NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Training Camp Fly on the Wall

Episode Date: August 2, 2019

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all the latest news around the NFL including the majorly anticipated HOF game recap (9:30), the Jets new signing (17:00) and Melvin Gordon requesting a trade from the Chargers. (24:10) Gil Brandt was inducted into the HOF and the heroes share some stories of the past. (34:57). What would it like to be a fly on the wall in some of these training camps? (41:52).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Does it know what a baton code is? Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by Sirius XM. My name is Dan Hanses. I am joined in a rebuild with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Wes, you've been flummoxed by the internet. and the Madden Code craze sweeping across Twitter right now. Tell us why it is that the codes confuse you so. Well, growing up, we didn't have codes for video. I assumed it was something. Can you get the Springsteen music for this? I assumed it was something that like made your players stronger or better. Instead, it's just a way to download the actual game, which I should have deduced, but I didn't.

It's like back in my day, we used to have to go up hills both ways, go up, up, up, down, down, B-A-B-A-B-A-start-start to make our players better. We did it the old-fashioned way. When you guys, the four of you get together to talk about video games, which games do you talk about? And I had to bring it to them. This is not actually a gamer quartet. I don't know if we've ever done that.

We talked about Tecmo Super Bowl. Sure, but I don't appreciate. And, you know, I understand the money tag isn't allowed to go on and on and clarify and be nuanced. It's got to be clipped and got to get to the point. But it makes us all look like we don't understand that. I understand how the codes work. Hear this.

Mark Sessler is with it. Well? He's hip. It's the Friday show. Get excited. A little bit of drama yesterday, Thursday. Ricky came after our own listeners on Twitter demanding that they stop sending money tags, which, you know, that rubbed me the wrong way.

I got to say. By the listeners or by Ricky? We asked them to do that. And Erica had no problem on the show saying, yes, send them to. to at Erica Tamposi NFL, whatever, Tamposi NFL. And then you're telling the listeners, don't dare send me any more money tags. Where's the breakdown here? Okay.

First of all, you just said send them to me instead of, let's make a thread or anything. I've had people. So continue to send more and more. I mean, sending that out is only asking for more. So send money, hashtag money tags to Erica Tamposi. No, send them all to Greg Rosenthal. He'll mute you all like you already are. Whoa!

Is there... Not wrong? Maybe where the breakdown is here is, you know, is there a different handle to send it to? How can we make this better for you? Because, obviously, snapping at the listeners is not the right way to go about this. What can we do to fix this? Snapping at the listeners. I feel like it's kind of a bit, though.

It's like, hey, engagement, you actually know that like 40 people are going to respond to them when you do that. So it's all, like, fun in games. Yeah, I'm not... I mean, you know how you get mad about, like, two tweets about something on the show. show, imagine hundreds and hundreds of them separately. My phone is going off saying, around the NFL, like, likes hot peppers. I've gotten that 400 times. I turn off your notifications.

By the way, Wes, are you clear how all this works from a technology? I'd be an adult. I actually had a-addle's get it. I had a suggestion. Doesn't the hashtag eliminate the need for anybody to send it to you? You can just click on the hashtag. Right, but they're tagging me. They're sending them to me.

I think he showed great acumen of how this could be improved. And I should, here was the tweets sent 19 hours ago. Back in my day, we didn't have hashtags. We just wrote, we just wrote on other people's backs. That's a tick-tac-toe symbol, actually. At Tamposi NFL, stop tweeting money tags to me. I am not in the mood. Wow.

I mean, that's a little bit agro toward our beautiful listeners. It had been five days of tweets, Instagram messages. I'm getting DMs about my, what you guys. one and no offense they're all really terrible they're bad i saw a couple good ones but here's the thing you're savvy enough that you literally know that sending that out will get more back i have my notifications off too i'm just telling it's constant all right well so i think what i think wes's idea is a good one yeah but i also kind of like this level of rage in you that's bubbling out and that's kind of funny to me so i don't know it's kind of like is it

Is this your first career, is this your first career rant on the podcast? I don't have any rant. This just was a rant. Yeah, that was a rant. They're terrible. Stop sending them to you. Okay, we have literally people being like, oh, man, Mark Sussler, where'd he go? Hashtag money tag like 40 times.

Like, be creative. No offense. So your frustration, if I'm getting, let me see if I got this right. Your frustration isn't so much that you're getting a lot of these tags. I'm getting hundreds. The more of the issue is you're unimpressed with. with the imagination by the content creators in this case. Right.

You just want people to be better. Right. Be better. And also tag all the guys, too. Let's see how you like it. Negative on the second part of that, but she's not wrong on the first. Oh, you don't want to be tagged in it?

You don't want to get all those notifications, Mark? I think it's messy. Oh, yeah. It's really, really annoying. We've got a clear channel when it's going through one. Right? Some of these are good. Stay out of the DMs.

Some of these are good. The round the NFL podcast. The Dan Hansis Vanity Project. See, that's funny. That's pretty good. That's not too far off. I wonder why you like that one. But it was funny.

It's funny. All right, Ricky. I don't like to see you upset. But I'm actually surprised. I kind of was bringing it up kind of as a joke and then you're really upset about it. The Round the NFL podcast. Lit Erica's apartment on fire. Ranty Hollywood.

That's a solid. That's a solid. That's not great. Thank you, Mark. I mean, I could imagine just from, I think we all know that you tweet something out and it get a billion. Is it full of heart from start to finish? Like the next time I see that I'm going to like literally set a car on fire. I don't I it is just not funny at this point anymore and she started to feel that same thing

because you're a big fan of film you've especially gotten into you've become a real cinephile mark no I have not become a real no I know you like I know you like that word you know what I got to fill I got to fill the time with something but it's like the but that is like the same response well you know what's exciting 800 people every time and it's like blow me up is as the brown get better and as Baker's career takes off like draft day, I think, has more resonance and stain power than we ever imagined. Just sort of how they're now following the path that Kevin Costner did. I think like when it's the 10-year anniversary in a few years, like, that's going to be a big deal.

I mean, it's got that timeless clip with Joe Banner in it and the three other people from the front office that are no longer there. That's always been on your radar. As I've said many times, draft day stinks. And the fact that no good football movies exist, people are now lifting that up as a cult classic. But go rewatch it. Go watch some of those scenes with Koster and the capologist, Jennifer Gardner, and tell me if that's a good movie. I mean, come on.

I would change my review if I could do it again. I regret that typing in that text. I vastly regret it. I love this show already. Ooh, we're bringing it back. We did it last summer. And, yes, with training camp in full swing and players making their move into dog houses, out of dog houses.

Maybe they're far away from even the idea of the doghouse. Well, you want to hear what these conversations are behind closed doors. So how about we're flies on the wall. Fly on the wall. And we're going to be stationed inside training camps. We're going to report back what we hear in these closed door meetings between NFL teams. But before that, oh, also our buddy Gil Brandt, Dallas Cowboys, great, is going to Going into the Hall of Fame this weekend, and we are going to talk about that as well.

But before we get to that, it's time for what we're hearing presented by Sirius XM. Let's do some news, Ricky. Kim Diche, Kim Dijeeche, Kim Dijeeche Vox by Jason Zumal I was going to say that sounded like Jason Why did you fall out that window Why did you fall out of the card nose Oh, that's sad

For Kim Dichet, or Kim Dichet. Jason, you could tell he put his heart into that. As a Cardinals fan, you forget. Yeah. So it hits a little harder when the former first round pick washes out. Let's start the news by talking about the Hall of Fame game, a 1410 win by the Denver Broncos. And yeah, when you get out into that 1-0 start in the preseason and you're playing the extra game, we'll do the math.

You're ahead of the entire league. And if you win out, no, there's no tie. You win the preseason Super Bowl. So a big win by the Broncos here. there were some things to take away from the game, the first pass interference challenge, which we'll get to in a second. But, Wes, I'll start with you.

Obviously, you're not going to see a lot of starters. We did not see Joe Flacco. We did not see Matt Ryan. But we got to look at some of these two rosters. What were some things that stood out from you at the Hall of Fame game in Canton? I had two takeaways on two different quarterbacks. Kurt Benkert, Falcons, third stringer,

undrafted free agent in 2018 outplayed Matt Schaub looked like a legitimate backup quarterback in the NFL has the tools and to me the Falcons would benefit from having him as their number two above Schaub. It's only one game so we'll see. And then Locke was terrible. He was what Fongio basically said he was. His footwork was awful. He has a goofy slingshot delivery that I wasn't expecting to see and his accuracy was a little off. I mean, again, only one game. It's the Hall of Fame game. Let's not overreact, but I would not expect to see much of Drew Locke this year. I feel like Fangio has come out with some of the strongest quarterback comments by any coach in the league this summer.

And so I really wanted to see what Drew Locke would do in response to that. Like, was he kind of trying to do the thing where you twist in Drew Locke's whatever a little bit to get him to go play well? And then, like, he would respond. What do you want to twist? I don't know. Like if you were like one of those little dolls with like a little dial thing. Yeah, you know, just like the Parcells thing. Yeah, you know, just like it's nipples or?

That's not what, this is Fongio's choice. I don't know what he's doing. But like, but then after the game, he dropped a bomb on him again. And it's just like, at what point is this, is it great for a rookie quarterback to be demoralized through the press by your head coach over and over? Except that the assessment is correct from what we've seen so forth. I was hoping for more, but I'm not surprised. That was not a bomb drop. No, it wasn't a bomb drop.

But it's a continuing theme of zero appreciation for the player, even saying he's working hard. I don't know what's going on. I took nothing from the game, but I like that the Vic Fondio experience is going to be fun. This guy's passing kidney stones. He's shooting from the hip. Not yet.

I think he's just a defensive coach who looks at Drew Locke. And it's just like, man, I would love to go against Drew Locke because I would destroy that guy. He's a defensive coach. And I think it's... How about you take it easy on Drew Locke a little bit? They brought up some interesting things that he's calling the play as a defensive coordinator, which you almost never see as a head coach.

He's never been on the sideline calling a play in his life. So that's a lot going on. And I just, I'm in on the Vic Fongio experience, just being a little different. Can we clarify what Vic Pongio said about Drew Locke after the game? He said his accuracy wasn't clean all the time along with his reads. Then he looked into the camera with a very understanding, sympathetic look and said, but you know, it's to be expected, we've got four more games. Yeah.

So it's not, I would not clarify that it's dropping a bomb on him. The first one I thought was the first round of comments were strong. No, he, that was so much there. He said, he started it by saying I was hoping for more, but I'm not surprised. He just keeping it real. Yes. Guys been in L for like three months. Coddling these guys.

Fangio also became the first NFL coach ever to throw a flag to challenge a pass interference call late in the first half. Lyndon Stevens called for a 43-yard penalty. They go upstairs after a brief halt in action. They upheld the call. So there it is. It was an easy one. The Hall of Fame game isn't really about football.

It's more just like, hey, Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth are back in our lives. And, hey, there's, like, Ed Reed. Is he, like, the most, like, likable former, you know, player, like, Hall of Famer that we have? I could listen to Ed Reed just like ramble on about whatever all night. I like hearing Thai law talking about his career. It's like that's sort of. It's just like look at these nice people playing football again. I know everybody's very.

It's like nice wallpaper. You can't, you know, you have to worry about the game. I didn't love the drive-by of our boy Charlie Casserly. Unnecessary. You know, second quarter interview with Michelle Tooy, I believe. That didn't feel necessary. But it was kind of a, that's what Ed Reed brings you. Just like total random like.

drive-by against a former analyst. He named the, she pointed out an article or two. That's how she framed this. They thought when you were drafted that this was an underwhelming pick. He remembered the name of the author. He then dropped Castile a bomb on him. That was a real bomb Wes. And I just

like he remembers. This guy, it's stuck in his mind if you crossed him. Ed Reed, I was lucky enough. This was right after the Super Bowl author, the Ravens won. I got sent randomly as part of the Rich Eisen podcast to cover the red carpet of the Oscars. And

Gronk was supposed to be the red carpet interviewer guy. And it was me and Chris Brockman who works with Eisen, Chris Law. And we were packed next in this foreign press area against the railing right on the red carpet. It was pretty surreal experience.

But Grank had a drop out at the last moment and was replaced by Ed Reed. And Ed Reed is a funny guy. And he is a totally different type of dude. And he had a lot of fun. It was a really good experience. And then right as the ceremony started,

because when you're Ed Reed, you know people, he was able to slip right into the Oscars and just hung out backstage for the entire show. It was a great memory. I had some photos. Maybe I'll find some and tweet them out. But that was cool seeing Ed Reed going into the hall. And we'll get to the hall more in a little bit.

That was an ugly game, by the way. It's first game. Well, it's always somewhat. People get really excited. It's like, football's back. It's like, that's not football. That is the game of football being played, but not at any level.

that you would want to introduce people to the sport. It is funny that we're in this. It's not the NFL, really. I mean, I was trying to, like, explain to Ellis, like, because she was asking my daughter about the preseason and, like, sort of treating it, like, okay, these are real games. I was like, well, they don't really count. Like, your team, the Rams, they're not going to play any of their good players.

She's like, well, why would you even play them? It's what the NFL's asked about the, like, I just find it funny that the game actually somewhat still exists, that they're actually flying two teams to play the game. The weekend is an incredible, having been to Canton a couple times, That weekend is the best thing you can do as a football fan. The game, though, is it does not seem to fit with the NFL's trying to accomplish. I think after the new CBA, maybe they'll knock the preseason down to about three games

and maybe that Hall of Fame game has some more, has better players in it or something. Best one was when it was canceled for, I believe, hail or heavy rain or something. Was it because the paint didn't try on the field? It resulted in all that. Yes, right. And by the way, make sure you check out these Falcons preseason games. It might be your last chance to see Matt Schaub. Should be.

If you're a shop fan. The clock's ticking. 38 years old. Talking about former Pro Bowl MVP match up. He's a survivor. I don't know how much longer than that happens. He's got skins on the wall, baby. All right.

Let's move into the news. The Jets made a surprise move on Thursday. Stunning, really. They bring Ryan Khalil, the former Pro Bowl center of the Panthers out of retirement. Kaleel 34 years old. a one-year $8.4 million contract, which is good money, but the Jets had plenty of it. They had a serious need at center, and now you have a veteran who, while not quite at his peak, Greg, is a guy that's still kind of graded out middle of the pack on PFF, has been an all-pro in his past.

He was healthy last season. And more importantly, the guy's a legit leader who knows how to read defenses, everything that Jonathan Harrison, who was supposed to be the Jets Center and Spencer Long last year who was the worst center in football before Harrison took up. I mean, it was an absolute eyesore. And there was not a bigger indictment

of Mike McCagnan than ignoring the center position with a young quarterback. It was almost malpractice. So the Jets make a surprise move. Shouts to Joe Douglas, who saw the need and made an aggressive move. This is not a guy you build around, but he is a nice Band-Aid

and a great spot to pair Sam Darnold with for a year two. I think, oh, yeah. It is on in New York City. I'm all in. Everything's clear sailing right now. Though Gays and Williams are kind of going out of each other in practice. Kaleo, I think, makes a bigger impact on stuff that will never show up really, you know, on teaching, helping to teach the guards next to him the game, on helping to make the calls and help teach Sam Darnold the game to make life easier on Sam Donald.

So none of that will show up on a PFF stat. I mean, the PFF grades actually had Jonathan Harrison, the Jets presumptive starter, higher than Kaleel a year ago. So Kahlil is not... In one phase of the game. Yeah, not overall. In Kahlil was in the red on pass and run, but it's fine. It's an upgrade overall.

He's fine. The point is that that's not what you're bringing him in for. I think you could see on all or nothing, although I think he's a quiet leader. I mean, he was about as important a leader as anyone the Panthers had. It's such a surprise because last year was his retirement tour. basically like we knew before last season he was retiring and he was a free agent which is why the panthers don't control his rights he could sign with anyone but he chose to retire and now

if i'm a jets fan the first your first impression of joe douglas is great this was his personal passion project i mean after years of mcagnan ignoring the offensive line which you cannot do in the nfl and it was maddening to see his replacement who played offensive line in college immediately identify it. The next thing I want to see the Jets do is go after Trent Williams. Why not? You're obviously, you can, you fancy yourself in that building as a team that can make the playoffs this year. Go make another move. Maybe when you get one of those Madden codes, you can pull that off. I mean, it's not that hard. What is Trent Williams going to cost, honestly? We don't know. Undetermined. It's usually surprising in these situations what they,

what they end up moving for. Probably less than you think. But like when I, when I look at, Jonathan Harrison, if you're Jonathan Harrison, here's why you're struggling right out of the Here is how you have been brought to earth with the spelling of the name Jonathan. J-O-N-O, hang with me here, J-O-N-O-T-H-A-N. It's probably been issues from the very beginning trying to decipher that amongst others. I was just went with John. You've just been benched. It's like John Ott Tham.

It's unusual. That's for sure. But I was thrilled about his signing, and I'm starting to get more and more excited about the season. I've been heard before, but I'm getting more and more excited. Moving on, the Denver Broncos make a move signing running back Theo Riddick, who had just been released by the Lions, and now he joins the Broncos. He can catch the ball.

He can run the ball a little bit, but it looks like he'll, he's more adept signing with a little bit of upside. What are your thoughts on the signing was? Well, running backs aren't really all running backs. They play different positions. Theo Riddick plays a different position. and Royce Freeman. He plays basically wide receiver running back hybrid. Same thing James White plays for the Patriots, and they needed this on their team. So I think

the Broncos have a lot of question marks, but if Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman are the same kind of one, two they were last year, and then if Emmanuel Sanders comes back healthy, if Cortland Sutton develops like you think you can, he think, you think he can, no offense, what you think he is, theoretics there, you've got a lot more weapons in the passing game than than people think. Well, Redick's got to make the team. I mean, to me, it's probably a toss-up between him and Devante Booker to be the third guy. And the thing, the thing that I keep talking about in Denver camp is that they really are going to give Royce Freeman,

who showed up 240 pounds and is having a big camp and sort of fits in that offense. I really think they are going to give him more carries compared to Philip Lindsay, at least compared to a year ago, that it'll be closer to a split, and whoever else they have will be a distant third behind those two. and that could be a pretty good combo. That's been going on in your months. Because getting to play when Lindsay wasn't ready to be in there, but are you, is there a push, like, to give Lindsay less touches? See, to me, this is all off-season talk.

I'm sure it is. It's easy to say that in August. Once the game starts, and by October, and Philip Lindsay is playing circles around everybody, you're going to give it to your best player. He's going to get the ball 250 times. I think the idea is that they put on pads, that Freeman is a really good fit for this offense,

that he's a second-year guy, who's a third-round pick, who is certainly solid as a rookie, and that he looks better, and that's a good problem, that they don't want to give a guy that small Philip Lindsay, 350 touches. You kind of have to do that. I think the Eagles, the Patriots, the teams, even the Rams now, like, you have to have two guys. Buckle up.

Trey Boston and the Panthers have reunited the 27-year-old safety signs a one-year, three-million-dollar deal. Is that like a subtle, like, did we need to put this in news? I wouldn't disagree. I'm not putting the news together. I wouldn't disagree. It always comes back to bite you, Wes. Wes jumped in and sent out a full news rundown yesterday, which I really appreciated.

Well, I got a text from someone associated with the show saying if we have early Friday shows, we should plan out the show ahead of time. And it didn't feel like there was an outline by the time I was going to bed. I loved it. Wes, what good did it do you in the end? I got. Well, I took a pot shot from. Dan on Tray Boston, which you know what?

That's what friends do. You know what? I would have called a pot chat. But yeah, Tray Boston, he washed out with the Chargers and Cardinals. Hell, he washed out with the Panthers. But now he's back. I thought it was interesting based on the Dante Jackson factor from All or Nothing, where Mike Adams and Captain Munnerland were in his face quite often,

basically telling him he need to be a better player. He needed to stop making excuses for himself. He needed to stop coasting on his defensive. Rookie of the Month award. And now you bring in a different kind of leadership. So we'll see how Trey Boston relationship with Dante Jackson goes. Good luck to you. Trey.

Moving on, Melvin Gordon, hold out Chargers, no end in sight. ESPN's Josina Anderson reports. Gordon's agent requested a trade last week. And here's a deal. I mean, it wants $10 million a year. Well, that's what the Chargers. That's what the Chargers. The Chargers want to offer.

by that. $10 million a year. Chargers, you know, that's what they think he's worth. He thinks he's worth Todd Gurley, Zeke-Eleot-type money. Well, that's quite an impasse. So what's going to happen here, Greg Rosenthal? I think this could go into the season.

I wrote an article, not a banger, an article for Friday, just like ranking which players had the most leverage of all these holdouts. And Gordon has the least leverage just about. I mean, I'm not really counting Jedevi and Clownie. sign. Because I think the Chargers think they can win without him with Justin Jackson and Austin Eckler. He's in the fifth year of his contract. So that means he has to show up eventually. And I don't think they're going to trade him because I don't think there would be a good enough market for him. And this is the only holdout that I think is maybe 50, 50 or greater to go

into the regular season. This is one of the most one-sided holdouts I've ever seen. He and his agent keep releasing these statements and quotes and the charges just pat him on the head and say, That's nice. We're fine. Don't worry about it. It's interesting, though, like, he's friends with Levyon Bell. He believes in, like, the higher purpose of that running, he says running back are the second most valuable position in sports. And then I'm not showing up unless you, and I just think, I don't know where the middle ground is because I don't think they'll trade them. If someone comes to them and says we'll give you, like a bad team says we'll give you a second round pick for him, maybe they do it, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think you pointed out well in your article.

If he's taking a page out of the Levion Bell best-selling book from last season, that it's not the same thing because you're not moving into free agency after this. He's not on his second straight franchise tag. It's totally different. And more importantly, he's not Levian Bell. If he was Levian Bell, they would just give him Todd Gurley money. That's the reality. Can you imagine a world.

And I like Melvin Gordon. With the Chargers where they're very offensive. They're an offensive powerhouse today. all these pieces are on the field. But let's say Melvin Gordon is not there a year from now. And yes, I like the depth at running back. But Melvin Gordon is a good player. And then Philip Rivers walks away.

You're suddenly a team based around a strong defense and not your offense. If they have levered, if they think they have leverage, that's it. Is that this is a win now team that needs it. But he'll be back at some point. I think they're calling his bluff. April 2015, I wrote an article on Melvin Gordon quotes. and the title of the article is save the running back. I'm coming into the league to make sure running backs get paid.

Why are running back so hung up on being the heroes that will get all the other running backs paid? I think it's like their version of being the wide receivers are divas in their own way. They're like the podcasters of the NFL media group. They're like, we do not get paid. You know, like the rest of the quote unquote, you know, talent. Let's stand up. Unlike them, though, they have more of a backbone than us, though.

Rage against the dying of the life. We'll see about that. They don't want to become fullbacks. They don't want to become extinct. Now they're, like, getting towards endangered species status. I mean, are the running backs ever going to disappear, or are they just not going to get paid? I mean, I feel like the running game is always going to be important.

Well, every year they run less and less, and there are fewer and fewer workhorse backs. There are fewer and fewer backs who are worthy of huge contracts. Because you can just pick anyone. Undrafted guys, late draft pick, throw them in and have a good rushing. Evan Silva is going to officially take out any coach that runs on first or second down. So, you know, things are heading in the wrong direction. Moving on, Yahoo Sports put out a piece entitled Most Tortured NFL fan bases.

And it was sent to me by quite a few people on Twitter who were like, hey, Dan, this guy's, you know, biting off your bit. And yes, when the pain rankings were released, that was a fairly unique piece of content. in the NFL sphere. I wouldn't say this man stole my idea. It's a fun topic. Anybody can get into it. What I do have an issue with is the actual rankings. Jay Bustbin.

They're absurd. Let's go through it real quick. Number 10, the Raiders, nine, the Packers. And come on. Stop. Brett Farve to Aaron Rogers. And I don't want to hear this is how you get the clicks. Well, when you have greater expectations, it hurts even more.

Now, how about just sucking forever? and never having a quarterback. That's worse. Eight, the Vikings. Seven, the 49ers, one of the most successful franchises in the history of the NFL. Six, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Five, the Detroit Lions. Four, the Atlanta Falcons. Three, the Washington Redskins. Two, the New York Jets. And the number one, most tortured NFL fan base, the New York Giants. The New York Giants.

Wait, what? Four-time Super Bowl. champion, one of the most highly regarded NFL franchises in the history of professional football, they have the most tortured fan base come back to us, come back to us. I'm not even, it doesn't even deserve a comment that the Browns aren't in here because they have had one seven wins season, you know, in the last 20-something years. Okay. But is this, I need to clarify or know what this is about. Is this what's fans that are tortured over the last three or four months, like 90 to 120 days.

Does that qualify as torture? I mean, you've got to be kidding me with this. That's the failure of the list, that it's kind of both living in the moment, and then it has teams that legitimately deserve a lot of us read the article. Well, I mean, I'm just looking at the list. I'm just looking at the list. I did read the article. I did read it, yes.

So was there a logic to that? Yes. It was like just based on this off season or something. No, it was, I can't tell you it was based on good logic. It's just... Bray, I mean, I'm not really arguing with that it's an insane list. It just kind of blew my mind to see the Giants. I mean, if you grew up in the New York, New Jersey area,

and you think the Giants have a more painful history than the Jets. Does it bother you that the Browns are not in the top 10 of this list? They probably should be. I mean, you know why? Because no teams is hyped. Everyone wants to be a Browns fan. I mean, who's lucked into more Super Bowls than the Giants? They're the opposite.

They're like, you know, sprinkled with good fortune. Hey, says the Patriots fan. Hey, here's a nine-win team winning a Super Bowl. It's like, you know, how torture can you be? Overall, I agree. I don't think the author understands what the word tortured means. Well, go through it. Go through it and then write the article.

All right. Let's hit some 8 o'clock delight. Oh, Mark. Sorry, bro. Phil Dawson announced his retirement after 20 years. as an inaugural member of the Dog Pound when it was revived in 99. Kind of hoping he would come back to the Browns,

maybe this one final season, but the one kick of his, I'll never forget, was this insane snow game against the Bills. They beat Buffalo 8-0 to move to 9-5 back in 2007, and Phil Dawson hit this kick in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. Love the guy. The most famous blizzard kick of that decade, I say. Moving on Tom Brady, T-H-I-C-C.

Patriots quarterback bulked up to 225 pounds this off season, turning 42 next week, 20 years in the league, and that boy thick, Mark. Yep, why not? Barron winner. But, you know, I think it's to prevent those injuries. A lot of times I feel like Brady has played with little stuff that you never even hear about.

Brady can make you a lot slower, too? I would think you want to be nimble. Where are we just told for the best seven years of Tom Brady? He's been able to extend his career because he's so limber and blah, blah, blah, blah. like good ideas with his body. Seems to have mastered that over the past of us. Sounds like a panic scenario. It's like, Carbub, bro.

Of course it does to you. Antonio Calloway consistently been part of the second team in training camp for the Browns, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Out of shape. Wes. Calloway, he showed flashes last year, but he's got to get it together. This feels like a message being sent. I think Rashard Higgins is running ahead of him with the starters and three wide receiver

sets. Antonio Calloway is way more talented than Shard Higgins, I expect to see Callaway eventually get back in the starting lineup. This doesn't sound good, Greg Rosenthal. Speaking Thursday, Pete Carroll, Seahawks coach, said that first-round defensive end, LJ Collier's ankle sprain is, quote, rare. It's not a garden variety sprain at all. It's a huge problem.

He was already running with the third team. Zygianza hasn't practiced. Jaron Reed is suspended, and they have a bunch of guys who have barely produced at the NFL level starting up and down their defensive line. More bad news for rookies. Jaguar's third round linebacker, Quincy Williams. He's done four to six weeks. He has a slight tear in his meniscus.

This is just killer, Wes, when a rookie goes down. It's your boy, Quinn and Williams' brother. What? Yeah. Oh, yeah. And the coaches have said that Quincy Williams, we don't want to offend any of you wide receivers, but this is the fastest player on the field for the Jet Wars.

He was their starter. He was going to step in and take over for Talvin Smith. Finally, free agent wide receiver, Brandon Marshall working out for the Colts on Friday last chance

to get in the playoffs, Mark? I mean, I thought this guy wanted to get on television. Good job. 8 o'clock to light.

Do you want to finish that point? I really didn't have much more to say. I didn't even know that was in 8 o'clock to light, so I was glad to hear the music stop and it did a great job by Erica.

Brandon Marshall, he has never been to the playoffs. The Colts? They're playing in January, Wes. If I was trying to get on a team and I was Brandon Marshall, the Colts would rank near the bottom considering they already have,

they're already going to have tough cuts at wide receiver. Ouch. Without Brandon Marshall. One of the best interviews we ever had on our podcast. I don't know, though. Bringing in Brandon Marshall is a sign that they're maybe not too happy with their no, it's not. Wasn't it the other Brandon Marshall?

It is. No, it's not. It's doing Brandon Marshall a favor. No, wide receiver Brandon Marshall we had on. Oh, did we? Oh, yeah. A lot of shows, a lot of shows. Before we get to fly on the wall, congratulations in order for NFL media colleague Gil Brant,

who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This weekend, Gil has been really for a decade with NFL Network and at NFL.com is, you know, one of our lead scouts and kind of a senior writer type position. but if you are not aware of what Gil was all about. Before that, he was a architect of those Dallas Cowboy great teams in the 1970s along with Tom Landry. He was the guy. He was the guy behind the scenes for 29 years.

He was their personnel guru working with Landry and Tech Schram, their GM, as the organization built itself up from Nowheresville. They didn't even win a game in their expansion year, and they became America's team. And that was all Gil. Jera Jones came on board and swept everybody out, including Gil. So consider it's somewhat ironic that is Jerry Jones that is inducting Gilbrand into the Hall of Fame. But you know how the Cowboys are, West. The Cowboys are big family.

They love their guys who are the legendary figures. They take care of them. So that's kind of a nice way to close the book, not close the book, but to put him into Canton. Any thoughts about Gil as a historian, Wes? Well, I think one of the most valuable aspects of learning history, is seeing that everything isn't a new idea just because it's happening now. Not everything is a revolution. That Gil Brandt was a draft Nick in 1950s,

when GMs are still selecting players out of Street and Smith magazine, that he had, he and TechSram developed a huge network of informants, and they had computerized scouting analytics in the early 60s. Basically, the Cowboys refined the art and science of scouting, as we know it today. They were doing things in the 60s like the trend toward basketball playing tight ends. They were looking for basketball players who were tweeners, not tall enough to play forward, but a little too tall to play guard, and seeing if they could turn them into football players. In the 1970s, Gil Brant said, I wish there was a way to stick a needle in a guy's arm

and find out whether he wants to play football or not. That will be the next breakthrough in scouting. And you've seen just in the last five years that that's been, I think Daniel Jeremiah has said, you know, 20 years ago, the off-field stuff, the human element was 25% of scouting and now it's 75% of scouting. Gil Brandt saw that in the 1970s. I thought the piece that Andy Fenelon wrote on him shows another side too, and that one of the reasons that Jerry Jones is introing Gilbrand at the Hall of Fame is because it wouldn't have been unusual for Gil Brand, who worked closely with Hollywood Henderson of Cowboys Great

when he was going through really tough stuff in life. and had so many friends as players to pick a player to intro him, but he had so many close friends, and it would have annoyed or agitated anyone he didn't pick, so Jerry Jones became the guy. But we have known Gil Brant by working here for a decade, and there's one thing about him. Every time he sees you, it's not a, you know,

these days everyone's all about themselves. He stops, he sits down, he wants to talk, he wants to ask about your family, he'll drop a major NFL nugget on you that kind of leaves you devastated, and then he'll go on his way. I mean, he's got no end to the stories. But I just think that he's one of these guys that always made the personal connection with the player.

It wasn't just about the football player. It was the person. And that is increasingly rare with a lot of front office types in general. Yeah, the piece Andy wrote is NFL.com slash scouts honor, Vanity URL. And, I mean, he showed some tough love with Hollywood Henderson, who was a great Cowboys running back,

who ran into the, drug and legal problems, and I think his relationship with these guys was unique because he found them in strange places. That's what the computer kind of did, and Gil talked about it with Michelle Defoya during the Hall of Fame game. He found Bob Hayes at Florida A&M. He found Rayfield right at Fort Valley State. You found Cliff Harris at a Wachita Baptist, Ed Tutal Jones at Tennessee State. These are all these guys that are pro-bowlers or Hall of Famers and other teams were not kind of beating down the doors at these really small schools or historically black schools or d2d3 schools and gill who had kind of revolutionized the scouting game with

that computer uh was trust in it and and that's where they found these guys and i mean he has seen the NFL in from a unique vantage point about as as much as anyone living and you can always get like a great story from him because of that i mean he's seen it when the NFL was was an afterthought as a professional league i have a friend who's a doctor and he told me once that when you save someone's life you they become like family to you like kids because you gave them an opportunity to do something and it makes up for the ones you lost so when they take advantage of that opportunity you're giving them time that they wouldn't have had and in the quote from from gill where he says as much as thomas henderson did wrong i never lost faith in him i still consider him like one of my

children because I scouted him, I drafted him, I signed him. He was and still is part of my family. You gave that guy the opportunity, and when you give somebody an opportunity, you want to see them make the most out of it. Gil, 86 years old now, by the way, but still got the motor. We see him in every big event. He's always up and around, moving around, talking to people. He did a seven-city training camp tour.

It's amazing. It's amazing. It's incredible. I'm marking our early days at NFL.com, one of our jobs would be to talk to Gil. as he went through hundreds of players that he was scouting and helping put together the pieces of Gil's scouting reports at NFL.com. That was one of the first jobs we had.

So it's fun to now see that same guy and be able to talk to on the phone at his house in Texas and now he's in the hall. And to be honest, that was not the easiest process because Gail would call you up with a bundle of verbal information so you are typing as fast as you can. And Dan and I, we were, we were, came in from other jobs and started the NFL's three-day-a-weekers. We were married, trying to just get by.

So you're working your butt off to show that you're better than the clown next to you. And the problem with those guilt things was we got a little too good at them. Right. And he'd be like, I want Dan. I want that guy, Mark. Like, he didn't want the, it's like, oh, another one of these hour and a half like pro days from East Western Texas State. Well, he also, he also, this is how he submitted it when he would write some stuff out. he would write it in long hand

and then fax the long hand. That's old school. That is old school. All right. So Gilbert Brand, congratulations. Well deserved. All right.

So let's move on. Everybody wants to be a fly on the wall sometimes. And what we're going to do is turn into not human flies. I remember there was a little disconnect or confusion last year. I want to make this abundantly clear. This is not a Jeff Goldblum situation.

We're not turning it to. hideous monsters, you were actually going to be, and you won't have the brain of a fly. Okay, I just want you to understand you're the size of a customary housefly, and it gives you access that you can then, I guess, turn back into human and then share the info. Are there any questions in this room before we go on? Yeah, I have a few, but I, like, I just, I'll love to see someone else try first, because I completely missed the assignment. That's okay.

We'll do the best we can as flies. It's not that, you know. I didn't think it was that. You don't have to get too deep into the metaphor. You don't need to think about like, do I have like a fly wife now? No, I mean, just let's talk. You can talk to football. I have a fly wife.

There you go. Did it was. All right. I'm very afraid how the segment's going to go now. I thought it was pretty clear. No, I think it's fine. Get us going. Once around the horn.

I would like to be a fly in the wall. in Carolina, in the coach's room, in the quarterback's room, and to hear the conversations that are going on between Cam Newton and his coaches and between the coaches talking about Cam Newton. Because I think right now, and yeah, there were cameras there last year, and that's kind of why I feel like you have a little better sense of the way that Cam Newton is a leader and the kind of just atman. he creates with all his chat and all is talking and some of that seems to be gone right now and he seems to be a little down and he has missed three of the first seven practices he is saying he is getting used to a new normal that he realizes he may never be a hundred percent again and he's not chirping as much on the practice field and when he spoke like on Thursday it it raised some alarms for me if I was a Panthers fan just about how mortal and how down he felt right now.

And so I would be very interested to be that fly on that wall to see is that behind the scenes too? And are the coaches thinking, okay, we're going to adapt some things to this new Cam Newton? That's fair. That's a good question. That's fair. You wonder, I think Peter King wrote about it this week, that Cam Newton is putting way is Cape. Obviously, Christian McCaffrey took on a bigger role of that offense last year. Is that essentially the new normal now? But that team, and if you watched All or Nothing,

one thing with the All or Nothing, Amazon needs to, an NFL film needs to get it right with the release date. They released it during the draft last year, which got snowed under, and it was a little too close to training camps this year. So I don't know if, and once training camp starts, everybody turns the page from what happens in 2018. Especially if the team featured had a depressing. end. Right. I don't know how many people saw all or nothing.

I still think it's well worth it. I really enjoyed it. And the things that I took out of it, it's interesting because they're coming up in the show. Ryan Khalil came out, came off to me as a great leader and a guy that you would want in an offensive lineman meeting room. Cam Newton came off to me as a different dude, an eccentric guy, a guy that some people

A tough guy too. A tough guy for sure. I liked him better. Yeah, I thought he came off well. And I was surprised by, you know, kind of he's a little bit out there. But he's so carefree, and you see the way he operated in practice. If he's not like that now, maybe it's just a matter of time. It's still early.

It is still early, but the quote that really struck me, too, was I don't want people out there to just think that Cam is back. You're saying I'm not back. And the reporter is saying that it's so much quieter there. And he said it's partly because I don't have Thomas Davis or Josh Norman honking at me, so I'm not honking at them, but they're just saying it's just been a different, it's been a different M.O.

And the fact that he's not really practicing that much now just is worth, I think, monitoring. We've seen this with quarterbacks coming off shoulder injuries. Yeah, it feels a lot like Andrew Luck last year. Let us go to Seattle. Let's fly on into the Seahawks facility. Let's get behind closed doors.

On Jimmy Graham's plane? What's that? Remember when Jimmy Graham used to fly to practice on his plane? Oh, yeah. I don't buy into that stuff. That is at best ponderous. By the way, this is the 40-year anniversary

of Thurman Munson, the Yankee great catchers plane crash. I would always be spooked if my favorite player or friend was flying around in a little prop plane. We've lost a lot of athletes to playing. And musicians. Lorette.

I lost John Denver that way. Corey Lytle. Harrison Ford has crashed twice and lived twice. Yeah, hey. Indiana Jones. Jim Crocey. Let's calm down.

Indie. get out of the plane he crashed on a golf course right next to Andrew Siciliano who was golfing at that Santa Monica yeah in Santa Monica he just wanted an autograph anyway the fly is now

proceeded to Seahawks the Seahawks facility and listen this is great I mean if you're if you trust the evaluation talents of John Schneider P. Carr all the people in that building there's no reason not to that's been a very

that's been a highly functional, high functioning organization for years now. You feel good about the positive news around D.K. Metcalf, their second round pick-wide receiver. It's glowing. I mean, he was drafted 64 overall. This is a guy who was thought to be a first-round pick, but then there were some red flags. People got a little worked up over his inability to stay on the field, maybe some questioning his ability in terms of, you know, his hands. So he almost falls out of the second round. The Seahawks get him. And all through so far, spring and summer,

we are hearing raves about Metcalf who is working with the first team. And it seems like they want to install him right off the bat as the guy. And I just wonder if behind the scenes, if it's as glowing as it is on the outside, if they really want this guy to step in and immediately be, a pro and a playmaker and a guy that can give you what you need from a number two wide receiver for a contender which is you know close to a thousand yards you want a guy that's finding the end zone that's making an instant impact so tyler locket with doug baldwin gone

that's going to be he has to step up and you're going to need an immediate uh impact from metcalf so i'm interested how that's going to play out you have david more there geron brown you can get excited i guess about some other guys i you know you guys tell me but i feel like a lot The eggs in the Metcalf basket are vast, and you hope it works out. You trust that organization, but I'd like to know what's going on behind the scenes if they really believe they've found something special here deep in the second round. There were some bizarre reports, whispers coming out of that camp that he was starting to annoy people by his behavior on the field.

He was having the wide receivers line up and pose according to height, and he was doing other things on the field that was like taking away from the concentration on football. It was a bizarre, bizarre report. It does seem like a team that would be content to run the ball 71 times a game, but you can't just dictate that you're going to do that. It's a huge question. And the four guys you mentioned, I think, you know, David Moore, Geron, Brown, D.K. Metcalfe behind Lockett.

It seems like that's kind of locked. That is their top four. And Metcalf is a huge factor. And I think they're going to, they think their running game is in a better shape than it's been in a few years with Carson and Rashad Penny. But it's a weird time in Seattle because, man, this defensive rock i know they can pull magic but it looks worse than it did a year ago and they're an offense first team now which is really strange i mean their offense was better than their defense a year

ago and i think it's going to have to be even better this year because the defense i think it's just they don't have the players so they need guys like mckef it's a weird situation because russell wilson is a hall of fame talent uh who just seems to get better every year um so you want him to be throwing the ball as much as possible uh because he's that good, but then you have offensive coordinator, Brian Chattanoheimer, who doesn't seem to love to throw the ball a lot. And then you have the

skill position players, which maybe it makes more sense to have the running game a little heavier than so they're kind of caught in between a little bit. I'm really interested to see how this offense looks this season. And it's a little bit distracting. I think the fly would probably hear this. Just like how

much everyone is just talking about the Gino Smith-Paxon Lynch competition. It's just like everyone can't, you know, Okay, let's focus on the starters here. You know, that's only the bad. A rampant topic. Shout out to Gino Smith's agent, Greg Rosenthal, because if you want to land a backup job,

go to Seattle where you're definitely not going to play, so you get to keep your body clean. You make $3 million. You're a winner. You're a winner. You could get a ring, for Christ's sake, and all you have to beat out is one of the worst first round picks at quarterback of this decade in Paxton Lynch.

So I like your odds, and I like your spot of, you know, buying that house. Nice table setting by Greg there for Gino. All right. The fly now moves where was? East Rutherford, New Jersey. Oh, okay. Flying up there.

You ever watch a nature documentary and you can't wait for like the waterhole scene? That's where all the drama happens. That's where the heat is. That's where the power play dynamics happen. Big pop. Well, the water hole in Giants camp is filled with Kool-Aid. It's a Kool-Aid hole. And I want to see how the animals, I want to study the behavior of the animals as they go up to the

It's like hot Kool-Aid? Yeah, it's like the wide receivers. You can see that they're like the gazelles. They kind of tiptoe up with twitchy ears and nervous eyes. They slowly bend over and take a little sip out of the Kool-Aid. And they expose their blindside a little bit. This is in the room at the Giants' Complex? This is in the room.

Well, the fly can go outside, I guess. Oh, it flies outside, okay. You see the wide receivers are like the gazelles. And then you see this procession. It's like a depression-era baptism in Backwoods, Mrs. Sippy. It's just the media, slowly, wading into the waters to get their baptism in the Kool-Aid. That's the scene I want to see in training camp, the Kool-Aid drinking at Giants Camp. Wow. I mean, I knew it would be negative. It was just a matter of which direction it was going.

It's like Gettelman's the hippo in there, controlling the whole thing. Hippos have bad tempers. Hippos are the most dangerous animal in. Glover gets a new swimsuit. No, Glover's in a beach chair watching the whole thing. Okay. Chuckling. That's all I have to say about it. So you just want to see.

I want to see exactly. I want to see exactly who is drinking the Kool-Aid, and how are they drinking? Like I said, the wide receivers are just sipping it. The wide receivers are just sipping it because they're not sure what's going on. They're not sure if this is good for their careers. They don't know what's going on. But the media, they're going in and they're getting baptized in that Kool-Aid. I want to see all of that.

All right. I don't know where else to take that. I still am not completely sure what we're talking about. I want to see why everybody buys into doing, buys into everything the Giants say. There's some sort of metaphysic. You do understand that's a supernatural. It doesn't want to drink the Kool-Aid.

He wants to drink something different. Exactly. I want to see if there's anybody there who refuses to drink the Kool-Luk. You do know that there is a critical component. Jordan Raynon, the ESPN guy who covers the Giants, he seems he never seen he always seems very critical you know there's a critical component to the new york media of this giant's offseason right they've been getting slaughtered all offseason the local new york media has they've been killed not ralph akeano

i know that well i would like to see the descending voice forget the media inside the building too if it when if you're pat shirmer do you say excuse me i want to start the quarterback i want we don't know we'll find out all right close it out mark suss all right this little fly is going to this is a long trip from East Rutherford, New Jersey, all the way down, you know. You don't have to take the highways of the roads. You can fly straight, but all the way down to Miami, Florida. Jumping in the fish tank. I am jumping in the fish tank.

And it's no surprise that Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen are one of the only real quarterback battles out there. But this is a team that we thought was unified a few months ago with the organic fish tanking of blow up the season. do what you can to cut costs and get in position to get our quarterback in the next draft. Get draft capital. Do whatever it takes to get our Sam Darnold, our Baker-Mayfield. This team has not had one for a long time.

Let's get it done. So you now go out and get Josh Rosen. What I'd like to be on that little, with that fly, and you could fly into this little Miami Dolphins compound. I think I'd sit on like a cinnamon bun or something, like a little sweetness under me while I listen into this conversation. They're not paying attention to the cinnamon. Bun, because there might be some dissenting voices in this room, because you've got Brian Flores,

the first year coach. Who does he want to roll into the season with and start and go into this journey with? And coaches don't want to be 0 and 8 or 1 and 7 and look like they're the next guy that comes from New England and can't do what Belichick did. You've got Chris Greer that might have a completely different game plan on how he wants the season to play out. And he has got to see Josh Rosen. He can't wait till week 17. Oh, then. we'll give Josh Rosen one start, and then we'll build our evaluation off of some outrageous, you know, 16 passes against the bills in week 17. You've got to see them earlier. You've got to see a real body of work when the games matter against teams that aren't beaten up late in the year.

And what about Stephen Ross who might say, this is my product. I'm paying all this money. And I kind of believe in this plan and the tanking, but I don't like my name being attached to that. He was with Blockbuster, right? Am I wrong? That thing tanked. But maybe it wasn't him. But anyways.

Way in High Zanga? That wasn't Stephen Ross, was it? No. Well, he's like, I don't want to do it the way the last guy did it with Blockbuster. So I'm going to do business my way. The Dolphins aren't going away of that hideous video store. So all these different voices, what's the conversation? I want to fly out of there knowing I know next time I hear about quarterback A or B is thriving

or the coach says this or the GM says this when he has once in a while a press conference. What's in their heads? What do they really want to accomplish? We get Flores the show. And that's why it'll be Ryan Fitzpatrick's show, at least early. Yeah, for a few weeks, maybe. But you have to eventually see what you have in Josh Rosen. I think you have too soon.

I would start him even if he lost the quarterback competition. What are the dolphins trying to, what do they need to do this year? I guess Flores doesn't look at it like that, though. They're out there. Isn't he safe this year? Of course, but they're working as hard as they can to go to win games. And if Fitzpatrick's way better, it just sets. a strange message.

I found it interesting. He's got to play the best players. We're out there in NFL Network interviewing Kiko Alonzo. It's like, Kiko Alonzo, make the team. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he gets cut. And some guys like that don't even make Brian Flores' team. He's going to turn this roster over. Do you have a quick one, Greg, before we go?

I do. I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Matt Patricia and Bobby Quinn are talking in Detroit and hearing what they really think about Matthew Stafford. A couple geniuses chopping it out. I like that. I wish I had gone with that first. I thought we had two around. Just what they think about Matthew Stafford behind it.

His strengths, his weaknesses, because they're going to evaluate him honestly. He hasn't had his starters out there really next to him. It's a new offense with Darrell Bevel. It's a tough situation for Stafford and them. But, you know, it's blank or get off the pot time, I think. Well, you heard what Golden Tate said. Matthew Stafford's the best quarterback he's played with. Maybe it's that simple.

That's the thing. I would like to hear. Patrician Quinn talking about, man, this guy, if we can just get the right pieces around him, he is our guy. But I'd be interested. I don't know. I really don't know. He believes Stafford to be superior to Russell Wilson.

He does indeed. Interesting. Well, there's a lot going on. Yeah, there might have. Personally. Golden Tate has had a lot of just. And in fairness, West, he hasn't played with Eli Manning yet. That's just beginning.

Well, yeah. Russell is about to fall to the bronze medal potentially. I mean, Golden Tate and Percy Harvin involved. Involved in one of the most weirdly, almost underreported scandals in Super Bowl history. What a great scandal. I don't know if we can really dig into it because it's all kind of hearsay, but Google it, baby. It's worth a Google. Might have impacted his answer on the quarterback rankings, his personal quarterback rankings.

Do we think that there's a chance that Matt Stafford's playing his last season in Detroit? I mean, they talked about maybe drafting a quarterback this last draft. But, like, Matt Stafford playing for a different team next year. I could see it. I think there's a chance, yes. Yeah, not a huge one, but I think there's a chance. Because he could certainly be someone that you would be attractive in a trade. What a market, that would be.

Right. So that's the thing. They're going to coldly evaluate it, and if they think it's going to be the Patriots? You know, if they trade out, no, I don't think that. See, now I'm doing the thing. Dan's already scared. You connect the star to the Patriots immediately. Because Tom Brady, now he's on a yo-yo diet.

You know, it's just, you know where there's all heading. That is not what he's on. Go, die it. Please. It's going to go 13 and 3. Hits his birthday today. Happy birthday. 43 years old, right?

Is it today? Is it 42? It's 42. It's today's birthday? That's just outrageous. Congratulations, Tommy. Yeah, it is today. It is.

They were, you know, the fans singing. That would be my birthday gift to him. It's actually tomorrow, August 3rd. You think he should walk away now? Just no one to walk away. You know, go out high. You know, Why are they singing it to them today?

Maybe they don't have practice tomorrow. They're celebrating right now. Retire a hero or live long enough to be a washed-up bum. I mean, you can take it two runs. At least it's a very fresh theme from you, Dan. I mean, this is one where we find common ground on the Patriots that I would have totally been down with Tom Brady and Grunks just going out on top with that title.

That's what you said like two Super Bowl wins ago, though. Right. I mean, it's like, Patriots fans are glad you're not getting your way on this front. Tom's children, by the way. Dan's got a cat to plane. Vivian Lake Brady, Benjamin Brady. That's a great name. Ben Brady.

And John Edward Thomas Moynihan. Little nugget on the eve of his 42nd birthday. The kid's last name is Moynihan. Oh, yeah. That's the middle name, I think. Let's not get into that either. Yeah, I guess so. Worth a Google.

Easily findable on the Internet. All right. Before we go. I'll be out Monday, by the way, heading back east, doing the weekend thing with the family. Maybe we can get Steve Weish back in. Get Steve in here? He did such a great job last time in your absence. He was just sensational.

What? He was. No, he was. He's always great. He's great. I just like to put Dan on that airplane with a little bit of hesitation. He certainly will not. Good luck to you.

I won't be here on Monday. but I'll be back on Wednesday. Before we go, Mark, speaking of familiar themes, a meditation. A little weekend meditation. Here we are once again. At the end of another busy week. Maybe a week in which you barely even thought about your own needs. So now, making yourself comfortable, take a deep breath in, and as you breathe out, close your eyes, and begin to relax.

As you continue to breathe, imagine yourself walking through a beautiful midnight garden, the stars shining above, the moon's light, illuminating the soft grass below your feet as you wander the garden you can smell the scent of rose bushes swaying in the night breeze so peaceful so far away from all your stresses and at the edge of the garden you reach an elegant patio that peers down into a lush valley in the middle of the valley you see a tennis court. And on the court, a young man dressed in white shorts, white socks, white sneakers, a white polo, and a white headband. It is Greg Rosenthal working

tirelessly against one of those little robot ball machines in the middle of the night. forehand backhand forehand backhand backhand forehand backhand

forehand backhand forehand backhand backhand forehand backhand forehand

backhand forehand forehand forehand backhand forehand forehand backhand

Seacrest out This is an I-heart This is an I-heart podcast. Thank you.