The Kevin Sheehan Show - "Aura Of Collapse?"

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

Kevin and Thom today with plenty on the Commanders' growing O-line and center problems and the feeling that many national NFL analysts believe will result in a rough 2026 season. Thom believes there is an "aura" developing around the team's upcoming season. Plenty from the boys on the reaction over the weekend to JP Finlay asking Jayden Daniels about his LSU jersey situation. NFL players back to college, Jed York, and Dolly Parton also part of the show.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to www.quince.com/SHEEHAN for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.   So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan.   Search Whatnot—W H A T N O T—in the App Store, download, and you can start selling right away. 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 Cheon Show. He is Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always,

Window Nation, 86690 Nation, windownation.com if you need new windows. The team today released safety Will Harris. So that means Kwan Martin is going to make the team. I bring this up, not because it's like a huge shock, Tommy, but Will Harris last year, when they lost him to injury, it was as if they had lost like the highest intellect, greatest communicator of his time, safety.

They felt like it was a massive loss. They were just a different defense without Will Harris last year. A year later, he's released by the new defensive coordinator. And the other reason I'm mentioning it is he's, I'm telling you, my guy Steve Suter, if I went back and added it all up, I think he's, he was right on like 90% of the things that he was adamant about. He was adamant about Chris Paul not being replaced when he stepped in for Brandon Coleman. They didn't replace Chris Paul. He was adamant that Jacob Martin was a legitimate, you know, starting linebacker in the NFL and he got a decent, you know, deal in agency. He was adamant that Jeremy Reeves should be on the field defensively, not just

special teams-wise. Jeremy Reeves is going to start at safety this year. And then he was adamant that Will Harris, he didn't see what the coaches were talking about. He didn't think he was a good communicator at all and thought he was out of position a lot of the time. And a year later, Will Harris is released. Lots more injuries coming out to, go ahead. Can we take that as a sign that this defense is so much improved that their savior from last year can't even make the team? Yeah, I mean, sure.

We can take that. I'm being serious. I mean, look, they definitely added better players than they had. on their defense last year. They added faster players, players that are actually better tacklers. Whether or not it all comes together and works together with a new defensive coordinator, we don't know at this point. But it's interesting that you brought that up because I actually wasn't going to do this

on the show today, but I'll do it anyway because it actually dovetails nicely. And we pretty much wing this show to begin with every time we do it together. but I talked about how the narratives that come out of this time of year, summer, you know, training camp, preseason games, I went back and identified like the biggest conversations slash, you know, narratives that came out of training camp heading into the 2025 season. And then I did the same so far for this season. But if you go back, like last year, you know, the defense was going to be massively improved. in camp guys like Will Harris and Frankie Louvo Sanra still coming off that rookie year

Wagner coming off the all pro year there was just a real feeling that the defense couldn't be anywhere near what it was in 2024 you know they added some pieces to it and it was just going to be a major area of improvement and specifically people were going nuts this time last year about the secondary you know Trey Amos

Sanra still you know the additional of Will Harris. This is going to be the strongest unit on the team that isn't the quarterback room. How did that work out, you know, last year? Now, there were some things that people got right. There were some injuries. I mean, there were injuries that got in the way of that. You know, well, the injuries got in the way of everything last year, but the defense wasn't going to be good, healthy or not healthy. I don't think it was. There are things that people got right, like the Terry situation, the contract negotiation that hurt some feelings on his side, and were confrontational to say the least.

People predicted that it was going to hurt the offense. It was going to hurt the Terry's ability to stay healthy. A lot of people predicted injury because he missed all of the camp. Now, it would have helped had Terry when he played, played with Jaden Daniels and some of the other starters on offense. But ultimately, people got that one a little bit right. People were predicting that Jaden Daniels would be great again, but that overall the team might take a step back

because they had gotten, you know, people thought very lucky in 2024. So those were some of the, you know, heavy discussed, heavily discussed narratives and themes that came out of the summer of 2025. This summer so far, here's what I wrote down. And this goes to some of these conversations that we're having right now about the defense and even the one that we were going to get to with the offensive line. You know, will Jaden Daniels stay healthy in 2026?

A lot of people fear and are concerned that he won't stay healthy for the entire season. That's a major, you know, conversation point heading into the season. You would agree with that, right? Oh, yes, absolutely. Secondly, because receiver is really not an issue anymore after they signed Diggs, number two on the list would be the offensive line, specifically at 7. center where Nick Allegretti hasn't been healthy. And that was the plan after they missed out on Tyler Linderbaum.

And they lost Laramie Tunsell. And as your column today describes the drop without Tunsel from PFF thinking it's an inside the top 20 offensive line to now 32nd in the league. ESPNs, I think it was Seth Walter last week, had it at 31st in the league. So now that is, you know, a narrative where. everybody's predicting disaster for the offensive line. And then the other big thing coming out of this summer is just how much, like last summer, how much better the defense looks, how much, you know, better communicators there are.

They're faster. They're younger. This is going to be a good defense in 2026. And I, on radio today, took calls and I said, which one of those three narratives are going to be right? Jaden is not going to stay healthy. Do you believe that? The offensive line is going to be a disaster.

Do you believe that? The defense is going to be much improved. Do you believe that? Because the odds say that one of these is going to be dead wrong, dead wrong, because you just don't know when they're not playing real games at this point. So I actually said that the one that I feel, is going to be right, is that the defense will be improved, maybe not much improved, but it's going to be improved because it can't be as bad as it was last year,

which, by the way, is exactly what I said last summer, and I was wrong about that. I think Jaden will stay healthy, so I think that's going to be wrong. And I am concerned about the O line now, legitimately concerned about the O line and center and the whole thing. But I also think you can game plan around a lot of that. once the real game start, which isn't what you saw in those three plays on Sunday. Do you have one that you think will prove wrong of those three? Well, of the three that you mentioned, two of them are connected. Yes.

If the offensive line is a disaster, Jane Daniels isn't going to stay healthy. That's not an unreasonable thing to say, although I would say that you can scheme around offensive line issues at times. with quick game, with RPO, running the football, etc. But then you are tailoring your offense out of fear of your quarterback getting hurt. And that automatically puts you behind an eight ball for a rookie offensive coordinator who doesn't need to be handcuffed by his options. So I just think the two are connected. I think what I brought up a couple weeks ago, I think you could smell it, I think you can feel it, I think you can almost taste it.

It's the aura of collapse. You just love, you love to use the aura dot, dot, dot, dot. The aura of self-destruction, the aura of collapse. Look, I'm not going to tell you that people aren't, you know, out there nationally. in particular saying, look, Washington's, you know, they didn't, losing tonsil, by the way, is a big blow for a lot of people nationally. That is, that's the big one. Yeah.

That is, that's changed. For me, that's a conversation changer. Okay. That's the idea where I don't see the avenue to success that I did before with their best offensive line on the alignment on the field. Right. Well, I think first of all, the key is

Jaden playing and playing healthy, and if that happens, I still predict that they will win more games than they lose. That's number one. To your point about the offensive line, well, if you have concerns about that and they are

realized, as in they have major issues along the offensive line. Yeah, that theoretically puts Jaden in more trouble, but let's face it. It's not like the offensive line in 2024 was a juggernaut or the weapons around him in

2024 were great. This is where, by the way, I should have mentioned one other theme, and that is, you know, there are a lot of people that think, thank God Cliff is gone. You know, they're going to be much better off without Cliff Kingsbury. I'd be careful about,

that because Blow's never done it before, even though I actually prefer the system that Blow is employing and I think Jaden will excel in it. But one of the things Cliff did in 2024 with his scheme, his play calling and giving Jaden a very comfortable rookie season with a lot of things that he was really good at doing and had done more so in college is you can scheme around past protection issues. You know, quick game, you know, RPO's. I mean, that was Heavy Cliff RPO in the

offense. Lots of quick game with Cliff in his offense. Blau can adjust and we'll see if he does if they end up having offensive line issues. But I don't, I just don't feel aura of collapse at this point.

I mean, check in with me after three or four games. I don't feel. You know, but those three plays, I know, look, I mean, for other than the three plays, preseason what we saw on Saturday, you can't make any judgments, even though people are ready to pin a medal on the defense, you know, in that. And other people are saying, well, look at all the yards that the Lions got. How can you? So, you know, you can't judge either way.

but those three plays were frightening. Those first three plays. I know, but Tommy, you just can't, you just can't do that. I mean, there's literally no game planning at all. Like if they... I know, so it's my bet. It's me against you and you lost. That's basically what it is in preseason football.

Yeah. It's my guy against your guy, mono, a mono. And we were one mono short. Right. There's no doubt about that on those first two plays. They got the center, the backup center who, let's hope, doesn't have to play this year, but might have to play. I think they're going to figure out a backup center situation for Allegrety before the opener.

But your backup center, who you hope won't play a game, got beat mono a mono, and it disrupted the first play. And then the second play, one of your better, you know, tight end blockers, just whiffed, and it blew up the second play. I just can't, I can't come to a conclusion on three offensive snaps without game planning, because it's not always mono-a-mono. You have to admit, it was a frightening scene. No, it wasn't.

I'm not going to admit that. It wasn't frightening to me. It had the aura of RG3 and that Ravens preseason game. I don't know what preseason game you're talking about. Oh, the preseason game where he was totally helpless. Totally help was back. Wasn't that the Detroit game? I thought it was the Ravens game.

Maybe it was the Detroit game. It was the Lions game and then Jane named Kirk the starter for the entire season the next week, I think. But whatever. I thought, well, anyway, it had to sense to me that Jane was helpless back there. Okay. I just, I have to just say, I think that that is, you know, to be, you're not the only person that feels that way. I've gotten it from a lot of people. I just think it's absolutely absurd to feel that way. About three offensive snaps or two offensive snaps actually in a preseason game with no game planning and your backup center was a big part of one of those particular breakdowns. No, I'm not. alarmed. If I see it in a regular... You don't think they took him out. They didn't put him back in out of fear? Well, that's an interesting question because, you know, Hellie said it right from the beginning on that opening drive that Quinn told them that it was going to be one drive. That's it

for the starters on both sides of the ball, regardless of what the results were. And he echoed that again after the game. I know he did. Now, I would say, I would say, yeah, I would say after those first three plays. You've got to be a little more flexible, but maybe the flexibility wasn't there because he didn't want to see what he saw in the first two plays. Yeah, I mean, I could imagine that. But if you're asking me, was I alarmed in the moment? And would I have feared him going back out there with Julian Good Jones at center and with no game planning? Maybe if you're asking me, if it makes me, me alarmed about the regular season, the answer is no.

Am I worried about the offensive line? Yes, because two weeks ago, we thought it was going to be one of the stronger units on the team. And now, because of Tunsel's loss, because of the center not being healthy, their plan for a center, which was going to be, you know, we weren't sure about anyway. They were sure about it. We weren't sure about it. but now we're unsure about whether or not he can be healthy enough to play the position.

And the competition that you had with Chris Paul and Brandon Coleman at the guard spot, you know, is a default to Paul. And now Paul doesn't get to play next to Tunsell. He's playing next to Coleman. And Paul benefited from playing next to Tunsel. And probably it was, you know, somewhat responsible for a pretty solid performance from Chris Paul. in relief last year. So, yeah, am I concerned about the offensive line when they get to the regular season?

Right now, I am. Am I concerned because of the two plays in the Detroit game? No. Okay. I also did this thing today on the show, and we put it out as a Twitter poll. It was one of the typical sports talk hypotheticals. If you could swap Diggs for Tunsell, because remember, the two biggest actual of substance stories during training camp are tonsils injury and the acquisition of digs

those two things are like real things the play by play of practices you just i mean do with that what you want to do with it people we've talked about that many times before but i did the hypothetical if you could swap tonsil being healthy for digs being elsewhere would you i think your answer would be absolutely yes, right? Absolutely yes. My answer will surprise you because my answer is I'd probably

stay with Diggs right now and go with Brandon Coleman at left tackle. And I'll give you the reason why. Look, I thought when I thought this segment up, I thought my immediate answer would be Tonsal and it was and then I thought about it a little bit more, and I went with digs. Not to just take the other side and be contrarian, but because here's the bottom line with this team.

