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Motor City Mad Mouth Show with Steve Balestrieri · Motor City Mad Mouth

0:23
Good evening everybody. I'll welcome to another edition of the Motor City Mad Mouse
0:27
Show. Yes, I am the Motor City more Mad Mouse Scott Morgan Ruft.
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Glad to have a guy that I have so much respect for, and
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I view this guy as a veteran in more ways than one. His name
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is Steve Ballisterian Steve, welcome to the Motor City Mad Mouse Show. It's
0:44
my friend. It's been way too long. I apologize for my forced absence
0:49
here, but all the best of you and miss Candy, because you guys
0:54
are aces in my book. Well you're an ace in my book. Well
0:58
well, well, I'm sure we'll have more shows plan as time goes on.
1:00
Everybody needs a break from this business and triv wacko. But you know
1:04
the reality is is you and I to me, we've been at this a
1:07
long time, and I'm glad to have you tonight, and I'm definitely looking
1:11
forward to other projects as time progresses. And just let everybody know out there
1:15
that Candy and I and the South Word Tribune have been improved for the NFL
1:19
Draft in Detroit. So I just want to make that announcement. Well,
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Steve's on here, so see let's go ahead. Well, we're going to
1:26
do tonight is we're going to talk about the New England Patriots. But I
1:30
want to focus on something much much bigger than that, and that's your military
1:34
background. So let's talk about it and what are you the most proud of
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and then the second part of that question, explain to the audience the places
1:42
that you've traveled. Okay, well, I appreciate the plug. On my
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military career, I was a soldier in the seventh Special Forces Group. Most
1:56
people knew us as Army green Berets. I spent seventeen and a half years
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in before I got hurt and they put me out the pasture. The special
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Forces training that we went through was some of the toughest in the military.
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And you know, we were deployed depending on our area orientation. Each of
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the different special Forces groups had an area of orientation and they would send you
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the language school. This was in the era before you know, all the
2:30
stuff in Iraq and Afghanistan just got everybody involved. So they sent me to
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school to learn Spanish. So my area of operations was Latin America and I've
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been to virtually every country south of the border. Yeah, all the way
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down to the tip of you know, Chile and Argentina. I mean,
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you know, all the way down to the bottom of the continent. So
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I've been to nearly every country down there. It was a fascinating time because
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back then that was you know, when all the drug wars were going on.
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So we spent a lot of time in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.
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So d Low's once to thank you for your service, Steve, and watch
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his chat room go on. Good evening Steve from d Lo. So you're
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going to see these guys and when I bring a person on you, these
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guys love to salute. You'll definitely hit it off with these guys absolute big
3:32
time. But one thing about these guys is they're great people. They're very
3:37
smart too, these guys when they come in and d Low's is certainly arguably
3:42
one of the best ones that I've seen out there. He's very sincere,
3:45
but he knows what he's talking about. But yeah, so when we talk
3:47
about your military career, where there are any types of lingering effects health wise
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that ended up hitting you later on? Oh well, ever since the hey
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they put me out, you know, I got hurt down in South America.
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They brought me back up to Walter Reed Hospital for surgery, and you
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know it ended up forcing me out. So I've been living with constant pain
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since that time. And you know, I've been treated for PTSD like probably
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ninety percent of the veterans to get out, you know. And there's other
4:28
aches and pains related to military service. I mean, when you're jumping out
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of airplanes and you know, carrying ninety pounds of lightweight gear. As they
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put it on your body, it hurts your back, your shoulders, your
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knees. And I'm no exception to that. That's all right, Hey listen,
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didn't figure ability to talk it doing really good? All right, Well
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that's always open for debate, Scott, right, you know, I don't
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know. I mean we're talking right obviously. You don't have anything that in
5:00
peace, the vocal cords. And when the time comes that and impeach my
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vocal cords, I'm going broken personally. But you know we need a microphone.
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Sticks and stone may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.
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But I'll tell you if I lose that microphone problem, that may hurt
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me too. I always look at my let me tell you talk about Spanish.
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I want to tell you a funny story that happens Saturday night, Okay,
5:20
over at Chase Stadium with Inner Miami. Have you ever been to a
5:24
press conference ever in your media career and we'll talk about the Patriots later where
5:30
you had an all postgame press conference speaking Spanish Spanish only never in media.
5:38
But I've been to press conferences, you know, overseas where maybe the president
5:46
of such and such a country was talking, and yet all of those were
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in Spanish and media after a soccer game in South Florida, all the Spanish.
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That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, Well it's safe to say you're Spanish
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improved by the time. You loved there though, right, No, as
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a matter of fact, I didn't know anything about Spanish. I would have
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wished I would have taken it as a second language. And when I see
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those class APR people, Ralpha Cabrera and Molly Dresca, who hadn't seen me
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in the year and a half because I've been sick myself, and they were
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glad. They treated me great, We're just glad you have you back here.
