The Kevin Sheehan Show - Caps, Curveballs, & Commanders

Episode Date: May 10, 2022

Kevin and Thom today on Thom's DC Grays benefit event downtown last night. Plenty on the Caps' Game 4 overtime loss to the Panthers, the Tom Brady/Fox deal, the possibility of James Bradberry to the Commanders and more.  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 Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. We were together last night for Tommy's event.

It was a, I think it was a big success. It was a great crowd. Saw some of you who were listening to the podcast there last night. Enjoyed talking with all of you. Star-studded affair, per usual. Doc Walker was there. Mike Rizzo was there, Davy Martinez was there, and Neal and Rockville was there, among others. And Andy Poland was there, duh, I hung out with Andy for much of the night.

Yeah. So, I mean, you're the, you know, this is your event. How did you feel it went? I think it went great. I'm always amazed at the end of the night. How many people come up and tell me, how much they, I mean, strangers, not people who know me, you know, strangers who were there who said how much of a great time they had and all this. And I don't really know how that happened. You know, there's no particular plan that unfolds for people to have a good time. It's just sort of like, it's very organic, you know?

Yeah. I mean, the auction has a lot to do with that that creates a lot of buzz and, a lot of bantering, good-natured stuff. That's always a lot of fun. But by the end of the night, I'm just always blown away how much people say they enjoyed it. Because, I mean, I'm like on. You know, I'm a little tensed up in the entire time.

You are tensed up. I've noticed that about you with this particular event every single time. You're a little, and you're a little bit tensed up. I mean, I forget who said something. Neil and Rockville said something that had you snapped back at Neil and said, be careful or we'll go take this one outside. But you, I told him, I kicked his ass if he didn't shut up. Yeah, but this is, and I can't even remember what he said, but this is, you know,

I bet this is the case with anybody who is responsible for the overall event. First of all, it's a really good venue. You know, it's intimate. it's a venue you're very comfortable with because you spend a lot of time there. And several of the people that come, you know, are people that spend some time there. You know, they give you that whole room. And, you know, there are a lot of familiar faces and there are a lot of, you know, new faces as well. It was great.

I always enjoy it. And I thought last night was great. I'll tell you what, you know, I mean, I had something to do before. I thought I was getting there kind of on time. I didn't realize that when you said six to eight, you were starting it at six. Because I arrived, I think, at around 6.30, which I would have called fashionably late. It wasn't intended. I was trying to get down there at 6, but I had somewhere I had to be before.

But when I walked in, the auction was already underway. And I was just praying that you had not yet done the auction item. for, you know, our podcast, the sit-in for our podcast, which you hadn't. But right when you walked in, I did fear for a moment that maybe it was the tail end of the auction. So I immediately bid on the item that was up at that point because I, at the, the last thing I needed was, yeah, Shan showed up late, missed the auction and didn't get anything. So that's why I immediately got involved in the one.

Soto Bat situation. But I think you guys did well last night, really well, and such a great cause. And by the way, the D.C. Grays, I've said this before, have great gear. It's a cool logo. They've got great gear, shirts, hats, the whole thing. I think Andy literally back to U-Haul up to Shelley's last night. Because we know Andy in free stuff, because there was free stuff. and Andy, you know,

was going to take advantage of all of that. But it was a nice night, a really nice night. Great job. Great job. Yeah, it was really good. I haven't done the final tally yet, but the auction did very well. And you were a big part of that, you know.

You may have arrived late, but you arrived with the force of nature. Hardly. And you're always very generous at this, and I always really appreciate it. Okay. Well, that's not why I brought it up, but you had very, very generous people in there,

including the general manager of the Washington, to Nationals, who was very generous, as he always is. Yes. And Dave Martinez as well. Right. Who had to leave because he was going to the Caps game. One of the reasons I held the auction a little bit earlier than normal was because I thought there might be a chance that some people might leave for the Caps game.

So I wanted to hold it, which started at seven. Yeah. So I wanted to begin a little bit earlier than I normally did. uh, but, uh, Dave Martinez is very, everybody was very generous. Uh, and, uh, you know, you're right. It's a great cause. We buy, we buy uniforms. We buy, uh, you know, bats and gloves for kids, for two to 300 kids in Ward 7 and 8, boys and girls. You know, we have baseball and softball, and we, we, we, all they have to do is show up and we do the rest. Yeah.

And, you know, it's work that I love doing, particularly in that area. I mean, you know, the importance of minorities' representation in baseball is very important to me. And so, I mean, I just love doing it. But I'm exhausted by the end of the night. We all wound up staying late, so talking and drinking. Yeah, I know. Neil texted me and said you guys were there pretty late. But, no, it was a great night.

And by the way, Chris does such a good job with the auction. You know, he did a phenomenal job, as he always does, you know, running the auction. That's not an easy thing to do. Yeah, Chris Spira, our general manager and a guy who pretty much does almost everything for the grace. Yeah. Yes. So it was a nice night. It was a very nice night.

Now, when I left, I did, you know, I did want to get home. because I had a radio show to do this morning to at least, you know, you had the Caps game on, which was nice because Neil and others weren't sure you would have it on, given your objection, of strong objection to the Russian players, specifically Alex Ovechkin on the team. But it was on. When I left and I was headed home, it was midway through the third period, and I listened to the call of the game. I got home because I don't live that far away now.

in the new house. I mean, it took me like seven minutes to get home. And I was, I was home just in time for the game time goal when, when Florida went six on five, pulled the goal, goaltender. And what was referred to by Joe Beninotti as an analytics move, you know, this is, you know, the, it was explained to me by my radio producer, Brendan Dar, that it's kind of like when football teams are down 14, and they're told now, the analytics, the two-point analytics say, if you're down 14, you should actually go for two on your first touchdown so you know exactly what you need the next time. If you're going for the win in regulation,

which is what the analytics people say you should be going for, which is the win in regulation, not for two touchdowns, two extra points in overtime. And pulling the goaltender early is in an effort essentially to learn what it is you're going to need in the final minute of the game. Are you going to need two goals or are you already going to be tied up and have a chance to go for the win? So they pulled the goaltender with over three minutes to go, like three and a half minutes to go, which, you know, almost backfired because Garnett Hathaway had an empty net opportunity. And Tommy, I don't know if you were paying attention, but that thing was an inch and a half from game over and the Nats having a three one lead. But it's instead, it hit the post.

