Pep Talks for Those Who Need It

We haven't seen each other in a while, and you haven't been on the show in too long. Here in the studio, and we're thrilled to have you back. How are you? Thank you for having me back? This is this is a great honor. It's my favorite time in the off season. It's the moment where Colleen it realizes it's been nice not to do anything for a while, but now I really feel like I have to do something. You know, Yeah, you're on the broadcast. Is I mean

you're back. I'm double potting today. I'm doing the that's the hoops that we had to jump this time around to schedule you with your camp um so gages. I don't deal with a lot of it. Dan, I know you do constant. It's it's really difficult. Uh. And if you remember, Hey Ricky Hollywood, how are you? What's up? Guys? Um? If you remember, Erica and Emma had originally conceived the

broadcast as a three hander. Yeah, and Connie was a part of it, but she quick they quickly learned that Colleen's available when Colleen wants to be available, hence the long gaps between appearances. Yeah, I'm literally only in l A on Mondays and Tuesdays during the regular season. It's a lot to ask. But last summer you did put in a lot of work. I came up with basically every idea exactly kind of my brain childer more of a performer, not an idea person, who do you think

writes all those bits exactly? And all right themselves. So Connie's here. We're excited to have Connie. And by the way, um, Connie does have a championship ring with the Shield our softball team back in two thousand sixteen. Despite her biggest um real um, Well, the biggest thing you did for the team was otto beer from the outfield one game. But there, but I tried, but It's good that you hear for this because I think it's time. It's time

for a press conference, Ricky. Uh, thank you everybody for being here. We'd like to formally announce, effective tonight, April three, The Shield, the NFL media softball team, is back to defend our dynasty. Hashtag defend the dynasty. We took a year off, and um, we decide I did, Let's let's do it. I'm taking the cleats off the high wire. The skip is strapping him back on. He's gonna be on the first base bag and really excited to announce a couple of things. A few things. Actually one, Colleen

will not be part of the team. You're excited too. We are negotiations with Mark Sessler to work in the front office in some capacity, but we we have not locked down any type of agreement at this time. There's a little update there. Um, I'm going in order of least important to most important. Uh three. Chris Westling's back after spending all of last year on the disabled list, excuse me, injured list while battling the big ce. Uh, you are back west and batting leadoff and playing third

base in my lineup and finally behind the glass. Ricky Hollywood makes her debut batting eight, protecting the old Zeuser in the lineup, playing left center field. And I have one final announcement. Wow, Greg Rosenhal's retiring after one season. I like that. That got the most important What I would do without our Joe mckewing. I wouldn't say retiring. You never know if if it's back next year and it's on a different night and you know, life things change,

it could be back. Are you available for a sub opportunity? Potentially, Yeah, But I'll open the floor for any questions I've learned for you because I felt last in the back. In the back, I felt last year that there was a level of exhaustion from you and also the idea of having a third Thank you West doing a third uh title? Chase, do you feel that you're sort of a Bill Parcels figure. We went away for a year, You come back, you're re energized. You know he was coming off a divorce.

You're not, but you had a new new sort of pools of energy. Yes, I was exhausted. There are several people on the team that made it very difficult to be the manager, you know, complaining about those people are Yes. That's why it is a hard decision to come back, because I knew the same headaches would be there, but yet I had the itch. I had to scratch the itch. Anybody else, any questions, any questions? Yeah, I got uh

in the blue Turtle egg. Are you a little worried about the commitment level of your leadoff hitter who does not have a glove, cleats and has gone more time than ever without playing the game in his adult life. You're referring, I believe to Chris westling uh as I. When I found out yesterday that West lost his baseball bag that included his glove, it made me think of Keith Hanss who once said to me many many times in fact, when I was a child, your glove should

treat it like it's your hand. Always know where it is. Well. I thought West had that, and the and the West Cincinnati. I thought that's what they taught them there too, But apparently not. I had that glove for over ten years. It was broken in perfectly. I had spent like I treated it like a pet for out of years and during the move when I had Big Sea. It's just it's gone. I don't know what happened? You're putting this

on the big sea. I was under a lot of heavy medication at the time, and I don't think I was quite at my normal mental um strength. Did it sting for you to bring me back my glove just a few weeks ago that I hadn't used or thought about in a really long time. It did not sting. I just it was one of those things where you instinctively know it has to go to its own. N's losing to need one more, one more for the coach. I got one more, one more? Who was it, Gret,

How do you think the team's gonna react? Because it's rare, you know, sometimes a player retires or leaves for a year. It's really unprecedented in the history of sports dynasties that the team retired for a year before coming back. So how are you going to handle that? Well, I do imagine there's gonna be some rust, Greg And uh absolutely. In fact, you know, I did half heartedly try to organize a practice ahead of tonight's first pitch. Uh, nobody

was interested. Is that a bad sign? Yes? But actually, but at the end of the day, I'm very excited to have the team back together. To have West healthy, Uh to have Erica on board, and uh, thank you everybody, and um, best luck you guys. It sounds play. If you strain hard enough, you can see a precedent here. Go ahead, and nineties Chicago Bulls who won three, took a year and a half off, then lost one to

the Magic. Was disrespectful to Sattie Pippen and Phil Jackson and and a lot of great people that were out there working while some guys has some bozo dream about minor league baseball. I'll extend it further. What is the what is the famous famous myth slash potential reality about why Michael Jordan left was no, oh, because of the gamble? Why do you think Greg's not on the team? You're calling Greg? You're Michael Jordan's I love it this his I would say his softball skills are on par with

