The Kevin Sheehan Show - Kevin's Covid-19 Test

Episode Date: June 30, 2020

To start the show, Kevin talked about the ease of his Covid-19 test and Thom talked about his upcoming eye procedure. Then they got to Joe Bugel, Ron Rivera's comments on the Skins' name, Bucky Brooks predicting a Redskins' parade in a few years, and more. 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 want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. You're listening to The Sports Fix. A Sports Fix Tuesday. Tommy's on the phone.

I'm here in studio. Aaron will be cleaning up the show at the end of it and getting it out there for all of you to listen to. We got a lot to get to today. Joe Buegel passed away since we were last on the air and we're going to talk about him. We're going to talk about what Bucky Brooks. Bucky Brooks is actually a very sharp opinioned NFL analyst. I've always enjoyed listening and reading Bucky Brooks. He's a former player.

He was a former scout. He's been on the NFL network for a while, and he said something about the Redskins that we will play back for you and then we will comment on. I don't think anybody in the national media has been as bullish and optimistic on the Redskins as Bucky Brooks was yesterday in a conversation with Andrew Siciliano on the NFL network. I want to start Tommy with a short story for you, a quick story. Not a short story like a written short story, just a quick story.

I got tested yesterday for COVID-19. Did you really? I did. Do you want me to tell you? What kind of test? Yes, I do, because before we go to the beach, in August, we're going to have the test done. So I'll give you the context for this.

My youngest son has been out and about. No one with teenage kids is just continuing to hunker down. I don't know anybody that's doing that. If you've got teenage kids, if you've got kids in high school or college, they're back to their life here. They have been for a while now in most cases that I know. That's been my personal observation. He's working, this is my youngest,

he's working 40, 50 hours a week at a restaurant. You know, when he's done, you know, he's playing golf or he's hanging out with friends. Anyway, I'll make this long story short before I get to the actual test. He came home the other night and said that a really good friend of his tested positive, a friend that he has been in contact with over the last few weeks. And so my wife said, all right, we're all getting tested.

He's getting tested. We're all getting tested. Nobody has any symptoms. Tommy, I'm also convinced that people in my house have had it already. That's my contention. So I said to my wife, I want to get the antibody test too. Anyway, yesterday we went for coronavirus test. You can't get the antibody test until the. you get the COVID-19 test.

Well, how did you go about setting this up? Well, there is a doctor nearby in the neighborhood that has been doing testing. I've known a lot of people in the neighborhood, friends of mine that don't even live in the neighborhood that have been going to her to get tested over the last couple of months. And so we called and we set ourselves up in the system and they've got a drive-through line. in a parking lot. And this is happening everywhere. I mean, CJ was telling me that he's driven by a couple of these parking lots

that have had long car lines for testing. The test couldn't have been easier. It's the longer test. It's the one, it's not the quick test where you get immediate results, which has a lower accuracy rate. It was the long test, the nasal swab, both, nostrils and you know it's we'll get the results back in three to five days they told us couldn't have been easier I'm sorry was it discomforting not even a little bit like I don't maybe it's just

improved over the last couple of months because I remember early on hearing the stories about how uncomfortable it was and I can just tell you that my experience you know there's this long thing, they put up each of your nostrils, each one, for, you know, five seconds each, and it's over, and there was nothing uncomfortable about it at all. The only, I mean, the only feeling that I had was that it tickled. It tickled a little bit, and then I felt like I needed to sneeze when I was done, but I didn't sneeze. Okay.

And it was 10 seconds, the easiest thing ever. Well, I mean, like I said, I'm going to have one done in August, unless there's a reason to have one done before then, before we go to the beach. And I'm asking everyone in my condo to have one done before they go as well. Yeah. Now, because my son, my younger son, you know, potentially was exposed and lives in the house, the thing about it, though, is, I really haven't been, like, because he's been out and about much, I mean, we've been working, you know, but we've been working in a much safer environment than I'm sure he's been in. We've all been keeping social distance, you know, from him.

You know, I'm sure, look, it's possible that surfaces and, you know, but it's not like he's walking in the door and I'm giving him a big hug. I mean, you know, it's not that. I mean, that would be normal, you know, if I hadn't seen them in a few days or a week or whatever. But we've been, you know, we've been very much aware of continuing to socially distance, even in the house under one roof. But we'll see. I mean, I have a feeling that my wife will test positive for the antibody because we're going to get that done next after we get these results.

And if that's true, then maybe I've, you know, then I'll test positive. And I think I've mentioned this before. Early on in March, she had a pretty bad cold and then found out a couple of months later that she was with somebody who eventually tested positive work-wise. You know, she was in a work environment with somebody who ended up testing positives. Now, she was with that person late February. But then she had a pretty bad cold in early to mid-March, so much so that we were thinking maybe she should get tested, but she didn't have fever.

And if you recall back then, you needed to have all of the symptoms to go get tested. If not, don't waste a test on somebody. Just, you know, you probably don't have it if you don't have fever. And she didn't have fever. But she had a pretty bad cold. And now we've found out that fever isn't a part of every single symptom, you know, case. Anyway, the net of it is the test was easy. Well, that's good.

I have purchased the thermometer that you just basically point at the middle of your forehead. Right. In order to, and I've also to check the body. A blood oxygen meter as well to check my blood oxygen level. How's that going? Oh, that's fine. I mean, that's easy. You know that.

You just stick your finger in this little clip. What's your temperature? Like 58? Yeah. Yeah, that's my temperature. 58. Do you know that these thermometers are wildly inaccurate? What, have, what's your, have you been taking your temperature a lot? No, no, but actually I had to go to the doctor yesterday and, uh, I took my, they took my

temperature and it was normal, whatever normal is these days. That's the question. What is normal these days? Remember when it was always 98.6? I think it's a little bit lower now. It is. Why is that? Yeah. I don't know. I, I, we have in this, in this, uh, the studio office, uh, building situation I'm in, they've got a, uh, a scanner, a thermometer out in the lobby. So I've taken it a few times and it's been like 96.8 or 97.1.

I'm like, man, that seems low. I thought 98.9, no, it's, it says normal, pops up as normal. Anyway, those that haven't gotten the test, you don't have to worry about it. I mean, it's not. There is nothing uncomfortable and certainly nothing that is painful about it at all. Well, you know, do you want to know why I went to the doctor yesterday? I mean, you're always going to the doctor, but tell me why. I know. I just want you to update your chart.

Tell me. It doesn't seem to keep a chart on me. Yeah. I have a retinal vessel occlusion in my left eye. What the hell is that? Cataract? Basically, no. Actually, I had cataract surgery a couple years ago,

which gave me normal vision then, except for reading. My father's having it today. My father's having a cataract surgery today as we speak. Well, it was great because I didn't have to wear glad. glasses anymore except for reading. Except over the last, and I had this about three years ago, but over the last couple, last year, so my left eye vision has gotten worse. And I got it checked out, and I have a blockage in the blood vessel of my eye.

