The Kevin Sheehan Show - Howell's Biggest Fan

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

Kevin opened with a response to a question about where the preseason win over Baltimore ranks in franchise history. You'll hear part of Kevin's interview of Steve Spurrier back in the spring when Spur...rier talked about the Osaka game. Former Tampa Bay QB Shaun King jumped on to talk about his favorite young NFL QB, Sam Howell. For your sports gambling needs, go to https://www.mybookie.ag/sportsbook/. Sign up with code KEVINDC! 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:02 You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Two weeks from tonight, the NFL season kicks off at Arrowhead the defending champion chiefs against the Lions. What a high-profile spot for the Lions.
Starting point is 00:00:23 I know they play that early Thanksgiving Day game every year, but it's been a long time since, well, A, the expectations have been high for the Lions. They're the favorites in the NFC North. And then B, they've been thrust into a spot like this, you know, the season opener at Arrowhead. They are underdogs at My Booky in this game, six and a half point underdogs. And MyBooky is the sponsor of today's show. Go to MyBooky.orgie.g. You can register for an account for nothing.
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Starting point is 00:01:33 College football opens up this Saturday. You've got Week Zero games, they call it. And that includes, by the way, the Heisman Trophy winner Saturday night. Southern Cal is a 30-point favorite at My Bookie over San Jose State with Caleb Williams quarterbacking the Trojans. And, by the way, earlier in the day, from Ireland,
Starting point is 00:01:54 it's Brian Newberry kicking off his era as Navy's head coach as a 21-point underdog against Sam Hartman and Notre Dame. Next week, a week from tonight, you get the beginning of the first full-fledged college football weekend of the year. There are a couple of big games leading into Labor Day weekend. Utah and Florida play on Thursday night. That is a rematch from really one of the games of the year last year, which also took place Labor Day weekend. and that was the game in which Anthony Richardson really kind of declared himself as a potential first round NFL pick. That was a great football game that Florida won.
Starting point is 00:02:41 Florida is not expected to be great this year. Utah coming in as a top 15 team. They are five and a half point favorites at My Bookie over the Gators. And then the game of week one next weekend in college football comes on Sunday night. Labor Day Eve, and that's a game between fifth-ranked LSU and eighth-ranked Florida State. LSU, a two-and-a-half-point favorite in that one over the Knowles. So go to mybooky.orgie.ag, register for an account and use my promo code, Kevin D.C., to get a welcome bonus and a free chip to the MyBooky Online Casino. On the show today, one guest, Sean King, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, and currently a co-host with our good friend Tim Murray on Vizen's primetime show out in Vegas.
Starting point is 00:03:40 Sean was on with us maybe a year ago. He is a massive Sam Howell fan. He's also an excellent guest. We'll talk Sam Hal. We'll talk Washington. We'll talk the rest. of the league with Sean King coming up shortly. By the way, let me give you a heads up about today's show. It was recorded because I took a few days off at the end of the week. I'll be back on Monday with a podcast, but if there is any big breaking news today, you're not going to get it on the podcast today. I'll be back Monday with kind of a recap of the final preseason game against Cincinnati, and also we'll start to look at the cutdown day, which is Tuesday, the 29th at 4 p.m. I would expect they'll start to cut players loose right after that Cincinnati game on Sunday. But, as I've mentioned before, it's no longer a staggered cut down situation with cut down dates. It's one fell swoop,
Starting point is 00:04:51 90 to 53. There will be some busy teams next week on the waiver wire. So before we get to Sean King, who has been riding the Sam Hal horse for a few years now since Sam was in Chapel Hill, I wanted to read this note from Polly M, not 757 Polly, my guy Polly, but a different Polly. He writes, Kevin, I think the win over the Ravens was the biggest preseason win in franchise history. I'm sure you have a list, so where does it rank? Did Babe Laufenberg have a bigger win? What about Osaka and Spurrier? Um, thanks, Pollyam. No, I don't have a list of the biggest preseason wins in franchise history. It's not a list I've ever thought about putting together,
Starting point is 00:05:40 but I'm not going to disagree with you. I mean, nothing really even comes to mind in terms of a list of memorable preseason games except for Osaka. Now, Babe Lofenberg, I know, was a preseason hero, but I can't specifically remember the games that he won or the touchdown passes that he threw. Like, there's not a moment from Babe Lofenberg that I remember. I just remember him leading some fourth quarter preseason comeback wins. But I can't tell you who he beat. I can't tell you anything about what he did in those games.
