The Kevin Sheehan Show - Washington Nearing NFC East Favorite

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

Kevin opened with Eagles' loss to the Giants last night and their narrowing odds lead over Washington in the NFC East. Jay Gruden jumped on to talk about the NFC East, look back at the Commanders' win over the Chargers, and preview and pick Washington-Bears. Kevin had the Giants last night as a "Smell Test" winner to kick off the weekend...he has 16 more picks starting with one tonight. Darren McLinton is a big part of the local basketball scene and a huge Skins' fan. He joined Kevin on the show. For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Want to spruce up your lawn? FastGrowingTrees.com 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. Archrode. And they've shifted. Pick off all the way down the sideline. Hardale's flop.

Inside the 30 out of bounds, deep in Eagle territory. The Philadelphia Eagles officially in trouble here in the early portion of the season approaching the midpoint of the season. The show's presenting sponsor is always Window Nation. 86690 Nation, windownation.com if you need new windows. Jay Gruden coming up in the next segment of the show. Smell test after that, 16 picks, including one for tonight. Good start with the Giants last night plus the seven and a half.

at the end of the show today, a conversation that I had the other day with someone who's become a friend over the last decade plus. Darren McClinton, everybody in town knows Darren if you're in the hoops circles. Darren's father was Harold McClinton who played for the Redskins in the 1970s for George Allen. Darren's brother, Kevin McClinton, was a really good player at Maryland for Gary Williams and tragically passed away. last year. Darren's a really good guy, was an excellent college basketball player at James Madison playing for Lefty-Druzell, had a double-digit career internationally as a professional player. He's going to jump on with me. He is a huge skins fan, big hoops guy in town. We'll talk about actually a guy that I think many of you don't know anything about. But did you know that the number one

player in terms of college basketball recruiting for the 2027 class is a local kid who goes to a Montgomery County public school. He's not in the Catholic League, the WCAC, he's not in the IAC. He goes to Blake High School in Montgomery County. Now, he's reclassing, but he'll still be a top 10 player in the 2026 class. He is one of those guys that's getting projected far in advance as a future first round, if not top pick overall in the NBA draft. And Darren knows a lot about this player. And we'll talk about him in the final segment.

We start with football, though, and the Eagles last night. Losing to the Giants 34 to 17. I just had a gut feel on this game from the beginning of the week. believe it or not, I'm an idiot. I did not play it on the money line. And I also played the under, which did not hit. But I played the Giants plus the seven and a half. And, you know, I think there are a couple of things about this game. Number one is this. Philadelphia comes right out of the gate. Sequin Barclay, 18 yards. Sequin Barclay, 13 yards. Sequin Barclay was eight for 56 in the first half. Do you know where he ended up? Twelve for 58. That means he got four carry.

for two yards in the second half. The Eagles last year were led offensively by their run game. I understand their offensive line isn't the same, and it's a little bit banged up. Lane Johnson banged up, et cetera, playing, you know. But Sequin Barclay got off to the best start in a game that he's gotten off to all season long, and they didn't give him the ball.

Look, once it got to 3417, I understand that. okay, you're throwing the rest of the way. But that made no sense to me at all. Secondly, there is clearly an issue with this team, but I want to remind everybody that last year they were two and two, and even the game that got them to three and two at home against the Cleveland Browns was an ugly win in which Siriani and the team was being booed. Remember, Siriani went to the crowd

and got into a jawing match with his own fans after a win, and they were three and two, let's not forget what that team morphed into as the season moved along. They ended up being one of the most dominant defensive teams we've seen in the NFL, and they ended up being a team led by a back that nearly set the NFL rushing record.

They're different. Every year is different. We understand that. I still think they've got the capability defensively. No Jalen Carter in the game last night, and they lost Quinnion Mitchell to a hamstring injury. But the Giants, and I said this about them, I had the Saints last week, but I watched that game. It was turnovers.

They came out hungry. They played hard. They were flying around last week. If they turned the ball over twice instead of five times against the Saints, they probably win that game. Jackson Darts giving them a lot of life, plus they are a dual threat run attack. You know, he had 58 yards rushing on 13 carries, Camp Scataboo. what a revelation, not really a revelation, because he was such a, you know, a story last year at Arizona State during the playoff run. I didn't think he was going to be this good.

He's insane, by the way, with the way he runs. I mean, he is just so competitive, so physical. 19 carries 98 yards, three touchdowns. They ran the ball, Jackson Dart threw it. By the way, he got concussed there briefly, they thought, and there was a situation. with Dable, you know, going after the doctor to get him back on the field because Russ looked terrible for the couple of plays he came in. You know, it's the NFL, man.

You know, the biggest shame for giant fans and for the Giants in general is you don't get to see Jackson Dart and Malik neighbors together here this year. I mean, they're missing arguably their best player, and they've won two out of their last three games. And they are a team, you know, that you just, they're going to be feisty. I think all year long now that Jackson Darts in the lineup. Look, it's too early on Jackson DART. It's three starts.

I mean, come on. Plus, I still think that this is a team that will be led by its defense, but they can run the football, and they're 11 on 11 in the run game with the quarterback, a big part of it. Now, for Philly, they clearly are lacking any sort of idea of what they want to do offensively. And that interception that we came in with was a terrible throw by Jalen Hurty. Zero coverage. They're coming, and everybody is man-to-man, including A.J. Brown, who if he sticks with his number one receiver,

it's an easy pitch-catch touchdown. And he throws to Jahan Dotson and throws on the inside on an out pattern rather than on the outside, and he gets picked, and it gets run back 68 yards, and that was pretty much ballgame. Yeah, I don't know what to make of the Eagles. I'm not counting them out, clearly. They have the ability and the talent to get it done. But they're going to have to, you know, you look at them, they've got the Vikings and the Giants again over their next two games.

Okay. Then they go by week and come back with Packers, Lions at Dallas. They better win these next two at Minnesota Giants at home. or they better figure out a way to win one of them at the very least. It could go the way it went last year, or it could go the way it went in 2023 when they were 10 and 1 and then completely imploded. Remember, that implosion, though, in 2023 was more about their defense than anything else.

Jalen Hertz continues to be a quarterback that, you know, is very difficult to evaluate, but I would evaluate him this way even after last night. I still believe that Jalen Hertz in their biggest games does whatever it takes to win, and that includes throwing the football as a drop-back passer in some of those big games. But there are a lot of games where it does look like he can't be a drop-back passer. And last night they had a lot of third and longs, and they don't get it done. They were one for nine on third down. The only third down they converted leads me to this.

Can't watch the tush push anymore. And I know that this, you know, conversation's getting old and annoying for many of you. But the tush push is a joke. And the fact that they voted this thing through for this football season, they are absolutely, you know, they can't believe it. And they wish they could go back and redo it. You know, Jason Kelsey was a big influencer in the owner's meetings on this. They should have never let him have access to any of these people.

four straight tush pushes in the second quarter. Okay, four of them, two minutes and six seconds of the elapsed football clock time. This is where I said a few weeks ago, it slows the pace of the game and many of you said, well, no, it doesn't. The clock doesn't slow down. I understand that, literally. But what I'm talking about is four plays where the outcome is predetermined for the most part, two minutes and six seconds elapsed.

This is the old PAT, basically a 94-95% chance of no drama, of the outcome being near certain, and they move the extra point back to the 33-yard line to add a little bit more drama to the kick. This is like, for me, almost not direct apples to apples, like pre-college basketball shot clock. Like no action when teams would hold the ball. and you'd sit there and you'd be like, oh my God, this isn't the way the games intended to be played. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Phil Ford running four corners, except when it was against Maryland. And there were ways to stay in games when you weren't as talented with no shot clock.

But it was boring. This is a predetermined outcome and two minutes and six seconds of the game clock went by without any drama whatsoever. Not to mention they cheated again with the right. guard false starting. It's terrible. Get it out. So what do we think about the Eagles at 4 and 2 and the ability to tie them for first place with a win over Chicago? The Giants at 2 and 4, the Cowboys at 2, 2, and 1 with the Panthers on Sunday. I think that's going to be a difficult game for them. You'll hear about it in my smell test picks. Do we think Washington can win the division? Yeah, I'm picking them to win the division. They have the best

quarterback in the division. And that includes DAC. I got this from J. Robb 91. I saved it from the other day. I was going to read it earlier, but it's even more effective here reading it now. Kevin, I'm not sure why you thought Jaden was so good on Sunday. He meant against the Chargers. He really wasn't. And you've been far too early to crown him. Look out for Caleb on Monday night. And Dak and Jalen, they're better NFC East quarterbacks. No, they're not J. Robb 91. They're just not. Jalen Hertz is not a better quarterback than Jaden Daniels. Going back to after the Super Bowl, I said if I'm a Philly fan and I'm being honest with myself, I love Jalen, he's clutch, he plays big in the big games. Jaden Daniels,

I'd swap four in a moment. Dack is having a hell of a year, and even in the last few weeks without C.D. Lamb, give me Jaden Daniels. Every day. of the week twice on Sunday in front of DAC. And as far as the game he played on Sunday, Steve Souter gave him the highest grade that he's given any player. And if Suter isn't enough for you, which he is for everybody,

and I appreciate all the feedback, and yes, he is terrific. Go back and listen to Wednesday's show and his film breakdown. PFF had Jaden Daniels as the highest rated player in that football game. He was incredible, actually, after the first two series

of the games, of that game on Sunday. Yeah, I like Washington to win the division. You want to hear what the odds are at my bookie now after last night, minus 118. Philadelphia is still a slight favorite, Washington at plus 165. So the odds have narrowed. They still got Philly as a slight favorite. I like Washington plus 165 at my bookie for sure. Yeah, look, I think Monday night's going to be tough and a lot more on that coming up on Monday show. I think it's not an easy game at all. But I think Washington certainly has the best quarterback in the division, and I'll go with that. And I think Philadelphia is in a bit of turmoil, and it's going to cost them down the road. I also think that Dallas

is capable of winning a bunch of games, and the Giants are going to be held a deal with when you have to play them. This is a hungry football team. You could tell that last night. I think it's also a division that could end up being a division that produces a 10 and 7 or maybe best case 11 and 6 division winner, whereas Detroit could end up being a 13, 14 game winner. Tampa could be in that realm. You know, San Francisco, I still love the Rams, even though they're 3 and 2. And so the NFC East winner at 10 and 7 or 11 and 6 could be the 3 seed or the 4 seed in the NFC playoffs. But the division, after five weeks and one game of week six, it looks totally getable for Washington.

And I bet Dallas fans believe it's getable for them too. And the Giants are a 64-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal at the end of regulation that he made. If he misses it, they're three and three. And they're, you know, too bad for them that Malik Neighbors has done for the year. because that is, you know, you could argue the best receiver in the division. But yeah, like Washington to win the NFC East. And part of the story, of course, is Philadelphia just doesn't look like Philadelphia of last year. They might, by the time we get to the end of the year, wouldn't it be great, though,

if we had Philadelphia at least one of the two at this point in the season? Real quickly, before we get to Jay Gruden, that was really, really tough to watch Orion Kirkering the pitcher for the Phillies in the bottom of the 11th field a ground ball right back to him that would have gotten them to the 12th inning and kept their season alive

and watch him butcher it. I know that there are a lot of anti-filly's people out there because of some sort of rivalry thing you've got in your mind. I don't feel that way at all about the Phillies. I was rooting for Harper and Trey Turner last night. They did deliver Harper for the first time in a postseason did not deliver for the Phillies. I mean, really at all. But that was tough to watch. He had an easy throw to first,

and he panicked, and he threw home wildly, and they lost. The baseball's been really good, and that game was riveting last night. All right, let's get to Jay Gruden next after these words from a few of our sponsors. You shouldn't have to go out of your way to feel like yourself, and Hymns brings expert care straight to you to ensure that happens. With 100% online access to personalized treatment plans that put your goals first, no hidden fees, no surprise costs, just real personalized care on your schedule. For simple online access to personalized and affordable care for hair loss, ED, weight loss, and more, visit Hymns.com slash Sheehan.

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Terms and conditions may apply. Check out the link in the show notes to support the show. show. This segment of the show brought you by Window Nation. If you need new windows, October is the time to do it. Winter will be here before you know it, but you've got plenty of time to replace those older windows that are cracked, that are hard to open, hard to close. Those windows are letting cool air into your home. They are increasing your heating bills and making you more uncomfortable than you need to be. Wind donation is my recommendation for window replacement. And right now they're offering two free windows with every two purchased and the opportunity to not pay anything for two full years. You'll get your windows,

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We'll get his preview of the Monday night game and the pick, Washington and Chicago. But I want to start with last night. What's wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles and can they fix it? Yeah, they got to get their players back. They're a little bit banged up. They're not the same team they were in the Super Bowl. Their defenses are saying they didn't have Jalen Carter. I don't think Nolan Smith played.

They lost key depth guys with Josh Sweat last year, Free Agency, and Williams, the Patriots. They're not the same team defensively. They're not the same defensively. They lost Atlanta Dickerson who's a good player. They're not the same up front. So, you know, they're struggling. They've never been a really good drop-back passing team.

They rely on Sequan-Barkley, the running game, the play action game, the bootlegs. When they're forced into third and five to medium or medium-long, they're not converting. They're not a very good drop-back passing team. So if Seekwan's not going early down, the Eagles aren't going enough. They can't stop anybody, which they had trouble stopping the giant. They're going to struggle. How many teams really are like good, consistent, capable of just dropping their quarterback back on passing downs, non-passing downs, without play

action, without a running game. I can't think of many that are just able to do that anyway, right? Yeah, not many. Really, even the great ones needed some kind of running game to help them out, you know, Peyton & James, you know, the great ones have had good balance to their offense. And if you don't have good balance, you're not going to be very good, not very successful. The offensive line play is not good enough. The pass rushers are a little bit better and kind of split schemes and all that stuff.

So you've got to rely on an athletic quarterback from time to time to run for first downs like Trevor Lawrence did against the Chiefs last week or Monday night. Like Jayden, Daniels does, Josh Allen does. These guys who can make first downs with their legs helps out a ton when it comes to moving the ball. Yeah, I'm just thinking about quarterbacks like in recent years. Like Rathlisberger jumps to mind. Like they never really had a running game, and yet they would put up a lot of points in a lot of yards, basically throwing it. And I'm talking about the teams where he had Antonio Brown, who for a few years was uncheckable. Yeah, yeah, but even Big Ben, he had a lot of plays where he kept plays alive with a big frame and keep a play alive, scrambling and moving around and running for first downs.

Yeah, I think the ability for quarterbacks to keep plays alive, run for first down is critical, especially this day and age. because, you know, guys don't get open right away, so you have to buy time and find guys in the second and third window. There's only a few true drop-back quarterbacks. You'll get Jerry Golf from Matthew Stafford come to mind as true drop-back quarterbacks where they have to stand in the pocket and really don't do a lot with, you know, making plays with their legs. Yeah, I'm actually blanking, too.

Levion Bell, obviously, was a big part of those teams. So they had him. You know, I'll come back to the Eagles in a moment in the NFCs, but I don't want to forget this thought because all week long, have had a lot of conversations, and I've done a lot of call segments on the radio show on Bill Kroski-Marrant. And one of the questions, and it got debated all week and a lot of different answers to this, but I'm curious if anybody jumps to mind for you. Who's his pro-comp?

You know, current player in the league, past player in the league. Who does he run like? Good Lord, I could have preview this question with me before the call. You're right. I could have. Or I could just edit and you can be really quick with an answer. Yeah, no, I don't know. Who'd you come up with? So I didn't come up with anybody right out of the gate either. The top two answers, you know, and hundreds of people responding were Alvin Camara and Levion Bell.

