0:00

The Around the NFL podcast

0:05

gets pretty podcast privilege.

0:08

We do SESSI

0:11

from the Chris Wesley podcast studio.

0:14

It's Around the NFL.

0:16

I am Dan hanss We've got a two hander

0:18

today, joined by my

0:20

longtime friend

0:23

and colleague Mark Sessler.

0:26

It's up Mark.

0:27

I am sitting in the chair for

0:30

YouTube purposes. They've scrunched us closer together,

0:33

and I'm sitting in the chair where Greg

0:35

normally sits, and it's,

0:38

you know, from a bodily angle, very awkward.

0:40

I don't know where it's I've no, I don't I understand

0:42

why I sit where I sit and Greg sits where he sits.

0:45

Yes, yeah, just out of the gate. Something

0:47

to deal with.

0:47

That's something to fight through, and I think you will because you

0:50

are a professional broadcaster. In fact,

0:52

it did just occur to me. We're probably

0:55

coming up on what would

0:57

it be. I mean, we're talking about maybe

0:59

the twelve year anniversary

1:02

of the first show we did, the original

1:04

iteration of the Around the NFL podcast, which

1:07

was the ATL Debate

1:09

Club, Me and you in

1:12

the old closet there in the Culver City

1:15

offices. Things are

1:17

very different now, but I

1:20

think back of those days and always

1:22

am thankful to Dave Damashek for giving

1:25

us our start on the back of the Dave Damashek

1:27

Football program and those initial

1:30

wild episodes of the

1:32

Debate Club, which you know was

1:34

the embryo of this program,

1:37

and it.

1:37

Was, you know, I think it was an appropriately appropriate

1:41

sized project and scope. It was about eleven minute

1:43

eleven minutes long aage time, and I

1:46

think you can't even find them anymore. But like when when

1:48

they were available, like a couple of years ago, I went

1:50

back and listened, and we're so like,

1:53

it's like we've never spoken on Mike before. It

1:55

was I think I think it prompted Greg at one point

1:57

to tell us that if we were going to take on a project of that

1:59

scope to do professionally. I'll never forget

2:01

that comment from.

2:02

Greg, right. Greg said

2:04

that, yes, okay, when he was like the master

2:06

broadcaster that he is, I

2:09

always found with bosses, and Greg's

2:12

on vacation still in Hawaii, well earned.

2:13

And he'll never listen to this, and don't anyone tell him.

2:16

And this is a good advice everybody with bosses.

2:19

You can listen to some things they say, and some

2:21

things you just give them a little nod and be like,

2:24

do.

2:24

I think I think we have that tactic

2:26

down in the current times.

2:29

Today's episode is

2:32

a good one, by the way, developing news. Speaking of Greg

2:42

at the beginning of our last

2:44

episode, I said, I got to take this

2:46

opportunity with Greg out of the office and

2:49

off the continental United States

2:53

to dig in on Delaware

2:56

his high school band. And we have major,

2:59

major movement toward the

3:01

long standing goal of hearing hearing

3:03

his high school band.

3:04

Yeah, talk about twelve years in the making. This

3:06

has been a longing, ongoing investigating.

3:08

We put out a call, we had named names

3:11

from the band, and we have heard back from

3:14

certain individuals directly tied

3:16

to Greg's high school band, and I think we are

3:18

closer than ever Mark Sessler

3:21

to hearing Greg singing. Perhaps

3:25

that will be an opportunity for you to say to him, if

3:28

you want to be in a band, perhaps it

3:30

comes full circle, it's time.

3:31

To be a little more professional. That could be an opportunity.

3:34

I didn't know that would be that'd be an open talk about. I

3:36

find it interesting that, like really, all

3:38

it took was announcing on the show

3:41

that were this mattered to

3:43

us and this investigation

3:45

that's been so important. There was probably a five year gap where

3:47

we never asked anyone to unearth these

3:49

tapes, and it showed up within twenty four hours. So that's

3:51

a lesson to us on the investigation front.

3:54

In fairness, we've gotten to this level of

3:56

investigation in the past and then we didn't

3:59

take it home.

3:59

But this is different.

4:00

Well, he also, I think, you know, stuck

4:03

his fingers into it and blocked it on someone when

4:05

he's gone, look how much progress we make

4:07

on this front.

4:08

Absolutely, So stay tuned, That's

4:10

all I'm gonna say. Stay tuned because

4:13

major developments on.

4:17

Okay, let's get into it. We're going to welcome

4:19

our old friend Connor or in

4:23

to the show in a bit

4:26

to hit the mail bag. But before

4:28

that, let's check in with John Harbaugh,

4:31

he of the proud ownership

4:34

of a r V and do a little

4:36

news. It's been great, you know, man be

4:38

and myself, you know, like I always wanted

4:41

to do that.

4:41

It worked out great.

4:43

I'm one hundred feet from Greg Roman.

4:45

He's got a

4:47

better art.

4:49

Gerro's got a really really

4:51

good RV.

4:54

Yes.

4:55

Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the Los

4:57

Angeles Chargers, is currently living

4:59

in an RV, not a home. He's a multi millionaire.

5:01

I'm sure it's a very nice RV. My wife

5:04

is long pushed for the

5:07

Hanss family to go on an RV

5:09

vacation.

5:10

I pushed back, I don't like driving long

5:12

distances. I know I don't get the apeak a

5:15

little bit, maybe perhaps, but

5:17

I think I'm excited.

5:19

Like you know, we started Debate Club twelve

5:21

years ago. We've been doing the

5:24

iteration atm Iteration since twenty

5:27

thirteen, so we remember

5:30

very clearly the Jim Harbaugh days

5:33

with the San Francisco forty nine ers. But it's

5:35

sometimes easy to forget Mark that there's

5:38

an entire generation of young football

5:40

fans that weren't really following the sport in twenty

5:42

fourteen when he left the team. Like, you guys

5:44

have kids, you guys

5:46

have no idea what you're in for.

5:47

This guy is an

5:50

interesting dude, and he's a little

5:52

bit out there, and I kind of get

5:54

the feeling based on early vibes

5:57

around Jimmy Harbaugh and

5:59

his returning the end of fell that he kind

6:01

of maybe is cranked up the weird meter even

6:03

a couple more notches. We might be off

6:06

the traditional one to ten shard at this point, right,

6:08

and it can only I don't know what it means for Chargers,

6:11

their future and the fans in

6:14

terms of excitement, although I understand why you're excited because

6:16

he's been a winner everywhere he goes.

6:18

But I'm telling you it's not going to be boring

6:20

with Jim Harbaugh back.

6:21

No, And it's it's like an interesting study

6:24

in brotherhood because like we both

6:26

have two sons and their personalities

6:29

can be similar in some ways but very different. Like John

6:31

Harbaugh is very different to me than

6:33

Jim Harbor. Like I think of when they slashed

6:35

in the Super Bowl and it was like these are totally

6:37

different cats. And like Jim Harbaugh, I think you're right.

6:39

I think back in the NFL, he likes to he likes

6:42

to up the dial a little and kind

6:44

of zone in on that weirdness that he that really

6:46

only he can bring. But I also thinks he's

6:48

going to change the Chargers.

6:49

I really do. That's

6:54

Harbor at nine. Now we're up to eleven.

6:56

Like people, I think we're taken it back by

6:58

Dan Campbell as an example, you mentioned

7:01

the Lions when he was very outspoken

7:04

and maybe spoke in a little bit of a different way

7:06

than other head coaches.

7:09

Jack Nicholson and Batman

7:13

nineteen eighty nine. Wait, did they get

7:15

a load of me? All

7:17

right?

7:18

Oh, let me hear a little more Jim from that press

7:20

engagement. This is a good one too, you know, just.

7:22

That mentality of that group. I mean, that's

7:25

like a fist.

7:26

You know, there's five of them, one, two,

7:28

three, four, five, you.

7:30

Know, playing as playing as

7:32

one on that offensive line.

7:34

I just love it. I

7:37

just love it. All right, let's get to

7:39

it.

7:39

Let's start with good news

7:42

for the Rams, who add a

7:45

decorated cornerback

7:47

to their secondary It is Tradavious White,

7:49

formerly of the Bills, signs a one year, eight and a half

7:52

million dollar contract.

7:54

The Bills, dealing with some cap issues,

7:58

cut ties with White,

8:01

and the former first round pick tremendous

8:04

beginning to his career mark but he's he's

8:06

dealt with some serious injuries and staying

8:08

on the field has been an

8:10

issue. But you kind of get him here at

8:12

a bargain, You get him on a prove it deal

8:15

for the Rams, so I think from their side of

8:17

things, you know, have a backup plan

8:20

if White is not able to stay on the field. Make sure

8:22

you have depth in that room. But he makes a lot of

8:24

sense as someone to take a flyer on and

8:26

maybe you hit big and he gets back to his old ways.

8:28

Yeah, Like why not?

8:29

Right?

8:29

And I think, you know, some of the signings that

8:31

have come in the last forty eight hours are

8:34

signings that make sense to me, and I kind of like that though

8:36

that time time and free agency to pick

8:38

up these veterans. I think with White though, I

8:41

mean, he's played ten games in the last two

8:43

years. He tours his acl in

8:47

twenty twenty one and then last

8:49

year tours achilles. And if we if we

8:51

want to, you know, whistle Dixie about the fact that

8:54

Kirk Cousins doesn't it doesn't

8:56

matter that he tore his achilles because he's not mobile.

8:58

That's not his main like threatening, which I agree

9:01

with, by the way, no I too, But like a cornerback

9:03

is going to need to show us to coming off of

9:05

an achilles that he's going to be able to

9:07

do back so much. Let's just not get another injury.

9:09

He's just not be en durable.

9:11

And let me rephrase that about Cousins,

9:13

it does matter you suffer a catastrophic

9:15

lower body injury and you're in your

9:17

mid thirties. We'll see, but I think he's

9:19

just well suited to be able to recover from that

9:21

without losing too much of his game. But

9:23

you're right, how as time

9:26

has passed, even again since when we started this podcast.

9:29

If you tore your achilles as a skill

9:31

player or a guy that's based like running

9:33

backs, for instance, it's been seen as

9:35

a death sentence for a lot of players, or it was.

9:38

And as a.

9:39

Cornerback, you worry about do

9:41

they ever get back their athleticism, And that's

9:43

a real question mark, and we'll see. But I

9:46

also think there's and we know there's been a lot of

9:48

advances in the treatment and recovery

9:50

process from that type of injury, so hopefully

9:53

White is on the right side of things. In

9:56

other news, the

9:59

Panthers bring in today

10:01

Vin Clowney, the edge rusher formerly

10:03

of the Ravens and many many other teams.

10:05

He's become the preeminent mercenary

10:08

of his generation. Where he

10:10

started his career as a first overall heavily

10:13

hyped prospect, went

10:15

to Houston and had a

10:17

nice run there, but you know, he dealt with some injuries,

10:20

never quite lived up to the lt like

10:23

potential put on him. But it

10:25

tells you that the fact that he continues

10:28

to stay in the league, even if he's never gotten

10:30

that second, big, long term contract, he's

10:32

always welcome wherever he stops. I know

10:34

he's been with the Browns, he's been with the Seahawks.

10:38

Now he is stop over

10:40

the Ravens, and now he's with the Panthers,

10:42

who get him and he gets a second year

10:44

and I can't remember the last. I think this is the first time

10:47

since that initial rookie

10:49

deal that he has a multi year contract, two years,

10:51

twenty million. We'll see if he plays

10:54

both season with the Panthers, but this is a team that

10:56

needed some help there after Brian

10:58

Burns was traded to the Giants, and

11:01

Clowney coming off perhaps his best season, gives

11:04

them something.

11:04

Yeah, they lost Frankie Louvu as well, who

11:06

you know showed up in every game. You toy Gross Modos

11:09

went to the Niners, so they absolutely

11:11

needed in edge. Clowney

11:13

is awesome against the run. I think he's just

11:15

one of the more one of the tougher players

11:17

around. You know, he had micro fracture

11:19

surgery and that would end people's careers talking about

11:21

injuries, and he came back from that last year

11:24

nine and a half sacks with the

11:26

Ravens. That did come under Mike McDonald, who

11:28

seemed to like turn up everyone's

11:31

production to the maximum. So

11:33

you always kind of wonder if you're going to go to this team.

11:36

But Everro's a good defensive coordinator, and I think

11:38

they needed that piece to put along Derek Brown

11:40

and dj Wantam, So why not.

11:42

I think the Panthers should be adding everyone they can.

11:44

They've got a lot of needs.

11:45

And maybe that second year got added because it had

11:47

been widely reported that the Jets are very

11:50

hot on Clowney and very motivated

11:52

to sign them sign him to replace Bryce Huff.

11:55

So the Panthers perhaps going

11:58

that extra year is what got the deal done. So Clowney

12:00

goes to a team that's very clearly rebuilding,

12:02

but he gets a little bit more financial security.

12:05

I don't actually see the terms of

12:07

the deal in terms of, you

12:09

know, if you will get to a second

12:11

year, but the fact that he signed

12:13

a two year deal is different for Jidavian Clowney.

12:17

In other news, this was interesting Mark we talked

12:19

about on Tuesday

12:21

Show with Connie. The

12:23

major overhaul of the

12:26

kickoff in the NFL.

12:29

And by

12:31

the way, did you I read this and we did talk

12:33

about it the night of the Super Bowl and Greg

12:36

had mentioned he was

12:38

sick of the kickoffs producing nothing.

12:40

Oh, I know where you're going with this.

12:41

Yeah, all thirteen kickoffs

12:44

in the most recent Super Bowl were touchbacks. So

12:47

it's funny how the playoffs we

12:50

talked about the past interference rule that was one and

12:52

done that was a playoff game. We

12:54

talked about the overtime

12:57

rules changing after

12:59

the Bill's Chiefs Classic

13:02

in the divisional playoffs where Josh Allen

13:04

didn't get a chance to get on the field. That led

13:06

to a change. Those postseason

13:08

games are because there's so much on

13:10

the line and there's so many eyeballs on it.

13:12

It's that round of football that really

13:15

produces the most change. And I think that's

13:17

what's happened here. After the thirteenth straight

13:19

touchbacks. You now have

13:22

a new rule where we're going to see

13:24

a huge boost and kickoff return. So the

13:26

idea that the Steelers are getting Corterel Patterson

13:29

arguably the greatest kick returner ever, if

13:32

not obviously in the top five.

13:33

In that conversation, he should be that

13:35

matters a lot.

13:36

NFL Networks ian Rappaport reports that the Steelers

13:39

agreed to terms with the veteran formerly

13:41

of the Falcons on a two year, six million dollar

13:43

deal. And Mark He's thirty three years old, so

13:45

he's an older player, but he's also someone

13:47

that has always been either a

13:49

gadget player or part of a scheme,

13:52

So I don't think he has a ton of tread on the tires.

13:54

He's coming off a run with the

13:56

Falcons where he was in a rotation at running

13:58

back. This it feels like a smart

14:01

signing for Arthur Smith

14:03

and that Steelers attack.

14:04

And I don't know if it happens necessarily

14:07

here versus somewhere else without Arthur Smith, because

14:10

if you look at what how he was used,

14:12

and you know, Pittsburgh's a different team with different personnel.

14:14

But I think Cordella Patterson probably

14:16

was told you were going to have more than just the kick return

14:19

role here. He had eleven one

14:21

hundred plus yards in twenty twenty one on

14:24

the ground through the air, eleven touchdowns in twenty

14:26

twenty two, less yardage but fourteen

14:28

touchdowns, so I think he gets got a larger

14:30

part than just kick returner, but they are silver

14:33

and gold now because I think we're going to see a rash

14:35

of teams looking for this role

14:37

obviously, and we don't know how impactful

14:39

they're going to be, but there's a world where

14:41

like it takes defense as a time to figure out how

14:43

to special teams how to defend this kickoff

14:46

return and it could be wild. And I also

14:48

think it's a great news for some

14:50

of those draftable wide receivers who are maybe

14:52

smaller but lightning quick, but not seen

14:54

as like a true two or three. They

14:57

have real roles and I think it starts to change things

14:59

in it forever everyone on special teams.

15:01

Yeah, I can't wait to see how that all plays

15:03

out.

15:04

It actually makes the you know, I've

15:06

never been a big fan of the preseason, but

15:08

you're going to get an early look in those games,

15:11

so we'll see.

15:11

How goes well.

15:12

Unless they want to hide with their like you don't want to you

15:14

almost don't want to give too much weight, but you're right, we're gonna see

15:16

in general what.

15:17

Kind of those teams you want to hide it. But also they

15:19

have a

15:21

well, uh catch twenty two there that

15:23

is that is a classic classic

15:26

catch twenty two. How about to catch

15:28

twenty two for the Cowboys? What

15:30

else is new? They're all in right? What

15:33

does what does Mike say? What does that say? Etp

15:36

behind the glass?

15:39

Buy into us right? They want to They

15:41

want to finally get over the hub. They want to get back

15:43

to the super Bowl for the first time in a quarter century.

15:46

And Cowboys fans are dying to get back to

15:48

the super Bowl and they want this to be a big, splashy offseason.

15:50

But they have so much salary

15:53

cap challenge because of

15:55

the big names on their roster and the

15:57

big salaries that are either currently

15:59

do are coming. Dude

16:01

down the line. Dak Prescott's at the front of that line,

16:04

so he's their star quarterback and he has

16:06

a massive cap number that Dallas

16:08

is trying to rework his contract

16:10

to help free up space to do other things.

16:13

So the Cowboys is originally reported

16:15

by field Yates converted

16:17

Dak's five million roster bonus to a signing

16:20

bonus and that cleared four million in

16:22

cap. And I'm not going to try to

16:24

dig deep on what this means for their ability.

16:27

There's someone else better than that out there.

16:30

It sounds like a really boring podcast. But I'm sure

16:32

you could find a salary cap

16:34

driven podcast that could satiate

16:36

your hunger in that situation.

16:39

But I can tell you that his number is now slashed

16:41

all the way down mark to fifty five

16:44

point four five five million

16:47

this year, so still incredibly prohibitive

16:49

in some ways. They want to perhaps

16:52

do a new deal that changes and kicks

16:54

kicks the can down the line, but

16:57

that has not happened yet.

16:58

But here's a little bit of relief.

17:00

I mean, we saw Cleveland do this with

17:02

Deshaun Watson. I mean we've seen a little

17:04

bit of that with Mahomes. It's like, this is

17:06

the way you get. You sign these massive contracts

17:08

and you keep pushing the money down the line and in

17:10

some cases until the next GM and coaching

17:12

staff have to deal with it. Potentially. In

17:15

this case, the GM is not going away.

17:17

It's Jerry Jones, and I

17:20

think if Dak, if he Ay truly believe in Dak. The

17:22

one problem is is that with each calendar

17:24

year, how much more expensive does it

17:26

become to sign your star quarterback.

17:30

I don't know.

17:30

It just feels like the Cowboys have had the weirdest offseason

17:35

possible based on what they told

17:37

us heading into the off season, and I know

17:39

Mike McCarthy, he was

17:41

very Zaddy like during the owners meetings,

17:43

saying like I welcome the challenge, like I'm

17:45

not looking at this as you know, something I'm

17:47

not willing to take on. But I mean, how have they

17:49

gotten better and how have they gotten worse? And it's

17:52

like, I don't know. I can't take

17:54

them entirely serious as a Super

17:56

Bowl candidate. But also just because of exhaustion with

18:00

you, because in the because in years past

18:02

we've said we would not and then like we all

18:04

get we all get pulled back in.

18:06

That's what happens.

18:07

I'm not doing it this time. It's not happening.

18:09

They got you last year. They finally got you last

18:11

year. I don't buy into double crossed the

18:13

sas dog they did, and that that adds, you know,

18:18

that makes it more milicious, very successful brand

18:20

though that cowboy can't

18:23

question that. All right, let's pause right here for

18:25

a minute and uh take a break and

18:27

then get back to the news.

18:29

All right, we're back in other news.

18:33

Let's hear God Save the King. E

18:36

t P. What do you think about et P as

18:38

a nickname? Eric the producer,

18:41

I like that. They've been looking for one for a while.

18:43

Yeah, like nickname free and now

18:45

that's not the case.

18:47

TYI No, maybe not with the southern

18:49

draw.

18:51

A little creepy.

18:51

That's a little bit of heat to it, pop to it,

18:54

little sizzle. All

18:56

right, let's get.

18:57

Were you actually requesting something from him?

18:58

You're I'm looking for the national

19:01

anthem of the United Kingdom. Because

19:05

our good friend Henry Hodgson, general

19:08

manager of all things UK

19:11

football and a major figure

19:13

with the International Pathway program,

19:16

we got another fun prospect here. He

19:19

is European rugby

19:21

star Lewis Reese Zemmet and

19:24

I apologize if I have that incorrect.

19:27

I like the name though it could be am

19:29

but anyway, the Kansas City Chiefs have agreed

19:32

to contract.

19:32

Terms with ree

19:35

Semmate, who is from Wales.

19:37

He participated in the NFL's International Player

19:40

Pathway pro Da last week, ran at four point

19:42

four to three in the forty yards.

19:44

Wales is a part of the United Kingdom. Did you

19:46

know that mine?

19:47

I did? I lived in the United Kingdom side?

19:50

Did you you've never mentioned that?

19:51

I'm very well?

19:52

First, none forget Diana, Princess

19:55

of Wales. Mark nailed

19:57

it anyway, he

20:00

made visits to a handful of teams before agreeing

20:02

to contract terms with the Chiefs, and it ties back to Marcus

20:05

story we just talked about. Because this

20:07

man is a very talented, dangerous

20:10

player with a rugby ball in his hands.

20:13

The Chiefs, according to ESPN's

20:17

Adam Teacher Tecker, we'll

20:21

look at the player

20:23

as a running back or perhaps a wide receiver, and

20:26

he could be a special teams

20:28

player. So I think the Chiefs

20:31

can rest easy now they have found their weapon

20:33

for Patrick Mahomes and we move into another

20:35

successful season.

20:36

We do, I mean kind of a perfect

20:38

landing spot, just because it's

20:40

completely a mystery how he'll be used,

20:42

and you'd kind of trust they'll find a way. He's

20:45

six three played

20:47

for the Gloucester rugby squad

20:51

Gloucester Gloucester because I

20:53

knew that's how I say it, because when

20:56

I did live in England, there was this nursery

20:59

rhyme going around the time. I mean it was it

21:01

was ancient, but it was in the early seventies.

21:04

Yeah, and like my brother used to say it, but it was doctor

21:07

Foster went to Gloucester in a puddle of rain.

21:09

I don't know any I don't know the second line, but he

21:12

visits the queen and does a bunch of other stuff and there's

21:14

a cat involved at some point, I think. But

21:17

so that he played for that where that nurseryrhyme

21:19

took place, he played rugby for that group,

21:22

and Nanny's fast like I don't know. There

21:24

have been a few rugby players during

21:26

our time in NFL that have tested the waters and

21:29

it kind of worked and kind of didn't. But I

21:31

think it's they're all in a better position in like the

21:33

player Pathway program is.

21:35

I had a quoting. I had an ex girlfriend

21:37

in college up in Boston that was

21:40

a big fan of a seafood

21:42

restaurant in Gloucester, Gloucester,

21:44

Massachusetts. She had a lot of seafood which is

21:46

on the north shore and mass

21:49

for people that are from there. I believe it was

21:51

called the Rudder. So if you, uh, I don't

21:53

know if it's opened anymore. It's twenty years ago now,

21:55

but check out the Rudder.

21:57

Send us a photo if you check it.

21:59

Out, please do all right?

22:01

E Oh so so we'll see and shout

22:03

out to Henry Hotson because future

22:05

commissioner. It's a interesting I

22:07

think this is the next step for the NFL.

22:09

You look at a sport like baseball, just

22:12

populated by so many players from throughout

22:14

throughout the glove. I'm wearing my opening

22:17

day for the Yankees and the rest of MLB. This

22:19

is the Dugout, which is the bar

22:21

where my brother Kevin Danger works in the Bronx,

22:24

right outside Yankee Stadium.

22:25

So go say hi to them at the Dugout if you're a

22:27

Yankee fan.

22:29

But anyway, the NFL wants to continue to bring in

22:31

these international players and make it a global

22:33

sport.

22:33

And we'll see how it's like.

22:35

There are large people and fast people in

22:37

places outside of America, so it kind of makes sense.

22:39

Yeah, look at the NBA.

22:40

I mean, geez, my goodness,

22:43

we're going to take the gold home even anywhere

22:46

in the Olympics.

22:47

Mark let us know.

22:51

I don't know. I think that's a great question. I'm not like a

22:53

finally, like the Dream Team days, we

22:55

may be in our place beyond that at this point.

22:58

Uh media minute, the Eagles will

23:01

open the season and send Paolo

23:03

Brazil on the Peacock Network.

23:05

So all those things you saw

23:08

with a playoff game last year,

23:10

it was the Bills Dolphins.

23:12

That game was also on Peacock. Chiefs

23:14

Dolphins, Chiefs Dolph.

23:15

Is that our fourth coldest NFL game ever?

23:17

Yeah, So this game, if you want to check

23:19

out the Eagles, will be on Peacock. Amazon

23:22

will also get a wild card game, so they will

23:24

get that game like

23:27

last year's game at Arrowhead, hopefully better

23:29

weather. By the way, there was some news that came out.

23:31

This is not obviously

23:33

anything. Oh do you want to hit?

23:35

Go ahead, Eric, It's

23:39

time for the late I was always forget

23:41

the script.

23:43

Go ahead, you

23:45

got it.

23:46

It's time for the latest edition

23:48

of the Media Minute with

23:50

Dan Hans's very good at

23:53

P. You know, when I played it, I totally

23:55

was like, damn, I have no idea what I'm supposed

23:57

to say.

23:58

You know what you do after the show, this would be a good thing.

24:01

Go record it with this right,

24:04

and then you hit the drop and there it is. We

24:06

have the technology. I do I have to say, I do like

24:08

ETP struggling through it a little bit.

24:09

Yeah, I think that's part of the fun. So let's not do that.

24:11

Okay.

24:14

Anyway, So Amazon gets the wild Card

24:16

game and peak out. This is the

24:18

future, man, this is they're going to play games overseas.

24:20

More and more the streamers are going to

24:22

get continue to get a piece. So that's what

24:24

it is.

24:25

It's people. Certain people

24:27

were freaking out over over especially the Eagles

24:30

opener, like Matt Dog went nuts over it, and

24:32

I kind of get it for certain. But

24:34

these games are still available for people

24:36

to watch. They're streamed elsewhere

24:38

and like they I mean that you can get to without

24:41

having just to get a subscription by the way, I mean it's on NFL

24:43

Plus as well, which we

24:46

are as well. But see, that's the thing that sounds like a very

24:48

sound purchase, all

24:51

right for anyone who's listening up on the third floor

24:53

from this building. I couldn't be a bigger backer of the

24:55

product.

24:57

Finally, in the news, Hard Knocks News,

25:01

my favorite football show.

25:03

Colleen Wolf and the old

25:05

Zuzzar have done a Hard Knocks

25:08

podcast the past two summers. Hopefully we'll

25:10

do it again with a team to be named

25:12

later here in the Bears being floated

25:15

this year now, since twenty

25:17

thirteen, they've had

25:20

a strict set of rules in place for

25:22

who is Hard Knocks quote unquote eligible,

25:25

and they've changed

25:27

it this year for the first time, so

25:31

it used to be teams can avoid

25:34

being selected for Hard Knocks that they qualify

25:36

in one of three things, no head

25:39

coach change. They've been

25:41

on the show in the last ten years, or

25:43

they've made the playoffs in each of the last two years.

25:46

Either of the last years, which always felt like a weird one. They

25:48

got rid of that, so no longer

25:52

is that a rule. Now it is first

25:54

year head coach in place. They're

25:58

participating in the NC show

26:00

during the upcoming year or the following

26:02

season, and then they knocked it down

26:04

to have appeared on Hard Knocks in the past eight

26:06

years. The other change that they're making is the in season

26:08

Hard Knocks, which by

26:11

the way, that opens up from three to sixteen

26:13

teams now eligible. With With that change

26:15

about the playoff teams no longer being impacted,

26:20

the n season Hard Knocks is reportedly going

26:22

to a division format,

26:25

which is worth a try.

26:26

Well.

26:27

I kind of like that only because

26:30

I thought when they had the cults on in season, and I

26:32

think in season's tough to deal

26:34

with when you're like I've.

26:36

Found that as a huge Hard knocksent.

26:38

I've always found that challenging just because

26:41

you're in the season and there's so much other football

26:43

to take in. What makes the offseasons

26:46

training cap one so special is that it's when

26:48

you're you're most starved and excited for football

26:50

season.

26:50

It's just perfectly timed.

26:51

I always thought, yeah, I think the Division one works

26:54

though, because just a lot more happening,

26:56

and I don't know that for me that that might

26:58

solve that that shows is you in in

27:00

season, but.

27:01

It also covers you if if the team

27:03

falls out of contention right or there's not a

27:05

lot of juice.

27:06

So I think I think you're onto

27:08

something. With the Bears, I don't

27:11

know if they seem like they would well,

27:13

I think it's certain teams just if they're if they embrace

27:15

the concept, like it's good for Matt Eberflus,

27:17

for people to know more about Matt Eberflus. You

27:19

do you would have a rookie quarterback, that's a lot of heat on

27:21

them. But they did with the Browns and Baker and others

27:23

as well. But now it's like that could

27:26

the Texans or someone like that be And it's like a lot of

27:28

intriguing concepts.

27:29

All right, well see what happens and

27:31

we'll be all over that. When the announcement comes out. That's

27:33

what's happening in the news. Let's take a break and

27:35

then welcome in an old friend.

27:46

Welcome back to the Heat and Light Podcast.

27:50

I am your co host, Mark Sessler,

27:52

joined as always by my co host

27:54

Connor. Or and Connor, we're equal co host

27:56

just I think that just that the people understand the power

27:58

structure were equal well co hosts.

28:01

That's always how when we set out

28:03

to do this a long time ago and informed

28:06

people about the ways of the world, that's how we set

28:08

it up.

28:08

Yeah, I think it, you know it. It creates

28:11

a sense of partnership there. I you

28:13

know, we often when I see you, we're on the road

28:15

because you don't live here in La and I don't live where you live,

28:17

and so you're a man that travels, uh

28:20

to and fro. Have you ever been to

28:23

in your reporting days to Antarctica

28:25

to cover any sort of a story.

28:28

No, because I know the true dangers

28:31

that that exists there. I mean, beyond

28:35

beyond the ice and snow. Uh, there's

28:37

a good chance that we're looking at

28:42

deep cities beneath the caverns

28:45

of ice, potentially a

28:49

group of you know, crystal people,

28:52

something dealing with the future

28:54

of energy and deep

28:57

government secrets.

28:58

So I try to stay away.

29:00

Yeah, I I could see why you would. You know, you

29:03

aren't you know, alone in your concerns

29:05

about this part of the world, And I was doing

29:08

some reading. We'd like to deep dive into

29:10

these subjects. And this kind of tracks

29:12

back to the winter of nineteen forty

29:14

seven, when Admiral Richard E. Byrd

29:16

claimed on a trip

29:18

to Antarctica to discover

29:21

a massive, like hundreds

29:23

foot wide hole that when

29:25

he sunk his plane into it, essentially

29:28

found that the ice and snow disappeared.

29:30

It was a lush, warm, forested world

29:33

with animals that had not

29:35

been seen by the human eye. To your point,

29:37

these crystal palaces. He met someone called

29:39

the Master that warned the Earth about nuclear

29:42

technology. Connor, I want to just let you know, because

29:45

you know we're here today not just to

29:47

drag up old information, but I actually.

29:53

So new.

30:03

All right, we are back, and

30:06

yes, as promised,

30:08

we're going to bring in one of

30:10

our very favorite men, a long time

30:13

buddy, also a former colleague and

30:16

a great damn journalist, Connor Or,

30:18

Welcome back to around the NFL.

30:21

Always great, Thanks.

30:23

For having me, fellas.

30:24

It's great to fully realize

30:27

the part three of my plan, which

30:29

is to take Greg's spot

30:32

and exact an

30:34

exact, a full one to eighty revenge

30:36

from back when he was my boss at NFL

30:38

Media.

30:39

A lot of Greg Boss talked today. I think that

30:41

that sewed it up well right.

30:42

Now and almost like a lot of either

30:44

revenge or plotting against him. It's it's

30:46

almost like he's made enemies along the way, but

30:50

he's on a well earned vacation,

30:53

maybe a permanent one perhaps based

30:56

on this appearance. Connor, how are

30:58

you, buddy, what's new in the life of mister.

31:00

Or what's happening?

31:03

You know, everything is good, just

31:06

just dealing with a lot of flooding and power outages

31:09

here in western New Jersey. But

31:12

we're living the life. It's rustic

31:14

out here.

31:14

We've had a lot of storms as

31:16

well, and poor weather and more coming

31:18

in here in southern California, which is very unusual.

31:21

I wonder what that's all about.

31:23

Maybe something for you guys to discuss

31:25

on your whenever you

31:27

come back with your famous offshoot

31:31

podcast, The Heat and Light Pud whenever,

31:33

that that might be a good topic.

31:35

When struggling for the name of the show.

31:37

Yeah, call it what it was.

31:38

Please thank you?

31:40

All right with Connor here, we we like to

31:43

dive in and connect with our

31:45

audience over on the mail bag side.

31:47

And as always a disclaimer, if

31:49

this doesn't go well as a segment, it

31:51

is not on us, not at all, It is on you.

31:55

We typically have to save it, you know, out

31:57

of the gate.

31:58

Right, So either either.

31:59

The sessions weren't good enough or people

32:01

that are listening to be like this, this

32:04

segment sucks.

32:05

Well, did you send in a question? So it's

32:07

really uh,

32:09

it's we're just calling calling it like

32:11

we see it, being honest with the listeners.

32:13

You know, you've got a man up some time.

32:14

And if one segment swims beautifully,

32:17

well that's that's me and Mark and Connor just

32:20

being professionals and being broadcasters. So now

32:22

that the everything's set, uh,

32:24

let's hit the first question. It

32:27

is from Brandon Lorie.

32:29

Uh. I like his handle.

32:32

Brandon is right, but w R

32:34

I t e Uh.

32:35

If you had absolute control over the competition

32:38

committee, what rule changes would

32:40

you make? I like this one, Connor, I

32:42

thought, and we you know, we gave the

32:45

NFL some flowers on our Tuesday

32:47

show in that the league

32:49

and West always said this. The

32:51

league has never been shy about taking chances to improve

32:55

the product and make changes. Not all

32:57

of them work, but at least you give them. Give

32:59

them at I will say my

33:01

long standing Connor call

33:04

for more protection for the officials

33:07

on personal fouls, for roughing

33:10

the passer, for defenseless receiver.

33:12

The game move so fast that

33:14

getting more help there and from

33:17

upstairs would only help.

33:20

But that's one for me.

33:21

What about you, I've

33:23

long been so I'll blame Tom

33:25

Pellisero for this.

33:27

I love Tom, the pell Raiser himself,

33:29

the.

33:29

Pell Raiser, like maybe it was last year

33:32

or the year before, had had

33:34

noted accurately.

33:36

You know how.

33:38

The NFL was really considering

33:41

the fourth and fifteen on side kick

33:43

alternative, and I

33:46

prepared so much content

33:48

on my end based on just

33:50

blind excitement, all the possibilities

33:53

and to have it be and

33:56

again this is a knock on. Like Tom

33:58

knows more about football than I could ever hope to know, and

34:00

the inside mechanisms of it, but

34:02

got me so excited for it, and then to have it

34:04

never happen was such

34:06

a letdown.

34:07

And it's the perfect rule.

34:10

And for those who don't know, right it was the

34:13

in lieu of an onside kick. You can go for it

34:16

on your own twenty five yard line and

34:18

it's a fourth and fifteen basically, and if you

34:20

lose possession, the other team basically

34:22

gets the ball right inside the red

34:24

zone. NFL

34:27

owners who don't have Josh

34:29

Allen and Patrick Mahomes are terrified of this and

34:31

they won't vote for it because

34:34

most of their quarterbacks suck, and I understand

34:36

that, but just imagine

34:39

like the entire cottage industry

34:41

that could be built around that

34:43

single play. Like you could find like

34:46

a massive, like Cam Newton

34:49

type human being who's only really

34:51

valuable for that play where

34:53

he can just like carry a bunch of bodies for

34:55

fifteen yards or like but maybe

34:57

throw a pass.

34:58

It's like, there's so.

35:00

Many amazing things that could happen just

35:02

by virtue of that moment, and you could get these great

35:04

NBA jam type moments where maybe

35:07

these teams are hitting two or three of these in a row

35:09

and they're bonkers, and you can't do that with the non site

35:11

kick.

35:11

And the Eagles particularly have been trying for this

35:13

for years. I think it's like ten

35:16

years in a row or something, and no

35:18

one. I think there is some fear out there.

35:19

You're right, and I

35:21

just want to add one other thing. And I don't know, Mark,

35:24

did you have one?

35:25

I have two quick ones, yes, one,

35:27

because I know I don't claim to come up with everything

35:29

on my own. This is we'd mentioned Dave Danishak earlier.

35:31

I always thought this was the most ingenious concept

35:34

to prevent tanking, to prevent teams

35:37

taking a dirt nap, and you know folding tent for

35:39

the last month plus of a season. Is that you take the

35:41

two worst teams that

35:43

are vying for the number one pick and

35:46

you have them square off. And

35:48

in this case, the timing of this would

35:50

be unusual, but I thought maybe just a little

35:53

Wednesday in between the wild card and divisional round.

35:55

Not everyone need to track it. Well, we have Wednesday football

35:57

now, so that checks out.

35:58

That fits like a glout. They they

36:00

would play each other and the winner gets the number one

36:02

pick. So it's like you you have to fight

36:05

right down to the end.

36:06

Uh, we could do it you know where,

36:08

and you could do it.

36:09

Actually, you could slot

36:11

it in in the old Pro Bowl spot that's

36:13

Sunday before the Super Bowl.

36:15

I thought about that, except that you're asking like

36:17

a team to they're kind of like doing the college thing where

36:19

you're off for like twenty something days or something.

36:21

Well, don't finish amongst the worst two league,

36:24

stay out, stay out of the toilet

36:26

bowl.

36:26

Here's my other one. Yeah, this would this

36:28

would take you're talking about fear, This would take the

36:30

opposite. No commercial breaks. We

36:33

get through these games in about an hour and forty

36:35

five minutes, and

36:38

it's a it just okay,

36:40

Well, I'm just saying that I'm trying to think

36:42

at what I want that would be what I want. All

36:45

the dads at like DVR games and they wait

36:47

like an hour and a half in to like fast forward, so

36:49

they don't to deal with commercials.

36:50

It's like they don't have to do it anymore. And you

36:52

just want the games to end as quickly as possible. And I get

36:54

it.

36:55

But uh, and all the people that are

36:57

like, oh and let's get rid of the chain gangs,

37:00

get off it. Can we in this world,

37:02

this digital world where

37:05

we're increasingly controlled by bots

37:08

and robits and micro

37:11

technology, can we just get

37:14

a couple of bros with two sticks

37:16

and a chain figure and something out still

37:18

like, can we keep that? Can we keep

37:21

that. Can we make the world simple

37:23

in one way? That's all I'm gonna say. Count

37:25

that's all.

37:26

That's all.

37:27

Like does that if I'm breaking any news here?

37:29

But there are computer chips

37:32

in the chains, So

37:35

when you're breaking news to the two of us when

37:39

I don't know if a lot of people know this, but like whenever

37:41

anyone's like they need to get rid

37:43

of the chain gang, it's like like we have

37:45

all this technology. It's like, yeah, the technology is in

37:47

the chain, so we're good.

37:50

Like, yeah, does sometimes does the chain break?

37:52

Yeah, like once during the super

37:54

Bowl I think, or it happened twice during the

37:56

playoffs last year, if I can't remember, if I can remember

37:58

correctly. But yeah, the

38:00

the technology is in there, We're good.

38:02

That is I mean, breaking news for the podcast.

38:05

So thank you Connor and that, like I said

38:07

in the intro, this is a very talented

38:09

journalist.

38:10

It is great sometimes to occasionally like the chain

38:13

gang guy A or B you don't know which one

38:15

gets you know, not paying attention,

38:17

gets whacked by a player coming off the field,

38:19

and it's just a delight to watch.

38:21

Let's hit another question.

38:23

We'll finish this in about two hours with this right,

38:26

bo Brooks asks, will

38:29

Jordan Love win more Super Bowls than Aaron Rodgers?

38:31

Well, he just needs to win two.

38:34

But there aren't a lot of quarterbacks

38:36

that have ever won too. What do you think, Connor? He's

38:38

got a bright future ahead of what he's

38:40

already probably twenty five or twenty six, right,

38:43

So you got that as well to consider.

38:45

I say no.

38:47

And the reason I do is because every

38:50

time a team ends the season with

38:52

some vague semblance

38:54

of promise, we get on this

38:58

just path of stupidity where

39:00

we project things in an upward

39:02

trajectory for no re like you know, oh

39:05

they're young and contracts and I

39:07

pretending to talk like a GM and everything

39:10

works, and like it doesn't. We don't

39:12

know how good the Packers are going to

39:14

be. They'll clip this and they'll

39:16

show this to me at the combine next year, I'm sure, but.

39:19

I don't know how hard too.

39:22

I don't know how good the Packers are going to be in the future.

39:24

But like winning two Super Bowls for any quarterback

39:26

that isn't you know this

39:29

sort of you know colossus

39:32

of a human talent like Patrick

39:34

Mahomes or you know, Tom Brady

39:36

or something like that it's difficult.

39:37

It's hard, so I would say.

39:39

No, And like the career of Aaron Rodgers kind

39:42

of proves the point. He won one right

39:44

away, and it's like, oh, he could win five or six,

39:46

and you could say the Packers probably should have gotten there

39:49

a number of times. But uh, tbduh.

39:52

While we're here, Yeah, let's might as

39:54

well address it, because we did play it on

39:56

the show last week. I believe that

39:59

in my opinion, Uh,

40:01

an ambush by

40:03

the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

40:05

Jason light On Connor?

40:07

Or do we have that? Let's play that.

40:10

Hey, good Connor, how are you everything

40:13

good? Yeah? We

40:15

uh we have history. No,

40:17

No, we just we won a lot more games than what he

40:19

predicted us to get last Yes,

40:23

yeah, it's for two. I haven't hanging up. I haven't hanging up

40:25

in more.

40:25

Office there it

40:27

is, Connor, What was the the general

40:29

vibe between you and light in that spot?

40:32

Was there any real tension or was it all in good, good

40:34

fun?

40:35

No?

40:36

It was it was funny.

40:37

I mean, like so to kind of deal

40:39

everybody back behind the curtain when you're at

40:42

when you're at the combine. A lot of times

40:44

like if the gms do the podium stuff

40:46

and if you just want to have like a

40:48

casual conversation with them

40:51

and you know, not have it be quoted

40:53

somewhere.

40:54

Sometimes I'll ask to talk to a GM.

40:56

Or a coach or if it's like a

40:59

really niche question that I don't want to bother anybody,

41:01

Like you know, you're trying to yell in a pack of people, you

41:03

asked them off to the side.

41:04

And so I asked.

41:05

For Jason Light, thinking like we

41:08

were talking off the record,

41:10

and so we

41:12

like, you know, everything gets shuttled. I never saw a

41:14

camera, and so him

41:17

and I are talking and like he brings it up,

41:19

which every right to do it. I mean, it was

41:21

a horrible decision on my part. I

41:23

picked him to win two games they made the playoffs.

41:26

But do you think it was a coordinated attack like

41:28

they had they had this in mind that they

41:30

were going to have this ready and they were going to play it up

41:32

on social.

41:34

See, this is what's wild to me, So they

41:36

would have to assume that I was there, right,

41:39

And then so I asked the PR guy.

41:41

I was like, hey, can I get Jason just for a

41:43

second, And he's like, yeah, no, problem. So

41:45

then between Jason

41:48

walking off the podium and then

41:50

like traveling the eleven feet over to

41:52

where I was standing, they had to have like

41:54

briefed him on this and they flagged

41:57

down a social media person concealed

42:00

camera and then I

42:02

tolosted five five days after it happened,

42:04

which is like may it was like three days after

42:06

happened. But that was the funniest part. Like I was,

42:09

I was on a job with my neighbor and I

42:11

get like text messages sent to my phone

42:14

and like I'm getting dozens

42:16

of text messages like I can't believe they

42:18

did that.

42:19

Are you okay?

42:20

Are you okay?

42:21

What's going on?

42:23

Like people from high school that I hadn't talked

42:25

to in you know, twenty years.

42:27

And then I was like, like

42:30

I have no idea it was filmed, and so I

42:33

did. I did get a kick out of it. My parents liked

42:35

it. Everyone thought it was funny.

42:37

But it was just like in that moment, I was like,

42:41

were you like hiding? Where was the camera?

42:43

That's all I wanted to know, really, was

42:45

like where where was the

42:47

device? Who was filming it?

42:49

And then like in the back of my head, I'm like Okay,

42:51

is all the stuff that I asked him?

42:54

Like, did they post that too? I don't

42:56

know, but yeah, no, it's fine, We're

42:58

good.

42:58

So, as a Syracuse graduate one

43:00

of the great programs of journalism

43:02

in the country, you

43:04

know the perils of gotcha journalism. I think

43:07

that was really on turning

43:09

it turning around on the reporter.

43:11

Not too far away from like muck raking journalism,

43:14

which is danger of its own.

43:15

But I would say, in some ways fair play by Light

43:17

and company.

43:18

Here's my thing. Now, you've

43:21

created the public ripe about my season

43:23

predictions. Every year from

43:26

here on out, I'm going to predict you to

43:28

win sixteen games,

43:30

and so what would

43:33

you rather live up to that? Or

43:36

would you rather have poor

43:38

little?

43:39

You know what I see where

43:41

you're coming from that. But I also have to say, just

43:43

respectfully, don't let

43:45

them impact your true

43:47

feelings, because that means you're going to

43:49

end up adjusting all of your win total for

43:51

all their opponents. Where you might autoty

43:54

it might be a swing of eight to ten games

43:56

in your actual mindset, don't let them

43:58

win, you know what I mean?

43:59

I hope that Light approaches you at every future.

44:02

Combine with the similar, you know, yes or no

44:04

scenario?

44:05

All right, Next, Daniel Crespo asks,

44:08

every year there is always a team

44:11

that surpasses expectations. Who do

44:13

you think will be the surprise teams of

44:15

the NFC and AFC. So we're you know, who are

44:17

the Texans this year? Who

44:20

are the Rams this year?

44:22

What do you think? Mark?

44:24

You know, I was looking at the list and there there

44:26

aren't a lot of great options here.

44:29

NFC. I thought that maybe

44:32

the Commanders. I thought they've added a lot

44:34

of interesting pieces. I think Quinn has

44:36

experienced, You're not. It's not a total fill

44:39

in the blank on what kind of persona he is. We

44:41

kind of know that they have the chance to

44:43

add a quarterback that could make a big

44:45

difference out of the gate if you play as well. So it

44:48

was that for me in the NFC. In the AFC, I

44:50

think the x this was tougher because, like

44:53

I was looking at last year's record and

44:55

like the Chargers won five games, yet

44:57

expectations seem high because of

44:59

her and your quarterback. So that's

45:02

my answer there. I just didn't see a lot

45:04

of other options.

45:04

Although you know what, I'll.

45:06

Throw them some flowers because

45:09

I really did like their most recent move to

45:11

get Snead in the building the Titans.

45:15

If Levis does take a leap

45:17

here, they have given him some

45:19

structure so that team could surprise in

45:22

the AFC if a couple things go their way.

45:23

What do you think, Connor?

45:25

I think the Colts are going to win the AFC South

45:27

this year. I think the Colts

45:29

are going to be really good. I think Anthony richards

45:32

richards is going to be great. And if

45:34

I were to pick a team in the NFC, okay,

45:36

let's say surprise in air quotes, like

45:38

if the Carolina Panthers go from a two

45:41

win team to like an eight or a nine win

45:43

team, would that be I think that would be a surprise

45:46

generally given that they weren't really able to upgrade

45:48

much this offseason.

45:49

But I think there's gonna be a lot of improvement there too.

45:52

What does Anthony Richardson learn from

45:54

that cameo in terms of protecting

45:56

himself but still remaining a dangerous

45:59

out. I think it's a big time subplot around

46:01

the Colts because he's got to stay healthy

46:03

for them to make that leap next now,

46:05

bag all right, this from Simon

46:08

King is West Broms

46:10

are you aware of what's going on with around

46:12

the NFL and West Bromwich

46:14

the soccer team.

46:18

Connor vague vaguely like, I

46:20

remember learning about this dishwasher

46:23

man from this podcast, so I

46:25

do like I'm sort of bally in

46:27

the know here.

46:28

Well, anyway, a guy in my fantasy

46:30

football league owns this team, and

46:32

so now they are the football team of atn

46:35

But anyway, so is West Brom's boiler

46:37

man mascot better than every mascot

46:39

in the NFL. So for people and you're watching

46:41

YouTube, you can see, but it's quite literally

46:44

a boiler that you would find in

46:46

your basement or on the side of your

46:48

house or what have you, with

46:50

legs and arms sticking out, and that is a wild

46:53

mascot.

46:53

And Boying Boying I support everything they

46:55

do. So I'm gonna say that is a great mascot.

46:58

In terms of best mascot in the NFL,

47:01

I have three.

47:03

I really like kind of he doesn't

47:05

get a lot of pop, But

47:07

I like Steely mcbeam of the Steelers.

47:10

Does any mascot get a lot of pop? I feel

47:12

like they kind of.

47:13

I'll give you one.

47:15

Jackson Deville of the jaz right, that is

47:17

yeah, he is probably the uh, the biggest

47:19

star of the moment in that world. But I also

47:21

like and I met him at the International

47:24

Series and him very nice man

47:26

or slash creature Captain

47:28

Fear of the Buccaneers. Also, I

47:31

quite enjoy him. Anybody have a spot

47:34

mascot, take.

47:36

Sir per and I'll

47:38

say, why they they? I don't know why

47:41

the Panthers Panthers.

47:43

The there's like a there's

47:46

like a Panthers in house video from

47:48

like nine years ago that I recently stumbled

47:50

on where he's just in the

47:53

office doing regular cat

47:55

stuff.

47:55

Nice and it is.

47:58

It's so funny and I watch it probably

48:00

once a week. So Sir Perr is awesome.

48:03

A quick sub question, is your friend

48:06

who owns West brom like

48:08

like a Packers fan who says he owns the

48:10

Packers or is this a real like you're you're

48:12

in a fantasy football league with like a billionaire.

48:16

The second one whoa

48:19

Yeah, his name is Sheelyn Patel and

48:21

he is seen as a savior by the fans

48:24

of the Boy.

48:25

And Boy cool.

48:27

Yeah, And before

48:29

we move on, if you're going to bring up Sir Perr

48:31

and the Panthers, you got to hit us with one, Connor

48:33

hit us with one

48:36

piled.

48:36

In next never

48:40

gets old? Can we cut that as a

48:42

drop? Thank you? Eric?

48:43

At py Guy, Tomlinson

48:46

asks, with Christmas so far away,

48:48

does Connor watch Hallmark films through

48:50

the years with different

48:52

events, I e. Valentine's, summer

48:55

holidays, the fourth of July and what have you?

48:57

A great question people that are maybe

48:59

new to the show and don't know that Connor every

49:01

Christmas comes on. He

49:03

and his wife are religious about,

49:07

no pun intended about watching every

49:10

Hallmark type holiday film

49:12

they can get their eyes on, starting I believe

49:14

the day after Thanksgiving or maybe the day

49:16

after Halloween.

49:17

Something insane like that day after Halloween.

49:19

Yeah, that is insane, but I love you

49:21

for who you are, and then all the way through

49:24

to the Christmas and it

49:26

does it carry over to other holidays?

49:28

That's a good question.

49:30

So it's funny about that is my Hallmark

49:32

obsession has now It's

49:34

created like shockwave effects through my

49:37

immediate family, and so my in

49:39

laws have it on all the

49:41

time, and so every time we go over there for

49:43

dinner now it is on like twenty

49:45

four hours a day, and so by

49:48

virtue of that, we have now become

49:51

aware of and are very much fans

49:53

of. Sort of there's like a New Year's

49:55

collection, a Valentine's collection, a Spring

49:58

collection, a summer collection with

50:00

kind of all your favorite stars, and they

50:03

just sort of spin.

50:03

It forward into different times a year, which

50:05

is great.

50:06

Have you ever thought about

50:08

as a side job writing reviews

50:11

for the vibrant publication TV guide?

50:13

Okay, I

50:17

think that my reviews of Hallmark

50:19

movies would be so glowing that

50:22

coming from me, it would be interpreted

50:24

as like a very mean satire, right, And

50:26

it's really not like. There

50:29

was that really well meaning, lovely

50:31

woman from like the Dakotas who reviewed

50:33

an olive Garden like ten years ago, do you remember

50:35

this? And there was never like an olive

50:38

garden in her like state,

50:40

and she reviewed it as if it were this like

50:42

breathtaking five star Italian restaurant,

50:44

and everyone made fun of her.

50:46

She was like in her seventies, but that's

50:48

she was serious. She loved it.

50:49

And imagine having an olive garden breadstick for the first

50:52

time in your seventies, Like it's unbelievable.

50:56

Yeah, So I think that it would probably come off

50:58

a little bit like that, and I I would be worried about

51:00

affecting my current relationship with Hallmark, which

51:02

is very good.

51:03

I think that's very fair.

51:04

I do feel like watching a spring like

51:07

springtime version of that type of that's

51:09

like scrape in the bottom of the barrel, like what is the hook

51:11

of your what is your hook?

51:12

At that point?

51:13

Well, they don't, they don't. There's a lot of people involved

51:15

in the productions, actors, actresses,

51:17

directors, camera people.

51:19

They don't right, Like, what's the inciting moment?

51:21

Like the trees are blooming all right? At

51:24

t mac asks where do the Vikings

51:26

land on the pain rankings? And why are we cursed?

51:29

What spirit walks the halls of US Bank

51:31

Stadium? A true unsolved mystery.

51:34

Now, fans of the show know that I have

51:36

a real, I

51:40

feel like a kinship with the Vikings

51:43

and their fans. I'm again going

51:45

to nominate them as team of Around the NFL,

51:48

which feels like a curse in its own way. Good

51:50

luck with that this season, especially if Sam's

51:52

at QB. I'm

51:54

gonna refrain from answering this one, guys,

51:56

because I do think this summer

52:00

on Around the NFL, We're going to

52:02

revisit the pain rankings. Nine

52:04

years after the publication on our fair

52:06

site. But the vikings are still

52:09

there. I'll put it there. I'll leave it there. Let's

52:11

move on. But yeah, pain rankings, We're going to

52:14

hit that this summer

52:16

on this podcast.

52:16

There's a tease. Next.

52:19

Colin asks at Mets,

52:21

speaking of cursed at Mets, please save

52:23

me call here

52:26

an opening day. The

52:28

New York Mets aren't going to save you, Bud,

52:30

I say that would love Well.

52:32

We don't know when he created this handle, but it's never

52:34

been successful unless you were unless

52:36

you know, nineteen eighty six Worlds or something.

52:39

All Right, Anyway, what under five hundred team in

52:41

twenty twenty three is under the

52:43

most pressure in twenty

52:45

twenty four? You know, the

52:47

Jets jump out to me obviously, because they are so

52:50

when you know they

52:52

are so in for this season and there's

52:54

so much pressure around Aaron Rodgers

52:57

and making that work.

52:58

Is there another team that I'm

53:00

said to you mark as a

53:02

high pressure team coming off a losing season.

53:05

This was another one where I thought a lot of teams

53:08

that were in turmoil, had coaching changes

53:10

or have are about to draft quarterbacks

53:12

where there's a fair amount of freshness

53:14

or hope there. The Giant stood out to me because

53:16

I think you're just in a situation where you went from

53:19

coach of the year, playoff surprise playoff

53:21

berth to you know, the

53:23

owner speaking kind

53:25

of hot and cold about day Ball and day Ball taking

53:28

it very well. And I think Daball is a good coach. You might

53:30

take over play calling duties. You know what's going on at quarterback.

53:33

So I think the Giants are in these in

53:35

a bit of a strange zone right now.

53:37

What do you think, Connor?

53:39

I would go?

53:41

I don't know, this is good. I would go the Bears because

53:44

if you think about what Ryan Poles

53:46

has had going on, he's been able to like

53:49

artfully keep extending

53:51

the prestige moment where he has

53:53

to show everyone what he's been working on, you know. And

53:56

at some point, you know, I certainly

53:59

if they don't win this year, you replaced

54:01

the head coach. I was under my like November,

54:04

I thought they were replacing the head coach. I mean, you

54:06

know, there was a lot of people who did, so

54:08

I think if they don't, if they don't win, your

54:10

at least replacing the head coach. And I think at some point

54:12

people start wondering, Okay, is this is this

54:14

the right thing for a GM

54:17

as well?

54:17

And I'll throw the Falcons out there as well.

54:19

This is a team that has

54:21

been trying to get back

54:24

and trying to you know, work

54:26

their way back to being a truly relevant

54:28

team, and they've had pieces

54:31

around the last few years, but then the quarterback kind

54:33

of killed them. Now they have the quarterback

54:35

that they have to develop a defense around

54:37

the QB and we're going to see if they can because

54:39

Arthur Blank obviously is

54:42

counting on this team returning

54:44

to the playoffs. I think with Cousins, given the

54:46

amount of money they gave the quarterback.

54:49

All right, next, AFC East,

54:52

where is it going? Have Buffalo and Miami peaked?

54:54

How long will the New England rebuild take? Whither

54:56

the Jets? All right, let's

54:59

I that's a good one. Connor Wake what the

55:02

New England rebuild? We already we know

55:04

the Jets are very high

55:06

low. We don't know where they're gonna fall, so they're a tough one

55:08

to figure out. Obviously, the Patriots are

55:11

team very clearly in a rebuild.

55:13

I am very interested to see. I guess

55:16

I still think Buffalo is a playoff team.

55:18

Are they a top echelon team and

55:21

the Dolphins to me are one of the biggest mysteries

55:23

in the league.

55:25

If I had to, if I had

55:27

to handicap the division today, I would

55:29

probably say that Buffalo wins the division the

55:32

Jets come in second, because

55:34

I do think even though it's a high low, I

55:37

really do think Robertsal is a good coach. I

55:39

think that he's able to I mean, to get seven

55:41

wins or whatever they did out of that team last year was

55:43

pretty phenomenal, and then

55:45

I would see it being Miami third and

55:48

New England a pretty distant fourth. I just

55:50

think that what Miami conceptually

55:53

is trying to do, it works,

55:56

but it does not work for the entirety

55:58

of a season. And I just think they're a little

56:00

bit fundamentally flawed. Like I think that they

56:02

need to develop more of a power element,

56:05

and I think the drop off at DC

56:07

this offseason is pretty stark.

56:10

And you would it's a very

56:12

you know what, I respect because you're hanging onions

56:14

with your annual preseason.

56:17

You know, guess of everyone's schedule. You

56:20

go through every schedule and pick every game. You

56:22

got dinked a little bit on the Patriots as well

56:25

this season, So you're not going to be

56:27

in on New England in twenty

56:29

four.

56:30

It sounds like, Yeah, Chris

56:32

Broussard called me foolish

56:34

on Fox, which was

56:37

something that everyone really liked.

56:38

And I'll just say this, and hey,

56:40

you put yourself out there for a living man. Yeah,

56:42

you know, people need to respect you for that.

56:45

And it's one of those things where like all my friends

56:48

were texting me after the Jason

56:50

Light thing and they're like, oh my god, I can't believe how well you're

56:52

handling it. My wife's like, I really can't believe how

56:54

well you're handling it, And like, inside

56:56

my mind, I am plotting,

56:59

like I'm reading every reply and I'm

57:01

plotting the absolute demise.

57:03

Like someone put the Curb your Enthusiasm

57:06

music on and I was like, I'm gonna find where

57:08

that person is, Like I'm gonna find their house,

57:11

I'm gonna disconnect the power lines.

57:12

I'm gonna just let you know, I'm gonna start moving

57:15

chairs around at night while they're sleeping.

57:17

Like it gets it, you know, the violence

57:20

of the old or you kidding me?

57:21

Connor is still very.

57:22

Much alive in there. I love that guy.

57:25

I love that guy, so that the all two

57:27

seventy two predictions is a tough It's a tough thing.

57:30

How long does that take? I mean, are you just kind of

57:32

rip it going off the top of your head? Are you just you're

57:34

going It takes a really

57:36

long time.

57:37

And then every year I get done and I have like

57:39

two hundred and seventy four wins and two

57:41

hundred and seventy losses, and then you

57:43

have to go through every gersh

57:46

darn game again and try to figure.

57:48

Out Oh yeah, it's an absolute

57:50

nightmare. Yeah, it's the worst.

57:52

Uh.

57:53

I struggled enough when I did the power rankings

57:55

and I was coming up to the list of thirty two, and I

57:57

kept on being either a thirty three or thirty one,

57:59

as like, am I missing?

58:00

Who did I put in here? Twice? It would like stop

58:02

me down for half an hour.

58:04

I don't even know how you One

58:07

year I got I did all the records

58:09

on like loose leaf paper, and

58:11

I turned them in and they were accurate,

58:13

and then I threw them away.

58:15

And then like a week.

58:17

Later, my boss was like, hey, the social

58:19

team wants to post the individual records,

58:22

and so you have to go and I was.

58:24

Like, I don't even know like that.

58:26

That would be like backtracking the equation

58:28

for like the black hole, and so I

58:31

literally had to start completely

58:33

over again.

58:34

And it was yeah, I was, I

58:36

was, I was a bad.

58:37

And he's got floods happening. The basement's

58:39

flooding, there's weather, there's no warriors.

58:41

All right, a couple more questions to take a break, and then we'll

58:43

finish up with Connor. All

58:55

Right, all right, all

59:01

right, welcome back, Connor. Thank

59:03

you for taking a crack at that one we've been See

59:05

it's like that when I got floored by that. When

59:08

you're wing a task is storing of you. We

59:10

realize it's a bit of thorny.

59:12

Let's hear it. Let's hear Mark's attempt.

59:17

All Right, we're back showing

59:20

us continuing.

59:22

Do we have Colleen's excuse me? Do you have gregs?

59:31

Right?

59:32

Everybody?

59:35

What is so hard about it?

59:38

I don't know, Like I take it as a good

59:41

sign that it's not an easy thing to imitate. That's

59:44

how I look at it personally. No,

59:46

you've perfected it. We're just chasing. We're chasing

59:48

your abilities on that one. All Right,

59:51

we're back a couple more questions and then we'll say

59:53

goodbye for the week. When

59:55

fellas asks, are the Texans more likely

59:58

to regress or progress in

1:00:00

twenty four I think Connor,

1:00:02

that kind of hits on something you said earlier. The

1:00:04

wide assumption, the widely held assumption

1:00:07

seems to be the Texans are going to

1:00:09

make that leap and be a powerhouse this year.

1:00:11

But a lot of things have to go right for that to happen, and

1:00:13

the development has to continue.

1:00:15

Obviously, the draft is still ahead of us.

1:00:18

I would say it's more likely that they

1:00:20

do build on last year, but the

1:00:22

grand assumption and in general, the idea

1:00:25

of having a ton of expectations heaped on

1:00:27

you, that could be that's a

1:00:29

different vibe than they were last year as well, So there's

1:00:31

a lot don't assume that's all.

1:00:34

It's a different it's a different situation. And

1:00:36

I remember, like would I

1:00:38

would compare CJ. Stroud's

1:00:41

theatrics towards the middle and the end of

1:00:43

that season, like when the Rookie of the year candidacy really

1:00:45

started to build through the end of that season, it

1:00:47

was a lot like early Herbert And

1:00:49

then I think we spent the last three

1:00:51

years wondering when Herbert was going

1:00:54

to elevate to this like more consistently

1:00:56

theatrically incredible player, or when

1:00:59

the offense was going to get built around him to

1:01:01

be able to facilitate that. And I do

1:01:03

think that, you know, we forget

1:01:05

how amazing CJ. Stroud was situationally

1:01:08

last year, and those performances

1:01:11

are sometimes like a once in a every

1:01:13

few years kind of thing, you know, and they don't.

1:01:16

You don't always get him in back to back to back weeks,

1:01:18

and we don't know if he's Steph Curry yet. He might

1:01:20

be, But you know, I

1:01:22

think the rest of that division is getting much better

1:01:24

and will be a lot more challenging.

1:01:26

They all have a different schedule that

1:01:28

that starts right there. But I like the

1:01:30

fact that Bobby Slowick wasn't hired

1:01:32

away somewhere else, that there's consistency. I get worried

1:01:34

about quarterbacks, good or bad, like

1:01:37

when there's a lot of coordinator shifts. But they

1:01:39

lost Tank Dell for a big chunk of time last year.

1:01:41

They lost Stroud for for a bit for a spell

1:01:44

and lost a game in the middle of all that. And

1:01:46

I trust this coaching staff a lot, so

1:01:48

they don't feel like a regression candidate to me the way

1:01:50

that like a year ago, the Giants certainly

1:01:52

seemed like they were the Vikings winning a billion like

1:01:55

you know one score games, like they were legit

1:01:57

thumping people. And I both, it's

1:02:00

the balls a lot.

1:02:00

To like all right?

1:02:02

Next, oh from our body Dave

1:02:04

Ealy from the newsroom. Hi, guys, first

1:02:07

time, long time, okay with football?

1:02:09

Not on what are y'all watching right now?

1:02:11

He's from North Carolina. Excuse him? I

1:02:13

know Greg was big into Love is Blind, any

1:02:15

pop culture Rex.

1:02:18

I will throw out a couple

1:02:21

I am.

1:02:22

I want to give some serious flowers in the podcast

1:02:25

game to Rob Harvilla

1:02:27

of The Ringer. He just recently

1:02:30

completed his sixty Songs that help

1:02:32

Explain the Nineties series that actually

1:02:34

ballooned into one hundred and twenty songs that

1:02:37

explained the nineties, and it

1:02:39

was I thought it advanced

1:02:41

the medium. But I will

1:02:44

say it like that.

1:02:45

He was a great, great storyteller,

1:02:47

kind of an essayist, like where he wrote on

1:02:50

not just the music and the song, but

1:02:53

the you know, the era, but also his

1:02:55

his personal experiences and being a

1:02:58

lot of the reasons why like I do a

1:03:00

music podcast with my buddy Bob, the throwback

1:03:02

podcast where the music

1:03:04

becomes the soundtrack for your adolescence

1:03:07

and it brings it has this powerful

1:03:10

nostalgia that kind of keeps you connected to

1:03:12

it as you grew older. And he really I

1:03:14

think Harvilla nailed

1:03:16

that sentiment while also giving

1:03:18

you a varied look. It started as I think more

1:03:20

slanted towards alternative rock, which

1:03:23

was my wheelhouse when I was a

1:03:25

teenager. Hartville is a couple of years

1:03:27

older, but it became as the show

1:03:29

developed and progressed. Like

1:03:31

our own podcast, it turned into something

1:03:34

else and it was a deep dive into

1:03:36

all different genres and a look

1:03:38

a great look at music and life in

1:03:40

general.

1:03:40

So sixty songs that.

1:03:42

By the way, what does what does wheelhouse mean?

1:03:47

What do you mean was wheelhouse mean?

1:03:48

What is the definition? I understand it means like it was

1:03:51

a place that you thrived in int a certain time.

1:03:53

But why is it called wheelhouse versus like hot

1:03:55

zone or I don't know, I don't know. We can answer

1:03:57

that another time.

1:03:58

Beliek red Basket.

1:04:00

Yeah, I don't know. Mark, I don't

1:04:03

how about you?

1:04:03

Mark feels mechanical? I think

1:04:05

Connor might like this. This is I don't know how I

1:04:07

stumbled upon this because I started watching it.

1:04:09

Like it's on like HBO Max. But it's

1:04:11

called Seeking Sister Wife,

1:04:14

and it's these like couples that are trying to like find

1:04:16

like a second or third or fourth mate,

1:04:18

and it's it's they're not traditional

1:04:21

like that's typically a Mormon thing. Yeah,

1:04:23

I done those, but it's people just in society

1:04:25

trying to do it, and it's like total

1:04:27

chaos erupts. It's it's it's a roller coaster

1:04:30

ride.

1:04:30

Uh.

1:04:31

I don't know. It's on HBO.

1:04:33

It's I was like, you know, the Serving Through four Thousand

1:04:35

Things, and I was like, I'll give this one a shot and kind of pulled

1:04:37

me in Sesta.

1:04:39

Deep on HBO Max on a

1:04:41

three AM. I could I could sense

1:04:43

it. Calm

1:04:46

down, gun, how about you, Connor?

1:04:49

Can I do a book or is yeah anything.

1:04:52

Like all right, yeah, he needs

1:04:54

to bring back his Instagram cooking show.

1:04:56

By the way, it was really uh it was fantastic.

1:04:59

He'll be to know that you just cited

1:05:01

that, so I know.

1:05:04

Yeah.

1:05:05

So I'm I'm halfway

1:05:07

through Lonesome Dove, which is a

1:05:09

book by Larry mcmurdy and it

1:05:11

was it's known as Stephen King's

1:05:14

favorite book ever, and

1:05:16

it's from nineteen eighty five. It's it's

1:05:18

like a classic western, but

1:05:20

it won the Pulitzer that year, and it

1:05:23

is the first book I

1:05:25

think that I can ever remember that

1:05:27

made me laugh out loud, like it's but

1:05:30

it's there's a lot of things. It's like a

1:05:32

western. There's drama, there's romance, there's

1:05:34

like there's a mystery, there's a plot,

1:05:36

and there's a lot of things about life.

1:05:39

But it's also very very funny.

1:05:40

So I would I would say, like Eli

1:05:42

should read a damn book for once.

1:05:44

So there you go, Dave.

1:05:46

That was also a TV show for

1:05:48

years. It had like look at this, Who's in this? It

1:05:51

was a series Robert Duval, Tommy Lee Jones,

1:05:53

Danny Glover, Diane Lane,

1:05:56

and it goes on and on.

1:05:59

Powerhouse Diane Lane, Special

1:06:02

special person. All Right, one more.

1:06:04

Eric Blasell asks what are your all

1:06:07

time favorite sound drops from the show?

1:06:09

Top three for me are hanging onions.

1:06:12

You try to these onions, you'll like them, the real sweet

1:06:15

onions.

1:06:15

Hot butts acone always

1:06:17

a favorite,

1:06:20

and of course the great Chris Westling

1:06:22

standard.

1:06:24

It's about me, it's about those

1:06:27

are all great. I love all those.

1:06:30

I thought this would be a good occasion. I

1:06:32

had really originally had asked

1:06:34

Eric to send me a couple of

1:06:36

my favorite Sessler isms,

1:06:39

and that very quickly turned into we have to do a

1:06:41

top ten Mark Sessler drops

1:06:44

on the podcast.

1:06:45

So maybe on maybe I just take that

1:06:47

show off and that you can There'll be plenty of me as.

1:06:49

Is, without further ado, the

1:06:51

top ten Mark Sessler drops on around

1:06:54

the NFL.

1:06:54

Number ten, what manacured

1:06:58

joke? Number nine,

1:07:02

I'm having a weird day. Number

1:07:05

eight, I'm annoyed.

1:07:07

Now, Oh I love that one. I think that might

1:07:09

be should be higher. I'll have to think about that.

1:07:11

Number seven.

1:07:12

I feel power prompted.

1:07:16

That number six,

1:07:19

I am begging you to shut up.

1:07:20

Yeah, yeah, that one. That's a good's that's

1:07:23

classic. Number five.

1:07:25

I always return, Yes, he does you

1:07:27

know?

1:07:28

That one brings me peace when I when I

1:07:30

sometimes lose Mark, he's off the grid,

1:07:33

I do I when I think.

1:07:35

To myself, what does he always say?

1:07:37

I always return?

1:07:38

Probably was in response to a voice concern

1:07:41

of yours.

1:07:42

What are we at? Number four? Number four?

1:07:45

Heavens to Betsy

1:07:48

my grandmother used to say that that's right, pick

1:07:50

that up.

1:07:51

He says that after every time we use it, he explains.

1:07:53

Why my grandma used

1:07:55

to say that we.

1:07:56

Need a drop to explain him explaining the drop.

1:07:58

Number three metals stand.

1:08:01

Check you later, brock.

1:08:04

Number two good

1:08:06

for you.

1:08:07

Oh boy, let's

1:08:10

get a little timpany drum here for the number one

1:08:13

Mark Sessler drop. That is a you

1:08:15

know, Eric the producer, when I said I need

1:08:18

the good for you scream, he

1:08:20

didn't know it was you.

1:08:21

He didn't realize that's Mark's voice.

1:08:23

It was a different version of me.

1:08:25

I listened to it and I was like, because he's

1:08:27

asking for Mark drops, and I'm like, is

1:08:29

this can't be it? So I have to make sure And I'm like, that

1:08:31

doesn't even sound like I'm in his explanation, A

1:08:33

different period of Mark.

1:08:35

A different Mark period.

1:08:36

I'll give me a little timpany drum for the number

1:08:38

one Mark Sessler

1:08:41

drop on the Around the NFL podcast and so

1:08:43

many choices, and thank you to.

1:08:46

Everyone did

1:08:50

it.

1:08:51

Football is completely different than basketball.

1:08:54

I knew that. I mean, that was going

1:08:56

to be in the top ten. But thank you to everyone, thank

1:08:58

you to me. I produced those ten sound bites.

1:09:00

You sure did.

1:09:01

So you know, let's start right there.

1:09:04

Connor, you've said it

1:09:06

all. Is there anything else you want to

1:09:09

add?

1:09:10

And he plugs anything you want to

1:09:12

get out there, anything about yourself, your your family.

1:09:14

Advice to that.

1:09:16

Tens of thousands of listeners use

1:09:19

this bully pulpit as

1:09:21

you will.

1:09:23

I would just say, you know, keep

1:09:26

on keeping on. You know, I think

1:09:28

that's.

1:09:28

Uh spoken like a true dead

1:09:31

End friends fan.

1:09:34

Keep on, keep on trucking everybody.

1:09:36

You know you're going to see

1:09:38

Dead in Company at the Sphere

1:09:40

in Vegas.

1:09:42

Uh So, maybe I

1:09:45

the Philly Show felt like the

1:09:47

culmination of I had avoided seeing them

1:09:49

for years. I had never seen them before,

1:09:52

and they're my favorite band of all time. And then

1:09:54

I saw them because it was like the final

1:09:57

tour, and I brought my best friend with me, and

1:09:59

we both are obsessed with it, and I was like, Okay, now

1:10:01

it's over and that and that chapter of

1:10:03

my life is done and it can't be any better than

1:10:05

it was. And so part of me is like, do

1:10:07

I spend nine hundred dollars

1:10:10

to catapult myself back into Las Vegas

1:10:12

after I just escaped and do it again I

1:10:15

don't.

1:10:15

Know, that'sure maturity.

1:10:17

Yeah, yeah, I think I have to let

1:10:19

it go good.

1:10:20

And finally, on opening Day

1:10:22

in Major League Baseball, Baltimore Orioles

1:10:25

over under ninety

1:10:28

four and a half wins.

1:10:30

Oh over. But I'll

1:10:32

keep this very short. I finished the book

1:10:35

about the Astros winning

1:10:37

fixes everything, and I was like, my

1:10:40

god, what a bunch of horrible people.

1:10:42

And then at the end they're like, yeah, they're all

1:10:44

running the oriole now, and I was like, oh, that's that

1:10:47

sucks.

1:10:48

So like I'm kind of like, I'm a little conflicted,

1:10:50

you know, a little bit. You know, this is I

1:10:53

would have rather just do it in a plucky

1:10:55

way, but Maryland needs this right

1:10:57

now. So I'm rooting for a big season

1:11:00

the other All.

1:11:00

Right, Connor, thank you, buddy, thank

1:11:03

you. There

1:11:05

he goes the legend himself. Mark.

1:11:11

I will be now heading off on

1:11:13

a vacation, and uh, you're

1:11:15

really the anchor in a lot of ways here because

1:11:18

I will leave, Greg will return,

1:11:21

but you will be the calm in the

1:11:23

storm.

1:11:24

Yeah, and I vow that we will

1:11:26

not be constructing

1:11:29

any pranks with you at the center of it while

1:11:31

you're on a vacation. I don't think the I

1:11:33

think Delator just

1:11:35

like Jason.

1:11:36

Light fair play if there's any type of

1:11:38

schemes that Greg wants to hatch.

1:11:40

But I really it's not.

1:11:42

I think the whole thing with the Delaware

1:11:45

investigation, it's completely

1:11:48

something that is a service to the audience.

1:11:50

Oh, I think so one hundred percent. In like that across

1:11:53

our studio, the football that you received from Clemson

1:11:55

for your public service to apparently

1:11:57

a group of people, the orphaned youth of that's

1:12:00

what it's morphed into. But I would put this, George, what

1:12:03

this investigation right over on that mantle

1:12:05

two.

1:12:07

All right, hit the music, Thank.

1:12:10

You everybody for listening as always, and

1:12:13

we will be back with two shows next week. You'll hear

1:12:15

from us Tuesday atm We'll be back on Tuesday

1:12:17

and then back to three times a week

1:12:20

in the March to the draft till then hear

1:12:22

the call