The Kevin Sheehan Show - Jayden Trending Maybe; Terry Trending Out

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

Kevin and Thom opened with the trend towards Terry McLaurin missing Sunday's game in Atlanta while Jayden Daniels has at least a chance of playing. The boys considered an interesting "would you rather" for Sunday's game against the Falcons. "Would you rather" have Jayden back without Terry OR have Marcus Mariota quarterback the Commanders on Sunday with Terry? Thom had two predictions for the game....one with Jayden, one without. The guys discussed the Nats' new President of Baseball Ops hire while also reacting to the amazing Cleveland Guardians comeback in the AL Central. NFL Hall of Fame talk with the first list of nominees for the 2026 class part of the conversation today as well. For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Want to spruce up your lawn? FastGrowingTrees.com 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 Cheon Show. He is Kevin. Tommy Sear, I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, window nation, 86690 Nation, windownation.com if you need new windows. Full disclosure, we are recording this earlier in the day on Thursday.

So we don't have any of the information related to who practiced and who didn't. today. But Jaden Daniels was limited yesterday and spoke afterwards very little. Dan Quinn spoke yesterday. Terry McClorn was out and it does seem like Terry is the one to be most concerned about in terms of missing Sunday and beyond. This from Zirkle. Zirkle writes, why all the fuss, Kevin, about Terry's injury. During the holdout slash hold in with the conjecture he might miss games or even the season, wasn't it your contention that if Terry didn't play, the team's win total would not change? I say that somewhat tongue in cheek, but I believe that's what you said. Obviously, no qualifiers on whether Jaden, Noah Brown, etc. were out as well. Thank you, Zirkle

for that. No, I never said that the team's win total wouldn't change. I said it would barely change. I said maybe a game if he didn't play last year. maybe a game this year. And that's not just about Terry. That's about every position in the league that isn't quarterback. If you look at, you know, a lot of the advanced numbers, or if you look at what odds makers think, which is always more important to me, the number moves when a quarterback's not there. The over under for a season total will move if the quarterback isn't there. A receiver doesn't change that calculus that much. Sometimes a dominant defensive player will change that, but a receiver doesn't. And if a receiver does, it's at a higher level than Terry. Sorry,

it just is. If Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson or A.J. Brown, you know, we'll see what the Cowboys look like with CD Lamb. It tarries in that next category, as we've always discussed, the next category of 10 to 12 to 15 receivers, somewhere in that group depending on, you know, your opinion. But he's not in the elite group. So I didn't say that the teams win total wouldn't change. I said it would barely change. And yes, the qualifiers on whether, you know, it's Terry and Jaden and Noah Brown and John Bates

and, you know, others that are, you know, that obviously will hurt the team offensively. Do you have a reaction to Zircles' suggestion about why are we worked up about Terry's injury? Why would anybody get worked up over? No, that makes sense. I mean, the one issue here going into Sunday, the most important issue is the quarterback. The quarterback has the skills, we believe, to overcome any setbacks that happen on the field. And that's part of the magic of of Jayden Danes.

He's like an eraser out there. Yeah. You know? So no, I mean, I agree with you 100%. Let me just also add to that circle. I also said that without Terry, their chances of winning the Super Bowl would be less. Obviously, he's the second, third best player on the team. If you lose your second or third best player on the team, your chances to win the Super Bowl,

which was the goal this year, to get to the Super Bowl and win it, are going to be less. So I certainly also said they're much better with him, obviously, than without him. And by the way, they're going to miss him if he's out, in part because of your, you know, suggestion of no qualifiers when I discussed what I discussed over the summer and we all did. and that is no Terry, no Noah Brown, no John Bates, you know, this is getting to the point where, and maybe no Jaden Daniels, this is getting to the point where you're going to need, you know, people that you weren't counting on to step up, to step up in a big way. And that may be another column for Tommy on Monday praising Adam Peters if other players who weren't,

you know, expected to even play step up and have. have a big day, Sunday in Atlanta. Yes, that's what I wrote last week. Yes, right. But not to get ahead of ourselves, but I think that may be a bridge too far. What? That it could happen or that you would write the same column twice in seven days? Both.

Okay. This from Dave, Dave writes, would you rather? Tommy, do you like the game? Would you rather? A lot of people like that game. Would you rather? Hi, Kevin. It seems like Jaden is trending towards.

playing. I don't know if that's true, by the way. I think I still am not that convinced he's going to play Sunday. It seems like Jayden is trending towards playing while Terry might miss this week. For just this week, do you think the team is more likely to win with Jaden playing and Terry out or how we had it last week with Marioota and Terry? I think there's a strong case that Terry is more irreplaceable right now for this offense. I think Jaden is by far the most valuable player on our team, but I feel a little more nervous about the offense this week than I did last week. What do you think, Tom? Which, two different options. Terry and Mariotta, Jaden and no Terry. It's complicated. I mean, I think Jaden and no Terry, but look, I think.

having a backup quarterback, your number one receiver, your number two receiver, and let's not forget at the beginning of the year, your number one running back, all out. Okay? I think that's too much for Marcus Mario to overcome. Yeah, I think I would go a 100% healthy Jaden and no Terry. The problem is, you know, all of the others that are out. Brown has been kind of a favorite for Jaden going back to last year. If he's out, now you've got Debo, which there was a bit of a connection, certainly in the opener with Debo. You've got Jalen Lane,

the rookie, who has proven so far to be an excellent returner, not so much as a receiver. Chris Moore is the guy, and Steve Souter did a film breakdown for us yesterday. He was excellent. Again, He likes Chris Moore, says he's certainly a reliable guy. And the coaches clearly felt the same way. They played him in 33 snaps, Terry 35, and the others less than that. And then, you know, you'd have to get maybe, you know, did I mention McCaffrey, if I didn't, McCaffrey, and then like a Jacori Brooks off of the practice squad. The backs would be important.

You know, Kroski Merritt, apparently not a serious injury, the knee, but it did keep him out of practice yesterday. You'd need to be able to run the ball. Let me just say this if I didn't emphasize it enough yesterday, and Tommy doesn't listen when he's not on. This is not going to be an easy football game. This is the setup the other way. Last week was the setup in Washington's favor,

home, long rest, playing an average to sub-average team on short rest west to east. This is a team that got its ass kicked last week by a bad team got embarrassed 30 to nothing and isn't terrible in terms of talent coming home with a dangerous mindset to get back on track. This happens every week in the NFL. We see it every single week. We've seen teams get hammered one week, come back and play exceptionally well the next week. And I would expect that from the Falcons.

on Sunday. So my answer would be, even with a skeleton wide receiver crew, my answer would be, I think I want Jaden in this game 100% healthy. They've got a very capable defense, much more capable than the Raider defense. The Carolina offense didn't score all those points. It was all about turnovers in that game. They barely, you know, cracked two hundred yards in the game, even though they won 30 to nothing. I think I'd take Chaden.

But man, it's going to be, it's possible that it's going to be, you know, with Marietta, it's going to be a real limited crew because that option actually isn't real life right now because Terry's most likely out. It would appear. I would agree. And like you said, we'll know more later, and this may be moot by the time. people listen to it this afternoon. But if I had to wager, I'm not seeing Jaden on the field Sunday.

If I had to wager, I'd wager a lot that Terry's not on the field Sunday, and I'd wager a little that Jaden's not on the field Sunday. I think if Jaden were going to play Sunday, I think he would have been out there full go yesterday. But by the time you listen to this, he may have gone full go today. and that would completely change my mind. If he is a full participant in practice today, then I would guess he is going to play Sunday.

He's not a happy camper, is he? Did you watch or did you just read the transcript? I read the transcript. I watched, and I thought that's why you said that. First of all, he's not, he doesn't like doing these things. You know, he's not a big press conference guy, interview guy, which is great, because the last. quarterback that was super talented was too much of the interview guy.

But yeah, he was, I think he knew what was coming. They clearly prepared him for it, you know, to not really say much. But in some way, he kind of did say with his overall demeanor, I think I'm ready to go and I got to rely on the doctor to clear me. because there's a question, and I forget who asked it, but it might have been John Kynne, who asked him how much running, but more importantly, how much cutting have you been able to do? And he said, enough to feel good if I play on Sunday.

But like I said, it's not my decision. Then he seemed irritated a little bit. That's the way I read it about the idea of potentially needing to wear a knee brace, which he apparently has been wearing since the Green Bay game around the facility. Yes, he's never played with one. Is that what he said? Yeah, never played with one, and it would be something he'd have to get used to, but the doctors haven't made that decision yet,

so that would be a conversation. So, you know, maybe that... Oh, the knee brace, the ugly knee brace, the history of the knee brace in this franchise. Oh, yeah, true. You know what, though, Tom? That's like a whole subchapter of the RG3 story. Yeah.

