REShow: Mary Kay Cabot - Hour 2

This is The Rich Eisen Show. Let me see you put your hands up now. Now. Now. Now.

Now. The Rich Eisen Show. Rich, love you. Brock, do-tu-fo, whistle, PJ.

My brother from another mother, love you. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. This is The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Kirk Morrison. Earlier on the show, senior writer for The Athletic, Daniel Popper. Coming up, Cleveland Plain dealer, Brown's beat writer, Mary Kay Kavett. Jets writer for The Athletic, Zach Rosenblatt.

And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Kirk Morrison. Hour number two. Here we go. Yes, July 27th here. We just, we almost in August, man. A couple more days till August. Baseball track day, baseball trade deadline.

If anybody wants to know, just lurking out there. Otani seems to be staying put. That's what the talk is in Los Angeles. Otani's on the mound in like five minutes. Yeah, he's playing today. He's pitching today. Yeah.

Okay. So we're watching that because the Angels are all in. So that's the one thing that's kind of been going and talked about today. We've had a little bit of Chargers talk. Talked a little Sean Payton.

I decided to, you know, I want to take this time. A little bit because I mentioned earlier with training camps open all across the National Football League. I thought I would have a little training camp time. We'll talk about training camp.

I mentioned a little earlier. I had the best setup of all. My first five years in the National Football League. I played with the Oakland Raiders.

It was great times, great times. The Napa Valley Marriott, beautiful. So I learned so much about being in Napa. I learned why the grapes are grown, the best grapes in the world are on the planet.

I should say, the planet. For some reason, I went to, I've done a couple of those wine tours and I found out that Napa, this small little port, this small little city, Napa, for some reason, the way that it sits and the Earth's tilt and the access and the way the sunlight, it has a sub Mediterranean climate that allows the grapes to just flourish, to bloom at its best. Anyway, I know you're like, why are you taller?

Who cares about grapes? But what it did was for training camp, it gave us different climates. I would wake up in the morning and have to wear a full on sweatsuit because it's like 50 degrees.

It is so cool. I mean, you got the morning dew on the ground and you're like, what is this? Like, it's going to be cold today. Guys out there practicing, you know, all that. And then you go inside, you take a little break, and then all of a sudden you have the afternoon practice and it's 95 degrees. And you're looking around and it ain't no breeze. It is just hot.

And I'm like, wow. But it was a great setup. I remember playing in Jacksonville 2010. This was the first time I experienced training camp at your own facility. Well, meaning that the Jaguars, who facility was at the stadium. Now, they had since have a new facility that was built, brand new facility, spanking new Jacksonville.

Shout out to them. But we had training camp at our own facility at our own stadium. And so you stayed at the hotel and you had it was a lot of commuting back and forth. I didn't like all the commute because when you're commuting, you got to go here and you got to put that in your drive time. Like, OK, it's going to take me 10 minutes to get to the stadium. So, OK, if I sleep until four and I got to be there at four thirty.

OK, I got to leave at four eleven. So give me not like it was just too much calculation in time. But it was a good training camp. A lot of fans. It was fun.

Then I get to Buffalo my last two years in the league. St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York. Great place. Great place.

Dinosaur barbecue. Yeah. So I had to go all the way out to a college dorm for practice. I'm like, I left college. Oh, I want to go back here for you. But stayed in the dorm, had good times.

And so a couple training camp stories, I would say is. It's always fun when guys, I think, remember one time we we had in in Napa. We had a I think like a team party, one team party, but we would go and visit some of the wineries. And you never knew how much wine can really take you to a place that, like, you know, a lot of times guys are more of a hard liquor or they have a couple of brews.

But I mean, you do about two or three glasses of wine and you fight way. Hold on. Whoa, let me take a seat. You know, you stand up and you know, like, whoa, OK, let me sit back down. We've had we had those moments, man.

Great. Some of the great dinners we've had. And it really just had me thinking about like, wow, like training camp stories is more about the fights. Like you've had fights between players because it's so hot. Like the first week of camp right now, I'm just going to tell you how it goes so you guys can remember this.

OK, remember, I told you this. This first five, six days of camp have been what? Been great.

Yep. Everything has been amazing. I promise you, by Sunday. It's going to be all about the fights. You're going to have every beat reporters. Oh, there was a fight at Jets camp. There was a fight at Cowboys camp. There was a fight. You know why?

Because I'm sick and tired of you. Like people don't realize that with you go to practice, it's first team defense versus first team offense, second team, the offense, second team, and you go up against each other every single day. Every at some point, you just like brotherly love like do like get away from me.

I don't like you like just you just ready to hit somebody else. And that's part of what training it builds. The character builds a camaraderie. Those are parts of it. And then there's also the dynamic of when you wake up, you've kind of have this feeling of I need to go out and prove. I had to prove in training camp. I wanted to prove every year that I belong and being a starting middle linebacker for, you know, majority of my career. Like I had to do the extra part.

So I had to be up earlier. I had to know all this. And that's the things that I always remember about training camp. But I remember again, I said this. Training camp, you always had to have a list of things with you. Okay, like there were certain things that I needed in order for me to be at my best. So I put together a little bit of a list.

It may not be, it may not be like something like, oh, you know, earth-shattering like, oh my God, but this was for me. This is what I needed. Okay, let's bring up the list. So for me, Kirk's five items that I needed for training camp. Number one, I needed my pillow. You need a pillow. I'm talking about like, look, I don't know how you guys feel about hotel pillows or dorms. Oh my God, how many pillows a good pillow? You've got to have your pillow.

Hotel pillows are so hit and miss. Yes. You don't know. You got, trust me, when you are in training camp, when the head hits the pillow, you got to go to sleep. It has to be instantaneous.

It's not like, oh, I got to find the right spot to know. I brought my pillow. I needed that. Number two, moisturizer.

Yes. Hey, don't be nasty. So this is one thing that people don't talk enough about. Training camp tears your skin up. You're taking multiple showers a day for the guys who do that kind of thing. I was a shower guy. Three to four showers a day because you had the morning workout, morning lift, then you had one practice and then you had another practice.

Then you had a walk and I'm a guy. I like to shower before I get into bed anyway. So you're about if for me, if I don't put on some moisturizer after I'm over here, I'm scratching my skin is dry. So I was a moisturizer guy to sunscreen all that. You got to be prepared with that.

Kirk. I got lotion at the desk over there that I reapply during every break. So because you gotta be moisturized.

Oh can't be actually done. That was number three. This was my always my go-to because there's times where you woke up in the middle of the night or you get back from a long day. Sometimes you don't get to your room until 10 at night, 10 30 peanut butter and jelly, man. I just needed a jar of peanut butter, some jelly and I needed my bread and I was good to go maybe appear and I'm good to go. It lasts me to the morning and sometimes just you just tired, you know, they had like dinner set up and you're like, I'm just tired. I just want to go to bed.

I don't even feel like eating. I'll just grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich do that quick fast and easy sleep aids. Now, this is a little bit different. So sleep aids are more of like some people like white noise.

I've turned to white noise now because it gets you to like this little trance moment. Are you like, all right, I'm gone. I had a teammate of mine who brought his childhood fan with him everywhere. He packed it on to go to me on road trips. He packed it at training camp. He went everywhere. He would go.

He pulls out on in his travel bag. This big giant fan. He turned on. He was like, yeah, this is my fan since I was like nine years old.

Like dude, you're like 26. This fan is this fan has got miles on it. But he was like, this is the this is the fan that I had since I was nine years old. This is the only way I go to sleep and I was like, no way. Wow. So I sleep aids for me. I needed something for me. I'm an air conditioner guy.

As soon as I get in, I'm on 60. Like that's where I did 60. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. What's wrong with you? Oh, yeah.

Wow. I had it on the other day. I was out of town with my wife and we got to the hotel and I had the air conditioner on and she was like, what number is it on?

I said, I don't know. I just heard it. It's a oh, it's on 66. That's cold. She's like, well, could you please turn at least one down?

Because she was like, six, six. I don't need that number. I was like, I got you. I understand. But I need a 60s. I'm cool. But I needed that cold and I still get under the covers. You know what I mean?

Like, that's how I like it. Um, those are my sleep aids and my last thing, fellas, last thing. Electronics. I'm, you know, I would bring my video game. You know, I was more of a Gameboy guy or remember Play State, the PSP. Remember the PlayStation Portable?

Yeah. Because I like to play, you know, games as individuals. I couldn't do, play a Madden game because that would take up all your time.

So I just was dabbling to it, but I needed a couple of electronics to get in and out. So that was my list. Now, I want to see what you guys would bring. I'll start with you, Brockman. I like this list, Kirk.

And the first thing I noticed on yours is the first thing that I wrote down. A cooling pillow. You're going to these places that are super hot.

I got it. They now make a cooling pillows where it's cold. So you can go to sleep.

You can get in that right frame of mind. Obviously, a lot of these teams are in college campuses. One of college campuses don't have, they don't have air conditioning. So you need one of those portable AC units that you can wheel in and then you have the hose that sticks out the window. Yes.

That's what I'm talking about, a portable AC unit. Look, I need my Kindle because I got to read some books. I got to get zen at the end of the night and wind that mind down so I can go to sleep. Because like you said, I want, boom, I want to hit pillow. I want to be out. Got to go.

So I got the Kindle combined with the AC, good room temperature with the cooling pillow. That equals sleep. Now, late night snack. I need some microwave popcorn.

I need extra. I need that movie theater, butter, microwave pot. Don't burn it. Don't burn it. Because then you're going to stink up the whole floor and the whole dorm room. You don't want that. Microwave popcorn.

And last but not least, got to have noise canceling headphones. Why? What if you're with a roommate that you don't like? Sometimes you guys are, I've seen Hard Knocks just sharing rooms with dudes. Yeah.

It's like freshman year of college all over again. Some guy's annoying. He snores. Got to have the noise canceling headphones. So you can, like we said, go to sleep and rest. Training camp is hard. It's hot. Got to be cool. Got to be comfortable. Got to be quiet. Rookies and second year players had to share rooms.

My morale rookie year, I had a, I had a roommate. Call him out. No.

Call him out. Yeah. No. I don't know.

Yeah, I can't even say his nickname on the team. Oh, no. Stop it.

