Speaker 1: The Around the NFL Podcast is gonna keep on loving you.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition to the Around the NFL
Speaker 1: Podcast presented by New Era. My name is Dan Hansis
Speaker 1: and I am joined by Room Build with some heroes,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal and Chris Westling. What's up, boys? How are you?
Speaker 1: Is that Ario Speedwagon? That was Matt money Smith, the
Speaker 1: voice of the Los Angeles Chargers, showing his range once again.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's really kind of slumming it when he's
Speaker 1: a big thing. Hey, he's on TV, he's the biggest
Speaker 1: radio host in the city, he's the Chargers, and yet
Speaker 1: he's just kind of our intro guy. He's our hype man.
Speaker 1: I don't know about that though, slumming it because I
Speaker 1: don't know if you noticed. We now have a large
Speaker 1: photo hang outside the commis of the Around the NFL
Speaker 1: Podcast heroes in what appears to be spirited conversation. I
Speaker 1: feel like west that is a step in the right
Speaker 1: direction within the walls of this complex. You feel like
Speaker 1: that's respect. I feel like it's a step, you know,
Speaker 1: and maybe we can get a shot of that. Um
Speaker 1: uh when you guys watch this very show. Uh, there
Speaker 1: is our Tuesday video show, of course, and uh every
Speaker 1: Tuesday nine pm Eastern six Pacific on NFL dot com
Speaker 1: slash a t N video. You could watch this show, um,
Speaker 1: make sure you check it out. I mean maybe respect
Speaker 1: is problematic though, Dan, you're a man who doesn't take
Speaker 1: slights easily. Do you think you're driven by them? I mean, now,
Speaker 1: if the network starts to treat us, well, they're putting up,
Speaker 1: you know, pictures. We got a video show now, maybe
Speaker 1: the fire and in the belly quite as much. How
Speaker 1: about this hashtag gradual decline? This one, I'll be right about.
Speaker 1: What do you have to rage against anyone? Exactly? You
Speaker 1: need something to fight against. Um, I think you'll be
Speaker 1: just as wrong as this end as you were right. UM.
Speaker 1: I hope so in the this case, I hope so
Speaker 1: I'm wrong about uh gradual decline. By the way, we
Speaker 1: have more hats. If you're watching the video show and
Speaker 1: we're not gonna do this the whole audio showing and
Speaker 1: people listening, well, the show was supposed to be an
Speaker 1: audio show, but there are hats on the table. Knew
Speaker 1: our hats in front of us. A note came down.
Speaker 1: More hats. You need more hats than we had last Tuesday. So, Sully,
Speaker 1: what are we up to now? We're up from what
Speaker 1: four to six? Here? Seven? We're on there. We are
Speaker 1: all wash and hats. Let's keep it, Let's keep it going.
Speaker 1: I gotta rap it up. Here's my whole thing. I
Speaker 1: think the most important thing in the world is h
Speaker 1: pleasing the corporate overlords. Every week. We should have more
Speaker 1: hats on this desk, That's what's How could they not
Speaker 1: be pleased about that? We'll have hats everywhere, Hats coming
Speaker 1: out of our ears. It's kind of should be like
Speaker 1: a little girl's bedroom with stuffed animals. It's kind of
Speaker 1: like razors. It's like, you know, forget four blades, let's
Speaker 1: go five blades. Seven. Let's keep ramming it up. UH.
Speaker 1: Today's show, good show, and we're gonna get into a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff, including some news that really went UH
Speaker 1: big yesterday. On Monday, Kirk Cousins UH did not get
Speaker 1: a deal done with the Redskins, and Redskins were not
Speaker 1: happy about it. Also the UH San Diego excuse me,
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles um Chargers are the subject of our
Speaker 1: training camp spotlight this week. We'll we'll focus on wide
Speaker 1: receivers UH for the Chargers, and finally, we will revisit
Speaker 1: the old Zeuster's pain rankings, breaking down the eight most
Speaker 1: pained teams and fan bases in the NFL. Put a
Speaker 1: lot of work into that one. Last night, Fellas, up
Speaker 1: past midnight. The old man was typing past midnight, trying
Speaker 1: to get it out there to the people. And we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about it today. I like that, you know
Speaker 1: you've moved into this cushy and around gig. I like
Speaker 1: that you're still pulling all nighters every once in a while.
Speaker 1: You gotta you gotta just test yourself some sometimes. That's
Speaker 1: what we did today. But before we do any of that,
Speaker 1: I want to check behind the glass formally with Sean Sullivan. Fellas, you, buddy,
Speaker 1: well ready for our second video show a good one.
Speaker 1: If you look confident, you have the look of a
Speaker 1: confident many I'm ready to rock. One thing about Sully,
Speaker 1: he always it looks an acts confident. Sometimes you can say,
Speaker 1: maybe it's unearned, but it's good. It's a good thing
Speaker 1: and I'll get you through life. That's true. He carries
Speaker 1: himself as a man that believes himself and I can
Speaker 1: respect that. Let's do some news. We need to talk
Speaker 1: about your flair. Yes, flair, hats we we had it
Speaker 1: talking to and we responded more hats more, hats more,
Speaker 1: hats more flair. Start with Kirk Cousins. Uh. The NFL's
Speaker 1: deadline for franchise tag players to inc and long term
Speaker 1: deal came and went on Monday. UH, And when that
Speaker 1: four pm Eastern deadline hit, Kirk Cousins and the Redskins
Speaker 1: were not able to get a deal done. And what
Speaker 1: did this mean? This means Kirk Cousins for the second
Speaker 1: consecutive year will play under the franchise tag. What is
Speaker 1: the salary? I believe over twenty three million in that range,
Speaker 1: nine a year after he made twenty million, So good,
Speaker 1: good scratch. But also we're starting to learn that's kind
Speaker 1: of in the market or even a little bit lower
Speaker 1: when these quarterbacks now start to get paid. Anyway, the
Speaker 1: Redskins thought they were gonna get a deal done West
Speaker 1: and they were not very happy about not being able
Speaker 1: to get a deal done. And you know how we knows,
Speaker 1: oh I know. Uh. For whatever reason, Bruce Bruce Allen,
Speaker 1: the team's general manager, made the decision UH to put
Speaker 1: out a video issuing a public statement on the matter.
Speaker 1: Let's hear what Bruce had to say right after the draft. Actually,
Speaker 1: Sully can we can? We? I feel like yep. If
Speaker 1: ever there was a time for our missive music, it's
Speaker 1: a team's general manager deciding to um give a public
Speaker 1: statement into a giant microphone about when he's about to
Speaker 1: trash his quarterback. So let's let's start this one over
Speaker 1: with the missive music like that on May two, right
Speaker 1: after the draft. It's better. We made Kurt an offer
Speaker 1: that included the highest fully guaranteed amount upon signing for
Speaker 1: a quarterback in NFL history, fifty three million dollars. It
Speaker 1: also included a guarantee for injury of seventy two million dollars.
Speaker 1: The deal would have made him at least the second
Speaker 1: highest paid player by average per year in NFL history.
Speaker 1: But despite our repeated attempts, we have not received any
Speaker 1: offer from Kurt's agent this year. Kurtis made it clear
Speaker 1: to me that he prefers to play on a year
Speaker 1: to your basis. First of all, he said, I did
Speaker 1: a couple of things that I throw it to a
Speaker 1: last um he says, Kurt, Hey, you are t Six
Speaker 1: times during this two minute missive we only caught a
Speaker 1: portion that and you heard it several times right there.
Speaker 1: There's there's something about that to me that that shows
Speaker 1: the disconnect in a weird way between player and management here.
Speaker 1: But also as there are things that Bruce Allen says
Speaker 1: that makes it sound like it was a very competitive offer.
Speaker 1: But then when he drilled out a little bit, this
Speaker 1: wasn't really a very attractive situation for Kirk Cousins. I
Speaker 1: think you should cut Bryce Allen some slack. No, I
Speaker 1: think it's disrespectful not to know his first name. Come on,
Speaker 1: and Kirk Cousins came out and said that didn't bother him.
Speaker 1: But I think Kirk Cousins is just trying to be
Speaker 1: put on, put the best spin on it, put the
Speaker 1: best face on it. When you do drill down into it.
Speaker 1: What's the incentive for Cousins to sign this contract. He's
Speaker 1: already getting twenty three point nine million this year. If
Speaker 1: they transition tag him next year, it's over twenty eight million.
Speaker 1: If they franchise tag him next year, it's over thirty
Speaker 1: four million. You have to give him at least that
Speaker 1: much money to incentivise him to sign in a place
Speaker 1: that just fired its general manager and who knows how
Speaker 1: long the coach whose offense he's thrived and we'll stick around.
Speaker 1: That is not a stable organization, right, It's an organization
Speaker 1: that does things like hold a press conference slamming the
Speaker 1: quarterback essentially that's gonna try to start for them and
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. That was an insane press conference. To me.
