NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Pain Rankings

Episode Date: July 18, 2017

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, & Gregg Rosenthal – recap all the latest news from around the NFL including the most recent update surrounding the Le'Veon Bell and Kirk Cousins contract negations. The guys then dive into Dan's updated Pain Rankings and debate which franchise has it the worst.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 NFL podcast is going to keep on loving you. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. Presented by New Era. My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined by room filled with some heroes, Greg Rosenthal. And Chris Wessling, what's up, boys? Hey, Dan. How are you?

Is that ario speed wagon? That was. Matt Money Smith, the voice of the Los Angeles Chargers, showing his range once again. I mean, he's really kind of slumming it when he's a big, he's on TV, he's the biggest radio host in the city, he's the Chargers. And yet he's just kind of our intro guy. He's our hype man. I don't know about that, though, slumming it, because I don't know if you notice, we now have a large photo hanging outside the commissary of the around the NFL podcast heroes in what appears to be spirited conversation. I feel like, Wes, that is a step in the right direction within the walls of this complex.

You feel like that's respect? I feel like it's a step. You know, and maybe we can get a shot of that. When you guys watch this very show, it is our Tuesday video show, of course, and every Tuesday 9.30 p.m. Eastern, 630 Pacific on NFL.com slash ATN video. video you could watch this show make sure you check it out I mean maybe respect is

problematic though Dan you're a man who doesn't take slights easily you think you're driven by them right I mean now if the network starts to treat us right well they're putting up you know pictures we've got a video show now maybe the fire

isn't in the belly quite as much how about this hashtag gradual decline this one I'll be right about what do you have to rage against anymore Exactly. You need something to fight against. I think you'll be just as wrong as this as you were on Tom Brady. I hope so in this case. I hope so I'm wrong about gradual decline. By the way, we have more hats. If you're watching the video show,

and we're not going to do this, the whole audio show and people listening, well, this show was supposed to be an audio show. But there are hats on the table, New Era hats in front of us. A note came down, more hats. They need more hats than we had last Tuesday. Got it more. So, Sully, what are we up to now? We're up from, what, four to six here?

Seven. We're on there. We are a wash in the hats. Let's keep it going. I got to ramp it up. Here's my whole thing. I think the most important thing in the world is pleasing the corporate overlords. Oh, yeah.

Every week we should have more hats on this desk. How could they not be pleased about that? We'll have hats everywhere. Hats coming out of our ears. It should be like a little girl's bedroom with stuffed animals. It's kind of like razors. It's like, you know, forget four blades. Let's go five blades.

Let's keep ramming it up. Today's show, good show. And we're going to get into a lot of stuff, including some news that really went big yesterday on Monday. Kirk Cousins did not get a deal done with the Redskins. The Redskins were not happy about it. Also, the San Diego, excuse me, the Los Angeles Chargers are the subject of our.

Training Camp Spotlight this week where we'll focus on wide receivers for the Chargers. And finally, we will revisit the old Zeusers pain rankings breaking down the eight most pained teams and fan bases in the NFL. A lot of work into that one last night, fellas, up past midnight. The old man was typing past midnight, trying to get it out there to the people. And we're going to talk about it today. I like that. You know, you've moved into this cushy end around gig. I like that you're still pulling all-n-nighters every once in a while.

Hey, you got to just test yourself sometimes. That's what we did today. But before we do any of that, I want to check behind the glass formally with Sean Sullivan. Fellas. How you doing, buddy? Doing well. Ready for our second video show? Yeah, a good one.

You look confident. You have the look of a confident man. Yeah, I'm ready to rock. We're going to have a good one today. One thing about Sully, he always looks and acts confident. Sometimes you can say maybe it's unearned, but it's a good thing. It's a good thing. It'll get you through life.

Right. That's true. He carries himself as a man that believes. Thanks, guys. Himself, and I can respect that. Let's do some news. We need to talk about your flare. Yes, Flair, Hats.

We had it talking to, and we responded. More hats, more hats, more hats, more flair. Start with Kirk Cousins. The NFL's deadline for franchise tag players to ink a long-term deal. Came and went on Monday. And when that 4 p.m. Eastern deadline hit Kirk Cousins and the Redskins were not able to get a deal done. And what did this mean? This means Kirk Cousins for the second consecutive year will play under the franchise tag.

What is the salary, I believe, over $23 million in that range? Yeah, 23.9. A year after he made $20 million, so good scratch. But also we're starting to learn that's kind of in the market or even a little bit lower when these quarterbacks now start to get paid. Anyway, the Redskins thought they were going to get a deal done, Wes. and they were not very happy about not being able to get a deal done. And you know how we know, Wes? Oh, I know.

For whatever reason, Bruce Allen, the team's general manager made the decision to put out a video issuing a public statement on the matter. Let's hear what Bruce had to say. On May 2nd, right after the draft. Actually, Sully, can we cut this? I feel like if ever there was a time for our missive music, it's for. Or a team's general manager deciding to give a public statement into a giant microphone about when he's about to trash his quarterback. So let's start this one over with the miss of music. I like that.

On May 2nd, right after the draft. See, it's better. We made Kurt an offer that included the highest fully guaranteed amount upon signing for a quarterback in NFL history. $53 million. It also included a guarantee for injury of $72 million. The deal would have made him at least the second highest paid player by average per year in NFL history. But despite a repeated attempts, we have not received any offer from Kurt's agent this year. Kurt has made it clear to me that he prefers to play on a year-to-year basis.

First of all, he said, a couple things. I'll throw it to a lot. He says Kurt, K-U-R-T, six times during this two-minute missive. We only caught a portion of that, and you heard it several times. Right there, there's something about that to me that shows the disconnect in a weird way between player and management here. But also, West, there are things that Bruce Allen says that makes it sound like it was a very competitive offer. But then when you drill down a little bit, this wasn't really a very attractive situation. for Kirk Cousins.

I think you should cut Bryce Allen some slack. No, I think it's disrespectful not to know his first name. Come on. And Kirk Cousins came out and said that didn't bother him, but I think Kirk Cousins is just trying to be put the best spin on it, put the best face on it. When you do drill down into it, what's the incentive for Cousins to sign this contract?

He's already getting $23.9 million this year. If they transition tag him next year, it's over $28 million. If they franchise tag him next year, it's over $34 million, you have to give him at least that much money to incentivize him to sign in a place that just fired its general manager, and who knows how long the coach whose offense he's thrived him will stick around. That is not a stable organization. Right. It's an organization that does things like hold a press conference

slamming the quarterback, essentially, that's going to try to start for them and make the playoffs. That was an insane press conference to me. It was like he was the president speaking from the Oval Office. You know what I mean? And like a movie, like a B movie. Right, a prepared statement, but then he didn't take any questions. And the whole purpose of it, to me, was to put blame, I mean,

it was pretty clear, on Kirk Cousins for not really wanting to be with the team and for them to try to win some sort of PR battle against their own quarterback. And let's hear, Kirk Cousins was then, you know, reached for comment on this. He did his regular radio spot in D.C. and here's what cousins had to say about what the Redskins had to say. I need a little more time. You know, I felt like I want to allow the next six months to give me more information about our organization

so that I can make a more informed decision. There have been a lot of changes in our organization since the end of last season. And so I want to allow time to help make this decision. And I understand where he and the organization are coming from. I think in his position, you have to do that. You have to be clear with where the offer was and the fact that they did their part, and it was a great starting point.

It was a great offer to get the ball rolling and to get the conversation going, and I think it was a fair offer. So I respect and appreciate Bruce's approach. He communicated with me that they were going to need to let the story be known as to where they were coming from, and I said I totally understand that. So that's where I say when the communication was positive and we're all on the same page, that whatever you want to call it, release or that statement, no surprise to me. I knew it was something like that was going to be coming out, and I

understand where he's coming from. So it doesn't offend me. It doesn't bother me. I can see myself in his shoes, you know, wanting to get the message out. So totally understand that and doesn't rub me the wrong way at all. Okay. You want me to translate that for you a little bit? Translation. I am going to get paid next year. I don't care about what he says. It doesn't matter if it's a Redskins paying me or some other team. I'm probably going to be the highest paid player in the NFL a from now. He has two head coaches in the NFL who love and adore him and support him. One is in San Francisco with a six-year contract, and he was his first, most vocal, and most persistent supporter in the NFL. The other is in an organization, the Redskins, who knows

if Jay Grun will be around next year? If they go seven and nine again, Gruden could be gone. Why would you want to commit to that? If I'm Kirk Cousins, this is exactly what I would do. It's giving me a little bit of flashbacks. Bruce Allen and a Gruden head coach speaking publicly about their quarterbacks and not really telling the truth because that is what John Gruden and Bruce Allen did for about five straight years in Tampa Bay. They would build up these quarterbacks and they'd cut them the next day. They never had a situation quite like Kirk Cousins,

but it was never a team that you could ever trust what they say publicly, and that's kind of where I'm at with Bruce Allen. The guaranteed money, I read this on Deadspin this morning, Barry Pichetsky, that NWSU hit on it. The money that he would make this year, which they included in the guaranteed money, and the transition tag money next year, he would only be getting $300,000 more if he would have signed that contract and guaranteed money. So obviously he's not going to take the deal. It was borderline insulting that they made such a big deal. Borderline, it was insulting.

They played that poorly, and it could cost them a very good quarterback. I keep making the same point that franchise quarterbacks are underpaid, and it seems really strange to me. I think that Kirk Cousins, through all of these events, is going to be the man to maybe change that, of all people, Kirk Cousins. I'm not sure it's quite worth it. Here's what bothers me about this PR campaign that Bruce Allen started yesterday. We are smart enough.

Writers, analysts are smart enough to cut through all the financial rigamarole that they're throwing out there, the subterfuge that they're throwing out there. it's the Doltz, Dullards, and Simpletons that are going to be on Kirk Cousins' Instagram, Twitter timeline, O'Pind calling him rotten names because they're not smart enough to figure out what that contract actually is.

You bring it back rotten? Yes. Bring it back. Respect it. How about Simpletons? Dullards? What was right before that? I mean, he's got the vocab words out today.

You got bozos in there? I mean, they're part of it. It's all encompassed. Subterfuge? Listen, Wes is here, and he's on top of his game. He's a well-read man. You can't hold West down. He's a warrior.

In other news regarding the deadline for getting a long-term deal done, Levyon Bell, and the Steelers cannot get it done. Bell did not sign a deal, so he will play under the $12.1 million franchise tag. He will be a free agent in 2018 unless the Steelers again wield that franchise tag. Here is what Levy on Bell. Well, he tweeted first, I guess I just got to get back. better, which obviously it's hard to get much better than what Levyon Bell is when he's been on the field in his career so far.

But he also posted a video on his Instagram account on Monday. Here it is. It's a long day. Me and Jaylen, we back at it. I don't know. I get better, apparently. So, whatever. I mean, Leveon Bell, still Greg, making a lot of money, though, compared to the other running

backs in his market. Maybe we don't want to throw a pity party. for the man. No, I think this makes sense because he's making 50% more than any other running back in the league this year. The next closest is Lashon McCoy at $8 million. So it was always a tricky contract to get done because he's either suspended or injured almost every year. So year to year kind of makes sense at least for one more season. I think if he has a great year this year, he's going to get paid. And he's out there saying, I want to reset the market and get running backs paid what they deserve. Well, if anybody should be resetting the market for a position,

Leveon Bell. They have one of the greatest quarterbacks of his generation. And during their winning streak and into the playoffs last year, they ran their offense through their running back. That speaks volumes about Leveon Bell's value. And I don't blame him for betting on himself, but it's a risk. Tom Pelliserro recorded, they offered $12 million annually with $30 million in the first two years, with the caveat that the Steelers are one franchise that do not offer guaranteed money beyond year one. So they, unlike the Redskins, made a legit offer, and unlike the Redskins and Kirk Cousins, I'd be surprised if Levy and Bell's, you know, barring any serious injury or anything like that, I'd be shocked if Levy and Bell's playing for any other team in the next two, three years.

Do you think the Steelers will franchise tag him again? I think they'll get a contract done. Because they already showed they're willing to pay him a lot of money. That's a great offer, $30 million guaranteed in the first two years for running back. So I think if he does his thing, they'll pay him and make it right. In general manager news, we got another GM firing. What's going on here? This time it's one of our favorites.

Dave Gettleman was dismissed by the Carolina Panthers. Jerry Richardson announced it, and it hit the whole NFL, you know, a shock to the whole NFL. Richardson explained his statement that it came after much thought and a long evaluation of our football operations. He thanked Gettleman. Gettleman did very well. in his time with the Panthers, including just two seasons ago,

when they went, what, 17 and 1 before losing in the Super Bowl? Wes, I know you're a big Gettlement fan. Read between the T-leaves. What happened here? Well, Gettelman not only built that team, he had to overcome the previous regime, Marty Herney's, contracts, to do it. He had his hands tied the first couple years and still did that. Reading between the lines, Jerry Richardson is the owner.

He can run the team however he wants. and it appears to me that one of his core tenants is taking care of his homegrown veteran players who have become big in the community and that the community identifies with. And Dave Gettleman, apparently, reading between the lines, was hesitant to pay Thomas Davis and Greg Olson in new contract extensions, and that must have been part of what led to this dismissal. We love Hog Mowley talk, and we think that he's done a great job, and they were a team of ATL for the reason.

But I found it interesting how many notable veterans came out and took shots of Gettleman minutes after the news came down. Josh Norman with a sub-tweet, Steve Smith, saying, it's okay, Dave, I know how you feel. DeAngelo Williams said, I want to publicly say Panthers is off my list of teams I won't play for. Do the firing of that snake, Dave Gettelman? Mike Tolbert also took a shot. What do all those players have in common? Wrong side of 30. They got fired.

Marty Herney paid them and Dave Gettleman wouldn't. Right. And Jerry Richardson is a former player. He's the only former player that's an owner. And so maybe he approaches it in less of a cutthroat way. And maybe that should be applauded in some way. But I think Gettelman got painted as the bad guy because he came in and he got rid of the people that were overpaid. He came in and did his job. Right. John Beeson essentially had to be released. Steve Smith is one you could argue about absolutely and you can understand. The rest of them, they had to get rid of DeAngel Mims.

They were paying Williams and Jonathan Stewart more money than any running back group in the league, and they weren't very good as a running team. I think some of the issues, and Williams had alluded to it, was how it was handled. He wasn't treated like a nine-year veteran with a team should have been treated when they made the decision to move on without him. But I think, you know, he's an interesting guy. By the way, I would have no problem if the Jets hired him to some type of nebulous management role that they then could pivot into a GM role when the Jets fire. with McCagnan this season.

You're giving up on old Mikey Mack? All the bets are off with gangrene. But I think Gettleman, he's a Boston guy. He's gruff, and he's not afraid to take chances. And you make enemies along the way, and that's what we're seeing here. Who's the most successful coach slash executive of this era? Bill Belichick. He makes tough decisions.

He's cold-hearted. He goes by finances. And he could have, he must have been way more unpopular when he cut. lawyer Malloy right before the season, then Dave Gettelman is now, I don't think Jerry Richardson would have the stomach to sit through Belichick cutting his stars every year. It's worth noting that Michael Orr, who has been suffering with concussion issues, wrote an impassioned defense of Gettlement on Instagram saying he's one of the only people besides Ron Rivera that have checked in on his well-being throughout the process and has been really kind

to him. So that's worth noting. And it's also worth noting there were reports. I went back to look at the 2012 article of when Marty Herney was released. And at that point, Marty Herney was a bit of a punching bag for the Jake DeLome contract. I mean, he made a lot of crazy deals in Carolina. And one of the parts of my article is how him and Ron Rivera had a contentious relationship. And so the report is now that they're going to be bringing back Marty Herney on an interim basis.

That's wild. That seems insane to me. It's absolutely insane. They haven't had back-to-back winning seasons, by the way, since Marty Herney got hired in this entire run. I'm sure Thomas Davis and Greg Olson and Star-Lut-Tulele and anyone else who's due for a contract extension loves having Marty Herney back in the building because they're going to get paid. Let's move on now and talk about Zecchio Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys. A report came out a few days back from Adam Schaefter that there was a quote, growing sense that Zeke Elliott was facing a, quote, short suspension for his involvement in

a 2016 domestic violence incident. That's something that Greg, I know you had talked about on the show a month or so ago, that it just seemed like something potentially was hanging around with that, and we might see it. Then there was an incident at a bar. He was not named in the initial police report, but there was witnesses that alleged that he was involved in a fight knocking a guy to the ground and injuring him. This comes, of course, there was the 100 mile per hour traffic citation with Zeke Elliott that came to light. There was the St. Patrick's Day parade incident with the woman and exposing her breasts. There's a lot of stuff going on with Zeke Elliott.

At one point, West, do the Cowboys really start to get nervous about what's going on with this guy? Well, I think the last couple of incidents, you take them case by case and they're not terrible, but it's a case of a young guy who doesn't realize he's a professional athlete and in the spotlight and probably shouldn't be doing these things. But we all make mistakes when we're that age. It does seem like there are starting to be some red flags popping up. The Cowboys are a team that kind of let, you know, Jerry Jones famously kind of lets his guys be guys,

especially if they're stars. But it's blown my mind a little bit how just three years removed, is it three years from Ray Rice and Greg Hardy when domestic violence was just, it was a huge part of our lives on this podcast and covering the NFL that with this. potential suspension looming. I know these cases are very different, but this domestic violence suspension looming for Zika Oli, he's kind of been a face of the league type of guy.

He was literally on the cover of ESPN the magazine just two weeks ago. And it's a weird, I don't know, disconnect for me, for him. Yeah, I think we don't know the details. That's the hard part to weigh in. Right. I mean, we're not saying guilty, not guilty, anything like that. But it just feels like it's a time where it's like, okay, maybe you don't put them on the magazine.

magazine covers right about that. Wes had multiple parade float issues. Grouties, 20s and 30s, yes or no. I have never been on a parade float or in a parade. Let me just say, not to make light of any of Zechial incidents, but parades, by and large, very overrated. Oh, I couldn't disagree more. Really? You're in on parades.

Well, I mean, this is part of my. I can't believe this. It's part of my Tybee Island experience. When you're in a small town, parades are wonderful. It's a day to get wild and zany for no reason and just to have fun all. Okay. Now, where I come from, the Coal Town, the heavy Irish population, had one of the biggest St. Patrick's Day parades in the state.

Probably one of the reasons why it was named, like, U.S. News, is 101 best places to live. Well, we're the town of friendly people. Not affluent, not like Martha's Vineyard, but, listen, we all got together for the big parade. Yeah. And we all, you know, we left the factory hats at home that day. and the little Tweety bird He stayed in his cage

No one was shovel and coal That's the canary? And we all canary Thank you The canary in the coal mine Stayed home That's how we knew That we were alive

At the end of the day Right Anyway we all would go to the parade And maybe there would be some spirits ingested And family would get together And friends And you'd see people

That you know marching the parade War veterans High School marching bands You name it But the parade itself, I'm saying, not the most fun thing to watch. It's for kids. It's more about, like, the experience of being together with people in the town. My kids love the Fourth of July parade.

So that's kind of reopened my eyes to parades. But then I also think back to my college days and a little Mardi Gras parade. I mean, what's better than a little Mardi Gras parade? Well, that's a little different, isn't it, though? It's a little different. Yeah. Well, you also hate clowns, and I kind of like them. That's a generational disconnect.

I find clowns to be funny, and, like, they're just out to get laughs out of people. That's harmless. They're out to murder people. Agreed. If you watch bad movies, that's the kind of thing that you'll be led to believe. But they're really just out there to get a laugh at you. You did grow up on the black and white Bozo the clown episodes. I know that.

Was that an actual show? That's a generational thing. The five years difference. When I grew up, I don't remember a Bozo the Clown show. Bozo the Clown. That was a show? I don't think it was ever a show. He was just like a famous clown.

It's turning into a Seinfeld episode. George Costanza got into a fight with a clown about this. All right. Finally, in the news, Tom Brady, he's the quarterback for the Patriots. But recently his high school, he attended a high school in San Mateo, California, I believe. Is that correct? Does that sound right, everybody? That sounds right.

Famous. Yeah, near San Francisco. And they unearthed what they believe to be. Or, yeah, they believed to be his first ever. interview and he was asked. For some reason, Dan Fouts was interviewing him. Dan couldn't get a better job in 94 than doing local TV up there. I don't know. No, he seems to be doing okay. But Dan asked Tom Brady, I believe he's about 15, 16 years old, what his strengths were as a player. At this point, Brady was, you know, one of the top high school quarterbacks in his region. Here's what Tom had to say. Okay, I'm a college coach. I haven't seen any tape of you. I don't know anything about you. Tell me about Tom Brady, the quarterback. What are your strengths? my strengths. So everybody tells me I have a pretty strong arm, which is good. I'm pretty accurate with it. And I think I need to work on my speed a little bit. But hopefully that will come in time.

Pretty good work ethic. So I think I get the job done. First of all, I'd love him to know that he'll never be fast. No matter how much you train, you little brat, you'll never run like a horse. I mean, I'd also like him to know that he's going to pick up a first down on third and 11 in the fourth quarter of the greatest comeback at Super Bowl history. Fast enough for that. Wow. I'd block that out. I don't remember what play you're referring to. Third eight, I believe.

By the way, if Sessler was here, I would have loved, that would have been a perfect time to talk about how Mark and I long have a very controversial stance, a conspiracy theory that Tom Brady had a complete reconstruction of his face at some point, most likely funded by the Illuminati, in which his cheekbones and his chin and his eye. eyes in his entire face was, it was basically a face-off situation engineered for maximum efficiency. I want you to watch that video again. And again, if you're watching this, rewind it back right now, let me know if that's the same person who's now the quarterback of the page. You don't think it's natural evolution from going from 16 years old to 39 years old?

Here's what happens. If you're a little pudgy, not as muscular when you're younger, some of that fat, you know, goes away and yeah, those cheekbones come out. Yeah, well, am I surprised that you are the mouthpiece? You're like when Joe Thysman on Twitter tweeted out, I guess I was wrong about Kirk. You're the mouthpiece, I get it. I mean, I'm generally anti-conspiracy theory, but definitely one if it's about Tom Brady.

That's what's happening in the news. All right, it's time to move on and talk about the training camp spotlight presented by New Era. Oh, my goodness. This week we're going to talk about the Chargers, wide receivers. and, Wes, a little peek behind the curtain. He came in a little earlier today. We originally were going to talk about the Broncos' quarterbacks. And then Greg starts just pounding the table like a madman saying he wants to talk about the L.A. Chargers' wideouts.

And I said, hey, you want it? Go get it. Dog wants the boat. I feel like we've talked about the Broncos. I don't know what I'll have to say about Paxon Lynch and Trevor Simeon. I like Greg's take on this one. In fact, I did a lot of research and film watching of the Chargers. Oh, over the weekend.

There are you found. This is wonderful. We'll start with you, Wes. Well, Tyrell Williams might be the most underrated, underappreciated, unknown wide receiver in the NFL. As Greg tweeted, in terms of big plays, there weren't many people better than him last year. He's great on post routes.

He's great on slant routes. And then you have Keenan Allen come back. And then Mike Williams drafted. Travis Benjamin can go back to returning punts and being a third slash fourth wide receiver. This is one of the most deep wide receiver. Tyrell Williams. Is, are we talking not to head over to the Mark Sessler Fantasy Corner,

but are we talking about a Fantasy Sleeper type producer for L.A. this season? I'm not talking fantasy sleeper. I'm just saying as far as NFL players, he was a thousand-yard guy, a big play machine. He's big and he's fast. Yeah, the list of players who had more than, you know, more plays over 20 yards was basically the best receivers in the league. Odell, T.Y. Hilton, Julio Jones, and Tony O'Brien.

No one had more 40-plus plays. And he might be their third or fourth receiver. So I'm not loving him for fantasy. But that's why I kind of want to watch camp and see how this unfolds, because Mike Williams was a little banged up in the off season. Keenan Allen's coming off an injury. And so I think that's one reason why they drafted Mike Williams. Travis Benjamin's better as kind of a third, fourth, deep threat.

I mean, you have a guy on their team, Dantrell Inman, who had 800 yards last year, and I figure he is eighth in line for targets. He had 800 yards, and he's eighth, because he's fifth at wide receiver behind the four guys we talked about. And then you have Hunter Henry and Antonio Gates. It really sounds like Hunter Henry is going to be the starter. That's why I want to watch in training camp to make sure that happens.

And Antonio Gates is going to come off the bench behind him. And then you got Melvin Gordon out of the backfield catching a lot of the past. Isn't it a time? Isn't it a time with Antonio Gates? And he's been a great guy. He's going to the Hall of Fame. But he looked slower than ever last year. And this guy, they have a young kid in Henry who made some plays last year.

Average over 13 yards of reception, eight touchdowns. It's time to pass the torch at tight end, right? I think Gates come one TD short of breaking the record for tight ends, so that's why he's coming back. But I think the passing the torch is happening this year. Yeah, and he was solid. He's a good role player right now. I think he's willing to embrace that.

I was shocked Hunter Henry led the league in touchdowns of tight ends. No one scored more than eight, which is surprising in itself. And Antonio Gates was second. And so you have the best one-two combo, I would say, at tight end, or certainly one of them. I guess Gronk and Dwayne Allen would be up there, along with this wide receiver group, I just kind of want to see how it shakes out if everyone stays healthy.

If you're a Chargers supporter, which I'm growing to be, you're always kind of worried, you know, it's not going to look as good once they actually get on the field because they get hurt. Well, it's fair to worry about the offensive line, too, as being perhaps the bugaboo in that system. It's been an issue for them for a few years. And it's important that, let's face it,

with the Chargers the last few years, it's important that they have a lot of depth because every year. Yeah, so. And who knows if Keenan Allen's ever going to be able to the guy can stay on the field. These guys, you're talking about, oh, he's not this. He's the 14th target.

We'll probably be their number one receiver by November. That's just the way it goes with this team for whatever reason. And that was the training camp spotlight presented by New Era. All right, Sally, I need a hat. We need more hats. I mean, New Era people, they're coming after us. They say, more hats. What do you got?

Oh, all right, the G-Men. The G-Men. That's good. New York Giants. Wes, I know you're not a big fan of the organization, but. Oh, that's overblown. We had a Redskins hat out here before, and we thought just the way that they They've disrespected Kirk Cousins, the way they're handling their business.

Not classy, so we brought out a little 49ers. Wow. Okay, so we're up to eight hats, and I'm feeling good. You play some of the classy organization like the 49ers. Way to go. The feedback will be good. And it's spent, speaking of New Era, New Era's NFL training collection has a great combination of innovative performance and style

with features like UV protection, moisture wicking and cooling technology. there's no reason you shouldn't make the new era NFL training collection a part of your daily attire literally it's suggesting wearing this every day available at retailers like lids nfl shop.com and dix sporting goods in your favorite team dicks the great white whale we never got him the great white whale all right now oh before we get to the pain rankings I want to touch on one thing we got we got sparrows in the building Streets are talking. Streets talk. Sparrows chirp. Tweety Bird's chirp.

Canaries. Canaries. Go to work in a vocal way. And we did hear, through the grapevine. You know how Damasek? He always has like a collection of things that he'll go back to. One of them is this idea of having some type of battle of the network stars type of competition between all the, I guess, talent at NFL media.

The podcast, I believe. Oh, is it the podcast, the podcast, I guess. Apparently, first of all, a couple things. Apparently, there's a podcast with Daniel Germia, Jarmia. I'm not going to be ignored, Dan. And Buck Brooks called Moving the Sticks.

Or is it Moving the Sticks? Where do you hit? Is it moving the sticks? Moving the sticks. And this topic came up on this program, which apparently is a part of our podcast. Network, let's just listen in. and what was said.

You know, DJ, I don't want to go out on a limb, but I feel real good about, if we had to vaguely sides, I would think move to sticks would be prohibitive favorites. We would be the heavy favorites. I think we're famous on that, yeah. I think we're certainly would be.

I mean, I've seen them do the little canoe thing. I like our chances in that. They shoot hoops. I feel great about our chance. Although I think Claibon can play a little bit, and I know he's, I don't know, Sheck can pull all these different guys. He'll try and get like,

I can claim all these guys. guys is his is his guy so we got we got three we got a heavy three though we're good i'm on this team i produce that that show sometimes but oh wow wow wow talk about a la ravil magnifico i'm doing it to myself i mean what is it what is it like to watch yourself stab people in the back hey we stab people in the back i'm dan campbell You guys started out stabbing me in the back. I really open arms there, guys. Honestly, when this did, when it was pushed across the table to us earlier today,

my instinct, first of all, was to just declare vengeance upon Sully. But then I took a step back and I said, you know what? Sully's kind of a hired gun here. And he's doing a lot of work. And he's covering both shows right now. And if he associates himself with whatever that other show is, That's fine. I think it actually makes a lot of sense.

So, Sully, despite the fact that on some level it leaves a bad taste of my mouth, I'm also, I'm not going to go after you because I feel like I understand where you're coming from. I appreciate that. I'm letting you off the hook here, basically. Thanks, guys. I can't speak for the other two guys. Plus, you're joining the losing team. I think that's a key factor.

You might not help their cause in general. Jeremiah can't step on the basketball court without blowing some sort of injury. I mean. Killies will explode. Just saying, we're good at parlor games. Parlor games, I got a minor in parlor games in college. I would like to see, yeah, if this ever did happen, I would like to see what the events were,

because it should be stated that Jeremiah and Bucky both played college ball. Bucky actually played in the NFL. That was a long time ago, but they obviously at some point in their lives were gifted athletically. They probably would be in a good position, and they would have to carry Sully a little bit unless you're playing parlor games. Right.

Well, we get some racket sports in there. I'll take care of. I don't know. Wes has got the parlor games. You got softball. I'm just, I'm going to, my slurve is going to take everybody out. For sure. You got me in softball.

You got me in Cornhole. But I'm pretty confident in the rest of them. Okay. Well, it's, go ahead. I like being underestimated. Yeah. See, we need that. Underestimated.

I was Dan Campbell at the gates. Who was underestimated here? I don't mean by you. I mean by the two guys hosting that other podcast. Okay. I do like that the Dan Campbell thing really stuck in, Solly's crawl. Yeah.

It's come up a bunch of times. Wow. I mean, who's been more beloved as an interim coach than Dan Campbell? Okay. You could look at it anyway. Seapomes were written about that guy. Yeah. All right.

That was fun. Finally, let's move on and talk about the pain rankings. Yes, the old Zusser. Burning the midnight oil, Wes. I love it. You know, just not resting on his laurels all these years in. Channeling 2012, Zuzer. Yep.

Just digging in, digging my heels and say, hey, I can get my hands dirty. And the thing I like about Dan, it's like if he does a lot of extra work and really, really gets after it, it's like, you don't necessarily hear about it. He's not going to, oh, wait, no, he's going to tell you all about it. Never, you know, it's just, I, the way I look at it is like, do the work. Just do the work. That's how I always look at things. So the pain rankings was a seven-part series back in 2015, in which I broke down. what I believed was the rankings of the seven most pained franchises in the NFL.

Two years later, I thought during this quiet period before training camp, it'd be fun to revisit the pain rankings and see where we are now. And I think let's stay in. There's going to be some big surprises here because there are, first of all, I won from seven, I'm bumping it to eight. There's just so much misery in the league with the Patriots doing what they're doing right now, that now I have to make it a bigger group of eight. And I added two teams.

I kicked out one. And the team... That almost seems that it's like increasing their pain. At some level, the irony, yeah. The irony is not lost on me that they can't even get the glory in the pain rankings. But the Kansas City Chiefs exit the pain rankings. At the time in 2015, they were on a long, long playoff drought, which they snap that drought with the 30-0 win in Houston.

And then they've been record-wise the best team in the NFL. NFL for a year and a half in the regular season. They got a playoff by last year. Now, they didn't capitalize on that. But even the biggest pessimist, Chiefs fan, would probably find it hard to say that things are not in a good place right now. I'm just with the other teams that have entered the fray here, I had to say goodbye to the Chiefs.

For now, anyway. Could always reenter the pain rankings in 2018. All-time playoff record, 9 and 17. And I think if I'm a Chiefs fan, I would say we are coming off the pain rankings after two painful playoff defeats. Stop. Just saying. How is that worse than $1.15? If you're a Chiefs fan, that Steelers loss really stung.

They thought that was a really strong Chiefs team. Even the game in Foxborough, they were pretty competitive. They came into that game playing well. So I'm saying, they were painful loss. Luxury pain. They're still in a good place, though, right now. I just tell me if they should be ahead of any of these other teams. That's fair. That's fair.

Coming in at eight is Wes's former football paramour, the Cincinnati Bengals, who were six of seven last year or last time I did this. And since that happened, they've had more misery. And last year was actually almost a bit of a breather for the fan base, just a six, nine, and one season where things just didn't work out. Season before it was a wreck. They started 10 and 2. They looked very, very good.

They were leading the North, and Andy Dalton breaks his thumb in week 13 against the Steelers. And then who could forget, gentlemen? One of the all-time, I think, worst losses of this century so far was the Saturday night loss, West Cincinnati, hosting Pittsburgh, Vantes Berthick, Jeremy Hill, Antonio Brown getting concussed, Joey Porter fighting on the field. Who could forget? I think that's one of the most crushing losses any of us they've ever seen. But I have a philosophical disconnect with this whole thing. I think that you give extra points for luxury pain, for first world football pain. Oh, you made it to the playoffs, but you didn't get what you wanted in the end.

Only one of 32 teams gets what they wanted in the end. I don't think it's that big of a deal to be crushed in the playoffs. To me, the most painful thing is going through long stretches of time where you have no chance to do better than two or three wins in a season. Your team is wayward, it's lost, it's soul draining, it's life. killing and those are the teams that I feel are the most pained like the Vikings would not be anywhere near my list well we get to the Vikings at number seven here I think that west you make a good point in the sense that teams that at least fan bases that have a team that gets hot every year

so they build an organization that that that has 10 win seasons 11 win seasons but really especially when you're a team that that gets so close and blows games the way they do Now, the Vikings are another example. You had Blair Walsh miss a 27-yard field goal that would have knocked off the Seattle Seahawks. This was last season or two seasons ago. And, I mean, one of the worst field goal misses in NFL history. The following August, they are darlings of the summer. A lot of people are picking him as a sleeper Super Bowl pick.

Teddy Bridgewater and a non-contact drill plants his leg. And the damn knee of his implodes, basically. And we don't even know if we're going to see him again. I mean, the Vikings, to me, even though they've had a lot of success in terms of getting to the playoffs, the fact that they keep knocking on the door, still have no title wins, have some of the more crushing losses ever. It's been 40 years since they've been in the Super Bowl, too. That should be, you know, there are people our age that have not seen the Vikings. Look at their all-time record.

457, 387 and 10. That's got to be in the top eight teams ever. This philosophical debate is reminding me of the famous Sessler-Westling Hans this pain-ranking debates of 2014 through 2015, which go down with Frost Nixon as some of the most classic debates in history. Lincoln Douglas. It really, yeah, and, you know, right down, even last year, after they treaded for San Bradford, they start 5-0, lose 8 of 10,

even the birds, a nice stadium, but all those birds flying into the stadium glass and kills themselves. It's a lot of pain. It's a painful world out there that that's what's happened to the Vikings in the last two years, yet they actually, you know, they moved backwards on this list. Yeah, and painful world. Yeah, well, there are two very interesting additions this year.

We're not there yet, though. Number six, I have the Detroit Lions, who I didn't really even know what to do with the Lions. The Lions obviously deserve to still have a spot. They were number five in 2015. I've dropped them to six here. What have they done in the two years since the Pain Rankings? Well, they made the playoffs last year,

but we all know they were not a real playoff team. And they just, I don't know, they made the players two of the past three years, but I wrote in the piece, does it actually feel like they've turned any type of corner? Or are they just still like the lion just floating along, really never giving the team the fans anything to really get excited about? They're just the Lions.

To me, this one has justification for being number one. Who has been more pain than the Lions fan base? They've got 20 playoff games in almost 100 years of existence. And their best two players of the last two decades basically retired because they couldn't deal with the pain of being a lion anymore. Megatron just said it. That hurts. That hurts.

Megatron just said it and people forget now because it happened 20 years ago, but Barry Sanders said the same exact thing that he decided at 31 and basically 1,500 yards shy being the all-time rushing leader that he couldn't put himself through another season knowing that the team around him just wasn't good enough. So they've actually scared away two of the great generational talents in the NFL in the last 30 years just by being in the Lions. To Wes's point, if pain is not. not even making the playoffs,

they have the fewest playoff appearances other than the Bengals and the fewest playoff wins other than the Bengals. So by your thought, in terms of not even making it to the playoffs, the Bengals and Lions would be the two worst. Well, think of it this way. What is a more painful existence? To have loved and lost in the acute pain you feel like you're getting your heartbroken or never to have loved at all in going your whole life being unloved.

And that's what the lions are. versus a team like the Falcons who has a devastating loss in the Super Bowl. There is acute pain there because it just happened. They'll get over it. It was their greatest season in history. We'll see. Number five, I have the Falcons, not ranked a couple years ago, but they could have been because the Falcons have their,

they have never, never been to the one of Super Bowl. They've been to two now. But I just, you know, and maybe I make a bigger deal of it. But I am being there a person and seeing ludicrous crumble next. to me. The worst loss, I think, in NFL history happened on Sunday night in Houston in February, blowing the 283 lead. And I think, I don't think the team will ever, not just this group of players,

but I don't think the Falcons will probably ever shake that loss. It basically, to me, defines the Atlanta Falcons now to the entire country. And I thought it's also been interesting this season or this offseason, and seeing how many people both, you know, rivals of the team and just the every man, the other guy on Twitter have taken delight and going after the Falcons and having fun at their expense all across the country. I just think the fact that they've never won a Super Bowl

and then they lost the one in the most devastating passion imaginable, that's why they're in the top five for me. I mean, it's heartbreaking, but also thank you. You gave me life. when I look back in 20 years, if I'm a Falcons fan, that's the team I'm going to remember for giving me life for a year. I think you're totally underestimating how crushing that loss had to be for their fitness. And I think part of it, and this isn't really part of the pain rankings,

but I think for the Atlanta sports fan, it's certainly Falcons fans are Hawks fans and their Braves fans, and just the lack of success. All those teams have had for now a relatively long time since the Braves were decent is part of the mix. I just rewatch that game because I'm doing a making the leap. on the Falcons defense. Hello.

And I, the most, you know, who should be number one on the pain rankings is Dan Quinn for going back and watching that 10, 12 times? That's a statistic. It seems like he should see a therapist about that. He's insane by doing that because I was, even as a Patriots fan, just watching the unbelievable amount of luck and bad, you know, just any number of things that could have happened

and it just would have turned around and it didn't. Number four in the list, I have the Buffalo Bills who, have not been to the playoffs since the 1999 season, which perhaps not coincidentally has coincided with Tom Brady's entire playing career. But I highlighted in the write-up, which you can see at NFL.com slash pain rankings or NFL.com slash end-around. I highlighted Luke Rustard, who is an NBC news correspondent, Bill's superfan, his father.

Hey, Luke. That's what the guy says. That's what his boy said. Hey, Luke. His father, Tim Russert, was obviously a very famous bills fan, passed away a few years back. But I just want to highlight this quote that when I interviewed him 2005 right after they hired Rex. And it kind of sums up what sucks about being a Bill's fan is that they get sucked into different narratives about how things are going to change and then nothing works out. Here's what Russert said.

Belchick is the master. However, the Jets beat Belichick before in the playoffs. If Ryan could pull that off one time, he'll be God. In all honesty, if he gets to the playoffs, they will erect a statue at this point. Doesn't even matter if he never goes for the rest of his career in Buffalo. If he gets to the playoffs this year, they will erect a statue. They already hit their season ticket record. It's not even August, and they did that.

It's going to be mayhem, at least in those first few games. And you know what? It was. And Bill's fans were never more excited than that early Bill's tenure. And look, they're right back where they started with Rex, nowhere to be seen. It does feel like if you were a millennial, if you're, say, 30 years old or younger, This has to be one of the most pained fan bases out there. Yeah, I mean, they won four conference titles in a row,

lost four Super Bowls in a row, and that streak ended, what, 94? And ever since then, what are the bills, what does an entire generation of Bill's fans have to hang there out? I mean, there's a lot of great fan bases on this list, but they are right there at the top. Just keeping that franchise in Buffalo. Right.

So many threats to move out. They deserve it. I mean, all these fan bases deserve it, truly. they really deserve a little sunshine. Number three on the list. I have my New York Jets. And, you know, to love and lost or never have loved at all. I think as a Jets fan, you've kind of experienced both ends of the spectrum.

I believe that their ability to hand out pain to their fans, they can take you through a coat tight type error where they're hopeless or where they are right now. They could get your hopes up and suck you in and completely destroy you, as they've done many times most recently in 2015 in that season finale in Buffalo. The Jets just never get over the hump and it's not easy also sharing a city with the Giants who there's a butt fumble behind me.

You have the butt fumble. You have the Fitzmagic running out last year and now the Jets just not even trying this year And you just know as a Jets fan, you really have had nothing to really celebrate as a 37-year-old Jets fan. I've never even seen the Jets in a Super Bowl. And you know it's still far away. It's just a very frustrating, sad, annoying fan experience as a Jets fan. You got your owner leaving to be an ambassador.

Come on. Same thing happened to Steelers a few years ago. Yeah, but I trusted, I don't know. I trusted the Rooney family. It feels different for some reason. Taking over better than I do with. Johnny Johnson's brother. He's like, oh, yeah, my brother's got to do it.

Who? What? I didn't even know he had a brother. And all of a sudden he'll be running the Jets now. So there you go. The Jets continue to mortify my soul and my father's as well. Number two. Number two.

And this is why I wish Mark was here. Because number two on this list is the Cleveland Browns dropping out of the number one spot. And it's not anything really. the Browns did in fact you could you could say maybe it is like this is an this is an offseason of optimism uh where they a lot of people gave uh sashi brown and uh Hugh Jackson a lot of credit and and they got the three first round picks and they address some big needs um in free agency coming off that one and 15 last year but at the same time we've been down this road before so before I moved the the Browns anywhere close to out of the paint

rankings we actually have to see them do something so they they did win one game last year one game last year they have they still are in a lot of ways if there wasn't something crazy going on with the number one team to me the team that with the most pain your thoughts was i mean i would keep them at number one and i think we just saw the video of fans with paper bags on their heads i don't remember ever seeing a chargers crowd with paper bags on their heads Cleveland has been paper bag since they've been back in 99 you talk about a team with a great history that has never come close to revisiting that history. They still have an all-time winning record.

They do because they were so great when our grandparents were in the prime of their lives. I mean, they were so great in the 50s, in the late 40s. And if you think about where Cleveland is, where's the Hall of Fame? Just a short drive from Cleveland. This is the cradle of football. And for them to be so bad in the cradle of football, to me, carries extra weight. And the bills, we hear it all the time. and they haven't been to the playoffs since the 99th season.

The Browns, everyone forgets. They made it once, and I believe the O2 season, but they haven't really. And lost the painful game, Bruce Ariens and Kelly Holcomb, the underrated chapter in the Bruce Ariens book on Kelly Holcomb. That last season, as we witnessed with our friend Mark, was a pretty tough experience. That was an underrated, painful experience because.

It did some bad things to Mark. Yeah, after, and I'm sure, it broke Mark for a while. I'm sure a lot of Browns fans, too, the weight of possibly going 0 and 16, it just kept building and build. You saw it on Hugh Jackson. I mean, Hugh Jackson was kind of a mess by the end of that season, too. So just carrying that for about, you know, four to six weeks when it really looked like it was going to happen. That was tough. And can we get a little timpany for this one, Sully, for the number one team on the Pange?

West kind of, you know, I was trying to do a reveal. Oh, said the name. But listen. I could mess up a junkyard. I know you didn't mean it on purpose. I know. Things happen. Love you, buddy.

The number one team on the pain rankings. The Chargers. And I'll tell you why. I had something of an epiphany late last. Did I tell you I was burning the midnight oil last night when I was working on this? Yeah. That's impressive. It was very late.

Mid-July, yeah. Very late. What a time a year to be burning the midnight oil. Just do the work. Just do the work. And I was trying to figure out where to put the charges. I couldn't find the right spot. And then I took a bigger, like a more macro viewpoint.

What am I doing here? It's about fan pain. And what could be more painful than a team quitting on a city? And the Browns know about that. But at least they got their team back. The Chargers are the city. if San Diego is not getting their team back. No. So for a team that already

never got a Super Bowl, they were in, they never won a Super Bowl. The one that they appeared in, they were basically a joke. Just a jobber in a professional wrestling match for Steve Young to trounce. They've had

soul-crushing playoff losses. I mean, the Jets beat them in San Diego twice, for Christ's sake. Draft Day, Bumbles, terrible trades. They traded Drew Breeze. What was their hall that they got back for Drew Breeze?

Left and free agency. They got nothing. They got nothing. Sorry. Off the field tragedy. Junior Seow's suicide, which was obviously just a terrible thing for the most famous player

in franchise history, arguably. And then the long, not just that they left, the way it was drawn out over more than a year to the point where they played last season knowing they already said goodbye to the team of the previous year. Right. I remember Eric Weddle memorably, you know, kissing the 50-yard line and all that.

And then they went back anyway because ownership was still trying to, you know, do whatever ownership was doing to get the best situation. And then they just left. And now San Diego has nothing. They have been left with – they dealt with a team that they suffered with for 50 years that never brought them home to the Promise Land. And now there's no light at the end of the tunnel. Every other team that we talked about here still has a chance.

even the Browns, even the Jets, even the Bengals. It's really the San Diego Chargers. This is about the San Diego Chargers. There is no tomorrow for the San Diego Chargers. So I had to put them at number one. To bolster your point, no team has ever spent 57 years or more in a city or 56, however long they were in San Diego, in the NFL and then moved. I mean, this is the longest the team's ever been in a city and they move.

But I think, what do you think about the argument that say, Okay. San Diego, it's going to be 78 degrees in sunny every day for these fans. What about Cleveland where they had their city taken away with a much richer, they had their team taken away, a much richer history, much richer football area of the country, and they are left with snow and gray skies for most of the year. And not only was their team taken away, but we're going to compound your pain by making you the most dysfunctional franchise in the league for the next two decades when you do get your team back.

I think that's certainly a fair point. And if people feel strongly that the Browns should be number one in an exercise like this, I can't say that makes no sense. But I guess it was more the thing. I think the thing about the weather being good in San Diego is a little bit overblown. Like we've been living in L.A. for a long time, you kind of take it for granted after a while. And it's not something like it makes my life better

or I have it better than other people just because I just don't even think about it anymore. In some ways, it's a little more like, you know, I could understand why you would be. like if you were somebody that dealt with depression, if you were dealing with stuff, and it was just beautiful and sunny every day, I feel like it doesn't really, it doesn't make it easier on you that your team has gone. I think what that point,

I think there's some truth to it, Wes, and I think it maybe reduces the amount, like, if you're talking about the level of support, obviously the Browns have a different level of support and a more broad fan base than the Chargers do. I think for the true diehard chargers, and I went to their final game, in San Diego.

And you're kind of right that they even were robbed from the real experience of saying goodbye. Because by the second time around, they were just exhausted. They were like, we did this a year ago. A lot of the same people that went to the time before didn't go to this. And those people that were there, they were heartbroken. They had told me stories that they had been going for 50 years or their family had been going. They were the season ticket. They were not going to follow the team to L.A.

and that was a good thing, a good point, Adam Rank, our colleague made in the newsroom. Imagine if your favorite team goes to your rival city, the city that you hate. Now, there's some gray area here. There's Orange County where the Chargers are actually based right now. It's like those fans maybe kind of go, but I'm talking real San Diego people. They hate L.A. They hate the L.A. sports teams, and that's where the Chargers went to go. So I think that that makes it even worse for those fans.

The San Diego fans feel pain now, and it's just going to stay that way until, you know, they just get used to this world without football. I think the Chargers will eventually feel, too. They just might not realize it yet. Like, where are the fans going to come from here? Do we really think that the Chargers are going to? Oh, the team, you mean, it's going to feel. Yeah, do you think the Chargers are going to develop a huge fan base in Los Angeles?

I think if they won and they were good, they would be enough just because the NFL is popular enough. Like, if they were good, if they're going to the playoffs, people are going to be into a little NFL playoff football this year. Sure, why not? I would say that seasonal effective disorder, sad, is a real phenomenon. And when you live your life, most of it, under lead in skies, you need diversions like sports more often in your life than you do when you live in sunshine and beautiful weather. Yeah.

But the Browns did get it back. They got back worse than what they had, worse than what anybody's head. And some of the fans thought, like, we're just another podunk town. That was a quote. I don't think that's true because San Diego is a great. A great city. People love standing there. A lot of people's favorite city.

Right. People love it. But just losing an NFL team, if you're, if football is really in your blood, it does take something away. It's like, oh, I'll go kite surfing today instead. The Roundley NFL podcast presented by New Era has come to a close. We'll be back on Thursday with another show, an audio-only show. Hopefully we'll have, well, actually, Greg, you will not be with us.

I do not plan to be here. I'm taking a long. weekend. Are you going to be with the Shield though? Ahead of, I will be playing softball on Thursday night, yes. I like your priorities in the right spot.

Yeah, exactly. I'm not missing a game. Last game of the regular season. People need to know, by the way off. The Shield is now on a three-game winning streak and a win in Thursday's regular season finale clinches the division title and a buy straight into the finals as

you look to go back to back and we're doing it all for Chris Wesleying. I hope to be back. Should we do the patch? Should we get like the W patch at this point? I think that's unnecessary. I just feel with us. No, it's like, you know, it's like when, you know, Dow Strawberry, you know, got cancer,

the Yankees put, like, his number on their hats and stuff. Do you want us to, like, go down that route for you at all? I want to play. I know. We want you in. That's why we have a move to, we have not moved you to the DL, I are. You're on the active roster. I'm on the boomerang.

Yeah. You're on the boomerang. You just let's skip no, you know, every Thursday. I'm starting to feel better. I'm getting aggressive with my medication this week. I need to get it back out on a softball field. We've got a championship to defend. And we're close to doing it.

All right. That's it. Check the show out Tuesday night 9.30 p.m. Eastern 6.30 p.m. Pacific. NFL.com ATN. Video. Dan Hansis, signing off for the boss, the mailman, and Sally behind the glass. Till Thursday! This is an IHeart podcast.