You're not going to apologize for winning. Take your heart pills and buckle up. That's right, everybody.
Buckle up. It's Tuesday. That means week two, Amy Trask. Great to be back with you on What the Football. Thrilled to see you again. Thrilled to be here, Suze. Coming right into it.
Right in through the front door, as I like to do. Rough night watching Nick Chubb on Monday Night Football. It was so painful to watch his knee twist, turn, and absolutely go to pieces. Painful to watch. So painful that they didn't play the replay on television or in the stadium.
They played it once. Everybody saw what happened. They saw Minka Fitzpatrick's helmet go straight into his knee and fall apart. So painful to watch, especially in that we know eight years ago he tore three ligaments in that exact same knee against Tennessee with Georgia. Amy, what is the team going to do? Let's talk about beyond the fact that they've lost the soul, the emotional leader of the team, and that is painful in itself.
But from your perspective, secret sauce-wise, what are the Cleveland Browns going to do now? I'm going to dive into that, but first note that I appreciate that you mentioned how painful it is to watch that. And of course, speaking to the emotional pain, Nick was going through the physical pain. Every single person in the Browns organization felt that emotional pain, whether on the team or in another role.
Those are emotionally painful moments. The team has big decisions to make, and in part it's going to be based on what they believe their prospects are for this season. Does the team believe it has a window of opportunity to do well, to advance, to win its division, to go to the playoffs, to go deep in the playoffs? How good does the team think it is? Because that in large part will dictate what the decision is, whether they will make a short-term decision, a long-term decision, play the short game, play the long game. If the team is focused on winning this season, which most of us believe they are focused on, they can do one of several things.
Actually, no, Suzie, they can do multiple things. One, rely on other backs that are currently on the roster. Two, look at available free agents. And three, look at players that are available to trade. And I corrected myself because they don't have to pick one of those things.
It can be a combination. They can say, look, we're going to rely on what we have here, but we are also going to look to bring in additional help. And how much they're willing to commit in terms of cap and cash depends on what I mentioned. How far do they think they can go this season?
We're going to hit that cash idea really hard. Look, Kevin Stavanski's already said Jerome Ford, as of Tuesday, is going to be the starting back. As he said, you can't ever replace Nick Chubb. He's going to be the starter. We are in a crazy time for running backs right now, in myriad ways.
Obviously, Jonathan Taylor, halfway through the four games for the physically unable to perform, he was basically trying to get his way out of Indianapolis. We know that Sean McVay has all but packed a bag for cam makers, right? We know that Kareem Hunt is sitting at home saying, hey, remember me? Leonard Fernett, who I said earlier today to Don Bui, our producer, said, isn't he like 75 by now?
I feel like he's been around forever. But we're in a strange time. There are a lot of running backs available this early in the season. There are. And your point about the coach saying, the men we have on the roster are the men that we are going to focus.
Of course he's going to say that. Because number one, they are who they have right now. Don't know if you're going to be able to sign a free agent.
Don't know if you're going to be able to make a trade. And you certainly want to build up and empower the men that are currently on your roster. Let's talk about that cash issue that you referenced. People want to focus on cap. Cap, cap, cap.
I feel like it's the Brady Bunch. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. Cap, cap, cap. Cash matters. And cash matters more to some teams than to others. Susie, during my years in the league, the differential between the highest revenue club and the lowest revenue club was over a quarter of a billion dollars a year. Now I don't know what that differential is right now.
I don't know what precisely I should say. But there is a very significant differential between the highest revenue clubs and the lowest revenue clubs. Some teams prioritize cash more than others. Some prioritize cash because ownership says, hey, cash matters to me.
I don't want you spending more than X. Some teams prioritize cash because they don't have as much as other teams. Look, when I was in the league, we had significant, significant cash and cash flow issues. One of my primary responsibilities at the Raiders was keeping us afloat.
So I am keenly aware of cash issues as well as cap issues. Let me just let everybody know that I am aware that Leonard Fournette is only 28 years old, but I feel like he's been around forever. So it suddenly occurred to me, I think I should probably let them know that I know that he's not 75.
Let me let you in on a little secret. I knew that, you know, he's not 75. I will also let all of you guys listening know that Ian Rapoport will come up shortly. We're going to talk to him about these very same things that we wanted an information guy for week two. So I thought he was the perfect guest to have on. And TJ Jefferson will be back as he is every week with us for his five fabulous minutes. Set the table as we look ahead.
Well, magnificent in all regards. Can't wait till Ian joins us. But I want to make one thing clear to the listeners as well. I'm not 75 either.
No, you're like 23, right? Oh, that's a good moment to just cut. You know, I think that like we will talk with Ian. It's a strange time. And as you try to replace and you can't replace these star players. But it's it's trying to decide, is this the year that we have to win? If we are the Browns, we've just paid Deshaun Watson just a boatload of money. We'll hit on the Mahomes money coming in this week as well.
Today, of course, Tuesday when we record this podcast. But it's hard to know, Amy, and I wonder what it feels like to be sitting in your position with a team when you feel like we have to win now. We don't have time to rebuild. We don't have time to see how the season unfolds. That's a great point. The difference between short term goals, long term goals.
And I'm going to digress for one minute, Susie. Al Davis and the Raiders took a lot of criticism during the waning years of his life, the last half decade or so. He was criticized for making decisions in the best short term interest of the team, not the best long term interest of the team.
Now, I kept my mouth shut because there's no way I was going to reveal what I knew, which is he knew he only had a very few years left. So what I always think and I cringe when I hear people criticizing teams for making short term decisions versus long term decisions, we don't know if there are personal reasons why the short term is the focus rather than the long term. Now, if all it is is football issues, not health issues, not age issues, different subject and fair for debate.
But sometimes there are health and age issues. So it's a perfect time then to ask you about the Jets then and the situation that they're in with Zach Wilson, because they clearly built this team to win now with Aaron Rodgers with a 39 year old quarterback. They knew that this was the year they had the defense. They brought in the players to surround Aaron with whomever he wanted. They gave him his OC.
They gave him what he wanted. But now they're looking at Zach Wilson yet again. And it made us think about Jamarcus Russell and his experience. And the numbers are really kind of fascinating.
I want you to hear this. So Zach Wilson's third season in the league, he started 23 games. His quarterback record as a starter is 8 and 15. So Jamarcus Russell's career, three seasons, started 25 games. His quarterback record as a starter was 7 and 18.
The stats are really kind of eerily similar. How do you know when you are with a team when it is time to give up? Well, first of all, did you share those stats because you want to make me cry? I do have ice cream, so we can bring it out now.
You know, probably this would be a good time to be eating it. Okay, to answer your question seriously, two issues. And the first I'm just going to share, because I want people to know this, it is not an excuse for Jamarcus's performance. The performance was unacceptable. He suffered some real, real, real emotional trauma between his rookie and his sophomore seasons. Rookie year, rookie year. Going into his second year, we had better hope for him, but he had a real, real, real emotional, I don't even know what to call it. Something real bad happened to him that affected him emotionally going into his second year. Is that an excuse?
No, I offer it by way of explanation. And you're right, he was not getting the job done, nothing close there too. But I'm going to ask of people saying to the Jets, get rid of Zach Wilson, make a change, make a change, you've got to get rid of Zach Wilson. The same thing I asked of every fan and every person who said to me, Amy, you've got to cut Jamarcus. Amy, you've got to get rid of Jamarcus.
Amy, you've got to get another quarterback. My response was, and do what? Because unless you ask yourself and do what, and unless you have an answer that is better than the status quo or at a minimum as good as the status quo, then what are you doing? So I would say with respect to the Jets and people who are saying, get rid of Zach Wilson and do what? Fair enough. You want to get rid of Zach Wilson and do what? Do you have an answer that's better than the status quo?
Because if not, what are you doing? Because you think by now they would have brought in another quarterback, but pull back that curtain. What was that conversation like with Al? For all of us that are kind of curious, you have that unique perspective from having been by Al Davis' side for so long.
Walk us through that. What was that like? Well, it was hard, and I remember a meeting sitting with Al and Jamarcus. It was just the three of us, and Al was doing his best to sort of reenergize Jamarcus, refocus Jamarcus, figure out what went wrong and how we could reorient him, and it was very clear to me during that discussion that it was having no impact on Jamarcus. And I had a real rough discussion, and when I say rough, I mean hard.
Not rough in a bad sense, but a very direct, well, that's how Al and I always communicated. But I said, that didn't register with him. It wasn't making an impact. Al said powerful, powerful things to Jamarcus, and he did it in a way that should have motivated him. He wasn't yelling. He wasn't ranting.
He was trying to motivate and reorient Jamarcus, and it was clear to me at that moment it wasn't working. Emotionally, you have to wonder with Zach Wilson. You've been replaced the way he was replaced, pushed aside.
Don't worry. He's going to have time to learn from Aaron Rodgers, and now thrust back in with this. Look, you're an NFL quarterback.
You're getting this kind of money. You're asking for the spotlight, but what are you thinking there? Well, I think one thing that can help him is when Aaron is well enough to be back with the team, and Aaron can be working with Zach in meeting rooms after meetings. Aaron, where I would the Jets, I would put Aaron up in the coaching booth during the games. I would have him communicating with Zach before the game at halftime. In other words, Aaron can help Zach. How much better Zach can be, we don't know, but I think Aaron can help. Yeah, you got rid of Jamarcus during the offseason.
Now it's in season, so it's different. So the question will be, what will they do? How will they look ahead and figure out how are they going to back him up? And do what? That's the question. And if you don't, if you're an organization, and I said this to everyone, anytime someone told me of any of our players, you've got to get rid of him, Amy.
Okay, and do what? Because if you don't have a better answer, then what are you doing? Let's turn to another question that I want to ask you about, the impact of the Patrick Mahomes deal.
Because I thought it was interesting when I brought it up to you, you had a business perspective, things that we weren't thinking about. Maybe the word cash will come into play again. But this is obviously, we're recording this on Tuesday, and this happened, I believe this happened on Monday. I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time it was Monday. But the Chiefs agree to a restructured contract that pays him $210.6 million between 2023 and 2026, the most in history over a four-year span. And we can ask Ian Rappaport about this when he joins us here on the football. But, Amy, what's the impact?
What does this say, the impact of this contract? I think the Chiefs did the right thing, not only from a business standpoint, but simply from a doing the right thing standpoint. They didn't need to do that.
