The Kevin Sheehan Show - Brian's Song

Episode Date: December 27, 2018

Kevin and Thom discuss the departures of Brian Lafemina and his band of merry men. They also make predictions on the next Redskin hammer(s) to fall. More DJ Swearinger discussion too. Adam Schefter was a guest on the show, Kevin/Thom did an "NFL Power Poll", and Kevin had two Smell Test picks for today's bowl games. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. You're listening to The Sports Fix. All right, I'm here. Tommy's here.

Tommy's back. Aaron's here. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com and tell them we told you to call. We've got some, we couldn't figure out what to do on the show today. We had a big long pre-show meeting, and Tommy had some ideas of it, the Caps. and I had some ideas about the wizards.

This would have been one of those days, though, yesterday. Am I right? Absolutely. Where we would have said, we'd have been sitting there at the end of the show, and we would have said, what do we have for tomorrow? Yeah. I mean, we just did Sweringer all day, and we, you know, the Wizards play tonight?

Okay, the Caps play tomorrow. Okay, bold, no, we don't have anything. But, and this is what we would say to each other, this is not an exaggeration. Three times a week, we would just look at each other. This is when we did the radio show. The day before is we were planning for the, the next day's show and just say, ah, the Redskins will do something stupid today.

We counted on it. We counted on it. And they delivered all the time. Congratulations to Tommy. On one of the very first podcasts that we did back in September that Tom was a part of, he said to me, he said, so what do you know about this Brian Lafamenean? And I said, well, you know, he seems to be too competent for this group. And you said verbatim, he said, verbatim.

he won't last a year, make sure that you tell him to rent and not buy. You did. I know I did. It was so predictable. Look, I was at the press meeting he had at Redskins Park when he met in the conference room with a bunch of reporters that were invited. And when he started talking about no season ticket list, a waiting list, and transparency, I thought the floor was going to drop. out and Bruce, I thought Bruce out. Sleeping giant.

Right. The sleep, I thought Bruce Allen was going to push a button and the floor was going to drop out and we'd all disappear from the face of the earth. I mean, this was a conflict of styles from the get-go. And it was, and again, it was inevitable. And in a way, it was a power struggle from the beginning for the soul of the organization. Yeah, I'll get to that in a moment. I just want to relay this another story, and that is, if you recall, I went out, I don't know when it was.

It was after you had made your declaration on the podcast that he better rent and not buy. And I got done, I met with him, and I like him. Everybody that met Brian had had time to sit down with him, and I had multiple conversations with him. Apparently, not everybody liked him. But when I went out there to meet with him in mid-September, I guess it was, I think I called you and I said, yep, a year is the over-under. His kind just don't last. No. You know, they don't last for a lot of reasons, insecurity and, you know, arrogance and all of it.

Not his arrogance and insecurity. The people that are already there. Before you really have at it here, and we really get into it, I wanted to say two things to start. I tweeted out yesterday that everyone in the media has known for weeks of Snyder and Allen's distaste for Lof Lafamina and company. And Lafamane's transparency, you know, sort of motive of operation, just hadn't gone over well from the beginning. And so a lot of you said, well, why didn't I report it if I knew? Well, first of all, I'm not a reporter. Secondly, his leaving or being terminated hadn't happened yet. But we did. We have talked about the disconnect of Lafamina's sort of approach to this whole thing and that it wasn't. wasn't going over well. You and I have had that conversation. I had that conversation with Michael Phillips on the Christmas Eve show. I had that conversation with J.P. Finley. I've mentioned it before. We've certainly, maybe not as direct in terms of what we had a feeling

of. I think both of us thought that it would end this way, but we weren't entirely sure. We just knew that it wasn't a good fit. We've known that for a while, that La Famina wanted to come in. He wanted to be transparent. He wanted to be honest, you know, about things like ticket selling issues. And that's not the way they do business there. It was just a, it was not a good relationship. And Tommy, what I've learned more definitively here over the last 12 to 18 hours is that while many of you will absolutely and justifiably come to the conclusion that this was a Bruce Allen power play, it wasn't. Dan was frustrated with Lafamina and Lafamina's strategy of being honest and transparent about a lot of things, the organization's ticket selling problems and a lot more. And it was perceived

by Dan to be a constant knock on the way things had been done. Well, yeah, but remember, you know, and the other part of this is I think Snyder believes that this year's ticket selling issues are at least partially due to the strategy of transparency. And their attempt, Brian Lafamina and his merry men, their attempt to limit the aftermarket somewhat on ticket sales. If Snyder and Allen together believe that Brian Lafamina and his group and their strategy of transparency and telling people, hey, we've got tickets available,

if they think that's the reason that they had half-filled parks, the access to the product isn't the problem and hasn't been the problem. The product is the problem. Yes. That's the problem. And until they wake up, like I've said this to you before, they're arrogant and they're dense. And you don't, and it's the worst combination in people or businesses because you don't know

the mistakes you've made. You make them over and over again. You refuse to admit you've made mistakes. And therefore, you never. from those mistakes. This is a top five worst organization in professional sports right now, but their arrogance will never allow for an admission. Therefore, they're not going to seek help. And as a fan and all of you who are fans right now as we speak, hopefully one day subject to change, but right now as we speak, there's no hope. No hope that this organization will ever be a winning

organization on the field and now finally Tommy off the field often often yes you know you're right about a lot of that but there was a war for what I've been told going on with Bruce Allen as well and it really came to a head over the Ruben foster signing uh Brian Lafamina and his group went to Snyder and Alan with feedback from corporate ticket holders who were upset about the signing to try to push back to say you got to bail out of this and they refused. They refused to do Allen in particular. And that was sort of like the tipping point to accelerate what was an inevitable exit. You and I both knew that this was going to happen at some point.

It happened kind of a little bit quicker than we thought. Yeah, I thought it would be at the end of the season. Yeah. So I mean, we are at the end of the season. of that accelerated and and look I wrote I wrote in the column two days after uh you know a couple days after they signed foster I said you know Brian Lafamina had this motto on his whiteboard in his office saying do one good thing every day for a thousand days to make change basically something like that I said he would he wouldn't be here in 500 days I didn't realize it'd be 30 days when I

said that but yeah there was a comment conflict of style that was that was inevitable you know you had to in order to embrace where Brian Lafamina and his army of suits were doing you had to sit back and and and be patient and take the bad medicine take the medicine first and they didn't want to take the medicine because the medicine was hard to swallow and actually I mean I don't know if this is true okay i i'm i'm sure about the rubin foster stuff because that comes from very good sources but the timing of it was uh supposedly that uh the new crew were about to cut loose a bunch of long time reds people at redskins park uh allies of snider uh so to speak lower level allies of snide not

allen level but lower level uh and this was a preemptive strike and i have heard that and which does not make sense on some level that Bruce Allen and Jay Gruden are very concerned about their futures. And that doesn't quite make sense with everything we've just seen happen here. I said yesterday on the show that the DJ Swaranger release should not be reflective of Jay Gruden being safe. That this news yesterday, I agree with you as well. To me, none of this means that Bruce and Jay coming back are etched in stone. I, it's, It's not that I have heard significant information with respect to this. This is more my gut, Tommy, on this, which is, and I described it this way on the show yesterday,

Sunday at FedEx Field, and it's going to be cold, and it's going to be potentially rainy, and the stadium is going to be maybe, maybe half-filled with Eagle fans, perhaps because it's a significant game, maybe for Philadelphia. Very few Redskinned fans will be there. and in that suite with a few pops and some of those friends surrounding him in that suite, he's going to be seething. And I just can't imagine

that at the end of this season with the business erosion, the fan erosion, which has led to the business erosion to a certain degree, it'll never erode because they're one 32nd of this monstrosity. They make money in spite of themselves.

