NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Wess

Episode Date: February 8, 2021

This is a show about Chris Wesseling. Following Wess' tragic passing on Friday, the heroes dedicate this episode to remembering and telling stories about their late friend who has become family. Throughout the podcast, Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal describe each of their unique relationships with Wess and how those relationships grew from the moment he moved to LA to their final moments together. Wess left a lasting impact on many lives, including producer Erica Tamposi (46:01) and Colleen Wolfe who went off script during an NFL Network broadcast to pay tribute (49:48). Wess leaves behind a loving wife, Lakisha, and young son Lincoln. To support the family, visit https://bit.ly/3rui72g (1:00:57). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 to win Super Bowl LV. Around the NFL is part of the NFL Podcasts network.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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet,

we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football. football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and

NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Dan Hansis, joined in a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, Greg Rosenthal, with the Pocket Square.

What is that boys? Hey, Dan. Hey, Dan. Hey, Dan. It is the game of both skill and valor. also known as Win Watchez Toaster In a big spot

An 8 and 3 team on a 6 game winning shake I'm gonna lock it up Jesus Christ The live show, success, the meetup Even more of a success You guys have sat behind me Or sat beside me for 700 shows You sat beside me for a grueling battle with cancer

Will you stand beside me On the most important day in my life Wine is blue because we're having a baby boy! Oh! Look at that! Something is always lost in art or experience when you analyze it. Mark Twain, once he became a riverboat pilot and learned the technical side of it,

the Mississippi River was no longer beautiful for him. If I was to hire a sports writer, the first question I was going to ask him is, how do you reconcile the essential meaninglessness of sports? I mean, how do you reconcile watching young men, bang into each other and try to advance an inflated pigskin against marked territory. I mean, that's what you're doing. How do you reconcile the importance of that? And I think it's like Shakespeare's poems or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

This is going above and beyond. At its best, sports is look at what humans can do. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast, an edition of the, of the Around the NFL podcast unlike any other and a sad edition of the show my name is dan hansis come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes and there always will be it always will be only some heroes sadly mark sessler Greg rosenthal what is up boys So, yes, of course, the news and everybody knows. But Chris, the mailman, Wessling, Wes, whatever you called him, passed away this weekend, two weeks shy of his 47th birthday, one of our closest friends, and a great husband to Lakeisha and an excellent father to Link, however brief.

was and yes the Super Bowl just wrapped up with the bucks laying a whip in on the chiefs and I think Wes would have enjoyed breaking down this game in the performance by Tampa Bay and we wish he was with us but instead that the show is about Wes it's not about the game and that's how it should be boys yeah I mean when when Wes was talking um you know about the meaninglessness of sports and why you would why you would cover it in that basically it's like art you know i think that's how he saw it um that you're appreciating someone doing it like at the highest level um possible look at what humans can do and i think listening you know to west uh say that um it just got me thinking of like look at look at what he

can do you know look at what look at what humans can do when he when he wrote um when he was on this podcast where i think he felt like totally himself totally comfortable from like from day one and was just awesome at it uh and probably more than anything like when he was just spinning yarns with us you know um at the bar or at work or wherever like he collected characters i think that you know we'll talk about, I'm sure, but the outpouring, I think especially from the people that knew him is so profound just because of, because of that, because you connected with him because he connected with so many people because of what he could do. Yeah, we were asked on Sky Sports if we were surprised by the outpouring, and Dan answered the

question, and I like what Dan said, that to some degree we were not. because this has been a really long journey. And I view Wes as someone who, as we watch football grow, not only in the States, but especially, you know, beyond throughout Europe, that Wes is a big part of that when they write that story. He is someone that would go out of his way. I cannot tell you how many people reached out to us and DMs this week saying, And oh, you know, I've actually been writing back and forth with Wes for five years.

And it's like a listener from the deep beyond. And he loved engaging with football. And he wasn't a, you know, you couldn't put Wes into a box. And I'll say quickly. Love blocking them too. Blocking them too. That's true. You had to play by a certain set of rules with Wes.

I'm not sure I've ever met anyone that blocked more people. But I would imagine with good reason. He didn't suffer fools for long. But when Wes first showed up at NFL, we had a former manager of ours. He kind of at the Super Bowl told me Justin Hathaway who hired Dan and I, you better watch out because this West character has been writing all week while you guys been at the Super Bowl. And it's some of the best material I've ever read on NFL.com.

And I know he's, you know, he was sort of saying, you've made a wonderful hire. This person is someone special when it comes to writing football. And I was pretty new at writing football back then myself, and I would spend a lot of time reading what Wes wrote. If we covered something similar, how he covered it versus how I did. And the readers learned so much about football from West, but I would credit Wes as you have these people in your life that when I started to read his writing and his analysis, that it changed the way that I thought about covering football and always will. and it was so well done that the clip we played at the very top of the show Matt Ziggis who works for our editing team just one of the many people at the at the company he put it together

he did such a great job with it and one of the people that the reason he was able to do that was because he knew Wes and he knew the bond he had with us and with Ricky Hollywood and that was kind of just Wes in a nutshell how everyone got on with him and I was thinking how like I in my whole life I was never was friends with someone as long as I was friends with Wes and I met him in 2013 and now here we are in 2021 I never got into a fight with West once I never like we maybe would argue on the air in the podcast but me and him never had a single like moment where we were crossed and like in each other's faces or ever you know we just got on so well because he used. did he got on well with everyone and mark and i were talking about this um the night that he passed away over a few drinks which i know west um approved of um that all three of us connected with west uh but in unique ways which really uh speaks to chris in terms of you know

really he's such an eclectic personality and he was had so many layers and like I connected with Wes as someone who grew up and had not maybe a direct family that was large, but I had an extended family that I essentially grew up with tons of cousins and a lot of them boys and was raised Catholic and grew up just in love with sports and love stupid things like Whiffle Ball and like Wes Cornhole, which he introduced to us. And I know you guys have reasons why you kind of felt close to him. him and and what what he said how do you reconcile the essential meaninglessness of sports and he hit on something which was typically brilliant with chris which was this idea that you could see the human form achieving um at its peak physically but it sports to me and the reason why i love sports um is because it's more to me also than that it's also how it brings people together and

And, you know, that's sports and the NFL is what brought us together. It's what brought, Wes, was on a message board, Greg, when you were a football writer once upon a time working in the fantasy realm. And you saw this guy that was just writing brilliant, long screeds about fantasy sports, and you smartly hired him. And then we're smart enough to bring him over here. And it just changed all of our lives. Yeah.

