2024 NFL Offseason Glossary

Around the NFL podcast it's fresh out of Sunny Drops.

No from the Chris Westling podcast studio. It is around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis I have heroes here because there is no off season for around the NFL.

We're so, We've been told Mark.

Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, and yes, because God damn it, we need it right now.

One more person. Chnie Shannie's the queen queen.

She is the queen of NFL media.

Thank you so much. Great to be here.

A lot of competition for queen of NFL media, but well maybe not, but you are absolutely the queen of around the NFL and and really all areas where you roam.

Wow, thank you so much. That's great.

I love being, you know, a regal member of society, and this is great.

We've asked Patrick Claibon, who has a host of songs too, like if he and we've encouraged him because he doesn't do this, like to blast these like anthems suggesting how great he is, how some how statuesque like inside his house so that his significant other understands the weight of what.

She's been given in what she's scored.

Yeah, yeah, and like so Gonzo at this point, it's about eleven forty four am, probably in a bathroom, wandering around at your compaly does he need to be reminded? And would you willingly do that?

Or I just have it as my ringtone, so I just walk around everywhere unless people know efficient.

Yeah, Greg, how are you, Bud? I'm great? Good, good show, big show coming up.

It is the return of the around the NFL Glossary of terms because this off season just because right now, well OTAs kicked off, so in a lot of ways, football's.

Football is back back.

In some ways Monday they started throwing the pigskin around yep, in some ways, Mark, in some ways, I will go that far.

So to celebrate the return of football, why not open up the glossary and give the people you know a real above the tree tops view of what the current landscape of the NFL.

That's what today is all about.

And I feel like Colleen, that's a public service that we can offer that I believe will connect with the audience.

I think so too.

This is one of my favorite episodes that we do. I love all the off season episodes and I'm happy to help provide the service.

Unbelievable. Yeah, all right, you want to get into it, Let's do it. We're going to try to get through it. We did it in two parts last year. We're going to do it.

And I I'm just sorry over under on time for this.

I will say, we flippantly, flippantly, with very little discussion cited just to pack it back into one episode.

Yeah, we'll see last year.

Last year Mark said we were on like letter D and we were forty minutes.

That was two years ago, and then last year we decided to cut it into two.

But it's back into one big cake. But here it is. Here it is, here's your face, Here's where it goes. Greg.

Ultimately, the conversation will dictate, like unless we want to do a two hour show, which we don't typically want to do. Mark, and I know you don't want to do so, but the conversation will dictate.

Whatever it takes. But are control and yet we have no control.

You can say that again, brother, all right, let's get into it. Let's start. I'll get it going. We all got tagged with a certain amount of letters and I got a so A in the glossary of the terms announcing retirement, announcing retirement, and who was announcing their retirement. David Johnson, All Pro running back with the Cardinals, he has announced his retirement after eight seasons in the NFL.

As football debt.

Drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the twenty fifteen draft, he is in the And then this will get to my second point, the around the NFL era. One of my favorite players when he was at his peak, and his peak wasn't very long. He was a true do it all guy. He got first team All Pro honors.

So part one of this is David Johnson retired.

An absolutely ridiculous dominant season, like up there with the best seasons we've seen at running back or almost any position since we started doing the show. I remember how much Wes loved David Johnson as a rookie where he was a big part of that twenty fifteen team that we kind of fell in love with with the Cardinals, and then he was even better the year after that.

He was never really the same.

Yeah, it kind of reminds me a little bit of like the career arc of Terrell Davis, who, you know, minus injuries, could have done eight to nine years of what he did, but he was so dominant in twenty sixteen. You mentioned the numbers, and I do recall West just like like West could see running backs before other people, like, especially in the preseason.

Be the one thing that he watched the preseason.

It's like one of his superpowers.

It really was, and it was like it was based on health. It's based on a lot of things. It's like I can't think of too many like ap like level all pro type players that were taken away by injury the way he was, because he never was the same.

I just remember what a big deal it was when he was traded to Houston for DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona. That was, like, I feel like I can remember where I was when that trade happened for some reason, and.

I remember being at the All or Nothing documentary premiere downtown. Jay Zumwalt was with me, you know, a diehard Cardinals fan, and I'll always.

Remember that moment.

He's in the theater with us amongst all the other luminaries of that Cardinals twenty fifteen Cardinals team that was documented on that series. And there's a scene where their running backs coach Stump Mitchell tells Johnson that he should be a Hall of Famer once his playing careers were over, so people who knew saw the talent that he had. He fell short of that. Obviously his body didn't quite cooperate.

The roster of the ATN all timers'd be fun.

Another idea, because I thought it'd be fun, we could like reference and sit during the season if we made an at and one hundred or eight and fifty top players in the game right now where they rank on our list, either or something that kind of celebrates that. Second idea is more like the current landscape. But I do like looking back and would David Johnson be in that conversation?

Maybe maybe not. It's not a career thing.

It's like we let our group fell in love with a collection of players.

Yeah.

I like that, just workshop and some some things for the future.

That's fun.

We do like the team. I like the ATN all.

Right, ATN All Time team coming up later this summer.

Mark, I like that are your research? I will now all right, all right, I'm up here we go.

B B.

Colleen b is for blurred, as in the relationship status between a player and their team. So T Higgins who requested a trade, who hasn't signed his tag yet who skipped voluntary workouts but said that he'll play for the Bengals this year. You have Trey Hendrickson who returned to the team after requesting that trade because he wanted the long term deal. There's plenty of examples of this. Justin Jefferson another one.

I talked to t J.

Howkinson last week on the schedule release show and he was saying, because you know the JJ McCarthy is there, now, there's multiple JJ's on the team, So Justin Jefferson will now be known as just Jets, which could be confusing for.

Some Dan that feels like doesn't solve the problem, it just creates a new one.

Yeah, but hey, I mean, I guess there can only be one JJ perteam. But the whole situation with the Cowboys, how murky that is right now with Ceedee Lamb not knowing where his contract is because he's waiting for the DAK contract to go down, and obviously Michael Parsons needs to be paid. There's plenty more, but a lot is blurred.

Blaird lines a classic that really hasn't held up either as the singer. Has any trade request ever been summarily like ignored and disregarded as much as Trey Hendrickson's great question. They did not care about it. And he was back immediately, and he just was like, well, I love this team. I gotta admit I'm not going anywhere.

It was just like it was.

A I see your Trey Henderson. I raised you Austin Eckler last summer.

It was like a story. It was like a story. And he stayed away. We gave some attention.

Hendrickson was just like, hey, I tried, and then showed up like five days later and everything.

He gave up a little too soon.

We camped in.

But yeah, even Burrow was like, that's fine. If he wants to get traded.

He's a player. He deserves to him.

If he wants to. But then nothing comes of it. Jefferson, is it under the radar here? Something to keep an eye on, Jefferson.

Hayward too, you're on it?

Yeah, all right, See we're moving fast here.

See so you just jinxed it, all right? My word is cod piece one of the grossest things medieval.

It was a piece of me.

Were you wearing a cod piece of the Renaissance? Didn't I just it does feel like it would be of a piece. I don't know if you can just go purchase one at a it was. I did some research.

It is a piece of material worn by men in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to c.

It's mentioned in Shakespeare like sixter. I mean, think about it too, like the cod piece.

It you know it it makes you look enormous, you know, and I feel like that's a good thing.

To Okay, So back then, I think it was before.

There was like the miracle bra, there was the cod piece. It was just fabric.

In modern times, for our purposes, the athletic Cup sort of functions as the cod piece. And I just wanted to point out the off season is a no cod piece necessary environment. Oh, TA phase three starts today, as you mentioned, so many teams, uh, and there will be takes. Is I brought this around to having some sort of an alza. There will be takes based on whatever happens in the next ten practices of OTA Phase three, but there shouldn't be. No live contact is allowed, no tackling.

Caleb Williams could throw a meatspirer now no take Well, we've got to ignore those things.

And I think if a codpiece necessary?

Right, People that have listened to this show for a long time, yes have are they're up on this. I think they realized there are portions of the off season that you just glanced beyond and get to the next.

It's a perfect pay just to make that public service announced.

I think we have to this.

I'm in a cod piece rabbit hole.

