The Kevin Sheehan Show - The OTA Dance

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

Kevin back today with Thom doing the annual OTA dance. Does it matter that Terry, Tunsil, and Lattimore were absent? Plenty on the Post "name" poll from last week, the big award given to the Commanders' PR team, the NBA Playoffs, and Kevin discussed why he was off all of last week.   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. I'm here. Tommy is with me. It's great to be back.

The show's presenting sponsor. As always, Windonation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com. I'll talk about where I was last week and yesterday in the next segment. But Tommy, two emails to start. the show, and I think you're going to like them. This from Jack, Jack writes, Kevin, bad start to OTAs. Last year, no players missed any of them. This year, three projected starters and supposed team leaders aren't here.

I get Terry's absence, but Latimore and Tunsel, too, this is a bad look for Peters on his two biggest trades. This from Stan G. Terp. I wonder if that's Stan Gelbaw, the Maryland quarterback who played in the NFL for many years. I don't know if it is or isn't. But he writes, Marshawn Latimore must be joking. He should have been at OTAs after the way he played last year. So, Jack and Stan G. Terp, I guess it's that time of year. We got to talk about OTAs.

And by the way, it's not just because of the emails, because I'm sure Tommy's hanging on every word saying, oh, watch, he didn't read my column. Yes, I did. I read your column right before we started to record. Tommy wrote his annual summer who's missing from OTA's column. I mean, you can basically just recycle that every June. Yes, but I did mention Chase Young throughout the whole column. You did. With OTAs.

Who missed OTAs. Yeah. In New Orleans. Right. You didn't, you, the first one. You didn't mention that in your column. No, that's what I'm saying. So it's not the same.

It's different. Oh, I know. Oh, did you mention Chase Young missing OTAs in New Orleans? Did I miss that column? No, I didn't. I did not. But I have previous, I've mentioned the whole, you were bringing up annual OTAs. I didn't write about it OTAs last year because everyone showed up.

Oh, right, right, right. But I'm sure that there was something in a column somewhere about the attendance being great at OTAs. So go ahead. Tell everybody what you wrote and, you know, the significance of Tommy's latest Washington Times column. Well, look, like the emailer said, it was not a good look for the new guys, particularly Marshawn Latimore. Look, Terry has banked a lot of goodwill here. No one thinks any worse of Terry McLaren who's trying for a contract extension, not showing up for an OTA. You know, commanders fans don't feel that, you know,

this is some kind of reflection of him as a team leader or as a contributor to the team. But the other two guys, I mean, you know, Tunsel hasn't even open up an account yet here. I mean, you know, the team, he hasn't even

put on the uniform yet that people can see. You would think he would want to make some sort of impression. And Lattimore, Lattimore is in arrears. He owes money. As far as I'd be concerned

if I was a commander's fan based on his performance last year. Yeah. And for those guys, to not show up. It conflicts with the Dan Quinn football camp. Everybody loves to come play here. They can't wait to walk in the building. Right. Right. Well, you know, I don't know if Quinn's gone out of his way to say it's such a great place. We've revamped the whole home. Other people have spoken to that. Yeah. Yes, including the one of the, I forget the guy's name, the guard they got who was a free

agent from the Chargers. Before, I mean, after he signed, he said everybody wants to come play in Washington now. Well, they do. More people want to play here than in years past. I believe that. I'm not doubting that. Yeah. I read your column.

It's just a bit of a conflict. I read your column. I thought it was, you know, I thought you hit a lot of points that I'm going to mention here in a moment. and I saw, because to be honest with you, and I'll talk more about it in the next segment, I didn't really pay attention to anything last week, and I literally spent all morning just kind of getting caught up with what's happened the last week. I did pay attention to the NBA finals, which I'm sure you're thrilled about us talking about, probably in the final segment of the show. We'll see how it goes today.

I can't wait to talk about basketball. I know. I know. I can't wait to talk about it either. You know, we do this dance every May and June. And I care, but I don't really care. You know, I don't care because there just isn't any relationship between OTA attendance and wins and losses. You know, there's no information out there anyway that says, hey, 100% percent.

OTA attendance equals, you know, 9.8 wins and less than 100% attendance. No, there's no data like that. Like almost everything else that happens, you know, after the draft and before opening day in September, this just isn't big stuff, you know, unless we're talking about a big injury, that's significant. Or a big trade or a big signing. I mean, Aaron Rogers still hasn't signed. We'll see what happens in Pittsburgh. But the majority of the conversation this time of year and about things like OTAs is really for, I think, a very small group of hardcore fans. And I would say to all of you, and I know that there are many of you who are into this, like in a big way and are probably screaming at Tom's take. It may scream at mine or may agree.

I respect the passion, but save your angst for things that are legitimately important. OTAs are not important. Now, with that said, I care this time of year sometimes about this kind of stuff for some of what you said. You know, when the decision by the player who misses OTAs just seems like a bad decision. You know, like I'm questioning the decision-making ability, you know, the self-awareness of the player. You know, eliminating the situations that are personal, you know, family-related, the player would have been there. Right. But he had a personal matter.

Take those off the table, clearly. We don't know what the reasons were. They were never given. There were no reasons. Right. When a player like Latimore misses the OTA days, would they have last week three, I mean, I don't care what his track record is. his track record apparently is that he just doesn't go to OTAs. Tunsell doesn't either.

