The Kevin Sheehan Show - No Luck Punishment

Episode Date: May 22, 2023

Kevin opened with the news that the Commanders won't be punished for tampering with Andrew Luck. Kevin also talked about Sam Howell's low ranking on Chris Simms' Top 40 QB list. Some golf, Nats, and NBA in the open as well before Barry Svrluga/Washington Post jumped on to talk about the sale of the team, what's next with Josh Harris, and Brooks Koepka's win at the PGA. Then it was Neil in Rockville with an explanation of why Brian Davis is suing Bank of America for $500 Billion!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. That's a 15th. A fairy tale story. Well, that was movie-esque.

That was Hollywood-esque. The hole-in-one by Michael Block, the 46-year-old head pro at a public golf club in Mission Viejo, California, drilled a hole in one in the final round. of the PGA Championship yesterday. On the back nine, a number 15, a 151-yard par three. His story all weekend was documented. Not only was he going to be the low club pro club pros play in the PGA event. He was the only one that made the cut.

And then he wasn't, you know, at the top of the leaderboard, but was in the top 10 to 15 range all weekend long, finished in the top 15, his spot next year at Valhalla, where the PGA championship will be contested. And he also was getting a wild card this coming week into the Charles Schwab challenge due to the incredible name that he made for himself in the top 15 finish. But that hole in one was incredible. And then his up and down at 18 was crazy as well. Really good story.

and by all accounts, a hell of a guy. Brooks Kepka won the PGA Championship, and that was a big story in its own right. Kepka, on his way off the course yesterday, ran into Block and said, I hear you're buying anytime you have a hole in one. I've never had one. It is your responsibility to pick up the tab

for all the drinks in the bar. But what a story Michael Block was this weekend. and Brooks Kepka winning the PGA championship, his fifth major, now in the top 20 of all-time majors. What a story, Brooks Kepka and this comeback has been off of the injury that he had. We will talk about Brooks Kepka and the PGA a little bit with Barry's Verluga, who will be on the show today. He's coming up in the next segment. Lots on the Washington football team. and new ownership and the current state of the sale process, etc.

Barry's Verluga up next. And then Neil and Rockville, one of our legal contributors on the show along with Howard Gutman, he'll join us to talk about this $500 billion lawsuit from Brian Davis, brought by Brian Davis against Bank of America. I remember Brian Davis was one of those names that was out there. He did a radio appearance with the junkies on 1067 the fan, apparently ready to plop down $7 billion for the team. Didn't work out for him, and now he is suing Bank of America.

I'll be honest with you. I'm not really familiar with the details of this lawsuit, which is why I asked Neil and Rockville to jump on with us because I thought Neil could help us a bit. Speaking of the football team, it was reported last night that Washington is unlikely to be penalized for the Andrew Luck tampering allegation. Remember in the story that Kime wrote, there was some suggestion that in the process of crossing all T's and dotting all eyes and their quarterback search last off season that they may have reached out to Andrew Luck illegally based on league rules and it could have been a tampering thing. And Jim Ursay said he wanted the league to look into it. Well, the post, Mark Maskey, Nikki Javala, both reporting that the commanders are unlikely.

to face any penalties stemming from those allegations involving Andrew Luck. So that's good news. They're not going to, Dan Snyder is not going to leave us with a parting gift of like two draft choices docked from the 2024 draft. It doesn't look like that will happen. And I think, you know, John Kime really kind of came clean with, you know, the idea that maybe the wording of his story indicated that perhaps Washington had reached out to Andrew Luck rather than it just being more of a throwaway line by them. And John, who's such a great writer

and has done such a great job covering the team, he felt like there wasn't going to be anything that came of it either. Just a reminder to all of you to rate us and review us whenever you have a chance, especially on Apple, especially on Apple and Spotify. Also, for you, follow us on Apple and Spotify. That's a big help. The follow button is in the upper right-hand corner of the podcast app on iPhones. And on Spotify, it's on the left-hand side, about halfway down the left side of the Spotify app when you're listening to podcasts. And rating us and review us is helpful as well. A few reviews, Apple podcast reviews, to read. This one from He-He-He-He-He. and Tom are the best in DC podcasting. Best show ever talking about Tom's summer vacation plans.

Can't wait to hear about August with the in-laws in Spain. Yeah, we conducted business on one of the shows last week where Tom broke the news that he's taking all of August off. And there are other days he's taking off as well. He can take off whenever he wants. And tonight, speaking of Tommy, tonight is his D.C. Grays, Cigars, and Curve Balls fundraiser at Shelley's back room. 6 to 8 p.m. tickets are $100. It's a $100 donation. They can be purchased at DCGraise.com. There are great auction items at the event. I'll be down there. A lot of the people that you listen to on this podcast will be down there as well. so join us at Shelley's from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight. But anyway, there's a couple of other reviews I wanted to read.

This one from Sean Tucci. Now, Kevin, you know Doc is going to be pulling for Kaz Allen, another Bruin. Yeah, that one is a no-brainer, L.O.L. Thank you, by the way, for the five stars. That is helpful. Yeah, Kaz Allen is the undrafted free agent that the team signed from UCLA. I had him on the radio show last week, and I think he's got a really good chance to make an impression

and maybe make this team as the kick returner and the punt returner. He has incredible vision. He is built to return, but UCLA used them in a lot of other ways as well. They used them as a running back. They used them as a receiver in the slot and on the outside. They used them in a lot of different packages offensively. I think Kaz Allen was definitely one of the,

those guys that they really wanted right when the draft ended and they got him. And he saw the opportunity here. He mentioned that to me last week on radio to snag the job as kick returner and punt returner. I think Antonio Gibson does a pretty good job as a kick returner. But Dax Milne, you know, caught him. He didn't fumble any, but there was no threat of flipping the field either. One more quick football note here before we get started on the show, because I do want to talk a little bit about the NBA playoffs from over the weekend, and then we'll get to Barry. So Chris Sims, former NFL quarterback. Chris does, you know, a lot of media with NBC sports, part of that Sunday night crew. I think he's part of the Sunday night crew. Chris has done something every year, for the last several years anyway, this time of year. where he gives his top 40 quarterback count down.