Well, they're on the company laptop. We'll check back with you later. Let's move to the letter D with Mark Sessler. All Right, I did these my way, so it's gonna just be what it is.

Oh, I love this.

All right, D is for Doma. You don't have to give us that we know. Can I get three sentences in a row. That's why I am the g I'm just letting you know. You don't need to know it.

His favorite part of that he is for Dom De Sandro Yes Okay, Senior Advisor to the GM and Chief Security Officer for the Philadelphia Eagles East Coast Jesus. Big Dom is more like Buddha, though anyone close to him with a sense of the beyond sees that clear as day. Sit in place, in peace and cast off anger from the jealous. Sit in silence and feel the world burn

They are one with the gods.

When seven large pizzas arrive along with five kegs of domestic beer, Dom treats Jose Wiggins as a treasured guest. Jose Wiggins gets the first pick of meat Lover's pizza. He is allowed to rest in the garden of sunflowers.

I mean that was gorgeous. That was amazing.

I think it's huge of these back.

I think it matters more than people realize. Inside the building, it's massive. I ate the security guy on the.

Sideline, I'm trying to get wins.

Here we come.

He's more than that. He's the senior advisor to the general manager slash chief security officer entering its twenty fifth He got a big the lifeblood of that team, Dan. So it was funny at the Sixers.

Game waiting for a response from him, Babe about East Coast Jesus.

He was out of the Sixers.

They introduced Dom, and they introduced the recent draft picks. They were both watching a Sixers playoff game. Dom got bigger Pops.

That's the most is he forever has been fits the town.

There's nothing else to say, what else is there saying? I don't think there's a whole lot more to great job Mark. Everything just funnels into the same place.

I would like to.

See some of Wiggans work too. Like portfolio is our portfolio.

This is kind of an extension of your first one. He is for extension drama, the Jared Goff contract, extension of Detroit. It's going to reverberate across the NFL landscape, but perhaps the tremors will be felt most in South Beach. It's to a situation, is interesting situation, it's a certified situation.

Hurts two fifty five million.

Love is kind of in a different bucket obviously, but he signed that one year deal worth thirteen and a half and guaranteed. But that was only one season as a starter so far, but total guarantees are big. It's around two hundred million, give or take twenty million for all the guys, and they have to make a decision obviously around two whether he is worth that type of investment. I think it's a total flash point around the history

Think they've made their decision. I think they're probably far enough in negotiations whatever their offer has been, that he's there, that it sounds like they're making some progress. I do think him and Goff are in a quite similar situation where you can reasonably say the situation around them, the system elevates them. For Goff to get all that money, and Gof's you know, done a great job as agents have done a great job getting a lot of money.

I'm with you, though, like I just can you be convinced if you're running Miami's front office that if Tyreek Hill went down for eleven weeks and you lost Jalen Waddle or whoever that too, is just still the same guy that's gonna make it work with whoever's around it, because like the top quarterback money should go to the realistically five or six guys that you know can do that,

Effect Daniel believes in him, which it really feels like he does. Then that's gonna be the key part of it.

But then like the domino effect too from if he if he doesn't get the long term deal, like how do some of the other quarterbacks in the league proceed with their own situations with their teams, Like whether it's Dak Prescott, whether it's your love.

Right, I'm curious because Love did get a second contract, but it was this weird sort of in between contract. I think he's going to get paid this offseason too, and that that's going to be interesting.

And even though Goff and Tua are kind of bedfellows and that I think everyone agrees they're not superstars, but they're you know, really kind of locked in and loaded in trench starters. Goff has had pretty incredible durability. Has he missed games in his career? I don't even know, and that that factors into No.

Two.

Had got through his first season healthy, but the rest of his career also has been check mark with serious issues, including.

Not to be fair. No, that's what I said.

I mean he got through this year, but that doesn't mean now that's not an issue anymore. I mean that means he got he was healthy for one year.

Anyway.

That's part of the reason why it has a tough decision up next Glad, I'm not making it up next the letter F with colin Es.

Fastidious is the word.

It's so fun to say, but as in the detailed approach that certain players will take to their off season preparation. Players like Kirk Cousins, who has weekly notes from every game he's played in as a starter, and he catalogs them and folders and tiny little bins, and his whole

It's not like he's going to immediately.

Take that job, but if he does pop during these workouts, he'll add some flare an additional f word for you to the off season.

I love that good word, and I do think when you think the word fastidious, I just imagine Kirk in his office in his lab getting and already yeah, being oh absolutely, And although to be fair to him, he's done a good job adapting. He's always landed with these coaches that kind of coach that sort of system, but he has had a lot of different coaches, and he adapted fairly quickly to Minnesota when he got there.

Guys think it's like a huge benefit to roll into a system that at least like you have some understanding of and can be shaped around you versus being thrown into something, because I think that delays you a year depending on who you are.

All Right, Letter F was done just now Letter G with h G. That's right, triple G.

So that makes four g's. That's a quadruple G. Very rare.

And I'm adding one G to the mix here, and that is Genghis Khan, who at one point, and this is you know, exposing a bit of maybe a flaw in our setup here that we had this topic before, but this will be a different spin on it. At one point, Genghis Khan was the perfect player comp for

Let's hear it, which brings us back to all or Nothing when Honey Bidger's on the sideline saying, that's a bigger version of Marshall fulk And what Mark Sessler would like everyone to know tonight is David Johnson is like Genghis Khan running with the horse and the wind is blowing the main and he is taking the Mongolian steps while the forty nine ers linebackers are little prairie soldiers hiding behind trees hoping David Johnson doesn't trample them.

And with that over to you, that was they wrapping up. So wow, there you go.

What I wish I could remember what preceded that speech. I do know the Genghis Khan has populated half of one percent of the entire earth, which is not from David Johnson, but would be if David Johnson were healthier.

Perhaps now that night, I believe David Johnson had about one hundred and ninety yards from Scrimmage. There was a stack because I ended up you know, listening uh to this recap here that him and Fitzgerald had combined for ninety two percent of their offense. Yeah, I think he had one hundred and ninety four yards. He was doing that on the regular. But I do remember that night West came in laughing and he had written it on his phone in the notes, and it showed it to me.

Khan, Prairie Soldiers.

That was incredible that I could by the the inflection in his voice. I'm gonna guess. Was that recorded at Culver City Culver City.

Studient, Yes, and usually we would watch the game there, but that day he had gone off with Mark I think, and watched it and then come back.

I would imagine there is a place in Culver City, which I believe still exists, called the Garage, which we've all been to.

I would have that was a TNF hangout. Yes, I was, Yeah, I had.

I had narrowed it down to the cozy Joxers Daily or the Garage. Those all were options where televisions were plentiful, excellent, great to hear Wes also David Johnson getting Amazing Pop set Love.

It was the David Johnson episode.

All Right, let's take a break and then we will continue on with the glossary of terms. All Right, we are back. We are off and rolling here. Let's move to h with Mark Sasla.

All Right.

H is for Holly Hobby, an innocent children's doll discovered during a modern day pirates raid at the Gulf of Guinea in March of twenty twenty four.

Her child owner thrown overboard days ago. She gone poor.

Holly Hobby is taken from port to port by unhitched pirates. Our little doll friend dreams of escape. She knows in her belly that some pirates are kind pirates, more aimed at human entertainment than modern day raids on ships filled with offshoot heroin and stolen crates of fungions. She believes the Las Vegas raiders are kind pirates. Here for our

Oom Holly Hobby.

There she is, Yeah, that's her. If you're watching, if you've ever she's been through.

Should we subscribe to the YouTube channel or not? This is the biggest Give her some fingers, Give her.

Some fingers in a big spot. That's what I would say.

Do you feel like Mark is very fascinated with the dolls and child equipment or toys from his you know, childhood.

If I recall them, I I guess that it pop when it pops up during the day job.

You'd have to question that. Greg.

You're also sneaky supportive of the Raiders in the off season, which is very anti where you were a year ago.

At this year ago, I listed like the four to thirteen AFC teams that were better than them and lacerated online.

I don't believe that.

I think that they're a little bit of a sneaky under the radar operation.

That what let me ask you a question, what do you what is it about them that gives you that sense that they're.

