The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Conference Championship Recap With Chris Long | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

Russillo is joined by two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long to recap 49ers-Packers and Chiefs-Titans and preview Super Bowl LIV. Then they review the film '1917,' offer a bit of a history lesson including a brand-new segment called War or Prison, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's episode of the ryan rossillo show on the ringer podcast network is brought to you by state farm just like basketball the game of life is unpredictable talk to a state farm agent and get a teammate who can help you navigate the unexpected uh is it unpredictable that the pacers continue to win games, put up a really nice record without Oladipo? Well, that should be predictable because they actually did it last year after he went down. I'm not saying they were a great playoff team because they weren't

because they didn't have a lot of scoring options, but as they continue to navigate through this Eastern Conference that is better with a nice win against Denver, they still have done it without Oladipo, although he should be back soon. Get a teammate just like Oladipo who can help you navigate the unexpected talk to a state farm agent today Chris Long can you believe that the Oladipo part of this was not even in the read I mean that was a that was an ad lib there but I want I want to shout out Malcolm Brogdon yeah there you go. Waterboy. Wahoo Wah. Isn't he part of Waterboys too? Yeah, he is. Yeah.

Virginia guy, Hoops 2-0 president. He's basically running the clean water initiative side of our thing in the NBA. So yeah. And he's balling in Indiana, right? Because I haven't been watching. So forgive me. No, that's okay. If he's not. No, they've been doing really well. This is pretty exciting stuff. Speaking of everything that we get to that's okay he's not no they've been doing uh they've been doing really well this is this is uh it's pretty exciting stuff speaking of everything that we get to that's exciting before we even get to it uh i was lucky enough to go on the live stream show with uh the seville crew yesterday what did you have with uh chalk media coming up this week lucky was a i think we were lucky to have you there were some you, some of the people watching the live stream wanted some historical context on war generals. I know we're going to talk about, uh, some, some wartime activity today. Uh, so they wanted Ryan Rosillo on the line.

That's right. Yeah. So, uh, we will review 1917. All right. So the people wanted me in on the George Washington stuff or no, because they wanted that. They wanted to know what you know about George Washington. And you were able to clear up some of the stuff that we were wondering about. And it was great having you on, talking football, talking history. We got two pods coming up this week, as usual. And probably won't do any live watches this weekend because there's nothing going on. But, you know, check out our YouTube channel, see what we got cooking. Got some Kilimanjaro stuff actually kelsey bo allen a number of guys i did interviews with on the mountain last

year when i took a bunch of guys up killy we would stop outside the tents if guys weren't dead tired and i do an interview so we're gonna we're gonna air some of that previously unreleased stuff okay sounds good so make sure you check that out chalk media with chris long and all of their guests okay so this is the plan and i i teased it a bit here and we both saw 1917 recently we want to review that um i have all sorts of notes in here it says faces of death vhs uh we also have tom brady's future um is conjunctivitis underrated? Although, you know what? You're worried about pink eye because could it be that, you know, somebody's going to text us or send a note to the show being like,

you have no idea how devastating, you know, pink eye can be in parts of Canada. You know, so. What is conjunctivitis? Is that pink eye? Yeah, pink eye. Okay. Never called it the. I always worry about that when i'm changing a diaper

and like uh you know i get some baby uh you know yeah i got graphic no we get it i think we understand eventually you scratch your eye at some point in the day and from everything i know from the movies that's how you get pink eye yeah or outbreak you're on a plane with a diseased monkey and next thing you know whole towns are getting quarantined and good luck good luck chucking out your town trends on zillow once you have a diseased monkey running around you know what i mean i got a three bedroom here maybe 1700 square feet you know it's it's near the schools good facilities yeah but if there's if there's an outbreak in manhattan beach the, the property value goes way down.

So, yeah. I think an outbreak, I've read that Manhattan Beach is even outbreak-proof. Is it? There's only so many lots, and there aren't any new ones. That's the way to drive the price up. Right. In the event of an apocalypse.

That's right. Like, hey, man, they're not going up. All right? Okay, so that's what happens at the start of a football podcast when you have these two conference championship games that are for the most part other than say the first half of chiefs titans kind of boring and before we go back and recap all this stuff because i actually do like this sunday more than the divisional round which i know no one agrees with i've looked back and thought thought those back-to-back games sometimes are the best.

You still have the home field part of it, so it's not really the Super Bowl. But now that it's Niners and Chiefs, so the first time in 50 years, by the way, which seems crazy that it had taken this long for this team to get back to the Super Bowl. First glance, first quick reaction as this Super Bowl matchup before we go back and kind of talk about what happened in the games. Well, somebody made this point on our group text last night. Imagine if it was you that did. Imagine if the Chiefs were in a big market, how ugly it would have gotten at different junctures over the last 50 years. It is. It is me last night on the group text because, you know,

Kansas City is consistently praised as maybe the destination. Look, Green Bay's up there. Being in New Orleans for an NFL game is different than other NFL cities. There are some great NFL cities. I think the Titans have a really good one with how they treat that team in Nashville. New England's always weird because it's not Boston. But yeah, Foxborough shows up. But they're obviously spoiled.

It's almost like Alabama a little bit. But I think if you took people that would remove their biases from this, they would say Kansas City is kind of one of those places that you want to go to, the model franchise. But if they were in a harder media market, this wouldn't be, wow, they got their 50-year, 100-year anniversary of the NFL season. What a great way to tie it all together. Lamar Hunt trophy to the Hunt family. All those

things are really good things, but if that's in New York or Chicago or Boston, that franchise would be getting crushed way more regularly than they do. They're applauded for the drought where other cities, there's no way it would be covered this way. I'm not saying it's a negative

like, hey, let's be more negative about the Chiefs. I'm not doing that. I just think it's a very distinct difference with the way that market plays out. No, it seems like, Hey, listen, everything about Kansas city seems awesome. Uh, I've always said this. It might not be, in my opinion, the loudest stadium. I know people are going off the, you know, by the way, I love the, the decibel thing that comes up during the game. It's like rock concert, a hundred decibels conversation, 60 decibels. I'm like, oh, so a rock concert's only two conversations or like, that doesn't make sense to me. Anyways, I think Seattle's louder, but as far as a stadium scape, I know we do the city scapes after a big play. If you pan Arrowhead stadium, it's about as beautiful as any place in

the cold. Like yesterday when the sun went down and when you play and it's like five degrees and then the shadow hits the field, you know, you got the sun through like two, three quarters and that shadow hits the field. That's where I thought that Tennessee was going to impose their will because I thought they were built for the cold. Throw that out the window. You know, they really impressed me. Kansas City did yesterday answering the bell. And this Super Bowl is going to be awesome. I mean, it's the most expensive secondary market of all time for tickets.

I think they're going for like six grand. I think part of that has to go, has to do with the fact that it's in Miami. But these are two teams that are fun. Like, you know, I would count the Pats-Eagles Super Bowl as fun. I would count, you know, Atlanta and New England as fun, but I played in those. And I was talking to somebody yesterday that said, this is the first Superbowl in a while that feels really fun. And it is, I mean, you've got analytics football. Uh, I think Mina Kimes brought this up. You had analytics football on one side, uh, you know, meeting smash mouth football on the other. And, you know, it's the most pass happy and run happy team respectively in the league.

So it's this kind of cool clash of styles. But even the run stuff isn't boring. Like Shanahan's found a way to keep this new age crowd engaged because every play is jaw dropping design. And, you know, they've made blocking cool. Everybody on the team blocks. I mean, Debo blocks, Kittle blocks. I mean, obviously that's been, I mean, Kittle blocks his ass off. We all know it by now. They run traps

on third and eight for like 30 yards. I mean, they do things differently, but it's so different that it's interesting. And I think this is going to be a lot of fun. I think the over-under is like 54. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes for like 60. Kansas City's favored by a point. You've got the Dee Ford storyline. You know, last year kind of blew it for Kansas City. This year, he could effectively blow it for Kansas City again. So there's a ton of storylines. And then Andy Reid's back. He's got to feel good about his weapons compared to what he had in 04, I think it was. You know, T.O. had a broken ankle. He had a bunch of other guys that most people haven't heard of, like Pinkston, Greg Lewis, Freddie Mitchell. Now he's got Hill, Watkins, Hardman, Kelsey.

He's got to feel pretty good about it. So this is going to be a lot of fun. Yeah, all right. So, I mean, if we're going through and we're recapping everything, the San Francisco non-passing part of this is the biggest story, at least from the two games for me.

You know, it felt like social media. Once Kansas City had one possession, was down 10-0. They're like, oh, here we go with Tennessee. And I'm at home watching this and then kind of watching how it's playing out, too, going, can Kansas City get the ball a second freaking time before we write them off in their own stadium here? And Mahomes has that rushing touchdown at the end of the first half to get the ball back.

And there was, you know, there was a few little things there, but it just didn't really feel like at any point that I was scared for Kansas City. Before the playoffs started, before the season started, it was Philadelphia and Kansas City for me in the Super Bowl. Then Philadelphia had its issues. And then before the playoffs started, this is kind of what I thought it was going to be. I picked San Francisco against Kansas City here in this one. But then on the other side for the Niners, and I agree with you, the running thing, like I don't notice it the way you notice it. But when I see Juszczyk coming in on a fullback block to the right side, but it's actually a run to the outside of the tight end to the left.

