OverDrive - OverDrive - August 13, 2026 - Hour 1 - Dion Dawkins

Episode Date: August 13, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss Sergei Bobrovsky's behind-the-scenes Panthers departure, Bobrovsky's role with the Maple Leafs, the goaltending depth in Toronto, Kawhi Leonard's spotlight and the Raptors' schedule release. Buffalo Bills Offensive Tackle Dion Dawkins joins to discuss his role with the Bills, Highmark Stadium's upgrades and the team's outlook on the roster.

Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for details and to check availability.

Bell, connection is everything. Power of Overdrive is powered by Fandool. Fan Duel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, Overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker up on TSN4, Brian Hayes. Dave Fess Shuck of the Toronto Star in here. How are we doing? Dave. Really good, Hayes.

Really, really, really good. Good to be back in the studio with you. Good to see you. Great to see you. I am, I'm dragging a little bit today. ton of energy on my end because I woke up in a deep sweat and deep terror after a dream, a vivid dream, something I don't do very often at my age anymore. Usually I wake up and I'm like, I don't know what the hell was going on there. I don't know what I was thinking. I had a dream

last night that the O-Dog was going to be the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I think I woke up screaming and my wife just said, what are you doing? What's wrong with you? that I had a nightmare. The O-Dog is actually going to step in. Jim Hiller, something came up and Hiller said, I can't do it. And John Chikas said, you're my guy. The O'Dog, Jeff O'Neill. Do you imagine the reaction in the city?

Oh, my God. The O-Dog was taking over as the head coach of the Maple Leaf. Well, you used two words there. At first you said it was a dream, and then you said it was a nightmare. Yeah, more accurately described, I think, as nightmare. But I don't know, it would be a dream for content creators like yourself. It would be great. Man, I'd love to interview him.

as the head coach. Wouldn't that be something? Wouldn't it be amazing? Leave him on hold for like seven minutes before I bring him in. He can't do anything. And just grill him. Just grill him on everything. It would be absolutely awesome, awesome content.

I would love to rip him as a call on this for some dumb decision that he made. Yeah. Because you know he'd come back at you. He would. Oh, he'd be right at, he'd call you. Yeah. He's a phone call guy. Oh, yeah.

He'd be calling like leaving the rink. Don't start. I know what you'd be. going to say tomorrow and I'd flush his call and then that would be a thing and then we'd go back and forth but he he would so what did you did you see him coach at all in this dream and never got I didn't allow it to get okay like my instincts kicked in subconsciously I said dude wake up don't go there did you see the introductory press conference I saw nothing okay I saw nothing other than the news breaking and then me talking to him vividly saying are you actually serious

like you're actually going to be the coach he goes yeah I'm going to be the coach and then I just started screaming and I woke up. But, hey, maybe that's actually what needs to happen. Who knows? Maybe the Leaves need to pull it to stand in here and do the complete opposite. And I guess maybe they'd argue that's what they've done, you know, with Tika and Hiller compared to Trey Living and Barube, I guess we'll see. But one of the newest Maple Leaf is going to join us this afternoon,

Jack Rossovic coming up in an hour. And we talked about him a couple days ago with all this turnover with the team, Roselvic, it kind of slid under the radar a little bit, but he's a 20 goal score in the league. He's been in the league for a while. He knows Austin Matthews very well. That's right. And I think they're going to give him an opportunity to play pretty high in the lineup. If he

can salvage that opportunity, then he's a guy that probably plays every night and they're banking on scoring 20 plus again. And why not? Absolutely. It's a decent bet. It makes sense to me. I mean, this is a guy got him for $4 million bucks. I mean, he's you know, he's under contract for a couple more years.

It's, you know, the familiarity with your team captain and best player theoretically. He's got to help. Got to be a bonus and a plus. And we'll see what he has to say at 530. Absolutely. And short-term deals. That's what they kept signing, you know,

with the exception of Darren Radish, who got himself an eight-year deal. Everything else was a shorter-term deal. And he's at five, not 5.30. He's at 5 o'clock. JP. Yes, he's coming up at 5. We've got Dion Dawkins coming up at 430.

We'll tell you more about. that. But, you know, a lot of these guys, maybe they overpaid them. Maybe we're still adjusting to the cap being inflated and moving up every single year. But pretty clearly, the Leaves wanted flexibility over the next year or two with Matthews potentially coming up and other big free agents. I don't think that's ever a bad idea, especially for debt players. You're going to have to commit to Rattish. And there's a report out, I guess, today, about, you know, how they ended up landing Sergei Bobroski in the end

because the report indicated that he was willing to return to Florida for less term and less dollars. That is according to Daria Tubal Dezov. I'm not pronouncing that

properly at all. But Sergei Vobrovsky reportedly fine with taking a pay cut and less term but wanted a full no trade clause and was only offered a partial no trade clause from Bill Zito, the GM of the Panthers, so the Leaf swooped in. I think a couple things on that.

