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Speaker 1: that works around the NFL Podcast he's in the UK.
Speaker 1: I lost. Welcome to another edition of the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast from London. My name is Dan Hansas and
Speaker 1: I'm joined and they both built with heroes Mark Sasler,
Speaker 1: Chris West, but filled with a couple of poor pass
Speaker 1: just turned around and it's like, what is happening? And
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, very sorry. Yeah. We're on a tour boat
Speaker 1: on the freshwater River Thames. There's about five other people
Speaker 1: on this massive boat and they had no idea that
Speaker 1: they were this was in store for their their ride.
Speaker 1: A total screw job. Let's be honest for all those people.
Speaker 1: But we are here. We finally have made it uh
Speaker 1: to London. Yes, I did get my passport. Yes, we
Speaker 1: all made the the plane, we made the flight and
Speaker 1: uh ten ten and a half hours later we landed.
Speaker 1: That's our friend Stephanie hy stuff. Keep it down, uh
Speaker 1: And now we are a little bit jet legged, but
Speaker 1: alive and well on the River Thames, bringing you the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast from London. You guys are excited, right.
Speaker 1: I love that this. The architecture on the on the
Speaker 1: river is fantastic. All the buildings mix of old and new.
Speaker 1: The history, this history is Rich is killing London and England.
Speaker 1: About the weather we've gotten so far? What feels like?
Speaker 1: What do you call yesterday the southern California of people
Speaker 1: call this the bur Bank of Europe? But you do.
Speaker 1: I don't have not heard of a single other person
Speaker 1: call it that. Yeah, very nice weather, cannot complain. Everything
Speaker 1: is uh set up well for a great week. And
Speaker 1: of course tomorrow Tuesday is our live show from the
Speaker 1: Curtain Club in London. And if you are lucky enough
Speaker 1: to have tickets, we can't wait to see you are.
Speaker 1: And if you didn't get tickets, maybe to show up anyway,
Speaker 1: and uh, we'll let we'll let you like walk over
Speaker 1: some shadowy leak figures to get into the venue. No,
Speaker 1: not allowed. I gotta shaking his head right me right now.
Speaker 1: But after the show, maybe we'll meet up in another
Speaker 1: place nearby. If you aren't able to make the show, So, uh,
Speaker 1: that's coming up. We'll tweet out info on that whatever
Speaker 1: it is, it'll be relatively close to that. Boy, we're
Speaker 1: newly promised that we're gonna be tweeting out info and
Speaker 1: nothing people need to address, yes, and then we'll be
Speaker 1: doing some stuff with Sky Sports, and of course we're
Speaker 1: doing three shows as we lead up to week one,
Speaker 1: the kickoff on Thursday between the Eagles and the Falcons.
Speaker 1: And speaking of the Eagles, we're about to get into
Speaker 1: some news right now. Um uh, their quarterback situation will
Speaker 1: come up. But before we get to that, my goodness,
Speaker 1: one of the biggest trades in recent memory went down.
Speaker 1: Hey Louise Cannons, Dan, what's up. I'm just sitting on
Speaker 1: the floor over here on this boat. Yeah you are. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say you're sitting Indian style. But they
Speaker 1: don't say that. It's called apple sauce, criss cross apple
Speaker 1: sauces cross apples. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. That's near to me.
Speaker 1: That's that's the way it is now market that you
Speaker 1: know that too as well. I was aware of that.
Speaker 1: I have small children to go to school. West. You
Speaker 1: went to elementary school along with me about years ago,
Speaker 1: so we did not know that. They didn't call it.
Speaker 1: They didn't call it that. Solis Canna. Why don't we
Speaker 1: do some news. Let's do it? Do you definitely get
Speaker 1: a hard worker, but God, that's gonna come in and
Speaker 1: be a great teammate. Uh. And that's what that's that's
Speaker 1: the two. That's the two most important things that you
Speaker 1: can pretty much say at this point. For me, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna come in and be a hard worker, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna try to leave by example and be a great
Speaker 1: teammate and everything on the field gonna take yours up,
Speaker 1: all right? Oh, my goodness, Khalil Mack. It was the
Speaker 1: uh standoff between the Raiders and the star pass rusher
Speaker 1: that was going nowhere. The two sides weren't communicating. Uh,
Speaker 1: and the Raiders make a bombshell decision to trade their
Speaker 1: star defender, the two thousand sixteen defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: to the Chicago Bears. My goodness, for two first round picks.
Speaker 1: The Bears also um get a second round pick I believe?
Speaker 1: Is that correct? Yes? Uh? And the Chicago Bears now
Speaker 1: have got a second round pick in return. Yes, right?
Speaker 1: The Bears now how Khalil Mack on their front seven
Speaker 1: and the Raiders fans are left scratching their head West
Speaker 1: this is a bombshell trade. How does it change the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears fortunes in two thousand seventeen, Well, I think
Speaker 1: most people looked at their defense and even and rusher
Speaker 1: was the big issue there Leonard Floyd's coming off an injury.
Speaker 1: Even if you think that Aaron Lynch was a nice signing,
Speaker 1: reuniting with Vic Pongio hasn't practiced at all. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: thought there were weeks last year where this Bears defense
Speaker 1: looked like one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And if you add a healthy Leonard Floyd and Kleio
Speaker 1: Mac and then bringing ro Kuan Smith, this could be
Speaker 1: one of the best front sevens out there. It starts
Speaker 1: to rhyd remind you a little bit of the early
Speaker 1: makings of what Vic Fangio had in San Francisco. And
Speaker 1: they've had every layer they've got, They've got interesting. It's
Speaker 1: going fast right now. It's going a little too fast
Speaker 1: right now. I love it. I love that Vic Fangio
Speaker 1: is like the perfect answer for Khalil, I mean, the
Speaker 1: perfect scheme for Cleio Mac. I think people that like
Speaker 1: they can't go too wrong this trade for Chicago, Like
Speaker 1: maybe you don't get an exceptional value because you're giving
Speaker 1: up two first round picks, you gave up all those
Speaker 1: picks for Chubisky, but you know what you're getting, Like
Speaker 1: it almost seem right. It seems like a total full
Speaker 1: proof way because Max should be bad. There, it's a
Speaker 1: better coordinator than he's ever had in Oakland, and there
Speaker 1: it's better teammates than he ever had in Oakland. Not
Speaker 1: just up front, but their secondary looks really good this
Speaker 1: year on paper, and Mukamara and Fuller had a good offseason.
Speaker 1: I like their safeties, so those are guys that can
Speaker 1: cover longer, give more time for Mac to get to them.
Speaker 1: And it's just another reminder Ryan Pace, their general manager.
Speaker 1: He's sort of in and all in mode right now.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's to save his job or not,
Speaker 1: or if it's just Walt Drabinsky is on his rookie contract,
Speaker 1: but it's like there's no more. Hey, let's win six
Speaker 1: or seven games. That would be a nice improvement story.
Speaker 1: This is a team that's trying to go to the
Speaker 1: playoffs right now. I think another big winner is Matt Neggie.
Speaker 1: I mean, you come in and you thought, well, this
Speaker 1: is the guy that's gonna come in and take Mitch
Speaker 1: Robinsky and maximize the quarterback position. But suddenly your defense
Speaker 1: is becoming a strength in a division where you're gonna
Speaker 1: deal with Aaron Rodgers right out of the gate. In
Speaker 1: week one. You're gonna play him twice a year. Matthew Stafford,
Speaker 1: the rest of that division, Kirk Cousins. You've now got
Speaker 1: the one guy that all three of them have to
Speaker 1: deal with. Makes them juicy. They're very exciting in fact,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know, maybe a way for the
Speaker 1: live show to discuss this formally, but a team of
Speaker 1: a t N consider consideration. I think now you have
Speaker 1: to look at the Bears team on the rise now
Speaker 1: with a stud and Clil Mack, who they just made
Speaker 1: the highest paid defensive player ever, got that deal done immediately.
