Wess

battle with cancer. Will you stand beside me on the most important wine is blue? Because we're having a baby bar. Something is always lost in art or experience when you analyze it. Mark Twain once he became a riverboat pilot and learned the technical side of it. The Mississippi River was no longer beautiful for him. If I was to hire a sportswriter, the first question I was gonna ask him is how do you reconcile the essential meaninglessness of sports?

I mean, how do you reconcile watching young men bang into each other and try to advance and inflate a pigskin against Mark territory? I mean that's what you're doing. How do you reconcile the importance of that? And I think it's like Shakespeare's poems or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. This is going above and beyond. At its best, Sports is look at what humans can do. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast, an edition of the Around the NFL podcast unlike any other, and um sad

edition of the show. My name is Dan Hansas. Come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes, and there always will be it always will be only some heroes, Um sadly, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, What is up? Boys? M hm so yes, of course the news and everybody knows. And but Chris the Mailman Westling West whatever you called him, um, passed away this weekend, two weeks shy of his forty

seven birthday. One of our closest friends and a great husband to Lakisha and an excellent father to link Um. However brief it was, uh And yes, the Super Bowl just wrapped up with the Bucks lane a whip in on the Chiefs, and I think West would have enjoyed breaking down this game in the performance by Tampa Bay. And we wish he was with us, UM, but instead that the show is about West, It's not about the game. Uh.

And that's how it should be. Boys. Yeah. I mean when when West was talking, UM, you know about the meaningless of noss of sports and why you would why you would cover it in that UM basically it's like art, you know. I think that's how he saw it. UM, that you're appreciating someone doing it like at the highest level,

UM possible. Look at what humans can do. And I think listening you know to West say that, UM, it just got me thinking of like, look at what he can do, you know, look at what look at what humans can do. When he when he wrote UM, when he was on this podcast where I think he felt like totally himself, totally comfortable from like from day one,

and was just awesome at it. Uh and probably more than anything, like when he was just spinning yards with us, you know, UM at the bar or at work or wherever, like he collected characters. I think that you know, we'll talk about, I'm sure. But the outpouring I think, especially from the people that knew him, UM is so profound just because of because of that, because you connected with him, because He connected with so many people because because of

because of what he could do. Yeah, we were asked on Sky Sports if we were surprised by the outpouring, and Dan answered the question, and I I like what Dan said that to some degree we were not um because this has been a really long journey. And I view West as someone who as we watch football grow, um, not only in the States, but especially you know beyond throughout Europe, that West is a big part of that. When they write that story, um, he is someone that

would go out of his way. I cannot tell you how many people reached out to us and and d m s this week saying, oh, you know, I've actually been writing back and forth with West for five years and it's like a listener from the deep beyond. And he he loved engaging with football, and he wasn't a you know, you couldn't put West into a box. And I'll say quickly blocking them to blocking them to there, that's true. You had to play by a certain um

set of rules with West. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone that that blocked more people, um, but I would imagine with good with good reason. He didn't suffer fools uh for long UM. But when West first showed up at NFL, UM we had a former UM manager of ours. He kind of at the Super Bowl told me Justin Hathaway, who who hired Dan, and I, you better watch out because this West character, UM has been writing all week while you've guys been at the Super Bowl.

And it's some of the best material I've ever read on NFL dot com. And I know he's you know, he was sort of saying, you've made a wonderful higher. UM. This person is someone special when it comes to writing football. And I was pretty knew at writing football back then myself, and I would spend a lot of time reading what West wrote, UM, if we covered something similar, how he covered it versus how I did, and like the lead,

the readers learned so much about football from West. But I would credit West as UM, you have these people in your life that when I started to read his writing and his analysis, that it changed the way that I thought about covering football, UM and always will you know and that and it was so well done that that the clip we played at the very top of the show, Matt Sick is UM who works for an editing team. UM. Just one of the many people at

the at the company he put it together. He did such a great job with it, and UM, one of the people that the reason he was able to do that was because he knew Wes and he knew UM. The bond he had with us and with Ricky Hollywood. UM, and that was kind of just West in a nutshell,

how everyone got on with him. And I was thinking, how like I in my whole life, UM, I was never was friends with someone as long as I was friends with West, and I met him in two thousand and now here we are in two thousand twenty one. I never got into a fight with West once. I never like we maybe would argue on the air and the podcast, but me and him never had a single like moment where we were crossed in like in each

other's faces or ever. You know, we just got on so well because he did he got on well with everyone. And Mark and I were talking about this UM the night that he passed away over a few drinks, which

I know West approved of. UM. That all three of us connected with West but in unique ways, which really speaks to Chris in terms of, you know, really he's such an eclectic personality and he was had so many layers, and like I, I connected with West as someone who grew up and m had not maybe a direct family that was large, but I had an extended family that I essentially grew up with tons of cousins and a lot of them boys, and was raised Catholic and grew

up just in love with sports. And uh, I love stupid things like whiffleball and like West cornhole, which he introduced to us. And I know you guys have um reasons why you kind of felt close to him and and what what he said? How do you reconcile the essential meaninglessness of sports? And he he hit on something which was typically brilliant with Chris, which was this idea that you could see the human form achieving um at

its peak physically. But it's sports to me. And the reason why I love sports, um is because it's more to me also than that. It's also how it brings people together. And um, you know, um, that's sports and the NFL's what brought us together. It's it's what brought West.

