The Kevin Sheehan Show - Tone Deaf

Episode Date: October 28, 2021

Kevin and Thom today on the continuation of Washington Football Team off-field news including Tanya Snyder's reported 'tone deaf' comments at the NFL's league meetings. They also talked some football including a discussion about why WFT's 3rd-down defense might improve. World Series, Wizards, Caps, and more on the show too.  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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. The show today brought to you by DirectTV stream. Get your TV together with the best live and on demand. Learn more at DirectTV.com.

That's DirectTV.com. Tommy's with me today. If you missed Howard Gutman on the show yesterday, I would urge you to go back and listen to it. He predicted a lot of the things that would happen. and later on in the day with respect to the Washington football team situation. And some of the things that Goodell said the other day, Howard's great. Howard was the former ambassador to Belgium, longtime attorney with Williams Connolly. That was on yesterday's show.

Tommy is with me today. We will definitely talk, even though I am actually starting to get exhausted in talking about the Washington football team stuff. Not that there's a lot of football stuff to talk about that's overly encouraging. encouraging either. But what I'd really love is a press release or some sort of an announcement or a report that comes from like Ian Rappaport or Adam Schaefter that just says Dan Snyder has told NFL owners he plans to sell the team when the season ends. That's what I want to see and read. Other than that, this stuff is really getting exhausting. Do you agree or not?

It's exhausting, except I think, and this could be false hope, it probably is. I think there's a sense of some small level of momentum that people don't want to give up on. So while it may be exhausting, I think people think that, you know, maybe if they keep moving forward with all this stuff, that it will have a positive outcome at the end. That may be food's goal. It probably is. Yeah, I don't, I think that's probably true that this one over, you know, just the last year and a half in general seems like the closest, you know,

we've ever been to getting what everybody wants. And, you know, I'm assuming that people still want it. Like some people don't even care one way or the other anymore. I had Tim Legler on the show this morning. You know, Legler is a huge, you know, Skins fan. And what happens is when I have them on during football season, that's 90% of the conversation. And he's talking, and we're talking about the situation and the team, and he's talking about the defense and Heineke.

And, you know, he says, you know, and I've been down to all four home games. And I said, well, you just buried the lead. I mean, you're the guy. You're the one. You've been to all. Which really is a shocker. I know he's not the only one, but I mean, you've really got to be a diehard and super devoted to have gone to all four home games already.

And he's planning on coming for the Buccaneers game, even though his wife is due around Thanksgiving this year. So anyway, God, man, there is nothing, nothing you could do short of a big, big offer financially to get me to go to a game this year. Seriously. You're not alone. I'm a football fan, and I enjoy watching football on Sundays, and if I'm there watching that, I can't also watch football.

And so I just don't have much interest in it. Well, you know, you better get your second win because we've got the congressional thing coming up still with this thing. And it may amount to nothing, but it will be at the very minimum some drama. There will be some drama involved there. Howard had some thoughts on that yesterday as well. November 6th, I think is the deadline for that, for the league to respond, which, you know, I doubt they'll respond very favorably.

It's not going to be like, oh, really? Oh, you know what? We've had this report, this secret written report. We're just going to give it to you guys. Here it is. Anyway, you said you had a couple of things that you wanted to talk about. about that weren't related to anything that we're going to do in detail on the show. Go ahead. This one thing, just to illustrate how cool it is to be me sometimes.

I'm doing my morning walk the other day around Frederick, around my neighborhood, and this guy pulls over in a pickup truck, he puts down the window, and he says, I just wanted to say, I'm a big fan. I listen to you guys on the podcast. all the time. His name's Jeremiah. And he talks about how much he enjoys the podcast and all that. But then he tells me he manages two fighters in Las Vegas. This is a guy in Frederick driving a pickup truck, and he tells me that he manages two fighters in Vegas, and he does.

Two pretty good fighters. Really? Guy named Cody Crowley, who's 19-0, and another guy who Robin Safer, who's 13-0. and this guy's name is Jeremiah. And he has some kind of business here in Frederick. I'm not sure what it is. I forget what it is offhand.

But he's telling me about this fighters he manages and keep an eye on him. And then he goes on his merry way. And I'm just thinking how cool is this. You know, just added a blue, I get this guy in Frederick tells me he's got fighters in Vegas. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah, I thought it was. So I just wanted to share that.

That's not the kind of thing that happens to everybody every day. No, but it happens to you. It's cool to be you. Yes. Yeah, as you said. Yes. I have, are you done or did you have another story that you wanted to tell me? No, that's it. That's it.

Because you just reminded me I actually have two things to tell you. Number one is I watched the first episode of doapsick. Are you familiar with dopesick? It's on my list to watch. For what I've read about it, I think I would like it. So I didn't know anything about it until Clay, you know, Cowboy Clay, texted me and he said, you're going to love this, start watching it. So I did watch it.

I watched the first episode last night, and I was ready to immediately go into episode two and keep going, because I think there have been five episodes now. And I was ready to keep going, but I got sidetracked with dinner plans and other things. And I hope to get to episode two and maybe even episode three later on today or certainly over the weekend at some point. But yes, it's very good so far. And, you know, it's funny, Tommy, I've taken oxycotton before. You know I've had. So you have as well.

Yes. When I had my, you know, when I had my multiple back surgeries within a few year period, 10, 15 years ago, I was. prescribed oxy and oh my god i mean it was just wonderful i mean i've for there's nothing and i've described this before and those of you that have have dealt with nerve pain there's no pain like nerve pain it's excruciating it's debilitating and i had major issues with my lower back disc issues and i ended up having multiple surgeries i haven't had it fused yet i've had pretty good luck knock on wood with it over the last several years um but You know, I was prescribed oxy for that first one, and I'm telling you, I mean, no pain.

It totally took all the pain and made me just so happy to be alive versus what I felt like before that. Now, I remember, I'll never forget saying to my wife, this thing, just make sure that I don't keep taking it because I will become massively addicted to this. And I have always felt the same way about like taking percassette. Like I took Perkocet and Vicodin, I think recently with a massive toothache, which turned out to be a root canal thing. Those painkillers, they're all addictive. And this one, if you don't know what Doapsic is, it's a mini series based on the opioid addiction in the U.S. specific to oxy cotton and the development of oxy cotton by Purdue Farm. And the fact that they got a waiver from the FDA to say that because of the time release of the product, it was not addictive only in 1% of the people that took it, which of course was the kiss of death because the thing became massively popular because people didn't think it was addictive and it was.

Anyway, one episode in, Michael Keaton's in it. He's excellent so far. Rosario Dawson's in it. I think I'm going to love it. I love it already after one episode. Well, I figured I would, based on the storyline, and based on the fact that Michael Keaton is in it. So I'm looking forward to watching it.

I took, for my severe arthritis in both my knees, I took oxycotton and oxycodone. I took them both at the same time. Okay, and it was prescribed. I went to a pain management specialist. And it was prescribed to me. And I got to tell you, Kevin, had very little impact. Like, I barely noticed it.

I mean, just the opposite. And pain medicine, I kind of always had that with me. I mean, I know people who get knocked out from pain medicine. And, I mean, it barely took the edge off. So it really didn't have it. And I had no problem stopping it, starting it. I guess I was fortunate in that it didn't have a big impact on me, so I didn't feel the addiction urge. And now with knee replacement, I don't even take aspirin anymore.

That's crazy that you didn't ever have reaction. I mean, pain meds, whenever I've had to take them, it's been glorious in terms of the reduction of pain and just the overall feeling. Anyway, I had one other thing to tell you. So yesterday, I had to go down to the DMV. All right, that would be the driver motor vehicle. You don't have somebody to do that for you? No, I don't. As you know, I've moved recently back into D.C. from Maryland,

so I had to get a D.C. driver's license, which I took care of over the summer. But I had not yet gotten my tags and title for D.C. for my car or for another car that we have. So I took care of my car on Saturday, but the issue was that I didn't have my proof of insurance for the other vehicle. So I couldn't get both vehicles done on Saturday. So I went back down there yesterday.

And the only reason I'm mentioning this is is that most people typically have a terrible experience at the MV, DMV, whatever you call it, wherever you live. And my experience yesterday with Thurman, his name was Thurman was fantastic. This dude, Thurman, you're probably not listening. But anybody that works at the Georgetown DMV that knows Thurman, he was phenomenal because I didn't have something

and I had to sort of email it and have it him printed out. I don't even know if he was supposed to do that. So I hope I didn't get him in trouble. But he was such a good guy and so helpful And then I left there with my tags and title and registration for the other vehicle that I didn't get done on Saturday. And 10 minutes after I left there and I'm in my car driving out of the parking lot that I was in in Georgetown, the phone rings. It was a number that I didn't recognize, so I let it go to voicemail. And then I checked the voicemail.

And it was my man Thurman calling me to say, hey, you left your driver's license here. I got it for you. come back and get it. Now, when I had to go back and park the car and got back there, it was actually closed because it was after 4 o'clock at that point. And they wouldn't let me in. And I said, no, no, Thurman just called me. And then, you know, they let me in and they gave me my license. So, you know, most people have... That's good to hear. Yeah. That you had a good experience. I like that.

I've had some terrible experiences at, you know, at motor vehicle administrations in the past, in Montgomery County. I mean, horrible experiences. But this one was so pleasant, and he was such a good guy and so helpful. So, um, I want to do this. Let me ask you a question. Yeah. My experience at MVAs or DMVs or whatever they're called is, which is kind of surprised why I, you went down there to do it because you never see rich people there. I didn't see any rich people there. No, you don't see people here. You don't see rich people at. Rest stops on the highway and MVA. Yeah, no, I fit in perfectly being down there yesterday and over the weekend.

And I didn't see anybody that you're describing. No, you know. How do they get their business done? They must have somebody who goes down and does it for them. Yeah, but you know what? For tags and title, it's got to be you. For a driver's license because of the picture, it has to be you. Unless they dress down or wear a disguise.

