NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Patriots-Steelers Week 14 TNF Recap and Special Guest

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus and Marc Sessler break down the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Patriots and Steelers (01:00). The guys take a look at what this victory may mean for the Patriots and Belichick (5:15). Next, the heroes are joined by special guest, Ricky Hollywood to discuss what it's currently like to be a Patriots fan and outlook following this game (17:30). And finally, the current situation with Sean McDermott and the reports coming out of Buffalo. (34:05) Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Jappy, throwing, caught. Henry, touchdown. Whoa. Border, almost at the pick. And the kick is going to be blocked. Miles Kilimru, their special team's Maven, gets in there. Need two.

Going deep, going for an all, and incomplete. Intended for Johnson. Blame Canada. He can. A go ball on fourth and two. What an absurd ending. Too frankly, an absurd game. The New England Patriots.

get the stop late and get the win, whether they wanted or not, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at the field, formerly known as Heinz, 21 to 18, a win that both damages Pittsburgh's playoff hopes badly and damages the Patriots chance at the number one pick. So maybe it's one of those weird, funky situations where a game ends and both fan bases are annoyed. Dan Hans is here from my home. Mark Sessler there from his home. Mark, where to start? A strange game. Let's start here, though. They hit the over by halftime, but we didn't get much after that.

No, I mean, we got, I guess they hit the over because we got the best half of football offensively that the Patriots have produced. Billy Zappi, I don't like any of these quarterbacks, but Billy Zappi, arrow up on Mac Jones. And I just, I'm looking at a Steelers team that if anything, they've been imperfect, but they've been resilient and they keep kind of eking out wins. But in a five-day period, you've lost to the Arizona Cardinals who were an apparition essentially in the National Football League. And tonight to a Patriots team that despite allowing like 10 points or less in three straight games had lost, tonight they win. And it's, I just, the Steelers to me are fading away.

and a lot of it has to do with the fact that former first round pick Mitchell Trabisky, you know, amounts amounts to 60 yards through the air in the first half. I mean, the offense that we thought two games ago in that clash with the Bengals had reawakened with 400 plus yards, two games in a row since we have evidence that that's not the case. And whether they're a playoff team or not in a really weird AFC, they are very flawed. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to be that guy, but I was I was less bullish about, the Steelers coming off that 400-yard game just because we'd seen so much shallock to that before that and I never I'm never totally on board with just putting

everything on an offensive play caller because there's usually a lot more going on like bad quarterback play and bad blocking and inability for the wide receivers to make a player show that they even care or want to be in the building and and Pittsburgh to you know the 12 and and five dream is over, obviously, Mark. And it's funny because a week ago, we were talking about how they and I don't really look like a 12 and 5 team, but the schedule sets up so well for them, they might just

get there. So to drop back-to-back games to two-win teams over the course of four days, I guess it does this, Mark, because we've been talking about how the Steelers aren't really passing any of the smell tests throughout the season, and yet they kept winning.

Well, now they've kind of been exposed. And with the schedule now tightening up, I think, even though an NFL season isn't very long, even with the added game, just 17 games each, it does have a way of filtering out the pretenders and the contenders by the end of December and to January. And I think that's what's happened to the Steelers here. And on the Patriot side, yeah, you get, you get three touchdowns from Bailey Zappi in the first half, you know, some curious play calling, I thought, down the stretch in this game, including. including before that four, you know, that fourth down failure by the Steelers that basically ended the game. You know, the Patriots just running the ball three times into the line, trying kind of to get a first down, but also trying to burn Pittsburgh timeouts. It's like,

you're two and ten. Like, it don't be so conservative. Go and win the game. And then even when they're, uh, the next possession after when Pittsburgh failed on that go ball, they are inside the Pittsburgh 40 yard line and it's fourth and inches. And you send out the punch. And you send out the hunter and it's like just like oh my god this is such a stupid game that we're watching and it just refused to die so i'm glad it's over and mark i'm sure uh gregg is upset about it and all the other patriots fans because they they now also have put themselves in the position where they might not get uh that top two pick uh this could be a very costly win for them well it's i think it was mentioned on on our thursday show that there's the world where if belichick knows he's not going