One, I'm not convinced they really wanted to keep him. I know he's saying he'd be willing to do that. I didn't hear Bill Zito on the record say we were willing to accept $6 million per for two years. But you don't, if you really want a player, you just give it on basically any detail. Like GMs will tell you that. If you really want a player,

you give in on basically any detail when it comes to negotiation. Trades are different. There's a value. There's a limit to what you're willing to give up. At some point, you're going to say we can't continue to trade, you know, every piece to get you. But if a GM is saying not willing to go down that road, then what they're telling you is they're not certain that it's a smart play. And really what they're probably telling you is we don't actually want you.

Go find something else. And that's what he ended up doing. Yeah, this one, you're right. This one doesn't quite pass the smell test because this is the one league hayes where everybody gets a no trade clause. Yes, exactly. Pretty much everybody gets a no trade clause if they ask for it and push hard enough for it, right? And sometimes it feels like they don't have to push for it at all

because it's just assumed to be included in a certain type of deal, right? It's a formality. Yeah, it's a formality. And that's a bad thing for fans, and it's frustrating for people who want to see more player movement and more off-ice transactional drama in this league because sometimes it's just like, that guy ain't going to nowhere because he doesn't want to go anywhere.

Guess what? He's got the power to stay where he wants to stay. But this one, to me, you're right. This doesn't feel like the Panthers wanted him. You got that vibe when Sergey Brabowski spoke to the media upon his arrival in Toronto. But this is one of the most intriguing decisions that the Panthers have made because you don't want to doubt it,

front office that has done what this front office has done, right? Because going to three straight cup finals, winning two is obviously puts you in a different class of front office. It says you build something that's very difficult to build and very few executives will ever build. And yet, you talk to people,

we had Marty Brown on this very show. I don't think you were here that day and you talked to people in the goalie community in general. And there's not a lot of love for Jacob Marshall. No, and that's it. Like they turned left off Bobrowski and It would be one thing if they said we've got a young guy coming up, we're just going to commit to him, or, yeah, it's not ideal, but we're going to go cheap on a tandem.

Markstrom has not performed well at all in past years. He's been very inconsistent, and he's making $6 million for a couple more years, and he's got a partial no trade, I believe. So that's your pivot. You're going to kick out a guy in Broborsky who obviously didn't play well last year, but for someone that is equally, is uncertain, if not more, and you've never seen him close up? That, I agree with you. I mean, I don't think that's smart

managerial practice. Doesn't feel like it. I don't think it's the right play. I'm not, I don't know if Bob's going to, get a pop for the leaves. Like, I'm not defending him as a Maple Leaf here and saying that he's going to be great. It's, it's a pressure-packed deal. There's a Patrick Marlow element to this. You know, they need him to be great year one.

I said it, I said it yesterday. I said it a few times. Year three is not going to be great. like you gave them a three-year deal, a 21 million total with a full no movement, understanding year three is probably not going to be good. And this administration wasn't here for the Marlowe exit, where they had to trade a first-round pick that turned into Seth Jarvis to get rid of him. So I'm nervous about that, and I think everyone should be about what Bob is going to look like down the road. Now, the cap is much higher.

Marlowe's making 6.5 at that point. Bob's making 7 now. That was 7 years ago or whatever. It's a different world. It's a different world. The cap is obviously different, but it's a gamble. But if you're asking me, I guess, who I would prefer to have, throw away the contracts, just playing for the next season, Jacob Markstrom or Sergey Bobki. I'm taking Bob every day of the week. Yeah. Every day of the week. Except, you know, the Florida Panthers aren't stupid, right? Like they know more about Bob than we know about Bob. Sure. They've watched and performed all those years. And they've seen, you know, him at this height, winning standards.

the Cups, and they've seen him last year where he was looking like he was pretty much done. And so you know, I guess that's the issue. It's like, the Leafs obviously have a very strong feeling that there's something left there and plenty left there because they gave him a three-year deal.

You know, we heard Andy O'Brien talk about how, yeah, his biological age is different than his chronological age, which, you know, is code for he keeps himself in great shape. And, you know, even though he's turning 38 next month, he won't look like it to your eye. And that is his reputation. Yeah. An absolute freak in terms of nutrition,

diet, in the gym, his body, stretching, everything. Yeah. Been his reputation his whole career. Right. So we'll see who's right. You know, that I find that I always love those, you know, those situations where a front office that is obviously very smart makes a move that you think looks kind of dumb. And this one to me looks like it's a huge gamble on Marx. I'm like he's, to your point, he's not that much cheaper. and he's not that much younger. He's 36. Right, exactly.

And he's way less accomplished. He doesn't have two Veznas and two cups, I'll tell you that. Not even close. No. I mean, he's got no real playoff history in his career. And, you know, I do wonder if, you know, there was a time there with Bobrovsky, you know, he signed that monster deal eight years, ten and a half or whatever it was, seven or eight years at ten, ten and a half, where it looked like a sunk cost.

Like a few years ago, he had played himself out of the net. And if that was still lingering, you would think they would be. beyond that after three straight cup finals and they won two of them and he was brilliant throughout both runs and played basically every game except the first one he started game four I think against the Bruins when Alex Lyon

played himself out but if they've been they've had that contract circle for three or four years so we just got to get off it like get as much as you can so that would be their reasoning clearly Florida's reasoning would be we got everything we possibly could we're going to wash your hands

of this and we're going to move on I don't think it's a bad guy thing or not fitting in the room thing. I think it's just we got everything we possibly can and on the Leaf perspective, as much as it is a gamble, as I said when they signed him, I think

it was a mandatory one. Because I don't, I would not have trusted Stollars or Wall. I still don't trust Anthony Stoller. No. Like he has no reason for anyone to put faith in him. He has got to prove he can stay healthy and perform. Like last year was a disaster. He just,

He was barely available when he was. He didn't play well. You know, saying what he was saying publicly, which I didn't personally have a big deal with, but I know a lot of players and former players felt like he crossed the line publicly calling guys out that early into the season. He has a big spotlight on him. But obviously the mantra within the organization was,

you got to write the ship, you got to get back in a playoff contention. In my opinion, it was mandatory they had a goaltender of substance. Now, will he play like it? We'll see. but there was no other option. You weren't trading for anybody else. There was no one else you could sign that could give you the ceiling of Bob,

where if Bob, after the longest off-season he's had in years, can reset and possibly play with a chip on his shoulder. I don't know how it applies to goaltending, but if you can play with a chip on your shoulder after your team basically kicked you to the curb with everything you've done for them, it's a make-or-break decision for the leaves. And it's either going to be a brilliant one for Chica

or an absolute disaster. to start his tenure. You're right. There's just, there's two options. Like I don't see 43 starts and a 904, say, percentage and just an all right goalie. It's either he gets them to the playoffs and is great. And Florida immediately regrets and Chika looks brilliant.

Or he's finished cooked. It's a disaster. And immediately it's a dead weight for three years. Yeah. It just doesn't seem like it's a middle ground. It doesn't feel like it. But say this for this, for one thing about Bobowski, even last year when he wasn't very good, obviously.

He was way, way below standard. He still played 50-plus games. Always plays. Always plays. Can't drag him out of the crease. And the Leafs just haven't had a guy like that. Since Freddie Anderson was doing his thing with the 60-plus starts in the Babcock era, right? So it's been a long time since they've been able to say,

pencil this guy in for the majority of the starts, all the big moments, he'll be our guy. I mean, they're going to have to do that. That's the idea, right? And to your point, if Brobowski shows up and suddenly, oh, boy, you know, he looks, he looks, you know, beat slow and he's clearly washed. I mean, I guess that could theoretically happen. It would be a disaster for the leaves, but, you know, sometimes guys fall off cliffs at age 38. I just don't see that happening. Like, I see this guy showing up and, you know, being as advertised in terms of being just an incredibly well-conditioned,

you know, consummate pro who's going to look younger than his birth certificate suggests he is. Yeah, I would agree with that, and I'm planning on that, and I think the leaps are clearly planning on that, and they need it because, yeah, you can't drag him

out of the net. You know, he's got to perform, and if he plays, that's a big part of it, but how he plays, you know, is going to be a separate conversation, clearly. And maybe you get more out of Stolar's too, because, you know, the pressure of Stolars and wall both, you know, sort of

being the potential number one guy. Whenever it felt like one of them was going to be the number one guy, they always sort of let you down. Yeah. And some of it was injury, obviously. A lot of it was injury. But, you know, who knows exactly what goes into that, right? That's the thing.

How much it is psychological. Right. I don't know if I'm playing tonight. It's like, that's the thing about number ones. They play, man. Like it's same thing with a quarterback. It's like they're playing. Yeah.

You just know they're playing. You can rely on it. Guys that aren't used to it. Noodles talks about it all the time. Guys that aren't conditioned to do it. It's a huge part of the skill set of being a true number one is that you play and you're comfortable. And even when you get blown up in the net, the next night you're like, I'm good. Let's go play again.

Like it's just, it's a different mentality. And I think you're on to something there that Stolars actually may get back to where he was the previous couple of years, which was statistically unbelievable. Yeah. Like off the charts. effective statistically, especially two years ago in Florida when he knew I'm playing 20 games and that's it.

So if Hiller gets to him and goes, I need 25 out of you. Give me 25. Maybe if he gives you 25 at like a 925 state percentage, you're going to win a lot of those games. Yes, you are. You're going to be in a really good place. And he doesn't have to strive to be the number one guy

because he's got his money, because that deal is just kicking in, and he's got his security blanket in terms of Bob being ahead of him in the lineup. Yeah. Yeah. You know, properly slotting guys, right? Like, you know how it is when you miscast people, you put them in a bad spot, right? And maybe this guy was best cast as a very reliable number two

because of the fact that clearly, you know, he has durability issues. There's no doubt about that. So if he knows that the durability issues are never going to be something he has to worry about because he's never going to be called on to play a long stretch of games, you know, he's never going to be a called on to be the guy they lean on again and again and again, like he was when Wall didn't show up out of the gate last year, right? I think that could, like, that might really help Anthony Stolars become or rediscover the guy he was when he was a very reliable number two.

Yeah, and statistically off the charts a couple of years ago. All right, Dion Dawkins coming up, the Raptor schedules out, not a ton of U.S. you know, primetime games. Which always matters. Which it always is a story, right? It's like, how many times are they playing on NBC or on ESPN or ABC or whatever? Seven, even though Kauai, you know, they've been waiting because they're waiting for LeBron to officially sign somewhere so that they could recalibrate things if need be.