Well, let me just tell you, the Georgetown DMV, let's just say that that's probably more of an upscale DMV. Yeah, probably is. But anyway, Thurman, you were awesome, if anybody wants to tell Thurman that. It's funny because, you know, it's not funny, not that it would have been like, you know, something that I would have been like, you know, something that I would have been expected. But unlike you who are recognized everywhere you go, and it's so great to be you, he wasn't. helping me because like he was a listener of the radio show or the podcast. He didn't have any more idea of who I was than the man on the moon, which is fine, which again, he was great. He was awesome. Okay. Do you want to talk about, I guess we got to talk about some of the stuff that happened

yesterday. The Tanya Snyder, the reports about her addressing the other owners. And man, There are some scathing reviews of her address. We'll get to that. I wanted to talk a little bit about the Wizards last night because I did watch that game. I did not watch the baseball game, but I'd like you to weigh in on the World Series so far. And there's a huge NFL game tonight. Also, some Washington football team football stuff, too. We will do that on the show.

And we'll start all of that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. So yesterday, again, on the podcast, and I would urge you to go back and listen to it, Howard Gutman was on Howard Longtime Attorney, Ambassador Belgium, big fan of Tommy and of this podcast and a big D.C. sports fan as well. And, you know, he had mentioned that Roger Goodell had made two significant mistakes that he said his good friend Jeff Pash and he's friends with Pash. He said Pash must have just literally keeled over when Goodell. on Tuesday said that they can't disclose anything. They can't put anything out there to protect the anonymity of those that came forward in the Beth Wilkinson investigation. He knew before we even heard Lisa Banks, et cetera, yesterday saying,

oh, no, no, no, no, they came forward because they expected this report to be public. They don't care about anonymity. And Howard predicted that very result yesterday and said that was a big mistake by Goodell. And Goodell also, he thinks, erred significantly by revealing the $10 million fine, which was not a fine. It was structured as a charitable donation that the team was required to make to various charities, tax deductible. So if people that continue to call it a fine are doing so inaccurately, they probably were already planning to make $10 million worth of donations from the team anyway. And they just ended up making them in different directions this year with the $10 million. you know, what people have called a fine.

And he said it was also a mistake for Goodell to intimate that there was some sort of suspension or, you know, Dan hasn't been around for four months because the truth is he has been around. Ron Rivera told me, Tommy, on the radio show two weeks ago or three weeks ago, that he talks to Snyder one or two times a week, you know, about the team and they're in con. And we know Dan's been at games and et cetera. So what he wasn't is. he was not at the league meetings. Tanya was at the league meetings. Let me just mention, I know you know this,

for many years it's been the information that I've had about these league meetings is even if Dan was present, Bruce did all the talking. Yes, he did. Either Bruce went to these meetings or they went together and Bruce did all the talking. Dan is very, we know this, and we've talked.

talked about this for years now. He is a recluse. He does not like to communicate publicly or even in large groups like with other owners. So Bruce, you know, for all those years, we're like Bruce is running cover for him. In many ways he was. He was taking on the responsibilities that Snyder was uncomfortable handling himself. Well, for this league meeting, his wife was there. and the reports about how it was handled were not very good. And I'm going to read from Albert Breer's story. You saw a lot of these stories about her being tone deaf and blaming others, etc. Right?

Yes. Okay. So let me read from Breer's story. Albert Breer, you know, the story was titled, NFL owners say Tanya Snyder gave a tone deaf, gave tone deaf remarks. at the owner's privileged session. So he starts off Breer writes. On Tuesday evening, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tried to close the book

on the investigation into the workplace of the Washington football team, telling reporters that a written report would not be released and that he felt like Dan Snyder had been held publicly accountable for his part in it. Goodell then pointed to a $10 million fine assessed to Washington and Snyder's removal from day-to-day team business. What he didn't offer up was whether the Snyders were taking accountability on their own. Hours earlier, Tanya Snyder, Dan's wife, who was named Washington Co-CEO when the investigation wrapped in July, let her peers know where the family stood on that.

During the afternoon's privileged session, described as an owner's only period of the meetings with Goodell, Tanya Snyder followed a spirited back and forth between the commissioner and raiders owner Mark Davis by standing to address the room with a prepared statement. She said she was sorry that the investigation had created so much negative attention and apologized to those affected by the investigation itself, such as Davis. She said the team wanted to move forward and then went on the offensive. Breer continues. Snyder said she and her husband had been extorted by their limited partners.

She had also told the group that neither she nor her husband were responsible for the leaking of the emails that wound up leading to John Gruden Zoucester and Las Vegas and that her husband doesn't even have an email account. By the way, something that I think Ben Standick reported a couple of weeks ago. And while she showed regret that the matter wasn't handled internally, she never took responsibility for her or her own husband's role in the workplace climate in Washington other than to say that the team would get this right. A brief awkward silence followed Snyder's monologue before Goodell moved the session along.

Tone-death is how one person in the room describes Snyder's remarks. Two more owners agreed with that characterization when asked about Snyder's handling of the situation that has NFL facing now a congressional inquiry. The Washington football team declined to comment on Snyder's address to the owners. On Wednesday, meaning yesterday, two owners spoke publicly on the results of the investigation. Most of you have probably seen this by now. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he was, quote, very satisfied with how the team in the league had handled it, closed quote. Conversely, Davis, Mark Davis, the Raiders owner, said he believed the league should

release a written report, especially with some of the things that were charged, closed quote. I'm sure the league was thrilled with Mark Davis saying that yesterday. Anyway, as I mentioned before, the part about Goodell standing behind the protection of those women and the anonymity, first of all, they could have redacted the whole thing. Secondly, Lisa Banks and the other attorney, I'm blanking on her name now, came out yesterday and basically said, no, they don't care about anonymity. They were told when they sat down to be interviewed for this thing that the results of this thing would be made public. So anyway, it's their move. It's never their fault. Right. As far as Cadell, look, he's not stupid. I think he knew what he was saying. I think there's a level of arrogance involved with the way these guys operate. And I think he just thinks that he can just lie. And I mean, those are lies because he knows what the truth is. You know, those where are missteps. I mean, basically, he knows what's going to.

on here. I mean, he used, his, his contention that they're not releasing the material to protect these women is using the victims to hide behind. Well, it's a lie, like you just said, it's a lie. Yes. Yes. And about, you know, Dan Snyder, you know, has been, you know, properly punished. I forget the way he called. It has been held accountable. Yeah. That's a lie, too. And he noticed this. I mean, the level of arrogance It's just so despicable I mean, it's just, I mean, you know, I got a column running in a

Mar's paper that just opposes within the same day Rob Manfred standing before reporters and saying that Native Americans in the Atlanta area embrace the Tomahawk shop and then a few hours before

Roger Delt standing up there and saying, you know, we're there to protect the victims. The arrogance of the leaders of both sports yesterday was just stunning. And I know that we're talking about football here, but it was a sad day for American sports to watch that happen. And I think most fans who are invested in either of these things want to see these people held accountable, and that's probably not going to happen. Look, at the very least, he lied and stood behind these women, you know, claiming that he was protecting them because they asked for and wanted anonymity.

That is not true. It's not true. Right. You know, the attorneys representing, you know, whatever the number of women are now. It's 40 plus, right? You know, they came out. Banks and, what's the other attorney's name? Why am I blanking on the other attorney's name? Deborah Katz.

Lisa Banks and Deborah Katz. They both came out saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's inaccurate. You are wrong about that. They came forward to be interviewed initially because they were told that the results of the report would be a public report. And they were doing this so that those that were responsible would be held accountable. So he lied about that. Now, with respect to the Snyder situation, the $10 million, you know, Howard did a great job of explaining.

And if you go back and you read that summary from July 1st from the league, it is. It's not a fine, per se. It is a requirement for the team to make charitable donations. Now, requiring them to make $10 million worth of charitable donations, I guess you could, you know, you could represent it as a fine. But again, they make charitable donations every year. Anyway, maybe they cut 10 million of their charitable, their typical charitable donations back and use this as their annual, I don't know what their annual charitable donations are. But yeah, that's a lie. So the issue now is how does he respond?

Well, Howard said he's got, he made the mistake by opening this thing back up and giving them this, the chance to say, no, no, no, they don't care about anonymity. And by the way, anonymity wasn't even required. They could have redacted all the names, I mean, and protected the women in the same way. But what's the reaction? And he said they're just going to focus on this is behind us, we're moving forward. Yeah, and that's why I think people feel the need for momentum, not to let it drop. Yeah. You know, I think there's this.

Well, certainly the women do. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think there's more than the women that do. I think there's a portion of the fan base that does. I hear you on that. And when I said, you know, the exhaustion, I'm specifically just talking about, of course, that's not meant to diminish the significance and the importance of what these women went through and, you know, responding to what they want to see happen. And then there, of course, are people...

I know what you mean. It's everything. It's everything. And it's our audience. It's our audience that's into more the team and the games than all of this stuff that never seems to lead anywhere anyway. Let me just point out that Goodell did also lie when he talked about Dan Snyder being held accountable. Because he said, Dan Snyder, quote, has not been involved with the organization now for almost four months. Yeah.

We know that's a lie. Yeah, it is. I don't know what the definition of. Well, Howard said the following, which I think we've talked about, basically. And that is they wanted to find him. He told him to go to hell and told him there'd be, you know, I'll see you in court. And they came to some sort of middle ground that said, Tanya's the co-CEO, she's going to run the day to day. You're going to focus on the stadium for a while.

And he went with that. But as you know, he was adamant through his. attorneys and PR people that nobody referred to it as a suspension. I mean, they called you on this. Yes, they did. And it was the only thing I've ever heard about everything I've written, all the criticisms, the only thing I've ever heard from the organization, and this was through their New York PR firm, was it wasn't a fine for the owner,

if you could please correct that. And they were very nice about it who weren't mean about it. You know, they were very professional about it. And I said, sure, I'll fix it. You know, that's the truth, yeah. They don't think they are responsible for any of this. That's the bottom line. You know, whether it's her in front of these owners, her on the Adam Schepter podcast,

Dan over and over again, this has been the fault of their minority shareholders and Bruce Allen. You know, at least recently. Before that, it was the fault of Mike and it was the fault of Vinny and it was the fault of Zorn and it was the fault of Marty or anybody else that they wanted to assign blame to. They do not think that they personally are at fault for any of this. They may regret that the organization that they are owners of had this happen to it, but in their own mind it's because they weren't involved. enough, even though, as I pointed out many times, most of the allegations are from before

Bruce got there, when Dan supposedly was very involved, even though he's been involved. Yeah. And as far as Tanya Snyder, is anyone surprised that Dan did marry Mother Teresa? I mean, come on. You know? I mean, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Did we think a normal, compassionate person could live with Dan Snyder? Please.

I don't know anything about her. I don't know anything about either one of them personally. I think we do know something about it. What we know is that the two of them together have proven that they are incapable of taking any responsibility for what's happened in this organization, from everything that isn't football related to everything that is football. related. None of it, none of the last 22 years is their fault. They believe that wholeheartedly. They have plenty of people to blame. They have minority shareholders who may have created a smear campaign against them as proof in their own mind. None of this has ever been their fault. And when Ron Rivera

leaves in two years from now with a, you know, a 422 win percentage and more, issues because the DEA, did you forget about the DEA? The DEA rated the facility and found that the trainer that Ron brought to the organization was somehow, you know, involved in things that weren't very, that were illegal. I'm just, I'm speculating here. It won't be their fault either because it'll be Ron's fault. Let me fast forward to October, to December of 2022, okay, a year, now, the end of the third year of the Ron Rivera regime.

It will, it'll be Ron that they'll be teeing up to blame. Ron and probably Marty Martin and Jason too. They'll all be part of, we relied on people that we really thought were capable of doing this and they really, really screwed us. But we'll do better. Happy Thanksgiving. I wouldn't feel sorry for Eddie. Yeah.

I wouldn't feel sorry for any of them. If you didn't go into this job with Dan Snyder with your eyes open, then you've got nobody to blame but yourself. So what's next? What's next is the November 6th thing for Congressional. What's next is still somebody doing a lot of digging on where these leaks came from because they denied vehemently that they were the source or anybody. with them is the source of those leaks.

The league also denied that they were the source of the leaks. Who knows where the leaks came from? I still think that your original thought makes a lot of sense. And for those that say, well, do you think he really wanted the last couple of weeks to happen for to come full circle, for Congress to get involved, and these women to be fired up again? I don't think he ever thinks things through. I think it's...

I don't think he... I don't think he's a forward taker like that. No. I think he, when he's got revenge on his mind, I think he's just thinking of how could I screw this person? Agreed. Okay, let's talk about some sports, and we will do so right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

This segment of the podcast is presented by MyBooky. They've got a lock opportunity for you tomorrow night. Listen carefully. Go to MyBooky.com or go to MyBooky.com. or go to my bookie.ag. Either one of them works. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. When you're signing up as a new customer and they tell you to put the promo code in there, if something's already written in the promo code, erase it and put Kevin D.C. Tomorrow night, the Mavericks and Nuggets play in the NBA. All you're doing is placing a wager on the game. And if either

team scores a bucket, which they will, game's not going scoreless. You're going to to win your bet and have the opportunity for additional cash to bet with at MyBooky. All right. So go to MyBooky.com or MyBooky.orgie.org. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. And that is as much of a lock as you will ever have. The game between the Mavericks and the Nuggets tomorrow night. Of course, they've got all of your football, including tonight, Arizona now up to a six and a half point favorite over the Packers.

Why? Well, it's because of all the Packers' COVID issues. Devante Adams is out. Lazzard is out with COVID. Joe Barry, the defensive coordinator. Remember him? He's out with COVID. So the Packers are shorthanded. Now, they may be getting Valdee's scantling back to go with Randall Cobb. They still have Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, but they're playing the red-hot Arizona Cardinals tonight. And this line has gone, Tommy, from three and a half to six and a half or seven. Now, you rarely see a wide receiver like Devante Adams, no matter how great he is, and you may think he's the best in the league, and I would not argue with that. You rarely see a wide receiver move a point spread like this. Now, it's the combination of him and others, but really it's him. Now, I think personally, somebody said she and it can't be just Devante Adams. This only happens with quarterbacks, and that's true. I think, I think personally, somebody said she and it can't be just Devante Adams. This only happens with quarterbacks. And that's true. I think, I think, think part of it is the short turnaround. Green Bay traveling, these Thursday night games are typically hell on both teams, especially the road team. And without Devante Adams, you don't

have a chance to practice in preparation with your new group of receivers, both Adams and Lazard out. And so I think it has to do also with the short turnaround on this. J.J. Watt, by the way, is out for Arizona, not just for tonight, but reports are that he is out. for the year, and he was having a great season. Arizona's defense, I think DVOA-wise football outsiders is way up there defensively. In fact, I want to say that they have, I'm looking at up right now, because I want to say it's like the number two defense per football outsiders. Yeah, it's number two in the league. Where's Washington there? 20-8 right now. This is all good stuff, Kevin, and I'm hope you're saving it for next Thursday.

What's next Thursday? Next Thursday you're going to speak to my business of sports beating class. Oh, right. I can't wait for next Thursday. This is the kind of stuff they need to know because we're focusing right now on sports betting, on sports gambling. Should I encourage them to sign up with my bookie? Well, that would probably be a good idea. Okay. You know, we're educating them literally from the ground up as to,

what a money line bet means. I mean, you know, we've got, we have international students here. We've got, you know, we've got women who, we've got a group of students that don't generally bet, maybe one or two. So your job will be to help educate them about the world of sports betting and take them behind the scenes a little bit. So I hope you're keeping all this stuff. It's all up here, brother. It's all up here. Okay.

It's all from the School of Hard Knocks, because I've taken them over the years, and I will tell you, sign up with my book, you use my promo code, Kevin D.C. But I will also tell young people, whatever you do, don't wager more than you can afford to lose, because more likely than not, you're going to lose. We actually have set up a contest and an account for each of them where they have a certain amount of fake money to bet. starting tonight, we pick five games over the weekend that they have to, you know, bet on. And at the end, we're going to have a winner after five weeks as to who does the best. Got it. I've got a list of things that I just want to rip off here and talk about with you, because it's just a bunch of sports topics, plus somebody that was very significant to this town from a sports standpoint passed away yesterday,

and I want to talk about that for a moment. But the first thing I just want to mention is Bill Barnwell, and I know that I talk about some of Barnwell's long columns on ESPN.com, and I know you don't read them. But he did a column about the most disappointing teams in the league through seven weeks. And the most disappointing teams in the league through seven weeks are the 49ers, dolphins, Seahawks, and Washington football team. And there are a couple of things that he wrote about Washington that I thought were interesting.

Number one, their special teams unit from a DVOA football outsider standpoint. Number two in the league. I don't know if you thought that. I mean, Dustin Hopkins, by the way, picked up by the Chargers. He's now the Chargers kicker. So he's in a playoff caliber team kicking in that beautiful stadium in Los Angeles. So if you didn't see that, Dustin Hopkins is the new Chargers kicker. And the guy that they cut Tristan Viskayano, who was their new kicker, had missed more extra points

through the first six weeks of a season since Fred Cox did it with the Minnesota Vikings in 1974. Anyway, Washington special teams, despite some of the kicking issues they've had, number two overall. A lot of that's punt coverage and kickoff coverage. And the fact that DeAndre Carter has some pretty good return yardage numbers, both as a punt returner and kickoff returner.

But I wanted to get to this. So we all know that Washington is dead last right now on third down defense. They are, you know, one of the worst in recent history on third down through seven weeks of the season. They are dead last at 56.9% allowed. In fact, Miami is 31st in the league at 51.6. So there is a 5.3% difference. That's a huge statistical difference between Washington at 32 and Miami at 30.

in terms of their third down defense. Well, Barnwell wrote the following about it. He said, first of all, to put that in context, ESPN's been keeping track of third down numbers since 2000. That, by the way, was odd to me. Like third down numbers have been around for a long, long time, more than just 21 years. But anyway, he said, if you look at that time frame from 2000 through this year, Washington's 56.9% third down allowance defensively is the second worst through seven weeks of the season in NFL history since they've been keeping that number. Only the Titans last year were worse through seven games. They were actually allowing 61% on third downs through seven weeks last year. So Washington right now is historically bad through seven weeks. I think we had a sense of that already.

But the part that I wanted to get to is something that Barnwell actually wrote a few weeks ago as it related to their horrible third down defense. And he wrote again, almost doubling down this week, suggesting that the third down numbers will definitely improve. And the reason he is convinced that they will definitely improve is, because Washington's first and second down defense is the fourth best in the league. And if you think about it, right, we have seen, you know, some good first and second down defense. Like if somebody had said, what kind of first and second down defense are they? I would have said,

well, they're not very good, but they're better than they are on third down. But I had no idea that they had the fourth best first and second down defense in the league. And his point is, if you continue to have the fourth best first and second down defense, which creates, by the way, third and long, then the third down numbers are going to improve. You're not facing and giving up third and ones and third and twos on every third down. You're giving up a lot of third and longs. I think we all have a sense of that through the third.

first seven games. Now, he said this three weeks ago or wrote this three weeks ago, and they've continued to have the same level of first and second down defense, and the third down defense hasn't gotten any better. I mean, six out of 12 is what Green Bay converted on Sunday. That's 50 percent. That's actually really good for their defense, but it's horrendous in terms of an average. I tend to sort of understand just logically why it should improve, and I would throw in there, that I think the defensive front has improved in the last two games as it relates to their pass rush overall. You know, even though we're not comparing it to anything, you know, it's a low bar.

But I would expect also them to get better on defense and on third down. And Tommy, the number one reason for their two and five start, a two and five start, which by the way includes four out of their five losses by double digits. And the only loss that wasn't double digits was the opener to the chargers. And that certainly felt like they got beat by double digits. Yes, it did. They gave up 14 of 18 on third down. The not being able to get off the field on third down is the number one reason why they are two and five.

If they can start to improve that number and they should have a very good opportunity to do it Sunday. They're facing, I think, the 28th or 27th best third down offense. Denver is their get right offense. It wasn't the Giants. It wasn't the Falcons. And I mentioned that before both of those games. This should be the offense right now that they're facing in the moment that their defense better get right against. Denver better not be five of 10 on third downs or seven of, even seven of 15, it better be like a two for nine, two for 11, three for 12 kind of a third down defensive day. And they have the chance to do that against that team on Sunday. I'm not predicting a win, by the way. I think it's a total toss-up game. I'd lean a little bit towards Denver

winning the game. But defensively, this is their get-right opportunity. You know, obviously, there is a sense of logic that if they, if they're, if they're so good on first and second down that they have the talent to be a good defensive unit, and that talent at some point will get third down right or at least better than what they've done. There's sort of a sense of logic to that, except teams execute far different offensive plays on third down than they do first and second generally. and I think the fact that their third down issues have continued, even with the first and second down good defenses,

shows that they're just not capable of defending the type of plays that third down offenses implement. And they may never be capable of it all season. Yeah, I mean, if they keep facing third, and longs, and they get more aggressive like they did Sunday in Green Bay. Those results will change a little bit. For those also that have said, what are they doing? Why aren't they changing? Well, they have changed. Landing Collins took a significant fewer number of snaps, and pretty much all of those snaps were in the box. They played Danny Johnson. Now, that's because Jackson was out.

there are things they were trying and I thought he was more aggressive, you know, with more traditional blitzes on Sunday. I don't know what'll happen, but here's the bigger picture is that it's not going to matter this year. Because last year at two and, at one in five or two and seven or wherever they were, they were only a game out of first place in the division. So even if they start, to get it together defensively, and it wouldn't shock me if the results the rest of the year over the final 10 games defensively are different from the first six improved. I don't think we're going to see what we saw last year because you're just facing different teams and different players offensively, a quarterback. I mean, great. You get Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold

and Jalen Hertz and whatever. You still have to face Dak Prescott twice, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, and you already had a problem with Daniel Jones once. So, And Russell Wilson. And Russell Wilson, if he's back, which I think he will be. Should be back. So, I mean, God, I talked about this, you know, just how the NFC, right now, I think there's a chance that a 9-8 or 8-9 team could snag the seven-seed, you know, in the NFC because it's such a top-heavy NFC.

And the two wildcard teams are going to, you know, right now are teams that are either 500 or sub 500 more likely than not. But the problem is, is to get to even eight wins, how's Washington going to win six out of their final 10? They're not winning six out of their final 10. No, I think at the best you could hope for is 500, 5 and 5. I think that's outside. That's the best you could probably hope for.

Now, one thing, Ron Rivera, and we've talked about this before, his teams traditionally do better in November and December. Very good December late season team. Yes. So that is something to consider. But I think best case scenario, they wind up with seven wins this year. 7 and 10.

That's what I think. So there were a couple of other things. First of all, give me a quick update on the World Series. I didn't watch any of last night's game. I did watch game one. I did not watch much of game two last night. I was watching the Wizards primarily. But it's one-one.

The Astros exploded last night with some big runs. I know I flipped it to see Max Fried get lit up in the third. I think it was the second inning or third inning, whichever it was. Well, he didn't really get lit up. There was an error. Basically, yeah. One guy, one Astros runner beat out a ground ball. Yep.

uh... you know that uh... Atlanta had to shift on uh... you know uh... there were a couple of singles and there was a throwing error uh... by Eddie Rosario and basically you know freed was was fine after that uh... it's so uh...

you really get lit up but uh... the Braves made some serious mental mistakes uh... and the Astros made him pay for it and the Astros had great at great starting pitching and then great bullpen to basically keep the brave sound. It was a far better game than game one. You watched the wrong game. Game two was far more interesting and a little bit shorter, like an hour shorter at least than game one was.

Well, it was easier to watch game one because the wizards weren't playing at the same time. Yeah, I know. I mean, you should have watched last night. I mean, do you know that that's the... I didn't realize the Wizards were playing. I know you did. I would have flipped back and forth if I had. And I wish I had because apparently they played pretty good, didn't they?

They did. I was just going to mention that I did, you know, this morning, because I mentioned to you the other day, I think, that Rosario had yet to have a game in the postseason where he didn't have at least one hit. And last night was the first night in the postseason. and he did not have one hit. He's been killing it so far. Yeah, the Wizards...

Now they go to Atlanta for the next three, start Friday. Right, two, three, two. Yeah, the Wizards last night went to Boston and beat the Celtics, with Bradley Beale having another horrific night offensively shooting the ball. And they lost Gafford to an injury early on. Gafford's got like a quad injury. there wasn't an update, you know, last night,

and I don't know that there's been an update yet today. I was looking for that. I hope he's not seriously hurt. I think there's an MRI scheduled. But other than that, yeah, that's a really good win, considering that their leading score, okay? The second leading score in the league the last two years was 7 of 25 from the floor,

0 for 6 from the three point line, scored 17 points. Beal right now for the six. season the three games because remember he missed the Pacers game. He is shooting from the three point line four of 25, 16 percent from behind the arc. And his overall field goal percentage is 33.3 percent in three games. So he is really struggling offensively. Last night, another night, and I talked about this with you the other day, just too many turnovers and most of them unforced. He had one where he made a pass to the corner in a late-game possession,

and I'm forgetting who now he was passing it to in the corner. It may have been Caldwell Pope, or it may have been Dinwiddie. Anyway, it was, no, it was Evdia. He drove and he just threw a blind pass thinking that it would get to Avdia. It was poorly thrown. It was a big spot, too, because Boston had closed the lead. They were getting tighter. But the bottom line is they've gotten incredible performances from Dinwiddie and Herald in particular. Kuzma not as great last night. Dinwiddie hit big shots, 22 points on the night. And Montrez Harold, Trez, who was my favorite player from this Westbrook trade, 25 points, 11 boards last night in 38 minutes.

Played a lot more minutes last night with Gafford getting hurt. But they're, you know, they're three and one. You know, I had Legler on the show. He goes, I like their team. I like their pieces. He goes, I think they're a top eight team in the East. I can see that. I honestly can see that.

I think that's possible. I mean, one of the big question marks is Wes Ansel Jr. And whether or not he's an NBA coach for 82 games over the course of a season. So far, I think, so far so good. Yeah, I mean, it's four games. They play 82 of them. Right. And they're playing 82 back to 82 this year.

and, you know, they're not going to survive more likely than not if Beale continues to shoot 16% from behind the arc for much longer. And they play the Hawks tonight in Dinwiddie apparently may not play because with the ACL from, you know, the ACL that he came off of from last year, they may take it easy with him early on in the season and back to backs. But they play Atlanta twice in their next three games. They get a rematch with Boston. They play the Bucks next week.

So we'll see. I mean, you know, Brooklyn was not a good matchup for them, one of the better teams in the East. Look, they're not one of the better teams in the East. But I just think that I think, you know what my net takeaway is Tommy Shepherd's doing a really good job. I don't know that he's built a contender by any stretch of the imagination, not suggesting that at all. But to have moved on from John Wall and Russell Westbrook and those contracts and to have created a roster that seems to have some really good young talent, and maybe pieces that fit much better is a real credit to him. I agree. I agree 100%. To have taken where we started from the John Wall contract

and to have turned it ultimately into this, yeah, I think he gets a lot of credit for that. Meantime, the Lakers with Russell Westbrook, lost a 26-point lead last night to one of the worst teams in the league to Thunder. lost the game. Westbrook had 10 turnovers. Ten in the game. You know what? Last night, Tommy, he had a quadruple double. He had 20 points, 13 assists, 14 rebounds, and 10 turnovers.

Legler said to me this morning, it's not going to work unless he comes off the bench. He and LeBron, and LeBron didn't play last night, but he and LeBron can't be on the floor as much as they've been when they've been on the floor together. It's just not going to work. I never thought it would work. We'll see. It's early. Speaking of general managers, Bob Ferry passed away yesterday at the age of 84 years old. For those of you who don't know who Bob Ferry is, Bob Ferry was a long time NBA general manager. And from 1973 to 1990, he was the general manager of the Washington Bullets. They made the NBA finals three times during his GM stint here. They won the title in 1978. As a general manager in the league, Bob Ferry oversaw 729 wins, Tommy. That ranks 18th among

all NBA GMs. And the Wizards franchise, the Wizards slash Bullets franchise since he left, has only made the playoffs 10 times in the 31 years since he left. the team. The Wizards with him in his 17 seasons made it to the playoffs 13 times in 17 years. And for many of those years, there weren't eight playoff teams per conference. There were fewer than that. Anyway, rest in peace, Bob Ferry. He's an important figure in basketball history in this town. Absolutely. Did you know that his daughter is a professor at Georgetown, where you also teach? You mean she's a colleague of mine? She's a colleague of yours.

I didn't know that. Maybe we should have lunch or something. Yeah. What else you got? The Caps won. How about Ovechkin? My God. I mean, it's just amazing to watch.

He's going to wind up like third by the end of the year on that all-time scoring list. We know. Gordon Howe and Gretzky in front of him. leading goal score on the season so far with eight got his eighth last night in a loss and overtime lost to Detroit second behind Edmonton's Connor McDavid and points here early in the season by the way Cousnets off also off to a great start for the caps who have the most points in their division here very early in the season but it looks like a pretty good team at least so far with Washington so there you go I would agree you got anything else for me

I got nothing else for you, boss. I will be back tomorrow, maybe with Cooley. Have a great day.