What the 2025 Season Means for the Giants, Cowboys & Cooper Kupp Joins GMFB

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his squad to stay locked in even
with this break in the action.
First and foremost, what we accomplished in the OTAs and in
phase one, phase two and phase
three, which we put a lot of good work in, we can’t lose that
in the next. Call it 30 days. In
terms of our physical abilities, our techniques, our training
methods, we have to come back
when training camp hits. You know, you have a I don’t have
much tolerance for mistakes
during training camp seasons. Getting close. We’re just on
this constant growth trajectory
and we’ve got to stay there. You know, I think that, you know,
we’ve grown so much every day.
The team, the team, the team, the team. I think we just have
gotten better and better every
day. Offense, defense, special teams. I think our camaraderie
has been amazing. I think that,
you know, it’s always cool when, you know, this is my going into
my 14th year in the National
Football League, and it’s fun to be able to see guys who are
young, you know, staying extra,
doing the extra necessary things. Going into its 14th
season. I got to digest that
right. Aging all of us clearly positive energy of course,
around the Giants this
offseason, the signing of Russell Wilson, the draft class
featuring, of course, first
rounders Abdul Carter and Jaxson Dart. But Rashad, you’re close
to the Giants. Just the
optimism. Optimism feel real to you. It feel real. Yes it’s
real. It’s 100%. Look the Giants
fans see we have a great reason to be excited this year for so
many reasons. You want me to
start offensive defense. Started on defense. Let’s look at 2011
when they won a Super Bowl. Who
and how did they win it because of their defense. You had
Strahan out there. You had
Justin Tuck, you had Chris Canty, you had young pup GPP at
the time and they were
unstoppable and relentless. They have a similar situation now on
defense. They got Thibodeaux,
they got Burns. They got sexy. Dexter’s what they call him out
there. And then you got Abdul
Carter coming off the edge. I know it’s OTAs and we really
don’t have the pads on, but I
remember when I was with the Giants and I saw a guy named
Odell Beckham Junior run a slant
and OTAs, and me and Hillis looked at each other and said,
hey, that guy runs different.
You can pick up on clues who’s different in OTAs, and I think
he’s a generational talent. And
you look on offense, you bring in Russell Wilson. He won a
Super Bowl. He’s one handoff or
potentially a pass away from getting two Super Bowls. And
where did he win that Super Bowl
MetLife Stadium. And guess where he’s at now MetLife Stadium
sitting there. And he said that
I just I just bought a house. You love your neighborhood. You
got to check your neighbors.
Right. And Russ said he wanted to play one of the greatest with
one of the greatest neighbors.
And that is Malik neighbors. You know what I mean? See what you
did there. So I think that is
the reason why a lot of optimism, matter of fact, we’re
going to call it bullish. We’re
going to step it up bullish bullish. We’re going to take it
to the stock market okay. You
set us up. So nice for the neighbors saying none of us
walked through that I was ready
for that one. But you did good I want to give you a props there.
So listen I would love to be on
board with you. You know, talk about the New York Giants 2011.
I was on that squad. Right. So I
walked away with a little bit of joy. He’s not as shiny as Tom
over here, you know what I’m
saying? But I walked away with a little bit jewelry, so I
understand what was required to
go out there and win that championship. We were heavily
defensive minded team. However,
we had a ton of talent offensively. And when you start
talking about the New York
Giants and what they have offensively, they’re still a lot
of question marks, right. And
the question marks I have is what is this offense going to
produce whenever they have their
weapons out there. When you have Brian Daboll he’s on his last
edge right. He hasn’t had a
quarterback that he’s comfortable and confident with.
To call the type of game that he
was calling when he was in Buffalo. The whole reason why
he’s a head coach of the New
York Giants is because of the offense that he was facilitating
while he was in Buffalo, but now
he’s in New York and now he has a Russell Wilson. Now he has a
whole room full of quarterbacks
that he has to select from. But is it going to be enough. These
guys were bottom three in yards
per game in terms of offenses in the league. Bottom three right.
In terms of points scored they
were bottom two. So now all of a sudden you start talking about
Malik Nabers and you bringing
Russell Wilson. Is that enough. So my question is do they have
enough talent on offense
regardless of the leadership that they now have in that
quarterback room, regardless of
the fact that Daboll might feel comfortable enough opening up
the offense, I’m not sure that
they have enough talent on the offensive side of the ball to
get this thing done. You guys
both make very valid points. I can see the reason for the
optimism, especially especially
defensively, that defensive line that you spoke on. I know the
trenches very well. That’s my
expertise. Brian Burns monster have a lot of experience against
that guy when he was in
Carolina. He’s a very, very impressive at Abdul Carter
Thibodeau and sexy Dexy, who I
believe is the best interior lineman in the league. Also, the
pieces they brought in in the
secondary as well to marry with the defensive line in the pass
rush. Jevon Holland, my former
teammate, exceptional young talent. I think he takes a step
and becomes an all pro player
this year. And also Paulson Adebo, also one of my former
teammates I played for. Wait a
minute, played a lot of team. Yeah. So I see the optimism. But
to Isaiah’s point offensively
it’s tough. And the division that they’re playing in. You got
to see the Eagles twice. You got
to see the commanders twice. Cowboys we’ll see. But in that
division it’s tough. It’s
challenging. It is tough and challenging. But come on. So
again right optimism we have so
much of it this season I seriously the offense is going
to come along. They’re going to
come on strong. And then don’t forget about Slayton. Slayton
does help or help Malik and
Russell open up the field. I’m going to try to convince y’all
before the show. You know,
you’re look, you’re saying it with your whole chest, I feel
it. He definitely means it. But
I think to your is the talent enough right. I think for me is
will it come together. Because
sometimes you can’t see what you can’t see. And when you’re in
the room and when you’re in
OTAs, we can only see a little sliver of what they give us. But
once the season starts and they
get out there, what are they putting on the field? And has it
all really gelled the way that
they needed to really be successful? So in June we can
have all the optimism we want.
All right. That’s what it’s here they needed to really be
successful? So in June we can
have all the optimism we want. All right. That’s what it’s here
for. But is it a win a must win
season for the Giants, especially for head coach Brian
Daboll? What do you think?
Rashad must win. Always. Yes, it’s always must win. Nobody
goes into an NFL season thinking
I have room to lose, right. It’s always a must win. But you know,
when you think about Brian
Daboll, you think about the history of why the Giants would
even bring him in. Right? There
is a lack of lust at the quarterback position with the
Giants, and that’s one of the
reasons why he brought him in. He worked with Tua when he was
in Bama. He worked with Hertz.
When he was in Bama, he worked with Josh Allen, as we know,
when he was in Buffalo, he had a
cup of tea behind working with Brett Favre. So he’s worked with
a caliber of great quarterbacks
in the NFL and bringing him over. There was no doubt that he
was going to be the guy to make
that position run well. Didn’t work out with Daniel Jones. I
think now they gave an
opportunity with bringing in two veterans and a Russell Wilson
and a Jameis Winston to be able
to produce. So I think it is a must win for him right this
second. Just you know, granted
we have the hardest schedule in the NFL. We understand that the
schedule is insane. However, I
think in New York there is a must and you have to win right
now. It’s definitely a must win.
And he knows that, right? The GM knows that. He knows that as the
head coach. And the reason being
is because the only reason why he’s still there is because they
understand the situation that
they’ve put him in without a quarterback of his choice.
Right. So for the first time,
he’s going to have a veteran quarterback that he doesn’t have
question marks around. Right. So
now he’s comfortable in that sense. However, he is definitely
on the line because most most
coaches you want to see progress. You want to see a
progression. You want to see you
are talking about being bullish. You want to see that scale going
up, right. You want to see that
bar graph going up. However, in his first year he went nine and
seven, right? 2022 2023. He went
six and 11 right. And then last year, 2024 he went three and 14.
Last time I checked, that is an
inverse relationship with a winning record right. So that is
not he’s not going in a
direction that that you need to go as an organization. And you
just mentioned it now under
those circumstances, he now walks into the 2025 season with
the hardest schedule in
football. It’s not looking good for the New York Giants. It’s
not looking good for Brian
Daboll. I hope that they’re able to put together some good
production out there, but it’s
not I don’t I’m not very optimistic or should I say it’s
like you said, Rashad, it’s
always must win in NFL. I agree, but I honestly I think it’s
unrealistic for them to really
think that they have a chance at the Super Bowl. Honestly, like I
said, with the strength of
schedule and the division alone, you know, this hurt feelings
here, seeing the commanders
twice, I don’t think Brian Daboll I don’t think his his job
is on the line this year.
Progress. You want to see progress. You want to see an
uptick in wins. Like you said,
the downfall of the wins and the losses. You want to see the wins
start to produce but must win.