And he basically does it over the course of like a week, or maybe it's a little bit longer, where he goes from 40 to 1. And he's ranking the quarterbacks for the upcoming season the way he sees them. And, you know, as an example, some people believe that he really is a sharp, super sharp opinion. Now, last year was perhaps a little bit off. As an example, he had Jalen Hertz ranked as the 25th best quarterback heading in to last season.

Had Carson Wentz at 19, had Jimmy Garoppolo ahead of Jalen Hertz, had Zach Wilson ahead of Jalen Hertz, had Mack Jones, Baker Mayfield, and a few others, including Matt Ryan in Indianapolis, ahead of Jalen Hertz. So he missed on Jalen Hertz last year. His rankings last year, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rogers were his top five. And as I mentioned, he had Carson Wentz at 19, which is kind of where I think most reasonably objective people had Carson Wentz entering last season. You know, he was not a top half of the league quarterback. I think I had him at 20 somewhere around there, maybe 19. I can't remember specifically.

I remember not having them in the top half of the league. That was for sure. I remember my producer at the time, Brendan, and I did, I think, the Sims list. And we came up with where we thought Carson Wentz was. And I think Brendan had him at like 24. And I think I had him at like 20 or 19. But anyway, I bring up the Chris Sims list because the 2023 list is underway. And many of you have sent it to me.

The list is a few quarterbacks in. Number 40 out of the 40 quarterbacks that he ranked is Desmond Ritter, the Atlanta quarterback. Number 39 is Sam Howl. So next to last, a lot of you had major problems with it, which is why you sent it to me, I'm sure. That is the reason that you sent it to me. And so he's through the top 31 at this point. He had Sam Hal at 39. He had Bryce Young.

He hasn't taken a snap ahead of Sam Hal. C.J. Stroud, ahead of Sam Hal. Anthony Richardson, ahead of Sam Hal. He had Mike White, the former Jet backup, who was now in Miami, at 35. He had Gardner, Minchoo at 34. And then he had Taylor Heineke at 33. Jared Stidham at 32 and Jordan Love at 31. That's what I have so far on his list.

I think he's through 40 through 31. So his first 10 or bottom 10. So he's got Taylor Heineke is better than Sam Howl and Taylor Heineke better than Desmond Ritter, who is the starting quarterback in Atlanta. Look, these are lists. This is the time of the year that we get lists. I would not get overly worked up over the Sam Howl ranking.

I don't know where you would want him ranked. He played in one football game. He was a fifth round pick, regardless of how high you think he should have been picked. If he had been in this year's draft, Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson, all more likely than not would have been taken in front of him. So they're in front of him on this list. Do I think Taylor Heineke's better than Sam Howe? I have no idea if he's better than Sam Howe.

I think Sam Howe's talent is greater than Taylor Heinekees. His arm talent is for sure better than Taylor Heinekees. I think Sam Howe's mobility is equal to and maybe more willing than Taylor Heinekees. Some of you, I can hear you saying right now, well, that was a Scott Turner thing. Okay. he had opportunities to run and he didn't. I thought Taylor Heineke became a little bit too cautious at times last year, but perhaps it was, you know, them saying,

we don't have a backup for you, don't get hurt. You know, I remember that was part of the conversation last year, why Taylor Heineke wasn't running as much as he had in 2021, was they didn't have a backup for him. But, you know, the off-season would suggest that they knew they had a backup all along, that Sam Howell was the backup, and they weren't even concerned at all with Sam Howe. But, you know, these are, this is one person's opinion.

I actually think Chris Sims has a pretty sharp opinion for, you know, among the list of, you know, ex-quarterbacks who are now NFL analysts. But that's where he has Sam Howe. He's got Sam Hal at 39, and he's got Taylor Heineke six spots in front of him at 33. for you Taylor Heineke people, I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking. And that is, why didn't we just sign Taylor Heineke and have those two? Why didn't we pay Taylor Heineke less more than Atlanta paid them,

but less than what we paid Jacoby Burset? And then we would, you know, have a legitimate competition in training camp. Well, I would answer that with, what do you want to do? Do you want to go seven and ten again? Do you want to go 8-8-1 again? It wasn't good enough with him last year. And the unknown is Sam Howell. And the known you have on your roster right now in Jacoby Brousset is better than the known that you would have had coming back, in my opinion, than Taylor Heineke.

All right. Good weekend for the Nats. They took two out of the three with Detroit over the weekend. You know, after four losses in a row, all of them. of them super close. It was a good weekend. Josiah Gray yesterday, just one earned run and five innings pitched and a six four win over the Tigers. And then in the Saturday win, the five to two win over the Tigers, it was another Patrick Corbyn gem. I mean, this guy has turned it around. Six innings pitched, two earned runs on six hits. He's. He's, he's, he's. He's, he's, he's,

His ERA now has dropped from at one point early in the season. It was eight, and it's now down to a season low, 4.47. And he's won three out of his last four starts. And his ERA in the last four starts is 2.88. Good for Patrick Corbyn for figuring it out. All right, I do want to talk about the NBA here briefly, the NBA playoff games that we haven't talked about since the Friday show. Friday night, the heat winning in Boston 11-105. My God. I mean, Boston just crumbling down the stretch.

We did talk about that, actually. We talked about this game on Saturday because we did a Saturday podcast Tommy and I did on Saturday to talk about Tommy's column on Jason Wright being the first person that Josh Harris should seek out and get rid of. If you missed that podcast, that was Saturday's podcast. All right. So May 20th. We did a, you know, a 58-minute-hour-long podcast and talked a lot about Tommy's column.

But we did, I'm remembering now, we did talk about the Friday night game. On Saturday, it was Denver, man, again. This is the best team in the NBA. This is one of the more, I think, appealing teams for old school basketball, fans, old school NBA fans to watch in a long, long time. They share the ball. They are unselfish like no other team in the league. Yokic may be the most selfless superstar in the game. Jamal

Murray is a legitimate superstar. He had 23 of his team's points in game two, in the game two win over the Lakers. And on Friday, on Saturday night, he had 30 in the first half. half. Yokic did not play a great game, although played an excellent fourth quarter where he went for 15 and kind of took the game over in the fourth quarter had some great assists as well. And they went into L.A. on a juiced up night in L.A. and they won 119 to 108. They are just flat out better than the Lakers. They were flat out better than Phoenix. Denver's the best team in the league. And we're on the verge of getting Denver and Miami. because Miami beat the Celtics down last night,

and my God, was that an embarrassing performance for the Boston Celtics? We've talked about Joe Missoula enough. He actually afterwards admitted that he did not have his team ready to play the game. I think that's the first time I've heard him admit that maybe he's in, you know, a bit over his head and that some of these issues have been his, like not calling a timeout during a 46.3 quarter last week against the heat. like taking a timeout with him into the locker room when it was a two-possession game with eight seconds to go in game two. But the Miami Heat absolutely obliterated Boston last night, and they did it with everybody contributing.

It wasn't just a Jimmy Butler show, and it hasn't been every night for them when they've won. They've gotten really good balance. Last night it was Gabe Vincent going off for 29 a career high. He was six of nine from behind the arc. They shot 57% from the floor, 54.3% from behind the arc. Duncan Robinson was 5 of 7 from deep, but he also was a really good creator when they were trying to run them off the three point line. They are just, you know, this is a mismatch of wits on the bench. Spolster is one of the best, Missoula's new, inexperienced, and in way over his head.

But beyond that, my God, show some heart. Jason Tatum, you know, I know he had 51 in Game 7 against Philadelphia a week ago. But, man, he has had some performances that have just left you shaking your head. Like, you've got to strap the team to your back down 2-0 after losing 2 at home. And he had 14 points on 6 of 18 shooting. Had three or four turnovers. Jalen Brown was an absolute massive. last night. He was Ofer from behind the arc. There were a couple of shots he took that were just

horrendous shots. Boston is more talented than almost anybody in the league, but they are not a team that plays well-together. They're not a well-coached team, and they're not a team with a lot of heart right now. Miami, I'd be surprised now if they don't complete the sweep tomorrow night, and I think Denver will complete the sweep tonight. I know two sweeps in the conference finals is not what you want, you know, when you've been talking about how great these playoffs have been. But even though ABC doesn't want Denver, Miami, I think it's going to be the best matchup. I think these are two teams that are selfless, that play basketball the right way, that have superstars on their teams. And even though I'm sure ABC would have paid for Boston, L.A.

Or Boston Phoenix, I think we're going to get Miami, Denver. We're going to get it. with a little bit of a layoff because I think the finals are earmarked for a June 1st start date, regardless of whether or not these conference finals are over by tomorrow night. I'm sure that Boston and L.A. are going to get the benefit of the whistle tonight and tomorrow night. If you're thinking in terms of that, I would not touch either one of these games, but if you're thinking of, you know, the conspiracied NBA, Boston and L.A. are going to get the benefit of the whistle to try to extend these conference finals to beyond two sweeps. So look for that tonight in L.A. and tomorrow night in Miami.

All right. Up next, Barry's Verluga will be my guest right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right. Jumping on with us right now is our friend Barry's Verluga from the Washington. Post. You can follow Barry on Twitter at Barry's Verluga. S-V-R-L-U-G-A. How many times do people get the spelling of your last name correct on the first try? I mean, zero point zero, I would guess. Yeah, it's probably similar. But I don't get annoyed by it because if you live your life with that name, you have to realize it's unusual and you're going to be spelling it for people a lot.

So, no issue. You know what? It's actually easier. It's easy to pronounce. I get a lot of Sheehan. I've gotten that my whole life instead of Sheehan. And of course, you know, since 2010, I've gotten Shahanahan, as in I'm part of the Shanahan family because I was fans of them. I think I actually had good reason to be fans of them, don't you?

Even in hindsight? Oh, for sure. Absolutely. I mean, if you think of where Kyle is now and where what he was doing then, and, you know, there was a lot of interpersonal drama and that's probably, you can spread the blame around there, but in terms of innovation with RG3 and the offense that they ran, I mean, that was next level stuff. Mike had his time as an innovator, and I think he let Kyle develop the same way, and he didn't hire Kyle until he had gone and coached elsewhere, which he did in Houston under Gary Kubiak. So, yeah, man, I mean, that's a, it did it work out, and it's a bunch of playoffs appearances in a row, no, but they did some pretty cool stuff while they were here. So, you know, 10, 15 years down the road, if the organization under Josh Harris is a normal functioning NFL organization, which we haven't had here for 24 years, and someone didn't, you know, sort of witness what happened here over the last quarter century, how would you describe it to them? Oh, man.

I mean, imagine a kid who grew up a fan of the team, but then. really didn't evolve past being 10 or 12 or 14 intellectually and how they operated the team. And that person was allowed to run it for a quarter of a century being impulsive and vindictive and unpredictable and, you know, in some cases mean, I mean, that's what Dan Snyder did with this franchise for, again, close to a quarter of a century. It's like, you know, you think that the local kid buying the team is a good thing because, you know, he would share the passions that the band base does. And that's, you know, what you have with Josh Harris in the second attempt at this, right?

But I think there's a belief, a hope, and probably a reasonable hope that the new owner will run it fundamentally differently than the old owner, and it won't be based on emotion and what's the next shiny object in front of my face. It will be based on reasoned adult business decisions, because it's not what has happened over the previous 24 years. So I don't think, you know, I've always thought that the Dan Snyder ownership of this franchise is a book. Because just putting it on, it's hard to fathom how much has gone on here. I just don't think it's a very fun book to write because it's just relentlessly, here's a negative thing that happened, here's a negative thing that happened,

here's a negative thing that happened that impacted these people negatively. It just, you know, you put it all in a trough, and it kind of has a stench to it. Yeah, but you do think there will be some sort of book or some sort of, of 30 for 30 or an HBO sports documentary on the Snyder reign in Washington. I mean, you know, I've mentioned, and I know you mentioned to me the last time we talked, that you've described it the same way, but for the last eight, nine years, I've described it as something that should be a case study at Wharton or at HBS, that, you know, he ruined the unruinable.

It is, you know, a fascinating story because it was so impossible to pull off in 1999. Absolutely. I mean, you could not have told you in 1999 that in 24 years, this fan base will not be able to, or this franchise will not be able to fill its own stadium. It will be last in the league in attendance, both by actual number and percentage of capacity. The ratings will be down. The Sundays will not be an event like they were. the stadium will be, if it is filled, it will be filled mostly with opposing fans. And, you know, as you brought in the new century on New Year's Eve 2000 and say, you know, you're also only going to have one playoff victory in the next 23 seasons. That's incomprehensible. I mean, it just makes, it makes no sense.

This is a pillar of a franchise, a franchise that helped make the NFL into, inarguably, the most important and powerful and lucrative professional league in this country. And you couldn't have convinced anybody that in a little over two decades, and actually it didn't even take that long to kind of ruin it, it probably took 12 to 15. years to really get it to the point where it was at the depth. You couldn't have convinced anybody that one guy could kind of have that sort of impact on a product that was just impenetrable and just so strong for so long. In all seriousness, though, don't you think it's a really good book for somebody to write? When I say that for sure, I just don't want to be the one to do it. I mean, I've kind of said, like, I could write down, I could sit down after we get off the phone and write down a hundred names of a hundred people who would be willing to help on a Dan Snyder book in terms of, I worked there, I had direct contact with them and know what it was like to be there.

And then just start calling those 100 people. I just, I don't find it. I don't, when I think of it, I don't think that would be a fun project for me. If somebody else wants to do it, go for it, because it's a worthwhile story. But not for you. I wonder, first of all, I don't think he'll write a book. I don't think he'd participate in anything. That's just my hunch.

But I wonder if there's anything in there that would be redeeming for him. Man, I don't know. I mean. Charity, they were pretty strong. the community with charitable contributions? Yes. And I think Tanya's story with breast cancer is compelling and they have done good work in that area.

But, you know, if you talk about being out in the community, interacting with people and really understanding what the issues are, I don't think that they really have like people that have been involved in sports around here for a long time, they don't have, the ones that I've talked to, they don't have a relationship with Dan and Tanya Snyder. They don't go to the same events and talk about, you know, the issues that being in sports in this town or in sports in general, and then, you know, using that as a way in to help the city and, you know, the whole, the whole area. There's no commonality, at least with people that I've talked to, that say, well, Dan and

Tanya, you know, really want to get in and dig in on X, Y, and Z issue that's facing the community. So I'm not trying to take away from the breast cancer stuff and some of the foundation stuff, like that can be real. But I also don't think it's a, that's an issue that touched their lives. They don't look at it like, okay, what is affecting other people that we might not be aware of. How can we help in X, Y, and Z way?

I mean, the list that all of us from, you know, the outside looking in, but much more attuned to what's gone on here than maybe, you know, people from outside the market, would say, you know, things like, you know, the organization's charitable, you know, involvement. They would say the way Dan handled the Sean Taylor tragedy. and then they would say he brought Joe Gibbs back here in 2004. I mean, that is really the list. And on the last part, I've always felt that one of the more fascinating finds,

and I don't think anybody will ever get it out of him, is to find out what Joe Gibbs really thought of Dan Snyder. Well, I mean, you're not going to get it out of him unless he's saying what he actually believes, which, you know, I like Dan. I like working for Dan. And if you think about the current situation, I mean, Joe Gibbs lives in the Charlotte area because that's where he runs his racing team. Ron Rivera was sitting in Charlotte as a fired head coach of the Carolina Panthers. And when Rivera started talking to Snyder about doing the job, he, you know, got together with Gibbs and talked about what it's like to work for Snyder. And that certainly didn't.

scare Rivera away from this job. I've talked to Joe Gibbs about that very thing, and he's a complete, polished public professional. He knows how to get his message across, and he's just not going to say something publicly negative about Dan Snyder. I don't know if that's because he absolutely has no negative things to say about him, or if that's just what he's decided to present publicly, but I don't think if the book about Dan Snyder's ownership is written, my suspicion is it doesn't include a big chapter of here's what Joe Gibbs actually thought. Right. And we know that Dan was significant in, you know, his annual involvement in Joe Gibbs's foundation as well. So, you know, how much, you know, I think if you do the back of the envelope

math of the last 24 years, you can come to the conclusion that roughly two-thirds of the fan base isn't there anymore. And if they are, it's very passive. How much of what was lost can be salvaged with new ownership? I think a very, very high percentage, but that doesn't mean automatically. I mean, I think there are at least two categories of alienated fans. Those that we're just done with Snyder. I'm not giving any more, I'm not giving a single dollar more to that guy. And they might be willing to come back

just because the owner is not named Dan Snyder. And I think there's another one that's going to be more apprehensive, another segment of the fan base, but we'll say, okay, good, this is a step. But now I have learned not to trust ownership, and Josh Harris, you know, just not being Dan Snyder is not going to be enough. You've got to show me with results on the field. You've got to show me with results in a stadium experience.

You've got to show me in what are your plans and your ability to execute with, you know, either the district or Maryland or Virginia a vision for a new stadium that I'm going to like. So I don't, I think you can get. you know, high 90 percentage of those fans back. I do think, I wonder about, you know, you raise kids here, people, I know, tons of people my age who raised kids here. If you have a kid who's 10 to 20 or, you know, in their early 20s, they don't know anything other than dysfunction and disappointment around this fan franchise.

did you lose them permanently because they became, you know, Packers fans or whatever, whoever their favorite player was growing up, they decided, well, my local team is a joke. So I'm going to become a fan of someone else. I think that's possible. But in terms of the hardcore people who were alienated because of Snyder, I would think a high percentage could come back. So what do we know today on May 22nd about the approval process?

I mean, you know, I read Mark and Nikki from over the weekend, and I know they've been on this story and been doing a great job. And I know you're not covering it day to day in terms of the sale and what's involved in the next phase of this, which is, you know, finance committee and then league approval. but do you have a hunch on when this thing gets wrapped up and the deal gets closed and approved by the league, ratified by the league? Well, I mean, we know that the league is meeting this week and there's no expectation. The owners are meeting this week, and there's no expectation there's going to be a vote there. I think Mark and Nikki have, Mark Maskey and Nikki Jabalah from the Post have been very consistent in their reporting on, you know, just because, I think there was a lot of celebration on the Friday afternoon when Josh Harris and

Dan Snyder both announced that they had an agreement and it felt like that was the finish line. And in some ways, maybe it was. I know, you know, Mark and Nikki, even at that point, were very much like, it's not done until it's done. I don't think that means there's pessimism that it won't get done. But, you know, I'm kind of in the, like, wait until the ink is dry camp, just because I don't want to be overly pessimistic. And I don't, I'm not saying I don't think this is going to be done. But because this character has a history of providing incredible. disappointments. I think the celebration should wait until the ink is dry. I have full expectation

that that will be well before next season starts, but I'm not going to tell you, you know, I think it's next week or two weeks from now or two months from now because I'm not, I'm just not 100% sure. So I was thinking about something over the weekend, and that is, you know, what would be number one on my list would be to focus on, you know, getting somebody in here that is going to eventually either hire or is going to be the lead football person in your organization, to have, you know, a normal organization where you have somebody like a GM that's hired, that he then decides on the coach. And he decides on the players.

And I was thinking about something over the weekend, like even if Josh Harris came in and said, well, we can't mess with the football thing right now, but I do want to bring in kind of an overseer, a VP of Football Ops, and maybe he's got somebody in mind. I wonder if Rivera's contract allows for, I mean, Martin Mayhew is, you know, by title, the general manager, but Ron Rivera in this coach-centric model is the head football decision maker. I wonder if that's in his contract and how that would work.

And then, you know, beyond that, you know, What do you think Josh Harris' top priorities should be? Well, I think identifying that person, the person who is the chief football officer but is not the head coach, that's the most important person to identify. Because then you can go away from these, like, coach interviews at Dan Snyder's house that last like two days and you stay in the guest house and you get in a suit. you know, come on. That should be, the owner is welcome to be involved in interviewing a head coach.

It's a big decision in football. It really dictates so much about what you do. Are you a defensive board and the team? What sort of offense do you run? What style are, you know, all of that is very, very associated with the head coach. So I'm not at all saying that the owner of the team should not have his hand in that. I think the thing that I think the fan base is hoping is exactly what you said. Like, can the new owner set up a system that would be regarded around the league as a normal kind of chain of command?

And that would include having a football overseer who is in charge of the roster and all those. You want it to be in conjunction with the head coach. This is not kind of, you know, creating an island situation, but you want a flowchart that makes sense and goes from owner to chief football officer to head coach. I think that's a huge, huge decision and very important one. And I don't know what Ron's contract says about that. But I think it would make, if Josh Harris has somebody in mind, it would make a heck of a lot of sense to get that person in here at training camp.

You're not going to blow out the coaching staff, you know, but right before training camp opens. They've got a new offensive coordinator that is intriguing. You know, we'll figure out whether this quarterback is part of the problem or part of the solution at some point this year. But you would like them to get in and get their hands dug in on all aspects of the operation. And so that sound decisions can be made after 2023 headed into 2024. And whether that's like, hey, Ron Rivera really hit on something here and they took major strides and we're going to keep him. Or I suspect the most more likely outcome is there are some really good pieces on this roster

and the cupboard is not completely bare. But to really accomplish what we want to accomplish, we're going to make a change at head coach. and go forward from there. But I think it would be great if 2024 could be an investigation, I mean, if 2023 could be an investigation season for whoever is going to be the leader of the football operation going forward. So one of the topics that I've been discussing on radio

and on the podcast over the last week is just, you know, where the importance of a rebrand should rank on people's priorities. list. I haven't been presumptuous enough to tell anybody what to think. I mean, I put a poll out there and 56% said it should be way high on the list, and 80% said it should be on the list. Where do you think it should be? I'm not a person who's caught up with that. I don't, I mean, I'm not dismissing anybody who thinks it's important. I mean, if you think it's important to you, that means it's important. Like that, you know, if you hate the nickname and you feel like it's like

holding the team back in some way, or it affects your enjoyment of following the team, that's absolutely you're right. I do think you have to understand a rebrand is not going back to the old nickname. I mean, that's just anybody who's caught up with that idea needs to understand that that's not going to happen. I was, I think, in the minority of advocating, you know, slightly mildly, but if I had to pick aside, I liked the Washington football team name. It felt like a kind of European, you know, English Premier League soccer name to me.

I had no issue with it. But in terms of, Kevin, for me, and I'm sure I've said this to you before, like the three most important things about this franchise, have been owner, stadium, and quarterback in some order. And I think for me it's probably that order, owner, stadium, quarterback. So I, you know, put the rebrand well, well, well behind those three things. Now, it looks like the first, the first most important issue is being taken care of with Josh Harris's purchase of the team. the stadium, I think is enormously, enormously important because for so long, people have said, you know, among the reasons I'm losing interest in this fan base is I hate going to that place and the game day experience stinks.

And it's just generic. And I used to have such an affection for the place that they play. Now I hate the place that they play. And then the quarterback thing is like, you know, Joe Gibbs won. three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks, and I think that's a big reason why he should be considered one of the greatest coaches ever, because Bill Belichick can't say that.

That's an amazing accomplishment, but the inherent instability at that position for whatever 40 years has held this place back. So if you want to get caught up in the nickname, that is totally, totally, totally, you're right and I get it, it's just, it's not anywhere near the top of my priority list. Yeah, well, I like that answer because I think that's the right answer. I think it's a very personal and subjective thing.

And if people like me are for a rebrand, and I would go back to Washington being the central theme of the brand, I would, and it matters to me, that's fine. And for people who don't list it anywhere on a list of priorities, that's fine, too. It's been interesting, though, to watch that conversation. All right. Last one on the football team, and then I just want to finish up with some golf. So your guess today, where the new stadium is built and by when? So I am like, I really am in the midst of trying to do some more reporting on this because my romantic and instinctive notion is I want the stadium.

I just feel like that is... I lost you there for a second. What did you say? I want the stadium where? At the RFK side. Yeah, okay, yep. So I feel like that's the place that will alienate nobody. It will excite almost everybody.

And as somebody who lives in the ward in the district board six that that site falls in, I know that there is opposition not just on the D.C. Council broadly, which there is, but there's also opposition from council member Charles Allen, who is the council member for Ward 6. I want to learn and study a little bit more about what are those reservations. is it just a Dan Snyder owned this team and this has such a negative kind of connotation

that we're just knee-jerk against the stadium being here and maybe some of that can go away with some depth handling by Josh Harris and, you know, shaking the right hands and slap on the right backs or they're real, real kind of community issues

for not wanting it here. I do think that, you know, Harris could, it doesn't mean he automatically will, but he could get three jurisdictions that were trying to distance themselves from Dan Snyder, flip them into three jurisdictions that are trying to woo Josh Harris, like that that's possible. I don't know, you know, there are some major hurdles to getting it in the district, not least of which the district doesn't control the land at the RFK site. But I'm completely, against

kind of a Loudoun County or ex-urban Virginia site for the stadium because I feel like that kind of repositions everybody has their habits and what they're used to

and what they're willing to go through to go to a game and the FedEx site is as much as people hate going there it's a known commodity. I know how I'm going to get there. I know what parking is like. I know what I'm going to have to battle.

in terms of traffic. I think if you take, if you put it out in Prince William County or Loudoun County or some of these outer Virginia counties, you're totally alienating your, at least your Prince George's County fan base, which is not insignificant. You could be, you know, alienating your district fan base. And there's no, there's nothing to be said that where you plop the stadium down out in next urban Virginia, that those people will be like, awesome. I'm going to all these games and buying season tickets. So I am, I don't know about the

timeline. I think sooner, you know, is, is much more possible with Harris than it would be with Snyder. But I have this romantic and historic notion that, man, it would be cool to get a stadium, a modern stadium on that RFK site. That would be awesome. All right. Brooks Kepka yesterday in the PGA championship wins his fifth major. There are many storylines off of this, obviously a live tour player winning, but Kepka winning his fifth major. Let's start there,

because only 20 players in the history of the game have won five or more majors. What did he accomplish yesterday? Well, it's remarkable because he now becomes, you know, he's equaled, players like Sevi-byaestero's at five majors, and he's one short of Phil Nicholson, other greats of, you know, all-time greats, but I think it also put the whips up aside. He had been a guy who won four majors, a very compressed period of time,

2017-18, two PGAs and two U.S. Open, and he was like, it was as if he was, he was kind of on a heater there, like he was just playing lights out. And then he got hurt and he couldn't compete. And if you've watched the PVA Tour All Access thing from last year, I mean, I thought the Kepka episode was the most interesting because he was very vulnerable.

He was not able to play the kind of golf that he was used to play. And, you know, there's a scene there where he's saying, like his mom was there, and I don't remember who else. He's like, well, who's the best player in the world right now? Scottie Sheffler. I can't compete with Scottie Sheffler. And what we learn now is a healthy Brooks Kefka can compete with anybody.

He's also coming off, you know, a tie for second at the Masters in which he led after each of the first three rounds. So he can do it. And now everything is in front of him. He's not been hampered by the obviously weaker competition at, at the live events, 54 whole events. He's just a keen competitor, extremely talented, has all the shots. And I think he's the one person who comes off that live tour.

It's like, no, I can still, I'm going to be in these majors because I'm winning these majors. I'm contending in these majors. So my status in the world ranking doesn't matter. I think his future got very, very, very interesting over the weekend. Yeah, I don't even know who the comp is for him. Right now it would be like playoff Jimmy. It would be like Jimmy Butler and Brooks Kepka are like the same guy. The big events they come out for. I actually think the way you described him on full swing is vulnerable is probably

the right description. Many people would use another description of him. He came off as a bit of an a hole in that episode. And I think it was, there was a total loss of confidence and, and they're from the injury. It's amazing that a guy that had won four majors and was lights out for that few year period could feel, as you described, so vulnerable, so lacking in confidence. But look out now with him healthy and having, you know, the lead going into the final day at Augusta and winning yesterday. But I don't even know. know who the comp is in his sport. I mean, was Nick Faldo a little bit like Kepka and that he was always big in the majors more so than he was anywhere else? So I bring this name up cautiously because

I don't want to draw in between Brooks, Kepka and Tiger Woods, but there is a little bit of an attitude-wise similarity there in that, I mean, Tiger won all these other tournaments. But he did it almost like an ancillary way. I mean, Rory McElroy tells the story of going over to Tiger's house, and he has all the trophies from his 15 majors in this one

room. And, and Rory said, oh, well, where are all the, I think he's won 70-something regular PGA tour titles. Where all those trophies? And he said, oh, I don't know. I mean, they don't matter. And that's a, that's a, that's a

a window into how Tiger's brain worked about the majors, like those are the ones that count. And I think Kepka is very much in line with that thinking. I mean, he would not care if he never won a live event ever if he can get in and enter the majors and contend to them. And his record, when healthy in being in contention, is pretty phenomenal. So I'm not saying that Brooks Kepka is a comp for Tiger Woods, but I think there's an attitude there that's very, very similar and really intriguing because nobody's going to watch him on the live tour, I mean, which comes to D.C. this week, and his appearance here makes it a little more intriguing. But when he shows up, you know, at the next major, the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June, a lot of eyes will be on him. and rightfully so because his expectation is to be able to contend that week because he's healthy again,

and these are the tournaments that matter to him. What did it mean for LiveGolf yesterday? I think it's, you know, it's legitimizing. And that's, you know, Bryson DeShamo was up there all weekend, and Cam Smith came back yesterday. Like, they're not showing as poorly as I expected them, to, honestly. I will say that

the number of their players who can contend at these things and can even get into them, like, you know, we're never going to see Ian again. We're never going to see Lee Westwood again. Like, there are names from the past who took the live money and to a sunset of their career in irrelevance, sunset in irrelevance, but nonetheless

not a factor in anybody's mind. The top five to seven players, Dustin Johnson, Camp Smith, we're going to hear more from in majors, I'm sure. Even Patrick Reed, they have shown well in the first two majors of this year. And I think it'll be a fascinating question about what the PGA of America does in terms of allowing live players on the Ryder Cup team this fall. Rome, because if you're, there's no way that Zach Johnson, the captain of the U.S. team, could sit down and say, okay, I've got wild card picks here. I don't think Brooks Kepka is deserving of one because he absolutely is. Yeah, right. All right. Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it. I'll talk to you soon.

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it, Kevin. Barry's Rulugue, everybody. And I know his phone was breaking up a little bit at the end. We were having some issues and he did everything to try to find a place where it was as smooth as it could be. And I think we worked it out for 95% of that conversation. I always enjoy talking to Barry about almost anything. Up next, did you hear about the lawsuit that Brian Davis, remember Brian Davis, the guy that was interested in buying the football team for $7 billion? Well, he's brought a lawsuit against Bank of America having something to do with the sale of the commanders. Neil and Rockville, one of our legal contributors.

We'll jump on with us next to explain right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show is presented by MyBooky. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. for a chance it boosted odds using the MyBooky money bag. Getting started is simple. Sign up today at MyBooky. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. to secure a first deposit bonus of up to $1,000. Again, you've got to use my promo code, Kevin D.C. to claim your bonus. Whether you're a diehard or a casual fan, simply put, there's never been a better time to start exploring the world of online sports betting with my bookie. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere with my bookie. Jumping on with us right now is one of our legal contributors to the show, Neil and Rockville, at Neil N. Rockville on Twitter. I think at this point, most of the people listening, Neil, have read this story that I think broke on Friday afternoon or Friday night, that Brian Davis, the gentleman who reportedly was offering $7 billion plus to buy the Washington commanders and then went on local

radio with the sports junkies and pitched his wares. He is now, according to reports, seeking $500 billion in damages from Bank of America. Before you explain this lawsuit to all of us, if that's what it is, what is the largest lawsuit? Do you have any idea with the largest, you know, seeking in damages and a lawsuit that there's ever been? I have no idea, but I'm going to go, just thinking off the top of my head, if you're talking about amounts in the, at the time, in the dollars, my guess it's going to be something like the Bhopal India case where there was, I forget the U.S. company killed thousands and thousands in India. My guess is it's going to be something like that. Or sort of in the United States, if you put together all the asbestos litigation that's been going

on over the past decades and decades and decades, that's probably the largest with regards to an American company. But what is, how many billions? It's not 500 billion, is it? No, no. Okay. So we're in, no, not 500 billion. And the reporting from the weekend is actually, as far as I can tell, and I think other people who have looked at this subsequently, is actually incorrect. There is no $500 billion loss. Okay. Then what are we talking about here?

Because the headline was, obviously, and everybody saw this, Brian Davis suing Bank of America for $500 billion. So what actually is going on with Brian Davis and Bank of America, if anything? Okay. So just to put in context, that $500 billion number, the reason that came out and that, you know, caught everybody's attention was the court system and the lawsuit in question was following the U.S. District Court out of Greenbelt. There's a cover sheet when you go on to the electronic case file system.

And on the front of the sheet, it indicates the suit is for $500 billion. It's unclear. No one can quite tell at the moment how that got there. Was it a clerical mistake or did when Davis' attorney filed the action? You have to file an information sheet. Basically, a lot of information on what the substance and claim and your ultimate request for damages is. And maybe his attorney put in $500 million to, you know, get further publicity or something like that. But in the actual lawsuit, there is nothing even close to $500 billion.

And in fact, there's not even really a specific amount of money. Because in a lot of ways, this isn't a case of four damages. It's not a breach of contract case. It's a lawsuit by Urban Echo Energy, L.O. which allegedly in the complaint is owned by Brian Davis. So it's not even Davis suing Bank of America. It's Urban Echo. And what they're really trying to do is they're trying to get back some promissory notes,

or actually some bank drafts that it sounds like Urban Echo forwarded to Bank of America to be deposited in a Bank of America account, their name, which would, I guess, be the monies showing that they had the ability to make their ultimate $7.1 billion offer, which we heard about and then, you know, heard on the radio from Brian Davis on 106-7. So what they're really trying to do is they're trying to either get them to deposit it or to return the bank drafts. And it's very strange. It's a, the bank drafts are not from Urban Echo, Energy.