to be with the Patriots next year. We don't know if he knows that. We don't know what the situation is, but maybe you go Lovie Smith and you're not trying to, like, lose these games. And it's like, leave the next coach without the number one overall pick. I mean, this game, though, I, you know, I think it's pretty much on the nose when we predicted all week long that this would be a bit of a disaster. And it turns out to be, I think there just aren't really seven real playoff teams in the AFC. And we, like, we very well might get the Steelers in the postseason. And they're a very incomplete team. And I would say the one, On top of the loss, like, I don't love like Alex Highsmith, who you've got, you've got T.J. Watt, but Alex Highsmith has probably even arguably been a more productive pass rusher, leaves the game with a neck injury. There are just problems with this team. They're very incomplete. And to lose these two games the way they did, it's like, these should have been the two opportunities to propel you and inflate your record beyond what you are and take you to that potential 11, 12 win scenario. And it's like, they're not that team. They're not going to do that.

this is a Steelers team that's going to win about 10 games, nine games and float out of the playoffs if they even get there at all. Yeah, I don't think they're going to go near the playoffs. This is a team going in the wrong direction. And I did think, you know, watching Mike Tomlin in this game that, you know, he called them JV after the Cardinals game. And I wonder what he's thinking in this game. And you could just, you know, the high and, excuse me,

the Acro Shore fans in that building just going nuts, spooing that offense out of the building in the first half because I think there was this like very quickly because New England's offense was putting a point surprisingly. It became clear that, whoa, this was supposed to be just like a three and a half hour celebration here in Pittsburgh and we were going to move right along to eight and five and being great position going into the home stretch of the regular season. So it kind of turns into a nightmare. I should clarify because I just said that the Pats put themselves in a tougher situation for that DREPIC. Even with the win, they still hold the number two overall pick as action rolls on in the NFL on Sunday at 3 and 10.

But, you know, so Carolina, which is actually the Bears' pick, they are in very good position the Bears now to get the number one overall pick for the second straight year. They're two games up on everybody else. But what that win for the Patriots does, it moves them away from number one, obviously further. But also all these other three and four win teams now are right in the mix for a top three pick. You got Arizona, Washington, Chicago, New York, New York, Tennessee, all with four wins right now. So that tightens up significantly. Anything else that jumped out to you in this game? I just don't remember a season where within like a one week period, you had the fans in New Orleans who are some of the greatest fans around and loyal to the end.

Same goes with Pittsburgh, both raining down. booze and cat calls and annoyances in their home stadium at their own team. I mean, that's the kind of year we're in a little bit. The other thing that comes to mind is whenever they show Cam Hayward, the monstrous defensive linemen for the Steelers, that Dan, we did a broadcast boot camp with a number of NFL players, and he was one of them. And we did a little 10-minute, you know, 10-minute how to do a podcast-type class. And like, you know, we're just us. And like, the class ended and, you know, Darren Waller and a bunch of other people marched out of the room, but, like, Cam Hayward came over to us. And he's about six foot, 600. Like, he's just giant. And, like,

he's like, hey, guys. So how do you do a podcast? Like, how do you come up with your episodes? I was like, that's a great hangar. But now he's doing, like, I just saw him on good morning football the other day. He's doing great. He does all this stuff. But it was just like, when it's weird to watch these players and be like, they're, these are like absolute athletic feats and giant, gigantic men. And it came over to us and just had this little tiny question for us. And you and I just stood there like, well, we'll see what we can do. And here we are doing a show. Yeah, he was, he was a really, really nice guy.

I think, I'm trying to think in my, in our years, working at NFL media, the biggest guy ever still for me was Chris Jenkins, the old Panthers and Jets D tackle. When he walked into the old newsroom in Culver City, I remember just being a gas. that a human could be that large and also he was like super athletic but uh i think i think he's uh number two on the list and also was super nice um you know did the thursday night football during the post game show and they're like saying stay right here we got bailey zappy coming up to the day i'm like oh boy um you have tony gonzalez saying they're trying to what's wrong with the steelers what happened to the steelers and tony gonzals is saying the reason they didn't win this game is they don't have an alpha male on their team. Can we, I mean,

geez, can we come back to us, Tony? I mean, you played, you're one of the greatest tight ends that ever lived. You played football for your whole life. They don't need an alpha male. They need a quarterback. And it's like they, that is so much to do with their offensive struggles is that inability to have somebody and, and obviously, Kenny Pickett is no great shakes, but Trubisky is just so inconsistent and that's why it made it all the more puzzling with the game and potentially season on the line there at fourth and two near midfield to throw a go ball there is is so strange to me and I know part of the problem is and I think Mike Tomlin you know obviously has a lot of work to do to try to get this season straightened out now and if it doesn't work out

how do we make the team better the running game once again disappeared here they average less than three yards of carry on 28 rushes. And I know the pit, the one thing New England kind of has going for it is that the defense still plays with a sense of dignity and pride and they are, they have not been pushovers. But man, that is not Pittsburgh Steelers football

in any way, shape, or form. No, I mean, New England has led the league and, you know, allowing the least amount of points over the past three weeks. It continued tonight. Their defense is legit, like Belichick is still coaching that up. But Pittsburgh has been running the ball consistently and that went away tonight.