But they, I just, I don't think that any of this stuff is like, oh, Jay, you're going to be here, so you cut Sweringer. Oh, Bruce, you're going to be here. Let's cut Lothamina go. I don't think that they may end up being here, but I don't believe that these two incidents back to back this week mean that those things are etched in stone. That's what I would say. So it sounds like you feel the same way. I agree. And if anything, if you believe, like we believe, you could make the case that both.

of those moves, the Sweringer cutting, and the exodus of these suits are last minute, like Hail Mary attempts by Alan and Jay Gruden to solidify their job status. I mean, I don't know if that's true, but you could easily make that case just as you could that it enhances their power. You know, I mean, again, I've heard from a reliable source that this was, as quote, a Hail Mary attempt. by those guys. But I understand if you're a fan, you're thinking, wow, you know, these guys, now these guys aren't going anywhere now. Look what they just did. They cut a guy who was a valuable defensive player, and they just cut loose, you know,

like all these new guys that they brought in. So on the surface, it looks like a power play that solidifies them. That's not necessarily the case. Here's the one thing I do know for facts. fact, Dan and Bruce both like Jay personally. They don't put all of this on Jay. They don't. It doesn't mean that they won't make a change, but they like him, they like being around him, and they don't believe that the last two years are all on him. And I think there's a case to be made that it's not all on him. I've never said otherwise. I want to go back to a couple of things. First of all, back to your

Foster information. We both thought during the Ruben Foster thing that Lafamina was probably ignored in the Ruben Foster signing. It was a football move. Lafamina is on the business side, but one of the reasons that Lafamina we thought was brought into the organization, perhaps at the league's urging, was to avoid all this BS that happens here every year, you know, multiple times a year. To be a reasonable voice in the room that says.

says, no, no, let me just give you guys the pitfalls of what happens. Here's what happens if you do this. Yeah, this is what's going to happen if you do this because they never think about that stuff. And the fact that they went forward with Ruben Foster made it clear to me that Brian Lafamina wasn't consulted on this, nor at that point did I think he would be. Because I think the ship had sailed a little bit. So on the Ruben Foster thing, did you learn that he wasn't consulted on this or that they just ignored him. I don't know. Okay. I don't know. All I know is, all I know is the reaction to the signing was they presented Dan and Bruce with information feedback from their corporate ticket holders that was

vehemently negative to try to say, you know, let's bail out of this now. And they were ignored then. Right. Because remember, when they signed Rubin Foster, we both said that if they ignored him, that's bad. If they didn't consult him, it's even worse. Now, again, on the Rubin Foster thing, I don't want to re-litigate this thing again, but it doesn't matter if he's guilty or innocent. It makes no difference. The Redskins, who I might point out, people forget, were ground zero of the NFL cheerleader's exploitation scandal could not afford to even sign a guy accused for the second time of being a woman. They just couldn't afford to do that.

that has nothing to do with Ruben Foster's guilt or innocence. They are one of the teams in the NFL that could not afford to do this. You just said, and I know we've said it before, but it really, it really is important because, you know, I don't want all of you a year from now if Ruben Foster's having a big season, a pro bowl season for the Redskins to come back and say, see, if they had listened to you guys, no, no, no. It's not about his guilt or innocence. Not about it at all. It's about the day. this organization, more than any other in the league, could not afford to take the hit for signing someone who had just committed his second domestic violence, or had just been accused,

excuse me, of an alleged domestic violence situation for the second time and less than a year. I don't know how many organizations could. I can tell you this, the league didn't want them to do it. No one wanted them to do it. Look, let me just stand on my pulpit very briefly here, and I've done this before, but this hits home in what I've been saying. This is the 21st century, and with social media, perception is everything right now. Perception can damage everything in your organization.

You may want to separate the football from the business, from the media, but it all runs together. I know for a fact that it was the reaction to the Steven Strasbourg potentially not. pitching in the division series last year, the 12 hours that took place before that happened after Dusty Baker said he didn't feel like he could pitch because he was hurting. And the reaction to that, that cost Dusty Baker's job. It was the reaction to his handling of the Steven Strasbourg postseason pitching situation. This impacts people.

It impacts your foot. Again, you can't say this isn't a. football decision when everybody tells you that the crowd at these games affects the product on the field. You can't separate them. It all comes together. And I would urge people on this Redskins beat to pepper Jay Gruden with questions about the departure of these guys because they're football questions.

Because Jake Gruden and the players have told you the lack of people and the lack of support in the stands has hurt this football. team and these were the guys who were brought in to change that and that's how you're making the connection to it being a football thing it's a football decision um well i look it's selling tickets and getting people into the stands that can potentially you know help the home team yes is a football thing this is what they tell us all the time right but how how completely detached from reality must you be to think that their strategy of saying hey we don't have sellouts, we don't have a waiting list, we have tickets available, is the primary

driver of half-filled stadiums? Is it possible that whatever they did from an aftermarket ticket selling situation impacted the ability that for some to get tickets that may have wanted to go to the game? Sure, it's your product that is driving people away. That doesn't explain, by the way, television ratings. The television ratings are going hand in hand with attendance. Yes. With respect to like percentage drop. You know, the stadium would have been 50% more filled three years ago. The TV ratings would have been 50% higher three years ago than they are now. The fan base is leaving in droves. Drove. It has nothing to do with Brian Lafamina and his group of people. Nothing. And everything to do with the

owner, the team president, and all of the other people that have worked to create this dreadful product, an embarrassing product on the field. Actually, it's been mediocre on the field over the last three years, which tells you all you need to know, which is they've been thrilled with the results the last three years. They're better than any three-year span we've had here and forever. But it's just one thing after another, and I hope we are sitting here together one week from today. six days from five days from today on Tuesday and we are talking about a new head of football operations and a new head coach I do I don't want Bruce Allen or Jay Gruden back I think Jay Gruden's a nice guy too he's an average coach and I do understand the challenge of replacing him you know

Tommy I talked about the Swaranger thing which we'll get to because I want to read portions of your column because I really enjoyed your column as I always always do when I read it, when I can actually, you know, be patient enough to make it through the Washington Times website. But I think that there's this connection yesterday between Sweringer and what they are. And I'll just, I'll try to make it really brief. DJ Sweringer is the best they're going to do. He's a talented player, but clearly flawed. You know, there were great teams that didn't want him. And yesterday, there were only three teams that made claims to him.

The Raiders, the Packers, and the Cardinals. Not one playoff contender signed DJ Swaranger. Wanted him on their team for this weekend and a potential playoff run. Not one. I do think it's interesting that the Raiders that John Gruden put a claim in on him. That is very interesting. It's almost like he really doesn't care. He may be the big brother that thinks I can handle him.

Little brother can't. Unless Jay Gruden really didn't cut him. I thought of that too. But I heard that Jay Gruden was so frustrated by this. He should have been. He should have been. But what I want to, where I was going with this is that you are, the Redskins aren't going to attract the really talented players who are also spotless with respect to flaws.

You know, like just think about the free agents that they've signed here recently. Paul Richardson, injury-prone. Zach Brown can't cover. These are guys talented but flawed, whether it's a defect in their game, whether there's a personality issue, whether there's a teammate issue, whatever it is. Chris Long came in here in 2016 and said, no thank you. Yes. No thank you.

