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Good that's right. This is Jim A. B.
Welcome and sign everybody. We're live in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March fourth, Big Time Tuesday, Franchise Tag Day in the NFL. Jamie hear and all, Cody Castler, Kyle Brandt, and DeMarco far back on the table to Marco.
Welcome back, Thank you very much. I made it to the table again. You did. I'm still trying to figure out how to get here. Everywhere complicated. It's early in Stark follow him, he doesn't, Ye, don't do it.
We'll go. There's a secret wet bar underneath this place. You didn't tell me, Cody, come on, man.
Yesterday when we left, you didn't tell me about the wet bar. I didn't know about this.
I go back in your book and the piano key and there's a bar. Awesome.
It's unfortunately that we had to work at nine am and then it's a little nine p two o'clock sent work all right. Awesome to have everybody here at the table. We have Ian Rappaport joining us today because of us. Today is a bit of a calendar day in the NFL rap sheet, What's up today is franchise tag day. What is going on with a couple of the big names it across the league. Let's start with a twenty six year old wide receiver in Cincinnati.
The twenty six year old wide receiver who would be the top receiver on the market but now is going to be franchise tags again. That is t Higgins, the star for the Cincinnati Bengals twenty six point two million dollars franchise tag. As I mentioned, just like last year, Bengals Lockerman make sure and so when it would be the best receiver on the market is not going anywhere.
They would like to work out a.
Long term deal with Tea, obviously, they have a lot to do. They have Jamar Chase where they'd like to work out a long term deal with. They have Trey Hendrickson who wants a long term deal or potentially could be traded. They want to keep him in as well Taggans, so when they see is a big part of their future. Joe Burrow has been outspoken about this, with some work to do as far as getting him on a long term deal. The Dallas Cowboys also have some work to
do on their star defensive tackle, Osa Odiggy Zua. My understanding, and this is after a conversation with Sam Leaf of Balandi Sports, his agent, the Cowboys are likely to franchise tag Osa today. They have been working on a long term deal something they would pay him an excess of twenty million dollars, and at various times there's been momentum toward a deal. But as of this very second, the
likelihood is the Cowboys tagg him. I continue to work on a said deal over the next several weeks and months. And then there's a situation surrounding Sam Donald, the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback last year one of the best stories of the entire year.
And I think if you had taken most.
Of the year, you'd say, you know what, Obviously Donald's going to be the Vikings starting quarterback.
That's it. Move on.
The last two games were a little bit different the Vikings. Here's my understanding. This is something I'm reporting with collegue tompos Ara. They are not expected to franchise tags Sam Donald today. There is still a possibility that he is the starter. In fact, there are various options here. One of the really strong options is for Donald to return to the Vikings on a deal that is a little under the franchise tag. The two sides would like to
work something out, no doubt. If Donald becomes free next week, it would like to be the top quarterback available. He is for sure going to have suitors. The Vikings would like him back, which would mean, by the way, not yet for JJ McCarthy. Obviously there's a lot there. They would like to retain Sam Donald. We'll see if they're able to do so, all.
Right, rap sheet, We appreciate that. So to not interpret this decision by the Vikings as a we're going to cast him off, We're going to fully move on. This is more of a let's look at our books and make the best financial decision for their quarterback room in Minnesota moving forward, Cody tough spot the Vikings find themselves in.
It's either decide to move on from a guy that had you and a lot of games, won you a lot of games last year, go with the second yr quarterback has never played a snap, or you keep them around and pay him a lot of money.
I think, in my opinion, that it would be best for the Vikings and Sam Donald to both go their separate ways. The reason I think that is because Sam Donald wants to be paid like a franchise quarterback. He wants to build off of the momentum from last season where he wants to go somewhere where he can be the guy where they believe in him and he's not looking over his shoulder. He doesn't want to have to deal with quarterback controversy if he comes back to Minnesota.
We all know the entire topic all off Saton off season is going to be McCarthy verse Sam Donald. Who's the franchise guy, who's going to be the leader, who's going to be the face of the Minnesota Vikings. And Sam doesn't want that anymore. And the other reason is the Vikings need to do right by JJ McCarthy. They
invest in the tenth overall picking them. In my opinion, if you keep Sam Donald around, who's only twenty seven years old, by the way, and that's an important factor in this, he's not a thirty five to forty year old that's.
Been a lot man in twenty seven years.
Well, he's not on his way out of the NFL. Right is if he plays well again, going to be there for a long time, right. So that's why I think it's difficult for them to keep him around. I think that just does a disservice to JJ McCarthy. It's going to disrupt his momentum. It's going to hurt him a little bit with his development. It's not going to allow him to feel confident and know that I'm the guy. You start having that doubt creeping a little bit a t where do they not believe in me anymore? Do
they think Sam Donald is a guy? I just think it's going to hurt J McCarthy. But this is a perfect example of being in the right place at the wrong time, right Sam Donald. If he's there and they don't draft JJ McCarthy last year, we're not talking about this at all. Our discussion is now about if Sam Donald a top five quarterback in the NFL, is he going to be paid fifty million dollars a year?
