PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Nick Sirianni, Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles get top grades from NFLPA

Episode Date: February 29, 2024

Good news! The Eagles’ facilities and staff earned rave reviews from the players in this year’s NFLPA survey, though apparently the team has some work to do for its families. Meanwhile, Nick Sirianni remains in focus after a very familiar press conference in Indianapolis.Back from Indy, Zach Berman and Bo Wulf discuss everything you need to know and maybe some things you don’t. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

to the PHLY Eagles podcast, Bull, Zach Berman, back in studio in Philadelphia, fresh off our early morning flight from Indianapolis, turbulence filled. We are here to talk about NFLPA grades, Nick Siriani, and all of you out there who were soulmates before you were lovers. Hi, Zach, are you?

I'm doing great. Excited to be on the show. I can already tell this is going to be a loopy episode. You said you had seven hours of sleep over the past two nights. Over the past two nights, a combined seven hours. Yeah, we were out late in Indianapolis last night, sucking on some other lights. So my problem, I don't know if you have this problem, when you know you have to get up early. Can't fall asleep?

No, like, yeah, I keep waking up. I was getting up this morning at 5.30, and you're up at 4. Now, are you a snooze man on your when your alarm goes off? Never. Never a snooze button. Never a snooze button. No. Never?

Never. I didn't even know what the snooze button was until I got married. Really? Yes. When the alarm goes off, you get up. Yes. Julia, I cannot believe this. I mean, the snooze is a way of life.

I mean, I set two alarms. Why set the alarm if you're not going to get up? That's the purpose of the, that's like, it's the purpose of the alarm. Getting up is not just necessarily for me, at least, a, here you go, get up. It's a process. I set a 530 alarm and a 540 alarm, and I snooze both of those bad boys. Got out of bed at about 6 o'clock. It's harder to get up out of bed when you do that.

Maybe, but I also want to cling to those like six extra minutes of sleep I can get. Those six extra minutes are not going to be restorative for you. So, yeah, I would suggest not doing that. Well, not going to listen to you. Okay. Julia, what's your snooze button? That's about 10 years of not listening to me. I'm a big snoozer.

At least twice, yeah. At least twice. I mean, it's an early morning flight. Wait, wait, so I've an honest question here, okay? You know, please. We're already off the rails here. The show has a name, but we haven't even gotten into the grades. Why not just set the alarm for the time that you're going to get up?

Like, why do the two snoozes? This is so impractical. Well, you do the two alarms in case one of them doesn't work. No, but why are you snoozing? Because then you're not in this actual, like, state of sleep. You get up, you go back, you get up, you go back. Like, if you're going to get up at 20 minutes, what's the normal snooze period? I think eight minutes, something like that.

So 16 minutes later. If you're going to get up 16 minutes later, why don't you just set the alarm 16 minutes later? That would be much more correct. Why don't they just build the whole plane out of the black box is basically what you're... That's false equivalency. Or what you're saying is if you snooze, you lose. I'm not casting judgment. I think that's one of the differences.

It feels a little judging. You can do however. you can snooze if you would like. I'm simply saying that I am not a snoozer. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I understand your point, but this is also related to just your DNA in search of efficiency at every turn.

I need to be more efficient in some ways, but I would respond that my problem is actually, I get up before the alarm clock, and then you have to decide, you know. Sean decide? You have to decide do I want these extra 36 minutes, right? Do I want these extra 24 minutes? So I want these extra 15 minutes, whatever it may be.

So that, because it's the anticipation of needing to get up. Yes. All of these games this year, you know, when I have these 6 a.m. flights or whatever, and I set the alarm for like 4.15. I'm always up before 4.15. Now, is that like an anxiety because you're worried the alarm's not going to work? Yeah, I just think it's like the anticipation of that. And then nights when I know that, like, that I need to sleep, that's when I can't sleep.

Oh, sure. You know, because you're. Not too much pressure. Or the brain's racing. Yeah, exactly. Or you come home late after a game or you're like an all-nighter and you know you need to get some sleep. Too wired. Yes, yes.

Well, the thing I need to do better, admittedly. Well, there's many things I need to do better. But regarding the sleep is I've considered having my phone in a different room. One thing that happens to me is let's say I'm getting up at 545, but I get up at 512. All right. Instead of going back to sleep, I'm like, well, the inquire stories are out. Let me read that. And then I'm reading the inquire stories and it's 536 at that point.

I'm like, all right, I'm up. Well, yeah, I mean, obviously, once you do that. Yes. Yeah, leave the phone away. Leave the phone away. Is that what you do, or do you get the phone next to you? No, I'm not good at that. Phone's right next to the bed.

You're not at middle of the night tweet reader, though. No, I'm not. Unfollower. Or an unfollower. Oh, my God, the Eagles hired Kellynne Moore, and I, Mike will read through it. Yeah, though, I'm done doing Advil PM. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the PHLA.

We have a lot to discuss. We have a lot to discuss today. It should be a good show. we're going back to school today. How was the scene? Let's finish a little bit more on Indianapolis. You know, you wanted to know what the scene was going to be like on Monday. Let's reflect on what the scene was now that we're back.

Well, so there's always these stories from, you know, I remember reading one on Deadspin at one point and maybe there was a illustrated piece where it's like all the real stuff at the combine happens that in, dark bars at 2 a.m. That kind of thing. And there is a component of that to the combine. And that's the great thing about being your teammate is that you're like a natural in those settings. Get out of here. You've got to stop with this nonsense.

It is true. It's not true. I hate that part of the combine. You're really good at that. I am not standing there holding my Miller light. Like, okay. Oh my gosh. Look, there's a position coach over there.

work for the Eagles. Let me see if I can talk to him for six minutes. Yay! Is that your impression of yourself? That's my impression of the collective, of the collective media. No, so the thing that I always kind of laugh about in those encounters. I bet you don't miss the felony media, do you? No, no. So I am guilty of this, okay? I'm guilty of this part, is that you don't want to be the one who's like pressing them about you know like like pertinent football stuff of course so so I overcompensate with like so how's the family doing right I'm only always asking about the family yeah I'm always asked about the family so I I know about so many people's kids who it's like in no other circumstance

no other circumstance would I be like yeah so how's the family but in this case it's like in no other circumstance I feel like in most circumstances I'm just saying typically it's I'm just saying Typically, it's like a business interaction, but you want to make sure that it's not doing that. But I'm saying, I don't know their kids. You could go the other way and go real hard football-heavy. So how do you beat Cover 2-Buster? Yes, exactly, exactly. No, you try to find common ground with everybody.

