The Kevin Sheehan Show - Josh Harris: "Really Good Guy"

Episode Date: September 9, 2026

Kevin and Thom today with plenty on a football season that has finally arrived. Lots of Commanders' conversation including a just-released book that has two full chapters on team owner Josh Harris. Thom wrote about it and then talked about some of the very nice things said about Harris from business associates over the years. The boys had their 2026 AFC Predictions, Kevin made four NFL "Season Win Total" bets that he revealed, and the Michigan-Western Michigan controversy took a new turn today. So if you are looking for that perfect gift, or want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal the next time you host, go to GOLDBELLY.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan. Use my link ThriveMarket.com/sheehan to get $30 off your first two orders. You cannot get this deal on the website — it’s only through my link. That right there covers your membership fee, so sign up now before this exclusive offer ends.” ADDITIONAL TWENTY PERCENT OFF better plants and better growing at Trees.com using the code SHEEHAN at checkout. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to Quo.com/SHEEHAN. Download the app today and use code SHEEHAN to get $150 instantly in Lineups if you win your first $5 Lineup! “PrizePicks. Run Your Game.” 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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy is here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor is always.

Window Nation, if you need new Windows. I highly recommend reaching out to Windonation. It all starts with a fast free in-home estimate. They'll schedule it for you when it's convenient for you. You can do it by calling them at 866.9 Nation. We're heading towindonation.com. Tommy, post-labor day, the real season has begun. And, man, there was some controversy over the weekend in college football.

We will get to that. But are you ready for football season and ready for some of the predictions I've asked you to make, whereas you called it your homework from last week? You ready? Yes, I've put a lot of thought into the process. I've done some research. I sought out different opinions from various opinion leaders in the industry, and I've come up with my conclusions. Opinion leaders in the industry.

Interesting. Will you share with us which opinion leaders you reached out to to help with your... Well, no, because they were confidential conversations, you know, because they fed me information that nobody else has. That's how I was able to come up with these people. Now I'm very intrigued. I cannot wait to hear your predictions. Very excited for those. It would be reckless and foolish and stupid just to make these predictions just based on whatever's out there in the ether, right?

You should have intelligence information fed to you by people who are inside, you know, who can really give. you a look as to what's really going on. So you can come to intelligent conclusions as opposed to just picking stuff, which would be irresponsible. And I don't want to go down that way. It's not a path you've ever traveled. You've never walked in to your home studio the day after Labor Day after I've given you, you know, the homework of, hey, we're going to make picks. The day after Labor Day, we're going to do AFC picks on that Tuesday. We'll do a few. We'll do our NFC picks on that Thursday, and then we'll make our skins slash commanders picks for the season as well. It would be way beneath your preparation technique to just come in and wing it, to just come in and say,

what are we doing today? We're doing AFC. All right, hold on. Let me get the standings up in front of me. All right, I'm ready to go. You would never do it that way. No. Here's the thing.

Here's what really sold me on putting in the extra effort. Okay. Listening to you constantly tell people all summer, as they watch the disaster that are the Washington commanders that nobody knows anything. Right. Yes. And yet we're going to do these predictions. Nobody knows anything, so I want to know something.

So I sought out knowledge. That's sort of a nice. way to get into Dale's email. Dale, Dale writes, Kevin and Tom, you scoff at the doom and gloom part of the fan base, and yet both of you picked the commanders to go to the Super Bowl last year. Some constructive concern is allowed, even if you are in team-affiliated positions. I don't know what that means. We don't work for the team, Dale, but yes, but yes, we did both pick. Washington to be in the Super Bowl last year. I had them losing to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. You had them against the Ravens, correct? Yes, I think I had them winning against the

Ravens. You had them winning the whole thing. So, yeah, we were a little bit optimistic this time last year. That's what the quarterback will do to you. That's what the quarterback will do to you. And he really had us wrapped in to this team last year. I mean, we went from a year ago, the most anticipated season in a long time, the most optimistic we've been about a season in a long time to, I'm not sure how I would describe this, you know, first week of September heading into week one of the NFL season for our team. I would say that there's not a lot of optimism generally. And it's not, there's not a high level of dissipation. It kind of feels like a lot of those other seasons used to feel heading into it.

But yeah, no, Dale, just as a matter of fact, we have been plenty critical of this team heading into seasons before. But you are right. We were very optimistic. And the doom and gloomers, hey, you might be right. You might be right. But my personal view is, if you are right, it's not because. of which you saw on two plays in the Detroit game. We get to see the actual Washington football team play a game this Sunday against Philadelphia. You know, that's really not. That's not quite accurate. Yeah.

Okay. Joint practice, you're going to add to this, right? No, no, because if you just listen to the coach every time they took, almost every time they took the field this year, it wasn't me or the fans who basically said they were in disarray it wasn't me

or the fans who said it doesn't matter who are playing or who isn't playing what we saw tonight it's not good enough that was the coach that was the coach no it was the fans

no it was also the fans but it was the coach who said it I know but it was also the fans well the fans felt empowered to say it because their coach said it. No, the fans didn't feel empowered to say it because their coach said it. In fact, most of the fans don't even pay attention to what the coach says.

The fans went off of the Detroit two snaps and the dire, dire warnings and descriptions of the Baltimore joint practice. That's primarily what you're not all. All of which was supported by the head coach himself. Well, not really supported. Disarray? The coach did not say you guys should be doom and gloom based on the way we have performed here in the month of August. He didn't say that.

But the coach did basically say he was embarrassed. But again, I mean, you know, the coach said he was confused and embarrassed. That's what he said. Well, good for him. He also told me last year at this time, I have no idea what to make of my team year and year out until about the midway mark. of the regular season, which is much more in line with what I think is, you know, logic if you've followed the NFL before. But we'll see because last year, those that said that Terry McClorn was going to have a disastrous season because of the contract negotiation situation,

they were right. And those that said that the defense was going to be a real important, approved area of the team with the secondary being one of the best in the NFL, they were wrong based on observations over the summer. So some observations are probably going to be right and some observations are going to be wrong. Yes, but let me make it clear here. Yeah, please. Go ahead. My pick you haven't already.

