0:00

Around the NFL Podcast,

0:04

Fink's Cliff Kingsbury has a sexy

0:07

boys, Welcome to another

0:09

edition at the Around the NFL Podcast. My

0:11

name is Dan Hansis I am joined

0:13

in a room filled with some heroes

0:16

Chris Westling and Greg Rosen

0:18

thought, what is up? Boys? Hey Dan Yo.

0:24

We are back in California after

0:27

spending the last previous

0:29

four days in Phoenix,

0:32

Arizona at the Arizona

0:34

Built Moore Resort, the site

0:36

of the NFL Annual Meeting. And

0:39

um, we're gonna get into what

0:41

came out of that, including a surprise rule

0:44

change. It's gonna have a big effect on the twenty nineteen

0:46

season. On Monday

0:48

Show. Of course, Freddie Kitchens,

0:51

you heard from Sean McDermott well today

0:54

in an interview we did over the weekend. You're

0:56

gonna hear from Matt Laflora, the new head

0:58

coach of the Green Bay Packers. Now, not to

1:00

mention what another pack show.

1:02

Boys, A D d caka Walla NFL

1:04

Network Zone really plugged in

1:07

on the ins and out of the Pittsburgh Steelers. We

1:09

had a nice conversation with her about the

1:11

state of the Steelers, the locker

1:13

room and there, uh, present

1:15

and future, and then there's

1:17

some fun interact, you know, a different vibe

1:19

between her and Mark two. I thought, which was interesting.

1:22

It was a lot of interpersonal um

1:25

play and uh it

1:27

was a deep dive into the steel city. We you know, we

1:29

go into the fish tank. We've we've

1:31

been in the Ravens nest and this was I

1:34

don't know, going into the steel mills.

1:38

Hey, get to work, Erica. It's a new drop to put together.

1:40

It's the steel mill. Can't wait? That sounds

1:42

yeah, that sounds fun because you get to pour the molten

1:44

uh stuff into the metal

1:47

thing whatever they do high

1:49

deal in cold. So I don't know what's happened into the steel

1:51

mills. Uh, West is barely

1:53

alive. He took a Z pack and UH

1:55

and combine that with some fun living. So

1:58

he's recovering uh at a decent

2:00

pace. Mark under the weather.

2:03

He meets Freddie Kitchens, he squabbles

2:05

with add and now he's not here on

2:08

our showback. So we hoped to have Mark

2:10

back soon before he leaves for a

2:12

big trip to South Korea. So

2:15

there's a lot going on. Well what

2:17

has happened? That's an understatement, Yes,

2:22

that's you. That's well said and well putting. Nothing else

2:24

needs to be said. All right, here we go, let's get into

2:26

it. Um oh, and also we're

2:29

gonna talk a little bit about the breakfast. Um

2:31

uh what are they called? What is

2:33

coaches coaches breakfast? Greg

2:36

you checked that out and have some takeaways on that. But

2:38

let's start uh with the news.

2:40

Let me do he drinks a gallon of milk every

2:43

day for strong bones.

2:45

Yeah, and I think it's uh the

2:47

milk that's not pasteurized either. The

2:55

wow J Gruden Redskins coach

2:58

on Colt McCoy who just had a second uh

3:00

surgery on his leg that he broke a last

3:02

Thanksgiving. I think it was

3:04

h was the Thanksgiving? Yeah? Yeah, and

3:06

uh, I guess he drinks wait

3:09

how much a gallon of milk and it's unpasteurized

3:12

straight out of the what? Right out of the tea?

3:14

You know, everyone's got a John Gruden impression,

3:16

but Jay Gruden is underrated for the

3:18

way he uh like defines

3:21

each word so clearly I

3:23

love it. And he had the greatest um he in

3:25

the annual coaches picture, which now

3:27

we're down to about fourteen coaches that get their picture

3:29

taken I don't know. Somebody's got to ramp up the attendance

3:32

of the demands for that. It's a somehow

3:34

balexs led to anarchy by never showing

3:37

up, and now everyone else is like, well, if he doesn't do

3:39

it, I don't have to. The photo of j and

3:41

I can't believe that this was the best photo. I guess seventeen

3:43

other guys were blinking. Uh. He's slapping

3:46

at his his thighs with

3:48

with his hands like the classic move where you, oh,

3:50

you have a moment of panic. Where's my keys or my cell

3:52

phone? And that's

3:55

alright, Jake Gruden in the

3:58

uh in the team picture of the

4:00

coaches picture, this year, your past year

4:02

really taking a hit. Here he's taking he's

4:04

taking eat And what is what is

4:06

Jay saying? I mean we'll save it for the milk podcast,

4:09

But I mean the milk we've been told

4:11

for decades, centuries, even

4:14

you know, that's good for the bones, it makes you

4:16

grow. And here here's Colt McCoy

4:18

who's basically on injured reserve

4:20

every four, you know, every four starts of his

4:23

career Erica, how do you feel about being forced

4:25

to drink milk? Forced to

4:27

drink it. You see, you know, West, it's funny.

4:29

It's funny. I don't know if I've ever gotten to tell you this,

4:31

but when I when I was, you know, younger,

4:34

my mom she she'd put a whole

4:36

glass of milk at the table and I couldn't get

4:38

up from the table until I drank the entire

4:41

glass of milk. Even even when

4:43

I came home from college. I would be home from college,

4:45

my mom and be like, you can't get up from the dinner table

4:47

until you finish your milk. And apparently

4:49

I told West that story five different times

4:51

in London. It

4:54

scarred you. Was a whole milk,

4:56

was a fresh out of the two Actually, no,

4:59

um not been to a college high school? Yeah deaf

5:02

um college you know out of the Yeah?

5:04

Gross, wait, really, no one.

5:07

We have to save this for the Milk podcast because I believes

5:12

that like, nobody over the age of three should drink

5:14

milk, So they went to save this

5:16

for the for the podcast. Mark also believes no one should

5:18

eat over the age of three. All

5:20

right, let's get to the big, big story

5:22

that came out of the owners meetings. The

5:25

owners voted on Tuesday night.

5:28

They locked the doors and brought in boxed

5:30

food for owners. That's how serious

5:32

this was. To approve a rule proposal

5:35

that allows for offensive and defensive

5:37

past interference, including non calls,

5:40

that are now for the twenty nineteen season

5:42

as a trial balloon, but that usually gives way

5:44

to you know, full time rule UH

5:47

to be subject to review. Coaches

5:49

can challenge those calls in the first twenty eight minutes

5:51

of each half. In the final two minutes of

5:53

each half, those calls will be subject to booth review.

5:56

Owners past this thirty one to one. UH.

5:59

The Cincinnati and Galls, as is

6:01

their way, we're the

6:03

only team to vote no. Greg. You you mentioned

6:05

you've been doing this for fifteen

6:07

years, and this is just it's It always used to

6:09

be thirty two two and Al Davis and Mike Brown

6:12

to vote against the rules, and now it's just Mike Brown.

6:14

So coaches will still have to

6:17

challenge flags, only now they it's

6:19

open to UH, both calls

6:21

and non calls. And um,

6:24

Greg, we'll start with you on this. UH.

6:26

To me, I thought this was great

6:29

and I think it was obviously a direct

6:31

um reaction to what

6:34

happened in the NFC title game. A team got

6:36

essentially robbed of a chance to go to the Super Bowl,

6:38

that being the Saints, of course, on a

6:41

no call, and this happens. It's

6:43

I mean, there's no way to deny that if that play doesn't

6:46

happen. This doesn't happen no, because it was Sean

6:48

Payton leading the way. And I think it's

6:50

something because I believe this rule will

6:52

stick in some form. I

6:55

think it'll wind up, you know, being tweaked

6:57

over the years to improve it, because there

6:59

will be shoes. But Sean Payton

7:02

was getting backslaps. He was hugging with

7:04

Gayle Benson and the other coaches

7:07

and owners were saying what an important

7:09

job he had and kind of leading the way. Mike Tomlin

7:11

was part of it. Bill Belichick was, And I think that's cool

7:13

because I think that's a unique thing about the NFL over

7:16

the last fifty years. They're always looking for better

7:18

ways to improve the product and improve

7:21

fairness. And yes, there's gonna be

7:23

some issues that come up with this, but

7:26

ultimately, I think you want to get the calls right

7:28

and the as the technology keeps improving,

7:31

this was always a bit of a blind spot

7:33

in the review process. I like that they're

7:35

not allowing the amount of challenges

7:37

that you're allowed to take to go up. So coaches

7:40

are still gonna have to be careful what they do

7:42

and what they don't challenge. But

7:45

why not try to get the call right? Why not try

7:47

to prevent situations like that from

7:49

happening again. I think it's a great thing, and I'm

7:51

shocked because we entered the weekend hearing

7:53

the owners didn't have much of an appetite. It was the coaches

7:56

coming together, really thirty two to

7:58

nothing they voted on a proposal, and

8:00

some owners like Jeffrey Lury, who are frustrated

8:03

with a lot of these entrenched old school

8:05

owners have now been around for a while, who didn't want

8:07

to make any changes, saying, we gotta try to be better.

8:09

Let's not let what's it? What does it

8:11

best? Be the enemy? You know, better be the enemy

8:14

A good like. They're just trying to improve it, and they're gonna

8:16

try to improve it even more maybe after this year.