Michael Jordan's baseball skills. All right, enough of that, So we're probably tonight we'll keep you updated on how the season is going. Wait, tonight is your first game? Maybe past Erica is going to be in our game. Wait a second, we're spinning before I'm gonna hang up the cleets. All right, come up on today's show PEP Talks. There are some players, teams, figures out there that could use um some almost uh you know, big brother, big sister type pick me up or just in general a person

to person chat that we believe could be helpful. So we're gonna give PEP Talks to some people. But before that, let's get into the news, uh. Starting with a quarterback up in the Pacific Northwest, Today's rio as birthday, and so in I guess good fashion birthday fashion, we gotta sing happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy happy Day, Happy Birthday, Happy happy I implore everyone to check that out on

Russell Wilson's uh, Instagram or Twitter. It's Russell Wilson and Sierra right at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue atop the mountain and the Russellison trying just a little too hard to have a good like sexy baritone. And then right where you aready cut there he goes, come on kids. He says it to everybody and no one else starts singing. That's embarrassing. Russell Wilson wants to get paid. Russell Wilson is entering the last year of

a four year contract he signed back in two thousand fifteen. UH, and he has now set a deadline. He wants a new deal with the Seahawks by April fifteenth, when Seattle begins its offseason program. This came from rap Sheet on Tuesday, Seattle New Seattle Times first had it. Uh, and we'll see how this plays out. It doesn't seem greg that, Uh. This is a situation where Russell Wilson is going to disappear for the Seahawks off season program and we're heading

towards some ugly stalemate. But he's sending some type of message to Seattle Breast. What do you think it is. I think it's that he wants that guaranteed money. He wants that contract now this offseason, and it's so hard for a player to have any leverage in this situation. So he's setting a deadline. And after that he says he doesn't want to hear about it, doesn't want to talk about it for the rest of the off season. Pro Football Talk reported that they've known about this since January.

So the fact that it came out in the media multiple places this week tells me, Okay, they're not making enough progress, so they're trying to turn up the heat

on the team a little bit. And I don't think he just wants I don't think he wants to be on the field again until he has a Kirk Cousins like hundred million dollars guaranteed, and if they don't want to get it done by April that he says, fine, you know you'll you'll get stuck, you know, trying to negotiate with me and franchise tagging me next off season. I think it's interesting that he's not going with like the week one sort of deadline that we always see

with these guys camp. This is the this is the first time I've ever heard a right, that's the that's the beginning of their off season program. And so it's kind of curious that he picks that date. Does that tell us that maybe that they're actually closer than we think, because why I said, a deadline that's essentially, you know, a fortnite from now, if there's no way it's gonna happen, and it's essentially you're still gonna play, You're not gonna

hold out. It's not Levy on Bell part two. And it just seems to me like both sides wanted to happen. It just feels to me, I don't there's no sense

of threat here. They no way or the Seahawks going to reimagine their entire defense and roster and not have Russell Wilson be part of that a couple of years into it with I just give us, give it, give me the guaranteed big contract I love right now, or else you risk going down the Cousins route in Washington, which is you franchise me once, you franchise me again and make me the highest paid player in the league, and then you you are totally potentially left out cold

because I can walk away from you and you'll have no way to stop it. Uh. Is that the situation potential that could unfold here? Was? I just don't see the comparison there, because at some point the Seahawks are just gonna say, if it ever gets to the point where would be a Kirk Cousins franchise Texas situation where the player has the leverage, the Seahawks would say, we just give what'll just give you what you want. We'll just give you as much money as you want because

we're not losing you to me. This is this story would have a lot more teeth if it was the NBA or the MLB where they don't have the franchise tag. I really wonder how hard of a push the union is gonna make to get rid of the franchise tag. They can push as much as they want, but it's not gonna as part of the next collective bargaining agreement. They've gotten some concessions and if they decided to make that a top, top priority, I think it's possible. It's not.

There's no way the owners are gonna sit down and they're gonna say, Okay, I'll allow you to take Andrew Luck off my roster, or I'll allow you to take you know, in three years Baker Mayfield off my roster. I mean, you don't have to take him, you just you just signed him to the contract. I think he'll get the contract in the end. I would just say, these like these giants fans that are you know, and I get it. They're fantasizing about a year from now

snatching Russell Wilson away from the Seahawks. The difference between the Redskins and Seattle's. The Seahawks want to have one of the best front offices in the NFL, the Redskins have consistently had one of the worst and they botched their quarterback situation away that thirty one other teams would

never do if they held. Yeah, that's the problem. The worst case scenario for the Seax is they just tag him next year, which is fine for them, and he should get paid though when you think about the fact that he hasn't missed a start in all of the time that he's been there, plus he's plates behind some really bad offensive lines, and just his style of playing, the fact that he hasn't gotten hurt or he hasn't

been hindered at always been really consistent. He deserves to be by his contract allowed them to build that team. Um and apparently I read that the Seahawks have been budgeting this for this moment for a long time. It's in all likelihood he's not going anywhere. But yeah, I think where the snatching can come into play is after if it ever got to after the second franchise the snatching And don't think I didn't miss that a Fortnite RAF there, buddy, you know the kids of today, it's

all but it's just the video game. Blah blah blah, fortnite, which means two weeks. Something I didn't learn until about I'm saying about eighteen months ago. Well, I spent forty something years thinking that it meant ten days. I thought it meant ten days until I was late late thirties. So two weeks, two weeks, remember that total recall, So thirty six fortnights is how long it took. Yes, many a fortnite. Uh, it's all. It looks like it's all over for a a F, the Alliance of American Football

that just wrapped eight weeks of action. But a F chairman Tom Dundon suspended football operations on Tuesday, uh, which has led to a lot of controversy. Dundn bailed out the a a F, although a F says there they didn't need the bail out, but uh he he put out two d and fifty million dollars to boost uh the fledgling league about a month ago, a month and a half ago, and now he is shutting things down.

And Bill Polian, who was a co founder league, put out a statement saying how he was extremely disappointed, essentially making a public that they believe they were misled by Dundon, who, um, we've even heard reports that, uh, he only bought the team, only bought the league, or brought into the league to strip it of its I P properties, all that type of stuff. Mark that, uh, this goes on in the

business world. But I think the idea and why people are upset with this guy is they thought he was in it to help build the league and it's gonna take more than one season, and it looks like they're not even gonna get one. They were looking for buying and you know, I initially and I'll let you guys hit on the football side when I when I thought Tom Dundon, is this guy that's coming in with his

millions and he's gonna do his little underhanded business. And I was imagining like an Enron executive who was like seventy three years old with a big pot belly. He's like a year older than West and I in much better shape. And like when we were floating around the country doing nothing, he was like killing people with these bizarre subprime auto loans. He got rich in a very

bizarre way. And I talked to Connor Orr, who was pretty deep in on because the A A F like obviously pulled a certain group of journalists in to cover from a from another way that we ignored it largely. Others did not. And Connor talked to a coach essentially like went out, like punched his clock, went out for a lunch break yesterday and you know, went up the street, got like Chipotle and came back and it's like, not only do you not have a job, the entire company

has gone. And they were struggling. They were so into the a f the coaches that they were basically begging for laptops. They've been promised for weeks. You're gonna get laptops. Field of Scout players. This is your career, you're gonna grow. They didn't even have computers to work with, so they were doing a lot with a little And it's just one of those other examples that starting one of these

leagues so much harder than it appears. When this one appeared different, Robert Clemco of s I dot Com tweeted out that he had heard that the players who were preparing for a game this weekend before all this stuff went down I had to pay or have to pay their own out of their own pocket to fly home from this. So it sounds like the entire league had

the rug pulled out from under it by Dundon. And not only that, there's a ton of people that haven't been paid yet either, like there's a ton of them they won't be with outstanding bills that I have no idea how they're going to get paid now. It's so it shows how hard it is. Because they did accomplish a lot on some level. They showed that there was

an appetite for it in a few different markets. San Antonio is one, Orlando, uh, San Diego, they had good attendance, But how much of that is because of the newness, how much of that is because it's the novel? And then more more importantly, you know our network, and maybe that was you know, I don't know the deal, the deal that they had in terms of how much they were getting paid or what was going on in terms of you know, NFL network showing it and CBS showing it.

It got like very good ratings, like very good ratings, like ratings that in the in the States, not just like tripled what's normally on NFL network, but it's very competitive with like or better than like a national basketball game or or when TBS has baseball it's like I love tennis. It was out rating like some big time semifinal or finals of like a master's surnavice, so people

were into it. Can we add a little perspective to that if you look at the history of these leagues, the WFL, the USFL, the XFL, they always start out hot for a month because of the novelty and then people get bored with it. But it was what I'm saying is it it was pretty steady for the two months, and more importantly, it's like I think the NFL and I I think this is someone who loves football, there is such a need for It wasn't just these players,

you know, second chance or last year. It was the coaches, it was the front office, it was you know, every all the support staff. Like it just seems like there should be room for some sort of developmental league. But I just think it's gonna have to come like officially through the NFL, and the NFL never wants or it's hard like for the NFL to figure out how to

do that. It's so hard for We talked about we talked about the c b A and what happens with the next negotiations and the franchise tag is something that will come up. One of the reasons why this all got blocked and dund and pulled the plug was that this idea that they wanted to have some young NFL connected talent and it wasn't in the current c b

A even possible. And I don't blame the NFL. They have the most amazing free developmental league in the world, which is the well that went against the a F Like Charlie Eversol and Bill Pollion, we're not demanding that. That was Dundon going out of his own to USA today and demanding that. Yeah, it was ugly business transit and one human, one human human angle to all of this, beyond everything else we've discussed, is that down in our newsroom they were a pack of I don't want to

call them nerds, they're wonderful guys. But they had a a a F fantasy league that was, you know, scorching towards their own playoffs. Michael Fabiano and A and a group of others that just got the plug got pulled on that declared the champion ahead. I don't I don't know if this is in the Hall of Fame, though, it's that it's that Michael Jordan's cutthrow competitive desire that he has and my my last thought on all this, and it does suck. A lot of people lost their jobs.

Um Number one, Fitzikman, take heed before you invest any more millions into your exits ahead. This is not easy to do and it might be boondoggle two point oh for you. And the other thing is, let's take a moment moment of silence for the Alliance of American Football podcast Around the a F podcast which never even got a chance to get off the ground. It wasn't even fledgling. We were we were ready to launch it. We're planning it. We were planning it. I was writing up bits, I

was coming up with a lot of ideas Fox. I was looking forward to being a producer for the first time. West was going to produce a tiny box, was gonna host it. It was gonna be wild. It just not happened. In other news, let's let's uh um, let's talk cheese the packers. We'll start with Jordy Nelson. You remember Jordy Nelson. He retired, um uh, And we talked about last Friday

on Friday Show. I believe he said that he was in the hall, very good at an incredible h five to six year run with Aaron Rodgers fell off after that knee injury, but had a great career. Thought it was over, but he spoke to Uh. He spoke on the Dan Patrick Show about what would happen if Aaron

