My dough never sees a freezer. Faye Hollis makes the biscuits at Hardee's. I'm up at 5 a.m. every day making biscuits from scratch. Easy there, biscuit lady.
Ought to create the Hardy's $2 for $5 breakfast menu. Try the new Oscar Meyer bologna biscuit, sausage and egg biscuit, smoked sausage biscuit, biscuit and gravy, or a cinnamon roll. The $2 for $5 breakfast for a limited time only at participating Hardees. I got up early. The least you can do is show up hungry.
Welcome to the jungle, a tremendous Friday to you. I am Jim Rome. Program brought to you, as always, by FanDuel. Hobby. Don't move so far away from your console.
I need a decade yeah if you don't mind. Thank you very much. What's going on, y'all? Great to have you here. Great to be here.
It is an enormous football weekend, and we had quite a game last night that I'm going to cover in a minute. But great to have you here. Let's go ahead and get this thing going. 1-800-636-8686. Use that telephone number if you don't mind.
I've got two good football interviews coming up. I'll get to that momentarily. If you don't want to call me, that's good. That's fine. That's cool.
Hit me up on the X. Just engage somehow, somehow, some way. I know a lot of you are of that mindset: hey, Rome, I've listened 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. I've never called. All right.
You don't ever have to call. In fact, if you've got nothing to say on the phones, don't call. But that doesn't mean you can't engage. Get on the X, find me on social, email us, go to our YouTube channel. That's something that a number of you never did, and all of a sudden you tried chat and liked your crackheads.
You're chat heads. Chat is addicting. Go to our YouTube channel. Crack is whack. You know what's more whack than crack?
Nothing. Do you know what's almost as whack as crack? Chat. Chat is whack. Thanks, Dale.
Anyway, go there. Go to our YouTube channel, hit sub, ring the bell, work your way over to chat, do your thing. All right, coming up at 1240 Hall of Famer. Joe Thomas joins us. Cleveland Browns, great.
So that's coming up in about 40 minutes from right now. Coming up the top of our number three, a tight end for the Saints, Juwan Johnson. Looking forward to that. Nice get. Good book.
Also, today we'll have an ATP. Alvi will have the week that was, and I've got a lot to get to myself. Let me hate with that telephone number one more time: 1800-636-8686. All right, first things first. I should have known Atlanta.
after all those years of me having your back. Through all that nonsense. After all those times I pushed back against the Fale Clowns Gloss after all those Falcon interviews I did year after year after year After all of that, I finally had no choice but to admit it last week. I finally admitted that the Fail Clowns actually were the Fail Clowns. That the Fail Clowns actually fit the Fail Clowns pretty well.
So then what happens? Those very same fail clowns. Go out and they play their best game in I don't even know how long, and they did it in prime time, and they did it. In the home opener at Lambeau Field for the Packers. A situation whereby the Packers had won the previous 13 games in a row.
So I guess the fail clowns gloss is kind of like Browns is the Browns. And if that's what fired Atlanta up to finally put together four solid quarters, then you're welcome. If I'm your Mike Tomlin this week, again, you're welcome, Falcon fan.
Now, was Atlanta really that great, or was Green Bay really that bad? As always, the answer is yes. And for the Packers, it wasn't just bad. It was actually horrendous. It was shocking.
It was pathetic. It was one of the worst showings at Lambea ever. Yes, it was that bad. I guess we all should have seen that coming, though. We all should have seen that red flag when Green Bay had to come back from a double-digit deficit to barely squeeze by the JETS.
Jets, jets, jets. And that three-point winner with the Jets is the only thing standing between the Packers and an eight-game losing streak right now. The Jets is not. That's why this is so alarming. That was no one-off for Green Bay.
That wasn't just a bad game. It was a horrible game. It was the worst game. But what that was, was a trend. It is a trend, a downward trend, a downward spiral, a free fall.
The only somewhat positive thing that you can say about the Packers last night is that at least they did not collapse. At least they did not choke and blow a big lead again in the second half. Because Well, they didn't have a lead to blow, but at least they didn't blow a lead. Instead, they merely got their heads caved in. Turns out It's not great when you can't run the ball or catch the ball or block anybody at all or stop anybody.
And the team plays with zero confidence and zero energy. In fact, all of those things were actually bad things. When your quarterback is getting pressured at a historic rate and you also can't run the ball an inch, then you essentially have nothing going on offensively. But hey, at least the head coach is owning it. At least the head coach is admitting that all those things are true.
However, what Matt LaFleur said after the game is actually a very bad sign for a head coach, even if he's telling the truth. It's a bad sign. In fact, it's a death knell. Again, I just I think w we got to continue to work with these guys and and try to figure out what we do well'cause right now I don't know what we're doing well offensively.
So I can help you with that, Matt. Nothing. I can help you with that, Maddie. Uh You're doing nothing well offensively. I also have some advice for you.
You better figure it out fast, bro. Like stat. I agree. You're not doing anything well offensively. or really defensively either.
But You can't just keep saying we need to find solutions. Without coming up with solutions. Because if you don't, you're going to get your ass canned. And pretty soon too. That is where we are at right now.
This is your job. The biggest thing about any head coach's job, it's in the job description actually. Find solutions, solve problems. This is where we're at. This dude's seat is on fire, and the team is in a free fall.
And no, Micah Parsons is not an excuse. Although it is crazy to think how far this team has fallen from the time, this time last year, when they supposedly were a Micah Parsons away from winning it all. That's why it was so out of character when they took that big swing and they made that deal for Micah, because they felt like he was the finishing piece of a legit Lombardi contender.
So much for all that. It's almost like when they killed Micah's knee. They actually killed Ron, Nicole, and the entire organization. Nicole were physically dead, and it's almost like they killed me. It's like Micah's knee was physically dead.
But it's almost like it killed the rest of the team and organization. Hey, clones, you're welcome. I'm never doing that ever again. Unfortunately for the Packers, they really are not the most talented roster with Micah out. And that really showed last night against the studs that the Fail Clowns.
I can't do it anymore. Not after last night. The studs that the Falcons have. Of course, beginning with that freak, Bajon Robinson. That freak Bajan was far and away the best player on the stadium or in the field last night.
But Drake London was pretty close. He had a pretty epic game.
Somehow, both of these dudes put up 194-yard performances, which incredibly is the first time ever that a visiting team has had 150-plus-yard rusher and 150-plus-yard receiver in a game at Lambeau. And it was the freaking Fail Clowns who got that done.
Alright, sorry, Atlanta. I will stop saying that. I really will.
So what actually changed for the Falcons last night?
Well, the QB, obviously, even if Michael Pennix Jr. started a little shaky and didn't exactly set the field on fire with that big Pennix energy. Big Penix energy.
However, he was still a massive upgrade over Cooper Rush. Cooper Rush, who, of course, didn't even drive that team into the red zone for the first two weeks.
So they went from zero red zone appearances and only 16 points scored in the first two weeks to hanging 35 on Green Bay at Lambeau. Just an incredible look for you, Packers. But it wasn't only the quarterback change. Apparently, the Falcons also got a boost from their two-time coach of the year, Kevin Stefansky. Who finally coached like a two-time coach of the year last night and apparently spoke like one too?
Because after the game last week, A loss. Stefansky apparently rallied the troops with a speech that Bajan later compared to Martin Luther King. which I have to admit is a rather shocking comp. I don't know that there could be two people that are more opposite. Then Dr.
King. and Kevin Stafaski. Stefanski has literally never said one single interesting thing in public. Ever But in the locker room, he's an MLK-level world-class orator. He's a total flatline at the podium and always has been.
But behind closed doors, he's channeling the I Have a Dream speech. I find that very hard to believe. I'll give him this though. Whatever he said after that loss last week was definitely more productive than what Tucker Kraft said after the game last night, which only further pissed off already pissed off Packer fan, and for good reason. The dude basically tried to shift the blame to them.
