Trey Hendrickson Negotiations, Which Team deserves More Prime Time games and Jordan Poyer Joins GMFB

00:00 – Intro
03:53 – Which matchup are you hoping to see Week 1?
15:25 – What do we make of Trey Hendrickson’s comments on contract negotiations
26:52 – Favorite International Experience
38:29 – Which Team Deserves More PrimeTime Games
54:10 – Safety Jordan Poyer recaps his 2024 season with Dolphins

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Not just any other Wednesday,
though, you think? Oh, midway.
We don’t care. No, we do care. Because in about, I don’t know,
15 hours we get to find out what
the schedule is next season. There’s life before the schedule
and there’s life after where we
get to make plans and get to know our teams and our games and
look at these guys at the table,
a bunch of former players that tell us exactly what it’s like
to find out where you’re going
and how you’re traveling there. Mitch Morse staring at me from
across the table. He’s still got
beef with the tush. Push. No he doesn’t. I don’t. I swear, I
don’t. This is Lawrence guy new
to the table. A Super Bowl champion and a 13 year NFL
veteran defensive tackle.
Welcome in. Thank you. And, Marcel, what’s going on? How are
you doing? Great. How are you?
It’s great to see you. I like the champagne, too. Thank you. I
know I feel like a realtor
today. Welcome inside. I want to sell you a house on Gmfb. Come
on, let’s go. Come on. Football.
That’s exactly right, everybody. How you doing? Marcel, Mitch and
Lawrence, I’m Jamie Erdahl. It’s
schedule release day. This is a thrilling day because we get to
find out where your team is
playing next season. The team that you hate. Where are they
going? When are they coming to
town? You got to buy the tickets, and you got to figure
out how you all are going to get
to the postseason. Now you have seen some announcements trickled
out here and there. It’s all
very complicated. It’s very confusing. We want to break down
exactly what we know so far in
terms of what’s been announced and what we are looking forward
to tonight. So we shall begin
with Thanksgiving. Let’s go all the way to our first major
football holiday, Thursday,
November 27th. This is where we know Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy
Wolfson are getting the CBS
Paramount Plus treatment with Chiefs Cowboys. Holy Hannah,
that’s what’s happening in Jerry
World on Thanksgiving Thursday. Now, games announced so far in
the 2025 season, you’re looking
at a handful of major games again. The Cowboys, despite not
making the postseason last year,
they’re kicking off the season with the defending Super Bowl
champs. That is a divisional
matchup that is week one on Thursday night. This is how we
start the season. Week ten
Eagles. They’re also getting a great treatment and deservedly
so. Week ten they travel to
green Bay. We just found out this Chiefs Cowboys game and
then Bears at Eagles. That is
second. That is November 28th. That is the Black Friday game
actually on Friday of
Thanksgiving week. We keep rolling. This is late December.
Now Fox gets a tasty little
doubleheader on December 20th with the commanders and the
bears hosting the Eagles and the
Packers respectively, and then the Chiefs again. What’s going
to happen in the AFC West Prime
Video trickling out their games? This is the Christmas Day. I
think there’s going to be
Netflix games and Prime Video games. It’s just all the
streaming services on a holiday.
It’s a great way to spend with your family. Come with me, Brad.
Let’s go get your passport.
We’re going to where we are going to look at where you’re
going to travel to or where
you’re going to wake up for. Set your early alarm clock on a
Sunday next season. The Vikings,
for the first time ever, are a team that are going to go back
to back games. The Jags have
done it before, but in two different countries. They got to
go to Dublin to play the
Steelers, then stay overseas and face the Cleveland Browns. These
first two in London are at
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This guy is going to be played at
Wembley. The Rams getting ready
for that major round the world trip in 2026 to Australia I
believe. But first they’re going
to try it on for size. Going to London. Berlin hosting its first
ever regular season NFL game
with the Falcons and the Colts. And then, for the first time
ever, a lot of firsts. It’s very
exciting. Madrid, Spain Jayden Daniels and the Washington
Commanders going to play Tua
Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins in Madrid. That was
really fun. And no one tripped.
No one fell. Now we know what we’re doing. So a handful of
games have already been
announced. I love you, you did great work. Okay, back to the
table. How’s everybody doing?
Well, how are you? That was remarkable. Somebody else say
something. What matchup are you
looking forward to seeing? Marcel? I’m looking for. Listen,
I’m looking at the Viking pick.
You’re just looking all around. What’s the schedule? So many
things going on I’m looking at
the Vikings and they’re international. They’re staying
over. They’re playing in two
different countries and everyone’s like they have to
travel so much I know. But in
the Vikings defense they’re four and zero overseas. When they
play overseas they’re four zero.
They play well over there. They’re staying over. I’m
looking forward to seeing them.
Their new quarterback who is still a rookie J.J. McCarthy.
Yeah. And it’s your Vikings
actually er I mean nothing is more mine than the Minnesota
Vikings at this point. I know
that’s that’s a good point about J.J. McCarthy that you can have
all the sleep doctors you want
and the science behind how you travel and whatnot, but the
young man has never done it
before. So the fact that the Vikings have to stay over there
for two games, is that going to
blow your mind if you were on a roster like that? Yeah. No it’s
not. I’m going to speak my mind.
That is terrible. Oh no, not for the game. Not for the game. Go
go NFL. My thing is just not
only are you playing two games overseas, you have to change
hotels. You have to go get on
another flight. Of course, it’s not that far, but it’s still
something. It’s still another
variable thrown into something that’s already a coach’s
nightmare, which is trying to
corral a team, keep everything with some bit of normalcy. Yeah.
And the players I mean, I
remember we were driving the, you know, because you take this
flight that’s about seven, eight
hours, you take your NyQuil nap, you wake up and you know,
there’s the novelty of just
sitting there and you’re on the different side of the street.
You’re seeing stuff. And then,
you know, guys are whispering about how we’re going to go out,
grab some beers. And me, who’s,
you know, the never a beer in your life pretty. I was going to
say I’m pretty prudish, pretty
prudish, going out. And then you’re trying to keep some
normalcy. It’s a work trip. All
these things. Long winded way of saying that there’s just so many
things that can distract a
football team. So it will come down to the coaches and the
support staff for keeping the
normalcy. Yeah. When normalcy is not, it’s nuts. I’m on the
opposite end of the spectrum.
Like, let’s travel, let’s get something new. Let’s just go
play football. Lawrence, the one
that we have found out in terms of the kickoff is the Eagles
Cowboys Is there a week
one game that you are most looking forward? When I was a
kid, that’s what I had to watch
consistently. And I’m like, hey, I really don’t want to watch it
no more. But we understanding
that’s coming off that injury. We understanding that Philly’s
coming off that Super Bowl win.
Now. Are they going to continue that run and try to go for a
repeat. Or is that going to come
out there and surprise everybody. Like we’re going to
knock down the Super Bowl
champs. My shoulder is fine. We’re going to make this amazing
adventure. Can they get back to
being the American team as they see in the last couple of years?
They have some iffy ups and
downs. Seasons haven’t won the playoffs, but can they get to
the point where they’re at? And
I’m going to say this I don’t like overseas travel. Like like
I said, it’s terrible. So I join
you that that back to back it’s great. But when you have kids I
got four little ones for me to
go overseas and my family can’t come. That means I’m calling
every night. We’re on two
different time schedules. Like, why don’t you read me a story?
I’m like, can I read it to you
in German? No, that’s a good point. So when you were a kid,
you were watching the Cowboys
growing up, and now we are still trying to convince people that
that is what the team that you
should be watching in prime time, because the Cowboys are
getting some great games early
on that we know. Is there a game that you haven’t seen yet that
has been announced that you are
truly looking forward, that you would want to see, like get the
answers done off the bat? Week
one you want to see this matchup. I want to see the
commanders at the bears. Oh, a
Hail Mary rematch. Oh nice. That is what I want to see. And I
want to see it early because
commanders are a better team, but better teams get knocked off
early on in the season because
especially when you’re driven by your offense, you need to build
that continuity up until you’re
a well-oiled machine. So I think that game, that matchup early on
in the season presents. I mean,
so many really good storylines. Seeing what Caleb Williams looks
like, a revamped Chicago Bears
team, starting from the from the coaches on down with Jayden
Daniels led commanders team with
Dan Quinn over there and Bobby Wagner and seeing how they can
just reinvigorate that, that
same spark that they had from last season. Sure. That makes
sense. Well, so this makes me
feel a little bit worse about what I’m saying because all that
sounds like you’re sold. I’m
sold for me. I want to see the Texans at the Ravens. Okay,
okay. It wasn’t the most fun
game to watch on December 24th, Christmas time for those
players. It was 35 to 2 matchup.
No one watching it or playing it was probably having that much
fun. Except of course, the
Ravens. But for me, yes, it was a run it down your throat kind
of game and nothing was going
right for the Texans. And they’ve had a few key pieces
leave. I mean, for me, I think
Laremy Tunsil, an offensive line guy, but you bring in weapons
like Christian Kirk, you bring
another tackle in like Cam Erving. I think it’s just going
to be an explosive game. Two
Titans at that quarterback position. We were talking about
Titans at quarterback position
yesterday Lamar Jackson I would love to see what C.J. Stroud
looks like in year three. I
think he’s going to make this monster leap. So give me that
game and let’s just watch the
fireworks go off. That would be excellent. The Ravens have kind
of a spicy list of opponents
between their home and away. They don’t have spicy. They
don’t have to go abroad this
year, which they have done in years past. But the fact that
the Ravens have to I just had it
pulled up. Take on the bears as you mentioned. But there’s a
Packers, there’s an NFC North
list that the Ravens have to go through, which I think is a real
test for a team like that. All
right. Let’s spin it forward as well to a Sunday night game. We
all love the Mike Tirico
treatment that NBC gives. But it’s week one. It’s Sunday
night. And again these two
teams, Marcel, have been given the we bestow upon you the honor
of the first primetime matchup.
What do you got for us? I mean, I think I have to go Chiefs and
Bills. Oh I mean that’s good. At
the end of the day we we’ve seen them so many times over the over
the last few years in the
playoffs. And we look forward to that. Let’s see them early on in
the season. Let’s see what it
looks like. And I reason why I say that is there’s a high
probability that we’ll see them
again in the playoffs, play against each other. And if we
see them early on in the season,
those two games are vastly different all the time because
they’re two very well coached
teams. They have very, very good quarterbacks and they are,
again, well oiled machines. To
your point, I think getting that game done early because like so
say you these matchups happen
week 1415. And then the turnaround in the playoffs are
not so forth. Talk about how
much a team changes week one to week 17 or 18. To see that go
down would be great for me. And
I’m sure like you guys, you see the rumor mills on Twitter. It’s
hard not to dive in. I’m putting
that to the side. What I want to see is I want to see Seahawks
hosting the Los Angeles Rams,
and I want to see Cooper Kupp. Have a little bit of fun. And
year nine at the opera House of
Lumen Field place would be nuts. The Seahawks faithful are going
to be screaming I mean the Rams
are one of the most consistent football teams in the NFL is. As
much as you want to say anything
about, you know, whatever you want, that’s that’s for the
couch potatoes to discuss. But
for me, I want to see Cooper Kupp show these folks that he’s
still got juice in year nine
coming out doing those forearm workouts where he’s yakking all
that stuff. So let him cook and
have a good time. Those are one of those games when that rivalry
game going back to your old
team. Oh God. That’s when you look at him like where did he
play for last year? Like, okay,
you know this is going to be a big game for him. For my pick
myself, I’m going do the Bills
and Bengals. Both burrow and Josh Allen know how to make big
plays and consistently you don’t
know when it’s going to happen when the team needs to score a
touchdown. Joe makes it happen
when the team needs a big play. Josh is out there. You don’t
know if he’s out of bounds
inbounds. He’s just flying through the air. You’re just
like, can we hit him into the
end zone tonight? And with the roller coaster that the Bengals
went on last year, every game is
exciting. You don’t know. So if you’re a fan and you’re like
what game do I want to watch on
a Sunday night. That’s it. I want to watch that. The Bengals
have notoriously not jumped
September quite well. Usually we’re like, what? What are the
Bengals we got to get to October
1st. We got to figure them out. Lawrence, if you were finding
out your week one opponent
because you played for some great organizations that had
great division rivals and the
Ravens and the Patriots, would you prefer to play a division
opponent in week one, or would
you would test the waters, maybe on a team that’s just randomly
in town? Well, you want to test
the waters. You want to get an idea when you get a divisional
opponent, I want like at least
three games into it. The three games I have identity. What
you’re going to do from last
year to this year, we face an opponent. You really don’t play
much. You’re like, I’m going to
go off of the following year. They got a new head coach. Now
if they got a new head coach
it’s a different dynamic. Like what are we going to get? But
when it comes to those rivalry
games and the division, once you get 3 or 4 games in, that means,
hey, I get to go out there and
hit you as hard as I can because I know exactly what you’re
doing. It’s a copycat league.
Yep. To Lawrence’s point, I mean, that week one, when you’re
trying to game plan for a team
and they do have a coaching change, you have no idea what to
look at. Your coaches are
throwing in. Well, this is what the defensive coordinator did at
this team. You’re watching other
teams film and then you’re trying to get personnel and you
got to pull. Personnel say they
have key additions. You’re pulling it from another team.
And then the truth of the matter
is they show all the stuff in preseason. They don’t run a
single bit of it. So like you
said, the first few weeks, you want to get those kind of molded
out, get the identification of
your team and the heartbeat of your team, and also kind of get
a little bit more of what the
other teams are doing. Marcel had a good suggestion. Mitch, if
you if you saw Chiefs Bills week
one, who would you be cheering for? Why? Why? Because it’s the
job of the person that sits in
this chair to ask the questions. Yeah. God. Okay. So we’re
currently selling our house in
Kansas City. So I still have a few weeks to live there. And I
don’t want to get mugged outside
of my house. That being said, it would be hard not to root for
the team in blue just the time
on task spent the you know, I still have a lot more guys that,
you know, still camaraderie,
fellowship in that, in that building. There’s just been so
much turnover. That’s just a
it’s a real, real clutching your fists and like because I’m
scared, I’m scared. I gotta sell
this house. I don’t want to make people mad at me. Still a few
weeks. That being said, I
wouldn’t take away from the fact that watching these games versus
these two teams, especially not
having like a true dog, and I’m not playing for any of these
anymore. It is one of those
things. It’s cliche and you’re going to say like, don’t say
this, but I’m just looking for
everyone to have fun. A good football game. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. You don’t like that.
Classy. Go sell it to a Chiefs. Sell it to a Chiefs fan who
wants you out of town. Maybe
it’s like a reverse psychology effect. Now that you just said
I’m going to cheer for them. I’m
not that smart. All right? We’re all going to be a lot smarter
tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. When
we find out the 2025 schedule. all have a better story to tell.
Take control at ready.gov.
I think if you worked on a major news network, we’d call this an
ongoing situation with the
Cincinnati Bengals. Yesterday on Good Morning Football, we talked
about if we agreed with how the
Cincinnati Bengals are handling this Trey Hendrickson contract
negotiation situation Wednesday.
The first team All-Pro showed up at minicamp but will not
participate. And he had plenty
to say about why. Just a little bit transpired between me and
Zach. We’ve tried to keep it as
less as least amount personal as possible, but at some point in
this process it becomes
personal. You know, being sent 30 days before mandatory camp or
however many days it is that if
I don’t show up, I will be fine, alludes to the fact that
something won’t get done in that
time frame, like the meetings that we’ve had prior to. Right.
I have a tremendous amount of
respect for the ability to be in in meetings with them behind
closed doors and what was
conveyed of the vision of what I would be in this organization
would be if I continued to play
at the level I am, that the door would be open to continue long
term discussions about
contracts. We’re just not seeing eye to eye on the structure. It
seems that a shorter deal is
something that they are pushing pretty hard. Then next year
we’re just kicking the can down
the road to say, I’m going to sit out or to say, I’m not going
to. What I can say is I’m very
disappointed with the communication that’s been had.
Time for. Roundup presented by
roundup for lawns. Those are strong words from Trey
Hendrickson to say that this is
what the team is alluding to, kicking the can down the road
and then to have different
scenarios. But what he really wants to say is that he is
disappointed. How do we
translate these comments? What do we think? I think different
than I did 24 hours ago, after
seeing how the situation is developing. After hearing his
words, words are important. And
Trey Henderson is a smart guy. And when you’re timing is
everything in the in all of
sports, when you’re talking about contract situations and
negotiations and the timing is
obviously off on this, I would say that the Cincinnati Bengals
made a massive mistake in how
they’re handling this situation. Trey Henderson, on the other
hand, is doing everything with a
purpose is seems up until this point, he’s disappointed in the
communication and he obviously
feels like he was deceived. I’ll say in some way, shape or form
in the communication from last
year to this year, the Cincinnati Bengals have a
problem on their hands. It’s
going to either cost them a lot more money at this point, or
it’s going to cost them a game
wrecker in their defensive end, a star defensive end that they
have on their on their football
team. Well, that interview was interesting to me. He was
dressed like he was about to go
play some golf right after and then. Rectifying the situation
is what we talked about 24 hours
ago. It seems that you couldn’t be more of an opposite situation
right now. We went to see a guy.
What Marcell said. Trey Hendrickson did not mince any
words. He said he was calculated
in what he was doing. He is frustrated and you need the guy
on all cylinders. Week one with
a fat pocketbook, feeling like he’s been compensated to what
he’s owed. And that is a lot of
money, dude. Figure it out. We’re getting to a point where
it’s make or break with this
thing. Sure, the season doesn’t start until September 1st. We’ve
been saying that for a while on
this situation and nothing’s getting done. In fact, it seems
to be getting worse. Please, Zac
Taylor, don’t make it personal. And something I know we’re going
to talk about is a very personal
thing. In these contact contract situations. Keep the one guy in
defense you have extremely
happy. Yes. No kidding. I agree with you. I’ve been a part of
these contract talks before and
my situation. I’ve missed many camp in year 13. I love that.
Like I’m like, hey, it’s year
13, I’m missing this. This is what’s going on. But when you’re
in those conversations, you’re
going off of somebody’s word, right? If you got told if you
perform a certain way and you
did that and succeeded that performance, you should be
obligated to the contract
extension that you got should get. But we can’t also forget
this is part of his family.
Also. He just had a child, right? Where is your where are
you going to raise your child
for the next couple of years? You want to know this? You did
the trade aspect. You know what
he’s worth. That doesn’t mean you’re going to get traded. Now
they know what your value is.
And do you really hold somebody to that one year contract or do
you keep your word. And that’s
why I here when I, when I hear him speak like the word is not
being kept. And the biggest
thing is when you get told, hey, if you miss minicamp, you miss
you’re going to get fined,
right? We all know what the fine is. I felt the fine personally,
but it’s to a fact with if
you’re going to say, hey, this is it, say this is it, this is
your last year, you ain’t going
to be here next year, then fine. That’s it. If you like. Then
trade me. If it’s not trading
me. Okay, let me move my family out and understand why I’m going
to raise my child for the next
couple of years when he says, you know, things got personal.
Do you? Is that how you’re
translating it? Is that you take it personally? If someone
verbally implies something and
doesn’t live up to their word, which part of this feels
personal? When you’re going
through this? It’s about when you’re having a conversation.
Whoever it is, the GM, the head
coach or the owner when they’re saying, hey, if you perform to
the level that we think you’re
going to perform, you should deserve this contract extension.
That means you’re giving me your
word. Don’t go back on your word that what makes it personal,
because it’s about families. At
the end of the day, our families are here. We’re sacrificing to
play this game every single week
for you and for the organization. Compensate me.
What he did last year was super
impressive. I was there for a cup of coffee. I got to see the
experience. He deserves every
bit of what he what he’s asking for and they should do it. You
can’t lose a player like that
after Sam retired. He is that next leadership in the locker
room. Listen these the game of
football is an interesting one, especially at the professional
level when it comes to the
family environment. Coaches are going to preach that. Listen the
teams are the tightest that
treat each other like family, are the ones that are going to
have the most success. And to a
point I think that’s the case. But this is a business and the
nature of the sport. I don’t
know if it’s the camaraderie aspect of it, or maybe because
you throw that family piece into
it. Things get personal. As much as you like to sit here, I can
sit here and say, listen, I
understand it’s church and state. There’s business in this
and there’s not. When someone
says you’re not worth something, or they ask you to take money
away from your family and
question it, maybe to just yourself, question the kind of
player you are. The visceral,
guttural reaction is personal. And I mean, I don’t think Trey
is a visceral, guttural guy. I
think this has been something that’s been dwelling and kind of
a culminating of stewing. That’s
a great word for that. I went through a little bit of
something not quite to
Lawrence’s deal, where I got asked to take a pay cut, and at
first it was definitely
something that hurt my soul. But then you look at it, you take a
step back and it made a lot of
sense. This instance is not that. Yeah, this is something
you have to rectify. And I can’t
say that enough. I have my few words that I say every day.
Rectify is going to be the word.
Today I had a different experience for me. So when I was
going through my contract
situation for the second time, well, really, both times with
the Raiders I had a different
type of personal relationship, first with Al Davis, then with
Mark Davis, and I knew that I
could trust their word and have confidence that we were going to
get something done. On the other
hand, when you’re talking about getting personal, because I’ve
been either player side and also
on the executive side, there are times during those contract
negotiations where you start to
be compared to other players around the league and on your
team, and at times it can get
personal by implying that you’re not worth a certain amount of
money or a certain value. And it
seems to me, and this is me from the outside looking in, that
Trey is very involved in his
contract negotiations with his agent. I don’t know who his
agent is, and he may have heard
about some of those intricate details that are being spoken
about how he’s being compared,
how he’s being compared, whether it’s to the other side of the
ball on his team and how they’re
being valued, and a lot of that money being thrown around or
even to other teams. Maybe it’s
Max Crosby with with his deal or Myles Garrett with his deal and
the value that they’ve been
shown. So I think that the, the, the personal, the personal
issues that he’s talking about
and that he, that he alludes to in his interview could be could
be a little piece of that. Trey
Hendrickson is known as we have described him several times.
He’s a star on the Bengals
defense. And I look elsewhere at a name that we continue to say,
when is this contract coming on
a star on a defense, which is Micah Parsons, and they don’t
play the same position. I get
that, but in terms of singular player impact on a defense, I
you it must be infuriating if I
put myself in that scenario, whether you’re in Dallas or
Cincinnati, because you’re
seeing seams everyone else on your team, for example, a pair
of wide receivers get paid right
in front of you, and it’s just like, where is the investment
going? You can’t be a lopsided
team. Is there some part of the rage factor that comes in with I
am a at times, Trey Hendrickson
is a singular pillar holding up this Bengals defense. Just
invest in me. What’s that about?
How does that make one feel if you’re seeing your team spend
elsewhere? Well, let’s think
about it. Like when you when you know what you mean to the team,
right? We shoot it like that.
Every player in every locker room knows who you mean to the
team would you bring to the
table? And when you see your other teammates get paid, you’re
happy. Like, I’m pro player.
Like I want every player out there getting paid, get the
money from the owners. We have a
short time in our careers to get it right. That’s just the bottom
line. So you’re happy for them.
But you have to also understand, like, when is my turn? What do I
have to sacrifice more to get
what you told me I was going to get? So you’re happy for your
teammates. You’re cheering them
on. You’re testing them. Congratulations. But when is it
my turn? Sure, that makes sense.
Four of his eight seasons, he’s had double digit sacks in the
last two years. He’s had 17.5
each season. Jamie, to your point, there are a few players
where the position is irrelevant
to when it comes to their contract. When you’re talking
about players like Myles Garrett
for the Cleveland Browns or Max Crosby for the Las Vegas
Raiders, Micah Parsons for the
Dallas Cowboys, Trey Henderson for the Cincinnati Bengals.
They’re on the defensive side of
the ball, but it doesn’t matter. They are pillars like you said.
And that’s the perfect, perfect
word to describe these types of players and the impact that they
have on your team, on the field,
on your locker room and also in the community and your fan base.
So you have to pay them as such.
We’ll be right back on Gmfb. But Lawrence, you said he had a
child recently. He’s ready for
parenting. He’s using words like, I am disappointed in this
current situation. I’m not mad.
I’m just. I’m just frustrated playing three in London, one in
Brazil, Ireland, Germany and
Spain. We’re going several several countries. The Vikings
for the first time ever, two
games in two different countries staying over in Europe. So it’s
Whiteboard Wednesday time.
Lawrence, Mitch and Marcel never done the whiteboard before. So
everybody just write your
answers down. And the screen grab of infamy is how this is
going to work. All right. Your
favorite NFL international moment from the time that you
were playing is Marcel. You go
first. Show em to the people. Oh, and I’m going to go with
hosting the skills clinics for
the youth, for the youth, for the youth, for the kids, for the
kids. Awesome, dude. But the
reason, the reason why is it just energizes you because they
have so much love for the game
that they don’t necessarily understand, but they just know
it’s fun, they know it’s
skillful, and then you get to have fun with them, and they get
to get to meet Marcel Reece
while they’re over there, too. Is yours just as wholesome?
Mitch? It’s well, that’s a great
question. No. Mine is. Party on the plane. Party on the plane.
There’s nothing worse than
losing on the plane. There’s nothing better or nothing worse
than losing internationally.
Yeah, nothing better than winning internationally.
Regardless, we’re going to sneak
into the duty free zone and just look around the first few hours
of something being passed
around, and we’re all super sober by the time we land. Yeah,
well, my rookie year, this is my
rookie year, of course, because, you know, of course it is. No
one does that anymore, but no
one does it. My buddy Laurent Duvernay-tardif, an actual
doctor, Canadian Canadian great
football player, McGill University was studying for a
giant exam because we used, you
know, back then teams would usually have their bye weeks
after. So I’m sitting there with
this book I can barely read, not just because of my stupidity,
not because of my quote unquote
sobriety. Sure. And I’m quizzing him on this giant test for about
four hours. It was a it was a
partying on the plane. You helped a soon to be physician
study for a med school exam
while partying on a plane, on the way back from an
international game. Yeah, well,
the greatest sentence that’s ever been said on this show, it
was a it was a debauchery. It
was. Did he pass? I think he’s still doing it. So that’s great.
So yeah, he’s got the letters
after his last name. Lawrence. What do you got? Let’s start
off. I got the bootleg version.
Oh, no. Oh. Trade pretend what it is. Oh, there we go. There
you go. Okay. They got me now,
so mine is meeting the fans. And I’m going to do my. Don’t mind
my handwriting. You know what,
Lawrence? I’m already your answers for you. Yeah. My
handwriting is my handwriting in
the food. My big boy moment. The food there, when you look at it
like, hey, you get to meet all
these new fans out there, you never knew they were supporting
your team. They know everything
about you, and you can see the culture with the food. And it
gets into it like the food is
different overseas. Oh, if everybody’s been there, somebody
has a chance. It is different.
It doesn’t fill you up as much and you can enjoy. I say you can
eat more over there, right?
That’s true. The more bang for your buck, way more bang for
your buck. It is true about the
fans. I think very rarely, especially later in anyone’s
career. Can you have an
appreciation for like, this is the first time someone is seeing
you or your team and like having
that. It’s not just a season ticket holder, it’s not whatever
it’s like. That is a one,
perhaps once in a lifetime experience that they get to sit
and watch 100%. Like, how many
times does a fan get to enjoy their favorite player that they
watch so much on those late
night TV show? Like it’s one of those experiences you got to
enjoy, like from player to fan.
It’s a joyful experience. All right, go into your Rolodex now
guys that you played with or
played against or played for. Second whiteboard question you
use my whiteboard. Okay. We’re
not trying to treat you like a bootleg version. It’s okay. I
got the swap meet version. Yeah,
yeah, you use the real one. The iconic series American Gladiator
is getting a reboot. WWE
Superstar The Miz will be hosting on Amazon Prime. Oh my
gosh, ten year old Miz is
screaming about this. So American Gladiators, if Kyle
Brandt were here, he’d be able
to list off 17 different gladiators. I can’t do that. So
I know you understand. Zap.
Apparently. Is somebody the player or coach that you would
want to see now compete in
American Gladiators is as follows. Marcel. Man, this is a
hard one because we can go with
a ton of people. Myself, Mitch and Laurence included. But I am
going to go with a fullback in
Lorenzo Lolo, Neil. Now listen, Lorenzo, before he was a soon to
be, hopefully a Hall of Fame
football player, was a all state and national champion wrestler,
and he would crush this in
American Gladiators. And I think both of you are probably too
young to have actually seen
American Gladiators, because I can rattle them off to whether
it’s turbo Sky or anyone else
that was in this series, but I think we should do it. Lolo get
get Lolo back in a singlet and
tackling the civilians and stopping them from putting the
balls in the cans. Speaking of
singlets, we might we might not want to put this great man in a
singlet. Don’t let him fool you.
I want to see big Red. Yes, I want to see big Red. Listen,
don’t let the facade fool you.
This man is a killer. He puts on a stoic face, but he’s got an
exuberant personality. He’s
going to find a way. Someone told me the other day that Andy
Reid is two weeks ahead of
everyone else in all facets of life. And that was, first of
all, super slick. Yeah. And
spending a minimal amount of time with him for a few years. I
say there’s nothing more apt to
describe the man. It would just be must see television. I love
Andy Reid in general, so he he’d
wear a singlet too. Really good. What is that passing kicking.
What is the singlet? Yeah, look
at me like that. You just said I have never seen the show. What’s
a singlet? It’s like a is there
a is there a single. Do we have a single. Is that like a
leotard? Wrestling. Wrestling
like there’s no shirt underneath it. And it’s just like yeah man,
yeah man. Top. And it just like
looks like a tank top man. Top like a tank top. But men wear
it, man. Top leotard but for
leotard but for men. And like there’s, there’s shorts
involved. Understood. Singlet.
Singlet, singlet. Keep it to the coaches though. Right. We’re
gonna keep it to the coach
motion. We’re going to do Dan Campbell. We look at it we
risking everything. My man’s
riches everything. Like hey should he kick the field goal?
We’re going for it. That’s just
what he is known for. I want to put no other person in a
situation like that. He might
sacrifice some people during the competition, but he will be the
guy for me. I thought you were
joking with his. His penmanship. No, no, it is what it is. Two in
a row. No, it’s perfect.
Actually, I was going to help him, but I actually think it’s
authentically Lawrence guy, and
I’m not going to. I can understand it. It’s legible.
Don’t let him look here. Ish.
It’s legible. You see these fingers? These alignment
fingers? All my fingers are
bent. Look, when they say, hey, how do you play in the trenches?
This is it. Every finger is bent
in a certain way. It is what it is. At this point, I think it’s
a great answer. I do. Dan
Campbell is like, I’m going to put Penny Sewell out and try to
convert on third down with my
right tackle, catching a pass out the right side. And he also
will take a man down apparently
in a singlet. Man we need a third coach. How do you compete
in American Gladiators one on
one or there it is. There’s one. Can you imagine? Can you
imagine? Yes, yes I can. That’s
turbo. Is that turbo? Oh my gosh. Whiteboard Wednesday we
are. We have never missed Kyle
Brandt more than talking about Singlets and Dan Campbell in a
singlet. And I will not do the
voice. It’s not going to happen. There it is on Gmfb when we
return. Good job everybody.
First Whiteboard Wednesdays. times over in 2025. I made a
joke that I looked like a
realtor to start this show. Now I feel like a flight attendant.
This is what we’re working with.
Teams have to board planes for upwards of ten, 12, 15 hours to
go play these games. We have a
little exercise we are going to play on Gmfb. We have created a,
as some would say in TV, a
graphic, and we have placed various characters throughout
the NFL in seats on a plane. And
if you are flying to an NFL international game, you have to
pick your seat. For example, if
you wanted to just go with the single chair seat partner, you
could sit on the left side. This
was my idea. I think I’m just nuts enough to pick seat five
and sit next to Tomlin and
Harbaugh. And if you don’t want to see a single daylight of
armrest, you’re going to pick
seat eight between Myles Garrett and Chris Jones. Those are your
options. Kyle Brandt would only
pick seat one. Kyle and I approached the airplane very
differently. He doesn’t speak to
people. Mascots don’t speak. I do talk to people. Lawrence guy,
you have 90s to get all three of
you in. If you had to pick a seat, what you got? I’m picking
three for one. I’m going to be
next to one of the smallest people. Okay? For two. He’s a
quarterback, right? Most likely
he’s going to go to seat five. So now I got two free seats for
myself. You’re a genius. That is
genius. Well done Lawrence. Well done Mitch I’m also going to go
the aisle. I’m going to pick
seven because I’m going to get some fashion advice. As you can
see, I need it from these two
folks, and my prostate’s going to make me get up and down about
five times to go pee. Oh, I
turned 30. It was just a nightmare. Brilliant. So me like
Kyle, I’m going to go with one
for different reasons though. I have seniority over blue so I’m
going to make blue get up and go
sit by the other person who likes to dance. Travis Hunter
number two. And I’m going to
have the bulkhead seat with two seats all by myself and have
enough room and not be bothered.
I like it. And also, if blue is bringing that pie of whipped
cream that he smacks people in
the face with, he’s probably going to do it to a divisional
opponent. That’s a that’s a
genius idea. Oh my gosh. So sorry. Sauce and Patrick and no
one’s messing. No one’s sitting
next to Bijan. And who would ever choose to Senate seat
eight. Why would you do that.
See this is just a terrible. That’s terrible, I guarantee you
on that. Kansas City Chiefs
playing Chris Jones has an aisle to himself. Oh without a doubt.
That is brilliant. All right go
online. Tell us your NFL us. You’ve got great stories.
This is day three. Our jokes and
our sarcasm are only getting worse and worse. How are we
feeling? Yeah, no, the prostate
thing was a little bit of a push, so we’re going to keep it.
He actually said the word
prostate last hour. It happened. Gmfb. We’re rolling. We got a
guest this hour that we got to
look forward to. Plus I’m holding shot sheets. We have
highlights from games from last
season. I’m stressing out. Let’s go roll the open. Come on. Good
morning football. Don’t be so
far away. Come back. Come back and listen to Gmfb. We have
games to talk about. We have a
scheduled release event that is happening tonight, 8 p.m.
Eastern on NFL network. You will
find out the entire slate of games. That being said, we have
had some teasers, some
appetizers, if you will, of the games, we know that there are
seven international games
happening. We’re still going to find out the Friday night of
week one and the rest of the
week one slate. Also, there are certain teams, certain games,
certain matchups that get that
extra special treatment each week, and those are your prime
time games. So we are going to
play a little game called Prime Time Showdown, where we are
going to pit pairs of teams
against one another, and then we shall debate ourselves in a
friendly manner, because we
don’t yell and scream at each other on this show. That sweet
prime time spotlight. And who
deserves it more in that circumstance. So we start with
our first two teams. Who is more
deserving of more prime time games? I’m talking quantity over
quality at this point. The
Dallas Cowboys or the Washington Commanders. Marcel Reece, you go
first commanders. Without a
doubt. Without a doubt there are better football team. They had a
better season and they need to
be they should be rewarded for that. Okay, Lawrence, I agree
with you. I’m right there with
you again. Great watching the Cowboys. Kind of tired watching
the Cowboys on prime time TV.
And they have done so much in the last season how far they
went with their rookie
quarterback. I think they should deserved it. They earned it.
Let’s see what they’re going to
do this year. Where’d you grow up? Lawrence Vegas. You grew up
in Las Vegas. And your dad, you
said your dad is a Cowboys fan and he, quote unquote, made you
watch the Cowboys growing up
100% in every time I play the Cowboys, I called him like, I
know you want me to lose, but it
might be different. Or I’m like, hey, that’s your favorite
quarterback. I’m going to try to
hit him as hard as I can. Oh my gosh. And how did that go with
your relationship with your dad?
Great. What did he say? His favorite word I don’t love them
I love the team that you’re on.
I’m like, okay bud. I said, why do you got a Cowboys jersey in
your in your house? You’re like,
well it’s different. I said, all right, it’s different. It hits
different. All right. So you’re
going commanders as well Mitch. Well I don’t think there’s going
to be much of a debate this
first round because I’m sure the analytics people Cowboys are
America’s team. But the
commanders deserve it. It’s I mean go off of last year go off
of Jayden Daniels electric
offense. The defense led by Bobby Wagner you had talked
about earlier. It’s just a no
brainer for me. You guys ever been driving down the road and
people are like, oh, you explain
to your kids like why is there traffic? And you’re like, it’s
the Gawker effect, right? Like
the Cowboys are America’s team. They are the Gawker effect.
Okay? They have a new head
coach. They have a quarterback they have seemingly invested in.
They did not make the playoffs
last season. And when they do make the playoffs, they always
trip and stumble early in
January. Without a doubt, the Cowboys will have more primetime
games than the commanders this
year, because the three of you are approaching this with sound
logic and lack of emotion.
You’re like, commanders are better. Therefore, the Cowboys
will get more primetime games
because people want to see this thing unfold. If it goes great
with George Pickens, great. If
it doesn’t, that’s great TV. I mean, it’s inevitable it’s
happening. Okay. You can’t all
say the same answer. We got to. We got to. Represent. No, we
can’t hold hands sideways. We
can’t all be right. Prime time showdown next matchup. Bengals
versus the Broncos. Who deserves
more primetime games when it comes to these two logos.
Marcel. Listen, I will never
pick the Broncos. Oh you hate the Broncos. It just it just
won’t happen. Sure. Right. But
in all seriousness the Bengals. The Bengals are going to be must
see TV. They need to get this
situation with Trey Hendrickson, figure it out and get their star
defensive end back in the locker
room and on the field. But this offense is going to put up
numbers. They are lighting up
scoreboards. They have their two wide receivers back with with
Chase and Higgins. And Joe
burrow is that guy. So they’re going to be fun to watch. Okay I
feel like we’re agreeing on
everything at this point. I’m right there with you. Again, the
seven close losses that they had
last year, it makes it worth watch TV. So why wouldn’t you
put that team over the Broncos
again? I’m not a big Broncos fan. I was part of that Omaha
game with Peyton and I was like,
what is Omaha really mean? Is it a one, two, three? The change?
So that’s one of those things is
the Bengals deserve it? They’re a fun game to watch. It’s
consistently something that you
want to tune on, tune into. And for the bettors out there who
doesn’t want to sit there and
bet on that game? That’s a good point. I want to contradict you
guys. I do, but I won’t. So the
Bengals, I just won’t. Joe Burrow in this offense are fun
to watch. NFL you want fun
matchups. You want fun games. And if they can catch a little
bit of that spark they had going
into the back half of that season where not a single team
wanted to play that group, it’s
going to be electrifying to watch on the TV. Guys, what are
you doing? You’re making me now
have to pick the other option for the fourth time in a row,
so. All right. Fine. The Denver
Broncos have a Super Bowl champion head coach in which the
team had to trade for and pay in
order to retain his services in the Gawker effect category.
We’re going is there going to be
a sophomore slump with their quarterback? We have to figure
out what Bo Nix is about, and
you have the reigning Defensive Player of the year and Pat
Surtain in a Broncos defense.
That could be awesome. Again, I think the Broncos should have
more primetime games because
Cincinnati Bengals, especially the way they’ve not been shot
out of a cannon in the last
couple of seasons. Usually this their Septembers are
infuriating. We can’t figure
them out. And if they don’t have Trey Hendrickson out there or if
it’s uncomfortable, this is not
a Bengals team that is going to, as the TV executives would say,
deliver in prime time. I think
Sean Payton is meant for the prime time. In fact, didn’t he
do something crazy last year? I
believe it to be for the first time ever, where he opted into
playing a short week for a
second time in a season when the Prime Video folks called him up
and said, hey, any chance we
could flex your game into Thursday night? He said,
absolutely. The more prime time,
the better. If a head coach is doing that, then I think the
Denver Broncos are going to
deserve more prime time matchups. What I mean, listen,
it’s your fault. You’re all
saying captivating storylines, although some of them are pulled
from last year. Yeah, I know, I
mean come on, you’ve been there a year already. That was my
whole thing to come on. Okay,
this one I please, for the love of God, have different answers
because this is a really
challenging one. More primetime matchups, bills or Ravens.
Marcel I, I struggle with this
one. Yeah. And it’s good. It’s going to be it’s going to be a
cop out answer. And I think it’s
a draw. No no not allowed. No judge and jury not allowed to
draw. You have to pick one okay
I’m going Ravens. Good I’m going Ravens because they are that
good. Like they’re that good and
they’re going to be great. And we know they’re going to be
great all the way through the
regular season. And the only thing that they have to prove is
that they can get to the Super
Bowl and win a Super Bowl. They’re going to be fantastic
all regular season as long as
they stay healthy. So I have to go with the Ravens. I agree, I’m
a little biased, right? I play
for the Ravens, so it is what it is. I played against the bills
for so long, but when we come
down to it, I love watching. Zach was a teammate of mine.
He’s a great defensive
coordinator. I feel like that Ravens team is going to keep
taking us to the next level. We
saw what they did when they had Kimmy there. We saw what Lamar
was able to do. They’re going to
continue to succeed. They’re improving on their defense.
Calvin is over there doing
amazing work. Coming off a great season. I see them on prime
time. I want to watch them play
every single game. I would actually agree with you with
your neutral answer because it
is hard to pick, but I’m going to go with the Homer situation.
Let me watch the reigning NFL
MVP do stuff that most quarterbacks can’t do. Yeah.
That being said, on the flip
side, Lamar Jackson did say the exact same thing about the exact
same thing. I’m I mean, just
think about when these two teams played last year, twice in the
regular season. The Ravens took
it in the postseason. I mean, must see football, which could
have gone either way on that
catch. Right? Like we all our hearts are broken for Mark
Andrews. He’s an amazing
football player. But you just watch plays like this when
flicking in the snow. Yeah,
Lawrence hates playing in the snow up there. Can I tell you
the truth? We do too. It’s cold,
but it’s a party. Every time the Buffalo Bills play. And I think
what they did to get their
defense situated up a little bit in this offseason is going to
make for a much more complete
team when they can hopefully make that push and get over the
hump and hopefully make a Super
Bowl. I like that you said complete team, because that is
kind of what people insult the
bills with, which is just like your Josh Allen and what else
are you? So the fact that the
defense is you’re a complete team, therefore you’re going to
compete with everybody and
challenge everybody. But I would probably go with the Ravens in
this one. The Lamar factor is
awesome. The Derrick Henry piece of this. How did we not say his
name this entire time. And the
Zach or storyline was awesome. Last season I believe he was the
youngest coordinator at the
time. Perhaps still is as the as the defensive coordinator for
the Ravens, but now they have
Malachi Starks on that defense. They’re moving Kyle Hamilton all
around and they’re going to have
a new kicker. Like I like the Ravens part of this in prime
time. All right our last
matchup. This is not teams. We’re going individual players I
know and no ties no equal I
can’t believe you tried to do that on this show. The audacity
of Marcel Reece. All right
Saquon Barkley or Patrick Mahomes who will have bigger
primetime performances. Saquon
Barkley 26 or 15. Mahomes I’m going to say Saquon Barkley.
Listen I’m a running back right.
You go to Saquon Barkley. But from a from a football
perspective, I don’t think
Patrick Mahomes is going to have to put on his Superman cape as
often. Saquon Barkley is the
identity of that Philadelphia Eagles team. And if you don’t
believe that he’s the reason why
they won the Super Bowl. And not that it’s not a team game, but
he’s he’s a tone setter and
everyone needs a tone setter. He takes pressure off of everyone
in that locker room, by the way
that he approaches his business and plays the game. And every
time he touches the ball, you
hold your breath because you think something special is going
to happen, even if it’s a one
yard gain. He ran someone over to get that one yard. So I’m
going to go with Saquon Barkley.
And it’s not an indictment on Patrick Mahomes. I just don’t
think he’s going to have to be
Superman as much. Well when I look I can’t disagree with you
I’m picking Mahomes. But what
when it comes to Barkley we know what he’s able to do. He with
that team in in New York. He’s
going to be that team in Philly. But I’m going with Mahomes
because this might be the last
dance for them. They might be the end of that Super Bowl run.
It’s very difficult to continue
to go back to Super Bowl, the Super Bowl to Super Bowl. I’ve
been to two Super Bowls in a
row. It’s hard to do that, and I feel like this might be Kelsey’s
last year. And if it is, they’re
going to come out here and put on a show and they’re going to
do everything they can, and
especially on prime time, you got to come back and say, can we
go to the four time? Both of you
guys have tremendous points. On Saquon Barkley’s playmaking
ability, super man powers when
he was holding that rock dude, he was making those amazing
plays. I was there when he did
the reverse hurdle. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in
person. And then you think
that’s got to be the highlight of his of this year, game after
game and the biggest moments,
what did they do? They feed him the rock and he makes these
explosive plays. I mean the
third player, the second play of that commanders game, he just
takes off on a tremendous run.
That being said, Patrick Mahomes has showed time and time again
that when his number is called
excluding I mean, listen, the Super Bowl this past Super Bowl
was just an anomaly on all
fronts, in my opinion. You have to prove to me that he can’t do
it in the biggest moments
because he has time and time again. Wait, all that about
Saquon. You’re going with
Patrick Mahomes. That’s right. Yeah that’s right that’s right
that’s right. All right I’m
going to ad lib one. So everybody has to come up with
this answer on the fly okay.
There’s two coaches in the NFL that are returning to being a
head coach. And at times when
their teams were elite in the Tennessee Titans and the Seattle
Seahawks, they were getting
handed a lot of prime time games. But now Mike Vrabel and
Pete Carroll are back wearing
headsets. But for two different franchises in the New England
Patriots and the Las Vegas
Raiders, they both play within divisions, for example, the
Chiefs and the bills, where if
that other team is getting prime time treatment, maybe they get
slid into a prime time matchup.
Which head coaching return to the sideline are you more
looking forward to in prime
time? Is it Mike Vrabel or Pete Carroll? It’s Pete Carroll
obviously for you. Yeah, I’m a
Raider. I also play for Pete in Seattle for two years. Okay I
think the storyline is
fantastic. Pete’s a great leader. He energizes the locker
room. They have the perfect team
for him, and he’s one of those coaches that that has a certain
demographic of player that that
feeds off of him. And I think that locker room is perfect for
him. It’s the perfect time for
him. I think Pete Carroll and Las Vegas Raiders okay, I’m
gonna go with Mike now being
being a former patriot, I understand. And they’ve been in
a slump for the last couple of
years. Now this is the time to show a new revamped Patriots.
What are they going to do out
there. Are they going to get over the hump or are they going
to succeed or continue that path
they’ve been going through? It’s exciting and I love the coach
played against him in training
camp. He’s a great player. He has that energy. You see him
bringing the team together. When
you’re together and you move together, you can have success.
This hurts my heart. It’s so
perfect because these two played for these organizations. Yet you
played for the two teams that
are supposed to hate those organizations. So what you did
there? Split. Split. The split.
The atom here for us, I, I, Mike Vrabel. What? And it’s really
not even close for me Pete
Carroll is an amazing personality. Exuberant. I would
love to play for him. If you’ve
ever played Mike Vrabel’s teams, you know, you better buckle up
that chin strap because they’re
coming to smack you in the mouth. I think they could make a
serious push in the division. I
still think the bills are going to probably get that first
place, but I mean, if the
Patriots get that number two in that AFC West or make it that
push, not surprising at all. My
favorite thing to see about Mike Vrabel is how hands on he is and
the practices. You watch these
pregame warm ups. He is he wants to get physical with the guys.
You can tell he’s got that stuff
to him. That Holy Ghost comes out and he wants it. I just
think Mike Vrabel is the
quintessential patriot. From a guy outside looking in. He’s
he’s going to exemplify
everything that they’ve stood for, but also kind of bring in a
new twist that might be a new
breath of fresh air in that organization. Well done
everybody. The 2025 season, we
will find out what it looks like in a few short hours. A highly
anticipated NFL schedule
release. It’s happening tonight, 8 p.m. Eastern. Every game
revealed, every rivalry,
rematch, rookie debut, you name it. It’s happening tonight, 8
p.m. On NFL network. Get all the
details at NFL.com. Still to come on our show though Jordan
Poyer coming on the show, a
former teammate of Mitch Morris, the veteran safety has some
Intel about the beard at the
table. And he can’t wait to tell the national audience some
secrets about Mitch Morris that
we have not yet revealed or he has revealed himself. Plus, we
got to ask him about the tush
push being banned, his opinion on that. Plus, tonight, when we
find out where and when division
rivals are playing each other, we are going to fall in love and
buy our tickets. But first we
must look back at some of the best division rival games from
the 2024 season. This is where
those highlights come into play, guys. It’s a shot sheet
Wednesday on Gmfb. Hello. We’ll
be right back. The goose, the after saying hello to him in the
commercial break, it just
doesn’t feel appropriate. So, Mitch Morris, could you please
introduce the next person that
we are going to interview? Because you seem to know this
man better than the rest of us.
Well, I do, so I mean, 12 time or 12 year NFL vet. Unbelievable
human, all pro Pro bowler will
take your soul in the hole if you if you let them. But also is
all about helping others and he
always has been. Please welcome to the show Jordan Poyer. Oh.
Whoa. What introduction brother
you did that. You did that man. Thank you guys for having me on
here Mitch you look great bro.
I’m so happy for you bro. This is awesome. Thanks for having me
on, guys. I’m ready to rock. You
know how good a friends people are when they look at each other
and they’re just like, bro. And
they don’t say anything because you don’t want. No one else
needs to hear what those two
actually want to talk about. Boyer. Awesome to see you.
You’re currently a free agent.
You were with the Dolphins last year. Are you still looking to
play another year on that
resume? I love the game, you know? You know, whatever. I’m in
a place right now where, you
know, I, I played 12 years. I’m extremely thankful and blessed
to have played the game for such
a long time. And, you know, last year was extremely tough year on
so many levels. You know, our
our team wasn’t very good. You know I didn’t play as well as I
wanted to play. You know we just
you know it was just a really tough year. Obviously
transitioning from Buffalo to
Miami, cultures being different, systems being different. You
know, it just didn’t work out
the way that anybody had hoped. But at the same time, you know,
I’m thankful for it all.
Thankful for, you know, all the moments, all the friendships.
And you know what I like to play
again. Absolutely. Whatever that looks like, you know, be be dope
and be ideal to have a fantasy
ending and be able to retire a bill. But you know, who knows?
You know, I’m just I’m just
being open book right now. I’m really enjoying life for what it
is. You know, I’m finally able
to have some time and spend, you know, most of these times, these
days with my daughter riding
bikes, fishing. And, you know, most of these times I’d be in
OTAs. So I’m really just taking
it all in for what it is, you know, not rushing anything, not
rushing into any decision, but
extremely thankful for, you know, all the all the moments
throughout my career, extremely
thankful for, you know, the bills organization, Philadelphia
organization, Cleveland, Miami.
But you know in particular Buffalo. You know, that’s my
home. My heart is always going
to be there. And, you know, I’m always thankful for all the
moments that I had there, all
the teammates, all the cool people like Mitch that I met out
there. And, you know, it’s I’m
just playing it by ear right now. But what I love to play.
Absolutely. Well, I mean, the
first two minutes of the show, if you haven’t figured out that
we were teammates for quite some
time, one of the most prolific presences in the locker room and
on the field, what people don’t
realize about Jordan is how much he sacrificed for the team. And
you hear sacrifice throwing
around. But the truth is to see this guy come in after games the
way he played, throwing his body
around really with disregard for his health. And he would come in
banged up. And I don’t know how
Jordan’s going to play this. You know, we’re all talking behind
his back. He’s going to do it.
But he would every week. And there was one week and one
instance where he had to drive
halfway across the country in a bus, I believe, playing Kansas
City because he was not cleared
to fly. Can you give us at this table and the country, a kind of
a recap of what that was? Oh, I
mean, such a cool story in my storybook, right? I mean, I had
a two weeks prior to that game,
I caught a pick against Baltimore, ended up fracturing a
couple ribs, puncturing, I think
it was a lung. And so I couldn’t I couldn’t fly, which was crazy
because, you know, they I guess
Deshaun Watson had a similar injury a couple years ago. And
so he had to drive from Texas to
Florida to play in the game. But and so that was the suggestion.
