The around the NFL podcast, otherwise known as Connie Fox and the Bozo Brigade.

The Chris Wesling podcast studio. It is around the NFL. I'm Dan Hanzis. I got heroes. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, and yes, the aforementioned Colleen Wolf, leader of the Bozo brigade.

I'm a bozo, too, so that's fine.

I like that. That's camaraderie.

We're all bozos together.

It is Super bowl week. It's official. Yeah, we could say that again. After Greg went pretty deep in the hole financially, got many mentions on Twitter that we didn't catch everything. Eric, might have to funnel those misses onto your account. Think that's only fair. We'll work that out financially from our don't say Super bowl episode on Thursday. And it's been a very super rainy Sunday into now Monday. So I'm glad that everybody got here today. From various points.

It was dicey.

I'm glad I'm not living in the hallway or control room right next to our studio, which is.

They just built this place flooding right now.

Well, hold on. Yeah, they literally opened the floor outside the studio and they're fishing around with like, a broom to mop up water and stuff. This is a low level, hollowed out death star about to be shot into. This building has always felt slightly fraudulent, and it's being completely exposed. Like, we're three levels below the roof and it's leaking.

What is happening concerning also the fact that water was coming through lights and there were like dumpster sized containers catching the water and tarps everywhere.

Concerning.

Reminded me a little bit of the Titanic, when the Titanic started to spring leaks.

But another monument to humanity that turned out to be a little.

The most concerning element is that in the very hardworking people that deal with maintenance and things here and they're working seem to have zero. Like, they seem to be in awe of what is happening to the building.

But this is everywhere around, like when.

You hit the iceberg, everybody's like, yeah, we're fine.

Wait a minute. What? We never thought this would unsinkable.

Molly Brown was like, we're cool. Let's go dancing. Check you later.

There's mudslides by me. There's a lot going on in LA.

Real thing.

Everyone calmed down with, oh, it's just raining. What? A little rain and the whole city shuts down. Yeah. Because this area can't handle all of the water gang.

Thank you.

Yeah, well, I was accused of that.

Well, that is.

And my wife literally on Sunday, I.

Said, I looked at my window and it didn't seem to be that.

It does depend where you are in some areas. It's totally fine.

Think about this. Think about this. This is sobering. My pool is getting very close to overflowing.

The common man ranking.

Yeah.

Just think about that.

What happens if that happens, though, by the way?

Don't know. And that's what we're dealing with here.

You should be draining your pool before a big storm.

But I don't know how to do that, Aquaman. I don't know how to do that. All right. This is also hard to believe, but it's been three years since Chris Wesling left us. This is the Chris Wesling podcast studio. Chris was one of the founding members of this podcast and our good friend and passed away from cancer three years ago on this very day. It's still hard to believe, Greg, that he's gone at all and that three years have passed. And yet here we are.

It's a tough time of year, I think, with the Super bowl coming up every year when this date happens. But unlike a lot of people, we have these video recordings of our time with Wes, and not that the podcast was our only great times with Wes, but it is crazy to go back and to listen to those at times like this.

I have an idea. Well, it was kind of Greg's idea.

Well, take it as your own.

I think Wes would appreciate.

Is this is fun?

Because, yes, it sucks that he's not with us, but it is great that we have these memories that we could listen to. And it is Super bowl week, and it is Wes from. I guess it would have been about the 2014 Super bowl and the next five or six years after. It was the four of us doing all those shows together. And we are coming up on an anniversary. Is it the ten year anniversary of this?

Well, this occurred after the 2014 season.

So this would be nine years right now.

Yeah. So Chris famously had this. He was an avid softball player, both at Tybee island, where he lived before relocating to Los Angeles to take the NFL job. And then, of course, here in LA, where the shield of the company softball team went to three straight title games. Winning two chips trophies are in my attic every year. When I go up there to get the Christmas decorations, there they are just staring right back at me. It's very nice. Makes me think of. Had a. There was a two part situation one year on the podcast. He said it was something about the Raiders and how many wins they would get to or something. He was very down on the Raiders, as I recall.

The Dennis Allen, Raiders that he did not believe could get to eight wins. And now that you mention it, that would have been our very first season. As he round the NFL makes sense. That would have been the 2013 season. This Super bowl is capping our second full season. That was Seahawks Patriots.

There you go. So Wes said if the Raiders reach that benchmark, he'll eat his own softball pants. And it came down to the wire, but he actually ended up winning that wager. He looked right in the face and ended up not having to eat. Then he doubled down Chris. And the following year, after your boy Johnny Manziel, Mark enters the league as a first round pick and all the hype around him, Wes said, I again will eat my softball pants if Johnny Manziel is not the week one starter for the Cleveland Browns, which at the time, what Wes didn't know and what we didn't have clear idea about was like how much madness was going on behind the scenes with Manzel. And they end up going with Brian Hoyer to start that season anyway. So west loses the wager. Cut to the Super bowl. Media center in where would this have been? New Orleans. No.

Arizona.

Arizona. And guess what? It was time to pay the piper at that media center. I'll never forget it. They had a random. We didn't know it was going to be there, but a random hot dog stand in the middle of the media center and it was a $20 hot dog. It was like a gourmet. Well, hold on. No, I thought our producer had to.

Go find it out on the town. It was.

No, it was literally in the media center. What we needed to do was get the NFL to clear paying for the hot dog, which was a chore back.

Oh my God.

They didn't even want us doing the podcast. It was like, now all of a sudden, here we go. They get the clearance. Here comes. I think it was like a three foot hot dog. Yeah, it was in that realm and.

Outrageous with all the thick hot dog.

So we decided the move would be to cut up the softball pants and sprinkle it over the dog. And Wes, because he was always a man that was good for his word, ate up. Let's listen to a clip from that show. We will find out. Will Chris Wesling eat his softball pants? First time I've ever had heartburn before I ate something.

Wesling was seriously nervous earlier. We were doing some preparations behind the scene with the softball pants. Wes is getting a little.

I'm a little nervous. He's eating polyester zipper and other composite parts. So just get ready, Wes. It could be dangerous.

I'm concerned for my friend.

I'm just openly sugar Wes softball pants. It's literally minutes away. Where's your mind at? I think of everything I've consumed this week.

Softball pants are not high on the.

List of most harmful. And he did chew to his worried. He took a couple of bites. He took down the polyester, he took down the composite part, some zipper. And then I remember about still about 87% of the hot dog left behind when we just, we were like, do we throw it out to somebody else that we just walked away? And there's a photo if you're watching on the fast channel of Wes at the moment of truth. A million great memories with Wes. And that's in terms of the Super bowl. That one's at the top.

We had Connor Orr with us and that was when they would do the radio row where we were sitting up on a bigger set than they tend to have these days for our show. But there were like 60 to 70 people standing there watching with no context clues of what was happening other than Wes eating a three foot long hot dog with composite parts and softball pants.

Cloth on it, including Keith and Keith Anzas and my brother.

If you look at that photo, if you bring it up again, they're there. It's incredible. And the other fun part, and this was also part of the west experience, obviously, if anyone listens to the show, you know, something like this, I would be hyper invested in and be excited about the bit. And I asked Wes like ten times. I said, wes, you got to make sure you bring the softball pants. Can't forget to bring them. We need the softball pants. And then what happens once we get to Arizona?

I forgot them.

Oh, no, that was a different version of Wes back then.

On some level, I think that's a good segue. And we did eventually get them. But, Greg, you pulled another clip, too, that connects a little bit to what you were saying.

Mark, the whole show is fun to listen to. It's much different. We're much more concise. Maybe we have to get out of there. But that show was under 35 minutes. We did like four segments. I brought up to him because he suddenly was big on Dan Quinn, I believe, or maybe it was patriots, and I was getting on him for falling in love basically with whatever team that he covered for the week. Then he suddenly thought, like, the people that that team was were the greatest things ever.

That's a fair point. I credit Pete Carroll because I think he made a lot of mistakes early in his coaching career, and I don't.

Know how good of a person he.

Was, but he seems like a more self actualized individual who learned from his mistakes.

You see a little of yourself in Pete Carolina.

I have never learned anything, and I'm not good at evolving. I'm, like, getting dizzy right now because Wes conceded a point. Now, what you said, mark, connects for me, is that Wes, before he died, absolutely evolved. A lot of that went back to Lakeisha in my mind, and what a transformational effect she had. But also, it's not just a person entering his life. Wes kind of made a concerted effort to evolve, change. Not that that Wes was bad, but it was different than the one that we knew before he got sick.

There were multiple Wes's. And I also think, greg, like, what that clip you displayed was, because that was the version of our show where I got tagged tracking the Patriots all week, and Wes had the Seahawks. But there was a day we both went to Seattle, like, media, a media session, and sat and talked to Dan Quinn for, like, 25 minutes, and both just fell in love with Dan Quinn. So I think that's where that was coming from. It's like, dan Quinn. I know today it's like, oh, it's a bit of a boring hire by the commander. It's like Dan Quinn dazzled in this one on one, like, hanging out with a couple reporters, and Wes fell. Wes is not a hardcore journalist in terms of a reporter person, and he just fell for Dan Quinn.

You know what I learned listening to this, which I never would have remembered, Dan Quinn had read something Wes wrote and told him, oh, it's nice to meet you. And mentioned how he had read. So now I'm rooting for Dan Quinn now.

All right.

Yeah, we're all back in. What a hire. Yeah, we love it.

When we were talking yesterday about things that we could potentially do for Wes today, the softball pants, for me, was such a pivotal moment in my friendship with you guys, how much I wanted to be friends with you guys. That was my first season at NFL, and I'll never forget when he ate his softball pants. And I remember specifically, the zippers will just, like, stay with you talking about the zippers for five months, and it never left my mind. It still lives in the recesses of my mind somehow, but it was like, win Wes's toaster, the softball pants episode. When Wes was in Tybee and he called in from the bar, we called the bar, and he was wasn't.

We always called him because part of the fun was tracking him down. You'd hope to find him. You would obviously get him at the bar, huckapoos, more often than not. But if you didn't get him at the bar, he was at the garage with Wayne and like, really one of those two spots. Yes, specifically.

And he was in such his element. And in those early days, we were taping all of those random segments for NFL now, and I didn't get a chance to truly see what Wes was until we would go and hang out off site and things like that. But on those episodes, the Tybee episodes, he really was able to show all of the listeners who he was, his true spirit, and it was so beautiful to see, and it was just so fun to be around him. And I just miss him so much.

Yeah, we all do. Like today, I was thinking about the best way we can honor him when there was a good time to be had anywhere he was, he was going to make sure he had it. So I think that's the best way to try to honor him today. Yes, do that.

Yes. I was on this pro football Ireland did a live show last week and they were at a bar, and as often as the case, I was in on Zoom and I was talking to a bunch of irish people holding guinnesses and always get asked about west. Love getting asked about west. And he said, what is it that you remember about Wes? And that's what I thought of. It was like, I am personally someone who likes to keep a smaller, tighter circle. I have people that I'm comfortable with. I have people that I like, which all you guys are included in that group, as was Wes. And.

I'm. I just got Wes.

Wes was the opposite. Wes was like, the more the merrier. He was always comfortable, no matter the gathering. So obviously to lose somebody like that is unbelievable. You never kind of get over it because he was like one of those one in a million type people. And then when you have that person enter your life and then go, the immense nature of the loss never really dissipates. But getting to talk about him this way, it helps.

I'll never forget when I first started listening to the ATN podcast. I was on the flight to take the job to move out here to LA, and I started just like, downloading as many NFL podcasts as possible, and I just blew through all of your episodes. And I remember thinking to myself, okay, Dan is going to be probably the easiest one to become friends with. And then I wasn't sure where Mark and Greg fell yet, but I thought that Wes was going to be the most difficult one to win over and it could not have been more of the opposite. When I met you, a, we had.

Truly, if you write a book about the whole thing, a fortuitous encounter at the whaler where it was just a random offseason Sunday and I was out with Wes, which the minute football would end. I know he was the hardcore football head and we miss his analysis, but when the football season would end, Wes would make a declarative statement of like, football. Check you later for a little bit of time. And he loved to go looking around LA for something that felt like Tybee island. And the whaler, which was an upstairs bar overlooking the sea, felt close to it. And we were out there having beers and you were there with Kristen, your friend and your dad and your mom, and we didn't really know you at all. We had never hung out. And I think that started this idea of like, wait a minute, we should all be friends. And like a week or two later, Dan was there, Greg was there, like, everyone was there. And it just grew from that moment. And Wes, I think, showed you how easy it was. Oh my God, there's the Wes, the football person that everyone listened to.

And then there's the Wes, the hangout person that's like, wait a minute, this is a whole different universe.

Wes and my mom were like thick as thieves immediately. My mom was just like crushing Pete Carroll for some reason, hated him. And Wes absolutely loved that.

I guess I kind of forgot about the Carol wrestling beef. But now this has all been brought back up. And speaking of Wes program note, we had been taping these over the course of the season and now they're starting to roll out on NFL plus, where we watch each of the last five Super Bowls leading up to, of course, this upcoming Sunday's Super Bowl 58. Too many roman numerals.

Well, it's enough already. We're done with roman numerals.

Talked to a bunch. So many people agree with your Roman.

Thank you. Thank you.

We're done with it. We're not going to.

The NFL's not.

We'll lead it.

If the NFL is not done with it, we're not done with it.

We're in. We're back in. Unfortunately, we're back in.

But we go through each of the last five Super Bowls, like we said three years ago today, we lost west. That also happened to be two days before the Chiefs Bucks Super bowl that year. So when we go through that game, you'll see that on NFL plus if you want to check it out, we actually talk about Wes. We play some, a clip that Lakeisha produced about the loss and the life that they shared together. So check that out on NFL plus. All right, what do we got going on today? Yes, the Super bowl is this week and it's a two week ramp up. We don't need two, like in terms of breaking down the game. The game is the game. There are teams that we've been watching all season long. We got the deep dive all through the playoffs. The two weeks is really about the NFL as the machine getting the death star in place in Las Vegas. So I don't feel bad if this show, for instance, doesn't hit it too hard because we're going to Vegas on Wednesday. And just so everyone knows, we're going to have a big lineup of three shows at radio Row with a bunch of great guests.

And we're going to continue to dig into the game. A little later today, we're going to get Brian Baldinger, the great balding. Yes. And we're going to start digging into the game. But before that, we only have a finite amount of time with Colleen because Connie Fox, listen, she's one of the faces of the network. And the fact that we got her, booked her today, the clock's already ticking, as a matter of fact. So why don't we move some things around and get into our first big subject, which is something we've teased for a while. The top ten radio calls of the 2023 hyphen 24 season. Now, this is a big one for.

I'm getting rid of hyphens, too. Is this 23? I don't care, but it's not. It's like we're deep into 24. Just make a choice.

Well, yeah.

Eric, the producer who does great work. How are you, Eric? I'm doing good, guys.

How are you, Eric?

Are you packed for Vegas yet?

Well, I'm worrying about my pool swallowing up the rest of my house right now, so that's kind of set me.

Back a little bit.

I'm driving, so I just throw it in the back of a car and I'm leaving tonight. Park it underneath the hotel in the basement.

That's a long drive for the cest dog, and it's got me a little novice. I got to say, I was partially.

Surprised, but Mark's an outlier. So when I heard about this, I.

Was like, I could see it happening.

I think there's some fair concern on the part of the league, but I don't think there should be. I don't understand where they're coming from. There's meetings, Eric, so.

Don'T say Super bowl show notwithstanding.

I guess I messed up.

I did tremendous, too.

But, yeah, I guess I totally blew it.

If you could tally up, because I still have to share what we're going to do with that slush fund. But I want to wait for someone, Randy Chavez, to be here, not here today. We need you. We ask you all season to collect the calls that we hear in real time on Sundays that really resonate with us and connect. And we took some time and made our own list. And then it was up to Eric the producer to put it together in a top ten calls of the 2023 season. Season. So let's get into it. Colleen, what do you think?

I'm ready for it. I feel like there's a lot of pressure, though, for Eric.

Always, never a lot of heat in that chair.

It's a hot seat.

It is.

I mean, it's like not everyone. Spinal tap, they tend to disappear after a while, one way or the other. We hope Eric exactly like that will be the one that sticks around.

We'll see how Vegas goes, guys. I might just stay in the desert.

Yeah, well, you know what they say. All right, here we go. Anybody have comments before we move into this conversation?

I can relate to the staying in the desert comment by him.

That's why we're concerned. That's why the league is a concern about this Vegas trip for you. That's a long drive for the Susan.

We'Re going to put a tracker on your car.

I know you've been driving more.

I haven't driving.

I know, but how much is he actually driving?

He's a really good driver, right?

Very.

Wait, are you a. Are you a front seat driver? You're like the passenger in a two car journey with the significant other.

No, I drive in the same car. I'll drive as much.

Are you behind the wheel?

Sure. A bunch of the time.

Split it up.

That's how you do it, I think.

Split it up. Split it up.

Wow.

I mean, I live with Dan.

Like, I should drive the entire way.

Absolutely.

I know, but I'm also preparing for a show and taking thorough notes and researching.

I mean, my lovely Emica wife literally doesn't drive. I have to just drive to the grocery.

I live in my car.

Greg's wife is still mad that they moved to California, so her way of getting back. I'm never getting a driver's license in Los Angeles. To make your life 29%.

That's a pretty, like, fantastic yes or no, Greg piece of revenge.

What a plan by her.

Yeah, she definitely would rather be in New York or Tokyo.

All right, here we go. New York or Tokyo. Not Los Angeles.

Problematic.

The number ten call of this season belongs to. Should I set these up? I have the top ten here.

Yeah, you got the top ten.

So I just want to toss to.

It and then you give them credit after the end.

Okay. The number ten call goes back to the playoffs. And it was the dagger throw by Jordan Love.

First and ten football at the 38 of Dallas.

Play action of bootleg left half.

Bootleg left. Now throw back the other way. He's got him wide open down the right side. Musgrave, touchdown. Touchdown. Luke Musgrave in a dagger. A dagger right through the heart of the Cowboys.

Great call by Wayne Laravey, of course, of WRNW. And credit to Fox, too, because we're seeing, if you're watching this on fast, you're seeing a woman in Arlington at Gerald World just throwing her arms up like, I can't believe this is happening. The dagger just cutting through everyone in the town, through the heart stunner.

That woman makes this call so much better. The cutaway shot of her. It all kind of like, plays together and makes it perfect.

Do we ding Laravey? Because he's not seeing that necessarily. Am I overthinking?

This dagger through the heart is great. And it was the last dagger of the season. I felt like the last two months, every Sunday was some version of a different dagger and this was the logical conclusion.

Great for larvae.

I like it. I need a little bit more in general from these calls. So let's see what comes up next.

That's why it came in at number ten. And remember, if some of these feel underwhelming, it's not because it's not Eric's fault, it's because in the moment, we said to Eric, no, we want to make it clear. We say to Eric, oh, put that in the folder. So if, mark, you're underwhelmed, maybe you should have said something in the moment, like, don't put that in the folder.

I'd point that finger at myself.

Number nine. Let's go to Tennessee where the new kid quarterback finishes off a masterpiece of a week eight performance.

Second and eleven.

Play fake. Levis rolling to the right.

Looking, looking, firing deep downfield. Going for Westbrook Akina in the end zone. Touchdown. Titan will Levis on his back gets to watch as he has just thrown his fourth touchdown pass of his NFL debut. Hey, that dude has got an arm.