And the way to treat it is I have to go in for five injections into the eye. Oh, stop. Stop it. Stop. I don't want to hear anymore. Oh, my God. I don't like anybody touching my eyes. It's why I still wear glasses. I never got the surgery. Is it painful? That's got to be painful. Or do they just numb you up? They numb you up. Obviously. It's not painful. But, you know, I don't know if I'm as bad as you, but nobody likes it. a needle stuck in on their eyes. No.

You know? That's why I'm actually... They have to say I'd rather stick needles in my eyes. Right. Just so you know, I'm totally fine with needles. I've never had an issue with needles. But a needle in an eye? Oh, my God.

I mean, do you take some... What do you take just to calm yourself before this? Anything? I don't think I don't think. I'm going to be that bad. I don't have problems with needles either. Oh, have you gotten an injection or you haven't gotten one yet? No, I have not gotten one yet. I thought you said you've gotten one already. No, I got checked out yesterday. Oh.

And that's what, that's what they said. That's a treatment. Five different visits with this injection. And then I have to put some drops in my eye for a couple of days after that. They said it's a little scratchy, but, you know, they claim it's not painful. You know, I mean, I mean, how many doctors will say, oh, yes, it's very painful, you know? Well, I mean, I don't know, I mean, knock on wood that both of us are able to avoid any of this, but it just seems like nothing, they're able to make almost anything somewhat comfortable now. But, God, can you, you know, all this talk of statues and civil war in recent weeks, Ken Burns' Civil War thing was on over the weekend.

It's so well done. One of the worst things is just to think back to before, you know, before you could numb somebody up for a surgery. I mean, it's just the way that medical trauma that people went through years and years ago that we don't have to face is just here's some scotch suck it down and bite on this and bite on a bullet yeah i mean good god um but a needle to an eye i would that would not i mean i've avoided lacy because i just don't want anything touching my eyes that's one area i just i'm fine with wearing glasses when I've needed glasses.

And I probably should have gotten LASIC a while ago. It just would make life easier. And I'm a candidate for LASIC. The cataract surgery on both eyes was incredibly easy. Yeah, I've heard that. And very comfortable. And they don't put you out. They don't knock you.

They didn't knock me out. But not only do they numb you, but they give you something to really relax you. So you're pretty goofy. even if you're not knocked out. For this, all they do is numb it, and then they put this medicine in there. I mean, you know how... And supposedly it works. Yeah.

We have the name of the show today. I'd rather have needles in my eyes. That's the name of the show today. The title of the show today is I'd rather have needles in my eyes. I can't tell you how many times I've used that day. And here it goes. When people read the title before they listen to the podcast, they'll automatically think that it has something to do with you.

Of course they will. Because you've created this illusion that I'm the walking dead. Is it an illusion? You go to the doctor a lot. You've had a lot of issues in recent years. And you should go to the doctor a lot, but you don't. That's not true. I go, I do, I'll tell you what I do.

I go to the dermatologist once a year. I'm pretty, you know, pretty consistent on that. And I go get a physical every year now. I do. Okay. I'm due probably a visit for both coming up here. All right, let's get to, let's get to some things, because there's been a lot of things. Let's start with Joe Buegel, who passed away at the age of 80 years old.

You know, I think the reaction to this is pleasing to me because part of it is just we don't have games going on. And it's the time of year anyway, even if there were games going on, it would be the time of the year that we'd spend a lot of time on this anyway. But he's so deserving of it. Joe Buegel was beloved by his players. And to listen to all of the players that came on our station yesterday, Joe Jacoby was on with me. and then, you know, Thysman and Bostick and Clinton Portis and Raleigh McKenzie, and the list went on and on all day long. Just to listen to them talk about Buegel, it's just got to be so incredibly pleasing to his family members. I'm sure they have heard it throughout their lives about how much his players loved him.

But to hear them, you know, talk about him yesterday, I just thought was. pretty moving and really representative of what kind of person he was. He is, to me, the perfect combination of someone who's able to lead with a combination of toughness and compassion. And every single player talked about, he would ride you, ride you, ride you, and he would MF you, and then at the end of it, you always knew that he loved you and he had your best interest in mind and he had the utmost of compassion and empathy. And there's really, you know, Tommy in leadership, we've talked so much about it in recent months as it relates to the president. You know, there's this combination of being able to be tough and being able to be very clear and factual

and honest and being able to get away with a toughness. if you also have that, you know, compassion and empathy. And, like, Joe Buegel wouldn't have had any problem over the last four months communicating to the American people. He was one of those kinds of people. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, we're talking about, I mean, it's a tremendous honor because you're talking

about men being led by this guy. And, you know, as much as we take that for granted, that's not an easy thing to do. particularly in the world of sports where I think like athletes are not usually easily impressed by leaders and sometimes often skeptical. Not this guy. I mean, this guy, they believed he was honest.

They believed he knew he was preparing them to succeed and that he cared about them. And he really had one of those things that I do think is very innate in people. It's the ability to communicate with almost any kind of person, you know, no matter what the person's background is. I mean, he's just as comfortable in a, you know, in a room with a bunch of blue-collar workers as he is with a bunch of CEOs. You know, that's sort of the way Doc described it. Doc's always so good on days like that, and especially with people that he knows so well.

I would urge anybody that didn't listen to the station yesterday to 980 to go back and listen to some of those interviews. They're very good. But, you know, Joe Buegel has one of those resumes, Tommy, that we have talked about before, you know, with basketball and football coaches, baseball coaches, just a lifer. And to look at how many places he was over the course of his life. And then to consider what that was like for his family, you know, sports and coaching. you're making a commitment, man, and your family's making that commitment with you because some of those people, some of these people end up being in a new place every year or two years until they finally get the big break where they may spend five or six years.

And then that leads to another thing. He started, he played at Western Kentucky, he was a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky. That was from 1964 to 68. He was a grad assistant. then he went to the Naval Academy. He was an assistant coach at Navy from 1969 to 1979 to 1972. So he was familiar with the area. Then, listen to this stretch.

Iowa for one season, 1970, Iowa State, excuse me, for one season, 1973. So he goes from Annapolis to Iowa. Then he goes to Ohio State in 1974. And I remember many times whether it was, you know, listening to him to, him being interviewed and we interviewed him a bunch. I interviewed him a bunch over the years. Bugal spent a year coaching under Woody Hayes in 1974 at Ohio State. And he many times referred to Woody Hayes and coaching at Ohio State. It was one year. He was an assistant coach. And then he got his first pro job in Detroit as the Lions offensive line coach.

and then Tommy, that was two years. Then he went to Houston. He was the offensive line coach. I had forgotten about this before yesterday. He was the offensive line coach for Bum Phillips from 1977 to 1980, four years where he coached the offensive line that blocked for Earl Campbell. Yes, he did. And went to two AFC championship games, you know, part of a staff that had, you know, won.

Houston was a force during those bum Phillips Earl Campbell years. Unfortunately for them, the Steelers were in the AFC. But they were a very good team with one of, I think you and I both agree, Earl Campbell's greatness in just one of the great running backs in the history of the game. And then Joe Gibbs hired him in 1981 when Gibbs got here. And obviously he spent 81 through 89 here, was a part of three Super Bowl trips, two Super Bowl wins, and then he got the head coaching job in Phoenix, was there for four years with the Cardinals, and then was in Oakland,

where he became the head coach in 97 for a year, then was with the Chargers for four years as the O-line coach, and then retired, but when Gibbs came back, he came back with Gibbs in 2004, and actually coached, and I did remember this, ended up being a part of Jim Zorn staff in 2008, 2009 at the end of his career. But, I mean, you talk about a football lifer. But being in some really, you know, interesting spots.

