The Bill Simmons Podcast - “Is This Real?” NFL Questions and Summer Scuttlebutt With Dianna Russini

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Bill is joined by Dianna Russini to talk about having kids before discussing year two of Caleb Williams and looking at the Broncos (10:46). Then, they talk about Micah Parsons and concerns for the Browns (43:14). Finally, they discuss Tom Brady's involvement with the Raiders, trusting Mike Vrabel, Aaron Rodgers, and more (01:05:26)! Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Dianna Russini Producers: Chia Hao Tat and Eduardo Ocampo Sponsored by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at yahoofantasy.com/promo The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit⁠ www.rg-help.com⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bill Simmons podcast is brought to you by the Ringer podcast network, where you can find a new episode of the rewatch of us coming on Monday. We're doing One Name Movie Month and we're doing Robocop on Monday. It is me. It is Kyle Brandt. I really, really enjoyed revisiting this movie and I learned some stuff. Hopefully you'll learn some stuff too. You can follow it on the Ringer Movies YouTube channel and stay tuned for the rest of one name movie month. So Dianne Licini is coming out a little bit to

talk about NFL. There's some lazy summer stuff. I just wanted to go over really fast. Nothing even worthy of a full segment, but just stuff that I was amused by over the last couple days. Number one is the Yankees who got swept by Miami this week. All my Yankee fan friends are going bonkers. We had Jack go on last week going nuts about it and it's somehow gotten even worse because they made all these trade deadline moves and it beefed up their bullpen and then Miami kicked their butt. I was thinking about it. I I'm actually worried that they're going to fire Aaron Boone now.

And I don't want them to fire him. I actually want them to extend him and give him more money in longer years. But I want them to keep Boone and Cashman for the rest of the decade. And if you told me in November, 2003, right. After the devastating ALCS game seven loss that in 2025, 22 years later, less than 22 years later, that the Red Sox will be in four world series that I'd somehow still not like the Red Sox owners even after four world series. And that Aaron Boone felt like we had installed a mole to ruin the Yankees.

I probably wouldn't have believed any of that, but that's where we are with the Yankees. I probably wouldn't have believed any of that, but that's where we are with the Yankees. I hope they continue to lose. I think they're 21 and 28 and their last 49, it's bad. I love it. I love it. Between that and the Red Sox, punted on the trade deadline and somehow swept the Astros,

which was great. That this is, it's not like the movie Major League because they've spent money in the team, but it's just funny that they needed one more starter. The owners were like, ah, whatever. And then they ripped through the Astros, so great times. And Roman Anthony got a walk off the Roman Empire. Anyway, that's one thing.

I was reading this week because I was debating whether it was worth doing a segment on ESPN buying the NFL network and all the NFL media stuff and they're getting the red zone. Are they going to screw up the red zone? I don't understand this deal. And I texted and asked a few people and nobody seems to understand the deal. I guess they just acquired some assets. We'll see what they do. At one point, somebody mentioned that it's going to be like their relationship with the SEC network, this network that lives on its own, but they're going to beef it up with more talent. And I'm thinking like the

NFL network is going to be like the SEC network. How does that make sense? So I don't understand a single piece of it. The NFL network was trying to, or the NFL is trying to get out of the NFL network for a while. And, and now this feels like you give us stuff, we'll give you stuff, but nobody's that excited about it. I don't get it. Hopefully there's a piece in the next 72 hours that will understand what this is. Like what's going to happen in the NFL network shows is the red zone going to have commercials. Are you only going to be able to get it on that ESPN flagship, whatever the F that thing is called? I just feels like kind of an important sports story, the NFL seasons in five weeks, five

weeks, six weeks, whatever it is. I'd kind of like to know what's happening. So somebody figure out how to report this in a way that I understand all the basics. Next one, Fantastic Four. So it bombed in the second weekend it was out or might not have bombed, and then all the movie people are excited because this might be the official end

of the Mass in Capes era. That's what I'm calling it. Where Marvel's in some trouble. We've just made too many of these now, and now there's a feeling that the less and less successful that these movies become, the more they'll actually spend money on good and original movies, and IP, and things like centers, and giving really good directors more money to make cool stuff.

I'm dubious. I think they're going to keep rolling out the capes and the masks and making excuses for this. But I like that we're at least having the conversation about maybe we need more good movies. So I'd like to plant my flag in the let's make more good movies than aren't superhero movies. Next thing, Steve Pegg, Luca, who lost out, he was a minority owner of the Celtics at the end of the 2010s, almost bought the Nets and kind of didn't get his stuff together

in time. Had Joe Tsai as a minority partner, dragged his feet a little bit and then ended up, it was the Nets, it was the Liberty and it was Barclays getting all of it. Joe Tsai ended up saying, screw this, why do I need this guy? Buys all of it himself for 3.3 billion. So Pags doesn't get that. Then he's in on the Celtics sale and had the third highest bid. I think he did 5.5 billion and that finished third in the rankings and the Celtics ended up

going for 6.1 billion. So now he's bought the Connecticut Sun for $350 million and it's not even clear if he can move them to Boston or not. But this is just a classic, man, just spend the money in the nets. You wouldn't, five years later, the Connecticut sun for one 10th of price, you could have had the Liberty as part of the deal. Um, wow. A lot of texts this weekend about what the, what the hell was going on with this whole thing. But the Connecticut Sun going for $350 million in a league that is highly leveraged and the players are about to probably go on some sort of strike lockout. God only knows what happens a year and a half from now.

Good luck on all that. The Lakers, so they announced the Luka extension. It's basically a two-year daily as a player option for the third year. And he's going to, it sets himself up to make a kajillion dollars, uh, in 2028 and then LeBron's over there and he's texting or, or Instagramming out his workouts and the whole thing is just bizarre to watch the Bron James has been in control of every situation he's ever been in basketball wise, who has always held always held the

cards. And this is the first time ever where that's not the case. And now the Lakers, it's almost like watching somebody move in their younger, hotter girlfriend, but the ex-wife is still living in the house taking selfies of themselves. I'm riveted. I can't wait to see how this plays out from a media manipulation standpoint over the next two weeks. I have my fork, my knife and my plate, my napkins ready to go. And then last but not least, I'm taping this before the second part of SummerSlam, John Cena versus Cody Rhodes. So I think it's going up, but this podcast will go up probably as that's happening. But in part one, the WWE executed one of the great fake injury moves,

I think maybe the greatest, where Seth Rollins got hurt a few weeks ago. He was supposed to wrestle CM Punk for the second best title, the title that's not that title actually everyone cares about, but the other title, which people still care about, but not quite as much as the real title. So it looked like he hurt his knee. He sold it. Uh, they squashed the match. This was like three, four weeks ago. And then he, he painstakingly.

Sold it in every aspect of, uh, what he was doing that he heard his leg. Even I think he, he, um, guest hosted the rich eyes and show and even sold it, like sold it there. Took some fake flight to go see Dr. James Andrews, um, was on crutches and a huge brace everywhere. He was to the point that everyone around that, that he thought that he was actually hurt and then CM Punk finally wins the second best title at summer slam. Good moment. And then, uh, Rollins comes out and you

hear his music and like, oh, here we go. Cause he has the Money in the Bank suitcase, which is one of the great gimmicks we've ever come up with, the Money in the Bank, where you can immediately challenge somebody to the title. Comes out with the Money in the Bank suitcase, but he's got his braces on and his crutches. And it's like, well, what the hell is he going to do? Then he drops the crutches, takes the brace off, runs in the ring, seeing punks exhausted, hits him over the suitcase with the suitcase a few times and then, uh, then pins them and wins the title. And it was the best injury sort of I've ever seen in my life.

And it made me think, I just wish this could happen in other sports where, um, you know, like I, so I tweeted this and then, um, then people were like this did happen with Paul Pierce in 2008 when you got hurt in the wheelchair and I was like, alright, I didn't really come back for that But it would be funny. I guess teams do this with football injuries where they either hide how hurt somebody is or But it would be great if somebody was just supposed to miss the game and then all of a sudden showed up like some Playoff game. It's like Josh Allen, he's out, he's been scratched, he's going to be the third quarterback. And then he just runs out a hundred percent healthy and just fucks with the other team.

I loved it. I love the Rollins thing. WWE is having a really, really strong comeback year from a storytelling standpoint, even though it was doing well for the whole decade. But I think this has been a really good year for them. I think that's it. Oh, the Cowboys doc, which comes out I think August 19th, which I was lucky enough to see seven episodes and it's fantastic and just get ready. I'll probably do something on the podcast about this, but really made me nostalgic for the days

about this, but really made me nostalgic for the days when we just had Madden and Summerall in football and we didn't overthink a lot of this stuff. We didn't have the 24-7 internet talk cycle and you just kind of watched the games and teams won and lost and you thought you had a dynasty and they didn't or somebody got hurt or and you were just on the rollercoaster ride and we just kind of enjoyed it and we didn't or somebody got hurt or, um, and you were just on the roller coaster ride and we just kind of enjoyed it and we didn't overthink it. And it made me nostalgic for that. Uh, it also made me nostalgic to talk about the Dallas Cowboys or what a mess they are, which we're gonna do in one second with Diana Rossini and take a break, throw it to Pearl Jam and then, uh, NFL talk next. All right. We're taping this on a Sunday afternoon.

It's a special day. Diana Racini, who's never been on this podcast before. I think you've been on all the other podcasts, but just not this one. And we got you to turn your techs off for an hour. Which has anyone, have you ever done that for anybody before? Nope, not even when I was in labor. So I do it for here. You had the textile in labor?

Are you kidding? The doctor that was delivering my sons was my first one was asking me about the Steelers while I was pushing. I was like, dude, are you kidding right now? He later said he was doing it to keep me calm. He's like, I just know you like to talk football. So I figured if I just asked you about the team that you know, you would think about that and not the pain Because like the left side of my body wasn't taking it wasn't taking the medication

So I wasn't numb so I could feel a lot of it. Oh, no So that was his way around it. But I mean I gave him great Intel. I remember thinking that I was like I mean you're getting a lot right now from this delivery. I have a hard time believing that other mothers are giving you this information, but yeah. So I'm psyched to be here. I turned off the text.

So I'll figure if there's breaking news, someone will call. That would have been the weirdest video football podcast anyone ever did. Pushing out a baby, talking to the doctor, answering stealers' questions. Take, would you take breaks during that? Let's take a break. Hear from a couple of sponsors. I'm going to take more medication to my body. Love to get that sponsored. That'd be smart. I'm sure the doctor would find a sponsor because

they cost a lot of money. By the way, I don't know. I mean, I know your kids are a lot older than mine, but I'm sure you remember when they were born. Uh, we just, we could not believe how little our doctor did. Like our, the nurse that we had, she did the work. He came in and he was like, ah, yeah, push out. Yay. It's a boy. Yeah. You know, you know, is Ben coming out of retirement?

You know, like, um, here's the thing. I think they're more there for something for, for like the like the, if something goes wrong aspect of it. When everything goes right, it's just basically like the guy coming in to kick the extra point. It's like, oh, that seemed easy. But then you just gotta make sure, oh my God, the penalty pushed us back to the 40.

Now I actually need somebody to make this. Yeah, then the panic sets in. I will say my first, I delivered Michael in 12 minutes, which was pretty cool. 12 minutes? Yeah, 12 minutes. I also made it competitive because my sister-in-law did it in 10. So I just, the whole time I was looking at the clock, like I can't be the girl in the family

that- Well, how do you start the clock though? So when you start pushing, right? So your 10 centimeters dilated and they're like, okay, let's do this, we're going, you know? Which by the way, the ladies out there that have been in labor for days, like God bless you, you know? Like I was like, come on, like let's do this thing. It's unbelievable to think how women do this.

Listen, it was the single most impressive thing I've ever seen in my life. And I was in awe about the entire time and felt completely useless, which then continued for the first couple months of the actual child being out. We're just kind of there. Okay, now. Yeah, we're just kind of there.

We're sitting picks, grabbing a couple of rebounds. We're not doing anything. Nobody's calling plays for us. That is true. I wound up having my second, um, 13 months later and, uh, same doctor, same nurse was awesome. You're like, Hey, look who's back. How do Steelers doing? Um, and I don't know.

It was probably about 18 minutes in and my doctor was like, Hey, come on. He's like, my shift is actually ending in a half an hour. We got to do this. So shout out to Dr. Migliaccio. Wow. You went two minute offense. Yeah, I don't know what happened. We took a step back. It's like we had the Superbowl hangover with Joey. We just, we lost her. We lost her step. I don't know. Maybe I was tired because I gave birth to two babies in the span of a year essentially. Sorry.

All right, now I have to tell you my labor story even though it wasn't me in labor. Our daughter Zoe, our oldest kid. So it was like on a Friday and my wife thought she went into labor and we drove in, we're like, here we go, it's time. And wasn't happening. Was like, they're like, yeah, it's not. And she was like, we're like, here we go, it's time. And it wasn't happening. Was like, they're like, yeah, it's not.

And she was like, it's so weird. Like this baby's dying to come out. Go home, we have the whole weekend, and she's like incapacitated. She's just like lying. So we watched an entire season of 24, and we eat like spicy food. We do all the stuff you're supposed to do

to like, you know, grease the fetus up. Sunday night, nothing. Monday morning, she's like, I'm feeling a little something. Now I'm like the boy who cried wolf. I'm like, all right, we have to go back? Is it happening or not? I don't know. Maybe we should just go back.

So we go back, but I haven't had coffee yet. And I stop. I'm like, can I stop at Starbucks quick? Because I need to, like, if we're in there for a while, she's like, all right, fine. Go in, and I'm in there. And there's, I don't know if I've ever told this story. There's an actress who used to be on 902.0

in line ahead of me at the coffee, who played Lucinda Nicholson, Brandon's girlfriend who was married in season four. And I'm just like, this is so weird. Like there's a 902 in Uncared, I can't wait to tell my wife, get the coffee, come back in, I'm like, you're not gonna believe 20 questions, who's in there,

and she's like, get to the hospital. Like it's somehow in that five minutes, the baby and all of a sudden she was really in labor. And now this story comes up all the time. That I had to stop for coffee, that she was in labor. And it's like, it's twisted. Do you do this in your relationship? Do you twist the stories where there's truth in the story,

but now it's like seven levels beyond what actually happened in the story. Now it's like she was in labor, but I had to stop for coffee, and she was in the front seat. Like it's just been completely exaggerated. I like to defend myself. And then you change the actress too,

but you're like, but you know, it was Jenny Garth. Yeah, now it's Tori Spelling as the years pass. It's Jenny Garth and Tori Spelling. I don't know. Yeah. I would say if my husband was asked something he hates about me, that would be a top three. It'd probably be the phone first.

Second would be that I do that to the stories. And some of it's just my memory, right? As you know, I don't know what it is, especially since the theme so far has been birth. Something happens after you deliver a child. The baby comes out with your brain. It's like gone. I'm like, oh, there's a boy in half of my left lobe. Um, because I do it all the time where I'm like, I don't even remember that. The worst is if I run, God forbid I run into someone that I know well

and I'm like looking at them, like no idea who you are. You've like faced all summers. Yeah. Horrible. The fact that I'm even at that point, you know? Well, you know, when it becomes like our moms, then it's like you just start merging two different stories that have no relation and they become some sort of super story. It's two different things that happen at a restaurant, but they were two different nights and two different years and they become a super sized version of some story. It is wild though how you can vividly remember the day, the morning, the night, whenever it is when your children, if you're fortunate, are born. I remember- Every aspect of it.

All of it, right? I remember the temperature, I remember the smell. I mean, my son's three and two. It didn't happen. They're little. It's not like they're your kids' ages. But yeah, they're great memories, hopefully, hopefully for people out there.

It was definitely a highlight of my life for sure. Well, I think you remember it because it's so completely terrifying the entire time. At every aspect of it, you're doing something, a situation you've never been involved in before, there's this human life coming out, you're in charge of it, you're doing something, a situation you've never been involved in before, there's this human life coming out, you're in charge of it, you have no idea what the kid's gonna look like,

if the kid's gonna be healthy, if there's gonna be some sort of terrible thing that, like there's just all these variables and then when it actually happens. So I don't know how you wouldn't remember every aspect of that. Yeah, and it's one of those things I do think because people have children every single day

that you kinda just think it's one of those things I do think because people have children every single day that you kind of just think it's common and it's like, yeah, yeah, they had a, it's a shock to the body for a million reasons. I don't know why I thought I had to be tough when I started to feel that I was contracting. Yeah. But I FaceTimed my sister in my living room and I was on all four and she's like this really pleasant personality. She's a fourth grade teacher. She's just like sweet.

And she answers the phone and I was like, and you know, it's like a weird angle, right? Cause I'm like, I'm on all four. Right. She's like, die? I was like, Hey, I, I, I don't know. I'm feeling pain. She's like, yeah, you're in labor. Go to the hospital now. I'm like, no, no, I'm feeling pain. She's like, yeah, you're in labor. Go to the hospital now.

I'm like, no, no, I'm good, I'm good. Because I think I didn't want to be embarrassed. You don't want to be the person that shows up so early. And then you're just like sitting there and your husband's like, oh, are you kidding? Like I wanted to go. If I'm going to go to the hospital, which was down the street from my house too,

like we're going. So yeah, the whole thing. But it's definitely an experience and something I will never forget. Well, the second time's almost more impressive than the first time because you know the second time what's in store. The first time you don't know,

you're like climbing some mountain you've never climbed. You have no idea what's happening, what's gonna happen to you physically. The second time you know what's gonna happen and you're still The second time you know what's gonna happen, and you're still doing it. I think that's worse, right? Correct, absolutely. I remember thinking, I cannot believe I have to do this

again, I mean, that's probably why I didn't have a third. That's why we didn't have a third. My wife is like, I'm out, never doing this again. I know, someone just said to me over the weekend, actually, it was like, hey, if I just put a baby in your hand right now, would you want a third? I'm like, absolutely. Even though like my house is a tornado at all times of the day, um, with, you

know, two working parents and. You know, I don't have a schedule, right? When you're a reporter covering the NFL, you don't, you know, you're just, you just gotta be on all the time. Um, yet I'm still like, if I just didn't have to carry that baby again and go through the trauma of pushing that baby out, like game on, let's do this thing. And by the way, I was not saying

that this should make a difference, but I was a division one athlete, you know? It's not like I went in there overweight or just the bum that hasn't worked out in 40 years. there overweight or, or, you know, just the bomb that hasn't like worked out in 40 years. Like, like I'm fairly fit, you know, I was like, this can't be that bad, but I guess 12 minutes isn't so bad. I shouldn't probably be so hard on myself. That's amazing.

Yeah. I'm well, my kids are way older than yours. I'm at the point now where I wish I had appreciated all the more. I wish we'd had more kids. My wife's always like, well, we never would have had three. So it's not like you were carrying it. She's doing that whole thing. And it's like, all right, I get it.. I wish we'd had more kids. My wife's always like, well, we never would have had three. So it's not like you were carrying it. She's doing that whole thing.

And it's like, all right, I get it. But I wish we had a third one. Come to the beach with us this upcoming week and just spend two hours with a three and two year old. You'll be running back to your kids, kissing them, hugging them, having a cocktail with them. Like, I love you. I know, I do feel that sometimes on an airplane

when you see that vacant, terrified look on the parents' faces because they're flying with their little kids. It's almost like they just have dark eyes. They're just dead inside because they're like, this is going to be five hours. Everyone on the plane is going to hate me. My one kid here is already melting down. Just shoot me in the head. I know that look because I had it many times.