Rodgers called about coming back to the Packers. He said, it would probably be hard to say no. So there you have it, and it is interesting you kinda he kind of put his buddy Aaron in a tough spot now because Aaron Rodgers famously was upset that he wasn't consulted about Rodgers being cut last year and he ended up on the Rock or Nelson being cut last year

and ended up on the Raiders now Rogers. You know, he kind of put the onus on Rodgers to maybe whisper into his front office's ear and if he if he doesn't, if he doesn't hear from the Packers, well then he knows that Aaron didn't vouch for him. So but I saw that quote of what he said it would probably be hard to say no. I definitely read it is as it would probably be a hard no. So I thought this whole time the Jorty was like, absolutely not, I am done. There is no way, And

I was like, this is juicy. I wonder what's going on behind the scenes. But now this makes a whole lot more sense. Well doesn't it tell? It tells me two things. One that Aaron Rodgers has no pool in the front office, and Jordy Nelson knows it. That's why he's saying this. And secondly, if he thought there was any chance of this happening, why retire from late March? Why not wait until July or something? Right his I'm sure his agent was aggressive in trying to find jobs

for him. It sounded like and including with the Packers. And I don't think those jobs are available. Uh. In other Packers news, Mike McCarthy, who was fired back in December UH by the Packers after a long run, including a Super Bowl win. Uh. He spoke with ESPN dot COM's robbed Amowsky and A Q and A and he had this to say, if we missed the playoffs, I expected change might happen, but the timing surprised me. Actually, it's stunned me. It couldn't have been handled any worse.

Now I want to tee up the biggest Mike McCarthy hater in the room, right, Greg Rosenthal, you must think this is a bunch of malarkey. That's not fair. Um No. I I read the interview and everything he said made sense. He didn't like the cold, impersonal way that it happened, that it was just you know, from Mark Murphy, their president, basically no thank you know nothing, just kind of stunned at, like immediately lost. And I thought he had good perspective

on it. I was looking to have, like see if he had a lot of fire and brimstone or what. And I think he realized the time apart was good. And the most memorable thing from the interview was something his wife said to him right when he got home.

He said the first thing when he talked to her, and it was just the two of them, was that she said she was relieved that you haven't really been here the last couple of years, not just that you you know, during the season, because that happens with every NFL coach, even in the off season, that like, when

you're here, you're not really here. And I think you could almost see that in in some of these coaches, including McCarthy, when they've been in a tough spot for a long time that like, you know, he needed a break, he was just in another place mentally. I mean, I I look for the person who is happy with the way they were fired. That would be a story to me.

But I secondly, I have interviewed a couple of coaches wives where they had the same thing, like I just need like this person to be more available, and then the minute that they are totally available, it's like you're around the house way too much. I need you to get back out and do other things. So what I'd like to check in with where she's at now on that you never interview another coach's wife who said this was an award winning story, a blog post and award

winning blog post. What what what it ward? Did it win? Uh? National blog Post of America Award? Speaking of UM awards and almost winning and fictional stuff. We uh, not the stitchers, the webbies. We found out an email and internal email yesterday that we were honored as in which sounds sounds good. To be an honoree means that you were not nominated, but you were in the first tier or the first dish tier of losers that missed out on a nomination.

So if you want to vote for that category best Sports Podcast, go ahead, that's cool, but just know that we were almost in the group. We were in the top. But so basically basically five five pods got nominated. It was like thirty for thirty. You know that, Steve McNair. So like, I guess we gotta do like some true crime stuff if you want to get nominated. And then there's another five or six that's like, you know, honor reads. So it's like the also receiving votes category in the

top twenty five pole or it's like it's honorable mention. Essentially, it's like it's like being a nominee, but worse, you're the best loser, right, Hey, Ricky, it's al must just annoying. It actually gives me a thought. Can you reach out to uh the Webbies and reject the Can you let them know that I do not accept their honor redesignation

and to remove us from their website. That's like taking the medal off when I yeah, getting like and I looked at some of the some of the honorees, and you know, there were some pretty well known podcasts and everything, and I started when I was like, are they just trying to get more pop of people talking about the Webbies in there? They're getting it right now with these little honoree things, more than they already have talking about it. I'm sweeping the nation. Moving on, the Detroit Lions have

reached agreement on a one year deal with c. J. Anderson. Uh, the running back who was out of the league and I caught on with the Rams and did some damage with his big beefy man. Body's twenty eight years old, He's got a Pro Bowl under his belt, and now he joins a somewhat crowded Lions backfield. Tiny box, you got Carrie on Johnson, Uh, THEO Riddick, who's their past catcher? Uh? And then and Mark Radar for this one for you. But Connie zack Center v. C J. Anderson, Well, I

wrote doom for Zach Center. So what do you I mean? If C. J. Anderson can't beat out Zack Center, maybe his days in the league are numbered, but it seems like he has a strong path to the Yeah, I think he has a real good shot at beating him out. But they also wanted to sorts. Did you know that Zack Center led the League in rushing in the preseason four years ago. I did not remember that that thank

you for a jog in my memory show. Well, I think that they wanted to limit the carries of Carrie on Johnson, so it kind of Johnson okay, so it makes sense. Damn it, everyone's stepping all over me. I don't know. Whatever, go to somebody else, forget it. The Lions come back. Couldn't the Lions get a power back? Please? They've been trying this since all the way back to like when Job at Best and Michael Lashore we're in the backfield to get like Gary Blunt was a failure.