And so now I will add, this is self-depication, but this is true. I am better when it's like 60% full than like 120% full. Just because, let me explain this to you, I can't hear it. All right? I'm not going to name this guy. I'm not going to name the coach specifically, but there was a coach a few years ago who. Bud Grant. Now, really nice guy.

This guy's probably 6'3, okay, played quarterback at one point. It's narrowing it down. Yes. And I have a guess. And I had about a 15-minute conversation with him where it's kind of like the the quiet talker in the Seinfeld episode where he agreed to wear the puffy shirt, like I was just like laughing and nodding my head,

and I have no idea. Just based on the cues of what he's saying. Exactly. You're nodding your head laughing, but I couldn't hear a thing. I couldn't hear a thing. And so that's why I like, and you know this.

Six three, you used to play quarterback. I like to sit down. This is a rhyme with Ballix Manny. No, I'd like to sit down. Okay, that's because that kind of puts that levels.

Yeah, evens the playing field. It levels the playing field there. So if I can get the bar stool, then I am, I try to scope that out. Okay. But otherwise, yeah, the, the, the, how's the weather up there? I don't ask that. I don't ask that.

And then the other thing is then they're leaning down. And so, like, you're screaming into their ear. Yeah, it's not a conducive set up there. Yeah, I don't love, I don't love the 120% full either. Yeah. I'm saying, but you're great in those settings. I'm not great in those settings. Now you are being like a little bit silly.

No, audience chat. I am not great in those settings. Bo is being, he's being humble here. I am not being humble. I am not great in those settings. I do not like those settings. Okay. Sam, I am.

Okay. But yeah, so anyway, so it was awesome being back at the Combine, seeing a lot of familiar faces, seeing, you know, people I haven't seen in quite some time. It is an NFL convention. You know, learned a few things about the team. Always wish I can learn more. Some things will try to flesh out.

But it was, yeah, it was a productive few days. And I was thrilled to touch ground this morning and excited to see my kids. Well, thrilled to touch the ground only because you were worried at one point we might not. No. We might not touch safely. I was not worried about that. Some wicked. In all seriousness.

Are you ever worried about that during turbulence? Not really. Not really, but the woman next to me was having a tough time. I can understand that. Yeah. Yeah. Brad Stevens told the story one time about how he was on a flight back from Orlando. He was on a recruiting trip.

And there was a group of kids who just went to Disney World. And it was the most turbulence he had ever been on a flight. And the kids put their hands off like they were on a ride and they were having so much fun. And he used that example to say that life's all about attitude. It's like all about how you perceive something. And that was that that wasn't a Dan Wetzel story. Of Wetzel's pretzels, of course. Probably around 2010, 2009, 2010.

Anyways, that that anecdote's always always resonated with me. And you'd be not surprised to know that I have used that. You tried to repurpose that for your own life. I have shared that a number of times with my wife, with my kids, with my, yeah. How many times do you need to share it with your wife? Well, like that life's about attitude, right? That you keep a good attitude about this and that you're, yeah, it's all about how you look at things.

Okay. Also, the other anecdote that I think is worth passing along, everybody wanted to know more about dinner on Monday night with Marissa. Oh, okay. And Marissa sent a nice text yesterday saying that, you know, if she talked to the boss of the New York Times, she would have told him face to face that having dinner with us was the highlight of her trip, even though you were unwilling to do so. But you reminded me today of a funny part of... What was my response to that text now that we're sharing?

I don't know that text was on the record, but... I don't remember. Let's see. You got... you laughed at my response. Oh, yeah, you said you would be envious of the time with the bomb. Yes, exactly, yes, yeah. I have forgotten about this, and it was just something that I know. noticed when it happened, but we went to St. Elmo's,

they have the famous shrimp cocktail, known for its, like, you know, the heat, the extra horse rash in that shrimp cocktail. You were the only one who got the shrimp cocktail. You know, you went in Indianapolis, right? Yes. And you mentioned to Jamie, Jamie Lynch,

before the show today, was asking if you got the shrimp cocktail. You said, you know, the shrimp I could take or leave, but I really like those saltines. And it reminded, there was a moment during dinner when the server came over to collect He simply called a waiter, by the way. He can't call a server?

Isn't waiter a more appropriate? I don't know. Is it? I don't know. Server is, there's nothing wrong with server. I don't think. Okay. He came over to collect your eaten

shrimp cocktail, no more shrimp on there, but the horseradish was on there. Cocktail sauce. The cocktail sauce, yeah. And as he's taking it away, you're like, no. don't take my salties Okay

This is the second time You mistold this story for a fact To make me the butt of a joke That's I would First of all I would never speak to somebody that way What I said I said I said I'm still working on that sir Okay

And or I'm still I don't know if I use the sir or not But I'm still working on that And You grabbed his hand No that is not what occurred Smack that way Okay

We all get the point That is not what occurred That is that is not what occurred. The appeal of the shrimp cocktail there is the cocktail there is the cocktail sauce. It's not as if, and this is no knock on St. Elmo's. It's not as if like the shrimp in Indianapolis is like such amazing shrimp. It's the cocktail sauce. And so you don't want to leave the cocktail sauce uneaten or, you know, the reason they give you the salt is.

You just, you know, scoop it in your hand. That's why they give you the salt. Is the saltines for that or is it a palate cleanser? That's why I thought you wanted it was to cleanse your palate from the cocktail sauce. Oh, no, I thought it was to get more cocktail sauce. Hmm. I actually, I figured that. That's not what it was.

