Hard Knocks New York Jets: Episode 5 Recap

One of the biggest pet peeves I have as a coach is when you're on a team that's not doing very well and the opposing coach whose team is doing well walks up to you at the fifty yard line says, man, you guys, play hard.

You I don't want to play hard. I don't to you up.

That's the mindset. No one's talking about how we play hard anymore. They're Peyton and that's exactly what you can want.

Oh that's my coat.

From the Chris Wesley podcast Studio. It is the season finale of the Hard Knocks podcast and Hard Knocks and the show the show as well, what's more important decide if I had I'm Dan Hansis, by the.

Way, and I'm Colleen Woolf.

Hello, that's Colleen wolf and you you grade very high on the given factor.

That was one of my favorite lines from the entire show. Also wrote it down.

It does.

That one that connected with me because sometimes when you work with people or whatever in life, you want to make sure that that factor is at a high or an acceptable level.

Uh huh.

We all got to be in it to win it.

I also, just going off of what Robert Sala just had to say there when coaches go up to him and say, man, you guys play hard? Okay, was it Belichick? How many times has Belichick said that to him? Mc dermott like, who was it that really got under his skin? That's what I want to know.

Let's be honest that Jets have had two losing seasons under Solace so far, so plenty of coaches have had that opportunity to this point, but this is supposed to be different. Collien and if I could offer a one line synopsis of this fifth and final episode of Hard Knocks to kind of an overview of the Jets in general what we've seen this summer, that might be all as well in Jetland. Or if we want to add some dramatic sala Ian Salayan.

Sal Yeah, sala Ian salah.

Ian heft, we could call it where foolish crows come to suffocate then free fall to their pitiful depths.

Yeah, I mean, out of context, it was weird, but when we saw the full.

Thing, point is this team believes.

That's a reflection obviously of the coaching staff led by Robert sala and these five weeks served as a snapshot of a team Connie an organization that is absolutely certain of its place in the NFL right now.

That confidence has never been higher.

Which you know, let's get into that a little bit.

Here's DJ Reid, the cornerback, underrated cornerback of the Jets. On Monday, had a zoom call with reporters and he said this, I think we have the potential to be the best defense in the NFL.

Just stop there, stop there, we don't need it. But he keeps going.

Honestly, I think we can be historical, not just the best defense in the league, but I think we could be a historical defense like the eighty five, eighty six Bears, the lob Seahawks legion of Boom in twenty thirteen. I think we could be that dominant if we just put all the things together. And that's the side of the ball, Colleen that doesn't use Aaron Rodgers, right.

I know.

So what I'm kind of getting from you right now is like a little a little stress, maybe a little anxiety style because everyone is so confident and hard knocks really put together this like beautiful image of this Jets team that has everything going right, all the pieces are in place.

The future is theirs to grab.

And take hold of and do whatever they want to do with it, you know, unless something catastrophic happens, which never happens to the Jets.

Right, And that's kind of the crux out.

It's like the Jets, they of the seven game losing streak that ends last season and the thirteen year and counting playoff drought. They view themselves as major players with championship upside. But now here's the hard part, Connie, they actually.

Have to like do it right.

So as I've really enjoyed as a fan this entire summer, this spring, everything after Rogers's arrival, but I've got i gotta like some nerves now and watching this finale and seeing how high the confidence is that now they got to go and do it. Here's defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrick, who again gassing up this plane.

He believes, God, look around, this is it, this is it.

Let's go.

It's all we got, it's all we need, guys, am I whatever. Twenty plus years in this league, I have never been around a collective group with such talent and such character. And that's real, Like this is a special group in so many ways. It's our time. That's not just words on a PowerPoint. It's our time to dominate. It's time to go.

Let's go.

I've bought in, I'm here for it. Listen, of all of the teams.

Talk me down my anxiety down a little bit.

Well, I understand this because the first time, the year that the Eagles won the Super Bowl, they had been playing so well and everyone was so high on them, and it made me feel so uncomfortable to actually hear something positive, right that was real and happening with the Eagles. But this team really is set up so well out of all of the teams that kind of they grab your attention and then they stab you in the heart like the Chargers, you know, like you know, the Browns

Rookie of the Year. I mean, everything is, everything.

Is set right now for them. The table is set, and now they just have to you know, they gotta do.

They gotta eat, They gotta eat. I mean, should I be worried about the wall Finish the wall.

Finish the wall.

Finish the wall, all right, the finale.

So yeah, finish the wall situation, which I kind of love. They're going to basically take snapshots and scenes from every game every week and then put it on the wall that long hallway that we saw in the episode, and so they did it for the preseason, and it's kind of like their own destiny is in their hands and they don't want that hallway to be filled with terrible photos, and they wouldn't do that anyway. But I think that that this is kind of like a cool, nice thing.

I like it. I am You are a seventy seven year old woman.

And doryd Toreen Waldenstein trapped in a young woman's body. I enjoy that about you. I can picture you in an upstair of an old house, in an attic, in an attic, locked away in the attic, hardwood floors, heating and air conditioning not great, but it's okay because you've been given an easel and one window and you're just painting.