Yeah, it's so well said because, you know, my start to the relationship with Wes is, yes, reading this blog post on his old site, Sons of the Tundra, a dynasty football blogger. You got to check that out. He had like a 10,000. It's a great site. Yeah, it's a great site. He had a 10,000 word post that I saw in the off season that was like, I could have just dropped it and it would have replaced the first 30 pages of our preview. magazine and it would have like improved it i was like who is this guy i need to i need to get this guy but i part of part of i think feel like the basis of our our friendship to start too was arguing

and um and that's what arguing about football and it was never personal we the two of us were never one to back down um you know lakisha loves to say he's the most stubborn guy she's ever you know met in his life um and i think he got that from his brothers you know you mentioned having a drink we we uh we were sitting with phil um then chris's brother who was uh here this week and uh and they and they were they were like that relationship to you know a millionth degree because there was seven of them and um and west was you know west was the one who you know he's the second oldest one i think a lot of them you know really looked up to him and that just that just came from from him but it wasn't it wasn't just that you you said it so well

even just how you said it then made me think of how he collected characters around him like so many different types of people and i connected with them about about literature and talking about the you know the meaning of life and everything um about life and when i went down to tybee like and you guys saw that we all saw that at the wedding too just like he could bring so many different types of people together. That's all he wanted was to be surrounded by characters. He didn't care what type of personality you were. He just like wanted you to be like a unique person. And if you were, then you could ride with Wes and you were going to love him. Oh, I love what you both said. And part of me wishes we could have, you know, said these things like

another time. But I just, uh, I think my, like my relationship with Wes wasn't really about football that much. And I think that's just so unique that, you know, we each covered such different territory with him. And I grew up loving sports as much as anything else. But not as West, not as much as Wes. I know that. But Wes and I, like, for the other 88% of our relationship, I think that it, when he showed up to Los Angeles, I had been writing to him because he had been remote for a while. And we, I just started to realize I was fascinated by this person. And And I would send him like, hey, Wes, like, here's my top 15, like, L.A. dive bars. So when you get here, like, we're going to try these places out and stuff.

And he didn't, you know, he, I think he was struggling with who he was and where he was when he came to Los Angeles. And I think there are other phases of his time here where my friendship with him was deemphasized a little bit. And obviously other people played a larger role. But I think early on, just something inside of me wanted to look out for Wes. And my thing with Wes, I think, a little bit reminded me of some of my other guy friends growing up was misadventures and pranks. And I was up all night last night, like I'm sure we all were, just trying to get down to the nuance of what my friendship with West was about.

And I'm not even an eighth of the way through figuring that out. But what kept coming to me were these moments were like, and Dan, you were there for some of this too. But I just like, Wes, when you'd get them going, when you'd wind them up off a few beers or something. I just don't think that there are, he'll be a top one or two or three friend in that way for the rest of my life. And, you know, you'd be 10 minutes in, I'd say to Wes, like, Wes, how much will you pay me to pick up this chair and launch it across this room? And he'd say, 12 bucks. So I was like, not enough. And then we, I mentioned this on Sky, that there were just all these little instances.

I remember a time when we were out with Colleen, Wolfe, and Gonzo, and we were upstairs at the second floor of some pub, and there were these tables. of older women. I don't know what they were doing there, but they were essentially sort of blue-haired. And we would just test each other to go do little things. And we would walk up to these table of women and like sit down very seriously. I'd say we're reporters from NFL.com. And Wes would say we're real reporters. We're scribes. And we would just ask, you know, do it, I would like to know, do you think that, you know, I and Eagle is underrated as a play-by-play man. This is a hot topic. and we're going around the whole bar. And it's just like, that's, you know, one little example

that Wes and I would do these things. We read an airport once, what some people would call an incident. I would call it an adventure to some degree, but we were rolling around asking people, like, how furious they were with fake microphones in front of our hands, like that the Ravens had been pulled from the belly of the Browns. And, you know, these gentlemen would be like, didn't that happen like 22 years ago?

We're like, yes, but we need your thoughts. And, like, you know, by the time that that night ended, Wes and I had encountered other incidents. But I just loved being able to chat and talk with him. His verbal skills, that's something that always, like, I value in a friend. And we've seen how much, how valuable he is on that front. And this is one little spoonful off an iceberg. I thank you and Dan, rather, for going out all those nights early on. I remember I met him at a bar.

My wife does not, but you do, but yes. I met him at this bar, like, I think the first day he was here. We both moved out here at the same time. I had worked for the NFL a little longer than Wes, about nine months longer before we hired. But we moved here at the exact same time. And I went out with, went out with him to a bar like the first night. And I maybe did it the third or fourth night. And I was thinking like, well, this isn't me.

You know, I'm not that guy, really. And I've got a young kid. And he's going to need someone because you're right. I was going to do everything I could to make the work part of it pay off because he took a chance. He really debated whether to come here or not. He had just gotten promoted at Rota World. He was moving across the country from Tiber Island. I was going to do everything I could to make the work part of it good.

But it's like I needed you all. I needed you guys to be out with him that or else I don't know. I don't know if he would have stayed. Well, he wasn't a hard shore. Yeah, his brother Phil told the story that I was not aware of that. I believe it was Phil's daughter, and apologies to Phil, if I have the story slightly off, but was asked to do a book report on someone who took a chance in life. And she was like, oh, I want to do it on Uncle Wes, who had a perfectly comfortable life on Tybee Island.

He grew up on the west side of Cincinnati. He was a space alien for leaving the west side of Cincinnati, because, as he told us many times, no one really left the west side of Cincinnati and he he followed a friend of his that so many funny strange west stories but a friend from Ohio who moved to Tybee Island off the coast of Georgia and then became the mayor of Georgia Tybee Island he moves there on that guy's recommendation and then settles into this island life or as Dave Damash was Dave Damashik would say Taby Island and and then you You know, made fast friends with everyone as Chris does and built this whole life.

And he was so... He was the mayor. Although, shout out to Jason Buehlerman, I believe, who also officiated his wedding. Right. Let's remember Buehlerman was the mayor. But Wes was everyone's best friend. But Wes was so, you know, such a fucking gifted writer. He was so talented that he could have just stayed on that island.

got drunk with his friends, played softball, met someone and eventually got married, and he nearly did that on that island as well, and then been an online football writer and had to be carved out a nice life. But he did take that, he took that chance. And I like to say it paid off for him beautifully. In fact, we know because Lakeisha, he doesn't meet Lakeisha at NFL Network. And if he doesn't meet Lakeisha, I don't think he would have survived cancer the first time. That's how a special woman she is and then there would be no link but it was touch and go uh west in l a initially and you said gregg you you tried and that was not your forte uh going to bars mark and i definitely more up our alley and we both went out with west a lot because we knew we could

tell immediately west was a good guy and um a great football writer and a great addition to the team but like a really good guy like we wanted it to make we wanted it to work Um, but it was, it was tough because he was, yes, the most stubborn person I've ever known as well, um, which could be a blessing and a curse sometimes. Uh, but he's, his initial thought was I hated here. This isn't me. And I remember Mark us going out a lot with him. One day, Emily, my wife and I went to Wes's and I remember we all sat in a jacuzzi together and we threw corn together and listened to like Springsteen. And it was just like, you just wanted him to get like in the flow of like this could work. I remember. Mark, you and I with Emily and West sitting outside the city Tavern and Culver City and signing them up for plenty of fish, the dating site, which that took a lot of, a lot of convincing because he thought, oh, that's dating sites are for losers. Like, no, Wes, this is, I think we were out of the loop, but I think this is how it works. This is how people meet and date and have fun because you just wanted him to get his hooks into the city. And he did. He started dating a lot. And you

You could tell he started to get more comfortable. And then when he met Lakeisha, who we had already known, that's what changed everything. Once Lakeisha and Wes got together, never again was there like, I don't like it here. This doesn't work. Now, he had grievances with L.A. to the very end. But that's when you're like, okay, he's not going anywhere. And that was a beautiful thing. He never did get that car back that he just like left.

Just lost the car. He lost the car. He just went to the Super Bowl. I wrote that down as a note, too, that he got in some sort of, like, a minor incident or accident and just gave the car to the other party, didn't he? Just give, he gave the car away to the people that he got in the accident with. That's a story that's up for debate. I tried to. I even reached out to Lukisha at some point about two years ago.

I was like, LeKisha, do you want me to, like, do some, like, work? See if I could find out where this car was. And I think it was just eventually auctioned off by the city. I mean, I think it was also, it was a car that was worth about $375. dollars but no it was no he got it new no he got the one you're talking about it he got it shipped from tybee uh shout out to the NFL actually gave us um our moving expenses and so he had about a 500 car shipped oh you're talking about big irish yeah probably at the expense of like uh probably at the expense of far more value than i'm conflating stories because west lost two cars but anyway mark your

turn. Well, no, I was just going to say that I think that something else that happened to West along the way was, you know, I remember talking to him that we would even go out in LA to various places and he's like, this isn't Huckapoo's. This isn't Huckapoo's. Like none of these places, they just couldn't find that home, I think. And that's because I don't think L.A. really offers that in establishments the same way that having been to Huckapoo as it does. But he went and created it on his own. And like, we started to watch West grow with his Wesselmania parties, which started as, you know, for 10 or 11 or 12 people because the circle was smaller,

but it started to grow and grow. And I remember at one point, I don't know what compelled me to do this, but I walked from NFL network to Marina del Rey to attend a Wesselmania. I think I had sort of a heat stroke by the time I got there on some level and remember punching our friend Jason Zumwald in the stomach

and various other people. But these parties were absolutely epic events. And you know what it was? It was West Cook. It was Wes with his endless, amazing playlists. And I think that the table started to turn because he just created the home that wasn't there for him automatically in Los Angeles. And on the Lakeisha front, the first, I'll never forget, I think we were out to lunch, Dan, you and I with Henry. And you had told me that Wes and Lakeisha were, I mean, for lack of a better term, interested in each other.

And my Cupid skills are sucky because I thought to myself, well, I'm not sure about this. Because I love these two so much. If this ever went south, what would it do to our friend group? And so I would just, it was on my radar, as you'd say. I was monitoring it. And then I suddenly became very pleased with what I saw. I think the softball team helped all that. And you can get into that.

But their love and their relationship and their pairing to me is incredible. Lakeisha's number one superpowers or positivity, and she walked right into a situation that got so gnarly. I think you're right. Without her and who she is inside, I don't think Wes would have gotten to the point where we watched him get married to her in Tybee Islands. He always likes to tell me I was there for the first time you saw him, Athar, which was in our break room at work, and we're just like, I don't know, getting coffee or water or whatever. she walks in on her first day at work or an interview, I don't remember which, and she was wearing a pretty short skirt. And he just kind of like looks at me and just like,

a nice eye, you know, pretty much, pretty much. Pretty much from then on, you said, you say it well. And I think it's, it's one thing I, this week has obviously been brutal. And the best that I think I felt, I don't know if you guys feel the same is like when, when we're talking to each other and when we're talking about Wes and uh you know at other times it crashes and and you realize he he's not there but one of the things that that really um has helped me just think about him is that since since the first cancer battle um no one has appreciated every day he had more that i've ever met than Wes he he already was like that he was a deep guy He was, even before, before cancer, we would talk, talk about that.

He had this saying, He'd the Call, which was really just kind of follow your heart. Don't worry about anything else but that. And I think especially after what he went through, and also just aware of what a beautiful, you know, amazing wife he had and what we had as a podcast. It was a huge, huge part of his life. He did appreciate it. He appreciated every day. he appreciated the moments like that the summer they had before they got married where they went

all around the country saw all the people that they loved went to taibi island had a big throwdown um there the you know the wedding and and last summer too man like no one you know damashek says it you know that cheat in life i mean he felt like he was cheating life he felt like he was one of the luckiest guys in the world i would also quickly say i don't think the four of us have ever looked hotter as a group than we did at Wes's wedding. Those pictures are good. I mean, I don't remember going on like a weight loss plan during that period, but I was like, I wish I didn't have the beard.

In hindsight, I wish I didn't have the beard. It's a nice job by the photographer, I thought, ultimately. That's possibly true. No, the transformation of West, too, from, you know, from physically to everything else from when we started with him to the way he dressed and the way he looked. when Slicia was in was always staggering to me. He just went on a journey in his seven or so years here. And, you know, it's like, you know,

circling back to how he's just connected with so many people. And this has been, you know, a terrible week. I mean, it's been, and we could, you know, open the kimono. Wes was very fond of taking down at the talent summits, the corporate jargon that came out, opened the kimono, one of our favorites. And he was very fond of our show and doing our show. And even when he got sick, he wanted to keep doing the show.

And we knew things were going sideways, really, as the summer went into the football season. And Mark and I had many painful back and forths where we just had this terrible feeling because we lived through the first nightmare of Wes having cancer. And it always felt like there was this clear path as difficult as it was for him that he was going to get this treatment

and then he was going to have this surgery and then he had to go into recovery and then the doctors were giving a clear directive of what he needed to do. do and he beat it and it was like okay this time it wasn't that way and you know when he started not being able to do the show um i know if the listeners out there you you could probably put together that things were getting dicey and then when he was able to do those sunday night shows this year i mean that was one of my favorite west stories um that connects to this is the we played

softball together for three seasons and i don't know if i could ever play softball again to be honest because me and Wes love playing together so much. And he was my Don Zimmer, Mike Insigliary, the Shield. And we went to the title game three times in a row. We won the first two years. First year was 2016. He gets sick in 2017. And in the 2018 season, he comes back, the 2017 season, he's playing softball with this while he's undergoing chemo.

And it's like, what is this guy doing? And then when it's just like this level of. Well, yeah, and playing well, but not feeling himself and, you know, having to lay down and drink a lot. And in the final game, when everything was on the line, he was the third, he was the third baseman. Every week, I played first, Tony Garcia at shortstop, Nicole Phelia at second, Brooke pitching, Lakeisha and our friend Brassy catching. That was the infield. And Wes pulls himself out of the game for the finals and says, you know what, I'm not 100%.

I'm going to, I'm going to coach. I can use my powers better positioning people on the field and watching the game. I'm like, this guy is so different. Even when you're doing softball, but also like the toughness of playing while having cancer, the fact that he was getting hanging on every Sunday, like, and he was always tired, Wes. He struggled to sleep because he was in a lot of pain and discomfort during this final illness. But the fact that he would always stay up and do for most of the regular, season almost the whole show before Nick shook would help out at the end and then in the

final playoffs and everybody you could hear his voice I know you guys listening could hear that he was really struggling and in trouble but he still wanted to be a part of it and he was on the divisional round playoff recap with us and I the last text that I ever had with him was after that show and I texted him that was great Wes it was great to have you on and he wrote thank you that means a lot, can't wait until I can do a full one. He never quit. He never gave up. That was two weeks before he died.

He was the toughest, bravest guy I know. And that stubbornness that sometimes would drive you crazy is why he made it as long as he did. It means a lot to me that one of our final moments together. And I think really our finest final. kind of pure moment in the west sense because that's what he was all about he was just like searching for these pure moments in life and a lot of them were at bars some of some of them were just talking to his friends um could have been in sports um was talking about that brown's game was the four of us you know and he knew he knew if he was going to be on for one one game there that like we've been

waiting um the whole the whole time we did the podcast so see a brown's win and he wanted to be be there for Mark and he wanted to be there with Dan and I too that the four of us could enjoy that as a podcast. It means a lot to me that he did that and he was really pushing himself to do that. It just seemed like our respect collectively and individually for West would grow with each year which is a great way to feel about someone and it was even last night when I'm not alone. We've been looking at little clips of Wes and people have Our listeners are amazing and have found some incredible stuff. But I just was watching this random pod from, I think it was, like, 2016 summer, and it was, like, list teams that are, you know, not going to fulfill their promise.

And I went on this, like, rant about Rex Ryan's bills, having no idea that I would, it's later on, hang out with Rex Ryan. And he actually, at some point, while I was traveling with Rex Ryan, I can tell went on the internet and looked for articles written by me about him. And there were a couple out there that were unfriendly. Let's put it that way. That's a whole different story. I didn't know that one. I'm watching this thing, and it was, you know, we look a lot younger four or five years ago, all of us. And like, I was, you know, it was a rather directionless rant about the bills.

And then someone else spoke. And then West just said, I agree with Mark. And I was sitting there with Simone, and I just got off up the couch. And I started pumping my fist. Yeah, I was like, if Wes believes in me. If he believed in my football take, I am a shining diamond. That was like all I needed. Stop the tape, I'm out.

It wasn't always the case, but it meant a lot when he agreed with you because, like, you would put the work in or you got lucky, but he agreed with you. And it means so much for me to be on the right side of things because Wes on football almost always was. I mean, that was, it's funny you should say that because that's something I wanted to talk about, which was Wes, obviously, what made this. and what's made this podcast successful is the dynamic and the four of our personalities mixing together and, you know, our strengths and our weaknesses all, you know, being offset, the weaknesses, the strengths being amplified when everything is cooking.

