Chappie throwing caught Henry touchdown whoa order, were almost had the pack and the kick is going to be blocked Miles Kilbrow their special teams maven get s there need to going deep, going for an all and incomplete intending for Johnson.
Blame Canada. You can a go ball on fourth and two. What an absurd ending, too, frankly an absurd game. The New England Patriots get the stop late and get the win whether they want it or not, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at the field formerly known as Hines twenty one to eighteen, a win that both damages Pittsburgh's playoff hopes badly and damages the Patriots chance at the number one pick.
So maybe it's one of those weird, funky situations where a game ends in both fan bases are annoy Dan Hans is here from my home mark, Sessler there from his home mark. Where to start a strange game? Let's start here? Though they hit the over by halftime, but we didn't get much after that.
No, I mean we got I guess they hit the over because we got the best half of football. Offensively, the Patriots have produced Billy Zappy I don't like any of these quarterbacks, but Billy Zappy Arrow up on Mac Jones, and I just I'm looking at a Steelers team that, if anything, they'd been imperfect, but they've been resilient and
they keep kind of eke out wins. But in a five day period, you've lost to the Arizona Cardinals, who were an apparition essentially in the National Football League, and tonight to a Patriots team that, despite allowing like ten points or less in three straight games, had lost. Tonight they win, and it's I just the Steelers to me are fading away. And a lot of it has to do with the fact that first former first round pick Mitchell Trubisky you known, amounts to sixty yards through the
air in the first half. I mean, the offense that we thought two games ago in that clash with the Bengals had reawakened with four hundred plus yards two games in a row. Since we have evidence that that's not the case. And whether they're a playoff team or not in a really weird AFC, they are very flawed.
Yeah, I mean, I don't want to be that guy, but I was. I was less bullish about the Steelers coming off that four hundred yard game, just because we'd seen so much slock to that before that. And I never, I'm never totally on board with just putting everything on an offensive play caller, because there's usually a lot more going on, like bad quarterback play and bad blocking and an inability for the wide receivers to make a player show that they even care or want to be in
the building. And Pittsburgh to you know, the twelve and five dream is over, obviously, Mark. And it's funny because a week ago we were talking about how and I don't really look like a twelve and five team, but the schedule sets up so well for them they might just get there. So to drop back to back games to two win teams over the course of four days, I guess it does this, Mark, because we've been talking about how the Steelers aren't really passing any of the
smell tests throughout the season, and yet they kept winning. Well, now they've kind of been exposed, and with the schedule now tightening up, I think even though an NFL season isn't very long, even with the added game, just seventeen games each, it does have a way of filtering out the pretenders and the contenders by the end of December into January, and I think that's what's happened to the
Steelers here. And on the Patriots side, yeah, you get you get three touchdowns from Bailly Zappi in the first half. You know, some curious play calling. I thought down the stretch in this game, including before that that for you know that fourth down failure by the Steelers that basically ended the game. You know, the Patriots just running the ball three times into the line, trying kind of to get a first down, but also trying to burn Pittsburgh timeouts.
It's like, you're two and ten, like it, don't be so conservative, go and win the game. And then even when they're the next possession after when Pittsburgh failed on that go ball, they are inside the Pittsburgh forty yard line and it's fourth and inches and you send out the punter and it's like, just, oh my god, this is such a stupid game that we're watching and it
just refused to die. So I'm glad it's over. And Mark, I'm sure Greg is upset about it and all the other Patriots fans because they now also have put themselves in the position where they might not get that top two pick. This could be a very costly win for them.
Well, it's I think it was mentioned on our Thursday show that there's the world where if Belichick knows he's not going to be with the Patriots next year. We don't know if he knows that. We don't know what the situation is. But maybe you go Lovey Smith and you're not trying to like lose these games, and it's like leave the next coach without the number one overall pick.
I mean this game though, you know, I think it's pretty much on the nose when we predicted all week long that this would be a bit of a disaster and it turns out to be. I think there just aren't really seven real playoff teams in the AFC, and like we very well might get the Steelers in the postseason, and they're a very incomplete team. And I would say the one on top of the loss, like I don't
love like Alex high Smith, who you've got TJ. Watt, But Alex high Smith has probably even arguably been the more productive pass rusher leaves the game with neck injury. They're just problems with this team. They're very incomplete and to lose these two games the way they did, It's like these should have been the two opportunities to propel you and inflate your record beyond what you are and take you to that potential eleven to twelve win scenario.
