The Kevin Sheehan Show - AP In Indy

Episode Date: February 24, 2026

Kevin and Thom today opened with Thom's horrendous cold in Florida and why he should be taking codeine. The boys talked about the 2024 QBs being a year away from big money tied to big organizational decisions. One emailer believes it's iffy that Jayden Daniels gets either a contract extension or has his 5th year option picked up. Also on the show, Tush Push, 4-point FGs, Commanders likely to London next year, and the guys talking about the ABA documentary, "Soul Power".    For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. Tommy's here, kind of. I'm here. The show's presenting sponsor is always Window Nation.

86690 Nation or Window Nation.com. If you need new windows, I say kind of, because Tommy is definitely under the weather. You're playing hurt today. You're not pulling, you know, you're not pulling a Darren Peterson from Kenney. Kansas, and opting out of a big game. No, I'm not load managing. Although every day is load management for me. Yeah, it is.

It is, because there are times during a break. You're like, I think we're done. I might know we've got another segment left. You're like, are you sure? I'm pretty sure we're done. Well, I'm not going to talk much in the final segment. I wanted to start with... I wonder the weather.

Yeah, so what is it that you have? Just a touch. of a bad cold or is it technically the flu? Oh, it's not the flu. Okay. It's a bad cold with a hacking cough. And, you know, the cough is debilitating because you cough all day, you're exhausted all the time from coughing.

What are you taking for the cough? What are you taking for everything? I mean, I'm taking cough medicine. I take, where I screwed up was, and I made, it made it not, it made any different. difference. But when my wife was sick for two weeks, I should have jumped on this stuff called emergency. Oh, my wife goes out all the time. Yeah. I don't do it every day. Yeah. But if I feel just a sniffle, I pounce on it. And I should have known that my wife, which I was, we're together 24 hours a day. She was sick for two weeks. I was going to get sick.

I should have pounced on it dead and I might have helped and I didn't and when I got sick I started using it but it was too late Are you taking a cough suppressant? Yeah, I'm taking a cough medicine Okay

Does it have codeine in it? Yes Oh good Because that That's the stuff When I got sick right before The holidays And I had that cough

They gave me And I'm forgetting the name of the prescription right now, but it had codeine in it, and man, was that stuff good? That stuff made me feel really good. Are you taking that right now? We might get a good show out of you. Well, I don't know. I'm not taking a prescription. I'm taking it over-the-counter. All right, well, then you're not taking the cough suppressant with codeine. Codine's a schedule to narcotic. It's got to be prescribed. Okay. You need to- Did you prescribe it? I, you know what? Maybe I can. I can find somebody to prescribe it for you. But codeine's like,

and you call it in for me to CVS down here. You usually hate when I play doctor, but you seem open to it. You must really feel shitty. Yeah, I do. But codeine is, you know, it's literally like an opioid. I mean, it's, you know, it's highly addictive the whole thing. But I'm going to tell you, I think it was Christmas Eve. I was not feeling well. and I took that and La La Land What a Christmas Eve I had It's just so nice to To stop coughing

You know like you said It's so exhausting And when you take something that stops the cough It's like oh my God And you just want to lie down and sleep But when you know At least when I cough If I'm laying down it's worse

You know I cough more if I'm laying down. So for the past two nights, I slept in a recliner in the living room because you're sitting up. And I've slept good. It's been a comfortable sleep. But I find that if I lay down, I'll cough more. You, I mean, your summer resort down there in Cocoa Beach, do you have access to a steam room anywhere in the place?

No. No, we're not that high saluting, buddy. I don't think a steam room is really highfalutin. It's at any sort of extra. There are a lot of them in just, you know, exercise areas in gyms. Oh, there's no exercise area here. Of course not. You know, why would you... Why do you think I'm at a spa?

Well, you know, even a hotel or wherever you're staying might have a gym, you know, accessible. No. Okay. It's a condo. The answer, the answer apparently is no, that you don't. So the other thing I would recommend is just take a big pot. Do you have, do you have a stove, a stove top? Yeah.

I'm not sitting in front of a stove with a big pot of boiling water. Put a rag over my head. I'm not doing that. It's really good for you. I'm not doing that. It's really good for you. What do you think I am? Stelego, come on.

