one of only a handful of players to have win of one. won the award twice. Here it is. J.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, Lawrence Taylor. They're the only ones who've gotten it three times. And then Mean Joe Green, Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, Reggie White. That is a hell of a list for Miles Garrett to be joining. Something to be proud of as a Brownsville. I mean, as soon as he sent the sack record, I felt like it was the slam dunk. And the only thing, the only question that remained was, was it unanimous. So I was happy to hear that it was unanimous, that we can all get along and agree that in a season in which there wasn't really a strong second candidate,

the guy who reset the sack record, rightfully, is voted unanimously. Like, Will Anderson was a distant, distant second there. And then Michael Parsons actually came in third, which shows how good. He was, despite missing those people. I don't know if I agree with that. I think it was just, like, not a great year for candidates to be honest. Offensive player of the year was really split up. JSN wins it, Jackson Smith and Jigba.

He comes in first. Christian McCaffrey. I'm a little surprised. He's got 12 first place votes just behind in second. Puka Nakua with the best third place offensive player of the year, Canada, so you ever wanted to see. Came in third, eight first place votes. And Bajon Robinson actually got six first place votes.

So that was really spread out. Even the first place winner, JSN, only got 14 of the 50. And so a really great group of guys. CMC also did win the comeback player of the year vote. And so I don't know if you feel bad for your guy, Puka. Jordan, but I think this was the right choice. I don't. I'm not saying like it should be, it should be like a win.

Like it's a team stat, but ultimately Jackson Smith and Jigba was that excellent. You give them a little. I do feel like if the Falcons were better, Bijan would have gotten more attention with all of them. Yeah. I mean, if the Falcons were what their roster looked like they could be. Yes.

Then yeah. Because he lives up to that. I think that Bijan would have gotten more. Eric's laughing at me over here for saying, asking if you feel bad. What, I guess. It's a, it's, you should be asking. your son. I have no affiliation. Your son is the one who

was the fan. My daughter. And no, I think they lost them on the whole stream. A lot of people. Yeah. Offensive rookie of the year, Tedaroa McMillan. The only surprise is that it wasn't close. Tyler Shuck does come in second. He wins the Diet Pepsi Award, which is more of like a fan thing.

Trayvion Henderson got a first place vote. I don't like that. I don't like that. Yeah, I don't love that one. But it wasn't, it was a weird. It was a very weird group. Jackson Dart comes in fourth. Ameca, Abuka comes in fifth. He, talk about somebody who was going to run away with it. I know. His stats and T-MACs were so similar, and it just comes down to in those final two games they played against each other that everyone's watching. Like, T-Mack was bigger factor and the Panthers win. Once Abuca got hurt, he was never quite the same guy the rest of the year. But like, in the end.

But man was he was, he was cruising for us. It was supposed to be a great offensive rookie class. I think it turned into a good one. Yeah. It was deep. And if you actually went through like all the voting, you would see like six through 10 were good players too. And yet the Associated Press, for some reason, they're not letting us look at all the votes.

I want to see on pro football reference that a certain quarterback or whatever came in eight. O-P-O-Y-9. Right. Stuff like that. Yeah. Because it gives you just a larger, you know, context. There are information's there. So I'm going to write a strongly worded letter.

I'm not even joking. Ooh, I like that. get to... I'll co-sign it. I do believe that he will do that. We at NFL daily. It's going to be an email. Defensive rookie of the year,

Carson's Freshenuger. No surprise there. Another excellent Brown's defensive player. How about that? Yes. Who had a great deer in Jim Schwartz's defense, and now we'll have to figure out a new defensive scheme. Yes, he was fantastic. A pick at 33rd overall that shocked everybody at the time.

I remember DJ's initial analysis was, this is them choosing the best remaining linebacker because it falls off a cliff after this. I don't think anybody expected him to come in and have the defensive rookie of the year's season he had. But if he watched the tape, You can't argue with it. Yeah, I know two teams that had a late first round grade on him, too. So I think there are a lot of people that were trying to keep how good they thought he could be very, very quietly.

You mentioned Schwartz going. Even though the Hall of Fame news is bigger, I want to give that some time. Just since it's topical, we just talked about the Browns and their defensive players, Schwartz resigns, weirdly worded. It took like a week. Some people thinking maybe they're going to just back up the truck and convince Schwartz to stay. But then Todd Monkin in his opening press conference, which we didn't have a chance because it was this week to really dive into, pointed out, hey, it wasn't Jim Schwartz. All those defenders were chipping.

It was Miles Garrett. And I was like, oh. This is what Todd. Ew. I get what he meant. Like, we get to keep Miles Garrett. But that told me, yeah, Jim Schwartz probably isn't going to stay. there aren't many open jobs right now for Jim Schwartz.

So it's kind of a, a balzy move to be like, no, I will pass on your millions of dollars because he's not going to make that money unless he gets another job. But then they have to maybe figure out trade compensation because they're going to hold on to his rights. It's gnarly. Yeah, but this is what Pride does sometimes.

And when you miss out as one of the finalists on a head coaching job and you kind of erupt emotionally in the building and tell everybody, you're out of here, you're not coming back. I understand why you would decide to resign and move on from a team that you probably feel like, well, I'm a second banana even if I come back because they didn't want me as the head coach, so why should I stick around?

Pride drives it, but I understand the argument. And now it's up to Todd Munkin to figure out who he's going to replace him with and prove that it is, in fact, the players. Wait, Schwartz knows he's going to make money. He's made plenty money. He'll make money. He might get it from the Raiders

who have an open job right now. But then the Browns could, like, negotiate a trade for trade compensation. So we'll see. Let's get to those, Hall of Fame picks. Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vittitary getting in on his first year,

all in as first ballot Hall of Famers. I kind of don't like that we make such a big deal out of first ballot. Like they put that up, first ballot, first kicker to be first ballot. Timely take, Greg. I don't like that. Luke Keekley.

It's kind of because like it diminishes Luke Keekley, who should have been a first ballot hall ofamer, but he is going in. And then Roger Craig, the first player from a senior's committee to get in since they changed this format. But one of three candidates and only one got in. So neither Kraft gets in nor Belichick, who are the contributors with this new format, and only one of the senior candidates.

So we have a class of five. I'm going to start with Kikley with you, Jordan. You covered him for five years. Just your thoughts on him getting immortalized in only his second year. eligible as an all-time great. Well, I think everyone expected it, like you said, to be last year. And people, I think, quickly forget how good some of these guys were when they were playing. And I think he's a classic example of that.

