The Kevin Sheehan Show - New View on Heinicke?

Episode Date: November 16, 2021

Kevin and Thom on nonsense topics like chocolate milk and cookies before getting into Thom's latest view on Taylor Heinicke with Kevin's response. Plenty of Wizards, Monday Night Football, NFL, college hoops, and Thom's thoughts on Sam Huff as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. He is Kevin. Tommy's here with me today. We've got a lot to talk about. Last night was a very busy sports night.

I was very much engaged in watching multiple sporting events at the same time. I had the Monday night game on my computer, Tommy. I had the Wizards game, but I was going back and forth between the Wizards and Darrell Morsell's team Marquette playing the 10th ranked fighting a lion eye. Darryl Morsell, are you ready for this? I don't know if you're ready for this.

I don't know if you're built for this. Daryl Morsell, who transferred from Maryland after four stellar seasons, as really the heart and soul of this Maryland basketball team over the line. last several years. He transferred, look, the net of it and lots of you have asked me over the months. I think Daryl wanted to be a primary offensive go-to guy. And I don't think that Mark could make him that promise, you know, and at the time that he wanted that, I think that Aaron Wiggins was still

potentially coming back. And all of us who are Maryland fans know that we would never think of Daryl Morsell as a number one or number two offensive option. He was the defensive person. He was the defensive player of the year last year in the Big Ten. And that's not what we came to know and love about Daryl. It was his toughness. It was his defense. He hit some big shots over the years. He improved offensively.

Last night, Marquette, his new team, who Tommy is coached by Shaka Smart, you know, the former Texas coach, but really the former VCU coach who took VCU to a final four. They're at home. or in Milwaukee against the 10th ranked fighting a lion eye, very good Illinois team. Darrell Morsell went into the game last night. I couldn't believe it when somebody sent me this yesterday and I looked it up.

He was averaging 23 and a half points per game. He was shooting 60% from the field, 50% from behind the arc, and 91.7% from the free throw line in his first two games. he was Marquette's number one offensive option, and he was coming through. Well, the reason I was watching last night's game is college basketball has actually been pretty good here very early in the season in the first week. I told everybody last night, and on Saturday, the UCLA Villanova game Friday night at Pauley Pavilion was the best sporting event I watched all weekend, in part, Tommy, because I haven't seen Pauly Pavilion that alive for a game in years.

You know, number two against number four. The place was packed. It was an electric atmosphere. It was great to see that. And for people, you know, my age and certainly your age, to think of UCLA and playing those iconic games at Pauley, it was nice to see that. So I was watching last night, Darryl Morsell again led Marquette in scoring, 21 points, 7 of 12 from the field, three of four from behind the arc. He did struggle from the free throw line. And Marquette upset Illinois, 67.

to 66. I am so happy for Daryl Morsell. And I'm also, you know, a little bit frustrated that he's not playing for Maryland. Yes. I mean, isn't there a level that, look, I know, I know you really like Pergin. I do. But there has to be a sort of a question that did he have this player under his control and not figure out the best way to use him. I don't think so. He had much better offensive options. You know, last year they were limited in a lot of what they could do offensively. And Darrell hit some big shots.

The most famous Darrell Morsell shot was in 2020, you know, no tournament year, COVID. And he hit the three-pointer at Minnesota to, you know, complete an incredible rally. Look, he is one of the most well-liked players in Maryland history. He's not going to go down as one of the greatest of all time, even though he was a defensive player of the year in the Big Ten. That's quite an honor in his senior year. You know, he's back for the fifth year COVID year, which everybody had a chance to do.

And he wasn't going to get drafted, you know, by any NBA teams. And I think that he looked around and he said, I want to be that. And by the way, I don't know that he disagreed with Turgh about not being able to be the number one or number two offensive option on this, on the team that they had, you know, coming back, especially if Wiggins was coming back. And I think at the time they thought Wiggins might come back. So I think it was mutual, you know. He loves Maryland and he put together a great thank you.

And I know his relationship with Turg is still really good. But yeah, I'd like to see him on Maryland. team this year. I love him. He'll go down as a memorable player. They're not going to hang his jersey in the rafters. I don't think they should. Daryl doesn't rise to that level, but he had a really, really solid career and kind of a memorable career because of the defender and the tough player that he was. By the way, I can hear people right now. I love when I get this sense. I have a very good sense, I think, of the audience. Really? You're opening up with Daryl. Marcel and Marquette over Illinois?

Yes, I am. I am. It gets right, everybody. It's his podcast. Well, and with Tommy, we open up with a lot less than this. By the way, that reminds me as we switch subjects, because I told you I wanted to tell you something before we started to record the podcast. I am drinking something right now that was always one of my all-time

favorite drinks, but I haven't had it in a year at least. I am drinking chocolate milk right now. I love chocolate milk. What possessed you to do that? Well, I was walking through Safeway after the radio show. I had to go pick something up at Safeway, and I walked by the milk section, and I had a recent doctor's appointment. Okay. I had a recent doctor's appointment. Um, in part because I'm trying to get a policy on something, whatever. Anyway, and the blood work came back and said, you know, all as well, you could just up, you know, you might want to get a multivitamin tablet. And I said, I take a multivitamin tablet. I take that.

I take a B12. I take a fish oil every day. And he said, yeah, add a vitamin D to it. And I said, okay. Well, how about I just... I take vitamin D. How about I just drink some chocolate milk? How about I just drink some, you know, more milk?

So when I saw it sitting there front and center in the milk section, I just grabbed it. And it is really good. It's this fair life milk that a lot of people are drinking my wife's into it. I, you know, I don't know. It's apparently super filtered. Anyway, 2% fair life chocolate milk, and it is so good. And I got something else that I wanted to share with you. I did get a banana.

I got some fresh fruit, which I usually do it. Safeway. And then in the checkout line, Tommy, Impulse Shopping Opportunities, there was a... Like a little kid. Like a little kid, you know, asking his mom for candy. There you go. Well, perfect, perfect segue. Like a little kid, there was a big barrel or bin filled with animal crackers. Barnum's animal crackers. And I haven't a... had those in forever, so I grabbed a package of those. Those are still really good. So I've got chocolate milk and animal crackers that I am eating here as we start this show. By the way, that's the name of the show today. Chocolate milk and animal crackers. And animal crackers. I love it.

You know, I don't like chocolate milk. You don't like any sweets, period. Anything that would should have chocolate, right? Do you eat? What sweets do you eat, if any? Well, it's very limited, and I don't eat, and I only eat them on rare occasions, or else I would eat them a lot more, but I try to limit myself. I like Ebbinger's crumb cake. Mm-hmm. Entermintres. Entermintz, yeah. Entermintz, yeah.

Yeah, I like that. Cookies, I like Lorna Dunes. You like what? Lorna Dunes. That's it. What cookie did you do? just say? Lorna Dune.

Lorna, Dune's? Like L-O-R-N-A, second word D-O-O-O-N-E. I don't know that I'm familiar with that. Well, it's not much of a cookie, but it's mine. And that's pretty much it. I've never heard of that cookie. What kind of cookie is it? It's a shortbread cookie.

Oh, a short-bread cookie. Like, so why? Because you get it on airplanes? No, no, I've just liked it since I was a kid. I wonder what the top-selling cookies are. I'm actually very interested in that. Oreos would be, I think, the number one. I would think so.

That would be my guess. Let's see if we can get a cookie, top-selling cookies. All right, you ready? When I was a kid, I used to have butter cookies, and social teas. Those were my two favorites. Why don't you like chocolate? Well, I used to like it when I was a little kid,

and one time I ate a real big Nestle's chocolate bar, and I ate the whole thing, and I got sick and threw up, and I've never liked chocolate since I. Okay. All right, you ready? Here is a ranking. I don't know if this is, this does not appear by sales. I'm more interested in by sales because top selling cookies, that would be by sales.

