The Kevin Sheehan Show - Trouble In D-Line Paradise?

Episode Date: September 28, 2021

Kevin and Thom today on Dallas' win last night over the Eagles to start the show. Then it's all Washington Football starting with the defensive problems, the prospect of Kyle Allen playing sometime soon, and a statistic that says a ton about why Washington hasn't won enough over the last decade. The boys discussed Bradley Beal's comments about why he isn't vaccinated and finished up with the revelation Beal made about Russell Westbrook's request for a trade out of D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. The show today, presented by Window Nation. They've got their back-to-school sale going on right now. Buy-2, get-to-free with no limit, no interest paid until 20-23.

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And Tommy wrote a column about Chase Young. There's been a lot of conversation about Chase Young since yesterday. I've got an email from old Charles who wrote me a Warren Peace-length email, which was real pleasant. Actually, much of it wasn't pleasant, but some of it was enough to react to, and I'll read some of that to you here shortly. But I did want to start with now the unquestioned favorite and really prohibitive favorite to win the NFC East, and that would be the Dallas Cowboys after they pummeled Philadelphia last night, 41 to 21. Let me just give you some perspective on this. I know we're only three weeks into the season, and like I always say, things change,

and it's a week-to-week league. But Dallas, just two weeks ago after losing the opener, was essentially co-favorits with Washington to win the division. And in some cases, Washington was actually even a slight favorite over the Cowboys. This morning, Dallas is a minus 220 favorite. Then it's Washington at plus 160, Philadelphia plus 270,

and the Giants at plus 300. So the Cowboys have literally gone in two weeks from maybe even being a slight underdog to a sizable favorite. And I agree with that wholeheartedly. I don't see any way personally. and again, recognizing injuries are a major, major

factor in the determinant of NFL games and seasons. But if Dak Prescott is upright the rest of the year and healthy, Dallas is going to win 11 plus games and win this division. Certainly, they will win it. They may win it

going away, but they are the class of the NFC East right now. Do you disagree or agree? I absolutely agree. I mean, they have, look, the only thing that will get in the way of the Cowboys besides an injury to Dak Prescott are the Cowboys.

They seem to do that. They see, have the same aura of self-destruction that the rent, that Washington football has. They just usually have more talent, which gets some farther before the self-destruction team kicks in. So the only thing that I think will stop them are themselves through maybe one of their best linemen trying to pay off drug testers. Yeah. Or some other scenario that we haven't even come up with yet with that team. They're certainly capable of that. But you're right.

They have a lot of talent. They have a lot of talent where it counts. and they have two running backs, not one, but two running backs who can carry the load for that team. You know, the Cowboys doing Cowboys kinds of things, Tommy, or of self-destruction, the one thing that could get in the way of a really good season is their head coach. I'm not a big fan of Mike McCarthy. Well, did you appreciate his clock manager at the end of the first half? That was beautiful at the end of the first half, what he did.

I mean, you had a referee. Even the referee looked at him and said, are you not? Yeah, what are you doing here? I'm waiting for you to call the time out. Do you not know you're supposed to call a time out? We'll get to some of those coaching blunders later. But, you know, there are a couple of things that stand out about the Cowboys through three weeks. First of all, Dak Prescott is back healthy, and he's easily the best quarterback in the division.

It's not even a debate. Secondly, they have the best offensive weapons in an offensive league. You know, they've got a great tandem right now running back wise in Elliott and Pollard. I mean, how about this for the last two games for the Cowboys? Elliot was 17 for 95 last night and two touchdowns, 5.6 yards per carry. Tony Pollard was 11 for 60 last night, 5.5 yards per carry. Last week in a game against the Chargers, Pollard was 13 carries 109 yards, 8.4 yards per carry. and Elliott was 16 for 71, 4.4 yards per carry.

They didn't try to run the ball in their opener against Tampa because Tampa is really hard to run the ball against. And in the last two games, they've been incredibly balanced. You know, Prescott was 23 of 27 against the Chargers. He was 21 of 26 last night. They've got weapons all over the place. The tight end was supposed to be the weakness. And this guy, Dalton Schultz now has been targeted 5, 6, 7 times a game and is making it plays. They've got Lamb and Cooper and Gallup is out. They're not even playing with him. And then

defensively, I tried to talk about this during the offseason that, you know, they had some talent defensively. They were terrible last year defensively. And part of that's complimentary football. Their offense wasn't very good without DAC. A lot of it was Mike Nolan, why they ever gave him the job, who knows. Well, Dan Quinn's the defensive coordinator there now. And they've got playmakers. You know, Leighton Van der Leyen Vandresh is a talent. Jalen Smith, Micah Parsons. How about him last night? Trayvon Diggs might be the best digs in the NFL.

He had a pick six. And they're missing DeMarcus Lawrence right now. I want to make two other comments about the Cowboys. Number one is, you know, they beat the Chargers last week. You know, they went toe to toe with the defending champions in week one. They beat an Eagles team last night that was banged up. The Eagles had two offensive linemen out. They lost a third.

They had some injuries in the secondary. The Eagles, I think, are a good football team, but they are the most injured team now in the division, one of the most injured teams in the league, and that's going to take its toll. But the other thing that I was going to mention is, you know, you see the Cowboys, and you see a lot of these players running around, and what's really evident in many ways,

they draft well. You know, whatever you want to say, you know, about Jerry and his son. The bottom line is they have a front office, and I think Jerry has stepped out of the way to a certain degree. They have a front office that is doing a really good job. And the guy that a lot of people liked as a potential GM candidate, and he's not there yet, is Will McLeigh. He's gotten a lot of kudos over the years and recent years as being a really good evaluator of talent. They traded back and drafted Micah Parsons.

You know, last year, C.D. Lamb wasn't necessarily a need, but he was the best player on their board, and they took him. And he is really good. They took Trayvon Diggs in the second round. You know, we know what they've done over the years with offensive linemen and drafting them. The Cowboys right now, you know, they don't have a backup quarterback. So if Dak goes down again, their season will fall apart. But if he stays healthy, they're going to.

not only win the division, I think going away, I think they're going to be a threat to be a team that goes deep into the playoffs. The problem, of course, is, you know, they tend to choke, you know, as a franchise when they've gotten in that position before. And, uh, they tend to self-destruct. You know what's remarkable about the two running backs. Now, there would have to be an asterisk because it's a 17-game schedule, but you could have two running. running backs with a thousand yards in the same backfield for the season each. When's the last time that happened? 72 dolphins?

I think it's the 72 dolphins with Mercury, Morris, and Zonka. And that was a 14 games, that was a 14 game schedule. It was a 14 game schedule, and Jim Kick had a lot of yards in that backfield, too. He had 600 yards in that year as well. But, I mean, based on the way these guys are going, they could both wind up with a thousand yards. Yeah, I don't, I actually don't know. It's happened since then, don't you think? Maybe not.

I don't think so. Let me, I'll put my crack research on it. Put your crack staff on that. You know, one of the things that we were told during the lead-up to the regular season is Zeke Elliott had gotten in shape. And what was really funny about the opener against Tampa, even though he didn't run the ball very well, and they didn't try to run it much, is I don't. did say the next day, you know, I don't care how many yards he had. He did look quicker to me.

And he looked like he was in better shape. And I thought he looked great last night. And Tony Pollard, you know, a lot of people watching the Cowboys in recent years, including, you know, fans of their opponents and rivals have noticed Tony Pollard, especially last year. It's quite the one-two combination right now. Right now, Tommy, through three games, Elliott's got 199 yards and Pollard's got 183. So yeah, they are on pace. They are on pace for, you know, a thousand yard season each. Did you find something?

Yes, I found something and there have been more. Can I guess? Can I guess? Don't tell me. Yeah, go ahead. Give me the last time it happened the year. Well, first of all, it's complicated. because it's happened a number of times, a couple of times with quarterbacks and running backs. Ah, yeah.

Okay. Okay. It happened with Michael Vic and Warren Dunn in 2006. Okay, well, don't, don't tell me. I was going to try to guess. I was going to try. Okay, now we'll just stick to the running backs. Okay.

It's been much more common than I thought. the last time two running backs had a thousand yards in the same backfield. Give me the year. 2009. 2009. Was it the Giants? 2009, 2007, 2007, 2008, 2009, Pittsburgh, Cardinals. I don't think.

Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on for a second. Give me the division. No, I'm not going to do that. Okay, whatever. Just tell me who it is. I don't know who it is.

DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart with the 2009 Panthers. I would have never gotten that. And actually the year before, the Giants were with Brandon Jacobs and Derek Ward. Oh, and Derek Ward. Okay. the year before in 2008. Yeah. I wasn't even thinking it was Derek Ward.

I was thinking it might be Tiki Barber. Okay. What about? Here's a... How about this one? Go ahead. I think I know an answer to this one. I think the Cleveland Browns,

dog pound Cleveland Browns with Bernie Cozard had Biner and Mac as 1,000-yard combo runners. Is that man a cigar 1985 Cleveland Browns Biner and Mac Kevin Mac and Ernest Biner

There we go See I can't go back 20 I can't go back 10 years or 20 I struggle with that Put me back 36 years And I'm in good shape I'm in great shape

And then the only other running back Taylor Hold on tell me what year was it 1976 76 Okay I should be able to get this one. Okay, so Zonka wasn't in Miami anymore with Mercury Morris because they were in the

WF. Well, they were back in the NFL with the Giants. Zonka came back with the Giants. The best teams, Dorset, Newhouse, no. Vikings Foreman and Nuh. Rams McCutcheon and no. AFC, Dolphins, Raiders, Steelers, Steelers, Franco Harris, and, am I right? Franco Harris and, and, and, am I right?

And who? Am I right about the team? You're right. You're right. You're right. Rocky Blyer. You got it. Okay.

1976. They both had a thousand yards? Yes. Wow. You know, this is a sign of Alzheimer's, that you can't remember what you did five minutes ago, but you can remember what happened 30 years ago. That's actually not a sign of Alzheimer's. Oh, I thought it was.

No, no. That's what somebody told me, but I forgot it. Well, I hope, you know what, I hope somebody didn't tell you. I hope if they, there's Tommy making noises on the other, and he's moving the microphone away from his face. Um, there, um, I, uh, I, I've been told. that lack of sleep and stress and all kinds of things can make short-term memory impacted. But if you eventually can come up with something, like if you go through the alphabet and you figure it out, you're okay. I'm going to go with that, at least for the time being.

I'm just pulling up pro football reference, 1976. and Franco Harris had 1128 yards. Rocky Blyer had 1,036 yards and a 14 game schedule. You know, Tommy, that 1976 Steelers team, which ended up losing in the AFC championship game to the Raiders, a team that ended up playing Mike Cruzeck, who went to St. John's here locally high school, and then went to BC. Am I right about that? I think he went to BC.

ended up quarterbacking because Bradshaw got hurt. That is certainly among the great defenses in the history of the NFL, one of them. The 76 Steelers, if Bradshaw had been healthy the entire year, would have more likely than not won the Super Bowl. That was also the year they played in Memorial Stadium in the playoffs against the Colts, and the plane crashed into the upper deck at Memorial Stadium. You remember that? Oh, that's still amazing. And nobody got hurt.

Not one person got hurt. No, I mean, the game had been over for about 25, 30 minutes, I think, when it happened. Yeah, that, that, that, that 1976 Steelers team was so good. I'm just looking, I want to get the results here, because they had a ridiculous number of shutouts during that year. They had one, two, three, four, five shutouts in the regular season. Five. They had two games in which they held their opponents to three points and one game in which they held their opponent to six points.

That was a dominant defense with just Hall of Famers everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. I'm pulling up their roster real quickly. Lambert, well, on offense, too. Lambert, Ham, Mel Blunt, Glenn Edwards, Elsie Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, obviously Joe Green, who else, Mike Wagner. Andy Russell was on that team.

He had to have been on that team, right? I'm looking, yep, he was. He's a ball-fame linebacker. And then on offense, you know, Bradshaw, Franco, Swan, Stallworth, you know, pretty good team. God, those Steelers teams. And that team, I think Pittsburgh Steelers fans will tell you that that was actually their best team had they been healthy at quarterback all year. They went 10 and 4 in the regular season after starting 4 and 4.

And then they lost in the AFC championship game. That was the one year the Raiders got them. You know, the Raiders just couldn't beat them in the postseason. And they got them that year. and the Raiders ended up winning the Super Bowl over Minnesota. You know, the AFC in the 1970s, was like the heavyweight division in boxing in the 1970s. It really was like the golden era. I know the Patriots, you know, winning all the Super Bowls, people would argue that is.

But the AFC of the 80s, the teams that never got past the Steelers are remarkable. like those Colts teams with Bert Jones. Oh, yeah. And Lydell Mitchell. The Patriots teams coached by Shepard Banks with Grogan. Yeah. That just couldn't get past. The Raiders would be really the only one to get past the Steelers,

besides the Broncos in 77, which is kind of an anomaly. But the Raiders would be knocking on the door every year in a playoff and just couldn't get past. But there were so many good AFC teams back then. You know, so many good ones. There were some good NFC teams. teams too, Tommy. But the AFC dominated the decade with the

Super Bowl wins with obviously Miami and Pittsburgh and Oakland winning the one. But the NFC had, you know, the Cowboys, Vikings, Rams, and Redskins, you know, who were always a factor

for much of the decade. But you're right. Like the AFC, you know, first of all, for me, this is truly like, you know, going down memory lane and nostalgic because that's my beginning as a sports fan. As a child of the 70s, like the NFL, I can remember all of those games in the 70s and how really, Tommy, I think that was the decade in which the NFL overtook everything else. If you think it came later, that's fine, but it was certainly the beginning of the NFL becoming this country's true national passion. And

it was television and the NFL sort of merging together too. But those teams that you talked about, the Steelers, the Raiders, the Colts, the Dolphins, the Bengals of the 70s were good. You know, the Chiefs of the early 70s were good. The Chiefs Raiders was one of the great rivalries. And then the Raiders Steelers, even though they weren't in the same division, became an unbelievable rivalry. You know, the Dolphins went to three straight Super Bowls and won two of them. The Steelers won four.

The Raiders were in it every single year. And the Super Bowl that they did go to, they won. Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, and to your point, the Patriots had some really good teams. Well, look, the Bills with OJ had some good teams. Yes. You know, that division was dominated by Miami, but the Bills and the Colts and the Patriots all had moments.

The Jets didn't in the 70s. No, no they didn't. Dark times. Cincinnati, though, with Kenny Anderson and Isaac Curtis and some of those teams were good teams. Absolutely. Bob Trumpy. Yeah. With a terrific tight end. Right. And then when you got to the end of the decade, Houston, the Love You Blue, the Earl Campbell teams became really good teams too.

They lost two AFC championship games to the Steelers in Pittsburgh. God, you know, I think about that time. Doesn't it seem like every December and January, there was Three Rivers Stadium was like at the center of everything? I mean, it was just, because. I mean, to be a Pittsburgh fan in the 70s, I mean, because you had two World Series titles, one at the beginning of a decade with 71 pirates, one at the end, with the 79 pirates. What a great time to have been a Pittsburgh fan. Yeah.

Yeah. Anyway, there we go again. The Cowboys, solid favorites, they deserve to be. I think if Dak Prescott stays upright and healthy, they're going to win 11 plus games and win this division handily. I was a big fan of the Eagles coming in, as many of you knew. I think they're really hurt by injuries right now. I don't know if they're going to, I mean, the offensive line injuries are a problem. And Jalen Hertz took a little bit of a step back last night.

I still kind of like him. And the Giants starting 0 and 3 with two walk-off wins against them. I mean, they could easily be 2-1, very easily be 2-1. I don't know that I'd completely count the Giants out from being a much better team moving forward record-wise. But the Cowboys are head and shoulders above the rest of the division. And beyond that, the Cowboys are a contender in the NFC. You know, the Rams and the Buccaneers are right now co-favorants in the NFC, but the Cowboys are gaining on them, and I think justifiably so through three weeks.

Right now the NFC championship odds are the Rams and Buccaneers pretty much close. And then the Packers, Niners, Cowboys, and Saints, you know, right there as well. And here comes Arizona, too, up the list. Washington, very much at the back of the list now. They're above, though, you'll be glad to hear above the bears, giants, eagles, and lions, and falcons right now, the team they play this week and in Atlanta. So is this a code red game Sunday? You know, why doesn't it feel that way? Because they're not playing at home, I guess.

No. There's another reason for it. Okay, what is it? It's that there's a sense, there's a sense of doom. there's a sense that this season is not going to be anywhere near this season a lot of people hoped it would be. You didn't feel that way after a loss to the Chargers playing the Giants, but when you get your ass kicked the way they did Sunday in Buffalo and the strength of your football team, the defense is right now you could debate the worst defense in the division for sure right.

now, and it's one of the worst defenses statistically in the NFL, there's this sense of this really turned quickly. And whether they beat Atlanta or don't beat Atlanta, they're just not going to be good enough to win more than five or six games. That's why I think that it doesn't feel as important. You know, you may be right. Although, I mean, what I do was, I still think, even with a loss, I'd still think a seven or eight win season, which I thought would be good enough to win a division again, is in play, but with the way the Cowboys are playing, I think you're right. I don't think that's in play anymore.

You know, last week, you and I both sat here after the Giants game and said the Bill's game was sort of, you know, it was far from must win, and as long as they play well, there will be a feeling that everything's on course, you know, and you come back and you've got that game against Atlanta and you win that one and your 500. But it was the way they lost. And really, it's the aggregate of the three games defensively in particular. They've been so bad defensively, and that's alarming. And that'll lead me to when we come back, your column about Chase Young and a really passionate email from Charles, who reached out to me after the podcast yesterday. We'll get to those things and more right after these

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it really does make this much easier to do from a business standpoint. Speaking of business, this segment's brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C., and they will double your first deposit. Even if you have another place where you're wagering, I would urge you to open up an account at MyBooky at myBooky.orgie. using my promo code, Kevin D.C. If you see a code already in the promo code section,

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They'll double your first deposit again. Kevin D.C. in the promo code to get your first deposit. with my bookie to start your winning season today. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere with my bookie. So we get emails through the podcast website all the time, and I do read them. So keep them coming. I know I don't always respond to every single one of them,

but as many of you know, I do respond to some of them. And more importantly, they really provide me with really good ideas, and some of it's constructive criticism, but it's, we appreciate it. And some of it had to do, I remember in the early days, with some of the technical issues we were having with the sound and that really helped. But anyway, I digress. Let me get to the email that I want to read.

I get emails from people sometimes who are truly passionate and vulgar at the same time. It can be entertaining and sometimes it can be really annoying and can really you know, spark passion in me and even Tommy. And this email came from Charles. It was a long email. You know, F-bomb laced throughout. He was responding to a segment I did yesterday about the Washington defense and how much it has struggled this year. And I suggested that, you know, something isn't right.

Something's a miss here. You know, it just doesn't seem that it's all about players not playing well. And a lot of that stems from, you know, some of the things that I talked about last year, knowing that there were issues at least early in the season between players and defensive coaches over technique and style of play. And essentially, you know, Ron and Jack said, what are you guys talking about? You guys were three and 13 last year. Just do it our way. And look, the results were a massively improved defense last year.

But that some of those issues potentially carried on. through the rest of the year. A lot of it of my gut feel that there's something wrong here, something beyond just players not playing well, is that Ron's been telling us for multiple weeks now. He's concerned about their maturity and their discipline on defense. He said it again yesterday over and over again. He's been talking about that. So basically Charles wrote one of those long emails that basically blame the media for Washington's performance over the last two decades. But Tommy, here's the key line. He writes, Kevin, in talking about the defense, you said, something doesn't seem right. It's more than just a lack of production. Something seems off.

Players, coaches, and you said, you're not trying to stir things up, but, and then he went on a tirade telling me that's exactly what I'm doing, and that that's what we've done in the past, that we're always stirring it up and we're providing negativity about the team that spills over into the fan base and into the team itself where decisions are made and that this is

and here's the line here not trying to stir things up it's exactly what you're fucking doing you are stirring it up you are stirring it up and stop doing that that's part of the reason that they haven't been good is the media is against them. Oh, he started down the whole media thing and the negative fans that we've influenced.

I mean, it's too hysterical to get into. But understand this, Chuck. You know, first of all, we're not actually paid to be what, you know, you are unpaid, which is like a sycophant fan boy fan. That's not what we are. We like to think about what we're watching and what we're hearing and then talk about it. And this platform and on a radio show that we had for all those years and I still have in the morning and Tommy's columns, you've got to be able to analyze and think critically occasionally rather than just being sold a bill of goods and taking it.

Look, I remember those days Tommy where I was accused of wearing rose-colored glasses with the Shanahan's. I remember how people, you know, some people went after me and others were like, you stay with it. You're right. We're great. This is going to happen. And, you know, the bottom line is after 21 years, come on, man, shame on you at this point. Shame on you. If Ron Rivera five or six times in the last two weeks saying we've got a mature, I'm concerned about our maturity and our discipline, if that's not a tell, if that's not a hint that there might be something wrong. You've been sleepwalking through the last 21 years.

There's always something wrong in this organization. It never goes smoothly. I like Ron Rivera. I think it was a good hire. I think last year there were steps in the right direction. I think there were steps in the right direction in the offseason. But I wasn't buying your 13 and 4 and Super Bowl aspirations this year. They're in rebuilding mode, dude.

And as far as being, you know, stirring it up, it's not stirring it up. It's what I'm thinking. It's what you should be thinking, listening to some of this stuff. And as far as going negative, I've been just as much positive as negative. I am what I am, however I feel in the moment. But the media hasn't had one shred of influence on this team's performance over the last 21 years. the influence has been from the owner on down and the people that are in the organization. My God, can you imagine old Chuck in Philadelphia listening to WIP Radio?

Oh, my God. Chase Young, the topic yesterday on Philadelphia radio would have been, should we trade Chase Young now or not? Let's try to get as much as we can for him now. He sucks. That would have been it yesterday. it's really hard to believe that people after all these years would still have that kind of attitude

there are people still like that well I guess it's not given given the times we're in but I mean they're deniers I mean they deny what they see with their own eyes they don't want to believe you know I understand

you know sports is the place where you go to escape but you know you have to take drugs. I remember when I would go regularly on 106-7, the fan. And like, people would give me grief. And I'd say, you know, I could take a stupid pill before I walked in here today and act like you and think like you.

But if I don't take that pill, I'm sorry. I'm not capable of not seeing what's in front of me. Look, there aren't as many of these chucks as we think there are, I mean, because they only had like 42,000 at the giant game last Thursday night. I think they're 30th out of 31st out of 32 teams so far in NFL attendance. Yeah, here it is. Through two weeks. Okay, we don't have the numbers after last week. Well, Washington has only had, Washington had two home games.

Washington's average paid announced is 51,435. That's the worst in the league because 32nd is New Orleans and they haven't had a home game because they played that one home game in Jacksonville. So understand that Washington has the worst, the worst home attendance in the NFL. And that's the announced paid. I've been told by people out there as I try to stir it up that there were like no more than 42 to 45,000. for the giant game. And oh, by the way, at least 30% of them were giant fans. Yes.

So, you know, the chucks out there are, you know, they're hopeful. And so am I. It's much better for me professionally if they're good. And I want them to be good. I want to have some big games with the team that I grew up rooting for and have rooted for as an adult. You know, even if I've lost a little passion for them in recent years. But I do think, like I've talked about before with the TV ratings, Tommy, I do think this is a bit of a bubble. You know, the numbers aren't there. You know, I mean, look, I do notice this time of year, there's no doubt the podcast number shoot up. The radio ratings numbers shoot up. We see that every year in September. There's a high season to what we do in this town anyway, and it's football season. But, you know, overall, you know,

it's a lot fewer, a lot fewer. But I do understand coming off last year why people would be more optimistic than they've been. But we're not influencing any of that, Charles. None of it. Thinking critically, you know, being, you know, reading, reading tells and tea leaves from coach speak, which, from your coach speaking, who, by the way, has pretty much told you something's going on out there. You know, I can't help you if you really are upset that we're talking about those things because somehow you think we're going to stir it up and somehow screw up this great team and great franchise.

They don't need our help. They've never needed our help. No, you know, Brian Baldinger, who sang the praises of this defense throughout all of last year, I think just came out recently and suggested that it, It looked like to him that there was an effort issue. That's bad. I don't see that at all. That would not be my criticism and hasn't been my criticism.

I do not see a lack of effort. Maybe he's seeing something in film breakdown that I haven't seen. And Ron Rivera, the one thing he said over and over again is while we're lacking discipline and execution and playing our responsibilities, were getting very good effort from everybody. I know. I'm not saying I see it. Yeah. But this is what he suggested.

The issue is. And I think he's a pretty good analyst. Kime was on with me this morning. And Kime also believes something ain't right here, you know. And I think a lot of us are hearing some things, but there's nothing definite. And I'll just share with you. I'm hearing things which basically the coach has told you. that there's, you know, right now a disconnect between the D-Line or the front seven,

call it those that have true gap responsibilities in the scheme that they're playing. Okay, you know, A, B, C, D, Gap, you know, if the tight ends there, and they all have gap responsibility, and there's certain jobs that they have, responsibilities they have based on the defense that's called. And Ivan said this to Rivera, I said, so if it's not happening, would freelancing be a good way to describe it? And he said, yeah, that's what's going on, too much of that. So there's frustration with the coaches with at least a couple of players who are freelancing too much. I would suggest to you that the odds are stacked heavily on Chase Young being at least one of those players

that isn't really doing his job as the play and the defense calls for on every given play. Ron Rivera had this to say yesterday about the disconnect between pass rushers and why they're not getting home. Listen to this. One of the things that we saw, we really kind of saw on tape this past Sunday was the rush wasn't as coordinated as it needed to be. You know, we had a couple instances where when Ron would win and he, you know, to whichever side he was with the end, he'd win. he'd win, but unfortunately the end wasn't coordinated with him. You know, he did a nice up and under move and got himself back inside. We had the wind, we had the end wash around to the outside.

A couple times when the end went to the outside, Duranda made a nice outside move as well, so we had two guys outside, you know. And again, it's one of those things that they have to have a little more coordination. They've got to work a little bit better together and just understanding, you know, where each other's going to be. because again, you need to make sure you've got an inside guy and an outside guy. You can't have two guys going into the same area. Now, when he talks about an N getting washed out, you know, after Duran Payne makes, you know, a play,

I can tell you that there are at least two or three plays that that's Chase Young. And if you want to go look at one of them where it's totally obvious, look at the second Buffalo touchdown, where Chase Young gets completely taken out of the play washed out wide after Duran Payton. Pacein forces pressure up the middle, gets Josh Allen out of the pocket, and Josh Allen has an easy gap and pocket area to run into to make the easy pass to Moss for the touchdown. That's what Rivera and the coaching staff are frustrated with. He's not the only one.

I'm not saying he's the only one. But he is one of the players that they're frustrated with. And, you know, I think the players have been frustrated with a lot. lot of the way they've been coached specifically by their defensive line coach Sam Mills going back to last year. This was something a lot of us heard and I talked about it on the podcast and the radio show. They were really upset. But you know what? They were three and 13 the year before and ultimately whatever they were being coached to do, it resulted in a very improved defense from the year before, massively improved defense from the year before. But I do think that this is

much more or at least some, you know, a little bit more than just the players aren't playing well. And to me, Tommy, let me net it out by saying this is the coach's responsibility to fix. If there's a disconnect, if there is tension between D-Line and coaching staff or defense and coaching staff or some coaches and other coaches, whatever it is, it is the head coaches, job to get it fixed. You either say, do it our way or we'll find someone who will, or you say, we're going to scheme around the way you do it and the way you are more comfortable doing it because you are in Chase Young's case and Duran Payne's case and Montez Sweat's case and John Allen's case. You guys are really talented. So maybe we're going to adapt and work it that way. But they've got to get this

fixed if that's part of the issue. It's on the coaches to get it fixed. Yes, it is. I mean, look, I think, even though I hammered Chase Young pretty good today, I think, I don't think like people have suggested there Washington blew it on this traffic. I think he's an immensely talented player, and I think eventually he'll get it right and be, you know, a top-notch defensive player. It's not a question of talent. I don't, I mean, I really do think part of the problem with Chase Young is it's a question that I think he thinks he arrived before he arrived. Right. You know, I mean, it's just a common problem, particularly for this generation, is that, you know,

look, he was defensive rookie at a year. He had an impressive first year, and on a team without much profile, he stood. out as a player with personality and profile. But really, he hasn't done anything yet. You know, and, I mean, that the other stuff, that the other stuff will come for a guy like this. But I just think that, you know, he needs to gain the glory, like I said in my column, the glitz will come, but he needs to get the glory first.

Remember Rivera over the summer, in addition to him before the first game even against the Chargers, he said, and I asked him, you know, what are your concerns? He said, my concerns are over maturity, you know, and I said, well, how would that sort of manifest itself? Discipline, doing your job. He said it yesterday during his presser several times. Oh, he says it every week about guys not doing it. We have to do our jobs. But he also said something over.

the summer, which was in many ways a recognition of what last year was. And he said something, and I'm majorly paraphrasing here, because I'm looking for the quote and I can't find it. But he said something like, you know, you can't act like you've arrived already. And like we, you know, he said something like, you can't, because we had this success last year, which by the way, was flukish because of the division. And he had been talking about the rebuild all along. And he even talked about the rebuild, you know, this year. We're only in year two, you know.

And so they had the success, if you want to call it, of winning a division at seven and nine. And he said something to the effect, Tommy, as I'm sitting here looking for it frantically, and I'm just not going to find it. So I'm just going to tell you what I remember. It was something like if we come in here and we act like we've arrived, we're going to get our kicked. You know, this is not where we are yet. We haven't arrived because of the results last year. You know, that is to me, you know, and I remember saying it at the time, he recognizes what last year was. Well, he was also the one that took advantage of that opportunity. They

didn't have to take advantage of that opportunity. They could have, you know, continued to play, well, they played Alex Smith when he came back. They didn't have many choices of quarterback. The point is, is ultimately for the overall rebuild, it probably would have served this team better super long term had they lost and been able to draft a quarterback. But then you don't even know if they'd get the right quarterback. But I didn't feel that way at the time. I think the experience that comes with playing in those big games, including the actual playoff game, is invaluable. But he saw what you just said. And you're right. None of those people have arrived. especially when you consider what they did it against last year on defense.

They were an improved defense. It was fun to watch them at times. They have a lot of talent on defense, but they didn't do anything last year that would put them in position to strut out and announce their arrival as, you know, as defensive stalwarts and defensive beasts in the NFL. They just didn't do enough against a good enough competition last year. I agree. I mean, I absolutely agree. But don't you think this is fixable?

Yeah, it would be so much more fixable if this was like if we knew that everybody was on the same page and that there weren't. And I don't know this. Again, Chuck, I'm not trying to stir it up, but I do have a strong sense that everything's not great defensively among players and coaches. I don't know anything more than what I've told you. And in hearing the coach continue to harp on maturity and discipline and do your job is, you know, Tommy, that's a clue. That's a clue that it's not just that they're getting beat by really good players, that they aren't playing well. It's that they're not listening to us. You know, well, you've got control over, you know, them listening to you. have to play them. Or you can adapt your scheme. You can be, you know, more flexible and

work around their talents. They have talent in the defensive front. They do. But they're also, as we've been talking about since last February, they're playing much better teams, much better quarterbacks. And right now, the bottom line is whether there's an issue with communication or relationships or whatever, their best players aren't playing well. I mean, Chase Young and Montes-Swett and anybody else that's freelancing still would find their way into a couple of big plays a game with their talent if they were playing well. And they're not even doing that. Yeah.

I mean, absolutely. You would think that their talent alone at some point, you find them on top of the quarterback, but that hasn't happened. You know, I saw Montes Sweat came out of a lot of plays. Not a lot, but he came out more than I thought he would, and particularly in some third down situations. Well, in the game Sunday. Yeah, well, Chase Young was out of there on a couple of big third downs.

So was Sweat. They do play a lot of people on that defensive line. You know, they play James Smith-Williams. They really like him. Yeah, they did. played a lot the other day because ionitis wasn't there. Two Hill number 95 plays a little bit as well. They move a lot and then they had the guy up, the other guy up the other day because of,

I'm forgetting his name. He barely made the team. Shockett, Tony? No, no, no. Tony was inactive. It was the other one that was active for the game and played a little bit. But anyway, wise, wise played some the other day. You know, there's a lot of issues.

They are right now, you know, not coordinated in their pass rush, as Ron just talked about. They're not, you know, seemingly coordinated on the back end, although he was very complimentary about the safety play in his presser yesterday. I think he's, I think injected with True Ceremony, well, even more than that, because he said this to me on the radio show Friday. he thinks that John Allen and Matt Ionitis and Duran Payne are playing well. You know, how well they played the other day. I pointed out I thought Duran Payne really flashed a lot in that game Sunday.

And he was the one for me that I was like, wow, 94 is in that backfield a lot. And I think because he was in the backfield a lot and they didn't get results is part of why they're frustrated because, you know, the ends are getting washed out. and Allen's got these places to step up into and away from pain to make plays. Well, he should be stepping into somebody else that's there if pain's getting him off the mark. And so anyway, there's a lot to it, I'm sure. They get their first non-mobile quarterback on Sunday and Matt Ryan. Maybe, you know, maybe Chase Young will make two big plays and Montez Sweat will,

and they'll have four sacks and two forced fumbles and hold them to 17 and win 2817 and all is well for a week. I mean, this would be the team to do it against, although it's not an easy team to do it against. They have some talent on offense, including the quarterback who's pretty damn good, you know. And they've got Calvin Ridley and they've got, you know, the tight end that everybody's convinced, you know, coming in was going to be the offensive rookie of the year. I think it's Jamar Chase right now through three weeks. They've got that guy Cordell Patterson where everywhere he goes he seems to produce. So it's not going to be easy.

I have another question. Do you have anything else on Chase Young or the defense? No, except I would urge people to read my column in the Washington Times about Chase Young. Will people get upset that you mentioned OTAs? Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know who was upset that he missed every? single OTA day is the only player among 90 that missed every single OTA day. I promise you, I know this for a fact. The defensive coaches and the head coach wasn't happy. They weren't happy that he missed all

of those days. And you can sit there and say it doesn't matter and it doesn't impact anything. But, you know, I think Doc said it best back then. He's like, don't give people a reason to blame you for performance. You know, if you don't play well, they'll look back on this. Don't give them that reason. And that's what a real leader does. Doc, I remember texted me that day and said, a real leader doesn't give his critics any reasons. And that's what Chase Young just did. Whether it's real or not, he just gave him reasons. Not to mention the fact that as a team captain to be the only player out of 90, not to show up for even one OTA day, It just seems a little bit like he isn't as bought into the culture rebuild as Ron is.

It did seem that way to me at the time. But he's a talent, and hopefully he'll turn it around. They need him to. They really do. Yes, they do. Because if the defense continues down the path that's on right now, Tommy, this is a four or five win team. By the way, you mentioned Atlanta and Matt Ryan.

Just want to drop something on you. from a pretty good source I have in Atlanta that Matt Ryan wants out of there. He wants Matthew Stafford treatment. Seriously. Well, you know what? He's a big cap number, if I recall, next year. Arthur Smith should be a good coach for him,

but maybe Arthur Smith wants somebody like Tannahill, somebody a little bit more mobile. You know what? Let me just suggest today's September, 28th. So if they lose to Atlanta, you will be in here on Tuesday, October 5th, and Thursday, October 7th of next week. So if they lose to Atlanta, I want you to be prepared to talk about the best quarterbacks at the top of the draft, because that's where Washington's going to be drafting next year. And we should start talking about the possibilities of trades and or free

agent quarterbacks for next year. That's another thing, Tommy, off of this past weekend in the first three weeks of the season. I can't even believe that people, you know, were pushing back on me and many others saying I would trade anything, including Chase Young, for the likes of Aaron Rogers, or Deshawn Watson, or Matt Stafford. I mean, Deshaun Watson before all the stuff about him broke. And I said over and over again, I don't want to trade Chase Young. And for Matt Stafford, I don't think I need to trade Chase Young, but if you told me I can get Aaron Rogers and I only have to give up a couple of first rounders, a couple of second rounders in Chase Young, yeah, of course I would do that. And so should all of you have wanted to do that. Many of you are like, no, no, no, no, you can't

mortgage the future. You can't get rid of, you know, Chase Young. Yes, you can for that. This is a quarterback league. Look at the quarterbacks right now. The really good quarterbacks are, you know, Matt Stafford, 3 and O, Aaron Rogers the other night with the comeback. You know, how about just, I wanted to offer a second to the Jets for Sam Darnold. And people said, oh, he sucks. Did it ever occur to you that Adam Gaye sucks? You know, I mean, I don't know.

I mean, you got to get the quarterback thing right. This rebuild is all nice and the better culture potentially is, you know, better than what we had. The fact that there are competent people in the organization versus total incompetence is nice. But if they don't figure out the quarterback thing, none of this is going to lead to anything substantial. And the one hope was, well, we're going to have this dominant defense. And we can get the quarterback next year or the year after. Or maybe the quarterback is Taylor Heineke.

Well, now you're not even sure you've got the dominant defense. Although there is enough talent for this defense to be a hell of a lot better. I mean, that's not saying much. I would agree with that. Yeah. There's enough talent on this defense for the defense to be top half of the league, top ten-ish. I was never on board with those of you that thought it was going to be elite. I still don't think they're a good and consistent run-stopping team yet.

We haven't seen that yet. And Atlanta's not going to run it with Mike Davis. We'll see that with some other teams. Like, you know, will they be able to slow down, you know, Alvin Camara? or, you know, or any of the backs with Denver, Melvin Gordon, or Aaron Jones with Green Bay. You know, I mean, we know that Mahomes, but wants to throw it, but Edward Zalair can get off on them.

So we'll see that more in the coming weeks. I've got one more question before we get to our third and final segment, which will include more football conversation. what did you think of the game A and B, Taylor Heineke? What did I think of the game? I think that they're lucky that the guy who kicked off managed to catch his own kickoff or else it could have been even worse than what it was.

I mean, what can you say about the game? I mean, it was, I thought it would be. closer because because, you know, I just didn't think this defense could play as bad as it did. I didn't think that they could just like to be just totally decimated

like they were by a quarterback who, you know, had been struggling early in the season. Taylor Heineke, I wasn't surprised. I just figured at some point this guy would be exposed if you have to rely on him.

to win you the game, which is what you need in a quarterback. You need the quarterback that at some point in a game, you need to rely on him to win the game for you. Even if you have a good team, at some point that's going to, like an Aaron Rogers type of guy to go to the extreme. I tell Heineke's not going to do that for you on most games. So, I mean, I wasn't surprised that he was exposed somewhat. What was interesting was, I guess, earlier yesterday, Ron Rivera used the words game manager when it came to quarterback.

I'm going to play that for everybody right now because I was going to save that for the final segment. But let me play that for everybody right now in case they didn't hear it. Here was Ron Rivera yesterday talking about Heineke. Yes, I'd like to see him do things in more of a game manager way. Sometimes that is really just taking what's given to you. you know, go ahead and throw the check down, go ahead and throw the jag or the drag, excuse me, or the slant as opposed to, okay, I'm going to wait for the dig to get into that middle window. And then in the meantime, everything is closing around me as the quarterback. I'm going to go ahead and scramble out to my right and I'm going to wait for the guy to come across.

I'm going to throw across my body. You know, those are the things that you don't want to see him do. and take what's there in front of them. Again, it might be a simple check down on third and eight and give the guy a chance to catch it, turn, and run and see if you can pick it up. It doesn't have to have, you don't have to throw the ball to a receiver that's beyond the down market. And that's some of the things that he has to understand as far as game management. You know, we'll make the right decision, you know, not the decision.

because it's hard, if it's a decision because it's easy, but the right one. And if the right one is throwing the checkdown, we'll live with the checkdown. We'll live with the good decisions, the right decisions. One of the reasons I asked what your thoughts on Heineke were is after hearing that yesterday, I do think that while, you know, they're fine with Heineke running the ship right now, and they did want to see, you know, him in this role for several weeks, you know, several games. several games to see what they had. I mean, I asked Ron Rivera last week, you know, about this being his first road game.

And he said, well, we're going to find out, this is a real test to find out if he is an NFL dude. And he didn't play well. He's far down the list of reasons they lost the game, but he didn't play well. And Rivera is telling you, you know, we can't have those mistakes, him trying to make plays. Occasionally, he's just got to take, you know, the smaller profit. And it's just ironic because he sort of said, made that comment about Ryan Fitzpatrick during training camp about him, you know, throwing some tight windows squeezing it in there and training camp practices. And we need him to be a little bit more of a managing a game manager. And I asked him about that.

And I said, well, he's not that type, right? And he said, no, you're right. But Ryan knows how to, he's a veteran. He knows how to handle that. I don't, I think there's some nuance there. I don't think he's really thinking, like, I need the guy that's just going to check it down, not going to throw it down field, manage the game, manage the chains. Everybody wants to manage the game and have their quarterback manage the game. It doesn't mean that he's not going to take shots.

But he doesn't want to see what he saw the other day, which were interceptions and near interceptions that were terrible decisions. You know, these weren't like deflections that got picked off or a great play by a defender. These were bad, bad, you know, rookie level decisions that Taylor Heineke made. And I'm just wondering if you think, and I'll answer it after you, that another bad game or two, another forcing it into traffic getting picked off two or three times, if we would see Kyle Allen before Ryan Fitzpatrick's return. Well, you know I do. You know, all along, I thought that this is the guy he really wants to play.

And I know he traded for Ryan Fitzpatrick because he had some concerns about going into the season, you know, the second year of this rebuild with Kyle Allen as his quarterback. But I think he likes Kyle Allen. I think he's his Kirk cousin. He's his Colt McCoy for Jay Grue. Yeah, please. I mean, Kirk's playing at MVP. Let me just piss everybody off right now. Kirk is literally playing at an MVP level right now.

He's not Colt McCoy. But he's Ron's comparison to Jay Gruden and Colt McCoy. He will run the offense the way Ron wants it run. Ron and Scott Turner want it run. So I think it's inevitable that you'll see. Kyle Allen. I think Kyle Allen. I'd always thought it is. I think Kyle Allen, when he describes game manager, is exactly who he's thinking about. Yeah. And I was thinking... I remember last year, look, the last year, again, you know, different schedule, but they went five and one with

Alex Smith, who's in the Hall of Fame game managers. And Ron said after the season that he thought that Kyle Allen could have done the same thing. Yep, he said that. He did. Yes. I guess in listening to that yesterday, I just, I had this thought. What if he goes out and he throws two first half picks and, you know, he's the reason they're down 17-7 and he's the reason ultimately that they lose, you know, 31 to 17. I wonder, I do wonder, because, you know, a lot of people out there want to just ride out Taylor Heineke and get to the end of the year and say, all right, do we have anything there? If we don't, that's fine. Let's go pursue somebody. And, you know, there's going to be a point where that's going to be the right strategy, whether it's him or Allen, but it shouldn't be Fitzpatrick after a certain point. Like if they start off, you know, two and five, or,

or one in five. Last year's one in five isn't going to hold up this year. You're going to be out of it at one and five this year. I think you are. That would be my guess. It's just the road, the road is too rough. But I... To get to December, the road is too rough this year.

But I think that if they were, I mean, this is very premature. I understand they could beat Atlanta. They could come home against James Winston and pick him off three times and be three and two with a struggling Chiefs team that looks much different than it looked like at the beginning of the year coming in to get to four and two. That could all happen. Could all happen with Taylor Heineke a quarterback. But if the season does start to slip away a little bit, I just wonder what they want

to see more of. Kyle Allen for say eight games or nine games or ten games or, you know, Taylor Heineke for what would amount to, you know, potentially 15 or 16. I have this sense that they are believers in Kyle Allen. But they're intrigued like a lot of us are with Taylor Heineke's, you know, fearlessness and playmaking ability. Boy, he is an athlete at the position. There is no doubt.

He is one of the better athletes at the position in the league. But anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there. I wanted to just stir it up a little bit. Maybe we can really create the Kyle Allen, Taylor Heineke controversy right now and talk the coaches into going to Kyle Allen before Sunday. We might be able to do that with our influence. I think we can. Without influence, I think we can do something like that.

Absolutely. Just remember, if it goes sideways on Sunday, I need you prepared for some draft talk on Tuesday. All right, coming up a little bit more on the football team, including a stat that John Kime uncovered, per my request, this morning. And also we'll try to get to some Bradley Beale and Caps uniforms. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. So I did want to mention that I had John Kime on the show this morning.

And we were talking about their third down numbers for the year. They're 31st and third down this year defensively through three games. and we were talking about the third and 15 on the opening drive and then the third and 16. And I said to John, if you've got access to it, go back and try to find the last 10 years and see if there's been a worst team in the league on third and seven or longer. Because I would bet that there hasn't been a team over that stretch that's been worse. In 2016, there was a number that came out at the end of the year. Washington was the worst third and seven or longer team since the merger.

Their 2016 third down defense, third and long defense, was the worst since the merger. That was the year that they were pretty prolific, you know, top three to five in every offensive category and their defense was just horrible. So John, to his credit, reached out to ESPN stats and information because they get this stuff turned around quickly for them. Washington since 2011 is 29th on third down defense and 31st out of 32 teams on third and seven or longer. Now, if I had asked that question last year, they would have been dead last because last year they really improved on third down. They were sixth overall in the league on third down, 12th on third and seven and longer.

So that elevated them from 32nd to 31st. Right now, they're 29th in the league on 3rd and 7 or longer, and they're 31st on 3rd downs overall. You just can't be a consistent winning franchise if defensively you can't get off the field on 3rd down. If you're consistently at the bottom, then you better have Aaron Rogers or Russell Wilson or Pat Mahomes on offense so that you can put up 30-something plus a game or keep the other team off the field.

But this is really, I don't know if there's a more telling statistic over the last 10 years that describes how bad this franchise has been than their third down defense. What did Richie Pettibone used to tell us? Games are won and loss on third down, on both sides to the ball. You have to stop the other team on third down, and you have to convert on your own third down. And that was before fourth down analytics became a part of the game. Yes. Yes, it was.

Yeah. And what's interesting, I was thinking the other day about 2012 and the RG3 phenomenon and Mike Shanahan. And how third down was rendered meaningless because they never got to third down. and second down team in the league that year? Yes. Yes. They were not a good third down team on offense. No. But yeah, third down is so crucial.

And third and seven or longer, you should be getting off the field, you know, more than 50% of the time, which is not what they're doing right now. So the Capitals last week, Tommy, became the first NHL team to sell advertising on its jerseys. I'm not sure all of you saw this story, but they announced a multi-year partnership with Caesar's entertainment that will place a Caesar sports book, a Caesar sports book logo on Capitol's home and third jerseys, I guess that's alternate jerseys, beginning in the 2022-2020 season. It'll be a three-and-a-half-inch patch positioned on the upper right chest area of the jersey. The NHL allowed teams to begin selling ad space on their jerseys during the summer,

but they won't begin to wear them until the 2022-2020 season. The caps are believed to be the first franchise in the four major U.S. sports leagues to sell jersey sponsorship to a gambling venture. MLS Major League Soccer Incorporated sports gambling sponsors on its jerseys back in 2019. Of course, Ted the first one to put gambling on the jerseys. You know, he was the first one to open up in an arena sports book, and he is all in on sports gambling, all in on it. It's too bad that he's not getting a cut. It's his sports book, though.

Yeah. I mean, the one that they have at, you know, he's partners with, they're at the arena. Yeah. William Hill got bought by Sears, right? Yeah, exactly. William Hill was purchased by Caesars. And so the Sportsbook at Capital One Arena, which opened just a few months ago, is run by Caesar's sportsbook. And it became, I think, the first betting opportunity or venue in a U.S. stadium or arena.

I think that's true. I haven't been down there yet. My boys have been down there, and they said it's very well done. You know, and they've been to sports books. They think that it was, it's really well done in terms of the sports book. Now, that was like in the first week that it was opened. I have no idea. You know the numbers, you sent me the numbers.

They're horrific in terms of the revenues from legalized gambling in a lot of areas, but specifically in the district. They're just way down. A lot of that stuff we talked about years ago when it became announced that it was going to be legal. but he really is all in on this. And, you know, just so everybody understands, Ted really isn't a bookie in this relationship. You know, he's providing the opportunity for people to gamble,

but he's not taking the Vig on bets. You know, he's benefiting from the advertising that is, you know, spent in his, you know, on his network, on monumental, the advertising that's spent, you know, for their teams, for the arena, the opportunity to provide a venue, which would include selling drinks and selling food and everything else. And oh, by the way, being in an arena where you can also go to the game. So that's what he's benefiting from. You know, when we joke about Ted, slash, you know, Ted, quote, Ace Rothstein, Leonis, he's not on the other side of your bet.

That's not him. That's Caesars. And several of these places are charging way too much. But that's another story for another day. Do you want to talk about Bradley Beale? Yeah. Let's talk about that great community leader, Bradley Beale. All right.

Let's first play for you what he said when he was asked if he was vaccinated. I am not vaccinated. No, not. Do you care to share why? personal reason. Yeah. Every player, every person in this world is going to make their own decision for themselves. I would like an explanation to, you know, people with vaccines.

Why are they still getting COVID? If that's something that we are supposed to highly be protected from. Like, it's funny that, oh, it reduces your chances of going to the hospital. Yeah, I had it, but that doesn't mean I can't get it again, you know? I mean, it's no different than somebody with the vaccine. Like, I can, yes, I developed the anti-prisoners. bodies for it. So my chances will be less likely now as well, right? But it's still a possibility I may get it just like there are players and coaches and staff who are Vax and missing camp right

now because of it. So he's not the only player. A lot of attention paid to Beal and Andrew Wiggins yesterday with and Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving had to attend his media day virtually because of New York's COVID-19 health, you know, regulations, which, by the way, because it's a large gathering event, he won't be able to play in home games as of now, which also, by the way, if you didn't know this, Tommy, visiting teams to New York and to the Bay Area, where Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving play, respectively, and they won't be able to play right now, unvaccinated in their home games. But road teams and road teams players who are unvaccinated will be able to play. to play in those games if they pass certain protocols.

That's a big disconnect for me. I know that there's a loophole in there for people who are visiting and aren't living there, but the NBA and those local authorities need to fix that. Now, back to Beal. Were you at least impressed that he knew that the vaccine lowered the chances of hospitalization, because I wasn't even sure when I first started to hear him talk about this, that he understood that that was at least one of the benefits from the vaccine. No, I wasn't particularly impressed with his knowledge.

Okay. Based on the research that he's done, no, I wasn't particularly impressed with his research ability. Is he on your list now? Well, of course he's on the list. Yeah, he's on the list. But I tell you what, I bet you he'll be off the list soon. they are very unhappy with him. They are very frustrated and unhappy with him.

I don't know what that's going to amount to, but this is not the way the Wizards wanted to start the season with the face of their franchise after Ted, you know, extolled the virtues of the vaccine in the district when it finally became available to have their top player saying, I'm not being vaccinated. What are you hearing? They are very frustrated.

Okay. Boy, they got frustrated with John two summers ago. Remember that? Yes. With that video that went around? Boy, those cornerstones, the two of them, they have really hit rock bottom. You know, I think the NBA is going to have to generally make some kind of adjustment here.

They're getting a lot of pushback from coaches and staff who had to, get vaccinated, who are very upset about what they consider to be a double standard here. Now, they don't have a players association like the NBA players do. But there's going to be, look, Steve, Steve Kerr, if I could find the quote. Steve Kerr had a great quote, and it doesn't surprise me because he, I think he's a pretty sharp guy about all this, talking about the Wiggin situation where he said, okay, here it is, okay, I'm sorry. We can put some plexiglass around him? We have to understand we all play a part in society.

We have this sort of outsized view of what freedom is. I think that's the key quote here. We live with restrictions and rules from the time we wake up until the time we go to bed. And all of a sudden, this, this is the line in the sand. You know, I think he's right when he said we have this outsized view of what freedom is. I think that's certainly, I feel the same way. But I wouldn't be surprised if the NBA has to take a step back.

They can't go through the whole season with this. It's going to cause too much anger. It's going to constantly. Like the NFL, the percentage of vaccinated employees, including players, is way above the national average. Yes. There's only a handful of players that are really – Well, there are only a handful left in the NFL.

I mean, the vaccination rates are – or through the roof in the NFL. Yeah. I don't want to get into Steve Kerr's quotes because I think that, you know, of course it's true that we don't have unlimited freedoms in our lives. I mean, we have laws in our land. But I do think that with respect to Beal, I think, you know, often comes off as very thoughtful because I think he is. I think he's bright and intelligent, but in this particular sound bite, he's not informed. And it's basic information.

You know, how does somebody get COVID when they have the vaccine? Well, because the vaccines aren't 100%. You know, the efficacy rate on the J&J shot, 75%. The efficacy rate on the Moderna and Pfizer was what? In the low 90s, low to mid-90s. So there was always a chance that you could end up still getting COVID, even if you were vaccinated. And then obviously we had variants and mutations, et cetera,

that maybe increased the chances even more based on the vaccine. But the vaccine is, you know, historically the way to eradicate an epidemic if you can get a certain percentage of people vaccinated. And at the same time, what we've learned, you know, definitively at this point, is that these vaccines do reduce your chances significantly. of getting sick, seriously sick. If you do get COVID and you're vaccinated. And I do understand for those rolling their eyes saying,

do you know what the odds were that somebody was going to get it and get sick in the first place? I do. I understand that it was a long shot anyway, especially for young, healthy people. But that's really not the point. The point is that, you know, the odds decrease exponentially even from the lowest of numbers if you're vaccinated. and you are participating in trying to eradicate, you know, this disease by being vaccinated. So I think he's missing some basic, you know, information, which, you know, is not a shocker to me. I think the entire process has been filled with poor communication.

You know, you get vaccinated and you don't have to wear a mask. Well, you know, that changed. And by the way, all of this stuff, you know, all of the information that's changed from the beginning. Don't need masks. Yeah, you do need masks. Once you get vaccinated, you don't need a mask. Well, now that you're vaccinated, actually, you do need a mask. Outdoors, you don't need a mask at all. The chances of you contracting COVID in outdoor air is like 0%. Yet people are still wearing masks outdoors. There's been a lot of confusing information. And by the way, I understand that to a certain degree. With new data, okay, comes new guidelines. You know, I don't want them to stick with guidelines. guidelines that are old and outdated based on having new information. But for a lot of people who haven't and aren't paying attention to the day-to-day of this, it can be confusing. You're leaving out a big part of the problem that started all this.

You had the head of a country who basically dismissed the whole notion of COVID. He set the tone that we're still digging our way out of. Well, he was also, again, not letting politics come into this, he was also the one that reacted very quickly to it and created, you know, a private sector push to get a vaccine done. So while in the initial stages of January or December of 2019 or January of 2020, the reaction was obviously not that big of a deal, but Fauci and others had similar reactions early on. as well. We just didn't know who those people were. You can't deny that the tone was set by Trump. The whole movement was generated by people who saw the president of the United States dismissed the severity of this thing, said it would be gone by Easter. Yeah, except for that quickly changed. That quickly changed to an incoherent message. Hold on,

let me finish, to an incoherent message at times, you know, just a terrible communicator, but the actions were far different. I mean, the actions weren't great, you know, if you go back before the pandemic, when they, you know, when they disbanded that, you know, they were criticized for disbanding the pandemic response team or whatever that was. And that was a terrible decision and people thought it was a terrible decision. And it clearly backfired. And, you know, the communication, which we talked a lot about during those days, was incoherent at

times. I mean, you know, the injecting of bleach and all this stuff. I mean, he was a terrible communicator. And yeah, he blew it off early, but the actions really were far different than the words necessarily. And, you know, and the early words necessarily, I mean, they cut off travel immediately from China and from Europe, you know, in a time in which, you know, a lot of people were calling him, you know, a xenophob for doing it, a racist for doing it. You know, he mobilized the private sector to deliver and manufacture lots of supplies that were needed. I think the testing turned into a debacle. But, you know, that was, you know, that was something that they were efforting. And then obviously the effort to, you know, not only, you know,

develop and deliver a vaccine in record time, but also to simultaneously develop medications and therapeutics. You know, I just think, I don't know, you know, you know what I thought of that whole time. You know, the narcissism, which was an obvious, you know, the obvious result being that there's nobody that can lead during a crisis that's that narcissistic, the inability to communicate it beyond like a ninth grade vocabulary level. I mean, all of that was cringy. It was terrible. We talked about that during all of those months, but, you know, there were a lot of things going on that ultimately were very helpful in the process. And there were a lot of people early on that also were very confused about what this was. And I guess, look, he got COVID, got very sick.

But anyway, he's been pro vaccine. He was one of the first to get the vaccine. Yeah, but that's because of self-interest. When's the last time you heard him? Well, he had COVID, where he's touted. He had vocabot. Not enough is the answer to that. Not enough with his constituency.

But what also gets a little bit tangled here over and over again is who isn't getting vaccinated? It's not just Trump supporters, Tommy. You know, it's young black men. It's a lot of other demographics that are at the top of the list of people. It's people who don't trust the gun. government. And he's not the government anymore. And this is, oh, if you ask him he is, this is, this is the Bradley Beal issue. I mean, among African Americans, and from what I've read in the African American community, there's a lot of distrust about the vaccine. There's a lot of

distrust of the government. He has a chance as an educated, a young man, to set the tone for this thing and be a community leader and tell and show people that it's okay to get this thing. Oh, that it's important to protect people around you. Don't put that on him. He's making a decision

as ill-informed as because he's been touted. He has been touted as a community leader. He has talked about being a leader. Who's touted him as being a community leader? Oh, Ted has, the wizard has. He himself has. They continue to pick the wrong

horse time and time again, don't they? I mean, my God. They should stop touting anybody. That he's a community, that he wants to lead the community. You know what he did do? Well, here's his chance. Okay. Here's his chance, and he turned out to be a coward. Yeah, well, I don't know that that's his responsibility.

I also think his perspective, to be fair, is different because he had COVID, and he made that clear that he believes that he's got the antibodies and he wants more information on people who've had COVID, have built up the antibodies and whether or not they really do need to be vaccinated. Now, with that said, I do understand. Tremendous information. Yeah, well. He's been given by the wizard. All the information he needs.

Well, he doesn't trust it. So, you know, that's an issue with a lot of people right now in a lot of different parts of the country with a lot of different demographic makeup. Anyway, did you see the other story involving Bradley Beale? No. So it came out yesterday from the athletic that Russell Westbrook went to Bradley Beale before he went to Leonsis to ask for a trade and tried to convince Beale in the weeks leading up to the draft before he had asked for a trade to go with him and have them both ask out of Washington and have

them both ask for a trade. And according to the report, what Beal, what Westbrook wanted Beal to go with him, but he was also really just wanting Beal to support his effort to get back to L.A., which sources said in this story, Beal supported him going and asking for a trade, but he didn't want to go ask for a trade. You know, for whatever reason, Bradley Beale, I think, wants to be here and wants to live here, which is pretty unique for players on that basketball team over the years. Yeah, it is. I mean, but, you know, we've always said, the problem is the organization.

It's not the location. Washington, D.C. is a very attractive place to live, especially. if you're African-American. Yeah, I think that's true, but there are other places that are... There are other places that are more attractive from both a state tax, state tax, weather, you know, stars, you know, etc. L.A., Miami, exactly. And then the other places where the weather's cold like here, there's more of a tradition.

And there's more importance in the area, like Boston as an example, when it comes to their pro basketball team. Yes. I'm actually looking forward to the Wizards this year. I like Spencer Dinwiddie. I'm intrigued by them. I'm interested in what they are and what kind of job Wes Sunsel Jr. does. So am I. I am too. And we'll certainly monitor the Bradley Beal vaccination status here on the podcast over the coming weeks and months. By the way, did you get your booster? Well, see, I got the Moderna. Oh, right.

So we have not heard anything about the Moderna booster yet. Right. We have heard about the Pfizer booster. Yeah, I know. But, I mean, I've also read that the Moderna was also the strongest of the vaccine to begin with. Look at you. Yeah, I read that. And then next week we'll read something else.

That's part of the problem. I'm strutting down the street with my Moderna vaccine. You know what you need? You need a Moderna patch ad right on your right shoulder of your shirt. That's it. There you go. Are we done for the day? Absolutely. Yeah, I think we've done enough. All right. Back tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day, evening, morning, whenever you listen to this.