NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Wess Love + NFL Catch-Up

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal and Colleen Wolfe reconnect after taking a little time off and talk about some memories of the beloved Chris Wesseling. The heroes give their "justifiably tardy Super Bowl takeaways (18:30) before spinning through the latest news in the NFL. JJ Watt was released by the Texans (36:40), Russell Wilson is sick of getting hit (44:01), and Carson Wentz to the Bears? Maybe? (49:05). The heroes also argue over if Big Ben is staying in Pittsburgh (52:53).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Mark Sessler, Greg Rosethall and the great Colleen Wolfe well gang Who disturbs my slumber? Here we are Here we are now I guess what are we about 10 days out from Super Bowl Sunday

and also the last time you heard from us of course that was under extremely trying circumstances in the in the wake of Wes's passing and we all took some time obviously to digest everything that had happened and I for one I'm feeling better having that time away from the mic and everything and now here we are again Greg doing doing our show because that's what we do even And if, you know, without Wes, it's never going to be quite the same ever again. No, it won't, but it is what we do. I feel it was what we did during Super Bowl week. You know, there's like that expression tweeting, you know, tweeting through it. It's like we were podcasting through it. So that was a lot.

That was obviously the toughest week we've ever had as a podcast. But we appreciate everyone reaching out about what that West pod meant to them. Because it was definitely, you know, for the listeners, too, because we know you guys are hurting that we're listening. And it's like we're all going through it together. It's all different, but there's no, Mark, you said this, there's no roadmap for this. So we're figuring it out as we go. And it's good to have, it's good to have Connie Fox, a member of the family with us today, too. It's good to be here.

It's been really weird these last two weeks. I asked who disturbed my slumber because. I've just been sleeping a lot and taking nature walks. It's a good solution. I like it. Yeah, it's a Super Bowl was super weird and it doesn't even feel like it really happened to be honest. Like even thinking about like those, the Saturday and the Sunday in Tampa were just like such a surreal blur. And I feel like they were probably, it was like probably the hardest weekend.

maybe of my life, definitely of my career, and they both coincided. They both, like, just kind of overlapped so much. So it's been really weird, but here listening to the podcast that you guys did, it took me a couple days. I wasn't sure if I wanted to even do it or if I could really do it or what it was going to be like. But so many of the listeners talked about how great it was and how it was just so nice to hear you guys talk about Wes

and when I listened it was so comforting and it was honestly exactly what I needed. I laughed, I cried I was like when Sessler was talking about the I and Eagle story just like there were so many

things the real punches when he punched some wall in the stomach I mean there there were just so many memories that came rushing back that made me laugh and smile and it was really great. I mean, in Wes's memory, it should be said that it was Mark that was punching people, not Wes. Well, and according to Zumwold, I was a pacifist. Yeah, according to Zumwalt, who chimed in later,

I punched him in the face, not the stomach, which is problematic. But I, but I would say also, Connie, like, for you to say what you did that morning before the game, I mean, I know that was incredibly challenging. I think that we were all, from a professional covering football angle, stretched. I don't know what the word is that day to do something that I don't think that we knew we could do going in. But in the days since, like, I've, we all have to do it differently. And I, I'm closer to the nature walks, not that I've taken a lot, but I've just spent it in deep isolation a lot. And thinking so much about West, but kind of feeling these, like, energy pulses of his friendship and these memories and just going through old podcasts. And, like, they brought me some

comfort. And I know also that this isn't just about us. There's such a community attached to this that it's been a completely different experience for all of us, I think, than any sort of loss we've suffered of a person, a close friend. And so you're right, Greg, I don't know what the roadmap is. I mean, there certainly isn't one, but I do feel that it feels right to get back together and continue to do what it is that we've done since the minute we were all together with Wes. Yeah. And you nailed it there with the word community. And, you know, West passed away Friday afternoon before the Super Bowl, which was extraordinary in terms of, you know, the timing of it, obviously. And we wrestled with whether or not to do any type of show on Sunday night before landing on doing, you know, just a conversation essentially about Wes. And a big part of that, the reasoning as hard as it was. And it was not necessarily something that we felt like we wanted to do, but there was this community that's built up over seven years of podcasting, people who, and we've heard it. And it's really an honor. It's not a humble brag,

but we've heard it from thousands of people, both on social media and when we've gone to different live shows, whether it's here in the States or over in London, how people said that they view us as friends, that we're like people that they relate to. And that's part of the reason why they like the show so we knew when the news was going to go out there that west was gone that it didn't feel right to leave uh you the listeners hanging um and uh you know uh for me this whole this past week and a half is and that's awesome um listening to old shows and watching old shows mark i i guess i'm i'm not there yet like i just that i think that's part of processing for me like that he's not here anymore is watching him and and and i think i'd like

to get to that point. And I'm sure I will. We'll be able to listen and watch the shows of us all together. And Mark, you texted right before we started. Like, one of the things that's gone from the show forever is his laugh. Like, Wes's laugh was infectious and it was part of like the soundtrack of this show and the energy of this show. So it's, it's hard for me to like get to that point to hear him again. But I will because that's what we do have. That's what's left behind these hundreds and hundreds of hours of us together. And to me, like, so much. much was taken from Wes cruelly and dying as young as he did. And for me, the number one thing that hit me personally is being a father was taken from him to Link and being able to raise Link with Lakeisha. And for me, I kind of just disappeared off social media from texting, phone calls, and just spent a lot of time with my family and my boys, Jack and Harrison. And I did feel closer to them because I know what I get to have and what we all get to have, Mark and Greg, is that bond and that was what was denied West, which was just so unfair. And I feel like that to me helped being around the boys. And we went up to Big Bear Mountain this weekend with my friend

Bob and his family. And that was, and that was nice. So that's kind of where I'm at. There is this one thing that we've each sort of pointed out. And I think we all realized it in different ways that link does have one special thing and we'll go through the machinations to make sure all of these episodes remain there indelibly but you know i i can think of people that have lost a parent and you don't have much more than a couple photographs or maybe you know left over voicemails but link will have no question about the personality of his father because it's not just his takes on football i mean when i think about our show it's like west going absolutely off on subject X, or like the video we saw of him, you know, unfurling like a 45-minute rant on

the size of paper towels. I mean, these things are out there and there's going to just be like a lot in time for Link to dig into and realize how special his dad was. It's so nice that we that we have Link selfishly because it's like a link to Wes. And Greg came over a few days ago, sat basically in this tree that's behind me, and we talked about, you know, just, just Wes and how, just how much he meant to so many people in so many different ways. And for me, last week, it was just reading through all of the listeners' comments on things, because I didn't really get a chance to kind of process any of it when I was in Tampa. It was, like, deep compartmentalizing everything.

And then once I got home, I kind of just, like, poured through every single comment of anything I could find. I was going through deep rabbit holes on all of your social, on all of my social, like, anything that I could find. Because, like, in that moment, it just brought me so much comfort. And I do, there were a lot of people that responded to what I had to say on Super Bowl Sunday with, well, I don't know why she had to go rogue or why, like, you know, it was off script, why they wouldn't give her the opportunity to talk about Wes. And I feel like I should say that, like, they did. And they wanted me to say something about West. And they asked me that morning on Super Bowl Sunday. And as soon as they asked me, I was like, there's no way.

can even imagine figuring out how to put any of this into words, how to articulate, like, what Wes meant to us just personally at the network in general. And then all day, that whole day when I was doing the show, I kept thinking, all right, I'm going to do it. Let me do it. And then I would start thinking about Wes, and I would immediately start welling up and crying. And I'm like, okay, not doing it.

Not going to do it. It's not happening. And I was literally deciding up until, like, seconds before I did it. And it was, I feel like it was one of those moments where I just completely blacked out. And I wasn't sure if I made complete sentences or what. And then, you know, in retrospect, I'm like, I can't believe I didn't take more time and say more about him. Because, like, he was just such an amazing special person. And go, I even, you know, as part of my, I guess, grieving process, I, of course, started going through old text messages.

And, like, the one thing that really, there was a bunch of things that really, like, stood out to me. How many times Wes would text me to say, like, how proud he was of me, okay, no, I'm crying. I don't want to cry. I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to do it. But he was always just, like, so supportive. And that was the thing, like, when I was listening to the podcast and when Mark, you were talking about how it was, like, so incredible when you would get approval from Wes on football stuff.

And I was like, oh, my God, like, I feel so seen because when I first came to the network, I didn't know what I was doing. I was, like, swimming, and I had no friends, and you guys were my first friends when I came to L.A. And I remember just trying to find my way. And the first few times when I would do any of these segments or, you know, NFL Now, when it was NFL Now, or this podcast with Wes, and he would agree. with me. It was like my confidence just grew so much. And I was like, oh my God, yes. You know what? I can do

this. And I will go say this exact same thing to someone else and feel good about it because Wes thinks it was right. The stamp of approval. Yes. And it was so huge. So that was like, that was the one thing that, one of the things that really jumped out at me. And when he would, he would just text me randomly like after a Thursday night show and be like, I'm so proud of you. Look at what you're Like, he was just always just so present and never just like letting things pass him by. He never took anything for granted. And he always, I think, wanted to keep everything in perspective for the people that he loved, too. And then the other thing that I noticed from going through text with him was how many times...

Now, there were a lot of times that I came and hang out, and we all hung out a lot, and we still do. But how many times I said, no, I can't, I got to prep for a show, or I got to. a prep for draft or like some meaningless thing that I was doing and I have now kind of I'm trying to take inventory on that and trying to create like a better work life balance and you guys are work but you're also life and so I'm trying to see if I can like maybe have some type of better balance where yeah I say you know what I'm not going to prep for like seven weeks for one show and like I'll come out and hang out with you guys because that is like really the most important thing or creating those moments and we're so lucky to have so many of them with Wes.

I like the idea of your infamous prep binder coming to life, growing arms and legs and attacking you for saying that. You know, it's so funny because one of my first memories with Wes was when we traveled to, it was the draft in Chicago and I had an entire carry-on suitcase filled with binders. He was like, what are you doing with all of this? And I was like, I don't know, I just need to have all of the information at my fingertips. And I remember he was like, leave one behind. And I was like, really?

You think so? And he's like, you're not going to need it. And so I was like, okay. So we picked the heaviest one and took my name out of the front because our research department like puts your name and like NFL media in the front. So I just like, I took my name out of the front and then just left it at the gate at the airport and one of like the seats. And that, me and Wes just laughed so hard about that. wow so yeah sorry i cut you off gregg i don't know you were going to say i don't either at this point i loved listening to you it is yeah i know we're going to get to football quickly and like

there's no like no great you know transition for that but west is going to be like part of this show and that's sort of that has sort of helped me i i really struggled and you know when we did that podcast even even now it's like i'm selfish like i think of those times you know hanging out with west that's what i what i think of west and to me that's like private and that's almost like so precious to me um that it's that it's hard to to share like with a mic uh in in front of your face um but that's like the opposite of how west would feel west west would be like you know there is no difference he's 100% himself all the time i try to be that way and like he he would want to share it all with the listeners and he did there was

no like there was no BS um to that so i think that's like a good a good thing that that i think about and and you did hit me there uh um dan talking about link i do know uh i do know how much he he did appreciate like the time he did have with link that too i i saw him it more than anyone um i mean in in my life uh over this pandemic and got to see him a lot with lincoln man he really he did appreciate the time he had with him which meant a lot yeah i remember having conversations with him when Lakeisha was pregnant about fatherhood and yeah

I'm glad he did get the time that he did have and yes we are a football podcast so and we've been dark and again the timing of when this all went down you know the fact we didn't talk about the Super Bowl

so we're going to we're going to do some news today and and and just kind of download everything that's happened. And I think, Connie, you and I were texting back and forth this morning. Like, you're the same. I'm the same as you. And I think it might be everybody.

In addition to kind of going dark over the last week and a half, I wasn't exactly like pound and refresh on NFL.com and, and the like, just seeing what was going on in the NFL. So when I was going through things this morning, I was like, ooh, oh, wow. Oh, look out, homina, homina, hama, arriva. Like, there's a lot of stuff. I gave myself a present and literally closed down Twitter except for my tennis burner account. That was my self-care.

Like, my tennis burner account still was tracking the Aussie Open, did not see anything else until we got back. Greg, is a very big Jess Pagula fan. Greg, did you turn off the NFL network at your house, though? That would be the real test. Twitter is a whole different stories. We had no football, no nothing. All right. I'm glad to hear that.

Jess Pagula, the daughter of the Pagulas that own the bills, made it to the quarterfinals of the Aussie Open. Look at me, Greg, all plugged in. Whoa. I didn't even know that. She's a riser. There was that one guy with the name that I can't really pronounce, pounded his racket so hard into the ground that he damaged the ground and broke his racket. He's the same guy that hit the lady with the tennis ball at the U.S. Open and got disqualified. What's that dude's deal, Greg?

Seems like a great guy. Djokovic? Jokovic, yeah, what's up with him? Oh. Well, give us some courts of thunder analysis here before we get into NFL talk. Well, you know, I'm wearing my Naomi Osaka sweatshirt today in honor of what's my Super Bowl tonight, Serena Osaka. It's in prime time on the West Coast. I mean, it doesn't get much better than that.

Look at you. All right. Well, that's something to look forward to, Greg. And yes, let's get, before we get to the news, let's share some mini-segg that. I'd like to call justifiably tardy Super Bowl takeaways. The Chiefs get their doors blown off by the Bucks. I think it was 38, 9, something like that. And I'm just curious, what you guys thought,

like you guys kind of watched the game in a haze, but definitely it was memorable for obvious reasons. Greg, what was your kind of, you have a kind of above the treetops takeaway to use some corpo jargon? but first I'm going to go with like the smallest takeaway possible, which is that like the Bulls Assants was coming. You know, it started with the four of us doing the podcast that Wes is during week one of Bucks or no, what was it? You know, Bucks Packers back in 2019.

And now Bucks, Bancers, I believe. Bucks Panthers, straight to the top. But now my bigger point was what a bummer it was for Andy Reed that, and this is a sad way to think about the Super Bowl. but the fact that his son, who is now no longer with the team, was suspended and then ultimately fired because of this tragic accident that involved drinking two nights before the Super Bowl. And it's going to be part of what I think, you know, I'm not saying like that decides the game or not, but it certainly ruined Andy Reid's Super Bowl. I mean, he's going to be looking back on this, and he's a guy, as you know, Colleen, and our listeners probably too, that's had a lot of family tragedy with his son that's been very tied into. to with his sons that's been tied into his teams because they they've worked for him and i just love andy reed and i think so many players of his do too and for this to happen two nights before

the super bowl where you have patrick mahomes in his prime and you get the doors blown off you as he said 38 to 9 and that reed had a terrible game you know choosing to go for the field goal right before half time and then taking some of the most bizarre timeouts I've ever seen when the bucks just wanted to get to the half only up one score. And Andy Reid is taking timeouts because he's got faith in his defense on third and short and they go and score a touchdown. That was like game over to me. He had no answers for what Bowles was doing. Everything possible that could have gone poorly from Reed's perspective, I think did. And that and that is unfortunate because I think he's one of the all-time greats, but now this is, you know, a couple Super Bowls,

but especially this one really stands out as something that he's going to have to wear and that he'll try to recover from. I was really surprised that we didn't talk about it more. And granted, like, I was in a day's pretty much Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but I didn't, I thought it was kind of odd that we didn't talk. more about Andy Reed and the distraction that this was because that's his son and he was a coach on the team. Yeah. Right. And so many times we're like, oh, is this good? Is juju a distraction for dancing on the logo? I mean, just dumb stuff that we decide is maybe a distraction. That is a huge

distraction that is super serious before the biggest game of the year. And it's the head coach's son. So I think that that played a massive role in the outcome of the game. And I was also just so shocked at how many penalties, just the penalties in the first half that the chiefs took. There were just so many. And they just kept, it just like wasn't there wasn't the way that they play ever. And it just seemed like, you know, they had, I think they had like eight different penalties maybe in the first half. They did. That, it was just, it was so uncharacteristic of them. to play that way. They were so bad. They were so bad.

To just get dominated like that. It didn't make any sense, you know, that they, a team that had been a proven champion, reigning Super Bowl champion that had, every chance when they faced adversity over the past two post seasons, they always stepped up. And then this game,

they get punched in the mouth. They get punch in the mouth again. They get punched in the mouth again. Then they get an uppercut, then a body blow. And then they're on the canvas and they just don't it up. And it's like, wait, what happened here with this team? Mark, what's your takeaway? Well, I think that, you know, in general, covering football, a blind spot for the vast majority of people that didn't play. And I don't really worry about that dynamic generally is a lack of understanding of offensive line. And I think that they're, you know, with two weeks percolating to discuss this game, we knew that the Chiefs had injuries along the

offensive line. But losing Eric Fisher, one of the more maligned first round picks during our time at the NFL, I think really impacted this in incredible ways. I mean, their offensive line was dominated. To your point, Greg, Todd Bowles, I thought was doing incredible things all game long to make life really tough on everyone. Tyreek Hill had like, what, 16 yards at half or whatever, it was a non-factor. And we wondered, how can you possibly slow this offense? And it turned out, to your point and the penalties, there was that one drive that I thought the game seemed over. This point, Mahomes had, he was four for 13 for 36 yards. And their defense gave up incredibly, I thought, incredibly costly holding penalties.

The first one in this one drive wiped out a honey badger, tipped ball interception. The second one turned a Ryan suckup 40-yard field goal. It converted into a first down, and they marched. down the field and throw a touchdown to Rob Grunkowski that also had a holding penalty on that play. I mean, the defense was coming apart at the seams. And we trust Andy Reed and the chiefs and their high-faluting staff to make adjustments at halftime. And if I told you that their second half for the chiefs would have been a field goal, an interception, a drive that ended on downs on the Tampa Bay 11, another drive that ended at downs at the Tampa Bay 27, and then a Patrick

Mahomes interception to end their season. How many people saw that coming? I think the level of beatdown, it has to be considered somewhat shocking. The Tampa Bay defense, that was a Super Bowl history-wise, a performance you're always going to remember, just the dominance of it and who it came against. And, you know, my point, I think Jason liked the GM and the powers that be in Tampa, but since the GM is usually the face of these things, One of the great heaters I can ever remember over the past calendar year that the Bucks went on in terms of team building that culminated with the Super Bowl win. And I looked at, I went and found an article before the season started just to get a better idea of who came and who went entering this season. And of course, Tom Brady was the big import and it played out incredibly well where he had another big season way better than his last couple years.

New England and then all through the playoffs. But, you know, that was just part of it. They added Granc, who was an important part of the team, not the same guy he used to be, but clearly that was a nice pickup. Resignings that he made, JPP, tagging Shack Barrett, so keeping those guys in the building, bringing back in Dominican Sue. That was a big move. The draft picks, Tristan Wirthes, like you said, that edition.

He was an absolute stud. this year, Antoine Winfield, Jr., the safety. That guy was at a high level in their secondary. And then who did they let go? James Winston. Now we laugh at it, but I'll set it on this pod, and I'll say it again, with two games to play, the Bucks in the 2019 season, they had a Saturday afternoon game in week 16.

And the report out there by the insiders is that, because James Winston had been playing better, that they were probably going to move forward with James Winston in 2020 and beyond. He bombs out the last two weeks. And then that was what I guess their brain trust, if that indeed was the case needed. They say goodbye to James Winston, Carl Nassie, Peyton Barber, Sam Acho, Darren Stewart, Damar Dodson, although just say goodbye to those guys. And everything hit and worked and it does tell you. And I think from the other teams looking at this, sometimes you are just a couple players away because the Bucks went from Eternal also ran.

over the last several years to Super Bowl champion. And yes, you could say, oh, they got Tom Brady. That's why they're champion. In some ways, that's true. But in general, this front office deserves a ton of credit for just hitting on just about everything and now having a Lombardi trophy to go over there. I would say that front office struggled for a long time beforehand.

But you're right. But it's an argument for patience at the GM spot potentially. But Tom Brady also, I mean, the one thing is, and I mentioned this on Sky, if I can even remember if this is what I said, but just the idea that you put Tom Brady in isolation for 14 days, no distractions to get his mind right and pull the lever on what would be an incredible first half. And everyone, you know, how many people tweeting about the fact that Tom Brady had not scored more than three touchdowns

in any opening quarter? Right away, he said, I'm going to take that narrative and shred it into a million pieces. He is different than other quarterbacks. He is like a burning son. And I think the entire team, when he came in there, said, we are going to revolve around him. Like, there is no question who our leader is. It's Bruce Ariens, but it's not Bruce Ariens compared to Tom Brady.

I mean, he changed everything. And it, I mean, I'll just, I feel lucky that we are able to have watched his entire career up to this point. But I will say that I have literally no memory of that Super Bowl other than the first Gronk touchdown. So I need to go rewatch aspects of it beyond my notes, you know? But like the Winston thing, it feels like a no-brainer in retrospect. The Brady thing, in retrospect.

seems like a no-brainer, but it really wasn't. Only one other team wanted him, and he only got $25 million a year. He didn't get any more than Philip Rivers got, for instance. This was not the Peyton Manning sweepstakes of 2013, where he's going on helicopters and visiting half the league and everybody's falling over. Like, there was a general belief, and I think I shared it, and a lot of other people did, that Brady probably, even though he would be an upgrade over James Winston, would probably be kind of like a high level or the top level name brand, maybe like a,

At this point, age 43, better than game manager, maybe like on the right side of the Dalton scale, but not necessarily the elite guy. Gradual decline as it's been seen. And he was in a gradual decline, and then it just stopped. And it's a reminder also, you surround these older quarterbacks of a great supporting cast. They can come out of that gradual decline if they could still move and throw the ball, which Brady showed he could. Right. Even guys like Leonard Fournette, too, by the way. Leonard Fournette's another one.

Antonio Brown is another one. Yes, exactly. But specifically for Fournette, I feel like he was in Jags purgatory for so long and then just kind of got this really bad rap. You know, he got ejected from that game for throwing real punches. And then, you know, he just, I think he got a bad rap for just also being, you know, just a power runner and not a guy who can catch passes, maybe a guy who's not like a team guy, maybe a guy that has like a little bit of an attitude problem.

And all of that is like when we heard about him coming out and saying he was crying on the phone with his parents just about the journey that he's been on and how happy he is that he landed where he is now in Tampa and the fact that he was able to go on and win a Super Bowl, like it's just, it's such a great story of how narratives can turn so quickly. That did make me think of Wes that day because Wes, I thought hilariously and correctly at a previous time when Fournet wasn't thriving. I think he called him like the SS Fournet for his inability, like a, huge ship to kind of change direction. But that was, that was accurate when he uttered those. Playoff Lenny is different, though. You know, playoff Lenny is different than the Lenny, you know, who was such a bomb in Jackson.

Bombardi Lenny now. They ran great. I mean, like a lot of time, Brady Super Bowls, it's no, it's no slight to him. He got a great defensive performance. They ran great. He didn't have to do much. I heard a little chatter almost like Brady didn't play, like Brady was a little up and down in the playoffs, which I think is fair.

But I think it sort of was lost that he was a top 10 quarterback in the season. Like he was much better in the regular season than I think people that didn't watch him each, you know, every week gave him credit for. He was a top 10 quarterback then and they were a great team. And Shaq Barrett, you know, finally just if he needed to stick it to Mark one more time, he did it. I mean, I've given up that one at this point. But, I mean, also you couldn't script the quarterbacks and the icons that Brady mowed down to get to that Super Bowl. I mean, it's like you could, you never could. I mean, I think that they were lucky for that by-week happening when it did late in the year.

They never lost after that. And they talked about readjusting. And a lot of that is like Bruce Ariens. Leonard Fournett wanted to leave the team. And Bruce Ariens basically said to him, you decide who you are and what you want to be. And I think that's the leadership of Bruce Ariens, too. We bombed our sandwich props. I'm just checking it out now.

Mark Sessler. The weekend creates controversy that's discussed on CNN. It was fine. show was fine, but it was, it was tepid. Anybody know, I know there was, the theme was there. All men everywhere on the stage and the dancers and everything. There were no women. Huh.

I wonder what that was about. Really? Yep. Greg Rosenthal, JPP has at least two sacks. Dan Gron catches a fourth quarter or OT touchdown that gives Bucks the lead or ties the score. He did have two touchdowns. You two both sort of had your hand on the pulse there a little bit.

Yeah, we were in the right church, Ron. Yeah. And you violated your own rule of being too specific. I know. I know. I just wanted to hang. I wanted to hang. No, like I hung onions on this one because I just called Mahomes MVP last year.

And I felt that was too safe. So I was just like trying to balance things out. Kyle Brandt, who's on that show, said Scotty Miller will score a 40-yard touchdown while throwing up deuses to mock Tyreek Hill. And that was also right, church, wrong pew, because Antoine Winfield Jr. mocked with some deuses at the end of that game and got a penalty for it

and Ricky had Chad Henny throwing a pass and that didn't happen. Bingo. A big old zero burger for or nothing burger or whatever the people say for the pod.

All right. Those are justifiably tardy Super Bowl takeaways. Good for the bucks though. Good for Brady. I enjoyed it. Greg secretly he was dying. He hated it.

What are you talking about? I was rooting them on all year. I know. You're just telling you. It's just a bit, Greg. You're meant to kind of respond. You have to share him with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their fans for the rest of the time. They're one of the few teams, not much salary cap issues, no one that they need to cut in particular.

I mean, it's tough to repeat, but they will be right there next year. There's no reason why they shouldn't. You've got to bring Shady McCoy back. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't have to. Two rings, two rings, the ultimate rings guy, two rings in two years without taking a single snap in the Super Bowl. That's the first, always the first. first offseason trope storyline is hey i took a look at this roster they're going to run it back i think always a trope i'm just saying they feel like almost like the first bucks championship that's like

okay this was just a moment in time and whatever and i think it is but it might be like a two-year moment in time wouldn't not surprise me to see them back in the divisional round or something right back in the mix that's all i mean what a what a what a contract like you said two years 50 million you're going to get his age 43 and 44 season and then you get to re-evaluate where Tom's at and you already got a ring out of it. It's a house money year for the bucks. Of course, Tom Brady will never look at that

and he never has. All right. Before we go, we have a lot to do. We have a lot of news to catch up. There's so much news that's happened. So let's spin through it. Well put, Colleen. Let's isolate that for the future, Erica,

because Connie just sounded like, She was, you know, laying on the couch on an off day, you know, I'll leave it at that. That's kind of what happened. There's so much news, man. All right. That was Colleen's, like, kind of, like, soft request to tap out of the rest of the show, I think. It was like it was her not running back on defense and just kind of looking over at the coach. Right.

All right. Let's do some news. I want to speak directly to you in the city of Houston so you can hear the word straight from my mouth. I have sat down with the McNair family, and I have asked them for my release, and we have mutually agreed to part ways at this time. There are the words of J.J. Watt,

the iconic playmaker that has been the heartbeat of the Texans' defense for a decade, first round picking 2011, now a free agent after Watt and Houston. and agreed to mutually, or they mutually agreed to part ways. And, you know, this is an ongoing storyline. So this happened late last week. Since then, according to ESPN's Edward, or approximately a dozen teams have expressed interest in the former defensive player of the year. That group includes the Steelers, Bills, Titans. Cleveland.com came out and reported that Watt is seriously considering signing with the Brown.

Browns, Mark Sessler, and Watt tweeted just today that free agency is, what was his word, crazy? Wild. Wild. How about that? J.J. Watt on the market. I mean, I would, the Brown's side of it, let's just wait and see, because I think he'd be seriously considering a number of teams. The Titans would be one way, and they're, you know, they've shown interest to stick it to the Texans for a couple of years, which I would imagine. have something to do with where he'd land. They're a playoff Super Bowl type team, too. I mean,

my thing with, it's more of a Texan story for me, and I don't want to take us off course, but I can't imagine being, if you're David Cully, the new head coach, you know, this is what you're adopting a team minus J.J. Watt. You're Lovie Smith, who is coming back to the NFL to take over a Texan defense absent J.J. Watt. I love the idea of him going somewhere else. I get that he's, the injury history is a concern, the age is a concern. You're not getting JJ Watt 2014, but he can be still incredibly disruptive. And I love reading some stuff about the idea that it's not just on the edge. You could move them all over the line.

And so a team like Cleveland, a team like Tennessee, that would be a huge need addressed for both of them. I just think it's an incredible scenery shift. And I'm kind of, I feel energy around watching J.J. Watt somewhere else. I think you're going to get an angry player with something to prove. He was good last year. I think people kind of sleep on where he's at because he was, you know, for three years, the best defensive player I had ever seen up until that point,

and he's not that guy anymore. But I think he's probably a top 10 to 15 edge type player. It's just, it's more about disruption and the run game and everything else. and he you know that it was strange because it just it's a bad it makes the texans look inept that he wanted out of there they probably were going to cut him anyways just because it felt like the time to do so and he was due so much money and he probably you know beat them to the punch and asked to be let go and so they said okay um but like i think he can help a team he's still he's still pretty good i mean it's so funny because j j wott we all know that he

loves attention. So this has to be like catnip for him if he is getting all of these offers and you have his, you know, different guys from around the NFL recruiting him. It's like perfect for him. I'm sure he's just like basking in all of the, all of the attention right now. And it's got to be so crazy for him to actually for the first time and so long have somewhat control over his career and where he goes and what happens. But I like the idea of him going to the Titans, especially obviously in the division, but wasn't Rabel on that, on that Texan staff and John Robinson, he, he worked him out. He was on the network talking about how he worked out JJ Watt when he was the scouting director for the Patriots years ago and loved him. So you have so many different dots that you

can connect, whether it's going to play for the Packers because he'll be back in Wisconsin or his brothers are in Pittsburgh or maybe he wants to play against his brothers in that division with the Browns. So, you know, that's one thing I was thinking about. But also, it's like, of course JJ Y is going to like stir things up and be like, oh, it's wild. Like, I don't know if it's maybe, maybe it's a ploy for him to get even more attention. Why not? Like, live it up now. I loved him making the announcement from that log cabin that he was so proud to show off on hard knocks a few years back. Yeah, the Titans, that makes sense to me, especially after John Robinson. We're going to get to John Robinson a second.

