PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Eagles Camp Countdown: How Will Nick Sirianni Handle EXPECTATIONS This Season? | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: July 20, 2026

As the Eagles gear up for training camp and Nick Sirianni enters Year 6, how will the head coach handle the heightened scrutiny and expectations he faces both inside the organization and from outside observers? Bo Wulf and EJ Smith discuss a sit-down interview Sirianni did with reporters to preview training camp, including his comments on DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, Sean Mannion, Jalen Hurts and much more.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello everybody and welcome to the PHAWY Eagles podcast on a Monday afternoon. Nine days away from the start of training camp. We are live from the Xfinity Lounge and presented by Ashley Bull Wolf, E.J. Smith. And the embargo has been lifted, E.J. We can finally talk about the fireworks from the Nick Siriani press availability from I don't know how long ago. How you doing? I'm doing well. I'm excited to talk about this stuff.

I wouldn't call them fireworks. I think this thing has been suvied for over a month. Yeah, it was more of a slow cook. Yeah, it was a slow cook. It's been on a smoker for a while. Really enjoyed the cold open. I feel like I need to start the show by giving you your flowers with the cold open. That was great.

I asked one more question and it told me to jump out the window. You shouldn't joke about that because I agree. Yeah, I mean, you should probably have to fold the company. Yeah, how many, how many MDashes were in there? That's the thing with some of these AI checks. But a lot of m-dashes in those responses. So yeah, we talked to Nick Siriani at the end of Spring, Spring Bork, the end of the mandatory mini camp right before everybody broke for the summer.

And, you know, for those of you unfamiliar with like the minutia, like the inside baseball that happens here, usually what you do, like that's a dead time of the season where not a lot of people are reading about the team. So what we all do as reporters is we agree, like, okay, we're all going to use these quotes on a certain date closer to training camp to preview training camp. And, you know, I would say that the objective of a sit-down with Nick Siriani at that time of the year is to sort of be able to have like a bigger picture conversation a little bit more insightful. And, you know, I thought that Nick had some interesting quotes. I would say this wasn't necessarily the most insightful we've gotten him during this time.

You know, I think he, for whatever reason, maybe was a little bit more guarded. I think he's just in general a little bit over all of his media responsibility. I think that is a fair way of framing it. And indicative of something that I think was a theme throughout the conversation, which is that this is year six for Nick Siriani. He has been here longer than he has been anywhere in his coaching career. And, you know, I think that how he handles the environment here going into a pivotal season is going to be very, very interesting. And, you know, we got some indications on how he plans to handle, again, a season with high expectations and a lot of scrutiny around him and the job that he has, and the role he plays on the coaching staff. In a little bit later in this episode,

we're going to continue our camp previews and talk about the running back and tight end positions, but let's narrow in on Siriani here. And let's actually zoom out, because as you say, this is a pivotal season for him. Yeah. I think, you know, this could go two very different directions. Obviously, there's a lot of middle ground there,

but this is a huge season for Nick Siriani. And it is also a huge season that is not entirely in his control, right? the way that the offense looks with Sean Mannion, obviously Nick is going to be involved to some degree in what that looks like, but it's a little bit out of his control. And that's probably the biggest single differentiator in how this season goes is how that Sean Mayan experience goes. There is the post-A. Brown.

How does the locker room coalesce of it all? And there is game management stuff that he has struggled with in the past. Yeah. This is a very huge season for him. We know that this could be potentially an off-season of change if things go badly. And obviously he could also continue to be the guy with the best record as a head coach in NFL history. So Nick Siriyani is always under the spotlight. I think he has come to realize that there is no getting around that.

But that also means that he has come to kind of try to dim that spotlight as much as possible and say as little as possible and try to keep. things in house. Yeah, that's an interesting way of looking at it that I hadn't considered, is that the reason that Nick can be a little bit, I don't know the right word. Guarded is the one I usually default to, but, you know, he has, when Nick first got to Philadelphia, he had like this enthusiasm, this like, what's the opposite of nihilism? Like, not naivety, naivete, I would say. It's like, I don't know, more trusting, maybe. I think that he had, like, he wanted to see the best in people.

He kind of gave people the benefit of the doubt. And I think that Philadelphia has kind of ground that out of him into a sense, fair or unfair. I think that that is the case. I think he has also come to see, and this is a defense of the way that he's handling it, is that even when he does play the game, or at least in his mind, is playing the game, the shelf life of benefit you get from that is pretty small. And so, for instance, you go win the Super Bowl, and the next year, knives are out for your boy, the offensive coordinator,

and they're egg in his house, and there's no, you know, there's no period of, well, you know, things aren't going great, but at least you did last year. Yeah, there's no, there's no grace period. You know, obviously, I think the, I think the, bringing the kids up to the podium and the feedback to that, I think that he's one that was a real. Yeah, he's ever been the same since then. Yeah, I think that was a real line of demarcation for him.

Mm-hmm. But I think he's probably right that there are diminishing returns to being a little bit better with the media, but I also think, you know, and I'm complaining because, you know, I want him to be more open. And I wish that he would just talk ball more. Yeah, we, that's the biggest thing that I wish. You hear that he, obviously, he is very well-versed in football.

Like when he is in front of the room teaching concepts, like players rave about that side of Nick Siriani, and we don't see that very often. But it is also the truth that he can stonewall and stonewall and stonewall, and if a team is good, it won't matter. Right. Yeah, but it is funny because it's now that there's a chicken or the egg situation. Because, you know, the thing that stands out to me,

you know, when I was writing about what Nick said about the heightened expectations, which we can get to in a second, is the fact that most of him. his tenure with the Eagles has now been defined by you get to the Super Bowl and then you have a frustrating end of season collapse you get to the Super Bowl frustrating end of season collapse and each time each of those last two times that they have had those collapses the microscope is firmly placed on him like he is the one that then you go like this year it feels like a pivotal year for you because you know he doesn't always get a lot of the credit when they're successful um i don't know how much

he concerns himself with that but it is it's a fun it's a funny dynamic that he's found himself. Well, yeah, it is, he is in the microscope and yet it feels like this is less his team than any team has been his in the past. Yeah, that is an interesting observation. I tend to agree. I mean, 2024, you could probably make an argument, like Vic and Kellan being the coordinators, but... Yeah, that's true. And that's like how we put that team together. Yeah, but there's, it certainly, it sort of feels more like aggressive this time because we have 2024 as the template. Like, you know, as much as... install the OC, they stripped away all of his other consularies.

And the difference is in 2024, he had Kevin Petullo. He had people on the staff. At the very least he could say, these are my people. These are people who see things exactly the way I see them. This time around, he is accepting a completely new offensive philosophy. Like, he does, like, we talked about this a week or two ago. Like, Nick doesn't have a lot of his, like, his guys, the guys who came in with him, or even guys he has worked with a long time that, you know, did not predate him and

Philadelphia, those guys are all gone. Like this is a lot, this offensive staff is mostly Sean Mannion, and then honestly, if we're just calling it like it is, like Howie, putting this staff together, less so with Nick's vision and mind. So it is. We know that the defense is VIX. Yeah. And that's like even more so now than it was in 2024, although it's always been that way.