And Philly was already going to play a lot of primetime games. Now they're playing more than anybody. I think they're playing 33 U.S. national games, which I'm pretty sure is the limit under the CBA. So LeBron and the whole scene down there in Philly is going to get a lot of prime time in the U.S. I have a bit of a conspiracy theory and I'm going to run it through you is that even though the league knows Kauai is going to be with the Rapplers, they don't want Kauai under any spotlight. And in a weird way, him being a Raptower, I wonder if they took him off primetime games. Yeah?

Like conversely, when he showed up in 19, even though he's not the biggest personality, as we know, that was such a big trade. The Raptors were a really good team going into that season. They got a lot of U.S. national games. They got double. They got like 15. Immediately. It was like, all right, we got to see what Kauai's got up there. This time, because of the circus with the clippers and the Balmer stuff and the capser convention, like the conspiracy theorist in me thinks the Raptors had like 10 or 12.

and then the Kauai deal went down, they're like, no, no, no. Get him off ABC. Get him off ESPN. Get him out of the country. Because I don't think the league is the biggest fan of Kauai Leonard. You think? I'm not sure they're huge fans of Kauai Leonard's action right now. Yeah. How sick do you think Adam Silver is of Kauai and Uncle Dennis

and all the shenanigans that they partook in? I mean, imagine how this, like, how much does Adam Silver hate those guys? Oh, everyone involved in the whole scene. Because he's ruined his life. Like, they've ruined his life. They've made his life a living hell because he's got this specter of scandal and these guys making a mockery of the salary cap.

And now he's got to make an incredibly impossible decision about how you punish the richest man in North American sports. And how do you do it without the, how do you punish Kaua without the Players Union, dragging this thing into the appeal process into 2027? And that would be another disaster on top of the disaster that's already occurring. I mean, yeah, it's a decent theory that Adam Silver just said,

get him off. Limit the exposure of Kauai Leonard at all costs. Yeah, we just don't want him anywhere close to the bright lights. Like, do you look up how many U.S. national games the Clippers have? Because the Clippers are not going to be. They've got eight. I saw that. Okay, they got eight.

So there's not surprising at all. 15 total between the two teams. Yeah. That screams Silver being like, I don't want to see these guys ever. Like, I don't want to turn on NBC or whatever. ever prime anything and see these guys. I just, I can't do it. They drive me crazy because, you know, we talked about it yesterday,

like what Kauai represents to the history of the NBA. And it's not, he wasn't the one that forced them to make the Paul George trade. But he had a huge impact on it. Like, I'll sign there if you go get my guy, Paul George, where they have been waiting for the, my whole life, the Clippers have been a joke. They don't feel like it any more to younger people since Ballmer showed up, but now they have their own stadium. The Donald Sterling Clipper years were as bad as it could ever get.

It was the Arizona Coyotes plus the Cleveland Browns plus the Oakland A's. Like it was a disaster. Yeah. And he was a joke of an owner that everyone couldn't stand. They stunk. They played at Staples Center in the Lakers and the Kings basically said, go stand over there. We'll tell you when you can play.

That's right. Like Tuesday at 11 a.m. you can have a hip-off kid. They were the joke of the league. And they finally get Balmer. they get their own stadium, and it should have been Shea Gildes-Alexander as the greatest clipper of all time. Imagine that.

Instead, the guys in Oklahoma City as the greatest thunder of all time. I think he's passed Russell Westbrook already. That's an interesting question. Yeah. Katie and James Hardin. Shout out to Russ, who just retired yesterday. Great 18-year career.

Incredible career. I got to think Shay's considered the greatest thunder play at all time. Now that he's won. Once you deliver a championship and two MVPs. Yeah. It's a tough conversation. Man, that's real talent through there, though, man. Russ and K.D., again, James Hardin and...

Incredible. Sergei Paca was on that team. Oh, yeah. They were really good. But anyway, the Raptors with seven primetime games on U.S. national TV this year, and we still await to find out the resolution of the Kwai Leonard Clippers story. Dionne Dawkins of the bills coming up in just under 10 minutes. We got a big announcement, too, that we're really excited for on TSM Radio.

We're going to tell you about that. Jack Rosovic. Coming up, Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite?

Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.za for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. All right, overdrive continues, powered by Fandul, bringing you more ways to play your game, your way, best bets later this afternoon.

Jack Rossellvick of the Maple Leafs coming up just after five. Dionne Dawkins of the bills coming up here in a few moments. And it was just announced, and we are very, very excited here at TSN Radio. To announce that we have partnered with the Buffalo Bills to carry Bill's games on TSN, 10, 50 in Toronto, 1,200 in Ottawa, 690 in Montreal. And all the games will also be available to stream across Canada on the TSM Radio via IHeart Radio app. So IHeart Radio app up here in Canada, you can track it all.

We're going to have the Bill Show One Bill's Live on TSN Radio via IHeart Radio as well. So it's a really, really cool story. We're really excited. And, you know, TSN is the home of the NFL. It's home of football, period, in this country. And the bills, they got a new. stadium and they're a really good team. They've got a tough schedule to start their season.

But you're going to hear all those games and all the action, pre-game, post-game, everything right here on TSM. Canada's team. We love it. Canada's team in the NFL. Campita, man. You're a St. Catherine's guy, right? That's kind of a local team for you, basically. That's right down the road, man. When you grow up on the border, you kind of feel like

before, there was a time haze where you didn't need a passport to cross over. You didn't even need your license. You didn't need ID. Nothing. People just went back and forth all the time. basically no border patrol at all back in those days. Crazy. And it was great. Yeah.

So we felt like, you know, the states was the backyard, you know? It was like it was part of your home. Yeah. No, you're right. And you always felt like it's home. Like people, like, I know people, you know, we've had a lot of tension between our two countries. But I, like, as somebody who grew up on the border, like, I've never had a bad experience

in the States. I really haven't. I've always been treated like a, like, like I was at home. I totally agree. And vice versa. And we're getting, you know, well, it's still. applies that way, I think, for most people. A lot of Canadian is not going down there

right now. But we're going to get back to it. That's the way it goes. It always works out that way. I can remember at the height of COVID. It was like, never again, no more handshaking masks for the rest of time. And now it's like prohugs and no one's wearing anything. No one remembers. Life goes on. Everything kind of resolves

the way it's supposed to. We'll get there again. But the bills are, you know, they've got that new stadium cooking. And we're actually going to give away a pair of tickets to the game this weekend, because They got Carolina in town, and with the bills coming up on TSN 1050, you have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Bills preseason game against the Panthers. This Saturday at Highmark Stadium.

So this is what you got to do. Text the keyword bills. Text the keyword bills along with your name and city to 1050-50 right now for your chance to win. So bills, your name and city to 1050-50 right now for your chance to win. That's big, man. That's big. That's huge. You know, videos of the new stadium and the players are.

raving about it. And, you know, it looks amazing. I'm looking forward to getting down there and seeing it. I've noticed some people, we brought up SOFI. And obviously, SOFI is like the pinnacle of stadiums. Yes. But the weather in Southern California compared to Western New York is a little bit different. You know, so I get the impression, like, a lot of the engineering and the architecture

and everything, they had to consider, we're going to be playing here in November, December, December, in January. Right. Right. Like building a stadium for Buffalo compared to L.A. is probably a little bit different. Yes. What you can do with it and how you can build it. And I guess what I'm getting to is like protecting the technology and all that. It's much more difficult to do in Buffalo compared to L.A. Oh, yeah. And I've heard people talking about how the video boards are small compared to, you know, what you see at SoFi, what you see at Jerry World where the, you know, the video board is ridiculous. It goes almost like the length of the field. It's so huge, right?

And, you know, punters can kind of peg it off because it hangs so low. But, you know, I was talking to somebody about this yesterday. It was like, is it really maybe they're on to something with smaller video boards? Because guess what? You know, when you go to a game,

should you really be watching the video board? Right. And everybody's got a little video board in their hand too, right? When people want to watch replays at games, a lot of the time, they go to Twitter. Or they'll go It's it. Oh, they'll go to, they can go to the game on TV on their phone, right? And they can watch it.

There's a lot of people doing this at games, looking down at their phones, right? So it might be the bills are on to something here, like these spectacle video boards at SoFi and Cowboy Stadium. Like, are they really what you want? Is that really do you want that to be the main attraction? Or do you want the main thing to be the main thing? Actually on the field, exactly. And that's, I guess, what I'm driving at, too. You can't have some massive jumbochon.

For starters, there's not. a roof over the time. Right. But if there was, you know, a half roof and with the weather there, you just could, the roof might cave in. Yeah. The amount of snow that they get down in Buffalo. You're right. Like all these things had to be considered. And I think once people get in there, there's always nostalgia. That stadium had been there forever. You know, it's a gritty place, but it felt right, you know, and I've noticed, you know, people are wondering about ticket prices and stuff. And guess what? It's going to go up. They're going to pay for the thing. The things red hot, the team's red hot,

you're going to pay much more of a premium today than you did 10 years ago. That applies to everything, but they'll figure it out and they're also, they're trying to cash on the prime of Josh Allen. And you look at their schedule, I was looking at it this morning,

prepping for Dion to come on. They have a really difficult start to the season, like very, very difficult. So they start at Houston. Then they're at home to the Lions, which is the Thursday night game. That's the home opener. Yeah.

Then they're at home to the Chargers, a very good playoff team a year ago, at home to the Patriots, then at the Rams, man. Like at Texans, at Rams, and then home to Lions,

Chargers, pads, if you can go three and two, you're ecstatic, I think. That'd be pretty good. Like, you're ecstatic if you're three and two

because that's a really difficult start. And then you're at the Raiders, home to the Ravens, at the Vikings, at the Jets. It's a tough schedule, man. They've got the AFC West, so you're going to play the Chiefs, and you're going to play the Broncos,

and you've got to hit the road for the Broncos late in the season. That's a tough, tough game. I think that's like Week 16. Tough, but. Incredibly tough. That first month, like, you're going to be excited about the new stadium, which you should be. You got a new coach down there.

You know, I saw Josh Allen last week talking about the new uniforms, and it symbolizes like a fresh stadium. start, a new vibe and all that. This September is going to be it's going to be tough, man. It's going to come at you quick. At Texans, home to the Lions, home to the Chargers, home to the Pats at the Rams. That's as tough

of a five-game sked as you can get to start the season. That is a lot of pressure on Joe Brady because you know, like there's a lot of arguments we made that the coach was not the problem with the Buffalo Bills, right? Sean McDermott was not the problem, although I know there

people who believe he was the problem. But man, when you're taking over a team that has such high expectations, basically it's Super Bowl or bust, right? Like people are fed up with anything other than getting to a Super Bowl in Buffalo, right? You mean, you have maximizing the Josh Allen era is the goal.

And then suddenly you're the guy in charge of doing that with a schedule like this out of the gate. Like that is a... You talk about your nightmare last night. This is Joe Brady's probably having a few of his own of potential scenarios where it doesn't go great. He might, but he's, He's going to have to rely on his players.

He's going to have to rely on his veterans, and he's going to have to rely on, I think, his left tackle. Left tackles, for sure, man. You've got to rely on the big boys up front. And we happen to have one of them on the show right now. Here he is from the Buffalo Bill's. Longtime Bill, there he is. Dion Dawkins joining us.

What's up, Dion, how you doing? What's up, family? How are you guys doing? We're doing well, man. How's everything going down there? We like in the new stadium. Give us the full breakdown. All right.

So the new stadium is elite. When I mean elite, it's almost like getting like a brand new diamond ring, right? Like if your wife or your significant other seemed like a diamond ring for the first time, and it was like five carrots, and she's like, holy smokes. That's what the stadium kind of like, you know, like the vibe of like a holy smoke kind of thing. But nah, all jokes aside, the new stadium is, it's elite. I like to give the analogy. It's like a Tesla truck in the middle of a desert.

Like it just shouldn't be there. Okay, I like that. That's perfect, man. And that's, you know, obviously we know what the stands look like. Everyone's raving about the field and the grass and all that. In terms of facilities for the players, like take us kind of beneath the scenes there in terms of how good the locker rooms are and the gyms and all that kind of stuff. Like, how big of an upgrade are we talking? Yeah, like we're talking about, like, you, like we all know sports.

Like, when it comes to college facilities, we're talking about like in Alabama, and LSU, like a Georgia, this is like that. I love it. But in the NFL category, like it's just unreal. We have an ice tub that's super long. We have a hot tub that's super long.

We have like an indoor pool. We have like an indoor field where when it gets cold, like you don't even have to go outside. Like it's, it's drastically insane. Like when I walked in there and it was like the vibe. of game day vibe, I said, man, this is what the NFL is supposed to feel like.

And I'm in year 10. And I'm finally saying that. I said, bro, this is what the NFL feels like. And it finally feels like it. Because our old stadium, it was pretty old, man. It was pretty old. And this one, it's far from it. Wow, that's it, man.

And I would assume you're expecting Bill's Mafia, though, to continue to bring the heat, right? Like, what do you think those fans are going to look and feel like once they get in there? Oh my gosh Well they already had like a little teaser for the red and blue game So we already kind of know of that of the crowd noise which is extremely loud But I assume that the fans are going to One I think that they're going to come in and they're going to be like Where's my high heels blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and then they're going to say all right where's the beer and they're just going to go crazy

So it's like the the best of both worlds because they're going to to walk in there like yeah this is our new home and then it's like you know what we're the bill's mafia we don't have to put a suit on let's still just be wild and crazy and that's what we want as players to look in the stands and see those crazy fans that sounds good dion so a lot of changes this year in buffalo new stadium and of course a new coach in joe brady who you knew well before as the offensive coordinator if you had to explain to people you know what's the biggest difference going through training camp in the preseason in a Joe Brady coach team.

How would you describe it? I would describe it. It's more of just like put the ball down type of mindset, right? Like where it's just like put the ball down, we're just going to go after it. You know, like put two Tasmanian devils as the offense and the defense in the ring

and you guys just scrap it out. And we're going to be physical. We're going to be more tougher. where we're going to be the more conditioned team and we're going to play harder. And it's been a tough camp. It has been a tough camp and it's consistently tough. So he's not letting his foot off of the pedal

when it comes to that tough mindset. But this camp is just a little bit more gritty. It's just a little bit more gritty. You know, and McDermott had us gritty too, but it's just like, this is like, it just feels just a little more, how do I say it? more, like, more younger gritty, right?

Like, more, just more hip gritty. Like, we're listening to NBA, like, young boy in the middle of practice. Like, it's a gritty, gritty type of camp. Well, chatting with Dionne Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills. I was watching the clip of Hard Knocks the other day where it was a Seahawks defensive player who was getting a little bit too close to Sam Darnold. And the head coach, obviously, he was not happy with him. Like, he was yelling at him, screaming out.

it again, they pull them out. Like, take us into camp. Obviously, we know no one can touch Josh Allen, but you're not. Absolutely not. And you're standing in their way anyway. So, like, what kind of competition are you dealing with in terms of, obviously, once you get to the games, you know, if they get around you, they're going to try to hit this guy.