With Brandon Coleman at left tackle in 24, they did a nice job. Now, that could have been Cliff doing a nice job. Jaden doing a nice job. Jaden being insanely great. You can't be functional offensively. if you've only got one guy that can get open, and that guy is good, but isn't a true scare you deep threat,

which is what Terry is. He's really good. He's good at contested catches. He doesn't create phenomenal separation, and he's not a scare you, take the top off the defense kind of a receiver. If you went into the season and you just had that, that would have been

that's why receiver was a legitimate concern all off season I know that I know that I know that but tons false absence is a domino effect for the whole offensive line almost

but the lack of a second receiver could have been a domino effect too it means Jaden's got to hold the ball longer putting them at more risk there are a lot of things look at what happened last year And look, Jaden wasn't out there for most of it, but even for poor Marcus Mariotta. I mean, literally they had games in which nobody could get open.

Nobody could get open. And it was just, it's a hard way to do it, especially if you can't be consistent running the football. And actually, they were better running the football last year than most people think they were. But that's another story. Yes, they were. So I would actually lean towards. I feel better about having a professional veteran-wide receiver who's still good at creating separation and getting open

and being a real quarterback-friendly target to go with Terry, to go with Chigacanquo, and hoping that Brandon Coleman is an even better player than he was as a rookie, and that you can scheme protection to give your quarterback, you know, a better opportunity if you're weak. Look, the center position, the interior, like Chris Paul next to Julian Good Jones. I'll tell you what, I'm actually the, I'm concerned about center.

I'm concerned about Connerley Jr. too. Like, I don't know that he's there yet. I think he's going to be there, but I don't know if he's physically ready yet. And I've pointed this out a few times, but at least as of now, now subject to change because that's the way the schedule game, you know, typically plays out. But man, they're playing some teams with some incredible defensive fronts, starting with Philly in the opener, week three against Seattle, San Francisco in week six, Philly again in week eight, followed by the Rams in week nine. And then the Giants in week 10. They've got Houston on the

schedule, Minnesota on the schedule, Jacksonville on the schedule. You don't know what these teams will look like when you get there, but you've got some really, really good on paper defensive teams that you're going to line up against this year. So, yeah, all of it is concerning if, like, if you didn't have digs or tonsil, you'd really be in a bind, really be in a bind. Yeah, I would agree. You know what?

I think he'd be in disarray. That's what the coach said. He used the word of disarray. Talking about Saturday. Did you see what I posted on social media? No. About it? No, what did you say?

I said, you go this away and I'll go that away. What did you think about just? Did we talk about this last week? I think we did because I kind of was waffling and then I came to the conclusion about preseason starters and playing. And for me, it's like, you either play them or you don't. You either play them 20 plus snaps so that they can feel like they've actually been in a football game or you don't play them. Because three snaps for the offensive starters and two snaps for the defensive starters, 22 days before the regular season begins, I have a hard time believing that there's any value in that.

You know, you're right. and you would think that a team that thinks they're really good would do something like that. You know, a team that thinks they don't need the work, that they think that they're ready to go, would approach it that way with a minimal effort in the preseason as opposed to the team like the commanders. I would think that they could have used more work. but everyone but you know the coach is and he's not the only one they all operate in fear i mean they don't want to be the guy to lose their star in a preseason game if they lose him in week one fine yeah uh you know it's a mix of teams that you know are good that play starters bad don't play

starters. I mean, it's a mix of everything. I don't know what to think. I know that, you know, Belichick historically always used the month of September as his preseason in a way. But he played in the weakest division in football. And even with that, Tom Brady still got snaps. Oh, yeah. He got snaps. But we're in a different time now. I think if it were me and I had our team with the two new coordinators and with a lot of new bodies, I think that I would have taken all three preseason games and used them to get my team ready and just essentially thrown caution to the wind on the risk of injury. I would have just preferred to have seen against the dolphins. And let me add to that.

game planned a little bit. I would have shown a little bit. Now, you know, you don't have to tell everybody that you're showing them what you're going to run in the regular season, but I would have game planned enough around what I thought the other team was going to put on the field. And it's tough to game plan around your opponent when you don't know exactly what they're going to put on the field in these games. These games are so horrible. But I think if it were me with this team, I would have had Jaden Daniels and the starting offensive line and Diggs and a Conquo and Rashad White and Bill, anybody that was healthy, out there for a quarter against the dolphins, for another quarter plus against the lions. And I'd probably, since it's still over two weeks away from the opener, I'd probably play them a little bit against Baltimore too. You know, Quinn used the term calluses at one point.

You got to develop some calluses. Well, the only calluses being developed are by players who probably aren't going to play that much when the regular season begins. I mean, there's some players that have played more. But I think that that makes sense. But then again, the regular season is so far away. Maybe the first preseason game is where I wouldn't play anybody. And I would play people in the second and the third game. and say at least when I'm done with the third preseason game,

it's like we have a buy week and then we're back to the regular season, rather than having three plus weeks or four plus weeks in between appearances. I think I would play guys. I would, in their situation, I would have played guys. But that ship has sailed because nobody's playing against Baltimore on Friday. I promise you. They're going to use this joint practice. tomorrow, really, for that to be the primary, you know, final opportunity to build up some calluses.

I think so. So the aura of collapse. Are you buying into the aura of collapse? Are you predicting a four or five win season? This isn't your official, official. No, this is not my official official. What's there over under? lately seven and a half

I don't think they'll make it did you know that Quinn has risen in the last two weeks at my bookie to the co-ods-on favorite with Aaron Glenn to be the first coach fired during the season? Really? Yeah I'll tell you what

all this has happened since last year and they haven't played a game and they had a whole off-season. to get better, and nobody thinks they got better. Well, I think they got better on defense. Okay, I know. I know. I think they got better on defense, for sure.

There's so many injuries now, mounting up, too. I mean, Quinn said today that he's not sure about Oway or Amos for the opener. That's a little bit alarming, especially Oway. That's their biggest ticket that they spent on this year. it certainly seems like Allegrety should be since we still have you know 19 days or whatever we have

20 days until the opener that Allegrety their starting center will be there for the Eagles game that would be nice because again I've said this a few times but I mean you can't send Julian Good Jones

or Ben Gulbin out there against Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis in the opener because then then you're just praying. Like you're in shotgun. You're going quick game. You're trying to run the, you're trying everything to keep your,

your offense on the field and everybody healthy. But there are other injuries, you know, that haven't been, like apparently Ben Sinit is banged up now. They've had a bunch of them. The only one that we, you know,

is serious, serious is Tunsel. And then of course, Johnny Newton was lost. for pretty much the season as well. Yes. All right. We have a lot of other things to get to.

I'm not going to hold you to that prediction. That's not going to be your official prediction. We'll have our official predictions during Labor Day week leading into the regular season week one. I can't wait for that. Because the conversations that we're having, even your conversation there about the two plays being alarming. to me that goes hand in hand with Sunny Stiles looks like a bust at this point.

Oh, I don't think so. Help me from this. I mean, I thought the whole Sunny Stiles debate is being conducted by people who don't even know what they're watching. There's a lot of those on the Internet recently. Have you noticed? Yes. A lot of people. You know what? The All-22 was a real valuable tool for people that knew what they were looking at. but the people that don't, man, it created some interesting characters, I would say. Speaking of some of those interesting characters, they were really upset with a question asked of

Jaden Daniels during Saturday's post-game press conference. Tommy's got thoughts on that, so do I. We'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors. summer can really add up when it comes to how much money you spend and it adds up pretty quickly. You know, a trip here, a dinner there, a couple of outdoor concerts later and it should have you wondering if you're getting the most out of your money. Well, that's where Chime comes in. Chime is changing the way people bank. They're not like traditional old banks who charge fees and gatekeep perks and rewards.

Chime offers the most rewarding fee-free banking all with no overdrafts, fees, no monthly fees, and no minimum balance fees. You get 5% cash back on a chimed card in a category of choice like gas or groceries, all the while building credit through regular everyday spending with no credit check. You can also grow your money faster with a savings rate that's nine times the national average. And if you're ever in a pinch, Spot Me, part of Chim's service, let you overdraft up to $200. fee-free. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to chime.com slash sheen. That's chime.com slash sheen. Sign up now. It only takes a few minutes.

Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Bank. Banking services for MyPay and Chime card provided by Chim's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Statut annual percentage yield and cashback for chime prime only. No minimum balance required. Checking account ranking based on the JD Power Survey published October 20, 2025. For more information on APY rates, MyPay, SpotMe, and Travel Perks, go to chime.com slash disclosures. Hey guys, I want to welcome What Not as a first-time sponsor on the show. I have a feeling many of you are familiar with What-Nought. What-Nod is the largest dedicated live shopping platform where sellers are building real,

thriving businesses. It really doesn't matter what the product is. It can be beauty, collectibles, electronics, luxury fashion, even cookies. Anybody can sell whether your business is big, small or yet to exist. People selling on What Not sell 10 times more than on any other major marketplaces. That's because you're not just listing products. You're building real connections with buyers. Across What Not, the number of sellers making over a million dollars a year has doubled. Consistency pays off. This isn't a side hustle. It's a real path to building something that lasts.

What Not buyers spend more than an hour a day on the app. They're not just browsing. They're engaged, buying, and coming back. You go live, show off products in real time, and turn what you love into real income. Search What Not. W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the App Store, download, and you can start selling right away. Jay, I know you have to Instagram post last week. How was that really going to kind of the fallout with LSU?

Man, I mean, like you said, I posted that. You know, the statement is out. But for me, now I was really just focused on Commander Football. I said everything I had to say within the statement. And now it was really just getting ready for week one. That was J.P. Finley asking Jaden Daniels about the LSU situation after the Detroit game. A lot of people seemed to get very upset about that. We'll talk about that in this segment, a segment brought to you by Window Nation.

Window Nation's offering a great deal this month, and it ends come August 31st, which is a week from yesterday. The deal is 50% off of everything. That includes Windows and Doors. Wind Donation sells doors as well. Add to that the opportunity to finance the purchase so that you won't have to pay anything for two full years. no money down, no monthly payments, and no interest charged until the year 2028. So no interest for two full years. Window nations overall offering is first rate so good that Forbes Magazine rated them

the number one window installation company in America. They have a vast selection of products on the window side, over 1,500 styles to choose from. their process is very easy. It starts with an easy, convenient, hour or less in-home estimate free of charge. They leave you with a quote, and then they'll leave you alone. And then they do it right the first time. They come in and 96% of their installs require no follow-up service, in part because they measure each window 10 times to ensure proper fit.

They get it right the first time and they leave your home. than when they arrived. If you've been thinking about new windows or even new doors, all I ask is to give Windonation a chance. Call them at 86690 Nation or go to WindowNation.com to schedule a convenient in-home estimate. It's free of charge. And really, that's what I would ask of you.

If this is something that's been on your to-do list, to look at new windows, to look at new doors, just give Windonation a shot to come out and give you a free estimate. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. After JP Finley asked

the question of Jaden Daniels in that press conference, and I guess you had me read your column from over the weekend that got a lot of play about Jaden's LSU situation. I got this from T.C. T.C. wrote, Sheehan,

were you the one who asked J.P. Finley to ask our quarterback about a meaningless media-created story about his LSU jersey number. You guys are an embarrassment. Local commanders media trying to undermine the team is gross. We see right through it. Closed quote. Closed email from TC. Tommy, he figured us out, man.

We're just trying to undermine the team. You know, creating all these stories. God, T.C., how numb do you have to be to actually believe any of that? Here's what I get a lot lately. You know, all you write are negative stories about the quarterback. Oh, my God. You know? In 2024, I was the one who four weeks into the season wrote anything is possible now.

Somebody mentioned your column to me over the weekend. and said, man, he really got after the team, and I had not read it. And I just said, let me just tell you something. Like anybody criticizing Tommy about, you know, going after Jaden Daniels, he's probably written more positive, love you, Jaden Daniels columns than he has for any player in recent memory. So I don't know what you're talking about. But look, I want you to get to this, but let me just say my piece real quickly. Like, this is such a numb take.

A meaningless media created story? It was a massive national story that was created by Jaden Daniels in his inner circle. I don't think it was created by Jaden himself. It was created by his inner circle. It had nothing to do with the media. I mean, was anybody paying attention that feels this way? Because I got a lot of this when I was talking about this, you know, day after day last week. Because to me, it's a very intriguing story.

There are a lot of layers to it. But in terms of JP, that's a question you have to ask. And TC, just so you know, in other markets, there would have been three to four or five follow-up questions. Because it was the first time he had actually had a chance to be available other than the statement that they put out. Yes. And if you, again, I mean, if you're not media savvy enough to understand, there's a big difference between a social media statement.

Yeah. And when you are asked the question in person and your response to it, okay, there are two different things. Okay. I mean, that Jaden likely did not even write that statement that was on social media. Of course. Part of his team probably did it for it. Well, I'd say the team did it.

I would say the team, who I will just share with everybody, thought that this was a massive, massive mistake made by Jaden's inner circle. And they were trying to help him extricate himself from it. And they put out that statement, which actually I immediately said, just don't do anything. At this point, the damage has been done. Let it die out slowly. Of course, it didn't die out slowly. He became literally a national pinata for sports fans and beyond sports, into politics and corporate America and everything else. I mean, the number five and the whole thing.

But I thought this statement was fine. But to your point, I would suggest strongly that that was not necessarily his statement. Now, he had to sign off on it, but he was helped with that, not by his inner circle, but by the team. Well, either way, there was nothing wrong with what JP did. It was their first chance to talk to him since the whole controversy took place. And JP's only mistake was, and I've made the mistake from time to time, but I rarely do it anymore except just to have a little fun, was to engage his detractors. You know?

Yeah. I mean, just let your work speak for itself. That's all. I guess I look, the social media combined with, you know, an increase, not a massive increase, but an increase in interest in the team because of 2024 and the fact that Dan's gone, I just have found that it's and it's why I don't engage in it. And you don't, you engage more than I do, much more than I do, because I just find it to be such a time suck with people who are not necessarily,

well, they're rose-colored glass homers. More of those now exist than ever before. Like, to me, Tommy, this story was an interesting story. with a lot of layers. You know, it was about a major, major peak inside the franchise quarterback's inner circle. This wasn't Chris Paul's inner circle, okay? This wasn't, you know, Leo Chanel's inner circle. This was Jaden Daniels' inner circle.

Like, to me, anybody that's at any level of curious and cares about this team, would find this to be a fascinating, you know, story with a lot of discussion around it, because she's not just his mother. She's his agent. And come January and February, there's going to be a major contract negotiation. Like, I don't know, shutting that story down once it was out by people who are homers and people who aren't interested in any sort of negative talk or even constructive critical talk

or curiosity about a player like Jaden Daniels. Yeah, you couldn't shut that one down on Twitter. That one got out of control in a way that I didn't see coming. I knew it was a mistake the moment you saw it. You knew it was a mistake the moment you saw it. I didn't see five, six, seven days. it's still happening occasionally with Jaden being

and it sucks for him because he's an introvert, he's a good kid, and this wasn't him. But I just don't understand the lack of any sort of intellectual curiosity over something like this with your star quarterback and then to try to shut it down.

Like that's not going to work, first of all. But no, JP, JP absolutely did the right thing. The homers out there that had an issue with it, God, are you guys delicate? I mean, you really are soft. And not only that, you must think Jaden, who you're trying to protect, I guess, you must think he can't handle it. I mean, what does that say about how you feel about him? You know, I don't know, it's completely, there are people that are completely ignorant to the media part of it.

And I'm fine with that, you know. But that's a growing, that's a growing group, not just in sports, but in all things. Yeah. Because you have so many websites, and I don't mean to sound like a pompous ass, but I will. Okay. You have so many websites being run by amateurs who are considered a source of information. And so that dumps, I mean, we all get loved with that. And, you know, why can't you write like, like, like Billy, who covers the team from his basement and writes only good things about them?

Right, right. Yeah. You know? And Billy is so sensitive. Like, this is not the only example. I mean, I've gotten this. You've gotten this for a while now. Like, it's also so small time.

I mean, like, if Billy wants to be that, he needs to think about moving to Boise or Fargo or a place where literally, you know, people would be just horrified to hear a media person ask a difficult question or be constructively critical or be hypercritical beyond even reason like they are in New York. Imagine this story in New York, Philly or Boston with Billy and his. basement trying to deal with that market. Like this isn't even a tough media market. Like it's not even close to it. But I don't know. If you're not curious or you don't care, that's fine. But why would you feel so angry or so put off or perplexed by other people who actually

find this stuff to be interesting and meaningful? If you don't think the mother and her involvement right now in the star quarterback, the franchise quarterback's life and career as a mother and agent isn't interesting and potentially impactful. I can't help you. It's already been impactful. So he's, his relationship with his alma mater has been severed because of what she did or those around him did.

I think it can be, you know, corrected, but we'll see. Yeah. So you and I have not talked about this, and I did read your column right before the show started, and you're saying people really got into you. I will just say this. I just read Tommy's column. It's exactly what we talked about on the show on Thursday for the most part. Yes. The idea that this is, you know, you said this the other day, and it's like even though this had nothing to do with the team, had nothing to do with the team, it's another, you know, for people who aren't paying attention, There goes Washington again. I mean, yes.

And that's not good for anyone involved with the organization. You know? I mean, it's hard enough to dig out of the muck that Dan Snyder left this franchise in. And when they've made real progress to do that, all it takes, and this is in all walks of life when you're trying to repair your reputation. all it takes is a slip-up to set you back. You know, how many times over the years have we talked about, you know, our market as a sports market as a sports city versus others?

And remember, like, when Mike got here and then Jay Gruden got here and Ron Rivera, the three coaches in a row. And Quinn, you know, is probably a little bit like this, too. Like, remember how they used to think this was, oh, my God, this is a brutal. Mike told me this. This was the toughest media market he'd ever been in. And I'm like, well, yeah, that's because you were in Denver. You know, Jay thought the same. Yeah, because that's, you were in Cincinnati and Tampa before that. Ron Rivera. Yeah, but you were in Charlotte. Like, but part of my, like, I've always wished that we could be a bigger boy sports market. Part of it is just that you and I've talked about this for so long. The passion for the, teams stops at one team. Everything else is bandwagony. And part of that is just the nature of the city. There's not a lot of blue collar in D.C. The best sports towns tend to be higher in blue collar. Our teams haven't been here as long. The baseball team's a perfect example of that.

We are one of those kind of, there's one team that matters to the masses and everybody else is kind of niche comparatively. But I think, you know, from a fan standpoint, from a local media standpoint, I've always wanted us to be a bit more non-fanboy-ish. You've talked about this a lot. And social media has made it so much worse because you now have so many people that are getting into this that are the biggest of fanboys and the biggest of homers. And I like the opposite.

I like being constructively critical when it's appropriate. These are professional teams. Like they shouldn't. And by the way, in many ways, they are, you know, a civic institution that we all have a piece of to a certain degree. And it's much better if they're sort of held to. a certain standard and they don't feel like they can come in and just have everybody waving pom-poms and cheering every single move.

It's funny as I'm saying this. I can remember so many years doing the show with you in particular where people accused me of being such a homer. And I'm like, really? I guess maybe this year I am because I'm a massive Kirk Cousins believer and a massive Mike Shanahan believer or, you know, whatever. Like there were years where I really was super optimistic, but then there were years where I was like,

if you don't fire Vinnie Serato, I don't know, I can't root for this team anymore. You know, or Jim Zorn. So I do think that it's more calling balls and strikes. I think I've always been that. But I can't believe the level of homerism that shows up in your timeline, my timeline, and the timeline of various people that have been doing this

for a long period of time on social media. It's just my desire would be for the sports market to be just a little bit more adult, a little bit more like New York, Boston, Philly. Maybe not Philly, but a little bit more like New York, Boston, Chicago. But I guess we're not necessarily ever going to be that, right? Probably. I don't think we ever will. Yeah.

No. I just don't want us to be Topeka. That's all. Somewhere in between Topeka in New York would be nice. And I think we are somewhere. I would say that of the 32, 30 NFL markets, actually, because we have two teams in the Bay Area and two teams in New York, of the 30 NFL markets, we're probably in terms of a tough media market.

We're in the top half, don't you think? I think so. Yeah, I do. But we're not in the top, but we're not in the top third. Well, who besides New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philly? Would you put L.A. as a tough market? Not a tough market, not with football, no. But you know what?

The Bay Area is not easy. Detroit's not easy. Yeah. Okay. I'm going through the list of markets. New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, the Bay Area. What about Pittsburgh or Baltimore or Cleveland? Cleveland, I would put in there.

Okay, so we're at six. We're at five or six teams. So it might be in the top third. I mean, I understand what we are and what we aren't. But, okay, enough on this. We got a lot more show to get. to and we will. But let me just point out. Yes, please. One more thing. Okay. I am the only bomb proer left in this town. That might be true. Only one. Because Sally was,

Sally's not doing it anymore in this town. No. No. I mean, I have always said about you to your face and behind your back that there is no better columnist going after somebody. in, by the way, a hyper-critical but also hyper-entertaining way than you. Sally and you are really the last of, you know, I don't even know who would, who came before, like who was really super critical in a smart, entertaining way before you and Sally? Well, Tony was. Tony was, of course. Yeah, Tony.

Yes. Yeah. 100%. Yes. Um, yeah. You're the only, you're the, you're the, in New York, these are the columnists I grew up with. This was, this was the job. That's, that's the job. Yeah. You know, so, you know, say goodbye to the bad, say hello, say hello to the bad guy.

You ain't going to see this bad guy anymore someday. Well, you know, whatever Al Pacino said. I, I, I get a lot, obviously, in my timeline. about you, which I have, which, by the way, it both ways, positive and negative. But the negative, I just completely ignore. It's not that somebody can't be critical of you and something that you write or critical of something that you say on the podcast or critical of something I say on the podcast. I welcome that and we engage with that often. but I find it so limiting when people just,

their automatic default with one of your columns is Tom's a Redskin, Tom's a commander's hater. Half the time they don't even read your column. But anyway, all right, we got other things to get to. Bomb thrower and Sheehan continue after these words from a few of our sponsors. August is the perfect time. to hit reset before the autumn rush begins. And honestly, I can't think of a better place to start than my closet. That's why I love shopping at Quince. Quince is all about fewer, better pieces.

Their clothes are made with premium materials built to last and designed to become the ones you reach for day after day. Quince specializes in everyday staples that work harder. Like their ultra-soft organic cotton teas, I have three of them. They're perfect. And, premium Mongolian cashmere sweaters, perfect for cool fall weather. They're versatile, timeless, and transitioned seamlessly from a casual workday to a dinner out. Everything Quince has is priced at 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen so you're paying

for high quality, not brand markup. Upgrade your every day. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or or go to quince.com slash sheen. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash Sheen. Hey guys, an admission, I love Goldbelly.

I've been telling you about Goldbelly for three years now. If you're a food guy and you haven't been to goldbelly.com, you are missing out. Goldbelly offers the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across the country. They ship it directly to you wherever you live. You may have been in a city a few years ago, and you loved a restaurant. You loved a particular item at a restaurant. There's a good chance that Goldbelly offers that item, and you can get it delivered directly to you.

We're big pizza fans in our household. John's on Bleaker Street, one of the best New York stock. pizza places in New York. We get it delivered to the home. It comes frozen. By the time we take it out of the oven and sit down and eat it, it's like we're in the village eating it at Johns on Bleaker Street. Do you like deep dish pizza? Lou Mulnoughties is one of the best, one of Chicago's best deep dish offerings. That's available at Goldbelly. How about barbecue from Franklin's in Texas straight to your door? to try the one and only world-renowned stone crab, they'll deliver it direct to your home from Joe's in Miami. This can be for just you. This can be for entertaining. This can be for game day.

This can be for a gift. If you're looking for that perfect gift or you want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal the next time you host, go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order using promo code Sheehan. That's goldbelly.com code sheen for 20% off your first order. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Well, Shelly's backroom, we talk about the great food on the menu. You talk about the great atmosphere. But we should never forget that it is, first and foremost, a cigar bar.

And I would make the case that it's the best cigar bar you'll find anywhere in the United States. haven't traveled these United States and looked for an oasis like Shelly's when I'm on the road. Only to be disappointed often, I can tell you that Shelly stands alone. And it is a cigar store that also sells cigars, and they include cigar aficionado's top 25 selections.

They have cigars from manufacturers like Padron, Oliva, Rocky Patel, E.P. Carillo, Alec Bradley, Ashton, Opus 6, San Cristobal, just the best. The best that you can find in cigars, you'll find at Shelley's backroom. And I've emphasized this before. They have a great staff that if you're not seasoned a seasoned cigar smoker, they will go over the menu with you and pick the cigar that they think will work best for you. you got to do is speak up.

You can, Shelly's Backroom at 1331 F Street Northwest in the district. You know, and as the fall's approach, and it's going to be some great days to sit outside at Shelly's, smoke cigars, and watch the poor saps work and go by. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com.

You said that, you know, you've gotten around this country, haven't you? Yes. I've been to 46th. Well, that's what I was just going to ask you. So you've been to 46 states. I've been to 49 of the 50 states. And the one state that I've never been to is North Dakota.

And my oldest son who has gotten around for somebody in his, now, you know, he's 30 years old. But for the last five years, work-wise, he has spent a lot of time on the road working. he actually called me about two weeks ago and he said I have a couple of days off and with his girlfriend they were going to fly into somewhere in Wyoming go to Yellowstone and then he was going to make the drive to North Dakota to cross off the final state on his list that he hasn't been to and he knew that that was the one state

missing from mine and he said do you want to meet me there And I said, absolutely not. I have no interest in going to North Dakota. Why would I want to go to North Dakota? He's been to Alaska. Alaska and Hawaii, yeah. He's been to, yeah. He's been living out west now for five years, over five years.

And his territory has been all of basically the Mississippi West. And he is, yeah, that was his 50th state. I was actually surprised. I thought he would have had a few others that he had missed on. But that was the 50th state. And I declined. It would have been, you know, fun for about 10 minutes. And then what would he?

He was in Fargo yesterday. Yesterday he was in Fargo, North Dakota. And that's the only one I haven't been to. North and South Dakota, Montana and Alaska. or the four states haven't been to. Of those four, which do you desire to see? Alaska. Yeah.

Alaska's crazy, pretty and beautiful. So is Montana. Alaska. North and South Dakota, you can have all due respect. I agree. The first time I was in South Dakota was on, I've talked about this, I think, once or twice over the years. but when I was 21 after my junior year in college, my buddy and I drove East Coast to West Coast,

hung out in California and then drove back. We used one of those, they had them back in the day drive-away services where people would pay you to drive their car to the home that they moved to on the West Coast. They would give you gas money, that was it, and then you drove their car. We got a car in Maryland,

and they were moving to the Bay Area in Oakland. And they said, take as much time as you want. We don't need the car for two weeks. And, you know, they gave us a gas card, actually, that we used on the way out there. And we stopped. One of the, I think it was our second stop, was in Rapid City, South Dakota.

And you know why we stopped there, Tommy? Dog track. Oh, you've heard you remember the story. Dog track. No, no, no. but I know there was a dog track in Rapid City. Yeah, dog track, and we were there for two nights betting on the Greyhounds. It was, there wasn't much to South Dakota, but Rapid City, the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore,

which, you know, takes all of like five minutes to see. The Black Hills are kind of cool. And then it was into Wyoming and Montana and Yellowstone and that whole thing. But we missed North Dakota on the way out. and I've never been back to North Dakota. I've been back to South Dakota. I had to go to Sioux Falls once for a meeting with a small grocery chain in like 1996 or something like that. That was one of those places that would be a place that you would say it was nice to be from,

not necessarily live in currently. All right. So I don't know if you, there are two stories that I wanted to touch on here in this second. Number one is, and I know you're not following it that closely, but it is an interesting story, and that is these 30 college athletes, 16 of which are, you know, former college football players, current NFL players, that now have the ability because of a court ruling to go back to college and play one more season. We've had now two of those players make moves. Dayquan Wright, who was a really good tight end at Ole Miss last year for Lane Kiffin. He was on Cleveland's roster. He got released the other day after spending, you know, the offseason and the preseason with the Browns.

And he signed with LSU where Lane Kiffin is currently. And a player that was playing for the Saints, Zavian Harris, he also joined Lane Kiffin at LSU. meantime, the Big Ten is apparently on the verge of passing a rule today that will stop players from returning to the college from the NFL. They're not going to allow it. The SEC could do that, but they've chosen not to do that. It's an interesting story from many perspectives, but I'm just going to give you two thoughts from my standpoint. Number one, none of this will impact how much I love and consume college football once the games begin, which, by the way, they begin on Saturday. They're like six or seven real games on Saturday.

I've already come to grips and I've dealt with all of the NIL, the transfer portal, the conference reshuffling, and I don't enjoy college football any less. In fact, I actually like it even more, in part because the playoff, expanded playoff, has, I think, really added something to the game. So that's number one. Number two is this. If you're a player or you're a coach and there's a loophole for this, some people would say, who cares that there's a loophole for this? You shouldn't reward and bring back players at the expense of younger players and less experienced players, including players. that just came out of high school. College sports are for college athletes,

not former professional athletes. I just don't know how you criticize a coach or a player for taking advantage of this. In the players case, think about this. He's getting a couple of million bucks to return to college football to play at LSU. Do you think there was any opportunity for him to earn a couple of million bucks

in 26 playing football anywhere else? He was already released by the Browns. What was he going to get signed back to the practice squad for 400K a year or whatever the, you know, 300,000 a year? And as far as the pros not paying their lower level players, what colleges pay, it's the market. These players are generating more revenue for their college programs than they would for their NFL programs. Those are my two thoughts. I would prefer college sports to be for college athletes, and once a players become professional, that should be it.

But if the courts are going to allow for this, I can't blame the player or the coach. I know, but, I mean, I guess, I mean, look, I don't want to take away from your fun, but isn't there even a pretense of people having actually connected to your school anymore playing for you? Every year's a new year. And in college basketball, I mean, the roster is changing.

It's so much more obvious in basketball because the roster has changed so much. And yet, you know, I find myself adapting and, you know, learning about the team, Maryland's team every year. And then rooting really hard. That team two years ago that went to the Sweet 16, I enjoyed that at a major level. And it was all new players. That Crab 5 team was basically all. New Year players, first year players for the most part. No, it doesn't.

I thought all of this would lower my interest level in college sports, but it hasn't. It was for me. But you've never been a college fan. I know, but at some point I would say, these people have no connection to the school whatsoever. They're mercenaries. Yes. What do I care about this now?

And they're not student athletes anymore either. Like that is. No one even pretends about going to class anymore. Yeah, I was thinking about this guy, Dayquan, right. Like, classes have already started. How is he going to become academically eligible per whatever the SEC rules are for academic eligibility? I guess they can stick him in a couple of classes that he can audit.

I don't know. But once the season starts, no one's going to care about the schools that brought back some of these NFL players. I really feel that way. The sport is such a great, great sport. It is one of the greatest, like, short sprint seasons of any of the sports. College football starts, you know, on or around Labor Day, and it goes until, you know, Thanksgiving weekends, regular season wrap up.

and it is, I think, compelling as hell and so good. And I don't know. I hope Maryland gets to participate with the bigger, you know, schools in the Big Ten this year as a competitive team. I don't think that's coming. But some Maryland fans believe this could be a great year. I hope it is. All right.

What else on this? Anything? I got nothing else for you on this, boss. All right. Well, let's talk about Jay. Yorke and Dolly Parton, who just passed away we just read during the break. We'll finish up with both of those things after these words from a few of our sponsors. A couple of things to finish up to the show with Tommy.

Did you see this story yesterday involving San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Being involved in prostitution in Ohio somewhere? Eastern Ohio, East Palestine, Ohio, to be exact. He had agreed to meet up with a prostitute at the Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community and had agreed to a $160 price for an hour's worth of sexual services. Now, it turns out this was a sting operation. He had gone. through a known prostitution website and had responded to an undercover police officer. He was charged with two misdemeanors for engaging in prostitution and possession of criminal tools.

I don't know what that means. Prosecutors later amended the prostitution charge to disorderly conduct as a part of a plea agreement. Perhaps he resisted some sort of an arrest at the time. He pled no contest. He's paid $1,150 in fines and was sentenced to one day in jail for each charge with one day already considered to be served. The owner of an NFL team worth hundreds of millions to perhaps billions of dollars is in a mobile home community in eastern Ohio looking to pay $160. to perhaps a toothless prostitute.

Who knows what she looked like? I'm sure the picture... What? This just goes to show you that it's not about the sex. It's not the sex. It's not? No, this guy could have... If it was just about the sex,

this guy could pick easier ways to do it. Oh. I don't know what it's about, but it's not about the sex. Well, it's about... He was consumed with one thought in the moment and decided to go to a website and let, you know, the other head do the talking. Because, you know, he was in Ohio because that's where he's from. This is more of a self-destructive act, more than an act to try to pleasure himself. He was looking.

I think this guy has deeper problems than then hookers. Because if the issue is just prostitution, somebody should let him know that with his means, he could get something approaching like almost safe, completely safe in so many different ways for a lot more money than $160, I would imagine, I've been told. but yeah like of his means like it's it's like um what's his face the patriots owner a craft when he went when he went to like the the strip mall happy ending place on beach what are you what are you guys doing again it's not about the sex oh my god there's something else going on there you think there's something else going on there yeah yeah um The update to the story is he used a pseudonym and responded multiple times to a fictitious ad for a prostitute and made contact using the name Joe, not Jed, but Joe in response to the ad. And yeah, 160 bucks to go to a mobile home community in eastern Ohio.

people that live in that mobile home community have been taken aback, quote, from a Facebook post from Wheat Hill Mobile Home Parks webpage. Quote, this news of this arrest in our quiet community is just as shocking to us as to the rest of you. While we support law enforcement in their efforts, we really have no other knowledge of the situation, closed quote. but by the way, we've got a couple of new ones on the market right now for $10,000 and another one for $12,000. I have no idea. What a mobile homes cost? Do you have any idea what a mobile home costs and a mobile home community? No, I don't because they're complicated because you don't really own the land that the mobile home is on.

You have to lease the land. So it's hard to figure out exactly what they cost. I've got Ohio on Zillow, Ohio mobile homes that range anywhere from $112,000 to $385,000. Yeah, but then you're paying, then you've got to pay extra for the land. And are there HOA fees? I'm sure there's HOA fees. In Ohio, you've got to worry about tornadoes, too. They always seem to hit those mobile park homes.

That's why you put a tarp on the roof with tires on it. Okay. All right. We just saw this news during the show. Dolly Parton passed away today at the age of 80 years old. Yeah. I mean, a treasured performer, not, I mean, I wasn't a big fan, but I certainly recognized how she was revered as a songwriter in particular for what she's done.

And she opened her own amusement. amusement park. How many people can say that? Miss Nashville. Miss Nashville. Dolly Parton. Really? Oh, yeah. I think she's like just a massive star in Nashville. Don't they have that Dollywood?

That's the name of the theme park, right? Yes, Dollywood. Isn't that in Nashville? It's somewhere in Tennessee. Okay. It's not Nashville. Right. I can't tell you that I was ever a big fan of Dolly Parton because I wasn't.

But I do recognize what a big star she was in the 80s, of course. Part of her stardom was based on her figure. But like you said, not only could she sing, she wrote a lot of songs for a lot of singers, both in country music and in pop music. And yeah, 80 years old. I mean, I feel like I've seen her in interviews recently. and she looked great and was healthy and the whole thing. What did she die of?

I don't even know what she died of. There was no cause reported. Rest in peace, Dolly. Yes, rest in peace, Dolly Parton. Anything else that you haven't gotten to that you wanted to get to on the show today? No, that's about it. All right. Back tomorrow.

Doc's going to be on tomorrow's show. And then Tommy will be back with me on Thursday.