The Season with Peter Schreger is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's up, everybody, Welcome to the Season with Peter Schreger. I'm smiling here as I'm recording this because it's.
The last week of August.
We've got the NFL's regular season kickoff rapidly approaching, and football is in the air. I'm joined by my wonderful producer, mister Aaron wan Kaufman. Aaron, are you feeling the football in the air right now?
Or is this just me?
Because I'm doing Good Morning Football and after three hours and I see the light at the end of the tunnel of talking about preseason football and cuts.
No, or I mean there was a huge weekend of preseason games, some blowouts. I mean this was I'm getting ready and like roster cuts are happening, and so you're seeing getting a sense of who's going to be on every team and who might be changing hands, like the John Taylor News and so I'm very excited it is it's starting.
I want to start today's podcast with a little riff on the Jets. It's time now, like to put up her shut up? And that's before the season even starts, but this has been in my memory, the most dramatic
and positive and optimistic training camp in preseason. I can remember covering the NFL for the New York Jets, usually at Doom and Gloom franchise, And yet when they started Rogers on a Saturday night game against the Giants and the Snoopy Bowl at MetLife, and Rogers hits Garrett Wilson on that touchdown and you actually see it all and you can vision it, I started.
To think, like, what if the Jets actually do this thing?
And like what would that mean not only for New York City and for New Jersey and Connecticut and Westchester and Long Island in all those areas, but like what.
Would that mean for the Jets franchise as a whole?
Like they have been the punchline, the joke, the pinata, the punching bag, you name it for at least a decade, and yet there they.
Were the ones, mind you Aaron going against the twos from the Giants defense, and they moved the ball right downfield and Rogers throws one of those perfect Rogers passes back shoulder fade touchdown, and then I look at the roster Aaron Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. He could still play football. Sauce Gardner won NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year and was an All
Pro in his first season at corner. Quinn Williams one of the best defensive tackles and disruptors in all of football. Garrett Wilson won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year as a wide receiver, with Zach Wilson, Mike White, and Chris Streveler throwing him passes last year. Bryce Hall's a stud. Dalvin Cook is a four time Pro Bowler. Alan Lazard might be the best blocking receiver.
In the NFL. Weird thing to say, but he might be.
Plus a really relied upon guy for Aaron Rodgers who he brings with him from Green Bay. You go down the roster of these players, I didn't mention CJ.
Moseley.
I haven't mentioned Elijah Vera Tucker, who's an outstanding offensive lineman, and it's like, it is kind of possible, and as much fun as we've been having with this Jets hard knock season, and as much fun as it is to be, like, Wow, the Jets for the.
Super Bowl, what if? What if the only thing that's going.
To stop the Jets, besides a difficult schedule and besides the inexperience from a lot of these guys in big games, is going to be that offensive line. I think the most fascinating moment of the entire NFL weekend came from the press conference after their victory over the New York Giants on a Saturday, meaningless preseason game, and it was Aaron Rodgers top came about Makai Beckton.
Aaron, if you're not familiar, and I know some of the listeners aren't.
In the Jets blogs and the Reddit every day, Makai Beckton was a top ten pick for the New York Jets, and in his first seven games as a pro was maybe the most dominant rookie offensive tackle the sport has ever seen.
He was swallowing.
People, he was protecting the quarterback, but also dominant in the run game. And then he got injured, and then he missed a year, and then he missed another year, and then he put on weight, and Mackai beckten became this punchline of sorts, and also in the social media era, a guy who would respond to a lot of the tweets and internalize it and then respond in a way that I don't think we ever familiar with. People would call him fat, he would respond, people would call him lazy.
He would respond, it's been a long time since we've seen the Mackai Beckton that we saw his rookie year. And yet this offseason, every single day, McKai Beckton would take a selfie of his photo and be like getting a network in and you would see his weight drop from this three hundred and fifty pound giant offensive lineman who is just unpolished and to all of a sudden like, okay, there's.
A physique there.
And you would hear stories out of the Jets camp and I talked to the coaches that like, no, Becton's playing, well, he's getting there.
He's getting there.
There's always a hint of hesitation of being like Becdon is back or Benden is going to be that guy this year when I talk to Jets' sources. However, he is light years ahead right now as we head towards the season as he was a year ago, and McKai Beckton might be the most important young Jets player on this roster of course, Rogers and Sala and Nathaniel Hackett might be the key the key players in this thing.
But if Beckden is good and Rogers is protected on the right hand side of that offensive line, there's a chance the Jets do fulfilled expectations. But the most important SoundBite came from Rogers. I want you to listen to Aaron Rodgers talking about the much belagued fourth year offensive tackle for the New York Jets, Mackai Beckton.
Yeah.
I like mckaye.
I like MacKaye a lot. I think he's a guy that, just like all of us, we all want to feel like we belong, you know, we want to feel like we're part of this thing and that we're part of the group. And whether by his own doing or or just the way things fell, I think he might not
have felt that way. And it's normal when you're when you're on age reserve, and I've been a couple of times, it's it's a tough place to be because you feel isolated from the team, you're outside of you know, you're not maybe traveling as much or not in the meetings. So I think it's been a conscious effort by all of us to make him feel like, you know, he's
a part of this thing. He's so talented, he's he's humongous and he's athletic for a man who's six's eight three fifty and so I'm excited about seeing him out there. He's a big, big teddy bear on the inside. So I've been enjoying getting to know him. He's a fierce competitor on the field, though, and I'm excited about having him out there.
And I think that's exactly what Mabel Kai Becton needs. He needs love, he needs compassion. He's been beat up pretty bad. And look, I know what you're saying. So what he's an NFL player, like be in shape, that's all you have to worry about.
Go do it. I don't know.
I still think of Becton as a twenty four year old kid, and he's got a young child of his own, and he spoke about that this week as well, and what that means as far as maturity goes.
And I'm hoping for him and if he can.
Return to form like he was those first seven games of his NFL career, watch out, Jets have another star in their hands. And if he doesn't, watch out this could tumble fast and this could be ugly for the Jets. Beckton might be that most important piece that no one's talking about, and as he goes, the New York Jets may go. So on the topic of Rogers, I look at the future and say, all right, who's gonna be
that next young quarterback? And as I obviously focus on the NFL, Saturday is my time to just watch football recreationally.
And I've got a dude.
I'm gonna be watching this kid every game and I cannot wait to see the fireworks he has. Kleb Williams, it's no shocking name. He was the Heisman Trophy winner last year, but gosh, he was fun to watch on Saturday. Cliff Kingsbury, as we talked about last week, is a pala mine. He's now coaching with USC and he was hitting me up all week like you just try to find like you gotta watch us, you gotta you know. So I have the package with all the sports channels
I get on Pack twelve network. It's actually a pretty good listen. It was Ted Robinson and Yogi Roth. I like what they do. I'm like, all right, this is a good broadcast. I haven't watched a PAC twelve network in years. I know that they went through their own negotiation issues this past few months.
Put it on. This kid's amazing.
He's amazing, And I'm trying to temper my expectations because I'm sure I did the same exact thing when I saw Trevor Lawrence or when I saw de Sean Watson. And I'm not want to put him in that conversation yet because he hasn't done anything this season, but he is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and the player talking about and I'm not sure if we have the YouTube or the video that we could do that's to play.