Was on a message board, Greg, when you were, um a football writer once upon a time working in the fantasy realm and you and you saw this guy that was just writing brilliant long screeds about fantasy sports, and you smartly hired him, and then we're smart enough to bring him over here and it just changed all of

our lives. Yeah, it's so well said, um, because you know, my my start to the relationship with West is Yes, reading this this blog post on his old site, Sons of the Tundra, a dynasty football blog, he had like a ten Yeah, it's a great site. He had a ten thousand word post um that I saw in the off season that was like I could have just dropped it and it would have replaced the first thirty pages of our preview in magazine and it would have like proved it. I was like, who is this guy? I

need to Uh, I need to get this guy. But part of part of I think feel like the basis of our our friendship to start two was arguing and um, and that's what arguing about football, and it was never personal. We the two of us were never one to back down. Um. You know, Lakisha loves to say he's the most stubborn guy she's ever you know, met in his life. Um, And I think he got that from his brothers. You

know we you mentioned having a drink. We we uh, we were sitting with Phil Um then Chris's brother who was here this week, and Um and then and they were they were like that relationship too, you know, a millionth degree because there was seven of them and Um and West. You know, West was the one who you know, he's the second oldest one. I think a lot of them, you know, really looked up to him. And that just that just came from from him. But it wasn't It wasn't just that you you said it so well and

even just how you said it. The end made me think of how he collected characters around him, like so many different types of people, and I connected with them about about literature and talking about the you know, the meaning of life and everything um about life. And when I went down to Tybee, like and you guys saw that, we all saw that at the wedding to just like he could bring so many different types of people together. That's all he wanted was to be surrounded by characters.

He didn't care what type of personality you were. He just like wanted you to be like a unique person and if you were, then you could ride with West and you were going to love him. Oh I love I love what you both said, and I part of me wishes we could have you know, said these things like another time. But um, I just I think my my, like my relationship with Wes wasn't really about football that much.

And I think that's such just so unique that you know, we each covered such different territory with him, and I grew up loving boards as much as anything else, um, but not as much as not as much as Wes. I know that, um. But West and I like for the other eight eight percent of our relationship, I think that it when he showed up to to Los Angeles. I had been writing to him, um, because he had been remote for a while, and we we I just started to realize I was fascinated a bit, but fascinated

by this person. And I would send him like, um, hey, West, like here's my top fifteen, like l a dive bars, so when you get here, like we're going to try these places out and stuff. And he didn't. He you know, he I think he was struggling with with who he was and where he was when he came to Los Angeles, and I think the other phases of his time here where my friendship with him was de emphasized a little bit,

and obviously other plate people played a larger role. But I think early on, UM just something inside of me wanted to look out for West, and UM my thing with West, I think a little bit rom reminded me of some of my other guy friends growing up. Um was misadventures and pranks. And I like, I was up all night last night, Like I'm sure we all were, just um trying to get down to the nuance of what my friendship with West was about. And I'm not even an eighth of the way through figuring that out.

But what kept coming to me where these moments were like, and Dan, you were there for some of this too, But I just like West, when you get them going, you'd wind them up off a few beers or something. I just don't think that there are He'll He'll be a top one or two or three friend in that way for the rest of my life. And you know, you'd be ten minutes in. I'd say to West, like, West, how much will you pay me to pick up this chair and launch it across this room? And He'd say, um,

twelve bucks. So I was like, not enough. And then we we I mentioned this on Sky that there were just all these little instances. I remember a time when we were out with Colleen Wolfe and Gonzo and and we were upstairs at something the second floor of some um pub, and there were these tables of older women.

I don't know what they were doing there, but they were essentially sort of blue hairs, and um, we would just test each other to go do little things, and we would walk up to these these table of women and like sit down very seriously. I'd say we're we're reporters from NFL dot com and West would say we're real reporters, were scribes, and we would just ask, you know, do it. I would like to know, do you think that uh, you know, Iron Eagle is underrated as a

play by play man. This is a hot topic. And we're going around the whole bar and like it's just like the the the that's you know, one little example that West and I would do these things. We read an airport once. Um what some people would call an incident. I would call it an uh an adventure to some degree. But we were rolling around asking people like how furious they were with fake microphones in front of our hands, like that the that the ravens had been pulled from

the belly of the Browns. And you know, these gentlemen to be like, didn't that happen like twenty two years ago. We're like, yes, but we need your thoughts, and like you know, by the time that that night ended, West and I had um counted other incidents. But I I love I just loved being able to chat and talk with him, his verb his verbal skills. Um. That's something that always, like I find I value in a end and we've seen how much how valuable he was on

that front. And this is one little um spoonful off an Iceberg. So I thank you and Mark you and Dan rather um for going out all those nights early on. I remember I met my wife, but I met him at this bar, like but I think the first day he was here. We both moved out here at the

same time. I had worked for the NFL a little longer than West, about nine months longer before we hired, but we moved here at the exact same time, and I went out with I went out with him to a bar like the first night, and maybe did it the third or fourth night. And I was thinking, like, well, this isn't me. You know, I'm I'm not that guy really, and I've got a I've got a young, young kid, and UM, he's gonna need someone because you're right, I was.

I was going to do everything I could to make um the work part of it UM payoff because he took a chance. He really debated whether to come here or not. He had he had just gotten promoted a road to world. He was moving across the country from Tybee Island. I was gonna do everything I could to make the work part of it good. But it's like I needed y'all. I needed you guys to be out with him that or else. I don't know. I don't know if you would have stayed well. It wasn't a

hard shore Phil. His brother Phil told the story that I was not aware of that. UM. I believe it was Phil's daughter UM, And apologies to feel if I have the story slightly off. But was asked to do a book report on someone who took a chance in life, and she was like, oh, I want to do it on Uncle West, who had a perfectly comfortable life on

Tybee Island. He grew up on the West side of Cincinnati. Um. He was a space alien for leaving the West side of Cincinnati, because, as he told us many times, no one really left the West side of Cincinnati. And he followed a friend of his that so many funny, strange West stories, but a friend from Ohio who moved to Tybee Island off the coast of Georgia and then became

the mayor of Typee Island. He moves there on that guy's recommendation and then settles into this island life um or as Dave Damage was Dave Damage, I could say, Tabby Ahland and um, and then you know, made fast friends with everyone, um as Chris does, and built this whole life. And he was so he was the mayor, although shout out to Jason Buellerman, I believe, who also officiated his wedding. Right, let's not let's remember Buellerman was

the mayor. But what West was everyone's best friend. But West was so you know, such a gifted writer, he was so talented that, um, he could have just stayed on that island. Um, got drunk with his friends, played softball, met someone, eventually got married and and and he nearly did that on that island as well, and then been an online football writer and had he carved out a nice life, but he did take that. He took that chance, and um, I like to say it paid off for

him beautifully. In fact, we know because Lakisha, he doesn't meet Lakisha an NFL network, and if he doesn't meet Lakisha, UM, I don't think he would have survived cancer the first time. That's how special a woman she is. And then there would be no link. But it was touch and go West in l A initially, and you said, Greg, you you tried and that was not your forte going to bars.

Mark and I definitely more up our alley and we both went out with West a lot because we knew we could tell immediately West was a good guy and um a great football writer and a great addition to the team, but like a really good guy like we wanted it to meet. We wanted it to work, um, but it was. It was tough because he was, yes, the most stubborn person I've ever known as well, UM, which could be a blessing and accurse sometimes, but he's His initial thought was I hated here, this isn't me.

And I remember Mark us going out a lot with him. One one day, Emily, my wife, and I went to West's and I remember we all sat in the jacuzzi together and we threw corn together and listened to like Springsteen, and it was just like you just wanted him to get like in the flow of like this could work.

I remember Mark, you and I with Emily and West sitting outside the city Tavern and Culver City and signing him up for Plenty of Fish, the dating site, which was that took a lot of a lot of convincing because he thought, oh, that's dating sites are for losers, Like no, Wes, this is I think we were out of the loop. But I think this is how it works. This is how people meet and date and have fun. Because you just wanted him to get his hooks into

the city, and he did. He started dating a lot, and you could tell he started to get more comfortable. And then when he met Lakisha, who we had already known. Um that that's what changed everything. Once Lakisha and West got together, Um, there never again was there like I don't like it here, this doesn't work. Now. He had grievances with l A to the very end, but that's when you're like, Okay, he's not going anywhere, and that was a beautiful thing. He never did get that car

back that he just like last lost the car. He lost the car. He just went to the Super Bowl down a note to that he got gotten some sort of like a minor incident or accident and just gave the car to the other party. Didn't he just give He gave the car away to the people that he got in the accident with. That's that's he just for debate. I I've tried to I even reached out to Lukisha at some point about two years ago. He was like, Lukisha, do you want me to like do some like works

if I can find out where this car was? And I think it was just eventually auctioned off by the city. I mean I think it was. Also it was a car that was worth about three hundred and seventy five but it was now he got the one you're talking about. He got it shipped from Tybee shout out to the NFL actually gave us our moving expenses and so he

had about a five hundred dollar car. You're talking about Big Irish, probably probably at the events of like uh, probably at the expense of far more value than I'm conflating stories because West lost two cars, but anyway, mark your turn. Well, no, I was just gonna say that I think that something else that happened to West along the way was you know, I remember talking to him that we would even go out in l A to various places and needs like this isn't huck a Poos,

This isn't hucka Poos, like none of these places. They just couldn't find that home, I think, And and that's because I don't think l A really offers that um in establishments the same way that we having been to hucka Poos it does. But he went and created it on his own. And like we started to watch West grow with his Westlemania parties, which started, as you know, for ten or eleven or twelve people because the circle

was smaller, but it started to grow and grow. And I remember at one point, I don't know what compelled me to do this, but I walked from NFL Network to Marina del rey Um to attend a Westlemania. I think I had sort of a heat stroke by the time I got there on some level, and remember punching our friend Jason Zumwald in the stomach and various other people. But um, these parties were these were absolutely epic events. And you know what it was. It was West cooking.

It was West Um with his endless amazing playlists. And I think that the table started to turn because he just created the home that wasn't there for him automatically in Los Angeles. And on the Lakisha front, first, I'll never forget. I think we were out to lunch, Dan, you and I with Henry Um, and you had told me that Western Lakisha were I mean, for lack of a better term, interested in each other, and um, my cupid skills are are are sucky? Because I thought to myself, well,

I'm not sure about this. I I like, I love because I love these two so much. Um if this ever went south, what would it do to our friend group? Um? And I so I would just it was on It was on my radar, as you'd say, I was monitoring it, and then I suddenly became very pleased with what I saw. I think the softball team helped all that, and you

can get into that. But um, their love and their relationship and and they're pairing to me is incredible because Lakisha's number one superpowers or positivity, and she walked right into a situation that got so gnarly. I mean, I think you're right without her and who she is inside, I don't think West would have gotten to the point where we watched him get married to her in Tybee Islands.

She he always he always likes to tell me, I was there for the first time you saw him a fire, which was in our break room in our at work, and we're just like, I don't know, getting coffee or

water or whatever. And she walks in on her first day of work or an interview, I don't remember which, and she was wearing a pretty short skirt and he just kind of like looks at me and just like a nice hire, you know, and pretty much pretty much pretty much from then on, Um, you said, you say it well, and I think it's it's one thing I this week has obviously been brutal and the best that

that I think I felt. I don't know if you guys feel the same as like when when we're talking to each other and when we've we're talking about West, um and um, you know, at other times it crashes and you realize he's not there. But one of the things that that really UM has helped me just think about him, is that since since the first cancer battle, UM, no one has appreciated every day. He had more that I've ever met than West. He He already was like that.

He was a deep guy. He was even before before cancer. We would talk talk about that. He had this saying he'd the call which was really just kind of follow your heart, don't worry about anything else but that. And UM, I think especially after what he went through, UM, and also just aware of what a beautiful, you know, amazing wife he had and what we had as a podcast. It was a huge, huge part of his life. UM,

he did appreciate it. He appreciated every day. He appreciated the moments like that the summer they had before they got married, where they went all around the country, saw all the people that they loved, went to Tybee Island, had a big throw down. UM there that you know, the the wedding and last summer too. Man like no one you know, Damna Scheck says it. You know that cheating life. I mean, he felt like he was cheating life. He felt like he was one of the luckiest guys

in the world. I would also quickly say, I don't think the four of us have ever looked hotter as a group than we did at West's wedding. I looked the picture. Those pictures are good. I mean, I don't I don't remember going on like a weight loss plan during that period. But I was like, I wish I didn't have the beard. In hindsight, I wish I didn't have the beard. But his job by the photographer, I thought,

ultimately it's possibly true. Now the transformation of West to from you know, from physically to everything else, from when we started with him to the way he dressed and the way he looked once the keisha was in was always staggering to me. Um, he just went on a journey and in his um seven or so years here and you know, it's like, you know, circling back to how he's just connected with so many people. And this has been, you know, a terrible week. I mean it's

been and we could you know, open the Kimono. West was very fond of taking down at the talent summits, the corporate jargon that came out. Open the Kimono one of our favorites. And Um, he was very fond of um our show and doing our show, and even when he got sick, he wanted to keep doing the show,

and we we knew things were going uh sideways. Um. Really as the summer I went into the football season and Mark and I had many painful like back and forth um where we just had this terrible feeling because

it just we we lived it. We lived through the first nightmare of West having cancer, and it always felt like there was this clear path um, as difficult as it was for him, that he was going to get this treatment and then he's gonna have the surgery and then he had to go into recovery and then the doctors were giving a clear um directive of what he needed to do and he beat it and it was like, Okay,

this time it wasn't that way. And you know when he started not being able to do the show, Um, I know is if the listeners out there, you you could probably put together that things were getting dicey. And then when he was able to do those Sunday night shows this year, I mean that was one of my

favorite West stories. Um. That connects to this is the we played softball together for three seasons and I don't know if I could ever play softball again, be honest, because me and West loved playing together so much, and he was Mike don Zimmer my Consigliari the Shield, and we went to the title game three times in a row. We won the first two years. First year was two

thousand sixteen. He gets sick in two thousand seventeen. Uh and in the two thousand eighteen season he comes back two thousand seventeen, UM season, he's playing softball of this while he's undergoing chemo, and it's like, what is this guy doing? And then when it's just like this level and well yeah, and playing well but not feeling himself and you know, having to lay down and drink a lot. And in the final game when everything was on the line and he was third, he was the third baseman.

Every week, I played first, Tony Garcia at shortstop, Nicolephelia at second, Brook pitching, Lakisha, and our friend Brassie catching. That was the infield. And West pulls himself out of the game for the finals and says, you know what I'm not, I'm gonna I'm gonna coach. I can use my powers better positioning people on the field and and watching the game and I'm like, this guy is so different even when you're doing softball and like, but also

like the toughest of playing while having cancer. The fact that he was getting um hanging on every Sunday like and he was always tired. West, he struggled to sleep because he was in a lot of pain and discomfort uh during this final illness. But the fact that he would always stay up and do for most of the regular season, almost the whole show before Nick Shook would help out at the end, and then in the in the final playoffs and everybody you could hear his voice.

I know you guys listening could hear that he was really struggling and in trouble, but he still wanted to be a part of it. And he was on the divisional round playoff recap with us and I. The last text that I ever had with him was after that, after that show and I texted him that was great, West, it was great to have you on and he wrote, thank you. That means a lot. Can't wait until I can do a full one. He never he never quit, He never gave up like that was two weeks before

he died. Um. He was the toughest, bravest, guy, I know, and that's stubbornness that sometimes would drive you crazy. Is why he he made it as long as he did. It means a lot to me that one of um, you know, our final moments together, UM and I think really our finest, uh final kind of pure moment in the West sense, because that's what he was all about. He was just like searching for these pure moments in life, and a lot of them were at bars. Some of

someone were just talking to his friends. UM could have been in sports. UM, I was talking about that Brown's game was the four of us, you know, and he knew he knew if he was gonna be on for one one game there that like we've been waiting um the whole the whole time we did the podcast to see a Brown's win, and he wanted to be be there for Mark and he wanted to be there with with Dan and I too. That the four of us

could couldn't enjoy that as a podcast. It means a lot to me that that he did that, and he was really pushing himself to do that. It's it just seemed like um our respect collectively and individually for West would grow with each year, which is a great way to feel about someone. And um, it was even last night when uh, you know, I I'm not alone. We've been looking at little clips of West and people of our listeners are amazing and have found some incredible stuff.

But I just was watching this random UM pod from I think it was like summer, and it was like list teams that are you know, not gonna fulfill their promise. And I went on this like rant about Rex Ryan's bills, UM, having no idea that I would later on hang out with Rex Ryan and he actually at some point, UM, while I was traveling with Rex Ryan went I can tell, went on the internet and looked for articles written by me about him, and there were a couple out there

that were unfriendly. Let's put that's a whole different story. But um, but I'm watching this thing and it was you know, we'd look a lot younger for or five years ago, all of us, and like, um, I was, you know, it was a rather directionless rant about the bills UM. And then someone else spoke and then West just said I agree with Mark. And I was sitting there with Simone and I just got off up the

couch and I started pumping my fist yeah. I was like, if West believes in me, if he believed in my football, take I am a shining diamond. That was like all I needed. Stop the tape. I'm out that. It wasn't always the case, but it meant a lot when he agreed with you, because like you would put the work in or you got lucky, but he agreed with you. And it means so much for me to be on the right side of things because West on football almost

always was that. I mean, that was It's funny you should say that because that's something I wanted to talk about, which was West obviously. Um, what made this and what's made this podcast successful is the dynamic and the four of our personalities mixing together and you know, our strengths um and our weaknesses all you know, being offset the weaknesses,

the strengths being amplified when everything is cooking. And I always the West was so vital to the dynamic and it's you know, as we look forward, and it's hard to look forward right now, but as you look forward, I don't know, I don't know what our podcast is going forward with that West. I know we've we've done it before without West because he got sick and missed time the first time, and then we did this whole

season mostly without him. But I don't none of us, we haven't sat down and talked about like what is our podcast going forward? Because West was so vital. He was his his football acumen was off the charts, and you know, in terms of um his knowledge of sports I think he's one of the true great sports fans ever. And I would put him up against I don't care anybody. You show me who the biggest sports van you know is,

and I'll put him up against West. And the now of games that West watches across the spectrum, Pro College, whatever the tape he watched, the reading, he did, the instincts he had, he could see the game in a way that none of us could see it. And his he was so important to the show because he would push back against Greg and that was the scientists heat um with me when I was trying to make people laugh, I would always if I got West, I knew that

I would get the audience. And West was such a great uh person for me to be able to play off and understand where the tone and the field of the show was. And Mark with you, and this is I don't think I've ever shared this with you, but it was something that I always noticed, the way where I sat um with Greg to my right and then West to my left, and then you on the far left.

When you would make a football point, Mark, you would reflexively kind of turned toward West when you made it, because it was almost like you you were putting it out there for West and and will Wess agree with it. I want because you wanted that just like we all did, because you nailed it, like we all wanted West to agree with our football takes. But I always noticed you Mark. You aways looked to West when you were kind of

putting yourself out there. I don't have the quality that Greg has to where he wanted to engage with West. I At one point I remember challenging West on his Bengal fandom, telling him that I'll never forget this, that maybe you should rethink this huge binder you put together about the Bengals because if you're loyal and this was, you know, the Browns were in like a deep apocalypse for year twenty eight in a row, and like, Um,

I was like loyal, people stick with their team. And I don't remember Wes's response because it wasn't on the show, but he he uh destroyed me verbally for that. It doesn't being me, but he basically was just like, your opinion on that is completely wrong. And I was like, I learned that arguing with West was not my forte um, was not my strength. Um, And I probably did try to avoid that and create some sort of agreement because,

like you said, I mean it meant a lot. I sure I looked at him all the time because if he's smiling, I had the same mine. You say something and he's smiles, he laughs. I've done anything anything I could possibly hope to do on a show. I mean that's why I like when Dan asked the other week, um, you know, whether what Belichick's opinion was or feelings watching Brady and West came down on my side. I mean that was a bigger fist pumping celebration that I had

than any Patriots game all season. I was just like, yeah, okay, West is the decider here. But then mad Dog Russo straighten you right out. Now, I'm taking taking West. I love to wind. I've you know, I just for fun. I don't take it too seriously with hardcore football takes. But I would go up against West and just have fun with it, even though if I knew it was

a mismatch. The thing, real thing I love to do with West and the shows just wind him up, and that would be you know, whether it was him carrying the pail up and down the hill for the Patriots and all get him all fired up about the fleet gate that was so fun, or Eli and his being hall of Famer and West say, I think West's take, and it's sad that Well never get to see Um if this would have played out, I think he said he would never he would never either watch a Hall

of Fame speech or go to the Hall of Fame if Eli got in. He felt so strong and that Eli was not was not a good quarterback, which was always a fun little back and forth. He was just such. He was such a great podcaster because he was um smart as a whip, articulate, um. He knew everything, he did the work, and he had a sense of humor. So he was kind of a total package guy. He was. He was the not so secret weapon of the show.

I think about this. He was so stubborn that um he he ended up eating his own softball pants because he refused to back down off and take about the Raiders based on their general manager, who he disliked, a whole bunch of other stuff and softball pants. Yeah, if you're someone new to the show, I believe. Um it was he said he would eat his softball pants if Dennis Allen Raiders had a certain win total. I think we had a six or something it was. I think it was five or six, and and they easily. I

think they might have gone eight and eight that year. Um. And so he was in trouble early. And uh that that is still my avatar on our our in company uh client messaging climbing client which we do not name, is West eating softball pants. So out of Dan's he was. So it was. It was a bit that we had built up for for weeks and weeks and uh, I remember calling West before we got on the plane to go to New York. It was the it was the Seahawks Broncos Super Bowl at Giant or MetLife Stadium. Said West,

you gotta bring the pants. You gotta bring the pants. We need the softball pants to do the pants bit. Uh we didn't. He didn't bring the pants. I don't was it the Giant, Maybe it wasn't the New York New Jersey Want, I can't remember. But he didn't have the pants, and uh, we had to go out and I think he had to get the pants mailed. And

then it just so happened. At the rate at radio there was a hot dog stand and there was a the world's biggest hot dog or something, and it was disgusting, and a chili and relish sour kraut and all this other stuff, guacamole, bacon. It was insane and it was about like two ft long. And we we cut up a portion of the pants and just sprinkled it on top. And West again a great podcaster. Um, he took a bite out of that hot dog. He ate some of his own softball pants. Because so strong was he in

his opinion about that particular Meaningless Raiders team. He was willing to risk everything he was. It was something that some of the someone tweeted about that I thought was right. Was just he was. He was real. He was like the realist of the real. He was always West Um. And so I think that podcast is the perfect form for him, um, because he could never be anything but West, which was stubborn everything, but also incredibly generous, you know. And and just like he was never he didn't have

a fake bone in his body. There was zero bullet with Chris Wesley. A little anecdote that UM, Ryan Bartlett from our podcast crew mentioned that I just thought was so West and it kind of shows you that he did not care about how he was supposed to appear or be dressed. Um that they got into this deep conversation about limousines, and you know, there's a lot of things that happened in limousines. But West told a story of UM going on a pub crawl when he was

a mailman. Um in a limo. He walked into a limo, went from from pub to pub and his mailman outfit. Like it's a completely beguiling visual. Um. But it's like, of course West did that. You know, he's not going to change into something else. I love it, you know, is he you know, That's how he started his and that's how he of course got the nickname Mailman. His father I believe was a mailman, right, yes he was.