Tight butt season is what we call that. Like your butt is tight the whole time because you're just, you don't even know what it's going to be, but you know what it's going to be and you're embarrassed and it's just all. Yeah, you're hoping for the miracle that nothing happens in the plan, but you know something's going to happen. The thing that I've been experiencing is like if I see a football fan, like someone that wants to talk football when we're traveling, and now I'm horrified because I just talked to this person, right? They either follow or they've read stuff or they see me on TV and that's cool. But now they're going to probably judge me as a mom and Mikey and Joey are lunatics.

Like you would think they drink coffee as kids. So then I get just even more tense. The whole mix of it is really stressful. So that's why, I don't know if you're like this when you travel, but when I'm traveling without them and I see moms, I try not to look, the kids are crying. I try to help. Whatever I can do to just send the vibe like,

dude, you got this, you got this. We traveled, my buddy Joe House got married, I think in 08. So my daughter was not even, now she's three and a half. My son was maybe one. And on the way back, he got married in Martha's Vineyard, in the Martha's Vineyard airport, and my daughter pulled the fire alarm. And it was just, and then started crying,

and it was loud, and then my other son started crying because it was loud, but she was crying because she thought she was going to jail, and I was like, this has to be it. This has to be a 10 out of 10 for worst travel experience. We hadn't even flown anywhere yet. And we had already started like a, like a Cape Cod incident. Hey, speaking of panic, how about that transition?

Um, we're going to play a game called for real. I'm going to give you different storylines. And then at the end you're going to give me too, but, uh, I want to start with paint that I didn't put this in the DACA for you, but there was a clip today of Caleb Williams looking just terrible. in the docket for you, but there was a clip today of Caleb Williams looking just terrible. So my first for real is Caleb Williams panic time. Is this for real? Are you buying this yet?

Give me your take. I'm going to say not real for now. I think first of all, it's early. This is his third play caller that we've seen him have, right? If you count the interim situation there that we saw with Thomas Brown when he took over. And look, this is a player that thrived so much, right?

On those freelance kind of off-script plays at USC, we saw it. That's probably why he went number one overall. So I just think now the challenge is going to be, can he conform? Can he adjust to that detailed structure of the plays, the timing, the quick decisions, the things that we saw Ben Johnson do so well with Jared Goff? I think you've seen too a lot of stories now being said like the Chicago Bears offense is not going to be The Detroit Lions one. I think the Chicago Bears coaching staff is purposely saying that because I don't think they're going to be equipped

Just yet to look like that. I think the ideas there It's just gonna take a little bit more time. So I don't think it's time to panic. I just think Chicago Bears fans are just going to need a little bit more patience because the details that Ben Johnson needs to, the details that he needs Caleb Williams to pay attention to and be good at, I just think it may take a little bit more time. Whereas we're going to constantly compare them to Jayden and Drake. Well, what's a little bit more time? Is that two months or is that two years? I guess that's the question for me.

I think two months. I think, look, the guy is probably guzzling this coaching in terms of taking in so much. We got to give him a chance to understand it, compute it. This is too rational of an answer. I mean, I admire it. I don't know if you wanted me to come on and be like, oh, by the way, you should be panicked because he ain't the brightest guy.

Let me tell you. You're pulling me back. You're pulling me back to reality. Like chill out, chill out. All the Bears fans I know are losing their minds right now. Like all of them. And it wasn't just like the training camp, it was the stuff from the Wickersham book. And there's just some kernels of like, you know, Jared Goff, you're basically accentuating

the strengths he has. You're making him like this somewhat of a system quarterback, right? Caleb's like, as you said, like this freelancer, really exciting. He's almost like an NBA player where you just like kind of clear out and he goes one-on-one with everybody. So how does that fit in a Ben Johnson offense? I don't know, I have some questions.

I liked them as a possible playoff team this year though, now I'm nervous. Well, I think it's because Bears fans are going, like his physical talent is unique, but can he play quarterback? I think that's, that's what's scaring them. Right. It's like, okay, we get it.

We see it, but can you do that? And then can you execute with a really good play caller head coach? Can you, can this marriage work? Can you be consistent? Can you inspire the teammates that you have? Do you pass the car keys test, the Trent Delford test, which your teammates tossed to the car keys because they want you to drive them? Here's the thing. It's all corny as hell. Yeah.

But I just sat with Bo Nix in Denver. Yeah. But I just sat with Bo Nix in Denver. Yeah. And we were talking about how I was sitting with him exactly the same time last year. He was a rookie. And he's just got this swag to him now and he physically looks bigger too. But I was like, okay, so tell me now the truth. When we were talking, remember, I was like, what's Sean like? What's this playbook like? How overwhelmed are you?

And you kind of like acted as if you had it all under control, like, did you? He's like, no, it's not at all. I was so uncomfortable. He's like, I didn't understand any of it. I memorized it all because I didn't comprehend the why behind it. I didn't get why we were doing the plays.

I didn't understand the importance of the time between when Sean was giving me the play and snapping the ball. It was all of these small parts of playing the quarterback position that was moving so damn fast that's now slowed down in year two. And so it's all these small details that make up a great quarterback. And for Caleb Williams, we have to give him an opportunity here to learn Ben Johnson because as we know, and as Seth Wickersham's piece revealed so well, and even some of the reporting at the Athletic, said he wasn't getting that kind of coaching.

Right. So now he's got what I think is a great coach. And I say think because I just, I'm going to go base off what we saw in Jared golf because Jared golf will be the first to say, and I think he did say that Ben Johnson is a big reason for his success. Let's see if he can apply it. Yeah, it's a weird one because, and you said you played, what sport did you play in college, by the way?

Soccer. What position were you? I played at George Mason University. What position were you? Let me guess, left back. Everyone guesses that. Why? I don't know.

Speed, top, what was it? I was a striker. You were a striker? Oh, my daughter's a striker. You were a striker? Oh, my daughter's a striker. But when you were saying about Caleb, I saw this with both of my kids when they played sports, but especially my daughter, because you go up these little levels. And every year they're like, it's fine, fine, I got it. And then a year later, like, remember last year when I thought I had it and I didn't

have these nine different things? It is true. It's like, no, no, I'm in great shape. Oh, actually, I'm not in that as great shape as I thought I was this year. I'm actually in really good shape. So I wonder with Caleb, is this gonna be his, no, no, I'm fine, I got it.

And then he heard from me, I was like, oh, I didn't totally get it. No, like your Bo Nicks example, which brings me to the Broncos by the way. Oh, let's go. So this is, I think the team I'm adopting as, I don't know, I'm not picking them to win the Super Bowl, but I think every year a team takes the leap

from either borderline playoff team or lower level playoff team to actual full-fledged contender. And I think this is gonna be the team. I think some people are sniffing it out. It's weird, the gambling odds, some of the stuff on Fandl hasn't really moved that much, but in general, I think a lot of people who are studying this stuff, when you look at their schedule, when you look at the free agents they added, the defense, some of

the, some of the guys they hit oil on last year, year three is Sean Payton, Bo Nix in his second year, they improved the skill positions. And it seems like the people that go to their training camp are coming away going, there's something going on with this team. So ironically you were at their training camp are coming away going, there's something going on with this team. So ironically, you were at the training camp. So what'd you see? Something's going on with this team. Okay. So just backstory real quick. I'm started ESPN. I'm an NFL reporter. I'm lost though. Like I'm,

I'm swimming with the sharks and I'm out here in the field and I don't know what I'm doing. And at the time they gave me the Saints. That was like the team they wanted me to focus on. So I'm around Drew Brees, Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara and Sean Payne. And this is the year they were good. Well, they were good a few years, but this is where they really had a breakout season. And so because I was around them, I got to know Sean Payton really well. And so I used to ask them all these questions. But when I tell you I asked them questions, I'm talking basic stuff that you don't ask a future Hall of Fame coach, you know, texting like, hey, why did your corner do this on this situation?

Like, he's like, so eventually he's like, I don't have any time for you. Like, you're a lovely person. I can tell you're trying hard, but you need to go meet other people to talk to you about football because I'm running a team. Yeah. So I was like, well, I don't really know that many people.

He's like, well, there's this guy called, I don't know, Bill Parcells, call him. So I called call Bill Parcells and he hangs up on me. He's like, oh, this is Bill. I'm like, hi Bill, my name is Diana Racini from ESPN. I'm an NFL reporter, click. I'm like, this guy sucks. Like everyone says he's so great. Like I don't think it's that great My boss calls me from ESPN. He says Are you did you call Bill Parcells? I'm like, yeah, he's like why what do you want? I Said well, I need a mentor. I need someone to help me with football. Um, I need to get better at this if I want to be great He's like, I don't know die. Like I don't think Bill Porcellos has time to do this with you. I said, can you just tell him my intention? So my boss calls him back and says, all right, look, this girl wants to do this.

And at the end he goes, you know, she's a Jersey girl. He goes, why don't you tell me she was a Jersey girl? Calls me back. He goes, Diana, why didn't you lead with that? You're an Italian girl from Jersey? What are you doing this weekend? I said, Oh, I don't know. He said, come up to Saratoga. You like horses? Like, Oh my gosh. So I drive up, I spend, I don't know, eight hours with this man. Um, and that's where I learned about who Sean Payton is through Bilt Parcells, truly. So I take all of that because, um, by understanding Bill and learning football

through that lens, I've been able to understand Sean Payton. And so because of that, I've been so grateful to Sean for saying, Hey, go call Bilt Parcells. So I still think- So when you say you understand him though, you're, so you understand both what he's trying to do with building a team, but also if he likes the team? It's I just, you understand why he does the things he does and how he operates and when he's in love and he's in love with this team right now.

Like even the summer coach like reached out to me a few times checking in and I missed the call, which, you know, how do you miss a head coach and calling you, but it happens. And he just left me a voicemail. I gotta see if I still have it. All these, this is what he said, right? So I don't have a message, just like a beep

and it's just Sean Payton go, I love my cue. And he hangs up. Just, I love my quarter. And he hangs up. Just, I love my quarter. Like, who does that? So when I saw him, we caught up. I was like, what's going on? He's like, die, I love this team. I just, I love this.

