NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Radio Row Day 1: Carr visits Saints + Jamaal Williams + CeeDee Lamb + Ja'Marr Chase

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

An elevated stage on Radio Row in Phoenix filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal catch up on the latest news from around the league, starting with Derek Carr's visit with the New Orleans Saints (5:39). Aaron Rodgers is planning a darkness isolation retreat (9:52), we have a Super Bowl injury update (15:51), Brian Flores is heading to the Vikings (17:48), Steve Wilks is going to the 49ers (19:40), and the Titans announced their new offensive coordinator (20:45). After the news, Jamaal Williams joins the heroes to discuss where he wants to play next season and sings along to the Team of ATL theme song (23:49), CeeDee Lamb talks about the Cowboys needing more weapons and weighs in on whether or not Mike McCarthy is a Zaddy (39:08), and Ja'Marr Chase reveals the mystery player who complimented him at the Pro Bowl, explains how he forced Joe Burrow to accompany him to Las Vegas, and speaks on being a spokesman for the male crying community (52:41). Note: timecodes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. From Phoenix, Arizona to preview Super Bowl, 57. Yes, from the Arizona Super Bowl. It's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis here at the Phoenix Convention Center, joined by the heroes. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler.

Here we are, Mark, a place. where years ago you were trapped. Yeah, spent a strange year here. You know, for, I think many have heard this story. I'll recap it in 30 seconds, but had a girlfriend-type individual in my life back in like the 2003 era, and we were driving from Colorado to L.A.

And we were in a VW camper van pop-top going from National Park to making our way through the country. And the VW. Youthful hobos. Youthful hobos, the thing just comes. completely s is out in the middle of like lower Arizona and she announced to me at that point after about a week being stuck in the man I'm a desert person no this is a microcosm of what's not working how did you not roll up your sleeves and get that car back on the road well we sold it

and then we bought her a vehicle and I worked at a Wells Fargo HR call center yeah and that was our Super Bowl 57 coverage it's great to be here look at us here this is not they don't call it radio row anymore it's a media row yeah because radio's out new media like us is in we're looking across and yeah it is more like you know web shows there's definitely you know legitimate buzz there's a big crowd already here on a wednesday it's going to get more and more wild as the week progresses and we are here to yes get you caught up to date with what's going on as we approach eagles v chiefs on Sunday, Super Bowl 57? Roman numerals got me again.

We're going anti-Roman numeral. We also have some great guests coming up on today's show. One of our favorite players from the team of around the NFL, Jamal Williams, will join us in just a bit. We also have two of the best wide receivers in football. I mean, honestly, you might say these two of the five best wide receivers in football. We're going to talk to... Oh, no, he didn't, top five.

Jamar Chase of the Bengals CD Lamb of the Cowboys that's coming up as well so we are here and I feel it I feel the juice the electricity of the Super Bowl this is our 10th Super Bowl as a group and I at the Super Bowl site and I have

to say when I touch down in Phoenix I still got the juice from it I love it I think we're also enjoying this set here you know shout out to iHeart it's almost like symbolic the podcast has grown and now we're literally lifted off the ground.

I think we're the highest set in the game. We asked for that in our contract. I mean, also symbolic. I'm just going to throw this out there. I walked into my hotel room later than you guys. I arrived in the middle of the night. And it's like the size of a small factory. It's massive.

So I enjoy that. We're losing touch with the comments. I totally are. My room's quite small, actually. No, it's not. Because the first thing I did was text. Do they make a mistake? You know, it was no, it's the same as ours.

And also keep in mind, Greg, when you're elevated on a stage, when you get too close to the stage. sun. Yeah. When you're flying high on borrowed wings, sometimes you come crashing to the ground. So don't, both of you, especially Mr. Hotel Sweetman over here, don't get too high on your own supply. I think that's a good, um, and that was the Super Bowl.

It's a good instructional for the two of us. Common Man rankings. We're all taking a hit and I embrace it. I'm actually staying in the boiler room. Dispaction of a holiday inn under the airport. All right. Let's do some news. Let's get caught up on some stuff.

Coach, is this a must-win game? I would tell you every game, that's the way you go into it. If you're not thinking that way, then you probably should be doing something else. Travis, would you say this is a must-win game? I think you have 1,000 percent, man. Is this a must-win game? Yeah, I would consider it a must-win game for sure, because if you don't, you're going home without the trophy, so definitely a must-win game.

Is this a must-win game? Well, they're all must-win games, but this is more of a must-win games. must-win game? Yeah. All the Eagles agree. Good luck. That was Andy Reed, Travis Kelsey, Patrick Mahomes, and Jason Kelsey. And of course, the man asking the question. The greatest question in the history of Media Night, the legendary Dave Damasek, is the Super Bowl a must-win game? I love it. You could see some of them actually pondering the question for more than, you know, a split second. My favorite part of it is every media night seen on Twitter during the night,

outraged cognoscenti being like, someone's so dumb that they asked this question if it's a must win, can you believe it? He's got him. I love it. That's one of my favorite things here. We're now kind of the old heads where it's nice to see all our old friends. Last night we saw a lot of friends out, like Bill Barnwell and Mina and all the people from ring. It's like we're now those people.

Kevin Clark, we got dinner with. Like our friend Bob Glower, we used to see. It's glad something I'd like to be that old veteran. Next to Mina comes on the airplane in. Look at that. I heard she talked to me about that. She said that you were very open with her conversation. We both shared a lot about our lives.

We're going to get to that later in the show. But yeah, and we're going to get dinner with Czech tonight. How about that? Love it. Love the Super Bowl. Love Super Bowl week. Let's hit up the news starting with Derek Carr. The latest on Derek Carr, who of course is no longer in the Raiders plans,

but still is a Raider, at least from now. but you have a looming deadline to get a deal done in terms of contractual obligation. So this feels like it's happening soon. And NFL Network's Ian Rappaport reports, the Raiders have granted Derek Carr permission to visit the Saints. Rapsheet added, Rapsheet, by the way, who,

oh, there he is right now in the distance. I heard somebody calling my name. He's on the phone, breaking this story right now. I think he pretends to be on the phone sometimes too. I think it's, I think it helps to feel like a strong man. I heard my name being, shouted, and I'm looking around because I had headset on, and then Jason Clement, our producer, pointed out, Ian was walking out of my eye view, and I look over, and he's just giving me the middle finger. And I just wonder, like, what's that about? Like, where are we in our relationship? That that's the greeting.

I mean, I knew he and Greg had gone through a thorny period, but it's very antagonistic to treat you guys. You worked at, you know, old school East Coast newspapers together back in the day. Right. Right. That's, so we're going to have to. Newspaper row. We're going to have to patch that up. Anyway, rap sheet adds that the visit is expected to happen on Wednesday. but that no deal is imminent between the two parties. Gregi, I know you are, you know, basically a Saints fan at heart. You always are very high on the Saints when the new season's coming around. But I know even Gregi...

I can promise you I won't be next season no matter what happened. Even Greg is probably going to struggle to get excited about Derek Carr on the Saints and everything else going on with that team right now. Okay, so I think I could separate two things. I'm not going to be high on them because of what I expect most of the roster to look like and mostly their coaching staff. I think Derek Carr is probably their best case scenario. What else are they going to do?