Well, I mean, you know. I'm glad you're here today. You manned up, you showed up. Let's go. Let's do a show. Let's do a show today. Okay. We'll give it a try. We'll talk a little bit about what Adam Peters said today in Indianapolis. Dan Quinn is scheduled to talk today as well. But I'm going to start with this email that I got. And I did this on radio two. And I don't always use the same stuff in repeat. But I'm going to repeat this one because it was so good. good and I want Tommy to respond to it. Jason writes, Kevin, why can't you see what we all see? Jaden Daniels is a fragile one-hit wonder. The stamp on the box says caution breakable. And while I don't think he's close to RG3 and narcissism, I'm not going to say that he's perfect either. There's a lot we're still learning about him and his third year will determine whether or not the team decides to first pick up his fifth year tag.

It's actually a fifth year option. And then if they decide to sign him to a long-term deal. These stories take time. They're longer than one chapter. Be patient, my friend. That one from Jason. What do you? He's not very patient.

He called him a one-hit wonder. Great point. Yes. A fragile one-hit wonder. is not a very patient description, Jason. I should have made that point on radio this morning, but I think I was too focused and too taken aback on the idea that anybody would actually consider the possibility

that Jaden Daniels next off season won't either be signed to a long contract extension or have his fifth-year option picked up. I mean, I just can't believe that somebody would actually believe that to be a possibility. We are one year removed. I can't believe where some of you have gotten to. One year removed from, I think, everybody in this fan base believing in their heart of hearts, that Jaden Daniels was the Messiah. Or, Tommy, as you put it, he was the son in which everything revolves around.

And by the way, anybody in that orbit, anybody close to him, was lauded, was complimented beyond belief. I mean, Adam Peters, let him cook. You know, AP, let him cook. AP's playing chess over checkers with everybody. Dan Quinn, brilliant hire, Cliff Kingsbury. Wow, what a creative mind. What a quarterback guru he is.

And a year later, after a season in which Jaden played four complete games out of 17, some like Jason think he might not be around here beyond the next two seasons. I just cannot believe that some have gotten to this point. It's psychologically understandable to me for a fan base that's been used to be hit over the head with a hammer, and then it stops, and then somebody's rubbing your head nice, and you're good for a year, and nobody's hit me anymore. and all of a sudden you see the hammer come out again.

Perfectly understand. Or the belt. Yes. I understand it. I understand the reaction. Of course, of course things are going to go wrong. This is who we are.

Yeah. You know, a lot of that is definitely a part of it. So I want to explain real quickly just how this works and why we're even talking about this. I mean, we're not talking about it for any other reason. other than Jason emailed what he emailed to us. But we are a year away from the first crucial off season as it relates to Jaden Daniels.

And the reason for that is a rookie contracted player isn't eligible for a contract extension until after his third season. So Jaden's got to play three full seasons before the team can come to him and start to you know, negotiate a long-term deal. The other part of it is, is that a player picked in the first round is, you know,

in a four-year contract situation, but the team has an option to pick up a fifth year. So in Washington's case, after Jaden plays his third season in 2026, they will, A, be able to negotiate a long-term deal with Jaden, B, if they decide not to do that, they can pick up his fifth year option, or C, as Jason has suggested, they don't have to do anything.

They can just let him play out the fourth year of his rookie deal and then decide to either franchise tag him or let him go. So the idea that after his fourth season, which would be the 2027 season, that he's not going to either A, be under a long-term contract, or be getting ready to play under a fifth-year option, is, you know, it's not even worth considering. I mean, he'd have to have a season so bad, and it would have to be a healthy season. Because even if he were to get injured a few more times next year and miss a significant portion of the season, they'll still at the very least pick up his fifth-year option at the very least. I mean, RG3 had his fifth-year option picked up, you know, and that was after, what, the 2014 season going into a season where they thought in the organization, there was a chance he wouldn't even start in 2015.

But Dan insisted on picking up that fifth-year option, even though I think some of the football people probably would have passed on picking up that fifth-year option. But anyway, netting it out after the third season on a rookie deal, you can then talk long-term contract extension, You can pick up his fifth-year option or you can do nothing. It's also possible that this time next year, they'll pick up his fifth-year option. You actually have until May 1st to do it. And then just negotiate a long-term deal. My personal view is, I think there is zero percent chance that Jaden Daniels isn't either signed to a long-term deal or has the fifth year picked up next off-season.

And I would say at this point, I feel pretty comfortable that it's an 85, 90% chance that they are going to go to him like Cincinnati did with Joe Burrow, like Jacksonville did with Trevor Lawrence. There are four or five recent quarterbacks who have signed their big extensions after their third year, even though they had a fourth year and a fifth year option opportunity. It's better to do these things sooner rather than later. You know, don't be behind these things. They get more expensive typically as time goes on. So I think this time next year, we'll be in the midst of watching, you know, all of these quarterbacks from the 2024 class be involved in big decisions by the organizations on pay, on options, et cetera.