Are beyond observation. The picks I'm going to be presenting today are beyond observation. They are, they are, like, in other words, like the Army used to give, you know, intelligence reports to their troops. You know, this is like that. Okay. That's what I'm giving out here. How'd that work out for the Bay of Pigs? So, yes, you, you, you.

That was the CIA. You've got some real information today that is going to lead to, I think, perhaps your best preseason predictions ever. Although I'm just going to pat myself on the back for one prediction that was made fairly recently, I don't think anyone's ever gone into

a 17 game season, the first, and predicted 8,8, and 1, as I did in 2022, which somehow turned out to be right. And I think what it was was, it was just, hey, it's the only way to get to the 500

level. You've got to have a tie. when you've got an odd number of games. I'm trying to think over the years, and we're not going to do our skins predictions today. We'll do those on Thursday's show. I don't know what the worst prediction I've ever made is. It is definitely probably in the area of like six and ten, five and eleven, not too good.

I don't think I've ever gone just horrific season. but there's no doubt that last year was the most optimistic prediction I've ever made about this team. Yeah. That was pretty, it was all because we were in love with Jaden Daniels. Yeah. You know, this morning I on the radio show talked about a conversation that I had with a longtime friend of mine who, you know, kind of just came up for air and started to pay attention to the NFL season. and he said, so give me kind of, you know, the gist of it. And I said, you know, it's typical of the NFL.

They're one of these 25, 26, 27 teams that could go 10 and 7 or 7 and 10. But they do have the quarterback. And that kind of skews it, you know, more often than not in the direction of 10 and 7 versus 7 and 10, as long as that quarterback is healthy. And he said to me, he said, you know, I'm just. just not sure how good the quarterback is. And it has nothing to do with whether or not I think he's going to get injured. I just don't know if he's as good as you think he is. And I said, well, a year ago you thought he was as I thought he was. And he said, yeah, but I probably should have been

more in tune with one season does not a career make. Everybody has great seasons. He had a great season in his first season. I said, okay, so what you're saying to me is you just don't think. He said, I definitely would have taken Drake May in the 2024 draft. And I said, well, not me. And I'm not me.

It's it's recency bias, man, you're one year removed from you know, the 2024 aftermath and Drake May was the starting quarterback on a Super Bowl team. I think that the thing that was so I basically

opened it up for calls. And I didn't ask for a comparison or a choice between May and Jaden. I didn't even say, are you off of Jaden now because of the injury concern? I asked simply put, do you think he has elite NFL quarterback talent? Yes or no? Because my friend essentially said, I don't know that he's got elite talent. I just, and I'm like, why? He said, because I was too, I was too in a rush to judge based on one season. So I said, well, did you see the arm strength? Yeah, I saw the arm strength. Did you see the ability to throw deep, middle, and short? And, you know, then he's like, you're going to go through all these things. It was just one season. And I said, yes, but we're not talking about is he an elite quarterback. We're trying to answer the question as to

whether or not he has elite talent. In that first year, he proved he could make every throw at an elite level. He proved he could process and throw with anticipation and read defenses in the pocket at a very, very high level. He proved that from a, you know, a mobility standpoint that he might be the best, if not one of the top three in the game. And then he proved that he was tough. He proved that he was clutch.

And he proved that he could lead a team from behind. Like he checked off every box of what makes an elite quarterback. I mean, we talked about it then. And for me, none of that has changed because he barely played football last year. In fact, you could go to the Chargers game and say, the one game in which he started and finished and had, actually he didn't even have Terry in that game. But he was at an elite level.

He was at an elite level in the Chicago game. So I don't understand anybody that would say your quarterback isn't truly an elite level talent. He might be really good, but he's not an elite level talent. You're not going to get me off of that. If you want to say you're concerned about his ability to stay healthy and be available, I don't think that's unreasonable, even though the, historical data doesn't say that he'll be injured

all the time because he hasn't been until last year. But it's not that hard for me to identify an elite talent and he's one of them in the league. And he did it. He did it in, you could argue

the most challenging year of an NFL player. Your rookie season. Yes. And he did it with not a lot around him. and he played against one of the best defenses we've seen in football in the last 10 years, and he dismantled that defense at home to the tune of five touchdown passes and a comeback win. And then, by the way, played pretty well in the NFC title game.

The defense was the problem there. And, you know, all of the other things. I mean, the comeback against Philly, the overtime. against Atlanta, the two-road playoff wins, where he was the MVP. This was a rookie season that no one had ever seen before from

an overall performance standpoint and from a winning standpoint. No rookie quarterback had ever led his team to a title game. Others had been to a title game, but on the back of a great defense or a great running game.

No one had ever done what Jaden did. And maybe my friend It'll be right, Tommy, and it was just a one-year crazy aberration. But when you show you can do those things, I say you've got that level of talent. I think it's elite-level talent. You know, I listened to that segment this morning a little bit while I was driving around with my various medical stops to keep Tommy alive. Yeah. Well, let's not scare people.

You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine. Okay. Okay. But I was listening to the radio, and it was interesting because I think some, I think your high-level listeners kind of struggled with the subject matter a little bit. Yes. Because you had to correct them and say, you're not asking if he's an elite-level quarterback. Right.

You're asking if he has elite-level talent. Yes. And I'm not sure the nuance of the word talent was apparent to some of your call. I know it wasn't. But, you know, I get it. I get it. Not all callers are great listeners. Well, but that's on, it's on you then. I guess it is. You're right. It's on me. I did kind of emphasize over and over again. I'm not asking you if he's an elite quarterback. I'm asking you if he's got elite talent.