Unbelievable. One of the best you'll ever see and has ever been to play the position and could do anything. Could cover Julio Jones, could, you know, direct the defense, directed different multiple versions of this defense. Could call out the opposing offenses plays. Could call out the opposing offenses plays back-to-back interceptions after telling you he knows exactly what you're going to do and then you do a different thing and then he still makes the play twice back to back. I mean, he was special and what I so loved and it pulled at my soft, soft heartstrings was Julius Peppers being the one to be standing, you know, in his room with a bunch of

his friends, our friend of the show, JJ Jansen as well. Steve Weiss, who's always there. What a gig. Which incredible to see him there, too. And congrats to Steve Weish on the HBCU Hall of Fame as well, really well deserved, such an honor. And for Pep to be standing there and really clearly emotional by the moment. And then Luke, who has never been emotional or showed him any emotion at all. And it's just been so all ball all the time to sort of almost ask him, like, hey, Pep, you know, what are you doing? And it was so pure of a moment.

It was very cool. I love to see it. It's one of the best things NFL Network does, NFL films. There's a full 30-minute edition. It's Steve Weish's time to shine, too, with these players, letting them know. And Kee Kee Klee was one of the least emotional people ever when told. But that's very much. And he was just like, oh, hey, this is cool.

And usually they break down and it's all crazy. And it was more just like, this is awesome. My friends are here. I'm almost uncomfortable with it. But Luke Kinkley, 14th on the top 25 players of the last 25 years when we did that. I was thinking when I saw Garrett, unanimous defensive player of the year, too, I was like, oh, if I did 26 and 26, like Garrett's already moving up another four spots. There's not many people that have done that.

But Kikli really makes me think of West. We've talked about West this week on the feed and everything. and, you know, we were watching Keeckley from the NFL network newsroom, and immediately, like, rookie year, West was just like, that's one of the best linebackers ever seen. Like, this guy is, like, the ultimate, like, truth in terms of, like, his reaction time and his speed combination. It's like, people like to talk about instincts.

It's like, no, he was, like, he had the instincts, but the instincts plus the insane athleticism combo. And West, he made him his guy as much as just about anyone, I would say, in the entire NFL within his first two years in the league. And so on this week where, you know, we remember West five years after his passing, very cool to see Keekley get in five years after, you know, he finished his career. Yeah. And I'm really happy that it happened now because, like you said, I feel like we tend to forget how good players can be. And we forget about guys like him because his career was cut short. You know, he did not last as long as, you know, some of the.

the greats of the past in interest of his health, right? And I felt like he kind of faded into, not anonymity, but just into the past and people move on. They start to identify the new linebackers and they forget about those greats. And it first kind of hit me when he was doing ESPN's like alternative broadcast of the Colts game, the Monday night game, and he's on the breakdown. And he's doing exactly what he used to do on the field and explaining everything. And he called the pick six that Rivers through. That was great.

And you're just like, oh my God, there's that great football mind. And he had a little bit of like virality moment in the following week on social media. But for him to get here, it's like now you know that people will not forget him. So I like always rewarding peak players. And I think Roger Craig was a good example of that. He had two years over 2,000 yards. He had in terms of yards from scrimmage. He had, you know, seasons where he goes a thousand.

He had a season where he went 1,000, 1,000, which never been done before, just absolutely outrageous. So he gets in at the senior committee. We'll give these guys more time when they do get inducted. But obviously Drew Breeze and Larry Fitzgerald were just no doubters. And great to see how emotional they were, the famous story, how Larry Fitzgerald used to be the ball boy for Randy Moss. And Randy Moss is the one that lets him know. And you can see how much it meant to Breeze, who is just means more to that team and that franchise, just about than almost any player to any team in franchise. So it's going to be a really great saint celebration.

Like the Saints fans are going to show up in Canton. That'll be really cool. Obviously great to see Venetary get in. And a great class. It's five players. I find it interesting because they let you know how the voting went. So that's who got in. Last year, only four players got in.

This year, five players get in. Only one, like I said, from those senior contributor bucket, which is less than it's been in the past. It's harder. Dionne Sanders was like, I'm sick of this Hall of Very Good. Make it harder to get in. They kind of listen to him and it's worked. I don't know how I feel about that, but we're having smaller classes.

But the next three that were left off, the three that got the closest. The only one that I thought should have gotten in was Marshall Yonda. I think he will get in the Ravens Guard. Willie Anderson from the Bengals, who's been on the list forever, was very close to getting in. And Terrell Suggs. Next three after that was Frank Gore, Darren Woodson, and Jason Witt. I was surprised. Witten and Gore in their first year of eligibility already getting to that final, what is it, 10, I guess they're not.

Like, you know, they were the next six out and four got in from the modern guys. That's a good sign for them long term. And it's a bad sign for Tori Holt and Reggie Wayne in Eli Manning. But Eli Manning is pretty early in this process. You just walked back by us, by the way, behind us. And Kevin Williams. But I don't think anyone's really. really covering the cuts because they have to have these different parts of the voting.

So I just kind of wanted to point out, like, who is getting closer. It was a great sign for one of my favorite players, the inconvenient truth, Frank Gore, that he probably will get in. And that Eli Manning is not like a total lock. It's hard. I mean, it kind of, we had this debate with Eli and Philip Rivers. Like they were both in the same kind of bucket where we were just like, are they Hall of Famers? Well, here's the thing, like the next few classes are loaded.

Yeah. And so when Ali Connolly came back at me, when I said I would have put Holt as my fifth on my list, because I kind of wanted him to finally get in. And he was like, oh, so you saw him as like a top two. And I was like, no, he was always like, you know, he was three to five for so long. And he's like, but is that the type of guys you want in the hall of him? And it's like, I think it's a good point. And then I sort of flipped it on as I was talking to Marshall Yonda,

who was like pretty obviously the best guard in the game for a long time. Those guys might never get in. It's kind of the larger point that I'm making or at least might make it to the senior committee. I know I'm honking a lot. Finally, Cliff Kingsbury is part of the Rams. How weird is that? It is very weird.

It is very weird. It's just like the epicenter of the bro universe, Los Angeles. Probably not going to be the offensive coordinator was your take because they didn't say his position. So it's probably going to be some sort of offensive. Senior offensive advisor assistant. And it's kind of a reminder, Cliff Kingsbury, despite having a lot of friends in the media

saying how highly thought of he was for a lot of these jobs. Didn't get a job, ultimately. And now he's going to go through the Sean McVeigh reputation car wash. Yeah, we were talking earlier. We compared it a little bit to the Kyle Shanahan quarterback car wash. How dare you say that about my new best friend, Mac Jones.