Speaker 1: Everything is positive and fun and exciting about the Bears.
Speaker 1: And when's the last time you can say that. The
Speaker 1: only reason I didn't nominate them on the last show
Speaker 1: is because I figured one of you guys would, alright,
Speaker 1: a trendy team. Let's just stick a pin in that though,
Speaker 1: and we'll get to it on Tuesday. Now. The Raiders
Speaker 1: side of this trade, it's, you know, it's wild, and
Speaker 1: it's if you're a Raiders fan, you're trying to figure
Speaker 1: out how this could have happened. And I get it
Speaker 1: because it always felt like to me that this was
Speaker 1: just a they were doing the seductive dance that happens
Speaker 1: a lot uh in the summer between star player and team,
Speaker 1: and eventually they get the deal done and instead the
Speaker 1: John Gruden didn't blink. And Gruden spoke about why he
Speaker 1: made he made the decision, and let's be honest, he
Speaker 1: made this decision for Reggie Mackenzie, Poor Reggie. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, well, let's let's listen first to what Jon
Speaker 1: Gruden had to say why they made the decision to
Speaker 1: trade their best defensive player, their best player. People are
Speaker 1: trying to divide us and I wanted him gone, he
Speaker 1: wanted them here. You know, we made it. We made
Speaker 1: a decision as as an organization, Mark Davis, Tom Delaney,
Speaker 1: we all got the information and um, we made a
Speaker 1: decision together. You know, it wasn't my goal to trade
Speaker 1: Khalil when we got here. One of the reasons I'm
Speaker 1: here is because of him. Unfortunately, we had a standoff
Speaker 1: with a contract and we could not come to terms
Speaker 1: and the Bears made us an offer two first round
Speaker 1: draft choices, and here we are today. I mean, we've
Speaker 1: been talking all offseason wondering what's going on in Oakland
Speaker 1: between John Gruden and Reggie Mackenzie. And that well, that
Speaker 1: quote tries to sell us on the idea that their
Speaker 1: pardon parcel, that they're of the same mind that they
Speaker 1: came up with this trade together. When they asked Rudin,
Speaker 1: so why did you include why why did you like
Speaker 1: you want the second round picking all this stuff and
Speaker 1: the machinations of the deal, he basically said, well, that
Speaker 1: wasn't up to me, had nothing to do with it
Speaker 1: was Reggie Mackenzie. It's like he was kind of dishing
Speaker 1: the whole thing off on Mackenzie when it got uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: And didn't We see this from Gruden in the old
Speaker 1: days after the Super Bowl win, where he'd find sometimes
Speaker 1: the blame game would come out with him. That's what
Speaker 1: happened in Tampa. But he blames the players. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's to me, he blames the players usually like they
Speaker 1: somehow weren't good enough. And this to me felt like
Speaker 1: such a strange move that they almost were choreographing from
Speaker 1: the beginning. I guess there was some hesitation and Gruden
Speaker 1: alluded to this to Okay, if you pay their car
Speaker 1: million a year and you pay mac twenty five million
Speaker 1: a year or whatever, it's gonna be twenty two million year.
Speaker 1: Do you want to have forty seven million dollars of
Speaker 1: your salary cap and two players? It's a it's a
Speaker 1: fair question to ask, but I still think that the
Speaker 1: answer is yes, if you're right, if you're lucky enough
Speaker 1: to draft a Hall of Fame caliber talent like Khalil Mac,
Speaker 1: you can figure the rest out. Because think of the
Speaker 1: money that they spent this offseason twenty thirty forty million
Speaker 1: dollars in terms of free agents, and you add some
Speaker 1: of those players up and they don't really amount to
Speaker 1: that much. To me, I'd rather have one Khalil Max. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And I wonder if this is like a perfect storm
Speaker 1: type situation. I can't see any other franchise in the
Speaker 1: NFL making this move. It feels like something out of
Speaker 1: the Nine Bengals, where you money. It was an obstacle
Speaker 1: here and for most teams in the NFL. Money really
Speaker 1: is doing. People say that that it's somehow maybe like
Speaker 1: a cast flow problem. Uh for Mark Davis, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if I buy that considering the amount of casts
Speaker 1: that they've spent all off season. I mean, they spent
Speaker 1: a ton of money all off season, but then they
Speaker 1: end of priorities are heavily out of whack if they've
Speaker 1: been spending money on I think some questionable free agents
Speaker 1: and putting money in other places and letting maxim about
Speaker 1: the door. Two weeks ago there was I wrote this
Speaker 1: trade piece suggesting that he could be someone that might
Speaker 1: be traded if things got to and Raiders fans came now,
Speaker 1: that would work understandably to say, you're insane, this will
Speaker 1: never happen. The night before the trade went down, Raiders
Speaker 1: fans were sore. I think the honeymoon's over for this.
Speaker 1: It's already was over with the national media and Gruden,
Speaker 1: and I think for fans now this is this is
Speaker 1: gonna be on their radar. Shouldn't discount getting two first
Speaker 1: round picks. I know you have to give back a
Speaker 1: second another thirds coming back that is significant, But it
Speaker 1: says to me that like they're thinking about the future. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I tweeted about that, like back in two thousand, the
Speaker 1: Jets got two first rounders for Keyshawn Johnson and they
Speaker 1: turned that into a real talent that made them a
Speaker 1: contender for about a decade. But Raiders fans came back
Speaker 1: at me and Switter said, yeah, but you had Bill
Speaker 1: Parcel's helping to make those picks. They don't trust what's
Speaker 1: going on in that front. The last thing I'll say
Speaker 1: is Gruden seems to have this old school mentality in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways, and like sending a message by
Speaker 1: being the new boss and sending away your star player
Speaker 1: and saying I'm the boss here. Maybe it's some sort
Speaker 1: of message to the rest of the play that to me.
Speaker 1: Threas old school. And all right, the boat is stopped?
Speaker 1: Is the is the boat? Is it over? Anthony? We've
Speaker 1: got a waste to go. So Anthony is a photographer?
Speaker 1: Is it Anthony? Or Anthony? And my Anthony come on
Speaker 1: the mic? All right, can you tell us something? Anthony
Speaker 1: is one of those guys that knows everything, and he's
Speaker 1: given us a lot of good information. Uh, so far
Speaker 1: about um London when we were outside taking photos and
Speaker 1: and and tell us a little bit about the history
Speaker 1: of the river Tame. How long we go? So we
Speaker 1: are on the title paths of the Thames, which means this,
Speaker 1: the River Thames enters the North Sea from here and
Speaker 1: the gateway to Europe. Are we in danger? No, not yet? Uh?
Speaker 1: And we are basically on the east side of the
Speaker 1: London which during the days when Great Britain was a
Speaker 1: big trading nation, this is where all the goods came
Speaker 1: from around the world to Europe. And what I'm talking
Speaker 1: about it everything. And we've actually stopped by the North
Speaker 1: Greenwich peer for the O two which was the Millennium
Speaker 1: Dome which for the Turn of the Central Millennia. That's
Speaker 1: where the big celebration was. And directly above us is
Speaker 1: the cable car see that, which was specially built for
Speaker 1: tourists to come to the dome and have any of
Speaker 1: those ever slipped off the cable right into the water,
Speaker 1: that would be my concern writing. And then this is
Speaker 1: Great Britain where we do things great. There you go, Anthony,
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll check in with you a little later in
Speaker 1: the show. Always wealth of Information. One of many British
Speaker 1: guests we have surprising you guys for this show. We
Speaker 1: have some royals coming up ending the Prince Harry baby
Speaker 1: all right. In other Raiders news, what a crazy day
Speaker 1: for the Raiders. So they trade uh, one of their
Speaker 1: best players ever and then they cut Martevis Brian and
Speaker 1: this is another black guy UH for the Grooden regime
Speaker 1: because they gave up a not a premium draft pick,
Speaker 1: but a solid mid round draft pick to bring mart
Speaker 1: Davis bryan from the Steelers. Uh and with a suspension looming,
Speaker 1: and it would be another I think it would be
Speaker 1: his third and uh an indefinite one that could knock
Speaker 1: him out of the league forever. Martavis Bryant, with that
Speaker 1: looming looming, is cut. The Raiders say that has nothing
Speaker 1: to do with the decision, but I do not believe that.