By the way, I think he's an elite quarterback, okay? If I didn't say that on radio when you were listening to me, maybe I didn't because that wasn't the question that I was answering. I was answering whether or not he had elite level talent. I think he is an elite level quarterback. I think he's going to prove it over and over again throughout his career. My one wish is that he gets to prove it every year and that we don't have occasional years like we did last year, like Joe Burroughs had, like Lamar Jackson's had, now like Patrick Mahomes has had, although not as often as Burrow and Lamar Jackson. I don't want, you know, every third year to be injury plagued. I hope that that, you know, isn't a part of his, you know, overall historical resume when we get to the end of his career.

We'll see. I'm excited about this year, though. I think he's going to be great. I think it's the best supporting cast he's had. I think it has a chance to be an improved defense to a level that he hasn't had since he's been quarterback here. They need a defense this year, Tommy. The defense has to contribute a little bit. They need to keep the other team's offense on the field a little bit, I mean, a little less longer.

Yeah. And keep your offense off the field a little more. Right. Yes. They do. You wrote a really good column that I just retweeted, and I read right before we started to record, at your best. And it's some really good stuff about Washington's owner and, you know, lead owner and managing partner, I think, is part of the description of his job. And that would be Josh Harris.

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it came out today the unvarnished truth about Leon Black who was one of the co-founders of Apollo the financial management firm Apollo Global Management

Yep, the private equity firm that Josh Harris has been a big part of yes Right and the rise of a new Wall Street written by William Cohen D. Cohen who has written a number of books, business books and has been a New York time

bestseller and, you know, I figured, I knew the book was coming out, so I asked for a copy because I figured, well, if there's stuff about Apollo Global Management, there's got to be a lot of stuff about Josh Harris in the book. And I was right, there was a lot of stuff about Josh Harris, and you're right. I mean, it really, I would say it's a fairly positive.

If you're a commander's fan, you like what you read, right? Yeah. there is a chapter in this Leon book, you know, in this in, in this book about Leon Black called Josh, as you wrote. And there's another called Josh Ascendant. Now, there, what you wrote, I haven't read the book. What you wrote is that, you know, there was certainly some corporate infighting between Harris and Black, you know, over the role that Harris would play, et cetera. But the, the part that I found interesting beyond that, and that you wrote a lot about, was just all of the incredibly, it seemed to me, overwhelmingly positive things said about Josh Harris as a person

and as a person to do business with. Yeah, I mean, I stayed away from the corporate infighting stuff. I did mention that Black believed that Harris conspired against him to make himself the CEO. which was dismissed that charge was dismissed in court. But I felt for my readership, for commanders' fans, they'd be more interested in insights in how this guy makes decisions and what he's really like amongst his friends and colleagues. And it's very positive for the most part.

Michael Rubin was his partner and Harris Blitzer, the guy who's the CEO of Fanatics and said I think quote, I think he's a really good guy. I was probably the most hands-on minority partner in the history of minority partners. They needed me for the player stuff and my relationship with Josh.

It didn't mean we didn't have fights or battles, but I know him as well as anybody and I tell you I think he's a real high-quality guy. I think he cares a lot. I think he's a good person. I was honored to be partners with him. And there's other stuff about basically, you know, that he has a good heart from, you know,

from people who are close to him. So what's also interesting. Go ahead. No, I was going to say, and Apollo's former COO said that Harris's work ethic in detail orientation is unmatched. Yes. But yes, you also have, you know,

it's funny because as I was reading it, you actually interjected some of your thoughts on those that say while he's a wonderful guy and a wonderful business person, he does have one weakness, and that is public communication, essentially, which I have said to you, he is a very awkward communicator. You've disagreed with me on that in the past. I just, I don't think that that's clearly something that makes him comfortable in doing. And you said that you've got a lot of quotes in here from people saying that's not what he does well. Yeah. Yeah, here's the author wrote about one of Harris's extremely wealthy friends saying that,

and this is what Michael Rubin said the same thing, that Harris could come across as awkward in communications. Here's the quote, as high as he could be on the IQ basis, he can be low on the EQ, emotional quotient, EQ being sometimes, the friend said. I know him as well as anybody, and I'll tell you, I think he's a real high-quality guy. I think he cares a lot.

Josh knows he doesn't have a good EQ. He's not PR smart. Josh is a really good deal maker, a really smart business guy. He doesn't know how to speak publicly. He doesn't know how to talk to a normal person. it's just not his strengths. Yeah, he's just apparently brilliant and maybe a bit geeky and awkward. And, you know, at which it's, there are a lot of people out there like that.

And a lot of those people are worth a lot of money. It's funny, reading that, that line, like he said Josh knows he doesn't have a good EQ. You know, EQ, he can have a high EQ. but not be a great public speaker. I mean, I don't think those two things necessarily are linked. But yes. I know, but the guy specifically said he did. Yeah.

I think he knew what he would say. Yep. You know, that now the stuff that if you're a commander's fan that I think would be of real interest is, according to his former C-O-O that you mentioned about his work ethic and his detail orientation that is unmatched. Quote, his skill set was detail-oriented, probing thoughtfulness, looking at every problem from every which way, and therefore making the best decision.

Another guy, Scott Clyman, the co-president of Apollo, said, quote, he could make deals happen that you would say there's no way this is going to happen. He would just stay at it and stay. at it and stay at it and drive outcomes. You know, the combination of being incredibly smart with, like, unbelievable tenacity is a great combination in business. Yes.

And that's obvious, you know, Snyder did not necessarily, Snyder, I think, had the tenacity as a salesman. and he probably also was highly intelligent. But nobody liked him, and people like Josh a lot. Yes. Yes. Yeah, I make that clear in the column, you know, in case we need to be reminded, Josh Harris is not Dan Snyder.

Right. And I sum it up with the quote that Harris gave the author about his philosophy of life, where he says, quote, you don't have to be the tallest, you don't have to be the smartest. Obviously, you have to be intelligent, but you can make up for it with tenacity and hard work and determination. And these are positive attributes in an NFL owner, aren't they? Yeah, very much so. You know, there is some other Harris Blitzer news from today. Did you see it about the renderings of the new arrangements of the new Iraq?

arena in Philadelphia on the former spectrum site in South Philly. I breathed over it, yes. Yeah. So, you know, because, look, I think, I think it's fair to say that of the sports teams he owns, the one that is closest to his heart is the football team, because that's the one he grew up rooting for. He didn't grow up a New Jersey Devils fan or a Philadelphia 76ers fan. But in the book, but in the book, I didn't use this.

Okay. He fell in love at college with the 76ers. Interesting. And Dr. Jay, you know, Moses Malone's team. Well, he went to Penn. He went to Wharton. Yeah. So he was there when the Sixers were a big deal and were exciting.

And he mentions that. That's how, I mean, that was another team he fell in love with as a fan because of those exciting teams with Dr. So he does have a passion for the 76ers. It's not as strong as his hometown team. I wonder why, I wonder why, you know, because look, the 76ers of the late 70s into the 80s were a big brand in sports for those of you that don't know. I mean, they were a perennial NBA championship contender that eventually only

1-1 when Moses Malone joined the team, and that was the difference, and they ended up sweeping the Lakers in the 83 NBA finals. But during those years, Tommy, as a Bullets fan, the 76ers, I'm not going to say that they were a rival, per se, although we beat the 76ers in the 78 Eastern Conference finals before going on to beat Seattle for the one title that the Bullets have. and the 76ers were the 76ers of George McGinnis, Dr. Jay, Bobby Jones, he was Lloyd-free then before he became World Bee Free, you know, Daryl Dawkins, etc. Those were those 76er teams. They had lost to Portland in the finals the year before. And the expectation was they would beat the bullets,

they had home court advantage, and they would go back to the NBA finals. Now, I guess if you're in Philly and Philly's a great sports town, you kind of get caught up into the 76ers thing. You know, my son got caught up into the Knicks thing this year living in New York. He's like, it was hard not to. But anyway, all right. I thought it was a good column. I suggest to all of you that you read it and I retweeted it from, you know, at Kevin D.C. on Twitter.

You know, there's one other thing. You mentioned Harris Blitzer, and that's the company that Josh Harris is partners with with David Blitzer and other investors. Harris Blitzer is not, as I understand it, or if they own a part, I think it's a small part. I don't think they own a piece of a command. Right. I think that's Josh Harris himself.

Correct. That's the way I think, along with the 20-plus, limited partners that came in and among those limited... And I think David Blitzer is one of the limited partners. But that company, but that's the company that owns the 76ers. Yeah, exactly. And Devils and Crystal Palace, right? Yes, yeah.

And actually, you know, they own Ripkin baseball? I didn't know that. Yeah, Cal Rifkin built up this youth baseball empire over the years. And a couple of years, he sold it to... Harris Blitzer a couple years ago. Yeah. That's a little known, interesting tidbit. But my point is, in the

book, they make it clear that in Harris Blitzer, the ultimate decisions are made by Josh Harris. Okay. You know, I'm looking to see if I can find you know, anywhere, the entire ownership group

of our football team. You know, on the team's website, they have Josh Harris is a managing partner and then they have let's see one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen limited partners now when they bought the team it was reported that there were 20 plus limited partners and by the way those limited partners there is a limited partner group leader if you will but some of those limited partners have several investors into that limited partnership.

But, you know, Josh Harris is, you know, obviously a managing partner. Then it's Rails, Magic Johnson, David Blitzer, Mark Eindsley, Eric Holliman, Michael Lee, Mark Lipschultz, the Morgan family, the Santo Domingo family, the Michael Sopier family, the Eric Schmidt, Andy Snyder. Yeah, I mean, there, I mean, I mean, I. some of the people involved in the ownership group I am very familiar with. So anyway, yeah, all right, read it. It's a really interesting from this book insight on our football team's owner,

who is apparently to everybody that's ever dealt with him, a really, really good person with a big heart, very, very good in business, very, very, very smart. But yes, a bit of an awkward communicator. That's okay. You know what? We're not the smoothest of communicators on occasion, and we do it for a living. All right.

Let's get to the AFC 26 Kevin Sheehan Show podcast predictions. Tommy's done a lot of work on this. Can't wait to hear who he's got. We'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, back to tell you about Goldbelly, not only one of my favorite sponsors, but one of my favorite sites. It's an amazing spot where you can order the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across the United States, and they'll ship it anywhere across the country. And with football season back, there's not a better fit than football and Goldbelly,

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We've talked about the great menus they have for food, cigars, and drinks. And we're going to take a look today at the food menu, particularly one part of the menu. Last week we talked about the appetizers that they had. And now we're going to talk about a subject that's relatively new, you know? You know what? It's funny because I'm reading their menu, and I was all set to talk about the emergence of handhelds. as a reference on on menus now. You know, you don't see sandwiches anymore.

You see the subject that says handheld. Have you noticed that? No. I don't know what you're talking about. No, it's like food you can hold in your hands. They mean wraps. They mean sandwiches, things like that. Okay.

And a lot of menus these days have a category called handheld. not sandwiches. I got to be honest with you. This is the, I mean, maybe I just haven't looked closely at a menu. I mean, we, we order out a lot. We go out to dinner a lot. I am unfamiliar with the handheld description. But continue, I like it.

I automatically figured that Shelley's would have gone that route, but I'm glad to say, no, they're old school. Oh, good. I'm glad. Yes. Yes. Okay. They're old school.