And again like and this is one of the things I related to I know, you know, we both kind of I know he's on the west side of Cincinnati. But it was like a small town, UM, just like I grew up in and and the idea of UM leaving town or or doing something well outside the box wasn't something that that immediately, UM a young Chris Westling

thought about. So he went from high school and he did, he did some college, and then I was working, as an imagine someone is smart and gifted as he is, UM working at the postal service, which, by the way, I know people that work in the postal service, and it's a perfectly um, honest living and and and and a good job. But I'm saying with with the abilities and the skills that he had, I'm so happy he took that chance, not just because it meant that we got to know him, but that he gave so much

to everyone. He's such, he's such. And go back, please, if you do one thing, go back and read some of Chris Wesseling's writing. Um he wrote. He wrote about the Cincinnati Bengals um um offense under young Bill Wallace. He wrote about Ohio River offense. He wrote about love

You Blue, about those famous Houston Oilers teams. These are just a couple of his like really widely acclaimed long forms he did for the NFL, but then also just read like a game story he wrote, or like a takeaway post when we were doing our blog or anything he wrote recently right up to the end when he was doing Chemo and he was doing his QB rankings piece and just doing the best writing on professional football on the internet, like West was doing that to the

very end. So read about read West because of all the things. I just said that he was a brilliant podcaster. He wasn't even he was even better as a writer. Yeah, I think Um. I think it was the first QB Index of this season. He wrote the intro to it. Um just kind of in the same vein a similar vein of what we heard at the top of the show about what sports means, and uh, I would really recommend people check that out. I believe it was. It

was the week week one thing. Um. I talked to Spice Rack, who you know, if you're a regular listener, you guys will remember is Um. You know his consigliari in Vegas Desert, a friend of his Um from from his childhood and Cincinnati originally like one of West's brother's friends and then came to it and and he said to me, when when West started writing for Rhoda World and and that, and that was that a bit of a low moment for him. You know, he was trying

to figure out what he was doing. He had just just started a job delivering pizzas and he was in his thirties, um, and and it started to go really well, and he got hired you know, full time, sooner than later. And then he went to the NFL and he said, like everyone that knew him growing up was like, well, of course, like why did it take this long? Not why did it take this long? But like of course, like he was the most brilliant guy, um, that we all knew growing up, and and he was the most

brilliant guy about sports growing up. And when he was sixteen seventeen, like he had all these notebooks, the same handwritten notebooks that that he had now and and and Spicy said something that really stuck with me, um, just like about how much West believed in him and that how much that meant to him. And that really resonated because I just from the people that I know, uh, in West's life, I think that's true of a lot

of people. Um that it really meant a lot when West believed in you, that he saw like a like the best side of you, and he and he tried to take to get that out. And uh, I know that meant a lot to spice Wreck, but me, it meant a lot to a lot of people. I love

what you said. And I would say one other thing about West that that lifted me up when we first met was, um, you know, we're in a world where a lot of people they go to college, they go to journalism school, and by twenty three their rising stars. And um, I didn't come to the NFL until I was like thirty six or thirty seven, and West West and I took very st huit is bizarre routes um to get where we are. I mean all four of

us did. If you look at the way that we all got to into that podcast studio together, UM, it's incredible. It's it beats the odds because of what what we went through. Um. But we always have younger writers and stuff ask how do you do this? How do you do that? And I find that my roadmap is a terrible uh diagram for someone to follow. Don't do what

I did? And maybe don't do what West did. But maybe the lesson in there a little bit is when I think about West, he went and lived this incredibly varied life with adventures that would say, well below him, why are you a mailman when you're doing all this other stuff or whatever? And I hear all that, and it's true, but I think all that informed West and who he was. Had he gone a journalism school and been like a shiny employee from day one, I don't

we never would have known him. It would have been a different person. So I I think like whatever wherever you are, if you're listening to this um, there's always hope to get back on course or just to wind up where you should up. And that's what West did. Ricky, I would love to hear um from you. Yeah, I mean,

it's so beautiful to to hear you guys. Um. You know, we all have our different relationships, like us as a whole, as a five some were very tight, but I have a very different relationship with each of you, and I did with West. And I met West when he came back from cancer the first time, and I'm this new producer, who am I? And the first thing he ever said to me is, Oh, you're the one that's taking our

videos to the next level. And even in cancer, he was watching what we were doing and he was like, it's so great to meet you. And and from a writer and a football standpoint, I mean, he's the smartest guy I've ever met. But me and him together when when we I mean, you guys, you know Dan and Mark, you like you like to tie it on. But Me and West together were absolute tornadoes and and and he was just the most slice of life that you could

ever ask for. And from even petty stuff to being in the office and I'd be like mad about something Caddy that happened, and he would look at me and be like, what does it matter? He would just straight straight face, what what are you? Why are you upset about this? And I would be like, you're You're right, it doesn't matter. And and just his outlook on on life. And I know there's videos and stuff going around, but

he was just the most fun. And he made me so much worse out in public when there was alcohol involved. If he was there, it was it was. It was terrible. But it's so much fun. And I think that there was those photos from us at St. Elmo's and it's really foggy. But I think we told them that it was West and Eyes anniversary, so we got a free dessert. But the league fence is it anyways, and so we have to cut this anymore. But we told them it was our anniversary for a free dessert. And we're at

a part. We're at a table like twelve at the time, like just the two of us, and you were putting cake in each other each other's mouths. You bought like you bought other things that contributed to that. It was an incredible that was West at his liveliest, like post cancer, and he was having that was February. That was a year ago. That was fifty weeks ago. I mean, that's and that's the the sad the sadness about this, and

it is and I'm happy. I'm so happy we're doing this because we were, you know when when when he first passed away, we didn't know what we were doing. We didn't should we do a show? Should we not? I'm glad. I am so happy we're doing this. And it's like Ricky hit the nail on the head, just like we all have so many great stories of great time. So he was such great company. UM. He was just such a great person to be aroun on. And you knew if West was there, UM, it was gonna it

was gonna be a good time. And and Ricky, I'm so happy that you um entered the fold because UM, in addition to making the podcast even better, you um got along so well with him. And just another example, like you're saying, and when I was saying earlier that we all had different kind of portals of how we connected with him, UM, and that goes for you as well, and they goes down the line. West was West was trending and as with Lakishan link uh in the UK