And it's like Mitch Trubisky is not going to get you out of that. George Pickens like vanished this evening. And I would so argue against the concept that they lack an alpha male on that team. I mean, what is T.J. Watt? What is Cam Hayward? They've got a bunch of them. I think they're talking about an offense. Just to be fair, I think he was talking about the offense.

But even then, I think we're on the same page there. I mean, I just think that we don't, that's just not the case. You're dealing with average quarterback play. You're dealing with a quarterback that gets injured every couple of weeks. It's all over the league. Like we've got back. I mean, by the way, an alpha male. I mean, that's what the NFL is just filled with.

There's 500 alpha males. These guys are highly aggressive, physical marvels. These guys, that's not what they need. And, you know, whatever. I'm with you. Shout out to Zeke Elliott, who obviously, into a larger role here with Ramonja Stevenson out with the high ankle sprain. He has 140 total yards in this game and a touchdown.

So that obviously helped the cause for New England in the first half. And his last run of note looked like it was a run for a first down in the last minute there to kill the rest of the clock. They challenged it and they ended up moving it behind and put it to third and short. And then, of course, they weren't able to make the first. first down and they had the silly punt and all that but i did like the shot mark and this is a good way to end this because you know we both we love us some bell check in different ways um bill pumping his right arm first down first down first down on the sideline so i don't know what's really going on in the in the old coach's mind right now i know he's probably very embarrassed about you know the state

of new england patriot football at this point but don't say he doesn't want to win or he's checked out. Bill wanted that game badly. And I think to get a prime time win in Pittsburgh, it was kind of like a little taste of the old days, the Steelers who can never beat Belichick and Brady or hell, Bledsoe back in the day. And once again, with the Steelers desperately needing a win at Hinesfield or the artist formerly known as Hinesfield, again, the Patriots somehow stick it to him. So I think Bill, it probably felt good, a little whiff of nostalgia there. I'm with you. And he did it with um i he's got this fashion choice going on of late where you've got a winter uh bonnet on with a little ball on top kind of hanging sideways off his head it kind of looks like a you know

a christmas eve drunk in a dive bar but like i think he's doing that on purpose too i but am i wrong like that look kind of throws me i feel like it can't he has to be doing that intentionally he's like the he used to be a ski instructor a long long time ago in the 80s this is in like a a sleepy town in Vermont, a snow town. And now he's more in a managerial role, let's say. But he spends most of his time at the pub at the bottom of the ski slope. And that's where you could find Mr. Belichick these days. Like one of those vibes. Like he used to own this town, but now he's just a townie with the, what did you call it a bonnet with the ball on top? I think it's, I think that, I mean, we, you know, we can explore further. But I think that's what you'd call that hat, like a winter

bonnet with the little you know the bobble on top and it's sort of hanging sideways i don't know strange choice i wouldn't i wouldn't walk around town with that um outfit but that's you know he's got a different a different agenda than i do you know what i'd like i'd like to see bill and levi your jacket probably have to size up a couple but yeah i think he's not going to fit in my jacket i think it's time for bill to kind of have a reinvention wherever he lands next i know we're talking about it with Weish and Steve was less bullish on the idea that, A, people want Bill Belichick in the modern times in football, if he was kind of a free agent, if you will. And B, whether he is, you know, that gung-ho about getting that record, I think Bill would die for that record. I just, I get that

feeling that he is going to find a way to get that record. And it's going to be one of the most important group of months in his life after this season's over and the end of the new england patriots era because i think it's this is his chance to kind of cement his legacy and uh he has he has a big decision to make i still think he will have he'll have options but we'll see there it is by the way someone someone's going to want him i mean i'm with you like like that record if he achieves it look what had to happen for bill bellichick to get there how many eons it took It may never be achieved again with the way that coaches are hired and fired so quickly now. So nab it and maybe no one else on earth can ever achieve it again.