You know, I paint right, yeah, bird watch.

The bird watch and you paint and it's a tourene corner.

But the hallway finish the wall. That is a very confident plan that they.

Have right and again I love it. I love that this team believes. And when Jeff Ulbrich the DC talks about how special the defense is, and when DJ reid Uh does the same thing in a conference call with reporters, I get it. But I think it's just six days to kick off, and anxiety is setting in after what's been such a great ride by the way, this hallway

Let's go give it.

Up for Leev Schreiber, not only once again and whatever Paul Rudd in the Chief season, get off the corner. This is Leev's territory. And he got He was in the opening credits, cry on sure he Chiron Chiron.

I was like, cry on.

That I missed opening Chiron for the first time.

He took a damn helicopter to the practice field.

Shout out blade.

Shout out blade. How much who paid for it?

Probably the guy with the seven million dollar chain he used for thirty five seconds in one episode. But anyway, Leev does a great kind of opening monologue here.

HBO is almost like, how much are we paying? Yeah, we gotta get we gotta get the most of him.

In episode five, here's here's a portion of it not from Leev because he's a hugely successful actor and there's all sorts of legal loopholes that preclude him from being on an NFL media property like this one day maybe, but we did get Jason Zumwalt in an old airport.

It's true. The hall is dead straight, and every NFL season has twists, so the metaphor is not perfect, but it's not bad. Besides, the most important part of this hallway is what lies at its end. Four letters that now means something new. J E. T s. Today is about learning who's earned the privilege of being called one.

Wow.

I love the light music playing in the background.

Beyond music, is it just me? Or is that his best delivery?

I think he likes an audience apparently he was in the airport doing it. Who knows were what little space he carved out.

For He must have looked nuts.

Yeah, probably love that.

I know we were hoping that he would be in an actual airplane, that he would have to do it from the bathroom.

With Sumwat's initial plan is flying fly. He was working Louisiana heading back up to Connecticut. His initial plan was to do it from an airport bathroom. And then he and then he said to me, this is this is great with Jay. He texted me, I'm gonna send it to a guy. He has a guy that would filter out the ambient sound of being in an airport bathroom or in a plane bathroom. I was like, no, we want that, we want the ambiance anyway. Good job by Jay all season long, and uh leev, way to go, buddy.

Oh yeah, I can't complain you.

You've been nervous, man.

How you feeling?

It's been pretty good? Yeah?

How do you think the preseason went?

It's been pretty good, you know, yeah, well.

You know, the odds are stacked against you from the from the jump man. So you did a lot of good things this camp man. Yes, so we appreciate your hard work. Just want to let you know. Man, you're in New York.

Jet a take out.

Hell, I know what you earned it you get, You're gonna You're gonna do a lot of good things for us.

It's here.

Should Robert so all have be doing voice work just as an aside. I mean, he has a great voice.

Uh Zumwal doesn't need more Competition's keep him on the sideline. That was Xavier Gibson, one of the wide receivers young wide outs that made the team. Jason Brownly also made the team and also got the fake out treatment by Oh by the way, oh Joe Douglas. He's actually with the organization. He finally saw in episode five.

He is alive and well.

I remember in the twenty ten Jets Hard Knocks Mike Tannenbaum the GM at the time, you actually they were showing Mike on the field trying to catch as many punts as possible in his arms and like stumbling and falling. I remember FRANCESSA on New York d be like that's a clown. Shown.

That's why Joe Douglas didn't show up until Nally as the Euro Yes, I love this was very wholesome and pure because we had mentioned that we hadn't really gotten a lot of uh, you know, inner workings of the coaches kind of standing on the table for their guys.

He never did.

Actually, we had seen that in all of the other past Hard Knocks, but not with this one, and the Jets were pretty clear about that from the jump. So I kind of had a feeling when I saw Jason Brownlee go into the office with Joe Douglass for his maiden voyage on the show, his first appearance, and Robert Sala that this would be a fake out. But then it also had me wondering because Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gibson are such close friends.

Jason obviously called.

Old Xavier to tell him that he made the team, and I'm sure he told him exactly what happened, like how they faked him out. So I wonder if Xavier kind of knew that that was happening or could be good question a possibility, because otherwise it was like, really, that's what you're going to do.

Oh my god, these guys think that they're gonna get.

Cut Here's what Aaron Rodgers said.

I'm really proud of those guys, and he mentioned how they didn't get big signing bonuses, they were disappointed on draft day, but to end up with a spot on the fifty three, and now we're a week further from the cutdown day and week one is coming up on Monday night. These guys look like they're safe and they're going to be on the fifty three, which is a big, a really big moment obviously, and something you don't see often. I did think it was really interesting. We never on

He retires suddenly.

We never hear about that on the show, or it's never really made clear why it became two spots, but it is and to the benefit of these guys, they get a chance and now we'll see again. It's almost weird after this very unprecedented season for Jets fans, We're gonna see what these kids can do.