In America, we'll do in America. It might be Chips Ahooy. Chips Ahooy might be one at a top one. That should be up there, but I bet you Oreos is number one. Probably. You know, it's funny because I'd like the name chocolate. It's a nice sounding name. There are some foods I won't eat just because their name is so offensive to me.

It turns me off. But I like the name chocolate. I like the look of chocolate. I like things that look chocolatey. I like them. I like the smell of chocolate. I just don't like chocolate. Yeah.

I'm not with you on that one. I will eat just about anything. Chocolate. Thank you. That was a burp right there. That was a burp. There was a burp. There you go.

You did that once on a radio. No. You did that on the radio. You did a lot worse on the radio. Oh, my God. You do a lot worse on this podcast. Okay. It would appear that Oreos won in Chips Sohoyes, too.

Okay. All right. You were right, and I was close. Just the Hoy is right up there. Oreo, actually, the private labeled cookies, so, you know, Giant Safeway, Kroger, Albertsons, whatever, those, they account for the most in cookie sales. then in terms of the major brands, Oreos one, Chips Ahoi is two,

Belveda cookies. Is that a shortbread cookie? I don't even know what that is. That's kind of, you know, that's kind of like, no, no, no, no, no. No, it's almost like Stella Dora or something like that. I don't even know if it's really a cookie. Okay. Yeah.

and then and then Oreo double stuff so you get a bunch of little debbies you know I'm not a big little Debbie fan little Debbie oatmeal cream little Debbie

Debbie Nutty Buddy Nilla Wafers What about Pepperidge Farm are they in there anywhere? Then comes and I was going to I was going to wonder where a lot of the Pepper's Farm cookies that I like I love Milano's and lots of different flavors

Milano's come in next at $143.8 million, and that would be in 2018. That's what I have right now. Now, in terms of popular cookies ranked, your cookie, I did see when I was going through here, was ranked. The Lorna Dune, which I'd never heard of, Lorna Dune shortbread cookies, it's a Nabisco product, is ranked 23rd, and then I'll go all the way down the list. This is more of a popularity contest.

Number one is Oreo, Oreo Mega Stuff. Number two is Pepper's Farm, Dark Chocolate, Milano's. Three is Kebler, E.L. Fudge, original cookies. I don't eat any of those kebler. Then Kebler, Coconut Dreams, then Famous Amos chocolate chips. I think they're excellent, famous Amos chocolate chips. Then Oreo double stuff. Then the Pepperage Farm Brussels.

I think that's a really good cookie. then Oreo golden birthday cake, then Oreo red velvet, then Vienna fingers, Keebler, then Mrs. Fields, then Nilla Wafers, then Little Debbie, then Mint Milanos, those mint Milanoes are good, and then we get the first Chips Ahoys. I do not like this soft cookie chips a hoy. I don't. Okay. Are we done with Cookie Talk? I think we are. I'm very impressed with the Animal Crackers, though. That, that, that, that, Animal Crackers is 30th. Animal Crackers is 30th on the popularity. I think there's some animals. What kind of animals? Do you have the box? Do you have the box? I have the box right now. All right. Let's see. I just pulled out a bear. Okay. Now I just pulled out a lion. I just pulled out. I have no idea what this is.

I have no idea what that is I guess it's a spider maybe I don't think they do spiders this would appear to be a horse maybe or a zebra do you know that there are zebras on the loose in PG County did you know that for like a month now

I think I think one they found one dead at least that's terrible yeah okay You know the box Yeah, look at the box Yeah, I'm looking at the box Zebra, elephant, lion, giraffe, and...

They're not in a cage, are they? No, they're not in a cage, they're out in the wild. They used to be in a cage. Really? Yes. A couple years ago, they politically corrected the box of animal crackers so they're no longer, like, in cages, like,

from a circus, which is what they used to be. All right, they do list the animals in here. Lion, seal, hippo, koala, elephant, giraffe, ape, zebra. Yeah, an elephant. Did I say elephant? Yeah. No more cages. They changed it in 2018.

How much sugar? Let me run these things. Seven grams of sugar, including added sugar, seven grams. Okay. It is not a source of... Animal crackers have been around for about 100 years. Oh, my God. I remember as a kid, you know, being...

Yeah. Sitting in the front of the supermarket cart, and the first thing my mother would do would be to get animal crackers. Keep us quiet. I think I did that with my kids, definitely. All right. I'll bet keeping you quiet was a full-time job. No, I just wanted to spark up conversation with people.

That's all. Let me just tell everybody that if you missed the podcast on Saturday with Jay Gruden, I would urge you to go back and listen to it. It's funny, Tommy, I like Jay as a guest a lot. I mean, I think he's an excellent guest. You know, people will, you know, just like the Illinois Marquette thing, people will, you know, tweet and say, why do you have Jay Gruden on? Well, it's real simple because he's a good guest.

That's why. The goal here on podcasts or in radio is if the guest isn't an informational guest, like providing you with information on something that you don't really have information on, then you want the best possible guests, somebody who's entertaining, somebody who can have a conversation, somebody who might say something that's really interesting. And Jay's an excellent guest. He's a good analyst on football. he's watching a lot of football.

He did give out an absolutely horrible pick on Sunday's games. I said, who do you like on Sunday? Because I think Jay's looking at point spreads. I don't know if he's betting, but he's definitely paying attention to point spreads. And he said, I really like Atlanta. And Atlanta, of course, got beat 43 to 3 in Dallas. But what I was going to mention is Jay said a lot of things that, I don't know, somebody said some of the stuff she and he's told you before to a certain extent maybe not as much in

detail but what's gotten a lot of publicity and i didn't even know that until actually this morning somebody sent me all the different stories that have been written especially in san francisco um about what he said on my podcast over the weekend about what the 49ers would have offered washington first of all he confirmed that you know uh dan and bruce didn't want to you know see Kirk Cousins end up with Kyle Shanahan. I mean, it's, we know how petty they are and how stupid they are. And I've known that for a while. And I, you know, I, I don't know if I reported it, but I knew and discussed, you know, a couple of years ago that that the 49ers were absolutely willing to give up their number two overall pick in that 2017 draft for Kirk Cousins. But Jay said

he thought it was multiple first round picks and maybe some second round picks as well. I think kind of he's talking out of his ass on that one. And maybe that just seems like an awful lot. Number two overall, I know for a fact that Kyle would have given that up and John Lynch would have given that up in a heartbeat. Kyle wanted Kirk badly. but it became very clear to Kyle and Mike that Dan and Bruce were not going to trade Kirk Cousins to San Francisco.

It's so unbelievable how petty they were. It's unbelievable. It's just stunning. Petty to the point where they destroy their own product. Well, they've been sabotaging, self-sabotaging for years in so many different ways. But that one, look, you and I were, not doing a show together at the time, but you know how I felt about cousins.

I thought that they whiffed on their opportunity to get a long-term deal in place with them early on when they originally low-ball them. I don't want to relitigate this or rehash it. We all know what happened. If you were really paying attention, if they had gone after them early with Sean still in the organization, they probably would have signed him to a long-term deal, but they low-balled them. And then after they set him down the franchise tag path and Sean left and he realized how stupid and horrible these people were that he was working for, he wasn't going to stay. And then he definitely wasn't going to stay when Bruce Allen offered him $31 million under market value in the summer of 2017 and then threw him under the bus for not accepting it as he was. With a press release.

With a press conference all the while referring to him as Kurt. throughout that press conference. I mean, just as low rent as you get. And by the way, the funny thing about that time is that Cooley said to Bruce, because Cooley was close to Bruce, he said, 53 million. Kirk's going to get 75 to 80 million plus as a free agent. And Bruce said, you're out of your mind. He's nowhere near worth that.

And Cooley's answer, I'll never forget, because he said it on the air, he said, I don't care what you think he's worth. That's what he's going to get. And, you know, seven months later, he got $84 million from Minnesota, $31 million more than they offered him. And he was offered more by the Jets. And the Jets offered 90 plus. So they not only, so they were, so then when that happened, they should have traded him. And that was always my position.

