The Ringer NFL Show - Philip Rivers and the Sneaky Colts, the Next Pats QB, Brady Stories, and Bill O’Brien Confusion | The Ringer NFL Show

Episode Date: March 19, 2020

Rich Ohrnberger, former NFL offensive lineman and teammate of Philip Rivers, joins the show to talk about how Rivers can succeed in Indianapolis, and how close the Colts are to a deep playoff run (4:00). Then we discuss Tom Brady’s potential in the Bucs offense, justifying Bill O’Brien’s decision to trade DeAndre Hopkins, how the Chargers are the new Bills, and more (16:50). Host: Kevin Clark Guest: Rich Ohrnberger Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Liz Kelly and welcome to the Ringer Podcast Network. We hope The Ringer can provide you entertainment and companionship during this time. So as always, feel free to check out The Ringer.com, where we're still covering the latest in sports, pop culture, tech, and media. And the Ringer's YouTube channel can provide endless amounts of entertainment. You can find that at YouTube.com slash The Ringer. It's the Ringer NFL show, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. I am Kevin Clark, a normal show here on Thursday, our regular schedule show after 2.3. previous emergency pods on this one of the busiest weeks in the NFL in a long time.

A couple of bigger pieces of news today. Todd Gurley released by the Rams. This was somewhat expected that they might try to move him. The outright release is a bit of a surprise. They would have to give him a $10 million roster bonus had he stayed on the roster by 4 p.m. They opted to just cut him loose. It's the second biggest salary cap, dead cap charge in NFL history behind only Antonio Browns around $20 million for the Rams. This is what happens, A, when you start

to get out really big contracts, when you're a good young team, people get really expensive and people get expendable. But beyond that, this is what happens when you sign a running back to a big contract. This is paired with the report that Melvin Gordon is not receiving really any big money interest in free agency. This might be a tipping point for how much help teams view running backs in general, not Dallas. And apparently, not Houston, but a lot of teams are just saying it's not worth the cost. Todd Gurley is a different situation than most. Obviously, the knee has been a problem for a while now, but it's a transaction that seems

unfathomable in 2018. And if you were to tell anybody two years ago that Todd Gurley would be cut and they would take a $20 million dead cap chart just to get him off the roster, I think that people would be shocked by that. But that's the modern game and that's how quickly the NFL moves is unbelievable. next thing, Sean Payton has been diagnosed with coronavirus. He's been positive for about eight days. He still has a few more days left in isolation and quarantine.

Has told reporters that he wanted to come out and sort of educate people about the disease. It's the NFL's first known coronavirus diagnosis, and he's being proactive about telling people about explaining it and going into teaching mode, kind of not much to opine on this. This is, you know, we wish the best for Sean Payton. It probably will not be the last NFL-connected coronavirus diagnosis, but it's, it's an interesting moment in time. All right. I want to tell a story about today's guests. So in January, right before the divisional playoff round, I was on a television show. And also on that television show was Rich Orrinberger.

And it was a Colin Cowherd show. And everybody, myself, every other guest, I think Will Blackman was on that show, too. everybody was talking about how the Ravens were just going to just destroy the Titans that weekend. And I'd written a big piece about it. We had, you know, everyone was, I predicted that the Ravens were going to play the Niners in the Super Bowl, even though I talked Mahomes up that day. It seemed like it was Lamar Jackson's league. It seemed like it wasn't even an issue to beat the Titans.

And then they were going to go and beat the Chiefs to next week or whatever. One person said, you know what? The Titans are going to beat the Ravens. Here's how it's going to happen. Here are the pressures the Titans are going to be able to get. Here's how they're going to be able to contain Lamar Jackson. He was 100% correct on almost everything he said, and it was Rich Ornberger. And from that moment on, having seen that and thinking about that since that game,

especially since how thoroughly I was dunked on for being wrong, I have learned to listen to Rich Warrenberger, and I'm glad we can talk some football. How you doing, Rich? I'm really good. I'm glad to be on with you guys. So let's start with free agency and the week that has been in football because I think that this, this has changed a lot of fortunes for a lot of teams. Just the last week, the Patriots are in a completely different place than they've been for the last 20 years. Teams like the dolphins, even the Browns have helped themselves.

