Shawne Merriman joins Outkick The Coverage With Clay Travis To Discuss The Wild Card Weekend

had an incredible time. What do you think about the idea of expanding to seven a f C and seven NFC? Do you like the idea of the expanded playoffs? We absolutely, um, and that's just four and I'll take it back and I know we talked about a week or a week before that. UM back to the NFL doing a incredible job at figuring this thing out, Like yes, from the start, from the start of the year, I'm looking at like saying to myself, there's no there's no way in hell

they're gonna get it. Not only Senash, the season, it thick of this thing out is just way too many. You look at what the NBA did they want to force themselves in the bubble and no one can leave. They can't go anywhere, and they still have some problems. The NFL didn't didn't even a forced a bubble and was able to finish the season and now, you know, getting into this newest expanded playoff picture. I think it's great.

You know. I think it's another thing that you probably would need to look at some point in time too, is is uh what wouldn't the hell is going on with the NFC East didn't uh figuring that playoff system? Abe, But I just think they did an amazing job so far and continue this thing is still making it excitement because it's hard. You know, one of you don't have all your fans there, and that's one you know, the first thing you have your first your fan base at

the stadium. We can actually fell the motion of the passion of the game. But to still making it fun and exciting for for us to sit back and watching TV. So I think they done a magnificent job man to keep this thing going. All Right, I'm gonna ask you to break down a lot of these different games. I'm gonna run through them with you. But I think we are underrated how good Tom Brady is looking at the end of this year, right. Uh. And and I know they get a rematch now against the Saints, and it's

gonna be interesting to see what happens. Can the Saints beat him for a third time. But Brady as a guy who is who played against Brady and was in the league for several years against Brady for a while too, are you just blown away? I mean he I mean, Sean,

he looks younger on the field, his arm looks more lively. Uh, it's really pretty remarkable to see what he is capable of any the guy through forty touchdowns at the age of forty three, and he was throwing the ball down the field and this I know part of the story. Is heinekey And well I'll ask you about him too. But to me, for Saturday night game, I was watching Brady and I'm like, this dude doesn't just have one year left. I mean he's got multiple years left based

on the way he's playing right now. And you know, even playing him all those years, Uh, I always said intern of league like them for myself that he is gonna be that good because because of Bill Belichick, I really thought that, Um, you know, because Bill Belichick is such a hell of a coach. Um. They built such a dynasty and a team that I always said to myself, even playing them, I said, I'm not really worried about

Tom Brady. I worried about Bill Belichick. Well you know Tom Brady too, but I'm I'm worried about the coaching that's gonna come from this game. And I think that what Tom Brady did by going down to Tampa and proving everybody wrong that it wasn't Bill Belichick, it was him. He was. He was the reason and and and still the Patriots did this year. Tom Brady was the reason why that organization ran for two decades. I mean that he was a reason and uh, you know, being a

you know, being a competitor of him. You can see it on film and just see some of these things he's doing. But you always always about back of my head, no matter when we played those guys, I was like, oh, he called this toy played because Bill Belichick called that. But now you're saying we talked about it being younger, Brady's doing something. I think that Tony, Tony Dungi or somebody to said after the game, want so much of

the game said, he's doing something that's probably done. You didn't even see when when he beat them in the Super Bowl. He's moving around in the pocket. You know he did around. Yeah, he's he's moving around, but he sees me other He's moving around more than he's ever had in the last five years. And I'm not talking about taking off the running. I mean just straight up pocket awareness, where he's making some things happen by being an athlete, like I haven't seen that in Tom Brady

and fifteen years. It's pretty remarkable. And not to take anything away from Heinecki, right, because that was an incredible performance. He made a lot of plays for Washington, but Washington really was not in the same stratosphere in terms of what they could accomplish. I mean, he made a couple of crazy plays, but when you look at that matchup, and I'll even talk a little bit of the head because you know, I thought it was a fairly that the Saints defense is for real. I don't think there's

any way to to criticize them. But how difficult do you think it will be for the Saints to beat the Bucks for a third time? As we look ahead for that game that's coming up. Or do you look at it and say, uh, the Saints are a good matchup and that's why they were able to handle twice the Bucks pretty easily. Uh for one day there is there. It was a really good matchup and they match up very well. But this, in my opinion, Tampa was getting hot at the right time. Like they they're the team

with the momentum. And if you look at the course of the season, right there's no off season really you got you know, training camp, and you based no preseason games. You kind of started the season with a brand new team. What's you're seeing right now for the Buccaneers is they're finally getting on the same page. And I'm talking about across the board. I'm not surprised that an Tonio Brown is heating up right now. I'm not surprised that Mike Evans they're finding the find a ways to get him

the ball and making things look to look easy. You know, they have a well all your machine over there was just like if they just needed a little bit of w D forty somewhere in the middle, just you know, keep that thing moving until they figure it out. That was the whole goals of them. Right, Uh, let's let's get let's get ourselves in the playoffs and let's get on the same page. And you took you talk about two teams And I'm not saying anything about the Saint today.

