The Kevin Sheehan Show - Commanders: Defining Successful Season

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

Kevin and Thom today with a loaded show of wide-ranging topics. The boys opened with predictions on how many games Jayden Daniels will start in 2026. Kevin set the over-under at 13.5 games. Next up, they had definitions of what a successful Washington Commanders season would look like in '26. Other topics included the NFC East, the Netflix' "Quarterback" series, Max Scherzer's jersey retirement worthiness, the Nats' big week prior to the trade deadline, the reporting around Kyle Shanahan's car accident, Thom's review of "The Odyssey" and a lot more.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan.   Air conditioning stops at your waistband. Stay fresh all day with TUSHY. For a limited time, our listeners get 10% off their first bidet order when you use code Sheehan at checkout.   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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsors, always, Window Nation.

86690 Nation, Window Nation. Window Nation.com if you need new windows. Tommy, this comes from D. Yesterday, before I read this, I had Mark Eyn on the show, a minority owner of the team and the chairman in C. CEO of the tennis tournament downtown, the city open.

By the way, Francis Tiafo, the local, lost his first round match, which is I'm sure not what Mark wanted to see happen. But he's been coming on this time of year for like the last three or four years. And even before that, even before they bought the team to talk about the tennis tournament. And then obviously when he became a minority owner of the team, we talked some football as well. but Dee writes, Kevin, too much tennis talk with Ayn. Why didn't you ask him about when the old logo and the old name are coming back?

Also, he seemed to be vague about ticket sales this year. Hmm. Uh, thank you for that, Dee. Yeah, I mean, we did bring up the old uniforms. I brought up the old uniforms being back, and he seems to be excited about that. But he's not going to talk about the old logo. go over the old name and I've brought it up with him in years past. That's now really a Mark Klaus question, the new team president. I know how the organization feels about all of that and

I've expressed that many times in the past. They understand the issue that it is and has been, but there's not an easy solution to it because the league's never going to let them go back to the old name. So I did ask him, Tommy. I said, so tell me about sort of the enthusiasm level for the upcoming season, you know, in terms of excitement, ticket sales, are the games sold out, your game still available? And he was a bit vague about that. Dee, you're right, and I did not follow up necessarily on that. I do know that there are tickets available for these games. There are season tickets available. They have not sold out all of their season tickets. I don't know what percentage of their available season tickets are sold.

But last year, I think when all was said and done, even though it wasn't in advance, I'm pretty sure they sold out most of their home games. Of course, that was coming off quite the season in 2024. Yeah, that's... You have to admit, there's not a lot of buzz about the team. There's not like last year That's for sure No, of course not

When they go to NFC title game With an exciting young quarterback And you know actually Given the buds last year They should have done better at the box office Yes So I think Yes we talked about that all during the season

Right And during the off season This year I think it's subdued And nationally I think it's buried It's definitely subdued compared to last year. Last year was the most anticipated season since 2013 for this franchise. Coming off the RG3 rookie season, there were expectations and a lot of hype surrounding what 2013 would be about.

Remember, they opened up the season on Monday night football against the Eagles. I think we were there together, if my memory serves me correctly. I was in the booth anyway watching that game. But that's not this year, for sure. And that's what 5 and 12, without, you know, with some question marks coming back that didn't exist last year, like the head coach, like will the quarterback stay healthy? Yeah. And I did get this sense, D, a little bit, that, you know, if they were sold out of a all of their games, we would know about it.

If they were killing it from a business standpoint, we would probably know about it a little bit more. But compared to what it was, you know, in the last few years of Snyder, oh, they're just way ahead of where that was. Okay. Yeah. But listen, it's interesting, when you read that email

and he complained the email or complained, about Mark I'm being evasive and not talking about the name. I mean, you know, I would think any of these owners, if asked a question like that, could, at this point still, could simply just say, well, I'm not Dan Snyder. That should do. Yeah. Right? That should be it.

You know? You can whine and complain to your heart's content, but if he turns around and says to you. Well, we're not Dan Snyder. No comeback for that. No comeback for that. No. That's good advice. You should be on the horn with Josh Harris and Mitch Rails and some of the other guys just to say, look,

if you get pressured about things like name and logo, just say, hey, man, we're working on a lot of things, but we're not Dan Snyder. That's it. That's it. I still think that's cover. No, it's definitely cover still. By the way, it's cover for last season at 5 and 12. If they

had seen, if Adam Peters and Dan Quinn at this season ending press conference last year trying to explain what you know the hell happened in 2025, if they had just said, hey man, we're not Dan Snyder,

Bruce Allen, or Vinnie Serrato, we're not them. Yeah. That's, that's, a mic drop. Now let me make it clear. That doesn't mean the organization is immune to criticism. Okay, about the daily operations.

But these are, I mean, the things about the name and the logo, these are deep-reated, deep-rooted traditional issues on a separate plane. and I understand them, but, you know, I wonder what some people would say, well, you can have the name and a logo back, but Dan Snyder's your owner. We've done that a million times. I know. My whole benefit of the doubt, Kev, when it comes to the new regime, it's still very much in full effect.

And it really stems from, I can give it. them the benefit of the doubt, something that I couldn't do for basically half of the Snyder era, we could never give benefit of the doubt. As we used to say together, many times, we have to suspend reality to have a conversation about the football team. All of our conversations includes, hey, we're suspending the reality that they'll never actually accomplish anything meaningful as long as he's the owner. Well, the benefit of the doubt is, hey, I can give benefit of the doubt for the first time in a while because they haven't given me any reason not to. And I still think through two full seasons and three seasons actually of ownership, I think 2023 is hard to put on them.

They haven't for me, by the way, I don't think this goes for everybody listening to the show. But for me, I feel good about the ownership group. I feel good about the front office. I still feel good about the head coach. I still feel very good about the quarterback. I think it's very clear to me that we're in a much different place today than we were three, four, five, six years ago. And until they F it up somehow, yeah, and by the way, you said it's on a completely different plane. and I do agree with that, you know, to a certain extent.

The conversation that about the name and the business, it's really about the business of the organization because that name and the logo is still a big part of that conversation. But I've never blamed them for not, for doing what they've done so far, because there's not an easy answer if you can't go back to Redskins with the old logo. Now, people will say, well, the old logo has never been offensive. it's all, you know, understood, but the old logo doesn't match up to the current name either. Right. And I'm thrilled that they went back to the uniforms that make me feel like every time I watch my team,

I'm watching my team. Because we had, you know, 22, 23, 24, and 25 of clown outfits compared to what we used to have that really were representative of like an expansion team. and it just furthered, you know, home the point that this isn't, you know, what you used to feel connected to. Yeah. So they've done, I think, everything they can do. And I know that they understand the challenges.