Whoa.

What a big time throw.

There it is. Four tds for Levis. Mike Keith with the call. Dave McGinnis. I think part of the reason maybe on that one, Greg, that we were like, put it in the folder. Is exciting. You were expecting, oh, this Levis is the start of an every week occurrence. He never did that again. But it was pretty awesome in the moment.

I think just having Mike, if we went back and listened to this year after year, had a all time power ring because I feel like Mike, you just get a Mike Keith calling every year.

Gotta get Keith in there.

Mike Keith is awesome.

All right, number eight. Okay, so Cowboys had a big year. Daron Bland had a big year, setting an NFL record for pick sixes. This was the point of the season where you began expecting it and just saying, when will it happen? I believe this might have been the last one, but it was a memorable.

1 second and ten. Jones is back.

Plenty of time.

Rolls right. Bottled up. Throws back to the intercepted. Duran bland. Call the house. Hello, house. House. It's me, Duran. Hello, house. Touchdown for Duran bland.

I love that one. That's one of my favorites.

And bonus points because, Mark, we were at Cowboys camp this summer. We met with Brad Sham, the sham God who has a close relationship with Oliver Stone, or at least was in a film of his.

That's right.

And we had a long conversation with the sham God. So to hear him and that call, I like that one.

Well, and that happened so often for him to cover. And he found a new way to do it.

Right. I don't think that was pre planned. That's why I love it.

He's an innovator.

Hi, how's Al? Hello, AlS. All right, number seven. Okay, this one's a little bit controversial because you would say, oh, it should always be some type of exciting call. But this was a call that took place in the second half of one of the most grizzly blowouts in NFL history. And it happens to involve in the booth, Matt money Smith and Bucky Brooks's podcast partner, that they just launched a show together.

What is his name? God, I wish I could remember.

Let's have them look that up.

At 42, nothing. And with the Raiders at the goal line, here's the call from money. Have you decided whether you want to stand up or sit down yet? I think I want to lay down under the desk. I was looking for a blindfold, but apparently you can't do this job with a blindfold. No, we have to watch, do our best to bring you some entertaining play by play and analysis of what has been wildly disappointing. Here's a double pass to the end zone. And, hey, why not just humiliate them?

I didn't know this was eligible. For some reason, I thought it was some separate category. This might be my number one, but, wow, that's an nerd. I want to save that for future use.

I am the nerd that drives around listening to AM sports radio in Los Angeles, and Matt money Smith and Petros, they have a show that ranges from like 1 hour to 4 hours, depending on when the Dodgers play or someone else. But Matt money Smith is ready for anything, and I think he's got an underrated sense of humor, sort of sarcasm, and it played out right there, and it's like, I love that kind of thing. I like when play by play, people are not just robots. There are a lot of robots. He's not a robot.

That's funny because I'm listening to that call and did power ranks for a couple of years with Matt and got to know him, and he just sounds mad. He sounds, like, embarrassing for everyone, so he's using that type of tone there. But.

They'Re a part of the team. They get a Super bowl ring if they win the Super bowl, and let's not. They're mad.

You get points to critique, then it's.

Not James Winston and the running play with Jamal Williams, but Antonio Pierce calling a double pass to get Devante Adams a touchdown. Up 42, nothing. Kind of flew under the radar a little bit in terms of dick moves, but listen, it got him a head coach job in some part.

Funny just being like, yeah, why not? Just so defeated?

He said, just humiliate them. I think he's talking about the booth as well. Just tough one. Tough one. All right, let's do something more positive for the Raiders. The Patriots pop up a couple of times here, Greg, in negative ways, but that's. Yeah.

This is Mack Jones's second total blunder to set up an opponent.

All right, here we go.

How about we finish this off with a safety, shall we? Anything but a deep bowl, four down territory, obviously. Jones standing in his own end zone to our right, snap back to pass, pressure again, off the edge, and he stands for the safety. Crosby and Nichols, they met in the end zone. They squished into the turf, and the Raiders defense has that safety. Jason, since you predicted it, how about you give me the lottery numbers for next week?

David Horowitz and Lincoln Kennedy with the call, the KRLV. You'd think based on the first half of this top ten that the Raiders are playing on Sunday, but that's not exactly what happened. But they had some exciting moments. Connie, any thoughts there?

I just like how clairvoyant he was in the moment.

Bonus points for that.

I just like throughout the course of the season, you could feel a catastrophic Mac Jones play coming, and then it always came. It's truly one of the worst quarterback seasons from a quarterback. I feel like that we've seen be okay ever. I mean, it was an all time bad quarterback.

Where is he going to be next year? What kind of market will he come out if he's not with? Is he going to be with Patriots?

I mean, he has a contract under contract. Will someone give up a 7th round conditional pick just to have a new start? I would think so. Like that on draft day.

All right, this next one I had slightly higher, but in the average weight, it ended at number five, the Texans and the Titans. And this one was on my radar, and a lot of people, I like.

This one because Mark just perked up.

The Titans had the gall.

The gall?

Yes.

After ownership abandoned the city of Houston, abandoned them and went to Nashville. Okay. To then have the absolute audacity to then wear a Houston Oilers throwback jersey for their throwback week when they're playing against the Texans, the team that replaced the Oilers after, to borrow a cecilerism, they ripped the Oilers out of the belly. Right?

Terrible Houston, terrible manners, and they pay for it.

Disgraceful. To the highlight.

1616, 2 seconds to go in overtime. 54 yard attempt. Left hash. Mark. Here's the snap. Here's the spot. Here's the kick by Fairband. Yes. Good. The Texans win. Yes. Legendary fair bear knocks it through from 54 as the Texans defeat the former Oilers. Put those uniforms back in the trunk.

In the trunk they go.

I think you want the voices of your 1916 to feel the same anger and fire and joy that you feel. And they speak for the fans right there. And that one, I think I had it ranked higher because of the Mark.

Vandermeer and Andre Ware with the call.

For K-I-L-T. That's what you get.

That's what you get. Yeah. Put them back.

Are on the list because of the tag from the color analyst to cap it is the winner.

You're always going to get bonus points when the color analyst goes full fan and just starts screaming. Celebration number four. Oh, it was a special second half for Cleveland Browns fans as Joe Flacco stepped in and took the team to the playoffs. Here was one of his many big plays that season.

This Flacco on fourth down and three. Play clock is at five. I don't know if they're going to snap it. Play clock is at two. They do. He rolls right, he throws the middle. It's wide open. Down at the 25. At the 20. 1510. Five. Touchdown. It's David Bell. Oh, my goodness. They forgot to cover David Bell. It was the parting of the Red Sea. Jim. David Bell, who has been searching, yearning, desiring to get into the end zone in the National Football League, will desire no more.

My friend Jim Donovan and Nathan Segura with the call. The great Jim Donovan. Was that the game where we went with the onside kick play call on Sunday?

Oh, no, I'm not sure about that one. Well, you wanted David Najoku that day.

Yeah, it was on almost.

There was a slight part of me.

Where I thought about sneaking that into this list for you, but I know we're on a time here, but, yeah, that was the play. And then we also played an injoku highlight later in the week, too.

Multiple times. Like Jim Donovan, we all know he struggled a lot. He'd been through a lot of health battles to come back and just, I think of all these guys, he's got to be in a top three of enthusiasm that when something good happens to the Browns, he cannot control himself. And there are incredible. Him and Zagura. Zagur also is like a ball of energy, but they have video shots of these guys up in the booth and you think like they're sitting down with notes, like they're standing up going crazy. And Jim Donovan is right at the top of the list. So I like that.

And a special shout out, even though not on the list, but easily could have been on the list. Andrew Siciliano, who stepped in for Jim when he was dealing with health issues. Chris, really great calls. Chris, too, during some of those unlikely Browns wins throughout the season. All right, number three. All right, we're onto the medal stand, Connie. Okay, here we go. You knew Wolfley was going to be on the list. Heroic cardinals, Steelers, week 13, 3rd down.

On a yard on the nine three.

Tight ends.

Murray under center, Connor behind him, one.

Receiver to the right.

They hand it off. Connor to the left. First down, Connor dies for the end zone. Touchdown. James Connor with two scores in the welcome back party in Pittsburgh. Oh, the Cardinals just broke out. The black and blue brigade, baby. Light up and suck the beating. Heartaphorically speaking of your opponent.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Wow.

As opposed to literally murdering your opponent by sticking your hand into the chest, temple of doom style.

I mean, it was top five. The second, he just goes.

That just comes from such a deep place within himself. I love it.

Does he talk like that when he's at the deli counter? That's who he is.

He's just sort of like a strange. He's won this before. Like he won it.

We're going to go with a half.

Pound of the turkey.

All right. Number two, the silver. Yeah, the silver. Would you rather be two or three? Ultimately two. What, because you're so close to one at that point.

Yeah, but three, you're so much farther from one.

You recently celebrated your birthday, Connie. I did. And you sent a clip of doing an incredible. Was it a triple axle?

No, it's double axle.

Just a little scratch, spin.

Pretty damn impressive. Thank you. I have to say. But you're saying a silver medal beats bronze.

Yeah. Michelle Kwan always getting that silver.

How about Kerrigan getting edged?

The Olympians always say silver hurt points because then you just wish you won, whereas bronze, you're kind of happy to be there.

Kerrigan went through a lot.

Kerrigan gets whacked in the.

You know, and then I think it.

Was Kwan, maybe, or no, Katerina Vitt maybe.

I refused to watch the event after Kerrigan was whacked. I thought that it lost all integrity.

Eric, the producer, please look up who defeated Nancy Kerrigan in the Olympics by fractions of a point.

It wasn't Lepinsky yet. I don't.

No, no.

She wasn't in the mix.

She was definitely after, I think it was maybe Katerinavich. She was definitely in the mix.

I don't think so either. But number two, silver medal goes to our buddy at the barber shop.

Second down and goal from the five. Has a snap. Helmet, high. Looking left now, middle pressure. He steps up. He throws right side, end zone. Caught, caught back right. Pylon. DeMarcus Robinson with the go ahead score. Matthew Stafford playing like an ellipsis. Dot after dot after dot. Touchdown, la.

The great JB, along with the call, KSPN. Just. I love JB's style because he's economical, but also vivid in his descriptions. And that's truly an original call, an ellipsis. Half the people might need to look up, what is that? And then you see dot, dot, dot. And that was Stafford all season long, right?

In a time when Grammar has been thrown out of the side of the car like he is a technical assassin.

And it was one of literally the best drives by any quarterback all season, because he's right. Like, Stafford on that drive, made like three or four ridiculous throws. I don't know if this is going to make it awkward when we see JB next, that he was so close to the mountaintop and he's like, what? You couldn't just. Couldn't just give it to me, guys. Or if it is motivation, something to strive for for our friend for next year so he doesn't rest on his.

That's good, too.

Little bit of both. Little bit of.

And I think a little bit of him will be, like, as disappointed as he may be. Oh, wow. Those guys had crazy amounts of integrity.

I'm sure that's what he's going to think.

Do we know, by the way, who.

Beat Aksana Bayoul, who beat Kerrigan Bayoul.

On a big bayoul on a big spot?

Ukraine yawn. Just a massive yawn to her.

All right, number one. Here we go.

Timmy. Connecticut resident, give me a grandfather.

Give me a little timpany drum. Because there can only be one. There can only be one. The greatest call, and maybe the Super bowl will bring a great call itself, but the one that from all these games, that was better than any other. To the wild card playoff round we go, Ford Field.

Here we go. Goff works out of the gun. Second down and nine.

Two minutes to go.

There's goff back looking, looking, throws. It is caught. I've been ross, Nate Brown. First down. That's going to do it. That's going to do it. That's going to do it. Jared Goff delivers against his former team. Now all they have to do is take a knee three times, and this game will be over. For the second time since 1957, for the first time since January 5, 1992, these Detroit Lions are going to win a playoff game. Whoa.

Of course, that is the voice of Dan Miller, WXYT, a man who's been calling Lions games for a long time now and doing an incredible job at it. And so happy now to see dan calling a big time team. And with that said, oh, what fortuity that. Now, joining us in the Chris Westling podcast studio, the integrity is off the charts. There is Dan Miller.

Welcome to.

Hey, what's up, guys? How you doing?

Better now, Dan.

Well, that was very nice. I appreciate that. That was very kind.

You earned it. You're the Aksana Bayul of this particular competition. Dan, about what would it have been? It would have been about eight years ago now. When I was writing the pain rankings, I wanted to talk to someone who truly understood what the Lions have been through over these years, and it was you who I thought of, and you were so nice to talk with me on the phone. And here was the first question, and this is a tough way to open an interview, but listen, what did I know? Not a real journalist. Dan, here we go. In your first six years on the job as the play by play guide, the Lions went 23 and 74. And I asked how that made your job more difficult, and you spoke expressively and it was very interesting. Now we're on the other side of it. What a fun season that you just went through with the lines and literally two years with Dan Campbell.

Yeah, this is much better, I will tell you that. And that call and that emotion was just really just everything that I think we've all been through. And believe me, I've done this for 19 years. There's a lot of people out there that felt the release of that victory and that moment that have been around it a lot longer than I have, decades longer than I have, and have known really nothing but heartache and disappointment. And that win was just so important for so many people, so many reasons for the franchise, for the city, for the. It was just, it was relief. It was being thrilled beyond belief, and it was just a million emotions that went into one. And just an electric night downtown in Detroit. It was just amazing.

Some of my earliest football memories are like driving around with my dad to go do various chores on a Sunday and listening to football on the radio. And it's such a different visceral experience than television, for obvious reasons. You've got to paint this picture. And it's weird that my memories of listening to radio are still visual in some way, just by looking out the window at the same time. But how do you attack a radio broadcast verse when you're so connected to these Lions fans and you're painting the picture of this historic, incredible game and moment, how do you even just go into it and just bring that energy? I think it's like instructed to people because it's not a job that very.

Many people could do well.

I think there is something magic about radio. I mean, I grew up in Washington DC and Maryland and Virginia, and I was a Washington fan growing up, and I still can in my mind's eye, see John Riggins going around a left side to win the Super bowl. And although I watched that game on tv, in my mind it's Frank Herzog, the radio voice of Washington at the time that I always hear his call, even though I didn't hear that until.

Later, but I've heard it so many.

Times since, that is kind of the soundtrack of my mind, I think. I don't operate with a restrictor plate. I just kind of go and I just let my emotions go. And I am emotionally involved. I make no bones about the fact. And I think every person that's doing play by play for a team is rooting for that team to win. It's a little different than when you're covering it as beat writer or something like that. You're fair. You say when it's bad, you say when it's good, but at the end of the day, you want to see that team do well. And I tell people all the time, there's nothing better in my job than seeing the fans happy. And in that moment, they have not been that happy in a long, long time, more than 30 years. And I knew what that was going to mean to them, and I knew what that was going to mean to this team. And I'll tell you flat out, in my 43 years in this business, I've never wanted to see an athlete win a game more than I wanted to see Jared Goff win that game.

And there was just, I think, just so many things that went into that. But just in generality, look, you're trying to bring the game to them. And I think, if anything, probably resonates with fans, at least what I hope it is, it's that I'm as excited about what I'm seeing as they are. I mean, I love it. I love the fact that I get to bring it to them, but it's real because it comes from a real place, and that's the expression you get. And I think that's what I hear from them most, is you feel our pain and you feel, when things go well, just the same way we do.

Yeah. I love that you mentioned Goff because you got that angle in there on that call right away, within all the emotions I'm going to break down why I think it had to be the call of the year, other than us showing our integrity, that we chose you over our bottomless, our friend JB long, because it had.

I'm just glad JB explained what an ellipsis is. I appreciated that because I was like, ellipsis that he went.

You had the.

Emotion, obviously, which that's like the most important thing. You knew the moment, but you also understood before getting that first down, exactly the scenario of everything that you needed to get that first down, but you immediately followed it up with the nuts and bolts of that they're going to have to kneel here, but that they've won the game. And sometimes that's all difficult to keep track in the moment. You got the golf angle in there right away, and then after that, you got, in the historical context of it all, all in very quick succession, all sort of different things that you have to serve. Are you thinking as that's all happening, I know the emotion is just coming out. That's the emotional part. But those key sort of points that you're getting in that quick call, are you thinking about that ahead of time? Are you just thinking about, I want to get all of this in, in.

The moment, so I'll kind of take.

You inside our booth. When they went to time out with two minutes to go, and my guys, TJ Lang and Lomas Brown, are both saying, throw it, throw it, throw it. So we were kind of expecting they were going to throw it. We know Dan Campbell, and he's a throw it guy.

And then when we went to that.

Two minute time out, I'm looking at my spotter, I'm looking at my stack, and I'm going, if we get a first down, they have one time out, the game's over. It's over. And I'm doing math, and it's actually very simple. I just want to make sure that we got it right. I mean, even if they called a time out, you get the first down, you run first down 40, you run second down 40, you run third down 40. That's two minutes right there, so it's going to be over. So once I got the mechanics of the clock in my head and knew that I could sell out if they got the first down, then you knew you could just kind of let it go. I did throw in the have to take three knees thing because I didn't want to say, it's over, and then they mess it up, and then I have to come back and say, okay.

Guys, sorry about that.

So I wanted to spell out the fact that, yes, they do have to execute that. And I did ask Frank Ragnau about that later. I said, is that an easy play? And he goes, not always. He goes, the first one you want to make sure of, and then you relax a little bit. But no, look, the golf angle was so embedded in my head all week long, knowing what in my mind this meant to him and what this meant to this team that I think that just came out. That was just natural. And I do honestly believe that was a closure moment for Jared. That was a, you know, what? This thing is finally behind me now because I've been in the front row to watch everything that Jared has been through since he's come here and everything he's endured and everything that he has handled like an absolute pro. And I just think if you lose that game and you lose to that coach, that team, that quarterback again, and nothing personal against any of them, but it's just the way that this business works, I think, man, you got to live with that.

And then when you win, even though, yeah, they got their Super bowl, but you know what? You knocked them out. There's peace in that. You move forward in the playoffs, you did your job. And in my mind, that just meant so much. And I think that's why that came out in that moment.

Kind of a follow on this one, and then we'll let you go, Dan. Twenty four seven at halftime, you know, like at the, at the, at the Grammys, for instance, which just occurred. Taylor Swift's going there. She's know she's probably going to pick up some hardware so she could act like she doesn't have anything pre prepared, but she does. And I'm just thinking as the play by play guy, once you get to that point in that game, in the NFC title game, which, of course ended up not working out for Detroit, but knowing that once you get to the end of that game, that becomes potentially one of the most famous play calls in the history of Detroit sports. Did you have something kind of in mind to weave in if it got to that point and they did close that game out?

Yes, and I've had it and I've done it many times driving down the road. Yeah, no, I absolutely had it and I've still got, it's in my back pocket. I hope to use it next. That's, that's as high know you get winning two playoff games. There's the gut punch of being that close to a Super bowl and not getting there. And Brad Holmes had his press conference today and talked about expecting to be there again next year. So the answer is yes. And those moments are hard sometimes to prepare for because you never know how it's going to happen. Is it going to be a 31 to seven game and it's kind of anticlimactic or is it going to be an interception that ices it or a touchdown that happens. But I think I did have something of a historical perspective of what it would mean to Detroit because I think we know what that would mean. It would be incredible because it's something that everybody there has dreamed about for a long time and has never happened. So I think that's ultimately what you want to capture.

