The Kevin Sheehan Show - Washington #1 "Fun" Team

Episode Date: August 21, 2025

Kevin and Thom today with some responses to emails in the open to the show before getting to the ESPN NFL "Fun" Teams list which has the Commanders at #1! The NFL Top 100 list is down to 22 and Jayden Daniels is still lurking. 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. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor is always,

Window Nation. 86690 Nation or Window Nation.com. You need new windows. I'm going to kick off the show with this email from Dr. Ed. Dr. Ed writes, Kevin, I've always found it curious that Tom does. doesn't consider himself a skins fan. After all, he lives in the DC area,

is on your show twice a week to talk primarily about the skins, literally wrote a book about the Redskins, and has a man crush on our QB calling him the sun around which everything revolves. Is our guy Tommy in denial, or is he just lying to us? Why don't you, as in me, ever call him out on this? So what do you say to Dr. Ed? Well, this is journalism 101.

The reporters who cover the team are supposed to be detached from the team. They have no rooting interest in what happens other than in the story itself. Now, I know this is a disappearing concept in press box these days. But it's still a concept I abide by. Okay, so like I said, many times I root for me, whatever the best outcome is for me. Okay, I root for the story, whatever the best story is. Look, you meet people in the business that you cover along the way that you root for those people to do well. You know, but no, no, I mean, I don't root for any team.

I can give you many instances of, you know, the team, the base, football team I grew up for the Mets. I was rooting against them in a particular outcome in the playoffs once because I was thinking of my own selfish interest moving forward. I didn't want to have to go to New York to cover playoffs. So, uh, whoa, whoa, hold on. I was going to say that the only team that you've really ever had in your life, passion for, are the Mets. Is that correct? No, the Knicks and the Mets. Oh, the Nicks and the Mets. And I would give it in that order, Mets, Nix Jets. So Mets, Nix Jets.

So what happened where you were rooting against the Mets? In 2006, during the National League Championship Series, I'd already covered the American League Championship series between the Tigers and the A's. The Tigers won early. They won in four games, I think. I came home and I'm watching the seventh game of the Cardinals Mets in the NLCS with my wife

and I'm rooting for the Cardinals and she's shocked because she knows about you know when I was a Mets fan and she said what are you doing? I said if I go to New York to have to cover the World Series I have to work in a shitty press box

in a shitty old stadium and stay in a shitty Marriott out in Queens. I go to St. Louis. I'm working in a brand new stadium in a brand new press box in a nice new Marriott hotel. So I'm rooting for the Cardinals. And who do you think is more high maintenance in this relationship, people? You just heard it. That's, well... And I might want to point out, I wrote two books about the Redskins, not one. Oh, of course. Both of them on the New York Times bestseller list.

Just not during the 2006 World Series. Yeah, you know, Ed, I don't call Tommy out for this because I know that Tommy's not a Redskins fan. It's very hard for me to understand people who, number of people. one, change rooting interests. All right. You know, like, there's a really good friend of mine who I actually had a catch-up conversation with the other day. We haven't talked in about six months. He's one of my oldest, dearest friends. And somehow he went from a Redskins fan to a Ravens fan. Because the in-laws were all Baltimore people, and they became Ravens fans. And he was

living kind of near, you know, Annapolis, you know, Howard County, before they moved up to New Jersey. And I've called them out on it over the years. I'm like, this is just weak. I mean, it's just stupid. We used to go to Redskins games at RFK together. We lived and died it together. It just doesn't even make any sense to me.

So that I'll never understand. I also don't really understand the people that say, well, they're my NFC team. But I also have an AFC team. Whatever. Like, real fans, you know, real fans who have felt it and really ingrained themselves into the, you know, the, the, the DNA of the team that they, they root for and they consider themselves sort of part of that team, which I love. Like, I always say we, you know, I'm not a journalist. I always say, you know, when it comes to the skins or the Terps, you know, we or the wizards slash bullets.

So I don't understand the two teams, AFC, NFC, and I don't understand really how somebody in their adult portion of their life can become super passionate about a team for the first time. I think your rooting interests are really developed when you are young, whatever the influences are, whether it's an uncle or your father or your mother or. you know, friends in school, whatever it is. But I think the real passionate sports fans became that way, starting at a young age. I don't think it, you know, for you, I don't think in your mid-50s, all the sudden covering the Redskins, doing a radio show, you know, the whole thing that you'd become a fan of the team,

even if you weren't in journalism. I think that would be weird, I guess. Here's what I think happens. What? I think you're spot on that, The passion of fandom, just like a lot of passions happen at an early age. Right. You know, when everything in your life is new, you know, and everything's an adventure.

