The Kevin Sheehan Show - AP Out

Episode Date: September 4, 2020

Kevin opened with the breaking news that Adrian Peterson was released by Washington. JP Finlay/NBCSports Washington joined the show to talk about why Peterson was released before the guys got to their thoughts on the 53-man roster cut down. Kevin also debuted his "Smell Test" for 2020 with a college football pick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All right, there was big news on Adrian Peterson. We're going to get to that. J.P. Finley is going to be a guest of ours on the show today before we get started. Quick word about Window Nation. If you're thinking about new windows, honestly, give Window Nation the first shot. Free estimate, so no risk. They'll do the estimate in your home using and following all CDC guidelines, or you can get the estimate virtually online. They can do it that way as well.

You're not going to go wrong with Window Nation, I promise you. that has listened to the show over the years that has used Window Nation, friends, family members that have used Windonation, they all have had great experiences. And right now, why wouldn't you? 50% off on all Windows styles, zero money down, zero payments, and zero interest for two full years. 86690 Nation or Windonation.com. That's 86690 Nation or Windonation.com and tell them that Kevin Sheehan sent you. You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. J.P. Finley from NBC Sports Washington will be our guests today. And we will discuss Adrian Peterson at length.

And we'll get JP's guesses on the final 53-man roster, which we will get tomorrow at 4 p.m. We may have a bunch of news leak out through the day on players that have made the team or haven't made the team, and certainly that process will start tomorrow morning, as it always does. One week from today, it will be a full-fledged Football Friday on the podcast. And there will be a surprise next Friday. I promise you that as we lead into football season here on the podcast. Several other things to get to, which we will hear momentarily. But if you miss the news and JP will join us here shortly, the Washington football team

released Adrian Peterson. It was a bit of a shocker. Tom Pellasaro and Mike Garifolo from the NFL network were the first to have it at about 753 this morning. I was on the air doing radio. And yeah, I'm surprised. I'm definitely surprised. I would not have been surprised, as many of you know, prior to his arrest, and I'm talking about Darius Geis, if Geis had been traded or released. I had this sense back in the spring that there were a lot of issues that people in the organization had with Geis worries, concerns about his maturity, and with Rivera really trying to establish a new culture. I always thought there was a chance, you know, long before Geis got arrested, that there was a chance that Geis would not be on the opening day roster. But once they picked up

AP's contract option, I thought, you know, look at how productive he's been the last two years. what else do they have that's unknown at this point other than Geis? And I just thought that they picked up the option because they realized he was a good culture guy and that it would work out here with AP with Ron Rivera being the new head coach. So I am surprised. I think most on the beat are surprised. And we'll get to JP here in a moment. But the net takeaway for me on all of this is they really,

like Antonio Gibson. They also have a different style of offense that they're going to play that may not be a perfect fit for Adrian Peterson. Josina Anderson was the first person to speak to Adrian Peterson this morning, and I'll read the text chain that she put out there. Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson to me on Washington release, Josina Anderson tweeted out. It caught me by surprise, he said. I was having a strong camp. I was showing up on film. taking number one reps all the way back to this week. I just got notified by the running backs coach yesterday that they wanted to give these young guys some reps,

but I didn't know I was going to get cut. There was no indication. Today, Ron Rivera just said, this is always tough, but yes, we're going to release you and go with this offensive style. I respect coach. And look, he said, Antonio Gibson is a hell of a talent. This system really fits him.

I feel like I can do that pony style too more as a receiving back. We were all working on it, but they really want one main guy to do it and they drafted Gibson for it. Trust me, I still have a lot more in me, more to strive for, and more to do again. Even if there's some doubt, I feel strong and I can build on that as the season wears on. I'll do it again. Josina Anderson added after her conversation, she said after talking with her, with Adrian Peterson this morning. In her opinion,

she thinks he's going to go to a contender, that that would be the best scenario where there's still depth issues at the position and he can go in, still produce, win, and be happy, though he'll contribute where he's wanted. And she said she can think of a team in the AFC that fits. I was going through a list of the teams as well. Certainly a team like Indianapolis behind Marlon Mac is a possible.

with a team that will contend. All right, let's bring in J.P. Finley. JP, of course, with NBC Sports, Washington does the Washington football podcast, and you can follow him on Twitter, as most of you do, at J.P. Finley, NBCS. So I just started the show, obviously talking about Adrian Peterson. There are other things to talk about, and we'll get to those. but I was surprised when I was on the air this morning and the news came down from NFL Network. Were you?

Yeah, definitely. There's this thing that a lot of reporters do where they try to act not surprised, this is a big surprise. And I think I was expecting a reduced role for AP. I was expecting things to change. it became very obvious over the last couple weeks that this two running back backfield with Antonio Gibson and J.D. McIissick looked like that was going to be their base set. And watching Scott Turner's offensive the last few weeks,

this is going to look very different. It's not, I don't think there's going to be a lot of kind of similarities to what we've seen in the last few years. I think there's me a ton of motion and lateral action, but I still thought there'd be a role for AP where he gets 150 carries for the year and they value his leadership and that he'd be on the team, certainly. So, yes, I'm surprised. You know, I just looked at your Twitter account a little while ago and you had tweeted out it caught clearly people in the organization by surprise because their Instagram account had an Instagram post yesterday with a big.

picture of Adrian Peterson in a uniform cradling the football. So it sounded like he got caught by surprise, too. He mentioned that to Josina Anderson and others this morning. My immediate reaction, JP, was surprised, definitely. I was definitely surprised. And I mentioned just moments ago, back in April and May, I suggested that Darius Geis could potentially be somewhere else because I was hearing about the maturity and I knew that Rivera wanted a new culture. And I'm talking about long before the arrest. And so that would not have surprised me. Once they picked up the option on Peterson, I just expected him to be a culture change guy, which I know Rivera respects, you know, from his time, you know, at the beginning of training camp and through now. and I think if they didn't have an answer for him, he would be on this team, which leads me to the conclusion that they really love Antonio Gibson.