Are they gonna get run? Is Aaron Rodgers gonna throw them the ball?

Exactly?

See?

And then also the other rookie that I'm super interested in now is the running back.

Is he Abana Konda? First of all, I just like his name is so much fun to see see right off the tongue, and he was hurt.

He was able to come back so quick that thigh injury. Where he was on the field, he couldn't even feel anyone like touching his leg, you.

Know how bad.

Like imagine everyone's gotten like either need or punched in the arm by their buddy or some jerk like a bu and then it's like, oh, it's sort It's almost like, yeah, imagine being need so hard in the thigh that the trainer comes out and you can't feel.

It's a brutal game.

I can't, I can't.

I mean he was supposed to be out for a month, came back in a week, and then we had a chance to meet his family a little bit more nice.

They're Nigerian.

They talked about how they love parties, they love to celebrate, which I just feel like I would get along so well with this whole entire hungry.

That food looked so bomb.

I don't know what. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was some type of rice would make.

Me not of this food look bomb? Get it to Connie in time.

Yeah, I don't know if it was a Nigerian dish that they were cooking, but if it was, it could have been jallof rice.

That is something i've Yeah.

There's also something called puff puff, which is fried sweet of fried sweet dough ball, which just looks like maybe isn't.

That like a zeppee or whatever? Oh?

Probably was that a New Jersey turn and that sounds cool. It's Italian Italian Jersey news.

Zeppel is like a do you know, Eric Roberts, you're from? Where are you from?

Original Los Angeles?

Ever heard of it?

No, no idea.

It's like you get in the bag. It's great.

I don't know.

That could be a Northeast we'll find out.

We've we've come back into this cul de sac once more. We are Yeah, Tanzel Smart, the defensive tackle who everyone really that watched the show.

He was impossible not to root for. He does not make the team.

We notably do not see this because in you know, old Hard Knocks days, there's a GoPro in the coaches of the GM's office Brownley Gibson, Like, there's a cameraman just like sitting in there hanging with him. Yeah, imagine what those guys are thinking. It is like, am I about to get cut with his cameraman three feet away from me? But they weren't smart. There were no cameras for that. We did get though a conversation the fact,

You just want to get what you deserve, you know, And I feel like I deserve. I deserve to be on the fifty three. So if you know, if God wanted me to be here, I'll be here. But if not, I need to go be on the fifty three. I just put a lot of good out there, and that's why I read it on even like you see my face, I'm not I'm upset, but I'm not like, oh, devastated, because at the end of the day, I put everything I could into this and it.

Is that's the human side of what makes the show so great. And you know that's hard to watch because how real and human it is. He say look at my face, and his face tells the real story, right, He's crushed.

He's completely you can hear the frustration, but you can also see the defeat. And I think that's like what he's getting at when he says, look at my face, Like, I'm not crushed, but it's like, yeah, of course he is. And he's felt this many times over again, and he wants this so bad. And he's holding his daughter, who's so sweet and so cute, and he's looking at her and it's just like, I want this for him because he wants it so bad, so that kind of pulls at the heart strings.

Yeah, that I always think about. It's one of my favorite moments in the history of Hard Knocks. It was in the Bengal season. I believe the second Bengal season defense another defensive tackle, Terrence Stevens, who is a great singer and he's trying to make it on the roster. I remember when they would show practices and games. He just wasn't necessarily hanging right with the big boys about

But he ended up on the practice squad.

And here's the good news.

And I did the same thing last year because I remember I got deja vu. Here is the good news for us people that understand the practice squad is not where you want to be as an NFL player. But according to my quick Internet research, the minimum for players who have accrued more than two years in the NFL or two seasons, and Tanzel is twenty seven.

He bounced around a little bit starting the rams.

You make fifteen four hundred per week, or two hundred and seventy seven two hundred dollars for eighteen weeks.

That the player is a crew two of more seasons. So that's not bad. Okay, So that's good for his family, that's good for him.

And if things an opportunity arises, maybe we see him at Jetlife Stadium, you know what.

That feels like a win.

And I'm hoping for bigger things in the future for him and Quincy Williams.

I don't want to either. Carcuccie Board, Quincy Williams.

Carcuccie Boards, Will McDonald and Quincy Williams walking off the field after the news broke about Tanzel.

It's business, it's not personal. It's tough. It's tough. All right, Let's take a break. We're gonna have a very special guest.

Oh my god, I'm so excited about this.

I mean, this has been building for five apps and now it is time big reveal.

After this break, the old man, welcome back.

What a day.

How's your dad doing?

Oh he's great, A wolf awesome ed.

Wolf saw you?

Oh he sure did sign that together in the conversation a little bit later, but from one father to another, he around the NFL. Fans know him well. The man that made me a Jets fan for better or that made you and made me. You got that right too. Cue the music, Eric Roberts.

His name is Keith. He's stands dad, no doubt about it. He's a big Jets fan. Wood is he going to say the game today? Will he go game today? Hey?

Joining us now from spring Lake, New Jersey, a mere stone's throw from the florm Park headquarters of New York Jets.

It's Keith Hanss my dad.

Hey, pop, mister hans is Hello.

Oh I Dan and Colleen. How you guys doing.

We're doing well? Better now?

Yes, we've been wanting to have you on the Hard Knocks podcast. We wanted to pick the right spot, and I feel like the finale, Dad, is the perfect time to bring you in as a Jet fan. Going back to the name of days and first of all, what were your thoughts, Let's talk about the finale. Anything from the finale that really kind of stuck out to you tonight?

Oh?

Yeah, what a finale?

You know.

The thing that I really took from that finale was two big things. First of all, when they were walking down that hallway, initially right when they and they think that was the length of a football field, right right, And then when they at the very end they showed how then they were sequencing putting pictures in up to with the hard knocks, and then they were going to put more pictures throughout that hallway as the season progressed. I thought that was pretty cool because that was such

With Rogers, and he pointed out Connie and the rest of the team, they've only gotten to the base camp right now, there's so much farther to go. And Dad, you mentioned that hallway. We talked about the base camp. Huh, right, We talked about at the beginning of the show, how that hallway and how they're going to put up photos celebrating each week, big moments from each week. It's kind of like that could backfire if the season doesn't go well, But at the same time, they don't think about that

Well, when it comes to the name of years, you know, right after the Super Bowl they made the playoffs and then they lost the tough game to Kansas City. And then the following season nineteen seventy one, you know, all the Jets had really high hopes because they had a strong defense and a great offense. And what happens in preseason name of trying to make it tackle in those gays.

Well, listen, I've been watching Danny as you call him, and I feel like when you're on and when I'm around you, I have to call him Danny. Danny kind of worked through different emotions while watching Hard Knocks, going from just the excitement of the fact that it was about the Jets and then working slowly towards a little bit more of a stressed out situation because so much is now around the Jets. There's so many spotlights on them. So for you, I just want to know your experience.

No question about it. More confidence, totally more confidence. And let me just say one other thing about you know about you said how the Jets fortunes? How was I looking at the when it comes to Danny, all right, that's when the Sanchez years came in. That was big post name it that we thought was going to something have something happened, But yeah, this, watching this show, I was definitely.

On a high. Yeah, I bet. What about your opinion?

Yes, I remember being in the garage with you dad at my old house in Culver City, and it was a Thursday night and I had a TV set up and we had the heat lamp set up and it was me, you, our dear departed friend Chris Westling, Greg and Mark and we were watching the game.

Colleen was at lambeau Field while this was going on.

We were talking about the Packers and famously called the coach.

Lafleura a bearded boy, which was great.

But also in that conversation that was always brought back up that you said that you didn't like Rogers.

He's arrogant.

That was the word, Danny, I don't like that Rogers, He's arrogant. Has your opinion changed it all on Rogers over the past four or five months, or even the last five weeks with this show, you.

Know, you're absolutely right. I did have that feeling because he does have that sort of rough edge to him, But not seeing the different side of Rogers which we saw in Hard Knocks was big. You see how he was not only to his teammates but the coaches and then players that even in pre season. You see the way they all go over to him and embrace him and say hello. He says hello to all these guys. You know, it's like he's not that same guy that

I think it's a lot guy. I just didn't know him.

It's like watching Dan at work. Everyone kind of comes up to Dan. They gravitate towards him. They're giving him high fives when he walks in the building.

Everybody loves Dam and I'm like Rogers when he was the tail end of the packers.

I just tell everybody to get away from me.

You know what, the mister Hansas, I have a question for you, because for years and years and years, Dan has been telling us about his hometown. Where you live now, Spring Lake, would you describe it as a cold town as Dan has?

Well, Pearl River is where I.

Grew up, Pearl River. I'm so sorry. Is that a cult?

Well?

That was Danny's description of Pearl River. You know, I never saw any coal mines in Pearl River or anything, but I guess Danny was referencing it to some other things that he was equating it too. I'm not quite sure. And Colleen, you can call me Keith.

Please, Okay, great? Great.

The best part is my dad never really had any issue with it, but my mom deb she'd be like, I don't like that you call it a cult, Dad, before we say goodbye. You know Joe Namath, your two heroes growing up, Nameth Mickey Mantle. Okay, name it. Towering

Absolutely, you know, if he can take this team, which you know they have one of the toughest schedules, which I know you guys have talked about and if he could take him to like eleven or twelve wins of them, hopefully for at least eleven, you know, this would put him in a total I would definitely be There's no other Jet quarterback I'll put it this way, other than the name of it that could do what he can do. Rogers what I feel. So yes, I would put him

I hope that right, no, nobody really Well.

I was just gonna say, I wish that we could have Keith on a show every week.

He's so much.

Fun, such a blast hanging out with your dad before the super Bowl this past season. He told us so many stories, It's fun about you growing up and it was just like a delight. So anytime you want to come on any of these shows, I mean even shows that I'm not on, you should come on.

Very much.

I appreciate that.

Let's end it this way, Dad, because you introduced Jets fandom to me, and I learned a lot about name It from you and watching old clips over and over and over.

