The Kevin Sheehan Show - Can Commanders Continue To Ride Jayden?

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Kevin and Thom today on whether or not the Commanders can continue to ride their rookie quarterback (Jayden Daniels) successfully in the playoffs. The boys talked RFK site, trading for NFL coaches, phone numbers on bathroom stalls, and the Dylan movie...."A Complete Unknown".   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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

Call them at 86690 Nation or head to Window Nation. If you need new windows. Man, you picked a good time to head to Florida, didn't you? I mean, it is, I just went out before we started to record. the podcast and I just went out. I had to run a quick errand and it is cold, brother. Cold, windy, the roads are still icy. You got out just in time. Good for you. I know. I know. It's cold here. Make no mistake about for this area. Yeah. Okay. I mean, and the wind comes off the Gulf, which makes it a little bit colder. Brutal. I mean, I have to wear a sweatshirt when I go outside.

What is it? 63 today? No, it's 46 degrees here. Okay. Well, 46 in the morning. It's not 46 there now. No, it's 46 right now. It is? I'm going to look that up right now on my phone, on my little...

The high today is only 48 degrees. Huh? The high today is only 48 degrees. I don't know if I believe you. Hold on. Why would I make it up? To impress you about the weather? High 49 degrees today.

Current temperature. in Miramar Beach, 48 degrees. What did you just tell me? 46. Okay. 46. I pointed to my act. Yeah, that's chilly.

That's chilly. Yeah. True. Yeah. But you know what you can do? You can get into a car and you can drive without ice and snow on the roads. You know what I... Actually, we're on the ninth floor, and you walk out on our balcony, and it's a sunny day.

So it feels good on the balcony. Right. It's just down at the balcony. bottom, you know, the wind is really blowing down there. Yeah. I was going to say something, but I'm going to decide not to say it. But I'll just give you a clue as to what I was going to rail against. There are certain jurisdictions in the DMV that do snow removal much better than other

jurisdictions. I live in D.C. And I used to live in Maryland. where I used to live does it much better, much better. But anyway, let's hope they do a – let's hope D.C. does the stadium, you know, the right way. Because they're going to have a chance to do that. Don't you think at this point? It would – again, they could get in – what could get in the way are their own politics.

Mm-hmm. that's probably the only roadblock. Right, but you're, you now believe that the chances are much greater than not that the new stadium for our football team here ends up in D.C. on the RFK site. Yeah, it's totally transparent and clear now, even though we knew it behind the scenes, that the ownership clearly wants it at the RFK site. Right. Okay. Look, with any project like this, there's always going to be obstacles.

Doesn't mean they can't be overcome. Right. You know, I had, and this guy's been doing a phenomenal job covering the D.C. Stadium story. Eric Flack from Channel 9. I had them on radio today with me. and he mentioned that, you know, kind of there was always this kind of, you know, ace up the sleeve kind of a deal with Schumer, you know, at one o'clock in the morning, basically getting the RFK site bill passed through some sort of procedural move.

If they didn't get it done the normal way attached to the rider and the bill passed. Because remember, Schumer had said, guys have to deal with Maryland. You know, sorry, I can't help you. But apparently that was always something that the mayor in particular knew they could get done. He's done such a great job reporting on this story, Eric Flack from Channel 9. Love him. Have him on radio all the time.

But did you, in all of your reporting, did you have a sense that that was something they could turned to if all else failed? Well, the only reason I knew that was because the great Eric Flack reported it. Right. Okay, good. That's what I thought. That's the only way I knew about that. Yes. You know? I figured. I had no other way to know about it. Right. Yeah, he does such a great job covering this story. Okay. I hope you should flip on the ice when you get out of there.

All right. So tell me what you thought. out of the game on Sunday. Oh, man. You know, I watched it in a sports bar because it wasn't on local TV here. Right. And I watched it with my brother-in-law who was watching the Eagles game on a different TV because he was an Eagles fan, you know, sports bar multiple TVs. And, you know, my sense of it is that it was probably the worst performance that I recall

them having this year. and it's amazing that they found a way to win. It's not because the Cowboys are such a bad team, and that Cowboys team with their third-string quarterback was particularly bad. So as bad as the commanders could play, they could never fall too far behind from being one or two big plays away, and that's what Marcus Marietta got them. But it's indicative of what I wrote in my column in today's,

paper is that's not going to cut it against Tampa. That's not going to work. What happened against New Orleans, what happened, you know, against Atlanta, what happened against Dallas, that's not going to work for Tampa in the playoff. They're going to have to get full participation from the full team for a change. Yeah. I kind of said the exact same. thing yesterday. And that is, you know, they're on a five-game winning streak, but they have not played all around winning football. And, you know, we have to, look, I'm not, I'm so thrilled to be able to sit here and do a

podcast on January 7th. By the way, 19 years ago to the day that Washington won their last playoff game. It's been 19 years since they won a playoff game. 19 years ago today, they won in Tampa in the wild card round beating them 17 to 10 with Mark Brunel throwing for 41 total yards, which is still the fewest passing yards in a playoff win in the modern era of football. So I'm so thrilled to be, you know, getting ready, gearing up. for Sunday night. And not only that, let me also just emphasize and feel like they have a chance. Not only to win Sunday night, but to go on and give other teams that they might play the following