I think they played well UH in a lot of areas. But if you look at the two teams, one is going at a at a skywalking rapid page and getting better and another ones just looking still pretty good. One of the the interesting stories I thought most so coming out of the of the playoffs in that early games was the Rams seemed like they were really driven by a feeling of disrespect for how the Seahawks performed UH in an earlier game against them. The Ravens seem like

they felt disrespected by the Titans. And we hear a lot of talk about bulletin board material and everything else associated with it. And I'm gonna get to social media and how that impact can be. But in your experience as a guy who was in the league as long as you were, how much did the pregame talk matter in terms of a team's on the willingness and UH and playing style. Well, you know, sometimes it's not even just a pregame it's it's way before, right. I mean,

you're sitting on this the whole entire week. And what I don't understand about certain guys and they come out and and say things, is that, especially for teams, you gotta see again, right. I mean, if you've never seen them again and you beat them, and maybe you gotta see them the falling year, but when you gotta see him again in the same year, you gotta be pretty damn dumb to come out and talk and cray because they're gonna hange that in the locker room. They're gonna

practice that all all weeks. Great coaches will use that every single play. A guy that and practices is jogging around. He's not gonna full speed. That's what John Hobbagger. Somebody's gonna walk up to him and say, hey, gu's what they dance for your logo last time? Remember that? Or you're gonna jop. They just dance. So it becomes fuel to the fire every single day during the weeks. And now if people start game planning different the the you know their blood is boiling by the I may get

to the game and I just never understand. I never understand why guys talk the way they talk, especially when you got to go out and see that person again. You know, you know, same thing with Juju said a few weeks ago about the brown Uh, the same thing with um you know. I think it was Adam the safety of for Seattle that came out of smoked Cigar last year. I'm like, man, you go, you gotta see

these guys again? What are you thinking? I wonder how much of a lot And it is interesting because you social media was just kind of taken off when your career came to a close. But how much of that is guys putting on a show for their social media following and trying to grow their own brands, Because that's one thing. Like a decade ago, the only way you grew your brand was by winning, right, I mean like that was it like your team had to be able to win and if you won, you had a good brand.

Now there are guys using Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, whatever else to to develop a name for themselves, and it's sometimes can create I think a distinction between what might be good for the team and what might be good for the player. I think it's kind of put that disconnect and that that sometimes dichotomy on steroids. Did you buy into that, uh, that that that social media has changed the way guys talk and maybe the way that guys

are even playing at times. Absolutely, And you know it's gotten to the point where it got bad because for one, you know, you know we talked before, are your social media? I'm on social media and we do it because you know, we were trying to either get a message out or say certain things and get our point across. We have jobs and have things promote and put out, so those things that beneficial. The problem is with athletes, right, you're trying to fit in on social media with other people

who are not professional athletes. So if there's a challenge going on, there's a uh something that you know kind of went viral, another guys trying to do it. So you're doing all these things to try to get to social media following up and you know, some things you can't do because you gotta go out and play, you know.

And it kind of got out of my skin then here and see Juju doing all these things, and like, dude, that's fine for fans, right, that's fine for someone who loved the game, But when you go out and your dance, no guy's logo. You can't tell me you don't know. That's disrespectful. That is disrespectful. And guys find out about it, they're gonna do something about it. Because and Clay, I'll tell you one of the reasons why I started playing football a long time ago, and I told my mom.

She said, why do you want to play football? I said, talking here, I can hit somebody and not get in trouble for this. This is my This was my reason for playing football. I said, I wanted to hit somebody and not get in trouble for because you can't do it anywhere else, right, you can't do it. I was to what, I'm going to jail. So that was my

reason for playing football. To Now, if you take Juju and all these guys that are talking like this on social media and doing these disrespectful things, that's what you got sixty minutes to line up against the guys front of awesome you and and best believe he wants to do something to you about it. So I get it. Build I'm all for it, man. I love that Brandon aspect. I think that Juju and all these guys have a great brand that they're building for less not to get

what you get paid to do for a living. When you look at at I said coming into the wild card round of the playoffs that the two quarterbacks I thought had the most at stake were Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. If they both won, they would get the proverbial monkey off their back. They would win a playoff game.

Not only for uh, you know, the Lamar Jackson didn't want to go to Owen three in the playoffs, but also Josh Allen's team hadn't won a playoff game in forever, you know, twenty five years basically, so the whole organization has that kind of hanging over them. What do you think the impact might be now for a guy like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, now that they know not only can they get to the playoffs, they can win

a game there. And as you look ahead and UH and know that they're headed to the divisional round and obviously they hope to go to the a f C Championship and beyond, what is getting that first win for a quarterback and for an organization like the Bills but also the Ravens behind Lamar Jackson. What does that do for an organization? It's just cracked the narrative as a player. To be honest, you hear it, but you don't really

feel it. You don't feel that way. You hear it, um, but it doesn't change your approach to trying to win another football game, whether it's the playoff game or whether it's a regular season. But I can tell you sure if he'll get tired of here and it, because it's like man and take Lamar Jackson for example, Lamar Jackson accomplished a lot in this in his first couple of years. I mean more than the average person. And m v

P and the records. He's continuously breaking those things. He's it comes a lot to us for someone to say, you know what, he's not that during the player because you didn't win the playoffs. It's like, okay, guys, come on, you're talking about a revolutionary type of player that's already a change the way for all was played because what he's athletically capable of doing. And you go over to Josh, I decide it's like man, I and and and play.

To be honest, I was caught in between because he was playing my you know, my former teammate Shiller Rivers, and I I wanted the game so bad for phill Up, but I also played for the Bills, and I'm just sitting back like I want I want the organization to win, you know, the Bills, because I played there and I know how much it means to that city. I remember was back playing that we beat the Patriots and you would have thought a parade. What was happening? It was

the town is shut down, right. We forced Tom Brady to throw four interceptions and it was a great day in Buffalo. So that and that was just one game against the Patriots. We wasn't going to the playoffs or anything like that. That was just a game. So I know how important it was for the city to win it. But I was sure as hell sitting back like, man, you know what, phill Up is on the team, uh, for the first time in a couple of years that

they have a real chance of winning the rings. So I felt for but I am happy for Josh Allen because you know he's gonna be a great quarterback for the five for the next five seame plus isn't NFL. What do you think Philip Rivers gonna do? Now? Do? I mean? He had a pretty good year with the with the Colts, They've got a good offensive line, they had a lot of injuries. It seems like Jonathan Taylor, Uh, they're young running back is going to have an awful

lot of success in the NFL. How soon do you think Philip Rivers makes a decision and what do you think he might do. I can't see Philip Rivers walking away right now, I really can, especially if the team asked him to come back. Um, you know, I know he's accepted whenever he's retired to go coach in high school down in Florida, Alabama. I can't remember which one it was. I know he's gotta be a hell of a coach when he's done. He's got a lot of kids to go out and take take care of, for sure.

But I can't meet no. Still up. The competitive side in him wanted to give it one more go. And I do believe if the coach acting asked him to come back that he is he will and he should he I mean, he had he had a great year. Um he finally and meant the lot need personally, you know, being the former teammate and people saying he's Washington can't play anymore and see how well he can. You know, he can still go at it. So I think that if the coach gives him another opportunity to come back,

he will. We're talking to Sean Merriman as we roll into the divisional round of the playoffs. You mentioned this, and I think it's a big deal and I think it's a big statement. The NFL being able to get this all done is is it's truly a remarkable accomplishment, right, I mean, to get the entirety of the season end like they have managed to do is uh is really? I mean, it's one of the great accomplishments in NFL history. I think it's one of the great Where's the composition

in sports history? Yeah? Um, you know, if you look at all the colleges back in August or July, August whatever it was, that all, you know, the conferences that were shutting down before they got a chance to do anything right there already they're already canceling season and they didn't even have an opportunity to start it. And so you were talking about wool uh, the entire conference. We're not talking about one school, one or two school here