Hey you can’t fly. You know
let’s let’s drive you out there. So I sat with it for a little
while. You know you know me bro
I love playing the game. Like if I can if I can breathe, I can go
out there and play. And so, you
know, that’s how my that was my mindset. And, you know, I
thought of, you know, what a
cool way to I really wanted to play in this game. First of all,
you know, I wanted to get get
get back against the Chiefs. And it was in Kansas City. And you
know, I went home, spoke with my
wife, and she was like, well, looks like we’re taking a road
trip to Kansas City. So we got
an RV. It took us two and a half days to get up there. We stopped
in Indianapolis on a Friday
night and met up with the team Saturday. I stayed with the team
Saturday night before the game,
played the game Sunday, and my RV was in the tunnel next to the
busses after the game, and I
just hopped in the hopped in the RV and hopped back home. But I
mean, it was just, you know, I
look back and, you know, in the moment it was kind of crazy,
like, you know, what are we
doing? But I look back and it was, you know, it was it was for
guys like you, bro. Like, to be
honest, I would have never done that in Miami last year if I, if
that was the case, I would never
have done that. But for guys like you, bro, for guys like the
guys that I was playing for,
bro, that’s that was, you know, you guys were my guys, bro. And
I really wanted to be out there
on the field with you guys. And you know, that’s what made us
special though, right? Like, you
know, I enjoyed playing for guys like you, Mitch. I enjoyed
playing for Sean. I enjoyed
playing for my boy Micah, for Taryn, for all those boys and
stuff that we built out there.
It was really cool and it’s really cool and exciting to see
what’s continued to build over
there. And Sean’s been doing an amazing job with that team.
Well, my favorite thing was
seeing you on the like, the Wednesday when you had had that
drive back and talking about how
great a 24 hour bus ride is for inflammation. So not only were
you dealing with what was going
on in your lungs, but you were inflamed. Who drove the RV?
Yeah, it was it was a driver. We
had a driver. I can’t remember his name. I wish I remember his
name because he deserves he
deserves his his his recognition because he he he he mobbed. And,
you know, it was it was pretty
cool. It was really cool, you know, experience to look back
and, you know, it’ll be in my
book one day. Obviously when I sit down and able to write that.
And, you know, I appreciate you
asking that because it did bring back some cool memories. Well,
that’s awesome right there. I
got a question for you, though. With the corner market so
strong, do you feel like the
safeties market is undervalued right now? I mean, there’s there
was a time where it seemed like
the safety market was was booming a few years ago,
probably, you know, less than
maybe ten years ago, maybe even less than that. But, you know,
the safety market has always
been kind of that. Do we do we give him the money or do we not?
It’s like it’s almost like the
running back money, right? Like it’s almost like, you know, do
we pay these safeties who are
coming and, you know, playing 80 plays a game and having to come
downhill and hit these All-Pro
running backs all day. Like, I mean, it’s just it depends on, I
guess, the system that you’re
in, the connections that you have. There’s a lot of really
talented safeties out there that
should be getting their bags. But you know, it’s that that’s
just the market and how it is
right now. And you can kind of see that in some of the deals
that are being taking place. But
I’m all for all the safeties in the league getting as much money
as they can. And you know, I
still there’s so many safeties that I, I love to still watch
and who obviously still deserve
all the flowers. You know Minkah you know I love I mean there’s I
love Jovan’s game. And I do
think that in the system in the right system he’s going to he’s
going to thrive. And so I’m
excited to see him in New York I mean there’s so many really good
young safeties. That’s that’s
going to be exciting to watch in these next these next few years.
I do like that. I do like that
Malachi Starks too. Yeah I like I like him a lot from Georgia.
His athleticism, you know, his
coverage skills, his ball skills. And so he’s going to be
somebody that I definitely I
definitely watch as as he as he starts his journey. JP I was
undrafted and did it. But you
were a seventh round pick in 2013. And it didn’t stop you
from being an All-Pro and a Pro
Bowler. What would you say your secret to success is? Oh man.
You know that’s a, you know,
seventh round pick. You know, I mean I might as well have gone
undrafted too. You know I was
seventh round pick to Philadelphia. And you know it
was really just every day every
moment right. Like you can’t get caught up in the in the coulda,
shoulda woulda or you know,
what’s coming or any, any of the anything other than, like right
here, right now. Right? Like
it’s in this present moment. It’s in this moment right here.
Like what happened yesterday has
happened. What’s coming tomorrow. It’s never, never
here. And so what can I do right
here in this moment to make myself a better player? And I
had always just had this chip on
my shoulder, like as a seventh round pick or as an undrafted
player. Like, we have these
different chips on our shoulders. That’s why I feel
like a lot of late round picks
play a lot longer, because you have to prove every day to
somebody that you belong. And so
I felt like every single day, you know, I went to Oregon State
not, you know, not very many
guys didn’t even understand where that is. And so, like, to
have to come in every day and
prove yourself. That was my edge. That was what I felt like
I needed to do. And it served me
right. Plus, I got connected with, you know, the some of the
older guys like Donte Whitner
and Tashaun Gibson and guys that really kind of took me under
their wing and that I got to
learn from and really just start to mold and mold some of their
attributes into my own game. You
know, the way they watch film, the way they study, the way they
practice their, you know, what
time they got to work in the morning, you know, the type of
stuff that they did to take care
of their body, all of that. You know, there’s not one formula
that you know is going to work.
You know, for you you continue to change that formula and you
continue to mold that formula
into what works. And, you know, even over the after my 11th,
12th year, you know, I’m still
kind of tweaking and, and changing things into my into my
habits, into my into my
training, into my into my recovery. So just continue to
stay in the moment, stay present
and know, you know, if you’re on that field that you belong, no
matter what anybody wants to say
to you, you know, there’s going to be a lot of people that say
this, that or the other. None of
that matters, right? Like what matters is you right here, right
now, in this moment. And just
continue to man. That’s that’s what I would tell somebody
young. That’s what I would tell
myself if I was if I was coming out again. Jordan, you’re such a
cool, well-rounded dude. And you
talk about things that don’t that things that belong. The one
thing that doesn’t belong in
your backdrop is that tank top that’s hanging up on a on a
hanger. You got like 17 jerseys.
What is that? That is a special shirt right there. That might as
well be a jersey. Right. That
was one of my actually, that was my shirt that I wore in the
Enigma show. I don’t know if you
guys watched Enigma with A-Rod, but that was the show or shirt
that I wore during my ceremonies
down there in Costa Rica that, you know, allowed me to really
open up my mind even more than
than it was. So that’s very special shirt to me. Wow, wow.
Did you sign it? I did not no,
it’s got some paint on it. It’s just got some kind of like
memory. Like there’s some deep
red paint in the in the top and the bottom from, from when we
painted our face. I didn’t wash
it. So I know that sounds kind of weird, but no, that was from,
you know, when I went out to
Costa Rica to hang out with A-Rod in the, in the jungle and,
and sit with some plant
medicines. And, you know, we really got to dive deep. And so
that’s, that’s my that’s my
favorite jersey, actually. That’s awesome. Jordan, as long
as I’ve known you, pal, you’ve
thrived on helping other people. And I think that might come from
the fact that you’ve faced your
own demons. Right? I had the unique experience of being
around you when you battled
alcoholism. Came out in the other side, a whole new man. I
feel like a rededicated father,
an even better football player, and someone who really cared
about getting in people’s ear if
they were having a tough time and being a vocal voice in the
locker room and a macho man
sport. At times when everyone tries to put this facade on that
we don’t need help. Well, you
were able to break that down and say, I got no more macho left in
me. I’m here for everyone, of
course, on the field, but off the field. So my question for
you, and you alluded to this a
little bit, not in this past answer, but the answer prior to
that was we do have this whole
new rookie class in the NFL. What advice would you give your
younger self, which I know you
said a little bit, but your younger self about how to
navigate the toll of the game
that not only takes place on your body, but especially on
your mind. Yeah. You know, I
always I always bring up the idea like as athletes, right.
Like we train all offseason. We
train all season long. You know, we train our muscles to become
better players. Right? We’re
lifting, we’re running, we’re sprinting. We’re doing all these
exercises. And you know what? We
forget to and what we neglect to train is like our arguably our
strongest muscle that we have,
which is our mind. And you know, if I were to talk to myself as a
younger player, I would I would
talk to him and I would tell him, hey, take care of your
mind, take care of your mental
right, and, and do practices that allow you because our mind
is a muscle. Right? We got we
have to train it. We have to practice. We have to learn how
to sit with ourselves and maybe
even we have, especially as athletes. We have so much
negative thoughts, so many
negative ideas, so many, you know, could have, should have,
would have so many, you know,
whether it’s lack of confidence or whatever. You know, these all
are just ideas. These are all
just thoughts. They’re not real life. And so but they can become
real life if we don’t take over
control of our own mind and in a sense of like letting go of
those negative thoughts and
negative ideas about you. And so, you know, it’s a practice,
right? Like, so I started
meditating, I started doing breathwork, you know, praying,
whatever, whatever calls you.
Right. There’s practices that allow us to, to, to, to
strengthen the power of our
mind. And, and, you know, those are some of the that that I
would tell myself to continue
to, to, to, to practice my mental, to continue to make my
mental stronger. And I, I’m
curious as to if I was doing things like that, you know, if
that would have helped me off
the field with some of the problems I had with alcohol.
Right. Because, you know,
essentially, if you can become a better player or a better
person, you’re going to become a
better player. And so, like all of our a lot of our problems,
you know, come off the field
always leaks onto the field, whether it’s, you know, bad
decisions we’ve made, you know,
whether it’s, you know, just me drinking alcohol, whether it’s
relationships or whatever. And
so we really, as athletes, have to continue to take care of our
mental and continue to, you
know, teach or continue to practice with our mind. Right.
And there’s it’s a it’s a
practice like I always teach right now, two athletes from
Miami how to essentially get
into flow state, right. Like as an athlete, we’re in a game and
everything’s going exactly how
you see it. Every step you’re seeing, every ball you’re making
every tackle, right. You’re
getting your hands on the ball. Just seems like nothing can go
wrong. So you’re in a state of
mind right there called called flow state. Right. We’ve all
heard of flow state. And so
really that’s a state of awareness. It’s a state of
being. Right. You’re it’s a
state of thought. And so really trying to teach these athletes
that you can get into this state
before even stepping out on the field, you can get into this
state of awareness before even
before even stepping on the field, which is crazy to me.
Right? Like, and you can do
these practices that allow you to dive into the subconscious
part of your mind. You know, I
always tell people like, you know, plant medicine was just a
tool for me to help me realize
what I already had inside of my body that I can activate with
through breathwork, through
prayer, through meditation. Right. And all these practices
that have been around for a long
time that, you know, I’m really starting to try to implement
into the sports world. And so
I’ve been working with breathwork practitioners with
with sound healers, and with
meditation guides to really dive into the subconscious part of my
mind to allow myself to. I want
to now teach others how to how to practice these practices in
their own practice. You being
able to speak on this stuff, Jordan, is super helpful to
these guys entering the league.
Your approach to it, your openness is vital, I think, for
athletes trying to make their
entire world more well-rounded and successful. And we
appreciate you so much being so
open about everything. Jordan Poyer, everybody looking for his
next team. But his career so far
has been awesome. You guys are awesome. Thank you guys so much
I love you love you pal. Stay
well yeah yeah see you guys is a sense of finality to this
day because once we find out the
schedule tonight for 2025, things that happened in 2024
don’t exist to us anymore. So we
have one final opportunity to roll some highlights from the
2024 season. Okay, it’s not that
serious. I’m being a little dramatic, but we’re going to
look back at some of our
favorite divisional rivalry games from last season, and
we’re going to unpack the
rivalry. And then we’re going to discuss one specifically at the
table. So I take you first to
Cleveland week 12. It’s Steelers Browns. And oh my gosh what a
beautiful sight. Someone shook
the snow globe that day. And Jameis Winston got the start.
And I believe this was one of
the most amazing pregame interviews one could deliver
from Jameis. Speaking of
delivering him from away from pick six. Look at Jameis
Winston. Couldn’t find a single
guy for the touchdown to throw to. So he took it himself over
the goal line. Next Browns
drive. It’s a five point game. Jameis Winston gets sacked. Nick
Herbig has the ball on the
ground. Recovered by Deshon Elliott at the Browns 27. That
was actually Winston’s first
lost fumble of the season Russell Wilson taking over. He
can’t even see the man Russell
Wilson fires for Calvin Austin. The third a strike over the
middle to the middle of the W
and Browns. That’s a 23 yard TD. Wilson would finish 21 for 28
for 270 on the punt. This thing
goes out of bounds at the Steelers 45 yard line, which is
a perfect field position
opportunity for the Browns. We are just over four minutes to
play in the snow. Ensuing.
Browns drive. Fourth and four from the Steelers 38. Jameis
Winston hits Jerry. Judy on the
left side. Drops in bounds. That’s good for a catch. Sets up
a Dustin Hopkins field goal.
Who’s trying to stay more on his single foot. His single foot.
Warm priorities right. But not
if you have. Nick Chubb patiently works his way to the
two yard touchdown. Browns
retake a 2419 lead. Then there’s a failed two point conversion.
Marcel Wilson Jameis Winston is
must see TV and a must interview. Can you imagine him
in that locker room and the
excitement in that huddle I cannot. Russell Wilson he’s
looking for something. This ball
is knocked down by Grant Delpit and Denzel Ward to finish this
game off. This one we never
could have seen coming. We thought the Browns were written
off until Jameis Winston
arrived, as you said in the locker room after a perfect
personality for a Thursday night
game in week 12. Browns win this one 2419 in what once again,
Mitchell delivers an AFC North
matchup that we know and love. Yeah, shaking the snow globe was
an understatement.
Understatement pouring out there. But what an apt
environment for an AFC North.
You know division rivalry Thursday Night Football. It’s
everything you want. And Jameis
Winston like you said coming out. You need to give him a few
games a year especially
something like a big win like that. So he can say something
off the cuff but right to the
point and have a little bit of fun. I take you from the AFC
North to the NFC North and
another caricature character in the locker room that we have now
come to fall in love with that
man. Dan Campbell with the headset on. Let’s go man. Let’s
play the green Bay Packers
inside. Woo. That’s Jared Goff with the Jahmyr Gibbs strike.
That’s just a two yard TD. The
Lions would take a 17 to 7 lead. And yes Lawrence guy the cheese
is being graded in the stadium
again security issue. How does that guy get a cheese grater
inside Ford Field. We’ll address
those issues later. Here we go. We’re punching this thing in
from the red zone JJ look at
Josh Jacobs push push push. Packers would take a 2820 2117
I’m jumping plays here Jared
Goff finishes this play action off to Tim Patrick on a one yard
touchdown 3128. These scores are
all backwards I’m jumping ahead. Plays 2421. Lions take the lead.
Stopped stuffed him Ben Johnson
we’re in that Honolulu blue at the time. But now he’s elsewhere
in the NFC North fourth quarter.
Now Packers in the red zone. And look at him work. That’s Josh
Jacobs again. Do do do do do.
How about Josh Jacobs on the play JJ is the man. He never
gets tackled by one person.
Here’s Goff again. Now he’s finding Tim Patrick again 17
with the Lambeau Leap and Ford
Field I don’t know what we’re calling that the Ford jump. Oh
my god they’re going for it. The
Lions convert fourth and inches. They take this one over 3130 up.
This sets up the Jake Bates game
winning 35 yard field goal. If you all remember the Jake Bates
story experience was he was the
brick salesman that became the Lions kicker. And it became
effectively Jake Bates month in
Detroit. They love him there right now. He was a brick
salesman. What? Yes. I mean, you
know, those kickers, they have some odd jobs at times. And then
they come in and they hit a game
winner for you in the division. Lions win this one 3431. In week
14 Lawrence guy, you’re you’re a
man that knows the league as a whole. The Dan Campbell effect
on the Detroit Lions has really
taken an effect on the NFC North. It has when you’re
willing to take that risk during
those times to make sure that your team is going to win. Oh,
it’s one of those effects like I
can when you’re playing a coach like that and you’re playing a
team like that, you never know
what’s going to happen. You might think like, hey, we got
this game sealed. They’re going
to kick it like, oh, are they really going to make touch push
this? Or are they going to get
it out. Are they going to kick a field goal. It was great AFC
North NFC North. Now we go to
the table though because at this table sit two people that are
representative within the AFC
East rivalry that we know between the bills and the
Patriots. You two faced off in
this one I believe. So when it comes to bills Patriots Mitch
and Lawrence. What’s this one
like. First we go. Week four 2019. This is you two teeing up.
There you go. All right Mitch
talk to us I’m fighting for my life. Praying to God that oh
yep. There he goes. No. Finish
the play. Oh, no. Don’t worry. You go back on our playoff like,
oh, he took my sack. Well, you
know what? Being a senator is great because you have help on
every single play for the most
part. And when you don’t it’s you have something to say to the
offensive offensive coordinator
coming up. Look at him go, Lawrence. When you have a center
that you know, who is as
prolific as Mitch was when he played, do you do you do you
focus on somebody else and try
to get to the quarterback? There he goes. Oh no, this is one of
those like I look at Mitch like,
please take care of me. I’m trying to hurt me. He’s not
taking care of me on that play.
There you go. Let me get a sack on this. Let me get this sack,
man. Like, oh, you held me, but
when are you playing these games? It’s so hard. But you
enjoy the process, right? Like I
enjoy playing against you. Playing against the bills. It
was always a good game. It was a
fun atmosphere and. And the end of all this, I’m talking half
the time at the end of it. You
are. I’m literally talking to people like my favorite line,
you’re face to face. Yeah, might
as well have the conversation as soon as you go. Like, hey, bro,
you holding me? Get off me. Then
you start talking to the rest or you told the running back, my
favorite line is I’d be like,
hey, bro, I’m gonna bite you. One of the most underrated
players in the NFL. I’ve been
saying it for years. Congratulations on Lawrence. Oh
my gosh. Wingspan. Perfect
wingspan. That’s exactly right.