Yeah, so a lot there. I was with you on Geis. I said as much, wrote as much that I wouldn't be surprised if he finds the new home. There was plenty of kind of scuttle butt that Ron and Ron wasn't interested in Darius before the 2018 draft. And, you know, obviously what happened is not what anybody expected. But if Geis was gone, that wasn't going to be a shocker. but once they picked up the option on AP, that was this staff. That was Ron and Kyle and Ron Rogers. They picked up the option. So that wasn't something they inherited. And I have this, Kevin, I think, Dan, I think ownership likes Adrian.

So that was another reason why I thought he'd certainly be on this team, because over the course of the last two years, Adrian's been charged his way up the all-time record book, and he's doing that as a Washington. I guess football player now. I think they liked having AP has a charisma and a gravitas that no one else on this team has. And I would guess from a market,

you talk to fans. A lot of fans, they're heartbroken about this, they love being able to see and root for Adrian Peterson. So, yeah, all that's a surprise. Yes, they love Antonio Gibson. But I think this is more about, an offense that maybe doesn't have a role for Adrian Peterson.

But I just, here, I don't, I get it. I understand the decision, but at its core, there's going to be some third and two, and they're probably going to bring in Peyton Barber. And I'm just not sure Peyton Barber is better than Adrian Peterson. Like, over the last two seasons, AP's numbers are significantly better than Barney's. and maybe they believe that Gibson will be that guy on third and two also. I think he can be. I really

do. His legs, I compare his legs to like Alex Robeskett. The way this guy's built is just crazy. I have the speed he has, but the size he has. But I've talked about this yesterday. With guys, you and I both know, and I was saying because of the new practice squad rules,

it might make sense to try to get Peyton Marber to the practice squad. That way, have an injury or anything, you can just pull him up and he's ready to go. Because you don't necessarily need Peterson and Barber. I just didn't expect it to go this way. Just out of curiosity, what are the new practice squad rules? It's a bigger practice squad, and you can bring them up later in the week. I believe you can bring players up on game day.

And so a player like Peyton Barber is still eligible for it? So I don't know specifically. I'd have to check with Barber, but they'd loosen the rules up big time so you can have veterans on your practice squad. They're used to pretty tight restrictions on it was either years in the league or games played in the league. Right. But I think because of COVID, it had to kind of free a bunch of stuff up. So a couple of things on the things you said. First of all, I think it's funny because I felt the same way in taking calls this morning that people,

there were a lot of people that were really crushed by it. And that actually was interesting to me. First of all, I mean, at this time of year, you know, we haven't played a game yet. It's not even Labor Day yet. It's Labor Day weekend. But you end up getting, you know, and I've noticed this over the years, really the hardcore fans are really paying attention right now. So those are the fans that didn't leave them last year or the year before. But most people, I would guess if the, the last.

large s of the potential fan base were polled on whether or not they're devastated about Adrian Peterson being released, that the answer would be, you know, a majority no. But of the real small, hardcore, I think the majority would say yes. And I think they would say yes, because it's very obvious the last two years you could make the case obviously that he was the best player on the team. And there was no sign of him slowing down. With that, said, I don't have a problem with this. If he's not the right fit for the offense, the goal is to win, and we both know that they're probably not going to win this year, and by the time they're ready to win, Adrian Peterson's going to be 36 or 37 years old. So in some ways, I kind of like

the statement that this makes from the coaching staff. Do you know where I'm, do you have any, do you have a similar feeling, yes or no? Yeah, I give it for saying for sure. And I think I think it is folks because you and I have often talked about there's that hardcore 10, 15% of this fan base that knows everything that's going on and shows up to every event and I think those people are gutted

and I think a lot of it is because AP was really good to all those people you would sign autographs and take pictures right hang out I mean that that matters to a lot of fans I think you and I not ignore but perhaps don't understand the segment of the fan base

where maybe wins and losses aren't the most important, where it's about being a part of this, you feel like you're really a part of a team. And I think AP really gave that feeling to a lot of people. And, Ted, let's be clear. There hasn't been a lot of greatness coming through here in a while. I mean, there's no first ballot Hall of Fame or worn one of these uniforms. Maybe, I don't know, is Darryl Green?

I don't, I mean, so to have AP here, was cool in that capacity. But I hear it to say this is about winning games and about doing what's best for Scott Turner's offense. And I don't know that people should be excited. AP was a class act while he was here. And honestly, the performance he put on in that completely improbable still trying to cling to a playoff run after Alex Smith got hurt and then Colt McCoy got hurt and they're

rolling out there with Josh Johnson. AP, the last couple games of that year, the performance he put on. in Jacksonville. The Tennessee game. The Tennessee game was a strap it to his back game, and he literally almost carried him to a win. It was his best performance since he's been here, in my view. And he's had several of them. And he's hit home runs for him, the running in New York, and he's running Philly. There were high water marks of his time here, but I'm not saying any fan should be excited about this, but they should recognize that if you ever, if you ever did Jay Gruby, in some true serum in them,

I am confident the removes he would have wanted to make that he wasn't allowed to make. And go back to last year where week one, he had AP inactive, and it caused such an F for him, right? I think he would have rather just released him last year

rather than have to have him inactive. But I'm guessing he wasn't allowed to. So to me, this is very clear that Ron is doing what he wants, whereas maybe Jay didn't get to. But if you want to be excited about something, he's excited about Scott Turner's offense. I think there's so much hand-wringing about offensive schemes

and look what McVeigh does, look what Kyle Shanahan does. Now, Scott's offense isn't what those guys do, but I think it's going to look different and it's going to look way more modern. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Just one last thing on AP, because I do want to get to the offense.