I was hoping we'd see Joe. I thought.

I was hoping we'd see him at the Hall of Fame enshrinement where two jets went in and they played in the Hall of Fame game.

We didn't.

I was almost certain we'd see him on Hard Knocks, but we didn't. Hope everything's good with Joe. But since we didn't see Joe in these episodes other than a little quick clip at the top of the show, at the top of the season, I want to play my favorite name is clip for you dad, as before we say goodbye, Hit it Eric.

Okay, sometimes they talk about drinking and conniving around with ladies and stuff, and it seems almost Unamerican to me for a bachelor, not to mar you know, go around having a drink with a lady now man, and why all of a sudden, that's becoming evil in me, just trying to get bye. Look at that shot and.

He buries the shot, that iconic, he buries the shot.

He buries the shot. And if that isn't that isn't the nineteen seventies, nothing is and that was just typical of the way things were in those days that it was really good. And I did get to meet Joe one time when they used to train in Long Island at Hofstra University and was a good friend of mine, was on the Hostra football team. And I'll just say this one thing quickly. He said, Keith, you want to meet Joe. I said, are you kidding me? Are you

And here I'm there.

I'm about eighteeth at this time, right and I'm suck get out of here, you know, very friendly, very nice. So that's that's my name of the story.

Wow did he make did he make? Curfew?

He made it because it was right at eleven so and sure enough, like he said, every time, it's the same exact thing. The car came peeling into the parking lot literally you heard it, and then out of the car into the and he got in of course at eleven o'clock.

Wow.

Oh yeah, that's a true story.

Well from one legend to another. Keith Hansas, thank you for joining us, Papa.

We love you, Keith, thank you like that. There you go, my dad. I love that Hofstra story.

To like eighteen year old kids in the seventies waiting for the great Joe Namath to roll in.

So good he said, eleven or twelve wins.

Yeah, he's feeling good.

But like I will, I will say that.

If they win eleven games and it, you know, go quietly in the playoffs, it won't feel like good enough to me. Like I think they the bar is high enough now where not only have to get back to the lafts. They gotta make a little bit of noise, okay, and then you dream big for something beyond that.

So just making the playoffs would be a disappointment, a little.

Bit, a little let's get to do you disagree?

No, I agree with all the fanfare and everything, but I think too that is why some teams sometimes don't want hard knocks because they think that it's going to we'll get to that too much.

Let's sit up here, let's get to our final MVP.

This is.

Votes and this is a major episode for Eric Roberts vector voting system.

Well, I mean, first of all, he came into this episode extremely strong. He was able to navigate all sorts of technological issues going into our screening room. He figured out how to work the theater, which neither one of us know how to do.

He just kind of sat there and heckled him while he did it.

That was my favorite part of the really great job you guys cheering me on.

I thought you were.

I thought you were just setting him up to mention that he forgot to turn on our mics at the beginning of the taping of this episode.

You can't win them all.

Magic of podcasts. Eric's done wonderful work all season. His job is to be the mathematician of the group tabulating the vector voting system. Let's do our votes for m v P and then once we hand out these three prize places, Eric will share with us the Hard Knocks MVP.

Third place for me this week, that's it.

Robert Sala, the motivator, I would play for that guy any day. I like Keith Hansis, loved the Mount Everest analogy. At first I thought it was maybe going to be cheesy, but the way that he explained it and landed that plane.

Perfect jets exactly.

And then you know that that the finish the wall, I mean, that has to be his idea. So and I think that that is like an onion type idea. So third is solid.

It's kind of putting yourself out there.

And we talked about it around the NFL that very rarely does a coach get three years. If you don't make the playoffs any of those first three years, you're gone.

They have not made the playoffs yet in his first two seasons.

Sala has a lot of pressure on him, but you could tell he believes that this is the right team. I had him as my second place vote. Okay, so Salad does very well in our voting enough to win it.

We shall see my third place votes.

A vote go to You know, I I love this defensive line, love all season long.

And by the way, if I.

Could really, can we just quick aside here if I really had to hand out one MVP for MVP for season five, it's Colleen.

Wolf oh Whoa.

Absolutely nailed her prediction.

Slash wish that they end Hard Knocks thanks a finale with a trip to Broadway. Yeah, and what do we see in the first fifteen damn minutes? Aaron Rodgers, Zach Wilson, a host of other players at the MJ Show on Broadway.

You nailed it, my dream. This is all I wanted.

It's show business, maybe your box office.

Like, on one hand, I would love to be like, yes, this prediction was so awesome and I knew it was going to happen. I saw it before it even happened. But also it's like I would like to believe that maybe I planted the seed and they were like, you know what, that is a great idea call.

We will all go to Broadway, so, uh, here we are.

You don't know for sure that's not what happened.

I know, but either way, this is the power of putting things out in the universe and seeing them happen. So there this was like, this was so awesome, Like I love this defensive line too, and I'll let you keep going.

Yeah, I was gonna say Tanzel Smart was one of the people there. Mister Carcucci board himself Michael Clemens. I don't know what's Clemens there. I'm not positive, but I.

More we saw him in a different part of the show.

A general like shout out to the D Line last week, I gave it to Smart kind of representing the D Line. I'm giving it to Michael Clemens for a birthday wish to Sauce Gardner.

That kind of sounded like a death threat. Let's listen to it.

Ah, Damn it is sausage birthday, though, I think so.

Yeah, Damn.

Smart, Happy birthday, Happy birthday, Bro, we go happy birthday.

If you have a great I appreciate it.

Bro. Not making eye contact, No, won't look at him in the eye.

And there's more to that story.

By the way Clemens has him by the chest, like by his jersey, It's really funny.

This is Sauce Gardner, who is arguably the greatest young defensive star in the sport entering his second season, being grabbed by the jersey collar and refusing to make It's like my dog when I come home and he chewed something up. He just he won't even look at me. I don't know what the backstory is between Clemens, and it seems very pretty clearly like a bit, but I just like the idea that, like, there's a whole other thing that's been going on through training camp that we were not pretty to.

So all we have is that with no context. And I loved it.

But I also did not see Sauce laughing at the at the bit quote unquote.

So I don't know what the story is.

Sometimes a bit is only a bit to one side, right.

Yeah, exactly.

This actually works perfect because my second place vote and I guess if we're gonna do D line, so you had it for the full D line or clemens on behalf Okay, So I'm gonna go with Solomon Thomas here.

Run.

He was sort of I would like to think that he was the leader in getting this Broadway show and the field to happen in general. And they went, they saw Michael Jackson. I think Solomon Thomas said that this was his fourth time seeing the show, so avid show watcher and Broadway guy. But it was just so fun to see all of the players out in the wild and at a musical too, so they're dancing, they're singing.

Probably not a cheap ticket. No, you know, to the MJ.

Broadway Show, Nathaniel Hackett had on a sport coat that was cute.

Yeah, I loved it.

Yeah, they caught Solomon Thomas had a moonwalk. That was That was the part that I like though, and he was not good at it, but it was funny.

I should before we move on to our second and first place votes, I have a prize for you.

I have a I have a yeah, a prize or a surprise.

It's a it's a surprise, and it's also an award for being so prescient with your prediction. Yes, earlier this season, the premiere, in fact, we had a certain player that wears number eight on the Jets wearing a certain hat that you thought was cool. So behind the scenes here at NFL Media, the yes, the hat that says cherish the little Things a gift from NFL Media.

Are you serious?

I love this.

I'm gonna wear this all the time. First of all, it's black and white. So it's gonna go with so many things, including this outfit. Yes, I love baseball hats. I love trucker hats. This is going in the rotation. I love this.

Thank you?

All right? What'd you get me?

My presence is the gift?

All right? So you deserve that for that prediction.

L I owe you. Here's this visitor's badge because I passed today.

Thank you. That's perfect. We even, all right?

I said I had Sola second, Kay, you had second place?

Solomon Thomas, Solomon.

Thomas first place.

Who do you got Aarons same seas? We both have Rogers?

Just I mean he was a staple throughout this entire series, clearly, but the UFO story Loane really drove home my first place MVP vote for him.

I have to say, Colleen, I got something else here?

What else is over there? That's like Christmas?

My banana just felt.

You know how many you know, how many like you know how many things have happened this year where I've thought to myself or this during this show.

I feel like this was made for me.

Like it's a show about the Jets, and you know, all these different things this Aaron Rodgers.

And the UFO tidbit from Aaron.

Rodgers felt like I was watching Unsolved Mysteries, which is like my favorite show forever, Robert Sock forever. I wanted to bring in this Leslie Nielsen autographed photo that I believe. I want to say this my sister or my brother maybe or maybe my cousin who was a family members.

It's signed.

My son was born in twenty fourteen, Jack Luck and laughs. Leslie Nielsen from Naked Gun, who was prominently discussed by Nate Hackett and Company as a legend of the forum.

Now here's you want to talk about unsolved?

That's so cool.

Leslie Nielsen died in twenty ten. H my son was born four years later. So I don't know who signed this or if Leslie.

I don't know. I just want to say that, Leslie Nielson.

You got this gift before Jack was born.

I got it for his his birth. Yes, Leslie Nielsen signed eight by ten, four years after Leslie passed. Wow, so somebody my son's name did not create like exist in the ether when Leslie left us.

So what an unsolved mystery.

That's an unsolved mystery. Now another unsolved mystery. Aaron Rodgers with his old cow teammate in the New Jersey Woods, seeing something that changed them.

We had this great dinner at his house in Jersey. I was making my way to bed. I had like a five am wake up, and I was I was getting down to bed. I heard this alarm and distance going off. It just didn't seem like normal. When I heard some rustling downstairs, so I got up, walked downstairs.

I am on the edge of my seat.

My heart is pounding, Aaron, I need more more more.

I stood frozen to three of us on the front stoop of Steve's house, and about thirty seconds later, we heard the real recognizable sound of fight jets going that seemed to be chasing this object. And again we just stood there and just disbelieve. For another few minutes. Nobody said a word, and then we all kind of looked each other like, did we just see what we think?

