Two-time Super Bowl Chris Long joins to discuss Peter’s Kliff Kingsbury to Thailand report from the weekend, Aaron Donald’s future with the Rams, and doing media on his own terms. Peter also welcomes in his friend Jeremy to do a big Baltimore Ravens deep dive.
The Season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the NFL in partnership with I Heart Radio. What's Up, Everybody? This is Peter Schreeger and this is the podcast The Season with Peter Scheger. We're not entering the Divisional Round of the playoffs, and this is my favorite weekend of the football calendar. You know, football is now a fifty two weeks season, and I always say wild Card Round is a nice appetizer, kind of a play in game feel. Divisional Round you of your best eight teams and you have four games and it's clean and it's simple too. On Saturday too, on Sunday, and then we're into Championship week and away we go. And gosh, I look at this NFC slate and can I just say, from like a fan slash TV slash media perspective, when those logo show up, there's a certain feel about out different teams. Two years ago, the Buccaneers, here's Tom Brady and this great deal and Brady and the Bucks and god, she's he's getting Gronk out of retirement too, and it was a cool story. But when you show me four logos and it's the New York Giants, which goes back to the thirties, and it's the Philadelphia Eagles and all their history and the birth of the NFL and when the league offices used to be in Philadelphia and what Philadelphia means the NFL. Then you give me that Cowboys star and what the Cowboys mean to the NFL. And then you're throw in the forty Niners and their history. You're telling me those are the last four teams. Look, the Steelers, rich franchise, the Packers, of course, but I'd say in the top ten are those four teams as far as national fan bases. That logo mattering Aaron, my producer, I love you, buddy. I I gotta think. I don't know about your generation, but when you see those war logos Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, forty Niners, does that that could just get you out of your chair or are you more of Well? I like the stories and the players and it would be cool Like to me, I don't know, I get those four national brands getting up, let's go. Yeah. I think all four of them, like you're saying, have like historical significance. That's really great. But also even with they all have as a franchise, great storylines in the past five ten years, so like you know, Shanahan and the forty Niners, like watching that go up and down, and like now potentially having this big resurgence. Like even if I am a fan of certain players or you know, like a bunch of people who are like fantasy focused are gonna follow certain individuals, they're great storylines for each one of these franchises. So you got those four, which I agree. Then on the a f C, it's like quarterback Heaven and you're talking about Mahomes, Alan Borrow, and then maybe the next dude is Trevor Lawrence. Look, I work for the NFL, I work for Fox Sports. I work for I heart. Of course it's in my best interest for high ratings and for great fit. But if you're telling me pick eight teams, pick two matchups in the a f C this weekend, Pick two matchups in the NFC this weekend, seed the teams, if you asked me to do that, I might draw it up this way. I might draw it up as an old school NFC East battle between the Giants and the Eagles, And then Sunday you get that classic rivalry going back to you know, even before the catch. There's a famous stallback game against the Niners. But then you got the catch, and you got the two NFC Championship game, the NFC Championship game, the ninety five NFC Championship game. I heard up till last year they had a great divisional round or wild card round game where Dak you know, the clock went out. Gosh, that's awesome. And then in the a f C, you're getting four quarterbacks that are the future of the sport. And you could have interchanged Herbert with Lawrence whatever. I out of taking either one of them. But this is how it's should be. These are the eight teams. No complaints here. Uh, the networks have to be thrilled. The NFL has got to be thrilled. Great great games, great great logos, and some amazing stories. And if you're in for the Brock party story, it's there for you. If you're in for the Mahomes story, it's there for you. If you're in for the Buffalo Bills incredible roller coaster season story, it's there. And then how about this the Rams their home watching the Bengals, everyone said, well, it's hard to to to get back to this rule. Bengals have won eight straight games and look good and there and there on the on the precipice. So I'm here for it. I think the divisional round is gonna be awesome. But before we get to, you know, any more matchups on that, I wanted to talk about some of the coaching stuff and some of the news that I made, and gosh, I was not I was not expecting. Um Cliff Kingsburry and I are are friends. And after he got let oh, we talked for a while, and then we talk some more. And then I had multiple teams reach out to me and say, oh, I know your friends with Cliff, Like, what, what's his deal? We might have a job available for him, and ever, here's his number, So I would pass cliff number a long, you know whatever. Um Cliff had already booked ticket to Thailand, where he was going on vacation. Uh. He talked to I'm sure some people whether he was interested or not. I'm sure we'll get to that in a couple of weeks or a month when he returns whenever it is, and maybe he will be working next year. We'll see. But Cliff's mindset was I'm going to Thailand. It's been a brutal last twelve months. I need to clear my head. And you know, a guy with no kids, guy who's been coaching every day since he was finished as a player's been fired already at Texas Tech, took the the O C job at the USC, then got offered the head coaching job at at the CAR. It's been a whirlwind, and he's just taken some time for the first time in maybe twenty years, he's taken some time for himself. I put that story out there, which I did on the podcast last week. Also, I said he's going away and he's gonna collect. I did it on the podcast, but I put it out there on Sunday on Fox Aaron It was a number one trending story on Saturday. On Sunday Yesterday, the New York Post, Ryan Glasspiegel does a whole piece about it with pictures of his girlfriend Veronica, and they're in Thailand and it's a profile on her and it's Tuesday, and recording this, I had no idea this story would take off the way it did. And the initial response was how awesome? Like how awesome? In a cutthroat world of of you know, go go Go go doo doo doo do. I think they're the response, And it came from all angles. It came from people in the coaching community who are like good for him, people who are fans saying gosh, I wish I could do that to my employer and just say, you know, screw it, I need to take some time for myself or former employer. And then also like I think even in like you know, circles of like mental health, like I got I got texts and tweets from people in the mental health field being like what a beacon, what a what an amazing precedent to set that, Like, hey, it's okay to do you, especially after you know, coaching through a pandemic, coaching through uh, the Kyler Murray situation this year, coaching through a GM who who took some time away for his own health reasons. Like I don't know, there's a lot of negative. Actually should said there wasn't a lot of negative. There was some skeptics, there are some people and like I got, oh, yeah, a little upset when people were like, yeah, but you know, he's a middle finger to the NFL and you don't do that. I don't think that's what it was I think Clip has been through a lot and he just needs some time away, and he's taken that time away. And I don't think anything of it. But Aaron, when I say the tweet that was put out from Fox and the tweet that I put out, I'm not like, Look, I'd be a lot wealthier and in a lot better position if I was an Instagram superstar or a YouTube influencer or a Twitter machine. I'm not. I've report news and I give my it's this one. I mean I think I had Like I mean, I'm not kidding. The video from Fox had like eighteen million views of me just saying that the head coach is about a one way ticket to Thailand. Were you surprised it took off that much or you saw this when you heard me say it to you, were you like, oh that's juicy. Yeah, when you said it, I was, I was like, oh that's a like I'm that's a good nugget. And then Saturday, I remember like opening NFL Reddit and being like oh my god, like here it is and like so busy. Um. Yeah, I mean I can't blame him. Uh. I think you know, you go to Thailand, you get some of the best street food in the world. Like he's gonna have a great time. He's gonna have some amazing food and like beautiful scenery, good break. I like it. Yeah, he's a great dude, and he's a world traveler and he's one of these guys that that does this and we'll take advantage of the moment. But he's also not a disrespectful guy, So I don't want it to come off as him like, you know, saying, you know what, screw the NFL. That's not it. I wouldn't be shocked if he was coaching again. Um, maybe not this year, maybe this year. I don't know, like not knowing, Like there are a lot of people who love Cliff in this league that they say, hey, I actually think he's a really good play designer. Like you can come work for us, and you don't have to, you know, be here in February working on draft boards. You can come in July or August or whatever. Uh so to to tie the lupe so I so, of course me if you if you have listened to the podcast and you you know me and Aaron sometimes when we