Asking the Big Bay Questions with MJ Acosta

what a journey it's been. We're taping this um one of the latest shows we've ever done on a non football playing night, probably the latest. This is history. But that's how badly wanted to Acosta in the studio. That's I mean, thank you. You already teased its Yeah, we were kind of locked in. It's next level. Professional hasn't to come straight from the airport though, that is a level that frankly, many of your colleagues wouldn't do. I'm all in. And let's also m J delayed fight comes

straight here and she's dealing with airports stuff. Your most recent tweet as of this taping, I will never understand people who yell at a gate agent because the flight is delayed. What exactly do you think your temper tantrum will do to help the situation? Hashtag rude uh frowny face. There was a literal three year old right next to him, so well behaved, waiting patiently, and this grown man had to go just like buried. This gate agenthood just walked up.

She probably didn't even know that the flight was delayed. This is good though, because usually, again as someone that works in television for sports, usually we're used to on Twitter Greg like people tweeting, Hey, United, you really screwed the pretch on this one. Maybe you can help me out. No, no, that's not what I'm let everyone else know. You're proud that will M Day is more putting people on blasts

that are just inappropriate. There was no reason this poor woman was standing there and she and to her credit, he walked away and she's like, I'm sorry you're having a bad day, sir. That that's similar to the person who goes crazy on the waiter or waitress when it's not the waiter. If it's not the waiter, waitresses fault and they're giving you fine service, but they just take it out of them. That's the number one red flag

for me if you're dating someone they are rude. Yeah, how they treat service people is is the number one. That is what's that. It is absolutely magnific. And my what grinds my gears the most as I'm a father of two young boys who were babies not very long ago, and we have to fly across the country a lot because my family lives in New York. And what happens

is sometimes the babies get upset and they cry. The people get mad, mad at the parents because the baby is having a rough little stretch, which I understand it. I've been on the other side of it that you're just trying to get You're in a small tool exactly. And then I still people on Twitter always without kids. Of course to this day, they're like, oh, I hate people who bring babies on airplanes. You're a monster. Someday you two will have to I feel bad for those kids.

That's the truth. M J Acosta in the House, m J. You have a great backstory. Uh, We're gonna get to a lot including that. We're gonna get what are we gonna doing today, m J. NFL Network about a year now, almost almost a year. Man. Yeah, so you cover the Bay Area teams, the Niners and the Raiders. Other stuff too, but primarily there. So we figured on today's show, let's uh, we're gonna ask the big questions about Bay Area football. And I'm holding in my left handed old school NFL helmet.

I stole it off someone's desk. It's very quiet at NFL Media right now. Yeah. I borrowed it. Uh. You know, Andy Fenelon doesn't listen this podcast anymore, but I'm gonna put call it out. I hope to remember to return it, but if I don't, I'm holding it inside. It is questions. We've all written questions about the Raiders and about the Niners. We're gonna go around the horn picking questions at random and answering them. That's gonna be fun. Uh. We're gonna

do some uh news as well. But before we get to that. Yes, m J, you have a great story. I didn't. I just learned this by the way, that you are a New York City native like Manny Ramirez who we brought up so recently. Um. Also, you are a Yankees fan, which is great, as am I, and you're known for your great hair as well, like me, So we got there's really a lot a lot in

common right now. But yeah, a great story and and you kind of, um, you got into sports, but you kind of did it at your own pace, right you. It wasn't something that you aspired to initially. It took a while to get there. Your your family was from the dominic in Republic, New York. They moved to for better life. You end up in Miami, and then your journey kind of begins after a stint as a Miami

Dolphins cheerleader as well. It was in tandem actually with my time with the Dolphins, because I was already a sports reporter by the time I finally made the team, because I tried out for the Dolphins like five, We're jumping in the fish tank. That's good. So it's a pretty lengthy process to become an NFL turker. For most teams, it's like three weeks of like auditions on camp and interviews and all this stuff. And so every year that I'd try out, I'd make it all the way to

finals and get cut right soul crushing five times. So after my fourth audition, I was like, you know what, let me focus on school. At that point, I had finally figured out that journalism and broadcasting is what I wanted to pursue. I went in, finished my degree, started working and there was just this little tug that said, Man, if you don't try this at least one time, you're gonna hate yourself. And sure enough on the fifth try and um So it was interesting because who do we

have to blame, Joe Philbin? It just it was what it was. It's hyper competitive in Miami. There's a million talented, beautiful women. It's really hard, um to make that team. It's similar. You know, all of the directors I worked with were former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, so they kind of ran it the audition process anyway, very similar to how they did in Dallas. So it was like you had hundreds of thousands of women come out every year. It's

really tough. What's like one thing that people wouldn't know about being a professional cheerleader that you could share with us? Oh? Man, um So, I always I always like to say, it's a part time job with full time responsibilities. Um I was working full time as a reporter and then running on over to the facility at night and we practiced four hours a night, four or five times a week. Um, that was in the best shape of my life by default. Right, Um,

But I think it's it's a time commitment. How how long you're actually there, how much time you're putting into it, the hours upon hours of practice. Um with these other women, it's really really taxing. Did you find that wasn't an advantage at all as a reporter? That people almost took you too lightly? It's like, Okay, now you arrived and much like you've done here at the NFL network, You've you know, stomped on all your competition, jumped to the top of the ladder, and now you're going to the

top eight enemies everywhere. Just it doesn't matter in one sense, I mean, just just that they knew you were doing the cheerleading thing while you were being a reporter. Oh right, well yeah, there was that like I can't take her seriously and so that I'd say, I'm so over the narrative that you can't be feminine and from and equally intelligent and qualified to you do your job. I mean, I was a Dolphins cheerleader and I had the best

seat in the house for every home game. So you know, I recently told the story it was interesting on game days to be on the sidelines and your role is to cheer on the team no matter what, right that was our job. So it's really tough for me, as like a football person to not react to like a bad call or you know, like, oh, you're not going to call that right, and you know, just smile there.