8:18

I am staunchly opposed to all

8:21

extra work stoppages in sports entertainment.

8:24

This will have more stoppages in the

8:26

game. And what the NFL really wants to

8:28

do, what they've said they want to do is have fewer

8:30

stoppages. So I don't like it on that count. That

8:33

was the main ownership argument, right, And

8:35

I don't like it on the count that it's going to

8:37

increase controversy. It just is

8:39

because past interference is a controversial

8:42

call, and when you take the time to review

8:44

it, the fans on the losing

8:46

side are gonna be teed off every

8:48

Sunday night, every Monday morning. This is gonna

8:50

keep going on. And I think the heart of the problem

8:52

with the NFL's replay review system

8:55

is it's in the hands of coaches and it should

8:57

not be. They have a worse viewpoint than than

8:59

referees on the sidelines. There should

9:01

be one game official who works

9:03

for the NFL assigned to review egregious

9:06

calls every game. That's the way you fix

9:08

replay, not by giving coaches who

9:11

are control freaks more chances

9:13

to have work stopping. I like that. I

9:16

like that there's not an added challenge, so there's

9:18

it's not they're not adding um more

9:20

opportunities to stop the game. I

9:23

like that in the inside the two minutes, it's basically

9:25

it's folded into the way the system is already

9:27

set up and listening to

9:29

Troy Vincent Uh, the e v P

9:32

for NFL, who's in the middle of

9:34

a lot of this um.

9:37

He's saying, Listen, people are worried about hail

9:39

mary's. What's gonna happen with hail mary's. There

9:42

is not going to be a situation

9:44

where you're gonna see the booth

9:47

come down or or the game stopped on a hail mary

9:49

at the end of the game, unless it is something absolutely

9:51

blatant. That's what they're saying. They're they're they're gonna They're

9:53

saying, the officials are going to there's

9:55

gonna be an exercise and judgment not to let

9:57

this go crazy. And Haywire and I think

9:59

that it's important to this to to not to

10:02

not go nuts now. And you're

10:04

right West that it can't be touched calls. I mean,

10:06

it can't be these fifty, right, But coaches

10:08

are gonna go they're gonna throw flags for touch calls,

10:11

and that's against the spirit of replay as

10:13

it was instituted in the NFL. It

10:15

was instituted for egregious calls

10:18

clearing, but then how do you prevent the egregious

10:20

mistakes on p I calls? I

10:23

I said, have one FSU who works for the NFL

10:25

who can stop playing any time for an egregious

10:27

call. That's how I would fix replay.

10:30

And I think I predict that will eventually

10:32

come to agree. I agree.

10:34

That's the thing is that I think the time like

10:36

I think the time aspect,

10:39

will be improved over time. Maybe

10:41

they can put a shot clock eye eventually,

10:44

but that's I'd rather take the short term hit

10:46

of making the game better for

10:49

the long term. But I don't think

10:51

it makes the game better. I just don't.

10:53

I think you can fix this without doing it this

10:55

way, Like I said, with you take it out of the coach's

10:57

hands, and then I'm on board. You also have to

10:59

see this plays out. It's going to be an experiment.

11:02

And for instance, you're saying coaches are gonna

11:04

be throwing the red flag for things that could

11:06

be perceived as tiki tech. If they're

11:08

going up the challenge and shooting

11:11

that will happen. Yes, But if as the season

11:13

starts playing out, let's say that is happening and every

11:15

time they challenge something that's tiki tech

11:17

or borderline they get voted

11:20

down, They're gonna stop throwing the flag because they've

11:22

been doing this with the catch roll for you like they throw.

11:24

They threw Tiki tech stuff and like I said,

11:26

Mike McCarthy did it twice in the first five minutes

11:29

of game where it was you know, could

11:31

have gone on a catch and it was

11:33

like for four yards. This is the stuff you can't

11:35

allow coaches to do. But what I'm what I'm saying

11:37

is if it becomes a situation where

11:39

they're uniformly getting shot down, that's

11:42

eventually that's on the coach and that's and they

11:44

lose the challenge. But I think there

11:46

will be a learning curve as

11:48

long as there. I think the only time you really

11:51

should reverse it is if it's

11:53

something that's blatant and because

11:55

that's think about what happened with the Saints

11:57

and Nicol Robie Coleman could not can't.

12:00

But again that's why this happened. Everyone was an agreement

12:02

that it can't be deciding seasons

12:04

and fates and and fan bases. Hearts

12:07

cannot be shattered over something that

12:09

is so horrendous, is what happened. So I'm

12:11

again, this is a one year trial balloon,

12:13

and if it doesn't work, maybe they will either

12:16

drop it or try something different. I

12:18

don't think it's a bad thing to try it, and the coaches

12:20

need to be better. I mean, I agree with

12:22

you West that part of the issue is

12:25

the guy who's upstairs calling.

12:28

You know, it's ultimately not the coaches who

12:30

are calling for replaces. You know, the majority

12:32

of the time it's someone upstairs. They

12:35

need to be better. They need to They

12:37

don't give them enough time to be They need to be a well,

12:39

that's that's part of it is you have to make a split

12:42

second decision and decide whether it's egregious

12:45

or not. And like

12:47

I think that can be improved upon. But

12:50

this get out of their hand. This is something that's been why

12:54

need to have this power in the game. Let's see

12:56

what Roger Goodell had to say about it. But it's your

12:58

replay has been in hortant tool for us,

13:01

and you know it wasn't able

13:03

to correct something that we wanted to have corrected

13:05

in the past. I think that

13:08

to me, it was a driving force. Ultimately,

13:10

at the end of the day, I think our

13:12

clubs, including all our coaches, owners

13:14

and everyone else realized that our

13:17

job is to get these right and

13:19

we should use every available means to

13:21

get them right, and replay is

13:23

a great means to be able to do that. Will

13:26

this solve every problem? Will this get

13:28

us the perfect? It was the old thing right, don't

13:30

look perfect, get in the way better? And

13:33

and this is a very natural evolution

13:36

and obviously a very positive thing. Ian

13:38

Rodgers on the same page. There there you go. Did

13:42

you did you write his comments? So?

13:45

I don't know. So I'm on the side of rog and West

13:47

is on the side of Mike Brown. I mean, like, if you cared

13:49

about integrity so long, why did you have a catchual that

13:52

made no sense and messed with the integrity of the game.

13:54

I just like the integrity bothers me.

13:56

In the past, you have allouded the NFL

13:58

for seeing things

14:01

that are flaws in the rules and not being

14:03

afraid to take chances and try

14:05

to address them. That's what they're doing here, absolutely

14:07

that I have said that in the past. What I think

14:09

is the difference here is I think they have the wrong

14:11

solution here. I think it's wrong, and

14:14

I think they're putting themselves behind the eight ball.

14:16

You know, they're saying in politics, nobody

14:18

ever sacrifice. If you give somebody power, they're

14:20

never gonna give it back. The more power you give

14:22

to Congress or the President, it's gonna keep snowballing.

14:25

That's how I think replay review is going. Here's the thing,

14:27

Like the replay hasn't involved that much over

14:29

the years. It's has a little bit now

14:31

that there basically is someone in New York that's assigned

14:34

to each game that's ultimately in charge of the

14:36

reviews. It's not you know, it's not the officials that are

14:38

there. It's someone in New York. And so it's slowly

14:40

gotten better, but it hasn't nearly caught up to

14:42

the incredible advance and technology

14:45

that we've had, uh, the incredible amount

14:47

of cameras that are at these games. Like the NFL

14:49

has to start catching up on that front. And you hope

14:52

that this puts a little fire. And then

14:54

because I think it can be better, Like I just

14:56

think it's as Sean Payton put it to

14:58

all the owners and the like,

15:00

we're not trying to split the atom here. This shouldn't be

15:02

that hard for the NFL to figure out. And I do think get

15:04

a lot better than it's been. Make the game faster.

15:07

That's all I have to say. Alright, other

15:09

rules that didn't go through. The

15:11

NFL owners reject the onside

15:14

kick alternative proposal. UH.

15:16

We talked about that with Ian Rappaport on Wednesday.

15:19

Show the idea that the UH team

15:21

trailing has the opportunity to maintain possession

15:23

of the ball a fourth and fifteen from their own

15:26

thirty five yard line and in lieu of

15:28

attempting an onside kick. UH shot

15:30

down and UM

15:33

John Mara the corner of the Giants

15:35

found at gimmicky saying what are

15:37

we the arena Football League? Fair?

15:40

I get you uh, and also say he's

15:43

the same one. I think that was very against the replay

15:45

changes initially. Yeah.

15:47

One another vote that did go through the

15:49

lead owners vote to eliminate blindside

15:52

blocks and UH NFL

15:55

football operations. On Twitter, UM

15:59

stated that third of all concussions on

16:01

punts are caused by blindside blocks and

16:03

the NFL has done a lot of work to try to make

16:05

the game safer. Maybe not. You know, NFL doesn't

16:07

get enough credit for they really have made, in

16:09

my opinion, a concerted effort in

16:12

recent years. UM, this one

16:14

seems like a no brainer if one third

16:16

of concussions in their studies is connected

16:19

to this, we'll get rid of it. And then they've

16:21

started to over the last few years certain

16:24

blindside box and now they're totally off.

16:26

I think that that one was a home run. I would have liked

16:28

to see the fourth and fifteen concept.