Yeah. You're making joy a laugh here. This is, this is why Bo's so fun at the bar or two I am, right? Because he sees the life of the party. No, that is that is not, that is not what occurred. I simply,

I was trying to maximize my use of the cocktail sauce. And, yeah, When in Indianapolis, like you go to St. Elmo's, that's what you're supposed to get. It says on the menu, world famous. Yeah, it also says world's best coffee down the street. Where does it say world's best coffee? Well, I don't know. That's, of course, an elf, but that's a very classic thing.

Like, just because it says it doesn't mean it's true. It is, okay, chat, if you're familiar with St. Elmo's, are you thinking of the rabbi or are you thinking of the cocktail sales? Well, of course, you've heard about it, but world famous, I mean, you think the Dalai Lama knows about the cocktail sauce at San Elmo's? Maybe he's heard about the saltines. You know, I have not inquired with the Dalai Lama about that. So, man, I was doing prep for the show.

And then we're what? We're 19 minutes in. And we haven't even gotten to these grades. We were mapping out the segments. I did not anticipate it going like this. But, yeah, I would say that I, it was a nice dinner. The shrimp cocktail was good. The steak was solid.

I like the mashed potatoes there. The red mashed potatoes. Yes. Our dinner last night not as good. That place has gone downhill. The company was good. It was a nice little therapy session. So here's actually a callback.

Here's a callback that longtime listeners would appreciate. The most hostile mirror. most hostile meal that Bo and I ever had was at the combine a year ago. Yes. And it turned into a 30-minute relitigation on the show that actually listeners called in and said, I'm very worried about you guys. Yeah, that was a little bit of a contentious episode. Yes, it was contentious.

Because if you recall, I got to lunch with Bo and Marissa. It was actually more like a breakfast. And I said, all right, I have some show notes. So I have some notes I want to discuss. Yeah, the second you sat down. And so when we sat down on dinner on, Monday night. I had already been thinking about it. I just sat right down and said, okay, I think the show needs to be shorter. Yes. But so before, when I got to the restaurant last night and I said the bow, I said, is it okay if we talk shop tonight? Like do you want to have like a

heart to heart about fatherhood here or or can we map out shows over the next 10 days? Make sure that we're, our free agency shows are up to snuff? Entirely appropriate. Yes. And also much different. than it was last year if we want to re-litigate it because we don't get to see, we didn't get to see Marissa. We got to have a meal together, the three of us in one person, in one place, and you plop down and you're already trying to talk shop and, you know, say the show is not good enough. We need to do fewer shows. We've got to keep it to an hour, yada, yada, yada. You got your wish. No, so I simply said that when we're there for a company trip and we're on company time, we should be talking about company business.

Yeah, get out of here. Okay. Oh, that's the difference between you and I there. Okay. But I was cognizant of that, by the way, when we were Julia in Las Vegas, that I didn't make everything show notes because I can do three dinners of show notes. Yeah, we know. Yes.

Okay. Well, if you want to join Zach for dinners of show notes or, you know, ask Jamie about what he thinks of Zach's love of saltines, you can join us on Philly Sports Chips because we are off to Clearwater with Philly Sports Chips. sports trips for our very first P-H-L-Y spring training takeover. Hang with Philly's legend Charlie Emanuel. Philly sports trips plans the whole experience out from flights and hotels to game tickets and transportation, spend St. Patty's Day on a private yacht with a catered dinner and drinks. Be on the lookout for more events throughout the year with Philly Sports Trips.

Our trip is March 13th to 18th, so don't wait to book. It's coming up. Head to all p hl y.com slash events to learn more and book your trip. And actually last night, Bo and I, we screwed up in terms of we did not plan correctly. The dinner came together last minute. Yeah, bad job by us. I was finishing up the Jeremiah Trotter story that you can find on all p.hly.com. Bo was meeting someone for, you know, Bo was meeting up with someone.

And we were meeting after that. It would make it sound like a mistress thing. And we had to find a place to eat. But what we should have done, frankly, has gone to the Indiana Pacers game. Absolutely. I looked on my phone there. I looked at the GameTime app and I saw we can get like last minute tickets.

When they say last minute deals, there were two tickets for $9. Should have gone. It would have been better food too. It would have been the way to go. And you could say, well, Zach and Boe, you didn't have tickets. Well, that's what game time is so great because buying tickets to you. your favorite events should not be stressful, and it would not have been stressful last night. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater near U.S.

Killer deals on last minute tickets and the best price guarantee. You can stop stressing over the tickets and start getting hyped for the fun you'll have, and what would have been good last night. I've never been to the field house there in Indianapolis. I don't know quite the seat views. If we're getting this section, am I getting an obstructed view? Is it far away? What I could have done is I could have just gone into the app and seen the implement.

of the seat before I bought so I knew exactly what to expect when I arrived. It would have only taken a matter of seconds, only two taps, and I would have been set. Tickets, they would have been sent directly to my phone, and I wouldn't have had to dug through my email when we got there. Tickets are easy to do with the Game Time app. Snag the tickets without the stress with Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code P-H-L-Y for $20 off. Your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, and redeem code P-H-L-Y for $20. $20 off download game time today, last minute, take its lowest price, guaranteed.

All right, ZB, I would say that the top of this show, the first 20 minutes or so, give it about an A. If I was grading it. Good transition. I would not give it an A. I would make it more like the team travel. Wow, taking shots at the team travel. Well, the NFLPA did. Well, they did a better job.

Let's talk about the Eagles grades in the NFLPA survey. And let's also contextualize for people who may not be familiar exactly what goes into this and when it happens. Yes. So this occurred. This was a survey that was done by NFL players. And it's the second year they've done it. There's a number of different categories. And we can talk about last year's results. But then this year's results, the survey was done up until the middle of the season. right so from the beginning of the season to the middle of the season and then they were assessed and and graded and there's comments and feedback and what i can tell you what we can tell you is that the eagles scored very well overall number four overall um in the NFL in terms of like the overall GPA which uh would indicate that that players are happy to be in in this organization

which is consistent with with what we've been saying this is a desire to be a desire to place for people to play. There's a reason why someone like Fletcher Cox tells him that players who leave tell them the grass isn't greener on the other side. And players who are here often want to resign and stay and for as tough as people. Like Albert O. Like Albert O. And as tough as people might think Philly is, there's a number of players who move here

and then they stay here for the rest of their lives. You know, they come to play, and they're part of this community, similar to how Jason Kelsey's going to be, right? So we'll get into the particulars, but the overall grade was very positive for the Eagles. Okay. Well, tell me what you thought were the most interesting particulars here. Yeah, so the categories that they have, let me pull this up here. Treatment of families. Yes.