But, yeah, I just don't think there's much of a chance that, what Jason wrote about, you know, they're still learning about him in the third year this upcoming season is going to determine whether or not the team decides to pick up the fifth year option or sign them to a long-term deal. I think that decision's already been made. Of course, something could happen, you know, a catastrophic career ending, you know, injury, that kind of a thing. But other than that, I just don't see anything other than him being around here for a long. long, long time as, you know, a legitimate possibility. You know, here's what I don't get. Everything that we liked about this kid is still there in that first year. You know, he's still smart.

He's still able to move on the field. He still has the work ethic. everyone fell in love with. He still has all this. You know, I don't know why everyone's waiting, you know, for judgment on that. There's no reason to think that's changed. I'll bet you he works harder now that he did before because he is coming off the injury, because this year was such a frustrating year.

So I just don't understand why people were so white. I do understand it. I think it's foolhardy that people are looking for. ways to jump off the Jaden Daniels boat. Yeah, I don't think it's a lot of people, but yeah, you're 100% right. I agree with that. God, we're agreeing a lot these days. Somebody pointed that out a few weeks back, but I have no legitimate concerns about Jaden Daniels because 2025 was a mess. It wasn't a mess because he played poorly. It was a mess.

because he barely played at all. You know, the only concern that I have is the same concern I had when he was drafted here, you know, leading up to the draft and then when they picked him. And that is, he does have a frame that looks a little bit breakable. It's not a Lamar frame. It's not a Cam Newton frame. It's not a Josh Allen frame. But, you know, he had been very durable in college and was certainly very durable

during his rookie season here. But I don't have any, you know, qualms about anything from this past season other than I wish he had been healthy. And I wish the team had been healthy. You know, when I had Dan Quinn on a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, you know, I said, you know, how do you evaluate your team after a season like this one? And he said it's very difficult. But he also talked about, you know, they've got a lot. look into why they had all of those injuries. You know, was it the way they handled the off

season? Was it the way they practiced during training camp? You know, are they near a substation, an electrical substation or not? How about that story? We haven't talked about that. The 49ers with all their injuries. And I wonder if there is an actual tie to that. For those that missed it, go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. No, go ahead. The 49ers have have had a lot of injuries. They've been a very injured team, you know, every other year for like this,

the last five or six years. And there apparently may be some connection to the fact that there's an electrical substation right next to their practice facility. You know, there was a definitive study done a few years ago that said there's still connection between the, you know,

the emissions from that, a place like, that and injuries. But the 49ers said they're going to look into it, just to appease their players, appease the union. So the 49ers are actually going to, I don't know, how they're going to look into it.

They're going to hire scientists to do their own study. I don't think they're going to look into it much. And like I said, it's already been examined, you know, by scientists. this. It's real interesting. It's a story that's kind of personal to me because way back when I first started working as a newspaper man, I was my third job. I was working for a weekly newspaper up in the Poconos. And I read this book called Zap. Zap. The APP-E-D. It was written by the New Yorker science writer, Paul Brodur.

terrific reporter. And it's about how microwaves were dangerous. Yeah, I remember that. Affecting everybody. And I read that book, and I consumed that book. And I thought it was all true, you know. And I remember I found out through a friend, there were some people who worked at the local Army Depot up there,

so we had Army Depot, but suffered from damage from working with microwaves. and I wrote a story about it. Nobody had written that before. I wrote a story about it. But that all kind of died down because, I mean, I used to, we would, I didn't get a microwave for a long time because I was convinced they were dangerous. But since then, there have been definitive studies saying it's not a danger.

And that book has kind of fallen out of favor. You know, but the whole electronic substation thing, I had a little person. connection for me. I'm just kind of curious what the 49ers are going to do to study it. Yeah. I do remember the scare over microwaves. I mean, microwaves came out when I was kind of a kid. You know, I think the first microwaves were probably out, what, in the late 1970s? Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. And I... And that's when this book came out in the late, in late 1970s around 78 I think

anyway back to wrapping up Jaden Daniels I just think that there is very very little chance almost 0% chance that Jaden Daniels isn't going to be the quarterback here for many

years to come and I think that process of making that a reality begins next off season and it will be a very interesting offseason. I will say this, Tommy, even with the injuries this year, you know, put side by side with Drake Mays near MVP regular season, with Caleb Williams' improvement,

with another good season from Bo Nix and Sean Peyton's offense. I still think that most GMs would view Jaden Daniels' talent and upside to be the best and the highest. and I'll predict right now. I mean, it's going to be an interesting next off season, but I think Jaden's going to end up with the biggest deal of all of the 2024 quarterbacks. I think it's possible. Yeah, I think it's certainly possible.