Yeah. It hit the post. Having a three one lead. You said Nats. Oh, I said Nats. I meant caps. Yeah. I'm trying to get you through this, buddy. Yeah, I appreciate that.

So I know you're, you know. Yes. I know, you know, you're not standing on real firm grounds, but that's all I mentioned. No, it was the caps. The caps are playing the Panthers in the postseason. And that Garnet Hathaway, who plays for the caps, the hockey team, just missed the empty netter. And that is hockey, man. But sports are a game of inches, but the caps were that close to being up 3-1.

And then Tommy, what happens all the time in hockey? And this is your go-to move to make people believe you know something about hockey. You love to talk about traffic in front of the net. And they got some traffic in front of the net in overtime, including near goalie interference, which everybody agreed after the fact that it wasn't goalie interference, but enough traffic in front of Samsonov and the game winner came and all of a sudden the Panthers and the caps, not the Nats. The Panthers and the caps are all square at two games apiece.

Overtime hockey is excited. I'm betting there's probably a lot of disappointment because they had the game from what I could see. It was a winnable game. But you're playing a first seed right there. It's a first seed, right? Florida? Yeah, very good.

Yep. It was last week, too. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, and, you know, after four games, you're tied two to two. That's not a bad place to be. I guess not. It's not. Yeah. No. Right, but.

It's not like they're down three to one. No, but there was, they were so close to being up three to one. I know. And two, two with, you know, Florida, you know, back in in sort of home ice advantage form against the caps who they're playing. it just makes it seem like Florida, you know, essentially, you know, basically duck the bullet. You know, there was a headshot there for the caps to take and they weren't able to take it. So we'll see. It is hockey, which means anything can happen over these final three games.

There could be a lot of traffic in front of the net with the team in red and the team and whatever they're going to wear on the road. They wear the white on the road and they wear the red at home. but anyway boy this is a great per usual this is great hockey conversation on this podcast and listen okay well if if if if there's analytics involved in a move like that and there's analytics in hockey how can it be random when you have formulas um how can it be random when you have formulas

well i mean outcomes can be random um i don't know i've got to think that one thing through. I need some time to think that went through. I mean, I'm not even sure. I'm not even sure the question makes sense, but I don't know in this moment enough to say that it doesn't.

So we need more time on that. I mean, okay, how can you apply, you know, analytical formulas to a sport that's random? situation. Yeah. Well, the sport really isn't random. I mean, we talk about it because we don't know anything about it, that it has very random results. You know, it's an easier way to sort of discuss something that we really don't know that much about.

And by the way, when we have these conversations, you know, I hear from people that will say, yeah, you guys don't know much about hockey. And you know what? Typically the people that say that, I guarantee you they don't know much about hockey either. They're just not willing to admit it. I think, and just to digress a little bit further, what we've always known about the conversation of hockey in this town is it's far different than the other sports. And this isn't a station thing.

This isn't a show thing. Hockey doesn't, you know, it doesn't include the pregame and the post-game, you know, analysis in the same way that football and basketball, and baseball do. And the reason is, is most people enjoy hockey. They enjoy going to the games. They enjoy watching the games. I enjoy watching these playoff games.

But you're not exactly sure why what is happening is happening. I mean, you can tell when the ice is tilted in one direction, and one team is dominating puck possession time, and they're in the other team's offensive zone. And you can tell when a hockey goalie is standing. on his head, which, by the way, Samsonov was pretty good last night. And I love listening to the analysis of hockey from people like Alan May, who is excellent, I think, in his analysis, as is locker, you know, as is all the guys. Now, it could be because I don't know anything, and they

just sound really smart talking about it, but I think that they really do know. I think Alan really does a good job. I've always felt this as a former player in breaking down the game and explaining it in kind of layman's terms. But anyway, Most people, as we know, because we know this from, you know, going to the phones, you know, people that love the caps aren't obsessing over the pregame and the post game in the same way the other sports have the pregame and the post game obsession, which means it's less of a hot topic in the formats that we do, especially live formats like radio. You know what I'm saying. I do. I agree with you. And I mean, I don't want to turn this into, well, I don't know why I shouldn't. I mean, we're talking about hockey. I don't particularly care what we turn it into.

But I think part of the issue is always going to be with hockey is most sports fans out there played some sort of football, even if it was street football, played some sort of playground basketball, and probably when they were kids, played some sort of t-ball to little league baseball. Most people never played hockey. Right. 100%. And I think that contributes to it.

I just think it contributes to the passion that you're talking about that's in the pre- and post-game arguments of the other sports. it just doesn't have a big enough base to create that kind of passion in the United States at least when it comes to hockey. Well, I think there are probably... That may be slowly changing. I think there are some markets where the sports fans in the market really understand hockey. I do think that that is true. I mean, I think that there are...

Well, first of all, you know, just because of the volume of people in New York, there are enough rangers and islanders and Devils fans who really do understand the sport. And by the way, I don't want to be condescending to the Caps fans that really do understand the sport because I know that there are some of you out there that really do. I'm just saying as a general rule, it's harder to find people like you than it is to find the equivalent in the other three sports. I mean, we just, it's definitely a part of the equation is that, you know, We all didn't grow up with frozen ponds around the corner,

grow up on skates playing, you know, pick up hockey. They did that in Canada, and they probably do that in New England, you know, to a certain degree. And then because of that, there's very few, you know, that coach it, that, you know, that played it and now coach it and that parent it. I know a lot of hockey families in the area. My nephew, Jack, who listens to this podcast, was an outstanding high school, goalie. His father, my brother-in-law, was a college hockey player. But they also, Kevin, my brother-in-law, lived until he was 13 years old in Minneapolis. They lived in Minneapolis. So that's why he was

in to hockey. If he had grown up in Washington during those formative years, I mean, hockey wouldn't have even been an option for him. There wasn't even a team here. So, or it had just gotten here. But anyway, Most people can't sit there and tell you that the caps were in some sort of blue line, you know, zone trapping system that really bottled up, you know, Florida in game one. And last night, Florida had an answer to that zone trap. I'm just making something up here. I don't even know if that's the case. But most people don't talk that way about the sport, whereas every week leading up to, you know, an NFL game,

a Washington game. We're talking about whether or not, you know, they can play press coverage, whether they should be playing more zone, more man, you know, how, you know, will they play a five-man defensive front to stop the run? Are they going to blitz more than they did last week? You know, will they bracket a certain receiver? Like, that's the level of conversation for the masses when it comes to football. It's more niche when it comes to hockey or niche, however you just, however you pronounce that word. But there are some people out there that talk about it. I actually really enjoy Alan and Brent Johnson,

who was sometimes in the broadcast. He wasn't there last night. Joe and Locker and some of the others talking about it afterwards. I don't watch that during the regular season. I always watch them during the playoffs to find out what happened based on what I just watched. Because I initially Locker said he thought that was going to be goalie interference. on the overtime goal.

And then after sort of it got called as a good goal, Alan said that wasn't goalie interference. And Joe B said that wasn't goalie interference. And then Locker agreed upon sort of more reviews and more time that it wasn't goalie interference. Okay. Well, let me wrap this up by saying that I wasn't paying attention. Right.

I know. You were very tense. You were two tense to pay attention. Yeah, I was too tense. I was thinking I was a wigwam or a teepee. I was two tense. Yes, two tents right next to each other, yes. Yeah.

Hopefully you had enough stakes for Neil. If you went to the Cats game last night instead of my event, you would have had a better time at my event. Well, last night, true. It was fun. Yes. It was a great night. You do a great job with it, and you don't need to be so,

tense next year because it always comes off very well. And it was a good time with a lot of nice people. And our auction item to sit in with Kevin and Tom, Sports Fix 2.0 podcast studio, Spacious, went for pretty good money, didn't it? Yeah, I'd say so. I'd say so. Should I reveal the amount?

I don't know if you want to reveal the amount. reason I say that is because the gentleman that bid on it and got it, super nice guy. Both of us talked to him for a while last night. He admitted that really the person that wanted him to bid on this particular auction item sitting in on our podcast recording was his wife. So his wife was the one that really wants to do it. He said, I want to do it too, but really she was the one that push this, so maybe he hasn't revealed to her how much he's spending on it. Okay. So I'm not going to say how much it is, but it was a generous amount. It was a very generous amount, and we're so appreciative, and the D.C. Grazer appreciative as well. And we did. Let me tell you, here's how

generous it was. Yeah. If we could do that every day to have people show up and watch us and pay this amount, we'd be doing pretty well. We'd be doing very well. If we could do that. And, you know, but, but of course, the, uh, the next iteration of it wouldn't be non-profit. It would be for-profit. Um, but, but they were really nice. Now, you know, we, we did promise, you know, open bar, which we'll, we'll create here. Nobody will know. Um, we'll bring in a couple of bottles and a, in a couple of, of, of, we'll have,

we'll find out what they, what they drink. And you and I certainly will participate. and we'll have a great podcast that day, and we will bring in some sandwiches or something for lunch as well. It'll be fun. All that sounds good. Okay. Yes. There are some interesting sports stories that have come out since my radio show this morning,

including one involving Tom Brady. More on that, right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, wherever you get the podcast. podcast. If it allows you to subscribe, just subscribe, then you'll get it every day. It doesn't cost you a thing. And wherever you can rate us and review us, do so, especially on Apple, where your ratings and reviews have really, really helped. On Apple, give us five stars, quick one to two-sentence review. That's all you need to do. Takes you all of, you know, 30 to 60 seconds, and it's a huge help to us. So, I'm going to get to this.

Brady thing here, Tommy, in a moment. But I did want to just mention that, you know, a lot of you reached out, and we were off yesterday. I was up at Penn State over the weekend for my youngest son's graduation. Hell of a time. Shitty weather. I mean, cold. Graduations, by the way, being out of the college business.

Out of the college tuition business, yes. It's nice to be in that position, finally. And I'm sure a lot of you can relate. Anyway, he graduated from Penn State University, and we were up there for the weekend. And we had a great time. I mean, there are many couples whose, you know, kids are friends with Ryan that we've gotten to know over the years that we've rented a house with, you know, for various football weekends. And we rented the same house again for this weekend. And it was a great weekend.

I did want to mention because many of you had reached out to me to say, hey, I know you're up at graduation at Penn State. Did you see Jahan Dotson graduate? Well, in fact, not only did I see Jahan Dotson graduate, but he literally walked two people behind my son, Ryan. You know, I was kind of dialed in on Ryan, not even thinking about, you know, Jahan Dotson. I had no idea, and I read afterwards that Ron Rivera had said,

you're not staying for minicamp day day number two on Saturday, you're going to go attend your graduation, which actually was, you know, to be honest with you, I think that's really, really the right thing to do, you know? I think, I thought it was great. Yeah. And by the way, Rivera won the Hallis Award, you know, and that's two straight years, Alex Smith last year, Ron Rivera this year. I mean, he totally deserves it for what he's had to overcome the last couple of years since he got here. But anyway, yeah, so Ryan, you know, it's these graduations are huge at schools like Penn State, 40,000 undergrad. You know, they have seven or eight of these actual graduations, you know, for each school. Like, he's in the communication school. So I don't know.

I'm going to guess that 1,000 to 1,500 students were graduating in this particular, maybe not that. Maybe 1,000 in this particular ceremony in Bryce Jordan Arena, the basketball arena. So there are thousands of people when you count family and friends, etc. That are in the arena. You're far away from the action at something like this. I mean, Tommy, they opened the concession stance for graduation. You know, people are walking back to their seats with pretzels and beer, you know. And so Ryan, you know, walked across and then not the next person, but the person after that, you know, I'm,

Kara's taking, you know, video and we're seeing. were fine. They were the next level up from the stage. And then I just, I'm watching him. And then I hear Jahan Dotson. And then there's this big cheer, huge cheer for John Dotson. And so I looked up and he was, you know, Ryan was still kind of mingling off the stage. And so I took a picture with him walking up right behind my son in graduation. Now, I saw some tweets afterwards when I got caught up. sort of on Twitter on late Sunday or Monday, whatever day it was. And people are like, hey, did you see him? Maybe you should have interviewed him.

It's graduation. He's with his family. I mean, I'm not going to go up to him and say, hey, Jahan, can I grab you for three minutes? But he, Ryan did tell me, and he has told me this before, that, you know, he doesn't know Jahan necessarily, but knows people that know him and that everybody there apparently really likes him. And somebody sent me this interview with Santana Moss that he did. He's just impressive. I mean, this could change. I mean, you were blown away with RG3 when he, you know, this was 10 years ago, Tommy, 10 years ago, spring of 2012. Tommy came back in and said, oh my God, this guy is amazing.

The planes were flying overhead into Dulles, and he stopped and waited for the planes to the sound to go away. God, how completely aware and courteous he is. I was. Listen, I was all in on RG3. No doubt. I was, too. I mean, I'm not going to lie. I mean, that season was incredible. But anyway, the interview that Johan Dotson did with Santana Moss, he just is incredibly impressive. I'm a big fan of Dotson. You know, I was before the draft. I told everybody, that this was a player they really valued, and that after Drake London, he was in the mix. If they didn't get London to be the receiver picked.

I didn't think at 16 or 11. I thought if they traded further back, it might be him. But he's going to be a good player. I really feel, I know I was super confident about Doxon. I know that. But I'm really confident that Dotson is going to be a good player for this team. Go ahead. He seemed like a nice kid, right?

Everything you've heard is a nice kid. Very impressive in this interview with Santana Moss. Bright, really engaging. Did you see him with his family at the event? I did. Yeah, I did. He was taking, as I was out in the arena, which I've got a story about, too, about you and me. I saw him with his family taking pictures.

He wasn't that far away. Were they all very happy? They seem to be, yeah. So don't you feel sorry for him? Okay. We don't need to do that today. Did you want me to go up and tell them, God, I wish you had been drafted by anybody but Washington. Don't you feel they have no idea what's coming?

And by the way, there'd be no reason for you interview him there because the team will gladly have him on your show. You know, I want to be careful here because Sean has done a nice job of helping out more so than anybody did in the first. past. Huh? Listen to this tap, Dan. Well, I mean, well, he, I mean, look, we know that they've never liked us or liked the radio station or liked any of the media in particular, but, but I think, like I've said, I think the football operation and the business operation people are different now than they used to be. It doesn't mean that it's going to be able to overcome Dan Snyder, but I think that they have higher quality people, smarter people in the organization than before.

Okay, everybody, let's remember this conversation when they give you the third string cornerback after week three. The best was in 2019 when they drafted Dwayne Haskins and, you know, the afternoon, Doc and Brian were there, I think, for the station. And so they were the afternoon show. And I guess Zabe and Galdi in the after. I forget now the time frame here.

I just remember that the other station not only got, we were the flagship, not only got Haskins and the coaches and the GMs, but they got the backup quarterback that year before. They got Case Keenham, who was in his first year. And then finally they handed him over. And I remember, I think it was CJ, just said, you've got to be kidding me. I mean, nothing could be more obvious than what you just did on the first day of training camp. And the other station got every key person before we got him. And by the way, when they handed them to us, they said, you guys got five minutes, hurry up.

But there are different people out there now. I wanted to tell you real quickly. So up on the concourse level after the graduation, as I was waiting for, you know, my son to come up. And I did see Dotson, you know, with family and friends that he graduated with. And by the way, he's not a big dude at all. I mean, it's the first thing that you're struck by. But Santana was, I used to always say when you'd see Santana in the building, you would have never, if you didn't know what Santana looked like facially, you would have thought like an eighth grader just walked into the building to get an

autograph from somebody and was walking back to his parents car in the parking lot. Santana always was, he was so small and so young looking. Anyway, somebody came up to me. A guy came up and said, hey, you know, I forget what his name was, to be honest with you. I just wanted to tell you, I'm a big fan of the show, but I'm a much bigger fan of the podcast. I listen to the podcast all the time. and he said, you know, I have just one question for you, if that's okay. I said, of course. Congratulations on your son or daughter. It's my son, he said.

And, I mean, whenever you run into somebody this time of year or based on recent events, the two questions you're going to get asked is, do you think this is the one where Snyder loses the team? I mean, that question, that question's been asked of you and me and people. in sports media in this town a hundred times over the last two months alone. And then because the draft just happened, what did you think of our draft? But that's not what he said. He said, he said, is that Tom's real voice? To which I said, is that your one question?

