The Kevin Sheehan Show - Why Isn't Anyone Watching WFT?

Episode Date: September 24, 2020

Kevin and Thom today discussing among several things why the Washington Football Team's local television numbers are down even lower than they were last year. Also on the show was a discussion about Sayers and the other great NFL rookie seasons of all time. They did "NFL Power Rankings" and Kevin had an early Smell Test pick on tonight's Dolphins-Jags game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A sports fix Thursday with Tommy coming up. First, Visa knows that local businesses are the heartbeat of our communities. Whether there are corner stores or coffee spots or our favorite shops, local businesses have always been there for us. They remember our orders. They call us by name. Always giving back, making a difference and going that extra mile to support us and our community. And right now, more than ever, local businesses need our support. So now it's time for us to return the favor. The next time you go shopping, make the choice to shop at a local business and look for the contactless symbol and tap to pay with a contactless visa to help support your community. Because where and how you shop matters. Visa, everywhere you want to be, official partner of the NFL. You don't want it.

You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. It is a sports fix. Thursday, I am in our studios here in Bethesda. Tommy is at the Fortress of Solitude in Frederick Maryland, joining us by Zoom. I am taking notes on all of the feedback regarding Cooley and Tommy and how we are handling the sound. We're trying lots of different things. We've been

trying Zoom here recently, and now we'll see how this goes for another couple of days. We've another plan. Most of you saying it's improved with Zoom. Tommy seems to think that, you know, he sounds great regardless of the technology. It doesn't matter for him. It's always someone else's fault, not his. But Tommy joins us by Zoom today. We do have, we do have our debut, because I don't think we did it last week, our debut of NFL power rankings today, which is always one of Tom's favorite segments of the football. season. How are you today, sir? Very disappointed that we're doing the power rankings. I thought I had missed it for the season

when you didn't bring it up last week. You're going to have to prepare like you used to do on the radio show in between these segments during a commercial break. Oh, oh, we're doing power rankings now? Hold on for a second. And there you'd go knee deep into your phone, your eyes right up against your face right up against your phone. And somehow you'd come together, put together five teams that usually made sense. I give them the value that they deserve. The amount of time. Actually, to be fair, I don't know that you gave the power rankings any less time than

you did to any segment we ever did on radio. Tommy's the master was always the master at, what are we talking about next? Oh, yeah, we're going to do that. Okay. Are you okay? Do you want me to, should we do something else? No, no, no, I'll be ready. I'll be ready.

And you always were. Actually, that's not entirely fair. There were many days after the show when we would start preparing for the next day where we would get more organized. But there were many days where you were putting it together on the fly. Yes. Yes, there were. Absolutely.

Well, those were the days when I was busy. And I had lots on my agenda. And now I have virtually nothing to do. Right. True. There is that, too. And I still don't prepare anymore. You still don't prepare anymore.

I wanted to start with... We have several things to get to today. I want to talk about the television ratings with Tommy, which I briefly talked about with Cooley yesterday, because I think there's a bigger issue here. It was amazing. The feedback I got on radio to a comment that I made about it yesterday, and then CJ and I did, we could have done five hours of calls on this topic this morning on radio.

So we'll get to that and what they mean and why even more people now are tuning out from the Washington football games. Remember, you can't go to the games. So this is, you know, the television audience for the most part is the entirety. The entire potential of Washington football fans is seen in these TV numbers. I know that's not exactly true, but with nobody actually in the stadium. It's more true than it's been in recent years. But I wanted to start with the passing of Gail Sairs. I briefly talked to Cooley about it, but he doesn't have the same perspective that you'll have.

You watched the NFL. You remember Gail Sairs. And I was looking at a lot of stuff on him and reading a lot of stuff. Not that I didn't know about Gail Sairs's career. It's one of the real unique careers in sports history because it was a whole of Fame career in basically five seasons. You know, I'm sure you'll probably mention Sandy Kofax, and maybe you've got others that sort of compare, but it was really this shooting star career.

It's here and it's gone. We've never seen anything like it. Earl Campbell was close, and I'll get to that in a little bit. But I'm watching some of the NFL film stuff last night, Tommy, and it's just, he really he was, and Charlie Casserly said it to me this morning, he was really unique for the time. The backs back then were bruisers, you know, Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, you know, and before that, obviously, with some of the big bulldozing backs of the day. They weren't Gail Sayers. Gail Sayers was Barry Sanders before Barry Sanders. What do you remember about him?

You know, I didn't see a lot of Gail Sayers. I didn't start watching the NFL until 68. He broke into the league in 65. And, you know, he played for Chicago Bears. It wasn't like today where you could see teams from anywhere around the country play. So I really didn't see Gail Sayers play that much when I watched the NFL. I pretty much know what everybody else. else knows from the highlights that you've seen.

And he was, literally, we use this term, human highlight film. He was a human highlight film. I mean, to really appreciate Gail Sayers is to watch him on YouTube videos and how remarkable he was at making cuts, you know, up and down the field. I mean, it's amazing that the bears had Gail Sayers. and Dick Butkus. Gail Sayers arguably one of the top 10 running backs of all time.

Dick Butkus certainly maybe one or two top middle linebackers of all time, and the bear stunk. Right. It's not that they stunk, but they were never a playoff team with those guys. Never. No. No. But, I mean, they played the Vikings were good then.

They played the Packers, who were good then. but the Bears were, I mean, they had two of the best players of their time. And whenever, no, they never had a quarterback, but they certainly had a running back. Again, my memories of Gail Sayers are just like everyone else's in terms of YouTube. I didn't get to see a lot of them when I, you know, when I watched the NFL. I want you to hear what Billy D. Williams said about him about 10 years ago in one of those NFL film specials when they were counting down greatest players of all time. Of course, Billy D. Williams played Gail Sairs in Brian's song,

which I think for a lot of people, that's why they know Gail Sairs. Like, that movie became a pop culture phenomenon. It was a tearjerker of the highest order. You know, the relationship between Gail Sairs and Brian Piccolo, played by Billy D. Williams and James Kahn. Old Jimmy Kahn playing Brian Piccolo. And that movie, Tommy, I remember as a kid, You know, in school on a field trip, I think we watch that movie for the first time and bawling my eyes out as like, you know, a seven-year-old or six-year-old or whatever it was.

But I, I, that movie really has become iconic over the years. This was Billy D. Williams talking about Gail Sayers. I thought it was a really good description of the kind of player he was. You know, I'm a painter. So what you learn when you're a painter is that you paint your broadstriors. which is obvious to the eye. And then you paint the subtleties, the nuances. That's where the story is being told.

That's what draws people in. That's what makes people pay attention. Gail, he had a natural subtlety in the way he performed on a football field. You couldn't take your eyes off of him. You don't see that all the time. I mean, it's unusual. Watching him run was one of the most beautiful, special experiences I've ever had in my life.

That's indelible greatness. That's my memory of Gail Sayers, is from Brian's song. You know, it's amazing how a generation of young men that movie affected. It was a TV movie. It wasn't a, it was not a theater movie. Oh, I didn't know that. No, it was a made for TV movie. Wow, I didn't know that.

Yeah. And, you know, I think most guys my age can remember where they were when they watched it. Right. I mean, that was the kind of impact it had. I remember vividly, I was in a room. We used to hang out. I had this late, this great friend. Bob Hillman, who's passed on.