Apparently these two players that they acquired via trade are not big OTA guys. That's fine. And that's, you know, they're prerogative because as you wrote, these are voluntary. And it really sets everybody else up. You nailed that part of it. And I think we've talked about that in the past. It's like, get it together. either make them mandatory or don't do them,

because people look bad and foolish, as you wrote. I think for a guy like Latimore, though, after being traded, and by the way, a trade I would point out that benefited him, okay, this was a trade that benefited Marshawn Latimore. Like he wanted out, they wanted to move on, he benefited by being traded to, believe it or not, we can say this about Washington now a better team, a better situation, certainly than New Orleans. And then getting here and playing for the most part more poorly than well.

You know, when, by the way, he was actually suited up and playing at all. I just think it's a bad look for him. And as you wrote, to a certain degree, a foolish look for Peters because of that. And while I don't think it is a determining factor or even barely a factor in how he'll play in 2025, it is, I think these things are small looks, small peaks into, you know, windows of self-awareness, of commitment. You know, again, he's a veteran player who's played at a very high level. He can be that guy again. but I think of those three, given the way it all went down and the way he played when he got here,

and because everybody else seems to show up for the most part, probably would have been a decent look for him to post. Tunsell, he hasn't experienced Disneyland in Ashburn. He hasn't experienced it yet for a stand. You know, I think the two biggest OTA conversations we've had over the years you mentioned Chase Young. The other was Trent Williams. I think those conversations, when you think back on him, Tommy, they were really unique. Trent, if you remember, people, didn't post for OTAs. But he was coming off.

He had two, four, you know, multiple game suspensions for weed. And the team backed him every single time, supported him. Why? Because he was a great player, obviously. But his decision to not be at something that's really easy to be at just for a day or two when the organization could probably benefit from a team leader like Trent Williams being there. And for him not to show up at all, to not acknowledge, hey, you had my back, I think it's like this small gesture that he could have made in the moment. and you wonder why he didn't make it.

And then with Chase Young, Rookie of the Year, named team captain. Let's not forget that. They had nine OTA sessions that offseason in 2021. 89 of the 90 players on the roster posted for every single one of them, and he did not have time or make time to show up for one of them. And then on top of that, he answered the question when, training camp started about why he couldn't be bothered to show up for any of them, he said, I got to go make that money.

And when it was revealed what he was doing, yeah, he was cutting some ads for Under Armour and other products, it was clear that those things could have been scheduled around him making an OTA appearance or two. And then one of the reasons he missed, I think, was the family feud thing, although maybe that ended up being before the OTAs. But look, you know, the other thing with Chase Young, just to point out what we would later learn is that if there is any value to OTAs for the players, you know, any sort of chemistry or learning, he was one that actually really needed it. But anyway, I don't know, man. I mean, I remember. Look. The one thing is, and I think I pointed to sound like

column, it makes the guys who show up look kind of foolish. Like, I mean, you know, if this isn't important, what are we doing here? I don't see it that way. Why are we here? I don't see it that way. I mean, if, like, if, isn't that legitimate question? This is not important, but we should show up anyway. I've mentioned sort of this analogy many times.

It's like, you know, if you're at a job and your boss says, look, I know it's the weekend, but we got this big client and we could really make a lot of headway if everybody came in tomorrow morning, Saturday morning. You know, you don't have to, but it would really be helpful. You know, I'll get bagels, coffee, you know, everything. And it's four or five hours. And if you're in the real world, like, you know, you show up for that. Like, you show up for that. If others don't, you don't look foolish for being there. So I know it's not apples and oranges in terms of the comparison, but if 30 guys didn't show up and 60 did,

I don't think any of the 60 that showed up should feel foolish about it. But is it important or not? I don't think that there's... Are these important? You know what? Only these teams really know. It's probably more important with the new coaching staff. You know, it was probably more important last year.

Obviously. It's probably more important for players that haven't been a part of the team and the system. Like Laramie Tunsel. Yeah. And Marshawn Lattimore, who got here late. You know, it certainly would be important for players that don't have a spot on the team locked up, don't you think? You want to make an impression on your boss? How about showing up for things that are voluminable?

voluntary. That's something that I'm, if you don't show up for it, I guarantee you they are noticing, whether they're voluntary or not. The one thing I remember about the Chase Young situation, they were pissed. They were angry. They had just pasted that sea to his chest, and they could not believe that he couldn't be bothered to show up at least once, just once. And, you know, but they also knew a lot more than any of us knew at the time, which is he really needed it, no matter how good he was as a rookie and he was damn good. But, yeah, I don't, Tommy, honestly, I don't know that any of this ultimately impacts wins and losses.

But you can make the argument. It impacts the team chemistry and the culture and the good cultures. You have great attendance and the bad cultures. You don't. But we've read about good cultures. where teams and really good players have not bothered to show up. I mean... But they're not usually guys who just got there.

I agree. They're usually guys who have created a reputation for themselves within the organization and outside the organization among the fan base, where fans know what to expect from this player, like a Terry McLaren. Right. Perry McLaurin has banked a lot of goodwill. Plus he's waiting and we have. all believe he will sign a huge contract extension. And by the way, he's been in the building

and he's been present, you know, for a lot of these things, whether or not he's on the field doing the work or not is, you know, yeah, I'm with you. He's built up enough equity. Yeah. Here's the most important thing. The most important guy was there. Yeah. Yes, he was. Right? Yeah, he was. That's really the most important guy. Yeah. And he was there. there were some quotes i guess um kingsbury and quinn uh spoke last week after the o t a days um they they they you know they don't say a whole lot about about anything um the one thing and i think this happened right before i left is that there were there was a uh a photo of jaden circulating and everybody thought he looked really bulked up actually i think i mentioned this on my last podcast which was a week ago monday

on Memorial Day. I didn't notice a big difference. And when the coaches were asked, they didn't speak to some sort of significant, physical difference in the off-season. If nobody had said anything, I would not have noticed anything. So I don't know if I talked myself into thinking,

yeah, he looks a little bit more muscular or not. You know, I mean, the scale would tell you, if he's heavier. Yeah. I think there were a couple of things that Kingsbury said. Kingsbury actually gets a little bit, you know, animated when he talks. Like, I thought the emphasis in his, maybe a lot of you guys have read some of these quotes or heard them, and maybe some of you haven't.