I had that written down for you to describe what you've seen out there as much as you can. You know, it's just It's so representative of what the way many in the fan base are just looking for one little drop of water in the middle of a desert. And that's what Adrian Peterson was for two years. I mean, the team's record was 10 and 22 with them. And most of the fan base, and I'm talking about a significant majority of the fan base, probably didn't even see most of the games he played in last year specifically.

you know, when they were 0 and 7 and people really checked out. And it was two years here. You talk about a pro. He played through a separated shoulder last year on an awful team. And he's 34 and already going to the whole thing. And that leads me to this one final thought on him.

I really I really enjoyed watching him and I'm really wishing him the best because we both know, and I think most of the fans know, he's had a lot of financial trouble off the field. He needs to play football. I hope he ends up in a place they can give him a solid contract with a solid upside. He is still viable at 35 years old. We've seen that the last two years. He is a total, you know, aberration for that position at that age. He's a physical freak. I hope he gets with a team

that is a winner and he can get paid and he can continue to play. You know, I was thinking, by the way, about the potential teams. I think Tampa would have been a perfect spot for him. Had this team, you know, released them on Wednesday, they may have signed AP instead of Leonard Fournett. Now, it doesn't mean that they can't release Fournett. I guarantee you there was no guaranteed money. But I would think, you know, a team like Pittsburgh,

a team like Indianapolis is a backup to Marlon Mack. You know, there are several spots for a guy like AP. He's going to land somewhere, don't you think? I hope so. I just know that, you know, before Washington signs him, 2018, there weren't a lot of takers. So I certainly hope so. I just, I don't know.

It sounds like you're skeptical about it. I'm not. I just, I'm wanting to get a job. He's a good person. Like, I've gotten to know him. And I certainly hope he landed. I don't know who James Connor's backup is with the Steelers, but that would be an ideal situation.

And he can give you a break. Honestly, I asked him this, and I think I bothered him when I asked him this last year, because I asked him just off the record, I think it would have been different. But I asked him with the camera, do you wish you were on a contender? I mean, you're playing these late years of your career on a terrible team,

and I think he was offended at the suggestion that he wasn't all in on the team he was on. But I think Tampa, Pittsburgh, New England maybe, it would be great for him to land in one of those spots. Pittsburgh's got that. The Lowe's running back situation is really unsettled. And you paid attention to the bills. They have a kid singletary from last year. This kid, Morris, this year is supposed to be good. But, I mean, the bills could be a good team.

Maybe that's a spot. Here's the thing about the bills. Devin Singletary is a star in the making. I mean, I really believe that. Well, I didn't know that. They also drafted Zach Moss out of Utah, who is a big strong back as well, but is, you know, as a rookie. You know, Pittsburgh has obviously James Conner, remember, they drafted Anthony McFarland from Maryland. And a lot of people, I mean, who was it?

Somebody went out of his way, an ESPN NFL guy, I think it was. it could have been an NFL network guy. I said Anthony McFarland's the steel of the draft in the fourth round. I saw that on Twitter. But they also had the big strong guy from Kentucky from the year before, whose name escapes me, who actually got some run last year. I don't know. I hope it works out for him.

I really do. So tell me about the offense. What are we going to see a week from Sunday stylistically, you know, with Dwayne, with Mawain, with Mawain. McLaren with obviously Gibson and company. What's it going to look like? So they're being pretty hardcore about us not reporting what we saw during training camp, and I kind of get it because there's no preseason.

So a lot of that stuff is way more proprietary, for lack of a better word, than normal. But I think generally you're going to see a ton of motion. Expect a lot of motion pre-snap and almost at the snap. They're moving Steve Sims around, like he looks like a Canadian football player, the way he's taking these big wide motion in the backfield. I think there'll be a lot of two-back sets. I think that's what led to this decision to let Peterson go, is that you're going to see Gibson and McKissick out there.

It's a ton. I don't know what it means for Bryce Long. Bryce Long has not gotten much action with the first-team offense. I think McCoran is so very obviously your one. receiver. I think when they have a three wide receiver set out there, it'll be McLaurin with inman opposite end and Sims in the slot. But I think you're going to see a lot of two back, two wide-out sets with McCorin, Sim, Gibson, McKissick, and then you've got Logan Thomas as he's played on. And that set, I mean, if you think about McClorin is a traditional number one wideout,

right but ginson to kisick sims are all low center of gravity really good pass catchers super fast super shifty i think they're gonna i think early on they're really going to surprise some people and ron i asked ron a question last week about about ginsden and he said something like you know we're not putting our secrets out there yet or something i just think i think they're going to be creative i think some of it is They know they're not super talented at wide out or super talented at tight end. And I think there's going to be some offensive line questions. So I think there's going to be a lot of quick action getting the ball out of Dwayne Aspen's hand.

And if it starts to work, especially with all this motion that is really just meant to confuse the defense and make them look. because it's not always that the play goes towards the motion. I think if you get defenses confused is when you can hit home run. And certainly with Cam Newton, the deep ball is always a huge part of his game. And play action is a huge part of every Nord Turner, Scott Turner offense. So I think that can be the plan. We'll see how it goes. I think that that means you've got a very active quarterback in this scheme, too,

getting the ball out, getting the ball out quickly to playmakers. You know, getting the ball out. I think he'll be on the move more than people expect to. Yeah, well, you know what? It may be one of the reasons he slimmed down the way he did. Yeah, you know, I'm intrigued. Obviously, I mean, you'd love to see something similar to, you know, what Philly does, what Kansas City does.