So that took a bit of a learning curer really like the whole Chad Henny Era, I would feel like we have a lot of listeners who are college age and wonder about getting into sports, if it's worth it, how to go about doing it. But we also have listeners in their mid to late twenties who are thinking is it too late to get into sports? And I think the four of us on this show and you share this in common. You didn't know at eighteen years

old that you wanted to do this relutently not. I was a business major at eighteen years old, and I'm not very good at math, which is why I speak for a living um. But I it took me some time and a lot of trial and error and a lot of a lot of l's to figure out that this was my path and actually my love for dance was what finally led me to a job in television. UM. And that's when it was like that epiphany, Wow, I

really love this. And I'd go in and I'd had up to master control and I talked to the producers and I just asked the hosts while they were getting their makeup then like hey, can I pick your brain a little bit? Um. And at that point, I was probably twenty UM still hadn't finished you know, I had

an associates degree, but that was it. Um so at I went back to finish my bachelor's and you know, all of my other peers in journalism, we're already in their first media markets, you know, and I'm like, I'm trying to finish this media class and path. But you know what, it gave me so much more of an appreciation for the process. But I was doing I was not wasting time. At that point. I was like, how many credits do I need? I need to go? Um? And I was I think because I was a little

older and had that perspective. Um, I was able to get a job before I graduated. Um, but I'm semester to before I graduated, and UM, I was kind of balancing all of it at the same time, which was interesting. But it's like once you know and you're set on it. But there was no way at eighteen I would have known that would be the only advice that I would

ever give to anybody. Like we have younger listeners that reach out does is that especially you know, certainly in my case, in all of our cases, you don't have to figure out everything in your twenties. You actually have that decade to kind of eventually get on a path. So never to stress out if you're in the next year, the next move that you make or the next decision you make isn't like for the rest of your life.

Try different things going to change. Just like MJ did who ended up in San Diego, covered the Chargers and now here she is an NFL network and in the studio at the Around the NFL podcast. Now you've reached the pinnacle. That's it. This was this was the coal man. Let's let's do some news. Coach Belichick would probably say something like, you know around on the program of making these kind of things right now, Yes, National Football League, listen, Hollywood,

that's pretty good. It was amazing. That's a deep exhaled in between the the He really nailed it because he did the nose snore at the end where he sucks in, and that's like everyone who has a bellot Check impression does it wrong, just kind of does this monotone. It's Adelman forever. Now. Well, I'm just saying that was pretty good. I also if you, if you're trying to place a Bellcheck impression, do break out your old Christian Slater impression,

which is not far off. All right, let's get into the news and we'll start with some bad news for a franchise West that bad news always seems to follow them. The Cincinnati Bengals first round pick Jonah Williams will likely miss the entire two thousand nineteen season. This is a guy that was slated to be the team's starting left tackle, picked the leventh overall instead, UH. He underwent left shoulder surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn laboram. UH, one

years old, expected to make a full recovery. The Bengals added, so you know, he's a two thousand, twenty and beyond prospect, but as far as this year, there will be no impact. And Uh, Bengal's head coach Zack Taylor had described Williams after he set out Mini minicamp as being quote dinged up,

but after seeing the doctor turned out obviously much worse. UH. West as a recovering Cincinnati Bangles football fan, as you as you put it, Uh, this one UH has to sting for people back on the West side of Cincinnati that we're looking forward to an improved offensive line this season. Yeah, there's snake bit. And when it comes to rookie first round draft picks, if you've been on Twitter in the

past couple of days, you've probably seen the list. Basically, Billy Price, last year's first round pick at center, started ten games and was well blow average as a center, and he was by far the biggest impact of any first round rookie the Bengals. Here's here's the numbers. Jonah Williams probably zero, Billy Price five snaps, John Ross seventeen

snaps as a rookie in seventeen. William Jackson didn't play a snap, UH, Cedric sixty five, dar Quis Denard's sixty two Iford played six seventy three back Kevin Zeitler played a full season. Drake Kirkpatrick way back only forty two snaps. So this has been something that's going on forever. This is a team that needs a lot of questions to be answered in their favor, and this is a question that will not The offensive line is not going to

be answered in their favor. Now, it's such a Bengals thing to happen that the guy like seemed like, quote unquote the safest pick possible, who played more snaps than anyone else in college, and he's not going to play at all his rookie season. I feel bad for him as well, just to start, and it's not how you want to start off your professional career. I mean, yeah, he's young, he's twenty one. He's gonna make a full recovery. But you hear so many of these guys first entering

the league. Man, it's all about that change of pace. You know from college. How much of the game is going to slow down for you after your first season, And now he's gotta wait a whole year. They have a pretty good left tackle in Corty Glenn there to play, but now they have Bobby Heart at right tackle. Its problem.