The ball is hiked over his head on one bounce as he's spinning around, he picks it up and he hurls at seventy yards on a dime to the receiver who was streaking for a touchdown. And in that moment, I'm like done, I'm good. I don't need to see anything else. I don't need to hear like, I don't need to see an interview.
I don't know.
I know I can work with that. I know that that play alone works at the NFL level. He's got the build, he's got all the makeup all that stuff. And I talked to Cliff and he's like, comes from a great family, you know, he's a DC kid, So like he's not, you know, one of these guys who's never left home.
He was at Oklahoma, now he's here.
He's already done the journey, and like, we're looking at what might be the next great NFL quarterback. And he did it in Week zero against San Jose State. I'm circling it out.
Aaron.
We had on Jed Fish, coach of Arizona last week. He and I have been texting ever since. Arizona plays at USC October seventh. I'm praying it's not one of those ten thirty ESPN games that like, you know, it's I'm already asleep. I've got to be up at four thirty the next morning. Put it in put it in writing. Right now, I will be going to the coliseum to see Caleb Williams Verus Jedfish's Arizona Wildcats.
Will you fly in and attend with me?
No, I don't think so.
I don't want to travel.
That's all right, thanks, though, you know, I've got I have something that night. I think there's a I'm going to rewatch the Mario movie.
So yeah, you're to rewatch the Mario movie. Okay, understood. I'll be there for you. Caleb.
One last thing, Aaron, as we record this, we're doing this some on Tuesday. It's NFL cut day, So by four o'clock, every team needs to go from ninety minut on the roster to fifty three men on the roster. You've read all the tweets from all the journalists being like, it's.
A very sad day for so many young men. Be sensitive and you should be sensitive. I think it goes without saying.
No one's you know, celebrating guys getting cut. There are great stories though, and that's what I like rally around. I know, guys getting cut socks, but there are guys who make teams, and I want to shout out because I got a text during the show that this guy was making it.
Do you know who Tyson Badgint is not at all? Tyson Badgeant went to Division two Shepherd.
Okay, I'm googling Shepherd right now because I don't know their logo.
I don't know what the team.
The Shepherd football team is the Shepherd Rams.
Okay, Division two.
Tyson Badgeant's gonna be the Bear's number two quarterback this year. Justin Fields and Tyson Badgeant. Let me explain how far this guy has come. He showed us to the Senior Bowl. His father is an arm wrestling champion, and the big interview was his father did an interview and his father like arm wrestled to all the reporters at the Senior Bowl. And everyone's like, who is this character? But credit to our guy, Jim Naggy at the Senior Bowl identifying Tyson
Badgeant from Shepherd. So goes to the Senior Bowl, plays well, the comes along obviously undrafted. No one took the Tyson Badgint out of Shepherd. And then he latches on with the Chicago Bears. And here's why you should go to the Senior Bowl and why you should do it. Do you know who the coach was at the Senior Bowl. It was Luke Getzi, who's the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears. So he was the coach of the Senior Bowl. He had a chance to be with Tyson Badgint. They
don't draft him, he says, come to Bears camp. Well, they cut PJ. Walker a couple of days ago, PJ. Walker was making two million dollars, long time veteran in the league, and suddenly the door was opened for Tyson badgeint As everyone does the required and I don't do it because I feel like it's it goes without saying like today, please remember as you celebrate NFL football, thousands of players are losing their jobs. Yes, we know it's all that's us what it is.
We've been following the league forever.
It sucks, and those guys will go on practice squads or they won't in the dream ends, and we can do that story the other day. I'm here to celebrate a great one. Tyson Badgeant out of Shepherd will make the Bears. He will dress in games, and it's one of those stories where it's a come from nothing, undrafted guy as Justin fields his backup. He's one play away from being a starting quarterback in the NFL, and I can tell you draft weekend that was probably not a possibility.
So those are the.
Stories I rally around. We don't have to just focus on in toush tones. The same people that love tweeting out injury news and also love, you know, criticizing teams and players for personnel decisions and firing coaches who are all of a sudden, these sensitive souls who please remember there are so many players who will be losing their joz.
Yes, we know, we know.
Let's celebrate the good Tyson Badgant. What a cool story. The Pride of Shepherd will be a Chicago Bears player week one. And with that, Aaron full of I'm full of gusto today. Man, I've got some pits and vinegar in me and I'm ready.
Thank you you mean to do some arm wrestling today.
I think I'm in regular season.
Well, I'm bringing out one of my favorite guys. Jason Gay has been one of the great long form profile writers of the last twenty five years. He's on incredible, all encompassing pieces on Lindsay Vaughn, on Tom Brady. I remember there was one that he did years ago on Zach Galifanakis that was incredible. He does celebrity profiles. He also does a column in the Wall Street Journal, where his job is Wall Street Journal Columnists, where I think he could be the voice of a generation in a
lot of ways when it comes two sports columns. He's really good and he's an old friend of mine, and we're gonna have him on after this. Our guest this week is one of my favorite people in sports media and one of my favorite guys in general. We used to live in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn and we would have like coffee dates and just talk about sports and.
Media and life.
And then he moved to Baltimore and now he is my go to guy for anything and hey, what are you hearing on this or what's your feel for this? He is the columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and he's one of the best writers you will ever read. Mister Jason Gay Jason, Welcome to the season with Peter Scheger.
I'm honored to be here, and yeah, it would be far preferable if we were doing this on a bench outside a coffee shop in our old neighborhood.
But I want to.
Clarify that we didn't always have a standing date. You were just easy to find, you know, once you finish the show, that was sort of your decompression time. I think like between like ten and noon, you could be fine reliably outside one of these places.
Dude, that is so true.
So when I finished Good Morning Football, and I still do this, I'll put on the headphones. I will listen to a podcast and I'll just wander around. I mean, it's the beauty of Brooklyn, it's the beauty of New York City.
You can just wander.
Usually it's anonymously, but then I would spot you and I'd be like, yes, let's talk about Tour de France.
Well, half the time I felt you were on the phone with an agent, but the other part of it too. For you, we're in different parts of our day. That is, you were in the midday, at least for you. Right you're winding the ship down. I am just getting turbo charged on what I'm going to do next because I've woken up a lot later than you have. Is it at this point in your life, Peter, is it completely
normal to wake up early? Because I've talked to people who do morning television and they say it never actually becomes totally normal.
It's always hard.
It always sucks, dude, it always sucks. When the alarm goes off.
I'm excited to go to work because I love what I do, but I still look at it and say, is that.
Really a four? Like that is it the clock? Am I staring at a four? Before that call?
And my digital alarm clock next to my bed that I'm like shushing so my wife doesn't wake up.
Truthfully, though, on weekends.
When there's like nothing to do and my son doesn't have it doesn't up at six am, or our daughter isn't up at four, It like I could still sleep to nine am.
I think if I had to. I think if I had a complete.
Silence and I was out in a hotel with absolutely no distractions and no responsibilities, I could still sleep to nine Could you with two kids and having a rip and roar go of a job as well?
Could you do that? It's un till nine am.
Ah, the kids are sleeping later, which I think is the game changer. When the kids actually start to sleep like teenagers, which they're not yet, but they're they're, you know, getting there, that's when your life changes. Are you able to get out like a cat burglar? I mean because you have a full house yourself?
Now? Are you able to get out without waking anybody?
Like a thief in the night dude?
And there is no shower in the morning that would wake the entire house. So it's interesting shower the night before, guy water in the face brush the teeth and let's go and then we go from there.
And I think that's probably too much information for the listeners.
However, it is important because you you were like such a part of my Brooklyn experience, because you are real pal and we would talk all the time. And then you told me the news post COVID like we're moving to Baltimore, We're getting some more space and I'm gonna kind of be situated there, and very quickly you would be texting me questions about the Ravens and giving me thoughts on Lamar's contract. Give us State of the Nation Ravens right now, they're on the other end of the
Lamar stuff. And obviously Todd Monkin is offensive coordinator, Odell is there as a superstar.
You feel it from the fan base.
I'm sure when you're at your you know, your son and daughters athletics, or when you're at pickup from school, people want to talk your ear off about their local team.
State of the Nation.
We're going into the regular season twenty twenty three, Baltimore Ravens.
Jason Gay, what do we got?
I mean, this town is America's leading sports town, Peter, I don't need to tell you this you got Ravens fever, but you also have bay Reels, the best team in the American League as we speak, you know, and definitely a playoff contender.
It's great. I mean, it's a great vibe.
You would think that actually the Orioles would sort of compete against Ravens media, but I actually think it kind of lifts all boats. This really does feel like a sports town, which is, you know, this is a two major league sports town, but it just there's a great energy to it.
I mean, I should backtrack a little bit.
You and I both married into Baltimore family, so I'm still a very much a stranger in a strange land. I've been told reliably that if I live here for fifty or sixty years, I'll start looking at me like a local. But I very much I'm still a stranger.
But it's been just incredible to see. I mean, even in the two years since we've been here, Peter, we've gone from some you know, pretty downbeat Oriel seasons to say the least, some uneven raven seasons, real paranoia about Lamar leaving, real paranoid about the contract situation.
What was going to happen next to you? Know, I'm not.
Saying people are making hotel reservations in February, Peter, but I would not make reservations.
And they're going to be a really fun team to watch.
I think the excitement is partly a function of obviously having you know, Lamar back and in the fold and definitely committed to the team. But this is a new look offense for them. There are some real weapons. There's This is the sort of fantasy that people have hoped for for a long time, Like what happens if you take this guy who in and of himself is a top, top, top weapon in the league, but also give him the toys that he has wanted for a very long time.
Have has Odell been Because it's like when he was in New York, he's the biggest superstar.
We went to Europe last season.
It was he was out of the league at the time, he didn't have a team, he was on the injured list, and we went to Germany and I'm talking to a German fan and I'm like, all right, so mahomes are Brady, Who's the biggest star? And he looked at me, this German football fan, and said Odell Beckham and I'm like, Odell's not even on a team right now, Dude, He's like Odell Beckham is the biggest star in Germany.
I'm like, why how he's like he's a sensation? Is that how it feels?
I believe it.
Listen, you're also talking to a parent of a child who went to Odell Beckham football.
Camp, Peter, about three weeks ago.
Standing room only. There were kids. I didn't know there were this many kids in Greater Baltimore. I mean, every kid in town seems signed up for this thing Odell. As you know, in addition to sort of the obsessive fan base of like adult NFL fans, he has all the kids. The kids just love Odell, whether a combin, the playing charisma, the hair, the whole thing. I think there's a lot of excitement about it. I'm leaning on the skeptical side myself, right because we haven't seen him
since that Super Bowl. We haven't seen him in a consequential football game. You know, age is a killer on you know, talent positions like his. But if you're talking about somebody who could be an option, if you're talking about putting him in an offense with Bateman, with flowers.
There's a lot of flowers exciting.
I mean, it's a ton uh.
I just I've been trying to picture it in my head like this, like high flying passing Ravens offense. I just don't see it because I've never seen it before.
Well, the question is, of course, will be a protection question. You can speak to this, I'm sure much more articulately than I can.
But like.
You want Lamar to get all those reads right, You want him to be able to make choices and not be rushed and feel that he has to do something, make magic himself, you know, be the kind of pocket passer that he wants to be, and he's talked about wanting to be and not just be his sort of first option escape every time. If that kind of thing happens, we should talk about the new offensive coordinator comes in from Georgia. That's a big deal. Lamar seems really energized
about that. I mean, just again, look, it's late August. It's everyone's got the upbeat energy in pretty much every camp.
But the vibes are good, all right.
So I miss you for a lot of reasons, but one of them being I think you would have had a blast with this Rogers stuff in New York and you could.
Still have it writing from Baltimore and coming in.
But like, dude, there's such little things like when he posts that he was with the cast of Chicago or that he went and saw back to the future of the musical. I'm like, this is Jason Gay's column, like I'm writing it for like we need like you on the ground here. What has been your impression from afar even of the Rogers New York City marriage, And it's been all good. And I've tell you, no one's penned
the Day in the Life with Aaron Rodgers yet. But my gosh, I hope you get that assignment and just get a chance to follow him around walking around So how I Becca for a day?
I mean, Peter, you know this.
We're now old enough to know that we've seen versions of this movie before. The Jets are sort of famous for getting the kind of you know, late autumn superstar arriving in town with ambitions of bringing Jets football back to the promised land of nameath.
You know, quarterback position.
It's happened before other skill positions, but Rogers is a cut above and as much as I kind of want to rain on this hype, and boy, I mean it's just hype and hype. I mean I was giving you grief yesterday about the fact that, like, oh wow, I'm glad someone's finally paying attention to the Jets in the preseason. I feel like it's like one team and then thirty
one other teams. I mean, the way that this Jets thing has just taken off, and like, you know, they should raise the August World Championship banner, I think in the opener, right, But so I want to just dump on all over it. But you know this again much better than I do that the heart hardest possible thing in football is to just figure out that quarterback position. And really, for the first time in a very long time, you enter this season saying, there's a grown adult who
has this job, who's been here before. There's almost nothing you can throw at him that he's not going to have great deal of experience. He seems completely, you know, revitalized in New York. I didn't know what to make of that hype going in, but it definitely seems to be a thing that he is good. Aaron Rodgers, right, we haven't seen the Phantom of the opera version yet.
I mean, that could happen, but.
You know, and again that's a tough division, right, you know, they are stacked the AFC East. That is a very competitive division. They have two games against a lot of quality opponents. But I don't know they have cracked the one thing that is the hardest thing to crack. And so as much as I want to be the big rainclad here and mock the Jets, it's hard.
I know.
I look at you as a writer and your stuff is different. You're not necessarily going to talk about the x's and a year more about the lifestyle and you know how sports incorporates into our daily lives, into culture, Like what would be the article if you were to follow around Rogers FORER day and he's like, here, Jason, here are the keys. Take me around your New York or take me around something cool culturally? Like what would
you show him? Because honestly, I spoke to him. He's been to Broadway, he's been to a couple of Knicks games, a couple of Rangers games. He went to Carbone, which is like, you know it's yes, it's carbone, but there's a carbone in Vegas, you.
Know, Yeah, well, I don't know if I'm giving away any confidences here, but you spoke to him and that was a big news making interview.
Is he living on the Jersey side or is he living in the city.
He's living in Jersey. He's living I'll give you the town because I think it's public now. He's living in Montclair, New Jersey.
Oh, with the half of the reporters in the city. That's hilarious.
Talk about the Montclair mafia.
You've got all I think it's like it's like Stephen Colbert, right, and.
Then who else You've got all these different journalists.
Right, yeah, Yeah, there's journalists for days in Montclair. That's fair funny.
It's too bad he doesn't have kids, because you could see him at school pickups and stuff like that. I mean, look, he's a very eccentric, charismatic guy, obviously incredibly talented. You want to see him sort of light up the town. But do you right, It's like I feel like the second things go south, you know, people will be harping on him for that kind of thing if they go south.
That is so yeah. I mean the time to join New York, to appreciate New York probably was the early part of this.
I mean, I believe after he signed he went to every single Nixon Rangers game for about two or three weeks.
He was very active that way.
Again, what I find amusing, and I'm sure you do too, is people in Green Bay are like, who's this guy?
What right?
I mean, because that was such an incredible psycho drama the last bunch of seasons, and obviously, you know, it was a pretty combative situation with the front office there.
They're like, who's this guy? And then the other thing.
Green Bay fans like to be snarky and say, call us in November, you know, like like, let us know how it's going.
We'll see. I mean, listen, I feel the Jets.
You know, they're this un you know, there's this frozen cave man right lurking below the surface, and and and you know, people are just so accustomed to it going south. And were they to revitalize, were they to perform, even if they were to just be playoff competitive, Peter, the bar is low. This is not like Super Bowl or bust. If the Jets were able to go in and win a couple of playoff games, gosh, we have not seen that since the rec th Ryan ma Ja Kaki stays it's been a while.
Yeah, all right, So you're gonna be coming into New York the next couple of weeks for the US Open. I'm not looking to do a huge breakdown of Alcarez or Cocoa golf. But what I would say is I have questions about the US Open experience because I think it's maybe the best two weeks of New York and if you can get there, you've got to.
You'll be covering it for the Wall Street Nal as you always do.
Writing about slice of life stuff, but also tracking it as the tournament advances.
Where do the players stay?
They stay all over.
I mean you can stay as close as you know, three blocks away at the Holiday Inn, Peter.
You know, I know you like that Queen Day in the hotel.
Yeah, fantastic aquarium, you know, one of the great aquariums in all of New York hoteling. Yeah, you can stay all those places. Most of them stay in the city. They have relationships, of course with some of the swankier hotels. Depending on how fancy you are. You'll see it turn up in a Instagram accounts, Peter. You know, when you see the players saying like, what a wonderful stay at the one hotel. You know, then you know something's going on.
But yeah, most of them. You know, you see those courtesy cars, those Mercedes Benz courtesy cars all over the city at this time of year in midtown, that's a pretty good indicator that that's where the players are. I always this is one of my favorite things about the US Open, Peter.
They for years.
I don't know if they have it this year because I haven't been up yet, but they have had a free parking for Mercedes owners.
Okay, I know if you're I don't know if you're a Mercedes.
We haven't quite made that movie yet.
Some time, maybe that's a reason to get one, Peter. Okay, you sit there, you're like, we could get the Dotson or we get the Mercedes free parking US Open.
Let's do this. But yeah, that's a real thing that existed for quite a while.
I think it's one of the great, you know, sporting experiences in New York City.
I agree with you entirely.
I think one of the things that makes the US Open phenomenal is that there's a lot to see, you know, especially if you go in the first week of the tournament, when more and more seeds are still active in the tournament, still competing. You can go there and watch at any given moment a dozen matches.
You know.
You can watch it from you know, singles to doubles, women's, men's, wheelchair tennis, junior tennis, all kinds of competitive events all over the place. You don't have to start. It's just as you know, for a tennis person, it's like Comic Con. For somebody who is just sort of like a casual fan, you know, wants an experience.
Good food, you know.
Really good food, lots of booze, lots of places to hang out. You know, it can get a little hot around there, but there's shade, there's places you can go and get out of the sun. It's pretty special and you get around of your crowd then you get at other Grand Slam events. I think part of it is the booze. Part of it also is the night tennis.
You know, that's the sort of big New York aspect of this, that these players will be out there sometimes you know, past midnight, playing sometimes deep into the morning. And that's a really bizarre, unique experience as well, and people love that.
I think you'd be happy to know that Eric and I got married. And the specialty cocktail at her drink was the Honey Deuce, which is really which is the drink that they serve at the US Open.
It's Greg Goose vodka. It's too melon ball.
And then it's a bunch of sugar and it's delicious.
Yes, you could keepuch sugar.
You could keep the cup right, right, right right, and and you keep the cup. I believe the price is north of twenty dollars at the US Open now, and if you have four of them, you will likely be thrown out of the event because you'll be screaming at the players to you know, pick up the base.
Real quick tennis stuff.
We saw the al KaAZ Djokovic final, those two and then everybody else are is there another player you're watching on the men's side.
I think so.
I mean, Carlos has been you know a little bit up and down since Wimbledon, even though he won a tournament, even though he's been active, he has you know, been playing a little bit radically. He went through Cincinnati, you know, going three sets and everybody had a spectacular final guesst Jokovic, which he had match points to win. Didn't get it, but that's the match everybody wants to see, because this
is the thing, Peter. Everyone expected men's tennis to be like done, Oh my god, what are we're gonna do here?
Right? Right right? And it's all sudden.
It's like, I don't know, to give it a football analogy, it's like drafting Joe Burrow on the heels of Tom Brady. It's like you have this person coming in who might redefine the sport altogether right on the heels and actually being able to play against arguably the goat in tennis.
That's a really neat thing to witness.
Djokovic actually seems very motivated by this because all of a sudden he's got this y nemesis.
And Carlos is just super likable too.
I don't know if you've gotten a chance to sort of see him in interviews toes or his body demeanor. I mean, just like guys excited, you know, loves playing tennis. Is a happy, go lucky guy, and it just comes out in the experience of watching him. I mean, he's that's her rare category already at age twenty of like he just pops off the screen.
You know.
Our favorite kind of athletes, Peter As, you know, are those ones that like you don't have to know the sport to be like, who's that? You know, I want to know everything about that person, and he plays that way.
Your best celebrity encounter at a US open go.
I actually remember seeing somebody at the absolute apex of Hamilton, seeing lin Manuel Miranda like scarrying for a seat and being like, oh my gosh. And he had the whole like ponytail thing, like he.
Looked like he had just come from Hamilton.
He wasn't in like, you know, colonial gear, but like, yeah, that was pretty neat to see. I mean, there have been some pretty great ones. Pretty much everybody who's anybody comes through that event at some point.
It's such a CNSB seen thing.
Andy Murray had a very interesting super fan for a very long time, Sean Connery.
So super Connery.
From the same town, I know, I don't think so there were Scotts.
They're both Scotts, and so he was a super fan of Anny Murray and Sean Connery. Not a very showy celebrity, like you would have pulled down very low, you know, that kind of thing, but Yeah, everybody comes through there. I just did a Carlos piece in which I talked to Jimmy Butler for this. So Carlos is big super fan. Is Jimmy Butler?
What?
Yeah?
Yeah, what's just Jimmy.