I got to him this morning. Just the emphasis on the O line. You know, he was asked about why he wanted the team to draft Connerly Jr. and he said, you know, the skill set is there, but he said, let me find the exact quote. I had this up. Here it is. He said, you've seen our division, the team who just won the whole thing, they build it starting up front. And I think to try to keep up with those type of teams, you've got to continue to do that and stock that room.

injuries happen. We're really impressed with the line last year and the job they did, but injuries happen and you always got to try and get younger and add more depth to that room. I think, look, I think good teams do that. Teams that don't lose like the Ravens do that. They always have an offensive linemen in waiting. Yeah. Ready to step in when somebody retires. Yeah, in Philly's case, you know, the D-line just seems to always reload. He also just talked about, you know, there was a question about how a bulked-up offensive line helps him as a play caller.

And he says, well, that's where it all starts as a play caller. The ability to have the entire playbook open and feel comfortable with whatever you call, I think it'll always make things easier and is a really good thing. And I thought last year they were tremendous for what we asked them to do, playing with a rookie quarterback. There's a lot that comes out of Kingsbury in this thing where I think year two, for him, for everybody that was there last year,

for his quarterback, and the fact that they have added tonsil and hopefully Connerly Jr. is ready to perform as a starting right tackle day one. I think he's, one of the reasons he is back is that he understands that this could be an unbelievable offensive season. And that's comparing it to last year's offensive season,

where I saw something this morning when I was catching up, not that we didn't know this, but that Washington basically led the league in fewest punts and turnovers in combination. They just didn't give up the ball. and I think they could be more explosive this year in terms of the big play with a guy like Debo Samuel. I still think that the running back position needs improvement. And I did get something that somebody sent to me.

I guess it was Jeremy Fowler thought that Nick Chubb would be a good fit for Washington. We've talked about him many times over the last couple of months, whether it's Dobbins or Chubb, I would definitely take a look-see. But if they end up with just what they have, it was good enough last year to be one of the top five offenses in the NFL. And so, you know, it's got a shot to be this year. Speaking of that, kind of circling back to what we were first talking about, OTAs in this time of year. I love this time of year, too, because you get, you know, all of the Internet film experts on our team getting excited about social media videos or, you know, reports, you know, about how. and then it's the let Adam's Peter's cook crowd or Adam, you know, AP and DQ are playing chess.

Everybody else is playing checkers. And they're talking about guys like Jacori Kroski Merit, the seventh rounder. And every time I see that stuff, I'm like, look, you may be right and I hope you are. But did you learn from like, you know, Antonio Golden Gandhi or Gandhi Golden or whatever his name was or Randy Moss's son, which everybody does. during OTAs and mini-camp had is a rookie of the year candidate. Oh, God, yeah. You know, the DB from James Madison, God, what was his name? That so many people that were Madison people that listened to this said,

this dude was a steal in the seventh round. You can see it already. You know, it's in June. I don't even want to mention Sam Howe. We don't need to go there. But it's just, you know, it's that time of the year where, first of all, we're short on content related to the team because they're not playing games. And we've already had free agency in the draft.

But I just think these things don't end up rising to the level of mattering a whole hell of a lot. Because, well, at least for us, the majority of what we see or even the people bless their hearts that are out there, you know, shooting videos of the amount of time that they have. Nobody really knows what they're looking at this time. Nobody's in pads. Okay, nobody's playing tackle football. Not to sound like Doc. But it's just that time of the year. And look, it's great that three players didn't show for OTAs.

Last year was boring. We didn't have anything to talk about. I agree. All right. What else on OTAs? Read Tommy's column. I'll retweet it. He'll have me retweeting it here this afternoon.

What else? Anything? Did I miss anything last week? week of import. Well, you're asking the wrong guy because I only pay attention to what you tell me to. That is true. That is true. All right. When we come back, I'm going to briefly talk about where I've been the last week. And we'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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I'd have to fire myself from the podcast, but I could get fired from radio. That could happen. So, yeah, I was out all of last week yesterday as well. Actually, I did a podcast last Monday, Memorial Day. That was the last one. I was not on vacation. Tommy knows this because I shared this with Tommy a couple of months back. I wish last week was a vacation, but it really wasn't.

I was out because I had surgery. Yay! Surgery! I had prostate removal surgery because a few months back, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I'm fine. Everything went well. One of the reasons I decided to mention it, and we're not going to talk that long about it, is A, I usually don't miss a week and not have a story about where I went to kind of talk to Tommy about. And I don't have any story about a great trip to somewhere. And then the other reason I'm mentioning it is for you guys out there that just kind of go to the doctor every few years. to get a check up a full, you know, physical exam. And you're not into doing that. Do it.

Because so many things can be taken care of when they're caught early. And if you are a male, and most of you are, all right, our audience is mostly male. It's not all male. We have, you know, we have percentages in the female gender breakdown. But if you are male, and you are 45 years of age or older. If you've got family history, go to the doctor and get screened.

You know, get your PSA checked. It's early detection is so important. You get a blood test. That's all it is. They check your PSA. It's one of those cancers that you catch early. You're in great shape. And I'm doing well, and I'm going to do well.

