NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Under the Radar MVP Candidates; Gronk Comeback Talk

Episode Date: June 3, 2019

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal are joined by Lindsay Rhodes to bring you all the latest news around the NFL including Rob Gronkowski's chances of returning to the league (7:10), Russell Wilson aiming to play 15 more years (11:01), and the biggest kick to end camp (28:02). The heroes close out the show with "Under the Radar" MVP candidates with some Total Access Promos tucked in. (37:22)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. Sierra, Sierra, tomato, tomato. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I'm joined in a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Lindsay Rhodes. And Greg Rosenthal, what is up, boys and girls?

Uh, should I point out that Greg's really dressed up today? Well, part of it is it's freezing in this studio and this is the only way that's going to keep my frail small body warm. That's one way to put it. Another way it is when we do our live hits on network, Greg likes to put on the jacket and then... Not usually. Not lately.

People on the third floor would be like, oh, this guy, he's got live television potential. Like, who's the human pulled out of the Wes Anderson film on the left? Don't dress for the job you have. Dress for the job you want. There's been many hits where you're much better dressed. than I am. It mixes up. Well, I'll find me one. Yeah.

I don't know if I put Dan in that category. Good, nice dresser, but I don't know how many times you've... I wouldn't say that. Are you wearing the same shirt as Greg Blonde? That was part of it, too. And Greg is colorblind, so it... Mark's first comment to me was, oh, we're wearing the same shirt. Another reason to put on the coat.

That made sense with the coat for that reason, so... For the minute and a half that we run in a... I mean, yeah, we got our... We got both of our shirts from the generic men of 2019 checkered collection. Like, who doesn't have this shirt? Generic White's Magazine had a really nice... It's good publication. clothing line.

Lindsay, how you doing? It's been a while. Yes. I was going through some of the history of Lindsay on the Around the NFL podcast, which is rich. How does one do that? Just comb through the archives. The history is very rich here.

Yes, that's Colleen. I'm also rich history with Colleen. But a couple episodes back, this is probably your fifth or sixth, maybe seventh time on the show. Remember, there was the Lindsay Rhodes' maternity leave extravaganza. that was one of the all-time

favorite Lindsay appearances That's with your second child Right Okay You don't remember Well you were deep into Probably your third trimester Was I still on my maternity week?

No we were saying goodbye to you We were waving farewell to you For a brief amount of time Yeah I think that was like my last day Before I did go on a meeting And it's just an indicator That was memorable I do I do remember it now

Yes exactly We all have a You know Combined not with each other But we have eight children And how many since we started working together you started an NFL when?

2008 Wow All these children have showed up since we all got to know each other How we've been able to work together for so long I mean you and I You also weren't married when you started here So you did things in that correct order Dan

Did it the right way Yeah Did it the right way Technically I brought a baby with me To our relationship Yeah but we had just met How you got to keep on that right? You had just met the baby

Just about Dan and the baby baby she was you know just a baby but um so yes the history is rich lind and we're happy to have you back thank you i'm happy to be here you're sitting in the west chair because chris wesling is on his honeymoon uh down in mexico i believe yes uh puerta viorta is that in mexico i believe that's where yes sounds like it i believe that's where it is you know that's where it is well we also we when he comes back he has a lot to talk about because that we group purchased him west a big nice massage so we'll have to see how that went for him Oh, I saw about that on Instagram.

Yeah, which there was a text chain going back and forth and the idea, is this something? Because you never know with Wes what he likes and what he'll be like, hey, I'm open for anything. Or what he'll be like, I'd never do that. I'm a man. So it was kind of a coin flip. Yeah. But I think he, I was kind of out of pocket this weekend, but he enjoyed it. What was his response?

I missed everything on this. Keisha said that he was on Instagram, I believe he was considering now getting monthly massages. So that seems like a thumbs up. There you go. He nailed it. So happy honeymoon to the lovely Wessling couple. Coming up on today's show with the great Lindsay Rhodes of NFL

Network. And if you don't know, Lindsay, first of all, you're a monster. How are you not watching our program? Irresponsible to not know who she is. What is wrong with you people? We're talking about the face of NFL Network. That's well, you know. Eisen, okay. Eisen maybe

is like, you know, the guy he was the first person to say words on this platform. Yes, he is the face. But I'm talking about the more day-to-day NFL network. What's going on? Lindsay's always there because she is the host of NFL Total Access. She's the sucker who will show up every single day. The flagship show.

The flagship program of NFL Network, which she co-hosts with Scott Hansen and you guys do great work. So you check that out. And in honor of that on today's show, we'll do another tradition with Lindsay, which is, some TA topicals. Oh, yay. That we'll have with Lins. Also coming up on today's show, under the radar NFL MVP candidates.

So everybody knows the names that always get bandied about is, this guy's the MVP, usually a quarterback. But we're going to throw out some names, and it's not going to be anything preposterous. It's going to be people that it should make sense. As soon as that person says it, when we go around the horn, oh, yeah, I can see that. It's a possible.

So not so far under the radar that, you know, we would be, it needs to remain plausible. Like Matt Paradise, you know, he's not going to be the MVP. I know he might anchor the offensive line this year, but he is not going to be somebody that you're going to throw out there. No offensive lineman has ever won, the Associated Press most valuable player. I like that you're following that up like that was necessary. Hold on in case any of you actually are still on the train for Matt to win this award. But before we do that, let's do some news.

Everyone's going to say something. You know, right now, oh, you're an awful pick. But when he wins two Super Bowls, everyone's going to play. Oh, he was the greatest pick of all time. That's just how life works. Well said, Sequin Barkley, who is commenting on his new teammate, the rookie passer, Daniel Jones. That included one of my least favorite things in sports media,

which is the over-eager, too loud, too soon laughter. They would never be laughing that much in real life off of that comment. But it was like, that's just how life works. I know. I will say that you're right. Sometimes journals, when an athlete actually kind of is light and jovial, maybe you get over-eager. But then you got to remember, these journals also deal with people like Tack McKinley in Atlanta. I don't know if you saw his recent press conference where he gave eight straight, I'm good, that's good, it's good answers.

and then walked off. So when somebody is actually giving you a fun line, I can see you get a little over-eager. All right. That was such a fun line. I've been, I've done that before. I've, you know, given athletes way too much credit for being funny when they, you know, it's fine. One guy that gets too much credit for being funny, Rob Grunkowski,

the former Patriots, tight end, little zinger at you there. But no, he's fine. I love Grong. I felt like an unnecessary zinger. I know. Well, accurate. I would consider it accurate. Not needed.

Anyway, 10 weeks ago, Gronk called it a career. He stepped away, said, I'm done playing after a legendary run with the Patriots. It ended with another Super Bowl title. You remember his agent at the time? We were actually in Arizona. Drew Rosenhaus was making himself very public in the lobby throughout the weekend, talking loudly on a cell phone, enjoying himself. And he told the media, he didn't believe it.

His own client, he said, no, don't be surprised if Gronk plays again. And well, Gronk was speaking to reporters at a children's event at Gillette Stadium and was asked about any, you know, rumors that he wants to come back or will come back. Whatever I say, it doesn't matter. It'll always be crazy out there. You can put him to rest. I'm feeling good in a good place. 30 years old.

You know, beat up 30 years. A regular Abraham Lincoln here. Now we're out of the quote. We're out of the quote. He's like, I'm 30 years old. No, but he, end quote. Thank you, Lindsay. A real Gerno is in the room.

But he has, you know, showed he had something left in the tank in the playoffs, but also it was a tough last season. Is he coming back? I still think he's going to be on the Patriots in November. I do believe that. I don't. But I don't put much stock into what he's saying at like a June charity event. He's forced to speak.

Of course he's thinking that now. When it gets to September, October, like, could his mind change? Maybe. It doesn't have to do training camp and mandatory minicamp and June and all that. I feel like it would be more like something where he just comes in for like the stretch run. Belichick always says, you know, the season starts at Thanksgiving or whatever. That's when we start. That might fit.

It's the one case where the Patriots have been too successful because what is the motivation? It's not the athlete trying to get, come back to get that Antonio Gates, that one. one Super Bowl run. Well, you've been there like 14 times. You're dominant. What is more appealing than watching football from a distance and no longer being destroyed by beefy giant people? Yeah.

I get it. I tend to think that he probably won't come back. I think he definitely believes he won't right now. But primarily because I think the Patriots are going to change their whole offense. It's not like they brought in another titan to take his place. So I feel like they're just going to do it completely differently this year and that it would be weird to call him up in November

like you would normally do that if the guy that they brought in to take his place got hurt and then all of a sudden you're looking for a tight end But would that be a reason why to rule it out from an organization standpoint? I feel like if you have a chance to get a recharged and into it gronk and you're often, especially like we're speculating

now a lot of the football cognizente is speculating that the Patriots could struggle on office. offense. There's just not a lot of playmakers. But really, though, like we haven't heard that narrative in the off season. It's always, they're always expected to struggle because they lost fill in the blank. Like, and they always find ways to struggle. I have no expectation for them to struggle this year because Gronk left. They've been fine without Gronk. Like, they find ways. I think he's an extremely special tight end. But I think that Bill Belichick will just

find a different way to attack things offensively. And I think that they're going to be fine. I agree with you for the record. I don't want to agree. with you, but I think the Patriots will have a top 10 offense again this year. It would be a bizarre reality if they don't because they always do. It's just a completely different time to live in. Tom Brady, he is the quarterback of the Patriots. He's entering his age 42 season. Well, what about playing even later?

Russell Wilson did a, had a nice conversation with our own Mike Silver in which he explained, you know, he's 30 years old. He just signed that big contract with Seattle. he's entering his ninth season but he wants to play a lot more football in fact he wants to play until he's 45 years old I feel like begin quote thank you I feel like I'm just getting started

that's the scary part that's the most exciting part that's really where I believe that I am right now I'm just getting started and I believe this team is just getting started so I think that we can do anything that we set our minds to do close quote so where was the 45

I'm looking for it in the copy Stand by. All right. So it's there. It is in the story, which, yeah. It's a beefy piece by Mike. I absolutely, I would think it would be earlier in the copy. Well, it's a good invite for the listener to go find it themselves.

At any point. And I would really, a lot of numbers do. So him saying that he wants to play until he's 45 feels a little bit like don't put that out there. Like when people even in anyway, and Josh Rosen did this last week in a way that was very benign and whatever. but he used he compared himself to Tom Brady in a way that was very not like I'm comparing myself to Tom Brady but he said something like if I could be even you know close to what he is in this way and this way and this way then that's what I want to be and it was a compliment and it was like here's the bar and I just am striving to be that but the way that the quote was parsed and then put out on Twitter it becomes this like oh he's comparing himself to Tom Brady and he's not even close to Tom Brady and I just feel like people should sort of learn that. that lesson and maybe just don't even go in close to that. People have the 45 thing, though. Tom Brady's been saying 45 now for a while.

And Tom Brady's still three seasons away from, you know, 45. I'll believe that when I see it. Like he's turning 42. He's clearly the greatest aging quarterback of all time in terms of his ages, you know, 39 to 41 seasons. And even he, I would be surprised if he's around in a couple years. It's a strange thing. I know that...

In three years, you'd be surprised? Yeah. Well, wait, this is going to be 42, right? This season? Yeah. I'd be surprised if he's starting his age 45 seasons still in the NFL. Yes. To me, from a fan angle, it's, and I'm saying this downstairs to these guys,

that I like star athletes in my life for a nice long amount of time, but I don't need, for instance, if you're Kyler Murray or Sam Darnold, if you wanted to play until you're 45, your career wraps in 2043. That, and Dan, I like Sam Darnold, but that's too much of him. in my life for the next 20-something years. It's like, give me, I want Brady to be a little bit more of an outlier than every quarterback is playing for the next two-plus decades. It really does, it has changed how the NFL looks.

Because right now, Aaron Rogers, you know, is turning 35, 36. You would have think he'd be on the back, not, you know, he'd be kind of wrapping up his career. And you don't even think about that with him. They just gave Ben Rathesberger a new contract. He's getting up there. Philip Rivers, like Drew Brees. I think Breeze, Rivers, and Brady and Eli are all free agents next off season. So it's like, what kind of contracts do you give those guys at that age?

Well, the last one, not a contract. Eli doesn't get a contract. Right, that's fair. Unless the Giants truly double down on their annoyance. He'll be Marcus Mariotas' new backup in Jacksonville. But that's an interesting question for the rest of them. Update, I have a more pertinent quote to the topic. seven years has gone by so fast you think about just turning 30 years and what I have for the rest of my career for the next 10 to 15 years I'm just so fired up about it you think about some of the best quarterbacks of all time guys like Drew guys like Tom I really look up to those guys there's so much more to do and then Mike says to 45 and then Russell replies yeah yeah that's the goal I'm just fired up for it end quote go hook's

moving on that was a good goal yeah life goals talks about a network mark said on up to the minute with Andrew Siciliano today that he will be podcasting until he's 89 or 90

God willing Mark is 45 for this production questionable but you know somewhere maybe in my house if we're doing this podcast in 45 years oh my gosh

I just don't know what to say I don't even know I don't know if that would be a grand achievement or just some type of purgatory that I'm living in? We just discussed we have a flock of children that we could actually hand the show off to and they'd be... Hand the show off to your children.

Well, they'd be deep into their 40s and we're not giving them a career at that point. I mean, yeah, I think if you're still there, it will be an indictment of the NFL's, you know, retirement and health care plan. Well, we're still needing this show up. It's like, all right, we're doing three shows this week, OTA round up?

Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of Russell Wilson's thing is he eats no dairy, no mold, no yeast, no gluten, and that's he's going to be healthy longer. You're going to have to change your diet up. Time out. No mold? That just means, what, like no cheese? No mold is true.

Cheese, molds, mushrooms, lots of certain sauces. Soy sauce can be, have mold aspects to it. How does that end up on your dietary list? Like, no mold. Well, it's, yes. So hard to give it up. I think you're thinking of like an orange with a, like an orange with a, a sheen of green on it that you take eat like a hand fruit no like it's more like like cheese as a

mold calvin john let's move as far as i know calvin johnson is a retired wide receiver a great a future hall of famer um played his entire career with the lions but there has been no calvin johnson half time celebration there's been no calvin johnson lines anything uh and it all goes back to well what a lot of things go back to money money uh calvin johnson told dave burke in the Detroit Free Press, what the Lions need to do to get this relationship back on track. They already know, open quote,

they already know what they got to do. The only way they're going to get me back is they put that money back in my pocket, close quote. And if you remember, the Lions required Megatron to reimburse the team for a portion of his signing bonus

that he hadn't earned before retiring three years ago. So I think it's around a million dollars that you know the money if he gets that that's the price tag to get Calvin Johnson back and Ford Field would you pay for that for what I have a problem with the fact that there's an expectation that that he should get that money back in the first place like I get that there's also an argument that like a million dollars seems like pennies if you're the lions and you get one of the faces of your franchise to come back to the table but at the same

time I'm I'm lost on why there is an expectation on his part to have earned that money like why you wouldn't have to pay that back if they pay you if you sign a three year deal and then you retire after one year and then the signing bonus is essentially just a way to give you more money around the salary cap so it's a pro rated situation it's not really like thank you so because you're nickel and dime and I'm paying you $20 million because you're an organization of failure and he is a player of total excellence

and you're nickel and diming someone who brought a higher level of performance to your organization than your ownership ever has or your coach or pretty much any other player and you're saying hey we're going to just take that little bit out of your

pocket because we can. They did the same thing with Barry Sanders. It's the type of thing dumb organization do. They made Barry Sanders repay his signing bonus to them and he always felt bad about it's it's you know instead of like saying oh thank you and sending cool instagram messages just like let him keep his money and don't be nickel and dime in them it's a bad look and it's respect i think it speaks to a team that post megatron has almost no other players they could even put out there it have time to celebrate there's a very unrich history well the quarterback

is nice player he's still playing though i mean i'm talking about past guys that are tired of late Or Alaska, bring Orlaski back. Yeah, you got to get down. Maybe a job at best. Let's bring him back and throw a bunch of flags up in the air. But if you're not doing the work, then so if you agreed on, and maybe I'm just diving into the semantics of this. Okay, then every coach should have to pay back every, you know, year that they were unpaid and didn't do the job. You know what I mean?

It's just you're making a decision ultimately to go after the money. No, because they're only getting, they only keep that money because. because the team fired them. He walked away. It was his decision. So if you're signing a three-year deal, and I don't remember the terms or whatever, but like just if you sign a three-year deal

and you walk away after one year, then you shouldn't be paid for the two years that you agreed to be paid for. Like that was what you both sides decided was your value at the time. I could totally agree with your point. Like I think that's from like a honor the job you did kind of standpoint. Yes, the problem a little bit is I think the lion's,

just look petty in all this. I also look at it more like the NFL owners have an incredible, and teams in general have an incredibly one-sided and dominant relationship over player contracts anyways. So it's like why go after? It's like picking on them, picking on them. Let's take a break in the news now to throw it to Lindsay Rhodes. Okay.

Oh, wow. Again, the host of Total Access. Part of your everyday duties, right? Lindsay, it's not like you just walk out on the set at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific and just honk about football for 42 minutes. No, there's a lot of prep. No. That's what Hansen does. But Lindsay preps. She gets it. Hansen is a prepper. And not in a survivalist sort of way. So we'll get to that in a second as well, surviving. So in the spirit of that, what Lindsay does leading up to every show, part of it is recording like pre-taped topical. These promos that they show in other shows

It's like a little 15 second commercial That really teases you Get you fired up, gets the viewer Tittalated juices flowing up to watch that show Oh man, can't wait to watch that show Set's DVR An ongoing tradition We give Lindsay some copy to reach

Has not seen this beforehand We're going to ask Erica to play the music And Lindsay Take it away How far is too far? Daniel Jones ramps up efforts to replace Eli Manning on the field and at home. We have Omar Ruiz in Green Bay to find out if Aaron Rogers still respects Matt LaFleur after his hoops injury, plus Matt Patricia's awful chili recipe tonight, 7 Eastern.

Where'd my music go? What happened to the music? That was the length. I'll repeat it. You know, when I read it, it was that long, but then a professional broadcaster reads it. No, you did not read that that fast. I can do it. I'll read it right now.

Watch. Here, you ready? Go. Tonight on NFL Total Access. How far is too far? Daniel Jones ramps up Everest to replace Eli Manning on the field and at home. We have Omar Ruiz and Green Bay to find out of Aaron Rogers still respects Matt at LaFloor after his hoops injury. Oh, that's a disaster, Dan. That was great.

I feel like that was shorter. It's getting shorter. How long was the way to play? I feel a lot better because this was a point of contention about my copy and I, you know, right out of the gate. How long was what you just played? 13 seconds. that I sent earlier to It's the same thing

She did Erica did as asked That was like a low key like I did exactly what I told you I was going to do Thanks for writing 45 second copy For my 15 second copy Paper trail Per her email paper trail

Well what can you do Anyway that's the first one Well done everybody That was great That was great And at home Unnecessary Don't fling those

Dan just flung the Hardboard piece No because at one point one is going to come and sever my eyeball because it's going to be a wayward throw. That's all I think about when you throw those. I thought you were going to say you were thinking about some other human will have to ultimately pick up Dan's refuse.

Well, there's that secondary issue, yes. Grow up. Here we go. Moving on in the news. Mo Wilkerson, you remember a big Muhammad Wilkerson, former Jets pro bowler, got a big contract, didn't play well, didn't work hard, got cut, signed with the Packers, got hurt, and he has not been able to get a job and it's not going to get easier.

He got a DUI in New York City. The 29-year-old blew a 0.09 during a early morning stop and released on bond later Saturday. He was actually ranked at rank, Greg, at number 88 on your top 100 free agents, but the market has not come together. I don't know if Wilkerson's healthy, but now an off-the-field incident not helping things.

Well, this will especially hurt. his chances because he was rumored to have a drinking problem when a member of the Jets. I think that was pretty much out in the open. Yes. And so any chance of him getting back in the league, it went down. I would have thought he would have been able to play again. He was playing okay at the beginning of last year before he got hurt. Feels like I've heard more about the negative stories of Mohamed Wilkerson having nothing to do with his play than I've heard about his play.

It's fair. And when you're 88 on a list that only consists. to players without a job. I don't know that that means like, you know, that people are racing to go get you anyway. Right, to be out with your adventures on the road. In other news, this is something that we should all be plugging in on. A report published by the Breakthrough National Center for Climate Restoration,

think tank in Melbourne, Australia describes climate change as a, quote, near to midterm existential threat to human civilization and sets out a plausible scenario where business as usual could lead over the next 30 years. And what's going to happen? The end of civilization, high likelihood of human civilization

coming to an end in 2050. Who's worried? Who's by it? Well, here's what I'd say is that what has got us into this situation already probably is irreversible by any habits that we, any better habits that we conduct over the next couple decades. Because it doesn't mean like everything is going to be fine

on December 31st, 31st, 2049. I don't think that's the attitude they're trying to fight there is like the, that's essentially, that's much of the opposition's argument. It's kind of like, well, there's no way to possibly help. I use my blue recyclable bin in my, at my household. You do a nice job with that. You do a nice job.

What are we going to do now? China's not taking our recyclables any. obsessive about that? It's a big problem. Right? So you're not the problem. It freaks me out when people come over to my house and throw away things that are recyclable. Do you go through the garbage?

I don't go through it, but if there's something sitting right on top, I will take it out and go put it. I looked at the positive, which was he, this guy said 49, if he was asked to give a percentage chance, you know, civilization starts to, you know, crumble by 2050. He said 49%. That's a strong. I don't like those odds. It's a better than half that we're in the clear. You know who else doesn't like those odds? Kyler Murray's attempts to play till he's 45.

Thank you. Which, no, his career would wrap around 2043, but then suddenly you go into the later stages of life, and it's a wrap within seven years. Well, I mean, you want to enjoy that retirement. If civilization is done by 50, then when is it starting to wipe up? Like, when are we, like, really in crisis mode,

like walking dead without the zombies, but we don't have civilization anymore? I would say within seven years, we'd start to see fundamental breakdown issues that would be, there would still be 31 more years of now or seven years of 50. I mean, the earth moves at a snail's pace. It's not like at 2047 things are going to start to tail off. So that would really inhibit his chances of playing to lose 45. Largely sucky scenario for everyone involved.

It is not a great, not a great situation. 31 more years of NHL hockey, though, to still enjoy. It does make you like think about, well, the debate about the, 18-game NFL season doesn't seem as pressing. Put that on the back burner. Finally in the news. Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com has it over the weekend. Bruce Ariens, buckshead coach, put some pressure on kicker Matt Gay, the rookie.

Who's in a big battle against Cairo Santos, lined up gay for a 50-yarder. He makes it, practice ends an hour early. If he misses it, everyone hates him. That's how you do it. Bruce, pushing the right buttons. The rookie drilled it, practice over. Have a nice weekend. Gay one, Santos, Zilch.

The number one camp battle to track. Gay Santos. I'm writing that down right now. That's what's happening in the news. Hey everybody, Father's Day coming up. It's a real thing. Every year, we all love it. Give Dad a gift packed with the Omaha steaks he craves.

And there's a Father's Day steak fixed gift package, $235. Listen to this, Lindsay. Okay. Only 5999. Order now and you'll get two filet mignon. Two is it mignon? Minions? Milos.

Mingnai? Maybe it's like... What is the plural of filet mignon? I think it would be filet mignon, but it would be fun if it was one of those where it was filet's mignon. That's always fun. Anyway, two top sirloins,

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And by the way, this was sent to us, our office today. The vultures got to it before we all saw. So some of these items were removed from the box. But I'm taking home a chicken fried steak. Greg, you're taking home some fillets. Yeah, my father-in-law said he was going to cook up some steaks on the grill yesterday. Never happened. But now I'm bringing, you know.

I had a couple drinks, took a nap, there's a jet lag. Well, I mean, now he has the goods. We just ordered, and now I'm bringing these home as a hero. He's cooking them up tonight. Well, you're also putting a little bit of pressure on him now to actually do. Oh, I checked. Before I, before I, before I tried to, you know, edge out Dan there for the steaks, I wanted to make sure that they were going to go to good use.

I texted home and made sure. Are you really going to make these this time? Is that what you texted? Yeah, well. Like, if I bring home these filet mignones, come on, dad, air quotes. Does anybody call their father-in-law dad? No.

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I mean, you know, if it doesn't fit the first time around, I ordered a replacement. It was very seamless order. It came right to me. It was easy. Lindsay, when you're on the gram and you're scrolling, when you got the weekend of the wedding, when you got to the four heroes of the podcast tucks spot,

did you just stop in your tracks? Obviously. I studied it. Yeah. What is going on here? There's a lot to take in. Yeah. Yeah.

Was there an audible hubba hubba? So I can't remember the moment exactly. Has there ever been an awful hubba. Your husband was in the kitchen? He was like, what was that, honey? It's like nothing. Oh, just looking at old pictures of you. Anyway, if you want your wedding to be remembered for the right reasons,

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Lindsay Rhodes. Now, I messed up the time. And I actually now realize what I did wrong, and it's an interesting kind of human trait, reading it just to myself. In your mind. Much faster. I never took the extra step to read it out loud. I have made a similar mistake, I predict. I know. I'm going to do some editing. Am I going up next or is it Mark? Well, I mean, if you're in the middle of an editing process, it's going to be going to go in It's going to be simple. I'm going to cross out this line right here to try to get it under. And I wish I had the benefit of this, but, you know.

Men. Who said that? Is that you, Erica? It was Lindsay. Lindsay? Yep, pretty much. No. Eric.

Yeah, maybe read it through once and nothing surprises you. Stop it. I didn't get the safety reinforcements. Hit the music, Ricky. Tonight on NFL Total Access, Big Ben or Big Ben, Big Ben. Baby, Jane Slater on Jason Garrett's new hair color, Reggie Wayne on raising the minimum wage and special in studio guest.

That guy for Modern Family. Again, Total Access, 7 Eastern. Still too long. That was good, though. Which guy for Modern Fire Family? I don't know. They always have the guy from Modern Family. The guy don't know who it is.

Like, hey, someone from Modern Family. Eric Stone Street, who's a big Chiefs fan. Which is obviously who he was talking about. Or it could be the dad who's a Rams fan. Yeah. But Stone Street is the one. There's multiple dads on that show. No, Phil Duffy.

Lead dad. Like, I always see him. I don't go out on dates. Is that who you were talking about? Life anymore. What? Who? Phil Dunphy, the dad?

Or were you talking about Stone Street? No, Duffy. How are you talking about him? Stone Street's on Rich Eisen's show like once a week. No, but Dumpfee is like the main dad on the show. Yeah. And I've seen him many times in downtown Culver City just walking with his family. Just wanted to point that out.

All right. He's a Rams fan. There you go. Yeah. Now you have something. talk about next time you encounter him. Duffy! It's not his real name.

All right, that was good, but we still have not hit it yet where the music is synced up with the coffee. I think there's like a longer outro where... Yeah, there's definitely a longer cut. Because we have a 30 second, the topical 30 seconds. I think it's on it out. 15 seconds is... I think she

made it clear this was the plan and no one explored. But I think there's still a window here and a lane to possibly pin it on our producer. Yeah, I feel like... It's a small lane, but it's just... You've read these. Is it true?

At some point you have had one where it was Big Ben or Big Baby, I bet. What are they? No, it's a little too... I don't think we would be that, Judgey. Big Baby. I enjoyed your copy, which was Judgey, but I don't know that we'd go... We'd, like, couch it. Just like after a game where he's complaining about the refs or something.

Come on. Can you imagine that cut line graphically, like Big Baby, question mark? Well, he's whining. All right, we got one more to come. A lot of pressure on Mark. Actually, none because you both utterly failed. I literally know pressure. That's a good point.

That's a good point. Mine will fail in a similar way. All yours has to do is be like within 15 seconds and we're good. All right, here we go. Let's get to it now. Let's talk about under the radar MVP candidates. You know, we all know the names that get thrown out every year. Your Drew Breese is, although he's never won one.

Patrick Mahomes, of course, will be a popular pick. every year that guy won't go away there's always somebody out there Greg i feel like you've done this before this is it russell wilson gonna win that trophy of course tom brady who has a whole bunch of them but more of the big ben's finally gonna win an empty award guy but now i'm now i'm over with that although if they have a good year this is the year for it to happen because nobody can make the argument that it is levy on bell that's really the reason for success or nobody else has antonio brown to throw to. It's never

happened and he's sneaky never even come close Big Ben. Brian Bill came close on the Jake Huttler prediction that generated some waves

back in the day. Big Ben has won team MVP award in his entire career. And the idea I'm working on a piece you could read it

on Tuesday team MVP predictions in the AFC and then on Wednesday NFC team MVP predictions. Oh yeah. We are so deep

into the June. off season. Don't be judgy of the column. Just please read it. I'll read it. I'll be short to, Dan.

I mean, I'm going to be refreshing my Twitter feed. All right. So what we're going to do is to go around the horn a couple times here and throw out some

candidates. And Greg, I will start with you. Throw out an under the radar 2019 MVP candidate. Well, to do this, since now it seems like the NFL and the desert

as we refer to here. getting like a little tighter it's like not as big a thing i went to like even look at the odds so i didn't want to take anyone in the top 10 possible uh names wait can you doesn't matter it doesn't matter kind of curious well as we go along i'll say what the odd but here's one plus 4,000 i'm just putting the number out there here okay i don't know what that means but it sounds like a lot i mean yeah you put down a hundred you get you would get 4 000 back for this we're gonna have to cut all this out. Yep, go on. Quarterbacks generally win it, but not always.