So it does feel like, it's a great observation by you, it does feel like he's got less control over things than it used to. And it also feels like the locker room dynamics from the outside. we are putting that a little bit more on Jalen than on Nick. You know what I mean? Like, Jalen is the one who has to take on the responsibility of, in a post-AJ world, make sure this all works together well. Maybe that's a little bit unfair.

But, yeah, I mean, you know, it comes to running the program, you know, all of that stuff. I don't think that the game day mechanics and, you know, running the game management is the most important thing that he does, but it is the most public thing that he does. It's the most tangible thing he does. something that he is great at. Yeah, it is the most tangible thing he does in that, like, he will,

because Nick will push back on the notion that because Sean Mannion is here, because Sean Mannion installed most of his staff, that it is Sean Mannion's offense. Like, Nick will always say, I mean, his line is always, like, if it's on that field, my name is on it, you know, and that goes for the defense or the offense. Like, he takes accountability for those things, and therefore I think it's fair that he then says, like, he deserves credit for it when it goes well. But I just, I don't know, I do. think like, even with all that said, it's the most tangible thing is his game management.

And really the locker room, like the sense around the locker room. So again, it's going to be a pivotal year for him in those areas. But my question is, like, how does the things that Nick cares about, the things like, you know, to the turnover battle, the explosive play battle secondary to that and the game management stuff, how do those marry up with all the things he doesn't have control over, with the way the offense looks, the way the offense functions. Like, I don't know. Those things don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Like the approach that Sean Mannion's going to bring, like maybe it doesn't prioritize turnover avoidance as much as it prioritizes, you know, getting explosives and honestly, like, pushing the envelope. Okay. So how do you feel about Nick in general heading to the season and I guess lean in on the expectations of it all and how he handles that?

Yeah, so let's get to the quote before I tell you how I feel. So Nick on dealing with pressure or the expectations this season, he said, expectations have been high here for a while. You come off a 2022 season and we did what we did. And I think that the standard has been what's expected, not only from the outside, but we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to play to a standard there. I think it's about the mindset that you have. Something that he really pushed on was kind of like, he kept saying,

like you could be like expectations are high and like you'd be like exacerbated by it or you could be like encouraged by it like you know we have to embrace it and i think that's a message that he really wants to get an fbomb on you he did not on me not on me personally but um yeah he said uh he said he said f yeah they're high internally the expectations are high yeah i mean howie and probably geoffrey lorry but you're not picking up my how weed roseman oh how weed roseman i apologize yeah he's tie. That was good. But I thought that was an important point that like internally, like it's not just the fans that I like, you know, the fans were, you know, super, you know, crazed for this team to win and Jeffrey Lorry and Howie weren't.

Like that would look different for Nick Seriani. But the organization is just as intense, if not more as, more intense than a lot of the outside. I think that's right. Yeah, scrutiny. Okay. So you don't think that he is bothered by that at all. I don't know if I would say I don't think he's bothered by it. I think he tries not to be bothered by it.

And I think he generally is good at shutting it out. But I think we've seen in his more honest moments, like, you know, going back and forth with fans, he's aware of the state of things. The state of his perception in this city, you know? Yeah. I think he knows that people don't think that he does very much, like, you know, fair or unfair. I think he's aware of the fact that people think it's Vicks defense. And like the Tim McMahon's question, like, what do we do? do you do here?

I have a Dune story later in the show. You know, what exactly is your role going to be? Like, he's aware of that still. I don't think he's let that go. Yeah. So I think, you know, he, I think he makes an effort to block it out and, you know, embrace it. But I think as a human, and I think that's actually fair to say, like, as a human,

you're not always going to be able to do that. Is that Dune 1 or Dune 2? That was Dune 2. That was Fade Ratha. I think is how you say his name. I'll tell the Dune story now. Over the weekend, I had a bachelor weekend. My wife was out of town.

She was helping set up her, my sister-in-law's nursery. Her sister's nursery out in Pittsburgh. They had a good time. Presumably for her sister's baby. Yes. Yeah, I don't know if I, I guess, is that a big reveal? Yeah, her sister's not a baby. That could be a big reveal, I guess.

I mean, she's more pregnant than Julia. She's seven weeks further along. in Julia. Okay. So yeah, setting up the nursery. So I'm a home alone all weekend and I am just like, just, you know, literally that was me. This is life. Real life invitates art.

And one of the things I did. What's that? You tried after shave for the first time. Apparently not. That would be pretty impressive. My beard grew that much. I watched the three versions of Paul Atreides fighting Fade Ratha, like the three movie adaptations.

Like there was like a YouTube mashup. So I went like down a dune rabbit hole and I watched that. And like, man, the fights in the, I think it was 1984 was the first one. The fight scene was pathetic. I can't believe people watched movies back then. It was terrible. Wow. You should go find it.

I can't believe people watched movies back then. I mean, at least not like action fight and fighting movies. Maybe like, you know, it's a wonderful life. You can watch that. I think that predates 1984. Yeah, but like that's like a beautiful story. You can get me on board with that. but, like, they were fighting, and it's like,

it's the most fake fight you've ever seen in your life. And then you compare it to what came out a couple years ago. Oh, my God. Just the elite stuff. All right. Well, speaking of technology freaks, come back on the other side. We'll discuss Nick Seriani's dalliance with artificial intelligence.

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Ace Hardware Home Services bringing helpful to your home. Visit Ace Hardwarehomeservices.com today to get started. Tell them PHLY sent you. Back on the P.HL. By Eagles podcast, Bo-Wolf, E.J. Smith. All right, E.J., what did

Nikki Siriani say about chat G.B. Whatever it was. That is actually how he phrased it. He said, I never thought I'd use chat GP, whatever it's called. But I just typed something in today. Give me a great relentless effort story. And I always have to preface a true sports story.

He's explaining how you got to make sure you narrow the prompt for the AI. I looked up this thing about this wrestler from the University of Arizona State in 2011. that won a national championship and he was missing a leg. Now I'm doing this research on it and looking it up. You do that to try to keep things fresh. So the overall message before I let you get on your soapbox here, the overall message from Nick was like, you know, year six, as people who listen to his press conference is going to test.

Nick is very singularly focused on a few main talking points. And I think this is his idea of being able to kind of keep that messaging fresh. And he went on to say something I thought was interesting about how, like, the Eagle stories might be something that people could find on chat GPT if they're looking for motivational stories. So that's the context and I will let you, I'll let you cook now. Well, no, I actually, I actually don't know that I'm going to, I'm going to go in as hard as you think that I will here. Okay. You obviously, you know how I feel about this in general. Yeah. I think this is bad

scouting by Nick Siriani, bad media awareness. Oh, well, he's just not He's bad awareness. To use this in a room of reporters is a little bit silly and a little bit tone deaf, right?