That’s I don’t think that’s realistic. I just want to remind
you all that the Giants won the
Super Bowl, sneaking in nine and 7 in 2011. You know this I was
there. So when we talk about the
Giants they’re built a little bit different than New York. All
you have to do is get a slither.
And Russell Wilson that defense Malik the guys that they have
around have the capability to do
just that. And I agree with you. I don’t think he’s on the
chopping block I don’t. But I
will say this though, if you got you got to think there’s a long
line that has to make these
things happen. But bear with me. If Russell Wilson goes out there
and doesn’t produce well, if
then Jameis Winston you put him in, he doesn’t produce well
then, which ain’t none of that’s
going to happen. And then if Jaxson Dart goes in and he
doesn’t produce. And then if
with the Colts Daniel Jones goes out there and takes the Colts to
the playoffs okay. Then we might
have some questions about that coach. But we won’t. Why.
Because in 2022 guess what he
did. Coach of the year. All he needs is his quarterback. Giants
are in a great position. Yeah
that was a lot of layers I was a lot of. Yeah there’s a lot of
and then I get it. We’re tipping
a cake. That’s a lot of ingredients you got there. But
there was something you really
wanted to point out for us to keep our eye on as we head into
the 2025 season for the Giants.
I told you, we only see what we can see. So open up our eyes.
Yeah. And it leans into that a
little bit right of what I was saying. If that’s the only thing
that could maybe I don’t know
what’s going on in New York, but I tell you this New York Giants,
just as you know, when Coach
Coughlin was there, he says the same things all the time. And
one of the things that stood out
to me is expectations. Excuse me. Faces may change, but
expectations never will. Right.
And that’s what we have in New York. And the expectation is
constantly to win championships.
So that’s the mindset in New York. Trust me, even though I
know the NFC East is a tough
division. But look for the Giants to surprise everybody.
Surprise, surprise. So when you
say surprise, I want a realistic projection from you. Right?
Okay. So you just gave us a
depth chart in your eyes. You said Russell Wilson right.
Jameis Winston. And then we
start talking about Jaxson Dart. If you get to the fact where
darts in the game then the
season’s pretty much over I would imagine. What is a
realistic projection for the New
York Giants record this year, knowing that the division that
they’re in and knowing the
schedule that they have be real. I think we could pull. I think
we get nine wins, nine wins. We
get nine. I think we get nine wins. It’d be competitive. And
then at the end, who knows, you
may slip in. I think nine wins is realistic with this, with
this, with this division and the
schedule, the strength. Okay. So let me let me piggyback off of
that in this division. Right.
You got the Washington commanders. We beaten them first
game okay September 7th. So
Washington Commanders had that dub in the Washington Commanders
Dallas Cowboys Philadelphia
Eagles. What are you going to be your record versus those three
opponents in those two games
that you faced them. We’re going to beat the commanders twice.
Sweep yeah sweep commanders I
have I see an opportunity Dallas we may go 5050. And then the
same thing with the Eagles.
That’s how I feel. We’re gonna win both at home. He means every
word that he said. Yeah we
should smile smirk we catching them slipping early. They still
don’t know what they’re doing.
And it’s coming. The sophomore slump is real I’m not I’m not
I’m not hoping for downfalls
over there because I like Jayden Daniels. But this is the real
thing. Okay? You said nine wins,
nine wins. Keep Daboll at head coach. Oh yes, nine wins. Keeps
every. Everybody is staying the
same over there. Especially because because this is our
backs against the wall. The
beautiful thing about when your back against the wall guess
what. You know everything’s in
front of you. You ain’t got to worry about your back. And
that’s what we coming out doing
this year. I’m excited for the team. I’m excited for the
position we’re in. I’m excited
because we in prime time New York, and we’re going to show
why. New York Giants are the
Giants. I’m excited that you’re excited. Yeah I love it for you.
I really for you I’m excited I
see I remember this conversation Gmfb. And we have to flex a
little bit with our guy, Terron
Armstead, who announced his retirement just a few months
ago. He’s hanging with us for
the next three days putting him to work. All right. Retirement.
Ha B on the field. Not up in
here. All right. You played with the Saints. And of course for
the Miami Dolphins. It’s a
polarizing players in Miami. A lot of personality for sure. But
let’s start with our QB Tua
Tagovailoa. And I want to start on the field with Tua. On your
thoughts. I think he’s special.
I do, I really do. I’ve I’ve been very loudly about my
support of Tua as a teammate, as
a fan. I think he can do really special things with the football
in his hand. I may be the one
that originated the Drew Brees comparison and I’ll stand on
that. I will. He’s very
talented. His anticipation, his accuracy, his precision is very
few guys that’s walked this
planet that can do what he can do with the football in his
hand. Why do you stand on that,
though? I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in close, in close proximity.
I’ve seen his preparation. I’ve
seen him. We’ve seen him collectively as football fans.
We’ve seen him improve since his
rookie year to now. You know, he led the league in passing yards
a couple of years ago. He leads
the league in completion percentage every year. Those are
winning. That’s that’s those are
winning stats. And I think even even more this year he takes
another step in his leadership.
He takes another step in the fourth quarter two minute
drills, those late game
situations that really separate the good from the great. I think
it’s time. You know, I don’t
disagree with the fact that he is a talented he’s a talented
guy right? Great QB when he’s
present on the field. Unfortunately, as fans, we’ve
had to bear witness to some of
the injuries that he sustained. We understand that on the
football team in the locker
room. These are our brothers, right? These are our family.
These are our guys. Not only was
that your brother, is that your brother, but you were
responsible for blocking for
him. So when you have a guy like, like your quarterback that
gets hurt, what is that, like
seeing him go down and then what is it? What are some of the
conversations that you guys had
while he was trying to recover and get back on the field? Yeah,
it’s tough. It’s tough. It’s
challenging, especially seeing the ones that we’ve seen with
Tua specifically. You think
about the man instantly. You know what I mean. You remove the
game, you remove the sport
completely. You just think about the man. And with him in his
last concussion that he had
earlier in week three, this this past season, it was a lot of
talk about retirement
circulating in the news, but being with him and seeing him,
that was never part of the
discussion. There was never a thought. He’s he’s married to
this game. Like genuinely. He
loves this game so much. Everything that his his entire
being is football. He’s been
he’s been doing it since he was old enough to walk, you know. So
our conversations was really
him. He was just talking about getting back. And he would pop
into every position room. He’d
going o line and get a deeper understanding of protections
there where we’re sliding, how
we’re seeing blitzes. He’s going receivers and they’re getting
deeper understanding of timing
and the concepts. Same thing with the running backs and tight
ends. So he was just he was so
eager to get back. It was never any thought of walking away from
the game. Yeah. And another
player on the offensive side of the ball that is a power name is
Tyreek Hill. Cheetah yeah
cheetah. Everybody wants to know more about this guy. He’s a
great soundbite. His talent is
completely unmatched. Hard worker. But you’ve been around
him personally. What’s something
about him that we don’t know what makes him tick. He’s a very
passionate very passionate. You
know what I mean? Which which I’m sure a lot a lot of people
know that about him. I think the
way the season ended last year for Tyreke and the whole dilemma
with him coming out the game, I
think it has ignited him and the season didn’t go the way that he
wanted. We had no Pro Bowlers on
the initial ballot like all those things fuel a guy like
Tyreek Hill. He’s a he’s an
underdog. Small school small player. You know what I mean.
But he plays big. Big
personality. I think we see a whole new Tyreek Hill I think we
see the Super Bowl champion. We
see the All-Pro. We see Tyreek Hill maybe UK. You know he might
go for 202,000 receiving yards
this year. He’s motivated man. You see him on the track. He’s
he’s like I’m super excited to
watch Cheetah Ball out this year. Yes okay. The speed is
insane. But we can’t talk about
big personalities in Miami and not talk about head coach Mike
McDaniel. First, let’s watch and
enjoy the sights and sounds of head coach Mike McDaniel. Guten
tag. Hey, if we had a Helmetless
Football league, you’d be the face of it. Fighting myself and
myself is winning. Pass
intercepted Jalen Ramsey and inbounds. Totally disappointed
me. He called that he was going
to come back and have a pick six not a pick field goal. My intent
is never to go viral. Georgia is
definitely the best SEC school. I’m so glad to hear me. I’m very
aware that sometimes myself
doesn’t come off hilarious to everybody. And so then I
youtubed you showing all this
high school from you and bro, you’re you’re technique was
trash. Let’s go. I would like a
lot of things. I’m just trying not to get fired. Samesies I
like. That’s the motto. I think
we’re all here trying to keep our jobs. We know how
entertaining he is. I got to see
him close up. Before, he was a head coach when he was in San
Francisco, and I covered that
team so closely. But tell us what you know as him, as his
player behind the scenes,
because there’s so many more layers to what we see at the
podium. No, honestly though,
what you what you see MJ is as Mike. That’s Mike and that’s
what I appreciate about him the
most. He’s genuine. He’s genuinely him. It’s no situation
too serious. You know, he always
likes to just bring fun and bring light to any situation. So
toughest moments when you’re at
your highest when you’re at your lowest, he’s even keeled. And
you appreciate that about about
your head coach. You don’t want someone that’s getting rattled,
that’s losing it. You know, in
big game situations, he’s always a constant, constant demeanor,
constant mentality. I love
everything about coach McDaniels. He’s different than
all the other head coaches in
the league. He has his own personality. He has his own
swag. I see you brought some of
the swag that he that he takes on the field as well. But we
want to know about this coming
season. If everything is all good. Everybody is healthy. Tua
is in, you know, in the saddle
calling the shots. You’re able to get the ball to Tyreke,
Waddle, all the guys, all the
resources. What does the outlook for the 2025 Miami Dolphins look
like? The ceiling is high.