on Twitter and here in the United States. UM, when when the news came out on Saturday, I mean just think about that. I mean Roger Goodell sent an email uh to everyone in the company rich eyes and has had amazing words UM during the pregame show for Super Bowl fifty five, and Ricky, if you could play this. And I know Colleen, who we love, and she's this is the first Super Bowl, UM since two thousand twelve

that we're not at the city for COVID reasons. Colleen, because she's a big shot and a much bigger star than us in the company. She went and helped anchor the coverage and did an amazing job. Um. She was crushed when she heard the news and I can't. I reached out to Gonzo, her husband, and I think you know who he is, and she connected with he connected with Colleen and and she was a total mess. And I remember talking about um on a video chat like

can she do this? Is she gonna go home? Is she gonna ask out to not do the coverage for the rest of the weekend because she doesn't think she could do it emotionally? She she goes through with it and as a total trooper. And um, like I said, rich eyes and said words and they were great. Earlier in the morning on Sunday. Uh, they had um other like a little moments to to Chris and an article in NFL dot com. But Colleen, it wasn't slated in the show for her to say anything about West, but

she she changed that. And I just wanted to play that because it was a really special Well, Lily, you're going the box, I'm going with the chiefs. Um My m v P is going to be Chris Jones in

this game. Um, but I am gonna go a little rogue here, and I apologize to the producers and the control room, but I just want to say these past two days, I've been doing shows with a really heavy heart, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to put into words, um, how much Chris Westling meant to me, meant to so many people at NFL Network. We lost him two days ago, and he was like

one of the most beautiful people I've ever known. Um, He's gonna be so missed, and I didn't feel like it was right to not say it um today on this show, because I've been trying to just get through these two days and pretend that it hasn't happened, and it doesn't really feel real still that we lost him. He's been family from the second I met him at NFL Network, UM, and he's such a big part of my family still. My parents, they loved him. They don't

even know. They're just finding now some Mom and dad. I'm sorry that you're finding out this way. But more importantly, I just wanted to say to Lakisha, his wife, and Link his son, we love you guys so much, and we're all here to support you. And we know that wes Is is watching over all of us here um

today and forever. Uh. And I'm sorry because there's no good transition um to keep it moving about the game, but sometimes there's things that are more important to the game and the people that we meet here at work talking about football. I've met so many great ones, and Chris Wesling might be the greatest one I've ever met.

So he's really going to be missed. That was amazing And we can't wait to have Colleen back on the show and when she gets back into town and where you know, this isn't gonna be the last time we talked about West, not by a long shot. He's part of the show for as long as this show continues, however long that may be. And we have no idea West is always going to be a part of it.

And and and I just want to thank the NFL too, because when you're working for a thirteen billion dollar company, UM, there could be times where you feel like you could be lost in the shuffle and overlooked. And I think it's it's normal. And you know, when this went down, something that's so incredibly personal to us, and we knew what a big deal. It was, obviously, and the listeners, you guys understand what a m a monumental loss it

is for West not to be with us anymore. UM. I just I I had hoped that the NFL understood the gravity of this and and I really thought they've come through with flying colors, both in recognizing wes Um on air UH and on our website and all the people behind the scenes, all our shadowy league figures, UM Mark Brady, who has been a tireless soldier UM behind the scenes and been such a great leader helping UM shepherd this show through good times and bad times, UM,

John Marvel, Matt Schneider, Jason Kleinman, everyone who helped make this tremendously difficult process, uh just a little bit easier. UM. Thank you to everybody at the NFL listening now. And I want everybody to know that because the NFL is can be a big target sometimes and you think, oh, this is you know, you know, an organization, it's a cold thing. No, it has not felt cold. Has felt like, Uh, the NFL was a big family the last couple of

days and and and that's what it felt like. We lost a family member and there was a closing of ranks. You know when you say that, like there's not one bad thing you could say about a person that's actually Wes, Like there's not one person across this company, across Twitter. Social media is such a dark place. Sometimes there really is not one bad thing you can say about Christmasling. We'll put Ricky, We'll put I'm really glad Colleen took

that chance. Think West has taught a lot of people to take chances, and they I think NFL Network was probably just overjoyed with what she had to say. Um, I remember the first time we met her. I'll keep this really really quick, but it was West and I. Um, We're at the Whaler as we often were, and she happened to be there with her parents and she we had maybe seen her once or twice and unpil network,

but she didn't have any friends. She had moved out here without Gonzo for a period of time, and West and his West Way, I mean, we were thrilled to see her, but I think he made it really clear that day, you're our friend. You're hanging with us, always open arms with West, always always welcomed you in. I I've told Wes, I always marveled with him that I, by my nature like to keep things a little tighter. And and that goes for like even when we have

like meet ups with listeners at their live shows. I always did it because I love our listeners. But I never was quite always comfortable. It was just a little too much. But west could could have been at a after show drinking session for twenty four hours and it w didn't matter because he always people, always wanted people around, and he always welcomed anyone in and he was so great. He was so great with that too. But that's the generosity.

And I'm glad we got Colleen's voice in there because her and Gonzo really, um, it meant a lot to ta Keisha and in west Over the last a few years really and like um he uh you know he he did. Um, he did have a preference I know in this game by the way tonight, which I was thinking about, he was he was hoping that the Bucks

would win. His brother Phil could not resist asking him, I know, um this week while while he was in the hospital, and and Phil being a Westling, and they're all they all got this like you see it come out where they're they're all a little, you know, similar in some ways, but I don't think West was really even playing ball at first. Eventually got the answer out of him. He wanted to see he wanted to see

Brady win one more. Ye's always loved Brady because he, you know, West is such a student of the game and new really what Tom Brady has been able to do for twenty years now now winning a seventh Super Bowl, which obviously you wish, you wish West saw it, and maybe he did. Mark Sessler, You and I had to talk late, late, late, late, um Friday night, and like, where where is West now? And uh, you know West was open, Like I said, he was raised Catholic like I was, but he had you know, fell away from

religion as he got older. And we would often joke on this show, um when we started to duck into those waters of religion and faith of save it for the theology podcast, and this is not going to turn into the theology podcast, but it did. It crossed my mind. And uh when he passed on where he was and

if he's listening to us now? And um, my grandmother Granby, who I I love forever, and she she passed away a couple of days before I moved to l A to take this job, and she give me a rosary right before she died, and I always kept it with me. I actually wore it when I first moved here. Um and um, but I had kept it in my closet for years, really um because it wasn't I wasn't somebody who's going to church or praying. Um. But I took it out last week and and kept it by my

bedside and said prayers for West. And I let him know as much in a text. And Lakisha told me that that he did see that in the hospital room. Um, so that that meant a lot to me too. And and if you are listening West right now, I hope here. I hope this is okay with you. I don't know if you're mad at us because we're not talking. Why would it be mad because he would be mad that we're not talking about the chiefs O line crumbling. He would be mad at people saying it was mahomes fault

on Twitter. I can I've been thinking mad about that, yeah, like tweeting back at people he doesn't even know, getting telling them that they, you know, don't have eyes. And I just he would sneak. He would sneaky like Mahome's getting taken down a peg. But I don't think he'd be mad. I think he would. I think he would say I was thinking about this too. We were thinking

about on Friday night, like what would West want? And like West would say, do what you want, you know, like West would say do what your heart tells you, Like I don't care if you talk about football or not, like you guys should do what feels right. You guys know your podcast. Um, you guys know our podcast the best and like and whether what did you actually talk to Wes um afterlife? This is coming in from a definitive place. Keep going. I'm just well Phil agreed with

me on this one. Remember Um, we we talked. I just feel like that is that is what he you know, because he was not gonna that was gonna put put his thoughts on you and and what you said about looking down on us, Um, it just made me think like he's he's here regardless, like he's here with us,

Like he is part he is part of us. He is part of who we are, not just the podcast, but just who we are as people and how how we act as people and I've thought about that that that's that's the best way to honor him is is how how we act. You know, I would tell you say one thing like like I said, I think my my relationship with him was about at best twelve percent about football, and that was just simply because we were

at work doing that half the time. But um, and I'm not the person you should trust with every football opinion, but I do trust some things that I feel inside, and I feel him with us since since he's left.

I mean that seriously awesome. UM. You know, I want to point out Greeby, who is one of our long time listeners and one of the founders of the subreddit um around the NFL UM started to go fund me page UM that I want everyone to check out, uh and if you can, UM, all the all the donations go directly to Lukisha and link um, So please check that out on our respective Twitter Twitter pages UM and yes, UM, link is you know the you know Lukisha And it's so tragic and sad that West didn't get more time

with link but I know we're all going to be there for him as uncle's and Ricky as an aunt and UM, every listeners can know that. I know it's everyone feels for Lakisha, as they should because she has such a gargantuan uphill climb in front of her right now, and we're trying to be there for her as well.

But none of us can put ourselves in their shoes, But listeners just know that where we have her back, and we're gonna do everything we can UM to help with Link as well, because that's how it would be if it was any of us that switched places with West. I know you guys would be the same way with me, and I would be the same way with you. Absolutely

all right. Whenever you listen, whenever you listen to she is amazing, I have I have no I have no doubt that she will rise above and and overcome the challenges in front of her because she is They were a power couple, and they are a power couple forever UM and she will UM she will get this thing figured out in time, but it will it will take time, and it will take time for us to because it's obviously this is a time of um unforeseen and tragic

circumstances UM for our show and trying to figure out what comes next and what's the right thing to do, and and we all feel and we hope that you the listener understands that we're not ready to We'll see on Wednesday to talk about how the Chiefs fix their offense. Like we're not going to be doing that. We're gonna take a little time off, um and and when we come back, we have, you know, more planned. In terms of remembering West, we talked about doing a show where

we remember some great West moments. And I would say this is a great opportunity for crowdsourcing. If you're not on the Around the NFL subreddit, go get on it, and please maybe Greeby or whomever else can start a thread of favorite West moments on the show that we could begin to just build up a library. And like I said, West is and has been reiterated by everybody here.

West is a part of the show forever. He's part of the show right now as we speak, and it's going to stay that way as long as the Around the NFL podcast exists. All right, boys, Ricky anything anything else. I just want to want to reiterate what you just said about Lakisha. I mean, we saw her briefly Friday, and you know, obviously as tough as it is. She was laughing with us when we were remembering West too

before he had even you know, passed the hospital. And she is just the most remarkable person I think I've ever met. Yeah, Like I I feel so lucky that we were able to see her um and fill that morning. And you know, it's it's complex, just to be really real, UM, I look back in the past couple of months and I wish I had sent that extra text or two. I didn't really get to say goodbye to West. And in the vast majority of people, UM have those complex feelings.

But but this, but there's so much about him that's gonna um bring life and vibrancy and and it's through Link and it's through Keisha, who are who are with us and we will look after in our own ways, um until the very end. And so this is just the beginning of what we are going to uh be doing for them. It hurts because there there wasn't there wasn't the time, you know that they would have wanted, in any circumstance, UM to to say those goodbyes and stuff.

But of all people, West knew like all that I thought about it a lot like in Keisha Um absolutely knows how we all feel about her. Um. But but he knew like all the things we we we wanted we would have wanted to say, or other things like he he knew all that. I believe. I believe that in my heart. Alright, So yes, we will at some point return to talking football in this podcast, but right now it's about West and remembering West and listeners out

have reached out thank you to everyone. We can't say thank you individually to everyone's has just been such an outpouring, but we really appreciate it and understand what West meant to you, um, because he meant so much stuff. So UM, until next time, thank you very much, and Chris Westling, wherever you are, rest in peace, our good friend. I love you, Love you wess. Me and West always used to say that, like adults don't drink milk, and we

would always laugh at adults don't drink milk. So I think I'm going to have a glass of milk tonight. Make him laugh. No,