Hey, guys, what's up. It's Albert. I am back from vacation. We got a great show for you this week. We got the takeaways with Gresh, We got a very special guest who's gonna help explain to us why so many New England Patriots opted out of the NFL season on Tuesday, And as always, we wrap things up with all of your questions in a six packet. Let's go, all right, welcome back in vacation is finally over. Before we get started, I want to say a special thanks to Rams coach Sean McVeigh, Ravens general manager Eric Acosta, Chief general manager Brett Beach. All three of those guys were outstanding. If you haven't listened to the long form podcast we did while I was away on Nantucket, be sure to check those out. Those are in the podcast feed. But for now, you got me, you got Gress Wenna have a special guest coming out. It's the m m QB podcast with Albert Brier training campus here sword of So we're gonna bring Andy Gresh in now for the takeaways. And this is different. Gresh. I mean like normally we'd be Normally I'd be out in the practice out of practice right now, we'd be seeing Tom Brady in a Buccaneers hound that we'd be seeing Joe Burrow and the Bengals helmet. We'll be seeing two a tongue of aaloa in a dolphin's helmet. There'll be all kinds of reason to get pumped up, pumped for the season. Instead, here we are, I'm sitting at home. These guys are going into medical trailers to get COVID tests, going home, having virtual meetings, getting another test, going home, having virtual meetings, having a third test, going home, having virtual meetings, and then finally being cleared to go in the building. So a very very very different summer in the NFL ahead. Well, and when you start to hear guys and I know we're gonna get into it, And when you start to hear people talking about how COVID could affect their family and they don't want to bring it back to people, and you know, I think it seems like there are a lot of NFL players who, at least I think bert are relatively educated on what they're about to step into or what they're about to walk into. And like you said, you talk about it just being such a different time and just a different time in our world. And these athletes, you know, let's not think there isn't cross pollination that in some ways some of these guys aren't all talking to each other in some way, shape or form. And you're right, man, this is the great frontier. Honestly, I said this to my wife the other day. Bert, The the most interesting thread right now through sports is the day to day managing of COVID nineteen. It's not the drama of dealing with the on field. It's all the drama of off field. As I just dropped my microphone. Yeah you're you're you know, some real life drama here and hey, hey look like you know it's and I've said this before, and like I hope people understand this, Like so much of their ability to operate, like a lot of it's based on their own protocols and their own players ability to be responsible away from the build and all that different stuff because they're not in the bubble. But the other side of that is like part of it's on all of you listening to, like, part of it's on all of us, you know, like if the country is in a better place in six weeks and eight weeks and ten weeks then they maybe then they'll probably be able to pull this off. If if things are worse in a month, I mean, God help us. You know, like, not only is that bad for the country, but then you know what our NFL players going home to every night. They're going home to kids who maybe maybe in a school it's got a problem. They're going home to wives who may have issues at work. Like there's just like so much of this and I can't emphasize this enough, Like the NFL can do so much, and then the rest of it's gonna be like sort of depending on what's happening out in the public and the rest of our country. When you think of state by state, what is going on in America right now, it makes you wonder, how in the world are these NFL teams operating under a different set of circumstances than other states are. I forget about the whole allowing fans in the stands like your blessed Ohio State University is going to allow to and capacity. I can't wrap my head around that relative to the NFL, because California is different than Texas, different than Florida, different than Massachusetts, different than the way Missouri is handling things. So the NFL has really got to go to great lengths I think for to be able to go to these local and go to the states and have their owners lean on the local municipalities to allow them to get done what they need to get done to be able to have this season. And there's gonna be a lot of string pulling, and you know, there's gonna be a politico somewhere who's gonna stand up and be like, Ah, this ain't happening on my watch. And then the NFL has a problem inside one market in terms of either getting facilities open, getting people in the stands, or just being allowed to do whatever it is they want to do. I mean, dude, this is the most unique store that I think you and I have far and away ever been a part of. Yeah, I mean, like it's just like I was still in college when eleven happened. I mean, that's my point of reference for this. I suppose, like like the one thing that happened in my life that was but I feel like affected all of us in this way, right like, and it's just it's crazy to think, but you know, again, like a lot of it's gonna come down to what happens in every single state in the country and how this spreads and what where we are in September and October and so, like I said, like, I think we can all do our part, all right. Takeaway number one, I think the Marlins situation bears watching. I know NFL teams are keeping an eye on theresh. It My takeaway coming out of the Marline situation, I I don't think there's as much to learn coming out of it as going into it as there is coming out of it. Like we can look at what happened with the Marlins, and that's fine. I think there's some common sense stuff that NFL teams probably don't need to be hold that went wrong um in the Marlins situation. I think the reason why this becomes an important thing for the NFL is because now we get to see if a professional sports franchise can come out of this. Now we get to see the way it affects scheduling. And the NFL doesn't deal the same thing as baseball. Isn't the same as baseball because baseball is playing every day and so untangling, you know, like having the schedule get tangled up by a team missing a series can really be hard to untangle when it comes to every other team, right, But I think that the most important thing here is gonna be watching how the Marlins in particular, and how baseball in general is able to come out of this, and does it take a week, does it take two weeks. I think all of that's gonna be really really important for the NFL to study because there's no telling what could happen in September and October. And if there is a team that does have an outbreak like the Marlins did, they are probably gonna be some lessons on how the Marlins were or were not able to come out of the outbreak that they can learn from. This, to me, is being complicated by people number one, uh, not only on the COVID and like you said, but also how was this not thought of in terms of Major League Baseball? How was this scenario not worked through as to what we would do? And I know, as you and I are talking right now, you know the Marlins have kind of stopped down on their season at this point and hit the pause button. But I've said all along, Burt, I thought there was gonna be four Fitts along the way. I thought they were gonna be teams, and it's gonna happen in college football. I'm convinced because the numbers that just aren't enough numbers of players to be able to survive a full season if you do have some sort of breakout. And this would be an NFL team's worst fear, because I go back to the word forfeit, burt, and if it happened to an NFL team, how could they do anything but possibly have to forfeit a game because a position group or five guys in a position group have COVID nineteen running through it, and they've got to get those guys out of the facility. Like I thought for the Marlins and the way this was all set up, that it would have been, Okay, we snapped the fingers and we know we got these players down on the farm and let's bring them in and even if we're playing with twenty four, let's go out and play. But to your point, in all of this, it's the whole You're going home to different people, you're in a hotel, you're in a in an airplane. There's much more travel involved with Major League Baseball. If I'm the NFL, I write it in look, no harm, no foul. If you have an issue, you just forfeit the game. That's it. I don't think it's that hard. Well, two things, so so two things, they're right, number one, Like the first thing is like that that I would say that coming out of the Marlins thing yesterday, a couple of things that I got from teams like basically indicated that they wanted clarity on what constitutes an outbreak. And I think that that's important too, right, Like, so what constitutes an outbreak that would either cause a forfeiture of a game a shutdown of a facility, Like I think that that's an important thing. Right is it five people? Is it ten people? Is it twenty people? And dressed to your point, it could be a moving target, Like what happens if a position group gets wiped out where it's only seven guys, but it's seven offensive line, right you know what I mean? Like, like what happens? Then? Are you creating a player safety issue for your quarterback? If you do that? Like to me, Like, that's to me, that's such a big part of it. Like, so giving the teams a definition of here's what you've gotta here's here's what we're trying to prevent and here's the number where so it's fair for everybody. Here's the number of cases that's going to cause a shutdown. The second piece of this, there are a couple of important similarities I think between baseball and football. Number one, they're starting a season. They're not finishing one, right, So soccer in Europe they were finishing a season. Hockey and basketball here they were finishing a season. Baseball isn't finishing a season. Baseball starting the season. So that's one key similarity. Number Two, they're not in the bubble. And that's the obvious one, right, and so Grecial, let me, let me, let me paint this scenario for you. Okay, we all know like these guys have to be responsible, right, Like these guys all like that. That's that's number one. You have to be responsible, right And if if if Jackass is going out with jack Ass number two and Jackass number three to the bar and a Friday night and then coming into the you know, the walk through on Saturday morning, you might have a problem, right, Like, So that's number that, that's the obvious part. But what about this Florida starts schooling what