Yeah. That is, you know, the T's to go to the first commercial break, or maybe it's like the third commercial break of the 30 for 30. Coming up, the knee brace. The knee brace. Maybe this answer, though, could have been a bit of a clue now that I think about it. If he would have to wear a knee brace if he plays on Sunday, the doctors haven't made that decision yet,

so that would be a conversation. Do you think it would have been a conversation already if he were going to play? if the chances were good that he was going to play? I would think so. Yeah. I have a feeling he's not playing. This will look really stupid by the time the afternoon rolls around, and Quinn says full practice,

and he is good to go Sunday in Atlanta. I hope he is. I hope he's 100%. I hope when all is said and done, we look back on this and say he missed a game. You know, like last year, he missed, you know, four-fifths of a game, and that this ends up being the only blip.

we are bold enough to look stupid, okay? That's true. And the truth of looking stupid is that it happens so often we're used to it. So it really, it stopped bothering us a long time ago. And don't remember, there's a lot of podcasts you listen to where they don't realize they sound stupid. At least we've got self-awareness. Yes. Yes.

Yeah. All right. Well, wait, there was one more that I wanted to play. Oh, here's this from Danny, and I thought this was interesting because Steve Suter in his film breakdown sort of suggested this a bit. Danny writes, Marriota isn't better, but Cliff calls a better game for him. In response to your discussion yesterday with Tom about fans calling for Marioita to continue playing, and by the way, that's not, you know, a majority of fans. One thought I've had is that Cliff just seems to simply call a better game for Marioada.

If you look at the Packers game, we dropped Jaden back 52 times against a pass rush where he was getting absolutely lit up while Bill Kroski Merritt was getting 8.2 yards per carry. That was from the previous game. Meanwhile, in terms of Kroski Merritt's average yards per carry. Meanwhile, in the Raiders game, we had five different guys carry the ball for 201 yards. We switched up the looks and it took a lot of pressure. off Marioota. Obviously a small sample size, but I remember thinking the play calling was a bit more creative with Marioita in last year as well. Is there a possibility that Jaden's sheer talent lets Cliff

get a little lazy, i.e. give it to Jaden. He'll figure it out because it worked so often last year. Maybe it's time for the coaching staff to call their games a bit more like the Raiders game and take some pressure off our most valuable asset. Well, it's very. Very obvious that the game plan and the way the game was called against the Raiders was completely different than the game they called against the Packers. But do I think it's because of the quarterback change? No. I think if Jaden had been the quarterback Sunday against the Raiders, it would have looked very, very similar. They thought that they could come out and run the football.

And they thought also with Marioita in there and off of the. experience of the Green Bay game, a running game does tend to help protect the quarterback if they've got pass pro issues. But really, I think at the end of the day, the big difference between the two games, the opponent, Green Bay is loaded, and they were awesome that night, especially on defense. And the Raiders are not, and they're not very good on either side of the ball. And I think that that ultimately made the difference. But yeah, I complained about them not trying to run the football, but I think Bates missing in the Green Bay game was an influencer on that.

All right. Okay, but I tend to kind of agree with the writer in the sense that, you know, it's possible that Mariotta may be more controllable for a clip. he'll basically, there's no wild card as much with Mariotta as there is with Jaden. Now, the wild card we'd say is a good thing, okay? You know, his off-script plays that he'll do. But I think it's a little bit of truth to that. I think Mariotta will basically carry out the plan exactly pretty much to wait Cliff once.

And also, I think he's right in the sense that they needed a little wake-up call, I think, to remind them that their young quarterback needs some help sometimes during the game. We just talked about it in the Green Bay game. I would have liked to have seen them run more, no matter how hard it was going to be. Right. Yeah, I just I absolutely believe that Cliff He said it multiple times last year Yeah, that wasn't really a good play call

But Jaden made it look good He said that multiple times last year So I do think that there is probably with Cliff A belief that even if he makes a mistake He's got a guy that can bail him out but I also think he probably feels that way to a certain extent about Marioo. They play very similarly, even though Jaden I think does those things at a higher level and is just more of an explosive kind of playmaker

and probably a better deep ball thrower overall and a better thrower really of the football than Marioad. I know he was outstanding on Sunday, but I don't think that the game plan would have looked any different Sunday with Jaden in there. And I don't think the results would have been that much different either. I think the Raiders were set up to be hammered by whatever they did on Sunday. And 41 to 24, it's not going to get much worse than that one way or the other.

I mean, you're going to take the brakes, your feet off the brakes at some point during that. Yeah. I don't know. I don't see anything. I don't remember anything last year. I mean, first of all, he only played in that Carolina game and then played in the second half of the Dallas game. You know, the thing about the Dallas game,

it's a weird game because Dallas has nothing to play for. Jaden had a problem in the first half of that game, seeing it and delivering it, and it was the same issue that Dallas gave him in the first game before he got it together in the second half and almost brought the team back and through that 86-yard. to Terry, but I think that Marcus played better in the Dallas game than Jaden did.