All right. Let's get to what Adam Peters said today at the Indy Combine. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, new sponsor on the podcast this week. I want you to pay attention to Mando. Mando is a whole body deodorant. This is important for many of you, especially for those of you that are back into the dating world. You're getting ready for a first date.

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It's a general manager and head coach day out in Indy. Dan Quinn's scheduled to speak later on today. We are recording this prior to Quinn stepping to the podium. Did you follow what Adam Peters said today at all? Some of it. I did notice that he did say that they are not going to extend Durant pain, which I thought was interesting. I mean, that would mean I would think that they're going to keep them around for his contract,

year. Yeah, Ben Standing actually reported like three weeks ago that the team was planning on keeping Duran Payne, but not with a contract extension or a reworked or restructured contract, meaning he'll be the highest, at least as of now, the highest salary cap number, 28 million next year on the final year of his deal. I guess it's possible that when he said they're not going to extend Duran, they could still release him, but he also said he loves what pain. adds to the defense. And here's the problem, Tommy. They have the second fewest players as we speak today under contract for next season. It's not like they, you know, there are only a few roster spots to fill. They've got a lot of roster spots to fill. 31 of them after yesterday,

after they extended Andrew Wiley, 31 unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents. And Duran is, by the way, a guy who's, you know, played very well in a contract year. So maybe they'll get the Duran pain that they got in 2022, because he was a dominant player that year. Maybe that's what they're hoping for. Well, that would be great if they did that because he has played well when he knew he needed to to get paid. and I think

personnel defensively is more important than whatever cat space they might save by releasing him I think the player's presence is more important to them right now yeah there were a few other things

you want me to take it from here because I know you're struggling a little bit I'll jump in when I can you jump in when you can So here are some of the, I guess, you know, for the lack of a better description, highlights of Adam Peters today. First of all, as it relates to Marshawn Latimore, I think there are more complexities in just releasing him. He's going to get released. But, you know, there's an injury settlement possibility. And he said, we still have a few more conversations.

But until then, he's still on our team. He's not going to be on the team for very long. He was asked about Brandon Ayuk and said, quote, I love Brandon the person, but I can't comment on the player because he's under contract with another team closed. I do think it's interesting that he said he loved the player. There's definitely a possibility that when he gets released, if he does get released, there's still a chance that the 49ers could trade him, but you're going to pick up $27 million in guaranteed money in cap space if you trade for him versus allowing him to get released. least and then signing him.

I don't think teams are going to want to give up trade compensation and then be on the hook for $27 million with a player that has clearly shown two things. One, he's got a screw loose maybe, and two, he's coming off a very serious injury. So we'll see how that shakes out. He also held the door open for a Zach Ertz return. Now, Tom Pellasaro from NFL Network earlier in the day reported that Zach Ertz plans on playing next year and said that the injury, the torn ACL, which he suffered against Minnesota in early December, that he is right now on pace to return for week one of next year's season. So Adam Peter said today about Ertz, quote, we're keeping the door open for sure. It's hard to quantify how good he is.

We've had a lot of talks with him and his agent, seeing how he progresses with his injury, but you can't count on anything, closed quote. I actually think this is an interesting position. I had Logan Paulson on the show on Monday. He talked a lot about this position, said that he thinks they will be active in free agency for this position, and there are possibilities like Isaiah likely and K.D.

and Kyle Pitts got tagged. And then Chigacanquo from Tennessee who played at Maryland, but hasn't really had a quarterback. I think he is a very interesting prospect. But man, I'll tell you what, Zach Ertz has been a hell of a player for the two years here, for the two quarterbacks that have been his primary quarterbacks, Jaden in 2024 and Marcus Mariotta this year.

I mean, he's been a safety valve for sure. He has been that, you know, six, 250 pound quarterback's best friend guy and I'd like to see if it's not, I think they need somebody like him and they do love him

as a teammate. That one will be interesting to watch. Because again, they've got all of these free agents that are their own that are on the verge of becoming free agents on March 11th and Adam Peters did say today that we are obviously busy

talking to a lot of our own guys. And he said, but, you know, every situation's different. Some of those players want to wait and want to see what their market value is when they get to free agency. And some others would rather get it done quickly. And then he said, Tommy, he said, the good news about that is Dan Quinn has established a culture where a lot of these players want to come back. So that's where a lot of the news is going to happen here over the next. next few weeks. It's going to be like the Andrew Wiley yesterday, Tressway last week. We're going to get another half dozen to, you know, 8, 9, 10 of those, I think before March 11th.

He also said, you know, the Laramie Tunsell, you know, contract extension conversations are, you know, there's no deadline, but he feels good about the direction of it. And they, of course, have to get that done before, I would say, any of the mandatory activities. You just don't want to get into what you got into last summer with Terry, even if it's a completely different thing. You agree with that, right? They can't do that. Yeah, I think it's apples and oranges, the two players and the two approaches.

Like, I think the team views Laramie Tunsell as a top five left tackle in the game and a player that they absolutely want to have under contract, more than just next year, probably two to three years beyond it, and it's at a position that tends to age well, whereas the wide receiver position doesn't age well, at least per their analytics. And the player himself, Terry, is not at the level that Laramie is for his position and wasn't last summer.

Laramie's going to demand a top, the highest, he's going to go for the Rishon Slater deal, which was the biggest one last summer, Slater's much younger, but he's going to go for top of the market money, no doubt. I would prefer, if I was a commander's fan, I would prefer to see the team invest much more of their money in the defense than the offense. Yeah, I think everybody agrees with that, and I can't imagine that that's not going to happen.

Yeah. You know? Whether it's free agency or, or their draft selections. Because I pointed back to the year before, I know they played a different schedule, but they did not have a strong, they did not have a talented offensive team in 2024,

yet they had a talented offense. Say that again. Sorry, say that again. In 2024. Yeah. They did not have a talented offensive team. Right. It was okay.

You know? Yeah. But, but the results indicated that they were able to perform like a talented offensive team. Yeah. And I think that goes back to Jaden. So this is why, as much as it drives me nuts, to look at the weapons that he would have a, I don't think you can get caught up in the idea like of an I-Sick. If you can get a healthy Zach Hertz for less money than you get Isaiah likely,

then that's that's decision you make. You bring Zach Hertz back, even though I love Isaiah likely. You do. You like Isaiah likely. Yeah, but I'd rather see that money spent on defense. Tommy knows Ravens players. It's the other team in the league that he really knows. He follows the Ravens. You do.

You know, I know some people are listening and they're saying, wait a minute, what about Ben Senate? They drafted him pretty high in 2024. Why isn't he the future? I think there's a chance that Ben Senate is a part of their future and a major contributor, but he's a different player than Zach Ertz. He's a different player than, you know, in Isaiah likely or, you know, even a Kate Otten or Kyle Pitts had he been available in that, I think, Senate might actually be a better fit for the blouse system than the Kingsbury system. Like I could see him being in those run formations, you know, as a blocker, but, you know, they come back to bootleg and he's the tight end in the flat. You know, I could see potentially in a blouse system, you know, a Senate lining up at fullback. And being, remember that one of the, you know, comps for Senate when they drafted him, Kyle Eusecheck in San Francisco.

So, you know, with a lot more of under-center, run married to play action pass, you know, having, you know, those tight ends in the game that the opponent thinks are in there to block, Senate did a good job blocking. You know, I think that's one of the things we learned about him this year is that, you know, maybe not John Bates, but the two of them together. I could see certainly being a part of, you know, a lot of, you know, 12 formations, one back, two tight ends with, you know, them blocking and also them being a part of the past game. He's different than Earths. He's different than likely. He's different from some of those true,

I think, pass-catching, not necessarily, you know, blocking tight ends. Anyway, all right. I know you've got something that you've been watching that you want to talk about. There's also an interesting story that has developed with the NFL offseason competition committee where something that I was convinced would be banned, has not been banned, but another league has banned it. I'll explain when we come back after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I introduced you recently to Thrive Market.

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Join Thrive Market with my link, ThriveMarket.com, slash Sheehan for 30% off your first order, plus a free $60 gift. That's Thrivemarket.com slash sheen. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly. Well, Shelly's backroom at 1331 F3, Northwest, like I told you, many times before, it's a place in the area to buy the best cigars available. They have for sale. Cigar aficionado puts out a list every year.

of the top 25 cigars, and Shelley's has them for sale on their list, including other cigars as well. Here's what you won't find for sale at Shelley's backroom. The Gurkha, Royale, Courteson. That's a cigar. You can't buy it, Shelly's, and here's why. It's the most expensive cigar in the world. $1.36 million. What?

Yes. 1.36 million? Per cigar. Not per box, per cigar. Uh-huh. It's made with Himalayan tobacco infused with Louis VIII Cognac, and it's wrapped in gold leaf with a diamond-crusted band and is hand-rolled by a blindfolded master roller to enhance sensitivity.

Well, you know what? Your birthday's coming up. isn't it? Yes. Okay. You just gave me an idea. You gave me an idea for your birthday gift. What would you do with it if I got it for you?

Would you smoke it? Well, that would take balls, wouldn't it? Now, I can't promise, I can't promise I'm paying the retail price for it. I'm going to haggle a little bit on it. I'll smoke it at the cigars and curve balls fundraiser for the D.C. Great. Well, that would be ballsy because you'd be doing it right in front of me. Yes.

All right. Which, by the way, we have a tentative date. We do. On May the 18th. May the 18th. A little bit later than usual. A little bit later than usual. Yes, it's usually sometime in May.

Usually early May. Very early in May. Because it's like the beginning of the hockey playoffs, it always seems like. Yes. There's always a hockey playoff game on for your cigars and Coke balls. Monday, May 18. Monday, May 18. Shelly's back room.

How long will it take me to get this cigar? I mean, is it, I mean, I'm not going to pay retail for it. There's going to be some, you know, handling and haggling going on. How do I get in touch with, okay. I wanted to, I wanted to just share this with you because I talked about yesterday on the show that the NFL is not going to ban the tush push. In fact, the expectation is that they're not even going to. going to vote on the tush push this year. So a year after the tush push barely missed being banned by two

votes. No one's even presenting it this year for a vote. So the tush push is back in 2026, barring a change of thought by somebody in the league that would present it. Nobody's actually presented it for vote. And I shared the numbers yesterday. The numbers were up in terms. of the attempts down slightly in terms of the success rate. I hate it. I thought for sure, you know, early in the season, they might even overturn the rule during the season. But apparently we're going to continue to see the tush-push. Now, by contrast, the UFL, is that the Washington Defenders League, the UFL? Yes, it is. The U.S.L announced today for its upcoming

spring season, three major rules changes. Number one, the tush push banned. No tush push. I haven't read through the rule yet. Number two, 60 plus yard field goals are worth four points, not three. And then lastly, you're not allowed to punt from inside the opponent's territory. So when you cross midfield, you can't punt.

So fourth and 20 at the other team's 45-yard line, you can't punt. You've got to go for it or kick a field goal. That's pretty intriguing. There are ways to get around it. Because the rule change that you just said before would seem to encourage, to discourage going four on fourth down, if you can kick a four-point field goal.

Well, how about this? How about this possibility? It's fourth down, and you are at the opponent's 39-yard line, so you would be a 56-yard field goal, but your guy's got a big enough leg. Wouldn't you just take a delay a game? move it back five yards and go for the four-pointer? What if you're down by four at the end of the game

and you're purposely trying to get into that position? You don't want to get closer because a 60 plus yard field goal is at the 43-yard line. It's usually about seven yards back. So if you get to the 40, if you get to the 42, you can't tie the game. with your kick. So you've got to go backwards.

You've got to take a knee and go backwards. And so that becomes interesting. No punting, by the way. Let's just say you get to like fourth and ten at the opponent's 48-yard line. Well, then you'll just take a delay of game and punt it from your territory. But the other team might decline it. They should decline it. Decline the penalty.

Yeah I'm not You should be on these rules committees buddy I think I would Actually I really think I would be very good In conversation about NFL rules And schedule making and things like that I think I would

Yeah But but let me just say that I don't want I want the tush push band But I don't want a four point field goal I don't want you know you can't punt in the other team's territory I am a fan of the idea of a fourth and 15 replacement for an onside kick. The onside kick has gotten to the point where it's such a long shot.

I think it was at 7% this year. And there was a time where it was at like 14 or 15%. And they changed the rules in terms of alignment and being able to run up to the point where the kick is, no movement, no overloading one side. side. I think it would be kind of interesting and would add a lot to the game. If instead of an onside kick, you had a chance from your own 25-yard line on a 4th and 15. And if you convert, you keep the ball. If you don't, the other team gets it wherever the play ends.

I actually love that. I know that that's drastic. And I usually don't love drastic. But I think that would add a lot of excitement to the game. I think it would. What else did I have here? I know you want to talk about something that you are watching that I think I've watched the first two episodes too. Oh, Dan Campbell, so the first coaches are taking the podium. Right now I'm just seeing this on social media.

Dan Campbell on David Blow, really smart of Dan Quinn to move quickly. We wanted him. So he was obviously going to be the Detroit offensive coordinator if Washington had not hired him. By the way, that begs the question. If you're David Blow, would you have preferred to have been Detroit's offensive coordinator or Washington's? Because Detroit's got a lot of weapons, a lot of weapons. It's a close call.

It's kind of a close call because you got Jaden Daniels versus Jared Gough, but then you have Amman Rae St. Brown and Jameson Williams and Jemir Gibbs and David Montgomery. and the best offensive line or one of the best two or three offensive lines in football. That was one thing I had. Oh, I've also, the international game schedules

are getting figured out now. There's another announcement. Actually, speaking of Detroit, Detroit's going to be the host in Munich. There are nine international games. We already have a lot of reporting on teams that are going to play in these games. We have a report from Nikki Javala

that's like two months ago, where Washington is going to play an international game again. Right. In 2026, they were obviously the team that was the road team against Miami and Madrid. But Melbourne's all figured out Rams Niners. That's week one. Rio is Cowboys versus somebody in week three. That's been reported. Now, Washington could be the team against the Cowboys.

You typically don't see divisional matchups, although the Rams are. 49ers are playing in Melbourne. That's because you needed two West Coast teams to play. The Saints are playing somebody in Paris. The reports are it would be the Browns in week seven. Washington does not have the Saints on the road anyway. They do have the 49ers as a road team this year that they are playing. And the 49ers are the host in the Mexico City game in week 13 or week 14.

So I guess that's a possibility. But I think Washington's going to be hosting a game. I think Nikki reported that Washington would be hosting an international game. The Jags play one London game as the host, and the Lions play host in the Munich game. Washington does not have Detroit on their schedule. So what you have left is a Madrid game, where neither team has been announced yet.

I don't think Washington goes back to Madrid, that they're now out of the Munich game. They're likely, I would guess, out of Mexico City and Rio. They're already out of Paris and Melbourne. That leaves the three London games. The Jags are hosting one of them. Washington plays Jacksonville this year on the road. But again, if the report from Nikki is right that they're hosting an international game,

then they'll probably host in one of the other two London. games, although they could always go back to back, play Jacksonville one week and play the next week against somebody else in London. The Vikings played back-to-back international games last year, Dublin, and then London. So the guess here, it seems like it's falling into place that Washington's going to play a London game, which they've done once before. They did it against Cincinnati in 2016. And it ended in a tie, right? Ended in a tie when Dustin Hopkins missed a 31-yard field goal.

All right. Oh, I wanted to just say that the WCAC final last night, I went to the semifinals on Sunday and saw Jordan Smith for Paul the Sixth play. I've seen him a few times over the last few years. He is truly special. There's no doubt about that. He's one of the best athletes I think we've ever seen play high school basketball in this city, 6-2 and just an unbelievable athlete.

He did not play well in their semi-final win over O'Connell on Saturday, but last night in the championship game, the WCAC, the Catholic League championship game at American University, in a double overtime thriller that Paul the 6th won 82 to 76 over St. John's, Jordan Smith, 39 points, seven assists, seven steals. Player of the year, and he ends his WCAC career as a three-time champion for PVI who won for the third straight year. He's going to Arkansas. I know I've mentioned him before. The third, number three player in the country will play for John Calipari at Arkansas next year.

I've heard so many different numbers in terms of the money he's getting. I've heard it's somewhere between basically 3 million and 7 million to go to Arkansas. I mean, that is amazing, isn't it? It really is. He's unbelievable defensively. I still think, and I've watched him five times over the last four or five times over the last four years. He was injured that one year. I think that he is just an incredible defensive, athletic, high motor play.

offensively, I think that, you know, there's a lot of still developing to be done. But he's, he had 39 last night. He got to the free throw line 25 times in the game, Tommy. He was 18 of 25 in a double overtime game from the free throw line. But that game last night, apparently amazing, a double overtime championship final. There was a quadruple overtime game in the quarterfinals. O'Connell beat Gonzaga. This was on Saturday at Gallaudet.

They beat Gonzaga 93-91 in four overtimes. But it is amazing to watch that league and those players. It's unlike anything else in our area, and really unlike anything else, conference-wise. Of course, there are the academies, the big basketball factories that have that level of talent. I mean, you know, the Montverg team last year or two years ago had Cooper flag, Derek Queen. Who am I forgetting?