Starting point is 00:06:21 I do remember Osaka, and more on that coming up. But the Ravens Monday Night game, I think you're right. Like it will be memorable, you know, as far as preseason games go. I don't personally think it'll be remembered as the first game at home without Dan. I think that game will be September 10th against Arizona. I think the season opener, of 2023 down the road will be remembered as the first game without Dan and the first game of the Josh Harris ownership era. I don't think we're going to think of the win over Baltimore or the game
Starting point is 00:07:01 against Cleveland last week is the first game without Dan Snyder. I think we'll think of the regular season that way. But I do think it'll be memorable because of the Ravens' all-time NFL preseason win streak ending. That's. That's what will make it, I think, memorable. As strange, as coincidental, as stupid, as Sam Cosmy put it, as that streak was. I think that's what we'll remember about the win over the Ravens on Monday night. But bringing up Osaka reminded me of my interview of Steve Spurrier back in the spring. So I went and I found the part of the interview where Osaka comes up.
Starting point is 00:07:45 and I'm going to play that for you here in a moment. But for those that don't remember the details, Steve Spurrier's first game as the head coach of the Washington Redskins was a preseason game in early August 2002 in Osaka, Japan, against San Francisco. It was not the first preseason game. That was always and always has been the Hall of Fame game in Canton, but it was a stand-alone game, I think that weekend, or maybe shortly after the game in Canton. And it was televised by ESPN, late night, you know, Japan, local time, late night here on the East Coast.
Starting point is 00:08:30 But he unleashed, Spurrier did, the fun and gun on the 49ers in a preseason opener to the tune of 38 points, five touchdown passes, and over 400 yards of offense. Back then, there was an understanding about how irrelevant the preseason was, but back then starters played more typically, and, you know, there was an understanding about how irrelevant the preseason results were, but the truth about that game in Osaka was
Starting point is 00:09:12 a lot of fans of the team were like, oh my God, here we go. I mean, Danny Werfel is slinging it around the Osaka Dome. It was memorable. This was the part of my interview with Spurrier back in the spring where he talks about Osaka. What are your good memories from Washington? Oh, let's see. You know, we won some games there early. In fact, we went to Tokyo, or not Tokyo, but what was that other?
Starting point is 00:09:49 Osaka. Osaka. Yeah, won that preseason game. And Mouche, Marucci, the coach there, he said it's the first time he'd ever had an exhibition preseason game that the other team ran the score up on it. We were at 31 to 7 with about the first time. seven with about a minute and a half left, and we had fourth and one, at about, oh, they're 30 or so. And one of the assistant coaches said, Coach, go ahead and throw it in the end zone.
Starting point is 00:10:23 I said, oh, we don't, you sure? I said, okay, told the damn thing. So I think our quarterback went back through another touchdown pass with about a minute left. So Mooch wasn't real happy about it, but they beat us during the regular season. They played their varsity the whole game in the regular season. They didn't play their varsity in that preseason game. You know, this is a very legendary game for us over the years in discussing it, because, you know, we thought here we go.
Starting point is 00:10:52 It's the fun and gun. And you're rolling up 38 and 400 yards of offense in a preseason game. I am curious because you had played in the NFL, obviously, and you had coached in the USFL. Did you think that, what happened in the first preseason of the game was actually something that was translatable to the regular season. Were you confident after that game?
Starting point is 00:11:18 Well, we thought we would do all right, but we also understood that the other teams, they don't play their starting defensive linemen very much, or even many of their starting defensive guys. So our pre-agent guys and our young guys, we can play against the other team's free agents and young guys. We had a system that was pretty easy to put in within two or three weeks there. But when the big guys came on and it was hard to block those big guys, so it was a little bit different story, obviously.