If you're not going to sign him, you've got to unload him now. Absolutely. call for him and he's only going to play here for one more year because you're not going to franchise him for a third time, but they were too petty to do it. And Gruden confirmed that. I mean, you know, he also said, you know, to be fair, he also said, I also think that maybe they thought they could resign Kirk, but that wasn't going to happen. I just think Jay, because it's gotten a lot of attention in a lot of different things, especially out in San Francisco, what he said about what the 49ers were willing to offer.

I don't think that they were going to offer that much. I've talked to Mike about this. He was not my original conversation about this. And Mike was convinced that the first round, the number two overall, was absolutely in play. I think two first and two seconds, you know, that would have, I mean, even for me, a Kirk Cousins guy, that would have been way too much for Kirk Cousins at the time. But put the first round pick alone. Oh, yeah, number two overall.

You know what they got for them? What they get for them? They got a compensatory fourth, right? Yeah. Yeah. Right, fourth, third, whatever it was. Yeah, fourth. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's what you're dealing with with this organization. But anyway, netting it out, if you miss that show on Saturday, he had a lot to say about Adrian Peterson. He had a lot to say about Josh Doxon and a lot of other things.

And a lot about the league this year, including some young quarterbacks playing this year and young quarterbacks in the draft. I would urge you to go back and listen to it from Saturday's podcast. It's the second segment. I think it starts like 15 minutes in, something like that. He's excellent as a guest. He was not excellent as a head coach. You know what he is, though? And Scott McLuhan told me this.

I think Scott McLuhan told both of it. I think he said this to both of us. He said that Jay Gruden, in terms of a talent evaluator, was the best head coach he ever worked. with. He thought Jay was a natural as a talent evaluator. And I asked Jay about that maybe two times ago when he was on and he said, yeah, I think I'm really good at that. I think I do that as well as I do anything else. And I did ask him, I forget if it was on the podcast or in our conversation before it the other day, you know, is that a route that he might want to take? And he definitely wants back

into the league and he said, yeah, I would be very willing to, you know, go down that which would mean probably starting as a scout actually, you know, on some level. And I don't know if you'd be willing to start, you know, as a scout. But I think he feels like he does that very well. And he's already watching a lot of college football and a lot of the college quarterbacks. Anyway, you don't think that they're going to draft a college quarterback because you wrote a column praising Taylor Heineke. And you appear to be all back in on Taylor Heineke. We'll discuss that and what Taylor Heineke did better than anything else on Sunday,

right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, this segment presented by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.ag or MyBooky.com. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will instantly double your first deposit. Why not have twice the amount of money to wager with? I mention all the time this is true. My bookie's

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take the free money from MyBooky and use it as a way to comparison shop on points spreads, on money lines, on prop bet prices, etc. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. at MyBooky. MyBooky can be found at mybooky.ag or mybooky.com. Speaking of gambling, I did mention on the podcast, I think, yesterday, that the smell test did pretty well this weekend. And then I had the 49ers going last night plus the four.

and 8 and O smell test. That's rare to go 8 and O. I mean, I've had a lot of big stretches over the years. You know, 7 in 1 weeks, 11 and 2. I think there was a week like two or three years ago where I was 14 and 1 on a given weekend. But 8 and 0, a perfect 8 and a weekend. And Tommy, I did something that I usually don't do.

After winning all three games on Saturday, the three college games, I just had this feeling that it was starting to turn for me. So not only did I bet all of my picks straight bets, but I put together a little five-team parlay with Washington. Oh, no. Really? With the Saints, with Philadelphia, with the Vikings, and with the 49ers. So I had the first four legs.

I think I mentioned on the podcast yesterday, and I admitted this, it was going to pay if the 49ers hit last night, $4,752 on a five-team parley. You can go back and figure out how much I put on that to generate that. That's for more expertise in this general area. But 4752 is what it was going to pay. I had San Francisco plus four, and I did hedge against it last night. I took the Rams on the money line for the game

because I put myself into a position where, regardless of the result, I was going to win. It was just the degree of how much I would win. So what I did is I bet on the Rams, on the money line, and I was hoping to hit it all, because if the Rams won by a point or two points or three points, it would have, you know, I would have won everything. But they had no chance in the game.

I was right with my initial instinct of the whole world's on the Rams and the 49ers, absolutely. destroyed them. But still, it was a really good weekend. And if you took the picks this weekend, and if you didn't, I can't blame you for not taking the picks. You know, I was 14 games under 500. Now I'm back to four games under 500 after the last two weeks and surging with plenty of season to go. But, um, well, now I know why you bought the animal crackers. You were celebrating. I was celebrating with the animal crackers. Yes. Um, Let me just say one thing about the game last night.

Matt Stafford was terrible. And he is, you know, the quarterback that I wanted them to really go after. And I think, you know, he was an MVP frontrunner just a couple of weeks ago. He has had two bad games in a row. There's no other way to say it. Stafford in his last two games. Here's another way to say it. He's no Taylor Heineke.

Well, we'll get to that. Because I think I still take Matt Stafford. Four picks, seven sacks, and the losses to Tennessee and San Francisco, I think the big takeaway, you know, two of them, how much of trouble are the Rams in after two straight losses? And did we see the 49er team last night that we expected to see? They were playing like it was the Super Bowl. The game last night was the game. It essentially was, if we don't win tonight, the season is over, and all of the expectations before the scene. And by the way, Tommy, there was a lot swirling about Kyle Shanahan.

Well, yeah. Yeah, because, I mean, you know, when you're tagged in genius and you don't have the results to go with the name, people are going to jump on it quick. Yeah, because in his stint in San Francisco, he has one winning season. one. It was the year that they went 13 and 3, and they lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, he is 6-10, 4-12, 6-10, and he's 4-and-5 right now. Now, they have not had a quarterback since he got there. Okay, that's been the biggest issue for them. I mean, Garoppolo is really not that great. Gropolo last night, in a very odd first half, a game. game that the first half, Tommy, was over and an hour in five minutes. The 49ers only had the ball two times in the first half. They went 18 plays, 93 yards, in 11 minutes and three seconds to trump Washington's drive the day before for the longest drive of the year time-wise, 7-0-0 lead,

and then 11 plays 91 yards, 7 minutes and 52 seconds for a 21-7. lead. Two possessions the 49ers had in the first half. That is unbelievable, a half that was over in an hour and five minutes. The game kicked at 8.15 at 920. It was halftime. I don't know what the final numbers were in terms of the final time the game was. I would imagine it was like three and a half hours. But Garapolo was eight for eight in the first half and they were five for five on third down on those two drives. Phenomenal. They blew out the Rams. The Rams looked awful. The 49ers look great. And the 49ers still have some talent on that team.

And they're going to play Jacksonville this weekend. Beware. Beware, because this is the kind of thing that's been happening. You know, everybody's going to assume recent impressions. The 49ers look like they're the team that's going to be on a role. And we shall see they are Sunday in Jacksonville only a six and a half point favorite after that performance. last night. So I can tell you right now, I will probably have Jacksonville in the smell test, and personally for the legal limit on Sunday. It's a weird league. But anyway, that was the game last

night. The 49ers looked the part last night. I just don't know if they've really got the quarterback play. And they've had a lot of injuries this year. And that's really been the issue in the years in which they haven't played well. They just have really been ravaged with injuries. Anyway, let's get to Taylor Heineke. Before you tell everybody what your column was about, which I did read, I put out a Twitter poll this morning, and I said, what exactly did we see on Sunday? What exactly did the Washington football team win over the Buccaneers mean?

Because it happens every Sunday, but I didn't expect this to happen. I played them plus nine and a half, plus ten, and they were in the smell test because the whole world was on Tampa. But I didn't expect them to win the game, Tommy. I was wondering if anybody believes it's the start of a late season run or if the answer is it's the NFL. It's flukish. This happens.