We just saw?

What was that?

You saw it? You definitely saw it. That's what it was. That was a UFO.

Now, Rogers obviously has taken his fair share of slings and arrows for being a little bit out there. And I can understand why a certain like a doubter or a skeptic might say, Oh, that's the guy who's going to lead you to it for super Bowl in fifty five years.

Yeah, you're damn right, that's the guy.

You know why, because he's seen the light.

Because he's right, He's right.

That story was insane, you.

Know what a good music yougo is such a long way by the way, that was very stacky and unsought mysteries.

Good jab bravo as usual.

They really really set it up well. But I believe him. My dad is seen a UFO. And Aaron Rodgers even said in that whole retelling of the story that they were right by a nuclear power plant, like a few miles away from one, and that is a noted.

Area UFO classic.

Behavior exactly, And that's where my dad saw his because he was in it was in the middle of the night, Ed Wolf manning the air traffic control tower a straight sho he is. He does not like, he doesn't exaggerate about things. He's not a storyteller that like, you know, just adds in fake dee for the stake.

Ever story, Yeah, never.

And he's even like sometimes a little bashful about telling the story. And he's at an air traffic control tower in the tower in the middle of the night, and it's at a missile silo because that's where he was stationed during not and he sees he sees this bright light that's not on the radar, and he's sitting with someone else and he sees the light zigzag across the sky and then disappear. And he turns to the guy next to him and he said, did you just see that?

To Vietnam.

Yeah.

By the way, you can only say noam if you actually battled.

Him during NOM he was manning the nuclear missile silo.

I listen, man, and it's coming out more and more.

And Dorry and Dorr. Yeah, Ed, I believe you.

I believe your story, and I believe my quarterback saw something he wasn't maybe supposed to say, are we allowed to be talking about it?

Who's watching us? All question?

They are? Of course they are. I know many people who have seen one.

All right, I think not to take the air out of the balloon on this one. But I think it's pretty clear who the MVP of the season is. But why don't we go five to one Eric Roberts and according to the vector voting system? Because I'm just gonna say, Connie, yes, now, I don't want to step on it. I have in my mind, my mind, who is the runner up? I guess that I have. But let's hear okay, I actually.

Think I know. I'm going to write it down what one, two, three is?

Okay, Okay, I'll do the same thing.

All right, there we go.

So how about you go one to four because after four it's event started four thought for you.

Let me just make sure I have this written down for posterity. Okay, I am good, I have my I'm like the mentalist right now, I'm writing it down.

I love that you.

Call me and Doreen, but like you're writing stuff out and you have Leslie Nielsen a framed photo.

I'm with you. On the writing man, I love I love writing.

There you go, okay.

Fourth place guys Quinnin Williams with twelve points.

Q you okay. I would have guessed that too. I didn't go to four, but that makes sense. He had a great year defensive lineman. It's Sauce Gardner who has arguably the highest upside of all these defenders and the guy that is the kind of face of the defense. But Q is a star who just got paid and really showed himself well in this series.

Is just like a nice guy personality.

Had a pretty funny line in the last episode, you don't love me, you love that I get you sacks right.

What I do for you to mister Hackett. Yes, third place, my name is Nathaniel Hackett. Thanks, thanks to see you out here.

Yep so and then either here was He's always good for a good one liner.

So he you know, that is the power of Nate Hackett offensive coordinator and what a great job this show did, kind of rehabilitating some of his image after the.

Broncos Rogers Big Butterfly exactly.

Me too, hack Okay, So Hackett gets third.

He consistently he was a little quiet in the finale, but overall, week after week was living one liners.

I'm not surprised.

Second place, second place, guys, Roberts.

If you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping.

That's right, Salah. I think he also quitted himself very well, Connie.

This season he absolutely did Leader of Men and he should be doing way more voice work.

Well, Jason doesn't need again more competition, which means, of course first place. And the last year the winner of the Hard Knocks MVP was somebody probably Dan Dan Campbell Dan camp This year, twenty twenty three Hard Knocks MVP Aaron Rodgers. Yes, hees Aaron Rodgers not.

Gonna be so excited about it.

Look at this graphic.

I mean, Eric the dead MIC's at the top of the show, completely forgotten. Now, yeah, look at that Hard Knocks MVP number. Even a big old smile.

He's just so happy to receive this honor out of all of his honors.

And look he gets another MVP, which is great.

And that's that's yeah. It takes us too, Yes, he's got five.

Now takes us to final thoughts of the season, Colleen, Uh, what what did he get by?

How many points did he finish with do you have that?

Finished with forty two and and Sala had Sala had a distant fourteen?

Whoa, I didn't even I thought we were kind of like we're a little.

The problem was the bread out the like the points behind first pretty like so it's never saw like a second second second. It was always like Aaron and then like a mixed smash.

Of like see that's the vector voting.

Vector voting system.

