Latest / Guy Football Focus with Guy Haberman / 49ers-Seahawks Reactions | The season, the fixes, NFL Playoffs and much more

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49ers-Seahawks Reactions | The season, the fixes, NFL Playoffs and much more · Guy Football Focus with Guy Haberman

0:02
[SPEAKER_00]: What's up guys, it is a Monday morning early and this is the first show I've done post Niners Seahawks, 41 to 6, dropping and a season to look back on.
0:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean pretty quick how everything always ends, the way it goes and you know, being there on.
0:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Saturday, calling the game was a lot of fun, the Seattle booth is excellent.
0:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I had a pretty good view of some stuff I want to share with you, like a view of the game, something very specific is it relates to Brock, plus some offseason, I think the offseason plan, or at least the first steps of some offseason planning, get to that in the show today.
0:41
[SPEAKER_00]: But it was, it was a lot of fun up until,
0:45
[SPEAKER_00]: kick off.
0:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, literally, right up until kick off seven, nothing Rashid Shaheed.
0:50
[SPEAKER_00]: It was annoying that the game got the late a couple times, you know, you see the clock is we're going to play in seven minutes and then know it's 20 minutes because the bill's game was running long.
1:00
[SPEAKER_00]: The Broncos game was running long, but, you know, I think there was just so much.
1:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Specifically from the game, I thought it would be different than the last time.
1:10
[SPEAKER_00]: It was different than the last time in that this time, the score matched the way the game
1:15
[SPEAKER_00]: There were some key moments early, but I think one thing is really clear.
1:20
[SPEAKER_00]: There's probably not a worse coach right now to have in the division, the Mike McDonald.
1:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I think if you surveyed the entire league, he'd be the last one.
1:29
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd want to put in a division with a good GM John Snyder with really good players.
1:35
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's there.
1:37
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, while Sean McVay was winning his championship and he's got a chance to win a second one, at least you were the night as beating him head to head.
1:44
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, now the 49ers have got an issue.
1:48
[SPEAKER_00]: They've won for an a row before that game in Seattle, but against Mike McDaniel or Mike McDonald, Kyle Shanhand scoring less points against him than he is any other head coach in the league.
2:02
[SPEAKER_00]: that's the pretty significant and then you throw in the Raven's game as well from Christmas a few years ago when he was the defensive coordinator, that's significant.
2:11
[SPEAKER_00]: So you do ask the question, who's on that staff on defense should Robert Sololi?
2:15
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I know Gus Bradley's on that honor staff and we talked about Gus being the the Sala replacement of Sala leaves for a head coaching job.
2:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I always got a bunch of interviews.
2:26
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know, you have to, you also have to think like, do you go, do you go outside?
2:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you go, Jim's, the Brown's, you know, Kevin's defense, he got fired.
2:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Jim Schwartz is available.
2:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember that handshake afterwards.
2:39
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the, the, hey, I can't beat you, so I hire you thing.
2:42
[SPEAKER_00]: You give me trouble, so I want to hire you thing.
2:45
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the four times beat Fick Fanzio, but Vic was in that category for sure.
2:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jim Schwartz is in that category for sure.
2:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, he's a wide nine guy.
2:54
[SPEAKER_00]: But is there somebody on Mike McDonald's staff?
2:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I texted a buddy of mine and said, oh, yes, there's so much going on.
3:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, hey, who do you got on that staff?
3:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And he replied L.O.L.
3:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And I haven't had time to reply, no, seriously.
3:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Who do you have on that staff that the 49ers could take?
3:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Because,
3:13
[SPEAKER_00]: clearly it's a problem, you know, I think at this point, deep game breakdowns is probably not what you're here for, but I will say, I spent last week talking about how, you know, Kyle Shanahan doesn't call trick players the way that Ben Johnson or even sometimes Sean McVay does in that he shows a lot of restraint and he pulls him out only when he really needs him.
3:34
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't use trick plays.
3:38
[SPEAKER_00]: as he does not smart himself with trick plays.
3:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I did think the seven nothing deficit third down and fourth down in Seattle's territory, not running the sneak while it is a representation of what the Ford owner's think of Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy who had the most precious quarterback hits at sacks among 300 pound duos in the NFL this year I had that's that.
4:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't use that during the game broadcast.
4:03
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, that's that's that's that's the simple and I think you saw it with if you're watching the bears game the the sneak and midfield and over time before kill the Williams through the reception.
4:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's the idea and the in the 49ers do that well that's think where you don't necessarily follow the center you use your quarterback awareness to find the best gap.
4:25
[SPEAKER_00]: You know that would have been preferred I know they threw the ball and converted except Seattle took a timeout.
4:32
[SPEAKER_00]: the fourth down play, you know, there have been a couple, the Trent Williams motion play against the Rams a few years ago, um, always at the chiefs, you know, you worked, maybe worked against the Rams, they tried it again against the Rams, so that's what I failed, I think.
4:49
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys will remind me, but, um, the the juice option play,
4:57
[SPEAKER_00]: I said it on what I saw on air calling him on radio was dead on arrival.
5:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that play was the view from the booth in Seattle is so good, so good.
5:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And it really helped me see Brock really clearly and I love that.
5:14
[SPEAKER_00]: The other thing, because the reason the view and for those of you watching on YouTube, I'm showing you the video.