I think when you change fandom, when you get older, it's for entertainment purposes. I don't think it's a state, certainly not the same level of fan. In other words, what do you do if you're a Redskins fan and you relocate? to Cleveland. Okay. And you're going to be living in Cleveland for, you know, let's say the next 10, 12 years at least.

And you're surrounded by the passion of Browns fans everywhere. And the Browns play there. And, you know, the Redskins are not going to play there except for the very rare occasion. So, and you still want to enjoy the game of football on some kind of fan level. besides long distance.

So I understand why people will then adopt the team in their geographic area where they're going to be for a while for entertainment purposes, but it's not the same level. You also don't just say, oh, no, I'm not going to. I'm not rooting for the Browns. I'm Redskins fans. I think you can see both. I think that we've talked a lot about this over the years. I disagree.

I agree with you to a certain extent, which I'll get to in a moment. But I think passionate fans carry that flag when they move to another city and another market and become even more passionate for their team. And we've talked a lot about over the years how people who haven't lived in the day-to-day of the Dan Snyder era didn't lose that passion as much as those of us who were in it every day. You know, my friend Steve Sands, you know, hasn't lived in the area forever. You know, he would always say, how could you lose it? I'm like, I'm telling you, I've got a friend out in California. He never understood during those years why I wasn't as passionate. And I'm talking about long before the loss of the team name.

They flew their flags. They'd hang Redskins banners out, you know what, by the front door. They'd put it in, you know, on their cars. they love being the, you know, outsider in a town that routes for another team. Look, we've seen it so much in this town. I mean, in my old neighborhood, you know, during the Snyder era, I'm telling you, in the neighborhood, Patriots, multiple Patriots fans with flags flying, cowboy fans, packer fans, there was a guy around the corner that was a big Tampa Bay

Buccaneer fan. And it was like, they're flying their flags. and they're so proud of it. And by the way, we saw even more of that because maybe even in some of those homes, they were from here, but their kids didn't want to root for the Redskins because they were so bad. But I don't know. I think that the passion actually increases when you move out of your market. Now, the part of what you said that I would agree with, I can certainly see, I'm trying to envision myself.

I've never lived anywhere else other than here. I've spent a lot of time in other places but have never lived anywhere else. If I lived, let's use Cleveland as the example, I could certainly see how my friends there that I developed and their passion for it, it would rub off on me in a way in which I would certainly want the Browns to do well for them. And I would follow them to a certain extent because of that. But it would never come close. You know, I would never develop a passion or a rooting.

interest in that team. No, it's just an interest. Entertainment purposes. Yeah. Basically. At that point, no, it's like if the Browns are playing the Steelers, which is a passionate rivalry there, you know, and you've been living in Cleveland, you're likely going to root for the Browns to beat the Steelers.

Okay. But if any, look, if any of that entertainment ever conflicts with your original passion, you're always going to go back to your original passion, I think. Yeah. By the way, Dr. Ed, Tommy's already said it. But, you know, Tommy doesn't think about teams. People who root for themselves more than they root for anybody else or anything else. That's the focus.

The sun revolves around Tom, first and foremost. This from Lee. Lee writes, oh, no, let me get to another one first. I'm going to save this one for last. This from a devoted listener. A devoted listener emails us a lot. Kevin. There is no other kind of listener but devoted listeners.

I don't know. There can be just sort of occasional listeners. Like entertainment listeners? Drop-ins and then drop-outs. Yeah, they're looking for a little bit of entertainment, but not necessarily devoted. By the way, I'll take anybody. Devoted? Just in for a minute.

Whatever. Kevin, didn't Bobby Dandridge switch to guard in the playoffs as a kind of precursor to the way that Magic Johnson played guard? This is my memory of it from back in the day, and it was really a big deal. He not only played great in both the 78 and 79 playoff runs, he did it while switching to a different position to give his team a lineup advantage. Don't know if this qualifies him for Mount Rushmore, but if my memory of it is correct, it is definitely worth mentioning. Yeah, so Tommy, yesterday as a follow-up to our conversation on Tuesday about John Wall,

several people pushed back on me, including Bobby Dandrich, is sort of the fourth member of the Bullets Wizards Mount Rushmore. And I said, look, the one title they have, they would not have without Bobby Dandridge. And for my money, he goes down as one of the, as the greatest clutch player in franchise history. even though he was here for a cup of coffee, basically. They don't win the title and they don't get back to defend their title in 79 without Bobby D. He was that important to their championship team.

But a devoted listener, you are right. Bobby D did switch to guard. He switched to guard at times to make the matchup difficult for the other team. He also guarded Dr. J. and George Gervin, you know, in the postseason. 78, they played the Spurs in the Conference semifinals, and then the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Finals. He didn't start games at Guard, though. Kevin Grevy pretty much was the starting wing guard, the two guard, with Tommy Henderson as the starting point guard. But when they got into big spots, they would go big with Bobby D moving into the back court.

and he was a hard matchup for opponents. He was so hard to guard as a small forward. It didn't matter, but he was an excellent defender, too. Excellent defender. Anyway, yeah, I certainly remember that. And I remember where Dick Mata would go to, you know, this was going big before going big was sort of in vogue, you know. And it was, yes, it was, it was,

before Magic. He was not a point guard, though. He moved to the two-guard spot. Magic was a point guard at his height. He had the honor of doing a lunch with a legend with Bobby Dan. Oh, that was so much fun. So much fun. I still have the picture of the four, you, me, Bobby Dandridge, and Kevin Greaves. Kevin Grevy is such a great guy and had so many good memories of those years. Yes, that was a pleasure for me because I really was a big Bobby D fan. You know, he came here for that championship season.

That was his first year here after, you know, and he was, I'm looking it up now. I think he was in his 30s when he got here. It was his age 30 season, his age 30 seasons. So he played basically his last four years. and went back to Milwaukee for his final season in 81, 82 for just 11 games and retired, I think, is a buck, right? Is he retired as a buck? I would assume he's retired as a buck. I mean, his Hall of Fame career is really about Milwaukee as much as it is about Washington, don't you think? Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. I'm looking to see his, he average. So in 7778, Bobby D averaged 21.2 points per game in the postseason, six and a half rebounds, four assists, and nearly two steals. And then in the defense of their title, and I'm assuming 23.1 points per game was the leading score on the team, along with seven and a half rebounds, five and a half assists. He was an exceptional player, and he was just such a big-time clutch performer. And I talked about some of those games.

You know, one of the most memorable games was game seven of the Eastern Conference finals in 79 against the Spurs. It's a very controversial game because the power went out with four minutes to go and the bullets down by 10. When they turned the lights back on, the Spurs had lost all the momentum and they're convinced, you know, that's one of those. If the Spurs hadn't won all of those titles with, you know, Tim Duncan and Pop, et cetera, and hadn't become, one of the great sort of, you know, true dynasty teams in NBA history. That, before that happened, they always pointed back to 79 and said they got screwed from what should have been their first NBA finals appearance by whoever turned the lights off in the Capitol Center.

But Bobby D. had 37 in Game 7 and hit the game winner with five seconds to go. And there was no play. I had a question. It was great. Great player. I remember being a great player. Could he play today? His style is like, you know, his style is very Damar de Rosen-like.

You know, the players that are super methodical. I think he could play today. Do you think that's a good comp? It's the first. Bobby D. was one of those thinking, methodical. I'm going to get to my spot. I'm going to use the dribble. I'm going to use screens.

But I'm smarter than you. And by the way, Bobby D had those long arms and was also 6667. So he played much bigger than he was. Yeah. I mean, look, you know me. I think it's a good call. Yeah, that's the kind of player he was. It was like you weren't going to stop him.

Shay, you know, SGA is the same way. To watch him, he's very, you know, cerebral and thoughtful. and he's it's not like now he is athletic but that's not what makes him great and that's not what made Bobby D. great. You know, he was he was a guy, yeah, I'm going to get to that spot on the baseline or I'm going to get to that spot on the elbow and nobody's going to be able to touch me as I go up and knock down to 12 to 16 footer. And it was he lived on the baseline. Oh, lived on the baseline. That was his money area for sure. Yeah.

All right, this from Lee. Lee writes, guys, if the commander's GM is such a genius, why are two of the best players Robinson and Terry still out in limbo? What am I missing here? Also, can you imagine the pressure on Daniels? The entire $6 billion investment, the new stadium, the merch, the coaches, et cetera,

is all riding on his shoulders. It's a one-dimensional team. He goes down. All of the above goes with it. Love your show. It was kind of a one-dimensional team last year, and they won 14 games. He seemed to be capable of handling it. First of all, Brian Robinson, Jr. is not included in the list of the best players on the team.

No. That's just, that's, and again, why is Terry still out in limbo? What I said, I think very clearly yesterday or the day before, he's asking for way too much. He and his agent are delusional. I'm not saying that the team doesn't have some culpability by maybe coming in super low. I had Joel Corey, former NFL agent on the show yesterday. You can go back and listen to that. He had some very interesting things to say about what could be coming next if Terry turns into more of a holdout than a hold in.

and we still haven't seen this what Quinn refers to is this path, this return path back to the field or back to playing. We'll see how this plays out. It's going to be interesting because today technically is the last day of camp. Quinn wasn't asked today about Terry,

not really. Yesterday was the Where's Waldo? We're not playing Where's Waldo line. But I believe, yes, I believe that Terry and his agent bear a lot of the responsibility for this. And I will continue to say what I've said for a while now.

He's under contract. The team does not have to do this. Not every player entering their last year gets a contract extension opportunity. Typically, really good players do, and he's a really good player. But what was always going to make it tricky from the beginning was his age. What we've learned over the last, you know, week and a half. is just how completely delusional he and his agent are in terms of where they think they reside on the wide receiver list. Somewhere, you know, right after somewhere near Justin Jefferson and above D.K. Metcalf salary-wise, that's delusional, especially for a player entering his age 30 season.

I still think a deal gets done, Tommy, but, you know, Diana said this last week on the podcast. Terry's going to have to cave. And I just can't see how if he doesn't give in and take what they're offering, call it 50 million guaranteed, 27, 20, 80 year, whatever it would be. I think if he doesn't do it, it'll be one of the biggest regrets of his professional life. Because I just can't see another opportunity like this one existing at 31 years old or 32 years old. It could. I guess it could if he goes out and just absolutely kills it.

1,600 yards, 107 catches, you know, seasons that he's never had as a wide receiver here. And we know the reasons why. We know the reasons why he's had terrible quarterbacks. Last year with a really good quarterback, he had his best year. It still wasn't 1,500 yards and 95 catches. But, you know, they also had a quarterback that did a lot of things to sort of carry the team. But, yeah, I think that's why it's still in limbole. I want to point out, you know, like you just said before,

Bobby Dandridge did pretty good after the age of 30. Mm-hmm. You know? Right. Not every analytic is the norm. Okay. Not every analytic works. And the way Terry plays, you know, he's not a speed freak.

Okay, so if you worry about him losing a step, well, he is. His speed is a big point. part of his game. I think it's more the possession, the route running, and his ability to fight for the ball. Well, he's a very good contested catch guy, but his speed, his four-three speed, his deep, you know, potential is one of the real pluses to this offense. I mean, he got targeted deep more than anybody in the league, I think, last year by this quarterback. They'll miss him and they'll miss his speed to stretch the field and impose that on a defense.

But again, he's not an overall elite player. And that is, along with being 30, basketball's different. We've seen over the years older players tend to be players that end up winning more in the NBA than younger teams until this team, the Oklahoma City team this year. but I just my personal view is it's still in limbo and what you're missing Lee is that Terry and his agent and maybe it's more so his agent but you can't take Terry off the hook for that for an inexperienced or a guy, an agent that isn't used to doing these kinds of deals. But I just think that they have a completely different view of what kind of. kind of player Terry is and what he deserves to make than the team does. You know, Joel Corey said something to me interesting on the show yesterday. He said, it's really bad luck when you are the first big deal for the new regime.

Because the new regime does not, with their first big deal, want to get, you know, tagged with, oh, they're easy. They overpay. you know, all we to do was threaten to holdout and they caved. You can't, when there's no track record, the first big deal is a deal that's very important to, in this case, Adam Peters and company. And that, you know, that is unfortunate for Terry because if they had a track record of being super tough and hard to negotiate with and not a team that overpays, not a team that gets fleeced by agents and players, then it may have been easier to get a deal from the team standpoint. It's kind of what he suggested.

That makes sense to me. Well, you know, that makes sense. I didn't think of that before. But if what we are to believe is out there is true, there isn't anything the team could have done to have mollified Terry if he thinks he should be making more money than D.K. Metcalf. Yeah, and close to Lamb and Jeff. Yeah, I mean, man, I thought you were completely tired of talking about this.

I thought you were exhausted. Well, I am. But you're paying me to be here, so I got to come up with something. Aren't you? Yeah, I'm actually reading some tweets from practice today. John Kime just tweeted, Terry McClureen just walked out to the field as the team is doing some 11-on-11 work. McClorn in a hoodie, focus for him remains conditioning. Tommy, if they don't get a deal done, and let's just say the next week,

and the ramp-up period that Quinn's talked about for Terry hits that moment in which he needs to be on the field for 11-on-11 work, if he decides not to take that, that's when we're going to find out how pissed off the team is. Will they literally... But you can't cut. Yet what? But again, will they put at risk a season with this young quarterback being wasted?

If Terry isn't doing the things he needs to do as an under-contract player and a player who hasn't agreed to or come down close enough to where they could come up a little bit on a contract extension, something the team believes they are more than generous in even offering in the first place, and he is no longer on the Pup list. He's no longer injured and he's conditioned and he did the D cells and the pro cells and all the things that Quinn talked about yesterday is there was a lot of gobbledygook with the Quinn answers on Terry yesterday. If they get to the point where, you know,

today is the day that you're going to participate in 11 on 11. You're going to be on the grass as Kingsbury described it. And I guess, you know, by extension, it could be described at risk, you know, of, you know, an injury. If he doesn't do that, now you're into, you know, borderline insubordination. And there's, you know, Joel Corey laid it out in terms of what the team would be able to do vis-a-vis the collective bargaining agreement. And it could be fines. It could be suspensions without pay. No one wants to see it get to that.

That would be, I think it would be terrible advice. He just, I don't see any win for him holding out. I don't see a win for him. Even if the team, let's just say the team totally est the bed in the first two games against the Giants and the Packers on offense. You know, they got beat 27 to 3 and 34 to 10, and they couldn't move the football, and their receivers couldn't get separated.

and because of that they loaded the box and they stopped the run, and it was just a complete and utter shit show, and it was clear that Terry's presence on the field means so much. Even at that point, I don't see them paying him what he wants. I think they might come up maybe a little bit more than where they are now, but let me just say... I don't see them meeting that number under any circumstances. And I don't see what I described happening if he's not on the field.

As long as Jaden's on the field, I think they're going to have a chance to be efficient and productive on offense. I think you're overestimating here then. That's how I feel. Do I think it will be the same without Terry? No, I don't. I think the team's upside potential is not as high. without their best receiver on the field and arguably, you know, the second or third best player on the team.

But if you think that they're going to, you know, get completely shut down the way I just described it by the Giants and the Packers in the first two games because 17s not on the field, I don't see that at all. I could see them being less explosive, but I could also see them, you know, adapting and doing things differently and relying maybe more on the rushing attack, not just the quarterback, but with a better offensive line, they could be a better running team with their running backs this year. And I think their offensive line is improved. So I don't see them being completely shut down by anybody to the point where it would be alarming watching them without Terry.

We know that there were games last year and Terry was on the field and his presence mattered, but his production wasn't great, and yet the team was still productive offensively. All right. You're right. Guess who, Tommy, the most fun team in the NFL is. I'll give you the answer and all of you listening, the answer after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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Tell them, please, that I told you to call. So I saw this early this morning, ESPN.com, Ben Solac, did his ranking all 32 NFL teams by watchability, aka the teams that are most fun to watch. He writes, I ranked all 32 teams on watchability, which is different from overall goodness. Overall goodness is about managing game state, sustaining drives, controlling the ball, creating big plays while minimizing them defensively, avoiding turnovers while creating them, playing for field position, and setting up shot plays. Watchability is about throwing the ball over them mountains.

Watchability is about touchdowns and interceptions and fourth down attempts and sacks and points, more points, and even more points if you've got them. Watchability is also about intrigue. Teams get watchability bumps if they have new young quarterbacks or interesting coaching changes and they get watchability demerits if they're the Kansas City Chiefs and everybody knows the outcomes of the games anyway. He grades on big play ability, close games, star players, and things that he calls cool stuff. You might think it's lame to include fancy football schemes in a watchability ranking, but I'm here to tell you, you like cool scheme stuff as

much as I do, the dolphins have always been fun to watch under Mike McDaniel. So, let's get to his ranking of the 32 most fun and most watchable teams in the league. Number one, Washington. I mean, like, all of this is just... Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Washington who? Well, it says Washington commanders.

I just don't like saying commanders. Oh, I just thought there was maybe another franchise. No. Maybe Washington State because he couldn't be talking about the commanders. All of this is a bit surreal for all of us. Like, it just happens so quickly. Dan's gone. You know, they get the best GM candidate.

They get a really good coach. I thought he was a good coach in the moment. They get number two when Jaden Daniels is coming out. They go 12 and 5. They're in the NFC champion. game. They're one of the favorites to win the NFC championship coming into this season. You know, third, fourth pick, seventh, sixth, seventh pick to win the Super Bowl. And now they're being called the most watchable team in the NFL. The commanders were the perfect team to watch

last season, Ben Solek writes. Twelve of their games ended within an eight-point margin, more than all but three other teams. In the fourth quarter, they had 19 scoring drives, fourth-most, and surrendered 20 scoring drives, sixth most. A big part of that is that they played fast under Cliff Kingsbury with the most no-huddle plays of any team since Chip Kelly's Eagles. Having more plays equals more opportunity for excitement. What else? Jaden Daniels was sick.

The commanders completely completed multiple Hail Marys. Can you stop breathing so hard into your telephone, please? I'm excited about all the excitement. Okay, well, just you're breathing very heavily. Are you okay? Do you need some help? I'm excited. I know I was having so much fun last year. What else, he writes? Jaden Daniels was sick.

The commanders completed multiple Hail Marys, one of which won them a legendary game that broke the Bears franchise. The other one I think he's talking about is the one to Terry in the Dallas game. That wasn't technically a Hail Mary. It was just a ridiculous. In fact, it was harder than a Hail Mary. I just added that. Daniels was electric.

The commanders had the best fourth-down conversion. rate in history for a team that attempted more than 10 fourth down conversions. Daniels was magical, but I also enjoyed rooting for them. It's been a tough couple of decades for Washington fans, and the team got a huge likability boost in the Adam Peters Dan Quinn Jaden Daniels era. I wanted to see them succeed. So, God, you got excited during that, didn't you? Yes, I did.

this has to be a column coming from you, something about them being the most fun team in the NFL. You know what's so, I'm going to start with this, and then we can go back to the fun. This has never mattered to me as a fan, as a passionate fan of the teams that I root for, how they do it doesn't matter to me. Of course not.

It's never mattered. It's only about winning. Now, I prefer the organization, the group that I root for, to be what we grew up with, which was, you know, the really smart George Allen teams, the really smart and classy Joe Gibbs teams. But I didn't, I couldn't care less if they went 12 and 5 last year winning game 17, 13. Although I would have cared because that would have meant Jaden wasn't as good as I thought he was going to be. But in all seriousness, like, the excitement level of the team, like, I hear people talk about the 60s Sunny Jurgensen teams and they're like, yeah, but they were so much fun to watch. Really?

A team that stunk and lost more games consistently than they won because they lost games 45 to 42, that's never mattered to me. Do you think that's normal or do you think that that's, you know, know, atypical. No, I think the passionate fans that you were talking about, we were talking about earlier

in the podcast, I think they don't care how you win as long as you win. I think the entertainment factor fans enjoy the style more than the substance. Now last year, the commanders,

I mean, if we're just going on a year-by-year basis, last year was remarkable. fun because because, oh, in part because, and I've compared it to, you know, being locked up in solitary for years and not seeing the sun, and all of a sudden you're let out and you're seeing the sun and you're seeing the sun every day and it's bright and the sky is blue every day you wake up. Of course, it's going to be more fun because of the pain. You know, so it wasn't just the fact that they were enjoyable to watch, at least for Washington fans, it was because of what they went through to get there.

No doubt. And Ben writes that. That is true. I mean, there was this incredible joy about, you know, especially for people that had never experienced it. Never. You know, they had no idea what it was. would be like. But yeah, you know, the other part for me, again, if they had gone 12 and 5 and, you know,

they had, you know, the average, you know, points per game was 19, but they're good on defense and they just got, you know, whatever, it would have been different in one way. last year's incredible season, and yes, entertaining season because of the close games and because of the quarterback, it also very much felt like the first of many to come because of the quarterback. And that doesn't always happen, you know, in the NFL. You can have a really good season, but it's not an indicator of sustained success. You know, you just kind of hit everything right in one year. and you went 11 and 6 and you want a playoff game or two.

We see that all the time in the NFL. But last year was also about, wow, this is what we're going to get to enjoy for the next decade. And I know that it felt like that in 2012 too. It definitely did. But we've already, you know, spent time illustrating the differences between RG3 and Jaden Daniels. Knowing that last year, more likely than not, wasn't an. aberration, but it is going to be a trend, is also very exciting. Anyway.

Yeah. Now, I mean, that was, for that's a one-year thing. That's not like over like a decade period. I mean, there's a lot of more franchises that have had a much more likeability, more fun factor if you just didn't land on the planet last year. Yeah. Yeah, what are you saying? What are you saying?

It's just a one-year thing where they might be the most fun team to watch just for one year? Well, I just point out, I mean, look, I didn't read the article. The article was it just limited to who was the most fun the team in the NFL based on last season? Yeah, I mean, well, it's his 2020- It's his 2025 watchability guide, if you will. I understand what he says about the chiefs. And you know what? Washington could get there in a few years.

I mean, I don't know if they're going to have that much more. You know, Tommy, in the 80s and 90s, when we got to 91, the 91 team, which is by far and away, in my opinion, the best Redskins team of all time. You know, there's a lot of numbers and advanced numbers that would prove that out. DVOA's had them as the second best team in the history of the game, regular season. wise to the Patriots. And they just updated that, by the way, because they went back and looked at a lot of old teams. And I think the 62 Packers are now number two in Washington's number three, the 91 team. But the level of excitement over the 91 team was much different than 82, and even 83, and even 87 to a certain degree, because it was expected. Like, we'd gotten to the point where we

had been overserved. Too much winning and too much fun. And, we were, you know, we were full. Not that it wasn't crazy and people weren't excited, but it wasn't the same level of energy in that stadium. Now, you know, that first playoff game against Atlanta, you know, pouring rain and both of those games were blowouts. But anyway, the, I could see them becoming, first of all, that's rather aggressive for me to suggest that they could become the chiefs

in terms of the amount of winning the chiefs have done. So I'm not expecting that. I'll tell you what, though, like, if I, I would have guessed Washington would have been super high on this list. The other team, I would have guessed, by far and away, would have been the Lions. And they are number three. Detroit is flat out fun to watch. Again, basically a new concept.

True. A franchise whose fans have never been to a Super Bowl. Right. Yeah, that is true. Yeah. You know what? This is not necessarily connected to that. I mean, I would consider the Ravens

to be a fun but frustrating franchise. Number two on this list. Number two. Okay. Yeah, because they're exciting because they're a quarterback. And the running back. Yes. Let me get to the running back.

Derek Henry. You know, I'm watching the Cowboys Ravens preseason game with Saturday night. up at the cigar store up in Frederick here, quartermasters. And, you know, we have the sound down. We're watching the Ravens game. And Derek Henry isn't playing, but they show him on the sidelines. They must have showed him standing on the sidelines 20 times during a game. I have no idea what they were saying, but he was wearing a sleeveless shirt.

And I'm just looking at him. And I'm just thinking, my God, I know how big he is. I know how great he is. This is a running back. Yeah, he's... It was just... It was stunning. And you could tell they kept going to that picture of him on the sideline.

And at one point, he's standing next to Zay Flowers. And it looked like, well, Chamberlain standing next to Mugsy Boggs. He was unbelievable. He's a monster physically. Monster. He really is. He is such a monster. And, you know, it was so sweet to watch.

in Dallas because this is a guy who lives in Dallas wanted to play for the cowboys, and Jerry said no. Yeah. It's just amazing that Jerry didn't pick him up. It's so ridiculous. Would have been a massive difference. Although the quarterback getting hurt wouldn't help. But yeah. Right.

But he is fun to watch. No doubt. The Ravens are fun to watch because Lamarst ridiculously fun to watch. Yes, they are. It's frustrating at the end. Right. Here's the, I'll give you the top 10. So number one was Washington.

Two was Baltimore. Three was Detroit. Four Cincinnati. Cincinnati's fun to watch. Philadelphia is five. I think Philadelphia defensively is fun to watch. Atlanta was six. They played a lot of thrilling games last year.

Tampa was seven. Jacksonville, eight. This is maybe more for 2025. A lot of people think Jacksonville's got a chance. to be good. And with Travis Hunter, obviously, the Raiders are nine and the Packers are 10. The least watchable team in the league, the Cleveland Browns. No thank you, Ben Solac writes.

Well, actually, I'll watch the first Shudur Sanders start in week 12 just to enjoy the pageantry of it all. But other than that, no, thanks. Yeah, where are the cowboys on this list? I mean... Oh, they're high. They're 14 on this list. Okay. The top 100 NFL players, as voted on by the players, continues to wind down towards number one. And Jaden Daniels has not been listed yet.

He's going to be ranked extremely high on this list. More on that next after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, Tommy. Tell us about Shelley's. Okay, well, it's Thursday. time for Shelly's backroom specials menu, the specials they offer on their menu of food excellence. Shelly's has three menus, and you can find them at shelley's backroom.com. Three menus of excellence.

Their cigar menu, their drink menu, and their food menu, and every week they break out a couple of food items for their very economically viable specials. And, you know, one is the Mac burger. A half pound of Shelley's custom blend with cheddar, caramelized onions, and bacon. Serve on a pre-strawl with lettuce, tomato, mac sauce, fries, and a kosher-dil pickle. Now, that's pretty good, but I would go for the second one. A chicken Palmer's On sandwich. Chicken tenders with marinera, provolone, and parmesan on a butter-toasted Kaiser

roll, serve with fries, and a kosher dill pickle. That would be my choice. And let me explain, I never tell people there's a dessert on the menu, and their desserts are always constant, generally. And their specials along desserts, chocolate cake, and key lime pie. Do you like those? Yeah, both of them, yes. The answer would be yes and yes. Okay. Well, that's generally always they're special in terms of dessert. And, you know, you can look at it. it online, but you can come in and see for yourself at Shelly's backroom at 1331 F Street, Northwest in the district. And before you go in, take a look through their window because it's a window of fun. And you'll be able to see from outside all the fun people are having inside.

That's Shelly. We like fun. Fun was the theme the other day, and it's part of the theme today. I wish Terry and the front office would start having some fun. This top... That part's not fun. No, that's not fun. So the top 100 list so far is included in terms of Washington players. This is the NFL.com NFL network. The players vote on the top 100.

The countdown has been going on for almost a month now, three weeks. Tunsell came in at 86. Bobby Wagner came in at 74, Frankie Louvo at 70, and Terry McClure. corn at 52. I think I did the math. Terry's going to end up, I think, being the 13th receiver listed on this. I think that's what it's going to be. So they're down to 23, number 23. Lane Johnson, tackle, Eagles is number 23. No Jaden Daniels yet. Of course he will be on this list. I mean, he's going to be on the list. Last year, C.J. Stroud, after his rookie season, he ended up 20 on this list.

So he's going to end up being ranked extremely high. Probably, I'm going to guess inside the top 20. I think I guessed initially 15 to 20, because I said he would be higher than Stroud or 15 to 19. I think he's going to end up being there. And we'll see where it ranks on the quarterback list. The last quarterback on this countdown, and we've got plenty to go here,

would be, it looks like C.J. Stroud came in at 39. Baker Mayfield was 50. Herbert was 56. Stafford, 59. So Jaden's going to be, he's going to be up there. Lots of fun. Lots of planets revolving around Jaden Daniels these days. So that's the update on the top 100. That's pretty exciting.

I mean, remember, and the Mike Sanchez. quarterback tiers list that he does for the athletic. Jayden was six. Yep, he was six. Among the quarterbacks. Yep. You know, he was the top one of the second tier. And I don't think a rookie has ever gotten that high before.

He was the highest. I mean, all this rookie performance. Exactly. Highest second year quarterback ranking. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So, I mean, he could prove to be the same thing here,

different list, different media organization. And I might want to point out, this is the NFL.com. We haven't talked about this, and we can at some point. The NFL.com is going to be owned by ESPN. I know. Yeah. You know, what we're seeing now are continents in the media shifting. Right before our eyes, it just came out that ESPN and Major League Baseball have a new baseball TV deal.

But baseball is also going to be with Netflix, I think, with Apple. So there are media continents shifting this year that are going to have a big impact. But we didn't talk about the ESPN and the NFL, the NFL now owns 10% of ESPN in terms of equity. That divide that up into 32 owners. They each get a piece of that equity. Right. So the commanders get a piece of that equity in ESPN. It's all very incestual and not necessarily good for if you care about media ethics, but there's a lot of money passing hands here.

Yeah, a lot of money. And, you know, it'll look slightly different in various formats, various shows and programming for the consumer, but not much. I think honestly, like there was a lot of talk about, you know, will Scott Hansen still do Red Zone? Yes, he's going to. ESPN wouldn't take him off of that. He's become very much borderline iconic in that role. But I think one of the miracles of the media, because I saw Scott Hansen when he was a local guy here. Yeah, I remember Scott.

Yeah. Okay. I didn't see this kind of level. No, but you know, the people that worked at Comcast over in Bethesda, you know, guys like Joe Yashiroff, you know, Ernie and the people, that we know, and then obviously Chick and Kelly and all the people that were there at the time. I do remember when he first started to do it, those that worked with him on a daily basis said they knew he'd be great at it. Like he would go around and basically do the quad box in the newsroom, you know, on Sundays. So it was something that they all felt like was perfectly

suited for him and he was a natural. But what I was going to say in your, you know, in your discussion of the media. When it comes to sort of the consumer, I think a lot of this has blended together. You see so many people doing so many different networks, so many different sports. I kind of, I used to know all this stuff. I used to know, oh, no, he's at CBS. No, he's at ESPN. I lose track of all of this sometimes. And a lot of the stuff that I used to consume, I don't consume anymore, so that's part of it for me. But let's just hope we don't blend in with everybody else at some point. We're bigger than everybody else.

We need to stand out. All right. We are bigger. I'm back tomorrow with maybe the first smell test pick of the year. We have college football on Saturday. I am studying the board, Tommy, trying to go. I think it would be 16 out of 20. years if I have another winning season.

Or maybe I'll announce that I'm bailing on this. I'm quitting on top. What do you think? I don't. That would not be fun. It jumped the shark. All right. I'm back tomorrow. Stanford, Steve, will be on the show. He'll help preview the college football season for us. I think Ben will join us as well as in standing.

All right, Tommy, enjoy the weekend. Okay, boss.