And, you know, look, there are many people that deal with so much worse. And I am aware of where prostate cancer ranks on the list. You know, if you get cancer, this is the one, you know, that you want to get. It's treatable and highly, highly curable. And, yeah, I had an incredible surgeon considered, by the way, right before they put me under, the anesthesia team said, you know, this guy's the LeBron James of prostate, you know, surgery. And I, we're lucky in Washington. We have so many options, you know, from, you know, Hopkins to, you know, Washington Hospital Center,

Children's Hospital, incredible for kids. And when I was diagnosed with this, you know, my urologist and even my primary doctor just said, you're lucky. You don't have to go to Sloan Kettering. You don't have to go here. The guy for this surgery does it here. He's here in Washington. His name's Jonathan Wong.

Dr. Wong and his team, incredible, can't begin to thank them enough. But guys, get checked up, get screened, get your PSA checked. You know, really starting, if you've got family history, probably even maybe as early as 40, you know, if you talk to your doctor about this, but at 50 years old, you should be getting your PSA checked annually. And that's how I, you know, that's how I found out that it made sense for me to go to a urologist and get an MRI. and then eventually get a biopsy. And, you know, it fortunately was a PSA test that wasn't three years in arrears, you know. And for those of you, and I know that there are people listening to this that have dealt with this and that have had it.

And, you know, it was caught early. So, and this was the right solution. So anyway, that's where I was last week. I feel much better. Today's the best day. I was telling Tommy before I went. He said, when are we going to do a show? And I said, I think, well, you know, my surgery was last Tuesday.

I said, I think I'll be ready to do a podcast on Thursday. And I actually mentioned it to the surgeon because he said, when do you think you'll go back to work? And I said, I think I might be able to do something on Thursday. And he said, no, no, that's not going to happen. And I said, well, early next week, he said, probably not. And he was right. You know, all of you. And I've had surgery several times for other things, much less serious.

But, yeah, so I feel great. Today is the first day I feel great. And, well, that's it. Get screened. Get screened. Get your PSA checked. If you are, you know, 45 years of age or older, it is the most treatable and the most curable, you know, highly curable, certainly of all of the cancers out there.

So that's it. Yeah, you can't. You can't hide from it. Okay. I mean, people, and this is human nature, you figure if you don't go, you won't hear any bad news. Yeah. But that's what people think. I know.

That's what a lot of guys think, you know? And, but that's not the way, that's not the way to take care of yourself. No. Okay. Yeah. No, it's not. You go, you go to the doctor regularly, don't you? Oh, I go, I just had blood work done a couple of weeks ago.

I go to see my family practitioner usually once a year. I go to see a cardiologist once a year. I go to see another specialist. You know, I spend a lot of time going to doctor. Yeah, you know, I keep on top of it, okay, because I'm not afraid. I mean, obviously I'd be concerned, but, you know, I've come to. to the conclusion that it's better to know than not to know, always. Yes, of course it is.

I mean, I was just thinking, as you were going through the litany of doctors that you visit, you know, your optometrist or ophthalmologist, whoever it is that does the thing in your eye that I don't even like to mention, honestly. The retina special. Honestly, I think what I went through last week, I'd much rather go through than go through what you have done to your eyes with that retina specialist. That seems like one of the worst things ever. We don't even like to talk about it. I have people that say to me, please, don't let Tom tell you in detail about some of those eye doctor appointments, so we won't get into the detail.

Okay. But the bottom line is it's better to know than not know. Okay. Don't be scared. Be brave. Like Kevin. know if it was bravery it was like well no you don't have a choice you have to go get this checked out um but i i i go to the i go to the doctor regularly i do i have people in my life um you know who are the and i know that there are people listening yeah you know if i if i'm really sick i'll go to the doctor and get something when's your when was your last physical i don't know seven years ago you know i hear that oh you that's we're not you know we're not you know we're not 25 anymore people. You get to, when you get into your 40s, 50s and 60s,

you got to, you got to, these things are so treatable, so curable in so many of these cases, but only if they're detected early. So, you know, take Tommy's advice, take my advice. You know, go to the doctor and get your PSA checked if you haven't done it in over a year. Well, I'm certainly glad that you're doing well. I was thinking about you the whole time.

And it's good to be working with you again. Well, there was no threat of us not working together again. I know. Yeah. I know. We'll be working together for a very long time together. And I feel very confident about that. So anyway, that's where I was last week.

And that's it. What? Let's not get nuts here. Well. One of us is 71. The other one isn't. Yeah, but your young. 71. You know why you're a young 71? And yes, I've seen Tommy's body shape because Tommy keeps his

mind active. He keeps his brain active. He's very curious. He likes to go learn. You are a serial learner. That's really important to, I think, aging well. Don't you think that that has something to do with it? Yeah. Absolutely. That's one of the reasons why, I mean, besides having a good time, I wouldn't actually retire. You know, I mean, I've seen too many people, you know, sit in a chair and spend six hours on their phone every day, you know, in retirement. So, no, no. I mean, I'm working as well. I'm working because it keeps me healthy. Yeah. I can't ever, like people have asked. me before, how long do you think you'll do this? I'm like, I like doing this. Why would I stop doing it?

I think what you just said, and I think, by the way, I think this goes for any age group. I think being busy is the healthiest thing for everybody, not, you know, the idle mind, you know, idiom. That, that's, I can't imagine not wanting to do this. And the great thing about a podcast, I don't have a boss on this podcast. I can do this for as long as I want or for as long as people actually want us to do it. Because that's the actual. Because let me just tell you, there would be a number of people that if it dropped to that number, I might not want to do it anymore. But hopefully that won't ever happen.

Anyway, it's good to be back. I was counting the days to get back. You know, one of the things I was able to do was watch the NBA playoffs from home over the last week. And this morning, this was interesting because I didn't hear this from anybody. Like, the people that I was coming, I stayed off. I really just didn't even pay attention to anything other than, you know, texts from friends and family members. But I did not know until this morning about this poll. about the team name from in the post last week.

So we got to talk about that. We got a few things to finish up with. We'll do that after these words from a few of our sponsors. It can be hard for men to deal with hair loss, even though it's common. Luckily, I'm here to provide you with a solution so you don't even have to talk about it. Through Hymns, you can restore your hair

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Prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for details and important safety information. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Well, let me tell you something about Shelly's backroom. They care about your health as well. Shelly's back room at 1331 F Street, Northwest, in the district.

And here's how, I'll show you how they care about your health because they have health food on their menu. Okay, here's the special for Shelly's for this week. Oh, boy. A mushroom Swiss burger, a half a pound of Shelly's custom. That's healthy? with Swiss cheese sauteed mushrooms

caramelized onions served on a butter toasted roll with lettuce tomato fries and a kosher-dil pickle I'll tell me that's not healthy Are you a mushroom guy? No I'm not That doesn't surprise you doesn't

No it doesn't surprise me at all I don't even know why I asked the question But when you presented it as it's a healthy item on the menu, I thought you were going to hit us with some salad, and I'm like, I can't wait to hear him describe this, because that's not really an area of the menu you're familiar with, typically. I think I did describe a health food.

It'll make you feel better. You'll feel healthier and you eat it. You know what? It's the finest of ground beef. It's probably as healthy, and by the way, an excellent burger. as you will get. We had a burger the night of your event two weeks ago. Yes.

Sat there and had a burger late night. And you can celebrate your health by tapping it off with a nice cigar when you're done. You know what? My wife who was just an absolute, you know, rock star the last week, I mean, I can't begin to even describe in words how incredible she's been. But as you were going through your menu reading and focusing in on an item that sounds great to me because I do love mushrooms, you know what? Maybe the two of us will go down to Shelly's one night. You know, how about Shelly's as a thank you? I think I'm going to have to come up with more than just Shelly's, but not a bad start.

The menu is awesome. The food's great. Yes. Yeah. Yes, it is. So many options. And on a nice night, you can sit outside. Yep.

you know, absolutely. All right. Shelly's Backroom. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. So did you see this poll that the Post had last week? Yeah, yeah, I saw it. I saw it. I mean, it didn't really surprise me in the sense that after a winning season, you know,

he could be called dog shit. Yeah. And people would like to name more. Right. So before you, you know, weigh in on this, I just, I didn't know if you had seen it or not because we really didn't talk about it before. But for those that saw it and for those that didn't, the Post did a poll along with, you know, the Sharr School. That's Dwight Schar, by the way, Tommy, a former minority shareholder of the football team and owner who probably didn't, you know, handle himself in the most upstanding of ways in trying to run Dan Snyder. out of town. Not that we disapproved, but apparently the league did because he'll never be able to

own even a penny of equity of an NFL team in the future. But anyway, I think that Schar school is George Mason. Am I right about that or not? I'm not sure. I think it's George Mason. So they did a poll, the Post and the Dwight Schar School, the Schar School, on the support right now, or lack thereof, of the team's name, the commanders. This is something they did a year ago as well. And they essentially had two findings from the questions that they asked. First of all, question one, would you describe yourself as a fan of the Washington commanders or not? and in April of 2024, when they last did this,

area sports fans overall, 45% said they were fans of the Washington commanders, not the team name, we're not at the team name part yet, and a year later, 61% said they are fans of the team. It's broken down into D.C., Northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland, and every single one of those areas,

just like, you know, fans overall, and these are sports fans overall that were pulled on this question, not just everybody. 61% up 16%. But then with respect to the name, question, regardless of what you think about the Washington commanders as a football team, which of the following best describes how you feel about the name commanders? Do you love it, like it, dislike it, or hate it? Now, before I give you the results, which I'm assuming that you probably already know what they are,

last year, basically 34% of fans overall, the DC area overall, liked or loved the name, all right? 34%. This year, 50% up 16%. Okay, so people like the name more. This is the DC area overall. Now, specific to commanders fans, 36% a year ago, 62% this year. Area sports fans overall, 34% to 53%. So a significant jump in people saying that they liked it or loved it.

Now, there was a big part of the poll last year that I will reference here in a moment that they did not re-poll on. And that was a question about the specific name that people would like the football team to be referred to. We'll get to that in a moment. But your reaction to this is not surprising because the team did so well. Yeah.

Like I said, they could have been named the Washington Horset and team, as long as they, put on a performance like going to the NFC championship game like they did, and there'd be more people who would like the name. But the unfortunate thing about this to me is, again, I don't care what they're called, okay? But I have come to recognize, and in part through you, that there is a significant, passionate group of people out there that are still offended that they're not called Redskins and are still upset about that.

And it's a powerful voice that will have to be ignored, but shouldn't be dismissed. Okay. And I think what this poll did, it gave certain tree leaders in town a chance to say, well, you know, If you're still down on the team because they're not Redskins, then you're not really a fan. I don't pay attention to any of those people because most of them aren't from here. Like I've said before, I don't have time to have these conversations with people who have just dropped in in the last 20 years or 10 years and don't feel what I feel and what many of you feel. This is a family conversation.

And by the way, they didn't poll just family. So there are plenty of people that had a chance to weigh in. Look, this is really simple people. They were 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl. Of course it was going to go up. I actually, if you had asked me before, because I had no idea that they were conducting this poll again, I would have assumed it would have gone up even more.

From going up from 34% to 50%. So basically 50%, Now, like it or love it, and that means 50% dislike it or hate it or decided not to weigh in with a no opinion or skipped the question altogether. I would have thought, given the results, it would have gone up even more. One of the things, there are a couple of things I want to emphasize. Number one is this. You know, for a year since they put this poll out last year, I've had to deal with people saying, you know, why do you keep saying a majority of people don't like the team name?

And I said, well, the Post just did a poll last year. This was just another reminder that last year it was at 34%. That means 66%. I think that's a majority. There's also a part of last year's poll because I had a chance to go back and read it and sort of compare the two because they linked you to last year's poll and the story on this year's poll that actually, you know, reflects 84% preferred something other than the specific name. the commanders. But that was a question that wasn't asked in this year's poll. I'll talk about that in a moment. But secondly, and I didn't see this in the write-up in the post on the poll, the story that had the poll information in it. I would have loved to have known what the demographics were

age specifically on the respondents. I would assume a good mix demographically. I'd still love to see it because I think younger people probably voted in much greater numbers on liked it or loved it versus older people. But anyway, the other thing that I wanted to get to is I think there's a lot about this poll that matches up to some of the other data that is out there. First of all, let me just get the numbers out there that I'm kind of focused in on based on this poll. 50 and 53. You know, 50% is essentially the, you know, result of the overall poll. You know, D.C. residents, 50% liked the name or love the name. 50% didn't like the name, hated the name, or didn't respond.

Then there's that other part of the poll, which is people who identified themselves as area sports fans. That number is 53%. Both of those numbers, 50 and 53, grew from 34%. percent a year ago. But if you're basically looking at the overall numbers, we're like a 50-50 split. But area sports fans, 53-47, the overall respondents, 50-50. But what I wanted to get to kind of using these numbers is in addition to already suggesting that I don't think personally it would have been unreasonable after the season they had to think that the numbers would have been even higher. And let's, let me digress.

for a moment. Anybody describing this poll, Tommy, if it's true, that this is evidence of some sort of avalanche of fans falling all over themselves in favor of the team name. I mean, those people are delusional. Clearly, that's not what the poll

shows. This poll shows something different from last year. It definitely does. But we're still basically talking about 50-50, and I'm sorry, but for a team that won 14 games, you know, 60 minutes within the Super Bowl with a superstar quarterback.

In some ways, this poll reflects resistance more, much more so than an avalanche. But anyway, what I wanted to get to is these numbers actually in many ways mirror some of the quantifiable interest level data that we have out there, like ticket sales. Ticket sales are up, but there isn't overwhelming demand for tickets. as is usually the case after a season like the one Washington just had. You can still get season tickets. You can still get individual tickets to any game next year. You know, we didn't see as the season grew last year, any data suggesting that fans were swarming back, you know,

in droves to watch the team on TV. In fact, the TV ratings for much of the season, you know, well beyond the halfway mark, reflected the same as the year before. when they were a 4 and 13 team. You know, all of what we know, and it's subject to change, all of this is, you know, especially as we get closer to the season and then get into the season, is that the poll itself, the results of the poll really match up with some of the other data that's out there.

There's more interest, no doubt. It grew, no doubt. The name is more acceptable to more people than it was. No doubt. But overall, you know, the jump back in rate, you know, after the franchise's best season in three decades, has been far from overwhelming. It's up. The tent's grown. The audience is larger.

But it isn't necessarily what I think, you know, some people thought it would have been if they just won. I mean, there was nothing like what no one would have expected last year. they did more than just one. They were within 60 minutes of a Super Bowl, and you still haven't sold out a game yet next year. Maybe that'll change in the coming days. And maybe when we get to next season, the TV ratings will be top, you know, third, top 10% in the NFL

in terms of local TV ratings. And I know local TV ratings aren't everything like they used to be. It's just a larger, you know, set of people than attendances. But anyway, I just thought that, yeah, the opportunity to kind of go back and look at the numbers last year, to refresh my memory, to see just how overwhelmingly the numbers were in terms of disliking the name. And then, you know, viewing them in the context of this year's numbers and understanding that after a season like the one the team had, it's not unreasonable to have expected those numbers to have been. even higher. And then just how these poll numbers kind of mirror some of the other things out there. It all reflects growth, but not overwhelming, can't handle the crowd at the front door,

kind of a response. We still haven't seen that. And I think this poll sort of, you know, kind of matches up to that. Oh, wait a minute, Tommy. Sorry. I know I'm rambling here. Just one last thing. The poll last year included a question that was not displayed anyway in the story in this year's poll.

Maybe they asked this question and they've got the information on it, but it was not presented in the story on this year's poll. Last year they asked a question, if you could choose a name for Washington's football team, would you prefer the commanders, the Washington football team, or find a new and different name. Only 16% said commanders. So 84% said everything else.

Washington football team, people volunteered Redskins. We all know if the Redskins had been an option. You know, in addition to commanders in Washington football team, that would have been the overwhelming majority. But still, Redskins volunteered as an answer. They put it in as 16% next to. to commanders at 16%. Washington football team was at 17%.

Another name, without being specific, was 30%, and then you had Red Wolves and Red Tails and Warriors and Generals. Basically, 16% said they'd pick commanders, and 84% said something else. We didn't see that part of the poll duplicated, or at least it wasn't presented. I think that gets to even more of the crux of, okay, love it, like it, hate it, dislike it, fine.

But if you had a choice of something else other than this name, what would you pick, what would you say? And we didn't get the data on that particular part of last year's poll and this year's poll. The other thing, too, about this particular question in last year's poll is it so, you know, proves the complexity of the issue for them. You know, they took the path of least resistance because they had the opportunity to do it after the season that the team had. You know, and the results of this updated poll are good results for the team, no doubt.

It's a good result. I mean, a bad result would have been if it stayed the same or just barely went up. You know, it's still at 50-50 after the kind of season they had last year, but still, they can look at this and view this as a good result and sort of supportive of the decision to just stick with the name for now. But man, when you had all the answers to this question last year, when given commanders, Washington football team or find a new and different name, you just saw the problem that they would have. Knowing that Redskins is not an option, just how hard it would have been for them to come up with an answer. I've always said that. As much as I think doing something about it would have been better than not doing something about it,

and they've chosen not to do something about it, I still totally recognized the incredible challenge of coming up with, you know, an answer that would have satisfied everybody because I don't think that that answer exists other than, you know, the old name, and that's not an option. I bet the team has dug into some of this data. They should. You know, the new guy should. sure they have.

Yeah. All right. I thought it was interesting. Everything about this organization right now is in a feel-good mode. Yeah. So, of course, more people are going to feel good about the team. But it is remarkable. And I pointed this out, essentially what's happened here, 50% of your customers do not like the name of your product.

Yeah. That's pretty remarkable. Well, actually, actually of their cut, if you want to count commanders fans, 62% in this poll of people who identified themselves as commanders fans said they liked it or loved it. So up from 36%. So that's your biggest jump in their overall polling. The people specifically who said fans of the team, that number jumped the most. overall 50-50 specific to their fan base, 62%, 36%. You know, one just thing before we move on, because there are a couple of other things that I wanted to talk to you about.

And I'm tracking this. I have somebody that knows I'm interested and they're letting me know what's going on on that front. I can't believe they're not sold out yet for the opener. You know, not selling out season tickets yet, a bit of a surprise. But, you know, not as many people go to games as they used to. There's, you know, all of that going on.

And it's still Landover and it's still Northwest Stadium. But that season opener on September 7th, it will sell out. I think it will. But it's not sold out yet. Really? I mean, we're in June now. We are three months away, basically, from this season opening game. And I just can't believe that after the season they had,

there are still plenty of tickets remaining for all of their games next year. Sold out by who? Commanders, fans, or giants? I would hope that you're going to have 80% Washington football team fans in that stadium for that game on Sunday, September 7th. Anyway, I did want to mention something about the team. I saw this this morning that the pro football writers of America awarded the Pete Roselle award which goes to the best PR staff in the NFL to Washington's PR staff. I've talked a lot and you have to in recent years about what a difference it is between, you know,

know, Sean D. Barbieri's team out there. All of them are phenomenal, you know, out there. And they have been for the last few years. They do such a great job and what it used to be like. I'm really happy for them. That's a big honor. And it's, you know, I can't compare it to, you know, other people. But Sean, you know, Charlie, Jared, Samantha, everybody out there.

And so many of those people have helped you. They have helped me in recent years. it's just been totally different working with professional people after, you know, two decades of basically working with some of the worst in that area of a team that you could possibly work with. Congratulations to them. Yeah, it's well deserved. You know, they've always been very cooperative and whenever I've called over. And here's the thing, you know, I explained this once.

to somebody in the organization who was new. And I said, you know, I'm an enemy at a state. I hope you realize that, okay. But that doesn't seem to matter to them. Sean came to your event. Sean was at your event? Yes. At Cigars and Curveballs.

Sean D. Barbary. I've always appreciated how professional they've been. Yeah. They're professional. They get it. And they also, you know, have been around to know what used to be like. And look, the whole organization has been about making, about mending and fixing a situation that was terrible. And nobody cares about the media, people that are listening.

But it was, but it was always for us a window into just how dysfunctional and just how arrogant the organization was. and it's been the opposite of that over the last few years. And this is before Josh Harris even showed up because Sean's been there before. So congratulations to them. Just want to finish up with the NBA playoffs. I'm just going to say this. Nobody cares about it. Wait a minute.

Yeah, go ahead. Wait a minute. Go. Don't waste the time of this podcast on the NBA playoffs. Okay, I'm going to step in here and help. Instead of pick? First of all, First of all, there's breaking news.

There is? The Knicks have fired Tom Tibido. Yeah. There it is. Yeah. You know what? Honestly, they got outcoached badly, badly. But I don't know that it's his fault.

It's the players that they gave him. Here's what I was going to say. First of all, I've said it for a month and a half since early in the second round. I think Oklahoma City is the best team. They're a massive favorite over Indiana. Indiana will definitely give Oklahoma City a better test. I think the Knicks would have gotten swept. The one thing that I want to say about the last week of NBA basketball,

watching the Knicks painful, painful. God, that was some horrible basketball. And they won one of the games since we last talked. And I just, every, I couldn't believe how disorganized they were. offensively. And the player that was voted the most clutch player in the NBA, and look, he's skilled, he can score, he can make shots. I think Jalen Brunson has been the most overrated player of these playoffs, and I think the Knicks were much... I just argued with you, like before you went away. I said he's not a great player. You dismissed me. No, you said something about

Anybody could have guarded him or he couldn't have guarded anybody else. I've been talking about Jalen Brunson for a while now. I hate the way he plays. Not a great player. I'm not making this up. Yeah. Did you say overrated? No, I said not a great player.

Oh, he is a great player. He's just very overrated. He's a great shot maker, a unbelievably skilled offensive player. I can't stand watching him play. or watching Tibbs allow them to play the way they play with him in the game. I think that they were a much better threat to beat Indiana. With him, their leading score off the floor than they were with him in the game. Most of you will think I'm absolutely insane to say that.

And again, give me Jalen Brunson on my team with a coach that's going to actually use him in a different way because he is a fucking great shotmaker. and such a skilled player. I just can't stand the way they let him play. It's painful to watch. I mean, painful. I found the antidote. What's the antidote?

Last week, I was courtside for a playoff game. I mean, courtside seats right on the floor for a playoff game. Okay. Okay. It wasn't the NBA. it was something called the Basketball League, minor league professional, a minor professional basketball league,

and I went to a playoff game featuring the Frederick Flying Cows. Is that really the team? That team name's polling very well. I love it. The Flying Cows. Kevin? It was so good. They play at Hood College,

a Woodborough Bank Arena, packed house. Okay. Okay. What's a packed house? 250? 1600 people. Wow.

Okay. People in the stands, adults in the stands, wearing cow onesies with cowbells. The place was crazy. Wow. It was. I've never heard of this. I've never heard of this. The basketball was so old school.

I mean, the fine cows won. a playoff game against the Redding Rebels, but they played the game around the rim. They drove to the basket. They attempted 24-3-pointers throughout the whole game. How many? The average in the NBA? How many? 24.

You think that's old school? That's old school? Kevin, the average in an NBA game now is 38. Okay, but 24 is not old school. Well, it is. How long are the game? Are they 48-minute games? 48-minute games.

Okay. Just checking. 48-minute games. It was so good. And the coach, the guy who coaches, is a guy named Ed Corporal. He was the basketball league coach of the year a couple years ago when he took a team in Oklahoma to the TBL title. And the flying cows went 21 and 3 this year in the regular season. Who plays for the – what is this league?

I've never heard of it. Who plays in this league? Well, it's – It's semi – It's four players. It's full players. No, they get paid. Yeah.

It's four players who play small college. It's full players who've played in various countries around the world. Okay. Mm-hmm. And the assistant coach for the flying counts? Derek Lewis. Oh, Derek Lewis, one of the great shot blocks. in Maryland basketball history.

Six-seven from Temple Hills. One of the assistants. Good for Derek. His brother Cedric was a hell of a shot blocker, too. It was such a good time. It was so refreshing. And we were right there, man. We had players falling in our lap.

We had the ball come. And the place is just going nuts. I haven't enjoyed basketball since the San Antonio Spurs dynasty ended. But you haven't given yourself a chance to enjoy basketball? Oh, I have to. Oh, you have not. You don't know. You don't watch anything. You tell me you don't watch it. I do watch it. I do watch. I'm disgusted and then I turn it off.

Well, watching Oklahoma City can't be that disgusting because this is one of the great defensive teams in recent history. Of the teams that were in the playoffs, Oklahoma City, And both Indiana, too. I'll say both these teams are the least disturbing to my stomach. The Knicks were disturbing to my stomach. I'm going to end on one thing. It can't match the flying cows of Frederick.

But last night on Comcast Sportsnet, on, you know, 846, monumental, on the Monumental Network, they had something they called Wizards Classics and I was just flipping around on the channels and the game that they had up was actually not a Wizards classic it was Game 7

of Bullets, Seattle in 1978 Wow and now I've seen this on YouTube so I didn't watch the whole thing because I've seen it on YouTube but I sat there last night and watched a little bit more especially with the context being

that I've been watching a lot of NBA basketball recently. I am sorry, Tommy. They were terrible. And I'm one of the biggest Elvin Hayes fans of all time. Now, he had a terrible game seven against Seattle. I love Wes. I love, compared to today's players, it's just not even close.

It's just not even close. I mean, I'm watching it. Nobody can make a damn shot. Oh, it's painful. NBA players right now are the smallest they've been in 40 years? The smallest they've been in 40 years? Yes. Are you talking about height?

Yes. Okay. Yeah, because centers, they don't, the center's been eliminated from the game. Steroids. The center's been eliminated from the game. So you don't have, you know, you don't have a lot of. There's no tall guys anymore. Right.

But these guys, these guys are so much more skilled. and so much more physically imposing. Oh, look. There has never been a player in the history of the Waltz. Wilk's the outlier. Wilt is the outlier. That is as strong as West Unseld. West Unseld was strong.

But Tommy, seriously, I don't want to get into this. We're going to end it here. I watch this last night, and this is one of the great memories of my formative years. Game 7. Bullets fever. You know, they had won game six. I went to game six at the Capitol Center. It was a blowout to even up the series, stay alive, and force game seven.

It was as loud as anything, you know, I've ever heard. That building actually was a great building when the bullets were great. And they went in game seven, and I'm watching it. It's Musburger and Rick Berry on the call with John Havlach as part of the broadcast as well. By the way, he was awesome on the broadcast, Havlicek. but I'm watching this and it's just now here's the big difference everybody's involved like they're running plays like you five people are involved in offensive sets and even

Rick Barry said on one Freddie Downtown Brown on one possession came down and just one on one he said you don't want to see that you never want to see that you never want to see a player come down and just go one on one that is a wasted trip well that is 80% of the trips a lot of the teams in today's game. I know. But I'm telling you, the skill level... The athletes may be better, but the game is not better. Okay, well, the skill level is so much worse.

It's just not... It's not the same game. It's not the same skill level. But I'll leave it at that. I think those are two different. You can enjoy the game more from back then. By the way, the Frederick flying cows, that's exactly what they did. Everybody got their hands on the ball. Yeah, well, and that's what you see more of that with Indiana and Oklahoma City.

Nobody's going to watch these NBA finals. Nobody's going to watch them. I know. All right. Good to be back. I'll be back tomorrow with a podcast, and Tommy you'll be back with me on Thursday. See you, Tommy. Okay, boss.