They're actually bank drafts from reporting. And A.J. Perez, as well as Daniel Walk have done a bunch, and I've sort of followed them and sort of added to what they've looked at. But can I just stop you for one second? Because I think you're maybe burying the lead here. you're saying that they want the promissory note or the bank drafts back from Bank of America. They're not looking for their $7 billion back. They're looking for something that says, oh, we promise to give you $7 billion if we get the team.

They don't have, you know, the idea that they've got $7 billion in cash was always kind of laughable, right? So didn't you just essentially say that they didn't actually open up an account with Bank of America putting the money in there? They just put a couple of promissory notes in there. No, no, no. So what they did actually, they tried to open an account with Bank of America. So they opened an account, and then they tried to fund the account with these drafts. But what happened was? What do you mean?

What is a draft? Okay. A draft is basically a check. I mean, it's another term for a check. Okay. But the check is not from Echo. The check is from the estate of gentlemen by the name of Severino Garcia, Romana, which has, it's not even from Echo. So they're trying to take someone else's check, put it into an account, and then use that account to show the basis.

that they have that much money. This may have been one of those Italians or Sicilians that he probably, white people that he had as investors. When he discussed that on the junkies. Yeah. Is this gentleman, according to reports and is tied to the CIA. He was tied to Marcos in the Philippines and missing gold. And it's this long, weird.

situation and where they got this check and how they could then sort of forward it and say it's hours is very, very strange, but what they wanted to then do is either have Bank of America basically put in their account and then either send it back to them or send them back the check unstamped because Bank of America, when they got it, they didn't deposit it. And that's sort of one of the things that Davis seemingly was very upset about that they didn't deposit it. But my thought is, Bank of America, when they get this check, they're like, what the heck is this check? Exactly. It's from the estate of this dead guy tied to stolen gold and... Oh, the guy's dead? The guy's dead? The guy's dead? The guy's dead, and it's from his estate.

It's not even from him. It's from his estate. And somehow, they got this estate check. they were trying to put it into Bank of America, seemingly Bank of America said, we're not depositing that check, and that's sort of what Davis at the root is trying to say, well, you damage me by not putting the check in and therefore not giving Dan, you know, telling Dan that we had a viable offer. Well, would you have considered a bank draft or a check for, what was the amount that he, that he, that he sent them? That was, so he sent two, I believe. One was for $5 billion, and the other was for, I believe, $1 billion. So if you were Bank of America and Brian Davis or Urban Echo sent you a check that was actually from this Severino character who's dead and said deposit it, would you have

considered that to be depositable or a serious offer for the team? It would have raised so many more questions than answers. Yes. Oh, I'm sure that the reason Bank of America didn't cash this is it wasn't a direct check from, you know, A, the Brian Davis Corporation, there's probably significant questions of whether or not someone who's the trustee of the estate, you know, where this, where these funds really came from. And thirdly, I guess one of the problems is if you then put it in the account that they opened up,

well, then they could basically use that money however they want because it's technically their account. So, you know, I don't want to say it would have washed the check, but, you know, it would have made it those pros, that $5 billion available to Davis and his people, even if the the sale went down, they'd still have, you know, this $5 billion in a Bank of America account that they could arguably use for anything that wanted. So Davis is just suing to get the actual check back? Why don't they just tell them, yeah, no, we just ripped it up? We didn't take it seriously. Well, I think he wants to check back because he might want to... Was it a cashier's check? It's a bank draft, so basically it's from Citibank.

which is a valid, I mean, it's a valid check that basically is like a cashier's check or a bank check. Got it. So it has this, it has, it's basically the equivalent of cash. Uh-huh. Oh, okay. He wants it back so he could maybe deposit it somewhere else and use it for other things. Because otherwise, like you said, he could have just said, well, tear it up, but he wants it back, and he wants it back unstamped. And when he wants it back unstamped, and this is all in the lawsuit, which is,

interesting. That way he could arguably deposit it, you know, someplace else in a different account and have access to that money for something else. Yeah, I mean, I would wonder how he got access to it. Yes. I mean, that is a serious question, and I'm sure that is being looked at by bank regulators and maybe others. Maybe the trustees of the Severino, you know, estate. Yes, that as well. The one aspect in the lawsuit that is, is of importance for all of us who have sort of been following, you know, what it takes to actually make a bid for an NFL team. He states, or the lawsuit states that the offer, in this case, was made not by Brian Davis. The offer to buy was by Urban Echo Energy, LLC, which, as we know from other aspects, you can't use foreign and sovereign money,

and you can't use private equity firms, or really corporations to make the bid, they have to be individual. So it doesn't even seem like it was a realistic offer under the requirements of the NFL and what they required to make an offer on the team. All right. Bottom line is this is going nowhere as far as the sale of the team goes. This isn't going to prevent it from moving forward at the pace that it's moving forward. forward at? No, because, I mean, originally, before the weekend, it sounded like people were reporting,

and I was sort of following the reporting, that there was a request for what's called a temporary restraining order, that there was potential that the sale could be held up by the courts, while this made its way through the system, but there's nothing like that in this lawsuit. It's truly just between Urban Echo and Bank of America at this point in time, so it doesn't doesn't look like it's going to have any potential effect on the progress of the sale to Harris's group. All right. Good job. Anything else that you want to share with us that is sports-related, Washington Commanders football team related? Nothing at this point. Relatively quiet, but I'm sure. Listen, it's early in the morning,

so who knows, by the end of the day. All right. I will see you, actually, tonight at Tommy's event. Exactly. Looking forward to that. Cigars and Curb balls. That's right. At Shelley's back room. Come down and see us. All right.

Thanks, Neil. Appreciate it. You got it. All right. That's it for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy.