The Kevin Sheehan Show - JD In 2024 vs. RG3 In 2012

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Kevin and Thom today with thoughts on Jayden Daniels' historic rookie season and the differences between his season RG3's rookie season in 2012. The RFK Site bill passing and the first-round College Football Playoff games are a part of the show as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. All right, Tommy is with me. We are recording this podcast on Monday, but airing it on Tuesday, Christmas Eve. So Merry Christmas to everybody out there.

Tommy, Merry Christmas to you as well. We are recording this prior to Dan Korn. Quinn holding a press conference on today, Monday, and finding out sort of the status of some of the players, Marshawn Latimore, Diami, Brown, Andrew Wiley. But you know what? We don't need all that, you know, detail to do a show. I do want to get your reaction to the game against Philadelphia.

And we'll talk some stadium as well. I didn't do that in my follow-up shows. to the game against the Eagles. But I did see that you just tweeted out after the game, Jaden Daniels, Jaden, Daniels, Jaden, Daniels, Jaden, Daniels, and you didn't stop. It looks like, let's see, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, Jaden, Daniels, hashtag commanders. It sounds like you were impressed. Well, you know, let me, first of all, let me wish you a Merry Christmas.

and your family. Yours too. And everybody out there listening, hope you have a happy holiday. And, you know, like, look, I mean, again, and I've said this, like, from the second or third week of the season, it's Jaden Daniels, and everybody else is a sidebar, okay? Everything else is the second part of the story.

It's Shaden Daniels, and everybody else is supporting cast. Okay, contributors, yes. But he is the sun and everybody else are planets that revolve around. And I just wanted to make that point, in particular, given the remarkable performance he put on yesterday. And people, some people take it the wrong way. I mean, you know, it's hard to sometimes interpret things on social media. Okay? again, this doesn't mean I am a commander's fan.

Okay, I just want to make it clear that what I am marveling at is the excellence that we are seeing. The unprecedented rookie performance that we are watching, that is what I am head over heels over. You know, the talent, the poise, the results that this guy, you know, seemingly under it, more difficult circumstances just seems to step up. You know, I'm marveling at that. So that's what that reaction is. That's a reaction at seeing something that, quite frankly, we've never seen before from a rookie quarterback in the NFL.

Yeah, this is going to be an historic season. There's no doubt about that. And we witnessed in 2012 a record-breaking rookie season. and a lot of categories as well. What's different between 2024 and 2012? Well, what is different is you have a quarterback who, you know, it's hard to say exactly. I mean, because the coaching is very important on this team.

They built a culture that has contributed to all this, and that has given, you know, Jane Daniels the ability to accomplish what he has done. Okay, back then, the quarterback was counter to the culture that the coach was creating. I mean, Robert Griffin III, for whatever he was doing on the field, was not part of the culture of what Mike Shanahan was trying to accomplish. Jane Daniels seems to be very much a part of what Dan Quinn is trying to accomplish.

He talked about it after the game yesterday. He talked about, you know, he mentions Quinn almost after every game. And a message that the coach delivered at some point during a week that seemed to come true for him. Yesterday, he talked about how Dan Quinn told him this game would be five, probably five quarters. And it almost was within, you know, six seconds of that. So that's the difference to me. The difference is the quarterback is contributing to the culture, and the quarterback in 2012 was trying to create his own personal culture.

Yeah, that's a big part of it. I think, you know, it just starts with the owner. You know, if Dan Snyder were the owner and Jaden Daniels was the quarterback right now, there would be the threat of Dan messing it up somehow. You're right. You're absolutely right. 100%. But there is a big difference just in the players, like a massive difference.

Just big picture. Jaden's just a much better quarterback than Robert Griffin III was in 2012. Jaden's so much more advanced as a quarterback. He understands how to read defenses. He understands how to throw with anticipation. He understands how to process. He understands and has much better throwing mechanics. You know, he's a better runner than RG3.

RG3 was a straight line track guy. He didn't have the vision Daniels has. These are some of the things that, you know, not to break myself, patting myself on the back, but these are a lot of the things, because I've gotten a lot of shit wrong. I understand. We all have. But these are the things and the differences I tried to point out leading up to the draft. Like when I watched Jaden Daniels, I never saw RG3.

And people were making that comparison. I'm like, no, he's got vision. He's got feel as a runner. He's got that open field ability to make people miss. RG3 would run straight into people and would take these vicious hits because he couldn't see where it was coming from. And as a passer, it's just not even close. And then if we want to get into the, you know, the different personality profiles, obviously much different.