And the GM whiffed so badly with Vic Beasley and Jadavian Clowny last year. You bring in a ready-made playmaker like Watt. Maybe that addresses their pass-rush issues, which is one of many issues they have on defensive Tennessee. But the Browns are the one I like the most, Mark. I think, like, he's a guy that everybody kind of wants to be connected to the Browns right now. They're hot, which is hard to believe.

But that's just the way things are now and want to be connected to the Browns getting over the hump. And especially if Olivier Vernon doesn't come back after blowing his Achilles, he would just be such a great bookend, wherever they line them up, really. But he doesn't have to be the man there. That's Miles Garrett's job. And he could be maybe that missing piece on their defense, especially we saw in the playoffs that they could use some help in the middle of their line.

I think they only have, if you look at their lineup right now, heading into the offseason and the draft, like five starters on defense, five or six. I mean, there's need all over the place. And imagine, like, what it does to an offensive coordinator to have to deal with Miles Garrett, a healthy Miles Garrett, and JJ Watt on both sides. I mean, it's sort of a dream if you're, if you could make that happen. But he fits anywhere. Like, tell me it's outside of the, you know, Green Bay is a great fit. Green Bay has a lot of money tied up in the two free agent edge rushers they brought in two seasons ago.

But, I mean, tell me anyone that's going to say, no, I don't think we have room for JJ Watt, other than mental cases. Yeah, any contender, yes, other than mental cases. Any contender that has some money to spare Because everybody wants a pass rush That they could generate without blitzing And that's what he could bring One other thing on my radar here J.J. Watt tweeted out a like happy anniversary

To his wife with I can't remember if it's a photo or a video But it's of her eating wings in her wedding dress Which really just stopped me in my tracks Because you like that or not like that I think that she I would follow her anywhere I mean, anyone who is that brazen to eat wings in a wedding dress. Like, I can't even eat anything for TNF without getting it all over me. I've had to wear shirts backwards this year on the air because of that very thing.

You guys would be fast friends, I think. That sounds to some shared interests. Yeah. She's a professional athlete. You were a figure skater. Exactly. You know the golf courses of Pennsylvania well. There's a lot of connections.

The history is very rich. is rich um the wedding the wedding dress is an interesting thing because it's the most like it's as you know going through a wedding and being around people and that like it's such a huge element of the whole thing got to find the dress got to love the dress got to watch this reality show about the dress got to read about the dress got to buy the dress and then you wear the dress once and then what do you do like where's your wedding dress right now calling it's in a box at my parents house and i actually split my wedding dress at the wedding I think I ate too much too quick.

Oh, no. And I didn't realize that I split it until I took the dress off and there was a giant like hole down the side. So, you know, I mean, who knows? Maybe the dress should be in a trash can. Erica? I just want to go on the record that if he's posting a video or photos of her eating wings, he's going to Buffalo.

Oh. That's not a bad landing spot either. See, I thought Ricky was going to have a wedding dress take and then she comes in with a thunder take that really rattles the entire podcast. So that's just that's why she's great. I love those breadcrums. Yes. Maybe Ricky's right.

All right. Let's, uh, let's move on, uh, talk some quarterback heat. Russell Wilson, this, this kind of came out of nowhere, I feel like. Um, he, uh, spoke to reporters via Zoom last week and, uh, said, you know what? I'm frustrated. I'm getting hit a lot. And I want to be involved. involved with team personnel decisions to make this Seattle Seahawks team better and get us

over the hump. Here's a quote, like any player, you never want to get hit. That's the reality of playing this position. Ask any quarterback who wants to play this game. But at the same time, it's part of the job and everything else. I think that the reality is that I've definitely been hit. I've been sacked almost 400 times. So we've got to get better.

I've got to find ways to get better too. And then, Greg, what, what happens immediately after that is teams start picking up the phone and good job by all those GMs you want to kick the tires on a Hall of Fame or like Russell Wilson 32 years old and say hey you're looking to maybe get this guy out of town is he uh is this relationship in trouble and it sounds like that's not happening but it's interesting that we're even talking about this right now right well it's because it's the intent of Russell Wilson to have us talk about it you know he's like a more in-prime version of J.J. Watt, this is what he wants.

I mean, he's the one who is telling the country, I am interested in playing for another team. Like, that's how I take it. I don't think it's, I don't think that's even connecting dots. Like, Garifolo had the same response. He thought, you know, he said it on our air. It's like sounded like a guy who has one foot out the door and wants to see what happens. And to me, it doesn't come out of nowhere because he pulled the same stuff either last off season, or the offseason before.

I can't remember when he went on Jimmy Fallon and he started talking about this kind of stuff. He wants people to be interested. And longtime Russell Wilson observers have noted, weirdly, if you want to know what Russell Wilson and his agent think, listen to Colin Coward, who's kind of been, I think of Russell Wilson Whisper, for whatever reason, I don't know, that seems like a weird one to me.

But he's kind of been ahead of the game. get, you know, he's kind of known what Russell Wilson's camp wants, and he's been leading this charge, banging the drums at the offensive lines things. He wants to be part of the thing, wants to be part of the personnel decisions. And he's driving this. I don't think the Seahawks want to trade him. Like, I believe that part, but it's, it's really interesting to me that he's doing this. He has a no trade clause. Trading him would cost, this isn't really negotiable, like a $40 million dead cap hit. He's also said in one of those same interviews, he wants to be in Seattle forever. I think he was genuinely annoyed that they moved on from Brian Schottenheimer.

Now, people feel different things about Brian Schottenheimer, but those two for various reasons were close. It puts a lot of pressure on them to appease them, but I don't know about this like quarterbacks being involved in personnel decisions. I think that there is something to be said. When you're a Deshaun Watson or you're Russell Wilson or Patrick Mahomes, you're in that higher upper echelon of salary and so much is being, you know, put your way and you've got a Super Bowl window. I get the idea of weighing in, but I mean, I don't really know what personnel decision means. For me, this thing is like I was driving around a little bit last week trying to kind of not get involved with football. And I heard Colin Coward going off on Russell Wilson and this whole

thing. And I said, I could just do without this anti-drama. He's going nowhere. He's not going anywhere. And what's an issue for the Seahawks and an additional challenge here is, yes, their offensive line could absolutely use an upgrade, but they just last summer traded their next two first round picks for safety and Jamal Adams. So that's going to make it a little bit tougher to get the guys that will make an impact. You just have to trust your decision makers to make the right moves. They've tried. And he had a part in hiring Shane Waldron, supposedly. So we never mentioned that, but the former Rams coordinator who is now going to be

calling plays for Seattle. Supposedly, Russell Wilson had some say in that, too. So that would indicate the CX have no interest. Waldron has never called plays in the NFL. So that's a bit of a mystery hire, and we'll see how it works out. In other star quarterback news,

well, this man was once a star, Carson Wentz, after suffering through a miserable season with the Eagles getting benched, he is on the trade block and Albert Breer, our former NFL media colleague, now with SI, believes that the Bears are the, quote, frontrunner for Wenz, the other team that has been bandied about is a logical landing spot because of head coach ties is the Colts, who have reportedly offered up two second round picks.

So that's where we're at on that one, Connie, and I know we've talked about Wence and you're ready to move on and the Eagles Nation seems to be ready to move on. if they did indeed move them and not get a first round pick back, how would you feel about that? I mean, at this point, it just feels like the market for him is not great because, you know, the money involved and the tape that he put out there, I mean, who's going to jump at that situation? So I wouldn't, I don't really expect them to get a lot,

but they should get a lot. So it's almost like a lose-lose situation. But I still feel like, I don't know. what's if the bears if that is actually going to be the landing spot for him I feel like the Colts are still the most logical you know spot for him and Garifolo was on a little bit ago just saying that the Colts are still sort of at the top of the list and nothing is really imminent but that something will be done relatively soon so I don't know like nothing is imminent but relatively soon so maybe maybe like in the next two weeks we hear something

but we know that the Colts are not budging from that offer. And they don't really, that's not something that they do. Like, that's not Chris Ballard's style. They like their draft picks. They use them wisely most times, and they don't want to give them away. So I don't think that they will, I don't think they'll give anything up more for wins. And I don't really see a lot of other teams doing it either. The line that I love the most out of this scenario that I read in preparation for the show

was that Breer also mentions that the Bears coaching staff believes they can fix the mechanical issues whence developed in the years since his back in ACL surgeries. I am thinking in my mind and searching for a team, I trust less to fix any mechanical issues anywhere, whether it be in Wentz or a car broken down. Right. I mean, first of all, he gone. I mean, he's so gone.

Are you, if they really offered two seconds, take it now before something happens. Are you kidding me? A first two second sounds like a miracle. I don't believe that because I think they would take it in a second. I'm sure Howie Roseman would absolutely cash in on those picks and do the right thing with them. Like I get it. I get it.

He's put up some numbers in the past. But he didn't just struggle last year. He was like the worst quarterback in the league. He was, he was, to get two picks seems like incredibly lucky and they're going to do it. And it's happening, and it just shows how dumb everyone was for killing the Eagles for only hiring a coach that needs to fix Carson Wentz, because no one knew what they were talking about then. They clearly intended to trade them the whole time. They are going to trade them. If they get anything for them, they should be happy because, yes, it's all this dead money on their cap, but it actually doesn't, you know, hurt their cap this year.

It was a massive mistake, and they're admitting it, but get out of that mistake. And get out of the shot, Gonzo, you know, he's in the background. Everyone says hi, John. I'm just happy Connie was, I'm just happy that Gonzo was wearing clothes when he just entered the back of that shot. I don't know. It'd be fine if he were wearing less. We could have seen, we haven't seen his nude form. Yeah, that, I mean, that would have been interesting.

It would have been a pot high point? And for people who are like, wait a second, wait a second, the lion's got two first round picks for Matthew Stafford. So the eagle should get at least the first round. No, it's totally different because the Rams had to pay. pay to get Jared Goff off their roster, and that's why it led to premium draft picks. So don't, it's an apple's the oranges thing, even if you see Stafford and Wentz is somewhat similar in terms of play level. All right.

Okay. Keep moving. We've got to keep moving here. All right, all right, all right. Ben Rathlisberger. We got to get Colleen out of here before she was. Ben Rathesberger, you know, I'm under the impression that Ben Rathesberger is going to be there, one and done, even though his boy.

pouncy and the other pouncey of the free Hernandez movement, believe that, you know, the story was that if Marquis retired, Ben would retire, now the center's gone. So has Ben gone? It doesn't seem like it. It seems like Routherstberger wants to play. But do the Steelers want him? Steelers GM, Kevin Colbert said on Wednesday that Pittsburgh has to, quote, look at this current situation, referring to the salary cap when asked about Ralthusberger being the

2021 starting quarterback so you know this mark this continues the Steelers can put the fire out at any time they want on this and say oh no no Ben's we'll find a way to make it work he's a legendary player in our franchise and you know or some type of answer that just just kind of tamps this down but instead if they're starting to build things up in a way that's reminiscent almost of what the Rams did with Jared Goff different circumstances but makes you wonder if really the Steelers are seriously looking, whether it's the draft or somebody out there on the market, to replace Ben Rathesberger the way coming off a very disappointing end to the season. I mean, I think it's the money. It's the age. It's last year's performance. It's the fact that, you

know, they swung and missed on Mason Rudolph, but Mason Rudolph was a potential air had he really worked out. They've been looking for someone for a while. And I believe the quote, you know, by ownership was something along the lines of Ben Rathesberger right now is still our quarterback, which is probably like how, like, NFL network would speak about me. Like, he is on our payroll. It's not like we're going to tell you a lot more we feel about this person. And if I'm Ben Rathesberger, I'm kind of thinking, yikes, that's not the review. Well, that's usually a doomsday quote, by the way.

I think it is usually. As they sit here, that's what it was. Right. I mean, I think everyone's just like, they're probably like, we have to see what other options become available. You know, what else materializes. And you can't, like, flame, openly flame Big Ben, more. than they did but they came pretty close that's not how you treat someone that's been in your organization for a decade and a half according to his people i would imagine yeah i think he's gone he wants to

come back rothusberger so it just seems crazy to me that that they that they wouldn't have him back if he wants to come back and i know that they have to figure out the cap and this is maybe just a way of being like hey you're going to have to like figure out a way to take a team friendly restructuring of some sort but which that that's probably what this is but but But it just seems insane because they were so close to getting so far this year. And that's what everyone's expectations were really high for them. So it seems like at least with that defense, they still have a good window, I think. So it just seems like kind of crazy to shut it right now with Big Ben.

They did also, were very close to losing six straight to end of the season. And I think he's gone. I mean, I kind of thought it already because the owner said he's going to have to take a pay cut and you only ask a player to take a pay cut if you're ready to cut him if you don't care if he's on your team ultimately next year. So they said that publicly.

They said that publicly a month ago and he was like, I'll take any pay cut I want, I'll play for free. And still they're coming out and saying, well, we're not really sure. I think he's gone and I think the Steelers fans got to at least be a... And I think they'll be happy he's gone based on the Steelers fans.

I'm not happy, but they're, I think, just ready to move on and maybe hope he retires because that'll help the cap a little more. I think you've got to at least emotionally prepare yourself, Steelers fans, for the possibility of week one starting quarterback, Mason Rudolph. I mean, if you ever want to...

Or Dwayne Haskins. No way, dude. I don't know, man. He played pretty well against the Browns, and when you hear what the Steelers brass says about Mason Rood, off and that they kind of are curious about him going into the final year of his rookie contract.

I think they have always had a higher belief in him, obviously, than anyone else. And he played well in that one game. It was probably the best game by a Steelers quarterback all year, maybe. He actually did play pretty well in that game to give him some credit. But I don't think it's a good move. I'm just saying, be ready, Steelers. That was an absurd comment to say that was the best Steelers quarterback game all year. It was one of them.

All year? Have you, yes. I watched every game. There weren't many good big Ben games. That's all. I see it as posturing ultimately. I disagree. Where you're coming from makes sense. But I think it does remind me as a Yankee fan at the end of Derek Jeter's career. The Yankees did something similarly where they basically hardlined him.

They said, you're not the same guy anymore. We'd like to have you back. But we're taking control of this. And we're not going to give you some hometown discount to stay around. And eventually Jeter bit down and took the contract. bitter about it. Ben has a different public stance here where he's basically putting himself out there and saying, I'll play for whatever you pay me. Please don't end my career this way. I think he'll end up coming back at a discount for the Steelers. Wouldn't it be great if the Browns

ended the big the Ben Rathesberger era? I think they already did it, Mark. We got to find out officially. I think they did it. I think you're right because you look at those, he was shedding tears on the sideline and it wasn't just about that game. I will give you a sandwich bet. can take me up right now week one big ben starting quarterback houston texans i see it and i see it i see it already because i'll take that yeah we'll take you all right because i could see him cozy the courtier please document the lap of jack easterby big ben and jack easterby two peas in a pod for about six weeks until he's replaced by a rookie um all right we'll see how it all plays out i already got a sandwich in my back pocket feeling good about it let's move on

More quarterback drama. ESPN, or excuse me, NFL networks Ian Rappaport reports that there is, quote, legitimate and real trade interest involving Marcus Marriota, the Raiders backup who had a tremendous game late in the season, replacing Derek Gar, I think it was the Dolphins game, actually, that was blown hideously. I believe it was that week. I think it was the Chargers. Chargers, that sort of was.

Yeah. It was a prime time meltdown for the Raiders. but he played incredibly well in that game. And the Athletic reported that the Raiders prefer to trade Mariotta instead of Derek Carr, their incumbent starting quarterback. We just have to see how it plays out. Marietta was awesome in that one game. If they're able to leverage that into some value in a trade, that would be a big win for the Raiders,

I believe. I remember that game because it was, I don't know if it was, it was definitely like a Thursday night package game, but it wasn't on a Thursday, or maybe it was. But it doesn't matter. It was definitely against the Chargers in overtime. And Derrick Carr, he got her, what was that, like on the Raiders first drive, I think. So there was a couple people that were kind of like, well, Marriota, Marriota, Marriota didn't start any games this year. But that was kind of like a start because he basically played that entire game. And when he came into that game, he led, an 86-yard touchdown drive and it was he led four different scoring drives in that game and I remember

we were we were texting during that game because we were like is is mariotto still good like look at look at the way that he's able to use his leg still and all of the things that we liked and that were good about him when he was in tennessee he just he still has it and I feel like that game really helped showcase his abilities that he still has and I think that you know maybe a spot like who knows maybe he ends up in new england how would that be i could see it i this this whole thing raised i raised my eyebrows though because the car because the car inclusion in it is basically the part that raised my eyebrows like okay so you are willing to trade car and then i thought there was this really strange article that came out like two weeks or a week before the super bowl

in the las vegas review journal that kind of played around with where the sources were coming from but basically was saying there was a lot of interest in Derek Carr, just out of nowhere. And I'm thinking, like, who's putting this out there? Because it doesn't really make sense for Derek Carr to be putting this out there. So it's in the Las Vegas Review Journal. It kind of makes sense that even though they kind of hid the sourcing away that it was like League Insiders really think that David Carr is going to, Derek Carr is going to have a market, but it would take two first-round picks to get them.

It's like it felt like a clumsy attempt for the Raiders to drum up some interest and Derek Carr is what it felt like on the outside to me. If Carson Wentz's value, top value is two second rounders, I would feel like that would be the ceiling. Right. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Two first for Derek Carr.

I do feel like the Raiders, I mean, you're entering into year four with Gruden. Maybe he has his quarterback. I've always felt like those two are a little bit oil and vinegar, although those things do go together, I guess. But I would just say that Derek Carr is this one quarterback. Food is a blind spot for Mark. Is it oil and water? Oil and vinegar don't mesh, though.

Oil vinegar is awesome. The brown spot in the middle. That's the vinegar part, right? Put that on a hoagie. Oh, my God. That's the only way to have a hoagie. I mean, that's like an actual dressing, so it does go together. I know, but it's set, well, it visually separates, is all I'm saying.

But that's not really helping me with my point either. But I think the car just feels like a quarterback that you have to constantly kind of prop of his feelings and manage. He gets so stung by stuff. that it feels like a bit laborious. I wouldn't hate a fresh start somewhere else. Do something, Raiders. We're always talking about you. Like, ooh, watch out.

They could do something crazy. But you never do it. Give us something here, Raiders. Do something crazy. You'd be the team that gives up way too much for Carson Wentz. I mean, they, in their defense, they were in on Tom Brady last off season, and Tom Brady is like, I'm not going out west.

You're right. So they, you know, and Derek Carr did go in the media and say that that was something that gave him, some additional fire and blah, blah, blah. You know, the Raiders are interesting in the sense that they have Gruden on that 10-year deal, and it was a deep rebuild when he took over the team, and it seemed to be going in the right direction.

But that December nosedive this year, in particular, I thought, was speaking of eyebrow raising. To me, it's like they're entering into tricky terrain now because the third year, that was where they were supposed to kind of get to the playoffs and really show growth. Instead, they ended up exactly. or they were at the end of year two of the regime. So now we enter year four.

And if you don't get results in year four, it's like, geez, we're almost halfway through this insane contract with this guy. And are we going anywhere with this dude? So this is a huge year for the Raiders for that reason. All right. Just a quick note. We're only about 16 quarterbacks away from covering every quarterback situation in the NFL. There's more, right?

Speed it up. You're right. We have a Taylor Heineke. Oh, much news. Of course. but first I want to hit on a juicy little nugget from it is coming up on draft season now and we obsess over draft picks and who's the first round pick and this and then the fan base goes nuts and views them as this guy a savior for whatever position he plays well the Titans

used their first round pick on Isaiah Wilson an offensive tackle that they thought they could view as a linchpin on their line man John Robinson had a pretty rough 2020 off season And Wilson barely played last year, went on the COVID list twice, got a DUI. And coming off that, you now have John Robbins of going out in the media today and saying this. Yeah, I think, you know, again, we put him on the reserve non-football illness list there. I haven't spoken to him since that list got put out. You know, I think, so I think, you know, he's going to have to make a determination if he wants to do everything necessary to probably pro football. And that's going to be, you know, on him.

So I know what the expectation level is here. It's no different than any other player on the football team. You know, we have a certain standard that we want players to prepare and perform at professionally and as people. And a lot of work to be done there. that's really bad because he was placed, Wilson was placed on the reserve non-football illness list on December 9th. So for the team to not even be in contact with him for this amount of time, a reigning first round pick,

this is heading towards all-time bus territory. And you didn't even, there wasn't really clarity on why he was placed on that list either. It sounded like he was just placed on it because they were done with him. They never said he had an illness. Yes, yeah. There's a couple different quotes I found that were, sorry, Mark, that were, like, that jumped out at me. Robinson said that we did a lot of work on him leading up to the draft.

The player that was here in the fall was not the player we evaluated. He's going to have to make a determination if he wants to play pro football. That's on him. And then Mike Rable told the Tennessean, I can't comment on Isaiah. He said that I wouldn't even begin to be able to eloquently have an answer for you. So clearly, things are not going well. They're pissed. They're epically pissed because I think if you read between the lines and it's not hard,

he's making them look really bad. It's showing that they failed in the evaluation. And now this guy is essentially stealing money from the team. And that reflects directly on the people that were responsible for bringing him into the building. The first time he got Corona, I mean, is attached to the fact the police had to break up an off-campus party at Tennessee State University. where he was frolicking around, you know, untethered during training camp. How we were just blown off steam, me and Isaiah that night. Right.

And like John Robinson mentioned, you know, they loved him. They did love him in the pre-job process. And that's an old HR thing. When an employee goes south, where is the person I interviewed? And that's what they're saying. This is not the human being we thought we'd get. John Robinson said he was impressed with even his laugh, that he laughed like Andre the Giant during the old research part of this.

But I saw that. What is that? Why would that make him more? draftable. That was an absurd thing. I mean, he laughs like a gigantic giant. This is what Andre the giant laugh. If you don't know. Well, he wound up like Jose Luis Rivera, if we're not at this point, troubling. Hey, I mean, I feel. I mean, I feel like I, you know, I used to be in a hiring position. I made some, some bad hires. Even as, you know, as a group, we've made a bet, we made a couple

bad hire. What are you, what are you saying? What? We don't need it, Greg. We don't. We Don't need it right now. For the auxiliary HR podcast. Right now, Greg. Finally, in the news, yes, Taylor Heineke, speaking of having one game and a change. Four quarterbacks. Changing how, go away, Ricky. Changing how things and how you're portrayed.

Heineke went from a practice squad quarterback in December to a guy that was slinging it, throw for throw with Tom Brady in the wild card round of the playoffs for the Washington football team. The team lost that game, of course. But it led to Heineke signing a two-year $8.75 million contract. Just 500K is guaranteed. So it doesn't mean that Washington paid out the butt for this guy off one game. But it does show you, but spilled with one two there, that sometimes one big game can change your life. And it might have done that for Taylor Heineke. Yeah, they might have to cut Alex Smith, which is awkward Because I think if Alex Smith wants to continue his career, you know, might not be there

But it is amazing if you think about the Bowles-assant Stan to circle it all the way back around You know, Bowles faced four quarterbacks in the playoffs Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees, and Taylor Heineke Unquestionably, the best performance came from Heineke It wasn't even close He was really good in that game. And the diving touchdown that he had briefly made you think Washington could do something insane in that game. And he played his nails in that game.

I mean, that's the kind of game. Sorry, I keep cutting you off. Damn it. I was reading this, like, crazy article, and now I'm taking us down a rabbit hole. But you're going to come into the rabbit hole with me that I went down this morning reading about Heineke. I was reading about this game that he had at Old Dominion, where he threw for 730. yards? Did you guys know about this? Because I did not know. And I end up doing all these like dumb deep dives on prospects around combine time and draft. And this, I did not know. In that

game, he had like 79 attempts, which is just wild. 730 yards. How about we see that in the NFL? This is why some people are, oh, why don't you watch college football? That's why I don't watch college football. I mean, when you're, you're playing, it's like, oh yeah, Penn State is playing our lady of the worthless miracle on Saturday afternoon. It's like, who cares? You play half your schedules against teams that are at your level, and then everything's this big money grab playing these smaller schools, and it's just like a total slaughter.

I don't know. Well, I think Old Dominion is taking you off their mailing list as of today, Dan. And some people ask, like, why are Colleen's binders so full? It's because of information like that, you know? Yeah. She's just stuffing them with that. exactly all right um kwan short a j booye and boyet and tyroo williams among the early cuts for veterans as we head towards the start of a new league year and a salary cap that uh it will be less i don't know if it's official yet i think around 180 million is what they were saying um and there will be more veterans that end up on the chopping block here as teams try to get under the cap and reset for 2021 All right.

No, Wes. It was a new phase for the show. Really sad. But we're just going on and talking ball and doing what we do. But please, please, please. The GoFundMe with everything, every cent collected by the GoFundMe goes to Lakeisha and Lincoln. And unbelievably, and thank you, by the way,

Grevy, who's one of our Matthew Graver, who organized this and was in direct contact with Lakeisha when Wes was battling cancer for the second time, setting this up. And he also has done great work on the subreddit, bringing fans together over there. He organized this. And it is closing in on $260,000 raised by people who loved Wes and are trying to support his family in this really difficult time over five and a half thousand donors and yeah over a quarter million dollars raised for Lakeisha and Link and that is awesome keep it up let's go 500 let's go half a mill why not I was thinking we should have like a roast maybe I was originally thinking to just be a roast of Dan Hansis that goes to this like West fund

But then I thought maybe we should open it up to everybody else. And then maybe the listeners get involved. So I'm just spitballing right now live and just figured I'd throw it out there. I like that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I would participate. I feel like you guys would.

And I don't know. I don't know if I'm really like I would be good at that. I don't know if I would handle that well. I think Colleen, you have a way better temperament for being roasted. So I think maybe the roast would be toward you. You get that like look from Dan like 20 minutes in where he's like not as pleasant to be there as we thought and not enjoying some of the slights not sure if they're real or not so this was exactly my thinking because originally i was like it should definitely be a rose of dan

and then i was like i don't know if dan would be good with that but gregg definitely would be able to handle it so let's definitely open it up to gregg and i was like but then there's so much material with mark too and rickie so it should just be everybody to get real to get very real um all right So that's one idea. We're going to, you know, we're going to continue to, like, figure out and think about ways. It's never happening, Colleen. Exactly. Not in a million years.

To, you know, of course, remember Wes. And we will, we haven't started putting it together yet, but it's definitely something we are going to do. We're going to have a kind of a separate show from the standard podcast week where we'll be remembering West. our favorite moments with Wes during the, you know, thousand plus episodes over the years and we'll do, you know, kind of talks, talk about, talk about him and then play some clips. That's coming down the line. And I think that could end up being something we do on an annual basis.

Because like Greg said, Wes is gone here in from this earth. But he's, his spirit is with the show and with everyone that, loved and cared about them both personally and family and friends and also the listeners. So that's it. Any final thoughts? Colleen, great work here. You've done it again and you've said it all. Thank you.

I guess there's nothing left for me to say then if I've said it all. And I did like every time, every time you accidentally stepped on Mark, I thought Mark was really a professional 100% of the time. Sorry, Mark. We're going to get better at this. it's this is the way it is i mean i would say at least we're offering a little bit less of a devastating time delay than you had to deal with on most of your tnf broadcasts every single show i did besides this one when the the the few times that i was on the podcast during the season were the only times that i was doing a show that did not have at least a three to five second delay so it is

really such a joy to talk to people without like laughing all over dumb jokes that happened like 15 minutes ago and I do that anyway but still this was uh this is really really nice so it's great yeah you really lost a lot of like the michael irvin has like a piece of cracker on the corner of his mouth humor with that delay you know he just just gets i need this pandemic to end this is the box it took tiny we took it took an hour in 16 minutes but it finally got the the time delay talk that the listeners really they were looking for. All right. We'll be back on Friday.

So please come on back. And yes, as I said, the GoFundMe is out there. It's pinned atop my Twitter page. And I'm sure everyone else on the show has been plugging that so you can find it anywhere. And we love you and we miss you, West. All right. This is it. Dan Hed signing off for The Quiet Storm.

The old boss. The tiny box, trapped in a tiny box, within a tiny box. So many boxes. And Ricky Hollywood. Until Friday. I'm going to be able to be. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move the Six, 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 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 I-Hour. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant.

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