16:31

It's fun, but I get I I totally see

16:33

where Mara is coming from it. There was also some

16:35

thought of doing that at the twenty five. You know, the

16:37

a F I think actually does fourth and twelve from

16:39

the twenty eight. So there's different ways you could do it.

16:41

I think that would have been one that would be worth a shot

16:43

because I think it would be exciting and

16:46

I think, Okay, yeah, you haven't done it

16:48

in the past. You haven't done a lot of things in the past. The two

16:50

point people thought the two point conversion was like harresy,

16:52

and now it's like, you could love it. You can call

16:55

any rule you don't like gimmicky, and that's just

16:57

the way it works. It would have been fun. Uh.

16:59

Jordy Nelson has reached the end of

17:01

the road. Uh. He's turning thirty four years

17:03

old next month or in May. Recently

17:07

released by the Oakland Raiders, he ends

17:09

a career that um for

17:11

a period, especially

17:13

over about a five year spend with the Packers,

17:16

he was in the conversation as a top five wide

17:18

receiver in the league, tremendous success

17:20

with Aaron Rodgers finish his

17:22

career with six catches for yards

17:27

and seventy two touchdowns.

17:29

West there was an a C. L tere in there that took

17:31

away a year of his prime and he

17:33

faded obviously very quickly.

17:36

Uh not a Hall of Famer, but one

17:39

of the best receivers of the decade

17:41

at his peak, right. I think there was a five to

17:43

six year span there where he was the best

17:45

boundary receiver in the NFL, one

17:49

of the best route runners in the NFL, the

17:51

best back shoulder receiver in the NFL

17:53

because he had a mind meld with Aaron Rodgers,

17:56

and he was a red zone weapon and a

17:58

deep threat at the same time. He was one of the best

18:00

all around offensive players in the NFL

18:03

for five to six years span. And I think

18:05

when you look at Rogers's struggle

18:08

struggles last year, maybe you

18:10

could even say the last two years relative struggles.

18:13

You know, part of it is losing that

18:15

mind meld with Jordy and Jordy not

18:18

being the same and James Jones

18:20

and Greg Jennings in that group. I

18:22

was talking to Michael Cohen, who writes for The

18:24

Athletic, and he was saying, how you

18:26

know, Rogers would sometimes call audibles

18:29

in games for plays

18:32

that they hadn't had in their playbook for three years,

18:35

and that you know, that would that's the type of thing that would

18:37

drive Mike McCarthy crazy. Uh.

18:40

But it was the type of thing that you could pull off when

18:42

you had Jordy Nelson and James Jones and Greg

18:44

Jennings and these guys that all they were they had

18:46

been running this offense for so long together

18:49

that he could play that sort of schoolyard

18:52

audible or change it to a play that they hadn't running

18:54

forever, because these guys all knew

18:56

it and they were a great like group. And

18:59

then once that group kind of went away,

19:01

Rogers can't do that sort of stuff anymore.

19:04

Ring of honor, dude, not a hall,

19:06

not a hall of fame, No hall of very good

19:09

Packers. Ring of honor that same that sounds right, uh?

19:11

In other news center career, Greg Jennings

19:13

or Jordy Nelson, I'm going to Geordie was

19:15

better at his very peak. Yeah, I agree for

19:18

everything you said. Was he was a monster when

19:21

he was you know, before the a c L tear. He

19:23

even one comeback Player of the Year after he came

19:25

back, but he was kind of in the decline at

19:27

that point leading into that a c L year, he

19:30

was on top of the yeast

19:32

in the game. UM. Rob

19:34

Gronkowski obviously, over the weekend announced

19:37

his retirement his agent.

19:39

That's funny story, Um drew

19:41

Rosenhouse that same day and he's there.

19:43

He spent the entire weekend in

19:46

and around um the

19:48

hotel where we were in the lobby, and in

19:50

fact, there are multiple times where I was just maybe sitting

19:52

outside or he was always talking

19:54

to somebody. You could always hear him talking about Gronk

19:57

and you know, openly discussing,

19:59

oh oh, maybe he'll come back. And he went on,

20:01

he went on a media tour and said the same thing that

20:04

he wasn't necessarily convinced. Greg.

20:06

I'm I'm just wondering if this

20:08

gives you pause, Slash hope

20:11

that Gronk could still be lining up week

20:13

one for the new English No not week

20:15

one, because I think that we eight was

20:19

framed. It was like, Okay, maybe they're

20:21

in a playoff run and they give old Gronk

20:23

a call. But rosen House also said

20:25

when he he presented a plan to the

20:27

Patriots or he wants to Gronk

20:30

where essentially, hey, what if I

20:32

present this to the Patriots where you don't you don't have to

20:34

show up till the middle of training camp or who knows,

20:36

maybe even later than that, see what the Patriots

20:38

think. Gronk wanted no part of it. He was definitive

20:41

right now and what he thinks he is only twenty

20:44

nine years old. I don't know. I

20:46

I've said it on the last pot because I love the way he walked

20:48

away. I wouldn't want him to come back like that, but I'm

20:50

sure if they needed to help and he starts rumbling down the

20:52

field, I had changed my mind. Like he's never taken

20:54

the first three months of the season off and that just

20:56

showed up for the playoffs. He just did it last Oh

20:59

please, I'm mean he's out there getting Dan

21:01

had him retired in November. I mean he's

21:04

out there for sixty snacks, snaps,

21:06

getting crackback blocks in the back. You tell

21:08

him he's taking it off. That was an amazing

21:11

blog. Now I'm saying he's getting crushed

21:13

by defensive players who are taking shots at

21:15

him. So, whether it was producing or not, it

21:18

wasn't fun. How

21:21

dare you come after his honor? Belichick

21:23

is notoriously hard to predict. How

21:25

do you feel he would handle that request?

21:27

What he is? He so much of a team builder

21:29

that he would say none?

21:32

Whatever? Um?

21:34

Alright, boys scrunk. It is

21:36

now time for

21:38

Golden Moments presented

21:40

by McDonald's introducing the Big

21:42

Mac with Bacon, Cheesy Bacon Fries, and quarter

21:45

Pounder with bacon at participating McDonald's

21:48

Mickey D's for a limited time only.

21:51

Uh is it the best thing to happen to McDonald's

21:53

classics or to bacon? Yeah?

21:56

Who doesn't like bacon? You're all the way

21:59

back? Can we got that free?

22:01

That free? You know biscuit the other day?

22:04

You know now I'm back in. Yeah, especially if it's

22:06

free. Eric, Absolutely, Let's

22:08

milk this a little bit. Let's milk this tea? Yeah

22:12

all right? So, Uh, the golden moment

22:15

was Tuesday morning at

22:18

the breakfast Coaches breakfast. Greg,

22:20

you were boots on the ground. Uh,

22:23

what are some takeaways you had from

22:26

that breakfast? Variety. Should I

22:28

just like power through these, Yeah, because I had I

22:31

had a couple too that had just from you know, reading

22:33

around. You don't hit him, I'll hit him rapid

22:36

fire. Number one Zach Taylor not

22:38

getting a lot of publicity. I really like this

22:40

guy. Tell people who he is. He's the coach of

22:42

the Cincinnati Bengals. I thought he was a sitcom

22:44

star from the ninety Every

22:47

once in a while, I have to like re check what his name is

22:49

because I have this mental block that he's Zack Robinson,

22:51

who is this random quarterback in the NFL.

22:53

He also like looks like a GUYNT help

22:55

that the Rams just hired Zack Robinson to take his place,

22:58

that that maybe is part of it. And he's

23:00

yeah, he looks like he's just going out to play eight teen

23:02

at the local, you know, kind of you know,

23:04

municipal course, just like a regular guy.

23:07

But I really he seems really comfortable in his own

23:09

skin. I think he was being genuine when he talked

23:11

about the amount of talent that's on that Bengals team.

23:13

It's it's not that bad. And he just seems like

23:15

a guy. After speaking to him, being

23:17

around him, that is gonna be captivating

23:20

for the players. I think can be a leader and

23:22

I think hasn't gotten a lot of pub was impressed

23:24

with him. Frank Reich talking up Devin

23:26

Funches really struck me. I was

23:29

sitting next to Frank Reich and man, he

23:31

is convinced that Devin Funches is gonna be a huge

23:33

part of that offense because of his footwork and

23:35

his route running ability. That stuck

23:37

out. Andy Reid when asked who's a leader

23:40

on their defense was flu mixed.

23:44

Tyrn Matthew was the first person that he

23:46

mentioned. Tymond Matthew, hasn't you know practiced?

23:48

That was? That was? That was it that stuck out

23:50

to me. And then King's kick Cliff Kingsbury.