And what they're trying to do is control everything that they can control. The part of that, though, is they can do everything they want to do in the NFL to, you know, increase the likelihood of a positive outcome, but the NFL, there's just no guarantees in terms of what the product on the field is going to be. I actually did that on radio today, and it's actually not a bad transition, even though I wasn't planning on doing this with you here in the open. But, you know, I did the thing that I've done every year, which is there are going to be a lot of, you know, statements made from people covering the league and fans and even our fan base and and the people covering our team and the people talking about our team like us,

that are going to sound very certain and very definitive. And it's just the wrong league to do that. It just doesn't work out that way. We don't know anywhere near as much as we think we know when it comes to the NFL. And why are anybody listening to us? I know. Well, because it's actually such a fascinating league because we don't know what's going to happen year and in year.

out. You know, it's totally unpredictable. It is a great reality show where there's no, there's no script. And even if you think you, you have an idea, you know, you usually don't. Like I just, I did what I've done every single year, which is go back to the previous year. And look at where, you know, all of the, you know, pundits had, you know, the, as far as playoff teams and power rankings. And here it is. Last year, the, the team, that was power ranked at 20th and the team that was power ranked at 26th in ESPN's NFL power rankings, both of these teams were given a 33 and a half percent chance to make the playoffs and a 30.5 percent chance to make the playoffs, 30 and a half percent. Those two teams were Seattle

and New England. Seattle was the 20th team and New England was the 26th team. and they were given basically each a one out of three chance to even make the postseason. They were in the Super Bowl. Five of the teams ranked in the back half of the league made the playoffs. Seven is half of the playoff field. And of the top 10 teams, five missed the playoffs and five made the playoffs. And of the top five, Baltimore, Philly, Casey, Detroit, and Buffalo, three of the five, 60% didn't make the postseason.

That's the NFL every single year. I've been doing this every year. And the odds are that nearly half of the teams that will be in the playoffs in January of 27 are teams that no one's talking about right now. Nobody is. You're right. And it just makes it, I think that's part of. of why the league is so popular is that everybody can legitimately dream that this is the year

for their team. Now, you have a slight advantage over total unpredictability if you've got a quarterback that is healthy and available, and our team does have one that hopefully will be healthy and available. By the way, that was the other thing I did on radio today. I set the odds. I set the odds as the chief odds maker, and I am the chief odds maker of this podcast as well, that Jaden Daniels' number of starts in 2026, the over under, is 13 and a half games that he will start in. So you can go over or under. I got the 13 and a half because in the first two seasons, he has started 27 games.

He started 20 as rookie year. He started seven last year. Half of 27 is 13 and a half. Do you have a feeling one way or the other? Is he going to start more than 13 and a half games or less than 13 and a half, Tom Libero? Well, I'm in the process of trying to get my Jayden Daniels mojo back. okay where I was fawning over him

every week you ever yes you know and I still refer to him as the sun by which all commander planets revolve around right so I'm going to say over 13 and a half

okay I'm going to say over 13 and a half also two reasons one last year was the aberration for him he played 50 he started 50 of 54 college games, and he started all 20 as a rookie. So I know the feeling from a lot of people is that, uh-oh, that's going to be the biggest

question about him, his availability year and year out. Maybe it will develop into that. By the way, it's developed into that with Joe Burrow. It's developed into that to a certain extent with Lamar Jackson. You know, there are other superstar quarterbacks whose availability is in question year and year out. His history is that he plays and starts games. Last year was the aberration.

The other reason is the offense that we're pretty sure David Blow and company will employ will be one that doesn't necessarily use him as much as kind of a dual threat quarterback. Now, Kingsbury's used him as dual threat. I doubt we are going to see quarterback power, quarterback counter in the David Blow offense. Those were the plays that I hated the most. With that said, most serious injuries to quarterbacks don't happen with quarterbacks don't happen with quarterbacks inside the pocket in terms of the serious injuries. Now, with him last year, he got hurt on the run against Green Bay.

He got hurt on the run against Seattle. He got hurt on the run after throwing a pick against Minnesota. And then in the Dallas game, he was in the pocket, actually, when he got hit and hurt his hamstring. But I like over 13 and a half games for him. Yeah. I'm there with you. Okay. This sounds... waving my pom-poms right next to you, buddy.

Now, did you write... You sent me your column. I told you before the show that I had not had a chance to read it, even though it would take me about two minutes to read it. That's the way Tommy's columns are written, which I love. But isn't this what your column was about, about sort of wrestling with, are you back to where you were last year in Jaden Daniels? Or was it something else? It was something else. it's interesting because, I mean, first I started off right about, you know, if Brandon Ayuk is going to be out there on Coach Gibbs Drive. Oh, yeah.

You know, greeting people as they answer practice. We predicted that last week. Has it happened? It hasn't happened yet, has it? I don't think it's happened yet. Okay. So my column just touches on the IUC thing and then also touches on the firing of. of the tight end coach on the brink of camp.

Okay. What did you say about the firing of the tight end coach? Well, I just said it speaks and it illustrates kind of the coaching upheaval this team had in the offseason. Dramatic changing. Right. Coaching staff after just two years. Right. And I concentrate on the two new coordinators.

And I basically come to the conclusion. that they're both hoping that they're Ben Johnson and Brian Flores by proxy. Right. In other words, they're hoping that, you know what I mean. Yes. They're hoping that Ben Johnson rubbed off on David Blow when he played for him in Detroit and that Durante Jones, you know, learned a lot from Brian Flores when he worked under him in Minnesota.

