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Steelers Offseason Update · Steelers Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Today, I'm Steelers Country Weekly. We give you the big
0:03
Speaker 1: updates from the Steelers this offseason. I'm Nick Detulio and
0:07
Speaker 1: as always I'm joined by the world famous accountant Terrek
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Speaker 1: Vanmin showten Eric. How's it going tonight?
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Speaker 2: Ah, I can't complain. Yeah, it is like a degrees Sunday.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 2: The NBA Finals are here without the thunder.
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Speaker 3: Uh, and talk football with my best friend. So pretty good.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go. Especially you mentioned the thunder And
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Speaker 1: I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I do know
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Speaker 1: that they were causing quite a bit of drama this
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Speaker 1: offseason or not sorry, not this offseason football, but this
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Speaker 1: postseason for the NBA because and I'm not going to
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Speaker 1: accuse him of anything, but there's a lot of people
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Speaker 1: who feel that all they do is just flop, especially SGA.
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Speaker 1: So uh, I don't know if that's what you were
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Speaker 1: getting at when you said the thunder aren't there.
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Speaker 3: I watched it. I witnessed it, and it's really annoying.
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Speaker 2: There was like there was a stat about comparing Sga,
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Speaker 2: Harden and Wemby.
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Speaker 3: When it comes to falls.
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Speaker 2: SGA falls one out of every six shots he takes.
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Speaker 2: Second by comparison, I think Wemby was like one out
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Speaker 2: of twenty.
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Speaker 1: I did see someone put together a quote unquote highlight
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Speaker 1: reel of him flopping or falling down after shots where
1:37
Speaker 1: he wasn't even touched. It was pretty funny, but I
1:39
Speaker 1: was like, I'm not gonna take it as the sole
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Speaker 1: truth because this is the Internet. But I did think
1:46
Speaker 1: that was pretty funny. And yeah, I'm good. If that
1:49
Speaker 1: is truly the case, and I'll take your word for it,
1:52
Speaker 1: then yes, I'm glad that they're not there too.
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Speaker 3: He would he would not embody the Steelers, That's for.
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Speaker 1: Sure, the Steeler way that we know and love. There
2:04
Speaker 1: you go, all right, Well, let's talk about the Steelers
2:09
Speaker 1: because the off season is well underway now and it
2:12
Speaker 1: thinks it feels like things are certain to solidify for
2:15
Speaker 1: the team. The biggest news is that Aaron Rodgers officially
2:20
Speaker 1: did your turn. He came back on a one year
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Speaker 1: deal worth about twenty five million dollars. He's pretty he says,
2:26
Speaker 1: this is probably going to pretty much gonna be it.
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Speaker 1: So I'm not too concerned about the money because they
2:31
Speaker 1: had the cap space anyway, and it's not like they're
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Speaker 1: going out and making any big splash signings or anything.
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Speaker 1: But we have our answer. Aaron Rodgers will be the
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Speaker 1: starter for twenty twenty six.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I guess so.
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Speaker 2: I feel like we've talked about before, but like, if
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Speaker 2: your goal is to win as many games as possible
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Speaker 2: in twenty six, yeah, it's the right call. And for
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Speaker 2: twenty five million dollars, I think he's worth it. Do
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Speaker 2: I think it's the right move from the franchise? No,
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Speaker 2: But I just don't think.
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Speaker 3: I never saw that.
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Speaker 2: They were going to move off this block. I thought
3:21
Speaker 2: this was inevitable, and but I do hope that at
3:27
Speaker 2: some point that we give either Drew or Will a look.
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Speaker 2: Otherwise we're just not gonna know what's in store for
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Speaker 2: us for twice seven.
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Speaker 1: That's the biggest part I think, too, is what happens
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Speaker 1: if Aaron Rodgers is mostly healthy throughout this next year
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Speaker 1: like he was this past year, I think only missed
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Speaker 1: like a game and a half. If that, you go
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Speaker 1: into next year and neither Will Howard or Drew Aller
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Speaker 1: have had any serious playing time? Do ye? Do you
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Speaker 1: give them next year then and see how they do
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Speaker 1: after a whole other year? Do you try to take
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Speaker 1: the pick in the draft. Again, It's just I'm with
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Speaker 1: you for for right now. I think it's the way
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Speaker 1: to go, But I'm not sure what this does for
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Speaker 1: your long term.
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Speaker 2: Yes, and you know, I guess it's just what we've
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Speaker 2: been doing. Kick the can down. Look, I mean, we
4:35
Speaker 2: still have so many veterans on this team that they want.
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Speaker 3: To do right by. I think that they did make the.
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Speaker 2: Team around Rogers better this offseason, so you know, I
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Speaker 2: think making you know, the Pittman trade, and you know,
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Speaker 2: I feel like they continue to invest in the offensive line.
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Speaker 2: They had the signing a cornerback with.
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Speaker 3: Dean you know, they I mean, just the team's getting
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Speaker 3: healthy again.
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Speaker 2: When you have old guys like Camp Hayward and.
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Speaker 3: Andrew prone like TJ.
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Speaker 2: Watt, just getting them at the very beginning of the
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Speaker 2: season healthy again is always fresh start. But yeah, I
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Speaker 2: just you know, the ceiling is like eleven wins, not ten.
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Speaker 1: Woo here we go. Yeah, and look.
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Speaker 3: I.
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Speaker 1: Think the thing that was frustrating was just how long
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Speaker 1: it played out. And it was kind of like a
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Speaker 1: repeat of last year too, right, Like, Yeah, I think
5:51
Speaker 1: everyone in the building was fairly confident that he was
5:53
Speaker 1: going to come back, but still it was like crickets
5:55
Speaker 1: for a while. But now that he's back, we'll see
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Speaker 1: what happens. I was pleasantly surprised with him last year.
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Speaker 1: I thought he played better than expected. And if he
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Speaker 1: can keep that up again, with what you said about
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Speaker 1: the extra pieces being around him, I think that's going
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Speaker 1: to be very important, and we'll see what we can
6:18
Speaker 1: do to close the gap. But once again, at the
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Speaker 1: end of the day, do we think it's going to
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Speaker 1: be enough to I'm not even gonna say you're in
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Speaker 1: a playoff game. I'm gonna say, not get blown out
6:30
Speaker 1: in a playoff game. Let's I'm going to lower the
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Speaker 1: bar a little bit here, Yeah, because you know, Ben
6:38
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger said it best. He's like, you cannot put up
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Speaker 1: only six points in a playoff game, Like that's just unacceptable.
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Speaker 1: So and that was a home playoff game too, no less,
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Speaker 1: So anyway, we'll leave it at that now. Before we
6:57
Speaker 1: go any further, I have to ask Eric, are you
6:59
Speaker 1: like in the middle of cleaning the house while we're
7:01
Speaker 1: talking here, what's going on over there? What do you
7:04
Speaker 1: mean I'm getting so much feedback. I thought you were
7:07
Speaker 1: like doing the dishes and like getting all this multitasking
7:11
Speaker 1: and doing other stuff because you weren't given Steelers Country
7:14
Speaker 1: Weekly your full attention. Now I'm I'm here, Wow, Okay,
7:20
Speaker 1: I'm not kidnaped. Thought you like turned on the sink
7:22
Speaker 1: and we're doing stuff. Wow okay, Well it must be
7:26
Speaker 1: the ghosts in the house then, so ye, all right,
7:30
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I accused you of not giving us your
7:32
Speaker 1: full undivided attention. But dish dishes are important too.
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Speaker 3: So.
7:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, the chores were done prior to Steelers Country Weekly,
7:42
Speaker 2: as as.
7:43
Speaker 1: They should be, all right. The other big news coming
7:48
Speaker 1: out of the Steeler camp yesterday was that Nick Herbig
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Speaker 1: signed a four year, one hundred million dollar contract extension
7:53
Speaker 1: forty two million guaranteed. And I thought that this was
7:57
Speaker 1: very interesting because it happened the same day that Miles
8:02
Speaker 1: Garrett was traded to the Rams from Cleveland. And I
8:08
Speaker 1: thought it was funny because Adam Schefter said he's believed
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Speaker 1: to be the first person to get one hundred million
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Speaker 1: dollar extension without having started a full season. And I
8:20
Speaker 1: like her Big, but they've already got TJ. Watt and
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Speaker 1: Alex high Smith. They're going to have to move on
8:28
Speaker 1: at some point from one of these guys, it looks
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Speaker 1: like it's probably gonna be high Smith right now. But
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Speaker 1: I just thought it was really interesting because the Miles
8:37
Speaker 1: Garrett trade was one that I thought the Steelers probably
8:40
Speaker 1: could have made a similar TJ. Watt trade maybe before
8:44
Speaker 1: this last contract extension. I just thought it was interesting
8:49
Speaker 1: that it was something that the Steelers could have done
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Speaker 1: if they chose to. But now they've got Watt, and
8:55
Speaker 1: now they just signed her Big to this monster deal,
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Speaker 1: and here we are again spending on our aging defense.
9:01
Speaker 1: Although her Big is one of the younger guys.
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Speaker 3: I grant you, Yeah, we're spending on the defense.
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Speaker 2: I think that, like I like her Big, Yeah, I
9:15
Speaker 2: think honestly, the the issue with him is that I
9:19
Speaker 2: don't think our coaching staff ever gave him the exposure
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Speaker 2: that he deserved. I think when he's on the field,
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Speaker 2: he's probably he's been very disruptive, like he's not t J. Watt,
9:36
Speaker 2: but like when it comes to force fumbles, I feel
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Speaker 2: like the second most impactful player with that has been him.
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Speaker 2: So I think it was excellent to retain him. I
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Speaker 2: think maybe the concern I had was, like, who are
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Speaker 2: we betting? Who are we bidding against? Like you know,
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Speaker 2: I I do think quality the pass rushers are worthy
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Speaker 2: of twenty five million dollars. I mean, honestly, if you
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Speaker 2: look at the free agency pool, that was pretty much
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Speaker 2: the going rate for us starting outside linebacker.
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Speaker 3: But you know, I.
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Speaker 2: Just don't see like if the people in the building
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Speaker 2: are the ones that like, weren't the ones actually having
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Speaker 2: him start. And I know we have a new change
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Speaker 2: when it comes to, you know, passing it from Tomlin
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Speaker 2: to McCarthy, But like our it just felt awkward, right,
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Speaker 2: It just felt like, why now are we giving them
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Speaker 2: this huge vote of confidence when it didn't really seem
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Speaker 2: like we had it before.
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Speaker 1: Well, uh yeah, it's interesting for sure, and I'm with you.
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Speaker 1: I like her big too, But I just go back
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Speaker 1: to the guy hasn't even started a full season. So
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Speaker 1: I hope they're just not pulling them down a little
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Speaker 1: too prematurely there.
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Speaker 3: I do think.
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Speaker 2: I think I would say though, starting as I think starting,
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Speaker 2: but like applying it to a past rushing linebacker is
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Speaker 2: like the equivalent of saying, mind Ginobili was a sixth
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Speaker 2: man in his career. He really wasn't. He played probably
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Speaker 2: the second or third most minutes in the game. I
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Speaker 2: feel like the same could be said for an outside linebacker,
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Speaker 2: Like you don't necessarily have to start, it's just do
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Speaker 2: they have to do they throw them out there when
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Speaker 2: it matters most.
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Speaker 1: I think that.
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Speaker 3: I think that they gave him chances.
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Speaker 2: I just don't think it was as ample as maybe
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Speaker 2: we were looking for. So like, I think he still
11:51
Speaker 2: got plenty of like third down passing or you know,
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Speaker 2: passing opportunities to show his metal. I think he plays
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Speaker 2: and a big games he caused turnovers.
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Speaker 3: But I think that it's just like.
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Speaker 2: Maybe the amount of consistency of his playing time just
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Speaker 2: fluctuated to a point where it was like, why isn't
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Speaker 2: he out there?
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Speaker 3: More like he he got.
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Speaker 2: Seven sacks while playing like thirty percent of the snaps.
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Speaker 3: Why wasn't he closer to fifty?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's a very fair take, and I'm
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Speaker 1: impressed you're bringing in all the NBA comparisons tonight too.
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Speaker 4: So yeah, well, you know what, if you're not watching
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Speaker 4: the NBA and it's in June timeframe, what sports are
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Speaker 4: you watching? I mean, are you watching squirrel parasailing? Are
12:49
Speaker 4: you watching Uh?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just curious, like what what on the ESPN
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Speaker 2: show are you tuned into well.
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Speaker 1: First of all, if squirrel Paris sailing was a thing,
13:01
Speaker 1: I would watch that, it is not.
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Speaker 3: Second, it was advertised on dodgeball.
13:08
Speaker 1: I can tell you, as someone who is not watching
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Speaker 1: the NBA Finals that I am not watching sports. It
13:14
Speaker 1: is pretty lonely right now. But I am making up
13:17
Speaker 1: for it because I play Monkey in the middle almost
13:20
Speaker 1: every night with the six year old twins. So we
13:25
Speaker 1: make that as prolific an event as you possibly can.
13:28
Speaker 1: We have we play like an intro song from the networks,
13:31
Speaker 1: and we do warm ups and stretched then I make
13:34
Speaker 1: them stand for the national anthem. We have a flag
13:36
Speaker 1: in the living room and then we do a we
13:40
Speaker 1: go off to the side, and then we play a
13:42
Speaker 1: pump up song to enter into the living room for
13:45
Speaker 1: and then I have to announce the entire time too.
13:48
Speaker 2: So did I tell you that I had a karaoke
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Speaker 2: music box that like you know that served as a speaker.
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Speaker 1: Yep.
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Speaker 2: I took that and I purposed it as I was
14:00
Speaker 2: the head coach for my daughter's two year old soccer team.
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Speaker 2: So prestigeous honor, yes, uh. And we did tunnels. And
14:10
Speaker 2: then when we did the tunnels, right, I played the
14:13
Speaker 2: Bulls nineties music.
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Speaker 1: Dun dun, duh.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, so no, I tetally get it. You gotta get
14:22
Speaker 3: these kids.
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Speaker 1: At Yeah it worked, and uh there were some real
14:26
Speaker 1: tears tonight when one of them lost My goodness, but
14:31
Speaker 1: I told him, you got to catch the ball anyway,
14:33
Speaker 1: enough monkey in the middle, that's a separate thing. So
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Speaker 1: I literally said that the Steelers are spending all the
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Speaker 1: money on defense. And while we've been speaking, there was
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Speaker 1: actually a tweet from Adam Schefter. The Steelers again, as
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Speaker 1: of five minutes ago, have given Darnell Washington an extension.
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Speaker 1: It's a a four year, forty two million extension with
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Speaker 1: twenty one million guaranteed.
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Speaker 2: So that sounds like, dude, honestly that that sounds sad
15:00
Speaker 2: like a guy like we saw the impact that he had.
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Speaker 3: And he's not just a gadget guy, Like.
15:09
Speaker 2: He's our biggest block, like our best tight end blocker.
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Speaker 3: He can make plays. You know, he needs to get
15:17
Speaker 3: a little bit more consistent with catching.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, but obviously we've seen him be able to get
15:22
Speaker 2: some yards after the catch as well.
15:24
Speaker 3: So he's just also an excellent decoy. Like you know,
15:31
Speaker 3: there's we'll talk about later.
15:34
Speaker 2: But like people are comparing Garrett vers versus Miles Garrett
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Speaker 2: and like who got.
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Speaker 3: The better deal and stuff like that. But like.
15:43
Speaker 2: You know, people were saying, like, well was Miles was
15:47
Speaker 2: Jared vers getting double and triple teamed every single time?
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Speaker 2: You know, I think, like Darnell Washington, you know, he's
15:56
Speaker 2: not gonna be Troy Paul Ball. I'm not saying that
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Speaker 2: at all, but people had a scheme to where Troy
16:02
Speaker 2: was on the field. I think people are gonna start
16:06
Speaker 2: doing that with the offense with Washington. So I think
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Speaker 2: we's giving him them for like basically ten million a year.
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Speaker 3: That's that's wonderful.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love Darnell Washington. I think he's
16:23
Speaker 1: been fun to watch and I love when they put
16:26
Speaker 1: like his weatest three hundred plus pounds on the graphic. Yeah,
16:31
Speaker 1: he's I.
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Speaker 3: Will say, I will say when that draft. You know,
16:35
Speaker 3: obviously I'm not right on every draft pick. I remember vividly, though.
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Speaker 2: We can go back to the records and we'll employer
16:45
Speaker 2: unpaid student intern to go do it.
16:48
Speaker 3: Which you get a SoundBite. I'm pretty sure I.
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Speaker 2: Endorsed the pick and you didn't. You were not a
16:57
Speaker 2: big Darnell Washington fan in the third round.
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Speaker 1: I'm going to take your word on it. I don't
17:05
Speaker 1: remember feeling strongly one way or the other. But if
17:08
Speaker 1: you say that I was against it, I will I
17:10
Speaker 1: believe you. Speaking of the unpaid student Interurn, though, I
17:13
Speaker 1: do remember that he and his NFL draft co host
17:19
Speaker 1: were very unhappy that the Steelers got him. They were like,
17:22
Speaker 1: my god, of course this guy is going to fall
17:25
Speaker 1: to the Steelers because I believe we got him after
17:27
Speaker 1: we traded down in the third round. Two. Yeah, I did,
17:30
Speaker 1: and he was a very highly rated draft pick that
17:33
Speaker 1: just seemed to slip for some reason. So if it
17:36
Speaker 1: causes the unpaid student Interurn heartburn that we got this guy,
17:40
Speaker 1: then that's right there as a win alone.
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Speaker 3: There you go. Awesome, awesome extension. I think that's great.
17:49
Speaker 2: But yeah, I guess if we're talking about extensions, though
17:54
Speaker 2: I did text you this when when we were talking
17:59
Speaker 2: about but I thought Porter would be the next in
18:03
Speaker 2: line when it comes to an extension.
18:05
Speaker 3: I mean, let's let's just leave it to do you.
18:10
Speaker 2: Did you have another person in mind who you thought
18:13
Speaker 2: was worthy of an extension or want to see it
18:15
Speaker 2: get an extension that it hasn't occurred yet.
18:20
Speaker 1: Offhand, No, I think Porter is probably the good, the
18:24
Speaker 1: best candidate for that. Just running through the roster real quick,
18:29
Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about DK and I'm talking
18:32
Speaker 1: just about the contract stuff. I'm not talking about anything else.
18:36
Speaker 1: You're obviously not gonna worry about Rogers.
18:40
Speaker 3: Uh.
18:40
Speaker 1: I think Jalen Warren is already on a fair contract.
18:43
Speaker 1: We just got Rico Dudel and then we already took care.
18:49
Speaker 3: Of what maybe like one of our young offensive linemen.
18:55
Speaker 3: But they're all still so.
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Speaker 1: I mean, the only one that you would really would
19:01
Speaker 1: be eligible is Broderick Jones, but he would have if
19:07
Speaker 1: they were going to absolutely retain him, they would have
19:09
Speaker 1: done his fifth year option instead of a extension right now.
19:13
Speaker 1: But they didn't do that. So yeah, I think Joey
19:17
Speaker 1: Porter's the one the way to go. He's been, I
19:20
Speaker 1: think playing up to where we expected him to be,
19:24
Speaker 1: and I think he's gotten better each year too. So
19:28
Speaker 1: maybe maybe it is in the cards. Maybe the other
19:33
Speaker 1: guys were just a little bit easier to work with
19:36
Speaker 1: and he's asking for more. I don't know the situation.
19:39
Speaker 1: I know he's doing a quote unquote hold in right
19:42
Speaker 1: now where he's doing like limited participation at OTAs. So yeah,
19:49
Speaker 1: I mean maybe it'll get done before the year starts.
19:51
Speaker 1: Maybe not, but I would have to imagine that he's
19:54
Speaker 1: got to be the next man up.
19:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, his market is difficult, right because, like there are
20:02
Speaker 2: advanced stats that say that Joey Porter had himself at
20:08
Speaker 2: like the very top of the quarterback exelon last year.
20:14
Speaker 2: But you know, there are are consistency concerns. Uh, he
20:19
Speaker 2: does get penalized, which I don't think factors into those
20:23
Speaker 2: metrics as much. But yeah, I mean it if we're
20:30
Speaker 2: doing thumbs up thumbs down, if he got an extension,
20:33
Speaker 2: and obviously there's all there's always factors like how much
20:37
Speaker 2: money is he gonna get? But I would give him
20:42
Speaker 2: a thumbs up, you know, I think he's definitely deserved it.
20:44
Speaker 2: And if he's but unfortunately for you, you know you
20:49
Speaker 2: mentioned you know, it's it's adding money to the defense,
20:54
Speaker 2: you know. So I don't know if it slides into
20:57
Speaker 2: your composition.
21:01
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not we could use this as a
21:05
Speaker 1: segue too, but I think it's gonna come down to, uh,
21:08
Speaker 1: I mean, well, once Cam has gone, that'll be some
21:11
Speaker 1: load off but but yeah, the defense is where the
21:16
Speaker 1: money is at right now, I don't know that's a
21:17
Speaker 1: winning formula. And I think at the end of the day,
21:21
Speaker 1: they're going to have to have a discussion about t J.
21:24
Speaker 1: Watt unless there's something I'm totally missing, and unless he
21:27
Speaker 1: was also handstrung by the schemes or lack thereof the
21:32
Speaker 1: past several years with the way the defense was run.
21:36
Speaker 1: Maybe he has a breakout and I don't want to
21:38
Speaker 1: say breakout that that kind of diminishes what he's already done.
21:41
Speaker 1: Maybe he has a resurgence this year, but that that's
21:47
Speaker 1: kind of where I keep looking at where all the
21:48
Speaker 1: money is based on his age, how much they're paying him,
21:51
Speaker 1: and the production that we're getting for that.
21:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's so interesting, right, Like, he he's still
22:01
Speaker 2: playing very much at starter good starter level, and you know,
22:11
Speaker 2: I would even I'm saying that with like the idea
22:14
Speaker 2: of like he has injury issues, but I.
22:18
Speaker 3: Still think like he is still an impactful player.
22:23
Speaker 2: So like, it's funny that, like people we're honestly guard,
22:29
Speaker 2: we're grading him under the microscope of the t J. Wattscale,
22:33
Speaker 2: not the other you know, relative to other players in
22:39
Speaker 2: the NFL.
22:40
Speaker 3: I feel like, yeah, I mean, do you do.
22:44
Speaker 2: You feel like that's fair or do you like, yeah,
22:49
Speaker 2: I mean have like eight sacks and we're.
22:51
Speaker 3: Like, man, he's such a freaking disappointment.
22:54
Speaker 2: And I get it, like he's getting paid top money
22:58
Speaker 2: at the position. You know, like we plays twelve games,
23:03
Speaker 2: eight sacks is pretty good.
23:05
Speaker 1: You know What's not just that, though? I mean there's
23:08
Speaker 1: been stretches of time where we haven't where he has played,
23:11
Speaker 1: but we haven't seen him make an impact because he
23:13
Speaker 1: hasn't been able to get off the double team or
23:15
Speaker 1: the chip or what have you. So I agree that
23:21
Speaker 1: it's really tough to gauge with the injuries as well.
23:24
Speaker 1: And I mean you can also look at the record
23:26
Speaker 1: that they have when he's healthy versus when he's not healthy, too.
23:32
Speaker 1: But I think what I'm leaning on is what I
23:37
Speaker 1: referred to, is those stretches of games where he's just
23:41
Speaker 1: he's not there. There were times where not this past season,
23:46
Speaker 1: but the year before where the Steelers lost like the
23:48
Speaker 1: last five in a row or four in a row
23:50
Speaker 1: of the regular season going into the playoffs where they
23:53
Speaker 1: lost the fifth in a row or six in a row,
23:56
Speaker 1: whatever it was, and it's like he was he was
23:59
Speaker 1: just absent. So anyway what I was.
24:05
Speaker 3: I'd hear you.
24:05
Speaker 2: I think, like definitely last year was he took a
24:10
Speaker 2: step down. But yeah, it is funny how much I
24:16
Speaker 2: think it's funny how much clamor there is that like
24:19
Speaker 2: we get rid of him. My view about why we
24:22
Speaker 2: get rid of him is not because he's not a
24:24
Speaker 2: good player, which I feel like some people.
24:28
Speaker 3: Talk about as much.
24:29
Speaker 2: I just don't think he fits into our where I
24:32
Speaker 2: think our windows should be. I think that we should
24:35
Speaker 2: be rebuilding. I think we should be focusing on who
24:38
Speaker 2: is our quarterback and I don't think that holding onto
24:42
Speaker 2: a thirty one. I don't want to call him injury prone.
24:47
Speaker 2: Injury succe susceptible linebacker is where we need to go.
24:53
Speaker 1: So well, that's I think that's exactly it. Though, is
24:57
Speaker 1: do you, and by you I mean the general public,
25:01
Speaker 1: not just you specifically, do you think the Steelers are
25:04
Speaker 1: going to compete for and or win a Super Bowl
25:09
Speaker 1: while TJ. Watt is on this contract? And if if
25:14
Speaker 1: you think the answer is yes, then you keep him.
25:18
Speaker 1: If you think the answer is no, then you need
25:21
Speaker 1: to trade him and get some something out of this,
25:25
Speaker 1: and I think you and me, as big of fans
25:29
Speaker 1: as we are and as much as we hope we're wrong,
25:31
Speaker 1: do not anticipate the Steelers competing for a super Bowl
25:35
Speaker 1: in the next four years or however long he's got
25:37
Speaker 1: left on his contract now.
25:39
Speaker 2: And you know, honestly, someone is just talking me at
25:43
Speaker 2: work about this, and how unfortunate is the timing for TJ.
25:47
Speaker 2: Watt because he got picked thirtieth overall, which you know
25:54
Speaker 2: he and the reason why I say that was because
25:57
Speaker 2: that was the last time we went to the AFC
25:59
Speaker 2: Chammpionship Game. So he got picked at the end of
26:03
Speaker 2: the first round. So it's not like we just picked
26:07
Speaker 2: a generational player like my you know, I actually I
26:10
Speaker 2: hate saying generational player, an amazing player probably for the
26:15
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame, like Miles Garrett, but over number one overall. No,
26:20
Speaker 2: we got a guy at the very end of the
26:22
Speaker 2: first round. So and I remember, I'm gonna give you
26:25
Speaker 2: your draft kudos. You were the one that stamped that approval,
26:29
Speaker 2: I remember pretty darn hard. But I think it's just
26:35
Speaker 2: interesting like that was the end of that era, like
26:40
Speaker 2: everything seemed to be going right. We had Le'Veon Antonio Brown,
26:46
Speaker 2: we had been and then you draft TJ. Watt and
26:50
Speaker 2: unfortunately TJ Watt is never won a playoff game, which
26:53
Speaker 2: is crazy when you think of where we came from,
26:57
Speaker 2: the AFC Championship game, the drafting TJ. Watt in the
27:04
Speaker 2: very next draft and you don't win a playoff room
27:08
Speaker 2: that it just tells you the state the state of
27:13
Speaker 2: what happened with Ben Le'Veon doing his hold out, Antonio
27:19
Speaker 2: Brown's brain just ride.
27:23
Speaker 3: What have.
27:26
Speaker 1: Yeah. I've never actually sat back and thought of that,
27:28
Speaker 1: So it's interesting that you bring it up, because it does.
27:33
Speaker 1: It makes a lot of sense, and the timing does
27:35
Speaker 1: suck if you're t J.
27:36
Speaker 3: Watt.
27:36
Speaker 1: And I don't want anyone to think that I'm bashing
27:39
Speaker 1: the guy as a player or as a person. I
27:43
Speaker 1: just what it goes back to for me again is
27:45
Speaker 1: if you think the Steelers are going to win the
27:46
Speaker 1: Super Bowl or compete for it, you need to keep them,
27:48
Speaker 1: and if you don't, they need to get rid of them.
27:51
Speaker 1: But yeah, going back to that that season that you're referencing,
27:55
Speaker 1: what a what a situation for him to walk in,
28:00
Speaker 1: and then it must be maddening to see things just
28:03
Speaker 1: slowly get worse and worse and worse. And you can
28:07
Speaker 1: argue they've come up a little bit since they've gotten
28:09
Speaker 1: to the playoffs the last couple of years compared to
28:13
Speaker 1: missing them for a few years. But don't want to
28:17
Speaker 1: be a dead horse. We know what happens when they
28:19
Speaker 1: get to the playoffs.
28:20
Speaker 2: Well, and you know what I think really turned the page,
28:23
Speaker 2: let me tell you, let me hear if you agree
28:26
Speaker 2: with me, is when we got absolutely waxed.
28:28
Speaker 3: By the Browns in the playoffs. I feel like that
28:31
Speaker 3: was the.
28:33
Speaker 2: That was the turning of the page from like, oh, okay,
28:36
Speaker 2: we're the Big Ben era. He's you know, he's not
28:41
Speaker 2: the two thousand and seven Big Bend, but he maybe
28:45
Speaker 2: like the Aaron Rodgers right now kind of Big Ben
28:51
Speaker 2: plays with veteran savvy and able to kind of turn
28:55
Speaker 2: the turnovers down to a minimum so you can actually
29:01
Speaker 2: win with defense.
29:02
Speaker 3: I feel like we went from that era.
29:08
Speaker 2: Of like always thinking that we're in it and maybe
29:13
Speaker 2: not super Bowl on the cusp, but we can get hot,
29:16
Speaker 2: so then all of a sudden.
29:19
Speaker 3: Ben's elbow goes out.
29:22
Speaker 2: But I feel like the drop was when we got
29:27
Speaker 2: down twenty eight to nothing against the Browns and then
29:31
Speaker 2: that just became.
29:33
Speaker 1: Craft.
29:34
Speaker 2: We're not We're not that Steelers team anymore. That's not
29:38
Speaker 2: our identity. Something changed that night.
29:43
Speaker 1: I don't think that that was the single event that
29:46
Speaker 1: caused that. I have been on record and I will
29:51
Speaker 1: go to my grave at the rate I'm going in
29:55
Speaker 1: the next three years. Yes, gives it out of your mouth,
30:00
Speaker 1: and I will say that that is the worst loss
30:03
Speaker 1: in franchise history. I don't care what the score of
30:06
Speaker 1: any other game was. I don't care what the spread was,
30:10
Speaker 1: how favored the other team was, or how favored we
30:13
Speaker 1: were to win a game. That is the single worst
30:16
Speaker 1: loss in franchise history. You have to remember it was
30:19
Speaker 1: a playoff game, but it wasn't home. It was during
30:22
Speaker 1: COVID though, and the Browns didn't have their head coach,
30:26
Speaker 1: they had an offensive line that hadn't even met the
30:29
Speaker 1: freaking quarterback until like the day before the game because
30:32
Speaker 1: of COVID protocols, and it was the Cleveland Browns. Like
30:38
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but it was the Cleveland Browns anyway, with
30:43
Speaker 1: all that was, like.
30:45
Speaker 3: Now thinking back to that was a wild season.
30:48
Speaker 2: I think it was the Commanders, maybe the red Skins
30:53
Speaker 2: at the time, because like people would watch a film together.
30:59
Speaker 3: All their quarterbacks got COVID, so like.
31:03
Speaker 2: None of them could play in the game, so they
31:05
Speaker 2: ended up having play have like a wide receiver start
31:11
Speaker 2: the game. And I think you played high school quarterback.
31:16
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was the game they played us,
31:18
Speaker 1: but I know that they were the team that stopped
31:20
Speaker 1: our undefeated season. But look to your point about that,
31:28
Speaker 1: I think that the cracks were already there in that
31:30
Speaker 1: season as well as leading up to it. So you
31:32
Speaker 1: have to remember the eleven to o season or the
31:35
Speaker 1: COVID season. They started eleven and oh, but there was
31:37
Speaker 1: a lot of games in there where it was like,
31:40
Speaker 1: there's no way we should have won this stupid game,
31:43
Speaker 1: like flukes and whatnot. And even before that our you mentioned,
31:50
Speaker 1: since you mentioned the year that they went to the
31:52
Speaker 1: AFC Championship against the Patriots, you have to remember they
31:56
Speaker 1: we did not score a single touchdown in our divisional
31:59
Speaker 1: game against the Chiefs, which we still managed to win
32:03
Speaker 1: thanks to Boz. And then we went into New England
32:07
Speaker 1: and got I forgot.
32:08
Speaker 3: About that eighteen to sixteen. Yes, you and our event
32:14
Speaker 3: our eventual wives were with us that night.
32:17
Speaker 1: Yes, And then they went up to New England and
32:21
Speaker 1: got smacked in that AFC Championship game by the Patriots.
32:25
Speaker 1: And I believe the wide receiver's name was Chris Hogan.
32:28
Speaker 1: Never heard of him before, never heard of him since,
32:30
Speaker 1: but he had like three touchdowns that night against US.
32:34
Speaker 1: So I think the Browns game wasn't the singular event.
32:37
Speaker 1: I think a lot of that was just kind of
32:39
Speaker 1: like a slow death that had already started, and that
32:41
Speaker 1: was kind of like the last gasp of air. Yeah,
32:45
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if that's better or worse, to be
32:46
Speaker 1: honest with you.
32:48
Speaker 3: You know another one that really hurts.
32:51
Speaker 2: Again, We're just doing this because it's June, and you know,
32:55
Speaker 2: how much can you really talk about football when it's
32:58
Speaker 2: in June.
33:00
Speaker 3: I people have been playing back that Jesse.
33:03
Speaker 2: James overturned touchdown a lot lately.
33:07
Speaker 3: Have you been noticing that? No?
33:09
Speaker 1: I have not, but I'm so I'm so happy you
33:12
Speaker 1: brought that up.
33:13
Speaker 2: Maybe it's like my algorithm or something like that. I
33:16
Speaker 2: so it's funny. I remember.
33:20
Speaker 3: That was a crazy game because I was in New York.
33:26
Speaker 2: Visiting my sister in law, and me and Presley went
33:31
Speaker 2: to this bar called Texas, Arizona, and someone told us
33:35
Speaker 2: it was a Steelers bar. No, it was an NFL
33:39
Speaker 2: bar like it was. Went there and.
33:42
Speaker 3: They were.
33:44
Speaker 2: There were just as many Steelers jerseys as there were
33:46
Speaker 2: any other team, and the Steelers were on TV. So
33:52
Speaker 2: we go to that bar and this guy starts cheering
33:56
Speaker 2: when Antonio Brown gets like a concussion, and no, I
34:03
Speaker 2: wasn't him or Ben Well the two, and I like,
34:07
Speaker 2: you shouldn't cheer for injuries. And I don't know, like
34:12
Speaker 2: he got my face about it. But so we were
34:17
Speaker 2: doing well, right, we were doing it well in that game.
34:20
Speaker 2: And then that was the game in which Jesse reached
34:25
Speaker 2: over the end zone, clearly had possession of the football,
34:29
Speaker 2: crossed the line, but when he went down to the
34:32
Speaker 2: ground it didn't survive.
34:35
Speaker 3: To play. So then they.
34:37
Speaker 2: Overturned it after they already told on the field it
34:41
Speaker 2: was a touchdown, so they had to have conclusive evidence
34:45
Speaker 2: to overturn it, which still blows my mind that how
34:50
Speaker 2: a football can cross the tip of the football can
34:52
Speaker 2: cross the end zone, a quarterback can reach.
34:55
Speaker 3: Oh here's what I don't understand. The ball carrier can
34:58
Speaker 3: run over the end zon throw it into the end zone.
35:02
Speaker 2: That ball tips over, someone punches it out, does not matter.
35:06
Speaker 3: That is a touchdown.
35:09
Speaker 2: A person catches the ball, establishes possession on the field,
35:13
Speaker 2: takes three steps, reaches forward, puts it into the end zone.
35:18
Speaker 2: But because they didn't survive the catch, it gets overturned.
35:25
Speaker 2: Blows my mind play football in my whole entire life.
35:28
Speaker 2: No one could ever explain that to me and me
35:30
Speaker 2: understand it.
35:33
Speaker 1: So I do remember that game. Obviously, I'm not sure
35:37
Speaker 1: why we're dwelling on all the negatives if we're just
35:39
Speaker 1: going to shoot the breeze tonight.
35:41
Speaker 2: Well, you know we're we're Steelers fans from Cincinnati, which
35:47
Speaker 2: she knows we're not in Cleveland, but misery factory as well.
35:53
Speaker 1: So I do I remember the game. I remember it
35:56
Speaker 1: was Antonio that got hurt, and that was the year
36:00
Speaker 1: that he was like on the fringe of the MVP
36:04
Speaker 1: discussion because he was flirting with getting two thousand receiving yards.
36:10
Speaker 1: But I think that ended that obviously ended that, and
36:14
Speaker 1: I think that might have put him out for the
36:16
Speaker 1: rest of the year. It was like they had two
36:18
Speaker 1: or three games after that. I can't remember, but anyway,
36:23
Speaker 1: I remember that's why he was hurt. I also remember
36:26
Speaker 1: in that game the Jesse James catch. No catch, a
36:32
Speaker 1: touchdown would have given them the lead, but they were
36:34
Speaker 1: still only down three and I think been through an
36:37
Speaker 1: interception the play after that, so it wasn't even fourth
36:40
Speaker 1: down or as time expired. They still had time after that,
36:44
Speaker 1: which to me kind of makes it worse because it's
36:48
Speaker 1: like a bad call and it ends the game. That sucks,
36:50
Speaker 1: but it's like, Okay, at least we still have an opportunity, right, well,
36:53
Speaker 1: we blew that. So I'm trying to think, are there
36:58
Speaker 1: any games that really hurt me? I don't mean, you know.
37:04
Speaker 3: My number one, but it's not a Steelers game.
37:08
Speaker 1: Do you want to talk about that too? We can
37:09
Speaker 1: make it a therapy session now, I do. I remember
37:17
Speaker 1: both of the two thousand and one in the two
37:20
Speaker 1: thousand and four Conference championship games against the Patriots, being
37:25
Speaker 1: pretty upset at how that ended up going. And I
37:29
Speaker 1: remember I do not remember the exact plays in the
37:35
Speaker 1: two thousand and one game, just because it was twenty
37:38
Speaker 1: five years ago. I was like nine or ten when
37:43
Speaker 1: it happened, and I just remember watching the game and
37:47
Speaker 1: there was a call that got reviewed, and after they
37:52
Speaker 1: reviewed it, I can't remember if they overturned it or
37:55
Speaker 1: it stood, but it was in favor of the Steelers,
37:58
Speaker 1: and there was a chance for the Steelers to either
38:01
Speaker 1: tie the game or just get back into it at
38:03
Speaker 1: the end. And there was another call that got reviewed
38:06
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, they're going to give it to
38:07
Speaker 1: the Steelers, and my dad was just like, Nope, they're
38:09
Speaker 1: not going to. They just gave one to the Steelers.
38:12
Speaker 1: They're gonna give this one to the Patriots. And I
38:15
Speaker 1: was like, no, they're not. Of course they did. So
38:19
Speaker 1: I learned a little bit about how the officiating might
38:21
Speaker 1: work in some of those days. But so I do
38:26
Speaker 1: remember those both hurting. But I find it a little
38:29
Speaker 1: tough to be to dwell on it too much, just
38:33
Speaker 1: because we've got the two super Bowl wins, so at
38:36
Speaker 1: least I've got that in my back pocket. I'd like more, obviously,
38:39
Speaker 1: but at least we do have something to show for
38:42
Speaker 1: our fandom.
38:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
38:44
Speaker 2: No, I mean, as much as we we dwell on
38:50
Speaker 2: some of the failures, we still have watched two Super
38:55
Speaker 2: Bowl wins and three Superable appearances, which is great and
39:03
Speaker 2: we'll always have that. Just would like love to like
39:07
Speaker 2: have one more of my adulthood, like the latest Super
39:12
Speaker 2: Bowl appearance. I was like twenty one. It's like, no,
39:16
Speaker 2: you know, like I wasn't a fool. I was a
39:19
Speaker 2: half baked adult, you know. Yeah, maybe maybe a quarter baked.
39:24
Speaker 3: I don't know, but.
39:27
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, so let's get one now. But honestly, you
39:33
Speaker 2: could wait until, like I get out of these young
39:36
Speaker 2: kids here like era, because like, I want to watch
39:40
Speaker 2: super Bowl and be fully invested, but I'm so tired anymore.
39:44
Speaker 3: Maybe I can Maybe I can wait five years.
39:47
Speaker 1: I thought where you were going with that was once
39:50
Speaker 1: you get out of the young kid era, so that
39:51
Speaker 1: they're a little bit older and they can cheer for
39:54
Speaker 1: the Steelers and enjoy it with you and witness it.
39:57
Speaker 1: But yeah, being able to stay up for the super Bowl,
40:00
Speaker 1: it was a good reason.
40:02
Speaker 2: I watched the whole one. But you know, eyes are closing, heavy,
40:08
Speaker 2: heavy eyelids. Actually, it was funny. I talked about this recently.
40:11
Speaker 2: I was like, I told Press, I was like my
40:15
Speaker 2: friend Nick's dad always just like you always seem to
40:19
Speaker 2: be sleeping, running out of house, like you always seem
40:23
Speaker 2: to be sleeping. And then you know, you're like I
40:27
Speaker 2: wonder why, And then like you become a dad and
40:29
Speaker 2: you're like, ah, yes, you know.
40:34
Speaker 1: I can't wait to tell my daughter that because she
40:36
Speaker 1: calls him Sleepy Junior now really yeah, well, and in
40:42
Speaker 1: his defense, he works nights now, so yeah, he sleeps
40:44
Speaker 1: during the day, so usually when we call. But it's
40:48
Speaker 1: just funny. But yeah, I'm with you, I will say.
40:53
Speaker 1: As you were talking before you started mentioning the young kids,
40:56
Speaker 1: that's what I was thinking too, if we're gonna get personal, like, yeah,
40:59
Speaker 1: I'd rather the Steelers. If I have to choose when
41:02
Speaker 1: they win a Super Bowl, I would rather they win
41:04
Speaker 1: when my kids are old enough to appreciate and understand it.
41:07
Speaker 1: And the twins are six, so they might. They're not
41:12
Speaker 1: diehard fans by any means. But my daughter, my younger
41:15
Speaker 1: daughter's only two, about to be three. But but yeah,
41:18
Speaker 1: that would be fun to kind of have it come
41:19
Speaker 1: full circle, have the win when we were kids or
41:21
Speaker 1: younger people, so to speak, and then getting to share
41:25
Speaker 1: it with your your kids too.
41:27
Speaker 3: Yeah.
41:29
Speaker 1: Man, look at us getting introspective and all these cathartic talks,
41:35
Speaker 1: getting through the tough losses over the years.
41:39
Speaker 2: Cathartic. That's the man. Nick went to the thesaurus with
41:44
Speaker 2: that one.
41:45
Speaker 1: I got it right over there. No, anyway, I just
41:54
Speaker 1: when it's the off season, you never know what's gonna
41:56
Speaker 1: come up, right, may not?
41:58
Speaker 2: Also I saw those another somewhat random thought. So Rocky
42:03
Speaker 2: Boyman went to Nick's Ulmader High School. I saw that
42:11
Speaker 2: he had a challenge. He had to eat ten Cony's
42:15
Speaker 2: in ten minutes.
42:17
Speaker 3: And I had a.
42:17
Speaker 2: Watch here, sorry, soft serve, but not even eat ten
42:23
Speaker 2: over the you know, fourteen hours stay there. I had
42:27
Speaker 2: eight over four hours, over four hours, yes, but you
42:33
Speaker 2: couldn't do it. And Rocky Boyman did it in under
42:36
Speaker 2: nine How do you feel about that?
42:39
Speaker 1: I will admit that I messed up. I had a
42:46
Speaker 1: strategy and it was possibly the worst strategy imaginable. I
42:51
Speaker 1: woke up early that morning, I did some light working out,
42:56
Speaker 1: and then I figured I'll drink some coffee to you know,
42:59
Speaker 1: clear myself out, get myself woken up, stretch out the
43:02
Speaker 1: stomach a little bit. But I drank too much coffee
43:07
Speaker 1: and I took that first bite of coney and felt
43:10
Speaker 1: nauseous like, and I was like, oh, I've made a
43:13
Speaker 1: terrible mistake. So you had actually gone when you came
43:18
Speaker 1: to visit, you were like, did you you know, like
43:21
Speaker 1: people like Joey Chestnut, they eat a bag of lettuce
43:24
Speaker 1: or something beforehand to expand the stomach the night before
43:26
Speaker 1: or whatever. And I had no clue about that at all.
43:30
Speaker 1: I had no concept. So I if I'm ever in
43:34
Speaker 1: that situation again, I will I'll have to come with
43:38
Speaker 1: a better strategy. But I gotta tell you, we we
43:43
Speaker 1: in our league, we put it up to a vote
43:45
Speaker 1: about like adding punishments, and these guys are so indecisive
43:49
Speaker 1: they can't even like come up with an alternative. And
43:54
Speaker 1: I was like, guys, what if you what if we
43:58
Speaker 1: just like add a fee or like a fine where
44:00
Speaker 1: if you don't want to do this, you just pay
44:03
Speaker 1: the fine and it just goes into the pot and
44:05
Speaker 1: basically you can just buy your way out of having
44:07
Speaker 1: to do a punishment. And this one guy got super
44:10
Speaker 1: pissed and like acted like I murdered his dog, and
44:15
Speaker 1: he got so mad about that and I think some
44:17
Speaker 1: other stuff that he just upright left the league entirely,
44:19
Speaker 1: and I say, good riddance.
44:21
Speaker 3: Oh.
44:22
Speaker 1: I was just like, man, what the heck is going
44:25
Speaker 1: on here? And then they were anyway, I don't want
44:28
Speaker 1: to now I'm going Now, I'm going off on the
44:31
Speaker 1: cathartic tirade here.
44:33
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe he just didn't want, you know, some nepetism.
44:39
Speaker 2: What is it when people can buy their way out
44:42
Speaker 2: of anything? What's the I mean, they're.
44:45
Speaker 1: Just rich, but privilege, privilege, privilege.
44:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's just taking a privileged stand against you.
44:54
Speaker 2: Oh, here comes money bags Nick, just saying we can
44:59
Speaker 2: pay fifty dollars towards it without having to do the
45:03
Speaker 2: the Cony Challenge.
45:04
Speaker 1: You know, it was really interesting though, because you had
45:06
Speaker 1: told me that you got kicked out of your league
45:08
Speaker 1: even though you tried to like come up with some
45:11
Speaker 1: sort of accommodation to make up for the punishment, And
45:15
Speaker 1: my logic was and I mentioned that as well, and
45:17
Speaker 1: I was like, guys, I mean, I'm gonna be pretty
45:20
Speaker 1: pissed if someone else comes and last and they don't
45:22
Speaker 1: do the Cony Challenge. After I sat there and sucked
45:24
Speaker 1: it up, and then someone the same guy, got super
45:29
Speaker 1: pissed and he's like, haven't you ever thought that some
45:31
Speaker 1: of us just do this because it's one of the
45:33
Speaker 1: few ways we have to connect with our friends after
45:35
Speaker 1: we've all got grown up and gotten busy lives. And
45:38
Speaker 1: I'm like sure, But then he's the guy who up
45:42
Speaker 1: and quit the league. He quit the league, like, dude,
45:45
Speaker 1: get off your high horse. My goodness.
45:50
Speaker 3: Anyway, well I did quit my league.
45:53
Speaker 2: I did view it as a way to connect with
45:55
Speaker 2: my friends.
45:57
Speaker 3: But you know what, that's fine. Honestly I love.
46:02
Speaker 1: Not doing football. You're a sad man.
46:10
Speaker 3: You get to just watch it for the love of
46:12
Speaker 3: the game.
46:14
Speaker 1: That actually gives me reason to watch the games that
46:16
Speaker 1: aren't the Steelers is the reason why I like it.
46:20
Speaker 1: Lets me get a little more involved.
46:22
Speaker 2: But like, that's thing I love. I love blackwatch Titans
46:27
Speaker 2: Jaguars Thursday night football.
46:29
Speaker 1: I'm not doing that if I don't have some sort
46:31
Speaker 1: of vested interest in the game. Certainly not the Titans
46:36
Speaker 1: and the Jaguars. Oh my goodness. All right, Well, we
46:42
Speaker 1: haven't even talked about Miles Garrett other than in passing.
46:45
Speaker 1: We should probably do that before we wrap up here.
46:48
Speaker 1: So Miles Garrett was the big trade of the day
46:52
Speaker 1: or the trade of the off season. It happened the
46:54
Speaker 1: other day. Uh, the Browns send Miles Garrett to the
46:58
Speaker 1: Rams and the get Jared Verse a twenty twenty seven,
47:03
Speaker 1: first round pick, twenty twenty eight or second round pick
47:07
Speaker 1: in a twenty twenty nine third round pick. So if
47:13
Speaker 1: you're the Rams, they're kind of sticking to that strategy
47:17
Speaker 1: they've had for the last ten years or so, which
47:19
Speaker 1: is not necessarily building through the draft, especially not in
47:23
Speaker 1: the first round picks. But if they think that they've
47:26
Speaker 1: got a move that will help them win, now, they're
47:29
Speaker 1: going to trade away those picks and they're going to
47:31
Speaker 1: take it. And so far it's paid off.
47:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, I have no problem with them. You know,
47:39
Speaker 2: swing in the back.
47:42
Speaker 3: Look, they didn't just trade for like a guy.
47:47
Speaker 2: I mean, I'll be the first to say I think
47:52
Speaker 2: people are a little sipping some nonsense when they think
47:55
Speaker 2: Miles Garrett's better than TJ.
47:57
Speaker 3: Watt. One player, it's gonna be t J. Watt. And
48:02
Speaker 3: then that's just the Homer in me. That's just because Miles.
48:06
Speaker 2: Garrett, look at the tape, he doesn't create turnovers for
48:09
Speaker 2: as much as like he gets pressures in sacks, he
48:12
Speaker 2: just doesn't do it. You can change the tide of
48:17
Speaker 2: the game by just creating turnovers.
48:21
Speaker 3: Exhibit a.
48:21
Speaker 2: Look at the Colts game this past season, create six
48:25
Speaker 2: and somehow it almost barely won. But I just think that, like,
48:34
Speaker 2: if you have the ability to add a Hall of
48:37
Speaker 2: Famer like that, and it okay, let's just say Jared
48:43
Speaker 2: Verse was a first round pick because he was spent
48:48
Speaker 2: on a first round pick.
48:51
Speaker 3: So they got two first rounders, a second and a third.
48:57
Speaker 2: When you have like the MVP quarter ye had two
49:02
Speaker 2: wide receivers that led two different types of categories for
49:06
Speaker 2: your receiving.
49:08
Speaker 3: You have.
49:12
Speaker 2: A very youthful defensive line to also build around Miles Garrett,
49:17
Speaker 2: and then you just basically took the Chiefs backfield from
49:24
Speaker 2: so they have an all pro cornerback. Heck, yeah, you're
49:28
Speaker 2: swinging that bat. It's like, what is a first rounder
49:33
Speaker 2: and twenty seven gonna do for you? And Matthew Stafford's retired.
49:38
Speaker 1: And you already got the quarterback this year?
49:42
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly.
49:44
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think if I'm a Rams fan, I
49:48
Speaker 1: am really happy with that. I Mean, they were what
49:51
Speaker 1: one or two plays away from being in the Super
49:53
Speaker 1: Bowl this year, and had they gone to the Super Bowl,
49:55
Speaker 1: they would have won against the Patriots, So I I've
50:00
Speaker 1: got no issue with that as well. And the Seahawks,
50:04
Speaker 1: I don't think they really lost a lot of major players.
50:08
Speaker 1: They lost their offensive coordinator obviously, and probably some you're correct,
50:14
Speaker 1: that's right. I'm sorry, Big, But regardless, the Seahawks are
50:19
Speaker 1: still there, they're still fighting. You. You can't just sit
50:23
Speaker 1: back on your laurels. I think if you're the Rams, either,
50:25
Speaker 1: you've got to go out and make this move. And
50:28
Speaker 1: I think it was. It was a good one, and
50:30
Speaker 1: you don't other than Jared Verse. I mean, you're trading
50:32
Speaker 1: a pass rusher for a pass rusher, so I get that.
50:35
Speaker 1: But you don't really lose anything this year either. It
50:39
Speaker 1: all comes after this year. So yeah, I mean basically,
50:46
Speaker 1: you win the Super Bowl, you win the trade, right
50:48
Speaker 1: because the Browns are not winning the Super Bowl in
50:51
Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven or twenty twenty eight or twenty twenty nine.
50:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would view it this way, I like, and
50:57
Speaker 2: it's actually applicable to the Rams. In twenty one, the
51:03
Speaker 2: Rams traded Jared Goff two first round picks for Matthew Stafford,
51:10
Speaker 2: which I still think like both teams won. Yeah, but
51:15
Speaker 2: when people say, like who really won the trade, I
51:17
Speaker 2: think you have to give it to the Rams because
51:20
Speaker 2: they're the only ones that want a Super Bowl out
51:22
Speaker 2: of that trade. I feel like the same logic's probably
51:27
Speaker 2: going to apply here.
51:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, i'd agree with that. All right. Well, I think
51:33
Speaker 1: we talked about everything I wanted to and even some
51:36
Speaker 1: things I didn't really want to talk about, going down
51:40
Speaker 1: memory lane with some of those painful losses with something.
51:43
Speaker 1: But was there anything else you wanted to talk about
51:45
Speaker 1: while we do have the time tonight?
51:48
Speaker 3: The only thing that you brought up was that Russell
51:51
Speaker 3: Wilson retired.
51:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for reminding me. Yeah, Russell Wilson retired today
51:57
Speaker 1: and is going to be taking a spot in CBS.
52:00
Speaker 1: CBS's studio, and I thought it was interesting because while
52:05
Speaker 1: not a career Steeler, he was here for one year.
52:09
Speaker 1: There were some bright spots and we talked about it
52:11
Speaker 1: when he was here. I mean, the play didn't pan
52:14
Speaker 1: out the way we had hoped for, but it was
52:16
Speaker 1: refreshing to just have a very positive, solid guy in
52:20
Speaker 1: the locker room who was a good influence on those
52:22
Speaker 1: around him. So he's definitely got a great career in
52:28
Speaker 1: the NFL. I think he's going to be one of
52:31
Speaker 1: those guys who's on the bubble for the Hall of Fame.
52:34
Speaker 1: A lot of people have claimed that the way his
52:37
Speaker 1: career ended might be problematic for that, but I think
52:42
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, he's going to be
52:43
Speaker 1: remembered as a good guy who got the Seahawks their
52:46
Speaker 1: first Super Bowl and he is most definitely on the
52:50
Speaker 1: Seahawks Mount Rushmore.
52:53
Speaker 3: Yeah.
52:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he had a really great run. It's
53:00
Speaker 2: tough because, like you have guys like charl Davis that
53:05
Speaker 2: had like they played for like six.
53:07
Speaker 3: Or seven years. Oh, let's go Luke Keikley. He played for.
53:11
Speaker 2: Like eight years and then he retired. You don't know
53:16
Speaker 2: how the rest of his career would have gone.
53:18
Speaker 3: I mean, if you.
53:19
Speaker 2: Judged Russell Wilson for the first eight years of his career,
53:24
Speaker 2: you call him the Hall of Famer. So I think
53:27
Speaker 2: it's the first ballot, but you know, he definitely deserves
53:33
Speaker 2: some recognition there. But sure as heck wasn't a Hall
53:37
Speaker 2: of Famer for us. But you know, there was like
53:39
Speaker 2: two games where you just thought he was the most
53:44
Speaker 2: amazing quarterback you've ever seen. He's probably the last quarterback
53:50
Speaker 2: that has thrown for over four hundred yards in a.
53:52
Speaker 3: Game though.
53:58
Speaker 1: You're probably right.
54:00
Speaker 2: Remember that one game, it was like it was like
54:03
Speaker 2: one game in the middle of the season, he just
54:05
Speaker 2: was on fire and it looked like NFL blitz.
54:10
Speaker 3: Like when you just throw the bomb.
54:12
Speaker 2: That's what I remember that game that it just felt
54:16
Speaker 2: like he was doing that over and over and.
54:21
Speaker 1: So yeah, well it'll be interesting to see him in
54:26
Speaker 1: the booth. But again, I just can't say it enough
54:30
Speaker 1: that I appreciated who he is as a person and
54:34
Speaker 1: as a man and what he was in the locker room.
54:37
Speaker 1: So it was nice to in one way, shape or form,
54:41
Speaker 1: not have drama about that position.
54:46
Speaker 3: Yeah for sure.
54:49
Speaker 1: All right, well, I think that is going to do
54:51
Speaker 1: it for us. This is it for the month of June.
54:54
Speaker 1: We'll be back in July and August before we kick
54:57
Speaker 1: things up full steam ahead in September. That'll do it
55:02
Speaker 1: for us. For the world famous accountant Eric van Benschoten,
55:05
Speaker 1: I am Nick Detulio and this has been another episode
55:08
Speaker 1: of the GameHouse dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly