The Season with Peter Schrager: Eagles RB's and Assistant HC Jemal Singleton, Jared Goff Appreciation, and Airline Status

Los Angeles on the weekends. And it is now week fifteen, and I feel like we're figuring some things out with some teams, but there's still a lot to be figured out. And as we do this podcast, it's a weekly one and it's week after weekend, we're trying to tell the story of the season. I still don't have a lot of answers in my producer here, Aaron jan Kaufman. Aaron, do you feel like this thing is just completely wide open?

Like I do. Yeah. I feel like even this weekend there were some games that I was like, Oh, yeah, the Dolphins are gonna win, that's gonna be the division, Like the fight is going to be there with Buffalo in Miami. And No, there's so many things that are still open. Uh. We were just talking about a couple of teams that like, there's there's a lot of games left. I'm looking at the schedule for week fifteen, and we'll get into the Saturday tripleheader. I will be on the

sidelines as the sideline reporter for Dolphins at Bills. I am wildly, wildly unprepared for what to wear on that sideline. I have not thought that through, and I will have to pack something. Um. I also am wildly, wildly confident that I will be eating my weight in Buffalo wings when I arrive on Friday, and thus will be waddling around the field and six layers of clothing trying to concentrate on football while I'm wondering where the nearest toilet is.

I will also, um say this, that's just one of the games, like Giants Commanders, two teams that are seven five and one on Sunday night. Awesome game, Lions at Jets, awesome game, Titans at Chargers, awesome games. Suddenly Patriots at Raiders, very interesting game. And if you want to talk about two teams going in the wrong directions, like all right, we've got the Vikings who just lost again and you're like,

all right, like what's up with those guys? And then I go over to the other teams in the NFC and it's like, all right, well, the Cowboys, they they might have the wins, but they almost lost to the Texans. And now they play the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Like really cool slate a lot of games, um, and I'm excited for it. I don't have all the answers, but I do know this. Patrick Mahomes pulled one out of his ass again, and I love that pass. It was one

of the coolest passes we will see. And Baker Mayfield did something that we've never seen in NFL history showing up thirty six hours before a game and winning an NFL game as a starting quarterback and doing it without any false starts or any delay games. That's just the intro. Let's get to the four downs, Aaron, All right, here we go. First down. You were there on the sideline this weekend for the Eagles. You got to see him up close and personal. Are they as good in person

as they look on TV? Alright? So the Eagles have something that I don't know if it's been coined before, but they're like, get off the bus, scary. What do I mean by that? I watched this team get off the bus on Sunday. I was there at nine am. I was interviewing Sirianni for the Fox pregame show, right

outside their locker room. And they come off the bus and it's six ft eight, three fifty pounds Jordan my Alatta and he's followed by h I don't know, and Dominican Sue, and then Fletcher Cox and then Lane Johnson and then Javon Hargrave and then Brandon Graham and they're just the biggest, most physical looking team coming off the bus.

And then they've got these guys like a J. Brown, who's a who's an all pro talent, and you've got Davante Smith who's not get off the bus scary, but then you get him in that uniform him and he's downright frightening. And of course you've got the quarterback in Jalen Hurts who was wearing like a magenta blazer and it just looks to look it comes in, does not smile, and then they go out there and it's you know, focus on the game, and you know this could be

a trap game. You've got two games ahead of your air with the Bears, and then the Cowboys that are big games and they just kick the snot out of the Giants in the Giants building, and it was like from go. They had two sacks on the first three plays of the game. They ran all over the Giants Smiles Sanders had a hundred forty four yards and then you know, the passing game was going to the defense. Electric.

That's what scares me about this Eagles team. Last week they played Derrick Henry and the Mighty Mighty Derrick Henry. You know, running game, he runs alert thirty yards. This week at Sae Kwon Barkley, he's gonna play. I don't think Sae Kwon did anything in this game. Instead, it's just blowouts. They're rolling. That seems good. And I think they're as deep as any team in the league if you go through all the different levels. And I also think, uh,

they're as mentally tough as any team. Like they are so focused, so dialed in. They didn't treat that like it was some surprise or some Super Bowl win. They were like, oh, yeah, the Giants will beat the Giants and will be whoever's in front of us next. Really disciplined team, really good team, really well coached. Uh get off the bus. Scary. That's the Philadelphia Eagles speaking of getting off the bus. Uh, you know it's a few days removed, and we know you have some connections in

Los Angeles. What do you think about Baker Mayfield. Let me unempty the bag a little bit on just how crazy this was. So he gets there thirty six hours at a time. First of all, the story is true. He didn't have any knowledge of it, but he booked a flight to l A just in case that they they picked him up off the waiver wire. He thought logically it would make sense. He didn't have any contact with the Rams, he can't legally, and they do put

the waiver wire claiming on him. They get them, and the thought was, all right, maybe he'll play a few snaps then, Like before the game, I think McVeigh was really tempted just to start him because they had a conversation like we'll go to it instead, they start Wolford. It's one drive and they put in Baker. Now here's

the cool part. So Baker Mayfield comes from you know, Carolina, but before that, Cleveland where Bill Callahan was the offensive line coach, and some of those same concepts are what they do in UH in l A. As Kevin Carberry, who's the offensive line coach for the Rams, was was under Callahan in Washington. All right, that seems very like, you know, tangent or whatever. But he knew the concepts,

but isn't the language. So the offensive coaches UH put together a wristband for Baker Mayfield and it was a detailed like sixteen plays on his wristband with the exact verbiage of what they call it in l A. And the hope was they would call it into Baker, he would look at his wrist band and he'd be able to relay it to the to the huddle and then

they'll go play. The game starts and Sean McVeigh has access in Baker Mayfield's ear from the forty second mark on the play clock to the fifteen second mark, so for thirty seconds he can speak to him in his ear. He can get in his ear and tell him everything. They didn't use the wristband once McVeigh would tell him what he wanted, so we could say like we're gonna go fly pattern here, or we're gonna go UH four

verts whatever. And then after telling him what the play call is McVeigh would tell Baker what they call it in the offense. So he's like, four verts, which just means four guys going deep. Okay, we call that this. Then he goes back in the huddle so the offensive lineman could hear it, and he's like, all right, we're gonna run this which is what you guys call this play? Right, Like,

that's what you call it? Okay, so we're gonna run that um and that's what you and they all are nodding and they're like, hey, yeah, that's that's what we call it. They get to the center, they get to the snap. Zero delayed games, zero false starts, and a fourteen point come back to do what they did nine yards, no timeouts without knowing the name of any of the plays on the offense is some of the most absurd

stuff you'll ever hear. Now, you could say a million things about the Raiders defense, how they had dumb penalties, and you know what is Jerry Hillary slapping the ball out of Baker's hands for why are they doing past interference? And wow, the Raiders gave him the game. I don't care who that was against what Baker Mayfield did last

Thursday night. Was was was in the face of all convention, like all convention about what we've learned about football, how it's the most uh you know, difficult thing to understand and quarterback is it takes years and years to find. Baker Mayfield walked off a bus, had one walk through practice uh twenty place uh the day before, and then was able to run an offense and did it without any you know, personal miscuse, without any penalties, and they won the game. I don't know if they win another

game all season, I don't care. That was one of the coolest things we'll see all season long. Alright, Peter, third down, like you said, you're head in the Buffalo for this Saturday. I think it's supposed to be six inches of snow. Are you ready? Yeah? It's been everything from they said one inch and then they said six inches. Now they're saying it's like four inches, and then they're saying it's gonna be ten to twenty degrees. And the word was lake effect. I don't know that means. Aaron,

are you from Buffalo? I know you're a Bills fan, Like, what's your Buffalo ties? So I'm not from Buffalo. My family is My dad's side of the family is from Buffalo. My dad grew up there, but I used to go there. You know, we would like do Christmas at home and then drive up to Buffalo from Connecticut. Okay, so I am familiar with snow and cold weather, but I don't have a ton of Saturdays in December Buffalo experience. But yeah, just pack a hat, a scarf, some gloves, some you know,

long underwear. I think you'll be Okay, Okay, I'm gonna do it. I've done cold weather games before. I worked a Seahawks at Vikings playoff game when the Vikings had those couple of years where they were playing outside at the University of Minnesota Stadium, and that was the famous Blair Walsh game. That one was the coldest game I've

ever been to. I was outside for that one. I did a Packers forty Niners playoff game where I was roaming the sidelines and it was a Saturday night in Greenbair or Sunday night in Green Bay, and uh Kaepernick came out sleeveless, and I was like, all right, if he's playing sleeve this, why am I crying with my eight layers and my giant jacket from Cabilla's I'll be okay, I kidd it. I kid around earlier about the eating situation. I have this I don't know if it's a this

is my therapy couch. I don't know what it is, but like I have this like feeling that I need to go nuts with the wings and like it's my obligation, it's my pilgrimage, Like I've got to go and if if I'm getting I want to try Buffalo wings that are great, but I have this like feeling I'm gonna I'm gonna overdo it. Um, do you have a wings place? Do you have any knowledge of that stuff? Or is this one of those we've got a kind of crowdsource.