week, either Detroit, Minnesota, or the Rams, depending on what happens, a tough game too. This is not all due respect. This is not, you know, Taylor Heineke against the Buccaneers in 2020. You know, this is a legitimate team offensively with a legitimate NFL star quarterback that gives you a chance. But to your point, and I talked a lot about this on the pod yesterday, look at who they have beaten here. You know, in order, Cooper Rush, they lost two, Will Levis, a combination of Jake Hainer and Spencer Rattler, Kenny Pickett, who came in and played seven-eighths of that game, Michael Pennix Jr. in his second game in Trey Lance. And in that five-game winning streak, after they lost a Cooper Rush,

four of those wins are by a grand total of 14 points in aggregate. And they got lucky. Rahim Morris butchered the clock. Devante Smith dropped a wide open third down pass that would have ended the game. New Orleans had a two-point conversion to win it. The Cowboys last week had Washington on the rope. So you can say, you know, thrilled and think they have a chance and also acknowledge that they have not played great all-around team football, you know, over the last five, six, seven weeks.

And I guess what... Yeah. They've been manhandled on both sides of law. line. They certainly, in the two Cowboys games, no doubt. Yeah. They're not getting, they're not getting the running attack that they need to support their fabulous quarterback in his running game, you know?

So, you know, that they're just, and, you know, there's no Marshawn Lattimore, apparently that's going to change maybe for Sunday night, which leaves them with, you know, with Benjamin St. Jutes out there, which, you know, he's better off playing that position with his hands in his pocket. Well, one of the, the pass interference penalty on him was a terrible call. I actually felt really bad. You know, the referee sees the guy who's covering him and says, it's got to be pass interference. He can't cover anybody. They didn't play Mike Davis, thankfully Sunday.

That was a disaster against Atlanta. Yeah, I mean, I... So, I mean, they have a lot. You know, they just can't rely on Jaden Daniels to pull their ass. Well, they can. They have. Not against Tampa. I know.

But they beat... Not against Tampa. They have. But they're playing a quarterback who thinks he can beat everyone who threw 41 touchdown pass here. They're very good on offense. And a well-coached team. They're a very good offensive team and playing their best.

But I forget if I pointed this out on the podcast yesterday. But like Washington, you know, Tampa didn't play a lot of people during their season-ending run either. Now, their season-ending run looked a lot different because they pounded people. They didn't, you know, they didn't rely on, you know, a coach not knowing when to call timeouts or a drop-pass. I mean, but they went six and one over their final seven games. But they beat the Giants, they beat the Panthers twice, they beat the Raiders, they lost to the Cowboys, they beat the Saints. Their one super impressive result was rolling up 40 against the Chargers,

a really good defensive team in L.A. And going over 500 yards against that defense. But it's not like if you're a Buccaneers fan, and you're saying, you know, we just beat the Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, and the Lions in the last, you know, four or five games. They've got some of that going on as well. But you can only play who's on your schedule. They pounded people down the stretch.

Washington didn't. And yet, here we are, and I think you feel the same way I do. It's not a complete team. It's not even that great of a team in terms of the personnel. If they're healthy and I think they need to be Sunday, you know, it's good enough. And yet we think they've got a chance to beat Tampa and then give somebody else a hard time the following week. And there's only one reason we feel that way. Right.

The quarterback. Yes. But the quarterback, again, he can't be reduced to a one-man show. he needs Austin Echler in his offense. You're going to get a lot of Echler Sunday night. You're going to get more Echler than Brian Robinson, Jr., in my opinion. What happened to Brian Robinson, Jr.? I just think that right now they have some issues up front trying to run the football.

I mean, you've had an offensive line that's been playing musical chairs here recently. The center, Deeter, is just nowhere near Tyler Beiotish. They've got to have Beiotish. looks like they will. That'll be crucial. You know, they've also actually played some teams that are a little bit more stout than you would think up front, the Cowboys twice, the Eagles, obviously. The Titans, although actually that's the game in which their running backs really, you know, were incredible. I mean, Robinson had over 100 yards. Rodriguez came in and ran wild as well. But I think it's a lot of different things. And let me just say,

Tampa is stout defensively up front. They are a good run-stopping defense. The rest of their defense is not good. They have lost a lot of players in their secondary, and teams have thrown the football at will against them. So that's why I think it's another reason I think we're going to get a lot of Echler on Sunday night. But in terms of what happened to Brian Robinson, Jr., I think it's a combination of a lot of things, the line,

some stout defenses up front. And, you know, he's a good back. He's not a great back. It's going to be one of those things I can feel it already, can't you? Fans are going to really scream for a new running back in the offseason, a true number one back. And I'm not against that. Trust me, I'm not against that at all. I think one of the issues with Brian Robinson Jr., is he's not always helped.

and available. So you can start there. But yeah, we got more Echler Sunday than we got Brian Robinson Jr. Echler played 60% of the snaps, while Brian Robinson, Jr. played just 40% of the snaps. Now, let me ask you a question. Yes. I mean, would it have made any difference to you if they had, okay, what would you feel like, because they would have been in the six seed no matter what? They win or lose, it turned out. It turned out, yes, because the Bears back the Packers, yes. What if they lost? How would you feel?

Well, I'll tell you, I wouldn't know because is Jalen Hertz going to play? I mean, right now, Jalen Hertz is a little bit iffy. This concussion may have been a severe concussion. I would assume Jalen Hertz

is going to play against the Packers, but I don't know that for sure. Well, I don't think they can determine that. until practice. I don't think they've practiced yet. But can you imagine he's still in concussion protocol. He was in it through the game Sunday. He is still in it as of now.