And then Juszczyk, after showing that he's going to hit maybe between the guard and the tackle, he comes back around like he's going to clean up the edge. Fakes inside for a block to get outside to block somebody else. And you're going, this stuff is crazy. Because if there's anything you're ever taught, it's follow the fullback, follow the fullback, you know, the ball's going to be there. And they sent the fullback to two different positions before he ultimately, like, was going to where he was designing the block. And San Francisco went 24 game minutes without Garoppolo throwing a pass.

An hour and a half, 90 real minutes where you're watching that game being Garoppolo hasn't had to pass and they hadn't needed to and maybe against a Green Bay team that I think was worth getting to for a little bit here you know Shanahan going through some of the postgame stuff he was just like look we wanted to run but early on we thought hey we have an advantage here we're going to be able to run all day and I thought against Minnesota Shanahan shut Garoppolo down I think in this game it was clear Shanahan's like we don't even need an advantage here. We're going to be able to run all day. And I thought against Minnesota, Shanahan shut Garoppolo down. I think in this game, it was clear Shanahan's like, we don't even need him. We don't even need to. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if that's scary. I don't know if that's a knock on Garoppolo. Garoppolo has won games for this team. He's

not the reason they win games. We both know that. But to go six of eight and be dominant, to be what up? 27-0, 37-20 the final. They blew them out in the regular season too. San Francisco was the better football team, but I can't tell if the Garoppolo thing is something that makes me want to pick the Niners in the Super Bowl or if it makes me want to pick the Chiefs because I think I'm leaning Kansas City. Well, I like Kansas City. I think Kansas City's speed, at least offensively, is going to be a lot. Now, I think defensively, when you watch San Francisco play, one of the most frustrating things if you bet against them and you're actually hoping that it's a competitive game is how quickly they close on outbreaking routes, on stuff where guys are getting the ball underneath. It's like they're sure tacklers. They're on it quick. But to your point on the other side of the ball,

it is this old school smash mouth team statistically, but it looks very different. You know, I was talking to my pops because he was down on the sideline. And, you know, he's like, man, Kittle, like, it's unbelievable. He puts on a clinic. It's not like he's the biggest guy in the world. He just, he's interested in blocking. He's got great hand placement. His elbows are always in.

He's underneath. Those underneath hands, those are tough. You know, obviously, everybody saw it against Minnesota. And then last night, even when Zedarius was holding the edge decently, you know, everybody's popping up the replay because that's the storyline. But the guy blocks his ass off. 44, you know, I played against him in Baltimore. He doesn't look like this prototypical 90s fullback. I mean, he's a guy, he's a jack of all trades. He can catch the ball. He can run with the ball, but also the stuff you mentioned, he can make mid-flight adjustments

where he's got to pick up a guy who's a free runner. That's not even his job. He gets just enough a piece of him and then heads out to the perimeter. They're built old school schematically in a lot of ways, but they look much different in spots. And Terry Bradshaw threw 11 passes. He was 9 for 11 in the Super Bowl. I think Terry mentioned that last night in the game. And Jimmy, if you're watching the last two games, you might think that he'd break that record. Now he's going to need to be the New Orleans Jimmy where he has to light it up a little bit. And that's what might

scare you. And I don't think you're disrespecting Jimmy by just wondering if he can do that on the biggest stage. He hasn't had to do that thus far. They've had a pretty good draw. Minnesota was a good draw for them. Green Bay, I've talked about it all year. They are not built to play in December and January, and that played itself out yesterday. You thought the first one was a fluke. I kind of bit the cheese on A-Rod in the big game. It doesn't matter if they get down. They're not built to be down. And when you play that stretch zone stuff, you can't be on different levels. And that's what always made me nervous. The down three guys are kind of in this read mode, and you see what that gets you when you play San Francisco. Different levels.

The edge guys go up the field, they get some penetration, and the inside guys are flat or they're giving movement, and the holes are big enough to drive a truck through. Now, Mosert, awesome. I mean, like, what a story. Six, seven teams he gets cut by. You can't help but be happy about him, but I heard some people on Twitter yesterday, like, my coach sucks or my franchise sucks because we had him at one point

look at him now i think it it goes the other way there were also six other places that he didn't do that and so shanahan's doing a great job you know hats off to most certain and this is a likable team it really is everybody there plays hard they buy in and they play loose the mostard story is incredible because you know the first time you're watching him because they bring over tevin and you're like all right that makes sense it's compliment to to brita and then you're like who's this mostard dude you're like it's a little like whenever i see latavius murray have a nice carry i go how come he's not better like he looks like a defensive end playing running back and he's been on a few different teams but it's i think it's kind of clear even though the nfl can get it wrong at

times you go look he's a complimentary piece he's not somebody you're going to build around and then mostert comes in and i was reading this morning that like all of their all of their guys that carry the football they they want to run a 4-4 better it doesn't mean that i think every single guy runs a 4-4 but he seems to have some explosiveness a gear for a guy his size that is just different and once shanahan as he pointed out saw some of the runs they were breaking off he's like you know what we don't really need garoppolo right now i want to stay on the shanahan thing for a second though because you know this mike shanahan tree that everybody made fun of as the mcveigh tree last year at least early returns here is as much as

it was like, Hey, let's make a joke about this. Like the jokes on everybody that thought it wasn't going to work because the floors on the other side, who was part of that Washington group, McVeigh in the super bowl last year. And, you know, despite my dislike of nepotism and not just that other people get opportunities, but it shuts out other people. And then it means that other guys want to get their sons or daughters jobs. Cause they're like, well, wait a minute, if you let this guy do it, then I want to do it too. So it's not just the one time, but you know, Mike with Kyle was like, you need to go somewhere else and call plays and you need to be a top five

offense. I'm not sure if that were actually like the rules, but that's the story. And Kyle was with Houston and he ran a good offense. And then he brought him into DC and the two things, cause I went back and looked at all the articles today, Chris, they didn't win enough in DC and it was nepotism. It wasn't because Kyle was good at calling plays. And then Kyle who put Matt Ryan's probably best year on paper when they were up 28, three, they blew that lead. And I started going back and reading these articles. And here's one headline. Super Bowl debacle should give Niner

second thoughts about Kyle Shanahan. My whole point is that us from the outside, we act like we know everything with these coaches and we don't. If you're telling me as a John Lynch or an owner of an NFL

team like the Yorks who've been around a long time, and you say, we sat across the table from this guy, and he impressed us more than any other candidate. We love his philosophy, his long-term thing, his in-game deal. And yes, he probably should have been more conservative up 28-3, but his own tackle held the football. They had a turnover in the whole thing. The defense gives up 31 straight points. So yes, yes, that's a blemish, but people act like that blemish is the defining characteristic of whether or not you're going to be a good or a bad coach.

And that's actually the most misguided way to think about any of these hires. So am I playing the results a little bit? Yeah, sure. But so did everybody else based on play calling in one game. No, you're absolutely right. Everybody has a bad day. He happened to have a bad half along with that defense, you know, on the biggest stage. And I think he learned from it. The irony of this whole thing is, first off, that he kind of got this rep where he's afraid to run the football because of that one drive, that one sequence that we knocked him out of field goal range, and they could have won the game. I mean, they go up 11, it's over. So it was all just put the ball on the ground, a holding, a sack.

That's it. So that's on him, no doubt about it. But there was a defense involved. And another thing is the irony is that it's a very relevant conversation about nepotism. I did an entire pod on this. I think it's one of the biggest problems when you look at the Rooney Rule and you're talking about all this stuff.

We focus on the interview process, which needs to improve, no doubt about it, but it's the pipeline you have to attack. And a lot of these guys, Turner's son, Scott Turner, got an OC job out of nowhere after being in a quarterback room. He'd never been in one with Carolina. And, you know, a lot of accounts say that, that cam, uh, you know, was, was not too crazy about being there, him being there at all. So, you know, guys are just getting placed and there is this culture of coaches bringing their sons along. I've seen it for years. There's also really good coaches that are coaches sons. We're not saying that everybody's shitty, uh, that has a dad who coach.

I mean, I got, I got a dad that played football obviously he's a player it's different my dad can't make a call and be like hey chris go get 14 sacks one year by the way your contract year can i jump in that that may have been one of the all-time worst responses ever on twitter when you were talking about nepotism and a dude who i think was like a writer came at you like hey almost as i looked at it because i thought about getting in there kind of third man in the ring deal but you don't really need my help but i just for anybody that like that's the stuff i love where and i don't love it but when it's hey i'm talking about nepotism and then a guy goes wait a minute that's how he longs kid talking about nepotism

let me let me throw my little two cents in here as if there's any fucking correlation whatsoever sorry for swearing. Well, it's just, yeah, no, it's totally different. And I don't get worked up about that stuff. I've dealt with that my whole life. So I don't worry about that stuff. Anybody who thinks that, you know, if your dad played, he could make a call and get you into the league like you're a moron.

And I'm not even gonna get worked up about that. You know, I would ask you this, then like, you know, of all the hundreds of Hall of Famers, how many of them were first-round picks or played 11 years in the league? By your rule, they should all play long and successful careers. So I don't worry about that stuff. There's very few people that conflate that argument that heavily, but there's a huge difference between coaches and players when it comes to that. And the problem with coaches is you can just place your kid in a quality control position in the quarterback room.

We talk about that with the Rooney rule. There's a lot of guarding of the quarterback room. And that exacerbates this issue at the top at the interview process where you're trying to hire head coaches because these owners, whether they know it or not,

they're like, well, what's everybody else doing? It's a copycat league. We're hiring these young offensive gurus. All right, well, let me look in that bucket. Well, there's no black dudes in that bucket because, you know, there is guarding at the bottom of access to quarterback rooms and of access to the key positions offensively that rise to the ranks. And so there's a nepotism component.