They also this has been this brings me back to k Johnah Carter All the way back in the nineties, they drafted number one overall, blows out his a c L. In August, they drafted a guy named Kenny Irons at running back from Auburn in the second round. Blew out his a c L before he even started. The Bengals just seemed to have a lot of these guys who

get injured before they ever get a chance. And it's a domino situation because yeah, Glenn was supposed to kick over to guard and if he took to that position, that would strengthen that and left tackle if they hit on the pick. But now that all hits, you hit the pause button. Let's move on. UM. I got a lot of tweets over the last i'd say two or three months about All or Nothing. Now, if you remember last year's season, which chronicled the Cowboys, was it Cowboys

last year? No? Was it last year? It dropped during a draft week and we hadn't heard anything about UM all or Nothing? The Amazon series UM the Spring, Well, we found out today that it is gonna be back and it will be covering two thousand eighteen Panthers. For people that aren't aware of the All or Nothing, it's it's excellent. It's another great NFL Films production. Uh. And

it's basically Hard Knocks taking you through an entire season. Um. The Panthers, of course, last season got off to a six and two start, uh, and then things kind of fell apart. They lost seven in a row at one point finishing seven and nine, and it will be kind of be a season remembered. M J is Cam Newton's shoulder injury, which they hoped was gonna He's gonna turn the corner. It just never happened and eventually had surgery got shut down. Uh. So they're the nice little trailer

for All or Nothing. You're gonna be watching this food. Watched the trailer now, you know, especially with Hard Knocks following one of the teams that I'm that I'm assigned to, and I saw a lot of similarities there. Right. So there was one line that Cam said in it, and I'm not try if it's because him and A worked out together before they have sort of a friendship, but he said that that line, Um, look good, play good,

get paid good. I don't know a lot of players good play, but it's something that Ab said to me when I interviewed him right after he was introduced um in Oakland, like, okay, interesting the parallels there. I mean this will drop before Hard Knots starts in August, so but I will be watching. I love these kind of behind the veil eight episodes premiering July nine on Amazon Prime.

I think all are nothing's underrated. The formats a little a little tricky because you already know what's going to happen, obviously, and this is the fact that to too many of the episodes are just here's game one, here's Game two, and then the next week is okay, three and four. And they do better when they kind of mix it

up and then they have themes. But if you're willing to watch it, and I've watched both seasons, I think it's only been two, right, the Cardinals and the Cowboys, and I've watched and they each have had some unbelievable, genuine behind the scenes moments that rival or beat anything from Hard Knocks. I think you have to sift through it a little bit more. But there are things that I took away from from the Cowboys, from the Rams ones that were like that were better than anything that

you would see on TV throughout the whole year. I'm looking forward to this. I love this stuff, you know. I write the Hard Knocks reviews on NFL dot com and I've written these pieces as well. It's just where it falls in the in the year. It kind of I feel like it gets sometimes lost in the shuffle. But if you do love Hard Knocks, you should try this show. There's one aspect of the Panthers season that

will be very interesting to see how they handle it. Um. I talked to David Eally of course are luckless and love desk editor downstairs, also big Panthers fan, uh MJ. He once bought a bottle of champagne right before Super Bowl fifty UM that he planned to celebrate with, brought it to the newsroom, brought to the news room. UM. Shortly before this happened, his girlfriend broke up with him, and then the Panthers law the Super Bowl, and then he ended up drinking the bottle of champagne alone in

a hot tub. Like and if that sounds bad, then for the next three years running a popular host on a podcast brings it up repeatedly over and over because a lot of them that had to hurt. UM. Anyway, he brought up to me reminded me that four games into their losing streak, uh Ron Rivera, the Panthers coach, um throughout the strategic equivalent of a Hail Mary as

a coach. He demoted defensive coordinator Eric Washington, fired their D D line coach and the second secondary coach, uh And they had a press conference and it happened obviously after a discussion with Marty Hernie, the GM and the new owner, David Tepper. I wonder if we see all that, because that see hard knocks, everything's rosy typically, you know, the cuts and stuff is sad, but the optimism around

the teams is always there. What happens when you have the cameras around and you have to do dirty business like that? Do we get access to that? I feel like it's kind of what you signed up for when you do the Showily, since it's a retrospective you saw, I feel like they've shown some stuff on all or Nothing the Cowboys, Uh when there was the national anthem,

some of those moments was interesting. It kind of showed that Jason Garrett maybe didn't have that much power that It's all not that that was surprising the case Keenum kind of I feel like no one watched that season, but watching case Keenum crumble a little bit during the Rams season um as he lost his starting job and Jared Goff took it over, it was pretty fascinating and they showed they showed some stuff there that if I'm

Case Keenum, I would not want to have watched. So I hope so, I hope they I'm looking forward to the just about mid November epiphany that Riverboat has when he sees one of the strongest armed quarterbacks in the league can't complete going to do it. He basically has a Keenum arm or less than that by by November and rivera sitting on a six and two team and he has to just know at one point we're not

going to the playoffs because my quarterback can't pass. I'm curious about the interaction of Cam and everything, just like a little more cam behind the scenes. Yeah, I mean, just like how he interacts with his teammates and and everything going into a season that kind of falls apart, Like how much you see that it could be interest. I want to see the wardrobe selection. We're definitely gonna be taken to his house and into the closet. I feel like that's going to happen alright, Moving on Tyreek