You know, they have for wraps. They have a section called press wraps. Okay? Because I think a lot of people just put wraps on their handheld, too. All wraps are pressed and flour tortilla served with hot, served hot with homemade fries, the Roman wrap, the barbecue chicken wrap, the chicken fajita wrap. The chicken fajita wrap. And then they have another category called subs. See, in a lot of menus, this would be handheld.

Okay, but again, I'm glad Shelly's is old school and calls us sub a sub, meatballs subs, po' boys' sub, Shelley's sausage, sandwich. And then, of course, the Hallowed Burgers category, okay? The Shelley's burgers made with the custom blend beef. And then they have one for sandwiches, old school. That's what these are, sandwiches. They're not handhelds. Okay?

They deserve a name of their own. Yeah, they do. You know, like the Cuban sandwich, the Shelley's Rubin, Deli sandwiches, the grilled salmon sandwich, a roast beef dip. These are sandwiches. Let's fight against this handheld designation. Yeah, let's get that out. And Shelly is leading the fight on their menu. You can find out more by going to shelley's backroom.com.

All right. Are you ready for some AFC predictions for 2026? with, by the way, Tommy, not the record of every team in the AFC. I've decided I've made an executive decision that what we're going to do is we're going to give our division winner for each of the four divisions. Then we're going to give our three wild card teams. Then we are going to announce our AFC championship matchup and the AFC champion. So let's start with the AFC East. Who do you have winning the AFC East?

Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Now, you really screwed me up here because I did all this work. Let me just say something to one of my staff. Share all of your work with us. No, no, no. I don't want to limit you. Clarence, throw those records away.

He doesn't want them, okay? You didn't. So just do away with the records. Did you do records? I know you put a lot of records. No, I'm sorry. They've been discarded. Oh, you didn't see.

Are we starting with the AFS? Well, because you're going to have to give me some seedings. You're going to have to give me like the one seed in the AFC, which means that if you had records, then I would hold on to them. I wouldn't have Clarence throw them out quite yet. Clarence, wait, wait, don't throw them out in the dumpster yet. Okay. Who do you have winning the AFC East?

You know, I took a chance and said the Buffalo Bills. Well, they are the favorite to win the AFC East. No, I know they are. But they have the quarterback. They do have the quarterback, but some would say, even though they have a new quarterback. I don't think that they're in the same category almost. So I am going to surprise you by picking the New England

Patriots to win the division for a second consecutive year. This is a team who has the proven head coach in Mike Vrable. This is the team that traded for A.J. Brown. And now, with Romeo Dobbs being added, has a better supporting cast than they had last year. This is a team that was getting better by the game and then was lights out, defensively in the AFC championship game and really just in the AFC playoffs

defensively. This is a team where Josh McDaniels is no head coach, but he is a brilliant offensive coordinator. And even though Drake May totally soiled himself in the postseason

after having a borderline in contention, not borderline, an in contention MVP regular season, I did think he looked the part all year long. I really did. I think it's a bit of an against the grain pick, believe it or not, to pick the team that won it last year to win it again.

Buffalo is the favorite in the division. I'm picking New England to win the AFC East. We'll come back because I do have a wild card out of that division. I'm assuming you might have one as well, right? Well, that's to be determined when we get to that part. Don't you want to keep this under wraps to basically make the most value out of this treasured topic? This is a treasured topic for sure, and we should keep the teases alive. So Tom may or may not have another playoff team out of the AFC East.

I'll give you my AFC North winner first. I picked Pittsburgh last year to win the AFC North. It was one of my biggest preseason futures plays, and it was one of the only ones I got right. I actually think Pittsburgh's better this year than they were last year. They added Michael Pittman to the wide receiver group with D.K. Metcalfe. They added Rico Dowdell in the backfield. Mike McCarthy is the new coach,

reuniting with Aaron Rogers, who I think had a very good, good season last year, like the year before, a bit undersold in terms of how good he was. They were really limited offensive line and wide receiver wise last year. I think this is going to be a good reuniting of McCarthy and Rogers. Nobody's picking them to win the AFC North, which they did last year. Nobody's picking really Pittsburgh to be a playoff team. I've got the Steelers once again winning the AFC North. Okay.

Well, you love yourself from Aaron Rogers. I do. I think he is one of the 5, 6, 7 greatest quarterbacks of all time. And he has not diminished in his ability to throw the football. I'm picking, do you want my pick now? Yes, I want your AFC North pick, yes. AFC North pick. I'm picking the Baltimore Ravens.

I know they have a new coach. I'm high on Jesse Minner. I think their defense will be better. I think they're running out of time with Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson. I think this is the year they make the most of it. I think that's a really solid pick. I am, I picked Pittsburgh, but I do think that it's going to be a division that's very competitive between Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Cincinnati.

Those are three quality teams. Health means everything, obviously, because Baltimore wasn't healthy. Cincinnati wasn't healthy last year, which is one of the reasons Pittsburgh was able to win the division, even though they had to win that season finale at Pittsburgh to clinch and had to have that kicker miss a pretty makeable fuel goal at the end of that final game of the season.

All right, give me your AFC South winner. You know, this is reluctant. You know, I'm not crazy about this pick. But I'm going to pick the Texans because her defense is just so outstanding, and they'll win in spite of their quarterback, not because of their quarterback. Texas defense is just too impressive. I'm with you on Houston, although I think Jacksonville's really good, too. and I think they were two of the best teams in the league last year at the end of the year.

I actually like C.J. Stroud. I think he is a talent. You know, I don't know if I would ascribe elite level talent to C.J. Stroud, but I would certainly say that he has, you know, top 10, top, you know, no worse than top 12 kind of talent. last year was difficult. You know, they had some injuries offensively, certainly when they got to the playoff game. You know, no Nico Collins in that game in Foxborough. They lost their tight end, Dalton Schultz, during that game.

And it was just, you know, for first year coordinator, Nick Cayley, they just never seemed to get on the same page. They added David Montgomery to their backfield. That is big. They added Kashan Booty just recently. because they lost, you know, a big-time receiver in Jaden Higgins, who was a legit number two and climbing to a training camp season-ending knee injury. But I like this team.