And I always, the, West was so vital to the dynamic. And it's, you know, as we look forward, it's hard to look forward right now. But as you look forward, I don't know, I don't know what our podcast is going forward without West. know we've done it before without Wes because he got sick and missed time the first time and then we did this whole season mostly without him. But I don't, none of us, we haven't sat down and talked about like what is our podcast going forward because West was so vital. He was his, his football acumen was off the charts.

And, you know, in terms of his knowledge of sports, I think he's one of the true great sports fans ever and I would put him up against I don't care anybody you show me who the biggest sports fan you know is and then I'll put him up against Wes and the the noun of games that West watches across the spectrum pro college whatever the tape he watched the reading he did when was his toaster the instincts he had he could see the game in a way that none of us could see it and his he was so important to the show because he would push back against Greg and that was the scientist heat um with me when I was trying to make people laugh, I would always, if I got Wes, I knew I would get the audience. And Wes was such a great person for me to be able to play off and understand where the tone and

the feel of the show was. And Mark, with you, and this is, I don't think I've ever shared this with you, but it was something that I always noticed the way where I sat with Greg to my right and then West to my left and then you on the far left, when you would make a football point mark, you would reflexively kind of turn toward West when you made it because it was almost like, You were putting it out there for Wes and will Wes agree with it? I want I, because you wanted that just like we all did because you nailed it. Like we all wanted West to agree with our football takes. But I always noticed you, Mark, you always look to Wes when you were kind of putting yourself out there.

I don't have the quality that Greg has to where he wanted to engage with Wes. At one point, I remember challenging Wes on his Bengal fandom telling him, I'll never forget this, that maybe you should rethink this huge binder you put together about the Bengals because if you're loyal and this was you know the Browns were in like a deep apocalypse for year 28 in a row and like I was like loyal people stick with their team and I don't remember Wes's response because it wasn't on the show but he he destroyed me verbally for that he wasn't being mean but he basically was just like your opinion on that is completely wrong and I was like I learned that arguing with West was not my forte, was not my strength.

And I probably did try to avoid that and create some sort of agreement because, like you said, I mean, it meant a lot. I sure I looked at him all the time because if he's smiling, I had the same minute. If you say something and he smiles, he laughs, I've done anything, anything I could possibly hope to do on a show. Well, I mean, that's why, like when Dan asked the other week, you know, whether, what Belichick uh opinion was or feelings watching brady and west came down on on my side i mean that was a bigger fist pump in celebration that i had than any patriots game all season i was just like yep

okay west is the decider here but then mad dog russo straighten you right out no i'm taking i'm taking west yeah i love to wine i i've you know i just for fun i don't take it too seriously with hardcore football takes but i would go up against west and just have fun with it even if i knew was a mismatch. The real thing I love to do with Wes and the shows just wind him up. And that would be, you know, whether it was him carrying the pail up and down the hill for the Patriots and, oh, get him all fired up about to Flakegate, that was so fun. Or Eli and his being a Hall of Famer and Wes saying, I think Wes's take and it's sad

that we'll never get to see if this would have played out. I think he said he would never, he would never either watch a Hall of Fame speech or go to Hall of Fame if Eli got in. He felt so strongly that Eli was not, was not a good quarterback, which was always a fun little back and forth. He was just such, he was such a great podcaster because he was smart as a whip, articulate, he knew everything, he did the work, and he had a sense of humor. So he was kind of a total package guy. He was, he was the not so secret weapon of the show. Think about this.

He was so stubborn that he ended up eating his own softball pants because he refused to back down off a take about the Raiders based on their general manager who he disliked and a whole bunch of other stuff. And he went to Super Bowl parties eating softball pants. Yeah, if you're somewhat new to the show, I believe it was he said he would eat his softball pants if Dennis Allen's Raiders had a certain win total. I think they had to win six or something. I think it was five or six.

And they easily, I think they might have gone. an eight and eight that year. And so he was in trouble early. And that is still my avatar on our in-company client, messaging client, which we do not name, is Wes eating softball pants out of Dan's hands? So it was a bit that we had built up for weeks and weeks. And I remember calling Wes before we got on the plane to go to New York.

So it was the Seahawks. Bronco Super Bowl at Giant or MetLife Stadium said, West, you got to bring the pants. You got to bring the pants. We need the softball pants to do the pants bit. We didn't, he didn't bring the pants. I don't, wasn't the John, maybe it wasn't the New York New Jersey one. I can't remember, but he didn't have the pants. And we had to go out, and I think he had to get the pants mailed.

And then it just so happened at the, at Radio Row, there was a hot dog stand. And it was a, the world's biggest hot dog or something. And it was disgusting. It had chili and relish. sourcrow and all this other stuff, guacamole, bacon. It was insane and it was about like two feet long. And we cut up a portion of the pants and just sprinkled it on top. And Wes, again, a great podcaster.

He took a bite out of that hot dog. He ate some of his own softball pants because so strong was he in his opinion about that particular meaningless Raiders team, he was willing to risk everything. He was, it was something, some of the people, someone tweeted about that I thought was right, was just he was real. He was like the realist of the real. He was always Wes.

And so I think that podcast is the perfect form for him because he could never be anything but West, which was stubborn and everything, but also incredibly generous, you know. And just like he didn't have a fake bone in his body. There was zero bullshit with Chris Wesley. One little anecdote that Ryan Bartlett from our podcast crew mentioned that I just thought was so Wes, and it kind of shows you that he did not care about how he was supposed to appear or be dressed,

that they got into this deep conversation about limousines. And, you know, there's a lot of things that happen in limousines. But Wes told a story of going on a pub crawl when he was a mailman in a limo. He walked into a limo and went from pub to pub. in his mailman outfit. Like, it's a completely beguiling visual. But it's like, of course West did that. You know, he's not going to change into something else.