Zenner hasn't done anything. Once in a while. You had Joke Bell doing a few things, but they've never been able to get a real power back to pair with all their little bunnies in the back. Job bunnies, little bunnies, that's, you know, kind of we love some of those bunnies, your boy. I like the bunnies. Yeah. I was a big Job at Best fan. Not maybe not as much as Jim Schwartz, who um put some things on the

doorknob when he was watching Job at Best film. If you remember, Okay, put a sock on the door, knob, don't bother me while I'm watching job at best A Cowboys, they've been, uh, you know, they've supported Randy Randy Gregory who's been dealing with off the field issues. The team now putting the money where the mouth is. Stole that directly from Kevin Patrick's lead of his around the NFL post.

Incredible work Patrick does. He's a grinder. Tom Pellicero of NFL Network reported that the Cowboys quietly extended Gregory's contract through with three g s of existing to that through thousand nineteen salary converted into as signing bonus. The deal adds one year worth seven K with a chance to earn more Escalators. Former second round pick was set to be on the final year of his contract. So we're not talking big money. So it's not some big deal, Colleen.

I'm not gonna interrupt you here, But the Cowboys said that they stood by him, and this is a little bit of a nod, like, hey, we're hanging in there with you for the time he's suspended indefinitely, So I mean, I guess they must sort of know something that he will kind of maybe be back at some point soon. What's interesting to me about this is the test anymore tests. They've adopted a very progressive attitude towards addiction. They have said,

we believe that addicts will fall off the wagon. It's it's in, it's in them, it's going to happen. We know that, we understand that we like his character, we like him as a person, and we like what he did for us last year. We want to continue the relationship, right and we like it so much we're gonna take this opportunity if you want to look at it, and I think I think it works for both sides. He's getting some upfront money that you know that helps him.

But hey, like, if if we're in a world where we're thinking you're gonna be on our team for why don't we lock you in in a at a rate that's like way way below market right now? When you're gonna take it and hold on? What does it mean? They quietly did it because it made news we're talking about now. I think all the normal channel I thought about that. I think actually it happened a while ago and it was just sitting there. It's kind of one of those that they don't want to announce too much.

It's like, hey, we just give this guy who's suspended for a year a big sign and I can show you quiet that was not that's that was not the quietest thing that's happened in our country. I was gonna say, like it could have been this week, and they just like, hen convert some of you want to you want to really annoy you in let's have you break this. That's my question answered. Thank you keep saying go convert some of it. It's like, what's what's without that vineyards? That's

without that vineyard buying? Just another thirty minutes of this show and then we'll be left. That's some escalators too, all right. Finally in the news, a new segment I call England Stuff. The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London open Wednesday. It is the first purpose built NFL stadium outside of the US, and it will host two regular season NFL games later this year. Uh, the NFL, I like this little rankle and this is like sneaky, kind of a big deal. The NFL field is stationed underneath

a retractable soccer. I was gonna say field, that's not what you say. What do you say football? Field? And you were in France for the World Cup. Nil nil. That's about it. Nailed it. Anyway. This is a big deal because it's just another indication to have a a football American football specific field um at the ready. It just shows how invested uh England in the U k is and the and the product over there and and the ability to grow and maybe one day, Greg, one

day a team can call London home. Long way off, but they have the facility to get it done. At the very least. We'll have two games this year, you know, two NFL games, and who knows, maybe we'll be attending one of them. I would like that. Uh. There's also some talk that going the week before the season like we did last year, if we were gonna go once this year, that might be more advantageous to us. But one thing I've learned at the NFL doesn't really matter

what we want to do. They're gonna they're gonna send this either way. And I would love I would love it to go see a game at Tottenham. That would be great. Hey for this new segment England stuff, can you put Ricky? We can't actually use the sex pistols, but finding the library some approximation of a driving uh punk sound for England stuff. Okay, I'll do it and that is England stuff. Got all right, that's what's happening in the news. All right, boys and girl, it is

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are feeling great. For instance, Mark, you're Cleveland Ground Browns. Everyone's feeling great. Nobody needs a Colleen just went up on the chair about three ft continue, what's wrongeter? Up? Is this part of the show? I like it. I was just getting more comfortable. The Browns. They don't need a pep talk. They just they just need to be excited about what's to come. But not everyone's like that, Mark, So why don't you pick out, uh, somebody that could

use one and then deliver it. I will pick the team that is the closest to the Cleveland Browns geographically, the Buffalo Bills. You know what, you know what bothers. Me is I feel like a lot of people like, look at the Buffalo Bills and say, you don't really belong in this league. You're a vestige of an old time. You're not shiny like the Dallas Cowboys, you don't glisten like the little rams of lost angels. Look at you.

We're gonna just shove you into a super Bowl. I say, Buffalo Bills, ignore everyone, and I know, I know you know what this in this room. I think that we have the same thing going on. A lot of people have told us in the past, not in the last couple of months maybe, but an earlier time in life, you don't belong here. When Colleen was well, we get it in this at this level, but always, what are

you thinking you're gonna go do with your life? You're talking about a golf course out in the middle of the the upstate New York or wherever you were, Colleen, Like people saying, you think you're gonna get to NFL network. The history is very rich here West working in a post office, Gregg picking strawberries, Dan doing patch somewhere. Please, how are you going to get to the NFL? Erica doing all that she did? We've we've been, we had, we know that feeling too of people telling us we

don't belong. And I would say this, ignore it, bills, you do fit. I see it this way. You are set apart from the rest of the league in a special way. Drown out the haters, the get glers, those who say the NFL never would have given you a franchise if we started today in you didn't get Antonio Brown because you're just not a big enough city. You're not glitzy enough. You can't have any sticks hand out of hand. I don't like it. You're a team pitted