23:53

He's in a tough spot, but you know,

23:55

he has to speak in a time where he really

23:57

can't say anything. But when he's asked about

23:59

Kylie Murray to compare

24:01

him to someone, he literally says, I

24:03

don't know if there's really another comp

24:06

in NFL history that combined the

24:08

running nobility of a Michael Vick,

24:10

which I think he basically has in a true

24:13

drop back passer that I think he's

24:15

one of the great. He said, one of the great dual

24:17

threat players of all time. That's what I

24:19

mean. So to me, it's like

24:22

Kyler Murray and his eyes are just lighting

24:24

up. And then he's asked about Rosen he says the things

24:26

that you have to say. But it's just it's

24:28

like, you know, what, what are we doing here? You

24:30

know, I get it. You can't you can't declare it. But

24:33

talk to people that are in and around the owners

24:36

meetings, everyone knows it that, yeah,

24:38

this is what's happening, that Kyler Murray

24:41

is their quarterback, and well, let's wait and see if

24:43

it happens. I feel I feel like it's

24:45

just but when yeah,

24:47

it's hard not to

24:49

read into these things. When when

24:52

he he literally was asked about it. Whatever

24:54

happened to the rule that you don't trust anything you hear about the draft

24:56

for the two months leading up to the draft. That's fair, I

24:58

mean. And then he's asked about Nick bo Of, said Quentin

25:00

Williams, and he had like an eight second

25:02

answer. Seriously, it was it

25:05

was just like those guys are game changes. Speaking of

25:07

Kingsbury at the meetings,

25:10

he told reporters that

25:12

he will implement implement a plan to keep

25:14

his players attention to practice that he used

25:16

at Texas Tech. Cell phone breaks,

25:19

that's what it is now. Kingsbury said, they're

25:21

itching to get to those things. I

25:24

think coming from the college ranks. Obviously,

25:26

those young men, it's got to be quick hitters

25:29

twenty minutes at a time. Give them a break

25:32

and get them back in west

25:34

your thoughts. You know, when I worked

25:36

for the Post Office and I worked at a law firm in

25:38

in downtown Cincinnati, I was always flammixed

25:41

by this ability of random

25:43

smokers to just take breaks whenever they wanted.

25:45

That always I've never made sense to not

25:47

fair, but cell phones make make

25:49

sense to me. Like, if you're gonna allow smoke breaks,

25:52

you definitely allow cellphone broad Like

25:54

you have this, you have this habit, this addiction

25:56

to nicotine, and allowed your work

25:58

day to be like third to you, the forty five

26:00

minutes shorter than the person that abstains

26:03

from smoking. And then you come back on the elevator

26:05

and the whole elevator stinks because

26:07

you've been smoking out there with all your good time. Buddy

26:09

Ricky puts down two packs a day, so she no,

26:12

it's so frustrating. When I was waitressing the

26:14

bartenders or a waitress. They would take their

26:16

smoke breaks, and it's like, we're in the middle of a rush

26:18

and you need to go out and smoke a cigarette for fifteen

26:20

minutes. What if what if I was like, no, I'm gonna go stand outside

26:23

for fifteen minutes. I'm not leaving you in the weeds like

26:25

this. It's ridiculous. I don't really know too many people

26:27

that smoke anymore, but there

26:30

is still a sizey portion of the

26:32

population, and they all have chips on their shoulders,

26:34

like, don't tell me what I could do with my body. And it's

26:36

like, well, you do. You just ignore all

26:38

the science on second hand smoke and the fact

26:41

that your clothes and hair stink and

26:43

now I stink because you do. But you

26:45

don't have freedom to do that. West is right. But if

26:47

you're a listener to the podcast and you smoke cigarettes,

26:49

that's cool, man, Just moderation.

26:52

Yeah, acknowledge secondhand smoke as

26:54

a thing that exists. I do like this, like

26:56

idea of Kingsbury as kind of like

26:58

the millennial a whisper

27:01

that he's gonna come up with does It seems a little on the

27:03

nose, right, but it's it's not a bad

27:05

idea. It's fine, it's

27:07

funny. Larry fits. Larry FitzGeralds, everyone's gonna

27:09

be doing this, And Clarry Fitzgerald was talking about right

27:11

exactly. Larry Fitzgerald was talking on the Mina Kimes

27:14

podcast. Uh how

27:16

how that's like one of the biggest differences that you know, it's

27:18

kind of like a cliche thing for an older guy to say,

27:20

but just that it's true. Everyone

27:22

in the locker room is on their phones. Uh,

27:25

you know, and so it's like a different vibe, but it

27:27

is. You know, it's just life changing. You just

27:29

gotta recognize it. You gotta roll with it, don't fight against

27:31

you. But you know, all we ever talked about on this damn

27:34

podcast is how Bill Belichick is ahead

27:36

of the game and the Patriots do things smarter and

27:38

better. Do you think Bill does this? What do you think

27:40

Bill thinks about the guys need anything? I

27:43

think there are um psychiatrists

27:46

or psychologists. I always get confused on which one

27:48

to use. Win who have told Bill Belichick

27:50

this is a smart thing to do. I think the I

27:52

think they have told all NFL coaches this

27:55

is the way it's going. You'll get more production out

27:57

of these players if you allow them to use cell phone? Um,

28:00

what else? Greg? What else did you hear? How

28:02

about Bruce Arians on Gerald

28:04

McCoy his superstar defensive

28:07

tackle or is he he's a thirty

28:09

eight point four million over the next three years of his

28:11

deal. He's been floated around as a possible trade candidate,

28:14

and Arians, as he so often is, was candid

28:16

when asked about where McCoy

28:19

is uh in two thousand nineteen.

28:21

He's not as disruptive as he was

28:23

four years ago. He's still a good player if

28:26

he If he's here, he's our starting three

28:28

technique, no doubt about that. Arians

28:31

continued, What I'd like to see, what I'd like to see more

28:34

disruptive. Yeah, we can use him. If he's

28:36

here, He's going to be used a bunch. It just

28:38

a matter of what happens. There's

28:41

like an unwritten role among NFL coaches

28:44

that you don't talk this way about a veteran player,

28:46

a respective veteran unless you really want him

28:48

to take a pack up or trade him. I

28:50

was thinking it was maybe I'm not gonna say this, Productions

28:53

declined. I was just thinking,

28:55

he's like, hey, come at us with

28:57

the draft, give us a give us

28:59

a third, give you a seventh thing, give you

29:01

this guy who's no longer and that

29:03

sort of doesn't make sense. He is, he's a solid player.

29:06

I did remember

29:08

one other thing, which is when I asked Andy

29:10

Reid, it's I just went to the coaches

29:12

that had after Kingsbury. I just decided to go

29:14

to the ones with the fewest people around him. Taylor

29:17

only had two, so it's just three

29:19

people there. Uh. Frank Rank only

29:21

had two or three, and Andy Reid surprising

29:23

they only had a couple. Uh,

29:25

And so I I one of the things

29:27

I asked Andy Reid was, you know, like

29:30

having a guy like my homes with that much like

29:32

raw talent, Like does that get your you

29:34

know, juice is flown because he's pretty good at like staying

29:36

ahead of the curve when the season starts, and

29:39

and he said yeah, and he's like, he's like, that's just

29:41

that's what I love doing. I'm a teacher. He's like, if if

29:43

I was your English teacher, I'd have you, you know,

29:45

primed up and ready to go for your

29:47

next article. And I kind of read into that

29:50

that he was saying he knows he knows us from

29:52

doing the podcast, he was saying, I'm kind

29:54

of like the Patrick Mahomes of writers.

29:57

See that's where mine Mark is going as well.

29:59

What was on Edie's plate? Just out of curiosity

30:02

he did wasn't eating. He didn't have any in front

30:04

of it. Anybody eating openly. The coaches

30:07

that I was, I sat in here, did not bother.

30:09

I think some of them went and they got the food afterwards, you

30:11

know, they get in there the shuttle. That's a lot and then

30:13

the little breakfast bar still

30:16

open for thirty more minutes. All right, So do

30:18

students still still take a class called

30:20

English? Of course it's not called

30:23

something else. I believe it's English

30:25

class. But yeah, I need

30:27

to I have young, young children,

30:29

and I'm like twenty years out of high school, so I'm

30:31

not the best person to ask, but I think it's probably still the

30:33

thing we would have heard about. It just

30:35

feel like it would be called communication or something

30:38

else. But now, all right,

30:41

just just a questions. Have

30:43

been getting it done for a long time. You gotta stick

30:45

with it, but you learned to speak it by the time

30:47

you're one, so you don't really need

30:50

It's like reading books. You can call it literature

30:52

if you want it, but it's kind of all incomb class.

30:57

Those are golden moments, uh, presented

30:59

by mcdone Donalds and that gorgeous new cheeseburger

31:01

with bacon. Um. All right, as

31:04

we promised here he is Green

31:06

Bay Packers coach Matt Lafleur. All

31:09

right, we are very excited to have a

31:12

new head coach. The new

31:14

head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Matt

31:16

Lafleur. Welcome to the Around the NFL podcast.

31:19

Appreciate you guys have it. We'd

31:23

like to kick it off the little ray of music. Does

31:26

this match your sensibility as a man at all? Oh?

31:28

Yeah? And he said, well,

31:30

you know right off the bat um

31:32

you are a rookie head coach. Rookie mistake.

31:35

You show up. You are very dressed

31:37

up for the owners meetings.

31:39

Andy Reid we had here last year and he wore

31:42

like an open Hawaiian shirt and khaki

31:44

shorts. Uh, you are well

31:46

dressed. Are you going to rectify that in the future? Are

31:48

you going to show up other coaches by being the best dressed

31:51

coach at owners meetings which angle here? Jason

31:53

Wallers definitely set me up for this.