We too see, we too see Green Law. We too see him out here. Like we're in pads today. You're gonna love what he sees this front five. And look, he can sell the best of them, but he was right when I watched it. And I got an opportunity to sit with Patrick Sertan, obviously defensive player of the year. And you know how we always ask quarterbacks to list your, we asked the other quarterbacks

in the league to list the top five quarterbacks. We just do the rankings all the time. I was like, oh, let's just ask, we should ask Patrick, like who the top five quarterbacks in the league to list the top five quarterbacks. You know, we just do the rankings all the time. Um, I was like, oh, let's just ask, we should ask Patrick, like what, who the top five quarterbacks are. So he does what we all do that you need the ones that we all think of. I'll say it just for entertainment value of, you know, Alan, Josh, Alan, Joe, borough Lamar. Um, who are we missing there?

The fifth one gets exciting because you could make a Daniels case. He threw Herbert in there actually. He threw Herbert in there. Herbert? Wow. We could do a whole show about that. He loves 500 quarterbacks. I know.

So that I threw in Jalen Hertz, which I got no response, which again, in the moment I wish I was like, why didn't you say anything? But he didn't say anything. And he goes, the one that's right in there, I'm telling him is Bo Nix. Wow. What? So he's going against him every day in practice. I just read a story about that, about how they make each other better with testing each other.

Yeah. And, and look, Bo was great. We talked to him too, or we had an opportunity to interview him. And he was just talking about all the post-snap stuff, the understanding of it all, how much he studied Sean's playbook this year and the comfort level he has, how quick he's moving now through it. Just, it's really a language and understanding it. The other thing too that was really interesting from his perspective, he hasn't had the same... So obviously he played college for five years and I know we joke that he's like 52 years old, but he's only had the same play caller

two years in a row, one other time. And that was when he was a junior in high school. Wow. But think about how many years of football he's been playing and he's never had the same play caller two years in a row. So he's kind of talking like this young kid of like, he's like, it's great to have Sean Payton in my ear again this year, because I'm not used to having that.

So I think that's a good component. He almost like had an AAU experience where he's just bouncing around on different teams. I can't decide how good he is because I really like some of the stuff he did last year. I definitely thought it wasn't crazy that he was the quarterback of a playoff team. But he also had a couple moments where he was like, ugh. But he also didn't have very many skill guys. He had Sutton and that was basically it.

If Jaden Daniels doesn't take this team to the NFC championship, you could make an argument, Bo Nix is rookie of the year. Right? Like he threw from our touchdowns than Jaden. Um, he threw from our yards. He took less sacks, which that's like a big Sean Payton thing, which is why he didn't like Russell Wilson. Right. He hates, hates quarterbacks who take sacks.

I mean, you want to piss him off, talk about that. Right. So, you know, healthy offensive line this year, love and green law, you fanga. I mean, this, I think they're the best defense in football. I mean, look, I get it. People are listening like, this chick from Colorado? I'm not, it's just, they have something there. You go to these camps and you just feel it, you know it.

And it's the Sean Payton programming and they're buying in. And that's half the battle. I was, I always do these player ranking things before every year. And I was shocked by how high Denver was. Where I do like blue chippers, red chippers, pink chippers and assign different points. And I had seven guys in their defense

that got at least one point out of the 11 starters. And then the coaching is a top four or five coaching staff. Right. But then they have one of the best four offensive lines. And the big thing last year was their, their skill position guys, you know, we're, we're pretty weak except for son, which they tried to beef up. I've been reading all the RJ Harvey stuff, trying to figure out. He's a 24 year old rookie.

Could he give them some juice? He had some big run yesterday that they were all excited about, but I just didn't think that running backs were very good last year, which is really the easiest thing to improve in the NFL. There's a million like decent running backs. So I also, the schedule thing is in their favor too, because I think they go AFC South NFC East and they have the third place schedule. So I just, there's a lot of signs pointed to them

and they're over under, it's still nine and a half wins, which I think is crazy. I'd be like, I'd be genuinely shocked that they didn't win 10 games. Oh, same here. That would be a disappointing year. It would be somebody got hurt. It would be like, Bo Nicks got hurt

and they played a backup quarterback for half the year. Oh, Jared Stidham. That's what's great about Jared. That's all right. I'm mine, Stidham. Yep. Look, Stidham is the type of quarterback you want because when he's on your team, your quarterback stays healthy.

He's been like, good luck. But I asked Sean about the whole weapon situation because I remember during free agency trying to figure out who they were going to go after. Yeah. Because I was like, they're going to want to get this kid somebody. And he's like, my weapon is our run game now. I'm like, all right.

Right. So that's how he's. Well, they signed Evan Ingram. So hopefully he can catch some balls for them. But I like the way they look. Like if you go roster versus roster with them and KC, they're right there, talent, talent wise. It's just KC is the infrastructure and Mohawks.

They're talking Super Bowl there, by the way. Not against it. A little dirty secret for you. I was on a runway in Chicago coming off from the sports collectors convention and we didn't, we were just kind of stalled for 15 minutes. I went on Fandl and I started, cause I was going to hold off. I was going to wait until end of August to make some NFL features. I was like, I can't hold off on the Broncos anymore.

I'm getting some of these in. I'm getting some Broncos bits in and I'm shorting Miami in a couple of different ways, were the two things I did. Well, I am, maybe this is kind of ironic because I feel like. Parcells is the one who kind of always was in my head when I was younger learning how to cover this game of the teams that are the ones that are loud screaming that stuff are usually the crappy ones. But I've now seen it two years in a row where I've had teams be really vocal about it.

Like Andy Reid last year, he said to me, he's like, we're going for three. I'm like, first of all, Travis Kelsey said that to me after they won the second, when we were running off the field, like, you know, when the reporters like run after them to ask some questions, I was doing that. And I was like, you know, whatever boring question I asked, like, how do you feel? You know, whatever. He's like, going for three. I'm like, three what? I'm like, oh, three in a row. What? You just won. Like, chill. But Andy was like, going for three. I'm like, three what? I'm like, oh, three in a row. What? You just won. Like chill. Um, but Andy was like, I love them talking about that.

Like I want them, obviously they, they lost, but, um, you know, so you got them doing it, you got Denver doing it now. They got, they've, they've got some swag there. They're definitely headed into the season confident. So I get why you like the Broncos. You have them over the chargers. Yes. Yeah, I think so too.

Let's take a break and then we'll do a couple more for reals. This episode is brought to you by Yahoo Fantasy. Yahoo Fantasy is the best place to play fantasy football this season. Starting August 4th, Yahoo Fantasy dropping 28 big new features over 28 days, giving you more ways to play draft and win. Stay tuned and get started by creating or joining a Yahoo! Fantasy Football League today at yahoofantasy.com slash Simmons. That's me.

All right. Third, is this real? Uh, is the Mike Parsons hold out whatever the hell we're doing for real? It certainly got a lot of, a lot of news and we don't have to hash over all the things. I want to give you my theory. So there's this Cowboys documentary coming out on Netflix and it's actually really good. And I think it's going to be a big deal. And it's about the Jerry Jones, nineties Cowboys and the celebration of this really meaningful team that I think everybody remembers. And you've got guys like Akeman and Irvin and Emmett, who even after and Dion, after they played for the Cowboys, they've, they've still stayed really relevant as, as Jerry.

Part of me wonders, does he just do this sometimes with these holdouts just to get people talking about the Cowboys all month when he knows this is how this is going to end? They're not trading Michael Parsons. Nobody's doing that. That would be, that'd be the app. Like if the Patriots offer them key on way and two first round picks and a third for Michael Parsons, like, Whoa, that's a lot. You're not doing it. You're keeping. He's one of the most, seven most important guys in the league.

You're not trading him, especially in the salary cap era where you could just push this money into this interminable amount of years and it doesn't actually hate you. It's not like the NBA. I am convinced that he does this shit sometimes just so like first take will lead with the cowboys and people write the stories. I don't believe this for a second. Do you think this is real? I don't think it's real that Micah Parsons is going to get traded, but I do think the beef is real. Really?

I think sometimes in negotiations, everyone's like, all right, you're doing what you need to do to get your money. I get it. Or you're doing what you need to do to protect the team. I get it. Wink, wink, wink. But we're all going to be together. La dee da.

This feels personal. This feels like it's Jerry versus Micah. This isn't the Dallas Cowboys front office or the Dallas Cowboys in general versus Micah. And I think a lot of it has to do with what Jerry's been saying publicly. he's gone a little overboard on this stuff. And I don't ever really get crazy about negotiations and how people are talking about stuff because I know how it goes by now. But this with the, you know, not knowing who Mike's agent is from leaving his name out to not contacting him this whole time, talking about his injuries. So it just, it doesn't feel great. And the other day, so the story broke Friday.

So I guess it was Thursday morning. Somebody tipped me off on it was like, Michael Parsons has in his drafts a note that basically says, I don't want to be a Dallas cowboy anymore. Um, and his agent's aware of it. And they're basically just waiting to pull the trigger because you don't ask for a trade out of Dallas. Nobody's nobody does that. Right.

You we've seen in Washington, we've seen in almost every organization. Most want to be a Dallas cowboy because of all the benefits of playing for America's team. What are those benefits? Just out of curiosity. They haven't won the Super Bowl in literally three decades now. And I would say they've been one of the least successful NFL franchises. You know, you have your Browns level. They're obviously not there. But it's not like they've been rolling in success these last, I don't know, Michael Parsons' entire life. The Cowboys have never been good,

like in a Super Bowl contender way. It feels like it though, when you're around them, when you're there, they don't- It's like an optical illusion. They're not ugly looking. They don't have ugly uniforms. They don't have an ugly stadium. They get so much attention.