And he was about five, six years older than us. And we were at his house watching it. And it must have been about six of us. And the room was dark. And at the end of it, nobody looked at each other because you didn't want to catch the other guy crying. Yeah. I mean, the line when he says, you know, I love Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him too when he was.

is accepting that I think it was the Rookie of the Year award after Piccolo had been diagnosed. It may have been some other award. I forget. But I'm looking at the Wikipedia page right now. I didn't know that. I thought it was in-theater movie. It was not only a television movie, it won a ton of Emmy Awards. A ton of Emmy Awards.

And they don't play it much, though, on TV. Now, I'm hoping they'll replay it now with the passing of Gail Sayers. I'm hoping ESPN or somebody will play it in the coming days. I'm sure it's probably the full movie maybe on YouTube for all I know. But you don't see it much on TV anymore. No, you know, the movie came out. It says in 1971. Yes.

And Piccolo must have died just a year or two earlier, I guess. I'm trying to look to see what year Brian Piccolo passed away. I'll find it here at some point. You know what's interesting, there were a couple of early 70s. He died in 1970, June 16th, 1970. There were a couple of early 70s TV movies that were tear-jerkers like this. The other one was something for Joey. Why?

Do you remember that one? That was about John Capoletti. Oh, yes, I do remember that. When he won the Heisman trophy and he dedicated it to his brother Joey. Who died of leukemia? Yes. Yeah, I do remember that. I mean, that was a similar heart-wrenching tear-jurker.

TV movie, not in the theaters, TV movie as well. Yeah. Well, TV movies in the 70s, Tommy, were a big deal. I mean, you know, it was a big part of the TV lineup on the networks. I mean, the ABC Saturday Night movie or whatever. Yeah. You know, you would get, you know, Pat Summerall every Sunday afternoon, 60 Minutes, murder, she wrote, and the Sunday Night movie.

You know, you don't get that anymore. You don't get movies on television, a network television at night. Do you? I know. I don't really watch much network television. I don't watch it. I think all you get is reality shows, talent contests, and game shows. Yeah, agreed.

So, anyway, the career of Sears is so unique because it was so unique. short. He had all of his production basically in four and a half seasons. And one of the things, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame, by the way, one of the things I watched last night was the Hallis induction of Sayers into the Hall of Fame. It's really good. You know, I was reading a little bit about their relationship. You know, Hallis was this old school gruff exterior, you know, founder of the NFL, right? He founded the league. Yeah, 1920. And according to everything I was reading, there isn't a player that he loved more than Gail Sayres. He just loved him dearly.

And people said about Hallis that he was actually a big teddy bear, really, in real life, that he had an incredible soft spot. But anyway, one of the things that came out of it was a discussion last night. I was following along with this discussion. Gil Brandt was involved. Gil Brandt is a great follow on Twitter for any old-time NFL football fan. He puts out lists all the time, and he's such an insightful guy. How old is Gilbrand for crying out loud?

He's got to be in his 80s, right? Every bit of it. Has to be, yeah. Gilbrand, the longtime GM of the Dallas Cowboys during the Landry years. But it was a conversation about the greatest rookie seasons in the history of the sport. And Gail Sares' 1965 years considered to be. if not the greatest, one of the two or three greatest rookie seasons in the history of the NFL. In 1965, as a rookie, in a 14-game season, he only rushed for 867 yards,

but in 14 games, that was actually a lot. He had 14 touchdowns. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry. He didn't start two games, the first two games of the year. He had six more receiving touchdowns. He averaged 15 yards per punt return, had a touchdown. as a punt returner, and he averaged 31.4 yards per kickoff return and had a touchdown. He had 22 touchdowns that year. It was the most in a single season in league history to that point.

And in that moment, he also set the all-purpose yardage record for the NFL with 2,272 all-purpose yards, which was a record as well. He's most remembered for one performance that year. It was some people think it's the single greatest game by any player in NFL history. He had six touchdowns in a game on December 12th, 1965 at Wrigley Field against the 49ers. The field was a mess. It was a quagmire, mud everywhere. He had four rushing touchdowns, caught a touchdown pass, and had a punt return, which that one gets replayed more than any other, where he's basically going, you know, inside, outside, one side of the field to the other.

ended up with 335 all-purpose yards in that game. So it got me to thinking, and I was following various people in the comments about greatest NFL rookie seasons of all time. And for me, in my lifetime of watching the NFL Tommy, I immediately just wrote down without looking at any what people were saying. I said, what are the greatest rookie seasons for me as an NFL fan? What are the ones that immediately come to mind? And there were two that immediately came to mind.

and then a couple more. And then I looked at a couple of lists, and I missed one, and then I, and I'll tell you which one I missed here in a moment, but I pretty much got, you know, five of the top 10 or 12, you know, consensus. But for me, the first name that came to mind was Lawrence Taylor. Lawrence Taylor, his rookie year was so dominant. It was literally within two weeks, you realized that this, was going to be one of the great players in the history of the game.

It didn't take long. He was terrorizing quarterbacks from the jump. First of all, Tommy, LT is the greatest defensive player of my lifetime, maybe the greatest football player of my lifetime of watching the NFL. I know Jim Brown is always a consensus number one. I didn't see Jim Brown play live football. LT's number one for me. But what really, the first two names, and I'll get to the second name here in a moment,

You know, the Giants were nothing before LT got there. The Giants hadn't done anything since the early 60s, mid-60s. They had not been to the playoffs one time since the merger. And during those, you know, first 10 to 12 years of post-merger, AFL-NFL, NFL, football, the NFC East was dominated by Dallas and Washington, with the Cardinals having a couple of decent years and the Eagles having a couple of years. The Giants were the worst. team in the division. They sucked. They were terrible. He got to them in 1981, and they went from

four and 12 to nine and seven in one year, and they won a playoff game at Philadelphia, and they ended up losing a playoff game at Candlestick Park against the team, the 49ers, that would become Super Bowl champions that year. LT carried that team, totally turned around that organization, and that was the first rookie season that came to mind. Do any come to mind immediately for you? Well, Earl Campbell came to mind for me. That's my number two. Yeah, Earl Campbell came to mind for me.

He had almost 1,500 yards rushing as a rookie. He led the league in his first three seasons. He led the league in rushing. He had almost 100 yards a game first in the NFL. He had the longest run of the season, 81 yards. he ran for 13 touchdowns. To me, Earl Campbell was the first one that came to mind. Those are the first two for me, L.T. and Earl Campbell.

I mean, Campbell also like L.T. Campbell put a team that had done nothing, the team that was dormant since their AFL days. They were terrible. They were not a good team at all. And he gets there in 78 as the Heisman Trophy winner. And by the way, LT won defensive rookie of the year and defensive player of the year.

as a rookie. Earl Campbell won offensive rookie of the year and offensive player of the year as a rookie. But Campbell took an organization, strapped it to its back, his back, and carried it to the AFC championship game as rookie year. He totally turned around a franchise. The Astrodome was empty in the 70s. And in 1978, it was this magical year of Earl Campbell arriving. You gave his stats, but there's one game in particular that he had, and you mentioned it, he had the longest run of the year in this game. It's one of the iconic, memorable Monday night football games in the history of the series. They're playing the Dolphins in November on a Monday night, and Campbell put on an unbelievable show. This is what it sounded like.