They don't have any draft picks. The idea that this deal is an imminent is obviously true. Ian's reporting that. There would be a lot to work out. But with that deadline, you mentioned, you know, pro football talk's kind of putting out that they'd be crazy to agree to a trade and that a release is more likely than a trade. But like, why is he getting on the plane then? Like, to me, if he's in New Orleans on Wednesday, they are.

by far the most aggressive. They're the leaders in the clubhouse. He wouldn't go unless he already had the idea that like if this goes well, I'm becoming a saint. So I think it's more likely than it's being put out there that this thing gets done. And if for some reason he does get released instead of a trade, then I would expect the Saints are the team that signs him. Yeah, I think Derek Carr wants to be wanted after the way things ended and are ending with Las Vegas. I think there's that part of it and the enjoyment of being courted. The Saints are, I know this never matters, but they are $60 million over the cap right now. They can make changes to fix that,

and I trust Mickey Loomis when he steps away from his Pelicans duties to address the cap situation. Didn't they stop that? I don't know, but it's like, I mean, there's no team. It is a trade deadline week. Maybe his Peloton duties. There's something Pella-related that's keeping him from focusing on the football side of the operation.

I'm looking at the St. Straff picks, too. They got the 29th overall pick. Right, they got that for Peyton, so I shouldn't have said they have no picks. They got one pick in each of the seven. rounds and like to my where I'm at on this is like why wouldn't why get another stopgap guy you had james there obviously you had dalton there i think car represents an upgrade on those two guys but wouldn't it be better to start trying to develop at this point get a young guy in there and go that route that to me it feels like a neutral move to bring in car for a team that to me isn't that

close i think of all the guys who actually will be available and i kind of think gino and danio jones they put, Carr's the best one. And I don't think their goal is winning the Super Bowl. I think their goal is winning nine games and not getting fired in January. That's their only goal. I agree that's a problem. I don't think they'll even reach that goal, but I think that's their goal. I absolutely agree with that.

I think it's like if you're that coaching staff, you can swing for a rookie, but you don't have a top 10 pick there. And if it's Derek Carr probably provides the most stability. I do like to set their wide receivers. And I think he's in an all right environment to succeed. All right. Well, we're going to keep an eye in that whole situation.

Let's talk about another quarterback. Well, that's what we do. Yeah, that's what we do. We go around the NFL. Let's talk about Aaron Rogers. There's a quarterback who could be a difference maker. However, you know, a lot going on with Rogers. And I feel like every year that passes,

there's a little bit more going on with Rogers. You know what I mean? I don't know when I say that? Just like, oh, where is this guy at? He is now, yeah, and he's growing and developing as a human. Is there any way? 10 years from now, he's not doing some reality show where he looks like Rick Rubin, basically, and he's traveling the world and meditating 22 hours a day.

I think he's heading in this direction. So the fact that he's a professional football player, and there's Joe Montana. I mean, what are we doing here? This is unbelievable. Joe Montana is 50 yards away from us right now. People should check out this article, by the way, about Joe Montana, which is almost a little depressing that. how I don't think he's enjoyed Tom Brady becoming the go.

And it almost might have like a little personal thing with Tom Brady. I recommend people read it. Wright Thompson. Right Thompson, ESPN, check that out. I think that, you know, not to get sidetracked here, but just like how LeBron passed Kareem last night, no one's ever just going to be the best forever.

If you could take it to be the best in your era, and I think a lot of people think Montana was that dude, I would think that would be good enough, but these guys, obviously there's ego and pride involved, so. I don't know. Someday we'll be, you know, sitting out in the middle of a field while someone else does our podcast, and maybe we won't think it's so summary.

On ayahuasca or in a deeper tree? I'd like to think we would have a generosity of spirit. I think Kareem exhibits that maybe in a way. Maybe we wouldn't. Joe is not. Or at least, yeah, Kareem is playing the game the right way publicly. He probably didn't want to run to pass this record. But, you know, he's a human rights ambassador and all that.

Let's get back on track. Gereem taking a stray in a big spot. What I just say? I said, you know what? Actually, come to think of it, he's a nice guy. Yeah. Aaron Rogers, anyway. He was on the Pat McAfee show, as he always is.

And he said before he makes any big decision about his, one thing we've lost over a little bit here is he hasn't outright said he's even playing next year. So that's in terms of what are the possibilities, at least the way he's framing it right. now is walking away from football is an option he said that he is going to embark on a four-day four-night darkness retreat soon after Super Bowl Sunday the 39-year-old said he has not decided if he'll play and whether that's with the Packers or another team there are obviously a lot

of reports that he'll be traded and all I want to know and Mark I know you want to know because you have a definitely a life path that could put you on a Rick Rubin look underground somewhere at some point what does it mean to do a four-day four-night isolation retreat you know sitting in isolation meditation dating with your thoughts it stimulates uh stimulates uh dimt so there can be some uh hallucinations in there but it's uh it's just kind of sitting sitting in silence which you know most of us never do you know we rarely even turn our phone off or you know put the blinds to sleep in darkness. So I'm really looking forward to it.

Let's get this maniac in the New York sports market. Let's do it. Embrace the chaos. You know what? He obviously is an outlier among quarterbacks to suggest this type of thing. But I don't hate it. Like, I kind of get it a little bit. And, like, I don't know.

Like, maybe it's not as fun to not sling an arrow at him. But couldn't we use a little bit more of silence and contemplation in our life? I was intrigued. I wanted to find out... Dan is looking at me like... Well, well, because it's a little performative, that's all. I get that, but I actually think there's some sincere... I think he wants to do this.

I don't think he's BSing. Right. Yeah. I think he wants... He is the type that wants people to... I think he wants to be an evangelist for it. You know, that like he wants other people to do this, to become wise in the way that... A Christ-like figure, if you will.

...becoming wise, which maybe is too much. But I was intrigued that you can have hallucinations and, as he said, DMT experiences, without any drugs, I was like, okay, I mean, you've got me intrigued. Greg did perk up at that point. You get the high, but there's actually no drugs involved. I will tell you something really quickly. I lived in Boston.

Tell me more. I lived in Boston for two months back in the late 90s, and I needed to make money. I know the story as well. I did a sleep study. It was a 10-day-long sleep study where they put you through the ringer, where you're awake at one point for three straight days, And your mind goes literally berserk.

Like, you do see things. Your mind operates. I think we're using like 2% of our mind, if even that. Right. Okay. And when I screamed out the word drugs at the top of my lungs here, our shadowy league figure on the set just kind of like perked up. And I was like, okay, I should shut up about this.

It makes sense that this is where he wants to make his decision, that you do want, maybe you want to do it as quickly as possible. He also said it was ridiculous to say he wouldn't retire just because Tom Brady's retiring. He'd be happy to, like, share the. the Hall of Fame podium with him and J.J. But he's clearly probably playing, right? They do seem to tool back and forth to grab the headlines, Rogers, and Brady for, like, the third straightoff season.

I did want to mention, they do bring him food, and you are allowed to leave. Like, if you're not vibing with it, you can just go. They're not going to lock you in. And you don't see the people, but they bring you three meals a day. So it's not through a hole. They bring you food through a hole. Right, yeah. They, like, shove it in almost like a...

I just want to know what food. So it's basically, like, solitary confinement at the rock. But you can leave. I think that was crucial. I was like, what if it doesn't go well? But then, you know, just get out of there. All right. Let's move on.

Good luck, Darren Rogers on his journey. All right. In other news, let's do a little Super Bowl injury update news. Let's start with the Chiefs. Well, the Eagles are very healthy, by the way. So the Eagles are in very good shape going into the game. Cadarius, Tony, on the Chief side of things, wide receiver said he will definitely play in the Super Bowl.