So I actually, you know, I haven't been to Buffalo and probably like ten years, but I do have a good list of some of the top places that you know are kind of like if you're going there and you want some wings, I have a good variety for you. Okay, do you have it? Do you have it handy? Yeah? Yeah? Alright, so let on because I'll pick one right now based on this list. One of them is Lennova, another is bar Bill and then to it like kind of the ones that are always pitted against each other. I think

our anchor bar and Duff's. Now. One of the great things is you can go to pretty much any of these wings spots. You don't have to just get wings. You can also order a pizza. You can also you know, you can get a whole bunch of stuff, so it doesn't have to just be wings at each thing. So I don't know how many days you're there. I don't know if you can carve out enough time for lunch a couple, it's gonna be one meal. I want to

fly on Friday. Do good morning football. I'm gonna fly on Friday, and we've got meetings that Oh there's actual football game going on. I probably have to worry about that at some point. Um, but I do want to get toys. Now. I've heard about this Lenovo. Uh is it Lenovo or Lenova Nova? Nova? Lenovo is like a laptop right like was like in the Dell computer days. I've got a Lenovo. Um. Sorry, if they're a big sponsor to I heart radio guys, apologize. Maybe we can

get some free stuff. Um. Then I heard about this bar bill that's where Kyle Brandt went last year when he went. And Kyle is kind of the resident Bill's guy. I feel like I'd be kind of going in on his terrible tory if I went to bar. But he also came back and he was like, I had the honey, ginger, salmon, pineapple, fruit like fruit tasting one. I'm like, what is that I got? Give me buffalo wings. I don't do all that stuff. So I think I'm gonna do Lenova because

I think there's an anchor bar in the airport. There's a there's a restaurant in the airport that's a no. And then I think, uh, Duff's I've been hearing about since my friends went to like Sunny Buffalo. My friend Scott Berman, my summer camp buddy went to went to Sunny Buffalo and he was big on Duffs and duffs and duffs and always talking duffs. And I feel like I want to try something different. So I'm making my choice right now. Lenova. Lenova is the choice. I'm going

to alert them, um. I hope they listened to the podcast and then I'll give my full review next week. Perfect. I'm excited. Alright. Fourth down we like to shout someone out and I want to give a shout out. Uh, let me get on my soapbox here. I'm gonna get emotional. UM. I really really like and respect Jared Goff, and I think what he's on over the last year and a

half is pretty cool stuff. In a world of social media and online bullying and everybody having an opinion and everyone being a Twitter keyboard, tough guy, Jared Goff was a punchline. Jared Goff was traded, along with two first round picks and a third round pick to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford goes on and wins a Super Bowl with the Rams, and Golf is on one of the worst teams in football, and they start off one in six and it's like, we're

gonna be moving on in Detroit. They're gonna get the first pick in the draft, they're gonna fire everybody, they're gonna get a new quarterback, and Jared Goff is gonna be some backup for the rest of his career. Instead, Jared Golf is having not only a Pro Bowl season, but he's one of the top I'd say I would say he's the number two quarterback in the entire NFC this season, I would say it's Jalen Hurts and it's

Jared Golf. And he's eighth in the league in passing yards, he's fit in passing touchdowns, he's all over all the PFF advanced stuff. And they're winning games. And the Lions are like this awesome story. And you know, they say that comparison is the thief of joy. That's a statement. I really think it's cool because you start looking at your career and you look at other people are doing, and you start looking at your friends from college and

what they're doing. If you're Jared Golf, if you wanted to compare situations, you were the number one overall picked for the Los Angeles Rams. He won multiple playoff games. You beat Drew Brees in an NFC Championship game in his building. You went to the Super Bowl, you were

given an extension by the Rams. You you were everything living in southern California, and you were traded to what was a graveyard for NFL players, the Detroit Lions, whoever won since ninety seven, and you were forgotten, and if not forgotten, you were dismissed. And now like how what a cool story? Like, what a cool story? And I'll tell you the best part about what I love about golf.

He hasn't said a peep. He didn't bitch, he didn't moan, he didn't complain when everyone was saying that, oh McVeigh, you know, couldn't get over the top with golf. He didn't have some pithy respond. It's about mcphig's game planning the Super Bowl that day. Nothing nothing but class all the way through. And I know the guys in l A really well, as we mentioned already, and I know they really like Jared Golf, and I think they're really

happy for him. Um, that's a rare trade that might have worked out for both sides because I don't think the Rams in a million years would give up anything for what they got last year's Super Bowl run. It's once in a lifetime stuff, and Stafford led him there. But the Lions, I don't think they were winning a super Bowl last year with Matthew Stafford. I think they're pretty happy with Jared Golf and they'll have two first

round picks in a third round pick to go with it. Uh, Jared Golf, we see you, and not only do our respect, your your play on the field. I love the way you've handled the last eighteen months and the way you've been able to block things out and just focus on yourself, your team, and now you're getting all the success for it. Very cool story, Jared Golf. That's the kind of stuff I love in the NFL. All right, Aaron, fourth down, you get a shout out to have you giving it

to I'm gonna do another number one drafted quarterback. I'm gonna do Trevor Lawrence. Yeah, talk about it. The Jags. You know, there's there's like Josh Allen had Stefon Diggs come in that really helped his progression. H Jalen Hurts had a j. Brown come in, and Lawrence really hasn't had the big marquee receiver. I mean, they signed Christian Kirk this offseason to a big contract that, regardless of whether or not you think the money was the right amount, um,

Lawrence doesn't have like the guy. He's got a bunch of different guys. He's got Kirk, He's got z Jones, Evan Ingram, Marvin Jones. This is not like Murders row of receivers, but they're they're playing really well for him. He's shown so much growth in just the last month even um and they may not win the a f C South, but they're nipping at the titans heels and this may not be their year, but I think it's

it's clear going forward the next few seasons. The Jaguars are on the right path for like them taking over the AC We got a quarterback coach and Doug Peterson like that was Urban Meyer was a disaster last years ahead coach. I say that objectively, it didn't work. He gets fired midway through the season and it's like, all right, let's start from scratch again. I would almost give last year of Mulligan and I would say this. Titans have

lost three straight. They look rudderless. The last two weeks have been have been, you know, crazy, with the with the firing of a general manager, with the loss to the Eagles. Within the loss here, uh, you know at home to the Jaguars. There seven and six and the Jaguars are five and eight. There's four weeks left. There is a chance that the Jaguars can hurdle the Titans, but the Jags are gonna have to beat the Cowboys this weekend. I mean in recent memory. I don't have

any I remember I all these games. I know, I've got this crazy bank of like who called the games. I'm trying to go through it. This is the first time, I think in probably five ten years, that Fox is setting their A crew, which is Burkhart Olson, Aaron Andrews to Jacksonville. They're calling Jaguars Cowboys. That's obviously because the Cowboys bring his national audience and it's an early window and whatever you whatever you want to say, but Jaguars

are deserved of it. I don't. I didn't roll my eyes or say what when I saw that the Jaguars were getting the Fox A game treatment. That's pretty cool. And Aaron, I think a spot on. I think Trevor Lawrence is leading the way. That's great stuff. Aaron um this week on the season with Peter Schrager, We're gonna have an awesome guest. And he's he's one of my favorite guys in the league. He might not be a household name yet. He's the running backs coach at the

Philadelphia Eagles. He's also the assistant head coach to Nick Sirianni. He's got a really cool path. His name is Jamal Singleton. Jamal played at air Force, was one of the great players in air Force history. He went coached in college, then he bounced around the NFL a little bit. Two years ago he joined the Eagles coaching staff. That the

number one team in the NFL right now. They've got a great running back in Miles Sanders, and I think you really are gonna get to know and like Jamal Singleton. Let's bring him on the podcast right after this. Joining us is our guest this week on the season with Peter Schreeger. Is the running backs coach and the assistant head coach in Philadelphia, the number one team in the NFC. He's an awesome dude. He's been around the league, he was in the college game, and he's got a great

story to tell. Ladies, gentlemen, let's welcome in. Jamal Singleton's doing great, man. Thanks for having me. That interrom is pretty cool. Make me sound better than I really am. It's not bad, right I think your story is really cool. But this team right now is the is the main story for everybody. The Eagles run game has been among the best in the league for years, and the last two seasons you've been running that running backs room. But right now, Miles Sanders is having his first one thousand

yards season. He had a hundred and forty four and a tug the other day against the Giants. What are you seeing from Miles Sanders on a day to day basis That has him stepping up one extra notch. But was already a great NFL career, You know, it's it's awesome. He came back this season on a mission. There was no offense butts about it. I think the way he worked in the off season, and I think some of that just takes the maturity of own up in this league.