He said, well, I actually have another question, but is that really his voice? And I said, well, do you think if he had a choice, he'd actually. choose that voice? And then he laughed and he said, no, no, my real question is, do you guys get along? You and I have gotten that a lot over the years. Do you guys get along or not? And I bet anybody that does a show with a co-host over a period of time gets asked that

question about, you know, are you guys friends? Do you get along? And I said, I said, well, what do you think? and he said, I don't know, but I think you do and I hope you do. And I said to him, I said, yeah, we totally get along. I can't think of one time, we've said this before, where we've left the studio, where left this, you know, the way we've done the podcast for the last two years during this time, where anybody's ever been mad at each other.

And he said, well, that's great. And he said something, and I'm paraphrasing at this point, but it was very nice. And I wish I remembered his name, but my family kind of walked up in the middle of this and they were waiting for me and his did as well. But he said something like, you guys have very often disagree vehemently. And it's nice that you guys can do that and remain friends because it's not that way so much in our society. I'm paraphrasing. And I thought that was a very nice thing to say. So I do think we are an example.

for a lot of people. We're a beacon of light in a world of dysfunction. We're a beacon of, oh, look, I think the key is that we respect each other's intelligence, ability, and honesty. Okay. And I think that's what gets us through our disagreements. You know, I mean, people ask that because you hear legendary stories from people who have hosted radio shows the most famous is Mike and a Mad Dog.

Yeah, they couldn't stand each other. Yeah, they couldn't stand each other. So I understand why people ask that question. I hear stories about that occasionally, but that's not us. One quick thing before we get to Brady, because I just want to mention, James Bradbury was released by the Giants yesterday. Everybody knows this, knew this was coming. They tried to trade them.

Apparently the Texans were interested in trading for him, but ultimately because they wanted to lessen their cap situation moving forward, he was going to get released. And so connecting the dots, everybody started to say, you know, Washington, Washington, because Bradbury was signed by, was drafted by the Carolina Panthers under Ron Rivera and Marty Herney back in 2016. And, you know, I've heard from a lot of you, do you think they will? Do you know, what do you, is this a play? I don't, I have no idea.

I know nothing. It's obvious to connect the dots and assume that Washington would be in play. There are two things here that I would say. Number one is they haven't spent on anything in this offseason. They don't have a ton of cap space, and they haven't been willing to restructure their biggest contract to create more cap space. That would be Carson Wentz's contract.

So part of me thinks they're kind of content with making the big move for Carson Wentz, you know, at keeping J.D. McKissick and Bobby McCain and Cam Sims and a couple of their own players, you know, signing Trey Turner and Andrew Norwell and the defensive end that had Carolina ties and, et cetera, and that they're good to go here. But in my opinion, they should go after Bradbury. Bradbury would be their best cornerback if they signed him. And it's a need position. It's a need position at the very least. for depth. William Jackson was a disappointment last year. I know they wanted to play more man coverage, which would have suited him better, but he was a disappointment. I do like Kendall Fuller. I'm not giving up on Jackson. I'm not giving up on people like Jamie Davis, but if they

figured out a way to afford it and SpotRack says it's a $12.5 million contract next year, whether that's as part of a multi-year deal or if it's a one-year deal, it's $12.5 million. He was, he, would be their best cornerback. So I don't know that all of you agree with that, but that's what I believe. I think he'd be their best corner. I think he'd be a great addition. But, you know, I don't know if they'll do it. And maybe if they don't do it, it may be less of a sign of cap space and more about maybe something they know about James Bradbury, that the Giants just moved on two years after signing signing him to a big deal. You know, those are all the things we never know.

But talent-wise and production-wise, he would be their best cornerback. So, yeah, I'd be very interested in them signing him. Well, Firewalk may be coming into play is who else may be competing for him. Right. I've read that the Eagles are interested in him as well, and that's your division rival.

I don't know how much this front office subscribes to. You know, we like him, but we certainly don't want to have to play against him after missing a chance to get him. Not that he's Dion Sanders or anything, but I think it always stings a little bit when a player you're interested in winds up playing for one of your rivals in the division. Yeah, I mean, if Bradbury liked his experience with Ron Rivera and some of the other, you know, in the Carolina experience, and, you know, I mean, I would think that Washington would be in play if Washington can put together the right kind of deal. I mean, this could be done today, and by the time you listen to this, you know, it could be over with the Raiders or the Eagles or the Vikings.

You know, there are other teams that really, look, you can't have enough quality corners in this league. Washington does not have enough. And so Bradbury, to me, would be their best corner. day one in the room, and maybe their best zone corner and man corner combined, but it's very familiar with the scheme. By the way, you know, Jack Till Rio over the weekend suggested that last year's offseason stuff made them poorly prepared from a past defense secondary standpoint for the season. He kind of intimated that not everybody was really all in on some of the offseason activity in the secondary.

I don't know who he was referring to. All we focused on really was the guy that didn't post for one OTA day, which was Chase Young. Everybody else posted for at least one day, but it's very possible that there was a DB or two that only posted for maybe two of the six days or three of the six days that they had last year. I know they had nine, the ability to do nine, but I think they only did six before they had their mini camps. But, yeah, Bradbury would be a tremendous addition. And then if you get Chase Young and Montes Sweat and some of these guys healthy and playing at the level that they played at two years ago, all of a sudden, you're in better shape defensively.

All right, you want to get to this Brady story? Yeah, absolutely. Tom Brady. I mean, go ahead. Tom Brady will join Fox Sports as its lead NFL analyst when his playing career ends. Kevin Burkhart will be the lead play-by-play guy. He's taking over for Joe Buck. I believe that Greg Olson,

I probably should have done more prep on this, but I think Greg Olson is the potential short-term until Brady retires lead analyst with Burkart on Fox. But Brady's locked and loaded as the Fox lead analyst when he retires, which here's a guy that wanted to retire and have some free time to be with his family, and then he spent a little bit of time with his family and said, I've got to get back to football, and it's got to be for good. So, you know, do you think Brady will be good at this?

Okay, well, here's a couple questions. Okay. I think it's safe to assume that Fox didn't ask Brady to try out, right? Probably. Probably not, okay? You're not going to ask Tom. So nobody knows if he's going to be good. He may not be good.

On the other hand, Foxman, and supposedly he's going to be made $20 to $25 million a year. Okay? And it may be longer than five years. So it's a lot of money. On the other hand, if you're Fox and you have the chance to lock in Tom Brady, do you take the gamble and say, you know, if he's good, we've got Tom Brady, the greatest football player.

in the history of the game in our boots. Do we take that gamble? I think you still do. I think you still, if you have the chance to sign them, I think you sign them, and then you worry about if he's good later on. $20 to $25 million a year to be the lead analyst. God, these networks in this league just kill it.

I mean, it's amazing. And I don't know. I've only seen maybe one or two guys in the history, of football who analysts who drive viewership and John Mann would be one of them. I think most people don't tune in the game based on who's going to be in the booth.

Yes, but every move here recently would indicate that the networks think you're wrong because of what Monday Night Football just paid Troy Aitman and Joe Buck and what Fox just committed to Brady. What NBC committed to Brady, what NBC committed to Drew Breeze before he retired. And Drew Breeze called his first game.

And, you know, in the playoffs, it was the Raiders Bengals game. And it was a disaster, you know. And so they've got him, you know, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, I think this does take time to become really good at it. You just don't step in the booth, you know, day one and be what Madden was, really. but, you know, the Tariqo Bree's booth is still, you know, a big question mark. But, you know, they... Yes, it is.

Do I think that Brady moves the needle on a bad game and keeps viewers locked in longer and keeps... Because ultimately the game is the most important thing. You know, if you've got a great game, it doesn't matter who's calling it. I think that's right. and I, hell, I mean, I think in many ways Monday night football with the terrible, you know, booths that they've had since, since Gruden left are kind of proof of that. I don't know, Tommy. I don't know what the answer is, but the money would say that they're very important.

Yeah, you're right. You're right. I mean, look, we have this argument about, we've had this discussion about athletes at spokespeople for products. I mean, does anybody buy a particular product just because of a guy doing commercials for them? I don't. Maybe you don't. But there must be people who do because they keep throwing money at these guys to do this stuff. No, we've got a lot of people listening to this podcast that use things like Blue Chew and Magic Spoon and other of our sponsors.

So we're thrilled about that. Yes, we are. We're thrilled about that. know that's because of us, right? Yeah, by the way, I want to correct something. Breeze is not in the NBC Sunday night booth yet. It's still Collinsworth and Torrico. So, you know, you have that.

But he is a part of the NBC broadcast, and, you know, I think the plan was him, was initially for him to replace Collinsworth, but he wasn't very good in his debut. Back to the more important thing about Brady. Do you think he'll be good, yes or no? Yeah, I think he will. And the limited, I think he's got a certain sense of humor from what he's displayed. He's a little bit nuts, okay? But they're all got guys who achieve at a high level like this.

A lot of them are a little bit nuts. Okay? I think he will be good. I don't think he'll be particularly, you know, it's interesting, though. but I mean with Tom Brady doing this now what is Pete Manning thinking

he does that little manning cast with his brother on Monday night football that everyone you know has it or his orgasmic over but it's still it's still small time

you know Peyton has had the same opportunity to do this and he's passed it up I wonder if he's thinking you know what what did maybe I shouldn't have passed it up

Look what Brady's doing. I enjoyed the Manning cast when I watched it, but I also think that the hidden miss nature of it because they weren't on every week really kind of ruined any sort of momentum because I never knew when it was actually on and I would forget about it. You know, the Manning thing is interesting. I don't know why he didn't take one of these big jobs. It may just be that he doesn't want to be committed to traveling every week.

You know, it's a big commitment for, you know, not just 17 weeks, but then you've got postseason and you've got a couple of preseason games to do as well. So, you know, when all said and done, it takes up half of your year and it means you're away every weekend. And maybe he just didn't want to continue to have the grind of traveling every weekend and wanted to be with his family. Who knows what the reasons were. I also always felt like there was a chance that Peyton Manning was one of these guys. that was really good scripted, but not great unscripted. I think Peyton Manning is brilliant scripted in all of the commercials he's done.

And maybe, by the way, has always struck me as one of the most self-aware athletes of this past generation. Maybe he didn't think he was going to be great at it. You know, it's funny in watching the Manning cast, I don't know, a half dozen times this year, I actually thought at times Eli was better. I thought Eli's analysis at times was better, and I thought Eli's off-the-cuff sense of humor, sort of quick, you know, quick-wit quips, were kind of funny,

where maybe it wasn't intended to be funny, but it came off as funny. And maybe, I don't know, I act, maybe I'm the only person, but I thought Eli was pretty, pretty damn good at times. And maybe it's because he just retired. I don't know.

Maybe Peyton doesn't think he'd be very good. And Brady doesn't have the same self-awareness. And maybe Brady will suck. I have no idea what Brady's going to be like. I don't consider Brady to be as smart as Peyton Manning, like in terms of innate intelligence. Do you? No, I wouldn't off that.

But again, my bottom line is, if you're the network that comes out with Tom Brady, you've just gotten a coup, and you sign the check, and you worry about the outcome later. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I mean, you know, what's the commitment for?

How many years? I think it could. One story I just read, it could be longer than the typical five-year commitment. It could be long. And what if he is absolutely horrendous? I wonder if during that period of time when he was retired, if he did audition. The guy that will know all this is... That would be hard to believe.

The guy that will know all the answers to this is John Orand, Sports Business Journal. Yes, he would. Because that is really... Without an audition, look, you're right. The press release won the day today and having Brady is a part of it. And Brady, by the way, I think also appeals. to men and women probably equally. And, you know, the NFL has a large female audience as well.

It's the one sport that has an overwhelming, you know, female audience. So maybe they can't. Which is remarkable to me, given the way the NFL treats women. But go ahead. Well, but they, it's an unbelievable part of their audience. They're not going to lose on this. It's a big coup to get him. I mean, front office sports is reporting that Brady Steel is also believed to be longer than the typical five years.

All told, his PAC could come in at the $190 million to $200 million range sources set, basically estimated sources. Wow. Well, there you go. But the issue is when will it start? He might play another three years. This may be an announcement that really, I mean, the Drew Breeze thing was an announcement, I think two years before he actually retired,

or maybe it was a year before. I don't know. Anyway, that's big news from the sports broadcasting world. Greg Olson, who I think is actually really good in the games that he called last year, but is not the personality. Greg Olson's very, but he's very, He's very good analyst. He's really good.

I thought he was, too. I think he's going to be the lead analyst with Burk Hart until Brady retires. And then Brady's going to make $20 to $25 million a year to be the lead analyst on the games on Fox. Wow. Which, by the way, is the NFC package primarily, but we see a lot of, you know, aFC crossover games as well. Okay. When we come back, do you remember who the best...

athlete in your high school was, Tommy. Do you remember? Yes, I do. Okay, I want you to tell me about him, and I'm going to tell you about somebody when we come back right after these messages from a few of our sponsors. Shout out to Spencer Burton. Tommy Spencer is a fan of the podcast. He listens every day. Spencer, we appreciate that. Spencer is the head of the middle school at the Covenant School in Charlottesville, Virginia. We appreciate you listening. to the podcast. And the reason I found out about Spencer being a fan of the podcast, Tommy,

is that I got a text from a friend of mine from high school, who I haven't heard from. We have not probably communicated in at least five years, I'm guessing. It's probably been longer than that, but I'm going to guess at least five years. But a really good friend of mine from high school, and he was the one that made me aware that he ran into Spencer and my buddy's friend apparently works at the same school. And I guess my name came up in the conversation. The podcast came up in the conversation. So he sent me a note and, you know, mentioned this guy, Spencer's name and, you know,

reached out to say hello. Anyway, I bring this up because I want to have this conversation with you. It's probably a conversation we've had in the past, but who cares? We'll do it again now. You know, it's a conversation about the best athlete in your high school. Jeff Gaffney, who reached out to me about Spencer being a fan of the show, was without a doubt, like if you asked, you know, 10 guys in high school, in my high school class, 10 guys that, you know, played sports, followed sports, paid attention to sports, all 10 of them would say that Jeff Gaffney was the best all-around athlete in our class.

Like it wasn't really that debatable. You know, I'm sure many high schools have lots of. debates. But in our high school and my high school graduating class, Walt Whitman High School, Jeff was the best athlete of our class. He was one of the greatest college soccer players in UVA history and in ACC history. He went to UVA. I think he's still their all-time leading score. I think he was a national player of the year, ACC player of the year probably multiple times. And he went on

as a graduate student to be a field goal kicker on UVA's football team as a fifth year graduate student. And then Tommy, in the scab year of 1987, kicked for the San Diego Chargers in the NFL and

scored a touchdown on a fake field goal. He was a tremendous athlete. Like, soccer was his sport. The New York Cosmos were scouting him when he was like a sophomore and junior and senior in high school. They would show up at games. But soccer was his sport.

So he played basketball for a little while. If he had played basketball as his primary sport, he would have been a college basketball player. If he had played football as his primary sport, he would have been a college football player. It just happened that soccer was his sport and he was tremendous and was the, you know, I think he was the national high school player of the year. and I think his senior year, not only did they win the states, the Whitman team,

win the states that year, I think they were the number one high school team in the country, his senior year. And he was the most highly recruited player out of that particular senior high school class. So, you know, we had no debate as to who the best athlete in our class was. It was Jeff. By the way, the best female athlete in my high school class was Missy Paulman, and that wasn't really debatable either. Missy was a great high school basketball player at Whitman, and I think she played at Tulane. I think that's right.

I hope I got that right. Anyway, do you, Tommy, remember who the best athlete in your high school was? You know, I remember our high school picked and gave an award and put their name on the wall in the lobby of the gym, the best football player of the year, the best baseball player of the year, most valuable basketball player, most valuable wrestler. And then they picked most valuable all-round athlete for our high school. Right. And it was interesting in what happened at our high school because there was the son of a gym teacher at our high school,

who was a really good athlete, and he was kind of the anointed one. You know, he played football and track, and he was very good athlete. And then there was another guy who was kind of like the big, strong guy who was, who seemed older than everybody from ninth grade on. Mm-hmm. You know, he seemed like a man in ninth grade. Sure.

And he was a pretty good athlete for years. And then we had this other guy who kind of transferred in from a Catholic school when he was in 10th grade. His name was Rich Nicholas. And by the time he was a senior, he had emerged. as and basically passed these other guys. As the, I think he was the, yeah, he was the most valuable all-round athlete. He played football and he wrestle.

But he was not the guy who throughout most of high school, everyone would have thought would wind up the most valuable all-round athlete. He was sort of like, not like the long-should. shot in the Kentucky Derby. But he was, if you had bet in our junior year that he would be the all-round, best all-round athlete name, nobody would have. A few people would have thought that. I bet you that's not unusual.