In which they got a C and ranked 16th, which was tied for their lowest. And by the way, it was kind of unfortunate for the Eagles that that was like the first grade that came up because some people just saw it and thought the Eagles had like a C overall. But that's not the case. Yeah. So there's. Okay. What do you want to? You want to just go through these?

Well, here. Yeah. So treatment of families. C. Food cafeteria. A. Well, hold on. Hold on.

Treatment of families. C. Not a great grade. And part of the reason is that they do not have a family room in the stadium, which many teams do. They do have a family room in the stadium, but they do not provide free child care. for those families. Yeah, they're one of 11 teams that do not provide free on-site daycare to the players' families. They do provide a room for the child care, but each player must supply.

They have to pay for their own. They care for themselves. There are like complications. I'm certainly not in HR. There's a lot that, from my understanding, goes into having, you know, daycare. There might be insurance or license, things like that. But it's worth pointing out that there are. you know, what, 21 teams in the league who do provide this.

There are, because there are 11 teams that do not provide the free on-site daycare. And the change, so the reason why the Eagles have that C-grade and why they are 16th out of 32 teams is the biggest feedback is players would improve the treatment of families by upgrading the daycare offered on game day to match the offering of most teams across the league. Seems like a reasonable request. Yeah. Frankly? Yeah. Okay. Food cafeteria, the Eagles ranked second in food taste and first in food freshness.

Yeah, they got an A in this, and they were second overall of the 32 teams. And you are someone who, I think it's fair to say, is keen insight on this because you work in that. It's changed over the years, but, yeah, there's always a good cafeteria. But you worked in that building. I have insight in that we used to be able to eat lunch there in the media. And it's interesting. the best, you know, you could go, you could order anything you want, they'll make you whatever, you know, smoothie stuff, but really what kept me coming back was the saltines.

They have good cookies there, by the way. But this is something you hear often. Players love that cafeteria. I know this is the favorite podcast of our listeners, but, or I hope it is, rather, but if you listen to Jason Kelsey's podcast, he speaks often about the cafeteria. He used to say it's the only reason he's still playing was the cafeteria. Now that was more about the hanging out with the guys. Yeah, he had hanging out with the guys. But he gave a shout out to the food in that cafeteria.

And it is true. And the great thing, too, and not all teams do this. Like, you'd be surprised. I think it was the Bengals only feed their players on Wednesdays. Like, they only feed their players dinner on Wednesdays. Last year's survey. Like, what? Last year's survey.

Yeah, they only have like three meals a day on Wednesdays. The rest of the time, it's just like lunch. The Cardinals used to charge their players. I mean, that is really the, like, the beauty of the survey is to find out, Like how brutally cheap some of these owners are. Yeah. Like the, which team was it that's charging the veterans to not have roommates on the road? Like $15,000 or something like that?

That's, that's crazy. It's insane. Yeah, we have to get to that. But so the Eagles, the Eagles provide, like, top, top quality food throughout the day for their players. And from what I understand, it's that way throughout the off season, too. So guys who, like, just come in for a workout during the off season, will stop by and eat lunch, right? It's, it's easy.

Get yourself a to go box for dinner. Exactly. Take that bad boy home. Exactly. And, you know, I know that the chefs that might have turned over over the years, but when I was in there, I always got to know the people working behind the counter, really nice and really good food. And so, and the freshness, too.

I know this is something that the, I mean, just kind of we're giving insight here. Eagles have a garden actually by their practice field where they produce a lot of their vegetables that they use. It's from that garden. There you go. What other podcast has given you that insight? Okay. The next one, do you want to tee it up? Nutritionist slash dietician.

Eagles get a B, which is 13th. Yeah, 83% of the players felt like they get an individualized plan, which actually surprises me with the other 17% of the players, because we literally walk by every day we're in there. And they have personalized smoothies based on the player's body compositions. Players are monitored, not in like the Chip Kelly way, but in terms of like you need to eat more of this or less of this to get to your necessary body weight. They have nutritionist, dietitian on staff. I should point out while we're doing this, someone who is very high.

up in that group was Mike Minnis, who just left actually to go to Indianapolis to run their entire department, I believe. So the Eagles lost a key person there. But 83% of the players, as I said, feel like they have an individualized plan. Next, you move on to the locker room where the Eagles do, the players do believe that the locker room needs a renovation. It says 85% of the players feel like a locker room is big enough, which is 19th overall. 90% of players feel like they have enough room in their individual lockers, which is 14th overall. They've got a B-minus 16th.

Yeah, and I'm actually, I'm in agreement with the players. Well, it's not as if they want my opinion. But I do feel like the Eagles could use a locker room renovation, which is the sentiment of the players. I don't know if this is a fault of the Eagles as much. Novacare Complex was once a very new facility. The Eagles have done things that kind of retrofit it, but you're looking at it now.

It's almost 25 years old. right? I mean, I think it opened in 2000 or 2001, and so it's nearly 25 years old at this point. And to be honest with everybody here, the NFL rosters were different than they were in terms of size. I vividly remember Brian Dawkins didn't just have one locker. He had two lockers. Now the Eagles don't even have enough lockers for every player who's on the active roster, injured reserve, and practice squad, that they have these makeshift locks. in the middle. And a lot of these new, and the Eagles are somewhat limited in their footprint in the facility based on, on where it is. The neighborhood zoning. Yes. But there are some NFL locker

rooms that are cavernous. Now, there's some NFL locker rooms that I've been in, it's, it's that where they're not nearly as, as nice as the Eagles locker room. But the, the Eagles locker rooms long and narrow, and they do a great job of having natural light. I remember Peter King once remarked about the smell that they have emanating in it because it's similar to a hotel they have. You're giving this look. Yeah, we walked through a Weston on the way to the way to the lunch yesterday, and Zach was like just like in heaven, like, oh, that Weston smell, baby. Well, that's a good choice of words because I actually believe it's called the heavenly scent.

Yes. It is Anyone who's been in a Weston Just get Zach in a Weston And a man And a box of saltines And the man doesn't ever have to leave again Anyone who's been in a Weston

Knows that's a very welcoming smell You want a consistent smell You want your home to smell like a Weston No, you don't You don't You want a Weston to smell like a Weston You don't want your home to smell like a Weston I would love if my home smell like a Weston

Why? Don't you want your home to smell like home. I mean, my home smells good. I mean, shout out to Emily. If she's watching, she, our home smells great. Your, like, hope and dream when you come home from work is, like, Emily, to be standing behind a desk and be like, welcome back, Mr. Berman.

How are you today? No, that's not at all. But we had this actually, we had this conversation on this show with Shield. Can I have Mr. Reed here, take your bags up to your room for you? Not on the show. On Shield Show, when you talked about the first thing that I looked for in a hotel and I say the smell. And the thing that I remarked is that I even looked at one point how to get the smells that's in a hotel lobby in your home.

Because I've tried, like, those reed diffusers. You know what I'm talking about? No. Joey knows what I'm talking about, right? The read diffusers, it's these like three sticks in a sense. Yeah, I know what a diffuser is. The reed is confusing me. They're called read diffusers.

Okay. Chad, help me out here. There you go. Julia pulled it up. Okay, yeah. No, no, she pulled up the Weston smell. Yeah. So anyways, I looked up how to get this, and it requires, like, changes to your HVAC and all that.

And that was a little too much work there. We have to just stick with the re-diffuser. But, yeah, anyone likes a good, welcoming smell when they walk in. That's why real estate agents will tell you when you have an open house, you're supposed to bake chocolate chip cookies. So it smells like cookies. It smells like home when you walk in. Exactly. It smells like a home, not a hotel.

I like the smell of a... All right, we went on a tangent here. Peter King once remarked that the Eagles do a good job of making the locker room smell good, and it's because of actually a filtration system that they have in the air. I don't think we need to go through every single category now that we've gotten on the cookie tangent. No, no, here. So the end of the rosters now, practice squads are bigger, injury lists are bigger, and the Eagles lost a lot of that space in the middle due to the...

John Bell says they've got the Westincent in the house. You see, you mock me. John Bell knows what's up. Well, yeah, but I also see you logged in on YouTube over there under the nom de plume, John Bell. I'm not logged in on YouTube. But, yeah, so this I am in agreement with. Next category.

Training room, B-plus, ninth. Yeah, 92% of the players feel they have enough full-time trainers. 95% of the players feel they have enough full-time. I'm physical therapists. 95% of players feel they have enough hot tub space. 92% of the players feel they have enough cold tub space. And players reported an upgrade to their hot tub and cold tubs this year. You got to feel for the 5% of players who don't think they have enough hot tub space.

They must have had a bad experience. You see, that's why you're a great vote because that's the exact observation that I think is pertinent to say. What is the, like, what happened to that fire? They were in the hot tub with Jordan Davis and Jordan Milana. And they're like, there's nowhere for me to sit. So that's that. The training staff. A minus, fourth.

Yeah, NFL players rate their head trainer the highest of any team. And so. That's Tom Hunkley? Yeah, shout out Tom Hunkley there. Best in the business, according to the players. Best in the business. And then players feel the training staff. significantly contributes to their success.

They're sixth overall in terms of players who felt that. And you've seen, by the way, this is the Eagles. I don't want to say the Eagles turned over their training staff in recent years. And this shows you the players are very happy with the change. Do you think that was the source of the kind of thing that would divide any group of men report? Was the space in the hot tub? I mean, with that, that would probably divide. a lot of groups of men, right?

Yes. All right. What do we got next? Weight room. Weight room. A minus. Another A minus. Yeah.

Players feel they have high quality equipment in their weight room and players feel they have more than enough space in their weight room. Let me ask you. Did you use to get to use the weight room back in the day? I was allowed to. I didn't make as much use of it as I could have. Okay. I passed by that weight room just about every day when I'm in the facility.

And, yeah, it's a beautiful wait room. A lot of space. They've upgraded the equipment. They've upgraded the technology in there. And it's a weight room that guys like Jason Kelsey come in and use throughout the year. Strength coaches, A-minus sixth. Yeah, players rate their head strength coach, the fourth highest of any NFL team. And it's ambiguous who you would say was like the head strength.

You know, they have a head strength and conditioning coach, but also Ted Rath is in charge of, like, player performance. But anyways, they are very happy with the strength coaches, 92% percent. the players feel they have an individualized plan, which is actually 20th overall, but they were third overall in players feeling that the strength coaches significantly contribute to their success. Team travel, C, 19th. Yeah, so let's get into this one.

This is one that they were notably low last year on. Yeah, big improvement. Big improvement. And I'll get into one of the changes. Only 75% of the players feel they have a comfortable amount of personal space during flights. Now, the Eagles made a big change last year, which, and this is my understanding, I actually looked into this earlier this year when they started going on road trips because I knew this was an issue.

And the Eagles actually take two separate charters. They do now. They did not let it. Yeah, yeah. Now, and as response to that, they now take two separate charters. Every player has his own row. And my understanding, too, is it also expedites the onboarding and the deplaning process because the, the, there's like a plane for like the players and then like the non football staff and so you don't

have to wait for everybody. But I think the reservation from the players here is that they want players to sit in first class seats and the Eagles don't do that. My understanding with this and this is something I also looked into during the year is that they don't want to like pick favorites. You know, there's not enough first class seats for everybody. So how do you determine that? But, I mean, if you want to be not even skeptical, if you just want to kind of give a devil's advocate argument, maybe the coaching staff feels like, hey, we put in all this work.

We're like working on the plane here. We should get these first class seats. I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. And then the Eagles do not require any players to have roommates before games. I think this change. Somebody correctly shouted out.