I don't think he understands the connotation of that. He doesn't. I can guarantee he doesn't. I think it's a little bit disingenuous to pretend like this is a huge deal. I agree.

It's obviously, obviously a very small, you know, it was a 30 minutes, he didn't say very much. So it is like at once the most interesting thing he said, but also not that big of a deal. Yes. But it also does not paint a great picture of what do we do here if you're outsourcing the research? Yeah. But this is a thing. Sorry, no, but I mean, it's like if you're trying to fight against that narrative and it's like, all right,

I got all kinds of time to kill. Let me sit down at my computer and type into this machine, like ideas for a speech. Like, that's not great. And it also doesn't speak very highly to the, or against the idea that, you know,

this team is just Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie pulling puppet strings. Let me push back a little bit. Like, they might as well just hire Claude. Could Claude run an NFL team? That sounds like a YouTube thumbnail right there. Let me push back a little bit. I think part of like what makes Nick,

Nick is like his creativity in getting a message across. You know, like we used to talk about how he would, you know, have the videos of like Kobayashi eating hot dogs to like show the team, like you can reinvent your approach on something and, you know, to achieve greatness. And, you know, I think that that actually is endearing from Nick, that like he spent so much time thinking about that and trying to make sure that the message is fresh and, you know,

easy for people, even who have been around him for a long time to say, like, you know what, I remember that. that connected with me. So I think as a messenger, you know, as a, as a leader, as somebody who's in front of the team a lot, I can understand that he wanted to think of something different. I think the thing is, you said it was interesting, right? It is interesting that he used chat GPT for this. I don't think it's substantive at all.

I think he used chat GPT like a Google search, you know? Like that is, that's why, you know, I think it's like. I don't think that it's like a Knicks around his ways. Right. I don't think it's like, you know, he's, yeah, I don't think this is a difference in approach. I think he would have Googled it, but he was like, oh, let me try this chat GPT thing. I don't think he has very much awareness for like the AI discourse at large. I think that he thought that this was like fun.

I also think, listen, burn all of these companies to the ground. Like, it's all terrible across the board, but, you know, let's get rid of it. However, when it comes to use cases, like brainstorming an idea that I can then research a little bit more, if that's how I was using it for a speech, it's not the most offensive thing I've ever heard. I tend to agree with you. Again, to me, I'm like, you just used it like Google and that's the whole thing. So, yeah, I don't know. I think that there's something too he needs to keep his messaging fresh.

And also if this was something that he was outsourcing to an assistant, that assistant's probably doing the same thing. Using AI? Yeah, maybe. It's depressing. I'm not going to lie, I like Google like Instagram captions for a beach pick. And then I go from there, like, oh, let me use this part or like, oh, that's a good idea for this thing. So I'm on next side.

You're on Nick's side. Okay. Like you said, he's not like, write me a speech about this. Boo. What's that movie where it's like no thought is original? Every original thought comes from something else. It doesn't have to be the case. You know what?

If we're stepping into the AI confessional just to make you uncomfortable. Wait, are we? You want to know the one way I will use? I don't use chat GPT. I'll use another one, a different one, that I've deemed slightly less terrible for society. Identifying weeds in my garden. That is the one spot I'll use it.

Because you just post a picture and it tells you. Howie would do it too. Could spend hours trying to figure out. Howie would do it too. Who would do it? Howie? Roseman. Howie would use AI for what?

For the weed. Oh, for the weeds. Yes, the weed in his garden. Which one of these should I plug, man? Who should I smoke today? Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I think it can, it can be overblown, him using chat GPT for this stuff.

I think like it is, it's kind of like, you know, I don't, I think, again, interesting, not substantive, in my opinion. I think that's probably right. Yeah. You want to hear the other things I found interesting from Nick? Yeah. So, I thought Nick on Devante was like what you would expect him to say. How to replace A.J. Brown. That's a great question.

Draft the first-on wide receiver. Over pay for? on TV and Wix. It's like Shady Ray, but like AI, Ray. Devante Smith is now Jackson Smith and Jigba. Run the ball board. That's a great question. Replacing a receiver like AJ Brown

can be a really tricky, tricky challenge. I don't think he's using it like that. So, Devante, he said something you'd expect him to say, but still, I found it to be interesting. He said, Devante is a special player that can continue to get even more targets than he has, he's so capable of doing even more. He's just such a good football player.

You know, this is something we've talked about a lot this offseason, that there's like this palpable enthusiasm about Devante Smith stepping into this more prominent role in a post-A.J. Brown universe, and I think, you know, what he looks like getting 150 plus targets is a big part of the projection for replacing AJ, and again, there's an optimism surrounding it. So I thought that was interesting.

I also thought what he said about another receiver that you just mentioned was very interesting. Now, he kind of gave us away the next day, or I guess he gave this away during spring practices on the podium as well. But compared Dantavian Wicks to Keenan Allen. Obviously, Nick overlapped with Keenan Allen. Footwork of it all, right? Yeah, he overlapped with Keenan Allen.

So actually question for you, if I'm going to say he overlapped with Keenan Allen with the Chargers, would you say the San Diego Chargers or the Los Angeles Chargers? Because it was both. I would just say the Chargers. Well, you know, if you're writing it, first reference, San Diego. or Los Angeles. I think if you want to be that pedantic, then you have to put both of them in there.

I did. Okay. I can be pedantic. I'm pedantic with writing. I'm not so pedantic on the show. Well, who's got time for that? I mean, you're the pedantic one on the show, so you know, can't both be pedantic.

He said on Keenan, or sorry, Don Tavian Wicks being similar to Keenan Allen, he said the way he is in and out of breaks, the way they are off the line of scrimmage, the way they are at the top of the route, the way they are with the ball in their hands, he really reminds me of him in that aspect. So high praise. I mean, especially some important context

with the Keenan Allen of it all. That's his guy. Yeah, Nick raves about Keenan Allen. And you know, like, you'll hear stories from the receivers over the years about like, Nick will send Keenan Allen teach tape to them. He'll, like, text it to them. I feel like Keenan Allen and T.Y. Hilton

are the two players where like, you know, most people would say like, oh, yeah, good football players. But for Nick, like, those guys are like, you know, the foundation of like teaching receiver film or teaching receivers. technique. So yeah, I think that is really high praise for Don Tavianwick. It is funny with like Hilton. Now those guys, those are both very good players.

Yeah. He and Allen even better, I think. And like pro bowl caliber. And it is funny though that is it goes to his backgrounds with he was with some above average teams. Yeah. Not great teams. That like he comes to this organization with super high expectations and he's like, man, if we we could just get ourselves a Naim Hines, then we're going to be cooking. Like, you know what I mean? Like, we're trying to get to the apex, but boy, if we could just get some better than Mids, we're going to be, we are going to be on fire. Well, do you think that it's like the nostalgia will always overweight those guys?