They're treated. They're treated like their premier, but they're not. And maybe some of them like living in the limelight of that, of the celebrity of being a Dallas Cowboy versus actually being able to win it. Isn't it better to be in the limelight of winning though, if you're Michael Parsons? Maybe the hope is that they, maybe what it is,

they believe that they can do that, right? I mean, cause this is a team that's built on star power based on deals that they're doing. It never works. They're the Kardashians. It's like all sizzle and no steak. Although the Kardashians are very successful. But you kind of look at it and you go,

what are the talents here? And the Cowboys, same thing. It's like, what are the talents here? What is the Jerry Jones? As soon as they got rid of Jimmy Johnson. And by the way, I totally forgot about the Emmett Smith contract holdout where he actually missed games.

Because now as you get older, you start, some of this stuff falls through the cracks in your brain, but he went to the precipice of them at Smith and it was not going to be resolved until the replacement guy kind of stunk in the first two games and the Cowboys fan base went nuts. Um, I wonder if he'd be willing to do that again to actually go into the season, not paying him to see what happens.

Yeah. To go so hard. I'm curious to see if there's any self reflection from him of maybe I didn't do this right. Right. Because even just talking to people the last few days about it of like, what do you think, you know, you know, and most will tell you, well, Jerry's done these deals before with players. It's he's notorious for these, whether it's, uh, I guess Tony Rome was the famous one, uh, where he tries to do these deals with players. Right. Bypass all the people around them. Yeah. Whereas it's like, first of all, it's illegal. You need to have an agent do those contracts. Um, I think craft,

right. With Brady's maybe the only other owner I know of that kind of did that, where they have a conversation and then, you know, they kind of agree to it and then the agent comes in and does the paperwork, I guess. Listen, all Patreon fans have agreed for the rest of our lives never to talk about whatever private under the table stuff Kraft and Brady had. As just like, we don't talk about it. We don't care. No, we don't talk.

Cause there, I never felt like the salary number was a hundred percent all the money that was going to Brady, but we, we looked the other way. No way. We looked the other way. You know, all this stuff these, these guys can do, like use, use the plane whenever you want, there's like a million different. I know. Workarounds. Here, invest in this thing we're investing in. You should do this. It's going to make this. Oh yeah. That's a lot of stuff you can do. I just had a conversation with an owner over the off

season about that of things that they lay out for their players, this specific organization in terms of investment. Things that they have set up for relationships that the owner and the organization have with these investment groups that help the players make money. It's like, it's the best way to help your team with the salary cap by taking less money and then still be able to make all the money that you probably could get on the open market.

So yeah. I don't think Jerry Jones is doing that with Michael Parsons. I don think Jerry Jones is doing that with Michael Parsons. I don't think he's doing that with Michael Parsons. I think he's sitting Michael Parsons down for a day and a half and talking to him what he thinks is just a conversation. Micah's perspective, as we know,

he thought it was a conversation. Jerry thought that was a deal. And look, I think the Cowboys' perspective on it, at least Jerry Jones' perspective on it, is like, look, I've done this with other players. I asked Dak to do it with me and Dak said, no, talk to Todd France, my agent. And that's how they did it.

And Micah never spoke up. Micah never said that. And I think that's how Jerry sees it. Whereas obviously, my question is- Micah's in his mid-20s. How does he know how to do a deal with the owner who's made a kajillion deals. Like, that's ridiculous.

It's shady. It's shady. And that's why I think this is, the original question was, is this real? I'm with you. I don't think they're trading him. I have spoken to teams, have already reached out to Dallas and it's not even like they're having a conversation. Yeah, they're just getting hung up on.

They're just like, whatever. It's like, we can talk about other players. Is three firsts crazy for you? No. Just out of curiosity? Because I have the NBA DNA where people get traded all the time. The picks and the trades have gotten crazier and crazier and crazier. We don't really see it ever with the NFL.

We'll have the occasional Khalil Mack trade. But for the most part, teams just don't do it that way. And if you have one of these guys, the way the cap works, where you can just keep pushing that money way down the road and almost like this dinner bill that you just get to keep putting on credit, you never have to pay. The Parsons thing to me is easy. Just pay them.

Who's the team that trades for Micah Parsons and cousin Sal just jumps off a bridge? The best for the podcast for me and Sal is the Patriots. That would be the absolute funniest outcome of all of this. And then he was just awesome on the Patriots and we went like 12 and five, but I was wearing a Parsons jersey for every fight. That's just for content. That would be the most fun for me.

Um, first of all, like there were teams mentioned when people make up the fake trades, like, guess what? They're not trading them to Washington or Philadelphia or the giants. Like that, like just cross those teams off. They're not trading with those teams and they would probably trade in the AFC if they're trading them, but they're not trading them. So it's a moot point. How funny it'd be if it was just like a lame team, you know, like the Titans, you know the Jags

All right, so we agree I still feel like Jerry milk's this stuff because he I Think he likes when people are discussing the Cowboys. What's interesting is I actually kind of thought, had them right in the six to eight seed range in the NFC. Like they do have talent, Dak's back. It wouldn't surprise me if they, with their schedule, if they went like 10 and seven, but if they don't figure the Parsons thing out,

they're not going to. Yeah, I'm interested to see, here's the other thing too, because Micah is repped by such a powerful agent, just the same agent that repped Deshaun Watson, that I wonder if the philosophy there is like, once you ask for a trade, like this is, we want out. Whereas we're seeing in Washington with Terry McLaurin.

Yeah. I don't think Terry wants to leave Washington. They're not trading. They're trying to win the Superbowl. What are they going to get for him? The heaviest guy. Terry's the best, right? Like he's just like walking around talking to his quarterback's mom. Just like, Hey everybody, I just want, I just want to make 31, 32. Come on, please. I know I'm going to be 30 next week, but just pay me. Well, the Trey Hendrickson thing is interesting because he seems like he wants to stay.

He's kind of TMI-ing some of the information. He's been doing long dissertations about his worth and his feelings about the Bengals. But, I mean, talk about a cheap franchise and he's the only, you know, the only really good defensive player they have. So, um, I assume he will come back. Parsons though, who knows if Parsons is like, I'm not coming back. It's do you have a stomach for it? I think that's what it is. It's uncomfortable. It's weird. It's these guys,

most good players are taught that it's about the team, despite the fact that it is a business. They're coming from the culture of, it's about the team, despite the fact that it is a business. They're coming from the culture of it's about the good things in sport. And I do think Trey Hendrickson, who, you know, I talked to him, I've been in touch with him a lot during this. And you're right. Like he spends a lot of time making sure, you know, and the public knows that his intentions here are to just get the money he's worth. His feelings seem hurt. Oh, well, wouldn't yours? Yeah. Well, especially when Max Crosby gets take care of.

You didn't own your company and the owner of your company was paying everybody else who was a star on the other side of the ball, but didn't want to pay you and give you the guarantees that you wanted. And it's not like he's asking for anything so outlandish because I've done kind of some of the back work on that. I'm just like asking other teams, like would you give Trey two years guaranteed? Everyone's like, yes.

Like it's not that hard to do. But Cincinnati is just one of those teams that don't operate like Philly, they don't operate like Houston, they don't operate like LA, they don't get ahead. Right. Well, that leads to the next for real. Is Cleveland the worst 2025 team for real? And I bring them up because it's a little bit dysfunctional along the lines of the Bengals. The Bengals have more talent, but same kind of like you are who you are behind the scenes and then the NFL that always comes back to bite you.

I look at Cleveland, the quarterback thing's already a mess. The Watson thing is one of the biggest cap cripplers we've had in a long, long time. And I don't see a scenario where they win like four games. And they, like to me, if you were saying, who's going to have the worst record in the league, which is always a fun one to bet on when people put those odds up,

I would go either Cleveland or New Orleans, I think are just the most obvious two. They seem, New Orleans at least, like there's some good buzz about, oh, they have some good young players and the new coaching staff's in place. And maybe they'll be like a little bit frisky. I don't see it at all with Cleveland. Joe Flacco is not doing it for you?

No, no, he's not. I thought he was terrible last year. Yeah. He wasn't terrible when he was with Stefanski the last time. It was two years ago. I mean, they went to the playoffs in 23, so. He's in his forties now. I, in general, I'm, I'm blind out on all forties quarterbacks and I think Brady messed up

everybody's brains. I've talked about this before. Brady was an anomaly in their forties. I woke up with a stiff neck the other day. I'm like, what is happening to me? And I Googled it and I have meningitis and I'm going to be dead in 15 hours. Like I was like, what, what is happening? I'm going to be dead in 15 hours. Like I was like, what? What's happening? Um, but yeah, which I do that all the time, which is such an obnoxious thing to do. Like as a, you self-diagnose on Google. Yeah.

But also I try to like think of myself as the player, you know, at my age, if the players close in my age and I'll just be like, you're 40s, you have to cause you watch that you watch stuff start to go by the wayside every year. It's like, oh, I can't see as well anymore. What happened? I do it with my parents, right? Like my dad's 72 and like I'll see like Belichick, for example. And I'm like, my dad just watches Judge Judy all day.

Like there's no way any 21 year old or 22 year old or whatever is even looking his way, nor would he even know what to say to her. He would be like, can we take a nap? You know, three times a day. So it's just like, I can't help myself, but I do it all the time. So to your point with Joe Flacco, like, yeah, like.

It's same for Rogers. It's like, that's why I'm not going to get excited about Rogers. Like these guys are in their 40s. It's not realistic. He's an outlier. He's an outlier. He doesn't eat strawberries for God's sakes. He is special, committed.

You know the whole thing. So yeah, I have concerns. Look, a lot of it, I was around the Browns a lot last year during training camp. And I just, look, Deshaun was there at the time, was different. He's there now, but we know that's the situation there. Look, I like the idea that they've been consistent with keeping Stefanski there and Andrew Barry. I do think they're a good tandem together, but there's just this juice missing in Cleveland. You know how I just was talking about Denver, right?

And I was like, God, these guys are just drinking the Kool-Aid and they're rolling on it, on their identity and who they are and the culture and what they're trying to accomplish and the details. And they got studs on all sides. Like I don't, I don't, I never felt that in Cleveland. I haven't been there yet at camp, but just seeing what I'm seeing and reading what I'm seeing, like I'm not, Mary Kay Cabot right now

seems to be the biggest star out of Cleveland with her comments at the Hall of Fame celebration. What did Mary Kay Cabot say? What? I somehow missed this. It's the weekend. Bill, this was so good. What was it?