against the deep state elite. You got a bunch of little, amazing Western New York towns around you, towns like Batavia, New York, on On, Daga, Corning, Doune, Kirk, Geneva, James Town, I'm not done, Lackawanna, Lockport, Niagara Falls, Tonawanda, north Tonawanda. I've been. I lived in I lived in these I drove through these areas. My relatives lived in these areas. Olean, Orchard Park, Salamanca, Hornell, montor Falls, Watkins, Glenn do it

for Rochester, New York. I was born there in Strong Hospital in the middle of the night, and then I returned. Twenty three years later, on a bus from Los Angeles on the final leg heading to Danbury, Connecticut, got out to get a snack at a vending machine and was nearly mugged, but the bus driver stepped in between said crime and stopped it from happening. So do it for the guy who tried to mug me, Do it for the bus driver, Do it for Buffalo bills. Ignore all

the haters. Get to the playoffs. Change the a f C. East. You have the coach. We met him a week ago. We love him. I love the GM standing up for the home team. Forget the other thirty one teams. Who cares about image be you love it. I really like it. City needs it, the region needs it, and you delivered it. I feel like the players, if they were listening to that Pep Talc, you know, once he started getting into your history, maybe they would have. I lost my way

right then. You brought it, but you brought it back. You brought it back, start worked it veered. But yeah, the most I would say, the most pleasant surprise. I don't know why I would I would be surprised, but I was. Was the Sean McDermott. Uh fun personality. The only guy that went through the crucible our speed round during the owners meetings and wanted more when it was over. He just seemed to be a dude that, uh, you know, it is easy to root for it too, and I

and I said that to Sean. I said, listen, somebody's got to get the Patriots out. I don't like the Dolphins. I have never liked the Dolphins. But if it was the Bills, I'd be okay with that. We could root for that. Ye be okay with the Bills. I'm just glad. The bus driver intervened. He was this gigantic he just walked down the steps, you know, the big, gigantic great house bus, and like some guy was sort of in my face. He's like, you know, I don't even remember

what it was was like early in the morning. He's like, you don't bother the passenger, and he just moved this. He sort of brushed this guy away, and I was like, thank you, because I was just like a little how much money did you have on you? No? I also I think I was trying to tell him I have like my house key and like my driver's license, like you can have them, but my house is like seven

hours from here. Forget play like a bill this year they should just put up the sign like do it for that guy on the podcast bus Driver, do it for bussy ums. I would like to sit Mike Tomlin down and have a little heart to heart talk. He's right here, well, Mr tom with the quote the great wrestler the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. Hard times are on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hard times. You're under the microscope, a

subject of derision. Your back is against the wall. But let's take a step back and re examine this situation with a fresh eye. You came to the Steelers in your interview as an unknown and afterthought, and you won the room. You got the job. It didn't take long for you to be viewed as the ultimate leader of men. In fact, one of the very first money drops on this podcast was what Mike Well, Mike Tomlin's a genius

around the NFL. Podcast would follow Mike Tomlin anywhere, and look, Mike Tomlin, we humans, We're not always at our best. We don't realize our pidential. Every year there's a duality that merges into us. There's no light without darkness. There's no Yoda without Darth Vader. We gain awareness of ourselves and others from setbacks and difficulties. Growth happens by taking a long, hard look in the mirror and making adjustments.

You know, going back to the Bible, Paul said to the Romans, we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces per perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope, and hope does not disappoint us. Look at your division. The Ravens are in transition. The Browns haven't proven anything. The Bengals are the Bengals. They don't win playoff games. Your d led the NFL and sex. Your old line

is rock solid. You have one of the best young running backs in the league, one of the best young wide receivers in the league, and a legit franchise quarterback. Most of the coaches in the NFL would change places with you in a heartbeat. This is your division. Go reclaim the Iron Zone. Mike Tomlin, Wow, I mean was excellent and even a modern pop culture reference. The close it and Bible went into your your Bible aside and most pop culture. And he motioned over to Mark and

that was so natural. It's almost like an Obama speech. It was just beautiful, thank you to hear it. And I think he'll writers. I think he'll learn from that. Alright, alright, I got the Steelers at thirteen wins after that, Connie, Okay, here we go. Hey, Giants fans, how you doing still terrible? It's crazy how your season ended in December, but somehow you're still losing. I mean, it's it's it's insane. Odell Beckham gone, no franchise tag for Landon Collins and future

a RP pitchman. Eli Manning has delayed his long overdue retirement to return for yet another season because of course he has so many elves for Big Blue. But unlike Big Sean, tonight, you're not bouncing back. But April that's when everything will totally make sense. I swear from the man who brought you. We didn't sign him to trade him, and we do have a plan and this is part of it. You're fearless leader. Dave Gettleman will absolutely piece

together this horror show jigsaw puzzle at the draft. Maybe that means selecting Dwayne Haskins at six, or maybe they're pulling Seahawks by rebuilding, retooling to then go ten and six, which, hey, in the NFC East is good enough to win the division. Dare to dream, New York and don't let the offseason get you down. Come on, guys, that's what the regular season is for. I think I nailed it, you know what.