I don't remember the play calling being any different. I remember him playing better, but, you know, I don't know how you measure that game. It's like trying to do the Sam Hal versus Dallas game, you know, from a few years ago. When there's nothing on the line for at least one team, how do you measure that game? All right. Prediction time for you. The games on Sunday, It's Thursday. We're recording without knowing anything for sure about the quarterback situation, but who do you have, Sunday in Atlanta? Okay. If there's no starting quarterback and both wide receivers, number one and number two, are not playing either. It's a 2517 Falcons win.

No starting quarterback, meaning no Jaden and none of the receivers, okay? What if we have Jaden and receivers? Are you going to give me three or four different scenarios here? No, I'm only going to give you two. Okay. Because I don't want to confuse you because, you know, it's in the morning you get easily confused. True.

You know, if Jayden is on the field, I have Washington win in 28-25. You got a 25 in there in two different scores. What is it with 25? It's kind of an odd score. Today's the 25th. Oh, well, and by the way, it is odd, 25. All right. Symmetry to my...

A lot of symmetry to it. 2517 Atlanta, if Jaden and the receivers are out. If Jaden and the receivers or some of the receivers play, 2825 Washington. Okay. Yeah. That is a lot... The difference is the offensive output. Okay.

Yeah, I see that. I think... I see that. There's 11 more points. Or the same amount of points. Yeah, but you got the... The Falcons, you got the Falcons stuck on symmetry 25, but you've got 11, you've got Jadenworth plus 11, Jaden and the receivers.

Yes. Okay. I kind of like that score. I like both of them. Ioscelese triangle. Isosceles triangle. Yeah, sure. Why not?

I think there needs to be some equal sides in there somewhere, but they were close. So, yeah, let's continue with the triangle talk. We'll do that. right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Fall is planting season. Did you know that many plants and trees actually do better when planted this time of year? But you've got to know where to start, and that's why I love fastgrowing trees.com. Doesn't matter if you live in the sunny south or if the air is getting chilly where you live,

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night's Thursday night game Seattle at Arizona. My recommendation is to do it through my bookie. Go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com slash my bookie. Erase whatsoever in the promo code section when you're signing up for my bookie and put in DC reload. DCR-E-L-O-A-D. You'll qualify for a 50% cash bonus when you do that. So if you deposit a hundred bucks, they're going to add another 50 into your account. The game tonight at My Bookie, Seattle now, a one and a half point favorite on the road at Arizona. No smell test picks tonight for Seattle, Arizona, or the college game, Army and East Carolina. There will be a Friday night pick. I promise you that in college football. Seattle looks pretty good right now. They are two and one facing Arizona, two and one. Looks like

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promo code DC reload, the Kevin Sheeonshow.com slash my bookie. Washington, by the way, remains a one-point favorite at Atlanta. And I said this the other day. To me, it's a bit of an indication that they are expecting Jaden not to play. That line came down a little bit earlier in the week, and it hasn't gone back up despite Jaden practicing in limited fashion yesterday. I think Washington minus one is kind of an indication that they think he won't play Sunday. We'll see, though.

Again, we could look really stupid when you start listening to this podcast. All right. You know, just as an aside, they keep talking about Jaden practice limited, right? He had a limited practice, that's the word that you. Yes. You know, I think I go through my whole life limited. Well, I think I do. I think you limit yourself sometimes.

Well, because I'm a big believer in what Clint Eastwood said. I know. A man's got to know his limitations. I know mine. I know. And you're a strong, strong, strong belief. lever in that expectation bar really being super low. So you can clear it by miles and look really good.

I think based on your personality, your intellect, your overall capabilities. I think you've limited yourself too often in life. But you're happy and that's all that matters. It's all that matters. Thanks, Bob. So how about the Nats? hiring or they are expected to hire this 35-year-old Wiz kid from the Red Sox to be their new GM, their new head

president of baseball operations. Paul Toboni, what do you know about him? Well, look, I'm going to be honest with you and not limit myself here to making stuff up. I don't know anything more about them than what everyone else has been able to read. and what everyone else has been able to read it's been pretty impressive

okay he was an assistant general manager with the Red Sox a strong organization when it comes to player development okay they're a big believer in player development they also I might want to point out invest in player development

something the team he's going to the nationals have not the date so it's a It's a home run higher on paper for the learners to be able to attract a guy like this to take the job in Washington. Because, okay, well, here's the thing. He was up for the general manager's job in Boston.

But there's a president of baseball operations in Boston who really runs the baseball team. The general manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the team. But the big deals, the free agent signings, the trades, the president of baseball operations does that. It'll be the president of baseball operations here in Washington. And they still plan on hiring a general manager. Oh. It's basically his assistant. Okay.

So it's a step up from what he was going to be probably offered in Boston. And I'm sure that that's probably why he took it. Well, I want to make sure I'm clear on something. Is this the Rizzo replacement or not? Well, Brissau was the president of baseball operations and the general manager. Okay. Rizzo tell both titles. Right.

The kid that they've got in there now is just an acting general manager. And there is no president of baseball operations. Okay. All right. Look, there's no way, I mean, this is not some geek from Harvard who basically computed his way into a frontal. office job. He played baseball at University of California, Berkeley. So he's a

ball player with some smarts. He came up through the scouting system in Boston and has a great reputation in the business. So I mean, for them to attract a guy like this

is a big win for the learners. Don't you think they would have had to have committed to some level of a new approach from a spending standpoint for him to take this gig or not? Absolutely.

They would have had to. But not to diminish their commitment. But I know people who have gone into business as partners

with the learners with commitment. And as soon as they were in the door, those commitments disappeared. Right. Okay. I'm not saying it's going to happen here. It would be difficult

knowing the reputation of this organization throughout the game of baseball. And if this guy is smart as he is, he knows about it, without getting some firm commitments from the owners to invest and not to hold him back. But, you know, whether they follow true on that, that remains to be seen.

Because you read, did you read the post story from a week ago about how difficult it is for the organization to run because all decisions are made by the family? Yes. Well, yes. I read, I started to read that, and I'm like, this is essentially, Tommy's been talking about this forever. Yes. Yes.

This is why I always said that Mike Rizzo's hardest job was managing up. Okay. And that's still going to be the case. for this guy. I mean, he's still going to have to deal with a dysfunctional baseball family above him. But it's a great hire for Washington. It is a great hire.

Now, let's remember something for a minute here. People forget, they didn't fire Mike Rizzo because they didn't like him. Right. They didn't fire him because they didn't want him to continue in the job. they fired him because he wouldn't fire David Martinez. So they were happy. I don't know if they were happy, but they were not going to fire Mike Rizzo

because the team wasn't doing well. That was not why he was fired. Will this guy DeBardo stick, and is that the GM title that you think might exist with this new guy or not? Well, I would think, you know, I don't know what's gone on inside the organization since he's been hired.

But the GM now, we essentially be more of a pencil pusher than anything else, and that's what this guy is. You know, again, the big decisions will be made by the president of baseball operations. This kid's the bony. So it's a big win for the learners, but I'd be very suspect moving forward as to how it works out. There's going to have to be a dramatic change in the way they do business,

and they weren't willing to change for a guy that they liked and employed for almost 20 years. Right. Yeah, when you described, you know, kind of the commitment that this new guy would need to get, And yet with the learners historically in a lot of different areas of business, yes, there are plenty of stories out there. If you're from the DMV and you've been involved in real estate commercial and otherwise, there are plenty of stories about how the learners have conducted business in this town for a long period of time. But, you know, it just reminded me of when Rivera took that job in Snyder's or organization. I thought there's no way he takes this gig without a major commitment back to him that Snyder is going to let him run the organization the way he wants to run the organization.

And because everybody knew at that point. I mean, they had known for years. And look, Jay Gruden got a head coaching opportunity and that was his first. You're not going to turn down a head coaching opportunity no matter what the organization is. And plus, he thought he had a friend in Bruce Allen that he was coming to work for. But with Rivera specifically, it had gotten to the point where it was time for, yeah, if you're going to attract a guy with a resume, you're going to have to give up something. Well, I think it started right from the jump when Ron had to say he would, you know, give Dwayne Haskins all the opportunity in the world.

because I don't think Snyder hires them without that commitment back. But it was the same landscape. And what you're suggesting is no one's taking this job that has other options out there unless they get some sort of massive commitment to doing business differently than the way they've done it. Yes. Yes. And let's all remember, and this is for everybody, no matter where they're working in baseball, no matter who's in the job, there's a lot of uncertainty moving forward in the game right now. I mean, the game has had a good year.

A lot of exciting players. Attendance is up. Viewership is up. They're about to enter a bunch of new good TV deals. So it's had a good year. But the labor agreement runs out at the end of next season. And everyone believes the owners are going to fight for a salary cap, which is blood on the table.

Right. for the players unit, which probably means a work stoppage of some length, whether it goes into the season or not, remain to be seen. So whatever this guy is going to do, just like everybody else, it's probably going to get delayed a little bit by what's going to be going on with the labor agreement. I'll tell you what, Tommy, any sport not named the NFL, whoever runs those sports should make an absolute promise to himself and everybody else, we will never, ever have a work stoppage.

Because there's only one sport in this country where the consumer, where the fans will go apeshit over a work stoppage. And it's not any of the other sports. It's the NFL. That's it. It's a mistake every time that happens in these other sports. And I know that they... I'm sorry?

Not a mistake for the workers. It's not a mistake for the workers in baseball. I understand that. I mean, and that's what's gotten. Their salaries are ridiculous. They've got guaranteed outrageous salaries. Unbelievable. NFL players look at and salivate over.

Yeah. Why didn't I learn how to pitch left-handed? Speaking of this season, Cleveland last night overtook Detroit in the American League Central. they were 15 and a half games back of the Tigers in fourth place in the division on July 8th. On September 1st, okay, just 24 days ago, they were still 10 and a half games out. They've won 17 of 19, and they are now in first place. This will be since the division realignment in 1969, this. This would be the biggest comeback topping the 78 Yankees who came from 14 back against the Red Sox.

We ended up with that one day playoff. God, I'll never forget that, watching that in the afternoon when I got home from school. And 15 and a half back. Now, it's not over. You know, they get Detroit again today. They have already, this will be the last game against Detroit. They've already taken the first two of this crucial. series. If you're a Tigers fan, it's not just that you're on the verge of losing the division.

You may be eliminated from the wild card race as well. The Tigers currently have a one-game lead over the Astros, who, by the way, blew a lead and now Seattle's, the American League Westchamp, thanks to Cal Raleigh, who hit 59 and 60 last night. You're right. This has been a very exciting season. And once football starts, we don't pay attention to it. I know you do. and I love this time of year, and I'll be watching the playoffs next week. But there's been a lot of stuff going on in baseball down the stretch here. But the Indians' comeback is historic. You know what's interesting about that?

Let me talk about their president of baseball operations in Cleveland. It's a kid named a kid, a guy named Chris Antonetti. Chris Antonetti went to Georgetown in the early 90s, I believe, was when he went. And he was the manager of the basketball team. For Coach Thompson? Yes. Wow.

He became very close to Coach Thompson. Okay. He was like kind of one of his advisors, you know, through life, one of his life coaches, so to speak. I remember coach tell me about this kid. And when he got promoted to general manager, quite a few years ago, when they came to Camden Yards,

I wanted to write a column about him. And he was so reluctant. He didn't want me to do it. I could convince him. I might have even had coach calm to convince him. I don't remember if I did. and he agreed to do a column, but he hated it because he does not want any attention. Okay?

No attention at all. This is how he doesn't want attention. His Wikipedia page has his age 49 or 50. What does that mean? Apparently, it says born 1974 or 1970s. They can't confirm his birthday? Yes, not. But this guy...

Where's he from? Where's he from? Where's he from? From the area? From Massachusetts, I think. From where? Massachusetts? Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. He's built a strong organization over the years that has been competitive throughout his existence. And, you know, and, you know, he's one of the stars in baseball that don't get any attention. If the nationals, if Paul Tabani winds up being like Chris Antonetti, the nationals will have struck goal. But yeah, the Cleveland Guardians are one of the great stories in baseball.

Cleveland's a great sports town. You know? Very good sports town. Yes, it is. You know, the Windonation guys, Harley and Aaron, they're all from Cleveland, and Harley's been keeping me posted on the Indians comeback. He's like, something's going on here. I think we're making a move.

Guardians. The Guardians. Okay, yes, the Guardians. So I just pulled up Chris Antonetti's Wikipedia page born 1974 or 1975, age 49 to 50. But he's been in the Indians slash Guardians organization since 1999, which means he was probably in that room when Billy Bean and Peter Brand. Well, Peter Brand was working for the Indians when Billy Bean came into. talk to Mark Shapiro, the VP and GM of the Indians, and there were all those guys in the room when they would start talking about, you know, trades.

And then, you know, we see Billy Bean chased down Peter Brand in a cubicle. He did work for Mark Shapiro. Yeah. Absolutely. So perhaps he was one of the guys kind of hanging out in that room in the movie. Love Moneyball. Every time it's on. Hard not to watch it.

How about this Cal Raleigh? Like this came out of nowhere. Typically you're suspicious about things like this. You have been historically. What do you make of this 60 home run season when the most he'd ever had was 34 last year? That's a good year. I'm not suggesting it's not.

So maybe, you know, you did see it coming to a certain degree, but no one really knew who Cal Raleigh was a year ago. No. Well, actually, I did. I mean, he wasn't a star. But a catcher who hits 30 plus home runs is going to stand out in the game because it's a position that's so physically demanding. It often does not result in offensive leaders. And this guy, look, I'm going to operate that under the premise that the testing now is strict enough with a guy like this that what we're seeing is legit.

Okay. And I think he should be the MVP. This is going to, this is a big fight that's going to go on the big argument in baseball. Should it be him or Aaron Judge? Right. Judge hit 50 last night. Yeah. Right.

He's got 51 home runs. I think he's leading the league in batting, batting 328, whereas Cal Raleigh, I think, is hitting 250 or 260 or something like that. You know, and people will say judge is the big. better all around the player. But for me, for a catcher, to put up these kind of numbers, is an MVP. I mean, just absolutely.

So he would get, if I voted for the most valuable player, which I don't, he would get, he would get the MVP. Let me see what the MVP odds are at my bookie right now. So Raleigh is, probably judge.

No, Raleigh is the favorite right now. Oh, okay. minus 175 judges at plus 170. And then Otani obviously is a massive favorite. He's going to win the MVP there. National League. In the National League, yes. That's what I meant if I didn't say that.

You know, you have a division race. Basically, two of the three divisions in the American League are coming down to the final weekend. Toronto and the Yankees are tied in the AAL East. Cleveland's got that one game lead on Detroit. also own the head-to-head. So Detroit has to win pretty much today or their chances are slim to none. And then you also have, you know, the Dodgers and Padres. It looks like the Dodgers will hang on for the division, but the wild card races, you know,

big time. Houston hasn't missed the postseason. I was reading this morning. They have not missed the postseason since 2016. And they're on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time since 20. 2016. They're a game out of the last wild card spot. Detroit's battling with them for it. And then in the National League, you've got basically three teams for one spot. You know, the Mets currently have a one-game lead over Cincinnati and Arizona for that last wild card spot. So the playoffs start Tuesday,

I think. And if there's any sort of playoff necessary, I think we would get that on Monday. All right. Let's finish up the show. say about Seattle. Yeah. Congratulations to one of my favorite people in baseball, Manny Acta, former nationals manager. He's the bench coach of the Mariners. You loved Manny Acta.

Yes. I think everybody did. All right. We got a few other things to touch on. We will do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, new podcast sponsor, Hall of Fame Betts. Smart Betters rely on data. Hall of Fame bets hands you powerful analytics at your fingertips to tilt the odds in your favor.

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month when they use code Sheehan at checkout. Just download the HOF app on iOS or Android, enter code Sheehan, and you're all set. Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Well, Shelly's backroom at 1331 F Street Northwest. Usually, when you leave Shelly's, you leave Shelly's as a satisfied customer. And Garth Allen on social media is a perfect example of that. He's a podcast listener. He's from the United Kingdom, and he posted on X.

My son and I came from the UK for this weekend's game and finished out trip last night, meaning Monday night, at Shelley's for food, whiskey, cigars, and Monday night football. Great recommendation. Keep up the great work on the pod. That's what we get from everyone who goes to Shelly's. Well, can I add to that? Can I add to that? Because I was going to read this right when you finish doing your spot, but I might as well read it now.

Warren wrote us, I live in Logan, New Mexico. I'm a lifelong Redskin fan. I came to D.C. for the Giants game, and I was walking down F Street with my wife and another couple. Looked up and saw Shelly's back room. I said, I know this place. I hear about it all the time on my Redskin podcast. We went in and it is a great place. Although I have no idea what Tommy looks like,

I did look around for a scrawny, shriveled curmudgeon, which is how I envision him. He wasn't there, but we loved the place, drank beer there on two different days, and I bought a t-shirt. When Tommy negotiates his next sponsorship, he needs to point out to the Shelley's powers that he is so good,

he's bringing people in from New Mexico. Thank you for that, Warren. And yeah, you're... That's what we want to hear from people. If you're going to Shrelly's, you know, and you have a good time, let us know, okay? Because we want to spread the word, okay? You want to share that good, that goes good times with your fellow commanders fans or your fellow neighbors or your fellow human beings. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com.