have a good interview with a coach, I'm like, maybe we shouldn't put that out. It might not put them in the best light. Like I had a pit in my stomach, like a real pit in my stomach, and I'm like, do I reach out to Cliff, like I didn't know this would go this way. He's here on a vacation, like if this looks like I was being selfish like putting this out as like my news went in truth, it's about him and he needs to get some time away and the last thing he wants to do is turn on his phone and be trending on Twitter. This dude is such a good guy. He reaches out to me and says, hey, I saw saw the stuff. Don't sweat it. You're a good man, You're a good soul, Like just you know, I hope you're doing great and keep on crushing the NFL season and do the best job you can. And I'm like, oh my god, I could wrap my arms around him. I'm like, that's such grace because a lot of a lot of guys in my position, and I like all those guys like I don't know how they sleep with it. Sometimes when it's like here's the gossip, this coach is getting fired, and it's like God, there's a human element to it, and it's like the wind of reporting that versus the like the stress of like the guy's family finding out on Twitter or your bottom line ticker and gosh, like they're so good at what they do. I think schefter and rap report those two right now are like the day to day like you know, breaking the news and stuff like that, and it's it takes a lot of you know, it takes a lot of negotiating in your head what to report one not to report this one to me, I thought was like a fun, silly piece. I wasn't firing Cliff Kingsbury. And yet when it went as viral as it did, and like the amount of people that reached out, I'm talking like celebrities like that I don't know tweeting me. And then you know coaches that I don't have relationships with with like unknown numbers being like hey it's blank saw the Kingsbury thing. F Yeah, like finally someone and it's like I was blown away by it. Um, But Cliff, as we record this is still in Thailand. If you're if you're over in Thailand and you see him snap a pick just to give proof. Um, we'll see how that all plays out. The other story that I had that that kind of went pig was that mcveigh's coming back, and I broke that one in a so many ways on Friday, but then on Saturday on The Fox Show, explained that there's going to be staff changes made. I talked to Sean for a while yesterday. This is Tuesday. He talked to him yesterday. He's invigorated, like he's back. He's he I thought he's gonna take three months. He took three days. He's just wired in a way that's like I can't I can't give up on these guys, and I just don't want to be that guy who quit when the going got tough. And I explained it on this podcast that he's been through so much on a personal level and not talking real stuff like I went up to get into all the details, but real stuff death of family members and and his in law's family in in the Ukraine, like real stuff. He's he's dealing with that too, um. But his whole thing was he wanted to find the joy and football again, and he not that he had lost it, but like he had this like feverish pursuit in Seen and eighteen and then they won it last year, and like he still has that desire to have that same joy, and it was kind of like, so one of the things that he's gonna be working on is building up a different staff. And there's nothing against the guys who helped him win the Super Bowl title, and some guys who were in the building last year that weren't with Super Bowl title that are gonna be elsewhere moving forward. But I think he just is like, I need to surround it with myself as different guys. I need to mix it up. I'm gonna take some time, um, and I'm gonna take a lot of time on me, which sounds selfish or it sounds like, you know, everything opposite of team sports. But um, in the last few years, Mcveisman spread very thin. He's burned it on both ends, and the result was just a burnt out cat who you know, was trying to muster up every piece of energy. He can't to coach a team that was obviously injured and undermanned, and he's like, I didn't like the person I was, I didn't like the coach I was, and I just need to be cognizant of it. So I think we've talked in mental health with Cliff Kingsbury. I think there's a mental health aspect to how Sean McVeigh approaches um the future of his coaching career. And I'd be very surprised if if he wasn't open and honest and vulnerable and how he's approaching that and how he can have more of a work life balance and uh, be a better coach, be a better man, be a better friend, be a better fan member, all that stuff, and not be so obsessive. And because the only way he's known it is it goes back to like the gruten way. It goes back to his grandfather's way of like you're in at two thirty in the morning and you're grinding tape and you're just going, going, going, going, And he realized he wasn't happy doing that. So I don't think i'm speaking out of turn. I asked him to come on the podcast this week. He said, Uh, that time will come. He's still taking some time to just kind of lay low um, which I appreciate. The last piece and then we'll get to to our guest, who's gonna be awesome. By the way, the last piece is the Sean Payton sweepstakes as I will update this as if I'm like following Panda Watch or something. Um, it is officially January seventeenth, which on your calendar might be the day after Martin Luther King Day. It might be the second or third Tuesday in January, or it's Sean Payton can interview Day. He can officially do interviews today. I don't know if it's reported or not. Denver I believe is on the docket and they will be coming to him, which I think is uh kind of a boss move. You got these new owners up in Denver and they'll be flying to l A to meet with him on his grounds always like there's always like little stuff like this. It's almost like a chessboard and I'm like, oh, that's interesting. Um. He will meet with the Houston owners Cal McNair and I believe Nick Serio, who is the current GM and from what I gather from everything we're here in to Houston, Nick's job is not in jeopardy. After they fired love It it it was like Nicks might be gone, but it sounds like Nick is gonna be okay and safe and at the end of the week he will be flying to New York to interview with David Tepper, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, which is interesting because the Saints are in the same division as the Carolina Panthers. The Saints have to trade Sean Payton to whoever he goes to and have to get draft picks back. The question I have is, are the Saints offering are asking for the same stuff from the Panthers that they would from the Texans or from the Broncos. The Broncos and the Texans they are non threats to the New Orleans Saints. The Carolina Panthers they will face twice a year and their fans have to watch Sean Payton and Panthers at I'd be intrigued to see how those negotiations go down, if they even get to that point. Um two other teams were they were thinking it was gonna be Arizona. They just hired their GM and there's been no official word as to when he is interviewing with Arizona. I believe they asked for permission, but I haven't heard anything about that. In the Indianapolis, Colt seemed that there was nothing there. So right now it looks like three teams, and as we record this on Tuesday, Brandon Staley seems to be the head coach of the Chargers that kind of blew up big on Saturday night after that all time collapse, and then Sunday everyone was waiting for the other shooter drop. Then Monday everyone was waiting for the other shooter drop. Staley is still the coach right now, and as much as Sean Payton in l A is a perfect fit because of the young quarterback, but also he's already living there now and he loves it. Trust me, he loves it. Um. He talks about his life in Manhattan Beach to me often and he and his wife sky Lean are like as as happy as could be living in l A right now. Um, I don't think that job is going to be open as of now. As we record this on Tuesday, they did they just uh, news just broke that they fired Lombardi. So I assume that means stay. I think so. I think so good nugget. Ironically, Lombardi was one of Peyton's old offensive coordinators in New Orlean. Um, yeah, that was the expectation they'd make some staff changes. But I think Brandon's okay and the players came out like really positive on Brandon Staley. Afterwards, we chose, you know, pleasant surprise after that kind of loss, and then the other ones to Cowboys, how do you fire Mike McCarthy, like everyone thought if they you know, absolutely blew it, that that might be a conversation. Mike McCarthy has had a perfect performance. We'll see how what happens in Sancisco. I'm never gonna count anything out, but I don't know if Jerry's looking to fire Mike McCarthy after two thirt win seasons and two straight years to the playoffs, a playoff win, Like, I don't know. It seems like the Cowboys have a pretty good coach and to have to trade for Sean Payton, pay out McCarthy, pay mcpayton what he wants. That doesn't seem as likely now as it might have might have seemed a couple of weeks ago after they lost like the Washington Commanders in a Week eight team game. So that's the lay of the land there. Um, we're gonna hit Lamar Jackson later in this podcast. We're gonna hit some Tom Brady, We're gonna hit Mike McDaniel. Was he vaping or not. Um, we're gonna hit all that. And our guest is one of my favorite people in the NFL. It's a guy that I used to love covering as an analyst. It's amazing my path to him. His dad took me under his wing a little bit at Fox Sports when I was uh brought over from the sidelines of the studios, like really good