I think that it's like this exercise and I love it because so far they've been it's been on the nose in a good way. You're trying to help the Bills, and and Mike Tomlin Colleen is an Eagles fan, is season on the opportunity to just throw more gasoline on the fire. And I like it. It was dirty, yeah, and it was took me about three minutes to write. It was all from the heart. So that's what matters, right, Um, what if what if he does have a good draft,

It's possible. It's coursie, I mean he did we learned nothing from not I'm not saying that that Ruden now is out of the woods in Oakland, But did we learn nothing from last year? Can we at least see these things out before we completely burry a franchise people? Well, he weren't they one of the worst teams in the NFL last year, Yes, because he was tearing it down and trading a way parts to rebuild with his and his own image. You just gotta see how it plays out.

But I understand people having fun with with Eli and getting in and the Giants. It's fun. Gentleman's definitely taken the place of John Gruten for me this year, That's what I'm saying. We'll see and there will be someone to take Gett in his place, most likely because Gettleman maybe in New York too. Yeah, he'll be fired if he does not nail this draft. Um, I want to Uh, I gotta talk to you, Josh Rosen, sit down, young man.

It's it's not your fault. It's not your fault. It probably feels like it because nobody believes in you anymore. That's how it must feel to you that you don't you don't have a champion, You have no one in your corner at this point. That you're yesterday's news. Even Charlie Castley, who we love, he cited sources that you didn't work hard enough. Uh, that you were You made bad decisions. And I trust Charlie, but I also trust

that you, Josh. You're not done maturing and growing as a human and as a as a football player, but as a human. Uh West, let me ask you a question. Was Brett Farve? Was he ready at twenty two? He was? It was said of him that he tried to drink up the entire city of Atlanta, and he was banished to Green Bay. Sounds like puer Bowl week. That is no. Uh? Two years old? Was was the blonde bomber ready? Terry Bradshaw? Terry Bradshaw was not ready. He was benched three or

four times. Jim Plunkett, one of the most famous quarterbacks of the seventies champion, failed out with the Patriots and had to go to a new team, the Raiders. Twenty two years old. You learn a lot when you're twenty two and uh, here's here's why, Josh, don't feel bad. You're caught in the gears of a machine that is bigger than all of us. It is the draft industrial complex. He's been sucked in to the gears. He's getting spit out, and you'll get another chance. Maybe it's in Arizona. Maybe

it's with Dave Gettleman in New York. Whoever succeeds Gettleman, or maybe it's in Washington or your boys, Greg, the Patriots. Uh, maybe he's the heir apparent or someplace else we don't know about. But just just be ready when that time comes, because it is coming. And also know this, it's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. You're like a guidance count. Give me a huge that's really nice, um, And I honestly believe that this this kid is he having is he did he do everything

the right way after being drafted? Did he have a good year in Arizona everything we're hearing, maybe not, But this idea, and I get it, it's a business, and Arizona is taking this opportunity to maybe sees on a generational dual threat passer with this new hotshot head coach that they that they believe in so much. But this idea, now that is this guy should not be thought of as a franchise level player. He got no chance. He got ten starts on a terrible team, and we'll get

a fresh start somewhere else. I'm just wondering where it will be. Rap Sheet reported today for what it's worth, that something that makes sense logically that the Cardinals might not be in a rush to trade him, because what's the what's wrong with having both of these players Kyler Murray the presumed number one pick and Josh Rosen on the roster and see how it all plays out. And we've said that because I think the thing is, it's not that you're gonna go into the season with both

on your roster. But wait till utter apocalyptic calamity strikes another team and then Josh Rosen's asking price gets you a bounty that it could work out that way, and even if that doesn't happen, Josh Rosen, the way the rookie pay scale is, it's not an outrageous cost having him on the roster at this point and you have two guys you could potentially count on. I just think it's tough though, for them because they have so many needs, like so many pressing needs, and the draft because it's

so defensive heavy with like really good guys. I just I don't know if they'll have the patience to to kind of have Kyler Murray and Josh Rosen. You made the picks, now, yeah, that's fair. All Greg, close us out. I want to give a pep talk. Two guy hope is not listening and stopped listening to our podcast because he you know, when he's mentioned on this podcast, he's often an object of derision. And his name is Andy Dalton. Doesn't go on somewhere else, but go ahead. I mean,

I want to know who you thought it was. Well, bleep this out. Okay, that's exactly what I thought. I thought that worked. Okay, Okay, cut that out. I'm afraid. I'm afraid of that man. Um. Andy Dalton is a guy who, at this point in his career we because of us. Partly, he is synonymous with mediocrit. He is synonymous with the prime meridian, with the very most average starting quarterback that you can possibly be. But I say, put your back up, put your put your bows out.

I don't know what you do when you're when you're well, blow up and look around first of all, this room and everyone that talks a little bit about Andy Dalton, what did they ever accomplished in their life? How about go about on the athletic field. Please, This is a starting quarterback in the NFL who has made money for

generations of Dalton to come. How about go back and look at the two thousand and eleven draft and what everyone said about Andy Dalton back then and who had the higher ceiling like superstars like Jake Locker and uh Christian Ponder and blame Gabbert. How are they doing. You've had an incredible career for a second round draft pick. You've started about as many games as as any starting quarterback over this decade, and your solid, and you can be better. And this is the pep Doc. You're thirty

one years old. This is the age where a lot of quarterbacks start getting smarter, they start getting better, and maybe they just catch a little lightning and bottle and get lucky with some support around them, and then they start winning. And you've got some support. You've got a j Green, a future Hall of Famer, is still in the middle of his prime. You've got Joe Mixon, who I think is gonna be an outstanding starting running back. You've got Tyler Boyd, a terrific slot receiver. Your offensive

line is better than it's been for a while. And most importantly, you've got Zach Taylor. You've got a breath of fresh air on offense that can give you a chance. And that's all we're looking for. His career Andy Dalton, your career is yet to be written. I don't think you have to be a mediocre quarterback forever. I don't think you have to listen to Chris Wesley say that Cincinnati Bengals never win playoff games. All streaks on the internet,

all streaks must end at some point. And Andy Dalton, you're good enough to have a good second half of your career. You can do it. I like that you lost your way a little bit there when you wanted to settle some grudges, take some shots at the people in this room and the quarterbacks in his draft classes. But eventually you got back to speaking to Andy Dalton. I I think he should. He should be confident, and he should realize he's had a credible career as starting

quarterbacks go. He's in the top twenty percent of all quarterbacks drafted after you know, pretty much period. He's had a good career. He's had a good career. He's really into this. Let me ask you this. Let's say that Tom Brady retired today and the Patriots had Andy Dalton as their quarterback. Would you, the Patriots fan be as excited as you are? Greg the commentator replacing the all time greatest quarter I'm just saying this, if he's had, if he's been would you would you what would happen?

I would? I think that they would have a chance to win some playoff games. All right, how about this? How about this? I'll give you the choice right now, the last two players we talked about, would you rather have Josh Rosen or Andy Dalton for the next five years? I would take Rosen, but I liked Rosen better than any quarterback in that draft. That's not looking too good right now. But I'm not going to give up on that after one year. So you're gonna you liked potential

over what I would. Who just had has had an incredible career. I'm saying as a use that word as a as a professional. Yes, I think any NFL player that last ten years essentially has had an incredible career because the odds are one of these PEP talks. No, I mean it. Everybody who plays professional sports is a great We know we're all beautiful. That's not what I mean.

I mean as someone that stays as a starter. If you if someone had a career at a different position, let's say running back, cornerback, linebacker, and it was similar to Andy Dalton. He would be beloved because he's a solid above average starter for that sort of time and that sort of durability, and he has done better than people expected. I mean, look at all those look at those guys that that were drafted in front of him, and he just needs a few little breaks along the way,

a little more support. All right. I like it, Greg, I've always liked Dalton. Here, Um, we can he can start speaking about Dandy Dalton in a more positive way going forward if you'd like, you know, we could stick a pin in it, because it was right around the corner one of our favorite shows every year, the Dalton Scale. We figured out who is the primer Ridian and Andy. I believe Andy last year found his way right back into the center of the football world in terms of

the fringe line between mediocre talent and franchise starter. Will he stay there? We shall see, Um, Connie, I mean, what can I say? The tiny box she comes in, she's professional, she nails it. She does a windmill reverse three sixty dunk on the New York Giants and their fans. On behalf, we got Bryce Harper doing giant bat bat flips on their arrival. It's good to be Philadelphia's own Colleen Wolf. It ain't bad. When do we get you back on the show, because we gotta squeeze you in

between your globe trotting whenever? Are you here? Next? Not available available until July about. I was gonna say Wednesdays with Connie, but I think next week and it would be a Thursday show. Really, will you join us next Thursday? Alright? It was wait, hold on, you guys got to talk to my people. Yeah, well my camp, Ricky, Hollywood. But is it on your radar that we might have Colleen

back to back weeks? Which is something the broad the broadcast has never had in its entire nearly year long run. What do you want to do right now? I'm there in spirit every week, all right. I mean there's something to be said for varying your little more uncomfortable than I thought it would, Ricky, need you your bat naith. You're protecting me in the lineup. You're playing left center field. You got a new glove. I'm excited. I can't wait to see on the field. West actually West and I

it's so great to have my consigliary West back. The Don Zimmer to my Joe Tor and West said that what is the number one thing you're looking forward to seeing? Uh? Tonight on the field, West, can you catch a fly ball? We'll say, oh, I went have to come and heckle you guys. That's great, I say you can. You're a college athlete. Of course you course you can catch a flyball. But it's not always a given. It depends if it's way.

I'm a little short, so if I don't time it right, it could be uh first step always back, not forward exactly. But I'm quick, so I think we'll be all right. And don't worry. It's gonna take all of us probably a few weeks to get going, so not too much pressure. Yeah. I actually Eric would be like, can West catch a groundball? Please? Not a pressure on everyone? As the shield hashtag defend the dynasty. Let's go boys, and and and Mark. We're

in talks. Got to get you back in the front office, even in a like you know how castily they get in an unpaid way. The way my last role was yes, well when you spend it, David Eally the first year, it really set the tone for the whole year. Thank you for remembering. Yes, It was it really brought the team together. It's it's the only thing I did the entire season and vaguely effective. I would I would say

maybe wait to three weeks than suspend David Elega. Doesn't really matter what happens, just everyone can get behind it. And I mean you guys, I wouldn't mind you. I think the other thing that GM is like when you had a rowdy, you know, group of mixtresses that went out and got hammered on whatever it was starting. You don't need that stuff to happen. That's where you need someone in the front office who's desensitized all that. And you're also not the defending champions. Did you say desensitized

to all this? Like to like, oh, we're the champions. Were so awesome. It's like, no, you're not. You're not even the champions. Someone else out there, one of these other mom and pop operations are the champions. That's the title. When well, we're gonna need a couple of scouting reports from Mark two on everybody. Well, but we knew well that that's questioning some of these comments. He's mad about the dynasty. We're in the pep Talk episode. I'm telling

you you're not the champion. Go become the champion again. I believe and I believe you can. We are recognized as the champions, even if it's only in our own minds and in this studio that alright, alright, let's go then, hands is signing off. Four quiet storm, the mailman Connie Fox return right, the old boss of Ricky Hollywood behind the glass. Let's go, Hm,