Honestly we heard Rashad talk about the Giants. And you know.
You can’t look at me like that.
All gas no brakes. But no I think if we got two under center
every snap yeah there is no game
on the schedule. The Dolphins cannot win. I feel that
strongly. Another variable to me
Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb. We can get those two guys
healthy on the defense along
with emerging Chop Robinson. It changes the entire dynamic of
the defense. Like back to the
Giants. The defensive line is dangerous very dangerous I feel
strongly about those guys in New
York. I feel the same way about those guys in Miami. Zach
Sieler, Bradley Chubb, Jaelan
Phillips, chop Robinson. That defensive line healthy top three
defensive line in the league.
Wow. Jaelan Phillips is a beast. Monster. Monster. How y’all
going to do with Holland though?
Holland. What did Holland go. Where did what team did he go to
I forget I’m listen I’m a huge
fan, huge fan of Javon. He’s going to be great in New York.
Miami. We got some working. We
got an actual chance. Not what. Oh. But to a nicer note, because
we did get a great snapshot of
you and coach, especially right when you look at that. Swag
clean. What was going on here.
Yeah. So this is at my retirement party April 5th down
in Miami. Money Mike came showed
showed love. Just we just we shared our moments of gratitude
for each other. I was like one
of his first signings. Maybe his first free agent signing after
he got the head coaching job and
then traded for Tyreek Hill the same day, which was kind of
crazy because I didn’t really
get my chance to shine in the news. You know, I signed and
then we got Tyreke. So it was
all about Tyreke. It’s all good though. Appreciate you Mike.
Yeah not money Mike money Mike
yeah that’s him. That’s good. We’re gonna talk more about Mike
in a second. All right I love
that when we come back we’ll have a lot more on Gmfb and
maybe a little bit more on the
full outfit that we see here. This a different chain. That’s a
completely different chain right
there. Goodness gracious. Yeah. I’m good. Good, good. If you
weren’t watching that, you’d
think it was just the fan. Like bugging Tom Brady about Jersey.
No, it was Mike Parkinson’s.
Looks to be in a good mood, which is great. I heard Fanatics
Fest was a blast, but we gave
both of these guys a chance to really hype up their teams. We
couldn’t leave you out, my man.
No, no, don’t leave me. Go ahead. Take a deep breath. Why
are the Cowboys going to the
Super Bowl? And action. Take a really deep breath. Yeah. Yeah.
Really. Listen, listen. You
trying to throw me out there like that? Take your time,
brother. Listen. Wait a minute,
Mr. Jackson. Hold on. Okay, so we talked about the Giants,
okay? We talked about Miami and
respect to both organizations, but they’re not the Dallas
Cowboys. And we know that the
Dallas Cowboys this year are going to be a problem. Now, when
I say are going to be a problem,
I mean, yes, they’re going to be at the top of their division.
Will they win it? I don’t know,
it’s going to be either them or it’s going to be Philadelphia.
But there are three really
strong teams in the NFC East. You notice I said three and not
four. All right. So it’s a go.
But last year was the first year that Dallas hasn’t had any real
success in a while. Right. They
had a down season okay. And the reason why they had a down
season because they had a ton of
injuries. They lost their QB one. There’s not one team in
this league that has been good
and had a good season while losing their QB one, right. Dak
Prescott is that guy for them.
He tore his hamstring off the bone. Since then it’s been
repaired. Since then. He’s done
OTAs. Since then he’s done the minicamps. So they have that in
place. They have really focused
on establishing this offensive line team. You know how
important it is to have a solid
O-line. These guys now have three first round picks on the
offensive line okay, they have
replaced Zach Martin. He’s gone. He’s retired but they’ve
replaced him. So they have a
solid front. They really want to get back to running the ball.
They have picked up multiple
offensive line coaches. They picked up one of the best o line
coaches in the league. They
picked up one of the best coaches in college football. The
emphasis is in the trenches.
They want to play bully ball and if you can play bully ball, you
can do all the things you want
to in the passing game. Oh yeah, the passing game. There’s a dude
by the name of CeeDee lamb out
there. Oh, and if you didn’t think that that was enough, they
picked up a dude by the name of
George Pickens. Oh, yeah. So you got both of those guys on the
outside. And if you want to have
both, both guys covered by cornerbacks with the safety over
the top, then who is going to be
working the middle? Well, you’re going to have a linebacker. And
a linebacker has to cover
somebody by the name of Jake Ferguson. Well, who had a Pro
Bowl year two years ago. He
disappeared last year. Why? Because he was injured. So now
when you get all these guys back
offensively, this team is going to be a problem. But as much as
I believe that their offense is
nasty and has always been at the top of the league, I believe
that their defense is going to
be their calling card. Yes. Their defense. Right. They
picked up Aaron White Cotton out
of out of New York Jets. The defensive line coach from there
who’s world renowned. These guys
have not only Micah Parsons. They got a healthy Sam Williams.
They picked up Dante Fowler Jr
who was there just a couple of years ago but left to go play
with Dan Quinn. He just happened
to be one of the best pass rushers in the league last year.
Quietly out there with that
successful commanders team, these guys are going to elicit a
ton of pressure on the on the
ball. On the outside. They have really good defensive backs,
right. They got Trayvon Diggs
who is going to be healthy. Eventually they got Darren Bland
who’s a ball hawk. Both of those
guys together. They picked up Revell out there in the draft.
These guys have Kaiir Elam out
there as well. He’s going to be playing out there as well. So
these guys have really good
secondary. And they picked up some very sneaky free agents at
the linebacker position as well.
In Sam Bourne and Kenneth Murray Junior. These guys have done a
lot of work. Solomon Thomas on
the D line as well. Very, very sneaky. Not a lot of flash
right. You heard about the
George Pickens. But these guys are going to be a problem Isaiah
we saw take a deep breath my
man. But that was it. That was it. He needed a couple deep
breaths because you know what
happens. He didn’t want you to argue with him. He didn’t want
it. Now pieces I’ve had an issue
with PCs along the way. Right. And I called and I get a
troubleshooter. I told him all
this information and you know what? They came back and told
me, turn it on. That’s all you
got to do sometimes in the Dallas Cowboys, they got all
that, but they don’t know how to
turn it on. You understand that? about the Ravens defense. It was
all about the Ravens defense. It
was all about the Ravens defense. And I feel like I’ve
let that standard. Being here, I
think the longest defensive guy. I feel like I’ve let that
standard kind of slip. And
that’s something that I want to get back I want it. Obviously we
love Lamar Jackson. It’s a
great, great player. But I want you know, the Ravens identity to
be defense. Okay. That’s a
strong statement. And I like that. And he’s hands on that.
The Ravens have bolstered their
defense. Lamar is arguably at the peak of his powers. Derrick
Henry is still at the top of his
game. I mean, the stars really seem to be aligned for this
squad, but what will the 2025
season mean for the Baltimore Ravens and more specifically for
Lamar Jackson? I truly believe
that. You know, what you just heard on air is what they have
to get back to. I really believe
that their defense has always been at the core. It’s really
been the ethos of the Baltimore
Ravens. That’s what we’ve known them to be over all their
successful years. And I really
think that they’re really going to take a tremendous step
forward. You talk about Zach
Aura in his first year as a defensive coordinator. He was
out there able to do some
things. They were able to have a top ten defense, but they
weren’t dominant right. They
were effective. They were impactful. They they impacted
the game in a lot of different
ways. But I think that now with some of the additions that they
have, right, they have the Kyle
Hamilton is able to be out there. You have Humphries. Okay.
Jaire Alexander, you have a, you
know, a three headed monster out there, the quarterback position
that’s going to allow their
safeties to now be able to intermingle and do the things
that they want to do. Then you
look at Kyle Van Noy, you know, you got Nnamdi and Matter who
can go out there and do some
things as well. He’s a problem on the inside. So I think that
they now have gotten back to
having a solid front seven, and the one piece that they were
missing was having that three
headed monster at the quarterback position. Now they
have it. Now they can go out
there and be dominant on the defensive side of the ball.