I am more statistically looking at the league in general and thinking that every year there's a team that, like somehow in their regression candidate the minute the season ends, sneaks out nine wins, but they aren't nine win worthy and so it doesn't make a lot of logical sense,

That feels like you are locked and loaded. When we, hopefully with Bill Barnwell again, when we do over unders, Yeah, well I went under Greg. I think it's six and a half. I went over four trying to be logical a year ago. So I'm going to go in a different You know what, you were logical.

You weren't off too much about that they weren't better than many teams in the FC. Even though they won eight games, only three teams four teams had a worse record than them, which is strange marks all eight and nine.

And Abovemo Ballerina, No, but.

I was talking to someone about Dolly Pops.

If you recalled dollypops. No, my Prima Ballerina was like the ultimate. I wanted one so bad.

I got it for Christmas, and then all of a sudden, my Prima Ballerina disappeared and my parents said that they put it down the basement. So I spent I don't know, as a child, maybe a year and a half searching the basement for my Prima Ballerina.

Why was it put away?

They took it back to the store, they.

Returned it, and they just said that it was down in the basement.

So maybe one day I'll find it.

I don't know.

Holly be kind of brought back some come up with the the Suzanne.

I haven't.

Well, I've moved on from Suzanne. Now I'm with Andrea.

You let you let Suzanne.

You're a psychiatrist go yeah, my therapist therapist.

Yeah, it seems like emotional to do that.

Yeah, well I did in a text I need I needed to move on.

I was Andrea doing.

He is great, love Andrea, honestly, lovely, wonderful.

I'm writing the Stamach.

She has a vespa that she showed up on before our appointment the other day, and I was like, well, this is it.

This is party she does how she comes to your boot?

No, yeah, I was early. Yeah, so good times.

All right, well, Andrea, welcome to the Around the NFL team. Let's move to uh I.

Key nambler. I is for indictment prior regimes.

This is a and you know, shout out to Nick Shook who wrote this article on NFL dot com, and Gordon and everybody else on the desk that's just hammering out this content in the off season.

We've been there.

It's sometimes it's it feels like you're comb in the desert.

Here is a Nick Schuk story. Here's the headline.

Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts tabs himself quote super rookie as he learns new offense hit the the trope alert big funk. Because I hope this becomes one this idea that you can just wave your entire career and say I'm starting over and then say I'm a super rookie.

I love it.

It is an indictment, obviously, of everything that the Falcons have done. Here's the exact quote. I would say I'm a super rookie. I'm not a rookie rookie, but we're all in this new offense, new regime, new schedule. We're all in this fresh which sure, okay is true. Glad he read that. He also said that, you know, we talked about was he healthy? Has he been healthy? He said that that knee injury that ended his twenty twenty two season prematurely lingered throughout twenty twenty three and what

Did he do anything to make the knee better? Now do I?

How do I believe on face value that the knee is now fine even though it wasn't fine more than a year after the injury that you said you couldn't get over throughout last season. So keep an eye on the health of Kyle Pitts and whether his knee is gonna let him be the athlete he was coming out of college. But anyway, the Falcons three the last three years never happened.

It's super rookie season.

The only thing about it is that I can't think of a team that you know, you were part of this, Dan, and so were others like more frustrated with how that offense was run two years running, but especially last year, Like there's a lot of potential stars they're not used correctly. Like could you make the argument that Pitts and the rest of them feel like we're let out of jail at this point?

Right, he got a thousand yards his rookie year, and he had moments his rookie year where he did look like that dude. He has been a big reason why he hasn't lived up to his billion though the last couple of years.

It's not just about the people, like you can even with like.

A run heavy scheme and Desmond Ritter like he.

Just isn't moving the same way. He just said it to Dan mentioned it like he just wasn't moving the same way. He wasn't as explosive, he didn't win as many like you jump ball type of situations, fifty to fifty balls like Drake London is the perfect reason why I think it's fair to criticize Kyle Pits. You look at Drake London and you say that is a dude, Like that guy might already be one of the ten

I wonder if they'll a maze.

He's not that old though, he's like Sam Laporte's age. He's Yeah, he came out so young that.

I think he's only I mean twenty three.

He's twenty three right now. Yeah, you're in twenty four in October.

So that's I wonder if they'll make him more of a focal point, because he felt like he was just always sort of in Drake London's shadow, which is impossible because he's such a big dude, like physically, but it just feels like all of the because I had this later Dan, So now I have discribed situation, but the amount of puff pieces that will be written about the

You could keep it.

You don't have to pivot. I stuck with mine. I had a sound drop, you know.

I think it's a good challenge it. It will probably happen to all of us.

We can find new ways to discuss the topic if we if we wish, and maybe we don't wish.

So just and just to revisit in general, Atlanta's draft strategy at the top of these drafts.

They took Kyle Pits fourth overall in twenty.

Twenty one, so yeah, but no one was No one was killing him for that at the time.

At four overall. I feel like that was seen as earlier than it expected.

That was like generational talent. He's like a he was here.

It wasn't like he went fourth overall in twenty one.

A lot of people, I think sort of thought he was. Is he the best player in this draft other than you know, Trevor Lawrence.

I guess Jamar Chase is in that draft too.

But yeah, you took Drake London eighth overall in twenty two, you took Bijon eighth overall in twenty three, and you took Pennix eighth overall in twenty four, So you took in the top eight. You took a tight end, a running back, and a backup quarterback. In the last four years three or the last four years. It's just it's an interesting way to build your out your future quarterback. You kind of need you kind of need one of these guys to really hit and become what you thought

So Jay, I'm already trying to work on my new V word.

Here we go as in anxiety creeping in calling Andrea speed.

Dial jaunt, as in Dave Canalis's appointment in Carolina. Will it be long term or will it be just the latest in a recent line?

So under Tepper be talking.

The coaches have been Ron Rivera, there was the interim Perry Fuel, Matt Ruhle, Steve Wilkes had a moment interim le. We had Frank Reich and then his table took over last year for a bit. And so now it's Dave Canalis's turn. And what does that mean for Bryce Young? Because Canalis was credited with all of the help that he got that Gino Smith got in Seattle and Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay.

They brought in Deontay Johnson.

They drafted Xavier Laguette at the wide receiver position, so they jouj the offensive line as well, so what does that mean for Bryce Young and Dave Canalis because now they will be linked forever in this season ahead.

I think Dave Canal I love that we're talking about because I think he's under the radar, is going to be like a big figure, yeah coming up, because he has an interesting vibe, a ton of energy. It totally makes sense to me that he's extremely close with Pete Carroll and he looks at Pete Carroll as like his greatest life mentor and coaching mentor, because he feels to me like kind of a younger version of the vibe.

It was like no better resume builder than like two years in a row reviving quarterbacks. Everyone falls for that. This is a team because some teams get backed in this situation. You can't make any personnel moves for years. You got to just let these guys do it. You can't recycle again. What the guys need attempting. I'm gonna you're just like are you're arguing together?

Like?

How hot is Dave Canalis? That that's how it started. But ironically looking guy, it.

Is his hotness that has been his undoing in his past. Breaking news, bunk, breaking ass news from the New York Post.

How many years ago. It's late January, but for us it's breaking news.

New Panthers coach Dave Canal has had a quote secret life of porn addiction and binge drinking.

We wrote a book on it. Yeah, Oh, how was the book, mister know it all? Oh, he wrote a book on it. Like he talked about this at ISA and found out seconds ago he wrote a book.

He talked about it as opening press conference. He literally has a book that I think it was.

I wrote a book on it. His faith.

His faith helped him work through his problems with infidelity, and.

That was part of the right.

It was third on the list.

The book has got to start meeting every Wednesday night.

The book is called This Marriage Question Mark, the question that changed everything?

All right, Well that's interesting.

Cool?

What letter were you again?

That is wild?

I did?

I was this up? This? Wait, it's this marriage?

Yeah, question mark, big time question mark and a big this marriage the question that changed everything.

He said he wrote the book to help other couples.

Struggling with marriage, a question the author was asking himself and then answers with the with the book and what happened since.

How about he also used to be a cowboy boot salesman.

Well that's cool. Wait?

Or is it this marriage or is it this marriage that really matters? Like like this marriage?