And the answer coming in is what I thought it would be in the way I feel. It's the NFL. Shit happens. And Washington was, you know, among those teams that like Denver two weeks ago, not necessarily Denver Jacksonville two weeks ago. They were the team, the Jets a couple weeks back against Cincinnati. They were the team this week. And they were the team this week in part because Taylor Heineke performed very well.

Tell everybody what you wrote because you are back on the Taylor Heineke train, aren't you? Well, here it is. You know what? I'm on the train, but I'm not driving a locomotive, okay? I mean, I hedged a lot of bets in this column. Basically, the column says, you know, I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Taylor Heineke might be an NFL quarterback, not an NFL backup quarterback, which is what I thought he was all along, but maybe an NFL starter and a good NFL starter.

Now, I mean, I thought his, look, the three games that this team has won this year are all because of Taylor Heineke. I mean, the two-wainly won before this against the Falcons and the Giants, Heineke won those games for them. No doubt. And I think in large part on Sunday, his performance, which was, you know,

I know people will say, well, he had a couple of throws high, you know, he was lucky a couple didn't get picked. I mean, my God. I mean, he was, he was, other than that, he had a fantastic day. touchdown pass was just such a thing of beauty, he just convinced me that, you know, at this point that you really, I think you got to take a step back a little bit.

And because I thought this was what I called an answer game. I mean, he was on the downward spiral slowly, but there was this feeling that time was running out for Taylor Heineke. And I had the feeling that this would be the final nail for him. that, you know, he'd have a bad game against a good, you know, a good Tampa team, and then the coach would say, okay, you know, we've got to make the change. And he must have felt it. I mean, everybody, you know, talked about it.

He must have felt it. And instead, what did he answer with his best game? I mean, when you're facing extinction and you fight back with your best game, performance, that tells me that you might be a little bit special. And I'm not saying that if they get in the draft and they get in a good position and they see the guy that they really like that they shouldn't draft them, or if there's a guy in the trade market that they really like, they shouldn't trade for him, I'm not saying they've got the guy.

I'm saying they might have the guy. And that's not what I thought before. I think you left out a very important part of your column and your description of it. And I think it's what I said to you a few weeks ago. And then Ron Rivera was on with me last week and kind of implied that Kyle Allen could be a move that they make if things don't go well. But remember when I said to you a couple of weeks ago, I said the comment that Rivera made about Heineke's leadership. and, you know, just I had this sense that he really still believes in him. And you wrote that.

You know, you said Rivera, you know, stuck with Heineke, his faith paid off. The faith that he professed after the game about what Heineke is capable of. It would have been easy to make the change and no one would have blamed the coach. He didn't. And now Heineke likely has the rest of the season to convince people that he could be the quarterback of the future for this team. Not that he is, but that he is. could be. And I

look, I think that's why he's still playing right now. I think that they like him. And I think the leadership thing for Ron Rivera when it comes to quarterback is a big effing deal. He talked about it well before ever coaching his first game here.

Dwayne's got to prove to me that he's a leader, which you know, was a tell that he didn't think he was. Joe Gibbs was on telling me, I remember on radio, that Dwayne's got to prove that he has the ability to lead. It's the most important characteristic in a franchise quarterback.

And Joe really, you know, it was as negative about a player as Joe gets without having coached a player. But he was definitely not sure about him. And Rivera thinks that Heineke's connection to his teammates as a leader is an incredible attribute. And by the way, he is a gamer. You know, this is what he does well. Like, this is why I'm convinced he's not going to be out of the league anytime soon. He is an absolute NFL backup because he's the perfect NFL backup. He is absolutely unafraid.

And when he gets in there, his athleticism allows him to make plays. But what did I always say to you about Colt McCoy when your son, Colt, was your favorite quarterback and you loved him? And by the way, Jay talked about Colt. I asked him why I loved Colt so much. So go back and listen to the Saturday show if you haven't. What did I always say to you about Colt McCoy? What did I say? I said he is a what?

Do I have to take a test? I don't remember. Of course you don't. You don't remember anything I say, and I remember everything you said. I always told you, if he starts 16 games, he is a 6 in 10 starting quarterback. And that's exactly what Taylor Heineke is. nothing on Sunday convinced me otherwise. He is right now, just so everybody understands,

he is a 3-and-6 quarterback as a starter. He has now started of their nine games this year, eight of them, and he is 3-5, and then when you go back to the playoff game that he started, he is 3-6. But at 3-5, Tommy, let's take the 3-and-5, double that. What does that make them in the next 8 games? six and ten. That's what he is. He's a six and ten quarterback. He's Colt McCoy. And I think that means he will be a backup for many years. I do not think that anybody in that organization really does believe that Taylor Heineke is the future starter in this program. I think they like him a lot. And I think he will be the backup quarterback for somebody else. And if they draft somebody young and that's the route they take.

take, which may be the only route they can take, he may start the beginning of next year until that young quarterback is ready. But I do not think he is a starting quarterback for 17 games for any franchise in this league. Look, I'm not saying you're wrong here. Again, I'm not saying he definitely can. But I was in the dismissal camp before, dismiss the possibility. now I'm not. Now I'm willing to consider that he might be the guy. What would he have to do this year to convince you?

Let's come up with a test. Let's come up with a reasonable goal that he would have to achieve for you to consider him. Can I do something first before I answer that question? because this is a very positive look back on Sunday. Because I did go back and watch the game again, which I haven't done in the last few weeks because they were shitty games to go back and watch again. And I'm just going to tell you he was phenomenal on the final drive. The drive of the year, all right, 18 plays, 19 plays, 80 yards, 10 minutes, and 26 seconds.

They never let the Puccaneers who had all the momentum even get the ball back. And he did it under pressure against the Blitz consistently. I went back and I looked at that final drive. First of all, he faced a lot of blitzes all day long. Third and two, blitz, five-man pressure he scrambles for the first down. Third and four versus the blitz. Here they come with six. He throws to Humphreys for five yards on that little out pattern.

Great throw, threw it kind of off his back foot. Second and 11, here comes the Blitz, and he throws it off his back foot again, very anticipatory to Gibson to set up third and five. And then third and five against the blitz, he throws that ball to Terry McLaren, and McLaurin takes the big hit. You know, he was perfect on the final drive with the game on the line. It was the best game for Taylor Heineke. And I say that, knowing that he had a higher QBR and a higher,

passer rating, you know, in the playoff game last year. You know, I think the PFF guys, for whatever it's worth, said that his playoff game last year against the Buccaneers was the best overall quarterbacked game of the postseason. And he was really good in that game. Okay, he really was. But as we heard leading up to this week, the Buccaneers had no idea he was going to play. They never prepared for Taylor Heineke. They were preparing for Alex Smith. And Washington did a great job, by the way, of making Tampa believe that it was going to be Alex Smith, because Alex had just quarterbacked the win over Philadelphia to clinch the playoffs. Right.

They had a whole two weeks to prepare for Taylor Heineke, and it's a very good defense. They were missing some players, but it's a very good defense. And he went 26 to 32 for 256 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions. And in the game, he constantly faced X-Seption. man pressures. I thought the O-line did a decent job early. I think it really struggled to hold up late. But he took five sacks, and I would bet two to three of those sacks were on him for holding onto the ball. He had a couple another, you know, he had two or three other balls in the game,

which are Taylor Heineke throws that should have been intercepted. There's somebody that keeps a stat called Interceptible Balls Thrown. And a few weeks back, Heineke was like second or third in the league with interceptable balls thrown. And I think we've seen that a lot of this year. He had one ball that should have been picked that bounced off the defender right into the hands of Deontre Carter on Sunday. So he had six incompletions. He had some drops. You know, we had a drop by Terry McCorn. We had a drop by Ricky Seals Jones early in the game. And then we had some defenders drop them as well. That was the best game, though, that Taylor Heinekees played. And he really delivered on that final drive. And I also want to acknowledge, not that I'm changing my mind,

but I'm going to answer your question here in a moment, that they haven't had some key pieces. I think Logan Thomas would have been a key piece for him over the last several weeks. And I want to acknowledge that they've done something against three good defenses in a row consistently, and that is move the football. A lot of people say, well, what the hell does that mean if they don't score. Well, you want them to score. But would you rather them not move the football and not score? Because the only way you can score on offense is to move the football. And they've moved the football against Green Bay, Denver, and Tampa in a row, three good defenses. In these three games, he's made mistakes, some big mistakes, but he's completing over 70% of his passes

and he has played well. He's taken some sacks. He's thrown some picks, but he's played really well. He has not been the issue. I don't think he's even been the number one issue. Maybe the Denver game, a couple of the big mistakes. He's been on the list of reasons they've lost games, but the defense coming into Sunday's game was the number one reason they had six losses.