But he came back fired up. You can see there's a little bit of nasty, physical nous to his play right now that I think has helped him gain some of those extra yards and put himself in position to to get some of the accolades he's getting now. But you ask him, he's not done yet, right We've got a lot left in the tank and we want to make sure we keep pushing forward. You know, I was

talking to coach Sirianni before the game for Fox. We did an interview and I said, like this cold, it's winter, and this Eagles team it kind of feels like this is what you guys were built for. Is there something in the culture about these type of games in December, cold weather and hopefully January and February as well, no doubt. I mean, I think you just look at the heart

of this city. I mean there's a rugged toughness about being here, and I think just our players are have kind of adapted to that just with the time here. We kind of represent Philadelphia and I think that's what we have to be this time of year and really throughout the years, that tough, kind of nasty, kind of get after people in it. It's really our veteran leadership that we have. You see those guys, man, you should

flet your actually see Kelsey. I mean, those are those are tough guys that that you want to go to war with. And it's it's great that this is the time of year that hey, it's time to go to war. You know, your quarterback is twenty four years old. And this guy, uh, we knew about the college accolades, but he goes in the second round and then he finally

gets the gig. He does take you to the playoffs last year, but there were even questions this offseason, I feel like, watching objectively, Jalen Hurts has made a giant leap. You tell me, did you see this coming? Did you did your coaching staff know that this would be Jalen Hurts not only just great leader, a great running quarterback, good passer, but potential m v P of the league.

I think if you know Jalen at all, and I've had an interesting perspective of it because when I was in college in the college game, I got to see him in camps and then actually was when we were the Senior Bowl. He was on our team, so he was a Senior Bowl quarterback at that point, So I had some interaction there and there's just some things that I took away personally from that. I watched how he interacted with fans. I watched how he worked, I watched how he prepared, and then when I got here to

the Eagles, same guy. I mean, just working and preparing, and I think he's just he's gonna will himself to do great things. And I think that's what's been great about him and this year, and he's only gonna get better. He continues to get better. But I mean, come on, now, Jalen hurts his ball in this year and it's awesome to see it and just to see the supporting cast around him, all the guys and the pieces and just

the team camaraderie that we have. He's a big part of that because of how he works day in and day out. Like what's he like? Because we see it on TV and there's a great shot on the Fox broadcast of a j Brown calculin laughing and quiz walkings, and there's Jalen Hurts the quarterback amidst those guys, but laser focused, no smiles, no goofing. This isn't a blowout tony one nothing score and and Jalen's just focused. Is at him every day? That is And it's funny because

I saw that and I had to laugh myself. But he is, He's locked in, He's got that laser focus. He's got plenty things that are motivating him. Maybe the doubters are part of that, and just seeing him he's about his business. You go back and I'm not to call out a stadium, you know, stadium fell down and fans kind of and the man who just standing there, calm, cool and collective, and I think that's what allows him to continue to grow, to continue to be the leader

that he is. It's awesome. It's awesome to have a young man like that who's doing all the things that he's doing, is having the success he's having, and ultimately the team is winning the way we are now. All right, so you're the running backs coach. We also have this. This title is an associate head coach or assistant head coach. What's the title? This assistant head coach? Right? All right? So what is that? What are those duties? What does

that mean? Because obviously you've got your own position group and those guys live and die and swear by your words and your coaching. But then you've got this assistant head coaching thing. Just looking at an ORC chart. If someone's coming out of college or wants to be a coach, what does the assistant head coach in the NFL do? If I'm being honest, whatever Nick tells me to do, that's exactly what my job is. So it's it does. It's like you said, it starts with the room. It

will always start with the running back room. Those are my those guys are my first priority for helping to prepare them for game day and all that, and then there's just anything that Nick will need from me. You know, I have a different background on things, and he bounces ideas off me every now and then, and there's certain things that we talk about, but it's it starts with the running back room and then again, whatever Nick needs

me to do, I'm ready and willing. What is he like Take us through a day with Nick Sirianni because he might be on his way to be an NFL Coach of the Year, and I still feel like fans at home know him for wearing a Philly sweatshirt and maybe and beat hat, But like, what's he like as a coach? What's he like in those meetings and what's he like on those fields in the practices? You know,

I'll tell you what this is. And being a military man and coming from some different organizations, you look at kind of what what's what is the team built on? What are their core values? And you really saw Nick came in with his his core values of what he wanted.

He wanted a team to connect, he wanted him to compete, he wanted to be accountable, he wanted to have a good football i Q right, and he wanted to be great and fundamentals and those are those are catchphrases in some places, right, but he came in and those are the epitome of what we do every single day. It's like, hey, we need to connect, we need to get to know each other. There we need to compete. We got hoops up all over this building. I brought my daughter's facilities.

Basketball hoops everywhere. So I brought my daughter in and she's nine years old. She's asking why all the hoops that because we compete, doesn't matter what we're doing. We compete. And that's just the mindset that he's put in, and it's it's amazing. A bunch of much of my coaching friends in the in the profession of have reached out and the one thing that they've said is like, man, it looks like you guys are having so much fun. Yes, and of course winning is fun, don't get no doubt.

But we have an environment here in a culture where guys are allowed to be themselves and know how to flip the switch and time to go, time to get to work. And I think Nick is really the embodiment of that. He's a great dude, he's crazy dude. We've seen him on the sideline. He gets excited, he's emotionally

he runs down the sideline chasing the other day. Come on, I mean, if you're a player and you see your head coach getting that excited about you doing well, it's it's awesome, and it just the whole building feeds off of it, and it's it's it's been a great environment here for two years. I mean, we had some low times the first year out, and he can just stay true,

stay true to his process and all that. So I got much love for Nick and we're having a great time right now, just trying to keep this thing going as far as we can take me through that basketball hoop philosophy, because I remember going out to Seattle and I was at a practice and Pete had one in the meeting room, and I said, what's this all about?

It goes offense, defense, we shoot free throws. But it sounds like Nick's got it to another level where how do you incorporate the basketball hoops and what does that breed as far as a culture. You know, it's interesting you go before before every meeting, team meeting starts, there's gonna be five or six guys in there, if not

even more shooting hoops, talking trash. I mean, they're they're playing games and competing against each other, and it's just a part of the core values that Nick says about, let's compete. And then you know, us coaches get involved every now and then and we're shooting it from the rafters as far back as we can and it's just fun. And you lead into the meeting, there's some energy, there's a vibe that goes in. You know, our offensive coordinator

coordinator saints like and does some things. He'll throw a ball back to offensive line to start the meeting, say hey, you got to hit this shot from there, and they're chucking and they're just banging off the back board and all that stuff. So it's like it's a great time and it's a great vibe, and I think it's just, hey, we're just doing those things that allow us to, Hey, you know, we got a job to do. We've got work to do, but dang it, you can be passionate

and love what you do and have fun. And I think that's probably the biggest thing that's going on here. People are having fun playing here. Yeah, you know, I'm a big fan of Patti Mills. I liked Andrew Gays when he was at Seaton Hall. Does Jordan my Alatta the Australia have any sort of stroke? Can he shoot all the big lefty he Yeah, he comes, he takes some hooves. Yeah, he shoot, He shoots some hooves and and gets it done. So now Jordan's got a little game to him, and you see how athletic he is.

He can definitely shoot the hoop. I love that. Um let's talk about you a little bit because I think you got one of the cooler stories. You mentioned you're a military man. You went to Air Force, but your father was a military man as well. Take us through your childhood and what led you to the game of football. You know, it's it's interesting because it wasn't probably about ten years ago. I actually lived in the US more than I lived overseas. You know. My dad was in

the military. My other was British and he met her when he was stationed in England. I was actually born in Turkey. Um, no memories of it was it was very very very young when we left. My first memories are of England and and really I got family over there as well. But I traveled a lot growing up as a kid, and uh really kind of enjoyed it. I got to see things and do things that people have never seen. I love now that the NFL is

being so active in in London with those games. My first ever NFL football game was at one Blee Stadium. It was a exhibition match way back when when I was a kid. So for me that I've actually had the opportunity to coach over there was over there as well. So to be able to be at my first game overseas, coaching a game overseas has been pretty cool. But yeah, that that military path, just the people you've met, people I've met. I followed in my dad's footsteps. My brother

serves too. I've got a nephew that's currently serving, and you know, the Air Force Academy really kind of built my foundation as a coach. I was fortunate I had one of the greatest men, not just coaches, greatest men that I ever got to play for and Fisher to Bury and he I still get text from him after

games today and it's it's awesome. But he was one of those guys that cared more about what type of man you became than just what type of football coach you became and and I tried to get both and and just fell in love with the game at a very early age. When you're stationed overseas, there's you know, the military basis, and you play the other military bases, you play the other kids. So I was I was playing football at a very early age. I didn't quite get into soccer. That was the one thing I kind

of stayed away from. But uh, but it was great just growing up and and started there. I was in high school my freshman year playing ball there, and then came back stateside my sophomore year and and kind of went from there. And it was just an opportunity for me at the Air Force Academy to play football, to get a great degree, and and really have a job afterwards. I didn't quite realize what that job was going to be at the time, and uh have ended up being coaching.

So I'm just was thankful for that opportunity, and I think it really helps me and my coaching day to day profession of having that military background and having some of those things that I use and just how I coach and how I teach. We'll see ultimate resp acts from around the league when everyone knows your path and and your military background. So you said you were born in Turkey and of course lived in in England. Where

else did you live? Did you have other countries? Like what's on the passport when we go through your Yeah, so as a kid, we also we lived in Germany for two and a half years um actually about an hour south of the Munich game. So we were went into place called Augsburg. So maybe I'll get a chance to get over there, because all I remember about Germany is how amazing the food was, how amazing the candy was.

And we used to have a Dang bakery truck that rolled through the neighborhood and we'd be chasing people at the ice cream truck in the US. We were chasing donuts over there in Germany. But it was a lot of fun and just doing that and and get be able to get back there when I'm older would be pretty cool. Again, was a kid there, but spent a little bit of time in Italy. Don't have a whole lot of memories of it. But my brother and I were talking about it the other day. He was talking

like I knew what we was talking about. And kids, so but no, I've been able to do some awesome things. Germany was a pretty cool place with just the histre of it, and got to see castles and you know, just some different things that I think, at the end of the day of allowed me just to have a

slightly different perspective on things. You get to the college game as a coach, you really take off at Oklahoma State with some great running backs, and you enter the NFL game and you get to coach some of the all time legends. I'm gonna say some names and you tell me some memories. Let's start off with Frank Gore. Frank to Tank, that's my man. Now. So here's the thing.

You walk into a room, Yeah, this is your first day coaching in the NFL, and you're coaching a guy that you've watched play for years, is a Hall of Fame guy, and all that's going through my mind is what the heck am I going to teach this? What do I say to him? Exactly? You know? And and that's that was an amazing thing. Just he would sit back and you just knew he was taking in every

single word that I said. And it was probably a week or two where I think I got the stamp of approval for him, he's like this guy those ball and bay. Basically at that point I kind of kind of had the room. You know, it was a good opportunity for me to teach and do those things, and I think I had, actually, as crazy it may sound, taught Frank maybe a thing or two he hadn't learned in in the past. And we still have a good relationship and keep in touch now. But that it is.

You walk into that room and its it could be intimidating, but I always just stay true to myself and made sure that you know, it was all about the ball and different techniques and be detailed, and I think he appreciated that, and you know it was fortunately he had a thousand yards of Russian when I was there when the oldest guys to get it, so that was a cool moment for him. And the crazy, crazy thing about Frank,

I gotta tell his story. So he would get all the game balls after games and he didn't care, but like he get he was like, here have this. He would give me these game balls I still have in my house and I told him, hey, when you were tired and you get I'm giving you these back. They're gonna meet something. Yeah, so I've kind of been holding them for him all these years now that I gotta get him back to hopefully I just maybe take it when he gets inducted to the Hall of Fame and

give him to him. I remember doing a game of Frank Corps. Maybe he was. I forget what team he was even on at this point. It was at the end of the run for him, and I asked him, like, you want to get into coaching, and his son was playing already in college, and he said, I've always liked scouting and I have an eye for talent. And I was like, damn you remember. Can you imagine Frank Gore's an NFL general manager? Could you see that some day?

You know? He used to come in and that's how he kind of watched opponent tape and he was like he knew. He was like, yeah, he ain't got no dog in and Mark, yeah, he's shop. This guy is pretty good, Like he would have some details stuff. So I could definitely see him transitioning into that part of the football career. Here, I'm gonna give you one more named Marshawn Lynch. You coached him when he was in Oakland. What do you got from Marshall, especially walking into that room,

no doubt. You know, I love that dude. He's such He's so genuine and that's what you see the media stuff and you maybe get a little bit of him when he was playing. You know, I'm just here, so I don't get fine, everybody knows all that stuff. But here's the one thing about Marshawn, and this is all I needed to know when I got to Oakland. You know, I sat down with the young running backs each individually when I get there. It's kind of common thing I do.

Sat down with them and I just remember, hey, you know, I had a little tough time, but Marshaun helped me out and boom next guy. Yeah it was rough here, but Marshawn, you know, he helped me get through some things. And he kept saying it was like all that. I was like, that's all I need to know. This man is a phenomenal teammate and he takes care of his guys and they love him in the locker room. I didn't need to know anything else. You know. Now we

had some great conversations. There's even some you know, teaching techniques and things that he did visually that I've incorporated into the things that I teach as well. It's a give and take. I tell these guys all the time, I'm stealing stuff from you. Do you maybe think you're getting stuff from me? I'm stealing stuff from you as well. And he was just great that way and just phenomenal physical. Still one of the toughest running backs to play the game.

I truly who You'd watch some tape and not to call out anybody, but there's a few people that turned it down when he was coming through. The whole business decision is definite business. I'm so happy for your success now and you're you guys are that top team in the NFC. You and I have had conversations in recent offseasons about coaching, you know, hiring practices and you know, things that maybe we'd like to see changed over the years. Now.

Obviously you're a person of color, You've got this incredible resume. Uh. When you look at the NFL as a landscape, you personally like, do you want to have a large, a louder voice, maybe have access to Hey, here's some things you can do, and if you could make any suggestions on opening doors for other faces and other voices, what would be some of the suggestions you might have. You know, definitely,

that's that's something that's at the forefront right now. And I've always felt that it comes down to training and opportunities, right It's it's do the people have the proper training, do they have access to that training? And you know, obviously a little bit of military jargon there, but it really is that coaching is the same way. How can I how can we get guys the ability to learn maybe to be in the coach in the quarterback room,

to learn quarterback play. And I think it may go down to even at the lower levels, like having more minorities playing the blows positions, playing the quarterback position, to where they kind of grows. You just look at the nature of this profession, that position, because of its leadership, because of its having to understand the entire side of the ball, those type of things kind of lends itself

for those guys to become head coaches. So just just training in opportunities, anything that the NFL can do, and I know there's some programs that they have in place to where they do that, and then just the interaction at the end of the day, there's there's thirty two guys that are making kind of those decisions and being able to have some interactions with those guys to where they get a chance to maybe meet the young man from a different part and kind of build their list

of possible candidates. You know, GM is the same way. So just anything that we can do that from training from the ground roots, from the start, from the bottom up, and then anything that we can have that allows these guys to have some accessibility to some of the people that are kind of making the decisions, it's only going

to help. And I think I was gonna cut you off and say, I think getting in the room for the interview helps to you know, like and getting that opportunity to have your reps and getting all that I want to help anyway I can to make it a different situation. Obviously, the optics as we see it now are not ideal. And it's you know, a lot of it is just like you said, there's thirty two owners.

How do we introduce different faces, different voices that maybe those owners won't have interaction with every day, especially if they're not in their building exactly it is, and it's you know, you have some of the coach meeting. I think that, Actually I don't. I don't know the name of the program. I hate to say that, but the the NFL had a recent program where they did some

things like that. I mean, and it's even from simple stuff to you know what, Maybe it's a golf outing, Maybe it's just some social meetings that you can set up for those guys. And but I do think that the most important thing is do we have viable candidates, And that's making sure that the pool of viable candidates from guys that are trained, guys that are prepared because you just never know, I mean going into an interview

for a head coach. Not that I've had one of those, but I could see is it could be pretty intimidating. You've got GM, you've got owners, you've got all that stuff. Well, how prepared it as a guy to walk into that situation and allowing that? And I think that's just for everybody just getting those experience you mentioned it, getting the reps. I remember my first ever interview for a coaching job. Oh my gosh, that's the worst thing I've ever done.

But I learned so much from that one failure that it helped me grow so much but if you never even have that chance to to experience that failure, the growth is a little bit harder to achieve. I think you're an incredible dude, and I think this team is

on a roll right now. If you could sum up the vibe in that building right now, from ownership from Mr LORII on down to to the guys who worked the day to day in the cafeteria and the ladies work in the cafteria, Like, what's the feeling right now in Philadelphia for our listeners who are tuning in now as we enter week fifteen of what's been a really cool Eagles season. Well, let me see that. And I've been a couple of other places, and this is not me kissing up. This is just true to my heart.

This place here is unlike any other place I've been in this facility, just the people here, and it starts at the top of Mr. Laura. I mean, we have everything you could possibly need to succe eat and he's gonna give us everything that we need. You jump down to how we talk about the players that we have here and the things that he's been able to bring into this building. It's it's been phenomenal. I mean I just my room alone. It's always been like, hey, what

do you need? How can we get better? How can we get better? And that when it starts there, it's awesome. Then you got nick. I mean, running things is is always a great vibe. We already talked about the fun, the competing, just his passion and energy that's gone that everybody it's this building is awesome. I mean, it's just it's one of those things that we're in Philly. We're winning the vibe you talk about. I've been some places where you win and it ain't always as fun here

it is. It's it's top of the world right now. We've gotta keep it and and it's the great thing is we've got it, but everybody's still hungry. It's like in the building, we haven't done anything yet. We haven't done anything. Miles is all, yeah, I got no, he hasn't done anything yet, and he'll tell you that. So it's just that vibe of you know, it's a mission like military man, We're on a mission and then we ain't done until the mission is completed. And that's the vibe. It's, hey,

we're having fun, We're enjoying what we're doing. But we came here to work and we're going to continue to work until the work is done. Oh man, you gotta ready to run through a wall right now. And I'll tell you what, tell you what. You got the Bears this weekend and then you got that game Christmas Eve in Dallas. Hey, I'm not saying you're I heard the Bears that I know, I know, I know, and I

think that's important. And I feel like I got that vibe being around this team just a little bit on Sunday on the sidelines that they were focused on the Giants and they weren't thinking about Super Bowl, and they weren't thinking about the Cowboys, and they weren't thinking about the forty niners in Brock Party. You guys are doing something really special and I think you, specifically in that running backs room, have been doing something really special. I

gotta thank you for doing all that. And I guess, on the way out, just your one message from I guess for Philly fans who might be tuning in what this team, what you want to represent from Philadelphia, and you know kind of you're feeling as far as the mutual relationship between this Eagles franchise that fan base. It's we're brothers. It's amazing. And keep going back to multiple road games. We're down in Arizona and we have home

field advantage. The home team has to go silent cadence in a two minute series because our fans are so loud. And I said that, I don't I don't want lukewarm. I don't want lukewarm. I want all in. And these they're gonna be all in, and they're all in when you're doing right, and they're gonna let you know when you're doing wrong. And that's the best part about this place. It's the team that they don't understand. These guys walking down working in the streets, affiliate here, we're the same way.

We're just doing it a little bit different. We're working just as hard as you guys were, trying to bring everything we can to to your lives, your daily so when you come into that stadium on Sundays, you can have a good time, get going, hooting holler, maybe maybe a boo every now and then, just because you're passage about it, and that's okay, that's okay. But this is this is place right here. When you talk about the

fan base, when you talk about this organization. I can't think of a better place in the world to be than right here. Now. I'll tell you, it almost feels like it's cliche or it's pandering or something like you watch Elane Johnson, you watch Jason Kelsey, you see a Javon Hargrave, Like those guys are lunch pale guys and they represent Philadelphia, and I feel like your team right now, this Eagles is as symbolic of that city as any of the Eagles teams we've had in recent history. No, No,

they're a big part of it. We're doing a lot for them and they're doing a lot for us, and it's it's it's a great opportunity. And these guys are getting fired up about things that really matter. I mean, Miles the other day, he's got so hyped up about a block, his blocking and now I'm not gonna lie. I got pretty hyped up too because he got after it. But those are the thing. And you see our line on a QB sneak and they're so far. The energy

is awesome, and the energy is phenomenal. Again starts with up at the top of our ownership and our GM and then obviously coming down our head coach with Nick and it's just permeating throughout the building. We got the right people in this building. Dude. I love talking to Jamal Singleton, running backs coach for the Eagles, also the assistant head coach. You got a bright future ahead of you, but you've already done such a cool thing in your career.

And thanks for representing not only uh, you know, the Eagles every week, but also your military background and all the different people who want to be head coaches someday. You're doing something on a day to day basis that I think is really inspiring and I appreciate that. Just trying to be the best I can be for these young men in this building. That service, that's what that is. And uh, Jamal, thank you so much. Good luck this weekend, and we won't talk about any weeks further one at

a time, all right. Thank you. Jamal Singleton was fantastic running backs coach for the Eagles, a great man, great story, and we love bringing him on the podcast. We also like bringing in our guy, Taylor Kyle's. Taylor works with the NFL Network Research group back in Los Angeles and he and I go back and forth during the week and say, what can we do that makes this podcast

a little bit smarter? And I I kicked off my shout out this week to Jared Goff and what he's been through off the field in his mental toughness, but I wanted to bring in Taylor talk a little bit more on the field. Taylor, Welcome to the season with Peter Schregen. Thank you brother, great to be back. Thank you again for having me. Love having you on. And uh, I love what the Lions are doing on offense. You're gonna make us smarter. Jared Goff is having this Pro

Bowl season. If it wasn't for Jalen Hurts, he'd be the number one quarterback in the NFC this season. And I think it feels like I came out of seemingly nowhere, but golf has done this in the past. What are you seeing from Jared Goff this year that maybe we haven't seen the past few seasons. So it's pretty funny because roster wise, there are some overlaps that kind of the rams, like he got the really good receiving corps obviously, Almon Ross st Brown Shark, Jamison Williams catching his first

career touchdown, which is pretty fantastic. But the Lions, he may have the best offensive line he's ever had. Talk about it. I love that's sucking Lions offensive line. Let's go. I'm mean Peney school going in motion and catching the game clinching pass was one of the most out of pocket things I have ever seen, and it gave me the best goose bumps. Like that was fantastic. But when you got athletes like that on the line, man, you're

gonna get a lot done. And you know, with the Rams, they had that whole outside sown scheme boot off It, which everyone's still trying to copy. But with Dan Campbell's system, what they're doing more is they run a lot of downhill schemes. They can do anything, but it's a lot of downhill stuff where teams are saying, Okay, we need

to load the box to defend these guys. Now, Jared Golf is getting more opportunities against more man coverage, more single high defenses, and he despite the fact that he's using play action and one of the lowest rates of his career, he has three more touchdowns on play action than the closest player, So the play action is one element of it. He's getting a lot of good plays with his receivers obviously doing a great job. He's getting

the protection back there. But I think you have to bring the off field part of it as well, because the confidence he's playing with is something that we just we saw glimpses of it last season his first year with the Lions, but really like the decision making, the anticipation, just the willingness to kind of let him rip it and not necessarily lean on play action. As I said before, you know, they're giving them more chances to drop back

and go downfield. And although he's not throwing downfield really more than he used to. He's got some of the lowest air yards per attempt that he's had in his career past two years, or top three lowest he's had. But at the same time, he's actually making the throws, and you see him throwing more confidence where instead of kind of being reserved to just a handful of plays where if its long yardage pretty much with the rams could guarantee he was just going to throw a deep

end route. Now you're seeing a little more diversity in the scheme and him knowing I got these top receivers and the staff that believes in me, I can kind of let that thing ring and go downfield when I need to and actually execute. It's been really, really cool to watch for a guy who, as you said, has been through a lot in his career, especially mentally. And now here's the question from men, let's put your hat

on a you're an a p voter. You know NFL honors, we do comeback Player of the Year, and a lot of times it's just the guy who tore his knee up last year. And I'm saying that flippantly. I mean, that's an awesome story, and that guy comes back and runs for a thousand yards. Jared Goff wasn't injured last year. Jared Goff, if anything, his feelings might have been hurt. Would you say he's eligible for comeback player here? Do you think that's insulting to golf, who would probably say, like, hey,

I've been here all along. It's not some comeback story. I've been here. It's just it just took time to get together and to make this thing work. I don't think he'd be disrespectful to golf because I think even he'd acknowledge that the pieces around him or some of the best again, that he's had in his career, and now I think he's being able to elevate the talent around him as well and kind of capitalize on it now.

Personally come back player of the Year, I'd go Geno Smith had a rough week last week, I will admit that, but I mean, what he's done after being off the map for so long, it's been very impressive. But at the same time, what Golf is doing, man like, I don't think anybody's you know, saying that, oh, this is exactly what we thought we were going to see from Jared Goff, and even he speaks to you the confidence that he has this season. I keep going back to

that word confidence. Confidence. But when you know you're the essentially the face of a franchise, is the quarterback, that's a pretty impressive piece of the pie there. And uh yeah, I don't think it's disrespectful. I think it's pretty fair to say, you know, Golf was successful obviously helped bring his team to a Super Bowl with the Rams, but he wasn't the guy. He wasn't the featured player. And I'm not necessarily saying that he is the guy for

the Lions offense. I think those running backs are doing a fantastic job as well. They're really doing a lot for that offense. But I mean, he's playing in a level that he hasn't in his career, So I think it's very fair to say that he's in the running for comeback Player of the Year. I love it. I'm gonna give you one name right now, and it's gonna come up a bunch in the final weeks of this season. Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson is the offensive coordinator of the Lions.

He's thirty six years old. He does play calls, and he's the one who's calling that sewell play. And I know we're always looking for the next young offensive mind. There's a lot of great ones out there. But don't be shocked if a thirty six year old you've probably not as familiar with not you ever, what I'm saying because he's been with the Detroit Lions and he's with the Miami Dolphins. Is a wide receivers coach before then, Uh,

Ben Johnson has been been really in golf here. I think it's a cool story and Uh, Taylor, I appreciate you. Thanks for bringing a light exactly what Jared Goff is doing. I didn't realize he's doing even less play action. I feel like every time I'm watching him, it's that play action pass and that deep pass. No, they're just calling at the right time. He's making most of those opportunities exactly. All Right, you're the man. Thanks for making us smarter.

We'll get back with you next week. Absolutely can't wait. Thank you, brother. All Right, Taylor was great and does a lot of the NFL network research and I really appreciate it. But I go back with my next guest. Jason Thornberry is one of the smartest football guys I know, an amazing researcher, fantasy football expert, all the stuff. We were on a crew together for many years uh doing Fox games. I was a sideline reporter. He was the stats and research guy. And on Friday nights, thorn was

what we called him. He got to pick where we're going for dinner, and he would always pick the best steakhouse in town. We would have the best time and we would rattle up that bill and Thorn would have a giant t bone steak or a tomahawk And I love this guy. And then I stopped doing the sidelines. I get in the studio and Jason Thornberry gets elevated to the number one crew at Fox through and work with Olson and Burkhardt, and I couldn't be prouder of him.

Then I'm watching this game on Sunday. It's a blowout late in the fourth quarter, and Kevin Burkhart just throws out a little comment and says, Jason Thornberry is gonna be traveling from San Francisco where the game was, to Seattle where he lives, and he's going through. Okay, nahwa okay nawa. I said, Oh, I know exactly what that means. That's an inside joke I had to bring on thorn because we're gonna go deep cut sports media travel situations

and we're gonna talk about what that means. Jason Thornberry, welcome to the show. Well, thank you for having me. Peter, you are a crazy man for having uh. Behind the scenes you talked about is travel. But that's that's what makes the podcast so good. I've been, first of all, a big fan, big fan of the podcast. He texted me a couple of weeks ago. I flattered and overwhelmed that you were listening. If you if you would like to get into why you were wrong about Turkey on

Thanksgiving at some point today. I could do that for you, but you know it's your show, so you go where you want. It is. Uh, you're a Seattle guy, and you fly out of Seattle, and what's that airport called tack Sea, giant monstrosity of an airport. Um, but you probably do a lot of East Coast games, do it working with Burkhardt and those guys, a lot of Dallas trips, on of Philadelphia trips. You are living a lot of your life on an airplane, true or false, I plead

guilty to that. Yeah, I'm I do it. Yeah, I do a lot of a lot of the times. I'm doing a lot of work on an airplane, working on an airplane all the time. So I hear you, I do the same. I live in New York and I work in l A every weekend, so I spend fourteen hours a week during this season on the weekends on those airplanes. And you become not obsessed, but the life of air plane and flight travel becomes a big part of your happiness and your mental health and everything, and

your physical well being. And when you get a certain status on the airline, your life becomes a little easier. You get to board the plan first, you get the upgrades when they're available, and you get to at least lean into the fact that, hey, I gave my entire winter to traveling, and now I'm getting some perks out

of this thing. So when I giggle and cackle at home hearing that Jason Thornbury on a national broadcast is traveling from San Francisco through Okinawa to Seattle, I had to hit you up and say, get us into it, tell us what that means. We didn't get any context from Burkhardt. I just laughed because I know this certainly was some illusion or some reference to the way you're going to collect your miles at the end of the year, because on January one, you started zero on the doometer again.

And I know where you're probably at. You're probably right at that gold medallion thing, right. I mean, I'm close, baby, I'm close, and I'm not. Uh. I got to I got to late November and I realized I got a little bit of work to do here, because you know, sometimes I just lost track of it. I usually I'll bring it down for you. I usually I'm I'm obsessed with this, So I usually keep the spreadsheet to make sure that the airline is properly crediting me and all

this stuff. And there was one year where they screwed up and I was on the phone with him, like, look, I got a spreadsheet that shows me I know how many miles I got. I went back and forth and they figured it out and they were wrong and I got credit. So I'm kind of obsessed with it. But this year I let it go a little bit. I got to the end of November and I'm like, wow, I'm really behind. So I had to make some trips up.

I didn't actually connect through Okinawa, that was Burkhart's funny way of saying, but I did have a crazy trip. Where can I just say to this is all above board, by the way, I'm not. I'm all all these things are within policy with Fox, the Fox travel folks, they're awhere. It's it's all under budget. These flights cost less. What do you do seven connecting flights that justice? You're actually true?

It's actually true. So uh. Anyway, So I went from Seattle where I lived, to Boston, back to Seattle and then to San Jose and then on the way home, I went the way home, I went San Jose, Seattle, Jay Seattle, so you know it was it was an eleven thousand mile weekend. And put it on the board, Baby, put it on the board, and you know, I'm back on track. So this week I have another kind of

crazy one, but then after that it'll be okay. I needed I also needed to build up a little buffer because um, we have a Christmas Eve game and I really want to get home for Christmas morning, so I can't be taking a while. So I got to get home for that. So I needed to build it up a little bit. All Right, if you think you're crazy, hey, I've done this. I've done this multiple years because all right,

I'm a I'm a Delta flyer. I'll just say it like it isn't Delta flyer and the highest level is diamond. And you get to mid December and you've been on the road all season and you're flying, and you're like, I'm gonna be short. And what they do is the different legs count and all the miles count. So sometimes if I've got to go to Los Angeles from New York, I might take a pit stop in Salt Lake City.

I might just to get those extra ones. We might be going through Atlanta and everyone might think that's crazy, but the difference of of seeing that status hit is such a sick thing for us folks who travel for a living that it matters. Now you're going to Jacksonville. That's can't be a direct shot from Seattle. What is the route this week? There actually is a direct shot from Jacksonville, but from Seattle Jacksonville. Yeah, but what I'm doing is uh again a little crazy. But I'm doing

in Seattle to Boston to Miami to Jacksonville. And and what you just said was the pits stop, the pit stop in Miami shog because this how long the flights of from Miami to Javil is very short. But but the minimum, the minimum amount of of miles they give me is five hundred. So even though that's like a hundred and eighty two three hundred miles, whatever, you get the free three. I mean, it's it's a win for everyone.

So we're beating the system. You have to. And I want to say too, it isn't just about like and partly it's about the scoreboard. Like when I'm getting on that flight and I'm standing in line and they're like, Okay, are hundred thousand miles or whatever the top group, the diamonds. I want to be in that group, Like, I don't want anybody getting on that flight thinking that they got one over on me, Like I am the top guy, right, first one on, first one off. That's my that's my thing.

So but but the real reason is is anybody who's traveled knows traveling is not fun. It's not easy. And if you don't have status on that airline, you barely get a smile out of those people. If you have status, they roll out the red carpet for you. So um, you know, the higher you are on the status level, the more likely you are to get a first class upgrade. And let me tell you, sitting sitting in the coach,

it's it's a dehumanizing experience. You know, you're you're sitting there and I have you know, I'm not a huge but I have fairly cart. The cart comes, the cart, the cart every single time, bam in the shoulder every single time. And then you got this guy next to you in the middle seat who's like six pounds and he's spilling over into your seat. You're trying to work on your laptop and the guy in front of you is putting down, is reclining, and you're you're right like

and you're going like this, it's impossible. Right. I have two good stories for you in recent memory. All Right, I'm racing to make a flight out of l A racing and they're like, you know when they do the name on the on the thing, like Mr Shroger. We're about to close the doors and I get to the gate and there's a line of like of like you know, ten people, and I'm last on the line. I'm like fine, I'm fine, and I put my thing in and the woman at the gate like lights up. She's like, oh

my god, thank you for being diamond. Am I go, no, no, no no problem, like, no, no big deal, no big deal. I walk on and I've got a I've got a carry on bag and I go into the first class where I got upgraded to because of my diamond status, and I'm about to put it up and I'm last one on the plane and the lovely flight attendants like, sir, you're gonna have to check that, and I go, oh no, no, no, no, no, I'm diamond. And she looked at me and said Okay,

put it right there. You deserve it. Thank you for your thank you for your service, as if I was, as you know, thank you for your service. Please please. You know what's sick too is sometimes when I am in coach, they come by and they give you this, uh they give it this a chocolate bar, and you know, and they say, oh, thank you, you know, thank you for all your your your service or whatever you're thinking.

And the times that they don't do that, I look at him, I'm like, don't you got a chocolate bar for me? I mean, I want them. I want to say thank you for flying, like I want acknowledgement. But really it's about the first class upgrades. That's why I do it. And I was explaining this to the guys on Saturday night at a production meeting, and our producer Richie Zience was calling me Marco Polo and which was funny.

But the like KB and Greg Olsen and they don't know those guys are flying first class their That's what I said. I'm like, you think Craig Olson's ever sat in coach, That's what I'm saying. I was like, if I had, you know, if I had a first class like that, I would, but I can't. So I got receiving yards. And you know, maybe you know all things hied in ho many year or whatever it is. You know, maybe I would be on that list too, but I'm not.

My My only other story that you'll love is this, My wife travels with me sometimes and like she sees a version of me that she does not like. It is a version of me that she is disgusted by. She thinks, I'm just this this hard. Like she calls an airport Peter because I walk in and I'm telling you, they're like, all right, we'll be doing boarding in like fifteen minutes. And she's like, I gotta use the restaurant. Like, you're not gonna be sorry. We're not missing that first.

We're not missing our group. I'm not walking with group two. I cannot get on group. You are getting right on this gate. You're sitting right here. She's like, stop it. I'm going to get a tollbar own bar from Hudson News and like you no, no, we are not missing group on. And there she's like, they still have to do the pre boarding and they got to do the you know, the people with the you know, the need extra help and they have the military service. I go Erica.

You're not going anywhere. Hold your pe in, you're not getting your food. We're sitting right here. You had an hour in the airport to do all that. We are not getting boarded. No one is getting on that plane before me. I am using my servant, my my status. Um, I become a different person. But there are a few kindred spirits out there. So when I heard you were going through Okay, Nawa to get to Seattle from San Francisco, I said, Thorne, you were my brother, my brother in arms.

I'm right there with you. I had a similar story where my whole life, you know, I'm I'm standing there waiting board and they always say if you have children, you can get on, right And I always thought, man, I can't wait for that. So one of the first times I'm flying my wife and my young son. At that point, my wife decides to go to the restroom and where I'm like, what no, And so I gotta take him. I'm not going to change his diaper on the plane. All this stuff. I'm like, okay, we're the

first one on. Sure enough, They're like, if you have little kids, you can get on the plane, and I'm just I'm I don't know what. I'm just out of my mind. I'm out of my mind. I'm like my whole life. This is the moment I've been waiting for my whole life. And that is why I had the kids. This is the only reason I had the kid. This was it. Yeah, she um, she thinks I'm a little nuts when it comes to it, but you know whatever,

she you know, she's great, She's awesome with it. But yeah, traveling with her, you know, I've trained her, and I've trained the kids to have two boys. I've trained them. We go through security like we are awesome through security, and they know, they know the whole situation and and it's good. But they they also want to sit in first class. And I'm like, I'm sorry, sorry, okay. So that's that's a good airline discussion real quick before we

wrap it. There's nothing that I find um more, I don't know what the word is, like discouraging or unsettling or I feel less successful. Then when I go into that first class and I get the upgrade and I'm sitting there and I see, you know, four seats, two parents and and two kids, and I'm like, gosh, does that six year old? No, does he understand just how

good that is? And it's he gonna grow up to be a different person because he was flying first classes a six year old, Like, like, we we cut our teeth, dude, we sat in thirty two. Way we turned this. That kid, that kid with the iPad, that kild kick in my seat. I don't even mind the kick in the seat in the iPad. It's just the entitlement that he gets to sit in first class while you know I had to wait until I was thirty eight years old to get

that upgrade. It's the same thing if people, if you can't relate to that, let me let me give you this. It's the same thing as you take your kid to the ball game, right do you do you get the best seats behind home play? No, you go up to the right field bleachers and you make them sit in the nosebleeds for like five, six, seven game a couple of seasons worth. So he knows what a privilege it is to sit behind the dugout, you know what I mean.

I took my kid up there and he's like, wow, I can't see anything, Like yeah, that's the point that's the point. You can't see anything. So when we finally do go sit behind the behind the dugout, we do sit behind home plate, you'll really enjoy it. You really appreciate it. The same thing with find I don't get I have a lot of airline rules and we probably you probably don't want to hear them, but one of them,

this is the best stuff we thought. One of the A number one is kids do not sit in first class. It must be it has to be like an emergency or something, because they don't understand what it means to be in that wide seat and not have your shoulder hit. They just don't get it. It's not their fault. They just don't belong there. They don't get it. But yeah, that's that's right at the top of the list. I can't especially if I don't get an upgrade and I walk through and I'm like, oh, there's a five year

old sitting there. What do you think when you get on there and you don't have the upgrade and you see one of the uh, one of the you know, a flight attendant from a different flight sitting up there, or you see that one. That one hurts. That hurts anytime an the fly first class. I do, but I mean I'm a long time paying I've paid my dues, man,

I've paid my dues. Yeah, anytime, any any I'm always And that's another reason why having status is important, because I check in for the flight and if I'm not immediately upgraded, and I go onto wait list and I checked that wait list, and if I'm not number if I'm not number one on the wait list, wed me too. I'm like, who is this guy? Who is it? Who? So I'm looking at the I'm getting in line. I'm looking like, who's who? Who's the one that got the upgrade.

It's like when you were in high school and and like you'd be like the best player on your team or whatever, and then you hear about the kid from the other town. I want who is that kid? No doubt? Yeah, so doorn Berry. In addition to flying, you do a great job every week. You do a lot of those stats and the research on that number one Fox game. Really appreciate your work and your friendship over the years, and uh, incredible, incredible stuff right here and I'm laughing

by off. Great job, all right, thanks for having me on. You're the man. You do great work. Uh you know, I wish we were still working on a crew together, but you went on too, better and bigger and better things. So not true, not true. I love working with you and we'll work again in the future. It sounds great. All right, thanks quickly. Plug plug your podcast, plug your stuff. All right. Well, I don't have a podcast, but um

my my day job. My day job work for rotal Wire fantasy sports website, the premier fantasy sports website, rotal Wire, right there. So any fantasy news information go there if you want. You can get a free ten day trial. You'd have to pay for anything. You don't have to put your credit card in you just sign up, get a free ten day trial out to subscrip from site.