You know, Jaden Daniels is a good student. He's coachable. Part of that is what you talked about is that the owner empowers the general manager and the coaches. And that's the environment that Jaden is in versus the one that Robert was in, which was not helpful to Robert. You know, Robert didn't have the personality. to push back on Dan because he embraced it. He loved being, you know, the owner's best friend and all of the, you know,

all of the things that that allowed him that, you know, other players perhaps didn't have. The environment's completely different, but the players are completely different. And then personality profile, look, RG3, like I don't know if you watch the Heisman House, you know, spots. RG3 is a very good actor. You know, he's got a real personality and a charisma. Forget what we all know about him and how, you know, you just roll your eyes at a lot of it. Jaden just doesn't have that kind of charisma. His game is his charisma, you know?

And I just see, I don't think the two are comparable at all. But the records and the season he's having and the season that RG3 had is comparable. I think, you know, RG3 give Kyle Shanahan and Mike Shanahan the lion's share of credit. For Jaden Daniels, give Jaden Daniels the lion's share of credit. I think Cliff Kingsbury's done a great job. But if we're, you know, if 50% of it was Robert and 50% of it was Kyle and Mike, or let's just say it was 65-35, Kyle Mike, you know, to Robert 35. This is flipped.

65% of it is the quarterback, if not higher, actually, and the rest is the coordinator. I mean, part of the magic of Jay and Daniels is the preparation and the work ethic. I mean, Bobby Wagner mentioned it after the game yesterday. I mean, this guy's been in the league 13 years, and he is still impressed. with the work ethic of this rookie. You know, I mean, so, yeah, it's not just the results. It's the path to the results that has won over his teammates. It's really impressive, everything.

This is what I mean. I mean, I don't want to seem like some wide-eyed girl, you know. Like you did with RG3. Yeah, I mean, but this is, we're seeing something dramatically different than we've, in this town, I was trying to think. I mean, you know, we've seen Alex Ovechkin. That was something special. Okay?

The nationals provided us with a couple of special talents, from Steven Strasbourg to Soto, to Harper, you know, to Scherzer. But there hasn't, that we have not seen the kind of talent that is so that is so dramatically impactful on everything in the game like this guy is. And when he came in that game

with like less than two minutes left, I thought he was going to do, I didn't know how he was going to do it, but I felt like he was going to win. I felt like they were going to win. Yeah, me too. I really felt that way. Me too.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's what he's done here. You know, he's put him into position. It's like if he's got the ball and there's a reasonable, I mean, there wasn't a reasonable amount of time against Chicago and he got it done. Yeah. Yeah, you know, it's funny because I didn't mean to go down the path of comparing 2012 to 2024, but, you know, these were the same feelings we were all having in 2012.

There's not a lot different in the way we felt, you know, December of 2012 versus how we feel today in December of 2024. I think I'd like to at least say that I understand the difference and that a lot of you understand the difference and Tommy, you probably understand the difference on the kind of players they are, you know, because you could tell you didn't, you know, you weren't completely convinced of it because everything was so new with the way they were playing and you just thought, you didn't. You know, you didn't, you didn't know for sure it was masking major weaknesses that he had. You know, not in the moment. You kind of learn that afterwards. I do remember feeling he is a straight line track guy as a runner.

He's got tremendous speed. You were on to that early when he was in college. Yeah. And I'm like, he's going to take some shots. He's got to learn how to protect himself, et cetera, et cetera. But anyway, But in that moment, we felt the same way we're feeling right now. But it's just knowing the difference now from 2012 to, you know, look, there may be a lot that we don't know. I mean, we didn't know a lot at this point in time about RG3. We didn't find out about the Cleveland game debacle until really after the season. We didn't know it, you know, at the very end of the regular season. There could be something, but man, it doesn't see.

like it. You know, it's, it doesn't seem like it. It just, it really doesn't. See, here's the other thing, too. It's not just that he's having, you know, this historic rookie year. He's an elite quarterback right now in the NFL, rookie or no rookie. He's a top seven, eight quarterback in the league right now. Let me tell you something. Kevin, if you put him behind center for the Eagles, we're not even discussing who's going to win the Super Bowl. It's a discussion over with. Done.

You put him at center of that Eagles team that took the field and with a different offensive coaches because the offensive play calling with Eagles is just pathetic sometimes. but you put him at center of that Eagles team then we're not having this conversation. Right now, let me just say this. I would not trade him for anybody in the league right now. I would not. Not right now.

Mahomes, because he's a little bit older, because sometimes I watch Patrick Mahomes and I think he's just gotten bored, he's the best quarterback in the league. Right now, you know, right now, you know, he's starting to approach like all-time territory. But I don't think I would trade Jaden Daniels for anybody. You know, would I for Mahomes?