Starting point is 00:11:56 He is the best. That was so much fun talking to him. It was the first time I had ever had Spurrier on the show. That matchup in Osaka, by the way, proceeded as he talked about the regular season matchup with the 49ers varsity, which came just over a month later at Candlestick. Ouch, that was a 20 to 10 loss where Washington managed just 20017 total yards and had three turnovers.
Starting point is 00:12:32 Yeah, the 49ers played their varsity in the regular season. In retrospect, he probably shouldn't. have run it up on the Niners in Osaka in early August. Hindsight, 50-50, as he might say. All right, up next, Sean King, former Buccaneers quarterback and current co-host with Tim Murray on Veezen's primetime show. He will join me to talk Washington, talk Sam Hal,
Starting point is 00:13:00 and a little NFL as well. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. If you get a moment to rate us and review us, especially on Apple and Spotify, it would be much appreciated. It doesn't take long. You could pause the podcast right now. Give us up to five stars. That's very beneficial.
Starting point is 00:13:25 And write a review like Sam G3 did. Sam G3 from New Orleans wrote Kev after giving us five stars. Kev been listening since the Cooley 980 days. But first time commenter, yesterday was five stars. One for you and four for Rick. Doc Uber, thanks for your hustle keeping a forever DC fan in the know. Yeah, Doc was on last week and kept saying about various players. That guy's such a good young man that if he called me at 4 a.m., no matter where he was,
Starting point is 00:13:59 I'd go pick him up. Love having Doc on the show. And thank you, Sam G3 for that very nice review. All right. Joining us right now is Sean King. Sean played football for Tampa Bay in the NFL as a quarterback. He has also been hosting for a few years now, Veezen's primetime show with our good friend Tim Murray.
Starting point is 00:14:26 Sean joins us right now. We had Sean on the show last year. I loved having them on. I've been on with Sean and Tim a few times, and Sean is the biggest Sam Hal fan that I know. So let's start there. You are a massive fan and have been since the moment he got picked in the fifth round, which, by the way, let me start right there. You had a major problem with that he slipped all the way to the fifth round. Well, I just think it shows the major gap that
Starting point is 00:15:02 exists in the NFL from an evaluation standpoint. I mean, it's not like he wasn't great at North Carolina. You know, he threw for over 10,000 yards and I think 92 touchdown. But the evaluators get so caught up into how tall you are, how far can you throw the ball, that they forget that. Sometimes the packaging isn't what you presume it to be. Another example is Brock Purdy. Think about all of the highly rated quarterbacks in the last couple classes.
Starting point is 00:15:37 and as we sit right now, Sam Hall and Brock Purdy looked like the two that are probably going to emerge as the best of the bunch. And I'm not including the Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud group.
Starting point is 00:15:48 I'm talking to two classes previous. And it's just people, for whatever reason, and maybe it's because the NFL is turning into more of a corporate type of model. They don't have people that can evaluate
Starting point is 00:16:00 the quarterback position. I mean, it was clear to me. It wasn't like I felt like I was going out on the limb and picking a guy from a D-4 school, you know, that nobody had ever seen. I was, and I sent text to head coaches in the NFL. Sam Howe is the best quarterback in his draft.
Starting point is 00:16:18 And obviously enough to believe me because he fell to, what, the fifth round, but I'm happy for him. I'm not surprised. I wish he had a different head coach than Ron Rivera, but other than that, I'm pretty optimistic about the season. So Ron Rivera wasn't one of the coaches you called to say draft Sam Hal? No. So who did you call out of curiosity?
Starting point is 00:16:43 Well, I'm not going to say names because we keep our communications between us. But it's guys that selected quarterbacks in that draft, and they weren't saying how. Right. And so I'm not going to tell her, I'm not going to say I told you so text yet because officially none of the preseason matters, but about mid-season, as long as Rivera and oh, screw this up. I'll be sending out some texts. You know, there are a couple of things that are just off of what you said that come up to me.
Starting point is 00:17:17 Number one is, well, first of all, what you just said, he's played one regular season games. So while you won't pump the brakes, and I don't expect you to because you've been a believer since he was at Chapel Hill since he was at Carolina. But it's still too early to, you know, to crown him. as Denny Green once said. But you brought up something that I've talked a little bit about, Sean, over the last several months. So from 2010 to 2021, right, 12 seasons, 74 quarterbacks were taken on day three of the draft. Only three of those quarterbacks have become steady NFL quarterbacks. And really only two, Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins, Tyrod Taylor, has started a lot of games.
Starting point is 00:18:07 And so one of the things I have considered, and I think this is kind of where you were going to a certain degree, is that those quarterbacks aren't evaluated well. And then because the investment is so insignificant, they're not given the same opportunity. How much of those 71 quarterbacks that didn't become steady quarterbacks over that 12-year period was about they weren't good enough, versus they didn't have the opportunity. I don't need a hard number because you don't have that list in front of you, but what does your gut tell you? I would say 70% of it was just bad evaluation.
Starting point is 00:18:52 And then they didn't get the opportunity. Well, I don't even know if they didn't get the opportunity, but when you overdraft a quarterback, you put unfair expectations on him. It's not that Wilson fault that the Jets drafted them in the top five. It's not Trey Lance fault that the Niners drafted. in the top five. Trade it up to do it, by the way. But if you look at, and I know this is a draft for Sam,
Starting point is 00:19:17 if you look at what Zach Wilson did in college and what Trey Lance did in college, and then put contextually in a comparative narrative to what Sam Howard did in college, and explain to me how those guys are top five picks and Sam dropped to the fifth lap. Right. There's just a lot of people in positions in the National Football League
Starting point is 00:19:37 that have final say that don't know how to event. evaluate talent. And it's not me throwing shots in anybody. It's just the truth. You can look at the results and tell. Belief Willis, Matt Corral, were drafted in front of Sam Howell in that draft. Yeah. No, I hear you. I just think that there are examples of quarterbacks that put up awesome numbers at big-time college institutions that, you know, also got drafted in spots in which they were evaluated well. I don't think every quarterbacks mis-evaluated. I mean, we had a...
Starting point is 00:20:17 I agree with that. Mac Jones. I thought Mac Jones would have been San Francisco's Brock Purdy. Yeah. If they were to just stay put and taking Mac Jones, he's basically a better version of Brock Purdy. Same skill set. But Mac went to New England,
Starting point is 00:20:35 who was in transition from Tom Brady. Belichick decides to hire a career defensive coach as his offensive coordinator in year two, and now people are wondering if Mac is a bust. So sometimes it's the organization that screws it up because I don't know how to evaluate, and they also don't know how to develop.
Starting point is 00:20:55 And this is what brings me back to Ron Rivera. The only reason there are question marks about Sam Howe is because when Carson Wentz got injured last year, for some reason, Rivera made the decision to go back to Taylor Heineke as a Sam Howe. And before you tell me, maybe he wasn't ready or somebody in the message boards asked, well, he wasn't ready. Rob Rivera still doesn't think Sam Howl is ready. Listen to him. He had the question and debate, I don't know if we're ready to name a starter.
Starting point is 00:21:29 Like, are you serious? Well, I mean, going back to last year. Yeah, Sean, he didn't even, Ron didn't even want to start Sam in that meaningless, in that meaningless regular season game. Taylor Heineke talked him into it. And so that's not Sam Howard's fault. That's a failure in leadership. That's why over 12 NFL seasons Rivera's only been the head coach of three teams that finished above 500.
Starting point is 00:21:58 You're not a big Ron Rivera fan. I am not because your defensive guy get out of the way. Let Eric B. Enemy run the offensive side of the team. I think he's doing that. You got me. I think he's absolutely doing that. Yeah. Now, after he had to retract statements he made, and the contrary.
