Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - How can Kirk Cousins win over Mike Zimmer? Who are the most underrated Bengals of all time and more hot routez

Episode Date: September 6, 2021

Matthew Coller and Manny Hill run through five burning Vikings questions for Week 1 in only the fashion that they can: Hot Routez style. What would it take for Kirk Cousins to win over Mike Zimmer? How would the 2021 Vikings stack up with the 2019, 2012, 2000 and 1994 Vikings? Who are the most underrated Bengals? And what are the best and worst moves of the offseason? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and joining me for this episode. It is a tradition to bring on Manny Hill and do hot routes. We used to do this back in the day. Five questions that are sometimes random, sometimes poignant, and in this case, sometimes force you to try to come up with scenarios that you don't believe possible. So Manny Hill, it is great to have you back on the show. I've got some extremely blazing routes to kick off this NFL football week.

Are you excited, Manny? I am pumped. These hot rocks that you sent me are absolutely sizzling. They're on complete fire. It's like the little this is fine dog that's in the room that's just completely on fire. I'm just thinking, yeah, that dog's surrounded by nothing but hot rocks. All right. So let's play the intro here that you created so brilliantly with your masterful production skills and vocals. And then we will fire away with our hot routes. There's news in the NFL today, and it's time to break it down in the only way we know how. Hot route style. Earl! Johnny!

With our spin on football headlines with a mix of frozen tundras. Let's be a cold weather team. Neck rolls. And grass stained jerseys. The good old fashioned guts was probably the biggest difference in the game. Okay Manny, here we go. First question

for you of five Hot Routes. Paint me a picture in which Kirk Cousins wins over Mike Zimmer and they become best butts by the end of this season. I think it would absolutely have to start with Kirk deciding to get vaccinated, right? Like that's like the easiest part of it, right? It's like Kirk gets vaccinated so that Zimmer doesn't have to worry about you know him potentially missing any games or anything like that if he for some reason contracts COVID so I think it would start with there I think Kirk would have to have a really good season where he's

very consistent from start to finish now in a lot of ways Kirk Cousins is very consistent the result has been largely the same every single year but I guess the point I'm making here is that he puts together a stretch like that four-game stretch he had in 2019 where he played really really well but he puts that together over the course of a 17-game season and and takes them deep into the playoffs a trip to the NFC Championship game at least. I mean, that's why they brought him in, right? I mean, there were a team that got to the NFC title game in 2017 with Case Keenum, and they thought Kirk Cousins was an upgrade,

which he was, and they thought that he was a missing piece to get them over the hump to get to a Super Bowl. I think if Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins are going to be best buds, that's it's going to take all of that. And maybe more, I mean, you might have to get past the NFC championship game and get to a Super Bowl. I think for that to happen. I was thinking along the same lines of, even if he does not get vaccinated, he has to play all 17 games or 16. And then they're, you know,

sitting him because they're sitting him because they're already in the playoffs. It has to be that type of thing. It has to be, as Zimmer called it, available for the whole season because even if they won a lot of games but he missed a single game because of COVID, I think Zimmer is still going to go back to, I told you, I told you. And we know that even winning does not make Mike Zimmer love his quarterback

because in 2017, throughout that season, he really expressed his anxieties over Case Keenum throughout that year. I think what it would take is let's say it's the first round of the playoffs and they're going up against another team that has a really good offense. I don't know who it would be. Maybe it's Green Bay or something like that or San Francisco. Somebody good. And the defense falters.

And Zimmer's game plan is just not working today. They're not getting after the quarterback. They're giving up touchdowns. And here comes Kirk going back and forth, guns a-blazing, and he wins a shootout. He wins a similar game to what they had in 2018 against the Rams. So instead of coming up a little short in that one, Zimmer's defense fails, but Cousins comes through, wins the game for the

Vikings. They move on in the playoffs. I think if he had a performance like that, that bailed out Zimmer, that's what he actually talked about when they signed him was he said, we need a quarterback that if our defense comes up a little short, who can us over the top that was not Case Keenum, we need that to be Cousins. We haven't really seen that be Kirk Cousins in many games. This is where he has a chance to earn back the trust of Mike Zimmer or if he throws zero interceptions the whole season. That would be another way to do it because Zimmer cannot stand the interceptions.