I don't know, maybe. Would I for Burrough? I mean, I don't know. To me, the two quarterbacks I would consider are Josh Kelly. Josh Allen. Josh Allen, I'm sorry, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. I would not consider Lamar Jackson, even though I love Lamar Jackson and he's made so much progress this year and he's having a great year and he might win another MVP. I think that Jaden, given what Jaden is as a rookie in terms of his ability to throw from the pocket as a passer, he's so far advanced, you know, from where Lamar was as he.

younger player that I just feel like Jaden's upside is greater. So I don't think I would trade Jaden for Lamar. You know, Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, it's really close, really close. After that, nobody, I wouldn't trade him for anybody or even consider it. Those names, I would consider it. I don't know that I do it because we're just maybe at the tip of the iceberg here with this guy. I mean, imagine what he's going to do with a better supporting cast. Yes, yes. He's pulling this team along. Oh, he's lifted everything in the entire organization.

He's a top six, seven quarterback in the NFL right now. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes. I know what Mahomes isn't having that kind of season. After those four, you then get into, you get into, because of the season he's having, Jared Goff, you consider, I think Jordan Love, I'm a big fan of Jordan Love and what his future is. The season that Matt Stafford is having, okay, but what did I just? name, seven quarterbacks. He's in the conversation for after Allen, Jackson, Burrow, and Mahomes. He's in the conversation for five right now. He's easily a top 10 quarterback in the

NFL right now, and he's probably a top 5, 6, 7 quarterback, which makes him an elite quarterback. Look, I would say he's an elite quarterback if there were another nine or 10 guys like him. He is the, Tommy, I mentioned this yesterday. He is the best scrambler. He's among the best scrambling quarterbacks I've ever watched. I know that sounds like it's crazy. But in this era, you know, Lamar, Josh Allen, Mahomes, okay? I mean, elite level scramblers and creators.

Michael Vick, one of the greatest to ever do it. Steve Young, one of the greatest to ever do it. You know, I mentioned only people like us can go back to Tarkington and Stawback. But he's in that – Randall Cunningham. He's in that group. He's in that conversation. His feel, his spatial awareness, his vision, his quicks, his speed, his elusiveness,

is all-time, all-time elite with those guys. And then – Home run. his home run ability on throwing the ball, you know, on making the big pass, the big play. It's just, actually, just shake your head. You know, he's capable of anything. And, you know, Terry McCloran, look, I, I, I, one, when I call attention to all this,

I don't want to take away from, you know, people who are also having, you know, be important contributors like Terry McClure is having a career year. and we're really seeing how great McCorn can be. But McCorn will be the first one to tell you, okay? And he has been. That Jayton Daniels is the difference maker. Because he's been here for, what, five or six years, and he's played with a lot of other quarterbacks,

and there's nothing ever been like this before. You know, I thought the offensive line yesterday did really a great job of protecting Jaden Daniels. And overall this year has played pretty well, I thought, which has surprised me. You know, so there were obviously other contributors, but, you know,

Jane Daniels is the son. Yeah, and, you know, there's not much that he doesn't do at a high level. In fact, I can't think of anything that he doesn't do at a high level. He throws from the pocket at a high level. He's got an incredible release. It's so quick.

He processes so quickly. He's so far ahead of most rookies who usually don't, aren't comfortable, you know, throwing with anticipation, throwing receivers open, like the throw to Crowder for the game winner. You know, it takes a while. He's there. He's already there. He throws the deep ball well. He throws over the middle of the field well. That was a big, you know, from the analytics people.

And I remember saying, look, part of it is because they didn't have any third. downs. You know, third downs are when you typically see some of those throws over the middle. And they had the fewest third down snaps of any team in America last year, LSU did. And he had two receivers who were incredible on the outside in Brian Thomas and Malik neighbors. He can throw quick. He can throw drop back. He can throw play action. What, seriously, what doesn't he do well? I know. I know.

And we saw yesterday this question that we brought up from time to time, how will he respond to adversity? You know? He had two-interception day, and he had a running game that was non-existent because his running back couldn't gain any yards because he had his foot in his mouth after talking about how much better this team was than the evil. Okay. Oh, boy, I forgot about that.

Yeah. Brian Robinson Jr. said we're the better team going into this game. There was a lot of adversity there for this quarterback to deal with, including his own, with two interceptions, and he turns out of five touchdown performance. 81 yards rushing, including remarkable fourth-down plays. Do or die, play fourth and 11. Oh, my God, the fourth and 11. I mean, seriously. I mean, and that's what he is.

he erases bad plays. Plays that are about to end badly. He says, no, don't worry about it. I got this one. He strapped the team to his back. He's a cheat code. Yeah. And like the, you know, we talked about adversity.

And with the three-game losing streak, we talked about, hey, the adversity's here. Let's see how he handles it. Came out. It was phenomenal against Tennessee, you know, in that game following the loss to Dallas. And yesterday, you know, it's a good point. He was, he had in-game adversity. But, you know, the box that I said two weeks ago that he, the only box he hasn't checked is, you know, he's going to be in some big do or die games.