that we're talking about an entire conference. So for the NFL to figure it out and say, you know what, we're going to forward this thing and we're gonna start it. You know, we'll we'll do it as safely as possible, We'll go all the protocols and things we gotta do, We'll do it the right right. Wait, but we're gonna start this year. But for me, I'm not surprised because that's why the NFL is the NFL and why they have perceived. Their perception here in the country is so

damn big because they are bulldogs. Man. They'll go and get things done when necessarily Sean, as we kind of roll forward, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers got to sit out and wait, what is it like for those guys you think to get an extra week of rest at this point in time, And are you nervous at all about whether that team is ready, whether it's the Packers or whether it is the Chiefs with the ability and remember, especially for the Chiefs, they basically got two weeks off

because they took off for a lot of their stars beforehand. What do you anticipate seeing out of those two teams? Should they be the favorites and a substantial degree uh, to to go out and and go to the Super Bowl. Do you think you know, Um, I guess some people can be uh. I don't know if you want to call it a ritual or uh. You know, you got some coaches that like to stay in the moment and go and do your regular routing and all that stuff. But I believe in help, especially just late in the teason.

I played in the first round by and I can tell you that if we didn't have that by, I don't think I would have played that first game the playoff because I was just saying up from you know, the seventeen weeks of playing, I would just beat up. How much difference does that make for your body? Then for somebody like you who's in the you know, basically thirty or forty car accidents minimum every week. I mean that extra week made a tremendous difference to how you

felt it's night and day. So I'll put it to you like this. I mean, you know, you wake up, obviously you've got a light left thing, You stretch, you do all the things you gotta do. But you start to ice and cold tub the ice cold tub, and then jump in a hot tub and jumping the saw and you stretch a little bit more. If you've got a tight handstring or quad or your ankles rolls or something like that, the swelling drops over the last you know,

four or five days you get you get complained. And it sounds a little bit freaky that someone rolled the ankle, got a sprained ankle. They just need five days. Uh. You know, the normal huven have been these three weeks, but five or six days in the NFL is a lifetime because you just feel that much better. You go out there and now you're not hitting and practice as much as uh later order in the year, you're not

having pads on, so practicing not that tough. So now you're just really going out there and getting fully healthy and it's it's incredible, man. I would tell anyone if you have an opportunity to get that by the week, take that by week. It's important you didn't in the hole obviously the whole till a vantage. I know I said the last question, but this is a real last question.

There's been a lot less practice, uh, and a lot less of O T A s and mini camps and everything else, and guys have actually come out and they look like at least offensively, like the games have looked pretty good as a player. Does that mean to you, hey man, we don't have to be there in this in the as much as we maybe had been in the past. Like some of this, uh, some of this stuff is is unnecessary. Well, I can tell you a

smart vetterment should say that that would be big. You know, if we go out and perform, well, we're not practice as much with doing everything virtual. Um. Yeah, I'll be the first one to recommend that. But you know, I think that if you look at the cost the board, look at any big CEO, I'll hear the company. And I got employees on my own. We haven't met up again in months, Yes, and we're still able to get

things done. And you know, now you've got the I got employees, I got employees Intend States, Shawn, And it's like a pretty smooth process even without us being in the same place. And so I do think that this has been you know, one of the benefits of this is people would have never taken the risk to stop the business travel and to not be going into the office and all those things. But now that they have done it and they've recognized that it hasn't necessarily destroyed

the business. I think a lot of people have learned that their business is able to function in ways that they wouldn't have believed otherwise. And it's just saying it's no different in football, because I'll tell you what's happening. Um, you know now that it's attentive win and having a successful season one without beating each other up one or without uh, you know, being having having to do physical things you can do walk through or you can do stuff virtual and talk it out. Uh. And you've got

a lot of these old school coaches. I played with the old fool coach who believed and hit it right. That's the only way you get good. If if you're being tough and toughing us up, you're going out hit every year. Gods go out and you're not hitting every day, you're not doing anything, and they're making great plays, they're

not getting tired of condition is good. So now you're gonna have these old school coaches when the old school mindset may be changing their train and thought, Okay, maybe we don't have to do this, maybe we don't have to be each other up. Well, meet an extra four holes a day in person, in order for us to win football game. So I think that this time period and adjustment has has been uh, it's opened up a lot of doors from for the future. Good stuff is

always Sean Merriman enjoyed the games this weekend. Appreciate you coming on with us. We'll talk to you again next week. You got it. Anytime that Shawn Merriman lights out, go listen to his podcast, the I Heart Podcast Network.