dude, his father, and then I got to meet his son, and I think we're like kindred spirits from a different time. Uh. That guy's Chris Long. We're gonna have Chris Long on the podcast after this. As I mentioned earlier, it's one of my favorite people I've met in the NFL. I initially got to know his father really well, and then now we've got a really cool friendship. I think he's got as good insights as anybody, and it's often on Twitter, it's also on his podcast. Uh, and just says a fresh look at the game from an ex player's perspective, which is crazy to say because he is an ex player now a couple of years removed. Uh, let's welcome in the man, Chris Long. Chris how you doing man? How are you? I'm doing great? You know there's so many fun storylines to the games, but I always find myself fixated on, like some of the offseason stuff that is already percolating. Uh. I said in my intro here my monologue, I broke the Kingsbury story, and I didn't in a million years, Chris, I didn't think that thing was going to go as big as it did. And I almost had this pit in my stomach that like I was violating some trust with Clift, even though I know he has no problem with it. We've texted since. Why did that story take off so much that a head coach was going to Thailand and going on a one way ticket? Why do you think that blew up the way it did? Because I'm still coming to grips with why that was such a fascination everywhere. Okay, there's a few factors. Number one, he's young, he's good looking. That's what they say. Um, it seems like a fun place to go. Uh. It's also a very un NFL head coach like thing to do. Like, we have certain things that governed the schedule in our year, and woman was like, you get fired, you want to work the phones, you you want to be close to home. The whole thing. I can remember being in in East Africa, climbing kilimanjar Oh as a free agent using a SAT phone, trying to trying to get ahold of people. And I knew that when I went on the trip, uh, there was a good chance that maybe I get passed up for somebody because I was asleep, or I couldn't get to the sat phone or they can't reach me. And you know, like sometimes you just make decisions where you're like, I need to put myself in my peace of mind first. And it sounds like Cliff, who is probably justifiably burnt out and uh and and and needed some space just said, which I think is such a different thing to do for an NFL head coach or a guy who just got can So I thought it was cool. I think everybody fantasizes about just getting out of dodge, right and like the dude actually did it, and uh, I don't. I'm sure he's still in contact with teams over there and that sort of thing, but it's it's not traditional um And and Thailand also, I think is has become a place of intrigues and the hangover. I think there's a whole lot of factors that lead to that being a pretty provocative story. Um, but it's not what you imagine we were texting. I was imagining he was over there just partying and you know, just letting loose and um, you know, he just is getting some space and and needed a trip. So and I love it too, and I said. The amount of responses I got them were positive from funny people on Twitter with memes and all that stuff. But the coaching community, so many coaches reached out to me, guys whose numbers I don't have where it says like unknown number and it's like high Peter. I'm blank blank, and I am the special Teams coordinator with Team X. I just want to tell you, if you speak to Cliff, tell him hell, yeah, that is awesome. Like everyone like using me as a conduit to like thank him for it. The other aspect was like a strong like mental health community like outreach of like yes and today's day and age, Yes, it's okay to just And that's what every everybody's got, that anim where they fantasize about just getting out of dodge. I know I do all the time, but we have things to constrain us and keep us home. And keep us busy. And so I think a little part of everybody did a fist pump when they heard that Cliff was on a flight to Thailand. And then also meme culture. You know, it's just fun to imagine Cliff Kingsbury. You can people were putting up graphics Cliff Kingsbury to Thailand. You know, Cliff Kingsberry on a flight to Thailand, one way ticket, that sort of thing. So it was like fun and it was like good for the guy. I mean, it's so easy I feel like now to just be so hard on coaches, like he didn't do a good job, he got canned, there were there were factors there that that were probably out of his control. It didn't seem like a joy to coach Kyler Murray at times. UM. But the bottom line is these are people, and I think sometimes we can go so hard on these people, um that that it can be kind of ugly. Uh. And I feel like for Cliff uh to just get away from it and not hear the noise and be somewhere else is it's also not a bad a bad strategy. I also like, you know, another head coach called me and was like, you know, anyone who's like, because there was a small contingent and some you know, sports media people and some NFL writers being like, it's a it's a real f you to the league, and it's not fair to all the different guys who don't have that, and like, why would you do that? Why would why would? Why would you boast about it? And he didn't boast about it. I reported, and I don't. I sort of regret doing it even I don't really I'm having a weird time with it, to be honest, because times sometimes saying something that's true, uh, and and feeling like I shouldn't have been the one to say it, you know, and I feel like I've betrayed um. So he's got such such an amazing heart and grace, like I'd sit in the bottom proactively. He he texted me, it was like, dude, this thing went wild. It's all good. I love you, brother, Like, I can't wait to see what. So he's he's cool. But I didn't. I didn't feel great, like how was in the middle finger to the league. So there's thoughts that like you should be rushing back to be the quarterback coach of the New Orleans Saints or something. And that was my point. It's like he just got fired. There's no rule that you have to be the offensive coordinator of the Patriots if you're fired as a head coach, especially not a week afterwards. So you have to have two head coaches fired to be the offensive coordinator of the Patriots. That's right. You have multiple guys just kind of working both levers um, he's awesome. He'll come back from Thailand, he's not living there, and he'll be back and maybe he'll work next time. He might, he might. I think he's coming back, but maybe he'll work next year. And like he's got enough friends in the league where if he needed to, you know, it's scratch that itch. Fine, but Cliff does not want to be in like draft meetings right now. He does not want to be talking about free agent meetings. So do you do your thing? I just it blew me with Chris. It was the number one trending story for like three days and any time, but any time that happens, and you're a reporter and this is a close friend and also a source, and all that stuff that you might say, and I the amount of things that I don't share online, like the mass if I don't share on Fox because I want to maintain the relationship to think that I might have hurt him in some way or burned him in some way, or change the way that people look at him. But for the most part, it seems pretty positive. No, But I definitely get the same way. And you deal a lot more in information than I do. And so, like just I put myself in y'all shoes. Sometimes it's a really crazy business, like you know, and and sometimes information can be hurtful to people, and sometimes seemingly benign information can be hurtful to people. And that's what I always worry about. And so I definitely took my cap to you for having to navigate those waters, because it'd be hard for me. I kind of like just sitting here in the game. Our podcast is all you know, we deal in some information, but mostly what we deal in is like some guys with maybe a little more knowledge in the average person on the couch watching games, you know, and just be awesome with your buddies. But like when I get in your situation where we have to make news, I getting anxiety and it's and it's putting food on the table for me. So you know, McVeigh was an interesting one because we talked daily and I knew every step of the way, and he's asking me, so let's just not make this a thing. Let's be l LOO And then, like, you know, to her credit, Diana Russini breaks it on Friday, and I'm like, good for Diana, you know, like good for her, Like that's cool. I didn't feel comfortable coming out and being like McVeigh is coming back because I also know he's firing coaches and like the tone is all weird. So it's weird. It's definitely weird, and I understand like and you know, more than me obviously talking to him, being tight with him. I'm a big fan of Sean mcveigh's um. I've met him before. I thought everybody that I worked with in St. Louis that then went to l A has been a big fan of his. UM. I just thought he was I in a TV job that maybe didn't work out. That was my That was my like you know, outside looking end view of it. But I do think the l A job as we were, because one day we ranked the attractiveness of jobs is not as far down as you think. If and this is what I would do. I would trade Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald and I would. I would, I would start over, I would get you know, like I would. I would take the year with a bridge, see how close to Caleb Williams I could get, and then that job in a year looks a lot better than it did. Um, you know a week or two ago. I mean, I'm not sure how much capital you could you could recoup for two pieces like that, but it's got to get you close