Latest / DMV Mess Hall / "Heir Apparent" episode 206

Transcript

"Heir Apparent" episode 206 · DMV Mess Hall

0:00
Hi folks, this is Rick Doc Walker to.
0:01
DOC this. Is John Kime and you're
0:04
listening to the mess hall with rally captain and tailgate 10.
0:09
What's going on? Rally you Are you ready for me
0:12
mini camp at this point? Well, you know, if they have a
0:16
rookie mini cap so that fans can attend like they did when the
0:19
enemy was there. Of course brother, I'm ready to
0:22
be there. I'll go ahead and call out of
0:24
work to go to this thing. I'm right through with you, man.
0:28
Speaking of calling out of work, so the draft events, I saw you
0:35
out there last Thursday night and I saw a lot of our listeners
0:41
out there, a lot, just the burgundy and gold faithful.
0:45
What time did you get out to the parking lot?
0:48
I think I got there about 6:15-ish if you will. 6:30
0:55
because the doors open up at 7:00 if I'm not mistaken, and it
1:00
was crowded. I, I was happy to be back at
1:05
Northwest Stadium, man. I mean, it felt like a game day,
1:08
even though there was no game being played except for the,
1:11
the, the young men who were being drafted.
1:13
They probably thought it was a game for them, waiting for their
1:15
name you'd called. Crowded is one way to put it
1:18
man. So Chuck B, friend of the pod
1:22
hit me up, said where are you? I was like, dude, parking lot
1:26
says it doesn't open till 6. It's like, Nah man, I've been
1:28
here for a while and it might have been 4:00 at that point
1:34
when he had texted me. I'm like, he hasn't been open.
1:37
You've been there that long. So I immediately just stopped
1:41
what I was doing. And I don't even think I I
1:44
packed anything up. I just drove straight out to the
1:48
stadium. But the problem was they were
1:51
only letting you in off of Garrett Morgan Blvd. right,
1:57
which I never been to before. I always come in off of Arena
2:02
Drive, right off the highway, and my GPS kept rerouting me,
2:07
trying to get there. I basically took the afternoon
2:11
off just so I can make sure we were there.
2:14
I'm thinking, all right, well, I'm not going to tailgate
2:16
because they're not going to let us.
2:18
I pulled up, got to the lot at maybe 445.
2:24
Five o'clock people were tailgating, right.
2:28
They had left them in and my car tried to put me through one
2:32
other entrance, I want to say off like Sean Taylor Rd. or
2:34
something like that. They were stopped.
2:37
They couldn't get in. I immediately backtracked, went
2:40
around. Once I got in the lot, it felt
2:43
like a preseason home game, man. Yeah, it it really did.
2:47
It really did shout out to the commanders management because
2:53
like you said, other than the the whole coming into the
2:57
stadium one way, it really they had enough attendance on hand to
3:03
direct you. I mean, as far as vehicles and
3:07
pedestrian traffic is concerned. It really felt like a home game,
3:12
man, like a preseason game. That is.
3:14
You know, I'll, I'll give you that.
3:16
I'll definitely give you that. But I mean the home game, it
3:18
would have been more packed. But it.
3:20
Definitely I got that home preseason vibe because
3:24
everybody's excited to be back in the stadium.
3:27
There's really no football going on, right?
3:30
I get the young men being drafted, but we're all it was
3:33
just it felt so good to be back together out at Northwest, just
3:39
hanging out. And what did you think of the
3:43
the gate giveaway when you went through security?
3:46
Well, you see, I have it on right now.
3:49
So I, I loved it. The mere fact that you know, for
3:53
everybody who wanted one, you could get 1-2 or possibly even
3:56
3, even though you only should have taken one.
4:00
But I the hat to it's a nice, nice hat.
4:04
I like it a lot. Like 7 of them when I what and
4:09
it's like, we know you're going to pass them out to people.
4:11
So here you go. So it was just the fact that the
4:15
team is, I don't want to, I'm not going to call it a rebrand,
4:19
right? They are just amping up the
4:21
identity for those that are not watching on YouTube.
4:24
Rally has a new hat that they gave out to everybody walking
4:29
through the door and it is the West logo from the hail raiser
4:34
uniform that's got the spear going through it.
4:37
And just the fact that granted they partner with Sea Geek, it's
4:41
a trucker hat. You had some fans complaining
4:44
about the quality of it online. It's just.
4:48
You can't win, bro. You can't.
4:51
You can't, you can't win, man. You can't.
4:53
You know it. It reminds me, it reminds me
4:56
when I throw the rallies right and the team obviously gives me
5:02
swag to pass out and people say another key chain.
5:07
It's like, well, don't take it. I mean, don't take it if it's if
5:11
it's bothering you that much, don't take it.
5:15
I mean, come on, guys, it's free.
5:17
That's that's what it boils down to.
5:18
It's a free freaking giveaway and you're complaining about it?
5:24
Come on, kick rocks. We.
