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Football Doesn't Lie: Making Changes and Real Contenders · Football Doesn't Lie

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Football Doesn't Lie.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Zazora, sitting here with Hall of Fame coach
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Bill Parcells. What's good in you, Bill?
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Well, Catherine, what's good is we're here doing another show.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: What's not so good is that I have a flat tire,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: and I had to take Uber over here, and I
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: have to Uber home, and then I have to get
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: my tire fixed.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Was that your first flat tire in a while?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: That's about 20 years since I've had a flat tire,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: and it's a brand-new car, too. It's only got 1,500
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: miles on it.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I got a call this morning. It's like, we have
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: a problem. I was like, oh, no, what's going on?
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I'm happy it was just a flat tire. It could
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: have been worse.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Well, we'll solve the problem. Don't worry.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: It's only a problem until somebody solves it.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: That's right. You're learning. You're learning.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I know. You're teaching me. And now before we get
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: into it, just a reminder that we're here every Thursday, everyone.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: So hit that subscribe button and join us every week
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: because we have more to dissect about football and what
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: better way to do it than with Bell's perspective and insight.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: You're not going to find this anywhere else. Let's jump
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: right in. Colts GM Chris Ballard was fired on Monday morning.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: And it's funny because a couple weeks ago we were
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: talking about how people were saying Matt LaFleur, the head coach,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: had potential of getting fired, and here we are just
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: at week six, and the Colts lose their general manager.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on that? Do you think it's
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: too soon?
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do think it's a little too soon, but
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: when a decision like that is made, it's a major
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: decision for your organization because you're removing the guy that's
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: in charge of the entire football operation. And you are
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: replacing him with an assistant and they use the word interim. Well,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: that word interim for all the rest of the employees
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: in the organization is interpreted as temporary. So all the
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: people are now on alert about their own personal future.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: And what's going to happen when the season's over, when
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: this interim GM may be replaced by a new GM?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: And whenever a new GM comes in, most of the
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: time he wants his own people. So that puts everybody
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: in the football operation in jeopardy. But you still have
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: the season to play, and you have to get back
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: to the business at hand. Because if this new regime,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: as it currently exists— could possibly reverse the fortune of
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the team, then they certainly would be in consideration for
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: a continuance. If not, it looks like it'll be a
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: complete overhaul and all the current employees, it's human nature.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: You know, you go home and your wife's asking you
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: if you're going to get fired and you're showing a crying,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: you know, we're going to have to move and all
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: that kind of thing that exists. So sometimes it takes
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: a lot of discipline to just concentrate on the task
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: at hand.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: You said interim GM. So the interim general manager now
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: for the Colts is the assistant general manager, Ed Dodds, right?
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: And they said it's going to be him for the
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: rest or the remainder of 2026. Is there a chance
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: that if he performs, he stays on?
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: I would think so. If they can reverse the fortunes
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: of the franchise. I mean, that certainly was the intent
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: of the owner to change something to see if they
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: can have a little like I said, reversal of fortune.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: If they do it well, then maybe they'll get a
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: chance to continue. But by and large, Catherine, when these
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: things happen, all the employees that are involved in the
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: football operation anticipate at the end of the year, they
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: may be a whole new regime come in. And when
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: that happens, everybody's in jeopardy.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Now, that's, you know, the thought or the fear for
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: next year. But if you're a head coach that was
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: hired by the now ousted general manager, do you feel
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: nervous that you may be next this season?
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Well, everybody's in jeopardy. The owner's already put you on
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: warning that he doesn't like the way things are going. Now,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: if there could be a positive reversal of fortune and
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: the path of the franchise looks like it's on the
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: right track currently and then they improve and they change
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: their record and they get in contention, well, then maybe
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: you'll have a chance to continue on. But in these cases,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: in my experience, usually it means there's going to be
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: an entire overhaul at the end of the season and
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: nobody's safe.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And, I mean, maybe, hopefully not. Hopefully this is the
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: wake-up call they all needed and we're going to see
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: a turnaround with the Colts.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's more than a wake-up call. It's a warning.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: It's livelihood here.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: And so things have to change or there'll probably be
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: a whole new overhaul, as I said, at the end
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: of the year. That's been my experience in the past
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: when I witnessed these interseason changes. They wait till the
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: end of the year then and they decide what they
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: want to do. But this new regime still has a chance.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: They can reverse their fortunes, do something positive. The owner
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: becomes aware of it. He sees improvement. Maybe there's a continuance.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: But if not, everybody's in jeopardy.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Not an overhaul, but another change was Dallas. They actually
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: brought back a former assistant coach, right? Mike Pettin?
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: This is a different situation.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, tell me about it. Because they brought him back
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: to help with the defense.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: They did bring him back. He has been employed there before.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: They know him. They apparently are dissatisfied with the way
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: their defense is going. They think, based on their past
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: experience with him, maybe his voice... And his analysis will
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: help reverse the fortune of the Dallas defense this year.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: And if so, it could be a continuance. Or if not,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: there'll probably be a new regime on defense.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: It's funny because it looks like structurally a lot of
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: people are, you can see they're kind of starting to
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: get nervous. Like, okay, how can we get better? This
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: is already week six. Let's go, right? So I like
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that the people are considering that, but at the same time,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I guess you've got to keep in mind of the
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: players and the whole, and even the fans, their mentality,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: like you want to show confidence still.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Well, that's one of the main things. You have to
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: try to express confidence in what you're doing is to
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: try to alter the path of the situation. But in
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: my experience, Catherine, when these early season changes are made,
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: usually at the end of the season, there's more commentary.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, for sure. But talking about coaches that actually
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: may be nervous after week six, I'm going to talk
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: about the L.A. Rams again, the head coach. I mean,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: the whole team was predicted to be a Super Bowl
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: contender at the beginning of the season, and clearly they're
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: not there. They're falling. They're two and four now after
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: being heavily favored to beat the divisional rival, the Arizona Cardinal.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I know your guy Chogobi, he saw his face when
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: they won.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was very happy. That was a great win
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: for the Cardinals.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Did he call you afterwards?
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: We text back and forth as usual, but they've won
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: more games in Los Angeles than both of the Los
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Angeles teams have this year. So he told me he
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: talked to the Cardinals owner and told him he should
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: sell it and move the team to Los Angeles because
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: they do better out there.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: I love that. And actually, what was really cool about
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: that game, and I'm sure this has happened before, but
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: being new to watching, they didn't even do one touchdown.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: They won with six field goal kicks. Is that even
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: a thing? Was that just kind of a one-off? Because
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: that kicker, the performance by kicker Chad Ryland was amazing
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: on that game.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: These kickers are very good these days. And Catherine, at
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: the end of the day, it's just, did you win
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: or did you lose? And they were happy to get
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: this win. It provides a good impetus and confidence to them.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: And maybe they can go forward and make something out
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: of themselves for this year.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Now, the Rams head coach, Sean McVay, he's probably feeling
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: again this week. What do you see going on right
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: now for him as a coach?
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Well, when you have preseason expectations that were formulated by
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: not experts, but by the prognosticators, And expectations for the
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: franchise are very high, and it doesn't start off well.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: This man that's coaching has proved his worth as a coach.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: He's won a championship. It's not like he forgot how
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: to coach. He knows what he's doing. But when you're
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: in this situation, no matter how much you've won, Catherine,
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: no matter how many championships, no matter how many Super Bowls,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: no matter how many division titles, you're not winning now.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: So you stink.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: So what would you suggest that the Rams and even
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: Sean McVay do to correct the path that they appear
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: to be on right now?
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: That's an impossible question for me to answer, not being there,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: not knowing the situation.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: So let's ask an observer. Yeah, let's ask an observer.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I'm just really a fan. But... You try to stick
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: to your fundamentals. You try to call your attention to
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: your team's attention to the things that are causing them
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: to lose that they're doing that they have to correct.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: You also want to emphasize the things that allow you
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: to win and continue to work on those things. But
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: until you get rid of the things that are causing
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: you to lose or improve those things appreciably, it's probably
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: not going to be a different result.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: I wonder if the psychology of results is playing with
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: them right now.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: It always plays, Kathleen.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Don't forget there's more.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: It always plays. The psychology... Did you play well and win,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: you're happy? Did you play poorly and win? Oh, well,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: look at us. We're great. We didn't even play well
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: and we still won. Those kinds of things do influence you,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: but you have to stay on track. It's the next
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: task at hand, and you don't have time to lament
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: your current situation. You just have to go forward and
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: concentrate on the things that will help you improve as
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: you go.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Speaking about path, though, somebody who's on a great path
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: is Caleb Williams. He's back after three weeks out with
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: a hamstring injury, and he came back looking stellar. He
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: is on fire. He's got 305 yards and a touchdown.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: His 83.3%, because, you know, I'm a stat girl, his
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: completion percentage was the highest by a Bears quarterback since 1948.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Did you know that?
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: No, I didn't know it, but I'm telling you, he's
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: a good player. You know, he's somebody I think they
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: can rely on, and they've got that key position in place.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: And if he can stay healthy, I think he's they're
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: going to be a factor in the division. Now, don't forget,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: they've got an opponent in their own division, the Minnesota Vikings,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: that are currently undefeated. So they're looking up at them,
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: and the problem with the situation is that you can't
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: afford too many more slip-ups. You have 13 or 14
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: more games, and you know that if you slip up
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: two or three more times, only two or three, that
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: you're probably going to be excluded from the playoffs.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Do you find, and I don't know why this just
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: popped into my head, but if a team that they're playing,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: another strong team, knows that he had a hamstring injury,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: do you think that they might try to get on him,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: not to necessarily hurt him, but knowing that he may
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: not be as solid as he was?
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: I don't think so. If they see him out there
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: on the field and he's performing well, Their expectations are
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: that he wouldn't be out there if he wasn't capable.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: Most organizations aren't going to put a player on the
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: field that they feel is not ready to execute at
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: a top level. So if he's out there, he's the opponent.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: I don't think they have any personal regard for him,
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: but I don't think anybody in pro football, we're not
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: intentionally trying to hurt the opponent. We're just trying to
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: beat him. Of course.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Of course. What do you think it's like, though, for
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: a player and a coach when somebody does come back
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: from an injury? Does that make you a little bit nervous?
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: When you're hurt, you go through a rehabilitation period, the
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: training staff, the team doctor, and then you go through
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: some practice sessions with the team and You see how
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: it's going, and usually as a coach, you're able to
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: determine whether the player is playing with full confidence, that
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: his injury seems to be rehabilitated to the point where
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: he can function at a top level. If you also
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: go out there and you see he seems a little
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: limited or he's not quite himself or he doesn't look
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: like the guy that was there before, then you err
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: on the side of caution and give him a little
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: more time.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: It's funny because it makes me think of this, my
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: personal situation. My dog, who's six months old, had a
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: spiral femur break randomly. Nothing crazy happened, but she was
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: in a splint for four weeks. And then they took
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: x-rays and they say, okay, the back's fused back together,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: but the front isn't. We're going to take off the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: splint so she can put weight on it. And then
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: after a week, she can resume all running. I'm thinking,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm going to baby her for longer
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: than a week. So you know when they tell you, hey,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: she'll be fine in a week. I'm thinking, oh, I'm afraid. Like,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I don't want her to get hurt again. Do you
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: have some of that anxiety? Of course not.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Sure, you don't want.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Knowing he's fine?
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: It's the same thing with players. You don't want them
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: to get hurt again, but you have them out there
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: on the practice field, and you have to go by
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: what you see. Does he look like he's back playing
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: with confidence, able to function, able to do the jobs
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: you're asking him to do? If that's the case, then
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: you're set to go, and you assume he'll do that
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: when he gets back into the live competition. If you
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: don't see it, then you usually err on the side
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: of caution.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Did you ever refuse or... hear that, hey, yeah, he's back,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: he's good, and you saw them and you're like, nope,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: not yet.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Exactly right. You watch him at practice, you see he's
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: not quite himself.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: So you have the final say if they're coming back
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: to the game as the head coach.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Well, the coach is the one who says who plays, but,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: you know, you consult with your training and your medical
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: staff all the time and you consult with the player
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: himself to see how he feels about his situation. And
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: if he gives you, I'm good to go, and you
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: see in practice that he looks like he is... then
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: onward and upward.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: And you just hope that he's not giving you the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: tough guy exterior and truly is good to go.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Well, you as a coach should be able to see.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: You've got to go by what you see. And if
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: he looks functional, then you let him play. If he's
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: somewhat limited, then you give him more time.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: And honestly, when somebody comes back like this, like Caleb
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Williams did, that's got to help their confidence something fierce.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Well, he's a good player. I'm sure he's not lacking confidence.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: It's just, can he function at the level that he
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: wants to be able to function? And quite apparently he can,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: because that was a pretty good demonstration last week.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Well, talking about confidence, the Titans got their first win.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: That is their first win since December 21st of last season,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: which is wild. And actually talking about psychology, I'm going
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: to bring that one back. Do you think they played
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: well and won, or do you think they played poorly
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: and won? Do you think they have fat cat syndrome
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: or a little bit of false confidence at this point?
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think they have false confidence. You know,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: they're not at the point where they— could have any
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: false confidence now, but they won a game. And sometimes
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: winning is just a relief. You know, you're just so
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: happy to get something done. One week gives you peace mentally,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: aka maybe we're on the right track now. Maybe we
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: can go forward and make something out of this season.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: And I'm sure that's what the Titans are thinking right now. Hey,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: we got the first one in the bag. Let's see
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: if we can't continue to improve, and let's get back
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: in the competition.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So they went against the Colts, and my original question
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: was going to be, hey, what does it feel like
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: having your first win after so many losses? But I'm
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: actually more curious— On the Colts' side, what is it
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: like losing to a team that hadn't been performing?
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: You know, I can't speak for the Colts. I'm not
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: there right now. Things haven't started great for them, but— How.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Are they feeling this week, though, if you were in
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: their shoes, or has that ever happened to you?
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: When you win, everything's okay for a week. When you
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: don't win, nothing's okay.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: But when you don't win to a team, again— It doesn't.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Make any difference who. It's just if. And if you win,
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: that alters your mental framework for the week. And maybe
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: we're on the right track. Maybe we can go forward.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Maybe we can accomplish something this year. And so I'm
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: not saying it's false because most teams understand what they are.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: But winning is certainly a step in the right direction.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: And that's what they're trying to do. Be competitive. Get
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: to the playoffs.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: And it's got to change the vibe in the facility
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: in general. Oh, sure.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: When you win, everybody's happy. It's a little week of peace.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: And as I said, sometimes, Catherine, it's just a relief.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: You just get the monkey off your back for a second.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: The tightness around your chest loosens up a little bit.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: You get to relax. Now, we've seen a lot of
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: different late game scenarios over the first six weeks. And
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: you even mentioned that there's a bunch this past Sunday.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: A lot of last minute stuff going on. And that's
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: all very exciting for the viewers.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: But the clock is something I think most fans don't
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: really think about until it comes back to haunt their
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: own team. And I didn't even know this before we
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: started this, but there's an official timeout at the two-minute
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: mark in both the second and the fourth quarter. So
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: the clock is clearly a resource for you guys. So
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: I want to dissect it to better understand it. As
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: a coach, how do you view timeouts and how do
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: you like to utilize them?
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: They are a very precious commodity. And they're more precious
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: in the second half of the game because that's when
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: the games are going to be finally decided.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: And they reset right at the second half. You get
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: three in the first.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: You get three, plus you get the two-minute warning. So
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: that's a way to control the game if you preserve
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: your timeouts. But if you are indiscriminately using them because
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: you didn't get to play in on time and you're
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: wasting timeouts, you're wasting something that's very valuable to you.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: And I know I had a rule with my team
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: that nobody on the team ever was allowed to call
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: timeout except the head coach.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Not even the assistant coach?
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: No, nobody is allowed to call timeout. It's my job
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: to manage the game. It's my job to preserve the timeouts.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: And the analogy I can use, Catherine, that you'll understand,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: timeouts are like brakes on a car. You don't know
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: when you're going to need them, but you know you're
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: going to need them.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: To preserve timeouts also gives you the ability to somewhat
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: control the flow of the game because you have the
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: ability with a timeout to stop the clock. And sometimes
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: at the end of the game, the clock's the enemy.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: You're running out of time, and you need to preserve
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: it as well as you can. If you don't have
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: any timeouts left, you're at the mercy of the flow
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: of the game. So they're valuable commodities, and we try
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: to keep our hands on them all the time.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: It's funny you say that because it made me think
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: you've told me before that back in the day, whether
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: you had a timeout or didn't, players would actually potentially
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: fake an injury to stop the clock. And to circumvent
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: that now, if you have an injury, you have to
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: use a timeout and there's, you know, different kinds.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Yes. Well, players were feigning injuries and teams were feigning
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: injuries to get the clock stopped.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: But what if you're out of timeouts nowadays and they
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: still get injured? Well, that's the flow.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Of the game. There's nothing you can do about that.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: But timeouts are valuable. And like I said, you know
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: you're going to need them. And you know there's going
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: to be a time when you need them. And particularly
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: in the second half of the game, it's usually very
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: wise to try to preserve them if you can.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Do you think there's still some players that might take
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: an injury here and there? Have you seen it yourself?
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: What do you think?
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: I can't speak with any authority about what the current
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: teams are doing, but.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: We usually had a designated guy.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Well, that was back in the day, and that's why
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: they changed the rules, and rightfully so.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: So your best actor was?
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you had a guy that was going to feign
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: an injury, but you're just trying to win the game.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: And that was a vehicle to stop the clock at
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: the time. But they changed the rules. Now you get
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: a charge timeout. So preserve the timeouts, Catherine.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: And that being said, how do teams actually prepare for
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: these late game situations?
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Well, hopefully, you know.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Hopefully, you are running the clock because you're ahead.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: You know, Fridays in the NFL are specialty days. Wednesday
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: and Thursday are more your basic offense and defense and
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: your run and plays and your play action. But Fridays
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: are the more specific areas of goal line, short yardage,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: two-minute drills, things like that. Red zone, particularly important. We
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: talked about the red zone. So you practice those individual
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: things a lot on Friday and to try to review
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: the components that are necessary when you're operating under duress.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: And hopefully your quarterback is aware of the game management.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: And they used to say the things to me. I
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: used to walk off the practice field every Friday afternoon
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: and with my quarterbacks. And they would repeat the phrase
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: that I told them before I even could get it out.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: And they used to say, yeah, Bill, we know, clock, clock, clock.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Never lose track of the clock.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Don't you have a story with when you're coaching the
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Giants and the Chiefs against the Chiefs?
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: The story was we were calling pass plays, and Kansas
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: City had two great defensive backs, a cornerback named Albert
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Lewis and a secondary safety named Duran Cherry. And my quarterback,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: for lack of a better term, he was spooked. Yeah.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: We'd call a pass play and the offensive coordinator would say, Bill,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: it's there. He won't throw it. He won't throw it.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: It's open. Phil, what about all? He says, Coach, if
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: I went out there, that Albert Lewis, he was sitting
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: on that route. He would have got that. I said, well,
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: what about the seam route, Phil? We had that call
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: that looked open to us. Oh, that Deron Cherry, he
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: was there. He was what? I said, okay. We call timeout.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I said, now, Phil, I'm going to tell you something
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: I never told you before. But I want you to
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: do exactly what I'm telling you to do. We're going
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: to get an eight slot out. That's a formation. Okay, okay, okay.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: We're going to run seven deep protection. Okay, okay, he says.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: And I want you to throw it to Zeke. Our
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: tight end was named Zeke Moa. And he looks at
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: me and he says, every time? I said, yeah, throw
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: it to Zeke every time. So here's what happens. First play,
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: he hits Zeke for 14 yards. Next play, he hits
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Zeke for 31 yards. Then he deviates and throws a
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: touchdown pass to a little receiver we had named Bobby Johnson.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Now it's 27-21. Our defense gets a stop. We get
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: back on the field offensively. He throws to Zeke four
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: more times in the fourth quarter. And Zeke winds up
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: catching the touchdown pass, and we win 28-27. Wow. So
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: after the game now, of course, everybody's happy. Well, here
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: comes Sims. He comes around, and I'm walking off the field.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: I congratulate John McAvick, the coach, and pay my respects
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: to him. And Sims looks at me and says, can
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: you believe how stupid I am? I said, yeah, I
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: can play football. I said, somebody had to turn the
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: light on for you. So when I told you just
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: throw it to Zeke, that turned the light on for you.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: And once you saw it, the light was on and
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: you executed it. And the truth is he threw for
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: 176 yards in the last seven minutes of the game.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Two touchdowns.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: That's amazing. So you were running the clock on that one.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Well, we were trying to manage it as best we could,
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: but we didn't have many choices. When you're two touchdowns
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: down with seven minutes to go, you know, you're in
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: a hurry.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, obviously, coaches don't always get it right because
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: we're all human, but is there something fans don't understand
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: about time management from a coach's perspective?
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: What they don't understand, Catherine, is that under duress, there's
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: a lot going on. And not only is there a
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: lot going on in the field, There's high emotions on
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: the field, but there's also high emotions on the sideline.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: And if you're not careful and your coach or staff
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: is not disciplined enough, there's a lot of voices talking
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: and hearing. You don't even know what the quarterback's hearing exactly.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: You have to maintain a disciplined team. And the discipline
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: has to be and include the main thing, proper communication.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: If you can't communicate clearly, then you're putting your team
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: in jeopardy. And you have to sometimes just, hey, everybody,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: just shut up and let's go. Here's the way it is.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Something else I want to tackle, pun intended.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Listen to her. Tackle him now, huh?
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: No, the Bills survived. They're 5-1. Now this is my team,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: so I can't even believe that I'm going to ask
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: you this. Are they actually a great team? And I
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: ask this because Buffalo just needed to survive Las Vegas
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: right after the Raiders came roaring back late. And shout
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: out to Tucker from the Raiders because that beautiful diving catch.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: I always love seeing one like that. My guy, though,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen, was good, of course, as usual. But here's
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: the interesting part I noticed. Buffalo didn't. didn't turn the
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: ball over at all. And Vegas did. When you're winning
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: games like Buffalo did, right, this week, what tells you
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: a team is finding ways to win? And what tells
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: you they're just getting away with things?
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: You know, that's an excellent question. And finding ways to
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: win are very important ingredients. And they have done that
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: so far, pretty much. But in my experience, Buffalo is vulnerable.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Even though they're in first place, their defense continues to
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: surrender effectively. 30 points a game and in my entire
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: life in football I've never seen a team complete the
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: journey while surrendering 30 points a game because as I
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: mentioned I think last week you're going to run into
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: somebody that slows your offensive down once in a while
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: and you know you're going to have to be able
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: to rely on your defense and if your defense doesn't
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: perform at the top level At the right time, and
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: they're giving up 30 points a game, I've just never
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: seen a team complete the entire journey doing that.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: They may be the first.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: They may be the first. Strange things have happened in football.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: Their team can improve. That's what I'm sure they're working
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: on that as diligently as they can right now. But
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: 30 points a game, if you're surrendering that, you're not winning.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: All of them. Who do you think would be their
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: fierce competitor that has a very strong defense to beat
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: their offense?
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Well, in the AFC, which is where Buffalo is, you
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: obviously have to look at the Kansas City Chiefs because
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: they're a team that have been in contention for a
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: great number of years. They have a great championship coach
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: in Andy Reid, and the Chiefs are off to a
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: good start. They look solid. And you know, they're going
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: to eventually be in Buffalo's way. So Buffalo, if they continue,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: is probably going to have to deal with the Chiefs
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: down the road. So we'll see what happens. That's what
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: football's about.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Okay, so Bills are right now a contender, not fully
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: confident in them just because of.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: I'm not confident when I've been giving up 30 points
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: a game. They've got to stop that. It's got to
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: somehow improve.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but your opinion is what I'm looking for here
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: because you always say, hey, let's wait till Thanksgiving, Catherine.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: But I don't know if you know this or if
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: other people know this, but Canadian Thanksgiving just passed. So
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: even though it's not the American Thanksgiving yet, who do
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: you think right now is the, let's say, the top
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: three contender that you can see going?
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: The teams that haven't lost. San Francisco looks like they're one.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Kansas City. And I don't know the Vikings for sure,
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: but I just have to see a little bit more
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: out of Minnesota because I'm not 100% confident. And I
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: think they're in a division that's going to be difficult
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: for them to go through, but so far so good.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: And that's all you can go by right now. San
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: Francisco looks like to me to be balanced and balanced.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: And the AFC, Kansas City, and obviously Buffalo. But Buffalo
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: has to improve on defense.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Now, last year, the Super Bowl was the Patriots and
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: the Seahawks. Patriots right now are 4-2 and Seahawks are 3-3.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Do you think that they're... I.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Like the Patriots still. I like them. I still think
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: they need some work, but I think the Patriots are
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: a team that still has a confidence from last year's performance,
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: and they're certainly confident in their quarterback. Although he's young,
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: he's proven to them that he can do things, and
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: I think that's the team. Seattle, to me, has been...
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: kind of a major disappointment. Now, they're in a very
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: difficult division, but they haven't started well, and they just
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: don't seem to be in sync like they were last year. Now,
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: that's not an astute observation. That's just kind of what
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: I'm seeing, and I'm not sure they're going to be
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: a contender to repeat right now.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: I remember last year, the Broncos, when they played the
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Seahawks to get to the Super Bowl, obviously your buddy
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Sean Payton They lost to the Seahawks. Have you spoken
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: to him about it? What's his feeling on the Seahawks
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: this year?
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's some of his immediate competition.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Because they're not performing well.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: He's certainly aware of them. But this time of year, Catherine,
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: you can't be worrying about those other teams. You've got
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: to worry about your own team. And Sean's got a
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: few issues on his team. What he does have that
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: I like is he has a very strong defense. And
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: he's got a young quarterback that's improving, and he knows
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: what he's doing. So I think he'll put them in
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: position to give them, at least the team, the best
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: chance to be successful.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: And like you always say, it's still way too early
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: to tell, but we can't help it.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: You've got to wait until Thanksgiving, Catherine.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: American Thanksgiving.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: American Thanksgiving, that's right, yeah.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: All right, so I want to talk about Travis Hunter
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: now because this is a fun one. When we were
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: covering the critical factors the last few weeks, we talked
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: about some players covering more than one position and how
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: that's an asset, right? Like you talked about having a
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: quarterback that was your best punter, so then that opens
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: up a position on your team for someone else. So
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: this past week, Travis Hunter has a touchdown catch and
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: an interception against Houston. Now, the first NFL player to
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: accomplish this since Brian Dawkins in 2002. This season, he has,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just going to list off some stuff
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: real quick, but he has six catches, 76 receiving yards,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: one touchdown. In rushing, he has one carrying three yards.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: And on defense, he has 14 combined tackles, two interception,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: and six pass breakups. I always ask you something like
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: this every week. Would he play for you?
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: Well, obviously, he's a very versatile player. And in football,
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: as an old expression, the more you can do, the
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: more valuable you are. This guy has proven that he
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: can play both sides of the ball somewhat efficiently. And
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: the only thing you have to do as a coach,
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: when you have a very talented player like that, you
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: just got to be careful not to wear him out
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: in terms of, you know, he's good. He would help
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: you on defense in this situation. He'll help you on
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: that offense in that other situation there. And you have
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: a tendency to want him in there if he can play.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: help you be successful, but you have to be judicious
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: because you can wear him out to the point of
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: exhaustion for the point where he's not effective because of fatigue.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: So you have to be very careful on how much
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: you use him and when.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: But as a head coach, how do you find, like,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: how much is too much, right? When do you get
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: to that point? Do you see it beforehand? Do you
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: strategize or do you just push him until you see it?
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: No, no, you don't. Listen, you have to talk to
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: the player. Sometimes you just have to converse with him
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: and say, listen, I'm not trying to overload you here.
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: You've got to keep me posted on how you're doing,
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: how you're doing physically. Do you think you can function?
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: That kind of thing. And that kind of communication is vital. Because,
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know how he's feeling. And unless
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: he tells me, then operating in the dark. So communication
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: with players, especially guys that are playing two ways, is
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: absolutely vital. And that's why you don't see too many
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: of those guys doing that.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: I think the word of this week is communication. Because
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: with everything we talked about, I feel like proper communication
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: is key.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: It's vital in football. Absolutely. Sometimes there's chaos going around
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: all around you, too. So you're not always able to
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: keep your composure the way you should.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: No, really? No.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was the poster boy for that.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: You know, like a wise person once told me, this
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: game is for maladjusted sons of... You know what I mean?
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: This game's not for well-adjusted people. And it's not. And
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: it's not a profession that's for well-adjusted people. So... I
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: put myself in the category of being maladjusted.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: Maladjusted, yeah.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: But it's a great game. And when you're in it,
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: it's exciting. And when it's your vocation, it's more exciting.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: And I was very fortunate to be able to do
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: that my entire life.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: I love it. And talking about two-way players, I did
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: some research for homework because I was curious.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: You're getting dangerous, Catherine. Listen. You're getting dangerous. You started
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: doing research here.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Just give me a topic and a laptop and I'm
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: going to go to town.
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: Let's go. We hear it.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: So I want to mention some people that I found.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: And this first person I actually already knew about that
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: was a two-way player because I read a lot of
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: books to my kids and I did growing up. And
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: this person, Jim Thorpe, was.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, you're going way back in history now.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Oh, I am. But I mean, I had known about
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: him mostly because of his gold medal winning for the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: United States in the Summer Olympics. But I didn't realize
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: everything else because, first of all, He's the most prominent, influential,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: and trailblazing Native American athlete in history.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's way, way back now.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: It is. Well, because he won his two gold medals
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: for the Olympics in 1912, right? And in 1913, he
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: signed with the New York Giants. Did you know that?
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: No, I didn't know that.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: And also, he played six seasons in the Major League
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Baseball between 1913 and 1919. And he joined the Canton
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Bulldogs American football team in 1915. And then he helped
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: them win three championships, and then he joined, like, six
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: more NFL teams. He was just a force to be
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: reckoned with. And there's actually a documentary that came out
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: about him in 2025 called Jim Thorpe Lit by Lightning.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: I have to watch it. I'm going to put it
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: on your watch list.
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: Well, he was really one of the greatest... American athletes,
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: and he transitioned from sport to sport. He was very gifted. Flawlessly. Yeah, obviously.
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: And he was very gifted. But on a more modern note,
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: there was a player from Auburn, I believe he won
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: the Heisman Trophy, named Bo Jackson. Yes. So Bo Jackson
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: played both football and Major League Baseball at the same time.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, not during the same season, but at the
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: same calendar year.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Because he played in the Pro Bowl for the NFL
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: and he was an MLB All-Star.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: He was a rare athlete. I remember seeing him when
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: he was very young. He was a tremendous football player.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: He was a tremendous baseball player. And he decided to
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: try to make his way in both sports and was very,
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: very successful in both areas. But That is the total exception, Catherine.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: There aren't many of those walking around.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's—and I've got to look this up,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: but I'm pretty sure he's the only professional athlete in
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: history to be an all-star in two major sports.
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: Well, you're probably right since you're a research maven. You
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: probably know more about that than I do, but I
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: can tell you— I remember seeing him in high school.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Oh, really?
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. It was way back. But he made his
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: way in two major sports in this country, and that's
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: a rarity. You don't run into guys like that every day.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: Actually, another person to make their way into two major
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: sports was actually Deion Sanders because he also played football
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: and baseball, right? In 1992, he was actually both in
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: the World Series and in the Super Bowl.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Deion was a very, very gifted athlete. He played at
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: Florida State, the school I coached at. People became aware
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: of him at a very young age. Very gifted cornerback,
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: good football player, a little bit of a showman. He
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: used to like to dance and antics and everything. in
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: all those kinds of things. But listen, he was gifted
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: and he was able to play two major sports in
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: this country. Do you know how hard that is?
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing is it seems extremely hard because
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: we always talk about exhaustion physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. And
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: now you have somebody like Yellen Sanders who's doing two
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: at the same time. Would you want a player on
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: your team that's also playing another major sport, especially at
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: the same time?
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: Well, they're only doing them in the same calendar year.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: They're not obviously playing baseball and football.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Does it not overlap at one point, though, if they
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: make it into a— Well, it.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Does overlap, but a little bit. But he decided that
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: he wanted to try to make his way into sports,
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: and that's his prerogative. He was very successful doing it.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: And listen, he had tremendous skill. Tremendous. Blazing fast, quick,
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: could catch the ball. He could do everything. Punt returner.
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: What do you want to do? He could do it.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: He could probably wide receiver if he had to. He
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: could just do about everything that's required.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: I kind of want to go back and figure out
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: what his diet and workout regimen was because for somebody
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: to have that much energy.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: Now we're going back to diets.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: Oh, listen, I wish I had that energy.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: Nutrients.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I think it's vital. We need to do an episode on.
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: Disputing. I'm not trying to dispute what you're saying, but.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: I'm just jealous of that energy level.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: Play football and baseball okay do we have to talk
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: about nutrition every two minutes.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: I think it's actually crucial for athletes and i definitely
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: want to break it down i'm.
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: Not disputing that but i don't have any expertise in
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: that area so you'll have to bring someone and consult
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: with somebody else on Yeah, we'll have to.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Bring someone in because I like to keep playing, to
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: keep sweating, to keep pushing. I want to know how
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: much protein are they having every day? How much carbs
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: are they having every day? I am morbidly curious because
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Not that I'm going to be an
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: athlete myself, but I'd be curious to see what their
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: workout regimen and their diet is.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: As I said, you're going to have to consult. Oh,
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: I will. You can tell by looking at me. Diet
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: was not a priority.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: No, but workout was.
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. I'm lucky.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you swear. I don't want to say you yell
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: at me, but I'm going to say it. You yell
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: at me. You're like, Catherine, cardio. Cardio is key. Cardio
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: and abs.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: That's right. That's what we need to do. We need
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: to keep our heart in good shape, and we need
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: to keep our core in good shape. And if we
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: do those two things, there's a pretty good chance everything
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: else will fall into place.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: I love that. I'm going to keep that in mind
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: and keep working on my cardio.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: You better get going.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: The abs are fine. The cardio, we're going to work
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: on that one. Bill, you've coached some of the biggest
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: pressure markets in football. You had New York, Dallas, New England.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: Watching coaches today deal with pressure after just a handful
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: of losses, does it remind you of anything from your
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: own career?
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: There's pressure, but, Catherine, it's what you put on yourself.
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: You want to be successful in your vocation. You want
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: your team to perform well. When your name's on it,
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: it does take on a personal nature. But outside influences,
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: you have to deal with them because they're there. You're
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: conscious of them. I'm not saying you ignore what's going
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: on around you because you can't help it. You know,
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: when I was in New York, there was eight or
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: nine newspapers. There wasn't the Internet, but there was publicity
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: every day about the team and those kinds of things.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: And you can't ignore it because it exists. But as
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: I said, you have to be able to separate and
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: concentrate on what your job is supposed to be and
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: do it to the best you can and not let
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: ancillary things influence you.
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: Now, back actually when you were coaching Dallas, you were
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: the one who gave Tony Romo his shot, right? How
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: do you know? And he was undrafted. How do you
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: know when somebody who's undrafted or overlooked is ready?
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: Well, that's a good question. When you do preparations for
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: the draft, you probably scout on a yearly basis upwards
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: of 250 players. Okay. Now, when you comprise your draft board,
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: you probably only have half that amount on your draft board.
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: Everybody on your draft board has to be a person
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: that if you draft them, you have a vision for
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: a role and you think he can make the team.
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: In Tony's case, he was a young free agent from
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: northern Illinois, and I credit Sean Payton more than myself
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: for kind of finding him and digging up the information
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: and saying, hey, Bill, this is a guy maybe we
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: ought to consider as a free agent. And so we
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: wound up doing it. We wound up signing him. We
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: didn't throw him to the walls. He was from a
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: smaller school, a state school in Illinois. He hadn't played
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: at the highest level of competition, but he was very
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: good at the medium level. We got him. We started
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: working with him. We started seeing traits that looked good.
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: He was smart. He had a good arm. He had
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: good release. He was mobile. And after a couple of
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: years of development, he got his chance to play, and
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: he's made a wonderful career for himself.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: And you didn't play him for one year, right?
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, he wasn't ready for the big time. Yeah.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: We had to get him.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: Get him there.
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: Well, but to his credit, he caught on quickly. And
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: as I say, he was highly intelligent. And he understood
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: what he needed to do. And he went about doing it.
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: And as a result, he had a pretty good football career.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Now, talking about looking at, you know, college football players,
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: I know you watch college football. Is there anyone now,
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: and you can tell me if you don't want to share,
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: because I'm sure you're probably keeping some people in the
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: pocket for suggestion for your friends that are potentially coaching
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: at the moment. But are you still keeping track of that?
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: Are you doing some scouting on your own, trying to
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: give some people?
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: We call that television scouting, Catherine. And that, it's human nature.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: You know, if I see something I like and I
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: look at it, a guy or see a player I
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: like in the college venue, I might call to somebody
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: like Sean and say, hey, Sean, take a look at
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: this tackle over here at Western Michigan and see what
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: you think of him. But I can't speak with any
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: authority because I don't know the players and Scouting on
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: television is not the way you go about that process.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: You've got to know about the player. You've got to
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: look at a lot of film on the player. You
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: have to decide if he's for you, his character, his
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: physical ability, everything. Does he fit here? And if he
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: fits here, good.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: How much time and effort do you think goes into
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the scouting alone? It sounds like it's a lot more
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: complex than I thought.
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: It's a year-round counselor.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: Do you have a whole team for that? Certainly.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: We have a group of college scouts and we have
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: a group of professional scouts. The professional scouts scout the
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: players on the other pro teams. They keep looking at them. And,
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: you know, sometimes teams put them on waivers. And, Bill,
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: this is a guy that could help us. We need
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: to claim him and get him on our roster. But
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: the college venue, it's a life of its own. It's
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: separate from the season you're playing as a professional coach.
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: The college is separate. It's going on. You have scouts
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: doing their job. And at the end of the year,
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: they show you the players that they think can make
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: our team. And then you have to do your homework
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: on each one of those players to see if you
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: want to first put them on the draft board. And
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: once he's up on the draft board, And you come
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: to choices. Now you have to pick, well, which guy
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: do we want the most out of this group?
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: Now, are you looking at all colleges or do you find, like,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: let's say there's a young athlete going into college and
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: he really wants to play pro football. Is there a
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: school that you suggest he go to? goes for just
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: to have a better limelight on him?
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: Well, usually parents are not consulting with somebody like me
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: about those things.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: But is there like a well-known kind of school that
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: they should go to just to make sure that they're seen?
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: Well, this has happened. If they call, if they happen
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: to call you for a recommendation, then you have an
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: obligation to at least list a couple of options for them.
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: I said, hey, maybe this school, maybe that school would
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: fit him well and depending on his academic status, his
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: athletic performance, those kinds of things. But it's just, as
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: I said, now it's a complex thing, and I don't
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: feel like I'm in a position to advise too strongly anybody.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: Of course.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: So when you were head coaching, though, did you look
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: at specific teams? Did you take people's consideration?
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, you're asking some good questions. Well, yes,
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: I used to like to get my offensive lineman from
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: the upper Midwest, Why? Well, because I was coaching in
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: the cold weather cities, New York and New England, and
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: they're playing in Michigan and Wisconsin and Minnesota and Iowa
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: and those cold weather places. And I liked having cold
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: weather players that have learned already as young people to
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: deal with the elements. And so a lot of times
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: I was trying to get my offensive line from the
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: Big Ten or the Big 12 somewhere.
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: You a good cold weather player, Catherine, or do you
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: bundle up in your down jacket and put your hood
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: over your head?
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: Listen, I grew up in Canada.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: I would say before I immigrated to the States, I was,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: but then I moved to North Carolina and my blood
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: thinned out.
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: And you went soft. I went soft.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: I'm readjusting to the cold, all right?
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: That's right. I got it.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: We're trying to get back to that.
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, you're blushing, too.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: Oh, I know. Well, you know, winter's around the corner.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: I'm starting to get nervous now. I was like, oh, gosh,
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: I've got to get that parka. But, Bill, you've been
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: around this game for obviously a very long time. And
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: watching what's happening in the NFL this season, I'm curious
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: to know, is there anything you're seeing now that makes
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: you think differently about something you believed when you were
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: a young coach? Does that make sense?
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, that's a very difficult question. What I
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: have seen the NFL right now, I'm not certain there's
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: any dominant, dominant team. It looks like, even though San
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: Francisco has started very strongly, they're in a tough division.
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: It doesn't look like there's any just superpower team out there. Now,
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: San Francisco, in my opinion, would have to be the
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: closest at this time. But different things, no, Catherine, it's
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: always about field position in football. Where are you playing
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: the game? If you can play the game on their
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: end of the field, do that successfully, you have a
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: good chance to win. If you can keep from getting
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: a lot of penalties, if you don't turn the ball
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: over and you can play on their end of the field,
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: you're going to have a good chance to win. And
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: if you don't do those things, if you turn it over,
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: you get the ordinate number of penalties, those are deterrents.
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: You can't win.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: Now, I have a super random question before we get
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: into it.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: Random question.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, officially super random question.
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: Go ahead.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: Because I'm very curious, as a head coach, and we
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: kind of brushed the subject a little bit, how, you know,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: you're not, the players aren't only physically being demanded a
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: lot of, but... Stuff is happening in their personal lives too, right?
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: They're going through it. I want to know when somebody
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: is going through, I'm going to give a couple of examples,
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: like let's say either a divorce or the death of
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: a parent, you know, God forbid anything worse, but when
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: they're going through that, but they still have to play.
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: As a coach, what do you think works best on them?
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: Do you think like a little tough love? Hey, listen,
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: we'll deal with that later. Let's go put your game
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: face on. We got this. Or do you think kid
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: gloves is maybe a better approach for players?
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: Well, you have to show the players. Listen, you have
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: to show the players you're a human being. Yeah. And,
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: you know, they have lives and things happen and things occur.
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: And when you're with them eight hours a day for
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: six months, you know, everybody knows pretty much everything that's
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: going on. So... any way that you can assist them as,
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: and I keep using the word human being, you know,
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: I not only feel like I'm a teacher and a
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: coach and that kind of thing, but I'm also a
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: human being and a parent and I have children of
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: my own and things occur and you have to, as
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: best you can, help them deal with it. So communication,
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: we're back to that.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Word of the week.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: Let me know what's going on and Let's see if
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: we can solve these problems together because I'm here to help.
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: So tough love when they're on good, even keel. But
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: if they're going through something, we're going to go a
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: little easy. We're going to go a little easy and
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: make sure that they're okay.
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: That's right. You have to do that. You have to
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: show the human side, Catherine.
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: I love that. But talking about the human side, let's
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: say you have a player. So like right now, Jalen Hurts.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: is out potentially for the entire season with a blood clot.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: We won't go into that. But when you have a
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: team player, and I'm going to say, you know, family
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: member that's out for an entire season as a head coach,
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: How do you support him? Do you still give him
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: the same amount of energy you give other players that
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: are currently playing?
• 51:27
  Speaker 2: Well, you're certainly worried about the player physically when you
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: have what hurts that. And, you know, this is serious stuff.
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: And so he's not going to be playing. And, you know,
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: you have a task to coach your team. It's the
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: next man up mentality. But you don't disregard the players.
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: He was a team member. He is a team member.
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: He's with you. He'll probably be playing again next year.
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: You have to show him, you know, respect. And it's
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: just that he's not in the mix currently.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: So differently, but you're still definitely still in the support system.
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. No doubt.
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: That's good.
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: I know it's good. That's part of life. That's why
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: I got in the business. You get to do those
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: things sometimes.
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you say that blood kinship you form.
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: That's what it is. I always see it like, you know,
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: you need a village. You know, having kids, raising kids,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: it's like you need a village. And that's something like
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: if you're hurt that bad, you need your village to
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: show up.
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: That's right. Well, I've never lived in a village, but
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: I understand what you're talking about.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: Community, community. All right. So now near the end, actually,
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: we are at the end of the episode. So I'm
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: doing my two minute drill. I love the two-minute drill.
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: Well, you better get your big boy pants on and
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: get in a hurry, Catherine, because two minutes means urgent.
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: Let's go.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, so give me short answers. Are you ready?
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: We just watched Sunday Night Football at Lambeau Field in
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: Green Bay, and it's one of the most iconic stadiums
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: in all football history. I want you to give me
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: one word, if you can, to describe these stadiums I'm
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: going to name. I want to start with Lambeau Field,
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: the home of Green Bay Packers.
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: Greatest venue in the NFL.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Okay. AT & T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: A lot going on in that place besides football.
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm going to ask you about that.
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: A lot of videos, a lot of everything. You know,
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: it's like an entertainment center.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: How about Arrowhead Field?
• 53:23
  Speaker 2: Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Arrowhead Field.
• 53:26
  Speaker 2: Coincidentally. The same architect that designed Giant Stadium, the stadium
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: I coached in, designed Arrowhead.
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, really?
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: So whenever I went to Arrowhead, I felt like I
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: was at home because I already knew the whole stadium
• 53:39
  Speaker 2: and everything.
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: They just copy-pasted the building.
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: Kansas City, that's hilarious. All right. Lincoln Financial Field, the
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: home of the Eagles.
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's a foreign country down there in Philadelphia. Very,
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: very hostile place. Probably the most rabid fans, most rabid, vile, name-calling...
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: A group of people that you could ever arrange in
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: one place. But, you know, Catherine, when they used to
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: call me those names and, hey, Parcells, you know, all
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: those things, it was almost like they liked you, you know,
• 54:16
  Speaker 2: because they were acknowledging your existence, which they don't do
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: for everybody.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: You know, it's hilarious. You made that so appealing and
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: I haven't seen an NFL game live in person. And
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: I think I'm going to go see my first one
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: there just because I want to witness this.
• 54:30
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's wild down there.
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: Oh, I can't wait.
• 54:33
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: How about the Mile High Stadium?
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: The Bronco Stadium. Unique 7,250 feet up, Catherine.
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: Oh, really?
• 54:42
  Speaker 2: Elevation.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a mile high. That's why they call it that.
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: So you got oxygen deficit all the time. Now, I
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: lived in Colorado for two years, and I experienced it firsthand,
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: and it does affect you. And people that condition themselves
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: in those environments can really gain from being there.
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 55:04
  Speaker 2: Your stamina and your endurance is appreciably increased when you
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: can train in that area.
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: Man, I didn't even consider that. Do you find players
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: struggle when they go there?
• 55:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. You're going in there from a hot weather
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: city in the south to a cold weather, a high elevation,
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: no oxygen. Oh, yeah. We all struggle.
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh.
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: Not just players.
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: I bet. And lastly, MetLife Stadium, the home of the
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: Giants and the Jets.
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: I've only been in there to coach a couple of games.
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: And that's home for me. That's where I grew up,
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: right near the Giants facility, really closer than I'm even describing.
• 55:43
  Speaker 2: It was my lifelong team. I started rooting for them
• 55:46
  Speaker 2: when I was a little boy, and I lived and
• 55:49
  Speaker 2: died with them when I was 10 years old, and
• 55:52
  Speaker 2: I'm still doing it.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: Heck, yeah. So what would you say? Do you prefer
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: Giants Stadium or that life stadium? I mean, you have
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: a lot of experience in the Giants Stadium.
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: That was home. Of course. This is a new place.
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: I don't know that much about it.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: I didn't even know that the Giants and the Jets
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: shared the same stadium.
• 56:11
  Speaker 2: Well, they didn't for a while. The Jets were playing
• 56:13
  Speaker 2: on Long Island at Shea Stadium, the baseball stadium. And
• 56:16
  Speaker 2: then eventually when they built the big complex in the Meadowlands,
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: both teams.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: And I think the Giants actually played at the Shea
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: Stadium for one year in 1975.
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they won constantly. Your knowledge now, I can't believe
• 56:28
  Speaker 2: you found out that fact.
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: Listen, I wish I remembered everything. I remember very random things,
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: and that was one of them.
• 56:34
  Speaker 2: That's a random thing.
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it really was. Well, talking about random, hopefully we'll
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: have some more random fun facts next week. Okay, I'm
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: looking forward to it.
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Keep your game flush on.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: I'm going to try my best. We've got to watch
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: football on Sunday and dissect this some more. I'm loving it.
• 56:52
  Speaker 2: Let's do it.
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: Let's do it.