Occasionally they'll throw a running back in the mix. And what running back, I think, is in a better position to sneak up and get an MVP than Alvin Camara this year. Not a lot of other big-time offensive skill weapons on that team. Not only is Mark Ingram gone, but it's basically just like Michael Thomas and Alvin Camara, and he does things that other players just don't. And I think he is set up for a 2,000-year-old. yards from scrimmage type of season where he catches a ton of passes he scores a ton of touchdowns

you look at the saints and on paper they kind of look like the best team in the NFL going into the year and drew breezes you know he'll certainly be in the mix if they're if they have that good of a record but if we're looking for under the radar and like something that might be a little more surprising i could absolutely see alvin camera in his third season in league kind of putting it altogether in having his career year. I just think they wouldn't give it to him over Breeze. Like if the Saints are in that position, I think... You've got to be in a spot like the other running backs that have won it,

where Sean Alexander or Ladani and Tomlinson, you score a lot of touchdowns, you put up a lot of yards. Everyone can see that it's not necessarily Drew Breeze's best season. The defense is really good there. So are you predicting it's not going to be Drew Breese's best season? In this scenario, yeah. I mean, if Drew Breeze puts up a slightly worse... season than he did a year ago, and it's their defense that keeps getting better, and it's

Camara and the running game. I can absolutely see a scenario where they're the one seed in Camarra. And yeah, to Lindsay's point, if Breeze puts up a representative season, I think he would get the nod. Well, a lot of this is narrative driven. And it will, in theory, be the final year of Drew Breeze. There was a big push for that to happen last year, as I know, doing roughly seven billion videos. But he didn't get it in the end. He didn't, but that's like if he did. If he didn't, but that's like if he did another Drew Breeze-ish type year where he isn't noticeably falling off the cliff. I think it's tough. I think, though, Alvin Camara to me is, is such a unique, almost singular type of player

that he at this point, to me, has a better chance of putting together an absolutely bonkers year that blows your mind than Drew Breeze does, actually. I think Breeze would have gotten it last year if Mahomes wasn't so great. Yeah. He just couldn't be denied. It was 5,000 yards, 50 touchdowns. basically was the most exciting player in football so Breeze had to take the back seat

but I'm going to bring up another third year running back about that a guy that also came very close to 2,000 yards from scrimmage and also came about 120 yards I believe from being the third player ever running back ever to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. I think I know where you're going the poor man's Camara.

Oh, that's one way to put it. That's one way to put it. Christian McCaffrey. You call him the poor man's Camara? How dare you? This kid is after a nice rookie season in Carolina, but maybe a little bit underwhelming as a rusher. I think last year he kind of absolutely justified

why Carolina used the top ten pick on a running back. And I think things are kind of lined up for this guy to even take his game up to the next level when you think about Cam Newton and where he's at physically now coming back from the second shoulder surgery. He's 30 years old. That entire organization is all about

how do we get Cam Newton through a season healthier? And you know what that means? Cam Newton's not going to be diving over the goal line anymore. He's going to be absolutely running less. We saw that last year when McCaffrey became kind of their goal line guy. So he's going to be a touch monster. We know that. McCaffrey, both is a receiver.

and a rusher, but he's also going to be their goal line guy. And I think Caroline is going to be a good team this year. I think they're going to be in the mix, so they won't be an also round like they turned into last year if Cam could stay healthy. So for all those reasons, I think McCaffery, who I guess some people call a poor man something, I believe he is a superstar and in his third year

is primed maybe have his best season. I like it because, I mean, under the radar has to, this exercise has to happen, acknowledging that the way this voting process works makes running backs extremely unlikely unless they have one of these absolutely blow your mind seasons. But I feel like for McCaffrey to win

because you're going to be battling guys like Sequoan Barkley and fill in the blank too that your numbers are going to have to be so huge and you're going to have to have like single-handedly one, four or five like key games for them and they need to go like 13 and 3. Which that's all possible. but I just, I think I just get lost in the mix.

Using Peterson, that was a 10 and 6 Vikings team. I don't think the team needs to be a total monster force, but he has to be clearly, like with Breeze and Kamara, has to be the guy that's seen as the engine driving the ship. And even more than that, it has to be almost like historic. If it's going to be a 10-win team. It may went into the off-season saying they thought, you know, they wanted to take the load off him a little bit,

but then they did absolutely nothing to get, someone really capable of taking that load off. So he'll get a lot of carries. I worry more about him than Camara in terms of total touch it. Like, Camara is just a little thicker, 215. Have you seen McCaffrey recently? That's true. He's looking pretty.

He's almost looking too small. He's looking like he's on Dionne Jordan's offseason. I think Melvin Gordon has the best shot of the running backs. So the same reason that I think of, and that's not my answer, by the way. But so I think it. That was Mark's answer. Oh, is it? years. No, no, no, no, go. Yeah, if Melvin...

No, it was not, I was this is fresh territory. You're good. That was a joke. Go on. All right, guess. Stay in your lane. I mean, because he doesn't have a quarterback who is going to demand the votes, right? So if the Chargers are that a really good team this year, which I think a lot of people expect them to be, then it kind of is going to run through Melvin. He's going to be a big part of the reason why. And then Philip, he's always good and he'll be a part of it. But I don't think that people, he's not slotted in that. like, well, if they're really good, we have to vote for Philip.

I think people will think that the difference maker there is Melvin because Philip's always been there and he's always been good and they still haven't gone anywhere. So I think the argument is important. Who would be your choice? Who would be your choice? So I'm wondering how dark horse we're going to need to be because I'm not like you.