All right, let's take a break, and we're going to come back on the other side with Denzel Ward. Keep this Brown's conversation going. We also have Kyle Hamilton, one of the best players in the entire, NFL and Fulton Salt coming up in just a few. This month, IHeart Radio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games.

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Radio app. I'm Dylan Playfair. And I'm Tyler Smith. We're putting loneliness in the penalty box by talking to some of our favorite athletes about the importance of friendship. This is bromance. Bromance is brought to you by Charm Diamond Centers, proudly Canadian-owned and operator. Charm has been part of your love

stories and bromances for over 50 years. And you can find Bromance on the IHeart Radio Network or wherever you get your podcast. Excited to welcome in five-time pro bowler. Yes, sir. How's he been in the league that long? Denzel Ward of the Cleveland Browns,

but I feel like I'm just getting in the way here because it's a reunion between... Of sorts, yeah. Denzel and Nick Shook who know each other. Wait, how do you guys know each other? I first started talking to Denzel when he was coming into the league. We were doing phone interviews, and then when I went for the Browns,

he was only in the second year. And he was just starting to ascend to the elite status that he has occupied for so long now. Appreciate it, man. Yeah. I mean, were you like a little annoyed, Denzel, like that this website writer was like bigger than half the guys on the team? No, not half the guys. We had some pretty good guys, big guys, but no, he is big.

Denzel, coming off, obviously a great year for your defense, and you just saw your guy, Miles. We're taping this on Friday, get rewarded for it, unanimous defensive player of the year. first of all, what's it like seeing that every day as a teammate? It's been a while, but also being on a defense that's so dominant, even when the team's not getting done and keeping that sort of focus. Yeah, I mean, that's the mindset. Like, regardless what the offense is doing or what the team is doing, like we got to hold ourselves to an elite standard, a high standard,

and the defense still got to hold its own and try to put our offense and special teams in the best position as possible. So, yeah, that's the mindset going out on the field every time. it's a good of our guys the best chance to win the game. Seeing Miles, like in practice or maybe when you're watching it on film, is there just like a moment that stands out to you or stuff that he does? I think really every time he lines up, like, for how big he is and explosive he is, he's able to get off the ball in 0.2 seconds and then just like a blur getting around the tackle.

So, I mean, Miles is a Hall of Fame player. You guys know that. And just what he's able to do, we see it every day practice in the game. Yeah, you get used to it, right? I mean, you've seen it since you arrived because he started a year before you did. But how about that moment when he finally breaks the sack record in Cincinnati? Because, I mean, it happens in the second half. You can kind of probably feel the tension like, oh, man, he's going to get it done.

And then the celebration, what was that like? No, that was real cool, man. I mean, it's well deserved. Miles is an incredible player. I know just reaching for goals and you're right there at that goal. I know he wanted it bad. We wanted it for him. And for him to capitalize on it and make history, that's a great story to tell.

What's cool, too, is I think you go back two, three years, you know, you go into the season. and they would be like, well, Miles, what's your goal? And he would always say a defensive player of the year. Well, he's done it twice now. Right. So, like, okay, keep stacking them up. But then it makes me think, what is your goal every year when you go into the season? Yeah, for me, is to be the best on the field.

Be the best player on the field. I know we got a Miles Garrett on the field. It's kind of hard. I'm right there with him, you know. As dominant as he is out there at the cornerback position, but just being that guy, being that guy that could shut down the side of the field and not allow no catches and make plays. Let's go through.

I don't know if this would be like a speed round, but I'd be curious to just throw a couple of the great receivers that you go up against and what you bring to the table when you go up against those guys, what you're looking for. Obviously, you know, you play the Bengals twice a year. When you face Jamar Chase, what are you looking to do? Yeah, I'm looking to dominate, you know, looking to dominate every time. Like I enjoy those matches.

Like you said, Jamar Chase T. Higgins, you know, they're prolific receivers in his league. And you know Joe Berth, they're going to throw the ball going into that game. So you're going to get your action and you're going to get your plays. So just really going in to make plays. stop those guys as best as you can. You see weeks before, they had golfed for 125 yards or something crazy. And it's like, you know, we can't let that happen this week. You got to stop them and put our guys in the best chance.

Is there something you do? Let's use those two as an example, different, like technique-wise, against a player like Jamar Chase versus, let's say, a T. Higgins. Yeah, I think it just goes into film. So, you know, I can't give all my little twos. But, yeah, just watching film on those guys. They may do different things and some similar things. see how I could attack it in different ways. And I feel my plans on how I like to play

falls right into covering guys like that. But it's definitely competitive out there. It'll be a good matchup every single time. And yeah. How about D.K.? Like, would you rather go against a big, like, monster? Or, like, does that give you more problems? Or maybe a smaller, shifty guy? Like, which is tougher from your vantage point? I wouldn't say either is just tougher for me. I feel I could cover different body types like whether a smaller guy and faster guy like Tyreek Heel or a bigger guy like a D.K.

Metcalf, I think really what gives you problems is if that player is able to use their abilities and like if they're a big guy are they able to get big with you and really take you a type of fast guy, are they able to run by you? And so I thought I could kind of play both playing styles.

But yeah. What about, I think about the whole Jamar Chase and T. Higgins thing, right? obviously division opponent and you've had success against the Bengals. But then it made me think, like, I've watched Denzel make a lot of plays against some pretty good receivers and some pretty good quarterbacks. Who is your favorite quarterback to pick off?

Ooh, my favorite quarter. I'm going to have to go Joe Burrow. Yeah. I had the 99-yard pick six against him. The one that came to mind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Joe Burro is definitely a guy. I look forward to playing against.

And, you know, I'm looking forward to getting that next interception against him as well. So I got to have to go Joe. Because there's so much continuity with your defense and you've been there while and they've been there like is there like a are you talking more with them because you know them so well haven't gone against him twice a year for so long yeah i mean i mean we talk a little bit but i'll be out there trying to save my breath save my energy you know focus on the game you know there's a lot of energy out there but um no yeah we talk during the game and uh just competitive talk you know a little trash talk here and there but we more so focused on just playing the game so

where were you when you learned jim schwartz will not be coming back he officially resigned as the coordinator on Friday morning. Yeah, I was in bed. So I woke up and my mom had texted me that Coach Schwartz resigned and won't be with the team anymore. I was like, oh, man, that hurt because I got a lot of respect for Coach Schwartz and definitely wanted him to stay with the team. And I know he's going to do great things wherever he goes next. I mean, he's prime for a head coaching position and he's amazing coach.