Starting point is 00:22:20 Right. You've been paying attention. You've been paying attention to what's been going on here. I'm paid to do that. I know, but you know. For your listeners that are just hearing me for the first time, I never speak on anything I have not received. I know, but you've also got Tim sitting next to you talking Washington a lot, but you know how much I love. coming on your guy's show too.
Starting point is 00:22:46 Yeah. What'd you say? Tim hates the commanders. I'm the commander fan. I'm the one on the show talking about we. And he's still not a believer in Sam Howell. I don't think he's not, he doesn't not believe in him.
Starting point is 00:22:58 But I think he wants me to be wrong on this one because I was so ahead of everybody else. But he's not going to, it's not going to happen. And it's not because of me. It's because Sam's a baller. Always has been. Go back and look at him in high school. Look at him in North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:23:13 Now he's going to do the same thing. because he has the one thing that you can't measure. He has the intangibles you look for in a championship quarterback. He's more athletic than people give him credit for. He'll be to extend plays. He'll be to make things happen. Maybe not as spectacularly as Patrick Mahomes, but he's in that same caliber of improvisation.
Starting point is 00:23:35 Improvisation. My word. My bad. Say the word. No, that's fine. And his arm, and he's very accurate when he throws the ball down the field. He throws the ball with anticipation. he throws the ball accurate in the mid-level, accurate in the short level.
Starting point is 00:23:48 I mean, I still to the day do not understand what the NFL missed in that evaluation. So is there anything the next Joe Montana doesn't do well? Well, in a perfect world, you'd liken to be three inches taller. Right. I mean, you'd liken to have more of an elite arm talent. Now, he can push the ball down the field, but he's just, got to be lower body included when he does it. So he's not Anthony Richardson or Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, you know, that can, you know, be off
Starting point is 00:24:25 platform and throw the ball with velocity way down the field. But he understands that. And very rarely does he get caught trying to do something he can't do. What do you think of Washington this year? I think if Josh Harris removed Rom Rivera from head coach and promoted Eric B. enemy, they're a playoff caliber team. When I was on with you the other night on your show, you actually threw that out as the key to Washington's season
Starting point is 00:24:58 is getting rid of Ron Rivera now. You know they're not going to do that. But I would say to you that I think Eric Bienemies got a hell of a lot of autonomy to do what he wants to do offensively. So let's just pretend for a moment that Eric Bienemy can make any call that he wants offensively. Do you like this team? I mean, do you like the roster?
Starting point is 00:25:28 I think they have a very good group of young pass catchers at Y receiver, Terry McLaren, Jehanne Dawson, some of those younger guys. Dahmie Brown started to flash last night. I like their group of past catchers. I think they are solid, if not spectacular, at running back. I think people will be surprised at how versatile Antonio Gibson is. Now the Eric can get a chance to put him in different sports. I'm kind of concerned because I don't think Logan Thomas has proved he's dependable from a L standpoint, and I don't know that they have anybody behind him that, you know, put fear in opposing defenses.
Starting point is 00:26:05 Of course, the offensive line issues are well known, but, you know, as I tell Tim, there's probably only four or five teams in the NFL that don't have concerns on the O line. So as long as, you know, they're on a complete disaster. I mean, I don't think there'll be the ultimate reason why Washington wins or losers. Do you like the offensive fit, more of a West Coast-based system for Sam Howell? Oh, yeah, I love, you know, the fact that he has a coordinator that doesn't have a system, but he has a plan. And let me expound on what I mean. The reason that the chiefs have been so successful, people just look at Mahomes and Andy, but Andy has been successful with Donovan McNabb.