But I want to start with Philip Rivers, a guy you played with. I think that him going to the Colts was strangely lost in everything, even though the Colts are one of the smartest organizations. They have Chris Bauer, one of the best GMs. They had a lot of talent there. Him going there seems like it probably should have been more talked about, but because it happened right before the Brady deal, it was almost strangely under the radar. If you were to compare the two situations,

Rivers in Indianapolis and Brady and Tampa Bay, who has the better chance to make a bigger impact in 2020? Well, on its face, you know, the knee-jerk reaction is going to be Tom Brady, and I completely understand why he's the greatest player who's ever suited up and played the quarterback position in the history of the game. You know, there is no worth debating that point. However, I do think the Colts are in a really good position here.

I think the Colts and Chris Ballard, when he started this process, there was a thought process that Andrew Luck was going to be his quarterback for a very long time. And, you know, like we all know, like we're all feeling right now. Sometimes the road doesn't go the way you think it's going to go. And so when the road zags, you have to sort of go on and zag with it. And having said that, after a trial with Jacoby Brissette, I think he realizes he has a window to win right now. He has some talent with his offensive weapons coming out of the backfield at the tight end position, his receiver position. He just really has a void at quarterback.

And so with a top five offensive line, bringing in a quarterback like Philip Rivers is really going to steady this organization. And since he selected Frank Reich as his head coach, it makes perfect sense. There's going to be synchronicity there because they're used to working with each other. So, well, yeah, all the attention has been on Brady. I think the Colts, they went from being a good team to potentially a great team in just one move. Did you worry a little bit about Rivers last year? He had the 20 interceptions, which, by the way, he's had before and recovered from it. But he is going to be 39 years old.

It's going to be age 39 season 2020. Is there any worry about a decline there? I didn't see any noticeable decline or diminishment in his physical capabilities to play the quarterback position. What I saw was something that is symptom of Philip Rivers when he doesn't have enough time. or when he's playing from behind in games where he's been under attack. He's not a stats guy. He's not playing this position to make sure that he keeps the touchdown to interception ratio personally favorable.

He's in this game to compete to win. And so while sometimes interceptions, especially latent games, can be looked at as an egregious liability. And you look at a player like James Winston who, you know, really, really harms his defense with, with how turnover prone he is. I don't see Philip Rivers as the same type of player. I see him as a type of player who if you're trailing by two scores at the end of the game, he's just not going to play it safe. He understands the clock. He understands the moment.

And sometimes he'll take a gamble and throw a ball into double coverage just to try to make something happen, take a chunk out of the defense and get advanced the ball. So don't read too deeply into those interceptions. He was ranked, you know, in the, I believe it was something like 36th in the NFL among quarterbacks who qualified as far as the time he had to throw from the pocket. I mean, it was an absolute terrible year for that offensive line from a pass blocking standpoint. So with a better offensive line, you'll see the production return. I don't think physically he's fallen off. obviously he has familiar with Frank Reich and a lot of or a few folks in that Indianapolis

coaching staff. But is there a type of offense or something they need to do just schematically to just get Philip Rivers to where he needs to be, having played with him and knowing him? Or is he going to be able to fit in that Reich system pretty quickly because they have so much familiarity with him? Oh yeah, yeah, he'll fit right in. This is a system that he's well versed in. and he actually had one of his better, more recent years with Frank Reich as the offensive coordinator. That wasn't a very good football team, but they did some really nice things with Philip Rivers individually that season that highlighted exactly how talented of a passer he is. I don't think they need to change much, but I will say this. Utilize him very similar to the way that the Saints have utilized Drew Brees, especially later in his career.

make shorter throws. You know, sometimes supplant the run game with the short passing game and it's going to evaluate one-on-one matchups on the outside to throw those deep balls that Philip Rivers really still locates the deep ball extremely well. And if you can sort of get the safeties closer to the box, if you can keep the passing defense honest with underneath throwing, you can really beat a lot of teams deep. So I think that would be a great path for them And then tag that along with Marlon Mack

Who's been a very productive runner And Heinz as a very capable pass catcher out of the backfield It's a pretty dangerous team Yeah, it's funny that you say that he doesn't do well When he's behind two touchdowns Or he just takes risk because that's him Unfortunately, because he's played for the Charter 15 years That has been everything he's ever done

has led up to being down two scores with three minutes to go or eight points with one minute to go. I mean, it is unbelievable. It will be so nice to see him in a competent environment where maybe he's up one score with two minutes to go. I mean, I know it seems unfathomable. Maybe he's the one that's nursing elite. It would be amazing to see. Do you think that, you know, they make the DeForest Buckner trade to in Indianapolis. And, I mean, on paper, I mean, they had some health issues last year.