They certainly didn't need to do it now. They could have waited, but they did the right thing, and that doesn't surprise me at all about the Hunt family. And the reason I'm pointing to the Hunts, and I had the tremendous, tremendous, just absolute honor and pleasure of working with Lamar Hunt, and Norma Hunt is, and both of them are gone now, and of course, and Clark Hunt, I had the tremendous honor and pleasure of working with Clark as well. These are people who really do right for the NFL, do right by the NFL. And I'm in no way trying to minimize the role of the general manager or anyone else on the staff, but at the end of the day, ultimately, owners have ultimate responsibility and ultimate authority. And ownership can delegate responsibility and delegate authority, but by definition, they can take that back at any time. And the reason I note that is because a decision like this rises to the level of ownership.
Even if the owner has empowered a general manager to do what he or she would want with a contract, a decision like this is going to have to be run by, run through, bounced off, you know, approved by, or certainly not nixed by ownership. And I think this speaks highly of Clark Hunt. I think he's carrying on his father's tradition by doing the right thing. And it sends a message throughout the organization.
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Marvel Studios Loki season 2, new episode streaming October 5th, only on Disney Plus. And it's nice of Ian Rapoport to join us here while he's busily tweeting out and breaking news on a Tuesday. This just came in with the loss of star running back Nick Chubb for the season. Kareem Hunt could step right back into his old job and you right away say that he's there, that he's visiting with the Browns.
So what can you tell us right now, Ian? Yeah, I mean, this is a reunion, I think, that always made sense. Kareem Hunt, I know, had a couple different visits before the season. Minnesota Vikings were one and we talked to the Colts, there's a couple other teams.
Had some visits, had some conversations with. It was never the right money, it was never the right situation. This one has always made sense and now, obviously, it makes, unfortunately, a lot of sense with Nick Chubb going out for the season. On Monday night with a multi-legament knee injury, just honestly, just horrific and something, you know, you just could not hate it anymore. One of the best young players in football out for the season, you know, to have someone like Kareem Hunt be able to come in with his old team and potentially step in.
I think it would help Cleveland a lot. Ian, before I jump into the running back topic itself, I want to let you know that the reason I am smiling ear to ear is I believe that this is the first conversation you and I have ever had that wasn't in the lobby outside of a league owners meeting. When I was running so fast to get away from the media assembled outside the doors of that meeting that many of your colleagues in the media used to say to me, Amy, if Al saw how fast you were running, he would sign you to play corner.
So thank you so much for joining us and it is very fun to have a conversation with you where I'm not trying to run away from the media as fast as I could. Well, I appreciate that. Those were some, I would say, good times, but I don't know how great they actually were. They were. Not for Ian.
They were. Maybe not for Ian, but I did run pretty fast in heels. Ian, you raised some great points about Kareem. I agree with you entirely.
It makes all the sense in the world. I have a running back question that's not specific to the Browns or to any specific running back. This summer, J.C. Tretter, the president of the NFL Players Association, referenced the faking of injuries by running backs to gain leverage.
He then quickly said, and the quote was, I don't think I'm allowed to ever recommend that, at least publicly. And my immediate thought, and although I went to law school, I did not need to go to law school to figure this out, was J.C., you did just recommend it publicly. Well, the league has now filed a grievance against the Players Association, and I wonder if you know to what extent this has concerned the Players Association. Are they worried about this? I think the issue is really, you know, the grievance, that will all sort of take care of itself, right?
And obviously there's, you know, him mentioning on a podcast, you know, there's a lot of, raises a lot of questions. Was this something that the union itself, you know, advised players to do? I have not heard that that is, in fact, the case.
But if it is the case, that would be kind of a different story. This is essentially referencing the hold ins. And as holdouts have become more and more not impossible because we actually had two really high profile ones this year, three high profile ones this year. You know, it's because the holdouts have become much more punitive, the hold ins have become much more favored from players, which is essentially saying like, Al, my hamstring, I can't practice. I'm not going to practice until I get a new contract. And I remember even myself joking on air that when J.K. Dobbins was, you know, on the PUP list to start camp for the Ravens, you know, it was an injury that a new contract could cure.
Now he ended up being on the field, not getting a new contract and unfortunately tearing his Achilles. But, you know, these hold ins are a way for players to have some leverage to withhold their services. I know it's something teams don't like. I'm curious to see what precedent is set, if any, with this grievance. But yeah, I mean, these are as teams hate holdouts. They now sort of seem to be targeting hold ins as well. I agree with you.
I'm fascinated to see the way it plays out. I'm not surprised that the league was bothered by the comments. And I agree with everything you said as to hold ends.
I was, however, surprised that they filed a grievance. Yeah, I think it's sort of the only way to me to say, like, let's solve this. Let's figure this out. Right.
Like if you are healthy, then you either hold out, which is get fine and terrible, or you practice. And, you know, unfortunately, as we've learned, you know, the countless examples in the NFL over the last couple of decades, precedents are set by the courts or by judges. Right. And so you can argue all you want. You believe one thing. I believe another thing. Unfortunately or fortunately, judges sometimes decide.
And if there is something that really is precedent setting, it will at least provide some answers to be like this that you're doing here is not allowed, for instance. So how might this affect Jonathan Taylor for saying? Clearly, we have the Browns wondering what they're going to do, saying that Jerome Ford is there starting back. We have Sean McVeigh all but packing a bag for Cam Akers.
How does this affect? Let's start first with Jonathan Taylor. So Jonathan Taylor is different because he actually is injured. Was is injured.
Right. Like his ankle surgery, which sounded like it went well, I've talked to him on the phone about it, still was kind of lingering. His camp started.
So even though he had a trade request and even though he wanted a new contract, he still was not healthy enough to actually be on the field. And so to me, this is different. Now, would he have practiced? I don't know.
I don't know. He might have sort of withheld him himself. And sometimes teams or players are really transparent with teams. Sometimes they say I'm making a business decision. I'm not practicing until you get a new contract and nobody wants to step in front of someone's business. So like we saw this with the Panthers, with Brian Burns, where Frank Reich was like, I'm respecting his business.
I respect it. So I think Jonathan Taylor is a little bit of a different story. He is still on the PUP list for another two weeks. I don't know when we're going to get a resolution. You know, examples like the Nick Chubb injury are things that unfortunately will help spur this along. We just have not had a conclusion yet. So complicated, though, because if you look at Taylor's surgery, that recovery is supposed to be what, a couple of weeks?
It's been months. And then you wonder, no coach is going to say, well, I want to get you back on the field because if you're saying that you're in pain, you're not going to push you through. I just feel like it creates such a such a bad line of communication.
And also, people are going to wonder who's telling the truth. Right now, they do have you know, they do have doctors. And if in an ankle is not healed properly, you know, a doctor can see really the issues are like I have migraines. I have a back issue. My hamstring hurts.
Those are ones that are more difficult. But what I sort of hope, not that my opinion matters, is I hope that everyone can be sort of transparent and be like, I am protecting myself. So I don't get injured while I try to get a new contract.
Please respect me for trying to get money for my family. And I hope and I think in the NFL, like everyone wants everyone respects that this is a business. Right. And so even if you disagree, like we've seen examples of teams disagreeing on business. Josh Jacobs and the Raiders are a great example. Great example. I get a long term deal.
Couldn't do it. Had multiple meetings where it was, you know, player and team personnel and his agent where it was like, we love you. We want you to play with us. We just have a disagreement on value. At the end, everyone was like, OK, that is OK. We will just disagree and I'm going to go play. Yeah.
And if you're a running back, by the way, back to the running backs, you're playing so hard. Get the money when you can get it. I mean, isn't that always I mean, you just got to get your money when you can get it.
Really, everyone, though. Right. Like that's of all the different things I've learned in the NFL in the last 15 years.
Everybody should get as much money as they can because you just never know when it could be taken away. And you're absolutely right. You never know. As we saw last night with Nick Chubb, as we saw with Aaron Rodgers on any given play, your season can be over. And unfortunately, and I lived through this with Bo Jackson, with the Raiders, your career on the field can be over. We talk all the time about players who've been in the league for years and years and years and years. And as Ian well knows, the average career is very, very short.
Yeah, and it's you know, it's the kind of thing there's so many misconceptions and you guys know, but there's so many misconceptions about players in the NFL. You play in the NFL. All of your friends assume you're rich. They just assume you have mountains of money. And usually you are not rich. Usually you're on your rookie deal where you, you know, yes, can afford meals, but you are not someone who can give money to everyone in his family.
Right? Boy, oh boy. Sing it, Ian, because when we had rookies come in, we tried so hard to help them figure out how to navigate that every single relative they had, people that they didn't even know were their relatives, people that might not have been their relatives, every single one looking for that rookie to help them. And I remember our trainers, everybody that interacted with the rookies, equipment men, trainers, all of us tried to say to rookies, you are not obligated to give money to everyone who is asking. And it's a tough spot for rookies. It's yeah. And really like, you know, for, for some of them, they have not had money like this in their lives.
And so they're very happy with it. But the reality is, as we've seen countless examples, you just don't know when it could all be gone and whether it's, you know, an injury, whether it's something off the field, whether it's just you thought you would be good enough and you aren't like it all can be taken away. And and it's really tough because, you know, there's there are players whose careers will end at twenty five, twenty six or younger. And then it's like, you know, you hope that someone did not give their money away or spend it.
I do think teams and the union also have been really, really good over the last decade or so, making sure that players are educated about their finances in a way that never happened in the 80s and 90s. You are absolutely right. The points you have made are phenomenal and they are so important. I am thrilled you share them.
And if I could jump through this camera and hug you for sharing them, I would. Let's talk about a thirty nine year old rehabbing. Obviously, you were able to break the news about Aaron Rodgers and his speed bridge and his Achilles that Neil L'Etrage did. Neil did my knee. I know him well.
What would you have? I had my knee done twice. One by Joe Lombardo, the Lakers the first time around, second time with Neil L'Etrage.
Luckily, I know people in high places. ACL, MCL, meniscus. Then I had the meniscus redone. Oh, yeah. Come on. Rich isn't the only baller on this. Give me a break, Ian.
Come on. I've had no knee surgery and I hope I didn't just jinx myself. No, but Neil, Neil put my knee back together.
He did an amazing job and he's with the right guy. But what do you know about because everyone's tuning in to hear about my knee injury here because I know how important I am here. But, you know, what are you hearing about Aaron Rodgers right now? I actually am strangely interested in like regular people, non athletes having major and significant surgeries. Like it's all it's the craziest thing. I mean, because then you have to have like a regular job.
You have to sometimes go on like a train or subway and you have like a boot or crutches and it's a disaster. And I did it. I did it literally. OK, I did it right after I lost left Fox Sports as six weeks of paid vacation.
Rich and I were getting married in six months. I went skiing with my friend Laura Wasser and popped my knee on the first run of the day. And I've skied my whole life. That was like right. That was the first one. And I called the Lakers from the sled.
Because excuse me, because, of course, everyone was covering the team and the time Lakers Lakers. I called John Black. John, I tore my knee because I knew if I called Rich, I'd cry. And so I flew home. I did all my rehab with Magic Johnson name drop. Second time around. Fifteen years later.
And by the way, for my wedding, had stem and ice in the back. You're welcome. I can't believe this podcast has devolved to this. This is so awful. I'm a little frightened.
Self-absorption. Now, we just talk about Aaron Rodgers or like anybody. I actually think about this. I'll take that to Roger in a second. I actually think about this. I haven't had any surgeries or anything. Knock on wood.
But if I do, I will definitely try to get some sort of team physician to do it. Maybe you sort of build a relationship. These guys are so hard to get to. Maybe you build a relationship and you're like, hey, while you're doing mine, you might as well tell me about someone.
Now, they don't do it, but you never know. I rehabbed with the Lakers guys. I mean, with Magic, it was so sweet. I mean, I was so lucky.
But by the way, milk those relationships. I'm a sideline reporter. I love injury. Then I was able to tell stories on the air more about rehabbing and get really into it and get really nutty. But Neil did do my new the second time around after I tore it again. So I kind of I know what it is like to go through surgery with him.
But what are you hearing as I turn it back about me? I hope Neil is paying a sponsorship for this podcast. Neil doesn't need anything from us.
He doesn't need any help. What are you hearing about Aaron? Because enough about me. More about Aaron. Yeah, really, really interesting. And I think this was one where I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday trying to figure out what actually this was. I honestly didn't really know much about the technique. I didn't know what a speed bridge was.
I didn't I didn't know the name of this until probably, you know, five thirty on Saturday. I'm watching my son play baseball and I'm getting calls and trying out with my little computer trying to figure this out. So basically what Aaron Rodgers did was there's a technique of Achilles repair where basically they put an internal brace on. And it essentially makes it more secure and gives the player the possibility of recovering earlier. No one knows if it will happen. No one knows if Rodgers rehab will take seven months or eight months or nine months or four or five months. Like Cam Akers did a couple of years back.
Right. But it does at least give him the possibility of that. I would also expect just like your friend Kobe Bryant, another former Laker may rest in peace.
He went to Germany and got PRP shots. Rodgers may do the same. You know, anything you can do to kind of get this thing healed up and healthy, I assume he will do that.
All right. Speaking of players that are have been or are injured and we don't know if and to what extent he is still injured or still recovering from the injury. How is Joe Burrow? You know, I, I don't know. I don't know. And I think the fact that we don't know and it's Tuesday and tomorrow he's going to probably try to practice.
It's not great. I would I think it's fair to say his status is up in the air for this Monday. Now they do have an extra day, which is good, but like the calf injuries suck among all injuries because you have them and everyone goes, well, you know, it's kind of a minor injury, but be careful.
They can linger. Well, we saw that literally on the field. I mean, he's hobbling.
He comes off the field. He's yelling expletives because he knows exactly what happened. It's not like it's the pain is terrible. He just knows that this is something that's going to bother him for a while. We were seven weeks from him hurting his calf, seven weeks, and it's still not fully healed.
That is annoying. Now, could he play, you know, would you rather have a 75 percent Joe Burrow over anyone else? You probably would. But I think it's clear at least this is going to be something that's going to bother him for a while.
Well, and here's one thing the Bengals need to be concerned about. And let me make very clear, having gone to law school, I'm about to give a disclaimer. I am not a doctor. I have no medical knowledge. I do not even play a doctor on television.
But that said, here's what I do know. Aaron Rodgers was coming off a calf injury when he ruptured his Achilles. Kevin Durant, who was a basketball player, I believe it was Kevin Durant, was coming off a calf injury when he tore his Achilles. Everybody was quick to suggest that Aaron's injury was related to the surface on which he was playing. My immediate thought was, given Kevin Durant, given Aaron Rodgers, and there have been others, there may be a link between playing with a calf injury and rupturing or tearing or injuring your Achilles.
And I think that's something the Bengals have to watch out for with Joe Burrow. Yeah. You're not the first person to mention that. I'm not? Wait a minute. What? I'm not? Well, unfortunately, there are no secrets in this world as I constantly am reminded of. It's like, you know, when you think you have this great story and you tweet it and there's like six other people.
I don't know if there's a link, but it is at least something to kind of watch and monitor. The problem is, if you're Joe Burrow, you know, he's going to want to play. And if you're the Bengals, if he's not in harm's way, you know, they're going to want him to play. And so I think that's part of the issue is like these guys want to be on the field. They want to win. It is also their job and there's all their teammates. They want to play. And so keeping guy off the field for caution is unfortunately so hard because they're all like, cool, cool, cool.
How do I play? Well, you're absolutely right. It is in a player's genes and nature to want to play. And you're also, of course, absolutely right as to the calf injury and the Achilles injury.
We don't know if that's correlation or causation. Before we let you go, it wouldn't be a show that I'm on in without tweaking rich somehow. So let me ask you about Tom Brady, because, you know, which is just holding out hopes he hasn't signed his papers yet with the Raiders. And what if he got a call from East Rutherford, New Jersey? And I don't think that's going to happen. So just complete the breaking of his heart right now and let us know what you know about Brady signing papers with the Raiders. Yes, the the actual purchase of a piece of the Raiders has not been officially voted on yet by the owners. You're still trying to figure some things out financing how much I believe there's a partner with Brady involved as well.
There's some there's some things to figure out might come during the October meetings, these great meetings that Amy mentioned, which are always so, so awkward chasing after people in hotel lobbies and all that might come in October, might come in December. We will see if the Jets called. I do not think Brady would be interested. I just and it's not just that. I mean, this guy played against the Jets, had some battles for 20 years.
Like I have a hard time. I have a hard time imagining that would ever happen. And I'm pretty sure that Brady is done, done, done, finally done. And you know what, Susie, I'm going to give Ian the scoop on something, which is my view on Brady purchasing a piece of the Raiders. Many people think I would be just tremendously, tremendously opposed to that because of the Tuck Roll game.
Well, let me say this very, very clearly. I don't fault Brady for anything he did in that game. Tom Brady did exactly what every fan of every team would want their quarterback to do in that position. So for those of you who think that I hold something against Tom Brady for that, I do not.
He did what you'd want your quarterback to do. So you know what I mean? And anyway, I just gave that scoop to Ian and we really appreciate you coming on. I know it's a crazy day.
I know you're getting pulled in a million directions. It's week two of what the football we really needed you and you showed up. So that's a good Columbia Lion man right there. It means the world to us that you joined us. Thank you. Well, thank you guys very much for having me. It was a pleasure. I'd be happy to do it again if you guys ever want. Yay! We'll be calling.
You know we will. It could be information to change your life forever or the Something You Should Know podcast could just be something interesting. My guest is Kim Zochman.
She is author of the book There's No Cream in Cream Soda. I don't think I've ever really known the story of why they're called hot dogs. There is so many legends about the name of the hot dog. When the Germans immigrants came over and they brought all their sausages, they also brought their dachshunds.
It really is because they kind of look like dachshunds. Something you should know wherever you listen. Well, as we're going to do every week, it's T.J. Jefferson time, five minutes of fabulous. And if it's five minutes of fabulous, that means it's ice cream time. So let me explain to you guys what happens here.
Amy and I really want to up our fantasy. We also want some creativity out of T.J. Jefferson, who I happen to adore and love and want on this podcast and stole from The Rich Eisen Show. Excellent thievery. Excellent thievery. What are they going to do?
Like fire me? You're part of the empire, you know. So T.J.'s going to join us every week.
I'm part of this empire. And he's going to join us with a little bit of fantasy. And T.J., I have to tell you, as I'm driving Cooper to school, a kid tries to trade for him for B.J., for Bijan Robinson. Well, he has Bijan. He has Bijan. Nice. A kid tries to trade him the kitchen sink full of like junk and injuries for Bijan Robinson.
And I said, Coop, don't take the trade. Correct? Yes. Okay, before we dive in, before we dive in, because I cannot wait until you educate us, T.J., does anybody need whipped cream and does anyone need sprinkles? I mean, whipped cream is always nice. And by the way, guys, eat along with us. This week we're going with a little bit of Ben and Jerry's, I believe. And Amy, you have to understand, Amy's five foot zero, and she eats for a snack whipped cream with chocolate sauce on top.
She is my hero. And so this week we're going, what are we going with Ben and Jerry's? What do we have? We have milk and cookies, because really, who doesn't like milk and cookies and ice cream? And then for those who don't do dairy, we have a dairy-free, it's called oatmeal dream pie. And you know what? That's a good segue, because you're my dream pie.
Oh, well, thank you so much. I'm blushing. So look, I'm going to get some fantasy stuff going for all your listeners and viewers. I'm going to make it quick, because I have something else I want to talk to you about, a little football-related. But yesterday was awful. Seeing Nick Chubb go down is something that you just never want to see, and it hurts.
So because of that, though, the sun is still going to come up, right? This ship is still going to sail. The Browns have to do something. And you as a fantasy football owner, you have to do something.
So we're going to address that. But first, I'm going to tell you right off the bat, here's a guy I want you to roll with this week. That's Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III, or the third, as I like to say. He's got 32 touches this season. Gives him a nice workload for fantasy football. Two touchdowns last week. He's playing against the Panthers this week. I have a feeling, remember last week we talked about header gut.
I'm going to use my gut. I feel like Kenneth Walker III is going to have a great fantasy day. And I'm telling you, put him in your lineup. I'm also going to tell you to sit on the couch, Jordan Love. Jordan Love's played pretty well this season, but he's going up against the New Orleans Saints in that defense. We talked about it on the big show today. The Saints D is very underrated.
They have been for years. I'm just not going to trust Jordan Love against that New Orleans Saints D. And I'm going to tell you that snatch up. This one's pretty obvious based upon what we saw last night. But Jerome, Jerome, Jerome's in the house. Jerome Ford of the Cleveland Browns. Nick Chubb is out.
Unfortunately, the Browns might bring someone in. But Jerome put up one hundred and six rushing yards, twenty five receiving yards. He found the touchdown last week.
But I'm also going to tell you this. You might want to sit him this week. I'm going to tell you to pick him up on your team.
You want him. But the Tennessee Titans have held opponents at sixty five rushing yards per game to the first two contests this year. And maybe Jerome might not see pay dirt. He might not find his mic where everyone say the glory this week, but I'm telling you going forward. He's going to be the guy that you want to get on your fantasy team. So that's just a few things with fantasy and also throw another name out there that just popped in my head. Nathaniel Dell, wide receiver for the Texans up against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has 10 catches on 14 targets this year. That's a lot of targets for hundred six yards in the touchdown. He's worth using as a wide receiver three.
So if you have room on your team, go ahead and grab him. That's the fantasy advice. Now, what I want to talk to you ladies about is this. I know that you have particular some feelings about winning time. I do. I love Jeff Perlman. You don't like the way Jerry West was portrayed, but I loved it. Besides that, because I just thought it was a great look at a fun time in basketball and a great team and a great building of a dynasty with the Lakers. Now, we also know that unfortunately winning time has been canceled. They didn't even wait for the last episode there before they cut the cord, so to speak, on winning time. That's upset a lot of people and it upset me.
But it also made me think, right? What's next in that world? Jeff Perlman has another book that he wrote. It's called Boys Will Be Boys about the Dallas Cowboys. I decided that I decided what I want to see is I want to see Boys Will Be Boys. Jeff Perlman's other book. Get the winning time kind of treatment.
I want to make a series based upon this book about the rise and fall of the Dallas Cowboys. Quick! Option it!
Option it! Right. And the Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson thing, because as a Cowboys fan, I sit here and I go, Had Jerry not fired Jimmy, we would have won four Super Bowls in a row. We probably would have 10 or 11 or 12, maybe 13 Super Bowls total.
Probably would have won every year, in my opinion. So what I want to do is I'm going to cast Boys Will Be Boys, giving it the winning time formula as a series. Okay.
All right. So we're going to start off with the main guy, and that's Jerry Jones. Who could play Jerry Jones? Well, I think a guy you know from Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle. I have Bryan Cranston as Jerry Jones. Bryan Cranston, if you saw him in Malcolm in the Middle, you would have never thought that he could have pulled off what he did in Breaking Bad. This man is a first-class actor.
He teaches master classes. So Bryan Cranston as Jerry Jones, I think, is just a hit. Now we've got Jimmy Johnson. Who could play Jimmy Johnson?
Well, this guy's got to have a great head of hair. So after thinking, Josh Brolin. You know him from The Goonies when he was a kid and as an older man, No Country for Old Men and The Avengers. I feel like he could portray the role of Jimmy Johnson as the other lead of this series. So now we're going to go into some of the players.
Troy Aikman, three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. Who could play him? I got Chris Hemsworth.
You know him from Thor, The Adventures. Look at him. Blue-eyed blonde. Good-looking guys.
What do you think? I think that Chris Hemsworth. Blonde-eyed and blue-haired, is that what you're saying? Yeah, that too. All of that.
You know, I have dreads, so I don't have either one of those things. But I got Chris Hemsworth playing Troy Aikman. Now, Mike Reuven, the playmaker.
All right. How important was he to the Cowboys' success? He's a guy who's a friend of the Rich Eisen Show and that is actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. You might know him from Candyman, Aquaman, Watchman. I feel like he can embody what the playmaker brought to that team. And I think it's a good fit.
I think it's a good look. Now we got Emmitt Smith, right? In my opinion, the greatest running back of all time with all due respect to all the other great running backs.
This one was kind of easy. I got John David Washington, son of Denzel Washington. You know him from Ballers and Tenet and Amsterdam. He was also played at Morehouse College. He was a draft pick of, excuse me, unsigned free agent signing to the Rams back in, I think, 2006.
So he knows how to tote the rock. So I've got him portraying the role of Emmitt Smith. And then we got Nate Newton, one of the offensive guard, one of the hugest personalities, as we all know.
He was a guy who used to wear dress shoes and black dress socks with shorts on his college campus. I've got Brian Tyree Henry. You might know him from Atlanta. You might know him from Bullet Train. I feel like he can embody Nate Newton.
Now, he's a little smaller than Nate, so we're going to have to work on getting his weight up or padding his suit. But I think Brian Tyree Henry is the guy there. We also have Daryl Moose Johnston, who was just a pivotal part of the Cowboys offense opening holes for Emmitt Smith.
I've got Alan Richson, another friend of the Rich Eyes and show. You might know him from Reacher, Fast X, Blue Mountain State. Big guy. That's what the Moose was. He's going to open up holes for Emmitt Smith. And I think Alan is the guy to play Moose. Now we've got J. Novacek.
Tied it into the Cowboys. For me, I'm casting Will Poulter. You might know him from Where the Miller's Detroit. He also did a great episode of The Bear on FX. If you're a fan of the bear, he's playing J. Novacek for me. Just the great tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. And then we've got Charles Haley. I was going to say, how do you know Charles Haley? I mean, he's got to be a guy who's a huge part of this story.
As you know, he's a guy Jerry Jones went and picked up at the airport when they signed him. I've got him in Joseph, the actor. You might know him from Snowfall, where he plays Uncle Jerome. If you've ever seen Jerome talking about teaching your boy how to squabble, then you know that he's going to be perfect to play this role of Charles Haley because that guy was a beast. And he was no joke.
And then we got another guy who's really big in the news right now. That's Deon Sanders, who came over to the Cowboys. And who better to play Deon Sanders than Deon Sanders? You know, it could be one of those and Deon Sanders as Deon Sanders. That wouldn't be a bad idea.
But I got someone else in mind just to play younger. How about his son, Shiloh? You ever seen Shiloh?
Nice, nice, nice, nice. He sounds just like his pops. And maybe that's why Deon has him last in his child ranking.
I do not like child ranking. Because he's always kind of making fun of his dad. But Shiloh looks like his dad. He can talk like his dad. He plays DB like his dad.
He wears 21. I feel like he's the man to have played Deon Sanders. That's kind of obvious. And then, as you ladies know, behind every good man, there's what? A better woman.
There you go. So we got to have Miss Jean Jones cast, right? And who better than my favorite actress, who's also a friend of the Rich Eisen show. And that is Jodie Foster, as you can see. She's probably my favorite actress. We're going to have her playing Jean Jones. And she's going to try to balance out some of Jerry's craziness.
And like you said, behind every good man, there's a great woman. And I feel like this casting needs to happen. Boys Will Be Boys should be hitting HBO or the Roku channel or something. And I need to see this made, OK?
TJ, two things. Number one, not only does this casting need to happen, you need to be the casting director because you are so good at this. You cast this spectacularly. Now, look, I don't want you leaving the Rich Eisen show and I don't want you leaving What the Football.
It's a nice stage up. You've got a career as a casting director, but there's one thing you failed to do. You know, I interacted with Jerry a lot during my years in the league and I think I should have a cameo. Well, I mean, that goes without saying, Amy.
It's one of those things. But don't say on air who you would cast as me. No, you're playing you. Oh, and Amy Drask as herself. And Suzy plays Suzy. Yeah, I like this.
I mean, it's like, you know, in a double play where you don't always touch second base, but the guy gets called out anyway. That's what we're that's obvious. I get a cameo. You two are definitely in the movie. And that's what I have. So that's the fantasy advice. That's my casting advice. Thank you ladies for having me again. And I guess I'm out. Also, nice way to get yourself in there with a celebrity, too. Nice, nice, nice pick. You did that magnificently.
I love Jodie Foster. So, you know, then that's that. TJ, thanks again, as always.
All right. As we wrap up this week to addition of What the Football, Amy, the Rams took a lot of flack for their last second field goal in their loss to the 49ers. A lot of flack. And you didn't have a problem with it.
Why? Not only didn't I have a problem with them kicking that field goal, I was very, very bothered by the flack that the Rams received. Everybody jumped to the conclusion that they kicked that field goal for nefarious purposes related to gambling.
I think that's an unfair conclusion. Look, at some point this season, the Rams may have to run out at the end of the game and kick a field goal that can be game deciding. They have a kicker that is new to their team. Why would you assume they're doing something for nefarious purposes when it was clear to me it could have been for very, very legitimate football purposes? You want your special teams to practice running out on the field and kicking that field goal.
Even though it didn't matter in this game, it may matter this season. And why wouldn't you take the opportunity to practice? Let's not assume the worst of people all the time. Let's not assume the worst of people as a general rule. See, this is why you come here for What the Football. That is a great take. I thank you for it.
It's a clear and concise differentiation from everybody else out there, bitching and moaning, seeing that they did something wrong. So that is a perfect way to wrap up this week two edition of What the Football. Oh, no, no, no, no. I have a better way to wrap it up. And it's going to make you uncomfortable. And you know what?
Okay, be uncomfortable. Suzy, growing up, I never, ever, ever got to sit with the cool kids at lunch. And sitting here with you, I am sitting with the coolest kid there is. And if you don't believe me, believe People Magazine, because People Magazine has a special this week on Rich and Suzy Eisen.
Or really, I think it's Suzy and Rich Eisen and the media empire you have built. I am honored to be a part, an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, not yellow polka dot bikini, but an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny part of all you are doing here. And yeah, you know I'm making you uncomfortable. And that's okay. It is well earned and well deserved. All right.
You know what? It's great. People will read and believe anything. Clearly, we sold People Magazine a great story. It's fantastic. But thank you for that.
I love it. I want to end the show now because I'm horrified by it all. Come back for more ice cream. Come back for more TJ. Come back for more frank conversation.
Come back for week three of What the Football. And let us know what you want to hear. Thanks so much for Ian Rappaport. Thanks so much to TJ. And reach out to us. Find us however you find your podcast. We want to hear what you want to hear. Thanks so much. We'll see you next week for more What the Football. We'll see you next week for more What the Football.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-10-01 17:27:57 / 2023-10-01 17:50:59 / 23