We'll see tomorrow when they start practicing for the game Sunday, which is the game right before Washington, Tampa, Green Bay, and Philly. And then, by the way, Kenny Pickett, remember, injured his ribs against Washington. Reds in that game, yes. Yeah, so how would But a healthy Philadelphia team, I wouldn't feel nearly as good. No. No.

No. Okay, take up to the, how would you feel about the Washington team and what they've accomplished if they lost to Dallas on Sunday? Would it diminish anything for you? If they had lost to the Cowboys on Sunday? Yeah. No. Not at all.

Okay. That means they would have lost to a bad Cowboys. team twice in one season. Yeah, but look, I think the first loss actually was to a Cowboys team that give them some credit actually really started to play much better, as they got healthier. You know, Micah Parsons was back. I know. And they really started to rely on a run game with Rico Dowdell.

But it would not have been a pleasant, you know, loss to lose to Trey Lance. I would have been, you know, Sunday's offense. in the first half, like you said, it was the worst we've seen, with the exception of the first half against Dallas the first time. It was pretty bad. And so the Cowboys clearly had something going on where they dominated the line of scrimmage in both of those games. But to me, the bigger concern, which it's been for me now for many, many, many weeks running,

is that Trey Lance led the Cowboys into the Red Zone six times. times had receivers wide open, chunk plays in the past game. They ran the ball for 150 yards. Washington really benefited from 11 cowboy penalties and a couple of total misses by Trey Lance. Like Michael Pennix Jr. had last Sunday night. Michael Pennix Jr. probably missed three touchdowns, maybe four, but three definitely. And he missed at least one or two. Two of the stops that Washington got were because the quarterback threw late. And then the other time he had Rico Dowdle after he sort of went off schedule wide open.

And he threw it two yards short of a wide open receiver. So I did this on radio this morning, Tommy. What are you most confident about? What are you most concerned about? To me, it's really obvious. I'm most confident that they'll. they'll be a good team offensively Sunday night. You know, assuming they're back to 100% health.

And it's critical that Beaudish and their offensive line is healthy. And then I think Echler could be a difference maker Sunday night. And according to Quinn, Jaden is fine. You know, he was banged up certainly in that first half, and that's why they sat him in the second half, but he's fine. But I feel most confident that Sunday night, you're going to see the team that we've seen 90% percent of the season, a team that is able to move the ball, possess the ball, and score.

The concern is against Baker-Mayfield, Mike Evans, Buckie Irving, a good offensive line, are they going to be able to get the other team off the field? I don't feel good about that at all. I don't have a good feeling, to be honest with you. I don't know. I think, you know, over the course of the season, through attrition, through, you know, 17 games, whatever. Look, we had this discussion argument before. I've said they're not a good team. They're a team that has played well in large parts over the season, but they're not a good team.

You changed your mind after the Eagles game. After the Eagles game, I asked you that question again, and you said, yeah, they're a good team. No, I didn't say. Yes, you did. I never said that. Yes, you did. I asked you after the Eagles game. I said, do you want to still stick with, they're not a good team? And you said, yeah, maybe I won't stick with that. Well, let me reverse it again. Okay, sure. Why not? It's your move.

They're not a good team. Okay. They're a team that has played well with one key component, the most important position on the field, played very well. I don't think that, I don't see how you could feel good that that team is going to take the field Sunday night. You know, it's really hard, really hard to say a team that went 12 and 5 isn't a good team. If you want to say a team that went 10 and 7 or 9 and 8 and is in the playoffs isn't a good team, you look less crazy.

When a team wins 12 games and you say they're not a good team, that's a stretch, especially when they have what they have at quarterback. Tennessee a few years ago, and I got to go back and look at the year, maybe in 2022. They were the number one seed with a 12 and 5 record, but they had Ryan Tannahill at quarterback, and I think people thought it was a bit fraudulent, and they ended up losing in the first round to Cincinnati, I think. I think that's what it was. Let me go back and just pull this up real quickly.

Is it 22 Tennessee was the number one seed? No, it was probably 2021. Yeah, 2021, Tennessee was 12 and 5. Best record in the AFC. But you could kind of sense that they weren't that good. And they did lose to Cincinnati at home in the first round of the playoffs. They were a good defensive team, but they had Ryan Tannahill. They did have Derek Henry.

But they were 12. and five. You really want to stick with their not a good team? Yeah. Are you just being stubborn? No. I mean, there are so many players I would replace on this team. They didn't play well Sunday.

To say they're not a good team, but they've played well, they didn't play well Sunday. No, they didn't play well on Sunday. They didn't play well against the Saints. No, they didn't. Over the course of the season, their team that has played well, in spurts, but they are not a good team. I don't think they have a good roster. I think their roster is average.

I think as a team, which by the way includes the head coach, the coordinators, the entire staff, I think they're a good team. If you want to amend it to that, you know, I was just figuring the team that goes on the field with the roster, I was just thinking, since you're separating that from the team, that's a different discussion. They don't have a good roster. That's a fair way to put it. But there have been a lot of rosters that have been average or less than average,

but have a couple of star players that have produced a team that's gotten really good results. Yeah, I know that, but they don't, they have a pretty few. that's a short list of, okay, name your list of star players. Well, I think on Sunday night that, you know, Jaden and Terry, I think Cosmi's had a good year, but we don't have to include him into the conversation. I think Austin Echler is going to be a difference maker if he can stay healthy and be a big part of what they want to do Sunday night and maybe beyond. Defensively, what's interesting, because it's the weak link of the team, they actually probably have more individual talent, you know, talented players,

Louvo, Wagner, Chin in particular. But again, the name of the sport isn't football, it's quarterback. So they have that part. Yeah, they do have that part. But he will need help. He can't do it all by himself. He did it all by himself against Philly and Atlanta. I don't think it's going to work on the road against a team that could put out 40 points.

