Big Ben's Last Game in Pittsburgh; Things We're Looking Forward To

Fair to well. Greg, I we were We had a little cameo there on the NFL Now program today and you moved away from the tie. And I'm not saying it had anything to do with me. In fact, me mentioning that you shouldn't wear a tie, He's only gonna make you want to wear a tie more. But I just I like seeing Greg in the Greg jacket and um, you know Henley or whatever over Greg in the suit and tie. It wasn't it wasn't ut and down. I don't mind ties. You you have this phrase and you

said it on the show. When you when you're in the tie, that's when you know they get you. To me. I don't. I don't think that way getting you is mental and uh I'm fine wearing a tie. I told you, like, I would be fine if we had to wear a uniform, because then you're like, you don't have to think about it. It's fine. I don't care about my fashion. Loves a

school girl uniform. I you know, I remember working My mom worked at a big insurance company, and UM, I worked in the mail room for a couple of summers in college, and I do remember. And this is to not say anything denigrating about people that work cubical life, because it's a you know, a massive part of our country in terms of the workforce. Even though things are changing now it's not anymore. But I remember thinking, you know, seeing everyone that I just didn't I never wanted to

be in the tie. I didn't want to be in a cubicle, which took me to like being on the side lines at high school football games, freezing my butt off, like after college, following a sports dream. But it kind of was born out of not wanting to wear a tie every day in a lot of ways. I mean, here's the thing, Like I think Greg knows, I've been on anti tie beat for UM a while now, and

for many of the reasons that you mentioned. And I had jobs for years, like in downtown l A where you had to wear a tie, and there's definitely when you were on the East Coast that was, you know, requisite for plenty of jobs too. For some reason, that didn't quite bug me. But I when I think about what a tie is like it serves. I don't need

it to be functional. Not all fashion needs to be functional, but the concept of a tie at this point, I think we are post ties as even being kind of stylish, Like they look um suppressive on so many joke they look suppressive and they look like they're keeping um people prisoner. To some degree, That's how I feel in one unless you do the thing where like you know, you're it's after the wedding or something, you've loosened the tie, the shirt is pulled open. I like that look. That look

I think is a positive one. Well, yeah, you famously wear a button down shirt every day in your life, whether you're going to the beach, whether it's like Saturday afternoon. You are a man who's not about being like ultra casual in this climate. I'm not, but I but I, but I don't rail against button down shirts. I've consistently railed against ties as a concept, and I think um Dan is correct that Greg, because we pushed against it,

you're pushing against us. And I kind of think that's noble if you're just like, I'm gonna lean into this tie thing. I mean, I don't wear it too much, but I like wearing them. Fine, I got no problems with it. You know, sometimes it looks better than the shirt without the tie. If you're I don't really like wearing any button up, button up shirts. But once you go there, like maybe you know as as them as they say complete the suit. Now, the pocket square completes

the suit. No one ever said the tie does. But that tie, that tie is part of it. The tie is part of the completion. They're they're assuming you have the tie. All right. Let just be yourself, man, whatever whatever makes you feel like you that's the most important thing. Yes, Derrick Henry, I mentioned it's his birthday. Had he stayed healthy this year, he'd be knocking on the door of an NFL record, I'm sure for rushing yards in a season. And um I did reach out to the l A

researchers gang here at NFL Network. They do great work, and I said, you know this is unprecedented territory. It's Week eighteen. We've never had a Week eight team before. Then Greg said, oh what about ninete when there were two buys nailed at Greg? Good nug there. But this is a this is a different situation. What records and milestones are in danger now that we have an extra week. So I'm just gonna throw out a few. That's how we'll get into the show. It is a football podcast,

after all. Cooper Cup is a hundred and thirty six receiving yards away from breaking Calvin Johnson's two thousand, twelve record of one thousand, nine hundred and sixty four in the season. He's also a hundred and seventy one yards away from creating the two thousand club. No one's done that be or The Cup also needs twelve catches uh to break Michael Thomas's record of one Do anybody feel good about that? Is he gonna catch any of these marks?

You think? Who do they got? The Niners? Yeah, I think he could get that, but he said he said Monday or Sunday that like it shouldn't count. Like he's like negging himself. He's like, Wow, it's a seventeen game season, it should have an asterik. It's like I didn't do it in the same amount of games. I don't think like that's first of all, it's not up to him

whether or not it should count. Like I get where it's a nice humble approach, but there were decades where there were four teen games, and prior to that, there were decades where there were ten or twelve, And it's like, we're there're soon going to be eighteen games, So are we going to continually cling to the model that is, you know, fading in the background, like new records will be broken, and it's you just you just can't really, we can't stop. The ship crown is more impressive anyways.

I think like the receptions, yards of touchdowns all on the same season, that's pretty impressive the fourteen game season, but hey ever says that, and so it was always fourteen and sixteen groups together. Like O. J. Simpson, who in many other ways is not someone who needs to be brought up on the show, but it should be mentioned that he he ran for two thousand yards in a fourteen game season. I believe Joe Namath had the

passing record UH in a fourteen game season. Now he's like seven thousandth all time, probably in a season, but there was a time where you had the record. Anyway, let's get back on track. Um. Jonathan Taylor needs two sixty six to get two thousand. Um. He is playing the Jaguars. He had two d fifty three yards last year in week seventeen. If you guys recall, so you

got that Brady. Tom Brady in year twenty one needs four eight passing yards to break Peyton Manning single season record for five thousand, four hundred and seventy seven yards. Another stretch, but doable. We know what's going on with t J. Watt right now. He had four sacks against the Browns. We're gonna get to Monday night football in just a couple of minutes. The four sacks moved him to twenty one and a half, which is one behind

Michael a Hand's record of twenty two and a half. Uh. He is now the first player to reach twenty sacks in a season since Aaron Donald had twenty and a half and twenty eighteen. But remember, if you listening to this pod in the summertime, we had the great al Bubba Baker on at a local McDonald's, and he had twenty three sacks for the nineteen seventy eight Lions. Pro Football Reference recognizes that as the record, stax didn't become sacks didn't become a statistic till eighty two. Treyvon Diggs

has eleven picks. The Super Bowl era record is thirteen by lester Um Jamaar Chase needs forty five yards to set the rookie receiving record. Bill Groman had fourteen seventy three and nineteen sixty. Kyle Pitts and Its needs fifty nine yards to set the rookie tight end receiving record currently one thousand, seventy six Spy Ditka and seventy one and finally, Mico Parsons needs two sacks to set the

rookie sack record. The rookie record is four teen and a half in nineteen ninety nine by you guys got ah let's see nine rookie pass rusher blew up. The world went to a Super Bowl with the Titans. Curse von Curse Titans like struggling to get this name. Yeah, that's all right, So there you go. That's just setting the table for numbers and data I like stats. Not good at math, but I've always loved statistics. Wattles trying

to break a receptions record I believe too. He's three away from Bolden's record of one oh one set in two thousand three. The what one I think it is it is time for that to happen. By the way, he missed games, I think he played in fourteen, so there'd be like an asterix on tops of the top of the asterix there. But like we need to get the strayhand thing out of our worlds talking point. They almost weren't, you know, that was a big deal on the Monday night giving it get to that. But I