And I didn't see the comparison there. I came up with, I thought Aaron Jones's running style is similar. I think that the guy that's doing really well right now in Denver and has been hurt for much of his career, but I think he runs a little bit like J.K. Dobbins. There's a bit of like an upright style, but he's got great vision. But I don't think it's a unique style by any stretch. No, no, I don't think it's very unique either. He does have good vision. He's proven that so far. But yeah, I don't really have one that comes to mind. How big is he? You know, he's only a it's 200 pounds, right?

Yeah, it's like he's like six feet and six one, two, ten, something like that. Right? Yeah, he doesn't look that big to me. He looks like he's like 510 on tape. Yeah, 6.5-11-2-10. 5-11-2-10. Yeah, so all those comparisons are fine. You've got a long way to go.

You know, he's going to get more carries and more touch. I think he's going to earn a lot more. We'll have better comparisons in about three or four weeks. Yeah, there's a reasonable response. Like, hey, hey, guys, you know, he's not quite Barry Sanders yet. He's not quite Emmett Smith yet. Yeah, no, it's true. You know our fan base.

It gets carried away. You know, I mean, and he looked good last week. Back to the Eagles. So who's going to win the NFC East? We're six games into the season. Who wins the division? I think Washington wins it, and I'm not saying that just because I'm on the call with the Washington fans. But, you know, overall, I think with the quarterback play that Washington has,

I think that puts them on top. Jack Prescott is looking amazing right now. He's an all-time greatest. regular season quarterback maybe ever. But I think defensively there, that's where they're going to find some trouble later in a season. But I think it'll be between, it's going to be a male bider. I think Philadelphia will figure some things out, get some things going again, can't count

them out. But I think it's between Washington and Billy. I think we talked about this the last few weeks. The NFC, and I know it's early and there's a long way to go, but it's kind of loaded. You know, Detroit, Tampa, Green Bay, the Rams. Rams, the 49ers, the Seahawks are good. And now, you know, I'm not... Not a lot of the way to win games, too.

I mean, they have a really good defense. If JJ comes back and, you know, Carson's still playing pretty good. He can't count them out either. I mean, it found a way to win in London and Berlin or wherever the hell they played two years in a row. Yeah, you can't count them out either. Yeah, I think anybody would have said two weeks ago, the Giants and Panthers are the worst teams in the NFC, and they've all won their last games.

I mean, and that's kind of the way the NFL tends to work for sure. By the way, speaking of NFC teams, just real quickly, back to the Cardinals game last week and the running back who dropped the football before crossing the goal line, something that's become almost an epidemic in football at all levels over the last 10 years for whatever reason nobody's learned not to do it. it. How did you handle it when you were coaching and it happened? Would that be something that you addressed with the entire team? Well, you try to address everything when it comes to clock management

and all the most important things during the week. There's certain things that you feel like, my God, do you really have to address? These guys aren't two-year-old. These guys are grown men playing a grown man's game. If you have to address a guy holding a ball in the end zone when he's walking in for a touchdown, you must have a really stupid football team. So I'd never really had a film session on, here's how you run across the goal line, fellow, hold the ball. I mean, would that be a waste of time? Wouldn't that seem like a waste of time, Kevin? I don't know. Jay, it happens so often.

Well, the guy for the Colts, the guy for the Colts, it kind of slipped out. I agree. He wasn't. I agree. That's true. But the DeMarcato play, we've seen at this point, dozens and dozens of times at the college level and the pro level over the last 15 years. It started kind of with Deshawn.

when he was with the Eagles against the Cowboys, and everybody's like, what did he just do? And you would think at this point that the players would see the reaction to doing this, which is what you said. I mean, the reaction is always, how stupid can that player be? Yeah,

I coached my brother for seven years of Tampa and the Bengals, the Jags, and obviously Washington, I don't remember ever happening with me. I know Deshawn ran out of bounds at the one foot line against the Packers. Packers, but that was, you know, He kind of thought he was going to get tackled to run out of bounds.

I never had to happen, thank goodness. I don't know what I do. I think Coach Cannon for him to get, find $100,000 for putting his hands on the player. It was a little extreme. I mean, he just gave a little shove. He deserved a little shove. He deserved a little shove.

I mean, Gannon's fighting for his life as a coach, for God's sake, but seals the game away. Instead, they lose. So, yeah, I don't know how I know. I probably go crazy. I probably yell at the running back coach first. Say, what the hell are you teaching

in the running back? back room. And then they're going to a player, I guess. But usually that's how it happens. Usually you're a position coach and then let them handle it. That's so interesting. By the way, I think it's absurd that he got fine too. But I also thought it was okay that he apologized for just completely losing his cool,

even though everybody understands that he had to be absolutely incensed in the moment. So let me just ask you again. you think it's ridiculous that he got fined, and I agree with you. This was not a Bobby Knight, you know, choking out one of his players' situation. It was far from that. But what did you think of him apologizing? It was probably the right thing to do because he did put his hands on the player, but I don't think he should have got fine.

In fact, I actually thought about starting to go fund me, paid for Coach Cannon to raise money to pay for the fine. I thought that might be out of taste. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the heat of the moment, you guys, people got our, Man, the pressure these coaches are under. Coach Cannon's under fire right now in Arizona. They've been underachians.

They've been there. A lot of pressure to win these games. It's hard to win, and now they lose a game instead of winning a game. They go up three touchdown. Make games a cakewalk. Instead, they lose, and now he's under fire again. So you've got to understand a stressful situation, especially when there's things that happen that you can control.

You know, it's one thing you drop a pass or you stumble a ball legitimately, but if you just do something as careless and as reckless as that to put your team in harm's way and cost them a football game. It drives you crazy. And the reaction, I think, was legitimate. It was something that, you know, Gannon felt because the pressure that he's under. The angriest, the most anger you've ever had directed towards a player. Well, the player, coach. I don't know off the top of my head. There's nothing that you say. Probably with Robert at the end of the, the half against the Giants when he went under center and scrambled and fumbled at the one foot

line. Yeah. That one, or it was the end of the half against the Eagles when Pierre wouldn't line up at the receiver and run the back shoulder fade that we call or tend to Sean. That was probably those two were a tie. So what did you do? How did it sort of play out? We had come to Jesus meeting halftime.

That was unbelievable halftime. It was a lot of stuff going on there. I think I earned my seven years of payroll in that one half time trying to get everybody back together and come back and beat the Eagles and win the division that game. But yeah, it was insane. It was stressful and I had to get interviewed right before. Hey, what happened on that play? Why did Kirk take me?

I don't know. I'll find out at half time. And went in there and put out some fires and lit some fires and came back out. We won the game. But it was insane. How did Robert and then how did Pierre react? Robert was the same situation. Robert was a different one.

I was against a giant. Yeah. At the end of the half, we had like eight seconds ago, and we just called a shotgun play and another four vertical type play, and if it wasn't there, we're just going to throw it away and kicked the field goal. Robert, for some reason, went under center

and took the ball and scrambled around and dove across the pylon. I remember. And the ball came out, and they called a touchback. And then Santana Moss got so upset. He got kicked out of the game. He was yelling at the referee. And the next player, the second half, we got that 15-yard penalty.

and they kicked an outside kick to where Santanamo also was supposed to be. We had a rookie in there, Silas Red, and they recovered the outside kick, and went on to beat us. So that was a whole trail of events that screwed us up because of that one play. I have no idea why Robert went under center and took the ball and then scrambled around and almost got the touchdown, but he did. It was weird. But you let him have it at half time, right?

Yeah, we're like, what are you doing? It's not what we called. and Robert always had, you know, Robert's a competitive guy, and he saw something that he thought he could get around the corner or something like that. I have no idea what his reasoning was. But we just had to make sure we understood you got to call the play that's called. There's a reason why we called it. If it's there, you throw it.