So I'm with you. All right. Let's take a break. And when we get back a very special guest, we'll hit one very odd news item. And then we will have a conversation with our very special guest. Stay right there. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies. roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin, and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining.

And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Oh, Mark, we don't usually use this on Thursday night. It must be special. Welcome back. Our next guest needs no introduction.

She's on the Mount Rushmore of around the NFL producers, now doing the damn thing with the Rams and beyond, quite frankly. Some call her Erica Tamposi. We know her as Ricky Hollywood. Hey. That's our girl. That's our girl. That is music literally and figuratively to my ears.

Ricky. Hi. This is so nice. This is so good to see you guys, to hear you guys. We got a cat call from Mark. We got a bonnet. We've got slope side from snow Vermont

I mean this is just this is great This is exactly what I what I needed Ricky did I describe Belichick's hat correctly I don't know what the name of that Yeah I would just call it like a beanie With like a palm on it but yeah Big Funk chimed in in the comments Palm Beanie which I've never heard of

Yeah Yeah I wouldn't necessarily call it that either And calling Randy Big Funk That's that's new to me Now, it must be nerve-wracking, I would think, for Funk to have one of the legendary producers in the history of our show on right now. And people who know Erica and her history with ATN know Erica is a Patriots fan, born and raised in New England. And I was thinking, and we ended up getting a W for the Patriots tonight, which was not expected. but the way kind of the conversation I wanted to kind of get into with you to start was

what is it like as a millennial Patriots fan right like your what is your earliest Patriot memory let's start there just to let people have a little context then there's obviously millions like you yeah no it really really is 2001 2000 it was it was the the millennium you know no I had an amazing 20 years with Brady so Did you say the Millennium or the Will Lennium? The Millennium, right? What's a Will Lennium? What's that?

See, you're so young, you don't get the Will Smith joke. It was an album that around the time. It's all good. Well, wait, wait, what was on that one? Was that like, Welcome to Miami? No, I think that was on Big Willie style. Got you, got you. I think this one might have had Wild Wild West on it.

Okay, well, I'm familiar with that one. I mean, she's so young, but Dan, you're so old. So it's, I was going to say, I, I, I, I qualified. I qualify as a what they call geriatric millennial as a 1980 baby. Mark is your straight up baby boomer. So, you know, we have, we're covering a lot of. No, is Mark Boomer? I think he's Gen X.

Absolutely not. My parents are boomers. Like, that is so. I think you're Gen X. I'm like on the edge of that too. Like you, I don't. Well, no. I think you're a geriatric X there.

I think they call you guys. That's what you say. Ricky, anyway, what's it like? So somebody who's formative memories, start with Tom Brady's first kind of beautiful run there in 2001 and for them to be in this situation where they are right now, you know, arguably the worst team in the league or certainly perhaps in the AFC.

Has it been really strange? And I know you're busy with the Rams, obviously. So how close are you following? I'm curious about that too. But what's it been like the last couple of years, but especially this year? This year has been horrible. Like I woke up the weekend of the buy week for the Patriots.

And I was like, oh, we probably lost this. this week too. I've been I watch every game that that I can most most of them I watch pretty much everyone unfortunately. It's tough you know it's hard it's also hard to have a public sort of rooting interest now for my job too which is which has been sort of weird yeah it's been weird to to maneuver that sort of aspect of things but yeah no I'm I'm still watching and hurting and like one of my you know best friends from home texted me right when the game ended we suck so much we even suck at sucking when we need to suck so uh that that's what's going on in pat's nation here so yeah yeah that's for you like are you ready to move on from bill

bellichick erika i i like feel for him i think there's a lot of people especially when brady went and won the super bowl that it's like it was brady all along but like all of the other weapons like like you said talk about an alpha male like bailey zappy looks like he should be in a third grade classroom he's so little like i and mac jones isn't it but also just like the the issues that the team has been shooting themselves in the foot with on like special teams even and all of the penalties and the like it's just it's such a disaster in every phase of this game right now that i'm like i almost feel bad for belichick and like would love for him to in a weird way like get another shot somewhere else and you know what well somewhere else obviously

that that would be one way to do it and i mean listen vincent bardi ended somewhere else i believe with the redskins like no very rarely do you just end uh where your glory uh goes down part of me wants to say i'm surprised when i hear and i know a lot of patriots fans as well because i went to school up in boston and you know everybody kind of wants bill out everybody wants to flush the whole thing. And I'm thinking of myself, oh, how could you be so kind of cold-blooded and all the glory that guy gave you? But I'm also a Yankees fan. And I remember them coming for Joe Tori the same way back in the day to get him out of town once the championship started dry up a little bit. Like that winning breeds like this need for more winning. And then when the losing starts,

it's a really nasty thing. So it's kind of a tough. And nobody really feels going to feel bad for Patriots. Patriots are their fans. But it really is a tough come down to be high that long and then suddenly be this low. Be at the floor, yeah. Yeah, you're taking it very well, Eric. And it does not surprise me. That's just the woman that you are. I feel for players more than I ever have, like especially, you know, the past two seasons

being so, you know, involved with the Rams and seeing these guys every day and like what they actually like put themselves through win or lose every week. Like, you know, you hear those. sort of cliches like we just got to keep stacking building blocks and what but like they do they go back out and they keep showing up and they keep they're just killing themselves to like play and also put you know stuff on tape for them for their careers and everything and so to hear like these Steelers fans booing the team that first half I'm sitting on my couch like oh my god but like they're trying so hard oh you're too close now yeah I'm like but they're working so hard and I was

yeah and I was also like screw the pats like come on Like you could get a franchise QB with that second overall pick. And then they're, they're going to blow that too. Oh, boy. Funk said he has something for a bell check from the post game. Check it out. Check it out on YouTube, everybody. Oh.

That? Who did he just do that? He just celebrated like a cool guy. He like dapped him up, but he looked really sad too. It's a good night. It's a good night for Bill and looked in a bad year. Mark, the floor is yours. Well, Ricky, I would ask you a question.

Outside of, you know, with your Rams employment, you have told me some stories where you've been like in the coffee room and like there's a bunch of Rams players coming. Like who's like the, who is your favorite player to hang out with? Like who's like the guy that we'd be like surprised maybe just like the coolest dude of the mall. And conversely, who sucks? Go ahead. Yeah. Okay. So sucks.

I have a top 10. No. No one really, no one, no one really sucks. Like there are some that are way more down the clown than the others. I know there's been so much talk about this Rams rookie class, but they are so fun and they haven't like been beaten down by the world and like agents haven't got their claws in them yet and stuff too. So like all the hype about like Kobe Turner, the conductor is like the sweetest guy on planet

earth so funny, like wants to do everything is like singing around the corners and, you know, like through the halls and puka is like the sweetest guy to ever step on planet earth and like it's so fun to see their innocence because they're just so excited to be here and they're not like beaten down yet so i like this rookie class is it's been so much fun how much like um is mcvay cool to you how about that yeah he's great yeah we dab like me and him and belichick like in that video we walk by and okay he's like how often do you have like contact with them do you are you guys like in the commissary together? Like, how does this work? Yeah, well, our corporate office for the Rams, we're moving to Woodland Hills at the end of this season, which is, which will be, you know,

the whole new complex that they're building. But right now, the corporate office is separate from the facility. So my studio is at the facility. So some days when I'm at the practice facility, that's when I'll see the players. Or like Steve Avila, the, you know, the center, not the center of the left guard that we we drafted like came into the corporate office just to like bring us donuts last week because he was just like oh where are they like I want to like just they're just so nice like they're so nice I can't say enough I have a question for you Erica yes you know us you know like nobody else nobody else in that building you know funk's starting to try to edge his way into the inner circle he's doing a great job with it but Erica was in deep she was in

edit i want to ask you a question okay that felt like vaguely confrontational with the randy randy you i love you i'm like wait where is this going i don't know erika what if um yeah i'm so happy gregg's not here of course why wouldn't i'm like why would you even have to ask that like this is my ideal show uh gregg included what would the at n guys be doing uh if they weren't uh NFL media employees slash podcasters yeah so I was thinking about this earlier today and it's so funny because like any odd random job that I would come up with like mark has already done you know like the text messaging of him like with a private investigator you know with the crazy stories that you have like I was like it needs to be something eclectic but also something like I kind of see mark

as like a park ranger who like nine to five when he's done like gets to just experience the wilderness in whichever way he chooses to do so you know what i mean like he's very much one of those park rangers it's like hey kids like you're drinking around a fire like put it out if you'll give me a beer i'll let you i'll let you'll let you keep it up you know what i mean like i see like underage drinking yeah yeah like he would just be like okay cool like you know give me that duby kid that's what that's what you're over the duby yeah i wouldn't yeah i certainly wouldn't stop you i wouldn't stop like the campfire um drink fest i'd probably you know find a way to like keep other rangers or various authority fingers away from it, you know.

Yeah. And we get like weird ominous texts from Mark. Like I was on a horseback like searching Yellowstone where like a young maiden was locked under a boulder and I like helped. Like I just feel like that that would happen. You know that's my answer. You know me. That's, uh, you would be like the park ranger version of Amy Polar's character and mean

girls. Like, hey, I'm the cool mom. You drink around me. Just don't go driving anywhere. Yeah. Yeah. Dan, I was, I for some reason, couldn't get you out of my head as like if you went the alternate route and was like sort of like a, like a stock broker in New York City, but not

the one where as bad as you are at math, like the personality higher where it's like, oh, Dan, like he can't add for shit, but he closes every deal because he's like, he's like, you're like the closer. Like you would come and like Dan's like loosening his tie on Wall Street after the long day and they're like, hey, I don't know how he does it. but like you bring Danny in there and he closes the deal. It's like he's, you know, he's mentally challenged, but he is charismatic as hell. Yeah, he can talk to anyone.

We bring them in. We get their guard down low and then he strikes. Like, I don't know. I kind of, I kind of see that. I could say to for you, Ricky, I think I could see you as being one of those people that, like one of those women that becomes a full-time reality star. And you end up as like, like you look 15. years later you see somebody you see a woman on some show and then 15 years later she's on some

other show and they're like oh wow and then you check like her wikipedia and she's never stopped being on different reality shows and she's fairly well known in the medium i see you as like a like a high level uh difference maker uh professional when ever like a reality program needs somebody that like kind of like the straw that stirs the drink they dial up ricky yeah i yeah i don't not if I take that as a compliment or a insult. But I think, no, I think that's great. Do I, do I have all like the work done and everything too? Uh, yeah, a ton of work. Oh, nice. Botox. Yeah, just kind of a mess, almost unrecognizable. I mean, in my defense, uh, your description of my other life, I'm like wearing a helmet full time. So.

I mean, so is Mark. Greg, I think would literally be coaching tennis like at like a random po bunk town. Podunk. What's the word? Yeah, podunk. I could see that Like with Ricky Like one thing I had the chance to go on like One of these like two day cruises Not too long ago

But like what happens is like the cruise In the middle of football season Well no it was like Erica like Mark is going on cruises like all the time now Greg and I are always like He loves cruises so much And he goes he goes on cruises at odd times Where the weather is bad where he's going

He like he takes he takes rickety old boats into like storms and he enjoys it because he keeps doing it well hold on some of that is not accurate i've been on i've been on two short ones like like they are like three days you've been on two cruises yes i went with some friends in the last in in the last how much how increment of time here if you live in l.A they're very affordable like actually you can find these deals where it's like they're super insanely affordable like let me tell you something like on these ships okay they have like the cruise director who you think they're just like there as to like shake hands but they're like singers and dancers and they get up and do these shows in front of everyone I was always like

I could see Erica being like this where like you're just on this cruise like nonstop and you like no I think you'd be great at it like I do I could see it incorporating many of your many aspects of your um you know versatile talent like Erica you didn't make it in show business uh here's life on an old literally yeah everyone that like can't make it as a comedian or a singer they're like Yeah, but I got booked on Princess Cruises for the six-month, like, contract. Well, I see where you're coming from, but I found them to be the one that I encountered seemed to be a talented person. And in fairness, yes, a lot of people, that's where they get their start.

Yeah. Yeah. And if you're a listener right now and you work on a cruise ship, like, I think that's a great life. And I would love that. Wow. Way to clean that one up. Yeah, I would.

Cover yourself. I would. But I just don't understand how Mark's like going on multiple cruises. And I just saw you out. And we met up at a Star Wars bar, Mark and I. recently and there was no talk of these cruise jaunts that you were going on so that's like a secret underground to talk about so a cruise underground circuit going on here yeah you guys are sitting in the spock booth i mean there's no time to talk about cruises it's a strange place that we met

there's no doubt about that four seats in the spock booth please that's not how it actually i mean I would say it was a much more, uh, it was not nerdy. I didn't not, I wouldn't say it was nerdy. There was like, they were like, it was the nerdyest place I've ever been in my entire life. By the way, like, I got a text from America being like, have you heard of this bar called scummed, guinea? That's what it's called. She's like, yeah, I've heard of it. It's like up the street.

She's like, come meet me there. I didn't, and I didn't like lure you in from the wilderness to this place. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was. Hey, Ricky, we've got to get going soon. But how about like old times we hit a news item before we.

We should do a little Muso and Frank get together. How about that? Absolutely. Cestog kind of floated that. And I was saying, oh, yeah. Yeah, I love that. Very soon. News item.

And this one's a doozy. This is a jarring right turn for us at this point. way. Yeah, that's fair to say. This broke about, I want to say, right as we were wrapping up our Thursday preview, which you could check out right now. Here is the headline at a BSPN. Bills coach Sean McDermott, Colin apologized for 9-11 remarks in 2019. And here's the backstory here. And this was reported. This is a big, this is a big scoop on the, Tyler Dunn has his own blog or website called Go Long. And if you want to kind of support Tyler or learn more about this and do both, check out Go Long.

But McDermott back in 2019 told players in a speech to come together and use the terrorists on 9-11. And those that are not aware, multiple jetliners hijacked. and it was a group of al-Qaeda members, highly coordinated, pulling off, you know, one of the worst days in the history of this country. Anyway, use the terrorists on 9-11 as an example, asking players in the room questions about how the attacks were executed and referencing the hijackers getting on the same page. Multiple players who were with the team at the time confirmed the story to ESPN, while others who were there told ESPN they did not recall.

Here's Sean McDermott. So when this story resurfaced, thanks to Go Long, which I'm sure McDermott is thrilled about Tyler's project here, Go Long. He had a unscheduled news conference on Thursday. It lasted about six minutes, six minutes. Here's a little bit of his explanation about what went down in that meeting. We brought everybody together and said this was the goal. This was the intent. And I apologize if anyone.

whatsoever felt a certain type of way coming out of that meeting right that if anyone misinterpreted or didn't understand my message I apologize I didn't I didn't do a good enough job of communicating clearly the intent of my message and that that was about the importance of communication and that everyone needs to be on the same page ironically enough and so that was that was important to me then and it still is now okay Erica so and by the way that is something that apology occurred that same day or in 2019 because he knew it didn't land the way he wanted to and that is a crazy explanation even today because he's still not apologizing or saying that was a

that was a dumb idea to ever kind of in any way lionize what those psychos did like what he what he said basically is like they didn't quite understand what I was trying to get across. This is a bizarre story featuring a Bill's head coach who's got his hands filled already with the 6 and 16. Yeah. It's also 9-11 right now on the clock, which is really odd. That's true.

As we're recording that. So that felt weird for a second. Wanted to call that out. Let's just sign off. Yeah. Good night. No, that and just hearing that too, the sort of like, hey, sorry if anyone misinterpreted what I meant there.

my I was kind of covering my mouth watching that presser and some of those clips from that today it it was I don't really know I mean you have to address it you have to apologize but I don't really know how you can justify that or walk that back whatsoever yeah I mean absolutely on that front and I think you know he's stuck in a place where there's no real explanation that anyone's going to sit well with um what Tyler Dunn has created in general, because there's a lot more to come with this report. And I think, like, having met him, and I think he's been on our show once, he's an incredible reporter. And what he, what he kind of unearthed about the Sean McDermen experience in Buffalo is news. It's incredible because I think that you've looked at this coach I have all along is like, they're a steady team. They've been in a Super Bowl window. If anything, he's been a positive the entire time. There have been not a lot of like Sean McDermott anecdotes that would shake you on it at all. If anything, he's sort of been out of the way. But what he started to

create with this report is like, he is the problem. He spoke that, I think it was 25 different sources who went to town on what's happening with the bills. And it kind of changes everything you think about what's happened and everything that's happening right now and what could happen if this season continues on its wayward trajectory. So, you know, this just is part and parcel of what else he reported. I mean, if you go, if you, you know, there is a paywall here, but I would say it is so worth reading. It's a pretty incredible explosive NFL report.

You don't get a lot of things like this these days. And I guess, and obviously he made a mistake. And he thought it was ancient history. He came back and we all make mistakes. So I'm not going to bury McDermott here. I will add just as someone who. Um, grew up in the New York area. I grew up about 45 minutes, uh, outside New York city.

Uh, and there's a lot of, you know, joking talk a lot on, uh, in the NFL about, well, there's only one New York team and, and you know, the Jets and Giants play in New Jersey, but the bills are the New York team. Let me tell you something. If Sean McDermott said this stuff and he was the coach of the Giants or the Jets, he'd be out on his ass tomorrow. I think he would be done. That would be how big a story that would be.

And if he wouldn't be done, it would have been a massive story. The fact that he's up in Western New York, it's a little bit different up there. And I hope he just moves forward because it's an unfortunate situation and a bad idea that now is being amplified. So a pretty wild story to just kind of stumble upon. Just with everything this morning. Yeah, like all the news that was dropping out and like just like the different college games in bulk and then it's like oh also this 9-11 headline i was like what is happening um ricky

yeah um that's what's happening in the news awesome thank you um ricky let's get some plugs out there where can they see erika yeah anything rams related on on social and then i host rickie's ram jam which is a once a week show and i um i think i also some of my Game Day stuff airs on KABC weekly as well, too. If you're in the Rams, L.A. area. If not, you know, YouTube and social, check that out. It's some fun stuff. Very nice.

Mark, what do you got? I don't, I am not featured on any RAM, you know, centric content at this point, but I support the Rams. I appear on this show, the same days that you appear on it for the most part. Yeah. Very nice. All right, Ricky. This was a great little treat for us.

We want it and we told the listeners, I don't know if you're aware of this, Ricky, but we said we know Thursday night football is not going to be a good one. But we're going to cook up something special to make sure you tune in. You're that special thing. That's so nice. I miss you guys. I miss the fan base.

I miss, you know, working with you guys so closely. And I have checked in to listen to your guys Rams recaps after the last three wins. So I have been, been peeking in here and there. That about that J.B. Long is feeling himself. I like it. I think he said to that, you know what?

I got to, I see Long at the, uh, barbershop, uh, Jags and Westchester here in L.A. all the time. Well, not all the time. That'd be weird. But, you know. Yeah. Like how do you, how would you ever see the same person at a barbershop more than once by chance? Multiple times. Multiple times I've seen a good old J.B. You guys are synced up. And he, uh, yeah, we're on the same cycle. Yeah. Um, he's, um, he's said to the crib in his call, which I was like, that's, that's, that's how you connect with the millennials. I like that. Yeah, I feel everyone's like, oh, yeah, the, the Ravens this coming weekend. Everyone's, you know, oh, they're going to get trounced and, and whatever. I don't know.

I got a sneaky kind of like feeling. I don't know. Do you? Well, give us a prediction. Let's see. I, I think that it's one of those teams where the Ravens are looking as just like a, we can put the W column here. And I think sometimes. those are the biggest games, you know, any given Sunday. Drop game. Yeah. So I kind of feel like, I don't know, anything could happen. I would love to see a win this weekend. It would be amazing.

I get off the fence and make a pick. Okay, the Rams are going to win this Sunday. There you go. Any given Sunday. And where was Lamar today? You know, he just disappeared from practice. Hmm. What's going on?

Maybe he was heading over to do Ricky's Ram Jam. You know, you never know. Yeah, he's on. Yeah, I got to go. We're going to record that, right? I've asked both of you to come on and you're both too busy. because you do, what, 30 shows a week now or something? No, you got me.

You called me when I was on the East Coast, but I told you any other time, I'm in. Okay. I also want to appear. Like, I, you know, I do have a schedule that is complex, but I vow to appear soon. Yeah, like, are you going to be on a cruise? Erica, we couldn't even get Cestog at the ATN photo shoot

organized by NFL media yesterday. You couldn't even book him for that for Wednesday morning. It was just Greg and I posing in a room without the third guy. I don't know. Some focock the story about a dentist's visit and we're just like, oh, yeah. It was not. It was absolutely died in the wool, accurate and factual and, you know, you cannot live it down with this crowd. Yeah.

No, I get it, Mark. It's tough. It is tough. I think that's why Park Ranger could be like a third half, third, a third, a third, the third third third of your life. Because you're on the third. You're on the third. And it separated yourself, Mark, just a solitary life in the woods might be the best thing at this point. She's basically just put me into the final third of my existence.

Not basically. I did say you were in the third third, you know. All right, everybody. And enjoy your weekend. And remember, we are at Mnambal. Plus, the Drematorium was open for business big time today. So the triple header on Thursday is complete. See you on Sunday night.

Until then, feed the call. Bye, Rick. Bye. This is an I-heart podcast.