That's all well and good. So in the beginning, yeah, sure, Shanahan got a leg up because he had access. We're not denying that. But when we talk about Shanahan, I think he got unfairly swept up in people implying that it was nepotism and him getting a head coaching job. At that point, he had 14 years in the league, which of the six hires in 17 of head coaches, he was right in the middle there behind Marone by a year

and then Anthony Lynn by about two years. Everybody else, including Vance Joseph had less years than him in the league so I think Shanahan's done a really good job it's all these things can be true nepotism might have got him in the door but he's a hell of a coach and you know and and the players seem to really like him and that's all that matters to me is he has the respect of his players and he is productive and he's been productive over a long span of time the irony is though that he got docked for not running the ball and he's put out this historically um you know great rushing offense and you know that he is this boy wonder that wasn't in the

league long like McVay or something or LaFleur I mean he had put in his time so I am I am uh happy for him um and I never thought I would say that because I never – 28-3, that whole thing, I was happy he didn't run the ball. So I guess I'm happy that he's coming out of it on the other end pretty unscathed. The other thing, too, when I look at the Niners with that D-line, and they made Rodgers look bad, and the part of Rodgers' talent I think came out a little bit later when it was too late where you're like, this guy's taking some deep shots.

And that's the thing with quarterbacks. I love when quarterbacks go, all right, I am absolutely in a position where I have to force it every single time. But the defense combined with the rushing attack is what happened there. And I just look at their talent, as we've been saying all year long, when we were arguing, not you and I arguing with each other, but looking at New England's historic start defensively. And just every, every week I'm like, I'll take the Niners personnel over those guys constantly. Like don't, to me, it wasn't even debatable. And the scary thing is,

is think about what the Niners are going to look like when they have maybe a better receiver to compliment Kittle and the smaller guys that they have kind of running some of these I don't want to call them all slot routes but they get really creative with Debo and if there was like a prototypical guy in free agency or a second round pick or that kind of thing especially when you look at how deep the receivers are in this year's draft like the Niners with all of that defensive talent under contract like this is this is going to be an awesome team next year too like I don't think this is going to end up being like the rams they're going to have a chance to go on a run here uh no matter what happens in two weeks you know when you talk about the receivers you know sanders is older he can't

separate like you used to but he still gives you good plays and he's been a really good player in the league for a long time now samuel is a guy that's built like a running back um yeah and you know people talk about uh q an Q Antquan Bolden is one of the best players I've ever seen. I never got enough credit, uh, you know, and that's a compliment, you know, to, to Debo to be compared to him. I think he's got a long way to go there, but he's built like a running back when he gets the ball in his hands. Uh, he, he likes to block, uh, and that's, that's a guy. And I saw Virginia beat South Carolina in that, in that Belk bowl, RIP to the Belk Bowl, two years ago,

and I just didn't know much about him. So he kind of came out of nowhere, relatively speaking, because when you look at their offense, the two guys that scare you the most are one, Kittle, and two, Samuel, at least in my opinion. And then the backs are interchangeable. So great scheme, enough playmakers, but to your point,

they don't have a true number one, and that's not a slight. They do a lot where they break guys over the middle, and Green Bay, especially the first game, gave a lot of easy access, and last night was not much different. So another thing about the Niners, Jed York, who's 39, I guess, he has had two coaches uh and two quarterbacks in the Super Bowl in the past you know five ten years so that's really impressive and you know John Lynch hire that was another one that everybody laughed at what's weird about the San Francisco

team and I was trying to figure out it's right there in plain sight obviously there's the quarterback thing we all doubt him to a degree because of the quarterback he's gonna have to throw the ball more but I also think there's this subconscious doubting of this team because they're constructed of either guys who are recycled from other places, albeit great players like a Quan Alexander or who came from Tampa or Richard Sherman, you know, or they're guys that are kind of breakout guys that you didn't know about a year or two ago. Like Kittle was not on anybody's radar, you know, before this year as being this good. They knew he'd be good. You know, most are on a seven team or whatever. You have a number of guys who kind of just popped up. Jimmy G is recycled. And then there's guys like Eric Armistead

who people wrote off and they've developed, you know, Buckner, who was really underrated. Bosa's a rookie. So it's this confluence of a bunch of guys from a bunch of different places, kind of this ragtag group. I think people are trying to figure out who they are, even though we've had an entire year to see it. Yeah. And Fred Warner, second year guy who was a third rounder out of BYU, who every time I watch him run with guys on routes, I'm like i can't you know this this guy is unbelievable and that's one of the first things i look at with linebackers like can you turn and run with some of these guys because i think a lot of great college linebackers are like what

happened to that guy it's like would you ever see him try to turn his hips and run with somebody in the nfl and it was over and right red excels at that last thing here before we pivot i want to do just a little on the chiefs and my homes and then we have some fun stuff planned here. Terrible television segment idea of the week. Are you ready for this? Yeah. So you and I are back in the lab. We're producing.

We're not in the air. We're going to our on-air talent. We're saying, okay, here's an idea for a segment. San Francisco beating Green Bay. Does that mean the Niners made the right pick in the 2005 nfl draft does this put the debate to bed that the niners should have taken aaron rogers you love these these are awesome too by the way because somebody in a room i've worked on enough shows where somebody in the room would be like kind of like that anybody want to say that anybody want

to say that and then somebody might go, I'll say it. How much am I getting paid to say that? You're going to say 15 years later that the debate is over. They should have not taken Aaron Rodgers because they beat them in the 2020 NFC title game. All right, let's get to Chiefs and then movie reviews. Real quick, Ry. Yeah.

Real quick. Before we move on from the Niners, and this just flashed up on my screen, from 14 to 18 they had the lowest winning percentage of anybody but the Browns this quick turnaround because like there was a year where I go I'm just picking the night like it was Seattle and the Niners and I'm like oh my god like I love this Niners team all the defensive guys that they had you know whether it's Patrick Willis they brought in Borland, you know, right away. You're like, this is now watching Borland and that Hernandez doc.

Yeah, we got a Borland pop up there. I was like, who the fuck is that guy? And by the way, I love Chris Borland. Like when he came on the scene and I was in the NFC West, I was like, who is this missile? This is this missile, this heat seeking missile. He's going to play 12 years. And then I loved him even more when he retired. I was like, man, I want to be like this guy. I want to walk off like this guy. And he just kind of disappeared. So good for him. And then he pops up on the Hernandez doc.

I'm not going to go that far with it because I think it was when you show up as a freshman to play football, Wisconsin, and already you're like, they make you take steroids or like, and it wasn't, it was, it was toward all toward all shots and he yeah yeah i'm not even an athlete and i would tell you right now not necessarily saying hey i would have done steroids but shy of what what is it going to take to put me out there and to be 18 and or and i'm not saying like borland was wrong for having this awareness i just wouldn't want to have that awareness i would be a sheep i would be, get me out there on Saturday. I'm not going to start having like, to be thinking that way at 18, you go, okay, that's why that guy retired after one year.

And I'm not knocking him for it, but it's just, you know. There's a difference between being worried about head trauma and we could have this long conversation about Hernandez and see, I don't want to go down that road. But, you know, I, towardordall is not that big a deal and, but it is a big deal if you're trying to run around and you're, and you're a football player and you just want to feel pretty good. I mean, I've been taking Tordall since a long time ago. And you're great.

It's not a big deal. You're fine. I haven't seen any side effects. I'm fine. You've seen me walk up and down stairs. You look great doing it. Thank you. I'll never forget the,

I think it was the dolphins hard knocks where there was the tight end who just wasn't big enough who white guy and they were like we love you we love the way you fight we love the way you i gotta look him up because he never amounted to anything in the league and they were just like it's just not going to work and it was so sad and i remember doing a radio show the next day it was like hard knocks recap and i go that's when you do that's when you go all right i'm 15 20 pounds away from having a career like right on and it wasn't like hey let's be pro steroids it was a that's the moment where i thought it was really revealing like for people that go how do you do

it why do you do it all That's the guy that does it. That's the guy that says, all right, F it. I'm doing it. And I've never ever forgotten that, except now I'm forgetting who the player was. Maybe I'll look it up here during research. Just to be 100% real on this podcast, there was a time in my life, and it's funny,

because if you're a white guy coming out of college who's jacked, everybody says you're on steroids. It's just kind of the way it is because they've seen too many movies. Yeah, it's an anti-gene thing for us. I get accused of it all the time. I mean, that's just. It's funny. I would get accused of nepotism because,

you know, I was my dad's son, but also steroids. So I have great genes, but I also needed steroids. So it was just really the goalposts would move. But there was two, and I've never swear to you other than like some fucking fish oil.

I have never touched any of that shit. Um, now there was a point when I was, uh, I art for two years in a row and I was very like, you know, desperate to get back out there where I started Googling HGH. I was like Googling, you know, Hey, what, what's the real deal with this stuff? Is it going to, is my head going to expand? Is it, you know, my balls going to shrink deal with this stuff? Is it going to, is my head going to expand? Is it, you know, are my balls going to shrink and all that stuff? Is that like a steroid thing or, you know, how, how easy is it? How many guys are doing it? Like, you know, I was asking around and,

and, you know, that quickly dissipated. And obviously I never got on anything. Cause if you see me when I, when I came off IR, I looked like, you know, a deflated 31 year old white male, but, um, you know, it's still out there getting buckets. So, so what was the closest, like, all right, so give me, that was like that stretch towards the end of St. Louis. And I could see it like you were having a hard time. Like I could always tell when you were hurt and I not to act like, you know, you were probably like, dude, stop watching me so closely. But when you would have to slow down, it was painful. Like you, you could get going a little bit, but when you had to stop. Because I was shooting things up to numb.