Hello again, everyone. We think tonight we've got about as good a matchup as you could have in the National Football League at the stage of the season. Campbell. It's over a thousand yards now. We've described it as crunching power. Conference of machine on second and eight. You know, CoSell, Tommy, when I hear anything with CoSell in it, it's just never been the same on Monday Night Football since the original,

well, not the original, because Keith Jackson was the original, but the Gifford-Cosell Meredith Booth has, I mean, they've tried. They've tried. And Michaels and Madden were great on Monday night football. But to hear CoSell interrupting the call, I mean, he could step over any call and it didn't matter because his voice mattered the most. But that Earl Campbell performance on that Monday night, I remember that game vividly and how magical and how electrifying Earl Campbell was. He's always been Tommy for me, one of my top favorite players of all time. I just, there was something about his style of power and also speed that I think he's very underrated in the history of the NFL, at least as it relates to the conversation of the greatest running backs of all time.

And I think in part it's because he had a very fleeting career as well because of injuries. You know, he really only had six and a half, seven years of real productive, of a productive career. but damn was he good. Yeah, I mean, he was absolutely great to watch. And part of, I mean, part of the Houston allure then, look, as much as Earl Campbell was fun to watch, Bump Phillips was part of the allure of those Houston Oilers, one of the most colorful and likable NFL coaches of his time. That was a fun team. That was a team that never really made it to the NFC.

championship game. They had some talent. They went to back-to-back AFC championship games and lost both of them in Pittsburgh in 78 and 79. The 79 game being a controversial game that they got, you know, one of the games that led to the conversation of replay. But yeah, he carried him to the AFC title game two years in a row and lost, and they lost to the Steelers both times.

Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, I have very strong memories over. That was the decade of the running back. was the 70s. Franco Harris, Earl Campbell, Walter Payton. You know, guys like that.

Yeah. I mean, you know, Rigo, you know, to a Rigo's, you know, real success came in, in the, in the 80s at an older age, but he was still a great running back. But no, no, you're right. I mean, it was,

there were so many, oh, I mean, think about this, right? Early 70s, Larry Brown is a part of the conversation, but certainly OJ Simpson's, Simpson and Franco Harris. And then you get into Chicago and Walter Payton. And, you know, I got to think about it. Tony Dorset. I'm just going, you know, team by team. Wilbert Montgomery in the NFC. Chuck Foreman from Minnesota. The Packers had John Brockington

early on. He was a really, really good back. The Bears, obviously, with Peyton Manning. The Rams had Lawrence McCutcheon, who was a really, really good back. The Falcons had, you know, a lesser name, but William Andrews was a big time back. More in the 80s, Andrews, I would guess. You know, in the AFC, the dolphins had kick in Zonka, obviously, early. The Colts had Lydell Mitchell towards the end of his career, right, Tommy? Well, they had Lydell Mitchell for his full career.

But in the 70s, didn't that career start in the 60s or not? No, I think his last year was 69 with Penn State. So I think he was a rookie in 70 or 71. Okay. Then, you know, just thinking division-wise, Franco Harris there, Cincinnati didn't really have. Cleveland, Leroy Kelly sort of early in the 70s, right? More of a 60s back. More of a 60s back?

Yeah. Yeah. What did you just? Was that, did you just belch into your microphone there? No, I didn't. I did not belch. Believe me. Terry Metcalf. The Cardinals, yeah. The Raiders had like a slew of backs, like Mark Van Egan. I remember him and Pete Bannisack. As great as those teams were, they didn't really have a star running back. Their stars were their quarterback, stable and like Cliff Branch and then on defense, really for that team.

team, I think we've probably hit on most of them. I think so. But anyway, so the other rookie seasons that came to mind, Eric Dickerson was incredible as a rookie in 1983. Incredible. He rushed for 1,808 yards and 18 touchdowns. And what's really interesting, you know, Eric Dickerson had maybe the best first two years of any running back in NFL history.

1,800 and then year two was when he set the NFL record rushing for 2,105 yards, breaking O.J. Simpson's record, and he averaged 5.6 yards per carry. He came to mind. Billy Sims came to mind for me. He was another sort of brief career guy, but out of Oklahoma, the Heisman Trophy winner, he was brilliant as a rookie in Detroit. Otis Anderson, who really, you know, most people know from the Giants winning the Super Bowl in was a great rookie running back for the Cardinals in 1979. And Tommy, I did not forget RG3. RG3 had one of the great rookie seasons in NFL history.

You can't deny it. You cannot deny it. No. You know, he'll always have that. That remarkable rookie season, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions, over 800 yards rushing. He became the first player in the history of the league to lead the league in both yards per attempt as a passer and yards per attempt as a rusher in the same season. He ran for 815 yards, seven rushing touchdowns, threw for 20 and had only five picks that year.

He only threw five interceptions. And again, like some of the other guys, lifted an organization that was at rock bottom into a division title. Here's the one I forgot. I forgot about Randy Moss. He didn't come to my mind, but Randy Moss's rookie year in 1998 was ridiculous in teaming up with Randall Cunningham. 1313 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns from day one. And it made a lot of teams that passed on Randy Moss and that draft looked silly. That was the one that I didn't come up with, but Moss was phenomenal. as a rookie as well. Yes, he was. Yes. Anyway. Never a big Randy Moss fan, though. I was a fan of him as a player. You know, it's funny, just this past weekend, you know, he's still on that pregame show on ESPN, and one of my boys was home and he's like, God, Randy Moss is so good, don't you think? And I said,

yeah, he's excellent on television. He's got so much personality. He's insightful. He's so likable. He has a real television likability to him, which as a player, he was more polarizing. People forget.

When he wound up in New England, that was because no one else wanted him. That's true. He was a pariah at one point. He was a team killer. He was a chemistry killer. Yeah. I remember they played a game here in Joe Gibbs' first year back in 2004, end of the year. The Vikings had to win the game to clinch a

playoff berth. The skins were playing for nothing. The Vikings lost the game. And Randy Moss walked off the field with like a minute to go in the game. Just a, he was a real, you know, he was a me guy as a player. I mean, there's no other way to describe it. And yet, now, that's not unusual for wide receivers to be that way, but he was particularly polarizing. And, you know, for all his greatness, and he was on that Patriots team that was undefeated, you know, before they played the Giants in the Super Bowl, but he never got a ring. Nope, never did. He is one of those examples of a guy that was very polarizing, as you said, even pariah-like within the league circles, and has become, I think, incredibly likable

as a broadcaster in a second career. I may be projecting here because I don't know that everybody agrees with me on that. It's not universal. I'm not saying it is. I really like him on television. And I think he comes off as a really fun, you know, likable guy on television. And maybe others disagree. But he's getting a lot of run.

And there are other examples of that, you know, over the years. I'm trying to think of... Sean Johnson was a guy like that. Much better on TV, very polarizing as a player. Yeah, I'm not necessarily a huge fan of him on TV either. We're missing somebody, though. Somebody that was really so much more likable on TV than he was in his career. Anyway, all right, we'll get to a couple of other topics here after I tell you about Magic Spoon.

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they're so confident that their product will be one that you'll like. They're backing it with a 100% happiness guarantee. So if you don't like it for any reason, they'll refund your money. No questions asked. That's MagicSpoon.com slash Kevin DC. Again, Kevin D.C. for free shipping. we thank Magic Spoon for sponsoring the podcast. Before I get to the television numbers for the football team, I had Zuckerman on the radio show. Nats got eliminated officially, Tommy last night. They weren't going to make it,

but they were still alive after winning four games in a row. Juan Soto hit another home run. It's 13th. I mean, his offensive numbers in a 60 game season have been incredible. I mean, really incredible. Juan Soto right now has, I think he's now eligible with the games. He's hitting 352, 13 homers, 37 RBIs, a 1.190 OPS, Tommy. He's having a ridiculous 60 game stretch.

His slugging percentage is 703. He's got a 486 on base percentage. It's just been incredible, and he's done it in 40. of the 56 games they have played. I mean, he's had a brilliant year. Harper last night had two home runs. Bottom line is, call this season whatever you want because, you know, it won't get counted by a lot of people. But they can't, I don't know if 162 games would have revealed anything different without Rendon and without Strasbourg. They're arguably, they're two best players last year and certainly in October, not having those two players devastating.

You're right. I think you hit the nail on the head. Without those guys, I'm not sure how different the outcome would have been. That said, this outcome, you know, it's easy for me to say, since Washington's not in the playoffs, it doesn't count, but it doesn't count. It doesn't mean anything. It really doesn't. I mean, I can't see how the teams that wind up winning this, you know, or wind up playing a so-called World Series out of this can feel the same kind of fulfillment that they would have if they played a regular normal season. I mean, it's a warped year. And I think if you're a Washington fan, you just want to, you just want this team to be prepared for

2021. Out of all of the sports, which is the one that's going to be forgotten and, you know, have an an asterisk next to it quicker than any of the others? Because I think the answer's easy right now. Well,

I mean, I would say college basketball. Well, because there was no tournament, so there was no national champion. Okay, that's true. I was going to say college football. because this really now seems like a waste of time. I mean, games canceling, no real games in the first month of the season here,

the SEC getting started, who the hell knows what it's going to look like. Nothing has seemed more worthless in the effort to create a season than college football's attempt. College football, 2020, no matter what they get done here, is never going to be thought of as a real. season. And I hear you on college basketball, that's different because they got through an entire regular season and the pandemic hit at the beginning of their postseason. The NBA seems, I know it's a bubble in the whole thing, but they finished 82 regular season games ultimately are pretty close to it. Not every team did. And they've had a full postseason. I think the NHL too feels closer to a real result. And baseball is somewhere in between there. I'm with you. It's

60 games. They didn't start until July. And by the way, the playoffs are going to be nuts with these best two of threes, one versus 8, 27, 36, 4, 5. I mean, the best team in the National League is the Dodgers. Now, the best team doesn't always win in baseball anyway, but with a best two out of three in a first round, that's crazy. Could be against the Giants, by the way. They could end up facing the Giants in the first round. Yeah, I know. Baseball, you know, I mean, this season, people are going to look back at this season and just consider it, you know, an extension of spring training. So at least that's the way I'm going to look at it. Yeah, I guess. You got a cough going there, don't you? Yeah, I do. I hear some of that chest stuff coming back.

Yeah. Yeah, well, I've held it off so far. I mean, it's the allergy season, you know? Well, I mean, we're in September, October, and I usually get hit. September, October, and May and June. I didn't get hit this May and June. What are you allergic to in September and October? You.

Well, I know that. Beyond me. I don't know. I don't know what I'm allergic to. Well, I just know that it's not unusual for me to have. have a cough and sniffles at those times a year. The pollen that is out in September and, you know, in early fall, late summer, early fall is ragweed. Ragweed, if you're sneezing or if you're congested and you're saying it's an allergy, it's a ragweed allergy.

Well, thank you, doctor. Well, I appreciate that. I'm just telling you what it is. And I know that because I've been sneezing a lot recently. and my big allergy is to, you know, the spring tree pollen. This is a ragweed pollen season in late, you know, late summer, early fall. So if that's what you're having, now you know what it's from. That courtesy of my information here.

You're well- I mean, based on the value I give your information. Well, this is actually real information. You can take this one to the bank. I'm 100% positive about that. Real quickly, before we get to this football topic and then our power rankings to finish up the show, which you're looking forward to.

I'm telling you, Tommy, Miami, Brad Stevens, you know, Wonderkin coach, you know, Butler to the NBA, and he's figured it all out, and he's brilliant. I mentioned this the other day on radio. I forget if I mentioned it with you or not. It's been laughable to watch them, go against zone. Last night, finally, they were attacking the zone a little bit better, but it's amazing how pro coaches, when they see a true two, three zone or a true zone,

how they just don't seem to handle it the same way a high school or a college coach would, but whatever. The Miami Heat are so well coached. They don't have a true top five player. Jimmy Butler is not a top five player in the league. He isn't. But he's really good. And he's really got that killer gene. But they've got so many pieces. Like, Dragich is good. You know, Igadala's on the team when you nailed it with him winning the MVP that year. Otabio is really good.

Crowders on that team. And then Tyler Hero, Tommy, last night, who he's a rookie out of Kentucky. I loved him coming out. He's one of the guys that I really liked coming out of the draft. he had 37 points off the bench for them. 36 minutes, 14 of 21, 5 of 10. He's 20 years old. He's not going to turn 21 until the end of January.

And last night, Tyler Hero became just the, had the biggest night, second biggest night, for a player under the age of 21 in NBA postseason history. The best night, the number one night, for a player under the age of 21 in NBA postseason history, was our boy, Magic Johnson. in game six, 1980, at the spectrum against the 76ers. 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists.

Three steals and a block shot in that game. But Tyler, Hero was phenomenal last night. And the NBA's got a nightmare here coming up. I don't know how many people were going to watch Celtics Lakers, but it's going to be the heat versus either the Lakers of the Nuggets, and I would not count the Nuggets out. They really need LeBron in these finals if anybody's going to watch. Yeah, you're right about that.

I don't know how many people will watch regardless, but, you know, they still get the cash, the TV checks regardless. You see the NBA, like I predicted, Adam Silver has come out and said, they're not likely going to start this next season until 2021. So they're basically, you know, drop-kicking Christmas Day. which a lot of people thought they would not do because they want fans in the arena. I don't know how optimistic that is given that here we are at the end of September

and we don't seem to be any closer to the safety notion of putting 5,000 people minimum in an arena at this point. so but they desperately want people in the stand so they're going to try to delay to 20 21 season as long as they can let me just bring up one story of the last week as we move on from the actual games have you been following the jason whitlock maria taylor katie nolan thing saga a little bit a little bit yeah i have i'm actually interested in what you think because i think that you know beyond the, you know, skirmish between the three of these people on social media, there's actually a larger question here, which I'll get to in a moment. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Maria Taylor is an NBA broadcaster on ESPN and ABC. She's excellent. And I mean that. Like,

she's been on college game day. She's been doing a lot of stuff for ESPN. She's gorgeous. I mean, drop dead gorgeous, but she's an excellent broadcaster, interviewer, and host. Like, she's super versatile. You know, Whitlock in his column actually said that Maria Taylor is everything that Aaron Andrews would have wanted to be. Aaron Andrews is truly a reporter, sideline reporter, was never a good host. Maria Taylor can do it all. She's a star in the business. For those of you that haven't followed this story, she had a vote. She's been. covering the NBA for barely, you know, a couple of years at this point, Tops. And she was given a vote on the NBA awards ballot. And she left Anthony Davis off of her first team, second team,

and third team entirely. And she said, she explained that it was a simple oversight, a mistake. Well, Doug Gottlieb, who does a talk show for Fox Sports TV slash radio. A real asshole, by the way. Generally, I mean, everybody, I mean, can we agree? Yeah, I'm not, well, let me just say this. Gottlieb really knows hoops, and I actually love it when he's talking about hoops. He's an asshole. But he, I've never understood the rise of Gottlieb because he's not a likable, he doesn't have a likable personality.

No. He's the guy most likely to get beat up in the locker room. Or steal a credit card as a Notre Dame student, which is what he did. So Gottlieb weighed in on Twitter basically saying, why does Maria Taylor have a vote? Maria Taylor clapped back on Twitter at Gottlieb in a very, you know, typical way these days, right? Retweeting Gottlieb's tweet where he questions why she has a vote. And she retweets it saying, because I played basketball. I cover the league and I deserve everything I've worked hard for.

Well, with that, Whitlock, who writes for Outkick, com, which is the Clay Travis website, which, by the way, is apparently just absolutely killing it. Whitlock was hired from his show on Fox Sports TV to be essentially an equity partner with Travis and this thing. And the site has taken off. They're both very conservative. Whitlock's black, Clay Travis is white. Travis hosts mornings on Fox Sports Radio. And if you watch the game, show on Fox Sportsnet with Rachel Beneta, who I think is fantastic. Travis is on that show. Anyway, Whitlock writes a column. I'm going to ask you about him here in a moment, too. Whitlock writes a column. Basically, I'll net it out for you. He says that Maria Taylor is a unicorn in the business,

and he compliments her for being extremely talented and versatile. Same things that I just said, which she is. But he was upset because he thought that her tweet in responding to Gottlieb is a call that puts her into, you know, victimhood status. And he said, once you go down that path, you become Jamel Hill or Michelle Beatle, both of whom weren't nearly as talented as Maria Taylor. And once they got really serious about issues, they became less likable on television. And so in that column also he took an unprovoked snipe at Katie Nolan saying, you know, this girl basically went from bartender to blog to television. And Nolan responded to that.

Anyway, it's created this big social media storm between Whitlock, Katie Nolan, and Maria Taylor. I have two or three questions for you on this. Number one, whether you agree with Whitlock or not, and politically, I know you would not agree with him. Do you think he's a good writer? I think he was a very good columnist in Kansas City. I think like a lot of people who entered a television business, he's become a character.

He's a clown. Okay. Whatever he was in Kansas City is buried. And now he's basically, people listen to him to expect a certain thing. and he has to deliver it. You know, so he's basically, and it may be the TV business, something I'm not aware of.

You seemingly become a character of yourself. Well, now he's writing again. Now he's just exclusively writing. Well, I don't know what he writes. I haven't read him since he was in Kansas City. Okay. He was a good, he was a, he was a good columnist in Kansas City.

Let's face it. That's what got him noticed. I mean, he was not a hack. Right. He was a good columnist. But, you know, his TV act is a clown show. It's just like Stephen A. Smith. Stephen A. Smith was a columnist in Philadelphia.

He went in the TV and became this clown act. It pays well. Was Stephen A. a good columnist? I thought he was. I thought he was a good columnist. I thought he was a hardworking, good columnist. And, I mean, again, that gets better. You know, that's as his pay is good as being a clown.

You know, it's funny because Stephen A, to me, is polarizing. I think he is really good. I've had friends of mine look at me like I've got eight eyes. I'm like, no, no, no, no. This guy has this thing down. He's entertaining. And by the way, you can see, I think many times he's dying, laughing inside. but he's created this character that I actually,

I think he's excellent on radio. But you said this thing. You said this thing. I know, I know with him, with him, with him. I don't feel that way. But my point is you have to create a thing. And look, I'm not saying that if somebody paid me two or three million dollars a year. You could come up with a thing.

I could come up with a thing. But, you know, from the outside looking in, you pay a price for it. So Whitlock, first of all, Tommy, he is an active, prolific writer. Like, he writes all the time. He's very conservative. I mean, as a black columnist, he is very anti-athlet and politics mixing. He is just crucified LeBron James and columns over the last couple of months. He believes that these players have no idea what the facts of these cases are.

and he writes about him all the time. I actually think he's a very good writer. I'm not saying that I agree with everything he writes because I don't, but he is provocative as a writer without question. And some of the things he writes I absolutely agree with. Beyond that, there's a larger question here. Like, does Maria Taylor, who's been covering the league for, I think, a max of two years? And I don't know who's on.

I'm going to say this up front. I haven't seen the list of people who get a vote on the all NBA awards, okay? But I would have assumed if you told me the people that vote for the NBA top three teams, the NBA MVP, defensive player of the year, coach of the year, etc. Are long-time NBA writers, reporters, TV people, long time, covering the league for a long time. That would be my guess. I could be wrong. But if her name were Mark Taylor, would she have a vote?

I don't know. I don't know how the NBA awards work. I'll tell you how the baseball award. Tell me. The Baseball Writers Association is basically in charge of these awards. And what they do in each city where there's a baseball team, there's like three riders who are assigned to vote for each of the awards. like the Cy Young Award, the MVP Award.

And those designations are usually made by the chapter chairman. Each chapter, in other words, like there's Baltimore, Washington chapter of the Baseball Writers Association. And usually the chairman of the chapter decides which three reporters will vote for difference awards, rookie of the year, manager of the year, things like that. And generally what they do is for the most important awards on down, they pick guys who have covered the team every day, who have been around the whole season and covered the whole year.

As you get into lesser and lesser awards, you come up with less guys available to do that. But, I mean, that's how it's done. It's done within the baseball writers organization. For the important awards, they try to pick guys. But it could be a guy who's only been around for two or three years. Okay. But that guy has covered two or three years of baseball seasons, you know, full seasons, 162 games a year.

I don't know how it works in the NBA. Okay. I mean, she was foolish for leaving Anthony Davis off the list. But, I mean, you're going to find this in every vote, in every situation. I mean, you know, I mean, there's always going to be a warped or a mistake in a ballot. And I just don't think, I think her mistake was responding in the first place to Doug Gottlieb. I mean, you just don't do this. You know, why do you need that?

I mean, you're a star. You don't need Doug Gottlieb. What do you care what he thinks? I couldn't. What noises are you making over there? What are you talking about? What are you got going on over there? I mean, wow.

I totally agree with your last point. And this is really the point that Whitlock made in his column. He made a couple of points. He made the point that Maria Taylor, while super talented, the reason that if she were short, unattractive, and grumpy, she wouldn't be on TV, no matter how talented she is. And there is definite truth in that. I mean, come on.

Of course, there is. I mean, anybody that believes. that Maria Taylor is on TV as quickly as she is and gotten all the opportunities she got, that her looks don't have something to do with it. You're naive. TV wants beautiful and personable and likable. They went all those things, and she's got all that. But she is the real deal as a reporter.

She was great on college game day, and now she's been doing the NBA for a year or two. But Whitlock, you know, Whitlock made that point. He just said, why would you respond to Gottlieb? You're putting yourself into a position where you're taking your personality, which is so likable, and now you're posing as a victim in this, as a misogyny victim in this. And whether it's true or not, people ultimately don't want to invite angry people into their home. And that was sort of his point with Jamel Hill and with Michelle Beatle, both of whom, have really faded from a television perspective because they got very serious.

They took themselves very seriously, and that's their choice. And I'm not saying that they're not having success with what they feel they should be doing anyway. But with respect to TV, I think he makes a point. I think you're right. I think he does make a point. I don't know why you feel the need to slap around Katie Nolan while making that point. know what that was all about. Where's the line on Nolan?

It was pretty brief, but obviously Nolan shot. Beauty transformed Katie Nolan from bartender to seven-figure personality, Emmy Award winner and the darling of aroused bloggers and TV critics willing to ignore her pedestrian humor and inability to execute live television. He writes, I bring all this up because the most talented young female sports TV host Maria Taylor is in the process of undermining her meteoric rise by wallowing in victimhood. Look, there is something to be said with handling something like that with humor, with, you know, to playing, to not taking it so seriously, especially to your point when it's somebody like Doug Gottlieb. All right.

Now, that said, that said, we don't know how many times she's had to deal with that kind of stuff throughout her career. I'm not saying we should hold a pity party for, but if you are particularly sensitive to those charges, you know, to this notion that, you know, you don't deserve what you've got, it's probably because you've heard it a lot of times along the way. Look, perspective is everything in terms of the way they respond, but it doesn't mean that people are going to receive the response any differently. You know, there are people. And again, as far as, I mean, Whitlock chose to, if it was a guy complaining about what Doug Gottlieb said, would Whitlock have used the words victimhood? No. So he automatically turned it into a thing because she's a woman. she's automatically trying to become a victim.

Well, that's because the response to Gottlieb's tweet was that it was sexist misogynistic. Did Marie Taylor do that? No, I think people would have read that tweet and come to that conclusion on their very own. But her retweeting it sort of magnified it. And brought it to, by the way, everybody's attention because I'm not sure how many people would have seen this anyway. I mean, Gottlieb's got a lot of Twitter followers. don't get me wrong. Does he have more than Maria? I don't know. Victimhood is a loaded word. He was trying to do something there. Yeah, let's get to our final two topics of the day right after

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But for the most part, I think felt the way I did about the defensive performance on Monday when I came in here and said, I thought defensively, I know it's hard to say it because they gave up 30 points. I didn't think they were that bad. Anyway, Charlie Casterly was on the show with me this morning. I said, I asked him a simple question, Tommy. I said, so two games, what have you seen from Washington? First thing he said, Haskins. Haskins is the real deal.

I've really, really, I think Haskins has been really good. Now that, that's contrary to what a lot of, of feedback is the first couple weeks. Of course. I mean, I said to him, I said, you think he's been accurate? And he goes, well, you know, he's struggling with it, but I love his toughness. I love his competitiveness. And I love his quick release. He's going to be the real deal.

So he sort of amended it a little bit later on to say going to be, but he likes Haskins a lot. Charlie does. Anyway, I thought I'd throw that in there real quickly. This is what I wanted to get to. So John Orand was on the radio show. with me yesterday. John writes for Sports Business Journal, does a great job. He's a local guy. I enjoy John

a lot because he writes about the business of sports, and he's really into the TV ratings thing. So, I didn't know what Washington's TV ratings for the first two weeks of the season were, and he told me what they were yesterday on the show.

In week one against Philadelphia, locally, the game did a 14.3. Last year's week one lost to Philadelphia did a 19, The 19's not a good number, Tommy. The 14.3 is a dreadful number. I mean, really bad for a local NFL team. That's a December 3 and 10 record number.

In recent years, exactly. Week 2 at Arizona, now John explained that the 4 p.m. window is always a higher-rated window. There's a larger audience. You know, people are getting back from the day and, you know, whatever. The game locally did a 16.5 rating. Last year's week two game, which was a one o'clock game against Dallas, did an 18.3. So the numbers are down, significantly down in week one. I actually could make the case about week two up against the U.S. Open. It was also up against a Ravens game, which was on CBS at the same time. And we've seen in recent years the Ravens take chunks out of the skins audience, the Cowens. Cowboys do the same thing when they're on at the same time.

But anyway, the two numbers, but I'll mention this real quickly, just so you know, the New York teams, the Giants and the Jets have done horrific numbers, like single digits early in the season. But there's a lot going on in those places, baseball, hockey, you know, they don't have a basketball team, but New Yorkers love basketball. So there's a lot of stuff going on. Anyway, I want to get to this because somebody called this. or somebody tweeted in yesterday, it's the name, dummy, it's the name. That's why the numbers are down even more than they were last year.

And CJ said to me, I don't know anybody that's not watching the games because of the name. And I said, well, I do, and I do, Tommy. I've got a couple of friends, one in particular, that once the name was dropped, he said, I'm out. I'm out. I'm never going, I'm going to watch football, but I have no. no more emotional attachment to this team. That's it.

I'm done. I know somebody else who said, I really don't care anymore. And this person said to me after week one watching the new helmets with the numbers on the helmets, he goes, that just wasn't my team that I was watching out there. Got a ton of tweets from this topic. A lot of tweets.

And some of them were just, You guys don't get it. The emotional tradition, you know, connection to the team is now lost. I'm out. I can't watch it anymore. So we took calls on this this morning. I don't know. We could have taken calls.

It was one of those topics where we could have taken calls for three hours and the lines would have been packed the entire time. And there was a lot of opinion. My opinion is this and then I want to get yours. first of all, there's a lot going on in our world right now. Like, ratings for a lot of things are off. They're up and down. There's just a lot of shit going on right now.

And people are not, you know, tuned in to sports like they would be. I mean, we're in the middle of a pandemic. We're in the middle of a tumultuous election. We had the Brianna Taylor verdict last night. People were glued to their TVs last night. Like, it's just a different world. that we're living in. And then on top of that, this organization, this has been coming with or without the name. One of the things I said to you about the name this summer, right? First time I ever said

this to you. This may be the first time where it may make sense because the risk is so low. The risk is so low because the fan base has eroded to a point in which the number of people they're going to risk losing is at its lowest number of all time. And I said, you know, if they're going to do it, now's the time to do it. If this team had been in the last five years, in the playoffs four times, in the NFC championship game twice and in the Super Bowl once, the outrage, the anger, the sadness would have been so much greater. But we were already, I say we as a fan of the team, were already on our way there. My passion level has dropped significantly in the last couple of years. I've been very honest about that. This owner has sucked the life out of this thing for me,

completely. And so when the name did finally change in Tommy, who's been stronger? We need to keep the name. I'm open to all data and all information. I would never want to hurt anybody, but I've been saying for eight years, nine years now, let's get a second non-pejorative definition in the dictionary so we can end this thing because not Native Americans overwhelmingly don't have a problem with it. But when it finally did in the wake of George Floyd, I just wasn't as passionate about it as I once was. And I would have been had I not felt the way I felt about the team. So I think there's a lot of that involved.

I also think this summer, the two stories in the post, and this culture of, you know, this toxic culture towards women, 42 women coming forward. I think a lot of people looked at this team and said, how can I even root for this team anymore now? I mean, how can I continue to hang in there? It's a lot of things coming together is my view as to why the numbers are down. I'm sure some people and many people, many more than most think, aren't going to come back because of the name.

Tommy, you know I've talked about this many times when, you know, when Peter King or someone else would say, oh, there's going to be a financial boom with the new marketing and the new branding. And I told you, for many years, I worked in a different business, and I did a lot with Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati in particular, a lot with ocean spray, a lot with Pepsi and Coke. But spent a lot of time in Cincinnati with P&G, and I'll never forget a conversation about what they called brand attachment. And then the risk of emotional detachment when companies considered changing something significant with a brand that had a loyal customer. or following. You know, it's more than just the taste or the productivity of a product. There's an emotional attachment to the product, whether it's the logo, name, color scheme, taste, look, feel, fight song. Like there is that, there's that attachment there that the Peter Kings of the world

would have no clue about when they said Snyder would make so much more money if he changed the name. Snyder knew that that wasn't true. And any marketing person could tell you. you that that wasn't true. But they may be seeing some of that with some of the people who have checked out. Is that emotional detachment from a brand that they were clinging to for dear life, but they were still clinging to it and now they're not anymore? You're right in that there's so many variables at stake at this time. It's hard to pinpoint reasons for people not watching, particularly with this team. I mean, people have lived without sports for months.

And maybe a segment of them, a small handful of them, have learned to live without it, sports generally, period. Yeah. Okay, so you have that. You've got television, TV habits changing dramatically. Streaming has become far more prevalent as opposed to cable TV. and the options that come with streaming. So you're right, there's so many more choices

when it comes to TV habits. TV habits are so hard to quantify now because of the changing. The articles in the post. I mean, if you're a female fan, I don't know how you can watch this team after reading those articles in the post. That contributed to it.

But I think generally, the biggest contribution is the year by year pissing on the franchise by the owner. I just think it's just taking its toll. This is why when people said, you know, I mean, we're outraged at the name change.

I said, what are you talking about? You lost that team that you fell in love with years ago. That team is gone. Yeah. I think that's a big part of it. Yeah.

I mean, it doesn't matter what they're called. They're not your team. anymore. They haven't been. Not the team you fell in love with. Not the team that you're passionate about. That's gone. Yeah. If this team had the same name this year, the ratings would still be low. I don't, you know, I think there's so much at work with this. I think it's just been heading in this direction. I'm not dismissing at all. Because I know this to be true. There are people out there that this was the last straw.

But there were many other straws leading up to the final straw that was sitting there. And, you know, it just, it cinched it. Tommy, I'll tell you what, seriously, I've looked out on that field the last two Sundays. I don't see the Redskins anymore. I don't see that team that I grew up with and had an incredible attachment to. it doesn't mean that I don't think Ron Rivera can do a good job, that I'm not excited about Chase Young, that I don't believe a little bit in Dwayne Haskins, that I'm, you know, and that, you know, when they play Dallas or Philly or the Giants, I'm not rooting for them to win, but it's

definitely not the same. But again, I'll tell you again, if they had been, if the last five years had been three playoff, four playoff seasons, two NFC championships, and a Super Bowl trip, I'd feel much differently looking out on the field and seeing football team. in Washington and a different helmet and a different look and feel. I think it would hit me so much harder than it has. But it has hit me. I've looked out saying, it's not really my team anymore. It's a little bit different.

It is. And here's what the name, the dropping of the name has done. It's sort of like the wake up call to what's happened to your team. I mean, that's basically for some people, like you're saying, it's not my team anymore. And you know, you didn't feel that way two years ago, did you? No, no. What I'm saying, when I'm looking out there, I'm saying that's not the same team that I've

rooted for forever. Right. Right. But I, but again, I, yeah, it's been a slow drain of passion and emotional attachment to the team just, you know, leaving me. But that's all because of performance and embarrassment and owner and everything else. So you're not surprised at the ratings, are you? No, I'm not.

I actually thought that after the win over Philadelphia, look, the bottom line is when you change something significant with a brand, and by the way, you take everything else into context, winning will solve everything. If you win big and you win big quickly, you can solve a lot of problems. If they have another four and 12 season and more embarrassment on and off the field, then you may never get these people back because they may have moved on. They may have adopted another team. So, you know. Like the team up the road that looks like a Super Bowl tender?

Yeah, like that team. Look, New Coke is the biggest marketing blunder of all time. But if the product had been great, which it wasn't, the impact would have been less, but it wasn't great. And it proved the risk in changing something big about a loyally, passionately followed product. And that's what Washington football was. But again, it hasn't been in recent years. So it's all sort of, you know, the name change came at a time where the reaction to it was going to be less.

And we saw that, I think. But there's still diehards out there that now have completely checked out. Let's finish up the show with some power rankings after I tell you, about Roman because talking about erectile dysfunction isn't easy. Usually you guys, we brush it off, blame ourselves saying things like, you know, I've lost it, or I had a long day at work, or sorry, sweetheart, I'm just not feeling it right now. But with Roman, it's easy to talk about it, with a real healthcare professional who can prescribe real medication. It's simple, safe, and totally discreet. With Roman, you can get a free online evaluation and ongoing care for ED

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Top five, a couple of teams to keep an eye on for whatever reason. Are you ready, or would you like me to go first to give you more time to get ready? I'd like you to go first. Because I don't want to have to do this until I have to. Okay, very good. We'll put off the inevitable you are going to do it, whether you hate it or not. Whether you like it or not. So number five are the L-A. Rams.

Man, I'll tell you, it's hard to come up with the top five right now in the NFL. I think it's easy to come up with a top two or three. I think most people will have number one and two pretty similar, but we'll get to that in a moment. I like the Rams and what they're doing. I mean, he's got Jared Goff and an offense humming, and they really have people off balance. Man, when Sean's got all of his pieces,

his play calling and his scheme is exceptional. There are a lot of teams that could have been in the four or five spot in this top five of week two. I've got the Rams at number five. Number four, I don't know how you can keep Green Bay out of the top five right now. Aaron Rogers was clearly motivated by the drafting of Jordan Love. He is having a phenomenal start to this season. Aaron Rogers looks like MVP Aaron Rogers so far. At this point, you know, 604 yards, six touchdowns, no picks.

He's only taken one sack so far. He's completing 67.6% of his passes. He's got a 91.7 QBR, a 11.4 passer rating. Aaron Rogers has weapons. Aaron Jones has really turned into a phenomenal back. But, you know, with Adams in Valdez Scantling and some of the other guys, he is looking like the old Aaron Rogers. The Packers aren't great defensively right now.

I think they've got some talent defensively, but they've given up some stuff here in the first. They were down 14-3 to Detroit, but I like the Packers in at number four. Number three on the list, down from number two are the Seattle Seahawks. I had Seattle at number two last week. They could have easily lost that game to the Patriots.

The Patriots I have so much more respect. after watching them on Sunday night than I thought I would have for them this year. They are so good in so many different ways. And so is Seattle. Russell Wilson's having a phenomenal start to the season. An MVP kind of start. You've got so many guys, Lamar Jackson, Pat Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, all in, you know, an MVP type of race here early in the season.

Seattle got the win. They're 2-0. They are in the best division in football. and they've got a stretch here where they can make some hay. They've got the dolphins and the Vikings who are struggling. There's the Cowboys this week, which is an interesting game. But I think the Seahawks are the third best team in the NFL. The top two, I think most people would have these two teams who play on Monday night in Baltimore as the top two teams.

The Ravens are once again an NFL rushing machine. I mean, with the quarterback as a dual threat, quarterback with Edwards, with Ingram, with everything they've got going on in the backfield. Through, you know, they're able to run the ball, it seems, against anybody. And Jackson can throw it too. I mean, that's the thing. I mean, this guy is truly versatile, dual threat, four touchdowns, no picks on the years. He's taking a bunch of sacks he has in the first several games.

He and the Ravens are number two. Fantastic defense. And the best team in the NFL I've got is Kansas City. I considered moving Baltimore up because the Chiefs really, you know, they're down two scores again. How many times they've been down two scores? They always come back. That game was incredible on Sunday the game against the Chargers and Justin Herbert.

Harrison Butker, 53, 58, 58, 5-yard penalty, 58 a timeout, and then 58 again for the win in overtime, 2320. I've got the Chiefs as my number one. team in the NFL and listen to their next four games, Ravens Monday night, Patriots the week after that, then the Raiders who are off to a 2-0 start, and then at Buffalo, and the Bills, I think, are excellent, and they are 2-0. And the Bills are one of those teams just outside my top five. Keep an eye on Buffalo. I think they're excellent, and Josh Allen's having, he's another guy you could throw into the MVP conversation so far. I like Tampa. I know they got out to a big lead,

And the Panthers came back on them. I think they're going to be a really good football team by the end of the year. And I think the team that Washington played Sunday, the Cardinals, are really dangerous as well. So those are three teams to keep an eye on that aren't in my top five right now. But I think at some point could be. Buffalo was in it last week. And I put the Rams and Green Bay in there this week. All right, Tommy, your top five.

You get so excited about doing this. You really like it, don't you? I like talking about. You know what? I think I, here's, here's a, I think, a logical explanation for it. Because my team has been so bad over the last several years, I love the NFL. I watch other games as much as I watch our games. Isn't that more pain?

I always found that when you watch other teams, it just brings home what your team doesn't have. It's like sometimes for years, it's been like watching two different. games. Not if you got action on it. You forget all about your team. There and there we are. There we are. All right. Your top five. Let's see how you cobbled this together. Well, I'm going to do it the right way. I'm going to name my number one team first. No, that's your way. Not necessarily the right way. Countdown to number one is the right way. But go ahead and do it your way. I like to count from number one down. I mean, because number one is.

the one that counts. And the chiefs... I always look at moving up. You always look at moving down. Yep. Go ahead. That's because it happens so rarely. Right.

Okay. Number five. The chiefs that are defending champs until they prove and otherwise. So the chiefs are number one. The Ravens have a chance Monday night to change that significantly with their showdown with the chiefs. I'll be curious what the numbers will be for that. I mean,

I would think there be a much anticipatory. game. I've got the Seahawks at number three. I think they might as well give Russell Wilson, who I just, it's just one of the remarkable, stunning things. Talk about MVP votes. Supposedly, he's never gotten an MVP vote.

Is that true? I didn't know that. That's what I've read. I don't know if it's true or not. And I think, I think people are going to overcompensate and that's okay by making sure that that gets rectified and he wins an MVP. this year, but I think he's the best quarterback of his time. So I think he certainly should be the MVP. Seahawks at number three.

I like the bills at number four, you know, and the Packers put up over 40 points a game the past two weeks. The Matt Leflura offense seems to be working much better than I thought it would be under Aaron Rogers. I was tempted to put the Cardinals in there. own press with Kyle or Murray, but like you said, the Cardinals are a team to watch. So that's my, that's it. That's it. I'm all done. I'm finished. Um, all right. Like tearing, like tearing a bandaid off off you. But, you know, as you were going through it and I wasn't paying attention to

it, I was looking at the slate of NFL games. What a weekend. I mean, the Thursday night games, a dog, I'm going to get to my smell test, early smell test here in, in one second, in about 20 seconds. Rams Bills Sunday, Raiders Patriots Sunday, Texans Steelers, Texans are Owen, too, Cowboys Seahawks, 425, Packers Saints Sunday night, and Chiefs Ravens Monday night. I mean, the NFL, I got some great matchups. I don't know, I think there's been something missing from watching these games, but the games have been pretty intense and pretty exciting. They certainly were last weekend. I've enjoyed watching football. Before we sign off, let me give you.

you my prediction for Sunday's Washington. Well, you can do that right after I give a quick smell test pick. So we can tease the fact that we're going to end the show with Tommy's pick between Washington and Cleveland. Let me first tell you that the smell test today is brought to you by mybooky.ag. Mybooky.orgie.org I was on there a little bit last night looking at some of the different lines. Scott, they got so many ways to bet at my bookie.orgie.g. I mean, you can bet games. You can bet any kind of way you want.

straight bets, parleses, teasers, lots of in-game action. They've got plenty of futures on just about anything that you'd want to bet in terms of a futures bet. They've got, you know, presidential debate odds, Tommy. I don't know, do debates get scored? There's a prop bet right now. Biden agrees to the fourth debate, moderated by Joe Rogan, plus 700 for a yes, minus 2100. for a no. My bookie's got it all. And right now, if you mention Kevin D.C. If you sign up and use my promo code, Kevin D.C, they will double your first deposit up to $1,000. MyBooky.ag,

sportsbook, live betting, casino, track, everything you want to do, they've got it all. They're fair. The numbers are right. The pricing's fair, and you'll get paid if you win. Mybooky.orgie.org, use my promo code, Kevin D.C. All right. Quick smell tester. early pick. I like the dolphins tonight. The smell test is off to one of the worst starts in its history. But that's all right. It's very early in the year. But the dolphins are a major anti-public play against Jacksonville of all teams who have played. The Jags have been really, really good in the first two games. They beat the Colts. They had a chance to beat the Titans last week. The dolphins are 0.2. The truth about the dolphins, they had a chance in both of those games that they lost.

but typical either fourth down stops or turnovers. I like the Dolphins tonight on the road at Jacksonville where there will be fans. I think they're accepting something like 20, 25% capacity at Jacksonville tonight. Early Thursday night NFL smell test, Dolphins plus three. All right, before we go, Washington, Cleveland, Tommy. I like the Washington football team in this. I like the Washington football team in a 27 to 24 win. And I like the defense to get two interceptions on Baker Mayfield,

one of them that Chase Young takes all the way in for a pick six. Okay. A lot of detail there. Well done. Cooley will be with me tomorrow. I'll have my Washington Cleveland prediction. He'll have his. We'll go through all of the keys to beating the Browns.

And I'll have a full smell test. I actually feel like this could be. a good weekend with the smell test. There are a lot of games that sort of fit the criteria. I feel a little bit better. Plus, we've got a whole legitimate college slate of games, even though a lot of these games are getting canceled like Notre Dame Wake Forest. Anyway, everybody stay safe, stay well, enjoy the rest of the day, evening, back tomorrow with Cooley.

See you, Tommy. All right, boss. See you.