Derris Mounder was banged up last year. but they've drafted really, really well, as we all know. Where are they on the AFC pecking order? Because I think that everyone thinks, and I think this too, that Baltimore and Kansas City are kind of on the A plus list, and everybody else in the AFC is below that. And I don't know how far below they are. But take me through that.

Where is Indianapolis on your AFC hierarchy? And how close are they to being in that top group? Wow, yeah, that's a great question. I would probably say with the addition of an absolute, and I mean this in the kindest way possible because it is the ultimate flattery coming from an offensive lineman, a freak like the Forrest Buckner on that defensive line. He really is.

He can play the three. He can play the five, which means he can line up over a guard. He can line up over a tackle. You can sneak him in there at nose and have him rush over a center. He's durable. He's long. So when he locks out those arms,

I mean, you're a mile away and just hanging on for dear life sometimes. So adding that level of talent up front for the Indianapolis Colts and sort of going all in on this year. They traded away a 13th overall pick to get them. I thought it was intelligent. And then as we spoke about the addition of Philip Rivers, I think it vaults them up to a top four, top five team in the AFC. Now, that's assuming that the Patriots can figure it out, right? Like, it seems like they always do, even though they don't have Tom Brady, you know, that you would argue that they almost from a legacy standpoint have to be up there at the top. You know, and like you mentioned, Kansas City, Baltimore.

But the Colts, man, look out for the Colts this season. I'm telling you, that's going to be a team to watch. Give us your best film perverse story. All right. So one game, and I forget the game exactly. But I remember the circumstance so well. We were playing a home game at then Qualcomm Stadium. It's now called SDCCU down in San Diego. And the offense sputtered. And I'm on the field goal team. So I have to stay on the field, you know, fourth down comment. But Philip has no business being on the field on fourth down when we're kicking a field goal. But Philip was on the field and he was absolutely lighting up a referee. Now, from. 15 yards away, I couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but I mean, he's got a finger in his face and, you know, he is going off. So I come running over, and this is my first year with the Chargers,

and I realize he isn't cursing at all, which is probably the reason why he didn't get flagged. But he's like, you know, and I think it was a Bill or Witt, one of these rests, he's like, come on, Bill, I mean, you saw him, he was all over the dang gum receiver in the corner of the answer. You know, he's he's daggumming him. He's, he shoot, come on, shoot daggum. Like, you know, that's, in his southern drawl, he is, he is trashing the no call on the pass interference so viciously that all of a sudden the official reaches for his flag, and I have to physically remove rivers from the field and push him toward the sideline

and then sprint to the offensive line to get ready. You know, our kicker is standing there. You know, just sort of like, I mean, are we going to do this? Do we need to take a time out? But he is an emotional guy. And, you know, he lives this. He breathes this. I mean, it's important to him. And so, you know, those are the moments that I cherish because even though in the moment I was just frustrated and trying to, you know, kick his butt off the field, that's what made it so fun to play alongside a player like Philip Rivers. Yeah, there are a lot of Philip River stories. I did a story a couple years ago about how Andrew Luck compliments players when he sacks them, when they sack him.

And when I was reporting that, there were a handful of players. I remember Pernel McPhee saying it, was that who said that Andrew Luck is the weirdest player to sack because he does that. But second weirdest is Philip Rivers because he just keeps talking trash. Like as he's falling to the ground, you can nail him to the ground. and he will just keep chirping while he's on the ground. Like, nothing can stop him. He's an unstoppable force of the kind of trash talk you just described. I'll give you another story.

So I think we were playing the Broncos, and I think he was trash talking Von Miller one time. And I'm in there at right guard, and, you know, he got the ball away before Von could get to him. If I'm remembering this correctly, I remember whipping around as soon as I heard him open in his mouth. And I'm like, yo, yo, no. no, no, no, no, no.

And I pushed Von away from him. And I go, what are you doing? I'm like, you're trying to make him mad? I'm like, that's only going to make my life harder. I said, dude, that's 58 over there. Can we take it easy a little bit? You know, but that's his, look, his energy. He has this exuberance for the game.

And that's what gets him fired up. I mean, it's not always what's best for your starting right guard, but that's what gets him fired up. Yeah. All right. So let's go back to the other veteran quarterback. switch team this week, Tom Brady. The Tampa Buccaneers.

Now, we, it is totally unknowable right now what the Patriots path to contention looks like. Exactly what you said. Because we don't know if they're going to try to roll with Stidham and sort of a mid-tier veteran. I mean, right now we're in a very weird situation that the supply for quarterback

now outstrips the demand. That almost never happens. There's only 32 of these spots, and so many of these teams think that they're okay at quarterback or have made a move in the last week to sort of shore this up. So you have a guy like Andy Dalton is going to be expendable as soon as the draft comes around.

Joe Flacco, depending on how you feel about him, he's at least available if you wanted a mid-tier kind of lower tier quarterback, but a veteran nonetheless. Cam Newton, if he's healthy, is obviously a nice option, but that's a big if. And then James Winston in Tampa Bay. So having more than 32 quarterbacks who could conceivably play, I don't know if competent is the word when you're talking about Joe Flacco, but he could take a snap. that's a rare situation. So we don't know what's going to go on with the Patriots

and how they choose whether or not they go for a Derek Carr type. I don't know in a trade. But we know what Tampa looks like right now. Where do you put them as far as contenders, knowing what that roster is, and kind of the same question asked about Rivers, is there a chance that Brady's just not good this year? Or did you see enough to where you know he's going to be able to get the ball in Evans

and Godwin's hands? Yeah. Similarly with Rivers, I didn't notice any, you know, sharp decline in Tom Brady. And you'll know it when you see it. I mean, I respect a lot of the voices around the NFL who will, you know, report that, well, it's obvious. We're seeing a decline. Well, how obvious is it? I mean, the cupboards were bare in New England.

They didn't replace Gronk. They tried many times to service him from a receiver standpoint. Josh Gordon didn't work out. Harry, they took the ASU receiver with the first pick, and that didn't work out. Antonio Brown was able to log a single game early season against the dolphins. That didn't work out. So they tried. They just failed, and it was a tumultuous year on the offensive line.

So it led to some poor play, but that was still a double-digit win season for Tom Brady. and while it wasn't his best box score year, again, I didn't see any of the, you know, implications that he wasn't going to be able to do it just a season later. So I think from a physical standpoint, he's going to be able to compete unless, of course, he hits that proverbial ledge that we've seen other Hall

Fame quarterbacks hit, you know, Brett Favre most recently, you know, he was there and then he wasn't. You know, Peyton Manning, his final season with the Denver Broncos, He was the same guy until he wasn't. So it can happen this season, but if you're going to base it off of last season, I think he still has something left in the tank. Bruce Ariens favors a vertical game.

I'm curious if they don't curtail that a little bit more to sort of preserve his arm. Because look, he is 42 years old. You know, he's no spring chicken. So if you could keep him from throwing, you know, the fastball, pitch and then maybe he will be more durable for your organization. But I think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did themselves a huge favor. In this league, it's very simple. If you have a great offensive and defensive line and you have a great quarterback,

you've got basically all the ingredients you need to go on and be great. You got to get those right. You need to build in the trenches. You need at very least a competent, solid starter at quarterback. And then you really do have a chance. And Tampa Bay, to me, looks like one of those teams that looks good on the offensive line. They look good on the defensive front. And they have the greatest quarterback of all time at Tom Brady.

Okay. So I want to get a great Brady story from you, but I want to save that to the end because I need to move on very quickly to another. You obviously play for the Patriots for three years, three seasons. You were coached on offense by Bill O'Brien. What the hell is happening? And let's get more specific here. So what is there something about Bill O'Brien's personality that he just, he, I don't want to use the word ego as far as these things go. But, you know, obviously he's the GM.

He kind of, he has unchecked power. Is there something about his personality that would lend these stars at Dundra Hopkins to knock it along with him? Or what is it about Bill O'Brien that's sort of leading to this? Look, Billy O. is a fiery guy. I mean, I remember when the. Houston Texans were on hard knocks and people got a vista into what it was like in the meeting room or on the field with Billy O'Brien. Now, I was with him in New England. He was offensive coordinator at the time prior to him taking the head coaching job with Penn State and then moving

on to the Texans from there. But even as a coordinator, he was extremely vocal. If he had a problem with you, he let you know about it. And he minced no words. And so that's a personality that could potentially butt up against other personalities. It's also a personality in my time with him that I really appreciated because he was a straight shooter. You always knew where you stood with him. But yeah, I don't know what exactly transpired between he and DeAndre Hopkins. But if it was a personality difficulty, if these two were not communicating effectively, and Billy O'Brien, his sole focus was sort of, rescuing his locker room from D'Andre Hopkins, maybe he felt like getting beat on this trade was worth it.

But what he received in return from the Cardinals was not commensurate with the type of player, at least production-wise, on the field of D'Andre Hopkins. I mean, that was a confounding trade that came down the wire. Is there any case to be made that not paying, and this is just me just trying to understand this from a different perspective, is there any case to be made, the trading D'Andre Hopkins, getting them off the salary cap and not paying them the reported $20 million, whatever it is, is there any case to be made that that is the right move? Or would you just pay D'Andre Hopkins? Well, look, it's certainly not a popular move amongst the fan base and potentially amongst players in the locker. Yeah. But yeah, from a fiscal standpoint, that is the only way you can sort of side with, or I should say, that's the only way you can suppose there was, and there must have been some logic behind making this trade to free up cap space.

Yeah, yeah, you would hope so. We'll see. I mean, we'll see if he makes us all look foolish, you know, Because, like we've seen in the past, sometimes there isn't enough clarity behind what exactly transpired until much later on. If I'm remembering the circumstance correctly, the Houston Texans traded away Brock Osweiler to the Cleveland Browns for virtually nothing. And I remember at first glance, everybody was like, what are you doing? but then, you know, secondarily, you sort of come to your senses and say, well, they got rid of a big old contract.

And so that's pretty much that, you know, even though they gave away a second round pick form. I mean, I guess the solution there is to never sign Brock Osweiler in the first place, but I don't think, Brock Osweiler famously did not meet Bill O'Brien until he stepped foot in the facility.

You know, it was, that was, that whole thing, the Brock Osweiler thing was very strange. And I can understand both for the Sashi Brown's ability to get, the second round pick from it and their ability to get him off the books, why that made sense at that point. I mean, that was, that was basically a sunk cost thing at that point. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm trying my best to justify the Hopkins trade. I'm trying my best. I have a hard time

seeing how, how this has a positive impact on the Texans, but I'd like to be, I'd like to be surprised and see Billy O. figure it all out. Yeah, I don't see a path there, but that's, and listen, he keeps winning divisions. He's not like he's a horrific coach here, but there's something you just wish he was a better, from the Texans perspective, you just wish he was a better organizational

leader and that people like Deshawn Watson could thrive even more. All right, let's switch gears for a second. You are now high after the last couple of days on the Chargers. They don't get Tom Brady, but it looks like they're going to ride with Tyrod Taylor. Maybe they add

somebody at the sixth pick. You called them the new, they had the possibility to be the new bills this year, where they're just basically have roster talent everywhere and they just take the leap from kind of middling team to really good team. What do you see from them? What did they do that specifically impressed you with the team building? I mean, it really is a cumulative thought process. The idea that they had an issue at their interior defensive line moving on from Brandon Mebain and they addressed it in free agency by getting Linville Joseph. They have bookend pass rushers in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram off the edges. They have Derwin James, who is arguably, when healthy,

one of the most fantastic defensive players in this league, I mean, just an explosive playmaker. They add Harris Jr. at the corner position. They still have Casey Hayward over there. Ray Sean Jenkins, I mean, Desmond King, they are loaded on the defensive. defensive side of the ball. And so I look at that defense and I say, well, that's solid, but what have you done offensively in free agency besides letting Philip Rivers walk? Well, not so fast. They signed Brian Belaga to sort of fill in that Russell and O'Coon position. They traded Okun to the Panthers to bring in Trey Turner, a five-time pro bowler at guard. If Mike Pouncey comes back healthy from a neck injury, that means you have

three pro bowlers playing next to each other on the offensive line. That's a pretty good start there in rebuilding a real position of issue from a season ago. And you still have Keenan Allen on the outside. You re-signed Austin Echler, who has been a very productive back for you. You have Mike Williams, who's proving to be a downfield threat and a red zone target. And so the big question mark is, well, what are you going to do a quarterback? And I, I mean, when I look at Taylor and Alan, who is currently the starting quarterback in Buffalo, I don't see all that many differences. If you really look at those two players, again, you know, you're going back a ways with

Tarad Taylor, but they're mobile quarterbacks who you can design runs with, who aren't going to lose you too many games because they're relatively careful with the football. they're both. I don't know about Josh Allen on that one. Yeah, this season, he coughed up a few. I agree with you there. He was a liability in certain games. But overall, that defense carried Allen.

He was able to get things going with a good offensive wine who kept him upright for the most part. And I really feel like the Chargers closely resemble that 2019 Buffalo Bills team for those reasons. I will say this. So Josh Allen had 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions last year, which is, is, is. not bad. Considering the amount of just unbelievably errant throws he has, the fact that he is able to have to keep the interceptions kind of in line with NFL norms is fine. The 14 fumbles is kind of wild. Yeah. It is. It's absolutely. But you know, and if you look at Terad Taylor during his time as a starter, especially, he's pretty careful with the football. So it's one of those situations where

if you have a great defense, you have an offense with enough and a good offense, line and a quarterback who won't lose you games, you've got a recipe for some success. And so even though the AFC West, you share the division with the chiefs, I think the Chargers look pretty good. Yeah. I mean, I think both the bills and the Chargers are good. I think they're both good team building lessons. I agree that you probably couldn't improve on both Taylor and Allen in a perfect world, but that's just not the way it looks like it's going to go, especially for Buffalo. and I think that they actually have a lot of faith in the now and going forward. And who am I to dismiss that at this point?

But what I like about the Chargers from a team building standpoint, and this has been going back a couple of years. And I've noticed that they tend to do the obvious thing a lot. Like they tend to take, you know, everyone was saying, oh, Darwin James is falling. Well, then they just took Darwin James. You know what I mean, it's they got everyone saying, well, why is Chris Harris available?

Well, then they just went and got Chris Harris. Linval Joseph is a guy who I feel like when you sign a Linval Joseph for the amount of money he got, that in a couple of months everybody says, wait, why was Linval Joseph available for only that much money? I mean, it just seems to me like they don't overthink the team building process, which there's not a lot of teams who do that. And so I think it's really interesting when I look at how this team is made. They always seem to almost do the simplest thing every time. And I think that there's probably some value in that. and they have a lot of talent because of that.

And I think the team Tom Telesco is built is interesting to me. All right, let's do some quick hits. Who won for agency, Rich? Who won? This is going to sound really odd because we've barely spoken about them or haven't at all. I think the Carolina Panthers did themselves really well. So Teddy Bridgewater, he's young, he's talented, he's been a starting quarterback and has had a high success rate as a starter in his past. Now, health is an issue, but he stayed healthy while he was in for Drew Brees last season,

and he's going to be working in the same St. System with Joe Brady in Carolina that he was working with Sean Payton with New Orleans. So I think that's a great scheme fit for Teddy Bridgewater. I'm really interested in seeing how it works out. But among all the players we talk about in free agency, the quarterback's the most important to get right. And while Tom Brady is excellent, and so is Philip Rivers. They have a short window. The Carolina Panthers could have found their franchise quarterback for a very long time. Interesting.

Who lost it? Yeah. I mean, as of right now, I mean, I hate to say it, but the Houston Texans, it's a head-scratching trade, you know, what they did there. So, you know, Johnson for Hopkins until proven otherwise, that's going to be a head-scratcher. Who's the Patriots quarterback week one, 2020? Jared Stidham. So you think they might, we talked a little bit out there, do you think they might be trying to take a step back

and try to get a nice draft pick this year? Not necessarily. From what I've heard from, look, early in Jimmy Gropolo's time with the Patriots, he was impressing people. And we got to see him briefly during the deflategate suspension of Tom Brady and he impressed people.