31:56

It's all his fault. Alright, the Packers pr

31:58

got you there, so all right, here we go. You

32:02

have a great history with

32:04

football, but it all started with

32:07

the Omaha Beef national Take

32:10

us through your time with the Beef. That

32:12

was very, very, very interesting

32:15

experience. Now what league are they in? I

32:17

don't even know if that leaks still exists. It is

32:20

flash was Indoor Football

32:22

League, that's correct, the NFL

32:25

and you were the quarterback. Yeah, it was more

32:27

of the backup, but I

32:29

got a few opportunities to go in there,

32:31

and it's run around. What's the uniform

32:34

look like when you're the Omaha Beef. What was the color

32:37

break black and orange? Remember that

32:39

Lady Gaga dress you ward the Grammys like

32:41

five years ago? It was just all meat. It was like maybe

32:44

something like that. We did have the Rump Roasters

32:46

as the dance team. That

32:49

is amazing. So now you're in a slightly

32:51

more high profile position

32:54

as Aaron Rodgers is head coached. Well,

32:56

I mean is that Rogers

32:58

is a living legends send uh in

33:01

Green Bay and one of the greatest quarterbacks ever?

33:03

Is there is there any level of intimidation

33:06

walking into the job when Aaron Rodgers is the guy

33:09

now more excitement. I mean, to

33:11

have a guy to that has that ability.

33:14

I mean, these jobs

33:16

just don't come open, So I'm very excited

33:18

to get that opportunity to work with him.

33:20

When you become like the Green Bay Packers head

33:22

coach, do you suddenly have like is your phone blowing

33:25

up like Brett Farve reaching out to you saying welcome

33:27

to town and stuff for or or Brett Farve. If

33:29

I'm still waiting on that one, come on,

33:31

Brett, pick up the phone. When

33:33

you watch go back and watch what Aaron Rodgers

33:35

did last year, do you see a guy you're

33:37

still confident I've got the best quarterback in the NFL.

33:40

Yeah, he's certainly

33:42

got all the talent, and I just again

33:44

it's looking forward to that opportunity

33:47

to really sit down and get into the football

33:50

component and uh, you know,

33:52

try to teach him our system. You have some

33:55

history with quality quarterbacks.

33:57

You were um QB coach of

33:59

Matt ro in his MVP year, Uh,

34:01

Jared Goff, uh, Marcus

34:04

Mariota and now Rogers. You've had

34:06

pretty good luck or you've been surrounded

34:08

by some really high level quarterback down but

34:11

really nothing at this level that I mean is

34:13

Rogers the type of guy and I know last year

34:16

was a big disappointment, uh for

34:18

everyone about but is Roger's type of

34:20

guy, Like anything is possible because we have

34:22

that guy in the building. Yeah, you feel

34:24

really confident with when you got

34:26

a guy at that of that

34:28

caliber at that position because we know that

34:31

is definitely the in my

34:33

opinion, the most important position in

34:35

all of sports because they got the ball in

34:37

their hand on on every on every

34:39

place. So, UM,

34:42

certainly it's not just about Aaron

34:44

Rodgers though. It's about our football team. And I

34:46

think we've got a lot of pieces there

34:48

to work with that um

34:51

and some young pieces that were really

34:53

excited about moving forward. Is there one

34:55

coach that you've been with in the past

34:57

that prepared you more than any other

34:59

to come suddenly you were a head coach? It's like

35:01

the job is completely different than anything

35:04

you've done before. Who prepared you? Um,

35:07

you know, you take pieces

35:09

from all the guys that you worked with, But being

35:12

in l A with Sean uh

35:15

for one season and being so

35:17

close to him and watching him

35:19

implement his culture into the Rams

35:21

that I certainly took a lot from

35:24

that experience. I I noticed

35:26

during the combine because you talked about you also

35:28

worked with Kyle Shanahan. Of course you were on his

35:31

staff with Sean McVeigh, but you

35:33

know a lot of people got to know you, you know, when you were

35:35

with the Rams. I I kind of noticed though you

35:38

sounded a little competitive in terms of

35:40

the age that you said you were. You were

35:42

better. You're better looking

35:45

than you are old. Likely that you're thank

35:48

you like, like you're not as old

35:50

as you look that you're grouped with these younger,

35:52

you know, coaches. But it was almost like kind

35:54

of a quiet flex that actually, know, I

35:57

just look young. These guys are Yeah,

35:59

reading that correctly, you know, I'm a month older

36:01

and Kyle so, but I've

36:03

got seven years on Sean so um,

36:06

yeah, he's still the baby of the coaching.

36:08

Are you competitive with those guys? Like in other avenues

36:11

other than football? Always

36:13

like what? Uh geez,

36:16

I mean it's hard to pinpoint

36:18

just one thing. Um, but anytime

36:21

we get together and we start doing anything

36:23

competitive, whether it's playing cards or

36:25

what or whatnot. Uh, certainly

36:27

we're all going for each other's throats, like hair,

36:30

Is that something there's a disagreement?

36:35

Yeah, I mean I feel like I've stepped

36:37

up my hair game since I've been become a head

36:39

coach. Greg, you're

36:41

making that uncomfortable.

36:44

Let me let me ask you. We play a game here.

36:47

It's called They say, Okay, we're

36:49

not saying it, but other people

36:51

they say it. They say, yes, you

36:53

have Aaron Rodgers, and yes

36:56

you did a nice job building up that defense

36:58

from uh Mike Patton with

37:00

the big signings of free agency. But they say,

37:03

you guys are not doing enough to build around

37:05

Rogers with offensive playmakers

37:07

in free agency. What do you say to those people

37:09

that say that? How dare they? First of all,

37:13

you're not gonna please everybody, So um,

37:15

I think Goody and his staff did an awesome

37:17

job going out and getting some

37:20

some you know, key

37:22

players for us, and it really opens

37:25

up the draft for us, you know, as as

37:27

an entire football team, or you

37:29

know, when it comes to Goody, like, is it annoying when

37:31

media people call him that when we

37:33

don't know we saw that a question, like during

37:36

the comment someone called him Goody and

37:38

that just seems a little little presumptuous to go

37:40

with the nickname if we have no relationship really familiar,

37:43

well, pronounce his last name

37:49

it's easy. People don't know how to do it.

37:51

Uh, it says here, we did some research. You

37:54

were a substitute math teacher in local

37:56

high schools and also

37:59

a graduate assistant at Saginaw

38:01

Valley State. Is that right?

38:05

Kind of kind of right? I

38:07

once got a thirty thirty nine in a state

38:09

mandated math test in high school.

38:12

Does that I mean, could you possibly

38:14

respect me less because you already at the math background.

38:16

Does that change how you think of me a little bit? No?

38:18

I think I think the

38:21

world you It's

38:25

unconfirmed that he thinks about you at all. But uh,

38:30

I had a question about Aaron Jones. Should

38:32

we expect to see him featured a little bit more than he's been

38:34

in the past. Yeah, I'm I'm really excited about

38:36

him. But I think anytime at this level,

38:38

you better have multiple backs that can can

38:42

you know, carry the workload for you,

38:44

because it is that is a

38:46

pretty physical position. And UM

38:49

just kind of like what we did last year with Tennessee

38:52

and then going back to UM

38:54

Atlanta with you know, Davante and Tevin

38:56

Coleman. I think you're at your best when you

38:58

when you can really and multiple people

39:01

at that position. I mean the Packers fans for so

39:03

long had the same offense with with Aaron

39:05

Rodgers. What would be different, what

39:07

would be in in terms of identity or

39:09

what you'd want to stress What would be different this coming

39:12

season. I just think you'll

39:14

see a lot more condensed formations,

39:16

probably more motion than than you've

39:18

seen in the past. When we

39:21

Dan asked about free agency, was part of that

39:23

equation that it was a little less

39:25

active in terms of the skill position, almost

39:27

like a vote of confidence in the guys that

39:30

you have there, especially

39:32

like the rookie receivers that had pretty

39:34

good production, you know, for guys drafted

39:36

a little. I didn't say that. They said that. They said,

39:38

yeah, actually did go

39:41

ahead. No, No, certainly

39:43

when you watch the tape, those three young

39:46

guys and then you combine

39:48

them with a Davante Adams, I mean, you're

39:51

pretty excited about what you got

39:53

to work with right there. All right, it's time. It's

39:56

the Crucible, it's speed round, it's the lightning

39:58

round, whatever you want to call it. It real

40:00

vaunted. You ready, I'm scared. Here we go,

40:02

Matt with Flora. Let's hit it, Ricky, best

40:06

movie ever, Gladiator, last

40:09

movie you saw in the theater, like

40:12

Gladiator, the

40:16

last episode of Sopranos, the Tony

40:18

Die. Yes,

40:21

you say that with certainty.

40:23

Yeah, I've never watched that is

40:27

the podcast industry worthy of respect. Absolutely

40:30

best decade for hip hop. Oh

40:33

it's got to be Yeah

40:37

DMX, Netflix and Chill or

40:39

A Hot Night on the Town, Netflix

40:42

and Chill. Worst than Eyes, a

40:44

submarine catastrophe or Grizzly

40:46

Bear attack. It's

40:49

a tough one. We have to go Grizzly

40:51

attack. CARDI b overrated,

40:54

underrated, properly rated, overrated,

41:00

like it? Favorite favorite

41:02

athlete growing up? Uh,

41:07

Michael Jordan's that's bar food,

41:11

cheese skirts? Interesting like

41:14

that beer of choice? Uh?

41:17

Mill I like? Who will sit on the

41:19

iron throne? Do

41:22

you know what the iron? I do not know what that means

41:24

his face just but greatest

41:26

meat product? Uh?

41:30

Does life exists beyond our planet? Probably?

41:34

Okay, good answer there, we got. I like it.

41:36

Coaches are open to worlds outside

41:39

of our own. That's what we've learned. I agree.

41:41

I think the answer is probably that

41:43

is the right end. Yeah, all right, there

41:46

we go. Matt, Thank you so much. Best

41:49

of luck to you. Hopefully you and Aaron

41:51

are like best friends. You know, some people say he's

41:53

tough to get along with, but I feel like you're a guy that's

41:55

gonna have Aaron Rodgers unlock

41:58

great relationship chance being chips.

42:00

It feels like something that could happen. Absolutely

42:03

all right, Matt la Flour, thank you very much and good

42:05

luck in the upcoming season. Appreciate you guys.

42:08

All Right, there it goes mad you guys think

42:10

about Mr la Fleur. He

42:13

gave some he gives some good answers. You know.

42:16

I think Greg has said that the Green Bay media,

42:18

you know, they're not sure about him yet

42:20

if he's gonna be boring. I thought he did give a few

42:22

interesting answers. I think he's

42:25

and you see this with younger coaches sometimes,

42:28

is gonna learn on the job in terms that

42:30

the media part of it is part of the job.

42:32

He is said openly, so I'm not putting any

42:34

words in his mouth that he does not like

42:37

that part of the job. And I think he's trying

42:39

to in situations like this warm

42:42

up to it. But it's tough. You don't want to you don't want to get

42:44

all those you know. Green Bay is not it's

42:47

not New York, but it's also kind

42:49

of a big market in terms of football. Just

42:51

because you have thirty forty people there, I mean they're

42:53

covered. That's the most important thing in time. You don't want all

42:55

those people against you right off

42:57

the bat if you start out one in three. I

43:00

think he's um, you know there and

43:02

it's when your first year coach. I think

43:05

the experience, even the owners meetings

43:07

and going through the car wash, that's probably

43:10

all different. I know he has history in his career

43:12

as a coach going back years and years,

43:14

but he's still a young guy. Um. I'd be interested

43:16

to see what he would be like in year two compared

43:18

to year one. Um. But it

43:21

really hit home when he said he, I guess I'll have

43:23

to get a big get back coach like he's

43:25

never had one before, you know, the inexperienced baby.

43:28

It's a new era in Green Bay. Also,

43:30

as we teased a d d Ki Kabwalla,

43:33

we wanted to talk Steelers, we wanted to talk

43:35

her relationship with Mark Cesler and we got all of

43:37

that. Let's listen in here

43:41

from the owners meetings

43:43

at the Biltmore and

43:45

we're joined by a woman who's

43:47

never been on the show before. And you

43:50

know what, it's overdue. She's

43:53

NFL Networks own add

43:57

Welcome to the Round the NFL Podcast. Thrilled

44:02

to be here. I'm wondering why it took

44:04

so long to invite me, but um, I'll try

44:06

not to hold out against all of you. Seriously,

44:12

it was the music that was kind of throwing Yeah,

44:14

welcome to the show. Yes, it is overdue because

44:18

for a lot of reasons. But we thought

44:20

that the opportunity here at the

44:22

boatmore to get together and

44:24

have a conversation and the team that

44:27

you cover many teams for NFL Network,

44:29

but the Steelers. I don't think anybody in our building

44:32

knows as much about the Steelers as you.

44:34

How about you know, like double

44:37

the amount of what anybody else knows, yes or not. But

44:39

that's not always a good

44:41

thing. I mean, Dave damashek liked me

44:43

more before I knew

44:45

as much about the Steelers as I knew. But as Dave

44:47

damashek liking you a good thing. Well,

44:50

you know my

44:52

husband, actually my husband is a lifelong

44:54

Steelers fan. He sat on the season ticket wait

44:56

list for twenty one years. This year

44:59

one day he said to me, you have ruined it

45:01

for me, and I said, well, sorry

45:03

for laundry, but why do you know too much? Are

45:05

you dropping like negative insider bombs

45:08

on him? That just reality, you know,

45:10

Like I think part of fandom is not accepting

45:12

the truth. It's this idealized

45:14

image of my such and

45:17

such as, this, my such and such as that, this

45:19

is what happens inside a locker room, you

45:21

know. I mean, did you imagine it to be something?

45:23

Just before you came on with us, you were your

45:25

your husband lovingly with

45:28

his with your child, tried to call you and

45:30

do a little face time, and you sort

45:32

of just gave him the big old heisman.

45:35

You just give them a little bit of accurate

45:38

you know, let's be a little accurate here, since I

45:40

am in the business of reporting facts. First,

45:42

there was a FaceTime. My child was on the FaceTime.

45:44

Then I was very loving and I said, baby,

45:47

I need to Mama needs to do something

45:49

right now. Can I call you back in ten minutes? Then

45:51

the second call. Then the second one came in, and

45:53

I thought I made myself very clear when I just said

45:56

I'm calling you back in ten minutes. Very second

45:58

one was the husband who was thirty five years

46:00

old. You should know better. The

46:03

tone was different, and you're sending a lot of mess.

46:05

The ten minutes is kind of a subtle, passive

46:07

aggressive, like keep this thing short. A lot

46:09

was going that. Has everybody here been married? I

46:11

mean not you, but everybody else is very longer

46:13

than we're

46:17

all like the five to ten year range. I'm

46:19

at twelve. Speak for yourself, okay, twelve. And

46:21

the tone that you had with your husband is

46:24

the real tone of a husband and wife

46:26

when they're not putting on any type

46:28

of show for anyone, So that which is very important.

46:31

It's important to be authentic. Well, I don't think

46:33

I have to worry about that. Well,

46:35

all right, you don't think

46:37

less of me? I mean, let's yeah,

46:40

I I don't. I don't know less. I

46:43

have not been invited on the podcast.

46:46

I think a little less of you. But that's okay, that

46:48

can be goose. I've been a Brown's

46:50

champion for many, many years. Why

46:52

have you not? That's in the past. You've

46:54

started to use that tone with Mark, you know,

46:56

ever since last night when you learned so much about him

46:58

before we started, said, she's

47:01

learned so much about Mark in the last two

47:03

days and she's not sure she likes Well,

47:05

I don't. I

47:08

don't know. I don't know what I shared with you, but I

47:11

would be concerned about where twelve hours ago

47:13

what I was sharing Verbley

47:14

would. Here

47:18

we go, let's get into it because and that's a

47:20

fascinating little nug we call it on the show

47:23

a la ravill mcnifico when

47:25

someone says something without maybe even

47:27

realizing your husband, a

47:30

lifelong Steelers fan no longer

47:32

interested in season tickets.

47:35

That's going a little too fun. He's

47:37

not happy with what he sees. Slash. Here's from

47:40

his wife. Now let's talk about reality.

47:42

Because Levon Bell no longer

47:44

with the team, Antonio Brown no longer with the team.

47:46

Both of them had negative things

47:48

to say about the quarterback on the way out the door.

47:51

So let's start here, Big Ben, do

47:53

you since he has an unusual

47:56

place in his locker room

47:58

compared to other franchise quarterbacks,

48:02

where his vibe is where people were view

48:04

him or is it just kind of blown up in Pittsburgh?

48:06

Where do you come down on that? This

48:11

is so dicey because I have to go back into

48:13

that city and into that lacker. How

48:16

do you you have like five million followers

48:19

in Scotland? Well,

48:23

heavily redacted if necessary, but let's just

48:25

have the conversation. So every

48:28

quarterback operates differently. Joe

48:30

Flacco is a different personality than Tom Brady,

48:32

who is a different personality than Eli Manning, who

48:35

is different personality than Ben Roethlisberger.

48:37

Ben Roethlisberger has been the quarterback for fifteen

48:39

years or is entering his fifteenth year. This

48:41

to Pittsburgh Sailor's organization is one unequivocally

48:45

behind him. We heard Are Rooney

48:47

say that, We heard my Kevin Colberg say that.

48:49

Kevin Colbert reiterated that yesterday

48:51

when he said this is a team that is completely comfortable

48:54

with Ben Roethlisberger style of leadershaw

48:56

question, is he different

49:00

then other quarterbacks I have covered?

49:03

Yes, he is. He is also

49:05

brings different things to the

49:08

field than others do the

49:12

I think the at the end of the day, the

49:14

only thing that matters here is that Ben Roethlisberger

49:16

answers to his bosses. His bosses

49:18

have absolutely no issue whatsoever

49:21

with what he does, how he operates,

49:23

how he leads. And I asked Mike

49:25

Tomlin not more than thirty minutes ago,

49:27

because we have talked so much this year about

49:29

Ben Roethlisberger's radio show and how weakly

49:32

this past year he went on the radio and was

49:34

unbelievably frank in saying Antonio

49:37

Brown should have run that route differently, Marquis Pouncey

49:39

should have blocked that guy differently,

49:42

James Washington needs to do this differently,

49:44

extremely frank in

49:46

putting all of that out there publicly. And

49:48

we've heard from many players, including Antonio

49:51

Brown and Leviyan Bell that that didn't necessarily sit

49:53

well with them. So I asked mac Tomlin if

49:55

he has had any conversations

49:57

with Ben about the way that he has publicly

49:59

chosen to lead his style of leadership

50:01

or if he plans to, and Mike Tomlin

50:03

said no, So at the end of the day, it

50:06

seems like sort of wasted energy for us

50:08

to sit here and talk about it when

50:11

his bosses don't really care. Yes,

50:14

fair enough. I like that answer. So he

50:17

if you if you're a future

50:19

Hall of Famer type, can I interrupt a second?

50:21

I've learned a lot more about Chris

50:23

over the last twelve hours too, and I'm

50:26

very happy with everything. Hold

50:28

on, what is this now? Now? I

50:30

now I'm annoyed on what

50:32

is it? No? No, No,

50:34

what is it that I've shared with you that you

50:37

suddenly feel you want to ask

50:39

that question? No, I will ask you later.

50:41

But like, so Chris is amazing.

50:43

He's marrying Lakeisha. Everything is so great,

50:45

she has so many friends. Like I dropped some

50:47

sort of information fact or anything

50:50

is amazing. Like I'm not really happy about this whole

50:52

idea that Ohio is the South, that's

50:54

another part of just Cincinnati.

50:58

Well, we're gonna get to the word. We'll get into this later.

51:00

This is I

51:02

am. Mark is getting more and more upset

51:05

each minute of this interview. And it's

51:07

it's fun, all right? So

51:10

has everything to be happy about? Have you seen with the Browns?

51:14

If you did? What if you were to ask Mike Tomlin,

51:17

would you switch Cleveland's roster

51:19

with Pittsburgh's right now? What would he say? Do

51:21

you think he would not give an answer? He

51:23

danced around. You know what, we've talked so much

51:25

this offseason. Look, and here's another thing from

51:28

the from the beginning of the time

51:30

that I have been associated with the NFL

51:32

that I've covered the NFL, people have talked about

51:34

the Pittsburgh Steelers as one of your top

51:37

five organizations. This is a club that just about

51:39

every player in the league wants to play for, right,

51:42

and it it means something. It's it's

51:44

a franchise that stands for something significant.

51:47

Now, this past season, all

51:49

you're hearing sort of in the public chatter

51:51

and the public sphere is that the Steelers are

51:53

a circus, that the Steelers are a laughing stock,

51:55

that the Steelers have not fulfilled

51:58

their potential, That players want out of Pittsburgh.

52:01

I mean, when was the last time that you heard

52:03

players, not only Antonio Brown and Levi on

52:05

Bell, but a guy like Morgan Burnett is demanding

52:07

to get out. So I

52:09

said to Mike Tomin, how does any of that

52:11

affect you? Does it in the sense

52:13

that do you feel that this organization that you feel

52:15

so tied to, that you have such an affinity for, is

52:18

being tarnished in some way? And

52:20

he just was again very you know, it's chatter.

52:23

It's chatter. It's not you know, like they're

52:25

teflon. They're not letting them affect them.

52:27

And what's interesting about that is sometimes when

52:31

you keep hearing the same thing, do you need

52:33

to take a minute and say, Okay,

52:35

this is out there. Should we kind

52:37

of examine this. I mean, if

52:39

all four people sitting here saying,

52:42

you know, this thing about Mark Sessler is a little

52:44

bit interesting, should Mark kind of say

52:47

is it really interesting? Or should Mark

52:50

say I don't care what anybody says and

52:52

the angle

52:55

on this and not change anything exactly.

52:58

That is exactly what's happened right

53:00

now. It's funny though, because they have that reputation

53:02

yet, like you know, Mike Thommins won three more

53:04

playoff games, you know, in Antonio

53:06

Brown's era than than Mark has. I

53:08

mean, it's like they have that reputation as I'm

53:11

at the top five team, but they don't have the results

53:13

under Mike Tomins, Greg and I know. And

53:16

for arguably for five years running,

53:18

they had a two time Super Bowl winning quarterback

53:21

who is ostensibly a future Hall of Famer.

53:23

Okay, the GM said that he's definitely a future

53:25

Hall of Famer. You had arguably

53:28

one of the top two receivers in the game, arguably

53:30

one of the top two running backs in the game, arguably

53:33

a top five offensive line, and you had a

53:35

defense littered with first round picks for

53:37

five years and the sum total of

53:39

those five years was three playoff

53:42

wins.

53:43

You don't, yeah,

53:45

I mean, I just don't see how you

53:47

don't feel that's an unbelievable waste

53:49

of talent. In some way, you sense that in that

53:51

building, like first the lavy On Bell drama

53:54

and then the Brown drama follows, and all

53:56

of a sudden and they still you know that,

53:58

the James Conner and your Smith Schuster,

54:00

and they still have players. And I think

54:02

we're all in agreement. We've talked about this, that

54:05

the Steelers are going to be a competitive team again next year,

54:07

regardless of those superstars being gone.

54:10

But the organization, you

54:12

sense that we really let this

54:14

get away. This might have been the greatest missed opportunity

54:17

in the history of the franchise, what we had in five years,

54:19

and we just couldn't get it done. I don't

54:21

think I hear that from players,

54:24

But I also hear right now from players just a sense

54:26

of relief, because if there's anything

54:29

the New England Patriots have shown the rest of the league

54:31

over the last five years, it doesn't really matter

54:33

what your star power is. It's far more

54:35

about the buy in. It's far more about

54:37

everybody being willing to accept a role and

54:39

work towards a common goal. And

54:43

you look at that Patriots team and

54:45

this past year Rob Gronkowski was a shell of himself

54:48

essentially. But I mean, Tom

54:50

Brady is the greatest of all time, but who

54:52

else is really truly a transcendent

54:55

player on that team? And

54:58

meanwhile, the Steelers had all these transcendent players and

55:00

couldn't do anything. So and Mike Tomlin

55:02

talked about that today too. You know, he reiterated

55:04

a line that he said that at the end of the season, we

55:06

don't want hostages, we want volunteers. And

55:08

he also said it's really really important to

55:10

get good guys who want

55:12

to do what we want to do and check our boxes

55:14

and if not, then we'll just part ways. And so

55:17

maybe this is a recognition that the

55:19

sum of the team is much greater

55:21

than the individual parts while they had

55:24

individual parts. But the last thing that I would

55:26

say is that I do believe that leadership fosters

55:29

I think, and this is something I talked about at length with John

55:31

Harbot yesterday. And it's sort of a chicken

55:33

and an egg thing, Right, do you get the right

55:35

kind of guy and therefore you have the

55:38

right personality team, or

55:40

do you get a guy and do mold him

55:42

into the kind of guy that you want

55:45

or is it some sort of mix of

55:47

that and have the Steelers enabled

55:50

and allowed guys to sort

55:52

of turn into me me me guys,

55:54

because I'll tell you this, Antonio Brown was not anything

55:57

like what he was this year. I mean he has.

56:00

We have seen a personality chan GM who I

56:02

like to call Kevin Colboa

56:04

Colbert I know, but I don't agree with how

56:08

I just feel about him, but like he's always like, oh, there's

56:10

no drama, Like we disagree with the idea of those

56:12

drama. It's like, okay, but everyone

56:14

watching the Steelers from the outside feels

56:17

the drama was the evil ingredient

56:20

that separated star power from this rock.

56:22

And you know what's so funny about that, because I was listening back

56:25

to so Mike Tomlin when he comes to the owners

56:27

meetings, does this little session with

56:30

just local reporters, and I have been

56:32

invited to that the last two years, which

56:36

no, it was sort of It's not even a humble brag.

56:38

It's just I'm lucky and I am on tenderhooks

56:41

that it doesn't get taken away because of

56:43

whatever we may happen to say in this podcast.

56:46

But last year, you

56:48

know, it's sort of a free flowing he's a little more relaxed.

56:50

You know. We talked for about five minutes whatever,

56:52

and it's a very small group and we sit around a table.

56:56

So last year I

56:58

said to him at the end of the you

57:00

know session, I said, well, you know, next

57:03

year, i'd appreciate a little less drama.

57:06

I'm not sure I can take it. And

57:08

he said back to me, I'm

57:10

not worried about you. But I

57:13

foresaw this coming, I

57:15

mean a year ago, and I

57:17

actively said at that time last year,

57:20

less drama would be good. This year we

57:22

only saw more drama. But now

57:24

this year he's the key. Doesn't more drama

57:26

mean more a d D on television?

57:29

M hmm, I suppose. But you know

57:31

what, here's the truth. More stern phone calls

57:33

to husband, I'm about to go on live. Please

57:36

stop calling me on multiple devices. You guys,

57:38

this is such a professionally

57:40

speaking, it's great for us when there are

57:43

things to talk about and when people are fascinated

57:45

by whatever it is you are talking about. But

57:47

I'll tell you, very, very honestly, when

57:50

I got it, when I fell in love with this game, when I

57:52

fell in love with journalism, when I got into this. It

57:54

wasn't stories like this that got me going. And

57:57

while sure, in some ways this is nice

57:59

for my er that people are fascinated

58:01

by what I am talking about, it's not any

58:03

fun to talk about this. Who wants to talk about guys? Who?

58:09

Wow? I think it's the only two things

58:15

I do have a

58:16

que

58:19

jealous jealous I just like I

58:21

can see where it's going. We talked, We talked

58:23

about how the players felt about Ben Roethlisberger.