Yeah, it's pretty tough. You know, like everyone pictures Lambeau Field and and Yeah. Not booze. I don't picture booze. I I picture my home stadium.
That's tough. It's pretty disappointing. Especially for a home opener. Especially for a home opener. It's pretty disappointing.
So I can help us win. Like, I don't know. I don't know what. People think that's gonna rally us or something like that. But, you know, that's that's we're grown, man.
We're mentally strong enough, capable enough to to get back on the field and and play ball. But Probably much easier with the 70,000 people behind us rather than opposing us. Yeah. Oh Yeah, I get it. It was these 70,000 people in the stands.
It was their fault. Not the 53 dudes in the Packer jerseys who didn't show up for the game. It was the booze that were the big disappointment last night. Oh, all right, dude. Awesome take.
You know what's an even more disappointing thing than that, Tuck? You know what's even more disappointing than those fans not having your back tuck? That all-time terrible ass kicking that you just took at the hands of the fail clowns. Mm-hmm. That's really disappointing, Tuck.
This team barely beat the Jets for their only win in the last eight games. They collapsed down the stretch last season. Then they collapsed to a rival in the playoffs. Then they collapsed week one against another divisional rival. And now they get curb stomped at home under the lights in prime time by the Fail clown.
Fail clown. And this dude's out here like, where is our applause? Why aren't these people cheering? Are you not entertained? I mean, horrible take, my guy.
I would have said it was impossible to make that horrific loss any worse in the postgame, but I actually think you did. It's like, I don't know what's worse. The team. that performance or that take. Once again, yes.
Kraft said that when he pictures Lambo, he doesn't picture Booze. Yeah, well, when Packer fan pictures Lambo, they don't picture a team that can't run it, can't throw it, can't block, can't stop anybody and has absolutely no juice. Packer fan was checking her own pulse. Am I dead? Are they they killed me They they killed me!
And yet the head coach has no answers. And the tight end is trying to blame the fans. That's when you know you are approaching rock bottom, and when the fans are checking their own pulse. That's when you know jobs are in trouble, seats are getting hot. That's when you know things are really bad for my adopted Wisco half fam.
As I posted on X last night, Hey, Packers fam, I'm just adopted fan. Fam, I should say. And I'm not even blood. And I'm embarrassed. How enraged are you right now?
Much easier with the seventy thousand people behind us rather than opposing us. I mean Tucker, come on, dude. WHAT As Marvin Freeman famously said, Wha The thing is, dude, those 70,000 people showed up ready for a game. You fifty-three, not so much. I mean, I I can't believe what I'm hearing.
You know, it'd be nice if they had her back through the ups and downs. This was not one bad night. Where they just jumped you. Like I said, you could very easily be riding an eight-game losing streak right now. What are you talking about?
They're amazing fans. They're amazing fans, and you're a bad football team right now. That's why they're booing. That's how that works, right? You get that.
I guess not. Pack-a-fan Packer fan, I'm looking for somebody in market on topic. And fail clown fan, don't you come up in here and say, hey, Rome, where's our credit? I've been giving you credit for years. And I never hear from any of you.
And then finally, when I have no choice but to fail clown them. It bites me in the ass. Because of course Packer fan, now what?
Now what? Literally, they're not doing anything right. And it's not a good sign when your head coach says, We keep making the same mistakes, and I don't really know how to fix it. I don't really know how to fix it, I'm fired.
So we'll talk about that. Other things I want to get into, lots of great matchups in the NFL this weekend. We can talk about also some great, great matchups in college football. I want to play a game of who needs it worse. There are some really good matchups in college ball, and I want to talk about some of the coaches and who needs it worse.
Also, Niner fan, Frisco fan, decided to be the messenger Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but somebody else is hurt. Of course. It's a niner. A niner gets hurt every single day. 1-800-636-86-86.