Obviously, you know, coaching with Woody, you know, for Woody Hayes, bum Phillips on those teams, Joe Gibbs, part of the Raiders organization, and then having to finish up with two Zorn years. But a great offensive line coach, a legend in the organization, I'm going to tell you about a conversation that I had with Rigo yesterday here in a moment. But do you know that he's not in the Ring of Honor? He's not in the Redskins Ring of Honor. I know.

I know. That will change. It will change. Unfortunately, too late, but that will change. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he deserves it. You know, assistant coaches, you know, whether it's the Hall of Fame or individual teams,

ring of fames or ring of honors, they don't get nearly the same level of credit. but we know that Richie Pettibone, obviously we had those conversations, and then he ended up going into the Ring of Honor, which was great. And Joe Buegel is clearly in this organization's history. The second, you know, the number two assistant coach you think of when you think of assistant coaches. It's Richie, it's Buegel, and then, you know, I don't know how many spots you count to get to the next one, which is Wayne Severe or.

Wayne Severe. The stories about Wayne Severe. Yes. Are maybe the best of all time. Right. I mean, as a special teams coach. Yep.

Yeah. And, But yeah, Joe Buegel gave the team an identity. I mean, you know, I mean, the Hogs,

he gave them an identity. And, I mean, he created an offensive line, even though obviously Bostick and Jacoby and Grimm

were you know were anchors of it for 10 or 11 years other guys would come in and out and Buegel would mold those guys in the hogs that's the thing

you're you know it's Bostick Grim and Jacoby that were the constants but you had a lot of you know a lot of music chairs on the other positions. You know, you started with, you know, Stark and May and Fred Dean gets, isn't remembered as much as being a part of that 82 offensive line that won the first Super Bowl.

But, you know, whether it was R.C. Tealman or, you know, Rick Donnelly, who was a center, you know, moving through the mid-80s with Raleigh McKenzie being a part of it. And clearly, you know, the 91 team, when we get to the 91 team and you've got Jim Lechay, who is our. arguably the most talented of the Redskins offensive lineman during that era. Ed Simmons, I almost forgot about him. Ed Simmons. An underrated tackle, Ed Simmons.

Oh, definitely an underrated tackle. But he coached them all. You know, he coached him all. Coach Mark Schlewreth when Schlewreth got here in 89. And so, yeah, it was, it was, he's quite, I mean, he'll forever be known as boss hog as the offensive line coach of the most famous offensive line in NFL history, if it wasn't the best. You know, there's a lot of debate there. The Raiders offensive lines of the 70s certainly are in that conversation and others as well, but it's the most famous of offensive

lines in NFL history. I wanted to tell this quick story because on the air yesterday, I'd mentioned that, you know, the Riggins' 1983, January of 83 postseason run, there's the famous story of Riggins, you know, saying, you know, give me the ball. And, you know, Riggins, and I knew Buegel was a part of that, that Buegel was a part of the Rigo conversation about going to the coaching staff and saying, give me the ball. I mean, the context for this, and many of you know the story, but for those of you that don't, Riggins at the end of the 1979 season, and Rigo had a great 1979, and the Redskins,

with two minutes to go in the season finale against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium, were on the verge of becoming the number one seed and the favorite to go to the Super Bowl out of the NFC. And then in the final two and a half minutes, Roger Stawback leads two drives, and the Redskins get beat 35 to 34, and one of the great regular season NFL games ever, and in one of the memorable games, certainly of the Redskins Cowboys rivalry. The Redskins season was over. They didn't even go to the playoffs. They didn't even qualify as a 10 and 16 for as a wild card. And Riggins was so distraught after that game. He had a 66-yard touchdown run in that game and rushed for

over 150 yards. And he felt like he had gotten so close to, you know, contending for a championship. He was so distraught. He retired. You know, in 1980, he sat out. In 1981, you know, the famous on board, broken back. And part of that was Gibbs going out to Centralia, Kansas, to sit down with Rigo. And the story, you know, is told by Rigo and Gibbs and that NFL, you know, football life special about Rigo. Rigo said I had, you know, two beers, one and, you know, I drank one for myself and I drank Joe's in the other hand. and Gibbs tells the story, you know, that's where you get Gibbs saying,

I'm sitting there and he's telling me that, you know, Riggins looks at Gibbs and says, you need me. And Gibbs says, I'm about to coach a fruitcake, you know, that famous Gibbs line. And Gibbs walks back and leaves and says, you know, to himself on the flight back, I'm going to trade him. And I didn't want to get stuck coaching Riggins. And he said he was going to get back and he was going to trade Rigo. now that he'd gotten a commitment that Rigo was going to be back,

but Rigo had a no trade clause, which was the best thing that ever happened for Gibbs, obviously. Yes. But, you know, he came back in 81, and then in 82, in the strike shortened season, they go 8 and 1, and at the end of that season, Riggins sits out the season finale against the Cardinals, and I called him yesterday, and we ended up talking for a while,

and he said, I just remember the season. season ending, and there we were. We were the number one seed, which I thought we were going to be in 1979. And I was looking at, you know, this opportunity as the opportunity. And I knew it was, for me, it was my moment. And anybody that knows Riggins, you know, and you know John well enough to know this, I don't know that I've ever been around a professional athlete with less ego. Riggins is never about him. It's never look at me. And people will say, well, what about the Mohawk and all those things?

That was just part of his personality. Rigo was the greatest teammate, and all of those teammates will tell you that. And so it was very unusual for Riggins to say, I'm the guy, and I got to go tell the coaching staff, give me the ball. And he said, I came to that conclusion driving in for the first day of practice and preparation. for the first playoff game that year against Detroit. In that strike short in season, there were 16 teams in the postseason, eight in each conference. So the Redskins had to win three games to get to the Super Bowl.

They had all three of those games at home. First one was Detroit, then it was Minnesota, then Dallas, and they got to the Super Bowl and beat Miami. But on the drive into practice, he just said, this is my moment. I've got to step up. This is out of character. It's not what I usually do.

terms of telling somebody, I'm going to do this and give me the ball. But he made the decision on the drive-in that he was going to tell Joe Gibbs to give him the ball, you know, to strap it to his back. And as he's walking towards where the coaches were in the old Redskin Park, Joe Buegel was at the water cooler. And Rigo sees Joe, and he said, and he looks at Joe, and he said, Joe, Buegel, give me the ball. I'm ready. And he said, Bugle's typical response to any of those kinds of conversations with players,

any conversation was just a laugh because Buegel always laughed. All right, Rigo, I'll see you practice. But he said that wasn't the answer this time. He said, Buegel looked at him with a very serious look and said, go tell the big guy. And Riggins is like, O'Rigo said, I knew Buegel agreed with me. He said, I could sense that because it wasn't the typical Bugal answer, that Buegel was like serious about me going in and telling Gibbs to give him the ball

because he felt Bugel's answer was validation, that Buegel totally agreed with him. And one of the stories we heard, just as a quick aside from some of the players, is that Buegel and Gibbs, as they would formulate a game plan, argued a lot. They argued a lot. Gibbs told this story, I guess, recently, that they would have knocked down dragouts late into the night at Redskin Park. And I'm sure part of it was that Bugal was just like, we got to run the ball behind my boys.

Strap it to Riggle and Gibbs is like, yeah, well, we got to get Joe into the game, too, and let him throw every once in a while. But Bugle, Riggins felt, was totally on board with what Rigo said to him. And so he said, go see the big man and tell the big man, John, tell him. And so Rigo walked into the coach's room and Gibbs was there. And Rigo walks over to Gibbs. And he said, Joe, yeah, John, give me the ball. Give it to me and we're going to be just fine.

I'm ready for this. Give me the ball. And he said, Gibbs just said, all right, John, yeah, we're going to give you the ball. And just, you know, thanks for coming in. Appreciate it. And Rigo said he wasn't exactly the reaction he was looking for from Gibbs. And he kind of walked out of there and said, I don't know if that went exactly the way I thought it would go. But at least I, you know, at least I told him.

But he knew he had gotten through to bugle in particular. And look, the proof is in the pudding, right? Riggins run through that postseason is legendary. It's the all-time greatest postseason for a running back ever. And if you go through each one of those box scores, they beat Detroit 31 to 7, and they blew them out. They were up 24-0 nothing at halftime. So Rigo didn't get a lot of carries in the second half.

He still ended up 25 carries 119 yards. The Redskins as a team in that game ran it 38 times. through it 19 times. Then against Minnesota in the divisional round the next week, Riggins gets 37 carries for 185 yards in the famous game where he takes a bow after being taken out of the game late in a 21-7 win over Minnesota. 37 carries 185 yards and a touchdown. In that game, the Redskins ran it 42 times and threw it 23. times. He had 37 of the rushes. Then you go to the NFC title game against the Cowboys. And again, they feed Rigo the ball. 36 carries, 140 yards, two touchdowns. As a team,

they ran it 40 times. They rushed it 20 times. Like, you don't see these imbalances and run pass very often in the NFL. It's much more balance. The Redskins, Riggins, Riggins. Riggins, Rigo got through, certainly to Bugal, and Bugal got through to Gibbs, you know, in these conversations about the game plan, because they went exclusively with Rigo. And then, of course, in the Super Bowl against Miami, 38 carries, 166 yards, the all-important famous touchdown on fourth and one with 10 minutes to go on the fourth quarter. and in that Super Bowl game, the Redskins threw it 23 times and ran it 52 times.

That was the run-to-pass ratio. You know, but Rigo, you know, it's funny, he's told so many of these stories over the years and having had a chance to work with him a bunch over the years. I knew that Bugle tied into the story somehow. I just couldn't remember specifically. specifically how, but, you know, Bugal and Gibbs gave Riggins the ball in that postseason, and the rest was history.

Yeah, yeah, and Bougal will always be a part of that, always be a part of that. He will. He will. I mentioned this earlier. You know, one of the things when people talk about Rigo's career, and it's a very interesting part of his career, is that Riggins, averaged for his career, 3.9 yards per carry. That's it. That's not a really high average yards per carry. Now, they were lower back then a little bit, but, you know, some of the great running backs in the history, you know, of the game, averaged, you know, we're all in the, you know, in the, in the four range. Everybody averaged over four yards per carry. It's the one statistic you look at for Rigo, you know, and you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, wonder. I mean, like Emmett Smith, one of the greatest running backs of all time, is barely over

four yards per carry, but you got a lot of guys that are well into, you know, 4.4, 4.5 yards per carry. By the way, Jim Brown, 5.2 yards per carry. Amazing. Yeah. In Rigo averaged 3.9 yards per carry, but during that postseason, 4.65 yards per carry. He was just a different back. But, you know, when I say he was a different back, his best, remember, he was a fullback for some of his career. In George Allen's scheme, nobody was rushing for many yards per carry. He averaged 3.5 yards per carry and then 3.0 yards per carry in 76 and 77 with George Allen. Those were his two worst average yards per carry seasons,

and we know how, you know, how limited the George Allen teams were offensively. they were built on defense. Now, with all due respect, since we're talking about Rigo, my story that I've been told is that he quit in 1980 because of money. Yeah, I mean, he reported the training camp that year. And according to the story that Diron Talbot tells me, banged on his story. one morning, drunk three in the morning, screaming that they wouldn't pay them, and then took off for dollars and flew home.

Yeah, well, you know, Rigo doesn't remember every detail of every reason in every season. I'm just telling you, certainly the story he's told many times before about the end of the 79 season is it was tough for him to get over it. I'm sure it was. It would have helped, I'm sure, had they paid him more in 1980, though. Calby. They're paying me. Calby. Anyway. So Ron Rivera yesterday.

Did you hear about him getting asked about the team name? Yes, he did. He did indeed. Yeah. And is that an indication to you that the buck stops at the change? But the Washington woke is not going to happen. They're still going to be the Washington Redskins. Well, he didn't really answer the question.

Let me share with everybody just what happened if you didn't hear about this. So he went on a... Oh, I think he answered the question. Well, we'll get to that in a moment. Let me just tell everybody what he said and where he said it. So he was on a Chicago radio station, 670, the score in Chicago, the McNeil and Parkin show. I'm assuming that he played for the Bears.

It's probably a show and a group of guys in a station that he's familiar with. That makes sense to me that he would be on a show in Chicago just randomly because he's got a relationship with the station maybe, because he played there. 670, the score has been around for a long time. And I don't know what I can't speak definitive. to this, but it was odd that he just popped up on a Chicago radio station unless you consider that there was a relationship there, right? Do you agree with me or not?

Yes. Okay. So as part of the conversation with Rivera, he was asked about, you know, what his position was on the name. And his immediate answer was, quote, I think that's a discussion for another time. Closed quote. And then he went on to say a few more things. He said, look, the team's name was always a part of football when I was growing up, the Redskins name. He was asked, you know, if it's a discussion for another time, you know, what time is that? And he said, I think it's all about the moment and the timing. I'm just somebody that's from a different era that when football wasn't such a big part of the political scene. You know, that's one of the tough things for me, too,

is I've always tried to keep that separate. People have wanted me to get involved in politics when I was coaching and I kept telling them it's not for me to get up here and influence people. I have my beliefs. I know what I think. I support the movements. I support the players right now. I believe in what they're doing. I think there are certain elements to certain things. And it's all about the timing and the best time to discuss those things, closed quote. And then they came back to it again at the end of the interview. Here it is. They circled back at the end of the interview and asked him about the name again,

and he just said, quote, I'll just say this. I've done a lot of research on a lot of things that I do. I don't go into any conversations, not prepared, close quote. And that ended the segment of the interview that dealt with the name. I have a couple of questions for you. I'm going to ask you first and then I'll answer him afterwards. Do you think he was prepared for this question? I don't know Ron Rivera.