I love it. I know. He, you know, that's how he started. And that's how he, of course, got the nickname mailman. His father, I believe, was a mailman, right? Yes, he was. And again, like, and this is one of the things I related to. I know, you know, we both kind of, I know he's on the west side of Cincinnati,

but it was like a small town, just like I grew up in. and the idea of leaving town or doing something well outside the box wasn't something that immediately a young Chris Wessling thought about. So he went from high school, he did some college and then was working as a man. Imagine someone is smart and gifted as he is working at the Postal Service, which, by the way, I know people that work in the Postal Service

and it's a perfectly honest living and a good job. But I'm saying with the abilities and the skills that he had, I'm so happy he took that chance, not just because it meant that we got to know him, but that he gave so much to everyone. He's such, he's such, and go back, please. If you do one thing, go back and read some of Chris Wessling's writing. He wrote about the Cincinnati Bengals,

um, um, offense under a young Bill Walsh. He wrote about, Ohio River offense. The Ohio River offense. He wrote about Love You Blue about those. famous Houston Oilers teams. These are just a couple of his like really widely acclaimed long forms he did for the NFL. But then also just read like a game story he wrote or like a takeaway post when we were doing our blog or anything he wrote recently right up to the end when he was doing

Kimo and he was doing his QB rankings piece and just doing the best writing on professional football on the internet. Like West was doing that to the very end. So read about read West. need Wes, because of all the things, I just said that he was a brilliant podcaster. He was even better as a writer. Yeah, I think it was the first QB index of this season. He wrote the intro to it, just kind of in the same vein, a similar vein of what we

heard at the top of the show about what sports means. And I would really recommend people check that out. I believe it was the week one thing. I talked to Spice Rack, who, you know, if you're a regular listener, you guys will remember, is, you know, his consigliary in Vegas. This desert, yep. A friend of his... Cigliary. From his childhood in Cincinnati, originally, like, one of Wes's brothers' friends and then came to it.

And he said to me, when Wes started writing for Rota World, and that was a bit of a low moment for him, you know, he was trying to figure out what he was doing. He had just started a job delivering pizzas, and he was in his 30s, and it started to go really well. And he got hired full-time sooner than later, and then he went to the NFL. And he said, like, everyone that knew him growing up was like, well, of course, like, why did it take this long? Not why did it take this long, but, like, of course. Like, he was the most brilliant guy that we all knew growing up. And he was the most brilliant guy about sports growing up. was 16, 17, like he had all these notebooks, the same handwritten notebooks that he had now.

And Spicey said something that really stuck with me, just like about how much Wes believed in him and how much that meant to him. And that really resonated because from the people that I know in Wes's life, I think that's true of a lot of people, that it really meant a lot when West believed in you that he saw like a like the best side of you and he tried to take the to get that out and I know that meant a lot to spice rack but it meant a lot to a lot of people I love what you said and I would say one other thing about Wes that that lifted me up when we first met was um you know we're in a world where a lot of people they go to college they go to journalism school and by 23 they're rising stars and um I didn't come to the NFL until I was like 36 or 30s or

And Wes and I took very circuitous, bizarre routes to get where we are. I mean, all four of us did. If you look at the way that we all got into that podcast studio together, it's incredible. It beats the odds because of what we went through. But we always have younger writers and stuff ask, how do you do this? How do you do that? And I find that my roadmap is a terrible diagram for someone to follow. Don't do what I did.

And maybe don't do what West did, but maybe the lesson in there a little bit is when I think about Wes, he went and lived this incredibly varied life with adventures that would say, we're below him. Why are you a mailman when you're doing all this other stuff or whatever? And I hear all that, and it's true. But I think all that informed Wes and who he was. Had he gone to journalism school and been like a shiny employee from day one, we never would have known him. It would have been a different person. So I think like whatever, wherever you are if you're listening to this, there's always hope to get back on course or just to wind up where you should have, and that's what Wes did. Ricky, I would love to hear from you on this day. Yeah, I mean, it's so beautiful to hear you guys. You know, we all have our different relationships, like us as a whole, as a five-sum, we're very tight,

but I have a very different relationship with each of you. And I did with Wes, and I met Wes when he came back from cancer the first time and I'm this new producer who am I and the first thing he ever said to me is oh you're the one that's taking our videos to the next level and even in cancer he was watching what we were doing and and he was like it's so great to meet you and and from a writer and a football standpoint I mean he's the smartest guy I've ever met but me and him together when when we I mean you guys you know Dan and Mark you like to travel you like you like you like to tie it on but me and west together were absolute tornadoes and and and and he was just

the most slice of life that you could ever ask for and from even petty stuff to being in the office and I'd be like mad about something catty that happened and he would look at me and be like what does it matter he would just straight straight face what are you why are you upset about this and I would be like, you're right. It doesn't matter. And just his outlook on life. And I know there's videos and stuff going around, but he was just the most fun. And he made me so much worse out in public when there was alcohol involved. If he was there, it was terrible. But it's so much fun. And I think that there was those photos from us at St. Elmo's. And it's really foggy. But I think we told them that it was Wes and I's anniversary so we got a free dessert but the league

expenses it anyways and so we might have to cut this little bit more but we told them it was our anniversary for a free dessert and we're at a part we're at a table like 12 at the time like just the two of us and you were putting cake in each other each other's mouths right at a five star that wasn't the only thing you bought like you bought other things that contributed to that That was an incredible, that was Wes at his liveliest, like, post-cancer and he was having a ball in mid-you, Erica. That was a year ago. That was 50 weeks ago. I mean, that's, and that's the sad, the sadness about this. And it is, and I'm happy, I'm so happy we're doing this because we were, you know, when he first passed away, we didn't know what we were doing. We didn't, should we do a show? Should we not? I'm glad I am so happy we're doing this. And it's like, Ricky, the nail on the head just like we all have so many great stories of great times that he was such great company um he was just such a great person to be around and you knew if west was there um it was

going to it was going to be a good time and and ricky i'm so happy that you um entered the fold because um in addition to making the podcast even better you um got along so well with him and just another example like you're saying and what i was saying earlier that we all had different kind of portals of how we connected with him, and that goes for you as well. And it goes down the line. West was trending, and as with Lakeisha and Link, in the UK on Twitter and here in the United States when the news came out on Saturday. I mean, just think about that.

I mean, Roger Goodell sent an email to everyone in the company. Rich Eisen's had amazing words during the pregame show for Super Bowl 55. And Ricky, if you can play this. And I know Colleen, who we love, and she's, this is the first Super Bowl since 2012 that we're not at the city for COVID reasons. Colleen, because she's a big shot and a much bigger star than us in the company, she went and helped anchor the coverage and did an amazing job. She was crushed when she heard the news. And I reached out to Gonzo, her husband, and I think you know who he is. and he connected with Colleen, and she was a total mess.

And I remember us talking about, on a video chat, like, can she do this? Is she going to go home? Is she going to ask out to not do the coverage for the rest of the weekend? Because she doesn't think she could do it emotionally. She goes through with it and is a total trooper. And like I said, Rich Eisen said words, and they were great earlier in the morning on Sunday. They had other, like, little moments to Chris and an article in NFL.com. But Colleen, it wasn't slated in the show for her to say anything about Wes,

but she changed that. And I just wanted to play that because it was a really special moment. Well, Willie, you're going the box. I'm going with the Chiefs. My MVP is going to be Chris Jones in this game. Nice. But I am going to go a little rogue here. And I apologize to the producers.

the control room, but I just want to say these past two days I've been doing shows with a really heavy heart and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to put into words how much Chris Wessling meant to me, meant to so many people at NFL Network. We lost him two days ago and he was like one of the most beautiful people I've ever known. He's going to be so missed and I didn't feel like it was right to not say it today on this show because I've been trying to to just get through these two days and pretend that it hasn't happened. And it doesn't really feel real still that we lost him. He's been family from the second I met him at NFL Network. And he's such a big part of my family still. My parents, they loved him. They don't even know. They're just

finding out now. So mom and dad, I'm sorry that you're finding out this way. But more importantly, I just wanted to say to Lakeisha, his wife, and Link, his son, we love you guys so much. and we're all here to support you. And we know that Wes is watching over all of us here today and forever. And I'm sorry because there's no good transition to keep it moving about the game. But sometimes there's things that are more important to the game and the people that we meet here at work talking about football. I've met so many great ones.

And Chris Wessling might be the greatest one I've ever met. So he's really going to be missed. That was amazing and we can't wait to have Colleen back on the show and when she gets back into town and we're, you know, this isn't going to be the last time we talk about Wes, not by a long shot. He's part of the show for as long as this show continues, however long that may be. And we have no idea. Wes is always going to be a part of it. And just want to thank the NFL too because when you're working for a $13 billion company, 13. could be times where you feel like you could be lost in the shuffle and overlooked and I think

it's normal and you know when this went down something that's so incredibly personal to us and we knew what a big deal it was obviously and the listeners you guys understand what a monumental loss it is for Wes not to be with us anymore I just I had hoped that the NFL understood the gravity of this and and I really thought they've come through with flying colors both in recognizing West on air and on our website and all the people behind the scenes, all our shadowy league figures, Mark Brady, who's been a tireless soldier behind the scenes and been such a great leader helping shepherd this show through good times and bad times. John Marvel, Matt Schneider, Jason Kleinman, everyone who helped make this tremendously difficult

process just a little bit easier. Thank you to everybody at the NFL listening now. And I want everybody to know that because the NFL can be a big target sometimes. And you think, oh, this is an organization. It's a cold thing. No, it has not felt cold. It has felt like the NFL was a big family of the last couple days. And that's what it felt like. We lost a family member and there was a closing of ranks. You know when you say that like there's not one bad thing you could say about a person that's actually Wes. Like there's not one person

across this company, across Twitter, social media is such a dark place sometimes. There really is not one bad thing you can say about Chris Wesleying. Well put, Ricky. Well put.

I'm really glad Colleen took that chance. I think Wes has taught a lot of people to take chances and I think NFL network was probably just overjoyed with what she had to say. I remember the first time we met her. I'll keep this really, really quick, but it was Wes and I were at the whaler, as we often were, and she happened to be there with her parents. And we had maybe seen her once or twice in a number, but she didn't have any friends.

She had moved out here without Gonzo for a period of time. And Wes and his Wes way, I mean, we were thrilled to see her, but I think he made it really clear that day. You're our friend. You're hanging with us. Always open arms with Wes. Always, always welcomed you in. I told Wes, I always marveled with him that I, by my nature, like to keep things a little tighter. And that goes for like, even when we have like meetups with listeners at their live shows, I always did it because I love our listeners. But I never was quite always comfortable. It was just a little too much.

But Wes could could have been at a after show drinking session for 24 hours. And it wouldn't matter because he always wanted people, he always wanted people around and he always welcomed. anyone in and he was so great he was so great with that too well that's the generosity and i'm glad we got colline's voice in there because uh her and gonzo really um it meant a lot to to kisha and um and west over the last uh few years really and like um he uh you know he did um he did have a preference I know in this game by the way tonight which I was thinking about he was he was hoping that the bucks would win his his brother Phil could not resist asking him I know um this week while while he was in the hospital and and Phil being a Wessling and they're all they all got this like

you see it come out where they're they're all a little you know similar in some ways but I don't think West was really even playing ball at first but eventually got the answer out of him he wanted to see he wanted to see Brady win one more Wes always love Brady because he, you know, Wes is such a student of the game and knew really what Tom Brady has been able to do for 20 years now, now winning a seventh Super Bowl, which obviously you wish, you wish West saw it. And maybe he did, Mark Sessler. You and I had a talk late, late, late, late Friday night.

And like, where is Wes now? And, you know, Wes was open. Like I said, he was raised Catholic like I was, but he had, you know, fell away from religion as he got older. And we would often joke on this show when we started to duck into those waters of religion and faith, of save it for the theology podcast. And this is not going to turn into the theology podcast. But it did, it crossed my mind. And when he passed on where he was, and if he's listening to us now, and my.

grandmother, uh, grandby who I, I love forever. And she, uh, she passed away a couple days before I moved to L.A. to take this job. And, um, she gave me a rosary, uh, right before she died. And, um, I always kept it with me. I actually wore it when I first moved here. Um, and, um, but I had kept it in my closet, uh, for years, really, um, because it wasn't, I wasn't somebody who was going to church are praying, but I took it out last week and kept it by my bedside and said prayers for Wes and I let him know as much in the text. And Lakeisha told me that he did see that in the hospital room. So that meant a lot to me too.

And if you are listening, Wes, right now, I hope we're, I hope this is okay with you. I don't know if you're mad at us because we're not talking football right now. He's mad. He could be. Why? I don't know. Because. Why would it be mad?

Because he would be mad that we're not talking about the Chiefs O-line crumbling. He would be mad at people saying it was Mahomes' fault on Twitter. I've been picturing him. Like, tweeting back at people, he doesn't even know, telling them that they, you know, don't have eyes. And I just, oh, he would sneakie like Mahomes getting taken down a peg. But I don't think he'd be mad. I think he would say, I was thinking about this too. we were thinking about on Friday night, like, what would Wes want?

And, like, Wes would say do what you want, you know, like, Wes would say, do what your heart tells you. Like, I don't care if you talk about football or not. Like, you guys should do what feels right. You guys know your podcast. You guys know our podcast the best. And, like, and whether. Wait, did you actually talk to Wes in the afterlife?

This is coming from a definitive place. Keep going. I'm just, well, Phil agreed with me on this one. Okay. Remember, we talk, I just feel like that is. That is what he, you know, because he was not someone that was going to put, put his thoughts on you and what you said about looking down on us. It just made me think like he's here regardless like he's here with us. Like he is part of us.

He is part of who we are, not just the podcast, but just who we are as people and how we act as people. And I've thought about that, that that's the best way to honor him is how we act, you know, moving forward. I would say one thing. Like I said, I think my relationship with him was about, at best, 12% about football. And that was just simply because we were at work doing that half the time. And I'm not the person you should trust with every football opinion, but I do trust some things that I feel inside. And I feel him with us since he's left. I mean that seriously.

Awesome. You know, I want to point out, Grieby, who is one of our longtime listeners and one of the founders of the subreddit around the NFL, started a GoFundMe page that I want everyone to check out. And if you can, all the donations go directly to Lakeisha and Link. So please check that out on our respective Twitter pages. and yes, Link is, you know, the, you know, Lakeisha and it's so tragic and sad that West didn't get more time with Link, but I know we're all going to be there for him as uncles and Ricky as an aunt and listeners can know that. I know it's everyone feels for Lakeisha as they should because she has such a gargantuan uphill climb in front of her right now. and we're trying to be there for her as well but none of us can put ourselves in their shoes

but listeners just know that we have her back and we're going to do everything we can to help with Link as well because that's how it would be if it was any of us that switched places with Wes I know you guys would be the same way with me and I would be the same way with you. Absolutely.

All right. Love you, La Keisha. Whenever you listen to this. So strong. She's amazing. I have no doubt that she will rise above and overcome the challenges in front of her because she is they were a power couple. They are a power couple forever and she will get this thing figured out in time,

but it will take time. And it will take time for us too because it's obviously this is a time of unforeseen and tragic circumstances. for our show and trying to figure out what comes next and what's the right thing to do. And we all feel and we hope that you, the listener, understands that we're not ready to, we'll see on Wednesday to talk about how the chiefs fix their offense. Like, we're not going to be doing that. We're going to take a little time off. And when we come back, we have, you know, more planned in terms of remembering West.

We talked about doing a show where we remember some great West moments. And I would say this is a great opportunity for crowdsourcing. If you're not on the around the NFL subreddit, go get on it. And please, maybe Grieby or whomever else can start a thread of favorite Wes moments on the show that we could begin to just build up a library. And like I said, Wes has been reiterated by everybody here. Wes is a part of this show forever. He's part of the show right now as we speak. And it's going to stay that way as long as the around the NFL podcast exists.

all right boys rickie anything anything else i just want to reiterate what you just said about lakisha i mean we saw her briefly friday and you know obviously as tough as it is she was laughing with us when we're remembering west too before he had even you know passed at the hospital and and she is just the most remarkable person i think i've ever met yeah like i i feel so lucky that we were able to see her and fill that morning. And it's complex, just to be really real. I look back in the past couple of months and wish I had sent that extra text or two.

I didn't really get to say goodbye to Wes. And the vast majority of people have those complex feelings. But there's so much about them that's going to bring life and vibrancy. And it's through Link, and it's through Keisha, who are with us. and we will look after in our own ways until the very end. And so this is just the beginning of what we are going to be doing for them.

It hurts because there wasn't the time, you know, that they would have wanted in any circumstance to say those goodbyes and stuff. But of all people, West knew, like all the, I thought about it a lot. Like, and Keisha absolutely knows. how we all feel about her. But he knew, like, all the things we, we want, we would have wanted to say or other things. Like, he knew all that. I believe, I believe that in my heart.

All right. So, yes, we will at some point return to talking football in this podcast, but right now it's about Wes and remembering Wes and listeners that have reached out. Thank you to everyone. We can't say thank you individually to everyone. It's just been such an outpouring, but we really appreciate it and understand what. but Wes meant to you because he meant so much to us. So until next time, thank you very much.

And Chris Wessling, wherever you are, rest in peace, our good friend. Love you. Love you, Wes. Me and Wes always used to say that, like, adults don't drink milk. And we would always laugh that adults don't drink milk. So I think I'm going to have a glass of milk tonight. Make them laugh. I'm Marcus Grant.

And I'm Michael Fiorio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a real. Rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

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