Well, I think it's the reader. The reader can decide. How do you think he intended? I guess is what I'm s I.

Don't remember you've given what were the example number two of sound pretty similar?

Like great art.

I think you want to leave some room open for interpretation.

With your book title, though, I don't know. I'd stress this. It's not any marriage, it's this marriage. Stress this best marriage.

This marriage. Yeah, like that kind of like ours. Yeah, while we're talking keep pounding. I don't know if you guys knew. Last week was actually keep Pounding Day in North Carolina and a number of events in communities, you know, giving back to the community keeps did that?

I like that panthers oriented element comes up later in the show. I just we just gloss right by it. We don't okay, we don't discuss it after.

They have so the Todd Downing offensive coordinator of the Titans.

What book did he write?

Well, he has the they use his poll quote right on top of the cover and he ends it with Lizzie. Uh, you know, but that is exactly what Lizzie and Dave have provided with this marriage.

But then it's not a question mark there. It's tough. And that's a tough one.

Because technically it should it should end with a question mark there too.

Well, that's on the editors.

But unless he doesn't have a question about it anymore, that's your guy, now, Todd down and.

Then we got him locked them in. All right, who's next?

I believe?

Are we at kakay with Greg Rose? Okay?

That was I have regrets all of a sudden.

K is for or catalog gphobia K A T A G E l ophobia, catalgophobia, which is the fear of being ridiculed or laughed at. And you know, sometimes this sort of phobia, this sort of fear.

It starts in childhood.

Just people that are exposed to criticism, maybe tough, and they have a right and offended psyche. Whereas if you have like a better foundation, maybe you're not a victim of this. If some teams I think experience catalegophobia, they're more sensitive, you know what I mean, You can probably guess who they are. Like it often goes along with

I think they are very very confident to your point in the cowboyness of it all and that that will see them through the darkest of right.

So they're confident.

And since I three to one, yeah, Number two would be Mike Tomlin. I don't know if we have that old sounddrop's a good entry where he just was like, I do not care, we do not care.

Now there it is good child funk and.

I believe it, Like I just believe when when coaches say like, we don't care about what they're saying on the outside. When Mike Thomas says that, I do believe it. Whatever he believes, he believes, I don't think he's getting bothered. And then number one, I would guess it would just be Jim Harbaugh. I mean I just feel like he's he's rolling with whoever Jim Harby is could be on this list too, But Jim, like he is who he is.

He's not going to make any day it's two day.

He's very he's very confident in who he is. I'm scared of, not worried about the criticism.

I agree.

I think also the teams that have when you win, that makes you feel your above outside. Like I'm sure Andy Reid feels pretty confident in himself. A lack of cattle phobia like a phobia, had like a phobia, what was.

The other phobia that we always talk about.

That's a tough one to People with cattle like a phobia may experience symptoms such as burning cheeks, desire to look away, awkward half smile, feeling like everyone is staring at you, and goosebumps.

That sounds terrible, it's I feel.

Have we not all experienced that?

It's It's some It's a very human yeah, feeling some some level, I think, but like maybe to the phobia level. All right, mark Elle, okay, Ell is for Lauri Meda catillog phobia at the door.

Here we go. Ell is for Laurie Metcalf. Do you have anything else to say? You want to? I said, check your ca. Elle is for Lauri Metcalf. Do you remember her?

The hardworking Hollywood actress who played Jackie Harris, the issues laiden sister to Roseanne on Roseanne, a nineteen nineties runaway hit. Metcalf also starred as Kevin Costner's loyal aid female assistant Da Susie Cox and Oliver Stone's nineteen ninety one film JFK. Before appearing as a landlady in Leaving Las Vegas, a Nick Cage Meg Ryan hit, released on October twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five, Right during the Cowboys bye week, Dallas was six and one.

There was a zero question on our earth.

To Greg's point about their power, we didn't need hollow speeches or self loving statements to help us understand their vice grip over the week, over the strong, over everything in sports.

Now we're in the dumb days? Or are we?

Has Jerry Jones finally found the special sauce the Dream Tonic, a team with a handful of stars and a coach playing for their contracts and NFL lives? How about Lori Metcalf playing behind the scenes heroin Charlotte Jones in the twenty twenty six Hulu funded drama How about Them Cowboys colon Daddy's Home?

That would be great.

I'd watch it following up the documentary, but i'd watch for.

A team like the Cowboys. You can't get up.

I mean, the Lakers have had docs and they've had series and they just keep cranking them out.

I don't love the title too.

I don't get the feeling that the Cowboys are gonna be a buzzy pick right now.

Isn't that good for once? Maybe?

But I don't think is gonna be a reason for it because I think we almost saw the best of this Cowboys nucleus already and it wasn't good enough.

And what I was wondering because I was like, I went, I wrote, is like going on the road and just

Great job by Laurie Metcalf and Ladybird. That scene I love Ladybird when driving her to the airport, That like rated apparent and almost impossibly.

I believe she still plays.

Jackie Metcalf on a television show that airs on ABH.

Yes there's a spin off. Yes, I noticed that. I do.

I do a pretty good Roseanne laugh impression.

Do you want to hear it? Oh? No, you don't want to hear it. I won't know. I'm not going to say it.

I would like to hear it.

You want to hear it?

Yeah?

No, I Shan does that a lot.

That's also like every evil clown from North America.

But if those who know the opening credits of Roseanne, I think that was good.

And then I also have a kind of.

A running joke with my wife when uh, you know, we're you know, it's the middle of the week and you know, we got two kids and I got a busy house, like and hey, what's the dinner plan for tonight? And then sometimes it will just like slip through, like we don't have a plan, and at six point thirty and then I'll do a joke where if Emily's like, I don't know, I'll be like, I go into my Roseanne impression.

Like I'll go get them some hamburger, helper and junk. She loves it. She loves it. Yeah, that seems like a healthy way to approach that.

What a window into your week.

Now we're talking about the sauciage gets mad, I don't know and junk. All right, that is my Roseanne Up next is this is kind of hard the way it's it's graft out. So you just went right.

Mark I went, Oh no, no, Mark went and that was Flory Metcalf.

There we go, all right, So let's move to M and it will be four. Mister Raider M jim Otto a Pro Football Hall of Fame center. Those who know know he wore double zeros and he was in the pivot of some of the great Raiders offensive lines and teams. Ever, he died at the age of eighty six over the weekend. He was known as the original Raider, the dominant center of his era.

He had a singular goal. Now here's a quote.

This was this mantra that he repeated over and over again and John, never will they kick my butt?

That's the quote.

That's the quote. Never.

And he did a lot of butt kicking, starting in the AFL through the merger and seventy.

Retired after seventy four. He starred as a center.

We want to talk about whatever happened to Gary Cooper when men were men?

Otto started two hundred and.

Ten straight regular season games two twenty.

Three including the playoffs.

Twelve time Pro Bowler, there was talk that he should be the face of the Raider on the logo with the iPad eyepatch, he said, but with a broken nose.

Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? He played center for the opener. Started his career.

With eleven straight All Pro teams and only one of those was a second team.

Started out.

I can't imagine there are many players in the history of the NFL that started their career with six straight first team All pros. Wow, as a rookie. Then he had a second team for one year. I don't know who beat him out in sixty six, and then he he racks up another four. That's that's on the short list of like all time, all time greats.

When you go to like Pro Football Reference and you can see like, oh, you know, Kyle Pitts, like he started nine games and fin like when you go to Auto's page, like you said, it's just fourteens head to toe.

He never missed.

It's a different era, but also to say that he was the face of the Raiders, because I'll never forget. When I covered that final Raiders game, I did a separate piece talking to like eight or nine like dudes from that era, and a lot of them mentioned him, And there was a lot of competition to be the face of that Raiders team, from the coaching world, to the players, to some of the legends like and he was that dude, and so yeah, there's not a lot like him.

I like that he talked about the hardest hit that he ever received it a game was from Ray Nichkei and that he broke his face mask and that's what broke his nose and said it the way that it was mm hmm.

Broke my cheekbone, my zygomatic archbone.

That's good.

It attached my retina and my left eye. I was blind for six months and my left eye it was really bad. It all swelled up and I couldn't see, but I kept playing.

I never went out of the game with a detached retina.

