The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wright Buries Old Name

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

Kevin opened with Jason Wright's comments today with Brian Mitchell and JP Finlay on 106.7 The Fan that the old name (Redskins) "is not being considered, period."Kevin also talked about what he thinks the Chase Young injury is about and whether or not Young will be cleared to practice in advance of next week's season opener against the Cardinals.Bram Weinstein joined Kevin to preview the upcoming Commanders' season and talk about his growth in the booth as he enters his 4th season as the team's radio play-by-play voice.For your sports betting needs, go to https://www.mybookie.ag/sportsbook/. Use code KEVINDC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. It is not being concerned. At all. Period.

So that was team president Jason Wright earlier today with Brian Mitchell and J.P. Finley on their radio show on 1067 The Fan. The guys asked Jason if the team's considering going back to their old name, the Redskins. you heard what he said, quote, it is not being considered, J.P. said at all, and he said, period, closed quote. More on this coming up in a few minutes, including the follow-up question and answer after he essentially buried Redskins as a future possibility, because I thought the follow-up question and answer was an interesting one as well. Bram Weinstein will be on the show with me today.

It's always good to catch up with Bram, and we've done it the last few years before the season starts. We'll get his thoughts on the upcoming year for Washington. We're a week and a half away from the opener as Bram gets ready to call games again as their lead play-by-play radio voice, along with London Fletcher and Julie Donaldson. The show today is presented by My Bookie. My bookie's got everything you're looking for if you're ready to bet on football for the first time, or if you're already betting football, but you're looking for a second place to bet.

I've mentioned this in the past, but if you're doing this the right way, you should have more than one sports book to wager with. You should be comparison shopping on point spreads, totals, money lines, pricing, etc. That's the way to do it. It all adds up, and there is a fine line in many of your bets

between winning and losing, and when you lose, you don't want to pay as much in some cases. MyBooky's got fair lines, fair pricing. You get paid if you win. No worries about being taken advantage of on point spreads, Vigs, no complicated process for getting your money out. Go to my bookie.orgie.orgie.org, use my promo code Kevin D.C. Making your initial deposit, it's important to use my promo code Kevin D.C.

because they will give you a welcome bonus on the house. And for a limited time, a free chip to use in the MyBooky Online Casino. College football week one underway tomorrow night. A good game tomorrow night, Florida and Utah, Florida is a six and a half point underdog against 14th ranked Utah. And the only matchup in week one between ranked teams comes Sunday night, LSU is a two and a half point favorite against Florida State. at a neutral site in Orlando.

All of the season prop bets for the NFL are up. They've been up for a while. The week one lines still Washington, a seven-point favorite over the Cardinals. The over-under is 38.5. That's the lowest total in week one. As I mentioned yesterday, Washington's a good buy if you're optimistic about their upcoming season. They're plus 300 to make the playoffs. and their season total on wins is still at six and a half.

I mean, there's only one NFC team with a worse over under win total for the upcoming season, and that's their week one opponent. The Arizona Cardinals are at four and a half. Now, Carolina and Atlanta both are at six and a half as well, but if you like them to win seven or more games, you can bet the over and it's even money on that wager. Go to mybooky.orgie.orgie. They're one of the reliable spots out there.

Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. By the way, the team announced today, the Washington commanders announced today, and Jason Wright did in that interview as well with JP and Brian Mitchell, that they have standing room only tickets available for the opener. That game will be a sellout, you know? I remember some of you suggesting when I got excited, after the sale was finalized, that week one would be a celebratory event.

There would be more excitement for the team, more people at that game than have been at that game in a long time. Several of you pushed back and said, you're high. They're not going to sell out a game against the Arizona Cardinals. Well, they are. They're going to sell it out, and it's going to be, I think, all Washington fans. The scene next Sunday at FedEx Field will be a scene that we have not seen a lot. It will be a scene that we have not seen, S-E-E-N, a lot in recent years.

And look, if they can win that game, and they should, and somehow get off to a decent start, that Buffalo game in week three will be a highly anticipated home game as well. You know, oh and two, and all of a sudden, you know, as we've discussed previously, it's like the seasons had a major buzz kill to it already. But if you beat Arizona and beat them handily and go to Denver and either, you know, win a game or lose a really competitive game with Sam Howe playing well, that week three game against Buffalo has a chance to sell out too. Now that one probably will include more Buffalo Bills fans. in the crowd. Before I get to the Jason Wright stuff, I wanted to just mention two things about the team. Number one is they did sign and announce 15 players to their practice squad today, included were

Kaz Allen, the returner, the fullback Alex Arma. They brought back Jake from, as we thought was a possibility, and Derek Gore, the running back. brought back. So Jonathan Williams is on injured reserve. Derek Gore on the practice squad. Jake Fromm on the practice squad is the third quarterback. And they'll have, you know, on a week-to-week basis, a chance to bring up Alex Arma if they, you know, feel that they've got more of a need for a fullback or another tight end. And I mentioned this, I think with Ben yesterday, or maybe it was the day before. I think Kaz Allen will end up. getting a chance at some point this year to return punts and kickoffs. I know that they like them a lot,

but for now it'll be Dax Milne on punt returns, and I am assuming Antonio Gibson on kickoff returns. And remember the new kickoff rule, fair catch in the field of play inside the 25-yard line, and the ball goes to the 25-yard line. That'll be an interesting week-one thing to a observe. How are teams dealing with the new kickoff rule? I have suggested previously that I think squib kicks to the up guys to see if they can handle it. High short kicks to the up guys to see if they can handle it because even if they call for a fair catch, they still have to catch it. If the ball's coming out to the 25 regardless, you might as well kick it to the up guys and see if they can catch the ball.

Anyway, practice squad also included, by the way, Castro Fields. I knew that they liked him a little bit. I thought he actually played well in that first game. It included William Bradley King, safety Terrell Burgess, Guard Mason Brooks, who had a good camp. Yeah, those are some of the names on the 15-player practice squad. I also just wanted to mention this. So at practice today, once again, no Chase Young, no Terry McCorn, by the way.

Chase Young is not practicing right now. And from what I've learned, there's another doctor's appointment coming up that is kind of a big one towards the end of this week. and, you know, they're hopeful that everything will be fine. But, you know, a stinger just by definition is a neck injury. And when you get into that area, you know, I don't know that all stingers are the same. And this one may not be the same. I'm not suggesting that I know anything that would indicate that it's more serious than maybe anybody's led anybody to believe. I mean, Ron basically did not answer the question about Chase Young's

injury yesterday. But, you know, it's tied to, you know, the neck, the upper, you know, shoulder and arm area, and it's nerve-related. You know, that's kind of the injury that it is. I'm not, you know, I'm not a trainer. I'm not a team doctor. But I think everybody understands, you know, a stinger is kind of a neck injury and it's neurologically oriented. It's like when you, you know, when somebody hits your funny bone and your arm goes numb, you know, this is more serious. But I do believe, based on what I was told, that there is another doctor's appointment for Chase Young where they are hopeful he'll be cleared to begin practicing for the opener.

The other thing, by the way, on him is that I was told that things have been different for him this summer, that the approach has been different, that they've been very pleased with the condition he was in, with just the overall approach by Chase Young during training camp. I mean, Montez Sweat said it like a week and a half two weeks ago, and I'm paraphrasing here again because I don't have the quote in front of me, but he said about Chase Young that there's just a more mature approach. And so that was good to hear as well. Let's hope he's healthy.

I think Chase Young, along with the offensive line and Sam Howe are the three areas that we just don't know anything about heading into this season. and we're not going to know until they start to play games. And all three of those areas are significantly impactful to the final result of this upcoming season. Sam Howe, you know, being number one on that list. I actually think in some ways Chase Young might be number two, although they have players at that position. So I'm sure most of you would say offensive line,

and I'll go ahead and say offensive line as well. They can't be as bad as they were last year. and hope that the quarterback can overcome that. The quarterback will need in his first year of starting, even if he is as advertised, he's going to need everything to come together in terms of the players around him. And a big part of that would be the offensive line.

But, man, I really hope that Chase Young is healthy. I hope he really is ready to go. It sounds like he was having a good camp before that Cleveland preseason game where he got injured. And imagine this defense with more playmaking ability on the back end with a guy like Emmanuel Forbes and a big-time havoc-reaking pass rusher on the outside. That could really elevate this defense, which I already think has a chance to be a very good defense, a top 10 defense again.

But imagine that this defense ends up being a dominant playmaking defense in addition to just being really good. Chase Young will have a lot to do with that. But again, the Stinger, he's not practicing, hasn't practiced since, you know, getting hurt in that Cleveland game. And there's a late week doctor's appointment that, you know, they are hopeful will clear him to come back next week in practice. But, you know, these stinger injuries, the way it was explained to me, they can be a little bit tricky because they are nerve-related.

So fingers crossed that the news will be good on that and that next week they'll have, you know, all of their ammo for the opener against Arizona. So to Jason Wright and his answer to JP's question. I'm going to play the whole thing in its entirety right now. You'll hear the setup, the question, and then you'll hear the follow-up to it as well. And then I'll give you my thoughts. We've heard a lot of kind of the old name has popped back up, right? And I know that you've said everything's on the table under new ownership to consider perhaps another rebrand,

everything is possible. But Brian and I have both said that I don't ever see a return. return to the old name. Is going back to the old name something that is on the table? It is not being considered. At all. Period. Gotcha.

Is a rebrand still out there, or is there just too much going on otherwise? For right now? I think, I think at that, to that point, you kind of nailed it. We have three big priorities for ownership. So the rest of Jason's answer goes on to, describe what Josh Harris has described before, which is they're focused on the things that they can focus on and do something about right now, which is a focus on building a winning football team, a focus on improving the stadium experience, and a focus on re-engaging with

the community. What you didn't hear Jason Wright say in that answer to whether a rebrand beyond Redskins is a possibility, you didn't hear him. say it will not be considered, period. You know why? Because it will be something they consider. Just not now in terms of doing anything about it in public view. New ownership knows how important a rebrand is to most of the fans, you know, both past and present. They're not going to blow it off. They're not going to blow us off. Jason Wright might want or hope that his rebrand sticks, but the rebrand is something not named commanders will be on the table. Now, I've said this before.

It's possible that they look into this. They do the research and they come to the conclusion that it doesn't make sense to change the name. Now, I would bet that it does change, but it's possible that, you know, a branding consultant and a branding team and lots of research, lots of information, lots of, you know, financial projections on everything that they come to the conclusion. conclusion that it doesn't make sense. I guess it's also possible that the team goes to the Super Bowl this year or the NFC championship game this year and the desire for the name to be changed maybe lessons a bit. But look, if they, this is on the table. They'll do the work. They'll do the research. And if they do come to a conclusion that it doesn't make sense or if they come to the conclusion that it does make sense, they're going to speak to this legitimate, honest effort

of getting all the information and making a decision based on the information and what's in the best interest of the organization. But they understand how important this is to a majority of their fans. Now, as far as Redskins being buried by Jason in this interview with JP and Brian on 1067, the fan, first of all, I do think, I have to hope that he wasn't just winging, it and saying what he believes ownership's answer to that question is without actually knowing what their answer to that question is. I hope that this is something that he knows to be true and that he was allowed to address it in the way that he did, which was publicly.

So let's assume that he's not just expressing his own views, but that he's expressing the views of the organization, of the new ownership group. Josh Harris and co-owners. I mean, I'm hardly surprised by this. We've been talking about this for a while now. And I've said that it's just not something that I believe the league will allow, A, and B, you know, it's not something ultimately that will be in the best interest of Josh Harris and this new ownership group after paying $6 billion for the team to then have to deal with with the controversy that would inevitably come, even if they explore going back to Redskins. I do think that they know that it would be wildly popular with this fan base, but it would also

bring roadblocks. You know, right or wrong, there are people and businesses out there that would be outraged by it, and the team would have to deal with it, just as Dan and everybody in that organization, for years out there had to deal with it. You know, when it was Redskins, doors will be shut on them, regardless of whether or not it would be right for those doors to be shut. And it just, you know, from this seat, as I've been saying, I just don't think they'll do it.

I don't think it'll be worth it. And for the league, they'll get pushback. You know, whatever, it would be wildly popular with this fan base. I think we all understand that. And I think Josh Harris understand. that too. But the minority in this particular instance would be a pain in the ass to deal with. And the league, while they might benefit, you know, in a smaller way from the fans being excited about the old name being back, they'd have to deal with their corporate partners, their corporate

sponsors, which by the way, this team locally would have to deal with as well. The whole thing to me is just a ship that has sailed. I don't like it. Most of you don't like it, but I think Jason perhaps confirmed today, you know, the one thing that isn't on the table, Redskins. But a rebrand away from the commanders, that one's on the table. But for now, look, as far as the table and what's being served, football's being served these days because we are

eight days away from the regular season. Yeah, a week from tomorrow night, Kansas City and Detroit. Washington's opener against the Cardinals 11 days away and counting. Bram Weinstein will join me to talk football after these words from a few

of our sponsors. This segment of the show is brought to you by the Circa Million and the Circus Survivor pools out in Las Vegas. my guest, Bram Weinstein, it will be interested in this because I've entered both of them. The circa million, $6 million in guaranteed prizes. Five games each week against the spread. At the end of the year, pays the top $100, a million to the person with the overall best record.