Starting point is 00:26:50 He was successful with Alex Smith. Like, his plan is pretty much quarterback proof because he adjusted to fit whatever the personnel is that particular season. Kansas City was one thing when you watch them on offense when they had to re-kill. They decided not to pay to re-kill. They move on from him, and they win a Super Bowl of the subsequent year, because Andy's able to adapt and adjust from year to year based on the personnel. So Eric's the same way he's from that same cloth. he'll make this thing work
Starting point is 00:27:23 whether you know with Antonio Gibson is the lead back or Brian Robinson or you know for some reason they get really frisky and decide to get into Jonathan Taylor sweet steaks
Starting point is 00:27:33 like he's going to make it work and he can evolve it based on the personnel I would feel better if Logan Thomas could stay healthy but I'm not banking on that have you seen any of Cole Turner who they drafted last year 6-6 he's looked he's looked apart you know
Starting point is 00:27:49 in these preseason games and in training camp so far. He was hurt a lot of last year, but he might be an answer. I like Logan Thomas, too, actually. I think Logan's athleticism separates him from Turner.
Starting point is 00:28:05 But Turner's going to be a solid guy. He'll be the Dawson-Sholts. You know, he'll be right there in that group, but I don't think he's in the Dallas Goddard, T.J. Hockinson, like, that group. Of course, Kelsey's at the top by himself. But he'd like to have
Starting point is 00:28:20 somebody athletically in that next, you know, tier. All right, let's go around the league a little bit with Sean right after these words from a few of our sponsors. A little bit more with Sean King. We'll talk some NFL with Sean right after I tell you that this segment of the show is brought to you by the Circa Million and the Circa Survivor Contests at the Circa Sports Booking Casino where Sean does his show with Tim Murray. The Circa Million, by the way, guarantees $6 million in prizes, a million dollars to the winner.
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Starting point is 00:30:15 All right, we continue with Sean. I want to talk a little league with you, and I want to start with this. Give me a team in each conference that you think heading into the season is flying under the radar. In the NFC, I'll start there. It's a New York Giants. I think people are undervaluing the New York Giants significantly. I am a huge Brian Day Bowl fan. And quietly, they get Sterling Shepard and Wondell Robinson back healthy.
Starting point is 00:30:45 They traded for Darren Waller. They brought in Paris Campbell and for agency. they convince Sequin Barclay to not hold out. And Daniel Jones is probably never going to be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady throwing the ball, but he's also a very underrated athlete. I think you rushed for 700 yards and seven or eight touchdowns last year off the top of my head without knowing the exact number, but I think it's in that range.
Starting point is 00:31:13 So I think defensively they're going to be pretty salty too. So if there's a team, I think, being undervalued in the NLC, it's a New York Giants. What about the AFC? AFC is a little more tricky because I think everybody that can make noise has kind of been identified. I think the one team that I'm probably higher on than most is the Tennessee Titans. You know, I just think Mike Vrable is an excellent coach. Their culture is right.
Starting point is 00:31:38 You get Derek Henry and Ryan Taney Hill in contract years. So I'm sure both of those guys, if they have a big year, feel like they'll get one more, you know, kind of significant deal. Derek Henry finally has a Batman, a Robin to his Batman, Tysay Spears, the rookie running back from Tulane. You saw him, you know, run for a touchdown, pretty impressive one the other night. And then they added DeAndre Hopkins in for agency. So as long as the neat thing with Traylon Burr's insignificant, they got a young tight-in. I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce his name. He's from my alma mater, Maryland.
Starting point is 00:32:17 Spears is from yours. Chig, a quanko. I think he's one of the best young tight ends in the game. I really do. Right. And then you look at defensively, Jeffrey Simmons, one of the top defensive linemen in the league. And because of Vrable, they're always going to be rock solid.
Starting point is 00:32:35 If there's one team that I think may be capable of making some noise that people aren't already talking about, then it's Tennessee. Yeah, I'm with you on Tennessee. I think Vrable's so good. You have strong opinions about coaches, and I love what you said about Vrable, and I also totally agree with you about Brian Dable so far. What kind of job do you think Sean Payton's going to do in Denver, and will he resuscitate Russell Wilson's career? So now, this one is interesting because, just to put context on this, I view Sean
Starting point is 00:33:12 Payton in the same light as Andy Reed, Kyle Shanahan, McVeigh with the rails when it comes to designing a game plan to attack a defense, being able to teach that game plan to your team, being able to utilize the different pieces from year to year, and then being great on game day, making adjustments, making the right call. So I think very highly Sean Payton, but I also believe in the karma, the energy you put out in this universe, you get back.