But Kyle Pitts's knee is sore, guys, Oh, that is unbelievable. Anyway, a true warrior of the game passes away. Jim Otto at the age of eighty six. Let's take a break and we will continue onward. All right, we are back. We are moving on, Colleen. You are in the pivot now.

Okay.

The letter n N is for nascent, as in Detroit's reconstructed secondary and it's nascent phase. Woo. They needed a rebirth, hon me, after only Washington allowed more yards passing yards per game last season. They used their first two draft picks on corners, traded up for terry On Arnold, got Ennis Rakestrawl at sixty one, and then they traded their third rounder to the Bucks for Carlson Davis. So all three of those draft picks are potential Week one starters in their secondary.

They addressed They looked at what their biggest issue was last year, and they couldn't have like addressed it any faster, any more aggressively.

They tried to do it a year ago.

To be fair, there was actually a little bit of like, hey, they've improved their secondary year ago at this time and those guys are no longer on the team. But having Brian Branch to begin with, like hitting on that draft pick and then adding you would think Arnold feels like a pro ready type of guy in Carlton Davis has already shown he's a good start.

I mean, I think a team like the Lions too, where it's like, don't have any lips on the radar and you you kind of don't have too many weaknesses. They've done that, They've done a lot in two or three off seasons. But you keep Aaron Glenn the defensive coordinator, you keep Ben Johnson the offensive coordinator.

It's like, it is there.

You could have rolled the dice that one of those two, if not both, could have been somewhere else right now, and you're kind of starting over with new phraseology and new coaches knew everything. That's like this team is so much about their coaching staff, and I love that they've kind of kept it all together and it's like, what's the weakness here? I know you could pick, you could nitpick a little, but not They've.

They thrived under higher expectation last year, as we know, starting right in week one when they knock off Kansas City in the opener, they what are they finished with twelve wins last year where they land last year and five twelve and five and you know, make it all the way to the NFC title game.

Damn near win that game against the Niners.

So I can't sit here and then say, well, how will they handle expectations this year?

I think they'll be fine.

However, now it's a it's a bird of a different color, like you have to get over the hump. You have to Anything short of getting out of the NFC now is maybe not failure but a disappointment. So it's the Detroit lines as we knew them are totally transformed. But it's very hard to get over the hump. And there's still a lot of big time competition in the conference. So we'll see what they can do. This is gonna be it's gonna be a battle, and we'll see if they can get over the hump.

They're set up so well.

And I also love the Terry On Arnold and Brian Branch played together at Alabama already, so that's kind of nice that they already have that probably energy.

Then all right, Greg the letter, Oh all right, I'm gonna go with a great word obedient, complying with or submissive to authority. I like when a word just sounds like it should obey me. Obedience I'm saying.

They call uncomfortable, but we're gonna keep moving.

Greg was saying this exactly at this time Yesterday is Sunday in his house.

Go ahead.

I don't think if the Raiders and the Saints come out to Southern California for training camp and they are that they're fan, that they should be obedient to this NFL rule that because of marketing rights in the Southern California area that they don't necessarily have the rights to have fans at their training camp. Now, the Raiders have been more out in front saying we're having conversations with both teams about the logistics of it. Talks are still ongoing,

It feels like a weird NFL thing in general that like some of these stipulations kind of get like maybe why they were cooked up, but like what they went to? What was it Greenbrier for like years of it's right like secret compounds. I don't know what it is, but like, uh, like why would you have any fan base?

Not I would just promote it everywhere, So I'm with you, Like.

It just sort of feels like this is just California here, Well it did.

The rule would apply I guess everywhere, but it only matters because everyone's trying to come to southern California. Yeah, because they're technically in the Raiders. I mean they're the Raiders, and the Saints are coming into the Chargers and Rams area and they either need to get some permission, but there's questions like about whether they even want the permission and how they're going to do it. The Raiders do say that they're they're trying to figure it out.

Saint Steam president Dennis Lauschia explained that on site logistics, not NFL marketing rules, are.

A bigger hurdle for the team.

He believes that finding room for fans that you see Irvin's campus is going.

But the okay, I read that too, But I went to multiple great training cramps with the Rams, Like my kids had a blast the day they went, and that was the same facility.

So just saying and they had like food trucks and stuff.

Right, it was all happened. You said cramps and just trying to.

Move past that, I'm out there are a lot of cramps.

Then good one, good one, all right, Well, hopefully that all works out.

Gregy up to Mark Sasser, the letter.

P all right, here is where some crossover occurs, and I don't give an f p is for Pennix Comma Michael Kama Junior in our news from I listen to dense white noise on earphones, hail and rain and chaos in the woods while banging out alphabet narratives. As an adult male pressing question, how will humans react when Michael Pennix Junior takes over as QB one for Atlanta? As early as week six, the two and three Falcons crumbling

Wow that is quite a scenario.

It's giving up on Kirk quite quickly, although he's struggling. It's two and three. It's a tricky situation. It's early enough. Could you trade him, Probably not with all the cap hit that you would get, but maybe the next offseason. People like myself that say, okay, they're locked in the Kirk for two years. I mean there is a crazy scenario where if this happened, for instance, that they could trade Kirk next offseason with that guaranteed.

Haven't they set up a sort of a dangerous situation where if Kirk, let's say it did struggle.

I'm not saying this happens. This is a bit four fetch.

But we've created a dangerous Yeah, like your fan base, if he lights it, Pennix is like whipping the ball like they say he will, like during training camp, Like your fans, it just's lodged in their minds, like, wait a minute.

This just misses a game.

Happens to the quarterbacks, especially on Achilles.

Not him until last year. But yeah, yeah, but pre season too.

We've seen it so many times where like the rookies come in, they light it up.

It's preseason.

They're not playing like great competition, and that's when everything starts.

And that's why I think of Lamar like everything if you that's certainly Michael Penas could be a star.

You don't know that, but it's like, but then everything keeps for me going back to the same question, but then, why did you sign Kirk Cousins. Why did you put this roadblock in front of him and the kid and create this hyper awkward situation that could undermine the entire operation.

It reminds me of the courl Never that Howie Roseman talked about when they drafted Jalen Hurts and they had Carson Wentz in place, and he was like, the Eagles are trying to be a quarterback factory.

Okay, but they I'm not. There was a different situation than this is. This is a totally unique situation. We haven't really seen before. And we'll say I would imagine Cousins plays one year and they trade him, right.

I think, I think if he plays well, he plays two years. Kirk had his first press conference in front of the Atlanta media. Handled it all well, I thought, really embraced pen X. But the one key moment where I was like, oh, that was kind of the real answer was you know when they when they asked about the like, well, if you had known they were going to draft pen X, and he was just like, well,

Yet it was an all time rug pull on a player too to to give him that contract, promise him in the world this is your team now, and then without any notice, draft the replacement before he ever played a game. It's it's unreal. It's it's it's crazy. We're going to see how it all plays out. Tell me more about this white noise, Mark.

I don't need to use it anymore. But back when our newsroom I did this morning just because there was a there were people shouting like something or other. So, but like when our newsroom was crazy, it's like, oh, like everyone's just chat and like, you know, eating sandwiches and throwing food arounds, like, oh, but breaking news just happened, and you have to write three graphs in four minutes.

It's the only way that I can concentrate on anything. But yeah, I think it's but I use brown noise. That's like a different frequency and it's much better.

I use it for sleeping.

Music is a nice music, I'm too distracted by the lyrics and everything else, Like I just need nothing.

Almost it got.

You to a place of nothing, nothingness.

So the old newsroom there was not only food being eaten, but being thrown around.

I don't know, everyone's like everyone know, but you know, you know how it was.

It was like a cartoon, but you were like the one person writing the story, and it seemed like everyone everyone else is just giggling and dancing and running around and like ses.

Acually in the damashek era right.

And then that you had that Tuesday sandwich tosses. You had that happened Thursday sandwich toss and it's the Friday pizza toss.

I will cover my ears like sometimes because I could not concentrate.

We are the same, Mark, I.

Mean, I cranked out the story though I got to you. Sure did? You got it done? What's the other alternative? Take a walk? It is? It's Mark's mind.

It's great if.

You really turn it up like in your ear, like, it removes all.

