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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman and Lindahl 10-9-26 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get right to it with Jeff Legwald
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: here on a Scott Friday and a Bud Light football Friday.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: By the way, if you want to win Broncos Seahawks tickets,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: we're giving away a pair at Bud Light football Friday
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: here today. Number 38 in Rhino. Great specials on Bud
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Light pitchers. Get your football weekend started right and win
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Broncos tickets courtesy of Bud Light. All right, Jeff, let's
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: start here. When did it happen? Where did it happen?
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: How did it happen? What happened exactly this week with
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Sean Payton and Davis Webb and all this stuff with
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the Broncos? Give us, to the best of your knowledge,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: just how it all went down.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, a lot depends on who you ask me,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: but I'll just say that. But I think it was mostly...
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: A decision Sean had made probably at some point before
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: this week, and in his own mind, he met with,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: formally met with Davis Webb on Monday. Davis said today
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: that meeting was like an hour, and that's when he
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: told Davis. And then a few players told me that
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: he told the offensive team players in an offensive team meeting.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: And he, and he just sort of mentioned it offhanded, very,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: very matter of fact, as if he was reading the
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: weather report, you know, and, Oh, I'm going to call
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: plays now type of thing in the offensive players meeting.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: But even this week, and you know, I, I, one
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: of the people who reported it, an awful lot of
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: people with the Broncos and in the building, uh, we're
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: still under the impression it was a quote unquote, going
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: to be more collaborative, uh, approach between Peyton and Webb
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: instead of a full blown Sean Peyton taking over play calling. Uh,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: but that's what it is. And, uh, you know, I think, uh,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: you know, they practiced, uh, you know, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: like normal. And, but it was Webb kind of, uh,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: you know, doing the plays on the walkie talkie and
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: to go next, you know, at least in the parts we,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: we could see. But that's not uncommon. You know, Joe
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Lombardi did that often when, when Sean was, you know,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: calling plays before. So, but I think a lot of
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: people were surprised that he took it that far. Cause
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I think as Sean had talked to people about what,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: if I do this, what do you think? I think
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: an awful lot of folks thought it was still going
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: to be Peyton more involved, but not full-blown Peyton play-calling,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: which is what it is. It's a high-risk move in
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: some ways, because I think Davis Webb is popular in
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: the locker room, especially with the quarterback. And I think
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: moving forward, that'll be something to watch if the struggles continue.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Leggy, you know, you reported on the collaborative effort
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: earlier in the week. That was, you know, basically like
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: yesterday early in the day. And then by the time
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: we hit the air, no, it was Sean Payton talking
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: to the media and not the coordinator. So there was
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: a switcheroo there. And Sean said, I'll be doing the
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: play calling, Jeff. And, you know, this is where I'm
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: going to ask you for a little bit of editorializing here.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: But did the Broncos lose control of the message this week? Like,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: how did this get so seemingly messy?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a little hard to wrap your head around it.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: And I was, you know, in the middle of it,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: talking to people I trust and who never led me
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: astray before. And I don't think they, in their minds,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: think they did. This time, I think that was the
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: information they had at that time. So I think Sean
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: kept this pretty close to the vest. You know, I'm
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: a little unclear as to when he told the team.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: I think that may have been Wednesday, you know, in
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: the timeline. So, you know, the circle was pretty small
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: and a lot of people had different but I think
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Sean Payton was pretty adamant that when any public announcement
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: was made, he was going to make it. And I
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: think that's why it came out the way it did.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: But I thought, and a lot of people thought in
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: the league, that maybe during the mini-bye, if things didn't
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: go well after the Seattle game or their real bye week,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: would be if some kind of change happened. This is
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: an odd place to make a change with a game
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: and then essentially what will be just two walk-through practices
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: the next week before they play Seattle.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: How does this get Bo to throw the ball down
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: the field like everybody broke down?
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Because again, I mean, Jeff, it's the same plays, right?
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: It's... What is about Sean Payton being in the headset
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: going to change Bowe's, and I don't know, man, Leggy,
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: such two or three real interesting answers I thought out
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: of Bowe, especially where you're challenging, well, I don't know
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: if challenge is the word you want me to use,
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: but you followed up with, why aren't you passing down?
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: Are you coming off the, don't you feel like you're
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: too rushed? He gave the answer defensively that, you know,
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: my quarterback's coach and Webb, you know, and Kilgore and
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Webb and Peyton never said anything to me about it,
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: and then he talked about how he went on that
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: meandering answer about, like my meandering question here, about, you know,
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: if I throw a pick, there's a problem, or if
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: I don't, you know, if I push it too fast
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: and wait until we have to do it. Like, just
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: so many fascinating things came out, I thought, mentally from
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: him in that answer. How does Sean being in the
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: headset change any of the stuff we heard from him
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: on Wednesday?
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Well, that's really the... And that's why I asked Sean yesterday, because...
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: If you're going to be running the same playbook, and
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: they are, and you're going to be having the same meetings,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: and they are, and you're going to be using the
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: same schematic build in your offense, and they are, you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: I asked Sean yesterday, is this a sequencing issue? Are
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: you making this change essentially because you don't like the
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: order the plays are being called and kind of when–
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: things are you know when the runs are being called
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: you know and he essentially said some of it is
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: a sequencing thing so you're making the change or at
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: least he's making the change with the idea that he
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: at this moment has a better feel of when to
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: call things now you know they started slow the last
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: two years before this one uh they've struggled to consistently
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: have a an approach in the run game before this season.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: So I think that's what I have my eye on.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: This is kind of a high-risk move to do, and
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: are you really going to be able to fix some
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: of the things that sort of plagued the offense when
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: he was the play caller the previous three years?
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: It's a Bud Light Football Friday. We're talking to Jeff Legwald.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald brought to you by the International Brotherhood of
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Electrical Workers, IBEW Local 68. You start with a job
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: and you end with a career. Jeff, we're starting to
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: broach this answer in the previous one, but I'm curious.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Educated speculation as much as you possibly can, but what's
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: going to be different?
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Well, that's what I mean. You're working off the same
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: essentially so I think you know the difference is at
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: least I think Sean Payton thinks the difference is when
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: things are called how you're calling the game you know
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: look he you know the first now numbers were driving
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: him crazy the run game numbers and look he's you
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: know the previous two years he has participated in the
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: you know they don't run the ball.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: Enough He doesn't run the ball either. It's hilarious. It's rich, right, Jeff?
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: You'd say that's rich.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: So he, you know, but that was one of the
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: things that was really irritating him is, you know, how
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: many times he looked up and they had not, you know,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: tried to run the ball. And I think, again, I
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: think it's more of a when those runs were called,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: when he wanted to see more runs, maybe not the totals.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: and everything so much a little bit, but I think
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: it's really when things were called, the feeling you have,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: the gut feel during the game of when you're doing stuff.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: And I think that's why he's done it. But again,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: this is a pretty, pretty high risk move to give
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: a guy four games, you know, and what's your plan B,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the same.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Who does he fire next?
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, And I just think it's, you know,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: it's going to be interesting to see how they move
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: forward and work as a staff and how the quarterback
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: plays and how it all plays out because this move
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: was heavy. by everybody. Sean Payton said Davis Webb is
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: gifted and he's the reason I would make this kind
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: of decision, but when he named him as the play
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: caller earlier this year, Bo Nix has repeatedly said how
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: much he likes having davis webb in his ear and
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: and you know he knows what to say and when
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: to say it and all those things well guess what
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: your ear anymore you know it's almost like you know
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: dad's home clean up clean up after the party type
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: of thing but uh uh and i and i do
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: think there was some of that you know just again
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: this is personal opinion this is not something tough.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Love time create the sense of urgency.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah i i think there is a sense when you
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: hear coaches say the buzzwords, like little things, buttoning up,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: you know, when you hear all of those phrases, that's
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: really an older coach saying they're getting away with stuff. Now,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know what that list would be.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: You know, is it somebody's late for a meeting or anything?
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't have that. And I don't want
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: to tell people I do, but when I hear that,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: an experienced coach say things like we're going to change
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: some little things in practice. We're going to make sure
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: we're on the details. We're going to make sure we're
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: buttoned up. That's all, you know, coach speak for, okay,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: you've been getting away with some stuff and we're not
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: going to get away with it anymore. All right.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: You know, look, I can't wait to talk to you
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: Monday after whatever we witnessed with this game.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I would be remiss and, I'm sorry to interrupt you,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: but that's the other thing with this. Davis Webb gets
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: four scoring defenses in the top ten in the league.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: He gets two of the three 4-0 teams. Sean makes
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: the change, and he gets the Chargers. The injury report
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: for the Chargers is simply an epic tale right now. But, yeah,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: it's a little easier. Now, Thursday next week won't be,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: but the inaugural return is a little bit easier than
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: what Webb had in the first four weeks. All right.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: Let me ask you this, because there's a couple things
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: I want to get to, and I don't think Nate
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: will mind. Can we get you back at 45? Because
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: we've got bigger things that we want to talk about,
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: but I'm not going to fit this all in in
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: the next two minutes. Do you have a couple of minutes?
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: Because I've got a direct follow-up to what you just
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: said right there.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: You good? I can do it, yeah.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: Then this leads us to the question, because we want
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: to ask you about Ditka. We'll save that for the
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: quarter tell part. Nate and I, I'm sure, both want
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: to ask you, did Sean ever really want to give
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: up the play calling with what you're describing right there?
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: That's the natural question we all have, Jeff.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Almost like it was never the plan.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Well, I think he wanted to keep Davis Webb, and
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: I think there was a part of him, I think
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: he was being very honest after the season when he
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: felt like he had some issues in play calling that
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: he was not as quick to get the play in
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: as he wanted to be. And then it was a problem. Like,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: like he made it a point yesterday to say, Oh,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: it's going to be quick. You know? So I think, uh,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: he understands that that's one of the reasons he made
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: the change in the first place, but I think they
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: very much wanted to keep Davis web on the staff, uh,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: at that time. And I think he was willing to
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: do it to Keith Davis. And he honestly believed it
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: would go well because Sean was still going to, you know,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: the meeting structure and game planning wasn't going to change
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: at all. It was just the guy on the headset,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: you know, doing the plays and that they would have
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: it all worked out. And that part of it, there
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: was a disconnect there in some fashion, but, uh, I
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: do think four games is a pretty quick trigger.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: It's unfair.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Sean Payton has said many times, fire slow, fire fast.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: And he stuck to that this time.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Jeff, how did the locker room respond to the news?
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: I think everybody's handling it because it's a lot of
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: season left.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: They have no choice.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and they believe they're a good team. So that–
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: lessens the impact. You have a team that believes it's
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: got to keep its act together to stay in the
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: playoff race, but make no mistake, Davis is a popular
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: guy in the locker room, and I think a lot
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: of guys are biting their tongues a little bit. Evan
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Ingram was a teammate of Davis Webb, and Bo has
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: made it pretty clear how much he likes Davis, too.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: That's going to be an issue for Sean Payton to
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: be cognizant of because every head coach, you know, wants
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: the pulse of his locker room. So he's going to
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: have to stay aware, you know, about that because if
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: it keeps sputtering and the big plays don't come for
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: whatever reason, that's going to be an issue.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: All right, more with Jeff Legwald from ESPN coming up
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: after this on a Bud Light Football Friday. We'll talk
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: about the Chargers matchup and a little bit about Coach Dicca.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: That's coming up next on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5. You've
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: got the Kreckman and Lindahl podcast. Listen live weekdays 3
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: to 6 on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 and on the
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Altitude Sports Radio app. All right, let's get right back
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: to it with Jeff Legwald here on a Bud Light football.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Friday live at number 38 in Rhino where you can
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: sign up to win Broncos Seahawks. Tickets will give some
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: away before the show is over, courtesy of Bud Light. Jeff,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: this Chargers matchup, particularly what the Chargers are starting along
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: their offensive line. That should scare the bejesus out of
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniels and everybody else involved with
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: that organization. But let's turn the conversation on its head
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: because these are pro football players. Jeff, is there anywhere
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: where perhaps the Chargers offense has a chance to take
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: advantage of the fact that Denver is without their two
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: starting corners and maybe do a little bit of damage?
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think that's the real question here
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: because the, you know, routes that would attack corners, you know,
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: in single coverage most of the time are going to
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: take a little longer. So, you know, their ability to
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: get at the Broncos' weakness will be, you know, tied
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: to how well they can actually keep people away from
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Herbert and They weren't doing that before all these injuries hit.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: He's been hit 50 times this year. The only quarterback
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: in the league that's been hit 50 times in four games.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: That's not sustainable for anybody. I think only two quarterbacks
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: have been sacked more than he has been. That's the
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: rub for the Broncos. Justin Herbert can beat you. For
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: the Broncos to do what they need to do in
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: this one. They need to make sure he doesn't make
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: a play or two that make the difference and that
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: they don't get caught up in the Mike McDaniel motion
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: and eye candy things in the plays and they play
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: disciplined defense and they're going to be playing it with
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: two very young corners who the Chargers are going to
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: try and fool. A lot of double moves, a lot
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: of probably a lot of bunch sets to hide receivers
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: and do all those things. Abrams, Drain, and Barron are
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: both going to have to be disciplined and stick to
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: their keys and keep from the one or two plays
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: that get you beat when you win the statistical battle
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: in every category.
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: All right, Jeff, is it fair to say that the
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: offense is facing a better defense than it did the
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: Niners considering how beat up they are?
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I, I, I think the, the chargers are,
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: are just in a tough way right now. And they, uh,
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: turnovers Andy, that's always the thing in a, in a
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: game like this is just don't turn it over. You know,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: don't throw the silly interceptions. Don't force it. I would
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: really think for the Broncos, you're going to see a
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: lot of play action. You know, uh, I think he
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: wants to get to that and I think they want
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: to run it and he may make it a point, uh,
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: If he doesn't, then that'll even be a story in itself.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: But I think he wants to make a point about
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: the run game and having more of the balance he
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: keeps talking about.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Wanting to run the ball and running the ball are
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: two very different things. We'll find out on Sunday afternoon.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: That's Jeff Legwald of ESPN. Leggy, your old colleague, Mike
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Ditka at ESPN, passed away today– Jeff, you're such an
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: authority when it comes to talking about the history of
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: the league as both a player, as a coach, and
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: a later on kind of a personality. What is Mike
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Ditka's legacy in pro football?
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: Well, Nate, I think a lot of times his personality
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: and the figure he became as a coach overshadowed what
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: a groundbreaking player he was. He was the first real,
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: you know, sort of dynamic receiving tight, yeah, a thousand
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: yards receiving as a rookie, you know, and as a
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: tight end. And, you know, he led, He led Pitt
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: in receiving his last three years at the school at
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: a time when nobody else was doing something like that
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: with a player like him. His ability as a player
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: was overshadowed, but he was one of the best at
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: that position who will ever put on a uniform. I
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: think it's worth people going in and find in whatever,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: you know, grainy black and white highlights they can find,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: but it's, it's worth a watch if you can dig
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: them up. And, and then as a coach, you talk
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: about a guy perfectly suited to coach in Chicago. I mean,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: he played for George Alice and, and, you know, I
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: think the people loved him. My, you know, my mom,
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: that was like her favorite, you know, football figure, you know,
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: like he was, he, If Central Casting had a football coach,
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: my mom would have thought it was Ditka. Just the
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: team he coached, how they coached it, big personalities. His
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: interactions with the media were legendary. The big cigars. Then
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: after he retired from coaching, he was still a big
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: figure in the city. Just one of those known to
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: just hand out you know money to people on the
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: spur of the moment if he thought they needed it
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: and all those things but yeah it's uh one of
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: our an important figure in the history of football and
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: that's always sort of the basis we always talk about
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: with the hall of fame can you write the history
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: of pro football without you know fill in the blank
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: and you certainly couldn't write it without without mike ditcher.
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: You want to give them any of your suggestions for
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: the face of the team?
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's, you know, Jeff, we were going through it
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: earlier and we were talking about, you know, how many,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: how many franchises have just, just a singular icon that,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: that it's, it's just not debatable that this guy is the,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: is the everlasting face of that franchise. And, you know, even,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: you know, you talk about the bears, George Hallis is, is,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: you know, such a giant in the history of the sport. And,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Walter Payton is arguably the greatest running back to have
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: ever played. And yet, when you think of the Chicago
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Bears as a player, as a coach, and again, like
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: you kind of talked about right there, the attitude and
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: just how he was everywhere. He was a pitch man.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: He was the guy that said, we're Grabowskis and they're Smiths.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: When you think of the Chicago Bears, the most iconic
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: person in the history of that franchise is Mike Ditka.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: Well, because he appealed to... the casual football fan. I
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: think if you're going to be like the, you know,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: that one really iconic, you have to somehow cross the, the,
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: the barrier from just, you know, just football people, football fans.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: He appealed to everybody. You know, he was from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: but I grew up with a lot of people that
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: thought Mike Dickson was from Chicago. Um, And I think
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: that kind of says it all, that they just sort
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: of adopted him and, you know, made Chicago his hometown,
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: whether he liked it or not. And, you know, the whole,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: you know, I think a lot of folks have seen
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: the Saturday Night Live skit. I mean, those guys were
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: all dressed in their little Ditka, you know, in the
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Ditka outfits. I think Brent Johnson should wear the sweater
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: and the Bears should pay the fine, no matter what
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: it is this week. I think that would be cool.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it would represent what it was all about
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: pretty damn well. But, yeah, I mean, and the guy
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: was just, he was on every commercial. It was just unbelievable. Just, like,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: really how famous the guy was in that city. And then, yeah, like,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: the SNL thing, I think, took him to another level
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: of fame. And then, Jeff, did you ever come across
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Iron Mike in your time in Bristol? Like, did you
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: ever run into him?
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: You probably saw him at the Hall of Fame, too,
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: didn't you? Yeah, I'm sure.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: No, I've I talked with him, interviewed him many times.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: It was always, you know, I always had to issue
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: a quick dispatch. But when my parents were alive, I
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: had to issue a quick dispatch immediately after I had
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: spoken to him because that's how things were done. But, no,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: many times I talked to him. At one Hall of
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Fame event, I... One year I ended up at a
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: table with Butkus and Ditka. So that was a little
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: funky for just me sitting at the table. But they
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: didn't seem to mind, and they thought my accent was
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: just fine, by the way.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Very familiar to those guys. Jeff, man, good stuff as always.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: We appreciate it. Safe travels to L.A. We'll talk to
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: you Monday.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: You know, the greatest SNL line had Ditka in it.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: It was when they did Ditka versus God in a
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: golf match.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: Ditka versus a hurricane.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Ditka versus God in a golf match, and they said,
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: how many strokes is God getting? And that's, there you go.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: Bob Swirsky's super fans. Jeff, man, we appreciate it. Thank you.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: See you, fellas.