PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - The Prototype of a Pickup Football Player | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: March 23, 2026

With Jalen Hurts and Devonta Smith participating in the Fanatics Flag Football game, Bo Wulf and EJ Smith share the type of players they were in their younger days. Was Bo a gun slinging QB? Did EJ find tight windows for every receiver? Best memories of playing pick up football with your buddies! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello, everybody. We've got an audio only here. Get to drop the octave a little bit. E.J., how you doing? I'm doing well. If I didn't know you better, I would challenge you to do this the entire time, but I don't think either of us really want that.

So I'm going to instead ask you to, you know, break up the audio-only voice, you know, the sexy bow. That's usually what we get for these. What are we talking about? We're going to talk about. You know, I was watching the flashed. like football highlights from Team USA against whatever Jalen Hertz's team was. And I was wondering, you know, because as I do, I sit around and watch football and I just think about you. Like what

kind of a what kind of pickup football player were you back in the day? Oh, interesting. Yeah. You know what? Usually I don't think that the people need this stuff in their feed. This is a good content. But this is the stuff that they actually do need to know. What kind of player do you think that I was? You know, I don't want to to project myself here, but I do. do sort of feel like you were a steady quarterback. It kind of feels like you would be in charge of everything, you know, and I know you have a strong arm. And I'm no offense, but I don't peg you as like the fastest player in the pickup football.

You know what? Usually when you say no offense, I'm going to take offense. I do not take offense to that. Okay. Yeah, steady cue. I wouldn't say steady cue, but, but quarterback. Yeah. Long time listeners will know.

I'm the all-time winningest bubble ball quarterback. I just looked at the camera like we're doing. The Novi care facility. Okay. Now, that doesn't mean that I was, you know, me and Alex Zirkle had real battles. Okay. Head to head.

Yeah. But I was there a little bit longer than him. That's why I'm the all-time winningest. We also, we had a pretty good co-ed team, intramarals in college. Okay. That was fun. I lost in the championship once.

That one still burns, but we did make up for it by winning. a dodgeball title. Big flex. Yeah, love to play quarterback. Yeah. Good deep ball.

Jaylen hurts. Very important to get, you know, very aware of making sure that everybody got to touch the ball at some point. Okay. Spread the ball around. Make it worth everybody's while.

Were you the type to draw routes? You would tell people like, you're going to run like a stick and nod or you're going to do a little bit. Yeah. Okay. Really more like in like a, you know,

two route. combinations or something like that. Gotcha. Oh, you were, so you played this, you played pickup football later in your life than me.

Like I, yeah, if I'm thinking back to, yeah, the idea of like being like, let's do like, you know, a high,

low concept. That's not something I've ever thought of. The thing is as, you know, as a kid, like, like, I remember,

I remember moving when I was in, like, fourth grade, you know, you can't, you can just step in and be the quarterback right away.

Sure, got to earn it. Right. So there, you know, I made my mark as, you know, interceptions as like a safety.

Oh, okay, like a ball hawking safety. Yes. Gotcha. Yeah, that was a big deal. Yeah. All of a sudden,

making plays on the ball. And then you were in your way up. Okay, like, you know, now let me throw the ball. Okay, I got you.

How about you? I was a steady quarterback. I think it started because I was slow. I was a good athlete, but I was just, I was never fast. And I had a strong arm.

And then this kind of got into my, like it got to my head, you know, how good I was being steady cue. and I had played quarterback up until my sophomore year of high school because of it. Because, you know, I was a pitcher in baseball. Similar to you, not as good at baseball players as you, I would say. But yeah, I was like the slow, lazy, steady quarterback, but nobody complained.

So, Jamarcus Russell had his heyday, like, when I was coming up and were both left-handed, both big, slow guys. I don't think Jamarcus Russell was left-handed. He is. No, Jamarcus Russell is definitely left-handed. I, like, internalized this as a kid. And when he flopped, it was right around the time that I flopped. So look it up.

I would bet money that he's left-handed. Yeah, so I was the type of, honestly, like my play style, I would say was similar to a Jamarcus Russell or like a, honestly, not to compare myself to Brett Farv, but just in the sense that I was like, I never saw a window I didn't think I could squeeze it into. You know, I was a very, I respect that. Yeah, it was a very arrogant, steady quarterback.

And then on defense, if I had to play defense, I was usually the laziest one. I was usually like the pass rusher who was just standing there counting. I hated to pass rush. Yeah, I enjoyed it because I really was about just not running if I could avoid running at all costs. But yeah, I was big on the out and up. You know, that was always my favorite route concept. Was Jar Marcus Russell not left-handed? Jamarcus Russell very clearly right-handed.

I could have sworn he was left-handed. Like, I would have bet actual money on it. You think of Jared Lorenzen? No, I'm thinking of Jamarcus Russell because it was my play style. Big slow quarterback. Maybe he would have been better off throwing left hand. Maybe he would have, yeah. Man, that is like a moment.

Like, I would have literally bet significant money on that. It made me feel like I was. I was certain of it. This whole time, but, you know, in the first. But as I got older and I kind of graduated, I moved to offensive line and actual football. I was a decent tight end, you know?

Okay. Kind of like box you out, you know, get in the high post type of situation. But yeah, I was, like I said, I was big on the out and up. I was big on like the pump fake, really sell the out. Absolutely. Yeah, really sell the out route. And then honestly, we do like option routes with people I was really good, like good chemistry with where we would just be reading.

If the corner's sitting on the out, you go up. If he's not sitting on it, take the 10 yards. You have in your mind your favorite receiver I ask you? Yeah, I do. Ryan Casper. Shout out to Ryan Casper. And this is actually, this extended to real football. He was our tight end.

He was like real skinny, but he was, he was tall and lanky, but he was muscular. And he was really quick. And he would run this corner route and like just unguardable if you threw it right. And he would go up and get it. And the last story for our audio only listeners here on this one is my first game starting in freshman football. You know, it's like the game is on the line. They put me in in the fourth quarter. And I tell Ryan Casper, my trusted tight end, run the corner.

I'm going to hit you. And I drop back. He runs the corner. I throw it up. Interceptive. We lose the game. Brutal. Was it a good throw or did you not see the safety or what? You know what? The lights were too bright for me. I didn't know what happened.

No, I threw it with conviction and I think I got hit. I have no idea why I got intercepted. I should have, you know, should have watched the tape. Yeah, exactly. I still have a memory of this still bothers me. It was that it was that aforementioned championship game. Yeah. And the first play of the game, I tell I tell my buddy Witt running out and up. works out perfectly. Yeah. Hits it.

I thought it was going to be a touchdown, but he gets caught. Gets caught. And I go, let's run it again. Same next play. Yeah. And the corner knew exactly what was coming. He baited me and, oh, man.

Bad job. Oh, wait. So he based it on the outer. Yeah. No, he just, he ran it out and up again. Hmm. He'd been on the first pump.

He's like, oh, let's get him. Let's get him again. He's never going to see this coming. And he saw that coming completely. Even the out and up has, has its limitations. Yeah.

She looked somewhere else. Yeah. That was good. Yeah, it's fun. All right. We got a show to do. Talk to you guys later.