This organization can't attract those players anymore. I don't even want to get into the list of free agents that they've had to settle for. for other reasons, but it's the same thing in the front office. It's the same thing on the coaching front. Who of high quality? Quality people don't want to work for Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen. Bruce Allen was voted as the least trustworthy executive in the NFL by 25 NFL agents in a poll last spring.

This is a big problem that if Snyder doesn't recognize, because he's not selling the team. And he doesn't, again, I've said this, have an epiphany that he's presiding over the worst organization or a top five worst organization in all of professional sports and say, I'm going to bring a quality person in here and promise them that I'm not going to interfere contractually and turn it over to him. Until that happens, you're going to get DJ Swarangers. You're going to get talented players every once in a while, but with defects.

And remember this too, Tommy? I mentioned this yesterday. they don't have the ability that they used to have or the want that they used to have, and this is all Bruce, to pay 20% above retail to attract those people that don't really want to come here, but we'll take the money. Right. They don't do that anymore. They actually pay below retail most of the time. Yes. I mean, at one point this year, they had room, they had empty spots on their roster at one point this season.

Listen, one more thing about the Ruben Foster column and my predicament. a month ago DJ Swaranger calling me. No, no, no, my prediction a month ago that Lafamina would be gone. I, I, uh, well, it was related to the Rubin Foster signing. So, uh, I mean, I didn't have any special knowledge that Brian Lafamina was going to be going at that point.

Uh, in, in the media business, it was just logical that if, if you're brought in to change the perception of an organization. and they make a move like signing Rubin Foster, then you have no power. You have no power at all. That's all it was. It was just realizing what Brian Lafamina's role is and how it was damaged and diminished by that move.

And you can't, whether you're fired or you're quit, you're not long for the job after that because you're irrelevant. You don't count. Yeah, I mean, you connected the dots. That's it. They weren't hard to connect. Well, apparently they were because a lot of people looked at me like I had two heads,

and they'd say, that's a football decision. What would he have to do with a fight? I got that all the time. I won money. By the way, I won money from my boss at 106-7 a fan, Chris Kynard, who bet me 20 bucks and I was wrong. Yeah, well, we're, yeah, you weren't wrong about that. Look, I know what you're doing. with the football connection with Lafamina, the truth of the matter is he's not involved in the day-to-day

football stuff. But it is interesting that the reaction has been what it is, and it is that way because when he got here, you know, there were so many kind words said about him from not only the owner, right, but a lot of people and a lot of us that met him. Yes. And I did ask him, just if you're curious, I did ask him if he'd come on the podcast. I didn't think he would. And I have not gotten a response from him.

But my guess is that Brian has way too many, you know, he's got too much savvy and he's too smart to come on and talk about this. He's going to work somewhere in another organization or back in the league because he's competent. And he's not going to throw anybody under the bus on the way out. He's not going to do that. Because the people that he will end up working for, they'll know. Yeah. He won't even have to tell them. Right.

See, that's the thing. Look, you heard what Ben McAdoo said at the beginning of the season when he was assessing the NFC East. Oh, who cares what Ben McAdoo said? But he said Washington's Washington. That's what everybody in the league knows. That's what everybody in the business knows. Like Brian Lafamina's phone is likely ringing off the hook if it hasn't been for the last month or two anyway. And no one's going to even ask him about here because they'll know.

And they probably told him before he came. Yes. This isn't going to work out for you. So just when it ends, just give us a call. You got a place here. Let me ask you a question. Some of us believe that he was brought here at the urging of the league. I've never been able to confirm that.

Me neither. But it makes sense. It's a theory. We have no proof of that. But if that theory were to have some basis, in fact, will there be any pushback from Roger Goodell? and the NFL about this purge. Or they just sit back and there's this, there's Dan and Bruce, you know, I mean, what are we going to do?

I mean, you know, the thing, the thing about it, Tommy, is that, you know, somebody asked me this like two months ago. I remember specifically the question. They said, why would you, on this topic about the league putting Brian Lafamina into the organization, why would they do that? This is something that still today rings true in the league offices in New York. I guarantee it. They want the Redskins to be a better organization. They want them to be a quality organization that wins, at least occasionally. And the reason for that is if you look at this NFC East over the years,

these matchups between the Cowboys and the Redskins and the Cowboys and the Eagles and the Giants and the Redskins and the Giants and the Eagles, etc. These are the marquee television matchups of the year for the league. Over a long period of time, it still exists today, still look at how many times the Cowboys, the Cowboys are in a different category. I will grant you that. I'll concede that point. They always have been. They are the number one draw in the league. They have the most fans nationally and internationally of any team. But when you have these matchups and they're there every year in big spots Thanksgiving Day, Monday night, Sunday night, Thursday night, they're always being played these matchups. They will tell you that these

matches, do you remember Tommy? It was, uh, uh, it wasn't that many years ago. The Cowboys played the Redskins in a Sunday night game. There was the 2000, I'm going way far back now, and that's not what I was going to reference. The 2001 game, uh, the Cowboys were winless, Marty Schottinheimer's Redskins were winless. It was the highest rated Monday night game of the year in 2001. The highest Monday night rating they got all year between two winless teams. Now, we're going back 17 years. So something more current. And it was a recent year in which they played a Monday night game and neither team was great. And the number was the highest number that they had gotten all year. Now, I think there was another game or two later on that year that trumped it. But as of

that particular date, it was the number one rated game of the year. Redskins, Cal on Thanksgiving in 2016. Now, both teams were playing well. The Redskins were six, three, and one, and the Cowboys were nine in one. It's the highest rated game on Fox ever for an NFL game, ever. So there is still some juice to these NFC East games. And the Redskins, Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys being competitive teams and being winning teams, at least every once in a while, is good for the league. That's why they, want the Redskins to stop being an embarrassment to the league and start, you know, pulling their fair share. Yes. They'd like them to do that. Yes, they would. All right. I want to get to the Swaranger thing, but let me first tell you and everybody else about our favorites, Windonation. Got a couple of text messages yesterday from all the guys at Windon Nation. What's going on with your team? Eric's a big fan of the Redskins and he's he like a lot of us have really not a lot of hope right now but I hope

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86690 Nation or shopwindonation.com and tell them, I told you to call. All right, I spent a lot of yesterday talking about DJ Swaranger. So I'm going to do this because I really, really enjoyed the column. It's not just because you're here, and you know I'm a big fan of your column. and I don't know why bigger newspapers and online publications don't have you writing for them. It makes no sense to me. Let me just say, I'm very happy 26 years now with the Washington Times. They treat me very well, and the grass is not always greener on the other side.

And you like to be on your own without a lot of people telling you what to do. And this is a good situation for you there. Yes, it is. So Tommy wrote a column for yesterday, it may have been Christmas Day, for the Washington Times. Oh, it was for Wednesday's paper. Okay, so for yesterday's paper. Sweringer release shows honesty his best way to escape Redskins Asylum is the title of it. And he writes, well, now the Washington Redskins players know how to escape the asylum.

It's not by getting arrested for slugging someone on the streets of Ashburn at 2 a.m. And apparently it's not by being accused of beating a woman. Heck, that gets you in the waiting room. That gets you in the waiting room. No, the way to escape the madness of Redskins Park is by telling the world how bad things are. Who knew honesty would be so rewarded by the organization? And then I'm not going to read the whole column, but there is the line that I texted you about that just made me laugh out loud. You wrote, I know Sweringer may feel like a victim, but let's face it, he brought this on himself.