5:21
[SPEAKER_00]: of the booth.
5:22
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a few things that are great.
5:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one, the height, number two, what your line you're on.
5:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And number three, and this is a distant number three is your right next to the television booth always has a great view.
5:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And what you can see in the TV booth,
5:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I was on the right of this booth, Tim Ryan's on the left, and then to Tim Ryan's left is the Brady Burkard booth, which is fun just to seal the toys they got in there.
5:46
[SPEAKER_00]: But Blan Dino is right on the other side of that glass, and he's got his big replay monitor there.
5:51
[SPEAKER_00]: So you can also seal his replays.
5:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I think how high you are matters the most, and then what you are to line you are on, so we're basically on the 45, the heights perfect, because what you want is to be able to
6:04
[SPEAKER_00]: clearly, but also be able to see everything.
6:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there is such a thing as being too low.
6:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I did a game, a television game from the Chiefs from Arrowhead Stadium a couple years ago.
6:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought it was almost too low in that what happens is you can't read the, you can't see like the opposite side defensive end.
6:25
[SPEAKER_00]: His number is clearly because you're so low you're looking through guys instead of above guys.
6:28
[SPEAKER_00]: So this Seattle booth is perfect.
6:32
[SPEAKER_00]: J.
6:33
[SPEAKER_00]: B.
6:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Long, my buddy, who's the voice of the Rams is going to be there this week, and he attacks me last week.
6:38
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, I think it's Seattle's the best booth in the league.
6:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think he's right.
6:43
[SPEAKER_00]: It was excellent.
6:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And you get off to the left.
6:45
[SPEAKER_00]: You get to kind of a little bit of a view of downtown.
6:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody took a great video from maybe a
6:52
[SPEAKER_00]: balcony or something of the Rashid Shahid touchdown to open the game.
6:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was really cool.
6:58
[SPEAKER_00]: So you get to see a lot.
7:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And the one thing you saw from that moment was the 49ers horizontal speed.
7:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is not new today.
7:07
[SPEAKER_00]: But as you look at the 2026 season,
7:10
[SPEAKER_00]: their vertical speed and their horizontal speed offensively are lacking.
7:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Rashid Shaheed taking an end around and just jogging it.
7:18
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's faster than Debo Samuel, but in the way that Debo used to just take the ball and run.
7:26
[SPEAKER_00]: The 49ers don't do it.
7:28
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have it.
7:29
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and, and for all that I think still at this point, you kind of, your hindsight has to appreciate about the season 12 and 5 plan for the one seed we get with all of the injuries they had that success by many standards, not the standard of super roller boss, but by many standards, it's success.
7:53
[SPEAKER_00]: But all of a sudden the season's over and now you don't get to do the, you know, now we're, we're past the reload year, although.
8:01
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they never spent money, they didn't not spent money, they just didn't spend on free agents, but they spent on their own guys.
8:08
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's like they didn't spend money.
8:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think everybody accepted, okay, this is not the year you're spending it because you think these guys will also be good again in 2026 and you're going to need kittle back at some point.
8:25
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a fulfill your full potential and you hope that Christian can come back from, you know, you think about this point last year, you're wondering, well, Christian ever be the same.
8:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't know if he was the same, but he was the same in the sense that he was
8:39
[SPEAKER_00]: You're by far in a way your most valuable player on offense other than, you know, quarterback, I don't think he could do what he's doing without acceptable quarterback play.
8:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, can you do that again?
8:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, 450 some touches, you know, career high.
8:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're trying to go two weeks further.
8:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so, you know, there's a lot to get to hear about it, which we'll get to some of it today.
9:02
[SPEAKER_00]: I do want to get to some of it today.
9:04
[SPEAKER_00]: But it'll be a lot of the offices, is how do you get better?
9:07
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you get better?
9:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if you accept, this was pretty good, all things considered.
9:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, really impressive, aside from what's acceptable, just go, what we witnessed was an incredible display of toughness, grit, perseverance, belief, all that stuff.
9:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Coaching, all that stuff, it was just,
9:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Never seen a season like it, hope to never see one like again, but never seen a season like it.
9:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I think it's kind of the macro view, the micro with the same thing being like, I'd rather lose the way the bill's lost a heartbreaker than the way the 49ers lost to Seattle.
9:46
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said it after the game and a bunch of, I think, 1600 people responded voted in the poll.
9:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was, for a while, it was 50, 50, it was like 43, 53, 47, 53 percent of people said they'd rather lose a heartbreaker, 47 percent of people said they'd rather lose 41 to 6 and just not have the heartbreaker, the pain of being so close.
10:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I have, if you listen to show for a long time, you know, I have for a long time been a, I would rather lose a heartbreaker because at least you get the three hours, at least you're in the fight.
10:17
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, at least you're in the fight.
10:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, if you're a boxer, would you rather lose 12 rounds or get knocked out in the first round?
10:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not a boxer, so I'll defer to boxers.
10:27
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think as a competitor, I'd rather lose in 12 rounds and know I put my best foot forward and we all get entertained for three hours and you're in the fight.
10:38
[SPEAKER_00]: You just want to be in the fight.
10:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And then let the chips fall where they may.
10:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, as bad as the bears feel today, they still got to watch that game.
10:48
[SPEAKER_00]: They got to see Caleb.
10:50
[SPEAKER_00]: They got to live that moment.
10:51
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a femoral.
10:52
[SPEAKER_00]: The moment's gone.
10:53
[SPEAKER_00]: It's over.
10:54
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what happened.
10:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet you still had that moment.
10:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Which people who were in that stadium and people watching bears get that bears game all over the world will never forget bears fans.
11:05
[SPEAKER_00]: That moment where you thought we are a team of destiny turned out you know, but that moment where you thought it that was special and that's what everything's about is just those moments and so that's why I'd rather lose a heartbreak right rather lose the way the night is lost to Seattle 2013.
11:20
[SPEAKER_00]: in the NFC Championship game in the loose 41 to 6.
11:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And you might say, well, got you being selfish.
11:26
[SPEAKER_00]: You just are being selfish because you were on the radio for that whole game and you had nothing to do in the third quarter of that game.
11:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's a fact, that also sucks.
11:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I hate waiting around, the like.
11:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Twenty more minutes till kick off.
11:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I was I was coming out of my skin before kickoff at this game that you well while I'm being selfish by the way I was dialed I gotta say I was dialed in for that game ready to roll I was all over it And nothing nothing happened Nothing nothing Nothing really happened and it's too bad because I was
12:14
[SPEAKER_00]: I was ready to roll.
12:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I was dialed in.
12:17
[SPEAKER_00]: That opening kick off.
12:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It was bad, it's seven nothing like this is bad, but I was like, oh, I've got it today.
12:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, I had it and didn't get to use it.
12:29
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe I was not sure.
12:31
[SPEAKER_00]: We used it just not in a fun way.
12:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Not really, didn't really use it actually.
12:37
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, now you, now it's time to fix things.
12:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I do think, you know, the other part of it, let's talk about the view of Brock, why I thought that view was significant.
12:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought, Perti, what was the finalized score?
12:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And I did say this during the game because like I said, we had time to chat.
12:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Brock's final line, 15 to 27, 140, no touchdowns to pick.
13:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said at the moment, and I still stand by it, the final line score will not tell this, I didn't think captured Brock, you know, I wish they would have checked the bolt down a little bit more, but I didn't think it was a him issue.
13:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I guess the site that check it down is the quarterback decision, but Jeff Deeney, who's been two sends great stuff from pro football, focus all year, send this email, Brock was under pressure 20 of his 33 drop backs at 60% the highest rate of his career.
13:33
[SPEAKER_00]: His time to throw was 4.23 seconds.
13:35
[SPEAKER_00]: That was also the highest of his career 3.75 was the previous high.
13:39
[SPEAKER_00]: To me, it's about getting guys open.
13:41
[SPEAKER_00]: The thing that the view really shows.
13:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't, I think you can see it on television, but if you go to a game, you know, there are things that you just see that are easier to see in person.
13:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was really apparent early in this game how easy it would be for a quarterback to get rattled, for it to get frenetic because of how quickly he had to make decisions and how far through his reads he had to go.
14:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't just have to make a decision and get it out to the first read.
14:13
[SPEAKER_00]: He was making fast decisions to the third read with really big.
14:17
[SPEAKER_00]: They're generally all big, but these guys are really big tall defensive linemen around him.
14:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought one thing early, even at like 10, nothing and 17, nothing.
14:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I maybe foolishly, I did not think the game was over because I thought Brock was keeping his head.
14:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, there are some things that he can't do, and then there are some things that he can do that few others do.
14:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Perti had a layered throw, I think, the tangest right over the fingertips of the dropping linebacker.
14:52
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that throw is the throw he is making his career off of.
15:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a significant throw to have it as bad.
15:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a significant club to have it as bad because it's a throw that quarterbacks, most quarterbacks can make sometimes, but only few quarterbacks make most times.
15:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And Brock is in the category of the few.
15:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we have enough evidence to say at this point in his career.
15:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, sometimes it's a pick because the margins really
15:26
[SPEAKER_00]: But that throat takes consistent guts.
15:30
[SPEAKER_00]: It takes anticipation.
15:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It takes accuracy in touch.
15:36
[SPEAKER_00]: The anticipation and the guts part, I think are the part that most guys don't have and that really affects the accuracy.
15:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And pretty consistently cuts the ball loose.
15:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that throat is a, it's, you know,
15:55
[SPEAKER_00]: it's a one percent or throw in it if like the if the if the group is only NFL quarterbacks it's a one percent or by our 99th percentile that's the probably better way to say it throw.
16:08
[SPEAKER_00]: It's it is to me that throw two things separate really three things.
16:14
[SPEAKER_00]: The, the, the athleticism is the third thing.
16:17
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think at the top line for Brock, two skills separatum, okay?
16:22
[SPEAKER_00]: The, and that throw kind of summarizes it.
16:26
[SPEAKER_00]: The anticipation and the toughness, the grit.
16:29
[SPEAKER_00]: But no, the two things are anticipation and mental toughness.
16:34
[SPEAKER_00]: He consistently shows the ability to respond to failure which is the other thing that I think takes a ton of quarterbacks down.
16:40
[SPEAKER_00]: The mental and physical toughness, physical is the price of admission.
16:44
[SPEAKER_00]: The mental, there's just more quarterback spots than there are quarterback's with his level of mental toughness.
16:51
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's a reason to believe that he can be their franchise where that he's good enough to help you try and want to championship, but your team's gotta get better.
17:02
[SPEAKER_00]: We debate, and I go back and forth with people that I really respect about it.
17:06
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's not, if you disagree with me on this, understand, there are a lot of smart people who also disagree with me on this.
17:14
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought watching Caleb Williams on Sunday night, like arm strength is an issue.
17:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Brock's arm is more than good enough for him.
17:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I shouldn't say more and good enough.
17:27
[SPEAKER_00]: It's good enough for him because he has guts and throws within anticipation.
17:32
[SPEAKER_00]: It would not be good enough for other guys who don't have his guts in anticipation.
17:36
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's establish that first.
17:38
[SPEAKER_00]: It is good enough.
17:40
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a problem.
17:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It's, he makes it work.
17:45
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's part of what makes him special and impressive.
17:48
[SPEAKER_00]: OK.
17:50
[SPEAKER_00]: The part that I disagree with people on some times
17:55
[SPEAKER_00]: If you had Caleb's arm, let's acknowledge, at least, that that allows you to do other things.
18:00
[SPEAKER_00]: It gets you out of trouble sometimes.
18:02
[SPEAKER_00]: When you didn't throw it as much anticipation, it just makes the margin of air a little bit bigger.
18:07
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a thing.
18:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you could argue that the interception of Caleb more through Caleb Williams through in over time was more on DJ Moore, the receiver, not making the effort than it was on Caleb.
18:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's Josh Allen with a rocket arm who makes some bad decisions, maybe because he developed with that arm and knows he can make some bad decisions.
18:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we throw some critical interceptions.
18:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
18:37
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, but just acknowledge that the fourth down touchdown, the killer boy, it's through is just ridiculous.
18:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there's probably somebody might say, well, there's not a lot of point in talking about this because nothing changes.
18:51
[SPEAKER_00]: and that's true.
18:53
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's fun.
18:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I enjoy talking about quarterback arms.
18:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he has to overcome it.
18:58
[SPEAKER_00]: That's always the point I make.
19:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And he does for the most part.
19:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's because he's got 99th percentile, top metal toughness and anticipation.
19:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the toughness, like the throw with the level of anticipation he has, you got to have
19:16
[SPEAKER_00]: mental toughness slash guts and Brock has it and I thought that was on display against the sea ox.
19:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I just you're just so aware of how fast everything's happening and how easy it would be for most professional quarterbacks to not make the plays that Brock was making.
19:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of the throws he made and by the way he made some special creative throws just like Caleb the throw itself is different but the run around past to join Jennings
19:43
[SPEAKER_00]: was incredible.
19:44
[SPEAKER_00]: The run around throwback, the ton just was great.
19:48
[SPEAKER_00]: So I thought Brock in the end, I know some of the numbers were fantastic down the stretch.
19:56
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I thought in a way you learn more about him playing this game against Seattle two weeks after the kick your ass, then you learn about big numbers against, you know, five touchdowns against the coach.
20:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's not a hypothetical, that's sincerely.
20:11
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I learned more about them, watching them play against the Seahawks on Saturday than I learned watching them slice and dice.
20:19
[SPEAKER_00]: The cults defense, where the bear's game was.
20:24
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we'll always have, and I'll always have, the Rams Thursday night game, the bear's game, week 17, and the Eagles play off game.
20:34
[SPEAKER_00]: When I say I'd rather lose heartbreakers,
20:37
[SPEAKER_00]: and being the fight in Luis 41 to 6, that's what I'm talking about, because they lose the heartbreaker in the second round of the plash you have to have had those other moments too.
20:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And those are special.
20:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I know the Rams game is Mac Jones, so that's not a pretty comment, but the Mac thing too is you don't want your starting quarterback to get hurt, but Mac was part of what we made the season.
20:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Special.
20:59
[SPEAKER_00]: What do they do with him?
21:01
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think you got to trade him.
21:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Not because you want him gone, you'll love the guy.
21:07
[SPEAKER_00]: A huge match.
21:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm grateful for the year-round Mac Jones because that was a special experience.
21:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Just watching him in the person and the player.
21:16
[SPEAKER_00]: But making it a third rounder form, you got to do it.
21:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Because there are a lot of holes to plug here.
21:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think we'll talk about, we'll talk about right now, like we pull up the depth chart here for the Niners.
21:36
[SPEAKER_00]: But I know there's a lot of offensive line talk, but I think it's more about getting guys open.
21:43
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, this is why I said, coming into the year and last year, some of you may remember this, some of you're new here, but all are welcome.
21:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, there was a lot of like, okay, the nighters found the answers with Mustafa and green and puny and, you know, I thought some of the comments before the season this year from Chris forced to the offensive line coach were pretty illuminating on puny that like, hey, uh, it's got to be better than it was in the second half of last season.
22:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He started hot in 2024, then it kind of tailed off, what's 2025 going to be like,
22:23
[SPEAKER_00]: he's got to get better.
22:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the Renardo Green and Molotmoostafa, those picks look great, do they still, I think you got to try and upgrade those spots, like at safety right now, what's going, I think you kind of see what they like, Jay or Brown so much, not just the specials,
22:51
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you feel about the defense?
22:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, who is locked in on defense that makes you feel good, right?
22:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Fred Warner, I got the wrong PFF open here that doesn't have the, it doesn't matter.
23:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Fred Warner, diameter of the nor, Nick Bosa.
23:10
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, obviously you're too, you're too rookie interior defensive linemen.
23:18
[SPEAKER_00]: our back CJ West and Alfred Collins, not that they were great this week, but you need more defensive tackles.
23:25
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to have Bryce Huffback, who, you know, Bryce was such an impact for them, but didn't have a sex since the Atlanta game.
23:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, Keon White, who I think was a good player after they acquired him, he returns.
23:39
[SPEAKER_00]: That's good.
23:40
[SPEAKER_00]: But at linebacker, I don't think you come out of the year, feeling like, okay, you definitely know for, like D-winters is the definite answer next to Fred Warner.
23:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, he may be just because you can't fix everything at once.
23:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, you do a little bit of this and it helps everybody.
24:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you get your secondary a little bit better or maybe you get your,
24:03
[SPEAKER_00]: interior defensive line a little bit better.
24:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You hope the rookies from this year come back better on the interior defensive line and that helps you winters, but like, here's everything you could do.
24:12
[SPEAKER_00]: You could upgrade both safety spots.
24:16
[SPEAKER_00]: It became clear like all the different safety's that played, there was no great answer, especially in coverage with Mustafa.
24:24
[SPEAKER_00]: We're in auto-green, whatever that was down the stretch, but clearly not thrilled.
24:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought, stout,
24:31
[SPEAKER_00]: was good.
24:32
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got to take another step.
24:33
[SPEAKER_00]: The standard of when you're rookie versus when you're second-year guy, you got to elevate.
24:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So he's got to elevate again and that's how you build on it.
24:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Like CJ Stroud, CJ Stroud of this great year and everyone we love crown and quarterback so fast.
24:48
[SPEAKER_00]: There's evidence time and time again that being a rookie playing a smaller role is different than being like either you rely on.
24:55
[SPEAKER_00]: So they relied on Ronaldo Greenellot and he
24:59
[SPEAKER_00]: If, if, if, if, up-and-stout continues on the trend, that's really good.
25:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
25:04
[SPEAKER_00]: But, um, you know, uh, you figure you're not replacing both safeties, but you need to get better at safety, you need to get better at defensive line, you need to get better at the other linebacker spot.
25:16
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's a lot, okay.
25:18
[SPEAKER_00]: On offense, brundle is not my priority.
25:22
[SPEAKER_00]: The guard play is the priority.
25:23
[SPEAKER_00]: You need to, I think, another left guard and ponies got to have some competition at right
25:30
[SPEAKER_00]: because the trend of the first half of last year, it just didn't continue.
25:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It could Jordan James be a little more speed for an offense, we'll see.
25:42
[SPEAKER_00]: But you'd like for that to be the case.
25:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Does Jordan Wontkins factor in at all?
25:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, is Jennings back?
25:51
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think it's more likely that he's back than it was earlier in the year, but he's probably also gotten a little more expensive.
25:58
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a really good player.
26:00
[SPEAKER_00]: He fits your type of guy.
26:01
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't solve your speed problem, but that's OK, if you can get some other speed on the field.
26:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Pierce almost a non-factor this week.
26:10
[SPEAKER_00]: And I do wonder, he played in 10 games.
26:15
[SPEAKER_00]: At this moment in time, if you had to pick up his fifth your option right now, you might not do it.
26:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you pick up the fifth your option after the player's third year.
26:25
[SPEAKER_00]: going into his fourth year, and Ricky just finished two years.
26:29
[SPEAKER_00]: So you don't have to make that decision now.
26:31
[SPEAKER_00]: But based on the trend, if a player has a season where you're not picking up his fifth year option, at that point, then there's no trade value.
26:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So do you try to trade them?
26:54
[SPEAKER_00]: that I thought the 49ers liked to throw a McMillan.
26:57
[SPEAKER_00]: You can, at the time it felt like why would you do that is overkill.
27:02
[SPEAKER_00]: You got IU, you just invested a first and peer soul.
27:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you could, you get cowing, I guess cowing a rookie this year.
27:14
[SPEAKER_00]: No, kind of was two years ago.
27:17
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know, why would you do it?
27:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And now on hindsight,
27:24
[SPEAKER_00]: strengths become weaknesses real fast.
27:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And it feels like receivers not a strength.
27:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Not having you be a contributor at all.
27:36
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going to happen with that?
27:37
[SPEAKER_00]: That'll be one of our big offseason stories.
27:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, the point is, there's a lot of things to address now.
27:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And the other is we talk about this is what happens with Robert Sala.
27:45
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, if you told me Alfred Collins and CJ West and Upton Stouter a year better,
27:51
[SPEAKER_00]: great, Marky Seagull, you're better, not as you're, maybe as your second best safety great, but you know, a lot of free agency talk coming up for sure.
28:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a team that, you know, that's been a lot of money, but needs to improve, needs to improve.
28:08
[SPEAKER_00]: In a division that is the NFC Championship game, you know, we're talking about, you know, we're talking
28:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I've used one of the great movie quotes that I use a lot on the show is the quote from there's a quote from the movie Argo, which has been Affleck and based on a true story of CIA operation in the late 70s to rescue six American diplomats during a hostage crisis in Iran, and Ben Affleck is in the movie and Brian Cranston in the movie and Ben Affleck is the lead CIA agent and Brian Cranston is the head of the CIA and they're trying to
28:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they make like a fake movie and they're going to like get these hostages to ride bicycles.
28:52
[SPEAKER_00]: People are going to ride bicycles in the winter whatever.
28:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't remember the plan exactly, but Brian Cranson says to Ben Affleck is this the best plan we have at Affleck says this is something like a this is the best bad idea we have sir or of all our bad ideas
29:14
[SPEAKER_00]: of the four remaining teams competing for the Super Bowl, you don't feel good about any of them winning from a nine-ish perspective, right?
29:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Like seeing, here's my order.
29:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Teams you wanna see when the Super Bowl from one to four, from most to least, one, the Broncos.
29:33
[SPEAKER_00]: The reason I say the Broncos is, Sean Payton's one, one before, and him winning with Jared Stittum is the least likely of all of these possibilities.
29:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's the least amount of, like, I think, sort of cross over blowback.
29:52
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're viewing it through, what's the easiest to stomach if you're couching a hit without a championship?
29:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Number two's the past, doesn't feel great, but they're in the AFC.
30:01
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like, a variable, you know, variable's gonna win one before a couching a hit.
30:08
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's, again, just not as bad as the next two options, which are the Seahawks.
30:15
[SPEAKER_00]: who I thought their crowd was incredible on Saturday.
30:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought their crowd was better, I came away from week one, which was my first time at Lumenfield as you're going.
30:26
[SPEAKER_00]: That means it was cool, but really, that's the crowd that everybody tells me is like, the greatest, this is the stadium, there's no better experience than Lumenfield.
30:34
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why I felt week one.
30:37
[SPEAKER_00]: week, two of the playoff, the division round.
30:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, now I get it.
30:42
[SPEAKER_00]: The pressbox sway, the broadcast booth swayed, it moved at multiple points.
30:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I've only felt that one of the plays, and that was, it turns out the other home of the 12th man, Texas A&M.
30:55
[SPEAKER_00]: You could feel the base in the stadium through your chat through your body.
31:01
[SPEAKER_00]: It was incredible.
31:03
[SPEAKER_00]: That's
31:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the rams are also McVay is also a real rival.
31:12
[SPEAKER_00]: You just don't get the same effect in LA because of all the nine of fans that are there.
31:15
[SPEAKER_00]: There were nine of fans here, but they didn't have a chance at making more noise than the Luminfield crowd, because they're just way more Seahawks fans.
31:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Darn old winning the champ, them winning with Darn old.
31:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that hurts.
31:30
[SPEAKER_00]: But Mike, I mean, because you're happy with it.
31:33
[SPEAKER_00]: You made the right, you know, like Donald wasn't replacing Brock, you find there.
31:39
[SPEAKER_00]: But it hurts to see the Seahawks win too, just since you've won one or since you won your last one.
31:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Mike McDonald walk in and winning it, not great.
31:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Fourth, I think is McVey, McVey winning his
31:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was texting with my buddy John Dickinson from K&BR and we're going through it and he made a great point and he said, well, maybe if the Rams win, Stafford retires.
32:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And you take the short term pain for the long term game.
32:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought, well, that's interesting actually.
32:21
[SPEAKER_00]: The fact that it's at Levi's does make it worse.
32:29
[SPEAKER_00]: All those are bad.
32:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the other thing would be, maybe Seattle wins, and they come back with a little less of an edge.
32:37
[SPEAKER_00]: But now you're grasping and straws, right?
32:41
[SPEAKER_00]: So none of those are, none of those options are great.
32:44
[SPEAKER_00]: None of those options are great.
32:49
[SPEAKER_00]: I, you know, and then the bears, by the way, were in that category, too of like, ooh, Ben Johnson's gonna come and win.
32:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Although Ben, it just would have felt like if to me if the bears won the Super Bowl, it would have felt like a continuation of, you know, all the things that didn't work in Detroit and Ben Johnson being the guy that, you know, that maybe should have won one in Detroit and didn't, until he goes and wins one in Chicago.
33:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, now there's a lot, there was a lot to do.
33:15
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a lot to do on this roster.
33:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I would, if you said, pick one, like to me, the defense needs to get better.
33:24
[SPEAKER_00]: When you look at how good some of these defenses you played were.
33:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And Seattle being the great example.
33:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And the problem with Seattle is they are just so set up.
33:34
[SPEAKER_00]: right now.
33:35
[SPEAKER_00]: But things change fast, you know, in order to beat them, you're not going to get their defensive personnel to change.
33:40
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to get Mike McDonald out of there.
33:42
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see, maybe you'd love for Clint Kubiac.
33:45
[SPEAKER_00]: They're offensive coordinator to get ahead coaching job, but the further they go on the playoffs harder, it is, although most jobs are still open.
33:52
[SPEAKER_00]: So
34:02
[SPEAKER_00]: the same journal things.
34:03
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a good quarterback.
34:04
[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't turn him over once.
34:06
[SPEAKER_00]: He led the league in turnovers.
34:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Giveaways in interceptions and fumbles.
34:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He was at the top of the league in both categories and near the top in both and at the top combined and you didn't turn them over.
34:17
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going to be the way to beat Seattle in the future?
34:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to even the score by turning them over.
34:22
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to slice and dice their defense.
34:25
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to prevent turnovers.
34:27
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to run for six yards of carry against them.
34:29
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to void pressure.
34:32
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just the, so you got to play that game.
34:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And that game means you got to take the ball away.
34:36
[SPEAKER_00]: You got to pressure the quarterback.
34:38
[SPEAKER_00]: 20 sacks this year was historically bad for a playoff team.
34:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It's part of what made it remarkable that they even made the playoffs.
34:45
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's going to be the recipe for beating Seattle in the future?
34:49
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not playing perfect on offense.
34:52
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not preventing Leonard Williams or Nick Eman worry from being great.
34:57
[SPEAKER_00]: It's taking the ball away from them.
35:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's where my priority is, you know, like, I know, everyone's talking about Jake Brandel.
35:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, he is well down the list.
35:11
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I don't have the PFF grade in front of me.
35:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he created out as like a, I think it was sixth.
35:17
[SPEAKER_00]: That offense, the offense is so complicated.
35:19
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason coal fines, a center, and sticks with them.
35:23
[SPEAKER_00]: He isn't, I bring him up only because he's such a hot button.
35:27
[SPEAKER_00]: He is not at the top of my list.
35:29
[SPEAKER_00]: defense, guard, receiver, another tight end.
35:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the Luke Feral thing clearly didn't work.
35:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Tanjus is a very good receiving option.
35:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, like, I didn't want to start going to the names here.
35:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen Kyle Pitch's name, people like that idea.
35:50
[SPEAKER_00]: But, defense.
35:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Secondary defensive line, put those ahead of a second line back or since Fred's coming back, but you would have liked to have gotten through this year and got all right, Nick Martin, that's the next guy.
36:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll,
36:22
[SPEAKER_00]: They just won 12 games with all these things wrong.
36:25
[SPEAKER_00]: So you know, you're just talking about all the different holes you could plug, where you're going to be most efficient in the draft or with your money.
36:31
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, finally on this show, today, oh, no, not finally.
36:38
[SPEAKER_00]: One other thing, the play and the Broncos Bill's game.
36:44
[SPEAKER_00]: That was an interception.
36:51
[SPEAKER_00]: frequently, it's a losing battle defending officials, you know, even more who's on the show a few weeks ago and is excellent.
36:58
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the best football analysts there is was on and on about this thing with Nick Folls on their podcast about, you know, like gambling and people throwing games and game fixing and officials and how susceptible we are and you'd be ignorant to think nobody's doing it and that sort of thing.
37:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, well, it's, it's a losing debate to be on the other side of it because you just look like a room, if you say, oh, I know that nobody is manipulating lines.
37:29
[SPEAKER_00]: So I would never say that.
37:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, ever since Donnie 25 years ago in the NBA, you just, you know, everybody is aware of it and it becomes so easy and it's hard to argue against that it's a possibility.
37:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But we love to rail against officiating just for the sake of it.
37:47
[SPEAKER_00]: It's always something that's the beauty.
37:49
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to say they suck, then there's always going to be evidence that they suck.
37:53
[SPEAKER_00]: They're expected to be perfect.
37:54
[SPEAKER_00]: The players aren't.
37:55
[SPEAKER_00]: The coaches aren't.
37:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody else is, but them.
37:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Fine, whatever.
37:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But then, the other part of it is not only do you hate all the decisions they make, but they make them all too slow.
38:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is it taking so long?
38:07
[SPEAKER_00]: The reviews, they take so long.
38:09
[SPEAKER_00]: So then they make one fast and now it didn't take long enough.
38:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, why didn't they take more time?
38:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Why weren't they more transparent?
38:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a pick.
38:20
[SPEAKER_00]: It was an interception.
38:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Imagine there wasn't a defender there and the receiver hits the ground and then the ball comes, instead of the other guy taking it, the ball comes loose as quickly as it got taken away.
38:32
[SPEAKER_00]: That would be an incompletion.
38:36
[SPEAKER_00]: and they decided it quickly.
38:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, well, maybe it was a conspiracy because they were trying to get off to the Niners game.
38:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I can tell you this, officials and leagues want things to move fast, not because of the next game, but because they know a basketball game is at its best when it's two hours in a football game is at its best, when it's like whatever, I don't know, I don't know that number as well, three, 12, whatever, three, whatever number they want it to be.
38:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's not that in that moment they're moving quickly, it's that they're always trying to move quickly
39:06
[SPEAKER_00]: But the assisted replay is really good.
39:10
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a moment last night where I don't know if anyone even noticed it.
39:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Toreco was the only one that noticed it.
39:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And Toreco didn't articulate it, but I could tell he knew what happened.
39:21
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a play where he said, and Caleb Kale gets the first down.
39:24
[SPEAKER_00]: They put the ball past the stick.
39:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And all of a sudden, another official comes in and moves it back a yard behind the line again.
39:30
[SPEAKER_00]: That was replay assist.
39:32
[SPEAKER_00]: It happens, we don't need the measurement anymore.
39:35
[SPEAKER_00]: We just keep the thing moving.
39:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I just do, does everybody complaining not see the irony?
39:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And not only, first they think the calls wrong, then they think the call, it's wrong and too fast.
39:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it turned out it was right and quick.
39:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, well, that's a problem now.
39:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I do get so sick of it.
39:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I think most of it is people, 9% of people, you don't even know the rule.
40:02
[SPEAKER_00]: This is why there is a replay, an expert, an official expert on the broadcast.
40:06
[SPEAKER_00]: It'd be like, and what it was, that was Sterator.
40:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Was it Sterator?
40:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, he's like, yeah, that's a pick.
40:13
[SPEAKER_00]: There was no ambiguity.
40:15
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, that's an interception.
40:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Which, again, I've been to the officiating seminar.
40:19
[SPEAKER_00]: They spent days in Chicago at the officiating seminar for college football last year.
40:23
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a pick.
40:26
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just so stupid, some of this stuff, when it comes to officiating.
40:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I will say, like, I think Buck and Acumen are excellent, the Monday night broadcast.
40:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I really enjoy it.
40:37
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they use their replay guy, Russell, and he's really good.
40:42
[SPEAKER_00]: They're officiating expert, too much.
40:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it has become so annoying to me.
40:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, really at the top of the line, I know you need me.
40:52
[SPEAKER_00]: How much officiating is a discussion more than it was.
40:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And even though it's, you know, but I get it.
40:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't fight it.
40:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I understand it.
40:59
[SPEAKER_00]: We all get more views.
41:01
[SPEAKER_00]: It happens so fast.
41:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's just help them out.
41:04
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think they inject the the officiating expert too much on Monday and football.
41:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Calls that Joe or Troy could just explain.
41:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Last night they had them on Sunday night on one.
41:14
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a face mask.
41:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And he had to get it on the eye.
41:15
[SPEAKER_00]: You see the helmet twist, that's a face mask.
41:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Troy's got it.
41:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reason I don't like it is just because you remind people how much if you are proactively making officiating a part of the conversation.
41:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think the sport is at its best.
41:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Any sport is at its best.
41:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it's at its most entertaining when we're talking about the officiating all the time.
41:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know that the counter, like, if Evan was here, it'd be like, well, then they just get, they gotta get better.
41:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm being unfair with him, not all that, without having him here.
41:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, they gotta get better, and then it wouldn't be such it.
41:49
[SPEAKER_00]: They work so freaking hard at it.
41:51
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really hard.
41:52
[SPEAKER_00]: They are better.
41:53
[SPEAKER_00]: They're much better.
41:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't even imagine what it'd be like to go watch a game from 1995 with all this replayability now and see how much worse it was.
42:03
[SPEAKER_00]: It's there at their peak of excellence.
42:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's trending in the right direction.
42:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's getting faster.
42:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank God.
42:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And now we're mad about that.
42:13
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, the last thing I want to say is, it had a fun year, it's January 19th, 26th.
42:19
[SPEAKER_00]: So the year is just beginning, but I had a fun football season.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For those of you who are new to the channel, we just keep this thing rolling.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There is no real off season to the NFL, which is great.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But it was,
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[SPEAKER_00]: unforeseen special season for me getting the call some getting filling in for Greek pop on 49ers radio.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And for many people who watch a list in this podcast, maybe you didn't know I do that stuff play by play.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Like I've got a college basketball game this week.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I had one last week.
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[SPEAKER_00]: No matter how confident you are in your own ability,
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[SPEAKER_00]: you think you need or desire outside validation, it's nice to be supported.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And it was really one of the very unexpected highlights of the year was how much people like you, who either knew or didn't know that I also call games, enjoyed and told me you enjoyed.
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[SPEAKER_00]: the broadcast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I feel a little awkward doing this because it's like, oh, if you haven't heard, there were compliments.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't like this, but I do think it needs to be said because a lot of you made a lot of comments on these videos that went un-responded to, but were appreciated.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you said send emails or DMs or whatever.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And it's.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It, you know, not to be, this is a kind of thing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I rarely would say publicly because it sounds so cheesy, but I do think calling it play by play is a form of for sure, there was a lot of competition going on, competition with yourself.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Can I be my best, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: And it is an art.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of things you can dedicate to 25 years to, I have dedicated a lot of 25 years to,
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[SPEAKER_00]: to try and become as good as I can to play by play.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a lot of fun because it's live action and it became very apparent very early.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I would not be playing in the highest level or the 15th highest level of athletics, but I could try and do this and it is for me as close as it gets to the feeling.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I know a lot, if you don't play pickup basketball, you think it's silly, but when you play, it's a lot of fun.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Pickup Basketball has a lot of similarities to, there are a lot of things you can learn from Pickup Basketball in real life, but I'm getting off track anyway.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Colin Games matters a lot to me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I guess that's what I'm trying to say.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And doing it well matters a lot to me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And the fun of it all is,
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[SPEAKER_00]: is being a small part of the action being fun for the fan, and a lot of you said it was, and I think it was, and that's really cool to me for me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So thanks.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That's a meandering but heartfelt thank you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: to everybody who said hey this you know it's easy to be like well this new guys not the other guy which is true because Greg is to me the the peak of performance of human achievement when it comes to the ability to call a game and and it was still great for me a great experience for me so thanks
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[SPEAKER_00]: Let's all have to say about that for now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, all right y'all, I appreciate you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, there's a long show and there's a lot still a meat on that bone.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll get to all that stuff coming up.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But for now, this is it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'll talk to you soon, later.