Starting point is 00:33:46 So I was very surprised that Sean publicly took a shot in Nathaniel Hackett. Even though I agree 100%. To me, Nathaniel Hackett's attention is nepotism at its finest in that industry, in that field. But I wouldn't have said it publicly. So now, I'm afraid to really back the Broncos this year, Cal. So I'm going to say with restraint, I think he improves them. But I don't know if the karma was right this year. And maybe that's what Sean wants.
Starting point is 00:34:17 Maybe Sean doesn't want him to succeed this year so that he can blow it up and come back and mold it in his image because he inherited this mess. You know, it wasn't something that he created. So we'll see. Muscle has not looked good so far in the preseason, but, I mean, we'll find out here shortly, I guess. You know, he said something, too, during the offseason
Starting point is 00:34:38 shortly before he got hired by Denver. on XM Serious's Mad Dog Network. He said that Washington's ownership, one of the ownership groups, this is before we knew all of the ownership groups, had reached out to him to gauge interest, which I thought was low rent. You know, when you consider that Ron Rivera, and I know you don't like him, but Ron Rivera has the job.
Starting point is 00:35:07 And he's essentially telling the world that new ownership is reaching out to him or potential new ownership is reaching out to him to gauge interest in taking Ron Rivera's job. Now, with that said, would I take Sean Payton here over Ron Rivera? Well, of course. Of course we would. But I think Sean Payton has gotten ahead of his skis a little bit. We'll see if it works out. What about Deshawn Watson in Cleveland this year?
Starting point is 00:35:34 What do you think will happen? I think you'll see a much improved version. Cleveland was almost a team that, I mentioned in the AFC instead of Tennessee. You know, when you look at them on paper, I mean, they're pretty salty now. They're one of the few four to five teams that don't have offensive line concerns. They have one of the better groups in the league. They have what a lot of people consider, if not DeBest, one of the top three backs in Nick Chubb.
Starting point is 00:36:02 You know, when you think about Amari Cooper, they added more from the Jets. They're Donovan People Jones. They have Injoko at Tight-in. I mean, they got the pieces now to be pretty darn good. Of course, defensively, it added the Darius Smith to go with, you know, Miles Gert and those guys. So on paper, they look good. I don't know as much about Stefanski as other people do. When you look at the first head coach to be fired markets,
Starting point is 00:36:30 Fansky's the favorite. So I don't know how that sits together and works, but I would be shocked if Deshaun isn't much better this year. year. The first thing I saw that was encouraging, he's back to using his athleticism. I thought when he became the starter last year after the suspension ended, he was trying so hard to throw the ball from the pocket, show people he's a pocket quarterback. And then I start hearing some people from within the organization tell me, well, that wasn't Deshaun, that was the fansky, not giving him freedom at the line of scrimmage,
Starting point is 00:37:06 wanting him to throw the ball from the pocket. So in the preseason, when I saw him, saw him make some runs, get back to being Deshaun from Clemson and Houston, then I was like, I got encouraged. But we'll find out here really soon because they have a really difficult early schedule. And I think they're one of the teams that they don't get off to a good start. The make a change at the top, you know, noise is going to become pretty loud. Yeah, I thought the only moment he had last year was actually in the game against Washington that eliminated Washington from the postseason race.
Starting point is 00:37:42 I mean, they went on three straight drives, 175 yards, 21 points in the second half. I mean, Wentz was terrible in the game, but Washington had a halftime lead and couldn't stop Cleveland in the second half. Are you, you've shared your thoughts about Nathaniel Hackett, but tell me what you think about Aaron Rogers and the Jets. Well, I think if you start where they're really good, I mean, they look. look like they may have one of the all-time great defensive groups. I mean, their front seven is tremendous.