5:26
We got nothing for free on 22220 and you were out there with me
5:34
when they opened the team store. I think you were first in line
5:38
when they opened the team store with all the rebrand and all we
5:41
got was one item. Was the item free or 50% off?
5:48
I think for the first several, maybe 100 or whatever it was, it
5:54
was, I think it was free for the, maybe for the 1st 50
5:57
something, something was free. I don't remember what it was
6:00
because I was shivering out of my mind that day, that morning,
6:04
but something was free. And then and then yes, they
6:06
followed up with like a 50% or 75% off coupon because Mitch
6:11
Schneider came out and gave it to us.
6:14
I just don't remember what it was that my memory is going bad.
6:18
It, it was definitely one item was free because when I wear
6:21
that hoodie, I think of Tanya, it's 'cause I mean, I knew Mr.
6:24
The hoodie, that's what it was. It was the W hoodie.
6:27
Buying that hoodie, I love that thing.
6:30
Right. I still rock it because it's
6:31
that commander's Crest. It just doesn't have incorrect
6:34
dates on the middle of it. But if you didn't get there by a
6:38
certain time, you had to pay full price for everything.
6:42
And she didn't know that they're only doing it for such a small
6:45
amount of time. The fact that the Hogs, the
6:48
Harris ownership group was giving everybody there and oh,
6:51
by the way, they didn't have one, but they had two draft
6:55
parties, people. They were getting hats on top of
6:58
it over at National Harbor. I just thought it was awesome
7:01
because they've got this new logo that everybody obviously
7:06
loves. If you're going on social media
7:08
and seeing and it was just man, what they did at the event, I
7:14
just thought was top notch, right?
7:16
You had people that had never been on the field before, right?
7:20
They don't get the rally captain treatment where we all did get
7:23
to go down on the field. Before, wait a minute, the rally
7:29
captain treatment? Come on man, it's the luck of
7:32
the draw. Everybody sees you on the field
7:34
before the game hanging out with a Punisher and you know other
7:38
people down there just shooting the yes.
7:40
But the fact of the matter is for those upset, they laid down
7:45
not a tarp, but they laid down this mat over the field to
7:48
protect the field because this weekend you got the Bruno Mars
7:51
concert right, which is going to be down on the field too.
7:54
And they re saw the field. Before anybody gets pissed off
7:57
and upset about the field getting used for something
8:00
that's not football, it's going to get fixed and resided before
8:03
the season comes. But to paint a picture for those
8:06
of you that weren't there, mean they had activations is what
8:10
they like to call it all over the stadium.
8:13
Did you get a chance to walk around the entire spot?
8:16
Not the entire spot, you know, I'm I'm dealing with the with
8:19
the hip issue for those that don't know.
8:21
So you know my if you may have seen me limping, it's because I
8:24
got a little hip issue going on that'll be fixed here shortly.
8:27
But what I will say is I was happy to see that the
8:32
concessions were open and it wasn't like they just had
8:37
popcorn. They had full concessions where
8:39
there was chicken fingers, fries, nachos, beer mixture.
8:46
They had it all. And I was surprised at that.
8:49
And I'm happy that they did because in in years past, that's
8:52
one of the things that they may have just had popcorn or
8:55
something, something very minor. And they.
8:58
Yeah. And, but they, they went out for
9:00
this and I, and I'm, I'm really hoping that as fans, we can
9:06
really appreciate this from where we have come from.
9:10
Because I can remember, like I said, you didn't get that.
9:15
And there were times when you couldn't get on the field.
9:19
You had to be in the stands. But you, you can watch on the,
9:21
on the big screen. So I, I do remember those days
9:24
and I greatly appreciate them coming in and, and allowing that
9:29
fan experience to, to be #1 because at the end of the day,
9:34
who pays whose salary? The fans do.
9:37
And so and so you're, you're looking out for the people who
9:40
make the team what it is besides obviously the, the, the excels
9:44
and the players and things of that nature.
9:45
But the fans are the ones who are the heartbeat of the team.
9:49
Yeah. So I walked around the entire
9:52
lower bowl just 'cause I didn't want to miss something, right?
9:56
I didn't want to have FOMO like, oh, that was there.
9:58
That was there. They had a area where a bunch of
10:02
merchandise was on discount. And I'm happy I got a chance to
10:06
stop by there because I think the one favorite thing I got
10:10
from the day, on top of the hat, they had these medallion coins
10:14
from Madrid for the game of Madrid.
10:18
And I was talking to the team like, I didn't see these over
10:21
there. Like they never made it through
10:23
customs they didn't get. Their return.
10:26
So to be able to pick up something like that, to kind of
10:29
have some memorabilia and do that, There were a bunch of
10:33
concession stands that are always packed on game day.
10:36
I got to go to chicken guys, I got to go to the crab place, and
10:41
then the season ticket holder discount on top of that, paying
10:45
with AQR code was a nice touch. And then for those that can kind
10:50
of picture it down on the field, they had a stage in one end
10:55
zone, the end zone that the team comes out from.
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All right, you had a Smoot, you had Sean Springs, Michael
11:02
Jenkins. They had DJ Cool on stage.
11:07
They had some country singer on stage, the Command Force the
11:11
beat your feet people. They had a bunch of different
11:15
spots outside on the field that people can get swag from and
11:19
waiting in line, season ticket members could pick up like a
11:23
special pin that was only for season ticket holders.
11:27
What's your thought? Was I missed that?
11:29
I got one for you if you need. One.
11:30
No worries we and we got to give a shout out to in game announcer
11:35
Janine Samuels. She was there doing her thing.
11:38
Was there definitely doing her thing?
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I mean, she's one of the hardest working people out there, the
11:42
stadium. But the part that I love the
11:44
most, man, they had a locker room tour and I've been in the
11:50
locker room multiple times in the past for different events.
11:53
And I know that the team when they try and recruit people to
11:56
sign up for season tickets, they'll do locker room tours and
11:59
stuff like that. But your average fan is not been
12:03
on the field and especially not been in the locker room.
12:06
And I got I got goosebumps, man, when I saw some of the families
12:11
in the locker room and there were some little kids saying
12:14
that that's going to be my locker one day.
12:18
And things like seems like that to me.
12:21
It's going to be a core memory and seeing Sonny Styles get
12:25
drafted and these other guys get drafted to the Commanders,
12:28
right? It's just hearing the stories
12:30
that they have always had this dream of playing professional
12:32
football. The team is helping these kids
12:36
realize that dream, and that to me, was what that past Thursday
12:40
night was all about. Definitely, definitely it.
12:44
It plants the seed and, and that's what's needed to keep
12:49
youngins as well as obviously winning football games.
12:52
But it it starts at a young age. And like you said, those are
12:56
memorable moments that they will always be able to look back on.
12:59
They may not remember the date, but they'll say, you know, I do
13:01
remember that time that we went to Northwest Field or Northwest
13:04
Stadium rather, and we were inside the locker room because
13:09
it's a very memorable experience.
13:10
It sticks with you. Yeah.
13:12
It it really does. And Speaking of memorable, so
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they had the drafts up on the Jumbotron so everybody could see
13:21
it. And I, I know you said best
13:24
player available, that's who you wanted.
13:28
What was the fan reaction around you when Jeremiah Love went #3
13:35
to the Cardinals? I was like, the wind was let
13:38
out. Everybody's sails.
13:38
They were like, it was like a big side, yeah.
13:46
One guy beside me threw his $16.00 beer down on the ground,
13:52
just bitter and pissed. Like, bro, did you really think
13:57
we were going to get them? Have you not been paying any
13:59
attention? So when it was finally our time
14:04
to pick and you saw the Chiefs trade up and take the lane, I'm
14:09
thinking from my perspective, whatever Peters was going to do,
14:14
I was golden with, right? He knows more than me.
14:17
I don't watch college football like a bunch of other people out
14:20
there do. We're just we're too busy on the
14:22
weekends doing other stuff to pay attention to it.
14:24
I just don't have the time. But I was videotaping, which I'm
14:29
sure pretty much everybody was when they picked Sonny.
14:33
What were you thinking? I said, all right, we got it, we
14:37
got it. And then to make things even
14:39
better, to top the night off, they had fireworks.
14:44
So that's why I say it really reminded me of a of a game
14:48
because after we scored that touchdown, fireworks.
14:50
So technically we scored a touchdown with Sunny and the
14:53
fireworks happened, bro. So I was happy, man.
14:56
And everybody around me was happy.
14:58
I don't think there was a a sad face in the crowd after we
15:02
picked up Sunny. So I wasn't sad I had to do a
15:05
couple TVI didn't have to. I did a couple TV interviews
15:08
after the fact and I wanted to do my own in depth research on
15:15
Sonny before I was either OK with the pick or not OK with the
15:20
pick. And from my perspective, I heard
15:24
so many things about him being a combine freak.
15:27
And when I think of that, it reminds me a little bit of Jamin
15:31
Davis, right? Except Jamin came from a school
15:35
that didn't have the pedigree that Ohio State has.
15:38
But I also heard that Sonny was a former safety switching a
15:42
linebacker. So I'm thinking, is this kid, is
15:46
he really going to be a good fit?
15:47
Because they're talking about him wearing the green dot, being
15:51
Mike, taking over for Bobby Wagner.
15:54
Bobby ain't here. He's not going to be here.
15:57
I thought it was, you know, kind of fitting.
16:00
It was almost like a passing of the torch where Rodger Goodell
16:02
was talking about Bobby being honored as Walter Payton Man of
16:05
the Year right before we were about to pick Sunny in the
16:09
draft. But after hearing everybody talk
16:13
about the young man and then after sleeping on realizing who
16:19
his coach is, I am 1000% on board with us taking Sonny at
16:25
that spot. Not having Jamon Davis PTSD
16:31
solely because of Dan Quinn right Who are coaching staff is
16:37
because Rivera dude was a joke right And it just I don't know
16:42
if he was in over his head. Because he was.
16:45
The cancer treatments and everything else, but we've got a
16:49
coaching staff that's going to put the time into Sunny to make
16:53
sure that the dude's going to excel.
16:55
And from everything I saw, his floor is already so high and his
17:01
ceiling is even higher. And this is actually what Adam
17:03
Peters had to say about drafting the young man.
17:06
Yeah, we got Sonny Styles and, and for I can't tell you how
17:11
many reasons why we liked him, but but it's, you can go on and
17:16
on about him and we're thrilled to have him.
17:19
And so to pick Sonny Styles with the 7th pick, yeah, didn't think
17:23
he was going to be there. Thought there was a low chance
17:26
there was a chance, but it was an easy pick when when he when
17:30
he was there and, and we were on on the clock.
17:32
So a little bit about Sonny, I think he's he's a true
17:38
commander. He is a true commander through
17:40
and through. And that that's that's what
17:43
makes one of the great many things that makes you smile.
17:46
You know, and you're going to get an outstanding person in
17:48
this building, an outstanding competitor, an outstanding,
17:52
outstanding football character, everything across the board.
17:55
And so, you know, first and foremost, the human great
18:00
family. I got to meet them at the at the
18:02
pro day and you know, he's, he's just kind of everything you want
18:07
there as a football player and a guy in your building in your
18:10
bloodstream. So a little bit about Sonny as
18:13
a, as a player. I mean, he's, he's huge.
18:16
He's he's really like, I mean, it's, it's just amazing.
18:20
He's 21 years old. He's a young guy.
18:22
He's he's just scratching the surface.
18:24
But he's the only elite athlete, elite size, elite length, and
18:29
he's just scratching the surface as a linebacker and he's already
18:32
really good and he's only going to get better.
18:35
That's what gave me a lot of confidence too, is that he's
18:37
going to get better and we have the people in this building with
18:41
our coaching staff and the support staff to get him there
18:44
and then himself. He's the type of person who will
18:47
reach whatever potential he has. He will reach that potential.
18:52
He's humble, he's driven, he's he's just kind of checks every
19:00
box. And so it made it an easy pick.
19:02
We had a great visit with him on the 30 visit.
19:06
Super impressive, super impressive football
19:09
intelligence, super impressive just presence and just
19:13
everything about him scream commander.
19:15
And so as a player sideline to sideline, he can blitz, he can
19:20
he can cover, he can play in the box.
19:23
He got better as the year went on.
19:24
He's only been playing lineback for two years and he got better
19:27
and better and he played his best ball at the end of the
19:29
year. And so he's he's still just
19:31
still ascending and it's fun to watch his progression and just
19:36
seeing how much better he got and how much better he still can
19:39
get. So.
19:42
And what Peter said about the fact that he's only played two
19:45
years at backer, that's what worried me when I saw the pic
19:50
happen. But knowing the young man's
19:54
pedigree, right? His father played with Sean
19:56
Springs at Ohio State. He played for the Falcons and he
19:59
played for the Rams back in the day.
20:01
And he knows what it takes to be a pro.
20:05
He knows what it takes to be successful in this league.
20:08
And I've got no doubt that they got the player that they really
20:13
wanted and that this defense truly needs.
20:16
Yeah, in the jeans. Definitely in the jeans.
20:20
You know, I don't have Jamie Davis remorse or regret or
20:26
whatever have you. They put the kid in a position
20:28
that he didn't play and so it it looked like and he was a fish
20:31
out of water. I mean, he he made good plays
20:34
and he made bad plays. So and like anything else that
20:38
was in the past and you know, we are moving forward now.
20:43
That was then and here we are ready to make noise for 2026 and
20:50
my eyes are laser focused to the front.
20:53
So as we said before, and we've said it many times, you know, we
20:58
have a totally new coaching staff who knows what to do, how
21:03
to do it, why to do it, when to do it, and now it's just a
21:07
matter of getting it done. So all we want to do is is just
21:13
have a glimpse of our 24 season again and continue to build and,
21:18
and, and that's what all fans are looking for.
21:21
We we want to taste that success just as much as the fans want to
21:24
taste it. Ownership wants to taste it.
21:26
You know, everyone hated the fact that last year we kind of
21:30
went backwards and, and then things that happened with us.
21:33
So, you know, we want to be able to move forward.
21:37
And So what happened happened and, and man, I'm, I am like
21:41
everybody else, ready for rookie mini camp, regular mini camp,
21:48
pre season. I'm I'm ready for it because I
21:51
really feel as though I'm not being a Homer.
21:55
Hopefully we have something special and and it's just a
21:57
matter of making sure what we have on paper, you know, vibes
22:03
to being on the field and I think they will be all right.
22:07
Yeah, I mean, we had the 32nd rank defense last year.
22:09
It was obvious Bobby was old and slow.
22:17
Sonny is 21 years old. He ran A44640 yard dash, A
22:21
1.5610 yard split. The young man is only 21.
22:26
He's 65244. He can play outside backer, he
22:31
can play inside backer, he can play safety, he can come off the
22:34
edge. I mean the kid is versatile and
22:37
this was Peters talking about how they envision using him.
22:40
Michael Parsons, Junior, Given his versatility, kind of how do
22:43
you guys envision using him? Yeah, I think that's one of the
22:46
cool things because we have a really talented room, I think,
22:49
and, and the guys that are all very versatile.
22:51
And so and we have a coaching staff that is really good about
22:55
deploying those guys. And so I mean, Sonny's a guy you
22:58
can play off the ball, you can play on the ball, He can you can
23:02
mug up in blitz. He there's so many different
23:04
things he could do. He could play Mike, but will
23:06
play Sam, you know that all those different things.
23:08
He's got the size to play on the edge.
23:11
And so he's really versatile. And so you we can kind of mix
23:16
and match and deploy those guys and play, you know, as many
23:19
linebackers as we can on the field.
23:20
And I'm excited to see what the the guys will do with, with
23:23
Durante and DQ and and and Ken and, and those guys like they're
23:27
going to, they're going to get be able to get really creative.
23:32
So you pair Sonny up with Leo Chenal.
23:36
I think someone had put that those two Razz scores are the
23:41
highest out there for a linebacking duo.
23:46
Razz's Relative Athletic score Sunday's was damn near perfect
23:51
and Leo's was right up there in a nine point something.
23:53
So their ability to be fast, versatile, we got faster and we
23:59
got younger. How many times did we see Bobby
24:02
Wagner running down the field flailing his arms trying to
24:07
catch up to a tight end or a running back that ran right past
24:10
them? Our defense was a liability last
24:15
year and. It was.
24:17
Addressed it. And.
24:20
Guess what's going to help the defense?
24:23
Giving Jaden more bites at the apple, more chances with that
24:27
football. So when you saw we didn't trade
24:32
back, I think on the last part we talked about how many picks
24:34
is the team actually going to have when all three rounds, all
24:38
three days are done more or less than 10.
24:41
You and I both said less than 10.
24:44
They didn't trade, make a single trade to get more picks.
24:49
Were you surprised that we stayed where we did or upset?
24:54
How did you feel? Status quo.
24:59
I I, I felt that we were going to stick with what we did, and
25:03
we did. So I didn't have what wasn't in
25:07
my feelings one way or the other.
25:09
My thing is that I wanted to have a perennial player with our
25:15
pick who, whatever position that he, we were going to pick that
25:20
that's what I wanted. And so we, we, we got that done.
25:24
And, and, and that's what I was happy about.
25:27
I, I wasn't worried about going back or, or trying to trade up
25:31
or whatever. Have you.
25:32
I I wasn't. What about you?
25:35
I wanted to trade back. To a.
25:38
Certain point, I didn't want to go too far back because I wanted
25:42
us to have a a blue chip player. I wanted someone that's going to
25:48
be not a Pro Bowler at all Pro. And I feel you get too far back
25:53
in the draft. 16 or up. I don't know if the players are
25:58
granted 16 or below. It's not a guarantee either.
26:02
I just think that you have a a better percentage shot if you're
26:07
drafting between that range. So to go from 7:00 to maybe 13
26:11
or 14, if we had a chance to still get a good player and then
26:15
also get a second round pick, I would have been all four.
26:19
But this is Peters talking about why we didn't trade back.
26:23
Did you have an opportunity to move down And you know, would
26:27
you have taken if he weren't still on the board?
26:29
And then I'll I'll. Leave it.
26:34
Yeah, it was kind of funny. We we didn't we we did a lot of
26:38
work on on the move down. We did we spent a lot of time on
26:42
it. Brandon back there was was with
26:44
me looking at all the different iterations of moving back and
26:48
and everything like that. We didn't look to move up, but
26:53
crickets is crickets. So really we're just looking at
26:56
my phone and nothing. So, you know, we're we're we're
27:01
we were so like happy. We're happy to stay and pick
27:04
there. It reminds me of middle school
27:09
dances where I'm just dancing by myself up against the wall
27:13
because nobody would dance with me, right?
27:15
It's just. Oh, no, Ted.
27:17
No. No one would dance.
27:19
And so that you're on a horse shack.
27:20
Welcome back, Cotter. I was.
27:24
I was definitely a pudgy Filipino kid just sitting there
27:28
hanging out, eating way too much rice and like, just I'll be
27:32
fine. It's, you know, I was Peters,
27:34
like somebody want to dance? What are we going to do?
27:37
But a lot of people are talking about, well before I say, what
27:42
draft grade do you give the team?
27:47
I give them A to a minus I, I really do.
27:51
And, and that could be the Homer in me, but it also I feel
27:57
comfortable with the picks that, that we, that we picked up.
28:00
So my biggest thing is just have it equate on the field that
28:08
that's what I want. I mean, just just make it count
28:13
on the field. And, and so many times we have
28:16
missed and I'm tired of missing, you know what I mean, where I
28:20
where I thought we were there, but we missed.
28:22
And so I don't feel that way now, but we still need to let
28:28
these guys play because everybody says the same thing.
28:32
You know, everybody talks trash until they get punched in the
28:35
face, Mike Tyson, basically. So how will these guys, you
28:39
know, deal with adversity? Obviously they're they're
28:42
they're blue chip, they're football players, but we just
28:45
don't know. So I'm hoping that that we can
28:51
really realistically do something, man.
28:56
Yeah, the the positions I wanted drafted was linebacker, wide
29:02
receiver. And I actually saw Chad Ricardo
29:06
out of National Harbor at the draft event and he said, what do
29:09
you think we're going to do today?
29:10
He said, I think we're going to get a wide receiver.
29:13
I think we're going to take a center, which is what the team
29:15
did. And Tony Williams, wide receiver
29:18
out of Clemson, some are knocking him or knocking the
29:22
team because the young man has been injured.
29:24
He had a tough year last year at Clemson.
29:27
If you go back and look at his tape on what he's done when he's
29:31
healthy, that young man can run a route.
29:36
And Peters basically said we took him because his floor is
29:40
high. And what we need right now are
29:44
people whose floors are high because you said it, man.
29:48
We took a step back last year. Things did not go like we had
29:51
all hoped after being 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl.
29:55
Taking a player like Sonny Styles gives you a chance to
29:58
compete now. Taking a player like Antonio
30:01
Williams out of Clemson gives Jayden another weapon that can
30:06
start on that field and compete now.
30:09
So I'm excited to see what we did in the draft.
30:13
Most people are saying between AB and an A, I'm not seeing
30:17
anyone give us anything less than AB minus, which is it's
30:22
foolish right now to greater draft because it takes several
30:25
years to see how these players pan out.
30:27
And just look at the fact that Rivera's picks that are on this
30:32
team, I mean, all those first round picks are gone.
30:36
I'd love to know all the other rounds who's actually stuck
30:38
around and panned out. But from what the team did,
30:43
having so few picks and what they were able to, you know, do
30:47
with it, I'm excited. I don't know, Sam Hartman's
30:51
excited because we took a quarterback in the seventh
30:53
round, but I'm excited with what we did.
30:58
You know, I really am surprised that Sam is still on the team.
31:01
I'm not knocking the kid, I'm just surprised that he's there
31:05
and I'm wondering if he didn't have the relationship that he
31:08
has with Jayden, would he still be here?
31:11
I'll never forget. I was talking to to, Oh, I can't
31:17
think of his name, but he said, man, Sam's going to do really
31:22
good. It was, it was at the IT was at
31:25
the Patriots pre season game and Rails Mitchell Rails, I was
31:33
talking to Mr. Rails and he goes, man, he, he got surgery on
31:36
his arm and, and he's been looking good and, and, and
31:39
priests in practice and everything.
31:40
And we're he's going to look really good.
31:42
And it was the opposite. He wet the bed against that,
31:47
that patriots game. And, and, and I just was saying
31:50
to myself, OK, why is he still in the team?
31:53
And I understand that, you know, injured players, they, he knows
31:57
the system, yadda, yadda, yadda. I get it.
31:59
But what happens if this Rook comes in from Rutgers and he
32:03
lights it up, everybody saying he's a camp body, blah, blah
32:06
blah, but they drafted him for a reason because they see
32:09
something. So maybe will Sam be on the
32:13
holding a clipboard or will they say, OK, fly, fly, fly.
32:18
What do you think will happen? The fact that they didn't let
32:22
him come in when Mariota went down, they brought in a guy off
32:28
the street that has not been in the locker room, hasn't been in
32:33
the quarterback meetings. I mean, he must have the best KD
32:39
ratio in Call of Duty with Jaden or something, man, because I
32:44
don't get it. And I know that there are a lot
32:46
of listeners that love how beautiful freaking his hair is
32:52
and all this other stuff. It'll probably piss you know one
32:55
of my hell BBQ sisters off if he gets cut.
32:58
But really, why is he on this roster if he's never going to
33:02
step on the field? And.
33:04
Then doesn't count when push hit the job and they needed a body,
33:09
they brought a guy from a different team.
33:12
The oldest like one of the oldest quarterbacks in the
33:15
league. I mean what I mean the the 15
33:18
year journeyman, 15 team journeyman.
33:20
I mean he the thing he even circled back.
33:24
They circled back and he played for this on with a 20.
33:27
What? What year was that did he play
33:29
with? It's been a while, Yeah, it's
33:30
been a while. And it's not like he played with
33:32
us with this quarterback coach or inside the system before.
33:38
So I I mean, I get it if it was a guy that shots.
33:41
It. From back back in the day.
33:43
But yeah, I mean, bringing Josh in and hey, Josh won a game.
33:48
I mean, I want to say he had just as many wins as Mariota did
33:52
after Jayden went down. So hat tipped to him.
33:55
But if this kid out of Rutgers is just a camp body on the
34:00
roster, I all I know is I saw a video of Sam Howell playing
34:05
pickleball. Sam, I could use a pickleball
34:07
partner. So if your your football days
34:11
are done, you know I'm more than happy to take it on my end.
34:16
But you missed the the Draft party out of National Harbor.
34:19
Yeah, it had to work. How was it?
34:23
It was good, man. It's couple years back when you
34:27
and I crashed VIP, it wasn't anything like that.
34:31
When we were at the the VIP spot where they had it underneath the
34:34
Ferris wheel and they had like the all you can eat, all you can
34:37
drink. You can tell that I think they
34:40
blew a decent amount of the budget on what they put up out
34:44
at National, out at the stadium. But it was just so much fun
34:51
being out at the harbour and I think a lot of people were
34:54
worried it was going to rain, didn't rain one bit.
34:58
They were handing out hats again.
35:01
They had AB, Mitch and Smut were out there doing pictures,
35:04
signing autographs. They didn't bring any of the
35:07
draft picks out so. That part was.
35:11
A little bit of a bummer, but you know, who knows how much
35:14
it's going to take to get them out there on the schedule and
35:17
this and that. But it was just, you can tell
35:21
that they're investing money in the fan experience and it's not
35:26
going unnoticed. And these are the things that
35:28
you really appreciate because they're not making any money off
35:32
of it. This isn't a ticketed event
35:34
where people have to spend money to go there.
35:37
So you got to spend money to make money.
35:39
And two friends of mine actually signed up and they've been on
35:43
your trip. Actually, my friend Janelle,
35:45
she's been on your rally captain trips on the SP events and she
35:50
bought season tickets that day 2, actually four season tickets
35:53
that day because she had so much fun out at the harbor.
35:57
Nice. That's that.
35:59
That's what it's all about. It's, it's like, it's like when
36:02
you go to church and you heard a good word from the pastor and
36:07
it's time to see who wants to join the church.
36:10
And they say the doors of the church are open, come forward if
36:14
you want to join. And that's what it's like.
36:17
They had such a great time. The message was so good.
36:20
The vibe was so good that she stepped up and bought 4 tickets.
36:26
So that, that's a good thing, man, that's a good thing.
36:29
I, I, I want to say this and I do have a small knock.
36:34
It's a small knock if you are a single person.
36:40
And this happened to a buddy of mine.
36:41
So I, I got to talk about it could because at the DMV mess
36:43
hall we talked about the good, bad and the indifferent.
36:46
I had a buddy who originally signed up for two tickets and he
36:53
says, you know what, after doing the figures, hey wait a minute,
36:57
I can't afford 2 tickets, however I can't afford 1.
37:01
He immediately like the day after, after, after crunching
37:05
the finances, they said, no, you got to buy 2.
37:10
And he goes, yeah, I understand that, but I only need one and
37:13
I'm willing to go wherever. Have you just long, I get a
37:15
ticket and they said, Nope, you got to buy 2 tickets.
37:18
I, I think that and I know that it's very hard to sell that,
37:22
that one seat. I, I, I get it.
37:25
But if you got a person who's willing to to go wherever for
37:29
one seat, give them the one seat.
37:32
I, I hear where you're coming from and I feel bad for your
37:34
boy. Just I, I looked at the
37:38
inventory. So I'm with them and I'm dealing
37:42
with the salesperson and I've looked at the inventory and it's
37:46
a seat map. Have you ever tried to buy
37:49
tickets to a movie theater and you just want 1 ticket but
37:56
you're going to mess up the season like the movie spot on
38:01
the map and it's just going to be another ticket beside it?
38:04
Sometimes depending on the program like Alamo won't let you
38:06
get that one seat. They'll make you buy a ticket
38:09
over so then you're not leaving another single beside it.
38:13
They'll do it if you're leaving a pair.
38:15
The way the Commander's database works is they don't want and
38:19
this isn't just them right? I've had season tickets for the
38:23
Capitals for the Wizards. If it is an odd number then
38:28
they'll let you do it, but if it's going to leave them with a
38:32
three pack or another single, they typically don't let you do
38:39
that just because to get rid of 1 ticket.
38:42
So whenever I ask people how many tickets do you want for an
38:45
event, we'll say, well I want three tickets.
38:49
It's going to be cheaper historically for you to buy 4
38:52
tickets. And.
38:54
That other ticket, I mean, you know, dude.
38:56
You. Do this as many events.
38:58
I, I, I, I totally know it, but I also know that when they
39:03
wanted me to move down to row one, do you realize that my seat
39:09
initially was behind the goal post and guess how many seats?
39:14
That was 1. I had one season ticket and that
39:21
was it. So I know that they're there.
39:24
I'm just saying, I'm just, I'm just saying, hey, if the man
39:28
said, hey, I'm I'm willing to go to any single seat.
39:31
I just can't afford to. I, I, I feel as though, you know
39:34
what, some money's better than no money.
39:36
Work with him, figure it out. He he said he even go to the 400
39:40
section. So that's all I'm saying, and
39:43
I'll leave it. I'll leave it alone that that.
39:44
Ticket rap too. Like that.
39:46
Ticket rap could be greedy, might say try and play hardball
39:50
who knows. Back in the day when it was just
39:53
you, me and the hog farmers in the stadium best believe they'd
39:56
sell them that 1 ticket. But right now people are excited
40:01
man. I mean OTAs May 27th, June 2nd,
40:06
mandatory mini camp June 16th. I'm getting back from, I think
40:13
Houston from a World Cup match. Making sure that I told the
40:17
team, hey manager mini camp, I'm going to be around before I fly
40:19
out to Seattle for another match.
40:21
Make sure your boy gets a spot. I just I can't wait to see the
40:26
guys on the field and just watch them gel together because this
40:33
defense is young and they're hungry and I want to see what
40:40
this new coordinator does. And something that and an
40:45
anecdote that might not mean a lot to some people, but
40:48
something that I heard from JP Finley talk about that Sonny had
40:52
mentioned why I know this is going to work.
40:57
Sonny Styles was projected to be top ten draft pick.
41:01
He went on all of these visits all across the NFL from teams
41:05
that want to talk to him. Only one coach gave Sonny his
41:11
personal cell phone number to reach out if he ever needed
41:15
anything regardless. And guess who that coach was?
41:21
Dan Quinn. Winner, winner.
41:25
His agent was wearing burgundy and gold that morning, Sonny
41:31
said. He had a feeling that he was
41:33
going to get drafted by Washington, and you look at
41:36
different mock drafts, he wasn't supposed to drop to us.
41:40
And he did because the Titans took who they took at receiver,
41:44
because the Chiefs moved up, because love went where he went.
41:48
And it was almost like it was fate that suddenly was coming to
41:51
us. But the fact that DQ, because we
41:54
hear stories about he's a player's coach, all his players
41:57
love him. He goes out of his way and bends
41:59
over backwards. He could have been drafted by
42:01
the Eagles, the Giants. DQ didn't care.
42:04
He just wanted this young man to know that he has got someone
42:07
that has played this game at its highest level in his corner and
42:11
this is actually something talking about what it was like
42:13
to be drafted by the team. You've, you've mentioned that
42:16
this is where you wanted to be and you met with a lot of teams
42:19
who said a lot of wonderful things, I'm sure about you,
42:22
about themselves. Why is this where you wanted to
42:25
be? What stuck out about the
42:26
commanders? You know, I'll take it back to
42:29
like when I was coming out of high school and I went to Ohio
42:32
State, one in the building, it was great.
42:34
People in the building, starting with Coach Day, the whole
42:37
coaching staff of the players, when I came in this building
42:41
first person, I see Coach Norton, great energy.
42:45
You could tell you're just a genuine guy, great man.
42:49
Then I could sit down with Coach DJ, Coach Jones, go talk to
42:53
Coach Quinn AP and it was just great energy in the whole
42:58
building. Every single person I met with
43:00
and it just felt right. And that's why when I left this
43:03
building I was like, man, like this, this is it, this feels
43:05
right. And I was hoping it was going to
43:06
work out the way it did. So just super excited to be
43:09
here. Did you see on the Commander's
43:13
Instagram and socials the Sonny walking into the building for
43:17
the first time? Yeah, everybody was there
43:21
waiting with open arms. Gave me goosebumps, man.
43:25
They gave me goosebumps. And I hate to rehash, but this
43:29
stuff didn't happen before and you got to build.
43:35
Remember the brotherhood that everybody talked about in 24?
43:39
Why are we winning? What's going on?
43:40
The brotherhood, The brotherhood, The brotherhood, at
43:43
a certain point you can say it, but can you actually show it?
43:49
And these are the building blocks that I truly feel matter
43:53
to recreate that brotherhood we had back then.
43:57
And I don't know if Bobby's going to come back.
43:59
I'm sad to see him go. But realistically, if this team
44:03
is going to get better, if we're going to take that next step, we
44:06
need players like Sonny on it. And we need a coach like DQ to
44:12
build that bond with his guys so we can really have that
44:16
brotherhood amped up. And man, I just, I want to see
44:23
the guys in pads. I want to see him hitting each
44:25
other. And a couple people said we lost
44:29
Sonny Jorgensen, but we gained Sonny Styles and you can't
44:35
compare the two by any means. And I don't want to put that
44:37
kind of pressure on this young man, but it almost feels like
44:41
Sonny came home to me. I hear you man, and I am happy
44:50
that he's on our squad. And like you said, now the hard
44:55
work starts. You thought you worked hard in
44:57
college. Now to learn this professional
45:00
playbook and have everyone looking at you.
45:04
You thought eyes were on you at Ohio State, the burgundy and
45:08
gold family. We're going to be looking at you
45:12
with with with little through a 52 cone brother.
45:14
We're we're ready for it. So because we know what we were
45:17
missing out on. But hey, I hear the music
45:21
playing. Thank you guys for riding with
45:24
us. Greatly appreciate it.
45:26
Can't wait to see you guys on the next one.
45:29
Remember, you Rep it hard. You don't Rep it at all.
45:32
Rally Captain Tailgate Ted, we will see you very, very soon.
45:37
We're out of here.