The phones are ringing. Love to see it. Once again, I've got Hall of Famer Joe Thomas coming up at 1240. I've got Saints tight end. Hey, who would have ever thought?
That going to this week, when you first saw the schedule, that Raiders v. Saints would be one of the more interesting games of the week, and it is. Juwan Johnson will join me at the top of hour number three.
Alright, your reaction when we come back.
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So get your free quote at ethos.com/slash gym, e-th-O-S.com/slash gym. Application times and rates may vary. You're listening to that Jim Rome show. I'm going to tell you right now, clones. I love the engagement.
I love the reaction. Phone lines are jumping, chat is going off.
Social media is good. I love it so much. All right, let's get some of this in here. Emerald Mill Cham, this is off chat. More like lamboo.
Field. V and the V on chat. I couldn't handle the booze in whisko either. Signed Tony Romo. Did I miss you?
Turn around? No, I didn't. Did I pass the test? Bro, given that we haven't seen or heard anything from you since then, I think no, you did not pass that test. Mm-hmm.
The also ward me and Rome's Vikings. War Tucker Kraft and Jordan Love being the most overrated and overpaid players in the shield. Listen, in defense of Jordan Love, yes, you would like to think that a guy, one of those guys, if you're one of the guys, like the guys, guys that make something out of nothing, guys that elevate everybody around them, guys that make everybody around them better. There are very, very few guys like that. And I'm not saying that Jordan Love is one of those guys.
I am saying this: in his defense. And I'm not saying that he's without blame. But in his defense, he's not doing anything, and pretty much neither is anybody else behind that offensive line. They're not doing anything. They can't protect him.
He's getting his ass kicked. He's getting battered and bloodied and bludgeoned. They're not going to run the ball. They're not going to throw the ball. They're not going to protect him.
Nothing good is going to happen behind that offensive line.
Now, would Josh Jacobs make a difference? Maybe. He didn't pick a very good time to end up on the Commissioner's exemplist, did he? And by the way, my guy, another guy that I've defended, My guy, never a good time to do what you did. Period.
Rogue News 7898, quote: Jordan love needs Dajon love.
Well we all do. A $15 million home in Malibu on the I own a $20 million home, Beverly Hills, that I just bought in March last year or this year. No, last year. I also own a beach house in South Mario, Florida, and I own every problem. If they had this guy, Matt LaFleur would not be on the hot seat.
If they had this guy, they would not be one and two, they'd be three and all.
So, you can only get a lot of money. If they had this guy, they'd probably be Super Bowl favorites. For me, being rich, you know, safety is everything. This is my favorite. For me, being rich, safety is everything.
What a rap that this dude has. What a great line. For me being rich, safety is everything. Me being rich, hey, you random gal who I met by slipping into your DMs, give me your money. Yes, I'm rich, but I would like your money.
I can help you make money. The change here for me being rich, safety is everything is incredible. All right, let's go to the phones. I've got so much reaction, I don't even know where to go. Why don't we go to, well, let's gotta go to Green Bay, right?
Matt in Green Bay. Matt, good to have you. How you doing, dude? Hey, it's a fantastic day in the jungle. I tell you, Jim, it is a fantastic day to be a Wisconsin sports fan.
You know, it's not very often that a sports fan can actually be. a president of a football operations for a team. We called for the footer's ass, Early this year. They extended him. We're still bitching about it.
And you know what? Maybe they should have let him go. But Jim, we also have Oktoberfest going on right now, where we're going to be drinking copious amounts of beer. And then there's the Brewers, who just won 100 games for the first time ever. Hopefully, Pancake Murphy can actually start.
I got no. I'm gonna do you a favor, Matt. I don't like that colour. I don't like that colour. Send me that script.
Then I will read it. and I will read it better than you just read it. And then I will remind you that There is no reading your takes on the air. What are you going with that, dude? Are you acting like last night didn't happen because Oktoberfest?
Are you acting like last night didn't happen because the Brewers? Are you acting like, oh, you're being sarcastic? Oh, you're being funny. Bro, I know that you were not working the word copious into your conversation. Or into your take.