It's a tough way to wake up, of course, losing your decontor that has guided you guys. is so much success, but if you think about it, let's go back to last night. Miles wins defensive player of the year unanimously. Carson Swessinger wins defensive rookie of the year. You obviously are in the defensive backfield. You guys have talent. We continue to go down the list. I think back to, you know, at the end of

your press conference when they pointed to Malik Collins being one of the reasons that, you know, the ownership kept Andrew Barry. You guys have talent. So what, if you had to advertise this unit to an incoming coordinator, what would you say to them? I don't think we need much advertising. I feel like the play talks for itself. Like you see what

we were capable of doing. And like you said, the guys we got, we got a defensive player to year. We got a rookie defensive player to year. We got just a lot of guys across the board that make plays and go out there and do their things. I don't think we need to advertise that stuff much. But we just go out there and play whoever coordinator, wherever we get. You know, we go learn who that is and go from there. I am curious. You guys in an in-season trade, Greg Newsom goes to Jacksonville. Tyson Campbell comes in. He ends up playing really well. What was it like learning a new guy on the other side of the field from you and getting him activated to the Browns.

Yeah, it was tough at first because Greg News and that's my brother. Right. I was hurt when we traded them, but I mean, that's the NFL. Guys are going to be shipped out, shipped in, but I do think it was a good trade, though. I like Tyson. Tyson's came in and felt the organization and it's been a good piece added to. He's been playing well, locking down the other side of the field, so it's been good, having them in the locker room.

I saw you overseas playing in that game, and I remember Carson. I want to check this, but I'm pretty sure he had the green. in that game and he comes in as a rookie and he's really doing a lot of like next level stuff as a rookie. When did you get the feel that might be different than like your average rookie linebacker? I mean, I think as soon as he came in, I mean, he was making plays the first day he stepped out on the practice field. And so, I mean, that was like during camp. So I was like, okay, I think we got a player. But we got to wait to see once we get into real live ball and going against the guys in a regular game. And nothing has changed. I mean, his play just took off and continued to

got better and better each week. And yeah, I mean, you see what he's able to do, and he's a great player. He's one of those guys that Browns fans, I think, have already gravitated toward. Why do you think that he's been such an easy guy for them to root for it? I think he's just a good guy. And, I mean, he's a great player. You making plays out there and doing what you're supposed to do, Cleveland and everybody's going to love you.

One thing I find interesting about you is you've been asked this so many times because you've just been with the Browns, and obviously there hasn't been a lot of winning lately last few years in saying, like, I don't want to. want to go anywhere. Stop, stop fake trading me because people without really knowing, just like they're trying to come up with possible trades. We do that sort of stuff on this show, but we try to ground it in some sort of reality. And there's never really been any particular reason to think that that was going to happen. But people like, oh, maybe the Browns would give up Dan's

a word, but you've been pretty vocal being like, no, this is, this is where I want to be. Like, why is that important to you? Why is that always your state? I'll say it's definitely where I want to be, but also, like, wherever I met, like, I'm content in being, so say I were to get traded, you know, I'm a believer in wherever I'm at, that's where I'm supposed to be. So I'm going to still be myself. I'm still going to go and make plays and be a shutdown corner. But, like said, Cleveland is definitely where I want to be. This is a team that believed in me when I was coming out of college at Ohio State and continue to believe in me, giving me a contract. And, you know, so I just try to go out there and make plays for the city and be that guy that they, uh, draft

That's the proper answer, of course. But it's also home. I mean, you're from not very far away. Let's not forget that. My family's there. I live 30 minutes from home, so, yeah, it's not too bad of a place to be. Yeah. When I saw a five-time pro bowler, because I'm into this Hall of Fame stuff, I know you don't want to even think about that. I'm like five times. Like you're 28 years old, right?

Yes, sir. Does that pop in your head at all? And I guess what I would say, because I think, like, the average fan, Browns aren't in prime time quite as much as some other teams. I want them to learn from you, like, what makes Denzo Ward Dens Award, Denzo Ward? Like, why do you think you're getting those honors in excelling and making you unique to other cornerbacks that either aren't getting there or are? But what it makes Denz O'Word, Denz Award? Yeah, that's a great question.

For me, I'll say one being consistency. I feel like I've been very consistent since I stepped into the league. Just my level of play has increased or gotten better, you know, I've been in the league and just my playing style. I feel like I could cover smaller guys. I could cover bigger guys. I can play inside. I can play outside.

And I just find I'm a prime playmaker. I'm able to go out there and make plays and shut down my side of the field and be a dominant. It's the hardest position to find, which is why I think like, that's why they pay you. And that's why, like, it's just so hard to find guys like that. Also, you know, sometimes hard to find great Madden players. You're here representing EA sports. Oh, yeah. Got the Madden jacket on right.

That's nice. Embroitered. I heard you were just playing Sequin in the booth. Yeah. So who won? We actually didn't get to finish the game, but I was going to win the game. I was going to win the game. I was going to put about 21 points.

You know, I'm going to say everything that I was going to do. We didn't get a chance to finish the game, though. Okay. How are you as a player? Like, you're fine. I'm nice. I'm nice. I'm at it.

I feel like that's something that you tend to do in the offseason. I think like maybe back in COVID, you did a little bit of streaming, too. Yeah, yeah. That's literally all I do is play the video game, play Madden. So, yeah, I'm definitely my pickup streaming some more and start streaming Madden. You got to ask Shook for advice. He does the Twitch. Okay.

He does the streaming. A little bit, a little bit, yeah. We might be able to, you know, work together and do something. Yeah, I think we might have to collaborate. Yeah. We talked to Justin Jefferson about it, and he was on board. Okay. So, you know, we got to get both sides of the ball going.

Yeah, let's do it. I love it. Just a couple of streamers hook it up. And, yeah, used to work together back with the Cleveland Browns back in the day before we got our big acquisition. Nick Shook. I'm still trying to live up the Denzel's. Yeah.

You're good. Thank you, Denzel. Appreciate you. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you guys for having me. Welcoming in Kyle Hamilton, two AP first teams, has a second team, too,

in his short four-year career. One of the best players, really in the game. Love having you on. Kyle, you're here talking about Visa, but it's a big off-season of transition here for your Ravens. It'll start there. What was your reaction seeing Jesse Minner become your new head coach?

Well, first off, thank you for having me. Thank you for the illustrious introduction. I've met just like sparingly with Jesse and a couple of guys from the staff. Some people that I know I've known from before, some that I haven't. I think it'll be good for us. It's a fresh start for a team, an organization that hasn't had one in a while. So I think everybody's kind of looking at it with the right perspective and just excited to get the work. Yeah, we see, you know, you obviously play an X-factor role in this defense.

Have you discussed with him at all how that might change with his scheme? Not too much, honestly. Actually, not at all. He told me that he's had a plan for me and stuff like that. But I'll just leave that for OTAs right now. It's all season. I'll figure out the way I'm playing defense. What is a point?

player like you, obviously, you take your job very seriously. You got to the NFL and kind of hit the ground running, but when you get to the end of one of these seasons, like, what is the exhale the next month, which you're still, I guess, kind of in the middle of like for you? Yeah, I mean, I think you're one, if you do finish healthy, you're just grateful that you get out healthy. That's a big plus. Obviously, the season didn't add the way we wanted it to, and it's kind of an abrupt end. But I think you kind of just transition into, you just simulate back to society a little bit.

It's like you just black out for seven months, and then you wake up with normal humans. I feel that just covering the league. I can't imagine what it's like for you. So you don't feel like you're a member of a society while you're in the end of the agency? Yeah, no, you're kind of just in this little bubble doing your job. My mom always says I have a seasonal job.

So I'm currently out of work. What's the first part in that process of the off season that you get into where you enjoy the most? Golfing. Okay. Really? Okay. Because I'm a big golfer.

I am hopefully going to join a club in Atlanta where I'm from where I live in the off season this off season, so get to work on my game a lot. But don't play at all during the season. Don't really have the time or energy to go out there for four hours and whack a club around. So, but yeah, just golf a lot, play some tennis, play some football, all that stuff. I'm going to ask you the standard question that everybody asks when you say you're a golfer. What's your handicap? When I've, the season started, I was a five.

So I'm kind of a trending golfer in the offseason. And then it just plummets off the hill after that when football starts. I mean, I probably plan around an eight right now, but hopefully I can get that down. Okay. Oh, he's going to be at that Tahoe Pro Am pretty soon. Oh, yeah. I hope so at some point. I got to fix my short game before that.

That, uh, look, I was going to save for the end. We're going to get back to like, defense and all the supposedly important stuff. But you're mentioning that you're a tennis guy. I mean, you're like, you're a Twitter guy right now. I saw your top five list of athletes and other sports. And I love that you put Alcarez and Sinner two and three. You had Shohei one, Alcarus, Sinner, two, and three, then Mbapai and then Shea Gildesda,

Alexander. So the respect that you got for Sinner to put him ahead of every single player in the NBA. Like, what's your tennis game like? What's your tennis fandom like? I'm into this. Yeah, it kind of, I've always been. somewhat a touch and go fan. I was a big Roger guy growing up,

but I kind of really only knew the big three, and I would only watch some Grand Slam tournaments. But I think last year, me and my fiancee Reese, we literally sat down and watched the whole French Open final. Wow. All five and a half hours. It's like watching the Godfather. Yeah, yeah, I know, exactly.

And the Titanic, all in one. But no, we watched that, and then we went to London and saw Wimbledon in person, so I got to see Carlos play. So I'm like literally, watching like ATP 250 tournament. Let's go. You're deep in it now.

Like midnight. And so I'm kind of definitely deep in the tennis right now. Not good at playing it yet. But hopefully I will be. But I think I put Carlos and Yonik two and three just because like they're so dominant right now. And I think dominance is a big thing when I made that top five list. Like Shoah won. He had 10 strikeouts and three home runs.

I was at the game. Or was that the NLCS? That was the NLCS. Yeah. Clincher. Yeah, with my boy. That's crazy. All right, so where are we putting Kyle Hamilton among this list?

Where do you end up at your peak? I'm a couple pages down that list. I mean, hopefully I'll crack the top, like current or like. Oh, we're talking about your peak. Let's be aspirational here. Okay. I mean, hopefully I've worked top 50. Oh.

That's low. I mean, football is an American down. I'm thinking on like the global scale. I like it. And like an American that's not like. I forgot one person on my stuff. I forgot. Who'd you forget?

Katie Lebecky. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Good school. Good soul. Yeah. See, when she's, like, you don't even see the other swimmer on the screen. That, that's fair.

Look, if you keep racking up these honors, I'm into tracking greatness, tracking different great players, how great careers go. Like, you're starting to stack. And I know it's early. You don't want to get ahead of yourself, but you're stacking what great players do. There aren't many players that come into the league that stack these sort of honors like yourself. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you're stacking. awesome. And I can't think of another player. And I wonder what you think of this, that in back-to-back

seasons, and maybe you tell me if the media is over simplifying it, back-to-back seasons, there's kind of been points of the Raven seasons where it's like, hey, we got to go fix something. Let's have Kyle operate a little differently. Let's move Kyle to a different part of the field. Let's change Kyle's assignment a little bit, and that'll fix the defense. And then it kind of does help improve the defense. Are we getting? Are we getting? that? And what does that mean to have that sort of responsibility? Yeah, I think it's a little, I mean, I'm not on Twitter during the year. So I kind of just get my news, sports news hearsay just from our media team and all that stuff,

whatever I was saying. But I mean, I think there's a little truth to it. I think that's why the Ravens drafted me just to be able to kind of be a guy, Swiss Army Knife gets thrown around a lot to be able to, you know, move around and, you know, kind of be the flex seal of some sorts. But it sounds cliche, but it's really a team solution and a defensive solution. And that comes with guys just jelling together. And we try to trend upwards throughout the season. And rookies start getting more comfortable and stuff like that.

So, I mean, there's a lot to do with the turn around that happen. Now I'm just sitting here thinking whether you're like the flex steel tape or you're like the cock that they use, all those different commercials. The other, the big narrative last year, too, regarding you was how the acquisition. of Alohi Gilman allowed them to really free you up and do whatever they wanted to do with you. Now, we already kind of talked about how we don't really know yet what it's going to look like. But how does that make you feel knowing that you can have that much of an impact on a defense that when everybody looks at the Ravens defense, they key on you. They're like, Hamilton, whatever he's doing, we have to stop him first.

Yeah, no, it's pretty cool. And I'm blessed just with the ability to do what I'm able to do. And to your point, Loha, was a senior when I was a freshman in Notre Dame. So it was really cool to be able to play with him again. He's like a big brother type to me, you know, talking off the ledge my freshman year of camp. And I'm like, dude, I don't know. Yeah, I'm like, I don't know if this is for me. And he's like exactly what you said.

We've all been through it. But yeah, I mean, just being able to do all that stuff is really rewarding. And, you know, the coaching staff has had a lot of trust in me to be out there doing multiple things because it's a lot to know and a lot to apply from practice to game day. you've got to kind of have these folders, like boxes in your mind that you kind of turn off and turn on from play to play. So appreciate them for just entrust me with that amount of trust in the defense. I like how Chuck Nick is like, oh, yeah, we've all been through it. Like, we all have, I haven't been through it.

But Nick can see that credibly. Just imagine showing up. You're at the next level and you're just like, oh, I'm ready for this. And you show up and you're like, oh, my God. This is not what I expected. Am I cut out for it? That's what I thought when I showed up for the two-lane tennis team, and then I wasn't cut out for it. See, we all go through it.

I was right. Look, Jesse Minner has talked about you specifically. Maybe he hasn't gotten in depth of what your role is going to be face-to-face with you. And this isn't in-depth, but in his press conference, he classified you as a weapon. And he said, the closer we can have him to the point of attack, the better, essentially. That's what we want. That's what we can use him as a weapon. When you hear that, what does that make you think?

Yeah, no, it's awesome to have people. It kind of comes with time and, you know, obviously playing well. But just people around the league who think highly of you. I think that's, like, the greatest achievement you can have. Players, one, coaches, too, like just opinions of people in your business, in your industry that respect you for what you do and your product that you put out there. But I think it's good to know that he has a plan. And I've seen what he's done with Derwin.

And, you know, people say we're similar players and stuff like that. And, yeah, I think it's kind of the way the direction the game's going. I think people like Nick Eam and Warre, who's coming to the league and made an impact from, you know, the first game he's played. About to have a big impact on Sunday. And I think it's kind of a cool direction that the league's going. Like, you have these jack-of-all-trade players, offense and defense, you know, guys lined up in the backfield that are usually just that X receiver. It's a different game. at some point, you know, like everything else, it will revert back to what it used to be.

But right now I think that's kind of the niche factor. Have you watched Demand Worry at all? I have, yeah. Any thoughts about what he does? Yeah, no, dude, he's a freak. He's, uh, I know Mike, Mac, who's with us in, in Baltimore and kind of deploys him similarly related to a way that Mike was dealing with me. But, um, he's faster with me.

Um, you know, he's definitely, definitely more energetic out there than me. Like he's as a rookie to be out there like bang his helmet and like talking trash all this stuff. I was kind of just like I didn't make sure I'm doing the right thing. But it's pretty cool to see a player like that and just young safety, young D.Bs in the league like Xavier Watts with Notre Dame with me, making plays some early in the league. So it's cool to see these guys. Yeah, that's another guy's a dog, Xavier Watts. I thought he was on the board way too long in the draft.

Yeah, happy to see him find success. When you watch even more in the Seahawks defense, do you kind of feel like you're looking in the mirror a little bit? Yeah, yeah, I mean, it does remind me a little bit of our 23 defense, just obviously because Mike was calling that defense. But at the end of the day, it's Jimmy's and Joe, it's not X's and O's. So, you know, you could have the perfect defense if you don't got the right guys out there, then it's not going to work. So credit to that Seattle defense, they fly around. It seems like they jove really well together. At all three levels, they got a lot of talent.

But I think it's going to be a good game on Sunday. You guys didn't ask me my opinion of the game, but that's kind of how I feel. You can just go with it. If you're on a podcast, let's get a Let's go, let's get some hot takes. Yeah, I mean, I don't have a, I honestly don't know who's going to win the game. I mean, we play the Patriots. They're a good team.

Drake's good. And, you know, that defense, again, their defense plays really well together. And I feel like every, every playoff game they played so far, the whole story's been about the other team's defense. And then they come out there and they dominate. So I feel like they kind of have that chip on their shoulder. What did you key on in that late season game against the Patriots? you know, in your week of prep and then on the field when you're going against Drake May.

Yeah, I think one, you know, very bull and just McDaniels, you got to stop the run first and stop. They have a great running back tandem and, you know, they play off each other really well. Drake is going to make plays throughout the game. I think it's for us, like going into the game, we were just trying to limit explosives because they're a very explosive past game. And a run game, like you give Treveon-Henderson a screen, you can go 80. So, limit explosives and kind of just try to make them drive down the field, but that's easier. We comped them. Tell me if you think this is a little bit to your Ravens offense, which is like, they get, we like to say they get buckets.

They're not like a, they're not like a move the ball down the field slowly. Not the spurs offense. No, too offense, but obviously an athletic quarterback. There's differences, but like, but there's some similarities I thought to what your your offense did. Yeah, for sure I can see that. Kyle Hamilton, he's representing Visa here. he's a big tennis fan he's a tennis player the handicaps

going down he's working on it he's he's a Novak guy too it sounds like I respect Novak I'm a Roger guy okay good I appreciate that appreciate Kyle Hamilton joining us thank you

and good luck next season thank you guys for having thanks yeah yep welcoming in eight year NFL veteran three years with the Houston Texans coming off a big time season where you got over a hundred targets a very popular

man in cj stroudsides uh dalton shultz with the texans welcome to the show yeah thanks for having me we're so excited i mean we can see the cast of workaholics in the background we're learning that you're a big fan are you a little starstruck right now i mean i know gregg is kind of a big deal but yeah it's cool to see them it took me a second i was like wait one two i had a count them out it's all three yeah yeah and the must stays the same, apparently. Like, is it Anders? Anders? It's impressive.

He's still, I mean, all these years later, still got it going. Was there anyone walking in, too, or that you've seen this week? I don't know how long you've been in town. You went to college in the Bay Area, but anyone kind of walking in? The concentration of Star Power this year and this radio, for whatever reason, seems to me, like, overwhelming more than any other. Yeah, dude, so I've literally walked in maybe 10, 15 minutes ago. So everybody that I've seen is, like, just a little bit.

teammates, sorry, GM, like, I don't know, there's so many people that are just mingling and then it's like you run into somebody and it's like, oh, hey, I didn't know you're here. I've seen Nick Casario just walking around. Just enjoying life. Like, doing, he's scouting. He's got the same outfit on that he's had every day.

Yeah, the shoes, the joggers, the tight shirt. And the vest. Yeah, it's like he's ready to step on a versus climber. How many vests does he have actually do you think? Vests? Like, is it the same vest? It's the same one. He's probably got like, five of them. So when one gets sweaty, you just throws it out and he puts the next one on it.

It looks exactly the same. That's amazing. He's got to have a brand deal or something. Capsule wardrobe right there. Yeah. How is this season for you? You got, like, I kind of mention it off the top. Like a lot of production, a lot of attention, a lot of targets, a lot of catches, a lot of Dalton salts on the field this year as a receiver. I guess maybe what was different for you? Like, what will you remember about this 25 season for yourself? and the team compared to other ones? I don't know. Still not over how it ended, honestly.

Like, we're ballplayers. Like, we're competitive. Obviously, every year is going to end at some point, whether it's, you know, you're the one team on top or you're not. But it's hard to, like, look at a year and be like, oh, wow, that was so great when, like, I don't know. I felt like we underachieved. Like, we had such a good team.

And it sucks at that. team will never be, you know, together again. So, yeah, you asked that question. I'm like, my mind first immediately went to like, God, I'm not over it. My son's not either. I am surprised it took me this long to say it. He's a Texans fan, so he's very excited. I share his sentiments.

Yeah, that you're on the show. He does not want to watch a Super Bowl. He does not ever want to root for the Patriots again in the game. He hates them forever. But he is a big fan of. of you of CJ have you have you seen the CJ new uh haircut that's going around it's a big change that's huge change that might be a change that might be a sign he's not over the playoff last he's like rookie CJ all over yeah that's like you know and just let me explain hair to you guys

right now but like when girls get bangs you're like are you okay it's like in this case right my wife over there got bangs last year she's like yeah I just did it on a limb I said the same thing I was like, you good? All right. See, there's some psychology here. Yeah, no, well, we started dating when she had like, kind of like shoulder length hair and it was orange. She had orange hair.

Good for her. Well, it was like a dive. I know, good for her. Very few people can. And she's like, yeah, I just kept it and rocked with it. But it was because she was going through like a breakup or something. So like, she had another hair change. I was like, what's going on?

I got, we're good. We're good, right? See, but that, for some. of all, love her confidence, by the way, on that one. But second of all, like, I got to spend a little time with Houston because I covered that Chargers game. You guys dominated the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. And, like, when I was in that locker room, I just felt, is there so much joy in there.

And yes, winning is fun. But, like, everyone felt so connected. And it wasn't necessarily a, you know, record-breaking day on the offensive side. But there was no finger-pointing. Everyone felt so just, like, full of life for the mission. at hand and for each other. And I guess, like, that must be where some of this is coming from because it's like, shoot, you know, like, that's what that energy was.

That's championship caliber energy within a locker. And that just, it just felt like a missed shot. Yeah. Like, you don't get those ops all the time. And we had the roster for it. Like, it's nobody's fault, but ours, you know, that we fell short. But, yeah, like, it was very, very selfless team. You know, we had a lot of really good leaders on that team.

Yeah, can you expand on that? Because it seems like every pocket of anywhere you turn on that roster, there's somebody who is of that caliber. Yeah, I mean, it was well put together. I mean, we were talking about Nick earlier, but, like, dude, he assembled, you know, an amazing team that was kind of forged through D'Amico's leadership at the forefront. But just, like, how training camp went, how the offseason was,

like it was never like it was always about the end goal but it was never about the end goal in front like it was always how do we get through today how do we have the best like it was always very process driven even though that we started with that in mind but it was it was almost never touched on again until like we got into the playoffs of like all right like this is what it's been about it's hard to do you you came in with with dameco yeah yeah yeah three years years ago. So is that part of it? It's like you've been building to this. I do wonder, and this is more of a fan thing, if the way the AFC felt this year has anything to do with it, because I agree with you, like a lot of people, Jordan included, she picked you guys to make the Super Bowl, I think thought the Texans are that two world team. But plenty of smart people thought, oh, the Jaguars could have been that team. And others thought maybe it's the Patriots. Is there a feeling of the, of the, of the, among the players that man that there's this opportunity especially this year yeah oh yeah like very much so

well why is that though yeah once the chiefs are out you know everybody is like all right go yeah anything's but anything can happen now so that's not this like a media fan thing well dude like nobody wants to play pat mahomes in the playoffs you know what i mean like that dude's pedigree speaks for itself like they're hard to beat and like they've got the roster and like staff that like they can always beat anybody anytime. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I think just not having that hurdle, I think, for a lot of teams was like,

all right, like, here we go. You know what I mean? Like, it's, sure. It's like not having to play the Patriots with Tom Brady and, you know, the 2000s, yeah. Right. All right. We got a chance. You know what I mean?

Like, it's the same, like, the same sort of thing. You're right. And I think what helps and probably something you guys have thought about is like, you're going to have continuity. They're still making changes. I mean, they've, you know, changed out offensive coordinator, you know, Pat's coming off injury, like all these things. You can't rely on hope, right?

But you guys have continuity. Matt Burke's coming back. The defense is going to still be kind of what it is. Nick Cayley, you know, that coming, continuing to like possibly evolve that offense and maybe what that will look like. And then Domingo at the top. And you guys in the quarterback and another year of growth for the offensive line And all of these things that I'm saying, it's just, you know, a broken record, I'm sure at this point.

Yeah, I mean, nothing's given, though. Yeah. Like, and everybody kind of, like, you know, rests on that. I'm like, well, everybody's coming back. Well, yeah, the next year is going to be a totally different beast than this year. It's like, you can't. I learned that early in my career. We made the playoffs, got to the divisional, my rookie year.

And then the next year, like, you know, it's like, all right, we got everybody coming back. We added this piece and this piece. And we missed the playoffs in Dallas. And it was like, well, Dude, it'll humble you real quick. And you're just like, oh, well, we got everybody. Let's run it back. You know what I mean?

Like, that just is never, it's never that easy. I bet Nick, if Nick Ocero was listening right now, he would be loving this attitude. Oh, he'd hand you a vest. This is true, though. Patriot stuff I've ever heard. Yeah. Like, it's true. You got to, like, you know, people want to call it a meritocracy, whatever.

Like, you earn everything to get. Yeah. Like, so whether, whether you rest on the previous year or not, like, you still got to go out and earn it again. You know what I mean? I love that. It's a truly like Christian is one of my favorite teammates that I've had McAvery. And I heard something from him the other day where it's like every like the season is 17 week long seasons. Like literally it's such a week to week business and a week to week thing.

Like truly every single week is like you pour everything in to a single week and then you get up on Monday and you go do it again. I think it explains partly why the NFL is so popular. I think that it comes out to the fans that way in a way that just because of scarcity, but also just because of the nature of football, like, is not the case in other sports. There's so much leading up to it. Right, and just so much involved in one big thing. It's like it's why the Super Bowl is what the Super Bowl is. I do want to ask specifically before we let you go about some of these defenders you're going up against in practice every day.

Painting the ass. All of them. I almost want to put you on the spot. Not like maybe which is the hardest, but like Petrie or it's Lasseter or Stingley or even Bullock. I mean, all these guys are insane. Of all those guys, like which one has one thing that gives you the most problems? Or is like, man, like that is a, I know they all have different strengths, but something that really stands out among maybe each of them

that makes it so tough to go against them. I mean, dude, Will Anderson. Like, we do, you know, we have practice in the morning, training camp, to just kind of get out there before the sun hits. It helps. But then in the afternoon, you come back and you do these walkthroughs and you walk through basically the next day. Like, you put it, you install everything in the afternoon,

you come back, you walk through it, and then you wake up in the morning, practice, you do that. These walkthroughs are hats and shoes and no pads, just light jerseys. It's supposed to be kind of a walkthrough, jog through tempo. Will Anderson is trying to take your head off and sack CJ every single time. And it's a walkthrough. He has that same mindset, regardless of what he's doing, where it is, who he's going against. It's like, not only are you in like the hardest technique for a tight end to, like try to tee off on. Like if you have to block him, he's wide, he's angled, and his only job is to run straight

through you. And then having that in a walkthrough setting is also like a pain. You're like, bro. Yeah, I'm like, dude. I've got my sandals on, man. Stop hitting CJ. Yeah. Like, please, do not hurt CJ, please.

Um, but it's like that is probably the biggest pain is because, I mean, I line up next to him every play. Yeah. You know, it's like you might, you might only see Sting once or twice in practice, but like, you're going to see Will every single time, you know? So I'll put, I'll put him up there. But like, seriously, there's no, there's no weak spot in terms of like, how do you attack, like, the guys on our defense?

So, yeah, I mean, every, no matter where you are, it's a pain. But, yeah, Will Anderson's the way. They're wrapping us here. You got to get to somewhere else. But so I'm going to put you, I'm going to make this a speed round. You majored in science technology and society. You are interested in developing video games quickly. Your Mount Rushmore are the best video games ever.

I got a Minecraft tattoo. Wow. I got a lead. Oh, he does. Wait, we're filming if you want to show that. I got a lead with Minecraft. Okay. That's like, that's what kind of inspired that whole track.

Okay. The next tat, it'll probably be Halo. Okay. So like I gotta go Halo. Like Halo 2, Halo 3. Halo 3 is like Mount Rushmore favorite game all the time. I freaking love that game. I'll throw a racing game in there, Need for Speed Most Wanted.

Yeah. Okay. Good poll. Blacklist. I never beat the blacklist until like I got to the league actually because I played it young. And I was like, dude, I need to go back and beat that game. Bought a 360, bought a need for speed. Awesome.

I'll leave it at those three. I know Mount Rushmore is four, but like we'll stop there before I. Your eyes lit up there. You said I know Mount Rushmore is four. Yeah. So I'll give you three. That's perfect. You guys can fill in the last one.

Mario Kart. I don't know. We sports. You helped make our day here coming on the show. And most importantly, made my son's day. He's got to be thrilled to hear this. And check out the picture we take it in just a thing in a second. Thank you at all.

Thanks, guys. We appreciate it. I'm Dylan Playfair. And I'm Tyler Smith. We're putting loneliness in the penalty box by talking to some of our favorite athletes about the importance of friendship. This is bromance. Bromance is brought to you by Charm Diamond Centers,

proudly Canadian-owned and operator. Charm has been part of your love stories and bromances for over 50 years. And you can find bromance on the Iheart Radio Network or wherever you get your podcast. All right. We've made it. Thank you again to Dalton Schultz, Kyle Hamilton, Denzel Ward. It's not the end of the interviews, though. So we're saying we're wrapping up, and we are wrapping up. But we've had so many great conversations this week, and it's like we could hold them.

But we want you guys to hear them. And we thought we were going to have a nice themed show that will come out in the feed before the Super Bowl over the weekend. It's wide receiver time on NFL Daily. So Michael Pittman, that was a great conversation talking about the cult season. His free agency could be coming up in a year. Christian Watson, of course, big time playmaker with the Packers. And then Adam Thielen, who just walked into retirement. We're going to put a show up of those interviews over the weekend, too.

But we are kind of saying goodbye to this set for now. And the next time the three of us will be together with a microphone will be after the Patriots win the Super Bowl. Oh, call your shot. Why don't you? Okay. You know what, Nick? I do remember we were in a production meeting in Englewood.

And Greg, this was months before we even booked the trip or whatever. And Greg did throw out there at that time. Well, when Drake May is Super Bowl MVP, you know, we need to make sure we get them on the field. And all of us in the meeting go, oh my God. Oh, and look at us eating crow now. Well, it hasn't happened. It hasn't happened, but we're dangerously close.

You are really earning your paycheck now, remembering that. Because, yes, that was in a conference room in the middle of December, early December. Oh, that's not that far away. I mean, they were, maybe even earlier. They were on their road. And we'll see. It's been a treat here. I don't know.

We've said enough, don't you think? Yes, we have. Yeah, yeah. I love that award. This was what was in my mind. They had an award at honors. By the way, all of our friends who dress up for honors and just look amazing and just, like, I applaud them. I applaud them.

Like Rachel Bonnetta, old friend we saw here, and Colleen, Colf and Cynthia was there. it seemed like an awesome night, but they had an award, which I really love, maybe more than the rest of the awards, moments of the year. And that was the Caleb to DJ Moore throw. And I was thinking, that was already our throw of the year. I think they're just watching NFL daily and cribbing our content. I mean, if they're going to find a good source to figure out where they want to give this award, this is the show to do it.

This is the show that chronicles the NFL better than any other. Just ask Mac Jones parents. That's right. I mean, because that's what it's all about is moments. And that was a moment in time, and DJ Moore was there to accept the award. Very cool. We've had a lot of great moments here at the Moscone Center. We're going to get out of here.

We just wanted to thank everyone who has helped us execute this entire week. I was talking with Eric Roberts as we were walking home last night that I don't take it for granted how seamless this is and has been. It is a very difficult and production with a lot of moving parts. Our eye heart partners have been really helpful. setting up everything technologically and then combining with our NFL crew, including Drake. And I wish I had every, like there's so many people contributing, obviously, our crack booking team, including David Singer, who's right by the stage here and Jason Klein and Jason English. And we got Eric Roberts, Chris Bobona back, you know, sending us crack notes for us to get ideas off of,

hey, he got me that Kyle Hamilton was a big time tennis fan. That got into the show, and Kyle and I had a connection. Oh, yeah. All because of Chris Bobo. A little WTA 250 there. So we really thank everyone who's helped us. We're not done, obviously. We'll be here after the Super Bowl.

Let's hit that music. I've been waiting for it. No. I really do it. Like, it is crazy how many people... We love doing it. And like I said, you're going to have some more interviews in the feed over the weekend. But we will be talking to you next as a trio after.

Super Bowl 60. We will see you that. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.