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But but I said, rabha, what's the deal? I couldn't get
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the questionnaires that don't worry have me. We did old things Spanish, but
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you could have done it upstairs, and I will that shows you, with
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being away a year and a half of me, I said, no big
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deal. I mean this is so I decided, when I see these people,
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aguess I'll write a story throwing myself under the bus because I didn't have
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Spanish for a second language. So and I should have known better, because
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I when I was covering the Miami Marlins at the beginning and we were doing
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these zoom calls, half the at least in this situation was half Spanish and
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half American, and I didn't know how many great quotes I was missing because
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of this his side, you know, but this was the first and I
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decided, you know, this is a good not to write up. And
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I did, you know you always have to make light of it more said
7:09
nine lives. I have to make the most of what I have. And
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obviously I take a looking and keep on talking like the role time as it
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takes the looking and keep on taking. All right, we'll leave at watch
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analogies. I will go one more military question. Do you think that we'll
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ever see another Pat Tillman? I mean, here's the guy that played football,
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gave up an awful lot of money, and unfortunately passed away serving his
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country. The most unselfish person on the planet. The Cardinals have a statue
7:32
of them outside their building in Arizona. But the most selfless individual to me
7:40
is Pat Tillman, and you can never honor him enough. Yeah, I
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would imagine that. You know, if the situation avails itself again, we'll
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have other guys that will step up to the plate and and you know,
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serve their country. Pat gave up million dollar contry, you know, to
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join the military. And I can tell you that unless the guys don't make
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that kind of money. So right, you know, interesting story about Pat.
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He met just before his last tour. He met with Bill Belichick,
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and Belichick didn't know what his plans were after, you know, he was
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due to come home from his last tour in Afghanistan. But he said,
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if you know, whatever your plans are, I have a job for you
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when you come home. Wow. That's pretty cool, Pretty nice, all
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right, Well for transition to it segue, So we talked about Bill Chelichick.
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What been life like after Bill Belichick for the Patriots. Yeah, it's
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it's really it's weird because for nearly twenty five years, a quarter of a
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centre right, you know, Belichick's been that one constant down there, and
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now you know, Gerrod Mayo's taking over. Mayo was a really good football
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player, you know, then he came to coaching. He's been really widely
9:20
recognized as an up and coming coach in NFL ranks. And originally they,
9:28
you know, they kept him from the Panthers, I believe last year because
9:33
he was going to take a gig with the Panthers. But you know,
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they said, hey, we'd like you to stay. We'll give you a
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bump and pay because eventually when Bill does retire, you know, we want
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you to take over. Well, you know, because of what happened in
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twenty twenty three, Bill didn't get a chance to retire. He was ushered
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out to and now Mayo has taken over. But you know, the first
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reactions we've gotten from the players this week because they have a new you know,
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a new whole new coaching staff in place, they were allowed to start
10:16
their offseason activities early, so they you know, they were back in the
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building on Monday. Hunter, Henry Jabrill Peppers or the guys that were elected
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to speak with the media, and they were both raving about Mayo. They're
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looking forward to playing with him or for him, I should say, you
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know, so he has a lot of respect in the building with the players.
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It's just really different not seeing Bill out there. I mean that twenty
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five years, you know, twenty four that's a really long time. So
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what was your relationship like with Bill Belichick, Steve, I didn't really have
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a relationship with him. I mean I would, you know, when I
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was down there at Gillette, you know, I would sit right in front
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for all this press conferences because you know, it's like you're listening to one
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of the masters speak, and a lot of people complain that he doesn't give,
11:22
you know, very long or detailed answers to stuff, which, you
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know, it got to the point where and the guys who were down there
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more than myself, they would always say, you have to read between the
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tea. Leaves would build. But when you would get somebody asking him a
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question of how related to NFL history, then it was time to sit back
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in your seat and listen. And it would be amazing. He could talk
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NFL history for hours at a time and he is. Some of the stuff
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he would tell you it was just mind blowing. You know. He talked
12:03
about key games and and he could give you down in distance the time left
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in you know, a certain quarter, and he'd be talking about certain players
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and what formations they were running. I mean, he was a true student
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of the game. He still is. I mean, but you know what
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I'm saying. And I never really thought, you know, Bill knew who
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I was. I mean, because there's so many guys, especially during the
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Brady years, there was so many media people there. And then you know,
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after practice one day, I was slated to uh talk to one of
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the other, you know, younger players. I had asked to speak to
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a young tight end that was coming in. So he was coming off the
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field and I had kind of walked to the side so him and I could
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talk one on one. And Bill was going by, going back down the
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stairs towards locker rooms, and I just said, hey, you get afternoon
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coach, and He's like, Steven, how are you. I was like,
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okay. I mean I got to ask him questions and stuff like that,
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but I didn't think, you know, so that was kind of eye
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opening, because you know, he obviously would speak to the you know,
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the Bob so si'es them, you know, Tom Curran, you know guys
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like that, Mike Reese, you know the guys who had been long,
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long established there. You know Karen Griggian from the Boston well, she was
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with the Boston Herald now she's in mass Live. He Bill had a lot
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of respect for her, and he always be very polite to Karen. All
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right, let's go to the chair room real quick. Josh O door.
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What's going on? Steve? Yeah, josh how are you? And it's
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good to be seen here. Grill Peppers related to Dottie Pepper. No,
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okay, there you go, Joshua. All right, well, well that
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said, we talked about Belijick. Did you ever get to know Jared Mayo
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pretty well? Mayo? Yeah. I mean, you know, when he
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was a player, he was very he was very vocal. He was a
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leader on the field and during practice, I mean it would get really competitive
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out there. Like Brady, you know, and you and I have talked
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about this so many times. Brady was uber competitive and even in practice,
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I mean if he threw an incomplete pass where he was off the mark,
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he would get mad and of course Mayo would just fire him up because then
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they'd get the defense all fired up. And there was so much trash talk
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in there, and Gerrod was always but when it came to the media,
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guys, you know, you talk to him, he was always so on
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point. He was very well spoken, extremely intelligent guy and super nice guy.