Well, this makes up for it, though, right? Like you finishing number one on a radio.

Cool.

I appreciate that. No, I appreciate that. Listen, we're just checking boxes in Detroit this year, so. Won a division, won a home playoff game, won another playoff game. I won this. So just one by one, we're just checking boxes here.

And, Dan, it doesn't feel like it's Sol anymore. It feels like things have really changed and turned around. I was lucky enough to be in Detroit for the game against the Bucks. I learned all about bettermade and, like, I didn't know what same old Lions was until I got there. And I feel like I got there after the fact, which is a good think.

I think you have to retire that. I mean, that's been around for a long time. And you know what? They did figure out ways to lose things and do things that just kind of defied logic and you just never thought could happen. And you would just kind of throw up and say, same old Lions. But look, if they truly were, there's so many times this season where they would have found a way to lose a game, be it late against Minnesota when you're trying to clinch the division, or even that Rams game with Matthew Stafford driving down the field, you don't get the play that makes it fourth and 14, and Aidan Hutchinson doesn't draw the holding penalty. So many things have happened where the old Lions would have figured out a way to lose the game. So I think, in fairness to these guys who have changed the conversation and done so many things that haven't happened before, that I think you have to say, let's put those three letters away. Let's let these guys say that they changed it.

What's your dog's name?

Even my dog agrees.

Dog's like, I want to hear the speech that you have, Dan. Thank you so much. Budy. You're the best, and we can't wait to hear you again in September.

Thanks, Dan.

Thank you.

I appreciate it. Thank you very much, guys.

That was fun.

All right. There he goes.

I still want to know what his dog's name is. We're going to have to take that offline.

Shoot.

Take it offline.

That's a follow up.

There you go.

Classic Connie.

Follow up.

I like interviewing.

What a classic.

Announcers. I think we should do it more often.

I think anybody listens to the show knows we have a level of fascination with the craft, and I don't know too many other podcasts in general that have ever really focused in on that side of the game, which really connects with the fans in such a more direct level than the national calls. Not that there aren't great calls by all these guys that do the national games, but it's those local guys.

Wolfly, you have to get wolfly on.

He's next.

You know, I think we did.

No, I don't think.

Do it again.

I don't know.

Way back.

I don't know.

Did it not go well?

No, I think it would go well.

Is he on the hit it and quit it list?

No.

I think it was the season when he did the like on the.

Dusty, on the flower, the sunlit moon.

I think we thought we did.

But you know what?

I think it's funny because we don't remember who's been on the show, but then someone will remind us and then stop.

48, by the way.

Huge right there.

His dog's name is Murphy. For anyone that's wondering, did you just connect with that? I just like. Yeah, my energy kind of locked in. If that's right, shout out to Madison.

Oh, there you go. All right, Connie, you've said it all. And here's the good news for everyone. Connie's got to get to a meeting. She's part of the opening night festivities for NFL Network.

Tomorrow is my f 16 flight.

Whoa.

You're flying to Vegas tonight, right? Yeah. So you're doing opening night from Vegas?

No, I'm doing opening night here from LA and then flying to Vegas for some reason.

But be careful with the flight. I will. We worry about you here, but have fun. Okay. All right.

I'm not going to pass out.

And here's the good news for all of us the day after that flight. Although we learned that women are better.

Than or better than men.

Better than men, generally. Yes.

And we keep learning. We're continually learning that.

But certainly when it comes physiologically, the G's.

Yes. They are better built to handle the G's for some reason. Except for Greg.

Slang term. Greg.

Got it.

60%.

Yes.

We go G's on this.

You don't need to explain G's to me.

I'm surprised. I'm surprised. You said gforce. Yeah. You should have just said, yeah. G's.

Gforce should be your nickname.

I got too many nicknames.

Yeah. What do you think, Mark?

I got too many nicknames.

What, Colleen? After. He should like his own nickname after opening night. After. Geez. Wednesday at Radio Row, you'll be with us so we could talk about everything that happened.

I can't believe we're all going to be in Vegas.

It's going to be great.

All right.

So excited.

All right, Connie, we're going to say bye to Connie. We're going to take a break and then we're going to do some news and then talk about, or talk with Brian Baldinger about this Super bowl game.

Love it.

We'll be right back. Welcome back. What a show so far. Our last show here in Los Angeles. Before we jump on the bird, we don't get G's up there, but we move pretty quick on that plane. A quick little jump over to Vegas, about a 45 minutes flight. No one's complaining. And then we are touching down. And then we are going straight from McCarron airport to Radio Row, where we will meet with Colleen and do the first of four shows from Las Vegas, culminating, of course, with the Super Bowl 58 recap flagship show.

That's the show. We have a special big time guest. Mark will be very excited for Wednesday.

I mean, Mark knows who the guest is, but you're right.

Well, the listeners don't and maybe this person will cancel and we don't want know put them in a bad but.

Or maybe they won't.

It's a good showman. Right tactic right there. Don't over promise.

Could be anyone. Well done, Greg.

I'm just happy we're not there now. I'm showing my age, but I am loving that we get there. Wednesday versus. I saw everyone there yesterday afternoon at Radio World. Feels like a lot. Really?

I remember being on a boat in New York harbor or something for the Peyton Manning press conference on a Saturday the week before the Super bowl.

You were sent there because Wes was a day late because of some sort of flight issues and showed up in New York with no coat. And he and I were down in like, Hackensack, New Jersey while the two of you were up in.

It's about me. I believe you were in Hoboken. Hoboken?

Well, no, it was actually Jersey City. And it started and we were in.

The process of him trying to get a winter coat expense. The subject of way too many.

Yeah. Was the luggage lost? Is that what happened?

This entire fleet of luggage was completely lost. And he showed up to Jersey City. And that Super bowl was lucky because of the temperature. It started snowing after the game, but it was fine. But the days leading up where he and I went to a chili's three nights in a row down in this russian landscape was freeze. Absolute dead winter and he had no coat. And you guys were up in Manhattan having know, bubbly with Unbelievable. I don't know how that came to be.

Caviar every night for Greg and I on top of the Chrysler building. Not quite, but yes, because what happened was I get a little more shading on that one. The year before, weirdly, was the Niners Raven Super bowl. And we were in the top rafters of the Superdome. And it was so cold up there, the air conditioning. This is before the power outage, maybe this caused the power outage was so freezingly cold, like shooting down. And everyone that worked in NFL media that they actually greenlit people going to the concession stands to get jackets and hoodies to wear for the game. I didn't do one myself, but a lot of people did. So I think Wes in the back of his mind said, oh, we were able to do that last year. He did the same thing and bought like a $175 Super bowl winter jacket. And then the expense report came back with a big old he gone.

They reacted sharply to that.

And Greg, as his boss at the time, did you get him the money? I don't remember.

I remember actually, I believe a promise was made to him that it would be okay from my boss at the time. I'm not going to throw him under the bus. Friend of ours. And then I think he was kind of talking out of his butt like he often did.

Oh, that could be so many. All right, let's, we have Baldi coming up to break down some interesting lines heading into Niners Chiefs on Sunday. But first, let's get caught up on some news.

Tic tac toe.

Nice.

Brandon has a chance to win here.

The crowd goes wild.

Kicker club.

What a win for the AFC.

Congratulations to Justin Tucker.

That was awesome, man.

Way to play like a raven.

Listen, you know, I love kickers and I love me Brandon Aubrey. I mean, what a season he had. Justin Tucker is maybe my favorite player who's ever lived in our league. I just some notes for that. If we're going to have a kicker, tic tac toe, let's get some bodies in there. Let's get some crowd in there. Let's get some audience.

Yeah, that was weird because the rest of the stuff they did indoors and then certainly on Sunday with the games and then the extra stuff where they had amazingly 60,000 people there, like, had an audience. I don't know why.

The kicker thing, let's funnel some of that 60K into the fieldhouse for the kicker game or go judge judy it and pay some people to be there and then let's put some music underneath it. If we're looking to change how the kicking game is mean, that was a little. We could do better. That's all.

Yeah, I think it's.

I'm free. Reach out to me and I'm happy to help. Yeah.

It's continued enthusiastic disrespect for a position that I think could have had a lot of people cheering.

For the ANC.

Or that also they literally don't allow kicking in the flag football games, which is more disrespect. The kickers have no role.

By the the. When I was doing speaking, we were talking about the west thing, the Brian Hoyer wager with Johnny Manziel, just to refresh my memory of that moment in time. Because obviously, and if you. We talked about that Johnny Manziel documentary recently that was really obviously illuminating and how messed up he was behind the scenes. It came down to a exhibition game against Washington. Mike Petton was trying to figure out who am I going to go with? And he wanted somebody to win the battle. And obviously Manzel was a wreck. But Hoyer was playing terribly. He had missed most of the previous season and they both played really poorly in that game. But what gave Hoyer the edge was, in addition to Manzel struggling, he gave the finger to the Redskins sideline during the game, which is outrageous.

He did.

And it was a moment in Browns history where their preseason games were watched by way more people than you'd ever imagined. But I will say one thing about west that around week seven or eight, because I think they started that season around six and three or seven and three before they lost all the rest of their games. But Hoyer, under Kyle Shanahan, who was the one year offensive coordinator, was because of play action. And the way that Shanahan does what he does with quarterbacks was having this pretty great season. And this was back when we could kind of write whatever we wanted as articles. It was just like, if you're fascinated by this, go write an article like Wes wrote this Brian Hoyer Kyle Shanahan article that I think predates a lot of other people's Shanahan analysis in general. And despite the fact that he was losing, he lost that Sandwich bet, he turned around and made this incredible written piece about it. And that was kind of Wes in a nutshell.

Yeah, well said. And Manziel then also said in that documentary, like the one place I couldn't go was Cleveland. Yeah. Young Kyle Shanahan there if you just would have had your head on straight. But he did not. All right. I think Shanahan left because of Manziel.

Well, yeah, there were a lot of issues with ownership. He asked to leave his contract.

All right, here's the news.

Because ownership made them play. Manzille.

Yes.

And the GM got suspended for said.

You know, when Mike Petton called him to tell him about that, he thought Mike Petton was joking as like a veteran leader, like, hey, how do you think everyone will handle this? And he literally laughed and thought he was being sarcastic.

Let's start with the Washington commanders. We are all absolutely thrilled about the Dan Quinn hiring now, and they have also filled their offensive coordinator position, hiring Cardinals coach Cliff, former Cardinals coach Cliff Kingsbury. The team announced that on Monday. Kingsbury, some palace intrigue here, had been very close to joining the Raiders as their OC until contract talks broke down on Saturday. Washington talked to Kingsbury that day. The deal completed the day after that. I don't know, Greg. I don't know how this works. And I saw some percolations on Twitter around something you sent out that Cliff Kingsbury could be so hot in demand after, quite frankly, disastrous tenure, certainly the end of it with Arizona. And yet here we are, two teams fighting over Kingsbury. Only one gets them and it's the commanders.

It's crazy to me because what about their run offensively? Did anyone like, they underachieved in terms of what he had? And it just sounds like he was going to sign with the Raiders. And then the Washington became interested and since he hadn't signed on the dotted line yet, they said contract negotiations broke down and he just decided this was a better spot for him. And I'm rooting for Dan Quinn. I don't know if I'm excited for Cliff Kingsbury to have the number two.

Overall draft pick and he's, you know.

Obviously with USC ties a year ago, he's tied to Caleb Williams. And you wonder if Chicago goes in a different direction, like that could be his quarterback.

They could trade their assets up just to go one to two.

Sure, they could trade up. I guess I'm with you in the sense that I came out of that Cliff Kingsbury experience because I went into it with like, this could be one of these sort of fascinating turning points in the NFL. And it was kind of marked by chaos and increasing disorganization and upset players.

By the very static offense, like uncreative, just the same thing over and over.

And.

Yeah, the thing you were referring to that I mentioned was like, I still think some coaches really play the media game hard, and the agents obviously do, too. So it's like a combination. One of the things covering the league for 20 years, I wouldn't have thought that it mattered so much. And now you realize it only matters so much. You have to have some goods, but it can matter. And some coaches, I think, really have a way of befriending a ton of media. And it's usually not just one or two guys and women. It's everyone. It's like they're friends with everyone and the agent is, too. And they get a lot of good press because of it. I thought Jeff Fisher was like the old king of it, like Cliff Kingsbury is one of the new kings of it. And I think that helped him get a job and helped him be like a hot commodity. The opposite is whatever is happening with Ben Johnson, who turned down this Washington job, apparently, and now Washington and some of the same people are pumping up cliff, are giving this smear campaign against Ben Johnson. Listen to this, because he turned them down.

So this is an ESPN report that Johnson had issues with commander's ownership after interviewing to be their new head coach in the wake of Ron Rivera's firing. Johnson, according to this report, considered the ownership group led by owner Josh Harris, 76 ers owner also, as well as hall of Famer Magic Johnson, one of the great basketball players of all time. He saw them as, quote, basketball guys, and that's not going to work. You know why? It's not going to work.

Football is completely different than basketball.

And he believed that they were, according to this report, overly confident about their football knowledge. The report then also threw out there that Johnson fared poorly in his interview. So back and forth they.

Well, it's. But here's the thing. Washington started it, and then I don't love you started it, that Ben Johnson's agent very likely is the one that comes back with this basketball guy stuff. But they started it immediately saying, like, he didn't interview well. Now there's this report in the athletic that he seems not really like a leader, that he's more just a guy in a lab cooking up schemes and doesn't deal with players. You were going to hire him, and no one was denying that they were literally on the plane to hire him. First of all, that's completely disrespectful to Aaron Glenn, who they were also going to interview. It makes it obvious that that was a sham interview that they were just doing to check a Rooney rule box. So you're saying like, oh, how is this going to make Ben Johnson look around? How does it make you look? I don't know. This stuff drives me crazy.

It sure does.

I think if you're a commanders fan.

Like, you just exited a completely darkest.

Night, not great with Dan Snyder. Now this is happening.

New leadership. I remember what I was trying to think of was part of that athletic report was they were going to hire Mike McDonald, too. They wanted to hire Mike McDonald and.

Quinn the fourth or the third?

The third choice. And McDonald chose the Seahawks over him because according to Washington, and I don't necessarily believe this, but that Seattle outspent him. My guess is the money was good in both places and McDonald picked the place that just seemed like the better.

Like, I guess if you're like, I, why burn bridges? I know that the Washington organization started a lot of this, but it's like Ben Johnson's camp has responded a couple different times. You're back in the coaching search mix a year from now, and it's like we now think different things about you than we did.

I think Kelly, when he kept turning people down, too, and he still got.

If you said that.

Yeah, but Chip Kelly also became, well, Chip Kelly was a pretty difficult person to work with by the end, too.

And it was the commanders who leaked at first that he interviewed poorly.

It really started that way. Yes.

So you can kind of understand that if Johnson's camp wants to say, wait.

A second, that's not necessary, it's just all soiled now. We're literally a fortnight ago, Ben Johnson was like the bell of the ball.

I just think, though, the idea, though, that, oh, he turned us down while we were in the plane. That's not how you do things. I think it's just like these billionaires not liking getting. Looking bad and getting turned down and having a commoner say, no, actually, you're not good enough.

What if that's how they look at the coaches, Mark?

What if Stu Gotts came out and said, I don't think Ceciler had a good show today? Would you come out publicly and return fire, or would you let that sit untouched?

I think my history unmolested. My history suggests what I've done with Stu Gotts's initial slash at my identity.

Which was kind of play ball with.

It in a playful way. I didn't reach out to him personally. It's like he doesn't really know anything about me. But if he dug in as a trenchant listener and thought I had a bad show, I'd have to think about that a little differently.

Right.

But then I'll go listen to his.

Show and I'll see what I think.

I'm not trying to start a feud there. I'm sure he's a capable, nice person. Why don't ask me this question? Because then I just go down that road.

That's not helpful. Made it setsler. I mean, how about that guy? Who is that guy?

You set the table for personal chaos, and I don't need it.

The whole key is just to just keep your mouth shut and let the talking continue. All right. Good to know. All right, in other news. In other news. News. Let's get on the coaching carousel. That was merely illuminating, like the idea that if somebody comes after you.

I know, but, you know, I'll just walk right into the lion's den on those situations.

That's all Ben did. Ben was like, whoa, you're making me look bad. I'm still looking to get a job down the line. Like, yeah, I'm not going to stand for this. We have agents. You could leak something. Oh, you should leak something.

I will try that.

That's perfect, because then you don't have to be out front, but beep this out.

I'll just do it on the slide. Before we get to Vegas, let's get.

Involved with some media shenanigans. Okay. That would be fun. Like, right here, there's this article I was about to click on, but I didn't. Greg, that connects with you. I would feel like, in a personal way. Headline. Mike Florio rips Adam Schefter's irresponsible reporting as he reveals broken friendship.

I got a bit I'd click.

I know I'm going to, but Rosie thought will leak a couple of things.

Get Rosie leaking.

I mean, I thought Greg him like an old Buick.

Let's start a fire. All right. In other news. Yes. Let's spin the carousel. Here we go. Saints hire Clint Kubiak as OC. Raiders hire Luke getze as their OC after Cliff says agam, liam Cohen, he's the bucks OC. The Patriots hire Alex Van Pelt as OC. Steve Belichick, one time thought to be a potential heir to the throne in New England. Egon, he goes to Washington to be their DC, so he's going off on his own.

Now.

The Dolphins hire Ravens assistant Anthony Weaver is their DC. The Seahawks. There's a guy that's bounced around. In fact, he was in our building this past season, Leslie Frazier. I never saw him once, by the way. I did.

You know what's funny?

Never once down in the and now he's gone down in the locker room.

I saw him having a very hushed conversation with one member of our media team, and I was thinking like, something's going on there and then bang, this happened.

He is now the assistant head coach of the Seahawks, so that's cool. And there you go. Anything on those appointments, fellas?

I would say one thing I know, like Liam Cohen has been a kind of hot and cold guy. He was with Kentucky, but he was Baker Mayfield's offensive coordinator when Mayfield was with the Rams and executed the Raiders after that two day stay with the Rams. And so I wonder if that helps or hurts or what. Like he knows Baker may, I think.

It helped, but he is one of the only guys that's kind of come into working with McVeigh, and then McVeigh kind of lets go very quickly gets. He felt like a little bit of a backup choice. He loved Justin Fields. So you do wonder, is there a connection there that the Raiders might go get Justin Fields and then Alex Van Pelt just feels like the Patriots are just kind of getting scraps here. Eric Biennemy doesn't have a job either, right. That that would have been a totally different direction. For instance, the Patriots to go or even the Saints. Clint Kubiak, just because the last name you assume is going to be good, but you don't really know.

Good point about the a. I admire him. His decision he made because he wanted to try to ascend and eventually get a head coaching job. So he left the nest in Kansas City, which was a nice nest to be in. But now what can backfire is you end up on a coaching staff where it doesn't work out. And now he's floating.

He could always go back, though. And it's crazy to think Mike McDonald gets hired as a head coach, right? Three of his assistants are now defensive coordinators. That's outrageous. For one offseason, pretty good. So Weaver is in Miami. Right. Denard Wilson is in Tennessee. And then Connor Orr's budy Zach is taking over in Baltimore.

Also, a reminder that the NFL is painfully unoriginal. Everyone just copies each other, and this year it's like we want the Ravens defense. All right, quickly developing tree finally in the news. It is time, Greg, to say so long to really one of your all time favorites. Before Gino Smith, it was Teddy Bridgewater, who is your guy? And he has announced after a final year of holding a clipboard in Detroit that he is retiring from professional football. He's going into coaching at the high school level. So never again. Greg, can you tell us that Teddy Bridgewater would be a great sign for a team looking for a quarterback?

Well, never again.

What a way to pitch.

It says you.

We can take him out of high school coaching game.

I will miss what a career he's had. Sean Payton said to Peter King in Monday morning quarterback this year that he was an all time leader and that those kids were lucky that he was like Ferris Bueller. He compared it to, didn't matter where he goes, everyone follows Teddy Bridgewater. One of the best leaders he's ever been around.

Well, you never heard Mark or I ever disputing his character.

Not at all.

That's for damn sure what he came back from. And in general, solid career. A good guy.

Solid career.

Solid is as far as you can go in, in terms of the career, though, like, to be fair, Greg.

Right.

He's, I would say a good career. I mean, better than the average first round.

Got to get to Baldi.

Yeah, better than the first round draft. Average first round draft. But considering the injury, that's pretty good.

All right. That's a certain bar. You butter knife that one a little bit, but yes. And it's a shame what the injury and how that impacted the trajectory of his career. I still remember doing that show. It was at the end of the summer and it was like, oh, my God. All right, here we go. Let's welcome in. Now it's official. Now we're going to turn our attention to the big game and Super Bowl 58 coming up. Who do you want to talk to when you want to get into the x's and o's and what makes these teams tick? Well, of course, you pick up the phone and you ask for Brian Baldinger and Baldi was there for us. Here is a conversation that we had. Welcome back. Our next guest is listen, he's in the hall of fame for guests for around the NFL. One of our very favorites. No one tape dogs quite like Brian Baldinger. And now we welcome back to ATN Baldi. What's up, bud?

Well, nice to join you guys. Thanks for the invitation. We're at the finish line. We're counting down days here, like ten days left until this thing's going to come to a close. Everybody I know, most of the people I know, I should say, are like, they're sad that there's just one game left and there's not going to be anything after Super Bowl Sunday for a while. So let's soak it all up right now.

Are there weird parallels? Because once you hit offseason, Baldi, and you're doing your tropical vacations and you got the women everywhere around you, in some ways, there's a parallel here, but instead of women all around you, you're doing podcasts with doughy pale whites such as ourselves.

That's true. That's true. So whoever wants to invite me in and talk about this great american game of ours, I try to make the time. I never really get tired of doing it because it's just so interesting on so many different levels. But yes, when it's over, I always say the only thing better than working is not working. So if I'm diving with reef sharks in Belize two weeks from today, I'm not going to miss any of this. But while I'm here, I'm going to give it everything I got.

All right, let's get into the game, then. The game, because I know, and, baldi, you heard it and maybe you felt the same way, too, the way championship Sunday set up, there was this idea that Super Bowl Sunday could be really unique. And then instead what we get is Chiefs niners, which from one point of view is a little redundant, but from another, I mean, doesn't this feel like we're set up for? You can never guarantee classics or games that are going to go down to the wire, but you look at these teams, you see them as pretty even.

Yeah, I do. I see them pretty mean. You can pitch a case for both teams. At this stage of this dynasty that the Chiefs are in the middle of, it's kind of hard to root against or just think that anybody has a chance against Mahomes and Andy Reid and Spags and Travis Kelsey? It just seems hard that anybody's going to beat them. But if there's one team that is set up that can do it, that has the coaching, the personnel, the talent, it's San Francisco. And so I feel like we got a good matchup, but I think any one of the four, we could literally, without even thinking, draw up 20 storylines and we could just feed off of those storylines that would just be there. Obviously, if Detroit was here. Instead, we'd have a field day just seeing another shot of, you know, on the sideline, just doing anything, just being Barry Sanders is fun or big shot, but this is what we got. So I think it's fascinating and it's repeat. Can this kid at quarterback named Brock Purdy that nobody seems to really want to respect at this stage? Can he rise up and can he slay here?

And like all those things are out there. It's going to be fantastic.

Baldi, you have called this week Brock Purdy, you titled, and I love this, the silent assassin. And there is this discourse and it's been going on all year and last year. It's too good to be true because of his draft stock, where he came from. It's simply he's supported by the team around him. But it's clear that you see something else. So for the people out there that believe in Brock Purdy, what is it you see? Why is he the silent assassin?

Because first of all, he plays the game with no fear. And you could put up any bad play that he's had. We've seen a few of them, especially down the stretch. It never affects him in the next series. Like he can flush it the way you have to. And he doesn't need a psychiatrist on the sideline to get him out of any kind of a funk. He doesn't go into a funk. Then he can make every single throw. You could say they love to attack the middle of the field. That's what Shanahan does. That's what Mike March did with Kurt Warner. They attacked the middle of the field. The middle of the field is dangerous.

Balls get tipped.

Balls get intercepted. You have to layer throws in the middle of the field. You have to layer them over linebackers and dropping defensive linemen sometimes all that stuff. And yet he makes those throws routine. He made a throw to Debo Samuel. We all saw it at the start of the third quarter and he just hit his fifth step and let it rip like the way you have to throw it, with no fear, right in the middle of a four man zone. Detroit's sitting there and he hit debo like it was like he just took it right off the tee and just kept, you know, that sort of ability to do mean. I didn't think Jimmy Garoppolo could do that with regularity the way this kid does. I just think whatever they ask him to do, he can do. And he's got to scramble for 52 yards on three runs in the second half, or whether he's got to roll out of the pocket and avoid pressure, he does that. And whether he's got to understand the situation where just get rid of the ball is better and go to the next down. He does that.

And then somebody has to feed all of these talented players that the 49 ers have, and he feeds them all. They're all having good seasons. None of them are not eating and not feeding off of this. And so it starts with him.

Yeah, I do want to get to the 49 ers defense, which to me is so different than the last time these teams played in the Super bowl. While we're on Brock, just thinking of this matchup with Spagnolo and the Chiefs defense, just how do you think purdy and Shanahan will react to all the different looks that spagnolo throws at him? Because Lamar Jackson obviously didn't handle that very well. And one thing we've seen with this Chiefs defense, also different than the four or five years ago, is, man, they can change a lot throughout a game, throughout a week to week, throughout a series. They just never show you the same thing twice. How do you think, like Purdy and Shanahan deal with that?

I remember one time, I'll answer your question, Greg, but I remember one time Spags was on Jim Johnson staff in Philly and they went up to play Tom Brady and the Patriots. And to your point about versatility and changing fronts and all that stuff, literally, Jim Johnson gave Brady a different defense each quarter because they knew he would adjust at halftime. He goes, we can't wait to halftime to change. So literally, Jim Johnson came up with this idea. Let's give him four different defenses. We'll play a different one each quarter, and let's see if Brady and the Patriots adjust even in the playoffs. Now, Spags played a totally different defense against Buffalo in the playoffs than he did week 14. And so last week he said, well, we'll play three big linebackers. We'll play Bolton and Tranquil and Chanel and we'll stuff the run, but we'll leave our corners exposed. And if Lamar could beat Legerius or Trent or Jalen or Joshua, whoever out there, then they beat him.

And they couldn't beat him.

They got one deep ball down the field and one for a touchdown on a scramble draw. Other than that, they were for eight on some of those deep shots. So I think Spags will start by saying, okay, McCaffrey is a guy. You got to stop. I feel like, how are they going to do that? What front are they going to play? Their mind is naughty. Their mind is Amenahu, they're down numbers. What is going to be their method to basically stopping McCaffrey from getting going and discouraging Shanahan from just feeding him the way they have all year? Mean, that's just one take, Greg. But the good thing is they had the six rookies a year ago. They all got on the field they started four rookies in a Super bowl. Like, all these kids now are very experienced players. And I saw this t shirt down the field in Baltimore the other day. Spags hates it, but they all have a t shirt. Says in Spaggs we trust, and I really feel like they're in the classroom and they all want to be in the front row. They all were like, what's he going to do this week?

How are we going to do this? What's the plan? And I think he's just got them all buying in right now to whatever that plan is.

I have an idea, by the way, because everybody knows one of Baldi's greatest hits is and what he regularly, it goes off on social media and viral is the hashtag Baldi's breakdowns. We have some very talented people that listen to this show in terms of artistic merit. Can we get someone in the vein of the inspags we trust, but in Baldi we trust, and then make sure he gets the laser eyes. Also, like tape dogging. If we can get some type of t shirt design, maybe we can make a.

Let's just get the clicker.

Yeah, clicker.

Me, I have a great.

Can you, can we get like an action shot of you with the clicker? We'll screen grab it, and people could use that as the basis for the t shirt. That would be very helpful.

Absolutely. We get that done.

All right, now, my question to you, back to the. Yeah, we're always trying to build the Baldi brand because it can always be bigger. The Kansas City offense is a subject of fascination to me, and confusion, quite frankly, based on how much they struggle. I'm just thinking about where they were Christmas day and that horrific performance, I think, against the Raiders. And then once they get to the playoffs, they turn it on. And now here they are on the Super bowl, and they took care of business against Miami in the cold in the first round. It was a pretty vintage performance against the Bills in divisional play. The initial game script was flawless in the AFC title game. Two touchdowns on the first two drives, and then things obviously dried up a little bit for them. When you look at the team that went to the Super bowl against the Eagles last year and the team now that's going to go to the Super bowl against the 49 ers, do you think they have another vintage performance in them against the San Francisco defense? Or is this who more or less the Chiefs are this year, where they do enough, grind it out and it's spags in the d that takes things home?

Is there a huge game left in the tank for this team in this core. Oh, for sure.