Jimmy's a huge tennis guy, been a tennis guy for a long time. Actually did an event at the US Open a couple of days ago with Carlos where they hit around a little bit. Jimmy's a serious tennis guy, you know. He's an international dude. When I talked to him about Carlos, you already said to me, Peter said, I actually should be doing this in Spanish with you, but I'm going to assume you don't speak Spanish, so we'll just do this in English.
Okay, you got me on this.
But he's a major Carlos super fan. Uh but yeah, listen, I mean name it. Last night, Michelle and Barack Obama in the audience to watch Cocoa golf and Novak.
Djokovic, So they really draw him in there.
Peter, and I should say, Peter Trigger shows up occasionally.
I'm there. I'll never forget are you box only or are you been in a box? And there have been in a box.
I go, I get the I get I buy my own seats. I've never covered it as a journalist.
I just have to go.
I like going during the day session. I'll leave good Morning Football, and I'll take this. I actually take this is a nice little hack.
If you're listening in New York.
Don't take the subway because it takes forever. Take the Long Island railroad to Metz Willett's point. It's a much more luxurious trip on the train. Instead, get off and it's probably won every hour, and then you just get jepped off at where City Field is and you walk right over to the stadium.
But i will go. I'm thinking I'm gonna go Labor Day.
I'm gonna take my son, and I think we're gonna go and we're gonna check it out. But I'll never forget. Probably like ten years ago, I'm sitting there and we went on maybe the Friday before the finals. It was like back then, it was like not Super Saturday, but
the Friday was awesome. You would get the women's semis and then like the doubles finals and it was women's semis and it was an incredible, incredible match between like Serena and I forget who she was against at the time, might have been Sloma.
What's his name? Hallip? What was her name? Might have been that.
And there was a woman in front of me, and I'm like, this is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. She's six foot ten, she looks like she's got a hair of it. And she turns around and she's like, are those good? And she was pointing at the drink I was drinking, which happened to be the Honeyduce, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's Shirlie's Farron, just sitting there with the with the with the sweaty masses of fools out there.
And it was the coolest thing. And I'm like, that's the US opening a nutshell.
Did you say that to Erica when you guys had your wedding planning, You're like, this is Shirlie's Urn's favorite drink.
Eric's like, what is with this Honeyduce? It's like, no, no, we have to do it for our wedding.
Why it has no connection to the two of us.
We must do it.
All right, here's the exercise we're gonna do because season starts next week. And I think you're one of the great profile writers of all time.
And I mean that.
And this is like you're like, Okay, don't make me blush with Frank the Ford and Gary Smith and all these guys.
But for a while there, when like.
Jason Gay did a big profile and a player or an athlete or an owner, I'm like, I'm reading it no matter what. And I'd say probably ten fifteen years ago, magazines had these giant budgets and they would give you an X amount of dollars and say, go spend a week with this player, or go spend a week with this celebrity, and go write this amazing profile and it'll be in a cover of whether it be Vogue or it be Vanity Fair in your case, GQ or The
New York Observer, whatever it was. Here's the exercise we're going to do. There are so many personalities in football right now, and it's players, it's coaches.
It's owners.
We're going to do a draft, a fantasy draft, and I am the editor and you are the writer, and I'm going to give you a giant budget and a one week deadline to spend as much time as you need unfiltered with this athlete or this coach or this owner, this person out of the NFL, and we're going to do a draft three players or owners or whoever's each and we're going to do who we would pick if we could do a celebrity profile on anybody, and do it old school GQ magazine style, back in the day
when they would spend unlimited amounts of money just to get the best photos and the best articles written. That's the build up, Jason Gayer, first on the clock. The first figure in our NFL world that you would want to do a giant profile on is whom.
Okay, well, I'm going to be a huge homer here and I'm going to take somebody who has been profiled, you know, quite well in other places.
But you know, I would love to get my whack at it.
I had an opportunity to speak to him last year, but I'd love to get a lot of time with him, the one and only.
Justin Tucker, I thought.
You were going somewhere else.
Do not expect the kicker, did not expect to the first overall pick being an undrafted kicker.
Go on, he's the goat. I mean, Peter.
We can say this can we I mean, you're the football expert here. Is he a goat among us already? Is that clear?
Yes, he's the greatest kicker to ever kick a football. There's no doubt.
Vine Terry might have more rings, But you're talking you need one kick to win a game.
Justin Tucker's the.
Guy and talking to him, I'm going to make a terrible analogy, but like he's like sort of like a quantum physicist. I mean, he is somebody who does not look at kicking as this hysterile, repetitive act. That looks at it from so many incredible variables and just to hear his brain operate around the way you kick the all the things he can alter, the fact that he feels he can always get better, which is sort of
an obsessive quality that I love. And also the fact that he's rich as hell for doing this one thing. Peter Right, It's like and he has just pinnacle respect. Nobody sweats him, like he just occupies this airspace. I mean, I always think of the kicker as like the first person pushed off the bus on the football team, right always, but he could make the cases.
He's the last guy, right, I mean with the Ravens.
I mean, and then you know that stadium is in a part of town where like it's near the water, like it's if you're going to be kicking like sixty two yard field goals, you would not put a stadium right now, right. I just think he be a fascinating dude. And and you know, I think the relationship between a kicker and a city. I wrote this in the Journal last year when I talked to him about like how many towns, Peter do you go to?
It?
I'm asking of you, where.
You see the kicker jersey in high quantity? Is there any other city besides Tucker? It's just Tucker, that's it. He's number three. By the way, it's Lamar Andrews Tucker. I got that from the Ravens.
Now.
I'm sure Odell's up there now. Yeah, but last year it was, yeah, it was it was Lamar Andrews and Tucker. In terms of jerseys, he just I mean, there's been nobody like him, and so I think all that territory would be really cool.
That's really interesting because he is the best at what he does and it's of all time, and he does look and act as if he's just a normal guy too.
Obviously, I've met him and you've met him.
He has the opera stuff, which has been done a million times, but just from a pure athleticism standpoint, what he does, he's the greatest at his craft to ever do it, which is pretty incredible.
He walks around as a normal human in society. He does not stand out physically. He does not like you know, he's not sort of a booming, charismatic crazy guy. I mean, he definitely has his eccentricities, as we alluded to, but like he's definitely I mean, I just feel like there's lots of.
Two on there. Another one, Okay, this one is a little bit more serious.
And so wait, do I get to pick? I want to pick?
Let's we're going back and forth. Oh it's a snake it's not a snake draft.
Okay, just a regular draft. I'm gonna go. So you're justin Tucker's off the board.
I'm going to give you one that I thought you were going with, pretty obvious, and yet I don't think the comprehensive post retirement piece has been done.
I want to I want a week with Brady.
I want to know what the hell's going on and I want to know what's going on through his head and what his life's like, and what it's like for the first time in twenty something years to not be playing football.
I saw him on TV that he's now.
He's like at the Vegas preseason game, and he's sort of there as a minority owner, but he's also sort of there.
It's like Tom Brady celebrity.
And I know he's supposed to take over the Fox gig next year all intentions, it seems like he is.
But this year, this moment in time, tom Brady out.
Of football as a player, before he goes into being a broadcaster, post divorce, pre whatever.
This next chapter is like, I am fascinated.
At what's going on with Brady, and it could go a lot of different directions too. I don't think this would be one of those glory you know, filled like hero worship pieces. I feel like I want the real stuff. I want to know what's really going down, and I feel like it hasn't been done yet.
My question would be, as your editor, would be, do you think you can get it out of him? You know, is he in a place in his life where he's willing to go there with you?
Now.
I did get the opportunity to spend a little time talking to him a couple of seasons ago, and he's definitely less guarded than he was at New England for sure, you know, much more you know direct, and we saw him like interviewed on the shop.
You know, is sort of showing aside the that you hadn't seen before.
However, sort of like a skilled politician, he has this ability to kind of give you the Tom Brady experience without giving you Tom Brady like sort of like you know, throw an F.
Bomb in there, like a candle here and there.
You're like wow, But then when you get back in your role the tape, you're like, oh wait, it's not totally the whole thing. He's very skilled that way.
Uh.
There's obviously an incredible amount to talk to him. I mean, like look just off the top of my head, I mean obviously, you know, the personal life stuff was pretty messy last year, the whole FTX thing with him, Yes, all that stuff, you know, and like he's this guy who's trying to navigate being you know, he in front of him is the idea that he could be like the next like Michael Jordan Arnold Palmer type, the person who is the sport right, Yes.
But it hasn't exactly worked right.
It's like the clothing brand came and like a little bit of a splash, but I don't think it sort of took off in the manner that they were hoping it would do. He's had sort of very sort of all over the place kind of endorsements over the years.
You know, he's not a normal dude. I mean, you can't win like that.
You know, you can't be that person and have that kind of life and be exactly normal. I'd be curious to see what you could pry out them. Hopefully you can do better than I did.
I appreciate it. I think he'd be really interesting if he was honest. You're right, And I don't know if anyone's going to get that side of him. All right, you're up next?
Who you go with?
Okay, Peter, it's another kicker. This is more serious. I think Andy Reid. I think Andy Reid is somebody who has had incredible triumph and tragedy in his life. He has, you know, had a family that has had incredibly tragic circumstances and tough stuff and perseveres and I'd be very interested in sort of knowing more about what what sort of makes him operate, what sort of motivates him, what
his sort of inner dialogue is. Like I have to figure that he is this master compartmentalizer, somebody who can, you know, keep on plugging away through terrible things that have happened. And I just think that's a that's a compelling story. That is the definition of sort of like a DeFord Gary Smith classic from back in the day.
In fact, I imagine those were done when he was with the Eagles, because you know, some stuff was happening then too, but even now in sort of like the sort of golden era of his football respect, there's a lot to go there.
I get a chance every year at dinner at the Combine, Brett Veitch, the GM and Andy Reid invite me to dinner.
And I'm not name dropping or anything. It's a cool thing I get to do.
They take me out and it's a few other people and I met a table with them, and Andy's nothing but sweet and incredible, And he's not as maybe you'd expecting to be loud, and like with the Hawaiian Suran, that's not him.
He's sweets.
Yeah, and he's a kind man, but I too. Every time I'm talking to him, there's this like hole in my heart thinking about the tragedies that he's gone through, obviously with his kid.
And then I start thinking.
Okay, and then how do you also become the most beloved, giving warm coach to so many players? And then the thing with Andy that's so incredible is we talk about the Belichick coaching tree. Andy Reid's coaching tree blows Belichick's out of the water, and those guys have great success, whereas Belichick's don't have as much.
So great call on that one.
I'm going to go a coach also for my second pick, a guy who I got a chance to become really close with last year, but I want to see him in this moment in time. I want the definitive Sean Payton piece. And if Jarrett beldon't do a great enough job already doing it once, I almost want to double dip and go back and do it again. And see now that his comments were taken and put in print and he had to suffer the blowback from all that.
But Sean is I've said this before, and I don't know if I've said it on this podcast or whatever. Not that I judged a book by a cover wrong, but like for years I've been covering the NFL ty years, Sean Payton and I had no relationship, and I always deferred to the fact that, like Jay Glazer works on Fox with me that.
Is Jay Glazer's guy.
I would be really annoyed if I had a coach and all of a sudden, like a younger guy came in and was constantly like.
Hey, coach.
I also don't think that coach would want to open up to me. But we were put together on this TV show last year. And this is after I've been I've called ten different Sean Payton games. I met him been production meetings have been nothing but kind, but not like Schrigger, here's my number. I didn't have his number nothing.
We became really close and I freaking loved his energy, like high energy, hilarious, encyclopediac mind parcels quotes, Churchill quotes like history, buff Love's pop culture has a young spirit like and I. And this is the second chapter of his career where it's like, all right, Saints thing broadcasts and now I'm going to try to revitalize the Broncos.
I think it's a really cool moment in time. And we've got to pick like playoff teams in a week for Good Morning Football, and I'm tempted to put the Broncos in. And yet there is no evidence other than the fact that I trust Sean Payton that they are a football team. But yet that fact alone, Jason, that might be enough for me to say, like, the Broncos are going to the playoff, Sean Payton won't let them fail.
Now, it's funny because you work both sides of the street on that story, because of course you were the one who went to Aaron a couple of weeks later or days later and asked him about it, and Aaron bit right back. But I have to think that like when you see something like that, you know, those amazing quotes that came out of Peyton's mouth and just sort of like, you know, I think we can say like sort of like breaking.
The code, right.
You know, it's like it's very unusual to see a coach criticize another active coach. I can't help but think that, like it's one of those rare experiences you're like, oh, yeah, that's the person, because sometimes you read quotes in the paper and you're like, ah, well he's being you know, behaved and like he knows what to say and he's not going to give it up. And you're like, oh no, that's the guy.
Yeah, yes, yes, that's the stuff he would say in a green room and he'd be like whoa. And then he said in print on the record, right, And I don't think he said it on accident either, right.
No fair play to the reporter too forgetting that, because it's it's that's that's really what you're striving for, and all this stuff is to have enough of a relationship that the artifice comes down and you're not getting the sort of managed commentary and you're getting something great like that.
Your last pick if you were to do a profile.
So far you've got the assignments you've got Justin Tucker and Andy Reid, who's number three.
Josh Harris would be an amazing follow.
For ye justice an owner, But like, why is that amazing to you? I've watched the in You want to.
Shake my hand? Yeah, I want to shake my hand. Yeah, there you go, just hold it.
I just think if I it's somebody who's like walking into a condemned house that they just bought, and they're going through all the newspapers that are up to the ceilings and they're finding like stuff that's like underneath the couch and they're like, what did I get? What am I doing here? And all of a sudden, you know, you are the talk of the town. Everybody is obsessed
with you. They want to give you the cues city, they want you to build RK and Washington, but you have to like sort of basically do this uh exorcism of you know, thirty years of misery. And like, I just think that's a compelling story to follow somebody around who's coming from any synchronous world. He's not a sports person, even though he has this like sports background.
He's a you know, yeah, the finance guy that.
But the other one that I think a little bit more closer to your heart, Peter, And I've not seen this profile. I've seen him be the person quoted in profiles of television people. But I really think if you it'd be a sort of great New Yorker profile for somebody who has really skilled.
Uh Fred Godelli.
Interesting Hall of Fame broadcast producer, Fred Godell.
Producer basically you know, the way that football looks in twenty twenty three, the way that football is Narry, the whole sort of like formatting of it. He's had an incredibly influential hand in this. He is the executive producer I think of Amazon. Now he also has this joint deal with NBC. I mean, that's when you know you have power, when you're able to sort of work both you know, do that still both of those things. You know, he's obviously been Al Michael's guy for a very long time.
You could spend a lot.
Of time in a booth there and sort of see how their mind operates. I mean, that's something that I think that I mean, I'm sort of preaching to the choir here because you're in the world, but like is very very underappreciated how skilled the people who are giving you the camera work, the production value in NFL. And also, like, look, Peter, if I'm going to put a fancy hat on this story, it's the last monoculture we have left in the world.
We have Taylor Swift, yeah, and we have the NFL, or at least in the United States, we have those two things. And it's the last great television show that we all watch and I think it's never been better.
I mean, it's actually a problem for the NFL. Peter, you know this, that the TV product is too good.
Some people don't want to leave the couch.
They don't want to leave the couch. Stadiums are sitting around.
I mean we know this, both of us, that they're having conversations about, like what does our value add here? Like if we're going to make someone come in here and spend five hundred dollars on a Sunday, what are we giving them that they don't get at home? And it's a hard sell, you know, for a lot of people, because the product is so good on TV, and so this is a person who it be an amazing portal
to all that stuff. He also goes way back to some really cooky days of the Forum, when you know, people were a lot less well behaved, and I think you can get some great stories out of that too.
I love it.
I've never worked with Fred Goodelli, obviously, I've gotten to meet him a few times, and this year he put on a gold jacket, which is so cool and so well deserved.
I love that. Choice.
That'd be interesting. My last one would be Mike Tomlin. I know, I went retired player coach coach. I just feel like Mike Tomlin is the standard now in Pittsburgh. And they had another nine and eight season last year where you avoided going five hundred, but like to go through yet another transition of like, here's another version of the Steelers, and here's Tomlin now like the senior of the NFL's like coaching community behind Belichick and Carolyn Reid.
I just think it's such a cool position for him and such a cool time. And I really think the Steelers could be excellent this year. And here's Tomlin, who is no thirty or forty year old coach anymore, and he's got these two kids in Pickett and Pickens, who I think are going to be excellent this year, and the Steelers this franchise. I think Mike Tomlin's always a great quote, but I don't think there's been the definitive sports profile of him done in many years.
Is he now the longest tenured Steelers coach ever?
Chuck Nole was there for a long time, Chuck Knowle was there up until Cower, So let's say Chuck Nole.
But you're right, it's already I mean Tomlin got there in five o six. Maybe yeah, he might be, which is a wild.
Statistic because the psychology of that role is interesting in the respect that, like, look, your buddy's also at Sean McVay, and we feel Sean McVay sort of takes wins and losses right on the shirt sleeves, like the like that he internalizes the pain and the suffering as well as the joy of the job.
You know, very sort of viscerally.
To be in a job like that for fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen years, you cannot be constitutionally the kind of person who takes it terribly every time. You have to sort of get comfortable. I'm not saying get comfortable with losing, but you have to understand that you're never you know, it's like there's only one team left at the end and it's most likely not going to be you. And for him, he's been there to the mountaintop once, I
believe as the champion. That means that the other years you didn't reach that And how do you sort of rationalize or resolve that. It makes me think of like the honest thing that happened after the NBA playoffs where they lost.
Is it a failure to a lot?
Yeah, is it a failure? And you know, there's a million reasons.
And I know that people in your world are very skilled at explaining why Mike Tomlin is so incredibly great and the metrics of like how many rings don't necessarily apply. But yeah, he's you know, it's It's a funny thing to say because I looked at him recently doing a press conference and I was like, for the first time, I was like, oh, he looks old or older, Like, you know, he's always been the younger guy.
You know, he's the youngest coach ever to win a Super Bowl.
Yeah, And and they're like, oh, yeah, now he's the older guy.
That's an interesting dynamic as well.
Yeah, real quick in closing, you grew up a Patriots fan up in the New England area, and this is one of those years where no one knows anything. They could go ten and seven, they can go five and twelve. Your feel on your Patriots, Well.
Just to clarify, I'm old enough that I grew up in Shafer Stadium, Sullivan Stadium, Patriots aluminum benches, snowplow on the field. Victor Kai am like, you know, two and fourteen, like Patriots all right, this whole like dynasty Robert Craft.
Yeah, I was.
Long gone from Massachusetts. I don't recognize it whatsoever. No, I've I mean, listen, the Patriots are this kind of like institution now where everything that they do is outsized in the region, and so like there's always going to be disproportionate excitement, also disproportionate doomsdayism. I think it's hilarious to hear the sort of simultaneous conversation of are the Patriots actually an underrated potential playoff threat?
And is Belichick on hot seat?
Yeah, it's just like.
Both sides of the mouth being talked about here. I just think it's hilarious that. But that sort of speaks to what, you know, it is that sort of New England ethos of like sky is following, but maybe we could make it this year.
Like you know, that's all. I recognize that very well.
Our mutual friend Bill Simmons is all in. I don't know if you've heard him talk, He's like, this is the year We're great. Everyone's not what's talking about us? I don't know if I can get on board. I don't know if I can do it. I will tell you this, there's a guy there that they're super excited about rookie Pop Douglas Wide Receiver. And as I say that, in the back of my hand, I'm like, gosh, if we're banking on Pop Douglas, are the Patriots really going to be a contender this year?
What is your go to thing when somebody you know, you're at some social occasion, you know, you're waiting in line in Amagant for an ice cream cards, someone says, somebody says, Schrager, give me one fantasy tip, like, I mean, it must be the bandier existence.
I hate, like you know that, I hate it, and I get it all the time and I say the same thing, and it pisses me off. The response, I'll say, take Jamiir Gibbs, the rookie from the Lions. And it's because we had Brad Holmes on this podcast, and Brad Holmes wax poetic about Jamior Gibbs like he was, you know, the next Jerry Rice Slash, you know, Roger Craig all on one And the response that I get that pisses me off so much.
Jason as people be like, no, I know that one. Give me another one, and I'm like, oh, you know what, No, I don't have it.
No, And I'm like, well, everyone knows Jamier Gibbs, Like no, not everyone knows Jamiir Gibbs.
He hasn't played it down yet. So I always say Jamiir Gibbs.
And then they'll say, well, give me a team that you think is going to be good, and I say, I really have to see Hawk this year.
The Seahawks are my quiet team this year.
I mean, can I ask you a couple of industry questions.
Please, let's do it.
I love it all right, so you.
Know they're the whole fantasy construct in the NFL media is fascinating, where Like it is huge business. Of course, it means a great deal to a very specific crowd of people, a substantial crowd of people. It's it's it's it's a huge population plays fantasy. However, it's a parallel track that sometimes has nothing to do with what's actually happening from a success and failure standpoint, Like for example, I'm like, I hear all the time about Justin Fields.
Justin feels this that the other thing, Like he's an incredible talent.
Obviously he was a wonderful to watch. I was a big ten you know, fan lost.
Ten games and the season last year, and he completed the least amount of passes maybe in the history of any starting quarterback.
So is that just fantasy inflation is different?
That is no, it's a different game.
So his points count a lot because in fantasy football the quarterback position, rushing yards are seriously heavily weighted, and he runs for a lot of yards.
So like Lamar a couple of years ago.
So it's possible in your world to I mean, obviously there are some fantasy experts to have become enormously successful, but like you can exist in that world entirely. You just your rating players from a fantasy perspective, you know, completely ambivalent about wins and losses.
Here's why I come out on it, my arrogance.
I come off as pompous when I roll my eyes at the fantasy guys when they're like, I think Jamison Crowder is going to be a breakout, and I'm like, I know this person doesn't talk to any of the coaches. I know this person isn't at practice. I know this person doesn't follow it every day like I do. So why do you know that this random third wide receiver is gonna be a breakout player and yet fantasy expert and they've won fantasy leagues and they got that.
Like I just don't confront it.
It's a different sport altogether, fantasy football and the world that I live in. So like today I'm on Good Morning Football and I will tell you and again put this somewhere if you want it.
Greg Dolcich is tight end for the Broncos.
I put him on a breakout player list, and I know that from good sources, from the aforementioned people that we were talking about, that they really are excited about Dulcic. He's nowhere on any fantasy list and I don't know if he's going to be a huge fantasy football player, but I know that Greg Dulcich has got a role in the Broncos offense.
Do with what you want there.
However, if someone was to look at me or some of these fantasy experts and they're doing a draft, I would probably direct them to those guys because they know all the metrics and how the stats equate into fantasy points more than I do.
Do you think that the NFL preseason like the it felt to me something happened this year where like August, NFL coverage just jumped the rail. I felt that the NFL has been the number one story I'll tell you what it is for six weeks now. And it used to be like you got a little bit of a break going into September, and I feel like it never quit. And I'm like, you know somebody who covers all these other sports, and I'm like, guys, there's other stuff happening here.
We don't have to like talk about the third string quarterback the Jets. You know, like, what are we doing here?
It's the greatest show in town, as you noticed. I'll tell you a couple of combinations of things. And here's my big philosophy on it. Actors are on strike. Writers are on strike. So you take out the entertainment world altogether, okay. The New York Yankees and the New York Mets. I know I'm in a New York world. They both stink.
You take them out there, okay, And the Giants and Jets, from my landscape, just New York perspective, are both supposed to be great, and there's a ton of excitement for the first time in a decade around both teams.
It was the perfect storm. So for me, I think that's it.
And then also football wise, they cut it down to three preseason games, it's not four. It feels like it's a more limited opportunity. And then we're right back into the season. So with the Rogers stuff and with all the different offseason acquisitions, and I think that's just a really intriguing season. And it was a perfect storm in New York at the very least with the Giants and Jets.
Who's the halftime Do we know who the halftime act is?
Quick draft?
Again, we'll wrap it on this halftime performer for Bowling Vegas. All the reports you've heard, throw them out the window. You don't know anything. It's the NFL. They can get whoever they want. Relatively speaking, you're the first choice if you could pick anybody right now, who's the cultural moment or who's the person worthy of a Vegas Super Bowl?
Well, obviously the first call is to Taylor Swift, but I think I heard somebody say on another podcast is she's bigger than the super Bowl, And it's a very legit argument. My second call would be Beyonce, who's done it before. But it is like in prime time, like, you know, performance wise, I think I'd probably say no because she'd been there, done that.
So my next call, Peter, jeez, bad bunny, let's do this? Is that right?
That's where you're going with it, bad Bunny.
I know he's a huge international superstar, but that will long pregnant pause, bad Bunny.
Yeah, top five recording artists in the world.
I'm going Eddie Shearon baby all day, all night. That's my pick of verse.
Okay, all right, listen, did you see that Eddie Shearon concert for those very special people?
We talked about it. I did not. I would have loved to have gone.
No, Sir Paul McCartney and Billy Joel and Jerry Seinfeld.
And Dave Portnoy.
No, I did not make the Listen, Bob Craft, Bob Kraft, bon Jovi, Angelica Houston and Gwyneth Paltrow.
That was some crew.
All right.
A couple more years out there, Peter, you'll get the you'll get the invite.
That's it.
I just got to keep on hacking away, Bad Bunny. Do you have a chance to take that back and put in an artist that you actually come on?
I'm super legit and bad Bunny. That's a good one. An artist I like exactly, I know, yeah, exactly.
Is Jason Mraz performing?
Yes, Phoebe Bridget is not playing the super Bowl.
I don't believe although they, you know what, boy genius would be an amazing halftime show.
I don't think they, you know, are going to get the call from the NFL. But I give my.
That's Taylor Swift's other legacies. She's training the halftime acts of tomorrow.
I know you know all these openings.
She's paramore, good stuff.
You're the man. Thank you for joining me.
Dude, Peter, it's a pleasure. I really really appreciate the opportunity to come on.
To the show. I'll see you outside the coffee shop of the future.
All right, Jason Gay awesome guest, Aaron.
That was fun. Next week is like the start of the season. I'm debating do I bring on a coach, a GM, a broadcast. I might go broadcaster, what do you think? And like a guy who's gonna be calling one of the Week one games, and then maybe we go around the league and talk about our last second predictions. I haven't done my super Bowl prediction yet, as you know I pumped my chest everywhere.
I've been very accurate with those in recent years.
I had the Chiefs winning last year, I had the Rams winning the year before that.
I had the Bucks in the Super Bowl year before that, and I had.
The Chiefs going up against the forty nine ers and the Super Bowl yer before that. So I take a lot of pride in this, and I haven't made my official decision yet, but I feel like next week's monologue, I'm gonna lay on you all the predictions and I want yours as well.
So that's a homework assignment. Okay, all right, I want.
Your here's what you have to do for me, suerole prediction, MVP prediction.
Okay, yep, and that's it.
Okay, I need your super Bowl and your MVP prediction, and we're gonna lay it on the listeners. I'm gonna reveal it Thursday on Good Morning Football. So maybe, oh, I don't know how we're gonna handle this. Maybe I like doing it on TV first. It kind of delivers it. So maybe I just get yours and then we pre tape something and we release it on Thursday after Good Morning Football and we just title it. Schrager and Aaron's predictions and watch we can book the best guests in
the wrote. We can have Tom Brady on this freaking show, but Schrager and Aaron's predictions will be the most listened to podcast. I'm debating, do you want studio show guy or gal or do you want NFL broadcaster in the booth for next week?
I can get anyone.
I think.
I kind of feel like broadcaster because we've had the studio shows they're going right now. The broadcast is gonna be the thing that's coming back, So I think that i'd be more most excited for that.
All right, all right, so then we're gonna get either Olsen, Collinsworth, Aikman.
I can call Aikman Romo. I don't know at all, so probably not Romo. It's gonna be one of those four. We'll go.
I'll hit up Olson, I'll hit up Aikman, I'll hit up Collinsworth, and we'll have one of those three guys as our guest next week.
How's that sound?
It's perfect as long as they're good at arm wrestling.
We got a arm wrestle like Tyson Badgent's dad, exactly.
I assure you, no one else was talking about Tyson Badgen's dad on their podcast this morning on behalf of Aaron Wang Kaufman, on behalf of Jason English, the maestro from the iHeart sector of the world, the NFL Network, folks out West, our music man Jack Rudd, and all you guys who are listen, and then thanks for this week's episode of the Season with Peter Schrager.
We'll check in with you next week.
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.