Hill Kansas City Chiefs. What's going on there? Hill completed his meeting with NFL investigators in Kansas City on Wednesday regarding recent child abuse allegations against the Chiefs wide receiver. Hill met with Lisa Freel, the NFL Senior VP of Special Counsel for Investigations, and other league officials, represented by his personal lawyer and an NFL p A lawyer. According to rap Sheet, UM, this was hill first interview with the league and a chance to answer to these allegations

of child abuse. We've heard the local authorities are not pursuing a case at this time connected uh to the incident UM earlier this year. There's no timetable for a ruling on Hill's case, rap Report added in his report, UM, so we've talked about this, that what happens. What's next? Is Tyreek Hill going to be on the field with the Chiefs? Um? How long will he potentially be out? Still? We don't know, but it continues to kind of hang

over the franchise as we approached training camp. I think this is a significant step because it put kind of a I don't know if it put a deadline, but it moved it forward. The NFL was basically saying until now, and Roger Goodell so that they were waiting for his

child services case to end before they would proceed. And now they're proceeding, and they met, and just little whispers and you hear people talking around the newsroom or in just kind of reading between the lines of what I s I think you're gonna hear something from the league, whether it one way or another, well before training camp starts. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's you know, sometime in the upcoming July four, you know, in the next

couple of weeks. I think you'll find out whatever the NFL is gonna decide, how long, how how much more time do you need? Hill is expected to report to the chiefs or training camp when it begins on July, barring a development that was unforeseen finally in the news. Every year Emory University ranks the NFL fan bases. Uh gets people fired up, you know, dummies over at Emory because they know this is if you want to get stoke the flames and get people talking on social media,

you drop it. On June, Emory was people. Emery was like the school that I kind of wanted to go to, but I just figured like, I probably wouldn't even get into. I didn't even if you got in, maybe you'd be involved with this project which they ranked the teams, and uh, let's see who is the top five? Number one, the teams that are always on TV Cowboys number two, Patriots number three, Eagles, number four, Giants, number five, Steelers. Those are the top five. Anybody's surprised by those? Let me

tell you why it was specifically the most popular. This is these this is what they used to figure it out best fan basis. Here's the algorithm. I got the algorithm for you coming up right now, if I can find out here it is UH. The approach UH uses data on attendance revenues, social media following, and road attendance to develop statistical models of fan interest. Well, I think it's first helpful to realize that this is a professional professor of marketing, so he's putting a lot more stock

in marketing than just about anything else. It's a little too close to Darren Ravel for me, but um, he's definitely going with volume over rate and quantity over quality. The keys that The models are used to determine which cities fans are more willing to spend or follow their teams after controlling for factors like market size and short term changes and winning and losing. So I gave you the top five. The bottom. I mean, I think to Erica Tampost is an example of why the Patriots have

you know, ranked so highly here. I think they deserve it. Well, yeah, I mean a lot of winning, a lot of titles in that group. I mean they showed up. I mean that was that was in the super Bowl last year. They're dominating. You can figure out, Okay, They've been a lot of Super Bowls. That was like a home game for the Patriots. I went to college in Boston in the turn of the UM two thousands, and that was the fourth most popular pro sports franchise in that city,

behind the Red Sox, the Celtics, and the Bruins. And that's fine. I'm not angry about it. But that just shows you how how how you build old as a fan base through winning like that was not a great fan base. It wasn't. Now it is. Congratulations. Let's see what happens we don't win every year, Ricky, I mean I was watching when they weren't winning anyways back then. Because some people are just football fans, is it great? Do you get more bandwagon fans? Yeah? Of course, experience

get you. The ranking of the fan base of the Patriots in New England, I don't know. Yikes, that's fired the bottom five by the way. Uh, let's see Bengals, Jaguars, Titans, Chiefs and Rams. Now the Chiefs. How the Chiefs set up down there? But I can't, I can't, Arrowhead and it is insane. That is a bad on Twitter though. I guess yeah, they don't. They only have one beat writer. Leave them alone. That's crazy. I mean the Browns, the Browns were just out of that bottom five to one

above it they would have been. And the Chiefs, I mean, those are as loyal as loyal fan bases as you can possibly find, despite not a lot of success. How about this, um m J. I don't want to get you in trouble with you know up there north of US, but Raiders Niners? You know who's got the better fan base? Uh? The more colorful, vivid, greater nation. Without question, they're insane. You'all have been to a game policy obviously, I don't

have to tell you. It's a different world. They run favored and having covered teams in so Cal for several years, anytime any other team plays Raiders, it's like, yeah, there's no other fan base. You could say, hey, we're leaving you again, but we're just gonna like hang out for a couple of years and then leave you the other places. Imagine if you try to do that in Boston with supposedly it would be like it is screw you. And the Raiders have been bad forever now, I mean they have.

They have been a couple of you know, right spots. But the fans, they support him, they support full garb. What do they get, team moves loyal, they moved to a desert. The Chiefs thing is that's prepositi. Yeah, come on, Emory University, a lot of your magnifico whoa, well this we're coming for you this particular Okay, that's what's happening in the news. Professor Lewis take it up with him, was yeah, he doesn't need any more attention. I'm glad

I didn't apply Emory doctor huge bullet there. All right, here we go, let's get into it. M j Acosta in the house. Oh that's the other advice I would give if you're going into sports because you're bilingual, j what a huge advantage. I would say. If you're looking to get into journalism, um, take Spanish. You know that that's got to be a huge help. That was the number one benefit I had in being able to get a job right away, and I was able to stay

in in a larger market like Miami. I started off in the Spanish station doing sports and public affairs, and they'll take Latin. What is how's Latin going to help you? French was calmed down. I mean, I was lucky. Shannish was my first sign, which it still but it's and it's still helping you out. She does some work with our friend nfl uk Hank Handsome Hank. What's the episode during the season? Trend Zone, trend Zone, marganized game and all that stuff. So so there you go. She's tied in.