And then the survivor pool pays $8 million to the winner or winners. Pick one team straight up every week to win. No spread. you can only pick the same team once per season. So $14 million in guaranteed prizes from the Circus Sports Book and Casino in Las Vegas for the Circa Million and the Circus Survivor pools. The deadline is September 9th, September 9th, excuse me, at 2 p.m. to enter. And yes, as I've discussed, you do have to be in Vegas to enter as I was a few weeks ago.

but weekly picks can be made through a proxy from anywhere. So if you're not planning on going to Vegas, you'll just follow along to see how I do with these two contests. Joining us right now is, as I mentioned, Bram Weinstein, the voice of the Washington commanders getting ready for his third season of doing games. Before we get to... Fourth. Fourth.

20, 21, 22, 20. Right, fourth year. Good God. It feels like yesterday after you got the gig and I had you on the podcast talking about it. And it was, it was during the pandemic. It was 2020, which is now three years ago, but, you know, this is the fourth season. Wow. I do want to ask you about that.

You know what? We'll start with that. So year four of doing the games, what's the journey so far been like? for you as, you know, one of the 32 NFL radio play-by-play voices. Tell me about, you know, where you are now as a play-by-play person versus where you were when you started. Well, I mean, I feel way more comfortable doing the games. I hope that sounds that way, which I thought would be the case. I thought the first year would take a little time. I didn't have extensive background in play-by-play. I was going to be learning on the job a little bit.

and we did have odd conditions, you know, there was nobody in the stadiums, and we didn't travel to the road games because of the pandemic. So we called the road games on TV. So that was, you know, really adverse conditions to do that, especially first go-around. But, you know, for me, like, as the players would say, the game has slowed down for me, I feel pretty good, you know, about my performance. And, listen, it's everything I thought it would be. You know, our team is, you know, a little more on you.

usual than probably the other 31 with everything that's been happening over the last few years, and then everything starts a new again. So, you know, not that that really changes much of what I do, but it is a big part of the storyline of the team. So I'd say that, you know, my role is probably way different than the other 31, just based on conditions of the organization. But, you know, I think, you know, I love it. You know, like I thought I would love it, you know, but until you do it, you don't really

know. I can't really describe the feeling. You've done play-by-play. Maybe you get the same feeling. To me, it's the closest thing that I've ever had to being in it. And I feel like I'm in it when it's happening. And it's hard to describe that. Like, I can't go to sleep after the game.

I'm so kind of wired after the game. And I love the preparation for it, too. I mean, I really, really take that very seriously. I'm going to start in earnest in the next couple of days, especially now that the Cardinals are either going to use a guy at starting quarterback that they acquired a week ago or a fifth round pick I've never heard of. So, you know, the preparation is going to start pretty soon, but I like that part of it. Yeah, I, you know, other than what you said at the beginning, which is it slowed down for you.

And, you know, when you said, by the way, you can't sleep after games, weren't you always or aren't you always a bit wired when your radio show is over as well? I am. Yeah, a little bit. I'm more, because you do the length of time, I do too, three hours. I'm really more kind of spent and tired, less wired, more spent and tired. There's something about this because it's live, you don't know what's going to happen, whatever you expected, it probably won't occur. You know, you, you know, like we pre-plan what we're going to talk about and then react to news,

you know, on a radio show. I can pre-plan everything and not have any clue what's going to happen. Like, we could have storylines, and they go out the window when someone throws a pick six on play three. So, you know, like, so to me, doing it is it is the all-time Highwire Act, and I think that's so exciting about it. I feel like I'm, you know, performing live, like someone on Broadway or something like that's how I feel when I'm doing it. Like it's so locked in to what I'm doing. You couldn't turn my attention from anything else that when it's over, it's like you are completely wired from the whole thing. Yeah.

You know, you said, you know, the prep, you enjoy that. I mean, tell everybody the difference between prepping for a preseason game with 90 players on each roster versus a regular season game. Big difference. Yeah. The hardest part is really, you know, I just wanted, I just wanted, you know, have recall of the player's names, you know, and really what I've learned, and others have told me this. And what I've learned is to be less as concerned about the other team as I used to be. Like, I was maniacal about trying to get to know their whole roster, but like, does our audience really care that some third string safety for the Bengals broke up a play? You know, no.

So, like, I've alleviated the concern of I really have to know their roster, the way I would know a regular season roster of the opposing team. But I want to know storylines about them, but the majority of a preseason broadcast is really storylines of our team. And then every once in a while you get lucky. Like, that Baltimore game was actually really fun. Yeah. You know, and had something, you know, had a little bit of meaning attached to it and felt like a coming out party for Sam Allen and had a really good ending. and that stupid streak was on the line. So, you know, like, that was probably the most fun preseason game I've ever been a part of.

It was, you know, and I said that, and I'll ask you the question here in a moment, but I don't want to lose this thought, because you said it's slowed down for you, you know, here entering your fourth year. And that's, you know, something that only comes with doing it, right? I mean, even what we do in talk radio, like, you can't get to the point. point where you're comfortable and it slows down without actually doing it a lot. But other than it's slowing down eventually for you as it has, what else was hard? What was the hardest part?

You know, getting my energy right, I actually talked to a lot of play-by-play people that I respect, some local, some national, some of the other NFL play-by-play guys were actually preemptive. would reach out to me and be like, you know, welcome to the club type of thing. And if you have any questions about, you know, about anything, because we've done it a long time, we're all ears like, Terry Sandusky, the Ravens has been great. My Keith of the Titans has been great. Mick McSew, who recently retired with the Panthers was great, especially when they, you know, we hired Ron Rivera.

He was in my ear a lot about Ron Rivera. And they've all been really helpful and great. And, you know, for me, like, I get, you know, I'm into it. You know, I think that's good. I want to present passion, you know, because I am passionate about it. I've said this a number of times. If it ever doesn't feel that way to me, I'll quit. Like, because I would wrap, I think that's what the team deserves is someone who's passionate about what they're doing.

And so I feel that way, and I internalize it, and it comes out. And I think at first, you know, I think I needed to learn to moderate my energy. You know, like that third and seven catch in the first quarter, it's a big deal, but it's not the same as the one in the fourth quarter in a 13-13 game, punctuating certain scores, making sure that I really reach the high I want to reach on specific plays, like Harry the Clarence catch, you know, at the end of the Indianapolis game, things like that.