If not, we're going to throw it out of bounds and kick a field goal. We're not, you know, trying to risk keeping a ball in play and running out of time. You know what I mean? It was like six seconds ago. So if you scramble around for six seconds, we're going to run out of time. You know, I know that people who are listening who know how much I really love Kirk cousins and always have are like, come on, Sheehan, come on coach. Kirk ended up taking a knee with no timeouts. How do you put that on Pierre?

But you've always put that on Pierre, right? Yeah, Pierre and Sean. Yeah, they both, Deshaun lined up right behind the tight end and saying kick the field goal. And Pierre lined up in a five-yard, four-yard split from the tackle. And he wasn't going to run around. And I don't know, I don't know what Kirk was supposed to do, poor guy. You know, we had no timeout left, but he couldn't call timeout. And he couldn't throw it away because there was nobody to throw it away to you.

He got a grounding call. So, yeah, it was his only reaction, unfortunately. We should have taken a delay game is what we should have done. Yeah. I also remember the story about you unloading on Josh Norman at halftime of the Saints game. when Drew Brees broke the record and he was in the locker room with his headphones on or something like that? Yeah, that's happened a couple times. You know, guys with their headphones on that listen.

It's kind of disrespectful in my mind, but, you know, sometimes these guys put on their music to try to get back in the right frame of mind. Right. But in an emotional type game like that, we're getting our ass beat. I just thought that everybody should be kind of attentive to what we're trying to do with our adjustments if we had any. You know, the Drew Preeze, he just threw for 580 yards in the first half. You got headphones on, listen to the Art Kelly or whoever you're looking at. I'm like, come on, man.

Yeah, right, right. I mean, right. But that is, I love that reaction because you've got such a great sense of humor about it. But it is like, I think there are people who think that way, old school, and I'm one of them, of a certain age. It's like, are you kidding me? Can you imagine, you know, years and years ago walking in. getting your ass kicked at halftime and somebody's not listening to the coach? And worse, he's got his headphones on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just unique for me that. That would never happen in my era. Otherwise, if I did that with Howard Schnellmurger or somebody like that, you'd be off the team. Right. All right. What did you think of last week's, you know,

down 10-0 on the verge of it becoming worse? And then Kwan Martin comes up with that big play and the whole game turns. big play huge play in the game um yeah and then the end of the half the block punt or the uh rucking punt or the block too and go down and go 90 yards and get a field like they at the end of half got away with a huge holding call by the way oh in the end zone for safety yeah should have been yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah i think just shows the uh you know the guts of this football team they don't stop they never die and they always stay in it and they play hard and um and jane's a hell the player and people have a strong belief in the sense that they can come back and no matter what

the circumstances and that's a hell of the thing to have a pro football when you have that type of belief in your quarterback and your teammates and your coaching staff that hey 10 nothing on the road we're not going to blink somebody's going to make a play we're going to come back to win this game and that's what happened uh you know it's interesting to me and i'm curious if this is an observation you've made or or even you know care about i've watched this team now with jaden Daniels as you have for 23 games or how many games he's played. Second and 17, second and 20, third and 16. They're not on third, like the third and 16 throw to Jalen Lane was a massive play in the

game. And so many teams treat third and 16 like, let's run a draw, let's run a screen, you know, let's get in better position to punt the football. And with him, they, and it, Mahomes has been the same way, Josh. Josh Allen the same way. They treat it as, no, we're going to get this first down. We're throwing it to the sticks, or he'll create and he'll make something happen. That's unique, don't you think? Yeah, hell yeah. I mean, he mentioned the play at the end of the half, the third down play of the holding call. 99% teams will run up there. Of course.

The Chargers use a timeout. Clips of the, hell, those drop back and pro it. That was, I would have never called a pass there. Yeah, it just shows the belief they have in the kid and the kid just making plays and is effortless of his ability to buy time and his poise factor, all that. You know, I can go on and on about what I think of him as a quarterback, and I already have. But, yeah, you've got to have that belief in the quarterback. When you have a quarterback like that, Josh Allen, Jayton Daniels, Patrick Mahomes, call whatever the hell you want.

They're going to make it work. Yeah, it's a luxury for sure. You know, you mentioned the end of the half. I did a bunch on that yesterday because the wily hold is a blatant hold. away with it because that's a safety and they're punting at 12 to 7. But the other thing is Bud Dupree literally is within like a whisker of getting the ball when Jaden cocked it to throw it on third down. I love how aggressive they are, Jay, but I think third and 15 from your own two when you're supposed to get the ball to start the second half is a run.

100%. Yeah, I thought, I would have run up. I don't care who my quarter of I would have run in that situation just because, like you mentioned, the holy call, the fact bumble, all that, but the possibility of a negative play there is outweighs the possibility of making a 15-yard gain on 15 from your own, too, you know what I mean? A risk to reward. You always got to

figure the risk reward. What's the risk? Oh, safety, fumble in the end zone, game-changing type play reward. We get 12 to 15 yards and maybe keep the drive going. No, let's run the ball in the letter here. There is no doubt that the risk was much greater in that moment than the reward. There is no doubt

about that. And yet, you know, the roughing the punter, and now it's at the 17, and he throws a 50-yard bomb to McCaffrey, and they get three before halftime. All right, Monday night preview against the Bears. Just how do you see it playing out? And who do you see winning the game? Yeah, I think bears come off a by week. They'll be ready. You know, they'll be excited and all that stuff. And Ben Johnson will have tricks up to sleep for sure, some kind of razzle-dazzle BS. But I think Washington come up that win on the road I think he'll play good I think with Jaden Daniels another week of being

healthy I think they get done even if Terry doesn't play which he's not going to play out here right? Yeah it doesn't look like he's going to play again yeah I like I like Washington at home for sure what do you think about the Terry situation do you have any opinion other than he's just hurt

that's it okay what other opinion can you have I don't know to camp so that's why you got hurt Yeah, there's a lot of discussion about sort of, you know, the way the contract ended. Obviously, he and his agent weren't very happy about the way the whole thing ended. My belief is Terry's always been a pros, pro. You know him, you know that more than anybody else, and that he's hurt.

And if he could be back on the field, he'd be back on the field. 100%. That's the way Terry. Terry's a great competitor. nobody wants to win more than Terry, and he'd be out there if he could, but he knows he doesn't want to make his injury worse. He's got to be 100% because he needs that explosion to be effective. And if he's not 100%, then he's worthless.

So get him back to 100% and he will be a feature player later in a season when they need them. All right. I asked you this question two weeks ago, Ravens Chiefs, you know, who's in a bigger bind when they played each other? By the way, I don't know if you know this. the Ravens are currently favored, favored to win the AFC North at 1 and 4. With the Steelers at 3 and 1, they've got the Rams coming in. But if I told you, you know, both teams miss the playoffs, one team misses the playoffs,

or they both make the playoffs, what's your answer? I'd say the Chiefs make it right now, and if Baltimore doesn't, unless Baltimore gets a hell of a lot better on defense. I don't care for Lamar comes back or not defensively of where they are really struggling. When they gave up 45 points to Houston, Houston's offensive line is awful. Yeah. Yeah, so they have some serious issues on D.C., they can't rush the pass, or they can't cover anybody. So when I look at a defense that is that many holes in it, I can't let them project them to the playoffs,

because they're not going to go to sports 50 points a game, even with Lamar. So the chiefs, on the other hand, you know, the Chiefs were close. How many times with Patrick Mahomso with 99-yard interception, and how many times the quarterback is footsteps on get up and run for touchdown? Right. I think the Chiefs will be okay. Do you think Jacksonville's good? Yeah, they have a good defense.

They play sound. They create a lot of turnovers right now. They've been having a little bit of a rabbit's foot in their ass. So a lot of good things have happened to them, but they're causing it with their defensive play. You know, Josh Allen on the defensive end is doing pretty good, and linebacker Lloyd is doing an exceptional or secondaries playing pretty good. And Trevor, what I like about Trevor this year more so than any other year, he's using his legs finally and running for first down.

He's not the most accurate quarterback, so if he can take four or five of those conversions on third down and run for first down, that'll make them a mysterious contender moving forward. So Jacksonville or Indy in the AFC South? I feel like Indy top to bottom. I think Indy's got a better team all around the quarterback. I think Trevor and Daniel are very similar type quarterbacks, but I think with the team around Daniel, I think they're a little bit better. I love Jonathan Taylor what they're doing with the running game.

Tyler Warren had the receiving core solid and defensively they make a lot of stuff happen in Indy 2 and Indy's home field advantage is pretty good too playing on that fast track I don't think Houston's done I think their defense is really good they're really really good I don't think they're done either I think that division went from Borsda yeah on their top those three teams are very very good and you look at the AFC North which is usually the cream of the cross they're probably the worst division of football exactly back to the NFC Tampa and Seattle last week, maybe the best start to finish game of the year.

The quarterback play was insanely high. Do you view Tampa Bay as a legitimate Super Bowl threat? I do 100%. The way Baker's playing. He's doing it without Mike Evans. He's doing out Chris Godwin. Abuka is coming on to be one of the top receivers in the league. They're doing about Bucky Irving.

You know, they saw Rashad White. I get it. But the way he's playing right now, the confidence he's playing with, and I always said this Todd Bulls is most underweight. rated coaching football. So true. Todd always pulled something out of his hat late in the game to make something happen like he did against Sam Darnel.

He pulled out this cover zero, looked double. I mean, just odd front, people coming everywhere and forced them into an interception. So I love to have a base chance to make it to the championship for Super Bowl. I'm so glad you said that, and I think I've heard you say that before, because I've always thought, man, when he got that opportunity with the Jets, it's like they didn't have a quarterback, they didn't have anything. And then, you know, he got blamed a little bit, taking over. over the bucks after, you know, they had won the Super Bowl with Brady and the whole thing,

but they had to kind of start over. I just think everywhere he goes, he schemes up defense with the best of this generation. Yeah, plus he's an old school guy. He doesn't take a lot of crap from anybody. He's a, he is, do it this way or, you know, he's, he's awesome. You know, just very level-headed, very good motivator, good football coach, Ex-en-O's. He left his coach's coach, which is good as offensive coordinator, doing a great job, Baker's playing. Yeah, I love the guy. Didn't you try to hire him? I did, yeah.

I think he was going to come. But then Bruce Arias went back to Tampa. I think he went to Tampa, and he took a title of him. So I was like, damn it, damn it, man. Yeah, that would have been a hell of a combo. All right. Lock of the week off to a rough start, but it's a long season. It's too bad.

I'm snake's bit. It's too bad you didn't have the Giants last night. instead of last week. What do you got this week? I took them. I took the Giants that played last night, not the Giants that played. Oh, right. Scadaboo.

Scadaboo fumbles at the two-yard line going in. No one was fixed up on the house for touch. I know. Jack and Dark fumbles going in a half time, getting field goals. The Saints get a field goal. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. What I should do is I should take the bears this week. That way, Washington will win.

You know what I'm saying? I don't know. I think you were on last week. with the Giants, you were on what I refer to as a major public side, because no one could figure out why the Saints were favored in that game. And by the way, I watched that game probably like you did, five turnovers, and like three of them weren't even forced. You know, it wasn't, it was a complete kind of flukeish result. And the Giants kind of showed that last night. Fly for a 90-yard touchdown. That guy, that guy, she hid. Oh, he can fly.

He can really fly. All right, so what's your pick this week? I'm going to go with the bounce back, man. I'm banking on the fact that Detroit hasn't played really anybody very good yet. I'm counting on Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes to get their heads out of their chiesters. People are counting them out. Oh, what's wrong with the Chiefs? I'm thinking of a Chiefs bounce back after that horrible loss against the Jaguars.

And went at home. Hell of a Sunday night game, for sure. Chief's lying two and a half against the Lions is Jay. lock of the week. Long season, people, all right, long season. I mean, you're one in three, but we've got, you know, we've got another 12 weeks left, not even counting the playoffs. So we've got a long way to go.

Like Andy Gibson said, don't give up on me, baby. Okay, let's not sing. We don't want to lose listeners. All right, enjoy it. Enjoy it today and the weekend. I'll talk to you next week. Yeah, thanks. Jay Gruden, everybody.

Smell test next. I got a lot of picks. So guys, if you're like me and you've basically been buying and wearing this same type of underwear for years, in my case, boxer briefs, same brand, same type for a long time, well, not anymore for me. I want to tell you about skims for men, something I've discovered recently, the softest underwear I've ever worn. I got a few pairs of the five-inch boxer briefs so comfortable, no matter what you're doing, from sitting in a chair in your office to working out, they are so comfortable. They don't bunch up.

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MyBooky, if you want a 50% cash bonus, My Booky is offering my listeners just that right now. Go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com slash my bookie and use my promo code. DC Reload. D-C-R-E-L-O-A-D. By the way, I was looking at something at My Booky. They've got the look-ah headlines for next week, meaning you can actually bet on next week's NFL games right now.

Washington is a two and a half point favorite at Dallas next week. What does that say? That says that there's a bit of an expectation, I think, this weekend, that Dallas could struggle against Carolina, and Washington will end up winning on Monday night. Because I think if Washington lost on Monday night after a Dallas went over Carolina, that line would be like pick them, and Dallas might even be a one-point favorite.

Washington minus two and a half next week against Dallas. Right now at my bookie for Monday night, Washington is a four and a half point favorite. The total is at 50. Oh, yeah, I was going to look at the total for next week. 53. It's going to be one of the higher over-under totals of the year. The Cowboys can score. Washington can score.

Dallas can't stop anybody. Washington hasn't proven to be able to really stop anybody. although they've had a couple of decent results. My bookie is the place to bet on football, baseball, hockey. The NBA is right around the corner. I recommend my bookie very much so. And again, as a listener of this podcast, if you use my promo code, DC Reload, whether you're an existing and returning customer or a new customer,

they're going to give you a 50% cash bonus when you sign up or when you come back. and make a deposit. So 500 bucks gets you an extra $250 into your account. I mean, that's money for you to wager with. The Kevin Sheeonshow.com slash my bookie promo code, DC reload. All right, last week, four and three with the Jacksonville pick on Monday night that got me to a winning record for six consecutive weeks to start the season. Look, that's not going to last. It just doesn't. I'm at 40, 26, and 4 on the year hitting at 61%. Had the Giants last night plus seven and a half gave that out on the show yesterday.

And yeah, I got a lot of games. I love the card this week. And so I'm never going to back down just because I feel like maybe at some point things are going to even up. Because the public has not been winning so far this year, which is why I'm doing. doing very well. I mean, we've seen one big underdog in the NFL went out right after another. I mean, the Giants last night, the Patriots on Sunday night football, the 49ers last week on Thursday night football. Let me start with tonight. I got a college game for tonight. Colorado State's one and four. They're playing Fresno. I almost gave Colorado State out last week, and if I had, it would have lost. It would have lost big. But I'm giving

them out this week because once again they look right and even though they got clobbered last week and didn't cover, the odds makers believe in Colorado State for some reason. They're playing a Fresno State team that's five and one. Colorado State's one and four. I'll take Colorado State plus the seven. Let's go to tomorrow's card. They're a bunch of them. Missouri's at home against Alabama. Missouri rested Bama off that very tough win, but a game that was closer than the score indicated against Vanderbilt. Bama laying just three. Missouri's well coached. They've got a quarterback playing at a high level. This will be one of the bigger games Missouri's had at home in a long time. That crowd will be fired up. I'll take Missouri in Columbia tomorrow plus the three

against Bama. UNLV's undefeated 5-0 with Dan Mullen in his first year as head coach. He was in an ESPN studio last year, if you recall, uh, doing the, college football wrap-up show. And they're 5 and 0 and they're laying just 7 at home against a 1 and 4 Air Force team. Give me Air Force Plus the 7. This is the one that I worry about the most. I'm just going to tell you why here in a moment, but it fits the formula. Colorado is plus 3 at home against Iowa State.

Iowa State, I gave out Cincinnati last week as a favorite. They covered against Iowa State. That was their first loss. Cyclone's first loss of the year. They should be favored by more against a Colorado team that's just not that good. Although they played TCU tough last week, the public loves Iowa State to bounce back.

What worries me about this is Matt Campbell is such a good coach at Iowa State. They were banged up last week. They're getting a little bit healthier this week. And I just think that he's a good coach that'll have his team ready to play. But the formula here is, is anti-public with sharp money and a little bit of information.

And Colorado's aside that every bookmaker is going to need. I'll take the buffs at home plus the three. Speaking of TCU, Colorado played him tough last week, but TCU pulled away late. They're four-and-one playing K-State, who's two and four, and TCU's just a one-and-a-half-point favorite in the Little Apple, Manhattan, Kansas. I'll take K-State at home plus the one-and-a-half. Red River rivalry shootout time.

Mateer might be back for Oklahoma. They're now favored by a point. Give me Texas plus one in that game. Wisconsin's pretty bad. They can't score. We saw that against Maryland. Saw that last week against Michigan. Why are they only getting three against an Iowa team that literally had a chance to beat Indiana?

I'll take the badgers at home plus the three. Saturday night, give me Auburn plus the three and a half against Georgia. that number seems short. Auburn struggled to score in their games. I had them against Oklahoma. Remember that end-of-game safety ended up pushing. I like Auburn's chances, though. Hugh Freeze needs a big win.

This might be it Saturday night at Jordan Hare, Auburn plus three and a half. And then Clemson clobbered, I mean, just obliterated Bill Belichick's Carolina team last week. And they're laying 14 and a half in Chestnut Hill against Boston College. People think Clemson's back. I don't.

I'll take BC plus the 14 and a half. Let's go to Sunday, and I've got just bad football teams to give you. Sorry, but they all work for the way I think. The Jets are getting seven in the early Sunday morning international game. Denver just beat Philly. The Jets just got crushed by Dallas. I know I gave out the Jets last week, and it wasn't close. I'm giving them out again this week plus the seven.

Maybe it's a Denver hangover game after their thrilling win against Philly last week. Jets plus seven in the Sunday morning game. Let's go to the one o'clock window after what Arizona did last week, the meltdown against Tennessee. They've lost three straight games on walk-off field goals. First time that's happened in NFL history. They're only getting seven and a half against a cult team that everybody's starting to believe in. so give me the Cardinals because no one else will have them. I'll take the Panthers plus three at home against Dallas.

The Panthers are 2 and O at home. I gave out the Jets against the Cowboys last week, and it didn't have a chance. I'm going to go against Dallas again this week. This feels like a trap game for the Cowboys, Panthers plus three. The Saints I gave out last week is a favorite, and they covered against the Giants. This week I'm giving them out as a three-and-a-half-point dog at home

against everybody's darling now. The Patriots after the Patriots beat Buffalo on Sunday night football. The Saints plus three and a half. The dolphins stink. The Chargers, man, they need a win desperately. The public thinks four and a half points aren't enough. I'll take the dolphins at home plus the four and a half. Bad football teams.

I'll end with a team that I think is good, even though they're two and three. The chiefs are laying two and a half as a big anti-public favorite at home against the Lions Sunday night. And then Monday night, the Falcons, I like them outright over the bills at home on Monday night football. I'll take the Falcons off there by week plus four and a half. So recapping, Colorado State tonight plus seven.

Tomorrow, Missouri plus three, Air Force plus seven, Colorado plus three, K-state plus one and a half, Texas plus one, Wisconsin plus three, Auburn plus three and a half, and Boston College plus 14 and a half. And then Sunday, the Jets plus seven, the Cardinals plus seven and a half, Panthers plus three, Saints plus three and a half,

dolphins plus four and a half, the Chiefs on Sunday night minus two and a half, and then on Monday night football, the Falcons, plus four and a half. By the way, I kind of like the bears. Almost gave the bears out on the smell test. there were a couple that nearly made it almost gave San Francisco out as well and Jacksonville. But those are the picks.

Yeah, there you go. A bunch of them. Good luck. Entertainment purposes only, he says, as he does it for anything but entertainment. All right. I'm going to finish up the show having a conversation with a friend of mine now for a decade plus, Darren McClinton. really good stories in here. If you're a football fan, if you're a basketball fan,

stay tuned for that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right. Joining me right now is actually a friend, and he is, well, he's simply put, he's one of the greatest scores in the history of James Madison basketball. Played for Lefty-Driselle when Lefty was the coach at Madison back in the early to mid-90.

Darren McClinton, flat out was a great college basketball and had a very long international professional career as well. For the last two decades, at least, he has been coaching, he's been working out players in the area, working out NBA players, NBA players, NBA players, professional players come to get worked out by Darren all the time. Darren's part of a group that is opening up an incredible facility out in Belmont. Falkville called Spark, and that's S-P-A-R-C, and you'll find out more about it by going to Spark SPARC-D-M-V.com. We'll talk about that in a little bit. But you guys know this, because I've talked about Darren and, you know, his late brother, a friend as well, Kevin, who was an exceptional

college basketball player at Maryland, and their father was Harold McClinton for, you know, older skins fans, number 53, middle linebacker for George Allen's skins in the 70s. You know, memories of his teams and Harold McClinton as a player always brings a smile to everybody's face in thinking about those teams. Darren's a huge skins fan as a huge sports fan in general. So before we get to this incredible facility that you're opening up and it's going to be so great for so many young athletes and older athletes around the area. Give me your, you know, overall view of the skins at this point through five games. Where do you think this season's headed?

I'm excited about the season. To be honest with you, Kevin, thank you for the warm introduction. You know, me and my brother have always been Kings fans naturally, commander fans. So I really think with JD5 being healthy again

and with Marriota having two games to really show and solidify that we don't miss as much as most teams would going from their starter to their

backup. I like the position that we're in. I think that that Falcons game got away from us. There was a time where we really, they were down from the week before, and we allowed Pennix to have the kind of the game of his life. But other than that, you know,

a very, very good Green Bay team beat us. And I just think overall we're headed in the right direction. You know, all aspects of our team are playing pretty well. And, you know, we're getting to the, meat and potatoes of the season. I think we're in a good space. You don't work out and haven't, right, football players over the years. It's all basketball players for the most part.

Yeah, I particularly work with basketball players. I have a lot of friends in the football space. So I'm familiar with a lot of the top guys, but they're just not stepping into my office, so to speak. Your brother was a good football player in high school at Springbrook, right? Yes, and special because we grew up playing, but we would just play Sandlot Ball. And there was a rift between the football and basketball coach at Springbrook High School where we went to. And finally, Kevin's senior year, Coach Bob Malloy, the legendary coach Bob Malloy, was able to convince him to come out and play football.

And he, I mean, he didn't know how to put on shoulder pads. He didn't know how to put his side pad into his, you know, players don't wear side pads anymore, but he didn't know how to put his gear on. And he went out there off some natural talent and, you know, made all met and played in the Big 33 game, the old Big 33 game we used to have between Maryland and Pennsylvania. So he had a lot of success.

in one year. So I think if I would have played football naturally, I would have had some success as well. But yeah, we've been we've been football guys all our life. We just took our talents to the hardwood and succeeded in basketball. You know, I was going to ask you if you played, because I don't think I knew the answer until you just told me, if you had played football as well because you, I mean, you are phenomenal, incredible basketball player, incredible score, but I have a feeling you would have been an outstanding football player as well. You know, you were born and you were too young, I'm assuming, right, to remember anything about your father's career.

Yes, he passed away tragically. I know. When I was six years old, my brother was nine, on 295, when he, he passed away. Got hit by a drunk driver. And all I remember was the fact that I didn't go to the games, and people were always lobbying trying to get my ticket to the games. So they would call my mother, Agnes. And, well, I know Darren's not going, so can we get his ticket?

So, you know, the Redskins back then were the hottest ticket in town, and I'm glad to see the organization back to that, to where, you know, the community and the area is really rallying behind the team. But from what I remember, you know, I would watch it. I remember watching a Monday night football game against the Cowboys. It was a low-scoring game. I think it finished up nine to five or something. Right.

Yeah, great memory. Yeah, it may have been 79 or 78. 78. 78. And I was four years. and I probably was able to watch the first quarter or maybe the first half before I had to go to bed, but I just remember Howard Cosell on the call,

and it was one of my dad's better games, you know, and a lot of people would talk about that game for, you know, he had a goal-line stand of first, second, third, and fourth down, of stopping them at the one. The old guys, Robert Newhouse and Tony Dors, said, Roger Stalbach and those guys. And, you know, there's a handful of things that I remember about that long ago and about, you know, my dad's and the rest of the Redskins, my godfather, Brigger Owens.

They used to have those battles against the Cowboys, and that rivalry was so, was so strong. I remember that the Cowboys offensive line used to stand up before they, you know, all stand up in unison and get back in their three-point stance. And I'm like, isn't that legal formation on something? But it was, you know, things like that, some of the players back then I still remember. And my family still has a great relationship with a lot of the old Redskins. You have such a great memory, and I remember that. and I know that about you, but, you know, I think I may have sent this to you.

I don't know. I think I sent it to you and your brother maybe three or four years ago. I sent you like a link to that specific game, that Monday night game in 78, because that game is on YouTube, like the entire game from start to finish. And so you see your father out there, you know, introduced as, you know, part of the starting lineup and they're going against the Cowboys. That's such a great memory. the Cowboys' Offensive Line would do this thing where before they would snap, they would go up and then they'd go down.

Teams got used to it. I bet early on they probably drew teams off sides. But they had a lot. Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah, the Cowboys were definitely back then. They were the first team really to go shotgun with Staubach. They played, you know, defense differently the way they aligned. Tom Landry was very much an innovative head.

coach for the time. And the Cowboys were an innovative organization. You know, in bringing up the Cowboys, and I'm sure we've talked about this before, but you're at Springbrook at the same time that Sean Springs is at Springbrook, right? Absolutely. Sean's one of my best friends. And we actually grew up in the same neighborhood. When he moved up here to the area, he moved to a house right down the street from the house

I grew up in. I actually used to cut his hair. when I got inducted into Springbrook's Hall of Fame, he was one of the speakers that introduced me, and he also spoke at my brother's funeral. So me and Sean are very, very close. Our dad played against each other, Ron Springs for the Cowboys and Harold McClinton for the Redskins.

So there's a long connection there. Yeah, Sean is consistently one of my favorite people, to have on the show. I think he's smart and he's really good and you know obviously he's a fan of the team having grown up and you know you guys for those that are listening that know you know what I'm going to say and for those that don't Springbrook really for decades was one of the true iconic Montgomery County Public High Schools especially when it came to sports I mean Springbrook in football and basketball for so many years was

just good in everything. And I mean, think about, you know, Sean Springs and Darren McClinton and Kevin McClinton basically all being there within a few years together. And there was always a lot of talent. The name's Stritt Matter. Everybody

knows that name if you grew up playing sports in Montgomery County. And you can associate that with Springbrook as well. So real quickly, before we get to what you're doing with Spark, who have you been working out recently? Give us some names of players that you've been working out. On the men's side, the Grant brothers, Jeremy and Jerry and Grant, the son of Harvey Grant,

and the nephews of Horace Grant of the old Chicago Bull teams. So they're DeMatha guys, and they're both doing very, very well. Jeremy just signed a big contract with the Portland Trailblazers, and Jarian just signed a nice extension with Panath-a-Nicos. They're the best team in all of Europe and the Euroleague, so they're in Greece, Athens-Greece. So, you know, they come back in their off-season and, you know, shopping their tools with me.

And we've had a good relationship, working relationship for the last, you know, say, five, 10 years. So I've enjoyed that. Also, Jalen Smith, University of Maryland players is now with the Chicago Bulls. Number 10, yes, six. Anthony Cowan, University of Maryland player. He's playing very well internationally, isn't he? Yes, he is.

He's found his niche over there, and a lot of times when you're scoring guard, it's difficult to find a situation where they appreciate you for that aspect of your game. And he's found that and he's really, really thriving now. So I'm happy for him. A lot of plays. Eric Green from Virginia Tech. He went to Paul to Sixth High School.

Yep. Play many years over there. All these guys, the Spencer brothers, that's a unique one. Pat Spencer. Oh, sure. The kid that was the lacrosse player that plays for the Lakers. Exactly. Now he's with Golden State Warriors.

I mean Golden State. That's what I meant. Yeah. Two-time national player the year in lacrosse. And then he goes for his fifth year and plays at Northwestern as their starting point guard and put the lacrosse stick down, never picked it back up. And he's in the NBA. It's a great story.

He and his younger brother, Cam, Spencer, who won a national championship with Yukon. And now he's with the Memphis Grizzlies. So they come through and, you know, it's a real. really good time in the summer. We are Jemir Young from University of Maryland. Is he on the Bulls roster? Is he still on the Bulls roster or not? No, he played Summer League with the Bulls. He is now currently with the Miami Heat. He and Trevor Keel's both. Okay. Or with the Miami Heat. Yeah. So. I mean, yeah, a lot of these guys just so everybody is very competitive in the summertime

cab. It's very, very, very competitive. We got, and a lot of times I open it up for the, for the youth. You know, once it gets wind around, around our pickup games, they get really competitive and, you know, we'll have a bleacher full of young kids that, you know, aspire to be in those same situations that these pros are in. And, you know, our guys are great guys. They'll sign autographs and they'll take pictures with the kids and, you know, and big Stephen Adams, actually, Stephen Adams with the Houston Rocket.

he and Jeremy Grant are really good friends from this time in OKC. And he's moved here in the Tyson's Corner area, and he comes through, and they get to see the strongest guy in the NBA up close and personal. So it's fun for everybody. Real quickly about Pat Spencer, because I've always felt this way, and I'm curious if you agree with me. LaCross and basketball are very similar. Like if you can play basketball, you tend to probably be capable of being a good lacrosse player and vice versa.

Do you agree with that? Yes. A lot of the angles and a lot of the spacing in basketball and lacrosse are very, very similar. Even a lot of times lacrosse players and law cross coaches watch a lot of basketball and they kind of put that into their practice plan. just some of the movements and the cuts and the, you know, the different, the plays, the way that they materialize in the half court. I'm not going to say it's the same game, but it's very, very similar. Yeah.

And Pat, Pat tells me all the time that, you know, in the offseason from lacrosse, he never practiced lacrosse. He would just play basketball, you know, and he would do crossover moves and in and out and things like that that we do on the hardwood. He'd go do that out on the lacrosse field. And, you know, he's the player of the year, national player of the year. He was very special on the lacrosse field. What do you know about the kid from Blake, who is the number one, you know, right now,

the number one 2027 class player. I think he's reclassing to 2026. But for those who don't know what I'm talking about, the number one player in the class of 2027, recruiting-wise, for college basketball, is a kid. His first name's Baba Ala Doughton, I think, is his last name.

He plays at Blake in Montgomery County. Okay, he's not playing in the Catholic League. He's not playing in the IAC. He's playing at Blake, and he's the number one player. I think he's reclassing, but tell me what you know about him if you've had a chance to see him play and what you think, you know, his future is. Exactly.

He is, yes, he was the number one player in the 2027 class. He has since reclassed up. Now he's in the 2026 class. Phenomenal player. And it's interesting, Kev, because usually a player of that status with that kind of ranking, And he's been the number one player in that class since about eighth grade. So this isn't new to him. He's been in that spotlight since middle school.

He went to DeMatha for like a year, right, in ninth grade? Yes, he did. Yeah, he went to DeMatha and then went to his local public school. Yeah. You know, you have that consortium. You put a Blake Springbrook or I believe it's Paint Branch. And he's a Silver Spring. So, you know, we have something in common there.

He's got a great family, very educated family, and his dad is well in tune with what's going on with all of the NIL opportunities and the business opportunities and the branding. So he's not in a whirlwind of a situation. He's very focused. He's 6'9, which helps, and he's lanky.

Reminds a lot of people of Kevin Durant. He's got all the skills of a guard, and he's got the height of a big. So as he gets stronger and his game matures, his dad's putting him in a lot of good situations, too. He gets to go out West Coast and work out with Paul George, work out with Kevin Durant and, you know, a lot of pros that are pouring into him.

and he's a sponge. He's a student of the game, and he's got his head on straight, and I'm really excited for what his future holds. Where's he going to go for his one year? Can we get him to College Park? That's a million-dollar question. He actually had an official visit to Maryland a few weeks ago.

Everybody's vying for his services. I hope we can keep him local. It can be great for his family to be able to just go up the street and see him play. I know a lot of people in this area are hoping that he goes to the University of Maryland. It's interesting that he stayed at Blake High School. Yes. At a Montgomery County public school. Yeah, you and I both know that.

Like the, I mean, for the last 25, 30 years, if you have any talent and you're in a public school in Montgomery County or even PG County, you end up in the WCAC, and if you're not good enough for there, you end up in the IAC. Absolutely. And with a player of his stature, their teams all over the country that were vying for. IMG, Montverde, yeah, all of those, right. He had to turn down a lot of schools to stay home. And talking to his dad, Ibrahim, he really loves his community, and he really loves this area. And he really wants to represent for, you know, Montgomery County and the DMV. And I think that's special.

You don't find that too much in today's landscape of sports. We'll be following that story. But what you just said is truly unique. I mean, he's, you know, if you want to go watch this kid, look up, Blake High School, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, and their schedule. They'll be playing a game somewhere near you at this point, and a lot of people think he is a future number one pick in an NBA draft. All right, tell me about Spark.

This place looks amazing. Just give me the pitch on this incredible facility out in Belsville off of Route 1. All right. It's a 21,000 square foot facility. It's one of a kind. I know you can hear the excitement in my voice. We're going to open up October the 20th. And it's been a long time coming, Kev. You know, me and my partners, we've been talking about something like this for quite some time, eight to ten years. And we finally put it into motion last. August. So we built it from the ground up. We didn't gut out a pre-existing building. So we built it from scratch, bought the land, and built it from the ground up the way we wanted it. We did some research to similar facilities across the country. I went out to Phoenix and saw this place called the facility. It's a really nice place out out there in Phoenix and there's another place in Indianapolis. Teague has a spot there.

And we just, we researched and we talked with some people and had some consultants that poured into our vision and helped us. We actually went down to Columbia, South Carolina, and met with Sorenex. That's the company that outfitted our sports performance part. They do a lot of the NBA, NHL, WNBA, and big-time power five college facilities. And they kind of gave us some guidance on what we needed in the sports performance space and how to outfit it. And it came together, you know, and we've got a beautiful basketball court, a full NBA size and two kind of high school size going, going sideways in a full NBA length

and with court going down the middle. So that's kind of my sanctuary and it allows me to do what I do, you know, when I can do so, you know, I don't have to bounce around from gym to gym anymore, you know, Kevin. I'm excited about having a spot where I can, you know, pour into, into, the players and get players better. I built a really nice team around me. Some young, aspiring,

you know, former basketball players that like to teach the way I like to teach and like to mentor the way I like to mentor. And it's, you know, it's a beautiful thing that we could do all this under one roof. We have a full studio where

we got yoga and Pilates classes in there. We have a boxing ring. We've got the punching bags and everything. So, you know, any and everything that you can do or you want to do as an athlete can be done in this building. We have a whole recovery. Yeah, I'm looking at that right now.

I was going to ask you, this is really also for anybody of any age, right? Yes, we partnered with MedStarPC, so they will have two people on campus at all times. working with their PT patients, and they've been generous enough to, you know, extend their services to spark athletes as well. So with that package, that membership package, you have access to any and everything that you will want. We've got it all.

So I'm really excited. I think people that are listening, whether you're an adult or you've got, you know, younger people in your life. This is something you need to check out. It's Spark, and that's with a C, S-P-A-R-C-D-M-V.com. I'm looking at the team of people here. Darren's got tremendous people on his basketball staff for basketball training.

Like he said, they've got MedStar Physical Therapy. They've got recovery. And I'm looking at some of this cold plunge and sauna stuff. You know, you get to a certain age. I'm putting in, I already put a steam in. I'm going to put a cold plunge in soon because you get to a certain age, you need all of that. You know, even after playing golf, you need it. But this looks tremendous.

The facility's first class, you can see it on their video on their site. It's a great spot too. It's easy to get to. So for anybody out there that's interested, go to SparkdMV.com. It's always great to catch up with you. you. Hope everybody's well and best of luck with this. Thanks a lot, Kevin. We're waiting on you. You've got a fight here for us. We've got a fight here waiting for you. I'm going to take you up on that offer at some point. I appreciate it.

Thanks again. Talk soon. My guy. Thank you. Darren McClinton, everybody. Someone that everybody in basketball circles in the DMV knows very well. He's done such a terrific job with young basketball talent in the area as both a coach and a trainer. And Darren was a hell of a player himself at James Madison, playing for Lefty Drizell, and then had a double-digit international professional career as well. Actually, you know, mentioning Lefty reminds me of something,

and I should have told this story with Darren still on, but I'll tell it anyway. So 10, 12 years ago, something like that, Darren asked if he could come out and sit in on the show to see the station, to see the show. He was a fan of the station, and he came out, and I was doing the show, I think, with Tommy at the time. And when we got done, we were hanging out in the bullpen or my office, I forget. And the phone rings, my phone rings, my cell phone rings. And I looked down,

and it's Lefty calling me, Lefty Drusel. Lefty back then. There were like a few of us that lefty would call all the time. Remember we did that lunch with a legend. Some of you remember. Tommy and I did that lunch with a legend show down at Mortons on Connecticut Avenue. And we did, you know, an two-hour show with a DC sports legend and sold out Mortons for almost all of them. Nobody sold it out faster than Lefty did. And it was probably the best one, or certainly in the top three, that we ever did. I've told stories about that whole thing and getting Lefty to do it many times. But anyway, it was during that time, and Lefty was also calling guys in local media that he knew a little bit to always talk about the Hall of Fame and why wasn't he in the Hall of Fame.

I remember one of the calls was, you know, I won't even mention the reporter. It was a reporter at ESPN and he was convinced that that reporter was keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. He eventually got into the Hall of Fame, and that's one of the great Hall of Fame induction speeches, if you've never seen it. It's on YouTube. But anyway, Darren was there that day, and I looked down at my phone and I said, it's Lefty calling me. And so I pick up the phone and Lefty, you know, told me the reason for the call. And I said, before you go, there's somebody sitting here with me that I think you'll want to talk to. And I handed the phone to Darren and I just hear Darren go, coach, it's Darren. literally I didn't get my phone back for another hour and a half.

The two of them were on the phone for like an hour and a half catching up. You know, coach and one of his best players during that era at James Madison. And lefty could talk and Darren's got a great memory for things. And I mean, I don't remember, you know, what they're talking about because I only heard one end of the conversation. but I heard a lot of laughing from Darren's end and a lot of storytelling. And yeah, I'll never forget that. I mean, that was flukeish that lefty would have called me with Darren sitting right there, a former player of his, but he did.

All right, that is it for the show today. Back on Monday to preview Skins Bears.