I remember I had Andy Reed on my podcast like midseason and I've known Andy since he came to Philadelphia 1999. So I told him, I said, you know, big red, for the first time since I've known you, I'm talking more about your defense than your offense. And he didn't disagree. He didn't disagree with it. The way they were kind of struggling, quite frankly. I feel like they're bored during the regular season. They look bored sometimes because they know what it's all about. All that matters is how you play in January and like and some of them have just been through it for so long now, maybe Creed Humphrey doesn't feel that way or Trey Smith, but I feel and Rashid Rice, but to a certain extent there is a little bit of fatigue that we got to get through this thing to when it really just and so now the ball doesn't hit the ground when it goes to Travis Kelsey, it hit the ground. A know during the regular season, the ball didn't hit the ground like the game plan was like if we had a stopwatch and how long the ball was in Mahomes hands for most of his throws, it was less than a second and a like because they know ravens are his own defense.

They're just sitting there waiting. They'll took all the four yard throws that you can get and then we'll turn those four yard throws into four yards or six or maybe eight yards and we'll just stay on schedule, we'll march and that's what they did. Baltimore tightened things up in the second half. They didn't get much. But I think to answer your question, yeah, I think they have another vintage performance left in them.

I thought you had an interesting tweet because you'd have a perspective. You outside of youth sports, you don't know what's happening with a lot of these teams where they're not on the field playing. You talked about the way that the Chiefs pregame warm up, how they practice in general, that there's something about them that stands out to you and it's like whether they were bored or not, they're very consistent. And is that different than the Niners to you? Is that different than other teams in general?

I've watched Brock Purdy warm up and he's kind of an amazing guy in warmups because you could literally go out there to Brock Purdy in pregame warmups and you could ask him about that ice cream shop in Ames, Iowa, and what his favorite flavor was. And he's giving you an answer. But this routine of the Chiefs looks different to me. It looks very Peyton Manning like from the moment that Mahomes takes the field. I don't know. Since Mahomes has been there, I've probably done 20 chief games for national radio over the seven years. Like, literally, his routine, it doesn't matter if it's 25 below zero, like a couple of weeks ago or if it was Sunday in a misty rain. He comes out in his warm ups 3 hours before kickoff, he sits on a bench, he talks to the trainers, he talks to equipment guys, and then about an hour and a half before kickoff, he starts winding that arm up. And literally, you could take that game versus the game against Buffalo versus the game on week two against Jacksonville. It's almost identical, and he must get at least 100 throws in. And I just think, like, the throw, obviously, to Kelsey for the touchdown against Kyle Hamilton, we've all watched it.

It's an amazing throw, but I felt like he threw that with just the exact same amount of ease as what you just showed right there in that throw. To Travis Kelsey, it feels like isn't anything different in the mechanics or how he throws it or anything else in that pregame warm up versus the game. And I don't know that other guys that warm up treat it the same way.

My favorite warm up I ever saw, and we don't get on the field anymore at the Super Bowls, was Colin Kaepernick just throwing fastballs as fast as he humanly could, like 40 straight times. I don't know what the purpose of that was, but it was very exciting to watch before that Super bowl. Last one I have for you, Baldi, just watching these last three games from the 49 ers that mattered for them, the Ravens game and then these two playoff games, I'm just struck with, and you know what? You're seeing better on tape than any of us do. But what I'm seeing is kind of shocking to me, is a team that's like, maybe not that physical, that if you only watch these three weeks, you would say for those three weeks, both playoff games, the Raven games, they got pushed around a little and they didn't play very well. And that's very surprising to me. I know they have some weak spots, but they also have some great players. Do you think the Chiefs offense could outtuff this 49 ers defense?

Definitely.

I mean, the only guy that looked like he played good on Sunday was bosa. To me, I didn't think Armstead, Hargrave, Givens chase. I didn't think anyone played good.

Surprising.

I didn't think they had good run fits in the run game. I mean, Fred Warner's going this way and know Oren Burks is going this way, and they're leaving the middle open for David Montgomery. I'm like, that's not good defense. And I thought they got pushed around. I didn't think the effort was great. It wasn't championship effort by a number of players. And so while Fred Warner does cover up some of the mistakes because of how fast he plays and how aggressive he is, along with, like, I didn't see a great defense on Sunday. And so the one thing the Chiefs have leaned on, though, is they've become a good power running football team. Even know Nick Allegretti in at left guard, they still did a good job of pushing Baltimore around at times on Sunday. And Macheko got some good runs, and I feel like they've leaned on that power run game a little bit. Donovan Smith's a better run blocker than. I mean, I just think if they need to, they'll lean on it. And I think based on what we just saw, why wouldn't you?

All right. Brian Baldinger, who you, of course, can check. He's all over social media at Baldi NFL. He's got a couple of podcasts, all city sports and on Odyssey. Check those out.

You have a daily podcast, Baldi. Like, how do you have time for two daily podcasts? People should check that out.

Best football show with Brian Baldi. Podcasts for two different networks.

The room that he's sitting in, honestly.

I'm just a football whore. And whoever wants to pay me a check, like, I'm going to work for. I've never read one of my contracts ever. I'm just like, people want me.

You got me. You're normalizing football promiscuity. And I think that's healthy, by the way, just because I like to live vicariously through you. So once the season's over and you're going to Belize, are you more a sniping some mako sharks in the crows nest with bikini babes around you? Or are you more like swimming with the dolphins with the bikini babes around you? Like, where do you go on that?

Well, I like both species, actually. All three species. I'm a fan of all of it, to be honest with. Mean, I could elaborate, but I think I'll just leave it right there.

I think everybody knows where Baldi's coming. And finally, Eric, can we go to full screen on Baldi? Baldi, it's time to get out the clicker. We're going to get the screenshot that our talented people. Let's make sure it's in the shot. There we go. Some type of take us back to your playing days. You're focused and intense.

Well, here we like. Let's just take a look right here at Trent Williams and his backside cut off block. And nobody can emulate this. Nobody knows how to do it. It's strictly the Trent Williams block. How he can just take somebody's head and just ram it right into the ground. And McCaffrey cut right off them like that. It's just a beautiful piece of film right there.

Beautiful.

And all of the proceeds of this t shirt will go to repopulate the mako shark population in the ocean.

There's way too many sharks that aren't making.

All right, Baldi, thank you so much. Budy. Appreciate the time. You're such a busy man this time of year, and we really do appreciate you doing this with us. Until next time, thanks, Baldi.

Thanks.

See you, guys. All right. There he goes. Baldi. We spoke with him late last week. He's a very busy guy, as we alluded to, and he gave us some time. Really happy to talk with him and dig into this game, which is going to be so great. I'm really excited about this. Not in spags. We trust in Baldi. We trust merch people always asking about the merch, Mark. And I feel like this one could be a big time winner.

He is the perfect candidate for a wide variety of creative input from people, listeners, that see the different aspects to Baldi. There was one thing about him. I think we've come into this Super bowl week a little bit like, oh, it's Niners chiefs again. Is it the same old thing? Well, it's obviously not, but he elevates your interest in any matchup. And whether it's the merch, it's the game itself. There's only one Baldi.

Cool. And just to give you an idea of what you're up against, big funk, who's not in today, but here is a design that he put together. You could check this out on fast channel. Baldi's breakdowns. That's what we're looking for. If you are a creative person and you want to design a t shirt around Baldi and his greatness, and look at that finger in the shot. You gotta get the pinky in the shot. Eric is that as someone that has a thumb issue to see the pinky askew like that? Are you guys part of a club that no one talks about?

I did think about it when we were recording that interview. I was like, there are a handful of people here and several people with faulty digits.

I mean, his came on the battlefield of the gridiron. How did you hurt your finger again?

The battlefield of the kitchen.

I don't remember slicing potatoes.

Okay, well, it's not the same origin story.

Also calling it a faulty digit. I don't believe you have a faulty. Well, sometimes when you're slow on the hit, that is a little faulty. I agree with you.

It's hard picking up things sometimes. That little extra, you need that little extra.

Too real.

It's weird.

Yeah, too real. All right.

Yeah. I am sure we're going to end our eleven year strikeout filled attempts at making merch now and somehow going to.

Be about Baldi, right. He gets all the money. All right. That was a action packed full show on Monday before we get on the plane. And so we gave you a lot to chew on and just want to, before we go, one more thing. And we mentioned Chris at the top of the show and again, three years without him and it's hard to know. We've been at this company for so long now and you get to know people on a personal level beyond just professional. And we were shocked to learn yesterday that Larry Campbell, who known by everyone in the office here as LC, who's just like a great dude and someone that was always friendly and great at his job, he passed away suddenly this week, this past week. So really appall. And a gray and rainy time in Los Angeles, like that's hanging over this building right now because Larry was a mainstay in that newsroom and in terms of our NFL Network team. So we lose Larry and we really send our thoughts and our prayers out to his family.

Yeah, it's a big loss. Such a kind soul, such a kind guy.

And a big part of when we.

Were first going on the network, working with him on all those old NFL now hits and whatever the name of it, around the league, when it was around the league, then around the NFL, and just a great guy. He will be missed.

Yeah, it's like he was a real supporter of what we were trying to do. But I also know that particularly wes down in Marina Del Rey would see Larry out a lot and they had a special friendship. And it's like someone that you just saw like a week ago and then you find, know, it's terrible these days. You find over text that this person is gone and it's don't, it brings up a lot of stuff for all of us. And it's like he was a genuinely kind, fun person and there's really no one like him. And it's just another.

I implore you because I say it not in jest, because I mean it. But when Steve Weish is on the show, I call him the conscience of the newsroom. Check out on his feed, his Twitter feed. Andrew and Steve talking about Larry, because he can say it more eloquently than any of us. So, yeah, we'll be in Las Vegas in two days. Join us for another ride to the Super bowl. Till then, heed the call.