Defense has the most variance year to year, much more so than offense does. But at the end of last year, and you know I started talking about this midway through the season last year, I thought when they beat up Josh Allen and Buffalo on Monday Night Football, It was that next morning that I put a futures bet on Houston to win the AFC championship. They didn't get it done, but they are incredibly talented on defense. And I think D'Amico Ryans does a phenomenal job as a defensive head coach. I like Houston to win the AFC South. But I think Houston and Jacksonville are among, you know, the best six, seven teams in the entire

NFL. All right, I'll give you my AFC West winner. And let me just say that this is not necessarily a popular pick, even though it is Patrick Mahomes. It is the Kansas City Chiefs. But this team doesn't look like the best all-around roster in that division. Denver probably has the best all-around roster. The Chargers are close. But I am going with Kansas City, Mahomes and Reed, in a total resuscitation season and I'll even go a step further. I think when we get to

the end of the season, KC's the number one seed in the AFC. I've got Kansas City winning the AFC West. Okay. That's an interesting pick. Because I have Kansas City winning the AFC West. I mean,

I'm a big believer in Pat Mahomes and coming back and Andy Reed didn't they add Kenneth Walker? Mattie Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP to the backfield, yes. Yeah, I think they're going to be able to run at least one more time,

and I think the Chiefs will be a fourth to be reckoned with. I'm going to be surprised if Patrick Mahomes is healthy, and apparently he will start the season Monday night football a week from last night against Denver at home.

It was reported today that Mahomes will be ready to start that game. I'd be surprised if he's healthy the entire season, and it's not another Chief's really good regular season. I would be surprised. Denver is really good and talented, but Bo Nix is not Patrick Mahomes. The Chargers are talented, but Justin Herbert hasn't proven he can do it in the big. big spots. I will just tell you, before we get to the wild card round, the wildcard teams, I think the Raiders are going to be much better than people think out of the AFC.

Really? Yeah. And why is that, Kevin? Well, you know why it is, but it's not the only reason. I mean, I think cousins and Kubiak together are a very interesting pair when you consider they have maybe the best tight end in football in Brock Bowers. the best tight-end duo in the league in Bowers and Mare. And they've got a good defense where they kept Max Crosby.

They added Quay Walker and Nkoby Dean. I think the Raiders are an interesting team to watch, not because I think they're going to be a playoff team. But I'll get to in the final segment of the show today, the four over-under bets that I've made for the upcoming season. and the Raiders over, I'll just tell you right now, is one of them. They're at five and a half. I think they're going to win six or more games and be a feisty team in the AFC and in the

AFC West. All right, wild card teams. Are you ready? Give me your three AFC wildcard teams. The New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos, and the Cincinnati Bengals. All right. My three wildcard teams are the Buffalo Bills, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, which means I have no Denver in the AFC playoffs. I have no Baltimore in the AFC playoffs, and I have no chargers in the AFC playoffs.

the the afc and nfc it's interesting about the both conferences because you can make the case that the nfc is deeper now than the afc is but both conferences have among their you know among their 16 teams 11 or 12 that are thought to be potential playoff teams in 2026 it seems like that is deeper than unusual. For me, let me just mention I did. KC. is my one seed overall and Houston is my two seed. And that's the matchup I have in the AFC championship with Kansas City hosting that defense in the AFC title game and Kansas City back in to the Super Bowl at SoFi on Valentine's Day. 27. Kansas City, my AFC champions. Who is your one seed, who is your two seed, and then give me your AFC championship matchup? My one seed are the Ravens. My two seed are the Chiefs. My AFC title game is the Chiefs versus the Bills in Kansas City with the Chiefs going to the Super Bowl.

All right. We both have the Chiefs going to the Super Bowl. You've got the typical matchup, which is Chiefs Bills in the AFC title game. We've seen that a few times. And I've got the Chiefs over the Texans. I'll tell you, my toughest call wasn't Pittsburgh or New England. It was Houston winning that division, because I think it's going to be critical to win that division and get some home playoff games because I am very, very high on Jacksonville and that this

could be a real breakout season, you know, if you don't think last year was for Trevor Lawrence. That team was very good on defense and may be outstanding on defense again this year. But I like the Jags to be right there with Houston in the AFC South. and the winner of that division, I think, could end up being the two seed in the AFC. Because I think Pittsburgh would be the four, New England would be the three, Buffalo, the five, you know, Jacksonville, the five, Buffalo, the six, and Cincinnati, the seven. I mean, Cincinnati, if they stay healthy, they're improved on defense after adding Dexter Lawrence. It's going to be a wild year.

Like, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about more teams than usually. that's kind of my gut feel on that. Like I just think about AFC West, people are picking Denver, Kansas City, and the Chargers. I mean, three different teams that people think can win the division.

AFC South, Jacksonville, Houston. Some people think Indy, if Daniel Jones has the kind of start he had last year and stays healthy. The AFC North, we've got Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The AFC East has two teams only in New England and

Buffalo. But yeah, it could be a very interesting year in the AFC. Because I think going into seasons in recent years, it's been like Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, Ravens. Ravens. You know, that's Buffalo, Buffalo. It's been those three teams. But there are more teams. And you and I going back to, you know, the Chiefs is interesting. Because I don't think a lot of people are picking the Chiefs to go to the Super Bowl this year. All right, we'll do our NFC. picks on Thursday's show, and Tommy will have his Skins' 2026 season record prediction as well. All right, when we finish up next segment, I'm going to give you my four over-under season win totals that I've already played. And we've got a couple of other things as well. That's next, after these words from a few of our sponsors. Think about the last time you called a business and nobody picked up. What did you do? You probably called the next one. Well, your customers do the exact same thing. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled QUO, the business phone system built so you never miss a call. All your calls, texts, voicemails, live in one place so

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I'm looking at tomorrow night for the season opener. Right now, Seattle remains a three and a half point favorite over New England. tune in tomorrow. I may or may not have a smell test selection on the opening game of the year. Tommy, the smell test week one college football, 3,0, and 1. Not a bad start, including an all-time pick Tarleton State on Saturday. They won the game outright, catching two and a half. But I will definitely have a boatload of smell test picks come Friday. MyBooky.com.

my bookie.ag promo code for the high roller matching of a $5,000 deposit or greater use promo code DC VIP and for everybody else use Kevin DC. All right. A couple of things real quickly before I get to my four. Sometimes it's not four, but I have an annual selection of, over under season totals that I actually wager on. And I have four of them this year. But a couple of notes from over the weekend as it relates to our team.