But I do all the the football editor there and all the football stuff, and we put out a magazine in the spring, summer preview in the season, so and even if you're not a fantasy football guy, you can get that magazine and learn everything you want to know about the upcoming season. So maybe I'll get you in there. You get do you do a mock draft with us? I'll do it. I'll do it, wrote a wire. I

would have said, take Brock take brock Purty first. Over all, that would back in the spring, and um, you're the man wrote a wire everybody check it out. And that right there is Jason Thornberry. Uh, Jason, thanks dude, thorns the Man. Uh, what a fun podcast for having here. Lots of voices, but I wanted to end it, Aaron. Um, we said before last week's episode or that we would watch the final two White Lotus episodes. Spoiler alert. If you haven't watched any of the season, you haven't watched

the finale. Spoiler alert. We're gonna have a quick, quick discussion on it, Aaron. I want to know from one to ten your feelings on the finale. Did it? Did it fulfill all the expectations for you? Yeah? I loved it. I mean I think that uh, having twenty four hours now to digest it, I think I preferred season one over season two actually, but the finale was great. Had like probably the funniest moment of the season as well as the best acting moment, and so the finale was

like top notch for sure. I say season two by a landslide over season one. And I thought, as funny as you might think, the Tanya scene was I thought the tension of those ten minutes, I was on the edge of my seat. That was like any thriller I've ever seen. I was far more, um, I guess, dramatically affected than comedically. I thought I saw the fear in Porsche's eyes when she was in that car with Jack, and I'm like, this is really scary. I don't know

where this is going. Um and Quentin and his crew, I thought that was that was some of the great villain Uh, you know acting, we've seen that actor. I'm going Tom Tom Huer, Tom Hollander. I am not familiar with him. Are you familiar with his work? So he has done um god, he's been in like a lot of TV shows as well as like uh uh Pride and Prejudice so British, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um. He is also a theater guy. I mean, he's he's very talented.

He was he just oozed like slides terror, terror and and in the beginning, like you see him as this, he's sort of doting on on Jennifer Coolidge and um, you do get a little undercurrent of like this can't be all good. Yeah, And it keeps going and it keeps going, and like the I mean, I love the them at the opera and oh is that the Queen? So there's so much Yeah, Um, he's incredible. H the guy who played Jack, Like, where did he come from?

I have no idea. So what I heard was what he's singing, that thing about the bubbles and and that through the town. Apparently that's the west Ham United song. And he's like this brash, you know. And then when Porsche calls him out on you know, the stuff with the uncle, and you see the whole look in his eyes change, and like you get the feeling that when he was talking about being in a hole and you know that these guys are not guys you mess with Quentin and those boys, and I thought that it was

just terrifying. Um, the m v P of the finale, or have an MVP of this season for you? Because I love this show. I think it's gonna win all the Emmys, and I think they're all gonna win awards. But if you're not watching White Lotus, just it's six episodes, seven episodes, it's fantastic. Um, Aaron, you'r m VP of this season. So I want to pick Daphne Megan Faye because I thought she was someone who was so unassuming.

At the beginning, I thought she was one of the characters I disliked the most after episode one and I thought I had her figured out and I percented not and she I mean like the scene with her on the beach with him, the look in her eyes, her face changed, it's all visual amazing, and that was like, she's another theater person. She she started off on Broadway. I loved her so much. I do think you have to consider Jennifer Coolidge for m v P. And I also think, um Lucy, Lucia and Mia you have to

be in there too. So that's that's where I'm going. I really want to give it to Daphne. I think, yeah, I think it's Daphne. The actress's name is what Megan Fayhey or Morgan Faye I think I think it's never

had seen her before, never had heard of her. And I was listening to a podcast, I think the Prestige TV podcast with Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin and Joanna and they were saying that she's a very well known, decorated theater actor and um wonderful musicals and has a beautiful singing voice and all that like, but I thought the facial stuff from her was amazing. So now quick questions. One, it goes without saying, I guess now, but I wasn't sure at the time. Um Ethan played by Will Arp

and Daphne played by the aforementioned Uh Megan Faye. They go to that little island. They do they do do the deed? Is that what you that what we're supposed to thank? Yes? I think so. Uh. There's a there's this little thing on HBO after the episode UM where Mike Waite talks about it and he's kind of flipping about it like it's we can assume what we want and um, and yes, the assumption is yes. But I think the main thing is like that trip to the island where Ethan goes and he doesn't stop, and he

keeps looking back and he keeps walking. That is when like the two couples transition and suddenly Ethan becomes Camp becomes d that's good. They merge and they're they're so judgmental. He and Harper the entire first half of the series, and then by the end of it they're no better.

They're in the same position. And it seemed like Ethan needed to do that to be able to look at Harper and obviously have that moment with her at the end, but like they're cuddling in the air report at the end, Like it almost reminded me of the first season when you had, uh, I guess it was what's your name Alexis Didario? What's her name? Yeah? Yeah, her character. I'm terrible with names, but she and you think she's gonna have the courage to make a big change and walk

away and all this stuff, but she doesn't either. There was something I do feel like season one, everyone kind of left and kind of was in almost the same state as when they got there, and in season two it did feel like some characters sort of fell back into the same Like you have the three guys the generational thing with the woman walking by them in line and they all look so some of it is like, oh, yeah, we have almost appreciative Albis, like yeah I got played

just down the drains, but like whatever, yeah I got played. But but there is something nice kind of seeing Ethan and Harper like maybe they did change a little bit, whether or not it's good and whether or not they're proud of the change. Uh, you know. One of the big things that Daphne said is like, what is it that makes you happy? And it's not something that you can necessarily judge for an outside relationship. And to say like they didn't vote their lovey dovey in public, so

they can't possibly be happy, well maybe they are. And like, you know, the conspiracy theory online or the thought is that that kid is not Cameron's kid, and that's an illegitimate kid. It's the trainer's kid because a she said earlier on in the season, blonde hair, blue eyes was the trainer And then she shows the photo to Harper and she's like, you're showing me a picture you're a kid.

She's like, oh, am, I never mind. And then he is so angry and annoyed and in such disdain when she's like, come say hello to your son and he's like, oh, well he's flossing. Um did you read it that way too? So I had this conversation with some friends the other day, and I personally am not convinced, just by him being upset at flossing and having to stop. If I'm in the middle of flossing and I have to stop doing something, I'm gonna forget what tooth time on. It's gonna be

hard to go back. And I just think, you know, they've had maybe a rough dinner and he's just a little preturbed with that. I love the mystery around the trainer and the showing of the children and what does that mean? Does that just mean like, does she not really have a trainer? It's just the kids that are this thing that she finds happiness from. Is the trainer actually the father of the children? I mean, I loved it.

I thought that the whole thing was great, and I love having that unanswered mystery about the trainer and yes or no with the father last one, Greg gets all the money. So did you watch the thing at the end with with Mike White? Did? Yeah? And so he he has like the little comment of you know, maybe they'll be able to trace it back to Greg Um. I don't know, because that's not satisfying. I hate that dude. But maybe that's White lotus in a nutshell, that that's

how the world works. Yeah, it's Abitania is not a likable character either. I mean, she treats Porsha terribly. She treats the woman from the first season horribly, there's nothing re deeming, and you're rooting for at the end because you just wanted to work, you know. And that's like one of the things about great TV is you change your feelings about people throughout your rooting for someone, and

then you're not, and then you're rooting against everyone. And then like you thought you were rooting for Tanya and then the phone call she has with Porsche, and then you're suddenly like, wait, am I rooting for you right now? And now I don't know? Yeah, so, uh, I don't know. It's uh. Greg is a fascinating character with how horrible he is, but very well done with everyone on that show loved it, and I'm so glad I loved it. I love season one last year, I love season two.

I told you that when I was at mcveigh's house over the bye week, I made him and his wife Ronica watched season one. I'm gonna let him get through this season. I'm gonna make him watch season two. Maybe we'll have him on the podcast to give a full review of White Lotus, but uh gosh, this is a three hour podcast. Guys. I hope you enjoyed it. You got you got plenty of action. We talked everything from Eagles running backs room to Jared Golf to Airline miles

to White Lotus. I dare you to find a more diverse and more dynamic podcast on the NFL UH feed. I want to thank everyone for listening. I'm loving doing this.

Aaron You're great, You're You're everything. Jason English here every week, tremendous from my Heart the NFL Network of course forgiving us the platform NFL Digital and then UH our guy Jack Road with the music, but on behalf of the crew here, Jamal Singleton, our guests, Taylor Kyle's our guests, Jason Thornberry our guest, and of course Mike White, not the quarterback, but the showrunner, writer and director of White

Lotus until next week, The Season with Peter Schreeger. The Season with Peter Schreeger is a production of the NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts