The Kevin Sheehan Show - Tua to DC?

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

Kevin and Thom today on the rumors yesterday that had the Dolphins trading quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to Washington. The rumors were shot down by most but it still begs the question, what are they going to do about quarterback? The guys discussed that along with Taylor Heinicke's comments yesterday about not playing the way he likes to play. Also, the latest on the Bruce Allen emails including Dan Snyder's response to speculation that he was the source of the leaks. The guys recapped the Wizards' opening night win as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. He's got a COVID story for us coming up here shortly. We'll get to all of the rumors that we're flying around yesterday related to

quarterbacks and the Washington football team. The Wizards opened up with a win. We'll get to that. Why am I teasing everything that's coming up in the show? This isn't radio? But I fall into that habit every once in a while. People are not going to tune out in the first five minutes. These people are committed.

They're here for that long haul. Well, you know what? Maybe what we should start doing is at the beginning of the show, just tell everybody, look, we're going to do a bunch of something here in the opening segment. Usually we wing the first segment, unless there's a real pressing story. And then we are definitely going to get to the Tuatung of Iloa rumors. but really, to me, it's a bigger picture conversation about the quarterback of the Washington football team down the road somewhere. And then we will finish up this show by talking about the Wizards opening night win.

But let's start with your COVID story. Wait a minute. Wait, I'm surprised. I'm surprised at you. What? You know there's only one thing you have to say at the beginning of the show. Dustin Hopkins? No.

We have a menu of excellence today. We have a buffet that I'm telling you is it's Vegas-style buffet, 1995, all you can eat. We've got many different options for you. That's all they need to know. You want some protein. We got plenty of protein. We got steak. We got pork.

We got chicken. But, hey, if you're a salad person, we got a hell of a salad bar. Lots of soups, too, which I'm really excited about. This is the time of the year where I start getting after soups. Wasn't it with you that I used to have this conversation about how much I love the soups in various places like Whole Foods always has good soups? There's a deli. I'm not a soup guy. I love soup.

There's a deli near where I live and where I'm doing this show right now called Wagshall's. If you're a D.C. person, you're probably familiar with Wagshall's, which is in the Spring Valley neighborhood. There's also one in, I guess the other wagshauls would be considered Wesley Heights, that neighborhood around there. So they have great soups there. So that's actually what I will likely do when I'm done with you today is go get some soup. They'll have some chicken noodle or chicken with rice or maybe some sort of beef vegetable. That's always good. And then you throw some crackers in there and you're good.

That's lunch. Tell me your COVID story. Well, before we get started, I do not drink or drink any liquid or eat any liquid. That's hot. What? Nothing. I don't drink coffee. I don't drink tea.

I don't drink hot chocolate. I don't eat soup. No hot liquids. That's how I lasted this long. That's what, that's the secret? That's the secret. Because you don't eat any sweets either, which was always. a major, like, shock to me.

I remember, I don't know, somebody brought in some cookies one day for the show, and I'm like, get after these. And he's like, no, I don't eat cookies. I don't eat sweets. You don't eat sweets. Could you imagine? Could you imagine you couldn't have gotten me through the door at the studio if I'd eaten sweet. It's amazing what you, I mean, you really are.

What it is about you is your complexity is what makes you so simple. No, that wasn't. It was the opposite of that. It's my simplicity that makes me complicated. Yeah, I understand that. I understand that. I gave it to you the opposite way. Because I think you are very simple.

Hold on for a second. Do you really, like, you don't drink, I know you don't drink coffee. I think I knew that. But you don't drink anything hot? No. No, one of my rules. Don't drink. Like, Satchel Page had his 10 rules for life.

One of mine is, don't ingest any hot liquid. You're really inflexible when it comes down to it. You've got your rules, you've got your lists, and you're not changing. I'm surprised, well, you don't like sweets, so you've missed out on, you know, the hot chocolate on a cold winter's day, holiday hot chocolate. Did your kids, did you make hot chocolate for them around holiday time? Well, my wife did. She always did. The kids like them.

I mean, the kids have not inherited my commitment to dysfunction, eating, so to speak. Okay. What's your COVID story? Okay. Friday night, Liz and I went to the movies for the first time in a couple of years. We went to a movie up in Frederick. We went to see the last duel. I think I was calling you during the movies, and you said to me, I'm in the movie, I'll call you when I get out.

Yeah, yeah, you did. With Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and Adam Silver. It's directed by Ridley Scott, which is really what Ruby's doing it. Not Adam Silver, not Adam Silver. It's some of the Adam. Adam guy. The guy who was in the Black Klansman. Oh, oh, oh.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Adam. Yeah, not Adam Silver. Adam Driver. Adam Driver. There you go. Yeah, that's it. Okay.

So I figured a Ridley Scott movie, it's going to be good. Sure. It wasn't very good. No. It was not very good. I wouldn't recommend anyone to it. I mean, you know, I mean, it's got a very strong feminist message about, you know, what women had to go through over the years. But you got that in the first five minutes.

Okay. And then it's pretty much the same story after that. I just didn't like. This was no gladiator. No. Oh, no, no gladiator. Okay. You'll pass by this one when you're going by the remote.

You won't stop and look at this. But so we went to the movies. And it wasn't real crowded, but we were sitting next to somebody. Because you had to sign seats. You had to reverse seats. Right. And on Tuesday, Liz got a text from the Maryland Department of Health.

Oh, boy. I didn't sign up for this, but she had signed up for this a long time ago on your iPhone. They have a component where you can sign up for alerts that the Maryland Department of Health tracks people who they know have COVID through their phones. and if you've come in contact with any of those people for 15 minutes or more, they will send you an alert that you've been in close contact with somebody who has COVID. Right. And so Tuesday night, Liz got this message today, and you've been in close contact with somebody who had COVID.

And was it from the movie? And, you know, we went to a little, you know, that's the only thing we deduced. I mean, you know, it had to be the movie, and we were a little bit worried for obvious reasons. Plus, Monday, we had visited with somebody who has autoimmune issues, and we were with them for a long time in their house. So we were concerned for them as well. So we went to get tested yesterday, and it turned out negative. We didn't have any symptoms, but we still went to get tested. to reassure the people we have been with over the weekend as much as anything.

Right. You know? That's nice. And we got tested. But this feature is pretty remarkable. I don't know if it's maybe if you could panic for no reason over it, but it's pretty remarkable that they have this device. And what I don't understand is, I mean, somebody who was near us for 15 minutes,

at least 15 minutes, according to the Department of Health, had COVID. Right. And the only way they know this is through some kind of positive test that they have a record of and that person's cell phone number that they have connected to it. And there's this person out at the movies, you know, watching the movie. And they knew they had COVID. They had to. Yeah, right.

How else would the Department of Health know about it? Of course. So that was a little very, that was very strange situation. Well, it sounds like a strange situation, but I think that you've been in a lot of strange situations we all have that we just don't know about. Yeah. I'm not a COVID warrior. Over the last, you know, whatever it's been now, coming up on two years, I guess,

we've all been in contact with people that have had COVID. It's probably an impossibility at this point, unless you've really been one of those people that have lived in just, you know, stark fear for two years and haven't left the house. More likely than not, we've all come in contact with people who have COVID in the moment. Right. And we may have had it. Yes. All of us may have had it for all we know.

Yeah. Yes. All that may be true. Right. But I thought this was an interesting feature. Well, what's interesting. What's interesting is that this person had COVID and decided to go to the move. movies. Probably not a great idea from that person.

You know? This will be the last movie we'll go to for a while again. Well, you're certainly not going to go see that movie again. It's a terrible movie. It's not a Ridley Scott classic. So that's too bad because you're first, now, I'm trying to think of what you'd even get to eat at the movies. Are you a popcorn eater? Well, this is an interesting movie. I'm going to give them a plug.

It's called Warehouse Cinemas. It opened up in Frederick, probably right before COVID, and then obviously we're shut down for a while. It's a new theater about 12 theaters where they have dining and a bar and like 28 beer taps. Okay. Now, I've been to a place in Baltimore where they wait on you in your seat. eat. Right. And you can eat dinner and drink. This is not that, but you get that and bring the food back. So very comfortable chairs, reclining chairs. And so I had pretzel with cheese dip. Pretzel with cheese with. It's called pretzel nuggets. Did you have a couple beers?

Yes, I did. I had a couple beers as well. All right. That's what this guy. I mean, we, Al, we. Our experience at the theater was good, except for the COVID. Yeah. Well, I mean, right, if that's indeed where you came in contact with that person. Yes. You don't know that that's where it was.

I know, but reasonable people can come to the conclusion. The only other people we spend 15 minutes with. Well, Liz doesn't spend all over time with you. Liz doesn't spend all of her time with you. Hopefully. Yeah, asshole now. So, all right. So I did the Dustin Hopkins thing yesterday because that broke right after the radio show.

Do you want to weigh in on it at all? Look, you know, it's funny. People were calling for his head until they finally got rid of them, and then they said they shouldn't have gotten rid of them. Who said that? Well, on social media, I thought that a lot of people thought, said, you know, on the list of problems with this team, he's like number six. seven or eight, and they have bigger issues to deal with than the kicker, who actually

had not been kicking that bad lately. Well, he missed some big kicks. Man, there's a kick that he missed. You're okay with it. Yeah, I've been talking about, you know, Dustin Hopkins and a replacement for him and at least bringing in competition for him for a while now. But Tommy, I was shocked. I was very surprised.

It was only two or two and a half weeks ago that Ron basically started to, you know, told us the whole story of Graham Ganoe and when Ganoe was having troubles, but they stuck with him. And so I fully expected Dustin Hopkins to kick all season long. That was definitely a surprise moment,

but I'm not disappointed by it at all. Now, at the same time, it doesn't mean that the solution's going to be any better, but this guy's missed a lot. a lot of big kicks for this team over the years. And I know that he was 12... If that's the case, why weren't he given

competition in training camps? Great question. I think we all were wondering the same thing. We're talking about a span of work over the years, and you're right. You could distinctly remember where he cost them games by missing kicks. It's not that hard to remember those.

I mean, it was kind of perplexed. that he was not given any competition in training camp. There's some coaching decisions by Ron Rivera that are head scratching. And that's one of them in the beginning of this, and it's kind of one of them now. I mean, I've said many times, and again, I know that people, you know, roll their eyes when I say this. But one of the reasons is he is a talent. Like, he's a talented kicker. The ball explodes off his foot, as many of you people out there that are listening, said it with me there.

It really does. It gets unbelievable elevation. He kicks at most of his kickoffs through the end zone. He's got a big leg. But, you know, I had Jess Atkinson on the show yesterday, and if you guys missed it, I really like Jess a lot. He's really a good guy, obviously an NFL kicker and a great college kicker at Maryland. and he's not really paying attention to football anymore. He was very upfront about that. But I called him anyway, and I said,

that's all right. I want to ask you about the mindset and where the coaches are. And he just said, look, you told me a little bit about Dustin Hopkins before the call. And he said, the bottom line is ultimately, and this is so obvious, I think, but at the same time, it was important to hear it

because I'm not sure that that's everybody's answer right away. The bottom line is, once that coach loses faith or loses trust that that kicker is going to deliver for him when he needs him to deliver, it's over. And that's what happened, especially when he missed that 42-yard or on Sunday. I'm convinced that that 42-yard miss against the Chiefs was it. You can't miss 42-yard field goals in the NFL anymore. It's the, and not only that, the situation in which he missed it,

he was going to give them a six-point lead midway through the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. And when he missed it, it was an avalanche. It was a Chief's avalanche afterwards. Look, I'm not suggesting that they would have won the game had he made the field goal. But I guarantee you in Ron's mind, he's like, you can't miss a 42-yard field goal for a six-point lead against the Chiefs. I didn't just ask you to kick a 54-yard field goal or a 57-yarder. This is 42. And by the way, he missed that one badly.

Like, that wasn't his normal, beautiful ball flight high up into the air, but he pushes it right. This was a hook job on the 42-yarder. And so with that, I'm convinced that if he had missed a 55-yarder with a little bit of a crosswind or whatever, that he'd still be kicking. but once he missed that one, I'm not saying that they haven't thought about, you know, you know what, we're getting to that point where he better just get on the roll that we think he can get on. And when he missed the 42-yarder, that was it. He had, the faith was gone.

And Ron probably, they're probably all sweating it that, you know, Dustin will go somewhere else and be indoors and get on a roll. But they lost trust as far as him here. And you know what? I kind of lost the faith in him a while back. The 2016 season, which I pointed to, that was a season that should have been a playoff season and in part wasn't because of all of his key misses during the course of the year.

Right. I know, but you've also said this year that you can't get anybody better out there. No, what I've said is, well, I don't know if you can get anybody better or not, but I can tell you this, nobody's going to come in and blow him away in a workout. like Dustin Hopkins does every day in practice. I get why the coaches have liked him, and he's had an incredible run in terms of the time he's been here. I have no idea if they can get better or not.

I don't, and I know I'm the one that says you always have to be sure of the solution. This is a kicker. This guy has missed too many kicks. The bottom line is, yeah, he was 12 of 14, but he was very lucky that he's 12 of 14. he should be 11 of 14 because that one against the Giants that he missed should have cost him a game and they should be one in five. He missed two PATs in the game at Atlanta that nearly cost him a chance to win the game. And as somebody pointed out to me this morning, it was probably Brendan, my producer, he said,

you know, there was also remember the time that he didn't put him out there against New Orleans for a 53-yarder in terms of the trust thing. Well, he did say there was a cross-win there that he was concerned about. It was fourth and eight maybe. I forget what it was against the Saints. But I don't know. I'm certainly not upset by it. I'm shocked by it, but I'm not upset. So, yeah, I don't know what everybody else has been saying.

For a few years now, I've at least at the very least questioned why they haven't had somebody in there kicking against him. But it is a weird position, Tommy. You just never know. And I would be shocked if he's not kicking somewhere else this year for somebody. Yeah, probably. I would have to agree with you because he is very talented. I'll tell you what, the new guy, blew it. He's not going to be making tackles like Dustin Hopkins did on special teams.

Why? Remember, Hopkins might have said him a touchdown or two on kickoff. Well, maybe we can move him to safety. They should have moved him to safety. There you go. So I had, I'm looking for it right now because I want to read these two. It's pretty funny. I had his high school coach on the radio show this morning.

That would be Chris Blewitt's high school coach. His name's Eric Henderson. Eric Henderson was the head coach at West Potomac when he was a kicker there, when Chris Bluett was a kicker. Scott Abraham from Channel 7. I like Scott a lot. Scott texted me yesterday and he said, I just interviewed the new kickers high school coach, and he was excellent.

You should call him up. And I'm like, really? And he's like, no, no, really, he'll be good. So I called him up, and we had him on very early this morning. And he was really good. You know, he's obviously a big fan of Chris's, but he mentioned some things that were interesting. And so I started to get some tweets that Brendan was telling me about. One was, so Chris Blum.

Blueitt's high school girlfriend's gonacologist next on the team 980. You know, somebody else tweeted, yeah, and then after that, Chris Blewitz, UPS manager will analyze his footwork around boxes. That was funny.

No, that's not fair. That's not fair. This is a local guy. This is a local guy. I understand perfectly. I know that, but he's a local guy. So, I mean, I understand perfectly reaching out to somebody like

that to interview him. I do too, but it would not have been my first idea. If he was from Podunk, Illinois, that would be different. Yeah. I get what you're saying, but to be totally honest with you, it would not have been my first thought to call his high school coach, even though he was local. I wouldn't have done it if Scott didn't insist that he was really a really good interview. And Scott was right.

He was a good interview, and he did a really nice job. So Eric, if you're listening to the podcast, you did a great job this morning. And next time, we will have Chris's high school girlfriends got a collegeist on. Anyway, let's talk about the rumors that we're flying around yesterday. We will do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. It doesn't cost you a thing. Rate us and review us, especially on Apple, Spotify, and Google.

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Just erase it and write Kevin D.C. They'll double your first deposit instantly all the way up to $1,000. You can use those extra funds to bet on some of the biggest games, the big one this weekend, Chiefs and Titans. And, you know, there's a game tonight, Denver and Cleveland. I like Denver a little bit tonight. And I'm just reading where Baker Mayfield is out tonight. He is out. Case Keenham is going to start tonight in the game for the Browns.

You know, this is a really big game for the Browns who were just two weeks ago considered at three and one to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. You know, they had lost to the Chiefs in the opener in a really close game. They had a big lead in that game. and then they had beaten the Texans, bears, and Vikings. And then they went to L.A. to face the Chargers, and they gave up 47 points to them in a loss. And then last week at home, they got destroyed by the Cardinals, 37 to 14. And now they're 3 and 3. You know, they're 3 and 3 playing against Denver tonight at home.

And the line is just a point and a half or two, something like that. I like Denver. I'd lean Denver heavily. It's not a smell test pick, but I'm going to play Denver personally. And I'm upset that I didn't give Appalachian State out last night against Coastal Carolina. That was definitely a smell test special. Look, I tell you when I have ones that would have lost, and I'm glad I didn't give them out. Last night, I just didn't know that game was last night.

That was poor clock and calendar management by me. because Coastal was only laying three and a half four in that game as an undefeated 6-0 team. By the way, Tommy, the Washington point spread for Sunday against the Packers is now down to like seven and a half in a lot of places. What does that mean? Well, I've explained it in the past. It doesn't mean that there's public action on Washington. Public money does not move point spreads. The big move from 10 and a half down to 7.5 is sharp money.

And it's like the third or fourth time this year that the sharp money has been on Washington. It hasn't worked out for the sharp better so far. No, it hasn't. It has not worked out. I mean, Washington is one in five against the number. They were the sharp side against the chargers when they went from a one-point dog to a two, two-and-a-half-point favorite. they were the sharp side against Buffalo where that line was down to like seven and sharp money I think it opened at eight and a half or whatever came down to seven, seven and a half. They were the sharp side against New Orleans last or two weeks ago or a week and a half ago

and they were the major sharp side against Kansas City. And the only game they've covered in so far was their game at Atlanta. When to be honest with you, Atlanta was the sharp side in their game. So they are only a seven and a half point favorite now against Green Bay. And just to give you some perspective, not that Washington's at Detroit's level, but when Detroit came to Lambo in week two in the Monday night game, Detroit was an 11.5 point underdog. And that was actually a week after they had scored 33 against the Niners.

I don't know what it is that they see in Washington. I think part of this, Tommy, is that Green Bay plays a week from tonight against Arizona in what will be one of the Titanic matches of the season so far. A week from tonight, Thursday night football, Packers at Arizona. Arizona will be undefeated. They're an 18-point favorite over the Texans this weekend. And so I think sharp betters are looking at that thinking Green Bay may be looking ahead a little bit. And I think, you know, they've actually struggled a little bit, you know, on the defensive side and the offensive side at times.

I mean, they pulled away from the Bears late. They barely beat the Bengals. So it's not like Green Bay's been an overwhelming offensive monster so far this year either. But I don't think Washington can win the game. I really don't. Do I think they can cover? I don't know. It doesn't matter what I think. It matters what the formula says for me.

So I'll probably have Washington again in the smell test tomorrow. I do like Denver tonight. And that lines probably with Case Keenham. It's coming down to like two or one and a half or something like that. But I like their chances tonight in Cleveland. But it's not a smell test pick. All right, let's talk about this to a stuff. Because I think it's a bigger conversation.

For those of you that missed it yesterday, John McLean, who's a long time, right, Tommy? longtime columnist slash reporter with the Houston Chronicle. He's been there forever. Yes. He reported that the Dolphins and the Texans were in conversations about a trade for Deshawn Watson. What was added to that via multiple sources was that another part of this deal would involve a third team, and that third team could be Washington, where Tuatunga Vailoa would be sent to Washington for what it wasn't you know described so I don't know now every single local beat reporter in town completely you know dismissed this as truth they said Washington is not interested into at all and they will not be a part of the deal that doesn't mean that we can't discuss it and I

actually want to start with this how do you trade for Deshawn Watson right now I don't know. I don't know how you can. If you're the dolphins and you're looking to get to Sean Watson, given his legal predicament right now, is so unpredictable. And a lot of things would have to go right, a lot of things would have to go right for you for that trade to pay off, certainly in the immediate future. I don't see how you could do it. I'm, this is not just a civil, it's not just the 22 or whatever civil lawsuits against him. There are criminal complaints against him now. Remember that came out a few months ago after it looked like it was just going to be solved with some settlements for various civil lawsuits. And then the league would make a decision. The league hasn't weighed in on anything.

And obviously Houston, you know, is not even going to risk playing him. unless you really know that he's going to be available, it'd be hard to trade for him. By the way, the second part of it is even if he is available, but there are all these civil lawsuits that he ends up settling, there are only a few teams that would be able to get away with it. You know, Washington's not going to be able to trade for Deshawn Watson, you know, given what this organization's been about over the last two years, going, you know, back to the 2000s.

But still, from my standpoint, like if he were actually available for real and he was going to play and the league wasn't going to suspend him for a year, maybe it was a four-game suspension for conduct detrimental, and you could get him for a discounted price, forget to it anybody else. That's what I would be focused on. But again, I don't think Washington's in a position to trade for Deshaun Watson. They're just not the franchise that can do it. So that was number one. I guess I'm not going to be surprised these teams are doing their due diligence. What the prices will be interesting, because Nick Casario, the GM, for a while, was essentially saying three first and two seconds is what it would take, and a player, I think.

So the other part of this is just the Washington part of the rumor that Tua would be traded here. Again, apparently it's not true. That was my hunch, too, by the way, right when I heard this news, is that Washington would not be in on Tua. I think that injuries and the injury risk would prevent that. With that said, Tommy, I would absolutely be for it as a fan of this team, you know, if the price were right. I'm not giving up a first rounder for Tua Tua Tua by Loa, but you don't have to anymore. I was not in favor of giving up the, I was not in favor of using number two overall in the 2020 draft on Tua because of the injury and because Chase Young was there. You know, that was the, you know, I'm not,

I'm not changing how I felt. I wanted them to draft Chase Young at number two overall. Now, I would have taken Burrow, had Burrow been available, but Burrow went number one to Cincinnati. But Tua for me was a high risk, and you had this, you know, highest evaluated defensive player in like eight, nine years available to you at number two overall. And they hadn't had a great defensive player in forever. So I was all for Chase Young. But this is different. It's not the number two pick in the draft. It's not a first rounder, but if you told me I had to give up a second for Tua, I would do it.

I would take as many swings at the quarterback thing as possible until I get it right. Guys, the one thing I think we all have to come to the realization of is it's not just an NFL issue where if you don't have the quarterback, you pretty much don't have a shot. It's more the case here. in this franchise, the only thing is that will cover up or divert attention from the hideous way in which this organization is run is to land on the next Peyton Manning like the Ursa's did back in 1998. Like that's what has to happen. If they're ever going to turn into a real franchise that has a chance at sustained success, either Dan Snyder has to sell the team, be ousted by the league,

or they've got to land on one of the top three to five quarterbacks in the game. And so I'm all for taking big swings at quarterbacks. So what if you throw away a second on Tua? Who cares? He's a talent. Yes, the injuries are a concern, but he is talented. And he's played on a bad offensive team, and he's only started 13 games. So, yeah, I would do it. So why would Miami get rid of them?

Well, because they've got a shot at Deshawn Watson. Okay. I mean, that's part of it. Maybe there's more to it. It's fair question. It could be the injuries. It could be that they've decided after 13 starts, they got to do better. Look, they might be in the same position that, you know, Arizona was in.

It's like, we drafted Tua, but he's injury prone. And right now he hasn't shown us that he can be elite and can. and carry our franchise for the next 10 years. We're going to keep swinging. And Deshawn Watson's available. I mean, Arizona drafted Josh Rosen. And the next year, they drafted Kyler Murray, number one overall. This is the mode Washington should be in.

I can't disagree with you because I don't see Washington unless something changes in the near future, getting another chance to step up to the plate. I don't really see it. Meaning what? Meaning, I don't know how many opportunities they're going to have to take a shot at a quarterback that could be really talented. Well, hopefully they'll have... Are you saying that because nobody's going to want to play here? No.

No, I mean, in part because a next year's draft, I mean, who knows where they're going to be in the draft? If they keep losing, maybe they'll be high up for a draft pick, but it's not considered. a great draft by people who study these things. And in terms of a trade, there's not the kind of quarterback that you're talking about that would want to come to play here. Right. So this might be their shot. Other than getting lucky with a draft pick, this might be their shot.

Yeah, I mean, the only players you can force to play for you are the players that you draft pretty much. I mean, you can't force anybody to do anything. But, you know, you're not going to get like an Aaron Rogers or a Russell Wilson situation next year if they get traded. And I don't think Russell Wilson personally is ever going to leave Seattle. But, you know, if those two were legitimately available, they're not coming here. Okay. It doesn't matter.

They're going, they're not coming here. I mean, Russell Wilson gave that list out. Remember to Ian Rappaport or Breer or Schefter or somebody during the summer, Washington was not on it, nor would I expect it. nor would I expect it to be, even though he is from Richmond. But, you know, he's got a celebrity wife, gorgeous, as an aside. And, you know, he is a West Coast guy, I think, probably more likely than not. But I, the Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers stuff, I mean, just take that off the table. That's not happening.

You know, other quarterbacks next year, the Mariotas and the Trubiskeys, and, you know, if Derek Carr were to become available, I'll tell you what, I'd be interested in Matt Ryan. I mean, I think Matt Ryan can still play. I don't really care about the age as much. You're not going to get a long run out of Matt Ryan. But I'm 37. Yeah, I'm always impressed with him, and I've been impressed with him this year.

But you've got, my point is you got to, look, they took a swing at Stafford. I mean, this is the thing, this is a bit of a disconnect. I know I've mentioned it before, but when Ron said at one, point maybe right before the season. It was in that interview with Mike Silver, who, you know, is a, who writes for the website for the Redskins, for the Washington football team website. When he, you know, he documented like the whole quarterback search. And Ron, you know, gave the, well, we decided not to go up in the draft because we really want a foundation first. We want to, you know, build this thing brick by brick and defense and defensive line and players and

offensive line. And then we'll go get the quarterback. Well, I mean, that's just bullshit. shit. They tried to get the quarterback. They offered Detroit, you know, a legitimate deal for Matt Stafford. It wasn't enough. I wish it had been enough because I'll tell you what, this would be a different team with Matt Stafford at quarterback, no matter how bad the defense is. There'd be much more hope right now about this 2021 season if Matt Stafford were the quarterback. But they tried that. So, you know, the bullshit foundation will find the quarterback later thing. You know, it's just not accurate. Secondly, there's no guarantee that you're going to build it and all of a sudden you're going

to find the guy. You know, there's no quarterback tree that you go to and say, no, I'll take the pretty one over there. You know, you've got to get lucky on this thing. Kevin, you've got to keep trying to take your shot. The answer in the NFL is you have to have a franchise quarterback. Yeah. Yeah, it is.

You've got to keep swinging at this. until you find the guy. You know, not at any expense. You know, I'm not offering Tua. I'm not offering Miami a first and a second for Tua, but a second or a third or, you know, a third and a fifth or something like that for Tua. You know, even if you don't love him.

And by the way, I understand if you don't love him, but you got to take a good hack, Tommy, at the plate. This is the way out, if there's any way out. By the way, some said to me on Twitter, I prefer Taylor Heineke to Tua, Tung of Iloa. Of course they did. I mean, okay. Of course they do. I hope you, those of you that said that, don't mean that you think that Heinekees the franchise quarterback and Tua isn't.

If you don't think either guy is a franchise quarterback, totally reasonable. I get it. And Tua is a risk. But right now, Tommy, if I told you that I fast forwarded two years, and I found that one of those two quarterbacks became an upper-tier franchise quarterback, and it was 2023. Who would you bet your house on that it was? Of course, too.

Yeah. It's not Taylor Heineckee, people. That's not his future. His future, I think, is as a backup. up. By the way, did you see what he said in his press conference yesterday? No. So let me, I'm going to read it to you. He said, he was asked about being aggressive versus being a game manager. You know, this was in the wake of really against the Chiefs. He really didn't make

any plays. He played poorly, and he didn't make any of those Taylor Heineckee kind of plays that we've seen and we've been excited by. And he said, You kind of look at the last two games. I feel like I've just been trying to be perfect and trying to make the perfect read every play. It doesn't really allow me to be who I am or allowed me to be at my best. That's something that we've talked about,

and I feel like we're kind of, I don't want to say, making a change, but just have a different mentality going into every play. So he basically, in that quote, in that response, said he hasn't been allowed here the last couple of weeks to be him. Now, I think he was him against New Orleans. He ran a bunch of in that game, made a bunch of plays with his legs. He did not at all against Kansas City. He did not all.

I mean, I listened to that. I just read it to you. To me, I think what he's saying is we've talked about it, and I'm going to be able to do more of the Taylor Heineke kind of thing Sunday against the Packers. Oh boy, I bet you they're shivering in their boots in Green Bay over that quote. The Taylor Heineke thing. Oh, no.

There was another follow-up to that, and he said, look, I just have to try not to be perfect. If that first read is there, you take it no matter what the coverage is. If not, let's just keep going. Maybe make a play and be smart about it. I think the biggest thing is don't be perfect. don't overthink, just play football like you've done your whole life. So he's clearly saying that here recently, he's not playing football like he has his whole life. He's not playing football like he did when he came in against the Panthers last year or against the bucks or a couple of times this year, most notably against the Falcons in particular.

So, you know, I guess maybe they've discussed it. We're going to see, you know, Taylor being Taylor on Sunday. I'm up for that I guess look I mean what are they got to lose you know I mean he's got to play

well for them to win because the defense certainly they're going to have to how many points they're going to have to score a pile of points I think so

win on Sunday yeah I think so a pile of points so that's not going to happen with Taylor Heineke the game manager no it's not he's I am totally

with him I mean if we're not getting the mobile athlete, you know, let's try to make some plays, even if they don't turn out well kind of guy, then what's the point? Because he's not a, you know, snap it to him. Let's keep him in the pocket. Let's go through progressions and make throws. That's not who he is. One other quick thing from yesterday's pressers, Ron Rivera, mentioning essentially saying about Landon Collins. Landon's best when he's in the box. He's a downhill attacking style of player. We've got to make sure we're putting him in position to have success for us.

He had a conversation he mentioned with Landon about it, and Landon professed his love for playing safety, and Ron then said, yes, but you're more impactful at the line of scrimmage. So we've all known that, you know, for a while now. And it looks like, you know, part of Ron's new approach is cutting the kicker and telling Landon Collins he's a linebacker. Because that's essentially what Landon Collins is, or is going to be for this team.

He's going to be an in-the-box safety, and if he's there exclusively, well, just put LB next to his name on the depth chart. All right. When we come back, an update on the Bruce Allen situation, wait until you get a load of this, Tommy, if you haven't seen it, talk about the Dodgers being in trouble, and we'll get to the Wizards opener last night against Toronto,

right after these words from a few of our sponsors. The Wizards, Tommy, opened up last night with a nice 15-point win against the Raptors. Good start for the Wizards in their opener. I, of course, watched every second of the game. I took notes during this opening game. There was a lot to sort of be introduced to. A lot of new players, a new coach, the whole thing. Yes.

I was impressed with some of it. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions based on this game. They played a horrible team. I mean, Toronto is truly without Siakum. They are horrible. So they did not beat, you know, a stellar squad by any stretch of the imagination. And it's funny in watching some of the NBA last night, it occurred to me last night that this is kind of the way it is every year. The openers, unless you're one of the established veteran teams with the same group of guys rolling out,

they tend to be, you know, hyper, like really revved up. Like the players are so revved up that they end up being like in a gear that's just too high for most of the night. And so the game was very frenetic. It was very sloppy. I mean, there were a combined 40 turnovers in the game. The shooting both sides, especially Toronto, was horrendous. The two teams combined to go 12, 12 of 61 from the three-point line. The wizard shot 18 and a half percent, and Toronto shot 20.6 percent.

But, you know, that said, because it was a very sloppy game and it was a very sort of hyper, you know, intense, you know, overly revved up game by both. sides. The Wizards played really hard. They really gave effort. They really tried hard defensively. They have players, new players that are good players. They should be a better defensive team this year. Daniel Gafford is a legit rim-protecting shot blocker. My favorite player in the trade that they brought here has been, you know, Mantra's Harrell. I've been a big fan of his. He was incredible last night. He's one of the highest motor, highest energy players in the sport behind Russell Westbrook. You know, they've got, they turn the ball over too much. They were very careless like they always are. And I don't know what to make of it, but I like, I like their players and I like the fact that

they really got after it defensively last night. Toronto missed a lot of open shots, too. They were horrendous. But it's going to be an interesting team to watch. I mentioned yesterday, and I don't know what we're going to get with this. But I think it's one of those teams that they've got enough good players that if somehow they put it together and they stay healthy and the pieces fit and the coaching's good, you know, maybe they end up being a big surprise, you know, like a 41-5, you know, a 41-win team, a 500 type of team that makes the playoffs. I don't think that that's out of their reach, but I could feel differently two weeks from now. What did you think? Well, I didn't watch the game.

Okay. Okay. You weren't at the movies last night. It's the NBA. Actually, I wound up watching a movie last night that I'm going to recommend if you like horror movies called Apossil. I don't like horror movies. Okay. Well, for all you out there who like blood and guts, this is pretty good.

Who's in it? I don't know. Nobody I know. I'm pulling it up right now. But it's good. I highly recommend it. Ooh. What's her face?

Lucy Boynton's in it. I don't even know who that is. She was the one that played Freddie Mercury's wife, girlfriend, wife, Rami Mammelik in the movie about Queen. She's a Brit. She is a 12. Anyway, go ahead.

Well, but from what I read and looking at the highlights, look, I'm willing to give, I think that Tommy Shepard is not Ernie Grunfeld. So I'm willing to clean the slate and think that Tommy Shepard has the smarts to assemble the most talented team he can under the restrictions that he has to deal with, which is digging out of the grave that this franchise has been buried in for decades. So I think this team could be, you know, could be interesting.

I don't know these NBA players, and particularly these players. So I don't know how much ego comes into it with these guys. But there's nobody on this team other than Bradley Biel who should feel that they're allowed to do anything more than what the coach wants them to do. I mean, there shouldn't be anyone here, other in Bradley Biel who's accomplished anything, who has any status in the league that can be a...

prima donna. Okay, so they have a bunch of players who should commit to defense if that's, you know, if that's what Wes Hunt-Selt Jr. obviously wants them to do. I just don't know who's going to score points for them besides Bradley Beal. Oh, I don't think scoring is going to be their issue. And Kyle Cousma. Yeah, I don't think scoring is going to be their issue. I think they've got, I think, you know, I still think defense will ultimately be, you know,

the thing, and if they're much better on defense, and they do have a rim protector in Gafford, then the possibilities are endless. But no, I think, you know, they've got some real shooters on this team. They didn't shoot it well last night, okay? But Caldwell Pope can knock down threes. Cusma can knock down threes. By the way, Kuzma is certainly confident in his ability to shoot threes. He put up like 10 of them last night. You know, they still have Bertans. I like Abdi. I think he's going to be a good player. I don't I think Dinwiddie can really score. I don't think that, you know, if he's asked to, but he's also, you know, he can be what they want him, what they need him to be on any given night.

I don't personally, like I asked, who did I have on the show yesterday? I had Glenn Consor on the radio show. And I said, do you think that this is a team that has enough firepower where Beal doesn't have to score, you know, 30 or more a night? And he said, definitely. So that's been the thing in talking to some of the players and talking to some of the coaches. They kind of feel like Beal won't have the pressure of carrying them with, you know, 30-something plus a night on average. We'll see.

I mean, you know, sometimes it's the mix of players, but they've got some talented offensive players. I hope that they have players that can handle the ball and we don't end up with, you know, another high turnover team. Because a high turnover team that doesn't play great defense, hopefully this one, Will, you know, is not going anywhere. But I, whatever, I don't know what to make of night one. Toronto's terrible without Siakum. I don't even know what they'd be with Siakum. That team just two years ago won an NBA title, you know, with Kauai and Surge and, I mean,

incredible players on that team, obviously Kauai leading it. But they are, they're a shell of their former self. The NBA, it's fantastic. Oh, you know what? Did you see what they're doing with the 75-year team? Yeah. Well, yeah, that they're naming the top 75 players in league history. Yeah, I can't believe I haven't talked to you about this. So do you know how they're doing it? No. So they released the first 25 of the 75 the other night. Elvin Hayes was on the list.

Here's what I want to ask you. I don't think that anybody on the top 50, I know it's ridiculous to think this, but maybe it's just because I want to be protective of Wes Unseld, who was on there, I don't think they should take any of the top 50 off. They should just add 25 new players. But they might take some of the top 50 off because we've had another 25 years of basketball and we may have more than 25 players that need to be added to the all 75th anniversary team, which means you're going to knock off some guys that were on the all 50th anniversary team. I just don't want less to be left off.

the NBA can't sit there and say well we haven't had anybody in the past 25 years who've been better than the players who came before them they can't do that well so and west may wind up getting dropped not getting dropped getting downgraded yeah I hope that doesn't happen

have you been following any of the Bruce Allen stuff from the last couple of days yes I have So let me update everybody on the latest on Bruce Allen. So this, a lot, boy, Mike Floreo seems to have a lot of this information from pro football talk. Not my favorite guy to read. He's been major anti-Washington football team for a long time. But he wrote yesterday, and it was confirmed by the league, per a source, with knowledge of the contents of the trove of emails,

that would be the 650,000 emails sent to and received by former Washington President Bruce Allen. He sent, Bruce did, a questionable photo to multiple members of the league office. The photo depicted two scantily clad women. One was bent over and the other one was giving her a shot in the butt with a fake needle. Alan wrote as he sent the picture out, quote for our next meeting on HGH, closed quote. The NFL... I never knew he was such a comedian.

The NFL confirmed that the email was sent, but the league points out that it was sent in 2011. Okay. The league also confirmed that recipients included Dennis Curran, excuse me, senior VP and General Counsel of the NFL Management Council, Adolfo Birch, the NFL's former senior vice president of Labor Policy and League Affairs. neither responded to the email according to the NFL. So there was that.

By the way, just as an aside, I don't know if it's good enough not to respond to those emails. I think there's an expectation now that you have to write back. This is totally inappropriate. Please don't send emails like this to me again or something like that. I think certainly today there is. I don't know about 2011. No, not in 2011.

That's right, probably not in 2011. Which certainly today there would be. Right. Florio had another story that Daniel Snyder now denies leaking the Washington football team emails. This story reads as follows. The NFL won't say whether it's investigating the origin of the leaks of the emails that brought down Raiders coach John Gruden and exposed the two cozy relationship between Jeff Pash and Bruce Allen. one of the few potential suspects has denied on the record any role in the leaking of emails.

In response to former Washington cheerleader and cheerleading marketing director, Melanie Coburn, expressing a belief that Snyder leaked the emails, Snyder mobilized his lawyer to deny, deny, deny. Any suggestion by Ms. Coburn that anyone associated with the Washington football team was behind any leaks concerning John Gruden is categorically false. and part of a pattern of misinformation being spread by Ms. Coburn, that according to Jordan Ciav, I guess Snyder's attorney, issued to Fox News via the New York Post. Coburn believes Snyder leaked the emails like Tom Levero does, and like, by the way, Peter King does,

in order to place all of the blame for the workplace dysfunction on Allen. Well, that was my kind of extended theory. However, the leaks have created major issues for the Washington football team Renewing calls for transparency, et cetera, et cetera. So there's a response from Snyder. So Snyder's lawyer. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. For what it's worth. For what it's worth. One of his many attorneys. Right. That he seems to have on payroll. All right. Last thing.

I'm sticking with my theory. I'm sticking with, I don't know. I don't know if I totally, I don't know what theory I believe as it relates to the leaking of emails. I think that the Snyder leak theory is certainly very logical. Are the Dodgers going to get eliminated by the Braves, Tommy?

The Braves started, you know, they had a non-starter. They had a relief pitcher, you know, parade yesterday. You know, they didn't, it was one of those weird starts where they had relievers handle the starting duties and they beat the Dodgers. They pounded

them, nine to two. And by the way, Justin Turner's done. He's out. Yeah. Yeah, he's out. And Trey Turner might as well be out. He's having a terrible postseason. Oh, terrible. Yeah. I mean, every time he gets up, I, you know, I'm always trying to catch Trey Turner's at bats at the very least. He right now in the postseason, overall in the postseason, is 8 for 44 with, by the way, one RBI. That's it. Yeah. Look, the star of this series is the general manager to Braves Alex Anthopoulos. Because the guys that he traded for at the trading deadline are all coming through from. Eddie Rosario was one of the trade deadline deals he made. Jack Peterson was another of the trade deadline deal he made.

Adam Duvall was another one. All of them are contributing to this brave success. in the postseason. So the Braves, haven't lost their star player to injury, Ronald Acuna, really stepped up at the trading deadline and filled the gap.

That's where if the Braves wind up winning the World Series, they wanted at the trade deadline. Meanwhile, Dusty is one game away. I know. Dusty Baker is one game away from being in a World Series. Yes, he is. I mean, you know, the Dodgers and the Red Sox, certainly that's what everybody invested in baseball

in terms of ratings and money would be rooting for. Houston and Atlanta, not so much. Well, definitely not Atlanta. I mean, I think there's interest in Houston. I mean, because of everything. Not like the Dodgers. Not like the Dodgers in the Red Sox. Yeah, I understand that.

I totally get it. but I think Houston's two notches above Atlanta in terms of interest. Probably. Probably even in Atlanta. Even in Atlanta. They're up three, two, and they go home for games six and maybe a game seven Friday and Saturday. Going home for six and seven didn't help them the last time. I know.

No, it didn't. Not the last time when they actually played home games. All right. Anything else you got? I got nothing else for you, boss. Okay. We're done for the day. Oh, what about the game Sunday?

Oh, give me a pick on the game Sunday. I forgot to do that. Yes, please. Go ahead. Okay. Green Bay, 45, Washington, 21. Ooh, 45, 21. What kind of conversation we'll be having on Monday about the defense?

It's hard to imagine that, like, last Monday I really did say, you know, the defense was terrible, but, like, the offense was much more responsible for this loss, and I actually thought the defense at times played okay. But if they give up 45, I don't think they can win this game Sunday. I don't. It doesn't mean that I don't think they might not be in the smell test tomorrow because there is super sharp money on Washington for whatever reason. I think it really, the more and more I think about it,

I'm convinced that it is, you know, we have one of the biggest matchups of the season looming one week from tonight. I mean, the Packers, if they win at, six and one at the 7-0 Arizona Cardinals. This will be next week on Thursday night. Are the Cardinals for real? I can't wait to see that point spread. Arizona is going to be favored.

They are going to be favored at home against Green Bay, and it's going to be a solid field goal at home. They've destroyed good teams. They've destroyed Tennessee in the opener. They destroyed the Rams on the road, and they destroyed Cleveland last weekend. I don't think they're the best team in football. But I could think that, and I might think that in a couple of weeks,

because they play the Packers, they play the Texans this weekend, they play the Packers and they play at 49ers. And, you know, that may not be difficult for them right now. The 49ers, once again, dealing with all these injuries. But next Thursday night, that's a game that maybe the sharp betters are just saying Green Bay is going to be looking forward to that game. And, oh, by the way, if they've got a lead late, They may really take the, you know, foot off the pedal, and maybe Washington can, you know, hang in there in a, you know, in like a 31 to 24 a game or something.

I don't know. All right. Back tomorrow to preview Washington Green Bay. I'm not sure about Cooley. I am efforting to get Cooley, but they've got another game. He said maybe. We'll find out tomorrow. Have a good rest of the day or evening.