two or three weeks. I think it's three weeks. Okay, how many teams are in Florida? Oh my god, well three pro teams and countless college teams. So, like, if you're if you're an assistant coach and you've got kids in school, or you're an older player and you've got kids in school, and you do you do everything right, but your kids being exposed to all of that stuff, right, So your kid goes off to school, some other kid has it. This is no fault of anybody. Everybody's trying to do their best and your kid gets it. Like, that's pretty plausible, isn't it. And that's not you doing anything wrong. That's you going home to your family. And so that to me is like the difference with because these things are multipliers, like where it's like your wife, your your your kids like like it just if you're not in a bubble. And that's that's the fundamental difference. In a bubble, you're only being you're only around other people who have been around those same that same group of people. If you're not, like there there's a personal responsibilit ability end of it, but there's also that end of it crash where it's like you can be doing everything right and it's still be exposed somehow. It's amazing that a mask could stop a lot of this. It's really amazing when you think about it that because as you were working through that scenario, I started to think about what if you're you know, if your kids a senior in high school or a junior in high school, and they're gonna play football and you're the dad. You're gonna be standing on the sidelines with the other parents. You're gonna be co mingling like you normally would be, or you're gonna be down the other end of the field with a mask on, praying to God. Nobody comes up to your slapshot on the back and tells you how great your kid is or how great you are. So you're right, you don't think of it in the thirty thousand foot view, And I think that's when you look at it from the thirty thousand foot view and you think of all of the different ways these players could still be exposed to COVID nineteen in and away from the facility. It's it sounds like it is a daunting task. Yet there is an overwhelming amount of Americans right now who have found the ability to be able to survive, whether it's working from home, whether it's adapting their work habins. You know, I've been to the store a whole bunch since the pandemic started. I'm safe. I might, I might not throwing gloves, but I sure as I've got a lot of hand sanitizer. And it makes me think, Burt. You know, has there been any digestion of what has been said in the last four or five months that the NFL has the ability to either read program some of these players or give them the real, tried and true information that they need to be able to have the medical info to make the decisions they need to make to get through this season. I think that's that's gotta be. I know that the NFL p A said, hey, agents, educate your players. Bull crap. If I'm a team, that's the very first thing I'm doing is you're getting your COVID education. Here's the science behind it, here's how we're going to approach this, and if you don't like it, you are more than free to leave. You know what else I'm doing. I'm pulling my captain's in and I'm saying your word carries more weight with that twenty three year old kid than mine. Ever, could you better put press You put your foot on that kid's throat, and you tell him like, if you go out, you're messing with my money, You're messing with my season, and I Am not going to tolerate it. And to stay and to stay to a young kid, Hey, young blood, you're just is now making money. So not only would you be affecting my money, You've been waiting to get to this moment your whole life, to where you're gonna get paid for this profession. Now fall in line and do what we need to do. Yeah, and you know it's interesting. Remember Don Davis, the old Patriot linebacker. He's now senior director UM at the NFL p A, and he on those calls has been such a strong voice, and he said to the players at one point, he said, I understand what it's like to be a young player. You got money in your pocket for the first time, you've been working your whole life for it. It's time to go enjoy the fruits of everything that I've tried to I've accomplished. He's like, it's like I'm telling you, if I'm one of the older players and you mess with my money, you mess with my season, I'm gonna have a huge issue with you. And I thought it was again like you heard Don say it, and to me it was like you could almost picture an older player saying it right like because that's that's what he was at some point. And um, yeah, So I think a lot of it's gonna come down to the leadership in some of these locker rooms too, you know where it's like how like do you have those strong voices and guys who are willing to come down another players. We've got one more COVID takeaway. Um, that's the New England Patriots. Obviously I live here in New England, ors you live here in New England. Six Patriot players opted out. There's the one that I I I would almost disconnect Marcus Canaan Cannon from this because like his like this is like for him, like it's the right call, you know, like if you've had a serious of health history as he's had, like like you understand why he makes the decision. Five other players opt out and gress My takeaway on this, I sort of think that the Patriots mold and what they look for in players and their success has worked against them here who they look for smart, intelligent, veteran guys who are reasonable, who know what they're doing right, and a lot to their team is older now, right, So those guys by definition have some money in their pocket because they're smart, they've been responsible with it, and they have rings. So it's really easy to look at somebody like Dante Hightower or Patrick Chung and understand where that guy might say, hell with this, I don't. I don't need to do that, like with everything going on here now now, I'm gonna sit back and I'm gonna enjoy this. We're gonna talk a little bit more about this end of it with our guests. But I aggress I like, if I like, I actually think like the Patriots success and the type of player that they've looked for is is absolutely working against them here. And to think that there is somehow some sort of you know, Yoda or zen like Bill Belichick hold over these players that he hasn't getting them to do this so that they can then tank for Trevor is I mean it is peak like well, I mean it is, it's peak legend of Belichick. Right, by god, he's gotta be behind it. Look at everything that's going on there, and it's an easy way for them to move on from Brady and blah blah blah, when in reality, you nailed it. He's got smart guys. And this is also unique to the people who are opting out. You know, uh Dan Vitally, the fullback who opted out, he's got a young child. Okay, totally fine. He's he's never played a snap for Bill Belichick. Yet how in the world would he have have been able to do these Jedi mind tricks with that guy? And to your point on Dante hi Tower, there's a reason that guy is so valued in this organization because he can think, he can play multiple positions. He is someone who is more than capable of making the same decision. And you know, with Patrick Chung, I mean, look, I was a little surprised at Chung only because of the money. Like Bert, you know this, like Pat Chung might have cocaine money apparently, but he doesn't have like bricks of cocaine money. I guess you would say, like he's got some dough. But I you know, I thought he might have been in one of those spots where it's him getting in the end of my career. Let me continue to pad the bank account, and apparently that isn't as big an issue with Patrick Chung and Bert. The one that caught my eye that was the most interesting of the opt outs was in Kansas City with um the offensive lineman, who's a doctor. I'm gonna tell Laurent, Laurent, uh, thank you? So do Rene Tardif is, Oh, I don't know a medical professional and he's who was like, yeah, I'm gonna be the first one out. I know what I'm dealing with, and I don't want if you were if you were another player, wouldn't that make you think that if you were another player, like would never be And how quickly it happened to wouldn't that be like, holy crap, I gotta problem. I gotta think about this. And when you when you think about it as an offensive lignement, right, I mean those are the those are intelligent people on football teams, and you would have the other guys would have like looked down the line and been like, Okay, well we all can't bail. But like, this guy's a doctor, he's smarter and all of us, so he know what goes in and you're right and and it's funny because that team didn't have a mass exitus of players. But it does get back to a little bit of the core issue, which is are you in a position to opt out? Do you have a legitimate medical reason to opt out? No one's gonna picker with Marcus Cannon, but all these other guys who are doing it, minus the birth of a young child, there's gonna be a lot of furrowing your brows and be like, Okay, what's that guy up to? Yeah, and I think it's I mean, look like everybody's gonna make their own personal decision, and a lot of the lot of NFL players. The bottom line is because of the nature of the sport. There's the whole thing about the body mass index and everything else. Sleep ATNA for one reason or another's very common in the NFL. Like there are a lot of the underlying conditions that are common in the NFL. And so you know, I again like, I don't think any of these are easy decisions because you're giving up on your dream, you know. And I think a lot of people that's the other part of it to crash. It's like, I I think a lot of people get on Twitter Twitter and say like, oh, well, you know like, well I would definitely walk away. Well yeah, but you didn't put like fifteen years into making it to this level, you know, and if you had, like it wouldn't be that easy to like walk away from it. So I think these are tough decisions for each of the guys, But you also understand the other end of it, which is, you know, this is gonna be tough to pull off for the NFL. Like, if I'm an NFL player, I'm not sure how much I really trust the league itself, Like, and I think that the league has done a lot of done done a lot of work and trying to make this safe of the players. But there's the general distrust of players with the NFL when it comes to their health, you know, and and and then there's just it's you know, you look at it and you say to yourself, what kind of season is it's going to be? Anyway, Like if you're an established player, it's like, I gotta do I really want like if this turns into like the eighties seven replacements here, like, like do I want to be a part of that? That's another question, right, no doubt about it. And I think for guys that are making some life changing money. Uh, the decision might be a lot easier both directions, by the way, Hey I'm set, I'm good, I can walk away, or hey man, I want that final payday. Because to your point, I've been working twelve years to get to the point where I'm gonna make ten, twelve, eleven million dollars in one season. Mask up and pat up my bank account. Okay, so we're gonna get some football talk. Now takeaway number three, and I'm gonna sit firmly on the fence. And I know this is a cop out, but I do think that this. I think this is a fair way to look at It might take on the Jamal Adams stradeesh much as anything else. Two teams in completely different spots, and that's why I think it works for both of them. I think Joe Douglas got there a year ago as the new general manager of the Jets. He hadn't had a draft yet, He's only had one draft now, none of his rookies have hit the field. I think he felt like, I'm at least a couple of drafts away from being in a position to contend, and if he's got a player that in Jamal Adams that didn't seem to want any part of being there anymore. You have to take into consideration the part of the equation, which is when we get good, is this guy is still going to be here. And I think that that because for for asking that question tells you everything you need to know where it's okay. Now, I'm weighing that against the return, and when the return is what it wound up being, then I think I think it would have been borderline impossible for for for Joe to walk away from that sort of return. On the flip side, Seattle feels like they're close. They've got the quarterback in place obviously, and they feel like they're close to rebuilding the secondary that won them championships like and and Jamal Adams is such a perfect fit for Pete Carroll, like hey, they view him as a more versatile, smaller version of Cam Chancellor and he can be the alpha for them, and he can be the guy who can be himself there. It's just so like, I think Jamal Adams a really good fit for the Seattle program. And when you got a quarterback like Russell Wilson, sometimes you gotta take chances like this. They weren't gonna get a player like this drafting where they draft every year, um, and so this may have been the only way to get a guy like that without really really getting lucky. So like for Seattle, I think it works because of that. And then the Jets, I think having the draft capital from a guy like basically getting that sort of draft capital for a guy who didn't want to be there anyway, I think that they did well too. Yeah, there's a part of me that if I were Joe Douglas, I told Jamal Adams to shut the f up and go play, because what's he gonna do. He's gonna bitch and moaning convention, But he wants his money, he wants his service time. He had that guy by the shorties, and ultimately, in my opinion, don't even though Joe Douglas went on New York Radio and try to know, he didn't talk his way out of town, sure as hell what he did. And even if in the mind of Joe Douglas he didn't that as sure as hell what it looks like. And by the way, let's not you know, forget about the fact that Jamal Adams, as soon as there was an allegation against the owner of the Jets, and allegation it was, well, gonna round them up and get them all out of there, you, Okay, So if the owner of Seattle ends up having an allegation like day, you're gonna do the same thing, or you're gonna spit that hot fire Jamal Adams, because to me, that's all he was doing was he was trying to find a way to get the hell out of there because boo who, I don't like my coach, boo who, I'm unhappy. And we've now gotten to the point bert to or will tolerate this from running backs well, because they're grossly underpaid. Jamal Adams is twenty four, with two more years left on his deal and a freaking franchise tag. If I was Joe Douglas had have been like, shut up, stay, shut up. You're a high pick. You're getting paid a ton of money. I I need you to be a leader. And it's evident that that, oh, it's just another one of these. And again I know I might be sounding old bastard modern day athlete here, but good way, I was the high pick and have an awesome contract, and no, I want one better way, I'm gonna yell at everybody on Twitter and clap bag because I don't like when people criticize me. Oh, I deserve to be traded. You should trade eight first round picks for me and then give me forty five million dollars a year some Jamal Adams MO, Yeah, shut up. It worked, that's the thing. Though it worked. It worked. Like about this, Think about this, Think about this like it worked. He went to a contender, much better football situation. He gets to play with one of the best defensive back coaches maybe in the history of football, and Pete Carroll, like very few coaches like can coach those positions safety and corner at the level that Pete Carroll can, and what he's done in Seattle is evidence of it. There's the look, there's no question coach camp Chancellor, he's a great its coach Troy Paulamalo at USC like it's like like, that's what Jamal Adams can be for Pete Carroll. So he gets that and he's got a ton of leverage now. So he's worked. But if Seattle doesn't give him what he wants in two years, Pete Carroll is the same dufist that Adam Gaze is right, but Seattle is gonna get like. That's the thing is, he's in a better football situation playing for again, a guy who I think's got the capability to take him to the very top of his game. And he's got a ton of leverage now like he's got the same leverage that Tunsel had. He has the same leverage that Ramsey had. Now the numbers aren't gonna be the same because of positional value. But I like to be to me, the big winner, the big winner of the trades, Jamal Adams, Right, the big winners Jamal a like like he won the trade when he gets when he gets the contract, I agree. When when when I actually see that the contract is there and Seattle is going to Yeah, and I think they're gonna wait a year. I mean they'd be crazy not to. I don't know. I just do you think it would have been like, let's let me ask us, do you think it would have been possible for the Jets to go forward with Adams on their roster based on what he said on I said about Adam Gaze And and do you think that you can get a clean read on Adam Gaze because They're gonna have to make a decision on him, I think right like like because you know now Whatdy Johnson is gonna come back, and I think the organization is gonna have to make a decision on Adam Gaze after this year. If you have Adams on the roster, are you able to make a clean assessment of Adam Gaze or does Adam does Jamal Adams being on the roster cloud that too much? I um, I I think, look, Jamal Adams is a great player where whether Adam Gaze is there or not. From my money, Bert I I know a lot of what I need to know about Adam Gates. But I'm sure Joe Douglas has got to slow play it because it's the dude that he picked. But I think it's gonna be a disaster. I don't think it's gonna work out. But I do think Joe this is doing good enough of a job. Then he'll get to pick a second head coach. And if he didn't pick the one thing wrong there, Okay, so so he is now it's the whole So you're right. So Joe Douglas is looking at this and saying, all right, they say, my guy I'm gonna get to bring one in. Let me just get a bunch of draft capital here for these players that are complaining. I guess my issue is in football if you don't, you've got to stop down on some of these guys and put your foot on them. But your issue is what happens when the next bitches right there. There's a little bit of that, and there's also the you. This guy is a great player and you came then. Yes, I understand two first round picks is great value. I understand that, but they're probably gonna be low first round picks. I don't know. I I just think that with a lot of these guys like Bird, It's not like Jamal Adams was making five thousand dollars. I think it like five point nine million or something like that. All right, five, big boy, I'm the GM roll the dice. You're gonna whiz way five point nine million. You can complain all you want, go ahead, I'll rip your ass in the media right when you come to collect your check every week. Like to me, that was the leverage the Jets had. It wasn't a guy who was making seven grand begging to make seven million. It was somebody who's making almost six million begging to make sixteen million. Shut up? All right, my my fourth takeaway. I've heard some stuff that like Joe Burrow isn't gonna be ready to play, and he just signed his contract today. I um, I will, I will say this right now. I think Joe Burrow has a chance to have a great rookie season. I think Joe Burrow has a chance to be the offensive rookie of the year in the NFL. Now, some of that's gonna be dependent on certain things. How does Jonah Williams play at left tackle is a huge component to this Because the Bengals went in the wrong direction a few years ago. It wasn't about the quarterback like a lot of people wanted. It was about the offensive line. They lost Andrew Whitworth, they lost Kevin Zeitler, so they lost Andre Smith. Like so, I think a big part of this is gonna be what happens with Jonah Williams that offensive line, what happens with Tee Higgins? How does he come along? Can he How does he look alongside a J. Green and Tyler Boyd. But I'm telling you, grash, Like from a football standpoint, I don't think that's a bad situation. They've got really good quarterback infrastructure there, the offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, really good quarterbacks guy. And obviously Zach Taylor's got background coaching the position, played the position. So I look at Joe Burrow walking into this situation and I see a guy who's got coaches who are trained at the position, just like say Carson Wentz didn't Philly a few years ago. And then I look at the talent around him, and it ain't that bad. It's just not I mean, like, like now you're gonna need young linemen to come along, like Billy Price again, Billy Price, Uh, Michael Jordan's Jonah Williams. Like, you're gonna need some of the young players to come along. But if that happens, the skill talent there's pretty good. You got Joe mix and running the ball behind you. I just I don't think that this is a like I look at like what Cam Newton did in year one coming out of the lockout in Carolina. I think the Bengals, if they're creative, can make this work, and Joe Burrow can play well in year one. I'm with you, and look if they win six games, and Burrow is a candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Then I mean, to me, that's a big step forward because it's the first chance they've got someone who could give Cincinnati some real hope. And I love Burrows moxie. Look, he's a rookie quarterback, right, I mean we go back to the I'm Peyton Manning arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. Right, didn't he throw like twenty nine touchdowns and twenty eight interceptions in his first year in the NFL. There is a natural growth process at that position on the whole. Now, I know some guys have come in and had great rookie years, but to your point, it's the talent around him. And look, by the time Joe Burrow is really good, a j Green will be old and probably out of the NFL. So I don't think you have to overturn the apple cart at per se. But I like the fact that Joe Burrow might get some opportunity to play with a guy of that higher level so that he can walk in the building and say, Okay, that's what an all pro is like, that's that's high end in this league. I think Burrow will be fine. I don't know much about Zach Taylor, the head coach, but I'll say this, Uh, dealing with that situation in Cincinnati is as unique as any in the NFL. I would argue, even though there's an owner, it's as tricky as maybe the Packers situation because the owner does not like to spend money there. But that said, Joe Burrow I think is the guy that may end up giving the fans enough hope there bert that it puts that pressure on that organization to get rid of their Crannius rectus. I think it's in I mean, like, look like I think there are some encouraging signs from the off season two and that if you talk to people in that building the way Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan and and Dan picture the quarterbacks coach, the way they set it up, and uh, you know, I don't know how much of this has really even come out. I wrote a little bit about it about a month ago. They've basically said, you know what, this is a unique offseason. We're gonna have to make a quick decision. They built everything for for Burrow to be the starter, like all the virtual meetings, that everything they empowered him and they said, like, look like like we're putting this kid in place. We're not gonna screw around with any competition, Like, we're just gonna have this kid. If he's taking the first snap of training camp, We're making sure that he's building a rapport with some of the veteran players and the team. I just, you know, I think that they've done everything to set up a situation where Burrow is going to get all the work that a starter normally would going into his rookie year. And again, like, I think that this is going to be a unique year in a lot of different ways. I think the fact that, like Joe Burrow has dealt with a lot coming into this too, like the fact that he went through a transfer, the fact that he lost a quarterback competition at one point in college, the fact that he dealt with injuries, Like, this kid's dealt with a lot. I mean, like not to mention the fact he was like a three star recruit coming out of high school, Like this kid's sort of like he has that chip on his shoulder. And I think all of that helps, no question about it. That city needs, that that team needs that he's gonna bring them exactly what they need from an emotion standpoint, which is like a screw you, bople Bengals are gone. I'm here now, like the same way like the L s U offense, right, like everybody thought the the L s U offense. How long did the L s U offense been the step sister like in that program? You know, it's like screw you like and and what were they allowed? He threw he through sixty touchdown passes last I mean they were they were video game like, there's no question. And to your point, a quarterbacks moxie and swagger says a lot. And they're the kind of guys that, in theory, when they make a mistake, they're going to own it, and teammates end up feeling ownership of that guy because they know, even though he's the straw that stirs the proverbial drink, he's willing to say, hey man, that's on me and take ownership and accountability. All right, take away number five. I'll keep this one simple. Patrick Mahomes, who we since the last time we met, signed a four hundred and fifty million dollar extension UM to stay in Kansas City UH into his mid thirties. UM was announced today as a new part owner of the Kansas City Royals. And this is pretty easy. It's Patrick Mahomes world right now and we're just living in it. Like it is incredible what this kid has accomplished. I don't know that we've had I had to look back at this, and I don't know that we've had a quarterback in the league this young going into a season with both a regular season m v P in a Super Bowl MVP in his back pocket as is I mean, look man like, like like like the kid as the kid as the world, as you like to say by the shorties. Yeah, man, he there's no question that he does. And it's funny that you said that because I automatically grabbed my phone to google you know, when did Brady get his first m v P And that was a two thousand and seven. He was thirty years old at that point, way freaking you. Oh yeah, so there you go, because I thought, okay, you know, I couldn't remember Brady stole one in those first four years along the way. But you're right. I mean, when you think of all the accolades there there for Pat Mahomes and he doesn't until September. What's really interesting about this is that these athletes are now getting to the point where they're empowered economically that they want to make moves like this, Like, there's a part of me that really does wonder. Did you know Pat his dad was a baseball player, right, so he grew up in a baseball house. He grew up understanding professional sports and big league athletics. And to think that that kid whose dad made money, there's no question who now has his own money for being a great athlete. He looks at it and I was like, sure, I want to own a piece of one of the worst baseball teams on the planet. I mean seriously, Like, they're gonna be people sitting in Kaufman Stadium. You know, there's gonna be eighteen thousand on a Wednesday afternoon. Who are gonna be like, can we bring the homes over to pitch the eighth inning? Please? Like can he come help us out for crying out loud? But I think this is an interesting trend. I don't know about you. I know a rock trying to get in. I know they're trying to recruit owners from other sports, Like would it be completely surprising, Like we've heard a rod trying to laure and Robert Craft right, Like, it makes me wonder if Pat Mahomes would be like, yeah, my dad played for this You know that my dad played for this guy's uh father thirty years ago. I got to know the sun I think going to see it. Yeah, I think we're absolutely like I mean like, look like I think that and we've already seen these sort of I mean, Michael Jordan's the obvious one that he was able to build up enough capital. The Mannings, I think like it wouldn't surprise anybody in the NFL if the Mannings eventually Now I don't know they got a capital to buy a team outright, but it wouldn't surprise anyone to see if they were part of an ownership group at one point or another and are running the football side of it. I don't think this trend's going anywhere. Lebron James. I think it's another one who you can probably look for down the line buying into a team. And so yeah, I mean like this is a sort of kid that's like, not only is he gonna make all that money off of football, He's probably gonna make a ton of money off the field as well. And look like maybe this is like for like like maybe this is training wheels for him, you know what I mean? Like maybe this is like I just want to sort of see what this is like because I have a goal of someday being a part of something like this. It's sort of like do you remember do you remember, like Ashley Man, like Peyton's wife when she bought she bought like a small piece of the Memphis Grizzlies, right, and I remember that was the whole thing, was the Manning family wants to like just take a look at this and see what it looks like under the hood. I think Jordan I want to say, Jordan did it with the Wizards too, didn't he wasn't he like a that was a part of his getting Lord back to playing for them. I think gave him a slice. Yeah, he had a small piece of the team and so he got to see it before he went to um Charlotte knowwns. I think they were the Bobcats when he bought them, right, then they became then they became the Hornets. Yeah, so so good for Patrick Mahomes And yeah, like I said, like it's it is whatever. Today is July two thousand and twenty it's a good time to be Patrick home Home. Hey man. Some people like Tom Brady tried to build their own brand, and some people like Pat mahomes dipping their toe into that ownership water. And I think it's a good thing for the right UH players to be in volved in this. I don't, you know, I don't want the impetuous guys who were who would be overreacting traditionally on football teams over something little being in the front office, creaming about, oh my god, we need to meet lunch of all Adams to be an owner. You know. I don't want Jamal Adams being an owner. I don't want Antonio Brown in there anything like that. Like I don't want any of those people in there. Yeah, yeah, Well, Jamal Adams would just pay himself, make him the owner, and then be the starting pitcher that time. And by god, if you disagreed with him, he would tell you on Twitter to just get the hell out because only his voice can be heard. But I didn't. I did enjoy his celebration dance though. To celebrate the dance that he did after after getting traded to the the Seahawks, pretty entertaining, all right, that's a pretty strong return for us Crash. I always appreciate you coming out. You're the best, buddy. And we're gonna get to our special guests right after this. All right, we're gonna bring back one of my favorite guests. Uh. Guy. I've done television with a whole bunch every every fall now hopefully going forward, Um on Patriots pre impost on NBC Sports Boston, and Uh. I wanted to bring this guy on because I thought he just have really interesting perspective in the decision that's facing every NFL player right now on whether or not to play during what should be a really really strange and different seasons. So we're gonna welcome him. And now, for nine years, I believe right, nine years, he was a Patriot linebacker, three time Super Bowl champion Johnson. Alright, so so let's start here like when when you when you first saw UM. And I want to start with the Patriots end of this because obviously you have experienced in that building and you know the way they operate. UM when the name sort of trickled out over and we're recording this on Tuesday afternoon, so it's really over the last eighteen hours or so, you start to see NFL names trickle out, and it was almost like the pipe burst with patriots, you know, so you have six Patriot names that have come up. Most notably, of course Marcus Cannon I think might be one that we could project a little bit and that's probably a little bit of a different category. But Dante high Tower, Patrick Chung. What was popping in your head when you when you start to see some of these names surface, That was I was shocked, Bird, I was, I was really shocked because it's you know, uh, you just you just wonder, um, you know, at this at this stage of their career, um, you know, how this will kind of impact bills thinking, you know, you've got to really consider the head coach you play for. And everybody's got, you know, different styles of head coaches. But Bill Is, he's he's in at his own unique categories. So when I heard that these guys, um, you know very much leaders and star wars of this defense, um, you know, to say that they're gonna opt out, that to me was kind of the deepest cut of all because Mike feeling Is Belichick did not see that coming and he has I'm sure he's hell bent on doing using what has been happening this offseason, um, you know, to kind of to his benefit as far as trying to you know, try and sneak one and try and really you know, kind of win, uh in a way that's gonna have all these new rules and a new sort of set of circumstances. So my feeling is he was really hyped, is particularly with Tom now moved on to Tampa Bay to kind of really prove what he can do without Tom. So that's got to really hurt Bill, considering you know, the loss that they have with Tom Brady. To see those two guys opt out, and it's gonna have a collective effect for on the entire team. It is going to from all from all those guys in the locker room, seeing the leader of that defense Dante and a very well respected player and Pat Chung opt out. It's gonna have a collective blow to their psyche. I'm sure. Well because and you know, it's interesting because you mentioned that and like kind of how tough and demanding the program is, right, Like, how much how much of selling the program is guys like that buying in and that guy like because it's one thing for a player to hear from a coach, right, it's another one, another thing if it's one of your older teammates who's pointing the finger at you and telling you that you have to do things a certain way. So you know, now they lose Tom on offense, but then like losing a couple of guys who have so much institutional knowledge and so much buying into the program like High Tower, and with high Tower goes back to when he was in college, because you're a similar program in college. But to lose guys like high Tower and Chung, like, I'd assume that be really really hard to replace when you are gonna be asking as much of a player as Bill Belichick typically. I mean there in minds the rub when you talk about guys that are boughty in like I you know, there's there's if you look at the contracts of Dante and you look the contract with Patrick Chong, you just got to take another year extension. Those those guys, Let's let's be honest, at their production level, they're overpaid, Now what do they There's there's more value to a player than just what he produces on the football field. You know, how much responsibility does he have as far as getting the team lined up the leadership kind of you know, policing the locker room. Bill puts a lot of stock, I think in those two players in particular to kind of carry his message out to the whole team. And that's you hit it on the head. That's what makes the Patriots so successful is he's got guys, Bill, Bill a chick, has guys on both sides of the ball that he, let's face it, that he trusts, that he knows are going to um, you know, uh play and communicate with the other players the way he wants and will carry his messages to the other guys and so and he pays for that and you know in their salaries, okay, and so for for that. That's a huge, huge kind of blow I think to what Bill is trying to get done. Um with those two guys leaving, it's it's just too you know, the guys that are big leader you know, leadership pillars there now that are gone. And if my feelings are, Bill feels more exposed and more vulnerable now than ever, particularly with all the question marks they have on offense and the quarterback position. So like that's the interesting twist to this though, Like how much of this is Bill's program and what he looks for in players, kind of swinging around back to get him, do you think? And I like it's you think about it right? Smart, responsible, like all the qualities that they look for in players. Does that work against them? Does the success they've had work against them? A lot of these guys have rings. There's the age of the roster have anything to do with it. A lot of these guys have reached a point where they're financially stable and have the freedom to make these sorts of decisions. I mean, like, do you think part of this too, Ted, is the makeup of the team, the makeup of the roster, what they look for in players, it's smart, responsible guys you've probably taken care of their money who have rings, Like those guys are free to sort of make the really intelligent decision in the spot like this. Yeah, you know, I think you're you're You're absolutely right. When you have guys that are that are have been around for a long time like that, you know what we're talking. And I also think Marcus Cannon and Brandon Bolden are actually big hits, but we're focusing on Dante high Tower and Patrick Chung, who have been there a long long time. Um, you know, those are accomplished players. I mean they've got I think both of them have three rings. Um, they you're like you said, they've made a lot of money, So I don't think I think that's probably on point. And they both have kind of situations in their personal life that it's a kind of a how can you argue with those guys that want to app out? I mean, I both have young kids. I think Dante hight Tower has a mom that has diabetes that he's worried about, and it's it's maybe it's a reflection of that with the the accomplishments. And also I think there is a little bit of an attitude that you're seeing where the players maybe don't feel safe that the protocols and the rules and the guidelines that they've implemented aren't good enough for them to really feel even though they've come to an agreement the union and the NFL, let's face it, are the union. The NFLPA doesn't really always have the rank and file in in in mind when it's making these deals that they don't feel like they can go to work in a safe environment and not be able to contract this. I mean, the one line that just blows me away, and I'm I'm paraphrasing, was I believe it was Bruce Arians that recently just says something to the effect, Hey, we're all gonna get this thing. It's a matter of what degree and how we can push through it. And it's just like, there you go. Man, that's just the NFL, quite honestly, not really caring at the end of the day about what's best for the players. And I hate to say it, but I just think if anybody's gonna bend the rules and maybe you know, um, you know, you know, not follow protocols if you will, I know it's hard to believe. Um it might be Bill Belichick. And so I can see guys having concerned that early at the end of the day, my safety and well being is not gonna be at a high priority and it could be compromised. And I just don't want to deal with that. Okay, before because I do want to talk to you about the the mindset of mindset of all players, not just Patriots. But before we get there, like, what is this due do you think the expectations for the Patriots, Because if you look at them as a team now and we can go down the list. Obviously we talked about Cannon, High Tower, Chung. You're also losing Van Kyle, Van Noy, Jamie Collins, Danny Shelton, Dron Harmon. And that's without even getting to number twelve, right Like, so like it feels like for Bill to pull this off, like I would take one of the great coaching seasons of his career, right and then and then if you want to get it like even like take this to another level. There's a there's a ton of pressure on the rest of the a FC East now because now like they don't have cover anymore, right like if you're Buffalo, or if you're Buffalo, or you're the Jets, or you're the or you're you're Miami, there's not like, well, that's a huge mountain to climb up there to get over to get past New England. That's gone. Now. I'm glad you brought that up. The first thing I thought of was how many in one team in the in the in the a f C East in particular of the three men and I think has the best chance to really kind of maybe take over the division, and that's the Buffalo Bill. So I'm like, I'm gonna ask you, I haven't looked yet. Do the Buffalo Bills have any big names that have opted out so far? Would be the one. But that's not that you know, that's it, right, But so, I mean, you know that's not that's a good player, let's face it. But it's not. You know, you know that team is pretty loaded on defense, it's you know, added some really key pieces on offense, and we know the quarterback's got issues. But to me, the pressure was already on the Buffalo Bills because to me, I thought, even with before all these opt outs, with the situation at quarterback, I think this team, and you might think I'm crazy, he was gonna max out at nine wins. I just think the year after the greatest player to ever play in the organization leaves to go play somewhere else. I just thought that was gonna have a huge collective psychological effect where it was gonna be a struggle just to win. With the schedule they have, it was gonna be tough to win nine games with this. I mean, they're the a losing season. To me, is is on the table right now. I mean I could see it being a really big struggle because there is going to be a period here but where this team is going to not This team is so unsure of itself and is not quite sure exactly what it is for the first time in a very long time. Now that Tom's gone, and now you take Dante high Tower and you take you know, you take uh, you know Patrick, and let's face it, those are the defense. I didn't think it was gonna be play at the level it did last year, at least for the first ten games. So it was asking a lot to for the defense to repeat that. But you got Marcus Cannon on an offensive line that had a lot of issues last year, and Brandon Bowling, believe or not, might have been played a bit more of a major role with the issues of injuries that Sony Michelle has had in the off season. So the running game was gonna be a big part of it. That front seven was already week in my opinion now even with Dante haw Tower now that he's gone in that secondary was something you could really lean on, and now it has one of its leaders gone. I just think it is this is going to be a season that I would right now, I'm not anticipating them being better than five. I honestly think that I think it's gonna be a struggle, and that's where I see this team as of right now. Actually, I got one more question now, I thought I popped in my head when you popped in my head when you were going on there. Do you think this happens if Tom Brady is still on the roster? O? You know, Burt my the honest answer, and I try to be honest, and that's what gives me in trouble is um? Probably not? Probably, you know. I just think that's that that plays a little bit of a role if you're looking at pros and cons and all these guys are talking to their families about Okay, why do I come back? Why don't I come back? I think that is probably one of the things that they put in the cons side was, hey, look, you know Tom covered up a lot of issues for that team for a very long time, and I know he wasn't you know, maybe it fully bought in last year, but let's face it, if Tom was here, it's because he got the contract he wanted and he'll have full buy in. UM, So I think it was gonna be a different year from from his standpoint, attitude standpoint. But now that he's gone, I guarantee you that plays a small part in their decision making for why they didn't come back. And that's that's certainly uh, certainly true in my opinion. Okay, So since you played in the league nine years, I want to kind of go through the mindset of of the different players here because and for those who you know, haven't looked at the fine print that the NFL offered opt out to everybody, now that the deadline for it's gonna be seven days after they finished these side letters with the union, which should be coming soon, and you get a hundred fifty thousand dollars um a stipend if you are if it's a voluntary opt out that's open for everybody, and if you're in a high risk category, you get three fifty grand for the year, plus you accrew the season towards free agency and you get your benefits. Alright, So, like I want to go through the different categories of players. If you are a young player, how do you view this? Like if you are a first or a second year player, how do you view this? Is it just not on the table at all? Yeah, there's there's no way I'm opting out. No way if I'm a if I'm a young player, up and coming player, and I've already proven myself, I'm still worried about opting out because of just that. That's a culture where there's a lot of pressure to play and you have to kind of look. You're expected to look the other way. You don't get guaranteed contracts, so you're constantly singing for your supper. We we all know that you can believe back black balled in this league, that you can be held for, held against you. You know, decisions you've made um down the road. So I I'm a young player, there is no way, no way, bird, and I'm a young player particularly that's unproven, no way I'm opting out. Um. It just it's it's just one of those leagues that you know that that can be held against you. So the younger player, my my feeling is, has not even considered. I mean, there are probably some, but there's not gonna be many. They're an opt out. Okay, So you are a proven player and you're close to the end of your contract, and I'll give you an example. Joey Bosa in in l A four years. Great player, right, like everybody knows what he is, got a year left until you got got got one year um left on his deal. Jalen Ramsey in l a uh Ronnie Stanley the offensive tackle of the great left tackle with the Ravens. If you're one of these guys who has proven himself but you're a year away from that big second contract, that is just gonna create generational wealth. Now for most players, that that means you can sit the year out, have your contract toll, which means you're waiting an extra year until free agency, or you just play this year and try to get your contract next year. Like what are you doing and how are you considering that? Oh? I feel like those kind of guys the haze in the barn. I feel like, you know, like the players you mentioned have already got enough tape that they can sit out, kick back and just enjoy watching from the sidelines, and then it's not gonna have a financial impact on them at all, like for their future future earnings. I think teams are gonna be so, you know, teams are gonna look at those guys in a different category. You know, if you're a guy that's not really you know, has kind of had an up and down career and you're going into you know, a year which is your free ating year. I would be a little more skeptical to to opt out, because you gotta maybe proof to them that you're you're you know, you're the player that you think you are. But guys like that that where it's they've already been accomplished, it's well established what they are as players. I could see them having no problem and not losing any sleepover over opting out. So, like what you're saying is this is all like relative to the amount of pelts in the wall you have. Like if you're if you look a third or fourth year guy who has shown a lot of promise but still needs to sort of put it over the top, then you probably play you better play. Yeah, but if you're but if you're a guy who has been All Pro a couple of times and you're twenty six, then you consider going the other way, rightly. I mean, look, let's okay, say say there's no college football this year, bur and my feeling not just like a kid, I can't imagine they're being a college football but let's have that haven't quite been decided if there was no college football, is there any doubt who the number one overall pick is gonna be next year? Now? The Hayes in the barn, right, even though he didn't finish his uh, you know, his season was real strong last year, you still kind of know what you're getting with him. You know what you're getting in Joey bos So, you know where you're getting in June Ramsey. You know even with a year off that those guys are still gonna be uh at a you know, at a premium and you're still gonna have to pay for those guys. So you And that's what I think A lot of the problem is not to get on a tangent with a lot of the negotiation between the union and the NFL is so many guys are at different places in their career and have more leverage than everybody has different levels of leverage teams. Those guys you mentioned have clearly have the leverage and will not be uh. I don't think punished in any way for sitting out to stay an established player on your second contract. What do you do? Like, you're not, You're not, You're not. I'm like, we'll get to the older players first, but like, let's just say seven, you signed your second contract. You're good, you know, I mean, like could that be even relative maybe to what sort of team you're on, you know, like if you're in a good team versus a bad team, you know what I mean? And I think it's that it's also understanding the culture of that particular team. And there's a there's there's so many different cultures that are established in the NFL, and it all starts from the from the owner down to the head coach. And you know what my feeling is, if you're playing for, say, I don't know, like Andy Reid, and you're that player and you have a kind of a very viable reason for opting out. By feeling is Andy Reid is gonna be like, go do what you gotta do. Man, Hey, you know I understand you've got a young child, you have people you take care of that are I risk. Go ahead. You know there's gonna be other cultures and other coaches they're gonna use that against you. And that's what's gonna be interesting. I hate say it, but of all these opt outs, you know, how does that affect you know, the decisions for these coaches are regarding them next year. We won't know until next year. But I think that guy it's tricky. I think he's got to know his culture, he's got to know how what's the relationship with the head coaches. He feels like he has a solid one as he talked to him, and kind of you know, if if I'm if I'm talking to Bill Belichick about opting opting out, I know in the first thirty seconds whether or not he's okay with it or else, you know, whether or not, oh crap, this is not a good idea. Not you know, if you know, you can go talk to your head coach and if you get assistant like hey, I understand you know, then then you do it. But I think most guys in that situation would probably be a little bit tentative um to to opt out, considering that you know, they're not one of the bigger names. They're just kind of like in the middle there. Say you're the over thirty guy, You've made your money, you've like, you've you've got a family, you're already sort of starting to think about what you might want to do after football. How do you approach the decision if you're that guy? And and and and you correct me FROMM but I believe you said that these guys that opt out are still giving a credited season, right, Yeah, the credited season is what you want, man, you want like if you already have a lot of money. And let's face it, the cap when I retired, Bert, you know what the cap was back in two thousand five, and it was like right, two a million right now, So they've made they have better working conditions. I'm I'm that guy, I'm the I'm the the old bider guy. No, but they have better working conditions. It's safe for the play. They make three times more money than the guys that played back in the day, So you know, guys that are financially secure. It's kind of one of those things where you go, I just want to get that extra year. I mean because that extra year and you know in your benefit packages is a big deal. So those guys I could see making easier decisions to you know what, I don't. I don't need this. I'm gonna opt out and uh and at least get my credit season. Okay, So then for all players, how much how many of these decisions do you think are group decisions? Like how much do you think players are talking to each other right now about this, because you know, like sort of like what I thought too when you see some of the names come across. You know, we mentioned starlot A. Michael Pierce is a pretty big name. He just he just signed with the Vikings. He's opting out obviously high tower. Like I sort of felt like when I see some of the bigger names, some guys who are established, it sort of gives everybody else cover, you know what I mean, Like you're not like yeah, yeah, so, like how much of these decisions do you think are gonna be like group decisions? They're gonna be like I want to make sure I know, I want to make sure my teammates know what I'm doing. I want to make sure I run this by them. I want to make sure i'm account Like how much of this do you think is gonna be sort of made in groups by players? Yeah? Like, so what do you got? Was there there's a deadline too for all the opt outs. I think it's it's gonna be. Yeah, it's gonna be seven days from when they when they finalize the side letters. Yeah, okay, okay, well so it's gonna be it says soon, It's soon. My feeling is, is what happened to the Patriots? My gosh, I mean with five optouts that other guys around the league are watching that and going saying, you know what, it's you don't want to be the first, right, You don't want to be the first guy because you just don't know what what the backlash is gonna be. But when you see established players, particularly that played for the Patriots, and know that they have a coach that is, let's face it, he's petty, he can be vindictive and he can use that against you later on. To see guys like that opting out, he give other guys to courage and I think the strength to maybe do it. My feeling is, yes, there are guys talking, um, you know, nobody wants to kind of be the first one on the team, you know, um. And if older, established, respected, you know, guys on on these teams start to opt out, it definitely gives I think permission to the other guys that are really on the fence with it. What do you think you would have done? Like and maybe you can take this at different points of your career, but like considering the circumstances, knowing who you are twenty three, twenty six, What do you think you would have done? You know my mentality, I would have played. I would I would play. Um that's my mentality. Um, you know. And I it's just you know, particularly if I'm a guy like so, so say I was playing right now, Burt. Okay, Um, I took an Anybody test tested negative, and I was I've never taken a test where you've drawn blood, and I was hoping for a positive result, right, I mean all the test you like, please God, oh it's negative. Right, but that test you're like, I hope, I hope I test positive for the anybodies because I think I already had it, right. I feel like back in January, I had this saying when nobody was talking about it, so me and me just personally, I would I want to play because I feel like I already have that. Even though the Anybody test is it's not inconclusive, it isn't it's really accurate. I would feel like I've already had it. So I'm I'm okay. Um, you know, but a lot of times here's you know, if you have a wife at home, Okay, a lot of girlfriends and wives have can really influence the player. And I've seen a lot of wives even though the husband is like, you know, like it really doesn't have as much of an issue, the moms and the girl friends and the mothers of your kids. They have a complete opposite, you know, um kind of feeling about it, and so you have to respect that as well. So I you know that it's each one guys into you know, his individual But I would play bird. I would play I would do you think? Like do you think? Well? So, like the other question, I have here excited and I want to put this the right way because you did walk away in the middle of an off season. Like we've talked about how like logical some of these decisions are, but they're not easy either. Like what what would be hard if you're a pro football player in the midst of your career. What would be hard about hardest about making this decision and having to tell your coach and having to tell your teammates and going through all that, Like, what do you think would be particularly tough about making this call? That is, it is easy, and it is the one thing I would want to know before I decided. That's a good question, burt Is, how is this going to affect my future with this team? Is this decision going to negatively impact how you view me going forward? Because if I had to sit there and watch a season unfold in front of me where I'm not a part of it, and I decided, you know, I wanted to opt out, now it's I know, it's unique, and so people are kind of excusing guys that want to opt out. I get that, but the NFL doesn't look at it that way. They're they're kind of like, either with us or you're against this COVID be damn kind of thing. That's my feeling. How a lot of kind of uh, you know from you know, teams are looking at it. I would want to know, and there's no guarantee you're gonna be told the truth if if if I hate if Bill, if I if I decided to opt out for these reasons, all legent reasons, is this going to impact your thinking of of my h in a negative way about my role on this team moving forward? And if I got any sense that it could, then that would make my decision a little bit easier. I would be reluctant. I'd be reluctant to opt out. And that's just the truth. That's the culture in the NFL. Bird you know that, and you still like I would think at that point you would still like have to sit there and worry about like like you'd be watching on Sunday, like there'll be there could be like a twenty three year old linebacker out there, like they could have they could have told you the truth, like they could have given you the best, and you're still sitting there and watch was like, oh crap, like that guy is pretty good. He made another play, like you know, so that's that's exactly right. So I would be very very worried about that. And you know it's and if you're an older player that's quite you know, kind of has a contract it's maybe a little bit bloated for your age and your production. Um, then I'd be even more worried. So that's where you kind of maybe burt, you start to wonder, you know, if you know guys like Pat Chung and Dante hag Tower, I know they have kind of legit reasons, but were they already maybe toying with the idea of retiring anyway you know, maybe they were kind of like, you know, maybe they want to sit back and just how does this team look without Tom Brady? Right, And you know, I was kind of teetering on whether or not I even wanted to play another year. Um, and especially with Tom gone. You know, I'm not feeling real good about our chances of winning consistent anymore. I just want to sit back and see how that team looks, um, you know, and and and and maybe if I see something there, okay, maybe I'll come. I can play again next year. Otherwise, it's very possible we could see Dante hi Tower play his last game if we're do England. It's like basically just buys you time to make a more like a more gather information to make a more conscious decision. Right. I might enjoy just being kind of sitting on the sidelines, and you know, you start picking up new hobbies, and you like this new life where you're not having to be there every day in the pressure of the grind. It's the grind and in the uh kind of the mundaneus of the whole thing as you get older, that really is the hardest thing to kind of deal with it. So these guys are gonna taste of what retirement looks like. Maybe day after this they go I'm done. That's really interesting because I remember people like I remember like this came up with Bill Cower, I think when Gruden was out. I remember hearing it. But it's like, you know, these coaches bury themselves in these holes um during the season, and they live life a certain way and it's such a weird existence. They have no idea what it's like not to be that way. And sometimes when those guys poked their head up for air, they're like, holy crap, and then it becomes harder to go back in the hole, you know. And so like maybe it's the same thing for a football player too, because it just existed that way for so long. They don't know what they don't know what it's like when they come out, and maybe they like the other side better than they thought they would. Yeah, And I would say there is a it's a smaller percentage of guys that when their their careers done and they've kind of played a long time and are accomplished. You know. That's why I'm always impressed with guys that are playing at high level, for they's still that, you know, even if their their productions declining, they're still playing. Twelve thirteen fourteen years, you're kind of like, damn, you know, like there was there was a sense of relief. I retired. I felt like I needed to because of my head head injuries. But there was also a sense of relief too because of you know, you're you're in this kind of cocoon. Man. You know, you only kind of no season off season, season off season. You're in a very kind of you're in a world that is not really real, and so you know, you there's a certain point where you're I just want to live like a regular person. And um, and I've accomplished everything I can can accomplish, and I've made all the money. What else is there for me to play for? And I can see this maybe being kind of a you know, a chance for guys to get a taste of what retirement is and decide when it's all said and done, I'm out, all right. That's great insight from uh former Patriots linebacker, three times Super Bowl champion and my buddy from n Sports NBC Sports Boston, Ted Johnson, Ted, thanks for coming out. Always a pleasure. I hope I get to see you so we have a season so we can work together. Man, I will see we we we have no idea if it's gonna be virtual or on a set or anything like that. There's there's still a lot we gotta figure out. Appreciate it, Ted Ally, buddy take care all right, Thanks again to my buddy Ted. He's fantastic on these sorts of things, kind of taking you inside the mind of a player in a stressful situation like this. We're gonna jump right in the bail mail back. You guys know how that works. As long as COVID has been going on. Because I haven't been down in New York, we kind of scrapped the voicemail system, gone back to the old school. We're doing a six pack again this week. You guys know how that works. The longtime listeners do at least put out the call for questions on Tuesday, I pick six If I pick yours, do you get an answer here on the podcast and you get a like that means to hit that little heart on Twitter. And if I don't get to your questions here, I might get your question in the mail bag, So go check out the mail bag on the on the website as well. Question number one coming from Duncan McLain. That's at the real dunks. If the season is canceled but the draft went ahead, how would the NFL decide the draft order. I don't know the answer to that question, Duncan, but it's one that I think could be fascinating, especially given who is going to be at the top of next year's draft, A generational quarterback prospect, maybe the best prospect to come out since Andrew Luck. He's in that Andrew Luck, John Elway, Peyton Natman in category, that's Trevor Lawrence from Clemson. So if the season were to end early that this would obviously be an important, important process, and I don't think they just default to last year's draft order. The reason being you'd be almost rewarding a team for being bad once twice, like you'd be rewarding the Bengals with Joe Burrow and the rights to Trevor Lawrence for being a bad team in two thousand and eight nineteen and so that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. So I sort of have looked at this over the course of the last few months, and it's something I mentioned a column going way back. The NHL actually faced the situation in two thousand and five, and they end up prospect similar to Trevor Lawrence in their Game Available in Sydney Crosby. What they did they did a weighted lottery, and the lottery was based on playoff appearances in the last three combined seasons and first overall picks in the last four drafts. So you've got three lottery balls if you had not qualified for any of those playoffs and had no first overall picks, um and if you had one play off appearance or the first overall pick in those years, you've got two lottery balls, and all other teams got one lottery ball. Basically, it was a pretty fair way to do what they felt like. And one of the teams that wound that that had three balls wound up with the first overall pick. That of course was the Pittsburgh Penguins. How important was that, Well, the Penguins have won three Stanley Cups since with Sydney cro Crosby is the best player on their team. Point is I think the idea would be to do something like that if we had that doomsday scenario of the season getting cut off. Question number two from Jerry Levine. That's at Jerry lev If there is no college football season how all that effect evaluating players for next year's draft. This was another interesting question because it's certainly possible. I think this is probably more likely um to play out than the first question is it's definitely possible that there isn't a college season, and so basically what that means is a lot of these guys grades would be set on what they did previously, obviously not having the chance to add to their resumes. It would in a lot of the sleepers that you normally see, they wouldn't be in that mix. And so justin fields, Trevor Lawrence, Gary uh Gary Gary us So I think I believe is his name, the defense event from Miami um Sean Wade, the cornerback from Ohio State. There are guys who are established I think would would be at the top of the list next year because you don't have any added evidence, either good or bad, to move them up or down. And if you want to look at last year's draft, I think this kind of can give you a picture of of where we would be. Okay, the number one overall pick would not be Joe Burrow if there was no college season last year. There's no question about that. He was seen as maybe a third round or going into the year. So the first overall pick wouldn't have been Joe Burrow. That might have wound up being too a tongue of Valoa. I still think Chase Young goes second overall. Jeff o'cuda was probably a borderline top ten pick. He played himself into the top three. Andrew Thomas another player who was very well regarded the Georgia tackle going into the draft process, so probably wouldn't have affected him much. Justin Herbert another guy we knew of. Derek Brown, the seventh overall pick. He would have been in that mix. Isaiah Simmons another one who would have been in that mix. And so if you look at the first like eight picks, Joe Burrow, the first overall pick, is really the one that played his way into that group. The rest of them were sort of already there or at least in the neighborhood. And he can even go down a little further. C. J. Henderson likely would have been in that mix. Jedrick Wills likely would have been in that mix. It's I mean to me, I, I you know, I'm just looking at last year's draft, looking at last April's draft, kind of crystallized where the NFL already probably knows a lot about, like probably feels like pretty good about some of these guys. It would just prevent the Joe Burrows of the world, who have just break out final seasons on campus from making the sort of move that they've made over the years. Typically. Question number three from Nikolai Herman, that's at Nico G. G Herman. What is your viewpoint on this on why the Seahawks and John Schneider do not get any heat for not getting a new deal in place for Jamal Adams before trading him in the same way Bill O'Brien did for Laramie Touns. Great question, Nikolai. I think it largely has to do with John Schneider and Pete Carroll's record of success. They of course want a Super Bowl. They've been to two Super Bowls, and they've been consistently contending for a decade right now, so they deserve the benefit of the doubt. I also think part of this is Bill O'Brien has become such a punching bag in the media, and there are certain corners of the media that I think rely on narratives a little bit and narratives grow on social media and sometimes it's hard to decipher the truth from the narrative. The truth is that Bill O'Brien has been to the playoffs four times in five years. They have a really good young quarterback, they've rebuilt their offensive line. Um, there's been a lot of good that's been done there. Now. It's not perfect, there's no question about that. That the issues UM organizationally, without question um Bill O'Brien has, you know, has his share of respond ability for all of that. But if you look on the field and then you look at the roster, it's not an unhealthy situation. And that's why I said that I I said over the weekend, like it just it seemed just inconsistent when you saw some of the criticism that Bill Brian got last August after the Laramie Tounsil trade, and you didn't see the same sort of kind of very aggressive criticism towards the Seahawks. And again that's with the acknowledgment that Schneider and Carol deserved the benefit of the doubt. In both cases, you gave up a lot for for a a very very high end player, and so that player has got to perform at that level. I know the Texans are happy about where they're at with Laramie Tunsil. I don't have any reason to believe that Seattle won't feel the same way about Jamal Adams a year from now. Question number four from eternally Optimistic, that's at Georgia Boy underscore. If you were a projected top ten first round pick for the one draft, are you sitting out the season with all that's going on and focusing on the combine? Or do you suck it up and chance that without a union or guarantees by playing this year? I think eternally optimistic you are if it's I think it's it is on a case by case basis. You know, at the quarterback position, you know they say you need a certain amount of throws in a certain amount of reps at the college level before you play in the NFL. And that's something I would certainly consider if I was a Trevor Lawrence or justin fields that I could make myself better as a player and the risk that I'm really going to sink in the draft is minimal, so it might be worth going and getting the experience. And if you want to look at the injury risk look at too a tongue of a loa. That guy had his bad about his bad and on field injuries you could possibly suffer. And he had a lengthy, an extensive injury history before that, yet he still went fifth overall. And so for quarterbacks, I think we're talking about one thing. For everyone else, we're talking about another. And if you want to talk about the other end of the spectrum, if I'm one of these running backs who came back from my last year on campus and they were a handful of him last year, like Alabama is not Nag Harris, Clemson's Travis at t n um Oklahoma stage Cuba Hubbard, I would seriously consider sitting out because, you know, the the whole game with running backs is ere o dominter. You know, you've got a certain amount of mileage on your legs, and you've got a certain amount of mileage until you aren't what you were before. And the goal and the end the goal is to get to your second NFL contract. And so putting yourself in those sorts of situations and what could be a very unstable or uneven college season, I think there's a lot of risks there. So if I'm a quarterback, I really consider staying. I really really seriously consider sticking with it and getting the reps that I that are gonna make me a better player and they are gonna make me a better pro. Whereas if I'm a running back, I'm probably kind of like looking at this and saying, this might be time to get out of here. Question number five from Dana o G. That's at Dana o G. What is happening, um with all this happening with the MLB, do you honestly see NFL the NFL making it through a full season. Dana, I'm gonna tell you exactly what team doctors that I've talked to have said, what team executives that I've talked who have said over the last few months. That is, I am confident that they'll be able to start the season. I do think they're gonna start the season in September. I do think Week one is going to happen. I am less confident they're gonna be able to finish the season. And again, I believe that's because we are all at the mercy of what happens in this country. Every business is, and especially sports that require people congregating that require in some cases, including this case of physical contact. So much of this is going to depend on what's going on in the country, particularly because they're not in the bubble, and so to me, it's just where are we in October November as a country. You tell me that, I'll tell you how good a chance they've got to getting through the season. Finally, question number six from j Richard Taco that's at ninety seven j d R. What is the expectation for a team if their entire offensive line ops out or all their qbs? Great question, Jay Richard. I think they just got to find a way to make it work. This becomes a more interesting question when you talk about potentially that's sort of outbreak during the season, though, and this is part of the reason why teams want clarity on what's going to constitute an outbreak, and that the league probably needs to work on giving teams some sort of idea of what's going to constitute uh an outbreak. You cannot leave this up to the individual teams the way Baseball left it up to the Marlins over the weekend. And you have to draw lines, and you have to give guys. You have to give the people in charge very very clear understanding of what constitutes an outbreak. So there's gonna be a raw number for that. Maybe it's whatever it is the number of people that would lead to a shutdown or lead to a forfeiture, that sort of thing. And like you said, J Richard, there's also the possibility that maybe there's a position group that gets wiped out and maybe that creates a player's safety issue, and so you're gonna have to allow for that as well. It's gonna be a complicated season, There's no question about that. That's the one thing I can say for sure. Appreciate you guys coming out for the return Again. We want your feedback, and I want your feedback on this podcast that we just did, which a little longer than normal. I wanted to give you guys something to chew on coming back off of vacation. And I also wanting your feedback on the podcast we did during my vacation, the ones with Eric to Costa, with Brett Feach and with Sean McVeigh. I had a lot of fun doing that with those guys. If you guys want more of those, let me know so we can start to work on those sorts of things. You know where to get me on Twitter at Albert Brier, on Instagram at Albert Underscore Brier, on Facebook at Albert are Breer. And remember to listen to all of our podcast The Week's Side Podcast with Connor and Jenny post twice a week. Gary and and You Bennoa do their podcast on Monday's We Got the Weekend Review podcasts on Fridays. You can get us all in one place now, the m m QB NFL podcast feed that is on Spotify, stitch your tune in, Google Play, Apple Podcast, wherever you guys get your shows, same time next week. I'll see you guys, Don