Speaker 1: It was like he was the president speaking from the
Speaker 1: Oval office, you know what I mean, like a movie,
Speaker 1: like a B movie, right, a prepared statement, but then
Speaker 1: he didn't take any questions and the whole purpose of
Speaker 1: it to me was to put blame. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was pretty clear on Kirk Cousins for not really wanting
Speaker 1: to be with the team and for them to try
Speaker 1: to win some sort of pr battle against their own quarterback.
Speaker 1: And let's hear Kirk Cousins was then, you know, reached
Speaker 1: for comment on this. He did his h regular radio
Speaker 1: spot in d C. And here's what Cousins had to
Speaker 1: say about what the Redskins had to say. I need
Speaker 1: a little more time, um, you know, I felt like
Speaker 1: I want to allow the next six months to give
Speaker 1: me more information about our organizations so that I can
Speaker 1: make a more informed decision. There have been a lot
Speaker 1: of changes in our organization since the end of last season. UM,
Speaker 1: And so I want to allow time to help make
Speaker 1: this decision. And I understand where he and the organization
Speaker 1: are coming from. I think in his position, you have
Speaker 1: to do that. You have to be clear with where
Speaker 1: the offer was and the fact that they did their part.
Speaker 1: And UM, it was a great starting point. It was
Speaker 1: a great offer to get the ball rolling and to
Speaker 1: get the conversation going. And UM, I think it was
Speaker 1: a fair offer. So I respect and appreciate Bruce's approach.
Speaker 1: He communicated with me that they were going to need to, um,
Speaker 1: you know, let the story be known as to as
Speaker 1: to where they were coming from. And I said, I
Speaker 1: totally understand that. So that's where I say, when the
Speaker 1: communication was positive, we're all on the same page. That UM,
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it, release or that statement
Speaker 1: was no surprise to me. I knew it was something
Speaker 1: like that was going to be coming out. And I
Speaker 1: understand where he's coming from. So it doesn't offend me,
Speaker 1: it doesn't bother me. I can see myself in his shoes, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, wanting to to get the message out. So UM,
Speaker 1: totally understand that. And and Uh, doesn't rub me the
Speaker 1: wrong way at all. I mean a chance ate that
Speaker 1: for translation, I am gonna get paid next year. I
Speaker 1: don't care about what he says. It doesn't matter if
Speaker 1: it's a Redskins paying me or some other team. I'm
Speaker 1: probably gonna be the highest paid player in the NFL
Speaker 1: a year from now. He has two head coaches in
Speaker 1: the NFL who love and adore him and support him.
Speaker 1: One is in San Francisco with a six year contract,
Speaker 1: and he was his first, most vocal and most persistent
Speaker 1: supporter in the NFL. The other is in an organization
Speaker 1: the Redskins, where who knows if Jake grin will be
Speaker 1: around next year. If they go seven and nine again,
Speaker 1: Gruden could be gone. Why would you want to commit
Speaker 1: to that? If I'm Kirk Cousins, this is exactly what
Speaker 1: I would do. Give me a little bit of flashbacks
Speaker 1: Bruce Allen and a Gruden head coach speaking publicly about
Speaker 1: their quarterbacks and not really telling the truth. Because that
Speaker 1: is what John Gruden and Bruce Allen did for about
Speaker 1: five straight years in Tampa Bay. They would build up
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks and they'd cut them, you know, the next day.
Speaker 1: They never had a situation and quite like Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 1: but it was never a team that you could ever
Speaker 1: trust what they say publicly. And that's that's kind of
Speaker 1: where I'm at with Bruce Allen. The guaranteed I read
Speaker 1: this on a dead Spin this morning, Barry Patchetsky. Uh
Speaker 1: that NSU hit on it. The money that he would
Speaker 1: make this year, which they included in the guaranteed money
Speaker 1: and the transition tag money. Next year, he would only
Speaker 1: be getting three thousand dollars more. Uh if he would
Speaker 1: have signed that contract and guaranteed money. So obviously he's
Speaker 1: not gonna take the deal. It was. It was borderline
Speaker 1: insulting that they they made such a big borderline It
Speaker 1: wasn't sulting. They played that poorly and it could cost
Speaker 1: them a very good quarterback. I keep making the same
Speaker 1: point that franchise quarterbacks are underpaid, and it's it seems
Speaker 1: really strange to me. I think that Kirk Cousins, through
Speaker 1: all of these events, is going to be the man
Speaker 1: to maybe change that. Of all people, Kirk Cousins, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure it's quite worth it. Here's what bothers me
Speaker 1: about this pr campaign that Bruce Allen started yesterday. We
Speaker 1: are smart enough, writers, analysts are smart enough to cut
Speaker 1: through all the financial uh riggam a role that that
Speaker 1: they're throwing out there, the subterfuge that they're throwing out there.
Speaker 1: It's the dolts, dollards and simpletons that are gonna be
Speaker 1: on Kirk Cousins Instagram, Twitter, Timeline Opine calling him rotten
Speaker 1: names because they're not smart enough to figure out what
Speaker 1: that contract actually is. You bring it back rotten, yes,
Speaker 1: bringing back bears what was right before that? I mean
Speaker 1: he's belt. You got the vocal words out today and
Speaker 1: let bozos in there. I mean they're party, We're it's
Speaker 1: all on compass, scepterfuge. Um listen, Wes is here and
Speaker 1: he's on top of his game. He's a man. You
Speaker 1: can't hold the West down. He's a warrior. Uh. In
Speaker 1: other news, regarding the deadline for getting a long term
Speaker 1: deal done, Levy on Bell and the Steelers couldnot get
Speaker 1: it done. Um Bell uh did not sign a deal.
Speaker 1: So he will play under the twelve point one million
Speaker 1: dollar franchise tag. He will be a free agenteen unless
Speaker 1: the Steelers again wield that franchise tag. Here is what
Speaker 1: Levyan Bell well, he tweeted, first, I guess I just
Speaker 1: got to get better, which obviously it's hard to get
Speaker 1: much better than what Levyan Bell is when he's been
Speaker 1: on the field in his career so far. But he
Speaker 1: also posted a video on his insta Instagram count on
Speaker 1: Monday here it is. It's a long day me and
Speaker 1: Jay when we back at here. So whatever I mean,
Speaker 1: Levian Bell still still greg making a lot of money
Speaker 1: though compared to the other running backs in his market,
Speaker 1: and they we we don't want to throw a pity
Speaker 1: party for the man. No, I think this makes sense
Speaker 1: because he's making fifty more than any other running back
Speaker 1: in the league this year. At the next closest is
Speaker 1: Lashawn McCoy at eight million dollars. So it was always
Speaker 1: a tricky contract to get done because he's either suspended
Speaker 1: or injured almost every year, so year to year kind
Speaker 1: of makes sense, at least for one more season. I
Speaker 1: think if he has a great year this year, he's
Speaker 1: gonna get paid. And he's out there saying I want
Speaker 1: to reset the market and get running X paid what
Speaker 1: they deserve. Well, if anybody should be resetting the market
Speaker 1: for a position, it's Levan Bell. They have one of
Speaker 1: the greatest quarterbacks of his generation, and during their winning
Speaker 1: streak and into the playoffs last year, they ran their
Speaker 1: offense through the running back. That speaks volumes about Levy
Speaker 1: on Bell's value value and I don't blame him for
Speaker 1: betting on himself, but it's a risk. Tom Pellicero recorded
Speaker 1: they offered twelve million annually with thirty million in the
Speaker 1: first two years, with the caveat that the Steelers are
Speaker 1: one franchise that do not offer guaranteed money beyond your one.
Speaker 1: That's so they they, unlike the Redskins, made a legit offer,
Speaker 1: and unlike the Redskins and Kirk Cousins, I'd be surprised
Speaker 1: if Lavy and bells, you know, barring any serious injury
Speaker 1: or anything like that, would be shocked if Lvy and
Speaker 1: Bell is playing for any other team in the next
Speaker 1: two three years. Do you think the Steelers will franchise
Speaker 1: tag him again. I think they'll get a contract done
Speaker 1: because they already showed they're willing to pay him a
Speaker 1: lot of money. That's a great offer thirty million guaranteed
Speaker 1: in the first two years for running back, So I
Speaker 1: think if he does his thing, they'll they'll give, they'll
Speaker 1: pay him in get right. Uh. In General manager news,
Speaker 1: we got another GM firing. What's going on here? This
Speaker 1: time it's one of our favorites. Uh. Dave Gettleman was
Speaker 1: dismissed by the Carolina Panthers. Jerry Richardson announced it. Uh,
Speaker 1: and it hit the whole NFL. UH, you know, shocked
Speaker 1: to the whole NFL. Richardson explained to the statement that, uh,
Speaker 1: it came after much thought and long, a long evaluation
Speaker 1: of our football operations. Uh. He thanked Edelman. Gettleman did
Speaker 1: very well in his time with the Panthers, including uh,
Speaker 1: just two seasons ago when they went what seventeen and
Speaker 1: one before losing in the Super Bowl West. I know
Speaker 1: you're a big Gettleman fan. Read between the tea leaves
Speaker 1: what happened here? Gettleman not only built that team, he
Speaker 1: had to overcome the previous regime, Marty Herne's contracts to
Speaker 1: do it. He had his hands tied the first couple
Speaker 1: of years and still did that. Reading between the lines,
Speaker 1: Jerry Richardson is the owner. He can run the team
Speaker 1: however he wants, and it appears to me that one
Speaker 1: of his core tenants is taking care of his homegrown
Speaker 1: veteran players who have become big in the community and
Speaker 1: that the community identifies with. And Dave Gettleman, apparently reading
Speaker 1: between the lines, was hesitant to pay Thomas Davis and
Speaker 1: Greg Olsen in new contract extensions, and that must have
Speaker 1: been part of what led to this dismissal. And we
Speaker 1: love hog Moldy talk, and we think that he's done
Speaker 1: a great job. And they were a team of a
Speaker 1: t L for the reason. But I found it interesting
Speaker 1: how many notable veterans came out and took shots of Gettleman.
Speaker 1: Minutes after the news came down, Josh Norman with a
Speaker 1: sub tweet Steve Smith saying it's okay, Dave, I know
Speaker 1: how you feel. Th'angelo Williams Uh said I want to
Speaker 1: publicly say Panthers is off my list of teams I
Speaker 1: won't play for. Do the firing of that snake, Dave Gettleman.
Speaker 1: Mike Tilbert also took a shot. What do all those
Speaker 1: players have in coming wrong side of thirty? They got fired,
Speaker 1: Marty Hernie paid them, and Dave Gettleman wouldn't right. And
Speaker 1: and Jerry Richardson is a former player. He's the only
Speaker 1: former player that's an owner, and so maybe he approaches
Speaker 1: it in less of a cutthroat way, and maybe that
Speaker 1: should be applauded in some way. But I think he
Speaker 1: Gettleman got painted as the bad guy because he came
Speaker 1: in and he got rid of He got rid of
Speaker 1: the people that were overpaid. I mean, he did his
Speaker 1: job right. John Beeson essentially had to be released. Steve
Speaker 1: Smith is one you could argue about, absolutely, and you
Speaker 1: can understand the rest of them. It may they had
Speaker 1: to get rid of the Angel Wims. They were paying
Speaker 1: Williams and Jonathan Stewart more money than any running back
Speaker 1: group in the league, and they weren't very good as
Speaker 1: a running nam. I think some of the issues, and
Speaker 1: Williams had alluded to it was how it was handled,
Speaker 1: and maybe it wasn't. He wasn't treated like a nine
Speaker 1: year veteran with the team should have been treated when
Speaker 1: they made the decision to move on without him. But
Speaker 1: I think, you know, he's an interesting guy. By the way,
Speaker 1: I would have no problem with the Jets hired him
Speaker 1: to some type of nebulous management role that they then
Speaker 1: could pivot into a GM role when the when the
Speaker 1: Jets firebomb with macgne. This was way you're giving up
Speaker 1: an old Mikey Mack with Gang Green. But I think gentleman,
Speaker 1: he's a Boston guy. Uh, he's gruff and he and
Speaker 1: he's not afraid to take chances, and you make enemies
Speaker 1: along the way, and that's what we're seeing here. Who's
Speaker 1: the most successful coach slash executive of this era, Bill Belichick.
Speaker 1: He makes tough decisions, he's coldhearted, he goes by finances,
Speaker 1: and he could have he must have been way more
Speaker 1: unpopular when he cut Lawyer Malloy right before the season
Speaker 1: than Dave Gettlman is now. I don't think Jerry Richardson
Speaker 1: would have the stomach to sit through Bill Belichick cutting
Speaker 1: his stars every year. It's worth noting that Michael lore Uh,
Speaker 1: who has been suffering with concussion issues, wrote and I
Speaker 1: passion uh defense of Gettleman on Instagram, seeing he's one
Speaker 1: of the only people besides Ron Rivera that have checked
Speaker 1: in on his well being throughout the process and has
Speaker 1: has been really kind to him, so that that's worth noting.
Speaker 1: And it's also worth noting there were reports I went
Speaker 1: back to look at the two thousand and twelve article
Speaker 1: of when Marty Hernie was released, and at that point,
Speaker 1: Marty Herney was a bit of a punching bag for
Speaker 1: the Jake De Loam contract. I mean, he made a
Speaker 1: lot of crazy deals in Carolina. And one of the
Speaker 1: parts of my article is how him and Ron Rivera
Speaker 1: had a contentious relationship. And so the report is now
Speaker 1: that they're gonna be bringing back Marty Hernie on an
Speaker 1: interim basis, and that seems it seems, it seems insane
Speaker 1: to me. It's absolutely insane. They never won. They haven't
Speaker 1: had back to back winning seasons, by the way, since
Speaker 1: it since Marty Herney got hired in this entire run,
Speaker 1: I'm sure Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen and starlettul and
Speaker 1: anyone else who's due for a contract extension loves having
Speaker 1: Marty Hernie back in the building because they're gonna get paid.
Speaker 1: Let's move on now and talk about Ezekiel Elliott the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys. A report came out um a few days
Speaker 1: back from Adam Schefter that there was a quote growing
Speaker 1: sense that Zeke Elliott was facing a quote short suspension
Speaker 1: for his involvement in the domestic violence incident. Uh, that's
Speaker 1: something that Greg and You had talked about on the
Speaker 1: show a month or so ago that it just seemed
Speaker 1: like something potentially he was hanging around with that and
Speaker 1: we we might see it. Uh. Then there was a
Speaker 1: an incident at a bar. He was not named in
Speaker 1: the initial police report, but there was witnesses that alleged
Speaker 1: that he was involved in a fight, knocking a guy
Speaker 1: to the ground and injuring him. Uh. This comes of course.
Speaker 1: There was the a hundred mile power traffic citation with
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott that came to light. There was the St.
Speaker 1: Patrick's Day Parade incident with the woman and exposing her breasts.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of stuff going on with Zeke Elliott.
Speaker 1: At one point West did the Cowboys really start to
Speaker 1: get nervous about what's going on with this guy? Well,
Speaker 1: I think the last couple of incidents, you take them
Speaker 1: case by case and are not terrible, but it's a
Speaker 1: case of a young guy who doesn't realize he's a
Speaker 1: professional athlete and then the spotlight and probably shouldn't be
Speaker 1: doing these things, but we all make mistakes when we're
Speaker 1: that age. It does seem like there are starting starting
Speaker 1: to be some red flags popping up the Cowboys are
Speaker 1: a team that kind of let you know, Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: famously kind of lets his guys the guys, especially if
Speaker 1: they're stars. But it's it's blown my mind a little bit.
Speaker 1: How just three years removed? Is it three years from
Speaker 1: Ray Rice and Greg Hardy when domestic violence is just
Speaker 1: it was a huge part of our lives on this
Speaker 1: podcast and covering the NFL that with this potential suspension looming.
Speaker 1: I know these cases are very different, but this domestic
Speaker 1: violence suspension looming for Zekiel, he's kind of been a
Speaker 1: face of the league type of guy. He was literally
Speaker 1: on the cover of ESPN the magazine just two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and and it's it's a weird I don't know, disconnect
Speaker 1: for me for him. Yeah, I think we don't know
Speaker 1: the details. That's the hard part to weigh in, right.
Speaker 1: I Mean we're not saying guilty, not guilty, anything like that,
Speaker 1: but it just feels like it's a time where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe you don't put them on the magazine covers
Speaker 1: right about. Uh West had multiple parade float issues thro
Speaker 1: and thties. Yes, and I have never been in on
Speaker 1: a parade float or in a parade let me just say, um,
Speaker 1: not to make light of any Zeke Elliott incidences, but
Speaker 1: parades by and large very overrated. Oh I couldn't disagree more. Really,
Speaker 1: you're in on parades, well, I mean this is part
Speaker 1: of my I can't believe this, It's part of my
Speaker 1: Tybee Island experience. When you're in a small town, parades
Speaker 1: are wonderful. Yeah, it's a day to get wild and
Speaker 1: zany for no reason and just to have fun. Okay,
Speaker 1: Now where I come from, the cold town, heavy Irish
Speaker 1: population had one of the biggest St. Patrick's Day parades
Speaker 1: in the state. Right well, probably one of the reasons
Speaker 1: why it was named that, like us news is one
Speaker 1: one best places. Well where the town of friendly, town
Speaker 1: of friendly people, not a fluent not like Martha's vineyard.
Speaker 1: But listen, we all got together for the big parade
Speaker 1: and we all, you know, we left the factory hats
Speaker 1: at home that day, and the little tweetie bird he
Speaker 1: stayed in his cape. No one was seveling call and
Speaker 1: we all canary like mine, they don't. That's how we
Speaker 1: knew that we were alive. At the end of the day.
Speaker 1: Right anyway, we all would go to the parade and
Speaker 1: maybe there would be some spirits ingested and family would
Speaker 1: get together and friends and you'd see people that you
Speaker 1: know marching the parade, parade, war veterans, high school marching bands,
Speaker 1: you name it. But the parade itself, I'm saying, not
Speaker 1: the most fun thing to watch. It's for kids. It's
Speaker 1: more about like the experience of being together with people
Speaker 1: in the town. My kids love the fourth Edgely parides,
Speaker 1: so that's kind of really reopened my eyes to parades.
Speaker 1: But then I also think back to my college days
Speaker 1: and a little Marty Grap. I mean, what's better than
Speaker 1: a little Marty grap parade. That's a little different, isn't it.
Speaker 1: Though it's a little different. Well, you also hate clowns
Speaker 1: and I kind of liked them. That's a generational disconnect.
Speaker 1: I find clowns to be funny and like they're just
Speaker 1: out to get laughs out of people. That that's harmless.
Speaker 1: They're out to murder people. If you watch bad movies,
Speaker 1: that's the that's the kind of thing that you'll be
Speaker 1: led to believe. But they're really just out there to
Speaker 1: get a laugh at it. You did grow up on
Speaker 1: the black and White Bozo the clown episodes. I know
Speaker 1: that was that an actual generational thing. The five years
Speaker 1: difference when I grew up, I don't remember a Bozo
Speaker 1: the clown show. Um, those of the clown that was
Speaker 1: a show. I don't think it was ever a show.
Speaker 1: He was just like a famous clown turning into a
Speaker 1: Seinfeld episode. George Gastanza got into a fight with the
Speaker 1: clown about this. Um. All right, finally in the news,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, Uh, he's the quarterback for the Patriots, but
Speaker 1: recently his high school. He attended a high school, uh
Speaker 1: in San Mateo, California. Believe is that correct? That sounds right?
Speaker 1: Everybody that sounds right? Um, near San Francisco, and they
Speaker 1: unearthed what they believed to be or um. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: believed to be his first ever interview, and he was
Speaker 1: asked for some reason, Dan Fouts was interviewing him. Dan
Speaker 1: couldn't get a better job at ninety four than doing
Speaker 1: local TV up there. I don't know, No, he seems
Speaker 1: to be doing okay. But Dan asked Tom Brady, I
Speaker 1: believe he's about fifteen, sixteen years old, what his strengths
Speaker 1: were as a player at this point. Brady was, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the top high school quarterbacks in his region.
Speaker 1: Here's what Tom had to say. Okay, I'm a college coach.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen any tape of you. I don't know
Speaker 1: anything about you. Tell me about Tom Brady the quarterback.
Speaker 1: What are your strengths? My strength? So everybody tells me
Speaker 1: I have a pretty strong arm, which is which is good.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty accurate with it. And uh, I think I
Speaker 1: need to work on my speed a little bit, but
Speaker 1: hopefully that will come in time. Pretty good work ethics,
Speaker 1: so so I think I'd get the job done. First
Speaker 1: of all, I'd love him to know that he'll never
Speaker 1: be fast. No matter how much you train your little bratt,
Speaker 1: you'll never run like a horse. I mean, I'd also
Speaker 1: like him to know that he's going to pick up
Speaker 1: a first down on third and eleven in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter of the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Fast
Speaker 1: enough for that? Wow, I blocked that out. I don't
Speaker 1: remember what play you're referring to. Um. By the way,
Speaker 1: if Sessler was here, I would have loved that would
Speaker 1: have been a perfect east time to talk about how
Speaker 1: Mark and I long have a very controversial uh stance,
Speaker 1: a conspiracy theory that tom Brady had a complete reconstruction
Speaker 1: of his face at some point, most most likely funded
Speaker 1: buy the Illuminati um in which his his cheekbones and
Speaker 1: his chin and his eyes and his entire face was
Speaker 1: It was basically a face off situation, uh, engineered for
Speaker 1: maximum efficiency. I want you to watch that video again
Speaker 1: and again. If you're watching this, um, rewind it back
Speaker 1: right now. Let me know if that's the same person
Speaker 1: who's now the quote. You don't think it's natural evolution
Speaker 1: from going from sixteen years old to thirty nine years
Speaker 1: Here's what happens. You're if you're a little pudgy, not
Speaker 1: as muscular when you're younger, some of that fat what
Speaker 1: you know, goes away and yeah, those cheekbones come out. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: am I surprised that you are the mouthpiece? You're like
Speaker 1: when Joe Thiseman on Twitter tweeted out, I guess I
Speaker 1: was wrong about Kirk. You're you're the mouthpiece. I get it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm generally anti conspiracy theory, but definitely want
Speaker 1: if it's about Tom Brady, that's what's happening in the news.
Speaker 1: All Right, It's time to move on and talk about
Speaker 1: the training camp. Spotlight presented by new era. Oh my goodness. Uh,
Speaker 1: this week we're going to talk about the Chargers wide
Speaker 1: receivers and uh West a little peek behind the curtain.
Speaker 1: He came in a little earlier today. Uh. We originally
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the Broncos quarterbacks. And then
Speaker 1: Greg starts just pounding the table like a madman, saying
Speaker 1: he wants to talk about the l A Chargers white outs.
Speaker 1: And I said, hey, you want to go get it?
Speaker 1: Dog wants a boy. I feel like we've talked about
Speaker 1: the Broncos. I don't know what I left to say
Speaker 1: about Paxson Lynch and Trevor Simeons. I like Greg's take
Speaker 1: on this one. In fact, I did a lot of
Speaker 1: research in film watching of the Chargers. This is wonderful.
Speaker 1: We'll start with you West. Well, Tyrrelle Williams might be
Speaker 1: the most underrated, underappreciation unknown wide receiver in the NFL,
Speaker 1: As Greg tweeted in big in terms of big plays,
Speaker 1: there weren't many people better than him, Like year, he's
Speaker 1: great on post routes, he's great on slant routes. And
Speaker 1: then you have Keenan Allen come back, and then Mike
Speaker 1: Williams draft did Travis Benjamin can go back to returning
Speaker 1: punts and being a third slash fourth wide receiver. This
Speaker 1: is one of the most most deep wide receiver Tyrelle Williams.
Speaker 1: Is are we talking not to head over to the
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler fantasy corner, but are we talking about a
Speaker 1: fantasy sleeper type producer? Uh? For l A this season.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking fantasy sleeper. I'm just saying as far
Speaker 1: as NFL players, he was a thousand yard guy, a
Speaker 1: big playing machine. He's big and he's fast. The list
Speaker 1: of players who had more than you know more plays
Speaker 1: over twenty yards is basically the best receivers in league.
Speaker 1: Odell t y Hill and Julio Jones, Antonio Brown. No
Speaker 1: one had more forty plus plays, and he might be
Speaker 1: their third or fourth receiver. So I'm not loving him
Speaker 1: for fantasy. But that's why I kind of want to
Speaker 1: watch camp and see how this unfolds. Because Mike Williams
Speaker 1: was a little banged up in the off season. Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen's coming off an injury, and so I think that's
Speaker 1: one reason why they drafted Mike Williams. Travis Benjamin's better
Speaker 1: as kind of a third fourth deep threat. I mean,
Speaker 1: you have a guy on their team, Dontrell Inman, who
Speaker 1: had eight hundred yards last year, and I figure he
Speaker 1: is eighth in line for targets. He had eight hundred
Speaker 1: yards and he's eighth because he's fifth that wide receiver
Speaker 1: behind the four guys we talked about. And then you
Speaker 1: have Hunter Henry and Antonio Gates. It really sounds like
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry is going to be the starter. That's why
Speaker 1: I want to watch in training camp to make sure
Speaker 1: that happens. And Antonio Gates is gonna come off the
Speaker 1: bench behind him, and then you got Melvin Gordon out
Speaker 1: of the backfield. Catching isn't a time with Antonio Gates
Speaker 1: and he's been he's been a great guy's going to
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame, but he he looked slower than
Speaker 1: ever last year. And this guy they have a young
Speaker 1: kid and Henry who made some plays lest year average
Speaker 1: over thirteen yards of reception, eight touchdowns. It's sound to
Speaker 1: pass the torch at tight end right, Dick Gates come
Speaker 1: one TD short of breaking the record for tight ends,
Speaker 1: so that's why he's coming back. But I think the
Speaker 1: passing the torch is happening this year. Yeah, and and
Speaker 1: he was solid. He's a good role player right now.
Speaker 1: I think he's willing to embrace that. I was shocked.
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry led the league in touchdowns of it ends,
Speaker 1: no one scored more than eight, just surprising end itself.
Speaker 1: And Antonio Gates was second. And so you have the
Speaker 1: best one two combo, I would say at tight end
Speaker 1: or certainly one of them. I guess Gronk and Dwayne
Speaker 1: Allen would be up there along with this wide receiver group.
Speaker 1: I just kinda want to see how it shakes out
Speaker 1: if everyone stays healthy. If you're a Chargers supporter, which
Speaker 1: I'm growing to be, you're always kind of worried. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna look as good once they actually get
Speaker 1: on the field because they get hurt. Well, it's it's
Speaker 1: fair to worry about the offensive line too, as being
Speaker 1: perhaps the bugaboo in that system. It's been an issue
Speaker 1: for them for a few years. And it's important that,
Speaker 1: let's face it, with the Chargers the last two years,
Speaker 1: it's important that they have a lot of death because
Speaker 1: every year, Yeah, and who knows, who knows if Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen's ever gonna be able the guy can stay on
Speaker 1: the field. But these guys you're talking about, he's not
Speaker 1: this He's the four teenth target, probably the number one
Speaker 1: receiver by November. That's just the way it goes with
Speaker 1: this team for whatever reason. Uh. And that was the
Speaker 1: training camp spotlight presented by New Era. Alright, so I
Speaker 1: need a hat. We need more hats. I mean New
Speaker 1: Era people, they're they're coming after us, they say, more hats.
Speaker 1: Got the g men, the g men New York Giants. West.
Speaker 1: I know you're not a big fan of the organization,
Speaker 1: but we had a Redskins hat out here before, and
Speaker 1: we thought just the way that they've disrespected Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 1: the way they're handling their business not classy. So we
Speaker 1: brought out a little forty Niners. Okay, so that we're
Speaker 1: up to eight hats, and I'm feeling good him with
Speaker 1: the classy organization, like the forty way to go. The
Speaker 1: feedback will be good and it's spent. Uh. Speaking of
Speaker 1: New Era, New Era's NFL training collection has a great
Speaker 1: combination of innovative performance and style, with features like UV protection,
Speaker 1: moisture wicking, and cooling technology. There's no reason you shouldn't
Speaker 1: make the New Era NFL training collection a part of
Speaker 1: your daily attire. Literally, it's suggesting wearing this every day
Speaker 1: avail but retailers like Lids, NFL shop dot Com and
Speaker 1: Dicks Sporting Goods in your favorite team, Dicks the Great
Speaker 1: White Whale. We ever got him? The Great White Well?
Speaker 1: All right now, oh, before we get to the pain rankings,
Speaker 1: I want to touch on one thing we got. We
Speaker 1: got sparrows in the building. Streets are talking, streets talk sparrows. Chirp, tweet, birch, chirp.
Speaker 1: Canaries go to work in a vocal way. Um, and
Speaker 1: we did here through the grape vine. You know how
Speaker 1: Damna Shack he always you know, you know it has
Speaker 1: like a a collection of things that he'll go back
Speaker 1: to one of them. Is this idea of having some
Speaker 1: type of Battle of the Network stars type of competition
Speaker 1: between all the I guess talent at NFL media podcast podcast? Apparently?
Speaker 1: First of all, a couple of things. Apparently there's a
Speaker 1: podcast with Daniel jere Jeremiah Jeremiah, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: be ignored and um and Buck Brooks called moving the sticks?
Speaker 1: Is it moving the sticks? Where do you hit? Is
Speaker 1: it moving the stick? And this topic came up on
Speaker 1: this program, which apparently is a part of our podcast network.
Speaker 1: Let's just listen in on what was said. You know, DJ,
Speaker 1: I don't want to go out on the limb, but
Speaker 1: I feel really good about If we had the Vega side,
Speaker 1: I would think move the sticks would be prohibitive favorites.
Speaker 1: We would be the heavy favorite. I think, yeah, I think,
Speaker 1: I think like that. I mean, I've seen them do
Speaker 1: the little canoe thing. I like our chances in that
Speaker 1: they shoot hoops. I feel great about about that one.
Speaker 1: Although I think Claib can play a little bit, and
Speaker 1: I know he's I don't know, check check can pull
Speaker 1: all these different guys. He'll try and get like I
Speaker 1: can claim all these guys is his is his guys.
Speaker 1: So I got we got three, we gotta heavy three.
Speaker 1: Though we're good. I'm on this team. I produced that
Speaker 1: that shows sometimes but wow, wow st alot raveal mcnifico.
Speaker 1: I'm doing it to myself. I mean, what is it
Speaker 1: what is it like to watch yourself stab people in
Speaker 1: the back. Hey, we stab people on the back. I'm
Speaker 1: Dan Campbell. You guys started out stabbing me in the back.
Speaker 1: I'm really open arms there guys. Honestly, when this did it,
Speaker 1: when it was pushed across the table to us earlier today,
Speaker 1: that my my instinct first of all was too uh,
Speaker 1: just declare vengeance upon Sully. But then I took a
Speaker 1: step back and I said, you know what, Sulli's kind
Speaker 1: of a hired gun here, and he's doing a lot
Speaker 1: of work, and he's covering both shows right now, and uh,
Speaker 1: if he associates himself with whatever that other show is,
Speaker 1: that's fine. I don't. I think it's actually it makes
Speaker 1: a lot of sense. So Sully, despite the fact that um,
Speaker 1: on some level it leaves a bad taste of my mouth,
Speaker 1: I'm also I'm not going to go after you because
Speaker 1: I feel like I understand where you're coming from, appreciate
Speaker 1: that you have to hook your baby. Thanks, guys, I
Speaker 1: can't speak for the other well. Plus, you're joining the
Speaker 1: losing team. I think that's a key factor. You might
Speaker 1: not help their ca In general, Jeremiah can't step on
Speaker 1: the basketball court without blowing some sort of injury. I mean,
Speaker 1: Achilles will explode saying we're good at parlor games. Parlor games.
Speaker 1: I got a minor in parlor games in college. I
Speaker 1: would like to see. I would if we ever, if
Speaker 1: this ever did happen, I would like to see what
Speaker 1: the events were, because it should be stated that Jeremiah
Speaker 1: and Bucky both played college ball. Bucky actually played in
Speaker 1: the NFL. It was a long time ago, but they
Speaker 1: are obviously at some point in their lives were gifted athletically.
Speaker 1: They probably would be in a good and they would
Speaker 1: have to carry Sally a little bit. Unless you're playing
Speaker 1: parlor games, right, well, we get some racket sports in there.
Speaker 1: I'll take care of West has got the parlor games.
Speaker 1: If we sniffleballs involved, I'm just I'm gonna my slurve
Speaker 1: is gonna take everybody out for sure. You got me
Speaker 1: in softball, you got me, you got me in cornhole.
Speaker 1: But I'm I'm pretty confident in the rest of them. Okay,
Speaker 1: well it's the westcot I like being underestimated. Yeah, let's
Speaker 1: see we need that underestimated. Is Dan Campbell at the Gates?
Speaker 1: Who was underestimate? What I mean by you, I mean
Speaker 1: by the two guys hosting that other podcast. I do
Speaker 1: like that the Dan Campbell thing really stuck and sell
Speaker 1: these crawls. It's come up a bunch of time. I mean,
Speaker 1: he who's who's been more beloved as an interim coach
Speaker 1: than Dan Campbell? Look at it and see poems were
Speaker 1: written about that guy. Yeah, um, all right, that was fun.
Speaker 1: Finally let's move on and talk about the Pain Rankings. Yes,
Speaker 1: the old Zu ser um, burning the Midnight Oil, Wes,
Speaker 1: I love it, you know, just not not resting on
Speaker 1: his laurels all these years in channeling two thousand twelve,
Speaker 1: user just digging in, digging my heels and say hey,
Speaker 1: I can get my hands dirty. And the thing I
Speaker 1: like about Dan it's like if he does a lot
Speaker 1: of extra work and really really gets after it's like
Speaker 1: you're not you don't necessarily here about it. He's not
Speaker 1: gonna oh wait, no, he's gonna tell you all about right.
Speaker 1: You know. It's just the way I look at it
Speaker 1: is like, do the work, Just do the work. That's
Speaker 1: how I always look at things. So The Pain Rankings
Speaker 1: was a seven part series back in two thousand fifteen, UH,
Speaker 1: in which I broke down what I believed was the
Speaker 1: rankings of the seven most pain franchises in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Two years later, UH thought, during this quiet period before
Speaker 1: training camp, it would be fun to revisit the Pain
Speaker 1: rankings and and see where we are now. And uh,
Speaker 1: I think, let's again, there's gonna be some big surprises here,
Speaker 1: because there are. I first of all, I went from seven.
Speaker 1: I'm bumping into eight. There's just so much misery in
Speaker 1: the league with the Patriots doing what they're doing right
Speaker 1: now that now I have to make it a bigger
Speaker 1: group of eight. And I added two teams, I kicked
Speaker 1: out one, and the team seems that it's like increasing
Speaker 1: their pain level. The irony, Yeah, the irony is not
Speaker 1: lost on me that they can't even get the glory
Speaker 1: and the Pain rankings. But the Kansas City Chiefs exit
Speaker 1: the Pain rankings. At the time in two thousand fifteen,
Speaker 1: they were on a long, long playoff drought, uh, which
Speaker 1: they snapped that draft with the thirty nothing win in Houston. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then they've been record wise the best team in
Speaker 1: the NFL for a year and a half in the
Speaker 1: in the regular season, and they got a playoff by
Speaker 1: last year. Now, they didn't capitalize on that. But even
Speaker 1: the biggest pessimist Chiefs fan well would probably find it
Speaker 1: hard to say that things are not in a good
Speaker 1: place right now. I'm just with the other teams that
Speaker 1: have entered the fray here. I had to say goodbye
Speaker 1: to the Chiefs for now. Anyway, you could always re
Speaker 1: enter the Pain rankings in two thousand all time playoff
Speaker 1: record nine and seventeen, and I think if I'm a
Speaker 1: Chiefs fan, I would I would say we are coming
Speaker 1: off the pain rankings after two painful playoff defeats. Stop
Speaker 1: if you're a Chiefs fan. That Steeler's loss really stung.
Speaker 1: You know. They thought that was a really strong Chiefs team.
Speaker 1: Even the game in Foxborough, they were pretty competitive. They
Speaker 1: came into that game playing well. So I'm luxury pain.
Speaker 1: They're still in a good place though right now. I
Speaker 1: just tell me if they shouldn't had of any of
Speaker 1: these other teams. Coming in at eight is West's former
Speaker 1: football paramore, the Cincinnati Bengals, who, uh, we're six of
Speaker 1: seven last year. Uh our last time I did this
Speaker 1: and since that happened, Uh, they've had more misery and
Speaker 1: most last year was actually almost a bit of a um,
Speaker 1: you know, a breather for the fan base, just a
Speaker 1: six nine in one season where things just didn't work out.
Speaker 1: Season before it was a wreck. They started ten and two.
Speaker 1: Uh they looked very, very good. They were leading the
Speaker 1: North and uh Andy Dalton breaks his thumb in Week
Speaker 1: thirteen against the Steelers, and then who could forget? Gentlemen.
Speaker 1: One of the all time I think worst losses of
Speaker 1: this century so far was the Saturday night loss West
Speaker 1: Cincinnati hosting Pittsburgh. Vante's perfect Jeremy Hill, uh, Antonio Brown
Speaker 1: getting concussed, uh, Joey Porter fighting on the field. Who
Speaker 1: could forget? I think that's one of the most crushing
Speaker 1: losses any of us have ever seen. But I have
Speaker 1: a philosophical disconnect with with this whole thing. I think
Speaker 1: that you give extra points for luxury pain for first
Speaker 1: world football pain. Oh, you made it to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: but you didn't get what you wanted in the end.
Speaker 1: Only one of thirty two teams gets what they wanted
Speaker 1: in the end. I don't think it's that big of
Speaker 1: a deal to be crushed the playoffs. To me, the
Speaker 1: most painful thing is going through long stretches of time
Speaker 1: where you have no chance to do better than two
Speaker 1: or three wins in a season. Your team is wayward,
Speaker 1: it's lost, it's soul draining, it's life killing, and those
Speaker 1: are the teams that I feel are the most pained,
Speaker 1: Like the Vikings would not be anywhere near my list. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll get to Vikings at number seven here. I think
Speaker 1: that Wes, you make a good point in the sense
Speaker 1: that UH teams that at least fan bases that have
Speaker 1: a team that gets hot every year or so, they
Speaker 1: build an organization that that that has ten win seasons,
Speaker 1: eleven win seasons. But really, especially when you're a team
Speaker 1: that that gets so close and blows games the way
Speaker 1: they do. Now, the Vikings are another example. You had
Speaker 1: Blair Walsh miss a twenty seven yard field goal that
Speaker 1: would have knocked off the Seattle Seahawks. This was uh
Speaker 1: last season or two seasons ago, um, and I mean
Speaker 1: one of the worst field goal misses in NFL history. Uh.
Speaker 1: The following August they are darlings of of the summer.
Speaker 1: A lot of people are picking him as a sleeper
Speaker 1: Super Bowl pick. Teddy Bridgewater in a non contact drill,
Speaker 1: plants his leg and the and the damn knee of
Speaker 1: his implodes basically and we don't even know if we're
Speaker 1: gonna see him again. I mean, the Vikings to me,
Speaker 1: even though they've had a lot of success in terms
Speaker 1: of getting to the playoffs. The fact that they keep
Speaker 1: knocking on the door, still have no title wins, have
Speaker 1: some of the more crushing losses ever in forty years
Speaker 1: since they've been in a Super Bowl too, that should
Speaker 1: be you know, there there are people our age that
Speaker 1: have not seen the Vikings. Look at their all time
Speaker 1: record for fifty seven, three, eight, seven and ten. That's
Speaker 1: got to be in the top eight teams. Ever, this,
Speaker 1: this philsophical debate is reminding me of uh, the famous
Speaker 1: Sessler Westling Kansas pain ranking debates of two thousand and
Speaker 1: fourteen through two thousand and fifteen, which go down with
Speaker 1: Frost Nixon as some of the most classic debates. And
Speaker 1: it really yeah, and you know right down even last
Speaker 1: year after they treaded for Sam Bradford, they start five
Speaker 1: and oh lose eight of ten. Uh. Even the birds
Speaker 1: nice stadium, but all those birds flying into the stadium
Speaker 1: glass and kills. It's a painful world out there that
Speaker 1: that's what's happened to the Vikings in the last two years.
Speaker 1: Yet they actually you know, they moved backwards on this
Speaker 1: list yea. And in full world. Yeah, well, there's there
Speaker 1: are two very interesting editions this year, We're not there yet.
Speaker 1: The number six I have the Detroit Lins, who I
Speaker 1: didn't really even know what to do with the lines.
Speaker 1: The lines obviously deserved to still have a spot. There
Speaker 1: were number five, and I've dropped them to six. Here.
Speaker 1: What have they done in the two years since the
Speaker 1: pain rankings? Well, they made the playoffs last year, but
Speaker 1: we all know they were not a real playoff team,
Speaker 1: and they just I don't know. They've made the playoffs
Speaker 1: two of the past three years. But I wrote in
Speaker 1: the piece, does it actually feel like they've turned any
Speaker 1: type of corner or they just still like the Lions,
Speaker 1: just floating along really never giving the team, the fans
Speaker 1: anything to really get excited about. The just the Lions.
Speaker 1: To me, this this one has justification for being number one.
Speaker 1: Who has been more pain than the Lions fan base.
Speaker 1: They've got twenty playoff games in almost a hundred years
Speaker 1: of existence. That and their best two players of the
Speaker 1: last two decades basically retired because they couldn't deal with
Speaker 1: the pain of being a Lion anymore. Megatron Jesse said,
Speaker 1: and people forget now because it happened twenty years ago.
Speaker 1: But Barry Sanders said the same exact thing that he
Speaker 1: decided at thirty one, and basically yard Shy being the
Speaker 1: all time rushing leader, that he couldn't put himself through
Speaker 1: another season knowing that the team around him just wasn't
Speaker 1: good enough, so that they've actually scared away two of
Speaker 1: the great generational talent forget in the last thirty years
Speaker 1: just by being the Lions. So West's point, if pain
Speaker 1: is not even making the playoffs. They have the fewest
Speaker 1: playoff appearances other than the Bengals and the fewest playoff
Speaker 1: wins other than the Bengals. So by your thought, in
Speaker 1: terms of not even making it to the playoffs, the
Speaker 1: Bengals and Lions would be the two worst. Well, who
Speaker 1: think of it this way? What is a more painful
Speaker 1: existence to have loved and lost? In the acute pain,
Speaker 1: you feel like they're getting your heartbroken or never to
Speaker 1: have loved at all and going your whole life being unloved.
Speaker 1: And that's what the Lions are versus a team like
Speaker 1: the Falcons who has a devastating loss in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: There's acute pain there because it just happened. They'll get over.
Speaker 1: It was their greatest season in history. We'll see number five.
Speaker 1: I have the Falcons not ranked a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: but they could have been because the Falcons have their
Speaker 1: UH they have never never been to the won a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. They've been to two now. But I just
Speaker 1: you know, and maybe I make a bigger deal it,
Speaker 1: but I and being there per person and seeing ludicrous
Speaker 1: crumble next to me. Um, the worst loss I think
Speaker 1: in NFL history happened on Sunday night in Houston, UH
Speaker 1: in February, UH blowing the lead, and I think, UM,
Speaker 1: I don't think the team will ever not just this
Speaker 1: group of players, but I don't think the Falcons will
Speaker 1: probably ever shake that lost. It basically to me defines
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons now UH to the entire country. And
Speaker 1: I thought it's also been interesting this season or this
Speaker 1: offseason seeing how how many people both uh you know,
Speaker 1: rivals of the team and just be every man the
Speaker 1: other guy on Twitter have have taken delight and going
Speaker 1: after the Falcons and and and having fun at their
Speaker 1: expense all across the country. I just think the fact
Speaker 1: that they've never won a super Bowl and then they
Speaker 1: lost the one in the most devastating uh passion imaginable um,
Speaker 1: that's why they they're in the top five. For me,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's heartbreaking, but also thank you. You gave
Speaker 1: me life. When I look back in twenty years, if
Speaker 1: I'm a Falcons fan, that's the team I'm gonna remember
Speaker 1: for giving me life for a year. I think it's
Speaker 1: totally underestimating how crushing that loss had to be for
Speaker 1: their face. And I think part of it, and this
Speaker 1: isn't really part of the Pain rankings, but I think
Speaker 1: for the Atlanta sports fan, it's certainly Falcons fans are
Speaker 1: Hawks fans and their Braves fans, and just the lack
Speaker 1: of success all all those teams have had for now
Speaker 1: a relatively long time since the Braves were decent is
Speaker 1: part of the mix. I just rewatched that game because
Speaker 1: I'm doing a making the leap on the Falcons defense,
Speaker 1: and I the most you know, who should be number
Speaker 1: one on the Pain rankings is Dan Quinn for going
Speaker 1: back and watching that ten twelve times. That's the same
Speaker 1: by doing that, because I was as even as a
Speaker 1: Patriots fan, just watching the unbelievable amount of luck and
Speaker 1: bad you know, just any number of things that could
Speaker 1: have happened, and it just would have turned around, it didn't. Uh.
Speaker 1: Number four in the list, I have the Buffalo bill Owls,
Speaker 1: who um have not been to the playoffs since uh
Speaker 1: the season, which perhaps not coincidentally is coincided with Tom
Speaker 1: Brady's entire playing career. Uh. But um. I I highlighted
Speaker 1: in in the right up, which you can see at
Speaker 1: NFL dot com slash pain Rankings or NFL dot com
Speaker 1: slash and around, I highlighted Luke Russer, who is an
Speaker 1: NBC News correspondent Bill super fan. His father Luke, his
Speaker 1: boy his father. Uh. Tim Russer was obviously a very
Speaker 1: famous Bills fan passed away a few years back. But
Speaker 1: I just want to highlight this quote that when I
Speaker 1: interviewed him two thousand five, right after they hired Rex,
Speaker 1: and it kind of sums up what sucks about being
Speaker 1: a Bills fan is that they get sucked into different
Speaker 1: narratives about how things are gonna change and then nothing
Speaker 1: works out. Here's what Russer said, Bill Chick Bellichick is
Speaker 1: the master. However, the Jets beat Belichick before in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: If Ryan could pull that off one time time, he'll
Speaker 1: be God in all honesty. If he gets to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: they will erect a statue. At this point, doesn't even
Speaker 1: matter if he never goes for the rest of his
Speaker 1: career in Buffalo. If he gets to the playoffs this year,
Speaker 1: they will erect a statue. They already hit their season
Speaker 1: ticket record. It's not even August and they did that.
Speaker 1: It's going to be mayhem at least in those first
Speaker 1: few games. And you know what it was, and Bills
Speaker 1: fans were never more excited than that early Bills tenure.
Speaker 1: And look, they're right back where they started with Rex
Speaker 1: nowhere to be seen. It does feel like if you're
Speaker 1: in millennial, if you're say thirty years old or younger,
Speaker 1: this has to be one of the most pained fan
Speaker 1: bases out there. Yeah, I mean they won four they
Speaker 1: won four conference titles in a row, lost four Super
Speaker 1: Bowls in a row. When that that streak ended? What
Speaker 1: and ever since then? What's what are the Bills? What
Speaker 1: does an entire generation of Bills fans have to hang out?
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of great fan bases on this list,
Speaker 1: but they are right there at the top. I mean,
Speaker 1: just keeping that franchise in Buffalo, many may deserve it.
Speaker 1: I mean, all these fan bases does serve it truly,
Speaker 1: but they really deserve a little sunshine. Uh. Number three
Speaker 1: on the list. I have my New York Jets um
Speaker 1: and you know you the to love and lost are
Speaker 1: never loved, loved at all. I think as a Jets
Speaker 1: fan you've kind of experienced both ends of the spectrum.
Speaker 1: I believe that their ability to uh to hand out
Speaker 1: pain to their fans, they can they can take you
Speaker 1: through a co tight type era where they're hopeless or
Speaker 1: where they are right now. They could get your hopes
Speaker 1: up and suck you in and completely destroy you, as
Speaker 1: they've done many times, most recently in two thousand fifteen
Speaker 1: in that season finale and Buffalo. Um. The Jets just
Speaker 1: never get over the hump. And and it's not easy
Speaker 1: also sharing a city with the Giants. Um, who um
Speaker 1: the butt bumble behind me? You know the butt bumble?
Speaker 1: They have the fits, magic fits magic running out last
Speaker 1: year and now the Jets just not even trying this year.
Speaker 1: And you just know the Jets and you you really
Speaker 1: have had nothing to really celebrate. As someone a thirty
Speaker 1: seven year old Jets fan, I've never even seen the
Speaker 1: Jets in a Super Bowl. And you know, it's still
Speaker 1: far away. It's just a very frustrating, sad, annoying fan
Speaker 1: experience as a Jets fan. Look, you got your owner
Speaker 1: leaving to be an ambassador. Come on, the same thing
Speaker 1: happened to Steelers a few years ago. Yeah, but I trusted.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I trusted the Rooney family feels different
Speaker 1: for something taking over better than I do. What are
Speaker 1: you done? Brother? He's like, oh, yeah, my brother's gotta do.
Speaker 1: I don't even know he had a brother. And also
Speaker 1: it was like, yeah, he'll be running the Jets now.
Speaker 1: Uh so there you go. The Jets continue uh to
Speaker 1: mortify my soul and um my father's as well. Number two, MM,
Speaker 1: number two and this one. You know, this is why
Speaker 1: I wish Mark was here because number two on this
Speaker 1: list of the Cleveland Browns dropping out of the number
Speaker 1: one spot. And uh, it's not anything really the Browns did.
Speaker 1: In fact, you could you could say maybe it is
Speaker 1: like this isn't this is an offseason of optimism where
Speaker 1: they a lot of people gave uh Sashi Brown and
Speaker 1: uh Hugh Jackson a lot of credit and and they
Speaker 1: got the three first round picks and they address some
Speaker 1: big needs. Um in free agency coming off that one
Speaker 1: in fifteen last year. But at the same time, we've
Speaker 1: been down this road before, so before I moved the
Speaker 1: Browns anywhere close to out of the pain rings, we
Speaker 1: actually have to see them do something. So they did
Speaker 1: win one game last year, one last they they still
Speaker 1: are in a lot of ways. If there wasn't something
Speaker 1: crazy going on with the number one team, to me,
Speaker 1: the team that with the most pain your thoughts was,
Speaker 1: I mean, I would keep them at number one. And
Speaker 1: I think we just saw the video of fans with
Speaker 1: paper bags on their heads. I don't remember ever seeing
Speaker 1: a Chargers crab with paper bags on their heads. Cleveland
Speaker 1: has been paper bag since they've been back in nine.
Speaker 1: You talk about a team with a great hissed that
Speaker 1: has never come close to revisiting that history. They were
Speaker 1: and he still have an all time winning record. So
Speaker 1: they do because they were so great when our grandparents
Speaker 1: were in the prime of their lives. I mean, they
Speaker 1: were so great in the fifties, in the late forties.
Speaker 1: And if you think about where Cleveland is, where's the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame just a short drive from Cleveland. This
Speaker 1: is the cradle of football. And for them to be
Speaker 1: so bad in the cradle of football to meet carry's
Speaker 1: extra weight and they you know, the Bills, We hear
Speaker 1: it all the time. They haven't been to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Um since the ninety nine season. The Browns. Everyone forgets
Speaker 1: they made it once and I believe the two season,
Speaker 1: but they haven't, uh really and lost the pain lost
Speaker 1: the painful game still Arians and and Kelly Holcomb underrated
Speaker 1: chapter in the Bruce Arians book on Kelly Holcomb. Uh
Speaker 1: that last season, as we witnessed with our you know
Speaker 1: friend Mark, Uh was a pretty tough ficks. That was
Speaker 1: an underrated chainful experience because it did some bad things
Speaker 1: tomorrow after and then and I'm I'm sure a lot
Speaker 1: of Browns fans to the weight of possibly going oh
Speaker 1: in sixteen, it just kept building and building. You saw
Speaker 1: it on Hugh Jackson. I mean, Hugh Jackson was kind
Speaker 1: of a mess by the end of that season two.
Speaker 1: So just carrying that for about them, you know, four
Speaker 1: to six weeks when it really looked like it was
Speaker 1: gonna happen. That was tough. And uh, can we get
Speaker 1: a little timpany uh for this one solid for the
Speaker 1: number one team on the pain West kind of you
Speaker 1: know I was trying to do a reveal, said the name,
Speaker 1: but listen, I could mess up a junkyard. I know
Speaker 1: you didn't mean it on purpose. So things happen. Love
Speaker 1: me body. The number one team on the pain rankings,
Speaker 1: the Chargers, And I'll tell you why. I had something
Speaker 1: of an epiphany late last Did I tell you I
Speaker 1: was burning the midnight oil last night when I was
Speaker 1: working on this. Yeah, that's impressive. It was very late July, Yeah,
Speaker 1: very late at what a time to a year to
Speaker 1: be burning the midnight oil? Just you know, just do
Speaker 1: the work. Just do the work. And uh And I
Speaker 1: was trying to figure out where to put the charges
Speaker 1: and I couldn't find the right spot. And then I
Speaker 1: thought I took, I took. I took a bigger, like
Speaker 1: a more macro viewpoint. What am I doing here? It's
Speaker 1: about fan pain and what could be more painful than
Speaker 1: a team quitting on a city? And the and the
Speaker 1: Browns know about that. But at least they got their
Speaker 1: team back. The Chargers on the city of San Diego
Speaker 1: is not getting their their team back. So for a
Speaker 1: team that already never got a Super Bowl, um they
Speaker 1: were in, they never want a Super Bowl, the one
Speaker 1: that they appeared in. They were basically a joke. Uh,
Speaker 1: just a jobber in a in a professional wrestling match.
Speaker 1: Uh for Steve Young to trounce. Uh. They they've had
Speaker 1: soul crushing playoff losses. I mean the Jets beat them
Speaker 1: in San Diego twice for Christ's sake. Uh. Draft draft
Speaker 1: day bumbles, terrible trades. They traded Drew Breeze. What was
Speaker 1: their hall that they got back for Drew Brees left
Speaker 1: in free agency? Got nothing? They got nothing. Sorry. Off
Speaker 1: the field tragedy Junior say How's suicide, which was obviously
Speaker 1: just the terrible thing for the most famous player in
Speaker 1: franchise history arguably. And then the long not just that
Speaker 1: they left, the way was drawn out over more than
Speaker 1: a year to the point where they played last season,
Speaker 1: knowing are they already said goodbye to the team that
Speaker 1: the previous year remember Eric Weddell memorably you know, kissing
Speaker 1: the fifty yard line and and all that, And then
Speaker 1: they went back anyway because ownership was still trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, do whatever ownership was doing to to get
Speaker 1: the best situation. And then they just left and now
Speaker 1: San Diego has nothing. They they have been left with.
Speaker 1: They they dealt with a team that they suffered with
Speaker 1: for fifty years that never brought them home to the
Speaker 1: Promised Land. And now there's no light at the end
Speaker 1: of the tunnel. Every other team that we talked about
Speaker 1: here still has a chance, even the Browns, even the Jets, uh,
Speaker 1: even even the Bengals. And it's really the San Diego
Speaker 1: About the San Diego Chargers, there is no tomorrow for
Speaker 1: the San Diego Chargers. So I had to put them
Speaker 1: in number one to bolster your point. No team has
Speaker 1: ever spent fifty seven years or more in a city,
Speaker 1: or fifty six however long they were in San Diego
Speaker 1: in the NFL and then moved. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: the longest the team has ever been in a city
Speaker 1: and then moved. So but I think, what do you
Speaker 1: think about the argument that say, Okay, San Diego, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be seventy eight degrees in Sonny every day for
Speaker 1: these fans. What about Cleveland where they had their city
Speaker 1: taken away with a much rich, richer They had their
Speaker 1: team taken away, a much richer history, much richer football
Speaker 1: area of the country, and they are left with snow
Speaker 1: and grace. Guys, for most of the year, and not
Speaker 1: only was their team taken away, but we're gonna compound
Speaker 1: your pain by making you the most dysfunctional franchise in
Speaker 1: the league for the next two decades when you do
Speaker 1: get your team back. I think that's certainly a fair point.
Speaker 1: And if if people feel strongly that the Browns should
Speaker 1: be number want an exercise like this, I I can't
Speaker 1: say that makes no sense, but I guess it was
Speaker 1: more the things. I think the thing about the weather
Speaker 1: being good in San Diego is a little bit overblown.
Speaker 1: Like we've been living in l A for a long time,
Speaker 1: you kind of take it for granted after a while,
Speaker 1: and it's not something like it makes my life better
Speaker 1: or I have it better than other people just because
Speaker 1: I just don't even think about it anymore. In some ways,
Speaker 1: it's a little more like, you know, I could I
Speaker 1: can understand why you would be, like if you were
Speaker 1: somebody that dealt with depression, if you were dealing with
Speaker 1: stuff and it was just beautiful and sunny every day,
Speaker 1: I feel like it doesn't really it doesn't make it
Speaker 1: easier on you that your team has gone. I think
Speaker 1: at that point, I think there's some truth to it west,
Speaker 1: and I think it maybe reduces the amount, Like if
Speaker 1: you're talking about the level of support, obviously the Browns
Speaker 1: have a different level of support and a more broad
Speaker 1: fan base than the Chargers do. I think for the
Speaker 1: true die hard Chargers and I went to their final
Speaker 1: game in San Diego, and you're kind of right that
Speaker 1: they even were robbed from the real experience of saying goodbye,
Speaker 1: because by the second time around, they were just exhausted.
Speaker 1: They were like, we did we did this a year ago.
Speaker 1: A lot of the same people that went to the
Speaker 1: you know, the time before it didn't go to this
Speaker 1: and there those people that were there, they were heartbroken.
Speaker 1: They had they told me stories that they had been
Speaker 1: going for fifty years or their family had been going there.
Speaker 1: They were the season ticket. They were not going to
Speaker 1: follow the team to l A. And that was a
Speaker 1: good thing, a good point Adam Rank, our colleague made
Speaker 1: in the newsroom. Imagine if your favorite team goes to
Speaker 1: your rival city, the city that you hate. Now there's
Speaker 1: some there's some gray area here, there's Orange County where
Speaker 1: the Charges are actually based. Right now, it's like those
Speaker 1: fans maybe kind of go but I'm talking real San
Speaker 1: Diego people. They hate l A, they hate the l
Speaker 1: A sports teams, and that's where the Chargers went to go.
Speaker 1: So I think that that makes it even worse for
Speaker 1: those fans. San Diego fans feel pain now, and it's
Speaker 1: just gonna stay that way until, you know, they just
Speaker 1: get used to this world without football. I think the
Speaker 1: Charges will eventually feel too, They just might not realize
Speaker 1: it yet. Like where the fans going to come from? Here?
Speaker 1: Do we really think that the Charges are the team?
Speaker 1: You mean? It's kind of feel yeah. Yeah, And the
Speaker 1: Charges are gonna develop a huge fan base in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: I think if they won and they were good, they
Speaker 1: would be enough, just because the NFL is popular enough. Like,
Speaker 1: if they're good, if they're going to the playoffs, people
Speaker 1: are gonna be into a little NFL playoff football this year. Sure?
Speaker 1: Why not? I would say that seasonal effective disorder SAD
Speaker 1: is a real phenomenon. And when you live your life
Speaker 1: most of it under Leaden Skies, you need diversions like
Speaker 1: sports more often in your life. Thing you do when
Speaker 1: you live in sunshine and beautiful weather. Yeah, but the
Speaker 1: Browns did get it back. They got back worse than
Speaker 1: they went the worse than what anybody's and some of
Speaker 1: the fans thought like we're just another po Dunc town.
Speaker 1: That was a quote. I don't think that's true, because
Speaker 1: San Diego is a great city. People, a lot of
Speaker 1: people's favorite city, right people. People love it. But just
Speaker 1: losing an NFL team, if you're if football is really
Speaker 1: in your blood, it does take something. It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: go kitesurfing today. Uh. The Round the NFL podcast presented
Speaker 1: by New Era has come to a close. We'll be
Speaker 1: back on Thursday with another show and audio only show. Um,
Speaker 1: hopefully we'll have uh. Actually, Greg, you will not be
Speaker 1: with us, and I'm not. I do not plan to
Speaker 1: be here. I'm taking a long weekend. They're gonna be
Speaker 1: with the Shield though. Ahead of I will be playing
Speaker 1: softball on Thursday night. Yes, I like your priorities in
Speaker 1: the right spot. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm not missing a game.
Speaker 1: Last game of the regular season. People need to know
Speaker 1: by the lay off, the Shield is now on a
Speaker 1: three game winning streak and a win in Thursday's regular
Speaker 1: season finale clinches the division title and a by straight
Speaker 1: into the finals. As you look to go back to
Speaker 1: back and we're doing it all for Chris Wesling. You know,
Speaker 1: I hope that we do the patch, we get like
Speaker 1: the W patch. At this point, I think that's unnecessary.
Speaker 1: I just you know, no, it's like, you know, it's
Speaker 1: like when you know dal Strawberry, you know, got cancered.
Speaker 1: Yankees put like his number on their hats and stuff.
Speaker 1: Do you want us to go down that route for
Speaker 1: you at all? I want to play. I know we
Speaker 1: want you, and that's why we haven't moved you to
Speaker 1: We have not moved you to the d L I R.
Speaker 1: You're on the active roster. You know, the boom rang
Speaker 1: you just you just let's skip. No. You know, every
Speaker 1: Thursday I'm starting to feel better. I'm getting aggressive with
Speaker 1: my medication. This week. I need to get that back
Speaker 1: out on the softball field. We got a championship to
Speaker 1: defend and we're close to doing it. All right, that's it.
Speaker 1: Check the show out Tuesday night, PM Eastern six pm Pacific,
Speaker 1: NFL dot Com a t N video. Dan hansis signing
Speaker 1: off for the Boss, the mail Man and Slid behind
Speaker 1: the Glass till Thursday