I could actually I could picture you writing a Rex Grossman three hundred order right now.

It's really nice.

It's peaceful.

But if you just like turn the dial like seven percent, it's like the start of a horror movie.

Yeah.

Or you here, you see Mark focusing and then you look down and you see the headphones aren't actually plugged into anything?

All right? Que que right? Is that right? Que me? Q?

Is for question? Colon nailed it? Will you watch the latest version of Hard Knocks?

I will, yep, company woman, absolutely.

I haven't watched all the NFL offerings with Hard Knocks, and I didn't even watch the first in season one for long, but I'll give you this one a shot because of when it's coming out in the calendar. I actually think it's a perfect time. It is when you're it's I think early July when it's why they drop the Netflix show. Then you're you're hankering for a little football and just that it's different and it's off season and it's draft stuff, like I'm curious how deep they

And I don't think we talked about it on our schedule release show. It's the New York Giants covering what from the end of the off season until essentially when it comes to.

Hard Knocks colon off season with the New York Giants.

I'm fine with it.

I would imagine a lot of it is the draft.

How could it not.

I want to see the Saquon fallout, right, I.

Guess like you, but like I also, my one thing is because I think the one thing about Hard Knocks, even though Hard Knocks is like what happened in the past week, like the training camp one, you're tied to those storylines and you find out new stuff. I want to, like if it's going to be an hour about why the Giants signed Brian Burns, like, okay, I want to really learn about how front offices work.

That's all.

I like, the news itself is from four to five months ago, and we've been talking about the Giants at that point for four to five months, so like you got the challenges make that fresh, and I mean they must think they can do that.

And there's a reason why those that know the Hard Knocks history and Connie, we've done the podcast the last exactly if you know the history, and the history is rich Rich. The Giants have never done the show. And the Giants are one of those Tiffany franchises that distance themselves from things that are quote distractions. This is something they can control, so it's like this is an in house operation where they could work on the edit of it.

Wait for the original version. That's all I can say.

I mean, as soon as I hear the music, I want to watch though, So I'm like, there's drawn to it.

It's gonna be a different count of characters, though, it's not gonna be funny players talking about the REATA stores.

It's a bunch of front office people, right, It'll be different.

The reason why I have some I have more optimism, I think, is that these team and ultimately look NFL Films were all one big company NFL. It is always an in house operation when it's NFL Films. These team videos that they make of behind the scenes for the draft, which is even more explicitly like they're not going to put anything that puts the team in a bad light. Have been pretty informative and a lot of times like does have stuff I'm interested in and those are created

Brown's Hard Knocks and you see the head coach and offensive coordinador battling for the control of the team in front of the coup to the Browns credit, like they're like, you know what, we agreed to do this, this is what's happening.

This is going out there.

Like I just the more you take away from that world, I just I like the idea of like, oh, I want to see what happens here? How are they going to handle this? Like are they going to spin it or not it? And just show us the unvarnished truth of the situation. You know what, I don't know if I'm watching that, but you know what, I am always checking out the latest edition of Walking with Giants.

I don't know if you guys.

This is, of course the great Christopher Walking, Oscar Award winning actor, I believe, native New Yorker and obviously a huge fan of the New York Giants.

So he started his own podcast.

And one thing we haven't really touched on is Tommy DeVito, quarterback of the Giants, became a cult hero at the end of last season.

Tommy cutlets and all that.

All of a sudden, it's like, we don't really hear about Tommy so much anymore, even though they didn't draft the quarterback, so hopefully he is a He was just at the.

Draft with me. We did a pizza contest.

There we go.

So he's still in the mix and Italian American ways.

But what's his NFL future? He said.

Apparently there's an article he had as a chip on his shoulder, and I had to hear what Chris Walkin had to say about it.

Here's Oh, here's an excerpt from that.

It's time once again for Walking with Giants with me your host, Chris Walkin. Change has come to my beloved football team, the New York Giants, Big Blue, the g Men. We all go through it change. My neighbor is now a woman, or in the polance of the times, she was always a woman. She's now just living her truth. Hold for a fact, now that you've done a plotting, let's talk about someone going through change.

On the Giants.

Homegrown talent Jersey Boy done good.

The entire nation got behind his Italian mannerisms and Guido good looks. Tommy DeVito, he feels slighted, cast aside. He feels as if he's yesterday's news and he has something to say.

He's not going away the same way we all do one day.

Enough for the rhyming.

Well, I got news for you, Tommy.

It's going to be hard.

It's going to be had.

The best quarterback who's ever lived, man.

Myth, the legend, Eli Manning, Mike drop walking off.

He is a huge eife and we've heard that man.

Yeah, that's like that was the full episode and like the you know, the ability to take the football analysis and link it to our own lives.

I mean, thank you for Chris, who is from a story at Queens by the Way, so a New York native to the book.

Hopefully he can fall in love with Drew Locke. That's what I hope for Christopher Walker.

Good call, good call the letter R with Colleen.

Wolf okay R for recop Wow, recuperation. We're recouping, and so is Anthony Richardson. Thegotten rookie had four starts last year and now we're all just sort of waiting for him to come back with that throwing shoulder. He's playing for the right coach and Shane Steichen, but everything we heard was that and saw was he's an athletic freak. And it was so exciting when he came out and he was able to back it up. And then we

Help with him up front.

So I feel like the fact that he looks like he's all the way back from surgery right now, he's going to be a huge storyline. The Colts are going to be a huge storyline. And is it going to happen to me again? Am I going to be like front and center on the Colts?

You? I know?

But this is kind of like we're watching all of the recuperations for guys like Joe Burrow as well, but Anthony Richardson and Joe Burrow at the top of the list.

I like the division they play in, Connie, I think it sets up well for them to make a run here potentially, and so much of it as Ken Richardson stay healthy and grow as a player. But I think they're a fun team to get behind. Again, I don't think you're in the wrong here. I think it's funny.

So I was quite high on the I did the projected Starters series for the AFC last week, and I looked at that roster as like, Chris Ballard's done it again.

I like him.

I kind of liked them as a sneaky division winner, and I went, we watched this college tape and stuff during the draft season. It's like, whenever I'm watching that, I know I'm not a real draft knick, because all I'm thinking is like, wouldn't it be nice to just watch them professional football where they're better? Oh dang, So I watched some Anthony. I went to some Anthony Richardson because he really only played two games that he'd survived. It was so short and it's electric. It's also a

And the year that you jumped on.

They're not bandwagon, but just generally their operation, like running back goes down, the offensive lineup like just crumbled, everything fell every I mean, it was like an apocalypse. But where they are now two years later, there's a lot to believe in, and I think a lot of it is like Anthony Richardson's at the center of it, but the Ballard's defense and what he's built up and what he believes in. It's like it's been a slow process.

Yeah, I was just two years early on it, so I'm I never left frame it that way.

I think what they lacked last year was like a big time difference maker.

Yeah, in their offense. Now they potentially have it.

They don't want to put too much on the shoulders of the kid, but hey, they brought him in to be the franchise and let's see if he is.

He might leave the league.

Maybe Kayleb Williams will in the the OTA videos that are just oh, that's awesome, like the Cold Showed one where he throws at eighty five yards or something.

Bonkers. I thought I was he's great for that.

I thought I was stealing my Fantasy league last year when I took Richardson high. Not high, but it was like, this is gonna be my QB two. That shocks the word. But I would do it again this year. I think we're rolling the dice on all right. Next it's me with we got one more break to take. Actually, it's take one more break and then we'll close this out. Alright, We're back, Greggie, Take us, baby, take us where we need to go.

The letter S is for super Chargers, which will make more sense when we play the following clip from the twenty fifteen season.

Hmm, Sandiego super Chargers, San Diego Super.

I gotta remember that.

That just felt it was important, I mean sorry, attached to an earphone with that is a rugged way.

To go out?

What attribute by you?

Yeah, Wes and this show twice, Greggie, good work.

Jag may or may not have just heard that well looking up for the other clip and thought that would be fun to just play on the show.

Oh the San Diego.

Charge Look, I just did that with myself for you Mark, Now.

For you Mark.

The context for that was we thought it was the Chargers last game in San Diego. It actually wasn't remember that. We thought it was they were gone and then they ended up putting, so that was one more year.