58:26

How did the players feel about Levian Bell and

58:28

Antonio Brown by the end of the year. I

58:31

don't think you know, at no point has anyone

58:33

thought that Levian

58:35

Bell or Antonio Brown is a bad teammate or

58:38

a bad guy to play with, or not a hard worker,

58:40

or not to say that that's what they think of Ben. These

58:42

are two separate questions, but there's

58:45

never been any negative thought. I think that would happened

58:47

at the end with Antonio just became

58:49

a little bit too ridiculous. And I think the team

58:52

itself lost in the appetite

58:55

with the

58:57

appetite for any of this. I mean, you

58:59

heard Jesse James go to Detroit and he

59:01

played for his hometown team, the Steelers,

59:03

it was a dream. And he got to Detroit and he said, you know

59:05

what, it was just time to get away from the drama.

59:08

And you have Ramone Foster, who's one of the paid

59:11

him way more money than the Steelers would have, and

59:13

had plans to use him well, and had

59:16

plans to use him in a

59:18

variety of ways that are greater than the way

59:21

the Steelers used him. Sure, there are multiple

59:23

reasons, but he still said that, you know, and it's

59:25

the same thing that I would say to you that being

59:29

around all of that week in, week

59:31

out, the constant it's exhausting,

59:33

it's tiring, and there's not that lift

59:36

of there's

59:38

an energy. Any reporter who regularly

59:40

spends time in a locker room and tells you that

59:43

he or she doesn't care if the team wins or loses

59:45

is full of it. Because a winning locker room

59:48

is always a better place to be. People

59:50

are in a better mood, they're more gregarious,

59:52

they have more time for you. The question

59:55

asking is not so onerous. It's always

59:57

better to be around a happy team.

1:00:00

Well, final question, because it kind of

1:00:02

ties into what you're saying. You saw the storm clouds

1:00:05

gathering entering it

1:00:07

played out that way. If you look years

1:00:09

ago, I saw the years ago. If you look, if you look

1:00:11

above, where where's the Steeler's home base? Again,

1:00:13

what's the address? There's like one Steeler drivers.

1:00:16

No, it's uh southwater Stream,

1:00:18

right, you look above southwater Stream? Is

1:00:20

his narrative. Basically, what

1:00:22

does the sky look like right now? I mean the

1:00:25

clouds clearing with all this bad energy?

1:00:29

Okay, I do think that it very much

1:00:31

feels as if now it will still

1:00:33

go on a little bit. And we were talking about that

1:00:35

today, that this feels like the most exhausting season.

1:00:38

Can we turn the page and move on? But

1:00:41

until Ben Roethlisberger speaks, because

1:00:43

as you reference, Ben Roethlisberger has taken

1:00:45

quite a beating on the national stage for

1:00:47

his leadership, for his style, his personality.

1:00:50

He will have a contract extension at some point.

1:00:53

He will then have a press conference. He is

1:00:55

bound to be asked about what Levyan

1:00:57

and Antonio and etcetera. Have said. Until

1:01:01

that is all addressed, I don't

1:01:03

think that it's fully page

1:01:06

turned, but I definitely feel

1:01:08

that the organization has had a weight lifted

1:01:11

off to show some degree. Do you have

1:01:13

anything else to share about your encounters with Mark

1:01:16

and West before we say goodbye. Well,

1:01:18

I was just really desperately disappointed that

1:01:20

you chose not to break bread with us

1:01:22

last night. About well, tonight, maybe we'll catch up.

1:01:25

That could be fun. We could potentially

1:01:28

do that. Took the night off, that's

1:01:30

all right, you could do that about Greg? It

1:01:33

is Greg going to be social. They have the whole uh

1:01:36

going to the same party, the

1:01:39

the little thing where the people walk around the

1:01:42

little thing where it's like it's

1:01:44

like an alien trying to describe what a party is.

1:01:46

It's like, hey, how would you describe it?

1:01:48

It's like, hey, and

1:01:52

well, you know what you missed yesterday,

1:01:54

Greg? Is that it was. Indeed, Bill Belichick

1:01:57

and Matt Patricia is sitting just a table away

1:01:59

from us, and Mark was gathering courage

1:02:02

to go talk to Bill Belichick about

1:02:04

all the letters that he wrote him as a young

1:02:06

man. And I was told by Lindsay Rhodes like, no,

1:02:08

Like, when the moment happens and suddenly

1:02:10

you have a chance to meet your young hero,

1:02:13

don't go pursue that person. Wait till later.

1:02:15

It's like, Okay, now that's not gonna happen. So I've

1:02:19

gathered no, but you know what I'm talking

1:02:21

about, breaking people, destroying people's dreams.

1:02:24

So when I was a young kid

1:02:27

growing up in New Jersey, I was a massive

1:02:29

Yankees fan and I used to go to Yankee games

1:02:31

and go Mr Manningley, Mr Manningley,

1:02:33

you know, because I wanted him to sign a ball.

1:02:36

And then I grew up and I covered the Yankees

1:02:38

and I'd be in the clubhouse with Don Mattingley's

1:02:40

letter. Not be a negative Don Mattingley story. I won't

1:02:42

have it on this podcast. Well,

1:02:45

you know, one day I said to him, because we became

1:02:47

friendly, I said, you know, I used to be a kid who would say Mr

1:02:49

Manningley, Mr Manningley. And he's like, oh, and I definitely

1:02:51

came and signed your ball, right, And I said, no, never,

1:02:54

not ever. But I

1:02:56

will leave you with this Rickey Henderson, who was

1:02:58

my all time favorite player. I got to

1:03:00

meet him as a writer and

1:03:03

he was tremendous. Like I remember going home

1:03:05

and being like, I got that one, right,

1:03:07

I got that one, you knew? Yeah, I'm

1:03:09

Mike Mattingly. Donnie signed my ball.

1:03:12

I put ran up to his car as it was

1:03:14

leaving to get on the Bronx River Parkway,

1:03:17

and uh. He opened his window and

1:03:19

Kim, his then wife, UH did

1:03:22

not work out well. Um, but Kim

1:03:24

was like, Donnie, come on, let's go, let's go. He's

1:03:26

like, no, I gotta I gotta do this, signed

1:03:28

the ball and said you're my hero, and he'said thanks.

1:03:30

Man rolled up the window, pulled onto the highway,

1:03:33

onto the Bronx Expressway or he

1:03:35

never I never spoke to him. Clearly he

1:03:38

never felt compelled. I think it was Dan's

1:03:40

like the hair

1:03:42

hair. I know that would have been weird. I was probably wearing

1:03:45

a yagge at the time, but all right, it

1:03:49

just happened. A d D. Thank you

1:03:51

so much for joining us. Follow a d

1:03:53

D on Twitter or don't

1:03:56

h and maybe can

1:03:58

before we end, can I just say I really love Mark

1:04:00

and of the four of you, Mark was my friend first

1:04:03

and we bonded over the ab years

1:04:05

ago and it was like the

1:04:08

friendship is ending. Well, this

1:04:10

is all done just a poke fun

1:04:13

because I thought Mark could handle it. But

1:04:15

apparently, if there's anything that we've

1:04:17

known about Mark, he handles poking fun. Great.

1:04:19

I will handle it the way I'll handle it. Thank

1:04:24

you. Your

1:04:26

thoughts on the Steelers Greg based on

1:04:28

what a d D said. I thought

1:04:30

she had, you know, I mean, I wasn't, as you

1:04:33

know, a kiss asses West in terms of praising

1:04:35

her, but they really were good answers. She was

1:04:38

overdue to come come on the show, and

1:04:40

maybe we should, maybe we should, maybe

1:04:42

we should bend that rule. We're not really into phone ers.

1:04:44

We only want to do something in person. So that's why we don't have

1:04:46

a lot of these reporters because they're not really here. They're

1:04:48

off doing their thing. But I thought

1:04:50

she provide a lot of good context you could read with lines

1:04:53

with something she told, the line with the Mattingly comments.

1:04:55

And I'm still deciding whether she'll be back on

1:04:57

the show. You can call me a kiss ass, but I

1:05:00

actually appreciated how

1:05:02

deep she was willing to think on these issues

1:05:04

and consider it from multiple angles. Gave nuanced

1:05:07

answers,

1:05:08

very very deep thoughtful

1:05:10

answers. All right, good stuff,

1:05:13

UM, great stuff. In fact, that's

1:05:15

our Wednesday show. We'll be back on Friday,

1:05:18

UM with more action. It's

1:05:21

gonna be a wild show on Friday. We

1:05:23

haven't planned it yet, but I feel like whenever we

1:05:25

come up with people are gonna be happy. It's

1:05:27

our annual Bacchanalia episode

1:05:30

where just things get insane,

1:05:33

not much clothes being worn, just it's

1:05:35

wild. It's just Erica you.

1:05:37

You're like Matt la florain away. This is all

1:05:39

new to you. We've never been a part of our back

1:05:41

Inalia show. Uh

1:05:43

so get ready,

1:05:48

all right, that's it is. Dan hands Is signing

1:05:50

off for the Mailman and

1:05:54

the Old Boss and Ricky Hollywood behind

1:05:56

the glass. Thank you everybody

1:05:58

for listening, and come on back with

1:06:00

the buck in Allia. Still

1:06:03

Friday Pressure