Not that I'm expecting you to follow all Mary Kay, but Mary Kay is obviously exceptional. She's been around forever, covers the Cleveland Browns. So she was inducted in the Hall of Fame, Sportswriter Hall of Fame. So she goes up there and she talked about the start of her career and her delivery was fantastic. So she's up there and she says, you know, Bill Belichick calls me up once and he's given me a hard time. And I said, Bill, you know, I hope you talk to the men the same way you talk to me. Essentially like, treat me just the way you treat the men and I hope you say the shit you say to me you say to the men.

She goes, and then, you know, years passed and I was a young 28 year old reporter and I realize now, Belichick just couldn't relate to a 28 year old because I was too old. Oh no. She said that in the speech. Yes. And I, I've no Mary Kay forever. Like Mary Kay is spicy and she's great at her job, but she's not like that. Like she doesn't. Belichick taking strays. That's pretty good.

It was. That's a really good set up and punchline. It was, it's fantastic. And then I was, here's the thing, somebody sent the clip and you know how all of our attention is so limited. Like I can, I can only watch like five seconds of a clip. Yeah. And so the person that tweeted it, like made it like, this clip is good to wow you.

And I thought the funny part was just that like she was tough with Bill. Yeah. You know, I was like, good for Mary Kay. And I was thinking that way to go. And then I was, whoa, go MKC. Well, I think part of the problem with the lack of belief with the Browns, and this is like the eighth time they've pivoted since Hazlum bought the team, I think

in 2012. So now it's like, hey, we have our shit together finally. The Watson thing, he's taken a lot of accountability for the Watson. What a disaster that was. But that shocked me when he said that. I was at the owner's meeting when he said that. I was like, whoa, that was a big step. I was reading up on him and he's done it a few times when he's fired people like GMs

or coaches And he'll just publicly say like he does the Aaron Boone thing. He's like we got to get this right. It's all ahead of us We got it. We got it. Everything's in front of us. We just gotta keep moving. We've made some mistakes But it's just really bad at owning a team and I they're just clearly the most dysfunctional of all the NFL teams now and have been For a while. That's the hard part. It's when the owners are that involved. You're like, you're part of this operation all the time and it's still bad.

It's very similar to what's happening with the Phoenix Suns with Matt Ishbia, where just they're changing to pivot, but another splashy thing. Oh, I changed again. Oh, it was this guy's fault. Hey, I'm learning. And the problem is Haslam is now in like year 14 owning the Browns. And it doesn't seem like there's light at the end of the tunnel, at least with David Tepper, who had made a lot of the same mistakes. At least that's been quiet for a year. I don't know if he's a good owner or not, but

he's at least trying. I think they've been very conscious of what it's looked like. I don't, these people don't change, Bill. You think Woody Johnson is now going- Well, that's another good example. Since I let my sons run it all, I'm not going to do that anymore. No, they can't help who they are. Yeah. And look, and I think there's some instances where an ownership having some say in things is okay.

I actually just talked to Greg Penner, the owner of the Broncos on the sideline the other day about that. It was the exact question I asked him. I said, how do you know when to step in? How involved are you on the day to day? How do you know to go, I need to say something here. You know, and he even is like, it's not easy because you got to let your football people do it.

But if you disagree with something that and you're watching this or let's say you're an owner like Josh Harris, right? Like who's got experience with bad deals. You know, that's gotta be hard for him to go, all right, I'm just going to let Adam Peters do this. There's no way. Of course he's going to influence it.

Especially if they've been down that road before and they've made those mistakes, they're not going to allow some new GM making those mistakes. Which is why I'm curious to see how the Terry McLaurin thing shapes out because you know, you know the owners involved in that. That's not just Adam Peters. No way. No way. He's, I'm not worried about that one. That's not just Adam Peters. No way. No way. I'm not worried about that one.

So is there a worse team than Cleveland for you? The Titans? Yeah. They're on the list. I just, I don't know what they are. At least they have an easier division. They do. And no one pays attention to them so they don't have to deal with the heat.

I feel like Cleveland Browns fans are nuts. They're so into it and they're so crushed every year. And the Watson thing hanging over, it's all of it. I just think for Tennessee, it's just been so much change. Ownership has gone through so much different variety, whether it's getting rid of Rand Cawthon, John Robinson, Mike Brayboy, all of those. So now they're trying to settle this thing down. And I've heard great things about Cam Ward.

But I think between Cleveland and Tennessee, and I'm with you on New Orleans, they're, I don't think they're gonna have any exceptional years. The Dolphins too, I'm worried about them. I already have all their unders. The Giants would be the fifth one. But at least the Giants, you can point to them and go, hey, they might be able to rush

the ball. I mean, rush the passer. Hey, they might be able to make a couple of big plays with their receivers. There's a few things there. Tennessee, I don't know what the case is. Let's take one more break and then we'll do the rest of these. All right. Quickie for real. Is Tom Brady actually really involved with the Raiders for real in your opinion? That was my for real. Oh, I stole your for real. He stole my for real. But I was going

to do it and then answer it. What's the answer? He is involved in everything, everything. First of all, it's Tom Brady. What does he care about, nevertheless have ownership in something and just goes, oh, I want nothing to do with that. Of course, of course he's involved in this. And this just even goes back to the off season. So at the Bezos wedding, he's like, hold on guys, I gotta step out.

We're having an issue with our six round receiver. Like, I don't know. I don't know if I'm buying it. I don't think it's, I think he's informed daily of things that are happening and he has a say and I think he's in contact with the stars of that team. I say stars, but like outside Max Crosby, right? Um, like a couple of stars is there. They train with Alex. with the stars of that team. I say stars, but like outside Max Crosby, right? Stars, Ash and Brad Bowers. I guess they have a couple of stars.

Alasgarero is there. They train with Alex. The Alex program is there. Alex? He's there? How did I miss this? Yeah, Alasgarero's there. Go to the website, Raiders.com.

Wow, he's back. He's back. If Alasgarero is there, Tom Brady is there, right? And look, I know he still lives in Florida But when they were going through that coaching search You you think it was? Just Mark Davis on the phone with these code. No It was a Ben Johnson took the interview because Tom Brady called him

He didn't want to go there seems like he's done a lot of traveling, a lot of dating, and he's also going to be calling, uh, NFL games on Fox this year. And I just, if I'm another like GM slash thinker in the NFL, and this is a team I'm competing against, I'm probably excited that Tom Brady's kind of half in half out. I don't think he is. I get he's busy. I don't think Tom Brady wants to be embarrassed by saying he's the owner of a team that's going to be a dump. He's going to make sure that it's at least at a level of respectable, at least try to

figure out a way to get it there. I don't know if he has that ability to do it, right? Because I've never seen him in a position that he's in now where he's running a team. But I don't think the Sofia Vergara makeout sesh should count as a distraction towards Tom Breeze's focus. I'm okay with that couple. No? I like that couple. I thought that was cute.

I like her. I think she seems very charming. I don't think it's worked. It fell apart already? I don't know. I don't think they're getting engaged. I think they're in the early stages. I'm interested to see how involved Brady is because I think that Brady's done a good job of the perception. I say this as somebody who brought me and the other Patriot fans six rings. We love Tom Brady, but he just seems very spread out all over the place. The better thing is that he was involved with the Pete Carroll hiring.

Whether Pete has two decent years left or five, I don't know, but at least he's a real head coach who has a culture in place and is going to try to make them seem like professionals, which was not the case the last few years. I don't know. I think you're in denial. I think you just don't want Tom to be associated with a team that's not going to be that good. I didn't like seeing him in the Raiders stuff the other day. It did make me mad. It was weird, right?

I didn't like it. I think he should not wear Raiders stuff. Just wear like generic. Um, I know he has to. Yeah, it's still, it's weird. It's a weird one for me, especially that was the team that launched his career effectively with the, in the snow game. Other people call it the tuck roll game. So what's harder for you? Was it, was it, was it, was it seeing the report that Bill Belichick called the Jets for the job, or seeing Tom Brady?

No, the Belichick thing. Belichick was just... How weird is that? I think he was just kicking every tire possible. He was. But you made the key point. You said your dad watches Judge Judy all day. Like at some point near your mid-70s, you probably shouldn't be coaching the NFL team anymore,

would be my expert take. It's a hard job. My dad's not a plumber anymore. Thank God. You're competing against Ben Johnson. Who's like, what is he like 38? Oh my God. The energy level of these guys running around.

It's like sleeping four hours a day. He doesn't care. Um, is, oh, this is a good one. Oh boy. Actually, I'll save it. Let's do an easy one for real. You believe in the variable bump. Is the variable bump for real?

No. Just kidding. I just wanted to get you nervous. Yeah, that would hurt my feelings. I know. I know you're very pro-variable. I get it. Yeah, I read everything every day.

Everybody's just, the accountability is back. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. Well, people are excited. It's all of my timeline. We barely had a coach last year. I get it, but they're kind of going a little overboard on it. It's like, we're going to shove rhabaldean on your throat so much that you're going to

forget about Tron male. We're going to somehow make you not remember those final years of Belichick and whatever that situation was gone was and, and look, I get it. It is. And I get it. He's the perfect person. Obviously, the history there and the fact that he actually is a good coach, right? Like this isn't smoke and mirrors.

They're not just like getting a rah rah guy in, which is probably the thing about him that gets misunderstood most from covering him so many years of just, I think people think he's just like a tough guy that like cheers on guys and motivates well, but he has a plan. He's a detailed psycho.