But that that was why you sang the safety laying on the field after the game? Was it that game? Yes, that was twenty fifteen. That's right. Let's see if the falsetto still holds all these years later.

Super charm juice, you've got it, super chim.

Well, I was younger, it was only thirty five then, Yeah, you can't hold the notes forever.

Great job by Big Funk just having that, like ready that the cut up version.

Hey, let's give it up for Big Funk. Who's listen, let's hear you. Let's hear your music.

Funk.

Yeah, it's quiet around here right now, and there's not a lot of staff to say the least.

And uh, this is my favorite theme song is big Funks and.

Yet one man could do it all big funk on the walls and two having that baby maybe funk wheel two you got an so right now funk.

Yeah, I've been dating for seven whoa yeah, crazy right seven?

Legally married. I believe partner. We all domestic partners. I think they just took away that law the grandfathered in though. Yeah, clock sticking, she's expacting.

It doesn't help that Eric's my neighbor too. I was gonna say a double date. Yeah, we had a few times.

Because Eric got engaged, married and now child.

Yeah, it's crazy it all happened at once because funk feeling I hate.

Well, we can't assume that his significant other wants a baby. We can a lot, Yeah, kind of.

We're kind of the same mind where it's like we want to be able to afford one before we have one or open that discussion. But it doesn't help that Eric's wife will be walking around and like lately the conversation has been like, oh sheoks so pretty she's so beautiful.

You know that's a sign.

And I'm like, you know, I'm watching TV. I'm like, oh, that's crazy.

Seven years is two thousand, five hundred and fifty five days.

Give Lee just Google.

All right, good job though, funk behind the glass. Thanks, thank you.

That was his girlfriend pulling him out of the studio to go down to the city courthouse.

All right, let's see where else? What do we got left? Where are we?

Mark t T tea.

Is for too many, too many long reads by matter. Here's a quick one. I know, well, we we learned the lesson, but we unlearned it.

It's streamlined this.

I think we've done a good job. It is moving.

I do have a quick one for you, though. I have four playoff teams not returning. In my little world of worlds. I looked at the standings from last year, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Miami, and the Rams. If I'm wrong, replace one of the teams with someone else, because my sports lock of the week is that four new playoff teams will emerge, as they have every year since Hillary Clinton first discovered the magic of a pants suit. Go okay, Pittsburgh Miami, Who Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Miami.

Gets behind Rams news at eleven's's.

Funny that you're taking the Browns out when you've been unhappy that they're not getting enough pop this offseason.

As a I was, I was suggesting that they aren't not unhappy, but they aren't. And I think there's a regression elements there. But I'll take out the Bucks just for the Rams.

Therey Bucks. Well, that's sensible. Rams. I felt was a little edgy, but like, I think you got it right. Yeah, really, Job, you're right? Are we just moving this segment along? Well, I.

Don't think Pittsburgh is crazy, Altho, I think they've got better. Cleveland's not crazy.

Rams.

Okay, I got another one. I'm taking out the Cowboys and putting in the Packers. Whoa the Packers were in the playoffs?

All right, you want to go, I'll see are crazy and razy. I'm taking out the Texans and putting in the Cults.

Im the idiot that was I'll take out I'll put in someone else. I don't know who I'm putting in, but I'm taking other Cowboys.

Well, you gotta put it you're gonna put in the Raiders, they're gonna I might, I haven't gone.

I haven't done that part making these predictions because we're just gonna foo.

Sorry Mark, Ye, it's been deemed too early, but put the Packers into the playoffs.

But yeah, because like where they could have won the super Bowl last year?

That was all right, good one, Mark, good luck to you.

Well no, because I know you don't want to be right on that, but maybe you will be.

We shall see you unfair. That's what it stands for.

Hey, this new schedule, you know, we have moved, We've not so quietly started to shift away from a traditional Sunday schedule, uh to more.

This is like the NFL's primetime era. And and the.

More streamers that have that are involved, the more mouths there are to feed, the more days of the week that are being used. That it's it's creating schedule havoc that we've never seen before because the schedule makers. And maybe that helps us to explain why the schedule, based on what we heard with some reports, ended up being delayed a week because they're like, how do we make

How long ago was that thirty years ago?

A total of three teams over thirty one years played at least seven games where their opponent had over one week to prepare three and thirty one years. This year alone, there are two teams who play seven games versus opponents who have over one week to prepare. Two teams with seven plus games. The Patriots are on the other side, greg they play zero. The Chargers. Here we go six games versus teams with extra rest and prep for them,

I like I think number one, there's they're already were costs to all this because like it's just a it just inched up by derivations, more so this season. But like players, I listen to what the players say about it, and it's it's their the health. It's like the rest is not just like someone's going to get there and like strategize their way to a win. It's like the players of an extra two or three days to rest. I think that matters so much towards the end of

Like it's not changing.

It's just not going to change because at least not anytime soon, because it's the money. It's like, oh, no matter, we can put a schedule release out on the same day as the NBA playoffs and blow them.

Out of the water.

So it's like why stop, And like I don't think there is a lack of care for certain like people involved, namely the players and coaches.

In their lives.

But there's also no way that they're going to be able to make this completely fair for every single team with all of the different iterations, like they try.

They have to give up something to get something right. Yeah, but to give up some of this the competitive balance. Quite frankly, you're getting millions upon millions of dollars in primetime victories.

It kind of it reminded me as you were discussing it. It's a good point to raise of the NBA because in the NBA, there's so many what they call schedule losses where one team's on the fourth on a back to back, on the road, third night in four games, and the other one's been resting for like three days and just waiting for it. And like, being an NBA fan, you almost have to have this context of like where your schedule is and where the other one is, and like, oh,

Yeah, the NBA also they and it's an issue because fans paid top dollars to go to the games and then Lebron's.

Not playing it's a rest day.

And it's like you could do that because it's a you know, eighty two game season or whatever in the NFL, like every game, even now that we're at seventeen, it's so precious these games.

So it is it's something, all right, v Connie, Okay, football is completely different than basketball.

Good that's a nice final point to put on it, Mark, good work, Colleen.

All Right, so you grabbed my Kyle Pitts one earlier, so I had to pivot off of volu and we're going with vicissitudes instead, and the many vicissitudes.

That former Jets quarterbacks have made.

And in this exercise, it will be watching two in particular, so a competition in Minnesota between Sam Darnold and JJ McCarthy and then the competition between Jared's Didham and Zach Wilson and Bo Nix in Denver. Now that one isn't exactly a heated one. But still, these quarterbacks have been through a lot on their journey, not always the best situations, but they've dealt with some adversity, and now we'll see if they're able to weather the storm and come out on top.

The cistitude a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or you.

Just rewrote that during the show.

Yeah, I mean in the very impressive the changing topic sort of has you know a good example of a vicissitude of my topic here, I believe because it's sort of related.

I I do have a vital for w Yeah for w.

Yeah, my w is wanton, which is a It's a versatile word. It can mean a lot of things. I'm not talking about the soup, right, you know, the dumpling. It can mean like with wanton disregard like you're just totally wanton. Yeah, like like it deliberate. It's say it either way. You were saying vicissitude is all crazy too.

We were just we're blowing it. We're blowing it.

I thought you saidudes, I think just vicissitudes.

Yeah, there's no tea in the middle.

There is there is a t wanton.

Yeah, but one of the one of the definitions though on Yeah, that was ahead. One of the definitions is kind of is lustful that you know, you have that wanton like desire, libidd inness, wanton desire, lavicious. You know, there's a lot of words like that. And that's how the Vikings fan base is going to be about JJ McCarthy by the time we get to meet week one, much less by the time he plays I found.

A sentenced Greg to help you. Her peeks burned as she recalled how forward she had been.

How wanton. Yeah, do you understand the context now, Dan? Oh? Absolutely, Well I know the word okay, And.

So when you're ordering like a medium wanton.

That was a bad job.

You have a medium wanton soup. That's what I do. See, I have it wrung the other way.

I was thinking about a fortune cookie this whole time. I was just totally different too.

I blew it.

These Vikings fans they're gonna they're just gonna be hot for this kid.

Uh.

