Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR2: Live from Training Camp 2026 Day 10
Transcript
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- 0:36Speaker 2: We don't go to the office.
- 0:37Speaker 1: We build it.
- 0:41Speaker 3: Side our number two here inside the locker room, and
- 0:45Speaker 3: we are continuing our discussion here because the Steelers have
- 0:49Speaker 3: Saturday night lights at Latrove Memorial Stadium this evening six
- 0:53Speaker 3: to eight pm down in the center of the city,
- 0:59Speaker 3: and of course a high light every year since the nineties.
- 1:03Speaker 3: Bill Kauer was one of the guys that I believe
- 1:05Speaker 3: first started the Saturday the Friday night lights to kind
- 1:07Speaker 3: of get that high school feel. We've now adjusted it
- 1:10Speaker 3: and moved it to a Saturday, but still the same
- 1:13Speaker 3: nostalgia and feel of bringing the Steelers into the community
- 1:18Speaker 3: literally there's fan fast and activities going on around the
- 1:22Speaker 3: practice ahead of it. Alumni are there doing autographs and
- 1:26Speaker 3: there's activations and of course culminating in the team heading
- 1:31Speaker 3: over and practicing on good old high school football field there.
- 1:36Speaker 2: So it's a fun time.
- 1:37Speaker 3: Another another very highly competitive practice, full pad, so looking
- 1:41Speaker 3: forward to that. So we don't have any practice notes
- 1:44Speaker 3: to really get to.
- 1:45Speaker 2: I mean, coordinators, I believe spoke a.
- 1:47Speaker 3: Little while ago, but that's why we're having this fun
- 1:51Speaker 3: conversation on the heels of my travels to the the
- 1:56Speaker 3: actually the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage travel to the hallowed grounds
- 2:00Speaker 3: that are the National Football Pro Football Hall of Fame
- 2:05Speaker 3: in Canton, Ohio, and I'm saying that there's a water
- 2:08Speaker 3: park style like hotel being built right in front of
- 2:11Speaker 3: the Hall of Fame to try and track more kids,
- 2:13Speaker 3: as though you needed more kids to come there. But
- 2:17Speaker 3: you know this this week, every single year, this is
- 2:21Speaker 3: this is the site. This is this is the precipice
- 2:24Speaker 3: that we sit on for the upcoming regular season. So
- 2:28Speaker 3: we're going back and deep diving into in not in,
- 2:33Speaker 3: I think is the best way of putting it. What
- 2:35Speaker 3: do you say, Rob and not in. I think it
- 2:37Speaker 3: is a good segment in not In.
- 2:39Speaker 4: And this all comes from us sort of saying that
- 2:44Speaker 4: we felt we were talking about the Hall of Fame
- 2:45Speaker 4: because Max was going there, and our discussion about whether
- 2:49Speaker 4: if you made the All Decade team, and both of
- 2:51Speaker 4: us were clearly thinking, and we're trying not to revise it,
- 2:54Speaker 4: clearly thinking that first team All Pro, first Team All
- 3:00Speaker 4: Decade team get you in the Hall of Fame. That
- 3:03Speaker 4: should be enough to get you in the Hall of Fame.
- 3:05Speaker 4: We understand guys step between the cracks. Cam Hayward is
- 3:08Speaker 4: one of those guys that didn't make the twenty tens,
- 3:12Speaker 4: and unless he has another All Pro year the year
- 3:14Speaker 4: or two and plays a few more years, probably won't
- 3:17Speaker 4: make it at the end of the next decade. It's
- 3:20Speaker 4: gonna be it's gonna be tough because he straddled those
- 3:24Speaker 4: decades in the course of his crime, and so that's
- 3:26Speaker 4: gonna happen to guys. But our sense is that if
- 3:29Speaker 4: you were this dominant for ten years, that doesn't mean
- 3:32Speaker 4: you're the best in your time. Again, Cam was a
- 3:35Speaker 4: better player in my opinion than Gino Atkins, right, who
- 3:40Speaker 4: was on the All Decade Team. He's gonna be a
- 3:42Speaker 4: better player if he doesn't make the All Decade team
- 3:44Speaker 4: in the twenty twenties, He's gonna be better than a
- 3:46Speaker 4: player on that team too, And it's prime, but his
- 3:48Speaker 4: prime doesn't fit snugly into that decade. He will be
- 3:53Speaker 4: the he will be the on the downside of good
- 3:57Speaker 4: time of poor timing. Right, that'll be the only thing
- 3:59Speaker 4: that's gonna keep them off those things and in my opinion,
- 4:01Speaker 4: out of the Hall of Fame. Although again, let's keep going, Cam,
- 4:06Speaker 4: keep building that case. It's okay with that.
- 4:09Speaker 3: Nothing wrong with good old ingenuity and try hard.
- 4:13Speaker 4: Yeah, keep going. Two more All Pros, another All Pro,
- 4:16Speaker 4: you know, and two more Pro Bowls, another All Pro
- 4:18Speaker 4: one and it's a shoeing, So okay. So here's where
- 4:22Speaker 4: we're going to meet our first hiccup, and that is
- 4:24Speaker 4: the fullback position, which largely no longer exists in the NFL.
- 4:29Speaker 4: So you have Lorenzo Neil, terrific fullback. Tony Richardson was
- 4:33Speaker 4: First Team two. You know, Lorenzo was a four time
- 4:37Speaker 4: first team Pro Bowler. I just don't think that that. Again,
- 4:41Speaker 4: we talk about the position. Why do fan of Can
- 4:43Speaker 4: Hutchison have to wait so long because tackles go in first.
- 4:47Speaker 4: Quarterbacks going first, receivers go in first, running backs going first,
- 4:51Speaker 4: Corners going first. If you're safety, unless you're Troy Polamalo,
- 4:55Speaker 4: you might have to wait. If you're a guard, you
- 4:57Speaker 4: might have to wait. If you're center, you might have
- 4:59Speaker 4: to wait. It's just the nature of the position. If
- 5:01Speaker 4: you're the pullback, I think, and you're a prototypical fullback, listen,
- 5:06Speaker 4: you love to have the renal on your team. I
- 5:09Speaker 4: just don't think that makes the Hall of Fame. I
- 5:11Speaker 4: don't think he's going to get in the Hall of Fame.
- 5:13Speaker 4: Mac he's not in. I don't think he's going to
- 5:14Speaker 4: get it.
- 5:15Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it's a devaluing of that position, right, he's
- 5:19Speaker 3: I think he's a decade too late. I think if
- 5:21Speaker 3: you look in nineties and eighties when a fullback was
- 5:24Speaker 3: a prominent position, kind of like the nose tackle, Like
- 5:26Speaker 3: a nose tackle is one that it's an important position
- 5:31Speaker 3: on the team. It allows for the guys behind them
- 5:35Speaker 3: to get those opportunities to be great and be successful.
- 5:40Speaker 3: Like you think about more linebackers are in, Well, it's
- 5:43Speaker 3: because of a dominant nose tackle. Usually that's how you
- 5:45Speaker 3: make those plays to get into those positions to be successful.
- 5:50Speaker 3: And then like that, a fullback as well, like a
- 5:52Speaker 3: fullback is essentially a sixth offensive lineman. He just isn't
- 5:55Speaker 3: tall enough. And you know, and that's one of those
- 5:58Speaker 3: where the stats just are aren't going to be on
- 6:00Speaker 3: your side. And this is you know, stats tell a
- 6:03Speaker 3: story for a lot of this and and how you
- 6:05Speaker 3: get into the Hall of Fame and how you get
- 6:08Speaker 3: the nods. It's a numbers game, and fullbecks just frankly
- 6:11Speaker 3: don't get numbers, and there's no tangible way of really
- 6:14Speaker 3: tracking their stats, you know, without it being kind of subjective.
- 6:19Speaker 3: And that's where you run into that gray area. So
- 6:21Speaker 3: you're right, both those guys excellent, love Nilo, but yeah, yeah,
- 6:26Speaker 3: you know, Lorenzo's not going to get in. And like
- 6:27Speaker 3: you said, Tony Richardson also definitely if Lorenzo doesn't get in,
- 6:30Speaker 3: he's a first team member.
- 6:32Speaker 2: Yeah, Richardson's not getting in either.
- 6:35Speaker 4: Okay, So let's continue on, and and I think that
- 6:40Speaker 4: we're going to run into it a whole stretch of
- 6:42Speaker 4: guys who are in the Hall of Fame. Receiver one,
- 6:45Speaker 4: Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Hall of Famers, no doubt about it.
- 6:49Speaker 4: Team two tall Owens, Hall of Fame, Tory Holt not
- 6:54Speaker 4: in the Hall of Fame.
- 6:56Speaker 2: Should be in the Hall of Fame, but not in
- 6:57Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame.
- 6:58Speaker 4: Okay, okay, a lot of pro. Again, it's hard to
- 7:02Speaker 4: be All Pro when you're going up against Randy Moss,
- 7:08Speaker 4: Marvin Harrison, karall Owens. It's hard. Isaac Bruce on his
- 7:13Speaker 4: own team and it's hard to be. I mean, he
- 7:17Speaker 4: led the league in receptions once and receiving yards a
- 7:20Speaker 4: couple of times. Very very good player. I think maybe eventually.
- 7:26Speaker 2: Yeah, one of these years you'll get it.
- 7:29Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's gonna be one of those kind
- 7:31Speaker 4: of guys.
- 7:31Speaker 2: Max.
- 7:32Speaker 4: But again, sticking with our All Pro one theme, he's
- 7:36Speaker 4: not in All Pro one. He's not in the Hall
- 7:37Speaker 4: of Fame, and so let's move on tight end Tony
- 7:41Speaker 4: Gonzales in second team, Antonio Gates in. Two phenomenal players,
- 7:46Speaker 4: no questions about that.
- 7:48Speaker 3: First team went and at the time when they went
- 7:50Speaker 3: in they were both number one all time and catches,
- 7:54Speaker 3: receptions and touchdowns both of them, So they led the
- 7:57Speaker 3: league that Now, obviously, since Travis Kelcey is broken, that
- 8:00Speaker 3: record whatever, but at the time when they're logged in
- 8:05Speaker 3: best overall statistics at their position. So I just want
- 8:08Speaker 3: to make sure we clarify that.
- 8:10Speaker 4: Yeah, and we're talking about eras of football, Max, And
- 8:13Speaker 4: you know, where does the modern era begin? And it's
- 8:17Speaker 4: it's difficult to pinpoint. You know, you say the Hall
- 8:20Speaker 4: of Fame era, but you know, at six one, two
- 8:23Speaker 4: fifty again I brought up this point, Fuzzy Thurston pulls
- 8:26Speaker 4: around around to the edge and he's leading Jim Taylor
- 8:30Speaker 4: or Paul Horning on that bonded packer suite and he
- 8:33Speaker 4: runs into TJ.
- 8:34Speaker 2: Watt.
- 8:35Speaker 4: Well, he wasn't running into edge defenders that big, you
- 8:37Speaker 4: know what I mean, It just wasn't. And and that's
- 8:40Speaker 4: you know, even a decade later, Fuzzy's running into Lawrence Taylor.
- 8:45Speaker 4: I just don't know as that goes really well. Now, again,
- 8:48Speaker 4: they were lighter, quicker guards. You know, that's the kind
- 8:51Speaker 4: of player Chuck Nole wanted to. But the point is
- 8:55Speaker 4: that I think that Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates, Uh,
- 8:59Speaker 4: you know, you talk about prototypes, there's the prototype for
- 9:03Speaker 4: the modern tight end right there. To me, those two
- 9:05Speaker 4: guys Dallas and Gates. I don't think they redefine, they
- 9:10Speaker 4: redefined the position. Right. The modern era of the tight
- 9:13Speaker 4: end begins with those guys. The modern air of the
- 9:15Speaker 4: pass rusher might begin with Lawrence Taylor. Right, So you
- 9:17Speaker 4: may be going back to the early eighties. I think
- 9:19Speaker 4: the modern tight end is that late nineties, early two thousands. Uh,
- 9:23Speaker 4: it's Gonzales and Gates.
- 9:25Speaker 2: Yep.
- 9:26Speaker 3: Yeah, they paved the They paved the way for what
- 9:29Speaker 3: we consider or what we demand.
- 9:31Speaker 2: A tight end to do.
- 9:33Speaker 4: Okay, on we go tackle Jonathan Ogden.
- 9:37Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, no, let's let's get all of my
- 9:40Speaker 3: idols out of the way.
- 9:41Speaker 2: Okay.
- 9:42Speaker 4: Yeah, he might be you know, somebody's holding the chair
- 9:46Speaker 4: for him. Probably at that innercase.
- 9:50Speaker 3: I would say he is an inner. He is an
- 9:52Speaker 3: inner sanctum offensive lineman.
- 9:53Speaker 4: Yes, yes, he was phenomenal. Walter Jones outstanding, He's in
- 9:58Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame. Willie Rope, Orlando Pace. You know
- 10:02Speaker 4: those guys were were second team all decade, you know, Uh,
- 10:09Speaker 4: Orlando Pace was. That's interesting because to me, I mean
- 10:16Speaker 4: he was. He was also a top of the scale
- 10:19Speaker 4: type of offensive lineman. But it's hard to and he
- 10:22Speaker 4: made three All Pro ones, but man, it is hard
- 10:24Speaker 4: to make all pro ones when Jonathan Ogden to Hagan
- 10:26Speaker 4: those trophies and now you're competing with everybody else, you know. Yeah,
- 10:30Speaker 4: I mean, uh, but but he's he's in the Hall
- 10:33Speaker 4: of Fame Great Players, So all of the tackles are in,
- 10:37Speaker 4: all of the guards are in. Alan Fanica, Steve Hutchinson,
- 10:41Speaker 4: Larry Allen, will Shields all in the Hall of Fame.
- 10:44Speaker 4: Uh Center, Kevin Maway, he's in the Hall of Fame.
- 10:47Speaker 4: Allen Krutz. Olin Kreutz is not in the Hall of Fame.
- 10:50Speaker 4: I don't think he's gonna make the Hall of Fame
- 10:51Speaker 4: at the center position.
- 10:53Speaker 3: Yeah, Olin, you know, obviously, if I had a pick
- 10:57Speaker 3: between the two, I'd probably picked Olin over Vin Mawai.
- 11:00Speaker 3: But Kevin Mwai takes the first team nod. I just
- 11:03Speaker 3: thought Olin Crutz. I mean we learned our silent snap
- 11:06Speaker 3: count because of Olin Krutz and what he developed in Chicago. Yes, interesting,
- 11:12Speaker 3: Like we watched the Chicago phil after we lost to
- 11:15Speaker 3: the Indianapolis Colts in five of the regular season that
- 11:19Speaker 3: following week, we had to put in a silent count
- 11:21Speaker 3: like that was the reason why and who do we
- 11:23Speaker 3: look to we looked at Olin Crutz in the Chicago
- 11:25Speaker 3: Bears for how they ran their count and that's how
- 11:28Speaker 3: and that's how we developed our silent count system.
- 11:30Speaker 4: So that is absolutely so I.
- 11:34Speaker 2: Did behind the mask type of look there.
- 11:37Speaker 4: I love that, man, My football keep them just went
- 11:40Speaker 4: through the roof. Man, that is just very very cool.
- 11:42Speaker 4: I had no idea, no idea that that was the case.
- 11:45Speaker 4: And uh, you know again, you just look at the
- 11:49Speaker 4: Pro Bowl and all throw nods. Uh you know, maybe
- 11:52Speaker 4: somewhere down the line somebody will re look at the
- 11:54Speaker 4: center position. But you know, let's get Markue's pounty in
- 11:58Speaker 4: their first in my opinion, Dan, just look at the
- 12:01Speaker 4: number decade team.
- 12:03Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.
- 12:04Speaker 3: But look how long it took Dermondi Dawson to get
- 12:06Speaker 3: into the Hall of Fame as well. So yeah, I
- 12:09Speaker 3: don't think Marquise waits as long as as as Dirt does.
- 12:12Speaker 3: But but it's still still that that's how tough it is,
- 12:15Speaker 3: that that's what you're battling.
- 12:17Speaker 1: It is.
- 12:18Speaker 4: Okay, so we have the defense to get to We
- 12:20Speaker 4: got to get hustling, Max, because yeah, I want to
- 12:24Speaker 4: go away. I gotta take a break. We gotta take
- 12:26Speaker 4: a break.
- 12:27Speaker 2: Oh man, I'm like Ricky, Bobby, I want to go fast.
- 12:30Speaker 2: I want to.
- 12:33Speaker 4: I want to ask you about the scrimmage of what's
- 12:35Speaker 4: going on tonight and what you're expecting to see and
- 12:37Speaker 4: all that other stuff. Okay, so we're gonna dash through
- 12:40Speaker 4: the defense, or maybe we'll reverse it. Maybe maybe we'll
- 12:42Speaker 4: you know what, that's what. We'll go to the scrimmage
- 12:44Speaker 4: and if we don't, we'll we'll dash through the Tens
- 12:47Speaker 4: defense if we have to. I think our point has
- 12:50Speaker 4: been made. We've got to further drive it home. But
- 12:53Speaker 4: let's talk about the Steelers and what you're expecting to
- 12:55Speaker 4: see tonight when we continue in the locker room here
- 12:57Speaker 4: on the Steelers Audio Network.
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- 13:56Speaker 3: All right, we are back inside the locker room segment
- 13:59Speaker 3: number two, our number two here, and we would be
- 14:02Speaker 3: remissed if we did.
- 14:04Speaker 2: Not address the.
- 14:08Speaker 3: Friday night on Saturday lights event. But you know, this
- 14:14Speaker 3: is more because in the past, it's been a scrimmage
- 14:17Speaker 3: rob and it's been like the full field, like first
- 14:21Speaker 3: team goes up against first first team offensive vers first
- 14:24Speaker 3: team defense.
- 14:25Speaker 2: You marched out if you.
- 14:25Speaker 3: Kind of go through plays and drives has been one
- 14:29Speaker 3: of the key moments. And then you add in the
- 14:31Speaker 3: elemental side of it. You know, we're gonna see you know,
- 14:34Speaker 3: those third down package pass under pressure so to speak.
- 14:37Speaker 3: In the past, you also had you know, two minute
- 14:42Speaker 3: drills worked in there, so you had kind of the
- 14:44Speaker 3: flow of a game worked in because this was kind
- 14:47Speaker 3: of like the dress rehearsal before you get to the
- 14:51Speaker 3: first preseason game, and obviously that first preseason game Thursday
- 14:53Speaker 3: night and after sure against.
- 14:54Speaker 2: The Green Bay Packers.
- 14:56Speaker 3: So I'm very interested to see how this is gonna go.
- 14:58Speaker 3: You always had a backs on back tight ends on
- 15:01Speaker 3: d ns O line versus D line, like you had
- 15:04Speaker 3: these one ones and he had the one.
- 15:05Speaker 2: On one, uh well not one on one but.
- 15:07Speaker 3: Seven on seven, competitive middle of the field type of deal.
- 15:12Speaker 3: So I'm interested to see how it's going to be
- 15:14Speaker 3: scripted this evening for Mike McCarthy since he kind of
- 15:18Speaker 3: does things a little bit differently, but that's been what
- 15:21Speaker 3: it has been in the past, and just kind of
- 15:25Speaker 3: anticipating what's going to be this current iteration of Friday
- 15:30Speaker 3: Night Lights. It's already on a different day, so Saturday
- 15:33Speaker 3: Night Lights. But you know that that's one of the
- 15:36Speaker 3: things that has us I kind of intrigued thus far
- 15:38Speaker 3: because you know, Mike pursuita asked backs on backers do
- 15:43Speaker 3: you like it?
- 15:44Speaker 2: I'm a fan.
- 15:44Speaker 3: I'm a fan, but he hasn't done it yet, so
- 15:47Speaker 3: you wonder when that's I shouldn't say when, but if
- 15:52Speaker 3: if that will actually happen in camp and will it
- 15:55Speaker 3: concur or conclude this evening. So a lot to kind
- 15:59Speaker 3: of anticipate getting ready and tonight. What are some of
- 16:01Speaker 3: the things you're thinking about?
- 16:03Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm eager to see if you know, usually somebody
- 16:07Speaker 4: who would come out of this Max as Wow, he
- 16:10Speaker 4: kind of put a stamp on what we've sort of seen. Now.
- 16:15Speaker 4: We learned earlier that Maxahonachor is not going to be
- 16:19Speaker 4: taking place part of this. Well, the word was probably
- 16:24Speaker 4: won't see him through Monday, right, So that there's a
- 16:27Speaker 4: guy that I think a lot of fans really wanted
- 16:30Speaker 4: to see. You know, what is he going to be
- 16:31Speaker 4: able to bring to the table? You know?
- 16:35Speaker 2: Right?
- 16:36Speaker 4: I think probably for me because I'm more concerned with
- 16:42Speaker 4: the right now, I understand people are really gonna want
- 16:46Speaker 4: to be looking at the quarterback position. I get that.
- 16:49Speaker 4: I'm more interested in the wide receiver position. I'm more
- 16:52Speaker 4: interested in you know, how is how is that looking
- 16:57Speaker 4: right now? How are these guys jiving with with with
- 17:01Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers or they melding together? You know? I think
- 17:05Speaker 4: that Aaron you know, look, I think Aaron does things
- 17:08Speaker 4: very deliberately. Right, he's targeting ticket dk Metcalf. Then he's
- 17:12Speaker 4: been targeting you know, there's a we talked about this
- 17:14Speaker 4: the other there's a Pat Pryarmouth day. There's been a
- 17:17Speaker 4: lot of Roman Wilson stuff. Is he going to emerge
- 17:22Speaker 4: that number three receiver because you know, look, they're all
- 17:25Speaker 4: I don't want to say that they're all one type
- 17:28Speaker 4: of receiver because DK is a big guy with speed.
- 17:31Speaker 4: Hitman's a big guy with great ability to use his
- 17:35Speaker 4: body and pick up first downs and make the tough catches.
- 17:38Speaker 4: Jeremy Bernard I think, is a little more probably in
- 17:42Speaker 4: that mold, not as big, but you know, he's the
- 17:44Speaker 4: second round pick. Roman Wilson's the one guy is a
- 17:47Speaker 4: little bit different to me, Slighter, maybe a little more
- 17:51Speaker 4: explosive as far as quick getting in and out of
- 17:53Speaker 4: you know cuts. I think DK probably still has the
- 17:56Speaker 4: best top end speed of the group, So he's interesting
- 17:59Speaker 4: to me because you know he can I think the
- 18:03Speaker 4: students will definitely be able to bludgeon team. Think about
- 18:06Speaker 4: my goodness, if you come out there and it's Darnel Washington,
- 18:10Speaker 4: it's and it's DK Metcalf and you know Pittman is
- 18:14Speaker 4: your wide receivers. That is just a large group of
- 18:17Speaker 4: human beings. But you know, prior Muth has been very
- 18:20Speaker 4: good in the slot as an h back guy. There's
- 18:23Speaker 4: a lot of different things they can do. It doesn't
- 18:25Speaker 4: have to be three receivers. But if it's going to
- 18:28Speaker 4: be three receivers, if it's going to be make up
- 18:30Speaker 4: some ground, I think this would be a nice practice
- 18:34Speaker 4: for Roman Wilson to show everybody what he can do.
- 18:38Speaker 3: Now, I'm right there with you, and I think that's
- 18:41Speaker 3: really what the key is here.
- 18:42Speaker 2: It's Roman, what can you do?
- 18:45Speaker 4: Like?
- 18:46Speaker 2: You know, are you going to take that next step?
- 18:47Speaker 3: Are you going to be the guy that everybody can
- 18:49Speaker 3: depend on in that slot position to kind of take
- 18:52Speaker 3: over and have a Calvin Austin esque type of role
- 18:57Speaker 3: on this team?
- 18:58Speaker 2: And what does that look like? Does that mean.
- 19:02Speaker 3: You know, for what you can bring to the table,
- 19:04Speaker 3: or is it we got to look at another direction
- 19:06Speaker 3: because I think this is that kind of pivotal year
- 19:09Speaker 3: for Roman to take, to take the jump, to take
- 19:13Speaker 3: the leap for the next phase of his career.
- 19:19Speaker 4: It's almost now or never. Really, it truly is for him.
- 19:23Speaker 4: I mean there and with the Steers. Look, I still
- 19:28Speaker 4: think Roman Wilson could be an NFL receiver. I just
- 19:30Speaker 4: hope it's with the Steelers. I think that if it
- 19:32Speaker 4: doesn't happen after this year and you're bringing another quarterback,
- 19:35Speaker 4: I get that, until that's always new life, but it
- 19:38Speaker 4: would feel like, Okay, the team is moving on from
- 19:43Speaker 4: him and so and again Aaron Rodgers says, this is
- 19:47Speaker 4: going to be it. Maybe he has a great rapport
- 19:49Speaker 4: with the next quarterback in the future. I don't want
- 19:52Speaker 4: to completely close the chapter if it doesn't happen now,
- 19:55Speaker 4: but now would be an awfully good time for him
- 19:58Speaker 4: to integrate himself and be part of it. And I
- 20:02Speaker 4: just think that he can be an explosive element. I mean,
- 20:06Speaker 4: you know, the students have a very physical offense. You know,
- 20:10Speaker 4: they've got a physical offensive line that they've invested in.
- 20:13Speaker 4: They've got physical big wide receivers, They've got running backs
- 20:18Speaker 4: can who can play with a physical style. You know,
- 20:21Speaker 4: we've seen Jalen Warren show some game breaking ability, and
- 20:25Speaker 4: I think that they believe that if they get him
- 20:27Speaker 4: back to shorter stints, that they're going to see more
- 20:29Speaker 4: of that game breaking ability. Again, I'm on the fence
- 20:33Speaker 4: about that. Part of me wants to see him get
- 20:34Speaker 4: twenty two carries and see what happens. That's not gonna
- 20:38Speaker 4: happen unless there's an injury. You know, Doubtell is going
- 20:41Speaker 4: to be is going to be taking a lot of
- 20:43Speaker 4: those A lot of those thumper type of things. Are
- 20:46Speaker 4: both guys are three down backs. Jalens an outstanding blocker.
- 20:51Speaker 4: As we know, both guys can receive the football. I
- 20:53Speaker 4: think Jalen's got that a little bit of that that
- 20:56Speaker 4: game breaker to him, and of course DK does with this,
- 21:00Speaker 4: but I think, you know, that would be if Roman
- 21:02Speaker 4: Wilson could bring an element that that the offense could use.
- 21:06Speaker 4: And so that's why I think my biggest attention will
- 21:10Speaker 4: be what is he going to accomplish tonight? And then
- 21:14Speaker 4: I guess on the defensive side of the ball. You know,
- 21:16Speaker 4: I would like to see the continued progression of UH
- 21:19Speaker 4: And I say progression like a Sante. Samuel's a rookie.
- 21:23Speaker 4: He's not, but he's coming back from a serious injury
- 21:27Speaker 4: and from surgery and it's basically been he got I
- 21:31Speaker 4: think he got into a little bit of action last year.
- 21:33Speaker 4: It's basically been you know, two years since he's played.
- 21:36Speaker 4: I'd like to see what he could do out there
- 21:38Speaker 4: because if he continues and he has drawn rave reviews
- 21:41Speaker 4: from Mike McCarthy going back to the OTAs, I mean,
- 21:45Speaker 4: what a find that would be. We have seen this
- 21:49Speaker 4: the other struggle to get a second corner opposite of
- 21:53Speaker 4: Joey Porter Jr. Well they got that guy with Jamel
- 21:56Speaker 4: Dean now to be able to throw a third guy
- 21:59Speaker 4: out there they're on the outside and go back to
- 22:02Speaker 4: the old, the other way of doing things where Dale,
- 22:03Speaker 4: when Evertt becomes a guy that you can you can
- 22:07Speaker 4: take your time with, you know, knock on what all
- 22:09Speaker 4: all things are many equal on the injury front, and
- 22:11Speaker 4: bring him along at a at a suitable pace and
- 22:14Speaker 4: not have to rush him into action, you know, all though,
- 22:18Speaker 4: for all those reasons, Sante Samuel to me is a
- 22:22Speaker 4: guy I'm really as his camp goes on, I'm really
- 22:26Speaker 4: intrigued about what he can do because I think he
- 22:28Speaker 4: can be valuable now and I think he can be
- 22:30Speaker 4: valuable in the future. And that's the same way I
- 22:32Speaker 4: feel about Roman Wilson. He can be valuable now and
- 22:34Speaker 4: he can be valuable for the foreseeable future. How about you, Max,
- 22:37Speaker 4: here are some guys you're looking at, well.
- 22:40Speaker 3: I mean I'm looking at you know, I'm really looking
- 22:43Speaker 3: at that that right side, Like you said, no, Maxianachure.
- 22:46Speaker 3: Now does Proderick Jones take the next step? Can he
- 22:49Speaker 3: can he assume that role and kind of get himself
- 22:51Speaker 3: into this contest and and make it a three way
- 22:55Speaker 3: go Dylan Cook, Maxianachure, and Broderick Jones at the right
- 22:58Speaker 3: tackle position.
- 23:00Speaker 2: I want to see. I want to see what Kayden
- 23:02Speaker 2: Weed you can do.
- 23:03Speaker 3: He's the number one kicked punt returner, right, how does
- 23:07Speaker 3: he look not only as a returner, but how does
- 23:09Speaker 3: he look? Haws he figure into the wide receiver position
- 23:13Speaker 3: as well, and how does that look? And then of
- 23:15Speaker 3: course the running backs, right, Caleb Johnson, Lou Nichols, Travis
- 23:18Speaker 3: Homer and company. Travis Homer getting a couple more opportunities,
- 23:23Speaker 3: you know, to really do some stuff with with with
- 23:25Speaker 3: the third squad, and Caleb Johnson trying to make a
- 23:28Speaker 3: tryd to make a case for himself as well. So
- 23:29Speaker 3: I'm gonna be looking for that. And then also, Carson
- 23:32Speaker 3: Bruner is your number two linebacker. Malik Harrison is behind,
- 23:37Speaker 3: said Carson Bruner. So how does that inside linebacker competition
- 23:41Speaker 3: look and who can do more at that position to
- 23:44Speaker 3: kind of steal their way into that top four of
- 23:47Speaker 3: the linebacking crew.
- 23:49Speaker 2: So those are some of some of the other ones.
- 23:51Speaker 3: I think I'm right there with you on the rest
- 23:53Speaker 3: of these battles, you know, at the wide receiver position
- 23:55Speaker 3: with Roman Wilson, want to see how he takes the
- 23:57Speaker 3: next step as well. But I think that's a really
- 24:01Speaker 3: big one. And then I want to see I want
- 24:02Speaker 3: to see these big boys up front. I want to
- 24:04Speaker 3: see Sebastian, Joseph Day, you know, Gabe Rubio, how they
- 24:10Speaker 3: look y a black as as that kind of nose guy,
- 24:13Speaker 3: and seeing how they kind of insert themselves into this
- 24:17Speaker 3: as they take the next step, and then how it
- 24:18Speaker 3: translates to a stadium.
- 24:20Speaker 2: So I'm all over the board with you.
- 24:22Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of guys that are intriguing
- 24:25Speaker 3: and a lot of battles that are on that second
- 24:27Speaker 3: line level that I want to see come to fruition,
- 24:30Speaker 3: like who can do it and who.
- 24:30Speaker 4: Can I think you bring up all really really great
- 24:35Speaker 4: points in it, and it underscores just how many interesting
- 24:39Speaker 4: battles there are on a team in which, you know,
- 24:42Speaker 4: I really like their roster. I really like their roster
- 24:46Speaker 4: one through fifty three, one through fifty eight. I think
- 24:49Speaker 4: they've just done a very very nice job of building
- 24:52Speaker 4: this roster out of adding to depth. But you're right,
- 24:55Speaker 4: I mean, think about it. Look Caleb Johnson. I mean,
- 24:58Speaker 4: the perception isn't We're not I'm not in the room
- 25:01Speaker 4: with the coaches. I don't know what they're saying, but
- 25:03Speaker 4: certainly the perception is that Caleb Johnson, a third round
- 25:06Speaker 4: pick from a year ago, is fighting to make a roster.
- 25:10Speaker 4: I mean, how many teams around the league can say that?
- 25:13Speaker 4: Not many? And I think you've identified a lot of
- 25:17Speaker 4: the other battles that are important. What's happening at that
- 25:21Speaker 4: at that inside linebacker off the ball linebacker position. You know,
- 25:24Speaker 4: can Carson Bruner become more than a special teams guy?
- 25:28Speaker 4: And you know, is you know, is this new system
- 25:31Speaker 4: going to help guys? Let's not forget too. You know,
- 25:33Speaker 4: we talked a little bit about and I think Cayden Wegen,
- 25:36Speaker 4: you know, I've been talking about playmakers on the offensive side.
- 25:39Speaker 4: Match you know, Leegian is they drafted him to be
- 25:42Speaker 4: a playmaker. And it's harder from that punt return game.
- 25:46Speaker 4: It's harder from that kickoff return game. I mean, what
- 25:48Speaker 4: are you gonna get? You hope you get a touchdown
- 25:51Speaker 4: out of that, you know somewhere along the line to
- 25:54Speaker 4: get you greedy, But can you pick up you know,
- 25:58Speaker 4: can you be one of the leading punt returners kick
- 26:00Speaker 4: returners in the league. To get you into that field
- 26:03Speaker 4: position again, I cite my our friend Matt Williamson about,
- 26:06Speaker 4: you know, some of the things that he brings up
- 26:08Speaker 4: with kick returns and how important they are and how
- 26:11Speaker 4: you know, if you can get it to a certain
- 26:12Speaker 4: part of the field. You know, averages say you're gonna score,
- 26:16Speaker 4: you're gonna come away with points on a drive, right,
- 26:18Speaker 4: and what that point differential is from from a few
- 26:22Speaker 4: yards and a kickoff return. So Leegian is a guy
- 26:24Speaker 4: that they're hoping can be a game breaker without you know,
- 26:29Speaker 4: necessarily being a guy who's gonna get a ton of
- 26:32Speaker 4: offense steps, but he may get some snaps too, which
- 26:34Speaker 4: would be interesting to see how they can feature him
- 26:37Speaker 4: in there in that sort of turp en' roll that
- 26:39Speaker 4: we saw down in Dallas as a as a guy
- 26:41Speaker 4: that can you know, can help you in a number
- 26:43Speaker 4: of different ways and hopefully make some places for you.
- 26:45Speaker 4: So I'm glad you brought him up because I think
- 26:47Speaker 4: he's an important guy for them. But you're right, you
- 26:50Speaker 4: know where where are the depth chart is gonna shake out?
- 26:53Speaker 4: And we've talked a lot about the offense, and I
- 26:57Speaker 4: think rightfully so, because a lot of people were wondering
- 26:59Speaker 4: about that. But then the defense, and you know, we
- 27:02Speaker 4: talk about the new scheme. Because Mike McCarthy is the
- 27:04Speaker 4: head coach, he's gonna put in his offensive scheme. You've
- 27:07Speaker 4: got a brand new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, and it's
- 27:11Speaker 4: been exciting to watch for me Mac in practice, these
- 27:14Speaker 4: guys standing up and moving around and disguising blitzes and
- 27:19Speaker 4: and doing things we haven't really seen the Steelers do
- 27:22Speaker 4: in the past. And what can this mean for the Steelers?
- 27:26Speaker 4: And who's best at communicating all these things? Is there
- 27:29Speaker 4: a player out there who just can't seem to grasp it, well,
- 27:32Speaker 4: he's got to go. Is there a player that this
- 27:34Speaker 4: is going to free up and he's gonna move up
- 27:36Speaker 4: the depth chart? It is that that side of the ball.
- 27:42Speaker 4: We we I think a lot of people are focusing
- 27:44Speaker 4: more of Mike McCarthy because he's the head coach and
- 27:46Speaker 4: he runs the offense. But that defense, Max, it is
- 27:50Speaker 4: going to be very very interesting to see what they're
- 27:53Speaker 4: able to do.
- 27:54Speaker 3: Yeah, Now, I'm right there with you because I think
- 27:57Speaker 3: you have to you have to give them that that
- 28:00Speaker 3: that credence. You have to give them that room because
- 28:04Speaker 3: it's very important. It's very important to see how it
- 28:08Speaker 3: all shakes out. And and you know, there's still plenty
- 28:12Speaker 3: of questions left to be answered. And I think that's why,
- 28:16Speaker 3: you know, scrimmages like this kind of allow you to
- 28:19Speaker 3: separate a little bit and create create a better idea
- 28:24Speaker 3: of what that depth chart looks like for this team.
- 28:28Speaker 3: Is is seeing, hey, who is going to be that too?
- 28:32Speaker 3: Because as we get to this, and we talked to
- 28:34Speaker 3: Omar Khan right yesterday, he talked about he's excited these
- 28:37Speaker 3: three these three preseason games matter and how you advance
- 28:40Speaker 3: from one to two and two to three, you know,
- 28:43Speaker 3: that help that that develops the back half of your
- 28:45Speaker 3: roster and that key positions and and do you take
- 28:49Speaker 3: one extra dB versus you know, one extra you know
- 28:54Speaker 3: linebacker in that moment, or do you take the extra
- 28:56Speaker 3: running back that's also competing against that dB and that linebacker?
- 29:01Speaker 2: Tight end? How does he fit into this?
- 29:04Speaker 3: Do you keep an extra tight end or an extra
- 29:06Speaker 3: you know, D lineman or outside line back? Like there's
- 29:08Speaker 3: so many questions and and things are built off of
- 29:11Speaker 3: each other. When you get to that way outside of
- 29:14Speaker 3: your front line starting twenty five as I like to
- 29:17Speaker 3: call it, because you know, specialists are people too, So
- 29:20Speaker 3: there's three of those. But yeh, you're you're eleven offense,
- 29:23Speaker 3: you're eleven defense, and your three specialists. Who's behind that?
- 29:27Speaker 3: That's that matters? And how is it distrue to how
- 29:30Speaker 3: do you how do you disseminate into the play share
- 29:33Speaker 3: within the given mechanics of a game? You know, who's
- 29:36Speaker 3: the first guy off the bench at D line, who's
- 29:38Speaker 3: the first guy off the bench on the offense and
- 29:42Speaker 3: the offensive line?
- 29:43Speaker 2: You know who's your who's your who's your who's your
- 29:45Speaker 2: third back?
- 29:46Speaker 3: If one of them goes down mid game and has
- 29:49Speaker 3: to pick up that payload of opportunity? Are we a
- 29:53Speaker 3: twelve heavy team? So now that third tight end is
- 29:55Speaker 3: going to get more work than when we're an eleven
- 29:56Speaker 3: formation team from game to game. That matters. So all
- 30:00Speaker 3: these different things all it's an intricate web that is
- 30:05Speaker 3: weaved by you know, the scouts, the GMS, and of
- 30:08Speaker 3: course the coaches with the personnel and what you can do?
- 30:12Speaker 3: What can you show me? Right, We're not from Missouri,
- 30:15Speaker 3: but tonight we're gonna be in the show me state,
- 30:17Speaker 3: you know, and lessen the trope memorial, What can you
- 30:20Speaker 3: show me to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack.
- 30:24Speaker 4: So true, And again, I think you bring up such
- 30:26Speaker 4: a great point because if you are the sixth receiver,
- 30:31Speaker 4: or the third or fourth running back, or the tenth
- 30:34Speaker 4: offensive lineman or the full back, all four of those
- 30:39Speaker 4: guys you know, might be competing for one spot on offense. Again,
- 30:44Speaker 4: it might not be if you're not one of the top.
- 30:47Speaker 4: Say let's say you know they're gonna just again a match.
- 30:50Speaker 4: We're dreaming you're gonna we're daydreaming you're gonna keep ten
- 30:53Speaker 4: offensive linemen. Okay, well, uh, you know, is that tenth
- 30:58Speaker 4: offensive lineman better than we we're just talking about to
- 31:00Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame? What's a guard worth versus a
- 31:02Speaker 4: safety versus a wide receiver? And the perception of those things.
- 31:05Speaker 4: You know, who's better the sixth wide receiver or the
- 31:10Speaker 4: or the tenth offensive lineman or the full back or
- 31:12Speaker 4: the you know, you want to keep a running back.
- 31:15Speaker 4: By the way, who do you think you can slide
- 31:17Speaker 4: onto the practice squad? You know, those are part of
- 31:21Speaker 4: a part of things. But right now you're a player
- 31:23Speaker 4: You don't want to be thinking practice squad. You want
- 31:25Speaker 4: to be thinking active roster. And this is an opportunity
- 31:28Speaker 4: to show everybody what you can do.
- 31:30Speaker 3: Yes, this is going to the flea market and showing
- 31:33Speaker 3: your wares off right, what can we sell here today? No, boy,
- 31:40Speaker 3: you need this grinder right here. I'm telling you this
- 31:42Speaker 3: thing has worked excellent over the years for me.
- 31:45Speaker 2: You know you should definitely buy this.
- 31:47Speaker 3: You know you're going you're going to get into those situations,
- 31:50Speaker 3: and that's what this is. You are auditioning for all
- 31:55Speaker 3: thirty two teams when you step on that field for
- 31:57Speaker 3: preseason work, and how how do you fare in those moments?
- 32:01Speaker 3: That's going to be the key metric there.
- 32:05Speaker 4: And this is the first step toward the first step,
- 32:08Speaker 4: which is that preseason game coming up Thursday against Green Bay.
- 32:12Speaker 4: More of that of course coming up on Monday and Tuesday,
- 32:16Speaker 4: as Max and I will continue in the locker room.
- 32:18Speaker 4: We're going to continue in the locker room by taking
- 32:20Speaker 4: one very rapid dash down the twenty ten all defensive team,
- 32:25Speaker 4: because that's all we have time for is a quick dash.
- 32:28Speaker 4: But there's some fascinating names on here, and some guys
- 32:31Speaker 4: who aren't in the Hall of Fame. Do they belong
- 32:33Speaker 4: in the Hall of Fame. We are going to talk
- 32:36Speaker 4: that over with Max Tarchigan. Here's opinions when we continue
- 32:39Speaker 4: in the locker room. Here on the Steelers Audio Network.
- 32:43Speaker 1: Is live coverage ob Dot twenty twenty six Steelers Training
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- 33:25Speaker 1: don't go to the office, We build it.
- 33:29Speaker 2: Well.
- 33:30Speaker 3: We're not only building offices like some of our steam sponsors.
- 33:34Speaker 3: We're also building rosters and building cases for the Hall
- 33:38Speaker 3: of Fame. And we're gonna get to the defensive portion
- 33:42Speaker 3: of the two thousands, All Decades team. As we wrap
- 33:47Speaker 3: up the show today and before we turn it over
- 33:50Speaker 3: to our buddies at the drive, Matt Williamson and Wesley Euler.
- 33:55Speaker 2: Rob, go ahead, let's fire off.
- 33:56Speaker 3: Let's do it.
- 33:58Speaker 2: Rapid firewater cooler.
- 34:00Speaker 4: Rapid fire. Here we go. Defense, So, by the way,
- 34:03Speaker 4: all of our first teamers except full back the run
- 34:05Speaker 4: j O'Neil, Sorry, the runs are you're a great fullback.
- 34:07Speaker 4: We have as Hall of famers and most of the
- 34:10Speaker 4: mariority in the Hall of Fame. Okay, So defense, first
- 34:13Speaker 4: team defensive end is stray Hand and Freemy. They're in
- 34:16Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame. Correct, second team or Taylor and
- 34:19Speaker 4: Peppers they're also in the Hall of Fame. So no
- 34:21Speaker 4: case needs to be made for the defensive tackle. Seymour
- 34:25Speaker 4: and Sap are your first team defensive tackles. They are
- 34:30Speaker 4: in the Hall of Fame. Correct, No problems there, right, yes, Now,
- 34:37Speaker 4: Leroy Glover and Kevin Williams are your second teamers. Neither
- 34:41Speaker 4: is in the Hall of Fame.
- 34:44Speaker 3: Don't think they will even though Larroy's that le Roy
- 34:46Speaker 3: was a hell of hell of a guy. And Kevin
- 34:48Speaker 3: Williams as well. He's a part of the Williams Brothers.
- 34:52Speaker 3: As you will remember in Minnesota Vikings Lore him and
- 34:55Speaker 3: Pat Williams.
- 34:56Speaker 2: Kevin Williams and Pat Williams were they were they were
- 35:00Speaker 2: were low.
- 35:00Speaker 3: There were load going against those guys in an era
- 35:02Speaker 3: where big bodies in the middle was was was a thing,
- 35:05Speaker 3: It was a real thing.
- 35:07Speaker 4: So Kevin Williams interesting, He's an interesting guy to me.
- 35:14Speaker 4: Defensive tackle again, put up some really big sack numbers
- 35:18Speaker 4: early in his career when he was at defensive end.
- 35:20Speaker 4: They kicked him inside. The sack numbers dwindled a little bit.
- 35:24Speaker 4: He has sixty three sacks for his career, but I
- 35:26Speaker 4: mean he was a five time first team All Pro. Yeah,
- 35:32Speaker 4: that's man, six time Pro Bowl. I think he's one
- 35:36Speaker 4: of those guys that the Veterans Committee might take a
- 35:42Speaker 4: long look at and say, well, wait a minute, man,
- 35:44Speaker 4: maybe this guy, maybe we've been under selling what this
- 35:47Speaker 4: guy's capable of doing.
- 35:49Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think it's gonna get tougher for Kevin
- 35:53Speaker 3: just because we see the numbers. Right, Just think about
- 35:57Speaker 3: like a geno Atkins, right, like yeah, like that's you're you're, you're,
- 36:01Speaker 3: you're You're now getting into an era where d tackles
- 36:03Speaker 3: are asked to do more. Aaron Donald's right, those are
- 36:07Speaker 3: now the prototypes volunteer not as big, you know.
- 36:10Speaker 2: Whereas you started getting smaller. I mean, he did it
- 36:13Speaker 2: for his.
- 36:14Speaker 3: Size at a very high clip. But like you said,
- 36:18Speaker 3: you know, now we're gonna get into an era where
- 36:20Speaker 3: if he gets into the finals in a normal way,
- 36:22Speaker 3: he's probably not gonna make it because the numbers dictate
- 36:27Speaker 3: differently now because the the stats are gonna be overriding.
- 36:31Speaker 3: And like you said, it's gonna be a second look
- 36:33Speaker 3: type of deal later in his career when he's a
- 36:35Speaker 3: when he's a senior on the veterans side of it,
- 36:37Speaker 3: that's when it'll start to play a bigger role as
- 36:40Speaker 3: far as looking at just snapshot, how was he in
- 36:43Speaker 3: this time period, given how the game was played, did
- 36:47Speaker 3: he dominate? And and you'll get a yes from almost everybody,
- 36:52Speaker 3: but it is gonna take that second look because you're
- 36:53Speaker 3: gonna get these first ballot guys who are gonna have higher,
- 36:56Speaker 3: higher statistical numbers.
- 36:59Speaker 4: Okay, so here you're linebackers, are you ready? Ray Lewis
- 37:02Speaker 4: Hall of Fame First team, per Lacker first Team Hall
- 37:05Speaker 4: of Fame, Derek Brooks first Team Hall of Fame, Zach
- 37:09Speaker 4: Thomas second Team, Hall of Fame, Good Marcus Ware second
- 37:13Speaker 4: team Hall of Fame, Joey Porter second team, not in
- 37:17Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame.
- 37:21Speaker 3: He's one that I think, you know, when you think
- 37:23Speaker 3: about the era and what he meant, he's a guy
- 37:27Speaker 3: that should get a significant look. I think his might
- 37:31Speaker 3: be more press related when it comes to that. I
- 37:36Speaker 3: think we'll have another guy up on this list that'll
- 37:38Speaker 3: also not benefit from press related issues because you also
- 37:43Speaker 3: have to think the prestigious you gotta be good on
- 37:45Speaker 3: and off the field, and I think that's the only
- 37:47Speaker 3: thing that really holds Joey back. But I think that's
- 37:49Speaker 3: something that with time, he could be another guy that
- 37:52Speaker 3: you can go back and compare his numbers just apples
- 37:56Speaker 3: to apples without having the recency bias of what off
- 37:59Speaker 3: the field might have looked like. Because I think Joey
- 38:02Speaker 3: deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He was
- 38:04Speaker 3: a leader, He was feared as a defender, and people
- 38:09Speaker 3: did not want to go up against him and listen,
- 38:13Speaker 3: and we call them the Hawaiian tropic abs that he
- 38:15Speaker 3: would have pre game and he would intimidate. He just
- 38:18Speaker 3: stalked the sideline. He just stalked the middle of the field.
- 38:21Speaker 3: That's the reason why it's no longer at the fifty
- 38:23Speaker 3: yard line where everybody gets fifty eight fifty yards each
- 38:27Speaker 3: or forty nine and zero point nine to nine. It's
- 38:29Speaker 3: now at the forty eight yard line. There's now that
- 38:32Speaker 3: four yard kind of buffer zone, you know, the free
- 38:36Speaker 3: trade zone that you're not allowed to walk in because
- 38:39Speaker 3: of Joey Porter. So you're changing rules and you're also
- 38:43Speaker 3: being a dominant player. Those things all way into it
- 38:45Speaker 3: as well.
- 38:47Speaker 4: So he's by the way, you know, four time First
- 38:51Speaker 4: Team or four time Pro Bowl, one time All Pro.
- 38:55Speaker 4: So those numbers, someone's gonna have to say, listen, it
- 38:58Speaker 4: goes beyond the numbers Joey Porter, because otherwise, again you
- 39:02Speaker 4: worry about those guys as the year ago, as the
- 39:04Speaker 4: years go on. Unless players are looked at differently, Hey, listen, uh,
- 39:08Speaker 4: you know these metrics say he was actually a better
- 39:10Speaker 4: player than he was given credit for in his heyday.
- 39:14Speaker 4: That's gonna be you know, someone's gonna have to stump
- 39:16Speaker 4: for him, I think because he has fewer All pros
- 39:20Speaker 4: and and and Pro Bowls and some of the other
- 39:22Speaker 4: guys who also aren't in corner Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey,
- 39:27Speaker 4: First Teams they're in second teams, ty Law Rendez Barber,
- 39:31Speaker 4: they're in. That's what you'd expect from that position. First
- 39:35Speaker 4: team Ed Reid and Brian Dawkins at the safety position. Uh,
- 39:40Speaker 4: they're in. Troy Polamalo is uh is Again, I think
- 39:46Speaker 4: because he was a he was a straddler, right, he
- 39:52Speaker 4: did not make the first team, did not make the
- 39:55Speaker 4: first team all decade because of you know that oh
- 39:59Speaker 4: four or sort of being his first year, and and
- 40:04Speaker 4: you know that's that's unfortunately that's the way it goes, right,
- 40:08Speaker 4: that's you know, you get you find yourself in that
- 40:11Speaker 4: position in which your prime straddled the two decades. And
- 40:15Speaker 4: so but he's in the Hall of Fame where he
- 40:18Speaker 4: obviously belongs. Darren Sharper not in the Hall of Fame.
- 40:22Speaker 4: Don't know if Darren's gonna.
- 40:23Speaker 2: Make it, No, not.
- 40:25Speaker 3: Once again, he's another one where we talk about the
- 40:28Speaker 3: off the field also muddies some of some of the
- 40:32Speaker 3: achievements on the field.
- 40:35Speaker 4: Darren Sharper, sec I just mentioned him. I'm sorry. Adam
- 40:38Speaker 4: Vin Terry just went in right, okay in.
- 40:44Speaker 3: In NFL history, the most accurate one now and the
- 40:47Speaker 3: leader of all points score overall. He has more points
- 40:53Speaker 3: even than Tom Brady.
- 40:54Speaker 4: When you get into punter, kicker, punt returner, full back,
- 41:01Speaker 4: you know, kick returner, it's hard, right, those are those
- 41:06Speaker 4: are the first team guys. That was the caveat we
- 41:08Speaker 4: didn't have yesterday because I don't think we really thought
- 41:10Speaker 4: it through. Our feeling was if you're a first team
- 41:14Speaker 4: All Decade performer, you belong in the Hall of Fame.
- 41:18Speaker 4: And I again, uh, you know, Leckler is the first
- 41:21Speaker 4: team punter, Brian Mormon is the second team punter. Dante
- 41:25Speaker 4: Hall how about this, Dante Hall was the first team
- 41:29Speaker 4: punt returner, Devin Hester was the second team punt returner.
- 41:33Speaker 4: But again Devin another one of those straddle guys straddle
- 41:36Speaker 4: in the decades. Then Joe Cribbs at the kick returner,
- 41:39Speaker 4: Dante Hall at the kick returner. So Dante Hall punt returner,
- 41:43Speaker 4: one kick returner, two of those returners only and the
- 41:47Speaker 4: punters only. Devin Hester is in the Hall of Fame.
- 41:50Speaker 4: So I think Max that we the point is proven,
- 41:55Speaker 4: right if I think it's basically if you went through
- 41:58Speaker 4: all the all decade teams, you would find that the
- 42:00Speaker 4: guys who are first Team All Decade are pretty much
- 42:05Speaker 4: in the Hall of Fame. There might be an exception
- 42:07Speaker 4: or two. If you're the second team all decade, you
- 42:10Speaker 4: probably got a fifty to fifty shot. I can't specifically
- 42:15Speaker 4: say the odds, but somewhere in that neighborhood of getting
- 42:18Speaker 4: in the Hall of Fame. So I feel Max, I
- 42:20Speaker 4: feel vindicated. I feel like we were accurate that if
- 42:23Speaker 4: you're if you're a first team All Decade Hall of Famer,
- 42:27Speaker 4: you're in the Hall of Fame. You belong in the
- 42:28Speaker 4: Hall of Fame. You should be in the Hall of Fame.
- 42:30Speaker 4: And frankly, you probably are in the Hall of Fame.
- 42:33Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, exactly, and you know, as a matter of time,
- 42:36Speaker 3: and we talked about the very few exceptions are devalued
- 42:40Speaker 3: positions or ones that you can't really quantify in tangible
- 42:46Speaker 3: situations like Loredn's O'Neill and Lika Shane Leckler and like
- 42:51Speaker 3: you said, Dante Hall, you know, I mean, yes, they
- 42:53Speaker 3: had numbers, but you know, you have to be literally
- 42:56Speaker 3: the most exceptional person at the position to get a
- 42:59Speaker 3: show at some of those.
- 43:02Speaker 4: Max, as always my friend, enjoyed spending time with you.
- 43:05Speaker 4: I'm glad you had a great experience in the Hall
- 43:07Speaker 4: of Fame. It's awesome when you have a chance to
- 43:10Speaker 4: be part of something like that, it is just really special. Thanks.
- 43:14Speaker 4: I look forward to talking to you on Monday. We'll
- 43:17Speaker 4: start looking forward to this. We got this game coming
- 43:19Speaker 4: up on Thursday. Max, here we go.
- 43:21Speaker 3: He first dress rehearsal, cannot wait for the regular season.
- 43:26Speaker 3: Preseason is upon us, and like I said, it got
- 43:29Speaker 3: kicked off with the Hall of Fame. We were treated
- 43:32Speaker 3: to a very awesome you know, first game debuts for
- 43:35Speaker 3: a lot of rookies. So I expect that train to
- 43:38Speaker 3: keep coming and now swing at the Steelers stop.
- 43:42Speaker 4: Yeah, it's all gonna be great, my friend, it's all
- 43:44Speaker 4: gonna be great to get to get started, to get
- 43:47Speaker 4: into it. Our thanks to Ed Troup for filling in
- 43:49Speaker 4: for a little while. Justin Miller at our controls in
- 43:51Speaker 4: the iHeart Studio. We thank Justin as always, and thank
- 43:55Speaker 4: you of course for listening for Max Starks, I'm Rob king.
- 43:58Speaker 4: Thanks for being with us in the locker room here
- 44:00Speaker 4: on the Steelers Audio Network.