Let's see if he can strap the team to his back and win those games. Yesterday was not a do or die game. They will have one of those, minimum one, maybe two. And I'm not just talking about playoff games. might have one in their season finale against Dallas if they were to lose to Atlanta and things broke against them in this upcoming weekend. But yesterday was a game. We talked about it last week.

I said, I think it's kind of a statement game for them. You know, they haven't beaten a winning team. You said last week they're not a good team. So I'll ask you in a moment if you think they're a good team now. But I thought it was a real opportunity and I thought they could win it. Now, look, the bottom line is if Jalen Hertz doesn't get hurt, I don't know that they win that game. That was a massive moment in the game.

There's no doubt that the defense was able to play completely different than when Jalen Hertz was in the game. But that is still a great defense. They went up again. It is a great defense. Jalen Hertz doesn't play defensively. He doesn't. But that last box hasn't been fully checked,

but this wasn't the first time he strapped it. team to his back. He strapped the team to his back against Baltimore and kept him in that game. He strapped the team. I thought he did it against the state. Yeah, I mean, you know, he's had so many of these moments where they've needed him and without him, you know, they would have had no shot. You know, I mentioned, you know, his first game winning drive was week two, week three against Cincinnati. If they had punted once in the game, they would have. would have lost the game. They had no shot to be close against Baltimore without him.

I thought maybe the most underrated great game of the year was the game against the Giants on the road. It was as high as QBR game of the year until Sunday against Philly. Obviously, the Chicago Hail Mary Magic. It's, I don't, he doesn't really have a full box to check anymore. and there is no apparent flaws in his game at this point. He also passed the cold test. It wasn't brutally cold and it wasn't windy and there wasn't precipitation. It was sunny and it was 30 degrees or whatever.

But, you know, there was the belief that maybe he could be an indoor girl and more of a warm weather quarterback. I mean, his frame is still slight. but even when he takes a big shot, you know, it's not, he slides. I can't think of anything right now that I'm concerned about as it relates to his game. Like what adjustments are people going to make? I don't know. He can do everything. You know, I was listening to Quinn after the game, and I think while Quinn is very complimentary, I think he's also very careful about.

trying not to go too overboard and giddy about the quarterback in his comment. I agree with you. You know, I think he's trying, he's trying awfully hard because the questions are basically saying, isn't it unbelievable? He doesn't quite answer that question, you know? So it's funny to watch him dance around the idea of not to be too fawning over what he's seeing. I wonder what he feels like privately.

Well, I mean, remember, they didn't name him starter right away, and he wanted to set the precedent of, you know, having to earn it. I mean, there was never a doubt at any point in time, never a concern. You know, you don't know until you get the guy into your building, and, you know, he's already cashed his first check. But this guy, you just don't know. But they've known from the beginning. and it's been incredible to watch. So I think that the Jaden Daniels question has been answered. We didn't have to wait 17 weeks to get it answered.

It was answered earlier, I think, but Sunday cemented it for maybe even some people who are still hanging out there like, well, I need to see him beat a good team. And people will use the Jalen Hertz injury. That's fine, and that's fair. And look, if Devante Smith doesn't drop that third and five, Jaden doesn't get a shot on that final drive, which I still thought and would have said he played an outstanding game. But you did say last week, you don't think this is a good team and you're not really convinced it's going anywhere. This was not a knock against Daniels because you've been on board with Daniels for a while as well.

But what do you think about the team now and their possibilities? Are we back to talking about New Orleans in February? Okay, so what are we talking about? My position hasn't changed about the team. I just think that Jane Daniels is just a remarkable lifter of all votes. Right. Okay, I don't think they're a very good team. They're not, contrary to what Brian Robinson said, they're not as good as the Eagles, talent-wise.

Okay? I don't think that's changed. I think they're well coached. I think they work really hard. I think they have built a culture and have some special players that contribute to that culture. But I don't think they're a good team. I think they're a team that plays well. And they have the ultimate life preserver in Jaden Daniels.

Yeah, I can't rule out anything. I think when you have the quarterback and they have the quarterback, anything is possible, anything. You know, Mahomes in, last year the defense was exceptional. The year before that, you know, people weren't sure. You know, the year they lost to Tampa, people weren't sure. Mahomes, I'm not saying that they haven't had an incredible coaching staff and some good players around him because they have, especially when they had, you know, to re-kill along with, you know, a younger and better Kelsey.

And Washington doesn't have anything like that. I'll concede that. But I can't rule out anything because when they go to play either the east, Eagles or the Rams, which are now the top two possibilities. Seven seed against Philly, six seed maybe in SoFi against the Rams. I am absolutely sure I will think they have a chance to win because of him. And then if they pull off that upset and then they go to the one-seated team, whether that's Detroit or Minnesota, it'll be one-of-the-other-the-other. I will be absolutely convinced that anything is possible because he's the quarterback.

And then if they were to pull that one off and play, say, Green Bay and Lambo in the NFC championship game, I would give them a chance. Am I predicting that they're going to make a run to the Super Bowl? I'm not. Because your point is spot on. Philadelphia is a better overall team than Washington. as is Detroit even with their injuries, as is Green Bay, as is Minnesota. The Rams may be a better team in terms of their roster, all right?

But Tampa Bay may be a better team based on their roster. But when you have one of those few that are truly elite, you can't rule it out. Yeah Listen This is Monday September 30th This was the lead on my column Anything seems possible now

This was after to win against the Cardinals I wrote that You said September 30th Yes Okay Okay got it Yeah That was the lead

That was the lead Anything seems possible now when you have the quarterback, anything is possible. You know, like I'm thinking about some of the Super Bowl teams, even teams that lost in Super Bowls. I mean, look, the Cincinnati team that made it to the Super Bowl and lost to the Rams. I mean, that's Joe Burrow. The, you know, the Dallas Super Bowl,

the Ice Week that we were there, that was the Aaron Rogers, you know, Pittsburgh's Super Bowl. Aaron Rogers, they had Aaron Rogers. That's why they won the Super Bowl. It wasn't necessarily a great team around them that particular year. I'm sure there are other examples, but especially now in today's game, you have to have one. You just have to have one.

It's the easiest way to ensure a sustained, run of competitive in contention seasons, and they are in contention right now in his rookie year. Without a great team around him, that's 100% true to. But he's so good that I'm not ruling anything out. Do I think they're going to make a Super Bowl run? I don't. I think they'll probably get to the postseason, play competitively. He'll play really well, and they'll lose a close game to somebody.

maybe not in the first round. Maybe they'll upset somebody in the first round. But, you know, experience has a lot to do with the postseason two. I told you weeks ago when we were fantasizing about New Orleans, no rookie quarterback that started, you know, from the beginning of the year, has ever even participated in a Super Bowl. And they're only like seven who have made it to a championship game in their respective conference.

So you have that. And then you also have him. He be different. I mean, God, he's different. He is. All right. Let's talk the RFK site and all of the up and down craziness of the end of last week into what's next. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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See website for full details and important safety information. All right, Tommy. Tell us about Shelley's. Well, let me just point out that if you have family or friends coming to you over to visit you during the holidays, you should really give them a treat and take them down while you're in D.C. doing some sightseeing. Take them to Shelley's backroom at 1331 S Street, Northwest. It'll be something that they won't expect. It'll be something that they'll go home and talk their friends about.

And like almost every experience from somebody I've recommended to go to Shelly's, they'll have a positive experience because that's what Shelly's is. There's nothing. I mean, there's really very little that can go wrong. It's a menu of excellence of food, drink, and cigars. And I just want to shout out here on a couple days for Christmas. Merry Christmas to Bob Monterazzi, the owner of Shelly's. Merry Christmas to Tony, the main bartender at Shelly's.

Happy holidays to him. Christmas, so my good friends who hang out at Shelley's guys like Justin and Keith and Jonathan and all you other boys out there who I haven't seen in a week or so. I'll be in for smoke before I head to Florida. And I'm always looking to make new friends at Shelly's. So if you're in Shelly's and you see me, make sure you stop by and say hello, find out more at Shelly's backroom.com. Tommy, let's get to this incredible turn of events with the RFK's site bill. Looked like it was dead in the water Friday, Friday night, and then all of the sudden we get news that the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent at 1.15 a.m. Saturday passed the RFK

Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act as a standalone. And wow, that was a a major, major surprise. I think everybody had gone to bed Friday night, assuming that RFK was dead in the water and that they'd have to start all over in 2025 if they even wanted to go down that path. But instead, this miracle at the 11th hour, we get the RFK site bill passed, and now the city has control over that 174 acre plot of land, which means one hurdle's been cleared, but another hurdle to go. Most of you know that. There was a lot of reaction, especially on social media. The team's back in D.C. No, it's not back in D.C. yet. It just means that now the city has the ability to negotiate for that land because they've got control over it. They didn't

before the federal government did. But you have to negotiate. You have to negotiate. deal with the team, and that deal has to be one in which the city and the city council agrees is best for the city. And you also have Maryland still involved in the bidding and the negotiation process with the team. So let me just cut to the chase here. It got passed. I mean, the up and down through the course of last week, the roller coaster ride, through the week up until this thing shockingly getting passed by the U.S. Senate as kind of a stand-alone. That aside, where do you think it is now? You have knowledge of this. You have covered this story. What percent chance now do you think the stadium ends up in D.C.? I think it's 60 percent for the district.