I don't know how myopic he is. I'm going to say no. I don't think he was prepared for it at all. I think he was caught off guard. I think he felt like he was in a safe haven for an interview. We all know what those are. Places where coaches and front office people usually, you know, not all of them, but some prefer an area in which they know they're not going to be asked super

difficult questions. I think he thought he may have been there. That's my guess. I don't know if that's true or not. And that he was caught off guard. He shouldn't have been caught off guard by this question. Not in this climate. No. I mean, like when he talks about there's a there'll be a time for this. I mean, my God, anyone would argue that if you're going to change it, this is the time to change it. I mean, of all times, So, I mean, there's a benefit to changing it like a big benefit. Now would be the time to do it if you actually are considering it. Yeah, I mean, a combination of the benefit and how far down you've downgraded your product. The combination of those things, this would be the time to change the name if you're going to change it.

So, yeah, I don't think he, I don't think he knew it was coming. I'm going to be real key. He's going to get more questions about it. I mean, you know, I'm sure, you know, the Redskins media aren't going to ask some questions about it. Yeah, they will. Yeah, the next time they will. I bet you any amount of money they do. It'll be one and done.

It'll be one and done. But they'll be out-of-town reporters that will come ask them questions about it. There will be national reporters who will ask them questions about it. and I wonder if there will be players who will ask on this team who will ask about it or be asked about it people who wear the uniform

be asked about it by other players around the league I mean I am real curious to see what locker rooms are going to look like in all sports but particularly in football if we are to believe that silence is no longer an option and that you're going to be expected to take sides in what has become a huge cultural war in this country.

And the Redskins are on perceived to be on the wrong side of that. Yeah. So I think he was caught off guard. The second part, really, that I want you to answer is what you think his answer was. I think his answer was that the name's not going to be changed. He didn't say that No, but I think that's what I think

I think I think he might have said something that would have been more positive about, you know, something consideration or, you know, in these times, everything is under consideration. I think he said the name's not going to get changed. I think he definitely was caught off guard

and I think he definitely tried to deflect, and the deflection leads me to believe what you believe, which is he has an understanding that the name's not going to change. I do think, however, that he is right now the lead voice in this organization. We have no idea how long that will last. But for now, he's the lead voice. He was the lead voice during all. The only thing we've heard from the owner are press statements,

and press releases about things related to Joe Buegel, George Preston Marshall, Bobby Mitchell, etc. Ron Rivera, in terms of an actual voice that you can hear speak, is the only one that we're getting right now in the organization. When it comes to anything, we had that, you know, that Zoom call where he went through that long statement and talking about the commission that he's putting together for, you know, to stay on top of all issues related to social issues and racial injustice issues, et cetera, with players and key members of the organization

a part of it. He should have been prepared. I mean, this is where I just, whatever. I mean, if you were in the PR department or if I was in the PR department, we would have said, this may be a safe landing spot, but you got to have an answer here for this because the climate we're in, Ron, even if we weren't in this climate, we would give you an answer for this when it comes up. It makes a lot. come up at any point about the team's name. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't, he didn't give obviously a specific answer in part because I think he was

sort of unprepared. That last line where he says, where he says, I'll just say this, I've done a lot of research on a lot of things that I do. I don't go into any conversations not prepared. I actually, you know, and I listened to it too. I didn't know if he was saying, I am prepared for this, but I don't feel like having the conversation now because I'd have to tell you about all the polling and all of the, you know, the tens of, if not, you know, hundreds of reservations that this organization's taken trips to and the data it has and it's compiled, you know, all of that stuff. Because don't you think this has been

a conversation that somebody's had with Rivera inside the organization, whether it's Dan or somebody else that said, look, this is an issue if you didn't know this, here's what. Here's why we are sticking with the name because, you know, Native Americans, based on polling, based on our, you know, direct involvement in a lot of visits and helping different reservations, this is what we've got back. And this is a media inspired, whatever their answer is, don't you think he's had that conversation with somebody at this point? You know what? you would

that would be a well-prepared right thing to do so obviously I don't think he had yeah I mean again look it you have to

this is a Cassanza moment I mean you have to say what would be the smart thing to do and then figure the redskins did the opposite especially with something like this so no

I don't think he's had a conversation about it. Who's going to bring it up? Do you think he's going to bring it up to Snyder? A conversation maybe with some low-level PR guy, yeah. But for anyone who matters, do you think he's going to say, hey, Dan, what about this name? He's not going to say that to his yacht buddy. They had a professional PR guy, Mori, what's his face from Memphis, who is the FedEx guy, in the organization working on this issue for years.

that's the guy that sits down and says this is the organization's position and this is the reason these are the reasons why I think that there's been a conversation with him about this I do but that would be normal that would be that would that would make sense I doubt it the question that should be and look I had them on the radio show you know a month and a half ago. It was before all of what's happened here over the last month. And so it was not top of mind. And in my first opportunity with Ron Rivera, I wasn't going to bring up the name issue because it really wasn't,

it had been really backburnered, you know, up until a month ago. It really had. It was about as backburnered, Tommy, as it's been for a long, long time. And really, in 2016, the Washington Post poll in particular, had a lot of impact on it becoming less, of a conversation. The question, if he's the lead spokesperson for the organization,

which we have to believe he is right now, I mean, the owner introduced him that way in the introductory press conference. One voice, coach-centric, here he is, you're going to be talking to him now. You've got to ask him what in this climate that we're living in now, what is the current position, team position on the team's name? Yeah. And not only, again, he's not going to be the only one at. Players are going to be asked about playing for a team.

He has to speak for the team. And if he says that's above my pay grade, that's a Mr. Snyder question. Well, then as a reporter, don't you have to say, well, Mr. Snyder, there's no access to him? and he, when he introduced you, said you are the, you know, you're the lead voice in this organization. So you have. Well, your question is to him then, what do you think about coaching a team with this name? That has nothing to do with Mr. Snyder. This is about your personal belief.

So that would be the follow of. Yeah, and then he can decline in it, you know, to say, you know, my beliefs I'll keep personal kind of thing, which is not allowed anymore. in this day and age. You can't shut up. Nobody can shut up. Yeah, I don't know. I think, again, this issue is so much different than the other ones we're talking about. Not everybody believes that. Everybody believes that these are, you know, very fair comparisons, except for really they're not. It's, you know what else he wasn't asked about? And he will get asked about? He's got to get asked about Jack Del Rio, don't you think? Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely. The Kiss My Axe guy? Yes, absolutely. You know, we, I think in our last conversation on Thursday, we mentioned that there was no fallout yet on the Del Rio tweet storm from a week ago tonight. and in fact his actual tweeting and replying and retweeting basically is ground to a halt. However, he has liked a couple of tweets. One was a tweet of a video of several black people in front of the capital downtown.

I don't know how old this is or how new it is. I don't know the timing of it, but it's a video that Kyle Keshav put out. He's 19 years old. He was a Parkland School survivor. He is very conservative. He's 19. His avatars, him sitting in the White House Oval Office talking to President Trump. The like from Jack Del Rio was of a video of not a large group.