Or do you think in like 15 years he's going to be like coaching, you know, and insert like A.J. Brown Jr. And let's let, I don't know, some random player, right? And he's like sending them AJ Brown clips or like Devonthe Smith. Do you think it's still going to be Keenan Allen and T.Y. That's a good question. That's a good question. Well, I think that it'll, I think the real reason is that those are the guys that he was actually working with.

Yeah. On their craft on a daily basis. And he saw all of their little habits, which is a little bit more difficult when you're the head coach. Okay. And I'm sure that you imagine that if you were in that situation and if things had broken a little bit differently, this could have been a Super Bowl caliber team, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I still think he might be sending Keenan Allen. He might be like, ah, that AJ tape, like, I don't care. Right. Well,

he was more in the weeds. Maybe Devante. Yeah. Yeah. You want any more of my, my takeaways from Nick? I do. So on Sean Mannion,

this was actually probably my favorite Nick anecdote. He said, I'm not sure that I've ever beaten him into the building. He's talking about Sean Mannion. Like, Nick gets in the parking lot, Sean Mannion's car is always there. And when you're the head coach,

when you're the boss, you don't always have to beat everybody in. They better. beat you in, but I'm not sure I've ever beat him into the building, and I'm not sure I ever left while his car was still there. This guy works his butt off. It's been fun to watch. So, high praise for Sean Mannion. And the work ethic that we've, we've kind of heard. I know. Yeah. I am, I, you know, we got, we got to wait and see how the whole Sean Mayan thing goes. Yeah. It is notable that the number one thing you hear from everybody is just how hard

this guy works. Hard work does not always guarantee. Sure. Yeah, I'm not saying that this is like, oh, like, you know, the offense is going to be fixed. But I think at the very least, like the stories you heard about Sean Mannion's work ethic were a big part of, you know, kind of the explanation as to why the Eagles wanted to hire him. And I think that it has, it has been affirmed in his first off-season. You know, all you'll hear from Nick and the people around the building is that he's there all the time and that he's working very hard. So we'll see if it, you know, manifests into a functional offense.

But at the very least, you see why they, why they were enamored with him. in the hiring process. Biggest red flag in a coaching interview in the NFL is if you know your children's birthdays. I'm sure Sean Mangon knows the children's birthday. I'm sure that he knows this. Biggest standout. Biggest, the player who stood out the most in spring practices.

Well, he didn't really answer this. Yeah, he did. He was bouncing around and he was. He eventually was saying, you know, I'm fine. I'm going to give you an answer. You're just mad because he said who we said. And I'm not taking any credit for this. I'm not banging that drum anymore.

I already banged that drum. That drum is behind me now. That drum's in my past, in the rear view. You're banging something. Nick Siriatty said that Rick Wollin stood out the most during spring practices. He said that, you know, he basically said like Rick Wollin, he shouldn't, he's not supposed to look like that. You know, like a cornerback shouldn't look like Rick Wollin does. and the fact that he, you know, had such a strong spring.

He said he had a lot of wild plays, but it was also consistent, which, you know, if you listen to the show, we said the same things. Well, some of us said the same thing. No, I mean, I said that too. You know what cornerback really shouldn't look like that as an all-pro caliber player? Hmm. Cooper DeGine. I shouldn't know.

I don't know why I struggled with that. It was like, is there a small corner? I mean, no, Cooper de Gene should look like that. Fine. Makes sense. Guys are a great athlete. Well, that doesn't make sense. That was pretty much all I took from Nick.

I mean, he had some stuff on Jalen, but... It's going to be interesting to see it all play out this year. Yeah. With Nick and Mannion and Jalen, the non-A.J. Brown of it all. It's going to be fascinating. It's a big projection. I don't know if...

The question I... I said in the A-Black, like, Knicks turnover aversion, the way he wants it to look offensively, my belief that Dailen agrees with that and thinks of the same way, how that meshes with this offense, I think, is going to be a really big question. All right. With that, send you to another break. Back on the other side, we will talk about running backs and tight ends and what we want to see when training camp starts in just nine.

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Come on, man. What are we doing? I know how it's pronounced. Yeah, but this is branding. You got to make sure you get the pronunciation right. You going to leave again? I said I wasn't pedantic. All right.

Tell me about Damien Pyrr. Damien Pierce. I mean, no, if we're talking running backs, okay. That's not the most interesting part of it. No offense to Damien Pierce. I like to name Damien. With the O? That's a good question. Yeah, I've told you before. There was... Peckness migrate. Damien, Damien Pierce, Damian Harris, Damian Lillard. Oh, come on. Not the, no, no, the spelling. No, the spellings. You got an O and A.

Damien Pierce. I'm going to Ness right away. I think that's... You like the O the best. No, Damien, Pierce. Is he Damon Pierce? Damian. He's an O. Yeah, Damian. Yeah.

That's your favorite of the three spellings? I'm going to peck Damian Lillard. And who's the other one you even said? Damien Harris, Patriots. How does he start? He's with an E. Oh, yeah, that's my grade. Get that out of here.

No offense. No right or wrong spells. Let us know in the chat. How do you stack rank the Damian spellings? E-O-A. You didn't have a Damon Targaryan in that. I was going to, that's what I was just going to say. That name just makes me think of him.

And he sucks. Yeah. I love Damon. Well, I don't love Damon Targary. Let's tough the brakes on that. You know, great character, done some terrible things. I've been regretting my Aegon Targary intake from last week or two weeks ago. I take that one back.

Yeah. Damon, Damon's an interesting character, though. And that'll do it for what's brewing. Just kidding. I was going to say, we got to talk about what's really brewing. All right. What's the most interesting thing about the running? You're back for you.

I got two things. In camp. This is going to be about camp. This isn't extrapolating. I think how much Sequin Barclay is used in the past game will be interesting. You can poo-poo it all you want. Actually, I want you to. I really want you to because then that's going to be a day of camp.

To me, it is interesting. I don't know why they haven't in the past used to more. But we have also, it is a summer cliche. Every single year, oh, we're going to get the running backs involved in the passing end this year. And so from a camp perspective, I want to see it, but I will not believe it until I see it in September. Yeah.

So what I would say is that in conjunction to, it's more than him just catching the football for me. It's how much is he moving around the formation? Yes. How much is he featured as a part of their passing installs? Yeah. It is not just checkdowns. Right.

Absolutely. Is he running those Texas routes over the middle? Yeah. I want to see him motioned out and run in shallow crossers. Like get him on some of those. I think that there are creative ways you can use him in the past game. I think they're going to need to do some of that. Like, you know, we talk about Devante and the receiving core is like the big, you know,

replacement for AJ Brown. Like, you know, where do those targets go? But I think featuring Sequin can be a big part of that. And I think you can see hints of it in training camp, by the way that he's used. And not just that. Just like how is Seekwon used in general? like with the shift to under center you know I was listening to

an old football 301 podcast on my way in he had Bill, Nate, our friend Nate Tice had Bill Barnwell on and they were talking about... Graphics on the fight scene were terrible. I don't know how people could listen to that. Yeah, it was like 13 days ago that this episode came out.

Shout out to Nate, by the way, because he will appreciate the Dune anecdote if he listens to the show. So they were talking about moving the running back to offset the disadvantages of being in Chalkin present you. And I think like we expect the Eagles to be under center a significant significantly more this upcoming season but to access some of

the QB run game stuff if that's still going to be a part of it like I would be curious if they do move the Saquan Barkley around the formation to kind of combat that as well like we saw them last year used like some of those same side zone runs to just you know counteract the fact that within the urine shotgun the way that they're running back wherever the running back's aligned like if you're going to run it's usually going to be opposite of that so I want to see how creative they are with Saquan I think he is a player that you should feature, obviously. And I think we will start to see how they feature him in camp. Okay.

Now, do you expect Tank Bigsby to have a role beyond just spelling Seguan Barclay? So are you looking at my notes? Did you, did you peek at my other thing? I'm not looking at your notes. It didn't take that much of a genius to go from the number one running back to the number two running back in the conversation about the runback. Don't say yourself short, Bell. I mean, I usually do zoom in way too much on my notes.

So if you wanted to peek over, you see Nick D. right there. I want to see how much 21 they use. I feel like we saw a little bit of 21 in the spring. I think we could see some 21 in the regular season. So yeah, I would like to see how much they use it in camp. And I think that Bigsby's, like, obviously Biggsby is a big part of that, but I think it's, I think they would use 21 because of their belief that Tank Biggsby can be like a winning

player for them or a real contributor. And I don't think that that belief is misplaced. Like he was fun last year. And he is like a Nick Siriani favorite right now because of his intensity and his like his play personality. Yes. Yeah. Now Will Shipley, do you think that he faces an uphill climb to the roster?

Do you think he's relatively safe? I think he's safe. But I think his role is pretty pretty limited at this point. You know, it's funny. Like I think he's got the versatility to do more. but it's hard to envision them really featuring him. Like, he hasn't really given them a reason to feature him. I agree.

And then the last? Are you looking up their running back room right now? Well, we got my guy Elijah Mitchell. I like an Elijah Mitchell. And then the question that I know you really want to talk about is... Is Cam Latu a part of this discussion? You know, Cam Lat, is there going to be... We're going to see lots of fullback action.

I hope so. I hope we see some Cam Latu. I mean, if you're going to be a... under center that much and you're going to be using 12 and 13 personnel get Camelato on the field get Willie Lampkin on the field I want to see it get weird I would like to see it first day of pads the first pad at practice I want to see some fullback action yeah they wants to see he goes getting weird that'll do it for what's brewing presented by Wawa now running backs tight ends I think in conjunction here as we

imagine this offense running game changing quite a bit. You can gas up your guy. My guy, Johnny Munt, if you want here. Your guy. But I think there's no doubt that the most interesting player at Titanin Training Camp is going to be Eli Stowers. Yeah. I don't know how much we're going to see.

Yeah. So Fran and I talked about Dallas Goddard two weeks ago and how he might be a swing player. Well, how he is a swing player for the Eagles might be the swing player for the offense. And yeah, for setting that aside, I do think that Eli Stowers, I mean, you're saying you don't know how much we're going to see just because like... Well, because we didn't see as much in the spring. I think we have to see it. I mean, not long term. He can have a bad camp and still turn into a nice player, but I do.

I think if he's going to have a role, we've talked about it before. Like, he has to look good in camp. Like there's got to be padded practice. We're not padded, you know, shorts and shells practice where Eli Stowers is like a. very productive part of either the first team or the second team for you to start to envision like what it could look like in an ideal scenario. I think, you know, this is, these are the settings where he should look really good. Yeah, you just want to see the flashes. Even if it's like one-on-ones? Give me one good Eli Stowers day in the joint

practices against the Patriots. Just a couple good reps. I need to see it just to feel okay about being the only one that has like any belief that Eli Stowers could turn into something. that's not that's not fair not you and fran said he was like the worst draft pick of the draft first of all fran is is on a totally different limb he doesn't even know that he should exist that's a little bit different he's going to come back tomorrow and talk and be upset about that but that's okay no i just i i think i i don't i don't have expectations for him as a rookie

being a serious part of the offense i think that's fair as a long-term Yeah, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not arguing that like, you know, the expectations should be higher for him as a rookie. But even still, like, it doesn't take a ton for like a rookie tight end to look okay in training camp, you know? Like that's not a high bar. So, I mean, I'm not, I wouldn't, I'm not going to write him off if he has a quiet training camp, but I think it would be worrying at the very least to say. Oh, now where are you at with Frank Caceterra, Stone Smart, and E.J. Jenkins. honestly I think well Eli Stowers

and Darwish got out to Darwish Eli Stowers is actually an interesting like you know he will have an impact on what you want in that fourth tight end spot if you feel okay about him being like a receiving option especially if Dallas got her to get hurts

it gets hurt you probably want somebody different in that fourth spot you know what I mean like you probably would prefer somebody who has more two-way ability well I think you probably feel like as you're constructing that room you have goddard who can do both stowers who can do one one who can do the other so that's a backup in two and then you need one more guy who can do a little bit of both yeah but if like if you don't feel great about stowers being like your first tight end if goddard gets

hurt right right then calcutera becomes more important no i think that's right yeah so i think that stowers how stowers looks will impact what you're looking for at that if they carry for at all you know I mean, maybe you feel like E.J. Jenkins off the practice squad is a fine fourth option. But again, that probably would be informed by how Stowers looks. Okay. Looking forward to it. Maybe on Wednesday, E.J. We'll do a little, just little draft of the guys who are most excited to see in Canada.

Ooh, I like that. That's a fun exercise. Tomorrow, big day tomorrow. The number two reason to tune in tomorrow is that it is the annual, around the NFL one per team draft. EJ, Fran, and I will go about it. This will be EJ's first foray. Going to go great.

Yeah, I think your expectations for how EJ is going to handle these 32 juggling balls might be paid out. I'm sorry, who was the most successful in trivia on Friday? I don't know. It was me. You forgot that quickly. That doesn't surprise me. You know, some of us have good memories.

So we're excited about that. That'll be a lot of fun. The most important reason to tune in tomorrow is that we will be wearing shorts. Oh, yeah. Thank God. Stay tuned for the closing episode after these words from our sponsor. Listen, nobody likes spending money. But what you do like is getting a little back when you do spend money.

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So download the app and use code P.H.O.I. 365, Bet 365, where winning everything. Gambling problem called 100 Gambler, 21 older only, must be physically located in Pennsylvania. Terms and Conditions Apply in app only at 365. Back on PHAWY equals podcast, Bowen EJ, and this week at PHLI is City State Week. Doing our part, Philly Week to highlight

some of the great things about this wonderful city of ours. And as part of that, we talked to our friend Les Bowen about some of his favorite memories covering the team. Yes? Yeah, with the skyline in the background, too. Skyline in the background. Let's get it going. Let's hear from Mr. Bowen. Wow.

Well, you know, I didn't start covering the Eagles until 2002. So I don't really have anything before that. All the Buddy Ryan era and the 1960 championship and all that were way before. my time. But as a beat reporter, that last game at the vet, that 2002 season, the lost to Tampa in the playoffs, it was such a shock. The Eagles were the better team. They had beaten Tampa in the regular season handily. If they had won that game, they had the Oakland Raiders and the Super Bowl that I think were probably the, maybe the least impressive Super Bowl team of this century. So that really stuck out at the time. And then two years later, when the Eagles finally got to the Super

Bowl for the first time since 1980 and then lost 24 to 21, and everyone made a huge deal about Donovan and taking too long and throwing up and all that at the end of the game. It's so funny. Covering the game, you know, we're not aware of what the TV people are saying. That wasn't really as much my focus. I was aware of it, but I didn't think the Eagles played very well in the second half. Their defense gave up three touchdowns. I really didn't think they deserved to win that game. But, you know, and I was a little surprised that it all came down to McNabb. I shouldn't have been. I shouldn't have been that naive, but I was. But then a happier moment. The finally, when the Eagles finally won the Super Bowl in Minnesota in February of 2018, and you're sitting there

and you're trying to work, and yet you're seeing, you know you're seeing something that has never happened before in the history of this franchise in this city. And I actually took a moment. I was trying to file at the end of the game, but I was writing this story about Doug Peterson, and I actually said, no, I'm going to stop here. And I just sort of like gave myself at least 30 seconds to like let this wash over me and be in that moment instead of... being the guy writing about the moment, you know?

But, yeah, those are my three top easily. Nothing else really comes close to those. After the Super Bowl, is there like an image in the locker room or during your fact-finding mission after the game that stands out among the other ones? Ah, sore subject. I was so stunned. I went down to where they do.

You know how Super Bowls work? They have those stalls that are kind of like the county fair, you know, where they have certain important players are interviewed. And so I went down, I talked to some players. I talked to Frank Reich for my story. I went out on the field and scooped up a whole bunch of confetti that I could give to friends and neighbors.

Some of them still have it. I didn't go to the locker. Oh, man. I had to rewrite my story. And I really wasn't thinking too clearly. I had what I needed for my story, so I just went back to the press box and rode. And then I thought, and then when people came in talking about the locker room and I thought, oh, yeah, that would have been something to do.

That's very funny. Yeah, it's a great story. I mean, it was great hearing from less in general, but yeah, I can't imagine. Like, I guess I can't imagine, actually. Tough deadlines, yeah. Yeah, but what would be your three favorite moments on the beat? It's a great question. I would say covering Super Bowl 59 has to be at the top.

specifically the moment I've talked about this on the show before. I FaceTime my dad after the game. And that was like a real like kick in the chest moment. You know, because like when you're in it covering it, as you know, like the way I do my job, like I am pretty detached, but like seeing my dad afterward really hit me. That's great. You know, like thinking about all the years we spent watching Eagles games. I would say from there, this, okay, so I'll say the 2022 editor.

NFC Championship game. I was on the gamer at the Inquirer for that game against the 49ers, and it was such a great writing opportunity because you knew the game was over, midway through the third quarter. So being able to really think about how do I want to tell this story. I was proud of that game story that I wrote and proud of the coverage that I had for that Super Bowl in general. So the NFC championship game, and then to not just point to all the great moments, covering like the Travis Fulgum, Carson Wentz, like Ragged.

tag team. Interesting. Just like the experience, like watching that team kind of defy the odds, like the Greg Ward, Boston Scott of it all that year. I enjoyed that. You know, Carson once had that throw. I can't remember who it was against to Boston Scott where I was like, was it against the commanders?

Like the corner of the end zone. And I mean, it was like one of the best throws you'll ever see. Just covering that stretch of football was really fun. I was new to the beat. And I, again, I know that it's like not super, it's not a well, it's not. It's not like heralded or anything It's like a great era for the Eagles But it was fun to cover

You know if I'm trying to pick out like one That's not just covering a huge game I think that that one stands out That's good answer Yeah how about you Well I think the problem is that I would just kind of think To the three Super Bowls Well then okay so set aside the Super Bowls

And I'll just give me one Stretch of Eagles football That people wouldn't think In terms of moments Like flashbulb moments There is Michael Vick's introductory press conference It was my first introduction to, oh, this, we are, like, we are at the center of the world.

Yeah. All eyes are here. That was very cool to be at. Maybe the Snow Bowl. That was a lot of fun. I mean, covering that has to be, unbelievable. And then, I'm a non-big game. I would say the games when it was like a different story,

like watching the game from Arlene Graham's box. Or doing the day with Merrill. Those are fun where it's a little bit different. Yeah. And that's why I've always said your favorite reporter's favorite reporter. No, I mean it. But we do have some fun news. Oh, yeah.

with you. August 26th, the Fittler Club, the ninth annual hospital. The Fittler Club, how do we get the Fittler Club? We are taking this bad boy fancy. That's right. Tuxedos. Don't say that. Red carpets, designer dresses, we want it all. Ninth annual Osprey Awards, August 26th. It's a big day. Go to the events page at p.hly.com. It's going to be a big night.

You don't even know why I said this a big day. It's the Ospreys, but it's also my birthday. We got ourselves a hook for the show. What do you mean? Oh, that's perfect. I needed something. Oh, E.J., that's great news. What are you going to, like, mock me the whole time?

No, we're going to celebrate you. It's your birthday. I don't know if I can withstand a roast on my birthday. No. It'll be fun. Maybe we'll make it a baby shower too. Honestly? Yeah, sure, but don't get me anything.

If you're making it like a baby shower name only. Claire, it was originally loosely scheduled for August 25th. It is August 26th. August 25th is the night of the Eagles open practice at the link. So it is August 26th. Claire says you should. Wednesday evening. The Ospreys, very excited.

The chat is very upset that I revealed my birthday. You were going to find out. I'm glad you told me. Now I have, now this is, this can be part of the fabric of the show. Okay. Yeah, maybe it was a mistake. Maybe I'll pop out of a cake and give you a little Marilyn Monroe.

Nope, nope, I'm good. You know what? That's actually not my birthday. Mr. Oh, no. I have a real froty. Yeah. I prefer it to not be throwty, actually.

I prefer it to not happen at all. You know, I was thinking about telling, like, my family, they should come. I think they might want to stay at home for this one. The throatiest ospries yet. I don't like that. I don't like that at all. explaining the Ospreys to my wife last year was very difficult

it's like the Dundees Don't you dare Don't you dare You go down this road you're not going to like where it ends Okay I'm excited excited for the Ospreys is going to be fun I have a one weekend thing to discuss yeah I got something too

Go ahead okay do you want to go first No, you go first. Speaking of milestones, had a lovely belated anniversary dinner. Oh, happy anniversary. At Emmett. Okay. Got to see Defop Ryan.

Oh, nice. That's exciting. Fantastic. Best meal we've had in a long time. But if you know, if you've heard about it, I mean, you, the food was unbelievable. Great. First course, especially, just unbelievable small bites. nonstop.

I had to roll us out of there. So stuffed. Great. But the thing that I want to discuss about Emmett, you're going to have to wait and find out about it. So this is in keeping with the celebration of the Franklin Institute wristband. Yeah.

Again, got to go to Emmett for the food alone, all that stuff. But the thing I want to discuss is, can we get there? The two of us, obviously, and it's a seat on the cushiony bench and a seat at the chair. Okay. Obviously, giving my wife the comfortable seat. I sit on the wooden chair. And usually you're thinking, okay, I'm in for a wooden chair sit. Hopefully it's not terrible.

This wooden chair, the chairs they've got there, incredibly comfortable. A little bit of a scooped out butt. Ooh, yeah, I've seen those. Yeah. I mean, I was in heaven all night. It was great. And not only are they knocking it out of the park from the kitchen. And they're done in another.

But the, but the decor and the comfort level of that chair, I mean, props to whoever is the one who outfitted that bad boy, because I'd like to get one of those chairs just for my house. So it's no cushion. It's just a good contour. No cushion, just a nice, good contour for the button. Hmm. You know, I've seen these, but I'm not sure I've sat in one and said, man, that's comfortable. So maybe I'll have to go over there just to sit in the chair. I'm telling the highest recommendation I can give for that chair. You know, that's, that is a, like a high level of craftsmanship.

Oh, yeah. To think like how can I, not just how can I contour the chair, how can I contour it so that it's ergonomics? Your weight is evenly distributed. That's impressive. That's impressive stuff. You're thinking, you're thinking you're in for a couple hours of sitting on a wooden chair. you're in for maybe a little bit of a, like your butt's gonna fall asleep at some point

or something like that, you know? My butt was wide awake. Jeez, this has been an interesting 15 minutes on the show. It's funny you say that because it makes me think of bike seats that I actually went for a bike ride yesterday. And you know, that's also important. My bike seat has a little cut out to help with like pressure. It's like a thicker, a wider?

No, my bike seats really really thin actually. They say that the wider ones are actually worse for you Because they do like cut off your circulation a lot But mine's got like a channel Like a cut, it's got a cut out in the center To help with pressure relief Cut out in the center? Mm-hmm

What? Of the seat. Yeah. Interesting. I'm sure I don't need to find a lot of interest. I mean, not really. I'm on a bicycle. It was a good time though.

I went for a bike ride and enjoyed it. It was perfect. The weather was great this weekend. It was great. Yeah. Well, after Saturday, we couldn't go outside. Oh, that's true. Yeah, well, no, Saturday morning, but then we had crazy storms roll through, and it blew everything out.

Yes, the weather was perfect on Sunday, I should say. Okay. All right, I got one thing for you before we get out of here. What's your weekend story? So, I had a soccer to football comparison that was well received by someone who I think we both respect greatly in this space. I almost didn't No, I feel like I need to come Up front with the fact that Tony Buns approved

Shout out to our friend Tony Bunn's approved Of this comparison The Spanish national team this year I don't know how much I respect Tony Bunn Oh get it, get out of it I was cursed, get out of here Tony Buns Who is more well-vers

We've been trying to get a tennis match Going for the past month and a half We can't make it happen He's a busy guy He's got all this World Cup content coming out. I know. He gets cars stolen.

And I'm just like, like he has to suffer my soccer takes. I just text him about soccer all the time. The comparison is the Spanish national team and the 2024 Eagles. They're both teams that they have great defenses, but their real strength is their ability to control games in possession of the ball. The Eagles with the run game, Spain obviously just keeping hold of the ball, rotations and everything else that Spain do.

they each have like a little bit of a controversial you know aspect to their game you know in the sense like the eagles have the tush push and spain again like they don't have like that like high level of like you know attacking quality necessarily obviously have quality but they're not trying to they're not trying to win games for nothing um so those are the two comparisons that i like let me let me look let me look at what tony bunts he gave me some uh some cops here i like i don't love it why don't you love it because the twenty twenty four eagles was a team made of stars. Yeah, so is famed.

And I feel like the Spain team is more about the collective. Yes, the collective of stars. That's the thing about the Spanish national team is like they're ridiculously talented. That team was flashy. The 24 Eagles were flashy. I don't know if I would agree that they were flashy.

You don't think they were flashy? They were flashy and that they just beat the crap out of teams. They were a run first team. They were a run first team. It was explosive runs. Yeah. Like the flashiest season we've ever seen. So is Laminia Lange.

was flashy, Zach Bonn was flashing. Yeah, flashy and how dominant they were, which is how I would say Spain played that way as well. Yeah, but like Laminia Mall is on Spain. It's not like they're just a bunch of like, you know, like a slow, unathletic players. Plus, it was also an offseason of acquisitions that made a big role.

I feel like the Spain team is like, this team has been together for, like it is a collective. No, they're very young. I mean, it's Palcubarsi, it's Lemenia Mall. I think one, they did win the euros two years ago. Yeah, but honestly, I think like them beating France is also like, or sorry, them beating this Argentina team is very similar to the Eagles beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

So I think there are some parallels. It's hard with the player-to-player comps, but I do like Roderie and Sequeana as like a comp, you know, like the person that just makes the entire thing work. Laminia Mall is tougher. What? Matt, a guy who's only ever seen the 20-24 Eagles. Spain reminds me of a 20-20,

I have seen more than the 2024 Eagles. I will have you know. But thanks for the comment, Matt. I appreciate it. I think that's pretty funny. I like, Lumini of all is a tough one in this because he could very well go on

to be the greatest player of all time. Why are you looking exacerbated about that? The guy is the Euro and the World Cup. I know, but he plays for Barsohn. He's 19. Sat through Leo Messi. Yeah. Let's not put,

it would be the best player of all time on him. Oh, I think you're being. you're being, um, I mean, I just disagree. I completely disagree. I think that's disrespectful to seeing what we, of what we just saw from Messi. Yeah, Lumenium all's 19 and he had, look, if you compare it to where Messi was when he was 19, but there's a long way to go. To where Messi was when he was 25, then he's still further ahead. It's like saying like, you know, Mike Trout is going to be Babe Ruth or whatever.

It's not. Mike Trout has a lot of his 20 years to go. It's like saying that Pat Mahomes has a chance to be the best quarterback of all time. that is actually a better comparison because Lomino Mal's won significantly more than Messi had at 19 he has to continue to do it yes but that's why I said

he has a chance to be a long way to go on the mom's saying yeah obviously I didn't say he's the best player of all time or will be he said he could go down as one of the best players no no no no you were a little bit more forceful he could go down as the best player of all time he is on a trajectory right now

very small chance of that a very small chance come get me in 25 years I completely, to say the very small chance with everything he's accomplished at 19. Yes. Joe 76, Neymar is awesome, but he's not in this type of conversation.

Quality, talent-wise, yes, but like achievements in the game. He's talking about Neymar at 19 or whatever. He's saying that's, you're putting a lot on a guy. Yeah, but again, Laminia Mall is one more than Neymar has. Okay, I understand. It's like, he's 19. Okay, he has a chance to be. You've got to put 20 years in the trenches.

He doesn't. He has to win like one more World Cup and a few Champions Leaks, and he plays at Barcelona. And that makes him better than Messi? No. In terms of career achievements, he has a runway to do that. I'm shocked that you think he is a very small chance of being the greatest player at all time. Yeah, that's how life works.

Yeah, but again, he has already achieved so much. He has to play for what? Another 10 years to achieve that? That would not be, that would not make him the greatest player of all time. if he has a few more, if he has one extra World Cup. If he wins. You're talking about 25 years

of being the best player in the world, arguably. Yeah, I disagree. That's 10 years is not the same thing. How many Ballandors is messy one? You don't know. I'm Googling, you're not so messy,

Ballandor, how many? He's won at eight times. Laminia Mall could do that. He very well could do that. Okay. I think you, I just, I don't think you're being a certain way. I just think you're wrong.

I think Lemini Amal has a chance to be the best player of all time. I don't think that's an outlandish thing to say. He has a chance. Yeah, he does. A very, no, he has a better chance than I do. I don't think it's a very, very small chance. I think he has that in front of him. He has to stay healthy and he has to continue to win.

But he's achieved so much in the game at 19. He can do it. Do you guys want me to weigh in? Yes, please. My weighing in is I didn't know who Lemini yamol was just a few months ago. I had to ask EJ. I was like, oh, is this a famous person?

So I don't know what that says. And then I've a cool story about messy. So this isn't really my opinion. This is just me weighing in. When we and my husband went on our honeymoon in 2021, we were going to Paris. So I was like booked for months. And then we happened to be there.

And we already had PSG tickets. And then he signed while we were. were like on our way to Paris so we went we saw him he didn't play but we were there for it so that's my so you're on my side is what you're saying no i i think not i see christopher in the chat says like accomplishments don't equal pure skill but like when we talk about greats of the game accomplishments outweigh the fact that like you might have been because namar is incredibly talented but he's not in these conversations because he hasn't achieved as much in the game Okay.

That's, I'm just saying, I think that Laminiaol has a chance to be the best player of all time. Not a very small. Technically, that is correct. Not a tiny chance. Like, we're not talking about like, like, you know, we're not talking about like Nico Williams, like who has achieved some of what Lillian.

I love Nico Williams. He's great. It was kind of fun to see, like, like, that Spain team could have been even better if he was healthy to the whole tournament. He just hasn't looked right. I mean, not even health-wise. He just hasn't played well the last,

like, year and a half, really since the euro. He hasn't played well. He should be playing at Villa. What is a what? Super chat from Steve Whitaker. Bo, are you planning on going to any games this year? Oh, Eagles game.

Probably not. Yeah. Maybe the London game. Oh, yeah. Potentially. Yeah, I will not be there. Otherwise, game day duties. I can't believe you derailed my eagle Spain.

take. Again, Tony Bunn's approved. So what's he going to do? He's not going to disagree with you. He's not going to come at you. I mean, he literally said, what did he say? He sent me like 10 texts and about how much he liked to take. So I don't even know why I brought up on the show because, you know, you could have, you could have said anything and I wouldn't care because Tony Bunn said it's a good take. And he knows way more about soccer than you. Evidence by this conversation we just had. Well, maybe he only has ever also heard of the 2024 Eagles. Something tells me that that's also not true. Sort of like the 2019 cults.

All right. I don't want to keep back on this. Let me get him off. I'm going to say you're all of a sudden like, ah, let's pump the brakes on this Lamia mall guy. When it comes to saying he's got a good chance to be better than that. I didn't say a good chance.

I said he has a chance to be the greatest player of all time. And I think that that is a totally reasonable thing to say. I think you were a little bit more forceful. I said he has a chance to be the greatest player of all time. and you're saying he has a very tiny chance to continue on the trajectory he's currently on. I think to already put that on him at 19 years old is disrespectful to appreciating the context of what we just saw from Messi over the past month. Yeah, but I don't think it's not like disrespectful as so much as it is just looking at what Laminia Mall has already achieved and believing that he will continue. to be great.

Well, here's the other thing. Your argument is basically like... He wasn't even the best player on their team this year. Okay. Like, that is... He was not the best that he has been in the World Cup, but he still won a World Cup and is still widely regarded as one of,

if not the best player in the world right now at 19. Okay. Like, what you're... Like, I feel like your argument is based off of, like, experience, seeing guys who have, like, you know, had really, really high heights at young ages

and then fall in. off a cliff. Laminia Mall is not a part of those players anymore. He has achieved more than those guys ever, like, you know, if you're looking at, like, Ansu Fati or like Deli Ali or Paul Pogba, he has achieved so much more than those guys. He has already, he's already surpassed

that type of archetype of player, in my opinion. I don't think that he is... It's not even a thing. I don't think that he is as singular, stylistically or even creatively. And I also, again, he wasn't the best player on that team. You didn't like, you want to talk about the achievements. He didn't, he wasn't named the best player in the tournament.

You're saying he's not as singular stylistically as who. As messy. Did you watch the Euro two years ago? Yes. You didn't remember him being singular? He was the driving force for them then. And he was an important player for them. He just didn't like, he didn't take over the entire tournament in the way that we've seen him do before.

But like, he has been Spain's best player for years now. He came off an injury for the World Cup. Okay. I'm just, I'm not, I'm not. I'm not saying he's not a good player. I'm just saying it's pretty unlikely that he's going to go down as the greatest player of all time. I think it's fair to say, like, he has to continue to do it.

But to say it's pretty unlikely, I think, is too forceful. Fran can't believe this guy's better than I do. He was nice, man. I liked Freddie Adieu when I was young. All right. I mean, he's, I don't think there's a, I think there's, he's not going to be better than Mbapé. Oh, buddy

I love you This is the most like All I watch is the World Cup take you've ever had That's what most of the world watch is Okay That's fine And Bamba is great But like to say he's not going to be better than Ibabe

Yes That's crazy man That okay I think the odds are still against that Let's talk about this four years from now When you watch soccer again It's not going to be better than Mbapay? That's crazy.

It's not that crazy. Lemine, okay. I don't, I don't want to argue about this anymore. Okay. I scored fewer goals than Malik Tilman. Oh, man. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the PHA Yagles podcast.

Back tomorrow with the all-NFL draft. and shorts for Lindsay unless I can remember my shorts we will talk to you tomorrow at a clock and as always

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