His game management is some of the best in football. He cares about dumb shit That I think is dumb but I get why he does and why he's his entire staff is obsessed over Things like I remember in Tennessee On Fridays they like basically put together a tape called dumb shit, I think is what they called it. And Braves would have his assistant pull all the dumb stuff from the week prior, from that Sunday prior of mistakes teams were making, like self-inflicted shit, you know, and then

show it to the team. And it's a great learning tool, right? I'm like, Hey, this is what they did in this situation. We don't do that. Um, so I don't know. I just think, I think the entire organization is energized with him being there because there's a plan. He knows exactly what he is.

He knows exactly what he wants the team to be. Um, and he knows how to press buttons. The clips I've been watching where he's, he's just barking back at some of these guys, which I think is fun. Right? He's gone after a couple of the reporters already. If he doesn't like a question or if he feels somebody, I think it was last week, somebody asked a question that somebody else had asked and he just went right after the guy who asked

it. He was like, I don't have time for this. Well, he's another one. If he doesn't like you, it's not a secret. I've battled with him over the years on things. I remember doing something stupid in a press conference. I asked a bad question. It was about injuries, which he doesn't talk injuries. I'd known at that point that he doesn't like to do it, but I did it anyway because I think it was the playoffs. So he like just like ices you out for a while. This is how he is. But he gets it too though, like he gets me. He's he's he everyone thinks he's like Belichick and he is a little bit when it comes to injuries and media.

But he gets it. I just think my expectations aren't as high as everybody else's for this team, but I understand it. Like I get why Patriot fans are feeling this like euphoria right now watching. I peaked a week ago. What did you see that made you peak? I think that some of the stuff coming out, the rookies who have been, I think, more up and down and less reliable than we were hoping is they hit the jackpot with the third round

guard Wilson, but Campbell's been a little up and down. Kyle Williams, the receiver who I think everybody thought was going to play, he's been dropping balls and so I don't know if the, we'll see, this is where Bray Bull is going to have to work his magic, but I thought the draft was gonna be like an A plus for them and it might be like a B plus or a B. I don't know. We'll see. Will Campbell, Campbell's gonna start.

Jared Wilson's gonna start. Henderson Williams, Wilson. All the Pads beat writers are saying that Campbell's gets beat at least twice a practice. So I'm cooling off. People I've been talking to say that- I needed the cool off. I have heard,

if there was a bright spot of New England right now, it's actually the offensive line. But by the way, don't go by us idiots on the ground sometimes, because I've made this mistake. Whereas I do that, and then the coaches will tell me later, you didn't even know what we were doing. Like you had no idea what that drill was. You thought it was something else and there's a reason.

Like we actually tied his arm behind his back and you just didn't see it. Like, you know what I mean? So yeah, look, I love the Pats Bee reporters. They're actually my favorite group. We have great bee reporters. They are awesome. I'm just listening.

I was ready to predict 12 and five a week ago. Now I've calmed down. That's all I'm saying. We'll see how Drake takes this step. It all hinges on that. I agree. Okay, here we go. Is this real?

The Rogers Tomlin Love Fest, including a big piece I read, I think it was in the athletic by Michael Silver, about this relationship they've forged. I just always have my guard up with all Aaron Rodgers content the last couple of years. I never know what's real, what's not real. And this is a great example. Is this real?

Do the Steelers actually think Aaron Rodgers is going to take them to like the AFC championship game? Do they think this? I think the relationship question is real. I think part of Mike Silver's piece was that Aaron kind of fell for Tomlin because when Mike was sitting with him, his recall was really good. Like, I mean, to me, it sounds like basic listening, but I guess people weren't listening to Aaron Rodgers or something. Because it was like sensitive stuff, personal things that I guess Aaron was sharing with

him and Mike asked him about it and stayed in touch with him about it. To me, it's like, yeah, of course he listened to you and stayed in touch with you because he didn't have a quarterback. Right. Like, why are you so excited that the head coach of a team that paid a gazillion dollars for a wide receiver, you know, is calling Aaron Rodgers who could potentially be the answer. Yeah, no.

But I guess that wasn't right. Yeah, no. Tomlin was on that, he was on the long drive where there was no stop for food with hungry kids in the backseat. And at some point you just kind of settle for the sandwich shop you've never heard of. And Roger's was the sandwich shop. It's like, I need to feed my kids. Yeah. Roger's like, he looks like a quarterback. He's famous.

I guess we're going to have to roll the dice to them. I thought he was bad last year. I know the stats say otherwise. There's good advanced stuff. I didn't think he wanted to get hit anymore. I'm always going to think that. I don't think he wants to get hit anymore. There's a advanced stuff. I didn't think he wanted to get hit anymore. I'm always gonna think that I don't think he wants to get hit anymore There's a couple

Factors, I never thought that the jet situation. I initially thought the jet situation was smart I thought that was a great move by New York at the time for where they were at but I Quickly learned that he needed the right personality at that head coach position. And I don't think Robert Sala was good for him, which I think we all learned that. And look, the injury thing is a whole nother story. I do think that Mike Tomlin personality is great for an Aaron Rodgers because Aaron Rodgers needs to be told, we know you have an opinion. We know this is what you think, but this is what we're doing.

Yeah. Right. It's essentially maybe even making him feel like he's part of it, but at the end of the day, Mike Tomlin's calling the shots and I think Rogers respects him enough to go, okay, I'll shut up. We'll do what you say. And Arthur Smith's the same way. Arthur's tough. Arthur's like, I don't know if you've ever seen him in interviews, like he's a nice guy, but he's sharp and he'll make it work for Aaron, but he's not going to let Aaron push him around on this is what we're going to do because I'm Aaron Rodgers. So from a fit standpoint with

the personalities of those guys there, I like it. I think it works. But I still don't know if he has enough in him at the age, the injuries still, um, to, to really take this team to the playoffs. Maybe I'm too old, but I just feel like I've been down this road with the famous athletes that are past their prime, but you can kind of get excited about it. Talking something to it. The best case scenario was far the first, he sucked on the jets the first Vikings year, they were actually good. Well,, he sucked on the jets, the first Vikings year.

They were actually good. Well, he didn't suck with the jets. He just got hurt. Team sucked and he got hurt. But I mean that the, would they go like five and 11, whatever happened? They went into, they were, I think they were, didn't they go to the playoffs? So they were about to go to the playoffs and then he got hurt. So anyways, it didn't work.

Well, he left. I thought it didn't work. Well, as we said earlier, like we can't remember things anymore. The Jets thing, whatever. He went to Minnesota. They almost made the Super Bowl. But then the next year was bad. When's the last time we saw, like outside Brett, when's the last time an old player joined a team and we were like,

like Odo Beckham with the Rams that one year? Like I'm trying to think of like an old player that you're like excited about and they're actually good. What about in Washington? They're all old. They're pretty good there. It's tough with quarterbacks and basketball gets tough. We see this like when like Carmelo Anthony got older.

It's like Oklahoma City has added Carmelo Anthony. And it's like, it's not Carmelo Anthony anymore. It's at a different point of his career. Like when, I guess Brady going to the to the bucks is the best all time kid, but Brady almost doesn't count in these cause he's Brady. Um, but yeah, the, the Emmett Smith going to the Cardinals, like, I don't know. It's just, you kind of know how it's going to go each time in this case,

like their offensive line I think is, it seems like it's going to be pretty good this year. John Carlos Stanton. No, bad, right? I'm thinking baseball. Sorry, I switched sports in my head. I'm thinking like in baseball, who's like the old folk that we believed in? Hockey had, like Gretzky was on three more teams than I think people remember. Near the end, he's just starting to like bouncing around. Jerry Rice was on, he was, after the Raiders, I think he, did he go to the Redskins? Like there was one other team.

He did. Yeah. Like he kind of kept going. Yeah, I'm not seeing it. My last one for you is, this is from a Jets fan friend of mine, I always kind of trust with the Jets. And they said, listen,

I don't know how good we're going to be, but we have an identity this year. I know what this team is. We're going to play defense. We're going to run the ball and Fields is going to run the ball a lot. We have a good offensive line and we're going to be in these ugly games. And I at least know what this is. And I actually think it's going to be okay. And I think we might, we're not going to be dangerous, but we might be a little frisky. What are your, are the jets frisky jets for real for you? Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. He's got a good pulse on it. He must be reading Zach Rosenblatt from The Athletic, who does a good job of just laying it out. Zach's not scared. He's just like, this seems stinks or this seems decent. And everything he's been writing from there has been that. And I talked to him a lot too. Look, I think they were lost. The Rogers experiment was

a disaster for a lot of different reasons. And they just cleaned house. And I know some of it was a little uncomfortable, a little prickly at times with all this change. But I think at least, I don't know if Aaron Glenn is going to be a good head coach. Okay. Just like, I don't really know if Ben Johnson is going to be a good head coach. I just know from talking to people around the league that these guys were great at coaching their units. Yeah.

That doesn't always mean that they're the best CEOs. You know? Right. units. That doesn't always mean that they're the best CEOs. I don't like the fact that Aaron Glenn isn't doing the coaching that he was so great at in Detroit. That is the only reason why I'm a little bothered by New York. Because if your head coach's greatest strength isn't being used, then why is he there? That's the reason why I thought New York hired him. But I think as they figure it out as they're coaching, they start putting their tentacles around and figuring out how to sprinkle in their little fairy dust, the things they know. And he's a big Parcells disciple, obviously, and he has already mannerisms of them.

And I've heard some things that just like a very parcel way of conducting things, meetings, dealing with the coaching staff. He also wanted to coach the Jets, which isn't any small thing. Like he actually wanted the job. He wasn't leveraging them. He wasn't like, Oh, you're my last chance to get hired. He's like, I want to, I like the Jets. I want to be your coach.

So they went from having complete instability with coaching QB to now at least whether you like the QB or not, I'm not a huge fan of fields, but I think if you're going to use them the way they're going to use them, it might, they're going to be hard to play. They're going to pull off like two upsets to share and people are going to be like, Oh my God, the jets are beating the chiefs or whoever, you know, some giant favorite. Just because I live in Jets giant's land.

Yeah. If you had to pick a team, who you picking? For wins? Yeah. Jets. Yeah, me too. Because of the division, obviously, but also, I mean, not that, who knows? Your past could be a problem.

They got to face the Bells. They got dealing with Josh coming off an MVP season. It's a pretty good division situation. What was your for real? Because we got to wrap up. All right, my for real. The Minnesota Vikings seem thrilled about JJ McCarthy, that he's the guy. Okay.

Is this real? What else are they going to say? It's a lot. He didn't play football for a year. There was that story about how my buddy House loved this, how Kevin O'Connell talked to him for an hour to try to simulate last season, simulate the process they would have when he was a starting QB. But he's coming off a major injury and he hasn't played football in two years.

Like, I'd be nervous if I was a Vikings fan. It's not great. First of all, House, that was my story. Which one? I remember doing that. I did that for one of my insider notes of every week Kevin O'Connell spends an hour. Right. Look at House's quoting.

This is great. But it's funny to hear it back because it's so stupid. I wish I wrote that. I wish I wrote... At the time, it felt productive. Look at this hands-on coach, including the young quarterback. I didn't mind it. I just don't know if that's gonna,

if it means he's gonna be a quarterback. Yeah, it's like whatever. Using virtual reality, they're doing all this. And then he lost all the weight. But really what House is saying is he lost the reps. That's what he, you need the reps on scout team, right? Whether he was starting or not, he needed to be out there. And he lost all of that as well as the weight,

which he seemed to, you know, he's back. And he, from what I heard, had an awesome spring. But look, this is a team, they are built to win. They are built to win. They let Sam Darnold walk. They let Daniel Jones walk. They let Aaron Rodgers walk. And they stuck with him because they believe in him. So they know something we don't. Right? Well, where they took him in the draft, like he kind of has to be good. Their whole setup

was meant for them to win a title with a quarterback on the rookie scale. A little like Denver actually, although Denver's playing with 30 million less than the salary cap. I guess you have to make that move. If you're the owner and you're looking at it, you're going, yeah, we're going to stick with the guy we drafted. But from a win now? I don't know. I bet you we could debate it. The question for me is how much is he going to have to do? Because their defense, they have, you know, a top five coaching staff. They have good defense. They should be able to block, we think.

They have Jefferson. They hopefully have Addison. Hockinson, Fullyear. Could he just kind of steer the card as he have to actually get on the highway and go into the carpool lane and start dodging around? I'm going to be down there or out there in Minnesota next week. I'll let you know. But my guess, they're going to keep it simple with him. But a lot of this is going to be Ken the quarterback, keep it simple. As. Well, I mean, it's, but a lot of this is going to be Ken, the quarterback, keep it simple as much as Kevin Connell is fantastic and staff is great, but sometimes these look at how he was, how he played in college, right?

Like I wouldn't call that simple. The schedule. I remember, um, not being happy with it because especially like they play the, uh, well, they play the second place one, but they start out with like the two night games in a row. Home since then they go to Dublin and London in the first five weeks. Like for a guy who's just trying to get his, his sea legs in this position. It's just not a normal first five weeks. So that, that would make me nervous about us then. But I, I weirdly liked them more than Green Bay though.

A lot of people are high on Green Bay and I don't know, that was the other for real I was gonna ask you is do you, we're now it's year two of this is gonna be Jordan Love's giant breakout season. He got hurt at the beginning of last year and now we're playing all the hits again. I don't love his receivers at all.

I know they spent a lot of capital on them, but I don't think he has a reliable receiver Jacobs, whatever. There's a lot of good advanced stats about him not being as good as the actual stats or their offensive lens. Fine. Um, but I don't, some people think like he's going to become a top five quarterback this year and I don't know if, I don't know if I'm down with that one. I'm taking Minnesota over Green Bay right now. I'm with you from a, um, I just think

what they're coming off. I understand they, they shit the bed against the Rams, but two straight weeks. Look, here's the thing with that season two from looking back on it and even just talking to some people there, it kind of reminds me of what, so in high school I ran track and my goal was to win the counties. And I won the counties, which was cool. And I was new to track, so I didn't know, so stupid. I didn't know after counties, you go to states. So all season long I'm training, I'm like, I want to win counties, I was new to track, so I didn't know so stupid. I didn't know after counties you go to states Um, so all season long i'm training i'm like I want to win counties I want to win counties win the counties and then when you win the county got to go play

You got to go run in the state. Yeah, and I got my ass kicked like I came in like 27th place I like embarrassed bergen county um Because my head never like thought big and I think for the vikings my head never thought big. And I think for the Vikings, I think they did that, which I so, such a ridiculous analogy, but it's, I kind of understand it. Their goal was, they were so locked in game to game, they weren't thinking big enough. And I think at times it hurt them last year and they poured everything in to that one game that when they play the Rams, they're just like, not good enough because they were like spent, um, which we've seen before in playoff games, you know,

where you see them all ready to go for the championship game and the come the super world and not, they're not prepared because they're all jammed up for the, for the divisional game or the championship game. Um, but, Oh, go ahead. But for right now where I'm at and how I feel about these situations, I just have more confidence in Minnesota. The McCarthy thing makes me nervous.

So you're traveling to a bunch of training camps over the next couple of weeks, I assume? Yeah. I got a little Minnesota. I'm going to see your Patriots soon. I'm going to go to Washington. I'll ring up house, see if he's around. Is there a team that we didn't talk about that you're just intrigued by that you feel like people are sleeping on?

The Houston Texans. I think they've got a really good defense. I had concerns off season about that offensive line. Obviously, they traded Laramy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders, but Caseros got that Patriot way, right? Where he always gets rid of players before they peek. So that was like... After they peek.

No, right before they peek. Oh no, right after, you're right. Just as they peek. And then he's like, yeah, we're good. He's selling two years or a year and a half too early. But it's not actually too early. It's the perfect time, but nobody realizes it. So I think they were a team I was hot on last year.

I was not predicting that sophomore slump from CJ. So yeah, I was at camp with them. In fact, good news for you. I remember digs. I remember CJ telling me about Diggs last year, just like how competitive he is and intense and like what a leader. And it's funny too, because Diggs is one of those guys like on social media and obviously the Cardi P stuff and all the ridiculousness. You think he's probably not locked in, but even just

talking to people in New England, like they love him up there. Yeah. Love him. They wanted some sort of alpha, set the example, forged relationships with people, some sort of veteran connective tissue, but somebody who's actually good. Yeah. Because it's something that the veterans,

but they actually have to be good in the drills. They have to be good in the practice, which is the second piece of it. And I also think that's kind of a variable thing too, of like he needed his kind of dudes there to like push the message of what he needs and wants. Um, and I think Diggs is, I don't know if they had a relationship prior, but I'm going to guess he did his work on them. They're not bringing him in unless they think.

Well, look at the personalities they brought in like Spillane, Will Campbell, Diggs. Like they have these dudes now that are walking around their chests out like alpha dudes, which I think that was the biggest thing he wanted to change. Can you make your own meat sauce? Yes, I can. Every Sunday I do. What's your number one Italian meal that you make? What's my probably, like, what's my best? Yeah, what's your number one? It's neck and neck. I make a really good linguine and clam sauce.

Interesting. My husband would say my chicken parm. He loves my chicken parm. He gets that when the eagles Eagles lose because I always feel bad. I also try to do it to make him happy because Invisible Philadelphia fan is is my health. So you make the belly happy title. I sure he can he can settle down And they have the most talented team this year. I Face-timed him after they won Because I was at the game. Yeah.

And, you know, he's crying, which is so freaking weird, but he's crying, oh my God, oh my God. And so he's like going to the game with me, and I'm rushing, by the way. I got to do a job, you know, but I was just doing it. I love him, and you know, he loves his Eagles probably more than me, but... You got to work. Yeah, I got him and you know, loves his Eagles, probably more than me, but. You gotta work. Yeah, I gotta go do my thing. So he starts talking to me about like, what do you think we're gonna do at corner next year though?

Like I'm like, what? Oh, he already moved to next season? Jesus. He kinda dropped his Kelsey in me. You know what I mean? Like he's already like thinking that, I'm like, not now, like not now. Probably started thinking at halftime

because the game was over. I'm starting to think about next season. It's true. Nuts, right? I know it's just the second, but that's what makes Philadelphia great is they're just never satisfied and they're just not. They don't even care about that Super Bowl now. Yeah, that's how you have to be.

That's the Tom Brady. What's your favorite Super Bowl? The next one. All right. Diana, we're seeing you. thank you. This is great. You can, by the way, you can read your stuff at the Athletic, but also Scoop City is the podcast if you want to go check it out. Well, House Read is my column because he's pulling quotes out of there. Apparently he does. Yeah, he's quoting you. It is impressive. The scriber of the Athletic. By the way, a little funny inside thing. So obviously when you're putting out information all the time, people in the league like to

read your stuff and they check it out. I can't tell you how many head coaches and general managers will text me, hey, saw your article and I'll write, oh, thanks or whatever, or usually actually it's more, I don't like what you said about this. And they'll send me like a clip of something. And I'm like, that's not like from the website. What is that? They won't subscribe because they don't want to spend the money. They can't charge it to the team?

Like you're millionaires. I don't know. It's the most common thing, even players. Like I'll send a player if I do like a good feature on them, like, hey, check it. I'm like, oh, sorry, I'm not a subscriber. I don't like to like add up to, I don't like to have so many subscriptions in my account. The hell, this is why they're so rich.

All right. Thank you. Good to see you. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Appreciate you. All right. Thanks to Diana Racini. Thanks to Gahau and Eduardo as well. I am not sure when the next episode of this podcast is going to be. Could be any. I'll keep you on your toes. We'll see. We'll see if actual sports stuff happens over the next few days. But odds are you will see me in a week on Sunday, barring something super fun.

Don't forget rewatchable is Monday night RoboCop and I will see you down the road. Must be 21 plus in president select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and president DC gambling problem call 100 gambler visit rg-help.com call 1-887-897-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit md gambling help.org in Maryland hope is here visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York.