I said yesterday, this is a team because of what we're discussing right now. This is a team with just a few and maybe even less than few ways to win. They have a limited number of ways to win, and they have found that one way over and over again. and that is to, you know, kind of strap the quarterback to the back, to the team to the quarterback's back, which, by the way, in some ways they did with Marioota in the second half in Dallas. And win by, you know, possessing the football, moving the football, scoring with the football, and keeping, you know, your team in it that way. You know, they beat the Eagles with five turnovers, but they scored 36 points.

They beat the Falcons, you know, where they were down 17-7 at halftime and could not get off the field and couldn't stop Bijan Robinson. And they scored 30 in overtime to win. I don't feel bad about this game. I actually feel like the best player on the field is going to be wearing. burgundy and gold or whatever they're going to be wearing Sunday night. I would have to agree with you. I would have to agree with you. Now, all this said, you know, if I'm a commander's fan and they lose Sunday,

it doesn't diminish how I feel about what they've accomplished this year. You know, I wrote in my column, I mean, you know, if he doesn't get more help, you can write the obituary for this season now. but that said, it would be an obituary of accomplishments. Right. Yeah. And, you know, a definite positive outlook on the people in charge with the assets that will be available to them moving forward, in terms of cap money, in terms of draft choices, to make the right decisions,

to make a significant jump in personnel. All of those things are true. And at the same time, you know, we can have that conversation, but, you know, they're about to play a playoff game that they actually have a chance to win. And, you know, in the NFC, you've got a Philadelphia team that is the most complete team by far. They may be the most complete team in the league,

but they've got a quarterback who may be hampered here heading into the postseason. You've got a Detroit team that really is something else, man, because with all of the players they've lost on defense, it's an amazing job they did the other night with Aaron Glenn. You've got, you know, it feels a little bit more wide open than maybe last year with the 49ers or the year before that with the 49ers and the Eagles, I guess.

Although Detroit really made a state. Sunday night, no doubt, and they've got a first round by, and you're going to have to win a game forward field. They made quite the statement. They not only, they play, or at least they played Sunday night. I've only seen Detroit maybe two or three times this year, which is a lot for, you know, not watching your home team. They play with a brutal style. They beat you up.

Yeah, they did it Sunday for sure. Yeah. The Eagles do that too. Yeah, I mean, I think I talked about this on Monday, but yesterday was Monday. But this isn't an NFC playoff picture where you look at, say, the bottom two teams, Green Bay and Washington, and you say, well, they have no chance. You do that in a lot of years. You know, you look at the six and seven seed, or maybe even the four. seed, a division winner with a seven and nine record like Washington had a few years ago.

And you know, well, they don't have a chance. I don't think you look at the NFC and say, I think you can make a case for every single team. All seven teams can win a game or two. You know, I don't know. I mean, can Washington go on the road and beat Tampa, then Detroit would be the, if, Washington wins, and let's just say the Packers, the Eagles beat the Packers, Washington would go to Detroit. You know, I don't know if Washington isn't complete enough, I don't think, to win three in the row, three in a row on the road. Tampa is a little bit more complete, but they're really hurting defensively, so I don't think they're good enough to win three in a row.

But both of those teams can win a game or two. The Packers are pretty complete, but they just lost one of their best receivers. The Vikings are certainly capable unless they're playing Detroit. The Rams have the experience and the coaching. It's a good field. Like there's not a weak link in the group. There really isn't. Washington, you can't consider as a six-seed as a no-chance.

Not with the quarterback. In years past, you could. So you'll save your pick for Thursday's show. But it sounds like you're kind of pessimistic about Sunday. Yeah, I am. I don't think these players are going to magically reappear and play well in this postseason game. I think we've seen enough of a trend that the team that barely beat the Saints, that barely beat the Cowboys, that barely beat the Falcons, they won all those games, granted.

I think that's who they are now. The good news is we have a game to talk about all week. We'll have a game next week to talk about in the rear view. And who knows, maybe another one to preview next week. This is a lot better than being the headline that I'm looking at right now, which is Titans Fire GM Carthon. Yes. You know, Viking, well, that's Vikings.

Bears asked to talk to Cowboys McCarthy. You know, this is where we typically are, and we got a game to talk about, which is fun. We've got other things to talk about as well. You're shopping for a coach, you're wishing for another coach, you're shopping for a quarterback, or you're wishing for another quarterback. It's been that way for a while, not this year. All right, we've got a lot more to get to. We'll start doing that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, if you've lost your hair or you're losing your hair, it doesn't mean you can't find.

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Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. If you want to bet on all of the football coming up, we've got a semi-final game in the college football playoff Thursday night. Penn State, Notre Dame, a semi-final Friday night, Ohio State and Texas. And then we have six NFL playoff games this weekend. MyBooky is my recommendation.

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You can supercharge your picks and build a bigger bank roll. Use my promo code. Kevin D.C. on your first deposit, my bookie will hook you up with an instant 50% cash bonus. I got this. I wanted to read this. Hold on for one second. I had it here a second ago. This comes from RET. Rhett writes, Kevin, you said that the Dallas decision to kick out of bounds had nothing to do with the new kickoff rule. It actually did. The reason they did it was to gain five yards to the 25-yard line. That's where teams started on touchbacks last year. Ret, you're 100% right. That's true.

What I meant was with respect to the alignment and the rules this year that it really, really wasn't affected by that. But to your point, and it's the right one, they would have never kicked the ball out of bounds to gain 25 yards or 5 yards a field position to move it 25 yards down the field had the touchback come out to the 25 yard line, which it did last year. This is the first year of it coming out to the 30 because of the new rules. Thank you for that red. Do you know what I'm talking about, Tommy? You probably don't. And I'm guessing you don't even care. No.

Exactly. I don't. Yeah. So I won't even share it with you. I went to the bathroom like everybody else did when you brought this up. Nobody went to the bathroom. And if they did, they took us with them. Just remember, most people are listening via Apple Podcasts on their phone.

If they had to go, they were still listening to us. You know, think about this, by the way. I don't know why this came. up recently. I think one of my sons said to me over the holidays, what did you do before you had cell phones when you went to the bathroom? What did you do? Just sit there and think about things? And I'm like, no, actually, I always had a newspaper in the bathroom. There is usually a collection of reading material in the bathroom. Exactly. Absolutely. But.

And if there wasn't, you'd start reading. reading the back of aerosol cans. Who did that? You did? Just to read something while you were sitting there. Now, there was usually a collection. I mean, there were certain books that you could... I remember having a couple of books in the bathroom that were like the kind of thing

that you could pick up and read a couple of items in, you know, at any... Nothing that you had to, like, continuously read. you know, greatest sports moments or something like that, those kind of book. Book of lists. Well, you know, if it was a public bathroom, you'd probably, you know, have a utensil with you and put my phone number up on the wall. I thought of that. And by the way, I'm going back to the scene of the crime tonight.

Really? McGuire. Uh-huh. Where I posted your name on a dollar bill and your phone number. Yeah, and not sure why you did that. You know, well, because everyone else does that there. I was just going along with it. You know, I was in, well, when we drove down here,

stopped at one of the truck stop places and went into the men's room. And I made this observation. It's only anecdotal, so I don't know if it's accurate. I have a feeling there's less phone numbers on the stalls than there used to be. Yeah, that doesn't seem to be a thing. I agree with you. I don't think so. So why is that?

I don't know. I don't know. I think somebody should do a story about that. Why aren't people writing phone numbers on the bathroom stalls anymore? Well, maybe you go write a column about it, you know? Why don't you do the research and write a column about it? I mean, I know how busy you are, but you, you know, you get paid by the column. That sounds like a good one.

What would you, what would the response be from your editor if you went to them and said, hey, I got an idea for a column, but it's got nothing to do with sports. I've done some research, and I've found that people aren't writing phone numbers on the backs of stalls anymore, and I'd like to write a column about it. What would they say? Well, I think that would truly, look, I always tell people, I can write pretty much whatever I want to write, and I can. I think that would be a real test of that policy.

Yeah. Do you think you, but they'd probably just go with it. They like you. They'd trust you, right? It would have to be, I'd have to be at my humorous best to pull it off. Okay. Okay. Could you tie it back to sports somehow?

I don't think I can. I'm sure. Look, what I used to do is I used to look for, like, like music columns to write of some of my favorite artists or favorite songs and figure out the way to try to tie it into sports. And every once in a while I'd come up with something like that. Right. Like, I don't know if you remember a band called Archie Bell on the Drills.

No. They had a big hit called Tighten Up, the huge hit. Okay. And I love the song. It's a great party song. Okay. It's the kind of song when it's on the radio. you feel good.

And he was coming to a concert. This is like 20 years ago because he was in Baltimore. And I would love to have talked to him. Well, his brother was Ricky Bell, the former running back from Southern California. Isn't he? Didn't he pass away? He's dead.

Yeah. He passed away from some kind of disease at an early age. Right. So I got him on the phone, and I talked to him about Ricky Bell. He talked about growing up, you know, in a family that loves football, all the brothers love football. But it gave me a chance to write about that song. You know?

I mean, that was the most, half the column was about the song. I did that with Tower Power when they were at in concert in Annapolis, because for a couple years, one of their band members was Victor Conte, the guy from the Balco scandal. So I talked to them about Victor Conte just for a chance to meet them and talk to it. And my favorite is, my favorite of all time, is Charles Wright wrote one of the classic songs of all time back in maybe 1970 called Express Yourself.

Yeah. Okay. Not the Madonna Express Yourself. Right. This is a different expression. Yeah. It must have been used in at least 40 different commercials over the years since then. And at this particular year, I found out it was going to be featured in the Super Bowl.

So I tied that, and I wound up getting them on the phone and talking to them about the song and how it still has a life of its own all these years and how it's a favorite among sports teams and athletes. You know, and it's a great song. And I called him, and then he called me and left a message for me, and I still have the voice message that he left for me. You know, so I've done that. I can't figure out a way to do that with bathroom writing. Okay. I'm glad you, you know, just went through all of that.

Those of you that are listening on your phone in the bathroom, you can get up and walk out now. You know, I just looked up the band that you were talking about. I had never heard of this band, Archie Bell and the Drells. Well, Archie Bell was a part of the Daz band, who I am very familiar with, Let It Whip. That was a song when I was in high school. I was very much like you were, you listened to a lot of R&B. In high school and in college, I listened to a lot of R&B.

I listened to a lot of funk. I was really into Prince, you know, in the 80s when, you know, when Purple Rain came out. But before that, 1999, controversy, all of it. But there you go. So Archie Bell was a part of the Daz Band in addition to being a part of Archie Bell and the Drells. And he was Ricky Bell's brother. I would assume he was Ricky Bell's older brother. I believe so.

Yeah, he was. Ricky Bell. Yeah, he was Ricky Bell's older brother. Yeah. And Ricky Bell had a couple really good years with Tamp to pay bucks. He was the number one pick in the draft, wasn't he? I don't think he was. I don't know if he was or not.

I think he was because he got drafted by the bucks. He got this illness that basically, you know, put him in the grave. But there's one other column I wrote like that. Gary U.S. Bonds had a bunch of big kids party songs. Yeah. Okay, you know him. Yeah. Well, he is a tremendous golfer.

Really? Like, he would win the celebrity golf tournaments around the country for years. And at a point in his career early on, he had a chance to go to Q school, whatever that was. Yeah, Q school. At the time. Qualifying school. And I forget if it was Charlie Sifford or Lee Elder. What are the black golfers advice and say, look, you're going to make more money.

you know, in music, then you will golf because you're not going to be invited to play at that time in the early 60s in a lot of these tournaments because you're black. Wow. Okay. So then I interviewed him at a flea market in Melbourne, Florida. And I spent the whole day with him. He was there selling CDs. And he autographed a CD to me, which I wanted a few autographed items.

now he still haven't cherished. So I'm always looking for a way to backdoor my way into a music column, but not a bathroom literature column. Ricky Bell was the first pick in the draft. Was he? Yeah, the 1977 draft, he went number one overall to Tampa Bay, and Tony Dorset went number two to Dallas. Dallas had acquired that pick from Seattle.

Ricky Bell had a good NFL career. He rushed in his third year in Tampa, which was the year with Doug Williams that they went to the NFC championship game. He rushed for 1263 yards. That was a lot back then. It was a 16 game schedule, actually. But they went to, in 79, they went to the NFC title game and lost to Vince Farragamo and the L.A. Rams, nine to nothing. Doug Williams was the quarterback.

They had won a playoff game. They were, you know, what was that? That was their third season. 76 was the Seattle Tampa expansion, I think. So that would have been 76, 77, 78, 79 was the fourth season of the Bucks. God, they were horrible when they were, when they were an expansion franchise. Well, that's the famous quote. John McCain, the great USC coach who wound up coaching them.

A reporter asked him, what do you think of your team's execution after the game? In favor of it. And he said, I'm in favor of it. Yeah, exactly. He had so many great lines. Like, it's the part where somebody says, you know, so tell me about, you know, your defense, and he says, well, we couldn't stop the run. We couldn't cover either. but we made up for it by dropping three interceptions or something like that. He really was super quick and super funny. And by the way, he coached Ricky Bell at USC.

I'm assuming maybe not. I could be wrong about that. Yeah, no, he did, of course, because McKay was their first coach in 76. Ricky Bell was the star in 76 in college. And which made him the 77 number one overall pick. I don't know, I mean, I don't know what he was prior to that. They had so many great running backs. You know, that was running back you, USC.

Mike Garrett. Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis. Charles White. Marcus Allen. Ricky Bell. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, I think we just hit all of the running backs basically right in a row.

Yeah. And how many of them won the Heisman? Charles White won the Heisman. Ricky Bell did not. O.J. Simpson did. Anthony Davis did not win the Heisman, correct? I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think he did. He was an exciting back. Oh, my God.

He had a legendary six-touchdown game, I believe, against Notre Dame. Sam Cunningham. He wasn't a great pro. No, was not a great pro. Was Garrett a Heisman trophy winner? I don't think so. Okay. All right.

So I wanted to talk about a story that I read this morning. Actually, Denton brought it to my attention. And it has nothing to do with our football team. But I think it's pretty wild, and it's actually interesting how often this has happened. And I don't think most people know that it has happened. Although I think you're going to remember specifically one. time it happened. But Fox's Jay Glazer reported during Sunday's broadcast on Fox that multiple teams were trying to trade for Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell. He is in the third year of a four-year

deal, and they have not even had, according to the report, contract extension talks between Minnesota's front office and Kevin O'Connell. So teams have reached out to the Vikings to say we'd like to trade for your head coach. Now, I knew that this had happened before because of the Belichick thing that got him to the Patriots. Remember, the Patriots had to give up the Jet, the Patriots had to give up compensation to the Jets once he turned his back on the Jets, you know, after Parcells had sort of handed and set up the job for him. Let me just before we get to this in terms of its history, Kevin O'Connell is 34 and 17 in three seasons in Minnesota. The only season, he was 13 and 4 in 2022. Last year they were 7 and 10, but, you know, Kirk tore his Achilles,

when he was probably playing the best football of his career, and Minnesota was about to go on a roll. And then this year, they're 14 and 3. They just lost a game on Sunday night for the one seed. They're favored in their playoff games on Monday night at L.A. against the Rams. They're a one and a half two-point favorite. It's hardly a road game.

It'll probably feel like a home game for Minnesota. That's insane that the Vikings haven't extended Kevin O'Connell. that doesn't make any sense. This guy is exactly the kind of head coach you want in 2025. You want an offensive head coach? Yes, we have Dan Quinn. Yes, I was happy that they hired Dan Quinn, but also yes, I said during that whole process, I'd prefer an offensive guy.

But there wasn't an offensive guy out there for them to hire that they liked as much as Dan Quinn. Kevin O'Connell got Sam Darnold this year to have the greatest year of his career, and it's not even close. He totally resurrected Sam Darnold from the dead. And they're not extending him. Now, I think they will. I don't think Kevin O'Connell's going to go anywhere. But I think a lot of people were caught off guard about trading for a head coach. You knew that that could be done, right?

Yeah, I've seen it done in baseball at least a half a dozen times. Do you remember the first time it happened in the NFL? Was it Vince Lombardi? No, because Lombardi had retired. Washington didn't have to give up compensation to Green Bay, did they? I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't remember.

I thought you would get the first one. Don Shula was traded from the Colts to the Dolphins. It was a first round pick that the Colts got from the Dolphins for Don Shula. Now, you might remember the circumstances, but wasn't it like ownership, Carol Rosenblum, or Don Klosterman, or people like that, that for whatever reason, you know, you had owners swapping franchises with the Rams and the Colts, wasn't that a thing? And then Shula didn't want a part of the new ownership.

And so he, you know, he wanted to go to Miami. You don't remember what I'm talking about. I remember this ownership thing where Ursay and Rosenblum basically Erse had owned the Rams. Right. And Rosenblum owned the Colts and they basically swapped franchises. I'm not sure if that's connected to the Shulet thing or not. The priciest coach trade really ever was when John Gruden went to Tam. for two first round picks and $8 million bucks back to Al Davis in Oakland in 2002. And Gruden won the Super Bowl his first year with Brad Johnson a quarterback.

The Raiders got two first round picks and $8 million from the bucks for Gruden to jump franchises. When Belichick left the Jets to go to New England, the Patriots had to trade a first, fourth, and fifth round pick. to the Jets. There are others in here that I didn't remember. Like recently, Sean Payton, now he had taken a year off, but I guess he was still under contract or whatever with New Orleans. But the Broncos had to give up a first and third round pick to the Saints for Sean Peyton. I actually didn't remember that. The Bucks had to trade a sixth rounder for Bruce Ariens in Arizona. Ariens, by the way, won the Super Bowl with Brady in his first year, right? Or second year in town. Hirm Edwards was traded from the Chiefs to the Jets to the Chiefs.

And Parcells was technically traded from the Patriots to the Jets. Jets had to give up a first, second, third, and fourth round pick to get Parcells to New York. I would bet you that a lot of people listening didn't know that you can try to trade. for a coach. I don't know if they didn't know it. I mean, you just mentioned a lot of instances where it happened, and they're not like too far, you know, too distant in the past in terms of when they happened.

So I think people would be familiar with that. I don't think most people would do it. Yeah, you have to, you know, kind of catch that coach. Like, right, like Mike McCarthy is a. a free agent as of the end of this, you know, whatever the last Davis contract is. I don't know when that is. You don't have to trade anything to Dallas to get Mike McCarthy. And McCarthy interviewed with the Bears. By the way, I thought it was interesting. Jerry Jones basically said something to the effect of, you know, we don't want people here who don't want to be here.

I mean, okay, but you haven't made an offer to Mike McCarthy. He wants to continue to coach. Until you tell him how much you want him to be there, you know, he can't miss out on this window of interviewing, you know, with this, you know, this time of year. The other thing that was kind of interesting yesterday is that John Mara, the owner of the Giants, I have to find the quote here, but, you know, they kept Shane and they kept Dable, which is surprising, I think, for a lot of people. And John Mara was asked basically about, where is it? He, let me see if I get these.

Basically, he said, we better see some results soon, or there's going to be a fire lid under him or something like that. Yeah. So he was asked what the timetable for this is, you know, to keep Shane and to keep dable. And he said, quote, better not take too long because I've just about run out of patience, closed quote. I mean, do something about it.

What is that? What do you mean it better not take too long? I've just about run out of patience. You just made the decision to stick with them. You just made the decision that these are your guys. because you stuck with them after a disastrous season in which the best player on the team exited for a team within the division,

Seyquan Barclay. You guys looked kind of silly at times in the hard knocks thing. This guy is not his father. That's for sure. When I read this this morning, I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. Like this is something a fan would say. say. You have to be, if you're going to make that decision as an owner, the public remarks are,

I believe in Shane and Dable. I understand that our fans are impatient. I understand that our fans want results right away, but I believe in what we're doing. I believe in these two guys to figure it out and get it right. And it's a process. And I'm sticking with him. I mean, he basically put himself into a seat in Giant Stadium and acted like a fan when he doesn't, when he's not a fan, he's the owner. It's great to see teams not named Washington have in the division having this much. Because really, the Cowboys and the Giants right now are majorly dysfunctional. Absolutely.

And they're in the division. Before was always the Cowboys in Washington. Well, yeah. Cowboys and the Giants. I think Jerry's become, it's a much more dysfunctional franchise. He just talks too much. You know, it's one of those things where I don't, no one's going to be able to stop him.

But there's no other owner that, you know, puts himself into the position that Jerry does on a weekly basis. And really, I don't know that all of his talking has helped even a little bit. It seems to hurt more than it helps. On the field, it does. Off the field, they are the most valuable franchise in the world. Yeah. Yep.

All right. You want to talk about a movie that you saw, and I want to hear about it. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, Prize Picks is the place to go to for Daily Fantasy Sports. I have the Price Picks app. I'm one of the over 10 million members at prize picks where billions of dollars are awarded in winnings. Prize picks has made Daily Fantasy Sports accessible to everybody. You just pick more or less on at least two players and their projected stats for a shot to win up to a thousand times your cash.