Now.
I don't think they would do that, but at very least they're going to franchise tag him or give him a one to two year deal on a proven deal to see if he can be the guy. And then the other difficult thing about this is if Sam does leave, JJ is kind of in that shadow. It's going to be difficult for him if he doesn't live up to how Sam played. The question becomes, but why do you let Sam go? Why do we go to a rookie if we could have built that momentum that Sam had
from a year ago. But in my opinion, I do think they go their separate way and the Vikings have to do right by JJ McCarthy. That means letting Sam Donald go to free agency and find a different team.
It's really well put in. I think this is a really interesting situation. I don't have an immediate opinion on either way. I understand both sides, and I sympathize with both sides. Let's just remember what happened last year, and he has this unbelievably great season, and I think is truly one of the stories of the entire season in the NFL.
The last two games were horrible. That's horrible.
So yeah, dream season, not only for him, for the Vikings, for o conne. It's just a wonderful, wonderful season. In the last two games that he started, they lost fifty eight to eighteen and Sam Donald had twenty three off target throat It was hard to watch he wasn't right.
Something was going on.
If you've watched him all season, like we all have, you didn't recognize the player.
It's not good. It's not good, and I think I left.
A very very strong memory in Vikings, fans, hearts, heads, everything.
It was tough to watch. It just didn't look like the same player thirty five and fourteen. I mean, which guy's the real Sam Donald, the guy we saw during most of the year, or the last two games something happened. I agree with you that last playoff game, he did not look right. Something was off about that offense, and I think that was the reason the Rams won that game. Had moved on. Sam Donald's a good quarterback. I think he's going to find a home someplace. I think there's
a right fit. It's the downside of being a quarterback. You can only play one at the time, so you can't have a platoon system, so somebody is going to let him do what he does best. I still think there's something special there. But like you said with JJ McCarthy, there's so much invested in him. They love him, they want him to be the guy. I think Sam is in the wrong spot or the right place at the
wrong time, so they'll be suitors for him. There are teams that need quarterbacks and he'll be right at the top of that free agent list. But I thought Kevin O'Connell said it perfectly. We're going to let him test free agency. He's earned the right to go out there and see what his market value is going to be. So that told you everything you need to know about
Sam Donald. But at some point we're gonna find out which is the real guy, the guy we saw during most of the year, or the guy we saw towards the end that didn't look so good versus Detroit, Nola. Yeah more yeah, just echoing what these people are saying. And I think a lot of times Jamie will know this that when we can't decide what to do with a relation and ship in football, we go and we go to the top shelf when we get the dating metaphor.
And this is just on a tee. So what happened with Sam Donald. Let's tell the story of it from relatable terms.
We do do this a lot. This is like one of the best.
Ones ever, good one.
All right, So you go out on a date with this guy, all right, it's a Sam Donald and it's really really going well. He didn't even think you were going to be going on. I've always known him as always kind of.
Been a friend.
But that ship, we'll go out unbelievably charming and chanting, wonderful restaurant, Scandinavian food.
It's just great.
The conversation is good, it's clever. He's treating the servers really well. There's even handhold is like the best day they've ever been in my life. That was the season last year. Okay, we're like, let's go home. He's driving home and the conversations pleasant. It's just wonderful, beautiful night and out of nowhere, he's like you might have been put on the radio and he puts on like intense political radio.
Oh the way back.
Oh well, we're kind of going he's kind of preaching. He's like, where did this go?
I bro, rise, We're finally home. Get out. He walks you up.
To the door, doesn't open your car door, no, and.
Then we get up to the front step and it's just like it's just discussing. It's like species like bam, I'm like, where did this date derail so badly? And the problem is it's not just a date that went wrong. Now you have to consider not only am I going to go on another date with this person I think we're gonna go way together, but we're gonna buy a house together, like something really bonding and something really it's gonna unite us. I don't know if I can do that.
That's terribly as that wins. I got another date. We're not going to buy a house in Compege.
Okay, okay, let me can I can I keep going on this pagraph?
No?
Yes, no, no, it is for me.
There is a friend. There is that friend who set you up on this date, and this friend knows you super well, and they're like, this person works with you. This is gonna be awesome. Do you go back to the well the person that got you that great first date with this person? That think does Kevin O'Connell or Josh McCown have it in them again to get the next quarterback, to get the next guy right the way that requesting, the way that they got Sam Donald right?
Because was that lightning in a bottle with this triangle of people? Because I think the character the person that is one of the biggest mysteries and one of the biggest factors in Sam Donald's success was Josh McCown on the sideline this season. I had the great fortune of being on the sideline of a couple of Vikings game of the season, and there were never a moment that
I did not see Josh McCown. Of course working with QB one at Sam Donald, but you never saw Josh McCown without JJ McCarthy's standing right next to him, whether it be in warm up, whether it be with the headset on. So this friend of yours set you up and set this day up perfectly, and he had everything working. Do you go back to that friend and say, you know what, this didn't work quite right? You got another
one for me? And are you going to trust that person to hit another blind date and get it right? Because this, to me, who Josh McCown is one great interview away from being a head coach in the NFL because he's had a lot of opportunities. Where are you looking at it, like, I.
Don't think JJ is a blind day And I think you've studied him online for you years and you kind of stalked him and you looked all his family and his writing and everything.
He looked really good in free agency too, right, it's intriguing. But I even to Jamie's point, I was with Josh McCown when I was in Cleveland as a rookie.
There's some tough.
Times and I'm not, you know, not very fond of to get into it later, but yeah, we will talk about that later. But Josh McCown was a huge positive for me. I leaned on him very heavily. He was, like I hate saying, a father figure, but that's how it was. It was, and he's, you know, a veteran and I was a rookie, but I followed him everywhere. Every time Josh McCown spoke, I had my pen and paper out taking notes because of the experience that he had.
And going back to the Sam Donald thing. With all of this is the reason I said the twenty seven year old thing is so important is because if he does come back, even if it's a smaller deal than something that he doesn't want, but he plays well, he could be entering the prime of his football career right now.
And now you're in a very difficult spot to where you let JJ McCarthy play a little bit and maybe become you know, try to find some trade value and not even let him see the field, not develop and go with Sam Donald. Or do you move on now and let Sam Donald go? And what if he goes somewhere else and plays very well, and then there's going to be always that what if.
Fact and your young guy doesn't or it takes a while for McCarthy to get his feet wet in the NFL. So I mean, this will be weird. Is McCown the guy that sets you up on the date? Is that the dude?
No, he's a great guy, but I think he's too busy being a football coach of football player.
I think he's invaluable, but I really do. I mean, I just I wonder I do. The first thing you hear about Sam Donald, how great of a guy he is, and he is basically captain. I have met the probo first time. I think the best person I've ever met. He's awesome, right, believe he's the guy you want to be your starter. So it's just a shock when the Vikings don't want him back. But I think that speaks to the potential of AJJ. McCarthy. There might be more
there than what Sam Donald. His ceiling might be higher, but it's a weird story. You can only play one at the time. That must be weird. To know that the guy behind you is eventually going to be the guy while you're taking snaps. It's got to be weird.
I also want something that Ian said and you touched on it, this idea that they're going to bring Donald back on a mid level concert.
Mid level contracts don't exist.
I thought that sounds great when you're saying, we need to find a middle class for this quarter. But then the agents get in new and it's like, no, Jordan love money or I'm out of here like that.
It always sounds like a reason.
Don't just pay Sam Donald something reasonable for a couple of years for medium money.
There is no medium money. It doesn't.
That's I love hearing that, because there should be, and we should have Sam Donald money that is not Joe Burrow money.
But I never see it happen. No one who goes to backups. And the reason that's what's gonna happen I'll be paying is the start.
The reason the agents do that is because we don't know if Sam Donald's gonna have a year like this again. And I love Sam. I spent time with him at USC but you have to strike now when he's at his highest value. The agents are gonna We're not going to settle for anything less. He needs to be paid what I think he deserves because you don't know what the future is going to hold, right, and that could be injury, that could be a fall off or relapse, whatever it may be. They want to get paid.
Sam Donald should sign a two year deal for twenty eight million dollars year.
It's not going to happen. I've never seen that happen in the last ten years. Ago has happened.
Maybe not two years. I think he deserves a little longer than that.
What doing with aj then like that? You know what I mean? It's something reasonable. They may even stays with the Biking.
Yeah, yeah, he stays with Viking, but we all think we should set Samdrel played well enough to stay with the Vikings for a short amount. There's no short amount of time. There is no small money. The agents don't go for that. They give me everything, give me that fun job for I don't think that's an option. I think it's either sign them a huge contract or salamale.
Now the one catch I think Kyle too, when you had like the heavy exhal when you said he was twenty seven years old, which is like, maybe this guy has seen so much and been through so much, Maybe he might maybe he is the quarterback to reset the mid market deal because he so badly wants to stay
in Minnesota because this is what works for him. He has been at the top of the mountain, and man, he has been at the lowest of the valley, and this could be just where he wants to be physically, he for his life, for his development, and maybe he's seen so much junk along the way that he wants to stay there because it's a great organization and like fantastic coaches.
And good for his development.
Stay in Minnesota, and it's not a small contract or go to the Raider, it's not a huge contract. Be terrible again and lose everything, Like that's no defense to the Raiders. I'm just saying jumping someplace off because hell, if you were to say that I want to stay here, just his agent like, no, I'm telling you don't.
And that's the agent's job.
We just don't see those contracts happen, so I don't think it will.
He's a grizzled veteran, though when it comes to a physical experience in the NFL.
He's like the president, all the stops ten years at a time. That's unbelievable.
Should have one comeback player of the Year. And I'm sure Joe Burrow would have been okay with that.
You think we will go hunt, think we go.
Think we will go hunting Buffalo?
And he hasn't stopped talking since we're saying from Marco Fires super Bowl Champion? Have you ever sacked Johnson of the Buffalo Bills? He has? And we had it in that package. Would you like to watch that? Did I scare you?
I did? Yeah?
Did?
That was a whole different dude. That dude had an air ring crazy, Oh NonStop? Yeah crazy.
Used to hang up with Nelly.
That's bad. Ye would hang out with Nell. He was there. This all Saint Louis stuff right there where the Saint Lunatics there too, most of them, most of them. That's crazy.
But you're still humming your joyous tunes before during a game like you did in that clip and even before our show.
I hope that doesn't bother you, guys. I just sing all the time. Life should be surrounded by with music, right absolutely, we work made some music as a player.
Thank you.
Watch some of it, and you're talking about some of the guys today who were making it from the defensive tackle position. We love a list here, Yes, what do you have for us today? I appreciate the bigs, the button gut guys. Now, it's kind of weird because I spent the last ten years watching Aaron Donald do his thing, and he is absolutely the best in the business. Whatever you thought you could be as a defensive tackle, he is, he was.
He is that special. So it's weird. I'm spoiled. So but I do like some of these current guys. And these it's not a list of like who is one through three? These are three of my favorite guys to watch. You started at number three, Well, let's go with number three. I'll start it with Chris Jones from Kansas City to Chiefs. He's fantastic, eighty career sacks, eighty plus career sacks. All he does is go up and down the line of scrimmage and win. He's six foot six, three hundred and
five pounds. Once he sinks that rip, forget it. If you give him your chest, you were going backwards. If you give him your hands you're gonna hit nothing but vapor. His technique is absolutely flawless. He pursues like a bansheet. Played a lot of football as all the Chiefs have, but he's still making plays. Chris Jones my third favorite to watch. I mean, just look, you can teach off that tape right there. The next guy I like is a dude named Cam Hayward. Have you seen him before
in Pittsburgh. Imagine if you're at a stoplight and there's a dump truck and all of a sudden, that thing does a wheeling. That's what Cam Hayward is. You guys, remember Chech from mcgloxon back in the day of Quesse The same thing. The knock on Chester is he only played when he wanted to. Well, imagine if Chester played every single play like that, Well that would be Cam hay Now he's also six foot five, but he's built perfect. If you ask me, he's got a squatty lower body
and a longer torso and long levers. I don't know why you try to run the ball to him, because all you do is go backwards and you just he just ruined stuff. And he's a really good pass wrest Vitavea is a great question. This guy has more questions than answers. And the last this is Shawn's Cam Hayward. Here we go two of my favorite pass rushes in life, Dexter Manley and Lawrence Taylor. If you can bind them, you get sexy. Lawrence.
Oh, that's perfect.
He is two guys wide. He played. He essentially plays a two gap. No matter what scheme, you're in his body and the body he's shoving the guard or the guard into that hole. And on a pass rush again, if you can't anchor in there. Look, this is the one from Seattle. This was ridiculous. This is consecutive plays to end the game. It was absolutely a nightmare. I mean, imagine watching that on film, getting ready for that on Sunday. You won't sleep in that. That's an ambient player right there.
Lawrence my favorite defensive tackle to watch. There were a lot of good players this year, a lot of guys I'm leaving out. Kalaias Campbell turned back the clock. DeForrest Buckner is still a three technique terror. Matta Brieke from Baltimore is also a guy I like. The problem is he's surrounded by five other Pro bowlers he is, so he has a lot of help. So if you look at Dexter Lawrence, I think he's their only pro bowler on defense and he's a wrecking machine. So those are
my favorite, my favorite dts to watch. I know you hated watching that and had to.
You said the word nightmare and that was nightmare fuel And people ask you, you know, do you miss playing the game as a quarterback? And then you watch a cut up like that, and I remember why I retired those red dot players. I've talked about this all the time. When you put the laser pointer in the film room on a guy that can disrupt a game plan, those are three perfect examples. It is a nightmare for opposing offensive.
I like this because we're in the age of gurus McVeigh O'Connell. All these guys are offensive gurus. Well, this is the guy. These are the guys that ruin whatever you worked one hundred percent, no matter what game plan you thought you had. If you can't block them, game over. I am game over. I love the list. I love Chester maclachdin name drop. Haven't heard his name on the show in longer rest. What hurts Dexter Lawrence.
Is when we show him in those idiotic uniforms, they were God, he looks like half the player. You can't show those uniforms.
You don't like those Week one against Biggs. Don't care, I don't, we don't care. No put it so.
More to the point, though, so you mentioned that when he actually had basically called game and finished the game from the defensive tackle position, almost impossible to do. You also saw a guy up close because you cover the Rams. Jalen Carter closed the game on the Rams. I mean they were about to win. He decided, no, I think we'll win this game. I mean he's not in your top three, but his potential.
So initially the list was five. He was number five, and I should got some of the veteran guys off because of him, because I think we haven't reached the ceiling with him, and he's as good as everyone else on that list that's been in the league four or five, eight seasons long, so we're just getting started with him. It's a baby bear, huge pause. He's got another one hundred pounds to grow, and he's that I mean, he's double meat.
Uh.
There was a little interaction between him and Verse before that game right there, that really got your your eyes went wide, like are these guys gonna go right here? Like Jared Versus is a guy that doesn't back up, and he just met his brother in Jalen Carter, so he will also be on that list. But at some point, when all these guys cycle out, I believe Jalen Carter will ascend it to the number one spot.
Wait, so before that game, we saw the two of them walking around the field, Jalen Carter Jared Verus. If Verse has said all that stuff because he's from Pennsylvania about Philly and Eagles fans, and so now you're saying that it was an actual interaction that happened.
That was Jalen Carter bet his game check on the game. I'm not sure if Verse took him up on it, but it was interesting. Look, if you're gonna talk stuff Jared Verse and he's not. I love the way he talks, and he was Rookie of the Year, so he's gonna talk even more. But if you talk about a man's house, Jalen Carter's house is that stadium. He's going to protect it. So he did exactly what you need to do. You don't get to come in here and talk trash without
me saying something to you. And it was respect. And the crazy thing was it was at a level that I couldn't get to because they're both tall guys.
You know what I mean.
But it was just like, Okay, I get it, they're both cut from the same clock. Carter literally said, I will bet you my game check. We win this game, bet the game check right there. He made the offer because Jared Vers had talked so much. He said, we're gonna come up there and win, So he said, bet your game check.
Yeah.
Well, cooler heads prevailed. They would in several directions. But yeah, we know what that's about. That's about protecting your house.
Well, you just said number five. I'm intrigued. Are we going to get number four?
Now? Leonard Williams from Seattle is a guy get eleven sacks an absolute beast. I mean really so when you talk about the Forrest Bucker and guys, they just tear up the be gap. Here's another one. All he does is rip the upside shoulder of the guard and take him back to the quarterback. And you know, it gets in your vision, it gets in your brain. He slips off to inside and outside. He's got a great spin
move for a big dude. So all these guys are wrecking machines and they have just taken over for Aaron Donald as the interior pass rush threats in the National Football League.
I was with Leonard Williams at USC and I remember when he got there as a freshman. When he was and he did not go to scout team. He went straight to the ones and we were doing one on ones during season or during otia was called springball in college. We had to tell him to slow down because he was being our offensive lineman too, and he was getting too close to the quarterback. It was one of those situations where he's a new face freshman. He doesn't understand
how it showed down. He has one speed, and I was terrified because he was that good as a freshman in college and anyone out there and had an All American season, he is I hate continuing to get better.
To slow down. No, if you don't want me to go full speed, take me out of the.
Did you hate? Did you hate the yellow jerseys for the quarterback?
Hit you, but I'm not trying to hit you. But I got to get my work done.
I love it.
I can't be dancing on the line of I got to get my stuff done.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
All those guys Chris John's came were Dexter Lawrence, Jalen Carter. They're all on their first organization's first team. Still, why do you think it hasn't Leonard Williams experience like he's on his third team, the Seahawks.
That's a great question. I think that might be for a team to answer. But his talent carries over. Okay, you know, like you said, sometimes it's the right guy, wrong spot. I think he's found the right spot in Seattle.
Let's call us go that the.
Mind control the body, not the body control the mind.
I got you there, Bo. You know I'll let you do that.
We said we're going into fourth quarter and we wanted.
Give it.
You're all wait her Gate football. There's only one way we know.
How to play the game. I think everybody's kind of gotten a kick out of Jimmy and Jerry and thinking that we were at each other's worl. When you win these kind of things, the only thing you're gonna do at each other's throat to tugget.
And only thing else I got to say is.
One of the most likable characters on television that you have watched for the last thirty plus years, just on Fox alone. But that doesn't count his coaching career. After thirty one years at Fox Sports, Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson is walking away from broadcasting. He announced his retirement from the show and the network yesterday. So we all want to go on the table and just speak to what came to our mind when we heard that after three decades of talking about full football on our TVs,
Jimmy calling it a career. Kyle, I know you responded well to it.
Yeah, I mean disbelief.
Since I've been in seventh grade, Terry Howie and Jimmy, and then you know straighthand Joins. But those guys, they're Supreme Court justices. They never leave, They're always there.
They're just there's someone you can rely on.
They're one of the pillars, not only in a studio show, just of the whole NFL experience as a fan is Jimmy Johnson and that Fox desk. So it's crazy to me and I I have so many memories of Jimmy Johnson. Obviously, as a coach, but as a broadcaster, and it's I love watching him so much. And it's funny for me because when I was a child, I hated Jimmy Johnson.
Because I listen.
I'm old enough to remember when he was coaching something called college football, and I grew up a Notre Dame fan. I cannot tell you how evil Jimmy Johnson was as the head coach of Miami and everything they represent and the you and the swagger and the talking and all the crazy future pros. To a kid who's a Notre Dame fan, that's evil personified.
I hated that. What's up with the hair and what's up with the yelling? I hate that guy. And sure enough, when he came on the.
Show a couple of years ago, I just straight up asked him, and of course he was generous and he credited his players.
Jame.
I grew up in the subjurbs of Chicago, the son of a Notre Dame alumnus, and I lived and breathed Notre Dame football, including in the late eighties mid eighties, and I looked at these guys down from Florida with the you on their helmets. It's just this evil empire and you were the emperor. You were a great, great, great figure in college football. What do you when you look back on your days as the head coach of Miami and all the incredible players and coaches you worked with.
What comes to mind? And we read about it in the book.
We had so many great players, you know. When I went to Dallas, you know, I thought I was a great football coach, and then when I saw the talent in Dallas, how far down it was. I realized I won all those games at Miami because we had better players than everybody else.
And he did and he always did.
And I'll just be brief here, but I'll just say is thank you so much to Jimmy Johnson for so many years, not only his coaching but as broadcasting.
He's this guy.
You would see him show up on Sundays and give his takes and you loved him so much because of what he accomplished the NFL. And then he would go off and like go sail fishing or something, and this crazy thing down he's like this dream Jimmy Buffett meets John Madden type life that I respect so much, and I'm very happy for him and I hope he enjoys his leisure.
And I just said thank you for so many years coach. You know, getting around with all the you know, ex players and talking about coaching. We're talking about Vermeil, how hard he worked us, and you talk to you guys from Miami or Dallas. You know what was Jimmy like? And I remember the quote was and Jimmy makes water taste great.
Right.
That means you're working hard. It's hot out there. He does not care about you, but he cares about your great coach. So I thought, this is crazy. So when you think about coaches that have done it at both levels college and bro and got to the top of both, yep,
there's not that many. So when you start telling the history of football, not just pro football, but football period and you talk about its best coaches, Jimmy Johnson is going to be on your short list, probably top three, special coach, special career, funny on TV, like you said, something to aspire to.
Yeah, he was a huge part of my childhood too. I remember waking up on Sundays and watching him on Fox, and I thought the most interesting thing was he's won two Super Bowls. He's a national Champion, Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he said the most fun he had was being a broadcaster at Fox, and that shined through
and it's something that inspired me. Well, you know, going into this broadcasting side of things right now, you can tell when you had a coach or a former player, just anyone who loves the game of football, when they would talk to the audience, you could fill that shine through the TV, right and it made you invest in to wanting to hear what he had to say. So it's a better sweet moment for the sports world. You know,
I wish him a happy retirement. I selfishly wish he was going to be around football, but his legacy will live forever and his impact on the game will last for a very long time.
I do it.
I know I can't speak to him as a rough and tumble, hard nosed football coach. That's not who my memory lies.
Jimmy Johnson.
That's the Jimmy Johnson I know is watching him on television. That man just brought so much. He just listens to people with the smile. That was only a couple months on this show when he came on that interview that Kyle just reference and first of all. I just couldn't believe that, Like GMFB is so cool. We just get Jimmy Johnson, like on a Tuesday to come on and talk to us, and he seems so invested in it. I think he is one of the most relatable men
on television. He works with Carissa Thompson and he's going to be eighty two this summer. Like that, for him to still bring youthful, joyful energy to the game of football and have it relate to everybody is a great gift and a great skill. Jimmy Johnson, you are awesome. We love having you on the show and will never turn you down if you want to come on and talk football.
Shouldn't just retire.
You can retire from Fox, but maybe not from Imagine.
Just imagine coaching Michael Irvin and his prime and it's admits and all those players, I mean all the not just the talent, but they have stories.
God for the third Super Bowl, of course, of course he's won three Super Bowl.
I give Tony Dungee credit for your Super Bowl.
That's right, yes they do. It's three three.
This is my seventh day on Good Morning Football, And the first thing that I learned was that this is the best football show on television right everyone in the scenes, to the co host, to the producers, everyone involved. The second thing that I learned is be very careful about the stories that you tell during commercial breaks to the producers about your bad days in football, because they will not only go find the tape, but make you relive
it on national television. And that's exactly what we are doing. On this segment. We're going to take a look at my first series as a starting quarterback in the NFL. I'll lay the foundation a little bit. The scene is is that I'm a third round pick in twenty sixteen to the Cleveland Browns. I have Robert Griffin the third ahead of me. I have Josh mccount ahead of me. I am told that I'm going to quote unquote NFL red shirt. Well, the first game, RGI three gets hurt,
he's out weeks. The second game, Josh McCown gets hurt, he's out eight to ten weeks. So long, and behold week three, I am starting against the Miami Dolphins at hard Rock Stadium. We're going to take a look at that series and why it went so wrong, and just give a little heads up to some of the rookies in the combine and what it's going to look like when you get the NFL. Hopefully it's not this bad.
So the first play we're going to look at, first play of your career is I have been working all week, Kyle, preparing, staying late, first guy in, last guy out. Let's go, doing everything I can to be ready for this game. I feel great and warm ups. I tell Josh McCown I'm not nervous. I'm ready for the moment. Yeah, the first play we're going to get out there, you're going to see little bit of a funky look, a unique Jackson play. Tackles are going to be out wide. We're
going to have guard center on the inside. If we like to look, we say hurry, Harry said, hut. If we don't like the look, we shift everybody in. Well, I try to say hurry, Harry said, hut. It doesn't work. I panic, so I try to shift everybody in. No one can hear me. It's too loud in there. I'm not loud enough. I'm nervous. And then sure enough you'll see what happens after that sick look.
So here is chess learn you will whirlwind of the week's sixpin for that young man. As the twenty three year old takes his first career NFL snap first and ten from just outside the Dolphins thirty.
Lay clock down to zeros.
And a flag is.
Thrown play a game offense penally, still first.
Down and already seeing spirerou the rookie mistakes Cody Cassel in his first career start gets a delay of game penalty.
Unbelievable.
This is only the first play, first play, that was the first year to start. Well, you could see me go hurry, Harry said. Hut. I tried to get the ball snapped. No one can hear me, So I go to panic mode. There's about eight seconds left on the play clock. I try to shift everybody. I knew at this point it was going to be delay game, but I'm a rookie, so I can't call time out. That is the head coach really have that luxury yet because freaking out her Harry Hery hurt.
A decision that was like rookie does he doesn't need an offense of line play.
It's fine, it's a little bit of.
We all have the same thing.
Okay, it's your first play play, Maybe you just get the train on the tracks, run everybody.
Up, and you run it off tackles.
We want to invent the wheel with the Kessler Express over here.
Well we do weave.
That was the perfect that was the perfect tea up for the second place. That's what we ended up doing. So now you are first and fifteen. I am flustered. The broadcasters are very generous, being nice.
Zero Das and Solomon wilcott So Solomon Wilcotts on CBS is the one that said.
Oh no, we're already getting under the rookie mistakes. Oh it gets worsehing great. Okay, So the second play here, we do go to a run play and we just give the bald Isaiah Crow well, very easy, get the whole power formation, hand it off to pick up seven or eight yards.
That's a big play.
And now we go from first and fifteen to second and eight.
Okay, there do you go.
Everything's going the right way. Now we go to the third play.
Let the kid throw.
We're going to run the football again. Ay, so we have a belue that we're going to the left. This is a check with me type play. That means we want to run to the three technique. That is when the defensive tackle is on the shade of the right guard right and we're running away from the shade, which means the note tackle is head up or to the left side of the center. So I walk up there, did all my prep. You're gonna hear me say, opie, opie. That means opposite, opposite, got it. So we're going from
left to right. I am feeling great about myself. I worked all week. I did my prep. Opi, opie. We're good to go. Great call. I get a look from the center saying hey, wait to go, and then you see what happens.
Second and eighth No.
From the Dolphins, thirty two, very hurried.
Step is fumbled by Kessler and a shaky start continues. Kessler able to fall on the football, and you just can't even imagine what's going through this kid's mind.
Here.
That's a very ragged start.
Butterflies are swirling, everything's happening and going one hundred miles an hour. You can see the snap right there from number seventy seven.
Oh my god, I'm thinking DeMarco is gonna kill you.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Yeah, that's my quarterback. What do you think it has a defensive alignment on the sideline right now, and mind you.
From your first play, I'm like, this kid doesn't know what he's doing.
He just does the ball first. They got it or are you was out their first mind gets ball first, they get an interception and give.
Us great, Oh my god, you're ruined the turnip.
And them all exactly what happened.
So after the first play, we're all screaming at the coach why would you run?
Now?
It's like, this is what happened, butterfly swirling.
You want to know? The worst part hole is getting in the huddle and looking at Joe Thomas staring at you as a rookie saying, is this what I'm in for today? And I'm trying to be positive and I am absolutely flustered. So today you don't think it can get worse?
You just said the guys are off right to ten weeks to Thomas.
Is thinking this is the next eight weeks in my life.