That's how I know you were reading. And I know you were reading because I know you were reading. The only reason I went to you, Matt, was not for you to read me your take, but because I thought you were in market on topic. Come on, man. But yeah, you're gonna start that take.
I just spent 15 minutes saying how horrible it is to be a Packer fan right now, yet you're gonna come back. I'm not even saying you have to agree with me. That that is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, I just spent fifteen minutes telling you how horrible it must be to be a Packer fan. You just spent several hours last night experiencing how horrible it must be to be a Packer fan.
I mean, damn, you are booing the team in Lambo, and you're going to call me up and say, you know what? It is great. To be a Green Bay fan this morning. No, it's not. What's great about it?
Oh, you were sarcastic. You were making a joke? Anyway, it didn't work. One eight hundred six three six eight six eight six.
Well what what's great about it that You were fine and here's my thing about Matt LaFleur. Did Matt LaFlore? There's two ways of looking at this. Matt LaFleur. Lost five games in a row to end last season, including to Chicago from ahead in the playoffs.
Something that you don't forget if you're a Packer fan, ever. Ever. Like, that's the worst thing you can do. Except maybe losing to Minnesota while leading in a playoff game. You tell me, Packer fan.
I don't know. I'm only adopted fam. I'm only half fam. I'm not blood. Which would sting more?
Choking away a lead against Chicago or choking away a lead against Minnesota in the playoffs. I'm guessing it's probably pretty close since you hate both of them. But he did it to the Bears.
So, what I want to know about Matt LaFlore is: did he go into the offseason thinking, man?
Alright, I've won a lot of games. I've lost some big games. I haven't won a Super Bowl, but I've had a good run here, but we got a problem. We have a problem. We have a real problem.
I've got to do some serious soul searching. I've got to take a long, hard look in the mirror. I've got to fix this thing. We are choking away too many leads. We can't finish anything.
Or did he go into the offseason like Bully. We're good, no problems. We're fine. Because the CEO did start the year in January. by extending him and saying I mean, we're great.
He's great. He's not in any hot seat. I just kind of want to know what the offseason was like because I was not there. And the reason I want to know what the offseason was like is because not a freaking thing has changed. In fact, it's worse.
If not, From benefiting from some bad clock management from the Jets, and the Jets being the Jets, you'd be 0-3 instead of 1-2, and you would have lost 8 games in a row. Packer fan.
So I'm just going to have to take issue with it being a great day to be in Green Bay. I'm guessing it's a horrible day to be in Green Bay. Anybody else? Anybody else, where to? I've got Joe Thomas coming up next segment.
Let's go to the Bay Area. John in the Bay Area. Hey, John. What's going on, John? How are you doing?
I'm blessed, man. How are you doing this afternoon? Good, dude. Good. Enjoying your show.
All right. Well, what I want to say is I've never been a Atlanta Falcon fan, being that I've been a Forty Niner fan for over fifty years. And uh But in saying On topic, that by calling them the clowns, you were better than their coach in their speech. Uh, I can tell you this, it pissed them off. They were playing like that little kid that's been bullied without a gun, and he.
picked up a chair and hit that bully upside the head while he was eating lunch. It was a wonderful game. It was the first time that I actually was rooting for Atlanta because I don't like Green Bay just as much. My man. Nice job, John.
Appreciate you. Rack him. What he's saying is: I do deserve credit. You're hey, hey feel clown fans. You're welcome.
They weren't responding to Dr. King and his speech. They were responding to me, Stefansky. No, I'm just saying, the irony is if you know anything about this show. You know that the Fail Clowns have always been a good jungle team.
They've been good to us. We've been good to them. We've always had a relationship. Even when they weren't that good, I always put their guys on. I always liked them.
And I always resisted that gloss fail clowns. I thought it was super lame. I never used it. Until I finally, when I saw their quarterback room and how badly things were going, I'm like, you know what? It actually, it's all come around.
It is actually apropos. It's appropriate. And then what happens? They go into Lambeau and they cold cock the Packers, knock them the hell out. After all my years of backing them and pushing back on the Fail Clowns, I start calling them the Fail Clowns, and then all of a sudden, they look like legends.
Go figure. Speaking of legends, when we come back, I'm scheduled to be joined by one. Friday's ATP days. Ask the Pros. Brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts.
You get to ask me a question or anybody else on the crew for that matter. Post your question at Jim Rome. Use the hashtag ask the pros on X. Listen later on. We will answer one of your questions, perhaps.
Think O'Reilly Auto Parts. Rob your car care needs, get the parts and service you need fast. From the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts, we will do that in hour number three.
So think about what you want to ask us. Meantime. We're ready to roll. I found myself a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He spent his entire 11-year career with the Cleveland Browns.
He is in the Browns Ring of Honor, a 10-time Pro Bowler, an eight-time All-Pro, a member of the 2010s all-decade team, currently an NFL media analyst and the owner-operator of Hall of Fame Farms. I'm talking about Joe Thomas. Joe, it is great to have you on the show, dude. How are you doing? I'm doing great.
Thanks for having me on, Jim. Joe, you look awesome. Listen, you made it a priority to lean out after you retired in 2018. You look amazing. Can I ask you, how much weight did you play at?
And how much are you carrying these days? And how are you approaching fitness and nutrition? Let us in. Let me know a secret. Yeah, well, I don't know if I have any secrets, but I played about 320 and I'm like 250 now.
So, you know, 70 pounds. And really, once I retired, I had really bad knees, bad back, a lot of arthritis. And the doctor was like, hey, if you want a knee replacement, great. But if you want to hold off on that, lose some weight. And that was about all I needed to hear.
And it's made a huge difference. I really cleaned up my eating and kind of went down the rabbit hole of nutrition and wellness and understanding how food is fuel. And like the food that I was eating was causing a lot of the inflammation because I was trying to consume 10,000 calories a day. And the only way you can do that as an offensive lineman, the way you're burning calories on the field is eating a lot of sugar, a lot of processed foods, because they are very, very calorie dense. And so doing the opposite when I retired, it really helped me lose a ton of weight.
And so like six months, I think I lost like 50 pounds and I really cut out processed foods, carbs, and just focused on great vegetables that I was growing in my garden or buying locally. And then some amazing proteins that I I could buy locally or some of them I was raising on my farm. Man, that's amazing stuff, Joe. It's so true, right? If you had to consume 10,000 calories because you were burning so many calories, that had to be such hard work.
Joe Thomas is joining us. You know, Joe, when I look at your career, one of the most amazing things, of course, is the 10,363 consecutive snaps that you play. Guys always talk about Joe, like I'm never coming off the field. I never want to come off the field. But it seems like you actually took that literally.
Did you ever have it in your head that I'm never coming off the field? I'm never going to miss a game. I'm never even going to miss a snap. And I can do that for an entire career? I never thought that long term.
All I thought was like, hey, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to be the best teammate possible. And the coach is either going to pull me off the field. That's how I get off, or the trainer is going to pull me off. I'm never going to pull myself off. I never gave myself that option when I was laying on the ground.
It was like, get up, and you'll know you're too hurt when you can't get up. And so I think sometimes you see guys in today's game, like they think they're pretty hurt because maybe it hurts. We saw Caleb Williams last weekend had a hamstring, looked a lot more serious based on the reaction. But I always just knew that I was out there to be a great servant for my teammates and somebody else will tell me when I can't do it anymore. And so I'm going to go until I can't.
And I think that was a big part of being able to play 10 and a half years without missing a snap until I snapped my tricep tendon and then it was all over and the trainers came and got me and I knew it. All right, so obviously, Joe, you were not coming off the field until somebody came and got you. You mentioned Caleb Williams. The internet had a field day with that, and everything's different right now.
So, when you look at that, do you see a guy who panicked and freaked out and thought his year was over, or do you see a guy who was maybe overreacting? What was your take on that?