He's listed as questionable after going down on the first. quarter of the AFC title game. Did not return to that game, but he is practicing again, as is Juju Smith-Schuster, also listed as questionable, but he is back on the practice field. And more good news for the Chiefs as well, because Legerius Sneed also on track to play. He was cleared from the concussion protocol. These are three big-time players, Mark. Yeah, I think it's the argument for the two-week break between the title game and this,

Because, you know, had it been last Sunday, I'm not sure where we'd be with these guys. I just look at Cadarius Tony, because we've seen it in spurts as the absolute X factor for Kansas City in this game. I think they, you know, because he's been in and out of the lineup and he's been used sparingly, that it's a perfect setup for Andy Reid to create three or four plays where he is the centerpiece, and he's unguardable if they get him in the right place in the field. Especially in the red zone. I mean, they survived the game they should have lost against Cincinnati, losing those receivers. We'll get to the preview. We got Mad Dog on on Thursday for our preview show. I'm looking forward to that.

But it does feel different for us personally because we weren't at opening night. We're not at the team availability. But both these teams, there's not a lot of drama to it, which I love. It's like football. They're both great teams. Not saying they aren't good interviews, but they're not making like screaming headlines that everyone gets all worked up about. It's about the ball.

Yeah, I like that, Craig. Sneed said he's 110%, by the way, which is impossible. Yeah, that's not possible. You're asking a bunch of questions at that point. Why are you lying to us? Right, it's not an actual. What's the truth? And Spaggs told NFL media, it's huge getting that cornerback back on the field.

In hiring news, Brian Flores. This was weird, the timing a little bit on this one, because on Monday show we talked about the Flores was a finalist for the Arizona Cardinals job, and then almost immediately we learned that he is being hired by the Vikings to become their new defensive coordinator. What gives, Gregie? Well, I'm going to just throw a. irresponsible speculation out there that's what I do sometimes I don't think he he probably knew he

wasn't getting that job and he probably didn't like to be used as like a token person that they're putting out there that he was a finalist when he didn't really feel like it was a finalist so he took the job that was there yeah I think that's that's what the Cardinals want uh well they could be waiting for this game they they are talking to Lou Anuromo later this week but the fact that they're taking so long and the cults are taking so long makes me think there's probably someone in this game whether it's Jonathan Gannon or Shane Stike in that or Eric Bienemy, who knows

that they could want? All right, the last two San Francisco 49ers, defense creators. Great iron floors. I mean, that's huge. Oh, yeah, yeah. We should touch on that. The Vikings, the reason why a lot of people, including myself, didn't take them seriously, is because their defense was a wreck last year. So, it reminds me of when... He will make them better.

Right, it reminds me of when Dallas went from a Mike Nolan led defense that was an absolute disaster. Insert Dan Quinn, it becomes a team's strength. I think Flores is an incredible hire, and they need bodies. They need players, yeah. They need players, but I mean, I think this is a coup d'etat for the Vikings.

The 49ers, Kudaita. Big moment. A violent Kudai Ta. When Mark breaks out Kudita, you know it's Super Bowl week. Craig Digger, can we start doing a little ding whatever Mark says Kudata? I mean, it's not all the time. No, it's not all the time. If he says violent Kudedaa, Kudata, we do a double ding.

Just that's a little Cool, got it. Female assassin. Just a total circus. It's just an absolute circus. Anyway, the last two D.C.s for the Niners turned into head coaches and Bob Sala. And then, of course,

Tamiko Ryans, who just got hired by the Texans. And now it's Steve Wilkes who heads to that role. The former Panthers interim head coach joined San Francisco as their DC. Greg, this is solid hires. well it's a great hire and I know they like to develop their own coaches but having a guy like Wilkes coming from the outside I do think they have a few more questions than normal like just when I was looking at their roster and getting

ready writing at an article up about what each team needs to do they're a little thinner on the defensive wine like they've actually got some I that's why I think they should just stand pad at quarterback worry about everything else make the rest of the team so good your quarterback proof you know Wilks everywhere he goes it's like you hear the players love playing for them so I think that's great for them. But I do worry about a team. I mean, Wilkes is a good hire, but you've had three coordinators in four seasons. At some point, your luck runs out on that front. I mean, we've seen that with New England last season. And finally, in the news, a lot of questions about the Tennessee

Titans in general. But let's center at the quarterback position in this conversation. Ryan Tannahill, his future remains unknown. The Titans promoted Tim Kelly from passing game coordinator to OC on Tuesday. And in his news conference, head coach Mike Brable said he kept Ryan Tannahill, quote, in the loop on the higher. Rable went on to say that he seemed excited Tannhill did about what we're going to do and what we're doing with. Vrable also added that Ryan Tannahill is in the building every day, Grave Digger. Are you starting to feel or have you felt the whole time that Tannahill will remain quarterback of the Titans? Yeah, I do, I'm not sure if I...

I thought we were going to get him there, but he was ready. Everyone is plugged in. He's his Super Bowl week. It's Super Bowl week. Yeah, I don't know if I felt like it all the time. I got a little excited last week when Mark started talking about trading him to the Falcons and like the new air of what it could be. But I have kind of thought Tanna Hill will be the quarterback of the Titans for at least another season. So Tim Kelly, internal promotion.

Why did it take so long? I don't know. They were interviewing apparently reports out that they wanted to interview Bienomi and Matt Nagy. I don't know if they did. It felt like they were waiting for those guys, and then they announced the move this week. So they did hire Charles London to be an assistant passing game coordinator, and he was coaching with the Falcons, quarterback's coach of the Falcons last two seasons. So maybe that we'll do something too, I don't know.

How about the idea that something that you can say in this show could excite Justin Graver the way it did? No, that forced me because he's not in my eye line. I had to give it back off my chair and look between Dan and Greg just to see the look on his face. Odie, ody, what you say about me? Attempting to excite him with that, because I think that would annoy most Titans fans. Were you attempting to titillate our producer? Sure.

I am attempting to. I cannot. He has powers that disturb me to some degree because it's those sound drops that he can insert into the show at will at any moment. So I try to play a ball with him. Edit that out of the show.

Producer? The problem is the drops. Yes, producer. You cannot tell if they're in real time or not. It's slightly... That's my favorite one. I mean, I would say in terms of this era of being able to modulate people's voices and faces and videos, for that to be hitting our podcast, and you specifically, it has to be troubling.

No, it isn't because I have the rights to myself, so you need to furnish me with a bundle of cash, and then I just go sit in that large hotel room. I adore you and think that you're wonderful, your job. Well, I'm glad this came down in a good place. Sharrade. All right, that is what's happening in the news. All right, let's take a break, and then we will welcome on a man

that I think's going to be a best friend when it's all said it done. We've said this before, but I think this time it's going to go better than with Kvon, I believe. I hope so, a little team of A-TAN talk with a very special guest up next. All right, we got a guest. It's a good one.

It's a big one. I've got to be honest with you. I'm more excited about this man joining us than anyone else. Why? because he basically said, hey, Barry Sanders, take a hike. I now own the touchdown record. No, he would never do such a thing.

He would never do such a thing with such a great player. But Jamal Williams is with us. Yes, and he is coming off a season in which he scored 17 touchdowns setting the Lions record. The Lions, who, by the way, Jamal Williams, the team of around the NFL, we got behind you guys and celebrated every moment along the way. So thank you for joining us. And I can't wait to talk it to you right now. Let's do it. Thank you.

Everybody's dressed so. marvelous of here. We've never got... It's called casual. Oh, no, I mean, first of all, your chain says... First way at Kazagay. Okay.

That's my president's, man. I'm saying you're giving us compliments. You asked us where our coats were from. I think that's a sign that we're stepping up our game. No one's ever said that to us before. You know, just got to kind of go in the kids section if you want to get it my size, but yeah. It's because I'm, one day, I'm going to grow into a mode of I'm wear suits, but not yet. But I want to make sure I'm comfortable, too, but I like that jacket.