First of all, Dan Quinn is picking season-long captains this year instead of what he would do during the first two seasons, which was picked the captains each particular week. The season-long captains are Jaden Daniels, and Terry McClorn on offense, Frankie Louvre and Jeremy Reeves on defense, and the special teams captain is Tressway. And then each week he will pick one additional game day captain.

So I don't have a thought on changing directions on the naming of team captains. I really don't have much of an opinion on what that means. Do you? No, except, you know, it seems like for years, the guy who just arrived would wind up being a captain. Yes. You know? Yeah.

And at least that has stopped. That has stopped. Van Jefferson, the receiver that I know that they really hated to cut, was signed back to the practice squad. And right now, and we won't know until tomorrow, I think the only concern in terms of terms of, you know, an injured player that might miss the game against Philadelphia on Sunday that we don't know about. Obviously, Trey Amos is on injured reserve. Doran's Armstrong is suspended for the opener. But I think Adafi O'A is the one to keep an eye on this week. Quinn did say yesterday that everybody participated in the walkthroughs and he's encouraged. But we'll see about

Oway and where he lands on the first sort of practice injury update. tomorrow, because tomorrow is Wednesday, the first day we will get that for the Sunday games. I also just wanted to mention that, because I'm sitting here as we are recording the show today, Francis Tiafo has a chance to make a deep run at the U.S. Open, but he's already down a set and down a break to Alex Michelson, who I had never heard of before the U.S. Open. But I've been following the Tiafo run so far at the open. he's a fun player to watch. He's the kid from College Park.

And it really sort of opened up for him to make another semi-final run. But it looks like he's in a bit of trouble today. And I also, Tommy, just wanted to talk real quickly. You are familiar with what happened in the Michigan Western Michigan game on Saturday. Oh, yes. Yes, I am. With the Hail Mary. Right.

And where the extra second game. came from. So there's an update to this story as of about five minutes ago, because it is a headline now on ESPN.com. So for those that that didn't follow it, Michigan threw a Hail Mary at the end of their game against Western Michigan in Ann Arbor in the Big House on Saturday night, down 12 to 7, that landed out of bounds touched by a player out of bounds as the clock on NBC hit triple zeros. Game over, shocking upset Western Michigan as a 28 point underdog into the big house to beat Michigan. Except for, upon further review among the replay officials, the Big 10 replay officials, they added a second to the clock. And on the second Hail Mary attempt, it was caught for a touchdown,

and Michigan walked off Western Michigan 13 to 12. If you were watching the game, it looked like one of the all-time total screw jobs in terms of Western Michigan losing this game. But what happened was, is that the Big 10, two hours after the game, put out a video of their replay officials discussing the final, the next to last play, as it turned out,

and the clock, and they had a different clock than the one we were watching on TV. Now, they're supposed to be synced up, but for whatever reason they weren't synced up, or maybe, maybe if you're a conspiracy theorist, you think that two hours after the game, they fabricated this replay official back and forth, oh, there's a second on the clock we're looking at.

So much so that the Mid-American Conference, which is the Conference Western Michigan plays, actually put out a statement saying, essentially we're satisfied with the Big Ten's explanation. They provided us with a video of the replay official conversation about what they were looking at clockwise, and we accept it. Although that now has changed, Tommy.

The Mid-American Conference has now appealed the outcome of the game on Saturday night. In a letter sent this afternoon from the Mid-American Commissioner, he said that replay protocol was not properly followed at the conclusion of the game. And so here is essentially the quote from the Mid-American Conference Commissioner John Steinbrecker. He writes, quote, I recognize that the oversight committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field. Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure

to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end-of-half timing situation. He said that essentially the replay that they used was that they used was not proper protocol in the event of a dispute with the clock that we all saw. And the established replay protocol required that the game clock displayed on the program feed was to be used in determining whether or not time remains. remained and on that feed there were triple zeros. I don't have a super strong opinion or lean on this one. I am skeptical about where that extra second came from, but I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, and I know you aren't either. And I do wonder, like, did in the moment these big 10 replay officials think

hey man we got to give them another second because if they get another second they're actually going to convert the Hail Mary like this wasn't determining foot in or foot out for a game winning touchdown and saying yeah the replay angle we had showed that the Michigan receiver got a foot in or a toe in they win the game you didn't have that on your NBC uh replays this was if we put another second back on the clock we're going to give them another, what, 250, 300, 500 to one shot to win the game with one

more play? A Hail Mary? That's the part that kind of doesn't make sense to me for those that believe that somehow they found this extra second that didn't really exist. I get that

but if you're a Michigan guy or you have Michigan leanings or there's a reason that you're pulling from Michigan, you give them that extra chance. My question to you is, could they have manufactured the video in the two hours before they released it? I don't think so. Do you? I guess they could have because the risk, reward doesn't make any sense. Like what they'd be risking of getting caught, you know, essentially creating or fabricating an ending to a game for the reward.

of another Hail Mary shot? It just doesn't make sense to me. But sure, they could have. But the risk reward, it just, it doesn't compute for me. No, no, that the risk would be

to protect their split-second emotional decision. They put time on the clock. That was a split-second decision. That's true. They should not, if they should not have done that, to cover their ass, Yeah, I could look, college sports is a cesspool, and I think anything is possible.

I am not a conspiracy theorist because I believe too many people usually in a conspiracy have to keep their mouths shut. But do I think this is what happened? Not likely, but do I think it's possible? Yes. Yeah. I can tell you this. I don't think the outcome of the game is going to be reversed. how many times have we ever seen? Well, no. This never is.

There never is. Yeah. Never reversed. Has there ever been a reversal of an outcome like days after it happened in anything? I mean, there have been lawsuits, there have been protests, there have been everything, and I can't think of one. I can't think of one. What about in baseball? It seems like to me it may have happened in baseball after a protest, no?

Well, the George Brett home run that they pulled back. But that wasn't days. That was like just a few minutes. They made that decision. No, I can't think of anything. I'm sure there is. I just can't think of it. I mean, this is what AI says.

They immediately go to the Pintar game, all right, the George Breit game. Yeah. And then there was a Heat versus Hawks game in 2008, where the Heat successfully protested an incorrect scoring table error that wrongly signaled center Shaquille O'Neal had fouled out and the final 51.9 seconds of the game were replayed months later. Wow. Though Atlanta actually ended up winning the game anyway.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I have here. Yeah, an insane set of them. set of events. The Western Michigan coach had the right attitude

in this post game. And it's all generally is the right attitude. I mean, not if you're getting screwed over, but they didn't lose because of that play. There were plenty of opportunities

for them to win that game. You never lose because of one single play. You have to have that perspective. You should have been a position where one thing, you know, and here's the other thing. And Zane, if I know it's posted this on social media, and I agree with them 100%.

Fuck the Hail Mary defense. Why are you blitzing with everybody you've got? You're going to get to the quarterback quicker than the quarterback is going to be able to. Yes. No, yeah. Yes. We've seen that.

And the worst is when you see like one pass rusher or two pass rushers and everybody back. absurd. Completely absurd. I'd be nuts. The thing that you said about losing on one play, you know, you're right

except when it's the final play, because when it is the final play and there are no other plays to be played in the game, you can lose because of one play. I get that. Or one call. I get that. The interesting thing about

the Western Michigan- Michigan game, I was watching it, is Western Michigan really deserved to win the game? They were the better team throughout. And it seemed like a just ending when the first Hail Mary flew out of the end zone and the clocks hit zero. Yeah, crazy. Well, that means that Michigan's done for the year, right? You're not going to touch them, are you? Well, am I going to touch them?

I'm going to touch them this Saturday against Oklahoma because nobody's. going to have them. Nobody's going to have Michigan getting five and a half at home against Brett Venables's incredible defensive Oklahoma team. All right. I've got four season total plays that are now registered. They are good to go. I've done this for the last six or seven years. Last year, I think I went like two and four. I think I had six of them and I went two and four, something like that year before I think I did well. Here are the four. plays that I have this year. I've already mentioned, I'm taking the Raiders over five and a half wins. But let me just say beyond the Cousins-Cubiac thing and the fact that I think the roster is

actually not terrible. They are the priciest play on the board at my bookie right now. If you take Arizona and Miami out of the equation, why do you take Arizona and Miami out of the equation? because they have the lowest totals, win totals in the NFL, and it's really, really pricey to play under. The rest of the league, the Raiders are minus 150 to play the over. They're essentially saying, please don't play the over, play the under. I'm playing the over and I'm paying the price, although I did find a minus 144 at my bookie to play it at.

I don't know what it is about the Eagles this year, but I just have a hunch. It's a step back season. I'm playing the Eagles under 10 and a half. That's another very expensive proposition to play the Eagles under 10 and a half. The books, my bookie included, are kind of saying, we'd really prefer if you'd play the over 10 and a half. You'd get money back if they hit the over. I like Eagles under 10 and a half.

I think there's dysfunction in that organization from Siriani to the Hertz, A.J. Brown thing from last year. The defense is awesome on paper, and it's so well coached. But I took the Eagles under 10 and a half. For the second straight year, I'm taking the Steelers over 8.5. I picked them to win the division. I think they're a much better team. I think this might be the best team Aaron Rogers has played on since Green Bay. and I like them to win nine or more games this year.

I think they're going to win 10 and win the division. And then I like the under for the Bears nine and a half season win total this year. It's another pricey option. They're trying to keep you away from playing the under, but I'll pay the minus 129 and play the Bears at under 9. minus 126 and play the Bears at under 9 and a half wins. I just think the division is so tough. I think the NFC is so tough.

And I'm not playing the schedule game necessarily, but I like the Lions and the Packers in the NFC North a lot more than I like the Bears. I could see the Bears winning nine and being in contention for a wild card spot, but I don't see them winning 10 or the 11 that they won last year. I think they won 11 last year to win that. NFC North Division.

So those are the four totals. I just say that my staff says that you were so wrong on that Bears pick. Okay. Your staff does, so Clarence is still in the room with you? Yes. Okay. Raiders over five and a half,

Eagles under 10 and a half, Steelers over 8 and a half, and the Bears under nine and a half. Those are the four plays. I mean, you know, these are again crazy plays to make because it's so hard to figure it out and I did not do well last year but I think I've done better most years I've had a winning record on these plays but a couple of them have been at a cost as well all right do you have anything else I got nothing else for you today boss all your work is done or will you be tweaking it

between now and Thursday on the NFC picks and on the Washington selection We'll work right up until deadline. Okay. And maybe on Thursday we can also add the whole Lane Kiffin, LSU, SECD threatening to expel them from the SEC conversation. That's an interesting one too. College football, college basketball. There's a lot going on, but I'll tell you what, Tommy,

when the games start, they're really good. All right. I'll be back tomorrow, everybody.