If you think about quarterback history with the Vikings, haven't had a ton of homegrown guys. They had cull Pepper for a minute, it was hot. They had Teddy. They were very excited about Teddy. But other than that, since like nineteen seventy seven, Tommy Kramer was the only first round pick I could find it, he was like a

They're gonna be They're just gonna be feeling. I agree. That's why I was. I was bummed out. They're gonna be ordered some.

One JJ playing. I think he's gonna play Week one most likely.

I would think, well, yeah, I mean it just makes it. It's really more on Sam Darnold to completely if he could.

Do anything unless JJ really like bottoms out in training camp.

It's a great situation though.

Yeah, that could help Bradford to that way that maybe he looks so good in camped up they're like, all right, let's let's see if his ceiling right now because he has the experience, feels a little higher.

Maybe we'll start out with him, but we'll see.

All right, very good We are coming near the end of the line.

Right now, up next, Mark toughy x X is for your ex lover from eleventh grade. Well, that's ex, I know, but it's the X in ex. Got it? And Randy, you're gonna to figure that out. A little bit of a cheat.

We're just going to move forward, and I am willing to acknowledge I did well. Little did she or he, depending your choice, Little did this person know that you adored the National Football League? You quietly huddled away on a desktop computer in your room, creating statistical reports long before a pack of nerdlings cooked up EPA and various dense nonsense to describe beauty. Of course, this was a

Tepper be tingling.

Great end and.

We've already discussed the topic, so we don't necessarily need to.

One topic that we that Dan and I especially like to hit on repeatedly is Mark's strategy with these crazy predictions. This is even for him, is in this show where it's not really about predictions, for him to sort of drop in five predictions that no one will ever remember in less one of them hits, and then he'll bring it up.

So that's like what you've done thousand times. You've gained that.

I respect it.

Well, good luck to you on that one. Yeah, that you're spamming like.

I am, because by by August these will not be your predictions.

No, he'll go the other way. Well, life changes.

But if Bryce were kidnapped, but if they're seven and four in November, there's.

A lot of narrative.

There's a lot of narratives behind that if, but but if in that case, and to be clear, you're talking about the nineteen eighty one version of Class of the Titans, not the twenty ten no VHS, neither.

Of which old school.

It's like the first thing that I saw on VHS back in the day when.

I was in middle school. I lost to a girl in wrestling. Ew.

I was just trying to think the whole time who my boyfriend was in eleventh grade?

Can anyone remember boyfriend?

Of course you remember who I did eleventh year, June your year, you can't remember.

I don't really remember my childhood.

Wow, toughy. You got have to talk to Andrea about it that.

I feel like I'm really high.

On live All right, let's go to letter Why uh.

That you?

It is? It is? Oh? Why for?

This is from the movie John Wick or maybe the sequel Why is For? You leave me no choice but to declare you ex communicado. Yeah, yeah, we can't have Harrison Bucker in the Kicker Club anywhere we got. He's gotta go, he's gotta go. We're gonna We're gonna slide him out of the club.

That's all. He's excommunicado.

I don't think anyone's fighting you on that.

Well, you'd be surprised. But we're gonna move him out. He's gonna have to do a penance. He's on the outside of the velvet ropes moving forward.

It's a great honor and it's a privilege, and it's up to you.

More than anyone who gets in and row.

You're the bouncer, right, And it brings me a note because he's in a tremendous kicker, but get him out. It makes me think of the old Peyton Manning SoundBite from the Pro Bowl those years.

Ago about Mike vander Jack. The old Mike vander Jack line reminds me of that one key going.

Which takes us to letter.

Z z z is it out Connie z is for zeal As In how Brock Party is approaching this off season. He finally has a full off season as the starter. His rookie season, it was Trey Lance that was there. He was just learning the playbook when OTAs began in year two, he was still recovering from the UCL And now here they are fresh off of a Super Bowl loss but Super Bowl appearance, and now he gets the full off season healthy to get everything in line.

For this year, and they did not trade Brandon Ayute, they did not move on from Deebo Samuel Like he also brock Party has bulked up. I think it's like for a lot of these quarterbacks, like you need a couple off seasons to figure out exactly. And he already was kind of thick like in general, but like he is bulked up. And like I like any quarterback three years running in Shanahan's offense.

And I do like if he's gonna be my avatar, you know, as an NFL quarterback, that he's bulking up. That were not just these little little children.

Bulking season.

Is not a trope that quarterback x beefs up for biggest year ever.

I mean, unless you unless're Lamar Jackson.

I mean yeah, Like I think the losing it was a trope for him though two years ago it just didn't worry out. Yeah, he just decided to bring it back. He's also coming off you know, probably his worst three game stretch of the season happened to be the playoffs. I think he played well enough in the Conference championship and title game, but he I mean in the Conference championship in the Super Bowl. But I think he wants to play at a higher level than he did.

And if this is, if this is who he is, which is good, that wouldn't be surprising either. I mean he is he was a you know, mister irrelevant for a reason. It's not like we should expect him to now keep developing into.

The next Tom Brady.

Like maybe this just is Rock Party who's a good quoest quarterback, and especially when he's in the system, but he's not going to be the guy that's special. And is that enough for these Niners to finally get over the hump?

I have some optimism that he can continue to improve because I think if he was drafted in the second round or the first round and like Tuahead put up the two seasons that he just put up, like we would look at a guy entering his third year who improved a lot from year one to year two, which is easy to forget, like he was a lot better last year overall, and that he can continues keeping it going and he's in the best situation maybe in the entire NFL.

I was like, if he hit the ground like running the way he did, like I think it can improve because like to do that that quickly like tells me that, like, we don't know what else he can do, right. I think it's only because of the draft stock in a situation that we're kind of like punching holes, are looking for something that might be fool's gold, and it's like we are in fairness.

It's also play which there have been you know, it hasn't always been incredible. There have been moments where it's like, Okay, is this the guy? Is this truly the guy they hope he can be. I don't think he's been flawless. I don't think he was flawless wawless.

But it's also like I could point to like ten first round picks that have had streets.

No, he's already a hit. I mean he's a huge hit for them regardless. I don't know.

I'm not even arguing anything other than this idea that he has to continue to get better and better, that maybe he is like Jared Goff level good, and if he is is not enough, It's.

Funny how different we would look at him if, like they the protection was better on that third and four play where Chris Jones just got in fresh And the more I've watched that, it's like that's really not on pretty in any way. It just was a tough spot that like if he hits that throw, then he just and granted it was the drive is mostly about McCaffrey anyway, so it's it's always tough to pull out. But either way he would have come up with a touchdown, you know, winning drive.

Yeah.

He I think you were pointing out that he had a terrible game on Christmas against the Ravens, you know, lit up a terrible Washington team at the end of the regular seat and then in the playoffs the three games that were you know, three games of sub ninety passer rating.

Cockers game was bad, Like they should have lost that game, and then that would have been a different narrative that people would have been blaming him.

Right, So he didn't light it up in January and into February. But listen, huge hit for them that this guy kind of saved their butts in so many ways when they whiffed so badly on Trey Lance.

And and let's see if you can build on it. We did it his life.

You know what, we're only doing two shows a week. We're gonna give him a nice meaty sandwich that you can throw around the office.

They'll be tossing it around all right.

Any final thought, Colleen, you've said a visualization unnecessary.

The food fights in the.

The meaty sandwich. Most people hear that and they like get hungry.

Yeah, I'm starving.

It's the way I am say it right, unrewarded.

You didn't like the actual the inflection of it. Yeah, okay, I didn't dislike it. I just think it takes you to a certain place.

I asked Colleen if she had anything else to ask. She said yes. So now the floor goes to Colleen Wolf.

Do you guys want to get a sandwich after this?

Yeah? Absolutely, Okay, I would love to. Mark.

Mark has something he has to do.

We'll see.

I already know Mark's answer.

This sounds like if Colleen has never asked this in show. Hey, do you want to get a sandwich afterwards?

I'm starving? Yeah, I'm so hungry.

Dame, think about Colleen. This could be an important conversation.

It's not a'm a I'm considering it right now.

Fuck hit it. That seems like it's going in the right direction. We're up to you.

I'm considering how do I say it vicissitudes.

Is that not Rightsitude wanitudesitudes he the call