Really? I think it's Maryland. It's still, you know, what nothing, here's what didn't change about Maryland. It's still the path of lease resistance. And I think people will find that out when they try to negotiate a deal in the district. For a council that's divided, that's very difficult to do business with. The mayor may want it, the owners may want it. I've been to neighborhood meetings in that area as recently as two years ago, unless the mood has changed.

The neighborhood doesn't want it. So it's community opposition, council support. Those are your two biggest obstacles right there, and nobody knows what they are at this point. Plus, I mean, the financing, you know, the financing. The district is going to have to come up with some financing arm, like a stadium authority, or something like that, to create the bonds for financing something like this, and how much are they going to pay for? I've written on social media that Josh Harris, the owner of Sixers,

just got approval for his new 76th arena in Center City. Well, they're spending $1.3 billion of their own money to build that. that arena. If I'm a city council member, I'm saying that's nice, where's our $1.3 billion? If you can dig in your own pocket in Philly, you can dig your own pocket in Washington, too. Well, he is. I think that's going to be... He is going to dig into his own pocket. But we don't know how much. Well, I mean... I think it's going to cost well over $2 billion to build a dome stadium at RFK. I think according to some of the people that I've had on that have covered this story in addition to you.

I have to be really careful here. I think that it's a $3 billion total price tag and that the city's going to have to come up with around a billion dollars. Keep in mind they just gave Ted a half a billion dollars. Yes. And so, you know, that means two-thirds of the cost will be the team's cost. Now, there are ways for them to offset some of those costs. The league participates. You know, the league ends up throwing $300-plus million into the deal for a new stadium.

If, you know, as long as they like you, I don't think they would have done it with Dan. I don't think any of this would have happened had Dan still been the owner. It probably wouldn't. Let's not forget, the NFL kept giving Dan money. Yeah, and changing the rules to allow him to take on more debt, et cetera. Yeah. You know, look, bottom line is, whatever they did, it ultimately led to him selling the team, which is great news.

Hearing you say 60%, that is the most optimistic you have ever been about a stadium in D.C. Well, I think you've seen, at least I think I've seen, there's an overwhelming sentiment now for this to happen. And I think if it doesn't... You couldn't predict that? Not that much. Really? Yeah, I didn't think it would. I was surprised taking it back at how much sentiment there is now.

And now that it seems to be closer, it would be a major disappointment if it didn't happen. answer you question. You said that the team can come up with this money to build this stadium. Okay. Well, I said they'll have to come up with the money, is what I meant. Well, how are they going to come up with that after spending $6 billion and having to scrape their wallets together to buy the team? It's a good question. I've not looked into the details. I would imagine they can take on some debt to build this stadium. But your point is, good one. I mean, they had to, you know, they were on the street with a business plan trying to raise the money to buy this team, and they have the largest ownership group in the NFL that isn't

the publicly owned Packers. And so I don't know the specifics on how they'll come up with, let's just call it, $2 billion, but I bet you that they can borrow against it because of what the projected, you know, incremental revenue will be. It'll be a home run from a revenue standpoint when they finally open it, not just because of the football team, but because of the other events they'll be able to attract. By the way, a Super Bowl as a possibility with a Dome Stadium. You're right.

Yeah, but I don't know the specifics of it. I think to me, from you're more knowledgeable about this subject. But after having the mayor on last week, and I've had her on now, I think two or three times, in the last year, year and a half. I think the biggest challenge is the D.C. City Council. That's, you've got to get seven of the 13 council people to say yes to this. And that will be the biggest challenge.

Because I think the deal, I think they pretty much discussed the framework for a deal. And my sense would be that it's at least competitive with Maryland's offer. and it may not have to match Maryland's offer because of the desire to go back to D.C., but it can't be so far off. But I don't think that's the challenge in terms of the negotiation of a deal like it was with Ted and the city. I think it's the city council and getting seven people to say yes and not understanding you do more than I what the constituents in each one of those cities, council's areas think, you know?

And here's the other issue with the city that could come into play. Community or city council opposition could delay the process, okay? And the longer this takes to get approved, the more money it will wind up costs in the build a stadium. So time is of the essence. This is why I talk about Maryland. you know, time would not necessarily be a factor with Maryland like it would with the district. And if they run into a lot of community opposition and city council lobbying,

that could be a turnoff for the owners. You know, they only have, they probably have a limited amount of patience when it comes to costs involving the stadium. Yeah, they want this, though. I don't know. I don't have a good feel for it. I mean, to me, I think, you know, it's not that I envisioned this level of support from everywhere, you know, DC, the ownership, although they haven't said it publicly, but I think most people know how they feel. The fans, I'll tell you, you know, what's really made this conversation much more relevant is the success. of the team this year and Jaden Daniels. Another thing that he is elevated. Yeah. Because the urgency wouldn't be front and center for most people if the team sucked again this year. And if they had gotten it wrong with the draft choice of Jaden Daniels.

I mean, seriously. I think you're right. It's part of it. Look, people ought to be associated with a winner. Yeah. And they see that, you know, of course, the irony is it, won't open until 2030, and, you know, he'll be in his seventh season at that point, halfway through his career. Okay. What else on this? You know what I think about it, though, Kevin? What?

I started, oh, here's what else on that. I hope it, you know, look, I think it would be great if it did wind up back to RFK. I mean, think about how exciting it would be to watch that whole area develop. up into something new. That may not be exciting for some of the people who live around there, but generally for the city to see, you know, what happened like along the war. So great.

You know, along, you know, around Nationals Park, they see something like that happened down by RFK and the waterfront there. It would just be really exciting. The ancillary benefit would be so much greater in D.C. than in Landover. No, absolutely. No offense to those of you. No offense to those of you that live in that area of the DMV. Right.

People will go downtown on non-event days if there is a really nice buildup, equivalent to the war, for equivalent to, you know, what Chinatown was when the arena opened and for many, many years. I, no offense, I don't think I'd be going out to dinner and landover on a non-event night. You know, I can't envision that. Part of it is because it's much further. I would agree with you 100% about that, is that, yeah, the impact would be far greater on the area if it was at the RFK site than it would be, even with a new and better improved. location in

Landover. It'll be a dome stadium. I mean, a retractable roof actually is more expensive. So I don't think, I think it's going to be a dome stadium. I would think that they are certainly going to try to get a Super Bowl. They will try

to get, you know, if not final fours, regional finals in the future. Big, big events, World Cup, soccer events. I'm sure other things as well. And it'd be great for the city. You know, I've said this before, and it's not because I don't care.

I do care. But I think for right now, it's so far off from now when the stadium would actually open. You know, we're talking about probably six years. so they'll be in FedEx in 25, 26, 27, 27, 28, 29, at least five more seasons more likely than not. It's so far off that I'm just, you know, as this thing was going along, when it seemed like RFK wasn't going to happen, the site wasn't going to get approved by the Senate, wasn't going to be, you know, approved as part of the spending bill with, you know, as a rider, etc. I'm not as devastated as some of you are. I'm much more into and was much more into can they beat Philadelphia on Sunday.

Because in so many ways it's like, I don't know, six years from now, I mean, I don't go to many games now. You know, this is more for a younger generation. But at the same time, as a district resident, as a D.C. resident, I want it for the city. It would be a great thing for the city to have it. But I haven't been really that emotionally involved as a lot of people have, or at least it seems they have been. Yes. You know, some of it might be performative, maybe. That's taken me by surprise.

Yeah. Well, it doesn't take me by surprise. But it's, I mean, yeah, it was a good weekend to get that done. And if you had said to me on Thursday, you get either the stadium to pass for RFK in the Senate or a win over the Eagles. I think I would have taken the win over the Eagles. Very short-sighted, I understand. All right, we got a few other things to finish up the show with.

We'll do that right after. words from a few of our sponsors. Euro step around that hot take and make a play today with Robin Hood. With a 3% boost on your annual IRA contributions with Robin Hood gold, your money starts working for you. That's an easy assist without the flagrant fouls. Official brokerage in Jersey patch partner of the Washington Wizards. Investing involves risk. Three percent match requires gold for one year from first match must keep IRA for five years. Robin Hood Financial, L. member SIPC.

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chance to come out and give you a free estimate. That's really all I'm asking. If you've been thinking about new windows, just let them come out and give you a free no-obligation estimate. All right, real quickly, before I get to these college football playoff games from over the weekend and all of the criticism that came their way. I will likely have a smell test pick on Christmas Day for one of or maybe both of the NFL games that are on Netflix. That should be interesting. But I can't put it out today because I don't have enough of the information. I know a lot of you are in to this right now because I've been on quite the heater.

But I wanted to let you know that if you follow me on Twitter at Kevin Sheen, D.C., I will put out picks or a pick prior to the games kicking off on Christmas Day. think there's a good chance I'm going to have Houston plus the points against Baltimore. But we'll see. All right. At Kevin Sheen, D.C. on Twitter. The four college football playoff games. So none of them, Tommy, were competitive games.

And there was a lot of criticism of SMU and Indiana in particular. They did not play tough schedules. And a lot of people felt like Alabama or South Carolina or Ole Miss would have been better tests for Notre Dame and Penn State. That may have been true. I will remind everybody that Tennessee is an SEC team and they had no chance on the road in Columbus against Ohio State. So a lot of criticism about the way the field was selected and that SMU and Indiana just did not have the strength of schedule that should have been required to be in the field. And the truth is, neither one of those teams beat anybody good.