I'm forgetting somebody. All right. You wanted to finish up with something. You had something that you wanted to talk about. Well, I've been watching the ABA series on Amazon Prime. Okay. And I'm in the middle of the third episode. It's four-part series.

It's been very entertaining. You've liked... I was a latecomer. Yes. I was a latecomer to the ABA. I mean, I started watching it in the last couple years where Julie Irving was there with the Nets, when the Nets were winning the championship, I think, the last year. Right.

But it's been very entertaining, and I didn't know. I didn't have no idea about this fact that the ABA had a chance to sign Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. than Lou Alcinder out of college. And the deal got screwed up because the ABA president, George Miken, a Hall of Fame center,

didn't make the offer that the owners told him to make. Right. The owners of the ABA had told them to give Alcindor a million-dollar check. Yeah. They gave it to him to give to him. Yes. Yes. And he never did it. I know.

He didn't do it. He lowballed him. Yeah. And he wound up going to Milwaukee. Amazing. Yeah. I've watched the first two episodes as well. I haven't gotten back to the final two. Rick Barry's a big part of those first two. I highly recommend. Yeah, I highly recommend it. Absolutely. I know I've told you this before, but just to repeat it again,

because you don't always remember what I tell you. My father, even though we had Redskins season tickets growing up, he loved the AFL and he loved the ABA. The first basketball I got when I was probably four or five years old was a red, white, and blue ABA basketball. Not, you know, a regular, that was my first basketball. That basketball, I can still remember shooting that basketball, the Hamill's basketball mini-court, which was the house that backed up to ours. They had a basketball hoop on their patio, and I would jump over the fence, and that's where I would play basketball.

And the Hamels had an older son. He was actually a basketball player, and he would sit there and shoot with me forever, and I would bring my red, white, and blue ball up to that court. And he'd be like, where is this coming from? Here's some real basketballs. So I didn't follow the ABA, and I don't remember the ABA until the years you're talking about at the very end when Dr. Jay was becoming, you know, there was just a big buzz about Julius Irving in the New York Nets. It wasn't even the New Jersey Nets. It was the New York Nets. And, you know, and the kind of basketball he played in the kind of dunker, and you'd start to see the highlights.

but the stuff that I am watching is so interesting. And Washington had an ABA team briefly, the Oakland Oaks in which Rick Berry played for the Oakland Oaks. And that was a big, you know, to do because he, you know, was with the San Francisco Warriors at the time, you know, eventually would become the Golden State Warriors, right? And then his father-in-law, who coached him at the United States, University of Miami became the Oakland Oaks coach, and he went to the ABA.

But that was the big story of that first year, was Rick Barry. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Rick Barry was a big name in the NBA, and the ABA got him. And then he played the Oakland Oaks moved to Washington for like a season, and they played in the old Washington Coliseum, which became U-Line Arena, which is now you know, I forget what it is now. But that's where the Beatles played for the first time

when they arrived in the U.S. in February of 1964. They played at the Washington Coliseum. And so Rick Berry played in D.C. for a while, but he hated it. Remember he said I hated living on the East Coast? I was, you know, and playing in Washington in particular. Rick Barry, God, remember we had a on the show a couple times. What a great guest, but apparently a very

difficult guy throughout his career both professionally and personally. Very opinionated. Yeah. Yeah, the three-point shot, that was, you know, that was massive. You know, the early days of the Virginia Squires were

Dr. Jay and George Gervyn were both on the same team as young players. Spencer Haywood, that part of the story was in that last episode I watched. I mean, that's an interesting part of just free agency in sports. Guys like Kurt Flood and Spencer Haywood, right, Tommy? Yes, absolutely.

The guy who paid an underclassroom who came in, who burst his way. Right. I didn't mean free agency. Kurt Flood was free agency. Spencer Haywood challenged the legitimacy of having to play four years in college before you could be drafted. and he came out early, and he was a hell of a player. Yes. You know what?

Maybe that's what I'll do tonight. I'll watch the last two episodes of that. It's called Soul Power, and it's on Amazon Prime. So you like it so far? So far, I highly recommend it. Okay. I agree. All right.

Do you have anything else? I got nothing else for you, boss. All right, whatever Dan Quinn says this afternoon, if it's important, I'll have it on tomorrow's show. All right, feel better. and I'll talk to you on Thursday, hopefully. Okay. Good job.

Way to tough it out. See you, boss. See you, boss.