Here's one question, and if you don't feel comfortable divulging it, that's fine too. But I sort of heard that there's definitely Dwayne involved in some dual threat stuff too, and some, you know, in a ton of zone read looks as well. Yeah, I mean, I think we'll see how much of it, they're installing. a ton of stuff, right? And then you get to a week one and you see what's working. But I think Delaine

is, I believe, will be on the move whether it's a pass or if it's an actual RPO or Zone Reade, any of that stuff, more than we've seen. I think he might be a more accurate passer on the move. Honestly, I had a one of these quarterback coaches tell me

from watching film and stuff that sometimes we're in the pocket. Watch his right leg kind of locks up on them, and that causes the ball to fail a little bit. And the one thing we know Duane's miss is when he misses high. When he's on the move, that leg doesn't lock, and his arm

is so pure that he can make most of these throws. Now, he can't be late, but he can tight window it, and I think I think he's going to have some opportunities. I think I think the offense will be way more exciting.

I do think they're going to struggle to run the ball in traditional ways when they need to. I mean, you can dress football up a million ways, but ultimately you do need some power run game to your offense. And maybe AP wouldn't have helped there, and maybe they don't plan on having to do a ton of it. But I think with the questions on the offensive line, we'll see how complete the picture

will be authentically. Before I get to just a couple of quick questions about what you're projecting in terms of the final roster, the other thing I think. thought about this morning. And I don't think that I believe this, like I've, that I think it's a, it's definitive thought. It's just, it's out there in my mind. And that is, you know, if they're ready to move on from Adrian Peterson, but I think there are some legitimate reasons why, as you've described, the scheme, the fit that he would have been or may not have been in the new scheme. but I wonder about another position that is sort of loaded with a veteran player that's a culture guy too,

but also maybe a great fit for the four or three. I don't know. But did it occur to you at all when Peterson got cut that maybe a guy like Ryan Carrigan could be a surprise cut tomorrow? No. I mean, I didn't have that thought until you asked, and I don't see it coming just because I think, Kerrigan's only 30, maybe 31. Right, true. But he's also one year, right, and

11 million bucks, even though they totally can afford it. I don't see it. I mean, I'm not going to make some particular proclamation. He's turned 32, yeah. I don't expect it. I'm not going to tell you that I'll eat a hat if it happens for it. Like, I'm not going to guarantee that it won't happen, but I wouldn't expect that.

Okay. But, dude, I didn't expect AP either. I thought you were going to say Thomas Davis. That's where I thought. The issue with Davis is that he is, you know, along, I guess you would. I'm sorry? He's Ron's guy. He's Ron's guy and he's been running with the ones a lot, right?

He hasn't practiced much in the last three or four days. Well, that's interesting because AP didn't practice the other day. Just yesterday. He missed Thursday. Okay. But that's another one I'd be quite surprised. I mean, if you want like a, to me, I'm wondering if Sean Davis makes this team. They signed him to be a starter.

He hasn't been with the ones at all. He's making 6-mill. He's a one-year guy. And if you caught him, it makes it way easier to keep this kid Cameron Curl, who's the seventh round pick out of Arkansas, who's made some good plays. He's not running with the ones either, but he's been impressive running with the twos and three. I don't know. Well, that's the one that sort of makes sense. Ben mentioned that to me this morning on radio as well. I mean, because it certainly would appear that APK is the other starting safety opposite Collins.

So if that's the case, given Davis's cap number, again, they don't really have to be concerned about the cap right now with this group. But, yeah, if he hasn't impressed as sort of the veteran in the group or one of the veterans in the group, and he's not that old either, that wouldn't be a surprise at all. A couple of roster final cut questions. And let me start at wide receiver. Do you agree that the three receivers, Sims Jr., McLorn, and Inman are the three that are really contributing the most? Or do you think that the excitement over Gandy Golden has continued through camp? No, it hasn't. He hasn't played in a week.

Right. And honestly, when we first – there was a lot of reactions. this year because we hadn't seen anyone. And I think we kind of saw him with Bryce Love, but it was so exciting to see Bryce Love on the field. We were like, oh, my gosh, Bryce Love. And then the little time goes on, you're like, oh, Price is still there, and he's running with the 13.

And I think with Danny Golden, he's so big and so fast that when we first saw him, which normally would have happened in May or June, but it happened at this point, we were like, oh, wow, look at Danny Golden. But then you watch him, and he just, he can't, he wasn't out there with the ones very much because he didn't seem to know what was happening. There's a pretty steep learning thing. Sticking on offense, will Alex Smith make the 53 man roster or will he be on injured reserve for the season?

I think he makes the 53 and then maybe they'd move him to the IR, but they're not going to release him with the injury designation. I think he makes the 53. How many tight ends make the team? And after Logan Thomas, who are they? Three. And I think it's Thomas ball and sprinkle, but I did hear somebody talking about Richard Rogers, which really surprised me. But Rogers, of anybody on their roster at tight end, Rogers has the highest track record. I mean, he's the one that's accomplished the most.

If he can stay healthy, maybe they want to chase that. I don't know that I see it. When Ron has talked about the tight end position, it's largely been those three guys. sprinkle, Thomas. What I heard was just interesting. It caught me off guard. Is it a lot that Jaron Christian is the starting

left tackle against the Eagles? Of the guys they have today? Yes. Do you think there's a chance they add somebody before next weekend? Sure. Depends who gets cut. But absolutely. They are looking at left tackle. And I think they like Christian. I do. But if a good left tackle emerge,

I think they sign them. but I think they're very concerned about their depth of tackle. Defensively, who are the corners that make the team? We know, what do we know, Fuller, Darby, Morland, Moreau. We know four, right? Fuller Moreau, Darby, Morland. Right. I think Stroman is your fifth.

What about Aaron Colvin? Aaron Colvin, who I was going to say? He's been in the league a while. He just doesn't make flash plays, but from your six. corner, maybe you're not asking for that. Right. Give me somebody that you would not be surprised after the big surprise earlier this morning. Give me somebody that you won't be surprised if they're cut at prior to 4 p.m. tomorrow.

That would surprise people. I think people have a very outdated expectation of Ruben Foster. I don't think Ruben Foster's making the team. I think they're going to try to get him to IR. Ruben Poster's best skill is explosive athleticism, and he doesn't have it right now. And the team, you know, he's in the last year of a one-year deal, that's an easy out. And they have a lot of other young linebackers they seem to like. So I think that would be the biggest name.