Scrony, shriveled curmudgeon. Of those three descriptions, one is accurate. Just one. Yes. All right. The NFL Hall of Fame released their list for the 2026 class. 128 modern era players were nominated. Drew Breeze is on there with,

Larry Fitzgerald for the first time. I would bet a lot of money that both of those guys are first ballot, both Breeze and Fitzgerald. But once again, on the list, Brian Mitchell of these 128 modern era players, he's still considered modern era, and London Fletcher. So good luck to them. Josh Cribbs and Brian Mitchell are the only two special teamers that are, or returners, excuse me, returners that are included on this list.

I mean, I would love it if Brian Mitchell got into the Hall of Fame. I still don't think he will, and I would love it if London Fletcher got into the Hall of Fame. And you can make cases based on certain guys that are in there. But I don't think either one of them will ultimately make the Hall of Fame, even though I'd love to see them. You know, the player in this franchise that's not in the Hall of Fame that deserves it the most, I believe, is Joe Jacoby. I think he's the one that really is the missing piece in Canton from our organization. If I was making the list, it would be Joe Jacoby, Larry Brown, Brian Mitchell.

That would be my list. Yeah. In that order of who should be taken care of. when it comes to the Hall of Fame. Larry Brown's career was too short, Tommy, even though he had an MVP. It wasn't a Gail Sayre's career in terms of super short but worthy.

I don't know. I think it was more like a Terrell Davis career. Okay. Look, I think Gary Clark is, you know, not far off the list that you just gave. His numbers actually are very favorable. You can almost make a better case. case for Gary Clark than you can for anybody else. It's too bad he didn't play his entire career in the NFL because I think he'd be in by now.

But Drew Bree's... What's interesting. Yeah. Go ahead. No, I'm just going to say, Drew Breeze and Larry Fitzgerald, of the recent, you know, sort of classes, to me, they're givens to be in on their first try. I would think so. I would agree with that.

The quarterback class is interesting, though, because it has Eli Man. and Phillip Rivers. I know for the second year in a row. Yeah. Yes. And you know who's on the list? Alex Smith is on the list. Yes.

I mean, Alex Smith, all due respect, is not a Hall of Fame quarterback. Oh, Jeff Garcia is on the list. Jeff Garcia is not a Hall of Fame quarterback. I think you could argue Jeff Garcia's career is actually better than Alex Smith. No, I understand players end up on this list. But when I saw that name, I was like, Alex Smith?

I mean, does that, does staying in the media post career influence some of that? Because I think he's excellent as an analyst. Excellent. I think it helps you. Yeah. But Alex Smith, I mean, come on. Not a Hall of Fame quarterback. I mean, Jake DeLone's on this list.

He's not a Hall of Fame quarterback. Rich Gannon on this list. Donovan McNabs on this list. These are not Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I mean, we could do that at every position. All right. Anything else? I know you wrote a column this morning that you wanted to briefly talk about. Well, I wrote a column. You could find it on my social media pages,

or you can go to Washington Times.com slash sports. It's about Ted Leon's this last week, banging the drum again when he was on a CNBC program about how he still wants to buy the Washington Nationals. And I point out that there's, even if the learners were inclined to sell, which they are not at this point, there's now a big roadblock in Ted's way. And that's Commissioner Rob Manfred's plan to basically bring all the local TV rights under the umbrella of MLB. Okay.

Now, there's about a half dozen teams out there that are now, to be distributed by MLB because their regional sports networks collapsed. The nationals get out of their massive deal at the end of this year and are going to have to make a decision as to how to distribute their games next year. I think that decision's already been made. I think Major League Baseball is basically said to Washington. You're joining this group because Manfred wants to eventually get all the teams under the MLB umbrella as part of his plan.

Okay. And I don't think the nationals get out of the mass and deal like they did unless there was a quid pro quo where they agreed to join Manfred's little group. So I think the nationals TV rights are going to be run by MLB starting next season. Which means Ted wouldn't be as interested. Well, no. I mean, he's at the program. programming is the value for Ted on the monumental sports network. Right.

I mean, I always say that, you know, the baseball are his Gilligan's Island reruns for him. So, so I think that, you know, if he doesn't own the TV rights, I don't see him interested in owning the team at all. Yeah, that's my point. Yep. All right. Well, at this point, you know, the learners aren't going to sell unless they get exactly the number. that they want. Right.

And no one's going to sell until this labor agreement is probably reaching. And a salary cap. Okay. Yeah. Exactly. All right. I will talk to you on Tuesday. Have a good weekend.

Okay, boss. Back tomorrow. Jay Gruden will be on with me. We'll have a preview of Washington, Atlanta, smell test picks. Typical Football Friday. Back tomorrow.