SMU lost one game during the regular season. Indiana lost to Ohio State. SMU lost to Boise, I think, was their one loss. Boise or BYU. I'm actually forgetting right now. They had one loss prior to losing to Clemson in the ACCC title game. It was BYU. Yes, they lost by three to BYU.

And they didn't beat anybody good after that. and South Carolina and Alabama and Ole Miss showed that they were capable of beating good teams. I didn't have any problem with SMU getting in over Alabama. I think if Alabama had beaten Oklahoma or even played Oklahoma in a closer game rather than getting absolutely beat down by a team that wasn't good in the SEC, I think Bama would have had a much better case.

Anyway, I loved it. I loved the atmospheres in the four venues. It was something that I had always hoped would happen that an expanded playoff would include home field advantages in the first round or the quarterfinals. This was the first round. The scenes in South Bend, Happy Valley, Austin, and Columbus were off the chain.

Tommy, it was heavyweight championship fight atmospheres, you know, leading into the kicker. off in the early portions of these games until they got sideways scorewise. I love that part of it. I love that we didn't have to wait four or five weeks for playoff games. You know, in years pass with the four-team playoff, you know, they would be announced the four teams on Thanksgiving weekend, and then we'd have to wait, you know, a month or sometimes five weeks, and you'd almost forget that the games were scheduled to be played by the time you got there. It made it kind of anticlimactic when you got there from where the end of the season finished up.

So I love that we got football in less than two weeks. We got four games. And by the way, it's going to be 10 days until we get another four games, the four quarter final games. I love that right now. We're getting continuous football. We don't have to wait for two games. We've already had eight.

We'll have eight by New Year's Day. And so I like that. The games themselves, sure, it would have been nicer if they were more competitive. And, you know, that's sometimes a matchup thing. And sometimes it's true that the teams that were, you know, put in there probably weren't, you know, of the class of the teams that they were playing. But you know what? If you go back and I think Tim Murray did this on Twitter, like 20 out of the last 30 playoff games, including championship. games since the four team was installed were double-digit wins. I mean, blowout wins by teams

that were much higher profile. So, I mean, LSU destroyed everybody on their way to a national championship. Alabama beat Michigan State one year in a game that was like over before it started. So you're going to get that sometimes. We'll get an upset at some point. We'll get close games. you know, the NFL playoffs don't have close games in every single round. So I really enjoyed it. I am not having second thoughts about the size of the field. I'm not having second thoughts about SMU and Indiana getting in, other than Indiana's coach Signetti becoming a little bit much, to be honest with you.

It's such a nice story all year long, and this guy just got so chesty at the end of the year. even heading into that game against Notre Dame. And then down 20 to 3, 4th and 5 at midfield, he punts. I mean, God, that was crazy. Anyway, I liked it. I liked it a lot, and I can't wait for the four-quarter final games. I like outsiders getting in. I'm not a blue-blood guy.

I like an idea. I think some people, I think this is a fair criticism, When I talked about expanding, you know, they went from 4 to 12, right? Yeah. I don't think anyone was rooting for that big of an expansion. Well, I didn't. I think if they went to six games, 16s, I think most people would have been satisfied with that. Yeah, I, everybody got surprised by that.

I think that the first thought was it would go to 8 and then it went to 12. But I don't have any problem with 12. I like the way it's set up. like that we had two NFL games on the same day, and I don't know that the NFL will do that in the future. We'll see. Part of that was because of Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday, and they needed these four teams that are playing on Christmas Day to play not on Sunday, because they wouldn't have had enough time to prepare. But I like this, and I think that this, you know, the argument that it somehow reduced the importance of the regular season, that's just not true. There were so many

more meaningful games because you had so many more spots available. The conference championship games ended up. You had winner go home games between, you know, Arizona State and Iowa State and Clemson had to win to get in. And I think they'll seat it differently next year. They'll seat it based on strength, which I think they should do. But I enjoyed it. I would have loved to have, you know, at least one of the games be, you know, a really

close game, a classic game. You didn't get that. Maybe you'll get that in a quarterfinal round. All right, Tommy. Merry Christmas to you. Thanks for everything. And Merry Christmas to everybody out there, and thanks to all of you. Merry Christmas to you, buddy.

All right. That is it. No show tomorrow, obviously, but I will be back with shows on Thursday and Friday at the end of the week. Again, Merry Christmas, everybody, and thanks. There's been so much talk about the playoffs for Christmas. well so what you got a lot of Christmases you got Christmases all your life you know and the worst thing you can do is start thinking well what am I going to have for Christmas you know