And it's like, they're not that team. They're not going to do that. This is a Steelers team that's going to win about ten games, nine games and float out of the playoffs if they even get there at all.
Yeah, I don't think they're going to go near the playoffs as a team going in the wrong direction. And I did think, you know, watching Mike Tomlin in this game that you know, he called them JV after the Cardinals game, and I wonder what he's thinking in this game. And you could just you know, the hind excuse me, the Akros Shore fans in that building just going nuts booing that offense out of the building in the first half, because I think there was this, like very quickly, because
New England's offense was putting a point. Surprisingly, it became clear that oh whoa, this was supposed to be just like a three and a half hour celebration here in Pittsburgh, and we were gonna, you know, move right along to eight and five and be in great position going into the home stretch of the regular season. So it kind of turns into a nightmare. I should clarify because I just said that the Pats put themselves in a tougher
situation for that draft pick. Even with the win. They still hold the number two overall pick as action rolls on in the NFL on Sunday at three and ten. But you know, so Carolina, which is actually the Bears' pick, they are in very good position the Bears now to get the number one overall pick for the second straight year.
They're two games up on everybody else. But with that win for the Patriots, Patriots, does it moves them away from number one obviously further, But also all these other three and four win teams now are right in the mix for a top three pick. You got Arizona, Washington, Chicago, New York, New York, Tennessee, all with four wins right now, so that tightens up significantly. Anything else that jumped out to you in this game.
I just don't remember a season where within like a one week period, you had the fans in New Orleans, who are some of the greatest fans around and loyal to the end. Same goes with Pittsburgh both raining down booze and cat calls and annoyances in their home stadium at their own team. I mean, that's the kind of year we're in a little bit. The other thing that comes to mind is whenever they show Cam Hayward, the
monstrous defensive lineman for the Steelers. That dan when we did a broadcast boot camp with a number of NFL players and he was one of them, and you know, we did a little, uh, you know, ten minute how to do a podcast type class and like, you know, we're just us and like the class ended and you know, Darren Waller and a bunch of other people marched out
of the room. But like Cam Hayward came over to us and he's about six foot six hundred, Like he's just giant, and like he's like, hey, god, so how do you do a podcast?
Like how do you come up with your episodes? I was like, that'sard.
But now he's doing like I just saw him on Good Morning Football the other day. He's doing Grady. He does all this stuff. But it was just like when it's weird to watch these players and be like these are like absolute athletic feats and giants gigantic men and like they were, And he came over to us and just had this little tiny question for us, and you and I just stood there like, well, we'll see what we can do, and here we are doing a show.
Yeah, he was. He was a really really nice guy. I think I'm trying to think in my in our years working at NFL media, the biggest guy ever still for me was Chris Jenkins, the old Panthers and jetst tackle. When he walked into the old newsroom in Culver City. I remember just being a gas that a human could be that large, and also he was like super athletic, but I think I think he's number two on the
list and also was super nice. You know, did the Thursday Night Football During the post game show, they're like saying, stay right here. We got Bailey Zappi coming up to the day as Mike, oh Billy. You have Tony Gonzalez saying they're trying to what's wrong with the Steelers. What happened to the Steelers? And Tony Gonzalez is saying the reason they didn't win this game is they don't have an alpha male on their team. Can we I mean, geez,
can we come back to us? Tony? I mean, you played You're one of the greatest tight ends that ever lived. You played football for your whole life. They don't need an alpha now, they need a quarterback. And it's like they that is so much to do with their offensive struggles is that inability to have somebody And obviously Kenny Pickett is no great shakes, but Trubisky is just so inconsistent, and that's why it made it all the more puzzling.
With the game and potentially season on the line there at fourth and two near midfield, to throw a go ball there is so strange to me, And I know part of the problem is and I think Mike Tomlin, you know, obviously has a lot of work to do to try to get this season straightened out now. And if it doesn't work out, how do we make the team better? The running game once again disappeared here. They averaged less than three yards to carry in twenty eight rushes.
And I know that the one thing New England kind of has going for it is that the defense still plays with a sense of dignity and pride, and they they have not been pushovers. But man, that is not Pittsburgh Steelers football in any way, shape or form.
No.
I mean, New England has led the league in you know, allowing the least amount of points over the past three weeks. It continued tonight. Their defense is legit, like Belichick is still coaching that up. But Pittsburgh has been running the ball consistently and that went away tonight and it's like, you, Mitch Trubisky's not going to get you out of that. George Pickens like vanished this evening. And I would so argue against the concept that they lack an alpha male
on that team. I mean, what is TJ. Watt? What is Cam Hayward. They've got a bunch of them.
They're just talking about on offense. Just to be fair, I think he was don at the offense. But even then that I think we're on the same page there.
I mean, I just think that we don't. That's just not the case. You just you're look, you're you're dealing with average quarterback play. You're dealing with a quarterback that gets injured every couple of weeks. It's all over the league, Like we've got.
Better an alpha male. I mean, that's what the NFL is just filled with. There's five hundred alpha males. These guys are highly aggressive, physical marvels. Uh, these these guys, that's not what they're they need, And you know I'm with you, But shout out to Zeke Elliott, who obviously stepped into a larger role here with Ramandra Stevenson out
with the high ankle sprain. And he has one hundred and forty total yards in this game and a touchdown, so that that obviously helped the cause for New England in the first half. And his last run of note looked like it was a run for a first down in the last minute there to kill the rest of the clock. They challenged it and they ended up moving it behind and put it to third and short, and then of course they weren't able to make the first
down and had the silly punt and all that. But I did like the shot, Mark, And this is a good way to end this, because you know, we both we love us some Belichick in different ways. Bill pumping his right arm first down, first down, first down on the sideline. So I don't know what's really going on in the old coach's mind right now. I know, he's probably very embarrassed about, you know, the state of New England Patriot football at this point. But don't say he
doesn't want to win or he's checked out. Bill wanted that game badly, and I think to get a primetime win in Pittsburgh. It was kind of like a little taste of the old days, the Steelers who can never beat Belichick and Brady or hell Bledsoe back in the day. And once again with the Steelers desperately needing a win at Heinz Field or the artist formerly known as Hinesfield, again, the Patriots somehow stick it to him. So I think Bill it probably felt goot a little whiff of nostalgia.
There, I'm with you. And he did it with He's got this fashion choice going on of late where you've got a winter bonnet on with a little ball on top kind of hanging sideways off his head. It kind of looks like a you know, a Christmas Eve drunk and a dive bar. But like, I think he's doing that on purpose too, But am I wrong? Like that look kind of throws me.
I feel like he can He's like the he used to be a ski instructor along long time ago, in the eighties. This is in like a sleepy town in Vermont, a snow a snowtown, and now he's more in a managerial role, let's say. But he spends most of his time at the pub at the bottom of the ski slope, and that's where you could find mister Belichick these days, like one of those vibes, like he used to own this town, but now he's just a towny with the what did you call it? A bonnet with a ball on top.
I think it's I think that I mean, we you know, we can further, but I think that's what you'd call that hat, like a winter bonnet with the little, you know, the bobble on top, and it's sort of hanging sideways. I don't know, strange choice. I wouldn't I wouldn't walk around town with that out of it. But that's you know, he's got a different, a different agenda than I do.
You know what I'd like? I'd like to see Bill and LEVI your jacket probably have to size up a couple.
But yeah, I think he's not going to fit in my jacket.
I think it's time for Bill to kind of have a reinvention. Wherever he lands next. I know we're talking about it with Wish and Steve was less bullish on the idea that a people want Bill Belichick in the modern times in football if he was kind of a free agent, if you will and be whether he is, you know that gung ho about getting that record. I
think Bill would die for that record. I just I get that feeling that he is going to find a way to get that record and it's going to be one of the most important group of months in his life after this season's over and the end of the New England Patriots era, because I think it's this is his chance to kind of cement his legacy and he has a big decision to make. I still think he will have he'll have options, but we'll see.
Someone's gonna want him. I mean, I'm with you, like that record if he achieves it. Look what had to happen for Bill Belichick to get there, how many eons it took. It may never be achieved again with the way that coaches are hired and fired so quickly now, so nab it and maybe no one else on earth can ever achieve it again.
So I'm with you, all right, let's take a break, and when we get back a very special guest, we'll hit one very odd news item and then we will have a conversation with our very special guests. Stay right there, oh, Mark. We don't usually use this on Thursday night. It must be special. Welcome back. Our next guest needs no introduction. She's on the Mount Rushmore live around the NFL producers now doing the damn thing with the rams and beyond. Quite frankly. Some call her Erica Teposi. We know her
as Ricky Hollywood. Hey, that's that's our girl.
That is music, literally and figuratively to my ears.
Ricky, Hey, this is so nice.
This is so good to see you guys, to hear you.
Guys. We got a cat call from Mark, we got a bonnet, We've got slope side from snow Snow Vermont, snowy t. I mean, this is just this is great. This is exactly what I what I needed.
Ricky, did I just scribe Belichick's hat correctly? I don't know what the name of that.
I would just call it like a beanie with like a palm on it.
But yeah, big Funk chimed in in the comments palm beanie, which I've never heard of.
No.
Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't necessarily call it that either, and calling Randy Big Funk that like, that's that's new to me.
Now, it must be nerve wracking. I would think for Funk to have one of the legendary producers in the history of our show on right now, and people who know Erica and her history with ATM no Erica is a Patriots fan, born and raised in New England, and I was thinking and we ended up getting a w for the Patriots tonight, which was not expected. But the way kind of the conversation I wanted to kind of get into with you to start was what is it like as a millennial Patriots fan? Right? Like your what
is your earliest Patriot memory? Let's start there, just to let people have a little context, and there's obviously millions like you.
Yeah, no, it really really is two thousand and one, two thousand, it was. It was the millennium, you know. No, I I had an amazing twenty years with Brady.
So it's did you say the millennium or the will llennium?
The millennium, right, that's a will millennium. What's that?
See you're so young, you don't get the Will Smith joke. It was around the time It's all good wit.
Wait wait, what was on that one? Was that like Welcome to Miami?
No, I think that was on Big Willie Style. I think this one might have had Wild Wild West on it.
Okay, well, I'm familiar with that one.
I mean, she's so young, but Dan, you're so old, So it's I was gonna.
Say, I qualify as a what they call geriatric millennials, A nineteen eighty baby Mark is your straight up baby boomer, so that you know we have we're kind of.
No is Mark Boomer. I think he's X.
Absolutely not. My parents are bom like that is.
I think you're jen X.
I think I'm like on the edge of that too, like you, I don't well know.
I think you're a geriatric expert. I think they call you guys.
That's what you say, Ricky.
Anyway, what's it like? So somebody who's formative memories start with Tom Brady's first kind of beautiful run there in two thousand and one, and and for them to be in this situation where they are right now, you know, arguably the worst team in the league or certainly perhaps
in the AFC has it been really strange? And I know you're busy with the rams obviously, so how close are your following I'm curious about that too, But what's it been like the last couple of years, but especially this year?
This year has been horrible. Like I woke up the weekend of the bye week for the Patriots and I was like, oh, we probably lost this week too. I've been I watch every game that that I can most most of them. I watch pretty much everyone. Unfortunately, it's tough. You know, it's hard. It's also hard to have a public sort of rooting interest now for my job too, which is which has been sort of weird. Yeah, it's been weird to maneuver that sort of aspect of things.
But yeah, no, I'm I'm still watching and hurting. And like one of my you know, best friends from home texted me right when the game ended. We suck so much. We even suck at sucking when we need to suck. So, uh, that's what's going on in Pat's nation here.
So yeah, you.
Like, are you ready to move on from Bill Belichick? Erica?
I I like feel for him.
I think there's a lot of people, especially when Brady went and won the Super Bowl that it's like it was Brady all along, but like all of the other weapons, like like you said talk about in Alpha Male, like Bailey ZAPPI looks like he's should be in a third grade classroom. He's so little like I and Mac Jones,
isn't it. But also just like the the issues that the team has been shooting themselves in the foot with on like special teams even and all of the penalties in the like, it's just it's such a disaster in every phase of this game right now that I'm like I almost feel bad for Belichrek and like would love for him to in a weird way like get another shot somewhere and.
You know what, well somewhere else obviously that would be one way to do it. And I mean, listen, Vince Lombardi ended somewhere else, I believe with the Redskins, like no very rarely do you just end where your glory goes down. Part of me wants to say, I'm surprised when I hear and I know a lot of Patriots fans as well. I went to school up in Boston, and you know, everybody kind of wants Bill out and
everybody wants to flush the whole thing. And I'm thinking myself, Oh, how could you be so kind of cold blooded all the glory that guy gave you. But I'm also a Yankees fan, and I remember them coming for Joe Tory the same way back in the day to get him out of town once the championships, championship started dry up a little bit like that winning like this need for more winning, and then when the losing starts, it's a really nasty thing. So it's kind of a tough and
nobody really feels is gonna feel bad for Patriots. Patriots are their fans, but it really is a tough come down to be high that long and then suddenly be this low floor. Yeah yeah, you're taking it very well, Eric, And it does not surprise me. That's just the woman that you are.