I was numbing my ankle. The problem was I didn't realize how much clout I had in St. Louis. I was a captain. I was a baller there. I played in 100 straight games games and then you get hurt and you're thinking to yourself, like, you're desperate. This is the mindset of guys. Like you're desperate. Even me, who's made a ton of money. I don't need any more money. I'm just still desperate. Cause I want to play, you know? So if they tell me, they give me the option,

we can put you on short IR, we can IR you, you probably should just go on IR. Um, you know, I'm like, no, I want to come back. I don't want anybody to think I'm soft. So I come back and I'm shooting stuff up to go out there and I'm dragging my foot around. And the tape is dog shit. And they're like, yeah, I'm not worried about the tape. We know who you are as a player, this, that, and the third. And then you get out there the next year and they're holding it against you. That's the way it is in the league. And that's why guys are so desperate. They're caught in this pinch between, hey, I got to play hurt to impress people and then also like i gotta protect myself too because if i play bad hurt my team's not gonna be loyal to me and you know so i had two years in

a row of that so what happened so yeah take take me from the origin when it first pops in your head to researching it and i know you're not going to say like who did you ask or any of that kind of stuff ultimately making it because i've interrupted you a bit and i want you to take as much time as you i interrupt i've been interrupting you for a season so um yeah i there was honestly it was just a two-day thing it was like google two days that was it and a couple text messages but for me that was uncharted territory to be like even consider it but i've always never i've always had this code like in my head where i'm like if i ever had to cheat to get ahead i'm just not doing it because i can always take pride in the fact that i was always clean um but you know i think it'd be

interesting to to talk to players like myself who ended up being clean their entire careers you know to ask them did they ever consider it for a second? And for me, the only time I ever considered it, um, because I hear there's a lot of guys on growth. I have no idea. I've in, in locker rooms, if a guy's on growth or something like they're not going to talk about it. So like, you're not going to know, cause why would you talk about that? Um, you know, but for me, it was like a curiosity thing. I was like, can it really help me? Is there like a, is there like a, a type you can take that's below detection? Because there's also this whole thing in the NFL where as you get older, guys will talk about this, your testosterone goes down. It's not like you're in a low T commercial, like you're

just slugging around all day and can't get out of bed. It's just- I have friends that are on it, and I'm like, how are you on it? And they're like, legit low T. Yeah. And most dudes after 30. Now, luckily, I wouldn't go for anybody out there wondering. My T is fucking phenomenal. I mean, I'm like a. I've heard that. I'm like a 21-year-old construction worker. Okay.

Dudes have argued that your T level is right there with guys in like northern Florida that work masonry. Yeah. Dudes have argued that my tea is like uh guys up in the yukon mining for gold you know and or in north dakota mining camps yeah so or crab fishermen or we could go on for days like that's where my tea is at but generally north of 30 as a dude your your testosterone goes down and there's a ton of players who are playing well into the 30s why can't they equalize their levels with like younger dudes um because that's not performance enhancing that's just baselining and i know that that's part of aging uh but i

think that we we do so many supplements for so many different things like why not be able to balance that out that's a question in question in NFL circles that people ask. So it was a two-day thing and I mean, not even two days. So why'd you say no? Why'd you go, I'm not doing this? Cause I'm not a cheater. And the scariest thing in the world to me would be to get caught. And then knowing exactly, because, you know, as, like I said, as a white dude, a DN coming out of college, you know, everybody thinks about, uh, you know, New, like I said, as a white dude, a DN coming out of college, you know, everybody thinks about, uh, you know, New York sack exchange. Like they think about guys from like the seventies and eighties. They think about guys that were just yoked out of their minds. And they don't think about the fact that you might have good genetics. You might be working really hard. So like, my

thing is if I ever got popped for something that it's not going to be like one of these things where, you know, somebody I get busted for deer antler spray, like Ray Lewis or a ton of other players who I'm not going to go down the line mentioning that have gotten popped for performance enhancing drugs and get a pass on it. I would have never got a pass. My whole career would have been called into question because people can't wait to call your career into question. So for me, it was like, one, I have a code to, uh, I never want to let all this hard work I put in and get tarnished by getting popped for something that was like, just trying to get out of being injured. Like that was the whole re you never think about that. But if you're down in a hole and you've been injured for two years, you're like, I got to do something to get back. I can't lift weights like this entire time. You have an ankle surgery and you break your leg.

You know, you, you, you can't squat, you can't power clean, you can't do all the stuff I used to do like all the time. And so you deflate, your body's just like, you turn into a, you know, a dad bod. And I was like, okay, I have a choice. I can try to fight my way out of this dad bod stage manually, or I can look at some, uh, some probably semi-clandestine fixes. And I opted to just roll the dice and see what I could do. The only reason I did it is because I was skinny fat my sophomore year in college. And then a guy in the lacrosse team.

No, a guy in the lacrosse team and I were going to do it. And I was like, you know, the guy was in. He was like, can you make it happen? And I was like, I know there's somebody I can talk to back home. And I was like, I think, the guy was in, he was like, can you, can you make it happen? And I was like, I know there's somebody I can talk to back home. And I was like, I think I want to do it. And he's like, I, if you do what I do, I'm doing it. And then like a second guy. And again, I didn't even, I wasn't even on the team. And then another guy on the lacrosse team goes,

Priscilla, you don't even play a fucking sport. Like, and you don't work out. You're just, you, you were, you were skinny when you showed up, like rail thin. And now you're like skinny fat. So it's not like you got some work to do before you could even think about doing something like this. And then I just said, yeah, this is stupid. I'm not doing it. And then I seriously, my body didn't really fill out, fill out until I was like 26 anyway. And then I'll never forget.

I'll never forget. I was doing 225 and I used to struggle with it a little bit. And I asked a guy for a spot at the gym and I would think I was down in Watertown and the guy was like, how many? And I was just like, I don't, I don't like to put a number on it. We'll just see how it goes. And I, I ripped off like 13 and he just goes, what are you, he was like, are you, were you doing that to mess with me? And I go, I've never done anything like that before in my life. I don't think I've ever gotten seven. And I'll never forget the day.

All of a sudden, from that point on, I was strong and I started filling out a little bit. But the whole reason I'm like this. So you really did it then? Yeah, I never did anything. It just, my body just, it took forever, man. It took forever. So two things. One,

they say power lifting dudes who are probably all juiced up. It's funny when, whenever I talk to somebody who's a big lifter towards the end of my career, they were like, what do you do to lift? I'm like, well, I don't really squat anymore. My, my knee is shot. You know, my back I've had, you know, a herniated disc before. Um, you know, I sleep with a pillow between my legs and I'm living on Celebrex and all that stuff all year. I can't lift. It's a bigger risk than it is a reward for me. Just roll the ball out there and let's play football. But these power lifter types are like, well, man, like, you know, one, have you tried CrossFit? I'm like, no, I'm not fucking doing CrossFit. Two,

I mean, that's just dangerous. And two, oh, you know, lifting prime for males is deep into your 30s. I'm like, well, not if you have 100,000 miles on the tread. You know, like that's not, I mean, I'm one of those Dodge pickups that have like 400,000 on the odometer. Like, bro, like you haven't been hitting people for a living. So, and then two, where do you go to procure steroids and the like like if somebody on the street do you just walk into the dirtiest gym you can find and be like hey who's got like what's the code so you don't look like a cop i'd imagine what you do is you're just you're asking a trainer

who tells you about another trainer you know i doubt it's i doubt it's the places that i now belong to but i'm not dude you can tell like when you see the guy who has that glow like he just got back from fort lauderdale and he's a little bit older and the neck is still thick and and you know what's funny about a lot of the guys that i've run into that are older that are on shit is that it's not this like oh no this guy's gonna beat me up in roid rage the guy's like in such a great mood because he's old and he looks great and girls still look at him. And it's like, it's

not the way it's, yeah, the way it's stereotyped, like the guy's just walking around looking for fights. I've found older guys that are on stuff are the happiest people I've ever seen. And then I have had a friend who got real deep into it and it sucked because he talked about it and he was he

was basically saying like it's it's not that you're addicted to being like he just goes as soon as you're off it you're so weak it sucks you just have to read books and shit you have to read history books you have to read chernow you're on this cycle of you go back and you're like i'm not as i'm not as strong as i was when i was was on the stuff i remember him just being like so what am i supposed to do be be jacked and happy or depressed and not as strong i was like well look man you you're on a journey that um that is your journey so i don't i don't know what to tell you all right we got more stuff do you think rob low is on something because this dude, beside the hat, which was absurd. That's the best hat ever.

It's the best hat ever. I think that hat needs to go for a million dollars in an auction. Rob Lowe, I don't know if he's eating and drinking all the collagen on the planet. I mean, the dude's skin, it's impeccable. He's got better collagen than I do. I don't know what's going on. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I need to drink more water or something. I mean, the dude's skin, it's impeccable. He's got better collagen than I do. I don't know what's going on. Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

I need to drink more water or something. I mean, holy shit. But my man gets snapped in that picture. I almost felt like it was by design to make him go viral. Do you think that was by design before they were, Las Vegas 9-1-1 or Dallas 9-1-1? I don't know who started the whole thing, but I would say that it was, hey, Rob Lowe's the game. And I feel like the origin of it wasn't that it was like, look at him wearing just a hat that has the NFL logo on it. And he looked like a mannequin at, you know, NFL's new team store that's trying to make officiating cool again.

Like, check out our new officiating section because we need more youth officials. Maybe Rob Lowe's the front man. I was like, was he going through his armoire? And just like, you know, this hat, this hat, no. Derby hat, not the move today. Oh, well, I'm a Colts or a Cowboys fan. No, not the move. Let well i'm a colts or a cowboys fan no not the move let

me grab this nfl shield hat like what what went into that thought process it was the most neutral decision you could make it was like when a rod didn't know who he wanted to play for in the world baseball classic because he didn't want to upset any countries and it was like actually no one cares just pick one um it's not going to be a big deal. Rob Lowe looked like he was playing the commissioner in a rewatchables. Excuse me. I just rewatchables the replacements, which may be a rewatchable. If,

if the replacements, it was a replacements to where Brandon Frazier's the quarterback and Rob Lowe's the commissioner of that league. That was, that's what it looked like there. All right, we got to do chiefs. We have too much other stuff here.

We can't stay on the Rob Lowe thing. Even though Rob Lowe is awesome. Okay, a little Chiefs here, a little Mahomes, and then movie reviews. The matchup is set and both teams are ready, preparing for the biggest game of the year. Time is almost up on the football season, but you still have time to feed your fantasy fix with DraftKings, the leader in one-day

fantasy football. Plus, for a limited time, all new and existing users can get a deposit bonus up to $500. D draft your lineup and feel the sweat like never before every run throw and catch mean more with the draft kings lineup on the line it's simple just draft your lineup stay under the cap and see how your team stacks up against the competition draft kings will have millions of dollars up for grabs for the big game so you won't want to miss out don't want to wait till next week to get some action. DraftKings also offers basketball contests

every day with hundreds of thousands of dollars up for grabs. Download the DraftKings app now. Use the code RUESSILLO R-U-S-S-I-L-L-O during signup. For a limited time, both new and existing users can get a deposit bonus up to $500 on your next deposit. That's code RUESSILLO R-U-S-S-I-L-L-O

and you can get a deposit bonus up to $500 only at DraftKings. Minimum $5 deposit required. Deposit bonus requires a 25-time playthrough. Eligibility restrictions apply. See DraftKings.com for details. Couple quick Chiefs numbers.

I believe the Chiefs are almost comically, criminally overlooked now. And part of that's Mahomes. Now, this year, 12-4, last year, 12-4, and all of those guys that had the edge numbers, the pressure numbers, the sacks, all the guys that they let go,

I would constantly argue if the front office thought it was time to overhaul all of their edge guys and let Dee Ford go, who I think I'd like more than others, the Houston moving on from him, and then loading up to bring in Frank Clark, then clearly they thought something was wrong with it despite the numbers. And another reason why they had so many pass rushing numbers

that looked good for the defense is because you had to get into an absolute passing shootout with the Chiefs every time you played them last year. They were last year number one in points, but 24th in points allowed. I'm going real basic. I'm not doing DVOA. It is understood this Chiefs defense has been completely different now the second half of the season. They were seventh in points allowed. Now to add to this, I feel like Mahomes for a bunch of different factors has been overlooked this year, Chris, and part of it's the stats,

but in 16 games last year, he threw for 5,000 yards, 50 touchdowns against 12 picks. His QBR was 80. This year, played in two less games, completion percentage is the same, 1,000 less yards and 26 touchdowns against five picks. So Mahomes' numbers themselves weren't the same, 1,000 less yards, and 26 touchdowns against five picks. So Mahomes' numbers themselves weren't the same because what he did last year was maybe become the best quarterback in the NFL in his first season, when I still think he's the best quarterback in the NFL, and he's proven it again these last couple games. And the Lamar part of this, where it was so much fun to the point where I think it was almost irresponsible to go, as great as Lamar has been, would you really even ask that question with a straight face and saying, who would you want the next year,

the 10 years, Mahomes or Lamar? Like to me, if you say Lamar, then I'm like, well, then we can't be friends. So it's Lamar. It's not being brand new. It's a declining of the stats, but that's still the same dude and why Kansas City is probably going to be my pick

for the Super Bowl. But I just feel like he's been overlooked. It's almost like Mahomes has become underrated. And maybe these last two weeks were a reminder. Well, I think he's a victim of his own success. You know, and guys do that. I mean, guys play so well out of the gate sometimes. You know, and additionally, additionally I mean let's not ignore

the fact that he his knee turned you know turned towards the uh the back there in the middle of the season so a guy that who doesn't run first but his mobility matters you saw it yesterday when he tucked the ball and ran for a touchdown really a back-breaking touchdown I mean uh I think it was was it 44 was it Land? Landry got high on the right side, rushed it like nine, 10 yards by him. And then he tucks it and runs for like 30 and a score, I think it was. And that was like, that was one of those plays. You're just like, that wasn't there in the middle of the year. And I think we do this all the time. We talk about it often. We overreact in the middle of the season. There's always a team at the beginning of the season that we overreact to their success, and there's a team in the middle

or the beginning that we overreact to their failures. And at a point here, you're looking at Kansas City. Their defense looks lost. You're like, oh, is Spagnola the right hire? Is Mahomes, has he taken a step back? They're not healthy, etc. And oh, Andy had as good a chance as he'll ever have last year, and he blew it against New England. This is New England's year. They're historically good. All they've done, Kansas City, since they lost 35-32 to the Titans the first time around is they got healthier, and their defense got better, and they haven't lost since, I don't think. So they were quietly the hottest team in football. They were battle-tested. And now you've got two quarterbacks combined in the Super Bowl

that have less starts than any Super Bowl in history. And I think a lot of it, at least on Mahomes' side, is it's this perfect storm where they were building for something entirely different, and they ended up with Mahomes. Mahomes was almost like this bonus thing that fell in their lap, and it's the best gift they ever could have had. Now they're extremely pass-happy. They threw the ball like half the time, even with Andy Reid, 50% with Alex Smith, and now it's up way north of 60. I think it was interesting because they had this great foundation, and this is what happens when you have a generational guy fall to a team

that's been building a program for a while, and here they are. So Spaggs has done as good a job as any job he's done in his career, including the Giants years, because those teams were loaded up front. I mean, these guys, I really love Chris Jones. Frank Clark is an animal on the edge. Just you saw he never, he never stops rushing. He's so active. You saw it in the sack against Luan.

He takes an inside move, fake spin, then back outside. And people got on, you know, Frank Clark all year because his sack numbers weren't eye-popping. All he's done is earned his money in the postseason when it matters. So really good trending stuff for them. And also a team that, like San Francisco, is set up for the long haul. That's how it feels. And I feel like everything is interchangeable around Mahomes. I just do.

It's the closest to a basketball player that I've seen more so than Brady, more so even than Aaron Rodgers, Pete Aaron Rodgers. I'd put Russell Wilson up there where it feels like, okay, it's time to just, you got to do something. You've got to do something. And maybe football is the greatest sport because you can't just do it by yourself, except for the rarest examples. You can't do it by yourself as a running back or as a tight end or a wide receiver, maybe as a defensive end's that's seriously like one of the greatest of all time you know a lawrence taylor type maybe aaron donald sometimes but if you want to double aaron donald you know there's still ways to do it mahomes feels like no matter what you do he can find a way to beat you

and that's why i do love basketball so much because if you really are one of those special special guys and it's not just scoring but scoring when it matters and a defense can't do anything to you you know we've seen it peak Durant um certainly LeBron obviously when Steph got cooking you know you can go all the way back to Jordan and some of those guys and that's what Mahomes to me is is like and Brian Scalabrini early Scal early Scl when he was in the right system and it's funny you're talking about basketball because I've sat there recently I'm sure this metaphor has been used a bunch I just haven't heard it but like Kansas City reminds me of Golden State like you know no lead is safe and uh in those Golden State runs and of course we're not talking about this year because I haven't

watched a lot of basketball but I hear probably not saying they're not as good yeah you know dudes have argued they're not and my good dudes would argue that they're not the same team uh but but no lead is safe and they go on these runs that are just like you know Tennessee goes up yesterday two scores and as excited as I'm acting on a live stream because I have Tennessee plus eight and I I really like Tennessee, but I was also torn because I like Andy Reid a lot. I'm afraid for them the entire time. And I know they're feeling the same way. And when that tide turns for them, they couldn't survive it. And Tennessee, by the way, is not a team that's built to play from behind.

So once they get behind, there's two teams like that yesterday, Green Bay, because they could perpetually, you know, you can get in four-minute mode against Green Bay and just run the ball up their ass for eternity. We talked about that all year. And then with Tennessee, you know, we really like Tannehill. I think they should pay him. I really do because you've got a good thing.

We really like him? Yeah, I do like Tannehill. I think like, I don't know, you said it so emphatically, it felt like it was a lock. Well, who's the, okay, so who's the guy, so who's the guy in, playing for the Niners in the Super Bowl? How many passes did he throw? You said it in 90 minutes.

6-3, Garoppolo, yeah. Yeah, so my point is like, offensive line and the context around the quarterback at this point in the game is more important than the quarterback a lot of times. Look around the league, and we're going through this big transitional period which i think is is to blame for a lot of the uncertainty through most of the year where you're like oh the nfc is so deep etc etc this is the most parody all year you know and all we've had is these stinker games late because the the cream has risen to the top you know a lot of that is because this older

crop of quarterbacks is on the way out the the way the position is being changed position's being changed, uh, played is changing. You know, we talk about paying running backs. Now we're going to talk about paying quarterbacks. I don't think Tannehill at a value is a bad plan going forward. If you're going to build her. And by the way, Tennessee's defense is middle of the pack. If they're a top 10 defense, that team is downright fucking scary. Um, so I love what Tennessee did too, with the, with the staff and the way they, they call a game. It's just tough to go, we're going to build this around running.

I was wondering if Tennessee were to hang on in that game, what we saw from San Francisco. I know Gettleman had the quote, but Gettleman, any quote from him, you're almost like, okay, whatever. He was just like, well, whatever. Snap ahead. It's all Russian teams. You're like, okay, so what does that mean?

Because as soon as we're sitting here praising Tennessee's approach and the rushing attack from Baltimore that, look, in their one playoff game, it didn't work out. But a lot of Tennessee, too, was winning the turnover battle in those other games. They won it against New England. They won it against Baltimore. So it's like, are you going to be plus three in turnovers on the road to Arrowhead?

Okay, now we're talking, but now if you're down and you're hoping to just hand it off to Henry to get you back into the game, that's probably not going to work out. So as much as I think what you're saying is, I don't like overstating the results year to year and then acting as if that has to be the new thing everybody's on. Because if Tennessee were to win that game

against San Francisco, no, but you know what would happen. The shows, the podcast, everybody be doing this. Are we seeing a pivot back to old school football no we're not the way to go no we're not because i still think running first and second down third and long is stupid and that's what i grew up with watching that all the time and again the whole point is as soon as we can make the case for a san francisco

approach for a tennessee approach for a bal. You go, yeah, except for the part where Mahomes just dominated and helped his team come back from massive, well, massive deficits two weeks ago, 10, nothing this past weekend. Well, I think also that there's been this astronomical shift towards finesse football. And I don't mean that like, you know, it's speed, it's get the ball on the edges. It's, it's, it's, you know, our, our run game becomes's you know our our run game becomes you know our screen game and that sort of thing and there's different people building different things in to substitute the run game so you could catch people by not by surprise but if you build your program around strength and physicality but your dynamic like like a san francisco that's that's uh sustainable

now in tennessee you talk about the other great rushing attacks. In Tennessee, you have not a gimmick, but you have a player. Everything revolves around that player. And then in Baltimore, it's Lamar, which is another thing that's like, yeah, you could have a great scheme like Roman, but you need the quarterback. And he allowed them to be transcendent. So there's going to be outliers all the time. Now, are we going back to running football? No. But I will say this, if we're going to go offliers all the time. Now, are we going back to running football? No, but I will say this. If we're going to go off the fact that Tennessee lost, you know, a game that they were very competitive in through most of it, and they had their chances at Arrowhead in the AFC Championship

against this team we've just gotten done praising, calling them Golden State Warriors, you know, that's not a bad loss, and it's not something that you scrap what you were doing and throw it out the window with Tannehill. What I'm saying is that Tannehill could be a good value. If Tannehill knows his market realistically, and I respect guys trying to get paid, they can build around him.

They have AJ. I like John New Smith. I love Derrick Henry. If they can find a way to get him paid, you can improve the defense. I'd love to see Davis kind of remind me of the guy that we saw in college because that just hasn't been enough for where he was picked. And, you know, you could franchise him, right?

So, I mean, you have time to figure it out if you're Tennessee. On the other end of things, really, it's about the Chiefs. I am a little bummed about this, Ry. I know you're not a uniform snob, but I'm a bit more. This is the first red-on-red Super Bowl in the history of Superbowls. And I can't stand it. Wow. You're not, yeah. You're not an aesthetics person at all. Are you? No, I like good uniforms. I don't like bad uniforms, but I'm not going to like at no point in the game where I go, I'm having a good time, but I can't imagine like I'd be, I'd probably be enjoying this 7% more. Oh, 7 would be low for me.

I can tell. I don't care if Texas A&M and Arkansas are the one and two teams in the history of college football. If they're playing that fucker in Dallas, indoor, and it's just an off-red versus a red, and the uniform, it's just disgusting to me. Anyways, that's my only complaint with the Chiefs and the Niners. Other than that, I think we're going to have— I don't think you have to worry about arkansas being in that one two matchup

anytime soon i don't think so either but they didn't get a new coach recently they did they've done that a lot new stuff on the horizon for arkansas it's way more aggressive we're gonna attack we're gonna blitz gonna keep them like the guy on the pj the like the famous viral video of the guy on the pj you know uh viral video of the guy on the PJ, you know, giving the marching orders on how exciting they're going to be. And then they share the shit out of it after he gets fired. But, yeah, I just think with Kansas City, you have to pick your poison. And, you know, whether you play man or zone, there's going to be negatives to that. Romo talked about it yesterday.

You take away Hill hill and then you got to play man uh on on kelsey not happening kelsey routes dbs up i mean everybody knows he's he's uh and i mean this as a compliment he's a wide out playing tight end and you know he can do enough blocking to survive in there what'd you think about his beastie boys move there can you tell me what happened there because we were wrapping up the live stream he just he did he grabbed the mic he was he was looking for it like i always think that there's certain guys like the new thing now is when the quarterback's being interviewed you come over and you get in the shot and you show up but i i don't know what the motivation

is behind it i think some guys legitimately being supportive i think other guys maybe more so in the nba are like i'm just going to get in the shot. And then Kelsey, who's awesome. He did grab the microphone. He's fucking awesome. And he went for a, you got to fight, beat. Oh, did he? For your right, beat.

And then to party. And Jim Nance just absolutely loved it. Jim Nance. Did he? Nance loved the BC boys. That's the biggest smile I've seen on Nance since somebody slid him an extra peach ice cream sandwich at Augusta. Just gave him kind of the two-for-one look.

There was a nice Beastie Boys tangent in Don't Fuck With Cats, if you haven't seen it yet. But by the way, the other night, quick aside, me and Meg trying to watch Don't Fuck With Cats, we fired up and like 10 minutes in, I'm like, man, this is really picking up fast. And we realized we were on episode three, quick aside me and meg trying to watch don't fuck with cats we fire it up in like 10 minutes in i'm like man this is really picking up fast and we realized we were on episode three so we got all the spoilers and yeah it's awful uh oh my gosh that's you started on episode three we thought

it was episode one we started on episode three 10 minutes in we're like as a writer hernandez doc the way the netflix is set up on your tv you have to scroll down so the third is at the top and i'm like damn they're already like really deep into this investigation for the first episode it's an interesting way to do this documentary the same thing with don't fuck with cats how these people get to this island like oh it was a plane oh like if you started lost episode eight like what's this have to do with a cave and i'm not a lost guy but you would love spoiler alert the spoiler alert thing is uh it's something we have to be careful of when we talk about 1917 a little bit here but i i would say this i think kelse is a very supportive uh teammate knowing him from from uh from jason uh and and he seems like he's legitimately happy.

He talked about being drafted. I mean, imagine being drafted at a place like Kansas City. That's got to be pretty cool. Play there your whole career, not have to leave, and seeing success the entire way through. So as much as we malign Kansas City

for not being in the big game, they've been perpetually pretty relevant. Okay, 1917 and a question. War versus prison. Today in the podcast, I want to let you know that finding a dress shirt that fits is hard. Collars are too tight. Sleeves are too long. Something is always not right. I remember back in the day, I'd be like, do you have a 17 and a half? Do you have an 18 with a 34, 35 sleeve? And they'd be like, what? Like, no, I want this thing to be loose. I want it to be long. I want it to be untucked. I want the sleeves.

I want to be able to roll those back, but not too high up in the forearm. Not too high. Yeah. And now, guess what happened to all those shirts? Donated many a year ago. There's guys walking around. There's a guy, I would say right now in Hartford, Connecticut, at a job interview. You know, like, I like his style, but damn, his shirt is baggy.

Good news. Ordering a custom-fit shirt has never been easier. Thanks to Proper Cloth at propercl interview. You know, like, I like his style, but damn, his shirt is baggy. Good news, ordering a custom-fit shirt has never been easier. Thanks to Proper Cloth. At propercloth.com, you can easily create a custom shirt size in seconds just by answering 10 easy questions. Like, do you want pockets? That's an easy one.

If so, what kind of pockets? You get to create your own custom size. You can completely customize your shirt to get the style you want. Down to the pockets. Pockets, I i would say arrow up proper cloth gives you the choice to customize over 30 different style points or select from hundreds of pre-designed shirts the team at proper cloth works with the best fabric producers from around the world and they only buy fabrics that meet their high quality

expectations each one of their shirts goes through extensive quality control testing. So you're getting the absolute best quality and craftsmanship. I have, I think, yeah, I have two, I have a third on the way. Here's what I like about them. The cut, just a perfect cut. And we're still on this tighter thing. Although I am looking at some of these magazines that are already starting to say baggy, but I'm not skinny enough to go baggy anymore. And some of these guys are real skinny and you know, just everybody, just a big collective hug. That's not body shame. Anybody, uh, if you're in there, if you're doing the work, if you're taking the steps, that's great, but you know, get a shirt that fits from proper cloth. So stop wearing shirts that don't fit. Start looking your best with a custom fitted shirt go to propercloth.com slash ryan rassillo r-y-e-n-r-u-s-s-i-l-l-o today enter gift code ryan rassillo to save 20 off your first shirt see why proper cloth is the best custom shirt maker go to

propercloth.com slash ryan rassillo okay a little spoiler alert here i feel bad because you never want to tell people hey don't listen to the podcast but if you haven't seen 1917 stop i do yeah but you know what at the same time when i think about this movie you know what happens yeah this isn't basic instinct okay um this isn't usual suspects not usual suspects usual suspects is the best example of of a spoiler did you just say that at the same time yeah exact same time oh man good good work been hanging out a lot how much you think we'll hang out at the super bowl because i've already thought about it ahead of time i'm like i don't want chris to think he has to hang out with me every night i don't want to

do that no i definitely don't think that no we had enough hanging out in new orleans by the way which i'm starting to finally my serotonin levels are finally starting to get to a place where I'm not acting erratic as fuck. Yeah. I think we can hang out a good bit in Miami. Yeah. But I just don't want you to think that I'm expecting that because you got a lot of dudes down there and no, you know, there's a lot of dudes. I think the best way to solve this is we uh we rent a yacht and everybody just goes and has a good time and everybody you know you check the box all at once everybody hangs out on the yacht yeah and i know i have to um i still pay you for the lsu ticket and i just want to let you know that we do we do uh invoicing here the first of the month so okay don't expect to be waiting there uh for that

um you know what i think i'm gonna do is i'm just gonna hand you an envelope of cash while we're in miami knowing that it's the worst possible way i could do it for you for me the funniest fucking thing that somebody said to me during the live stream yesterday because i love the titans so much is making ask me if i was gonna be, I would go to the Super Bowl if the Titans win with a bunch of envelopes of cash and just be on the field just handing dudes cash, like Odell. That wouldn't go over as poorly, I don't think,

although people would probably be a lot more confused. No, I think people would just be puzzled as fuck. Okay, so 1917. You saw it, what, in the past week? I saw it this past weekend. It is, by the way, I wanted to look it up. It said it's based on a true story, but it's really more inspired by a true story.

The director, Sam Mendes, said that his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, told him that when he was a boy about this story, how there was a messenger that had to bring a message to the front lines. The basis of this movie is essentially it's two English soldiers. They are sent to go beyond the front lines where Germany is attacking after this kind of lull in the action

and get to another area where they have to tell them to stop this invasion. And they send two people instead of entire outfit because that means they can move quicker. But really this is about a visual movie. this invasion and they send two people instead of entire you know outfit because it's that that means they can move quicker but really this is about a visual movie it is unique as anything you're going to see it's supposed to be one shot it actually you know it isn't one shot they do some stuff that's kind of easy to figure out for a while but i would say the beginning when they're running through the trenches up over the trenches trying to figure out if they're going to be shot at, and then just walking through the dead bodies

and the mud and the way it's continuous for those first. It is like being at a virtual reality theme park. You've got the goggles on. It is a different movie going experience. And yes, I know movies like this sometimes can be lacking in story, which is usually my number one thing, but I loved this movie and it is different. It is so different from anything that you're

ever going to see. I just say, go see it. Yeah, it was unbelievable. I, I don't know if it's like one of my greatest movies of all time. I for sure not, but it's definitely one of the greatest movies I've seen in the past couple of years. And one scene in particular that i tweeted about had my jaw on the fucking floor now granted i had had uh i had had a candy um or two and that can always enhance swedish fish starburst oh nice a few starbursts um and that can always enhance a movie experience and uh especially this night flare scene in the in the middle of the movie which i'm not giving anything away by the score the the the cinematography big score you know the sequencing there like from where he wakes up for those of you who've seen it

with the water drop dripping on his head how i was wondering the whole time how they would do day to night i was like okay i get it i get what we're doing we're gonna follow these guys you know for two hours and it's gonna feel like one scene uh which was remarkable anyways like you you know even on a nine minute scene which is supposedly like some of the takes they did were like nine minutes how good the acting has to be compared i don't know if like hollywood actors get get numb to the fact that there's dudes doing plays around the world that have to like act for two hours. Um, but I don't think about that as a casual movie viewer. And these guys were awesome. I had no idea who they were. They're British dudes. Um, but they get to this night flare scene and I was wondering how they

would do the day to night thing. They had this brilliant way of doing it. He, he runs outside. the day to night thing. They had this brilliant way of doing it. He runs outside. There's all the ruins and kind of the blown up buildings and the lighting is crazy. That was the most unbelievable scene visually since, for me, multiple scenes in Revenant, in the Revenant, but probably the horseback battle on the river scene. It was beautiful, dude. I was just shocked. And yeah, people complain about the story, but I don't really need, not every, we're talking about this off of,

and you talked to some buddies who the gripe in Hollywood is that the story is not great, right? Yeah, that was one of the knocks on it. But then I've also heard that about Dunkirk. And if you're just, hey, this isn't cool. Like I want, i want the can't buy me love ending where ronald donald gets into the car with cindy mancini and they drive away

together like if you're not gonna like this kind of movie and dunkirk does some things in it that i want to go back after listening to the ringer rewatchables pod where quentin tarantino was on it like look if you've never listened to rewatchables pod okay you're missing out go listen to the one with tarantino talking about christopher nolan doing dunkirk and the things that he's doing within that movie where tarantino's like losing his mind about how great it is and how many times he's watched it and when i went i like drove two hours away to some special theater to see it on the right kind of screen with the right kind of film. And yeah, I love Christopher Nolan. I like this stuff. But the Dunkirk thing is different

because it's this historical story that's a big deal overseas. I don't think many of us knew about it 50 plus years removed. Hey, by the way, how about this little note? I am, from when I was born to today, when I was born is 10 years closer to the end of World War II than today is. Holy shit. I was going to make a joke about your age, but you did it.

Yeah. And that was not after an edible. I left 1917 and I go, so wait a minute, the year is now 2020. I am this many years old and that means when i was born it was 30 years after world war ii and i am 44 years away from when i was born i mean yeah you were you were right there i mean you were you born during vietnam or after vietnam that would be it was still it was still we were we were out of it by that joking uh but but another cool thing about that and i love dunkirk too i think dunkirk to me was probably a better movie

but but visually 1917 was unbelievable and also very like it was a bold way to make a movie and i'm no movie buff but it seemed like to me that took some balls to try to do that um what i love by the way just to jump in just to in, because you know how I liked it. Technically, the end of Vietnam was the year I was born, but I still was born after it. See? So yeah, not as far off as I thought originally. I was going to say, I thought it was probably pretty scary for you, like deciding whether you're going to dodge the draft or not when you got out of high school.

I do have links to Quebec. Yeah. Okay. So, so the thing I, the thing I loved about it was like, and this is, I don't know if a bunch of other war movies do this. I, I thought they did a really good job of being exhaustive about what the countryside looked like. I know it was filmed in England and Scotland. It was supposed to be France. And by the way, they had great cameos, like, you know, from the French girl in the house to you know that that uh that big tall bald guy with the the steel jaw that kind of gave him a little inspiration to keep pushing um i thought that the way they showed a battlefield as like this expansive map it's not just the trenches it's not just like, you know, when you watch World War

I movies, you look at history, you're like, oh yeah, everything just looked torn to shit. But then he gets through the woods, like, and then it's this beautiful pasture and things are so serene and there's cattle, which of course are dead at that point because the Germans shot them. But it's, it wasn't just all shit. I mean, there were towns around there and you know, there, there was that, that river scene, which was, which was really spectacular. And then he washes up on that, that disgusting beach of dead bodies. So it was just like, I thought it really did a unique job of painting an entire picture of what the topography of like, not only about a battlefield, but everything around it was like like and the things that you ran

into yeah loved it i mean i don't need to add anything that but i would say as soon as they get out of the trenches and they're first like away from the safe area of their line of their british line and those first i don't know 10 minutes or so when you don't really know that i mean it is there's nothing greater than when you don't realize how anxious you are in a movie like i know that border crossing after sicario there are moments in the revenant 2 where it happens like with revenant you actually felt cold while you were in the theater um yeah the sicario scene which is will go down as one of my favorite scenes in a movie of any movie ever because i love it that much the music they're coming back over the border and you're like what is going to happen what is going to happen the execution of it isn't necessarily

like something happens in cinema that we've never seen before just said sima kind of regret it kind of don't um yeah no it's all good you you're in the biz so yeah that's right that's right as a as a writer uh people forget hey let me let me do this then. Because my buddies, we've had an argument going on now for almost 20 years. War or prison? Yeah. So which war? Can we just do World War I? Well, we've never done which war.

We've never done the which war thing because i do think there's certain things like i had heard this this rumor about being stationed in italy world war ii where you know after just some quick back and forth those guys partied and if you had like a chocolate bar that was like having bottle service yes yeah but also you have to consider that it was bottle service and everybody smelled like shit so like you know but i think that's the club you know everybody was hungry and i think you're being too harsh you're a hard marker in general when it comes to relations but i would just say that like you you play the time period that you're in you know like if you're a caveman you wouldn't be like, I don't like your shirt.

You would just roll. Yeah, you would just roll with it. But I guess I'm saying they were so removed from the creature comforts. I mean, that looks, I would be inclined to say, how long of a bid am I doing? How long is my stretch, right?

Five years in prison. Five years in prison or World War I? Am I in, like, a Supermax? Am I at, like, Red Onion in Virginia? Or am I, like... No, you're at, like, prison five years in prison or world war one am i in a like a supermax am i like red onion in virginia or am i like no you're it you're it like hey nat geo's here again to interview you on staying alive like this isn't going to be fun wolf of wall street prison this is going to be yeah but something in the middle it's also not like i'm gonna have to you know join a gang or something to stay alive yeah i don't know i kind of would like to lean in that direction because i don't want to make this an easy answer well that's

really tough i mean so that so and another scene in that movie was the the bleed out scene that was just ridiculous i've never seen a scene in a movie where they really a guy gets stabbed in the stomach and bleeds out and again if you listen this far i'm sorry about the spoiler but a guy dies okay what'd you think was going to happen in the movie? Um, you know, I, I don't know what's worse. I, I, I'd rather bleed out outside than bleed out in a cell because somebody shanked me. So from a naturalist perspective, I kind of like, uh, I kind of like the, uh, the beauty of being out there in the French countryside, even if it's almost a certainty that I'm going

to, I'm going to get hit with one of those. How slow was that dogfight, by the way? Slowest dogfight ever, but it was 1917. But that's real. Yeah, it was great. That's what I love, little wrinkles like that that you're just like, I guess I'd rather be in World War I, I guess. Am I only there for a year or am I there for five years?

Vietnam, five years of prison oh prison easy nom was fucking terrible from whatever i would easily do i would do a stretch and come out looking like john bastow or like a jack john bastow i would come out looking like the guy is there a non-jack john bastow i don't but like more of a bulkier john bastow i would come out looking like the guy. Is there a non-Jack John based out? I don't, what are you talking about? But like more of a bulkier John based out. I would come out looking like, I would come out looking good, man. And, and I would also read a lot. And how much time do I get outside a day? Um, I was, what was I reading about? Uh, well, the Aaron Hernandez doc, he got one, he got two hours, I believe every day, two separate hours. He was allowed to. That's more time outside than most people who are working behind a desk. Yeah.

Let's see. World War I, maybe, NOM, it seems like prison. World War II, which was not. Growing up, it was kind of like, oh, it was this great war. I think it was great for America and bringing the country together and cranking up the patriotism, another level and this economic boom that I, you know, just the way the country came together leading up to that. And the people enlisting, you know, that, that felt like the last war where everybody was like, all right, it's, it's time to serve my

duty. Like when you go back through history, guys that couldn't serve were beside themselves, that they couldn't fight for their beliefs or fight for the country. The Civil War, prison all day, Revolutionary War, that was not a good time whatsoever. But the Civil War was so gory in some of these battles

where you would just be climbing up over the... Antietam? No, I'm not saying Antietam. I'm just saying... No, I'm saying Antietam, the battle. Oh, Antietam? No, I'm not saying Edom. I'm just saying... No, I'm saying Antietam, the battle. Oh, yeah. No, okay. I'm sorry.

I thought you said Edom. Like, where are we going? No, Antietam. No, nobody ate anybody. But evidently, like Patton did, and we talked about this yesterday on a live stream because somebody commented that, who is the better general, Hannibal or Patton? And that's why you were called in initially, and you said Patton. But then somebody mentioned that Patton used to go in the hospitals and smack the shit out of

soldiers well um well different time yeah different motivating tactics you know Bob Knight had a style and you know Andy Enfield has a different one I gotta I obviously could get I could get caught up on Hannibal a little bit more so where are you going? war or prison? I guess it depends on the war for me I got one for you

the Emu War don't know that war I didn't know it either I started looking up I actually googled what were the best, what were the most fun wars? God. There aren't a ton of exact hits on that search. No war is fun.

Well, all right. I'm going to share with you the Emu War. Okay. Yeah. So in the years after World War I, a lot of vets, soldiers without a war, right? I guess there were a lot of vets that went to Western Australia. And the problem was is that there were all these farms and there was 20,000 emus that were migrating from inland regions heading out to the west coast of Australia. West coast of Australia, west coast of Australia. By the way, if you were to do a list of places that you're

interested in, but you know, deep down, there's no way you're ever going. Would Perth, Australia be in the top five, right? Bonnie Vare song, uh, introduced that way. Uh, then a lot of Googling and met some Australian people who say it's just every, all that in a bag of chips. I'm just saying I'm, I've been intrigued by Perth for a long time. The whole New Zealand, Australia thing I really want to do, but I want to do it right. And I'm either going to have to retire. I don't know. It's not happening anytime soon. Uh, I got these things called kids. So that ain't happening for me for a long time. Right. But Perth is, if I'm being honest with myself, I go, you're never going to go to Perth. Okay.

So back to the emu war. Not going to Perth. Unless there's an emu war too. Two. Emu war two. Okay. So these farmers are freaking out with the government. They're like, we got 20,000 brand new emus here.

We're wiping out the crops. The crops haven't been doing great anyway. We're coming out of post-depression. So the government basically was like, all right, here's what we're wiping out the crops the crops haven't been doing great anyway we're coming out of post depression um so the government basically was like all right here's what we're gonna do we're gonna let you guys bring down some of these world war i machine guns and start cleaning out these birds so dude it was too before you before you worry we're going to get banned here by PETA, two soldiers showed up with two Lewis guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. And it started on the 2nd of November, 1932. The soldiers traveled to Campion where 50 emus had been sighted. They engaged, but the emus split quickly into groups and they weren't able to take any of them out.

So two days later, the men set up an ambush near a local dam where they had heard there was intel that a thousand emus were going to be heading towards that dam. You don't have to be special to give intel. You don't have to be some fucking spy to see a giant herd of emu headed towards the dam. Right. have to be some fucking spy to see a giant herd of emu headed towards the dam right like benner did ton cumbersnatch like he he wasn't working on the emu thing no so so uh i guess what happened was they these emu showed up a thousand deep these emus showed up a thousand deep ambush ready machine guns ready and then the gun jammed and the emus survived a thousand emus the kill ratio on this was 12 out of a thousand it's terrible you're into two percent there okay i'm so glad that happened because i don't even like birds i don't like birds i like looking at birds but i don't birds scare the shit out of me especially flightless birds i'm not a big fan of them like

that's out of a nightmare for me but i don't want them to get slaughtered no and they didn't so they the gun jammed he's got 12 kills out of a thousand birds the way this is written is incredible in desperation major meredith mounted one of the guns in the back of a truck hoping that the increased mobility of the truck might help in chasing the emus down the move failed however as the emus were simply too fast for the trucks to keep up in the terrain so rough that firing the mounted weapons proved impossible six days after the war had began again november of 1932 2,500 rounds of ammunition had been used with less than 50 emus killed. The media went bananas.

The war was abandoned with a technical victory for the emus. Crikey. And Major Meredith later compared the emus with Zulu warriors by saying, like, you can't beat these guys. Yeah, I mean, like, listen, here's the thing. The emus, they didn't even know they were at war so that's kind of fucked up right generally generally i i'm not a big fan of war but if there's a war uh generally the two sides know that they're at war and the emus by what it sounds like they had no clue. No, and they were wrecking these farms. Now, apparently, there was an Emu War II that didn't go as well for the Perks.

The sequel is never as good. No. The sequel is never as good. And by the way, who are these guys that were like, these guys that were just guys that got into trouble in the Great War, and when they got home, their old ladies were like, I don't know if I could say old ladies anymore. That's an old school biker term.

I think it's all right. If you're in a biker gang, you're allowed to say it. So their, their, their girlfriends or whatever that, you know, they got in trouble in the great war over in Europe fucking around.

And, and they were like, I got to go somewhere. I think they just, they just, it was, this sounds like a place that if you, the emu war was the place. I don't know. You can't go home. I can go to, they just, it was, this sounds like a place that if you, the Emu War was the place,

I don't know, you can't go home. I can go to the Emu War. Just hop on a boat and head over to Australia. Yeah, I mean, guys are coming back

from other wars. They're leafing through the back pages of Soldier of Fortune going, you know, would a mercenary be cool? I think about it.

You know, how would I do in Panama for a year? Is that the post-Great War version of contractors, military contractors, guys that get out, and they're like, ah, this isn't doing it for me at home. I got to keep this train rolling,

so I'm going to go to the Emu War. I just don't think the numbers were enough. I don't know that it was a war that was fought to win initially, but I'm not going to get into how depressing those numbers were for the birds't know that it was a war that was fought to win initially and but i i'm not going to get into how depressing those numbers were for the birds the second time around so we'll just leave it at that oh god there were more that died it went whatever they needed to do tactically they figured some things out the second time around but i hate that and even if i don't like the emus i'm looking at some pictures of emus here on my Google image search.

I mean, they're terrifying. But I, yeah, that's just ugly. What a downer. What a downer. That's why I didn't tell it. I didn't tell it the rest of the way. Speaking of, I found it. Les Brown was the tight end that was cut by the Dolphins.

Oh, yeah. That's the time to bulk up. Yep. Okay, that'll do it for us chalk media check it out please subscribe rate and review the rassilo pod bill house and i are doing a massive nba thing we're gonna be taping all day on tuesday so i think some release is tuesday then i'm gonna have it on my pod on wednesday so big big i mean hours of NBA stuff that we're going to be doing there. And then I got a couple other things cooking as well. Cowherd's going to be joining me soon.

And maybe even some cool announcements as well. All right. We good? We're good, man. Just no more emu wars. No problem. We'll see you in Miami. See you there. you