I will probably, even if it's just for a brief visit on the podcast, get your season prediction next week, even if you have to give it to me and I can share it with everybody else. So I'll hold back on that. But just one takeaway from this conversation, I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I think some of the things that you said offensively about them

being a surprise, I have a sense that you think this is going to be a much more competitive team than most people think. True or not? Competitive, but I don't think they win a ton. I agree, I think they're going to win week one. I really do.

Well, Philadelphia's banged up right now. That's, yeah. Billy banged up and nobody has any idea what Washington is going to do. And there's a real advantage to that. I don't see that. I mean, even with the expanding playoff teams, I don't see them as a playoff team.

But I'm happy to do that next week when you want. I think they're going to be competitive, and I think the offense is going to be fun to watch. But I think there's going, but I liked watching Kyle Murray last year. They didn't win that many games, but it's fun to watch. I think, I think they'll be gross, but there'll be. you know some setbacks too uh thank you as always um and if you're available next week prior to the first week of the season and we can jump on you can jump on in chat for a little bit and make a couple of predictions i'm going to try to get predictions from everybody uh in town on the podcast next week um thanks

yeah for sure no problem um i like how you said visit it reminded me of the bill callahan did i think you said that to me before um i'll uh i'll talk to you soon thanks Okay, see you. JP will be among several people we'll try to catch up with next week to get season predictions on this season, on Washington's season. We'll try to do that with as many people on the beat as possible.

We'll probably do that for the radio show as well. First smell test of the year coming up right after I tell you about my bookie. If you don't have a place to wager, the NFL season is approaching. You've got college football games tomorrow. Not a lot of them. but one of them will be included in my smell test here in a moment.

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All right, let's get to the first smell test of the year. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. There aren't a lot of college football games here in week one. Next week you get the ACC that'll get into gear. And I think the SEC, the third or fourth week in September. You got a lot of conference USA that will take place tomorrow. But that doesn't matter.

I mean, how many times have you tuned into the smell test? And we've given you a bunch of teams you've never heard of and players on those teams that I can't even name. You've got some AAC action tomorrow. You've got some conference USA action tomorrow. And there is a game I like. Now, those that are unfamiliar with the smell test, it's real simple. It's a contrarian handicapping philosophy that I've employed for, I don't know, three decades.

Certainly several years here on radio or on the podcast. I think this will be year 14 of the smell test. In 10 of the first 13 years, I've produced winning seasons. Last year was one of those non-winning seasons. Hopefully it took advantage of where I was early in the year last year when I think I worked my way up to 26 games above 500, which was unheard of, red hot to start the first month and a half of the season last year. And then it all came to a crashing halt.

It was one of the worst stretches in football gambling I've ever had. But we stick with the theory that if the public's lined up on one side, it's just best to go the other way. And the reason we say that is there are going to be a handful of games every weekend that my bookie.ag or a place in Vegas or your local bookmaker who's taking bets illegally, they're going to need one side to come in more than the other. And usually if you're on their side, you've got a better shot of winning. That's sort of the strategy.

I get a lot of information from sources offshore. That's not bullshit, by the way. People have questioned me on that. I'm not about to tell you the people that I talk to or have relationships. with because they are long, longtime relationships with, but they've been in various warm locales

in the Caribbean and other places and I get information from them as well. Whenever a game is heavily bet one way and throw into the equation, there's some sharp money, meaning some really sharp betters

that actually Vegas and offshore shops may actually believe know something, If they're on the other side of the public, then that's when I really go in head first. And I'll take that team that the sharps are on and that the public is against, and I'll throw them out there, not just in the smell test, but I will be on that game myself. Understand, when I win, I'm winning with you. You win and I win both.

And when I give you a loser, you're losing, but I'm losing as well. And I would bet in most cases I'm losing even more. I'm not bragging about that. It's actually probably something I should be ashamed about. Gambling's not for everybody. As friends of mine have said when we've been on Vegas trips, you know, Vegas, it ain't for everybody. And that is true.

Gambling's not for everybody. If you can't stomach this, don't do it. Just enjoy the games. But if you're somebody that dabbles in this stuff, you don't want to be the mark. You don't want to be with the rest of John Q Public on a game that you would. are absolutely convinced Vegas got wrong. Once you start thinking that way that Vegas got it wrong

and you're going to lose, you're going to lose big too. When it looks like Vegas has it wrong, they usually don't. There's one game this weekend that fits sort of the smell test criteria. Publix on one side, some sharp money on the other side. It is Middle Tennessee State tomorrow afternoon at Army. It's a 130 kick. Army is currently a three and a half point favorite. They opened as a five point favorite. The game dropped to three and a half, which is an indication not of public money, but of sharp money. And the public loves Army.

It is painful to bet against Army. I've done it before, and it's not fun. Army can take possession of the football at their own seven-yard line, and 24 plays later, and 12 minutes of the clock later, they're in the end zone. And that's not fun when the team. your betting is on defense being worn down by a triple option 23 play drive. But Middle Tennessee State is the smart side tomorrow, plus the three and a half at Army on a college football Saturday that includes, I don't know, five games, six games.

There are two games last night. I actually liked South Alabama last night and UAB. UAB did not cover. South Alabama did. The Monday night, Labor Day night game is Navy and BYU. I think that's a national televised game tomorrow. I'm sorry, Monday night. I think that's in Annapolis.

I believe that's in Annapolis. You know, the games that ESPN's got to carry tomorrow. Like tomorrow night's 8 o'clock ESPN game is Arkansas State Memphis. Monday night's Labor Day night game. is BYU at Navy at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, and it's the 8 o'clock ESPN college football game. Next week, it is better. The Middle Tennessee State Army game, if you're curious, is on CBS Sports Network tomorrow morning at West Point, 130 kick. Week two next week we get, obviously we get the NFL season, but you get the ACC season debuting.

So you'll have Notre Dame playing. Also, the Big 12, I think, starts next weekend as well. I believe that's true. Anyway, there you go. First smell test of the year is Middle Tennessee State plus three and a half at Army. There you go. Okay, I wanted to get to one last thing today before we leave. Actually, two things.

both related to the Washington football team and Dan Snyder. Tommy and I talked yesterday about this ESPN football, Washington football team culture, hour-long show that's going to air on Sunday night hosted by Jeremy Schap. Well, they started to promote that show by showing a few different excerpts from that show yesterday on different sports centers, et cetera. I have to say that based on what I saw, there was no new ground covered.

There was no new bombshell about Snyder. It was essentially the same people that were quoted in the Washington Post story that were, you know, on video. You heard their voices. You saw their faces. Based on what I saw yesterday, there may be a lot more on Sunday night. But it didn't really appear as if there was any new information. Now, there were a couple of new quotes. and I'm going to read one in particular.

And this quote comes from Alicia Klein, who was an intern for the team in 2010, then became an employee of the team. First of all, she suggested that there were days and there was a player specifically that followed her to her car into the parking lot at Ashburn, badgering her to date her or to go out with her. It was uncomfortable for her. And essentially people in authority in the organization suggested to her that don't worry about it, he'll go on to the next person soon enough, but that it made her very uncomfortable. But specifically, she addressed Snyder. And these women addressed Snyder in particular, even though none of them had any additional information from the post story.

Remember, the only true, you know, face-to-face first-hand. experience that's been alleged with the owner is Tiffany Scorby, the cheerleader that was at Fight Night at the Washington Hilton in 2004, and she claims that Snyder propositioned her to go up to the hotel room that he had with his friend to show his friend a good time, his friend Tony Roberts, who he went to high school with him, was also the team's ophthalmologist. Anyway, Alicia Klein, this former employee, in talking about Snyder, said, quote, I think we should remove him. I felt powerless when I was there. I felt like, you know, nobody was going to do it. And now I'm sure they're scared. If we're scared about coming forward, I'm sure they're scared about

what's going to happen to them. Their time is up. It's our time now to tell our stories and to show how strong we are. They're the ones who should be ashamed of what happened. And they're the ones who should be scared, closed quote. The other thing that came out of this was a clear indication that the way Snyder answered the last post story where he said, I take accountability and then went on to basically describe how it was everybody else's fault, that there was, you know, that the post was a hit job by the Washington Post, that he's been two hands off. And the other people running the organization ran it to its detriment. Well, no one, none of these women really appreciated that response, which was pretty predictable. This guy's been an absolute disaster from a

public relations standpoint over the years, right? On the name, never, never, never, you can put it in caps. After the Supreme Court decision that ruled that that Asian rock band, the slants, were protected from trademark infringement because of the First Amendment. which meant a win for the football team as it related to their nickname, the Redskins, and he puts out a press release, you know, we're thrilled. We're thrilled that the Supreme Court said we could be disparaging using our name. What a moron. Whether that was his choice or the public relations department's choice, it was just so stupid.

We've seen this over and over again from them from a public relations standpoint. I hope it changes. You know, they've got some nice young people in the PR department. Julie Donaldson's in their media area. I hope they get smarter, but obviously they could not stop the owner from commenting on the last Washington Post story, and it really seemed to irritate some of these women

who, by the way, are being represented by Lisa Banks and Deborah Katz at an employee law firm that handles a lot of sexual harassment claims, and both of them, you know, essentially, you know, have demanded that the league at least suspend Snyder in the short term and eventually take his ownership away if all of these allegations are proved to be true. They also apparently suggested in this piece, and this may have been a little bit new, that there could be criminal charges that could be forthcoming against the organization. But anyway, Snyder's reaction hit job. I wasn't hands-on. It was someone else that was running this and allowed this culture to be created. The women didn't like that.

Rachel Engelson, he's 100% responsible. The former cheerleader Tiffany Scorby, who was part of that Hilton night at Fight Night, he's incapable of changing the culture. As long as he's part of the organization, as long as he's leading it, nothing's going to change. One former employee said she was disappointed that Snyder termed the articles a hit job in the statement last week, saying it was another indication that showed her that things wouldn't change. Look, there are 40 plus employees that have come forward. Okay, this isn't one or two.

I've emphasized that point many times. I would also tell you what I told you when I read that statement, that it's troubling because it's the one thing that you know you have to have to have a winning organization. You've got to have a good ownership situation, and they don't. And any indication you look for to see whether or not. not he is truly going to take responsibility over what's happened for the last 20 to 21 years. There are more indications that he's incapable of doing that. And that's what that statement was. You know, that statement was, you know, briefly saying, I take responsibility over the, for the culture,

but then he throws, you know, those that were running the organization under the bus and says that the post job, the post story is a hit job. You know, it's what Cuban said after that first story. You just have to take responsibility, take accountability, and promise to do better. And that's not really what he does. There's just consistently this feeling you get that it's never, ever going to be his fault. Whether or not he was involved in harassment, specifically him, I don't know the answer to that. Maybe more will come out that will prove it. At this point, it's been he said she said. But he is responsible without question for a culture that allowed others that he hired to harass women. That's his responsibility as the owner of the organization. At some point, you got to look in the mirror.

I don't know if you do that at 55 when you lack self-awareness like he does and has over the years. I mean, for 21 years, no matter if it was a losing football team or utter embarrassment and shenanigans off the field, it's never been something he's been willing to take responsibility for and say, you know what? Maybe it's me. Until that happens, the wager should be on this team never winning in sustained fashion. Doesn't mean that I'm not optimistic about Ron Rivera, that I'm not optimistic about the defense, that I'm not optimistic about Dwayne Haskins. I'm optimistic about all of those things football related.

And I think Ron's going to get an opportunity here for a while to do it his way. I hope he's healthy so that he has the opportunity to do it his way. But long term, this guy's been so self-destructive. And it's been, you know, obviously it has bled into the organization that he's run. And it's really been a preventative to this organization doing anything consistently positive on the field. One other quick thing and a follow-up, Tommy and I told you about this yesterday, this latest story about this California motion discovery that Snyder was pursuing. Another way to tie it back to Dwight Schar. the smear campaign that came Snyder's way the week prior to the first post story that he clearly

believes was funded and initiated by one of his minority owners, Dwight Schar. Well, as part of the story we told you about yesterday, there was a name that came up in that story, and the name was Mark Randatsa, R-A-N-D-A-Z-Z-A, however you pronounce that. He's a lawyer that Snyder alleges had ties to a company that had ties to the company in India that essentially was the clearinghouse for all of the rumors and the inaccurate rumors the week leading up to that first post story. Randatsa went into a court yesterday and said that he filed an emergency motion to intervene on these presbytesse. and said that he filed an emergency motion to intervene on these proceedings. He said in this motion that he objects to statements in Snyder's petition and basically says that one of the allegations that he knows this guy Ari Bass

who owns this group Honey House, which is a pornography house, which was tied to the group in India, he says he barely knows Ari Bass. He's met him only three times and they have no business relationship. And the other thing he claims is he's never had any contact with this India company. And then he went on to say a couple of other things that were really, and I'm going to read them verbatim from this emergency motion to intervene in these proceedings in this California motion that Snyder and his lawyer filed.

quote, well, this is before a quote, sorry. Randazas asked the court to strike any statements from Snyder's filing about Randotsa from the record, suggesting that Snyder could be seeking revenge for an article that Randotza once wrote that criticized Snyder for a prior defamation lawsuit. I have no idea which defamation lawsuit he's referring to there. He apparently wrote an article titled, Dan Snyder is butt hurt. That was the title to it. He said that that's one possibility why Snyder's coming after him.

And then the other possibility is this. Quote, perhaps Mr. Snyder is simply desperate to concoct a story that will lend some credence to his bizarre theory that everyone is out to get him. Or maybe Mr. Snyder just wants his name out of the press for the 40-plus accusations of sexual misconduct against him. closed quote. Then there's more. This is from Randots's sworn declaration as part of this emergency motion to intervene. Quote, I had never heard of the MEAWW.com website. That's the India website until Mr. Snyder's private investigators came to my office to inquire as to my relationship with the website. I informed Snyder's private investigator, Jim Conklin, of the this fact prior to the filing. I then told, told him to tell his client, Mr. Snyder, to go fuck

himself. That was there. Now, as mentioned yesterday, Randotsa has represented Dwight Schar previously in legal issues. The filing, the emergency filing, makes no reference to the connection between Randotsa and Shar, however. The court granted the motion to conduct the requested discovery on Thursday, and if there's indeed no connection, no evidence will be harvested. But this guy, Randotsa, just objects to the statements made about him personally in this filing and wants those statements to be expunged from the official court filing. Again, I mean, where does it end?

There is the Beth Wilkinson investigation. There's an arbitration with the commissioner appointing an arbitrator to look at the three minority owners and why they roused it from the board. There is two different filings in two different courts, one on this Mary Ellen Blair in Arlington and another in this California case, in this California court. And then there was this from earlier this morning. Mary Ellen Blair claiming that Daniel Snyder is using court filings as a cover to defame her. I'll just read the story. It's pretty brief. With Washington owner Daniel Snyder pursuing in India, a defamation lawsuit that focuses on articles falsely connecting him to Jeffrey Epstein, Snyder is using the American court system to obtain testimony and documents that ostensibly would support the case

and that apparently would show a link back to Washington minority, Dwight Schar. One of the persons from whom Snyder seeks evidence is evidence claims that Snyder is simply using legal proceedings as cover for making false and damaging statements about her. And this is former Washington employee, executive assistant to Dan Snyder, Mary Ellen Blair, has filed a formal opposition to Snyder's effort to pursue information in a federal court in Virginia. her lawyer is ultimately characterizing the entire effort as a device for defaming her without subjecting Snyder to liability for defamation. Here's the quote. Snyder's application should be denied because it was made in bad faith for the purpose of harassing Blair

and intimidating other former employees who have been speaking to reporters about the sexually hostile work environment that Snyder perpetuated during his 21-year ownership of the team. Mary Ellen Blair's lawyers continue writing, The sweeping and invasive discovery requests seem specifically crafted for the purpose of burdening Blair and for providing Snyder with a vehicle to disparage her publicly while hiding behind the doctrine of judicial immunity to avoid a defamation suit being brought against him. Blair's lawyers claim Snyder has sent private investigators to follow her and to speak with her friends and coworkers.

Blair's lawyers contend that the false and disparaging allegations made by Snyder has caused Blair's severe emotional distress and reputational damage, which was almost certainly Snyder's intent. Close quote. She also in this declaration claims that she did not provide information to the India clearinghouse and that she's never told anyone that Snyder has. a connection to Jeffrey Epstein and has never offered or alluded to bribes in exchange for negative information about Snyder.

By the way, Mary Ellen Blair, represented by Lisa Banks and Deborah Katz, who are representing those women as well. It just gets crazier. I don't know what's true and what isn't true. Obviously, he's not happy about the smear campaign. And at the same time, perhaps his effort to tie this back to. to Shar is a cover for everything to make it look like it's someone else's fault, which, by the way, is always his move. I don't know. Crazy stuff. Here's a word from one of our sponsors. I lied. A few more

things to finish up the show real quickly. The NBA's been great. I don't care what any of you guys say. The NBA playoff games have been phenomenal. There have been so many exciting games, and the intensity in these games is much greater than you would ever have thought in this bubble. especially last week when the games were postponed because of the Kenosha situation, and there was discussion about how teams just wanted to get out of the bubble. That's not what you're seeing in these games. These games are outrageously intense. And the Toronto ending against Boston last night on O.G. Ananobe's three-pointer at the buzzer.

The inbound's pass came with 0.5 seconds left. It was crazy. The hockey's been great, too. The Flyers, you know, came back from 3-1. They've evened up that series, three games apiece, with a third overtime win over Barry Trots' squad. They won in a second overtime last night in game sevens tomorrow night. There are two game sevens in hockey tonight.

Just going to rip off a few things here. Ryan Kelly, I don't know if you guys saw this, became the highest paid center in league history. The Colt signed him to a four-year, $50 million contract extension that includes $34 million in guaranteed money. That was the pick that the Redskins wanted to make in 2016. They ended up obviously with Josh Doxon, which wasn't great. But I had Scott McLuhan on the radio show right after the draft or before the draft.

I can't remember exactly when. The pick was Ryan Kelly, if he was going to be there. They were praying that he would drop to 21, but the Colts took him at 18. That was the number one player on their board, or they thought would be the number one player on their board at 21. He went, and then it became a scramble to get a. wide receiver. They like Fuller and Doxon. They actually were able to trade back one spot and get Doxon. Fuller's become a better player, obviously. So Houston got the better of that deal. And I was dead wrong about Doxon. Most of you know that. Dead wrong about Doxon. One last story.

I'm going to save some of the Ron Rivera stuff from yesterday for next week. The Hornets, the Charlotte Hornets, that is, fired their radio. announcer John Fock. Fock is a first year play-by-play guy for the Hornets organization, and they fired him because of a tweet he put out a few nights ago during the Nuggets Jazz game. It wasn't the seventh game that they played. It was one of the games where Jamal, Marie, and Donovan Mitchell were having, you know, an epic scoring battle. They had a couple of those during that series, and I talked about it a little bit during the podcast. But this was the tweet that he put out during one of those games. Quote, shot making in this jazz, instead of writing nuggets, he wrote the

N-word slur, okay? Shot making in this jazz, N-word slur, and he wrote it out, the actual word, game is awesome. Murray and Mitchell going back and forth, what a game. A few hours later, he realized that he had put out jazz the N-word. I mean written out, okay, in full. And he said earlier today I wrote, I made a horrific error while attempting to tweet about the Denver, Utah game. I don't know how I mistyped it. I had and have no intention of ever using that word. I take full responsibility for my actions. I've been sick to my stomach about it ever since. I'm truly sorry that this happened, and I apologize to those I offended. The team fired him and they said the Charlotte Hornets announced today that

John Fock will not return as the team's radio broadcaster due to a violation of the organization's social media policy. Since this is a personnel matter, the organization will not comment any further. The Hornets thank John for all of his efforts during the 2019-2020 season. Now, many people suggested, even in the face of his apology, that auto-correct programs on phones don't automatically change nuggets to the N-word, suggesting that FAC would have needed to use the word intentionally in the past for his phone to learn it. Now, look, I have a hard time believing that the play-by-play voice on radio for an NBA team would tweet out that word. the next, you know, possibility, if you think that he uses that word and has that in his heart,

is to believe that somehow that phone learned that word, that he's used that word in his phone before, and auto-corrected nuggets to that word. But there's also another very plausible explanation, and it's this. If you look at your keyboard on your phone, the word nuggets to end up being the N-word slur, there would be two letters that would have to change. The U and the T. If you replace the U with an I and you replace the T with an R, it would be the N-word slur. Very interestingly, the letter U is right next to the letter.

I on the keyboard. And the letter T is right next to the letter R on the keyboard. So it's certainly plausible that it was an honest, mistyped mistake. The other thing I would add to that, because CJ and I this morning on radio, CJ tried this, if you type in the N-word on Twitter, it does not auto-correct to anything, and it doesn't even identify it as a misspelled word. So some sort of indication is he's trying to get this thing out quickly to comment on the game that he's watching. And he said, quote, I was trying to get it done as fast as I could so that it was relevant by the time I posted it. I tried to type it and obviously I mistyped the word nuggets and I did not reread it, which as you know, that's the number one rule in working in media. I would say it's the number one rule, period.

And he said, unfortunately, I didn't because I was trying to get it up as fast as possible and I hit send. Well, that was the biggest send mistake he's ever made, and others have made it as well. You know, what to believe? I think I would lean in the direction of he mistyped it, and it was an honest mistake. I have no idea what's really true. I don't know who John Fock is. Tell you what, you put in Fok-O-C-E, that could auto-correct to a pretty bad word. a word that's nowhere near as bad as the N-word slur. The point is there is a plausible explanation,

which many of the news stories didn't even pick up on the fact that that keyboard on your phone, that you're one letter away, you're two letters in total from a mistake, and both of those letters are next to the letter that would create the mistake. But perhaps he is, you know, a dark-hearted racist who's used it many times on his phone in text messages. And it somehow, you know, he misspelled Nuggets and it corrected it to that word. That's, I guess, possible. Anyway. By the way, C.J. also put Nuggets in many times and misspelled it many times,

and it didn't once on his phone correct to the N-word. I did it as well. Didn't once correct to the N-word. Anyway, interesting times we're living in. There is no, in this environment opportunity to, first, forgive that honest mistake. Maybe there should be. But the problem with this one is, how do you prove it? How do you prove that he just mistyped it? I don't know that you can, but it seems like there's certainly a decent possibility that it was an honest, mistyped word. All right, that's it

for the day. Enjoy the weekend. Monday is Labor Day. Won't be here Monday. We'll be here the rest of the week as we get you ready for the NFL season. Lots of predictions next week. Tommy will be on and a big surprise next Friday on the show as well. Kevin Sheehan's show. Appreciate you listening. Have a great weekend. Stay well.