And then I do all this, and then I come to the year. end. And I say, but all this stuff, none of it matters if Jaden Daniels isn't healthy and playing. Of course. Yeah. And then I end the column saying, damn, I buried the lead. Because that's still the number one thing. Right. So, you know, I've talked about this before, but there are more new, coordinators on both sides of the ball in terms of changes in the NFL this year than in any other year in the history of the league. Somebody did that study. I went through it a few weeks ago, maybe it was like a month ago because it seemed to me like there were just so many new

coordinators around the league. And I think offensively there are like 21 new offensive coordinators this year, and several of them are first-time offensive coordinators. Same on defense. I mean, in the division, Christian Parker, Dallas's defensive coordinator, brand new, never done it. Durante Jones is the same thing. So it is, it's, you know, they're making these changes, these big changes, both coordinators, in a year in which a lot of teams seem to be making a lot of coordinator

changes. Now, there are coordinators that are proven that are getting other opportunities to be offensive. I mean, Mike McDaniel was a head coach. He's the Chargers offensive coordinator. Matt Nagy is going to work for Harbaugh with the Giants. He's been an offensive coordinator, Frank Reich, the same thing. But there are plenty of guys that haven't done it. There's all kinds of different reasons. Yeah. And I know we've talked about this and you're probably sick of me bringing up, but, you know, Cliff Kingsbury was successful here, and he's not working here anymore. Yeah, no, I know that. And he, and by the way, former head coach and former offensive coordinator and everything else,

and he didn't get one of the OC jobs that were out there. I mean, he's working with Sean McVeigh, but, and it's very possible that some of it had to do with him being super choosy in terms of the opportunities that he wanted. Back to something that you said about, you know, Blow, they're hoping Blow becomes Ben Johnson and Durante Jones becomes Brian Flores. I definitely think that the reason Durante Jones was hired had a lot to do with them being and Quinn being enamored with Brian Flores and hoping to get Brian Flores. Because Brian Flores was interviewed for the job and other jobs, and then he ended up staying in

Minnesota. I think Ben Johnson, Blow becoming David, Ben Johnson, I don't know if it's Ben Johnson or a combination of Ben Johnson, Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, Cliff Kingsbury. Because I think what we're going to learn is that Blow isn't a direct replica of Ben Johnson. And I also think we're going to learn that some of what Kingsbury's done in the last two years will still, will still be a part of the offense because the quarterback was super comfortable with that. So I don't think they're going to get rid of all of that. And yeah, but on these two coordinators, I've said this many times already, Durante Jones is the one in which, if it doesn't work out, Dan Quinn's going to have a problem.

because David Blow was an organizational choice, an organization choice, as much as it was a Dan Quinn choice. Basically, I say in my column that he has that Sean McVeigh aura about him. Yeah, they didn't want to let him... Young guy who's just waiting, you know, who's just waiting for his head coaching job, you know?

Right. Yes. Yeah. And we'll see how it works out. But we both have Jaden playing more than 13 and a half games. And look, I've said this too, and I'm wondering if you feel the same way, I think if he starts, you know, more than 13 and a half, but let's just call it 17 for the sake of, you know, he's going to play this year and he's going to be a healthy Jaden Daniels.

I think that I'm not certain about this, but I have a strong hunch. They'll win more games than they lose, meaning they'll win at least. nine games. And they'll be a competitive team. Yes. Yeah, I wouldn't say they're a double-digit team guaranteed, but I think they'll win more games than they lose. Yeah. He's just, I mean, he just finds ways to win with lesser talent around him. And I think he might have better talent now than he did in 2024. And it's still lesser talent for what he should have. I think that the roster overall, because of all of the defensive additions,

has a chance to be a better roster than 2024. And I, look, you know, Adam Peters said this in the season-ending press conference. You know, there are multiple ways to help our offense and to help Jaden Daniels. And one of those ways is to be a better defensive football team. And that was clearly their focus. more than anything else. I mean, they tried to improve offensively. They didn't get Alec Pierce. They didn't get Romeo Dobbs. They didn't, you know, they backed out of the Tyler Linderbaum thing, and they ended up getting other players. But, I mean, we're going to have

six to seven new starters slash major contributors defensively, along with a new defensive coordinator. This is a completely different defense that we're going to see. And it would be hard to think that it could be worse than last year's defense. And so I do think there's a chance that this overall roster is better. I'm hoping that it's better than 2024, but the defense would lead the thought for me. Offensively, I'm not sure what it's going to be. Like I think I've mentioned to you before, everybody's convinced that it could just be a replica of 2024 where Jaden elevated the entire offense to the point where it was a top three, top four offense in the NFL. But that also assumes, if you think that can happen this year, that Terry McClureen, two years

older and coming off an injury and the worst season of his career is going to be what he was two years younger, you know, in 2024. And that's not a guarantee. Yeah. All right. We got a lot more show to get to. We'll start doing that after these words. few of our sponsors.

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You certainly won't find a better company to work with. Window Nation.com or 86690 Nation. So on Monday, that would be yesterday, I asked callers to give me the definition of a successful Washington season in 2026. So we get to the end of the season and what is it about that season that you would say, okay, that was a successful season. season. So I'll tell you what I gave out as my answer, and then you can give your answer. Number one is, it's a successful season in 2026 if the team goes to the playoffs. That's number one. Number two, and this probably is just as important, Jaden Daniels has a great season, and it's a great season marked by him being healthy throughout the season. And at the end of it,

there's like no doubt in anybody's mind that what we felt at the end of 2024 or what most of us felt at the end of 2024 is exactly who he is. He is an elite level franchise quarterback. That would mean, by the way, that there's no decision about paying him, you know, in 2027. He's going to get paid, but that's my definition of a successful season. Go to the playoffs. and Jaden Daniels is excellent like he was in 2024, which starts with him being available all of 2026. Do you have a definition of what would be a successful season for Washington? Well, a successful season, the way I see it, would be if everything I write about them looks really smart and my columns are really good.

It's always about you, isn't it? Always about you. It didn't mean a festival season for me. I thought that's what you meant. No, you know what I meant. But I don't know that that'll change the answer. So, but let's try. What would a...

Two answers that you gave are interchangeable, I think. I don't think they make the playoffs without Jane Daniels having a great season. Right. And if they make the playoffs, it's because was Jane Daniels had a very good season. And he was available, yes. Yes.

Yeah. I mean, there's some context around them not making the playoffs, but us feeling good about him and the offense and the team. I don't know. I don't think that means they would be worse on the field. In part, it could be that they would be worse on the field in terms of talent than 2024. And I don't know if that's possible. Yeah, I mean, 2024, the schedule wasn't the same.

I mean, Warren Sharp just put out his annual study taking, you know, the projections for 2026, which is a better way to do schedule strength than looking back to last year for some of the reasons that I discussed that the NFL changes so much year to year. But in looking at essentially the Vegas odds maker, over under wind totals, Washington has the fourth hardest schedule in 2026. The Cardinals, Dolphins, and Panthers are top three on that list. And what's interesting about that is that Arizona was a last place team, and yet they've got the hardest schedule.

And the reason for that is there are only three games out of year 17 that are determined based on where you finished the previous year. And Arizona, Tommy, I may have mentioned this to you last week. They have the lowest over-under-win total in a season in nine years. Three and a half at my bookie right now is Arizona's win total in 2026. The Jets had the same three-and-a-half number in 2017, and they actually went five and 11. Five and 11, not too good, but not the worst in the league. But, yeah, Washington based on the projected win totals of their opponents,

they've got the fourth toughest schedule going into the season. I will point out, as I do every year when we have the conversation about the schedule and strength of schedule, it's not who you play, it's when you play them. that is critical to how your schedule lays out. You may have a really good team on your schedule, but you may catch them the one week in which the starting quarterbacks banged up and they decided to sit them for that game.

Or, you know, something else. Yeah, so I think that the context around Jaden having a good season and them not making the playoffs could be something like, look, they had ended up having a truly brutal schedule, and they won nine or ten games, which was pretty good, but it was one game short of qualifying for the postseason. I mean, if they went 10 and 7 and Jaden was great, and the team was pretty good, and they lost a couple of heartbreakers to the Rams and to Seattle and to Philadelphia once

and another couple of good teams who they played, I mean, Joe Gibbs, Missed the playoffs multiple times with a 10-and-6 record. Anything's possible, but I'd say the odds are significantly against it. Yeah. Mr. Oddsmaker. Yeah. Well, you wanted to, before the show began, you said that, so you've been really knocking the Eagles recently, that I'm really down on the Eagles. You've been listening to the radio show,

but I think I've said this with you before. But what is it specifically that you wanted to know? Well, I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, but you think that they've got a loose canon as a head coach. Because, you know, I don't think you think they're a bad organization. Oh, no, not at all. Right. Right.

So you think it's a coaching problem, right? I just think that there's just something off about Philadelphia right now. That it's Siriani, that it's Jalen Hertz with another new offensive coordinator. You know, they traded a- I do like Jalen Hertz. I do. And I actually think that, well, I don't know that Sean Mannion's the best fit for Jalen Hertz. I had somebody else on the show recently who agreed with.

that and I'm trying to think who it was. It may have been Jeremy Fowler from ESPN. But like I think the offense, because Sean Mannion is essentially going to try to employ a similar offense with Jalen Hertz that David Blow will with Jaden Daniels, two of the quarterbacks who were under center the least amount along with guys like Patrick Mahomes over the last couple of years. And I don't think Jalen Hertz will adapt to that.

that style of offense as easily as Jaden Daniels will. I think Jalen Hertz has to be much more of a dual threat quarterback to be effective than Jaden does. I think Jaden's just better at doing the other things, pocket pass or throwing the ball in timing. Jalen Hertz needs to face the defense. He needs to be a run threat on every play. I think that's when he's at his best.

and that's not a Sean Mannion, also known as a Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan offense. So I'm a little bit skeptical about that fit, even though I think Sean Mannion's going to be a good offensive coordinator somewhere. I don't know if it'll be in Philadelphia. Siriani just always seems to me, after a tough season, they're always trying to get rid of them. but they're loaded, talent-wise, especially on defense. They've got the eraser on offense, sort of like I've referred to Jane Daniels, and so has Dan Quinn as basically the eraser, the guy who corrects mistakes. And I think that's, I think it's Sequin Barclay.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting about Saquan. in that he got injured a lot in New York, and he hasn't been injured in Philadelphia. I mean, will that catch up with him this year? He's taken a pounding for the last two seasons. This should be a better run scheme for him. Their offensive line, obviously, has been a strength, and last year it was banged up and injured,

and we'll see whether or not guys that were out last year come back and are healthy. That's a big deal. Look, Philadelphia has the best. roster in the division and one of the better rosters in the NFL. And defensively, with Vic Fangio coaching them and some of the players they have, I'd be surprised if they weren't great on defense again. But I don't know, for me, it's nothing super specific other than they've had this long run, they've been super successful, and yet it just doesn't seem right. Like I could

see them being okay, but not being dominant like they've been. I think the division is more wide open than most people think. I do. We'll see. Well, I still, I still, I'm higher on the Eagles than you are. I think that they've managed to survive their loose cannon coach to date. And maybe they'll be able to continue to do that. You know, they love Nick Siriani there.

I mean, the players, the people in the organization, they really like Nick Siriani. Outside of the organization, he looks like a dope to me. I mean, some of the things that they do during games, but they are loaded. That is for sure. On defense, you know, adding Jonathan Grenard, adding Rik Woolen, like they, and they already have, oh, that's a breaking story this afternoon. Jalen Carter gets the biggest contract for a defensive tackle in NFL history. A four-year, $152 million contract extension Jalen Carter gets.

Going into last year, we did a segment, I think, together, maybe not together on the podcast, ranking the best players in the NFC East. And I think I may have had Jalen Carter one or two. going into last year. And he had a very inconsistent season. And there were a lot of rumblings that he's not a guy they can count on to be consistent. The guy that is consistent is his running mate, Jordan Davis. But the talent's unmistakable with Jalen Carter.

He's dominant. When he's at his best, you know, it's him interior-wise. It's him. It's Jeffrey Simmons. It's Aaron Donald, if he comes about. in L.A. Like, he's truly one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league when he's at his best. But he was not.

He was inconsistent last year. You know, he took plays off, took games off. But they gave him the contract extension, nonetheless. We'll do that again closer to the season, sort of ranking the players in the NFC East, because there are some really good players in the NFC East. Philly's got most of them. They do. And yet I've got a hunch that they might take a step back.

Now, I know it's a lot of national pundits. I shouldn't say a lot. Some that I've come across and skimming, really think the Giants are going to take a step because of John Harbaugh. Yeah, I know. Did you see that sort of awkward addressing of the team when training camp opened up the other day in New York? No, I didn't.

It went viral a little bit on social. media. I was not, I didn't have the same reaction that many had that like he just seemed unprepared. He didn't seem to have the gravitas that a John Harbaugh should have. He was a little bit goofy in that he kept talking about, you know, these are the, I'm here as the head coach of the New York Giants. Do you guys get where you are? These are the New York Giants like he was going on and on. And look, the Giants do have great history. They do. Just not great recent history.

Right. I'm not a big giant sky. I like their roster a lot. I'm just not a fan of Jackson Dart. And so without the quarterback, they could be, you know, they're not going to be easy. And there have been moments in the last few years with the team they've had on defense. Dexter Lawrence isn't there anymore.

But they've been tough to deal with defensively. They just haven't had the quarterback in a while. But, and then there's Dallas in the division, and they've got talent too, but they were horrendous on defense last year. They're like us in that they should be, if everybody's healthy, they should be good enough on offense. And with them, their supporting cast, obviously, is much better with lamb and pickings and even Javante Williams in the backfield and Ferguson, etc.

in terms of their skill position players. But their defense was bad last year. It got better after the trade for Quinn and Williams, but, you know, Washington, Dallas, and Cincinnati, three teams where offensively they've got a chance to be really good if everybody's healthy, but their three defenses could easily, you know, let them down in recent years. Cincinnati, for sure, Dallas is the same.

All right. You know, yeah, go ahead. thing I want to, you know, we're talking about the NFC East here. And I know we take things for granted and this is kind of obvious, but isn't it great to be in the NFC East? Why are you asking it? Like, I've always felt it's been great to be in the NFC East, but what do you mean? What do you mean by that?

It's such a, if you're a fan, it's such a perfect division to be in. Like right now or just historically? Because historically, of course. It's all the time. Yeah, yeah. All the time. I mean, there's no outliers in there. There's no teams that came along 20 years ago.

Right, right. You know, there's no team that's like a thousand miles away. You know, it's right there for you. All the balances. But other than that. Yeah, no. I think, I just think it's, it's, It's so great.

And if they would ever re-align or do anything, I don't think they'll ever screw with the NFC East because I imagine it's a television bonanza the way it's set up for the league. Oh, yeah. The NFC East is one of the true marquee divisions slash conferences in sports. In sports, period, yeah. And it always has been. And when they did remember realign, and they went from three divisions to four,

and Seattle jumped from the AFC to the NFC, and, you know, back in 2009, I forget which year they did that. And, you know, there was some discussion about realigning to something that was more geographically accurate. And everybody said, well, no, we're not moving Dallas out of the NFC East. the best rivalries in our sport at the time we're in the NFC East yeah there's no doubt I mean it is the marquee division in the sport even though

it doesn't have the rivalries recently that some of the other like the AFC North with Pittsburgh and Baltimore there's been look Dallas and Philly's been a big deal for a while now you know this is part, like the NFC East is part of my fan DNA.

You know, just like by the way the ACC was in college for Maryland. And when you lose part of that, there is, you know, a different feeling. And when I, one of the things I said when they change their name, I'm like, it's just not going to be the same. The Cowboys and the Commanders. No, it's the Cowboys and the Redskins. It's the Giants and the Redskins. It's the Eagles and the Redskins. And I've said this many times previously.

Fans of the Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles hated that we changed our name because it felt different to them when they played us. I mean, I would feel the same way. If the Giants were all of the sudden the New York camels, it wouldn't feel the same. It wouldn't, and especially if they change their uniforms and everything else. This is the part of emotional brand attachment that not everybody that's listening understands. And I'm done talking about that in the moment. But yes, the NFC East is special. And the memories that we all have as fans of these four teams going back decades upon decades, the games, the players, the stakes.

I mean, you share that with the other three fan bases. It's special. And to your point, a lot of these other divisions, I mean, the NFC North, those teams have been together forever. You know, same thing with them, with the Bears and the Lions, Vikings, and Packers. But, you know, the NFC South with the Panthers and whatever. And I mean, that was more of a new division that was created. The AFC South. Yeah.

No, the NFC East is special. It gets me fired up to talk about. Like, it does. And I love. I love the two meetings every year with those other three teams. They're always, always special. It's much better when those matchups are important matchups, like the three games against the Eagles two years ago.

That was a big deal, you know? Yeah. Playing the Eagles twice, you know, in November and then December, that December game was memorable, the comeback, the 36 to 33-5 touchdown performance by Jaden Daniels against the best defense in the NFL, the championship matchup. We've been out of the loop in this during the Snyder era. Dallas doesn't view us the same way like they used to.

Same with Philly in New York. Dallas and Philly became a much more important, you know, rivalry in the division during the 21st century. The Giants, you know, won two. Super Bowls during that time frame. We were, you know, we were an outcast. We were not a part of it as much as the other teams were. I missed that during the Snyder years. You know, I hate that Redskins Cowboys isn't the rivalry in the NFL anymore.

It's just not. You know, you'd probably list it in the top 10 now, but it's not number one or number two or number three anymore. Historically it is, but not currently. Yeah. Okay. What else? I want to talk to you about the Nats. That's how I got on that. All right. We'll get to the Nats after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I want to welcome a new sponsor to the podcast. The name of the product is Tushy, as in yes, that Tushy, your backside. And many of you should listen closely because I think this is something that will really help you.

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and they have a staff that will help you pick out the one that is probably, probably best suited for you if you're a newcomer. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. Tommy, the Nats lost the first of their three-game set with Toronto last night, three to two. Max Scherzer pitched for Toronto.

He actually had not pitched since June 10th, but it was his 42nd birthday, and he returned to Washington to pitch, went two-and-two-thirds through 75 pitches in two-and-two-thirty. allowed a run on four hits and then got a standing ovation when he was pulled and walked to the dugout. He waved to the fans. That was his 100th career start at Nat's Park last night. By the way, he's pitched four times in D.C. since being traded to the Dodgers in 2021.

Tough loss, though, because Toronto is not a good team and they weren't playing well. but they didn't lose much ground. They're a game back of the third wild card spot. But real quickly, Unsurzer, I know we've had this conversation in the past, but you think that when he goes into the Hall of Fame, that more than any other team that he played for, he'll be remembered for pitching here, right? I think so, although he came here from Detroit already with a no-hitter.

No, with a Cy Young. With a Cy Young, but he had two here. Yes. He had two here, but he had one in the American League. Right. But he was overshadowed in Detroit by Justin Verlanger. Right. For the most part.

You know, and here in Washington, even with Steven Strasberg, Scherzsche was the big dog. Okay? This is where he had the multiple no-hitters. He won two more Cy Youngs, won a World Series championship, something they didn't do in Detroit. And I just think his definitive span of his career,

his greatest success was in Washington. Does that mean he's going to go in as a Washington national? You know, a lot of times these players can decline any kind of designation on their plaque in terms of what team they're going in as. So that's not a requirement anymore. Well, most players do pick a team, but some don't. So I don't know what Max would do when he winds up in Cooperstown. and he will wind up in Cooperstown

when it's all said and done. But, you know, it's interesting. Somebody said, suggested I saw online in social media that the Nats should retire his number. I think that's a step too far. You do?

He should be in the Hall of Fame, the whatever, the Ring of Honor, the Ring of Fame, the whatever it is that the Nats have. But, I mean, he retires number.

No, I don't think. I asked Mark Zuckerman that today on radio, and he thought that the jersey should be retired. He thinks that... Really? Yeah, he thinks that both Scherzer and Strasbourg should be the next two. I guess Zimmermans is the jersey, the Nats jersey, that's been retired, number 11, correct? Yes.

Am I... I think so. I think it's either been retired or it's out of circulation. one or the other. But anyway, he said that he thinks those three are deserving of that. I actually do think that Stephen Strasberg's jersey should be retired. I think that his performance in the franchise's biggest games during that stretch, because he pitched better in the clutch spots than Scher did during those playoff runs.

and obviously he was the World Series MVP with that ridiculous Game 6 performance to keep them alive and force the seventh and deciding game. But I guess, I don't know, but where are you on Strasbourg's jersey being retired? Because he only played here. A Jersey retirement, I mean, you should be just, you kind of have a bigger impact, I think. I know he had a big impact, but he also wasn't the pitcher that everybody thought they were getting, too. That's true. You know?

Max Scherzer won two Cy Youngs and finished second and third in two other seasons in the Cy Young race here. You know, he'll make the Hall of Fame, so he probably does qualify for a number of retirement. I guess I just put more, I guess I just expect more. Well, I think it's because he's played for so many teams. And he played for Detroit, you know, for five years. He played here six and a half. This was the longest run for him anywhere. I mean, Strasbourg is the, you know, I could be, look, I'm not going to battle over it.

Okay. It's just that my initial reaction. would be no. Okay. If I gave it serious thought, which sometimes I'm capable of, maybe I would come around to that. I think sometimes the initial thought is the right one on this. When it comes to Hall of Fame conversations, I always feel like when somebody says, do you think this guy's a Hall of Fame or football-wise or basketball-wise?

It's usually my immediate reaction one way or the other that even if I take time, to go back and look at it. I think that more times than not, my initial reaction was right. I understand where you're coming from on it. I mean, he was here for six and a half years. That's it. He played for a lot of other

teams. He won a Cy Young somewhere else. But he is without a doubt, right, in the conversation for the greatest player in Nationals history. So maybe that's the

I mean, if you're going to retire her jersey At this point, the greatest players in Nat's history are Scherzerzstrassberg Zimmerman Harper Soto Soto? Yeah

Soto But because Harper and Soto have had much and will have much longer careers outside of Washington, you don't retire their jerseys. No. Yeah. Okay. Meantime, they lost a game,

and I felt this way, and Mark also feels this way, and I'm wondering if you feel this way, that these are big games right now for the Nats. Yes, they are. They are big games. Yeah. And something that,

I think Mark wrote this or somebody wrote this, but something I've been talking about in the last couple weeks, their offense is too good for them to fall apart as a team. You know, there's enough bad pitching around the league that they can feast on that they're not going to go in the toilet. I just think that they're too powerful in offense. You know, it's one step forward. it's two steps forward, one step back, sometimes one step forward, two steps back,

but they don't fall, they don't start falling. I think that's who they're going to be the rest of the year. I think that's worth investing in. Do you think they will? To a point, look, they made what is being determined to be a pretty good trade last week when they traded Curtis Mead, who was found money, basically, who is having an excellent offensive season. 17 home runs and 48 RBIs in 87 games.

To the Red Sox for a young left-handed named Conley Early. And he's very highly regarded. He was 7 and 5 this year with a 3-44-E-R-A and 17 starts. He's now injured with left elbow inflammation. That's a little bit concerning, but it doesn't seem to concern them. I think to Paul Tobani, the baseball operations president has said he expects early to make some starts this year at some point. Right. So if you can get a young left-handed starter who's under the team control until 2031,

somebody who has a little bit on his majorly resume to feel good. that he could pitch in the majors like this guy can, I think that's a good deal. Yeah, I mean, they help themselves in the future, and they may have helped themselves this year as well. I hope that means they won't deal Garcia, because they've got enough offense to overcome the loss of mead.

I don't want to see Garcia go to. But back to these important games, you know, heading towards Monday, the trade deadline, these games may determine how the trade deadline is handled. And they've got two with Toronto, one tonight, one more tomorrow after losing last night, three to two. And then it's four straight on the road in Atlanta. And then they'll play one game on the day of the trade deadline in Philadelphia. Like, they're a game out right now.

They're a game over 500. game out of the third spot, which is right now a tie between Arizona and Pittsburgh. If they went on a bit of a losing streak here, and let's just say over the next five games, they lost four of them, and all of a sudden they're three or four back, that just, I mean, we talked about this the other day, Blake Boutera saying after they beat Colorado in that last game last week in Denver, that it felt extremely important to win that game. I think it's really important that they beat Toronto tonight with Cade Cavali on the mound because they need to take what would be a fourth straight series out of the All-Star break. If they lose tonight, that means they can't

beat Toronto in this series and they'll be back to 500 and it'll feel a little bit different. But I want to see the offense continue to be what it's been and losing Curtis Mead isn't going to impact that. Meade and Garcia together might impact it. By the way, how about C.J. Abrams recently, Tom? Even last night. Oh, my God. He didn't have a hit last night, but he had two walks and two stolen bases.

He's now sixth in the National League MVP odds at my bookie. James Wood is third. Now, they're not going to win it because Otani's going to win it. But he was not even listed three weeks ago,

C.J. Abrams. I mean, he's just been on an absolute tear. But it feels like these games are big. And I hope that we get through the rest of this week with more wins than losses and with Foster Griffin and Garcia still on the roster after next Monday night. And so that a legitimate run can be made for a playoff spot. You know, I think they could handle losing Garcia. I think they've got enough backup power to replace him. Okay. Including a guy named Yolande Morales that has been in the minor leagues at AAA with pretty good

power. All right. Can't afford to lose Foster Griffin. I don't think so. That's irreplaceable. And can I just mention this? Like, everybody just assumes that if they don't trade him, then this will be it with Foster Griffin and Washington.

You know, there's no rule that says when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, you can't try to sign him and bring him back. Yeah, but he'll never sign him. Okay. He is, it's so funny because if they did actually invest him in a long-term deal, they would be making their first pitching investment in a pitcher that is the antithesis of what they believe. Sure, of course, because he's 31. Big arms, throw hard, you know, the whole analytic thing.

Right. You know, like I wrote in my column last week about Foster Griffin, you know, all the analytic geeks made fun of Mike Grizzow when he posted two years ago in spring training. I don't care how fast you throw ball for, you know, because they do. They want you to throw hard, okay? and they make, they would make their big investment in a pitcher who actually does not care how hard you throw ball for either. Yeah. You know. Well, that would be funny.

Dovetail. But I don't think that they, I don't think they would resign him in the offseason. I think, and that means they'd have to let him go without anything the game for it. But they've done that before. Listen, the learners, let him forget. Mike Rizzo had the Astros on the phone. at the trading deadline in 2018 with six minor league players,

some of them prospects, to be shipped over to Washington for Bryce Harper, and the learner said no. Right. And they never got anything for Bryce Harper. By the way, speaking of throwing hard all the time, how about this Brewers

Jacob Mizorowski in the season he's having? History, man. They're watching something we've never seen. This guy throws over 100, basically, on every pitch. His ERA is 1.58. I look this up. There's basically no pitcher other than Dwight Gooden in the last 50 years because Gibson's 68 that has an ERA this low.

All of the other pitchers that have an ERA this low are all, you know, from 50 plus to 100 plus years ago. This guy's... Kidry. Kidry had it won. Well, where his is right now at 1.58, the only player in the last 50 years, Gooden, finished with a lower ERA than this.

Uh-huh. I looked it up quickly during the show. But this guy's impressive. Fortunately, the Nats, you said there's some pitching they can feast on. They don't have to face him because they don't play Milwaukee the rest of the way. be, like, if he pitched, that's one of those, like, you know, how, I mean, I remember, you know, the Fernando Valenzuela's and the various pitchers that would be red hot, you know, and big stars during seasons. And when they would, you know, pitch in a road environment, the place was

buzzing, even in, even in road games. Because this is one of the things that is a bad development about baseball. Pitching by committee. are the stars. Starting pitchers, not reliever. Right. Starting pitchers are stars in baseball. Those are the ones that people look at the paper and say, well, who's pitching? Sure.

When they want to decide what game they're going to go to. And we've diminished starting pitching. Yes. Yes, we have. But this guy is an outlier right now. Yes, he is. And wherever... He's an outlier.

He's worth the price of a ticket. Yeah, I mean, I'm just... If Milwaukee were, if he was pitching for the Brewers in Washington, that would be the biggest crowd they had all year other than for, you know, when they played the Yankees and, you know, or Phillies. When it's all the opponents fans. All right. Well, I hope that this week is productive.

They get more wins than losses. And they back off dealing Foster Griffin, Garcia, or anybody else that could be significant. to a playoff run, because we've talked about this already, but there's as good offensively as anybody, and then right now they have at least two solid starting pitchers and maybe early will be a third, and they could be a threat in the postseason, especially early in a short series, a wild card series,

could easily be a threat to win that. Yes, they could. That would be fun. I mean, if they still have Foster Griffin, And, you know, Cade Cavali is the real deal like he's continued to be. And you add this kid early to the mix? Yeah. They could have free quality starters.

Yeah, I think I just said that. Is that what you said? I think that's what I just said. All right. I don't know. I would, I mean, you were talking. Yeah. But I'm not sure it would register.

Did anyone else hear him say that? No one else did. Anyone out there? No one else did. I want to get your thoughts on Kyle. No. Well, actually, actually, I'd rather talk about something else. Okay, well, we can do that too after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will give you a cash bonus. All of the week one and week two lines are up. By the way, the Eagles now down to a four-point favorite. over Washington. It's been four and a half pretty much all off season since the schedule came out. I'm looking at it right now. The Eagles are four point favorites in the opener on September 13th. The total is 47 and a half. That is the, no, there are more, there are higher totals four or five of them. I was going to say it was probably, it's going to be one of the

higher totals in week one. But yeah, everything for week one and beyond is up at MyBooky. MyBooky. MyBooky.ag, mybooky.com promo code Kevin, D.C. All right, you said that you had something that you wanted to talk to me about. Go ahead. Because I do want to ask you about Kyle Shanahan. I almost forgot to tell you that last night. I didn't watch the Nats game. I went to see the Odyssey. Oh, my God. I do want to hear about that. I have not gone yet. And I saw it in an IMAX theater. Which one? In Frederick, there's an IMAX theater. Okay. Everybody says that's where to see it, so go ahead. Tell me what you thought. Special effects are fantastic. It really holds your interest, but it's not a great movie. I don't think. Well, I tell you what, it's not my kind of great movie. I mean, I know I'm swimming against the tide here.

Everyone who's seen it. Not everybody. I've had a couple of friends say to me, they liked it, they didn't love it. And they are massive Christopher Nolan people. Well, then, count me in that group. I liked it. It was pretty compelling. But I don't know.

It just wasn't, I guess my hopes were so high for something great. Right. I'll give you an example. you know, when I went to see Godzilla minus one a couple years ago, I went to expecting to see a Godzilla movie. And I saw anything but I saw a great film. And I walked out of that movie just so excited and raving about what I saw. Last night I expected a great film.

Okay. And I don't think I got it. I mean, a lot of people think it is. I mean, I think it was worth the price of admission, okay, as opposed to the Disclosure Day, the Spielberg movie I saw a few weeks ago, that was not worth the price of admission. I mean, this was worth the price for admission, and the special effects in the IMAX theater was pretty cool. But I liked it.

Didn't love it. You know, if I'm going to go see it, I definitely want to go see it in an IMAX theater. and I think there's a couple near me. There's also the real big one, which I think is out at the air and space in northern Virginia, right, the one near Dulles. But if I feel the same way you do, it'll be the second straight Christopher Nolan film

that I feel that way about because I thought Oppenheimer was okay. I didn't think it was everything that everybody else thought it was. Okay, so I wasn't planning on mentioning this, but I now have watched basically every single episode of quarterback on Netflix, with the exception of the last episode. And a couple of things about it. Number one, Joe Flacco, by far and away, is the star of this third season of quarterback. He, his wife, his five kids.

he's everything that I thought he was and the way that I thought the league views him. I mean, he's just a very well-liked, highly respected player in the league, which is why he has continued to get these opportunities. And he's by far in a way the most featured of the four quarterbacks. The four quarterbacks, if you don't know, are Joe Flacco, who started last year in Cleveland that got traded to Cincinnati and had some absolutely, lights out games for the Bengals as they were waiting for Joe Burrow to come back. Baker Mayfield, Cam Ward in Tennessee, and Jaden Daniels.

Now, Jaden, because he didn't play a lot of football last year, I don't have the exact count here, but I'm going to guess that he is the least featured of the four quarterbacks. Flacco easily is the one that Netflix decided to highlight the most of. and it was a good choice. Mayfield would follow him, and then it's probably close between Cam Ward and Jaden. There are no, for me,

that there wasn't any real nuggets of information or big reveals. I mean, I love Jaden, and he's great on the field, and that's all that matters. He's not a dynamic personality by any stretch of the imagination. and his mother's a big part of it, and she's got some personality for sure. But look, the bottom line is it was a disastrous season. He only played in seven football games last year.

And if you were wondering whether or not, hey, did we learn anything about any of the injuries? The worst part of it with Jaden was the injury against Seattle, because, you know, he's in pain. you know, that he thinks the arm is basically broken. It was a dislocated, you know, elbow. And it makes me angry even to watch it in this series because I really like entrust in Dan Quinn, but God, that was stupid. That was really, really on his part and on Cliff Kingsbury's part,

to have him in the game running an RPO on a condensed field when you're getting your ass kicked was just asking for it. And it was really a shame because that was the most severe injury for him, you know, during the course of the season. And it was so unnecessary. The injury against Minnesota, man, he was despondent because he had finally come back and, you know, they had some players back for that game around him for the first time. And by the way, he didn't play poorly through the,

the first half. They just didn't have the ball. They couldn't get off the field defensively, but when he threw that pick to Van Ginkle, and he got blocked and he was in the tent, and they're just like, no, you're not going back into the game. But there's no big, at this point, there's one more episode, no big reveals from this about him. He's the least featured, maybe Cam Ward. By the way, I like Cam Ward. He's a bit of a child right now, because he's 22 years old or whatever, but I think he's going to be a quarterback. I think he's going to be a really good quarterback. Um, other than that, I mean, Baker Mayfield's tough as shit. I mean, the guy just was banged up last year. He is really a

competitor. His wife's a bit much for me, but, uh, sort of in the same way Mahomes' wife was a bit much, uh, but not as bad as Mahomes' wife. Um, but Flacco was the absolute, you know, star of the show. And yeah, man, you see some of the people that come up to him after games and talk to him. He's one of those guys that just everybody likes having around. And then like, multiple people say it during the episode. They're like, this dude can throw it as well as anybody that's ever thrown it before. And he really can spin a football.

at a high, high level. And the other thing you notice, and I'm trying to think of who walked off the field and he was standing with. Why am I forgetting at this point? Oh, Caleb Williams, after this crazy game they played against the Bears, he threw for over 400 yards in this game, and they lost because of their defense, 48, 47 to 42. And Caleb Williams comes up afterwards, and he goes,

you're a legend man and he's in you know flacco said keep up the good work or whatever you realize how big flaco is i mean he's towering over caleb williams he was towering over erin rogers like caleb williams is six one six two flacco's six six he and he's a big big dude um but uh i i enjoyed it netflix does such a good job and i've got the guy that directed it on the radio show tomorrow, if you're interested at 11 a.m. I had him on that first year when Kirk was a part of the show, and I've got them on the show tomorrow. So tell me real quickly about the coverage of Kyle Shanahan's car accident, the fact that 11 days went by before there were any reporting. There was any reporting on it. By the way,

it was reported or said by Chris Sims, whose close friends with Kyle Shanahan, that he nearly lost an eye in this car accident. But did you have any thoughts on this? Well, I think it's interesting that, you know, that this basically was kept quiet for almost two weeks. Something like this kind of news, and Adam Schaefter basically was the first one from E.S.

ESPN to basically report it on social media like seconds after the 49ers made the announcement about it. And then ESPN.com had a story quickly put together about it, like within minutes. So everyone has reasonably assumed that ESPN knew about this and held off on it. And the reason for that reasonable assumption is now ESPN and NFL are more than just business associates or business partners. They own the same company. Okay. The NFL owns 10% of ESPN with the merger of the NFL network with ESPN. So there were a lot of questions raised about, you know, ESPN.

YespN's credibility for maybe sitting on this story. I mean, in terms of outrage, I don't get the outrage about this that much. You know, it's not like this was some kind of journalistic revelation that you're uncovering. You're not breaking any, like, journalists with impact story. It's just a matter of whether or not you think ESPN held back on this information for the benefit of the 49ers. I think that's a reasonable conclusion to come to. And it's a problem, but there are so many bigger problems. You know, I mean, I've told you, Jake Laser has NFL players who are his workout client.

In business with him, yeah. Right. I mean, this is the way, this is the business now. No, but with Kyle, here's the one thought I had. because I've seen on social media that, you know, more than ESPN holding back on the story, if that's true, that a lot of the local San Francisco beat reporters perhaps had an inkling that something happened. I find that difficult to believe. But here's my one big takeaway on this, and that is, if they were holding back on something, TMZ would have no reason to hold back on something.

And there's no way that people really knew the severity of this if TMZ didn't report it in 11 days or something equivalent to TMZ. But when you have a bad accident and it's somebody of note, and Kyle Shanahan is a public figure, I mean, it seems like TMZ breaks that information more and quicker than anybody does. They didn't have it, and nothing like TMZ had it for 11 days, which leads me to believe that it wasn't readily available in terms of the information. You may have a point. That may be right.

Well, but you said before I said that, that you don't think that San Francisco reporters were holding back on it. I'm assuming that you think they didn't know about it. I am. I mean, I find it hard to believe that, look, I don't know the beat, right? writers on who covered a team. They all could be fanboys these days for all I know, you know, but I know the beatwriters here in Washington, the ones that count, would not sit on a story for the benefit of the team.

Yeah. And beat writers who I work with. What was the benefit to the team of holding back on that story? I don't know. I don't know what it could be. I don't know what it could be either. Actually, actually holding out until they couldn't, until they had to. face reporters in training camp.

I know, but what was the benefit of, of, to Kyle Shanahan, his family, the organization? I mean, look it. What's the benefit of all these organizations holding back on anything? They like to operate in secrecy. Okay, well, usually it's like competitive advantage. Do they have a competitive advantage by the rest of the league? They think they have a competitive advantage holding back every piece of information.

They think they do. Yeah. I don't think it applies to near-death experiences with head coaches or players. Those usually get reported pretty quickly. I mean, that was the first thing that struck me when I read it. July 14th, it's July 25th. Yeah. You know, look, I'm a big fan of Kyle's father, as you know.

and I think I mentioned this the other day. I actually was texting back and forth with him about a week ago. He didn't say anything about it, obviously. But he was carrying on a conversation with me about something that I'm not going to get into. But the, you know, yeah, he obviously knew. And I did text him and say, I'm, you know, wishing the best and prayers for Kyle. And he said, yeah, it was a very scary thing. and he's very lucky.

All right. What else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. That's it. That's all she wrote.