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you come out of that saying
Speaker 1: and it's nothing to do with the decision. This comes
Speaker 1: days after they moved on from Ryan Switzer, who they
Speaker 1: acquired earlier in the offseason. Two. It's hard to decipher
Speaker 1: a roadmap in Oakland at all, and every and every
Speaker 1: time Gruden speaks, I've become almost more confused. It's almost
Speaker 1: as if when one of the best organizations in the league,
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers, are desperately just trying to get rid
Speaker 1: of an extremely talented player who has had multiple suspensions,
Speaker 1: that maybe you shouldn't pick up the phone and give
Speaker 1: them a good pick for it. Yeah, this is that
Speaker 1: was a kick in the teeth day for especially Oakland fans.
Speaker 1: The fans that have been there for years, and and
Speaker 1: to know that your last year there is going to
Speaker 1: be just a flat out rebuild, and the last few
Speaker 1: years you're you're acquiring players. You mentioned Mark Ryan Switzer,
Speaker 1: you traded for him, he traded for Mark Davis Bryant.
Speaker 1: They're both gone before they even play a game. I
Speaker 1: just wonder what, let's say Oakland war on Monday Night
Speaker 1: football in week one, and Gruden were still the night
Speaker 1: football announcer. Okay, well, let's see if he were stalling
Speaker 1: his previous job, what would he say about Let's say
Speaker 1: another coach had done everything that he had done this offseason.
Speaker 1: What would his analysis be. I cannot imagine when he
Speaker 1: took this job he thought this would be the next
Speaker 1: six months, he'd probably be he'd probably be fake positive
Speaker 1: about it. He probably would say had been great. Since
Speaker 1: he's fake positives, but one of them was already Khali,
Speaker 1: it's your home. You just think of what the Steelers
Speaker 1: got for Martavis Bryant. They dumped a guy, and instead
Speaker 1: of having this headache who is now out of the
Speaker 1: league perhaps forever, they have a four year contract for
Speaker 1: James Washington, who's a not a similar player. In some
Speaker 1: ways skill set wise, for like what a total of
Speaker 1: two million dollars. That's how good organizations stay good. They
Speaker 1: have James Washington for four years while the Raiders just
Speaker 1: have a huge cap hit. But don't worry Raiders fans
Speaker 1: and anybody else that's saying, oh, Oakland's not going to
Speaker 1: compete this year because A J. McCarron's in the building. Uh.
Speaker 1: John Bruden said a few days ago that he was not.
Speaker 1: He don't he didn't know if his backup quarterback was
Speaker 1: on the roster. Well, he sends a sixth round pick
Speaker 1: to the Buffalo Bills, who very quickly decided that A. J.
Speaker 1: McCarron was not part of their future. Speaking of hints
Speaker 1: other teams should be giving you, and now mccaren is
Speaker 1: the number two to Derek Carr. So that is a
Speaker 1: flurry of activity for the Raiders. They wiped out E. J. Manual,
Speaker 1: they got rid of on her Cook. That was the
Speaker 1: that was Gruden's decision at the end of the preseason.
Speaker 1: And now you're bringing in a backup who has been
Speaker 1: with the team for hours and doesn't know the playbook yet,
Speaker 1: and you just gotta hope something doesn't happen to Derek Carr,
Speaker 1: and you have a suspension for Daryl Worley, another guy
Speaker 1: that they brought in, like their first round pick from
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. Carl Joseph isn't starting. It's
Speaker 1: just it's so much to the point where I think
Speaker 1: Raiders fans might feel differently, but to be expectations should
Speaker 1: be extremely low in a league that feels pretty balanced overall,
Speaker 1: I feel like the Raiders are in the bottom five.
Speaker 1: Never forget the Browns tried to get a G McCarron
Speaker 1: for a second and third round draft pick. It's it's in.
Speaker 1: And while they were critiqued because the whole thing fell
Speaker 1: through to two technical issues for wanting to give up
Speaker 1: and light's like the luckiest thing that happened in that team.
Speaker 1: Moving on, terrible news for the forty Niners and running
Speaker 1: back Jack McKinnon. During a practice he cuts uh he
Speaker 1: goes down in a heap. The team feared it was
Speaker 1: a potential ligamentarire and it was torn a c L
Speaker 1: that ends McKinnon. McKinnon's first year with San Francisco. Jered McKinnon,
Speaker 1: greg who was signed to a rich contract to come
Speaker 1: to Minnesota, to come to San Francisco from Minnesota and
Speaker 1: be like a centerpiece for them, and now he's gone
Speaker 1: before this season even starts. That's pretty crushing, it is.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be eleven and a half million dollars that
Speaker 1: he'll make this year and he won't when to play.
Speaker 1: John Lynch has paid a lot of money to guys
Speaker 1: who haven't contributed much. They cut a guy, Jeremiah Tatcho,
Speaker 1: who got three and a half million guaranteed this year.
Speaker 1: He didn't even make the team. Lynch has been sneaky
Speaker 1: on my radar for spending a lot of money and
Speaker 1: guys that don't help. McKinnon was just back. It was
Speaker 1: bad luck, but it also was a case where they
Speaker 1: gave him a lot of money and then he tried
Speaker 1: to rush his way back on the field, which you
Speaker 1: just feel bad because he was coming back from a
Speaker 1: knee injury. You could tell he was trying to get
Speaker 1: back from week one. He probably came back too early
Speaker 1: to practice and now they'll probably be starting Alfred Morris,
Speaker 1: uh twelve all over again. The funny thing is, I
Speaker 1: don't know if they're that much worse with that. I mean,
Speaker 1: Morris looked pretty good last year. In my mind, I
Speaker 1: had already assumed as soon as they signed Alfred Morris,
Speaker 1: and he looked so good in that first game, and
Speaker 1: then you look at his history with Kyle Shanahan back
Speaker 1: with the Redskins, those were his best years and it
Speaker 1: already looked like Alph was going to play a big
Speaker 1: role whether McKinnon was healthy or not. But it's disappointing
Speaker 1: that a guy that Kyle Shanahan, who's really good at
Speaker 1: this stuff, targeted him for mismatched purposes in the passing game.
Speaker 1: And maybe Matt Breeda can do some of that, but
Speaker 1: not all of them. Yeah, you you were left to
Speaker 1: wonder what he Shannahan could have do because I could
Speaker 1: have done with him, because uh, he obviously had big
Speaker 1: plans and I was thinking just a couple of days
Speaker 1: before this happened. I didn't speak on it because that's
Speaker 1: how you jenks these things, and perhaps I did it
Speaker 1: anyway has been You're the reason this happened. It all
Speaker 1: comes back to Dan. Yeah, a preason, a preseason, and
Speaker 1: a summer. It's about me. Uh where we haven't had
Speaker 1: a ton of or you know, too many notable a
Speaker 1: c L things, which is always the worst part of
Speaker 1: this time of year. But McKinney got bang there. Let's
Speaker 1: move on. By the way, early winners and losers in
Speaker 1: this podcast, You and I right now in the loser's category,
Speaker 1: we have a bright sun shining on our faces and skulls. Well,
Speaker 1: these greg and wests are nicely shrouded in the shade
Speaker 1: over here. Yeah, it wasn't. I didn't even know it
Speaker 1: was an issue. You know, we needed to light it
Speaker 1: up a little bit for the video. Um, you guys
Speaker 1: are a little bit in darkness and now we're gonna
Speaker 1: open up this one too. So rough situation still mostly
Speaker 1: on you guys. We haven't moved. The boat has been
Speaker 1: docked for about fifteen minutes now. Perhaps that's a good thing. Finally,
Speaker 1: in the news, Uh, Nick Foles expected to start Week one?
Speaker 1: That from rap Sheet. Uh for the Eagles, So Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz as we had kind of all suspected they were
Speaker 1: gonna play this safe and safe also means smart. They're
Speaker 1: not gonna rush Wentz back to action. So it will
Speaker 1: likely or is Nick Foles who will be playing against
Speaker 1: the Falcons on Thursday night. Um, how much Mark, Well,
Speaker 1: you're a big preseason guy. We all know that you
Speaker 1: take a lot of I am not and Nick Foles
Speaker 1: was a bit of a nightmare, let's face it, in
Speaker 1: the preseason. But the last time he played a game
Speaker 1: accounted he uh. He basically didn't blank against Tom Brady
Speaker 1: and won the Super Bowl. You think the Eagles are
Speaker 1: gonna be okay here? I well, I would look more
Speaker 1: like the long term. I mean, it's not great to
Speaker 1: have this situation against the Falcons on Thursday night with
Speaker 1: Al Shawan Jeffrey is still a situation, and you've got
Speaker 1: a couple of guys out for the Eagles. But this
Speaker 1: is a team that I trust long term this season,
Speaker 1: and I think we forget how long the seasons are.
Speaker 1: That if you need to put fulls in there for
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, that you absolutely don't rush Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz back before he's ready to go. I wonder how
Speaker 1: many times the Super Bowl champion has been the underdog
Speaker 1: in the NFL kickoff game. They're though, I would pick
Speaker 1: the Falcons in this game, and I would do it
Speaker 1: confidently Desert people say otherwise and would no. But you're
Speaker 1: going from from that super football team angle. I agree
Speaker 1: with you. I agree. I think most people wind up
Speaker 1: picking the Falcons in that game. Maybe we all will
Speaker 1: on on Tuesday night if if we're gonna pick that game,
Speaker 1: because I I agree with you, I love the Falcons
Speaker 1: coming into this season. But maybe that's like what Nick
Speaker 1: all his likes like every time that you know, when
Speaker 1: we assumed Nick, maybe he just had two good games
Speaker 1: and we think too deeply. Uh, yeah, he had a
Speaker 1: great season, and people forget he's had some ups in
Speaker 1: his career. I mean he had he didn't have a
Speaker 1: great season last year. No, I mean two touch sons
Speaker 1: in a in an interception, all right. And last thing
Speaker 1: before we closed the news, it was cut down weekend
Speaker 1: as teams look to get to the final fifty three
Speaker 1: man roster. Uh and this is a tough time on
Speaker 1: the calendar. So let's let's go through some notable names
Speaker 1: that jumped out to you, guys that may be surprised you.
Speaker 1: Mark Cecil will start with you. How about Dan Billy
Speaker 1: getting cut by the Cowboys, the second most accurate kicker
Speaker 1: in the Mast history. I think I got kicker corner.
Speaker 1: I was. I was excited to bring up Dan Valley. Mark,
Speaker 1: I will say nothing else I'll allow you to say
Speaker 1: to add to that, it's gonna be next actually all
Speaker 1: of our next contracts that we're not even allowed to
Speaker 1: speak on kickers anymore. Dan Valley a surprise, God, he
Speaker 1: made he was making good money for Dallas and maybe
Speaker 1: you that was behind it, or why don't you tell
Speaker 1: us where? He's working out this week for the New
Speaker 1: York Jets, which make a lot of sense because the
Speaker 1: Jets have a lot of um anxiety about who their
Speaker 1: kicker is going to be after they let Chandler Canon
Speaker 1: zero signed with the Bucks. So yeah, he's working out
Speaker 1: another name that jumps out. If we're gonna say on
Speaker 1: the kicker corner, robbi Iguyo didn't make it. Yeah, tough, tough,
Speaker 1: he didn't make it. Uh, what jumped out to you,
Speaker 1: Paxton Lynch? Not that it was a surprise, but just
Speaker 1: that it came a day later than the original initial cuts,
Speaker 1: you know, were announced. In the fact that they're replacing
Speaker 1: him with Kevin Hogan is like a bit of a
Speaker 1: kick in the teeth. So they just does John Elway
Speaker 1: assess that Kevin Hogan gives them a better chance to
Speaker 1: win than Paxton Lynch? Not either do, but it's like, really,
Speaker 1: that's damning. Who else Tom Savage is now out of
Speaker 1: the league. You know that doesn't surprise me. You know
Speaker 1: what stuck out to me though, is Terrence Newman retired
Speaker 1: at forty So that wasn't a cut, but I think
Speaker 1: you can probably surmise that he was not going to
Speaker 1: make the team. Uh and they, you know, decided to
Speaker 1: have a conversation with him. That is a guy just
Speaker 1: in under the radar, great player for the Bengals and
Speaker 1: Vikings that he made it to age forty as a
Speaker 1: super undersized cornerback. So and it just happened to be
Speaker 1: a really deep cornerback room there in Minnesota right now.
Speaker 1: And some injuries I think maybe squeezed him out, but
Speaker 1: an incredible career. How about the state of Corey Coleman's
Speaker 1: career right now? He's basically Justin Gilbert, a first round
Speaker 1: pick from the Browns who his attitude was questioned throughout
Speaker 1: his stay, has no value left at all. Just a
Speaker 1: couple of years after he was drafted. He hasn't had
Speaker 1: any lower body injuries. He obviously has to have incredible
Speaker 1: raw ability to be a first round pick, even if
Speaker 1: he shouldn't have been that high. Where is that is
Speaker 1: that just not on display Like I don't. It's it's
Speaker 1: baffling to me that a Buffalo team. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: they made the wrong decision that they wouldn't just hold
Speaker 1: onto the guy and try to cultivate him, but there
Speaker 1: must be nothing to work. They must have not been well.
Speaker 1: They probably happily surprised. Whether it's desire or you know,
Speaker 1: there was talk about ability to you know, pick up
Speaker 1: the playbook stuff like that. They did make the wrong
Speaker 1: decision to trade for him, I mean, the seventh round
Speaker 1: pick whatever, but they're actually had he has like three
Speaker 1: million dollars on their captives year. I mean they get
Speaker 1: to give him money. The Martavis Bryant deal almost like
Speaker 1: took the heat off of the bills for that because
Speaker 1: it was so bad. But that was that was pretty
Speaker 1: ugly bad news for Spice Rack Jonathan Williams surprise cut
Speaker 1: by the Saints. Another surprise, uh, not really surprised, but
Speaker 1: another first round pick along with Lynch that got whack
Speaker 1: Brashad Perriman, who ends what was really a deeply disappointing
Speaker 1: a couple of years with the Ravens now working up
Speaker 1: for the Jets. Now maybe their worst first round pick
Speaker 1: ever Matt Elam and him would be and they struggled
Speaker 1: to dropt white In general throughout history were too surprises
Speaker 1: to me. It's not like headline news. But Landry Jones
Speaker 1: and Davis Webb were guys that the cogniscenti but everyone
Speaker 1: thought that they would be a backup. In fact, I
Speaker 1: saw some Steelers writers essentially call fans and you know,
Speaker 1: idiots for suggesting that Landry Jones would be on on
Speaker 1: on the waiver wire because that's Ben's guy, and Ben
Speaker 1: wanted him to be. And it's like, yeah, Ben's not
Speaker 1: making the personnel decisions. So but that and and Davis Webb,
Speaker 1: a third round pick from a year ago for the Giant.
Speaker 1: I think one was one Hard Knocks battle that we
Speaker 1: were told would lead to one of two players getting
Speaker 1: cut between Nate Orchard and Carl Nassim Nasa, star of
Speaker 1: Hard Knocks, both are gone along with Devin couljuiced all
Speaker 1: three of them out. How dare you this is really
Speaker 1: the first moved by this new Browns resime in John
Speaker 1: Dorothy that I can't get behind, Like you can't just
Speaker 1: put the juiced on your week one roster to make
Speaker 1: people and the stuff. It was time to move on.
Speaker 1: If you want to cut him in week two, well
Speaker 1: if he gets his guaranteed money for the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just think for the hard knocks story of all
Speaker 1: of it all like you're not going anywhere Cleveland this year.
Speaker 1: Let's just make get America behind you. And lastly, and
Speaker 1: now another edition of keeping up, moll Barons are released
Speaker 1: by the Bengals. Mark he won't he can't seem to stick. Well,
Speaker 1: now he's been released as a wide receiver and also
Speaker 1: a tight end where he was trying to make a
Speaker 1: career shift in Cincinnati. Has he ever come close to
Speaker 1: making a roster Well, don't tell Henry, he hasn't. And
Speaker 1: that was another addition of keeping up. Alright, gentlemen, that's
Speaker 1: what's happening in the news. Oh well, Antonio Gates still
Speaker 1: in the league. Signed with the Chargers. How about that
Speaker 1: I didn't want to go through a training camp a preseason.
Speaker 1: I like that. You got the sense from the Chargers
Speaker 1: just reading between the lines their front office, they were
Speaker 1: almost like a little annoyed by how long Antonio Gates
Speaker 1: would didn't want to come into camp Because I was
Speaker 1: there at one of the camp practices in a in
Speaker 1: a fan yelled out to their general manager time to
Speaker 1: let's go, like where's Antonio? Bring Antonio back? And and
Speaker 1: he made kind of a comment just like, yeah, we're waiting,
Speaker 1: we're waiting to some some something to that effect. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: so Gates comes in there. Hunter Henry by the way,
Speaker 1: not placed on i R. He's placed on the pup list.
Speaker 1: Uh so, I don't know. Make that make of that
Speaker 1: what you will. I don't know, but he's not on
Speaker 1: the R. I are. Yeah, if they're in playoff contention,
Speaker 1: he might be able to return in late December or January. Okay, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: here we are. We're still on the boat. Um, Anthony,
Speaker 1: what did you think about the Khalil Mack tradell Mack
Speaker 1: traded to the Bears. Your thoughts, I haven't got a Scooby, dude.
Speaker 1: That's good analysis as well. I finally found something you
Speaker 1: didn't know about. That's a drop. All right. So the
Speaker 1: season is three days away. I mean to know what
Speaker 1: day it is anymore? What what is today? Monday? Oh,
Speaker 1: it's Monday, rough, rough Monday. It's a sunny, beautiful day
Speaker 1: in London. You're on a tour boat. Highly annoying customers here.
Speaker 1: Um yeah, so with week one upon us, we thought
Speaker 1: and here in beautiful London, and it is beautiful and
Speaker 1: people have been friendly. Our hotel is nice and the
Speaker 1: hotel bar is great. And there's what's the name of
Speaker 1: the game. It's not billiards, it's not pool. Snooker, which
Speaker 1: fascinating to me. It's a The balls are small. History
Speaker 1: of snooker, Please snooker, not snucker. It seems like I'm
Speaker 1: very sorry, Anthony. It seems like a royal game. The
Speaker 1: balls are a little smaller. Uh you call them soft.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I just like maybe I like the
Speaker 1: eight ball being involved. Well, you and you and our producer,
Speaker 1: you and Todd got into a last night. Well we're hitting.
Speaker 1: They're very it's not a secret where we're going on
Speaker 1: Friday right now. Very Another very British sport tap taping
Speaker 1: at the cricket match. Who's who's the opponents England versus India. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. That's a goods giving me a
Speaker 1: little bit of a background on that. This is it's
Speaker 1: gonna be fierce. It's either going to be a deciding
Speaker 1: game or the next team will be playing or England's
Speaker 1: playing the next game. Yeah, I've heard. I've heard. It's
Speaker 1: sort of like just talking to the people around here.
Speaker 1: It's like the Jaguars Titans of Europe. It's just like
Speaker 1: it really goes back a lot of stuff, a lot
Speaker 1: of feelings back and forth. Hold that thought, guys, we
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Speaker 1: cure smart home just for you. Alright, So with the
Speaker 1: season upon us, UH and being here in beautiful London, England, UH,
Speaker 1: let its preview. UH throw out some season preview kind
Speaker 1: of storylines, narratives, things that we're seeing out there. Um
Speaker 1: and Greg, I'd like you to get anivous. I'm ready.
Speaker 1: I'm ready for these super atives. I thought, or awards.
Speaker 1: That's some superlatives. Well, this is um the Robbie Williams
Speaker 1: slash be here now by Oasis Award UH for failing
Speaker 1: to follow up like on a big hit. And I
Speaker 1: would say that there's a few candidates. Uh, the Jaguars
Speaker 1: and the Vikings are two candidates. But I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers this this award, even though on paper
Speaker 1: the offense should be terrific. I think the division is deeper.
Speaker 1: I don't think the a f C NFC imbalance is
Speaker 1: going to be nearly as bad as people think. There's
Speaker 1: more bad teams in the a f C. But I
Speaker 1: think there's enough good teams between the a f C North.
Speaker 1: I think the Jaguars and the Titans and Texans are
Speaker 1: all going to be very competitive that that you're gonna
Speaker 1: need ten or eleven wins to make it. And there's
Speaker 1: just something in the fact that this team has been better.
Speaker 1: I've been together long enough, and they how been gotten
Speaker 1: over the hump. And if you look at especially in
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlins run, they've had a hard time kind of
Speaker 1: avoiding those occasional nine and seven type years where they
Speaker 1: disappoint in the defense, especially in the secondary. Has me worried,
Speaker 1: and I think they're gonna they're gonna struggle to follow up.
Speaker 1: I think the Vikings and Jaguars are too too other
Speaker 1: candidates for this, but it always happens that there asked
Speaker 1: me one disappointing team, I'll go with the Steelers. Well,
Speaker 1: while we're on the Steelers, maybe we should give out
Speaker 1: the Big Ben Award to Big Ben. Big Ben upset
Speaker 1: the monument here under construction, you know, a little bit dilapidated.
Speaker 1: Funny by the way, because you took my exact things
Speaker 1: been under construction motif run with it. Yeah, but it's
Speaker 1: gonna come back more beautiful than ever. And Ben can't
Speaker 1: move the way he used to. He's not making magic
Speaker 1: happen in the pocket the way he used to. There's
Speaker 1: probably an injury at some point in October and November.
Speaker 1: He's gonna have to grind through. By January, it's gonna
Speaker 1: come out looking as good as New Steelers deep playoff run.
Speaker 1: The Big Ben Award Big Ben Big Ben related scenario
Speaker 1: was under construction, nailed it just like you. But the
Speaker 1: teams that are like, we're not able to see Big
Speaker 1: Ben on this trip which is actually called what Anthony
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Tower I did not know that night. Well, no,
Speaker 1: that that information is unknown in the States. Is the
Speaker 1: Bell big And don't Elizabeth Town. And don't you dare
Speaker 1: call tower Bridge London Bridge like a lot of American monkeys.
Speaker 1: We know, yeah, we know, we see you. It is
Speaker 1: not London. The actual Bridge of Fame Bridge is Tower Bridge.
Speaker 1: Learned that from Anthony as well. All right, anyway, um,
Speaker 1: we got some hot picks under that. By the way, today,
Speaker 1: don't worry, like if you're worried that not enough of
Speaker 1: this trip is being documented. We have a picture for
Speaker 1: every moment. We're actually taking the pictures, right now wait,
Speaker 1: let's stay on the Steelers actually before we get into
Speaker 1: more Big Ben talk. So you think this is are
Speaker 1: ready to come down a little bit? I do, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think as Anthony shows us some beautiful pictures under
Speaker 1: Tower Bridge, Uh yeah, I do. I just I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a it's just like a gut feeling that kind
Speaker 1: of this team. Leavy On Bells last year and Tony right,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of personalities and we've seen that and
Speaker 1: I can just see like when the going gets tough
Speaker 1: here there are always a team that has some sort
Speaker 1: of drama during the year and maybe this is the
Speaker 1: year they can. Let me ask you this, if this
Speaker 1: plays out the way that you believe, you think Mike
Speaker 1: Tomlin will be out the door along with Levan Bell
Speaker 1: after this season, that's a very different Steelers team going forward.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're essentially predicting doom for a team. The
Speaker 1: team and if they went nine and seven with the
Speaker 1: Rooney's keep Mike Tomlin. I think they kind of would
Speaker 1: because that's just what they do. It probably depends on
Speaker 1: the level of struggle that that season looks like Greg
Speaker 1: nine and a half wins over, I'm gonna go under Wow,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go I'm gonna go push. They are gonna
Speaker 1: win nine and a half games. See that that would
Speaker 1: actually change reality just in general, Dan, I get the
Speaker 1: sense that you feel like we've suddenly turned to negative
Speaker 1: on the Steelers. I think so that would be my
Speaker 1: my feeling that the Steelers are ready to um. I
Speaker 1: think they're kind of the window is maybe closing on
Speaker 1: the Big Ben air, but I think maybe there's a
Speaker 1: year left. I I see them as like a eleven
Speaker 1: win team. Still, they're too talented to be like a
Speaker 1: huge disappointment. I think I agree with you and they
Speaker 1: and they're not the team they I hear you Greg
Speaker 1: that they have let down season every once in a while,
Speaker 1: but not with this, not with this cast right here,
Speaker 1: with Antonio Brown, Levy, On Bell and in Ben Rolthier.
Speaker 1: That's not been the case with these guys. So it
Speaker 1: would be a first JUDU could be a star too.
Speaker 1: They've got so much talent um. All right, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: ditch my big Ben thing. I got a superlative for you,
Speaker 1: unless you want to throw a second one in. I
Speaker 1: haven't done one yet. Throw a first one in. I'm confused.
Speaker 1: I feel like You've talked about five things at this point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well I have. There's a lot of talking going on
Speaker 1: today's podcast. Uh, I'm gonna throw out. Actually, why don't
Speaker 1: you go, Mark? You seem excited. I'll be happy to
Speaker 1: we have it to. I mean, you know here, we're
Speaker 1: here in England, in London, and a lot of people
Speaker 1: talk about Prince Harry and Megan Markel as one there.
Speaker 1: I love it. Well, I'm trying to follow what you
Speaker 1: guys said. I actually put that up on the fly,
Speaker 1: but I will say this, the cutest couple in the
Speaker 1: NFL this season is Jets general manager Mike mccagnen and
Speaker 1: rookie quarterbacks Sam Donald. In my book, I'll tell you why,
Speaker 1: because I think this season is gonna look a lot different.
Speaker 1: If we want to talk about the Pittsburgh's of the
Speaker 1: world's and the changing of the guard. This crop of
Speaker 1: rookie quarterbacks, for me, makes this entire campaign interesting. We
Speaker 1: have new quarterbacks to look at. It's not the same
Speaker 1: cast of characters, and Donald's the one guy that have
Speaker 1: out of this whole group. This team believes it's fan base,
Speaker 1: believes entire Jets fans am I wrong? They are in
Speaker 1: love with Sam Donald, and I think no matter what
Speaker 1: he even does this year, they just see him as
Speaker 1: their savior, and he doesn't need to go out and
Speaker 1: win ten games. It's about him growing as a quarterback,
Speaker 1: and he essentially Lee has probably saved Mike mccagnet's job,
Speaker 1: saved Mike mccagnet's jobs as a piercing screech, But if
Speaker 1: he does not hit as a quarterback, it will cost
Speaker 1: Mike mccagney's job. Isn't it a little surprising. I was
Speaker 1: thinking about this the other day that in today's NFL,
Speaker 1: in this quarterback rich draft, where there were five guys
Speaker 1: taken in round one, only one starting Week one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's just Arnald. That's sort of like a case by
Speaker 1: case basis right, because Cleveland is adamant that Tyrod Taylor
Speaker 1: is going to start. In most years, the team picking
Speaker 1: number one overall isn't trading for a veteran and installing him.
Speaker 1: And then the Cardinals had already gone out and gotten
Speaker 1: Sam Bradford, who they brought in specifically to run that offense.
Speaker 1: It's like last year we were all worried that Tom
Speaker 1: Savage started one. Ultimately, like I picked Baker Mayfield to
Speaker 1: win Rookie of the Year on our predictions for the season,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I don't know how that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: I'm just figuring at some whether it's injury, or the
Speaker 1: bounds are losing, or they just want him in there,
Speaker 1: he'll find a way into the starting lineup by week
Speaker 1: five or six. And that to me is Kie of
Speaker 1: the Year. You have to be in there in the
Speaker 1: in the first four or five games, ladies, Yeah you could.
Speaker 1: You could start ten. If you started ten games and
Speaker 1: you look great, you can win Rickie the Year, Vince
Speaker 1: Young did it? Sam Donald to win because I think
Speaker 1: barring total disaster injury, they're gonna keep him in there
Speaker 1: for sixteen games, no matter what it looks like they
Speaker 1: have to write. They cannot yank him due to tough weather.
Speaker 1: When in the week is a long time during an
Speaker 1: NFL season. It's a soap opera that that narrative can
Speaker 1: change so much over one or two bad games by
Speaker 1: tyrod Well exactly what tyro tylor with Donald. I think
Speaker 1: they can't. They can't if he obviously if he was hurt,
Speaker 1: but be if he was so lost that they felt
Speaker 1: like they needed to get him out of the out
Speaker 1: of the heat. But I don't. Everything that I've seen
Speaker 1: from him thus far tells me that he might not
Speaker 1: set the world on fire immediately. But I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be steady. I think I really have a
Speaker 1: very good feeling about and I think West. We talked
Speaker 1: about it at the airport bar Um before we got
Speaker 1: on the plane. Yes, yes, this is like a great
Speaker 1: time to be a jet span in terms of the
Speaker 1: optimism angle, like it's a lot to be excited about.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of the last December. There's nothing more
Speaker 1: uplifting in sports than having a young savior with a
Speaker 1: world of possibilities in the future. You have no idea
Speaker 1: what Sam Donald's career could look like, but you can
Speaker 1: sit and dream about a hall of fame and you know,
Speaker 1: back to the Promised Land, that this is all within
Speaker 1: the realm of possibility. And let's say this boat, let's
Speaker 1: say we were to be stuck here for fifteen years
Speaker 1: cannot get off. Would you rather be with Megan Market
Speaker 1: or Sam Donald? Who is your who would who would
Speaker 1: you like to be coupled with the relationship with my
Speaker 1: wife over? Well, she's not here, She's in America. She
Speaker 1: would be attending to your children in other countries. If
Speaker 1: Emily was cool with it, it would probably Meg, I
Speaker 1: would have to say, just like in terms of it's
Speaker 1: actually a kind for your you wouldn't be pulling Sam
Speaker 1: Donald out of a Jets career. Also, I don't think
Speaker 1: people love Sam Donald for his conversation, you know, um,
Speaker 1: all right, I'm finally I'm ready now. You know I've
Speaker 1: gone back and forth about whether you make my Big
Speaker 1: Ben analogy. You can do a couple, but I will
Speaker 1: do with the Big Ben analogy. Under construction, all right,
Speaker 1: So we don't get to see we don't get to
Speaker 1: see the Great Tower, the Elizabeth Tower, um, because it's
Speaker 1: covered in scaffolding and it's been that way for a
Speaker 1: while now and will be for how much longer today?
Speaker 1: Three years? Three years, but it's a British workman, so
Speaker 1: it could be longer. That was a shot. So you
Speaker 1: look at teams that are have been under construction to
Speaker 1: see that for the last year, a couple of years.
Speaker 1: That now people are starting to get excited, like this
Speaker 1: is the year. What to you, gentlemen? And I'll give
Speaker 1: my choice first, and then I want to hear what
Speaker 1: you guys think. Which team that's been under construction, UH
Speaker 1: is actually not ready and it should be Gotta they
Speaker 1: should be under They're going to be under construction for
Speaker 1: another year. Even if people are saying they're ready to
Speaker 1: land now, I will throw out the Chiefs or maybe
Speaker 1: a little unconventional because they've been a contender. But people
Speaker 1: are saying they're ready now to kind of take the
Speaker 1: next step as an organization. And I think that right
Speaker 1: now with Mahomes not as concerned about him, but with
Speaker 1: the defense, which was terrible last year, we're not We
Speaker 1: haven't gotten any good signs in the preseason that it's better.
Speaker 1: They would be my team that is not ready. Uh.
Speaker 1: Just like Big Ben wasn't ready for our visit here,
Speaker 1: UH is not ready for um super Bowl contention status
Speaker 1: in two thousand eighteen. I went for you, and only
Speaker 1: because not not that I believe this room or this
Speaker 1: vote thinks that thinks this way. So dismissive of the vote.
Speaker 1: We're flying again, by the way, we're often running the union.
Speaker 1: Jack's you know, flying the breeze up there. It's a
Speaker 1: beautiful thing. How about the the people that want to
Speaker 1: put the New York Giants back in the playoffs. I
Speaker 1: feel like I see this all the time on Twitter,
Speaker 1: and to me, they are under construction and I think
Speaker 1: that there's some enticing pieces in place on offense. Don't
Speaker 1: love the defense. You have issues. Potentially a quarterback, if
Speaker 1: you know, Eli Manning could fall apart at any moment,
Speaker 1: no backups. So it's just that let's hold off a
Speaker 1: little bit because I think that there are a couple
Speaker 1: of players away before they're going to challenge in a
Speaker 1: very tough NFC. So you're out on I'm not out
Speaker 1: on Eli in the way that West and Greg historically
Speaker 1: are out because I think that he's probably at some
Speaker 1: point and to find a way to win one more
Speaker 1: Super Bowl over the Patriots and we'll be there to
Speaker 1: watch it. But but yes, I don't think they're playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think James Betcher, their coordinator, was kind of a
Speaker 1: sneaky big pickup, and they do have players on that side.
Speaker 1: It's a little like they have stars and then they
Speaker 1: have big drop offs. But they're dangerous. I feel like
Speaker 1: they're that any team in that division could make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That wouldn't shock me. The Giants were my choice to
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. Are good. Um, the Niners, Yeah, Niners are.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say the Buccaneers because they do. They
Speaker 1: have talent. They've got talent at the skill positions on offense,
Speaker 1: They've got a really interesting front seven now, and I
Speaker 1: don't trust anything about the quarterback coach dynamic. I would
Speaker 1: go at the Niners because of the defense and because
Speaker 1: it almost came, not because it came too easily last year,
Speaker 1: just because I I think the and because the Giants
Speaker 1: are gonna steal their wild card spot and you're right,
Speaker 1: and the problems that they've had over the last few years.
Speaker 1: Kyle Saanahan and Garoppolo fix like a lot of them,
Speaker 1: but they don't fix the whole team. Um, I guess
Speaker 1: I'll throw out my other one, the the Oasis v.
Speaker 1: Blur Nasty brit Pop feud of the mid nineties award.
Speaker 1: Uh that could go to Oakland Raider fans and this
Speaker 1: current Raiders regime. And it's something to keep an eye
Speaker 1: on how this, how this can turn if this gets ugly,
Speaker 1: because you can from an organizational standpoint, even though I disagree,
Speaker 1: and I think you guys all agree that or all
Speaker 1: disagree with their decision to not keep Khalil Mack, who's
Speaker 1: like a once in a generation talent and at a
Speaker 1: position where it's almost impossible to get a guy at
Speaker 1: that level. Um, but I just think that if they
Speaker 1: get off to a slow start, if they get off
Speaker 1: to a slow start, the fans are gonna turn on
Speaker 1: that team and on that coach and Organizationally, Yes, you
Speaker 1: have two first round picks coming, that doesn't do anything
Speaker 1: for these people in Oakland who kind of got banged
Speaker 1: a little bit here and and I could see them
Speaker 1: really hand, uh, you know, dishing out some vitriol. Uh,
Speaker 1: if this team gets off to a slow start and
Speaker 1: making it a really ugly season. The thing I never
Speaker 1: bought to begin with was that, Hey, let's give these
Speaker 1: Oakland fans two really nice seasons before, Hey, we just
Speaker 1: moved your team to Las Vegas. But there'll be no
Speaker 1: hard feelings. This is a different type of fan base
Speaker 1: than the thirty one other in the league because every
Speaker 1: sports are you go to hold on every sports part
Speaker 1: you go to, there are Raiders fans, and there they
Speaker 1: are one of the most loyal groups around. This feels
Speaker 1: incredibly toxic from where we were six months ago when
Speaker 1: it was the John Gruden press conference with two d
Speaker 1: and fifty reporters and they're all hands on deck in
Speaker 1: our newsroom. This is what we've been waiting for since
Speaker 1: the late nineties. It couldn't You could never have imagined
Speaker 1: how poorly it has gone. Right now, Well, you gotta
Speaker 1: do is win Week one against the Rams and the
Speaker 1: one thing and then everyone that's all they have to
Speaker 1: do pretty much, because I don't know about that. They're
Speaker 1: gonna is the previous week for these fans in general, Like,
Speaker 1: if you can win games, as my point, then they
Speaker 1: won't care my my thing. I just say about Raiders,
Speaker 1: and I've never seen them turn against the team. They
Speaker 1: were mediocre and terrible for a year after year, and
Speaker 1: they were so loyal and they would just fight against
Speaker 1: everyone else. So my fight would be Raiders versus US,
Speaker 1: Raiders fans versus. But there's the league. And because they
Speaker 1: never they never took the team and moved to Vegas before,
Speaker 1: a part of that that's you can't you can't even
Speaker 1: compare that. And then everybody's playing and nice, like Mark
Speaker 1: said this idea that for two years it's gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: You know, nobody's getting all that upset and it seemed
Speaker 1: like that. And now this trade comes and it's a reminder,
Speaker 1: why am I rooting for this team that's picking up
Speaker 1: and moving to a different city. It's a reminder to
Speaker 1: all those fans is it worth it? I would say,
Speaker 1: just they're not logical like you see the Chargers Raiders game,
Speaker 1: or even the Raiders when they were in the preseason
Speaker 1: and l A and they're all there in l A
Speaker 1: like the Raiders fans are just like they're a different breed.
Speaker 1: I kind of give them credit for that because they
Speaker 1: I agree in the sense that you could never have
Speaker 1: tried to pull this move off with any other fan base.
Speaker 1: And they see they've seemed fine with They're telling Oakland fans,
Speaker 1: though we're playing the long game, we care about being
Speaker 1: successful in that brand new stadium in Las Vegas. We
Speaker 1: don't care about you, but we're still gonna play eight
Speaker 1: home games a year in front of you. That's what
Speaker 1: I was specifically setting up as the Raiders fans that
Speaker 1: are in that area of the country. It's like when
Speaker 1: they made the announcement to go to Vegas, it was
Speaker 1: like opening up a wound for that team. And now
Speaker 1: this the Mac moves just like throwing salt and that
Speaker 1: will of being like, oh, do you want to root
Speaker 1: for us? Now? You still want to root for us,
Speaker 1: Oakland fans, because we're basically daring you to leave us
Speaker 1: at this point. That's how it came off to me.
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering how they've got one foot out the
Speaker 1: door now. That's what it would seem like if I'm
Speaker 1: if I'm in Oakland, if I'm in that area, the
Speaker 1: Bay Area. I'm a Raiders fan for a long time.
Speaker 1: It feels like the team has one foot out the
Speaker 1: door and has already headed Twitter. Is any indication they
Speaker 1: are pissed right now? Should be pissed? Um? Anybody have
Speaker 1: any other ones before we did? I did one and
Speaker 1: I thought it was perfect and I didn't really need
Speaker 1: to come up to the second. But yeah, let's go
Speaker 1: back to the Chiefs for this. Uh, Hugh Grant biggest,
Speaker 1: biggest flirt award. Chiefs are out there flirt. I feel
Speaker 1: bad for the UK fans is like, this is all
Speaker 1: you guys know about the UK. It's twice and Hugh
Speaker 1: Grant and Chief's flirting with excitement and uh, the notion
Speaker 1: of unlimited possibilities all year long and then Patrick Mahomes rawness,
Speaker 1: his his turnovers, his up and down season is going
Speaker 1: to be the biggest flirt that you think you're ready
Speaker 1: to compete, but you're not yet ready. Like Hugh Grant.
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes has kind of an annoying voice, has a
Speaker 1: great voice. I was always nervous. Yeah, he does play
Speaker 1: the nervous. I mean he's done well with that act.
Speaker 1: I think though that. Uh As Tim Posey shows me
Speaker 1: some awards, she wants me to read I'm not reading
Speaker 1: your material. You want to say, you can say it
Speaker 1: in a couple of minutes. Give me a break. Yeah,
Speaker 1: why not? I want I'd be happy. I'd be happy
Speaker 1: to Hermes Mahomes definitely not angry. Just give you her grief.
Speaker 1: Mahomes I feel more has more like potential to make
Speaker 1: insane plays than almost anyone that's entered the league since Vick,
Speaker 1: like like serious made me Michael Vick and Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: as first year starters who are just going to dominate
Speaker 1: like highlights. You know on the weekend, you want to
Speaker 1: let's have you read it. I want you to read
Speaker 1: it best to get through that point. I don't want
Speaker 1: to anymore. He it was the Queen, the Queen Elizabeth
Speaker 1: old af Award, and uh, I'll give that too. I
Speaker 1: guess Adam vin Terry would have to get it. You know.
Speaker 1: It's like, how about Tom Brady. That's what I wrote,
Speaker 1: but you had to Tom Brady, Queen Elizabeth, he's old
Speaker 1: but respected. It's a great award. Eric, it's a great award.
Speaker 1: He barely like Queen Elizabeth respected? Yes or no, of course,
Speaker 1: there you go. I think he's gonna put otherwise on
Speaker 1: a public show. It was just that was a test
Speaker 1: of your allegiance to your name. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: candidates for a lot of people old a f in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Drew Brees would be another. I'll throw out
Speaker 1: one one here. I just thinking, how about the like Bandwagon,
Speaker 1: We're gonna claim this team after all award? It's it's
Speaker 1: after Andy Murray. How this country really tried to claim
Speaker 1: the Scotsman, even though they had a mixed feeling about
Speaker 1: him for a while. But once you start with some
Speaker 1: esoteric tennis talk, I mean that esoteric. He's a pretty
Speaker 1: big sports start. So they claimed them even though he's, uh,
Speaker 1: he's Scottish. How about Los Angeles claiming the Chargers when
Speaker 1: they get the number one seed in the a f
Speaker 1: C and people just start jumping the board and be like,
Speaker 1: all right, let's just do it. This is the most
Speaker 1: funny that team ever. Let's just jump on board. And
Speaker 1: how about Los Angeles being the center of the pro
Speaker 1: football universe with two of the best teams in the league.
Speaker 1: I think would be a major upset if the Chargers
Speaker 1: become a big thing in Los Angeles that leads to
Speaker 1: massive tickets, bail the Chargers out of a very uncomfortable
Speaker 1: situation that they chose to put themselves in, by the way,
Speaker 1: which is being playing in a city that doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: want them, is to win. And if they put together
Speaker 1: like a twelve and four, the city will definitely there
Speaker 1: there will be a bandwagon building. I don't know, but
Speaker 1: it weren't. By the way, they weren't bad last year. No, no,
Speaker 1: but I don't think they started owing four. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a tough way to finish down ten years now.
Speaker 1: I just I don't know if Chargers fever is gonna
Speaker 1: grip this town. I don't know. I think that the
Speaker 1: record is the reason they struggled last year in this town,
Speaker 1: But I think already know. Unforced certainly didn't didn't help. No,
Speaker 1: it didn't help in the way that they did it.
Speaker 1: I do think, though maybe not even so much the
Speaker 1: local fans in l A catching a board. But if
Speaker 1: you have a situation where the Rams and the Chargers
Speaker 1: are both teams that are getting buys, are competing for buys,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of like last and you
Speaker 1: know a lot of like kind of combining them together
Speaker 1: in terms of national stories that like, you know, the
Speaker 1: NFL wasn't even there a few years ago. Now it's
Speaker 1: the center of the you know when when the Rams
Speaker 1: and Raiders were both here. Tim Brown, when he went
Speaker 1: into the Hall of Fame, talked about returning to kickoff
Speaker 1: in his rookie season in the Colosseum, getting to the
Speaker 1: end zone and having it be completely empty. Los Angeles
Speaker 1: is not a two football team town. It absolutely is not.
Speaker 1: Um Harry Styles, um flirt Award. Yeah, Harry Style Teas Award.
Speaker 1: And now we're just he goes to the Chargers, who's
Speaker 1: Harry Style. You guys are gonna get You're gonna you
Speaker 1: don't know, Harry Styles. No, it sounds like I'm made
Speaker 1: up and you know how the four of us were
Speaker 1: doing a photo shoot out there. Well, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: not unlike One Direction doing a photo shoot when they
Speaker 1: were when they were launching. Do you know who One
Speaker 1: Direction is? Sounds like a British boy band there, he's
Speaker 1: like the star they're not. It doesn't matter. The Chargers.
Speaker 1: The Chargers are a tease. You're gonna get sucked in,
Speaker 1: Greg and then they're gonna drop another nine and seven
Speaker 1: on your head and you're gonna be mad. It's it's
Speaker 1: the Raiders who should have moved to Los Angeles. Can't
Speaker 1: we agree with that? I mean, this, this whole Chargers
Speaker 1: to l a thing just simply does not make sense.
Speaker 1: I just think we should have Anthony on one more time. Anthony,
Speaker 1: say goodbye Anthony, Actually Anthony, thank you Anthony and the
Speaker 1: Johnson being a great photographer, a friendly bloke and uh
Speaker 1: just highly informational. Well, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1: It's a pleasure. I love bat Man. All right, next
Speaker 1: time you hear from us, uh we it will be Wednesday,
Speaker 1: probably right Erica, but um Wednesdays when you'll hear the show.
Speaker 1: But Tuesday night at the Curtain Club in London, we
Speaker 1: will do our live show. We're very excited about that.
Speaker 1: Next time you hear from us. Uh. And then just
Speaker 1: giving you a schedule a week on Friday, you'll get
Speaker 1: our week one preview and Thursday night football season kickoff recap. Uh.
Speaker 1: So a lot of good stuff come in your way. Uh.
Speaker 1: That's it. Anything else, forget anything? All right? The boat
Speaker 1: is docking. I don't know if that means we can
Speaker 1: get off. No, we're not near where we were, but
Speaker 1: we didn't park here. It doesn't matter. All right, here
Speaker 1: we go, Let's get out of here. This is Dan
Speaker 1: Hanson's signing off for The Quiet Storm of mail Man,
Speaker 1: The Old Bossna Lose, Cannon and Anthony on the boat.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, we're in London Tuesday night. See