Yeah, I think you can get this a target, I think. You're lying, for real? It's all available to you. You got the accessory game, though, going in a way that none of us would ever be able to accomplish. Believe me, everything you see, somebody has given to me as a gift. Okay. Like the coach fanny pack and then a number of little... All these are gifts.

A lot of trinkets. From fans. It reminds me of my kids' backpacks a little bit, a lot of anime trinkets. Oh, I'm a kid, for sure. I will relate more to the kids than... Which, oh, no offense. That's true. That's fine.

We're all. So, Jamal, like, such a crazy season because we've followed Hard Knocks very closely, where you were a star on Hard Knocks. Can we get a Jamal Williams hard knocks clip? Oh, please don't. We ready to see your body like diarrhea. Trip, Chip, baby, Zee. You hear me? Trip, drip, drip.

Trip, drip. I don't even remember saying that one. And that was fun, and the Lions were a great Hard Knocks team. and then the season starts not so hot, but then you guys turn it on. And I thought it was so fitting for people that did follow the journey of the team and knew that after the final game of the season,

Sunday night football, you know, when the whole idea of that game was, oh, Aaron Rogers is going to punch his ticket to the playoffs, even though the lines were mathematically eliminated. Who was it that was being interviewed after the game and giving like an iconic post-game interview? It was our guy, Jamal Williams. Do you mind if we play a little clip?

of your post game. Go ahead. Compliments make me feel some type of way. Go ahead. I can do this for him. So there's a lot of memories. A lot of emotion having it right now, but I'm just grateful. I'm grateful to be able to play this game for my great grandfather, and I'm glad that

he's looking down with me, and I know I'm making him proud. You said this ball's for him? Yeah, this is for him. Another day, stop playing us, man. We're the Detroit Lions. We the Detroit Lions. Stop playing with us. I don't even watch TV, but I heard everybody They already picked the Packers over us.

Yeah. You didn't let it finish. I was getting it. Just it was just like the transition, I'll never forget that interview because the transition from the very touching comments about your great-grandfather to everybody that doubted us go take a dirt nap.

Yeah. It's because I had a lot of my mind at the time. That's all. And I just wanted to make sure I gave my respect to my great-grandfather. And then after that, I just thought about, you know, what we've been through as a team. What a journey was.

Yeah. And it's just, you know, I know. I've never been, I don't think I've been the player of the game for Sunday night. Yeah, and so it was just like, when I seen the ball, they gave me two balls. I was like, wow. I'm like, I had a great game. And then the first thing I thought about was just make sure I gave my praise to my great grandfather and my great grandmother too.

They both passed away at 92. But they both together now, living in heaven. So I'm just happy to be able to give a performance for them as my last game. And then after that, just let people know to just stop playing the lions like this. It was like a beat dropping on, like, a big song or something. It was like, hold up, like, let's flip it right there. It's just my mind. I just flip it real quick.

That's why. But I do, you're watching you on Hard Knocks, sort of anything you've done with the media, you are like a wordsmith. You have a bit of a poetry kind of thing to you. Where does it come from? I consider myself, like, have y'all seen Pouti Tain? Yeah. Side-a-Tay.

Gotta say the name, no, my brother. Like, I really feel like I'd be talking like that. Like my words sometimes. I want to say a certain way, but my words be mixed up in different type of ways before I say. I love using Pouti Teng as like inspiration for your life. I don't know if like they look back on Pouti Teng as the greatest moment in their lives, and yet I do a comic genius right there. I don't think they really understand how funny Pouti Tang really is, though.

Do you ever feel bad when you score those? Louis C.K. directed Pootie Tang? Oh, yeah, that's what I was talking about. It was Louis C.K. I forget who the other comedian is, and then obviously, Chappelle. Yeah, they're funny. Wait. Are you the youngest out of them?

I'm by one year. I got it by a year. One year. How old are you? I'm much older than these two. Real? They'll have, you know, that. No, you just, the silver man over there.

He's so smooth. When you have gray hair, like in your tips? Yeah, yeah. You were asking us before, yeah. You were asking if we get into fights because we've been doing the show for so long. They've been together for so long. and I asked them, do they fight? They said, like, a boy band.

And then I asked who's... Well, I said rock band. Oh, my bad. You meant boy band. That's fine. But I, yeah, there's a difference. B2K, you know, metal, you know, it don't matter. Metallica, whichever y'all want to be.

I wouldn't say we're quite Metallica either. We're like a soul asylum or something. Oh, no. Somewhere in the middle there. That's showing our area. I can see y'all be that one Germany band group that go, do. Oh, Romstein? Yeah.

Now we're talking. You can definitely be on the... on the walking thing. I do have your German heritage. You can quickly, I like you, though, because you go right to the meet of the issue right away, immediately asking who's the lead singer. Yeah, who is the lead singer?

I'm the host of the show, but. Listen, you know, it's crazy. I know y'all wrote, like, y'all just little happy. We're a team. We got a, we got to. Oh, hey, good job. That's great team. You got to pass the ball.

You got to pass the ball. Pass the ball. You're lying. Speaking of team, like, do you ever feel bad stealing all those touchdowns from DeAndre soon? because you weren't my son's favorite guy because he had D'Andre on his fantasy team and it's like this guy, Jamal Williams,

comes in and just steal. You're the lead singer of that backfield, but to be honest. You're not bad about that. Listen, I told my teammates and everything, finish your food because once you get to the goal line, I'm going to finish it for you. That's not it.

What was it like, you know, with the city, you know, getting so revved up as that season went along and kind of spinning forward, Jamal, like now next summer it's not going to be anything about like the cute cuddly lions there's going to be actual expectations yeah do you think you guys are built to handle that oh yeah we've been ready for it but it's just more of just taking your time with it and enjoying the process and just get make sure you get like growing now like being on the green made packers I was like rookie

little guy didn't really have to talk we had vets for that you know get everybody ready you didn't got to get me ready I'm always ready but now now I'm on the lines like I'm a leader now I got I got to be vocal and, you know, I'd rather lead by action. You know, you like to lead by being vocal. I got a little bit of stuff. I have to be. That's just the extra level of trying to be a leader. But I'd rather be the leader by example only.

But if I want to grow and be that man that I know I can be and do things that I've never seen myself doing, I got to talk and let them understand, you know, how I'm feeling and what this means to me because I feel like the more you find out how much, you know, the game is from your teammates, the more that makes you want to pour in and do the best that you can and let them know that it's serious for you too.

You mentioned the Packers. Did you see this Rogers' four-day, fortnight, darkness retreat? I don't even know what that is. He's just going to lock himself in a room and contemplate. And he said it gives him a natural high and he might stay in there the whole time. He might leave occasionally. Would you do something like, do you need to do something like that? I feel like you're a stimulated guy with your love of anime.

I feel like you wouldn't be able to go dark for four days. Well, I mean, watching anime, There's people with anime do things like that, all types of. So, yeah, I get it. But I wouldn't do it personally. I just watch some anime, play video game, you know. Consplayed play life right there. I'm pretty good, really.

I got to tell you one time, the Combine is in Indianapolis. I would join them, though. You would just. You would do it. I would experience. You got to experience things once. Well, it depends on. Well, you'd have to be separate because he just would be like, Jamal, can you shut the hell up here?

You got to be in the room. I'm the most, I promise you. I'm the most. quiet person ever. Listen, all you have to do is give me a room in your house. Give me an outlet, a TV, and Wi-Fi. You wouldn't even know I'm there. Only thing you would be like is, why is there always people dropping food off in my front door?