I don't know. it looks like 25 people, 20 to 25 people, primarily black people, chanting all lives matter, and saying don't get hung up on the past, be focused on the future. So he liked that tweet. Oh, my God. And then he liked a tweet from John Gordon, who I guess, I can't tell C.J. said that he's a conservative author. And he liked a tweet that this guy John Gordon put out that said, as a leader, you must

communicate the facts, communicate the plan, communicate the costs and challenges, communicate the expectations, communicate belief in people in the plan, communicate the desired outcome, communicate authentically, and communicate the truth. So anyway, whatever. Jack Del Rio's gone pretty much silent for a week in terms of tweets and replies, but he's had two likes that, again, he has every right to do whatever he wants, you know, First Amendment rights in terms of his speech. But I am surprised that we're a week into this, and not one player. We even heard one player, one coach.

We heard a couple of, you know, there were reports on his Twitter, barrage last Tuesday night. There were national stories on it. but no comments from anybody. That is curious. I'm trying to think who on the Redskins would have something to say about this in a locker room. I mean, who's the, who are the outspoken? Adrian Peterson?

Leaders. Adrian Peterson may be one, but Adrian Peterson's primary issue right now is getting paid. Okay. So he's not going to do anything that's going to endanger. his paycheck because he's got financial problems knee-deep. So his biggest worry is getting paid. I mean, if you think Jonathan Allen is one of the defensive leaders of the team, he comes from a military background.

Oh, no. To me, John Allen's just one of these guys. He's all football. He's hardcore, serious, professional, mature, wants to focus on football. I mean, I don't know any, I mean, look, I think Josh Norman would have been the kind of guy who have said something. Of course. But Josh Norman didn't hear anymore. So I'm not sure who on this.

Landon Collins, you know, has been pretty talkative. Yes, he had. But, yes, he has. And other players in this players coalition that they have around the league that was formed during the controversy about kneeling. I would think that other players around the league will look to somebody to the Redskins to be a leader and a spokesman for these kind of things. And Landon Collins would seem to be an obvious choice. What odds do you give to, on Wednesday morning of last week, Dan Snyder and Ron Rivera, asking every single player, every single coach, every single trainer, every single member of the organization

to jump on to a private Zoom call so that Jack Del Rio could state his case, potentially even apologize, and for Dan Snyder to say, I don't want anybody to comment on this at all social media or otherwise. We are a team. We are sticking together. You've heard from Jack. I wanted to address this immediately. amongst our team and keep it, you know, among all of us as a team here, and they all listen to it. What are the odds that happened, Tommy? 2%. Zero percent, I'd put it at. Yes, yeah, yeah.

Again, that is exactly the kind of thing that would never happen with this organization because it would require too much thought and planning. I'll give it a half a percent. I'll give it a half a percent that there was something that may have been in smaller scale with team in Del Rio, but it's a very small percentage. I just think that you might be right. It just may be the makeup of the locker room, that they don't have a lot of outspoken activists, activists types of individuals and personalities.

But I think there's players going to be fresh. Darius, Deerius Geis. We forgot about him. Darius Geis who thought it was such a great deal to get his picture taken in the Oval Office with Donald Trump? I don't think he's going to be speaking out. That guy? He talks about everything else. Anyway, you know what?

What I suggested to you last week might be completely in play. This is a big nothing burger. They're all focused on football. and when they reconvene, it'll be all about football. That, you know, athletes have a way of compartmentalizing, and even in this day and age, even in this crazy time that we're living in, that they're going to be all about football when they get together in August. Normally, I would agree with you,

but I think that last two months of the presidential election are going to make this seem like a tea party, what we're going through now. And I think because of the heat involved in the election, I think people's tempers and I think people's positions are going to be hotter then than they are now. I want to play something for everybody from Bucky Brooks here in a moment. But first, a quick word about hydrant. This is really a product. I want you all to consider because it will keep you healthy because keeping hydrated means keeping you healthy.

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All right. Bucky Brooks is an NFL analyst for the NFL network. He played in the league. He was a scout for various teams. I've always enjoyed reading him and watching him. I think he's got a really sharp opinion. I've always felt that way about him. I haven't had him on the show in a long time.

I've tried a couple of times for the podcast and the radio show and have been unsuccessful over the last year or so. But I think you and I may have had him on or I had him on. I forget how it went. but I think he's got a sharp opinion. And in recent months, you know, we've talked about how basically outside of this town, everybody thinks the Redskins are going to stink. You know, every projected draft order for next year has the Redskins picking, you know,

either second or maybe third, you know, predicted, you know, universally to finish dead last is one of the worst rosters in the league, et cetera. Well, Bucky Brooks was on with Andrew Siciliano yesterday talking about the Redskins, and here's what he said. He also are writing about the Redskins and Chase Young, you say, and I'm going to read this. If number two overall pick Chase Young is as good as advertised, the Redskins are on the way toward becoming a Super Bowl contender. And then you say, basically, don't belly laugh at this, Buckie. Oh, don't, yeah, don't belly laugh at this. Because if you go back and look at the history of Ron Rivera and Jack Dale Rio,

understand when you get a dominant pass pressure at the top of the board, if he plays to his potential, he can dominate. And I've compared Chase Young to Julius Peppers. When I was with the Carolina Panthers, we had Julius Peppers. Julius Peppers anchored a defensive line that led us to the Super Bowl. Then when you think about Ron Rivera and Jack DeL Rio getting together, Jack DeLrio not only had Peppers doing his first stand at Carolina, but he also had Von Miller at Denver. Both of those teams eventually went to the Super Bowl.

so a dominant pass pressure can make a difference. And oh, by the way, Andrew, the Washington Redskins have five former first round picks on that D-line rotation. You know who else had that? The San Francisco 49ers. We saw them ended up in the Super Bowl last year. I'm not seeing this year. But in a couple of years, we could see the Washington Redskins have a parade.

Whoa, Tommy, a parade within a few years. Wow. Okay, here we go. Here we go. We got a guy outside this market that's telling you that they might be the 49ers of this year, but he didn't want to go that far with five division one picks along the front line rotation. And Julius Peppers equals Chase Young, and he loves Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio. And he says, don't belly laugh at this, but maybe a parade within a couple of years. Well, look, Bucky Brooks has been riding the Dwayne Haskins train for well over a year now. He likes him.

He wanted the Redskins to start him last year. In June, he said they should start him. That's why I think he's got a sharp opinion. Well, you know, I mean, he could just be doubling down on wanting to be right here. Believe me, it's a position. I'm familiar with. Yeah. Okay?

This could be just, you know, saying, I really want to be right about Dwayne Haskins. But he didn't talk about Haskins. He talked about the defense leading the way. Well, I mean, I know that. I know that. But, you know, the parade isn't coming if the quarterback can't play. Great point.

So. The most important point. Yes. Is that. So, I mean, look, I mean, he's a smart guy. He certainly knows a lot more about football than I'm. I do. I have no reason to think that he's not making what he thinks is an educated decision that takes into zero account the aura of self-destruction.

Yeah. I, so it doesn't cost you anything to be optimistic. I mentioned this. That was like something I mentioned a couple of times this morning because I do believe that, especially this time of year. But most of you who have been listening for a while, know that I have become less optimistic over the years. You know, when Tommy and I were doing this show, I was always the more glass-half-full guy. Well, Tommy's never been glass-half-full about anything. But I was always, especially during the Shanahan beginning

and then the Kirk Cousins couple of years, I thought, you know, especially when we got to August and September, it was, you know, what our good friend Zabe always says. You know, let's go have ourselves a season. Why not? How many times did we have this argument where you'd say they're a good team and I'd say, no, they're playing good? Different things.

We have that argument all the time. Well, I have always said, and this has been part of my description of the organization, that a bad organization can have a good season. That's in play for everybody. A good season does not make a good organization. Redskins have had an occasional, very infrequent good season. It does not translate to them being a good organization. A good organization has a chance at success every year over a sustained period of time.

The Redskins haven't been that for two and a half decades. So I've never, ever, as you know, said, this is a good organization. I've had hopes, whether it was Joe or Mike. you know, that things might get back, you know, there may be a chance that it could turn around, but it hasn't. And I would still, if forced to bet, I've said this before too, that the Rivera era won't work out either, because those are the betting odds here. But again, in this moment, it doesn't cost anything to be optimistic. Here's the problem I will have. Like, it's okay for Bucky Brooks, and for all of you out there listening that are Redskin fans like I am,

to take a moment in June and to look at Bruce Allen being gone, in my view, a really good head coach hired, I think they outkick their coverage on the coach hire. Not everybody's a big Ron Rivera fan, I am, a defensive coordinator in Jack Del Rio who's proven, to look at them defensively and say there is talent. Now, the talent could be overrated. They were horrible last year on defense. Most of us put that on the coaching staff. But, you know, if this new coaching staff doesn't coach it up, well, then we know the talent's overrated. But I'm going to go with right now that, you know, John Allen and Duran Payne and Montez Sweat and Matt Ionitis can play. And that I believe, you know, and have believed for a while that Chase Young was the best player and one of the

better players we've seen in the draft in years. And to envision a well-coached defense in Montez Sweat and Chase Young on third nine coming for the quarterback with John Allen and Duran Payne and Matt Ionitis crumbling the interior of the line of scrimmage and Kendall Fuller stepping in front of a ball that's fluttering through the air because the quarterback was pressured so much picking it off and returning it for a touchdown. and the defense being awesome. And then on the flip side,

Dwayne Haskins being, you know, what I've come to believe he will become, which is a solid NFL starting quarterback, top half of the league starting quarterback, and all of a sudden the Redskins are a completely different team and organization. It doesn't cost me anything to feel that way right now. Here's the problem I'll have, though, Tommy.

I can feel that way right now. And I'm exaggerating my thoughts right now, For those of you that listen to Bucky Brooks and you're like, yeah, that's what I've been thinking. Feel that way. What you shouldn't want to hear and what I don't want to hear because we are supposedly, we've been told, we are in culture change mode right now, is if we get to July or August and all of a sudden we're hearing from coaches and players about, Wow, we are loaded with the coaching and the addition of Chase Young and the 4-3 switch. I mean, I don't know who the other.

I had a caller calling and say this, so I'm stealing it from him. But if we hear, you know, if we hear, let's just throw out Land and Collins. If we hear Land and Collins say, with our defensive front, I don't know how they're going to pick out the guy to double team. I mean, you've got so many choices. Who are you going to pick the door? You know you're going to hear it. You know you're going to hear it. I know.

And what I'm telling you is, if I get that again this summer, and don't mistake what I'm saying. I love when people say, you don't want them to think that way? Of course I want them to think that way. I just don't want them to say it. Because the culture of the organization for 20 years has been over-promising and under-delivering. It's a sickness that they've not been able to rid themselves of.

We are so good, and we're going to tell you how great we are, and damn it, buy those tickets and buy those jerseys. And then what have they backed it up with? Suck. Nothing but suck for 20 years. And Ron Rivera, I am hopeful because he's talked about it Tommy so much, culture, culture, culture. We've got to change the culture.

If I hear a bunch of people running their mouths in preseason and in training camp, well, then the culture's not changed. It's not changed. And don't tell me, well, this team's going to be a team with swag. This team's going to be able to talk it, but they're going to be able to back it up. Well, they haven't for 20 years. Why would I believe that this would be any different? And, you know, those Carolina teams, those Carolina teams that he could

coached. You know, they had some guys, obviously, Cam, and Steve, you know, they had, they had some players here and there, but for the most part, they were always working-in-like, blue-collar, tough, hard-nosed, over-deliverers on the field. That's always the way I felt watching him. So I want him to impose that culture on this organization. And if they're running their mouths, I mean, you know, even Del Rio, a few ways. weeks ago said, we don't have enough balls for all the guys we've got on defense. I don't want to hear that anymore. Just show me. You're right. How many times have you said this, though? A lot. A lot. Every year. And, you know, I mean, the only reason you may not hear too much of it this

year, I don't know what the parameters are going to be for training camp and media access. because these things usually come out in training camp after a great practice, and they're all feeling so good about themselves. That's when these things usually come out. Top five. We're going to be a top five defense. We've got top five talent, Rex Ryan. These usually come out in August after a great training camp.

So I don't know. Maybe it won't be as prevalent this time around because media access will probably be limited. who knows let's hope I do I mean you know it's hard to keep up with who's good as an analyst and who isn't

and I just there are certain people that stick out to me I've always thought that Bucky Brooks whenever he's written in particular or been a guest I've always been like yeah that like you Tommy like for me it's like yeah he

agrees exactly with what I agree with he must be sharp so that's why I like him Last thing before we leave here today. So Ryan Zimmerman's opting out. Joe Ross is opting out of the baseball season. What do you make of it? Well, Ryan Zimmerman kind of indicated that he was probably going to do that.

You know, he's very close to his mom. His mom has, I think she has multiple sclerosis. I hope I'm getting that right. But she's, you know, kind of in a little. vulnerable situation. And I think, you know, he kind of realized that this is going to be a fart. I think he's a smart enough guy to see this is going to be a joke of a season and that they may not finish it.

He's expressed doubts about the ability for players to state-state for months now. And Joe Ross, I'm not sure to details as to why he's. he's making his decision to do it. But the Nationals did the right thing by publicly coming out and supporting them and not doing anything to deflect from a team-oriented atmosphere on this. I mean, the worst thing you can have in a situation like this is people start pointing fingers at each other over something as personal as your health. Right.

I mean, it doesn't get any more personal than your health and your family's health. Do you think that's it for Zimmerman? I think part of it is he doesn't think they'll be able to stay safe. He has a reasonably intelligent level of confidence in the baseball's inability to keep players safe and something like this. I think he looks at it and it says it's going to be impossible. I agree. Do you think his career, I mean, that means that we won't see him until the 20-21 season. Do you think that there's a chance that we've seen the last of Ryan Zimmerman?

Well, of course, there's a chance. I don't think he'll retire. I think he'll look at the time off as probably a good thing in a way, you know, to continue to build up his body. from one last run. I think he'll think he can still hit. I mean, particularly if there's going to be a DA to the National League beyond this year,

because there is going to be a DA. Right, good point. And this year, if there's one in 2021, Ryan Zimmerman's coming back. I think he'll be back. Yeah. It's funny, you know, you said after taking time off, I mean, do you know how much time off they've had?

I know. I mean... But remember, the Nationals played longer than anyone last year. It's true. They played to the beginning of November. They still, in terms of a normal schedule, have, you know, had four months off here. You know, March, April, May, you know, we're almost at the end of June. You know, I was reading yesterday, Wilson Chandler, who plays for the Nets.

he's the latest NBA player. Actually, DeAndre Jordan tested positive for the virus, and he's not going to play in the Orlando reason. That's the second time he tested positive for the virus. God, you know what? I forgot about that. That's true. But Wilson Chandler plays for the Nets.

He started a couple of the games before the shutdown. And I saw this come across the ESPN Scroll on Sunday night. Wilson Chandler has informed the Nets that he's opting out to spend more time with his family. And just my immediate reaction, I'm not going to apologize for it, is my God, what have you been doing for the last four months? I mean, everybody, for the most part,

if you're blessed with family that you actually enjoy spending time with, and a lot of you don't, and we all understand that situation too. But that's all you've, been doing is spending time with your family. That's a good point. That's a good point. And at this point, I mean, what else have you been doing since, uh, Mark? I just, I'm like, well, why would, I know with my family, we all love each other dearly, but, you know, four months, and it was two and a half months with everybody in the house. That's a long time without people, you know, it's spending that much time with

each other. You know, it's, it's totally natural and normal to be like, Jesus Christ, I get the hell out of here. They're driving me nuts. I mean, I was just thinking a guy like Wilson Chandler, you know, he has, he's got three kids. But, and, you know, people have reevaluated their priorities and all of that's understandable. I mean, things that were important aren't as important anymore, and everybody understands that. But I just thought it was hysterical not to see concerns over COVID-19 or once, to remain, you know, wants to continue to be an activist during this time, to spend more time with his family. Okay. There you go. I mean, why not? It's been four months. Let's do,

you know, three more before we're back to an actual training camp. The Wizards, I thought it was interesting Tommy Shepard's statement yesterday about John Wall being officially ruled out, which I think we've known for a while. He came on my radio show and said that a month ago. But he also said that the pandemic, basically, that Wall had lost, he said, quote, some of the basketball gains he had made, closed quote, prior to the pandemic. I think that's probably just an easy way to say, why are we going to bring John Wall back to play eight games where the odds of making the postseason are pretty slim and none? And by the way, we just lost a key player in Davis-Pertons who's opting out as well to protect, you know, his contract upside.

The, anyway, what else you got? The Wizards? The Wizards, you're really, can I get those two minutes of my life back? I know. I'm sorry. You say that. You've used that line many times. Did you read in? No, actually, actually, that's the first time I've ever used to my line. I don't think so. Oh, it is. Go ahead. I will fend you. Oh, you think I'm going to spend a lot of time looking for the other time that you said it? Yeah, that's what I'm going to do with my afternoon.

Okay. Let's bet on this then. We're not going to. I know this is right. The, uh, well, whether it was exactly the way you phrased it or it's the wizard. I know. We don't, we don't, we don't like details, accuracy, you know, they're hobby. Go ahead and write, write, write your, you know, sprint columns, please.

Give me a 30-second or less column I can read by the end of the day. Can you do that, please? You know what I'm writing about? What? What? I'm writing about George Preston Marshall. But you're writing about that last week. You told me you were writing about that last week.

I did, but it was more about the name last week. Oh. I've got interviews with players who played for Marshall. Who? Good stories. Joe Teresensky, Sammy Ball. a few others. Oh, you mean interviews that you did a long while back?

Yeah. Yeah. And I interviewed at Lane from a while back. The guy who, starting in 1937 when they moved to Washington, was Marshall's right-hand guy. Who was that? Who basically Bernie Nordlinger. I think I've heard that name before. Who was he?

He was some kind of high-ranking team official under Marshall. And he's got some great. stuff about Marshall. None of it about the racist, a racism Marshall, but we've established he's a racist. Yes. Okay. We all know that. So I just thought these would be

the final words about George Marshall. Because the Redskins not only have taken off him off the first level of FedEx field, they've removed him, I think if I read this right, from all kinds of books

and documents, haven't they? I think so. I think they have. They're like wiping his name clean. You know what? It should have been done a long time ago. Well, of course it should have been done. I mean, it's like somebody woke up and all of a sudden decided this guy was a racist.

You know, this wasn't like debatable. You know, he was an overt racist and he was the steward of a team that was the last to integrate 16. years after the first NFL team integrated, which I think we're the Cleveland Browns. I could be wrong about that. I just, I think I mentioned this last week when the statue came down in front of RFK Stadium that... It wasn't a statue. It was a monument.

The monument. I didn't even know it was still there. And maybe that's part of what, you know, I should know, and we should know. You know, these are part of the... To be fair, and don't anyone take it? take this the wrong way. Oh, boy, here we go. Get canceled here right at the end of the show. All the NFL owners for about 20 years were racist. Oh.

Okay? They wouldn't let black players in the league for about 20 years. And Marshall was the only one probably who had a fan base that was devoted to that racism. Why? Because of the southern influence of the Redskins fan base? He had the only team, the southernmost team in the United States until the Cowboys came along virtually, you know? And that's Southwest as much as anything. So, I mean, you know, of all the owners, Marshall was the last. and I'm not giving them credit for this because it was horrible and despicable, but they were all racist at one point, and he was the only one who had a fan base that embraced that.

Okay, but let's also understand that every fan base had racists in their fan base, as does every fan base now. There are probably some fans of it. But Kevin, he had. the entire south. I don't know if anyone's told you, but the south, a little bit more of a problem than the rest of the country. I understand.

And I think most Redskins fans understand that the Redskins were the team of the South. Their radio network extended all the way to Florida up and down the East Coast. Tommy and I have both experienced as, you know, broadcasters and Redskins-related broadcasters. Tommy's a writer and a broadcaster. Me is just a broadcaster. so many fans of the team that we've heard from on the shows we've done over the years that are from the Carolinas in particular and Georgia.

Lots of Redskin fans still to this day in those areas. So that's all. I'm writing about Marshall again. Okay. You didn't say anything. I thought you were going to say something different. No, just some stories about him, how he basically got into, fist fights with coaches and how he hired Curly Lambo.

People forget, Curly Lambo was a Redskins coach for a while. Yeah, right. And Marshall ran him out over a six-pack of beer. That's why he fired him. All right. I don't have anything else. I want everybody to listen to the radio show Monday through Friday, 6 to 9 a.m. And Tommy's on with me Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I'm going to do a show tomorrow. do a show with Tommy on Thursday. I am taking some vacation time coming up next week and perhaps even this Friday because I'll be leaving a little bit early. But I'll give you the full details on that before the end of the week. But I've got nothing else if you've got nothing else. That's all I got, boss. All right. Have a great day.

Everybody else to do the same back tomorrow.