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Again, download the app today and use my code, Sheean, S-H-E-E-H-A-N, to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks, run your game. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Okay, everybody, we're finally passing the holidays, Christmas, and New Year's. You know, maybe you haven't returned that present that you got that you're not that crazy about yet. And if you get a chance to do it, here's what I would suggest you do. Don't exchange it. Get the money.

Okay? Bring it back. Get the money back. And then head for Shelly's and buy a present for yourself. Shelly's back room 1331 F Street, Northwest, where you can find the top 20s. Cigars for sale named by Cigar Aficionado. Cigars like Artorial Flente,

Ashton, Coghiba, Monty Cristo's, Padron. Okay, so, you know those presents that you got? You're not crazy about that scarf, that hat? You know, take it back, and they say, well, we'll give you a store credit, say, no, no, no, no. I want the money, because I'm heading down the Shelley's back room and I'm lighten up with a real present for myself.

Find out more at shelley's backroom.com. How many presents did you get that you have to return this year? Well, I got pretty much what I asked for. So, I don't have to return any presents. I didn't really, I never really want anything, but ultimately I get things. And this year was a good year. I don't think I have anything that I am,

I do have one thing that I'm going to return. It was the wrong size. and I don't know that I'll replace it when I return it with the right size. But anyway, you saw a movie that you want to tell everybody about. Go ahead. Yeah, last night I saw the Bob Dylan biopic a complete unknown, and it was fabulous. It was really, really well done. And I'm not a Dylan fan, a huge Dylan fan.

I recognize what a great songwriter he is. I might have three Dylan songs on my playlist, but this was really good. I highly recommend it to everybody. You know, it talks about Dylan from the beginning of his career, right up to an historic musical moment where, you know, because he was considered a folk singing icon, where he switched to electric guitars in a show at the, at the Newport Folk Festival back in the mid-60s, I think 65.

And it caused a real controversy. And he did this at three shows that year in 65. The reason I bring it up is the second concert was at Forest Hills in New York, and my sister was there. Oh, really? I remember her coming back and tell me that the crowd booed him mercilessly because he was playing an electric guitar. Wow.

They went there to see blowing in the wind, him strumming on a guitar. They didn't go there to see him playing an electric guitar. And that's how the movie ends with that moment there. But there's a lot of stuff about him and Joan Baez, the great folk singer. I think what this movie will do, introduce a lot of people to Joan Baez, who probably never heard of her before, and her great work. You know,

Ed Norton plays Pete Seeger. I heard he was great in this movie. He's great. He's absolutely great. But I think Ed Norton, you know, with the passing of Phil of Seymour Hoffman,

is probably the best actor of his generation. Really? I thought Seymour Hoffman was the best one. Excellent. But I think Ed Norton is just fabulous.

A Columbia Maryland boy. At the Wild Lake High School. Ed Norton? Really? I didn't know that. He's the nephew of James Rouse, I think. Or his grandfather or uncle

or something like that. He's related to the Rouse family. But I highly recommend it to everybody. A complete unknown. Again, if you love music, you'll love this movie. It's like the third person to say a good friend of mine knows.

I'm with you. I'm just not a Bob Dylan guy. Just never really, I don't get it personally, but I understand he's quite the poet, and I get all of that, but the music itself was never for me. But I've been,

this is the third person who has said, this is a great movie. Actually, I think Howard Gutman sent me a note. Howard Gutman sent me a note about some new show on Netflix, too. but that this is an outstanding biopic. So I'll go see it for sure. I mean, Timothy Salome seems to be in like everything over the last few years.

But he's good. He's a really good actor. And I heard that Norton was really good in this as well. So, yeah, I'll see it. One other thing. Yep. I wanted to bring up. Salome, by the way, can I just mention real quickly before I forget this?

Salomey was on college game day like two weeks ago making picks and he was great. I mean, I didn't expect him to be a big college football fan, massive college football fan, or somebody really rehearsed him up. But anyway, go ahead. What were you going to say? Well, I wanted to wish a happy anniversary to my wife, Elizabeth. This is our 47th wedding anniversary today. Oh, my God.

Happy anniversary. 47 years ago. So, 1978, January 7th, 1978. Where was the wedding? It was in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, St. Dennis Parish. Big wedding? Not particularly big. About 85 people.

Uh-huh. There was a, we had a reception at an American Legion Hall in Wayne, PA. We had a kick-ass band, you know, and we had basically, you know, all the beer you could drink, you know, it was an open bar in a sense that you could, the beer was free, anything else you had to buy, except we made a bunch of whiskey sours. They said we could use, and people were drinking whiskey salad. It was a very low, low-budget wedding. Yeah, because you didn't have it at Marion, which is in Ardmore, you know, right near. No. But that whole stretch of mainline, that's pretty, right?

That's a pretty area, Philadelphia, for sure. Well, happy anniversary to you. What do you guys, do you have big plans? Oh, we're going out to dinner tonight to McGuire. And if I drink enough, who knows what will wind up on the wall there. Well, lose my phone number, please. All right, happy anniversary. Enjoy tonight.

I'm back tomorrow. See you, Tommy. Thank you, boss. See you. That is six in a row for Joe Gibbs in the Washington Redskins. They have basically been in a playoff mode for a month and a half. The final score, the Redskins 17 to Buck's 10. We'll be back to Tampa after this.