Jared Stidham, I'm hearing similar reports about how he's been able to lead on the practice field and produce. And they've done a nice job grooming quarterbacks who can run their system in New England. So I think they're all set. I think they're going to keep it rolling with Jared Stidham unless something avails itself in free agency, you know, sort of a high ceiling, low salary guy. Or if a draft pick falls in their lap at a round and a pick that they are interested, in. I do think it's going to be Stidim.

All right. Let's get you out on this. Give me, give us a good Brady story. Okay. So the first time I walked in to, I actually may not have been the first time I walked into the weight room over at the stadium, but it was, it was one of the earlier days. It was definitely the first time I was in the, the weight room with Brady. And, you know, it was just a rookie only day. We were out on the field doing some, you know, conditioning work. We came into the weight room to get a lift in. And he's walking around, he's doing, you know, he's exercising, but he's walking around the weight room and he's introducing himself to all these guys.

You know, he's going up to, you know, Ron Brace, who was our second round pick, and Julian Edelman and Jake Ingram. We had like 11 guys, Patrick Chung. We had 11 guys drafted that year in 2000. And so that offseason, this is the first time we were all in the same room as Brady. And so I'm thinking about what I'm going to say to him. And he had his back to me. It was nearby.

He turns around and I am face to face with him. And I stick out my hand to shake his hand. And I'm like, hey, Tom, damn glad to meet you. I was like, you know, I wanted to be on a first name basis because if you're going to have your hands between my legs, I figure we should be friends. And I gave him a big hug. and he is not ready for this. So he just starts awkwardly laughing.

And then I'm like, we're going to be best friends. And he just starts hysterically laughing. And then he was like, it's great. You know, pats me on the shoulder. Like, it's great to meet you, buddy. You know, and he moves on. But that was, I remember thinking to myself like, this guy, he has the gall to walk up to rookies and be like, hi, I'm Tom.

It's like, yeah, no kidding. You've won three Super Bowls. You've been in the league for 10 years. We're aware. We know who you are. I like that. I like that he goes up and says, hi,

I'm Tom. That's always the big book on him as he knows everybody's names and stuff like that. And that's not true of a lot of guys in the NFL. Like, I mean, there's some people, I don't know if I've ever told us around the pop, but I was at an NFL facility last winter in 2018.

And this, I was waiting for somebody and this assistant coach was, hanging out in the same hallway I was in, and this linebacker walked past. And the assistant coach who was on offense goes, who the hell was that? And the team employee I was with said, that guy's been on the team all year, man. Like, I mean, sometimes it just, you just don't, you just have blind spots on, even though it's 53 guys or whatever, you just don't know. So I kind of like that, uh, that Tom Brady did that. I so, uh, so I take it that, uh, the relationship from there, uh, you, you became less nervous around Tom Brady. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you know, it was always good. I would say this about New England in general. From the outside looking in, and even from some of the stories I'm willing to tell about my time there, you know, it's a nervous place to work because the expectations are extremely, extremely high. But if you're a worker and you're somebody, you know, who's smart enough to handle the mental side of things, and you're somebody who, you know, can sort of roll with the punches that are dealt and understand what we're all there to do. There's time for fun and there was certainly a good repartee between, you know, the players and the coaches. Bill, I think, is mischaracterized as this, you know, complete, you know, shut in or, you know, like somebody who's uninterested in talking.

Like, he really, I mean, recently he's been doing more media. I saw the NFL top 100 stuff, or all century stuff. He really, he's a good chat. He's a pretty good hang. He likes to laugh. And so, you know, he creates an environment where there's time for work, but there's also time to be social and enjoy yourself to a certain extent. And so, yeah, Tom, Tom being there for as long as he was,

he sort of fell right in line with all that. Bill Belichick being a good hang is the way we needed to end this podcast. That was the information we all needed. Thank you for joining us. You got it, Kevin. All right. Thank you to Rich for joining us. We'll be back next week.

Who knows what news will happen by then. Probably some more quarterback news with just the different amount of quarterbacks available. But yeah, this has been the Renfell show on the Ringer podcast network.