Anybody know how to speak Spanish? Here was tri lingule when I was like twenty years old, and now one try what else have I took French and Spanish and how flu I was French club president. There was a lot of trips to huckapoos ago, Yes, I was actively all right, here we go. I hold in my hand a old recreation of an old time football helmet. Within it is the Times six twelve twelve questions about the Bay Area football scene, and we're gonna pass the helmet around.

Uh MJ, you are our guest, are bilingual guest. What a weapon to have in the industry. So I will start with you. You could use whatever language you feel, pick and pick a question out. If it's one of your questions, put it back in. Otherwise, read the question you answer, and then we all can answer it. But MJ will get us going. What's more likely forty Niners defense or Reader's offense is most improved unit in the league? I would say for to nine defense is the more

likely most Can I hear that one more time? What's more likely? D or the readers? Oh is the most improved unit in the league? What about this cross section of segments here? What's more likely jumping into I would I don't know if that's allowed, just because there are lack of turnovers last season, lack of sacks, just statistically all around, they have no place to go but up, and they have fully reinforced that complete line. The second dairy Um, guys who were banged up are coming back healthy,

unwilling for their sake. Um, So I really do think that that's where we we'll see them the bigger improvement for for comparing those two, I agree the Raiders offensive line still worries me quite a bit, and the forty Niners added denverence makers. Nick Bosa can be a difference maker if he's anything like his brother d Ford. UM Jason Varette who was a complete wild card but with

Pro Bowl caliber before all the injuries. Um In Kwan Alexander another guy coming off Inury with a little bit of luck that that's as talented a front seven as there is in the entire NFL. And Robert Salah, who are guest Peter Schraeger was talking up as a riser even though he hasn't really had results with Sambra Disco like he should get. If he's a great coach and this team is healthy at all, they should they should

be a top ten type of defense. Okay, I'm with you, guys, Go ahead, cut West, we have another what's more likely? What's more likely? During the two thousand nineteen Raiders season, Derek Carr uses Twitter to address reports he is frustrated by John Gruden's coaching style, or Antonio Brown misses at least one game connected to a disciplinary action by the team hardcore? Would you rather okay, I'm going wait you you answer? That's right? I forgot. You're not asking it,

you're answering it was. I think it's more likely to Antonio Brown misses at least one game because what I've seen from him for the last I don't know, ten months, he hasn't been a exceptionally sane human being, so he's unpredictable. Derek Carr, as much as he loves the block button

on Twitter's generally not controversial with his comments. We had We also had a d D King Kawala on our show at the owners meetings, and she was inside that building and she was open about it, and she said that Antonio Brown had changed in a way that was troubling. He was too strong, but it it changed the dynamic of his relationship with his teammates and then eventually with the coach in the front office, leading to him leaving town.

I do have a lot of questions. That's why I think it's more likely how that will work with John Gruden, who is a very strong personality as well, who if they butt heads, Antonio Brown is probably not gonna win that battle. So I would say that's more likely. What do you think, m J? What have you what is your um opinion been, or what have you taken from your early interactions with Antonio Brown if you've had any

uh we have? UM. I think it's more likely the Antonio Brown angle, only because I can't imagine Derek Carr blasting his coach, not blasting, he would be addressing. It could even be just like this is all Yes, it could be a good thing. Yeah, it could be like things are great with John, but there are reports out there that their relationship isn't too hot. I mean, he's sort of already addressed those. Um, you're something more to do, right, So I think it's car because he's already done stuff

like that. I think I miss miss red, but he has to do it on Twitter on Twitter. Okay, that does seem more likely to me, only because from what I've seen, and I'm only speaking in the context of from free agency to O T A S to minicamp, what I've seen from Antonio Brown thus far, it would appear that everything that he's doing is to prove I'm for real. This is where I want to shure, this is where I want to be. We need to win, and I'm going to be the guy who's going to

do it. I think you're getting the best. Antonio Brown is one of the greatest receivers of all time. He has motivated, he's he's gonna be honest, p's and ques, and we've already seen Derek carr uh you know on Twitter do something very similar just this offseason. I remember those eyes emojis when they were working out Kyler Murray. That was That was an interesting little moment. So I can see it happening. I've talked about it on this podcast.

Year two is when the Antonio Brown experiment could go. Early October year two Vegas. I don't know. Well, we'll see how it goes there. All right, here we go. Raiders question. Does the Raiders game day theme song fit in Las Vegas? Now? This is interesting because I do not know what the Raiders theme song is, So m J, can you sing it for us? So? Okay, So it's more of a spoken word with like a really good beat. Okay, let's here. It's like the Autumn Wind. Yes, the Autumn

Wind is a raiders plundering what it was that all thing? Yes? Classic? Can we play that, Ricky? The Autumn Wind is a pirate blustering in from sea with a rollicking song. He speaks along, swaggering voicelessly. His face is webb beaten. He wears a hooded sash, with a silver hat about his head and a bristling black mustache. He growls as he storms the country, a villain, big and bold, and the trees all shake and quiver and quake as he rubs them of their gold. The Autumn Wind is a raider

pillaging gestro fund. He'll knocked you round and upside down and laugh when he's conquered and won. Does it still fit? Does it still go with the franchise in Las Vegas? Well? So synonymous with the Black Hole, with the Colosseum, that game? Do you feel? What? Do they call that a zeppelin or no um sorocca? I don't know what it's just it's a it's a desert windstorm. Oh, I don't know. I don't know. It's a desert Windstar might call it. I don't know, but you can still have a windstar.

I would think they have to. That's such a great part of their tradition. But no longer is You're right though, because you can't. You're not coming in from the sea to plunder anymore. They're trying to have their cake and eat it. To keep all the tradition, keep all the Raiders stuff. You know, I'm in a little skeptical that you can pull that all off. But Raiders fans it seems so loyal. I guess you can, all right, Greg, he's got the old helmet. He's opening it up. See

what the handwriting is. It's neat, so it can only be one person who West. I can't. I can't get this thing apart. I folded it in like full pageant on stage question manner. That's not mine. I don't think outside of George Kittle, which member of the forty niners offense scares opposing defenses? Uh, that is terrifying. That is a star. He's fun to cover, right, almost like a professional wrestler, you know. I think I think it's a fair Uh, it's a fair question that they don't have

difference makers that you have to game plan for. I think Tevin Coleman speed can scare it. I think Kyle Shanahan's you know, running scheme can, but that's that's more of a scheme. I think Dante Pettes can certainly get better and and and maybe turn into that guy. Mike mcglinchey's like a run blocker you might have to worry about. But it's pretty much just George Kittle. You're counting on your coaching to make up for the lack of players that do scary is the answer. I think he's the defense.

Do you mentioned Jack McKinnon? I did not. Is he just out of the where are we back in the mix? McKinnon? Now he can be a part of a real slow um during off season programs with him just being extra cautious with that me. But he's gonna have He has a much harder recovery just because of what he has to do in his role compared to Jimmy, who's also recovering from somebody good. Is going to be inactive on game days right between Brita Oh yeah, and you check

and then most are a special teamer. And he's coming off a major injury. So Nickinnon got paid a lot of money before he suffered that injury. M hmm, interesting plotline to watch trade like sell it baby? All right? Will pro football work in Las Vegas? Most scene most seem convinced that l A will be unwilling to support two NFL teams, But why should we think Vegas will support one? Good question for MJ cost But I think you don't need to give people a reason to go

to Vegas. Everyone's down for a trip to Vegas, and I've now coupled with UM game day action. I think it will work. I think it will maybe though, like I guess my my take it on it is, we've heard about this for years and it was used. You know, the Davis's were trying to get the building built in Oakland. It just wasn't gonna happen, and Vegas became what Los Angeles used to be, which was, hey, you better build

our stadium or we're moving. And they just they acted on it, which is a very out slash Mark Davis thing to do. But all this handwringing about the Chargers, and it's not unwarranted about what are they gonna do here? How are they going to fill up a you know, seventy five thousand seed stadium when they can't fill up thirty that's all fair. But I don't hear anybody saying, Man, the Raiders gonna work in Vegas and they they're all in. They got a new building being built right now too.

Because it's Vegas. It's the allure of Vegas. But is it a football town itself? If you have a stadium, they're gonna fill it. It's it's a small town. Well that's yeah, I don't think that's true. Are the Chargers they don't have a stadium? Yeah? They I am not worried. The answer to the question would because of the the Golden Knights. I think. I think that the fact that the hockey team has been not just a success, but

like a raging success where it's become a civic pride thing. Yeah, and they were good too, but but that's forty days a year. It's forty days a year, and they're filling it up. And there it seemed to be. It wasn't that it was locals going even though it's a very small market's immediately one of the NFL's smallest markets. There was enough kind of local pride that that kind of jumped on board. That figure today maybe because Raiders fans are so loyal, they travel and they make it a

weekend of it. It could work if you squint the right way. But also part of the reason why the Golden Knights thing works is that you could build it into your Friday night in Vegas, where oh, we'll go game, We'll go at the pool, then we'll hop over to the arena, which is right in the middle of everything, and then we'll continue our night. A football game is different. It's it's a it starts early, it's it's you get

to the stadium, you're there. It's I guess it's close to the strip, but it's not like right in the middle of everything. It's a different fan experience. Thinking maybe they'll have some feature in the stadium like they do all a hard rock in Miami, where there's an actual literal nightclub inside of this movie. So that's something like that has to has to be incorporated in the Vegas.

Give it the Vegas, give it the Vegas field. I mean, people are legit with those foam glow in the dark things and glasses on and like popping bottles at Miami Dolphins game. So I would imagine they'll have something like that in Vegas? Did you ever as a former Dolphins? Sureley, you'd you ever meet glorious Stefan? I only saw her from afar was the sound machine flanking her or protecting her from there was a red carpet that led up to like to go into what about the what about

part owners? Uh Serena and Venus Williams and many other part of how did the cheer has not got a chance? That's not right. Costa should have been part of that, all right, West, he's got one in his hand. He's gonna Dan's purview here. Who will be the breakout star of Hard Knocks? Good question? Well, I think well, the obviously answer is Gruden just because this is that's who's gonna be focused on the most. Think Rex Ryan in the two thousand ten Hard Knocks season. Um, you know

that they're going to hit that hard. Um. Who would be the kind of like the sneaky breakout star. I don't know. Mike Glennon, let's let's go home, Let's go to my I'm gonna go Vante's perfect. I mean, there's so many guys that you would think the NFL would not want to be. You don't want to know what's going on behind the scenes with Mike Lennon, because I do. I personally, I've forgotten Mike Glennon. There the Glennon versus Nathan Peterman battle. Uh, actually it's kind of juicy. Uh yeah,

I think I think Vontes perfect is a lot. I mean, the Richie incognito thing will be interesting to watch. I'm curious how hard they're going to hit that. But that that's out there, and then people will say Antonio Brown, if he's on his best behavior, he might be in good spirits. You know, he always has the extravagant training camp arrival. I kind of Brown, what what what that's gonna be? But the breakout start, I'm gonna go with John Gruden just because I think it's a perfect match.

Who are we missing here? Um? This is so off the radar, you guys. I mean, this is just an observation from from camp. Running Backs coach Kirby Wilson is hillarious. Did he please watch him? He's hysterical. He has these one liners, the things he shouts at the the guys while they're running drills. I mean a lot of times after remind myself, all right, you gotta watch the rest

of practice. That's so entertaining. He's like, that's a right call because a classic Hard Knocks move is to focus in on a eccentric assistant coach and they become breakout stars. Remember the guy last year for the Browns with the belly when he said hot and the whole belly moved that. Love that guy. There's always a coach. Um, all right, I'm up, okay, su speminine handlewriting. I'm going to guess this is from an m j Acosta is an m j Acosta joint. How will Kyle Shanahan split carries in

this reinforced backfield? Well we kind of hit on that a little bit, but I don't know. I mean, didn't we see so much um last year after McKenney go he goes down. Didn't we see so much from Brita that he deserves and he shot up? And yeah, yeah, he has a pectoral um muscle strain situation there. To me, he's he's the most talent to runner on that team. The question is do you want to give him more

than ten to eleven touches per week? And you have enough running backs where you can limit it well between the three of them. It should work out perfect because they've all had injury, they've had some issues. I think Tevin Coleman has generally been durable. But they'll probably take turns sharing the ball. That's how it's kind of work themselves out to the chances that all three are healthy.

You know, you don't want anybody to get hurt, but last Seasonshart, so I'd take one, though, would beat Tevin Coleman. He's the one that's been with Kyle Shanahan before and hated him last year. I don't love him. I don't like love him as a player, but I think he's gonna get plenty of opportunity. But he's a role player. He's done it. He's a role player. That's why he didn't get paid, even though he's going back to Shanahan. All right, Greg, Greg Rosenthal, Up, we only have four

questions ten and twenty two. As he enters his third season with a third consecutive double dudget lost season cost him his job. Who's who's answering this? Dan? I am? I it's similar to I know another question that's sitting in there, which I wonder, like how much faith Jed York, the owner has in this combination because it seems like they're on the six year contract that he loves them forever,

and a season like this would test it. I think Kyle Shanahan would somehow survive it, which almost never happens, and that if I had to guess that he would survive ahead of the GM, but I have no idea I would. If I'm a Niners fan, I would be worried that John Lynch the GM, maybe he's not the guy.

And if they have another tough season this year, they decided to clean house and then Shanahan, who's a very bright mind who maybe didn't get a fair shake here, goes somewhere else and becomes a big time coach and you just were a victim of timing on some level.

The other side of an MJ is that, well, if he loses uh ten games, twelve games, and let's say eleven games, maybe you've had enough time, don't care what the background, and you just it's time to go with someone else because you didn't get the job done in

three years. I think they do acknowledge that all that last year was just crappy in terms of injuries, you know, like who no one could have seen that Jimmy Garoppolo injury coming, and so much of his offense was to be built and kind of raised around Jimmy and what he was gonna do with Jet and losing both of those guys right before the season. I think maybe a mulligan, but I don't think there's such thing in the NFL.

There's mercy, um. But I do agree with Greg that if anyone can survive it, it it would be him, But it would take some like alright, one last time around the horn and Jay Costa. If that were the case, Kyle Shannahon might for once encounter just a little bit of doubt on this podcast. Doesn't happened yet, That happened yet. Is John Gruden a liability? Oh wow, someone's cutting right short and sweet. Uh No, No, I don't think he has a liability. I think we have yet to see

what this team is supposed to be under him. I don't think that year last year was the Gruden of your that we remember and that we know. Um. There were many times last year where I'd hear him in like post name pressors and he's like, well, it's gonna get better, It's gonna be fun. Because so passively and I'm like, are you. I think I was just a consequence of of of what it was, of that transition

of the season, of everything that was happening. But I can already see a shift back, um, just even through this off season, in our interactions, UM, in conversations that we've had, and in the press conferences that he's given. UM. So I don't think he's a liability, but I do think that this year, similar to the Niners, it's like, all right, well let's see it. Then I'm with you. Anybody that drew conclusions last year was both a misguided and a prisoner of the moment. This is he's had

a ten year deal. This is never gonna be put back together in one year. Starting this year, though, I think it's fair to really take at whether he can do the job at the stage of his life. We've seen some coaches make an instant impact when they really are ahead of the curve, right like Sean McVeigh, for instance, he tore it down though he decided, yeah, I don't know.

To me, it's just it is a question because on some levels in terms of team building, he was a little bit of a liability in Tampa for about five six straight years there, So that's a little bit of a it's a it's a wreck, it's a body of work. But does he a liability right now? I don't think it's fair to say. It's premature to say that. It's also you can't say he's been an asset. That's fair too. All Right, We're gonna have to lean heavily on MJ

for this answer. Do Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch get along as much as it appears, Yes, yes they do, because I think that's if if things did go squirrely this year for them, I feel like if if that wasn't true, then that would come out and it's like one survives or the other. But no, they really are on the same page. I've seen them both on hand

at the facility. Outside of it it in just events centered around the team, but off campus, and you can't fake that funk, right, And I don't think one of them that for a drop is um is the type to be contrived in that sense like I'm just gonna smile and and and be cordial for it, like they're both hyper competitive, um, But I think they're also on the same page. That's a great sign. I kind of want to see one of these long term plans actually pan out where you know there wasn't success, so that

other teams can point to it. Has anybody pulled their own question? Yet? Are we pitched in a perfect game here? I could kind of tell which one's handwriting, Yeah, that's gone. I thought you said don't it wasn't. Well, you pull it out and then if it's yours, you put it back. But you guys are looking I didn't know you well, why not say? Why not save the listener? That like enthralling thirty seconds of podcast? All right, here we go

two more? Wait, this one's stuck together? Good too? Oh yeah, I really steal mind, Like like there's this isn't throlling as well? Great radio West? This I know? And he he was like walking around all peacock and like I put my questions in the best You don't know what, peacock, where were you you walk past my desk? He he was pretty proud of him. He was like, I came up. I came up with his whole plan. I'm going to use the other side of a sticky. You don't know

that was that was true? Greg tells no tales. Oh, another edition of what's more likely Monte is Perfect and Richie Incognito or both Week one starters or at least one will not survive final cuts? Oh I like this one. Okay? Uh? First of all, good handwriting, Chris, alright, So Incognito fills a huge need. Uh, Ossemile left the team. They need a guard. He fits there as long as you can stay in the straight and narrow. He's a Week one starter. Perfect.

I don't know, isn't perfect kind of been in decline as a player. Oh, he was one of the worst linebackers in the NFL last year. So run that seems like a toss up at best or at least one will not survive. I think it's more likely that Vante's Perfect gets cut or Incognito does something dumb to undermine himself, So I will go with one of them will not survive. Can I just point out that Richie Incognito is thirty six years old coming out of retirement, coming out of retirement,

and we've seen better guards. Guys like Jarry Evans have to shut it down way before age six. Last time I saw him that You're making a lot of sense, but he was, yes, Dan, you know, I know you had your rules that you're so excited about what happens. Now it's the last question left and I there's only one option and it's mine. Have to put it back in and then the show is just over. We have to stay here for eternity. Raiders fans uh, and she's

gonna miss miss uh. We've kind of covered this, But Raiders fans and forty Niners fans overrated, underrated or properly rated answer separately? Its separately. Well, you know you can't group them together, all right, I'll start uh Niners fans properly excuse me. Raiders fans properly rated as being badasses? Um our buddy scar listener of the show long like guys like that that no matter what happens, they dress up like maniacs. They cheer, They fill up a dump

of a stadium. Uh. They fill that place out right, I mean that place has ross sewage flowing through it half the time, and they will fill up your men too. Well. I've gotten death threats from Raiders fans than the rest of the team. See use that as positive, uh Niners. I feel like the there's a difference between the Candlestick era Niners fans or how they're perceived and now at the Levi's Stadium, the Big Bell Bottom Um, I feel like they kind of take a bad rap now that

maybe they don't deserve. They didn't decide to build the stadium up in like Washington or whatever it is now. Uh So I'll put them properly rated to our maybe slightly kind of they get a bad rap and it's not their fault. I like forty Niners fans. I don't think there is crazy, like psychopathic as some other fan bases. But they know what they're talking about. They're very educated on their team and football, and I have a high sports acumen for sure. I think forty Niners fans are underrated.

I agree with that even within the Bay Area they kind of because the Raiders fans are so overpowering. I think that the forty Niners fans do um get a get a little bit of a bad rap there, a little spoiled. You know, had a lot of success time ago, they had a nice run there less not filling up that stadium. I mean the stadium hour and a half away from the city. It's like an attorney. They also had to address the sunlight issue, which was a killer right.

They had to build like a like in Miami almost they had to build some type of tent around it, like a little on how much you get paid to build the stadium. Gotta get these things right. They do that on purpose, though, don't they what to make sure that the sunlight hits the opposing team. M J. You came in and you said it all. You've done it. There's nothing else you You got off a plane that was delayed, you dealt with well, you didn't deal with him, but you saw unruly people at the airport and you

desecrated them as you should. I have to remember I work on two vs. I don't want to end up on a viral video like, no, you gotta be spelling somebody off at the airport for being rude. Then I'm the rude one. We loved having you and we'd love to have you back. You're like, you're the least likely NFL network analysts to have like a brit mc henry moment. I think I go in Vegas, uh, connected to your team, you would be at the bottom of the board, which is I think the place to be is you know

that's where you want to be. Okay, so that's it. That's it for this week's shows. We'll have one very special show fourth of July week UM the return of really renowned, extremely popular UM game show. I would say the number one game show in the podcast game speaking. I overrated this game. Greg tries to get off the schneide. We won't say what it is. Did we say what it was on Monday? No, we didn't. Just could be

any game show. You can figure it out though, based on Greg's demeanor what it is probably, but MJ, thank you again, Thank you guys. All right, this is Dan Hanss signing off four m J Acosta, the mail Man, the Old Boss, Ricky Hollywood behind the glass Until next week m HM