Yeah. And they’re always going
to be defense a defensive mindset a team. I think even
with Lamar Jackson, I love
Humphrey taking that ownership and responsibility and trying to
put it back on the defense.
That’s what he’s supposed to do. That’s what outstanding
athletes, premier players,
captains of teams do. Put the onus on me. I love that about
them. They are going to have a
dominant regular season as I see them doing consistently. Lamar
Jackson, arguably is going to be
the MVP of the National Football League every single year. I see
that for them, though, they have
to be chomping at the bit, licking their chops for
postseason. Now, they can’t
overlook the regular season. I mean, this is the NFL. Anything
can happen. But those guys
getting back to the postseason and doing something there, I
mean, that’s where you get the
itch off of your back. And I feel like they have to answer
that. This is their year to
prove that. I think they have one of the better teams. They’re
going to be dominant. They’re
going to be explosive. We’re going to talk about them.
Fantasy points are going to be
everywhere. But when we get to the postseason, I’m
foreshadowing this. What is
going to happen? I would I would even go so far to say that the
Ravens are my way to early AFC
Super Bowl favorite. I can I can see them coming out of the AFC.
I think this is the year that
they get over the hump. Lamar has been marvelous throughout
his career. He has been and to
your point, regular season they have been. They have done really
well. Postseason, not so much.
But it’s hard to even go back even after after heartbreak in
the playoffs, to go to pick
yourself back up and go win the division again and again. It’s
hard to do. And that’s the goal
every year you want to put yourself in position to win. You
want to win the division first.
Then you look at playoff seeding. So they have done that
to be able to knock the Chiefs
off and knock the Buffalo Bills off in the playoffs. You get you
get a signing like Jaire
Alexander to come over. I think he is that piece to put them
over the hump. I think that that
addition is the one to put them over the hump. It frees up Kyle
Hamilton so much he doesn’t have
to worry about the back end coverage to sort of be able to,
to support in the run game, to
be able to blitz and add pressure with the guys that they
have on the on the outside. I
think this is the year they get over that hump. You mentioned
Lamar there for a second,
because how do you view him as you continue to see his
trajectory? So many MVP awards
success in the playoffs, but no Super Bowl appearance? I mean,
that’s that’s a heavy cross to
bear. Yeah. No seriously he’s been he’s been battling Patrick
Mahomes as as the whole league.
He’s Mahomes has dominated the AFC. He has he has. And I think
with Lamar we’ve seen progress.
We’ve seen him only get better as a passer, more comfortable as
a passer. His anticipation his
his pre-snap reads. He’s he’s excelling. He’s growing. And
that’s only going to get better
for this guy. He’s coming more cerebral of the game. We know
what he can do with his legs,
but he’s getting even more dangerous with his arm. Not to
mention the truck he has behind
him wearing 22. Derrick Henry is just I think this is the year
that they get over that hump.
Derrick Henry has an extra motive this year. I don’t know
if y’all ran across that. Adam
Sandler offered him a spot in a movie if he rushed for two K. So
I think I think everybody is
going to be fanboying for this to happen. Running the football.
We all know if you go watch any
and everybody in the playoffs, man, if you can control the run
game, it’s constant and we’re
always in the locker room every single year. We need to stop the
run and we need to establish the
run. They can do both. And so I think again yes this could be
their year, but it has to be
their year. If this team, this dominant team, everybody’s
healthy doesn’t make postseason.
There will be a lot of question marks around play. That’s fair.
Yeah I’m going to continue to go
back to the defensive side. I think what the one element that
they’ve been missing is be able
to go out there and shut down the offensive onslaught from
Buffalo from Kansas City. Right.
And now you go out there, you have Hamilton, you have Starks,
you have Humphrey, you have
these guys that can go out there and line up and you can
intermingle these guys wherever
you want to in the secondary. Their front seven is nasty. We
already know the front seven.
They don’t allow anybody to run the ball. D-line is solid,
linebackers are solid. They can
get to the quarterback. But now you’re going to have this
complementary game. All three
facets. Special teams is solid offensively. What do you want to
do? You want to run the ball,
take time off the clock right when the defense steps on the
field, what do you want? You
want to be able to go ahead and shut down the run game and stop
them from being able to convert
on third down so you can get the ball back in the hands of your
offense. This is starting to
look like a team that is going to be dominant, regardless of
how great Lamar Jackson is,
because of the fact that he doesn’t have to bear that
weight, he can turn around and
hand the ball off, fall for five yards. Let’s do it over and over
again until we end up with 0.6.
There’s a phrase we say often, especially when we think about
teams like the Ravens, like,
man, they’re built different. But standing on the sidelines in
Baltimore in January, I can
confirm it’s a different kind of cellular makeup to be able to
play in that type of atmosphere,
to win and then consistently move on. Crazy. All right. The
Ravens, Bills and Chiefs have
been at the top of the AFC for Ravens, Bills and Chiefs have
been at the top of the AFC for
the past few years. However, a handful of teams appear to be
right on the cusp of breaking
through. So which AFC team could be that breakthrough team in
2025? Well listen here look I’m
gonna tell you right now AFC, NFC it don’t matter. You see
whoever coming out of so far
that team on both sides are the teams to watch with no doubt AFC
I’m definitely going with the
Chargers. I just realized the Chargers first. The Chargers are
stacked with first rounders. You
got Herbert Justin Herbert the quarterback first rounder Joe
Alt left tackle, first rounder.
Najee Harris first rounder coming over playing running back
Omarion Hampton. First rounder
drafted out of running back Mike Williams. First rounder Quentin
Johnston first rounder. Then you
got Ladd McConkey, second round. He was. He was an early second
round. And then they just picked
up Trey Harris which out the NCAA. He led all of college
football with 128 yards per
game, with a 66 plus percentage of contested catch rate, which
means somebody was in his face
and he still caught the ball. Ladies and gentlemen, he only
played eight games and led and
led all of NCAA coming out of Ole Miss. So when you give
Herbert, you give Jim Harbaugh
who came out of reminding the Stanford it took them 11 and one
to turn them into 12. And one
went to the 40 niners when they were 6 to 10 three National
excuse me three NFC Championship
games and also won a Super Bowl. And then he went to Michigan.
And he went to three straight
college football playoffs along with fanatic. This guy came in
to the Chargers first year took
them to the playoffs. He is a winner. The team has first
rounders everywhere. Watch them
in the AFC this year I see you. Oh yeah yeah the boys made some
valid points. Valid points I
will stay in that division I’m going Denver Broncos okay I
think Denver Broncos have a
chance to knock Kansas City off as the top of the AFC West and
be the team to break through. I
was with Sean Payton for nine years, great head coach, future
Hall of Fame head coach, Super
Bowl champion. I’ve watched him. We’ve seen him collectively as
football fans. We’ve watched him
rebirth a city, an organization when they won a Super Bowl down
in New Orleans. So we’ve seen
this before, how he came, how he brought Drew Brees and that that
explosion of an offense and how
that progressed into eventual Super Bowl champions. He got his
guy. He went and got Bo Nix. The
relationship with him and Russell Russell Wilson didn’t
didn’t pan out so well. He got
the guy that he that he wants to groom that he can build his
franchise around. I think Bo Nix
takes that that sophomore jump. He takes a jump. He’s he’s
poised he’s he’s under control.
He’s explosive. Then defensively what they were able to do under
Vance Joseph was was nothing
short of incredible. You got the best corner in the game Patrick
Surtain Brandon Jones. And they
can really get after the passer with Nick Benito and those guys
up front. I like the Denver
Broncos to be the ones to knock off the Chiefs and represent
that AFC West this year. Do you
think they can knock? I see it I can see it happen. I got that
much I wanted to let you finish.
But I was like, say more words. I got that much faith in Sean
Payton. Wow. Okay. So you bring
up Sean Payton right. And you obviously you’ve seen him with
Drew Brees. And now he obviously
has opportunity to work with Bo Nix. What kind of leap do you
see Bo Nix having having worked
with Sean Payton now going into his second year Sean Sean Payton
is a quarterback guy. Like
that’s that’s his one position that that he really locks in. He
was a quarterback. I don’t know
how well he did the position like himself. But coaching the
position he really he really
understands the position. He really understands what defenses
are doing. He has indicators in
his offense to allow the quarterback to read so his
motions, his personnel sets.
It’s all for a reason. So it allows Bo Nix to have a clear
picture of I’m seeing cover two.
I’m seeing cover three. He knows what’s happening before the
snap. Sean Payton does that
better than anybody in the league. Okay, I hear you guys, I
hear you. I hear what you guys
are saying, but I’m going to go to you. You know what I’m
saying? Since we’re talking
about the AFC. You know let’s go ahead and talk about these
Houston Texans. Yeah Demeco
Ryans yeah. That guy right there. The good player turned
really good coach as well. These
guys are a complete problem. And why are these guys a problem.
Well we know Demeco Ryans for
playing what defense right. We know these guys for having what
defense. Not only do we know the
head coach, but we know what the team is a representation of
their coach. That means that
they had a top six, top six defense in the league last year.
They were top four in sacks last
year. So these guys are going to get after the QB. These guys are
going to take the ball away.
These guys are not going to allow you to get any yards. What
were they missing last year?
Last year even though they still won the division, even though
they were ten and seven, they
were still missing their offensive pieces. C.J. Stroud
can’t do it by himself. Nico
Collins got hurt. You got tank, Dell got hurt. Stefon Diggs got
hurt. All his receivers, not his
number one. Not only his number two but his number three. All
three of them were taken off the
map. They all came back at some point except for Stefon Diggs.
But this dude didn’t have his
weapons. So what did they do this year? This year they said
no, no, no we’re not going to
run into that problem anymore. Let’s go out there and just
throw a bunch of guys into the
into the receiver room. So not only is tank deal coming back
healthy, not only do we have
Nico Collins, but we went out there and got Christian Kirk,
okay. We went ahead and
solidified the offensive line to make sure that C.J. Stroud is
not looking over his shoulder
every single play, and I ended up on his back. These guys have
a bunch of weapons at the
receiver position. They’re giving him time at the QB
position now with the offensive
line that can protect him, and the defense is going to continue
to do what they do. Only team
that we can say that won the division and is going to get
better. Rashad, what’s behind
that smirk? I’m just I just listening and I’m with him on
everything. But I found
something consistent because you talked about this with the
Cowboys and you talked about
this. You just like everything in Texas, don’t you? But listen,
he said it. The Cowboys said it
with the Texans. He referred to remember this. He said that what
happened to Dallas. They were
hurt. Injured. What did he say about the Texans. Hurt injured.
Yeah. We all know injuries is a
part of the game. So I don’t know if he could lean on that.
You’re absolutely right. But
what hurt them last year was their receivers being hurt
right. The receivers all of them
I give you so now they went out there and fixed that problem.
Not only are they bringing their
guys back they picked up Christian Kirk. They picked up
Braxton Berrios. They picked up
Justin Watson. They picked up all these guys. They picked up
like four more receivers. So
just in case our one and two go down, we have some other guys
that we can lean on. They learn
from their mistakes. They replenish their their goods, and
they’re ready to go out there
and take it on. I don’t think I don’t think CJ Stroud had the
jump that we all anticipated
from his rookie year. So I can see if he can get back to his
rookie year magic and make that
that progression. I like Houston, I do, I do. I think
they’re a complete team offense,
defense and special teams. They did lose. Laremy Tunsil, who’s
been one of the best left
tackles over the last decade. They brought in Cam Robertson
and Trent Brown as well, so
added some more to solidify that O-line. I like Houston, I do, I
do. It all comes down to CJ
Stroud and his progression, and they drafted two wide receivers
out of the same college, didn’t
they? I believe Texas didn’t they? I think it was Jaden
Higgins. Yeah yeah. They picked
up Higgins. Yep. Absolutely. Did they do look good? I’m a fan I’m
a fan I really do. They they
play defense, run the ball and they got a quarterback. You said
something about running the
ball. Yeah, they run the ball. Who’s their running back again.
Oh man Joe Mixon. And they just
got Mixon. Oh and Nick Chubb. So when Mixon goes out yeah Chubb’s
comes in. They run the ball.
That’s that’s crazy. That’s heavy. And I do like what we’ve
seen from the combination of
Damico and CJ together. As that you know, it’s been going well.
I love that. Let’s start with
our former QB. I keep saying former because that’s our QB
right here. Isaiah. What will
the difference be with Ben Johnson for Caleb Williams I
want something tangible that
when it happens we’re going to be like, okay, that’s it. That’s
the Ben Johnson difference.
Yeah, there’s two things that I’m going to be looking for. The
first thing is going to be, you
know, it’s going to be his command at the line of
scrimmage, right. You understand
how important it is as an offensive lineman? I think that
last year he was out there
running around just trying to make things happen, even though
in my eyes he had success. 20
touchdowns, only six interceptions, 62% on the
completion. But I think that the
confidence that Ben Johnson is going to instill in him, I think
the demand, the requirements
that he’s going to ask of him to step to the line of scrimmage,
command the offensive line,
really be able to be in tune with what the defense is doing,
to be able to put your team in
the best position possible, I think you’re going to see a
completely different aura of
Caleb Williams stepping to the line of scrimmage and being
comfortable and confident, and
then the second part is because he’s going to be comfortable and
confident and be able to
communicate properly to all his teammates. Now you’re going to
see different type of body
language out of him. Last year, the body language as we saw him,
he was all over the place,
right? He hadn’t really matured in that area. I don’t think he
truly understands the impact
that even though nothing might come out of your mouth, what you
see on your face, how you walk
around, your teammates are watching you as the quarterback
of an organization, not just a
college of an organization. Everybody’s watching everything
that you do. So I think by him
taking more command, getting up there, controlling everything, I
think he will take on more
leadership role that will impact every aspect of his game. Yeah.
If you look at it, man, I tell
you, they are stacked over there with the bears. I mean, they got
three really good wide
receivers, two good tight ends, two good running backs, great
defense. You’re bringing over
Johnson who we understand him as to be every I think everybody’s
kind of looking for that young
kind of vocal guru that Sean McVay that youngster I think
Johnson is one of those guys
that’s like hey who is he. What is he. Does he understand the
quarterback position that well.
And I think it’s going to help Williams majorly having him in
the position. But the thing they
have to get over right is, is presence in the pocket. I think
that’s going to be the biggest
thing for him. We know Caleb. He can move, he can shuffle, he can
extend plays. But they brought
over three Pro Bowl offensive linemen I mean they are you
talking about the Texans making
a lot of moves for their quarterback and for their
franchise? The bears did the
same thing this year. So they’re going to be they’re going to be
tough in that division. I
believe it’s kind of open. I agree with you. With the bears
being a being a stacked team, I
am really optimistic about the bears future. I am the coaching
changes that they’ve brought in,
not only Ben Johnson, but to speak on Ben Johnson and what he
built in Detroit under Dan
Campbell, the identity. That’s what I didn’t really see from
the Chicago Bears last year. I
didn’t really see a structure or an identity they’re going to
have that they’re going to have
an identity. They’re going to have a way that they want to
play the football game, and
that’s physical, that’s fast and decisive. So his his pocket
awareness and what he’s able to
do in the pocket Ben Johnson will definitely. That’ll be the
biggest point of emphasis for
him to have that time to be on time and on target with the
within the offense. But they
bring in Dan Ross to coach the offensive line with the
additions that they that they
brought in as Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson. They bring in Dennis
Allen defensively as well, and
what he did in New Orleans when we were there together. Top five
defense five years in a row. I’m
really, really optimistic about Chicago Bears, man. I just want
to see it come together. I think
it will because year after year we see it on paper and first
round picks and all of this
stuff, but it never translates to the field the way that we
expect it to. So I’m hoping that
all of these things you guys are saying is what actually results
on the field. I know the bears
fans do too. All right, for our second topic, we’ll move to the
Steel City. Steelers cornerback
Darius Slay had this to say Rodgers quote, I think he is a
great addition because the fact
that we got a younger guy that got drafted from Ohio State, he
can train him and help him get
to where he’s at, bringing DK Metcalf along so he doesn’t have
to actually find him a true
number one receiver. He’s got one that’s right here and that’s
ready to go. It’s going to be
fun. Sorry about a lot of other people and not Rodgers.
Interesting. Anyway I’m I’m
going too deep for 6 a.m. So even if Rodgers isn’t what he
used to be, he still has that
MVP mind. So what does the addition of Aaron Rodgers do for
the Steelers as a whole? Isaiah
I think it gives them a bit of confidence stepping on the
field. The last thing that you
want to do as a team is step on the field and not have a QB, one
that you feel like you can get
behind. You know, I know I played quarterback, I played a
ton of receiver in the league.
When you step out there, you need to know that that person
has it under control. You need
to know that whatever you’re about to face when you break
this huddle, that he has an
answer for it, whether that’s in the running game or the passing
game, or whether it’s taking a
timeout to get you out of a bad situation. And I think that’s
the one question that he answers
for them. Yes, talk about his arm talent. Yes, we can talk
about the receivers that he has
and everything else around him. But at the end of the day, he is
responsible for making sure that
they are in a positive play. And I don’t think there’s any other
quarterback outside of the
Patrick Mahomes that Josh Allen that you can step to the line of
scrimmage with and be like, you
know what? I’m 100% confident that everything that’s going to
be thrown at us, he’s seen and
we’re going to be in a positive position when this ball is
snapped. You know, you talk
about the MVP mind. I don’t think that’s doing any good. You
know straight up because the MVP
we’re talking about minds right. If the minds could throw a
football I mean Tom Brady would
have never retired. You know you got Peyton Manning five five
MVP’s. He never would have
retired if it was a man throwing a football. Heck, I might be
able to throw that thing a
little bit. So, you know, my mind can work. But it’s about
being physical. It’s about being
out there, being with your team in the cold, in the heat, in the
hot tub. All of these physical
things are the reasons now, yes, he will bring an A and an energy
to the franchise, that
organization, because you think we got somebody in here that can
sling the rock. Understood. But
you got to remember last year he had a worst completion
percentage than Mac Jones. Like
these are I didn’t make these things up. These are things that
are on the internet, you know.
And so with that in mind, no I don’t. And I got a question for
y’all. Which one do y’all think
is more realistic to happen. Truly just 1 or 2. Yes or no? I
don’t know what y’all going to
go with, but what is more realistic to happen? Aaron
Rodgers at some point in the
season showing up on Joe Rogan or Pat McAfee. Shout out to both
of them. Love those shows and
announcing a retirement or low hanging fruit. Him winning a
playoff game with the Steelers.
Which one is more likely to happen? Probably one, I would
say a playoff game. I’m gonna
say playoff game. I would say a playoff win, a playoff game.
Okay, yeah. And the reason why
is just me on a lonely island. I just want I just wanted to see.
I just want to see what you say.
Yeah. No. So I don’t one thing about Aaron Rodgers is once he’s
committed, I don’t question his
commitment. Love it. Once. Once he’s made his decision. Right.
However long that might be. We
know that once he decides that he’s locked in, he’s locked in.
And you also know that when
Aaron Rodgers steps in a room or steps on the field, that he has
the command and the confidence
of his teammates. I don’t think anybody’s ever questioned that
about Aaron Rodgers. There’s a
lot of things you can question about him, but I don’t think you
can ever question is he
prepared? Oh yeah. Is he prepared? Is he going to put his
his guys in the best position
possible. And can he deliver. I don’t think there’s ever been a
question about any of those
things about Aaron Rodgers. And I think that is why this team is
going to be so much more
confident now. Do they have enough talent? That’s where my
questions lie. But in terms of
Aaron Rodgers and his contributions, I don’t have any
question that he’s going to be
of the greatest value to this organization. For me, it’s what
the Steelers are asking Aaron
Rodgers to do. If they’re asking him to be MVP. Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers we don’t see I
don’t see that I don’t. But if they’re asking him to manage the
game to convert third downs to
score touchdowns in the red zone, the Steelers can be
dangerous because this is a
defensive team. You talked about the Cowboys defense and the
optimism that’s different. This
is a this is a real consistent you know what I mean. This
defense in Pittsburgh they get
turnovers. They get off the field T.J. Watt Highsmith
rushing off the edge. Cam
Heyward is in year whatever. And he’s still dominant year after
year. Minkah Fitzpatrick those
guys can get the ball back to Aaron Rodgers. So he’s going to
have a lot more opportunities to
create plays and create touchdowns. I would bring up
Drew Brees and at the end of his
career the his lack of physicality with his with his
shoulder, he wasn’t able to
throw the ball, throw the ball 4050 yards down the field. But
mentally what he was able to do
pre-snap and his diagnosis of everything. Drew converted third
downs at a at a higher clip than
anybody in NFL history, and he scored touchdowns in the red
zone. So we were able to go far.
2018, 2019, 2020. Even though drew, his physicality was
declining. Yeah, I think Aaron
Rodgers without a doubt he’s a Hall of Famer. Yeah yeah he’s
one of the best quarterbacks
we’ve seen play the game. It’s just that at this juncture in
his career, you just don’t know
what you’re going to get. And that’s a hard thing to hang your
hat on is a hope and you’re not
going into it. But I think if he’s if he’s taking a role
locker room guy, you know,
wanting to develop the quarterbacks behind him, pushing
the ball down the field. Yeah I
mean the Steelers are they’ve made the playoffs every year
without a quarterback being
there right. So yeah he adds value for sure. But just to the
mind of it I don’t think matters
at this point. Being physical goes back to the mind doesn’t
it. Yeah. But I will say I think
last year was so abysmal for Rodgers. He’s like can’t go out
like that I agree. You know if
ever there was a boulder on his shoulder it’s there now for
sure. Look at him there. SLO mo
Rodgers new helmet. Who this is in the Olympics is the gold
standard for flag right now. I
was super happy when I found out football was going to be the
Olympics. Makes me want to push
harder to be an Olympian. Every player on this field wants to
get there. Today is Olympic Day,
a worldwide celebration of the Olympic Movement. And with men’s
and women’s flag football making
its historic Olympic debut at the 2028 games here in Los
Angeles, we are being joined
today by two of the best elite level women’s flag football
players in the world, Izzy from
U.S. National team and Cody Fuller from Team Australia.
Welcome to That’s Me. Let’s go.
Every time I try to convince myself that maybe I could pick
this up in time, I then run into
women’s players. I’m like, nah, y’all got it. You got it. All.
You all, you all right? So this
past weekend, you both were here in Los Angeles participating in
the USA football Summer series.
We want to hear all about it. So, Izzy, just walk us through
how everything went. Man. It was
it was a week of a lot of fun. We had, I think, seven practices
in four games. So yeah, it was
it was a lot of fun. We got to practice together. We practiced
with all the countries there.
Our men’s teams, our junior teams were there. So yeah, it
was a lot of fun. And what about
for you? We had a great time. We had to come off of a long
flight, so it took a couple of
days to get adjusted. But once we got into it, we all had the
best time. Really cool
experience for us to be going up against the best in the world
and some other countries as
well. So yeah. Yeah, you came from the future. We did. We?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I got a
two part question for both of you ladies. All right. Let me
start with you, Izzy first. But
what does it mean for you guys? That flag is going to be an
Olympic sport. And what would it
mean? And how proud would you be for you to be able to represent
your country at the LA 28
Olympics? Oh, it would be surreal. I think every young
athlete growing up wants to
represent their country in the Olympics. I never would have
thought my chance or opportunity
would be in flag football, but here we are, and I’m like more
than blessed to be able to do
this sport. And it’d be such an honor to represent my country.
It’s awesome. How about you?
Yeah, pretty much the same, I think. I mean, once, once the
announcement came out, it kind
of brought a sense of legitimacy to our goals and aspirations.
And I think having it in LA 28
is huge and it gives us something to strive towards. So
it would mean everything to be
able to be on that stage. That’s dope, that’s dope. Happy Olympic
day. First off ladies, how has
the LA 28 flag announcement created an inspiration of
international growth and
excitement about the sport in Australia, where flag is
relatively new, it’s only kind
of really been around for a couple of years. It’s really put
a firecracker in the sport like
everyone is now watching. Everyone’s getting involved and
wanting to play. Our youth
programs are developing and really taking off. So I think
that Olympic announcement has
done big things for the sport in Australia. Yeah, I think same
here. Like even though flag is
kind of been here a little longer, it’s really like put
being put on the map and had a
spotlight on it. So I know I think there’s maybe like 16
states that have it sanctioned
as a sport for girls flag football in high school. So I
think pushing that and seeing
that the Olympics is going to have it as a sport is really
like getting girls involved
around the country nice. And a big part of Olympic Day is to
focus on encouraging athletes
moving together, working together. And is this something
you can relate to as flag
athletes, and why do you think it is important? Is it a go to
you first 100%? I think it’s
super important just because you’re getting involved. One in
other sports with other
teammates. I think like this weekend we saw we got to play
together. We got to practice
together. So to be able to intermingle, especially with
other countries and people that
are playing the sport in a different world, almost to kind
of see how they play it. It’s
just great for the sport in general. Yeah, sorry. I think, I
think building the connections
with, with other countries really helps us grow the game
globally. So doing things like
this where obviously we’re doing international friendlies and
there is that kind of highly
competitive nature that we all have. But getting to do
scrimmages and drills and things
like that kind of takes the pressure off a little bit and
helps us develop and build those
relationships. I find one of the coolest things through the NFL
games being played
internationally, that we start to meet the athletes on the flag
side internationally. So I’ve
been able to meet the women from like Italy and Germany and just
it’s so cool to see that level
of athleticism. And Izzy, you and the powerhouse team USA
women won gold at the 2024 Ifaf
World Championship. Where you go up against these women. Tell us
about this year’s team. Man,
we’re just super excited. I feel like we kind of like have this
gold standard and that’s kind of
our mindset. And then our our we not me mindset. And we’re just
kind of here to prove ourselves
right is our big thing. So I’m super excited to be able to play
with these girls. We’ve got a
few new additions, so to be able to get them out on the field and
stuff and involved. So it’s
going to be really fun. So all right, I got another two part
question for you. I will kick it
off with you Cody I know I got the two parters, but listen the
NFL is going to be playing its
first ever game in Australia in 2026. First part of the question
is how much of an impact do you
think it’s going to have on the fandom of the fans in Australia
for NFL to be playing games
there and then, are you excited about the potential of flag
being an Olympic sport in
Brisbane? 32. Yeah, I think the NFL game coming to Australia is
huge, huge for us. I’ve seen the
fandom kind of explode over the last couple of years. It’s on a
really good trajectory and I
think having the game come out there is going to add like even
more, I guess, accessibility and
visibility to the game, which I think is what we need. Everyone,
everyone knows about the NFL,
it’s on some some weird time zones for us. We have to get up
really early to watch the games,
but to have a game out there is going to be really big for the
game. I think that’s dope. In
terms of Brisbane 32, I mean, that would be insane. We’re
we’re really hoping for it. I
think we’ve got such a good sporting culture in Australia
and our flag program is really
taking off. So I think it’ll be a really full circle moment for
us to get it into into Brisbane
32. It would be amazing. That’d be awesome. Yeah, I was doing
some updates for like a prime
time NFL game for the Australia audience. I’m like, wait, where
are they? Like, they’re at the
pub, don’t worry about what time it is. They’re locked in. That
checks out. They’re on their
tracks. I’m very glad. Thank you both so much for joining us, for
growing the game, for
representing, of course, and best of luck with your training
over the next few months. Thank
you so much. Thanks, ladies. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Cheers. It’s dope. No I could
not wrestle roots. My knees weight. Yeah, from from the end
of the season last year. But
each year is different, man. You got to you got to rebuild it.
And this year got some time to
really focus on some some form running and some some things
early on in the off season that
I just didn’t have time for last year and certainly feeling good.
And I think it’ll pay off, man.
All right. So last season and the way that they wanted it of
course many questions about
Travis Kelce seems to have answered them right. He’s back
ready to go slim and trim. He
says the question though should the Chiefs still be the AFC
favorites? I know that you have
somebody else knocking them out. Yeah Mr. AFC the Chiefs have
they’ve owned the league.
They’ve owned the league. It was we went through this Patriots
dynasty and we’re in the midst
of this Chiefs dynasty. Even though they came up short last
year they have owned the on the
lead. They’ve dominated the AFC. Just a testament to Travis
Kelce. Like he is the ultimate
professional. As you getting older you’re getting up there in
age. I just finished 12 years.
The true professionals like you pay attention to those physical
limits that that comes about
with with age and experience. And you have to combat it. And
the fact that he’s he’s dropping
weight, like, that’s what I started to do later in my career
every year, tried to find ways
to combat the physical changes that happens. He’s a he’s a true
professional. You got Patrick
Mahomes. You got Andy Reid Travis Kelce still there. They
bring him back. They’re healthy
receivers like we yes. In short yes I mean they are the
dominant. Going back to what you
said it’s they’re the premier team. They’ve created a dynasty.
They went to the Super Bowl last
year I mean that’s the only thing that you could have done
besides win. And so representing
the AFC you have to go through them. There’s no other way
around it. And it’s going to be
a tough season for a lot of guy. When they go see the Kansas City
Chiefs, especially when you play
there. So yeah when we talk about the AFC, they are front
runner. I did mention the
Chargers because they are going to be tough to deal with. The
Broncos are as well I mean it’s
wide open. But if you cannot beat Patrick Mahomes there’s no
shot. Yeah I agree with you guys
I mean and I think everybody has to agree until they’re knocked
off right? I mean you talk about
we talked a lot about injuries today right. We talked about the
hopeful, you know, of the Dallas
Cowboys and some of the other teams, the Houston Texans once
they get healthy. Well, Kansas
City has those same issues last year. And they still found a way
to the Super Bowl. So not only
did they overcome their injuries, but now they reloaded
right. And they’re ready to rock
this thing this year. So you give Andy Reid a healthy
offense. And they continue to do
the things that they do defensively. That is the team
that you have to go through. I
know that other teams are getting better. They’re getting
stronger. But those are the
Kings. Until you knock the King off the mountain, they are on
top. Do you think they’ll be a
bit of a Super Bowl hangover from a loss like that though for
the Chiefs? No, not that they
were shaking heads all around okay. Yeah. No we’ve seen it
when it happened against Tampa
Bay when they when they went and lost to Tom Brady. But they
responded. And then Pat Mahomes
went right back to the big dance and got another ring. So we’ve
seen it. Yeah we’ll see. They’ll
be in the playoffs. They’ll be in the playoffs. And we’ll see
what happens from there. I’m
telling you it’s like we I kind of feel like there’s only a
couple spots open that new teams
can kind of get into the playoffs, you know what I mean.
But other than that we know the
dominant teams and the bills. You got Kansas City I mean we
know they’re going to be there.
So yes they’re on the top of the mountain and you have to knock
them off. You got Andy Reid
Steve Spagnola and then you also have Patrick Mahomes. As long as
you have that three headed
monster right there, you’re gonna have to deal with these
guys. And they’re going to be a
problem for a long time. You got to change. They do a really a
great job of the small details,
the little nuances. That’s not necessarily stats or statistics,
but just the late game
situations. The two minute drills and understanding time,
how to how to manage time. They
do a really great job of protecting the ball and taking
the ball away. Just the
separation, the they find a way to separate themselves from good
teams at the end of the game
consistently. They they probably won the most close one score.
Yeah, one score games over the
last five years. Yeah. And I’m not surprised. That’s why they
consistently go to the big
dance. And that’s why it’s scary when you start talking about
those teams that are like, you
know, Kansas City. We know the quality of ball that they play
and we know that that was not it
last year. And they were still at the Super Bowl 15 and still
you know, they still at Super
Bowl. Yeah, exactly. You talk about winning you know winning
all those one possession games.
Could it win either way even though they’re not playing up to
their standard they’re still
etching games out. That is a testament of a scary team. And
when you start talking about the
leadership qualities of Andy Reid, you start talking about
Spags, start talking about
Patrick Mahomes. Now you’re starting to lean into what, like
Tom Brady was when he didn’t
have the stacked rosters. But you always knew that they were
going to find a way to win the
ball game. That’s the confidence that Kansas City has. And until
you figure that out, you have to
worry about them continually being in that Super Bowl. Yeah,
we talk about parity a lot with
this league. And the thing is we know that year to year
everything is not going to be
equal. It’s not going to be apples to apples from the year
before. And the Chiefs have
certainly dealt with that. They’ve dealt with injuries.
They’ve dealt with young guys
coming in, rookies who have showed out year after year even
when nobody expected to be.
Remember that whole, oh, it’s a rebuilding year for the Chiefs.
And suddenly they won the Super
Bowl that year. And that to me is that je NE sais quoi that
that little extra spice that the
Chiefs have. It’s that consistency that they have in
their foundation, in their
coaching, in the true identity of that squad. They always find
a way and they have it there,
and they don’t flinch when things do go sideways and made
it to another Super Bowl. I know
they lost badly. They made it, now. Our next guest is a Super
Bowl champion. He’s a Super Bowl
MVP. He’s a longtime friend of the show and one of the newest
members of the Seattle Seahawks.
Guys, please welcome in Cooper Kupp GMC. Great to see you
Cooper. Is that a dodo coffee
that you’re drinking there because we wanted a cup. That’s
that’s all I drink okay. We will
get to that in a second. But back in March you signed with
the Seahawks. Two questions.
How’s it going so far. And what was it about the Seahawks that
really attracted you to the
franchise. Yeah well you know it’s going great. And it’s been
a lot of fun. We’re growing
through learning this offense going through things for the
first time all together I think
that’s you know that really is going to the next question.
That’s one of the things that I
really liked about this was stepping in there. I was going
to be able to be a part of it
from the from the ground up with this new offense that was coming
in and be able to learn it with
the guys. And, you know, when I came into this league, I was
able to be a part of an offense
that was just growing, that was just starting out and being at
the foundation of something,
understanding why we do things and, you know, being a part of
the growth of, you know, this is
how we do things, this is how it’s going to adapt and grow as
the season goes on, as time goes
on. That was something I was excited about, and it’s an
offense that I believe in. I
know it’s offense that you believe in. You’ve been an
absolute dog in this league for
some time. You’ve played with quarterbacks Jared Goff, you
played with Matthew Stafford.
And now after you signed with Seattle back in March they
signed Sam Darnold. What are you
looking forward to most about working with Sam Darnold in this
new city in this new offense.
Yeah I mean I’ve been watching Sam for a long time. You know
something that he’s always been
an incredible thrower of the football. And you know you watch
him the ability to move and
throw off of a any base I mean there’s no question he can spin
the ball and, you know, go early
in his career playing for a lot of different teams, a lot of
different offensive
coordinators, a lot of stuff going on there and wasn’t able
to get things to kind of, you
know, fall in place as a, as a team where where he was at. But
you saw over the last couple of
years, even like some stuff that he did in San Francisco in his
limited time there, but also
obviously in Minnesota, when you when you have pieces around him,
when you’ve got pieces around
that, guys that can make plays and be a part of an offense that
I think is, you know, is leading
the forefront of innovation in this league. And when you have
things like that in place,
you’ve seen the success that he can have. And so I’m really
excited about being out there
with Sam and just being able to be with him during OTAs.
Incredibly smart human being,
smart football player and man. He loves to compete, which you
know, it’s the recipe for a
really good quarterback. Coop, I want to check in on your on your
mental. You had such an amazing
run with the with the Rams Triple Crown winner, Super Bowl
MVP. Just legendary legendary
time with the Rams after battling with injuries the past
couple years. What’s your what’s
your mindset going into this year with with Seattle? Do you
feel like you have to prove
yourself again? Yeah, well, I think there’s always a piece of
that. I mean, I think every year
feels like there’s a piece of proving yourself over and over
and over again. And that’s kind
of the mindset I’ve taken my entire football career. It’s
been a, you know, a piece of,
you know, my DNA is to go out there and prove that you can do
it. And so there’s not so much
this added thing of anything changing because, you know, the
career change and you know, or
the, you know, team change and things like that. It’s more so
just about, you know, my
continual growth as a football player. And I want to go out
there and continue to, you know,
be a, you know, a football player improving that’s getting
better year by year. And there’s
less, less, less, less of a feeling like I need to prove
anything to anyone else. More so
about being able to prove it to myself that I can go out there
and play this game at a high
level and continue to do that and continue that growth that
I’ve had over the course of my
career. I love it, I love it to Ron mentioned your time there
with the Rams. I want to just
roll it back for a second because that final workout, what
did that mean to you and how did
that come about? Yeah. So it was cool. I mean, we you know, a lot
of it was that, you know, a lot
of it was the group that I work out with was a part of just
workouts daily. And then, you
know, we were actually leaving that day. My family and I were
to head up to Seattle and, you
know, whit and Matthew showed up and just wanted I mean, Matthew
had originally agreed that he
was going to do the workout with us, and then he something
happened, of course, at the last
second he’s like, oh, no, I can’t do that. But I’ll be there
like, yeah, I got you. But no, I
appreciate those guys coming out. And obviously what they’ve
meant to me and being able to
just, you know, spend a little time together was was really
cool and really meaningful,
really meaningful time for those guys. You played alongside of
Puka Nacua with the Rams, a
young star, and he also paired with another young star and
Jackson Smith and Nick. But can
you give us a little bit of your veteran insight in a scouting
report on Jackson? What’s
impressed you so far being around him? Yeah, man, that’s a
good question. I mean, there is
there’s a lot I mean, he I think the first thing that struck me
was he’s a lot stronger. He
plays a lot stronger and he’s a lot stronger than I think people
know about Jackson. And there’s
a there’s a play strength that comes along with that. Being
able to be on the field and his
his decisiveness, his, you know, his I think his his belief in
himself and what he can do and
being able to go out there and just make it happen, incredibly
competitive. And, you know, I
think that’s that’s one of those things as a as a receiver, you
get into some positions where,
hey, I’m I’m impressed. I’ve got a plan. Boom, I hit my first
move, I hit my counter and it’s
just still not there. But the competitiveness just say I just
know I’m not going to lose. I’m
going to find a way to win. You know, Jackson has that similar
to what you know, Puka was like
coming in as well. It’s just the competitiveness and the play
strength. They’re both very
similar. And so I’m really excited about being out there
with Jack. He’s a awesome dude,
wants to get better, wants to ask all the right questions. And
he’s he’s striving. He’s
striving to find ways to find an edge. And it’s going to be a lot
of fun playing with him this
year when the when the schedule comes out, we all we all like to
lock in on week one. We all, all
of our training and our goals. We focus on winning that first
game and starting the season
fast. But I have to mention November 16th, your first time
back in SoFi, what’s your what’s
your thoughts? Yeah. You know, like you said, I, I really try
not to let myself get there
because like you said, you got to focus on the first game.
There’s so much that has to
happen still. I mean, even that first game, I’m not even I’m not
watching 40 Niners film, you
know, like we’re we’re preparing, we’re growing. We’re
building our stuff as a as a
team and doing what we can do to be the best versions of
ourselves right now and seeing
who we’re going to be as we prepare for training camp. And
it’s going to be, you know,
getting ready for the Niners. And I just can’t let myself get
to this point where I’m looking
at, you know, these, these other games that just, you know, it
just it just doesn’t work for
me. It’s not how I operate. And, you know, just trying my best
not to look there or go there. I
know that the emotions and all that stuff will be there when
that time comes, but trying not
200, bro. 200 hit him for. Yeah, trust me, I would love to. It
sounds like a great time, man.
Look, coop, man, we have to give you an opportunity to talk about
the lightning bolt energy bus
head coach that you used to have down here at LA, Mr. Sean McVay.
We had him on the show last
week. It was absolutely awesome. But tell us, what does he mean
to you. What has he meant to you
over your entire career. Yeah. You know Sean’s been he’s been
such a huge part of building I
mean me into the player that I am today and incredibly thankful
for the time that we’ve had
together. And, you know, there’s no doubt in my mind, like,
there’s I’m not who I am today
without Sean as a head coach and the way that he coached and the
way that he, you know, built
guys up and wanted guys to understand the game. And if
you’re a guy that came in with a
mentality, you guys, if you wanted to know what was going
on, if you wanted the intent, if
you wanted the reasons that we’re doing what we’re doing,
and he’s ready to give you
everything you need to go out there and execute at a high
level. And obviously an
incredible football coach. So yeah, it was a really fun time
being with Sean. And yeah, it
was it’s a you know, it’s tough thing. We move on, tough thing
we move on. But yeah I’m always
gonna love Sean. That’s love. That’s respect. Now you are now
playing for the Seahawks. You
are in what I consider to be my city. I was born and raised in
Seattle. I consider it to be the
headquarters of coffee. Right. Everybody in there drinks coffee
in Seattle. And we know about
all the other brands. But you and your wife, Anna started Dodo
Coffee Company. And you guys
are. You started about a year ago, and now you guys are
bringing that to Seattle. We
need all the details and tell us about it because we need to get
some. It’s early over here.
Yeah. Look, I’m gonna send you all some. Imma send y’all
something for sure. And it’s
been so much fun. It is. Like I said, it’s a family owned thing.
It’s something that we want to
build a company that we’re like, hey, we’re going to use this all
the time. We’re going to build
something that I want to use this. I want it to be so good
that I want to use it all the
time. And so that’s what we’ve done. No cut corners. It’s just
like, how can we make this the
best possible thing for how we want to operate best
ingredients, making sure we’re
not putting anything that’s not good into the coffee out of the
coffee shop. We’re sourcing, you
know, sourcing milk from the creamery, doing our own sirups,
doing all this different stuff
where we’re having a local company make them, you know, we
roast the coffee that we have
come in, comes from an importer that only wants to deal with the
top 1%, wants to deal with
people the right way. He wants to protect the farmers. He wants
to protect this industry from
really what is a lot of corruption, a lot of really bad
stuff going on as you go down
the chain, keeping the exploitation from being the
people at the very beginning.
Right. But being able to find ways to support them, bring it
all the way through to a point
where it’s like, this is just going to be a wholesome, quality
product all the way through. And
it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed it. And at the
end of the day, I get to drink
it every day, which I do. I love that the mission statement is
perfect is good enough. Where
did the name come from though? Is it Dodo as in the bird? Yeah.
So the name is Dodo. Like the
bird. It’s really my son, my son and my and his cousin. They used
to jump on the couch and jump
off and it was called Dodo for jumping. And they would just,
you know, it was like, you know,
two years, two year olds, that was their thing, like dodo for
jumping. And so when we were
coming up with the name, we were like, hey, this is a family
thing. This could be something
that’s a fun thing that we get to do and pass along to our kids
eventually. And so it was just
this name that like, reminds us of the fun, of the joy of what
this gets to be. Oh, I love
that. I need to know, is there some dodo swag online that we
can copy and we can grab?
Because I see the hat. I need one of those. Can I go support?
Go look, go look. There’s some
there’s some good stuff going. You know, my wife does most of
the design stuff for the
merchandise and she’s a pretty good job with it. So go check it
out. It’s some good stuff.
That’s what’s up I love that, coop. Thank you so much for
joining us. We will of course,
be keeping a close eye on you on the field. Good luck this
season. Awesome. Thank you guys
for having me I appreciate it. Of course man go kill it bro.
Dodo. See, sometimes you got to
listen to the kids. Listen, come