By the way, the defense played well, exceptionally well. Sunday, too. Yes, they did. Now, to answer your question, what would he have to do? There isn't anything he can do. Because he's not all of a sudden going to be a much more strong-armed, accurate, really, look, accuracy, throwing with anticipation consistently, can overcome, you know, not having the strongest arm in the league.

I don't think he's got NFL starting arm strength. I think there's a difference between, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, not being one of the strongest armed guys, and then also being a guy like him, I think, that really struggles to make some of the throws that you have to make as an NFL quarterback. I think he is, I've talked about this from the beginning. I think his accuracy is inconsistent. I think his decision making can be inconsistent. You would think that he could learn to become a better decision maker.

He made some really good decisions on Sunday. What he is really good at is he is an elite athlete for the position, and he really is a gamer. And he's got this ability to make plays off schedule that I've loved from the jump. I don't think that is starter, 17 game, franchise quarterback worthy. I don't even think it's bottom third of the league for a team that's going nowhere. I think he's a backup. By the way, it's quite a compliment to a guy. that was available on the scrap heap, you know, taking classes at Old Dominion a year ago right now.

I mean, wasn't even a thought to ever play a game. I mean, one thing I would say, I think your exact, I think his decision-making is pretty good. I don't think it's a detriment. I think his decision-making is good. And to say, well, I mean, what happens to they go five and four? What happens if they go five and four the rest of the year? The only chance they've got to go five and four is if the day, defense has a major turnaround.

What have they played like they did on Sunday? They played well defensively on Sunday. Yes, they did. They did. They did play well defensively. First game. Yards after catch, they were very tough on. Oh, they tackled well. Very tough on that.

They really tackled. Yes, they did. By the way, let me just mention, in going back and watching the game, one of the things I noticed, there were a lot of five-man fronts. They were back to a lot of five-man fronts with five-man fronts. defensive linemen. They also, you know, dialed up some stuff. I think Del Rio had this idea of putting Brady into an immediate checkdown situation, and they dropped some of those checkdowns, you know, early on. The interception by Jackson was really a drop by Darden. I mean, it was right

in his hands. Fournette had a drop or two as well. Look, Sunday's game, Tommy, Washington played well and the Bucks didn't. It's not that much harder than that. The Bucks didn't play well at all. They played shitty for them. It was a shitty game, and they were missing big pieces on offense and defense during the game. But Washington was, too. You know, it's not like Washington was starting the guy they thought was going to start the season. No, I don't.

I mean, if you tell me that they run the table, and Taylor Heineke has an MVP second half of the season, and they win two playoff games, well, of course, I'll change my mind. Well, that's up. I'm saying they win five out of their final nine games. I, no, I don't see it. I don't, so, so they win five out of their final nine games, and they go eight and nine. Who knows that, if that happened, by the way, they've only got eight games. So five out of their final eight, well, including Tampa, I guess you're saying.

So if they were to get to, if they were, if they were to win, five of their final nine, which puts them at seven and ten, that would be exactly the kind of quarterback that I would think he is. That's the kind of starting quarterback that I think Taylor Heineke is, seven and ten. So if they... You've got to have a bigger vision. They go five and four. I have a big vision when it comes to quarterbacks.

You have to have a bigger vision than recognizing a quarterback's 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, started at 28 years old. as opposed to his second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth start. Yeah, at 28 years old. He's not 22. He's not 23. But it happens. It's happened than this league before.

Yes, with guys with much more natural ability than him, much more. You're talking about Tony Romo and Kurt Warner. I mean, look, Rich Gannon's another guy, I might want to point out. There are late bloomers in this league all the time. Right. There are not many a quarterback in terms of being completely out of the league and not having your first opportunity until you're 28 years old. There are late bloomers in other situations when they've been in the league.

But look, could everybody have made a mistake? Yeah, but I think we would have seen obvious reasons at this point. even 10 starts into his career as to why people made a mistake. And I haven't seen obvious reasons as to why people, you know, didn't give him more of a chance. I see a lot of reasons that makes sense as to why he didn't get a chance. Now, I think where they missed on this kid is that he really is a competitive gamer and a very high-level athlete. This is what he really is more than anything else. He's a high-level athlete at the position.

He is fast, you know, and I'd like to see, and I think Scott Turner is doing a good job. I personally would like to see much more of Taylor Heineke presented as a consistent run threat with a lot of the college read-option stuff as a part of the offense, but for whatever reason they don't want to make it a part of the offense. I don't know why, because I think he'd be phenomenal at that. and you could say, well, he hasn't occurred to Samuel, he hasn't had Logan Thomas, Terry McClorn and Gibson have been banged up, and maybe they would have had better results in some of these games. Maybe.

I'm just telling you what I think right now. I get that. Look, I'm not telling you he is the guy. I just think based on what we thought, no, no, I send the calm. if they're in a position to draft a guy that they love, they should draft them. And if they're in a position to trade for a veteran who they think can take them, you know, right away without, you know, like a Matt Ryan type situation, then they should trade for, you know. But I think you've got to say that this guy has the rest of the season to convince you that he may be the guy.

I think you've got to give them that. I do? Why do I have to do that? I'm asking you seriously. Well, because I think it's very close-minded not to. I mean, you know, you've talked yourself into, he's limited. After I was very open-minded. I mean, I was very open-minded after the playoff game. I was very open-minded through the first five games of this year.

I think it was after the Green Bay game that I came in and said, all right, I'm here. I've arrived with. a real opinion now on Taylor Heineke, because I was open-minded, and I wanted to see signs that I thought were indicative of a guy that could be a starting quarterback. I'm talking about a starting franchise quarterback in the league, because that's what they need on this team. They're never, ever going to win anything, Surgeon General's warning, unless they totally

find the elite franchise quarterback as long as that numbskull Snyder, and his wife on the team. By the way, do you see the picture of him with, you know, a general? There were seven generals and admirals at the game on Sunday, and he's dressed like a radio announcer. He's dressed like a radio talk show host. And like he had the military thing on, but it was like the same look he gave with the Sean Taylor pictures with the family.

I mean, that general had to be looking at him going, my God. I mean, Jason Wright's dressed in a suit. Julie's dressed appropriately. there's the owner basically in another hoodie. It was the military garb hoodie for military appreciation day, but still, whatever. Let me just piggyback on that real quick. Let me just piggyback on that real quick.

The first week that the team put out, they talked about their salute to service week in honor of Americans, heroes of America's armed forces, very noble, very noble effort by the team. But at the end of it, they put in about Washington's salute. Okay, that was the headline. Under the leadership of owner Dan Snyder, the Washington football team created Washington Salute. This is the only thing I've seen this team take credit for by the owner. So it's the owner said, in this press release, the team said, this is the owner right here. You know, the losing off the field, the losing, the embarrassments and stuff, that's not the owner.

This is the owner. Right, right. You know, he'll take credit for this. I thought that was, well, just another lame effort by the team. Taylor Heineke, you probably are right. I just think there's a possibility you might not be. Okay. Look, I mean, I think what Sunday did was it validated Ron Rivera's,

you know, feeling that we don't need to go to Kyle Allen right now. And they like a lot about him. I think there's a really good chance that Taylor Heineke could be a Colt McCoy kind of backup here for several years. If they have to go the route of a young quarterback, which should be their priority, as long as they love somebody in this upcoming draft, you know, it's possible that Heineke is a starter for a game or two. And look, I don't know. Is he ever going to be, you know, accuracy, look, you always say this. I'm going on what people who I trust say, because they know more than I do. Mike Shanahan has told me forever.

You don't really improve accuracy if you don't have that, and you don't really improve significantly enough throwing with great anticipation. I don't think he does either one of those two things. at a high NFL level. And on top of that, I think he's got subpar arm strength. Now, we've seen guys with, you know, average arm strength be super successful, you know? Yeah. But it's because they're super accurate and they are guys that throw people open.

They throw with great anticipation. And I don't think that those are strengths of this quarterback. At the same time, the game has evolved where quarterback dual threat quarterbacks are, you know, having great success. And I'd like to see them, you know, try to see what he is as more of a dual threat quarterback on not just designed runs, but option runs, which we don't see a lot with them. I mean, we've seen barely any read option style runs. His runs are scrambles.

You know, they're dropbacks and scrambles. You know, I think Scott's doing a much better job of running. more play action and more rollout and boot off of play action, getting them out onto the edges. They did that a couple of times the other day. I'd like to see some read option. They've got a good back for that too in Gibson. And I also think it will really help them with pass protection. And the offensive line's been the pleasant surprise of the year.

But I think if he's posed more and is effective more as a runner, not just a scrambler, I think it'll help them with, you know, his ability to throw to more wide open windows. That was the key with Griffin in 2012. You know, everybody always talked about, you know, oh, this read option thing, and nobody even knew what they were talking about. They were calling it the Wildcat and the, you know, the wish phone and all that stuff. It's going to get him killed and defenses are going to figure it out. Well, of course, you know, here we are almost 10 years later. And, you know, nobody's figured it out because what it is is what Shanahan told me from day one.

there's no other offense that allows you to go 11 on 11. That's why it's always going to be a part of the game and why it's always going to be advantageous to have a quarterback that you can put in these positions, even if it's just sort of a portion of the offense. But the underrated part of zone read slash read option football is how great it is as a play action passing game and how protected, more protected you are as a thrower. I mean, remember Griffin on that mesh handoff with. with Alf and, you know, the drift route to Pierre.

I mean, he was never touched on those plays because everybody was holding to think, is he going to keep it? Does Morris have it? You know, and I'd like to see more of that. For whatever reason, Scott Turner does not have that as part of their scheme. I think that would help him a lot because I think it would leverage what I think his greatest natural ability is, and that is as an athlete. It would also lessen the pressure of teams coming into Plitsom.

No doubt. Well, again, it's the underrated part of Reed Option football, when you have a real quarterback that puts the defense in conflict as a potential runner, is it becomes really good play action, offense, and very good with your pass protection because you're holding up defenses wondering who the hell has the ball and what they're doing. But anyway, I don't know. Look, he could go to Carolina. They're a really good defensive football team.

And he could throw three picks, and, you know, your column on Tuesday of next week is going to say, well, it'll never say I was wrong, but it would suggest that maybe you jumped into it a little bit too quickly. Let me just point out that my column about Tara Heineke says I might be wrong. I know. I know. That's a... Okay, so don't be saying. Well... I say I'm wrong when I'm wrong because they're worth noting because they're few and far in between.

What does he have to do for you to convince you the rest of the way that he is worth bringing back as the starter next year? He's coming back anyways under contract, but what does he need to do for you? I'll tell you what. I just gave you the number four. They got to win five of the last eight games. So it's just about when.

Well, for you it is. You could say he's a six and ten quarterback. Yeah, I understand that. But what I mean is that's what his ability will lead you to in a perfect circumstance. Yes. But what if the – and I'm saying – yeah. I'm saying this team is not very good. No, it's not. And if they went five of their last eight games, they will have overachieved in the final eight games. And like since the other three wins came because of the quarterback, I would think most of the next five, if they get those, would come because of the quarterback.

I think that that's the quarterback and the offense, yes. I think that's probably right. I mean, yeah, I mean, defensively, they're going to play a weak offensive team this week, although we're going to see Cam. Yes. It looks like they're going to start Cam. That's going to be fun. You know, I was always a Cam Newton fan.

Most of you know that, but I was not in favor of them signing Cam. last off season. I thought he was terrible in New England and looked completely done. Now, Brendan suggested to me this morning, my producer on the radio show, that Cam was struggling with COVID, you know, fogginess and side effects, you know, long haul stuff all season long, because he started the season very strong, then he got COVID, and, you know, he wasn't the same player after that. And I do remember that game against Seattle on a Sunday night. He was phenomenal early in that year with the Patriots last year. It'll be interesting.

It was my favorite highlight of the weekend when he scored and he ripped his helmet off and started screaming, I'm back! I'm back! And he took the 15-yard penalty. And it looks so natural just to see him back in that Panthers uniform with the number one on. You know, it really is one of the most intriguing Sunday matchups

all of a sudden with Cam. And Carolina right now, holding down the seven spot, you know, in the playoff race as well, you know. And let me just say, I don't think Washington's going to make the postseason. I don't think they're going to have games at the end of the year that will be truly meaningful other than sort of long-shot mathematical. But if they beat Carolina Sunday, and they're a three-point underdog in the game, if they beat Carolina Sunday to go to four and six, and then all of a sudden you're like,

well, they have the tiebreaker over Carolina? for a wild card. Then all of a sudden that Seattle game, and you will see what Russell Wilson looks like this coming week because he looked horrible on Sunday against Green Bay. All of a sudden, that game looks more winnable because of injuries. And then all of a sudden, you know, the Raiders haven't been the same team since losing their coach

and losing the speedy receiver and rugs. and all the sudden that game looks to winnable. So, yeah. Let's not get nuts here. I mean, I think it's a long shot that they'll win five of their last eight. Yeah. But if they do, it'll likely be because of Taylor Heineke. I think if they were to win five of their final eight and end up nine and eight,

they would get a playoff spot, A. B, it would be primarily because Heineke played really well. or a quarterback played really well. And it would also be a tremendous, tremendous notch in the cap of the head coach, if that happens. But it would also put them farther away from getting what you think is the franchise quarterback at some point in the draft. Yeah, but I'm never the person at the end of the year if you've got a chance to make the postseason that says you don't go for it. And I guarantee you that Ron Rivera isn't that person either. I know that.

I know that. But it's not like they've learned a lot from last year's playoff run. It doesn't look like. Well, no. Well, I don't know. Well, we'll see. You know what? Actually, actually, if they did learn something from it,

it might be sort of reflected in these final eight games. Yes. Yes. We will see how much they learn based on if they can replicate the same pass there. I think, and I don't know if I said this yesterday, I think the playoff race is fascinating in both conferences right now. There are so many teams legitimately in the hunt for playoff spots. And some teams look like good teams that are in the hunt.

Some teams look like bad teams, but they're in the hunt more than just mathematically. And then, you know, and like in the NFC, if you just take the NFC as the example. Right now, you know, after the Rams lost last night, they're the 5C. and they're seven and three, and they're not playing well right now. The Saints are banged up. They're not playing well. They're five and four. They're the six seed.

And I don't think anybody believes in Carolina. They're five and five. They're a seven seed. Now, I believe in Carolina's defense. I don't know what they're going to look like with Cam. I think that Minnesota is actually the best of the teams that are vying for those spots right now. They're the only team in the league in nine games that have had a seven-point lead or more in every single game. They have lost so many heartbreakers, and the kicker obviously heard them and other things.

I actually still, even though they got absolutely bum rushed on Sunday, I still wouldn't count Matt Ryan out and the Falcons. And the 49ers were interesting last night, but the team, if I didn't mention this on the podcast, that I would keep an eye on. And part of this is because, yes, it was my single biggest prop bet before this season started. Philadelphia over seven wins plus 120. I also had a big prop bet on Dallas over nine and a half and Washington under eight and a half. Those were my three biggest prop bets in the beginning of the season. The Eagles are playing really well right now. Yes, they are.

And they have the Giants twice, Washington twice, and the Jets. And the game Sunday against the Saints in Philly, their favorite. now to win that game. And the other game on their schedule that looks daunting is the final game of the year in Philly against Dallas when Dallas may have nothing to play for. I think they're the team right now that has a really good chance to win their 4 and 6

to win of their final 7 games. They've got a very late buy in week 14. Of their final 7 games, I think they've got a very good chance to go 4 and 3 or better and be an 8 and 9 or 9 and 8 team and snag a wild card spot. There you go. Okay.

Anything else? I mean, we're going to get to the Wizards and we're going to get to Sam Huff. I want you to weigh in on Sam Huff. Okay. No, that's it for now. All right. We'll do the Wizards and Sam Huff right after these words from a few of our sponsors. The Washington Wizards are 10 and 3.

They've won five games in a row. They came from 19 down last. night against the New Orleans Pelicans and one by five. I think I mentioned on the podcast yesterday that I thought it was a stinko point spread. The Wizards were only four point favorites against a two and 12 team last night. I did bet the Pelicans and I lost. It was a happiness hedge wager last night, hoping that the Wizards would win by less than four. And they almost did win by less than four, but they won by five.

And I'm happy for that too because I am a big fan of this team. And I thought that they won a game last night that actually is the most significant win of the year for them. And this is why. No Bradley Beal for the second night in a row, Tommy. And they were off last night in the first half. This was a total set up game. They're down 19 early in the first half. They're down 18 at the break.

And they're not playing well. 17 at the break, I think it was 58-41. They're not playing well. Brandon Ingram's back for the Pelicans. He's playing well. And the second half, they had a group of guys. This is a team, by the way, in years past that would have just gone meekly into the night. And they would have lost the game 110 to 89.

And it would have been one of those losses where you look back and you're like, are you serious? You guys lost in New Orleans at home. There were a lot of those teams that were good teams. that were good teams in the last, you know, eight years that were decent playoff teams that lost those games all the time. I think it was very significant that they came from all, all the way back, without their best player and won that game last night. And they won it with defense. They won it with defense. And I've said, I'm not convinced yet that they're like a great

defensive team. And I'm still not convinced because New Orleans isn't a great offensive team necessarily. They're not a good team. But they did it with defense. And one of my favorite players last night in the game was Denny Avdia. Their first round pick from 2020 was outstanding on defense last night. And he has been outstanding on defense a few times this year. 11 points, 10 rebounds, great defense by Avdia. Dinwiddie did a phenomenal job last night. God, he is, you know, John Wall was a lot of things.

a super, you know, high-level decision-maker. He and Westbrook, not so much all the time. Dinwiddie, high-high- IQ basketball player. I love watching him play. I love the fact that he doesn't need to score to have a big impact on the game, but last night, without being on the lineup, he needed to score. He got 27. Kuzma with another big three, and KCP was.

some big threes last night. Really good win for the Wizards. First of all, on defense, they don't have to be a great defensive team. They just have to want to play defense. Okay? And that automatically makes them better than what they've been. I mean, look, it's all about skill,

but there is with defense, there's a certain level of passion and desire involved. And you've got a coach that's determined to emphasize it. So that automatically puts them ahead of the game from previous wizard teams. And I think you've got to, you've got to keep repeating to yourself. They don't have Hachamura. They're doing this. I know.

I don't know. When he comes back, I don't know exactly, you know, how he'll fit into the flow. But, I mean, at the end of the season, I mean, you said they didn't have their best player in Beal. You could argue they didn't have their top two players because Hachamara hasn't been their all year for them. Right. I know. I mean, Hachamura was thought to be the guy that would be their second best player and a budding high-level NBA player, if not a potential star.

I mean, you know, people were saying to me, your favorite player is Kauai Leonard. Don't you see a lot of Kauai Leonard and Rui Hachamura? I don't see that necessarily. But what I have been pleasantly surprised with is how good he is, because there were a lot of players in that draft that I thought made more sense than Hachamura. And I was a little bit skeptical, if you recall, Tommy, about the drafting of Hachemura, because I thought it was a TED marketing thing, you know, in terms of, you know, being, you know, super popular in Asia, you know, with Rui Hachamur on the team. Look, he deserved to be a first rounder.

I liked his teammate, Brandon Clark, at Gonzaga Moore, and Clark's had a good start to his career. By the way, still, we don't know what this Hachamur thing is. I had Wes Unsell Jr. on the radio show Friday, and I asked him, I said, we don't know what this thing is. Like, you know, what is going on? And he said, it's personal. And I thought that was going to be his answer. We don't know why Hachamura left the team,

why it's taking him so long to get back into shape, they have said. Did he have COVID? Did he have a bad case of COVID? Is it, you know, in this day and age, you think about mental health stuff? It could have been family related that had nothing to do with him or his health. Who the hell knows? it's a weird situation. There's nothing. It really is. It is strange.

Nothing's been leaked on this. Nothing. I give them credit because if it's a really highly sensitive situation, you know, I'm hoping for the best for him too. But it is strange that in this day and age, we don't have any reason why yet, why Rui Hachamura has not played in a single game. And by the way, they intimated last weekend, Unsell Jr. did the same with me that it's not like right around the corner. he's going to be available. Yeah. So. I guess they don't, they don't owe us an answer.

If it is something personal. Well, if it is something super highly sensitive and personal, they don't owe us an answer. They owe protecting him. And his privacy is number one. I did want to mention to you that the NB, ESPN, you know, every week does their power rankings. They do it for every sport. You know, they've got a column every week on their power. rankings, NBA power rankings, NFL power rankings, NHL, MLB. Well, I opened up the story for the NBA

power rankings because I was just curious as to where the Wizards would be. And I thought, they might be, you know, they might be in the top 10. I mean, this is a, this is a column, Tommy, as an NBA fan that I would open up for years where the Wizards were always in the 20s. They're only 30 teams in the NBA, so you could be 30, and they've been 30 a couple times, are pretty close to the bottom. So the number one team in the latest ESPN power rankings, Golden State, they're off to a great start. Brooklyn's number two, Phoenix last year's NBA runner-ups number three,

and the Washington Wizards in the NBA power rankings, the fourth best team in the NBA, the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Wow. That's amazing. It really is. I mean, just because, just because, just, because 13 games into the season they've got the best record doesn't mean you have to put them there if you don't believe that they're there.

I still look at the east and I think of Miami, Milwaukee, Brooklyn. I mean, Atlanta, I think. They're off to a rough start just like what Milwaukee is. You know, the Sixers, depending on really, but there's some new teams here, the Wizards, the Wizards, Bulls, the Knicks are having a good season. The cabs as young as they are are off to a good start. It's a wild Eastern conference. And Washington's right there. By the way, one other quick comment about the game last night because that crowd was definitely into it. It was coming through the television screen last night. And I love that. God, you know how many years I've said, this is your number two if

they're ever good. And there were years where you pushed back and said, well, they didn't sell out the game, and you were right. Remember one of those playoff games against Indiana or Chicago, I forget, and they didn't sell out a game six at home? And I'm like, you must be right. Now, we found out afterwards that basically the tickets, prices on the aftermarket were outrageous. The seventh in deciding game against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, I believe is this, you know, in recent years over the last 10 years, the highest rated local sports television sports cast next to, you know, after all the football games. I think it outrated the World Series 7th game and all of the Caps playoff games.

I think so. It may not have outrated the 7th game of the World Series, but I do think there's a huge market for this. I am curious to see what happens if they continue to win. They've got a tough schedule, though, ahead of them right now. but I hope it catches on and I hope they become, I hope this is real. I think it'd be a lot of fun. Yeah.

So do I. I think it'd be a lot of fun for everybody in this town if it was. Yeah, it'd be nice to have, I know the Caps, by the way, and most of you know, I'm not a hockey guy. I'm not a big fan one way or the other, but they're on a roll too. They've won four games in a row. Vetchkin's having an amazing season. They're tied for first in the Metropolitan. and they're playing great.

But to me, it seems like the caps are always good. You know what I mean? Like it's been, it just seems like the caps are always good with Ovechkin, and that we're going to get to a playoff series. And, you know, other than that run that they had, more likely than not, it's going to end in disappointment. But anyway, tell me about Sam Huff, because I talked about him yesterday.

Well, you know, one of the things about our jobs is we get to know people that if we were fans still, we used to think, wow, how cool would it be to talk to this person or that person? And Sam Huff was always one of them. You know, I got to know Sam, you know, in my early days of covering Washington football, particularly on the road where we, you know,

have some long discussions in a dining room at visiting teams. And I really enjoyed hearing a story. He's a great storyteller. And fortunately for me, he told some of those stories for the book I wrote, Hale Victory, a few years ago. And I just think that his life, and which I pointed this out in the column I wrote, he came from a West Virginia whole mining camp not even a town

they called them camps like the smaller than the town there were camps that were set up and he was born in a mining camp that doesn't exist anymore and he became a star in two of the biggest cities in the world New York and Washington

that's a long way to go for a kid from West from West Virginia. It really is. I mean, in New York, he was the face of the Giants. He was one of the players that put the NFL

on the road to where they are now, made the transition from being an afterthought to being on the, you know, a high-profile sport. Sam Huff was one of those guys with the Giants. And here in Washington,

where he finished his playing career, He created this whole second career for himself as one of the voices of the team, you know, Sonny, Sam, and Frank. And I just thought he was one of the icons of this organization for a guy who didn't play most of this time in Washington. I think that's a remarkable achievement. Real quickly, is a mining camp what I envision it to be like a bunch of tents set up? In mine? It's more like a company town. A company town?

I don't think. Okay. Yeah, they had houses. Okay. You know, but like Sam said in his book, they lived on an old dirt road and a real house owned by the mine. It didn't have running water. There was a community pump outside for water and an outhouse about 50 yards away. Wow.

Wow. That's where he came from. So you mentioned something that I mentioned yesterday, and that is, you know, Sam Huff's is a Hall of Famer because of what he did as a giant. That's why he's a Hall of Famer. And I mentioned yesterday that, you know, I've got friends who are New Yorkers or, you know, they're from Connecticut or Jersey and they're big giant fans. And I can remember on two different occasions being at events where the fathers of friends of mine came up to me and said, I understand that you do sports and for the Redskins radio network. Have you gotten to know Sam Huff?

And I said, well, not really gotten to know him, but I do, you know, I do event. We do events. Remember how you and I would sometimes emce some of these events with Sonny and Sam? And they were always so much fun. And obviously I had him and Sonny on every week on the pregame show for years. And what I learned in some of these conversations is just what a legend he is to New York giant fans and especially giant fans of a certain age. Huff is for a lot of guys of a certain age, he is their guy as giant fans. You know, it's not Sims, it's not Bavaro, it's not Joe Morris, it's not L.T.

If you're of a certain age, Sam Huff was their guy. This was the star linebacker in the league. And he was a New York giant. And so that part, I think a lot of Washington people, you know, they see, you know, Sam Huff's, you know, Sam Huff is in the ring of fame and Sam Huff's a broadcaster. But Sam Huff was a New York giant. He played for the skins for four years and then came back with Lombardi. But his productive all pro years and where he made his legend in a big,

championship games that he played in were in New York. I mean, he played in the 58 NFL championship game, which is the game that most people credit for jump-starting the popularity of the NFL, the United States, you know, Amici game, overtime, first nationally televised NFL game of all time. I also wanted to mention something because I don't think I've told you this before. Maybe I have. My father-in-law called me yesterday because he heard that Sam Huff had passed. away. And my father-in-law worked for Marriott for many, many years. And he knew Sam well because

Sam worked at Marriott. When Sam retired from the league, Sam went to work for Marriott. And my father-in-law has told me these stories before. And I remember saying to Sam, one of those days, Tommy, where it was like a Thursday night game or a Sunday night game and, you know, how sunny in particular, you could just sit there and talk, you know, before me, before my pregame show, sit there in the booth or right outside of it as he smoked a cigar and just talk about different things. And by the way, the great privilege, I mean, it was a privilege for sure, and it was a thrill for someone like me. But the great thing about both of them is they listened to our show, you know, and they would tell

us, Sonny especially would tell me that he listened to our show in particular all the time. Anyway, but I had mentioned to Sam once my father-in-law, oh, my God, I know your father, father-in-law well. And my father-in-law was upset the other day. He said Sam was such a great guy and that he was a great storyteller. And he, you know, my father-in-law and mother-in-law were good friends with him and his wife. And my father-in-law, who ran the restaurant division for Marriott for many years in the 70s into like the early 80s, well, Sam was, you know, a big part of getting NFL teams to stay in Marriots. That was a big part of his job.

My father-in-law said, I said, was he, you know, what was he like? And he said he was great. His job primarily was to go out and make sure that NFL teams and just teams in general and sports were staying in Marriots. And he did a phenomenal job at it. But, yeah, the New York thing, I don't think everybody in Washington, unless you are of a certain age, understand. that this was a big, big deal in New York over the weekend.

And John Mera's statement in many ways was, I thought, better and more affectionate and more personal than the statement put out by this team. But whatever. Oh, yeah, I think it was. John Meyer said he was the heart and soul of our defense in his era. And a lot of people think that the defense, defense chance started, with Giants fans in New York because that defense with Andy Rubestelli

and Sam Huff and guys like that was the key to those championship teams for the Giants. So, yeah, I mean, if you want to read my column, there's a lot of good, there's a couple of good Sam Huff stories in there. You can find it on Twitter

or on my Facebook page as well. There's one in particular with Pete Jett and the Dallas Cowboys, that's always one of my favorite. And you can find that in the column as well. Two quick things to end the show with. Justin Fuente fired. We have a lot of people who are Virginia Tech listeners or Virginia Tech fans. Justin Fuente fired by Virginia Tech after six years.

I think that's a good job. But, man, the college football landscape with the jobs available. SC, if Franklin takes that job, Penn State becomes available, the LSU jobs available, Virginia Tech's available. By the way, I've heard some rumors that Matt Rule, the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, who Washington plays this weekend, who I think is a very good coach. He's a Penn State alum that he, you know, there's some rumors flying around that he misses the college game. So the Penn State job could be perfect for him to leave the NFL after two years.

We'll see what happens. And then the last thing that I wanted to mention is there's a story that just broke. Duke basketball player Michael Savarino faces DWI charges along with Palo Bancaro. Now, Paulo Bancaro is the number one freshman in America. He has already been pretty much penciled in is the number one pick in next year's NBA draft. Michael Savarino is a guard who plays for Duke, and he is the grandson of Mike Shoshowski. So Savarino, who probably gets no time, I'm not really following Duke, and the star player, Paolo Bancaro, faced DWI-related charges after Savarino's arrest early Sunday morning.

According to court records obtained by the Raleigh News and Observer, Savarino was arrested on DWI charges, and Bancaro was charged with aiding and abetting DWI. So anyway. Well, you know what they say, you could pick your friends, but you can't pick your family. Yeah. All right, you got anything else? I got nothing else for you, boss.

It was great talking to you, buddy. We didn't mention that Chey Shung is officially out for the year. Okay. And that Ron Rivera, for whatever reason, wouldn't say what the injury was, calling it a leg injury. Now, I understand if you come out and say, There's no definitive word as to how long he's going to be out. He's got a leg injury.

But when you say and you confirm that he's out for the year, why is it a big deal to reveal what the injury was? By the way, all the beat reporters are reporting that it's a torn ACL. I don't know why that would be such a big deal. I don't know. I don't know, but it smells like all in for week one, second edition. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't.

Okay. We'll see. Jesus. We'll see. All right. Tommy will be back. I smell a Nike documentary coming this way. Tommy will be back on Thursday. Doc Walker will be with me on the podcast tomorrow.

Have a great day.