hope they make a big deal about it. That's the one of all these that to me is the spiciest. And yes, I think the asterix actually cancel each other out. That's what I mean. It would be like, you can't you can't asterix this because we have an asterix to show you that that one doesn't matter. This is if he indeed plays and doesn't get covided or anything out of the situation. Week eighteen, it will be his sixteenth

game of the season, which matches with straight hand um. Hypothetically, I believe played that year as well, so or Game right plus straight Hand as the ultimate Asterix. It's funny because people do remember this stuff. I mean, it's like

him getting it in such a shameful manner. I think over the years has somehow made his accomplishment like lesser, because you know, he had an amazing season, even if he didn't get that sack that way, Like it was an incredible season, and yet he's kind of, uh, he's kind of pooped on and because of the way he

got it. And even if I played even the slightest role in helping to denigrate that record, something you're leading, a slight role would be, you know, I think you had a co starring role or sort of a special guest appearance one of these two. All right, we're gonna, by the way, with the new year, the calendar flipping over, so much uncertainty in the world right now, we're gonna keep it positive and optimistic and talk about what we're looking forward to now that we're in the year two.

But before that, let's close the door. On week seventeen, Monday Night Football, third and three, Naji gets the call,

cuts it back through the hole. He's on his way he's on twenty what Prince purg Dinner cutdown, Harris Wow, Wow, Nagy Harris Bill Hill Grove with the call for w V Yes, that was the cherry on top of The Steelers had a very underwhelming, underwhelming game offensively, with Ben rathls Burger throwing forty six passes with very little success, but it didn't matter because the Pittsburgh defense went nuts on the fading Browns and Baker Mayfield picking up nine

sacks in a fourteen win over their division rivals. That's a season suite for the Steelers after Cleveland knock Pittsburgh out of the playoffs an embarrassing fashion last January. And Greg will start with you on this at the Steelers. Clearly Tomlin wanted to make this game special. Pittsburgh still in the playoff hunt, they need to win next week and they need a loss by the Colts to Jacksonville. But I think Tomlin Brunton Center was like, I want

this special for Ben. We wanted him to have a big game that let him throw all day or all night, and it's just like it wasn't happening, which just underlines why they need to kind of move on and I think everyone's on the same page, including Ben Roethlisberger. Try to make it into this like feel good saying goodbye to a legend, and it is that for Pittsburgh, but it's not for the rest of the country. There is no you know, great quarterback I think over the last

twenty years that's less beloved than Ben Roethlisberger. It's not just in the a f C. North. I think he's been an underrated player for much of his career. I don't think people understood that he was a legit top five guy for a long stretch when they weren't winning Super Bowls. I think was when he played his very best super Bowl. But by now he's he's an example of of hanging out a year too long and and

not being very fun to watch. And they're trying to have a Kobe's Last Game type of field to this, Kobe puts up fifty shots in his last game, except Kobe was awesome. Uh. Ben Roethlisberger drops back to past forty eight times and they end up with a hundred

nine passing yards. No one in the history of the NFL has ever had fewer yards passing throwing the ball forty five times than Ben Roethlisberger, and that yet he gets put the lipstick on the pig at the end and say, well, it hasn't been pretty for me for much of my career. Um, but we got the win, and that's what my career has been about. It's like, no Ben Roethlisberger, as as a passer and as an

offense has been pretty. I know they want some like defensive games and everything, but this is a different Steelers team. It's a it's a bad offense. It was. It was a tough, tough watch for for everyone, I think, right. I mean, I know, I know Steelers fans like enjoyed that they want and it was cool. It's definitely like a great moment, but it was also like one of the worst games, if not the worst statistical game of

his entire career. Yeah, but I but I think, like I think from the macro, like that the no one expected the Steelers to explode offensively suddenly in a vacuum last night. I mean, they did what they needed to do. They got just enough to win the game, and it's more a ceremonial moment. I'm with you that I think that it's hard to find a quarterback that is as celebrated in one's hometown and has had such a storied

Hall of Fame career. Um, in arguably, who doesn't move the needle in terms of like any sort of emotional happiness in most other cities. UM, I think maybe even it's the Browns fan or the Bengals, a Ravens fan who feels a little bit more about the event because of what Big Ben has meant in Cleveland's life, for instance, like they should have drafted him and and they've paid the price for, you know, sixteen seventeen years since for

not having done that. It's kind of like watching from a Browns fan angle watching John Elwig go out, or watching you know, someone that just terrorized you, and at the end you kind of I'm not saying respect, you kind of say, I kind of just gotta take my hat off to the way this team is run because it's so counter to what most other teams were doing,

and especially my own. Yeah, I would say, like my general thought is like, well, if you weren't really taken aback by the drama around the end of the game, well that's who cares. It's not for you, that was for the Steelers and their fan base and Big Ben and all the people that have cared about that UH team for the past twenty years. And I think there should be a good amount of respect for you know, take out the off the field stuff. Just as a player,

what he's been able to do. He's never gonna he's gonna go an entire season without a losing season. He you know, the fact that they have multiple Super Bowl rings. They are always in the mix. And at the same time, like you mentioned Kobe, because I agree, I think Tomlin is trying to give him his Kobe moment against the Jazz. And I remember watching that Kobe game and he scored sixty points on a butt ton of shots to get

to sixty fifty shots to get sixty points. But he hit a lot of big shots in the game, and he was doing on muscle memory with his jump shot. UH Ben doesn't have that. There's no muscle memory anymore for Ben Roethlisberg. He's just shot, period. So turn into the game. I thought it was notable that on a day where Big Ben average two points seven yards per per attempt, which is unheard of, two point seven, it's

like half of the Gabbard zone. It was naj Harris, who's really been grinding out a good rookie season on a not very good offense. And it was again t J. Watt with the four sacks uh and completely obliterating the Cleveland offensive line and Baker Mayfield for the nine sacks, and it's just a domination of Cleveland. Mark. I'm curious where where you come down on the Browns here, because, um, they certainly seem a little flat to me. I guess

that's to be understood. They were eliminated from the playoffs the day before, but you kind of hope that they were gonna come with a little more fighting this game. And then there's the familiar question now of what is Kevin Stefanski doing with his best player in offense, Nick Chubb, who had had five carries in the first half twelve overall against the thirty ranked defense in the league in

terms of d v o A against the run. Yeah, I mean, I think you know, they mentioned that Nick Chubb was not healthy after the half, but I mean that charts back to the Packers game, the way he was poorly handled. And you know, from a macro angle, you mentioned a year ago at this time where it looked like Cleveland might be the next big thing in the a f C. And it was like the coach is a genius. The front office have no issues to deal with, and when they do, they know how to

handle them. You've got a quarterback that looks like he's in the right system and streaking down the you know, the tail end of the season, and suddenly let's go test ourselves against the Chiefs and see how you are against the highest possible power in the a f C. And it was like, to me, it was house money. You just had a chance to go find out how

that went. And went into the off season with so much hope, but a lot of it had to do with vanquishing the Steelers and the optics around Big Ben sitting with the pouncy brother shedding tears and thinking we might have just broken this team after all these ill events. And then a year later you've got the Ravens still