Yeah, yeah, that's true. So it can't get worse, right, it gets worse, that's not rock bottom. So now we're at third and eight. This is so great. So we called screen pass to Gary barnas a little tight end scream, we're feeling good. Pump to the right, go back to the left. When you're a young quarterback, even in middle school, they teach you you either get it to the tight end on the screen. If it's not there, dirt it and throw it away. Right. That's simple. Sof you talked
yesterday you want to be Superman? When to be Clark? Got to know the difference. In my defense, You'll see Gary Barnes get held a little bit. It's a miss call. I'm not gonna blame in the restaurant. What did you do? But I dropped back. I try to get it to Gary Barnge. I'm gonna pump right. Look at Gary Barnage and he's gonna get held up a little bit and instead of dirting it, you're gonna see what happens. And it's absolute disaster.
Third and nine, Kessler under pressure, sex football comes loose, Miami has it.
Cameron Wake strikes early in this ball game. You can see Cody Kessler is not used to the tempo at the timing in which the ball has to come out, and Hugh Jackson can't be happy with the decision making a poor decision of his quarterback.
Does that hurt. Yeah, true story. He that was Cameron Wake gave me a dead leg. You can see me limping off that hurt for probably a week and a half. The next week we play Washington at Washington. We had to wrap it up with a pad because I could barely walk. You shoulder does your leg his knee, Yah, caught me in the side of the leg. Gave me a dead leg. So I'll tell you what. It does get a little better. There is a happy ending of this. So you see me limping off a little bit right there.
I go to the sideline and I'll never forget Josh McCown comes up and sits next to me in a sling catch me on the leg and he said, I think you're ready now, and I'm looking I'm head down to look at him and I can just and per just disbelief. I'm like, you think so? And he was like, I know so. And I kind of had that moment. I'm like, you know what, You're right? So came back out ended up going for twenty one to thirty three two hundred and forty four yards. Played well. I had
some big time throws in that game. Twelve prior, one receiver yet some big time plays as well, and then ended up getting we were down I think eleven came back and tied it up at the end of the game, hit Gary Barnes on a two point conversion, and then we had a chance, we had a forty five yard er at the end of regulation to win the game, ended up missing it go to overtime. We ended up but it was nice to kind of have that wake up call. You're welcome to the NFL moment and you
may think, you know, it could have been worse. I don't think it could have been. I would rather thrown a pick six, been over with. Okay, got that out of my system and go. It was three plays in a row to where the worst thing that could have happened happened, but I felt like I was better for it.
That wasn't just a wake up call, man. That was like you didn't even hit the snooze button. You got jarred awake so badly by hotel banging on your door saying get up your thirty five minutes late to something that was like that was like you said every single bad thing that could have happened to you, and look at what you did.
Yeah, yeah, thank you. Thank you Jamie for uping in a little bit. No, I mean none of us, we're all laughing.
Non us have ever played a snap of Hey, you.
Know what, it's no, it's a cool story now though, because I ended up. You know, that was some tough times in Cleveland. But that rookie year, I did play reasonably well, had some good games, and it was it was nice to get that out of the way early, right, And I'm not trying to scare all the rookies that are going to the NFL, but you are going to have a welcome to the NFL moment. Yeah, unfortunately might happen right away, or fortunately I guess happened right away
and I got it over with. But that was cool. That's a trip down memory lane.
The game.
Yeah, they lost, Yeah, we had, we had a chance, we had, we came back, we were down fourteen, came back and had chance to tie it up at the inn of regulation, missed a kick, went to overtime.
And so yeah, how the coin toss go?
And then yeah, so oh I looked it up.
Wow, I looked it up.
So the coin toss, we end up going out there for the coin. That's a true story.
Too.
You can go look it up. This, we tie it up, we come back, have a chance in regulation, miss a kick, all right, cool, we're going overtime. Fine, we win the coin toss two overtime and we elect to kick off instead of taking let's kick, we like to kick off.
And because they got to get the ball, Kessler last thing.
Now there we go so unfortunately and we stopped them. We got the ball back, We drove a little bit, got stopped and then they went down.
And no one breaks my heart in the play with this with the strip sack. So you pump right yep, you look to barnage and then there's this half second where.
You're like, I'm going to make a play, but I'm.
Gonna be like just that little second, you're like, I got.
The because you know how bad the first couple of plays went, yeah, and I thought, I've got to make up for that. Now take off and run and show us athleticism.
Bless you, codyat that was really cool segment.
It's amazing that you did, very vulnerable initiate it. Yeah, is not the proudest there there.
Look that's the man. But everybody, oh my god, that need like like you need yeah, you deserve no padding on that. Cody, stand right up there and we'll re enact it. Go ahead, get on the other.
Yeah, yeah, you're here, Come on over here. You just looking at him? Go ahead, there you go.
Yeah, Cody the man forgetting really cool.
I couldn't really job body to Marco?
What did you do