It was the Bucks who had the guys paying for not having a roommate. I think this actually changed during COVID with the Eagles. They all had to have to have. individual rooms. I think they did it thereafter. If I'm wrong about this, I will correct it, but I do know that's a shift that occurred, and it's popular with players. It's kind of like an old-time thing in sports sometimes. You know, in hockey, you have your designated roommate on the road, but I think a lot of players now prefer having their own room, their own space. Some players are snorers, right? So you're looking to be funny.

It's a weird, like, the first place you went. Interesting. What's the first place you would go, Bo? I just want you. You want space to yourself. Yeah. Yeah, you want your own bathroom. Yes. I agree there.

How much would you, how much would you pay to not have a roommate on the road? Let's say you and I are going to Indianapolis. And I had the room with you. Honestly, I would ask to split the difference on the second room. That's what I would say. I would say, all right, the company's paying for this one. Some people are snorers.

I am not a snorer. I can be a snorer. You can be a snorer? Yeah. Okay. Is it when you, you sleep on your back or just in general? Usually the winter time when I'm a little bit congested.

Oh, okay, that would do it. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. I would probably be annoying to be a roommate with on the road because, A, I... You'd be getting up at 5.30 in the morning? Yes, I get up early. I get up early.

And I have the TV on. I can't go to sleep without the TV on. Really? Yes. No matter what? Typically, yeah. What about like a podcast? That doesn't work for you?

It needs to be the TV. It could, but it's usually the TV. Yeah. But yeah, I'm... Waking a thrashing in the middle of the night, tossing and turn by myself, because I keep hearing about what Jed Bartlett decision needs to make. Yeah, I do listen to West Wing. My wife can tell you the plot lines of all the West Wing episodes now.

And then I'm a long showerer, so... Okay, let's move on to the next one. I take long showers I sometimes write stories in my head What are you doing in there? I'm writing stories in my head in the shower Yeah

How long are we talking? Not like that long but Well you went out of your way Say that you're a long shower How long are we talking? Growing up I shared You know I shared a bathroom with my siblings And

A 14 of them And I was And part of me getting up early Is because like now I get to take the shower time that I want to have as opposed to like, you know. How long are we talking? Say six, seven minutes. That doesn't sound that long.

I don't know. I haven't timed it. I'll time it. That doesn't seem abnormally long. Maybe 10 minutes, 15. I don't know. 15 minutes we're getting up there. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. More like 30 minutes? No, not 30 minutes. Definitely not 30 minutes. It's a bit better for the water bill. head coach yeah last two

head coach a ownership a yeah so 100% of the players feel that their head coach Nick Siriani is efficient with their time first overall in the league your devil's advocate argument

to this well the survey was done in the middle of the season oh I thought you meant he just means that they don't like he doesn't require them to work as many hours efficient with their time first overall means that like

he gives them more free time Right, exactly. Yes. He's not keeping them in all that, you know, they're known. That's a choice. They have more days off. Yeah, that kind of thing. The players feel that Nick Siriani is very willing to listen to the locker room, seventh

overall. This was taken mid-season. But this is positive remarks. And, you know, if you're of the opinion that Nick Siriani lost the locker room, again, this was not done during the losing streak, but Nick Seriani's first point in the five core values is connect and he's tried to. One of the top two. Try to form meaningful connections with his players.

And so this is, this reflects very positively on Nick Seriani. And Jeffrey Lurie? And Jeffrey Lurie received a rating of $9.4 out of 10 from Eagles players when considering his willingness to invest in the facility, seventh overall. You know, Jeffrey Lurie, we have said this on the show. We've said this on previous shows.

He is He doesn't really spare much of an expense In terms of like the players and What it would you know he's the Eagles are Usually top in the league in cash spending on players They invest in the coaching staff and They've tried to do upgrades to the facility like we said There are limitations you know like the practice bubble there are limitations there based on zoning stuff

But Jeffrey Lurie is not not one of these owners who has been hesitant in the past to invest in his club. Do you think Jeffrey is happier about this grade or the recent award for a Vietnam Restaurant? Yeah, Vietnam Restaurant is a Beard Award winner now. And, yeah, I mean, he can be happy for both. They're not mutual exclusive. Right, yeah, but that's why I asked which one is he more happy for. I'd say comparison is the thief of joy.

So. So you just don't answer the question. Yeah, I don't know which one he's happier for. I mean, he's probably very happy for his family with Vietnam Restaurant, and he's probably thrilled for his organization. I did ask Jeffrey Lurie about this poll a year ago, and he kind of, you know, He looked into the methodology.

He dismissed it, yeah. He dismissed it. He did not, he wanted to figure that out. I think he'd be very happy with the methodology that rates him in A. So here's the more important question, now that we have spent 25 minutes talking about it. Does it matter? sure it matters.

I mean, the Chiefs got terrible grades, and they just fill in their second straight Super Bowl. Yeah. They also have Patrick Mahomes. Sure. I think what the Chiefs said, I saw this quote, is that because they're playing so deep into the season, every year they can't upgrade the facilities.

Which is such a back end. They're making so much money. You want to give me a break. Yeah. This, look, I don't think this matters in terms of like this is going to be the difference between winning and losing. But I think this matters because this is the workplace for these guys.

And you want a positive workplace. You want a place where they're happy to go to work, where the facilities are top-notch, the food's good, the travel's good. Like all the stuff that you and me and Julia and our listeners and our viewers would want in their workplace. You don't want to go to a place where you feel like they're not investing in the product or they're not investing in your well-being. But I don't think this is determinative of a team's success. Ultimately, it's about how good the players and the coaches are.

All right, let me take this time now, Zach, to tell everybody about becoming a PHLY diehard. You get all the good stuff, the access to the diehard only articles, the events, and the discounts on merch. Get a free shirt if you become a PhDLY diehard. and just, you know, make this the way that you support us after everything that Zach is doing for you, sacrificing his sleep, taking those long showers, support the man by becoming a P.HLY diehard. Isn't that right up your wheelhouse, Zach?

Yes, I was about to tell you, Wheelhouse. I need to get there either this weekend or next weekend and see their latest supply of cards for my son because Wheelhouse is the go-to sports card gift and apparel shop in the Delaware Valley. Their motto is Cards and Community because love of sports unites us all. They carry all of your favorite card brands like Tops, Chrome, baseball, and mosaic football, as well as T-shirt hats, and hoodies from brands like Mitchell Ness, 47 brand junk food starter, and shy vintage sports.

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We're at the tail end of the show here, Zach. Yeah, I think we burned a lot of time on the opening. I wouldn't say we burned it. I would say we crushed it. That was great. I mean, if we were burning it, it was like a nice smelling diffuser that we were burning. One can only wish. But some like leftover thoughts from the things that we heard this week

and maybe some just discussions we were having over the course of the week. One thing that is sticking with me is like Nick Siriani's press conference. And we talked about it a little bit on Tuesday show. But like the disconnect between the Nick we saw at the end of season press conference who seemed chastened and saying all what we thought were like the things that Jeffrey Lurie wanted to hear that he was going to sort of become this different person and then to see him up on the podium on Tuesday and like it's all the same stuff. Yeah.

You know, it's it's the five core values again and again and like the repeat answers on a couple other questions. It makes me a little bit like I don't know if Nick Siriani has a secondary pitch, so to say. Like I don't know what it is that he's going to be changing. it seems like he's prepared to sort of from a stylistic perspective run it back. It's a good point. And look, we both agreed when we did that show after the first press conference that he was saying what he needed to say to keep his job.

I think, you know, the offense got stale, so on, so forth. And Lord knows we have been misled by Nick Siriani press conferences in the past, right? Yeah. We can make too much of this. But just from a like, what am I expecting? I think it has sort of confirmed that I don't think that he thinks that this thing needs to be torn down and he needs to be a different type of coach. Yeah, I think it might have been a little more about like defiance. Look, Nick's been, Nick's been bearing the brunt of most of the criticism during the past few weeks.

It hasn't as much been the players. It certainly hasn't been the front office. It's been Nick. and it's come in a lot of different ways in terms of like the locker room, his sideline demeanor, all this stuff. And I think there's a part of Nick that kind of wants to

to stick his backup and say like, hey guys, you know, in my three years here, we've made the playoffs every year. We were in the Super Bowl in year two. The culture two years ago was like, it was kumbaya. Every article was

Nick Siriani knows what the F he's doing, right? It was, and that's quoting what Nick said against the Giants that year, that the offense was like setting records and that he didn't all of a sudden forget how to be a head coach. And so I think that, I think this was an overcorrection to maybe the sentiment during the past few weeks is that, wait, you guys think that I'm just this empty shirt telling, you know, peddling the, vision of somebody else? No, like, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm doing. And that, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's what I had in terms of what Nick was trying to convey. But it also doesn't feel like he, like, he, to,

Yeah, I mean, to use an analogy, I don't think Nick feels as if he needs to renovate the home. I think he feels like he needs to redecorate the home, right? Like, he doesn't need to, you know, take down walls and change this. He just needs to... Shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic? Well, if you want to be fatalistic. Yeah, if you want to compare it to the Titanic. No, it's, it's, you get a new couch here, a new paint job there.

A bigger hot tub over there? Yeah. Yeah, they need that apparently, right? But no, and it's not this whole big, wide-scale turnaround. Yeah, I think that's how he views it. Okay. What else is on your mind? Yeah, so I left here and tell me if you have a different view,

I left here even more convinced that Hassan Redick's going to be traded. And I think there's going to be a market for Hassan Reddick. I understand not every edge rushers going to be tagged. Bryce Huff, for instance, is not going to be tagged. But I got the feeling from Howie Roseman the other day, and maybe I'm reading too much into it, that they know this is going to cost a lot of money to keep him, that there's going to be a market there,

and that they need to think big picture in terms of how they're allocating their resources. I'm on the fence about whether I think it's more or less likely because I feel like sometimes with Howie, he's going to he's going to just from a negotiation standpoint present the opposite sure right like if he said Hassan Reddick is an elite edge rusher like we have no interest in letting him go somewhere else that could just be posturing for if you're going to trade for this guy you got to pay up

whereas if he says we're going to let the market dictate like that's a message to the agents that if like if they don't find what they're looking for you're going to price is going to down and we will pay that price. Sure. But I think he's going to get that price. And then, you know, Jeff McLean had in his story the other day and Josita Anderson had a report that teams are already making

offers. That would suggest that there's, look, teams are not going to make offers to the Eagles unless they feel they can sign Reddick to what it's going to take. And so then I think that if there's a team willing to give that number, it comes

to two things. Will the Eagles pay that number. So let's use this. Montez Sweat got 24 and a half million. I know Montez Sweat is younger, but A, he hasn't been as productive, but even more, the cap has gone up here. So there's more money to pay top of the market guys, right? You're not paying your middle class as much you're paying the top of the market guys. And Hassan Reddick's top of the market guy. So I'm thinking like that 24, 25 million range is where it's going to take. And if you're the Eagles and you're paying G. Owen Hertz what you're paying him and A.J. Brown what you're paying him. And Lane Johnson what you're paying him. You know, you're paying Slay. You know, decent money. There's a lot of guys making seven digits and above, right? So, or I'm sorry, eight digits and above. Yes, eight digits and above. Well, both.

Yes. Most of the guys are making seven digits and above, eight digits and above. That I just think that. I just think that. that they're probably going to look at this and say they can't pay Hassan Redick $25 million a year. It could be wrong. I could be wrong. I'm not reporting that. That's just me. No, I think that's fine, and I think you're probably right, but

the question then becomes, you trade Hassan Reddick, doesn't edge rusher become like the number one need on your team? Oh, yeah. Howie Rosman wants to build it? Yeah, and so there's two answers to that. Number one is you're expecting, you're really counting on Nolan Smith, which might be a big leap of faith. And number two,

that maybe you sign a guy for if the number you have for an edge rusher is 15 million and you say we can get I'm just using Bryce Huff because that name's come to mind right we can get Bryce Huff for 15 million right and we can get Zadaria Smith for 14 exactly something like that like if you can get that that middle and that's that's not even a middle tier around the contract you paid Hassan Redick last time basically you're not paying Hassan Redick in that top five of the, you're willing to pay and Nedge Rusher to be one of the top 25 paid guys at his position, but not

one of the top five guys at his position. Yeah. So it could be that. And because you're counting on Nolan Smith, they play like a first round pick. And we're going to get deep into the free agents who are available next week. I'll have a big thing coming out on Monday, and then we're going to get into quackatology. But you look at the other

edge rushers available. You know, Brian Burns and Josh Allen at the top, both guys probably not likely to come free. Jonathan Granagh. from the Texans also probably not likely to come free but could and I think would be interesting to the Eagles as like a young building block type player. Bryce Huff you mentioned then you get to some older players like Daniel Hunter and Zadaria Smith we talked about. Chase Young I don't think is going to be like the Eagles are not going to be the high bidders on him I would think. Josh Uche from the Patriots is interesting people have linked Andrew Van Ginkle of course because he played for

Fangio before and has that sort of versatility and then after that it's it's sort of a drop off Like you're hoping for bounceback years from like Yanuk and Gokwe or AJ Epinessa and just keep going down. Like it gets, it gets, you're crossing your fingers unless you're going for like a Casey Two Hill type. I don't think they're going for a Casey Two Hill type. They should. You do like a two Hill. What's not to like? I think he's great.

I think he could be a three Hill. I don't think Casey Two Hill is the answer. I would not trade Hassan Reddick and turn to Casey Two Hill. No disrespect to Casey Two Hill, right? That sounds like disrespect. back to him. You didn't pick up the right. He's a big right guy. He's a good. That's right. Yeah, he's a right brother. He's a right brother, yeah. Because I, as someone says in the chat, or in a comment section, I say right a lot as well. Maybe I learned it from Casey Two Hill. Maybe so. Worse people to be compared to than a Stanford grad.

Trying to think of any, like, notorious Stanford grads. Are there any, like, serial killers? I actually don't know the alma maters of most serial killers, to be honest with you. I can think of one particularly. I agree just a Stanford grad, but I'll save that for another day. Okay. Tiger Woods? I mean, no. Yeah, so, yeah. Maybe.

Now, by the way, when we landed today, this is on me because we didn't, we didn't communicate this. I thought there was a chance we were going to go back together. Because you had a car and I did not have a car. And you, you know, maybe this is you, 25 men, 25 cabs. No, not that at all. But you just jet it off. No wait for. You're at the end of the runway, see what's going on, what's your plan?

You just jet it off. And I wonder if it was because you wanted to have your time to change in the car. I actually did have a change of clothes in the car, to be honest with you. That's why we're in studio. I want to know if we were in studio B. I deal with a change of clothes in the car. Yeah, he said if we were going to be in Studio A, he was going to have to put on some pants. I'm sorry about that.

I didn't know if you were going home first, but honestly, my honest answer is I wanted to call my wife. and so I was going to the car to call her. Just to see how the Weston's doing? Our house does not smell like the Weston, but our house smells lovely. Yes. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the P.H.L.Y. Eagles podcast.

Tomorrow we're going to do a little playing Howie Roseman, right? We're going to both think of like five moves that we would make this offseason if we were Howie Roseman, so that'll be a fun show. And that's all we got. So, Zach, I hope you get some sleep tonight. I hope you have a nice bountiful dinner of saltines and saltines. I don't think we actually have saltines in the pantry. Sounds like you're calling out Emily there. Why would you assume that's Emily? I'm perfectly capable of going to the grocery store and getting saltines. You have told us that you are not capable of going to the grocery store,

unless it's on the list, you're not getting to saltines. You would have to write it down for yourself. Well, that's true, but I'm capable. Because you do not deviate from the list. I do not. That is, that's a good callback. I do not deviate from the list. I am very programmable at the, at the, I am honestly at the grocery store.

I am like the door dash pickup guy. I'm just getting from the list. And to the point that, like, I'm going to charge outrageous fees. as well. No, I'm looking for like what the replacement thing is if that's not there, but I do not deviate from the list at the grocery store, but I am capable. You know, I heard the other day, I keep mentioning this Chris Long, Jason Kelsey, but I don't think, but they were talking about going the grocery store. Like, it's the most arduous task in the world. And I'm like, come on. Like, it's not that bad. I like going to the grocery store. But it's an art, not a science.

How's it an art? You got to freelance. You got to let the grocery store speak to you. that is how you end up leaving the grocery store paying more than you anticipated that you know I believe in inventory management I believe in budget control like these are

that's what I'm thinking of when I go to the grocery store so what a joyless way to live I trust me I have a very joyful life I'm not joyless just my joys are different than your joys my joys are not spending more at the grocery store my joys are saving more at the grocery store

yes my joys are you know what you put in your phone number You know what you get the discount, and then it says at the bottom of the receipt, you saved, you know, 1273 on that. Well, no, here, so seriously, I go to the library and. You know what might bring you a lot of joy? What? Armed robbery. Why is that? Well, you wouldn't be paying as much.

Well, here. I'm going to, I know we're past our time, but I'm going to show you something that gets me excited often. And this is going to be a self-deprecating, I guess. Is that a picture of Nick Sabin without a shirt? shirt on. Okay. So my most recent, I most recently went to the library on February 13th. Okay. Let's see here. This is fascinating. I mean, the tension right now is building. All right here. So here you go. Read that. You just saved $76.99 by using your library. You have saved $76.99 this past year. And one,

$1,793.91 since you began using the library. Yes. And so they tell you every time what the price of, you know, what you're saving relative to what the price of the book is. And so, yeah, these are. And so that's the joyous thing in your life? Yeah, oh yeah. When I see that at the bottom of the receipt,

that gets me pumped. That gets me pumped. Dad, I'm so happy to see you. How was your trip? Read, calm down. I'm going to the library. get out of here no that's not the only joyous thing that is a joyous thing all right uh well that will do it now for the ph. my egos podcast thanks everybody for watching and listening um we will talk to you

tomorrow and for all of us here as always we love you