It's not going to be a running back because there are never any running back. So I like the dark horse factor, but I don't think it's going to be a dark, I don't think it's going to be that. So I'm going quarterback like Andrew Luck is not dark horse, right? Like we could take him off the tip. Okay. So then we're going to go. like really dark course, I'm going to throw Derek Carr out there.

And here's why I'm going to do it. Because we've seen him have an MVP caliber season before. So we know that he can do it. It's not a total like shot in the dark. And now you have these offensive weapons that are playing with him. You put some weapons in front of him on the offensive line. I think that offense could look incredibly different in ways that we can't even really fathom right now because they were so bad last year.

Derek Carr was a checkdown king last season. But he didn't have any weapons. that could really stretch the field. PFF just put out some numbers in the last couple of days. He's their number one rated deep ball efficiency passer in the league. Part of that probably is because he didn't go downfield very much. And so maybe that could be a knock against him. But he had like a 52% completion percentage on deep passes.

So he can do that. And he certainly has the weapons to do that with Tyrell Williams and Antonio Brown. And now you have Josh Jacobs in the backfield keeping defenses honest. I think you could see a major turnaround. That fits the bill. for Dark Horse because his cue rating is a little low right now. I feel like he's been through super rough two years. But in 2016, everyone felt very different,

much differently about him before he got hurt. He got some literal MVP votes. So the fact that he is now, right now, plus 10,000. Ooh, I like that. Around, which is the same, which is basically what they give to someone that has almost no shot. Joe Flacco is there, James Connor, Kyler Murray. Leonard Fournett, Josh Allen.

So he's deep. Drive East, Lindsay. He's deep. Drive East is what I'll say, if you truly believe it. It's a team award partly, so they will have to win some games for that to happen. I think... Ten, as we've learned with... Ten sounds about right.

No, but for a quarterback, you're right. He's going to have to win more than that. And you are forever tied to Derek Carr and this podcast as the woman who brokered the piece, of course. You're welcome. Between Greg and I and Derek who unblocked us. There was a pro football talk put out a write-up. This is a slow part of the season. season football calendar did a whole article about how they were blocked by Derek Carr or maybe

it was a tweet it was a tweet maybe I don't know if it was I don't know that pro football talks they're not articles so much as far as that as complaints that are lodged on Twitter so Derek is still blocking away but last time I checked we're safe we're safe and it's when somebody on the show is saying MVP for Derek Carr that only helps looks good that reflects well on us I mean, that would be, that is a dark horse. But to your point, Mark, yeah, it wasn't that long ago. It's always dangerous to play the, it wasn't that long ago game, especially in the NFL. But he was.

Before he broke his ankle, he was playing at a high level. Now he has arguably the best wide receiver in football on his team. Why couldn't he get back to those heights? Throw it out there, Sessler. I, you know, you have to go back to 1986 for a defensive player to have won at Lawrence Taylor. And yet I would argue that it's concerning. that J.J. Watt, for instance, at his absolute peak, didn't pull one of these awards, because it's clear to me the defensive player of the year is essentially just what they're

calling MVP on defense, and it's the same thing. It's like, we have gone 30-something years since a defensive player, so I was like coming up with someone that could maybe pull it off, and it needs to be, for me, a team or a player that would generate an intense amount of sacks. It would be like a record-setting type year on a great defense, on a team that could have the best record in the AFC. And so I went with Joey Bosa. And you need him to stay healthy. That's a concern.

But it does seem like a guy because I love that they got Jerry Tilleri to kind of clog up the middle. And you still have Melvin Ingram. There's reason to believe that Bosa will be not getting triple teamed as much. He'll have a chance to have a big year if he stays healthy. He puts up a insane amount of sacks. And then there needs to be, because it's all narrative-driven, this mid-season sort of groundswell for why haven't we picked a defensive player in so long? Isn't something wrong with our system, not the defensive players in the league?

And then bang, Bosa gets picked. And you look back on this early June episode and say, how did he know ahead of time six months ago that this would happen? Episode over. Wow. I think, honestly, you're right, 86. That's like forever ago. I think you need like 25 sacks to win the MVP.

I think so, too. I think it has to probably not even break the record, like shatter the record. I think that's probably what he'd have to do, and that's a tall, tall order. Right, I think Watt seasons, and one of them was against Aaron Rogers' best season. So that was, it was the time. Cam Newton had a monster season. But that season where it was Watt versus Cam, those were the best defensive seasons possible. Aaron Donald, really, if you look at, at least the pressures and stuff, would be up there.

and he really hasn't gotten much attention. So it's going to be tough. Joey Bosa's got to, he's just got to stay healthy. Aaron, he's played three years right now. He has one really healthy year out of those three. Aaron's best shot would be this year if Gurley doesn't pan out, but the offense somehow still works.

Although no, because then if the offense works without Gurley, then people, it'll be because Goff is good. So never mind. Game winning play is for a defensive player, even though a lot of that it would be on luck is how you do it. Like Palomalo and suck. Like where you make like three, Ed Reed, where you make like three plays at the end of a game to win a game.

What about Khalil Mack? Because Khalil Mack has the potential to make those plays in that type of environment on a team that really doesn't have any other superstars. So if the Bears are good again, it'll be about defense. Right. Like if you look at, I would think if you look at October last year, Mac is someone that you would have had to say has a chance if he continues to. And it is timing.

Having those great games, if Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth are in the building when you have those games and it becomes the big story on Monday all that stuff like you're saying Mark with a narrative it's built into it's a storyline award as much as it is a production let's go one more time around the horn a little quicker a little speed round

starting with you Greg all right well I'll go with Deshawn Watson who I think is someone who can make enough absolutely incredible plays who obviously is just putting a team on his back in a way that MVP voters

love that it's not about almost anyone else, it's just about Deshawn Watson, like, making extraordinary plays. And I, like, if I was trying to take a real long shot at quarterback, he would be my pick. That was my choice as well for everything you just said. And also just the idea that he kind of has been a little bit overlooked in the conversation of the best young quarterbacks in football. And he shouldn't be with that awful offensive line where he got sacked 62 times, knocked down 132 times.

He's still accounted for 31 of their. 38 touchdowns. Watson is a stud. And if that offensive line, if the upgrades take, he will get a lot better. And those numbers could reflect in an MVP-type campaign.

What about you, Lindsay? This is not what I believe will happen, but I'm just going to throw out a dark horse option because when you look at the teams that are, it has to be a team that's positioned to do well. If the team does well,

it will likely because this person is playing, well, I'm going to go Lamar Jackson. Just because if he takes that step from one to two, if he fixes some of, would appear to be flaws in the passing game but he still has that run game ability which obviously he will then and if the Ravens are good next year

which I think that you know they're taking a hit in terms of expectations everybody's talking about the Browns so people will be more surprised that they're good and then they'll be more likely to reward the reason why so I think maybe like you know Cam when he won that MVP year kind of from an expectation

standpoint, you just kind of come out of maybe, maybe Lamar. He's probably not going to put up like numbers that normally net an MVP winning that quarterback. I was surprised looking at the odds that

he actually has better odds than Derek Carr. He was not that low on the list. He was right in the same ballpark of Deshawn Watson. Finally, close us out, Mark. This is one where I don't I'm not going to go bet the house that I don't even own on this but um

Kyler Murray and let me throw it out to you why I think it could it doesn't need the cardinals to go 13 and 3 because I think it's going to be an offense that from wire to wire gets a ton of attention and for good reason I think they're going to be they went it helps to have gone from being one of the most boring teams to watch in our human lifetime to what will be potentially a fascinating attack. And if Kyler Murray goes out and does things that we haven't seen a quarterback

do, and if he succeeds, he plays from wire to wire, throws a ton of touchdowns, and they light it up and maybe knock out a few heavy hitters down the stretch and play that sort of berserker role that knocks a team like the Packers out of the playoffs or something late, and Kyler Murray is sort of doing it week to week, then

he becomes the guy that suddenly is even more exciting than Patrick Mahomes from a perception angle. and you get voters to start voting for that kind of thing. Long shot, yes. That would be outrageous if he stepped into the league and was dominant. And they'd still probably have to win getting the playoffs. I think they go, let's say they were like a sexy 9 and 7

where in or out, like you can just say the whole organization has been totally changed by coaching quarter. I mean, I'd love to know the last time there was an MVP, if there ever was where the team didn't make the playoffs. I know when Peterson did it, they just barely got in. Well, that's why it's so narrative. driven though it's it's but i don't know if it's barry sanders won in 97 along with brett farb i don't know what they did that year um anyway good good stuff we got another one another topical

mark done a lot of stress around this project right am i supposed to read that part yeah the whole thing okay got it all right all right you ready erika way too long and then rickie you have one too right yeah i just whipped one up okay rickie whipped one up as well it's gonna be timed out perfectly from the producer. Well, we'll see about that. Well, she's a professional. She's been reading it out loud in the booth. She has not even been listening to the shows.

Well, that wouldn't be new. All right, here we go. Lindsay Rhodes, take it away. Tonight on NFL Total Access. Uh-oh, Odell. What's next for the Browns after Odell Beckham was kidnapped by an angry band of female cosplayers dressed up as Velma from Scooby-Doo?

Do we run out already? Wow. Okay. And is it cosplayers? I've always wondered how you pronounce that. I think you nailed that. Okay. This version of it does.

Start the song again. Because it fades out in the real version for another three or four. That's what I was saying earlier. Adam Gase responds to reports that Sam Donald has been bald since age 17. It wears a meaty, blondeish wig made from the preserved hair of Georgia Frontier. Nice. At 7 Eastern. Sam Donald's hair is real and it is magnificent.

That's what you think. All right. Here comes Erica. By the way, it should be, oh, wait, yeah, no, O'Del. Erica, who totally is gaslighting us right now. There you go. Okay, here we go. By cutting down the length of the bed music.

Now we'll attempt to nail it. Lindsay, take it away. Tonight on NFL Total Access, interviews with three podcast bozos who talk too much and football stuff you actually care about. Tonight, 70s. Well, well done, Erica. Way to go, Erica.

You're the best. You've done it again. You win. I didn't see that coming. I thought you was going to be so nice. Three podcast bozos who talk too much. Also, Wes once again left out of the mix. And some football stuff you actually care about.

That I like, you know. What did you say Greg? Sorry, I wasn't listening. Shows what Erica is. Fair play. Fair play. Lindsay, I mean, what can be said? You came in and you said it all.

You've done it again. And let it be known to the audience that Lindsay did it all with not a single paper in front of her. And there's no teleprompter either. You know? I mean, there were a lot of really heavily detailed arguments that were made. I was like, no, that's stupid. I mean, you, and you're doing it. truly before an NFL total access.

You're on the air in about... This is true, two hours. Less than two hours from now. An hour and 50 minutes. Follow, Lindsay. How's the pre-show nerves, you know, right now? Yeah, the only nerves that I have are I'm refreshing constantly to see if Gerald McCoy signed because we would love to have that top story for our e-block because it's June.

But you still feel like a little bit of juice in the moments before the show starts, right? You don't want to be totally dead inside to that, right? I wouldn't describe myself as dead inside in that moment, but I don't know that I have nerves anymore before Total Access. And yes. You sort of forget that people are actually watching because there's about the same like 15 people on set every day. So it just sort of feels like you're having fun.

It's just like a family, just putting together show. And it's like anybody else to see it. It's like they're looking inside the window of our living room. That type of vibe? Yeah. Total access. Monday to Friday, 7 p.m. Eastern on NFL Network and follow Lindsay. and she's a good follow on the old social media.

Is she? Is she, though? You're fine. When she talks like once every two weeks. Lindsay underscore Rhodes. And thank you again. Thanks, guys. Come back anytime.

We love you. All right. That's it. We'll be back Wednesday. So, well, usually I say at the end of this. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm. Lindsay Rhodes, the old boss, and rookie Hollywood behind the glass.

When will we be back? Well, I already said it. Till Wednesday. Thank you.