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You know. I don't know if you've seen any of his press conferences
15:11
since he took over the you know, the head coaching gig now, and
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he's just that what you're seeing there is who he is. That's who he
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is. There's no you know, different side of him. I'm sure you
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know, as a coach, he'll be able to bust chops on the guys
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when they're doing something wrong. But he's a very positive, you know,
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influence on the players, and I think they relate to him extremely well because
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he played for Belichick on this team for eight years and he was an excellent
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football player. So what kind of a job do you think he's going to
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do. There's one thing to follow a legend, but it's another one you
15:54
follow a legend who struggled on the way out. You know, I've seen
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it at so many different times, but some or another I get the fillings
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on house money here. Yeah, I mean that's the big unknown, right.
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He has a whole new staff. You know, he was a really
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good defensive coach. I mean him and Steve Belichick where the I guess you
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could call him de facto co defensive coordinators. Bill was never won much on
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titles. So and because of the NFL rules where you know, the coordinators
16:32
had to speak to the media, Bill would take that onus off of the
16:37
guys. That's why a lot of times they didn't have, excuse me,
16:41
a name defensive coordinator, they didn't have a name defensive coordinator. Bill would
16:47
take the heat off those guys. And if there was any complaints or you
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know, people wanted a nitpick about stuff, he'd put it on himself.
16:56
So he's a smart dude man, and you know, the players raved about
17:03
his knowledge of the system. I would imagine defensively, they're going to keep
17:10
a lot of those same philosophies in place because it worked. I mean,
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even though they were four and thirteen last year, their defense was good and
17:18
it kept them in every game about about two or three. Over to Candy
17:26
for a moment, Miss Candy. Good evening everybody. If you see that
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called Scott nine five four three oh four four nine four one. The other
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Noble, Kindle, and Apple Books. Back to You Scott. Thank you,
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Katie. She does a wonderful job of their videos as well. You're
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surprised how popular those videos are on YouTube. It's unbelievable. And see now
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I'm friends with the author, so thank you very much. Well, guess
19:03
what you're in it. I don't forget. I don't forget about people like
19:07
you. Tell all right, So let's talk about Mac Jones trading to Jacksonville.
19:14
Let's say, SURRELI, this guy was dustined to fail, not because
19:18
of any fault of his own. I got off to a decent start with
19:22
Josh McDaniels as the offensive coin there a boy, you had, Joe Judge
19:26
and Matt Patricia and then they tried to save the situation. Bill O'Brien,
19:30
what happened to Mac Jones? Uh? They you know, it was a
19:36
combination of things, and Mac would tell you the same thing. Part of
19:41
it was himself, because you know, they were in such dire straits,
19:48
you know, especially last year the offensive line was walking infirman reunit. I
19:55
mean, so the protection was horrid last year that were run blocking was horrid.
20:04
So when you can't run the ball and you can't protect your quarterback and
20:10
your wide receivers are, to put it, mildly struggling. And you know,
20:18
he was trying to do too much. He was trying to force the
20:21
issue too much. He made terrible he made some really terrible decisions, and
20:27
you know, it just snowballed and his confidence. You could see by the
20:33
middle of the year his confidence was shot. If you watch the tape of
20:38
his rookie year. I mean, you know, they won ten games,
20:42
they made it to the playoffs. We got annihilated by Buffalo. But the
20:48
fact that you know, two years after Brady was gone, they're back in
20:52
the playoffs, I mean, things were looking pretty good. And then McDaniel's
20:57
left for the Raiders, and I think it really took him by surprise because
21:04
they didn't have a plan in an effect, and Belichick elected to go with
21:11
you know, Matty p and Joe Judge. And to say it was a
21:18
disaster is putting in lightly. I mean we heard reports after the fact that
21:25
you know, right at the beginning of like mini camps, in training camp,
21:32
you know, offensive linemen, we're asking questions about protections and you know,
21:40
what are we going to do if a team does this and they didn't
21:41
have answers for it, and some of the players said they were shocked because
21:48
they didn't have an answer for what is a legitimate question, how are we
21:52
going to handle this? And it showed itself on the field and it affected
21:56
Mac Jones. I mean, and you know, the bottom line is their
22:02
wide receivers last year were not an imposing bunch. I mean, you look
22:07
at it. Juju severely underperformed. I think he ended up with two hundred
22:14
and thirty nine yards receiving. Wow. You know, after Jacoby Myers was
22:18
you know, pretty much a seven eight hundred yard guy, you know,
22:23
and they had him Kendrick Bourne at the end of Max rookie season. Kendrick
22:33
Bourne was their go to guy. I mean, he was making explosive plays
22:38
all over the field. You know, him and Mac got on a really
22:42
nice chemistry going. And then the beginning of that year with Patricia, Kendrick
22:52
Bourne was late for a meeting and he stayed in the doghouse for the entire
22:56
season. Wow. And and every time they put him on the field,
23:03
like they'd be in a game, you know, they start falling way behind.
23:07
They'd put Born in for a series and with him and Jacoby Myers now
23:11
they're world beaters, but you know, he gave Max some viable targets.
23:17
They would go down and score, and then they take Bourne right out of
23:19
the game again. And I blame that on Patricia because how long are you
23:23
going to keep a guy in the doghouse, you know, since you know
23:29
that that incident happened in and in training camp last year, Bourne came in,
23:37
he was in great shape, he was off to a really good start,
23:41
and then he was hurt out for the year with Juju. His knees.
23:48
I think his knees are shot. Honestly. You know, he was
23:51
underperforming Devonte Parker. You know, he's not an X that you want to
23:59
rely on, and they were forced to rely on the rookie to Mario Douglas,
24:03
and you know that just really really was ugly to watch, and it
24:10
affected Jones and by by mid season you could see his confidence was completely shot.
24:17
So I think this move going to you know, the Jacksonville Jaguars,
24:22
I think this was a really good move for him. You know, he's
24:26
going to be with Doug Peterson and Trevor Lawrence, so you know what he'll
24:30
you know, unless Lawrence gets hurt, Mac won't see the field this year,
24:36
maybe some mop up duty here and there, but it will give him
24:40
time to get his head back on straight, get his confidence going, which
24:42
I think Peterson will be great for that. And you know, then he'll
24:48
uh, you know, he'll have a shot at being a good career backup
24:52
or somebody might take a shot at him if he gets some you know,
24:57
playing time, and you know, in the situation where Lawrence may get dinged
25:03
up. But I think that was the best thing to happen to him because
25:07
I was a mac jones guy. I loved what I saw, you know,
25:11
that rookie season. You know, at the beginning of that rookie season,
25:15
Josh McDaniels kind of had the training wheels on. He didn't want to
25:18
put too much on his plate. He wanted him to, you know,
25:22
to find a comfort level. And then as the season went on, you
25:26
know, they he kept getting better and better and they went on a long
25:30
winning streak there and you know, made the playoffs. So I think it's
25:34
going to be good for back Well. The truth of the matter, as
25:37
he said, Jacksonville's his hometown. We all know that Josh McDaniels Heck mc
25:41
courtney are not a very good head coach, Bill Brian. They tried to
25:45
do what they could to bring his old coach in for Alabama. Unfortunately,
25:48
there were just too many that was way beyond his control to be able to
25:52
fix that situation. And yeah, that's the one that's on Bill because O'Brien
25:57
was under the impression and that he was going to be able to bring all
26:00
of his own offensive coaches in and Belichick only allowed to bring one guy,
26:07
and so that kind of put Bill O'Brien behind the eight ball. But as
26:12
we know, O'Brien's a great offensive coordinator and he's been a successful head coach
26:18
too down in Houston. And you know, say what you will about McDaniel's
26:22
being an awful head coach, but he was always an outstanding offensive court Oh,
26:26
no doubt. Yeah, no doubt about that. Well look at it
26:29
this way with Ole Brian, though, the guy's going to go up the
26:32
street and what he's going to coach Boston College? Now, yeah, in
26:34
the worst thing in the world. Not like he had to leave the state
26:37
of Massachusetts, isn't yeah nearby? Yeah, I mean he other went twenty
26:44
minutes up the road. So because that had traffick unbelievable. So no,
26:49
I'm I'm with it and what I'm out Dailey Zappi though, I mean,
26:53
he's still there, but we know that. As we lead to our next
26:56
thing, the NFL Draft lands, let's talk about the plans. I know
27:00
the quarterback certainly is one of the things they're looking into. Yeah, well,
27:06
first with Zappi. Yeah, him and Mac Jones didn't get along from
27:11
day one. And depending on who you talk to or what you know you're
27:17
hearing from behind the scenes, some say it was Mac, some say it
27:22
was Zappy. I know Zapi is uber competitive, and you know he said
27:29
right off the bat in his rookie year that he didn't consider himself the backup
27:34
quarterback, So read with that what you will, but he's not the answer.
27:45
He's a career backup at best. Honestly, I think for the third
27:49
quarterback position this year, he'll have a tough time beating out Nathan Rourke,
27:56
the kid from the CFL. Well, I agree, yeah, I I
28:00
know that Jacksonville. I think they let a good one get away with Nathan
28:03
Rourke. I really do. Yeah, that play he made in pre season
28:07
last year was literally insane. Yeah, where he almost got sacked like four
28:14
times and then threw a long touchdown. But anyway, yeah, I think
28:18
he's going to be I think he's going to surprise some people. Not saying
28:21
he's going to compete for the starting job, but I think he's he's gonna
28:26
in my opinion, and this is before they take the field, so you
28:30
know, take it with a grain of salt, but I think he'll be
28:33
the third quarterback this year. Yeah. Well, amazingly enough, though,
28:37
when you look at the Patriots, you certainly found a way. How do
28:41
you ruin a quarterback? Well, they did, okay, because I know
28:45
that mac Jones came from the Nick Saban and let's think it's reality. I
28:51
realized some Alabama quarterbacks aren't exceptional starters with some of them aren't bad either,
28:56
But if you're looking for a way to ruin a quarterback, they did exactly
28:59
that. And hopefully he'll resurrect. But the thing about Bailey ZAPPI though,
29:03
Steve I saw him playing college at Western Kentucky because they're playing against Florida Atlantic.
29:07
A few times it ran up numbers like you wouldn't believe. But boy,
29:11
but a few people realize though that when you come to the NFL from
29:17
college. I don't care how many numbers you run up. The competitions took
29:19
different depending on the conference you're in. The competition and Bailey zapp to me,
29:26
I thought it was the number three. I thought he could be the
29:29
steal. But then when I'm hearing what you're telling me right now, you're
29:33
right. Maybe he is a career back. A couple other questions I want
29:34
to get to you obviously, just let me Runny know. The Sports Exchange
29:38
will air tonight around nine o'clock Eastern time as well. My name is Scott
29:42
Morgan Rocks the Motor City Madmouth Show. Please be joined by my Steve BALLISTI
29:48
risfans dot com. Is that correct, Steve? That's correct? So with
29:52
them that this July at training camp will be my thirteenth year for them,
29:56
great stuff. Well, I'll tell you what. So they have the authority
30:00
here on New England Patriots football. So let's talk about Bill Belichick. He
30:04
didn't get another job this year. And you know what when December came around.
30:11
Okay, you know what was the real reason that he never got another
30:15
job? Because I know he wants to chase Don Shulo's record. Yeah,
30:21
I was actually surprised that a couple of teams that maybe were on the cusp
30:27
of competing for a Super Bowl didn't reach out to him, because, as
30:34
you know, I mean, if Bill was to go to a team,
30:41
I'm just going to use this as an example of Dallas Cowboys, right,
30:47
I would think the Cowboys would get a lot deeper in the playoffs because you
30:52
know, he can coach up a defense. Now. I think Dallas's defense
30:56
is much more talented to the Patriots, you know, so I would think
31:02
that he would have done a really good job on that side of the football,
31:07
and it takes some of the pressure off your offense because they're they're not
31:11
having to put up thirty points every week to win, you know what I
31:15
mean. I'm not saying Dallas was giving up that much, but I'm just
31:21
using that as an example because I thought Mike McCarthy would have been out the
31:26
door this spring, but they opted to keep him around. And maybe,
31:33
you know, Jerry Jones didn't want Bill in there because as we know,
31:37
Bill is a very hands on type of guy and he doesn't want the owner
31:45
telling him what to do on the field. So, you know, but
31:49
I was surprised Bill didn't get another shot. You know, I was thinking
31:56
Dallas, you know, and you know, we heard about Atlanta and it
32:01
seemed like he was going to go to Atlanta. And then they decided to,
32:05
you know, go for a younger guy and Raheem Morris. So you
32:09
know, I'm surprised, and I wonder if anyone's gonna, you know,
32:17
offer him a job next year because now he's getting up there. He's like
32:22
seventy one years old, right, so it's gonna be tough for him.
32:27
So what that said, When do you think the decision was really made to
32:30
let Belichick go? I know that the Indianapolis came out overseas probably is what
32:36
I've been hearing with that. Yeah, that's what we heard too. I
32:40
mean, they had cameras on the ownership and they were reading lips, and
32:46
you know, I know that they were. The ownership was really disappointed,
32:52
really disappointed that they lost that game over in Germany. All right, one
32:59
other question here, let's talk about the handling of Tom Brady's departure. Did
33:02
that expedite Bill Belichick's departure? Knowing Robert Craft, who told me he has
33:07
been mad that Tom Brady was handled that poorly. We we know that Belichick
33:13
will he used to like to get people a little bit before, but this
33:15
is the one time he didn't want to do it, knowing full well.
33:19
Then his records without Tom Brady, I think they were like ten games under
33:22
five hundred without Brady there and then with Brady, so we all we all
33:27
know that Brady certainly was a straw than you were able to drink out of,
33:32
you know. Yeah. And you know a funny thing with that is
33:39
I had spoken, well, you know, we saw Tom in that twenty
33:46
nineteen summer just before he left, the summer before he left, and you
33:53
know, the rumors were that the Patriots were going to give him a three
33:59
year deal kind of like what Drew Brees was getting at that time if you
34:01
remember, you know, because that's what he wanted and he wanted to retire
34:07
a Patriot. And I had talked to one of Tom's friends and he told
34:14
me that it wasn't Belichick who pulled the plug on it, it was Craft,
34:21
and that we learned later that Craft made Bill the bad guy by saying,
34:28
well, you tell Tom, we're going year to year and you're going
34:32
to have to break the news to him. Really wow. Yeah, and
34:38
that came out this year, you know that that news about that, so
34:43
you know, we had heard about that, and you know, the I
34:51
firmly believe that they didn't think Tom would lead. But if you saw Tom
34:57
that summer of twenty nineteen, he was always spot on. You know,
35:04
of course he's all business on the football field, even in practice, but
35:08
he was downright surly and mad that summer and you could sense that something was
35:15
really a miss with that. And that's when he decided that's it, I'm
35:22
out of here. And he played out that season. You know, they
35:27
made the playoffs, but they lost in the wild Guard game, right,
35:30
and you know, then he said he was going down to Tampa and you
35:36
know, and of course we know what happened in the first year there.
35:38
They won a Super Bowl. So yeah, but you know, the crafts
35:45
have they've laid a lot of this at the feet of Belichick. And I
35:50
don't know if you've had a chance to watch, there was a series on
35:54
Apple TV called The Dynasty, right, and I was really shocked because this
36:04
is you know, kind of like you know, the Last Dance or you
36:08
know the Chicago Bulls, you know, docusaries that was. This was so
36:15
negative. It was like, I don't know why they called it the Dynasty
36:20
because everything was negative in it, and they tried to delay everything at Belichick's
36:25
feet. And Robert Kraft took a big hit from the fan base because,
36:31
you know, Craft everything that went right, you know, he was taking
36:36
his bows for everything that went wrong in those twenty years. He was putting
36:42
on Bill. And that resonated with fan base because they were like, hey,
36:47
you know, you know, you don't go to nine Super Bowls in
36:52
eighteen years without Bill Belichick behind, you know, on the bench. And
36:57
I mean think about that. How hard it is to get to one or
37:00
two Super Bowls. They went to nine in eighteen years, which is basically
37:05
every other season. You're going every other season to the Super Bowl. And
37:13
you know, they won six, but they won to nine, and it's
37:17
you know, they don't do that. I mean, as great as Tom
37:21
was, you know, everyone wants to say, was it Brady or was
37:23
it Bill. I think it's unfair to the players that they had and to
37:28
the other coaches because it was both of them, and Bill was really painted
37:35
in a bad light, and a lot of the fan base was quite upset
37:39
about that well, if it wasn't for the fact that you had two miracle
37:44
catches, they probably have eight instead of six. And so with that,
37:49
the Mario Manningham catch still gives me nightmares. What about the other way,
37:54
Yeah, I mean that other that other throw that Eli Manning made. I'm
38:01
trying to remember who that was down the sidewinch too, but that was such
38:07
a great throw. That was an absolute dime. And you know, hats
38:12
off to Eli. I mean he played he you know, down in the
38:16
stretch in both of those Super Bowl He was fantastic. So all right,
38:22
what was your relationship like with Tom Brady? I'm sure you'd have to know
38:25
him pretty well over thirteen years. Yeah, Tom, you know, he
38:29
was just an awesome guy. I mean again, you know, he was
38:34
always well spoken, He was always very polite, even when there were times
38:38
when he didn't want to be you could tell, but he was always very
38:42
polite. Just a really nice guy. And you know, he had that
38:47
TV twelve clinic, you know, up in Gillette. He had another one
38:52
in Boston at the time, and I had heard through the Grape Fine that
38:58
you know, there was green but Ray's coming home from Afghanistan. There were
39:05
you know, really banged up badly, and Tom was taking them to his
39:08
clinic and treating them for free. So at that time, as you knew,
39:14
I was writing for several military websites. So I reached out to Tom
39:21
and Alex Guerrero and I said, I would like to do a story on
39:25
the TV twelve clinic because I know you're treating guys who were injured, But
39:34
how would it work, you know that their philosophy, how would it work
39:39
of preparing soldiers to go overseas. So they agreed to let me in the
39:45
building and with the stipulation that I go through the therapy that Tom went through.
39:52
And I'm here to tell you, you know, when Tom talks about
39:55
lengthening and softening muscles, that was some of the most painful stuff I've ever
40:02
felt in my life. Well, it seems like one of those painless things
40:07
that iran was the fact that Tom Brady would always take pay cuts and make
40:10
sure that you had good writers around him. He really did. Speaking about
40:15
my relationship with Tom, I wrote this article and then on Tom's Instagram he
40:22
put on there this was a great article, and that's that's always been my
40:28
little pat on the back to myself because I tell some of the other guys
40:34
when I see him. Did Tom ever tell you you wrote a great article?
40:40
Well? I know, and then somebody like that will. I'll never
40:43
forget when I did a story on Jack Camp where his secretary sent me a
40:47
nice think, you know, because I was talking about not only Congress's career
40:53
but what he did with the U. So so many people will reach out
40:55
to you and show their appreciation. And my final question of the night before
41:00
we go to your contact information, is this, he goes to Tampa,
41:05
Bruce Arians and all that. You know, I once told you what Tom
41:10
coren that I thought he was going to come back, and you guys didn't
41:13
believe me, and I was right. Remember that show and I do.
41:16
I don't know, Tommy, but what were your thoughts about Tom going to
41:21
Tampa? Do you think it was more to prove the Patriot's wrong or to
41:24
prove that he was a lot that you gave up on me a little earlier.
41:28
Because I know there's a lot of different ways I'm going to prove you
41:30
wrong. I can still win that it was me and not you, and
41:34
lo and behold, Bruce Arians. Let him do whatever he want. You
41:37
know, but Bruce Arians did to Tom Brady was what Don Shula did to
41:40
Dan Marino. Do whatever you want, just win, of course, But
41:45
you know, I think he was. I think he was very bitter after,
41:50
you know, twenty years with New England to be forced out the door
41:55
because they're telling you, and you know, there was no drop off in
42:00
his play. There was drop off in the players around him in that last
42:05
year. You know, in twenty nineteen, you know, there was a
42:09
big drop off. They weren't the same team at that point, and you
42:16
know they were kind of leaking out. Oh where you can see the decline
42:22
in Tom's game? I heard that a lot in twenty nineteen. I heard
42:28
it a lot. Well, you can see the decline, and I'm like,
42:30
I don't see any decline in this game. And then he went to
42:34
Tampa and he threw for what was his forty something touchdowns and they won a
42:38
Super Bowl. So I don't know, was that a big decline. It
42:43
wasn't to me. Well, it was a decline for you and me,
42:45
And somehow, some way, we either took dumb pills and forgot what football
42:51
wall is about, or were suffering from a disease by the way, that
42:53
I made up called dumb Minch as well dumb m E n Tia if you
42:58
don't and if you wonder if it's a d no, I made it up.
43:00
I take words and letters whatever I want to try to find what we're
43:04
really attempting to really reach out there. So now I mean Tom Brady,
43:07
hey, he's a Michigan guy for crying out while the Wolverines won the national
43:10
championship and again they have the most wins of Division One history to begin with,
43:15
and the fact a Michigan guy Okay has won more Super Bowls, Wolverine
43:20
has won more games, and of course Loo could have done. A Michigan
43:23
guy has won that many. Unbelievable Michigan. That's so bad. But with
43:29
all due respect, you know, Steve, I've always thought so much of
43:31
you anyways, and you know, when it comes to the Patriots, you
43:36
know, this is the franchise that you've been around for a long time.
43:39
And if anybody knows a post of what you're doing is one thing. So
43:44
really, what are you more proud of your military career or what you did
43:49
afterwards by being able to write sports for unquestionably one of the best organizations on
43:53
the planet because the Patriots have a remarkable history. Yeah, I think the
43:59
military still stands tall for me. I mean, you know, I and
44:06
my wife would be the first to tell you. She's like, what you're
44:08
doing down there is not a job, because you would do it for free
44:14
and if they just let you in the door. And I said, that's
44:17
absolutely true, I would do it for free. So but you know,
44:23
I grew up being a Patriots fan up there, and then after the military,
44:29
I lived in the South for a while, but then moved back up
44:32
there and I locked into a great gig. Like I said, I'll be
44:37
in in July. This year would be my thirteenth season. Started my thirteenth
44:42
season writing for Pats fans. Ian Loge, the guy who owns and runs
44:46
the place up there. You know, he's been a good friend of me
44:51
for all these years. And you know it's been so much fun, you
44:57
know, because as a kid, grown up, they weren't very good.
45:00
They had some times where they were, you know, right there on the
45:05
cusp. You know, they went to a couple of Super Bowls but lost
45:09
both of them. But to see Bill Belichick him in and just year after
45:15
year they were just a powerhouse. You know, it was so much fun.
45:22
Now it's it's really intriguing because I'm excited. I didn't want to see
45:25
Bill go, but now to Rod Mayo. They just made the decision to
45:30
move on. And I like Mayo. I liked him as a coach.
45:35
I was looking forward to him getting a shot. Now, you know,
45:37
you have to embrace it. As much as we didn't want to see Bill
45:40
go, we're excited. You know, they might not be very good this
45:45
year again, but it's you know what, I just want to see him
45:49
build it from the ground up again. Rocket Scientists wanted to say good evening
45:52
Steve. He's another one of our having contributors. So Stee, you know,
45:57
so glad to have you on the broadcast. And I know we'll have
46:00
other projects that we're going to work on. One things we're gonna work on
46:04
down the line will be Bob associated to play by play announcer. I know
46:07
he won't available to night, but this was a good opportunity for you and
46:09
I guy and be able to reminisce but still talk Patriots football, especially as
46:15
a draft that's coming up in about two weeks. So the Southboord of Tribune
46:19
will be over in Detroit, my hometown cornd the NFL Draft. I'm sorry.
46:22
Anything going to add to that, Steve, Yeah, real quick.
46:27
A little anecdote about Belichick and and with Bob's sociated guy. You mentioned Bob's
46:32
their radio play by play guy, super guy, super super nice guy.
46:38
You met him, and whenever I was down there, you know, I
46:44
would sit a lot of times, I would sit next to Bob and we'd
46:46
sit up near the front where Bill was, and I'd always make a joke,
46:52
I'm going to ask Bill when we're going to get an army guy on
46:55
the team, because Bill's such a Navy guy, you know, And he
47:00
joked around me. He's like, I'll never have an Army guy. So
47:04
I used to wear my Army Special Forces at in there, and I'd sit
47:07
there and I whispered above I'm going to ask him, and he said,
47:12
don't do it. You'll be that guy where you know Bill gave gives the
47:15
long ten seconds stare. So this one day, Bill was in a really
47:22
good move and he was joking around with the media, which wasn't very often,
47:28
you know, but he was just having a good time. And I
47:30
said to boy, I'm going to ask him. So Bill said any more
47:35
questions and he was dead on looking at me, and I just pointed it
47:39
at my hat and Bill smiled and said, we're done here. There you
47:45
go. I'm glad you got along. Hey, Bob told you that,
47:49
you know what, at least he did it in a way where it sounded
47:52
like to me joked around about it a little. Yeah, yeah, it
47:54
was yeah, and we laughed, you know, and uh yeah when we
48:01
walked outside about that. But you know, it is what it is.
48:06
I'm really looking forward to the draft. I like the kid from North Carolina,
48:09
Drake May. I'm hoping he's going to be the guy for the Patriots.
48:14
But Jayden Daniels is really good too. And you know, we're hearing
48:17
rumors about McCarthy, that Michigan kid, so who knows. Nobody knows what's
48:23
going on, right, you know, wouldn't it be perfect synergy of JJ
48:28
McCarthy lands in New England to replaces another Michigan. I'm brady, I don't
48:34
know's if it makes sense, it could happen, and I'll leave it at
48:37
that. Those stories will right themselves, Yeah they will. We'll know in
48:42
the next couple of weeks. So, as I mentioned, the south Ward's
48:44
tribute will be in my hometown of Detroit Collage as well. So with that
48:47
said, can you want to come on real quick and everybody now to get
48:52
the book and then we'll let Steve be able to identify himself and then we
48:55
got Sports Exchange at nine o'clock PM Eastern time. Hope you can join us
49:00
Gaed Candy. If you see that red subscribe button, click it, like
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50:24
be, but you can also email us at South Florida Tribune at gmail dot
50:29
com. And last, but not least, Scott wrote a book, Lessons
50:34
from the Microphone, Tuning into the Enduring Wisdom Wisdom of Visionary Leaders. It
50:38
talks about how media has changed over his forty plus years in the industry.
50:45
He has a picture of himself and a young Muhammad Ali. Buy the book
50:52
to see the Picturekay Scott. All right, one other media distribution partner shall
50:59
mention, we only have them for football Florida State, So we try to
51:01
get a lot of the big schools in Florida. Everybody knows that business men
51:06
and the media men we try anyways, Hey, Listen, when you go
51:10
to the NFL Draft, you realize how many Florida kids get taken. And
51:15
I see that we have Florida State, USF even you see it for that
51:17
matter, Florida, Atlantic, Miami, Florida, you name it there.
51:22
I'll be surprised how many Florida kids can actually go out there and do some
51:28
unbelievable things. In fact, I'll never forget before we wrap things up here
51:31
that Brandon Powell I'll never forget from Deerfield Beach High School as an undrafted free
51:36
agent, made the Lions with an exceptional training camp. And of course now
51:38
he's a Super Bowl ring with the Rams and he's been moving around. But
51:42
they're just supposed to show you so what. That's a step as our customary
51:45
procedure goes. Let Why don't you'll everybody know how to get a hold of
51:49
here. Yes, you know, you can find me on Twitter at Steve
51:53
B seven SFG. I'm on Facebook instance, all the social media sites.
52:02
Steve Balistrari and I write for Patsfans dot com. And I just wanted to
52:07
say, folks, buy that book. I love you man, because it's
52:15
been too long. I love you well. The best part about you is
52:17
you only across seventy five ninety minutes away. Don't matter. And by the
52:22
way, I won't come empty handed. I don't know we're going to eat,
52:23
but there's a book waiting for you, and what am I The other
52:28
thing is you're going to take another picture with me holding the book or you
52:30
holding the book and me just be it, shaking your hand like they all
52:35
do when they get it from me. So I love you, Steve.
52:37
You're like to me, like a brother, And you know, just so
52:40
great when you have an opportunity to meet colleagues that are as classy as you
52:44
are. And again, you know now that you've had a chance to kind
52:46
of take to hold your breath and take a breath fresh and air. Now,
52:52
maybe we'll do some projects here and there and get you back out there
52:54
in front of what you love to do, and that's talk to people.
52:57
So what a treat has been A night on the MotorCity my mouth. My
53:00
name was Scott Morgan V Motors any man mouth with Steve BALLISTERI who's a legend
53:05
in his own way. But I don't mean it just so much as a
53:07
writer, but as a military people folks if you can't appreciate a military person
53:12
that has served their country, which I know a lot of people can do.
53:15
This guy, to me, it is a veteran in more ways than
53:20
one, but more importantly one of the biggest hearts. And you can learn
53:22
a lot about what this guy and him and I have both had to adapt
53:27
to old media and new media. And let's not kid ourself, Steve,
53:30
things have changed with the communications departments have a day and how we are able
53:36
to do our jobs. Yeah, that's a fact. I mean, you
53:39
know, we're we're just trying to keep up, you know. Yeah,
53:45
so you and Candy do a great job. And you know, you guys
53:50
are are like I said aces in my book, and I really appreciate you
53:53
having me on. And yeah, let's not wait as long to do it
53:59
again. Well we won't. Don't worry you get old of Bob Associate.
54:02
We'll be doing this sooner and you can your head. But more importantly,
54:06
I am going to get over to your neck of the woods real soon after
54:08
all this chaos. It is done somewhere around May, and we're going to
54:12
get together. I'm gonna get you that book and we're going to hang out.
54:14
So Meanwhile, that concludes this edition of the MotorCity Man Mouse Show.
54:17
My name is Scott Morgan rough once again with Steve Vallistri. My book out
54:22
there, Lessons from the Microphone, basically when you summer up old school media
54:24
versus new school media and a whole lot more. Anybody can learn from it.
54:30
Whether you're learning about the media, where you've been in it doesn't matter.
54:32
Changes And I'll be writing a second part of it Laar the year,
54:35
so Steve, Yeah, we'll be doing this again soon and of course we'll
54:38
get together sooner sooner, so just see you know, folks, sports have
54:42
changed, top of the hour. Thank you very much for joining us,
54:45
and we'll see you in another edition. Does the Motor City Man Mouse Show
54:47
next Wednesday? Haven't gonight? See you very shortly on the Sports Exchange.
54:52
So the service and Steve, thank you. Thank you guys. Come