being the Ravens. The Steelers. I understand there's a lot of question marks going into this off season, but you just trust them and they basically just embarrassed the Brown's team and now it's still look in its own state at Cincinnati and say wait a minute. Next maybe the next Chiefs are not the Browns but the Bengals, and maybe they're going to be hanging around for the next

sixteen years. So I thought the microcosm of like where you were a year ago to how disorganized they were last night, and you talk about not protecting the your right tackle. James Hudson was a rookie against t J. Watt. I feel like, how many times did you watch like James Hudson lifting Baker Mayfield off the grass by the back of his shoulder pads. It was horrible site. They

don't adjust. Their offense has been a dead heat for two months, and I think everything that was positive a year ago you look at the Browns right now and say it is raging question marks. It starts at quarterback and extends outward. I think you can and we'll talk about the Browns a lot in terms of the off season. I think they'll feel pretty good about their offensive line, their defensive talent, and their coaching staff, and they'll they'll

want to upgrade at quarterback. I think that's that's the direction they're going. But I think that game almost felt like an evaluation. I mean, I don't think stefan Ski is like, no, only like trying to put Baker in a bad spot. But he told Peyton Manning, if they're in base, and that's that's what the Patriots did. They kept all their heavy personnel on the field, what a lot of teams since that Patriots game has done. And

they're gonna just man up. And this was the highest percentage of man coverage Pittsburgh Steelers have ever played against Mike Tomlin. And these aren't great cornerbacks there in Pittsburgh for the most part. Um, we are gonna try to We're gonna throw them out of it. And Peyton Manning was being like, I I know that sounds good, but it's it's not a good play on obviously, Like that's what you do if you have a competent passing attack, but you don't. And they tried to throw them out

of it. And it was basically the Steelers saying, we don't respect Baker Mayfield and you're passing attacking your receivers. I think the receivers are part of it. Those aren't guys who are ultra dynamic beating people. Uh, we don't trust them, and uh try to beat us that way and they did, and and for many times this year, Baker in the passing game struggled and it's the same stuff, Like a lot of those sacks were on Baker. He holds,

helds the ball forever. He does not make quick decision, he doesn't see the field, and these are problems that are going back like a while, and they didn't have a solution for that. And and the the way that he said that he's going to talk to his agent and family about whether he plays in week eighteen, I thought he's out. He's not very telling. I know he's out now the Browns have officially ruled that, but the way he said agent and family, it just felt like

it's the end. He's got a tradeable contract and we probably won't see him in Cleveland again. That's see. I'm a little torn on that because here's the thing. I think I've said this on the podcast. I thought they should have put um case Keenum in the in the line of weeks ago and we kept on hearing over and over again that Baker was compromised physically and wasn't

able to play at a high level. Well, then maybe fixing change things up and your season ends differently, And then I think about, if he's indeed is injured, as we've been told all year, do you really want to cut bait with him now, knowing what he was when he was healthy last year down the stretch, what he looked like against the Chiefs in the week one before the injury in week two. UM, I feel like that's a dangerous roll of the dice, Like what are you

gonna do. You're gonna bring in Jimmy Garoppolo or something, and then you're gonna say, now we're better, You're gonna swing for the fences. You might it might be the Shaun Watson, which has its own questions, But if that's the right move, I don't think that's that's the right move. I just don't think it's as cut and dry as all right, now we get let's kick Baker out the door. It might turn out that way, but I think there's

some risk there as well. They know him so well now, they know who he is so well, they know what this version is. The guy whose arm is in a sling and has beat up all over his body. They knew as limitations last year too, and I think they've had a long enough time that look if they believe in him. They'll believe in him, and maybe he doesn't get the contract this year and they will keep him.

But if they like they've seen enough, whether when you was good and when he was bad, because a lot of the problems he had now, I don't think you can put on on the shoulder. Well all right, but I think the shoulder is creating issues that we also

cannot discern. I mean it, I think it impacted his play to Dan to your point, Dan, it's like, fine, you want to move on for Baker maybel I think the way that happens is because I think he's tradeable in terms of a package for you send him to Houston, reverse, you send him to Seattle and reverse in a pie in the sky scenario that there's an asset there that

another team could think they could work with. But it has to be it's like if there, If he's gone, it's because they brought in someone that's simply he cannot coexist with. If they can't find that person, and it's very possible that Cleveland is not going to get one of these two or three like mega star quarterbacks, then I don't have a problem with keeping him around for

another year. On that fifth year option, because the idea of going back to nothing and hoping that you find some rookie in the second or third round or like God forbid, and this is not you know, if you try to fill in the void with a Teddy Bridgewater or a Jamis Winston or something like that, I think you're cycling and moving and reverse at that point, because that's just another year long patch. If anything, Let Baker be the one more year long patch and you come

up with other plans on Teddy. Do you want to gamble on Winston? You want to get on a tour? Or do you want to gamble on Baker? Like I'll take the guy in my building who has given us special moments that I know is a high character guy, even if the play isn't there. That's just that's how I would handle it. But I don't know if there might be more going on here behind the scenes at

this point. You never know. It's just yes, some of the things with some of the stories coming out the way he said that they but it's a football evaluation. If he had all the football traits that they want, then he'll be there. And and I think there's no chance they go down the Teddy type of route, because they'll only get rid of Baker if they have like

a replacement. But one of the things I watched when you see him is just like he's not a quick decision maker and does he have And that's fine, like neither's Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson, But does he have special traits to make up for that? I don't think he's He's showing the accuracy might be it, But the stat that always gets me, and this is going back to his rookie years, he converts pressure into sacks more than any quarterback in football. No one takes more unnecessary

sacks than Baker Mayfield. And that hasn't improved. And it's been with three different coaching staffs. Like they have the fourth or fifth like best pass block win rate this year and he's taken those sacks And to me, that's like a processing thing. And this staff has had him for two years, so I I just think they might be done with them and want a different try. Alright, So back to Pittsburgh. As I said, they have an opportunity to make the playoffs there eight seven and one.

They have to take care of the fading Ravens and week eighteen and then get a win from the Jaguars over the Colts, who, by the way, and this is a weird stat and I could save this for the preview show, but since we're mentioning it right now, everyone looks past this coach Jaguars game, when rightfully so did Aggs are on another terrible losing streak. They're the worst team in football. But the Cults are a little weird. It is a little bit of a weird team with

a quarterback that's not to be trusted. And the Jaguars home record since two thousand fifteen, uh six and oh against the Colts fifteen and thirty five against everyone else. Just you know, just a little food for thought. I'm not saying there's gonna be an upset of the century, but just thrown it in there. You dialed up some um precision prognostications a week ago. Maybe you you know this is the next version of it. You can't help what comes into your head. You just you cannot help

it when you become a crystal ball man. You know they could lose thirty one to three. Earlier this season, the Jaguars to the Colts in a game that I've never seen a quarterback play worse than Carson Wentz did in the thirty one to three victories. I don't know if that's a positive for the Jaguars or a negative. I would say it's a negative that you had a good day against Carson Wentz and still lost, is correct. But plus they're going to in one. Mark has the

Sandwiches on it. He had to be feeling mixed feelings last night because, um, you know, the Steelers, Okay, they got to their eight wins. Now, I could see them losing to the Ravens certainly next this week and and get into eight and one. Eight and one was up here. You know, anything to do with the Browns was down here. So I like my main goal remains intact here. It is funny that, like the whole thing was, you know, it was his last home game either way, but it

really was like a goodbye and this and that. Like the playoffs, like everyone's it's so disrespectful of the Jaguars. Everyone's just assuming the Steelers like have no chance. Even the Steelers are assuming they like have no chance to make the playoffs. It seems by those respect Greg absolutely, I respect the last thing on I do want to circle back one last thing on Ben. There is something funny about Ben. We've talked a guess always so long. I don't know why. I guess had three final points,

so like here it comes fourth. This Ben thing like the reason we would make fun of him through out the course of his career and is like he always makes it about Ben as much as possible. Right, it didn't you even feel like the end, like the end of that game, the way it happened, that he's all out there by himself, there's no team, there's no nothing that it just was like and it was. It was great,

but it also was very Ben Roethlisberger. There was something about it that was like, this is the perfect ending for like where the Bed Roethlisberger career has come. Like he was out on that field for a solid twenty five minutes and no like no one else was there. Greg, you feel good about yourself in there? I mean, who are we defending here? Likedending anyone. It's just you had to come in with one last shot on the guy.

I think he's not a shot on the guy. Like you've seen this happen before, though, and those endings did not happen in that same way with other players. It is very different. Tom called it the most like emotionally packed atmosphere he's ever been a part of in a regular season out. I'm just I'm not saying I was saying you can't find the comedy in the end. I mean, like in the ending sequence afterwards, it was it was

a little bit of commy. He went back to the bench that he talked to Markus Pouncy took the pictures there for a while. I mean, I mean, I don't feel that, I don't feel that you're necessarily coming from the world of comedy with this um slashing a big bend. But I I'm not saying this a likable character. No one's saying, Wow, this is the guy that we all feel this about in our hearts. It's just like, I

kind of get it for the city of Pittsburgh. All Right, They had their night, like if I can allow them that way off the field, like what was your what left you underwhelmed? Because he did celebrate with his teammates immediately after the game, and then he was surrounded by no joke thirty photographers and cameramen, so kind of created

a natural bubble around. It wasn't so much underwhelmed as the twenty minutes that went on afterwards where he just was literally the only player on the field and ESPN after a while, I was like, shoot, we gotta go to commercial. At some point, like Peyton Manning was joking that like Eli was going to fall asleep if he took another lap around or whatever. It just to retreat to the locker room, the shower, do his press availability and then getting his suv and leave. But it wasn't

for you, Greg, It was not for you. That's why you don't understand it and you're picking at it. It was for them, not you. I get it. I get that it was I think you can find it some humor in it over the years of like, this is a guy who, like you know, immediately after multiple actual assault allegations, started posting like things about being religious and

went to the thing. You know, it's like a I think, Greg, his entire um, his entire existence is not for you because there's there's so many things about Big Ben that you either um, you know, we all rail against certain things that he did, and no one's saying, Wow, that's what we're celebrating at all. So like if listening to this, don't calm us come at us with that nonsense. But Greg, Greg nailed the take that Ben loathsome individual and Dan and Mark and he is also famously one of the

least like teammates. Um that there's ever I know. But I'm surprised Greg that you suddenly care about teammates liking anyone, because it doesn't seem like that applies to critique of other players that are disliked by teammates. Is that really

that's Is that something that you value highly? I've never really felt I just don't value like everyone has to line up and be like like t J. Watt was so inspired by playing for Ben that he got his four sacks and they were really trying to like like shoehorn this thing that it's all for that it was. Of course it's like a huge emotional night. But we can we can be real about it. Do you have anything else to add? Greg? Now I think that's good With that said, Are we taking a break, Ricky? Let's

take a break? All right? It is two thousand twenty two. How about that? How about that we started this podcast in two thousand? How about that? Another another notable factoid you're that's I was. I was talking to a someone who helps me with a certain career um related um prognostications. None of that made sense, No, it was it was just like my agent person and she said, she said, you guys are coming up on your tenth season. Like, is the NFL blowing that out? I was like, no,

I don't think they know that. We've been doing it for ten years. Oh okay, whence you're one thousandth episode. I think it was like a year and a half ago. It's like, what's going on over there? It? I don't know. I don't think anybody knows. Does anybody know? Well, it's you mean, it's not it's not overly celebrated. Let's start there.

You get that when it's when it's the final show and we're, you know, averaging two point seven yards per take or whatever, and you can run around the field and make it all about us that I hope we are around long enough for two point seven yards per take? Wait, do you guys want to do this show? Would you guys rather do the show for twenty more years? And the last year and a half to two years is two point seven yards per take or do it for another four years at six point eight yards per take.

I would take the ladder. I'd rather be you know, as close to pristine as possible for a shorter amount of time than I'm gonna stretch this thing out six point eight like a lot. No, that's not even good. That that's below average, even to waiting in the Ricky. I think we're in decline. We're in a gradual decline. I'll take the stretching out because I mean, either way, this is all, you know, this is all I could do for the rest of my life. Uh is you know,

some sort of football things. So I gotta gotta feed the family here. Yeah, we're in too deep now That twenty years feels um, that feels extensive. I transposed the numbers, by the way, I met eight points six yards per take. Okay, that would be good. Yeah, I was thinking that to watch them last night. It's depressing. But you men always

getting your numbers wrong. It is depressing to think of the difference in in Steelers Brown's games and moments from a year ago, which you know, was a great moment. Having Chris for one of the last times he was on the show and we all enjoyed that playoff win together to this year is a steep is a steep fall? Yeah? No, Well, I I you know, Chris was as everyone knows, you know, the up and down, mostly down love affair he had the Bengals. I can't stop thinking about Cincinnati's the most

fun team in the league this year. And how I would ask him, like legitimately once every like five shows, whether he's ever come back to the Bengals or is this the time or maybe if this happens, would you? And he was always steadfast and no, And yet I wonder if I asked him now and now West, Let's not forget it was a very stubborn man. And maybe even if he wanted to, he wouldn't, just because at that point he had said for so long that he

never would. But I wonder if he would have truly warmed up the idea of supporting the Bangles again and more of a fan capacity given everything that's happened over the last couple of months. I wondered too, because I think a lot of it if you go back in detail, look at that thing finder of why he was out on the Bengals. I think one reason that he might not budge is. It had to do so much with ownership that he probably trusts ownership to screw all this up at some point. Yet he is he is someone

that would be married, would have a child. Becoming a football fan Cincinnati checks so many different boxes about the way that football has played that West enjoyed. It does bringing you back to something special that maybe you know he always talked about evolving and changing. I mean, we

just don't know what he would do. But this Bengals team is not like that Andy Dalton team winning twelve games and going to the playoffs, where I think that any real expectations, you'd see what that team really is. This feels entirely different to me. He already loved watching Joe Burrow play I think he'd love watching them play ball. I don't know if he had, you know, admitted that he's just full on fan, but he would like this team.

There's just no way around. Well, and also to that point, young Link West in some ways kind of felt like he also aged out of being a fan. But when it's time to introduce Link to a team, absolutely get your son involved. Because Lakisha, of course a rams fan of die Hard. If West was here, maybe he'd be pushing the boy towards the Bengals. Keisha just posted on Instagram that after this past weekend, she bought link a Bengals teacher. Here we go. So she's a great mom,

great mom. Alright, we missed Chris. I'll tell you what. This has been a really weird year. Obviously, so much crazy, so many crazy things have happened. But I cannot stop thinking of of the man this weekend. And you know, I sent it to the text chain of UM that we're all on uh New Year's that happened five years ago, now where we all we're in different places. And then we all said, all right, let's after midnight, let's all

meet at the cozy. And I remember getting there and West was there in a bathrobe, Um at twelve thirty five in the morning on New Year's Day, Uh, feeling zero pain like everyone else us. But when West was feeling no pain on a night on the town. Uh, Mark, you're kind of similar in this way. But like West, I think about it now because he's no longer with us, but you saw it in his face, like he didn't have to say anything. You just saw him and says

it was kind of like a half grin. His eyes were a little bit more closed and um, he was probably yelling more um, but just the look of him, it was just a man that was a piece of having a good time. So well. I think West and I saw that in each other's faces more than once, um, when we were in you know, Duelian piano players on

out on the town. Yeah. I think this this time of year, going through the holiday, is going into the new year for the first time without him, and I think going to the I think the super Bowl week will be tough. We'll be coming up on on the year anniversary. I really felt that that game we went to the Chargers, I was in a crappy mood because walking over to that stadium that night, I was like, I really felt him not being there, like us going to a game like that, and well we'll feel that, uh,

we'll feel that in the super Bowl week. I think, like for me, one little thing, like it's like all it football does remind me of West, but it's mostly like the lack of West in everything that we do, and every season is sort of similar. But it's all these other little moments that happened, like weirdly on like Saturday at even fifteen am, as I'm searching through my phone and seeing photos from old or just thinking about

his voice or his laughs. I mean, it's just like there's no, um, real roadmap to feel that this won't be with you forever. Yep, I needed him backing me up on this ben thing. No one would have been you know, he would have been on my side of that one. No one but you. You're already creating this thing where Greg is in a moralistic correct room and

Dan and Mark must be in the other room. And where do you think we're simply calling it a sports event, a moment of sports that I don't want to go back to that I'm saying West disagreed with me about most everything, but that's one where we parked their cars still would have been savaging you over your Antonio Brown UM fandom and a new protecting the New England Patriots.

That was. That was a tough two weeks, right, all right, let's get to it what we're looking forward to in um Yeah, let's keep it optimistic here, Um, Greg, do you want to get us going? I do. It's a perfect one for the conversation we were just having it. It's it's this Tom Brady playoff run that I'm looking forward to. Um, I just think Tom Brady with limitations. He's he's a little bit of a b story right now in terms of the NFL. But is like the is the Tom Brady that I find fascinating that that

touchdown drive to beat the Jets. It's one of the best game winning touchdown drives of his career. It was an amazing moment because it came against the Jets, and people weren't watching that game and people put it on the opponent or whatever, like like you want an MVP moment, that's an m v P moment. They had the ball, first of all, they had to go to ninety three yards. Second of all, they had a ball with no time

outs on the thirties seventy yards to go. The ball, ever goes out of bounds three straight plays, and he's turning Cyril Grayson and Brashad Perriman into game winners during this stretch. Like that's Tom Brady in a nutshell. And I think there's this idea that the Bucks are in in such a tough spot without Godwin or Brown. But that's when Brady often does his best work. He's still got that offensive line, he's still got that coaching staff, he's still got that championship DNA, and he's doing it

in a different way with like big time plays. He's making more big time throws now uh than he ever has. He's leading the NFL and big time throws first time ever. PFF's track that you know, his entire career. It basically just like their their addition and I kind of chart ones like that of just like an incredible like plus two type of play where it's like you've just made an incredible throw that like very few because they're a

yardage component. No, No, it's basically like an incredible play that you're making on your own and like could you be could you be bowled over by like a five yard screen pass where he did it without looking now because on the year and that's like I like it

a little better than touchdown at interception ratio. But like that moment and his like reaction to that moment was it just got me thinking about, like the season starts now for a defending champion type of team like the Bucks, and I'm really looking forward to seeing like what they can do in this repeat. I'm with you, Greg, and it's like I haven't understood. I don't understand it, Like I understand the Godwin injury. That's tough. Antonio Brown being

out the door whatever. I think they won the Super Bowl last year with or without Antonio Brown. Um, and he's a head case, so getting him out of the building could end up being a net positive for them. UM. I moved him up a spot into the number three in the power Rings this week, and Matt money Smith pushed back on our show today saying, how can you do that? They should have been beat by the Jets. Well, they didn't get beat and it's because of Tom Brady.

And it's like the the idea that anybody would doubt this team, um, considering their recent pedigree. They're the defending Super Bowl champions for Christ's sake, and the fact that Brady is playing, as Greg notes, as better as as well as he ever has. So uh. They have a good coaching staff, they have a really good defense. They have still have plenty of skill player players on offense. They're gonna get more healthy, hopefully. Do not sleep on

this team. It doesn't make any sense why you would. Well, I don't think anyone's sleeping on them. I think for me, if anything, the Bucks were And we kind of said it in different ways on our on our Friday television show. It's like, why are we like um struggling to kind of connect with the Bucks as sort of where they are in history and who they are because they were so everything was so perfect, they were drama free. They kind of went from last year into this year with

so much consistency and just kept it going. But now I find them more intriguing because there are players out because suddenly you've got Brady at the Ages at I think being discounted a little bit as an m v P because you've got Aaron Rodgers sitting out there. Everyone's trying to look around Tom Brady. Maybe we give it

to a wide receiver, we give the Jonathan Taylor. It's like, what Brady is doing is incredible, and if he goes and does it again with a shortened roster on offense, because I do think there's a reason they fell into a hole against the Jets there too, that it is that that much more impressive. And for all the people that don't like the Big Bend celebration, this is something that would be I think more universally a sports moment that would crescendo into something as memorable as we've seen

in the NFL. I don't know about that. A lot of people don't wait for Tom Brady to win two straight Super Bowls with the Bucks. It is Rady. I'm excited as a Brady fan to see let's say they play that. That's like the Eagles first round, they get past that, like whatever, That second and possibly third NFC game for Brady to me in this like repeat mode with to me, that's just so fascinating, like versus the Cowboys, or him versus the Rams, or him versus the Packers.

It's just like that A is fook. That is awesome. The truck the minute, we're suggesting that if he were to win a second Super Bowl with the Bucks, after everything he did at his age, that that's an underwhelming or just an average sports I guess. I mean it's a matter of opinion, Like I've already for me, the Tom Brady story has been written. He's the best quarterback ever, He's won seven titles or whatever the hell it is

at this point. Um, if he wins another one, it doesn't really change I already what he's already done when he did last year to me was the cherry on top. So I kind of rather have fresh storylines and fresh champions and fresh blood at this stage. But also I didn't grow up a Patriots fan, and I don't I

guess need more validations different. Would it be different than him throwing five interceptions in Green Bay and they go down forty five to three and the whole thing breaks apart in the off season, I think they would be tangibly different the two end results. Yeah, I don't. I don't see that happening. I I mean, I'm trying to talk to like it's like I'm trying to talk to you, talk to you into like a bizarre like UFO cult

religion to get excited about Tom Brady too. So I see that a lot of people are excited about Tom Brady, and uh, you know they don't. You don't need me on the bandwagon. So good luck to Tom. I'm sure I'm sure he needs it. Um. I actually I fear going back down this road because it will us set

gig off with his agenda and his religious um. But I do want to talk about the Steelers because last watching the game yesterday, um Man, I'm looking forward to a fresh start for the Steelers, who are a primetime darling, so you know, they are a part of the national product that the NFL puts out every year. They're always in the mix because they're well run organizations, so they're always in the playoff mix, so they're not really getting flexed out of the games. Typically they get to the

playoffs all the time. They might even get to the playoffs this year, although that probably won't happen. But all that primetime love has become a double edged sword for the rest of us non Steelers fans who don't see Big Ben as a local hero and are sick of watching boring football involving the Pittsburgh Steelers, and and given the core that's in place, they have so many talented players in their primes still Pittsburgh, it makes all the sense in the world for the Steelers to make a

big splash move this offseas. And uh, they aren't going to start a rookie next year. They are not going to start Mason Rudolph next year. So the question becomes, who is there, Matt Stafford, who is the guy they're going to target to bring in and get them over the hump and get them back to the playoffs and back and back to the super Bowl. I look forward to it because it affects all of us because the

Steelers are a national team. Yeah, they're not like rebuilding, that's not who are It's amazing that Tomlin is gonna keep that record of never having a losing season, Like he's clinched that much. Now. They aren't the type that it's traditionally made big splashes, but I think trades are different.

The problem is, as Browns are going to realize too, is there's just a lot of these teams out there, like Carolina, Washington, New Orleans is going to be incredibly motivated UM and willing to give up picks so that there's more teams than there are are the guys. Let's figure this out. Who are guys that that are the the Stafford or the stafford S type player Deshaun Watson, who again is in his own category, but he obviously

is a player. When you talk about the quarterbacks in two, Um, Baker, there's the worst case scenario mark not that it would ever happen, but somehow Baker goes to Pittsurburgh and becomes a star. We that that's not gonna happen, but imagine to see that Jimmy g I think to of makes sense as a guy that might have some value and could be moved if Miami goes in a different direction.

Is there another What about maybe Matt Ryan? I just I don't love the idea of I've been quating Matt Ryan to Matt Russell, but I mean Russell Wilson's the one that I you know, you're not sure how that'll play out, but it sure feels like that would be the Stafford move to the Stafford move. And then I don't I have never bought that Rogers would be an ex packer, and now I really don't buy it. I

think that's all set. Yeah, Um, anyway, so keep an eye on that because Pittsburgh's going to make a move and it won't be a it won't be a minor wave there. You they don't usually do stuff like that, But that's gonna happen this offseason, I believe Mark. How about you? All right? Well, I would I would mention the Aaron Rodgers thing real quick because I think it would show um a it would be a service to us all if Aaron Rodgers actually says what he's gonna do.

What if he does what he says he's gonna do, which is to make this decision about whether or not you know, he's toying potentially with retirement, toying potentially with moving on from the packers, whatever it is that he shows the growth to not drag it out for months and months. He said he's gonna make a crisp, clean decision.

I'll believe it, um when I see it. But I do think it would help his cue rating the overall Aaron Rodgers experience to a maybe number one, realize that with this wandering eye where you are right now, front office, coaching roster, the division you're in, how dominant you've been, maybe you don't go anywhere. Let's and maybe you tell them that and make that clear on like January, like or whatever, February seventh or eighth or ninth, whenever the

Super Bowl ends, and just end that drama. Um, But if anything else is going to happen, can we do it in a way that doesn't completely hijack um three or four months of everyone's lives who tracked this because I guess what. It wasn't that entertaining the first time around, and it will be more tiresome the second. So here's a chance to just go do it right, whatever it

is you're gonna do. I will say, I agree that the Rogers thing was overblown last summer, but it did give those of us in football media a nice meaty bone to chew on during July last year. Like that didn't that wasn't the worst that that that was good to lead some a blocks for the around the NFL broadcast on NFL Network. So um, but I overall, I I see your point and I agree, like, let's not

drag this thing out. Um, I would take I think something crazy happening that we're that is unforeseen for this to lead to a divorce? Now, doesn't it feel that way? More so than him saying that already that he's gonna make it quick to me says he's made whatever decision it is. Putting that out there indicates, yeah, that he kind of knows where this is going. He's probably gonna ask for a lot of money. And but as long

as they're willing um to do that. You know what, what a moment last night too when they asked him what it was on his bookshelf, and he says, like Ann Ran, I Ran, It's like it's like every dumb guy's idea of what a smart guy would say, or like every nineteen year old guys. And if you're if you're curious about the general synopsis of that book, the book depicts a dystopian United States in which private businesses

suffer under increasingly burdened some laws and regulations. Uh, that's among the the general themes of it, and obviously connect he I think he was trying. I've read Atlas Shrugged and I've read The fountain Head, and I agree that it has been a nineteen year old maybe more of a nineteen year olds world. But like they are, I do find them to be good books and have nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers. I don't think it's something that you pick up now out of thin air and

be inspired by. But when you're of a certain age, the fountain Head, especially forget Outlas Shrug, The fountain Head is a good read. Just throw that out there, but no, I mean, listen that that was a popular take that Atlas Shrug was. It was a very basic choice by Rogers. I was more offended by him casually dropping that he had a lot of French poetry as well, and it's like, dude, you don't speak French. What are we what are we doing here now? To give you the translation, We're all

having a ton of fun. Is that how it works? French poetry books are just translated. Yeah, they typically would have like they'd have like, um, the French on one side, in the English translation on the other. Well, I'm like, I'm just telling you something that is that this is how the industry works. I know I'm not supporting his reading habits or really making any statement, but are we dismissing anything that's written not in English as a well? I do. I think it's I think it's a little bit.

He's not as easy to peg as people want um in the sense that this reputation as like a smart guy and like that has been taken off the books. I don't agree with you, totally disagree with that. That was the point I was gonna make. I think Rodgers is a very intelligent guy. Now, you may not agree with his opinions, and they may even be dangerous considering

his public platform and the way he's expressing them. But I think Rogers is very highly intelligent individual, which is part of what makes him so frustrating, at least to me, because in some ways I think he's likable, but then the more he talks, the more he kind of drives you crazy. I mean, do you think he's a dumb guy? I mean, I don't think he's I think he's like, yes, I guess I do. I mean when when it comes to football, not when it comes to I mean, he's

a he's a genius when it comes to football. Um, but yeah, I think so. I think he's pretty easily like misled and that well that's not a sign of like being smart guy necessarily in my mind either. But as he said, he kicked me. He was all about celebrity jeopardy. You know, if you have to play the real thing, he said, he'd get waxed, right, Greg, Do you like anyone? I mean, these aren't hot takes? That

that a Rod and Ben Roethlisberger. I was having fun with the choice because she's the like to me, it's tough writing to get through, and it's sort of like almost a cliche of if like if you're a woman and you see that book on a bookshelf. It's like, don't date that guy, you know. That's sort of so it was almost funny that that was the one. It's like a big libertarian. It's a big thing. It's sort of like the rest of society doesn't matter all that.

All that matters is yourself, which is, you know, consistent with preach elfishness as a positive concept if you look at it a certain way where most things tell you if you're good, you're not selfish. You don't think of yourself. And a lot of what she was teaching was that I'm not walking around reading it right now. I read it when I was twenty one, and by the way, a lot of girls didn't date me, And it may have been for that reason or a lot of others.

I couldn't care less. It's like, I love that we just take things and trash them on whole, and but no one's no one's actually have the people killing this book have never even read two pages of it. That's how things work now, is that if he wants to throw it out there, you can have fun with it. I'm sure that that's a that's a lousy book. I'm sure he would he would allow that he's If anything, my umbrella argument at the beginning was please wrap it

up quickly, Aaron Rodgers. I don't need to hear you all offseason. So I basically agree with everything that you're saying, from the fact that I need less not more of this guy in the summer months. You got another one, Greg. I'm looking forward to Michael Parsons in this playoff run doing things that I haven't seen a defensive player do ever.

The fact he was in coverage like twenty times last week, like really defending well, and that when he rushed the pastor he had nine pressures, and like like he is breaking the mold almost more than any defensive player we've ever covered on this show. I feel like there's I don't think there's been another guy like him. And the fact that he's capping this rookie year on an awesome Cowboys defense. It's gonna be in the playoffs that has a chance to win a super Bowl. Like, sign me up.

I mean, I'm I'm signed up for next year too, because I feel like his ceiling is just outrageous. He feels very one of one in what he can do that he can almost play three different positions exceptionally well. Uh, and the fact that he's on the Cowboys like I like it. I'm with you, Dan Lett, you just like it when the Cowboys are this relevant and this good. It's funny that the amously Jerry Jones, and it was

documented on part of some type of documentary. Um. The year they drafted Dac they wanted was it Drew Lock? Who was it was a? Oh Paxton Lynch? The year they ended up with Dak Prescott and in the draft they desperately wanted a cornerback, and when the draft didn't shake out the way they hoped it would, they drafted Parsons.

So you know, if you give the Cowboys plenty of credit for nailing those two picks that have helped to find the franchise and where it is right now, but it just shows how much luck goes into uh any of these things really, because you could do a lot of self scouting, but sometimes you look into a beautiful pick or something terrible that's neither here nor there. Greg, tell us somebody else you hate? What what is it's wrong with you? Guys? I mean these are I'm having

fun with. I mean, if you can enjoy that, uh, it just was having on. That's just having fun here. Um all right, let me throw one more out there. I'm looking forward to the Washington football team having a name again. I know you guys don't like this. This is an unpopular take. UM the Washington Football team on its website on Tuesday, and that's it will unveil its

new name on February two. UM team president Jason Wright said, ah that the team we'll choose the new name or has chosen a new name that will align with our values, carry forth our rich history and represent the region. Now. We love RhoD O world around these parts. Greg builds it brick by brick. It's now NBC Sports The Edge. Adam Clayton. We don't talk about their new name. We don't mention it. UM love their blurbs. You guys want to hear a great wrote a world blurb about this.

Please please please After that quote, here's the blurb citing the franchise value. Franchises values after years of sordid allegations against owner Daniel Snyder and his cohorts is questionable at best, but the team will try to use the unveiling to reinvent itself and remove the stigma attached to its former name, the collapsing of its embarrassingly dilapidated stadium, and its third year tradition of losing. There's no word of potato skins

is in the running funds and burner blowtorch wreck. Anyway, you should be happy, Dan. They you know, they haven't ruled out keeping w f T as the name, but I think this season, I feel like they needed to have a great season for any chance of it. Yeah,

I remember that there. I didn't like that. I always thought what happened like, look at we were talking about was shook on Sunday Show with the Cleveland Indians and baseball becoming the Cleveland Guardians, and and that felt like, you know, it was handled in a smooth way where it's like, Okay, we're the Indians. Okay, this is problematic in the eyes of people. So what we're going to do now is begin the process of changing the name. In the meantime, we're gonna take uh the Wahoo chief

Wahoo guy off the uniform. We're gonna emphasize the letter c H. So we're just gonna change some of the branding, but keep the name until it's ready for the transfer and then we go Indians to to Guardians in two I've always thought what Washington did here with this two year gap was a bit of a their own way of silently protesting something they never wanted to do in the first place. Uh, So we're gonna it's kind of to like draw out what they think is an absurdity

that they've had to change the name. So now we've done this for two years, and for two years we've all been writing things like the Eagles defeat the football team that I can't believe that's been happening for two years. So bring on whatever it is, the Red Wings or the Imperial Destroyers or whatever whatever the admirals I think has been thrown out there as possibility. Uh, let's bring it back uh to nickname Land so we can move on with our lives. Because this whole thing has been ridiculous.

Let's not bring back the Washington Bullets, that failed concept in NBA circles, that doesn't fit anything we're trying to achieve. I do think it matters for me, just aesthetically, like if it's a name that is super clunky, it's gonna be with us for decades. So I am just fingers crossed that it kind of rolls off the tongue of something nice. But no matter what it is, will get used to it and then it just will be that. Oh,

and I have no power over it. So you just just get in line and just do what they say. They need some new vibes. They have the fewest amount of playoff wins in the NFL since their current ownership took over the team. Yeah, and there was that report out there. I don't know if you saw that. You know that the the barrier fell down and almost crushed Jalen Hurts at FedEx Field, And there was a report that owe from the Washington organization like came to the

aid of the people. Now they refuted that. I want to make sure that's out there, that side of the story. But like, why all these stories are connected to this team? I you know, I complain it all the time about being a Jets fan and mark your up and arms about the Browns letting you down all the time. But like, man, we ate that. No, it's they've got problems, Um, unique

to them, There's no doubt about it. Let's take a break, al right, wrap it up, Mark alright, UM, I have a quick I have a like a quick two parter um. The first one a little bit more of a wish casting. But I know everyone it's like we were told that it's so um, you know, reprehensible what Antonio Brown did. And I think it's because it's connected to who he is.

And I'm I'm with you on all that front. Um, he's a he's not a likable character, but separate from the person, I found something quite delightful about like mid games suddenly UM player X ripping off garments and clothing and dancing around the visiting h end zone before being taken away and out of our lives. UM. And so I have I have thought up a concept where this would add high stakes to UM fantasy football, to teams

in general, to real life. It would be an auto retire red phone, and this happens, and this is a late season thing. It would happen from week fifteen through eighteen, UM, where one team a week is picked out of a lottery,

and let's say it's the Tennessee Titans. Then come that game in week fifteen, and this would happen each of the closing weeks, like around mid third quarter, the red phone would ring and any player over the age of thirty who is a non quarterback is eligible to be auto retired by the league at that point, and they have to. They will be taken care of them in abundance financially. Uh. They almost be like the way that the mystery relevant is handled, but in a different way

where it's like they won't work again. They'll be celebrate it. It's not their choice to retire, but so because it's such a positive next step in their life, they must strip down, waiste up, dance around the field, and be taken away in a very celebratory manner. Will never see that age thirty player up ever again. It would happen to four players a year. So it's not like going to cause a major like World War two shortage of arms type scenario in sports. But it could be. It

could be you never could be your starting cornerback. Who's who's you know, age thirty. It could be a very well, you know, the red phone. It would be picked by random a the team like we have our team wheel, and then inside of that you'd go jersey every eligible

jersey number of a player who's over thirty. You spin the wheel and we don't find out till the Red Phone rings, and it's like, what if it's some lost game between two teams, one of them is the Red Phone team you were wondering and watching Who's going to be Shotgun to the moon? Basically, I like that. I think it's insane um, which is why I like it. I'm trying to think about how do you do it? Remember?

Remember um, Late Night at the Apollo used to come on after Saturday Night Live, and you know Venerable, Um Venerable show that's been going on forever in New York City. I think, if you're really bad and the crowd turns on you, I can't remember who it is, is it a clown or but then a guy comes out and dances and kind of kind of shooes the guy off

stage or the woman off stage. What if we have something similar to that, a little nod to Late Night at the Apollo and have someone come out out of the tunnel and the crowd sees the guy come out, and they're going mad because they're like, who's it gonna be? Who's it gonna be? Maybe they're shrieks of maybe it could be Antonio Brown. Maybe absolutely. I mean, you're workshoping and he comes out, and he dances out, and he finds somebody and then kind of escorts them down the

tunnel and out of football forever. I mean, I think there's some entertainment value. I think it's a horrible it's a horrify thought for someone who's put their entire life into the sport, and it's it's their way of providing for their family that their career would end in such a public, humiliating, sudden way. But at the same time, like market good idea is a good idea, Yeah, I mean I also we would be we would be giving that player benefits and money to match whatever they were

making at that point. Um. I do have a second one, real fast, and it's it's that's a squid game element to it, though, where just everyone showing up to work wondering if their career will be killed. But Greg, you seem like someone that would be the most on board with with something this draconian of anyone I know. So I you know, it's we need your ideas on this front. That says a lot about how you feel. Well No, no, I mean I think that you're you're a but you're

a businessman. Well, I don't. I'm not saying that, but my number two, and I mean this sincerely, like like on our last show, like and this happens to me too often, or it happens periodically. We were If there was a director's cut of that show, it would have included me having like a JC caseum like meltdown at one point, aimed primarily at Dan. It was totally ridiculous.

And my goal for two is to be is to try to, you know, get past a lot of the nonsense that has happened externally and internally and try to just be a little bit quieter of a storm and a little bit less of a nut bag at times, and to keep a lid on it. And so I apologized to Dan, but also to the rest of us because I think it threw us off our game for a bit. I also was like super foggy headed in a mess and I just should maybe get my act

together a little bit better sometimes. So I'm just saying that for well, we you know, it's been a long season. We're all sick, not greg Um, but we're all just grinding through it. So happy that we're all together, you know, all right, Howard Gentler, quiet storm I don't know if I'd look forward to that. Maybe a little for your own sake. I would. For your own sake, I would at junctures. Did I say late night at the Apollo.

By the way, it's showtime at the Apollo. His name was Howard Sandman, Sins a legend at the Apollo Theater, chasing the bad acts off the stage after crowds booed their performance. He did his Apollo routine for seventeen years. He got the nickname Sandman for tap dancing on sand in his performance performances. I don't know if he's still with us. I have to look into next Maybe we could get Sandman himself. Why not? I mean that show

was had a super unhinged feel. It was the first experience I had as a child watching like a stage act that seemed to have no I mean, it could have gone in any one of forty two directions. After Friday Night Videos, we lost We lost sand Man in two thousand three. Rest in peace, sand Man. So we need we need somebody else. But I think this is something I don't know. Do we have to go to

the league with this? I don't know what I would imagine we'd have to go to the league, will have to be involved off to trade them, something to get rid of a preseason game or something. I don't think they'll be too big of a fan of, you know, eliminating four of their careers every years. Maybe have to add a roster spot or something. I don't know, we'll figure it out. Um, all right, there you go. Um, Erica, did you have anything you wanted to add? Um, you

kind of said it. I think looking into the two we were kind of texting the other night about some of our like fun wacky video shoots and fun stuff

we used to do. And as much as I, you know, love the season, it is feeling pretty routine, I think for all of us, and so I'm really looking forward to the off season when we can all sort of be together, hopefully more often, and sort of flow those creative juices that we usual To that point, why don't you put up one of our old dio is that we did should like when we wanted to Dean Sanders personal green room and destroyed it, never allowed back right,

and then the next day they had that door locked forever. That was good. That was a good one. You're like, um, one of the most successful college coaches right now. He's he's definitely got a lot of pub Is that team doing well? Ya? Were they like the best season and they won They won their their league and bowl game. Something about Dion never spoke to the man worked with him technically for ten years. I never saw him, saw him at one talent sum it, never saw him at

the office. He shouted my name when I during that talent something. We were up at some doing some sort of group exercise and I had to write something with on a dryer race board and man, he got my name wrong. It was my last name. But it was like I knew what he was trying to do and it kind of felt I felt a connection. Wow. He said, what was like sarceler or something. Well, that sounds like we've got Mark cessler on. It's just like, I mean, like you know what it was. But I was like, this,

he sees me, he recognizes me. Um, I think he sees something and he's obviously a good recruiter. That was also the same talent summit where you know, I saw my TV a couple of days earlier and he had a completely shaved dome and then he showed up at the talent summit and he had like Julius Irving's hair on the nets in nineteen seventy six, and I was like, wow, hair, it really came in pretty full there, very dents, right.

And then money. He's a good thing, all right, he said it, you know, his money for all of us in how about that? Like that. My sister, my sister Shay actually owned Dion Sanders is um cassette single. Um. It was about money. I can't remember what the song was, but it was about money and how awesome it was and it so it got a lot of play in the house. As I recall, Must be the Money it was called. It was a banger. In fact, Ricky, let's

play out the show. It must be the Money, all right, because there's a lot of young people that don't know that. Dion and his heyday went for it as a recording artist and released the single must be the Money the friends with mc hammer. No doubt I believe he was actually all right, let's um, let's go, let's end the show. Um, good stuff, We'll be back on Thursday. Video is amazing. They can't cancel us if we just stay recording forever.

D there was a time where Dion ruled the world. Um, we'll be back on Thursday with a preview of Week eighteen. We've never done a Week eight team preview. It happens in two days. To make sure you're there for that. UM and until then, eat the turn eating man. When I said I got it, lack the strange things, Shane put up that ince for the birst. It's so. I called my mom and she said, Baby, the game. It's got to be because I got to read people. I never start about the school game. Having real lax was

get on my day. But I got the paper every day of the bay. Doing nothing now to bugle down and I don't know what's turning down. Mom, damn money, you know what can go wrong? I see feeling, can call him. Must see the line that a memo. It