Like, I think over time, you know, you kind of learn. And, you know, I am very self-critical. I listen back to everything I do. And I try to learn from it. And then I like to listen to other people, see how they do it, you know, see are there ways that I could incorporate some of the things that they do. So, but I think that's a process over time. Like, I liken this to when I went to ESPN, it was on SportsCenter.

I'd never done highlight shows before. I had to learn how to do it, and you really have to learn how to, you know, do them in a way that sounds good, not fake, get your energy right, you know, not sound, inorganic. Like, that stuff takes time, too, and I agree with you. And all of this, it takes reps. And now that I'm in, you know, year four, I just feel more comfortable. I'm not suggesting like I'm perfect at it or anything like that, but I feel more comfortable doing it. I feel more comfortable in my skin doing it. I'm not so kind of hyper during the game.

I've calmed down, and I think that that's a good thing. I think it definitely is apparent. And you and I talked about this, and we've talked about it before. You know, the one thing that I've always said about you, and I think, you know, there are a couple of others that we've worked with over the years. You're a professional broadcaster, so you were going to figure it out because you were going to be professional about it from the jump, which you have been. By the way, you know, you've also had the challenge. Larry did as well. Larry actually had more than a three-man booth because Larry had three people, including somebody on the sideline.

So that is something, I mean, I don't know. answer to this. Is Washington the only play-by-play or the only broadcast booth with three people in it? I don't know. I have to look around the league. I'm not totally sure.

But that's a challenge. It is. I mean, like, because I want everybody to get their voice heard. Of course. You know, it's important for me to set them up. So we talk a lot about it. Like, Julie and London and I talk about a lot about this. Like, essentially, it's more

when I talk to them, we all know what the storylines are going to be. Like, that doesn't really need to be overly discussed, but each of them have their own, you know, conversations or insights that they've had from talking to the team or the coaches. And I ask them to not to tell me what they're going to say, but just to tell me when something pops up with a particular player or a particular scenario, screen game, whatever it may be, just flag it for me so that I have a note to get to them. And because I want to try to find a way, because there's the natural game, the progression of the game, and we're just going to react to the big moments of the game. But I want to give an opportunity so that everybody gets heard because, you know,

frankly, like, sometimes it will be hard for Julie to get in because the natural reaction to any play is London's going to break it down. And so we want to be cognizant of that, and I think we are. So, you know, there are probably times that, you know, they, that either one, One of them may feel like they wanted to say something could have get it in. And there are a lot of times where, you know, I'm kind of looking at them, like, you've got to give me my time to set up the play and get out of the play and make the calls correctly. I'll get out of your way, but you've got to give me that opportunity to set it up. So that's a balance, and it's live.

So it's never going to be perfect. But I think we've done, again, year four, we've learned from each other, and it's getting better and better at understanding when, like, it's everybody's turn. Right. Of course, you can hear Bram call the games starting on September 10th. He's done the preseason games too, but the regular season kicks off September 10th. And he's the play-by-play voice with London Fletcher and Julie Donaldson alongside. Follow Bram on Twitter at Real Bram W. And listen to Bram's podcast that he does with John Kime. Empire Media, which is Bram's business, is the, I guess you would call it the publisher of that podcast. Is that the right way to describe it? Sure.

Yeah. I call it. Yeah, sure. Why not? I'm also on the radio. I know I'm a competitor. He is also on the radio every day. We're not on at the same time.

Yeah, no, we're not. No, we're not. You're on in the afternoon. I'm now on, by the way, in that perfect time. time slot, as you know, is kind of mid-morning early afternoon. The dream. The dream. You never get up to you early?

You have your whole day. It's a great time slot. All right. But then again, I do the podcast afterwards. So I'm here anyway. So you mentioned the Baltimore game, and it was an entertaining game as far as preseason games go. And it just reminded me that I talked about this last week after the game.

Somebody sent me this tweet and said, So, Sheehan, you're a great. remember, you know, you probably have a list of the greatest preseason games in franchise history. Where does this one rank? And I said, no, sorry to say, I do not have a list of the greatest franchise preseason wins in history. In fact, you know, I couldn't even remember one of the Babe Laufenberg games. I just remember Babe Laufenberg did some cool things in the preseason. The game to me, that is memorable, and it's the only one. one that comes to mind is Osaka. That's the one that comes to mind. And I actually had Steve

Spurrier on the show in the spring, and he talked about Osaka for like five minutes. But anyway, before Monday night against the Ravens, a week ago Monday night, was there a game other than Osaka that you actually remember from the preseason that was memorable? Not really. Yeah. Last year, I liked that we played one of them at one o'clock in the afternoon and hopes we would just do that more often. That was my takeaway from last year. The Osaka one is memorable for so many. Well, one, because we were in Japan.

Two, it was spurrier in Japan, interacting with the Japanese media. Three, he thought scoring a lot of points with Sage Rosenfeld meant something. Like, there was so many weird aspects that. Four, we had to keep a player who was never going to make the team because, you know, you brought in an international player as kind of part of the program, because Steve Mary, he kept his player because he actually ended up being good. So we felt embarrassed if we left our guy in Japan. So we had to take him back with us.

There were so many. Who was that player? Who was that player? I forgot his name, but he was a wide receiver who probably ran a 6-240. And, you know, they had this, like, program where leading up to the international game in Japan, a Japanese player who had played over there would practice with the team during the summer. Well, I practice with the 49ers made the team as a special teamer. And the guy we had, we didn't want practicing because we thought he was going to get hurt.

But then when we were over there and they did a press conference, Marucci announces the guy's coming back with us because we think he's going to make the team. And Furrier was embarrassed to say we weren't bringing our guy back and said, well, he's got a chance too. And they put him back on the plane and flew him back. And a day later, they made him fly back to Japan after they caught him. God, I don't remember that. That's hysterical. You know, when I talked to him about this game and I played it back last week, the portion was Spurrier talking about Osaka. He said, well, you know, I found out they didn't play their varsity. And it's like, what do you mean? Like, did you really think that they would play their varsity? Because if you recall, they played them in week three of the regular season at candlesticking, got absolutely thumped.

Like they couldn't move the football, couldn't score, and, you know, they put up 400 yards and 38 points in Osaka. There are so many stories from that week. It was the best preseason moment. I can't tell the stories I'd have to do now because I'd have to do a terrible accent to do them, and I don't want to do the accent to do them. But I will tell you, like there were Japanese reporters at training camp, you know, leading up to it. Wait, hold on. Were you there?

I was covering you, team. So I forgot about that because this is 2002. So you were already at the station as the beat reporter covering the team and you were in Osaka. Because I wasn't at the station at that point. I was on the team playing and went to the game. Okay. So let me hear some of the stories. So leading up the trading camp, you know, there were Japanese reporters.

We were in Carlisle, I think, if I remember right, or I don't know. I think so. I feel like we were. and there was Japanese reporters, you know, covering the two teams, like, leading up to the game. And the one that was from, like, one of the major networks in Japan that was there all week, like, she was dressed to the nine every single day at training camp. It was crazy what she was wearing, like, like the gilded high heels and extremely short mini skirts. And, like, like, things you would not wear to a football practice.

Right. So all the guys were, like, happy to talk to her. Right. And we had Danny Whirfel on the team. And she went up to Danny Whirful. and I won't do the access because I'll just get in trouble. But she said to him, the question she said to him was, she goes, you were in college, you were really, really good.

You won the Hydebat trophy. Why in the pros are you not good player? And I almost fell over, like when she said it to him, and to see him try to explain why he's not a good quarterback in the NFL, is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. And then we went over there, and they had a press conference, you know, with all the Japanese media, and they had interpreters.

And the interpreters, you know, like, Spurrier does this foxy stuff. Right. And they asked him something about, like, what's your game plan? And he said, we're going to, he said something spurious. Like, we're going to pitch it around or something like that. And the interpreter said something, and then looked at each other. The media was confused. And then they said something else, right?

In Japanese, and the whole room started dying laughing. So I have no idea what they said, Spurrier said to them. And the interactions that he had with the Japanese media the entire week was comedy. Like it was straight out of the office. It was unbelievable. That's hysterical. I mean, I just remember the game. And I can't believe I didn't consider that you were covering the team.

What year at 980 did you start covering the team? Was it that year or was it earlier? Norves last season. So 2000. The first full year under Dan Snyder was my first year covering. 99, yeah. Or 2000. 2000.

David landed on a helicopter. Norve Turner got fired at 7 and 7. Yeah, that was it. Or whatever, it was 6 and 7th or something like that. Yeah. Three games left. Yeah, that was my first season. That was after your days at our...

Yeah, I had all the tumble. I had Norv's last season, Marty Furrier Gibbs. I went to ESPN after Gibbs last season. Yeah, right, when you and I were together with Red Zebra, and you took off for ESPN. But I was going to say that your first season followed a very esteemed career at our alma mater, Channel 21 in Montgomery County. Right. Yeah, that was with our good friend. Brandy, Tim.

Brandy, yeah. I just saw him. I went to Darren Haynes' goodbye party, and I saw him. Yeah, I saw him. Yeah, I saw him recently, too. Brandy was such a good guy and still is a great guy, by the way. All right, let's talk some football. We'll do that with Bram right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show brought you by our good friends at Shelley's Back Room, 1331 F Street, Northwest,

where you can get a cigar for sure. But did you know that Shelley's has one of the great food menus in the city? Among the choices that you have, how about Lobster Bisk is an appetizer? bacon-wrapped shrimp for dinner, key lime pie for dessert. One of the best kitchens in D.C. is at Shelley's Back Room. A good meal and a good cigar, the good life. Find out more at Shelley's Backroom.com. All right, Bram continues with us.

Let's talk some football. Let's talk some Washington football team. And I want to start with your hunch, your opinion before the season starts. Will Sam Howell be able to do it? Define doing. What do you mean by that? Prove that he's a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL. Yes. Yes. If the baseline is he is likely an average quarterback, then yes. Could he be better than that? The answer is yes.

Do I think, am I delusional to think he's Josh Allen or Pat Mahomes? No. So in year one with a new offense, year two for him, but year one playing, new offense, and obviously a lot of pressure on a lot of people. There's a lot on him, but I haven't seen him crack under any kind of pressure whatsoever. The thing that really stood out to me in camp watching him was, as the coaches like to put it, he doesn't stack bad days. And I didn't see a lot of that. Like, they're early in camp, you know, especially like when Rivera said the stuff about the enemy

and guys were wondering what's going on here, however it was afraid, the foot in the mouth week. Yeah, with the enemy. It was clear that the offense was not functioning exactly the way they wanted to, and the enemy was loud, and you can hear them talk about it. But think it changed. The weirdest part about the foot and mouth week was that's when things had already kind of turned, and Big Rivera just wasn't clear and communicated.

He meant it to be a positive, like things have actually turned to quarter. And if you were watching the practice, you'd see that. And with how, from what I've seen so far, he's going to be the most accurate passenger they've had here since current. cousins. He definitely has acumen for this. The coaches love him. His teammates really like him. I've seen competitiveness out of him now. I was wondering about his personality. The second that he's a little bit of Heineke, like he's kind of to himself down to earth, kind of a bro, maybe more laid back, and then all of a sudden the game turns out of it kind of comes out of

him. So he's like me on game. They get wired. So I think I am, I'm optimistic. about them. I see the skill set, but I don't want to put too many expectations because who knows, and the reality is I think their biggest weakness could be their offensive line. That's going to have a lot to do with his result. So let's see what happens with what's in front of them. But I do feel like the baseline is good and hopefully higher than that. I don't see bad. So I mean, when you say baseline good, you said baseline average before. So if the overender for him this year is average. If I told you he's like 15th in the NFL, to me that's pretty good.

I would take that and run with it right now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think he could be that. Like maybe a little bit better, you know, but I don't want to put more expectations than that on it. I just, I don't see that is the point. Like I don't see something going completely sideways with him.

Well, if he's 15 or 16 and you believe. he's a top half of the league quarterback right around there. Worst case, then I'm assuming you think they're going to have a pretty good season. I do. Yeah, well, I think that their defense has the makings of, it was good last year. I think it could be difference making because of playmakers and speed on the back end. You know, some of that will have to do with Chase Young was coming back. Is he going to look like Chase Young?

And we're already having questions about whether he's playing in week one. So, you know, like, so answer me that stuff first. But I love the defensive line. I think it's the right time. It finally kind of come together at the exact right time. They've got two motivated ends or playing on contract. Their defensive tackle pairing is among the best in the league. John Allen at points in time last year was best in his position.

I do think that linebacker will be something to watch for sure. I don't think they're going to be playing very many of them. But what I'm really excited about is the speed on the back end. and if the line and the pressures do what they're supposed to do, I think they have an opportunity to not just be a good defense, but one that actually gets turnovers. That was what they did not do a year ago. Their 30 yards allowed and they're 26th in turnovers.

That doesn't match up. So they could stop people, but they can't get the ball. Hopefully this year they get the ball. So I believe their defense is going to be very, very good. Baseline good and potentially great. So I think take some of the pressure off the offense. And I look at the skill position players, that I go, you can win with that. So if Howe is a middle of the pack quarterback,

then how does the top five defense with a middle of the pack quarterback not be right there in December for a playoff, for a playoff first? Yeah, I agree with you on the defense for sure. And I think if you're right about Sam Howe, this is a team that competes for a postseason birth. I mean, you know, I've said this a million times. They were eight, eight, you know, They went 500 last year with Taylor Heineke and Carson Wentz a quarterback. They were, you know, bottom, you know, quarter of the league or worse at that position. And if they've got a top half of the league quarterback or right around that, I think the defense has a chance to take a big step up as well.

So I'm assuming, because I was going to ask you, the unit, you know, the player, the whatever, that you feel the best about heading into the season is, what, you would say the defense, but maybe more specifically about the defense, what? The defensive line. I don't have questions anymore. I think, you know, they spent all these assets to get these, you know, top tier talent. Every year there's been some question about one of them, and maybe that still exists for Chase Young, and to a lesser degree on Montchette Sweat, albeit I think he's been very good

for them. He just hasn't had numbers or finishing plays that they're hoping to get. get out of him. But I think he's been very good for them. And that, you know, if he has big numbers, he'll put them in a position that's a choice about how much money he's going to get. And if he's a very, very good player that has eight sats, they're going

to have to make a choice on that, too, about whether you're paying that person 20 to $25 million a year, which is what he's going to be in line for next year. So they've got a lot of questions about it, but it's lined up with I know what Allen is. I now know what pain is. I know what sweat is, but I do think the feeling is a little bit higher

and if it is, Chase Young bringing just about anything to the other side or something resembling what he was pre-injury, they have what could be the dominant unit we thought they would have for the last few years. But what I feel like is most of those questions are answered now. I feel secure in them. So I feel like that is their best unit. I felt for a couple years that unit will take them as far as they will go.

but what is, you know, what's really what makes me most optimistic about it is the speed and interchangeability of the back end this year, I think it's offered them opportunity. You'll notice that Jack Del Rio played the starting defense for one drive the entire preseason. We talk all the time about how offenses play vanilla and they want to hide what they're doing. I actually think the defense tried to hide what they were doing because they're going to have a lot of packages. They're going to be surprising and they're hoping to catch people off guard early in the season. You mentioned the O line. Would that be the unit or maybe the line backing core that you feel the least confident in? Or is it something else that maybe not beaten that isn't on the roster? I'm most concerned about the offensive line. I'm hoping that for all the reasons that we talked about before, that the linebacking core, if it is weak, can be masked by all the people around them and that it won't expose them. But I am worried about that unit on defense. Of the three, you know, unit, that's the spot where I think that they are, they're thin, and they're still

kind of a work in progress, especially Cody Barton and Jamie Davis together. It's a work in progress. So I'm waiting to see what that looks like. But they're so, they interchage people like curl, potentially Martin, potentially Forrest, potentially Butler, where they're kind of pseudo-linebackers that I keep feeling like whatever is the problem there, I think they can figure a workaround to make it work in the defense to be. be functional and be very good. The offensive line, to me, is the biggest concern coming into the season. Last year, I was very worried it would be a weakness. It was. This year, I'm hoping it's not a weakness, but I have a hard time buying it's a strength. So I'm hoping to be proven wrong about

that. So I would go with, I need them to be adequate. And that's what I would hope is going to be the case this year. How much of an upgrade is Eric Bienimi as the offensive coordinator? I think it's tremendous. Now, we'll see. Also, to be fair, I'm watching Sam Howell, you know, look extremely accurate in practice, and last summer, Scott Turner, not by his choice, had to coach a guy who needed to be fixed and was throwing screen passes at people's feet and into the stand. So I want to be fair to Scott Turner here. The person who was chosen to be the quarterback for him last year needed a lot of work. And the person that's chosen to be the quarterback here clearly needs a lot of work, but in a very different way.

And I don't feel like there's a competent problem. So I think there are different scenarios. That said, I mean, the coaching style is not even remotely close to one another. Now, you know, I'll have to leave it up to the players to determine which one they like better. But I do believe that there's far more and it's obvious. Accountability for one another, accountability to the coaching staff. there is an intensity to it that is very, very different. And frankly, when you're scoring 18 points a game with the skill position group that they have,

that's unacceptable. So I think that this is, he is, represents to me, the biggest offseason edition that they've had. He also has a tremendous amount to prove in a prove it year. He chose this, though, right? Like he chose to come here under this scenario. So I'm not, you know, I don't want to put him in like, oh, he's stuck in some situation. he chose to come and do this. But I think from what I've seen so far that they will have a more explosive offense than they've had.

But it will come down to whether the offensive line can protect Sam Hal and give them a chance to do the things that they think they can do. Receptions, receiving yardage, touchdowns receiving. Who leads the team in each of those three categories? I need to know the answer to how serious Terry McClearn's injury is. To really answer that. Let's assume he's healthy week one and plays 17, and so does Johan Dotson. I think Dotson and McClorn will have a similar number of targets and catches. Dawson seems to have more of a flare for scoring, so I'll believe that that's going to be the case.

If you watch the preseason, Hal seems to look his way when he's in trouble. which is always a sign of, that's kind of his guy. So I'll go Doxton, you know, probably close, you know, close with McLaren. I think they'll both be heavily targeted receivers. But Docton, you know, probably I'll give carry more yards and more catches. Or maybe not. Docton, Dodson more touchdowns, carry more catches, yards will be very close. All right.

You can split the difference and call that a draw. Who leads the team in Sacks this year? Oh, boy. I hope it's Chase Young. God, do I hope it's Chase Young. If it's not, then it's probably Monta's sweat. But, again, it's another one. They're not saying, you know, what Chase Young's situation is.

Right. So until I really know the answer to that, it's kind of hard to know, like, what his season looks like. But I'm going to, I mean, Durant Payne really. looks faster than he did a year ago. He had an 11-and-a-half sacks and didn't have Chase Young to work with on the line. But can he replicate that? 11-and-a-half sacks is a lot for a defensive tackle. Can't see him replicating that.

With the motivation of contracts for the two-ends, it's got to be one of them. So I'll say sweat. So in the open to the show today, I talked a little bit about Chase Young. I'm wondering whether or not there is a reason to be concerned. You know, not all stingers are the same, and they are, you know, technically a neck injury. Is there any reason that we, you know, should be concerned about Chase Young right now? Not yet, other than Rivera is not answering questions about it. That said, like typically a pretty good sign that things are okay is when you actually get dressed and warm up,

even if you're not playing in a game. And he did the other night before Cincinnati, so did Logan Thomas. which is why I feel good about him moving forward, carries the one that seems of the three, if you just go by those hints, he seems to be the one that's most in jeopardy to play in week one. But until I hear from Rivera or the staff or the trainers about what's really going on with Chase Young, I don't know.

So I don't know how to answer it at this point. How do we answer the Phil Mathis situation? Is he going to be healthy? Is he going to be a big part of the rotation? or is it going to be 91 Ridgeway for the first part of the season? I would guess it's going to be Ridgeway. Right now, like as of a couple weeks ago, they had Mathis off his leg in a walking boot because of a cap injury.

And I thought when the initial 53 came out, I thought it was going to be possible that they would put him on like some kind of like short-term reserve list to give them, one, because they had a logjam on the defensive line. And I thought that it might solve a problem early in the season And by putting him on the initial 53, it tells me that they're confident that if he does miss time, it won't be that much. But he's another one. We haven't gotten very many updates.

He's at a cap injury. That said, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised when they do this, what they call Cinco Package, that Ridgeway's out there anyway, even if he is healthy. So I don't know what the pecking order is. We know who the starting defensive tackles are. And when they go 5D linemen, they seem very comfortable with Ridgeway in there. So I'm not sure that's his role is yet. And then, you know, first thing's first, you've got to clarify how healthy he is. All right.

Last two for you. What does Ron Rivera need to do to be back next year? Man, I don't want to put a record on it because I really don't know the expectations of the new ownership. I do think that Sam Hal has to be clearly and obviously the right decision. because if they did make the right decision here with that, because of the cap room that's already available to them, the world is this new owner's oyster to go shopping next year and make the team better than it is now.

So I think Sam has a linchpin. He's got to look pretty good. He's got to look apart, and he's got to validate Rivera's trust in him. Secondarily, obviously they can't have a bad record. They can't have a bad record. And I think that goes back to, each of the first three years, they've had really slow starts.

The schedule does not set up for them to have that, especially in week one. Like, I know how you are, you know, like, you don't want to take anything for granted. I think with you, what I said to my producer, my talent said the other day, because he's like, gives a layup playing the Cardinals. And I said, what was the last time the commanders had a winning record in the regular season? And he couldn't answer that question off the top of his head. And I said, any team that you can't remember the last time they had a winning record is saying they have a layup against anybody, it's fool's gold. Like, you're crazy to say that. Now, I believe they've walked into a

pretty good situation here for a week one opponent to get off to the right start, and week two is getting interesting by the day two, as they've had prominent injuries, and we don't know what they are. So it feels like, you know, there's a real opportunity to start fat for the first time under Rivera. And if they are two and O, and they get Buffalo here, they get a very early season show me game at home to see if they are best. better than people expect that they're going to be. And then we'll see where it goes after that. I don't know what the record needs to be for him to keep his job.

I have not heard of expectations. I don't think the ownership is going to put those type of expectations. But I think how doing well, this team either being in the hunt for the division or at least making the playoffs would seemingly matter. And what do they look like at the end of the year? Do they look like their team is trending? Did they stumble into a wild card? I think all of that's going to go into it.

But at this point, it's hard for me to really answer the question other than to take an educated guess. All right. Last one. How many games do they win this year? I think it's nine, and I'm hoping they catch a break somewhere because they play so many close games and it's 10. I do not think they will have a worse record than they did a year ago. I know all the national pundits feel that way, but I don't. It will, to me, and you're going to laugh at me to, you always make fun of talking about schedule when it comes to the end of the season. But it certainly looks like, at least on paper right now, two Dallas games, a 49ers game, a Jets game, and a Dolphins game, as five of their last six, they better, as Eddie Jordan said, harvest those nuts. Because if they have to win a lot of those games late, I think it's going to be a big task.

At least that's what it looks like. And we don't know what's going to happen, but that's what it looks like on paper right now that it's going to be really hard to win a lot of those games at the end. So once we get through the first four, in the middle of the season, are a lot of teams that are, and I think this is fair, on their level, the Bears, the Falcons, the Giants, the Seahawks. Like, win more of those games than you lose, maybe a couple more than you lose, with a couple more of those really close games that you're consistently in. And then we're sitting in a week 18 game where maybe they can get to 10. And in the NFC, I think 10 is good enough to get into the playoffs this year. Yeah, and as Calo told you, you got to make those layups, which means you've got to beat Arizona. I actually think this is a pressure opener for them because the Cardinals are perceived to be so god-awful, terrible.

And it's, you know, as we know, this is kind of a celebratory moment in this season opener. There's going to be a big crowd, probably a sellout. All Washington fans for the first time in a long time, first. game in 24 years without Snyder. That's a big game for the business, short-term business, not long-term, because we're not going anywhere now. There's a long honeymoon period now that Dan's gone, but man, it would really help them out a lot if they won that game. You know what I'm going to tell you, like since we started with, you know, what's different in year-for calling the game, I am anticipating this will be bar none, not close, the best crowd

we've had at FedEx Field in my time calling the game and in a long time just covering the team. I'm expecting an extremely partial, loud, energetic, passionate, burgeoning and gold group of people at FedEx Field. And we have not had that in a very long time. So I'm very excited to see what that stadium looks like for that opener. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it wasn't that bad for the Chargers opener a couple of years ago. You know, first game back after the pandemic.

I'm sorry? It's not going to be this. It's not going to be this. Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah. And, you know, like, what I'm waiting to see is, and I think it could take some time. Like, I think, like, I'm hoping we're going to see because this is a non-premier team.

They don't look like they're going to be good. They don't travel a lot of fans. So, you know, the reality is for the last few years, especially, our building was extremely accessible, which is why people could buy tickets and show up. I have a funny feeling. to see a lot of people in blue against Buffalo because those fans travel at the prime team. And, you know, it wasn't that long ago that this building was still extremely accessible. So I think it could take a year or two to flip the stadium back to being Burgundy and Gold constantly for every game.

But I think this will be a good start. And I do hope that the team kind of rides the momentum of it. They've talked so much about it. You know, they feel it too. You know, like we all feel it. We all know it. Things have changed. Walk around town.

You see what's happening. The energy around it. sponsors are back. People were doing the wave at the end of a third preseason game. That was a pretty good crowd at the end of a third three season game. People are into it. But they got to reward them, which is why I agree. It's a pressure

pack game because they're supposed to win. They're going to be a heavy favorite. That team's going to play either a completely inexperienced quarterback or a guy who showed up yesterday. You have to win this game. And honestly, with that crowd, you kind of have to win big. Send a message. Yeah. And then

go in. You mentioned week two at Denver and there are a bunch of question marks there. And so, you know, you could, you have a chance, you have a chance to start the season off quickly, as you described. And they'll need to do that. You know, just, I don't know how the end of the season shakes out, but just to keep the, this feel good momentum, you know, going, going in a big direction forward. It's not going to stop because Dan's gone and people are going to give these guys time to fix everything, but it would be really beneficial for them and everybody out there if they got off to a start that gave people, you know,

some hope for this first season without Dan. I've got to tell you, if Hal is an answer, Kevin, if he is truly an answer for them, it's going to be like a rocket ship next year because they're going to have a quarterback making no money with 80 million in cap room to go fix the holes that they have with a lot of their stars already under contract. like this is a huge pivot point year for the organization and if he's not and if they don't

believe Rivera is the right guy to fix it even if he's not then it's going to be a transitional year. There's so much on the line, so much on the line for what the real like short-term direction of the team is going to be. And you know, like listen, I'm a fan of the team. I hope we're 10 and 7 and we're playing a wild card game somewhere in January. and we feel like we got a shot to win it, and we feel like how's the future a quarterback? Because I think a lot of decisions for them moving forward,

at least on the field, will get a lot easier if that question is answered. You know, it's an interesting way to look at it, because the truth is when you don't have a quarterback, then any year can be a pivot year if you find out that you do have one at the end of that season. But the difference here is that there's actually some anticipation for a young quarterback that was drafted here,

who's on a rookie deal. So there aren't a lot of those situations around the league. Desmond Ritter is an example of one. I think Pittsburgh feels they already have their answer. And Kenny Pickett, we'll see. He played well at the end of last year. But if Sam Howell turns out to be what you think the over-under number for this year should be, which is somewhere in the middle of the pack of starting quarterbacks in the NFL,

then yes, it will mark the first time since, you know, since at least Kirk was here, where there's a feeling that you've got a legitimate NFL starting quarterback that you can win with. And, you know, I would add to this, and I've talked a lot about this, and maybe you have too. You know, it bothered me when Ron kind of discussed earlier in the offseason that now they were going to focus on roster building when that's actually what they had been doing. And they had been doing a pretty good job of it, actually. You know, I know a lot of the players that are really good, maybe their best players were not brought in by Ron and by Martin Mayhew and Marty Herney,

but they were kept here by those gentlemen, John Allen, Duran Payne, Terry McLorn. And they do have a roster that with really solid to better than solid quarterback play, you can win a lot of games with. I believe that. I think that roster, is ready. I looked at the Jets roster during the offseason before they acquired Aaron Rogers, and I said, Washington

and the Jets are essentially the same team. They've got great defenses. They've got great skilled position players on offense. They just don't have a quarterback. And the Jets went out and bought theirs, and Washington didn't, but

is hopeful that the player they drafted in 2022 turns out to be the guy. And that would be the best case. if it's true. It's the best case scenario. If it happens. It's a good case scenario, hopefully.

Yeah. And it does happen, and Brock Purdy was the last pick of the draft. He's the starting quarterback of maybe the best roster in the NFL. So this happened, right? You don't know. And I will say, again, I'll reiterate. Like, this is the most accurate quarterback I've seen us have since Kirk Cousins was here. Yeah.

So if I told you that he's going to be something close to, and I don't want to, you know, he's not going to be cousins, been around the block way too long, way too experience. I don't think you could have that kind of argument for it. But if I told... I would take it right now. You know I would. You know I would because I love Kurt. Of course. Of course. But I'm a massive, you know, cousins fan. Not everybody is. But the people

that aren't, I don't think, give him the credit of being a legitimate top 10 to top 12 quarterback in the game. And if Sam Hal turns out to be that and maybe a more mobile version, which he would be, then Washington's going to win 10. games this year. I just, you know, Brock Purdy is needle in a haystack. You know, he just is.

You know, you go back through the last, you know, 10 to 12 years and day three quarterbacks just don't make it. Cousins, Prescott, and Purdy are basically the three and Purdy we still aren't completely sure of. But Sam, Bray was a six-round pick. Russ was a mid-round pick. Like, there's a lot of examples of this. Yeah. Like, it's not, like, this is a gap completely abnormal. And I'll tell you what, like, I got to see Cleveland play in the preseason. This guy, Dorian Thompson-Robinson at a UCLA, he's got something too.

I loved him. Yeah, I loved him coming out. They've got a, he'll never play because they've got this contract with DeShon Watson, but he's one of those that I looked at and I went, watch out, you have to give that guy an opportunity, you never know. So, like, I don't, I, again, like, this team has been in quarterback hell for so long. I don't want to put too much pressure on him. But I do like what I see.

I like his demeanor. And like you called Purdy a needle in a haystack he is. In how case, he kind of is because he's a fifth round pick, but he really shouldn't have been. Look at his career stats at a Power 5 school and tell me how he got drafted where he got drafted. It's all based on his size. That's it because he's a half inch taller than I am. That's what it is.

But he's got a requisite arm to do this, which is different than Heidi Kee. He's got a natural ability, he seems to understand the game, and I'm hoping it's to fit with the enemy. And if it is, that it's going to come down to, is their offensive line good enough? And then that, I believe, is the biggest open question for the offense this season. All right, great job. Thanks for doing this.

I kept you too long. I'll talk to you soon. Good luck this year. All right, see you. Good to catch up with Bram. As always, amazing that he is already beginning his fourth season of doing these games. All right.

Back tomorrow. Tim Murray will be one of the guests on the show with college football starting in earnest tomorrow night. Maybe, maybe an early weekend smell test pick for tomorrow night. Back tomorrow. We went to Tokyo, or not Tokyo, but what was that other? Osaka. Osaka and the preseason.

Yeah, won that preseason game. and Mooch, Marucci, the coach there, he said it's the first time he'd ever had an exhibition preseason game that the other team ran the score up on it. We were at 31 to 7 with about a minute and a half left, and we had fourth and one. At about, oh, they're 30 or so.

And one of the assistant coaches said, Coach, go ahead and throw it in end zone. I said, oh, we don't. you sure. I said, okay, so the damn thing. So I think our quarterback went back through another touchdown pass with about a minute lap. So Mootro wasn't real

happy about it, but they beat us during the regular season. They played their varsity the whole game in the regular season. They didn't play their varsity in that preseason game.