to back on track. And out of respect for Aaron Donald, who I think is gonna play next year, you have very good reason to believe that. Um. I know there was the Twitter bio thing, but as a former teammate who was his mentor and saying and mentor, but I definitely, I definitely was there when he was a kid. Uh and and uh, I just think the fire in him to to finish strong and and to to to reach these heights man that so few have reached. I mean he he is within striking distance of a lot of legendary players. I think personally, before it's all said and done, he's the best inside guy of all time. And I think it's like me and Joe Green and you can go through all the guys but John Randall, but he was ahead of John Randall. His pace was ahead of John Randall. And you know, if you talk about me and Joe Green, like you know, it's hard to adjust for arras, but me and Joe Green was to seventy five. I was just talking to my dad about this, Like Aaron Donald, who actually ironically probably is two eight five, so can wet now at this point in his career. And it's just a different game. And so like when you when you evaluate him against it, I say all that to say, he's got an opportunity to just go to heights that people haven't been. And you know, I don't think a rebuild because at least in the the immediacy, it is a reset. I don't know about a rebuild, but it's a reset. However you want to just you know, uh, separate those two words. Um, I don't. I don't think he deserves that at this stage in his career. I would love to see him on the move, like I would love to see him go back to Pittsburgh. You know that's that there have to be some like hey, I'm going to win, or there's some nostalgic, you know reason, you know, like, um, Pittsburgh will be fun. I don't know what Fletcher Cox's deal is going to be in Philly. You can never count Howie Roseman out of making a move for somebody. Um, there's gonna be these It's such a cool offseason because of stuff like this. And I'm not saying Jalen's gonna get moved or Aaron's gonnat moved, but all this stuff is on the table. Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Tom Brady, like this might be the wildest offseason. Um, and the league hasn't figured out with the calendar. The calendar it's it's it's just so it's so phased in correctly, so you're always watching. And this offseason even expanding the season one season, pushing Super Back one one week, but keeping the combine the same week instead of a three week lag. It's super Bowl weekend off combo. It's like you don't even it's it's it's NonStop. It think you get a breath. Back to Aaron Donald, I honestly think this and Sean and I even talked about the players and the roster and all that stuff. The TV thing is interesting. I think he's definitely entertained that last year. I don't think I think he knew going into it that those seats were filled, And it's not like he was fixated on that. This year. I think it was more just the burnout factory all that stuff that we were talking about with Cliff. But um, Aaron Donald last year I think was a lot closer to retiring than people realize. And I also think, and you tell me you know him, but this is from what I hear from people in l A, like he does have an eye on some day being like the Rock, or some day being in action movies like your Father and being in Firestorm or some of that stuff. Like it's not like some funny gag. I think Hollywood has suited him. Well. The question is that was last year after they won the title. He's shirtless on the state, you know. Does he come out and be the Rock this year or does it have to be give me one more season somewhere else or whatever it is, or with the Ram said, let they build that back up. And I think the world, Aaron, I think he's he's just such a I mean for somebody who's so powerful, you know, like physically, his his persona, the whole thing. His humility is incredible. Um, his work ethic is incredible. I can remember him in St. Louis. I tell this story a lot where you know I was usually I'd stay after in camp and watch film, and you know, the parking lot would be kind of empty, and you know, obviously he didn't have a car yet, so I'd look out in the parking lot. It would be no, no cars there. I would go down to the line room try to watch Film's one place we watch film be eight at night. And I repeatedly, over the course of the first week camp had to go in and decide whether I was gonna unseat this rookie who's trying to get better. He was in there in the dark room, he's the only guy in the building, or was I going to get my time. And I'm not an iPad guy, But what I do is I just say I'll go watch my iPad because I was so impressed by this kid and his work ethic. He was immediately a pro, and everybody in the d line room knew that he was gonna be Hall of Famer the first week. So you know, you give guys this much talent, this much power, um, this much you know, gravitas. I mean, he's one of the most iconic players in the last decade in our league, and most of them kind of abuse it. I just feel like it's such an easy thing to get drunk on your success, and he's he's never been that. He's still hungry, you know. I do think the retirement thing almost happened, But I think this year was so tough, and obviously the end of the season with an injury for him, which is kind of unheard of. I think he wants to finish strong, and I think he I think sometimes like winning a Super Bowl can make you feel like, yeah, and I want to walk away. I'm so tired. You know, he's never been on a run like this. When he was in St. Louis, we finished in January and you go to l A. They're bad in the beginning. You don't get to feel like what this calendar feels like to go deep into the postseason. You know, he he's got a little fan Emily. You know, his wife Eric is awesome. They're just great people that can It's like J. J. Watt had a baby boy and then he's like, I'm out yeah. I mean, like, and that happened for me late in my career where it was like by design we waited to have kids because my dad played thirteen years. I know, hear him talk about what it was like to come home and be kind of checked out for me, you know, and so like part of that is the burnout of the moment you're transitioning in your life into having a family and all that stuff. Like I believe this year, being hurt sitting there watching it had to make him want to play more. And if I'm Aaron Donald, I probably don't want to go through a rebuild at the same time, you know, because when you get older, you're like I can kind of pick I can call my shots a little more. Look, you, you stuck it out with some you know, struggling St. Louis teams, but you end your career with the Patriots and with the Eagles and hoisting Lombardies. But no one was like, who's this mercenary. No, Like, you were a free agent, you signed with these teams and you played big roles. The thought of Donald going somewhere else is fascinating, um, but all look at all those veterans on the Rams, like, you're right, like it's gonna okay, So they bring everybody back and their ten and seven in there a while they're still I don't think they're gonna because I I don't believe Stafford's got got got it in him physically anymore. And that's not personal. I'm not like taking I love Matt Stafford, but the guy's been through hell on Earth. Like before he got to l A, he was he was like Buddy Lee in Detroit for a decade, dude, like you know, And it felt like the way their offense went, they were back to being the Detroit Lions. The offensive line was decimated. He had one trans you know, target, but outside of that, they were just throwing to guys that like, and I felt like he had to do too much. And I just don't. I don't see them next year being in the position to make the playoffs is so early. I just think about the cap, the draft capital, all that stuff. You look at Jalen Ramsey, he played so well in the last game to the season, was really good against Yeah, you know, like he's got that guy deserves to be playing football, meaningful football somewhere. How about send him to Jacksonville you know, let him finish, send him back, you know, like I'm just working my my you know, my fantasy. But yeah, I mean like it could be such a fun offseason and for l A, the job could could flip pretty quickly into being Hey, it ain't so bad. You know. It looked like we were in capell look like we we didn't have any capital. But maybe we can move some pieces and take a break for a year. Yeah. The Caleb Williams thing is interesting because he's the first real transcendent quarterback in the last couple of years. The other guy is the North Carolina kid whose name is May. I believe I hear so much about him. There's always already this thing, and I remember it when it was with Griffin and Luck. It's like everyone thinks that it's this guy, but the real guys to do it at U N see and that that'll be fun for the next year. Question quickly, before we wrap your take on the Lamar situation, let's take it from Lamar standpoint, how the season ended and where that where that situation lies right now. Well before the season, I went on ESPN and I got murdered because I said that to a can't throw the deep ball. I don't. I still don't feel that way. Um. And and I said that I think you could see Lamar in Miami before it's all said and done, which I think would be a lot of fun. Okay, So like I'm saying that to say, it's interesting when you look at certain teams that might be suitors for Lamar, because I do think it's he's played his last game in Baltimore. I mean, do you really do you don't think that every bridge is and burn as a player, like once you go do this stuff publicly, it's I think it's I think the bridge was quietly burning for a long time, you know, but then this was like, you know, just I do think he was hurt. Obviously it was hurt. I think we've been dealing in a lot of hypotheticals. Hey, we don't know how hurt he is. Some of the quotes after the game were like Lamar is walking around fifty He's limping around the facility. Um. I also think after their their season finale game against the Angles that reading the quotes from the players, it was pretty telling. Isaiah likely had a quote that was like Lamar will always be family, Like what does that mean, that's a rookie in the fourth round, Like who just got to know him? Like already got his back? Yeah, it already got his back. He's got his back. But always he's always gonna be family. Sounds like like we kind of know, you know, how players know stuff. And in the public out here we think one thing, But in that building it's so tight knit it's not getting out that maybe the you know, the kind of the status quo is that, Hey, next year, we're gonna have to we're gonna have to figure it out because this bridge is burned, as you put it. Um, I do think, you know, one of the things that people talked about was why wouldn't at the game this that in third he went to the Pittsburgh game the week after he got hurt. There's something you could glean from that. It's also like if you wanted to get him back next week and he's this fluid in his knee and all that stuff, like it's legitimately not the best thing for him to be standing up. Sean Bayton said to me, like any lower leg injury, you wouldn't have that guy on the field. I don't care who it is. If it's a captain, or if it's Tom Brady, you would never put him on the field just about the off chance that the he gets run into. Yeah, you get thrown into, You get thrown into. Just the standing around can really blow your knee up. Being on the plane, even if it's only for an hour or two, can really blow your knee up. You know. I'm sure if they wanted him back the next week that he's probably receiving treatment in Baltimore, where they have the best modalities to do that in the best set up. So I've tried not to jump out of the gym on some of these anecdotal kind of sidebar conversations. But I think from a football standpoint Baltimore, the Greg Roman thing is run its course right. The red zone calls were bad. JK. Dominds needed the ball, and I think it's legitimate to gripe about the weapons that Lamar has had from the beginning. And I'd hate to waste the generational talent because let's face it, he's played the game a different way than your average quarterback. I'm not saying he's not a pocket passers. A pocket passer guy can sling it, but having him in your design run game over course of five years, carrying the ball, extending plays, like there's an attrition factor to that that other quarterbacks aren't aren't enduring. So like his window maybe not as big as we think it is. And I think that, you know, the the impetus to get him somewhere as a fan where he has the weapons that we can enjoy him fully flourished. Like I'd love to see it in the next in this next deal. I don't want to see Lamar finally get um a good set up at thirty one, you know, because like I don't know what he's gonna look like. And so someone texted me and said, and it was in the guy in the league. He was like, from the Baltimore standpoint, you've seen Lamar for five years. Do you put all your chips or all your eggs in that basket if you're not sure he's gonna be even better in the next five years. And I go, you can't look at it that way. I'm with you. I think baltim Or it should have paid him whatever he wanted. And I know that sounds crazy, and like, especially with the guarantees and all that stuff, but I think it's gone really sour. I'm gonna flip it to the sports media critique of it because on my show, the one before Your Father's Fox NFL kickoff on Saturday, Michael Vick and Charles Woodson came out and they were pretty adamant, like, yeah, he might be hurt, but if he could even go, it would have been cool to see him go. And and you know, people were bouncing back at Charles Woodson on Twitter saying, yeah, but r G three's career and like, you know, c wood does not give guys are playing hurt every week now. Again, I want to couch this with what we said earlier is like we're dealing with hyper We don't have patheticals, so like, you know, I don't know what Charles and Mike knew. But let's say let's say he was a game time decision, truly like, which which means you probably might be able to go, but you gotta get out there and run around and figure it out. Well, one, he'd probably be in since he you know, warming up and out on the fee. He hadn't even practiced. He hasn't practiced in five weeks, you know. But hypothetically, let's say I think We've just entered an era where fans and even media are so removed from like how football players feel sometimes we think for football players, and like the resounding kind of sentiment is like, in this era of player empowerment, hey, if you don't have your contract and don't play well, you're also saying the other fifty two guys in that hypothetical scenario, and the fans and the coaches and and hey, we're in this era where that could be good business. But you can't be surprised when football players feel like, hey, if you can go in a playoff game, you probably should, because that's the way. Like I remember Martellis Bennett calling Jimmy G a because Jimmy G didn't play early in the year that I was there, when Brady got Um injured, Set came in. We had played the Dolphins, Jimmy G got piled driven into the ground, his shoulder was about to fall off. And the next week we play the Bills and we get throttled a little bit and Jacoby play, and a couple of years later, Marty's like, yeah, he was for that, like this that in the third and I think even some of you know, our former teammates were kind of like, yeah, I would have liked to have seen him play. Um. You know, I feel like it kind of depends on the player, right the way fans and the media react. Everybody's like, yeah, do you hear what Marty B said about Jimmy G. That's not a good sign for Jimmy G. That his teammates felt that way about him. Well, not every teammate felt that way. Not every I didn't feel that way. You know what It's like, Yeah, I think there's a mixture in an NFL locker room of like how guys feel that there's the old school NFL guys and that generational like mccordy on my show. Not anything ubrasive. It's just like he doesn't have a contract. I don't for a second, and because I played her. But I wouldn't spide him for not I wouldn't him right, I wouldn't spite him in again, like for anybody who's zoned out the last five minutes, like I'm talking about a hypothetical, which I don't believe was the case. I believe judging by everything that I was reading, that you that you hear you put in two and two together that he's not ready to play when they played Cincinnati. It just wasn't worth it. Um. But say, you know, it's one of those situations, bro. I've had a high ankle my contract year, my contract year in St. Louis, I had a high ankle sprain that keeps guys out a month, you know, six weeks, two weeks, whatever it is. I shot that up every week because it was my contract year, and we I couldn't walk during the week, I'd numb it up and I'd go out and dragged that thing around. And that was the best year in my career. Had thirteen sacks, and I made the money that I'm still living off of all my next deal, my next big deal with the Rams. So sometimes risk works out and sometimes it doesn't. Now the downside of that is my ankle was never the same, and I truly don't believe that. Do you still feel it? Well, yeah, but it's a little thing. It's it's just you lose your ankle flexion you as a rusher. That's huge. I mean, like on my inside foot now I can't bend as well. So my game changed a little bit. But I also had the money at that point and you know, I still was a good player, but but it just there were certain things I could do in two thousand eleven that I couldn't do anymore. And so like that's the inside looking too. Hey, I'm sitting here, I'm on a big rookie deal. I have the security of my big rookie deal. I want to play because I want to make another big deal um, and I'm having a great year. It's like halfway through the season, I'm gonna keep sticking this thing out. Like maybe I could have been I could have shut myself down. But I was also an idiot too that in two thousand and fourteen when I had ankle surgery, I rushed back and I was terrible, and I do think it affected my free agency stock in fourteen and fifteen, trying to play with an ankle surgery and a broken leg um, trying to be a hero. And the bottom line is people don't care. Nobody's gonna help you if you look like on film and your teammates who you you feel so indebted to, and you feel awkward walking around the building, you go out there and suit up. At the end of the day, they're not gonna rescue you. Nobody's gonna talk you up and convince other teams to sign you. Those teams are going off that ape. So everything is a calculus based on the individual in the context around the situation. And I also think the arrow were in factors into how we receive it. Dude, that was beautiful. Great. Mccordy was big on the tape stuff too, saying hell, no, you don't want to put out any bad tape. It doesn't doesn't know especially if a Yeah, last question for you was Mike McDaniel vaping, Right, So we were talking about this. I I'm big on like giving people the benefit of the doubt in situations. If if if you brought that to court and you had twelve jurors, do you really think that there's enough evidence to charge him guilty of the jewel on the sideline too? You know? And also my whole thing was like people were like, well, he's he he's vaping for sure. I go, Okay, Well you've never seen him in a cloud of jewel smoke. No one's ever caught him. Because if it can happen in the playoff game, it can happen any week. You really think that, like somebody on Fox didn't zoom in on him if he if he's a jewel guy all season long? No gloves in Miami, right, no gloves like to you know, because he had the black gloves on you you're gonna tell me we just missed it all year? Okay. Then somebody was like, oh, well, he was just really nervous for the playoffs. If you're so nervous for the playoffs that you gotta hit him any cigarette, then maybe you shouldn't meet coaching, you know. I mean, I don't think he was. I think it was a highlighter. And then they turned away just after we would have seen an exhale, so like, we don't know for sure. I texted him, I know Mike, well, I love Mike. He hasn't responded, and granted they might have some coaching stuff, but I think it's a pretty important You thought that Kingsbury, Thailand was big. If I could break the news that Mike McDaniel was in fact vaping on the sideline, that would be a good school. Would do me a favor and tell Mike McDaniel that I I I am sticking to my guns. Everybody thinks he's jeweling, but there's one guy in the media. That's Long. Yeah, I got his back. He was not jeweling. There's not enough evidence to indict him on on smoking like a teenager on the sideline. It just getting it in, getting it in, dude, thank you. Where can we find your podcast? Who are your partners on that podcast? And where can we just follow the Chris Long experience? Okay, so green Light pod you can find it anywhere you can find your podcast right now. I got my brother Kyle working with me. We do our Monday show with one of my high school buddies, Making Gunner, who's a real estate agent but he really knows ball. Um. Then you know, I've got another former teammate, Nate Collins working with the green Light team. And Bo Allen who just left town. So little groups growing. We've had Nicole our Back joining us through the season talk college football. Uh. We just we love to bus and just kind of keep it simple. So um, yeah, I don't do the hard stuff like you. Peter. Yeah. I think it's interesting because you could have a chair on any of these shows. Your father obviously is the all time legend, if not one of the all time legends. Your brothers doing CBS. Um, You've chosen to kind of do things on your own terms. I find it really inspiring. Yeah, it's a little bit of a self sabotage thing. I'm pretty good at that. Uh you know, like sure I maybe could work towards having one of those good jobs, but I also I understand that there's a big process with that, and like you never want to say, like I could just you know, because there's guys going to broadcast boot camp and move into places. And I think I've been in a crossroads at times, like in as a media guy where I'm like, should I just do that? And if I got to ask myself, then I don't really want it, you know, like if if if I gotta if I if I'm like, damn, I gotta take a flight up there every week to do that study, I gotta get suits I gotta do, then I don't really want to do that. And honestly, the couple of times I've been on TV, I don't like the attention. Really, So you said you got like blown up on ESPN because he said that, And like I fly from New York to l A every week and put on a suit and you see me on Good Morning Football Show, put me in that with that tie, and I'll get up there and I'll and I'm Mr NFL Insider, and even there sometimes I'm like, God, this doesn't feel normal. But like that's what Fox does. That's a CBS does, that's an NBC does. You're sitting right now in a car, hard hat, chilling with a bunch of bobble heads behind you. I can't like it looks pretty good on the podcasting has gotten better, like where the money is very good, Like, you know, maybe i'd be making a little less money starting out doing studio stuff. You know. For me, it's just like I do not like I am over, whether it's Twitter or whether it's like a guy on the street. I'm over arguing with people and NFL fans. You can't give a take without a million people. I thought I felt bad for Mike Vick on Saturday, and I'll talk to him. He's been great on our show, but like he comes out with that take and he's just coming honestly, he's like I played on a on a spring to mcl it sucked, but like if he can go, I would love to see him go because I never want a super Bowl and it's the ultimate whatever and Mike. You know, Mike got my got crushed crushed for it, you got skewered, And I'm like, well, look, it's very low hanging fruit to just come out there and be like, Lamar should do what's best for him or Lamar, we don't know if he's like my kind of take. And if you have a take on TV, you're gonna get cobbered. Yeah, and I and you know, it's it's just being on TV, having your face there. I get really uncomfortable performing and I don't like performing, and I don't like being told what to say, and so like here that never happens, you know. So I mean, for the most part, I think find your groove in this in this side of things is just having conversations. And that's why I know you like doing the podcast. You know, it's like a night and a nice change of pace. So I love it. I love Good Morning Football because I feel like we're the closest thing to a podcast where it's just for people. Yes, and you guys do a really good job. And by the way, mccordy is great or at all is great. Like we've talked about this before, Like you guys have not missed a beat. I mean, it was just really well respected. And I'm especially excited to see McCarty because I know I know Jason a little bit and he's just's he's fun to see on there. Yeah. Um, I appreciate you so much, man, I think you're a unicorn in the sports media landscape, but also just a great dude. And hopefully you'll be at Super Bowl this year, party on a party on a rooftop like last time. Let's do it, man, you'll be a little warmer, I think I know. All right, Chris Long, great stuff, man, Thank you, Thanks Peter. Chris Long was great, and I have a feeling our next guest is going to be great as well. All right, So if you listen to the podcast every week, we've got an NFL guest of some sort of coach at GM, of a current player, a former player. And then we also will have on a friend of mine who doesn't work in the NFL. It could either be a friend from college, from high school, friend from elementary school. In this case, it's a buddy of mine from Baltimore. And oh yes, we're talking Ravens. We're gonna do a Ravens deep dive with my buddy, Jeremy, Jeremy, how are you doing? I'm doing great. Peter, how are you this morning? Are you great? You don't sound great when you're texting me all night on Sunday about play calls? Like, what is the what is the feel of Ravens fans right now as it's Tuesday morning after that loss? Well, I can't lie. I do have some relief after all the drama that we experienced towards the end of the season. Um, this has been after being a Ravens fan for twenty plus years. This was the most joyless playoff experience that we've had the last part of the year. You know, the lack of excitement. It just felt like one of those TV shows that used to be really good, but you just you know it's bad and you're still finishing out the episodes because you're such a fan of the of the series at one point. Yeah, Like I felt like Homeland had a really good first three seasons and then we kind of teetered out at the end, But you just watched it at a commitment because of the joy you used to have. Let's get into it, Um, where do you want to start off first? Because you're critical of everybody, and I love that about you. Do you want to start with Lamar Hardball the play call? Where do you want to go? I think we should start with the longest standing person, that's John Harball. So you know, I think you have to take a back and look at the lack of playoffs success over the past ten years and the lack of the ability to adapt to modern NFL passing offense. So you know, Hardball pretty much had a rookie quarterback. There was an m v P on a rookie deal. Um and his brother said at Michigan that's like starting on third base, right, I mean, how many gms start their job, right, how many gms start their job with an NFL m v P. That's a quarterback on a rookie deal. And this what you saw, you know against Since on Sunday Night. That was the result of building a team with those advantages, you know, So I mean for me, that's you know, that's where I would start. When you see Hardball being a little short with Melissa Stark on on Sunday Night, and you see some of the play calls offensively from Greg Roman, it starts opening wounds for a lot of Ravens fans, and I heard from them all the time when I'm on the show, saying, fire Roman, Fire Roman. Do you blame Roman for what's going on and how this last few years have gone? Yeah, I mean I blame Greg Roman. Obviously Roman should have been replaced years ago. I mean you're looking at the playoffs right now. Do you think the Bills are the Niners regret replacing Greg Roman at this point? Look at them, both of them fired Bret Roman in the past ten years, and look at them. They're not suffering. Um, even the Eagles. You know, people say hardball is not replaceable. The Eagles fired Andy Reid, won a Super Bowl, fired that coach, and now we're back in the top seats. So I think Baltimore is afraid of change at some level. Um. I think Hardball answering those questions and getting very short with Melissa Stark, who by the way, is also of Baltimore uh product herself, I believe, uh so she knows Hardball very well over the years. Um. And you know, I think that Hardball is uncomfortable answering questions when he gets out of the castle and doesn't have full control over betting of questions. I mean, that's what it is. I mean a lot the issues with Harball over the past few weeks with lamar Um, he could have just answered honestly, like he put it out there at the Rich eyesend that you know, he could play with the Brace against the Browns instead of just being honest saying, you know, maybe he's more hurt than we anticipated. I don't know, but he made it much worse. And this is not the first time Harball has had this issue with you know, going over injuries. It goes back to Brashad Perriman who had a week to week injury than would lost a year. Um. Even Dobbins this year, and we can get to him in a second with the usage of Roman and Dobbins this weekend, which was a huge problem. But you know, Dobbin's got a surgery this year to clean up his knee, and even people in the organization weren't really supportive of that. He said, um, and he's been pretty candid lately. So you know, Harball has come out there and it's kind of he hasn't said it directly, but he's blamed a lot of these players for not getting back out there faster, even Ronnie Stanley, you know, over the past few years, and you know, he leaves a lot of trust issues within the players and the fans. And that's where those type of interviews are interesting for us to see because he gets some real, you know, fastballs instead of the softballs you get to the castle. All right. The Lamar situation has been dissected by everybody and their mother. And it's interesting because this week on My Fox show on Saturday, Michael Vick and Charles Woodson actually came out and said, put a brace on it, you know, like these are guys who played hurt and they said, I'd like to see him try and they got killed online and everyone said, you can't talk about another man's health. And I think there's a generational thing with the ex players where you know, Vick and Woodson are from a generation before some of the current players and maybe Jason mccordy on my show on Good Morning Football. And I hate to generalize because I know every player is different, but mccordy was, you know, help, no way you play if your if your knee is and you don't have a contract. You don't know what to them, like, hell no, you don't play, And he said, I played hurt, but I wasn't Lamar Jackson, and in a lot of ways, I didn't have two million dollars laying in the balance. What has come out over the last few days is that like Lamar put that tweet out himself with the injuries, and then the Ravens obviously weren't thrilled that he did that and didn't go through their communication channels. Then he doesn't travel with the team, and we don't know still even today on Tuesday, whether it's team policy that you traveled the team or not. He did travel to Pittsburgh a few weeks back and had his arm around Tyler Huntley. Uh, you know the entire game. So gosh, I'll ask this. He's a free agent right now as the season ends. Would you be devastated if Lamar Jackson never puts on a Ravens jersey again? Uh? Yeah. First, the first thing I wanted to say is I thought the VIC piece was interesting because he could argue no player lost more earnings in his career than Michael Vick over the course of his career right with with his decision making. So that was interesting for Vic to speak out so strongly. Um, I think most Ravens fans would be devastated with, you know, losing Lamar, especially the guys twenty six years old and you've never seen him in any other offense but you know, basic running offense the Roman has put out there. So you know, I think that to lose a player without even seeing an absolute superstar in another system would be a real like devastating blow for a lot of Ravens fans. But I also think that there are sub Ravens fans now that feel like too many bridges have been burned and you have to move on at this point, which, you know, which is a you know, a pretty valid take, except for the fact that you don't replace superstars. You don't replace guys like this, like you were talking about last week with Kawai Leonard in the NBA having trust issues and he moved on from the Spurs. But you know, the Spurs are in last place and Kwai Leonards won a title, so you know, you can't really move on from these guys and not have any uh, you know, repercussions and even sticking with the n b A, I mean, part of the main issue with a lot of fans, are you know, even Michael Jordan and Steph Curry needed coaching changes and regime changes to get to where they wanted to go, and so sometimes you need to do that and you just haven't seen it with the Ravens. So I think you would have some regret from a lot of fans that they didn't try doing this before year five or six with Lamar. Yeah, it's a great point, dude, And I know, like I bring you on as like the Ravens fan, and you think it's gonna be some hysterics or some sports talk radio stuff, like you make really good salient points, and the one I would make when you say about the bridges being burned. I thought it was interesting that a lot of the players came out and supported Lamar after the game and they weren't like hell, I played on like you know, an injury, like no. Marlon Humphrey was out there saying like Lamar is hobbling around the facility like what. So I thought that because to me, it's when you lose the locker room and they're like we just let let it all on the line and you just decided not to play, like that could be cancerous or worrisome. But from what it sounds like not a single Ravens player has thrown Lamar under the bus. No. I mean, you just had that brief take with Sammy Watkins last week and which I think was weird, Like I don't think Sammy was coming at Lamar. It was a strange quote and Sammy, I don't think I had any intention of like questioning Lamar Jackson's like, you know what I mean, Yeah, it was. It was interesting to get it from Sammy Watkins, who hasn't even been around the team the whole year and kind of just had a brief stint for one year the year before. But you know, all the players love him. I mean, that's the thing. And uh, you know, I think that whatever you end up doing, it's gonna be very tough to replace him, uh, you know, especially when he's covered up for so many deficiencies for hardball and to costa over the years, you know. And and I think that, you know, if they rebuild, if they decided to rebuild, do you think that they can even do it? Really, you look at everything they've done since they've had Lamar. They didn't sign him when he was you know, eligible, and then they keep loading into the defense, and then you know some people would ask this year if he was holding out, why would he hold out in the middle of the year, right, And you know, I don't think he was. I think he was really hurt. But you know, when Shot Bateman goes down, what do they do? They go trade for a linebacker, you know, that's what they do. That's their answers, They trade for a linebackers on that O'Dell talk this year, and I'm like, I can give you thirty one teams that O'Dell will sign with before he'll sign with the Ravens. This he's end den inside with any But like, that's not that's not that wasn't a place for Odell Beckham because it's just receiver is not a priority for the Baltimore Ravens. No, it's not, I mean it's not. I mean, you know they have great Roman there, who they if he wasn't being effective and they couldn't score, they also had t Martin sitting in the wings. And why not give him a chance? You know, he interviewed with the Bills last year. I don't see Roman getting interviews anywhere, you know, so why not give him a chance while he's there? What's the downside, you're you know, they didn't score twenty points since Thanksgiving. The last time they scored over twenty points was when Lamar played at the Jaguars. Do you expect to win playoff games and the modern NFL scoring fifteen to seventeen points? Do you think that? I mean, that's not going to happen. This is so the is why it's so depressing as a Ravens fan, Like you know, this has been You're a joyous guy. You're one of the happiest people. I know. Your joyce and it sounds like this is therapy right now. Yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's been a long few years, especially dealing with this, you know, and now they're stuck with this situation. So here we are, all right, So let's let's wrap it with this. Then I'm gonna give you three scenarios. Tell me which you would be. You would choose a Lamar walks. You don't get anything from him, You cut the bridge, whatever be your franchise, tag him, and you shop him, and all of a sudden, all offseason there's trade rumors. There's that see you sign Lamar Jackson for what I believe he wants two million dollars with a lot of that guaranteed, that Deshaun Watson deal. You have to pick one of those three. And knowing between what is the Ravens fan perspective on that, you know, I can't speak for a lot of the casual fans out there, but for fans of most of them, wouldn't let go of the kind of talent Lamar is. There's a lot of casual fans who say trade them, but I would resign Lamar. I would change their offensive ecosystem to something in like the modern NFL you know has, and I would go from there. I think that's your best chance of competing with mahomes Alan and Burrow moving forward period. I am with you, bro, and I think you do pay him what Deshaun Watson makes and you deal with it like that's the market to have Lamar Jackson, who's the face of the Baltimore franchise, that's the market. Look, Kyler took a little less, but Lamar is way more accomplished than Kyler. In the NFL, they gave all that money to Shawn Watson. You can't blame Lamar Jackson for Cleveland doing that and hold it against him. That's what the market is. So it's really tough pill to swallow. I know, I know they offered him something or they were talking about offerings, and he like kind of didn't want it that I don't know all the details, but he wasn't as as previous like I think you've give him what he wants, especially because right now it's ugly and it's like if he leaves and God forbid he leaves and goes to another team and goes and has great success. That might be one of the great blunders in NFL history, letting Lamar Jackson at twenty six years old walk out the door. I agree. I mean the markets. The market. You know, you may not want to pay something for a house in a certain neighborhood, but guess what if that's the market, that's what it is. So you can either live there or you don't. Okay, Now that the Raven season is over, I know you're a die hard terms fan, You're a die hard Wisconsin Badgers fan. Where do you turn all that energy to sports wise after the season is over? You know, I'm I'm already looking at the NFL draft. The terms are in to rebuild. I you know, I started looking at quarterbacks. Uh, you know for the following few years, especially looking at the teams I think Lamar could go to. And you know, it's it's rough. It's depressing, man, it's really depressing when you think about trying to look for another quarterback when you have a twenty six year old m v P very quarterback prospect or prospect at all in the college game that you have your eye on that we could all just say. On January sevent Jeremy said, hey, circle, this guy, he's going to be a draft steal. Well, I mean, you know, not this year, but I like the kid from USC who's actually a local product for next year. That's the problem. So you know, this quarterback class is not as strong as I think some think it will be, but you know it's still Listen, I think that the kid from Alabama it is a you know, an exception to the role with his size. But I like Stroud the best. If if I had to pick a quarterback, I picked Stroud. He's, you know, I got the prototypical size and and he's played with a lot of good receivers over the years and has put the ball where he needed to be. C. J. Stroud. All right, Jeremy, thank you. Um, I wanted to get the pulse of the Ravens fan and if I could just do some quick takeaways, let me to sum it all up. Romans gotta go, Hardball has to get checked in some way, and Lamar needs to stay. If we can do all that, I think you're gonna be really happy in a couple of weeks. Right, yeah, I'd be very happy. I'd be very happy to see Romans contract not renewed and then move forward with a modern NFL team. Buddy, thank you, you gotta pass. I just can't. It does work. We didn't even get to J. K. Dobbins. We didn't even get to Dobbins. I know we didn't get there, but I mean his comments spoke for themselves, right, I mean, the guy hasn't had seventeen more than seventeen carries in his career, ridiculous. Yeah, he wanted the ball there, But you know what, if we can dive over, if only can dive over from four yards out an entire chwo people, and it would have it would have worked. It would have been fine. Yeah, but you know, Hardball had no problem throwing him under the bus, right, away right saying he should have burrowed under the line. You know, that's he had no problem doing that. And then you know when Huntley said something about the Ravens and the in this postgame press conference, the Ravens you know left that out of their media piece. No, not many people saw they the transcripts. What did he say? I love this? That's what is this story? So yeah, Hanley said something, you know, it would have been nice for Lamar to have been here, if he could be here, meaning I don't know if they didn't let Lamar go for a distraction, who knows, but they scrubbed that from the post game media transcript. I thought that was very interesting, you know, sure is yeah interesting. All right, buddy, thank you, appreciate you, thank you. All right, now, let's get into the playoff preview presented by our friends at Draft Kings Sports Book. I mentioned it last week. We got a sponsor, and I am thrilled that it is Draft Kings because I go back years with Draft Kings. They were sponsors of Good Morning Football. Uh, myself and Nate Burlison did a ton of stuff with Draft Kings. They're they're out there right now and they're putting out their ads, uh mere hours after the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buccaneers, and I'm gonna give it to you right now. Dallas plays at San Francis us GO on Sunday night. Awesome game, and the odds as of this morning per Draft Kings sports Book are Niners are favored by three and a half points minus one ten on that one money line Niners minus one Dallas plus one sixty and then the over under total right now is forty six with minus one ten on that. Um. I look at those lines, and I look at this matchup, and I cannot wait for this freaking game. I'll tell you something. If you asked me on Monday morning how feeling about a potential Cowboys Niners game, I'd say, well, it's gonna be Niners in a in a in a like Niners in a in a walk. Niners look so good on on Saturday and they're rolling and the defense got going and perty got those early jitters out and looked as good as anybody. Do you know who looks better than the Niners? The Cowboys on Monday night. I've never seen Dak play like that, and I know Dak has had huge wins in his regular see is in career and Dak put up forty in Minnesota this year. Dak Prescott was unbelievable on Monday Night. And and it wasn't just it was with Kellen Moore calling all the right plays. And how about Mike McCarthy. Can I give Mike McCarthy some love right now? Mike McCarthy who is often parodied online and has treated like some punching bag, and all the fourth quarter decisions and all the weird game management stuff and the time out mismanagement, and are they going forward? Are they not going for it? Why is he going for it? Why is he not going for it? We get a third and goal up six nothing after the kicker missed the extra point in the last touchdown, and they get stuffed. Everybody and their mother, including Troy Aikman on the calls like I would take the points here, just go up nine nothing, the defensive rolland just go They go for it on fourth down and have one of the slikest play calls of the entire week, a little play action rollout scrambled by Dac and he runs the touchdown in and like they showed McCarthy, and it was like, hell yeah, dude, drop the mic. I'm going with my gut. I'm going authentically with what I believe in, and I'm going with what I want to do, not what the social media people tell me to do, and not worrying about what the critique will be if this fails. McCarthy seems like he's he's he's coached the best playoff game he's coached in and maybe a decade going back to like some of those Packers wins that they had in big moments in the in the mid two thousand's with Rogers. Uh, what a moment this is for these two head coaches. I know everyone talks about the players, but you know, I love the coaches and I look at them. Kyle Shanahan, you think about the three loss when he was the offensive coordinator of the Falcons. You think about the Super Bowl loss when they're up ten in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs. You think about last year's NFC Championship game when they're up ten and Jakoski tart drops that interception and then Cooper Cup scores and then away we go for the for the Rams. All those heartbreaking losses by Kyle Shanahan coach teams. Then you look at McCarthy fired a joke, treated like like some buffoon on Twitter, where two coaches we validated with a Lombardi Trophy this season more than Mike McCarthy and Kyle Shanahan. Gosh, I can't wait for it. Cowboys versus forty Niners, Bring it on. I hope. I wish it was a Thursday night game. I'm ready for it now, but it is Sunday. It's the last one and it's the main event that, my friends was the playoff preview presented by Draft Kings sports Book. Download the Draft Kings sports Book app and use the code the Season. New customers can bet five dollars on Super wild Card weekend and get two hundred and free bets instantly. Only a Draft Kings sports book with the code the Season, no space, one word the season tony one and over in most eligible states, but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Draft Kings dot com slash sports Book for details and state specific responsible gambling resources. Gambling problem called gambler in New York called eight seven seven eight hope and y or text hope and why four, six, seven, nine void in Ohio and Ontario. Bonus issued as free beats one boost per eligible game. Opt in required, ten plus leg requirement for boost, deposit, parlay and wagering. Restrictions apply. Eligibility in terms of sports Book dot Draft, Kings dot Com, slash football terms, and guys, that's the podcast for the week. It's my favorite football weekend of the year. This beats the Draft, it beats Wildcard Round, it beats Opening weekend. It's divisional Round. You've got eight teams, you've got four games. It's wall to wall. It's great logos, it's great quarterbacks, it's great stories, and it's great for the NFL fan. I want to thank Aaron Wong Kaufman. I want to thank Jason English. I want to thank Jason Kleinman. I want to thank Matt Schneider. I want to thank all the folks who work at I Heeart and NFL Network and helping putting this thing on. And I also want to thank our maestro Jack Rudd, who does the music for this thing. Guys, we'll see you next week. We're gonna be down to four until then, enjoy the games. M H the season with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL and partnership with I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.