Colin’s joined by Nick Wright, host of “First Things First” on FS1!
They begin with the NFL and shoot down the controversy surrounding the Chiefs getting help from the refs against the Bills (4:30). In true Nick Wright fashion, Nick provides a laundry list of Patrick Mahomes stats to support his argument that Mahomes will be a Mt. Rushmore ATHLETE, not just quarterback… and why the partnership between him and Andy Reid has produced greatness(7:15).
They discuss why adaptability was key for the Chiefs beating the Bills and predictability was the Bills downfall and they talk about the massive disadvantage for defensive minded head coaches in the modern NFL (12:45).
They trade their “Most Wrong NFL Takes” from this past season and both involved Nick Sirriani and the Eagles (27:00). They debate which elite quarterback from the AFC is least likely to ever MAKE a Super Bowl in the next decade in a conference flush with quarterback talent (34:30).
Colin floats his theory that outside of the NFL, other sports like baseball will require top talent to land in the large market cities in order to make games feel like “events” and keep up ratings and fan interest (39:00).
They go back to the Chiefs and why the talent on their full roster isn’t given enough credit for their talent (51:30), and Nick points out two draft day transactions where the Chiefs outmaneuvered the Bills (53:30). They review the list of recent Super Bowl winners and find one common denominator: incredibly aggressive general managers (57:00).
Finally, they discuss Colin’s upcoming move to Chicago and Nick’s newfound love of Broadway since moving to New York (59:00).
Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!
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The volume. Everyone loves a good MVP story. In the story of Wasabi Technologies is one of the best. It's a purpose built company to free businesses from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers, you know, the big guys. Wassabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company, becoming the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. From Wassabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage was Sabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, data deletion, and ransomware. Wassabi has taken the lead and driving innovation and data storage, eliminating overhead where it matters to deliver your results you can count on and won't break the bank. In fact, with Sabi's up to eighty percent less than those other guys and doesn't charge as cent for businesses to access their own data. Was Sabi another championship story check them out for it was Sabby dot Com. Was Sabbie hot all right? You know I don't get to watch other shows except yours, Nick because a lot of times I'm on the air. I pulled into the parking lot when Dan Patrick goes on, so I never get to hear Dan, who does a great job. I don't get a watch like Steven A. Rutter shows because either I'm prepping for my show, doing for my show, or driving home. It's interesting. I when I worked at the other place, I was there for the New England Dynasty, a big chunk of it ne eleven years and it was great. I was I. You know, my friends were all either New York Giant fans or Patriot fans, and I never thought the Patriots were the most talented team, although I did think the Randy Moss years were damn good. Yeah, but I thought I heard a lot of this stuff about officiating, and I was always like, ugh shit. I did think the Bills got a first down, but there were thirteen minutes left, and I don't care. I'm kind of a believer. And I've said this, I think to you and others when people used to complain about Jordan getting all the calls of the Warriors, I would always say this, how many turnovers did you have and how many phrase throws did you miss? If the answer combined is twenty. I don't care about that, go either way. Called in the fourth quarter, right, like, you had eleven turnovers and miss nine free throws. I'm not going to listen to you. I thought Buffalo was incredibly lucky. They fumbled four times and recovered all of them. I've never heard of that in a playoff game in my life.
No, Colin. They there were five fumbles in the game because Mahomes fumbled and Buffalo recovered all five. Now, as far as back as the record books go, first playoff team ever to do that and lose, Like, it's very hard to go five for five fumble recoveries and not win the game. They got very fortunate on that.
Yeah, my take on the entire game was very much like Matt Hasselback. Matt Hasselback and I and Drew Breese and I agreed that Sean McDermot acknowledged after the game. Yeah, on the fourth and one stuff, you know, we just kind of let Josh, you know, and we just kind of figure, Josh, we're gonna kind of let him do it. And I'm like Andy Reid has never once said, you know, I'm just gonna let Mahomes kind of do it. And I've been on this now since you've known me at FS one for eight years. I think offensive coaches are better with star quarterbacks than defensive coaches. And I think one of the things I've said about Brady is where Brady really deserves credit. He won with Arians, he won with Belichick, Charlie Weiss, he won with like six different people because remember Bill didn't really run the offense. It was whoever the coordinator was. Is that I do think, and this is not a shot at Mahomes all of us in life. Some kids grow up with really doting, rich parents and supportive parents, and some kids grow up in chaos. Is Mahomes would be successful regardless. But do you think it's crazy to consider that if Mahomes and Alan's switch coaches, that Alan would have more Super Bowls today than Mahomes.
Oh? Yes, I do think that's crazy. I don't think you'd have more super Bowls than Mahomes. And I think that Listen. I think Patrick is going to go down as a Mount Rushmore athlete, not football player athlete, and I think that he is has a special innate ability that right now no other quarterback in like the people have been beaten over the head with the Mahomes stats, but some of them are just like impossible to believe. So he already now has the more playoff victories. Yeah, when his defense allows twenty nine points than any quarterback in NFL history, So he has four. He has won four playoff games. Was even's allowed twenty nine points. That's Tom did it. I think Peyton did it, I think three times, and Tom did it once drive vice versa. But no one's done that that. Patrick has played twenty And then I'm gonna get to the Josh Allen piece of this. Patrick has played twenty playoff games. Okay, eleven of them were what I would call easy wins. They were leading in the fourth quarter, led the whole way. The nine games Colin that he was not that he trailed in the fourth quarter, six of them he won. One of them he forced overtime against New England, never touched the ball, another one he forced overtime against Cincinnati, did not come through and lost. And the other one they were down thirty one to nine against the Bucks entering the fourth So again and put a little finer point on that. In his playoff career, in the fourth quarter, trailing by one score. He has had fourteen possessions. They have tied or taken the lead thirteen times and so and the one time he didn't, he then got the ball back and did it.
So do you believe, though, that Andy Reid is a is a is a prominent.
That one hundred percent absolutely, But I also believe the knock on Andy before Patrick came into his life, was brilliant play designer. But in these exact moments I'm describing, gets tight and messes up the clock or situationally isn't buttoned up. That's how you lose a twenty eight point lead to the Colts with Alex Smith, That's how you lose an eight and in the playoff an eighteen point lead to Marcus Mariota. You know, Andy was the chiefs coach when those things happened. So I think it's the perfect marriage. I think Andy is the perfect preparer of offense and plays and all of it, and Patrick is the steadiest hand in the world. And so to me, it's like the most brilliant medical school professor pairing up with the most naturally gifted surgeon ever, Like he is going to give you all of the tools and then you're gonna, you know, be the one with the steady hand going to do it. So that part, and I think Josh is excellent. I also think that Josh had the ball of three and a half minutes left down three and got seventeen yards and zero points. And that's a year after getting the ball back with six minutes left down three and got forty yards and zero points. Like, that's not Patrick, that's not Andy's. That's in those moments the fourth and five play, Josh was excellent. First down, second down, he was not, which set up the third and tam, which set up the fourth and five. Here is the thing I want to say about the sneaks, Colin, and this is where I'm surprised. More teams don't, more contending teams don't take a page out of the Chiefs notebook. Why at some point during the year didn't the Bills say internally, okay, guys, I think we pretty much well know how to run this snake. Can we work on a couple other short yardage things?
So thank you. A.
Teams have to prepare for other things, and b even though we've been basically undefeated on it, if somebody has a wrinkle, that can stop it, we have a pivot point. Instead, they just ran the same thing all year because it was so successful, and that's that should be the lesson of the Chiefs. The Chiefs early in the year, people like, oh, Kelsey's washed, and it's like, Okay, he's obviously slowing down. But is it is it that he's washed or is it that they are saying, hey, it it hasn't happened in years. But what if someone in a playoff game takes him away. Let's make sure Xavier Worthy's ready, Let's make sure everybody else is ready. And then in the AFC Championship game, he has his worst game in five years in the playoffs, and other guys step up. If you're contending for a championship, sometimes preparing to win the title is not the same as making sure every single possession of my Week seven game against the Jets is the highest EPA. And that's where the Chiefs have been brilliant. And that's where the Bills I.
Think have not been well. And I yeah, and I think to defend Josh here because I think he's all time stuff. I don't think fans understand this if you watched, I mean, I'm not going to give away where I heard this, but it comes from a good source. Belichick can't even speak offensive football like defensive coaches. They don't really understand offensive football. That's not what they do. And one of the things I've always pointed to, and I think I'm the only guy talking about this regularly pat myself in the back. Have you noticed how offensive coaches can rearrange the deck chairs with an offensive line within an off season and fix it. And He's done it twice the seasoned and left multiple times. This year. They were terrible the first five weeks. By the end of the year, Stafford never got touched. Defensive coaches can't do that. Tomlin's on seven straight years of battle lines. I mean, Jeff Schwartz showed during the playoff loss the Steelers offensive line mayhem. They didn't know where they were going. I mean, they were often pulling to the wrong place. Offensive coaches speak the language of offense, and the league has pivoted to reward them. It's almost like if Trump. You know, when Trump goes out and says, hey, I'm pro you know bitcoin, cryptocurrency, I am pro cryptocurrency. Well, you know that that benefits people in the industry, like the NFL's basically said over the last ten years, we're gonna go offense. We're gonna literally change the game. And so there's a big chunk of these defensive coaches. They don't speak it. They don't speak it. They don't understand the language and what you're asking, which is why wouldn't they create a second play. Well, that's not their natural instinct, that's not who they are. Andy Reid in the off season will send me plays he's working on that he found on YouTube for Rose Bowls in the forties, Like, hey, hey, I'm not gonna tell you what I'm gonna use this, don't share this and look at this play. That's not what defensive coaches do. And I think it's the great.
So what do you think they should do? Because the thing is because because the I agree with a lot of what you're saying, and I also it's like, but there isn't a the proven excellent offensive coach available. B Belichick took the Carolina job, So it's not like, hey, let's just get better situationally, and you know, even in a short term, he's beaten Andy, he's beaten Patrick. And I understand the folks who are like, man, if it's been this long, you haven't broken through against this team. Even if mcdermot's an excellent coach, sometimes what happens to Mark Jackson to elevate to Steve Kerr as Brew talks about, needs to happen. I get all that, but can you take the risk of this part of Josh Allen's prime of we're handing the reins over to a first time unknown head coach because he's an offensive guy. Yeah?
No, I think listen. I think so is Sean McVay, and so is Matt Fluor.
Right, I think you so was all the guys who failed, like you know what I mean?
Go ahead, No, Sean McDermott. I think my comp has always been Chuck Knox. I'm saying this is my age. But Chuck Knox was known as an organizer, highly competent, B plus coach, Seahawks bills. If you were a shit show, he got you on the right path. But he was called ground Chuck because the playoffs would come, and like Marty Schottenheimer, he got hyper conservative. And I just think that's your fade in life? Is that sometimes? Nick? You know, let's just take our business for instance, is that some people in my age don't do social media. I think it's a huge disadvantage. I do a ton of social media. I've got a TikTok clip on Brawny today. They'll get three million people. I feed into it. I'm into it. I love it. Not everybody sixty plus with gray hair is into all these social media platforms. The world we're in has changed. TV doesn't drive all the business. I'm comfortable with it. There are other things in other industries people aren't comfortable with. The NFL culture has changed. It's all offense, and so a lot of these defensive coaches, they're beholden to hiring the right OC in the minute. You know, Josh McDaniels and Brady leaves bella check screwed. There's nothing he can do. He doesn't know what he's doing, and so I think it's just like anything else. This is something I think about all the time. In broadcasting. I'm watching the culture. I'm not worried about me being good or you after me being good. I'm not worried about my staff. What I'm constantly worried about in the volume is where's the culture going? Where is it going? I want to be ahead of where the culture is changing. I know my people are talented, so that's the stuff I lose sleepover. Offensive coaches have been given the baton by the league, and defensive coaches now are trapped. They're totally beholden to hiring the right OC and they know if he's any good in two years he gets a head job. So it is really a disadvantage to be I feel bad for Sean McDermott. What is he on his third or fourth OC?
Well, right, you had Dable, you had Doris orc and now you have bra Brady, so you're on your third. No, the the.
And each one's a different language. I mean with Andy, he's always got the system.
Correct, and that's well. Listen, the chiefs are that the dream scenario is brilliant offensive head coach paired with brilliant defensive coordinator who the whole league has just decided can't be a head coach, and then it's just like okay, and we lose.
But for the record, this is why what Ben Johnson did in Chicago's great Dennis Allen's not getting a head job he.
Has I totally agree with that. That's exactly right. That could be in Spagnolo exactly.
Right, And he hired a twenty eight year old OC that nobody's going to hire for four years until he's thirty two. So basically Ben I thought this was the smartest move of all the coach is Ben Johnson hired two assistants, will not leave for four years, and that organization's been all movement and chaos.
And it also a similar thing might happen for Vrabel because I don't know who's giving Josh McDaniels his next opportunity, but it'll be a sad time.
He never sold his house there either.
Right, And so with like McDaniels, he got the Broncos job that didn't work, he walked out on the Colts, he got the Raiders' job that didn't work. So if you're Vabel and you're like, Okay, Drake May's the future, I don't want Drake May to have this rotating offensive coordinator situation. Josh McDaniels is perfect because what is probably doesn't get another head coaching job, and if he does, it's in like five six, seven years. It's one of the sneaky I don't want to make commanders fans feel worse today. But semi concerns for Jaden is well, you definitely want Jayden to be awesome again, right, Okay, sure, if he's awesome again next year, Cliff Kingsbury is getting another job.
It's just just you.
Know what I mean, Like, the the only way Cliff Kingsbury. This sounds so shitty, but the only way Cliff Kingsbury doesn't leave Jaden Daniels in a year is if next year goes terribly So that like that is the curse of the defensive head coach is You're gonna have to worry about that for you know, CJ. With Demiko amazing as a rookie, people are worried, Oh man, Bobby Sloan's gonna get a head coaching job. Then this year Slogan's bad, they get rid of him either way. That that that turnover. So yeah, that's why I thought, as much as I respect for Abel and think he's an excellent coach, for Caleb's sake, I wanted them to hire Ben Johnson because the hope is he is he is hearing this all offensive language for the next decade, and that's the only way you can guarantee that is an offensive coach.
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Let's both think of something where we were the most wrong we've been all football season. So I'll give you what it is and why it is, and I'll let you think. So you know, this is how I think, I love. I think it matters. I want my quarterback to have a little artist but mostly be an accountant. I want you to go. I want you to be have kind of Matt Ryan Jalen Hurt's personality justin Herbert, stand up there, talk about the team, put out fires, be in line. Brady's as good as anybody for as big as star as Mahomes is, he really always just says nice things. He's really he's figured.
Out how the art. My buddy, my former intern started interrupts in Kansas City, and who I'm sure hates that I always call my former intern because he's now the afternoon drive host six ten in Kansas City and has been for a long time. He has a weekly interview with Patrick Mahomes and has had it for years, and God bless Carrington Harrison, who does a great job. That poor guy never ever gets any news out of it because Patrick says.
Nothing like He's had a weekly exclusive interview with Patrick Mahomes for five years.
And if you ever played one clip of it on your show. The answer is probably not, because Patrick is just so trained to say nothing, just say absolutely nothing, but go ahead.
So and that's how I like my quarterbacks. I've said this Johnny Manziel, Baker, Mayfield, Jamis Winston, Cam Newton. If I see ego, if I see self importance, if I see Jay Cutler grumpiness, I just do not like it. And I think I've overwhelmingly been right. So I watched Nick Surreanni's opening press conference. It's the worst I've ever seen. He's terrible at the podium, he wore a jersey at the last time after last win. He's yelled at fans, he's gone after players, and he's had position coaches hold him back. His methodology stinks, and yet they love him. And I'm like, this is ridiculous. This is the exact opposite of what I want my coach to be. And so I've come to try to figure it out. And I went and watched In Chicago, I went and watched the comedian Sebastian Menacowsko. Very very funny guy, great performer. He minds me a lot of Chris Rock. He's like Allie in his prime. I mean, he's got the look, the physicality. He's really a performer, very funny, and a lot of his act is his Italian family and how dysfunctional and how they yell at each other and the love is so deep and embedded in the family. And I've learned this. Cultures are different. There are couples that argue and that yell at each other, and I'm like, oh, this isn't gonna work. And they've been married thirty seven years, and I imagine the makeup sex is great, like they just get along. It just works. And I've come to terms with Siriani is that in a highly emotional city with a highly intense GM and fan base and radio media, that's just barking and make he just fits. He is the family member. He can handle the bs, he can handle the noise. He sometimes he's half fan. I just thought this is not He's very dependent on coordinators.
Here's the thing, man, everything you're saying is fair. I still can't get there with him. Like everything you're saying is true, Here's what's also true. Had they blocked Jalen Carter, they being the rams on that third down in round two. I think it's possible he was fired ten days ago. If after that, he's up thirteen against the Rams with Jalen Hurts injured, and then up six when he called that boot play action roll out on second and seven that resulted in a dozen yard sack and all of a sudden, Stafford's driving down the field down six, chance to steal the game. I think they might have gotten rid of him now. Instead, he's a game away from having the greatest start to a career or any coach.
Ever.
I don't know what to make of it. I because everything, every instinct I.
Have says, well, this guy's just a dofis the same.
But you have, like, if any position should be judged based on their record, it should be head coach, and his record is historically good. So I don't it really tests a lot of my beliefs of what should and what does work in the NFL. And so yeah, this one, I mean this offseason, they totally you know, what's the word that's always used in political twitter, definished traded him, I think is the word. They didn't even let him pick his own coordinators, you know what I mean. Early in the years, he's freaking out, yelling at his fans after Quinn. Even after the NFC championship game, Jalen hurts, it's like, yeah, coach finally let me out of my straight jacket. Like that's a weird thing the whole. So I don't know. But they haven't lost a game that Jalen started and finished in four months, and they're playing in the super second Super Bowl in two years, ear in three years. So yeah, this that one baffles me. That's that's my worst. I was basically perfect on my AFC preseason.
Takes, saying, I predicting it's become a very easy conference in the standings to predict.
And so I got and I could not have been more wrong about the NFC. So I obviously famously had the Bears not only making the playoffs for winning the conference, but I also had the Eagles missing the playoffs. I did it. I had Washington finishing ahead of the Eagles, and my rationale was, Man, something really weird happened last year to that team, and I don't trust this coach to pull them out of it. And I also thought Saquon Barkley would be good but not great for them, But instead Saquon had one of the greatest years any running backs had in the history of football.
Yeah, No, it's.
I'm really whiffed on the NFC stuff this year, I think, and even my gambling on the NFC was worse this year. I do think that there's probably a tax for me on being so dialed in on Kansas City that I see the AFC a lot clearer than the NFC.
Well, also, in the last eleven years, if you count the Super Bowl, there's been ten different quarterbacks from the at NFC represented the Super Bowl. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Jalen Hurts is the first and eleven years to do it. Like, you don't know who's gonna win the NFC.
Yeah, because all the Hall of Fame quarterbacks except for the Packers quarterback basically over a long period, I guess Breeze and Rogers were the two great NFC quarterbacks and then all the other ones were in the AFC. Can I ask you a question, sure, Yeah, go ahead, after this year, take this year out of it. This group of quarterbacks, the Mahomes, Alan Burrow, Lamar, that group, they're all twenty eight to twenty nine. Let's say optimistically they all have ten more good years. That's probably on the high end, But let's give them a decade, ten more seasons. The twenty twenty five season onward Man, at least one of those guys is never making much less winning a super Bowl. Like moving forward, so I know Joe's already made what because here's the way I was thinking about it. I'm like, okay, because everyone's like, do you think Josh will eventually get one? And intellectually I'm like, yes, of course, he's the second best player in the league. Of course he'll get one. But then I'm like, well, wait a minute. Okay, So in the next ten years, let's say Patrick slows down, he only makes four of the next.
And Andy Reid retires.
Yeah, so let's just say Pat. Let's say Patrick only makes four of the next ten, So there's six. So that's six for Lamar, Josh, Joe. I know You've got Justin Herbert getting the one eventually, Bo Nix, CJ. Stroud And we're talking about ten years, so a couple more generations coming into the league like these guys. All of these guys being in the AFC is devastating for the resumes they're trying to.
Build well, and the one that's in trouble is Joe Burrow. The Bengals had to sell naming rights to the stadium to pay his contract. People don't understand this. The gentleman who first of all, the Bengals don't have any money. They don't have any money. It's just like the poorest ownership group. Joe Burrow knows it. They had to sell naming rights to a stadium to pay him. They started peeling off players even before they paid Jamar Chase. They're peeling off of them now. Safety yeah, and they're already peeling off players. They are the opposite of the Eagles. They are anti risk and reward. They take no risks. Tobin, the general manager, has been there forever pleasant, very nice guy, got no power. I mean, the Brown family runs the organization. They are essentially a Triple A operation in Major League Baseball that happens to have Joe Burrow. People make fun of the Raiders. The Raiders because of some new ownership groups that have come in, are flushed with cash. That's why they can pay four coaches and three general managers. They got nothing but money. They got Mark Davis has nothing but money. And the Raiders are a brand. And also it's Las Vegas. It's a growing city. There's real money there, no state tax, very attractive place. Cincinnati, they got no money Burrow. They'll never have a stacked roster. The only time to really be great with him was when he was on the rookie contract. When they pay Jamar Chase, they're out of money, like Joe Burrow, I feel terrible for him. Joe Burrow would need to be super human. I mean, this year, he was as good as he's ever been. They couldn't make the playoffs. Herbert's gonna get better with Harbaugh. Like that's gonna only get better, right, That's what I'm saying, Like you're just Herbert. I think Burrow is the one in trouble.
And here's the other. Here's the other concern for all those guys. Will they may be different for Joe because he's done it, But will those guys be able to play Patrick Mahomes beat him, which is part of the hypothetical, and then psychologically be able to recenter and be like that wasn't the super Bowl? Not like we like that's the thing that I would worry about for the Bills. Not I do think Listen, Mahomes is not gonna go undefeated against Allen in his career in the playoffs, they will win. But man, if next year the Bills finally beat the Chiefs in the playoffs, it's gonna be really hard to psychologically then reset and be like, actually, the next game is the tougher, bigger one. And so that's the we have never. I can't remember a time when it felt this disproportionate in quarterbacking talent conference to conference, and what it's going to mean for these guys kind of legacies when it comes to who they were as far as winning players or winning championships.
So I grew up a baseball fan, but the sport it's like what democrats named like Bill mar will say, the Democratic Party is leaving me. I haven't changed. I was a baseball guy over a football guy when I was a kid, and then the sport just got slow and ponderous and football was just better on television. And I've lived through TV like that's my life as a kid. I'm going to throw something at you that I think is going to happen is that I think if you take out the NFL, that every other sport is dependent on where the best players play, and it does not help. For instance, college football got too southern and two regional Alabama, Georgia, Clemson. It hurt the sport. Michigan and Ohio states emergence will help the sport over time. It will bring a big group. I'm a West Coast guy. I was a big ten PAC twelve guy because the Rose Bowl. So I'm more of a big ten guy an SEC guy, although I can acknowledge the SEC's great. I think we're going to have a change here in the next five to ten years in sports. And that is when the regional sports networks went away and Fox let them go. They were out of money an hour later. And those were vital to Pittsburgh's, Cincinnati, Oakland, Kansas City, Seattle. They were vital. Sure the sport now is basically in the hands of the Dodgers Steve Cohen, and I mean, I'm not sure the Yankees and the Steinbrenners can compete. Steinbrenners are saying they can't. What you're seeing now in baseball is all the riveting players play for the Dodgers, the Phillies, the Mets or the Yankees. And I think we're going to have a renaissance in baseball is that with these regional networks gone, there's not even the forget the fake of parents, that there's parody. There are like four kings at the top. Everything else is upon nothing else.
And if you think that's good for the sport.
No, No, what I think it's good for is the primary weakness of baseball. It's television ratings. The attendance is fine, it's always dominated this summer. It has died on television. Last year's National League playoffs, it was like New York, La San Diego and eight of the best thirteen players in the sport. And that we always think parody matters, No, it doesn't. The truth of the matter is if the Celtics, Chicago Bulls, and the Lakers were great right now, the NBA would be in great shape. Oklahoma City is not good for the league. There is this belief. This is where I always say about Kansas City. Dynasties aren't bad. Great players on great brands are not bad for the league. I think we're gonna have a run. I think the Dodgers, Steve Conan, the Mets, the Yankees, and maybe one other team will not be able to afford the best players. That that's it. Philadelphia, maybe Phillies because their attendance and their merchandising is so strong. I don't know about their TV radio deals locally. Is that I think baseball has something the NBA doesn't. All they're fascinating players. I mean, if I told you this is the six big TV products they have Otani, Judge, Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts. Yeah, no, it's all Manny Machado, Tati. They're all in the big They're all in these big, glossy, favorable markets. There's my take is that we're going to have a renaissance, that baseball is going to come storming back. It did in the postseason.
So I think this year is the most important year baseball's had in a very very long time because of two things, and you kind of alluded to both of them. One is the momentum of last postseason, which is absolutely tremendous, and the other is the general angst an annoyance by the average fan towards the NBA.
Yeah.
I think that it is incumbent upon baseball too. And I don't have a listen. I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about this, so I don't even know exactly what I mean by this, but to seize this moment because I agree with you. I mean, we did our show from the World Series. Now, that's because it was in New York so it was easy to get to, but also because we were all so into it. It was great. It felt like such a cool event and it was. It was so lively and active, and it made me remember when you know, and when we when I first started, it was shortly after when you first started, was before I even had a show. We were doing our shows from the NBA Finals, even though they were not in LA. It was Warriors Calves every year, and we traveled to Cleveland to do our shows because it was such an event that I think baseball. So I was talking to a mutual friend of ours. I don't think you'll mind me saying this, so I'll just yeah, I'll quote him on it, our friend Maverick, and he said that the media is moving towards an events model where things have to feel like an event. And it's why even though Mike Tyson's sixty years old and could barely get to the ring, that was huge, it felt. And the NFL every game feels like an event. You'll have the college football playoff.
Playoff is exactly UFC feels a big an.
Event and so that's really really hard for baseball. So, you know what, because there's so many games, so finding ways maybe it is via marketing their stars to fuck to pick these benchmarks that are their events of the year or mono matchups or games.
This is where Fox gets credit. They're the one that came up with the London game, the game in the Cornfield.
Well, yeah, Field a Dreams game. That felt big. That's an event like something cool like that that makes it stand out from the the noise of everything else. That's right.
Yeah, no, that was Fox. Fox management came and said, you guys need more big events and they work. By the way, I watched the London games, they were cool.
Especially Field a Dreams game is cool every year. It's just awesome. It looks cool, it's it's great.
Yeah. No, I think Maverick Carter's right on that. I think there's a lot of reasons for that. But I think you have to you know, like I, it's easy to root for the Dodgers or the Chiefs. Like I have the Dodgers on throughout the summer in Los Angeles, everybody, every other guy that comes to the bat is an all Star. It's like an All Star game. I mean, seriously, you get down to like Taoscar Hernandez is batting fifth, and you're like, Jesus, he just dominated the series in the Bronx, like everybody's great. The whole damn team is great. Like I mean, they've got Tommy Edmund batting eighth.
That he was like the NLCS MVP, You're like, it's an all star team.
I want to go back to the Chiefs on this because of your phanom and and your loyalty and devotion to him. And I made this argument that I think I talked to an executive two weeks ago because I had said something on the air and he disagreed. He goes, there's this because I called the Bills the Chiefs without the trophies. And he goes, and this GM's team played both, and he said, the Chiefs got way better players, he said, he said, he said, Josh Allen's great, he said, but and James Cook is a nice find, he said, But none of their receivers scare you. He says, their defensive line doesn't have a dominant player russo At Oliver. There flashes at Oliver gives you flashes. He said, Kansas City's linebackers are better tacklers and faster. They've got the best corner they Chris Jones is unblockable and moves all over the line. And he said, there's this feeling that Buffalo and Kansas City and even Baltimore to agree to a degree, it's just Mahomes is the difference. And he said, he said, no, Kansas City's got six to seven players that Buffalo that would start immediately for Buffalo over players perceived as really good players for Buffalo.
So all all just you know, listen, I think Patrick, if you give them a chance, finds a way. And I obviously Andy is you know, we've talked about it. I end up the greatest coach of all time. He's certainly now on the mount Rushmore and moving up. But it's also the margins are so thin in what makes a good team great and a great team legendary. So I'm just going to go to two seemingly innocuous Draft day transactions that involve the Chiefs and the Bills, and I'm.
Not You're right with both of them, By the way, you're right with both of these.
So yeah, and I'm not talking about the Chiefs trading with the Bills to get Mahomes. Set that aside. Yeah, in in twenty twenty one, after the Chiefs trade. In twenty twenty two, Chiefs trade Tyreek Hill. They have the extra first round pick. The New England Patriots are on the clock. The Bills are drafting right after him. The Chiefs need a corner. They're drafting later. The Bills need a corner. The Chiefs trade up with New England with the express purpose of getting ahead of Buffer. They draft Trent McDuffie, who now is a two time All Pro and in my opinion, a top four corner in the entire NFL.
Well University of Washington. I watched him twenty five times in college.
The spectacular player.
Spectacular player.
Again, two time Not Pro Bowl, All Pro after three years in the league. The Bills still need a corner. They got jumped. They take kyer Elam, who has been at the bottom of their roster since they took him. When he got put in the game because Benford got hurt On Sunday, Romo basically was like, well they're in trouble. That's happened in the draft last year. In the draft, the Chiefs and the Bills both need a receiver. The Bills do not value Xavier Worthy because they like a lot of people. By the way, think ah, one hundred and sixty pounds, I don't know man. The Chiefs want him because Patrick really really wants him. The Bills want a big red zone target. They want Keon Coleman. He's gonna be there later, so they're like, I think we were gonna take Keon here anyway, probably might as well get the extra pick trade with Kansas City. Kansas City takes a receiver Xavior Worthy, they take Keon Coleman. Man. You flip those two players. In the AFC Championship game, Buffalo wins if the chief If the Buffalo is Tritt mcduffy and not Kyrielum or even the Xavior Worthy. At one hundred yards and a touchdown, Keon Coleman had.
Nothing Buffalo see, I'd push back. Buffalo wouldn't use him like Andy Reid. Andy Reid because I was one of those He's one hundred and sixty pounds, He's a gadget guy, and he was in the first two months of the season. Yep, it's Andy's development of him into I mean, if you go look at Rashi Rice, he came in, you're.
Like, and he was awesome by the end of the year.
People are I talked to Andy, read about this today on the show, or it'll be a Wednesday if you're listening Thursday morning. I'm like, everybody thinks college and high school's development. I'm like, take me through the process of how you turn a gadget guy into a volume guy. And he just said, we asked him to do a bunch of stuff, and not all the players will do this. Xavior Worthy said yes to all the things we asked him to do. Because Xavier Worthy. I talk to people before the draft, I get a lot of my opinions and they're like, he's a gadget guy. He's not a twelve target guy. And Andy made him that. So I don't think if I don't think if Xavier Worthy, I don't think if he's in Buffalo he ever becomes the chat that.
Might be true. McDuffie. I think is great anywhere. I think he's a great player. And so it's just the point I'm making is like, it's it's really got to be the whole organization, Brent Beach pulling in the same direction. If you are trying to achieve something no team ever has, whis what they're trying to do?
How about this? The Chiefs have made five of the last six Super Bowls. Yes, the Eagles and Niners two each. The other two winners, Rams and Bucks. What do they have in common? Uber aggressive gms all make moves at the deadline, all trade up to the draft. Conservative teams like the Steelers and Packers, Bengals in the end, in personnel they can't keep up. Is that this this is a real thing? Is that? Veach? Look at the trade ups mahomes, Yes, McDuffie, and this is this is why Joe Burrows screwed. Look at look at Howie Roseman. I mean, everybody talks about the Saquon Barkley move. That wasn't even brilliant. That was an easy one. I could have made that move.
I mean right, and I'm not the I don't want to undersell it because again I underestimated saque But the risky moves are you bring up? Howie? Listen? Howie Roseman said Jane Carter might be the most sounded player in this draft. He's falling because of the off the field issues with the car accident in the tragedy there. We want him, we think he's a superstar. We and we're gonna trade up. They traded up with Chicago. Chicago had that pick traded back. They take Jalen Carter. He's instantly, you know, the best d tackle in the whole conference for them, Like, yeah, that's that's right. The things less Sneam did Jason Light with the Bucks. It really if you it's too hard to win championships in this league. Yes, you need to have a quarterback that kicks ass almost always. You also, though, need you know this, the sharp head coach and the forward thinking GM and the guys, the young players to develop you gotta you gotta hit all of it in quick succession.
So you know I'm moving to Chicago here in the spring.
Have you So it's official, it's official.
Yeah, I bought a house.
Well I well, I did see that you bought a house, but I don't know if you have it's officially. This is this you're breaking the news.
No, No, first of all, it's I figured you and I talk about this stuff, and so no, I mean I told Fox six months ago and Fox has been great. Fox has been I know Fox knows.
I'm saying, is the audience finding this out from you for the first time right now?
I don't know if they are. I don't think they care because when you watch me on TV, you don't care where I'm at, do you?
So, are you gonna be do you think full time Chicago? Yeah?
Eighty five percent. I'll come and do a week during the football season in Los Angeles. I'll do a week like in September. I'll come out for a week October November, and the staff will build. You know, we'll have a lot of live But ninety percent of my guests. You're a great example my three or four strongest guests that pop rating. You're one of them. You're not live. Next to me, Joel Klatt is probably as strong as any guest I have because he is in studio and we go back and forth to each other. But the truth of the matter is is Brady's been on, Drew Brees and Hasselbeck. They're not live, They're not live. Co Sell's not live and flown.
Yeah.
No, So none of it's or none of it's in studio. I am because I think my wife has given a lot to my career and sacrificed. I love Chicago. I've said my two favorite cities in the world are London and Chicago. I like LA. My wife doesn't like it as much.
I like LA.
It's kind of spread out for me. I kind of like the downtown area I like. I like Kensington, Paddington.
Uh.
In London, I like like kind of urban areas where I can just walk all day long. In Los Angeles, I don't have that Chicago. I can just walk down town. I like that that. I like Florence, Italy, London, Chicago. I like walking around a town. You can't do that in Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles. LA is just too spread out. So I like where I live, but it lacks that sort of feel for me, and so I love the city.
Uh.
She's got her sister there. I've got a lot of friends there. And I think it's just time to help. I think it's a better guy.
And so this well number of things. One is that's touching that you're doing this for your wife. I think it's fair to say the I think that's great. I think it is also exciting. You've never lived there, correct, so like you I know you have an apartment there, like you spent time. But you've lived a lot of places, but you've never had you know where you spend the majority of your time to Chicago, So correct.
I've lived in four different homes in LA and eight so I move a lot.
You move a lot, I do.
I've lived in Connecticut, I've lived in Portland. I've lived in Las Vegas. I've lived in Tampa. I live in Los Angeles, now Chicago. You know what I always said, Nick, I think it's an advantage as a broadcaster. I think it gives me a sense of every region. When I lived in Tampa, I had a motor sports, sec football. I didn't know the passion. It's like wow. For two years, I really learned what people care about. I look at it and first of all, you know, Chicago. Chicago is one of the great guys cities ever. Great bars, great steaks, great sports, great beach. It's just incredible.
I mean, yeah, you know you're gonna you're breaking our dear friend Danny Parkin's heart because I saw the article. Because listen, your you know your big time When you buy a house and it's a news story, It's like wow, famous broadcaster. I hate that so much and that I know you hate it, but it's cracks me up. But because of that, not only did I know you bought a house, but I know where it is. It's like six minutes from where Parkins used to live. And now Danny moved to Chicago. He's still you and him still I don't think have ever met in person. You guys are gonna be in person together for the first time ever at the super Bowl. But it also means all, see, if you're in Chicago, you're going to be in New York more often because you don't come to New York ever. And I now now it's a shortened a flight. I can guilt you into it. Our wives who have spent no time together can get together. We can go to Broadway. Do you have I told you this about me that the oddest thing that happened with me moving to New York is I found out I absolutely love Broadway. When I say love Broadway, I mean like I've seen Wicked four times. I see all the shows. I don't care how it sounds. I know. People. Here's the thing. When I got to New York, I'm like a musical that sounds terrible, and then you go and it's like, oh, this is really like having court side seats to the NBA in that you're this close and these are the best in the world at what they do performing live and so that's like the food and Broadway or what I love about New York more than anything. But but so you'll be a little closer. That's exciting. Congratulations. It also means FS one is now like we're everywhere. We're in New York, Chicago, LA. That was na for That was my pever or something. I don't know.
That was my pitch. I said, Fox News, nobody's in New York and they're all over the country. Why does FS one have to all be in LA? And my take was, we don't have a show in the middle of the country. Why not?
That was that was your pitch? Yeah, my pitch was probably like, this is really what I want to do, and you, guys, I'm I'm an important, good employee. You should probably Oh, I didn't say that. No, I that's exciting, man. I'm really happy for you. You've been talking about this for a while and so I'm really happy that's finally happening.
Yeah, so I guess I am announcing it. It is. But for the record, my employers have both been amazing. They both said, what do you want, We'll build your studio. So the thing about Fox Sports Fox Sports, I don't know that there's an ownership position with a Big ten. Yeah, so, not to bore people with it, but there's certain things in television called fibers. And because Fox and the Big ten building and the Fox LA building have similar or share fibers, it's a really easy transition. Oh so I did.
So I for the record, so the audience doesn't feel out of the loop. I have no idea what these fibers are. So I didn't know what you just said. I didn't know the audience to know. I didn't know. But you know, I did figure when you were first bringing this up, I didn't know exactly you're gonna pull it off, but I assumed Chicago was easier than if you were Like, guys, my wife desperately wants to live in Saint Louis. Let's figure it out, Like, Chicago's a huge city, the Big ten's there. Well, do you think you'll.
Go You'll go to more college football games? Being right there, Well, I'm already a Bulls and black Hawks season ticket. Yep, older, So I bought season tickets there. I bought a suite at this at the basketball arena. So I go to you know, so I told Anne if I said, we're going to move to Chicago, and just to show you my commitment to you and the city, we're going to go to stuff a lot. So every time we go, I mean every other night, we go to an event, we go to a place downtown, we'll go watch music, do whatever we do. So and I got to tell you something. You know how you said you've discovered that you love Broadway, and Broadway is amazing. Yeah, I have found that. I like, like, I love going to Europe. I've gone. I made a promise to my wife. I said, the next twenty years, we're gonna go minimum once a year. I love that. And I gotta be honest with you, Nick. You know what I really love. I like going out at night. I never thought I was go out at night guy. If I could go out every single night, every goddamn night, I would.
I that's remarkable, all right. So I wouldn't have thought that either, because I am I'm not as much the club guy as I used to be. But let's not talking about clubs. I know you're not. I'm talking about me. But they I met my wife, she was a club promoter, is how we met. And so she and I used to go out all the time to clubs. Now we're more the very late dinners. Like last night, we had a night it was a Tuesday, whatever last night was. We had a nine o'clock dinner reservation some Italian place in New York. So I totally get that. So here's an added benefit, whether you're think about it or not. Even though your show's on at the same time, for you, it's two hours later.
That's you know what I mean.
So you can you will be able to, you know, stay up later and you know, do more stuff. So here's the deal. Post super Bowl, this is what I am. I am foisting on you, but also committing to you. My wife and I will come to Chicago and we will all hang out. We will because that's an easy flight. I want to see the house. So Danielle and I post super Bowl sometime once you guys are settled, will come spend a weekend in Chicago.
You will. Chicago is such you know, I've lived in two cities in the country that get a bad rap and are both pretty amazing. Los Angeles is really full of unbelievable people, and secondly Chicago. Chicago is such a cool town, the architecture, the people. I still don't think they've totally recovered from COVID. I think Michigan Avenue feels a little less active than it was, but I don't know it well enough to have big, strong opinions. I don't know how New York feels. I think COVID beat up some Midwest towns more than others, but I think it's I think you know people, you know, McIntyre's always like, oh, it's cold. I'm like, dude, they're called coats. I can't take like you live in Houston. I couldn't take that heat. I can take cold. I grew up.
Yeah, I mean, listen, the winter winters in Chicago, weatherwise, are rough. But there's there's a trade off to everything, and so I agree with you on that there there are certain cities that become just avatars for political points people are trying to make. Yeah, and so like San Francisco has become one in certain ways, Chicago forever has been one and because of that it has gotten listen it is it's one of the just objectively one of America's finest cities. And if you're one of America's finest cities, not all uber patritic, you're one of the finest cities in the world. And so and if you're a big obviously like you know, you want to spend more time going to Europe. It's not the biggest difference in the world, but it is a considerably easier flight like Chicago there from la there is a difference. It's why like my wife we spent last year after the Super Bowl, we went to Tokyo and then went to Tokyo South in Japan, and I truly think it was the greatest trip my wife's ever been on. She loved it so much. It it just feels almost prohibitive because it's like, man, it's six hours flying and you're still in the US like that from New York there, like it is a brutal in Europe, so easy from here. So that's great, man, And I'm glad. I'm honored you got announced it with me. This is gonna you know, the trades are gonna have a big field day with this oh, broadcaster con Coward and move in Chicago. Also, by the way, sweet sweet little kind of flex on the I already have a suite at the United Center. My goodness, gracious.
Well that wasn't that was my wife, I promised my wife, I said, because she said, you're never gonna leave La. You love La. And I said, no, I have friends I love. I love my little clubs. I go to my little my little places with my buddies, my buddy David Slay, who owns restaurants in Manhattan Beach. I love the people, and I do think that the weather's nice, although I will tell you where I live is by the water. It gets cold in La in the winter a lot. My car was it was forty one degrees when I pulled out this morning.
I would guess that's not an argue. You say that, and people in Chicago are like, my car literally froze. They're like, nobody wants to hear the forty one degrees. But listen, you're you're entering it. That's great.
And I told Anne, I said, I'm going to commit to the city. I'm going to commit to tickets and we're going to go to events and comedy shows. We've seen John Mulaney and Sebastian Manekawsko, and we're going to go to anybody that's in town. And I love the people, and you know, I it's funny the life I've lived. Not to bore people, but it's a trade off. It would be awesome to live on the same street for forty five years and literally know my kids would have stories that, you know, they hung out with the Hamilton's cross the street. I think that's awesome. I've followed commerce, I've bounced all over the country, and there's some advantages and disadvantages to it. But I'm so excited to live in the Midwest, to live in a make great city next to cousins. I'm fired up. And my situations no disastern here in a couple of years maybe, So that's awesome.
Well, congratulations, you deserve it, and it's fantastic. I could think of no better way.
Yeah, you're you're a Kansas City kid. You've lived in New York. It's been an amazing experience.
Oh yeah, and no, I've lived. I've lived Kansas City, Houston, Angeles, New York. I've lived you know, geographically, never SEC and never Pacific Northwest, but everywhere else I feel like I kind of have a feel for.
Yeah.
I think it's one of the cool parts about the job is being able to have lived different places. I am at I think, and then I know we have to go. I think the next place all live is Vegas. I think that the because my wife wants to open a store in Vegas, and I obviously have, you know, a lot of connections to poker and stuff, and so I the I think that I'll do. You know, my youngest is in sixth grade, and so all you know. I plan to be in New York for the bulk of, if not the entirety of my forties. But if I were to leave New York, I think Vegas is where is the place I.
Think I would go next? Well, I lived there for seven years. I lived there when there was still mobsters, remnants of mobsters. It's a very corporate towns. It's an incredible food city, incredible and.
It's even gotten better. Yeah, all the restaurants are there now.
Because Nick Wright, good to see anybody. I love having you on as always, and this is going to become a more regular thing.
Absolutely. Congrats man, talk to you soon. See you come
The volume