I feel I feel for players more than I ever have, like especially you know, the past two seasons, being so you know, involved with the Rams and seeing these guys every day and like what they actually like put themselves through win or lose every week.
Like you know, you hear those sort of cliches like we just got to keep stucking building blocks and what. But like they do.
They go back out and they keep showing up and they keep they're just killing themselves to like play and also put you know, stuff on tape for them for their careers and everything.
So to hear like.
These Steelers fans booing the team that first half, sitting on my couch like, oh my god, but they're trying so hard.
You're too close now.
Yeah, I'm like, but they're they're working so hard, and I was yeah, and I was also like, screw the Pats, like come on, like you could get a franchise QB with that second overall pack.
And then they're they're gonna blow that too.
Oh boy, Funk said he has something for Belichick from the post game. Check it out. Check it out on YouTube. Everybody, Yeah, who did he just do that? He just had celebrated like a cool guy.
He then drapped him up, but he looked really sad too.
It's a good night. It's a good night for a bad year. Mark the floor is yours.
Well, Ricky, I would ask you a question outside of you know, with your rams uh employment, you have told me some stories where you've been like in the coffee room and like there's a bunch of RAMS players coming, Like who's like the who is your favorite player to hang out? Like, who's like the guy that we would be like surprised maybe just like the coolest due to them all?
And conversely, who sucks?
Go ahead, yeah, like okay, so sucks.
I have a top ten?
No, no, no one really, no one, No one really sucks. They're like there's some that are way more down to clown than the others. I know, there's been so much talk about this RAMS rookie class, but they are so fun and they haven't like been beaten down by the world and like agents haven't got their claws in them
yet and stuff too. So like all the hype about like Kobe Turner the conductor is like the sweetest guy on planet Earth's so funny, like wants to do everything, is like singing around the corners and you know, just like through the halls, and Puka is like the sweetest guy to ever step on planet Earth. And like it's so fun to see their innocence because they're just so excited to be here and they're not like beaten down yet. So I really like this rookie class is It's been so much fun.
How much like it's McVay cool to you. How about that?
Yeah, he's great.
Yeah, we do like me and him and Belichick like in that video we wont buy and Okay, He's like.
How often do you have like contact with him? Do you? Are you guys liking the commissary together? Like how does this work?
Yeah, well, our corporate office for the Rams we're moving to Woodland Hills at the end of this season, which is which will be you know, the whole new complex that they're building. But right now, the corporate office is separate from the facility, so my studio is at the facility.
So some days when I'm at the practice facility, that's when I'll see the players or like Steve Avila, the the you know, the center not the center of the left guard that we drafted, like, came into the corporate office just to like bring us donuts last week because he was just like.
Oh, well, well where are they? Like I want to like just they're just so nice, Like they're so nice. I can't say enough.
I have a question for you, Erica, Yes, you know us, you know, like nobody else, nobody else in that building, you know. Funks starting to try to edge his way into the inner circle. He's doing a great job with it. But Erica was indep she was embedded. I want to ask you a question. Okay, that's allt like vaguely confrontational with the Randy Randy, you know, I love you.
I'm like, wait, where's this going?
I don't know, Erica? What if?
Yeah, I'm so happy Greg's not here? Of course, Well I wouldn't. I'm like, why would you even.
Have to ask that?
Like this is my ideal show?
Uh?
Greg included what would the ATM guys be doing if they weren't NFL media employee slash podcasters?
Yeah.
So I was thinking about this earlier today, and it's so funny because like any odd random job that I would come up with, like Mark has already done, you know, like the text message of him, like with a private investigator,
you know, with the crazy stories that you have. Like I was like, it needs to be something eclectic, but also something why, Like I kind of see Mark as like a park ranger who like nine to five when he's done, like gets to just experience the wilderness in whichever way he chooses to do, so, you know what I mean, Like he's very much one of those park Rangers is like hey, kids, like you're drinking around a fire, like put it out if you'll get if you give me a beer, I'll let you.
I'll let you keep it up, you know what I mean?
Like, yeah, I say like underage drinking.
Yeah, yeah, Like he would just be like, okay, cool, like you know, give give me that doobie kid, that's what that's what your age says.
Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't do certainly, I wouldn't stop like the campfire drink fest. I'd probably you know, find a way to like keep other rangers or various authority fings away from it, you know.
Yeah, And we get like weird ominous texts from Mark like I was on a horseback like searching Yellowstone where like a young maiden was locked under a boulder and I like helped, Like I.
Just feel like that that would happen. You know, that's answer.
You know, that's that's uh. You would be like the park ranger version of Amy Poehler's character and mean girls like hey, I'm the cool mom, drink around me just I'll go driving anywhere.
Yeah, yeah, Dan, I was, I for some reason couldn't get you out of my head as like if you went the alternate route and was like sort of like a like a stockbroker in New York City, but not the one where as bad as you are at math, like the the personality higher where it's like, oh, Dan, like he can't add for but he closes every deal because he's like he's like, you're like the closer, like you would come and like Dan's like loosening his tie on Wall Street after the long day and they're like, hey,
I don't know how he does it, but like you bring Danny in there and he closes the deal.
Like it's like he's you know, he's mentally challenged, but he is charismatic as hell.
Yeah he is. He can talk to anyone.
We bring them in, we get their guard down low, and then he strikes like I don't know, I kind of I kind of see I kind of see that.
I could say to For you, Ricky, I think I could see you as being one of those people that like one of those women that becomes a full time reality star and you end up it's like like you look, fifteen years later, you see somebody, You see a woman onto some show, and then fifteen years later she's on some other show and they're like, oh wow, and then you check like her Wikipedia and she's never stopped being on different reality shows. She's fairly well known in the medium.
I see you as like a like a high level difference maker professional. Whenever like a reality program needs somebody that like kind of like the straw that stirs the drink, they dial up Ricky.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know what if I take that as a compliment or a insult, but I think no, I think that's great.
I think I do. I have all like the work done and everything too.
Uh yeah, a ton of work botox. Yeah, just kind of a mess, almost unrecognizable. I mean, in my defense your description of my other life, I'm like wearing a helmet full time.
So I mean, so is Mark Greg.
I think would literally be coaching tennis like at like a random po bunk town po dunk what's the word say.
Po dunk.
I could see that, like with Rickey, Like one thing, I had the chance to go on like one of these like two day cruises not too long ago, but like what happens is like the cruise in the football season, well no.
Erica, Like Mark is going on cruises like all the time. Now, reg and I are always like he loves cruises so much and he goes he goes on cruises at odd times where the weather is bad where he's going. He like what he takes. He takes rickety old boats into like storms, and he enjoys it because he keeps doing it.
Well, some of that is not accurate. I've been on I've been on two short ones, like like they are like three.
You've been on two cruises, Yes, I went with some friend in the last how much how increment of time here?
But if you're in.
LA, they're very affordable, like actually you can find these deals where it's like they're super insanely affordable. But like, let me tell you something like on these ships, okay, they have like the cruise direct who you think they're just like there is to like shake hands, but they're like singers and dancers and they get up and do
these shows in front of everyone. I was always like I could see Erica being like this, where like you're just on this cruise, no stop, and you like, no, I think you'd be great at it, like I do. I could see it incorporating many of your many aspects of your you know, versatile talent like.
Eric, you didn't make it in show business, here's life on it old.
Literally, Yeah, everyone that like can't make it as a comedian or a singer, they're like, yeah, but I got booked on Princess Cruises for the six month, like.
Contra to see where you're coming from. But I found them to be the one that I encountered seemed to be a talented person.
So and in fairness, yes, a lot of people that's where they get their start.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And if you're a listener right now and you work on a cruise ship, like, I think that's a great life, and I would love that.
Wow, way to clean that one up.
Yeah, I would over yourself.
I would. But I just don't.
I just don't understand how Mark's a going on multiple cruises And I just saw you out and we met up at a Star Wars bar Mark and I recently, and there was no talk of these cruise jaunts that you were going on. So it's like to talk about so a cruise underground circuit going on here.
Yeah, you guys are sitting in the spock booth. I mean, there's no time to talk about cruises.
It's a strange place that we met. There's no doubt about that.
Four seats in the spot booth.
Please, that's not how it actually, I mean, I would say it was a much more U it was not nerdy.
I did not.
I wouldn't say it was.
What do you mean there was like they were like play It was the nerdiest place I've ever been.
In my entire by the way. Like I got a text Fromerica being like, have you heard of this bar called Sko That's what it's called. She's like like, yeah, I've heard of it. It's like up the street. She's like, come meet me there. I didn't, and I didn't like lure you in from the wilderness to this place.
So yeah, yeah, it was.
Hey, Ricky, we gotta get going soon. But how about, like old times, we hit a news item before we yeah something we should we should do a little uh Musso and Frank get together. How about yes, absolutely, Testag kind of floated that, and I was saying, oh, yeah, yeah, I love that. Yep, that news item. And this was a doozy.
This is a jarring right turn for us at this point, by the way.
Uh yeah, that's fair to say. This broke about I want to say, right as we were wrapping up our Thursday preview, which you could check out right now, here is the headline out of ESPN. Bill's coach Sean McDermott, Colon apologized for nine to eleven remarks in twenty nineteen, and here's the backstory here, and this was reported. This is a big this is a big scoop on the Tyler Dunn has his own blog or website called go Long.
And if you want to kind of support Tyler or learn more about this and do both, check out go Long. But McDermott back in twenty nineteen told players in a speech to come together and use the terrorists on nine to eleven and those that are not aware, multiple jetliners hijacked and it was a group of al Qaeda members, highly coordinated, pulling off one of the worst stays in
the history of this country. Anyway, use the terrorists on nine to eleven as an example, asking players in the room questions about how the attacks were executed and referencing the hijackers getting on the same page. Multiple players who were with the team at the time confirmed the story to ESPN, while others who were there told the ESPN they did not recalled. Here's Sean McDermott. So when this story resurfaced thanks to Golong, which I'm sure McDermott is
thrilled about Tyler's project, here go along. He had a unscheduled news conference on Thursday. It lasted about six minutes. Six minutes. Here is a little bit of his explanation about what went down in that meeting.
Brought everybody together and said this was the goal, this is the intent, and I apologize if anyone whatsoever felt a certain type of way coming out of that meeting, right that, if anyone misinterpreted or didn't understand my message, I apologize didn't I didn't do a good enough job
of communicating clearly the intent of my message. And that was about the importance of communication and that everyone needs to be on the same page, ironically enough, and so that that was important to me then and it still is.
Now, okay, Erica. So and by the way, that is something that apology occurred that same day or into twenty nineteen because he knew it didn't land the way he wanted to lend. That is a crazy explanation even today, because he's still not apologizing or saying that was a that was a dumb idea to ever kind of in any way, lion Ey's what those psychos did, like what he what he said basically is like they didn't quite
understand what I was trying to get across. This is a bizarre story featuring a Bill's head coach who's got his hands filled already with the six and sixteen.
Yeah, it's also nine to eleven right now on the clock, which is really odd. That's true as we're recording that, So that felt weird for a second. Wanted to sign off, Yeah, good night, no that and just hearing that too, the sort of like, hey, sorry if anyone misinterpreted what I meant there. My I was kind of covering my mouth watching that presser and some of those clips from that today.
It it was I don't really know.
I mean, you have to address that, you have to apologize, but I don't really know how you can justify that or walk that back whatsoever.
Yeah, I mean absolutely on that front. And I think you know, he's stuck in a place where there's no real explanation that anyone's gonna sit well with what Tyler done has created in general, because there's a lot more to come with this report, and I think like having met him and he's I think he's been on our show once. He's an incredible reporter, and what he kind of unearthed about the Sean McDermott experience in Buffalo is news.
It's incredible because I think that you've looked at this coach I have all along as like they're a steady team, they've been in a super Bowl window. If anything, he's been a positive the entire time. There have been not a lot of like Sean McDermott anecdotes that would shake you on it at all, if anything, has sort of been out of the way. But what he started to create with this report is like he is the problem.
He spoke that I think it was twenty five different sources who went to town on what's happening with the Bills, and it kind of changes everything you think about what's happened and everything that's happening right now and what could happen if this season continues on its wayward trajectory. So you know, this just is putt of part and parcel of what else you reported. I mean, if you go, if you you know there is a paywall here, but I would say it is so worth reading. It's a
pretty incredible, explosive NFL report. You don't get a lot of things like this these days.
And I guess and obviously he made a mistake and he thought it was ancient history, came back and we all make mistakes. So I'm not going to bury murcdermott here. I will add just as someone who grew up in the New York area, I grew up about forty five minutes outside New York City, and there's a lot of you know, joking talk a lot in the NFL about well there's only one New York team, and you know, the Jets and Giants play in New Jersey, but the
Bills are the New York team. Let me tell you something, if Sean McDermott said this stuff and he was the coach of the Giants or the Jets, he'd be out on his ass tomorrow. I think he would be done. That would be how big a story that would be. And if he wouldn't be done, it would have been a massive story. The fact that he's up in western New York, so it's a little bit different up there. And I hope, I hope he just moves forward because it's just it's an unfortunate situation and a bad idea
that now is being amplified. So but pretty wild story to just kind of stumble.
Upon everything this morning.
Yeah, like all the news that was dropping out and like just like the different college games and BOLG and then it's like, oh, also this nine to eleven headline.
I was like, what is happening, Ricky?
Yeah, that's what's happening in the news. Awesome, Thank you, Ricky. Let's get some plugs out there. Where can they see Erica?
Yeah? Anything RAMS related on on social?
And then I host Ricky's Ramjam, which is once a week show, and I think I also some of my Game Day stuff airs on KABC weekly as well too. If you're in the rams La area. If not, you know YouTube and social check that out. It's some fun stuff.
Very nice, Mark, what do you got?
I don't. I am not featured on any ram you know, centric content at this point, but I support the Rams. I appear on this show the same days that you appear on Yeah.
Very nice. All right, Ricky, this was a a great little treat for us. We wanted and we told the listeners. I don't know if you're aware of this, Ricky, but we said, we know Thursday night football is not going to be a good one, but we're going to cook up something special to make sure you tune in. You're that special thing.
That's so nice.
I miss you guys, I miss I miss the fan base, I miss you know, working with you guys so closely. And I have checked in to listen to your guys rams recaps after the last three wins. So I have been been peeking in here and there.
How about that JB. Long is feeling himself? I like it.
Yeah.
I think he said to you that, you know what I gotta I see Long at the barbershop Jags in Westchester here in LA all the time. Well not all the time, that'd be weird, but.
You know, yeah, like how often you cut your hair?
Yeah? How like how do you how would you ever see the same person at a barbershop more than once? By chance?
Multiple times? Multiple times. I've seen good old JB. You guys are SYNCD up and he, uh, you know, we're on the same cycle. Yeah, he said to the crib in his call, which I was like, that's that's that's how you connect with the millennials. I like that.
Yeah, I feel everyone's like, oh yeah, the the Ravens this coming weekend, everyone's you know, oh they're gonna get trounced and whatever.
I don't know.
I got a sneaky kind of like feeling.
I don't know, do you give us a prediction?
Let's see.
I I think that it's one of those teams where the Ravens are looking as just like a we can put the w column here, And I think sometimes those are the biggest games, you know, any given Sunday.
Yeah, yeah, so I.
I kind of feel like I don't know, anything could happen. I would I would love to see a win this weekend.
It would be amazing to get off the fence and make a pick.
Okay, the Rams are gonna win this Sunday. Ann And where was Lamar today? You know, he just disappeared from practice. Hmmm, what's going on?
You know? Maybe maybe he's heading over to do Ricky's ram jam.
You know, you know he's on. I got, yeah, I gotta go. We're gonna record that, right.
I've asked both of you to come on, and you're both too busy because you do what thirty shows a week now or something.
No, you got me. You called me when I was on the East Coast, but I told you any other time I'm in Okay.
I also want to appear like I you know, I do have a schedule that is complex, but I vow to appear.
Yeah, Like, are you're only gonna be on a cruise Erica.
We couldn't even get Zestag at the ATN photo shoot organized by NFL Media yesterday. You couldn't even book him for that. For Wednesday morning, it was just Greg and I opposing in a room without the third guy. I don't know, some FOCACCTA story about a dentist visit and we're just.
Like, no, it was not.
It was absolutely died in the wool, accurate and factual. And you know you were out of it down with this crowd.
So yeah, no, I get it. Mark, It's tough. It is tough. I think that's why.
Park Ranger could be like a third half third, a third, the third.
Third of your life, because you're out, You're on the third third of yourself.
Mark, just a solitary life in the woods might be the best thing.
At this point, she's basically just put me into the final third of my existence.
So not Basically, I did say you were in the third third, you know.
All right, everybody, and uh enjoy your weekend. Uh and remember the argument. Plus the Dreamatorium was open for business big time uh today. So the triple header on Thursday's complete, see on Sunday. Nuntil then, get the call, Bye Rick, Bye.
M hm.
Hm hm
Hm