But when it's your own teammate and they're trying to make an impact on a new head coach, like take us inside your mentality in camp when you're battling and you're also trying to protect Josh Allen. Yeah, well, when it comes to myself and when it comes to the thought of Josh Allen, right, like we are all who we are in a lot of sense because of Josh Allen, right? If Josh Allen, like, wasn't good, the line wouldn't be able to talk on interviews and have a little pep in their inner step and have just a little bit more confidence and just like Josh is our, you know, he's our mecca, right?

and we go as far as he goes, right? And if Josh isn't playing well, then okay, like they're going to look at the O line or who's not helping him be great. I don't want to be in that category ever. So when it comes to protecting Josh, we keep everybody far, far away. One, because we like our life.

Two, we like our contracts. And three, we want to win a Super Bowl. And when it comes to Josh Allen, keep the hell away from the kid. And these guys know it here. You want the fastest way out of one bill's drive? Go ahead. Touched Josh Allen.

So we have that credit. And also they have a bunch of giant bodyguards that are keeping guys away at arms length. So it's the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, you know, the fastest way up out of here, touch 17. And I know, I know Josh always reciprocates his appreciation to his lineman with his annual Christmas gift. I was reading about the one this past Christmas, Dion, it was a quarter of a cow, I believe. How did that go down for you? still eating that. I'm still eating

that cow. I'm telling you, look, there was so much, there was so much, or, I don't even want to say it, like there was so much packaged meat, right? My dogs are eating great. All right? My dogs have had Wagyu, burger patties for dinner about six, seven times. And I'm talking

about, and it's still a chunk of meat in the freezer, piled up. So, however you want to take it, but Josh does give great gifts. And this year, we got that half a cow or that quarter cow. So I didn't even like realize how much that is. But a quarter cow is a lot

to pass around. That's a lot of cow. It's a lot to pass around. That's a lot. Yeah, fellas. That's a lot. With Dionne Dawkins. So we were talking about your,

your first five weeks. You know, obviously the whole season's a grind. But man, the NFL's putting a challenge on you guys out of the gate. You're at Houston. At Houston. And you know that pass rush. That might be the number one defense in the league or close to it. Then you've got the Lions, Chargers, Pats at home,

and then you're going to the Rams where Miles Garrett and likely Aaron Donald are waiting for you. And I want to jump to week five. Like, I'm not looking past Texas or the Texans and how good they are and how challenging that'll be. Detroit, L.A., New England. But let's say Donald returns. You got Garrett and Donald. You're Dionne Dawkins.

You're waiting for them. Like, how do you game plan for those two? you really just let your let your inner person be and you say you know what just like how they're asking us about Aaron Donald and Miles Garrett they're also saying that you guys have to get through

Dion Dawkins Connor McGovern Osirce Torrance Spencer Brown and whoever our guard is which will be Alec or Corb so they're also saying that because one we as a unit play very very well as a unit, right? And you guys are just talking about one individual guy or two individual guys, which I don't want to take nothing off of it. I'm friends and with Miles. Miles is the greatest.

I'm telling you he is the greatest and he's nothing short of that. And he knows when he plays us and we play him hard. And even like AD, like we played them off of their Super Bowl win and they know how we're coached and they know how hard we play. So, you know, I kind of see it more so. as gladiator ball and you know there's going to be good things it's going to be in bad things you know he's miles garret for a reason so i don't assume that he won't be present you know like he will show up at points of a game but realistically 60 minute a game and so they are talking about us just as well as we are and talking about them but you know week one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 all the way through guys are coming for 7 for 17 even without that overall name so

we just got to just be on our pivot absolutely well you guys i mean you've been to the playoffs basically every year over the last you know what five six seven years and um everyone's waiting for you to kind of break through in the playoffs you guys been so close so many different times like how close do you think this team is to be in a super bowl winning team well how many weeks away is it from the Super Bowl. However many weeks away we are from the Super Bowl, that's how far away we are. Okay, I like it.

Okay, I'll take that. I understand that. You know I got to ask. Everyone's got Super Bowl or bust, you know, expectations, which I'm sure you guys wear with pride, be a lot better than being the worst team in the league, right? And thinking, hey, man, maybe you guys can get the three or four wins. Like, everyone's got high hopes for you guys.

And it doesn't seem like you guys are too concerned about it. Feels like you guys are pretty confident. Is that an accurate assessment? You know, we have Joe Brady, we have Josh Allen, we got Dion Dawkins, we got James Cook, we got DJ Moore, we got Keion, we got a team. Yeah. Okay. And whenever we can spell out that name team, T-E-A-M, we have a chance. And honestly, in every league and every year, we have a chance.

And sometimes that chance is just all you need. But we'll see. We will see, man. Hopefully, which I'm pretty sure, is here of what I've been watching, we have exactly and what it takes. So we're going to shoot for the stars and honestly, whatever's past stars. Hey, Dion, I saw you were featured down at the NHL draft in Buffalo this year. Oh, yeah, that was cool. You know, I saw you were hanging out with Justin Bieber and some of the footage I caught.

What was your takeaway hanging out with the hockey guys? Man, it was more so, I'm in a city. Yes. I was how to hang it. Yeah, that was tough. That was tough. And just to get around the NHL guys was also cool, because I didn't like realize how young the guys are when they get drafted.

I didn't realize that. So being around it, it was just like, yo, these are some serious kids that just changed their life. But, you know, being around. Bebs and being around guys, you know, it was a cool thing and it was a great experience. And I'm telling you, I am so thankful for the cool things that happened in my

life because that is a one of a kind moment to be up there and announce that NFL or NHL draft and it was cool. Yeah, that was awesome. It was a fourth overall pick too. It was a high pick. That was very, very significant. All right, Dion, great stuff, man. Thank you for doing this. Have a great camp and good luck this season. We'll do it again

down the road. Ciao you guys. Love from across the water, man. See you guys soon. There is. Deon Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills joining us here. You're going to hear his name a lot on these radio calls, which again we just announced this afternoon. The Buffalo Bills are on the way to TSM Radio. The home of the bills here on TSN 1050, TSN in Ottawa, TSN in Montreal. You can stream it on the IHeart Radio app up here in Canada as well.

Pre-game, post-game, everything in between. It's going to be awesome. And he's just the easiest got to like. Seriously. just seeing him beside Betman is just so funny. Who puts their arm around Gary Betman like that? Not many people.

Not many people. He'll get in there. And I don't think Betman, how many snaps for Betman to get just past the line of scrimmage on him? Exactly. How many, like a thousand, 50, a million? I don't know if he could get past him in a million,

unless he, like, Dawkins fell or something. Jerry always wears those sneakers. That's true. Maybe he's game ready. Dude, you imagine Gary, Jerry Betman with his hand in the ground and just absolutely bull rushing beyond talkies. I love that idea.

I need to see it. I want to see it. So anyway, shout out to Dion and the Bills, and we're really excited up here. We can't wait for the season to get started. All right, Jack Rossevick, in about 20 minutes. And more NFL talk coming up later this afternoon. Best Betts still to come as well.

Overdrive continues up on YouTube Live. Behind every night spent making the kids lunches, There's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com.com for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. All right. Thanks again to Dion Dawkins for joining us. And he's praising that new stadium down there, right? And the players, obviously, they are a top priority for ownership to make sure they're comfortable. He said he finally feels like he's playing in the NFL. Been in the NFL a long time.

Yeah. But that old stadium at the Ralph was, it was an old stadium. Yeah. And it's in Buffalo, you know? Isn't it funny how he said, it's like you're at Alabama or LSU? Yes. It's like, that's the crem to like creme of football facilities. The high-end SEC facilities.

Yeah. Although don't tell Jaden Daniels that because they see this story about him. I did. Cease and desist. Yeah, so I guess he had allowed them to use his image or what have you, because he won the Heisman there and was a great player. But they've allowed their newest quarterback to switch numbers. He was number three in the past, and now he's wearing the number five that Daniels wore.

And because they've allowed him to do this, Daniels in one of the most petty decisions of all time has sent a cease and desist to use any of his name NIL, basically, name, image or likeness, out of spite because he's claiming, which I guess is accurate, that they didn't allow anyone to wear Joe Burroughs number nine after he won the Heisman. But here's the thing. Burrow also won the national championship. Yes. And when first overall,

you went second overall, but he won the national championship. Right. Like what? This is just remarkably petty. It is pretty bad. But I sort of see it, like, at least he's being true to himself. Like, he's mad, and he's showing it. He's not hiding the fact that he's mad about it.

I'll give him that. You're right. I guess he's literally publicly letting the world know. But what are you mad about? Like, you're not mad that the kids were in your jersey. You're mad that Joe Burrow got treatment you didn't get. That's what he's mad about. Because he's like, if Burrow got it, why didn't you get to it for me?

And it's college. Like the cool thing about college, especially the quarterback position. A lot of schools historically used to be like the starting quarterback wore the same number. Yeah. You know, and it was like, hey, this guy, the 40s wore it in the 60s and 80s, and they had all these great players. And really, you don't want anyone to wear your number? I mean, it's hard to win a Hizman.

You've got to give him that. Joe Burrow literally won one himself. I know, but. I know. I get it. It's a great player. You're not going to have, you know, your LSU, you're Alabama. You're not going to have a Heism winner every year.

They're pretty special years. I hear you. But again, this to me is not about LSU. It's about Joe Burrow. In fact that no one's worn number nine, so he's not happy that someone's going to wear number five. And again, Burrow won the national championship. Yes, that is different.

And we know that Jaden Daniels did not. All right. Coming up an hour two, Jack Rossovic will join us. Greg Rosenthal, Venafel.com. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. listening to Overdrive, powered by Fanduil. Fan duel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. I'm Cynthia Lois.

And I'm Josie Dye. And we're done pretending we have it all figured out. Each week we laugh, cry, and talk our way through life's messiest moments. The things you think about but would never say out loud. The questions you are always too shy to ask. Relationships, regrets, awkward moments, and the stuff no one warns you about. It's honest, it's funny, and sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable. But that's kind of the point.

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