Well, I think guys are so attuned to their body and their careers. You know, even when I started, the guys are making so much more money. They're understanding how diet, nutrition, training plays such a huge role in like your ability to go out in the field. But sometimes that's on your mind like too much. And you go out and hamstring injuries do hurt.
I've pulled my hamstring and sometimes they feel a lot worse than they really are. And so I think there was just that panic moment of like, oh my gosh, I'm finally at the place in my career that I want to be at where I can take this franchise to the next level. Like we're front runners right now in the NFC North and it's all over, right? You have that panic moment because you do feel that injury and you're laying on the ground and you're not exactly sure, but it's really more of a panic about what's in front of you and potentially what you lost before you're kind of evaluating like, all right, maybe this isn't as bad as I thought. And I could probably get off the field and maybe get evaluated by trainers.
But in your mind, you're like so worried about that situation where you have that season ending injury that as soon as you feel that injury that happens, that is significant. But it's not career or season ending. You just go into panic mode and think about all the things that you're losing in front of you, and you maybe overreact a little bit. Hall of Famer Joe Thomas joining us here in the jungle.
So, Joe, you still follow the Browns closely, and you've seen pretty much every single iteration of the Browns. You've been a part of all of this. Do they look any different to you under Todd Munkin so far? And is there any reason to believe that he is the one to get them squared away?
Well, the first thing Todd Munkin wanted to do when he got to Cleveland this year is he wanted to install his culture, right? He's an old school guy, he's 60 years old. He believes in toughness, hard work, honesty, accountability. And I think you're starting to see it already. I don't think anybody gave the Browns a chance to go down to Tampa in the Baker Mayfield revenge game and go win that game in a gritty manner that they did with that long two-hour rain delay, lightning delay right before the last two minutes of the game.
But they came out there and they showed that grit. And I think that's the grit that Todd Munkin brings to this team. And oftentimes, the identity of your team reflects the identity of your head coach. And in this case, I think Todd Muncin brings exactly that blue-collar, gritty mentality, that toughness, that identity that really connects with Cleveland fans. And I think it's winning football that oftentimes in today's NFL gets lost.
Hey Joe, speaking to the fans, Deshaun Watson made a few plays and he got a dub. And it was interesting to me to see some of the fans start to change their tune about him. If he can stack some more wins, do you think that he can win back a chunk of that fan base, or have too many negative things already happened? Winning is the ultimate deodorizer, right? It deodorizes all the stink from the team, from a player, from issues that you've had off the seat, off the field, issues that you've had on the field.
And right now, Cleveland feels like, hey, the Deshaun Watson contract, the trade that we made for him, it sunk our franchise for a large period of time. And we're stuck with this guy because of the big contract and the guaranteed contract.
So they don't like him. But you know how you change your perspective from the fans and how they see you is you go out and win games. You play good football. And I think they'll cheer for the team. I'm not sure if a large majority of the Browns fan base is ever going to be Deshaun Watson fans, but they won't boo you if you go out and you win and you do your job.
I think that's all that Browns fans always have ever wanted from their team is they just want to see their guys going out, giving great effort, giving everything they have and helping their team win and being a great teammate. And so if he can do that moving forward and stack some wins, like he might get some of those fans back on his side. We're talking to Joe Thomas. Joe, I'm looking behind you and I see that Wisconsin football. You remember the The badge of Mafia, of course.
You're a Wisconsin native. You played your college ball there. You're sitting. On, well, you tell me what you're sitting on. You have a cattle ranch, Hall of Fame Farms.
It's in Wisco.
So, how many acres are you sitting on, and what are you producing on the ranch? Yeah, we've got about 4,000 acres out here in Wisconsin. We're raising the finest Japanese Wagyu beef and certified Ingus beef out here. And it really just started as a passion project. We mentioned when I retired, losing that weight, getting really deep in the rabbit hole of understanding food as fuel and food as medicine.
And my kids really, we had a farm since 2012. And we were always raising our own food, but just kind of running it as a hobby operation. And then when the kids came around, they wanted our farm to look like old McDonald's farm.
So they wanted those animals out there. And I thought, what a great opportunity to know where my beef comes from, to raise a few animals in this individual manner, like kind of treating those animals like I treated my own body as a pro athlete. And then after raising a couple steers and tasting the difference of like that true farm to table care quality patient approach, like it was on from that point forward. And as a guy who was always obsessed with perfection and attention to detail, I really grew into this passion project of trying to raise the best, healthiest beef on planet Earth that led me. raising Wagyu and then trying to expand beyond just giving away our beef to family and friends because you realize how special this stuff is that we're raising out here and how appreciated it is.
And the fact that with our Wagyu, especially, like it's much higher in healthy, good fats, which gives you that fuel and can be used as a great performance beef for people that really do care whether they're recovering from a football game on Sundays or they're just getting ready for going to school and having some amazing snacks that mom is happy to be able to put those snacks in the kids' bag.
So it's really become a big passion project and it's a family operation. It's fun bringing the kids and doing the stuff that I'm doing and being able to work side by side, working cattle out on that Wisconsin farm. Joe, I love that. I love all of that so much and I love that you're doing it in Wisconsin. Wagyu is amazing, by the way.
I also love the notion that food is medicine. I'm a little bit late to that game, but that's true. Food is a medicine. If people want more information about Hall of Fame farms and how to order your products, how do they do so? Yeah, go to hallfamefarms.com.
That's the best way to get us. We'll ship it right to your door on dry ice. We've got tons of products. We believe in this Japanese philosophy of Motainai, which means nothing is wasted. The animal is sacred.
So we do nose-to-tail harvest. We use every bit of the animal for a bunch of our different products. And so if you go on the website, it's pretty cool because we offer a lot of different cuts that you can't get at the butcher shop, but that's amazing, right? Stuff that people can't even pronounce, like the Zabutan and the Kulat and the Picanya, things like that. And it gives people an opportunity to try beef cuts that are incredible, that have their own flavor, their own texture.
All of them are amazing, but it's stuff that you just can't get at that grocery store or your butcher shop. You are what you eat. And Joe, you look great. I'm going there now. I'm going there during the break.
Great to have you on the show, Joe. Great conversation. Appreciate you very much. And I can tell you have a passion for that project and it means so much to you. And you can do it with your family.
Joe, great to see you. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me on, Jim. Give me your address. I'll send you some awesome stuff.
You're not too far down the road in Wisconsin. Oh, dude, I definitely will take you up on that. I will definitely take you up on that. All right, so we will do that off air. Joe Tom is joining us.
What a great conversation. Man, he looks amazing. Joe looks amazing. Could Joe Thomas look or sound any better in retirement? Or in life.
Seriously, could that guy look or sound any better? And have you ever had Japanese wagu? It's incredible. It's incredible. The fact that he's producing that on the farm is amazing.
But I I want to reiterate: could that guy look or sound any better? And I was going to ask the question, but I already knew the answer. What was more challenging, maintaining that weight while you played or dropping that weight when you retired? He said, You know how much sugar and processed crap I had to eat to maintain that weight, given how many calories I was burning on the daily? Man, that must have been such hard work.
Hint, do you want a knee replacement or do you just want to drop the weight? I think I'll drop the weight. Good stuff, Joe. Appreciate you. Hour number two, next.
My dough never sees a freezer. Faye Hollis makes the biscuits at Hardee's. I'm up at 5 a.m. every day making biscuits from scratch. Easy there, biscuit lady.
Ought to create the Hardee's $2 for $5 breakfast menu. Try the new Oscar Meyer bologna biscuit, sausage and egg biscuit, smoked sausage biscuit, biscuit and gravy, or a cinnamon roll. The $2 for $5 breakfast for a limited time only at participating Hardees. I got up early. The least you can do is show up hungry.
Mm.
