Commanders sign Von Miller, Comparing Caleb and J.J’s 2025 season and Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski joins

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got to talk about him today in
the state of the nation with the
Cowboys. But first some news that emerged overnight from our
guy our NFL insider Tom
Pelissero. He’s reporting that eight time Pro Bowl von Miller
is signing with the contending
commanders. It had been talked about that Miller, in his epic
pass rushing era, was going to
seek out a team that was in need of a guy like that coming off a
defensive line. Now, Miller is a
Super Bowl champion with the Broncos and the Rams. Through
his first shout out to the hogs
by saying what’s good? And that’s a photoshopped image of
Von Miller playing in the
Washington Commanders. That’s what it would look like
everybody. So Rashad, you I
assume no. Von Miller, you played adjacent to him in your
time in the NFL. What do you
make of his choice to go to Washington and the commanders
picking him up on defense? I
think it’s a smart move for him. I think it’s a smart move for
the commanders. I mean, they
were the oldest team in the NFL last year. And in addition to
Von Miller to the defense, they
stay the oldest team in the NFL. So I think what they’re doing is
putting their they’re counting
on their defense and relying on their offense and especially and
now Jayden Daniels. And how I
look at it is this when I order something from Amazon, I kind of
I don’t rely on it to show up if
it’s going to be there Friday evening, I count on it to show
up. And so what I’m counting on
is the commanders now is I’m counting on the defense to
actually carry us. And then that
allows me to rely on my offense. Now, when you rely on something,
you’re defending it with full
trust. Now, there was a dating phase with Jayden Daniels first
year. Now they’re getting into a
marriage. And to trust somebody, you don’t need to trust somebody
with your money. If you don’t
give them your credit card, you don’t need to trust somebody
with with your food unless you
give them the utensils. You don’t need to trust anybody with
your heart until you give it to
them. So what did they do now? They’ve given Jayden Daniels the
true keys to the to the ship. So
I think I think it’s good for the commanders to pick up a Von
Miller. He’s a stout player for
sure. I like it to Rashad. And you said counting on this,
counting on that. I think a lot
of people may assume that when you have somebody like Von
Miller come in, you’re counting
on him to be the old Von Miller. I’m not he’s not going to be the
old Von Miller guys. And talking
about the word counting, he’s going to be on a snap count.
He’s going to be a situational
player. He’s going to be somebody. If you look at Dan
Quinn and that defense last
year, they blitzed more and Dan Quinn’s career than he’s used to
blitzing. He doesn’t want to
blitz on third downs guys. He doesn’t want to blitz on first
and second. But last year he had
to bring some pressure. And the only way that he could do it is
by sending a blitz. Now you have
somebody like Von Miller. He’s not going to play on first down.
He’s probably not going to play
on second down, but you bet on third down when Dan Quinn wants
to drop coverage and drop zone
that you’re going to see I guess the number 24. He said. Jamie
you’re going to see whatever
number Von Miller is playing. You’re going to see him coming
off the edge. Now, this reminds
me a lot when we when we signed Dwight Freeney, when I was with
the San Diego Chargers, we
signed Dwight Freeney. And he was after he spent 11 years in
Indianapolis, we didn’t sign
Dwight Freeney to play first, second and third down. It was
just situational awareness. And
I think it’s a great fit for somebody like Von Miller, who at
this point in time, I think he’s
ring chasing. You know, you’ve accomplished everything you
wanted to accomplish in this
game by being a player. Now go get as many Super Bowls as you
can. And so I like I like this
matchup this matching with the Commanders and Von Miller. Yeah
this this is a really meaningful
signing for me. The message really clear to me is the
commanders are trying to win the
Super Bowl this year. This year. Let’s get it done. Now that you
don’t bring in Von Miller to be
a building block or a piece to the future, this is a very
specific player and phase of his
career. The Rams did the same thing with Von Miller. It
worked. The bills tried the same
thing with Von Miller. It didn’t work. And Dwight Freeney is a
perfect example. It wasn’t just
the Chargers that signed him. Man, this is a Hall of Famer in
the last four years of his
career was on four separate teams, each one of them trying
to get him in. It’s like a
basketball equivalent of like just come off the bench and hit
a couple threes. That’s all we
want you to do. We don’t need you to build our defense around
anything like that. They’re
bringing him. So when they play Philadelphia in the playoffs Von
Miller gets a sack against Jalen
Hurts. And that’s that would be worth the entire signing. And I
think they’re saying right now
we brought in a new tackle. We’re bringing in a new pass
rusher. We’re going to figure
out our wide receiver somehow. But let’s do it now with the
Chiefs quarterback. And don’t
laugh about the commanders winning the Super Bowl this
year. Joe Burrow was in the
Super Bowl in his second year. Patrick Mahomes won the Super
Bowl in his second year as a
starter. This is the new normal cash in now. There’s no like
well, Jaden will continue to
evolve and we’ll finally know it’s a now league. Now you don’t
need to sign Von Miller. You’ll
probably be a perfectly fine defense without him, but it’s
that one thing where in the
divisional round or the title game, he hits a corner three and
you haven’t heard from him in
two and a half months. But he’s been on the roster. Von’s been
in big games and sacked Hall of
Fame quarterbacks. I think that says the message is very clear.
We want every single little
piece. We want to win the Super Bowl this year, and we’re
bringing in a guy who was trying
to do it with his third team. Well, I like that KB and I’m
going to make a basketball
reference to his comments. You bring in somebody like Ray Allen
to the Boston Celtics and he’s
later in his career. And then he hits a game winning,
championship winning three
pointer when you really need him. That’s the type of signing
this is in my opinion with Von
Miller. Now we talk about duos earlier in the week, and we
talked about the connection
between a wide receiver and his quarterback and why the
non-verbals in that situation
are come and play for the offense. Defensively, that
version is this we have a
connection and understanding where I don’t have to worry
about that side of the field.
The rail Revis was that for the Jets. I don’t got to worry about
wherever he’s at. For Bobby
Wagner in the middle now, I don’t have to worry about where
Von Miller is at. I don’t have
to worry about Jalen Hurts scrambling to that side. I can
just worry about what’s opposite
of him. So this eliminates a whole bunch of problems that
could arise for the commanders
defense. Now that you have somebody like Von Miller aka Ray
Allen, shooting on one side of
the one side of the field, God, I just literally went into a
deep dive in my brain of like,
the really good Celtics team circa like 2008 to 14 with like
now on the team, like, who’s the
Kevin Garnett, who’s the. It’s just like you just rattled my
brain with that. Ray Allen from
the corner. It was perfect man. interview. Urlacher has got it
going on when it comes to
questions like that, and he gives us a good tee up for throw
down. Thursday 2025 season. Who
are you most intrigued by? Is it Caleb Williams and the Chicago
Bears, or is it J.J. McCarthy in
the Minnesota Vikings? Rashad, you’re up first. I’m more
intrigued with J.J. Definitely
give me J.J. 10th overall draft pick. I believe he’s a special
guy. Yeah, I think that the
reason why the Minnesota Vikings let go of Sam Darnold, the
reason why the Minnesota Vikings
did not pick up Aaron Rodgers is because of who J.J. McCarthy is.
And you know, I’ve mentioned
this before, but J.J. McCarthy, mind you, he was coached up in
college by Jim Harbaugh. Now
he’s passed over to Kyle O’Connell. I think that’s a good
combination. I don’t think
anybody is reluctant to say, hey, I don’t like who he’s
coached up by. I don’t like how
he’s progressed. And then Aaron Jones, I actually got a chance
to talk to him briefly. He’s
excited. Yeah. You know, he was talking about how much of a
leader he is, how much he
understood the playbook, how much of a commander at the
position he is. And don’t forget
about who he’s throwing the ball to. He has Justin Jefferson, he
has Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson
again. Jones. It’s a lot of players around him to be excited
for. And he has that that room,
that little buffer because he’s not a rookie. Yeah he’s a rookie
on the field but not in a
classroom. He’s been around the teammates. They’re comfortable
with him. So I love and I’m
intrigued more to watch and see what he does this year. Redshirt
freshman, if you will. Yeah I’m
going to agree with you on that. Rashad. The more intriguing
quarterback between these two is
J.J. McCarthy. Now, when I think of Caleb Williams in the context
of this question, I think Caleb
Williams creates some narrative because of Ben Johnson. You
know, Caleb Johnson, thank you.
No, thanks for compounding it. I got you, sister. I always got
your back. I always got your
back. But I just think there’s a lot of intrigue, not just
because of Caleb, but because of
his new head coach. Now, J.J. McCarthy. When I look at J.J.
McCarthy and this offensive
scheme that the Vikings have, I have five bedrooms in my house.
My wife took one of those
bedrooms and just made it a kid’s room. So the room is
specifically fitted when you go
in there, you know, like, oh, this is for the kids. Like,
there’s books over here, there’s
coloring books here, there’s the gymnastics bar over there. You
know exactly who that’s for.
That’s what the Minnesota Vikings did for J.J. McCarthy
with what they have around him
when he talks to Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones,
TJ Hawkinson. The only
difference, the only change from a 2024 excellent season is the
quarterback. That’s it. So
that’s the only variable that’s different going into this year.
So just by those factors alone I
look at those two quarterbacks. And the more intriguing
quarterback between those two
for those reasons is J.J. McCarthy. It’s a beautiful
humblebrag. First of all, with
the five bedrooms. Manti, congratulations to you. But what
I hear when you say there is a
room in your house that is dedicated to the kids stuff,
what you’re trying to accomplish
there is that you get to close the door and hide the mess. Like
you don’t have to cover. You
don’t have to have that out in your living room and show
everybody what a disaster that
room can be, and the kids are entitled to do that. But when it
comes to the regular season,
there is no closing the door and not showing people whether or
not J.J. McCarthy is going to be
a mess. This thing is going to be out in your living room. It
is going to be welcome in the
neighbors, and show that your kids don’t know how to put
anything away. And that is
terrifying to me. We just threw out on me, guys. You just threw
down. It’s the throwing she just
threw down on you. It’s so hard to get kids to pick up, you
know? Yeah, well, listen, stay
tuned for the next topic where Manti drops the square footage
of his home. Guys, I actually
think I think it’s JJ is a fine answer here. This is a tough
question. I would say, Caleb,
because I’m just fast forwarding week one Monday night. Dun dun
dun dun dun dun. Soldier field
the lights. The Vikings are there. It’s JJ versus Caleb.
It’s Caleb’s house. I just think
the bears have to win this year. They really do. And in so many
different ways. Like you just
can’t have another year. If JJ is kind of fine and they’re a
little bit of a get to know you,
a little bit of growing pains and maybe they have kind of an
average season. I don’t think
the sky is falling for Minnesota. You’re encouraged.
Last year was a disaster. The
bears lost ten games in a row. I don’t know how Caleb’s going to
show up from that. I know he has
a new coach and he has new this, new that. Home pressure. More
expectations. To me, intrigue
comes from pressure and expectations. And certainly JJ
has some. I just think there’s
more on Caleb. Let’s not forget number one overall pick bears
could have anybody they wanted.
Good ahead Jaden good ahead. Drake Maye good ahead. Bo Nix.
Just like when they took Mitch
Trubisky they could have had Patrick Mahomes. It’s just
there’s a lot of could have have
he needs to make that. Could have haves go away. And it
starts week one. You can’t lose
that game to JJ McCarthy in the home opener. That’s very
intriguing to me. Intrigue it’s
Caleb. It was a real Debbie Downer moment in the first hour
on the show. And Kyle disclosed
to us that the giant or the commanders played the Eagles in
Week 16 and 18. That’s a long
wait. I like the fact that these two play each other week one
Monday Night Football. It’s
perfect. So we will have at least some semblance of an
answer, and we’ll move forward
with that, as we will the next is more likely to happen,
though, since we also saw it
last year with the rushing record, single season receiving
record being broken or the
rushing record being broken. Rashad, you go, yeah, I’m going
to go with the rushing record. I
think the rushing record has a better chance of being broken
than the receiving record. And
don’t forget, last year it could have been broken had Saquon
Barkley played in the last game
he elected for health reasons. They wanted to continue their
rush as as it all panned out,
they won the Super Bowl. But he decided not to play in the last
game. And mind you, they were
dominated in so many different games. I saw him being taken out
at the end of the third quarter
and did not play. He only missed it by like 100 yards. So I
think, you know, it’s lightning
in the bottle a little bit. Saquon Barkley though. He’s a
genius with the ball in his hand
I think he can repeat. Then don’t forget you have Derrick
Henry who’s always rushing for
2000 yards and getting close. And he he has the most incentive
this year with Adam Sandler
saying that if you run for 2000 yards, we’re going to put you in
a movie. And that’s a cool
thing. So I’m going with the rushing record. Yeah, I like
what you just said, Rashad. And
you know, the Eagles were great because of Saquon Barkley. But
I’m going to I’m going to say
the passing record. And the reason why I’m going to say a
passing record mean receiving.
Yeah. Receiving records. You got it. Thank you James. Yeah you’re
welcome. The reason why I say
the receiving record is it’s a passing league. Now there you
go. Like they want to throw the
ball. And not only that but you mentioned the Eagles. There are
only two teams in the NFL. Maybe
three going with the Chargers that really want to run the
ball. Like that’s their primary
focus. Even those teams they want to have A2A2 back rotation.
You have the Thunder or
Lightning combination whatever Alvin Kamara Mark Ingram like we
see that in Detroit. They want a
two back combination. So I think that the passing record has a
better chance of being broken.
And specifically by that man who just said it. Jamaar Chase, in
order for you to break a record
like this, number one, you have to have a quarterback that can
throw you the ball, and you have
one of the best for Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow. You also
have a have to have a wide
receiver. Two that is good enough to be a wide receiver.
One why is that important?
Because you want to have somebody who’s going to garner
the attention of the defense.
You don’t want what Justin Jefferson had a lot of times
last year where a defense can
double you. That’s that’s going to take you out of that
equation. And Cincinnati has a
defense that has struggled last year with keeping points down.
So you’re going to be in a lot
more situations where you’re going to have to pass the ball
and create points. So to that
point, I think the passing record will be broken first. And
specifically, Ja’Marr Chase
could be the one to break that. I think it’s receiving record as
well. These records are broken
in the last week of the season, or the last second to last week
in the season, and you get the
Saquon thing where it’s like, not only are they running backs,
they’re carries are way up.
They’re probably getting ready for the playoffs. They try to
get the carries down as much as
possible. The Saquon thing is exhibit A about why it won’t
happen. Because if you’re on
that good of a team having that good of a season, you’re going
to the playoffs. And one of the
greatest decisions Nick Sirianni made last year was not playing
Saquon and not feeding him. And
he took a lot of crap for it because it looked like Saquon
was really disappointed about
it. He made the right decision. It’ll be the receiving record
and by the way, it’ll be the
receiving record because listen, we’re going to go to 18 games.
We’re going to go to 2020.
Someone’s going to have 3000 yards at some point because the
season is going to be so long.
But until then, Calvin Johnson will always be my true leader.
1964 yards in 16 games. That’s
the guy. There’s the sign. Look at that young lady. She’s on the
gmfb this morning because of
number 81. That is my leader. It’s Calvin Johnson at number
one. And when someone breaks it
in a 17 or 18 game schedule, big old fat asterisk. In my opinion,
it’s perfect because you have to
Kyle’s point there’s mile mental health a priority. All
right, the MVP of the NFL from
the Buffalo Bills got married over the over the off season.
You know that very happy for he
and his wife Haley. They get married. They were pictures.
There’s a celebration. It’s
everywhere. It’s a wonderful thing. But you know what so many
players got married this
offseason. In fact I can’t remember seeing so many
announcements of players getting
married this offseason and specifically big impact
household name type players. So
in an era where we measure everything about athletes, can
we possibly measure the effect
that getting married has on those athletes on the field? I
say this as a guy who’s been
married 15 years this fall, getting married can change your
psyche, your sense of self, your
sense of responsibility. But can it change you as a professional
football player? Ladies and
gentlemen, we have done the research and I’m here to tell
you the results are profound.
And I have several exhibits, and I will have a conclusion at the
end. Let’s get into this. First
player, George Kittle, married in 2019. He married his wife,
Claire. They were together at
Iowa, of course. Apparently he spent eight months in the friend
zone. She played basketball for
Iowa. He played football and eventually they got married in
Ginsburg jewelry store in Iowa
City, Iowa, the local jewelry store. They just showed up and
did it. April 2019. It’s a
beautiful couple. It’s a beautiful marriage. The
following season, George
Kittle’s first season. I don’t know what’s going on there. He’s
about to pour the beer in her
mouth. But first season as a married man. 2019 season George
Kittle for the very first time
is first team all pro above Travis Kelce, who was second
team all pro best season of his
career, first as a married man. They go all the way to the Super
Bowl. Kittle is unstoppable.
Let’s get rolling. Max Crosby Max married Rachel in March of
2023, in Boulder City, Nevada.
They were a specialty cocktails named after the couple’s three
dogs, Leo Brooklyn and Dirk
Bruce. Buffer from the UFC introduced them. Wonderful
marriage. The following football
season, Max had a career high in sacks. He led the NFL in tackles
for loss. He was dominant first
season as a married man. He’s having career highs. You’re
going to hear that a lot next.
Courtland Sutton, Broncos wide receiver. He married Brie in
June of 2023, in Cabo. Current
and former Broncos attended. Russell Wilson was there. Von
Miller was there. How does he
play? First season as a married man? Career high. You better
believe it. Career high in
receiving touchdowns. Caught more touchdowns in this first
season than he had combined in
the previous three seasons. Courtland Sutton as a married
guy was fantastic move on
another wide receiver, Davante Adams. He married Devon back in
2018, his high school
sweetheart. They married at Pebble Beach. Derek Carr was
there. Rodgers was there with
Danica Patrick. It was so long ago. DeVante gets married next
season out that fall. Career
high in receptions and yards in touchdowns. He had never had
1000 yards receiving as a single
man. Gets married, goes for 1386 and is probably the best wide
receiver in the NFL. You call
that a coincidence? I call you naive. Next, Zach Ertz Zach Ertz
married Julie in March of 2017,
in Santa Barbara. Lane Johnson was there. The legend Nick Foles
was there. Darren Sproles was
there. So he gets married. There’s Julie. The very next
season Zach Ertz did something
called winning the Super Bowl. He also made his first career
Pro Bowl. That’s not only it
guys. Dual pronged in this one as Zach’s winning the Super Bowl
in his first season being
married. Julie is named the 2017 US Soccer Female Player of the
year. Both Ertz family both
married. Ends of the marriage go and they get on the field and
dominate. Keep going. Jared Goff
married Kristin in 2024, in Ojai, California. Quote I’m the
luckiest guy in the world
because I get to spend forever with you. Guess what happened
next in this fall Jared Goff
career high in passing touchdowns. Career high in
passer rating. Career high in
wins. Doing it all as a married man. I’m telling you, we found
something here. Move on, Trey
Hendrickson, let’s pull from the headlines. Trey married Alissa
back in 2020. They met on a
cruise ship way back in 2013. Alissa, a female former figure
skater, highly educated in
health care. They get married. Gorgeous ceremony there by the
water the next season. Guess
what? Career high for Trey Hendrickson. He was a saint back
at the time, 13.5 sacks. At that
point. He had had far fewer than that the previous three seasons
combined. And now Trey
Hendrickson is amazing out of nowhere because he got married
next. Patrick Mahomes Patrick
Mahomes marries Brittany in 2022, and Maui Travis Kelce was
a groomsman. They had a bride
cake, which is carried in red velvet, and his groom’s cake,
which was cookies and cream. I
would go with that one. He marries Brittany in March 2022,
the following football season,
his first as a married man. NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP leads the
NFL in passing yards. Second
Super Bowl ring. It’s all coming up daisies for Mahomes as he
throws a double pass. They’re
off the field. Usher Super Bowl 58 halftime performer usher.
Usher was married to Jennifer
just a few days before his Super Bowl 50 halftime performance. He
gets married a few days before
he does a performance on roller skates. He does. You don’t have
to call. You got it? Bad
confessions, part two. Then he drops an album. He becomes one
of the top selling R&B albums
over five years, nominated for a Grammy just days after getting
married. Guys, you might say,
oh, what about all the guys who got married and didn’t play?
Well, we looked. I couldn’t find
them. I’m telling you, it doesn’t exist. And that brings
us to this season because check
out this crew, all of these guys on the back of this car right
now are the ones you want to
watch to test this theory. All of them married Jalen Jordan.
Drake, Josh, Josh, Aaron,
Travis. My empirical data says that these guys will all not
only have good seasons, not
great seasons, but career high seasons now that they are
playing immediately after being
married in the off season. This is all positive. It’s a
wonderful thing. Next week,
maybe we’ll do what happens the first season after you have a
baby and see if that’s as good.
Probably not. But for right now in the NFL, for better or for
worse, for richer or for poorer,
it is better and it is way richer. I’m very happy for you
young kids. Go have a healthy
give you a hand on that one. Holy smokes. Give you a hand.
Well done, well done. Listen, I
was struggling with who to pick for my MVP this season. Kyle.
Just the back of that car right
there with the tin cans hanging off the back. Now I have my
pool. Now I have my suspects
that I have to pick from because if the data shows it and tees it
up that clearly, then that’s all
I need to know. And frankly, if I’m looking for an offensive
rookie of the year or defensive
or both, I might be looking right there at him for the
Jacksonville Jaguars. Man, I
just wrote on the card I know guys I know prediction week
struggles. I just everybody in
that little graphic right there I put all of their names on I
took a lot of notes guys. And I
love what you just did KB I’m a testament to that. Kay I got
married, my daughter came next
documentary came after that. Son came after that, then Gmfb came
after that baby. We just went on
the incline after I got married, so I. I concur, I love it, man.
Listen, as somebody who desires
to be a premarital counselor, I love everything that you just
laid out, man. A peace and a
home creates and produces a powerful man. And I think you
see elements of that. It allows
you to frolic and discovery of what you’re made of, rather than
just what you’ve been training
for. And so, yes, it opens you up. I love it. You’re a
premarital marital counselor.
Yeah. That’s a desire always. Yeah. Wow. That’s a segment in
and of itself right there, Kyle.
Well done. Did you win an Emmy after you got married to Brooke?
No, but things started to happen
in my career, and we had a wonderful year together. And I
started moving up in the ranks
and in production and radio and media. It all went well. Listen,
I’m not I’m not just joking
around here. I do think there is something very, very important
about an athlete’s home life and
his his sense of self and being calm and supported and settled.
And you just there’s so much
nonsense out of your life and you focus on your family and you
focus on the field. I do not
think all those results I just showed you are a coincidence.
Very happy for those guys, very
excited for the crew in the back of the car because I’m telling
you, we’ll do this segment in
December and I’ll be like, look at this. The married crew all
crushing it. Those guys could
all be in the playoffs this year, a couple of them in the
Super Bowl, who knows. But until
then, drag those cans and we are very, very happy for all of you
and everybody else who’s getting
engaged and married. It’s a guest is gearing up for. And
when I say this I had to do like
an old lady. Look at my paper. Am I saying this right? You’re
seven in the NFL, the defensive
tackle for the Tennessee Titans that is ever so potent for this
team, making tough tackles off
the field as well with his tackle overdoses now campaign.
It’s our friend Jeffrey Simmons.
What’s going on. Let’s go. Come on baby. Good morning big dog.
Great to see you. You are
glowing. And perhaps it’s because you are basking in your
time off season from camp. But
it’s we are at the doorstep of year seven for you. First of
all, did you do you at times do
what I just did about your own self, which is I can’t believe
this is year seven for me in the
Professional Football League. Oh, definitely. Pretty much
especially I want to say like
the last two weeks, getting ready to get ready to go to
camp. As I know I’m gearing up.
I’m talking to my trainer like, bro, like this is year seven
already. Like every, every day
you wake up, it’s just like time flies and you know you never can
take it for granted. You know,
I’m thankful and grateful just to be able to still be able to
play this game. So we all know
the lifespan of an NFL. Well, I would say span of an NFL athlete
and, you know, make it to that
second contract and to make it a year seven it’s a blessing and
it’s one of the hardest things
to do. So I’m grateful. Absolutely. And listen you guys
have the number one pick overall
in cam Ward. I’m high on him. He has not been getting the
attention he deserves throughout
the whole entire off season, but you’ve got a chance to see him
up close and personal. What are
some things that you’ve seen from him that you’re excited for
everyone else to see? You know,
first off, you know, I think that our team, Tennessee Titans,
never get the respect and
attention we need. I never seen the number one pick overall,
never get the respect. And you
know, quite frankly the attention that he deserved, you
know went to I went to minicamp.
And you know first off I met cam for the first time. It was at a
private birthday party that
Saturday before the minicamp, the week before minicamp. And we
met and of course, we were
talking a little smack. Then I was like, I heard you been
slicing the guys up. You’ve been
talking smack. I said, I’m going to bring that to you too now.
Like, I talk smack. But, you
know, we started there and then just to be able to get that
relationship with him off the
field, you know, we chopped it up for a long time. You know, we
talked about fishing the things
that he liked to do off the field. And I think that’s what
mattered the most for me is
especially young guys trying to gain that relationship with guys
off the field to make them feel
comfortable. We know that cam Ward is going to have to play
football for us this season, and
it’s my goal and my job to, you know, help him out. You know,
going into year seven, I think
I’ve been the longest tenured Titans, you know with with
Tennessee. Just to try to make
him feel at home from a vet. You know, it’s crazy to say that now
that you know year seven a vet.
But you know, it’s been it’s been unbelievable with his you
know I’m sure you guys saw it.
But cam Ward went to it was in minicamp and you know it was out
to play. We stopped him I think
I ended up getting a sack and all of a sudden we’re talking
smack. And Corley give him the
dang play. And I’m like, you know I’m still talking smack to
him. I’m joined because that’s
my game. Like, I want to talk smack too. I want to get in your
head. It didn’t faze him. You
know, he’s still talking smack while Corley getting the play to
him. Still talking smack. Kelly
getting the play. He giving the play to the offense. Still
talking smack to me. And I’m
like. I give him the play. And literally when he gave him that
play that came through the line
the next play, when he after the smack talk, he threw an 80 yard
bomb to Kevin Ridley. So that
just the swagger that right there showed me like we got us
one. He’s he’s a legit and you
know and I think where we at right now with like I said him
not getting enough praise. And
like I said who knows who is not known with the number one pick
overall. Don’t get the attention
and the praise that he deserved. But I think that’s a chip on his
shoulder. You could tell the way
he goes about his business, his swagger, his demeanor, demeanor.
I like this is going to be one
of the ones that, you know, we I’m excited to see. I’m excited
to get back to camp with him
next next week, to be more around him and to learn a little
more about him. But man, it’s
been unbelievable to get to know him. We will be going fishing.
We’ve been talking a little
smack to. To fill with fishing. I don’t think nobody in that
locker room catfished me, but he
he think he can. So we’re going to make sure we get that test
one of the off days during
training camp. Dude, you got us fired up. That was an
incredible, incredible
monologue. An infomercial and story about this rookie. But you
know what? Let’s let’s spend all
of our time talking about some fifth round Cleveland Brown is
going to sit on the bench. No, I
love cam Ward. I think this is awesome. I love that you got
into that. But dude, I got to go
to the D-line room because I love Tavon Sweat. We do
something here called Angry Runs
where we send out Scepters and we talk about dudes running
people over, and we’ve sent a
lot to the Titans. Will Levis won one. Derrick Henry won like
20. I’ve never been happier than
to send it to De’vondre Sweat for doing what we’re going to
show you. Let’s just queue this
up. I want to see I want you to take me through this play
because it made me so happy.
Roll the video up to Andre Sweat last season getting the angry
run. Go ahead, take us through
this, Jeffrey. So I remember this play because I almost I
should have had a sack on this
play. If you guys go back, you go back and you see me beat the
breaks, the guard and I swipe
the guard so bad and sweat was on the center and he left sweat.
And as that play goes on, I see
Harold Landry coming around and I’m like, Harold. And got him a
sack because that was kind of
the play made him drew up play. But when I seen I love to go
ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Yeah.
As you see at the top I beat the guard. You see the center come
all the way back across the
screen. Yeah. And yes, I’m seeing Harold, I see Harold come
around. I’m like, that’s a sack.
I’m about to get ready to celebrate Harold. And I’m like,
the hell. I sweated and took the
ball and just took off running and all I’m saying, like, in my
head, like, go, big man, go, go
go, meat loaf. Yeah. Like it’s one of those things where, man,
I did not I did not expect that.
I did not expect him to run that far. I knew he was in, you know,
a lot of people questioned about
his shape. This right here showed that he was very in shape
because I think it was like a 5
or 6 play drive. And, you know, that was unbelievable to see.
You know, we of course was happy
for him and we gave him a lot of stuff for, you know, the
excitement that not just he had,
but man, everybody in the locker room to see a big man move like
that, especially the stiff arm.
Another offensive lineman, another big man like that. That
was very impressive. And you
know that that’s that’s what I’m excited to see with him. Like
you know as you said like the
D-line room. That’s that’s just a play one play. You know sweat
have so much potential. And, you
know, it’s my job to keep trying to bring everything out of him
that, you know, I know he have
inside. You know, he’s a guy that been working his tail off.
You see how that looks so small.
It don’t even like I can’t even really tell. But man, that’s
he’s a big kid that, you know,
love the game. And I’m excited to work with him and get back to
training camp with him for a
year or two. Jeffrey, I love what you’re all about because
the way you tell that story, you
could have said under my breath, I was saying, get down, get
down. Don’t cough the ball up.
Instead you’re saying, go, big man, go. That’s the kind of
support you provide your
teammates, but you’re also doing something like that off the
field. You’re helping to tackle
an opponent that far too many people are battling with across
the country. And this is known
as the opioid crisis. How did the Tackle Overdoses Now
campaign come to be, and what
inspired you to get involved in this way? Well, I would say it’s
a, you know, a it’s called fun
recovery. As you can see to my far right on that picture, Saint
Ryan Cain and I think they
started fund recovery, you know, to tackle overdoses. Taco. You
know, to raise the stigma, to
raise awareness towards overdoses and drug drug abuse.
So I think at the end of the
day, when they brought it up to me, you know, it was just like I
was I remember going to a couple
of different events they had. It was like a couple charity events
that they had trying to raise
money and raise awareness to it. And I’ve been my first time
going, you know, I was I think I
was maybe a year or three. And I remember going there and it was
just like, man, this, this is
like touching, you know, because it’s not just because, you know,
we know the game of football can
bless so many people. It’s saved so many lives. You know, you
hear stories about guys, you
know, saving lives just by the game of football. And but it’s
like when we don’t use that
platform off the field to be able to really touch our
community. I think that’s also
sometimes raise eyebrows and be the problem. So my, my plan and
my, my goal is always to use my
platform no matter where it is. You know, my foundation is
supported and I want to support
the youth, but it’s also around for me personally. How can I be
a light no matter where that
category may be, and fun recovery, of course. You know,
they asked me like, how can I be
a part of it? You know, I was asking them, how can I be a part
of it? And, you know, they came
up with this thing where it’s called taco overdose. And then
that’s it’s kind of one of the
things where, of course, the game of football tie ins, we
know how much football mean to
the state of Tennessee. We know how much football mean to this
world. So it was like one of
those campaigns where it’s like, okay, we can really take off
with the taco overdose because
of course, making tackles, whatever. And one of the biggest
things that I told him, like,
you know, during the season, if we could, you know, how can we
match that? How can we match the
money that didn’t earn? So it’s like things like, I make ten
tackles a game, whatever it may
be. How can I match that with with the Titans or whoever it
may be? So I think at the end of
the day, when they brought it to my attention, I was like, man,
I’m excited for it. Let’s take
off with it. I think it’ll be big. And you know, our first,
first one that I was a part of
was in Fentress County, Tennessee. We did a ribbon
cutting where with the vending
machine. I don’t know if you guys know much about it, but the
vending machine is free. Narcan.
You know, people overdose. And I tell everybody, no matter if you
own it, no matter if you, you
know, know someone or no matter if you don’t know someone, you
just never know. You may end up
running across someone who need his medicine. And I tell
everyone, even when I was down
here, this picture right here in Jackson, Mississippi, I was
like, just take one. You just
never know. You may run across someone who need it. And you
know that. Just the biggest
thing about it, man, I just how can I help with my platform to,
you know, make this bigger? How
can I help, you know, save another life, you know, just
never know who life I can help
change. I mean, save by promoting this and being an
advocate of it. So like I said,
the one down there in Mississippi, that was the first
one. And it was it was my idea.
I was like, man, we need to get one of these down in
Mississippi, you know, because
I, we did the one in Fentress County, and then we did it right
there on Nashville. And then I
was like, I think it would be a great idea to go to my hometown
and do it. But it was like, you
know, we were talking about it was like we they were like,
ready to put one in Macon,
Mississippi. And I was like, you know what, man? I think Jackson,
Mississippi would benefit from
it more than my hometown. So we ended up taking the Jackson,
Mississippi. And, you know, that
was Jamie. I’m happy platform. So it’s incredible. I think what
you touched on here is what’s so
important with problems like this, when we use the word
crisis with health issues, is
that you have to provide accessibility for people, and
that’s what you’re doing with
your tackle. Overdoses. Now, Jeffrey Simmons, your
storytelling impeccable. Your
tackle game elite. And we love you for it. The Tennessee Titans
look for him come in not only
Jeffrey Simmons thank you for joining the show but also his
brother on the line in his angry
running friend De’vondre Sweat and one of Kyle’s favorite
players that makes the angry run
look small. Could have been a sack. It was not. Instead, it
was stamped postage for the
scepter to the Tennessee Titans flag chase something.
Superhuman. They can’t defend
him. I’m sorry. He’s covered. Even when he’s covered, he’s
open. Look at that big boy.
Spike. That. Can’t stop him. Cannot stop him.
I don’t even know how I did
that. The greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Touchdown,
Rob Gronkowski. Oh, that’s the
best bike of the year. Imagine you left your job one day and
you said I don’t even know how I
did that. That’s how this guy would get down. One of the
realest dudes ever a national
treasure. And he’s the host of the Dudes on Dudes podcast with
Julian. Let’s get him in here.
What’s up Gronk. How are we doing baby yeah Kyle how you
doing man. You’re always
bringing the juice to the table no matter what time of the day
it is. Man I respect that of you
man I love it. It’s the truth. We all love you too. It’s
awesome that you’re here. We got
a lot to talk about, Rob. Everybody this morning across
the country is talking about
Shane Gillis, the comedian who did his monologue last night at
the SBS. He did a lot of
different jokes, some on the line, some over the line, but he
definitely had some Coach
Belichick content. What is it like Rob in this era now where
everyone’s making jokes about
coach and what he’s doing off the field? Like, what is that
like for you to watch as someone
who played for him for so long? Man, it’s shocking in a way,
because of just how uptight of
an organization that I was a part of and how we just kept our
lips sealed, you know,
throughout the whole journey, you know, when the New England
Patriots dynasty was alive, you
know, other way, in other ways, you know, it’s fun and it’s just
all just being lighthearted. But
I’m excited for Coach Belichick to see what he does at UNC this
year. I think that’s most
important. I think he’s going to have some, you know, tricks in
his pockets to, you know, shut
everyone up and get put all the attention back on football
because that’s what he really
loves to do. But Shane Gillis, last night I was chilling with
my friend and I was like, oh,
the ESPYs are tonight and Shane Gillis is hosting it. I was
like, we got to watch the
opening because I know the opening monologue is going to be
fire! It’s Shane Gillis. And I
was more than happy that I put it on because he absolutely
dominated and he was on fire,
and he did such a great job. It was. It got people talking,
dude, and I knew you wouldn’t
miss it. We also have been talking Gronk about the podcast.
All right. So you and Jules you
recently interviewed the boss man Robert Kraft comes on the
pod. And when you guys asked him
about his best decision he has made as an owner of the
Patriots, he had this to say.
And we have a clip dudes on dudes. What was your best
decision that you’ve made as an
owner to date? Getting Bill Belichick to come to the
Patriots? I gave up a number one
draft pick coach who had only won a little over 40% of his
game in 1999. It was a big risk,
and I got hammered in the Boston media, but I think we did okay.
All right. So Rob, you get this
great clip. And then coach now has a response to it in which
Bill Belichick says, as I told
Robert multiple times through the years, I took a risk by
taking the New England Patriots
job because everyone told me it was going to come with many
internal obstacles. We’re going
to have to change everything. It was a really good response. What
do you make of Mr. Kraft’s
statement and then coach’s response, you know, with Mr.
Kraft’s statement statement? I
don’t think there was any animosity towards what he was
saying. He was just kind of,
generally speaking, that it was a big risk. I feel like that
because he was taking Coach
Belichick, who was just hired as the head coach from the New York
Jets, and he was taking him and
stealing him. And that’s really never been done before. And that
was a risky play. And I feel
like he was saying it kind of in a more general way of that’s why
it was a risk, not anything
against Coach Belichick, just the way that it was done. And
then with Coach Belichick coming
back and saying that it was a risk for him to take the job,
well, I mean, he was just firing
back. I feel like because I feel like he took it out of context
of what our K.K. Said. But it’s
a risk in any job that you take and miss. And Coach Belichick,
he loves to be hands on, and he
kind of loves to make sure that everything is run and the
organization, how it needs to be
run, you know, in the right way so he can coach and develop the
players and on the football
field. And he did an excellent job. And it couldn’t have been a
better match from the get go.
But Gronk to your point, I love this era that Belichick actually
had something to say about the
quote. And it wasn’t just like I’m not sure I didn’t catch
that, which I think there was a
time in which we would have heard coach do that. Now Mr.
Kraft obviously still at the
helm in New England, and he had a tough decision to make to move
on from a first year head coach,
to bring Mike Vrabel back into the system, into the fold, into
the organization that you know
and love so well. What do you think Vrabel has to do now to
get this thing back to an era in
which that was as successful and try to match that, that you had
going with the Patriots? Yes.
Well, I think Mike Vrabel is doing an excellent job so far. I
mean, you really can’t question
any of the moves that he has done this year in free agency
and in the draft. I think they
smacked it out of the park. What we really got to see now is how
Coach Vrabel can bring this team
together so they can have that chemistry to go out and play
together as a team and go out
there and win games and possibly have a shot at making the
playoffs and winning the
division. And if not winning the division, at least getting a
wild card so they can compete in
the playoffs. That’s what he has to do. He has to bring this team
together because all the moves
in the offseason have been done in the draft and free agency.
Maybe they’re going to make
another splash, you know, before the trade deadline because they
have about $5,060 million left
in spending. So they’re going to maybe go out and make a trade,
you know, to amp up a position
that they need that they need to progress at, you know,
throughout the season. But other
than that, he has been doing such a great job and you can’t
really question him yet. And you
got to just see how he does once the season hits. No doubt.
Vrabel an old Pats legend. Gronk
let’s talk about another one. You know who’s on fire right
now. Tom like Tom. He’s got a
million business ventures. He’s all out there doing his thing I
see him on yachts. He’s showing
up at places. He always looks happy. Never mind what’s true
and not true about his personal
life. Rob if someone were to call you, let’s say it’s a Sofia
Vergara or Sydney Sweeney or
anybody, and they call you and they say, Rob, what would be
your advice on dating Tom? Like,
what should I do? What should I not do? What would you tell him?
Oh, that’s a great question.
Well, first off I would just say congratulations. You landed one
of the most handsomest men of
all time, who is in better shape and better looking than when he
was playing the game of
football, which is pretty remarkable. But there’s one
thing I would say is just to try
and keep, you know, your dating life with him a little private,
you know, don’t be out there. He
likes to, you know, get to know you first before anything hits
the market. I like that, Rob, I
like that. Well, you you referenced what you liked about
the Patriots and what they did
in this off season, especially with the draft. And we know the
story of your draft night. And
last month we had John Robinson as a co-host on this show on
Gmfb. And he shared his
experience of the very moment New England chose you. Let’s
take a listen. Bill finally
gives me the thumbs up and there’s like, 20s and Nick’s
calling the league to make sure
the trade goes in. And I said, Jimmy, you got it. And he goes,
I got it. Rob Gronkowski, tight
end, Arizona Jimmy takes off sprinting. He gets the card into
the table with like two seconds
left. The Baltimore rep is standing right there. He turns
in his card at the same right
after our. So our pick is in. You know we jumped ahead of
Baltimore. We had 42. Baltimore
was immediately on the clock at 43. And they were ready to pick.
We get Rob Gronkowski. They take
Sergio Kendall a linebacker out of Texas. They thought we were
clamoring up to get Sergio. We
thought they were clamoring up to get Rob. So obviously we kind
of know the story with seeing
that in that perspective. What kind of thoughts come to mind?
Yes, the New England Patriots,
we’re playing chess while the Baltimore Ravens we’re playing
checkers right now. And you
know, it was one of the greatest things that happened to me.
Actually, it was the greatest
thing that happened to me in my career was at the New England
Patriots, drafted me and traded
up for me at the 42nd pick, because I am pretty sure that
the Baltimore Ravens were going
to select me with the 43rd pick. But I appreciate New England
stepping up and showing how bad
that they wanted me, that they were willing to trade up for me.
And Mr. Robinson, thank you for
looking out for me, and thank you for believing in me and
trusting in me. It was just an
honor to play for the Patriots for nine years that I was there
and win three Super Bowls, baby.
You always put it so eloquently, Gronk. And for them to trust you
is one thing, but for T-Mobile
to trust you is another thing. For the second year in a row,
you’ve teamed up with T-Mobile
for their Friday night 5G lights competition. You were on last
year talking about it. Now this
year, they’re adding even more star power, and they got you to
recruit one Patrick Mahomes to
be a part of this competition. What’s this all about? Yes.
Well, Friday Night Lights is
back and it’s bigger and better this year. Last year, Enola High
School in Oklahoma won the grand
prize was about $250,000 to remake your your high school
football field and remodel it.
And now this year, it’s bigger and better. The grand prize is
$1 million. On top of that,
Gronk Fitness, my family’s brand, is going to make over do
a remake over of the whole
entire fitness gym. So it’s going to be all brand new. These
kids can work out and stay
strong, just like myself. And just like you guys on the NFL
network. And there’s also going
to be 25 finalists that get $25,000 as well just to upgrade
their facilities, which is super
cool. So it’s my second year doing this campaign, and I
recruited Patrick Mahomes to
join me this year to represent the campaign. And if you want
more information on how to
register and how to get your school involved to possibly win
this grand prize, you can go to
Friday Night Lights. Com your major competitor. Man, every
time I see you competing in
something, I think we compete in in basketball, at some point
we’re going to have to compete
in some pickleball man. But through this competition, you
get a chance to witness teams
come together in communities across the country for Friday
Night Football in a good time.
Now, I got a question, though. What’s been the biggest
experience for you this far that
you will take away from this opportunity? Oh all right.
That’s a great question. It
really is. But I’m doing this campaign since it’s for high
school. I mean that’s where my
football career started. So it brings back all the memories and
joy that I had throughout my
high school time. I remember one of my good friends, he’s about
five, eight, 180 pounds, and he
was our defensive tackle on our high school football team. So
shout out to La Dukes. Shout out
baby. Just a guy that has no fear. And 180 pounds at
defensive tackle. Just you got
to laugh about that. That’s just incredible. And all those good
memories that you have. My high
school quarterback still claims I owe him $1 million, because I
actually left my high school in
Buffalo and went to my high school in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. And he said he
claims I ruined his career and that he wasn’t getting scouted
anymore. So I am $1 million to
this day. I’ll pay up. I will pay up one day. One day. Rob,
what’s that guy’s name? Shout
him out. Five star Damon. Yeah, he called himself five star.
That’s awesome. And that’s what
we will know him as. 5 million plus interest. 1.5 million
building. It’s going to hit the
Venmo I’m sure. Rob, it’s really cool that you’re doing this. I
know even the greatest pro
football players ever always look back so affectionately at
high school football. And you’re
perfect for that. Friday night five G lites.com. You stuck the
landing on the pitch to Gronk.
Thank you so much. We love you. And we’ll see you soon man.
Awesome. Thank you guys for
having me. You’re the man. Brother take care brother. See
you later.