You know, a lot of people develop physically at different times. I mean, for me, Tommy, I was a late physical developer. I was like, you know, one of the last among my. friends to have hair under my arms and shave and I mean hell I think in my junior year of high school I was like five nine and 135 pounds and then over the summer between junior and senior year I grew to like nearly six three and I was like a buck 60 still rail thin but I think that you know the physical maturity thing especially with boys where some guys are physically far ahead at a younger age and others aren't, plays into the, oh, this guy's going to be the athlete, you know.

I remember there was a kid not in our middle school. We actually called it junior high. It was Western Junior High. It's now Westland Middle School. But at Western Junior High, which went through ninth grade, and then we went to high school as 10th graders, and then it was my senior year in high school that there was actually a freshman class added to my high school. Anyway, I digress. I remember there was a kid in another middle school. God, I'm forgetting his name. I remember his first name was Gary and I forget what his last name was. He was as an eighth grader, you know, 6-1 had probably been shaving for a year and a half, could jump out of the gym, could dunk every which way. And, you know, everybody was convinced that this guy was going to be, you know, the next, you know, the next, you know, the next day.

David Thompson, you know, of great NC State fame. But anyway, to make a long story short on someone like him, I don't even think he played for his high school team. I think if he did play for his high school team, he didn't play and then probably bailed before his senior year. So I think that it's not unusual for guys that you think at the beginning of high school or in middle school are going to be the athletes. and then some guy who develops physically later ends up being that guy.

Yeah. Yeah, and this guy went on to be a tremendous defensive football player for our local college. East Strasbourg University. He went on to be an excellent college football player at East Stroudsburg University and won a Pennsylvania State Conference championship in his senior year. So he was But he wouldn't have been the guy Two years before we graduated

That people would have thought People would have thought it would have been one of the other two guys And he just worked And sort of came out of nowhere And You know, it's funny, I still see Rich A couple of times a year He

He spent his winter down in West Palm Beach I usually get together with him And then when we would do bumpstock every year he'd always come to bump stop. That's cool. And he's still in tremendous shape. He's tremendous shape. I just looked Jeff up on the internet.

So Virginia had its all-time soccer team back in 2017, and he was named their all-time soccer team. He's the all-time leading score, or at least through 2017, and he's the only player through 2017 that ever had his jersey retired at UVA. So he is, I think, considered the greatest soccer. soccer player in the history of that school. And then on pro football reference, I don't think they have. So he kicked for the Chargers in 1987 during the scab games. He was three for three on field goals. Oh, I'm sorry. He was in total three for six on field goals, four for five on

extra points. And do they have the touchdown? Because there was a fake field goal where he scored a touchdown. I don't see that in here. You know, for kickers, they usually don't have the touchdown section. But he was such a great... Did you guys in high school have an awards banquet where the MVP and basketball was picked? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We had individual banquets for the sports, but I don't remember the... Oh. The Athlete of the Year award. I don't remember that kind of a thing. And there was a board. I don't know what it looks like in a high school now, but your name went up on a board in the lobby of the auditorium. And, you know, you were honored for, you know, for decades.

People could go back and look and see in 1971, who was the best all-round athlete. and your name would be up there. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, we didn't have like an end of the, I'm looking to see if I can find the game. I know he scored a touchdown in a game. It may have been a preseason game,

and they don't have preseason games on pro football reference. So. That's shameful of them. They might not have it here. But they ran a fake field goal for him. He was such a great athlete. They ran a fake field goal, and he took it and went in from like, you know, 25 yards out. I also could be thinking that it was potentially an extra point, but there was no two-pointer back then.

But I'm pretty sure it was a touchdown, but I have a feeling now it was probably a preseason game. Now, the kicker for the Chargers was Rolf Bernerska. You remember Bernerska? Yes. Long-time kicker for the Chargers. So he was, you know, part of the union and the striking players. So the next year, Jeff went back, and I remember competed for the job. And by all accounts, beat Bernershka out, but it wasn't by enough of a margin for them to go with the scab player.

And then I think he had, if my memory serves me correctly, and if he ends up hearing this, he'll reach out to me and tell me. But I know he may have had a try out and maybe kicked in a preseason game with. at the Cowboys at one point. And I think Washington worked them out as a kicker. But, you know, the scab players of 87, for them to have gotten the long-term opportunity, they had to be so much better than the player that was a union member that had held out.

Like, I mean, do you remember off the top of your head like any scab players that turned out to be great NFL? players like long-time NFL players. I'm kind of forgetting if there were any. Not off the top of my head, no. I don't remember anybody like that. I do remember the Redskins being the most prepared team for that strike. And they had, you know, they had games that year in 87 where, I mean, they went undefeated. Their scabs went undefeated. And famously, you know, the replacements, the movie, the replacements, they beat the Cowboys on Monday night football when the Cowboys had some of their starters.

They had Danny White and Randy White and Tony Dorset back. And Washington with the kid from Tennessee, the Tennessee quarterback, Robinson. Tony Robinson, right? Tony Robinson was the quarterback that led Washington that night? I think it was. And they beat the Cowboys in that famous Monday Night game when Washington was playing with all scabs. and the Cowboys started to break, you know, lines. The veterans started to come back before the strike was over.

And I think that was the last week of the strike, if my memory serves me correctly. Man, that was an organization that had their shit together, wasn't it, back then? Yes, it was. Yes, it was. I mean, you saw the best, now you see the least. What else do you have? I got nothing else. I'm usually worn out.

the day after this thing. I know. Great job last night. Congratulations. It was a lot of fun for everybody attending. And I had a blast hanging out with everybody and meeting so many people. And I know you did as well. All right.

I am back tomorrow, maybe with a surprise guest and perhaps even a film breakdown or two. Enjoy the rest of your day and evening.