That would literally be it. So you wouldn't even hear me. Do you have like a house or condo or whatever that's just very sparse but has a very incredible entertainment centers hook up? I'm picturing it. I don't even have my own house yet. I don't. I don't.

I'm still working, I'm still saving. Another contract, another game like this, the contract's going to come that's going to. Well, yeah, speaking of, like, we put a lot of emotions into watching the Jamal Williams and Detroit Lions' journey. Like we said, we pick a team officially. When we said you're the team of the round of the NFL podcast, we pick them officially, Lions were our team. So, like, you're not going to leave us, right? Like, your free age is this off? I'm just saying, like, is it feeling good?

You guys are too smart. He's the lead singer of his running back. I'm not the only one I got the choice in this. I want to be there. That's what I'm saying. I want to be in Detroit. Leave it there. It's not, you know what I mean?

If I go somewhere, but I want to be in Detroit. Well, Brad Holmes is a huge around the NFL podcast fan, so he's listening. Yeah. He'll know. Brad knows I want to be in Detroit. All right, let them know. I want to be there. I like the energy.

I like the coaches. I just like the environment and where we're heading, you know, as a team. So I just can't wait to see next year. Have you ever seen Dan Campbell cry? Cry? Yeah. Sort of kind of. I'm going to say emotional cry just because he cares, you know?

So I think it's more of when he started getting, I think anybody, when they start getting angry a little bit, you tear up just a little bit, you know? Your eyes are watery. Well, you had that speech during hard docs, right, a little bit? Yeah, that's emotional. Yeah, but don't, you know, like I said, don't let them tears fool you. It's all dog in there. I'm telling you. I run people over crying.

I'll do it. Well, that's, again, why that Sunday night football interview, like, it showed both sides of Jamal. Yeah. It's all there right there. That's a lot. Two-minute bite, you know, speaking of the team of around the NFL,

we have a theme song that we play, and we wrote it, and we had a friend of ours record it, and, like, I'm curious if you aren't into it. Like, we would like you to give a, like, put on your music review hat, Did y'all rap? Y'all rap?

No, we're not singing in it. No, and they do join in. Yeah, it is not a rap. Do you like rock music or all? Yeah, I love heavy metal. If I had to choose, I'll be a heavy metal man. This is Dick Banks, the one-man house band with a team of Around the NFL theme, with Jamal Williams, star of the team of around the NFL, listening in,

then giving his review. Hit it, Justin. Starting out good. Of ATL The team Team Of ATL Only one team

Can earn the right Now's the time to shine a light On the team Team Of A TL This is a Very special money. That's pretty good.

I ain't going to lie. For me, more than anything, when I listen to music, I just like the beat. So if your beat is something like, I like it. I wouldn't call it Romstein, but it's got a little bit of, it's got a heaviness to it. We've been doing this show a long time.

We have never had a member of the team of ATL sing along to the song. I think that means we got to run it back. Progress. I got it. Once I heard team once, I'm like, I'm waiting on the next team. Do you have anything on?

else you want to add before we say goodbye, Jvon? Oh, I just want to do luck there? Or look where they are? Which one? Right here, I think right. That one? All right. I just want to give a shout out to my friends back home in the IE, Inland Empire, baby. I just want to let y'all, man. I miss y'all. I love y'all. Can't wait to be back home again. And then go out there and get you some goodies stuff, man. That's our stuff back home.

We try to as a goodies foundation. We give them back to our back home in the I.E. So if you ever want to go and just give our donate, donate or help out, goodies, goodies.com. Yes, sir. Beautiful. Good eats. All right. Jamal, thank you so much, my man.

And best of luck going forward. And we hope you're on the Lions because we want to run back team of A-TN. Maybe with the Lions. Yeah. Or maybe we just follow Jamal. We're not doing it if Jamal's not there. The team. Oh, was it?

A-T-L. Jamal Williams, everybody. That's great. he goes, Jamal Williams. I thought that went very well. I like that man. He's a different cat. But the fact that he got into the theme of ATN,

that even took up another level for me. I mean, these player interviews can go all over the place, and he came in hot asking us in-depth questions about our show, about the dynamics between us, who was sort of the leader of the show and we got into fights a lot because we've been doing it for so long. I love that. He cared. He liked our wardrobe?

That's never happened. No one's ever said that. I wish I had asked him, like I once faithfully asked Kavon about friendship, because I think the answer would have been different. And I think if we were going to have a player who would pop in every once in a while, just as like a guest host, I think it would be Jamal Williams. I hope he's back on the lines. Yeah, me too.

I mean, maybe we don't bring up the aren't you are a friend thing, and we just keep, you know, hand off the neediness. Just be friends. Yeah, just let it. Sometimes I think. Mark knows how to make people work for it. That's true. Want it, beg for it.

And I do you like you wanted the cave on thing. Greg, you wanted the cave on thing so badly that it's almost like Mark and I paid the price. I had it. Yeah, you guys blew it. Greg's like, I'm on vacation now. Dan and Mark take bullets to the middle of the head. All right. Let's take a break.

And then we'll get some more guests in here. We got two of the best wide receivers in the league coming up next. All right. Our next guest is one of the best players in the NFL. C.D. Lamb, star-wide receiver of the Dallas Cowboys. You know it's Super Bowl Week when in a non-ironic way or there's not even any need to explain any further. The great C.D. Lamb is sitting there and in front of him is deodorant.

It's a bar of deodorant. What brings you here, C.D. Lamb? Old Spice, if you can't tell. Yeah. Yeah, definitely old spice. They got a new blend on the deodorant, swagger. 24-7 longer lasting. Keep you feeling fresh, man.

I showed up in the hotel last night, and this morning, in the days, opened up all my bathroom items, and I literally forgot deodorant and had to go downstairs to the little hotel shop, and I bought a product that was not Old Spice, so I apologize. Just ask CD if you need, he's literally hitting cold himself. No, I think this is the Kismet. This is how this works. You could tell you this. Really?

I mean, Mark does have the least amount of swagger out of the thing. Yeah, not anymore. I need to the, you know. Okay, I'm wrong. C.D. How are you, buddy? This is obviously, as we come up on the Super Bowl, that is, that's the goal. The Cowboys once again got close, but no cigar. Like, where's your vibe on, like, where the Dallas Cowboys are as we head toward another new season? Unfortunately, here we are again. But I hate being close. You know, I'm sure everyone on the team does, and we owe it to all our fans. It's been quite some time since the last time we've had Lombardi come back to Dallas.

But just being, I'm grateful to be here, grateful for all of the experience and being here in Arizona in this atmosphere. There's nothing like it. So you had a monster season. I found it weird. Your season almost went a little under the radar, considering the Dallas Cowboys number one ride receiver. Like a big step up, I thought, over 100 catches, 1,300 yards.

I feel like all the big-time wide receivers. This is just a theory. You're like, why don't, why, I'm going to ask you first, why do you think maybe you're not getting quite as much pop as other receivers? Because I play for the Dallas Cowboys and the first five games, I didn't have DAC, but it was still a lot of consistency going on. So I didn't have my first 100-yard game until like week 10. So my theory is you do everything well. Like you're very physical. You run routes well.

You get open. You also get pet. Like you're a little bit of a, you're a guy who can do everything. Maybe you need to make something. your one thing as a branding like what would your one thing be as a receiver uh one-on-one balls go balls okay i like those you can't jump in the kettle because that's been taken already the show perfect perfect perfect what is it you mentioned dac because like i don't know like we cover the game and this is our 10th Super Bowl and it's like the obsession with the

quarterback's always a thing with the Cowboys. It was with Romo before DAC, and now it's Dak. Part of you being the number one wide receiver, you always have to be answering questions about Dak. Why isn't he this? Why is he that after a tough ending of the season? Like, how does this team take that next step with Dak? I know we have a new offensive coordinator in the mix. What else does this team need to do

in terms to make that step, to get to the title game, to get to the Super Bowl? You got us around? Straight like that. But look at the Eagles, and they got three receivers, great tight-in group. They run the ball well. O'Lon is very phenomenal. You look at Sanfran. They surround it their quarterback, and you get success ultimately.