Just know that. Did he smell? No. Well, yeah, that was one thing.

But just know that I had to get to the bathroom first, because once he got there, it was just that guy. Yeah. Maintenance, please blow the back. What you got, Dale? To follow up. I've been thinking about this.

Come to me last, because mine's actually more of a joke. Oh, wow. OK, I only say that because it's actually I don't know what that means.

OK, I like I like you guys things. Some Chris, the portable AC didn't think about that. I figured I'd be playing for the Cowboys. So I know that they already have AC in the room. So I'm not worried about that. But some of my things with this, I agree with you guys, my own bedding. I need my pillows.

I can't just go with the standard government issue. You got I'm talking my own sheets, my own pillows, my own pillowcases. You know, I need to be comfortable to sleep at night. Middlesworth barbecue chips. You guys know they're my favorite chips. I brought them in. OK, Del Tuvo, a lot of folks, these are those are they're the best barbecue on the planet. I get them shipped in from from Pennsylvania every day, every few months. So I love those.

I would have them. You know, I'm big on candles, my Woods Creek candles, because one, if we're playing football, we're going to be stinking a little. We got to get back that phone. I like that when Brockman's burning his popcorn, I can smell it. So I got to block that.

So I need some fresh smell in Woods Creek candles just to set the mood. And then, you know, my boy Daniel P was the first one who I'd see doing this. He would show up to my other buddy's house with a roll of toilet paper. He would bring his own toilet paper wherever he went because he didn't trust other people. And Brockman knows this.

When we go on the road, sometimes we're doing shows like we're going to Dallas or Canton. I'll go to Wal-Mart and I will buy Charmin two ply toilet paper because Kirk, I spent three years on the road during my career making boxing documentaries. And I'm telling you, hotel bathrooms, they don't care about how you feel back there. So you got to get some Charmin soft toilet paper, man.

It's it's necessary because what happens with bad toilet paper hemorrhoids, you don't want that. I'm trying to play football. I can't have that going on. And then lastly, I need my Roku stick, baby.

You know what I'm saying? I need my Roku stick with the product placement to rich eyes. And so I got to watch everything that's on Roku.

Shout out to Roku, Joe and Roku Charlie. I need my Roku stick because I'm not going to get a lot of TV time. But the TV time I do get, I want to just chill. I want to relax.

I just want to watch some, you know, mindless TV, some easy TV, some good TV. I like to like help me come down after wreck and shop on that. I like that list.

Del twofold. So what you got since I'm an old guy and probably not going to be playing. I bring my headphones, number one, my D.J. set up so at least I can provide entertainment.

Of course, there's actually some players who do that, there's some players who do that. Yeah, that's right. And their vodka. Yeah, I don't drink as much as I used to, but I got to be at least have a couple every night. And then, of course, I'm going to bring a really comfortable chair for the sidelines. OK, because I'm going to be watching you guys practice while I'm not sitting there because I'm definitely not going to be on the field. OK, and then snacks, lots of snacks, because why I'm watching you guys, I'm going to need to eat some stuff.

So I'm going to have snacks, peanuts, popcorn, you know, whatever I got. I'm disappointed in you. Oh, that's I'm not I mean, it's like I'm disappointed in you. I mean, what do you want me to bring in the 80s? Like I said to you yesterday, 80s Mike would have had a totally different list. The 90s Mike would have had a totally 80s Mike would have been popped by. Yeah, you wouldn't. Yeah, you wouldn't even be.

Yeah, I would be probably be in jail. I'm disappointed in you, Mike. I expect more from you. What do you expect? I mean, I expect you to bring like, you know, your your your your lovey or something like your little stuff animal. You know, like, oh, he's actually a grogu and I would bring my grogu.

So I did my little girl and my little laugh. Yeah, they would be in there. There you go.

So I can add those in. All right. Wow. Oh, God. What's our training camp list?

I'm telling you paper. Well, I think training camp is is a is a fun time. You know, it doesn't last forever, but it is a time in which it gets very uncomfortable. Sometimes, you know, you've seen training camps around the National Football League. It's been, you know, news. Everybody's around and but there's just been one training camp. It's been very quiet, very quiet. Last year was not it was not quiet.

It was a lot this year. It is quiet. We'll talk about that training camp coming up next with Mary Kate Cabot. Yeah, she Cleveland Plain dealer, bee rider for the Browns coming up next here on The Rich Eisen Show. Are you currently enjoying the show on the Stitcher app? Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August 29th.

Yep, going away as in Kaput gone dead. Rest in peace, Stitcher. And thanks for 15 years of service to the podcast community. So switch to another podcast app and follow this show there.

Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. What was your baseball game like my baseball game? Actually, my baseball game was pretty good, but I couldn't I didn't play in high school. I played like Recreational League and Babe Ruth. Okay, and I used to pitch pitch as well. So what was your pitching game?

I've seen game was pretty good. I mean, I didn't, you know, I thought it was a heavy ball. I didn't know I had no idea what I was fast. I was throwing but people used to say, man, you got a heavy ball. So when you were watching you swing in Major League, it's Pedro Serrano. Yeah, is that your swing? That's my soul. Oh, and I don't know if we ever talked about this, but every ball I hit out, I hit out except it not as far as they shot it out because they have to reverse the camera.

Hold on a second, Dennis. How many how many home runs did you hit? Well, I hit three and in the movie, right? I think I hit three and move. I hit every one of my head out.

Okay. And all the batting practice you know, yeah, I used to hit oh, yeah, I used to routinely. So were you the best hitter of all the actors? I would say so.

I would say so. So Charlie and I were the only guys that could really pay play baseball on Wesley was really athletic. Okay, it could run but wasn't much of a hit. He couldn't hit but you but could Charlie hit or he was just trying to get it and Charlie could pitch. But you went yard more than anybody else in the cast of Major League except for the you know, the guy the baseball guys are out there actual so who was the worst I can't I won't say yes, you can you absolutely have a microphone works.

Corbin Bernsen could he Corbin was okay. I think Tom Tom Barrington was like no kidding. I love you Tom forced it out of me, man. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry Grainger has the right product for you call click Grainger.com or just stop by we turn our attention to Cleveland.

I can't wait to get a chance to talk to Mary Kay cabbage. He covers the Cleveland Browns for Cleveland.com and the plain dealer Mary Kay. I was talking about this earlier last year. This was the camp that everyone was talking about so much news so much buzz. It was a lot of the Deshaun Watson news will he play will he won't play what's the contentions of a suspension and then all of a sudden we fast forward to 2023. This is probably been probably one of the quieter camps nationally.

What do you say locally? What has been the vibe of this year's camp so far? Well, one of the reasons why it might be a little quiet is because we are all sequestered down here in West Virginia at the Greenbrier Resort. There are no there are no fans here. So it's just the media, you know, they can't travel down here with the team. So you don't have you know, all the Nationals here like we did last year. You know, there's not a huge media contingent. So that might be one of the reasons but I but as you mentioned one of the other big reasons is the fact that you know, the whole Deshaun Watson controversy has settled down so much this year.

No one's waiting to find out how many games he's going to be out. I mean, there's just a whole different vibe. It's all about football now in regards to Deshaun Watson and he did stand up in front of his teammates gave his life story the other night. And you know, really talk to them just about, you know, what shaped him as a young man growing up and how he got to the point that he is today shared some things about what he you know, what he has gone through and experienced and you know, the you know, the whole off the field situation that he has he talked about that apparently not, you know, he touched on it.

I don't know that he really completely delved into it, but that was part of the narrative and part of his story, of course. And but other than that, it's been all about football for him here. Yeah, I know all about football for him. But what about his teammates now?

You mentioned he's having conversations with them. But how relieved are they now that they can talk football and not about a team that will have Deshaun or without have Deshaun. It seems like everybody seems to be more relieved that they can focus on the game rather than Deshaun Watson.

Well, yes, absolutely. They all know who their quarterback is going to be for the whole year. They're not trying to divide reps in half.

They're not trying to divide, you know, their chemistry in half. So they're, you know, they're, they're getting to know him. He's getting to know them. He's developing a really nice on the field chemistry with Elijah Moore, who looks really, really good.

So far this camp pads are coming on for the first time tomorrow, but Eliza is definitely somebody to watch. I did a story on him last night where I, you know, I got a chance to ask him, you know, did you really, you know, tell Michael floor to, you know, go F himself. Like it has been reported because, you know, his whole life basically kind and career sort of changed after that. And so I got a chance to explore that with him a little bit and that was cool. And then I talked to Zadiria Smith today, just about, you know, how the Browns have to establish a mentality and make sure that teams know they're a force to be reckoned with. So yeah, there's some cool stuff coming out of here.

Yeah, I can tell there's some cool stuff because you mentioned Elijah Moore, Mari Cooper. Obviously, we know about Deshaun Watson and one full year for him. But I think that there is this sense that we're going to talk a little bit too about the AFC North and we know about Borough. We know about Lamar Jackson, right?

Kenny Pickett is still up and coming. But right now, if people were looking, they feel like the Deshaun Watson of this year will be a lot better of what he was next year. But what does that put the expectations for this football team? Do they believe that they are a team that could win the division and make the playoffs right now? Well, they certainly do. I mean, they really aren't getting that kind of love from, you know, from Vegas or the odds makers or really the, you know, the national pundits. But they certainly feel here that this is a football team that can win the AFC North, go to the playoffs and challenge for the Super Bowl.

That's the five. That's what they intend to do. That's what this is all about.

And, you know, the energy here is really, really good. And when you have a quarterback like Deshaun Watson, if you can get him back to where he was in 2020, then you really do have a legitimate shot at that. And I think it really hinges on that. If he can be that player that everybody remembers from his Houston days and his three Pro Bowl days and his leading the NFL with 4,823 yards in 2020 days, then, you know, then they could be onto something.

But it really hinges upon that in large part. And then defensively, you know, you've got a new coordinator in Jim Schwartz. You've got, you've got Miles Garrett, Zadarius Smith, a lot of good guys over there. If it all comes together the way that it should, they have as good a chance of anybody in the division. She's Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland.com and the Cleveland Plain dealer.

You can follow her on Twitter at Mary Kay Cabot. Expectations, expectations for this football team that now has Deshaun Watson for a full year. But how do we view or look at the head coach, Kevin Stefanski? I know there's a lot of rumors and reports out there that his seat could be getting warm and warmer as the season goes along. If the Cleveland Browns aren't playing to what some may say a playoff type level.

Well, you know, it's difficult to say. I mean, the owner of the football team stopped very short of putting any kind of an ultimatum on Kevin Stefanski. He's not drawing the line in the sand and saying, if such and such doesn't happen, these guys are gone. There isn't anything like that right now.

So I think, you know, for the most part, no one's trying to speak anything like that into existence. There's a strong vibe that he is the right man for the job and that, you know, it's a lot easier to coach well when you have an elite quarterback like Deshaun Watson. So if he can get Deshaun Watson playing like the Deshaun Watson of old, then his job will be perfectly safe because they'll be winning a lot of football games.

So that's the key. They've got to go out there and they went and they've got to win games. They cannot have a third losing season. The bar is set at the playoffs for sure.

There's no question about that. That's everyone knows that, you know, you don't go out and spend three first round picks and two hundred and thirty million dollar guaranteed on your quarterback and not expect to make the playoffs. So they do expect to make the playoffs. They have the Super Bowl as their goal and and you know, I don't know if Kevin's job depends on making the playoffs or not.

I think we have to see how it all plays out. You mentioned a name a little bit earlier as Adaria Smith on that defense. I thought it was a defense last year in Cleveland that people didn't really talk enough about in terms of they really let the team down a little bit.

There were a lot of games where they were in even when Jacoby Brissett was at quarterback and the defense didn't hold up their end of the bargain. They're much improved with some of those additions, whether it's guys coming back from injury or even the addition of Zadaria Smith. What do you see so far from this Cleveland Browns defense? Well, you know, just with Jim Schwartz alone, you can see that they're going to be much more aggressive up front. It will be a much more attack minded defense. I already also see the defensive backs playing much more aggressively really going after the ball attacking it.

So it's just that's sort of the buzzword. They're just attacking from all over the place. And again, I just talked to Zadaria Smith and then he talked about how they do have to establish that, you know, that tough minded mentality when you think of AFC North defenses, he played for the Ravens back when they had, you know, Terrell Suggs and and those guys, he knows what it's like to play tough hard-nosed AFC North football. We know what the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is always like.

So that's what the Browns are aiming for to play the kind of Cleveland Browns defense that their fans can be proud of that the AFC North has to fear. Is there underrated player that we're not talking enough about something looking around at the roster right now, Mary Kay, and I'm seeing a Cedric Tillman from Tennessee, a young wide receiver who they took. You've Donovan People's Jones. Where does he fit at now in this offense? Obviously Amari Cooper is number one. Is Elijah Moore number two? How does this wide receiver room start to pan out a little bit? Well right now Amari Cooper is out with a little bit of some kind of an injury.

It shouldn't be something that bothers him long-term. They're calling it a minor tweak, but he's really not practicing right now. So it's giving giving some of the younger guys an opportunity to shine. Elijah Moore is really standing out.

So you got to watch out for Elijah Moore. When you look back to his rookie year with the Jets, he had this one stretch where he had five touchdown catches in six games. And then he hurt a quad muscle. I think it was and he missed the last five games, but he was on a tear. He was on a tear before that and then last year just kind of got weird.

And you know, I think he is aiming to get back to that pace that he was on. So he's definitely one to watch as you mentioned Donovan People's Jones. He's always a good solid player for the Cleveland Browns.

And now they've got Jordan Aikens. He's a tight end that that they got from the Texans. And I think he's somebody that's going to make an impact. He played with Deshaun Watson before so offensively, you know, those are some of the guys that you know that are making an impact. They wanted Marquise to come in and be their vertical. Marquise Goodwin to come in and be their vertical stretch guy. He's sidelined with blood clots.

Everyone just is only of course concerned with his health and his safety at this point, but that was a little bit of a setback. And then another speedster Anthony Schwartz third rounder. He you know, he got back on the field today.

He can prove now he needs to go out there and prove that he deserves a spot on this roster and there's an opening for a speed guy like that. Now just a couple more minutes here with Mary Kay Cabot Cleveland.com and the Cleveland Plain dealer follow her on Twitter at Mary Kay Cabot, you know next week the Browns be playing in the Hall of Fame game, but that also means that they'll have a player who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Now you had a chance to cover Joe Thomas just your thoughts on Joe Thomas entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The first Ballot Hall of Famer. We knew that that was going to happen, but your interactions with him and just what do you think he represents for the Cleveland Browns? Well, he you know, he just embodies the whole spirit of the Cleveland Browns. He's the he was the face and the voice of the Cleveland Browns for so many years when there was upheaval and just turn over with quarterbacks and coaches and GMs and Joe was a rock of stability. He was just somebody you could always go to for that great quote to put everything in perspective. He was wonderful with the media. He was amazing on the football field. The first time I ever talked to him in rookie minicamp.

I asked him his goals. He said I plan on making the Hall of Fame and look then I got to sit in the room as a Hall of Fame selector and help vote him into the Hall of Fame. So it was just I was honored to be able to do that, you know to speak up for Joe a little bit on his behalf also in the room and you know help help him get in there. Not that he needed my help, but it was just great to you know, to be able to be part of that vote and see that through from what he said at that rookie minicamp and I'll tell you I mean he just set the tone for so many guys on this team like Joel batonio who sort of has taken the baton from Joe and and he's been playing at a all pro clip for you know, for several years now and just kind of is also now that you know, that great locker room guy that helps everybody and it's great in the community and you just can't say enough good things about Joe Thomas, you know Mary Kay, I everyone sees the game differently.

Like you may look at it something differently. I may see something differently, but you've been covering Cleveland Browns for a long time. You've been covering the NFL for a long time as you you've already started this training camp upcoming for you. What's the blank canvas that you start with that you look at first that you kind of just examine or you tend to look at or you see there may be something in which you want to write more on this or you see that how do you as a reporter and someone who covers the team? How do you start training camp? Well, you know, everything's new this year and that's what I wanted to see. I wanted to see you know, how is it all coming together? They have a completely new offense.

Basically. I mean Deshaun Watson is the starter full time for the very first time for the Cleveland Browns. It's the beginning of the Deshaun Watson era really. I mean it starts now last year. That wasn't it.

He only played the final six games. So for me, that's the blank canvas. Who is Deshaun Watson? What is he all about? Is he going to live up to everything that has them felt that he would when they went out and took this enormous risk and put their fan base through having to accept a player with, you know, so many things in his past that people were uncomfortable about, you know, how is this all going to look? How is it going to come together?

And if it does come together the way that everyone hopes then this could be the start of something big. I mean, you have to have a quarterback that can go head-to-head in the AFC with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen and Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers. And and now they feel they have that guy and they really haven't had that guy since I, you know, since the team came back in 1999. They have not had an elite, you know, you know, Pro Bowl quarterback like this who you can say, you know what he can go into a game against Patrick Mahomes and have a chance to really beat him.

So for me, that's what this is all about. Just before I get you out of here Mary Kay, is this just a one-off the Browns going up to the Greenbrier in West Virginia or is this because usually I know training camps always over in Braille, Ohio, at the Cleveland Browns training center. Is this just like a one-off or they want to do something different this year?

Well, they wanted to do something different because they have the Hall of Fame game. So they started camp a week earlier than everybody else. And in order to get guys kind of excited to come back and break it up a little bit and not be in Berea from July 21st all the way to they what that what they hope is February, you know, they wanted to change it up a little bit. So they're down here beautiful so far so good with everyone. It seems like it's going really really well and they will be back in Berea. So fans will be able to come out and see them for eight practices in Berea. We all leave here on Sunday after nine days of being down here and eight practices and you know what they'll see how it goes.

If it if it seems like it was beneficial in terms of camaraderie and all those things then they could possibly do it again. Well, we are one week away from the Hall of Fame game between the Jets and the Browns. I know you'll be covering or you'll be all over it Mary Kay. I appreciate the time as always. Thanks for having me.

That's Mary Kay Cabot the Cleveland.com and the plane dealer follow her on Twitter at Mary Kay Cabot. Well, you get a lot of optimism there. You know a little excitement.

I'm it's something that she said about the blank canvas. We're really this truly is the start of the Deshaun Watson era. You can't really say that 2022 was the start of the Deshaun Watson era because he only played with six games. So this truly is it's almost like they're all season quarterback. They got a taste of it last year, but this is the full entree the full Deshaun Watson experience.

And this has got a question. How do we rank the quarterbacks in the AFC North? Oh, I'm just I love these like rankings. How do we rank or just the AFC North in general fellas want you guys to kind of let that let that marinate for a second first of all, how do we rank the quarterbacks in the AFC North and also what do we think about the AFC North?

We got that coming up next here on the Rich Eisen show Kirk Morrison here filling in for rich. I have a few questions about Cincinnati that you might have to know if it's true or false. You're from Athens, right?

I am. Yeah, it's a three-hour drive from Cincinnati, right two and a half with a lead foot. Yeah, pretty much. Okay. I've got four aspects of Cincinnati and I want to know if you're already ready to figure out about this city. Just I'm just picking that city out of the blue. Yeah. Okay, true or false Cincinnati true or false with Joe burr, everybody true or false.

It's the birthplace of Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg. False. Is that true or false?

I have no idea. It's true. All right, that's number one Play-Doh was invented in Cincinnati true or false. I'm going to go out on a limb and say all these that you're saying are true. Okay, it is true. Now. Just hold on a second.

Just because you can read a defense doesn't mean that you can read me right now. Okay, this pre snap Cincinnati is the side of the United States biggest celebration of Oktoberfest. That's true. Okay, you see you do that right then and there about the parties. Yeah.

Have you been to an October fast? Okay, you have to talk about it with your team first. We'll have to talk about your team and the number one radio station in Cincinnati is wkrp. That one.

I have no idea before his time. It's false. There's a famous TV show called wkrp in Cincinnati. That is way before your time if you've never heard of it at all.

Gosh darn it. I am an I'm older than most college college football players, but I'm not that old. I mean, we've heard you're older than Lamar Jackson.

Yeah, he was in my recruiting class. Yeah, okay, a couple couple months, I think and if you had one choice of a meal, would you pick crawfish or spaghetti with chili? Crawfish really? I don't like I don't like I don't like all the Cincinnati cuisine as far as all that's not yet. Great. Great.

I might learn to like it, but we'll see. Okay, very good. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. You like that? I was dancing to the beat. It feels like a Friday, but it's actually a Thursday Friday vibes. I like so you'd be in my room when I'm DJ and you see you be having a good time at training.

Yeah, that will do. I would try to find some stuff to do just to get away just it's not think about it. That's the one thing too about training camp. You don't know what day it is.

They all play. I remember once I was so tired after a meeting. And or after last was actually after lunch break. So you have the lunch break.

We didn't have a practice that day. We just had meetings that were at eight o'clock. And so I remember after lunch said we had had a treatment go back to my room set my alarm.

Okay, I set my alarm and I had wasn't like the deepest of deepest sleeps. So I woke up when the alarm hit and so 730 the alarm goes off and I wake up. I'm like, oh man didn't realize that it was 7 30 p.m. I thought it was 7 30 a.m. Because at that time the Sun light was like that at the same.

You couldn't tell whether the Sun was rising or the Sun was setting. You just didn't look the same and I woke up and I literally got dressed and I walked over to the football facility. And there was nobody there and I'm just like what the oh wow. I really didn't because everybody was inside getting ready for the meetings. I was on time for the meeting, but it was just that's when I knew like I was just delirious at that point. I was like, I'm done with training camp is it is literally two and a half three weeks of being uncomfortable.

And so they always all make the uncomfortable comfortable. Well, I couldn't wait to go get my own bed. And I remember once we had the last day of training camp.

I want to say everybody was way. I mean everybody's bags are packed the night before you get out there and you go to practice and really coaches all know God's just going through the motions. We know that once this practice is over guys.

Don't even shower. You just you just hop in your car and you're leaving remember we get done with practice and everybody's trying to get out of there. But Zach Crockett longtime fullback and that yeah, well Florida State he had this big giant.

I want to say maybe an avalanche truck. He parked sideways and blocked the exit for everybody to get out of the facility. Of the parking lot. So everyone's trying to find him, but he did it on purpose. So instead of everybody being able to bail we had to wait like 30 minutes and you talk about furious. There are some dudes who I'd never seen swear.

They were swearing some dudes who were just like the coolest calmness and they were like, where's that? Where's you and it was so Zach did it on purpose made us all wait a little bit longer. And then finally he moved his car.

We all got out of there. But yeah, man, sometimes sometimes sometimes but the AFC North has been on my mind a little bit because obviously we'll have the pretty soon when it gets done. It gets done. That's the words of Joe Burrow will be the highest paid player in NFL history coming up soon. And I try to put a little ranking together. How would I rank just a quarterbacks in the AFC North Joe Burrow is obviously one. I think Joe Burrow is also a part of a wider conversation that they were going to have in the next hour.

I'll tease it now by the way in the next hour because I want to hear what people thoughts are by the way on this. Who's the second best quarterback in the league? I like that.

I want to let give that time to like breathe a little bit. I think we all know the best quarterback in the league Patrick Mahomes and don't argue with me. That's just what it is. This is fine. But who's two? Who's number two?

That's for the second hour. But for the AFC North AFC North though. I think Lamar Jackson got a big year. That said he's number two in that division, but I'm saying he's got a big year to regain who he is as a quarterback. Remember there are people talking about Lamar Jackson and oh, if you start a team Lamar will be there three years ago, two years ago and Lamar's luster has kind of it's not there anymore.

It's not there. Joe Burrow has taken over this league probably because of what he's done against Patrick Mahomes, but Joe Burrow ranks number one in that division. But then where's Deshaun Watson at?

Is this another one? I feel like Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson are very much even in this conversation because they both have a lot to prove. If Deshaun Watson is like Mary Kay at Cabot just said a little bit earlier. If Deshaun Watson is who we thought he was from a couple years ago. Are we just saying oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, because people were saying Deshaun Watson was a top three, top four in the National Football League just a couple years ago. He's got to prove that again. Lamar Jackson's got to prove that again.

What are the expectations for Kenny Pickett? Second year player. But hey, we saw what Trevor Lawrence did in his second year after having a bag. Trevor Lawrence made the Pro Bowl last year. Now for people who don't care, he made the Pro Bowl.

That's what it is. But his first year he threw way too many interceptions. Trevor Lawrence got better, had a better year too.

Can Kenny Pickett be better? And this is more about a team thing. I saw that the Steelers have an extended Mike Tomlin's contract as a head coach. So what does that do for the Steelers? Are they, could they be going in a different direction if the Steelers don't show more than just getting over 500, right? Oh, there was just, oh, Steelers over 500.

That was just the goal. Now, they got to win some playoffs, playoff games. It hasn't been that way. So when you guys look at just the AFC North overall, how are you, are you excited about the quarterbacks? Number one, but how do we, at the end of the year, how are we going to view this division, you think? I think it's a sneaky good division. It's one that not everybody is really talking about at all.

Like we've been saying, I've been saying it too. We're not talking at all about the Browns at all. But Deshaun Watson, do you think prior to 2021, was he a top seven, eight quarterback in the NFL? I think so.

Yeah, I think he was playing, I think he was playing like it. Yeah, top five, top six. He maybe not have been in that top tier, but he was right there in tier two. Everyone's going to be improved in this division.

They all did things to make themselves better. We got another year of Deshaun Watson fully going through everything. He's going to be the starter week one, made some improvements on offense. Browns are going to be really good, really good on defense.

Nick Chubb's the best running back in the NFL. Joe Burrow and Cincinnati, they've been to a Super Bowl. Expectations are already super high for them. They could have went again last year. They're a couple of plays away from going last year.

They could have went to two in a row. Baltimore, Lamar Jackson is back with his deal. Let's assume he's going to be healthy for the entire year, which he has not the last couple of seasons, but they're vastly improved on offense around him. They have a new offensive coordinator.

Odell Beckham Jr.? I'm just saying. I got to see, I got to see. There it is. That's a name on paper.

That's a name on paper. Let's see it on the field. And Pittsburgh, Kenny Pickett showed a lot of moxie late in the year last year. Some comeback wins. Obviously got Mike Tomlin, got TJ Watt, Mika Fitzpatrick, really good defense, good weapons on offense. Najee Harris proves he can be a good running back in this league. George Pickens, Deontay Johnson, really good wide receivers.

Friar Muth is one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Top to bottom, you could really make a case that every team can win the division. Every team can be a playoff team, but it's going to be unlikely that three teams make it. So who's out?

Unclear. But top to bottom, really, really good, strong division, maybe the best in the NFL. That's the funny part about these divisions.

Somebody's got to come in last. Yep. It's just like there's a lot of good football teams, but just know in a good division, someone's got to come in last. The AFC East.

Yeah. Someone has to come in last in the AFC East. Who just who is it going to be? I mean, Miami, Jets, Patriots, Bills, like someone has to come in last in that division, but they're all improved. And I'm just those two divisions in general, AFC East, AFC North.

I feel bad because I feel like they're going to beat up on each other too. So you may have a team that's 10 and 7, 11 and 6, but yet their record may not indicate it, but they're a solid football team. The AFC by far is a lot more competitive than I think the NFC.

We've all said that already. We look at the NFC as more of a four team race. Whereas the AFC is, I think you can make a case for at least 10? Tim, teams in the AFC? Is that too many? That's not enough.

Oh, you can go more, more than 10. I think... To be serious contenders in the AFC. I think the only teams in the AFC that can really rule out are the Colts and Texans because they have rookie quarterbacks. Rookie quarterbacks traditionally don't have a lot of wins and playoff wins in the NFL, traditionally.

Correct. So I think if you just look at, I don't want to cross anybody off, but if we're just going to like in pencil, light shade, put a line through, you're putting it through the Colts and Texans. Everybody else, you could really make a case for playoffs. Titans in a weak division, Browns, a lot of unknowns, but DeSean back, Raiders, Jimmy G is there. Denver, Sean Payton, revitalizing Russell Wilson. The Jets were 10th last year. Yeah, they're in the fifth best Super Bowl odds, and they were 10th in the AFC.

That's what makes this team so good. And you know guys, going back to the DeSean Watson, Chris, and you kind of touched on this, he had a three-year stretch where he threw for 40, he averaged 4,280 yards. He was awesome. 28 touchdowns in just, just nine picks. Just nine. So in case you forget, DeSean Watson was the truth.

Yeah, he was the truth, but then hey, he's got to prove it. That's what this year is about. 2023, prove it year for a lot of folks. And you just look at the playoff teams, and we've talked about this in recent weeks, but you know, just run doubt. Which teams would you say are locks in the AFC? So last year, who made the playoffs last year?

Last year was Kansas City, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, won the South. Chargers, Ravens, Dolphins with a seven seed. Who do you take out? Who is out? Who's out? Like everybody said, oh yeah, this team's going to make the playoffs. Okay, so who do you take out from the seven? The thing is, people think the Jets are going to make the playoffs, right?

So who do you take? So Dolphins, I guess, are out, right? You think Pittsburgh's improved? You think Cleveland's improved? You think Denver's improved?

Okay, who do they replace? Are the Chargers out? That would mean the Chargers are out if you think Raiders and Broncos are in. If you think Cleveland's in, that means Baltimore or Cincinnati are out.

How? We still haven't talked about the Patriots. The biggest shrug emoji team in the AFC, maybe. The shrug emoji? That's what you say? I don't know.

I don't know. Can Matt Jones be really good again? Maybe. Maybe. Could they be much improved on offense?

I sure hope so. With the players that they brought in, Mike Giesecke, Juju Smith-Schuster. Bill O'Brien is a huge addition, just as a head coach.

Ramondre Stevenson could out. They're in the Dalvin Cook race still. And the defense is going to be top five.

That should be a playoff team, but they could be tenth. Two years ago, we were like, Mack Jones is like, we did it. We got our guy for the future. We got our guy. That was junk. And now he's just Patriots quarterback Mack Jones. He's not the savior anymore. More on the rich eyes and so. Every minute of the day, 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.