Starting point is 00:38:16 They are going to be a problem for opposing teams. I love Sala and the way that he deals with the team. I would say this. The offensive line has major concerns, but a lot of NFL teams deal with that. I do think there's going to be some issues. If you think back to Green Bay, Roger's frustration was with how young they were at past catcher, Christian Watson, Romeo Doves.
Starting point is 00:38:47 And you can see his frustration. Well, the Jets are pretty much the same group from an experience standpoint. I mean, Chris Davis, Garrett Wilson, even though they're talented, I mean, they're not a older experienced group. So we'll see as this progresses. I know they got a couple of vets mixed in there, McCole Hartman, and, you know, brought over Alan Lazard. So we'll see how it works, but I'm of the expectation that there are going to be some early season issues with the Jets, and we'll just see how they handle them. All right. Last one for Sean King.
Starting point is 00:39:21 January of 2000, you're starting in a playoff game against Washington. Washington's got a big lead. You rally the team. They come back. Do you remember the play, the Warwick Dunn play, where you got to. are about to go off the field, still trailing in the game in the fourth quarter, and you got sacked and worked done somehow picked up the ball and ran for like 15 yards. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was doing like a 180.
Starting point is 00:39:51 And that was a crazy game. When you go back and walking in hindsight, I mean, I was that, I mean, I just was, it wasn't a high-scoring game, but it was a game to me that was kind of intriguing as I look back at it because I felt like we left so many opportunities on the field in the first half. And then I think Brian Mitchell ran the kickback to start the second half. I'm sure the Washington people were like, oh, this is over. No way this offense can get it done. But, hey, we scratched and we clawed and we fought, we persevered, you know, and, hey, it took a bad snap on a field goal to, I mean, close it out all the way.
Starting point is 00:40:35 But, man, that's off to my guys. They just kept grinding. and they kept fighting. You know, it's crazy because you look back on that team, man, it was six Hall of Famers on the field for the bucks. Because that was still Dungey as the head coach. So you had Tony Dungey. You had Randall McDaniel on offense, the guard.
Starting point is 00:40:55 We brought over from Minnesota. Right. You had John Lynch, Ronde Barber, Derek Brooks, Warren Sapp. Wow. That team had six future Hall of Famers as part of the group. And you guys were the only team that year to completely slow down the Rams. I mean, that was an odd. You said an odd game against Washington.
Starting point is 00:41:17 The NFC championship game was an odd game. The final score was like 11 to 6, I think it was. Yeah, I'm still looking for that referee. I was still looking for that guy. That was a touchdown. Berta Manuel, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:34 He only cost about $30 million. I ain't better. Yeah, because it would have been you guys instead of the Rams against the Titans in the Super Bowl. By the way, just out of curiosity, did you think at that point that Kurt Warner was, because you're a quarterback, you had an incredible college career, and there you were starting for the Buccaneers in the NFL. Did you view Kurt Warner as a future Hall of Famer? I didn't think like that back then. Right. So that, it didn't cross my mind.
Starting point is 00:42:08 I mean, hell, I was playing with Hall of Famers, and that didn't cross my mind. So I just was trying to make sure I call to play correct, get the step count right, let's try and throw the football to the guys and have the same color jersey on as we do. So, I mean, I was a baby at that point. Sean does a great job with Tim Murray. Listen to their show on Vizan, wherever you can get that show. enjoyed the conversation like I did last time. Best of luck, and hopefully you're right about Sam Hal.
Starting point is 00:42:44 All right, absolutely. We'll talk again soon. All right. Sounds good, Sean. Thanks. All right, that's it for the day. I'll have something for you tomorrow as well. And this second half is underway.
Starting point is 00:42:56 And Brian Mitchell returning from the goal line for the Redskins. Mitchell gets into the open field and Gramatica misses a tackle. Mitchell is still going down and I do not see a flag down. Ryan Mitchell, who a few years ago was one of the best at kick returns, brings this back 100 yards for a Redskin touchdown. King is going to fumble and has picked up by Warren Don for Tampa Bay on a broken play. Turned it around.

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