No interceptions and no fumbles from Kirk Cousins. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I don't think that part is possible. But the other thing is, the other thing is, I mean, that is really how this all works. As frustrated as each other seems to be and as tense as it seems to be, that's all it really takes sometimes to bring two people together who maybe don't see eye to eye. All right. Next question for you, Manny. How about this? This is like this is built for you. I was thinking Manny is going to love this. Yeah. If the 2021 Vikings had to play a 17 game schedule entirely made up of the 2019 Vikings, 2012 Vikings, 2000 and 1994 Vikings.

That was all of their schedule. I don't know, just an even amount of games for each team. But their whole schedule is made up of those former Vikings teams. How many games would they win against 2019, 2012, 2000 and 1994? I'll just count backwards by years here. And I'll start with the 2019 Vikings. I think they go two and two against the 2019 Vikings. I agree. Yeah. And I think because on paper, the two teams are very similar. You would think on paper, this defense is going to be pretty solid if everybody

can stay healthy and uh you know not have to miss any games for code you know for covet reasons or anything like that that 2019 vikings defense was pretty good for most of the year they had some moments where they struggled but i think overall they were a pretty good unit um and and i think those two teams that they matched up because they're kind of built very much the same, you're still going to try to run the football with Alvin Cook. You've got two really good wide receivers. You know, I think those two teams would even out pretty well. So I'll say two and two against the 2019 Vikings.

The 2012 Vikings team, I don't think was very good at all. I agree. You're starting Christian Ponder at quarterback for 16 games. They go 10 and six because Adrian Peterson has the season of a lifetime, runs for almost 2,100 yards. He was the only reason, you know, Percy Harvin before he had the injury the first half of the year was actually an MVP candidate that year before he got hurt but that team was basically it was Adrian Peterson

and nothing else and it was a defense that was okay that held their own for most of the year I think the Vikings I think this year's Vikings team goes three and one against them you know maybe that one is just you know Adrian, Adrian Peterson, you know, running for 275 and, you know, four touchdowns, which he was, you know, prone to do a lot of times during that season. So I'll say they go three and one against the 2012 Vikings. The 2000 Vikings might be the most maddening team on this list because they were so good offensively with Moss and Carter and Dante's first year as a starter but my goodness they could not stop anybody at all I mean just an atrocious defense they get torched in the NFC title game by Kerry Collins and Imani Toomer and and uh you know Greg Camelo is catching touchdowns against them.

I mean, it's just ridiculous. But I do think that that Vikings offense would give the Vikings, this year's Vikings team, some trouble. Just because, I mean, Randy Voss. I mean, just say, you know, say no more. So I think they go 2-2 against the 2000 Vikings. Why don't you just make it a 16-game schedule so every team gets four games? Yeah.

I only think these hot routes through so deeply before we jump into them. That makes more sense to me to have four games against each team. Yeah, yeah. And then I picked a 2-2 against the 94 Vikings then too. So I have them at, that would be six, seven, nine. So nine and seven in a 16 game season against those four teams. So the reason that I picked these teams, these years was these were other years that I felt like had final records that were similar to what I think this year's Vikings are going to be.

So I was, you know, you get the 10 and six from 2012, were similar to what I think this year's Vikings are going to be. So I was, you know, you get the 10 and six from 2012, 10 and six from 2019. What was it? Eight and eight in 2000 and 1994. Or what was, what was 2000? 2000 was 11 and five. Oh, 11 and five. Sorry.

Yeah. That was the 41 donut NFC title game. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. 11 and five. Right. And then 94 was what? Nine and seven NFC title game. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. 11 and five. Right.

And then 94 was what? Nine and seven or 10 and six. Yeah. 10 and six. So like teams that are similar to this team. And I think it's fun to talk about, like, how would they compare and contrast? So I'll run through them as well. 2019.

I think that that team was probably more flawed than we gave it credit for because they didn't beat anybody that year. I mean, they they faced Green Bay a couple of times, lost both of those games. They lost against what Chicago. They had opportunities to prove that they were a real contender and they never really did until they played against New Orleans. And Mike Zimmer just put on a masterful defensive performance but i thought that team was just okay and this team is probably similar to that unless a lot of things go right for them so i like two and two for that i think that they that they kind of steamroll 2012 that i christian ponder against mike zimmer's defense i just i't know. I don't know how

they, how they beat this team aside from Adrian Peterson having one insane game, which probably would happen. I mean, I think that the Vikings signing Pierce and Tomlinson will shut down most running games. I don't think anyone is shutting down Adrian Peterson, 2012, four straight times. So I like three and one there as well for uh yeah for the the current Vikings 2000 I might go oh and four I just don't look Bashad Breeland and Patrick Peterson are fine and Xavier Woods is fine you're not pressuring Dante Culpepper and you are not stopping Randy Moss with this version this age of Patrick Peterson, I think they're flying right by you. I think they go

4-0, even though there's not a great defense there, and in fact, probably a bad defense in 2000. I just think the offense would be so explosive. I can't see it. I can't see anybody stopping Randy Moss. With 94, I actually think this Vikings

team does okay against that team. But probably I like two and two. I think it's kind of similar where when you look at that 94 team, you're like they had a great passing attack. They put up tons of numbers, lots of talent, but just fundamentally flawed that they couldn't get too deep in the playoffs. And I feel like. Couldn't finish drives.

Right. I mean, Flaude Rivez was. Tons of yards. They were what they were i think top five uh in yardage that year top five i think in defensive yardage too but they just couldn't finish drives they were always kicking field goals they moved so well in between the 20s could not finish drives kicking a bunch of field goals and it actually cost them when they were playing lesser opponents, they were always in close games and they would lose some of those close games against bad teams because they could never get in the end zone consistently.

And so sometimes, Manny, as you know, hot routes questions have kind of a point, which is we've seen this version of the Vikings many times. And sometimes it's a little worse in 2012. Sometimes it's a little better in 2000, but it feels like going into seasons, we're often telling the same story. And I wonder if we'll be coming out of this season with the same story. All right.

Our third hot route, Cincinnati Bengals week one, Manny. This is a franchise that we never talk about on this show. So let's talk about the Cincinnati Bengals week one, Manny. This is a franchise that we never talk about on this show. So let's talk about the Cincinnati Bengals. Give me your five all-time most underrated Cincinnati Bengals. All right. So the first one I had, first one that came to my mind was a guy that you probably saw playing a Buffalo Bills uniform for a few years. But he started out his career in Cincinnati,

a guy that just racked up a bunch of tackles. The neck. Yes, the neck. Take your spikes, man. That guy was really, really good in Cincinnati. Got to Buffalo after, I think, four years in Cincinnati. Got to Buffalo there. Made a couple of Pro Bowls with the Bills.

He was just really, really solid, man. Always around the football, always amongst the league leaders in tackles and forcing fumbles and recovering fumbles and things like that. Takeo Spikes was really, really, really good. So I've got him. TJ Housmanzada was another one that i add to the list because i don't think you know he's playing opposite chad johnson and chad johnson got all the attention all the attention all the you know the positive attention and the negative attention was always going towards chad johnson and there's t.j husman zada playing opposite him just putting up good

numbers man every single year uh and i don't think it gets appreciated enough rudy johnson was another one that i had oh good one yeah good one you know three straight years of 1300 yards rushing and and i think you know they used him so much because he was the guy that he took over for cory dylan when cory dylan moved on to new england started winning a super bowl with the Patriots Rudy took over and he was just a workhorse for them I mean it was constantly every year 350 360 carries and he's racking up 13 or 1400 yards um you know and unfortunately it just by the time he got to be about 28 29 years old he was done because it just ran him into the ground uh but rudy johnson i thought was really

good i put chris collinsworth on my list too because i don't think everybody knows chris collinsworth from you know pff and the broadcasting with you know sunday night football and you know started out with fox and everything i think people knew that he was a wide receiver for the Bengals in the eighties. I don't think people realized how good he actually was. And you go and you look up his numbers in the eighties with the Bengals. He was really, really,

really good and really consistent. Then he had some injuries late in his career that sort of cut things short. And then number one, same era as Chris Collinsworth. I put boomer esiason on the list and here's why is he underrated is he like the kirk cousins of the 80s though kirk cousins like the early 80s or late 80s and early 90s here's the reason why i put him on the list because i think most people look at boomer esiason and say I used to put the Bengals, put up some good numbers. And, you know, he won an MVP in 88 and got to a Super Bowl.

And and if not for some guys named Montana and Rice, he probably would have been a Super Bowl winning quarterback. But here's why I put him on the list, because I don't think that part of Boomer Sison's career is underrated. I think his career arc and how his career finished was very underrated. So he spends, I think, nine years in Cincinnati. He leaves, goes to the Jets for, I think, four seasons. And the Jets are just terrible. They're just bad. It's the rich, co-tight, you know, Pete Carroll, New York Jets teams

that were just awful in the 90s. He suffers there, doesn't go well, coat-tight, you know, Pete Carroll, New York Jets teams that were just awful in the 90s. He suffers there, doesn't go well, goes to Arizona. Another bad team. The Cardinals are terrible. You think, oh, okay, Boomer Esiason, he's 35. It's done. It's over. Bad team.

He goes back to Cincinnati at like 36 years old. He's a backup for Jeff Blake. Jeff Blake gets hurt. Boomer Esiason comes in, goes four and one as a starter down the stretch of the season, and then, Collin, you look at his numbers. Four and one as a starter. He completes 63% of his passes, throws for almost 1,500 yards, 13 touchdowns, only two picks, almost eight yards in attempt and a passer rating of 106.9 this guy's like 36 and we're supposed to be done and over with and then after that season's over he's just like i'm done that'll be all that's it i thought that's awesome i think for his career to

come full circle like that and end in cinc Cincinnati, where he's just lighting up the league for the last third of the season, is amazing. It is crazy that he became like a trash bin for like a while after Cincinnati. I mean, he was just one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. And then all of a sudden, he just has this one little, like when Josh McCown was with the Bears, where it's just this like four or five game run. And it's amazing and good for him for retiring after that uh yeah i don't know if he is like i i didn't put him in my

underrated bangles list but i also was not really aware of that part of it like i mean i remember that he finished his career with the bangles but i didn't know he threw 13 touchdowns and two picks and was amazing at the end so that was my thing is is I knew he went back to Cincinnati. I knew he played okay. But then I looked up his numbers before we got on here and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's tremendous. Incredible. It's unbelievable. So the old school fans will think of Ken Anderson. Actually, the fact that he's not in the hall of fame might make him underrated by a little bit. But a science in, I always thought of him as sort of being cousins, like in that when they had an amazing team,

he was amazing. And when they didn't have an amazing team, he was awful. And that was kind of it. That was, that was boomer. And for you. And that 97 Bengals team was terrible too.

That's that's the funny part. That was terrible. I will give you my list. I have James Brooks. The unfortunate thing about James Brooks is that Icky Woods got all the attention. James Brooks is second in Cincinnati Bengals history in rushing yards, and Icky Woods played for them for three years, but he had a touchdown dance. And so he's the guy that everyone references for.

Oh, remember the old Cincinnati Bengals teams? Icky Woods. Icky Woods gets the commercial like five years ago. One good year. One good year. Yep. And James Brooks was phenomenal for them. Huge part of their great teams in the 80s.

No attention, no commercials for James Brooks. Poor guy. I'm going to go Sam Weiss here, their coach, who was responsible for hurry-up offenses that ultimately the Buffalo Bills took from them and used to get to four Super Bowls. But Sam Weiss was an innovator, man. He was like ahead of the game and does not get a ton of credit for that. I don't think as being someone who pushed the game forward offensively with really aggressive offensive play. And I think that he deserves more credit in sort of the annals of history.

It was a short run that they were really successful, but those teams changed the way that everybody played offensively. And I think Sam Weiss deserves more credit for that. Carl Pickens was good, man. Carl Pickens, he was a great, great wide receiver. Nobody cares because they couldn't ever win. But Carl Pickens was open all a great, great wide receiver. Nobody cares because they couldn't ever win. But Carl Pickens was open all the time, made plays. If you played Madden back in the day, he'd have a 90 rating,

and he'd be by far the best player on the Bengals team. The rest of the team was bad. But Carl Pickens, Darnay Scott was pretty good too, but Carl Pickens, man, underrated. Willie Anderson, talk about a guy that belongs in the Hall of Fame. If we had PFF grades now, Willie Anderson would be like the best player in the league. He would get like 90 grades every year. This guy was dominant.

He was an unbelievable offensive lineman that it's very hard for 90s offensive linemen to get their credit because we don't have numbers outside of Pro Bowls and things like that. It's hard to make Pro Bowls when you're in Cincinnati. So Willie Anderson is very deserving. And Justin Smith, our friend Alex Boone mentioned to me once that practicing against Justin Smith was the hardest thing that he ever had to do. That guy was a monster, totally dominant player, would have been more known as a Bengal had he stayed there long term. But why would you do that? That guy was a monster, totally dominant player. Would have been more known as a Bengal head. He stayed there long term, but why would you do that?

When he was playing there, though, one of the best defensive ends in the league ends up getting more credit as a San Francisco 49er, but I think just underrated overall. People did not talk about Justin Smith as being this unbelievable defensive end, but I think for the era, he really was. Yeah, Justin Smith was really, really, really good. Missouri, defensive end out of Missouri. I remember when the Bengals took him. But yeah, I mean, Carl Pickens, man. I just, and he's in that era, too, of Jerry Rice, Chris Carter, Tim Brown,

like three, you know, surefire Hall of Fame wide receivers, you know, and then you had Herman Moore with the Lions in there putting up numbers, and there's Carl Pickens out in Cincinnati, man, just lighting it up, too, and not getting any sort of credit for it. He was really, really, really good. Trying to look up where Carl Pickens ranks in terms of receptions. He had 540 career receptions, which puts him – so a good example would be like he was kind of like the Devontae Adams of right now.

He's like right around the area of where Devontae Adams was in terms of total catches for an era that they didn't throw it that much. He didn't have a long enough peak to compete with those guys, but 1995, he had 17 touchdowns, 99 catches, and no one cared about the Bengals. So one thing, if you want to make yourself feel better as a Viking fan, go to the Bengals career pages and just like who their leaders are. You won't recognize too many names. Like who are these people that have played for the Cincinnati Bengals? On to the next question.

I want you, Manny, to give me your three best Vikings offseason moves as we get ready to start the season. And you've had a little bit of hindsight of training camp at preseason. And three that you think, I don't know if these are going to work out. Well, I'll, I'll give you the three that I really liked. I think bringing back Sheldon Richardson was really, really, really important and he played really well for the Vikings in 2018, went to Cleveland. It was kind of meh. It was a different sort of situation,

and they were using him a little bit differently. But I think he really thrived in Mike Zimmer's scheme. And he's, you know, it's going to be a little bit of a different role for him, probably. He's going to be kind of more of a rotational, situational, three-technique pass rusher. But I think he can drive in that. And I think it's, it's kind of a perfect situation. So I think getting him, bringing him back was really big. You know, I thought the same thing about Mackenzie Alexander, getting him back in there, a guy that knows Mike Zimmer's system and you know, can teach some of the newer guys, you know, some of the nuances of the scheme.

And then getting Daniil Hunter back and just getting that situation figured out. You know what I mean? Because one way or another, that was going to go one way or the other where he was either, you know, you were either going to have to trade him or he was going to end up holding out probably

and then you were going to be without him and not get anything for him. So I think getting that straightened out, now you just have to hope that he comes back and that he's healthy and he looks like the Neil Hunter of old. The moves that, or did you have something? Oh, no, I was just going to say great point on the Daniel Hunter one, because that slipped my mind because it's just been so long ago. I mean, it feels like they got that resolved and taken care of and then off we go. But that's a great point. I didn't put that on my list, but it should be for sure.

The question marks that I have was, well, Patrick Peterson's one that I just – I'm not down on. I just don't know. I don't know if the last couple of years of Patrick Peterson are who he is now, or if coming here and playing under Zimmer's scheme is going to sort of rejuvenate him somehow. Maybe that'll happen. I just don't know. And until I see it, I'm going to be a little bit skeptical. Christian Derrishaw, man, I'm a little bit concerned. I'm a little bit concerned. He's a rookie. There's plenty of time for him to grow and develop, but I am a little bit concerned

with just like, is he going to be able to hold up? Is he going to be healthy? Um, you know, he had some, some injury concerns, you know, when he was drafted, there were concerns about him. Um, and now it's sort of showing it's, you know, those concerns was drafted, there were concerns about him. And now it's sort of showing it's, you know, those concerns are rearing their ugly head. So I'm a little bit concerned about that. And, you know, I added Xavier Woods to the list too, just because I just don't know. I don't know how he's going to fit into Zimmer's scheme. Again, it's kind of similar to Patrick Peterson where, you know, it could go very well. It could be sort of a way to sort of rejuvenate and kickstart his career again. But I just don't know how he's going to fit into this game. So those are the three that

I'm just kind of a little bit skeptical of. Not really dismissing them completely, but I'm keeping my eye on those three situations. Hey, everybody. The season is on the way. Fans are going back to stadiums, so you have to be ready with the best Minnesota football gear. That's why you have to check out Soda Stick. I saw a ton of Soda Stick gear around training camp.

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That is S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C- c k dot com everything is screen printed here in minnesota and i can tell you that the shirts are comfortable and they last because half of my closet is now soda stick at this point again that's soda stick dot com minnesota sports inspired goods and keep your eye out for our soda stick giveaways okay i'm gonna go with Bashad Breeland as a really good signing because now that we've seen Cam Dantzler fall off the face of the earth and be behind even Chris Boyd on the depth chart, that was something they must have anticipated as a possibility when they signed Breeland. And look, he's not going to be the best corner in the NFL. No one's going to mistake him for Rod Woodson in his prime, but the guy can play. He can be out there. He could be

trusted. He could take on good wide receivers. As long as it's not Tyree Kill running past him down the sideline in the preseason. But he's a proven player that was a starting corner on a Super Bowl team. That's a really good move, especially when if you had played Cam Dantzler, you'd be very concerned right now. So that's one. I think that Delvin Tomlinson was a good move, even though pressuring the quarterback up the middle is important and that's not exactly what he does. I also agree with Mike Zimmer's overall philosophy. The team still run 50% of the time on first down. And if you can stuff the middle and allow Eric Hendricks to go sideline to sideline, because everything's being kicked outside, I think you can be great against the run.

And teams still run a lot. It's not like the NFL has just stopped running the football and throws all the time. And being able to have the Sheldon Richardson thing mixed in there. I'm just going to adopt your Daniil Hunter because that one needs to be mentioned as one of their best moves for sure. Now, in terms of the moves that I would say I'm skeptical about, well, one of them might be a move that they didn't make, or maybe they're all moves that they didn't make because they haven't signed Brian O'Neill to an extension yet, which is surprising. And I think they need to do that. So put an asterisk near that one that even by the time we're done talking, maybe they'll

have signed Brian O'Neill and there's an emergency podcast here, but they need to have him long term. They have enough questions already on the offensive line. I'm going to say not acquiring a right guard with proven right guard experience is certainly something I want to put on the list here because, Ole Udo, we just don't know about how this is going to play out. And how can you go into a season that's so important by not knowing how something is going to play out?

That's just crazy to me. And the last one I'll put on the list is Greg Joseph. I still think Greg Joseph is going to be okay, but I'm doing it as like, I think the process is not a great way to go about it. I think kickers are unpredictable and it's random and he could be phenomenal, but the process of not having any competition there

throughout camp, I think, is a mistake. And if they get to week three and the guys missed a bunch of field goals, we're going to go, come on. You didn't even have anybody compete with this guy in training camp. Why did you not do that? So that is my list as we come out. There are some things that have happened that even with left tackle, I think bringing back Rashad at least gave them some insurance with Christian Derrissaw.

I didn't expect them to have another tight end. Like if Irv Smith got hurt, what team has three great tight ends? Even in the 90s when we loved our football, man, teams didn't have three great tight ends. Right? Two of them were yeah right right if you had kevin cash you were thrilled um the other but the other were two more mark bruners so anyway um all right final hot route manny the first four teams the vikings play cincinnati arizona seattle cleveland if you had to stop watching the vikings route, Manny, the first four teams, the Vikings play Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle, Cleveland. If you had to stop watching the Vikings and cheering for the Vikings and join one of those

fan bases, which one, and you can do this whatever way you want. You could do it as those fans are this, that, or the other thing, or you could do it by roster and who has the best chance to win team uniform colors, city, whatever you want. How would you rank those teams, Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle, Cleveland for if you had to leave the Vikings and join one of them? At first glance, I picked Cleveland, but then I thought Seattle, man, like Seattle is such an awesome city. And those fans, those Seahawks fans are unbelievable. One of a kind as our Browns fans as well. And, and, you know, the Seahawks just have such a great home field advantage at that field. And it's, it's really a terrific sports town. You know, I'm, you know, me,

I'm a huge NBA guy. I'm totally all about bringing the Seattle Sonics back to the NBA. It's a really terrific sports city. You've got the Seahawks there. The Seattle Storm have been, I mean, locally here we love the Lynx, but the Seattle Storm have been every bit as successful a franchise in the WNBA. They need to bring the Sonics back. The NHL is there now. I think being a Seahawks fan and just being a Seattle sports fan in general right now has to be pretty amazing right now. So if somebody told me I couldn't cheer for the Vikings anymore, I think I would switch over to the Seahawks.

Okay. I like it um i would go cleveland because it just suits me i mean i was in buffalo first they have all their sports tragedies and then i come here and i'm like oh it's got to be better here no it's not no nope but there's more teams to have terrible things happen to them see in buffalo in Buffalo, there's only two. But here, aside from the Lynx, of course, it's like everything going wrong all the time. So why not put me in Cleveland, right? I also think that if you're picking a team that is smart now, weirdly, Cleveland is that.

With Kevin Stefanski as their coach, I think their management's doing a lot of the right things, and they might have a franchise quarterback there. That's one to kind of lock onto. And Cleveland is my kind of place. But you make a good case for Seattle. I've been out there. It's incredibly beautiful.

There's like the Puget Sound and the mountains and all these things. I mean, it's a great place to be. Cincinnati for me, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Cincinnati. I just can't. I just can't. I just can't. You know, we love teams that have tanked

and have drafted high quarterbacks and everything else. Your ownership is brutal. Yeah. The city is nice, but it's not very big. I'm sorry, Cincinnati. Mike Zimmer was there for how long? Five years? Yeah, yeah.

Something like that, yeah. Yeah, and with Arizona, I'm just so mad in Arizona as a franchise. I mean, I'm sure it's a fine place to live. I mean, a little on the toasty side when you get to 120 degrees for me. But I just don't really like Cliff kingsbury as a head coach maybe they'll fire him and i don't know and i and i think cliff or uh kyler murray can be good but if you're latching yourself onto a franchise right now you want to trust in the head coach and i think i would trust stefanski more but uh russell wilson always gives you a chance okay before we wrap up

manny we saw we both saw something on the old internet, which was an old clip of Barry White, who has a voice similar to yours on the David Letterman show where they gave him random words to say in kind of a Barry White, sexy manner. Okay. So I thought for you, hilarious, by the way, if you're listening and you haven't it is so funny. It's just random words, but I thought for you backup quarterbacks would be the thing that I would have you say in a sexy manner. So I have sent you the top five backup quarterback names that I think will sound the sexiest with you saying it.

So I'll just count them down. Backup quarterback number five, Manny. Billy Joe Tolliver. Billy Joe Tolliver. I'm going to have to do this without laughing all right all right okay all right calm down calm down i was so proud of myself when i came up with that all right okay good one backup quarterback sexy is the backup quarterback name number four. Charlie Whitehurst. Not only that, but a sexy backup quarterback himself, if you've seen Charlie Whitehurst.

That's right. That's right. Yeah. Sexy backup quarterback name number three. Steve DeBerg. DeBerg. I was thinking about syllables with that. Steve DeBerg.

Steve DeBerg being 44 and playing with the Atlanta Falcons. A good Falcons team, too, that went to the Super Bowl. That's right. Steve DeBerg was there in 98. Okay. Sexy backup quarterback name number two. Bubby Brister. Bubby Brister.

Yes. Former Viking. Former Viking Bobby Brister. Former Viking, indeed. And I don't even know, like, can anyone argue with this one or not? Like, I don't know. I mean, I just picked this one. The last name is perfect. I like it.

I like it. So sexy quarterback name number one. Chad Henney. back name number one chad henny i just i thought it was the least sexy name ever so i that's why i went with it chad henny all right man this has been very very fun and uh that was flawless you did a wonderful job and uh for your station that you are working for now, by the way, you are doing voice tracking. So if people listen to jazz 88, which is where you're working now, they'll hear you and they will hear those beautiful tones.

So I'm glad that things to work on during mid days. Yes. I am really glad things are working out for you there and super happy. We can get together and do some hot routes. It's always fire, man. So I appreciate the time. We will do it again. I guarantee you that. Those hot routes were sizzling, my friend, always a good time.