But that I mean, if we would have come to any other conclusion other than Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of the show, we would have been it would have been the vector voting system would have been torn asunder.

Yeah, he was the MVP. He deserved to be the MVP.

Hopefully he's the real MVP in real football, starting next Monday night against Robins's Buffalo Bills.

Hold on a second, though, are we paying off? What did you have written down here for your productions?

Close? I had Rogers, Hackett, Sala, what did Hackett at twelve?

It was fourteen for Sala, Hackett for twelve, Quinnen and Hackett both at twelve points.

And Connie she did it again, you get that hat again. I was gonna take the hat away, but now you get it. It's mine cherish the little things. Starting with Aaron Rodgers wearing that in episode one, I thought this was a great platform for him, and it feeds into my final thought, Connie, teams need to relax. Teams need to stop taking themselves so seriously. And I include the Jets on this. I mean, you are not in charge

Got bigger problems to worry about than the Hard Knock count.

So to all the teams, and I hated it as a Hard Knocks lover that the enduring storyline leading up to the season was like, who's gonna do it? They can't find anybody. Please, Teams look at this as the golden opportunity that is so clearly is to show off your players and coaching staff and ownership and fans and your state of the art facility and your team history. In short, let NFL Films cook. You'll be better off in the end.

Yes, isn't this whole thing what we do? We talk about a game. A game is entertainment, this show is entertainment. We're in show business.

Or is her just once said you play to win the game, you play to be on Hard Knocks.

That's exactly right.

I nailed that, and you know we did get a little bit of less access from the Jets also, And I don't want that to be the start of a new trend. Now, let these team, let the NFL Film's crew do their job, and kind of everybody will win. Does he think anybody watched these five episodes of Hard Knocks or any of the past season, maybe the Brown season, you would come out of it thinking a little different about the team. Hugh Jackson and Greg Williams going at

And I think the Jets do right now.

And that's what's so exciting, and I think that it shows confidence in an organization. If you say yes to Hart Knocks, it shows that you don't have anything to hide and you're not worried about distractions because you have what it takes to go and win when it actually matters, and that this is really just base camp right here before we get to Mount Everest. And you know what else, I would like to see more off site gatherings like Broadway.

Field Do you want more for see? I don't need that as much.

I thought they'd got a good job of kind of raining that in a little bit this season. What I would like to see in the future is more behind the scenes. I want to see more table pounding and things like that. I thought they kind of got it just right with We went to Broadway, we did some charcouterie, we got some tattoos with Will McDonald.

It was nice. They did a nice job. It was a very enjoyable and it was.

There and they absolutely crushed the sopranos open like they did New York.

Well that's the other.

Thing, Like I said, Leslie Nielsen name dropped. Okay, my favorite comedic actor ever. Love them so much that from Beyond the Grave he autographed the glossy for my newborn son.

Sopranos probably my favorite show ever. Yeah, Jets my favorite team ever.

You've always loved Hard Knocks too.

And Colleen my favorite.

Hey doing a show with you being lucky enough to do that, I uh, really it's pretty cool.

You know.

I'm sad that it's over.

I am too, But I do think that we have one more piece of business do we to get to do we? Because when I think about New York and the Northeast, I think about the food. People always ask me, you know, do I miss Philadelphia and Philly right down the street from New York. I say, of course, I miss my family, but I miss the sandwiches. I missed miss cars. Any type of bread please? So WHOA what do we have here?

Get a camera on this?

Okay, so we have some food being delivered?

That is what do we got here?

Colleen, I honestly don't know what we have is. It's a tailor pork roll situation.

It's a tailor pork roll.

And disco fries.

Disco fries.

Disco fries was not like part of my Philadelphia life. So thank you so much, Parker.

What is on a disco fry? Let's that looks like this? Well look at this, Colleen, let's get a picture of this. This is basically New Jersey staples. Uh, park can you get in the shot there?

Staples?

Get out?

I said in but running staples of New Jersey diners. There's nothing more in New Jersey than diners.

And what do we have here?

So it's like in a breakfast sandwich of sorts with is this tailor pork roll?

Yeah, this is it?

And so uh Taylor pork roll like and jeez.

That's everything you would ever want in a sandwich. And Taylor is a brand of pork but everyone just calls.

It a tailor, right, I don't know.

My dad calls it tailor pork roll, like the full name, which I think is not popular.

Where did this come from? By the way, it just got wheeled in at it into this studio.

Is courtesy of the huddle are nice people? Have theres that the fun fed and hook us up with all the great food from upstairs.

That is love.

Mauriel put it together. Climb In Schneider had their hands in involved in this. You know, I feel like we sh a lot of people.

Try a bite here, right.

We were eating with the mic is always weird.

But I don't know. Do we say by and then by yeah?

Why don't we do that again? Yes?

Thank you to Matt Schnider, everybody behind the scenes here. Thank you to Ken Rogers. Yeah, the NFL Films who gave us this great.

Wearing show hard knock shirt.

Proudly that we are so obviously.

I hope we express it a door and we hope to be back here again next year. Until then, he the call, all right, let's get in on its