I mean, granted, we got just, you know, as many weapons, but that extra player or that, that one, all it takes is one. You know, you can be so close in that to the Super Bowl, and it could be a deciding factor. So I feel like just keeping him comfortable in the pocket, just keeping him surrounded with, you know, whatever is production, should I say. And you got to stay healthy. And when you, you know, last off season, I think an early narrative with the Cowboys when it comes to weapons was Amari Cooper traded for like a bag of spoons. And it was like, wait a minute, like what are we doing taking this big talent?

You guys all looked up to him, I'm sure, as well. Off the roster, he's not really replaced in any way. Do you guys like text each other and just be like, what are we doing? in here with this kind of move? No, we for sure text each other just kind of, because nine times out of ten, we don't really know that it's coming,

you know, until it hits the market or hits the internet. So it's kind of confusing. I mean, it is, but it is. You never really want to question it. It's just all on stepping up and in the progress of being confused. You just want to, you've got to do what you got to do.

Did you like how Mark, you know, for our listeners, because this is also an audio podcast, showed you what texting is like. With his fingers. I'm texting for you. That's how a Thespian operates. You actually show, you know, it's a play out. And a showman.

Yeah, and it's an audio show, so it was of no help at all. You consider yourself a showman? No, pretty much, I guess. I'm performing. I think that's what Greg might have been getting at earlier. He wants you to, I guess, stand out more. No, I think what it is. I think people that really, no, it's not so much that.

I think, I thought you got a lot better. Do you think that's accurate this year, that you took, like, another level up? No, I was deaf. I took a step. Like, how do you think you did that? What I was saying is I think people that watch a game see you and put you in that class with a Jamar Chase and a Justin Jefferson that, like,

you took that leap this year to get there. So I guess I was just trying to figure out the disconnect there. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, I feel like in a situation to where you don't have your quarterback for the first five. I'm going to keep highlighting that because it's crazy. You don't have your starting quarterback first five games, and then he'd come back, and then, like,

it takes him about a game or two to get acclimated, you know, in the season. And now we're already, you know, in week 9, week 10. And mind you, when I was week 5, like week 9, week 10, a lot of guys already had 1,000 yards pushing 1,800, you know, and I still managed to be in the conversation.

And then once I got decked back, the offense got rolling again, and then, you know, the numbers started doing what they do. And all the part of that is just staying true to myself, staying through the ground, and understanding if I have my one the whole season, who knows what the numbers look like. I got to ask you something that's a little bit off

the range of football um but this podcast goes back 10 years and dan and i about a decade ago did a show about um eric berry the old chief's defender um had was petrified of horses like very very scared of them i mean i don't know where it's certainly probably came i love horses i know i know i read that you are just a you for a whole life you've been riding horses you grow up on a ranch yeah i mean how would you help someone like eric berry um overcome that kind of beer you can help them out i feel like in a city once you once you've made your mind up that something that you're not going to get yourself into I don't think there's no change in your mind like me I would never

I'm afraid of heights like I'm terrified of and uh so you don't want to be able to like I'm super tall horse leases yeah no no no I'm cool with that okay I don't know why I'm cool with those type of heights you know what I'm building's roller coasters yeah I'm cool with I'm cool on those but uh I guess man taking for a spin like he he got it's only he got to get on the back of a horse and control it Yeah, right. You've played with, like, so many big-name quarterback that's wild. Maybe you are the key to all these guys, though.

Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hertz, Kyler Murray, and Dak Prescott. How many, like, first of all, I don't know if any wide receivers played with a bunch of names like that, but if you could compare them in terms of how their passes are, like, how are their passes are different? I just want to know how they're different, though, because people talk about, like, oh, he throws a good ball, or he throws this or that. Like, how are they different in terms of how they? they throw their ball. They judge it off of pretty much, I feel like, the throwing power or depending on the situation. So if we're running a slant, right, and you're throwing it in

between two people, I expect you to have a lot more firepower than you would if I'm running a one-on-one slant, right? So, like, the ability to put the ball in a certain area, depending on the coverage, right? I feel like that's where you can judge it the most different. And that's all on decision-making. That's why I say I feel like there's no way you can judge the difference on who's throwing what you just got to see it you know and then be the the judgment of you're not going to rank

him and just Barry Baker Mark's guy over here nice try Greg you almost got me but I'm not going Were you having played with Jalen did it not surprise you the way his game took a big step this year not at all

just because I feel like his whole story all started when he got benched Batua, and then the following year he had ended up in Oklahoma. So just that whole process, I got him, like, when he, 2019, I didn't know who we were going to get, right, my junior year in college. I didn't know who was going to be our starting quarterback. And then once I finally got the news that he was going to be it, like maybe two, three days before, I had hit him, hit him a text, like, yo, let me know whatever you need, like, we can get right. and then you can come stay with me if need be. And then the first week of him being there,

he even got there two days earlier. We met at Coach Riley's house. And then he ended up staying with me, and then we ended up working out immediately after. And at that moment, I knew I could relate to him just how hard he worked and how much he wanted it because he wanted it just as much as I did. And we both together wanted the same thing

and the end goal was to win a national championship. Unfortunately, we were short, but that proves a lot of him and I know what he's doing out there in field. A little annoying he ended up on the Eagles. Crazy, huh? Yeah, crazy. A little bit.

You ever notice how, like, the Cowboys, ex-Calboys kind of dominate the broadcast booth? Like, it's a little different playing with the Cowboys. It's like you got a Cowboys quarterback. You used to have a Cowboys Tide-end in the broadcast booth. Would you ever want to be that ex-Cowboy that? Most deaf, though. Okay.

Most definite to me. I add to the list. Last question This is a controversial subject On our show I say that Mike McCarthy has a real Zaddy energy to him He's a man that

Wait a minute Yeah what I don't know if that's the right No he's like Zaddy Like he's a guy that you can Look up to and he carries himself It's a swagger that's like the deodorant And a little bit understated

They don't agree with me Do you see any Zaddy qualities with Mike McCarthy I don't know what you mean by the Zatty I don't know what... I'll just say this where nobody's underdog. That's my man's right there. Yes, sir.

All right. So you're going to hold a hard, firm, no comment on that. No comment, but I'm with my man's all the way. Same, same. We can agree on that. All right. CD Lamb, best of luck going forward, my man.

Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you, guys. There he goes. C.D. Lamb, another nice guy. I think it was kind of interesting and he's been doing, obviously, the media rounds here at Media Row.

And he is pounding the drum. like get us more pieces on offense, which is not to like purposely like dump on a guy like Michael Gallup or even Zeke Elliott at the stage of his career. But you see that there is a frustration coming through there. Like you can get on us or get on deck, but look at these other super teams that are just loaded all over the place and we're not quite that, which is fair. It's complex because in a way you're having to point an owner, a finger at your owner, who is also your general manager in one sense. And also your lead advertiser. But that's tricky. It's interesting to me, though, because I think Jerry Jones likes that.

Like, CD Liam's not overly outspoken, certainly compared to some wide receivers. He was really cool. Like a great, you get a better sense of, like, his vibe. But I think he knows he works in an organization that actually will hear what he's saying in the media. And Jerry Jones will be like, oh, how about that CD? You know, maybe he's on to something. Like he actually might listen to his wide receivers where I think some authors will not. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Do you think he knows or has an idea of what a Zaddy is? That was an interesting... CD? Yeah. Yeah, I think he does. I think that may be where he doesn't quite know with the tone of our show. I want this video to go out on social.

Check out our, you know, our Instagram page for all the visuals of what we've been doing. But his face screwed up. Like, what are you talking about, man? No, no, no, no. It was more like the way I took it is he had never even thought about that before and he was wrapping his head around it. And then dismissing it. No, I just didn't have the time to really kind of give him the full elevator pitch. But at the same time, I think I would have had him if I had another five minutes.

I mean, it wasn't a striking victory for your argument. I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that. Well, we've been making the case, Mark and I that there might be like a little bit of projection here. Then, you know, we're closer to Mike McCarthy's age, ultimately, than we are to Citi Lamb. So I think to Citi Lamb, it might be a quite a big leap to seeing his coach that way. I think he's closer to being a grandfathery type to Ced him. Lamb.

Yeah, okay. Greg is coming with a lot of logic. A grand zaddy. Yeah, a grandzaddy. That's pretty good, too. Anyway, he also did say, he loved that, man. And I think I love him, too. All right, let's keep rolling here.

From CD Lamb to Jamar Chase. Here he comes. Man, we got some of the best wide receivers in football on this episode. First CD Lamb and now in the AFC, the great Jamar Chase. Welcome to around the NFL, good sir. Yes, sir. Thank you for having me. How y'all doing? I'm doing well. Well, I got to tell you, just, I got to own this.

Yes. You know, the effects of Super Bowl week affect people differently. And I asked, you know, Jamar How's this week, Ben? He's been very busy. Yeah. Were you here last year's Super Bowl? It's like, yes, I played in that game. And you're sitting next to a bona fide idiot.

So we can just turn you off whenever you. It was a big moment for our podcast, you know, a celebration. We were all about the Bengals last year. Well, we'll get you to a doctor immediately after today's show. What are you doing here with Carnival and Pepsi Zero Sugar? Yeah, so I'm here on the second year. They gave me an opportunity to give rookies a free chance to win the cruise. You've got to go to www.pecZerogar.com.

Sign up there to win a free cruise for the rookies. Well, speaking of sugar, not going to sugarcoat it. I imagine part of this kind of sucks, right? Like you were so close to the Super Bowl and instead of you sit with these bozos this meant I didn't even know you were in the game last year. Like, how long did it take? Are you even there yet for, like, the frustration of, you know,

getting the ball twice there in a tie game? Just not able to get over the hump and get back to the big game. I'm still a little bit there. You know what I'm saying? I'm in Arizona right now, and all I'm saying is Chiefs in Philly right now. That's got to be annoying. It's a little annoying, you know what I'm saying? But for the most part, man, it was a fun opportunity, you know what I'm saying,

had that chance, wish we could have did more, have more calls but at the end of the day it's football you got to somebody's like somebody's not going to be happy at the end of the day you know what I'm saying so it's all right do you think the officiating decided that game it had a play I had to play it wasn't great I'm sure you're hearing that a lot in the city too I don't know if you were going around Cincinnati for a couple days but it had to be hot I mean it just was a little off sometimes you know it didn't always go I mean they didn't always get their calls either but you know it happened is this football, and I'm one of the best receivers in league,

and I can't get a call for nothing. They keep you busy, though. Like, the NFL wheel keeps turning. You went straight from that game to Vegas for the Pro Bowl games, and I have some sound. There's a mystery kind of on social media right now of what was said to you at the Pro Bowl games. I think we're going to listen to it,

and maybe you can uncover this mystery for us. Let's listen. Keep up the good work, man. I hate that you keep going to keep cooking us. So some player says you keep cooking us, but you couldn't tell which player it was, and we're sick of it. Who was that player? I want to know who that was. You keep cooking us.

That was the kicker Tucker. Okay. From Ravens. Oh, the greatest kicker of all time. That makes sense, because you have smoked the Ravens quite a few times. You personally. There was, I mean, you had a legendary. rookie year. You absolutely abused Baltimore as a rookie. That was fun to watch.

A Browns fan like Mark, that must have been nice to see Jamar, damaging the Ravens. Also just to see, you know, for so long, like Ohio football, Browns and Bengals struggle. And I really feel like you and Burrow obviously showed up. And it's like you didn't care about the past. And you just said torch, whatever the people think about the Bengals for years and years. But part of that for me, I feel is Zach Taylor, who last year was like sort of an anonymous, one of the more anonymous, unknown coaches, tugs you all the way to the promised land. What is, what is it about Zach Taylor that we don't know, that we don't understand? Because it seemed like his leadership popped up big time down the stretch this

year, too. Yeah, man, I love Zach. I can honestly say that, you know what I'm saying? He's a caring person, and he cares about his football team. And just, not just the football team, individuals, period, you know what I'm saying? Especially if a person's in need, needs help, is going through something. Zach always has his door open and, and wants us to come talk to him so I appreciate Zach for doing that and you know uplifting everybody else who's you know always ducked theirself in a hole I noticed like defenses came at you guys different like what what did you notice this year for how they were guarding you specifically and what did you try to do yeah a lot of teams would play cover two to my side or or they would play six

period two and four on each side and then they would probably do a little two man probably do a little to Tampa. They'd also just double double or triple double. That means all three of the receivers are getting doubled. They would really do a lot of different things, man. Sometimes they would just look at our splits and play us differently from techniques. So I can honestly say it's been a lot of coverage that I've never seen before in this lead. And the past, the last three weeks, I want to say that that's why I've seen a lot of different

coverages. They're sick of you getting those goal balls over their head. So what did you do about it? We started doing a lot of stuff underneath you know what I'm saying. T. Higgins has been doing his thing this year, man. Honestly, he's been a big help to me, not just me, but to Joe Burrow itself. You know what I'm saying? And we're going to keep going, and I can't wait until we get Tyler Boyd and this thing too. This is speculation season now

of course, and people look at, you know, Jamar's going to need to get paid on his second contract down the line. Burrow, of course, is in line for a massive extension maybe the biggest contract in the league is t higgins and jemar chase and joe burrow going to be able to stay together i mean i would imagine the move is to stay together as long as possible we don't need to break this up right now i mean yeah i mean yeah i've always i'm be on tea every day you know i don't know what t's going to do hopefully he stays in cincinnati i don't know what joe's going to do i don't know how you know everything's going to work but i'm always in t's ear making sure he's trying

to stay with me. You know, at the end of the day, Joe's going to do, I think Joe's going to do the right thing, you know what I'm saying? Joe's not a cocky dude when it comes to money. He doesn't really care too much. And, you know, that's what makes him himself. So you're saying like he's getting good value out of those clothes because they look expensive. We got that much money.

It doesn't matter. That's true. I know you and Burrow, they talk about how you guys are great friends. I mean, what is a, like a, in the off season, say you go over to Joe Burrow's house or he goes, just like, what do you get? Is it true? Sometimes these things are you great friends, and if so, what does a night look like when you guys get together and do your thing? Actually, I had to force Joe to go to Vegas with me.

He's such an inside cat that he doesn't want to go outside at all, and I hate that he's like that because, you know, he's such a great person and such a great quarterback that he doesn't really get the chance to live his life. And that's the hard part about a person that has that much status surrounding themselves. And I told him just go to the pro bowl, man, enjoy it. You probably won't play because of who you are. You know what I'm saying? You can pull stripes, man. You don't have to play. Just enjoy the moment, man.

You don't really get this too many times. So, you know, I just wanted him to enjoy the moment and live it up. Wait, did he go with you? Hell you. Oh, I didn't know that because he wasn't part of the pro-go-ball games or something. But he was out there. Okay. Exactly.

That's a good friend work. Just like it is good friend work. Seriously. Like, he didn't do the game, but he goes out there. It's like, Joe, I don't want to go over your house and watch Titanic again. Let's go out. No Netflix. We're watching UFC to Hotel.

I'm not that same. Okay. All right. Same thing. Well, not the same thing. Just cycling back for a second, you mentioned the officiating. And I know, like, Roger Goodell had his annual Super Bowl press conference today. That was a subject.

Officiating in general was a subject for many fans throughout the season. As somebody that boots on the ground plays the game, like, what do you see as something officiating can do in terms of improving? Or do you think it was more that game itself, or was it the whole season that you had issues with? Um, I'm just talking about the game in general. I don't really pay attention to too much of officiating stuff going on because it's so much more I've got to do and think about. But for the most part, you know, it's not always going to go our way, you know what I'm saying?

And I feel like it's that way because of who we are. We're the bingoes and nobody's expecting us to win. And when they see us winning, it's kind of a shock for people. So, I mean, I'm hoping the ref's not against them, sometimes it could be a play a part sometimes when you won the a fc championship last year there's a famous NFL films clip of you we're going to play it have you have you listen to it here all right damn year one oh my god I'm glad I stopped crying before all those interviews bro I want to cry again so bad bro get it out bro

I got it out. I got it out. Mark, our first year at NFL media, they didn't let us park in the parking lot. And we got Jamar going on the Super Bowl and the toast of the town. Very different first years at the NFL. I know. That clip is actually like 40 seconds in the first 20 are just you kind of crying audibly. It's very touchy, like how much it means to you. As a man who wants to really promote other men crying, like I want that to be, okay, how do you feel like being?

He talks about it all the time. Yeah, you know, being kind of a spokesman for the male crying community. Yeah. It's an absurd question. Okay, you just put me on the spot, basically. What was that like? What was that moment like? Because it was cool.

I mean, for the most part, man, it's a emotional moment if you love the game. I feel like, and especially if you put yourself through so much to get that way and that far, you've got to live in a moment and enjoy it, accept it, take it all in, and I did that. You know what I'm saying? And at the moment of time, I was just having chills that I really couldn't believe that I did. that, you know what I'm saying, and had the unremarkable year that I had because that wasn't planned. I just was trying to be myself and play football and, you know, I got back reunited with Joe and we took off. Do you feel like younger players, like we talked before about the

transformation of the Bengals, like that moment was, I mean, that city had not experienced anything like that in decades. Yeah. Was that kind of something you understood or are you still learning what Cincinnati, what it all means to Cincinnati? Honestly, I feel like I understand because when I first got there, man, I would, Tala Boyd and Joe Mix was in my air every day about how horrible they was. Like, I mean, every day, I would hear so many different stories about people fussing in the locker room. The locker room's not this. It's a cancer, this, that. And I was just like, dang, I can't believe it. You know what I'm saying? He must have been pumped. You know, he was, you know, he was like, yeah, we ain't got that no more. The first, he would always say, we don't

had that no more. We got Jamar Chase. I'm like, you got Joe Burrow. You have. It's crazy to think now, but there was so much speculation and talk, including on our podcast, about do not go near a wide receiver in that first round after Joe Burrow blew out his knees. Like, you got to get an offensive lineman, but the right move was bringing Jamar Chase into that building. And we hope you have many more great years in Cincinnati with Joe Burrow because you guys are a lot of fun to watch. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. All right. There is Jamar Chase. Thank you, buddy. Thanks, Sabar. No problem. You know, guys, and that was great, Jamar Chase. it's kind of a weird interview.

I kind of said it off the top in the conversation, but to get that close, to have the Chief's beat, basically, it felt like, and then not to do it, and now you're doing the rounds with talking to bozos like us, you know, I give credit to Jamar for, you know, keeping it real, the head held high.

I mean, I thought I tried to help him out by suggesting that I had no remembrance of him being in last year's game to take that game away. Yeah, what happened there? You know what? I literally just disassociated from my entire body, I was like, the player comes up, you're trying to make him feel comfortable.

What did he say exactly? He just looked to me like, you are of, were you literally brought to America like four minutes ago? No, what did he say? He said, I was in the game. He said, well, I was, I said, no, have you done this before, like the radio everything? He's like, I was in the game last year.

I just like, it's literally the stupidest thing I've ever said as an adult. It's very much like you're at a bar and a girl is right there, and you just like, oh, you come here often and you get in trouble. I would mess that conversation up to. We had, I think I mentioned it.

We had dinner last night, talking about it with grave diggers with us and we had uh kevin clark at the ringer and we're talking about one of the underrated moves you can do in life is like when you really biff something real bad that you just not just own it you just like let the the waterfall fail come over you're just like guys i got this one wrong i blew this one i tried to do that yeah i tried to do it before gregg did it to me so that was sort of my other strategy when you fuck out too long when you mess up so bad you have to do the I got that one wrong guys I'm really sorry like I think that he's I'm lesser in his mind than the two of you I'm really like reading too much I don't think he'll ever think of any of us at all

I uh I might be reading too much into it but I do feel like man that there's a good chance I think that's going to be a future Hall of Fame player who's already achieved at such a high level in his first two years in the league that like yes he's disappointed he's not in that game but he's fully expecting to be in those big games all of those guys a lot how can How could they not be? How could he especially not? Well, and Chase's quarterback, who's basically said, my window will never cease to be open.

And not to mention, like, if Jamal Williams puts together a few more 17 TD seasons, hey, we might have had three Hall of Famers on this show. Look at us. Yes, look at us. Is there a Hall of Fame for podcasting? I think it's too young a field, but certainly nominate us if you can. If you could. Have we gotten, Justin, have we?

We gotten any feedback from the fans on the Hollywood star? Anybody putting together any grassroots? Oh, he's just shaking his head, somberly. I saw some people that were sort of turned off by the entire concept that we would pitch that for ourselves, and I immediately blocked them. We do have to have concerns. We're certainly not going to like the part. We're talking about our higher stage and everything.

We are at risk of losing touch in the common man rankings. Cessler opens the show. We're talking about the size of his enormous suite. It's like, what are we doing, Mark? What I'm trying to do is be, you know, real and absolutely, you know, clear-faced on where we are with things, you know. It is cute, though, like, yes, the room's bigger, but it is cute that you took a photo of the room and said to do it. It's like, holy, so I don't expect it. I thought it was going to be just a, you know, regular little tiny room.

I thought it was a mistake because I ordered dinner and the guy came in and he was like, this room's huge. I'm like, I know. He's like, who are you? I'm like, I have no idea what I'm doing here. How much were you hoping for Dan and I to respond? Our rooms aren't that big. What? What?

Well, I think I sent it for a reason And then, you know, I wanted to know what was going on Let's be real Rooms are way bigger than marks We just haven't told him yet Here comes Arthur Blank Owner of the Falcons It's popping here

I don't know what it is But Phoenix has had I feel like bigger names And everything's a little more juicy For a Wednesday of Super Bowl It might be a couple years post-pandemic And now the Super Bowl is starting to get Its vibe back a little bit

I think that's right All right, anyway, that's it. Why are we still here? We got more big-time shows coming up. Our Super Bowl preview with Chris Mad Dog Russo on Thursday. Another big-time show with special guests Friday. Then, of course, the Super Bowl recap Sunday night. Heath the call.

This is an IHeart podcast.