You can't publicly rip your bosses over and over without consequences. releasing him was likely the most severe consequence the Redskins thought they could hand out. But if they'd really wanted to punish him, they should have made him stay with his organization. That was great. There are a couple of other doozies. So obviously, you don't think that this was, like somebody sent me a text saying, do you think he did this on purpose to get the hell out of here? No.

No. No. I don't look, I was having fun with another ridiculous. situation. You know, in a way, here's how bad the Redskins are. Even when they do what is the right thing, it looks bad. I mean, look, you can't have a player constantly publicly criticizing your coaching staff. Of course not.

You can't do that. That's not allowed. But, you know, this organization, I mean, people, I mean, people are going to side with the guy who's saying what they say. This is what most fans say. Oh, he's still, people saw DJ Sweringer as a voice for the fan. I mean, so that's how bad this organization is, even when they do the right thing. And, you know, again, sending a message. I mean, my God, that ship has sailed a long time ago.

I mean, there's no messages to be sent. There's no culture to be changed. I mean, that, that's gone. That's gone. And look, you know what was funny? was when I posted that, and he got picked up by the Cardinals, then the argument that was taking place on social media, where was the worst place to play?

The Cardinals are the Redskins. And Redskins were trying to find some kind of solace in the fact that the Cardinals were bad too. I mean, you can't do what he did over and over and over again after being told, all right? Told by your head coach, you can't do this. Now, one of the things Jay Gruden admitted yesterday in his conference call that he wasn't clear enough that the consequence would be getting released,

I don't know why he would admit that. I mean, you don't have to spell out the consequence. Don't do this, or it's going to be a problem for you. And apparently it happened multiple times, and finally, he's just like, what are you doing? It was simple instructions. Yes. If you're pissed off at your coach or teammates or the fifth.

Fans tell us it shouldn't leave this building, but this guy didn't have enough self-control. And apparently, according to him, he did that. He told them whenever he had a chance, he basically said, somebody asked him that in the interview on 106-7 a fan. And he said, every time I come off the field, I tell them, which I pointed out my column, that must make Redskins sideline a regular holiday party, have him pitching every time they walk off the field. Well, well, you pointed this out too. Like, if you didn't think he was the smartest guy in the team, just ask him. Yes.

Because that was a big part of that interview on 106-7 with Grant and Danny. I'm a guru. Yeah. I just, it's just all laughable, the reaction, you know, of him getting cut. When he made those comments, that was a big part of Monday's show, which was Christmas Eve following the Tennessee game. Yeah, because he did somebody. He did the interview on 106-7. fan Monday. Later than a minute. Minutes after he had been caught. Exactly. So somebody said to me on

Twitter because I made the comment that John Allen's tweet, Greg Minusky did a great job coaching, was basically a shut the hell up, DJ. Okay. And somebody said, how do you know what he was saying? Well, John Allen apparently was the leader. I shouldn't say the leader. John Allen was a strong voice of get this guy out of our locker room. And we've seen. that. I want to read that tweet that he put out the other day. Hold on for a second. I'll find it. And, you know, look, anybody who played for Nick Saban is never going to be able to tolerate this. Exactly. I mean, you know, again, I mean, it doesn't matter if what he said, it's almost like the Ruben Foster thing. It doesn't matter if what he said is true. That does, that's, that's

irrelevant. Totally irrelevant. And it probably was true. It probably was true. And it wasn't just a shot at Minnowski. It was a shot at Jay Gruden, which he then took some more of talking about how lax the practices are. But if you're criticizing the head coach's defensive coordinator, well, the head coach hired him. Right. So you're criticizing your head coach as well. Yeah, no, he, everything he said is probably true. You know, Gruden's practices are too easy. Gruden's too laid back. Minnusky doesn't know what he's doing. Look, the results speak for themselves. Okay, so I don't think a lot of people are going to debate him And no one's going to debate that he wasn't a good player

Who played extremely hard Yes, you know, and probably prepared like he said he prepared Yes, you know, but you can't do what he did Right, and he's he's gonna be on Well, you've been able to do that in this organization What was surprising to me is that they actually made him accountable But I know that that wasn't the message necessarily But the result was hey, somebody was finally held accountable

Yeah, for acting like a child Yeah, but of all things. Of all things. And next year will be his 15 and 7 seasons in the NFL. That does tell you something. 100%. Especially for a guy who's talented. Not top level talented, but talented.

He'll help you win most of the time. You know, when it comes down to things like this and you debate among each other, you know, I debate with all of you who are also fans of the team and Tommy does as well, sometimes when it comes down to these decisions of, of basically, you know, releasing a player or benching a player or whatever it is. And people take the player's side. It's really hard to take the player's side when this, when Arizona was his fifth team in six years. And he's returning.

And he's talented. It's a return to Arizona. I know, but different coaching staff. Right. Different coaching staff. Yeah. So it's actually, it's the fourth team in six years, but really the fifth coaching staff. in six years for a talented player, you can't look away from that.

Those are the numbers that matter. And that is the kind of player. Unfortunately, the Redskins have to sign because the player that is just looking to be on his second team in six years doesn't want to come here. You know, the real talented player that is just looking to get paid, you know, by looking for a new start or a new organization is a top free agent, likes where he is and everybody likes him. And the team that he's played for is trying to resign him, that player is not coming here because that player has much better choices.

Yes. Much better choices. You know what? Oh, go ahead. No, go ahead. I was going to say, have we moved on from Lafamina Exodus and DJ Sweringer? We have, but I wanted to just go back to one thing that came up briefly. and just get our, we both think that what's happened here over the last week

shouldn't necessarily be taken or received as Bruce and Jay are definitely staying now. Like you, of course, Jay's staying. He was allowed to cut Sweringer. First of all, I don't really get that anyway. Maybe I'm missing something. A lot of people came to that conclusion immediately. I didn't even think of it that way. I don't know why Jay cutting D.J. Swaranger after telling this guy three times,

shut the F up. It wasn't just maybe I got so frustrated. Dan and Bruce had to sign off on it, or Bruce had to sign off on it, but I got enough people in my locker room that want him gone too. I don't know why that would be an indication that he's definitely coming back. I didn't come to that conclusion. Many of you did. I didn't, and I still don't. Bruce, Lafamina gone, I don't believe it was a total Bruce power play. I think you leaned in that direction. I think this had a lot to do with Dan's relationship with Brian Lofman as well or lack thereof of a relationship. It didn't take much to convince Dan if Bruce was going to do that.

Okay, fair enough. So I just want to get on record right now. Do you think Bruce and Jay, we'll take them one at a time, is Bruce coming back? You know, even though, you know, I've heard that this was a Hail Mary in part because they feel vulnerable, I still think Bruce is back because, I mean, look, Bruce now is back to being the only stadium guy. And they're, the stadium push is, is getting, is getting down to the last not. Laphimina wasn't, wasn't significantly involved in the stadium thing. Okay. But that's part of his expertise. Yes. And they probably could have used him had Bruce gone. Yeah. So now who's left

to handle that? So I still think Bruce stays. I still think Bruce stays. I still think Jay stays. I think Bruce goes. Wow. But I think Bruce ends up staying in some capacity as a consultant or under contract to see the stadium deal through on behalf of Dan. This is right now, I sense this is. Tell me if I'm wrong. I sense this is very much a minority opinion. Don't you think most people think they're both back? Yes. Okay. I think, I don't know anything. thing. And I've said this before. The people that I know who would know don't know, they don't right now. They did know about Brian Lafamina. They did know that that wasn't going very well. I think Bruce is gone. I think I just there's, you can't find one person fan or used to be fan that thinks that bringing Bruce Allen back is a good idea. This,

Tommy, is it possible that he has become more despised than Vinnie Serrato? He actually is more despised than Vinny Serrano. Oh, yeah. Is it possible that people actually think that he's even less competent than Vinny Serrato at this point? No, I think the difference is incompetence and evil. I really do think that, I mean, when I borrowed the nickname from Tampa, Prince of Darkness, he's earned that nickname. I think people perceive Bruce Allen to be far more evil and manipulative than Vinny Serrado, who was just clueless. Fair enough.

Is it accurate to say that the feeling of Bruce has to go is stronger than it was for even Vinny in 2009? Yes. I think it might be. I think it is. I think it is because Bruce Allen, Bruce Allen, Bruce Allen solicits a far more negative reaction. Again, he's more of a lightning rod than Vinnie Serrano, who we all kind of thought was, you know,

just a big dope. Yeah, the accidental sport, you know, general manager. Right, who basically was just executing what the owner wanted anyway. Yeah, I mean, Vinic Serrano. He didn't have many good ideas of his own. No. In a political battle, Vinnie Serrata was unarmed.

In a political race right now, if Vinny's running against Bruce Allen, Vinny would probably win. Probably. What? That's a good poll. Vinny or Bruce? But I guess getting back to my main point is, don't you think at some point even if he is totally detached,

totally insecure, totally delusional about what his franchise is, that he's at least heard that Bruce Allen is despised even more than Vinny. But if you're despised as well, aren't you talking to yourself into saying it's them, not us? Or maybe he likes the fact that Bruce is even more despised than he is. I don't know. But I'm just, okay, on the record, I'm going to say that Bruce exits his day-to-day football operation role, that he's no longer the team president, that somehow he may still be involved in the stadium deal, in the politics of the stadium deal, which is from everything I've heard

over the years is, he comes from a political family, that this is his strength, you know, that administrative and financial and then political, you know, all that stuff is what he does well. Football not so well, as we know. Jay Gruden, I'm going to, okay, on Jay Gruden, you first. I think he's still here. Because he's, if nothing else, he's likable. Jay Gruden, I now believe, will be back for next season. Because I think that the people that will replace Bruce are in the building now.

I think it is a combination of Kyle Smith and Eric Schaefer and Doug Williams. and I don't know how they're going to sell all this together instead of one person being in charge. And I don't think that that's the right strategy. I think you've got to have somebody that's in charge and has the autonomy to run the football operation and is competent and proven. But if Kyle Smith is what everybody says he is,

which is the next star that they're going to lose eventually, to a good organization that recognizes his quality and elevates him, then if he's elevated within the organization, then Jay stays. Because right now, there will be recognition, I would think, maybe between Eric Schaefer and Kyle Smith. Next year's going to be a rough year. So what's the point of bringing in the new guy now when we already are paying Jay? Absolutely. You know?

I agree with that. I mean, that's not the way you want to start off the regime of the new guy. when you're paying $40 million to quarterbacks, most of whom can't play. It's three things on why I think Jay stays. If there is a change with Bruce, which I believe there will be, it'll be within. So people who are familiar with Jay, like Jay. But really it's a rough year next year. He's under contract for two more.

You don't want to have him walk and pay him. two more years. And then the third thing that I didn't mention is just there will be seven, eight, maybe nine teams in the market for head coaches and what appears to be a limited candidate pool. And if, again, they're delusional and arrogant. So they may think they're at the top of the pecking order on that. They're not. Someone out there knows that they're not going to get the crem de la creme. They're not going to get the top of that candidate pool. And, And therefore they're going to have to settle for something, you know, that maybe Jay Gruden they believe is just as good as.

So I'm Bruce is gone. This is my position today is Bruce is gone. Jay stays. You know, the one thing about Bruce being gone, if he's not completely gone, he will stay involved in the football operation. He may be given the title of stadium consultant. He may be told. Not if he moves to California.

He can't stop. What, the phones don't work in California? No, he's not, he's not, if they, if he moved, I'm saying he moves on. Right. I'm saying that maybe he's kept on as a consultant to see the stadium thing through, but he's not telling Doug Williams, you know, Kyle Smith and Eric Schaefer, hey, don't answer your phones this morning. I just made a trade.

No, he's not, but he's going to be out of that. He's still telling Dan Snyder what he should do with the football operation. I mean, unless Bruce is gone, he's never gone. So that's the name of that, too. Are we done with this? I wanted to mention one of the quick thing. The Sunday is an interesting day. Well, this is what I wanted to talk about.

Okay, then go. You know, with all this, they're going to win Sunday. No, they're not. They're going to win. No, they're not. All this, they're going to win. Okay. So it's sort of in the same direction, but for different reasons.

The thing that would make, this week even worse in the last you know the last month even worse for Dan and Bruce is if Philadelphia

wins if Minnesota wins or if Minnesota loses and Philadelphia loses they do not want Kirk Cousins in the postseason I know that for a fact oh yeah

they do not want to see Minnesota make the postseason now at this point It's like a lot of people have probably moved on and won't care as much. But they will see it as if he gets in the postseason and God forbid wins a couple of games or makes a run with that team, it would just make it so much worse. They are rooting very much against them. So if Minnesota were to lose the game and Philadelphia loses the game, Minnesota's still in. Still in.

So I don't think the Redskins are good enough to beat a Philadelphia team that's interested anyway. don't think they are. But given the, given the, given the, the bizarre world we live in, I mean, of all times for the Redskins to win a game when they're, I mean, when they, when they, when they have sunk to a new low of embarrassment and dysfunction, playing with a, a quarterback who was on the street a couple weeks ago, of course they're going to beat the Super Bowl defending champions. Why don't you go find out if Jay Gruden finds this game to be super important to get to eight and eight. Yes, to get to eight. Because last year you thought it was so important because he said it was.

I thought it was kind of funny that the coach would say that. The coach would put such important on it. And I'll bet he does it again before Sunday. And if he does, it'll be even further proof that it really doesn't mean anything. It just doesn't mean anything at all. I do like, and Cooley's going to be on the show tomorrow. So tune in for that because I was talking to him last. night and he really likes

Josh Johnson. He thinks Josh Johnson's definitely coming back for a chance to compete for what could be an open starting job position, at least at the beginning of the year. Real quickly on my good friends at Ferris, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and

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You can see all of their live inventory, live pricing, and best deals right there. All right, let's bring in Adam Schaefter from ESPN. We haven't talked to Adam in a while. Thanks for doing this on short notice. It's always appreciated. You know, it's always something. with this organization here in Washington. We know that. We're used to it. We've been here before. We've been at rock bottom before. It actually seems like a new rock bottom. And the news came out yesterday about Brian Lafamina. What was your reaction? What are you hearing? I honestly had not heard a whole lot about it other than the basic facts of the case because I'm not usually tracking, you know, financial guys and their futures. I'm busy tracking

head coaches and general managers. And so that one was like, whoa, okay, well, there's a shakeup for a guy that was just brought on board within the past year who had a really good reputation. And it seemed like a rather sudden, abrupt, and radical change right away. But I don't have any insight to tell you, boy, you know, we'd heard this was coming. Boy, here's what happened. You guys would know more about it than I would. You know, Adam, I mean, in the 21st century at this point, I mean, and I'm,

you know, sort of like a lone voice on this a lot of times. But the business of football is football. In other words, it's all connected. We have these business guys and we say, well, they're not football guys. But you've seen yourself how the perception of a decision made on the football side can damage an organization all the way through. So I don't think you can separate the two as much as you used to. That's fair.

That's fair. Tom, I'm not arguing that. Again, it's just, in my world, you know, I don't think fans are out there wondering what the future of Brian De La Famina is, right? So it's not like I'm tracking that one.

Like they would be interested in Jake Ruden. And what do you think happens there? Yeah. Well, we've talked, you know, it's so funny about this and you know this about us in this particular city is that we've spent more time talking about their dysfunction

off the field, then what's happened on the field, which has been just as porous, you know, over a long period of time. I want to get to Jay, and I want to get to Bruce in a moment. But, you know, you've spent a lot of time with us and other people, you know, in the market over the years talking about this team. The last month, I mean, the Ruben Foster signing, the, you know, the DJ Swaranger release, the Lafamina stuff. I mean, does it just reek to you of same old, same old? in terms of the organization? Well, I think what's interesting to me is that every time this organization seems like it's on the right

track and going in a positive direction and close to kind of getting over the hump, they suffer setbacks. Like, they just can't get over the hump for whatever reason. Like, they were really close this year to competing in that division and even winning the division. All of a sudden, the quarterback gets hurt, terrible injury.

All these other things begin to happen. And all of a sudden, now we're left talking about the Redskins and the way we've always talked about the Redskins when they seemed to be close to getting over that hump. And then it just went all sideways on them. Okay, so that is one interpretation, by the way, and it's not an unjustified one, that they were making progress. They were six and three. They were in first place by two games going into that Houston game in which Alex Smith got hurt. Now, you know, watching every play of every game, I think

most of us thought, you know, not that it was fraudulent by any stretch of the imagination, but that there wasn't a huge upside with the way they had been playing to get to six and three. Like, they weren't on the level of the Rams or the Saints or the Bears or, you know, even probably a couple of other teams. But they were six and three. They were. They were six and three. And Dallas was floundering.

And Philly was dead. And the Giants were in the basement. and it was all there for them. And you could say they're not as good as those teams, and that's fine. I'm not going to argue with that. But the fact of the matter, you're just trying to get into the postseason, create some momentum, and take your chances at that point in time. You don't know if your team is going to get hot.

And they were six and three, and they were ready to do it. And then it just unraveled, like, quick. So I would ask this, because you asked about Jay, do you think because of that, because you can look at last year and then this year and all of the injuries that derailed potentially two playoff type of seasons. Do you think Jay ends up back in Washington next year? You know, my guess would be yes, but I don't have any great insight right now as to say that he is or will not be good football coach. He's a lot of bad things this year.

But what Dan Snyder is going to decide, I don't know that right now. So I'd be as interested in your guys' guess. on this is mine. Tommy and I just did this 20 minutes ago. I think Bruce, and I want to get your feelings on Bruce, I think there's a chance that Bruce exits next week, perhaps stays on as some sort of consultant to the stadium issue, getting the new stadium done because he's been intimately involved in that particular

issue. But I can tell you this, Adam. Bruce is probably more despised by the fan base or what what's left of it than even Vinnie Serato was. So that's my feeling on Bruce. I want to get your feeling on Bruce. The one thing on Bruce, I would say, is Bruce is very savvy and Bruce is very smart, and Bruce knows how to play things just right, always.

I mean, that's one of his strengths. And so you may be right about your Bruce prediction. I don't know what you're basing it on, and I'm not feeling it's wrong or right, I don't know. Bruce is a survivor and there have been plenty of times when we thought the Redskins would make changes and they never have. They've been, by and large, a fairly stable organization in the main places where it matters.

And so, you could tell me Bruce will be out, and that's one of those things that I guess I'd believe it when I see it. Not to say that it won't happen, but again, Bruce is very smart about positioning himself, always. You know, that's so, I mean, look, Adam, you know the league better than anybody. And there is this, there's a totally different perception of Bruce Allen locally than there is apparently within the industry.

Because if he's a really smart guy, he hides it really well here. Well, he is. I know. I'm just telling you, he is. Okay. And, and I know that, yeah, I understand what you're saying about the fan base. and his feelings and, you know, what's transpired during his tenure there, and the results have not been with Redskins fans.

I'm just telling you, he's a smarter guy as there isn't a league. I'm just telling you right now. But they do a lot of dumb things. Yeah, that's also true. They've done a lot of dumb things over the last nine years that have been embarrassing to the organization. And I don't know if it's that he just doesn't care or he just, you know, perhaps isn't with respect to a lot of these things.

hadn't figured them out. Look, let me make sure I'm clear on one thing that I'm hearing from you, and if I'm not hearing it correctly, you'll correct me. Is your lean that Bruce Allen stays? I'm not leaning anyway on Bruce. Because I don't have any intimate knowledge about whether he's staying or going. I'm aware of all the speculation, and you're telling me that you think he's going to be out. That'd be your guest.

I would ask you, what do you base that on? I'm in the minority with this opinion. I think most people actually believe that he's coming back. There are a couple of things. Number one is that the erosion of this fan base has accelerated, Adam, this year. There's tangible evidence that television ratings locally are significantly down. Other games are outrating Redskin games in the market. It's not that people aren't watching football.

They're not watching Redskins football. I think that may be a fantasy result as much more than a Redskins result, but we could debate that. We're talking about big games. We're talking about the Redskins Eagles game on a Monday night for first place would have done double the rating three or four years ago that it did hear locally on that particular night with no other football going on. You're talking about attendance that is significantly down for the first time ever,

or certainly since 1966, there won't be one game that sold out. And worse than that, and that may have been the case over the years and they were sort of fake sellouts. But this year you had half-empty stadiums, and when they were half-empty or even three-quarters full, which on occasion that was what you saw, it was filled with 30, 40, 50% of the opponent's fans. I think Dan Snyder, if he recognizes the acceleration

of this erosion of his fan base, and that a lot of the ire, a lot of the fans' ire, is directed towards Bruce, because it's directed towards Dan, but Dan's not selling the team. I just don't know how, from a business standpoint, he moves forward with Bruce Allen in that role. What is he selling? He's got nothing to sell. That's my main reason.

I think you go back to Tom's point. You sell football. You sell a winning team. You make some moves that excite the fan base, whatever those are. And I don't know what the next move is. They made, I thought, a wise move in trading for Alex Smith that basically, covered up the quarterback mistakes that they've made over time, and then he suffers that injury that we don't know when or if he'll be able to come back. And now that becomes a

real problem because if he can't come back, you know, again, his health is the most important thing. But if he can't come back, then financially it becomes a huge burden to the Redskins against the cap salary-wise. It becomes difficult to maneuver to go get another quarterback. So, again, I think you want to sell hope to the fans like any team, but that becomes hard to do if the quarterback is physically incapable of coming back. And what I'm saying to you is if Bruce Allen comes back, there's no hope to be sold, because there's too much apathy, Adam. Anger is a better emotion for them. There are too many people that are completely apathetic about the franchise. Well, you're there, and I'm not.

and I don't know how fans are here. It's my view. On Jay Gruden, this is what I said to Tommy earlier. I think Jay stays because, number one, they owe money. Number two, if Bruce is gone, they'll elevate from within, Kyle Smith, Eric Schaefer, etc. And number three, the candidate pool may be so significant with, or the openings may be so significant with limited candidates. And let's face it, this isn't the number one destination point for a top-level candidate. Again, I think any team that's making a change always has to make a determination, right?

Are you better with the guy we have or the guy that you think you could get? And if you decide that you don't want Jay Gruden, who are you hiring that you believe is better than Jay Gruden? And I think that's the question that everybody always has to answer. And if they're doing their due diligence and they go through all that and they figure out who those candidates would be, who is plausible that landing. and then whether they believe that they're better off with that guy. You know, you mentioned the trade for Alex Smith, and it did give them some cover for the quarterback decisions that they failed to make previously.

What they're going to be paying for now is, and I don't mean to be insensitive to Alex Smith, is I don't understand the urgency of then turning around and giving him a four-year contract extension the minute he got here, unless it's only to show the fan base that we're not going to make the same mistake twice, unless it's a perception issue. Listen, I think that you've got a quarterback that you believe in, a guy that's been a real pro,

and they just felt like, you know what, let's get ahead of it, and let's commit to him now before the prices on Aaron Rogers and some of these other quarterback deals come in, before Kirk Cousins comes in. So let's lock him in at a friendly rate, and let's get ahead of it, as opposed to chasing it the way they had been doing in recent years. And I think the idea of it, the theory of it was right. It just, due to the injury, unfortunately, has a chance to not work out.

Let's real quickly, because I know you've got little time. So two more minutes real quickly on the NFL. Who's the top candidate, coaching candidate for all of these openings? like the top two or three. I think it's hard to say because it's sort of a muddled candidate pool this year. It's not like in other years where there have been certain guys that just jump out. But if I had to say guys that I think the NFL is really talking about, you know, I think Lincoln Riley is a name that jumps out there if he were willing to leave.

I still think Josh McDaniels is out there as a coveted guy. Mike McCarthy having let go John Harbaugh I know he's got year left Do they get a new deal worked out? Do they not? I thought they did get a new deal. I thought they did get a new deal.

I thought they extended it. No, no. No, they announced that they're going to keep him but they have not gotten close to a new deal just yet. It doesn't mean that they won't get there. Interesting. And so that's where we're at with that right now. So that doesn't mean that, you know,

another team, you know, John Harbour can just have to play it out or another team can make a run. That's still not a fully settled situation, despite the fact that the Ravens announced that he'll be back. You know one of the things that's interesting, I think, is some of these coaches that could potentially be let go are really strong defensive coaches like Todd Bowles or Ron Rivera. Bowles in particular I've always been a massive fan of.

He'd get a job immediately as a defensive coordinator, right? Yeah, that's correct. Yep. What else do you have for Adam? except happy new year. Yeah, happy new year. Thanks for doing it on short notice. I noticed, and I just saw this, that you tweeted out that, and this is interesting, that Chicago would be a three and a half point favorite at home against Minnesota,

but a five and a half point favorite over Philadelphia, Tommy, which means Vegas actually is starting to look at Minnesota, and I think it's their defense in particular, as more legitimate if they get into the postseason. That surprised me, because I think people, Adam, think that if Philadelphia gets in, they're super dangerous. Listen, and that's what I was talking about with Washington earlier, is getting in. I mean, if you're playing good football at that time, you're peeking, confidence, momentum,

health, the whole thing, which obviously didn't happen for Washington. You don't know what's going to happen. You know, there weren't people that were looking at Minnesota earlier in the year as a team boy that was, to be reckoned with. They were struggling. And now, you know, they're bouncing back. They're running out of football a little bit. you know, I think people feel pretty good about Minnesota if they get to the postseason.

So, well, you know, that's what makes the postseason so interesting. It gets going and maybe a team in the opening round in the wildcar round that snuck in, wins a game, starts believing in itself, and you don't know what's going to happen. Can't wait for it. Hey, thanks so much as always. And happy new year to you. Kevin, Tom, happy near to you and everybody in the Washington area. All right.

Let's get to Tommy's favorite portion of the week. NFL Power Poll. Wrencomb 1 to 5. It's time for our weekly NFL PowerPow. All right, I'm not going to let you go first this week. I'm going to go first this week because I don't really, I don't like listening to you talk about this stuff when you barely even put it together. And you're putting it together as we speak. Well, you know what?

If you don't like it, just think about the people listening to the podcast. All right. Well, here's why I like, and it's not that I like this segment. I just like talking about the NFL, especially when my team, they're just, they're out of it. They're not really in the NFL. They're not really in the NFL. I'm actually really looking forward to this NFL postseason. So am I.

I think it's been an exciting season. I think we've had these swings of wild, crazy games with unbelievably high-scoring offense. And now over the last month, we've seen some incredible defense emerge. My top five, I'm giving you the five teams, actually it's six. I'm sorry. Well, then that's not the top five, then. All right. I'm going to eliminate a team here that isn't going to make sense to anybody.

But I'm going to give you the top five teams in order of them in terms of their chances of winning the Super Bowl. I think number one on that list is New Orleans. They would be my favorite to win the Super Bowl. Number two on that list are the L.A. Rams. I still think the Rams have enough, even though they've had some injuries here. I still think they've got enough to win the Super Bowl. Houston is my number three team, and they're coming off a loss. The third team that I would pick to win the Super Bowl, not get there, win it, is Houston.

The fourth team may not even qualify for the playoffs, but I think they've got a chance to win the Super Bowl, and that is Baltimore, is my number four team. Waiting for your reaction to that. you'll have to wait. Okay. Baltimore is my number four team. Again, they may not even be in the postseason,

but right now I would say they've got the fourth best chance to win the Super Bowl. And the only reason I put them ahead of my fifth ranked team in this week's NFL power pole, the Chargers, is because Baltimore likely will host at least one game to get through the postseason. The Chargers are going to have to win three in a row. And let's face it, the Ravens' best.

beat the shit out of the Chargers the other night. So having the Chargers ahead of Baltimore at this point, after what happened the other night, I just thought you would mock me on. And I don't think the Chargers are better than the Ravens right now. The biggest problem the Ravens will have is I don't think they're capable of coming back against anybody if they fall behind. No, they're not.

But that's my top five. So I left Chicago out of there, and I left Kansas City out of there. So go ahead. I left New England out of there, too. Well, I'm going to do a combination of the best teams in the NFL in week 17 and the teams you wouldn't want to play if you were going into the playoffs. And the Saints are number one, just like you. The Rams are number two, just like you. I'm going to put the Bears at number three.

I have the Bears at number three. I'm going to put the Ravens at number four. Okay. I agree with you. I agree. I mean, the teams I don't want to play, the Ravens. And they may not even make it because Cleveland is going to be a tough game for them on Sunday. And I still think the Chiefs are more competitive that you think, and they're going to be in my 15.

So I'm leaving the Patriots out. I'm very disappointed in what the Chargers did. my all-L-A Super Bowl is probably not going to happen. I left the Chargers out. So that's my top five. So Houston, if you're wondering why I've got Houston that high, and they just lost to Philadelphia, is that I just look at them, first of all,

they're going to play a home game, more likely than not. If they beat Jacksonville, I mean, I guess theoretically, they could still lose the division, right? a loss and an Indy win. I think Indy wins the division. They're not going to lose to Jacksonville on Sunday. So Houston's going to get a home game.

They're not going to be the two-seed, which would have been a huge advantage. But if they win that first round game against Indy or Tennessee, which it most likely will be, I think they go to New England and win. I think Houston's good enough. I think they're better than the Patriots. I mean, I don't know what we're going to see from the Patriots in the postseason. Betting against them has been insane. costly over the years when you've thought that they were down a little bit.

Houston's better than New England, and I think that puts them in an AFC title game, potentially at home against a Baltimore, or, you know, Pittsburgh's still a possibility. Yeah. You know, there's still a possibility because the Ravens have a very difficult game on Sunday that they have to win, and the Steelers have the much easier division finale against Cincinnati. But I just, I see the Ravens going to Arrowhead, a game that they could have one, maybe should have one, and having the ability to win in the postseason. And then maybe, I think we see a Baltimore at Houston, AFC championship game. That's why I have them three and four here. The one and two,

even though I think Chicago's capable of going on the road and winning a game, I still would favor. I mean, New Orleans is going to be a touchdown favorite at home over anybody, including Aaron the Rams. And in an NFC title game, if New Orleans wins the divisional round game and is hosting against the Rams, that line may be as high as seven. It could be with the way the Rams have played recently. What was it the first go-round? Three and a half? Three? Yeah, it was around three. And then the Chargers, I still think, are so capable. They just played one of the teams that is just nasty right now, and it wasn't a good matchup for them. Man, did Philip Rivers in that charge or offense look pedestrian against that Baltimore defense. That was very disappointing. Can I

ask you a question? You may. Are we going to keep doing this in like March or April? We're going to stop, aren't we? Yeah, this was it. Is this it? The last one? This was the last one. Is there a cake? It's a regular season segment. Is there a cake? It's a celebrate or anything like that? We're not going to start after the Super Bowl doing 2019 and then draft power rankings. We never did that. We just did this during the season. Yeah, the cake's in the refrigerator. I'm keeping it cold. It's really yummy. Just don't leave it out in the range. I wouldn't leave it out in the rain. I've got a smell test here for today.

I had Boston College yesterday plus two against Boise. They were up 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, and then Storms came in, and Tommy, they stopped playing the bowl game. They canceled it. So it's a non-transaction. It's a non-play in Vegas, so I don't get the credit for the win. And it wasn't a win at that point, but I would have been really upset had it been 28 to nothing when they canceled the game.

That doesn't seem right. you should be able to go to the National Weather Service and get paid or something like that. Three games today. I've got two smell test picks. Miami's laying two and a half against Wisconsin. Wisconsin's had a bad year, a year in which they were a pick by many, right, Aaron, to be a playoff team before this season started. They lost early to BYU. They lost games to Northwestern. They got blown out by Minnesota at the end of the year. It's just not a very good team with a really tough quarterbacking situation in particular. I am surprised, though, that Miami's favored in this game. Now, I gave Miami out late in the season against Pitt as a six-point favorite,

against Virginia Tech as a six-and-a-half-point favorite. They played really well at the end of the year. I think they're going back to the other quarterback for the game today, Rozier. I think they are doing that. that. But regardless, none of that ever matters in the smell test. What matters is that the public's on Wisconsin, and there's a little bit of sharp money on Miami. Rosier is the quarterback. And I actually like Rosier. I think he's actually decent. Take the canes, lay the two and a half against Wisconsin in the pinstreet bowl at Yankee Stadium. Then tonight, if you're not doing anything, now I've

given you a reason to do something. You got a game to watch Baylor plus four and a half in the Academy Sports and Outdoors Texas Bowl. All right, that's tonight. I'm sure you've been waiting for it. Vanderbilt's laying four and a half against a Baylor team that for whatever reason people don't believe in. Vandy's played pretty well at times this year. They had a huge win over Tennessee at the end of the year.

They beat Ole Miss. You know, they were close in that Florida game early in the year when Florida had just beaten LSU and they had a big lead. They blew it. They were close against Kentucky. Vanderbilt's pretty good. pretty good on defense too. Baylor can score. Baylor beat Texas Tech to end the season. I like Baylor Baylor plus the four and a half. That line opened at six. It's down to four and a half,

which indicates sharp money on Baylor. So there you go. Two smell test picks for the day. Miami-Lang two and a half and Baylor plus four and a half. And I am 46, 17, and one over the last six weeks. So what tropical island are you going to with your winning this all season? I've been looking at a lot of brochures. Okay. I have been. And so the wife and I will make a choice. And it would be great if she bet with me.

It'd be so much fun. I have a friend of mine whose wife bets with him all the time. Really? Yeah. And it's a makes for a great relationship. Wow. That's pretty unique. Until you lose.

A couple that wins together or loses together. Wow. I've never heard that before. I know. I've heard about it a couple of times. actually recently. All right, there you go. Thanks for coming in today. You'll be back next week. And you've picked the Redskins over the Eagles. Yes, I'm not really. Oh, okay. I just thought, I can't do that. I just said that would be just so bizarre in in this bizarre

a world we live in with the Redskins for them to win a game like this. But no, they're not going to win. The Eagles have to win. This is going to be a disaster. All the way around. You had something else, though. Yeah. Well, first of all, I wanted to remind everybody, you can hear me on 1067 the fan. typically every Wednesday with Chad Dukes from 4 to 6. Andy Paulin from 9 to noon. On Saturdays and Sundays. Now starting Sundays as well. He was on with, who was he on with Sunday?

Because he had me called me. I forget who he was on. Was it Earl? Earl. It might have been Earl. But Andy and I are going to be on Saturdays now and Sunday mornings on 106-7 a fan. And this Friday we're actually filling, no, this Friday, we're actually filling in for Chad Dukes from two.

to six, and Monday, New Year's Eve, we're on from five to eight. All right. So, getting a lot of work here. Five to eight p.m. Okay. Five day p.m. But the other thing I wanted to say is I wanted another award. Oh, God.

Jesus. We got to hear about this one. Would you win? Go ahead. Well, the Boxing Writers Association of America has an award called the Nat Fleischer Award. And it's for lifetime achievement in boxing. Boxing Journalism Excellence. And Jim Murray has won this award before.

Wow. Red Smith has won this award. Big names. Dave Anderson. Wow. Didn't he just pass away? Yes, he did. Bill Gilday from the Washington Post has won this award.

And I am the 2018 winner. This might be the most impressive award you've ever won. Am I right? A lot of these other awards are sort of obscure awards. No offense. But this one sounds like a big award. big deal. This is a big deal.

Will you have to go out to Vegas and make a speech? Well, they haven't figured out if they're having the dinner in Dallas and March or Vegas in May. They usually have the dinner around a big fight. So I'll know by next month where exactly it will be. Well, that's great. Congratulations. But thank you.

Yeah, I'm very honored to do it to win it because I love covering boxing when boxing existed. I would like people to, I'd like people to read you. I'd like more people to read your stuff. It is really, really good. You know I feel that way genuinely. Your columns are outstanding. Oh, thank you. All right.

Have a good Thursday and weekend, and I'll see you on Tuesday. No, you won't. It's New Year's Day. Oh, it's New Year's Day. I won't see you on New Year's Day. I'll see you next Thursday. Right. I mean...

I looked at you and I'm like, what am I missing? Oh, yeah, it's New Year's Day. Yeah. And we're not going to work on New Year's Day. Hey, you know what? You got the day off on Tuesday. No, actually... Andy and I are doing 8 to noon on New Year's Day too.

Great. Enjoy that. I'll be off on New Year's Day. All right, thanks. I'll see you next week. All right. Thanks to Aaron. Thanks to Tommy. Thanks to Adam Schepter. Have a great day.